Astraea.net - "do the right thing the right way" body mind soul

Are we living in the middle ages? ... it seems so. The violence in our world is out of control.

The pictures are brutal. But far from our homes. Nevertheless, gradually the global consciousness becomes alive and we change the way we do things. We change the way we think and behave. It has to be. It is not good enough to kill ourselves and our world for a few dollars more.

We can not continue to behave like this with the technology we have. The inequality, between rich and poor, that has bought the technology is not necessary. It is merely accepted. The story of the emperor's new clothes is all too real today. We have bought fine homes, food, clothes, entertainment and holidays, but ignored the death of humanity.

In the background, two celebrations of freedom took place: Independence Day and Bastille Day. Both of these events were born in times of great change in ethics and society. Both were nurtured by the ideals of Natural Law. We too can look to nature for the way to live together. And manage the complexity with good spirit as well as enlightened minds.

The course is simple and we all know it because of the singularly human quality - empathy. We merely have to do the right thing, the right way. Of course the reality is far more complex and the change requires self sacrifice and discipline. But the guiding principle is always the same. We know what and how to change because we are able to empathise; to put ourselves in the shoes of the other person whether soldier, civilian, politician, rich or poor. Start with ourselves and expand our positive role through our communities. And before it is too late our thoughts will make the world we want to live in. While we still have one.

Geopolitics

July sees two celebrations of liberty, those of France and the USA, with Bastille Day (or more correctly Fete de la Federation) and Independence Day respectively. The following paragraphs (from Wikipedia) describe some of that legal and constitutional history to offer a comparison with that state of the world today.

The Fête de la Fédération was seen as a symbol of the uprising of the modern French "nation", and of the reconciliation of all the French inside the constitutional monarchy which preceded the First Republic, during the French Revolution. Shortly after the storming of the Bastille the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen was proclaimed. It sets forth fundamental rights not only of French citizens but acknowledges these rights to all men without exception, making it a precursor to international human rights instruments. The declaration was intended as part of a transition from an absolute to a constitutional monarchy. Many of the principles laid down in the declaration directly oppose the institutions and usages of the ancien régime of pre-revolutionary France. France soon became a Republic, but this document remained fundamental. The principles set forth in the declaration come from the philosophical and political principles of the Age of Enlightenment, such as individualism, the social contract, and the separation of powers. The French declaration is a copy of the declaration of Human Rights contained in the U.S. Declaration of Independence (4 July 1776) and the Virginia Declaration of Rights, which was itself based on the English 1689 Bill of Rights, published a full century before the French version. A mere six weeks after the storming of the Bastille and barely three weeks after the abolition of feudalism and , the Declaration put forward a doctrine of popular sovereignty equal opportunity:

"Article III – The principle of any sovereignty resides essentially in the Nation. No body, no individual can exert authority which does not emanate expressly from it." This contrasts with the pre-revolutionary situation in France, where the political doctrine of the monarchy found the source of law in the divine right of kings.

(From Article VI) – "All the citizens, being equal in [the eyes of the law], are equally admissible to all public dignities, places, and employments, according to their capacity and without distinction other than that of their virtues and of their talents."

On August 4, 1789, the National Constituent Assembly abolished feudalism, in what is known as the August Decrees; sweeping away both the seigneurial rights of the Second Estate and the tithes gathered by the First Estate. In the course of a few hours, nobles, clergy, towns, provinces, companies, and cities lost their special privileges.

USA

The Declaration of Independence is the document in which the Thirteen Colonies in North America declared themselves independent of the Kingdom of Great Britain and explained their justifications for doing so. While the genesis of Independence Day is to commemorate the end of British rule in the 18th century, it is largely uncommon for Americans to express anti-British sentiment on the day or to view it as a celebration of anti-colonialism. Contemporary Americans generally perceive the holiday as a celebration of the U.S.A. itself and the political values that motivated the United States Declaration of Independence, including the explicit principles of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The words designed over 200 years ago have meaning today:

When, in the Course of human Events, it becomes necessary for one People to dissolve the Political Bonds which have connected them with another, and to assume, among the Powers of the Earth, the separate and equal Station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent Respect to the Opinions of Mankind requires that they should declare the Causes which impel them to the Separation.

We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed, by their Creator, with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.

And it is worth remembering the Magna Carta of 1215, another declaration of liberty, which states that:

No free man shall be arrested, or imprisoned, or deprived of his property, or outlawed, or exiled, or in any way destroyed, nor shall we go against him or send against him, unless by legal judgement of his peers, or by the law of the land.

The English Bill of Rights (1689) also acted as a source of ideas for the United States Constitution. For example, like the English Bill of Rights, the U.S. Constitution requires jury trials, contains a right to bear arms, and prohibits excessive bail and of “cruel and unusual punishments.”

These historical snippets are worthy contrasts to the geopolitics of the moment. In particular the behaviour of the world's benevolent dictator, the USA, seems to be at contrast with its genesis. At home the President is being shown up for hubris, abroad it is failing to act openly and fairly.

It is time to confirm the non-violence precept of natural law. It has been excused by philosophers because of the difficulty of it being accepted by belligerent privileged and politicians. But in the enlightened, integrated reality of today violence can not be justified.

We must nurture the development of ethics in ourselves and our communities and in our world now, before we destroy it.

Arlen Specter, a Republican, proposed new legislation after the American Bar Association said the president's actions undermined the rule of law, to try to block Bush from refusing to enforce laws that he disagrees with. At issue are "signing statements", comments made by the president when he signs bills into law which set out how, or if, he plans to enforce them. He has issued more signing statements than all his predecessors combined. Among his most controversial were an assertion that he would not necessarily enforce a ban on torture, the McCain amendment, or a ban on the censoring of government scientists' findings. Specter's proposed law would forbid courts from taking presidential signing statements into account when interpreting laws and would allow Congress to take the president to court over signing statements. "If the president is permitted to re-write the bills that Congress passes and cherry-pick which provisions he likes and does not like, he subverts the constitutional process," Specter said. There is however, little chance of passage of the bill because the president's Republican party controls Congress.

Thailand's Constitutional Court will accept a landmark case that could lead to the dissolution of both the ruling party and the main opposition. The accusations follow a probe ordered by the attorney-general's office as a result of accusations of electoral fraud, relating to a controversial poll in April which has since been annulled, against both the governing Thai Rak Thai party and the opposition Democrats. This is the latest twist in a saga which has kept Thailand's political system in limbo for months. The Democrats face charges relating to their decision to boycott the poll, while Thai Rak Thai is accused of financing smaller parties in an effort to make the election appear more legitimate. Three fringe parties will also face charges.

Risk and Terror

For the whole of July all media was overshadowed by the violence between Israel and its neighbours. Starting with an errant missile at the end of June which killed a few people, we have been treated to images of blood everyday since. An accident spiraled out of control when kidnappings led to missile strikes and land invasion of Lebanon, the most secular country in the middle east. The protagonists are: a country of rich, powerful, recent immigrants, ... and a country of embattled, permanent people of similar stock. The West has stood by watching the blood shed. The UN, the only legitimate global policeman, has been made impotent.

We have been concerned that the media has not painted a fair picture. While we seen headlines and top news stories filled with the gory bodies of mutilated civilians, the commentary appears to be one sided. Certainly US media has tilted the table in Israel's favour as Peace, Propaganda & the Promised Land points out. But most media sources fail to point out that this started with a missile launched by Israel which killed civilians. The Israeli response was that it was an accident, but there was no apology and so the precipitation of a violent response was to be expected.

And then the Rome G8 summit was overshadowed by Israel's bombing of a UN observation post in Southern Lebanon, killing 4 unarmed observers from Austria, Canada, China and Finland. Again Israel claimed it was a mistake. However, repeated pleas to end the attacks had been ignored. The UN says commanders at the post had repeatedly warned Israeli troops about their position - but it was still destroyed. Even UN secretary general Kofi Annan described the assault as "apparently deliberate". Israeli officials have denied targetting the post, but before the post was hit, peacekeepers had called the Israeli military 10 times in a six-hour period to ask it to halt their bombing. During each phone call, an Israeli official promised to stop the attacks. However, the area within a kilometre of the post was hit with precision munitions, including 17 bombs and 12 artillery shells, four of which directly hit the post. But one circumstantial point remains: after destroying the UN post, the bombardment in that immediate area stopped. Somehow, that just doesn't stack up. Israel claimed that the attack was a dreadful error - like the original missile that killed civilians precipitating retaliation in June.

Israel operates on the principle that anyone who attacks it will pay a price and argues that, like it or not, this is part of what the Middle East is about. Though in this case it seems they threw the first stone, even if accidentally.

Israel also has another agenda: to disrupt and reduce the power of Hezbollah, with whom it has old scores to settle. And the worse its casualties, the more it is propelled towards trying to fulfil it. Hezbollah is also seen as the main threat to any of Israel's borders and indeed, as Israel has again discovered, to some of its major population centres. It has become clear during July that Israel is prepared to go well beyond the boundaries of civilised behaviour and flaunt the Geneva Convention (see below).

Another risk is that the conflict will spread. Israel has already laid down a barrage of blame on Syria and Iran, both backers of Hezbollah. The war could escalate in the region to include Syria. Israel could undertake some kind of warning or punishment strike just to remind Syria which is the strongest power in the region, as it has done before, but that depends on how far it wants to take this. In the meantime, diplomacy is bogged down.

And Israel's strategy may even backfire. As Lord Skidelsky, Professor of Political Economy at the University of Warwick has noted, "It is a terrible thing to say, but it is hard not to believe that the eventual outcome of current US-Israeli policy may be the destruction of the state of Israel [as we know it]. This is because that policy is slowly, but surely, uniting the whole of the Middle East under the banner of Islamic fundamentalism. It achieves this by flattening every secular, pro-Western structure or centre of authority between Iran and the Mediterranean. The rulers of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt and possibly Syria hate Hezbollah as much as do the Israelis. But they also know that Israeli policy encourages its hydra-headed growth in their own countries. That is why they have begged the US - in vain - to put its weight behind an immediate ceasefire in southern Lebanon. They know that Israel's reckless quest for security is the best recruiting sergeant Hezbollah has."

Now, with hundreds of Lebanese dead and Hezbollah holding out against the vaunted Israeli military, the tide of public opinion across the Arab world is surging behind the organization, transforming the Shiite group’s leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, into a folk hero and forcing a change in official statements. The Saudi royal family and King Abdullah II of Jordan, who were initially more worried about the rising power of Shiite Iran, Hezbollah’s main sponsor, are distancing themselves from the US. An outpouring of newspaper columns, cartoons, blogs and public poetry readings have showered praise on Hezbollah while attacking the United States and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for trumpeting American plans for a “new Middle East” that they say has led only to violence and repression. Even Al Qaeda, run by violent Sunni Muslim extremists normally hostile to all Shiites, has gotten into the act, with its deputy leader, Ayman al-Zawahri, releasing a taped message saying that through its fighting in Iraq, his organization was also trying to liberate Palestine.

While our planet overheats we are distracted by bullying in the eastern Mediterranean lands. There is no solution today. The emotion is fuelled by religion and money. We can only expect continued deterioration of the situation.

It is ironic that Lebanon has the right characteristics for a stable portal to the Middle east because of its secular and multi-religious character. Despite its small population of just under 4 million people, Lebanon is the most diverse country in the Middle East, with significant Sunni, Shia, Christian, and Druze populations. On many issues, Lebanon's Muslim majority shares the views of other Muslims in the Middle East and throughout the world, especially its antipathy toward Israel (Lebanon's Christian minority also shares this antipathy). But on other issues, Lebanese Muslims stand apart. In particular, data from a Pew Global Attitudes survey conducted in May of last year (this year's survey did not include Lebanon) shows that Lebanon's Muslims are considerably more secular in their outlook than Muslims in other countries.

Although Lebanese Muslims consider Islam an important part of their lives, they place less emphasis on their faith than do Muslims elsewhere. In the six predominantly Islamic countries surveyed, Muslims in Lebanon are the least likely to say religion is very important in their life. Muslims in Lebanon are also less likely to identify primarily with their religion, rather than with their country, with equal numbers saying they think of themselves first as Muslim (30%) and saying they identify primarily as Lebanese (30%). Elsewhere, majorities or pluralities of Muslims identify more strongly with Islam than with their nationality. Even in Turkey, a country noted for its tradition of secularism, more people identify themselves as Muslim rather than as Turks.

Moreover, Lebanese Muslims are less concerned about the global role of Islam -- just under half (47%) say it is very important for Islam to play a more important and influential role on the world stage. In contrast, 84% of Muslims in Morocco and 73% in Jordan would like to see Islam play a major role. Only Turkish Muslims, at 43%, show less interest in Islam's global influence.

The bombing must be stopped. If not by the UN, then by the US which has spent billions of dollars in the name of peace. Then a solution may be addressed.

George Mitchell, the former US senator of Northern Ireland fame who headed the International Fact-Finding Committee to examine crisis in Middle East (2000-2001) defines each side's key ingredient of peace: “The Israelis have a state. What they want is security. That is their overriding objective. The Palestinians don’t have a state and they want one, an independent economically viable, geographically contiguous state. That is their overriding objective. I believe that neither can attain its objective by denying to the other side its objective. Palestinians will never achieve a state if Israel does not have security. Israel will never get sustainable security if the Palestinians don’t have a state.”

The greatest tragedy is that an immediate solution to this conflict is clear and has been agreed at several high-level Israeli-Palestinian meetings in Taba, Geneva etc. Israel must withdraw from the occupied territories, possibly with minor mutual border adjustments. Both states recognize each other. Refugees can only return in mutually agreed numbers; the majority will be compensated by a world grateful that this danger is past. Palestine will be demilitarized, with a strong international force ensuring security. Even Hamas have said that they will accept such terms for all practical purposes ("for a generation").

And then the players themselves may be nurtured to a stable peace. It is a complex challenge but the roadmap has been outlined by perhaps the most appropriate strategist, Don Beck, architect of the removal of apartheid in South Africa and the peace that followed. His thesis calls for an integration of emotions and minds to allow life to flourish. And the diversion of money from arms to economic infrastructure would accelerate a process of giving people a stake in the land.

We must learn from history. Please reconsider the voices that have made a success of peace in the past:

Ronald Reagan said: "History teaches that war begins when governments believe the price of aggression is cheap."

Mahatma Gandhi said:
"Non-violence is the greatest force at the disposal of mankind. It is mightier than the mightiest weapon of destruction devised by the ingenuity of man."
Ahinsa is Sanskrit for avoidance of hinsa, or injury. Ahinsa is a concept which advocates non-violence and a respect for all life. It is interpreted most often as meaning peace and reverence toward all sentient beings. Its first mention in Indian philosophy is found in the Hindu scriptures called the Upanishads, the oldest dating about 800 BC.

Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech of Dr Martin Luther King, Jr:
"I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality. I refuse to accept the cynical notion that nation after nation must spiral down a militaristic stairway into hell of thermonuclear destruction. I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will always have the final word in reality. That is why right temporarily defeated is stronger than evil triumphant. I believe that even amid today’s mortar bursts and whining bullets, there is still hope for a brighter tomorrow. I believe that wounded justice, lying prostrate on the blood-flowing streets of our nations can be lifted from this dust of shame and reign supreme among the children of men. When our days become dreary with low-hovering clouds and our night become darker than a thousand mid-nights, we will know that we are living in the creative turmoil of a genuine civilization struggling to be born."

Common Article 3 of The Geneva Conventions:
Art 3: In the case of armed conflict not of an international character occurring in the territory of one of the High Contracting Parties, each Party to the conflict shall be bound to apply, as a minimum, the following provisions: (1) Persons taking no active part in the hostilities, including members of armed forces who have laid down their arms and those placed hors de combat by sickness, wounds, detention, or any other cause, shall in all circumstances be treated humanely, without any adverse distinction founded on race, colour, religion or faith, sex, birth or wealth, or any other similar criteria. To this end, the following acts are and shall remain prohibited at any time and in any place whatsoever with respect to the above-mentioned persons: (a) violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture; (b) taking of hostages; (c) outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment; (d) the passing of sentences and the carrying out of executions without previous judgement pronounced by a regularly constituted court, affording all the judicial guarantees which are recognized as indispensable by civilized peoples. (2) The wounded and sick shall be collected and cared for. An impartial humanitarian body, such as the International Committee of the Red Cross, may offer its services to the Parties to the conflict. The Parties to the conflict should further endeavour to bring into force, by means of special agreements, all or part of the other provisions of the present Convention. The application of the preceding provisions shall not affect the legal status of the Parties to the conflict.

In other military terrorism, missiles were fired on 4 July by North Korea in provocative display, but not an immediate threat to the United States. South Korean officials claimed 10 short-, medium- and long-range missiles had been tested by its neighbour. Missiles were test-fired over the Sea of Japan, including an intercontinental missile that apparently failed or was aborted 42 seconds after it was launched. With a collapsed economy and a dictatorial regime, North Korea has more than 600 Scud missiles with a 300 – 500 km range and 200 Nodong missiles with a 1,000 to 1,400 km range. It is developing a Taepodong-2 series of long range missiles with a range in excess of 3,000 km encompassing the western coast of the United States. A desperate North Korea wanted to give a ‘two fingered salute’ to the US on Independence Day, by test-firing missiles to coincide with the re-launch of the US Space Shuttle. The finger language would have become more provocative if the only long-range missile fired, a Taepodong-2, had successfully demonstrated its range. It is the sign of a desperado calling for respect.

Terrorism also flared in India. In early July several bombs went off during the evening rush hour in Mumbai killing about 200 and injuring 800. Here however, there was a measured response for which India may be proud. There was great humanity as people rushed to the scenes to help and even condemnation from Pakistan.

Natural disasters also notched another hit in Indonesia. At least 86 people were killed when a tsunami crashed into the Indonesian island of Java, causing widespread destruction and leaving scores of people missing. The wave smashed into the resort town of Pangandaran, crushing buildings, including small hotels and sending boats slamming into the shore. In scenes grimly reminiscent of the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004, the wave hit with little or no warning, forcing people to flee in panic for high ground. There was severe damage to many buildings. At least two regional agencies issued bulletins saying that a magnitude 7.2 earthquake beneath the Indian Ocean was strong enough to cause a killer wave. But the alerts did not reach the victims because a warning was not issued specifically for that area and the densely populated island - where an earthquake killed thousands only seven weeks ago - does not have its own tsunami warning system.

Meanwhile sectarian violence is growing in Iraq. The signs suggest a long-lasting civil-war is underway. Sunni and Shia conflict is increasing. Little money is being spent on building the economic infrastructure of the country, which would give all people a stake in the country.

A couple of months ago, we reported on the extraordinary facts and non-facts surrounding the destruction of the World Trade Centre in New York and the hole in the Pentagon. Now, According to Google Video and other mainstream video download websites, the most popular movie on the internet is a documentary called "Loose Change 2nd Edition". After millions of downloads, the hard-hitting documentary has been called "the internet's first blockbuster." Loose Change is free, can be viewed on any computer, and offers a detailed analysis of the scientific and logistical problems inherent in the U.S. government's official story of what happened on 9/11. Additional resources are linked from Question 911.

Energy

The UK unveiled its energy plan for the next 50 years in early July, saying nuclear power could make a "significant contribution" to the country's needs as it seeks to reduce dependence on imported fuel and cut the pollutants blamed for causing climate chaos. The go-ahead has been given for a new wave of UK nuclear power stations. We think that this will prove disastrous. There are many reasons why it would be a very serious mistake to take the nuclear route:

2. the still unsolved, growing legacy of waste remaining extremely dangerous for many thousands of years;

4. the true environmental costs (the nuclear production cycle as a whole causes substantial CO2 emissions); and

5. uranium is a limited resource and fusion research a long string of unfulfilled promises.

And in our post 9/11 world, new risks have to be added. The current dispute involving Iran shows the 'impossibility' of clearly separating civilian and military nuclear programmes. Also, a hijacked plane crashed into a nuclear plant could trigger enough radioactive releases to make huge surrounding areas uninhabitable for the foreseeable future.

The Ecologist offers an excellent review of the nuclear industry in their July issue. The decision to pursue a nuclear future is made more painful by the statements by James Lovelock that nuclear is a viable option. The leading scientist has recently said this because of the knowledge that a fossil fuel consuming humanity will destroy the biosphere in a generation, but we are too lazy to change our behaviour. Unfortunately, the nuclear option can only be a short term remedy anyway, giving a bit more time to reengineer natural energy infrastructure.

We are now entering a few years of real volatility in energy prices and supply, and possibly some nasty shocks to energy security. Building some replacement nuclear stations may or may not be useful but it will be of no help at all for the next eight or nine years. Nor for that matter will be the heroic attempts to curb carbon emissions by controls and penalties, since as the UK Government's leading scientific adviser Sir David King has rightly pointed out, it is now too late to make any difference to climate chaos for the next forty years, thanks to all the CO2 already in the atmosphere.

Therefore we maintain that the best path is to concentrate on energy efficient technologies, reduced oil end use, and a new and safer energy mix in the short term, in the knowledge that success in the short to medium term on the energy security front will automatically take us in the direction of a lower carbon world, for the benefit of our grandchildren.

Russia took a step towards opening its energy sector to foreign investment at the G8 meeting in St Petersburg. The group agreed to "open, transparent" energy markets and to nuclear energy as a power source for those who want it. Russia had faced calls from the EU and US for increased international energy co-operation, amid fears Moscow may use energy as a tool of foreign policy. However Russia, a major oil and gas producer, did not ratify the Energy Charter, an international rulebook. But the G8 leaders did express, in principle, their support for the Energy Charter treaty, which calls for open access to energy resources and transport infrastructure.

US petrol pump costs have hit an all-time high as prices reached an average of just over $3 a gallon. Political uncertainty over oil imports from Venezuela has combined with persistent pressure on refining capacity to keep US pump prices high. The bad news for US motorists came less than a year after the previous record of $3.011 was set in September 2005.

Despite a more than doubling in the price of petrol (gas) in the US since 2003, behaviour has not changed. Americans can not stop guzzling fuel. There seems to be little price sensitivity at this level because the lifestyle association with vehicles is seen as the source of happiness, the addiction to energy is now shown in economic numbers.

Hundreds of thousands of people in different parts of the US continue to be affected by power outages as temperatures soar to record highs. The power grid was unable to cope with the increased demand for electricity, leading to widespread cuts, some extending for over a week, as in parts of New York.

Royal Society president Martin Rees wants a publicly funded international research programme. Lord Rees says, in the US journal Science, a pledge to increase governments' investments in energy technologies should have been made at the recent G8 summit in Russia. He describes a "worrisome lack of determination" among world leaders saying"Energy security was a key issue at the St Petersburg summit of G8 leaders last month. Their joint communique included many important commitments, but it omitted one crucial pledge - a significant increase in their governments' investments in R&D (research and development) for energy technologies." Lord Rees suggests money for research could be raised through methods such as carbon taxes, levied initially on the countries with the largest greenhouse emissions. Public funding for energy research across the world has halved in real terms since 1980, and in the UK it is now one-tenth of what it used to be.

Climate Change and Environment

As part of long term climate change (see the hockey stick chart above) the world seems to be experiencing a heat wave ..

.... which may be what has encouraged a liaison between California and the UK to tackle climate change. Tony Blair sidestepped the Bush administration's refusal to act on climate change by signing what was hailed as a ground-breaking agreement with California, the world's 12th largest carbon emitter, to fight global warming. A joint mission statement was agreed committing the UK and California to work together to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote new clean fuel technologies. The deal appears designed to get round Republican objections to states imposing mechanisms to cut carbon emissions. With other US states also interested or involved in carbon trading markets, the path is being opened to bring US business into international efforts to fight climate change, even though international progress has been stymied by the Bush administration's refusal to sign up to binding targets in the Kyoto protocol. Blair signed the statement of intent with California's governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, saying it would lay the groundwork for a new transatlantic market in carbon dioxide emissions. The prime minister wants to create a coalition of the willing among those US states prepared to join the European Union's carbon trading scheme. The Blair-Schwarzenegger deal came at a meeting in Long Beach organised by Steve Howard, CEO of the Climate Group, an international charity working to cut greenhouse gas emissions, and Lord Browne, chairman of British Petroleum. Virgin's Sir Richard Branson was also present.

The two-year-old EU carbon trading scheme sets country-by-country overall caps for carbon, and rewards individual companies which find a profitable way to minimise carbon emissions. The United States is responsible for a quarter of the world's global-warming pollution. Bush administration officials argue that requiring cuts in greenhouse gases would cost the US economy 5 million jobs. Schwarzenegger has set out an ambitious climate change programme for California amid fears that water shortages and heatwaves will destroy the state's economy, including its vineyards, within 20 years. In June last year, the state committed itself to cut carbon emissions back to 2000 levels by 2010, a fall of 59 million tonnes, and by 2020 down to 1990 levels, a fall of 145m tonnes. Polls show Californians regard climate change as the biggest issue facing the state. Even though Mr Schwarzenegger is a Republican, he strongly supports tough measures, and huge investment in clean technology.

Carbon trading has emerged as a way for countries to slash emissions of greenhouse gases. Each country is given an emissions quota and issues permits to the biggest carbon emitters, such as power firms. Those companies that reduce emissions and use less than their quota can sell leftover permits to others which fail to. Each year the quota is reduced, so market forces push the penalty for emitting greenhouse gases higher. Europe has established an emissions trading network, and at least nine US states have started trading carbon dioxide among themselves.

Hurricane season is here and the next two months will see warnings of Katrina and Rita-like storms approaching the US. Though few of us recognise the problem of Climate Change business is increasingly taking its consequences into the board room as they see the direct impacts on their bottom-line. BusinessWeek summarised some of the business risks from climate change being faced already including: melting of ice roads, requiring miners to airlift equipment to arctic sites, more powerful storms requiring stronger oil rigs and bigger storm defences, destruction of coastal villages such as those in Alaska, fisheries degraded by parasite growth catalysed by warm temperatures, extended pest damage because summer pests survive longer into winter, crop failure in marginal areas especially Africa.

Exciting news on the IP music front as internet company Yahoo has released its first music download from a major record label without copy protection. A Public Affair by Jessica Simpson does not have any digital rights management (DRM) restrictions often found on tracks from other sites. It marks a reversal for Sony BMG who were criticised last year when they released their XCP anti-piracy software on music CDs. The MP3 is compatible with any digital music player, including Apple's popular iPod player and others. The major record labels and technology firms have long argued that DRM is necessary to prevent music piracy. Files without copy protection, they argue, can be freely shared or traded over peer-to-peer networks. The record industry says that file sharing is a key factor in the decline in record sales in recent years. Most major labels insist on some form of DRM on music offered through download services. Yahoo pointed out: "Our position is simple: DRM doesn't add any value for the artist, label (who are selling DRM-free music every day - the Compact Disc), or consumer, the only people it adds value to are the technology companies who are interested in locking consumers to a particular technology platform." Other companies, such as Wippit and eMusic, already offer MP3 files that can be freely shared, though much of the music is from independent labels.

Continuing the saga of ICANN, a public hearing on the future control of internet domain names is being held by the US Commerce Department. The US government currently oversees the net's domain name system through the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. But some have accused the government of excessive control over what names can and cannot be registered. The meeting concerns the transition from state to private management of domain names. The deadline for the transition is 30 September 2006, but the US department has the option to delay the hand-over. Icann, a California-based not-for profit company, was given the task of coordinating and managing the domain name system in 1998. This includes the allocation of internet protocol numbers, the unique number given to every online device, as well as the assignment of domain names and deciding whether root-level names such as .com, .net or .org, can be added to the internet. Currently, any major changes to the domain name system need to be submitted for approval to the US Commerce Department, but a move to a fully private system will mean the US government will relinquish this control.

In May 2006, Icann rejected a plan for a new .xxx domain name, for sexually explicit sites, a move that some condemned as politically motivated. ICM Registry, the company who wished to register the .xxx domain, is suing two US government departments for access to documents it claims show how they lobbied for the new net address to be rejected. Steve Del Bianco, director of The NetChoice Coalition, a Washington policy group, told Reuters: "The incentive (for the US to privatise Icann) is to keep the internet on one domain name system to avoid multiple systems - much like the multiple phone systems we have around the world."

As expected, the European Commission has hit Microsoft with a fine for failing to comply with an antitrust order requiring it to share technical information about its Windows operating system with rivals. The European Commission said that the company had failed over the previous two years to provide information that would make it easier for rivals to make their software work effectively within Windows. The EC has also begun questioning Microsoft over features in its proposed new version of its operating system codenamed Vista, which is believed to incorporate internet search, security and document features. The company said that it has already made design changes in Vista that will make it easier for users to substitute other software for features in Windows, but that it is worried that Europe will wait until the last minute before making known what changes it may require when it is too late to easily comply.

In addition, Microsoft shares fell after it declined to dampen rumours that its new Windows Vista operating system might face fresh delays. Its shares closed down 2% after a Microsoft executive appeared to avoid confirming the current January 2007 Vista release data for consumers. Instead, Microsoft's Kevin Johnson speaking at the firm's annual financial analyst meeting said Vista would be shipped "when it is available".

Holonics and LOHAS

Holonics

The Futurist published a valuable article by Lester Brown outlining the big picture approach to Rescuing A Planet Under Stress. Here is the abstract:

The global economy is outgrowing the capacity of the earth to support it, pushing early twenty-first century civilization ever closer to decline and possible collapse. Fortunately, there is a consensus emerging among scientists on the broad outlines of the changes needed. If economic progress is to be sustained, people need to replace the fossil-fuel-based, automobile-centered, throwaway economy with a new economic model. Instead of being based on fossil fuels, the new economy will be powered by abundant sources of renewable energy: wind, solar, geothermal, hydropower, and biofuels. Building a sustainable economy will also require ingenuity in transportation systems, since they affect not only energy consumption, but also everyday quality of life. Urban transport systems based on a combination of rail lines, bus lines, bicycle pathways, and pedestrian walkways offer the best of all possible worlds in providing mobility, low-cost transportation, and a healthy urban environment.

The approach is a bold attempt to integrate many of the key threads of managing the planet in a globally responsible way.

BusinessWeek published an unusual story on job sharing - two people hired as one person to do one job. Certainly this is pioneering open and integral behaviour! Ms Cercone and Ms Gladziszewski have shared the same job for 15 years allowing them to engage in a full time job while leaving time for family. The challenges and lessons are outlined in their story here, and here are the tips:

A study published in Psychopharmacology in July shows that psilocybin (the active component of magic mushrooms) induces that same mental state as heightened religious experiences. What is interesting is that the studies show that participants also continued to have increased well-being or happiness after the test period. The study published by researchers at John Hopkins University concluded that psilocybin, a hallucinogenic drug, causes experiences of “substantial personal meaning and spiritual significance” in users. A majority of the participants felt a better sense of well-being, even months after consuming the drug. Researchers expect that the results can be used for further investigation of psychoactive substances and cognition. This medical study suggests two things: a regular spiritual engagement (this does not have to be "religious") improves an individuals well-being and happiness; and that certain pharmacological compounds can help achieve this state. North and South American indians, as well as other natural cultures, have known and practiced this for centuries, and Jeremy Narby's very readable Intelligence in Nature relates his recent studies in the field. While religion may have been unable to adapt to the science of modern times, and even be an excuse for so much killing, this study supports the rationale for engaging with the spiritual dimension.

Health

Ben & Jerry’s the luxury ice cream manufacturer which boasts about its “all natural” ingredients is making a stand against the food giant Unilever, which owns Ben & Jerry’s, over a GM ice cream ingredient. Unilever is currently in the process of trying to get approval in the UK for a synthetically produced ‘anti-freeze’ protein which uses a GM process. Unilever says the additive will allow ice cream manufacturers (it also owns Wall’s) to increase fruit content and lower the fat levels in its products. But a spokesperson for Ben & Jerry’s said “We would not dream of putting anything like that in our products. One of the biggest problems is that we are affected by Unilever’s actions though they are nothing to do with the way we behave. The fact that we are not using this GM ingredient shows that we are not following all of their decisions.” The Soil Association’s policy director, Peter Melchett, praised the company for its stance: “Ben & Jerry’s is showing some very sound commercial judgement.”

In a small victory for honesty in advertising (ha ha), the UK Advertising Standards Agency has ruled that Nestlé breached the UK’s advertising code by implying in a recent media campaign that its Ski yoghurt products were completely natural and free of synthetic additives. The advert sought to compare the ingredients used in the Ski yoghurts with those used in competitor products. The main strapline stated “I don’t want pork gelatine, locust bean gum, citric acid or potassium sorbate. I just want delicious simple fruit yoghurt”. Photographs of a Ski yoghurt pot appeared at the bottom of the ad next to the text “keep it simple. No artificial colour, sweetener or preservative.” A complainant, who believed that locust bean gum and citric acid were natural ingredients, had argued that the advertisement misleadingly implied that these ingredients were artificial and bad for consumers. The ASA said that in its opinion consumers were unlikely to make this inference. It also added that whilst locust bean gum was ground endosperm from the seed of the locust bean tree, it was extracted using a chemical process and was therefore not a natural product. However, the ASA also applied this principle to the ingredients used in the Ski products themselves. For example, the Ski yoghurts contain pectin (E440). The Agency said that although pectin was derived from a natural source, fruit, it required a chemical process to extract it and was ‘therefore unlikely to be seen by consumers as a natural product”. It ruled that the advertisement gave a misleading impression of the ingredients of the pictured Ski yoghurt.

The Union of Concerned Scientists has released a survey of scientists who work for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration which reveals that one-fifth of FDA scientists "have been asked, for non-scientific reasons, to inappropriately exclude or alter technical information or their conclusions in a FDA scientific document." The study strongly suggests that the FDA is not adequately regulating products that significantly impact public health, including food, drugs, vaccines, and medical devices. The survey also indicates that 61% of the respondents knew of cases where FDA political appointees have "inappropriately injected themselves into FDA determinations or actions." 81% of FDA scientists in the survey agreed that the "public would be better served if the independence and authority of FDA post-market safety systems were strengthened."

Environment

The Indonesian government is considering giving permission to five palm oil companies to convert 7% of Tanjung Puting national park into oil palm plantations. The national park is the world’s most renowned and prestigious national park for orang-utan conservation. The conversion of parts of the national park would deeply damage the credibility of Indonesia’s commitment to biodiversity conservation. If you care to, please take action to keep Tanjung Puting national park a palm oil free zone.

Diversity in bees and wild flowers is declining together, at least in Britain and the Netherlands. Scientists from the two countries examined records kept by enthusiasts dating back more than a century. They write in the journal Science that habitat alterations, climate change and modern industrial farming are possible factors in the linked decline. There is a chance, they say, that the decline in pollinating bees could have detrimental effects on food production. "The economic value of pollination worldwide is thought to be between £20m and £50m ($37m and $91m) each year," said Simon Potts from the University of Reading, UK, one of the scientists involved. This is small change compared to the extinction of bee populations. While declines in Britain and the Netherlands might not indicate a global trend, it is an issue deserving serious future research.

The saga of GMO access to Europe continues. The European Commission has been ruled guilty of "maladministration" after hiding documents from Friends of the Earth Europe that reveal scientific concerns about the safety of genetically modified foods. The Commission falsely used the premise that World Trade Organisation disputes should involve the secrecy levels of court cases. The official ruling is of "maladministration". The documents concerned related to the European Communities dispute at the WTO, in which the US, Argentina and Canada claimed that Europe's precautionary approach on GM foods was a barrier to trade. Adrian Bebb, GMO foods campaigner for Friends of the Earth Europe said, "Genetically modified foods are a sensitive issue in Europe - most people are totally against them. Keeping papers that discuss their safety secret is a disservice to the public. What we now know is that whilst the European Commission has been telling us for years that biotech foods are safe, they were arguing behind closed doors that there are legitimate scientific concerns that warrant a more precautionary approach". The European Commission initially refused to release papers to Friends of the Earth Europe in August 2004, citing that the dispute in the WTO had to be "assimilated" to court proceedings and that the publication of the papers would have damaged their case. The Ombudsman rejected this argument as "not well founded, and hence amounted to an instance of maladministration."

Friends of the Earth Europe argued that the WTO is not a court as disputes are ruled by trade experts who are usually chosen by the parties involved, and not judges. Unlike a court, a WTO dispute is agreed by all 148 member countries and parties can comment on the draft final ruling.

Sonja Meister, Trade Campaigner for Friends of the Earth Europe said, "This is a welcome ruling by the European Ombudsman. There is a culture of secrecy running through the European Commission and the public and groups like Friends of the Earth must fight for every piece of paper to be made public. The Commission can no longer hide behind organisations like the World Trade Organisation but needs to become an open and more transparent body."

The European Commission eventually released the documents in question in February 2005. The papers outlined scientific concerns about the long term safety of GM foods and crops. Further papers, also released to Friends of the Earth Europe earlier this year, outlined these concerns in more detail, warning that cancer and allergies caused by eating GM foods cannot be ruled out and recommending that GM crops should not be grown until their long-term effects are known.

The WTO has issued a final verdict in the US/European Communities dispute over GM foods but it has not yet been made public. An earlier draft leaked to Friends of the Earth Europe, showed that the WTO was critical of the method used by European countries to ban GM foods but ruled against most of the US's arguments.

The organic industry in the UK has responded angrily to comments by the environment minister, Ian Pearson, that “in the real world” GM contamination of organic and other conventional crops will be inevitable. The minister made the comment following publication of a new government consultation paper aimed at setting ground rules for growing GM crops. Under EU labelling rules, foods would only need to be declared GM if they had more that 0.9% contamination. The Soil Association has argued that unless a maximum accidental GM contamination limit of 0.1% is guaranteed for organic crops, the future of the £1.6 billion organic food market would be threatened. Whilst ministers have indicated that Britain, subject to agreement from Brussels, would be prepared to set a lower maximum level of contamination for organic, they have indicated to the organic industry that this will not be anywhere near as low as 0.1%. Responding to the minister’s comments, the Soil Association’s policy director, Peter Melchett, claimed that the government was failing to adequately protect Britain’s booming organic food market saying “The prime minister is promoting a technology that is well past its sell-by date, yet GM crops have contributed nothing to the UK economy and GM food has been overwhelmingly rejected by the British people." Melchett warned Tony Blair that he risked leaving office with a GM-contaminated legacy. Under the government’s current proposals for future GM crop growing, farmers would have to tell their neighbours what they were growing and would have to keep a minimum of 110 metres between crops. They would face random inspections and fines of up to £5000 for breaking the rules. However, ministers say they have ruled out a public register of farms growing GM crops, fearing that it could encourage protesters to trash fields.

A new study indicates that Robins and other birds are still suffering damage from exposure to DDT, despite the fact the pesticide was banned in the United States over three decades ago. New research shows that the area of the brain affected causes birds with high exposure levels to be unable to sing and protect territory. Researchers estimate that at least 15 to 20 generations of robins have been affected since the pesticide was first applied. The study provides further evidence that many of the toxic chemicals and pesticides we use today will continue to impact the environment and public health for generations to come. "Yes, it happened historically, but there are still problems with pesticides," says Andrew Iwaniuk, author of the study. "They have an extremely long half-life and just because we use one today, that doesn't mean it will always be safe."

Nine thousand US EPA scientists have submitted a strongly worded letter to the EPA's Administrator, Stephen Johnson, protesting that "industry pressure" is compromising the "integrity of the science upon which agency decisions are based." The scientists are calling for a ban on pesticides known to be highly toxic. Research indicates that several dozen widely sprayed organophosphate pesticides, similar in composition to bio-warfare nerve gases, pose serious health threats, especially to children.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has done something good: he announced the most sweeping restrictions on genetically engineered crops in the Western Hemisphere. Chavez has called for a cancellation of all contracts with biotech companies and has declared that for the sake of protecting the nation's farmers, genetically engineered crops will not be allowed.

Education

In light of the growing violence in the Middle East, please note September 21 as International Peace Day. For some school materials on the subject see the site Peace One Day.

France hopes to soften hostile attitudes towards capitalism by promoting financial know-how and greater enterprise through the media. A new body will try to boost financial literacy and communicate the benefits of wealth creation more effectively. The rejection of an unpopular labour contract earlier this year is seen to have reinforced prevailing skeptical attitudes toward business in society. Ministers want people to get a clearer understanding of France's economy. Attempts at economic reform have largely stalled and some senior ministers, including presidential candidate Nicolas Sarkozy, have called for a radical break with France's corporatist economic model. They are worried about what they see as an over-reliance on the state and a lack of entrepreneurial dynamism. The Council for the Diffusion of Economic Culture will operate under the auspices of the finance ministry when it launches later this year. It will be headed by Claude Perdriel, a media veteran who once edited the current affairs magazine Le Nouvel Observateur.

Living

A new report from the Soil Association shows that sales of organic food soared in 2005 leading to 30% growth in the UK market, a three-fold rise on the previous year. The Soil Association’s Annual Organic Market report puts overall organic food sales at £ 1.6 billion. The report shows that numbers and range of people buying organic food also rose in 2005, with two out of three consumers now knowingly buying organic food (65.4%) and over half of people in the most disadvantaged social groups (C2, D and E) now buying organic food and drink.

Supermarkets, not surprisingly, took the lion's share of sales of organic produce making up £1.2 billion of the £1.6 billion total sales - a 31% increase on last year. Supermarkets are now sourcing 66% of organic primary produce from the UK - a welcome 13% increase since 2004. Despite the dominance of the supermarkets, sales through independent shops, farm shops, farmers' markets and box schemes also increased by 32% since 2004. Consumer research carried out in early 2006 showed that 52% of organic consumers would prefer to shop at smaller, local suppliers.

2005 was also notable as the first year in which scientific proof of health benefits from organic food had a direct impact on the market. After Danish research, publicised widely in the media, showed higher levels of several key nutrients in organic milk, sales rose immediately by 10%.

The global market for organic food and drink totalled £16.7 billion in 2005, an increase of £1.2 billion. Across the world 51.2 million hectares of farm and forestry land are managed organically - an area equivalent to the landmass of Thailand. After North America, Europe has the largest market for organic food and drink in the world. Within Europe, the UK has the third biggest market after Germany and Italy.

The US House of Representatives has rejected a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, ending the congressional debate on the issue. The motion was backed by 236 to 187 votes - 47 votes short of the two thirds majority needed to advance it. The bill had already been defeated in the Senate, which blocked it in June. Bush had backed the amendment. Critics said he was trying to win back disillusioned Republicans for November's mid-term elections.

Danish research suggests that living alone doubles the risk of severe heart disease compared to living with a partner. Women over 60 and men over 50 living alone had an increased risk of conditions including severe angina and heart attacks. The research appears in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. However, heart experts said habits such as smoking and a poor diet, more common among those who live alone, were the reasons for the increased risk. Factors associated with the lowest risks included living with a partner, a high level of education, and being in work. Interestingly, women who were divorced also had a lower heart disease risk.

In the UK, news that Sainsbury’s and Tesco are both set to launch organic box schemes this summer has met a mixed response from box scheme pioneers. Sainsbury’s is to trial its So Organic box from the end of August in the East Midlands and Anglia region. The Soil Association-certified box will be available initially to around 500,000 people. It will contain eight types of seasonal organic fresh produce and have a fixed cost of £15. It will be packed and sent out from a central Cambridgeshire distributor. The Tesco scheme is being trialled in South London from early September and is being operated in partnership with Cambridgeshire-based G’s Marketing. It will be sold under the supplier’s own brand Fenland Organics and will cost £11 for 10 items. For the trial Tesco expects to deliver around 600 boxes a week from its Croydon store. The company describes the scheme as “another way of taking affordable organics to the masses”. Both supermarkets say their schemes will support local food economies and will encourage consumers to eat more seasonal British produce. But existing box scheme operators are dubious about the motives behind supermarket box schemes. Philip White, communications manager at Riverford Organic, said: “If you are asking, are they trying to take business away from the people who created box schemes in the first place, then the answer is yes. They’ve seen annual growth rates of the order of 30% and said we want a slice of the action.” This move reinforces Porrit's assertion in June that supermarkets will destroy independent health stores unless they mobilise to compete differently.

Activities and Media

We have had delicious weather in Ireland which has been an overpowering invitation to play outside! With school holidays on it has meant bike rides, kick-abouts and even swimming in the river. How decadent!

On the subject of sports, we hope you will enjoy the two great takes on Zidane's head-butting - Oh Dear ! video and Coupe de Boule song (#1 in the French hit parade!). It was a shame to end the world-cup on such a note (though the melodramatics from all teams was abhorrent).

And then the Tour de France, a great event has been spoiled by drugs. Perhaps not surprising to those in the know, although the Americans have the best reputation for covering it up. Disappointment abounds. Even to the extent that Michael Robertson of Linspire offered Landis $ 100,000 to take a polygraph to prove his innocence to fans!

I've not mentioned Pratchett for a couple of months but will bring you up to speed. Two more Discworld novels have been enjoyed: Thief of Time and Night Watch. They are cleverly interwoven, without apparently being connected - Night Watch begins in the ending scene of Thief of Time, but with a different set of characters! Night Watch is especially pertinent today as it explores the challenges of keeping the peace in a military situation, the difference between police and soldiers, the role of the privileged in catalysing violence and what to do to keep things under control. The geopoliticians could learn alot from him today.

I also detoured into Truckers, Diggers, Wings a trilogy whose story parodies the emergence of natural intelligence in humans - a clever look at ourselves through the eyes of another. And his two sci-fi books, The Dark Side of the Sun and Strata, both brilliantly written, showing his calibre at a master of different writing styles and cleverly paralleling Discworld to those familiar enough with it. They paint futuristic pictures which challenge the assumptions of our intelligence today and help moderate our hubris.

While I'd love to quote extensively from them all, I'll just recommend you read one or all!

Please forward this publication to family and friends, place it on websites, print it, duplicate it and post it freely. Knowledge is power!
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holonics
The Big Picture

body

mind

spirit

About
Astraea

Astraea News and Views
July 2006

Perspective

Geopolitics

Risk and Terror

Energy

Climate Change and Environment

IT

Holonics and LOHAS

Holonics

Health

Environment

Education

Living

Activities and Media

holonics The Big Picture

body

mind

spirit

About Astraea

Astraea News and Views July 2006

Perspective

Geopolitics

Risk and Terror

Energy

Climate Change and Environment

IT

Holonics and LOHAS

Holonics

Health

Environment

Education

Living

Activities and Media

holonics
The Big Picture

About
Astraea

Astraea News and Views
July 2006