Joe Oliver, Harper's 'Natural Resources Minister' talks about how he proposes to ministrate Canada's natural resources:
"Their [environmental groups] goal is to stop any major project no matter what the cost to Canadian families in lost jobs and economic growth. No forestry. No mining. No oil. No gas. No more hydro-electric dams."
This is obviously a political statement about how to get Joe Oliver re-elected and has no relationship to his responsibilities to Canada's natural resources or, more importantly, the world's. These people simply do not "get it", they are so blinded by yesterday's ideology that they apparently cannot address anything beyond their own, narrow self-interest.
Currently, my grandchildren are too young to step up and defend their self-interest and I hope they are never taught to do that without thought for the rest of the Earth Community in any case. So we have to defend the world for them in the interim and teach them about worldwide justice and how to live peacefully with their neighbours. If this sounds too "radical" for Minister Oliver then so-be-it.
We have a system of politics, elections and government which we call democratic but which has become anything but. The only citizens who have a chance to form a government are those who have access to sources of great wealth, either their own or that of those who are willing to pay their way. In our society, people with wealth usually accumulated it by being ruthless and self-interested, hardly the qualities required to promote justice and peace or the qualities I would want to see exhibited by the leaders of my country.
If this was a stand-up comedy routine by the Minister, the biggest laugh would come after Oliver says the groups "threaten to hijack our regulatory system to achieve their radical ideological agenda". These are the same people that were being accused by the Harperites a few months of having no leader, no future and NO AGENDA!!! Also, if we are looking for a radical, ideological agenda, the PM has a lock on the trophy for that in Canada.
However, this is not funny. In fact, this is the most serious situation to face humans in the history of the species and it is being exacerbated by the very people Canadians elected to govern them. I see nothing funny at all, I see only the same greed and selfishness I see in the highest levels of the Corporate World; I wonder why that is.
MY WEBSITE — ANewHumanity.CA
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Monday, January 9, 2012
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Are there any Bridge Builders out there?
Below is my comment to the EthicalOil.org story about Chiquita's boycott of Dirty Tarsands Oil.
____________________
"We can either co-operate in an effort to bring justice to the world or we can form into two groups facing each other across what we see as a divide that cannot be bridged. We can look at the global picture or the 'national interest' one. We can fixate on jobs or start working on ways to feed ourselves in the future."
"If we let greed, selfishness and corruption rule our hearts and minds we will do what we have always done and attack each other. This site is dedicated to verbal attacks but these will quickly escalate into physical clashes between non-violent protesters and government backed police and military without the restraints of non-violence."
"The problems are global in nature and so would solutions have to be, that is the reason for co-operation with those from outside of Canada. National interest has become one of the most damaging factors in attempts to start the rebuilding of the world for a peaceful and just, post-oil future. I was just looking at a picture of a young girl holding a sign that read "YOU CAN'T EAT MONEY" . . . . . most of the world's peoples already know that and we in the industrialized world will find out the truth of it soon enough."
____________________
Unfortunately, I just cannot see the 1% acquiescing to the 99%, the Occupy Movement or Keystone/Gateway protests without a fight and non-violence is absent from their collective genetic code. I fear the the only salvation for humanity will be through the pepper spraying, teargassing and rubber bulleting of anyone who refuses to move out of the way, physically or ideologically.
If there are any Bridge Builders out there, there is a huge contract available for bidding - unfortunately the profit margin will have to be much less than zero.
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____________________
"We can either co-operate in an effort to bring justice to the world or we can form into two groups facing each other across what we see as a divide that cannot be bridged. We can look at the global picture or the 'national interest' one. We can fixate on jobs or start working on ways to feed ourselves in the future."
"If we let greed, selfishness and corruption rule our hearts and minds we will do what we have always done and attack each other. This site is dedicated to verbal attacks but these will quickly escalate into physical clashes between non-violent protesters and government backed police and military without the restraints of non-violence."
"The problems are global in nature and so would solutions have to be, that is the reason for co-operation with those from outside of Canada. National interest has become one of the most damaging factors in attempts to start the rebuilding of the world for a peaceful and just, post-oil future. I was just looking at a picture of a young girl holding a sign that read "YOU CAN'T EAT MONEY" . . . . . most of the world's peoples already know that and we in the industrialized world will find out the truth of it soon enough."
____________________
Unfortunately, I just cannot see the 1% acquiescing to the 99%, the Occupy Movement or Keystone/Gateway protests without a fight and non-violence is absent from their collective genetic code. I fear the the only salvation for humanity will be through the pepper spraying, teargassing and rubber bulleting of anyone who refuses to move out of the way, physically or ideologically.
If there are any Bridge Builders out there, there is a huge contract available for bidding - unfortunately the profit margin will have to be much less than zero.
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MY WEBSITE — ANewHumanity.CA
Friday, January 6, 2012
The Parable of the Titanic
This is an excerpt from "The Great Work" - Thomas Berry, 1999. This is an amazing book especially coming as it does from a Roman Catholic priest. I believe Berry took plenty of flak from his employers over his progressive views of Creation during his lifetime. However, he has left us a legacy bridge between the religious and secular factions of society, a bridge which could bring us all together to toil on his "Great Work" - nothing less than a complete re-building of our relationship with Earth - a "Great Read".
____________________
"In April of the year 1912 the Titanic, on her maiden voyage across the Atlantic. struck an iceberg and went down at sea. Long before the collision those in command had abundant evidence that icebergs lay ahead. The course had been set, however, and no one wished to alter its direction. Confidence in the survival capacities of the ship was unbounded. Already there were a multitude of concerns in carrying out the normal routine of a voyage. What happened to that "unsinkable" ship is a kind of parable for us, since only in the most dire situations do we have the psychic energy needed to examine our way of acting on the scale that is now required. The daily concerns over the care of the ship and its passengers needed to be set aside for a more urgent concern, the well-being of the ship itself. Here is where macrophase concerns in one context become microphase concerns in another context. Passenger concerns in the situation of the Titanic needed to give way to a macrophase decision about the ship itself."
"Now our concerns for the human community can only be fulfilled by a concern for the integrity of the natural world. The planet cannot support its human presence unless there is a reciprocal human support for the life systems of the planet. This more comprehensive perspective we might identify as macrophase ethics. This is something far beyond our ordinary ethical judgments involving individual actions, the actions of communities, or even of nations. We are presently concerned with ethical judgments on an entirely different order of magnitude. Indeed, the human community has never previously been forced to ethical judgments on this scale because we never before had the capacity for deleterious action with such consequences."
"As indicated by Brian Swimme in The Hidden Heart of the Cosmos, humans, through our scientific insight and technological skills have become a macrophase power, something on the level of the glaciations or the forces that caused the great extinctions of the past. Yet we have only a microphase sense of responsibility or ethical judgment. We need to develop a completely different range of responsibility."
____________________
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____________________
"In April of the year 1912 the Titanic, on her maiden voyage across the Atlantic. struck an iceberg and went down at sea. Long before the collision those in command had abundant evidence that icebergs lay ahead. The course had been set, however, and no one wished to alter its direction. Confidence in the survival capacities of the ship was unbounded. Already there were a multitude of concerns in carrying out the normal routine of a voyage. What happened to that "unsinkable" ship is a kind of parable for us, since only in the most dire situations do we have the psychic energy needed to examine our way of acting on the scale that is now required. The daily concerns over the care of the ship and its passengers needed to be set aside for a more urgent concern, the well-being of the ship itself. Here is where macrophase concerns in one context become microphase concerns in another context. Passenger concerns in the situation of the Titanic needed to give way to a macrophase decision about the ship itself."
"Now our concerns for the human community can only be fulfilled by a concern for the integrity of the natural world. The planet cannot support its human presence unless there is a reciprocal human support for the life systems of the planet. This more comprehensive perspective we might identify as macrophase ethics. This is something far beyond our ordinary ethical judgments involving individual actions, the actions of communities, or even of nations. We are presently concerned with ethical judgments on an entirely different order of magnitude. Indeed, the human community has never previously been forced to ethical judgments on this scale because we never before had the capacity for deleterious action with such consequences."
"As indicated by Brian Swimme in The Hidden Heart of the Cosmos, humans, through our scientific insight and technological skills have become a macrophase power, something on the level of the glaciations or the forces that caused the great extinctions of the past. Yet we have only a microphase sense of responsibility or ethical judgment. We need to develop a completely different range of responsibility."
____________________
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Monday, January 2, 2012
Stupid and Stupider rationalized
After posting my previous entry, 'Stupid and Stupider', I went to the book I am currently reading (The Great Work: Our Way Into the Future - Thomas Berry 1999) and within a couple of pages, ran straight into one of the author's explanations for the diminishing consciousness prevalent in our industrial world:
"In every phase of our imaginative, aesthetic, and emotional lives we are profoundly dependent on this larger context of the surrounding world. There is no inner life without outer experience. The tragedy in the elimination of the primordial forests is not the economic but the soul-loss that is involved. For we are depriving our imagination, our emotions, and even our intellect of that overwhelming experience communicated by the wilderness. For children to live only in contact with concrete and steel and wires and wheels and machines and computers and plastics, to seldom experience any primordial reality or even see the stars at night, is a soul deprivation that diminishes the deepest of their human experiences."
It is no wonder that our kids' collective consciousness is less than complete, growing up as they do out of touch with nature, with humans other than their group of electronic 'Facebook Friends', with the Earth, the Universe and especially out of touch with reality. We have spawned an industrialized world of 8 year-old Barbies and 10 year-old Bart Simpsons and, as they age without maturing, we wring our hands in distress over their inability to function.
Take a look at this story about Barbie getting functional knees for the first time at age 53 - could this be a sign of progress? Bart is still a long way from World Leader material but he is only 24 so there may still be time for some improvement. in the meantime, keep trying to get the kids into some kind of contact with reality and . . . . . Good luck.
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"In every phase of our imaginative, aesthetic, and emotional lives we are profoundly dependent on this larger context of the surrounding world. There is no inner life without outer experience. The tragedy in the elimination of the primordial forests is not the economic but the soul-loss that is involved. For we are depriving our imagination, our emotions, and even our intellect of that overwhelming experience communicated by the wilderness. For children to live only in contact with concrete and steel and wires and wheels and machines and computers and plastics, to seldom experience any primordial reality or even see the stars at night, is a soul deprivation that diminishes the deepest of their human experiences."
It is no wonder that our kids' collective consciousness is less than complete, growing up as they do out of touch with nature, with humans other than their group of electronic 'Facebook Friends', with the Earth, the Universe and especially out of touch with reality. We have spawned an industrialized world of 8 year-old Barbies and 10 year-old Bart Simpsons and, as they age without maturing, we wring our hands in distress over their inability to function.
Take a look at this story about Barbie getting functional knees for the first time at age 53 - could this be a sign of progress? Bart is still a long way from World Leader material but he is only 24 so there may still be time for some improvement. in the meantime, keep trying to get the kids into some kind of contact with reality and . . . . . Good luck.
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MY WEBSITE — ANewHumanity.CA
Stupid and Stupider
An American story about the 'Walmarting' of the world (literally). This woman has a mid-level job but, because of Walmart's 'Need to Compete', her government has to help feed her and her son. This is not just about Walmart, the entire social structure of the industrial world is quickly crumbling into dust.
And yet, people still buy into the whole "Vote-for-me, I'll-grow-the-HOLY-ECONOMY, You-will-have-a-job" BS that the distinctly UNHOLY Business-Corporate-Military conspiracy hands out as the ultimate in having a good time.
THIS WOMAN HAS A JOB - SHE CAN'T FEED HERSELF !!! . . . . DUH !!!
I have not yet watched "The Age of Stupid" yet but I'm going to very soon, by the title I think it will finally give me some insight into the world around me. More movies about global stupidity at this site.
"The Age of Stupid" is on Netflix for sure so use the microwave to pop some corn that has traveled twice around the world to be grown, processed, packaged and delivered to your local retailer (and has supported dozens of workers along the way for only 49 cents a package BTW) and let's learn about the world together.
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And yet, people still buy into the whole "Vote-for-me, I'll-grow-the-HOLY-ECONOMY, You-will-have-a-job" BS that the distinctly UNHOLY Business-Corporate-Military conspiracy hands out as the ultimate in having a good time.
THIS WOMAN HAS A JOB - SHE CAN'T FEED HERSELF !!! . . . . DUH !!!
I have not yet watched "The Age of Stupid" yet but I'm going to very soon, by the title I think it will finally give me some insight into the world around me. More movies about global stupidity at this site.
"The Age of Stupid" is on Netflix for sure so use the microwave to pop some corn that has traveled twice around the world to be grown, processed, packaged and delivered to your local retailer (and has supported dozens of workers along the way for only 49 cents a package BTW) and let's learn about the world together.
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MY WEBSITE — ANewHumanity.CA
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Happy New Year !
We should probably be wishing each other a Hopeful, rather than a Happy New Year. I don't run into a lot of happy people most days and I SURE didn't notice many in the stores over the holidays. Why do we do that to each other and the world every year? Putting an end to the nauseating orgy of holiday consumerism would be a great start to a New Year, not to mention a New Humanity.
Despite the gloomy tone of my last post (December 19), my wife and I were blessed by spending New Year's Eve with a group of people who seem to be happier than most - it was really good. Many of these folks gather on a regular basis and could be considered as 'Community', I'm pretty sure there's a clue to that happiness in there somewhere.
We dined together, read and listened together, sang together and entered into many and varied conversations together. There were people with significant disabilities and people with none in the group. There were people from diverse ethnic backgrounds and a wide range of ages. The core of the group were people of the Bahá’í Faith although my wife and I and a number of others were not. Still, we were all quickly able to find common ground to discuss and differences to celebrate.
Yes, we had some religious conversations as well as some non-religious conversations and I was even fortunate enough to find a few people who wanted to discuss the material on my website (below). There was a spot during the reading and singing (Devotions) part of the evening set aside for those who wished to read, sing or speak original material or to quote others on the evening's theme of World Peace so I had written a prayer, a kind of bridge for all who are working for Peace and Justice to use to visit each other and our common Creator:
Creator of this wondrous and infinite universe,
We ask for the will to cast off our weaknesses,
The strength to stand up against our oppressors,
. . . . . and most importantly,
The wisdom to use the tools we have been given.
Concerning the task of bringing Peace and Justice to humanity,
We do not ask for forgiveness of our transgressions,
Nor for redemption from our errors,
. . . . . and finally,
We do not ask for relief from the hard work required.
We believe that if we accept the challenges,
We make our plans diligently,
We choose our leaders wisely,
. . . . . and work vigorously,
Then we can achieve the New Humanity for which we were created.
. . . . . and I was even able to share one of my favorite quotations, one that has a very interesting attibution:
"When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace" - Jimi Hendrix, 1942 - 1970
H A V E A H A P P Y A N D A H O P E F U L 2 0 1 2 !
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Despite the gloomy tone of my last post (December 19), my wife and I were blessed by spending New Year's Eve with a group of people who seem to be happier than most - it was really good. Many of these folks gather on a regular basis and could be considered as 'Community', I'm pretty sure there's a clue to that happiness in there somewhere.
We dined together, read and listened together, sang together and entered into many and varied conversations together. There were people with significant disabilities and people with none in the group. There were people from diverse ethnic backgrounds and a wide range of ages. The core of the group were people of the Bahá’í Faith although my wife and I and a number of others were not. Still, we were all quickly able to find common ground to discuss and differences to celebrate.
Yes, we had some religious conversations as well as some non-religious conversations and I was even fortunate enough to find a few people who wanted to discuss the material on my website (below). There was a spot during the reading and singing (Devotions) part of the evening set aside for those who wished to read, sing or speak original material or to quote others on the evening's theme of World Peace so I had written a prayer, a kind of bridge for all who are working for Peace and Justice to use to visit each other and our common Creator:
A Prayer to Equip Oueselves for the Work of Bringing
Peace and Justice on Earth
Creator of this wondrous and infinite universe,
We ask for the will to cast off our weaknesses,
The strength to stand up against our oppressors,
. . . . . and most importantly,
The wisdom to use the tools we have been given.
Concerning the task of bringing Peace and Justice to humanity,
We do not ask for forgiveness of our transgressions,
Nor for redemption from our errors,
. . . . . and finally,
We do not ask for relief from the hard work required.
We believe that if we accept the challenges,
We make our plans diligently,
We choose our leaders wisely,
. . . . . and work vigorously,
Then we can achieve the New Humanity for which we were created.
— — — — —
. . . . . and I was even able to share one of my favorite quotations, one that has a very interesting attibution:
"When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace" - Jimi Hendrix, 1942 - 1970
H A V E A H A P P Y A N D A H O P E F U L 2 0 1 2 !
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Monday, December 19, 2011
Justin, could you shout a little louder please? Oh . . . . and use some stronger language too!
Justin Trudeau's break with decorum as he shouted "YOU PIECE OF SHIT" at Peter Kent across the floor of the Canadian House of Commons should serve as a wake up call to every Canadian who cares even slightly for anyone or anything other than themselves. Kent, who is laughingly referred to as "Canada's Environment Minister", is instead a despicable salesman for perhaps the worst environmental disaster to be perpetrated by humanity against our home planet, Earth. "Piece of Shit" seems entirely inadequate and Justin Trudeau's shout far too muted to give form to the current state of Canadian affairs.
British Columbia based Environmental Consultant Matt Price has written a series of articles for Huffington Post(CA) about the Harper Government's complicity in the marketing of Alberta's Tar Sands. In the latest, he identifies three things which the people of Canada must grapple with if we are to have any success in countering the Harper menace and beginning to repair our country's reputation.
1) The government in Ottawa doesn't care what you think.
2) The Opposition is letting Harper have his way.
3) Most of us are sheep.
There are still opportunities to stop the full destructive potential of the Tar Sands from being brought to bear on the worldwide environment. Every effort should be made to co-ordinate ALL actions against the Tar Sands under the auspices of a single group with a clearly stated mission and a highly identifiable logo:
a) Continue the dialogue with sympathetic elements within the US.
b) Demonstrations at Canadian diplomatic missions in Europe.
c) Demonstrations at the UK Tar Sands sales office in Alberta.
d) Action against the Keystone XL Pipeline on the Canadian side of the border.
e) Actions against the Enbridge Gateway pipeline in both Alberta and British Columbia.
f) Demonstrations in Kitimat and along the entire BC coast against the tanker traffic.
g) Co-operation between First Nations People and Non-First Nations activists at the Tar Sands and along the whole route of both the pipelines and the tankers.
h) Demonstrations every time one of the Cons shows up in BC for a photo op, funding announcement or whatever.
One last kick in the ass in case you are still sleeping - a story in The Guardian by Heather Mallick about the on-going destruction of our country at the hands of a group of ideologues we were stupid enough to elect with our antiquated electoral system. I hate to remember that I had parents who fought in wars (WW 1 and 2) with the hope that Canada would remain a beacon of trust and peace in the world. If they were still alive, I'm sure watching this so-called government drag our country through the sewer would do them in.
So, lets raise our glasses and prepare to welcome 2012 with a rousing - "YOU PIECE OF SHIT"!!!
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MY WEBSITE — ANewHumanity.CA
British Columbia based Environmental Consultant Matt Price has written a series of articles for Huffington Post(CA) about the Harper Government's complicity in the marketing of Alberta's Tar Sands. In the latest, he identifies three things which the people of Canada must grapple with if we are to have any success in countering the Harper menace and beginning to repair our country's reputation.
1) The government in Ottawa doesn't care what you think.
2) The Opposition is letting Harper have his way.
3) Most of us are sheep.
There are still opportunities to stop the full destructive potential of the Tar Sands from being brought to bear on the worldwide environment. Every effort should be made to co-ordinate ALL actions against the Tar Sands under the auspices of a single group with a clearly stated mission and a highly identifiable logo:a) Continue the dialogue with sympathetic elements within the US.
b) Demonstrations at Canadian diplomatic missions in Europe.
c) Demonstrations at the UK Tar Sands sales office in Alberta.
d) Action against the Keystone XL Pipeline on the Canadian side of the border.
e) Actions against the Enbridge Gateway pipeline in both Alberta and British Columbia.
f) Demonstrations in Kitimat and along the entire BC coast against the tanker traffic.
g) Co-operation between First Nations People and Non-First Nations activists at the Tar Sands and along the whole route of both the pipelines and the tankers.
h) Demonstrations every time one of the Cons shows up in BC for a photo op, funding announcement or whatever.
One last kick in the ass in case you are still sleeping - a story in The Guardian by Heather Mallick about the on-going destruction of our country at the hands of a group of ideologues we were stupid enough to elect with our antiquated electoral system. I hate to remember that I had parents who fought in wars (WW 1 and 2) with the hope that Canada would remain a beacon of trust and peace in the world. If they were still alive, I'm sure watching this so-called government drag our country through the sewer would do them in.
So, lets raise our glasses and prepare to welcome 2012 with a rousing - "YOU PIECE OF SHIT"!!!
Tweet
MY WEBSITE — ANewHumanity.CA
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