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Wednesday, September 28, 2016
Suzanne Jarvie, Chris Brown, Kate Fenner and Tony Scherr in Omagh tonight!
Their gig tonight is at the Boneyard Records Store in Omagh, Co. Tyrone at 8pm tonight
Their recorded interview and tunes from this week!
Wednesday, September 21, 2016
International Day of Peace - What you can do!
What You Can Do to End War on the International Day of Peace
By David Swanson, telesur
http://www.telesurtv.net/english/opinion/What-You-Can-Do-to-End-War-on-the-International-Day-of-Peace-20160921-0003.html
If you want to find peace in your heart, knock yourself out. Seriously, knock yourself out, there's nothing more peaceful. Or if you want to find peace in your family or your neighborhood, or on the sidelines of a football game during the playing of the National Anthem, there may be no better way to do it than to pledge your allegiance to permanent war on poor foreign countries.
A school board member in Virginia once agreed to support a celebration of the International Day of Peace "as long as everyone understands that I'm not opposing any wars."
But what if you want to find
peace through the abolition of war? Then what do you do? Well, then you
do the long, hard, exciting, fulfilling, nonviolent, community building
work that may very well bring peace to everything from your heart to
your local police
department in the process, but which is aimed at reducing and
eliminating the arms trade and militarism.
Have you noticed how outraged U.S. liberals can become when they discover that the U.S. National Anthem has various ties to
racism? Imagine! A song that celebrates the mass slaughter of human
beings during an inane quest to take over Canada (which instead got the
White House burned) -- that glorious treasure might be marred by a cruel
and unenlightened ideology!
Did you see the
news story this week about the U.S. government compensating the
family of an Italian they'd blown up in a war with a payment of $1
million? What if Iraqis were given that treatment? As many families are
gone entirely, let's round down to 1 million victims
with survivors left to be compensated. What's a million times $1
million? It's $1 trillion. What the U.S. government spends on militarism
in 1 year could treat Iraqis as if they were Europeans. The next year's
funding could start in on compensating Afghans,
Pakistanis, Yemenis, Libyans, Somalis, Syrians, etc.
There is an educational
project needed that you can help with. It involves persuading people
that war can't be mended, that it must be ended. You might begin by
sitting out a playing of the National Anthem and then explaining to
people why. If you don't
want to do that alone, do it with a small group. If you don't have a
small group, Campaign Nonviolence has over 650 nonviolent war-abolition
events of all sorts planned all over the place this week.
Find the nearest event.
For more events all over the world, check out our
events page at World Beyond War. There are art exhibitions, ship
voyages, anti-nuclear lobby events, protest rallies, vigils,
conferences, festivals, and long-distance walks.
Have you ever dreamed of seeing a peace movement, much less a war abolition movement, on television? Now you can. On September 23rd and 24th point your web browser to TheRealNews.com and hook your computer up to your television screen to see the No War 2016 conference. (Or just watch it on your computer.) Here's the detailed agenda of what you'll see at what time, and bios and photos of all the speakers. This event will be three days of making the case for alternatives to war, including activist workshops on the third day, and on the next morning (Monday, the 26th) a 9 a.m. protest at the Pentagon. Come join us!
We will also be delivering to the Pentagon a petition simultaneously being delivered by U.S. whistleblowers and Germans to the German government in Berlin asking for the closure of Ramstein Air Base. On the 23rd/24th you can also catch a live stream World Beyond War event from Malaysia. Other events all over the world will be viewing the live stream from Washington, D.C., including this one in Berlin. Protests are also planned on the 26th in California, at West Point, and in Australia.
Wherever you are, you should catch a screening of
Paying the Price for Peace and of
Snowden. The
International Peace Bureau World Congress is in Berlin from September 29 to October 3rd. If you can be in
Ireland or
England or
Germany, join the big events on October 8th. Keep Space for Peace Week is October 1 to 8, and has events
everywhere.
You can always organize your
own event anywhere, and World Beyond War will be glad to help you
promote it. If you are looking for a tool for studying, teaching, or
leading discussions, we're just now publishing the 2016 version of
A Global Security System: An Alternative to War. Or use any of
these videos, power points, or speakers.
Want to lobby the U.S.
government for something immediately achievable? Call Congress and tell
them to halt the next pending sale of weapons to Saudi Arabia to be used
killing people in Yemen. Sign
this petition too. There is also an opportunity right now to
ban cluster bombs, and after those
nuclear bombs.
If you're convinced that
activism is best directed at the edges of a broken presidential election
system, here's a useful approach: demand that debates, like the one on
September 26th, include
more candidates, so that the pro-war consensus gets challenged.
Another debate is underway in
the world right now on the question of whether "Just War" theory is of
any value. Even the Catholic Church, the creator of Just War theory, is
debating whether to formally reject it. I've just published
my argument on the topic and will be debating a Just War advocate in
October. Get involved in this discussion. Ask someone on September
21st, the International Day of Peace, whether they'd like there to be
peace everywhere every day. Ask them if they'd
like to help make that happen.
Also, you can join a skype call with
Afghan peace activists on September 21st.
There is peace in most places
most of the time. Adding the last bit of the earth to that peaceful
status would not violate any laws of nature. It would only violate the
irrational drives and profiting greed of those who oppose peace. This
will take more
than a day, but we can do it.
Help support DavidSwanson.org, WarIsACrime.org, and TalkNationRadio.org by clicking here:
http://davidswanson.org/donate. Tuesday, September 20, 2016
Coming To Love The Music for The Suzanne Jarvie Tour
Getting to Know
Another few day's tracks to get people ready for the Suzanne Jarvie Tour!
Well I hope my friends who demonstrated to protect Kilkenny and my veggie friends too are going to come with me and see this lady sing because when she's not singing she is head of the ethical council for lawyers in Toronto - 'keeping them in line' was the expression Chris Brown used and he'll be playing with her.
Another few day's tracks to get people ready for the Suzanne Jarvie Tour!
Well I hope my friends who demonstrated to protect Kilkenny and my veggie friends too are going to come with me and see this lady sing because when she's not singing she is head of the ethical council for lawyers in Toronto - 'keeping them in line' was the expression Chris Brown used and he'll be playing with her.
Legal Ethics Council, what a revelation that will be
Do we even have an ethical council overseeing our lawyers here or do they just do what they want for the biggest client? I am hoping we can get some tips on how to get some social justice happening! I can guarantee that you will like what these guys have to say and love their music.
Harmony Hall this Sunday and the Royal Hotel Valentia Island at 10pm 1st October are the dates I am on a high
about but if you come to the Cleeres gig on Thursday or the George
Bernard Shaw gig on Friday, I might also see you there.
I can confirm that these are albums that you can have in your car for six months and still hear something new each time. And don't get me started about Kate Fenner and Tony Scherr who are traveling with them. When you start to explore their music and adventures, you will be on a buzz too that they are on their way to tour Ireland.
Suzanne Jarvie, Title Track and Video for Spiral Road
Huffington Post Article
Lake Superior by Chris Brown
Never Done by Kate Fenner
I had to chose Suzanne Jarvie's Love Is Now for Saturday's track to get to know. Just can't resist any insight that brings us back to the present moment. 'Love's fingerprints are on my skin, don't dust them off, let me in, so I can prove that love is now, no imminent or potential, it's torrential, love is now.'
I gather that Suzanne Jarvie became a lawyer for the sheer independence of it, not wanting to rely on anyone. I'd say we have all felt like that. But then through a terrible ordeal suddenly diverted off to follow her dream of playing music.
In the interview that I was just listening to as well, I thought what a good thought for the day:
Whatever is going on right now, don't feel guilty about taking it as a chance to follow your dream. As a lawyer, dusting for fingerprints has a very different, criminal connotation but she seems to be able to turn what is bad into something really good!
Chris Brown produced her album and he, Kate Fenner and Tony Scherr will all be here, recreating the fantastic harmonies and magic. Literally at Harmony Hall at a matinee 4pm 25th September and the Royal Hotel Valentia Island 10pm Saturday 1st October. Although these are the two dates I am completely hyped about, I can also mention Cleeres, Kilkenny City Centre on thursday 22nd September. Such a great venue too, I saw Aidan Knight in there last night, another Canadian, and they were mesmerizing. Also, Suzanne Jarvie and co will play at the George Bernard Shaw Centre in Carlow on Friday 23rd Sept.
I can confirm that these are albums that you can have in your car for six months and still hear something new each time. And don't get me started about Kate Fenner and Tony Scherr who are traveling with them. When you start to explore their music and adventures, you will be on a buzz too that they are on their way to tour Ireland.
Suzanne Jarvie, Title Track and Video for Spiral Road
Chris Brown
The situation is that there are very few songs as brilliant as Chris Brown's Superior but you might still be worried. How could he recreate it live, as it seems to be formed as a wonderful dialogue between two real human beings? Fret not, Kate Fenner is coming too who sings the second part! They are on their way from Toronto this week and playing in London Wednesday but to be heard in Kilkenny on Thursday evening in Cleeres. Several great dates happening around - from the famous White Horse, Ballincollig, Cork to Monaghan but best of all, there's Harmony Hall this Sunday and the Royal Hotel, Valentia Island on the 1st October. Suffice to say prepare yourselves for Suzanne Jarvie, Chris Brown, Kate Fenner and Tony Scherr. This is another article inspired by this song anyway!Huffington Post Article
Lake Superior by Chris Brown
Kate Fenner
This was last Sunday's track. It might be hard to believe but Kate Fenner is also coming. I love the fact that her voice has been described as 'a national treasure' and that they have all been friends for so many years and albums. You will even see Chris Brown and Tony Scherr in the background of this video playing away and standing around! I gather she first sang with Suzanne Jarvie a couple of years ago in New York City and that was probably where the plan was hatched to all tour Ireland together. Yes, that's including Harmony Hall (Total experience but bear in mind that there are a limited amount of tickets as it is not exactly an arena setting!), Cleeres Kilkenny, Carlow, Waterford, Cork, The Royal Hotel, Valentia Island 1st October, Galway, Dublin, Monaghan - and London. It's probably a life saver that they are all amazing singers - Chris Brown even gets into Eddie Veder territory on 'Aint Missed It Yet' as they have quite a few back to back dates!Never Done by Kate Fenner
I had to chose Suzanne Jarvie's Love Is Now for Saturday's track to get to know. Just can't resist any insight that brings us back to the present moment. 'Love's fingerprints are on my skin, don't dust them off, let me in, so I can prove that love is now, no imminent or potential, it's torrential, love is now.'
I gather that Suzanne Jarvie became a lawyer for the sheer independence of it, not wanting to rely on anyone. I'd say we have all felt like that. But then through a terrible ordeal suddenly diverted off to follow her dream of playing music.
Suzanne Jarvie
Love is Now by Suzanne JarvieIn the interview that I was just listening to as well, I thought what a good thought for the day:
Whatever is going on right now, don't feel guilty about taking it as a chance to follow your dream. As a lawyer, dusting for fingerprints has a very different, criminal connotation but she seems to be able to turn what is bad into something really good!
Chris Brown produced her album and he, Kate Fenner and Tony Scherr will all be here, recreating the fantastic harmonies and magic. Literally at Harmony Hall at a matinee 4pm 25th September and the Royal Hotel Valentia Island 10pm Saturday 1st October. Although these are the two dates I am completely hyped about, I can also mention Cleeres, Kilkenny City Centre on thursday 22nd September. Such a great venue too, I saw Aidan Knight in there last night, another Canadian, and they were mesmerizing. Also, Suzanne Jarvie and co will play at the George Bernard Shaw Centre in Carlow on Friday 23rd Sept.
Support Veggie Bands in Veggie Venues
George Bernard Shaw was a leading-the-way vegetarian. I have his brilliant book of letters where he seemed to write to everyone he knew, about the importance of living harmlessly. Chris Brown is a long time on this train of thought too, so I hope we can get all Kilkenny vegans and vegetarians out to join forces and be heartened by these brilliant musicians!Monday, September 19, 2016
Agriculture Dept welcomes live export to Turkey, I wrote to say they should try it sometime themselves
and in the cow's case
This is why so many Israelis are vegan. They see this massacre of animals and remember all too clearly that it is a crime. Nothing less, against whoever is on board and carted off to die. Just because it's legal does not make it right and kind people everywhere want live export banned. Thanks.
Sent to Michael Creed TD and Andrew Doyle TD.
Friday, September 16, 2016
Suzanne Jarvie, Chris Brown, Kate Fenner and Tony Scherr Concerts coming up this month!
The Suzanne Jarvie Tour 21st September to 5th October 2016! - with special guests Chris Brown, Kate Fenner and Tony Scherr.
Chris Brown and Kate Fenner - Whoever Built This Would Not Live Here
This is a groovy track but makes a serious point about the corporate ruin of pristine remote areas.
Here are a few more dates and details but there are other dates in Dublin and Cork I know that I must find out about and share then!!
Thursday 22nd September John Cleere's Bar & Theatre, 9:00 PM
28 Parliament Street, Kilkenny.
353 56 776 2573
Tickets: €12
https://www.facebook.com/events/1216898628373821/
Friday 23rd VISUAL Centre for Contemporary Art and The George Bernard Shaw Theatre, Carlow, 8:00 PM
Old Dublin Road
Carlow R93 A3K1
+353 59 917 2400
Tickets: €10.00
http://purchase.tickets.com/buy/TicketPurchase…
Sunday 25th Private House Concert, Co Kilkenny 6pm
€15
(for info: info@healingbyfranc.com)
Tuesday 27th September Private Event - House Concert - Co. Monaghan (for info: "Kieran Mc Guigan")
Friday 30th September The White Horse
West Village, Ballincollig, Co. Cork, Ireland
Phone: +353 21 487 1388
Tickets: €13.36
https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/suzanne-jarvie-hugh-christopher…
Saturday 1st October Royal Hotel Valentia Island,
in the footsteps of the jedi council on the Skelligs - 10pm
Monday October 3rd - Ballymore Acoustic Gigs - BAG Mick Murphy's Bar, Ballymore Eustace, Co. Kildare.
Tickets: €12
http://ballymoreacousticgigs.blogspot.ie/
Back in the UK! London
Wednesday October 5th Bonanza & Son Presents An Evening with Hugh Christopher Brown & Suzanne Jarvie + Special Guests Luther Wright & Miss Emily
Concert at Harmony Hall
I know they have several more major venues around Ireland lined up...but Harmony Hall Kilkenny on 25th September and The Royal Valentia, Kerry on Saturday 1st October are two that are just blowing my mind. I've decided to share one or another video every day so everyone is ready, come the dates!Chris Brown and Kate Fenner - Whoever Built This Would Not Live Here
This is a groovy track but makes a serious point about the corporate ruin of pristine remote areas.
Suzanne Jarvie Lawyer and Musician
Do
people even know Suzanne Jarvie is a leading human rights lawyer as well as a
brilliant songwriter? Amazing inside and out! This is my current
favourite of Suzanne hers - "...from the atom to the sun, from the
many to the one" I just love that. So, yes, several great venues but Harmony Hall on 25th Sept and the Royal Hotel, Valentia on Saturday 1st October! Yeah!
Suzanne Jarvie - Never Gonna Stop
Tony Scherr plays Willing, by Chris Brown
And it is something I was thinking about yesterday with a disillusioned client. She said that she didn't believe in spiritual welfare, energy clearing or healing anymore. I found myself pointing out that we don't have any other choices. Those things amount to simply living consciously; doing our best to meet situations with as much perspective and compassion as possible and decide how to respond from there. The only other option is unconsciousness; drink, medication, the telly, food, which incapacitate us even further. We've got to try and stay conscious and can I just say, this music really helps make the journey worthwhile!
Chris Brown sings Burden of Belief and other tracks to support Dakota defenders from Oil Pipe Laying Devastation Suzanne Jarvie - Never Gonna Stop
Tony Scherr Session Bassist and Guitarist for The Greats
Almost unbelievably, Tony Scherr, guitarist and bassist on Nora Jones' and Ani De Franco's albums and who has played for countless greats like Lou Reed ... and is the most in demand session musician in New York as we speak...is also coming with Suzanne Jarvie, Chris Brown and Kate Fenner. Yes, that is to several great venues from the 21st to the 5th October but the ones I'm quite literally over the moon about, would be the matinee at Harmony Hall on Sunday the 25th September and then them playing at The Royal on Valentia Island evening of the 1st October. This track I found is Tony Scherr playing one of my all time favourite songs by Chris Brown. 'Consciousness is a lonely place, without the hand of grace' So true!Tony Scherr plays Willing, by Chris Brown
And it is something I was thinking about yesterday with a disillusioned client. She said that she didn't believe in spiritual welfare, energy clearing or healing anymore. I found myself pointing out that we don't have any other choices. Those things amount to simply living consciously; doing our best to meet situations with as much perspective and compassion as possible and decide how to respond from there. The only other option is unconsciousness; drink, medication, the telly, food, which incapacitate us even further. We've got to try and stay conscious and can I just say, this music really helps make the journey worthwhile!
Hugh Christopher Brown Social Justice Activist and Musician
Finally, here is the special treat of several songs, recorded by Chris Brown to support the environmental effort to stop the laying of a pipe for crude oil across Dakota sacred lands and threatening the water defenders and media with automatic weapons with live ammunition. Bit like the CAS bridge in Kilkenny, the motorway in Clare and the fracking in Mayo - Thank God our gardai are not armed but let's stick together as activists and come and see them play in Kilkenny 22nd (Cleeres) and 25th (Harmony Hall) September in Kilkenny and 1st October in the Royal Hotel on Valentia Island, Co. Kerry.Here are a few more dates and details but there are other dates in Dublin and Cork I know that I must find out about and share then!!
Dates and Venues
The following shows in the UK & Ireland have been confirmed and more will be added soon:Thursday 22nd September John Cleere's Bar & Theatre, 9:00 PM
28 Parliament Street, Kilkenny.
353 56 776 2573
Tickets: €12
https://www.facebook.com/events/1216898628373821/
Friday 23rd VISUAL Centre for Contemporary Art and The George Bernard Shaw Theatre, Carlow, 8:00 PM
Old Dublin Road
Carlow R93 A3K1
+353 59 917 2400
Tickets: €10.00
http://purchase.tickets.com/buy/TicketPurchase…
Sunday 25th Private House Concert, Co Kilkenny 6pm
€15
(for info: info@healingbyfranc.com)
Tuesday 27th September Private Event - House Concert - Co. Monaghan (for info: "Kieran Mc Guigan"
Friday 30th September The White Horse
West Village, Ballincollig, Co. Cork, Ireland
Phone: +353 21 487 1388
Tickets: €13.36
https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/suzanne-jarvie-hugh-christopher…
Saturday 1st October Royal Hotel Valentia Island,
in the footsteps of the jedi council on the Skelligs - 10pm
Monday October 3rd - Ballymore Acoustic Gigs - BAG Mick Murphy's Bar, Ballymore Eustace, Co. Kildare.
Tickets: €12
http://ballymoreacousticgigs.blogspot.ie/
Back in the UK! London
Wednesday October 5th Bonanza & Son Presents An Evening with Hugh Christopher Brown & Suzanne Jarvie + Special Guests Luther Wright & Miss Emily
Saturday, September 10, 2016
How Going Vegan Addresses Each of the 17 International Sustainability Goals - My Quiz held at Electric Picnic's Global Green
This quiz was written and put together by
my two pigs, therefore there is a focus on how going vegan addresses each of
the 17 international sustainability goals. The push bike, cycling advocacy tent
had put together an amazing document on how cycling addresses the goals as well
so I started by acknowledging that.
Davie Phillips of Cultivate – at Cloughjordan Ecovilllage – in his
introduction said how difficult it was to bring these goals to life, maybe especially
as a quiz as no one had heard of them. They include goals like no hunger, no
poverty, gender equality, good health, sustainable cities, looking after life
on land and life under the sea and peace. I settled for a ‘best of three’
format.
Goal: Good partnerships
1.
Do we need a partnership with
a)
Animals b) People c) Nature
Answer: All three
Anyone who participated came up and got a
vegan biscuit ( a chance for me to show which ordinary products are
harmless – Ginger Nuts, Oaties and Bourbon)
Goal: Clean Water
2. If you have 1kg of beef and 1kg of
vegetable protein, which takes
15,000 litres of fresh water to produce?
200 litres of fresh water to produce?
Answer: 15,000
litres (or more) 1kg animal protein
200
litres 1kg
plant protein.
Goal: Decent work/employment
3. How many pig farms in Ireland?
a)
100 b) 200 c) 400?
Answer: 400
4. What percentage of pigs are kept
confined and without daylight?
Answer: 98%
5. How many new Pig Farm Management certificates
were offered; even subsidized in Ireland in 2015
Answer: 500
Who considers intensive farming, abbatoirs,
pharmaceutical testing facilities, food production facilities or computer chip
production decent work?
a) The government b) Corporations c)
Enterprise offices d) Nobody
Answer: All of the above
How many people in the audience have heard
about the idea to pay everyone a living wage and then each person applies
themselves to what they do best?
Answer: Everyone in the room and this
sparked a great debate as they were mainly motivated independent people who
would make the most of the opportunity to create community led projects and
provide local food.
Goal: Gender Equality
6. When we think in terms of gender
equality, which is the most fair of the following 3?
a) Women not being paid the same wage for
the same work in any country (including 1st and 3rd
world)?
b) Female pigs being kept in crates, unable
to turn around and produce several litters of piglets a year?
c) Cow are taken from their calves and
calves are taken from their cows, within days of birth in the dairy industry
for human consumption – of their milk and the male calves to death or fattened
to become meat.
Answer: None of them are very fair at all.
Goal: Health
7. What percentage of farms in Ireland are
organic?
a)
2% b) 10% c) 15%
Answer: 2% but the writer of the research
was in the audience and refined the answer to 1.9%
8. How many times are potatoes sprayed with
glysophate/Round Up on average?
a) 0-10 b)
10-20 c) 20-30
Answer: 20-30 times (Most people in the
audience thought it could be no more that 3 times, especially as they are only
in the ground for 6 months but every not marked organic potato you buy has the
residue of nearly 30 applications of carcinogenic round up)
9. How do we know that the chemical
fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides that we use are unhealthy?
a) 80% of Ireland’s bees are dead b) glysophate is found in tumour
tissue c) It originated as a chemical weapon in the Vietnam war?
Answer: All of the above
Goal: No Hunger
Why are nearly 1 billion of us 7 billion
humans starving?
a) There is not
enough food b) The
food is fed to animals instead
Answer: b ; There is enough grain grown
already to feed a population of 13 billion people. More than half of it is fed
to animals to then produce meat.
What percentage of food produced is wasted?
a) A Quarter b) A Half c) A Third
Answer: A third. It is not bought from the
farmer and so he ploughs it back in
It is lost during production. For example,
one production facility in Ireland, a tonne of pasta is lost every single
lunchtime, as people take their break and the line is left running. It goes
straight into the landfill.
Fruit and vegetables are rejected by the
supermarkets, for imperfections in appearance. Consumers buy more than they need
and end up throwing away a great deal of food – It is thought that every
individual could save 450 euro a year, if they used what they had binned or not
bought it in the first place.
Why are hungry people not fed?
a)
Transportation b) Poverty c) Entitlement
Answer: Entitlement
I asked if anyone understood this as I
didn’t! One parallel was suggested with the CEO of Nestle, who by the way holds
the keys to countless fresh water aquifers and wells in deserts and
drought-ridden countries. He has explicitly stated that people do not have a
right to water.
Another
said that governments have made 'basic needs' a social and charitable concern
when food security should be governed by law and provision to all: written in
to legislation.
Goal: Justice and Peace
How can we have justice and peace if we are
glossing over the death of so many people and animals? 7 trillion animals a
year – I represented the cows, Day One of the festival, pigs on day two (the
whole world might go vegan en masse… and pigs might fly so adopted wings in the evening) and then
all our feathered and other winged friends on the Sunday – the chickens, ducks,
bees and the butterflies in particular.
Are we a) anaesthetized to suffering b)
superior to other life c) allowed to do what we want?
Answer: This sparked a response that the
catholic church has us all conditioned. I suggested, what about Buddhist ideas? They understand that we are all one and connected? Another participant was just
back from a Buddhist country and said that the way animals and people in fact
are treated there is horrific, even worse. So I said, let’s not go down that
road either!
Goal: Education
How do we teach adults to care about
something? To take responsibility for their own actions? To value their
environment, appreciate the resources we have, experience compassion for people
and wildlife they don’t know and can’t see and motivate them to protect the
environment?
a) teach the children b) hit adults in the pocket c) make
laws
Answer: Trick answer, that none of the above
really work as it suits the government to make money from our consumption and
ill health (as in answer c), it suits adults to blame their hard hit finances for ignorant
choices – eg. buying cheap imported food (as in answer b) and children are just being filled
with all this information and have no actual power or say so to do anything
about it because their parents and all society are just carrying on regardless (as in answer a).
I asked everyone to think about how love
and compassion had kicked off in their lives so we can spread the experience of
it around to more and more people, before we trash the place.
In terms of education, the conversation
turned to replacing competition in schools with cooperation and collaborations.
Goal: Responsible Consumption
Some people say that consumers are the
greatest activists. This is because if we retract our support for cruel and/or
harmfully produced goods, we break the chain of supply and demand.
Goal: Wellbeing
What are the things that weigh us down and
make our own lives unsustainable?
a)
Physical pain b) Mental pain c)
Emotional pain d) Grief e) Poverty
f)
Unavailability (closed down-ness) g) Loneliness h) Absence i) Anger k) loss and
l) a range of fears
Answer: All of the above.
I gave a brief intro to self mastery, a
complete redefinition of our reason d’etre, mentioned that we all have a divine
spark and suggested…going vegan!... as a means to ease the conscience, release
the depressing energies in our systems and systematically cultivate more
promising ones; self regard, hope, joy, creativity, problem solving and feeling
connected and supported by that that bond between all living things. Most of
this work was done during two ‘Inner Sustainability' workshops I did in the
Mindfulness Tent – thanks Katriona for your beautiful artwork and creating such
a wonderful space.
Goal: End Pollution
I was going to ask how many in the audience
knew about chem trailing – dropping chemicals out of planes – yes, including
ryan air. Some say it is a toxic waste from coal mining. Some say it is a
deliberate shield created to reduce the global warming, everyone agrees that it
is a willful contamination of soil and water. You will see the lines in the sky
now I’ve mentioned it.
Goal: Safety
I was going to ask why are infant and
teenage vaccines still promoted and sometimes forced when they have such toxic
ingredients and can lead to paralysis and pain worse than paralysis?
I didn’t as we were all enjoying ourselves
at a music festival and everyone knows the answer anyway!
Goal: Sanitation
If sanitation refers to the removal of
sewage and trash and maintaining conditions that do not promote disease?
What do you think happens to animal waste?
Answer: It runs off, untreated into the
waterways and sea and soil.
This led to some good discussion later about
how to properly use ‘organic matter’ for the improvement of the land, rather
than contamination.
A brilliant talk, later in the festival,
was a panel proposing ways to ‘Green The Festival’. I raised this problem with
toilets being super clean but no water had been used, just gallons and gallons
of chemical. There were just disinfectant gels for people’s hands after too.
This stuff is so toxic, it is being banned I heard yesterday. There is no way
that any of that waste could biodegrade. I passed on the question, could energy
be generated by all the human waste? Could it be biodigested perhaps?!
One great speaker Anya, from Eco Eye, I
think, said that they had had compost loos for an 8-day festival of 35,000
people and they had been spotless and smell-less and worked brilliantly. It was
asked if people were ready to manage themselves here in Ireland. I’m sure
everyone would soon get the hang of it! In case you don’t know, you have to not
wee in a compost loo as it interrupts the speedy bacterial breakdown of the
crap.
These are things we all need to know and
that was the vibe I kept going for the quiz.
Many people there knew a lot more than I.
Also the serious discussions about What is TTIP? – Transatlantic Trade and
Investment Partnership – were yet to come.
But I was able to round up with some
rhetorical questions like
What percentage of people like the
invitation of corporations to Ireland with no tax and no EPA governance?!
Goal: Clean Energy:
I didn’t ask a question about this even
though it is my favourite absurd observation that Shell were allowed to seismic
blast and map and drill to high heaven in the nature conservation area in Mayo
but boat operators were refused an extension of two weeks to their license to
bring holiday makers and Star Wars fans out to the Skelligs. Oh yes, the damage
they could do taking those snap shots! Really?!
Goal: Good Industries
My attempt at clean energy was to try and
get my Mazda converted to electric. I found lots about it (There is a national goal to have 40,000 electric cars on Irish Roads as we speak). I rang the SEAI –
sustainability board as I saw they offered a grant.
"All the grants for electric cars are only
available to corporations."
Not even just businesses, only
corporations…the only group who do not need a grant.
Goal: Good Infrastructure
What is environmental infrastructure?
Would everyone like to see the revival of the
rural train tracks that go to all four corners of Ireland?
Answer: Yes but it’s pretty unlikely.
Goal: Good Institutions
Decided this was a contradiction in terms and so we're now going for community led collaborations instead!
Goal: Sustainable Cities
I heard that we should abandon trying to
improve Dublin and build a new sustainable city, with the very best of
sustainable design outside Limerick. Not pour good money after bad.
The answer that won the biscuit was: what
happens to the abandoned places, just a rotting ghost town? Then there was more
evidence of that from all the buildings on outside of towns where businesses
have moved to bigger premises and are not obliged to take down and tidy up
their old one.
Goal: Protect life under the sea
This led to a laugh as I announced that
90 million fish are caught each year and then changed it to 90 million tonnes of
fish. It was funny because we all had to agree it was flipping loads and an
insane amount that could not be replenished. I will write again about this as
we watched the film Atlantic on the last night which I really recommend.
Goal: Protect life on land
If we replace meat with soya, how much does
it reduce land clearance by, per kg of protein?
a) 47% b)
97% c) 77%
Answer: 97% - That is epic!
The whole world might go vegan and also pigs might fly...let us show how it is done in style!!