Let them go! We would not want to be captured and held in captivity…but yet, here we do it to them for our entertainment.
Author Archives
Hunks of plastic found inside Fraser River steelhead
And here we go, folks…our plastic obsession is coming back around to bite us….
WATCH: Cute red pandas remind us winter isn’t all bad
…just think how much fun they would have if they weren’t kept in captivity….
Let’s Make A Hillfort
I often walk the dog on the site of my old primary school. The sports field, scene of many acts of personal triumph, now lies overgrown and wild. To the side is a round wooden construct, made long after I left the school, for the then pupils to sit on when playing outside in rare good weather.
In its ruin, nature is claiming it. Whenever I see it, it always reminds me of the way ancient hillforts look to us, now. How our man made markers are consumed over time, leaving us but hints and traces.
This is our own Maiden Castle, in microcosm.
Abandoned New York
The Observer has a post up on a book called Abandoned New York. I went to search the Grossinger Resort, and found quite a few blogs on it, including the author’s, plus this flickr link. I’ve seen the Catskills in passing through on my own little Odyssey, circa 2007, and was enamored with their beauty. Actually, I shouldn’t even be here, if my trek through the mountains hadn’t produced a surreal experience — I had $10 to my name, nowhere to stay for the night, so I drove around, lost. It was 2 a.m., I fell asleep at the wheel, and was approaching a curve in the road. I should have gone over the edge, but something jolted me awake, and I turned the car just in time. Like I said, I think when I finally pass, my Guardian Angel is going to ask for some time off. 🙂
Anyway, I look at the photos of the abandoned property and sigh at those times and what has been lost. Not that I think excess is the way to go, but that in those days nearly everyone had a decent paying job and the economy was doing well, and there were great places like this where one could go to enjoy themselves. There was a sense of community.
On the flip side, I see the ferns and I am once again enamored at Mother Earth for continuing to renew and take back the structures. A landscape architect told me once that if land has been plowed for a farm or a housing development or a factory, that if you let it alone, it will return to a forest once again. I have looked at things from that perspective, and find that it is true. Nature continually tries to heal the “open sores” of our handiwork.
The author calls the Grossinger resort eerie. I guess so. But I also see life renewing itself.
Pope Francis speaking truth to power
(This post is on spirituality, so if it’s not your thing…)
Love this guy. As others have stated- watch your back. You’re going up against people whom have lost all sense of God and spirituality — whom enjoy feeling superior to others and take every opportunity to put someone down. And then kick them while they’re down there.
“Even today it can happen that we stand at the crossroads of these two ways of thinking,” the pope said as he outlined the current debate in the church between those seen as doctrinal legalists and those, like Francis, who want a more pastoral approach.
“Jesus responds immediately to the leper’s plea, without waiting to study the situation and all its possible consequences,” Francis declared. “For Jesus, what matters above all is reaching out to save those far off, healing the wounds of the sick, restoring everyone to God’s family. And this is scandalous to some people!”
“Jesus is not afraid of this kind of scandal,” the pontiff continued. “He does not think of the close-minded who are scandalized even by a work of healing, scandalized before any kind of openness, by any action outside of their mental and spiritual boxes, by any caress or sign of tenderness which does not fit into their usual thinking and their ritual purity.”
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Word. Jesus threw the bankers out of the Temple, along with the merchants. He made the religious leaders look bad, and for that he paid with his life. He thumbed his nose at them, radical that he was.
There’s quite a debate amongst the commenters. I like the gal that replied she was Buddhist, and even she loves Pope Francis. Ahhh…she recognizes the Light inside him, as Buddhists do. (American Buddhists believe that God resides in all of us, instead of a Supreme Being, they believe that we all have a piece of Divinity within us. When they bow and say “Namaste” they are saying “I recognize God within you.” Amy Tan has said in one of her books that Chinese Buddhists are different than American. They believe in reincarnation in that you come back to “pay” for your sins in a former life. She relates this to American tourists whom objected to an ox being whipped. The Chinese tour guide said that perhaps this ox was a person who did bad things in a previous life.)
Personally, I don’t believe that God (or the Universe) punishes. I think it is something that those who want power use it as a weapon — to say that something bad happening to someone is punishment from God, they can proclaim themselves as superior. It’s a bullying mindset. And dark. And negative. None of those things can come from God, in my opinion.
It also makes the person out to be judge. But only God can do that. It’s really amazing how many people try to put themselves on the level of God — to say who is going to Heaven and who is not.
Anyway, I’m glad the Pope has taken such a strong stance. Truly a spiritual man feeding the Light. ❤
Genetically engineered B.C. apples OK’d for U.S.
Note in the first video that Neal Carter states that the apple will NOT be labeled as genetically modified, as it should be, because they don’t want to “demonize” it. In other words, they will deny people the right to choose non-GMO food. He outright lies and states they have been testing and testing and they are safe. Where is the data supporting that claim? They have not given the data to others to examine, as the opposition leader speaks of in the second video. The next issue is…why? Why genetically modify an apple so you take away the beneficial enzymes? These enzymes are necessary for the body to digest food! Nature created them perfectly, and modifying them for appearances is beyond stupid.
And, from a Communications standpoint — note how they place the GMO positive video on top of the report, and the protestors at the bottom of the report — and note how the “reporter” states that *everybody* eats GMOs, so what’s the big deal about this? She immediately places her opinion in the piece, trying to influence the viewer and quash opposition before it has begun.
Canada: Thousands Take Part in Annual Women’s Memorial March
An estimated 1,200 people participated in the 25th annual Women’s Memorial March in Vancouver, BC, on Feb 14, 2015. Photo: Vancouver Sun.
by Warrior Publications, Feb 14, 2015
Several thousand people participated in the annual Women’s Memorial March for missing and murdered women across the country on Feb 14, 2015. The largest turnout was in Vancouver, BC, where over 1,200 took part in that city’s 25th annual march. Over the past decade, numerous other towns and cities across the country have also begun organizing annual memorial marches. According to official estimates, there have been over 1,000 Indigenous women murdered since 1980. Below are some media reports on this year’s mobilization.
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OPT OUT Indiana rally tomorrow
More on the Hoosier front –Indiana OPT OUT is having a rally tomorrow at the Capitol.
Indiana giving factory farms rights to pollute and other bills to kill our state
…among other things. SJR 12 is all about their rights…and nobody else’s, including the animals. Animals should be respected as they give us life, but we treat them as if we give them life!
This, along with forbidding animal rights activists the right to record animal abuse, is too, too much. You can see the influence of the Tea Party here — all about corporate farming, not about the people OR about small family farms OR about sustainable practices.
Next, we have HB 1351 that seeks to put a stranglehold on environmental regulations. First day on the job, Pence signed this –Koch head that he is…..
I believe we should make a distinction between Repubs who don’t believe in this stuff and the Daniels and Pences of the state who only care about furthering their own agendas and own careers, at the expense of not only the state, but the country…..so perhaps we should just go ahead and call it the Koch party? Koch brothers would hate that because they’ve tried sooo hard to remain under the radar…
And, finally, HB1320, which tries to thwart any efforts by Hoosiers towards renewable energy.
Our state has such beauty to it — especially our state parks, which are like moving back in time in Indiana before the Native Americans were forced out. The beauty and serenity cannot be bought…and cannot be replaced, a la cutting down timber and then planting a few trees in its place.
We have so much to lose in this power grab by the Kochs. The article on the Hoosier Environmental Council website fails to acknowledge the 17 million pounds of toxins flowing into our waterways every freaking year…and BP dumping mercury into Lake Michigan every freaking year, and the Whiting refineries…and the PCBs in the local river, which is also subject to mercury due to discharge from a local factory…the Wabash is already so polluted that there are those who say it is beyond help….I could go on…
We have so much to lose and only a few will gain by the above bills. Hoosiers need to stand up against this –our children and grandchildren deserve that.
Eagle 
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