Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
– Swedish Prosecutor Raises Possible Extradition of WikiLeaks Founder to U.S
– Julian Assange: ‘His philosophy keeps evolving’
– China Daily: WikiLeaks’ ordeal tests Internet freedom
– Russia TV: On Bail, In Jail: ‘Attack on Assange brings out more injustice’
– Ron Paul Defends WikiLeaks On House Floor (video)
– George Monbiot: These astroturf libertarians are the real threat to internet democracy
– George Lakoff: Untellable Truths
– Internet Worries (data mining and shorter attention spans)
It may surprise you to learn that it is not blue-eyed yuppies and liberal- commie environ-metal heads (as a neighbor puts it) who are the most influential group in the protection of the Dreadnought Deer of Destruction. The real power is the hunting fraternity itself.
Hand-powered devices have been used for millennia, but during the last quarter of the 19th century a radically improved generation of tools appeared, taking advantage of modern mass production machinery and processes (like interchangeable parts) and an increased availability in superior material (metal instead of wood). One of the outcomes included an array of new drilling machines, but their heydays were over fast. These human-powered tools were not only a vast improvement over those that came before them, they also had many advantages in comparison to the power drills that we use today.
I haven’t done this for a while, so I thought it might be good to do a round up of some of the more influential and inspirational books that have passed across my bedside table over the last 6 months. In terms of books you might choose to offer people over the next few weeks’ festive period, there is of course no beating the ever-expanding Transition Books series (still time to order before Christmas), but here is a collection of 13 titles to inform, inspire, fascinate, entertain and enlighten (also please note the Amazon-free nature of the links provided…). Any books you’d like to recommend?
If you think peak oil will sink the economy and spark civil unrest, how best to prepare? In our greedy, wasteful and corrupt world, perhaps the story of Noah’s Ark sounds like the way to go. Protect yourself and your family, and then watch while all those who wouldn’t listen and wouldn’t prepare disappear in the Flood. But in today’s interconnected world, we may need to save society to save ourselves.
A polyculture lawn, which some call a clover lawn, provides ecological services, increases biodiversity, helps manage and conserve water, and stores carbon. Not only that, it looks good, it’s safe for children and animals, and it’s cheap. All you have to do is move beyond the idea that a lawn should comprise grass and grass alone.
Fleeing Vesuvius is practical and fundamentally optimistic. It will arm readers with the confidence and knowledge they need to develop new, workable alternatives to the old-style expanding economy and its supporting systems.
– WikiLeaks Is the New Journalism
– Could Wikileaks change or destroy the Internet as we know it?
– NYT: Keeping Secrets WikiSafe
– Predicting the future of WikiLeaks: Follow the media!
– Pentagon scrambles to prep for ‘thermonuclear’ Wikileaks release
– Six Anti-Theses on WikiLeaks
– Guardian’s country-by-country round-up
Yes, there is serious trouble at our doorstep. Yes, society is undergoing dramatic convulsions of contraction and change—right now. But we will make things much worse on ourselves if we fail to factor into our calculations the welfare of others, not just our own. We are only as safe as the least secure of our neighbors–period. Some people respond to that idea by building deeper bunkers. What would happen if we reached out instead?
– Julian Assange and the Computer Conspiracy; “To destroy this invisible government” (best explanation for why he’s doing it)
– Something Wiki’ed This Way Comes
– The man who kicked the hornet’s nest
– US embassy leaks: ‘The data deluge is coming …’ (video)
– Assange: The Truth Will Always Win
– No Impact Experiment: A One Week Carbon Cleanse from No-Impact Man
– Peak oil to drive changes in Dunedin NZ (new report NOW ONLINE)
– Bringing Transition to the airport near you
– Bicycle freight: thinking outside the box truck
