28 January 2007
From Wikipedia (reference not yet cited though):
There is also a growing body of research that correlates cancer incidence with the lower levels of melatonin produced in the body when people spend more time in bright-light conditions, as happens typically in the well-lit nighttime environments of the more developed countries. This effect is compounded in people who sleep fewer hours and in people who work at night, two groups that are known to have higher cancer rates.
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cancer&oldid=103892538
I had a debate the other day with my room mate about the extremely powerfull staying out of view of the media. Her response was that there was no conspirary, that we know about class war. The following link points out that we are both right I think. We do know about the super rich, but institutions like the statitstics bureau and the media will avoid reporting on them. So our collective perception about class is skewed.
A few phone calls to the Census Bureau in Washington D.C. revealed that for years the bureau never interviewed anyone who had an income higher than $300,000. … It has been estimated that if children’s play blocks represented $1000 each, over 98 percent of us would have incomes represented by piles of blocks that went not more than a few yards off the ground, while the top one percent would stack many times higher than the Eiffel Tower.
http://www.commondreams.org/views02/1227-06.htm
25 January 2007
Greetings:
Why, when today's greatest problems result from
the scale of human activity, do business and
government aim to perpetuate expansion?
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
The short answer is that they have always done so.
Given that we are disrupting the Earth's ability
to support the next generation, custom and tradition
are not good enough reasons for continuing in that
direction.
Expansion may have been good in the past, but
it will end civilization if we do not alte course and
head for sustainability.
You are invited to help deliver the wake up call.
(more…)
23 January 2007
Think you’re poor?
http://www.globalrichlist.com/
I’d like to see this tool only for Canada though… we’ve got lots of poverty here.
Turns out I’m in the 2,04% richest people in the world. Quite the sobering assesment.
Sign the petition at: http://www.ecologyottawa.ca/take-action/sign-on/index.php
We, the undersigned, call on City Council to keep its environmental promises to the people of Ottawa.
In recent years, Council has approved important environmental plans, such as the City’s Air Quality and Climate Change Management Plan, but has refused to provide City Staff with the financial resources necessary to keep Council’s commitments.
As a result, Ottawa’s environmental performance is falling further and further behind other Canadian cities, with direct impacts on the health and quality of life of its residents.
With this in mind, we call on Council to invest in the health and prosperity of our city and to make the environment a priority during the upcoming budget discussion.
14 January 2007
Since the news broke that George Bush will be announcing an increased deployment of 20,000 troops to Iraq, there has been a huge response within the U.S. military.
The War Resisters Support Campaign has been inundated with requests from soldiers who are considering coming to Canada.
This is an urgent appeal for housing spots for the new arrivals. If you have room where you can house a resister for a few days, a few weeks or longer, PLEASE GET IN TOUCH WITH US.
Welcoming a war resister here with the offer of temporary housing is a concrete way to help put an end to war in Iraq. Anything you can do to help would be greatly appreciated!
Please contact:
National Campaign Office:
phone: 416.598.1222
email: resisters@sympatico.ca
mailing Address:
Box 13, 427 Bloor Street West
Toronto, ON M5S 1X7
Toronto: resisters@sympatico.ca
Vancouver:
http://ca.geocities.com/vanresisters
email: bjorkna5@telus.net
Victoria:
vlannon@pacificcoast.net
Montreal: montrealresisters@hotmail.com
Ottawa:
ottawaresisters@yahoo.ca
Nelson, BC: West Kootenays War Resisters Support Campaign
nelsonresisters@gmail.com
phone:
250.354.7489
+++++++++
The War Resisters Support Campaign is a broad-based coalition of community, faith, labour and other organizations and individuals that have come together to support U.S. soldiers seeking asylum in Canada because they refuse to fight in the illegal war in Iraq.
The Campaign works on two fronts: we support the material needs of war resisters when they arrive in Canada; and we campaign to persuade the Canadian government to provide sanctuary for U.S. war resisters.
4 January 2007
In these desperate times of climate change, I read this word of advice on Tooker & Bishoff Greenspiration site: http://www.greenspiration.org/memorial/letter.htm
So what advice can I offer? Stay rounded. Do the activism, but don’t overdo it. If you burn out, or tumble into depression, you’ll become no good to anyone, especially yourself. When you’re in this state, nothing seems worthwhile, and there’s nothing to look forward to.
…
I never really understood what burnout was. I knew that it affected active people, but somehow I thought I was immune to it. After all, I took breaks every now and then and went travelling. And all my work was done in partnership with Ange, the great love of my life.
But in the end, when burnout finally caught up to me, it was mega, and must have been the accumulation of decades of stress and avoidance. And now I find myself in a dark and confusing labyrinth trying to feel my way back to sanity and calm.
3 January 2007
Took me a long time to write this one. Can’t say I think it will fall on an open mind. Still, in these desperate times, until workers strike to get what our planet criticaly needs (the only true effective measure against an economic system that destroys the planet), every action counts in these desparate times. I encourage you to write to your representatives as well.
Dear Mr. Harper,
Let’s start with the basics, shall we? Climate Change is a fact.
That carbon dioxide is a green house gas is a fact. In the past 400
thousand years, the concentration has varied between 175 and 300 parts
per million of C02. We are now at 380 parts per million. Again, never
has it reached that level in 400 thousand years. (Fisher 1999 and
Keeling 2004)
I am sure you’ve seen the green Christmas yourself here in Ottawa. I
have never recall a green Christmas in Ottawa.
Mr. Harper, the ecosystem that provides us with our food is under
threat. Your lack of leadership in this matter is clear. Innovation
is stifled by heavy subsidies of large C02 emitters, particularly in
the energy sector. What do you have to say to small businesses? As
the threats of increasing catastrophic events, what do you have to say
to the children of this nation? What do you have to say to the Inuit
people who are noticing even more drastic changes on their ecosystem?
For the people of the planet, please act now:
- Tax shift away from income to polluters and producers of C02 & methane;
- Increase subsidies for house and business retrofit that aim
reduction in energy consumption;
- Ban cosmetic motorized vehicles such as large SUVs and Hummers;
- Work with the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and Canadian
Organic Growers to facilitate localization of food consumption - on
average food we eat travels 2000 kms (Kimbrell, 2002);
- Move subsidies away from cheap fossil fuel, like the Accelerated Capital
Cost Allowance, towards renewable energy;
- Convert closing car manufacturing plants to wind turbine producing
plants, keeping jobs and citizens happy;
- Expand the Green Municipal Funds;
- Encourage provinces to allow municipalities more flexible tax laws
so they too can implement green tax shift.
Act now Mr. Harper. Your children’s future depend on it.
Merci & à la prochaine,
Julien Lamarche