Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
– France Gets a Foretaste of a World After Peak Oil
– France on strike – dramatic photographs
– Exchange student sees French strikes up close
– Dinner ladies lead the fight against pension cuts
– Marseille close to standstill as worst strikes in 15 years cause French chaos
– Sarkozy’s approval rating hits new low as French strikes drag on
– From my hometown in France : Videos and updates on the strikes
"Calling occupants of interplanetary craft to rescue our planet, as we seem incapable of doing so ourselves despite the best intentions of a vocal & divided minority of earth dwellers who struggle against those who have…" What we need is a revolution of thought on the scale of the Copernican introduction of heliocentrism.
After weeks of prediction and build up, this was finally the week of the UK government spending review statement. With the government insisting that it will be the greenest ever there was much anticipation of how the Department of Energy and Climate Change would fare in the review…
In all likelihood, in the gap between the broken-paradigm moving sidewalk and the saner-future moving sidewalk lies all of the above: a spread-eagle attempt to keep one foot on each sidewalk for a brief time; a mere hop in moments of trust; a broad vault of faith when sometimes we cannot fully make it; and a few decades of twisting, turning, going-back-on-ourselves, and doubting.
Police removed local geologist Matt Price from the Petroleum building where he was hanging for two hours after being tarred and feathered by disgruntled former friends and colleagues. Patrolman Derrick Quinn reported, “We had to wait for the angry mob to disperse. Man, do they hate radical honesty.”
But self-sufficiency, I realize, is a misnomer. What I am aiming for is local sufficiency. While I am marginally better at providing for myself, my gradually accumulating “locafficiency” is very much dependent upon people I see day-by-day.
You may noticed that we have made some subtle changes to the site. The main one is the addition of a toolbar along the bottom which connects through to EB’s new Facebook fan page.
More and more individuals, foundations, and other institutions are showing an interest in investing capital in food companies that address social and/or environmental issues, a phenomenon both mirrored and encouraged by a growing number of conferences, panels, workshops, and even entire organizations dedicated to the field. At first glance all this activity might seem like great news–but if we dig a little deeper, there are some hidden impacts that good food advocates would be wise to examine a little more closely.
We are currently facing a worldwide recession. Many people cannot find employment, and many things are poorly done or not done at all, because businesses and governments say they don’t have the money to fund them. I am not an economist nor do I have a complete understanding of the economy, nevertheless, like the boy who pointed out that the emperor was naked, I see things that strike me as odd.
“There are people who have bought into what I would consider a very inappropriately optimistic idea of the future, and they insist I am a doomer. People who are hard core doomers insist I am a blind optimist. Because we in Western civilization these days tend to be thinking in terms of two and only two categories.”
A Transition council would be one where politicians and officers are fully aware of the implications of climate change and peak oil; where the community and council have a plan for life after cheap oil; where the council acts as an enabling force for community groups and as a liberator of new ideas from the community; where the council’s leaders put the local area and the planet before the needs of national government wherever necessary; where the priority is on increasing the happiness or well-being of residents above all else; and where there is space for a deeper understanding of the dramatic changes we are going through and how to achieve behaviour change.
The phrase “school lunch” may be more likely to bring to mind visions of artificial nacho cheese and processed foods than fresh vegetables. But in Washington D.C., D.C. Farm to School Network is trying to change that by connecting school cafeterias with local farms and educating students about gardening and cooking with fresh produce.
