Fw: [globalnews] Meditation Focus #67: Bringing US All Back In Harmony With Nature
-Original Message- From: Jean Hudon [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Sunday, June 30, 2002 4:55 AM To: undisclosed-recipients: Subject: Meditation Focus #67: Bringing US All Back In Harmony With Nature --- This material is also available at http://www.aei.ca/~cep/MeditationFocus67.htm Hello, What follows is the 67th Meditation Focus suggested for the two consecutive weeks beginning Sunday, June 30, 2002. BRINGING US ALL BACK IN HARMONY WITH NATURE 1. Summary 2. Meditation times 3. More information on this Meditation Focus 4. Peace Watch for the Midlle East --- 1. SUMMARY As huge wildfires destroy vast tracks of forest in the U.S. Midwest and severe droughts affect several African countries threatening millions of people with starvation and death, notably in Ethiopia and Zimbabwe, extreme floods have recently devastated several parts of the world, mainly in China, in the south of Russia, and in some U.S. states. Although some of these problems are man-made either because of bad policies and shorth-sighted planning and deforestation, it seems that Nature is increasingly showing signs of imbalance in its global weather patterns, a problem which may in large part be attributed to global warming. This imbalance may also be a reflection of the lack of harmony of most humans with Nature, a situation exacerbated by a lifestyle that has cut many of us from our natural roots and which encourages us to consume natural resources at an unsustainable rate. As many of us enjoy outdoor activities in this summer season (in the northern hemisphere), it may be appropriate to spend some time reflecting on how we may find a better balance with Mother Earth and foster positive changes around us so as to gradually improve this situation. We may also act as catalysts through our prayers and meditations to help inspire a global awakening to our indissociable unity with Nature and the urgent need to cherish and protect all aspects of Nature as well as nurture our environment back to its perfect original balance. Please dedicate your prayers and meditations, as guided by Spirit, in the coming two weeks - and during this whole season - to contribute in bringing us all back in harmony with Nature. Envision an opening of the hearts to the sacredness of all forms of Life and the blossoming of an awareness that cherish the unique beauty of Nature in all its multitudinous forms. Reconnecting with Nature at the deepest levels, we will then collectively assist our beloved living planet in rebalancing its weather patterns so as to benefit the regions that need rain and avoid flooding again those that already received too much of it. May we thus be instrumental in bringing balance and Harmony on Earth, for the Highest Good of All. This entire Meditation Focus is also available at http://www.aei.ca/~cep/MeditationFocus67.htm --- 2. MEDITATION TIMES i) Global Meditation Day: Sunday at 16:00 Universal Time (GMT) or at noon local time. Suggested duration: 30 minutes. ii) Golden Moment of At-Onement: Daily, at the top of any hour, or whenever it better suits you. These times below are currently corresponding to 16:00 Universal Time/GMT: Honolulu 6:00 AM -- Anchorage * 8:00 AM -- Los Angeles * 9:00 AM -- Mexico City, San Salvador Denver * 10:00 AM -- Houston * Chicago * 11:00 AM -- Santo Domingo, La Paz, Caracas, New York *, Toronto *. Montreal *, Asuncion Santiago 12:00 AM -- Halifax *, Rio de Janeiro Montevideo 1:00 PM -- Reykjavik Casablanca 4 PM -- Lagos, Algiers, London *, Dublin * Lisbon * 5:00 PM -- Jerusalem, Johannesburg, Geneva *, Rome *, Berlin *, Paris * Madrid * 6:00 PM -- Ankara *, Athens *, Helsinki * Istanbul * Nairobi 7:00 PM -- Baghdad *, Moscow * 8:00 PM -- Tehran * 8:30 PM -- Islamabad 9:00 PM -- Calcutta New Delhi 9:30 PM -- Dhaka 10:00 PM -- Rangoon 10:30 PM -- Hanoi, Bangkok Jakarta 11:00 PM -- Hong Kong, Perth, Beijing Kuala Lumpur +12:00 PM -- Seoul Tokyo +1:00 AM -- Brisbane, Canberra Melbourne +2:00 AM -- Wellington +4:00 AM + means the place is one day ahead of Universal Time/Greenwich Mean Time. * means the place is observing daylight saving time (DST) at the moment. You may also check at http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/full.html to find your current corresponding local time if a closeby city is not listed above. --- 3. MORE INFORMATION ON THIS MEDITATION FOCUS This section is for those who wish to understand in more detail the situation of this Meditation Focus. For those who wish to read on, we would encourage you to view the following information from a positive perspective, and not allow the details to tinge the positive vision you wish to hold in meditation. Since what we focus on grows, the more positive our mindset, the more successful we will be in manifesting a vision of healing. We provide the details below because we recognise that the knowledge of what needs healing can assist us to structure our awareness to maximise our healing effect.
Re: Solstice Salutations! rain
Hello Gil, We too have received much needed blessed rain! Drought is almost officially over. May you have time to contemplate this winter be well! Blessings, Jane - Original Message - From: Gil Robertson [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Saturday, June 22, 2002 7:00 AM Subject: Re: Solstice Salutations! Hi! Jane, Thank you, and I wish you a special Winter Solstice from here in Oz. It was so cold and wet we did not do anything this year, as we normally have something out side for all the Celtic dates, but stayed in our own homes and enjoyed the rain, which is very welcome as we had a dry start to winter and really need a good wet winter to put some thing in the depleted sub soil and under ground water basins. Gil jsherry wrote: hello to all, Wishing you a Joyous, Fertile Loving Summer Solstice Today! May the fires of Peace burn bright in our hearts. Blessings, Jane
Solstice Salutations!
hello to all, Wishing you a Joyous, Fertile Loving Summer Solstice Today! May the fires of Peace burn bright in our hearts. Blessings, Jane
Fw: Tell AOL to Stop Sending Metal Junk Mail
Tell AOL To Stop Sending Wasteful Metal Junk Mail ACTFORCHANGE ACTIVISM UPDATE: June 20, 2002 You are receiving this newsletter because you have previously taken action on ActForChange in support of progressive values. IN THIS BULLETIN: a.. FEATURED ACTION: Tell AOL To Stop Sending Wasteful Metal Junk Mail b.. ACTIVISM OPPORTUNITIES: Two Actions to Take c.. SPECIAL OFFER: Wish George Bush a Happy Birthday -- Tell AOL To Stop Sending Wasteful Metal Junk Mail America Online's aluminum junk mail is in a class all its own. The company's newest gimmick is to package its disks advertising free hours of online access in a metal box. This metal mail is a central part of the company's $3.8 billion annual ad budget and really takes a toll on our nation's energy security and on our environment. Take action! Aluminum production consumes more energy than is needed to produce steel, glass, paper or plastic. It also relies on bauxite mining, which destroys more of the earth's surface area than any other type of mining. And, to make matters worse, the discarded junk mail is filling up our landfills. Urge AOL's Steve Case to conserve energy and help the environment by reforming his company's junk mail practices. Take action! -- Increase Funding for Child Care Urge your senators to reauthorize the Child Care Development Block Grant this year and increase its funding by $20 billion over the next five years in order to provide assistance to an additional 2 million children and improve the quality of child care. Click here to take action now! Protect America's Wild Forests Urge your representative to support the National Forest Roadless Area Conservation Act. This legislation will protect nearly 60 million acres of unspoiled National Forests in 38 states from most new road building and logging. Click here to take action now! -- Celebrate Bush's Birthday by Making a Donation to Your Favorite Group On July 6, President George W. Bush will celebrate his 56th birthday. Let him know you care by making a donation to your favorite nonprofit group. Make a tax-deductible donation on GiveForChange to Sierra Club, Planned Parenthood, Peace Action, Rainforest Action Network, or another group of your choice, and GiveForChange will send a gift card to President Bush to inform him of your donation. Just enter President Bush, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20500 in the gift card fields. You can even write your own message. Click here to donate. -- Melissa Simpson Manager ActForChange.com YOU ARE SUBSCRIBED AS: [EMAIL PROTECTED] If you do not wish to receive updates about ways you can make your voice heard: PLEASE FOLLOW THE EASY STEPS BELOW TO ENSURE YOUR FULL SATISFACTION: To unsubscribe to this newsletter, please send a blank e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] PLEASE NOTE: THIS ADDRESS IS FOR UNSUBSCRIBE REQUESTS ONLY. INQUIRIES SENT TO THIS ADDRESS WILL NOT BE READ. You may receive one additional newsletter while we process your request. PLEASE SEND QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS TO: [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.actforchange.com
Fw: [globalnews] Cost of Ending Global Warming A Blip on Screen Over Next 100 Years
NewScientist.com The World's No.1 Science Technology News Service Two years to save the world 19:00 12 June 02 Exclusive from New Scientist Print Edition People will be five times as rich in a hundred years' time. And if we are willing to postpone that prosperity by just two years, we could fix global warming into the bargain. That's the startling conclusion of leading US climate scientist Stephen Schneider and Swedish energy economist Christian Azar, who are about to publish a bruising assault on the Bush administration's claims that international plans to curb climate change would cripple the US and world economies. (Photo: Getty Images) The wild rhetoric about enslaving the poor and bankrupting the economy to do climate policy is fallacious, even if one accepts the conventional economic models, Schneider told New Scientist. He says the economic arguments need to be put in context, and called on climate scientists to take a tougher stand against the doom-mongers who say action would be too costly. Schneider's assault comes a week after a further blow was dealt to the prospects that the Kyoto Protocol will come into force. Australian Prime Minister John Howard announced that his government would not ratify the protocol, claiming it would cost jobs and damage our industry. The Bush administration, and now apparently Howard, have taken their tone from leading environmental economists such as Yale's William Nordhaus, who has argued that a vague premonition of some potential disaster is insufficient grounds to plunge the world into depression. But, says Schneider, over a century even the trillions of dollars thought necessary to halt global warming would be a blip compared with the economic advances predicted by the same experts. Potential dangers Many climate scientists have become frustrated by what they regard as the dead hand of economic orthodoxy in academic analyses of the costs and benefits of action to halt global warming. But in a forthcoming issue of the journal Ecological Economics, Schneider and Azar tackle the economists head-on, taking their own numbers and putting a dramatic new spin on them. Last year's report of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change included the economists' assessment that stabilising atmospheric carbon dioxide at twice pre-industrial concentrations by 2100 would cost between $1 trillion and $8 trillion. It sounds a lot, says Schneider, but the money would be all but invisible against the 2 per cent a year economic growth predicted by the same economists. Without action to halt global warming, economists predict that the world as a whole will be 10 times as rich by 2100, and people on average will be five times as well off. Adding on the costs of tackling warming, says Schneider, would postpone this target by a mere two years. To be 10 times richer in 2100 versus 2102 would hardly be noticed. Similarly, meeting the terms of the Kyoto Protocol would mean industrialised countries get 20 per cent richer by June 2010 rather than in January 2010. Put that way, he believes, the American public and politicians could be convinced that curbing greenhouse emissions is a necessary insurance policy against the potential dangers of climate change. Fred Pearce
Fw: [globalnews] African Droughts Triggered by Western Pollution -- Seven Figure Deaths the Result
NewScientist.com The World's No.1 Science Technology News Service African droughts triggered by Western pollution 19:00 12 June 02 Exclusive from New Scientist Print Edition Emissions spewed out by power stations and factories in North America and Europe may have sparked the severe droughts that have afflicted the Sahel region of Africa. The droughts have been among the worst the world has ever seen, and led to the infamous famines that crippled countries such as Ethiopia in the 1980s. Sahel dries out The cause appears to be the clouds of sulphur belched out alongside the soot, organic carbon, ammonium and nitrate produced when fossil fuels are burnt, according to researchers in Australia and Canada. As these compounds move through the atmosphere, they create aerosols that affect cloud formation, altering the temperature of the Earth's surface and leading to dramatic shifts in regional weather patterns. In the past thirty to forty years, the Sahel--a loosely defined band across Africa, just south of the Sahara and including parts of Ethiopia in the east and Guinea in the west--has suffered the most sustained drought seen in any part of the world since records began, with precipitation falling by between 20 and 50 per cent. Although the droughts have had climate experts scratching their heads, the impacts have been obvious. During the worst years, between 1972 and 1975, and 1984 and 1985, up to a million people starved to death. Now Leon Rotstayn of the CSIRO, Australia's national research agency, thinks he knows what caused them. Rotstayn and his colleague Ulrike Lohmann of Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, ran a simulation of global climate that included interactions between sulphur dioxide emissions and cloud formation. Sulphur dioxide creates sulphate aerosols that provide condensation nuclei for clouds. With more nuclei, clouds form from smaller droplets than usual, and are more efficient at reflecting solar radiation, cooling the Earth below. Acid rain When the researchers included the huge sulphur emissions from the northern hemisphere during the 1980s in their model, the Earth's surface in the north cooled relative to the south, driving the tropical rain belt south and causing droughts in the Sahel. Their results will be reported soon in the Journal of Climate. It's still speculative, and the model isn't very refined, but it's very interesting. It's the first time we've seen a connection between pollution in the mid-latitudes and climate in the tropics, says Johann Feichter of the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology in Hamburg. Feichter, who has run similar simulations but cannot talk about the results because the research is being peer-reviewed for a major journal, says the sulphur emissions probably worsen the natural cycle of droughts that would have happened anyway. During the past few years, the droughts have become less severe, a change that Rotstayn puts down to the clean air laws in North America and Europe that reduced sulphur dioxide emissions in response to another environmental crisis, acid rain. But the problems in Asia may be just beginning. Climate researchers around the world are beginning to study other types of aerosols, such as the clouds of black soot and sulphate being churned out by rapidly industrialising India and China, in the hope that they may shed light on other regional weather anomalies. For instance, northern China has had unusually dry summers in the past few years, while it has been particularly wet in the south. Rachel Nowak, Melbourne
Fw: [globalnews] GMO FOOD AID DESTROYS LIVELIHOODS
Friends of the Earth Europe Press Statement Roma, Italy 13 June 2002: Immediate Release. GMO FOOD AID: HELPING THE HUNGRY OR DESTROYING LIVLEIHOODS? Industrial Nations and Biotech Companies show their technology is out of control: Developing World alarmed at deliberate programme of GMO contamination. Six years after the 1996 World Food Summit, Friends of the Earth deeply regrets that once again world agriculture and food policies are not addressing the real causes of hunger and instead remain locked in mythical policy solutions that have no chance of ever bringing benefits to the world's hungry. A clear example of a mythical solution to world hunger problems is biotechnology which while widely discredited as a genuine solution to hunger, nonetheless has been the focus of a powerful lobby campaign by the biotechnology industry and the US Administration in the run up to the Rome Summit. The widespread condemnation during this week's Summit of the discovery that food donated by USAID comprised of GM corn StarLink not authorized for human consumption anywhere in the world reflects the complete lack of control that biotech companies have over their products. Friends of the Earth US has requested the US Administration to recall the StarLink corn and to require Aventis to pay for any costs incurred by recalls and replacements (see www.foe.org/foodaid). According to Juan Lopez of Friends of the Earth International, The promises of the biotech companies are broken each time one of these contamination incidents happens. FAO should think twice before jumping into bed with biotechnology. Additionally, as illustrated by GMO contamination results recently reported from Mexico, the distribution of whole seed intended for consumption leads to planting in centers of origin, threatening local agricultural diversity. Further, corn seed sent as food aid to Guatemala has been confirmed to contain GMOs not authorized in the European Union. In Nicaragua the presence of GMOs was also confirmed in corn seed sent as food aid from Germany. The fact that Germany is financing aid comprising of corn seed contaminated with GMOs and has sent it to a center of origin of corn such as Nicaragua is further proof of the irresponsible management of this technology said Julio Sanchez from Centro Humboldt-Friends of the Earth Nicaragua. Other discoveries of genetic contamination in food aid have also occurred in several Latin American countries in the last months. Food Aid programmes when used systematically in impoverished countries serve as instruments for the dumping of production surpluses from Northern countries, creating dependency and contributing to the destruction of local production. says Ana Lucia Bravo Acción Ecológica - Friends of the Earth Ecuador. Friends of the Earth Latin America is requesting the Governments in the Summit, the FAO and the WFP to forbid GMOs in food aid programmes in accordance with the precautionary principle. Our livelihood is our future. Increasing numbers of organisations have been expressing concern about the promotion of biotechnology as a solution for developing countries. International development organisation Oxfam International recently announced a moratorium on GMOs and the need for improved enforcement of monitoring systems to stop GMOs from entering countries in consignments of food aid. END __ Contact Friends of the Earth at the World Food Summit: Juan Lopez - mobile telephone number: 00 39 339 74 49 630 ___ Friends of the Earth is the largest grassroots environmental network in the world campaigning to protect the environment and to create sustainable societies. Friends of the Earth Europe unites more than 30 national member groups with thousands of local groups. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] *** Distributed by the World Environmental Journalists Egroup(WEJEG) List Owner:Sri Lanka Environmental Journalists Forum(SLEJF) PO.Box 26,434/3-Sri Jayawardenapura,Sri Lanka.http://www.oneworld.org/slejf phone(+94-1)873131/827810Fax(+941)883187 mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archivehttp://www.yahoogroups.com/group/environmentaljournalists Join the list; mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] *** Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- Will You Find True Love? Will You Meet the One? Free Love Reading by phone! http://us.click.yahoo.com/Deo18C/zDLEAA/Ey.GAA/KlSolB/TM -~- Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
OFF:Fw: [globalnews] The Bundle of Faggots
BUNDLE OF FAGGOTS Sometimes I compare the troubles we have to undergo in the course of a year to a great bundle of faggots, far too large for us to lift. But God does not require us to carry the whole at once. He mercifully unties the bundles, and gives us first one stick, which we are able to carry today, and then another, which we are able to carry tomorrow, and so on. This we might easily manage, if we would only take the burden appointed for each day; but we choose to increase our trouble by carrying yesterday's stick over again today, and adding tomorrow's burden to our load before we are required to bear it. JOHN NEWTON ... Be the change you want to see in the world. -- Mahatma Gandhi
Help with Glycyrrhiza glabra when to plant?
Hello, I have licorice which I am not sure whether to consider a root or stem plant? Steven Foster says it is an underground stem, Richter's little plastic thing that came with the plant says the underground stolons are used for flavoring etc (oops, is that what a stolon is? An underground stem?). I guess I thought it was roots being used? Should I have gotten the Chinese variety for medicinal use? Anyone know? I was thinking of using that little window this morning (8-11 am EST) to plant it even though we're just after the eclipse. One of them is begging to go into the ground, the other two are growing fast, and I would rather not wait a week. Anyone with experience? Thanks, Jane
OFF: Fw: [globalnews] Only the FBI could spend a year in the French Quarter and find just 12 prostitutes
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-39957jun07.story?coll= la%2Dnews%2Dcomment%2Dopinions COMMENTARY A Comedy of Eros Only the FBI could spend a year in the French Quarter and find just 12 prostitutes By JONATHAN TURLEY Jonathan Turley teaches constitutional law at George Washington University School of Law. June 7 2002 When I lived in New Orleans, I was told about a trial before one of our state judges in which a local madam appeared under a charge of assaulting an officer. The bordello was periodically subject to routine sweeps by the police to keep up appearances. The madam, however, was mistaken on the appointed time and, according to one arresting officer, slammed a swinging door in his face. On cross-examination, the madam denied the allegation and insisted that there was no swinging door in that room. When the prosecutor expressed skepticism, the madam turned to the judge and said, Judge, you know ... there is no swinging door in that parlor. The story captured the attitude of local authorities toward bordellos in Louisiana. In New Orleans, houses of ill-repute are some of the oldest institutions in the French Quarter and are often cited on tours as virtual cultural landmarks. Prostitution itself is a misdemeanor, a law universally honored in the breach. This is a view not shared by Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft's Justice Department. This week, the Justice Department announced the results of a long investigation of a French Quarter bordello that serviced a virtual who's who of New Orleans elite, including at least one judge. For more than 13 months, the Justice Department has conducted a major investigation of this bordello, producing hundreds of pages of surveillance transcripts and reports by 10 FBI agents. With considerable fanfare, the Justice Department touted its catch in a news conference: 12 prostitutes. Only the FBI could go to the French Quarter and find just a dozen prostitutes after a year of investigation. Given the roughly one-to-one ratio between agents and prostitutes, the FBI could have produced a hundred times this number by having agents walk down Bourbon Street. In some parts of New Orleans, a sting operation for prostitutes requires the simple opening of a car door. Of course, when the Justice Department convinced an unwitting judge to sign this surveillance order, it had promised something far more alluring. It insisted that the bordello would reveal mob dealings as well as criminal activities by an infamous gang. It further assured the judge that the bordello was a hot spot for major drug transactions. Ultimately, the surveillance failed to nail a single mobster or gang member. As for the drugs, the FBI carefully made a case against a 62-year-old woman who sold small amounts of marijuana for personal use at the location--often a joint at a time. When confronted by the ludicrous haul of 12 prostitutes, the Justice Department was unapologetic and insisted that this was a major law enforcement victory. Federal prosecutor Sal Perricone spoke for the Justice Department when he pledged more of such enforcement. 'We'll seek it out, we'll find it, we'll grab it by the scruff of the neck, and we're going to prosecute it, Perricone said. That is certainly reassuring. While it was revealed this week that the FBI largely ignored CIA identifications of known terrorists in the U.S. before Sept. 11, it appears that it was able to find prostitutes in New Orleans. It simply boggles the mind how such an investigation could have been approved, let alone continued after the September attacks. When these agents were carefully recording calls to a bordello, hundreds of other agents were being shifted from major crimes to homeland security. While Ashcroft was seeking expanded powers to listen in on suspected terrorists, these agents were listening to the descriptions of particular prostitutes and their special capabilities. Agents carefully recorded the strict rates of $200 to $300 an hour and how the mother-daughter team that ran the bordello could barely pay their bills on their 50% take. The mother and daughter are now cooperating in the prosecution of their former employees. None of the johns (including the judge, respected lawyers, stockbrokers, bankers and civic leaders) have been charged. Though the Justice Department found federal crimes for the prostitutes, they could not imagine a federal crime for the johns. Such matters, they explained, are strictly matters for local enforcement. The Justice Department is half-right. It was all a matter for local concern. The Justice Department insists that it had jurisdiction in this case because some of the prostitutes crossed state lines. However, this merely explains that the government could investigate, not that it should. Most any crime today has some element that crosses state lines, but we expect the Justice Department to resist temptation. One can certainly appreciate that it is more interesting to listen
Fw: [globalnews] GM contamination spreads in Mexico
BBC News Sunday, 9 June, 2002, 13:09 GMT 14:09 UK GM contamination spreads in Mexico Scientists fear crop varieties will be dramatically reduced By Nick Miles BBC correspondent in Mexico Political leaders and academics begin a three day meeting in Rome on Monday to discuss issues surrounding global food security. The United Nations World Food Summit will be looking at the spread of genetically modified crop strains as well as the immediate problem of famine in parts of southern Africa. Our best guess is that the Mexican corn harvests have been contaminated by imported corn from the United States Juan Martin Laboratory manager Recent reports from Mexico suggest that despite a moratorium on planting GM corn strains, wild varieties have become contaminated by laboratory developed plants. The most heavily contaminated area is in Oaxaca, where up to a quarter of corn samples have tested positive for GM. GM contamination The area is home to thousands of small subsistence farmers. High up in the central mountains of the state one such farmer, Olga Maldonado, is weeding her tiny plantation of corn. It's just forty metres square and barely provides enough food for her and her family. Corn is our way of life, she told me, as she worked under the harsh tropical sun. Most of what we eat like tortillas and thick soups come from the crop. Research has yet to prove GM foods are harmful But six months ago Olga got a shock. Tests showed that her field had been contaminated with genetically modified corn. Now she says she's worried about the possible effects on the heath of her children. I'm concerned because our children eat corn all the time. We don't know whether it's safe to eat or not. The government has told us nothing about these GM plants. Absolutely nothing. Just 16 kilometres away down a dirt track in the incongruous setting of rural Mexico, white coated workers at a hi-tech laboratory are testing samples of corn from across the country. The hum of electrical stirrers fills the air as the corn goes though the rigorous testing procedures. This privately funded work has found widespread GM contamination in corn samples from across Mexico. Despite the moratorium on GM crop growing four years ago, many GM strains have slipped through the net, says Juan Martin, who's in charge at the lab. We've had a number of different campaigns aimed at telling farmers not to use imported corn as seed Victor Arambula, Mexican agriculture spokesman Our best guess is that the Mexican corn harvests have been contaminated by imported corn from the United States, he says. That corn was supposed to be for human consumption but farmers weren't aware of that and they sowed it in their fields. Genie released It's difficult to assess the Mexican Government's stance on the issue. State and federal governments seem to contradict each other on the significance and even the very existence of GM contamination. Halberg fears food security will be affected If there is GM contamination then it's not because of any government failure, says Victor Arambula, spokesman for the Mexican agriculture ministry. We've had a number of different campaigns aimed at telling farmers not to use imported corn as seed. Over the last four years, we've made it perfectly clear to farmers that this contamination might happen. However it happened, the GM genie is now out of the bottle. And many people are worried. Whilst there is no universally accepted research proving any health risks from eating GM crops, environmentalists say that many GM strains encourage pests to become tolerant to insecticides. There will also be a drastic reduction in the variety of corn strains in Mexico, Boone Hallberg told me. Mr Hallberg, a sprightly 79-year-old US educated botanist, has been working with Mexican corn growers for almost four decades. Maldonado's field has been contaminated Until now, when there's been a virus in other parts of the world, people have been able to come here to find strains resistant to the virus, he tells me as we walk through his organic corn fields. GM contamination will change all that. The thousands of varieties here will be lost forever, threatening food security around the world. Meanwhile for small farmers like Olga the concerns are more immediate. Every mealtime is now a worrying time for her. She has to feed her children corn tortillas made from her now genetically modified crops by a farmer who unwittingly tainted her own land. I feel misled by the government, she says as she ladles some steaming corn drink into a bowl. As usual in Mexico the needs of the farmers here have been overlooked. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites ... Be the change you want to see in the world. -- Mahatma Gandhi
Fw: [globalnews] u.s. opposes labeling genetically engineered food
http://enn.com/news/wire-stories/2002/06/06112002/reu_47503.asp U.S. opposes labeling genetically engineered food By Deena Beasley, Reuters Tuesday, June 11, 2002 TORONTO - The U.S. White House is against adopting regulations, already in use in some countries, that would require companies to label foods that use genetically engineered ingredients, Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson said Monday. Thompson said labeling foods as genetically altered puts fear in the market and would serve only to stymie innovation in the rapidly advancing biotechnology food industry. I don't think it solves the problem. Mandatory labeling doesn't work, he said at the annual meeting of the Biotechnology Industry Organization, the trade group representing the fields of health care, agricultural, industrial, and environmental biotechnology. Last year the group's conference, held in San Diego, was targeted by marchers opposed to so-called Frankenfoods, but their ranks fell short of forecasts. Here in Toronto, the scene is even more subdued; protesters staged a brief rally on Sunday, and there are no concrete barriers, although the police presence is still noticeable. Some countries already require labels to state whether food contains, for instance, corn whose genes have been altered to enable the organism to resist the corn borer pest. But the United States does not. We are concerned about food safety. None of these crops have been tested for safety, said Charles Margulis, genetic engineering specialist at the environmental group Greenpeace. The European Union, unnerved by food safety scares such as mad cow disease, has banned new biotech crops from other parts of the world for the past three years. The United States is by far the largest producer of genetically altered corn- and soy-based food. No one really knows what happens when plants that have not evolved in nature are consumed by humans, Margulis said. There could be allergies, increased toxins, or other unexpected side effects, he said. In the United States, weed- and pest-resistant versions of six crops - soybeans, corn, cotton, papaya, squash, and canola - are now being grown, and many other transgenic plants are being developed. Last month, a report by the U.S. General Accounting Office said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had adequately tested the safety of new biotech foods before allowing them to be sold, and consumers who ate bioengineered foods were not at a higher risk of allergies or toxic reactions. A biotech corn variety not approved for human consumption slipped into the food supply in late 2000, sparking a nationwide recall of more than 300 kinds of corn-based foods. StarLink was approved only for animal feed due to concern that it might cause allergic reactions in humans. Several U.S. class action suits are pending against Aventis CropScience, which made StarLink. A National Academy of Sciences panel in February said the government had allowed food manufacturers to market biotech crops without fully probing their potential environmental impact. Copyright 2002 - Reuters Any reprinting, rebroadcast or digital transmission of this work without written permission from Environmental News Network, Inc. is strictly prohibited.
Fw: [globalnews] The Man with the Hoe: The Origins of Terror
THE MAN WITH THE HOE God made man in his own image, In the image of God made He him. Genesis Bowed by the weight of centuries he leans Upon his hoe and gazes on the ground, The emptiness of ages in his face, And on his back the burden of the world. Who made him dead to rapture and despair, A thing that grieves not and that never hopes, Stolid and stunned, a brother to the ox? Who loosened and let down this brutal jaw? Whose was the hand that slanted back this brow? Whose breath blew out the light within this brain? Is this the Thing the Lord God made and gave To have dominion over sea and land; To trace the stars and search the heavens for power; To feel the passion of Eternity? Is this the dream He dreamed who shaped the suns And markt their ways upon the ancient deep? Down all the caverns of Hell to their last gulf There is no shape more terrible than this - More tongued with censure of the world's blind greed - More filled with signs and portents for the soul - More packt with danger to the universe. What gulfs between him and the seraphim! Slave of the wheel of labour, what to him Are Plato and the swing of Pleiades? What the long reaches of the peaks of song, The rift of dawn, the reddening of the rose? Thru this dread shape the suffering ages look, Time's tragedy is in that aching stoop; Thru this dread shape humanity betrayed, Plundered, profaned and disinherited, Cries protest to the Judges of the World, A protest that is also prophecy. O masters, lords and rulers in all lands, Is this the handiwork you give to God, This monstrous thing distorted and soul-quencht? How will you ever straighten up this shape; Touch it again with immortality; Give back the upward looking and the light; Rebuild in it the music and the dream; Make right the immemorial infamies, Perfidious wrongs, immedicable woes? O masters, lords and rulers in all lands, How will the future reckon with this Man? How answer his brute question in that hour When whirlwinds of rebellion shake all shores? How will it be with kingdoms and with kings - With those who shaped him to the thing he is - When this dumb Terror shall rise to judge the world, After the silence of the centuries? EDWIN MARKHAM ... Be the change you want to see in the world. -- Mahatma Gandhi
Fw: [globalnews] How to Build for Eternity
HOW TO BUILD Catastrophe will come; or worse than catastrophe, slow mouldering and withering into Hades. But if you can fix some conception of a true human state of life to be striven for - life, good, for all men, as for yourselves; if you can determine some honest and simple order of existence; following those trodden ways of wisdom, which are pleasantness, and seeking her quiet and withdrawn paths, which are peace; - then, and so sanctifying wealth into 'common-wealth', all your art, your literature, your daily labours, your domestic affection, and citizen's duty, will join and increase into one magnificent harmony. You will know then how to build, well enough; you will build with stone well, but with flesh better; temples not made with hands, but riveted of hearts; and that kind of marble, crimson-veiled, is indeed eternal. JOHN RUSKIN ... Be the change you want to see in the world. -- Mahatma Gandhi
Fw: [globalnews] THE GUARDIAN WALL
THE GUARDIAN WALL Know that the stream of superhuman knowledge and the Deva-Wisdom thou hast won, must, from thyself, the channel of Alaya, be poured forth into another bed. Know, O Narjol, thou of the Secret Path, its pure fresh waters must be used to sweeter make the Ocean's bitter waves - that mighty sea of sorrow formed of the tears of men. Alas! when once thou hast become like the fix'd star in highest heaven, that bright celestial orb must shine from out the spatial depths for all - save for itself; give light to all, but take from none. Alas! when once thou hast become like the pure snow in mountain vales, cold and unfeeling to the touch, warm and protective to the seed that sleepeth deep beneath its bosom - 'tis now that snow which must receive the biting frost, the northern blasts, thus shielding from their sharp and cruel tooth the earth that holds the promised harvest, the harvest that will feed the hungry. Self-doomed to live through future Kalpas, unthanked and unperceived by men; wedged as a stone with countless other stones which form the Guardian Wall, such is thy future if the seventh Gate thou passest. Built by the hands of many Masters of Compassion, raised by their tortures, by their blood cemented, it shields mankind, since man is man, protecting it from further and far greater misery and sorrow. Withal man sees it not, will not perceive it, nor will he heed the word of Wisdom...for he knows it not. But thou hast heard it, thou knowest all, O thou of eager, guileless Soul...and thou must choose. Then hearken yet again. The Voice of the Silence ... Be the change you want to see in the world. -- Mahatma Gandhi
Fw: [globalnews] will gm-food in Europe be labelled ?
FRIENDS OF THE EARTH EUROPE PRESS BRIEFING WILL GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOOD BE LABELLED IN THE EU ? Date: 3 June, 2002 Concerns: Vote in the EP's Environment Committee on labelling and the traceability of GMO-food and animal feed, 4 June, 2002 INTRODUCTION Friends of the Earth wants to draw your attention to an important meeting of the European Parliament's (EP) Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Policy. On 4 June this Committee will vote upon two proposals by the European Commission concerning the authorisation and labelling of genetically modified food and animal feed (1). To the Commission's proposals more than 532 amendments have been tabled, indicating that genetically modified organisms (GMO's) in food and feed are still a hotly debated and controversial issue. Since the Environment Committee will vote upon all 532 amendments it is expected that the vote will take more than two hours. After tomorrows vote the plenary of the European Parliament will vote again on (amendments to) the same proposals. This vote is expected in the beginning of July. Hence, tomorrow's vote is not the final one, but will nevertheless be of importance because it will give an indication of the probable outcome of the parliamentary decision-making process on GM-food and feed labelling. WHAT IS AT STAKE ? The key-element in both proposals of the European Commission is a different approach to the labelling of food and feed derived from genetically modified organisms. Under the current legislation (Novel Food Regulation 258/97) only food-products in which genetically modified DNA or protein can be detected are subject to a labelling obligation. Consequently, many products derived from GMO's, such as sugar, vegetable-oils and corn flour do not have to be labelled. The Commission now proposes to change this situation and bring the labelling provisions for GM-food more in accordance with the general principles laid down in European food safety law. The most important of these principle is the traceability principle, which can be found in Regulation 178/2002/EC. If adopted , the Commission's proposals will ensure traceability of GMO's and of food and feed produced therefrom. It would mean that operators throughout the food-chain (eg farmers, transporters, processors, etc.) must inform the next operator that the product is produced from GMO's. Such a traceability system will facilitate accurate consumer labelling, environmental monitoring and, if necessary, withdrawal of products. If the traceability system is adopted by Parliament all food products produced from GMO's would have to be labelled, also if genetically modified DNA or protein cannot be detected in the final products. The implication would be that many food-products derived from GMO's (eg. vegetable oils and sugar) that don't have to be labelled now would be subject to a labelling obligation in the future. The Commission also proposes to label animal feed, consisting of or produced from GMO's. However, in the Commissions proposals consumer products (like milk, eggs and meat) that are derived from animals raised on GM-animal feed are excluded form the labelling provisions. WHAT AMENDMENTS ARE TABLED BY THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT ? In different Parliamentarian Committees several Members of the European Parliament (MEP's) tabled 55 amendments pressing for the restriction of the labelling requirements and aiming at the removal of the Commissions proposals for a more comprehensive labelling system. Most of these amendments were drafted by Conservative MEP's (EVP-ED) and by David Bowe, a Social Democratic MEP who is taking a dissident position in the PSE-fraction. The most important argument put forward by the EVP-ED-MEP's and by Mr. Bowe is that only those products in which genetically modified DNA or protein can be detected through chemical tests should be subject to labelling. According to this MEP's any other system is open to fraud. However, this argument is countered by the European Commission by pointing at the fact that the traceability system is already laid down in European food law and is applied to many conventional products, such as fruits, vegetables and meat. Another important group of amendments aims at an extension of the labelling regime as proposed by the Commission. These amendments ( 15 in total) call for labelling of food products derived from animals fed on GM-feed. Such amendments were tabled in different Parlementarian Commissions by Social Democratic and Green MEP's. WHAT IS THE EXPECTED OUTCOME OF TOMORROW'S VOTE ? This is hard to predict. The vast majority of the Conservative MEP's are against the traceability and extended labelling as posed by the Commission. The vast majority of the Greens and the Socialists are in favour of such traceability. Moreover, they want to amend the Commission's proposal and include food products, derived from animals fed with GM-feed in the compulsory labelling
skunk advice
Hello all, anyone know anything ab out skunk behavior? There seems to be a skunk(s) that lurks right next to the house at both twilight hours, spraying right outside the windows. It takes so long to get rid of the smell with an air filter windows shut, seems a shame not to have the evening air inside the house. I am wondering what exactly is going on, what they're attracted to? Last year, we observed a particular skunk that was fond of a new circular flower bed we'd put right close to the house. He would wander through quite leisurely. Perhaps there were yummy grubs he'd (she?) dig up? It was a piece reclaimed from lawn, so I know there are nice juicy fat things to eat under lawn... any suggestions of what smells they don't like? I would just like to keep them away from the windows. That smell doesn't do anything for me. Thanks, Jane
Re: skunk advice
gee wiz. that all sounds worse than I thought. Not going to use mothballs, lutefisk, or other worse smelling stuff. I was hoping there was some essential oil they didn't like like rosemary or eucalyptus or something we like the smell of... thanks for weighing in. Under the house sounds really awful. I guess this would be one time I'm happy to have a basement. Jane - Original Message - From: Deborah Byron [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, June 04, 2002 10:36 AM Subject: Re: skunk advice Hi Jane, Here we go with everything we've ever heard about repelling skunks. I've been told that scattering mothballs around their favorite spots will work but, of course, you have to keep reapplying the stuff. Also make sure they can't get into your garbage as that'll keep them coming back for more. Good luck--I've had the buggers take up residence under my house during mating season and let me tell you they do know how to party. Deborah
Fw: [globalnews] 21 Year Swiss Study Shows Organic Farming Yields Ecological Benefits
this actually mentions biodynamics mycorrizhaie --- Environmental News Service: Organic Farming Yields Fringe Benefits WASHINGTON, DC, June 3, 2002 (ENS) - A 21 year comparison of farming methods has shown that organic farming produces crops that average about 20 percent smaller than crops produced using conventional methods. The study by Swiss scientists also found that organic farmers use land far more efficiently and with less environmental impact than other modern farmers. Unlike conventional farming, organic farming uses no synthetic fertilizers or pesticides. The organic approach more than made up the difference in crop yields through its ecological benefits, argue the scientists who conducted the study. In one of the longest running studies of its kind, Paul Mäder of the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture, in Frick, Switzerland, and his colleagues compared the performance of agricultural plots grown either with organic or with conventional methods. There is a need to evaluate alternative farming systems as a whole system in a scientific way. The most appropriate method to do this is still to conduct long term experiments, which can be analyzed statistically and performed under identical soil and climate conditions, Mäder explained. Soil fertility and biodiversity develop slowly, and this is why a long term study is essential. Mäder's team compared plots of cropland grown side by side using different farming methods. The crops used included barley, beets, grass clover, potatoes and winter wheat. Besides examining conventional farming and organic farming, the authors also studied an organic approach called biodynamic farming, based the environmental and spiritual philosophies of its inventor, Rudolph Steiner. Crop rotation, varieties, and tillage were identical in all the systems studied. Overall, the organic systems were able to produce more with less energy and fewer resources, the researchers report. Their results appear in the journal Science, published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. These results should be encouraging for farmers, because they can see that yields are stable over time, and that soil fertility has increased, Mäder said. Over the course of the study, organic farmers added 34 percent to 51 percent less nitrogen, phosphorus and other nutrients to the soil than conventional farmers. Even so, crop yields from organic systems were just 20 percent lower than those from the conventional systems, which Mäder said shows that the organic systems use their resources more efficiently. The organic soils were also more fertile in other key ways, such as hosting a larger and more diverse community of organisms, Mäder and his colleagues report. This was true for soil microbes, which govern the nutrient cycling reactions in soils, and for mycorrhizae, root colonizing fungi that help plants absorb the nutrients. Mycorrhizae are fungi that colonize plant roots, helping the plants absorb nutrients. These fungi were also at least partly responsible for the more stable physical structure of the organic soils, the researchers said. Earthworms, which help to aerate and turn over the soil, were more abundant as well. Insects were almost twice as abundant and more diverse, including pest eating spiders and beetles. Weed plants were more diverse in the organic systems, and included some specialized and endangered species, the researchers found. Our results suggest that, by enhancing soil fertility, organic farmers can help increase biodiversity, Mäder said. The organic soils also decomposed more efficiently, the researchers found. This is an important feature of fertile soil, Mäder explained, because the process releases nutrients and carbon to be used by the plants and microbes. The organic systems show efficient resource utilization and enhanced floral and faunal diversity, features typical of mature systems, wrote the researchers. We conclude that organically manured, legume based crop rotations utilizing organic fertilizers from the farm itself are a realistic alternative to conventional farming systems. Organic produce, a mainstay at farmers' markets, must now meet stricter standards in the United States. (Photo courtesy USDA) In Europe, both organic and biodynamic farming are regulated by national governments, in accordance with standards set by the European Union. In December 2000, the U.S. Department of Agriculture finalized the United States' first national standards for organic foods, barring not only the use of synthetic pesticides and fertilizers, but
Fw: [globalnews] sacred circle dance concert in nyc june 8th 9th, 2002 (free events)
does anyone know if there's a relationship btwn this paneurethymy and the eurythmy of Steiner folks? Jane -- The culture of the fellowship of all nations is coming. They will all consider themselves as members of one great family. The stronger nations will help the weaker ones. All nations are organs of one cosmic Organism. And as every organ has its assigned place, function and special mission, so does each nation. This idea is currently arising in the consciousness of humankind, Beinso Douno (Peter Deunov) The PanEuRhythmy Circle of Sacred Dance The Earth Concert Project Invitational Concert of Sacred Music and PanEuRhythmy Workshop The NYC Paneurhythmy Circle meets Sunday mornings in Central Park, Spring through Fall Equinoxes. There is no charge for participation. Free events: Concert: Saturday June 8th and Workshop: Sunday, June 9th, 2002 Dear Friends, You are invited to share in the blessing of this uplifting, simple circle dance, and to send blessings to the world by your participation. PanEuRhythmy is a sacred dance. Its music and movements were given by Peter Konstantinov Deunov (Beinsa Douno, 1864-1944, Bulgaria). The fundamental principles of Deunov's teaching are Love, Wisdom and Truth. He was a spiritual giant who touched many lives with his wisdom, purity and gentle strength. Love brings life. Wisdom brings knowledge and light which help in the study of the laws of Nature. Truth shining within the soul brings freedom from all weakness and vice. There is nothing greater than these principles; there is no straighter or surer path. In these three principles lies the salvation of the world. Beinsa Douno Paneurhythmy is a a series of circular/wave/spiral movements built around spiritual concepts such as love, beauty, joy, celebration of life, etc. and is performed by couples in a circle with musicians in the center. It elevates participants to new levels of awareness of the body, mind, spirit connection. The PanEuRhythmy Circle of Sacred Dance gathers between Spring and Fall Equinoxes in New York City on Sunday mornings in Central Park, on Cherry Hill, to the northwest of Bethesda Terrace's Angel of the Healing Waters Fountain; 72nd St. entrances, in the heart of the park. Participants arrive beginning about 9 a.m. and may remain until noon. Please join us in a Summer PanEuRhythmy Celebration in New York City with two events on June 8th and 9th. If you are in the area, join us for these events, and if you are somehwere else on the planet, then please join us in spirit. Please send this invitation to your friends that may be interested in this celebration and may enjoy the harmonic synthesis of music, motion and poetry. Both events are free and open to the public. SATURDAY, JUNE 8th 2002 at 8:00 p.m. CONCERT OF SACRED MUSIC Artists: Bozhidar Simov - Classical Guitar, and Ina Doynova - Voice Program includes: J.S. Bach, A. Barios-Mangore, L. Brouwer, B. Douno Venue: Good Shepherd Faith Presbyterian Church 152 West 66th St., Manhattan SUNDAY, JUNE 9th 2002 at 9:30 a.m. PANEURHYTHMY WORKSHOP Workshop - Manhattan: Sunday: June 9th 2002, 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. 9:30am-10:30 PanEuRhythmy Sacred Circle Dance 10:30-noon and 1-3pm Instruction in the Practise Venue: Cherry Hill, Central Park to the northwest of Bethesda Fountain Angel of the Healing Waters fountain. (72nd Street entrances, in the heart of the park.) This is the first part of the current US tour for these Bulgarian performance artists. The distinguished violinist Yoana Strateva will join the above musicians in San Francisco for all other engagements. The tour includes San Francisco, St. Louis, Washington, D.C., Virginia Beach and other venues. Numerous wonderful souls helped organize the tour so that many may benefit and so contribute further to the sharing and spreading of this majestic offering. The complete schedule of the tour is located at: http://www.everabooks.com/events God is Love, Love brings life. Wisdom brings knowledge and light which help in the study of the laws of Nature. Truth shining within the soul brings freedom from all weakness and vice. There is nothing greater than these principles; there is no straighter or surer path. In these three principles lies the salvation of the world. Beinsa Douno For more information and photos on PanEuRhythmy, see http://1spirit.com/sananda/paneury.html from http://www.geocities.com/paneuritmia/eindex.html: The word PanEuRhythmy means supreme cosmic rhythm: PAN means whole, all-over, cosmic. EU means true, supreme, the essence from which everything arises. RHYTHM means periodicity or correct regularity of movement. Each PanEuRhythmy exercise has symbolic significance and expresses a particular thought, feeling and action. It also reflects the Divine Spirit. The PanEuRhythmy is a harmonious creative manifestation of the Divine in the Universe. The circle of sacred dance is a symbol of the great Wheel of Life,
Spiritual Food For The New Millenium
Hello to all you bdnow good food consumers, I recently contacted SFNM to order the wonderful vital food I've missed from Steiner-practicing-farmers in Victor Linette Landa's network. The food arrived so quickly that I called to say thanks and asked how come it arrived so fast. Victor told me that orders were down and therefore it was easier to fill the few orders more quickly. This alarmed me and I asked if this was since the fallout over the trademarking, Demeter issue, which of course it was. So I am asking you (I think Kristy also mentioned this a few weeks back) that we should ALL call or go to the website and order up!! (or at least those of you in the US) Let's ensure this service stays viable so we can continue to taste and enjoy this vital food-- some of which is even from some of the farmers on this list! Blessings on all your good work! http://www.members.tripod.com/spiritual_food/spfindex.html Call 888-384-9642 to order
Re: Spiritual Food For The New Millenium
Apologies to Christy for the misspell...it's yr. last name starts with a K... sorry, Allan, can't find Christy's email to have sent this directly to her... BTW, Allan how did your babies survive that frost? Jane - Original Message - From: jsherry [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Bdnow [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, May 31, 2002 9:45 AM Subject: Spiritual Food For The New Millenium
Re: EU Suppresses GE Study
Merla, try going to the greenpeace website: http://www.greenpeace.org/~geneng/ - Original Message - From: Merla Barberie [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: BD Now [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, May 28, 2002 4:10 AM Subject: EU Suppresses GE Study Hi all, The email that Jane sent interested me very much, but it was so garbled on my machine that I couldn't read it so I spent a few hours fixing it (See below). Jane, I couldn't figure out how to set up Tables A and B. Could you help me?
Fw: [globalnews] Water Wars: The Next Major Mideast Conflict
The next major conflict in the Middle East Water Wars A Lecture by Adel Darwish- Geneva conference on Environment and Quality of Life June 1994. Oil has always been thought of as the traditional cause of conflict in the Middle East past and present. Since the first Gulf oil well gushed in Bahrain in 1932, countries have squabbled over borders in the hope that ownership of a patch of desert or a sand bank might give them access to new riches. No longer. Now, most borders have been set, oil fields mapped and reserves accurately estimated - unlike the water resources, which are still often unknown. WATER is taking over from oil as the likeliest cause of conflict in the Middle East. When President Anwar Sadat signed the peace treaty with Israel in 1979, he said Egypt will never go to war again, except to protect its water resources. King Hussein of Jordan has said he will never go to war with Israel again except over water and the Untied Nation Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali has warned bluntly that the next war in the area will be over water. From Turkey, the southern bastion of Nato, down to Oman, looking out over the Indian Ocean, the countries of the Middle East are worrying today about how they will satisfy the needs of their burgeoning industries, or find drinking water for the extra millions born each year, not to mention agriculture, the main cause of depleting water resources in the region. All these nations depend on three great river systems, or vast underground aquifers, some of which are of `fossil water' that cannot be renewed. Take the greatest source of water in the region, the Nile. Its basin nations have one of the highest rate of population growth which are likely to double in less than thirty years, yet the amount of water the Nile brings is no more than it was when Moses was found in the bulrushes. The shortage: Although all natural water resources are replenished through the natural hydrological cycle, their renewal rate ranges from days to millennia. The average renewal rate for rivers are about 18 days - that is to renew every drop taken out - while for large lakes and deep aquifer they can span thousand years. The world's oldest reserves such as the Nubian aquifer in North Africa were filled when water infiltrated the earth's subsurface in past geological years. When we refer to fossil water in an aquifer, it is water trapped since the ice age and there is no certainty how long it would take to replenish them, thus it safe to conclude that mining their water is only a temporary solution. The oil boom in the Gulf and other Middle Eastern states, desalination became an industry. In 1990 over 13 million cubic meter were produced each day world wide using 7,500 plants, yet this represents just under one thousandth of fresh water consumption per day. Water scarcity: In general a country with less than 1,700 cubic meter per capita is regarded as experiencing water stress, while less than 1000 cubic meter is regarded as water shortage. Water scarcity or availability is based on measurements of stream flow within countries in question, with evaporation calculated based on local climate and subtracted from the total. Dr Malin Falkenmark expresses the thresholds as number of people per ``flow unit'' of water, a unit equal to one million cubic meters per year. Dr Falkenmark uses 600 or more persons per floe unit as an indicator of water stress, 1000 or more persons per flow unit as an indicator of water scarcity and 2000 or more per flow unit as absolute scarcity. But most reports - and the methods used in publications - usually reverse the ratio of people per flow unit, expressing the figure as the amount of water available per capita. So reversing the first two equations yields fewer than 1,667 cubic meter per person per annum as an indicator of water stress ( again this figure is rounded up to 1700) and 1000 or fewer cubic meters per person as an indicator of scarcity. In the case of Renewable fresh water resources there is no universal uniform on it since there is no international consensus on how to define and measure renewable fresh water resources. * The list of water-scarce countries in 1955 were seven including three Middle Eastern countries : Bahrain, Jordan and Kuwait. By 1990, 13 were added among them eight from the Middle East : Algeria, Israel/Palestine , Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. UN studies anticipate to add another 10 countries by the year 2025 seven of them are from the Middle east : Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Libya, Morocco, Oman and Syria. This mean that by the year 2025 some eighteen countries in this troublesome region will suffer from water shortages. * The Annual Renewable fresh water Available Per Person ranked by 1990 Availability in Cubic Metres Country 1955 1990 2025 Kuwait 147 23 9
Fw: [globalnews] Industrial Agriculture Poisons Our Water and Homes
Waterkeeper Alliance Industrial Agriculture: Poisoning Our Waters and Our Homes WATERKEEPER ALLIANCE American food production is undergoing the most dramatic consolidation in our history. Industrial meat factories and corporate controlled farms are replacing family, hands-on farms. These facilities are owned by or indentured to a handful of giant corporations with little or no interest in socially responsible agriculture. Their livestock factories contaminate water bodies across the nation with nutrients, pesticides, antibiotic residues and other pollutants. One of the nation's largest environmental problems stems from the vast amounts of waste generated at Confined Animal Feeding Operations, or CAFOs. These facilities shoehorn thousands of animals into barns full of small pens, where they are fed nutrient rich imported feed, laced with antibiotics and growth stimulants. Waste from these facilities is often piped into open pits, euphemistically called lagoons, and then applied to adjacent fields. Nutrient and pesticide laden animal waste contaminates streams, lakes and rivers, local groundwater, and ultimately, has created a New Jersey-sized dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico. Waterkeeper Alliance's campaign against this threat began in 1993 with Rick Dove, the first Neuse Riverkeeper. When Rick retired from the United States Marine Corps, he picked up his childhood dream of becoming a commercial fisherman on North Carolina's Neuse River. Rick's dream was soon crushed as pollution from industrial hog production contaminated his beloved river, rendering the fish he caught unfit for market. Even worse, the nutrient rich waters spawned an outbreak of Pfiesteria piscicidia, a micro-organism that causes lesions in infected fish, and poisons humans as well. Pfiesteria kills fish, and brings disabling illness to fishermen, bridge workers and people enjoying the state's rivers. Over the past two years, Waterkeeper Alliance has initiated a series of lawsuits targeting waste disposal at large hog facilities. In February 2001, the Alliance filed a lawsuit in federal district court for the Eastern District of North Carolina. Our suit claims that Smithfield Foods, the nation's largest hog producer, has polluted local waterways in violation of the Clean Water Act and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), two of the nation's primary environmental laws. In September 2001, District Court Judge Malcolm Howard rejected Smithfield's attempt to have the case dismissed; the case will proceed to trial late in 2002. In the months and years since that initial commitment, the Alliance has launched a national campaign designed to reform this industry, to restore healthy landscapes and waterways, and to return good stewardship, prosperity and democracy to America's rural communities. Waterkeeper Alliance partners with family farm advocates, environmental groups, animal welfare advocates and private citizens who are concerned about rural life in America. YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT Consumers have the real power to solve this environmental and social crisis. As you buy meat, milk, cheese, and produce take the extra step to learn more about it. Where did it come from? Were pesticides, chemical fertilizers, hormones or antibiotics used? Your choices at the market can make a big difference in the struggle to keep agriculture healthy and sustainable. Hands-on farmers, using proven techniques that reduce chemical use and animal cruelty, are the strongest link between healthy food and a secure environment. Please, think twice before buying corporate pork and other factory grown food! WHAT YOU CAN DO NOW !! We have YOU and THE LAW on our side, and with generous financial support form concerned people like yourself, we'll be able to continue our efforts to rein in this industry. ... Be the change you want to see in the world. -- Mahatma Gandhi
Fw: [globalnews] EU Suppresses GE Study Showing GE Crops Increase Costs, Threaten Organic
The Executive Summary of this Suppressed Study is at the Bottom of this message! Greenpeace International: EU suppresses GE study: GE crops add high costs, threaten organic BRUSSELS, BELGIUM, 16 May 2002 - A secret European Union (EU) study leaked to Greenpeace states that all farmers would face high additional, in some cases unsustainable costs of production if genetically engineered (GE) crops were commercially grown in a large scale in Europe. The study predicts that the situation would become particularly critical for organic farming of oilseed rape as well as for intensive production of conventional maize. The study was ordered in May 2000 by the EU Commission, to examine the co-existence of GE and non-GE crops. It was carried out by the Institute for Prospective Technological Studies of the EU Joint Research Centre. When the study was delivered to the EU Commission in January 2002, it came with the recommendation that it not be made public. Lorenzo Consoli, EU policy advisor for Greenpeace sais that, The European Commission has tried to keep this study secret because it was afraid of its political implications. The question is, if the introduction of GE crops on a commercial scale in Europe increases costs of production for all farmers, makes them more dependent on the big seed companies, and require complicated and costly measures to avoid contamination, why should we accept GE cultivation in the first place? asked Consoli. The EU study states that in oilseed rape production the co-existence of GE and non-GE crops in a same region, even when technically possible, would be economically difficult. This is because of the additional costs and complexity of changes required in farming practices in order to avoid genetic contamination. Both organic and conventional farmers would probably be forced to stop saving seed and instead buy certified seed, because of the increased risk of GE impurity for seeds that have been exposed to field contamination. The study predicts that smaller farms would face relatively higher costs compared to larger entities, and that cultivation of GE and non-GE crops in the same farm might be an unrealistic scenario, even for larger farms. The Executive Summary of this Suppressed Study Follows: Co-existence in European Agriculture Summary SUMMARY Background, objectives and scope 1. If genetically modified (GM) crops eventually increase their share in EU agriculture, adventitious presence of GM varieties in non-GM seeds and crops might become an issue. Therefore there is a need to find appropriate measures at the farm level to minimise adventitious presence of GM crops. 2. The objectives of this study, covering three model crops, are to - identify sources and estimate levels of adventitious presence of GM crops in non-GM crops at farm level, - identify and assess changes of farming practices that could reduce adventitious presence of GM crops in non-GM crops below policy-relevant thresholds, - estimate costs of relevant changes in farming practices, costs of monitoring systems and costs of potential insurance systems to cover possible financial losses due to adventitious presence of GM crops in non-GM crops. 3. The study covers three arable crops, with several farm types for each crop in representative production areas of the EU: - winter oilseed rape (OSR) for seed production (certified and farm-saved seed) (France, Germany) - grain maize for feed production (Italy, France) - potato for direct consumption and food processing (UK, Germany) 4. The three model crops have been studied on different conventional and organic farm types, representing the average farm context for each of the different production forms in the selected geographical areas (certified and farm-saved OSR seed, intensive and nonintensive maize cultivation, early and regular potatoes). For a better comparison similar farm and plot sizes have been assumed for conventional and organic farms. Additionally smaller organic farm types have been studied to reflect the actual situation in some Member States. General Findings 5. Sources of adventitious presence of GM crops in non-GM crops at farm level are seed impurities, spread of pollen and seeds from field to field by wind, insects and machines, overwintering of plants and plants growing from spread seeds as well as mixing of crops after harvest. 6. The percentage of GMOs grown in the region represents an important factor, already a level of 10 % GM varieties in the region causes significant levels of GMO content in non-GM crops. Two scenarios of 10 % or 50 % share of GM crops in the region were analysed. A share of 50 % mimics the current situation in countries which adopted GM crops readily (e.g. in 2000, GM soybeans represented about 54 % of the American soybean acreage, GM rape seed represented about 50 % of the Canadian rape seed acreage) and is the principal scenario examined in the study, while a share
Re: MARK PURDEY
did y'all know that there's an article on Manganese at the Price Foundation website? http://www.westonaprice.org/soy/manganese.html - Original Message - From: bdnow [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, May 24, 2002 7:46 AM Subject: MARK PURDEY: Motivation to write faster! ;-)
Fw: [globalnews] Searching for Water falls web sites networks
- Original Message - From: APFEJ [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Sri Lanka Environmental Journalists Forum [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, May 24, 2002 9:03 AM Subject: [globalnews] Searching for Water falls web sites networks Hi;all, I am a moderator of World Environmental Journalists Egroup(WEJEG) http://www.yahoogroups.com/group/environmentaljournalists and President of the Asia Pacific Forum Of Environmental Journalists(APFEJ)Hq in Sri Lanka.http://www.oneworld.org/slejf And also founder of Sri Lanka Environmental Journalists Forum(SLEJF). I have introduce new concepts of environmental journalism and ethnic reporting in Sri Lanka.I am engaged as the editor of Sri Lanka's one and only environmental monthly since 1992. I have published over dozen of eco books including Sri lanka's first glossary of eco terms and citizen's report. Also i am now in the process of editing a book on Waterfalls of Sri Lanka.This will be publish in July,2002. In my research i have found that we have in all 340 waterfalls in Sri Lanka.Can anyone recommend a good reference on waterfalls web sites and national,regional or International networks on waterfalls. This also will be of interrest to our readers.That might be used as a yardstick to measure world's interests in waterfalls. Cheers, Dharman Wickremaretne. P.O.Box 26 434/3 Sri Jayawardenapura Sri Lanka. E-mail :- [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- FREE COLLEGE MONEY CLICK HERE to search 600,000 scholarships! http://us.click.yahoo.com/DlIU9C/4m7CAA/Ey.GAA/KlSolB/TM -~- Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
OFF: [Fwd: FW: poem]
AN OPEN LETTER TO JOHN ASHCROFT, ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES On January 28, 2002, Attorney General John Ashcroft announced that he spent $8,000 of taxpayer's money for drapes to cover up the exposed breast of The Spirit of Justice, an 18 ft aluminum statue of a woman that stands in the Department of Justice's Hall of Justice. John, John, John, you've got your priorities all wrong. While men fly airplanes into skyscrapers, dive bomb the pentagon, while they stick explosives into their shoes, and then book a seat right next to us, while they hide knives in their luggage, steal kids on school buses, take little girls from their beds at night drive trucks into our state capital buildings, while our president calls dangerous men all over the world evildoers and devils, while we live in the threat of biological warfare nuclear destruction, annihilation, you are out buying yardage to save Americans from the appalling alarming, abominable aluminum alloy of evil, that terrible ten foot tin tittie. You might not be able to find Bin Laden But you sure as hell found the hooter in the hall of justice. It's not that we aren't grateful But while we were begging the women of Afghanistan To not cover up their faces You are begging your staff members to Just cover up that nipple To save the American people From that monstrous metal mammary How can we ever thank you? So, in your office every morning in your secret prayer meeting while an American woman is sexually assaulted every 6 seconds while anthrax floats around the post office and settles in the chest of senior citizens, you've got another chest on your mind. While American sons arrive home in body bags and heat seeking missiles fly around a foreign country looking for any warm body you think of another body. And you pray for the biggest bra in the world John because you see that breast on the spirit of justice in the spirit of your own inhibited sexuality. And when we women see our grandmothers, our mothers, our daughters, our granddaughters, our sisters, ourselves, when we women see that statue the spirit of justice we see the spirit of strength the spirit of survival. While every day we view innocent bodies dragged out of rubble and women and children laid out like thin limp dolls and baptized into death as collateral damage and the hollow eyed Afghani mother's milk has dried up underneath her burka in famine in shame and her children are dead at her breast. While you look at that breast John that jug on the spirit of justice and deal with your thoughts of lust and sex and nakedness we see it as a testimony to motherhood And you see it as a tit. It's not the money it cost. It's the message you send: We've got the right to live in freedom. We've got the right to cheat Americans out of millions of dollars and then not tell congress about it. We've got the right to drop bombs night and day on a small country that has no army, no navy, no military at all, because we've got the right to bear arms. But we just better not even think about the right to bare breasts. So now John you can be photographed while you stand there and talk about guns and bombs and poisons without the breast appearing over your right shoulder without that bodacious bosom bothering you and we just wanted to tell you in the spirit of justice in the spirit of truth John there is still one very big boob left standing there in that picture. Claire Braz-Valentine -- Kalindi Trietley, EdS, LPC Co-Director, Counseling and Student Support University of Michigan Medical School (734) 936-1513 [EMAIL PROTECTED] _ MSN Photos is the easiest way to share and print your photos: http://photos.msn.com/support/worldwide.aspx
Re: Mark Purdey in OZ: To the Ends of the Earth part 1
Dear Mark Allan, thanks for this extraordinary story, and the generous work you both do on behalf of the world. I look forward to hearing more from Mark. Blessings, Jane - Original Message - From: Allan Balliett [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, May 20, 2002 7:25 PM Subject: Mark Purdey in OZ: To the Ends of the Earth part 1 To the Ends of the Earth 1.
Re: OFF: [globalnews] IMF and World Bank Blamed for Health Crisis
Is there some reason you are unable to think these things through for yourself? Jane - Original Message - From: Doug Jay [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, May 20, 2002 6:24 PM Subject: RE: OFF: [globalnews] IMF and World Bank Blamed for Health Crisis The policies dictated by the World Bank and IMF exacerbated poverty, providing fertile ground for the spread of HIV/AIDS... Pardon me, but I thought that copulation of some sort with an infected person caused the spread of AIDS. Now, it appears that poverty causes AIDS. Oh, wait a minute, maybe the author is saying that only poor people copulate. Or, maybe poor people have more time to copulate. These institutions must be made accountable for their role in causing the worst health crisis in human history, which Africa now faces. Are these poor people at all responsible for their behavior, ie, who they copulate with? If these poor people had more money, do you suppose they would stop copulating and spreading AIDS? I doubt it! Doug
Re: Horsetail/Equisetum Arvense
Tony Pam, If it's tea for human consumption you're planning on, I have read that it is wise to ONLY collect the horsetail after the first 4-6 weeks of growth after appearing in the spring otherwise it can be toxic to humans. I don't know if this is also true for making compost tea. Jane - Original Message - From: Anthony Nelson-Smith [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Saturday, May 18, 2002 11:21 AM Subject: Re: Horsetail/Equisetum Arvense Steve - Pulling horsetail shoots damages the plant? I should be so lucky! I approve of this plant in the right place, but not overwhelming my veg patch. I've dug down three feet into my subsoil (solid glacial clay) without coming to the end of its stolons - I've read that they can extend downwards for several yards. Every spring I pull each shoot as it appears, and appears, and appears; after a decade or more, they are as vigorous as ever. Of course, if I'd _wanted_ them there Naturally, I dry the best leafy shoots for tea making. Tony N-S.
Fw: [globalnews] Dry Rio Grande Point of U.S./Mexico Friction
Dry Rio Grande Point of U.S./Mexico Friction SILVER CITY, New Mexico, May 17, 2002 (ENS) - The Rio Grande, the river dividing the United States from Mexico, no longer reaches the Gulf of Mexico into which it has emptied for millions of years. The water has stopped flowing due to a sandbar formed by several years of low water levels plus high water usage in drought stricken northern Mexico. Left high and dry, Texas politicians are threatening retaliation in what has become an acrimonious water dispute between the two countries. Sharing the Waters, a report issued today by the Interhemispheric Resource Center, a nonprofit policy studies center, outlines the international dispute over the waters of the Rio Grande and Rio Bravo rivers in Texas and Mexico. The Rio Grande forms the border between the United States and Mexico. Here it flows through Big Bend National Park. (Photo credit unknown) The report by Mary Kelly and Karen Chapman of the Texas Center for Policy Studies shows how Texas officials have accused Mexico of a failure to live up to its obligations under the 1944 binational treaty governing the waters of the river basin and how the resources are to be shared. Northern Mexico has replied that it is suffering from a persistent, severe drought that has reduced capacity in its reservoirs to dangerous levels. One of the largest reservoirs in the Mexican portion of the basin, La Boquilla on the Río Conchos in Chihuahua, is at about 20 percent of normal capacity. Further down the Conchos, the Luís León reservoir is at less than 20 percent of its normal storage. Mexico's reserves amount to less than 10 percent of that system's capacity. Under these conditions, short of cutting off all irrigation south of the border, it is not practical for Mexico to rapidly repay its current deficit of about 1.4 million acre-feet as agreed under the joint 1944 Amistad/Falcon Reservoir Treaty. However, many people in Texas are demanding that Mexico abide by the treaty regardless of the consequences to that country. Chapman and Kelly say, Those Texas politicians leading the charge against Mexico seem to agree with farmers in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas who maintain that Mexico is purposefully managing its part of the Rio Grande/Río Bravo basin in order to deliberately withhold water and put Texas farmers out of business. They have mounted a sustained campaign to convince U.S. federal officials that Mexico should be transferring all its Río Bravo water through to the Rio Grande instead of using some of it for irrigation in Chihuahua. In response, Mexico points out that the many farmers in the area have had to resort to dryer crops such as grain sorghum in order to survive. Francisco I. Maderas Dam, located near Delicias, Chihuahua, on the Conchos River, stores irrigation water and generates hydro power for the region. (Photo by Enrique Rios Gonzalez courtesy Rio Grande/Rio Bravo Basin Coalition) The government of Mexico has signaled its intent to tackle these problems by announcing plans for 11 irrigation modernization projects in the northern part of the country. A series of new water recycling programs has been started as a way to meet its water debts and address its own domestic water needs. The joint U.S.-Mexico North American Development Bank, created in a side agreement to the North American Free Trade Agreement, proposes to fund $40 million of the $420 million total price tag that Mexico's National Water Commission estimates as the total cost of the irrigation and municipal infrastructure improvements project. Most federal officials in Washington have maintained a low profile on the issue. But constant pressure from Texas officials, widespread media coverage and lack of progress in resolving the dispute could bring attention from the federal government. Earlier this week, President George W. Bush, formerly governor of Texas, discussed the water issue with Mexican President Vincente Fox, who responded with a public statement promising Mexico will establish a plan for paying its water debt within 15 days. Last week, Mexican and U.S. conservation organizations convened a forum in Chihuahua to discuss what cooperative actions can be taken to protect and restore the Río Conchos basin. Chapman and Kelly warn that further escalation of the dispute could damage the bilateral relationship, affecting the two countries' ability to cooperate on water issues along other parts of the border, and threaten progress on other issues such as immigration and economic development. In the near term, says Chapman and Kelly, the governments must agree on a formula for allocating what rain does fall this year. A realistic payment plan for the current deficit, based on actual
OFF:Fw: [globalnews] IMF and World Bank Blamed for Worst Health Crisis in History
FOREIGN POLICY IN FOCUS http://www.fpif.org/ What's in the News at FPIF? May 16, 2002 **IMF and World Bank Blamed for Worst Health Crisis in History Salih Booker, FPIF Advisory Committee member, says, The IMF and World Bank have much to answer for. Many of the strongest critiques come from Africans, although they have little opportunity to travel to Washington to demonstrate. The policies of the World Bank and IMF have eroded Africa's health care systems and intensified the poverty of Africa's people. These institutions must be made accountable for their role in causing the worst health crisis in human history, which Africa now faces. Africa Action has launched a new campaign called Africa's Right to Health Campaign. The campaign is based information on a new position paper, Hazardous to Health: The World Bank and IMF in Africa, published by Africa Action and written by Ann-Louise Colgan. According to this new paper, The policies dictated by the World Bank and IMF exacerbated poverty, providing fertile ground for the spread of HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases. Cutbacks in health budgets and privatization of health services eroded previous advances in health care and weakened the capacity of African governments to cope with the growing health crisis. Consequently, during the past two decades the life expectancy of Africans has dropped by 15 years. For information about Africa Action's campaign and to read the new report, go to: http://www.africaaction.org/action/campaign.htm For analysis by Salih Booker and other Africa Action staff, visit: http://www.fpif.org/advisers/booker.html For more FPIF analysis on Africa, see FPIF Africa index: http://www.fpif.org/indices/regions/africa.html Siri D. Khalsa Interhemispheric Resource Center P.O. Box 2178 Silver City, NM 88062 USA (505) 388-0208 (505) 388-0916 (fax) e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Websites: http://www.irc-online.org/ http://www.us-mex.org, http://www.americasprogram.org/ http://www.fpif.org/ , http://www.selfdetermine.org The IRC is a nonprofit research and policy studies institute; a think tank without walls. Our two main projects are the Americas Program and Foreign Policy in Focus (FPIF). ___ stop-imf mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.essential.org/mailman/listinfo/stop-imf To subscribe or unsubscribe by e-mail, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED], with your administrative request in the subject line. Or go to http://lists.essential.org/mailman/listinfo/stop-imf Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- Take the Yahoo! Groups survey for a chance to win $1,000. Your opinion is very important to us! http://us.click.yahoo.com/NOFBfD/uAJEAA/Ey.GAA/KlSolB/TM -~- Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Fw: [globalnews] EU Caving in to US on GM Food
Subject: [globalnews] EU Caving in to US on GM Food (From Le Monde Diplomatique) The United States wants the European Union to lift its 1998 moratorium on the import of new genetically modified organisms. This is one-sided free trading - as at the same time the US is adopting protectionist measures to help its steel industry. The EC, far from resisting, is doing its undemocratic best to help the US. by SUSAN GEORGE * The United States declaration of unlimited war on terrorism was not the only outcome of the 11 September attacks. Appealing to patriotism also enabled President Bush to squeeze a bill through the House of Representatives, by only 216 votes to 215, giving him trade promotion (formerly called fast track) authority. If the Senate follows suit, the executive will be entitled to negotiate international trade agreements without interference from Congress, which will have no power of amendment. Congress will have to accept or reject the texts as they stand, and outright rejection is unlikely. Without such authority, it is argued, US negotiators lack credibility, as their partners will fear negotiated agreements may be vitiated by Congressional amendments. With Congress still to take its final decision, the ministerial conference of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), held last November in Doha, Qatar, was another slap in the face for the opponents of neo-liberal globalisation and a success for the business lobby. It launched a new round of comprehensive negotiations, called the Doha Development Round, to take over from the Millennium Round that failed in Seattle in December 1999. Of the areas it covered, the environment is probably the most sensitive in the immediate future. Mention of the environment in the final declaration of the Doha conference was mainly due to pressure from the European Union, backed by Japan, Norway and Switzerland. India was strongly opposed to it, followed by most of the developing countries and the US. But the cost of securing a mention of the environment was very high. This was because of the inclusion of an important rider making the results of future negotiations on compatibility between WTO rules and multilateral environmental agreements binding only on countries that have already signed MEAs - which is reason enough for all countries to follow the example of the US and not sign, or renege. It was also because, totally contradicting the stated aims, there is a risk of the WTO gaining the upper hand over MEAs. And that is just what big businesses, especially biotech firms, hope for. Pascal Lamy, the European commissioner for trade, shares this perspective. Before the signing of the Doha declaration, he wrote to his friend Robert Zoellick, the US trade representative: You have informed me of your government's deep concern that Europe might use the negotiations decided on in Doha to justify illegitimate barriers to trade, particularly trade in biotechnological products and application of the commercial clauses of present or future multilateral agreements on biosecurity. As the European Commission's negotiator, I am writing to assure you that will not be the case. I can also assure you I shall not use the negotiations to change the balance of rights and obligations within the WTO with regard to the precautionary principle (1). The last sentence speaks volumes. It means that there is no question of the EU calling for the precautionary principle to be strengthened, no question of the EU demanding that the burden of proof in biosecurity be reversed. So any country or group of countries not wishing to import a given product (like the EU and hormone-treated beef) will continue to be required to prove that the product is dangerous. And the exporter will still be exempt from any obligation to prove it is harmless. This was no doubt the return demanded by Washington for its agreement to mention the environment in the declaration. The EU's capitulation on this issue may soon impact genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Lamy's consideration for the US is not entirely reciprocated. Barely a month after Doha, Zoellick announced that the Bush administration was considering filing a complaint about Europe's alleged delays in authorising imports of new GMOs, and its directives about traceability and labelling. The EU has effectively maintained a moratorium on the import of new GMOs since 1998. In fact, the measures on traceability and labelling put to the EU council and the European parliament last July, not yet implemented, are the commission's chosen method of opening the door to new imports. By enabling Europe's consumers to choose between products that do or do not contain GMOs, the EU is attempting to make its policy acceptable. But the US remains adamant: it is not prepared to countenance a moratorium or rules on traceability and labelling. GMOs are harmless. End of story (2). At present
OFF or Rel: Kuan Yin
KUAN YIN Avalokitesvara Boddhisattva By Lin Sen-shou Often seen alone or next to a statue of Amitabha Buddha, Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva--in Chinese also known as Kuan Yin, the Goddess of Mercy--is the most popular and most venerated Buddhist figure besides Amitabha Buddha and Sakyamuni Buddha. A popular Chinese saying illustrates this aspect: Everyone knows how to chant Amitabha Buddha, and every household worships Kuan Yin. Why is this bodhisattva popular in so many Chinese families? It may be because Kuan Yin is represented as a female with an appearance that embraces the qualities of compassion and motherly love. In addition, because many Buddhist scriptures state that one can invoke Kuan Yin's assistance by simply calling out her name, people feel that this bodhisattva is very approachable. According to the Huayen Sutra (Buddha-vatamsaka-mahavaipulya Sutra), Kuan Yin uses all kinds of ways to attract people: she makes gifts, uses words of love, and transforms herself into persons like those that she deals with. The Universal Gateway chapter in the Lotus Sutra lists thirty-two typical forms in which Kuan Yin may appear. For instance, if a boy or girl is about to gain some enlightenment, Kuan Yin transforms herself into a boy or a girl to teach the child. If a monk is about to attain some enlightenment, Kuan Yin transforms herself into a monk. In short, she can appear as a monk, a nun, a king, a minister, a celestial being, or a normal person like you and me. The purpose of such transformations is to make people feel close to her and willing to listen to her words. I am cultivating this method of great compassion and hope to save all living beings, Kuan Yin said. Any living being who calls my name or sees me will be free from all fear and danger. I will activate that being's spiritual awareness and maintain it forever. Sakyamuni Buddha confirmed Kuan Yin's vow: If a suffering being hears the name of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva and earnestly calls out to the bodhisattva, Avalokitesvara will hear the call and redeem that being from his suffering (Universal Gateway, Lotus Sutra). In other words, this bodhisattva's main attraction for people lies in her efforts to eliminate suffering and to make people live in peace and harmony. This kind of immediate benefit and the ability to receive protection or help simply by calling the bodhisattva's name, similar to children receiving an instant reply when calling their mother, have contributed to Kuan Yin's great popularity.
Fw: [globalnews] Message from Babaji
From Babaji's 1984 Speech: Love and serve all humanity. Help everyone. Be happy, be courteous. Be a dynamo of irrepressible joy. Recognize God and goodness in every face. There is no saint without a past and no sinner without a future. Praise everyone. If you cannot praise someone, let them out of your life. Be original, be inventive. Be courageous. Take courage again and again. Do not imitate, be strong, be upright. Do not lean on the crutches of others. Think with your own head. Be yourself. All perfection and every divine virtue are hidden within you. Reveal them to the world. Wisdom, too, is already within you. Let it shine forth. Let the Lord's grace make you free. Let your life be that of the rose. In silence, it speaks the language of fragrance. ... Be the change you want to see in the world. -- Mahatma Gandhi
Re: OFF Re: religion vs ethnicity ( Americans Support Cutting Aid to Israel)
Thank you for your thoughtful reply feedback Stephen. I will screen the posts more carefully before sending them on. I am aware that many on this list work very hard and care very deeply about what they do often with little material reward from the culture, but much in the way of personal and spiritual reward. Perhaps, my main intent is to present these pieces in order to remind us that in our ag work, we can call upon all the intelligences of the world to work with us for peace. Injustice in any form, in any part of the world calls out for Love and healing. Blessings, Jane
Fw: [globalnews] Earth Day 2002: Where Has All the Fire Gone?
Healing Our World: Weekly Comment By Jackie Alan Giuliano, Ph.D. Earth Day 2002: No Time for Craft Fairs Where have all the flowers gone? Long time passing. Where have all the flowers gone? Long time ago. Where have all the flowers gone? Young girls picked them, every one. Oh, when will they ever learn? Oh, when will they ever learn -- Pete Seeger Compassion is sometimes the fatal capacity for feeling what it is like to live inside somebody else's skin. It is the knowledge that there can never really be any peace and joy for me until there is peace and joy finally for you too. -- Frederick Buechner The list of events planned around the U.S. for Earth Day 2002 is chilling. While tens of thousands of people die from soil, air, and water poisoned with pesticides and scores of toxic chemicals, craft fairs, discussion groups, and lectures will be held. Lost is the passion and sense of urgency that heralded in the first Earth Day 32 years ago. The 32nd Earth Day this year will mark an unprecedented time resource consumption and environmental violence against the Earth and our health. On Earth Day this year, while speeches, conversations and trinket sales take place: a.. 603 people worldwide will die from exposure to pesticides and countless more will suffer serious health threats from chronic exposure b.. 5,400 to 11,000 children will die from diarrhea from polluted drinking water c.. 27,000 children will die from curable infectious diseases d.. 164 babies will be born that are effected by mercury poisoning because their mothers ate contaminated fish - while government agencies recommend that pregnant women eat several servings of fish each week e.. Over 103,000 animals will be killed for fur coats f.. Nearly 2 million gallons of engine oil will be poured down the drain and will enter our nation's waterways g.. Over 41 million pounds of trash will be dumped at sea worldwide. About 77 percent of all ship waste comes from cruise ships. h.. Over 3 million pounds of hydrocarbons will be released into the atmosphere just from jet skis, lawn mowers, boat engines, and other 2-cycle motors i.. At least 1200 gallons of oil and fuel will leak from aging and malfunctioning pipelines in the U.S., polluting groundwater, lakes, rivers, oceans and soil. j.. 313 million gallons of fuel, enough to drain 26 tractor-trailer trucks every minute, will be used in the U.S. k.. 18 million tons of raw materials will be taken from U.S. soil l.. Miscarriages will continue to take place among women of the Shoalwater Bay Tribe in Washington State, possibly from pesticide contamination in cranberry bogs. Earth Day has become a time when the right wing corporate, industrial, and political leaders probably rejoice in the passivity of the population. Of course, there are exceptions and a number of groups throughout the nation will be mindful of the significance of the day. Gaylord Nelson, former Senator from Wisconsin who also served as Wisconsin's Governor (Photo courtesy The Wilderness Society) But the first Earth Day in 1970 saw an estimated 20 million people across the nation participating in peaceful demonstrations that called attention to our environmental dilemmas. Senator Gaylord Nelson and activist attorney Denis Hayes organized it as a nationwide teach-in about the environment. Over 10,000 grade schools, 2,000 colleges, and 1,000 communities participated, sending a strong message to political leaders that the environment was part of everyone's lives and needed attention. What happened to the grand expectations we had at the first Earth Day, 32 years ago? Senator Nelson said the purpose of Earth Day was to shake up the political establishment and force this issue onto the national agenda. It was a gamble, he recalls, but it worked. There is no gamble any longer. Earth Day is hardly controversial or threatening to anyone. Some would argue that although many people are more aware of environmental issues today than in 1970, little has been done to stem the tide of environmental destruction in a world where economic growth outweighs planetary health. If anything, the destruction is happening at a greater level than ever before. It is often less visible because industry leaders and politicians know how to keep things quieter with the help of well paid public relations firms. The first Earth Day's message was heard and in the few years that followed, sweeping environmental legislation was enacted including the Endangered Species Act, The Federal Clean Air Act, the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, the Toxic Substances Control Act, and the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency. It was a powerful time of reawakening and it appeared, for
Fw: [globalnews] April 20 Anti-war Protests Overwhelm Expectations
April 20 Anti-war Protests Overwhelm Expectations Don Hazen, AlterNet April 22, 2002 Huge anti-war demonstrations on Saturday in Washington, San Francisco, Seattle, Boston, Salt Lake City and Houston turned out considerably more people than organizers and police authorities expected. District of Columbia Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey estimated that 75,000 marched in Washington, while estimates in San Francisco varied between 30,000 and 50,000. The size, energy and peacefulness of the marches was a big boost to progressive forces across the country who have been very much on the defensive in the post-9/11 period. Saturday was inspiring evidence that there is enormous grassroots opposition to the Bush agenda of endless war at home and abroad, said Terra Lawson-Remer, one of the D.C. organizers. The gatherings, by far the biggest in the U.S. since the Sept. 11 attacks, focused on an array of progressive grievances -- the undermining of civil liberties, questions about U.S. foreign policy in Afghanistan and Colombia, as well as the effects of corporate globalization around the world. But the protesters' most powerful message was their anger about Israel's repression in the West bank. Chants of Stop the occupation now and We are all Palestinians today emanated from the marchers, and the black, red, white and green flag of Palestine dominated the visual landscape. Saturday's demonstrations in Washington were in contrast to the memorable April 2000 actions in Washington, when protests against the World Bank and International Monetary Fund led to a virtual shutdown of the downtown area. At that time there were pitched clashes between police and demonstrators, and many hundreds were arrested. In this weekend's protests, separate events with differing goals were held on Saturday morning, but in the afternoon, everyone -- despite some differences in strategy and tactics -- came together to create a huge and peaceful crowd. According to the Washington Post, Chief Ramsey praised the decorum of Saturday's demonstrations. The organizers did an outstanding job, said Ramsey, baton in hand as he watched thousands file past the Justice Department building. This is really what protests ought to be. The San Francisco four-hour protest caused widespread gridlock. It's one of the biggest protests in the past five years, San Francisco Police Commander Greg Suhr told Jim Herron Zamora of the San Francisco Chronicle. It's not often that you see one where a crowd has formed in the Civic Center but there are still people in Dolores Park who haven't started marching. The San Francisco demonstration was billed as a march against the real axis of evil: war, racism, poverty. But clearly, support for the Palestinian cause transcended the other issues. The march included many Americans of Palestinian descent, as well as immigrants from other Arab countries who became politically active after the Sept. 11 attacks. One protester, Riad Morrar, immigrated from Egypt 27 years ago, and now owns a technology company in the Sacramento area. There is nothing else I can do but tell President Bush: 'You are wrong. Stop killing my people,' Morrar told the San Francisco Chronicle, as he marched with his wife and four children. I spent 20 years avoiding the news, avoiding conflict. It is too depressing, said Kais Menoufy, another Egyptian immigrant at the march. I love America. But I'm embarrassed and angry that my country is supporting genocide. According to Herron Zamora, the oldest marcher in San Francisco was probably Dave Smith, an 89-year-old member of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, an American group opposing nationalists in the Spanish Civil War from 1936-39. I am proud to fight fascism and oppression, whether it's in Spain, Nazi Germany or Israel, said Smith. The youngest demonstrator might have been Hanif Amanullah, a four-month-old from Oakland who slept in his father's arms. I'm marching for this little guy, said Shahed Amanullah. I want him to grow up in a world without this kind of violence. Not everyone agreed with how the rallies turned out. Robert Elan, an inner-city school teacher in San Francisco, felt that Saturday's actions were supposed to be about war, racism and poverty. Instead of focusing on U.S. corporate corruption, the attack on civil liberties ... and celebrating the environmental victories just before Earth Day, the multi-issue demonstration was dominated by solidarity with the Palestinian people, he explained. Palestinian Independence took the front seat and relegated many other important issues to the back seat. By doing so, the rally de-emphasized domestic issues and the problems associated with globalization. I believe this was a missed opportunity. Some people are calling this a huge success for it's large numbers. I think it was rather a failure for its impact. Nevertheless, as John Nichols wrote for TheNation.com, the size of the protests is notable because they come at a time when most
Re: Sub Info For GlobalNews Mailing List
GlobalNews is a private mailing list devoted to discussion of the issues, news and events that are creating tomorrow's news today. Geo-politics, global financial markets, electronic commerce, the Internet, environmental concerns and spiritual transformation at the Millennium. Members only, with messages distributed directly to the group. This means the host Curtis Lang is not pre-screening messages, although that may change as the needs of the group change over time. For now, let's treat this as a chat in Curtis' living room and maintain decorum suitable for that milieu. Curtis will send interesting and thought provoking material from various sources for discussion. It is hoped that other members of the group will also send information they feel is of importance and generally ignored by the mainstream news media. To subscribe, send an empty message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Once you've subscribed, you can go to the website, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/globalnews, and click on Edit my membership in the upper right hand corner. This will take you to a page where you can choose to enable web access to the archive, but you will receive no more emails. Or you can choose to receive digest or individual emails. This way you can go when you want and read what you want. To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Group Moderator: [EMAIL PROTECTED] - Original Message - From: Allan Balliett [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, April 23, 2002 9:07 AM Subject: Re: OFF Re: religion vs ethnicity ( Americans Support Cutting Aidto Israel) Jane - Howabout posting the subscription info for Global News?
Re: OFF Re: religion vs ethnicity ( Americans Support Cutting Aid to Israel)
Dear Members of Bdnow, It seems highly appropriate on Earth Day today to address this issue. Perhaps I should be adding the OFF preface to these forwarded posts from GlobalNews Mailing List. I find the situation in theMiddle East highly offensive in the sense that there are people on both sides there who are suffering because of their outmoded beliefs, practices or fundamentalist zeal. I am not starting a personal political discussion, Stephen, but am sending out already published articles by media organizations. Is there some way to practice spiritual agriculture on earth, anywhere on earth, in a void or vacuum where we ignore the incendiary desperate plight of our brothers and sisters? Agriculture in this country is certainly a highly charged politically determined profession. Are you happy to garden in your part of the world while the elementals, devas, nature spirits are also under attack along with the human and animal residents? Does this situation not inspire you to send as much loving energy as possible? I do not apologize for sending in reports which show both perspectives, especially the least reported perspective by the mainstream media to those of you who farm and garden. It seems to me that by being so close to nature you are in the priveleged position to send out your fervent prayers directly to the earth and sky spirits, all the loving intelligences of the universe to ask for peace and love to reign on earth. Peace on Earth and Love in our hearts, happy earth day to you all! Jane - Original Message - From: Stephen Barrow [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, April 22, 2002 12:13 AM Subject: OFF Re: religion vs ethnicity ( Americans Support Cutting Aid to Israel) I'd like to add my voice to this request at keeping this group orientated towards agriculture in general and BD in particular. I have found recent politically orientated posts highly offensive, have written replies, but have then had second thoughts as I would not wish to offend others. Those who want the globalnews indoctrination can subscribe to it in their own space and time. So, please, cut the politics. Stephen Barrow
FES query
Hello all, do any of you work with or know anything about Flower Essence Services? http://www.fesflowers.com/index.htm thanks for any feedback. Jane
Fw: [globalnews] What happened at Jenin
The Economist What happened at Jenin Under the rubble of the refugee camp Apr 18th 2002 | JENIN REFUGEE CAMP From The Economist print edition Reuters Picking through fact and fiction after Israel's assault on Jenin Get article background MANY facts are known, others are still contested. On April 2nd the Israeli army invaded Jenin as part of its military operations to root out the Palestinian terrorist infrastructure which, in Israel's mind, now includes the Palestinian Authority. The conquest took three days. Then the army laid siege to the refugee camp just outside the town. The camp had been among the prime targets of Israel's assault on the West Bank, along with the casbah in Nablus and the Palestinian gunmen sheltering in churches in Bethlehem's old city. Huddled on a northern mountain-side lush with cypress trees, it has long been a bastion of Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement and, recently, of Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Of the 100 Palestinian suicide bombers in the 18 months of the intifada, 23 were bred in its warren of poverty, breezeblock shelters, sloping lanes and a militant brew of Palestinian nationalism and radical Islam. The Palestinian Authority doesn't really exist here. It's the fighters who run things, said a camp resident, before the invasion. For five days Israeli helicopters and tanks relentlessly rocketed the square kilometre of the camp to soften the resolve of the 160 Palestinian militiamen holed up within it. Men aged 15 to 45 were ordered by loudspeaker to surrender. Hundreds did so. They were stripped to their underwear, manacled, hooded, beaten and finally dumped in neighbouring villages. Some were used as human shields in front of the army as it pushed its way into people's houses. Women and children were told to flee to Jenin town. By April 8th a UN official estimated that perhaps half of the camp's 13,000 refugees had gone. The army then tried to breach the camp's interior with infantry. We figured it would be a breeze, one reservist told Haaretz newspaper. It wasn't. Instead, 23 Israeli soldiers were killed, including 13 on April 9th from an elaborate ambush involving a suicide bomber, a booby-trapped house and a hail of gunfire. It was then that the army took the decision to crush the resistance once and for all. There was an intensive blitz of shelling into the camp's heart, followed by an invasion of tanks and bulldozers, tearing down everything that stood in their way. The army insists civilians were given fair warning that the thrust was coming. Palestinians say it was a massacre, with anywhere between 100 and 500 Palestinians killed, most of them buried beneath the razed buildings. Neither claim can be proved or refuted. What is beyond doubt is that the camp one week on from the invasion is a scene of devastation that has had no equal throughout Israel's 34-year conquest and occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. There is literally no house without bullet marks. Some have had lower floors sheared away by the blades of bulldozers or tracks of tanks. From one three-storey house all that is left is a stairwell, hanging in the ether, descending into nothing. This is the lesser destruction. The camp's residential core-the last redoubt of the fighters-resembles an earthquake. Vast craters have been ploughed, girdled by shored-up mountains of earth, topped by concrete avalanches of houses, offices, a restaurant. It is a massive furrow the size of three football pitches. There is a mass grave beneath it, insist Palestinians. Or, rather, say many, there was before the Israelis collected the corpses and sped them away while keeping the Red Cross, the UN and other independent witnesses firmly at bay. I saw the soldiers dumping the dead in trucks...I saw this with my own eyes, says a woman from the camp. Less disputable acounts of horror are legion. A man describes what happened to his neighbours, the Fayed family. We heard the bulldozers coming. Jamal told the soldiers they couldn't evacuate so quickly because of his disabled son. The soldiers suspected he was a wounded fighter. They pulled down the house with the son inside. That's where he's buried. He points to a mound of earth. Other Palestinians describe how, in the chaos of the assault, they had no idea whether they were supposed to stay in their homes or flee. The orders were confused, says one. Some soldiers told us to get out, others told us there was a curfew. We decided to run and were immediately fired upon by the army. I have a wife, four daughters and three sons. I haven't seen them since that moment. I don't know if they're alive or dead. Whether there was a warning or not, the evidence of the Israeli army's absolute negligence in trying to protect civilian life is everywhere. One man describes how his elderly father was shot in the head while getting water from his kitchen, six metres from the room in which his family was sheltering. The son could not reach his father for six days
Re: Drought Redux
Tony asked every single window was brightly lit. Does anyone know how the great and the good are conserving water? Yeah, great, they've asked corporate industry to cut back their usage by a whopping 15%!! Jane
Fw: [globalnews] Wesak Festival of Light April 26
Orin and DaBen, and Sanaya and Duane, Invite You to Join Us and lightworkers around the world to celebrate the Spring Festival of Light, the Wesak Festival during the full moon time on April 26, 2002 at 8:01 PM Pacific Time (San Francisco time) or 10:01 pm EST 11:01 pm EDT. Go here for information on your time zone by filling times in the table, using New York City 11:01 PM as the conversion time. Or, check your local newspaper for the full moon time. Taurus Full Moon is April 26, 2002 at: 23:01 pm EDT - 03:01 GMT (27 April) - 04:01 CET (27 April). It is said that during the full moon of Taurus, Buddha descends from his high place to bestow spiritual blessings on the world. Buddha sends to humanity the energies that are next. Divine Love and Wisdom pour into humanity, received by many Masters and high initiates. These energies are then transmitted to all those who are open and able to receive this energy. Join in this time and be one of the receivers of this energy, then let it flow out of you as you radiate it to others. This is considered one of the highest spiritual times of the year, a time when great spiritual gains can be made and where you can experience many expansions of consciousness. To join in this meditation, follow the process on the Worldwide Meditations to call upon the Great Ones during the full moon time. Receive the potent spiritual energy of light that is being transmitted. Then radiate this light to humanity. Imagine light coming from the highest realms and reaching the minds of humanity, Divine Love radiating into the hearts of humanity, and everyone's personal will becoming more aligned with Divine Will. Prepare by listening to Side 3-The Will to Initiate, The Millennium Tapes Transforming With Divine Will by Orin, if you have these tapes. You may also want to read the information about the Will to Initiate that is part of the energy being transmitted to humanity at this time. General Information about all three Spring Festivals: The three Spring Festivals are celebrated during the full moon. A door is opened wide at the time of each full moon, for two days before and for two days afterward. Through that door, we can contact energies of transformation, sent to us by the Enlightened Ones, which are otherwise not as easily available. The purpose of these Spring Festivals, which are celebrated worldwide, is to come together as a group to invoke spiritual energy and to receive the inflow of energy that we have called to us. Together we can create a unified field of thought that can telepathically reach the Great Ones, those spiritual beings who are sensitive to and responsive to this call. Their response is sent out as spiritual energy first to those who are awakened, and through these people this energy will eventually reach the minds of humanity, carrying inspiration and revelation that will lead to the needed spiritual unfoldment. The rhythm of the full moon is used to schedule these meditations as it marks the time each month when the impact of the divine energies of Light, Love, and Power are at their peak and can be registered by a group and radiated into human consciousness. Millions will be meditating during this time, creating a wonderful group energy that we will join, adding our light and love to this group energy. The remaining full moons constitute lesser festivals but are also of great importance. More information on the Three Major (Spring) Festivals and other full moon times and information can be obtained from Lucis Trust, 120 Wall Street, 24th Floor, Suite 54, New York NY 10005, USA Tel: 1 (212) 292-0707, or by visiting their website at http://www.lucistrust.org. You can request their free brochure on the Spring Festivals, and read their many wonderful articles on Divine Will. We highly recommend the books by Alice A. Bailey. ... Be the change you want to see in the world. -- Mahatma Gandhi
Re: Dandelions
are you doing anything more than preps to make the elementals happy? Jane - Original Message - From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, April 18, 2002 6:41 PM Subject: Re: Dandelions Hi Jane, we are two weeks ahead, bone dry too. We are picking Asparagus and the store is not even open yet!!! Our Quanson Cherries will be in full bloom by tommorrow, usually not until the end of April...disturbances in the elemental world...SStorch
Fw: [globalnews] WAR'S REMAINS: MINES, CLUSTER BOMBS AND DEPLETED URANIUM
WAR'S REMAINS: MINES, CLUSTER BOMBS AND DEPLETED URANIUM Wednesday, April 17, 2002 Susan V. Thompson, ed. Read online or subscribe at: http://www.9-11peace.org/bulletin.php3 CONTENTS - 1. Introduction: A Legacy of Death 2. Depleted Uranium 3. Landmines 4. Cluster Bombs 5. Take Action 6. Get Involved 7. About the Bulletin INTRODUCTION: A LEGACY OF DEATH - Afghanistan has more landmines than any other country in the world. The US spent millions on demining the country prior to 9-11, and according to the US government, no new mines are being laid in the current war. However, the US is using cluster bombs, and it is estimated that thousands of these bright yellow bomblets now lie unexploded on Afghan soil. Along with the hidden landmines, they'll pose a deadly threat to the civilian population there for years to come (and no, the US has not yet changed the bright yellow food packets to a different color to distinguish them from these bombs). The bunker busters that have been much touted for use in destroying the cave hideouts of Al Q'aeda cells also contain depleted uranium, a radioactive material that has been blamed for birth defects, cancer, and other serious health problems in Gulf War veterans. The problem is that cluster bombs, depleted uranium shells and landmines can't discriminate between an Afghan or a US soldier, between an Al Q'aeda operative or a child, between good and evil. They never get a ceasefire order or understand that a war has ended - they just keep on killing and maiming anyone who crosses their path. In a war that has generally been described as a just war, meant to help root evil out of the world, the use of such weapons seems to indicate that there is little concern about differentiating between justified and accidental targets. Also, despite repeated claims that the US military is taking pains to prevent civilian deaths through the use of smart weapons, the use of cluster bombs and DU belies a lack of concern about the fact that innocent civilians will still face the possibility of becoming collateral damage in the so-called war on terrorism long after it has moved on to other fronts. This week, we will explore the history and use of these types of weapons, both in Afghanistan and around the world, with the hope that this information will help garner support for grassroots efforts to investigate and rid the world of them. Next week: Humanitarian aid. DEPLETED URANIUM (DU): - Depleted uranium is a radioactive material that is used in weapons in order to allow them to more easily pierce armor and ground. However, there is little known about the long-term effects of the use of DU. While the idea that spreading radioactive waste around a battlefield could cause health problems may seem like simple common sense, the governments who use DU have been reluctant to investigate its effects. They've discounted anecdotal and statistical evidence that cancer, birth defects, and health problems found in civilians and soldiers are related to DU exposure. The World Health Organization's report on DU, which concludes that investigation into the effects of DU weapons is warranted. http://www.who.int/environmental_information/radiation/depluraniumexecsume.h tm Doctors at the Basra Pediatric Hospital just north of Kuwait have documented an extremely high number of cancer deaths, birth defects, and other serious medical problems which seem to have a direct correlation to the DU weapons used in the Gulf War. The controversial Gulf War Syndrome may also be closely related to the use of DU, although Canadian, US and British officials vehemently deny it. http://www.commondreams.org/headlines/091200-02.htm British soldiers who served in the Gulf War report a high number of Thalidomide-type defects among their children. http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_1122000/1122566.stm This excellent article focuses on the use of DU weapons by the Pentagon, and the various concerns about them. The article notes that it would cost billions to clean up the Gulf, although the Pentagon is maintaining that the US has no responsibility for doing this. http://www.gulfweb.org/doc_show.cfm?ID=15 Tests done by a team of American and Canadian scientists show that American Gulf War soldiers are suffering from uranium poisoning, a fact which is embarrassing for the Ministry of Defense (MoD) and American Defense Department. Both have refused to test Gulf War veterans for DU. http://www.gulfweb.org/doc_show.cfm?ID=733 DU is also a concern in the Balkans, although Balkans War Syndrome is being under-reported in the mainstream media. http://www.fair.org/press-releases/nato-du.html DU is in the bunker bombs used on Afghanistan. http://rawa.org/du.htm LANDMINES --- Landmines are a major problem in many parts of the world. They can continue to maim and kill people decades after a conflict has ended, and their removal is both
Fw: [globalnews] New York City: Garbage Capital of the World
NEWS FROM EARTH POLICY INSTITUTE. ECO-ECONOMY UPDATE 2002-6 For Immediate Release Copyright Earth Policy Institute 2002 April 17, 2002 NEW YORK: GARBAGE CAPITAL OF THE WORLD http://www.earth-policy.org/Updates/Update10.htm Lester R. Brown The question of what to do with the 11,000 tons of garbage produced each day in New York City has again surfaced, this time with Mayor Michael Bloomberg's budget, which proposes to halt the recycling of metal, glass and plastic to save money. Unfortunately, this would mean more garbage to dispose of when the goal should be less. The city's garbage problem has three faces. It is an economic problem, an environmental challenge, and a potential public relations nightmare. When the Fresh Kills landfill, the local destination for New York's garbage, was permanently closed in March 2001, the city found itself hauling garbage to distant landfill sites in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Virginia--some of the sites 300 miles away. Assuming a load of 20 tons of garbage for each of the tractor trailers used for the long-distance hauling, some 550 rigs are needed to move garbage from New York City each day. These tractor trailers form a convoy nearly nine miles long, impeding traffic, polluting the air, and raising carbon emissions. This daily convoy led Deputy Mayor Joseph J. Lhota, who supervised the Fresh Kills shutdown, to say that getting rid of the city's trash is now like a military-style operation on a daily basis. Instead of rapidly reducing the amount of garbage generated as Fresh Kills was filling, the decision was made simply to haul it all elsewhere. Fiscally strapped local communities in other states are willing to take New York's garbage--if they are paid enough. Some see it as a bonanza. For the state governments, however, that are saddled with increased road maintenance costs, the arrangement is not so attractive. They also have to contend with the traffic congestion, noise, increased air pollution, and complaints from nearby communities. Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore wrote to Mayor Rudy Giuliani in 2001 complaining about the use of Virginia as a dumping ground. I understand the problem New York faces, he noted. But the home state of Washington, Jefferson and Madison has no intention of becoming New York's dumping ground. The new governor of Virginia, Mark Warner, proposed in early April 2002 a tax of $5 per ton on all solid waste deposited in Virginia. This is expected to generate an annual cash flow of $76 million for the Virginia treasury, but it will not help New York with its economic woes. In Pennsylvania, the General Assembly is considering legislation that would restrict garbage imports from other states. As landfills in adjacent states begin to fill up, there will be progressively fewer sites to take New York's garbage, pushing disposal costs ever higher. Landfilling garbage uses land. For every 40,000 tons of garbage added to a landfill at least one acre of land is lost to future use. A large surrounding area is also lost as the landfill with its potentially toxic wastes must be isolated from residential areas. Mayor Bloomberg's office has proposed incineration as the solution to the garbage mess. But burning 11,000 tons of garbage each day will only add to air pollution, making already unhealthy city air even worse. Like hauling the garbage to distant sites, incineration treats the symptoms, not the causes of New York's mountain of garbage. The amount of garbage produced in the city is a manifestation of a more fundamental problem--the evolution of a global throwaway economy. Throwaway products, facilitated by the appeal to convenience and the artificially low cost of energy, account for much of the garbage we produce. (See Chapter 6 of Eco-Economy http://www.earth-policy.org/Books/index.htm) It is easy to forget how many throwaway products there are until we actually begin making a list. We have substituted facial tissues for handkerchiefs, disposable paper towels for hand towels, disposable table napkins for cloth napkins, and throwaway beverage containers for refillable ones. In perhaps the ultimate insult, the shopping bags that are used to carry home throwaway products are themselves designed to be discarded, becoming part of the garbage flow. The question at the supermarket checkout counter, Paper or plastic? should be replaced with, Do you have your canvas shopping bag with you? The challenge we now face is to replace the throwaway economy with a reduce/reuse/recycle economy. The earth can no longer tolerate the pollution, the energy use, the disruption from mining, and the deforestation that the throwaway economy requires. For cities like New York, the challenge is not so much what to do with the garbage as it is how to avoid producing it in the first place. New York recycles only 18 percent of its municipal waste. Los Angeles recycles 44 percent and Chicago 47 percent. Seattle and Minneapolis are both near 60 percent recycling
Fw: Prominent Israeli MP calls it 'barbarism'
Prominent Israeli MP accuses Sharon of 'barbarism' [In the most dramatic and forceful statement by a Jewish government official to date, a British MP sharply denounced the Sharon government and expressed a surprisingly nuanced understanding of the dynamics of the Israel-Palestine conflict. Gerald Kaufman, a long-time Labour Party MP and self-described friend of Israel loudly proclaimed that the Star of David represents all Jews and not Sharon's repulsive government. He roundly rips Sharon, whom he had the insight to label a war criminal, as well as offering a voice of reason on the subject of suicide bombings. While unequivocally denouncing such attacks, he asks the reasonable questions of what would happen if we were occupied for 35 years, and raises the key questions of how Zionist fighters behaved in the 1940s with such acts as the bombing of the King David Hotel and the massacre at Deir Yassin. He also points out that another difference is that Israel is a state and that it needs to be held to the standards of an independent state. He says, The difference between the Deir Yassin massacre and what happened in Jenin is that Deir Yassin was the work of terrorist groups denounced by mainstream Jewish groups. The horrors in Jenin were carried out by the official Israeli army. One may hope that such a powerful statement, from a prominent Jewish official in a major Western state may inspire other Jews the world over to finally speak out against what is happening in our names. - MP] http://politics.guardian.co.uk/foreignaffairs/story/0,11538,685658,00.html MP accuses Sharon of 'barbarism' All sides condemn West Bank incursions Nicholas Watt, political correspondent Wednesday April 17, 2002 The Guardian The veteran Labour MP and prominent Jewish parliamentarian, Gerald Kaufman, yesterday launched a ferocious attack on the Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, denouncing him as a war criminal who was staining the Star of David. Speaking in a Commons debate on the Middle East crisis, in which MPs from across the house condemned Israel's incursions into the West Bank, Mr Kaufman likened Mr Sharon's tactics to the actions of Zionist terrorists in Palestine in the 1940s. In an emotional speech, in which he described himself as a lifelong friend of Israel, the former shadow foreign secretary said: Sharon has ordered his troops to use methods of barbarism against the Palestinians ... It is time to remind Sharon that the Star of David belongs to all Jews and not to his repulsive government. His actions are staining the Star of David with blood. The Jewish people, whose gifts to civilised discourse include Einstein and Epstein, are now symbolised throughout the world by the blustering bully Ariel Sharon, a war criminal implicated in the murder of Palestinians in the Sabra-Shatila camp and now involved in killing Palestinians once again. To nods of approval from MPs, Mr Kaufman condemned Palestinian suicide bombers. But he added that it was important to ask why Palestinians resort to such tactics. We need to ask how we would feel if we had been occupied for 35 years by a foreign power which denied us the most elementary human rights and decent living conditions. Mr Kaufman then likened the suicide bombers to the Zionist Irgun and Stern gangs, which launched a series of terrorist attacks in Palestine in the run-up to the creation of the state of Israel in 1948. We need to ask what the Jews did in comparable circumstances, he said. In 1946 the Irgun controlled by Menacham Begin blew up the King David hotel in Jerusalem, slaughtering 91 innocent people. In 1948 the Palestinians denounced what they described as a massacre in the village of Deir Yassin ... The difference between the Deir Yassin massacre and what happened in Jenin is that Deir Yassin was the work of terrorist groups denounced by mainstream Jewish groups. The horrors in Jenin were carried out by the official Israeli army. A Blair loyalist, Mr Kaufman warned that Mr Sharon's conduct had made it impossible for Britain and the United States to take action against Iraq. To do so would unite the whole Muslim world against the US, the coalition against terrorism would disintegrate, western economies could suffer a shock comparable to the oil shock of 1973. Mr Kaufman's attack on the Israeli government were echoed across the chamber. The former Tory cabinet minister, John Gummer, said that a fundamental distinction should be drawn between the actions of the Israelis and that of the Arabs. Israel is a state, with the trappings of a state which claims the legitimacy of a state and the more that it rightly claims that legitimacy, the more it has to be judged by the standards of a state and the standards of democracy, he said. Amid such a serious Middle East crisis it was irresponsible of Washington to take such a tough stance against Iraq, Mr Gummer warned. He criticised the kind of approach that says that we judge what is in our self-interest and our
Fw: Another death of a high ranking scientist
Gene Mallove, editor of Infinite Energy, was asked if he knew anything about Dr. Brown's death. He said: Yeah, Paul Brown who we knew well and had featured in IE was drag racing, informally, and was killed and a tragic accident. We'll have an obit in the next issue. Also, my husband remembers people on the Vortex list talking about his death and several who knew him personally attested that he like to drag race and that this was a very believable and likely cause of death. Nadine
Re: Dandelions
Hi Steve all, Am I mistaken, or are these dandies violet blooms way early? Much in my so called spring garden looks about to bolt (chives, turnip greens that overwintered are in full bloom, my anise hyssop is already inches tall, the lemon balm fragrant, the roses way behind!) This week hitting 90's in NYC and the burbs after just a couple of weeks ago it was so cold we were finishing up the indoor firewood just to warm the house! Can't believe it's almost time to make violet syrup and dandelion wine already!! Which reminds me, my wine was not so great last year. Anyone with any recipes they'd like to share? Each night I pray for peace and balance! Blessings in these strange times! Jane - Original Message - From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, April 17, 2002 2:22 PM Subject: Dandelions I have accumulated about five gallons of dried dandelion blooms for making the 506 remedy. They won't let me be, everyplace I walk they pull me dowm to pick them. Bullseyes are fat and juicy. Anybody else on the list practicing any biodyn??? SStorch
Fw: 'I Just Can't Go On,' Ex-Officer Wrote
See the The Harris County Medical Examiners Office.. para below. It appears to be the basis for what I heard Not as definitive as the TV news report ... which emphasized that homicide was still a possible finding...guru. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/12/business/12BAXT.html?pagewanted=printposi tion=top April 12, 2002 'I Just Can't Go On,' Ex-Officer Wrote By JIM YARDLEY UGAR LAND, Tex., April 11 - In a pained handwritten note, J. Clifford Baxter, the former Enron vice chairman, described himself as tormented and ashamed but did not mention the Enron scandal or whether it was leading him to take his own life. I am so sorry for this, Mr. Baxter wrote to his wife, Carol, in the note, which the Sugar Land police released today. I feel I just can't go on. I have always tried to do the right thing but where there once was great pride now its gone. I love you and the children so much. I just can't be any good to you or myself. The pain is overwhelming. Please try to forgive me. Cliff. Early on the morning of Jan. 25, Mr. Baxter was found dead from a single gunshot wound to the head. His body was discovered inside his parked Mercedes-Benz a few blocks from his home in a subdivision of Sugar Land, an affluent suburb of Houston. The Harris County Medical Examiner's office has ruled his death a suicide, though the Sugar Land police have left the case open, awaiting results on what officials described as routine tests involving DNA and ballistic information. A police spokesman said today that the case was expected to be closed early next week. The existence of the note had generated much speculation about whether Mr. Baxter had offered any details about Enron. He had retired from the company in May 2001, about seven months before Enron filed for bankruptcy protection. Former colleagues said Mr. Baxter had criticized some of the accounting practices conducted by the former chief financial officer, Andrew S. Fastow, whose off-balance-sheet partnerships later contributed to the company's collapse. Colleagues also said that Mr. Baxter had clashed with Jeffrey K. Skilling, the former chief executive, though Mr. Skilling testified before Congress in February that the two had been close friends. In the days and weeks before his death, Mr. Baxter had been named a defendant in at least one civil lawsuit filed against officers of the company, and Congressional investigators had subpoenaed him to testify. The Sugar Land police department released the note late this morning after the state attorney general ruled that it and other related documents should be made public under the Texas Open Records Act. Within hours, a state judge issued a temporary restraining order on the release of the documents after a motion was filed by Mr. Baxter's wife. The order came too late to prevent the release of the note. A hearing will be held in the next 14 days to determine whether other items, including a police report and photographs taken at the scene, will be released. Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company | Privacy Information
Fw: Chomsky on the Current Situation in The Middle East
Noam Chomsky on the Current Situation in The Middle East.. Znet Interview with Chomsky April 2, 2002 Z: Is there a qualitative change in what's happening now? I think there is a qualitative change. The goal of the Oslo process was accurately described in 1998 by Israeli academic Shlomo Ben-Ami just before he joined the Barak government, going on to become Barak's chief negotiator at Camp David in summer 2000. Ben-Ami observed that in practice, the Oslo agreements were founded on a neo-colonialist basis, on a life of dependence of one on the other forever. With these goals, the Clinton-Rabin-Peres agreements were designed to impose on the Palestinians almost total dependence on Israel, creating an extended colonial situation, which is expected to be the permanent basis for a situation of dependence. The function of the Palestinian Authority (PA) was to control the domestic population of the Israeli-run neocolonial dependency. That is the way the process unfolded, step by step, including the Camp David suggestions. The Clinton-Barak stand (left vague and unambiguous) was hailed here as remarkable and magnanimous, but a look at the facts made it clear that it was -- as commonly described in Israel -- a Bantustan proposal; that is presumably the reason why maps were carefully avoided in the US mainstream. It is true that Clinton-Barak advanced a few steps towards a Bantustan-style settlement of the kind that South Africa instituted in the darkest days of Apartheid. Just prior to Camp David, West Bank Palestinians were confined to over 200 scattered areas, and Clinton-Barak did propose an improvement: consolidation to three cantons, under Israeli control, virtually separated from one another and from the fourth canton, a small area of East Jerusalem, the center of Palestinian life and of communications in the region. And of course separated from Gaza, where the outcome was left unclear. But now that plan has apparently been shelved in favor of demolition of the PA. That means destruction of the institutions of the potential Bantustan that was planned by Clinton and his Israeli partners; in the last few days, even a human rights center. The Palestinian figures who were designated to be the counterpart of the Black leaders of the Bantustans are also under attack, though not killed, presumably because of the international consequences. The prominent Israeli scholar Ze'ev Sternhell writes that the government is no longer ashamed to speak of war when what they are really engaged in is colonial policing, which recalls the takeover by the white police of the poor neighborhoods of the blacks in South Africa during the apartheid era. This new policy is a regression below the Bantustan model of South Africa 40 years ago to which Clinton-Rabin-Peres-Barak and their associates aspired in the Oslo peace process. None of this will come as a surprise to those who have been reading critical analyses for the past 10 years, including plenty of material posted regularly on Znet, reviewing developments as they proceeded. Exactly how the Israeli leadership intends to implement these programs is unclear -- to them too, I presume. It is convenient in the US, and the West, to blame Israel and particularly Sharon, but that is unfair and hardly honest. Many of Sharon's worst atrocities were carried out under Labor governments. Peres comes close to Sharon as a war criminal. Furthermore, the prime responsibility lies in Washington, and has for 30 years. That is true of the general diplomatic framework, and also of particular actions. Israel can act within the limits established by the master in Washington, rarely beyond. Z: What's the meaning of Friday's Security Council Resolution? The primary issue was whether there would be a demand for immediate Israeli withdrawal from Ramallah and other Palestinian areas that the Israeli army had entered in the current offensive, or at least a deadline for such withdrawal. The US position evidently prevailed: there is only a vague call for withdrawal of Israeli troops from Palestinian cities, no time frame specified. The Resolution therefore accords with the official US stand, largely reiterated in the press: Israel is under attack and has the right of self-defense, but shouldn't go too far in punishing Palestinians, at least too visibly. The facts -- hardly controversial -- are quite different. Palestinians have been trying to survive under Israeli military occupation, now in its 35th year. It has been harsh and brutal throughout, thanks to decisive US military and economic support, and diplomatic protection, including the barring of the long-standing international consensus on a peaceful political settlement. There is no symmetry in this confrontation, not the slightest, and to frame it in terms of Israeli self-defense goes beyond even standard forms of distortion in the interests of power. The harshest
Fw: Before and after: what else was destroyed?
Amnesty International Report: http://www.web.amnesty.org/ai.nsf/index/mde150422002 The Palestinians must be hit and it must be very painful. We must cause them losses, victims, so that they feel the heavy price. - Ariel Sharon, Israeli Prime Minister, speaking to the press on 5 March 2002 The military operations we have investigated appear to be carried out not for military purposes but instead to harass, humiliate, intimidate and harm the Palestinian population. Either the Israeli army is extremely ill-disciplined or it has been ordered to carry out acts which violate the laws of war. Ben Welderman from CNN stated on the air todaywe feel Israel is hiding something by not letting any of us enter. 'Us' is not only journalists. But int'l relief services, Red Cross, human rights activists, Israeli peace activists, ambulances, clean water trucks, etc, etc... It is amazing how much was destroyed. Our offices were entered like all others in town by about 25 Israeli soldiers...they used [a Palestinian guard] as a human shield to go from room to room... I felt violated. RUBBLE ATTACKS TURN PALESTINIAN DREAM INTO BENT METAL AND PILES OF DUST By SERGE SCHMEMANN We started in 1994 with damage control after the occupation. In 1995 we moved to rehabilitation. In 1999 we were building new infrastructure, roads, apartments, a seaport, strategic projects, said Muhammad Shtayyeh, the director of the Palestinian Economic Council for Development and Reconstruction, PECDAR, talking of an era that now seemed ages past. Then Sharon went to the mosque. What is impossible to dispute is the calamitous setback to what had been a steady development of the Palestinian homelands. In 1999, the best year for the Palestinians, there were 20 million square meters of construction under way, $8 billion dollars in private investment, 143,000 Palestinians working in Israel each bringing home $30 a day, a 6 percent rate of growth. The Palestinian budget actually had a surplus. The airport in Gaza was functioning, the private sector had created 3,500 new jobs, industrial zones were luring large new companies. The Palestinian administration was highly functional, and delivered good services, said Nigel Roberts, the World Bank representative for the West Bank and Gaza. One of the good stories of the past 19 months was that they managed to maintain a functioning civil administration that delivered basic services, health, education, despite all the problems of delivering these services. Schools were running, municipalities were working, there was a government out there that was functioning. JERUSALEM, April 10 - Thirteen days ago, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon sent Israeli forces into the West Bank to uproot the infrastructure of terror. Since then, the uprooting inflicted by his tanks, bulldozers, helicopters and sappers has created a landscape of devastation from Bethlehem to Jenin. The images are indelible: piles of concrete and twisted metal in the ancient casbah of Nablus, husks of savaged computers littering ministries in Ramallah, rows of storefronts sheared by passing tanks in Tulkarm, broken pipes gushing precious water, flattened cars in fields of shattered glass and garbage, electricity poles snapped like twigs, tilting walls where homes used to stand, gaping holes where rockets pierced office buildings. Today, on the day after 13 Israeli soldiers were killed going house to house in the crowded refugee camp of Jenin, the D-9 bulldozer was sent in instead, erasing whole stretches of tightly packed concrete houses. There is no way to assess the full extent of the latest damage to the cities and towns - Ramallah, Bethlehem, Tulkarm, Qalqilya, Nablus and Jenin - while they remain under a tight siege, with patrols and snipers firing in the streets. But it is safe to say that the infrastructure of life itself and of any future Palestinian state - roads, schools, electricity pylons, water pipes, telephone lines - has been devastated. Even in areas where there is no fighting, the streets are largely the realm of alley cats prowling overturned garbage bins, while residents huddle behind shutters and drawn curtains. Many residents have been without water, electricity or telephones for long stretches of time. International aid and development organizations have managed to make only occasional forays into the besieged towns. Today, a convoy of cars and trucks with United Nations flags carrying emergency supplies for refugee camps in Ramallah waited for an hour at Qalandria checkpoint, and were forced to turn back at the end. The images and reports of damage and destruction have come largely from journalists who make risky forays into the towns, or from residents reporting what they see when curfews are briefly lifted so they can restock on supplies. What they see is only the visible
Re: Fw: curiosity, to share
This came from another friend's list. Can't deal with paranoia now. Antidote: Shape the compost heap! - Original Message - From: Essie Hull [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sunday, April 14, 2002 10:23 AM Subject: Re: Fw: curiosity, to share Jane - How best to explore this? I'd been wondering the same thing, and your forward was reassuring in that it gave some basis, or at least some support, to my paranoia. Essie
Fw: [globalnews] Meditation Focus # 62: Reclaiming Our Humanity
Hello, What follows is the 62nd Meditation Focus suggested for the two consecutive weeks beginning Sunday, April 14, 2002. RECLAIMING OUR HUMANITY 1. Summary 2. Meditation times 3. More information on this week's Focus --- 1. SUMMARY Following the last two weeks of utter destruction inflicted upon the Palestinian territories and the grave allegations of widespread slaughter of innocent and unarmed Palestinian civilians caused during a large-scale military operation by the Israeli army in its effort to root out those would-be suicide bombers who may be preparing other attacks upon innocent and unarmed Israeli civilians, the cycle of violence in the Middle East has reached new heights of horror that have left the rest of the world sickened by all this reckless killing, triggered worldwide street protests mostly against the heavy-handed Israeli military operations, and provoked international condemnations against all these gross violations of all human rights conventions in times of war. U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell who finally arrived Friday in Israel to try to get both parties to agree to and uphold a ceasefire, has so far been unsuccessful in obtaining from Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to withdraw his troops from the Palestinian Territories despite repeated requests from the U.S. government and several U.N. Security Council resolutions demanding an immediate halt to the bloodshed and mayhem by the Israeli Defense Forces in what would now be the State of Palestine if the now frozen peace process had succeeded in bringing peace to the region. What has been called by many a Mission Impossible is perhaps the last best chance that remains to prevent the situation from spiralling into even worst-case scenarios of war and it would seem that a quasi-miracle is now the only thing that could bring these two people to their sense, so they may finally reclaim their humanity and stop all this senseless violence that has absolutely no chance of ever solving the divisive issues that have opposed them since Israel invaded what is now called the Palestinian Territories 35 years ago. Please dedicate your prayers and meditations, as guided by Spirit, in the coming two weeks to contribute in fostering in everyone's mind and heart the true, sincere desire to put an end to all forms of violence, to acknowledge that fear and hatred will only bring everyone further away from their innate, compassionate loving self, and to endeavour to gradually build up mutual trust, mutual security and mutual appreciation in a spirit of forgiveness and unconditional love. Since this conflict is in a sense a litmus test for all humanity as to our growing resolve to peacefully settle all conflicts from the past and create a new world of justice, sharing and harmony for all human beings, along with heightened respect for the sacredness of all other life forms, we all have a direct stake in the successful completion of Mr. Powell's mission and all the successive further steps that must be taken afterwards to mend the relationship between the Israelis and Palestinians and eventually bring peace to the Middle East, for the Highest Good of All. This entire Meditation Focus is also available at http://www.aei.ca/~cep/MeditationFocus62.htm IMPORTANT NOTICE: PLEASE MAKE SURE TO CHECK YOUR NEW LOCAL MEDITATION TIME BELOW --- 2. MEDITATION TIMES i) Global Meditation Day: Sunday at 16:00 Universal Time (GMT) or at noon local time. Suggested duration: 30 minutes. ii) Golden Moment of At-Onement: Daily, at the top of any hour, or whenever it better suits you. These times below are currently corresponding to 16:00 Universal Time/GMT: Honolulu 6:00 AM -- Anchorage * 8:00 AM -- Los Angeles * 9:00 AM -- Mexico City, San Salvador Denver * 10:00 AM -- Houston * Chicago * 11:00 AM -- Santo Domingo, La Paz, Caracas, New York *, Toronto *. Montreal *, Asuncion Santiago 12:00 AM -- Halifax *, Rio de Janeiro Montevideo 1:00 PM -- Reykjavik Casablanca 4 PM -- Lagos, Algiers, London *, Dublin * Lisbon * 5:00 PM -- Jerusalem, Johannesburg, Geneva *, Rome *, Berlin *, Paris * Madrid * 6:00 PM -- Ankara *, Athens *, Helsinki * Istanbul * Nairobi 7:00 PM -- Baghdad *, Moscow * 8:00 PM -- Tehran * 8:30 PM -- Islamabad 9:00 PM -- Calcutta New Delhi 9:30 PM -- Dhaka 10:00 PM -- Rangoon 10:30 PM -- Hanoi, Bangkok Jakarta 11:00 PM -- Hong Kong, Perth, Beijing Kuala Lumpur +12:00 PM -- Seoul Tokyo +1:00 AM -- Brisbane, Canberra Melbourne +2:00 AM -- Wellington +4:00 AM + means the place is one day ahead of Universal Time/Greenwich Mean Time. * means the place is observing daylight saving time (DST) at the moment. You may also check at http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/full.html tomorrow to find your current corresponding local time if a closeby city is not listed above. --- 3. MORE INFORMATION ON THIS FOCUS This section is for those who wish to understand in more detail the situation of this week's Meditation
Re: poison oak
Deborah, I would only add that you should drink copious amounts of fresh spring water to help your body eliminate toxins. And of course, a reminder NOT to burn any poison ivy (I assume it would be the same with the oak) at all if you have cleared some off your property. Good luck for a speedy recovery, Jane - Original Message - From: Deborah Byron [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, April 12, 2002 10:28 AM Subject: poison oak I am desperately seeking advice on how to treat a worsening case of poison oak. It is day 8 and still spreading in spite of initially using homeopathic 30X Rhus Tox, an herbal tincture astringent, then on to topical applications of vinegar and aloe vera, and now, finally and reluctantly, generic benadryl (an over-the-counter antihistamine) both topically and orally. It feels like it has become systemic now, although dissolving benadryl tablets in water and applying to the affected areas has brought some relief. Has anyone out there found a successful way to treat this affliction without resorting to allopathic steroids? Hopefully, Deborah
Fw: NYC Opens Bids for Pesticide Spraying - Surprise!
No Spray Coalition News Flash -- APRIL 12, 2002 Toxified City Residents Catch a Break Congratulations! The City opened the bids this morning for aerial pesticide spraying. Lo and behold - NO ONE SUBMITTED BIDS! We believe that this was due to all the pressure brought to bear on spraying companies by the No Spray Coalition, New York Environmental Law Justice Project, and other activists through lawsuits, protests, publicity and the possibility of heavy fines, such as the $1 million fine against Clarke Environmental that we fought for and won last year. Companies, we've been told, simply felt it wasn't worth it to bid for the aerial spraying contract. One company submitted a bid for larviciding sewers and such. Chalk up a much needed victory for our side. The City could, however, reschedule bidding or attempt to pilot the helicopters on its own - an unlikely scenario, but not totally out of the question since the DOH wants to spray us this year with Scourge (Resmethrin + piperonyl butoxide + inerts). The Department of Health resorted to having the Sanitation Dept. spray us with Anvil (Sumithrin +) last year. No official word yet on what was spent monetarily nor the health and environmental consequences. In a city that has had its share of toxic overload and is trying to pare its budget, removing the millions of dollars of unnecessary and indiscriminate pesticide spraying would be a step in the right direction. Meanwhile, the No Spray lawsuit moves forward. Both sides are filing motions for summary judgment, and the Judge has scheduled a settlement conference for next week. The Mayor, thus far, has not responded to our requests to meet with him. Please check the hotline at (718) 670-7110 for updates. Finally, for those who will be at the Socialist Scholars Conference this weekend at Cooper Union in Manhattan, Mitchel will be speaking about Anthrax at a workshop on Sunday, April 14, 1:30 pm, Foundation Building room 312. This is a terrific panel sponsored by the radical philosophy association, on State Terrorism and Terrorizing Dissent. Hope you can come! Tariq Ali is speaking on an opening panel TONIGHT (Friday), and again at the Brecht Forum on Sunday afternoon at 4 pm. - Mitchel Cohen, for the No Spray Coalition No Spray Coalition PO Box 334 Peck Slip Station NYC 10272 Hotline: (718) 670-7110 website: www.nospray.org listserve: [EMAIL PROTECTED] The No Spray Coalition is funded solely by its activist base. Please contribute what you can to help sustain these efforts. Thank you. ***
Re: Learning to dowse
Joey Korn, a lovely guy and member of the Dowsers Society, is available to do one on one instruction as well as offering classes in different locations in the states. He did a presentation at one of Allan's Bd conferences, I believe two years ago or so. Missed him there, but I checked out his site, sent an email and arranged for a home visit when he was staying in Brooklyn a while back. He's a wonderful spirit, also got me Walt's book. His website is: http://www.dowsers.com/ Best, Jane - Original Message - From: Wayne and Sharon McEachern [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, April 11, 2002 7:35 AM Subject: Re: Learning to dowse Gil Robertson wrote: Hi! Lloyd, Thanks for posting that. It is probably the most used of that sort of thing. I think it could do with editing to a briefer item, but apart from that, it is fine. Gil Anyone wishing a bit of a shorter how-to on dowsing can also visit the Light Expression website at http://lightexpression.com/index2.htm and read instruction which was offered by a friend of ours -- then tuned to its finished state by Sharon and I. Wishing everyone well in their adventures Wayne *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Sharon and Wayne McEachern Expressing the Light http://www.ExpressingTheLight.com A Ministry Dedicated to the Divine Process and Light Expression Essences http://www.LightExpression.com A Divine Program for Healing and Transformation *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Re: OT HR2459
Hi Bonnie, Haven't had time to talk with my local rep. Actually, I think trying to legislate decency is a waste of time money. But as a magical act, it seems that it might insert a seed for peace in the imagination of that legislative body. Best Regards, Jane - Original Message - From: Bonnie York [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, April 08, 2002 11:58 AM Subject: OT HR2459 On Monday, April 8, 2002, at 05:59 AM, jsherry wrote: PEACE AND NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT: A CALL TO ACTION by U.S. Rep Dennis Kucinich I just talked to the local contact person for my US representative. He had never heard of the bill. When he found it, he told me that Peace Bill HR2459 is in 4 committees and 3 subcommittees. It will probably never see the light of day.His words. I told this young man,unless the people call for it. Jane, what did your representative say? Bonnie
Fw: [globalnews] US Sent Millions of Radical Islamist Schoolbooks to Afghanistan
The Emperor's New Clothes URL for this article: http://emperors-clothes.com/articles/jared/jihad.htm === BUSH THE MEDIA COVER UP THE JIHAD SCHOOLBOOK SCANDAL By Jared Israel [Posted 9 April 2002] === Have you heard about the Afghan Jihad schoolbook scandal? Or perhaps I should say, Have you heard about the Afghan Jihad schoolbook scandal that's waiting to happen? Because it has been almost unreported in the Western media that the US government shipped - and continues to ship - millions of Islamist (that's short for Islamic fundamentalist) textbooks into Afghanistan. Only one English-speaking newspaper we could find has investigated this issue: the Washington Post. The story appeared March 23rd. (A) According to Washington Post investigators, over the past twenty years the US has spent millions of dollars producing fanatical schoolbooks, which were then distributed in Afghanistan. The primers, which were filled with talk of jihad and featured drawings of guns, bullets, soldiers and mines, have served since then [i.e., since the violent destruction of the Afghan secular government in the early 1990s] as the Afghan school system's core curriculum. Even the Taliban used the American-produced books... -- Washington Post, 23 March 2002 (A) According to the Post, these violent Islamist schoolbooks, which served...as the Afghan school system's core curriculum produced unintended consequences. Core curriculum? Unintended consequences? Yes, reports the Washington Post, according to unnamed officials the schoolbooks steeped a generation in [Islamist] violence. How could this result be unintended? Did they expect that having fundamentalist schoolbooks in the core curriculum would produce moderate Muslims? LET'S BE REASONABLE Nobody with normal intelligence could expect to distribute millions of violent Islamist schoolbooks without influencing school children towards violent Islamism. Therefore one would assume that the unnamed US officials who, we are told, are distressed at these unintended consequences must previously have been unaware of the Islamist content of the schoolbooks. But surely someone was aware. The US government can't write, edit, print and ship millions of violent, Muslim fundamentalist primers into Afghanistan without somebody in high places (in the US government) approving those primers. So if the books weren't supposed to be Islamist, that is, if their fanatical content contradicted US policy in Afghanistan, shouldn't the mass media and top politicians, such as President George Bush, now be calling for an investigation? Shouldn't they be demanding to know the identity of the official or officials who subverted the *intended* US policy by flooding Afghanistan with jihad primers? Indeed, considering the disastrous consequences, shouldn't US officials and the media be questioning the very practice of violating the sovereignty of other countries by distributing millions of Islamic fundamentalist schoolbooks? Yet after a thorough Internet search we could find no evidence that any mainstream Western newspaper, with the exception of the Washington Post, or any TV station or government leader has questioned - let alone denounced - sending fundamentalist schoolbooks to Afghanistan. Quite the contrary. For example, here's what the Boston Globe (owned by the NY Times) wrote about the old textbooks: Those schoolbooks that still exist are pro-Taliban screeds and deemed unusable. -- Boston Globe, March 17, 2002 (B) This is implicitly misleading. How could Elizabeth Neuffer, who wrote this article, and who is the Globe's UN Bureau Chief, not know that these schoolbooks were made in USA? Was the UN also involved in distributing the Islamist books? Perhaps instead of hiding US complicity, she should do some investigative reporting! Other newspapers went further, lying more elaborately about US involvement. Here is the Daily Telegraph from Sydney, Australia: [START DAILY TELEGRAPH EXCERPT] AFGHAN children ran, skipped and dawdled to their classrooms like pupils everywhere yesterday for the start of a new school year -- with girls and women teachers back in class and subjects like math replacing the Islamic dogma of the Taliban. In a symbolic break from a war-scarred past, children opened new textbooks written by Afghan scholars based at universities in the US. There are even pictures of people -- images banned by the fundamentalist Taliban. - The Daily Telegraph (Sydney), March 25, 2002 (C) [END DAILY TELEGRAPH EXCERPT] By beginning the article with the irrelevant but cheery image, Afghan children ran, skipped and dawdled, etc., the Telegraph prepares us for an upbeat news experience. We
NIH Funded Parkinson's Distance Healing Study
Hello Friends, If there is anyone who has a loved one suffering from Parkinson's, they may be interested in participating in a study apparently funded by the NIH here in the US using distance healing. I know nothing more than the above. If interested contact Kathry Kass, Licensed Acupuncturist in Connecticut at the following email address: [EMAIL PROTECTED] She mentioned it at the study group of md's and alternative healers (mostly) which I attend monthly in Katonah, New York. Blessings, Jane
Fw: Healing Modalities
- Original Message - From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: undisclosed-recipients:; Sent: Tuesday, March 26, 2002 3:34 PM Subject: Healing Modalities Dear Friends, There is a bill in committee to restrict alternative healing modalities. If you are a practitioner or recipient (consumer) of the following healing modalities this bill affects YOU, as A8704 states: INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO: accupressure, asian healing practices; Anthroposophy (Rudolph Steiner methods); Cranial Sacral Therapy; culturally traditional healing practices; detoxification practices and therapies; energetic healing; flower essences; folk practices; Gerson Therapy; Healing practices utilizing food, food supplements; nutrients and physical forces of heat, cold, water, color, touch, and light; healing-related kinesiology; Healing Touch; Hellerwork; hergology or herbalixm; homeopathy; Iridology; Jin Shin Therapy; Mind-Body Healing practices; naturopathy; polarity therapy; Qi Gong; reflexology; Reiki; Rolfing; Shiatsu; Trager Approach; Heawlth; Tuina; Yoga; or any combination of such practices. In addition to the drawbacks of this legislation as listed below, please be aware that the bill, A8704, clearly states that this state legislation supercedes U.S. constitutional protections and rights guaranteed by the 5th Amendment under U.S. law if a complaint is received against any healer using an unlicensed healing modality (sic, see above list). Also, the Commissioner may issue an ORDER DIRECTING THE PRACTITIONER TO SUBMIT TO A MENTAL OR PHYSICAL EXAMINATION OR CHEMICAL DEPENDANCY EVALUATION. In other words, if A8704 is passed into law, NY State spiritual and other unlicensed healers (including priests, nuns, ministers who do laying on of hands healing) may be forced to surrender the privacy of their medical records and to submit to forced medical examinations in the case of any complaint made against them to the state regarding non medical healing modalities which do not harm!! We need calls (today and tomorrow especially) to Assemblyman Ed Sullivan's Albany office regarding bill A8704, especially if you know anyone in his upper west side district (and they can call his Manhattan office numbers). Callers should politely state their names, give an address, if asked, (especially important if they are constituents) and state their opposition to the bill as unlicensed healers and/or consumers. The bill A8704 is presently in the Higher Education Committee which Ed Sullivan chairs. His telephone in Albany is: 1518-455-5603. If you have ever done a Sun Salutation or enjoyed a massage, please call. Thanks. I send you all blessings for health, vitality and peace. xxMama Donna *** Donna Henes, Urban Shaman presents: New and Full Moon Drumming Circles and other Celestially Auspicious Occasions, Ongoing Spirit Support Group Sessions, Public Celebration Events, Life Cycle Ceremonies, Seminars, Ritual Consultations, Spiritual Counseling, Life Path Coaching, Mentoring, Reiki Healing and Balancing, Tarot Readings, and a Spirit Shop. Mama Donna, as she is affectionately known, has offered lectures, workshops, circles, and celebrations worldwide for 30 years. The publisher of the highly acclaimed quarterly, Always In Season: Living In Sync With The Cycles, she is also the author of Moon Watcher’s Manual, Celestially Auspicious Occasions™: Seasons, Cycles and Celebrations, and Dressing Our Wounds In Warm Clothes, as well as the CD, Reverence To Her: Mythology, The Matriarchy, Me. For further information, a list of services and publications, a calendar of upcoming events, and a complimentary issue of Always in Season: Living in Sync with the Cycles. contact: MAMA DONNA'S TEA GARDEN AND HEALING HAVEN PO Box 380403 Exotic Brooklyn, NY 11238-0403 Phone/Fax 718-857-2247 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.DonnaHenes.com
OFF:Fw: [globalnews] denver police raid activist files
denver atlanta are reputed to be significant reptilian centers. Published on Friday, March 22, 2002 in the Los Angeles Times Denver Police Spied on Activists, ACLU Says by Julie Cart DENVER -- The American Civil Liberties Union charged Thursday that Denver police illegally searched a local activist group's office and confiscated membership lists to include them in the department's secret files. The suit, which was amended Thursday in federal court here, is connected to recent disclosures that an intelligence unit of the Denver police has maintained files for years on protest groups. The so-called spy files have been kept on individuals and organizations since 1999 and include information gleaned from public rallies and meetings. The Police Department admitted it has files on about 3,200 individuals and 208 organizations. It defends the practice, calling it a necessary aspect of criminal intelligence. Group Labeled 'Criminal Extremists' The Denver police have no legitimate interest in keeping permanent files on peaceful protest activities of law-abiding citizens, said Mark Silverstein, legal director of the Colorado ACLU. Silverstein filed Thursday's amendment to include allegations that his clients' group was included in the files and labeled criminal extremists. The ACLU revealed the existence of the spy files last week. That brought angry protests from a broad range of civic groups. This week Denver Mayor Wellington Webb joined with the City Council in issuing a nonbinding resolution that called for a curb on police power to gather information on residents based on ethnicity, religion or politics. Webb, who claimed the FBI kept a file on him in the mid-1970s as he became politically active in Colorado, said the police had overstepped their bounds by maintaining intelligence files on law-abiding groups. Have we done an exemplary job at tempering legitimate intelligence-gathering versus collecting information on groups or organizations that do not pose a threat? I think the answer is clearly no, Webb said. The ACLU's complaint states that on Dec. 14, 2000, officers from the Denver and Golden police departments raided the offices of the Denver Justice and Peace Committee, an organization that works for social justice in Latin America. The purpose of the raid, according to police, was to obtain evidence in a case involving vandalism of a department store. Among the items taken from the offices were membership phone and e-mail lists, phone-tree lists and other rosters that included the names of 984 people. The ACLU complaint states that police used the lists to call more than 100 people and question them about the vandalism case. None of those called had any information about the case, the complaint said. Silverstein said the police selected those they called based on their political activities and associations. A Denver police spokesman did not return calls for comment. Quaker Group Was Targeted To many here, the issue is not just police surveillance of private citizens but also that many appear to be targeted merely for associating with groups or individuals that have a political agenda. According to city policy, the Police Department may only collect and maintain a file on an individual if there is a reasonable suspicion that that person is involved in criminal activity. The same standard applies to religious and political groups. Among the organizations that Denver police labeled as criminal extremists is the American Friends Service Committee, a nonviolent Quaker organization that has won the Nobel Peace Prize. Additionally, police kept files on citizens who attended events sponsored by Amnesty International, and a demonstration organized by Native American and Latino groups protesting the celebration of Columbus Day. One group the police has kept tabs on is the Chiapas Coalition, which supports the rights of indigenous people in southern Mexico. According to the police file, the group is dedicated to the overthrow of the Mexican government. Kerry Appel, co-founder of the group, called that characterization flat-out wrong. I had an idea they were keeping tabs on us, Appel said. Sometimes the government surveillance teams and police would outnumber the protesters at these events. You can always see them with their video and still cameras. But we didn't have any idea how they describe us and who they share the information with. I'm shocked and angered to be labeled as a criminal extremist. None of us have any criminal record. I don't think it makes a person an extremist to be vigorous in the defense of human rights, peace and justice, Appel said. The existence of secret files has shocked civil libertarians and activists, who also have raised the question of which other police or governmental agencies have access to the files. Mayor Webb, who had been unaware that the files existed, said an independent review of them is likely. Webb said the spy files could be audited and purged
Fw: [globalnews] Esoteric Astrology and The Festival of Resurrection
Esoteric Astrology for the week of March 21 - 27, 2002 Beams of Resurrecting Light This Sunday is Palm Sunday. Next week Passover (Jewish festival of freedom from death) and the Aries Full Sun/Moon spiritual festival occur. The Aries Festival is the first of three (Aries, Taurus Gemini) Sun festivals of the new Spiritual year (begun at Spring equinox). This festival overlays both Passover (Jewish) and Easter (Christian), festivals representing previous developmental stages for humanity and celebrated during different ages (learning stages of Aries and Pisces). Each age (2,500 years long) provides humanity with new laws, dispensations, rules, and opportunities for development. In the present Aquarian (our new age) unfoldment more of humanity will begin to embrace the Full Sun/Moon festivals which represent the new Aquarian rituals,dispensation, laws, rules, and opportunities for development. Long term readers of this column are aware that energies and forces stream into our planet through light waves. These light waves emanate from the 7 Rays in the Big Dipper, the constellations, and planets, dropping their information (encoded in light) to Earth. This reception and utilization of light is one very important and precise way humanity and Earth's kingdoms evolve. The 12 monthly Full Sun/Moon festivals are specific (and the only) times when the Earth is bathed in this special light (five days in all). During these times our evolutionary journey is accelerated. This information, little known to the masses of people, is known to those who study the esoteric Ancient Wisdom teachings (and read these columns). This week esoteric students the world over are preparing for the Aries Full Sun/Moon festival, also called the Festival of Resurrection (new light/seeds/Life of Spring), the same name for Easter. It is important to know what energies are available from this Aries Full Sun/Moon. For without this knowledge we cannot fully use, unify with, understand, and/or distribute the radiations of light available that brings more life to Earth and to all we come into contact (mineral, planet, animal, and human). During the Aries Full Sun/Moon festival the Forces of Restoration are provided. This is particularly important after the events of September 11th. During the Aries Full Sun/Moon a great Being called the Spirit of Resurrection streams forth energies into the world that lead humanity out of darkness (ignorance) into light, from the unreal to the real, from death to immortality (all dualities). We initiate a new creative work in Aries -- that of resurrecting the light out of form. An appropriate art visual responding to the Spirit of Resurrection during the Full Sun/Moon Festival are the etheric blue beams of light rising up from Manhattan's Ground Zero and representing the resurrection of the Twin Towers (Gemini) destroyed on September 11th. These beams of light, ascending from New York City (U.S. throat chakra signifying creativity) are a tribute to the spirit of recovery, renewal, and rebuilding. Sunday, the 24th is Palm Sunday with the Moon in Leo (leadership sign). On the first Palm Sunday, two thousand years ago, the first Aquarian,called Jesus the Christ, rode a donkey (commonality with the masses) into the city of Jerusalem (Jeru means city, and salem means peace) as the people waved palms (celebration heralding the coming Aquarian Age of Knowledge). Jerusalem is a state of heart/mind (where the Soul resides), the love center in the body. Jerusalem also signifies the unfoldment of peace (salem) and love (heart) in the Aquarian Age (city) through the development of knowledge. Because after knowledge is given and understanding happens, love occurs. This is Aquarian. Thursday, the 21st, begins with a mid morning void-of-course (v/c) and continues till 4:06 pm when the Moon enters Cancer. Comforting and nurturing foods will be sought. Mercury, the way we speak with each other, could create rather unempowering states of communication. We are to beware of this in order to maintain right Speech. Right Speech, with the intentions of goodwill and praise, is a quality of the Soul infused person. Friday, the 22nd, is an excellent money day (Venus/Pluto) but another day of difficult communication, especially late morning when our communication, intent on transforming situations, could also hurt and destroy. Mercury is square (challenge) Pluto. What this means is that the way we've spoken before may no longer be appropriate and we will be challenged to seek new levels of connections that regenerate and give new life with whatever and whomever we find ourselves. Silence is best. Saturday, the 23rd, is v/c all day till 9:12 pm. And Mars, which helps us initiate things but also makes us impatient and angry, could challenge the activities in our relationships. Beware of feeling aggressive, impatient, and angry. It's also not a day to initiate things due to the v/c. A day of
Fw: Spiritual Communion
SPIRITUAL COMMUNION So the lover of Earth obtains his reward, and little by little the veil is lifted of an inexhaustible beauty and majesty. It may be he will be tranced in some spiritual communion, or will find his being overflowing into the being of the elements, or become aware that they are breathing their life into his own. Or Earth may become on an instant, all faery to him, and earth and air resound with the music of its invisible people. Or the trees and rocks may waver before his eyes and become transparent, revealing what creatures were hidden from him by the curtain, and he will know as the ancients did of dryad and hamadryad, of genii of wood and mountain. Or earth may suddenly blaze about him with supernatural light in some lonely spot amid the hills, and he will find he stands as the prophet in a place that is holy ground, and he may breathe the intoxicating exhalations as did the sibyls of old. Or his love may hurry him away in dream to share in deeper mysteries, and he may see the palace chambers of nature where the wise ones dwell in secret, looking out over the nations, breathing power into this man's heart or that man's brain, on any who appear to their vision to wear the colour of truth. So gradually the earth lover realizes the golden world is all about him in imperishable beauty, and he may pass from the vision to the profounder beauty of being, and know an eternal love is within and around him, pressing upon him and sustaining with infinite tenderness his body, his soul and his spirit. GEORGE WILLIAM RUSSELL ... Be the change you want to see in the world. -- Mahatma Gandhi
Fw: equinox marches on
This has been passed along so many times I do not know the original author named Maggie. It came via a member of the GlobalNews Mailing list EQUINOX 2002 Equinox is upon us, a time for celebration and joy, a time of transition. As we let go of the difficulties and intensity of the last three months, we can make the shift into the new. Yet again we stand on the threshold of somethng new. Spring is also a time of opening, cleansing and releasing and an opportunity to move into the fullness of our being, a chance to blossom like the beautiful spring flowers that are opening and eager to share their beauty and delightful smells. As I watch my daffodils and hyacinths opening and look at the early morning mist lifting from the mountains, I feel a deep sense of awe and gratitude for all that has been given and for the wonder of life. Make this time of the Equinox, today and tomorrow, one of special celebration, paying attention to the inner world. In your meditations these days, feel the transition, attune to the seeds of change and transformation and open to the joys of life. I wish you a beautiful, wonderful Equinox, love and light, Maggie Morning has broken like the first morning Blackbird has spoken like the first bird Praise for the singing, praise for the morning Praise for the springing fresh from the Word. - Scottish Irish ballad * * * * * * * * * CLEARING FOR THE EQUINOX DAWN The worst feeling energies are being experienced at this tail end of the Snake / Mars zodiacal year. All the toxic remainder of the challenging Mars year now ending is coming up to be transmuted. But great new energies will be coming in soon with the Equinox and the Spring Full Moon. Those who are more feeling based and or more tuned to world need will have been suffering most the last few weeks. The more taken on to transform, the more the suffering, the more creative energy will be coming available in the new cycle. Transforming is facilitated through prayer and fasting, singing and dancing. This is also a good time for Epsom salt footbaths and Shiatsu foot massage. The feet are the last part of the body through which psychic toxins are released. Sun in Pisces (and Pisces lunation that follows)is the time for clearing in this way. The more psychic and physical toxins are cleared now the brighter will be the Equinox dawn. The month of March is named from the custom of setting armies marching at this time of year. March is the month of Mars, the planet of vital energy, ambition and warfare. This is scapegoat season, a time when it is easier to set people against each other. Shadow aspects of the psyche always are revealed at the close of the zodiacal year. Whenever our cultural traditions and personal practices fail us in integrating the personal and collective shadow, then this shadow is apt to be projected onto others. St Patrick chasing the snakes from Ireland is a metaphor for chasing out the old Mars, an ancient pagan practice for this time in the annual cycle. St Gertrude, the saint who chased the rats from Norway, is also celebrated on Mar 17th. Mars rules Aries, the first sign of Spring. Mars also rules the last third of Pisces, the Scorpio decan with its keynote purging. The toxic residue of the last zodiacal year comes up in this time - Mar 10th to 20th - to be transformed and cleared. The old Mars represents outmoded behavioral patterns and beliefs, what drove us last zodiacal year but doesn't serve in the zodiacal year soon beginning (Mar 20th). The old Mars is going out now in this Scorpio (elimination) subsign of Pisces. This clearing and purging process will continue through the Pisces lunation, the lunar cycle that began on Mar 13th and continues until April 12th. This is spring cleaning time. The better we do our spring cleaning and clear out our closets, physical and psychic, the more good will come to us in this zodiacal year. The trappings of the old zodiacal year are now to be let go. All the toxic residue of the past zodiacal year comes up to be released during this time. Psychic toxins may appear in the form of negative and confused thought forms. Old psychic forms broken up now release energy back to the source within where it will be available for future creative expression. This process corresponds to plowing under in preparing a garden. Emotional and physical toxins always come up to be released from the system at this phase of the annual cycle. Many common illnesses are designed to help in the clearing process. Some herbs that can be helpful for internal cleansing are dandelion, milk thistle, cayenne, gentian. Mother Nature also provides aromatherapy in a timely manner. It's important now to take time to smell the flowers that bloom around us. Each scent has its special
Fw: [globalnews] German Govt: Charging for use of global commons could save resources
Edie weekly summaries 08/03/2002 Keeping you up to speed with news and events from around the world. Front Page UK Europe International News Releases Charging for use of global commons could save resources Charging for the use of global commons, such as the sky and the oceans, would reduce resource use, and cut climate change, according to a new report to the German government produced in the run-up to the International Conference on Financing for Development, in Monterrey this month. Ships achieving environmental standards would receive tax rebate (courtesy NOAA) The German Advisory council on Global Change (WBGU) suggests that charges on the use of airspace by aviation, and charges on the use of the oceans by shipping, would reduce the rapid growth in emissions from international travel. Aviation, in particular, is responsible for up to 15% of greenhouse gas emissions, and is predicted to grow so that 36% of the global population chooses to fly by 2050 - up from 9% in 1990, with carbon dioxide emissions trebling between 1992 and 2025. And yet, aviation is not covered by the Kyoto Protocol. The report also predicts that although reductions in fuel consumption would reduce carbon dioxide emissions, such efficiency will merely result in an increase in another unsavoury emission, that of NOx. Instead, a charge based on the number of users, or on kerosene consumption, or even in the form of tradable permits, would serve to limit the amount of air travel. The report recommends to the German government that the first option would be the best, as the auctioning of permits would hit political resistance, and a tariff on kerosene could mean that aircraft tend to refuel in countries not party to such a tax, also possibly increasing the distance that aircraft travel. As well as taxing aviation, the Council also recommends curbing emissions from ocean travel. Shipping is, over long distances, by far the most environmentally sound form of transportation, says the report. In particular, it is much more energy-efficient than aviation, which gives rise to up to 100 times higher CO2 emissions per tonne of freight. Nevertheless, ocean transport is still a significant source of air and marine pollution, says the Council. Such pollutants include oil, tributyl tin (TBT), and the movement of alien species around the globe (see related story). On top of this, shipping produces around 7% of all sulphur dioxide emissions and 11-12% of all nitrogen oxide emissions. In the case of ocean travel, however, charges should not be designed to reduce the amount of travel, due to its significance for world trade, says the Council. The aim is rather to create an incentive for measures to be taken, particularly in the areas of technology and environmental management, to reduce shipping-induced marine pollution, says the report. The Council recommends an annual charge, with rebates granted depending on the general and environmental qualities of each ship - and at first, be levied only on ships from industrialised nations. Finally, the two charging options, for air and sea travel, should be combined with a third scheme - that of paying developing nations for non-use of resources, known as non utilisation obligatory payments (NUOPs). Under the scheme, funds would be spent on compensating those who would have derived income from a degrading use, also assisting in alleviating poverty-induced environmental problems. One such scheme would be through the use of non-utilisation commitment certificates (NUCCs). States would agree not to use a certain minimum amount of valuable natural area, with those nations not possessing sufficient of their own, having to purchase NUCCs from those who have excess. In the run-up to the international meeting on financing for development, in Monterrey, World Bank President, James D Wolfensohn, has called on wealthy donor nations to double their foreign aid over five years, and to tear down the trade barriers that harm the world's poorest workers. The horrifying events of September 11th have made this a time of reflection on how to make the world a better and safer place, and we will not create that world with bombs or brigades alone, said Wolfensohn. Poverty is the war we must fight. I believe we have a greater chance today, than perhaps at any other time in the last 50 years, to win that war and forge that new partnership for peace. Source: edie newsroom © Faversham House Group Ltd 2002. edie news articles may be copied or forwarded for individual use only. No other reproduction or distribution is permitted without prior written consent.
Fw: [globalnews] un meditation this coming wed., march 27th
The Spiritual Work of the United Nations the Liberation of Humanity Creative Meditation - A Planetary Service in Support of the Work of the UN Wednesday, March 27th, 5:30 P.M. - 6:15 P.M. 240-242 East 53rd 3rd Floor Meditation Room, Quest Book Shop Our planet seems to many more and more like a small boat driven by a fierce gale through dark and uncharted waters, with more and more people crowded on board, hoping desperately to survive. None of us can afford to ignore the condition of our fellow passengers on this little boat. If they are sick, all of us risk infection. And if they are angry, all of us can easily get hurt. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Address to the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, Brazil, 4 February 2002 The heart centre of humanity is created by the sum total of the hearts (symbolically speaking) of all those men and women of goodwill...who are serving their fellowmen, sponsoring human welfare movements, working for the establishing of right human relations, and constantly offsetting the separativeness of the human mind through the inclusiveness of the divine love nature. The Tibetan Master, Djwhal Khul in The Rays and the Initiations by Alice A. Bailey, p. 619 Dear Friends, The Plan of Love and Light will appear as a fact on Earth when individuals willingly seek to reproduce upon the plane of earth the inner kingdom of the Soul. Within the chaos and turmoil of the daily planetary life, the voice of the Soul is as a whisper of the reeds. How to hear that voice save in the silence of a quiescent, meditative mind and heart? In the book, Infinity, Vol. I, one of the Masters of the Wisdom refers to how The beauty of Cosmos is manifested in silence. (80) In meditative silence we have the opportunity to contact and then radiate into our environment those subtle Soul energies that would transform our daily experience if we but would provide the needed dynamic conditions of disciplined individual and group receptivity. Will you join us subjectively or in person this coming Wednesday to invoke those subtle but fiery healing energies of light, love and the will-to-good that can strengthen the spiritual work of the United Nations, thus enabling the Plan of Love and Light? Prior to the meditation this month, we are most pleased to welcome our guest speaker, Dorothy Tilson who will address Our Globalization Plateau looking at how current globalization practices either are or are not advancing the Four Basic Freedoms. Ms. Tilson is a long-time member of the United Nations Association/USA and a long time student of the Ageless Wisdom. If you need a meditation form, a copy of the UN Charter or a copy of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, please let us know. We take this opportunity to once again invite you to share your ideas about the work of the United Nations and/or the Liberation of Humanity, and read/respond to ideas posted by co-workers at the following web site address: http://www.aquaac.org/UNtalk/UNtalk.html Please feel free to share this message with others who you think might be interested. If you would like to be removed from this mailing list, please write delete in the subject when you reply. Thank you. In loving planetary service, Aquarian Age Community ***Certainly not from without but from within is the spark of Divine Fire set aflame. (Fiery World, III) You are invited to visit the website of the Aquarian Age Community at http://www.aquaac.org.***
OFF: Fw: [globalnews] Something to Learn: Sex Ed in Europe Versus in the U.S
Something to Learn: Sex Ed in Europe Versus in the U.S Melissa Harris, WireTap March 19, 2002 Viewed on March 22, During the summer of 1998, immediately following my graduation from high school, Teen People sent me on a two week tour of Europe. It was an exciting trip, but I didn't go as a tourist. I was joined by 42 American experts (writers, students, educators, clinical workers, activists, politicians and clergy) and we were all there to examine the European approach to teen sexuality. European policies and programs have dramatically lowered teen birth, sexually transmitted disease and abortion rates. The annual European Study Tour, sponsored by Advocates For Youth, a non-profit organization that focuses on preventing teen pregnancy and HIV, and paid for by the Kaiser Family Foundation, encouraged participants to look deeply into why U.S. teen sexual health rates are among the worst in the world. Coming from a conservative, religious, suburban Ohio background, I saw things that shocked and surprised me. But, looking back, I realize that the trip spurred a series of important changes in my perspective that still affect who I am today. You could say the trip was my own little sexual revolution. While traveling through the Netherlands, Germany and France, I discovered that I was part of the problem. I hadn't conceived a child, or contracted an STD, or even had sex. But I was afraid to talk about it, afraid to accept my own sexuality as natural and healthy. In my journal on the first day I remember writing It's all about sex! I despise talking about my sexuality with people other than my closest, closest friends. I hope no one asks me to 'reveal a personal experience.' I will probably vomit before I say anything. Of course, I wasn't alone in these feelings. Most Americans don't talk about sex. Slowly, as I heard personal stories from other study tour participants, I started to see that it wasn't so difficult. Many of people we met with in Europe told us about the open dialogue they maintained with their children. In fact, parents were often among the first people Dutch children told when they became sexually active. When Doortje Brachen's daughter became sexually active, she says she was, Thrilled. I asked her whether she enjoyed it. Doortje was a presenter on the trip from the Rutgers Foundation, which was founded in the early 1980s by the Dutch government. Its mission is to provide special services for adolescents, reproductive care to the public and sexuality education. *** When the Dutch experienced their sexual revolution after WWII, they never looked back. From the perspective of a 17-year-old suburban teen from Ohio, sex pervaded Amsterdam's culture. In the Red Light District there was legal prostitution, a Sex Museum, a Condom Museum and coffee shops. And then there were four blocks of scantily clad women sitting in shop windows lined with red neon. Although some of these kinds of places surely exist in America, I had never seen them before, and I was left feeling very curious, and a little disturbed. But outside of Amsterdam, the cultural differences are more subtle. During the trip, we interviewed teens and families in restaurants and cafes. We also spoke with ministers, doctors, government officials and sex educators. I noticed that the same type of activism surrounding abstinence in America wasn't present in the Dutch or European rhetoric. Many of the people we interviewed, including one minister, saw the differences as tied to religion. About 25 percent of Dutch residents report practicing their religion, compared to 44 percent of Americans who say they attend church regularly. The priest I spoke with said he still encouraged youth to abstain, but admitted there was little if anything he could say or do to make teens follow his advice. But there's more to it than religious differences. In 1968, more than half of Dutch adults disagreed with the statement, Sex is natural -- even outside marriage. In 1981, this number dropped to 24 percent. In a Dutch sex survey conducted in 1990, the researchers didn't even bother to ask the question. The sale of condoms in vending machines was approved in 1969, legalized abortion in 1981 and contraceptives were covered by national health insurance by 1971. Parents begin talking with their children around 10 or 11, and not just once. There's no talk; it's a dialouge. Girls report taking oral contraceptives around age 16, even if they aren't sexually active. And in school, they start learning about their body and how it works as young as age 5. In high school, they talk about sexual responsibility, using a condom, birth control pills or both, a practice they call the Double Dutch method. The strategy is to give youth a lot of information. Information based upon research and statistics, and then to trust them to use it. In another journal entry, part way through
Re: Did Anyone Lose a Cesium Rod?
Tony-I hate to think that I could be buying a new fying pan which is just recycled nuclear waste. Gee I like to think my 'radar' would pick it up in the store long before I brought it home! Blessings, Jane - Original Message - From: Anthony Nelson-Smith [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, March 15, 2002 11:19 AM Subject: Re: Did Anyone Lose a Cesium Rod? Jane - I'm sure that the suspicions reported are well-founded, but radioactive releases can sometimes be due to plain ignorant stupidity - as in London some years ago, when a radio-source used in some sort of checking on a demolition site was taken away by the scrap merchant commissioned to clear the site of waste metal. The source was kept in a lead castle in a pit railed off and marked with the standard danger signs. The lead castle was recovered from the scrap-yard only minutes before a worker there was about to break it open. The man clearing the site claimed, apparently in all honesty, that he had no idea what the radioactive danger sign meant and that he'd been told he could take all the metal left there. Tony N-S.
Re: Gathering Chi (was re: agrisynthesis...)
Hi Chris, thanks for the memory jog! Seems like our Markess was the only one who expressed concern for tying up the resources of the tree so I guess I'll have to ask him why he thinks that? Blessings, jane - Original Message - From: Chris Shade [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, March 15, 2002 1:13 PM Subject: Re: Gathering Chi (was re: agrisynthesis...) Jane, I was figuring on the void being the universal source, but am not really sure of what terminology to use at this point. I know that it fells like the heavy energy sinks (feminine) and the light energy rises (masculine) and in the middle something new is generated (son/product) so I guess it is a life ether type of thing. As far as tree as broadcaster, the thread was called Tree as Cosmic Pipe and was around July. You yourself had a few postings. I copied a few to jog your memory. Chris First orient the tree. Say: ''In accordance with God's will and the Christ Jesus let this tree have its proper orientation in the ground for it's best possible future growth Place the vials as such: north +500 in ground +++west 501 up in tree++east 508 in ground +++south +++barrel compost, in ground The tree has an energy field that inhales and exhales in a daily rhythm as does the earth. The preparations placed in this energy field are broadcast similarly to the cosmic pipe, but in the living realm and must be assisted with real stirring and spraying. I ask my trees to do a sequential spraying for rain the week of every full moon during the growing season, it works like a charm as long as I commune with the tree's spirit. sstorch Thanks for getting this thread going Christy! And to all who are contributing much 'preparation' for thought... JS - Original Message - From: The Korrows [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sunday, July 15, 2001 2:57 PM Subject: Tree as cosmic pipe snip am thinking the preps were buried with each one in a specific direction... In light of the discussion this past week, I wonder how some pre-stirred preps might work more effectively for this type of work. I know this is a general description. Hope this helps.Christy Markess writes, can they (the trees) get all their other work done if the are tied up doing pipe work? Christy writes: I have just finished reading some talks by Manfred Klett about the preps. He makes the point that we, as human beings making preparations are taking substances as they naturally occur in nature, and combining them to bring them to a higher state of evolutionary capability. We create a seed or germinal substance. Steiner talked about domesticated animals. He said that as we properly care for them, we are allowing them to fullfill what and who they are in their evolutionary process.Some of those against keeping farm animals would disagree. They might think the animals are enslaved to humanity. ( of course we are not talking about factory farming here, but instead a biodynamic ideal.)It is a gift from the human being to the animal when the animal has this opportunity to serve. The animal also receives love in return for what it is offering. To use a tree as a tool to emminate the preparations, I can't see where this would make a tree tired. If the person involved has a loving attitude, and is working for the betterment of all life, the tree will be lifted up, as Manfred Klett talked about, to a higher stage in its evolutionary process. This is something that would not have come into existance with out the human activity.I do not talk to trees, so I can not speak for a tree nessecarily! But I do know that nature spirits want to work with us in a co creative way. I don't feel a tree has a finite amount of energy, I imagine it has a constant life force pouring out, regardless of what is burried around it. If the preps are buried around the tree, the life force pours out of the tree, and sweeps along with it what ever is in its path, on out into the atmosphere and the soil. The tree does not have to generate more life force to broadcast the preps. It all happens naturally. If anything, the energy of the preps surrounding the tree would increase the life force of the tree, thus creating a mutual magnification of positive prep energy. Christy __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Sports - live college hoops coverage http://sports.yahoo.com/
Re: Dowsing and Intuition
Hi Steve, Woody et al, I could easily be 50 projects behind based on the extraordinary advice I get. If I listen, my life improves even if it'sonly one suggestion at a time. Intuition comes in many forms: knowing, hearing, seeing, feeling, dreaming etc. Love Blessings, jane - Original Message - From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, March 08, 2002 8:42 AM Subject: Re: Dowsing and Intuition Woody, I experience this the same way. The spirits are constantly giving me messages/intuitions and it is an iindividual choice as to whether I choose to carry on or carry out the task. Sometimes they get a little carried away, I am probably fifty projects in arrears, but trying to keep up. I too dowse but like to save it for things that I can either never know any other way or thing s that would require vast resource of time and effort [ie: counting micro-organisms in compost tea} ...SStorch
Fw: Return of the Snakes Berkeley's First Annual Interfaith Pagan Pride Parade
Berkeley's First Annual Interfaith Pagan Pride Parade, 'Return of the Snakes' We are pleased to invite you to the West Coasts first-ever Interfaith Pagan Pride Parade. This Pagan Interfaith parade will draw in spiritual and artistic groups from around the State to march in co-existence, peace, and harmony. Additionally, people from all walks of life, Pagan or not, will be welcomed from across the State to enjoy a day of fun, understanding, and education. The parade will bring people of many different earth-based and polytheistic faiths together to march in pride and unity. This years theme is the Return of the Snakes, which serves as a symbolic metaphor for groups with indigenous beliefs, as well as the Kundalini life-energy within us all. Please visit our website for more information. www.geocities.com/snakeparade This parade will be held on Upper Telegraph ave, Between Dwight and Bancroft from 11:00am to 2:00pm on Saturday, March 23rd 2002. Afterwards, at People's Park, each group will have a chance to express their unique way of connecting to spirit. This is an Interfaith gathering, and the groups that are currently being invited include many denominations, such as Native American, Neopagan, Hindu, Shinto, African Diasporic, Taoist, and Shamanic communities. There is still time to get involved in the parade, whether you are by yourself, or with your spiritual community, so please register by visiting our website and filling out a brief registration form. We also have an urgent need for member who wish to be a part of our 'Guardian' staff, acting as crowd monitors, so if interested, please contact us immediately at 510-872-1188 or 510-843-0333 cell. We have been endorsed by the Interfaith Center at the Presidio (hosting 17 different denominations,) the A.C.L.U., Reclaiming, Covenant of the Goddess, and Ancient Ways, to name a few. Join us in this Wonderful celebration of pride, spirit, understanding, and unity ! Blessings, Micha Dunston Arlynne Camire Parade Coordinators
Re: Gathering Chi (was re: agrisynthesis...)
Chris, Gil, James et al, I don't recall reading on this list in discussion about trees as broadcasters that this was an additional burden on the trees. Do you recall who's post that was? Also, don't you think those tai chi practitioners are using chi from universal source, and not Nature, nor the void? Jane - Original Message - From: Chris Shade [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, March 15, 2002 1:09 AM Subject: Re: Gathering Chi (was re: agrisynthesis...) Jane, A few months back there was a discussion about using trees as broadcasters for preps and a few people wrote in their impressions as well as tree spirit's impressions and the general conclusion was that the trees had to do the work in addition to everything else they do. I was not really worried that Tai Chi practitioners would suck the life from all the trees, but that the effect could not really be dependent on good spare chi from living things in nature. Rather the practitioner must be able at some level to pull energy out of the void. Given the number of good TaiChi people in big cities, nature must not be the only source. Chris
Fw: hallelujah
- Original Message - From: Michael Roboz [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Jane Sherry/wcdev/US [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, March 14, 2002 1:03 AM Subject: hallelujah There has been a suggestion from European Anthroposophists that we should on, Easter Sunday, 12:00, local time do three time the Hallelujah. Please pass onto BDNOW, as I am not back on it yet. PL, Michael
Re: drought report from Westchester County, NY
Hi Steve, I used some when I first got it and then turned it over to Jean-Paul, since it was so much more than I could use. He looked very happy to receive it too. Saved some to use this season as well on my garden and yard. Curtis and I have been studying past life regression therapy all winter so I have been a little behind on everything else in my life, since we've been having regressions to learn!! It's been fascinating, but now I'm really worried about the drought. Your address has been sitting on my table all winter too, but I still haven't made the new batch of healing salve I want to send you along with some of my tinctures. Blessings, Jane - Original Message - From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, March 12, 2002 7:52 PM Subject: Re: drought report from Westchester County, NY Hi Jane, how is the bc I sent you??? Did you use it all??? Do you have some left???SStorch
Fw: [globalnews] A Springtime Gift
(can't tell you anything about the writer of this, but it really resonates, so I thought it appropriate esp. this time of year-Jane) The following was shared with me by a friend Lesson of the Master Peter Deunov (Beinsa Douno) given to a group of young friends on Easter, April 24th, 1927. What is the best way to celebrate Easter? Everything man possesses must be actively used, must be applied. Without such use and application, things become sour, as we say, or ferment. Feelings, for example, may ferment. Now, with you young people great reforms may be undertaken. If you are not in touch with the laws of Nature you will get the same results as the old people. You should begin with your bodies. For example, do you know the results of the accumulation of uric acid in the human body? Or the meaning of feeble breathing? And do you know the cause of inner inertness, that laziness specific to man? There is a sacred laziness in man. Men call it sacred rest or sacred repose. There should be no difficulties, no sufferings. Man desires to be silent and relaxed, to be completely inert. And thus, to you young people, I say: in order to be strong and healthy you should make use of the morning air and sunlight. For tomorrow, if one becomes sick, even a dozen doctors might not be able to improve his condition. A few years later he will have lost the chance to learn to become skillful. Diseases destroy the body. All the doctors are appointed to prevent diseases, but they have not succeeded. The life of man must change from the roots. I notice on your faces, from the construction of your blood vessels that something is wrong. Here are young people of 22 years and there is premature aging. This untimely aging is due to the accumulation of certain uric acids and poisons in the body. Besides, there is also an accumulation of calcium. The aged person dies because of dust. This calcium hardens in the human body, causing sclerosis. The arteries harden, the brain cannot think, the lungs harden, and finally the whole body hardens. Then the person passes away, Old people say that one should not think much. He who speaks this way has sclerosis. They also say, We must eat everything we find. In such cases food becomes only a source of all these morbid conditions. In order to eat correctly, the whole of man must participate: his mind, heart, his will, and each individual cell. Living nature has created the home of man very intelligently. She has made millions of windows so that prana and vital energy may penetrate, and thus the body of man may be renewed, These windows must be kept always clean, and open, not clogged. Dust collects not only on the surface of the body, but also in the inner organs through the accumulation of acids and poisons. If you do not have sensible thoughts, there are inner congestions of the cells and pores. This is the source of all morbid conditions of the body, as well as of the spirit. The first thing to do is to open the pores of the body, and this can be accomplished through water. First you learn the magic power of water. Without water no culture can exist. Do you know how much water you must use? Water is a good conductor of magnetism. When you study the different temperaments, you will notice, that the skin of nervous people easily becomes dry. In people who are skinny, evaporation occurs very easily and, as a result, moisture disappears. In people with a high rate of evaporation, a dry temperament is born. Such a person becomes nervous, restless; he cannot sleep well; he cannot think calmly. Therefore, he must use water. Besides, the water which must remain in the body must be the purest water. There are certain muscles, certain parts of the body, which must be absolutely clean. Han [?] must be clean so that this water may be filtered. The inner moisture must be always filtered. If this filtration is not properly done, all the impurities from the food enter into the blood stream, either as liquids or as gases. The gases pass through the pores and through the tissues of the whole body. Gradually, they condense and form sensitive hardenings. For this reason, water is necessary to wash away these impurities. To free yourself from thoughts about the symptoms of diseases you must think about the beneficial function of water in the body. I don't like to speak about bad influences because I don't want to leave a negative image in your consciousness, an image of disease with which might be obsessed wherever you go. But I want to tell you that in this coming season after Easter, you should go out in nature each morning and for at least one hour, breathe deeply, and take for yourself food and water, and think your best thoughts. If you want to be healthy and strong you must do this every day. When you come back, then you start serious work and study. Every one of you must do this without fail. Learn to breathe correctly, broadly and deeply. When I observe you, I think sometimes that you are
Re: drought report from Westchester County, NY
Robert, haven't you noticed how much America loves war? JS - Original Message - From: Robert Farr [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, March 13, 2002 7:43 AM Subject: Re: drought report from Westchester County, NY Latest polls - published in the media, of course, the government tool that it is - show that the public overwhelmingly supports Georgie's war on the brown-skinned peoples of the world. Who in the world were they polling??? I like Alec Baldwin's comment of last week: the tragedies of Sept. 11 were second only to GW being elected in the first place. -- Robert Farr (540) 668-7160 Check out http://www.thechileman.com for Hot Sauces, Salsas, Mustards More!
Fw: [globalnews] The Nature of Evil
NETFUTURE Technology and Human Responsibility == Issue #129 A Publication of The Nature InstituteMarch 12, 2002 == Editor: Stephen L. Talbott ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) On the Web: http://www.netfuture.org/ You may redistribute this newsletter for noncommercial purposes. Can we take responsibility for technology, or must we sleepwalk in submission to its inevitabilities? NetFuture is a voice for responsibility. It depends on the generosity of those who support its goals. To make a contribution: http://www.netfuture.org/support.html. CONTENTS: - Editor's Note Quotes and Provocations Evil Nature's Defective Xerox Machine DEPARTMENTS Correspondence Non-intuitive Computers Make for a Vigorous Economy (Ralph Barhydt) Announcements and Resources Confident Children in Complex Times Valdemar Setzer's Papers: Correction About this newsletter == EDITOR'S NOTE This, I believe, is the shortest issue of NetFuture ever published. Actually, it's the result of an issue that just got too long; the main part of that issue -- the continuation of my dialog with *Wired* magazine founding editor, Kevin Kelly -- will come out in a week or two. SLT == QUOTES AND PROVOCATIONS Evil I was raised a traditionalist conservative, and one of the rock-solid virtues of that mindset was a vivid awareness that the line between good and evil runs through every individual heart. This, of course, was why one distrusted all schemes for salvation-by-government and favored the notion of checks and balances. No excess of power should be vested in any one place, because no group of people can claim fully to have healed their own hearts of that fundamental schism. When we begin to believe that we've fingered the true locus of evil over there rather than in here -- when the battle between us and them is equated with the battle between good and evil -- then we have placed ourselves above all evil. This is to make gods of ourselves. Yes, we must resist evil in the world -- resist it for all we are worth. We must strive to represent the good against the evil. This endless, internal striving -- never wholly successful, never finished once for all -- is, in fact, the decisive thing. But when the evil turns out, after all, to be over there, the striving is no longer necessary. It becomes *nothing but* a matter of dialing in the coordinates and calling down the bombs. This is how disastrous moral reversal occurs. To focus on the evil over there is to forget its strategic alliance with the evil in oneself, and to forget the evil in oneself is to turn one's own good -- now untethered from modesty and rendered tyrannical -- into a magnified power for evil. If we follow this path of arrogance, the destruction we call down upon the world may be unparalleled. One other note: As I have often remarked, our hopes for good tend to be vested out there in the gadgets and technical machinery of our lives. This externalization of the good is the flip side of the externalization of evil. Both are gestures of self-forgetfulness. Both recast the struggle within ourselves as a purely external drama. The whole idea of technology, really, is this externalization of part of ourselves -- our muscular activity, our speech, our logical constructions. This is perfectly fine as long as we recognize these projections for what they are -- mechanistic aspects of ourselves -- and as long as we bear responsibility for them. This, however, is exactly what we are not doing when we are looking for good and evil out there. The soldier returning home from war -- and now lacking the simple moral compass provided by an external enemy -- sometimes faces a difficult adjustment as he tries to recover a place of shared and mutual responsibility among his fellows in normal society. I suspect we will face a similar challenge if ever we return home from our various technological infatuations. When we remember ourselves and look within, we never find quite the same, neatly specified virtues we have spent so much time admiring in our machines. Everything is muddier, and opposites are often intertwined. An intolerance for such subtleties seems to be one of the more sinister legacies of technology. Nature's Defective Xerox Machine The belief, long fostered by far too many geneticists, that if you record someone's genome on a CD-ROM you've captured their essence is about as sound, scientifically, as the old belief that if you take someone's photograph you've captured their soul. Actually, the latter
Fw: [globalnews] Arctic Meltdown: There will be anarchy as northern seas open up to shipping
This Week Arctic meltdown 02 Mar 02 There will be anarchy as northern seas open up to shipping THE Arctic ice cap is melting at a rate that could allow routine commercial shipping through the far north in a decade and open up new fisheries. But a report for the US Navy seen by New Scientist reveals that naval vessels will be unable to police these areas. It was in 1906, after centuries of attempts, that Roald Amundsen finally navigated the North-West Passage through the sea ice north of Canada. Even today, only specially strengthened ships can make the trip. But in 10 years' time, if melting patterns change as predicted, the North-West Passage could be open to ordinary shipping for a month each summer. And the Northern Sea Route across the top of Russia could allow shipping for at least two months a year in as little as five years. The new routes will slash the distances for voyages between Europe and East Asia by a third, and open up new fisheries. The resulting boom in shipping could lead to conflicts, as nations try to enforce fisheries rules, prevent smuggling and piracy, and protect the Arctic environment from oil spills. To complicate matters, Russia and Canada consider their northern sea routes as national territory, while the US regards them as international waters. These predictions come in a recently declassified report of a meeting of American, British and Canadian Arctic and naval experts in April last year, organised by Dennis Conlon of the US Office of Naval Research in Arlington, Virginia. Entitled Naval Operations in an Ice-Free Arctic, the report reveals that standard naval operations could be close to impossible in Arctic waters. The biggest problem is that communications satellites do not cover the area well, says Conlon. Modern ships and weapons rely on various kinds of sensors but none work well in Arctic conditions, he adds. Ice complicates the way sound travels through water, making sonar and acoustic monitoring difficult. Icy decks and high winds make it extremely difficult for aircraft to operate. Unbroken summer daylight makes covert operations harder. The US and the Soviet Union invested heavily in Arctic research throughout the cold war, because it was a place where submarines could hide under the ice, ready to surface and launch nuclear missiles. But that research has stopped and no new work is planned. Peter Wadhams of the Scott Polar Research Institute in Cambridge agrees that the Arctic could soon open up. Within a decade we can expect regular summer trade there, he predicts. New shipping routes open as the Arctic ice cap melts. Debora MacKenzie From New Scientist magazine, vol 173 issue 2332, 02/03/2002, page 5 © Copyright New Scientist, RBI Limited 2001 ... Be the change you want to see in the world. -- Mahatma Gandhi
Fw: [globalnews] U'wa people of Colombia's message regarding oil
From GlobalNews Mailing List: U'wa Traditional Authorities Cubará, Colombia, February 14, 2002 COMMUNIQUÉ TO THE NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC OPINION The U'wa Community represented by the U'wa Grand Council and the U'wa Traditional Authority, addresses the difficulties faced by our Sarare region that is partly Our Ancestral Territory established by our Highest Colonial Letters. We express our voice of protest and rejection before the national and international community against the actions of Armed Actors that destabilize the normal development of rural and indigenous communities and that in some way affect our way of life and integrity. The aforesaid permits our support of the mobilization, in a healthy manner, taking place in the Tame municipality of Aruaca, to make the demands made by the mobilized communities understood, since the Colombian people make most of the sacrifices in every sense of the word, and also demand the Colombian State that it must listen to the outcry of the Sarare and Arauca communities which is also the feeling of the Colombian People, our non-U'wa brothers from the outside world (Riowa). The United States is also financing Plan Colombia, the struggle against drug trafficking, which signifies the increase of violence in the department of Arauca, Boyacá and North of Santander and Our Ancestral Territory, assigning US $98 million to protect the Caño Limón Pipeline in Coveña, solely for having found oil in the Capachos 1 well without seeing that what Colombia needs is more investment in social, health, education and employment programs, so that we can live in Peace. For the U'wa People it is fundamental that the Ancestral and Traditional Territories are respected and conserved with a socio-cultural vision, since these give us our daily sustenance and maintenance of all living beings. The U'wa People and the inhabitants of the Sarare region wish to live in harmony with nature and within a tranquil space. The territories of Indigenous Peoples are territories of Peace. The government and petroleum multinationals are the first responsible for the social and environmental problem in the Arauca and base of the mountain region, and in second place are the actors of the armed conflict, for the dynamiting actions against the Oil pipeline that cause the contamination of water, pastoral areas and watershed basins of the Arauca River. These actions are affecting climatic changes and the basic sustenance of our communities. We have the right to freedom of expression and thought. But it is the actors of the conflict that drive the country into wars that have no reason to exist. At each step they leave havoc, misery, and the gravest thing is that they attack LIFE. These actions are on occasion unjustified and bring destruction to individuals who are the least implicated; which hurt the communities which have suffered and are the most needed in the Country. In addition, and taking advantage of this space, we want to reiterate one more time for public opinion, to Ecopetrol, the Colombian Government, Multinationals, and especially to Occidental of Colombia, that we will never step back from the process of territorial defense, and neither will we change our cultural principles as it is clear that cultures with principles have no price, which means that we will not permit oil exploration or development in our sacred territory, this is a position and thought that surges from our ancestral millenary law and our cultural principles. And if oil was found in the Capacho sector and they plan to export it, they are violating the rights of our ancestors and our mother earth, which belongs to all who live in This beautiful Blue planet. IN DEFENSE OF OUR CULTURAL RIGHTS, OUR MOTHER EARTH AND THE SOVEREIGNTY OF OUR ANCESTRAL TERRITORY. U'WA PEOPLE PRESENTE! MSN Photos is the easiest way to share and print your photos: Click Here
A moment to reflect
From: Eli Pariser, 9-11Peace [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: 11 Mar 2002 19:39:31 - Subject: A moment to reflect This is an update to you as a signer of the 9-11peace petition. If you don't want to receive any more messages from 9-11peace, just go to: http://www.moveon.org/subscrip/i.html?id=467-771276-1C3M6s2nAUTLlIzt9TuglQ Dear friends, It was six months ago today that commercial jets crashed into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and the terrible impact of those collisions continues to reverberate throughout our lives. In the days and weeks after September 11th, you joined half a million other people from around the world in signing the 9-11peace petition and urging world leaders to exercise restraint in their response. Now, six months later, we're writing to brief you on our work and to highlight an opportunity to help. The petition that you were part of was a great success. With participants form 192 countries, widespread media attention, and even a personal response from Tony Blair, we are confident that our message was heard. Since the petition, we have expanded 9-11peace into an ongoing grassroots action network. 9-11peace is now a campaign of MoveOn.org, an organization that helps people influence national leaders through the internet. 9-11peace action alerts reach hundreds of thousands worldwide; in recent months members have sent close to 100,000 emails to world leaders, made thousands of phone calls, and written hundreds of letters to newspapers. But unfortunately it appears the work for peace is just beginning. The Bush administration has declared a permanent state of war, without clearly identified goals or an endpoint, which is a threat to us all. And the international structures that can support a democratic and just response to terrorism are just now being built. Six months after September 11th, it is time for a memorial. The best way we can imagine to pay our respects is by making a commitment to creating a better world, a world in which terrorism and war are only a bad memory. We invite you to join us in this most important work. The 9-11peace campaign is supporting a group of American victims' families, September Eleventh Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, in their efforts to create a compensation fund for the families of Afghan victims. They are running a Washington call-in campaign. Can you help? Contact your Senators through the main Capitol Hill switchboard: Capitol Hill Switchboard (202) 224-3121 or (202) 225-3121 Make sure their staffers know you're a constituent. Then urge them to: Please support September Eleventh Families for Peaceful Tomorrows by enacting a Afghan Victims Compensation Fund. Please let us know you're making these vital calls, at: http://www.moveon.org/callp.html?id=467-771276-1C3M6s2nAUTLlIzt9TuglQ The US military response has lead to the deaths of many innocent Afghan civilians -- perhaps thousands of them. For their families, circumstances could not be more dire. Those whose homes have been leveled now live in houses made of scraps of metal; food is scarce and the winter is extremely cold. September Eleventh Families for Peaceful Tomorrows is urging Congress to set up an Afghan Victims Compensation Fund that would provide money for bare necessities for these families. Further information is attached below. Over 25 members of Congress have expressed their sympathy and support for the idea of a compensation fund for innocent Afghan victims when Peaceful Tomorrows members met with them in late January. Now they need to hear from you. Sincerely, - Eli Pariser The 9-11peace Campaign MoveOn.org March 11, 2002 For more information on the 9-11peace Campaign, please visit: http://9-11peace.org/ - A MESSAGE FROM SEPTEMBER ELEVENTH FAMILIES FOR PEACEFUL TOMORROWS Peaceful Tomorrows is a group of family members of September Eleventh victims who are working for peace. Six months ago members of our families and thousands of other innocents lost their lives in the attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and on Flight 93. The loss of innocent lives continues -- it has now been over five months since the beginning of US military action in Afghanistan in which other families have also suffered. Yet there is no official acknowledgment that innocent Afghan civilians have been killed or maimed in the bombing. While the number of civilian casualties is unclear, estimates range from 1,000 to 4,000 people. The innocent victims in Afghanistan who lost their lives during the U.S. air strikes deserve our compassion and support. Out of our concern for our Afghan sister families, four Peaceful Tomorrows members traveled to Afghanistan in January with Global Exchange visiting dozens of grieving and devastated Afghan families. Many of the families of those who were killed or injured by US bombs are living in dire economic straits. We returned from our visit
Thimerosal Linked to Autism in Confidential CDC Study
Thimerosal Linked to Autism in Confidential CDC Study Controversy is mounting regarding the Center for Disease Control's (CDC) Thimerosal Vaccine Safety Data-Link Study (VSD) presented to the public at the July 15, 2001, Institute of Medicine (IOM) meeting on Thimerosal-Containing Vaccines and Neurodevelopmental Outcomes. Thimerosal is the mercury preservative used in vaccines and other biologics. The CDC study evaluated nuerodevelopmental injury and cumulative exposures to Thimerosal at one and three months of age by studying the health records of over 100,000 children at four HMOs. The organization SAFEMINDS (Sensible Action for Ending Mercury-Induced Neurological Disorders) has obtained an earlier, confidential February 2000 version of the VSD study through the Freedom of Information Act, as well as transcripts from a scientific review of this earlier study, which took place at Simpsonwood Retreat Center in Georgia. Serious disparities exist between the neurodevelopmental outcomes of the two different versions of the study. For over a year, SAFEMINDS and Congressman Dan Burton (R- Indiana) have been requesting the VSD raw data from the CDC for independent review. So far their requests have been denied. The Texas firm Waters and Kraus leads the consortium of 25 law firms in as many states in the first civil suit brought against vaccine manufacturers and alleges that the February 2000 confidential version of the VSD study clearly demonstrates an exposure to more than 62.5 micrograms of mercury within the first three months of life significantly increases a child's risk of developing nuerodevelopmental orders such as speech and language delay, autism, stuttering, and attention deficit disorder. In fact, the study indicates that children at this exposure level are more than twice as likely (2.48) to develop autism as those not exposed. Waters and Kraus note: Courts of law have generally upheld that a relative risk of 2.0 or higher is sufficient to substantiate that a given exposure causes disease. When the VSD study was presented at the July 2001 IOM meeting, the relative risk of autism had been reduced to 1.69. According to Mark Blaxill of SAFEMINDS, all previous versions of the study had used the same dataset. Yet for the version presented at the IOM meeting had an additional 34,334 children added to the database. The majority of the additional children were added by altering the inclusion criteria, as well as by updating the HMO data cycle by adding an additional year, 1998. The additional children were too young to have been diagnosed autistic since they were just turning two at the time the analysis was performed. Autism is diagnosed on the average at 44 months. When the author of the VSD study, Tom Verstraeten, first presented the confidential version for scientific review by a panel of experts at Simpsonwood in June 2000, he said, One thing that is for sure, there is certainly an under-ascertainment of all these [neurodevelopmental disorders] because some of the children are just not old enough to be diagnosed. So the crude incidence rates are probably much lower than what you would expect because the cohort is still very young. The FDA and EPA called for the removal of mercury in infant vaccines beginning in 1999. At that time, vaccine manufacturers agreed to have thimerosal-free vaccines available at the beginning of 2001 and later offered voluntary exchange for all remaining thimerosal vaccines still on the shelf. In July of 1999, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), under the leadership of pediatric vaccinologist Dr. Neal A. Halsey, met with officials from the CDC to ask that the birth dose of Hepatitis B be pushed back as far as six months of age. The CDC and members of its National Immunization Program (NIP) refused, arguing that there was no evidence of harm done. They didn't want to undermine public confidence in the vaccination program. After much negotiation, the CDC released an ambiguous and weak statement that suggested that in certain low-risk populations physicians could wait until babies were two months of age before they administered their first hepatitis B vaccine. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), the CDC committee that recommends the vaccines for the Childhood Immunization Schedule, has yet to state a preference for thimerosal-free vaccines. It was the ACIP that approved of the additions to the Childhood Immunization Schedule of hepatitis B and Hib in the late 1980s and early 1990s, two thimerosal-containing vaccines that pushed infant ethyl mercury exposure levels far above any existing federal methyl mercury exposure guidelines. At the June 200o Simpsonwood meeting, the following comment was made by a participant, This association leads me to favor a recommendation that infants up to two years old not be immunized with thimerosal-containing vaccines if suitable alternative preparations are available. Forgive this personal
FW: here's to women friends!
A landmark UCLA study suggests that women respond to stress with a cascade of brain chemicals that cause us to make and maintain friendships with other women. It's a stunning finding that has turned five decades of stress research -most of it on men- upside down. Until this study was published, scientists generally believed that when people experience stress, they trigger a hormonal cascade that revs the body to either stand and fight or flee as fast as possible, explains Laura Cousino Klein, PhD, now an assistant professor of biobehavioral health at Pennsylvania State University in State College and one of the study's authors. It's an ancient survival mechanism left over from the time we were chased across the planet by saber-toothed tigers. Now the researchers suspect that women have a larger behavioral repertoire than just fight or flight. In fact, says Dr. Klein, it seems that when the hormone oxytocin is released as part of the stress response in a woman, it buffers the fight or flight response and encourages her to tend children and gather with other women instead. When she actually engages in this tending or befriending, studies suggest that more oxytocin is released, which further counters stress and produces a calming effect. This calming response does not occur in men, says Dr. Klein, because testosterone-which men produce in high levels when they're under stress-seems to reduce the effects of oxytocin. Estrogen, she adds, seems to enhance it. The discovery that women respond to stress differently than men was made in a classic aha! moment shared by two women scientists who were talking one day in a lab at UCLA. There was this joke that when the women who worked in the lab were stressed, they came in, cleaned the lab, had coffee, and bonded, says Dr. Klein. When the men were stressed, they holed up somewhere on their own. I commented one day to fellow researcher Shelley Taylor that nearly 90% of the stress research is on males. I showed her the data from my lab, and the two of us knew instantly that we were on to something. The women cleared their schedules and started meeting with one scientist after another from various research specialties. Very quickly, Drs. Klein and Taylor discovered that by not including women in stress research, scientists had made a huge mistake: The fact that women respond to stress differently than men has significant implications for our health. It may take some time for new studies to reveal all the ways that oxytocin encourages us to care for children and hang out with other women, but the tend and befriend notion developed by Drs. Klein and Taylor may explain why women consistently outlive men. Study after study has found that social ties reduce our risk of disease by lowering blood pressure, heart rate, and cholesterol. There's no doubt, says Dr. Klein, that friends are helping us live longer. In one study, for example, researchers found that people who had no friends increased their risk of death over a 6-month period. In another study, those who had the most friends over a 9-year period cut their risk of death by more than 60%. Friends are also helping us live better. The famed Nurses' Health Study from Harvard Medical School found that the more friends women had, the less likely they were to develop physical impairments as they aged, and the more likely they were to be leading a joyful life. In fact, the results were so significant, the researchers concluded, that not having close friend or confidante was as detrimental to your health as smoking or carrying extra weight! And that's not all: When the researchers looked at how well the women functioned after the death of their spouse, they found that even in the face of this biggest stressor of all, those women who had close friend and confidante were more likely to survive the experience without any new physical impairment or permanent loss of vitality. Those without friends were not always so fortunate. Yet if friends counter the stress that seems to swallow up so much of our life these days, if they keep us healthy and even add years to our life, why is it so hard to find time to be with them? That's a question that also troubles researcher Ruthellen Josselson, PhD, coauthor of Best Friends: The Pleasures and Perils of Girls' and Women's Friendships (Three Rivers Press, 1998). Every time we get overly busy with work and family, the first thing we do is let go of friendships with other women, explains Dr. Josselson. We push them right to the back burner. That's really a mistake, because women are such a source of strength to each other. We nurture one another. And we need to have unpressured space in which we can do the special kind of talk that women do when they're with
Fw: [globalnews] THIRTY PERCENT OF THE U.S. EXPERIENCING DROUGHT
www.matrixinstitute.com THIRTY PERCENT OF THE U.S. EXPERIENCING DROUGHT -- Posted on Mar 10, 2002 The Climate Prediction Center, which monitors weather conditions in the United States, released data on March, 5, 2002 indicating that almost a third of the country is suffering from drought. According to Christina Ward of disasterrelief.org, If the dry trend continues as expected, many regions of the country could encounter severe water shortages this spring and summer. Already, some states have announced drought emergencies and are drawing water from back-up supplies. Douglas LeComte, of the Climate Prediction Center told disasterrelief.org, Since last October, high-pressure systems have deflected storm patterns to the south and north of affected areas along the East Coast, missing localities in need of precipitation. La Nina is considered a factor in the dryness in the West. Mark Svoboda, a climatologist with the National Drought Mitigation Center, told the Associated Press. This is a sleeping giant. The impact is still to come. From the National Drought Summary: The East: A storm brought 1 to 2 inches of rain to drought areas along the Eastern Seaboard on March 2-3, offering some respite from the persistent dry weather that has dominated the region since autumn. Although the rain was beneficial, it was not sufficient to significantly alter the overall drought picture, allowing extreme drought to continue over Maine, the mid-Atlantic from New Jersey to northern Virginia, and the Southeast from South Carolina to eastern Georgia. The drought in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast remains mostly a hydrological drought, with impacts on ponds, lakes, rivers, wells, and reservoirs. However, there are a variety of other effects from the drought, including long-term impacts on vegetation and trees. According to preliminary data, the Northeast experienced the second driest September-February in 107 years of record. The 12 months ending in February were the driest on record in Maine. New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland reported the driest February on record. The Plains and Midwest: The early-March storm had little impact on dryness in this region, as the heaviest snow and rain mostly fell in areas not experiencing abnormal dryness. Abnormally dry conditions continued in the northern Plains, with severe to extreme drought persisting in southwest Texas. Moderate drought intensified to severe drought in extreme southern Texas. Drought also intensified to severe levels in western Oklahoma and southwest Kansas. - Climate Prediction Center, NOAA / disasterrelief.org / Associated Press - Graphic: Climate Prediction Center - Map shows ranges from abnormally dry (Yellow) to exceptionally dry (Dark Brown) ... Be the change you want to see in the world. -- Mahatma Gandhi
drought report from Westchester County, NY
Hello All, We did get a moment of rain over a week ago, but have had many days all summer, fall, and now winter where clouds gather in the sky, promising rain, only to dissipate either later in the day or even days later producing NO rain at all. It is clear that the atmosphere is not able to organize a rain event. Frankly, I find this more alarming than terrorism, especially because I consider my government to be one of the leading terrorists in the world. A trip a couple of weeks ago, up to the northern end of the county, where the NYC water supply begins, was even more alarming, to see some reservoirs which were literally bone dry and others down by more than 40 %. It's as if the land were gasping around the area. My garden has been great, producing small amounts of kale, turnip greens, herbs even and a few straggling carrots all winter--further proof as far as I'm concerned about how compost and preps and communion can enliven and create protected space. I stand in awe of those of you responsible for feeding others and farming. As I've said many times before on this list, if Americans all had to grow their own food, they'd probably starve. As for the drought, wow, this lazy self may actually have to get out there and do sequential sprays. Blessings, Jane
Fw: Europe is once again standing at the crossroads!
- Original Message - From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, March 11, 2002 10:43 AM Subject: Europe is once again standing at the crossroads! Planned Europe-wide ban on vitamin therapies Dear Advisers, Europe is once again standing at the crossroads. On 12th March the European Parliament decides whether the people of Europe will continue to have unrestricted access to side-effect free natural therapies or whether the pharmaceutical lobby will succeed in reducing the European Parliament to the role of the pharmaceutical cartel's Strasbourg puppet show. Never before in history has there been such an intense struggle over the right of the European people to natural, effective and side-effect free health care. To date over 400 million (!) e-mails have been sent to EU politicians demanding this right and rejecting the unscrupulous EU Directive providing for a Europe-wide ban on vitamin therapies and whole groups of natural substances, for example natural amino acids. Only by being aware of the background facts can we understand the aggression with which the pharmaceutical lobby and its political marionettes are acting. How, otherwise, can we explain - that there are still MEPs, particularly those from the pharmaceutical republic of Germany, who are ignoring the 400 million no votes against this Europe-wide muzzling law. - that there are still EU politicians who believe in the pharmaceutical lobby fairy tale of consumer protection from vitamins and other natural substances, whereas every child now knows that no-one has ever died from taking vitamins, whereas every year hundreds of thousands of people die from the lethal side effects of pharmaceutical drugs (remember Lipobay?) - that the planned EU Directive would ban precisely those natural substances which have now proved vital to the breakthrough in the natural fight against cancer: optimum doses of vitamin therapies in conjunction with natural amino acids such as lysine and proline. These are now to be outlawed under this unscrupulous EU Directive because they threaten a billion-pound market in chemotherapy and other hazardous anti-cancer drugs. - that the newly-erupting EU corruption scandal has now revealed that the pharmaceutical lobby has managed to infiltrate a member of the supervisory board of the second-largest pharmaceutical company in the world, in the person of EU commissar Bolkenstein, into the 'cabinet of Europe' , without this man ever having been elected by anyone. Are you really surprised that the debate about EU corruption seems never-ending, given that the unelected and anonymous pharmaceutical cartel is sitting in the highest political body in Europe and is now issuing its own laws from there? In view of these alarming facts, the eyes of millions of Europeans have turned to Strasbourg, where the European Parliament votes on the EU Directive for the banning of natural therapies on 12th March. EU politicians have the following choice: either to send out a message against corruption of the EU by the pharmaceutical lobby by rejecting this directive, or to vote for it, and in so doing reduce the entire European Parliament in the eyes of the world to a Strasbourg puppet show run by the pharmaceutical cartel. Worse still, any such decision would endanger the health and lives of millions of Europeans. On 12th March every European politician present will be taking the most important decision of his or her life - and they will have to take responsibility for it. What you should do before the vote on 12th March: - Phone the MEPs from your region, either in their UK or Brussels office and insist on speaking to the MEP personally. As a voter you have that right. Speak up for yourself! - Demand a clear no vote from the MEP on the EU Directive on Dietary Supplements on 12th March. No MEP has the right to ignore 400 million votes. - Tell the MEPs that if they do not vote against this muzzling law, the debate on EU corruption will grow still louder, because one group and one group alone will profit from the outlawing of natural therapies: the pharmaceutical industry. - Point out that the consumer protection argument used by the pharmaceutical lobby to attempt to force this directive through the European Parliament is ridiculous in face of the facts: no person has ever died from taking vitamins, whereas the side effects of pharmaceutical drugs have become the fourth -most common cause of death. - Say that it is unacceptable for laws affecting the health of all the people of Europe to be made by a commission for which no-one has voted. Make it clear that it is unacceptable, that members of the supervisory boards of pharmaceutical companies are sitting on the European Commission (e.g., EU commissar Bolkenstein) from where they are writing Europe's laws in the interest of pharmaceutical companies and other economic interest groups. Say to them: that's corruption! - Ask them: who voted you into the European
Re: Solara's March Surf Report
Hi David C, I did some checking and one of my teachers, a Reiki master, who (among many other qualifications in traditional and vibrational therapies) has worked with Solara in the past leading up to the 11:11. In her opinion Solara provided a powerful service to the planet during that time. Blessings, Jane Here is Solara's bio from her website: One of the true visionaries of our time, Solara is widely respected for her integrity, courage and dedication. She facilitated the 11:11 Planetary Activation in 1992 in which well over 100,000 people participated worldwide. She describes herself as an intrepid explorer into the Unknown, going where few have dared go before. . . into the undiscovered subtle realms of the Invisible. Solara is not a guru, nor does she have followers, rather she serves as a catalyst to activate us into our own mastery so we may live in the Greater Reality. Solara is also not a channel. She simply embodies her vastness; something which is available to all of us. Solara has a rare gift of expressing the unexpressible, communicating with clarity, power, grounded practicality, strong love and humor. Her message calls us to embrace our vastness so we can anchor it into the physical and become Vibrantly Alive. To become integrated Earth-Star Beings. In other words, how to be real in an unreal world! Although she avoids media attention whenever possible, articles about her have appeared in US News World Reports numerous other publications throughout the world. Entire television programs have been devoted to her in Brazil articles have appeared in Australia describing the Solara Phenomenon. Traveling widely throughout the planet since 1987, Solara has helped activate many through talks, workshops, MasterClasses, Star-Borne Reunions and Planetary Activations. She has helped many to step free of duality, anchor their beings in Oneness and love with the One Heart. She is a true revolutionary of the spirit! Since 1991 Solara has presented numerous Star-Borne events in: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Croatia, Ecuador, Egypt, England, Finland, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, Scotland, Slovakia, Slovenija, Sweden, Switzerland, Tahiti the US. Solara is the founder of Star-Borne Unlimited which was created in 1986 to publish her books and act as a focus for the Great Awakening into Oneness. She is the author of six beloved metaphysical classics: How to LIVE LARGE on a Small Planet 11:11 EL*AN*RA The Star-Borne The Legend of Altazar Invoking Your Celestial Guardians - Original Message - From: D S Chamberlain [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sunday, March 10, 2002 12:55 AM Subject: Re: Solara's March Surf Report Jane: Thank you for this post. it feels right. Who is Solara? David C
The Healer Within-Breath Practice by Dr. Roger Jahnke
http://www.healerwithin.com/Index.html The Healer Within-Breath Practice by Dr. Roger Jahnke It is a bit unusual to us in the western world to consider the importance of breathing techniques. After all, we are always breathing, aren't we? It seems a little silly to put extra attention to something we do naturally. Notice your own breathing. Isn't each breath actually very shallow? Does your posture or position encourage or restrict your ability to take full breaths? If you note carefully you will probably realize that you are utilizing one quarter or less, of your lung capacity. The presence of special breathing practices in the ancient cultures has always been a mystery to people in the Western world. There are numerous beneficial physiological mechanisms that are triggered when we turn our attention to the breath and then increase it's volume. When volume, rate and attention level are all altered, dramatic physiological, and even emotional, changes can occur. As it turns out, unknown to science until very recently, the action of the lungs, diaphragm and thorax are a primary pump for the lymph fluid, a lymph heart. This mechanism may be more important to the lymph heart than body movements. In addition, the breath is the source for oxygen which is the key element in the body's ability to produce energy. And the act of relaxed, full breathing moves the function of the autonomic nervous system towards balance or homeostasis. (Please see the section on physiology in The Most Profound Medicine for a complete revelation of the mechanisms initiated by Qigong). From the traditions of the ancients we know that breathing practices are important. Why would they continue to employ techniques that were ineffective? Empirical science, the scientific method of all original cultures, is based on trial and error. That which has value is kept and employed. That which is found to have little or no value is dropped. In the empirical approach, that which is kept, is tried and true. Empirically breath practice is tried and true. We also know that these practices are important through clinical experience. Patients who have learned and used breath practice as a part of their daily personal system of self-applied health enhancement respond more quickly to treatment, no matter what type of physician they are seeing. Individuals who are well are able to remain more well, adapt to greater stress and have greater endurance when they keep breath practice in their daily self-care ritual. Inspiration is the rush that one feels when over taken by spiritual energy, it is the force that impels one forward into life, and it is the divine influence that brings forth creativity and vitality. Inspiration is, also, to breath in . The breath is a link to the most profound medicine that we carry within us. Within this nearly unconscious gesture, a breath, that we enact 1,261,440,000 (1 and 1/4 billion) times in our life span there is a simple yet profound healing capability. Our first act when we emerge from the womb is to inspire. Our last act is to dis-inspire or expire. These breaths, first in and finally out, are like parentheses that encompass our corporal life. It is no surprise that the breath would be so remarkably linked to the power of healing.
Solara's March Surf Report
http://www.nvisible.com/Surf/SurfMar02.html MARCH 2002: PARADOX Updated March 5, 2002 About the Surf Reports: Each month I receive anxious emails wondering where the Surf Report is or why it is late? The Surf Reports are based on my intuitive feelings of the energies of the month, not on astrology or numerology. Sometimes, it takes me a few days to tune into the energies of the month especially if I am busy, undergoing a personal crisis, or in a deep quiet place where words don't come easily. March is a difficult month to write about since it is so full of paradoxes. Things are certainly not as they appear throughout the month. Just when we think for sure that we know something, or feel something, or want to do something, the veils shift and a vaster perspective is revealed. This puts us in the challenging situation of constantly having to look beyond outer appearances and keep our beings stretched wide open. We need to constantly question everything and continually look at everything with new eyes. Nothing is set in stone; absolutely nothing is certain. At the beginning of the month, we may feel overwhelmed by a sense of inertia. It feels difficult, if not impossible, to get things done. Yet, we are actually very busy and doing a lot more than we realize. It's just that so very much is happening and it is happening on such a large scale and it is happening in different ways than what we are used to. This makes everything feel different and difficult to measure using our old methods of achievement. New opportunities are now coming into our lives. It's just that we are not yet certain which ones to follow. Although we have long looked forward to new opportunities, this makes us take the rather surprising stance of sitting back and waiting. Calmly observing the possibilities, but not jumping into them. We are waiting to see what lies beyond these opportunities. Where will they really take us? And do we really want to go there? It is still a time of feeling very alone and needing to be alone. Another Paradox: we crave friendship and companionship, to be with kindred beings; yet we know that we need to be alone at this time. This is because we are still delving deep inside ourselves, deeper than we have ever ventured before, to discern what we really value in our lives. To see what we really want to do. To discover who we have now become. During March, we are going to be doing a Spring Cleaning of our emotions, sifting through all the forgotten corners, coming to new realizations, crying those unshed tears and letting go of any remainders of unresolved emotional residue. Some of us have felt that we are dying. We've been feeling this for many months, but we probably aren't. It's just that so many parts of our beings and of our history are dying away. For many of us, it feels like there is someone behind us sweeping away the footprints of our past. We glance behind us trying to find some of the touchstones and potent memories which used to feed and sustain us, but they are no longer there. The past is becoming blank. It's not that the memories are gone; we still remember the details of many experiences. But the emotional charge of our past is gone. It has been greatly neutralized and there is little to grab onto. This is a disconcerting feeling, making us feel like boats which have pulled away from their moorings and are starting to drift out to sea. Drifting out to sea doesn't give us a great sense of control or of knowing our new direction, but it does give us heightened freedom. Since this is the year of the activation of the 5th Gate of the 11:11, which will take place in the fall with the Master Cylinder probably in Asia, it's not surprising. The keynote of 5th Gate is Personal Freedom. This is exactly what we are in the process of achieving. The reason that it's not entirely comfortable is that it's taking us into places where we haven't been before. The great Unknown. And it is also closing our options of clinging to the past or to our past behaviors. We couldn't go back even if we tried or even if we wanted to. The bridge has evaporated; the door behind us is closed. Another Paradox: Just when we have accepted the unacceptable and unresolved situations in our lives, they are going to resolve themselves. At the same time that we are on this amazing journey into freedom and Oneness, the world situation continues to get stranger and more ominous. Another Paradox. Again, it's vitally important that we don't attach ourselves to the outer appearance of things. THINGS ARE NOT AS THEY APPEAR. There is so much fear and so much distortion and so much duality and so much misinformation and so much hatred swirling about right now. We have to be very aware of these elements, yet not get engulfed by them. We need to continually strengthen our compassion and hold EVERYONE, EVERYTHING, all over the planet in our One Heart, all the time! Compassion is serious stuff. This can help turn the tide. We need
Re: CEc balancing I for ornamental
I assume you dilute this a great deal? Jane - Original Message - From: Stephen Barrow [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, March 07, 2002 12:44 PM Subject: RE: CEc balancing I for ornamental An aside to Lloyd Charles' answer to Tony Robinson, re the use of Rescue Remedy. I spray it on any transplants to help them overcome the transplant shock. Sounds rather crazy, but it works. Stephen Barrow
Fw: Tulku Thondup in DC: March 8-10
The Shambhala Meditation Center of Washington DC presents Tulku Thondup: March 8 - 10, 2002 Public Talk: The Healing Power of Mind Friday, March 8, 7:00pm, Registration begins at 6:00pm Western Presbyterian Church 2401 Virginia Ave. NW (24th G St - Foggy Bottom Metro), Washington, DC Suggested Donation: $10 General / $5 Students One-Day Healing Workshop: Boundless Healing Saturday, March 9, 9:00am - 6:00pm, registration begins at 8:30am Location: Shambhala Meditation Center Suggested Donation: $70 General / $50 Members Students One-Day Program: Life of Padmasambhava Sunday, March 10, 10:00am - 4:00pm, Registration at 9:30am Location: Shambhala Meditation Center Suggested Donation: $50 / $40 Members Students Package Rate for Entire Weekend: $120 / $90 Members Students Pre-registration is necessary for the one-day programs due to space limitations The Public Talk has ample seating. Tickets may be purchased at the door. Housing available for out of town participants - please contact us. How to Register: - Send your name, address, phone, e-mail - List the programs you plan to attend (or complete the registration form) - Include a check made out to the Shambhala Center - Send to: Shambhala Meditation Center 8719 Colesville Rd. Suite 210 Silver Spring, MD 20906 Overall Contact for further information: Kathy at [EMAIL PROTECTED] or 301-949-0517
Greening The Desert-interview with Masanobu Fukuoka
(another from GlobalNews which is almost as good a mailing list as BdNow. Curtis found this article after reading the Fukuoka piece Allan posted to BdNow last week) Greening The Desert Applying natural farming techniques in Africa an interview with Masanobu Fukuoka, by Robert and Diane Gilman One of the articles in Sustainable Habitat (IC#14) Autumn 1986, Page 37 Copyright (c)1986, 1997 by Context Institute | To order this issue ... Masanobu Fukuoka is another of the major pioneers of sustainable agriculture who came to the 2nd International Permaculture Conference. We spoke with him a few days before the conference while he was visiting the Abundant Life Seed Foundation in Port Townsend, Washington. He likes to say of himself that he has no knowledge, but his books, including One-Straw Revolution and The Natural Way of Farming illustrate that he at least has wisdom. His farming method involves no tillage, no fertilizer, no pesticides, no weeding, no pruning, and remarkably little labor! He accomplishes all this (and high yields) by careful timing of his seeding and careful combinations of plants (polyculture). In short, he has brought the practical art of working with nature to a high level of refinement. In this interview, he describes how his natural farming methods might be applied to the world's deserts, based on his experience in Africa during 1985. Translation assistance for the interview was provided by Katsuyuki Shibata and Hizuru Aoyama. Robert: What have you learned in your 50 years of work about what people could do with their agriculture? Masanobu: I am a small man, as you can see, but I came to the States with a very big intention. This small man becomes smaller and smaller, and won't last very long, so I'd like to share my idea from 50 years ago. My dream is just like a balloon. It could get smaller and smaller, or it could get bigger and bigger. If it could be said in a brief way, it could be said as the word nothingness. In a larger way it could wrap the entire earth. I live on a small mountain doing farming. I don't have any knowledge, I don't do anything. My way of farming is no cultivation, no fertilizer, no chemicals. Ten years ago my book, One Straw Revolution, was published by Rodale Press in the United States. From that point I couldn't just sleep in the mountains. Seven years ago I took an airplane for the first time in my life and went to California, Boston, New York City. I was surprised because I thought the United States was full of green everywhere, but it looked like death land to me. Then I talked to the head of the desert department at the United Nations about my natural farming. He asked me if my natural farming could change the desert of Iraq. He told me to develop the way of changing the desert to green. At that point I thought that I was a poor farmer and I had no power and no knowledge, so I told him that I couldn't. But from then I started thinking that my task is working on the desert. Several years ago, I travelled around Europe. It seemed to me that Europe was very nice and beautiful, with lots of nature preserved. But three feet under the surface I felt desert slowly coming in. I kept wondering why. I realized it was the mistake they made in agriculture. The beginning of the mistake is from growing meat for the king and wine for the church. All around, cow, cow, cow, grape, grape, grape. European and American agriculture started with grazing cows and growing grapes for the king and the church. They changed nature by doing this, especially on the hill slopes. Then soil erosion occurs. Only the 20% of the soil in the valleys remains healthy, and 80% of the land is depleted. Because the land is depleted, they need chemical fertilizers and pesticides. United States, Europe, even in Japan, their agriculture started by tilling the land. Cultivation is also related to civilization, and that is the beginning of the mistake. True natural farming uses no cultivation, no plow. Using tractors and tools destroys the true nature. Trees' biggest enemies are the saw and ax. Soil's biggest enemies are cultivation and plowing. If people don't have those tools, it will be a better life for everything. Since my farm uses no cultivation, no fertilizer, no chemicals, there are many insects and animals living there within the farm. They use pesticide to kill a certain kind of pest, and that destroys the balance of nature. If we allow it to be completely free, a perfect nature will come back. Robert: How have you applied your method to the deserts? Masanobu: Chemical agriculture can't change the desert. Even if they have a tractor and a big irrigation system, they are not able to do it. I came to the realization that to make the desert green requires natural farming. The method is very simple. You just need to sow seeds in the desert. Here is a picture of experimentation in Ethiopia. This area was beautiful 90 years ago, and now it looks like the desert in Colorado. I
Fw: CELEBRATE THE VERNAL EQUINOX WITH CAROLINE CASEY !!
CELEBRATE THE VERNAL EQUINOX WITH CAROLINE CASEY IN THREE EVENTS IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA !! *** March 18, 7 P.M. Welcoming Venus Back from the Underworld (For Her Triumphant World Tour Launching Next Stage of Culture) A talk to celebrate the Vernal Equinox Open Secret Bookstore San Rafael, California for reservations call 415-457-4191 *** March 20, 8 P.M. We gather to welcome and align with Venus as she re-emerges from the Underworld to EAT FIRE, DANCE WITH SNAKES AND LAUNCH THE NEXT STAGE OF CULTURE *** Welcoming Venus Back from the Underworld (For Her Triumphant World Tour Launching Next Stage of Culture) A celebration of the Vernal Equinox 2002 astrological*political*ritual*lecture*theatre with music by Carnaval Spirit Sebastopol Veterans Memorial Building 282 High St Sebastopol, California $20 8 p.m. (doors open at 7 p.m.) tickets at Copperfield's Bookstores for more information or reservations call Town Hall Coalition 707-874-9110 *** March 23, 8 P.M. Return of the Snake Caroline Casey Bruce Silverman Drumming...Speaking...Chanting...Movement with The Sons and Daughters of Orpheus The University of Creation Spirituality 2141 Broadway Oakland, California $20 -$25 8 p.m. tickets call 510-910-8515 see poster on Caroline's schedule for more information www.visionaryactivism.com (click on Mercury for schedule) ***to receive an email copy of the lovely serpent poster, please send your request to : [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** ***Caroline Casey, weaver of context of The Visionary Activist Show on KPFA, uses the language of astrology to catalyze the awakening of the individual and the collective. Based in the spiritual hardship post known as Washington DC, (aka Mordor, where she and her team are even now inching their way towards the Crack of Doom into which they plan to toss the Enron Ring of Power) she is a frequent rousing speaker at such far-flung venues as the Bioneers Conference in California, and The Parliament of World Religions in Capetown, South Africa. Caroline has appeared on ABC's Nightline, CNN's Crossfire, and public radio. Her book, Making the Gods Work for You: The Astrological Language of the Psyche, was selected as one of the Best Spiritual Books of 1998. Her forthcoming book is The Compassionate Trickster Handbook. At these upcoming events, Caroline will discuss wedding spiritual magic to social activism in hopes of creating a more ingenious and reverent world. In her own words Casey says,We need imaginative people to become politically engaged, and political people to become more imaginatively engaged. She is sure to deliver a witty and provocative account of social activism for the new millennium. On March 20th, the Vernal Equinox, Kim Atkinson and Carnaval Spirit will join Caroline with their unique blend of Afro-Brazilian percussion. On March 23, The Sons Daughters of Orpheus will join Casey Silverman, adding music and dance to celebrate the Return of the Snake. The Sons Daughters of Orpheus comprise a healing community of individuals who practice the ancient soul arts of drumming, chanting, poetry and storytelling, along with contemporary group work and community ritual. They appear at healing conferences, parades and sacred and transformative gatherings and celebrations of all kinds. *** If you would like to receive a tape cassette of the Vernal Equinox Celebration, March 20, 2002, for $16.50, or order the series of 4 Solstice/Equinox talks for a year for $55, please order on-line by visiting www.visionaryactivism.com (click on Saturn for the catalogue) or call 1-888-741-GODS and leave your name, mailing address, phone and MC/VISA# and exp date with your order. Instructions for sending a check are on the website under ordering information. You can also email us at [EMAIL PROTECTED] ***
OFF:Fw: [globalnews] Meditation Focus #59: Showering Love in Zimbabwe, India, Israel/Palestine and Colombia
-Original Message- From: jean hudon [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Saturday, March 02, 2002 3:37 PM To: undisclosed-recipients: Subject: Meditation Focus #59: Showering Love in Zimbabwe, India, Israel/Palestine and Colombia --- This material is also available at http://www.aei.ca/~cep/MeditationFocus59.htm Hello, What follows is the 59th Meditation Focus suggested for the two consecutive weeks beginning Sunday, March 3, 2002. SHOWERING LOVE IN ZIMBABWE, INDIA, ISRAEL/PALESTINE AND COLOMBIA 1. Summary 2. Meditation times 3. More information on this Focus 4. Peace Watch for India 5. Peace Watch for the Middle East 6. Peace Watch for Colombia --- 1. SUMMARY Although the main focus suggested for the 2 coming weeks is the tense situation in Zimbabwe where presidential elections will be held next March 9-10 amidst increasing human rights violations and often brutal intimidation tactics aimed at preserving the 22-year hold onto power by President Robert Mugabe, we need also to extend our peace and global healing work to the flaring of extremely savage communal violence in India between the Hindu and Muslim communities in the western state of Gujarat that has left 415 deaths so far, the ever-increasing cycle of violence in the Middle East where the memories of the Oslo peace Accord are fast fading despite repeated attempts to revive the peace process, and the renewed fightings between the FARC rebels and the Colombia army leading to an upsurge of violence and bombings following the collapse this week of peace talks aimed at ending the 38-year war that has left over 40,000 deaths and forced the displacement of over 2 million people in Colombia. In all these disconcertingly violent conflicts, where utter mutual distrust and sometimes raging hatred have dominated for so long the minds and hearts of the various opponents, only a true and profound opening to the healing power of love, leading to the recognition of our ultimate unity as brothers and sisters of the One common Life and to a genuine willingness to forgive past wrongs and forge together a better future for all, can turn around those seemingly hopeless situations and open the way to a new Golden Era of Peace on Earth. All these highly traumatic events are like heavy balls and chains holding back every single soul on Earth as we are striving to co-create a better world and thus cannot simply be ignored, however difficult their peaceful resolution may appear to be. Please dedicate your prayers and meditations, as guided by Spirit, in the coming two weeks to contribute in showering love in Zimbabwe, India, Israel/Palestine and Colombia, thus fostering in everyone's mind the awakening of a higher consciousness that will render utterly revulsive and inacceptable to all any further recourse to violence as a means to resolve whatever conflict may be at hand. May the spirit of unity and forgiveness overcome the sense of separation and the resulting fears that still pervade the hearts and minds of too many people, and may Peace prevail in Zimbabwe, India, Israel/Palestine and Colombia for the Highest Good of All. This whole Meditation Focus is also available at http://www.aei.ca/~cep/MeditationFocus59.htm --- 2. MEDITATION TIMES i) Global Meditation Day: Sunday at 16:00 Universal Time (GMT) or at noon local time. Suggested duration: 30 minutes. ii) Golden Moment of At-Onement: Daily, at the top of any hour, or whenever it better suits you. These times below currently correspond to 16:00 Universal Time/GMT: Honolulu 6:00 AM -- Anchorage 7:00 AM -- Los Angeles 8:00 AM -- Denver 9:00 AM -- San Salvador, Mexico City, Houston Chicago 10:00 AM -- New York, Toronto Montreal 11:00 AM -- Halifax, Santo Domingo, La Paz Caracas 12:00 PM -- Montevideo, Asuncion * Santiago * 1:00 PM -- Rio de Janeiro * 2:00 PM -- London, Dublin, Lisbon, Reykjavik Casablanca 4:00 PM -- Lagos, Algiers, Geneva, Rome, Berlin, Paris Madrid 5:00 PM -- Ankara, Jerusalem, Johannesburg, Athens, Helsinki Istanbul 6:00 PM -- Baghdad, Moscow Nairobi 7:00 PM -- Tehran 7:30 PM -- Islamabad 9:00 PM -- Calcutta New Delhi 9:30 PM -- Dhaka 10:00 PM -- Rangoon 10:30 PM -- Hanoi, Bangkok Jakarta 11:00 PM -- Hong Kong, Perth, Beijing Kuala Lumpur +12:00 AM -- Seoul Tokyo +1:00 AM -- Brisbane, Canberra Melbourne +2:00 AM -- Wellington * +5:00 AM + means the place is one day ahead of Universal Time/Greenwich Mean Time. * means the place is observing daylight saving time (DST) at the moment. You may also check at http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/full.html to find your current corresponding local time if a closeby city is not listed above. --- 3. MORE INFORMATION ON THIS FOCUS This section is for those who wish to understand in more details the situation pertaining to the current Meditation Focus. We encourage you to view the following information from a positive perspective, and not allow the details to tinge the positive vision you wish to hold in
OFF:Fw: The Shadow Knows...
THE TERRORISM EXCUSE NOW JUSTIFIES ANY AND ALL Indeed the Spirit of Justice has itself truly been draped MER- Washington - 2/27/2002: While U.S. Attorney John Ashcroft is busy draping the statue of the Spirit of Justice, whose breast has been on display at the Department of Justice since the 1930s and is hardly a mystery; and while the White House is busy making excuses for getting rid of the Israeli-centric speechwriter, David Frum, the guy who penned the phrase Axis of Evil but made the mistake of letting his wife credit it to him; the USG is using the terrorism excuse not only to get ready for regime change in Iraq but to keep undesireables from even speaking up through all kinds of new intimidation and repression techniques. The following letter from a Canadian activist helps explain what is going on as never before when it comes to demonstrations and conferences that expose and oppose what the U.S. is really up to; and is a reminder that what we learn in this way is just the tip of the repression iceberg. THEY KNOW WHO YOU ARE! Interrogation at the US Border By John Clarke My name is John Clarke and I am an Organizer with the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP). In the early afternoon of February 19th, 2002, I crossed the international bridge between Sarnia, Ontario and Port Huron, Michigan. I was on my way to a speaking engagement that had been set up by students at Michigan State University. When I pulled up my car at the customs booth, the officer asked where I was bound and I told him. He wanted to know on what basis I was asked to speak and whether I would be paid. I replied that I was with OCAP and that I had been told by the organizers of the meeting that an honourarium would be provided as was normal. The officer was concerned that this meant I was coming into the US to work. Of course, people on both sides of the border accept speaking invitations all the time on this basis and the issue of a work permit is never raised. At this point, the matter was nothing that could not have been rapidly cleared up if I had been on my way to address a business seminar or deliver a lecture on self awareness. As instructed by the officer, I parked my car and made my way into the offices shared by customs and US Immigration. As soon as my ID was run through the computer, there was a marked change in the situation. An officer asked me more questions about my intentions in the US, what anti globalization protests I had attended and whether I opposed the 'ideology of the United States'. My car was searched and I was taken into a room and thoroughly (though not roughly) frisked. I was then told that I would be denied entry to the US and that the FBI and State Department wanted to speak to me. Agents were on their way from Detroit I was told. After about an hour and a half, a man entered the 'controlled reception' area that I was being kept in and passed by me into the inner offices. He was carrying a big folder and a pile of files. It struck me that he carried them the way a highly skilled worker might carry his or her precision tools. He spent some time in discussion with the local officers and then I was brought into an interrogation room to deal with him. He introduced himself and gave me his card. His name was Edward J. Seitz of the State Department of the United States Diplomatic Security Service and his rank was Special Agent. I found him to be an impressive and fascinating character. Seitz, with the backing of another local officer, interrogated me for some considerable time. It was not a situation like an arrest by Canadian police where silence is the best option. Had I refused to talk to him, I did not doubt that he would order me detained and that it would be some time before the Canadian consular authorities came into the picture. If I was to avoid at least several days in detention, I determined that I had no option but to answer his questions. It was immediately obvious to me that I was dealing with a specialist in interrogation methods. He told the admiring locals at one point that he had been stationed in Yemen and I avoided speculating on how he had employed his talents there. Seitz's basic strategy, apart from general intelligence gathering, was to try and set me up to tell him something false that would place me in the situation of violating US law. He began with some very basic questions on my personal background, extremely affable in his manner and striking a pose of mild confusion that was designed to make me underestimate him. He then asked about OCAP. He told me it sounded like we were good people but he had heard something about an organization that a year or so before had been involved in a confrontation with the police at the Ontario Legislature. That wasn't us was it? The trap was clear and I told him that we were indeed that organization. His affable manner then vanished and his
OFF:Fw: [globalnews] Some Want to Target High-Profile Activists in Battle on Ecoterror
Some Want to Target High-Profile Activists in Battle on Ecoterror Masked protesters, some proclaiming to be supporters of the Earth Liberation Front, hold signs during a demonstration in Portland, Ore., on Feb. 12. (Don Ryan/AP Photo)New Front on Ecoterror? Some Want to Target High-Profile Activists in Battle on Ecoterror By Dean Schabner Feb. 26 - Some congressmen and industry advocates want the federal government to take a hard look at some well-known animal rights and environmental groups, and maybe shut them down as supporters of terrorism. The idea was floated earlier this month at a congressional subcommittee hearing on ecoterrorism by Richard Berman, the executive director of a group called the Center for Consumer Freedom. Berman, whose group represents restaurant and tavern owners and advocates protecting the public's right to a full menu of dining and entertainment choices, said a number of high-profile activist groups, including People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, have links to groups named on the FBI's domestic terrorism list, such as the Earth Liberation Front. He came to the hearing advocating that the government wage war against domestic terrorism the way the war has been waged against accused terror mastermind Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network - not just by going after those who carry out illegal acts, but by trying to cut off financial support for organizations identified as being terrorist. In cases of domestic offenders, he said the federal government could crack down by revoking the tax-free status of not-for-profit organizations found to fund domestic terror groups. I'd like Congress to look at the tax-exempt status of groups like PETA, Berman told ABCNEWS.com. I don't see this being any different from George Bush being able to shut down foundations funneling money to al Qaeda. The difference in degree of activity doesn't mean anything if you're on the receiving end of it. Where Does the Money Come From? Berman was dismissed by officials at PETA and Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine - another group that he accused of ties to organizations that have been linked to criminal activity - as a showman doing his best to earn his paycheck as a lobbyist for restaurant and tavern chains. But many members of the House Resources Subcommittee on Forests and Forest Health seemed to take him more seriously. I would say there is real cause for concern, said Joshua Penry, the staff director of the subcommittee. A lot of the evidence is circumstantial, but in some cases it's deeply troubling. As one piece of evidence, Berman submitted a federal tax return showing that PETA gave $1,500 to ELF, which has taken credit and been blamed for millions of dollars in vandalism in recent years. The reality is these groups are getting their money from somewhere, Penry said. That's the question, just where are these groups getting their money? James Jarboe, the domestic terrorism chief of the FBI's Counterterrorism Division, said during testimony at the hearing that ELF and the related Animal Liberation Front have caused more than $43 million in damage in more than 600 attacks since 1996, including the firebombing of the Vail ski resort in 1998, which did $12 million in damages. The FBI calls both groups terrorist operations. These are hardened criminals, said subcommittee Chairman Rep. Scott McInnis, R-Colo. They are dangerous, they are well-funded, they are savvy, sophisticated and stealthy, and if their violence continues to escalate, it is only a matter of time before their parade of terror results in a lost human life. Members of ALF, ELF Elusive The two groups have managed to almost completely elude law enforcement, despite not being shy about trumpeting their successes. They issued a joint statement in January claiming responsibility for 67 illegal acts last year, including setting a fire that destroyed a $5.4 million horticulture building at the University of Washington. The fact that many Americans support protecting the environment and oppose cruelty to animals, combined with the success of ELF and ALF in avoiding any human casualties in their attacks, seems to some of the lawmakers at the hearing to have created undue sympathy for the activist groups. We must strip away the Robin Hood mystique and perceived high ground that some have given these radicals, McInnis said. It's just a matter of time before a human life is taken. The lawmakers were thwarted in their efforts to get information about ELF and its backers from a Portland, Ore., man who has acted as the group's spokesman. Craig Rosebraugh took the Fifth Amendment more than 50 times when he appeared before the subcommittee. Outside the hearing room he also refused to answer reporters' questions. FBI and Justice Department officials declined to comment on
Fw: Unreleased Federal Study on Radioactive Fallout in US
Subject: Unreleased Federal Study on Radioactive Fallout in US 02/28/2002 Fallout likely caused 15,000 deaths By Peter Eisler, USA TODAY WASHINGTON - Radioactive fallout from Cold War nuclear weapons tests across the globe probably caused at least 15,000 cancer deaths in U.S. residents born after 1951, according to data from an unreleased federal study. The study, coupled with findings from previous government investigations, suggests that 20,000 non-fatal cancers - and possibly many more - also can be tied to fallout from aboveground weapons tests. The study shows that far more fallout than previously known reached the USA from nuclear tests in the former Soviet Union and on several Pacific islands used for U.S. and British exercises. It also finds that fallout from scores of U.S. trials at the Nevada Test Site spread substantial amounts of radioactivity across broad swaths of the country. When fallout from all tests, domestic and foreign, is taken together, no U.S. resident born after 1951 escaped exposure, the study says. The study is the government's first effort to assess the nationwide effects of all forms of radiation from the hundreds of aboveground nuclear blasts detonated worldwide before such testing was banned in 1963. The cancer estimates add a new human toll to the Cold War and raise profound public policy questions, including whether the government should do cancer screenings in high-fallout areas. USA TODAY obtained portions of the study, which was supposed to be finished more than a year ago. There should be no more waiting, says Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, who pushed the Department of Health and Human Services to conduct the study in 1998. People are still waiting for real communication on their exposure risks and steps they can take. The study's estimates of radiation dispersal are based on complex computer analyses of weather patterns, population trends and other data that can help gauge public exposure to fallout from aboveground nuclear tests. The cancer figures are a general nationwide estimate - there is no way to link specific cases to fallout. The study does not assess cancer risks in other countries. The data show that global fallout blanketed much of the USA, with heavy pockets in Iowa, Tennessee, California, Oregon, Washington and Idaho. Fallout from the Nevada tests settled more in the mountain and Midwest states, including Utah, Idaho, Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa and Missouri. The study measures exposure to an array of fallout elements based on county of residence, birth date and factors such as consumption of foods that absorb fallout. It concludes that about 22,000 cancers, half of them fatal, probably occurred from external exposure to radioactive fallout. Those could include everything from melanoma to breast cancer. The study attributes thousands of additional cancers to internal radiation exposure, such as inhalation or eating tainted food. Those cancers include at least 550 fatal leukemias and about 2,500 thyroid cancer deaths. Nuclear weapons powers owe the world a real accounting of what they did to its health, says Arjun Makhijani of the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research. The U.S. has been the only honest country so far. Fallout likely caused 15,000 deaths By Peter Eisler, USA TODAY WASHINGTON - Radioactive fallout from Cold War nuclear weapons tests across the globe probably caused at least 15,000 cancer deaths in U.S. residents born after 1951, according to data from an unreleased federal study. The study, coupled with findings from previous government investigations, suggests that 20,000 non-fatal cancers - and possibly many more - also can be tied to fallout from aboveground weapons tests. The study shows that far more fallout than previously known reached the USA from nuclear tests in the former Soviet Union and on several Pacific islands used for U.S. and British exercises. It also finds that fallout from scores of U.S. trials at the Nevada Test Site spread substantial amounts of radioactivity across broad swaths of the country. When fallout from all tests, domestic and foreign, is taken together, no U.S. resident born after 1951 escaped exposure, the study says. The study is the government's first effort to assess the nationwide effects of all forms of radiation from the hundreds of aboveground nuclear blasts detonated worldwide before such testing was banned in 1963. The cancer estimates add a new human toll to the Cold War and raise profound public policy questions, including whether the government should do cancer screenings in high-fallout areas. USA TODAY obtained portions of the study, which was supposed to be finished more than a year ago. There should be no more waiting, says Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, who pushed the Department of Health and Human Services to conduct the study in 1998. People are still waiting for real communication on their exposure risks and steps they can take. The study's estimates of
