i’m maintaining this other one –> www.greenresistance.wordpress.com

see you there

Is that enough? Many of us then – and now – argued that, though individual action is important – both for its additive effects and for its organizational impacts (more on that later) – it is insufficient. It needs to be coupled – if not dominated by – institutional reform.

So – this latest bit of information comes as no surprise. Sadly so.

As published in the Dissident Voice:

No matter what we’re led to believe, the world’s worst polluter is not your cousin who refuses to recycle or that co-worker who drives a gas guzzler or the guy down the block who simply will not try CFL bulbs. “The U.S. Department of Defense is the largest polluter in the world, producing more hazardous waste than the five largest U.S. chemical companies combined,” explains Lucinda Marshall , founder of the Feminist Peace Network. Pesticides, defoliants like Agent Orange, solvents, petroleum, lead, mercury, and depleted uranium are among the many deadly substances used by the military.

“Cuba is the only country in the world that has developed an extensive state-supported infrastructure to support urban food production. Functionally, this system was established in response to acute food shortages in the early 1990s, which occurred after the collapse of the Soviet Union, when the island was forced to find an alternative manner of cultivating crops. Havana has established and expanded on this innovative model since this time, and it continues to lead the island nation in its quest for self-sufficiency. The increasing prevalence of urban agriculture benefits the economy, environment, community and health of Cuban citizens.”

….

“Cuba’s successful implementation of urban agriculture should serve as a model for other developing countries, particularly in Latin America. By embracing more modern and effective methods of farming, countries theoretically have the opportunity to transform their local markets, augmenting the labor force and cultivating capital and infrastructure.”

…

A few friends and I dream of making urban community gardens in Beirut.  There is one neglected former parking lot in Hamra that has been reclaimed by plants – mostly parsley.  I only noticed the parsley when I saw an elderly woman standing in the small plot and picking them.

Here is the link for the Resource Center on Urban Agriculture and Food Security – Middle East and North Africa, “an international network of seven regional resource centers and one global resource centre on Urban Agriculture and Food Security.”

Here’s something that could make you smile.

Check out this excellent new food blog – with easy-recipes and delicious foods. And I can attest to at least 3 dishes on that site as being almost divine!

The blog: http://freshlevant.blogspot.com/

“Genetic evolutionists warn that if we fail to apply the lessons of our shared genetic destiny, which should be teaching us the important of cooperation among all species, we threaten human existence. We need to move beyond Darwinian Theory, which stresses the importance of individuals, to one that stresses the importance of the community.  British scientist Timothy Lenton provides evidence that evolution is more dependent on the interaction among species than it is on the interaction of individuals within a species. Evolution becomes a matter of the survival of the fittest groups rather than the survival of the fittest individuals. In a 1998 article in ‘Nature’ Lenton wrote that rather than focusing on individuals and their role in evolution ‘we must consider the totality of organisms and their material environment to fully understand which traits come to persist and dominate.’ (Lenton 1998)” (page 15)

I remembered that excerpt in the book when I read this latest news:

A study in the journal Science shows that extinctions tend to “cluster” on evolutionary lineages – wiping out species with a common ancestor.

…

the study’s authors point out, extinctions are likely to eliminate entire branches of the evolutionary tree.

Professor Roy said: “If you have whole lineages more vulnerable than others, then very soon, even with relatively moderate levels of extinction, you start to lose a lot of evolutionary history.”

…sigh….

I remember the old Indian (Native American) saying – warning the white man that he may die of a ‘loneliness of spirit’ without the animals…

From the excellent food first

Michael R. Taylor’s appointment by the Obama administration to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on July 7th sparked immediate debate and even outrage among many food and agriculture researchers, NGOs and activists. The Vice President for Public Policy at Monsanto Corp. from 1998 until 2001, Taylor exemplifies the revolving door between the food industry and the government agencies that regulate it. He is reviled for shaping and implementing the government’s favorable agricultural biotechnology policies during the Clinton administration.

Yet what has slipped under everyone’s radar screen is Taylor’s involvement in setting U.S. policy on agricultural assistance in Africa. In collusion with the Rockefeller and Bill and Melinda Gates foundations, Taylor is once again the go-between man for Monsanto and the U.S. government, this time with the goal to open up African markets for genetically-modified (GM) seed and agrochemicals.

Note this quote from Obama:

Obama: “I’m still frustrated over the fact that the Green Revolution that we introduced into India in the ’60s, we haven’t yet introduced into Africa in 2009.”

Wait! Wait! What has the Green Revolution brought to India? Better farming policies? More food production for the needy? Equity for the farm workers? Better environmental practices? No! What we have in India is an alarmingly high suicide rate for farmers! And more profit for the mega U.S. producers of pesticides and fertilizers

And Obama wants to introduce it to Africa.

Food First raises pertinent questions in the article:

One has to ask: given its support for Taylor, Monsanto and a new Green Revolution in Africa, does the Obama administration’s foreign agricultural aid program truly represent ‘change we can believe in’?

As Ben Burkett, president of the National Family Farm Coalition, a U.S. member of La Via Campesina, cautioned, “As an African American farmer who has visited farmers in Africa many times, I am deeply concerned that much of the Obama Administration’s pledge to spend $1 billion on agriculture research will be wasted on biotech research that benefits Monsanto more than it does small-scale farmers.”

From South Africa to Palestine/Israel:

Using Boycott to End Apartheid

Come Hear

Rania Masri

Discuss How to Boycott and Divest

Dr. Masri is an environmental science professor, activist, and writer, previously from Raleigh, visiting from the University of Balamand in Lebanon.  Formerly, she was a national board member of Peace Action and a program director at the Institute for Southern Studies. Her website is: http://www.greenresistance.wordpress.com

7 PM, Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Community Church of Chapel Hill Unitarian Universalist

106 Purefoy Road, Chapel Hill

(corner of Mason Farm and Purefoy Roads, near UNC Hospitals parking deck)

Talk co-sponsored by Balance and Accuracy in Journalism, Coalition for Peace with Justice, Elders for Peace

Donations accepted to the Nahr el Bared Refugee Committee, a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon (checks made to Rania Masri)

More information:  542-2139