The Super Supercapacitor | Brian Golden Davis

Beasts of the Southern Wild - Official Trailer HD (2012)

The beautiful and mesmerizing Beasts of the Southern Wild is the best reviewed film of the year so far, with 20 scores of 100 on Metacritic. The film first made its mark at the Sundance Film Fest very early in the year, then continued on to the Cannes Film Fest where the film won the Fipresci Prize, the Golden Camera Award, the Prix Regards Jeune and the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury’s special mention. It is unlike any film that will be released this year, and can’t really be categorized or filed in any particular category – it is wholly original.
The film is about the spirit of New Orleans and how it was damaged/diminished during and after Katrina. Maybe no one will ever say that’s what it’s literally about, maybe it can dwell quite easily in metaphor but the comparisons are hard to deny. What happened after Katrina was that suddenly New Orleans became a tragedy – the poor were exposed, vulnerable, abandoned – then rescued, then pitied, then put in a position of having to rebuild that which never wanted to be destroyed. In this little girl, the spirit lives. In this little girl, the spirit is handed down by the older generations. Read More

5 thriving, sustainable communities

"These modern neighborhoods rely on the age-old principle of cooperation for food, shelter, culture and social change."

By Shea Gunther

Ecovillages are communities of people drawn together by the common goal of living more sustainably. Their commitment and practices vary from ecovillage to ecovillage but all share the bond of not being satisfied with the status quo. Ecovillagers seek to live in harmony with the environment and develop their land with an eye on protecting vital natural systems and on fostering good relations with neighbors, both of the human and animal variety. They farm and garden, pool their buying power to save money, and may share other community resources like cars and tools. Does every house on the block really need to have its own lawn mower?

The modern-day ecovillage has its roots in the communes that first popped up in the '60s and '70s. As the environmental movement was born and matured, more eco-centered communities started forming. In 1991, sustainability experts Robert and Diane Gilman wrote "Ecovillages and Sustainable Communities," a study on ecovillages undertaken on behalf of Gaia Trust that helped lead to the formation, four years later, of the first ecovillage conference that took place in Findhorn, Scotland. That event led to the founding of the Global Ecovillage Network and to countless ecovillages all around the world.

We scoured the web in search of five American ecovillages that have taken root and thrived. Whether you're reading because you're just curious about ecovillages or are looking for a new place to call your eco-home, these five make for a good read. Read More

Earth Day: The History of a Movement

"Much like 1970, Earth Day 2010 came at a time of great challenge for the environmental community. Climate change deniers, well-funded oil lobbyists, reticent politicians, a disinterested public, and a divided environmental community all contributed to a strong narrative that overshadowed the cause of progress and change."

(Earth Day Network) Each year, Earth Day -- April 22 -- marks the anniversary of what many consider the birth of the modern environmental movement in 1970.
The height of hippie and flower-child culture in the United States, 1970 brought the death of Jimi Hendrix, the last Beatles album, and Simon & Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water”. Protest was the order of the day, but saving the planet was not the cause. War raged in Vietnam, and students nationwide increasingly opposed it.
At the time, Americans were slurping leaded gas through massive V8 sedans. Industry belched out smoke and sludge with little fear of legal consequences or bad press. Air pollution was commonly accepted as the smell of prosperity. “Environment” was a word that appeared more often in spelling bees than on the evening news.  Although mainstream America remained oblivious to environmental concerns, the stage had been set for change by the publication of Rachel Carson's New York Times bestseller Silent Spring in 1962.  The book represented a watershed moment for the modern environmental movement, selling more than 500,000 copies in 24 countries and, up until that moment, more than any other person, Ms. Carson raised public awareness and concern for living organisms, the environment and public health.
Earth Day 1970 capitalized on the emerging consciousness, channeling the energy of the anti-war protest movement and putting environmental concerns front and center.
The idea came to Earth Day founder Gaylord Nelson, then a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin, after witnessing the ravages of the 1969 massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, California. Inspired by the student anti-war movement, he realized that if he could infuse that energy with an emerging public consciousness about air and water pollution, it would force environmental protection onto the national political agenda. Senator Nelson announced the idea for a “national teach-in on the environment” to the national media; persuaded Pete McCloskey, a conservation-minded Republican Congressman, to serve as his co-chair; and recruited Denis Hayes as national coordinator. Hayes built a national staff of 85 to promote events across the land.
As a result, on the 22nd of April, 20 million Americans took to the streets, parks, and auditoriums to demonstrate for a healthy, sustainable environment in massive coast-to-coast rallies. Thousands of colleges and universities organized protests against the deterioration of the environment. Groups that had been fighting against oil spills, polluting factories and power plants, raw sewage, toxic dumps, pesticides, freeways, the loss of wilderness, and the extinction of wildlife suddenly realized they shared common values.
Earth Day 1970 achieved a rare political alignment, enlisting support from Republicans and Democrats, rich and poor, city slickers and farmers, tycoons and labor leaders. The first Earth Day led to the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the passage of the Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species Acts. "It was a gamble," Gaylord recalled, "but it worked."
As 1990 approached, a group of environmental leaders asked Denis Hayes to organize another big campaign. This time, Earth Day went global, mobilizing 200 million people in 141 countries and lifting environmental issues onto the world stage. Earth Day 1990 gave a huge boost to recycling efforts worldwide and helped pave the way for the 1992 United Nations Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. It also prompted President Bill Clinton to award Senator Nelson the Presidential Medal of Freedom (1995) -- the highest honor given to civilians in the United States -- for his role as Earth Day founder.
As the millennium approached, Hayes agreed to spearhead another campaign, this time focused on global warming and a push for clean energy. With 5,000 environmental groups in a record 184 countries reaching out to hundreds of millions of people, Earth Day 2000 combined the big-picture feistiness of the first Earth Day with the international grassroots activism of Earth Day 1990. It used the Internet to organize activists, but also featured a talking drum chain that traveled from village to village in Gabon, Africa, and hundreds of thousands of people gathered on the National Mall in Washington, DC. Earth Day 2000 sent world leaders the loud and clear message that citizens around the world wanted quick and decisive action on clean energy. Read More

From the Edge of Dystopia to Enlightenment

by Phillip Jennings
For the world to recover from the financial crisis there must be a revolution on job creation equal to the environmental revolution that has percolated into the collective consciousness over the last twenty years. It has taken that long for the world to be convinced global warming is a real and deadly threat. People have been convinced not so much by the scientific evidence but by the evidence of their own eyes. The 2008 financial crisis and the continuing aftershocks have presented compelling proof that the economy is as sick as the planet. Read More

Benjamin Fulford on Coast to Coast, Monday, January 30th.:  Former Asia/Pacific Bureau Chief for Forbes Magazine, Benjamin Fulford, will address how most of the world's money is now controlled by Asia, which will bring a fundamental change in the balance of power, and a restructuring of the international banking system.

Aidan Dwyer: Better solar designs

Demand change: an open letter to Japan's rising generations

By STEPHEN HESSE from the Japan Times Online

If you're like my 17-year-old, then you probably already know just about everything there is to know, and reading this column you'll likely just say: "Yeah, right, whatever," or "So?"
But if you have a few minutes, younger readers especially, please bear with me.
As a father, professor and environment journalist, I am seriously concerned about our use and abuse of our planet Earth, soon to be your planet Earth.
With the human population growing, marine resources dwindling and every inch of our planet touched by human-made chemicals and waste, I'm less than optimistic about the state of the world you will soon inherit.
From a different perspective, however, we can say that your generation is facing the most exciting challenges of any generation in history. We are on the cusp of dramatic changes environmentally, politically, socially and economically, with the effects of climate change multiplying, the Arab Spring phenomenon and Occupy Wall Street protests gaining traction, and developing nations rushing headlong forward while developed countries grind to a crawl.
In your lifetime, you have a chance to recalibrate the way we do things on this planet: to create a society that prioritizes justice, human rights and the quality of human life; to harness safe energy for all; and to introduce global, sustainable resource use.
Of course, there is a distinct possibility that we will fail to deal with such pressing issues as shrinking fresh-water supplies, loss of critical biological diversity and the effects of climate change feeding back upon itself. Then all hell will break loose.
To help you visualize how quickly things are changing, take a look at the website Worldometers (http://www.worldometers.info/).
Seeing the numbers click over faster than a high-speed gasoline pump, births and deaths, expenditure on military, CO2 emissions in tons, and energy use from non-renewable sources — to name a few — helps make stunningly clear how much and how fast your world is transforming, and in many ways not for the better. Humans have never faced so many challenges and the stakes have never been higher: Human society and our planet as we know them are on the line. The good news is that solutions are as endless as human creativity. The bad news is that the problems are global and they are entrenched in our systems of governance and business. And the clock is ticking. So, on a recent splendid day of blue skies and fiery foliage, I asked fellow educators in Japan who share some of my optimism regarding this country's university students for words of encouragement to share with the next generation of planet-keepers. No doubt you will disagree with some of my and their thoughts, but don't dismiss us completely. We have decades of experience teaching in Japan and perhaps even taught your parents — though we don't take responsibility for how they turned out!
One of my colleagues, a professor from the Chuo University Law School, offers advice for students who are job-hunting or trying to decide what to do with their lives. "The first step is not the last step. Setting goals is worthwhile, but ambitious goals are rarely achieved all at once. This applies to careers as well as social movements. What's important is to keep at it, to scan the surroundings for opportune moments and to be ready when the time is right," he suggests. From Sophia University, a professor urges young people to take action in the face of discouragement. "Sometimes a bleak situation can motivate you to act in ways you would not have the courage to do in good times. Today, with a bad job market and disconnected politicians, it is time for young people to act up, to speak out, to protest injustice, to dance in the streets and to sing at the top of your lungs. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain," he explains. A long-time friend and professor at Japan Women's University sent me two quotes from the Buddha focusing on the spiritual aspects of one's personal growth and life work, and explained why she chose them. The first quote is: "Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared." "You've probably wondered at times how much difference you can really make, but there's so much that can be achieved through the efforts of one person," she notes. "It's easy to get into a mind-set where you feel that if you help others, your own energy and happiness will be depleted. But it actually works the opposite way!" The second quote: "Your work is to discover your world and then with all your heart give yourself to it." "I've included the second quotation," she explains, "because it's so important to devote yourself heart and soul to what you feel passionate about. This is how we can bring the greatest benefit to ourselves and society."
An environmental educator in Kyoto focuses on the issue of production and waste.
"For a sustainable future, it is time to 'look back and move forward' to the old adage 'waste not, want not,' and to show that truly advanced countries can use their wealth and know-how to develop technologies that reuse everything. Then, like in the rest of nature, waste will once again become a resource in a closed-loop cycle, giving sustenance to the future."
Another educator from Kansai focused on the Internet's potential for political change.
" 'The System' has always been that the rich give lots of money to politicians and tell them what to say and do. Once in a while we can replace these politicians with new politicians who perpetuate this false democracy. But now we have Internet democracy. Millions of people uniting every day can make politicians think and act for ecological sustainability, instead of unsustainable economic 'growth'. "
Finally, a colleague at Aoyama Gakuin University who teaches environmental politics sent several quotes that inspire him. "First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win." (Often attributed to non-violent peace activist Mahatma Gandhi [1869-1948].) "Idealists foolish enough to throw caution to the winds have advanced humankind and enriched the world." (Lithuanian-American anarchist Emma Goldman [1869-1940].) And another he sent that is an old favorite of mine from Gandhi: "You must be the change you want to see in the world."
Which brings me to some suggestions of my own.
First and foremost, demand change. Political, social and economic changes are all urgently needed, and all are inherently part of conserving the global environment. You might not get what you demand, but you certainly won't get what you don't ask for.
Second, stay informed. The great British war leader Winston Churchill (1874-1965) once stated, "It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried." However, he also wryly noted, "The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter." So don't be that average voter, because what you don't know can hurt you. Imagine what Tepco (operator of the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant) and the government would never have told us if the media and civil society had not asked questions, again and again, and demanded answers.
Of course, average is fine, but don't be average if it means being ignorant. Demand transparency and accountability in politics, in your universities and companies. Olympus might still have a rosy future if someone had demanded these things years ago. And when your politicians, universities and companies do wrong, be indignant, especially about injustice. Demand justice, demand equality — and demand fairness.
Finally, don't be afraid to take chances. One of the greatest obstacles to positive change is fear of the unknown; fear that what happens next may be worse than what we have. The world is changing environmentally, socially, politically and economically, and society must change to respond. Yesterday's solutions are, by definition, out of date.
Of course, change simply for the sake of change can be wasteful, but I can't count how many times I've heard decision-makers in Japan insist that something should not be done because it has never been done before. Solutions come in myriad forms, from purebred to hybrid, so if something has never been done before, that may be one of the best reasons to give it a try.
The truth is, human society needs change and needs it desperately. Most of us will not find a cure for disease or invent a pollution-free energy system, but we all contribute to society and our planet, for better or worse. So, be someone who contributes for the better.
No matter what you do with your life, however large or small your contribution to society, begin by acting for those around you: your family, your neighbors, your fellow students, your workmates, your community. You might not be the next Bill Gates or Mahatma Gandhi, but the ripples from your good works and kindness will spread — and carry you with them.

Recycling Earth

"The recycling that I mentioned here is not the process of birth and death. This recycling comes between birth and death. In other words, it deals with the ‘code of conduct' of humanity when it arrives in this planet as a new born baby till the period of departure through death. We must live the life in this world with the realization that we are only travelers for a time being and we must maintain the sanctity and preserve the natural resources of this planet by ensuring a bright future for new arrivals which will be coming during and after our departure."

By Abdul Basit, Countercurrents.org


With the economic crisis that has gripped the world nations due to euro zone and the new report of US State Department of Energy stating that the carbon emissions in the environment have vastly increased in 2010, the world is passing through a critical stage. At the recent ECOQ exhibition and conference on environment in Qatar, Jean Audouze, President of France UNESCO said that at the beginning of 19th century, the planet had only 1billion human inhabitants. It is estimated that by next month there will be 7 billion people on Earth (which we have already attained this October), and by 2050 there will be 9 billion. “If every human being wished to live with the standards of American people, we would need seven Earths to support this amount of people. If every human being wanted to live in the same standards of a European, we would need three Earths to support all those people.”

With the growing population and developing countries emulating the path of developed countries in unsustainable and exploitative economic development, we will soon find ourselves in a situation where this planet is not enough for fulfilling our consumerist desires. Hence, how can we save the humanity and this earth from the greed and consumerism and ensure a balanced, sustainable and eco-friendly economic growth. This thought hounded me and resulted in the development of a new concept, ‘Recycling Earth'.

We have hitherto heard of waste management system by waste hierarchy of 3 R's namely, reduce-reuse-recycle (there also two additional R's that are incorporated recently like recover and rethink). The aim of this waste management hierarchy is to extract the maximum benefits from the used materials and reduce the amount of waste to minimal. As for recycling which is the third aspect, it is the process of converting used materials into new products to prevent the wastage potentially useful materials. These materials include paper, glass, plastic, metals, electronic...etc.

By the concept of ‘Recycling Earth' we can include the following three aspects:

1) Recycling land, water and air
2) Recycling Humanity
3) Recycling Economy

Being the only habitable planet in the universe, our earth, which is blessed with vast and varied landscapes and bio- diversities, should be protected in all respects to ensure the existence of the humanity and well-being of the future generation. Hence we have to preserve the land, air and oceans and prevent it from damage and pollution. Following are the brief details of how we can recycle land, water and air.

a) Land : Growing population, spreading urbanization, deforestation, industrialization, desertification, disposal of waste and unsustainable method of agriculture: have all negatively affected our land. Many of the islands and coastal areas are in the brink of disappearing due to rising sea levels and melting glaciers. The climate change has affected the carrying capacity of this planet and erosion and soil degradation are widespread. Taking into the consideration these factors, we have to find ways to recycle or reutilize the land that has been negatively affected and at the same time preserve the forests and other natural resources from extinction. We must also try to retrieve brownfield and superfund lands (these are terms used in US for unused and contaminated lands). Many new techniques have been developed to clean up the contaminated lands like soil vapour extraction, bioremediation, in situ oxidation and phytoremediation. However, further research and development is required to develop more sophisticated methods. Immediate actions must also be taken to save many islands from rising sea levels. Read More

7 Billion People

Amazing Basalt: Benefits of Basalt and Volcanic Ash

This is a research article from our friend Kathleen Smith regarding the versatility and sustainability of basalt. Amazing information!--Lori

by Kathleen Smith
ksmith6831@aol.com

Basalt is an igneous rock that forms from the relatively rapid solidification of basaltic lavas and is one of the most common types of rock in the world. Minerals and trace elements in the ash cloud are extremely beneficial for the planet. The rocks themselves have the basic elements for life including carbon, phosphorous and nitrogen, only requiring water to complete the formula. It is high in silicates, iron, and magnesium.

The fertility of some of the world's richest and most productive farmland is due to the minerals produced by nearby volcanoes.

Basalt and volcanic ash can be used for healing the physical body, remediation of toxic waste, nontoxic ‘enlivened cements’, healing building materials, radiation shielding, etc.

The crystalline structures within basalt can be used for communicators/capacitors. The light emitting from the structures are an avenue for many 'out of the box’ developments - and the microbes within have a world all their own.

1. MEDICINAL PURPOSES (some)
Volcanic ash has 'anti-bacterial, anti-viral, anti yeast and overall disinfectant qualities. It is high in sulphur, an active ingredient which not only helps the body to resist bacteria but actually destroys it. It disinfects the blood, stimulates bile secretion, aids the oxidation reaction in the body, and protects the protoplasm of cells for the synthesis of collagen'. Volcanic ash can provide a multitude of health and beauty benefits.

2. BASALT FIBERS
Basalt fibers spun from basalt rock are used as a fireproof textile in the aerospace and automotive industry and as a composite such as tripods.

3. VOLCANIC ASH/BASALT POWDER USED IN CEMENTS/CONCRETE
Fire resistant, high structural strength, non toxic, etc.

It has been estimated that 12% of the ozone and CO2 problems in the world are related to production of Portland cement.

4. REMINERALIZATION and FERTILIZATION of SOIL
Restores micro flora in the soil and re balances soil pH, etc. Volcanic soils are some of the richest on earth

5. REMEDIATION OF WASTE
Microorganisms living in the pores and crevices of dry basalt rock are able to reduce a toxic form of chromium, etc.

6. WATER
Technologies/processes that create mineral rich water from basalt

7. Zeolite - family of hydrous silicate live in the cavities of basalt
Zeolites can restore alkaline pH, detoxify heavy metals, clean up radioactivity at nuclear waste dumps and absorb huge amounts of gas. It would be an excellent rock powder to incorporate into manure piles to soak up ammonia.

Dr. Phil Callahan believed the crushing and grinding forces of the drifting continents caused great quantities of cosmic energy to be trapped within the minerals that make up stone and clay. One of the energies is the force called paramagnetism, which he says the ancients knew how to manipulate. Basalt is paramagnetic (exhibits paramagnetism) a form of magnetism that occurs only in the presence of an externally applied magnetic field.

The pre-Aztec Pyramid of the Sun outside of New Mexico, is built from volcanic rock and is highly paramagnetic. The Rosetta Stone was made of black basalt.

Basalts are the most productive aquifers of all volcanic rock types.

Rudolph Steiner believed there is rock powders that will pass on the subtle energies received from the cosmic bodies.

Transforming, innovative industries could be developed around volcanic ash and basalt rock.

To The Unfoldment: Kathleen Smith wrote this paper after the 2010 eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull suggesting that many industries can be developed around volcanic ash following an eruption. She is an international networker/researcher who is involved in the development of centers/cities of light – sustainable communities – technologies – transformational healing – ancient architecture.

LINKS:
THE ECONOMIC BENEFITS OF IGNEOUS ACTIVITY
BENEFITS OF VOLCANOES
From Chernobyl to Japan: Treating Radiation Sickness with Rock Dust - Remineralize the Earth
Volcanic Ash Clay - Naturally Detoxify Your Skin
Volcanic ash may have helped ancient Roman complex to survive 3 quakes
Ultra high strength cement based materials by Densit - Densit® Cast Basalt
The Riddle of Ancient Roman Concrete, David Moore, PE
Basalt Fiber: Windgate Energy
Basaltec Ltée®: Basaltec Ltée is a natural basalt rock dust production company
Health Benefits of Volcanic Ash - What Are The Facts? - Natural Island Skin Care

Japan: Fukushima Teacher Muzzled Over Radiation

Takahiko Hyuga

The Japan Times/Bloomberg

As temperatures soared above 37 degrees on a recent July morning, schoolchildren in Fukushima Prefecture were taking off their masks and running around playgrounds in T-shirts, exposing themselves to a similar amount of annual radiation as a nuclear power plant worker.

Toshinori Shishido, a Japanese literature teacher of 25 years, warned his students two months ago to wear surgical masks and keep their skin covered with long-sleeved shirts. His advice went unheeded, not because of the weather but because his school told him not to alarm students. Shishido quit last week.
"I want to get away from this situation where I'm not even allowed to alert children about radiation exposure," said Shishido, 48, who taught at Fukushima Nishi High School. "Now I'm free to talk about the risks." Read More

Two Peaches in Greater Los Angeles found high in radiation In Los Angeles, on Friday, July 8th, 2011, two peaches found at a local Santa Monica market were confirmed to have sustained radiation levels of 81 CPMs, or greater. The market's background radiation was said to be about 39 CPMs. The two peaches, thus, had significantly high radiation contamination equaling over two times site background levels...

Eating Radiation Isn’t the Same as Flying in a Plane The danger, of course, is that ingesting or inhaling long-lived, man-made radioactive particles over a long period of time in our water, dust, soil and food is very different than being exposed to electromagnetic radiation from a television or cosmic radiation from a plane ride. Once it gets in the body, lodging in bones, glands and other organs, it can damage DNA and cells for a long time, significantly raising the cumulative risk of cancer. Radioactive cesium 137 alone has a half-life of 30 years, where it can remain in the body emanating radiation the whole time. The risks are particularly high for pregnant women, infants and children...

An Amazing Solution: From Chernobyl to Japan: Treating Radiation Sickness with Rock Dust

“Remineralization protects not only soil and plants from radioactivity, but humans, too. Supplying abundant minerals especially trace elements to the human body improves radiation tolerance, immune system integrity and radiation exposure recovery.” -David Yarrow, 2006

by Joanna Campe
Many people today were not alive or do not remember the Chernobyl disaster of 1986. I remember it vividly. Just a few days after the disaster, I flew to Salzburg, Austria, to attend a banquet in honor of a very dear friend and mentor, the economic philosopher Leopold Kohr. He was receiving the keys to the city of Salzburg from the mayor and the pre-arranged banquet menu featured venison, mushrooms and berries— precisely the wild foods that had the greatest exposure to radioactive fallout. Years later I wrote a poem called The Chernobyl Feast which I read at a memorial service at Yale for Kohr.

Each day Austrians checked the newspaper to read the radiation levels of every food in order to make a choice about what to eat. The government recommended avoiding fresh foods from gardens and farms and instead eating processed foods that were packaged and canned before the disaster and were therefore not exposed to radiation. It was very eerie not to be able to eat the beautiful but invisibly and insidiously radioactive vegetables, fruits and berries in the gardens.

In the years leading up to Chernobyl, some dairy farmers in Austria were using remineralization as a part of their operations. They added rock dust to liquid manure as well as combining it with compost, thereby removing odors and greatly increasing soil biota. As a result, cows had twice the normal lifespan and produced much more milk. Amazingly enough, after Chernobyl, the cheeses that were remineralized (as well as biodynamic cheeses) measured no radioactivity whatsoever. Austrians would stand in long lines in order to buy these safe, remineralized products. Read More

Farmin in the Hood

The Sustainable World Sourcebook

The Sustainable World Sourcebook is the only book that will get you up to speed fast with the big global issues and the best solutions—the "go-to guide" for getting engaged and creating the just, healthy world we envision....

Taking the Hippie Out of Permaculture

"Call a person a "futurist," and everybody crowds around to hear a tale of doom – and maybe what we can do to avoid it. Call a person a "hippie," and everybody runs for cover.

I think the difference really is in the language each uses. When someone talks about thinking seven generations, or 20 generations, or 100 generations into the future with our decisions about energy consumption and food consumption, that person is a hippie, and therefore crazy. When someone talks about running out of food and oil in 300 years, and describes what the world will look like if we don't start doing x, y, and z, that person is a futurist, and therefore a visionary." - The Alchemical Nursery

A documentary abuzz with ecological portent

A creative exploration of the global honeybee crisis replete with remarkable nature cinematography, some eccentric characters and yet another powerful argument for organic, sustainable agriculture in balance with nature, Taggart Siegel's attractive call-to-action documentary "Queen of the Sun" represents a natural follow-up to his prize-winning "The Real Dirt on Farmer John," albeit never matching the latter's depth, poignancy and humor.

In recent years, "colony collapse disorder," a phenomenon in which worker bees abruptly disappear, has affected more than 5 million hives (each with 50,000-60,000 bees) worldwide. Given that bees pollinate 40 percent of the food humans eat, their vanishing signals huge repercussions for the planet.
Traveling throughout the U.S. and to England, Germany, Switzerland, Australia and New Zealand, Siegel assembles a large cast of biodynamic beekeepers, scientists and authors who explore some of the reasons for colony collapse and suggest ways it might be remedied; cute animated segments in different styles help to illustrate their points. And throughout the picture, close-up footage of busy bees pollinating brightly colored flowers, swarming in trees and hanging from honeycombs (and from the limbs and faces of beekeepers) keeps audience attention on the amazing insect many cultures once considered sacred.

The 2012 Shift-- Eat Clean

By Holly Noonan
We are on the cusp of a new era of consciousness on the planet. The whole hub-bub about 2012 is about this shift. It's a transition from masculine to feminine consciousness, meaning those humans (men or women) who resonate with the earth's unfolding creative, dynamic, careening, ever-changing life force, will be better prepared for a future that holds a tremendous amount of change in the next 50 years.

A major determining factor on whether you will be one of the clear-minded, flexible, sensitive creatures who rides the universal flow or one of the clamped-down, stuck, recalcitrant, comfort-seekers is....of course.... THE FOOD YOU EAT.
I have noticed both a decline and a crescendo of human consciousness in America. (Have you?) The primetime network TV shows seem to be getting more crass, more violent or vulgar and yet... the artists and visionaries and healers I know are galloping over their life-hurdles at an apparently accelerating rate. The news gets ever-bleaker from around the world, and yet quantum physicists are agreeing with the Dalai Lama. (and Einstein might have too.) Read More

Earth Hour aims for hope in darkened world Lights will go out around the world Saturday with hundreds of millions of people set to take part in the Earth Hour climate change campaign, which this year will also mark Japan's earthquake and tsunami...

This Time We’re Taking the Whole Planet With Us

[Note: This is a long article, but well worth the read.--Lori]

By Chris Hedges

I have walked through the barren remains of Babylon in Iraq and the ancient Roman city of Antioch, the capital of Roman Syria, which now lies buried in silt deposits. I have visited the marble ruins of Leptis Magna, once one of the most important agricultural centers in the Roman Empire, now isolated in the desolate drifts of sand southeast of Tripoli. I have climbed at dawn up the ancient temples in Tikal, while flocks of brightly colored toucans leapt through the jungle foliage below. I have stood amid the remains of the ancient Egyptian city of Luxor along the Nile, looking at the statue of the great Egyptian pharaoh Ramesses II lying broken on the ground, with Percy Shelley’s poem “Ozymandias” running through my head:

“My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!”
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

Civilizations rise, decay and die. Time, as the ancient Greeks argued, for individuals and for states is cyclical. As societies become more complex they become inevitably more precarious. They become increasingly vulnerable. And as they begin to break down there is a strange retreat by a terrified and confused population from reality, an inability to acknowledge the self-evident fragility and impending collapse. The elites at the end speak in phrases and jargon that do not correlate to reality. They retreat into isolated compounds, whether at the court at Versailles, the Forbidden City or modern palatial estates. The elites indulge in unchecked hedonism, the accumulation of vaster wealth and extravagant consumption. They are deaf to the suffering of the masses who are repressed with greater and greater ferocity. Resources are more ruthlessly depleted until they are exhausted. And then the hollowed-out edifice collapses. The Roman and Sumerian empires fell this way. The Mayan elites, after clearing their forests and polluting their streams with silt and acids, retreated backward into primitivism. Read More

Genetic Engineering Dream or Nightmare

Since its first publication in 1998, Mae-Wan Ho's book , Genetic Engineering: Dream or Nightmare? has been widely acknowledged as providing the most sustained and reasoned challenge to many of the scientific assumptions underlying genetic engineering. It has now been reissued in a second edition that has been up-dated and redesigned to make it more accessible to the general reader

In her wide ranging and comprehensive book, Dr. Ho hits out against transgenic foods, which have the potential to be toxic or allergenic; monoculture - a major cause of malnutrition world-wide; cloning - a scientifically flawed and morally unjustified process; the large-scale release of transgenic organisms, which she describes as "much worse than nuclear weapons as a means of mass destruction - as genes can replicate indefinitely, spread and recombine". Read More

Emergency! Pathogen New to Science Found in Roundup Ready GM Crops? USDA senior scientist sends “emergency” warning to US Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack on a new plant pathogen in Roundup Ready GM soybean and corn that may be responsible for high rates of infertility and spontaneous abortions in livestock...

Tucson makes Time Magazine’s list of ‘Intelligent Cities’

by Pamela Powers, Tuscon Citizen

Finally… some positive, news coming out of Arizona.

In a recent issue, Time Magazine named Tucson one of the nation’s “Intelligent Cities” because it is a desert city with laws that promote grey water and rainwater use. Here’s the story:
In Tucson, Saving the Bath Water Too

If you would like to learn more about rainwater or grey water collection and use, check out the Watershed Management Group. They teach individuals and neighborhoods through workshops and lectures.

I attended a two-weekend, hands-on workshop conducted by Technicians for Sustainability and Stone Curves Co-Housing a few years ago. It was a great experience; I learned a lot of water collection dos and don’ts, which helped me transform my yard. I highly recommend a workshop for anyone who is considering installing a cistern or hiring someone to do it.

Water Harvesting by Pamela Powers

Bay of Fundy tidal proposal moves ahead

Atlantis' AK 1000 turbine will be installed in the Bay of Fundy.

Multi-billion dollar corporations are investing resources, time and money into developing tidal power in Nova Scotia, but if we’re to believe provincial authorities and the corporations’ reps, the corporations have no idea if they’ll make money or not.

Last year the province issued a Request for Proposal for development of a tidal facility in the Fundy Ocean Research Centre. The new facility will hook into a transmission line recently built with federal funds, and any power generated would be bought by Nova Scotia Power. The idea was that the new facility would help develop tidal technology, which has recently seen a major setback with the failure of a turbine installed by OpenHydro, a company owned in part by Emera, the parent company of Nova Scotia Power.
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