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Astraea News and ViewsJuly Round-up
PerspectiveIt had been some time since a developed economy suffered a jolt like Madrid. Although we might have expected the G8 to dominate news and views in July, the bombings in London changed our focus. This month's Perspective is offered from two world famous thought leaders ... The Answer Is Still Peace, posted by Deepak Chopra on July 08, 2005 at 01:01 AM The terrorist attack in London today has once again created deep anguish in our collective soul... Around the world people yearn to find peace and give solace to the suffering and bereaved. Once again the clash of polarized enemies clamors for attention. Al-Qaeda takes pride in this heinous and sordid crime, while Western nations seek to bring the terrorists to justice. Yet it would be naive to take the simple way out and call this an example of pure evil and depravity. In a very real way we are all part of the London tragedy. Everyone is caught in the tangled web of social injustice, economic disparities, ecological disaster, war, and terrorism. Unless we accept this fact, we will continue with our madness of an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Mahatma Gandhi declared that if we continue on this path the whole world would go blind. Will we ever see through our blindness and create a global community of connected humanity? To promote peace today means promoting a critical mass of consciousness where violence is never an option. London, like the attacks in Madrid, Bali, and Indonesia before it, should make us want to live for peace above all. I understand how it's possible to respond to terrorism with deep anger; I cannot understand responding to it with anger that goes on and on forever. There are causes behind every terrorist act and therefore hope that these causes can be changed, even as we continue to pursue justice. We still ignore the source of global instability: religious fundamentalism which has its roots in extreme poverty, where 50% of the world lives on $2 per day, 20% of it on less than $1 per day, a world where 8 million people die each year because they are too poor to survive. Terrorism also festers because of a lack of education, toxic nationalism, ignorance about the outside the world, and deep economic disparities. Twenty thousand children died yesterday of hunger-related causes around the world, twenty thousand will die today, and twenty thousand tomorrow. That is not part of the evening news. Why not? Nature abhors a deep imbalance. The human species has become the most dangerous predator on our planet. Nature might be saying to herself, "Human beings were an interesting experiment that didn't work, so let's move on." Or, perhaps, our self awareness has reached a turning point. as Inside ourselves we've always carried the seeds of creativity. The next creative leap isn't a mystery. Millions of people are ready to join in harmonious interaction with Nature--and with our own complex inner nature--to create a world of peace, harmony, laughter and love. Let us strengthen our intention to create that critical mass of peace consciousness. Every tear can be a drop of nourishment for the new world that wants to be born and is making itself known little by little, every day. Each one of us can help create this critical mass by becoming the embodiment of peace conciousness through peace practices : Being Peace Posted by Deepak Chopra on July 08, 2005 at 01:01 AM Chopra supports the Alliance for the New Humanity which is committed to connecting and strengthening the synaptic network of the emerging planetary mind. If you care to contribute to waging peace, please consider the Peace Conference in September which is promoting the adoption of a Peace Department by the US government. The process of change through which human society and culture is swimming is not new (although the pace is faster than ever and the critical mass for emergence is close). Gustave Le Bon, writing The Psychology of Crowds in 1895, could have been commenting today: The present epoch is one of these critical moments in which the thought of mankind is undergoing a process of transformation. "Two fundamental factors are at the base of this transformation. The first is the destruction of those religious, political, and social beliefs in which all the elements of our civilization are rooted. The second is the creation of entirely new conditions of existence and thought as the result of modern scientific and industrial discoveries. The ideas of the past, although half destroyed, being still very powerful, and the ideas which are to being still very powerful, and the ideas which are to replace them being still in process of formation, the modern age represents a period of transition and anarchy." Geopolitics"A Live Aid concert in developed countries, a G8 summit in Gleneagles, and Olympic in London...it looks like the big bullies of the world are enjoying the party they have created for themselves, and that once in a while they turn around and wonder how best they can distribute the crumbles the rest of the world. How about this: a Live Aid concert in Dakar, a G8 Summit in Burkina! OK, and I live the Olympic game to London, French are good loosers... " Inequality is a blood red darkening stain on humanity. In standard economic terms, the rich are getting richer and the poor are dying:
Our contention that corruption in Russia has spiralled out of control is supported by a new report by respected Russian think-tank INDEM. The Russian state itself is "the country's biggest racketeer", with the shadow economy at least twice as large as the state budget. The report says any interaction between citizens and the country's bureaucracy will inevitably involve corruption in the form of paying bribes. Commerce and business are the worst affected areas. The report by the non-governmental non-profit public association confirms the findings of many international organisations, which have also charted the staggering extent of corruption in Russia. Its annual report on corruption says that bribes paid to officials by businessmen may have grown as much as 10 times over the last four years alone. The report estimates the total value of such bribes as 2.5 times the whole national state budget. Among the most corrupt institutions, the report identifies education - where parents may buy university places for their children - and the army, where young people and their families pay to avoid military service. This sounds like the US and some European states respectively. The report says there are signs, however, that bribe-taking is decreasing in the health service and judicial system, and that the notorious traffic police are starting to clean up their act. A top Russian industrialist said corruption was such a "normal" fact of life, that businessmen just pay bribes without really questioning why they should do so. (This is typical of many emerging jurisdictions and some industries globally. Ed.) The report also describes what it calls Russians' "mythologised view of corruption", demolishing the widely held view that Russia was more corrupt under the rule of former President Boris Yeltsin! In Thailand the suspension of civil liberties imposed as a response to unrest in the South is worrying. Prime Minister Thaksin can now execute tough powers such as censorship, banning meetings, detention without trial and phone tapping. It is unfortunate that the government has not been able to reduce tension in the South and this tightening of central control does not bode well for an open and clear investment environment and may even make tourists uncomfortable. Risk and TerrorIs Iraq the black death of our time? The cleansing of cities and the reduction of the human burden on the land that resulted from the Black Death in mid 1300s combined with the blow to religious doctrine (why is God killing good people?) laid the foundation of the Rennaisance. Perhaps today's tension over Iraq and increasing vocalisation by religious fundamentalism will raise humanity's incentive for conscious emergence (i.e. raising the standard of ethics across cultures). The London bombings have shown terrorism in a very different light to that portrayed by the American media. The bombings were carried out by "the boy next door"; the media and public reacted soberly; there was no cry for blood. A personal illustration of the different approach is the story of Colin Morley, an acquaintance killed at Edgeware Station tube. Colin, a marketing genius, was in the right place at the right time, doing the right thing, the right way, but was killed. The hundreds of tributes (800 by the last week of July) posted at www.bethechange.org.uk are testament to his peaceful legacy. Colin was a good leader as well as a great leader. Relative to their public profiles Colin is missed more than the Pope was. This is a powerful testament of the values of the community helping human culture and society to emerge. The reaction in the UK to the bombings is to be commended and copied. It is a mature, measured and conciliatory approach that does not seek to put fear in to people nor over-control society. It recognises that the tension released in terrorism is not caused by some genetic defect but by a local environment that nurtures hatred and violence and obscures opportunity. The fundamentalism of terrorists is the same as the fundamentalism of the US Bible belt. Both need education to become more human. The moderate approach of the UK leaves space for a win-win solution. The following note (which we must quote anonymously) eloquently paints the picture on that day, 7/7/05: Terrorism is not class war: it is indiscriminate and dastardly. Amongst the dead and injured, and certainly amongst those affected that you would leave out of your definition of "middle and low class." I would just draw one major point: the dignity of London in the face of this compared to the hysteria in New York on the 11 September 2001. Shortly after the bombings today, the nature of the attacks remained unknown - fortunately, the long held fears of biological or dirty bombs has not been realised. On this occasion. Maybe next time. Even so, London remained calm. The comms went down, then came back up. The internet slowed, then recovered. People went to places of safety and then came out when told it was safe to do so. CNN went ape, as always; speculating, shoving cameras into the faces of the distressed, pushing interviews to the point of making the victims break down. That was pretty shabby. But the authorities all spoke with calm voices, the representatives of the rail staff unions and the senior officers (not mere spokesmen) of the transport service providers all made themselves available to the networks and spoke in clear, calm terms. No one allowed the media to talk them into speculating on the causes nor the number of casualties. There will be no global outpouring of grief; no high profile memorial services in London (as there were in New York) and no endless re-running of the events on TV and in the media. Iraq, terrorism, Al Quaeda, Homeland Security, a culture of fear - it is compounding not reducing. We desperately need ideas, including radical ones, to give us a sense of direction of how to get out of this tragic mess. America is living in fear. Not of invasion, but of the restrictions of civil liberties and the catalysation of the culture of fear that would come if a bomb went off in America. It is not fair to Americans that they have been forced in to this anxiety. Unfortunately America is gripped by an illusion. The rationalisation for foreign policy (war, energy, terrorism, trade) is on false foundations, largely laid by a well-meaning religious fundamentalism no less pernicious than that of Al Qaeda. Science is being retarded for the benefit of creationism and bigotry which claims that "thou shalt not kill, unless its the bad guys". America is at the frontier of cultural evolution so this should not be happening. Let us then conclude that it is a necessary part of the cultural emergence in America and within years America will be more European than Europe. A New York Times editorial shows that America does see itself clearly (though only at the coasts): Most of the Bush administration's justifications for invading Iraq have turned out to be wrong. But the one surviving argument for overthrowing Saddam Hussein has been an important one: it was a chance to bring freedom and equality to the citizens suffering under a brutal dictatorship. For those of us holding onto that hope, this week brought disheartening news on multiple fronts. Most chilling of all are the prospects for Iraqi women. As things now stand, their rights are about to be set back by nearly 50 years because of new family law provisions inserted into a draft of the constitution at the behest of the ruling Shiite religious parties. These would make Koranic law, called Shariah, the supreme authority on marriage, divorce and inheritance issues. Even secular women from Shiite families would be stripped of their right to choose their own husbands, inherit property on the same basis as men and seek court protection if their husbands tire of them and decide to declare them divorced. Iraq continues to suffer 30 deaths a day and saw some of the worst days in July. And the death toll in Iraq is not declining. The death toll is more deplorable than the few killed in London. We have become almost numb to the scene. The same number of people die every two days in Iraq as died in the London bombing. The situation in Iraq would not be allowed in America - it should not be allowed in others' backyard.
Agricultural policy, as well as war and violence, is destroying Iraq. In particular, agriculture is being decimated by US policy and favouritism to big-pharma and agribusiness. Order 81 demands the use of imported seed which is not resilient to local conditions. The justification is the poor state of agricultural production in Iraq, but this has been caused by a lack of water (drought 1991-93), lack of inputs and the centralised regime of Saddam Hussein. 50% of the seed imported by the new regime is for pasta (that is, they want it grown for export to feed US consumers, not for domestic food); previously seed saved was used, which is resilient and adapted to local conditions. We have seen the same policy destroy livelihoods in India where Monsanto bribed and cajoled the insinuation of their seed into agriculture - the result: low harvest, higher input costs, lower nutritional profile, susceptibility to local pest and disease. We do not hear of this war (only the wars of weapons and oil) but it is destroying the foundation of well-being for Iraq - food is fundamental to survival. Its not just Iraq and India that have suffered "agri-terrorism". Big pharma and agribusiness' permissive approach to genetic engineering has resulted in the release of volatile genetic code in nature. A genetically engineered brassica escaped from the trial space and crossed with charlock a wild brassica to produce a super weed. This is exactly the kind of risk that agri-pharma groups said could not happen. If we jeopardise our food infrastructure in this way it will be self-inflicted biological terrorism! "Armed struggle is over" Is the end of violence in Ireland at hand? The announcement by the IRA that it is choosing a non-violent course is unusually optimistic. The IRA has said that it sees an opportunity to move to normal political process as a way of expressing nationalist views. Congratulations to the IRA. Let us see what happens. Natural terrors abound too. The pain and starvation of humans in Niger is sickening. Aid is too little too late, and we are distracted by holidays and work. Children are dying of starvation in feeding centres in Niger, where 3.6m people face severe food shortages. The crisis in the south of the country has been caused by a drought and a plague of locusts which destroyed much of last year's harvest. Aid agency World Vision warns that 10% of the children in the worst affected areas could die because we, the international community, have reacted too late to the crisis. Niger is a vast desert country and one of the poorest on earth. Millions of people, a third of the population, face food shortages. More than 10 million people need food aid after crop failure in six southern African countries, the United Nations food agency says. The World Food Programme says that people are going hungry after erratic weather, made worse by problems with fertiliser and seeds in some countries. Zimbabwe and Malawi are the worst hit countries, the WFP says. It urged donors to send aid to "avoid widespread hunger from developing into a humanitarian disaster". Malawi has experienced its lower maize harvest since 1992 and will only cover 37% of average national consumption of 3.4m tonnes of cereal, the WFP said. In Zimbabwe, the WFP says that four million people may need aid in the coming year. Swaziland, Mozambique, Zambia and Lesotho will also need help, it said on the basis of new crop studies. Also, more than 800 people have now died in flooding and landslides after the heaviest monsoon rains ever recorded in India. More than half the deaths have been in Bombay, India's largest city and the powerhouse of the world's second fastest growing economy. Well the price of oil is now bubbling above $ 60, and it doesn't seem to matter! The increase in energy costs have been offset by cheap consumer goods from Asia so household spending is similar. However, the pressure will continue to build and one can expect the pressure valve of emerging economies will evaporate as exchange rates adjust and wages grow. And the price of oil does not show signs of tailing off - can we expect $ 80 by year end? We think so. The former head of the CIA, James Woolsey, is aware of the benefits of alternative fuels. He drives a Toyota Prius, powered partly by a battery rather than the notorious internal combustion engine which burns gasoline and emits the smoke that many scientists believe causes global warming. Woolsey, no tree-hugging liberal, drives this cleaner car for what he calls "national security reasons". Climate Change and Environment“There's no doubt about the science. [...] The debate is over. [...] We see the threat posed by changes in our climate. And we know the time for action is now.” Arnold Schwarzenneger, Governor of California, 145 mayors across the US have formed a coalition to combat global warming and begun to reshape their cities using innovative programmes and technologies. Tired of waiting for action from federal authorities, the U.S. Conference of Mayors, as the coalition is called, unanimously agreed last month to implement aspects of the protocol locally. A total of 169 U.S. cities have now agreed to match or better the standards laid out in the Kyoto Protocol -- which requires industrialised nations to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by an average of six percent below 1990 levels by the year 2012 -- through actions such as restoring forests, reducing urban sprawl, developing alternative energy technologies, and educating the public. They have also agreed to pressure state and federal governments to follow Kyoto's targets, and to push Congress to pass the bipartisan Climate Stewardship Act, which would establish a national emissions trading system. ”We have destroyed some ecosystems and lost the services they provide,” said Steve Percy, retired CEO of the oil company BP America, and co-author of a new report, ”Ecosystems and Human Well-being: Opportunities and Challenges for Business and Industry”. ”This report is a wake-up call for business and industry -- the ecosystem services they depend on are being eroded.” The report is one of several Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) synthesis reports released this year. It is based on an unprecedented, four-year scientific assessment of the Earth's ecosystems by 1,360 experts from 95 countries. Those experts have concluded that 15 of the 24 ecosystem ''services'' that support life on Earth are being degraded or used in an unsustainable fashion. And those findings have enormous implications for the world's business. Ecosystem services such as seas full of fish or clean water for agriculture that are freely available today will cease to exist or become more costly in the near future if current decline continues, the report says. Not only will costs and risks rise but customer preferences, stockholder expectations and government regulations will all change, says Percy. Report and Sector reports. The G8 meetings, not withstanding being overshadowed by London bombings, did not achieve the change of heart needed. The US succeeded in removing from the text some key sentences of the G8 statements, including the opening statement in the first draft, "Our world is warming," and that climate change represented an "urgent" threat to the earth. Jacques Chirac, the French president, and Gerhard Schroder, the German chancellor, insisted on a reference to Kyoto targets remaining, but it was moved to the end of the text. Britain will host on November 1, was the centrepiece at the Gleneagles summit, of measures to combat global warming. It was aimed at keeping efforts to combat global warming high on the world agenda after Britain hands over the G8 to Russia at the end of the year. However, the package of measures on climate change fell far short of the demands for tougher action by campaigners who accused President Bush of sabotaging progress. The US President left Gleneagles still resisting signing up to the Kyoto protocol to impose cuts in harmful emissions on the US economy. A US company, AeroVironment, says it has successfully completed test flights of a potentially environment-friendly aircraft powered by liquid hydrogen. Liquid hydrogen stored on board and oxygen extracted from the air are combined in fuel cells. The electricity generated drives the propellers. A full tank of hydrogen would keep the unmanned plane in the air for 24 hours. Planes using fuel cells might help curb greenhouse gas emissions from aviation. The aircraft, called Global Observer, looks more like a glider than a conventionally powered plane, with its wingspan of over 15m, small fuselage slung underneath and extended, "dragon-fly" tail. ITA highly visible and persuasive demonstration of the utility of the internet and web structures occurred during the London bombings. A secret internet chatroom helped keep London's financial markets open after Thursday's bomb attacks, it has been revealed. The Bank of England, the Treasury and the Financial Services Authority switched to the chatroom to talk to the major banks about how they were coping. A spokeswoman for the Bank of England said it was the first time the facility had been used. It was created in the aftermath of the 11 September 2001 attacks in the US. "In the light of yesterday's events, the tripartite authorities (Treasury, Bank of England and FSA) have activated the contingency part of the website," the three organisations said in a joint statement. London's financial markets kept trading on Thursday, despite the disruption caused by the bomb blasts. in recent posting Microsoft's abuse manager Mike Lyman has effectively
been conceding that Microsoft sends out unsolicited mail,
and that company staff are unwilling and unable to do much about it. Microsoft's
anti-spam stance is being undermined by a combination of faulty software
systems, bureaucracy and incompetence. It can however be very difficult
not to wind up on one or more Microsoft lists, via registration of OS
or applications, or through the (largely compulsory) registration procedure
for the Windows Update or Office Update services. Microsoft inevitably
gets its hands on details of a very large proportion of PC users, and
it therefore has a duty to be serious, consistent and responsible in the
way it handles this data. But on the contrary, Lyman Google has released its toolbar for
Firefox, its first product designed specifically for
a non IE browser. Integral Systems and LOHASLOHAS (Lifestyle of Health and Sustainability) represents a quarter of the US population, according to surveyor Natural Marketing Institute. According to the 2005 LOHAS Consumer Trends Database, 72% of LOHAS consumers state that providing healthy foods to their family is a top priority, 89% care about social issues such as protecting workers' rights, and 95% care about protecting the environment. "LOHAS" describes a segment of the U.S. population for whom health, society, values-driven beliefs, and the environment are extremely important. LOHAS consumers, who represent almost one-quarter of the population, are highly driven by their own personal wellness and the health of the planet. The test scores are in from the changing face of US education. Since the mid 90s and now ensconced in the No Child Left Behind policy, is a focus on basic subjects and regular testing. While this is not an advanced approach, and still needs to be applied to high schools (13 - 18 years), it is a significant step ahead of the current state of education in the US and is already making a significant positive impact on learning. This is critical for America because in order for the country to maintain a competitive strength it must have an educated work force - the work force in emerging economies is certainly cheaper than that in the US and is catching up quickly in terms of education and productivity. Japan's first Biblos National Proficiency Test for Geeks demonstrates Japan's otaku (geek) boom - a recent phenomenon that has demonstrated the cultural and economic power of young men and women whose obsessive interests and hobbies once pushed them to the margins of Japanese society. Major investment houses have begun studying the world of the otaku. More than a million comic-book obsessives in Japan spend the equivalent of nearly €1billion every year buying comics and travelling to conventions. An estimated 800,000 worship pop stars and fritter the equivalent of about €500,000 on attending every event in which their idol is involved. According to a study otaku command a market worth about € 2 billion a year, without including the Japanese video games market. The most striking change wrought by the otaku boom has been in Akihabara, Tokyo's electronics district. Colourful cafes have sprung up to meet the demand for geek meeting places, and a train line now links Akihabara with Tsukuba where the country's top scientific research takes place. Akihabara has the first university specifically aimed at harnessing the talents of young otaku. Modified genes from crops in a GM crop trial have transferred into local wild plants, creating a form of herbicide-resistant "superweed", the Guardian can reveal. The cross-fertilisation between GM oilseed rape, a brassica, and a distantly related plant, charlock, had been discounted as virtually impossible by scientists with the environment department. It was found during a follow up to the government's three-year trials of GM crops which ended two years ago. The new form of charlock was growing among many others in a field which had been used to grow GM rape. When scientists treated it with lethal herbicide it showed no ill-effects. The European Parliament has voted to permanently ban the use of phthalates, a group of chemicals, to soften children's toys following health concerns. Phthalates have been linked to damage to the reproductive system, and an increased risk of asthma and cancer. They are also used in the manufacture of lubricants and solvents, and are found in cosmetics, medical equipment, paints and packaging. A temporary ban had been in place in Europe since 1999. If children chew on toys containing phthalates they can absorb the chemicals through their mouths. And on the subject of toxic chemicals at home, DuPont is facing another suit for failing to warn consumers of the dangers of Teflon. A new study Body Burden — The Pollution in Newborns questions the long-held belief that foetuses in the womb are largely protected from dangerous chemicals pregnant women are exposed to. We mentioned this last month after hearing of research discussed by Common Weal. Laboratory tests of the umbilical cord blood of 10 newborns found that the samples contained an average of 200 chemicals that can cause cancer, brain damage, birth defects and other health ailments, according to the study sponsored by the Environmental Working Group. The lab tests tested for 413 chemicals and detected 287 in the 10 blood samples, with each containing between 159 and 234 chemicals. Of the contaminants detected, 180 can cause cancer in humans and animals, 217 are known to be dangerous to the nervous system and brain, and 208 can cause birth defects in animals, according the EWG study, which was peer-reviewed by eight physicians and a toxicologist. While you attack weeds with Roundup (glyphosate) you should know that the claims made by Monsanto about its benign action are false new research from France confirms it is much more toxic that Monsanto admits. The study indicates that at levels 100 times lower than the recommended use in agriculture, Roundup - the most commonly used herbicide in the world - causes reproductive damages and endocrine disruption. And the FDA Office of Plant and Dairy Foods finds that half the non-organic produce tested in grocery stores contains traceable residues of various pesticides, including Roundup. A long running study (22 years) which revealed high levels of carbon sequestering on organic farms has produced more good news for organic movement. Organic farming uses up 30% less fossil fuels than conventional. A whole range of other benefits were also revealed. see: http://www.organicconsumers.org/organic/norm071805.cfm It has long been known that being overweight is bad for your health. In the US 112,000 people a year die from obesity-related illnesses. Now a study by New York University shows that obesity is bad for your wealth, too. Researchers found that a 10 % increase in a woman's body mass decreased her income by 6 %. They also found that overweight women were less likely to be college graduates and more likely to work in less skilled industries. While it is not surprising that obese people spend more on medical costs, diets and multiple airline seats than thinner people, the research also shows that they have lower incomes, are less likely to hold managerial jobs and are more likely to miss work. When fat people marry, their spouses earn less than the thin. It is still not certain whether being fat makes you poor, or being poor makes you fat, but other research also suggests that your size does affect your wages. It is estimated that banning tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship will result in a 2.5% drop in the number of deaths caused by smoking, eventually saving as many as 3,000 UK lives a year. A ban on tobacco firms using branded goods such as clothes to advertise in the UK comes into effect. The move coincides with the start of an EU-wide ban on sponsorship of sporting events by tobacco firms. Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix was the last race in an EU country to feature tobacco advertising - banned from the British Grand Prix since 2002. The 2006 snooker World Championship will be the first in 30 years not to be sponsored by Embassy cigarettes. The EU directive also bans tobacco advertising in the print media, on radio and over the internet. Following on from last month's discussion of the destruction of whale populations, we hear that half of all sea fish species have disappeared from the major fishing grounds of the world. According to a detailed study of how life in the open oceans has gone into rapid decline over the past 50 years the dramatic fall in the diversity of fish is being blamed on over-fishing rather than worsening environmental pollution or climate change. The study, which examined fishing logbooks dating back to the 1950s, also found that the size of ocean "hotspots" which are traditionally rich in a diverse array of fish have shrunk significantly over the same period. Scott Adams has been acclaimed as a management guru and philosopher, all because of Dilbert. He has designed and built an alternative building which may be seen here. and offers inspiration and ideas. Lance Armstrong won the Tour de France for the 7th time. While he may get the best pharmaceutical help (widely debated) there is no doubt that he is a top athlete who came back from cancer to make this record. His retirement from the Tour was delivered with integrity as he declared his love of cycling and wished the tour long life. Great camaraderie was displayed on the Tour and it was warming to see the friendship between American and European, even French! For an amusing perspective on how good life is, see this comparison with Life in the 1500s ... Activities, Books and GatheringsJuly was a month of new learning. We ran a yoga intensive locally, YogArt, a week long programme for young people and a week long intensive transformation work shop. The transformation workshop is a new programme developed and refined for executives and entrepreneurs which is innovative - fortunately the feedback indicates that we deliver the promise! We know we're on the right track with comments like "I felt parts of my body that I didn't know exist", "it helped me think in totally new ways", and "it'll take me two weeks to come down!". The July programme was a 5-day retreat which is a good beginning. We also designed a 3-day Executive programme, with input from executives on the Retreat, wherein an emphasis is allowed for Integral Technology. Please let me know how we can design a course to help you - the programme is excellent value. Unfortunately, leisure reading was rather curtailed during the month. Not only did we launch three new training programmes but it is the height of summer and everything is growing in the garden. Its ironic that everyone gets "summer reading lists" because regular work doesn't go away but the harvest season provides another tranche of activity to eat up leisure. Nevertheless, Pratchett's Moving Pictures, a wonderful parody of Hollywood, was enjoyed on a few evenings.
This report has been prepared for information purposes. The information on which this report is based, has been obtained from publicly available sources and private sources which may have vested interests in the material referred to herein. Although Astraea and the distributors have no specific reasons for believing such information to be false, neither Astraea nor the distributors have independently verified such information and no representation or warranty is given that it is up-to-date, accurate and complete. Neither Astraea nor the distributors nor any of their affiliates and/or directors, officers and employees shall in any way be responsible or liable for any losses or damages whatsoever which any person may suffer or incur as a result of acting or otherwise relying upon anything stated or inferred in or omitted from this report.
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know thyself - Socrates |
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