Humanity’s ready for a heart attack.

“Current patterns of consumption are not sustainable.”  No, really!??! The High-level Panel on Global Sustainability report “Resilient People, Resilient Planet: A Future Worth Choosing“.  http://www.un.org/gsp/report

Who governs FIFA? Alcohol and sports are not compatible.

It is outrageous that FIFA, sponsored by Budweiser,  is demanding the Brazilian government change their law banning alcohol at matches. Soccer is soccer.  Fans might like to have a pint while watching teh game in their local, but thousands of intoxicated men in confined spaces – that’s just stupid.  Anyone who has seen crowd violence …
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We love factory food.

Factory farming is bad.  The new movie Contagion, based on the book Viral Storm, dramatises the kind of risk we nurture with intensive farming techniques.  The kind of techniques that deliver the variety and volume of food at such low prices that we demand. From The Ecologist: Viral storm: why factory farming is bad for …
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Feel the cosmic rhythm.

Most of us ignore the spiritual dimension.  The pressures of daily life, the pursuit of material objectives, the desire for new things and experiences take up all our thoughts. But sometimes we feel the invisible.  We have empathy for another.  Or we reflect on friendships, family or love.  Perhaps we feel fulfilled by a religious …
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Personal and shared ownership at the same time.

We had a wonderful treat last night.  We went to a fishing village on the coast of Gozo, rode bumper cars and had fresh pizza and ravioli for supper.  We also had sweet, fizzy drinks. At first the drinks were distributed one to each of us.  We were mostly abstemious with “our” drinks, one of …
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Energy prices peaking and still rising.

They say that the peak in oil prices is caused by the unrest in the Middle East. The data doesn’t necessarily support that.  In fact some might say that what is happening in the middle east is good for trade and efficient pricing because oil producing countries will become more democratic and transparent rather than …
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Has economics reached its sell-by date?

A note by Richard and Stella, voicing frustrations many of us feel in the imploding Irish economy. How far will things have to disintegrate before we cop on that we cannot continue to do things in the same way? At the moment, issues of the economy are determining political decisions, and consequently, are affecting decisions …
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Banking, Budgets, Inflation, Food prices

Four degrees of separation?  I just browsed through three links that interested me and suddenly noticed that they drew the banking crisis and the food crisis (which is barely on many people’s radar) together. Here it is: US banking system ‘open to abuse’ One of the US’s top fraud investigators is warning that America’s policing …
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BT Notes – It’s all about food

It’s all about food. Summer was busy because of all the work put in to the garden by our children in spring. And though it is not a commercially viable business in Ireland, growing fruit and vegetables on a small scale as we do is enriching.  It beings me closer to Earth and nature.  I’m …
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