I've just watched this incredible DVD on-line, and now I'm going to
network it in my local community, including speaking to my daughter's
high school about showing it to students.  Maybe others getting this
email could also think about doing the same, or even just pass the
info on to friends/contacts - and ask them to do the same.  Here's an
extract from the "Google" video link:-

<<Paul Grignon's 47-minute animated presentation of "Money as Debt"
tells in very simple and effective graphic terms what money is and
how it ... all » is being created. It is an entertaining way to get
the message out. The Cowichan Citizens Coalition and its "Duncan
Initiative" received high praise from those who previewed it. I
recommend it as a painless but hard-hitting educational tool and
encourage the widest distribution and use by all groups concerned
with the present unsustainable monetary system . . .>>

And here are the links:-

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-
9050474362583451279&q=money+as+debt

http://www.moneyasdebt.net/

[Greens-Media]
*Media Statement*
Wed, 25 Jul 2007

[b]Greens launch ad of Howard and Rudd in bed together[/b]

The Greens NSW Campaign Coordinator, Lesa de Leau, today released an
online advertisement - paid for the by The Greens - parodying Labor's
*Howard Asleep on Climate Change* ad.

The ad – *Howard and Rudd in Bed with the Coal Industry *– will go
online today on Myspace, YouTube, Facebook and Greens websites (see
URLs below).
The Greens will also seek donations to run the advertisement on
  television.

The ad shows John Howard and Kevin Rudd asleep in a double bed. Kevin
Rudd has fallen asleep with a copy of Al Gore's *Inconvenient Truth*
book on his face. The voiceover describes the failings of Kevin
Rudd's climate
  policy and ends with "Howard and Rudd in bed with the coal industry."

Internal party polling shows Greens supporters have high rate of
  internet use and increasingly people are getting their information
about politics from the internet. It is clear much of this election
will be fought online.

Release of the ad follows further steps this week by Kevin Rudd to
join John Howard in rejecting sensible policies on the environment
and climate change when he overturned Labor's Tasmanian forest policy.

Despite the threat of climate change, Kevin Rudd has refused to set
short term emission reduction targets and has committed to an
expansion of the coal industry. Unproven "clean coal" – that won't be
available for decades – is favoured by Labor over renewable energy
such as wind, solar and geothermal. Rudd and Howard have also both
ruled out a carbon tax to reduce emissions.

Labor and Liberal's polices will take us past the dangerous and
critical threshold of two degrees of global warming.

However, The Australian Greens have a real plan to tackle climate
  change:

·Immediate emission cuts of 30% by 2020 and 80% by 2050 from 1990
levels.

· Support for an emissions trading for stationary energy and a carbon
tax on transport emissions.

· Establish a National Sun Fund to fund research and
  development of renewable industries.

·Set the Mandatory Renewable Energy Target to ensure 25% renewable
energy by 2020.

·Redirect roads funding toward investment in public transport.

·End the logging of old growth forests.



  The ad can be seen at the following sites and a high res screen
image is available on request:

www.greens.org.au
www.nsw.greens.org.au
YouTube:  www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kahjxSuOqA
<http://www.nsw.greens.org.au/>MySpace: www.myspace.com/kerrynettle
Facebook: www.facebook.com/video/video
.php?v=2648028242<http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?
v=2648028242>


*For more information:
Kristian Bolwell 0411 638 320, Lesa de Leau 0413 581 603


Kind regards
El Gibbs
Greens NSW Lower House Campaign Coordinator
w: (02) 9519 0877 m: 0419 290788 f: (02) 9519 2177

i've been wondering when the veg nazis would use GW/CC as an excuse to
demonise carnivores/omnivores in their quest to enforce their dodgey
dietary regimes on everyone else and promote soy toxins as food.
if only they realised the forest destruction done so U$A's largest
agricultural industry - soy beans - can displace traditional foods with
their carcinogen and anti-nutrient laden gunk.

recently some veg fundamentalists who've managed to be appointed to a
UN committee, came out condemning meat production on methane/global
warming grounds.

yes cattle, sheep and pigs release methane [23 times worse greenhouse
gas than CO2]and have done so since before domestication. IMO it's the
scale/size and wastefulness of contemporary meat production which needs
addressing. and no amount of zinc deficient irrational fabrications
will alter my view or diet.

in times of plenty roos can breed like rodents, and in times of
scarceness they can postpone the birth of offspring. making them
enviromentally sound farm animals.
don't know how they'll deal with fencing and mustering issues, but a
recently published CSIRO study implies we may have to switch to
kangaroo farming for meat because roos don't produce methane.

http://www.kangaroo-industry.asn.au/media/Bulletin_24401.html
http://www.csiro.au/csiro/channel/ich3j.html
http://www.publish.csiro.au/nid/72/paper/EA03248.htm
http://www.publish.csiro.au/?paper=RJ9830035

Myths & Truths About Soy
http://www.westonaprice.org/mythstruths/mtsoy.html

ajada haituka = sanskrit for 'goat-eating heretic'


  ---- In ClimateChangeAction@..., "Peter Bright"
<hobart_elf@...> wrote:
>
> http://environment.newscientist.com/article/mg19526134.500?DCMP=NLC-
nletter&nsref=mg19526134.500
>

This email sent via John Hallam, confirms what has been going on behind the
scenes of clearing the way for Nuclear Dumps and the railway links
Halliburton is building.

We need to highlight the ramification of what this deal is truly about, of
why produce more  radioactive waste products.

"Fueling a new breed of Nuclear Weapons."

I am heading off to New York City on Wednesday and will be discussing this
matter with Nanci Callahan who produces and directs ECOFEST at the Lincoln
Center. <http://www.ecofest.com/>

I will also be performing in New Jersey on Hiroshima Day.

Yours Benny Zable

US

Alice Slater
Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, New York
446 E. 86 St.
New York, NY 10028
212-744-2005
646-238-9000(cell)
aslater@...
www.wagingpeace.org

-----Original Message-----
From: bananas-bounces@...
[mailto:bananas-bounces@...] On Behalf Of Alfred Meyer
Sent: Friday, July 20, 2007 7:13 PM
To: Bananas
Subject: [Bananas] Australia poised to sign onto GNEP with US

Australia poised to sign nuclear deal with US
Anne Davies, Washington
July 20, 2007

According to draft plans seen by The Age, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer
and Resources Minister Ian Macfarlane want the deal announced when US
President George Bush comes to Australia in September for the APEC leaders'
summit.

The deal could advance Prime Minister John Howard's push for Australia to
embrace nuclear power, including providing access to the latest
technological advances.

"The proposed action plan would help to open the way for valuable nuclear
energy co-operation with the United States," a briefing note says.

"It would also be consistent with the Government's strategy for the nuclear
industry in Australia. An action plan on nuclear energy would also have
bilateral advantages further broadening our relationship with the United
States.

"While the US has not raised the possibility, the action plan may be a
possible 'announceable' for President Bush's visit in September."

But the proposal appears to stop short of recommending Australia sign up
with the controversial club of nuclear nations, the Global Nuclear Energy
Partnership (GNEP), being championed by Mr Bush.

An initiative of Washington, the GNEP is seeking to control the
distribution, reprocessing and storage of nuclear fuel around the world.
Member nations include Russia, China, the US, Japan and France.

Mr Bush has said the initiative is central to tackling climate change, and
that its aim is to ensure the safe growth of the nuclear industry while
limiting the risk of proliferation of nuclear material for weapons.

US officials have indicated that Australia's status as a "totally reliable
and trustworthy" nation could allow its inclusion in the plan as a fuel
supplier.

But the proposal is controversial for Australia partly because storage of
nuclear waste by GNEP partners is an integral part of the arrangement.

The Federal Government has repeatedly said Australia will not take other
countries' waste.

The GNEP countries met in Washington in May and agreed to work on plans that
control the supply of all nuclear fuel and its reprocessing and waste
disposal. Non-partnership countries would be leased fuel only if they
complied with the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Australia, the world's biggest exporter of unprocessed uranium, and Canada,
another big supplier, have expressed interest in GNEP.

But GNEP is seen by some developing nations as highly divisive, and
Australia's membership could alarm neighbours including Indonesia.

It would also rekindle heated debate in Australia over the development of
nuclear power, and would inevitably raise the spectre of a nuclear waste
dump.

Officials working on the US-Australia initiative flag this concern in their
note, saying that signing "a joint nuclear energy action plan would be on
the basis that this would not limit possible future choices regarding
Australia's nuclear industry. It will be important also to ensure there is
no misperception on the United States' part that conclusion of an action
plan could have implications for the Government's policy of not taking other
countries' radioactive waste or spent nuclear fuel."

A US Energy Department spokeswoman, Angela Hill, said: "The vision of GNEP
is something we would hope Australia and other countries can support."

A spokesman for Mr Downer confirmed that discussions on an agreement were
under way, focusing on safeguards and research and development.

Alfred Meyer, Program Director
Alliance for Nuclear Accountability
322 4th Street NE
Washington, DC 20002
202-544-0217
202-544-6143 fax
www.ananuclear.org
ameyer@...

_________________________________________________________________
Advertisement: WIN new Jeep Compass & Off-Road Adventure with Trading Post!
http://a.ninemsn.com.au/b.aspx?URL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Etradingpostcompetition%2Ec\
om%2Eau%2FOffRoadAdventure%2F%3Freferrer%3Dplace83&_t=763756818&_r=hotmail_email\
_tagline_July07&_m=EXT

http://environment.newscientist.com/article/mg19526134.500?DCMP=NLC-nletter&nsre\
f=mg19526134.500

http://www.gopetition.com.au/petitions/no-nuclear-power-in-australia.html

FYI incase you didn't know about this event.

Also, the Brisbane Walk Against Warming will be on Sat 25th August 2007,
starting at Queens Park in Brisbane City.  More details to come.

Cheers,

Brooke

-------- Original Message --------
Subject:  [WalkAgainstWarming] Climate change climate action forum
Date:  Mon, 16 Jul 2007 18:00:45 +1000 (EST)
From:  Emma Brindal <emma.brindal@...>
Reply-To:  WalkAgainstWarming-owner@yahoogroups.com
To:  alibqld@..., lcarmody@...,
conservation@..., aila.keto@...,
amcs@..., mcridl@..., ccc@...,
contact@..., arndtp@...,
info@..., edonq@..., Janeen.Whiting@...,
john@..., creec@...,
emcphee@..., info@..., greatsandy@...,
HOPEqueensland@..., secretary@...,
ecoinfo@..., mcgmail@..., info@...,
jbhacker@..., mipc@..., npaq@...,
noosan@..., environment.union@..., nqcc@...,
nnorthey@..., rrebg1@..., sulacox@...,
qldfrogs@..., qbn@..., environment@...,
info@..., secretary@...,
info@..., info@...,
nadia@..., info@...,
brisbane@..., info@..., margi.prideaux@...,
wbbcc@..., info@..., bayside@...,
wpsqcaloundra@..., capricorn@...,
logan@..., wpsq@..., admin@...
CC:  BossOSmith@..., sunshine_not_nukes@...,
annmcgrath@..., cas_see@...,
climatejusticecollective@yahoogroups.com, faithhopkins@...,
don.sinnamon@..., skateconroy@...,
kerrie.fraser@..., gingerijem@...,
paulb@..., pomeik@..., qean@yahoogroups.com,
sarah@..., missarangus@...,
szannakis@..., WalkAgainstWarming@yahoogroups.com



Hi all,
Here's an upcoming event you may be interested in.
Please forward to your networks.
Emma:)

Sunday | 29 July | 9:30am - 4pm
Ecocentre | Griffith University | Nathan Campus

Concerned about climate change and how to bring about
effective action? Want to get active in your community?

To address the urgent issue of climate change, we need to take action both
on an individual level and as citizens engaged in political
processes.

This event will give you the opportunity to connect and engage with other
people who are creating positive social change.

WORKSHOPS ON:
* Lobbying
* Clean energy
* Sustainable transport
* Strategising
* Non-violent direct action
* Climate justice
* Food
* Carbon offsets
* Climate change... and more!

INCLUDING PRESENTATIONS FROM:
* Trevor Berill | Alternative Technology Association
* James Wheelan | The Change Agency
* Kelly-Ann Wickham | Queensland Greens
* Tristan Peach | Community Action for Sustainable Transport

Entry by donation | Morning tea & lunch provided
Numbers limited | Registration essential

For more information email emma.brindal@...
<mailto:emma.brindal%40foe.org.au>
or 3846 5793/ 0411 084 727
Take the 120 bus from stop A4 under the Myer Centre.
This event is organised by a coalition of Brisbane environment
and climate action groups.




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Please forward to friends, contacts and mailing lists

WORLD GATHERING 25 & 26 AUGUST 2007
http://www.worldgathering.net
http://www.michael-irving.com

World Gathering NEWS July 15, 2007
1) WORLD GATHERING 25/26 August 2007
2) 12 UFO Lights Point To World Gathering
3) Hopi Elder's Warning: Unite For Survival
4) Michael And His Angels Fight The Dragon
5) MAYAN Recluse Calls For Groups To Unite
6) Words of Inspiration To Change The World
7) Support World-Action And World Gathering

---------

'SOS - The Planet And Humanity Are In Trouble':
http://www.worldgathering.net/beacon.html

World Gathering NEWS Mailing List:
http://groups.google.com/group/worldgathering

---------

1) WORLD GATHERING 25 & 26 AUGUST 2007

World Gathering
- 25 & 26 August 2007
- Saturday and Sunday
http://www.worldgathering.net
http://www.michael-irving.com

- WORLD GATHERING 25 & 26 AUGUST 2007
- Global Meetings - Global Powwows
- SOS - The Planet And Humanity Are In Trouble
- Exchange The Information And Ideas You Have
- Night Gathering On Hilltops Worldwide
- Use Flashlights - Signal Other Hilltops
- 25 & 26 AUGUST 2007 WORLD GATHERING
- www.worldgathering.net
- www.michael-irving.com

------------------
"A very great vision is needed and the person who
has it must follow it as the eagle seeks the deepest
blue of the sky." - Chief Crazy Horse
------------------

WORLD GATHERING - August 2007
Saturday August 25 and Sunday August 26
Three Events In One .....
(1) Saturday - DAY: Meet with friends and contacts
and discuss the world situation. Share information.
(2) Saturday - NIGHT: Meet on a hilltop and shine
a beacon of hope through the evening and/or night.
(3) Sunday - DAY: Meet with friends and contacts
and discuss the world situation. Share information.

Main details for the World Gathering:
http://www.worldgathering.net/gathering.html

Arrange Meetings, Powwows, and/or Hilltop 'Beacon'
gatherings for Saturday and Sunday, 25 & 26 August.
Send your event details to the email on this page:
http://www.worldgathering.net/contact.html

Details of LOCAL 'World Gatherings' will be displayed
under fourteen 'World Regions'; then by Country/Nation;
then by area, state, etc. The main index for details
of LOCAL 'World Gatherings' is on this webpage:
http://www.worldgathering.net/events.html

ENGLAND - UFFINGTON WHITE HORSE And Castle
Noon Saturday 25 August, to, 6pm Sunday 26 August.
Dragon Hill - White Horse - Uffington Castle -
Ridgeway Path - Wayland's Smithy (1 mile walk).
Talking Circle / Powwow inside Uffington Castle:
3pm and 9pm on Saturday - Noon on Sunday.
http://www.worldgathering.net/events031.html

'What should I organise in my area for the World
Gathering?' - Ideas and suggestions on this webpage:
http://www.worldgathering.net/yourevent.html

Join our Google NEWS Mailing List:
http://groups.google.com/group/worldgathering

------------------
"We are at the final stages now. so as our prophecy
says. Then it must be up to the people with pure hearts
that will not be afraid to help us to fulfil our destiny
in peace for this world." - Dan Evehema, Hopi Nation
------------------

World Gathering
25 & 26 August 2007
http://www.worldgathering.net
http://www.michael-irving.com

Please forward to friends and contacts.
Thank you. World Gathering.

---------

2) 12 UFO Lights Point To World Gathering
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILPIXu6hzF8

In this short video from Santiago, Chile, South
America, the 12 aerial objects: (a) Gather together,
(b) Head towards three, low hills, (c) And towards
a hill with a beacon on the top - These are many of
the key features of World Gathering: Gather together;
go to hilltops; shine a light through the night.
The three low hills in the Chilean UFO video look
very similar to the three hills of WG's logo.

More information here:
http://www.worldgathering.net/news02.html

---------

3) Hopi Elder's Warning, "Unite For Survival"

"... a warning that we must reform, telling us that
people of all colour must unite and arise for survival,
and that we must uncover the causes of our dilemmas."

http://www.worldgathering.net/news05.html

---------

4) Michael And His Angels Fight The Dragon

And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels
fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and
his angels, and prevailed not; neither was their
place found any more in heaven.

http://www.worldgathering.net/news06.html

---------

5) MAYAN Recluse Calls For Groups/People To Unite

As he met with audiences in Santa Fe, Mr. Barrios
told a story about the most recent Mayan New Year
ceremonies in Guatemala. He said that one respected
Mam elder, who lives all year in a solitary mountain
cave, journeyed to Chichicastenango to speak with
the people at the ceremony.

The elder delivered a simple, direct message. He called
for human beings to come together in support of life.
Right now each person and group is going his or her
own way. The elder of the mountains said there is hope
if the people of the light can come together and unite
in some way.

More here:
http://www.worldgathering.net/news01.html

---------

6) Words of Inspiration To Change The World

"We must do what we conceive to be the right thing
and not bother our heads or burden our souls with
whether we will be successful. Because if we don't
do the right thing, we will be doing the wrong thing
and we will just be a part of the disease and not
a part of the cure." - E. F. Schumacher

"Each of us is put here in this time and this
place to personally decide the future of humankind.
Did you think you were put here for something less?"
- Chief Arvol Looking Horse

"To be yourself, in a world that tries, night and
day, to make you just like everybody else - is to
fight the greatest battle there ever is to fight,
and never stop fighting." - e. e. cummings

"We are at the final stages now ... so as our
prophecy says. Then it must be up to the people
with pure hearts that will not be afraid to help
us to fulfil our destiny in peace for this world"
- Dan Evehema, Hopi Nation elder

"Learn to listen to the voice of truth which is
within you and will lead you onto the path of
evolution. This is our message to you, our dear
friends. We have watched you growing for many
years, just as you have watched our lights in the
sky. You know now that we are here and that there
are more beings on and around your Earth than
your scientists care to admit. We are deeply
concerned about you and your path towards the
light and we will do all that we can to
help you."
- This is the ending of the 1977 'Voice-Over
Message' in the UK. Millions of TV viewers
in southern England heard a voice give this
message while normal TV pictures were shown.
TV engineers struggled to stop the audio
broadcast, but failed. A similar TV voice-over
happened in the USA within a year or two
of the above message.

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent
about things that matter." - Martin Luther King

"The most courageous act is still to think for
yourself. Aloud." - Coco Chanel

"The world is now too dangerous for anything less
than utopia." - Buckminster Fuller

---------

7) Support World-Action & World Gathering

I am asking people who have benefited now or in
the past from inspiration, information and events
organised through the various websites I have had
over the years, to make a donation.

Even $5 is a help and encouragement.

Please go to this webpage:
http://www.worldgathering.net/news03.html

Please pass this request to friends who know about
World-Action, Stop-Chemtrails, World Gathering,
Inspiring Times, Words Waken World, etc.

Sincerely, Michael Irving
http://www.worldgathering.net
http://www.michael-irving.com

---------

World Gathering 25 & 26 August 2007
http://www.worldgathering.net
http://www.michael-irving.com

Please forward to friends, contacts and mailing lists
- Thank you

http://www.ata.org.au/home-page-items/the-abc-swindle/

http://www.alternet.org/environment/56125/

Dear People of climatechangeaction@... ,

Just to let you know that the SEVENTH year of my ezine Bobbing Around has
started. I had way too much excellent material for the first issue. It's
over-size, and I still have lots of good writing for the next one.

All the same, I managed to squeeze in a little bit of my own writing. :)

To have a look, please go to http://mudsmith.net/bobbing7-1.html
All the best,
Bob
---------------------------------------
Dr Bob Rich bobrich@...
http://bobswriting.com/
http://anxietyanddepression-help.com/
http://mudsmith.net/
Commit random acts of kindness.
---------------------------------------

17. The Swindle: play spot the difference
By Dr Paul Tregoning from Earth Physics, ANU Research School of Earth
Sciences



The Great Global Warming Swindle was first shown in Britain in March
2007 and an edited version will be shown tonight on the ABC.

The original version presented scientific arguments that were topical
in the 1990s but, in many cases, subsequently shown to be incorrect --
often by the same scientists that suggested them in the first place.
Science has moved on substantially since then. The documentary does
not show how these early arguments have since been discredited and
replaced.


This is deceitful journalism, but very well presented and therefore
capable of hoodwinking viewers who have not had the more recent
scientific evidence presented to them. Why not do a little "homework"
first, then watch the documentary and pick out the flaws?

How many of the following errors and misrepresentations will be in the
version shown in Australia that remain from the version shown in England:


The temperature record for the 20th century that is attributed to
"NASA" bears no resemblance to the actual global mean temperature
curve from the Goddard Institute for Space Studies (NASA). Readers can
check the NASA source themselves and decide which graph is correct.
The use of an incorrect temperature curve makes for good comparisons
with some other data sets .... plotted against the correct global mean
temperature curve the comparisons are not convincing.
The documentary claimed that temperature changes are caused by sunspot
activity and has nothing to do with greenhouse gas emissions. Not even
the scientist, upon whose work the graph shown is based, agrees with
this anymore: the more recent science and conclusions of Eigil
Friis-Christensen, who made comments in the documentary, were excluded
from the documentary.
John Christy makes comments that the warming of the troposphere was
less than the surface of the Earth, contrary to predictions if
greenhouse gases were causing the warming. However, he was a lead
author on a US Climate Change Science Project report in 2006 that
stated "This significant discrepancy no longer exists because errors
in the satellite and radiosonde data have been identified and
corrected. New data sets have also been developed that do not show
such discrepancies."
The documentary says that, in the past, temperature increases preceded
CO2 increases; therefore, present-day CO2 increases cannot be causing
global warming. This is nonsense - no one uses this evidence to show
that CO2 is causing global warming. Every good climate model
represents not only the past temperature/CO2 offsets but also the
present changes where increasing CO2 is the driving force causing
current temperature increases.
It was argued that global mean temperature actually fell for a while
during the 1940s-1970s but CO2 levels in the atmosphere were still
rising; therefore, they cannot be causing temperature increases if the
temperature was decreasing. The driving force for the decreases was
the increase of aerosols in the atmosphere, something that is well
understood and is modelled well by the global climate models.

Will Australians be served up the same falsified and outdated
scientific misrepresentations as were shown to the British public in
March 2007?

With just a few minutes spent reading original source information
available on the internet, Australian viewers can inform themselves
first, then sit back and watch the show.

have a watch - it's pretty clever
http://www.neatorama.com/2007/07/11/epuron-ad/


Julien Gronbach
Clean Energy Campaigner
Greenpeace Australia Pacific

Level 4, 39 Liverpool St
Sydney NSW 2000

Ph: 02 9263 0348
Mob: 0419 179 529

Want some good news? Sign up for Switched On - the Greenpeace Energy
team's monthly email update on clean energy solutions:
http://www.greenpeace.org.au/climate/index.html

5. Global warming, big oil and silicone breasts: the links
Ben Oquist, political consultant and former Greens staffer, writes:



The ABC's screening and treatment of The Great Global Warming Swindle
documentary would be funny if it wasn't so serious.

Since when has ANY documentary on the ABC received such an extensive
promotion and thoroughgoing coverage? A special Tony Jones interview –
recorded in London; a live studio panel discussion; endless
advertising; news radio etc etc.

All this would be funny except that the effect of Swindle is serious.
Deadly so. The aim of the program and its lackeys is to create doubt,
any doubt, about climate change.

Because even a little amount of doubt helps persuade the public and
politicians that the really substantial action needed to address
climate change should be put off until we are more certain about the
science.

This is the strategy so helpfully exposed in 2003 through a famous
memo from US communications guru and advisor to US Republicans, Frank
Luntz, who wrote:


The scientific debate remains open. Voters believe that there is no
consensus about global warming within the scientific community. Should
the public come to believe the scientific issues are settled, their
views about global warming will change accordingly. Therefore, you
need to continue to make the lack of scientific certainty a primary
issue in the debate...


"Doubt is our product," stated the legendary tobacco industry memo
from 1969. So it is again today with the climate skeptic industry. And
it is an industry – an industry funded clique of self promoters.

Those interviewed in Swindle are portrayed as "leading climate
scientists" when in fact they are far from it. They are part of the
skeptic network working with organisations funded by the fossil fuel
industry.


This best way to demonstrate this is to use the superb Exxon Secrets
website. Here you can put in an individual's name and see which think
tanks they are connected to and which of those receive funding from
Exxon.

Incredibly eight people who appear in Swindle are connected to 26
separate think tanks, policy centers and organisations that receive
funding from Exxon. You can see in this map (to access it, click
launch and then skip intro) the people who appear in Swindle and the
grey lines show which organisations they are connected to. Those
institutions with the dollar signs are those that have received money
from Exxon.


Unfortunately the right wing climate change deniers within the ABC and
the nation's opinion pages have successfully convinced some that the
debate about Swindle is a debate about free speech and the suppression
of dissent and ideas. But the real issues not being discussed are the
links of those in this film to the fossil fuel industry. To talk of
such things is to risk being labelled "extreme" and a "conspiracy
theorist".

But perhaps the best guide is film maker Martin Durkin's previous film
efforts. In 1999, Channel 4 in the UK broadcast in its Equinox series
(which claimed to be a series of science documentaries) a film
produced by Durkin called "Storm in a D Cup", which argued that
silicone breast implants were beneficial to a woman's health.

The Swindle documentary does contain a great story. But it is a story
that hasn't yet been told.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6290228.stm

But - on the other hand - Phillip Adams'  Late Night Live re-broadcast of
the Adelaide Festival of Ideas
does something to counter this - admittedly, perhaps. preaching to the
choir, as they say (and it will have no real effect on TV ratings!!) - but
it is quite hard hitting.

Hugh

There were 4 speakers - including James Lovelock and Peter Cullen

http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/lnl_20070709.mp3




>Has anyone read anything so far about the swindle linking it to ratings?
>That's all I can see this as being about - the ABC knew they were buying
>the rights to a highly controversial documentary, spouting the opinions
>mainly of scientists with Exxon-Mobil dollars in their wallets, using
>flawed science and manipulating the views of some in the program to the
>extent that Channel 4 issued a public apology.
>
>Ratings, people... ratings!!!
>
>That said, I do acknowledge the potential for what is actually a very
>slick looking piece of work to undermine the great work done by the
>movement in convincing the public that the debate is over and provide
>fodder for the deniers, but for all the talk about freedom of
>expression, keeping a balanced view, keeping the right of the ABC happy
>blah blah, Auntie has got a hell of a lot of free publicity fro the
>pre-screening outrage! Ratings!
>
>Yours in cynicism,
>
>Julien Gronbach
>Clean Energy Campaigner
>Greenpeace Australia Pacific
>
>Level 4, 39 Liverpool St
>Sydney NSW 2000
>
>Ph: 02 9263 0348
>Mob: 0419 179 529


end


"As we peer into society's future, we - you and I, and our government -
must avoid the impulse to live only for today, plundering, for our own ease
and convenience, the precious resources of tomorrow. We cannot mortgage the
material assets of our grandchildren without asking the loss also of their
political and spiritual heritage. We want democracy to survive for all
generations to come, not to become the insolvent phantom of tomorrow".


    Dwight Eisenhower Farewell Address, January 1961
____________________________________________________________________________
Dr. Hugh Spencer    Director of Research  |
Cape Tribulation Tropical Research Station |   Phone/Fax (61)07 4098 0063

Australian Tropical Research Foundation    | http://www.austrop.org.au/

"The Bat-House", Environment Centre.       |
PMB 5 Cape Tribulation via Mossman         |     Hugh@...

Queensland 4873 Australia                  |
___________________________________________|________________________________

Has anyone read anything so far about the swindle linking it to ratings?
That's all I can see this as being about - the ABC knew they were buying
the rights to a highly controversial documentary, spouting the opinions
mainly of scientists with Exxon-Mobil dollars in their wallets, using
flawed science and manipulating the views of some in the program to the
extent that Channel 4 issued a public apology.

Ratings, people... ratings!!!

That said, I do acknowledge the potential for what is actually a very
slick looking piece of work to undermine the great work done by the
movement in convincing the public that the debate is over and provide
fodder for the deniers, but for all the talk about freedom of
expression, keeping a balanced view, keeping the right of the ABC happy
blah blah, Auntie has got a hell of a lot of free publicity fro the
pre-screening outrage! Ratings!

Yours in cynicism,

Julien Gronbach
Clean Energy Campaigner
Greenpeace Australia Pacific

Level 4, 39 Liverpool St
Sydney NSW 2000

Ph: 02 9263 0348
Mob: 0419 179 529

Want some good news? Sign up for Switched On - the Greenpeace Energy
team's monthly email update on clean energy solutions:
http://www.greenpeace.org.au/climate/index.html



Peter Bright wrote:
>
> From today's Crikey:
>
> 2. Aunty would sell its grandmother to appease the Right
>
> Andrew Dodd writes:
>
> It's just as well we humans have nothing to do with global warming
> because the amount of carbon the ABC is emitting to promote this
> apologia to right-wing conspiracy-thinking would thaw the Arctic tundra.
>
> The ABC will simulcast The Great Global Warming Swindle tomorrow night
> on ABC TV and ABC 2 while pumping out debate on News Radio, local
> radio and online.
>
> The investment might have been worthwhile if the program was any good
> or if there was some PR value in running it.
>
> But there is neither. The documentary is a polemic. It raises some
> interesting points but it's so wound up in whacko conspiracy theories
> as to make it laughable.
>
> No-one is disputing that the ABC should air programs that are
> contrary. As ABC broadcaster Quentin Dempster told Crikey, "the
> freedom of expression argument wins. We all agree that a public
> broadcaster's role is to inform and engage and to wade into
> controversies because we're not here for partisan propaganda."
>
> The problem is that the ABC's embrace of this show demonstrates how
> Aunty would sell its grandmother at the moment to appease the right
> and that, as a consequence, the editorial barriers to entry are lower
> for producers peddling programs that set out to attack the shibboleths
> of the left.
>
> I once marvelled at a freelancer's bright idea of writing an article
> about "the twenty best newspapers in the world." It was pure genius
> because, when you think about it, there is no better way of ensuring
> one article runs in the twenty best newspapers in the world. The
> author must have known that each of the featured papers simply
> couldn't resist publishing an article that ranked them in such elite
> company.
>
> Well, now there is an equally clever way of having your pedestrian
> journalistic efforts embraced. Just find a public broadcaster that's
> been beaten into almost complete submission by accusations of bias and
> offer it a get-out-of-jail-card in the form of a left-bashing diatribe
> about one of the most troubling issues on earth. The beauty of this
> idea is that the value of the program is inversely proportional to its
> journalistic credibility. The more nutty, the better it is at
> offsetting some of the criticism about left-wing bias.
>
> But for this PR to work there should be no dissent in the ranks about
> the presentation of the program. The ABC's head of factual
> entertainment, Denise Eriksen, should get out of the way and let
> talented professional journalists like Tony Jones get on with the job
> of questioning the program's writer with all the rigour this topic
> demands.
>
> Meanwhile, why wait for the ABC, check out the swindle here .
>
> Send your tips to boss@... <mailto:boss%40crikey.com.au> or
> submit them anonymously here .
>
> Back to Top
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------
>
> 3. Temperatures rise at ABC ahead of Swindle
> An ABC insider writes:
>
> There have been some amazing scenes at the ABC this week as it
> prepares to broadcast the controversial The Great Global Warming
> Swindle film tomorrow night.
>
> Research by ABC appointed journalists has revealed serious flaws in
> the film's claims, to the point that the film seems to be willfully
> misleading -- if not downright fraudulent. The problem is that in
> allowing an 'answering' program to follow the documentary, and getting
> Rottweiler Tony Jones to present it, the ABC ends up looking foolish
> for showing the film in the first place.
>
> Apparently Jones conducted a searching interview with the film's
> director, professional contrarian Martin Durkin in London last week.
> Perhaps too searching.
>
> Outgoing head of popular factual programs, Denise Eriksen, unused to
> the rigorous standards of Jones and the News and Current Affairs
> Department, has been fighting a rearguard action to try and water down
> the tough approach. Insiders say she is acting on specific
> instructions from head of TV Kim Dalton who doesn't want to look
> foolish for agreeing to run the flawed film in the first place.
>
> Eriksen was personally dispatched to London too, and behind Jones'
> back apologised to Durkin for the rough treatment and insisted on
> stacking the panel to discuss the film with climate denialists like
> Bob Carter.
>
> The ABC's own science unit -- which Eriksen controls -- had been all
> but cut out of involvement in the preparations for the answering
> program. This despite Kim Dalton claiming its award-winning unit was
> up to the task of answering Durkin's claims.
>
> Edit suites have been resounding all week to screams of outrage from
> Eriksen demanding that tough responses be cut out. Jones has more than
> once needed to make clear he will 'walk' rather than agree to a
> sanitised show. Eriksen has even gone as far as demanding a written
> rundown from Jones as to how he intends to conduct the live to air
> discussion after the Swindle film airs. He has refused to comply ...
> the stand-off may lead to a sudden change of presenter on Thursday
> night, so stay tuned.
>
> Jeff McMullen has been asked to be on standby in case Jones refuses to
> be associated with Eriksen's intended whitewash. Meanwhile the ABC's
> own discussion board for the film is already full of dozens of
> complaints about the decision to screen the program. And official
> bodies, like the Bureau of Meteorology, so outraged at the film, are
> refusing to cooperate. Should be an interesting night!
>
> Send your tips to boss@... <mailto:boss%40crikey.com.au> or
> submit them anonymously here.
>
>

From today's Crikey:

2. Aunty would sell its grandmother to appease the Right

Andrew Dodd writes:


It's just as well we humans have nothing to do with global warming
because the amount of carbon the ABC is emitting to promote this
apologia to right-wing conspiracy-thinking would thaw the Arctic tundra.

The ABC will simulcast The Great Global Warming Swindle tomorrow night
on ABC TV and ABC 2 while pumping out debate on News Radio, local
radio and online.

The investment might have been worthwhile if the program was any good
or if there was some PR value in running it.

But there is neither. The documentary is a polemic. It raises some
interesting points but it's so wound up in whacko conspiracy theories
as to make it laughable.

No-one is disputing that the ABC should air programs that are
contrary. As ABC broadcaster Quentin Dempster told Crikey, "the
freedom of expression argument wins. We all agree that a public
broadcaster's role is to inform and engage and to wade into
controversies because we're not here for partisan propaganda."

The problem is that the ABC's embrace of this show demonstrates how
Aunty would sell its grandmother at the moment to appease the right
and that, as a consequence, the editorial barriers to entry are lower
for producers peddling programs that set out to attack the shibboleths
of the left.

I once marvelled at a freelancer's bright idea of writing an article
about "the twenty best newspapers in the world." It was pure genius
because, when you think about it, there is no better way of ensuring
one article runs in the twenty best newspapers in the world. The
author must have known that each of the featured papers simply
couldn't resist publishing an article that ranked them in such elite
company.

Well, now there is an equally clever way of having your pedestrian
journalistic efforts embraced. Just find a public broadcaster that's
been beaten into almost complete submission by accusations of bias and
offer it a get-out-of-jail-card in the form of a left-bashing diatribe
about one of the most troubling issues on earth. The beauty of this
idea is that the value of the program is inversely proportional to its
journalistic credibility. The more nutty, the better it is at
offsetting some of the criticism about left-wing bias.

But for this PR to work there should be no dissent in the ranks about
the presentation of the program. The ABC's head of factual
entertainment, Denise Eriksen, should get out of the way and let
talented professional journalists like Tony Jones get on with the job
of questioning the program's writer with all the rigour this topic
demands.

Meanwhile, why wait for the ABC, check out the swindle here .

Send your tips to boss@... or submit them anonymously here .


Back to Top


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

3. Temperatures rise at ABC ahead of Swindle
An ABC insider writes:



There have been some amazing scenes at the ABC this week as it
prepares to broadcast the controversial The Great Global Warming
Swindle film tomorrow night.

Research by ABC appointed journalists has revealed serious flaws in
the film's claims, to the point that the film seems to be willfully
misleading -- if not downright fraudulent. The problem is that in
allowing an 'answering' program to follow the documentary, and getting
Rottweiler Tony Jones to present it, the ABC ends up looking foolish
for showing the film in the first place.

Apparently Jones conducted a searching interview with the film's
director, professional contrarian Martin Durkin in London last week.
Perhaps too searching.

Outgoing head of popular factual programs, Denise Eriksen, unused to
the rigorous standards of Jones and the News and Current Affairs
Department, has been fighting a rearguard action to try and water down
the tough approach. Insiders say she is acting on specific
instructions from head of TV Kim Dalton who doesn't want to look
foolish for agreeing to run the flawed film in the first place.

Eriksen was personally dispatched to London too, and behind Jones'
back apologised to Durkin for the rough treatment and insisted on
stacking the panel to discuss the film with climate denialists like
Bob Carter.

The ABC's own science unit -- which Eriksen controls -- had been all
but cut out of involvement in the preparations for the answering
program. This despite Kim Dalton claiming its award-winning unit was
up to the task of answering Durkin's claims.

Edit suites have been resounding all week to screams of outrage from
Eriksen demanding that tough responses be cut out. Jones has more than
once needed to make clear he will 'walk' rather than agree to a
sanitised show. Eriksen has even gone as far as demanding a written
rundown from Jones as to how he intends to conduct the live to air
discussion after the Swindle film airs. He has refused to comply ...
the stand-off may lead to a sudden change of presenter on Thursday
night, so stay tuned.

Jeff McMullen has been asked to be on standby in case Jones refuses to
be associated with Eriksen's intended whitewash. Meanwhile the ABC's
own discussion board for the film is already full of dozens of
complaints about the decision to screen the program. And official
bodies, like the Bureau of Meteorology, so outraged at the film, are
refusing to cooperate. Should be an interesting night!

Send your tips to boss@... or submit them anonymously here.

Hi all...

The ABC have the audio for the "Big Ideas Symposium" held last weekend in
Adelaide on line for downloading

There were 4 speakers - including James Lovelock and Peter Cullen

http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/lnl_20070709.mp3

I would strongly recommend you do so and listen to the issue from a
slightly different perspective...
the Australian one - where despite the best attempts of the PM Howard, the
issue is definitely in the public eye.

Hugh

World Gathering Questionnaire

Please answer these questions ....

1) What are the main issues now facing the world?
2) Who are the world's 'bad guys/gals'?
3) Who are the world's 'good guys/gals'?
4) How can we all speed positive change up?
5) What would you now most like to see happen in the world?

Send your ideas to the email address on this webpage:
http://www.michael-irving.com/contact.html

World Gathering intends to make up a News posting
with a compilation of extracts, presented anonymously,
from your answers. This may help other people consider
what are the most important matters now facing humanity
and the world. Thanks for your assistance.

------------------

WORLD GATHERING 25 & 26 AUGUST 2007
http://www.worldgathering.net

---

'SOS - The Planet And Humanity Are In Trouble':
http://www.worldgathering.net/beacon.html

Join World Gathering Newsletter Mailing List:
http://groups.google.com/group/worldgathering

---

WORLD GATHERING 25 & 26 AUGUST 2007

World Gathering
- 25 & 26 August 2007
- Saturday and Sunday
http://www.worldgathering.net
http://www.michael-irving.com

- WORLD GATHERING 25 & 26 AUGUST 2007
- Global Meetings - Global Powwows
- SOS - The Planet And Humanity Are In Trouble
- Exchange The Information And Ideas You Have
- Night Gathering On Hilltops Worldwide
- Use Flashlights - Signal Other Hilltops
- 25 & 26 AUGUST 2007 WORLD GATHERING
- www.worldgathering.net

------------------
"Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it.
Boldness has genius, power and magic in it." - Goethe
------------------
"A very great vision is needed and the person who
has it must follow it as the eagle seeks the deepest
blue of the sky." - Chief Crazy Horse
------------------

WORLD GATHERING - August 2007
Saturday August 25 and Sunday August 26
Three Events In One .....
(1) Saturday - DAY: Meet with friends and contacts
and discuss the world situation.
(2) Saturday - NIGHT: Meet on a hilltop and shine
a beacon of hope through the night.
(3) Sunday - DAY: Meet with friends and contacts
and discuss the world situation.

Main details for the World Gathering:
http://www.worldgathering.net/gathering.html

Arrange Meetings, Powwows, and Hilltop 'Beacon'
gatherings for Saturday and Sunday, 25 & 26 August.
Send your event details to the email on this page:
http://www.worldgathering.net/contact.html

World Gatherings, indexed by country:
http://www.worldgathering.net/events.html

'What should I organise for the World Gathering?':
http://www.worldgathering.net/yourevent.html

Join our Google NEWS Mailing List:
http://groups.google.com/group/worldgathering

Help publicise this unusual and unique global linkup:
http://www.worldgathering.net/publicity.html

------------------
"Use every letter you write, every conversation
you have, every meeting you attend, to express your
fundamental beliefs and dreams. Affirm to others
the vision of the world you want."
- Dr Robert Muller, formerly of the U.N.
------------------
"We are at the final stages now. so as our prophecy
says. Then it must be up to the people with pure hearts
that will not be afraid to help us to fulfil our destiny
in peace for this world." - Dan Evehema, Hopi Nation
------------------

Additional 'World Gathering' inspiration here:
http://www.worldgathering.net/worldgathering.html

'SOS - The Planet And Humanity Are In Trouble':
http://www.worldgathering.net/beacon.html

- WORLD GATHERING 25 & 26 AUGUST 2007
- Global Meetings - Global Powwows
- SOS - The Planet And Humanity Are In Trouble
- Exchange The Information And Ideas You Have
- Night Gathering On Hilltops Worldwide
- Use Flashlights - Signal Other Hilltops
- 25 & 26 AUGUST 2007 WORLD GATHERING
- www.worldgathering.net

World Gathering
25 & 26 August 2007
http://www.worldgathering.net
http://www.michael-irving.com

Please forward to friends and contacts.
Thank you. World Gathering.

see below...

-------- Original Message --------
Subject:  [climategroups] Public Meeting : Climate Change and Global
Poverty: the need for greenhouse development rights
Date:  Mon, 9 Jul 2007 13:48:42 +1000
From:  Lawson, Damien (Sen K. Nettle) <Damien.Lawson@...>
To:  Climate action <climateactiongroups@...>



  <please circulate>

  Public Meeting

Climate Change and Global Poverty: the need for greenhouse development
rights

with US climate advocate Tom Athanasiou

6.30 - 8.30 PM, Tuesday August 7, 2007

Gallery Function Centre, Lvl 6, Tower Building (CB01) University of
Technology, Sydney, No. 1 Broadway, Sydney.

The world must rapidly reduce greenhouse gas emissions if we are to
avoid dangerous climate change. But how can we do this while also
facilitating a fair go for the developing world?

Historically the industrialised nations have benefited from a
disproportionate contribution to total atmospheric carbon pollution:
three-quarters of all emissions so far. So how can we bring a sense of
international equity to the climate change debate? How can a rise in
prosperity in the developing world be facilitated while reducing global
emissions?

Hear Tom Athanasiou speak on why the real climate change challenge is,
as he says, "holding global warming below a catastrophic level while at
the same time preserving the right of all people to more than merely
bare-bones 'human development'."

Tom Athanasiou is executive director of EcoEquity (_www.ecoquity.org_
<outbind://45/www.ecoquity.org>), a US-based climate think-tank which
works closely with church, aid agencies and environment organisations on
greenhouse development rights. He is the author of books and essays on
poverty and the environment including 'Divided Planet: The Ecology of
Rich and Poor',' Dead Heat: Global Justice and Global Warming' and the
forthcoming 'Justice Within Limits: A New Deal for the Greenhouse
Century'. He also recently completed a report for the German Henrich
Boll Foundation, "An Evaluation of Some Prominent [Post-Kyoto] Climate
Policy Frameworks and Proposals."

Sponsored by: AIDWATCH, UTS Research Initiative on International
Activism and the Carbon Equity Project.

Please RSVP: media@... : Entry by donation.

For more information: 0419 253 342 or _www.carbonequity.info_
<outbind://45/www.carbonequity.info>


--
Julien Gronbach
Clean Energy Campaigner
Greenpeace Australia Pacific

Level 4, 39 Liverpool St
Sydney NSW 2000

Ph: 02 9263 0348
Mob: 0419 179 529

Want some good news? Sign up for Switched On - the Greenpeace Energy
team's monthly email update on clean energy solutions:
http://www.greenpeace.org.au/climate/index.html

http://greens.org.au/campaigns/display.php?campaign=climate

Denialists leading global warming poll. Vote now

http://www.abc.net.au/tv/swindle/

Dear All
Today 7/7/07 on Live Earth day, I have chosen to announce...
After discussions with Dave Julian, one time Lismore Alternative Energy
Festival organiser, members of the Aquarius Foundation, Peter Pedels
director of the Rainbow Power Company, Michael Balderstone the Hemp Embassy
and Andrew Kavassalis, Nimbin Chamber of Commerce president, it has been
agreed that the Hemp Mardi-Gras period in May next year, is a good time to
launch an Alternative Energy Expo and conference on the grounds of the
Rainbow Power Company.
If you are interested in the planning and further brainstorming towards this
or other similar event/s, please let me know so we can inform you of
developments.

Yours Benny Zable

_________________________________________________________________
Advertisement: Crowded House Time on Earth – catch them live in the USA!
http://ninemsn.com.au/share/redir/adTrack.asp?mode=click&clientID=800&referral=h\
otmailtagline&URL=http://music.ninemsn.com.au/compIntro.aspx?compId=2416

If you attend the concerts or not please look and sign this pledge and pass
onto others.
This is but one other way to reinforce action from personal to global to
turn attitudes and lifestyles around for our battered planet.

Benny Zable



>From: Ben Wikler - Avaaz.org  <avaaz@...>
>To: bennyzable@... <bennyzable@...>
>Subject: Sign the Live Earth Pledge
>Date: Mon, 02 Jul 2007 23:06:50 -0700
>
>Dear friend,
>
>The Live Earth concerts, less than a week from now, will reach as many as
>two billion people worldwide. But they're more than concerts. They're a
>call to action. Throughout the events, Live Earth's organizers will
>challenge people around the world to take the Live Earth pledge, a set of
>seven commitments to confront the climate crisis. (The full text of the
>pledge is at the bottom of this message.)
>
>If millions of people take this pledge, we will have a chance to build a
>movement unlike any the world has ever seen: a vast network of committed
>citizens, from rich and poor countries alike, fighting a global crisis
>together. It's a big vision. It's within our reach. But to make it work,
>this pledge needs to catch fire. As Avaaz members, we can turn Live Earth
>into a political earthquake--by building momentum for the pledge now,
>before the first concert begins. Can you sign the pledge and send it to
>five friends?
>
>http://www.avaaz.org/en/climate_pledge/h.php?cl=12725956
>
>Already this spring, Avaaz members have demonstrated their energy on
>climate change--delivering hundreds of thousands of petition signatures
>from more than 180 countries to world leaders. And the outcome of the G8+5
>summit shows the power of the growing climate movement: a promise from the
>world's 13 most-polluting countries to begin negotiations this year on a
>truly global climate change treaty.
>
>In the last week, Avaaz members have done it again: more than 2500 of us
>from 125 countries have signed up to host Live Earth events, with nearly
>1000 of these events open to the public. It's amazing--nobody can remember
>anything like it.
>
>Now, it's time to make it count. The pledge is what makes Live Earth
>matter. It's the point of the parties. It's the commitment that will lead
>to change.
>
>It's a pledge to individual action, to become climate neutral in our own
>lives. It's a pledge to take action as consumers, as workers, and as
>community members. And it's a pledge to action as citizens--to demand that
>our national leaders support a strong international treaty to cut global
>warming pollution by half, including a 90% cut from developed countries,
>within a generation. By signing it, we put our names on the line for
>change. And we send a message to the world's political leaders and
>corporate chieftans that the world is waking up.
>
>Let's lead the way. Sign the pledge now, and send it to friends--so that we
>can build a wave of 250,000 pledge signers before the Live Earth concerts
>begin on Saturday:
>
>http://www.avaaz.org/en/climate_pledge/h.php?cl=12725956
>
>Let's turn the Live Earth moment into an unstoppable global movement. The
>climate crisis demands nothing less.
>
>With hope,
>
>Ben, Graziela, Ricken, Paul, Hannah, Iain, Galit, and the entire Avaaz team
>
>Here is the full text of the Live Earth Pledge:
>
>I PLEDGE:
>
>1. To demand that my country join an international treaty within the next 2
>years that cuts global warming pollution by 90% in developed countries and
>by more than half worldwide in time for the next generation to inherit a
>healthy earth;
>
>2. To take personal action to help solve the climate crisis by reducing my
>own CO2 pollution as much as I can and offsetting the rest to become
>"carbon neutral;"
>
>3. To fight for a moratorium on the construction of any new generating
>facility that burns coal without the capacity to safely trap and store the
>CO2;
>
>4. To work for a dramatic increase in the energy efficiency of my home,
>workplace, school, place of worship, and means of transportation;
>
>5. To fight for laws and policies that expand the use of renewable energy
>sources and reduce dependence on oil and coal;
>
>6. To plant new trees and to join with others in preserving and protecting
>forests; and,
>
>7. To buy from businesses and support leaders who share my commitment to
>solving the climate crisis and building a sustainable, just, and prosperous
>world for the 21st century.You are getting this message because you signed
>A NEW PLAN FOR IRAQ! on 2007-04-25 using the email address
>bennyzable@... add avaaz@... to your address book to
>make sure you keep receiving emails from Avaaz, or click here to
>unsubscribe:
>https://secure.avaaz.org/act/?r=unsub&cl=12725956&email=bennyzable@hotmail.com&\
b=178&v=444&lang=enAvaaz.org
>is staffed by a global team of campaigners operating on 3 continents. We
>have administrative offices in London, New York, and Rio de Janeiro. Please
>direct mail to our NY office at 260 Fifth Avenue, 9th floor, New York, NY
>10001 U.S.A.

_________________________________________________________________
Advertisement: Are you paid what you're worth? Find out: SEEK Salary Centre
http://a.ninemsn.com.au/b.aspx?URL=http%3A%2F%2Fninemsn%2Eseek%2Ecom%2Eau%2Fcare\
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World Gathering 25 & 26 August 2007
http://www.worldgathering.net

Please forward to friends, contacts and mail lists.

World Gathering NEWS July 4, 2007

1) WORLD GATHERING 25 & 26 AUGUST 2007
2) Words of Inspiration To Change The World
3) Support World-Action & World Gathering

---------

'SOS - The Planet And Humanity Are In Trouble':
http://www.worldgathering.net/beacon.html

World Gathering NEWS Mailing List:
http://groups.google.com/group/worldgathering

---------

1) WORLD GATHERING 25 & 26 AUGUST 2007

World Gathering
- 25 & 26 August 2007
- Saturday and Sunday
http://www.worldgathering.net
http://www.michael-irving.com

- WORLD GATHERING 25 & 26 AUGUST 2007
- Global Meetings - Global Powwows
- SOS - The Planet And Humanity Are In Trouble
- Exchange The Information And Ideas You Have
- Night Gathering On Hilltops Worldwide
- Use Flashlights - Signal Other Hilltops
- 25 & 26 AUGUST 2007 WORLD GATHERING
- www.worldgathering.net

------------------
"Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it.
Boldness has genius, power and magic in it." - Goethe
------------------
"A very great vision is needed and the person who
has it must follow it as the eagle seeks the deepest
blue of the sky." - Chief Crazy Horse
------------------

WORLD GATHERING - August 2007
Saturday August 25 and Sunday August 26
Three Events In One .....
(1) Saturday - DAY: Meet with friends and
contacts and discuss the world situation.
(2) Saturday - NIGHT: Meet on a hilltop and
shine a beacon of hope through the night.
(3) Sunday - DAY: Meet with friends and
contacts and discuss the world situation.

Main details for the World Gathering:
http://www.worldgathering.net/gathering.html

Arrange Meetings, Powwows, and Hilltop 'Beacon'
gatherings for Saturday and Sunday, 25 & 26 August.
Send your event details to the email on this page:
http://www.worldgathering.net/contact.html

Details of LOCAL 'World Gatherings' will be displayed
under fourteen 'World Regions'; then by Country/Nation;
then by area, state, etc. The main index for details
of LOCAL 'World Gatherings' is on this webpage:
http://www.worldgathering.net/events.html

Centre of British Isles - Isle of Man - Key Hills
Lit Up On August 25 2007 - Visible from England,
Wales, Scotland and Ireland. Got a good torch?
http://www.worldgathering.net/events033.html

The World Gathering is being launched at the end
of May, 2007. There may not be many details at our
websites for local events until the end of July.

'What should I organise in my area for the World
Gathering?' - Ideas and suggestions on this webpage:
http://www.worldgathering.net/yourevent.html

Join our Google NEWS Mailing List:
http://groups.google.com/group/worldgathering

'World Gathering' video at Google and YouTube:
Google Video: http://tinyurl.com/29nhtz
YouTube: http://youtube.com/watch?v=KEMlYUS-xmY

Please help publicise this unusual and unique global
linkup. Print out posters; place a WG banner on your
website; forward our Update mailings to your friends,
contacts, and mailing lists; and tell friends about
the World Gathering video at Google and YouTube.
Ideas and materials for WG promotion here:
http://www.worldgathering.net/publicity.html

------------------
"Use every letter you write, every conversation
you have, every meeting you attend, to express your
fundamental beliefs and dreams. Affirm to others
the vision of the world you want."
- Dr Robert Muller, formerly of the U.N.
------------------
"We are at the final stages now. so as our prophecy
says. Then it must be up to the people with pure hearts
that will not be afraid to help us to fulfil our destiny
in peace for this world." - Dan Evehema, Hopi Nation
------------------

Additional 'World Gathering' inspiration here:
http://www.worldgathering.net/worldgathering.html

'SOS - The Planet And Humanity Are In Trouble':
http://www.worldgathering.net/beacon.html

- WORLD GATHERING 25 & 26 AUGUST 2007
- Global Meetings - Global Powwows
- SOS - The Planet And Humanity Are In Trouble
- Exchange The Information And Ideas You Have
- Night Gathering On Hilltops Worldwide
- Use Flashlights - Signal Other Hilltops
- 25 & 26 AUGUST 2007 WORLD GATHERING
- www.worldgathering.net

World Gathering
25 & 26 August 2007
http://www.worldgathering.net
http://www.michael-irving.com

Please forward to friends and contacts.

Thank you. World Gathering.

---------

2) Words of Inspiration To Change The World

"We must do what we conceive to be the right thing
and not bother our heads or burden our souls with
whether we will be successful. Because if we don't
do the right thing, we will be doing the wrong thing
and we will just be a part of the disease and not
a part of the cure." - E. F. Schumacher

"Each of us is put here in this time and this
place to personally decide the future of humankind.
Did you think you were put here for something less?"
- Chief Arvol Looking Horse

"To be yourself, in a world that tries, night and
day, to make you just like everybody else - is to
fight the greatest battle there ever is to fight,
and never stop fighting." - e. e. cummings

"We are at the final stages now ... so as our
prophecy says. Then it must be up to the people
with pure hearts that will not be afraid to help
us to fulfil our destiny in peace for this world"
- Dan Evehema, Hopi Nation elder

"Learn to listen to the voice of truth which is
within you and will lead you onto the path of
evolution. This is our message to you, our dear
friends. We have watched you growing for many
years, just as you have watched our lights in the
sky. You know now that we are here and that there
are more beings on and around your Earth than
your scientists care to admit. We are deeply
concerned about you and your path towards the
light and we will do all that we can to
help you."
--- This is the ending of the 1977 'Voice-Over
Message' in the UK. Millions of TV viewers
in southern England heard a voice give this
message while normal TV pictures were shown.
TV engineers struggled to stop the audio
broadcast, but failed. A similar TV voice-over
happened in the USA within a year or two
of the above message.

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent
about things that matter." - Martin Luther King, Jnr

"The most courageous act is still to think for
yourself. Aloud." - Coco Chanel

"The world is now too dangerous for anything less
than utopia." - Buckminster Fuller

---------

3) Support World-Action & World Gathering

World Gathering Needs Some Support ...
http://www.worldgathering.net/news03.html

I am asking people who have benefited now or in
the past from inspiration, information and events
organised through the various websites I have had
over the years, to make a donation to help this
effort to assist the world keep going.
Even $5 is a help and encouragement.

Can you put in a bit to help?

Please go to this webpage:
http://www.worldgathering.net/news03.html

Please pass this request to friends who know about
World-Action, Stop-Chemtrails, World Gathering,
Inspiring Times, Words Waken World, etc.

Thank you for your help.

Sincerely, Michael Irving

World Gathering, World-Action, Stop Chemtrails,
Inspiring Times, Words Waken World, World-Action 2
http://www.worldgathering.net
http://www.michael-irving.com

---------

World Gathering 25 & 26 August 2007
http://www.worldgathering.net
http://www.michael-irving.com

Please forward to friends, contacts and mailing lists.
- thank you

The Australia Institute
Research Paper No. 40
January 2007
Andrew Macintosh

Siting Nuclear Power Plants in Australia: Where would they go?

[extract]
The selected sites are:
· in Queensland – Townsville, Mackay, Rockhampton, Gladstone,
Bundaberg,
Sunshine Coast and Bribie Island;
· in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory – Port
Stephens,
Central Coast, Botany Bay, Port Kembla and Jervis Bay/Sussex Inlet;
· in Victoria – South Gippsland, Western Port, Port Phillip and
Portland; and
· in South Australia – Mt Gambier/Millicent, Port Adelaide and Port
Augusta/Port Pirie.
[end extract]

[extract]
To minimise transmission losses, nuclear power plants would
preferably be located near major centres of demand (called load
centres) (UMPNERT 2006, p. 55).
This would ensure more efficient delivery of electricity and reduce
financial costs. The major load centres are the capital cities and
large regional centres, particularly those that have energy-intensive
industries (for example, Gladstone, Newcastle and Wollongong).
[end extract]

full text @
http://www.tai.org.au/index.php?
option=com_remository&Itemid=36&func=fileinfo&id=996

There is another issue to investigate this slime John Howard over.
It is known that the military and police have the tendency to intimidate and
brutalize aboriginal folk.
I am wondering if they, the aboriginals in remote areas will be
disadvantaged from also enrolling and voting at the next Federal elections.

I think that we need to get onto NGO's such as Amnesty International to
monitor the situation on these communities.
I just sent my concerns to Get Up! so to devise a campaign to monitor this
move
by the Howard government.

It would be good if others sent messages to Get Up to get a campaign going
to monitor the activities of the military and police on these remote
communities. <http://www.getup.org.au/about/contact/>

Benny Zable

>From: "Junitta Vallak" <greenweave@...>
>To: <Undisclosed-Recipient:;>
>Subject: Fw: Aboriginal children
>Date: Tue, 3 Jul 2007 13:01:10 +1000
>
>This will have steam coming out of your ears!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The
>world needs to know how despicable a Prime Minister we have in Australia.
>The story below will give you the other side of what the Govt is (mis)
>presenting. We all knew that John Howard would try to cook up another
>pre-election drama and this is it, he could have acted on this many years
>ago and nothing is being done about white sex offenders who prey on the
>communities. I recently saw a program about how the Govt is trying to dump
>uranium waste on Aboriginal land and the people there have suffered
>radioactive fallout deaths and bad health from British Atom Bomb Tests
>around Maralinga which is still out of bounds because of radioactivity!
>Please pass this on, I hope that this will be the death knell on an idiotic
>Govt.  oxxoxoox  Junitta PS Bob Randall is the Aboriginal Elder at Uluru
>and his film Kanyini is about the Stolen Generation ie when Aboriginal
>children were forcibly removed from their parents. The film 'The Rabbit
>Proof Fence' is another example of this despicable practise.
>----- Original Message -----
>Sent: Monday, July 02, 2007 7:02 PM
>Subject: Aboriginal children
>
>
>Hi there again, sorry, I just read this straight after sending out the
>other one re uncle Bob Randall's film Kanyini being re  released and felt
>that I have to send this too. It's time for us to act and speak out. Love
>light & laughter, Judy O'Donnell
>
>Below is the text of an article by Jennifer Martiniello which will be
>forwarded to major newspapers in Australia. Please pass on to your
>networks. Jennifer Martiniello is a writer and academic of Arrernte,
>Chinese and Anglo descent. She is a former Deputy Chair of the Aboriginal
>and Torres Strait islander Arts Board of the Australia Council for the
>Arts, and a current member of the Advisory Board of the Australian Centre
>for Indigenous History at the ANU.
>
>Howard's New Tampa - Aboriginal Children Overboard
>Howard's new Tampa children overboard are our Aboriginal children.  The
>Little Children are Sacred report does not advocate physically and
>psychologically invasive examinations of Aboriginal children, which could
>only be carried out anally and vaginally. It does not recommend scrapping
>the permit system to enter Aboriginal lands, nor does it recommend taking
>over Aboriginal 'towns' by enforced leases. These latter two points in the
>Howard scheme hide the true reason for the Federal Government's use of the
>latest report for blatant political opportunism.
>It has been an openly stated agenda that Howard wants to move Aboriginal
>people off their lands, and has made recent attempts to buy off Aboriginal
>people by offering them millions for agreeing to lease their lands to the
>Federal Government, e.g. Tiwi Islands and Tangentyere in Alice Springs.
>There was also the statement by the Federal Government that it could not
>continue (?!) to provide essential services to remote communities, which
>raised an uproar of responses in the press. The focus on the sexual abuse
>of children is guaranteed to evoke the most emotive responses, and
>therefore command attention, just like the manipulation of the Tampa
>situation. But while the attention of the media and the public is being
>emotionally coerced, what is being sneaked in under the covers?
>Two issues specifically - mining companies have applied for more
>exploration permits in the Northern Territory, the Jabiluka uranium mining
>operations at Kakadu have already hit the media because of the mining
>company's applications to the Government to significantly expand its
>operations, including establishing new mines at Coronation Hill, and
>another critical issue - nuclear waste. The Howard Government has already
>mooted that nuclear waste should be dumped in the Northern Territory, on
>Aboriginal lands. Aboriginal traditional owners are absolutely opposed to
>this. We have a long history of deaths and illness from radiation, from the
>atomic tests at Woomera in the 1950s to the current high incidences of
>carcinomas in the community at Kakadu near the Jabiluka site. The main
>obstacle to the Federal Government's desired expansion of mining operations
>in the Northern Territory and nuclear waste dumping is, of course, the
>Aboriginal people who have occupancy of, and rights under the common law
>to, their traditional lands.
>Following the stages of the Howard Government's usual modus operandi
>(defund, blame, eliminate), defunding of critical programs for remote
>Aboriginal community projects began in July 2004, with coerced changes to
>funding contracts, and monies for critically needed youth and health
>programs in remote areas being the first dollars to go.  Take Mutitjulu for
>example, which was notoriously profiled by the ABC's Nightline program. I
>say notorious because one of Senator Mal Brough's personal staffers was the
>so-called ex-youth worker interviewed on that program, and the content of
>that interview was laden with myths and mistruths. The staffer in question
>failed to appear when summoned before a Senate inquiry to explain and the
>Senator's office is yet to issue a statement. When the community lodged a
>formal protest to Government, it was raided and their computers seized. But
>the program did show the effects of the Howard Government defunding of
>essential programs on that community, in particular the youth centre and
>health centre. The people at Mutitjulu also just happen to be the
>traditional owners of Uluru, one of this country's most lucrative tourist
>attractions. The Howard Government would not like us to ask who benefits by
>the people of Mutitjulu being forced off their community. Under the
>amendments to Native Title made by the Howard Government, once Aboriginal
>people have left their traditional lands, forcibly or otherwise, their
>rights under the common law that every other Australian enjoys over their
>land are significantly impaired.
>Progressive defunding of Aboriginal art centres has also begun, with a
>range of community art centres not having their funding renewed by DCITA in
>July 2005 and 2006 in the Northern Territory, from communities in
>Arnhemland to mid and southern Territory communities.  The art production
>facilitated by those Aboriginal art centres are the only means through
>which members of those communities can actually earn a living, as opposed
>to being on welfare. But then, dependent people are easier to control by
>means of that dependency. The Howard Government's failed Shared
>Responsibility Agreements (SRAs) have also been the catalyst for further
>blame shifting and progressive defunding, take Wadeye for example.
>Our Aboriginal communities are being squeezed further into dysfunction and
>disenfranchisement by carefully targeted political engineering, the
>systemic and ruthless roll-out of a planned agenda. It is no accident that
>Howard's scheme to address what he calls the urgency of the Little Children
>are Sacred report's 97 recommendations was trotted out so very quickly, and
>addresses so very few of those recommendations. It is sheer political
>opportunism to advance an already in motion agenda, and to score points in
>an election year. After all, The Little Children are Sacred report is not
>the first of such reports, nor are its findings and recommendations new.
>The Federal Government has had the 1989, 1991, 1993, 1997 and 2002 reports
>gathering dust and deliberate inaction on its shelves. Perhaps Mr Howard
>has been saving them up for a rainy election year?
>And of course Mr Howard's scheme targets only Aboriginal communities,
>despite the fact that the findings specifically state that non- Aboriginal
>men, that is, white men, are a significant proportion of the offenders, who
>are black-marketeering in petrol and alcohol to gain access to Aboriginal
>children. What measures is the Howard Government going to take about
>non-Aboriginal sex offenders, pornographers, substance traffickers and the
>like? Nothing according to the measures announced, but then, they're not
>Aboriginal and they don't live on the Aboriginal communities where their
>victims live.
>So who are the real victims here, the silenced victims of John Howard's
>scheme? Aboriginal children, of course, who will be subject to physically
>and psychologically invasive medical examinations, irrespective of their
>home and family circumstances, and who will deal with the mental and
>emotional fall-out from that? Aboriginal men, too, who become the silenced
>scapegoats, painted by default by John Howard as all being drunken,
>child-raping monsters. Perhaps the fact that almost every picture shown of
>Aboriginal men in the media these days shows them drunk, with a slab, cask
>or bottle under their arms leads Mr Howard to expect that one to pass
>unchallenged, irrespective of the fact that statistics show that only 15%
>of Aboriginal people drink alcohol, socially or otherwise, compared to
>around 87% of non-Aboriginal Australians. The greater majority of
>Aboriginal men are good, decent people. Perhaps the media would like to
>rethink its portrayals of Aboriginal men? How about some photos of the
>other alcoholics, you know, the white ones. There's more of them.
>And what of our communities? The Howard Government also hasn't mentioned
>that the majority of Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory are
>already dry communities, decided and enforced by those communities. But
>then that would spoil the picture Mr Howard wants to paint of our
>Aboriginal communities. Other large communities, such as Daly River, have
>controlled the situation by only having alcohol available from the
>community's club and enforce a strict four can limit. Also forgotten in the
>current politically opportunistic furore is the fact that Aboriginal
>communities around Tennant Creek and Katherine have been lobbying
>Governments and town councils for decades to restrict the sale of alcohol
>on Thursdays, when Aboriginal community people come to town for supplies.
>So far their pleas have been rejected. Nothing in Mr Howard's plan to
>facilitate that, either. Or about the control of alcohol when those people,
>once forced off the communities into the towns, bring their problems with
>them, child abuse or alcoholism and all the rest. Of course that would make
>access to Aboriginal children a lot easier for white offenders, they won't
>have to go so far to find a victim.
>One last word on focus of attention. In the famous Redfern Address, the
>then Prime Minister, Paul Keating asked perhaps the most important question
>for all Australians to consider. He said 'We failed to ask the most basic
>of questions. We failed to ask - What if this were done to us?'  What if
>this were done to us - to Mr and Mrs Average Australian, to our schools,
>youth centres, health centres, access to medical care, communities, homes,
>children, grandchildren?
>After all, current national health reports from a wide range of health
>organisations name sexual abuse of non-Indigenous Australian children as a
>crisis area in need of urgent attention. And the numbers of victims are
>higher. National reports into mainstream domestic violence, alcohol and
>substance abuse also call for urgent action, again the issues are at crisis
>level, and the numbers of victims and abusers are far higher than in the
>Little Children are Sacred report. None of the recommendations in all of
>those hundreds of national health reports recommend compulsory sexual
>health tests for every Australian child under sixteen. Not one of them
>recommends that a viable solution is closing down youth and health
>programs, in fact they all advocate that more are needed. None recommend
>that the victims' or the offenders' communities and homes should be
>surrendered to the Federal Government and put under compulsory lease
>agreements, and none advocate processes which would lead to either the
>victims or the abusers losing their rights under common law to their
>property as measure to control or remedy the occurrence of abuse. Would the
>Howard Government even dare to contemplate such as that? I think not. It
>would be un-Australian, and the Government it would expect immediate legal
>repercussions on the grounds of impairment of human rights, extinguishment
>of rights under common law, discrimination, and a raft of other
>constitutional issues. Besides, Mr and Mrs Average Australian don't, for
>the most part, live on top of uranium and mineral deposits or future
>nuclear waste dumps.
>But seriously, the most critical question for all Australians to ask
>themselves in the lead up to this year's Federal Election is just that -
>What if it were done to us? With full acknowledgment of what has already
>been done to workers, trade unions, student unions, public primary,
>secondary and tertiary education, elderly care, palliative care, medicare,
>crisis health care, nurses, teachers, multicultural affairs, migrant
>groups, women, child care, small businesses and artsworkers, among the
>many, through the exercise of policies of social engineering and fear, your
>answer at the polling booth may just determine whether it will be done to
>you, or continue to be done to you. As reported in the Sydney Morning
>Herald 25th  June, the Howard Government last week used the military to
>seize control of 60 Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory, which
>are now under military occupation. This is not Israel and Palestine. The
>Northern Territory is not Gaza or the West Bank. This is Australia - but is
>it the Australia you thought you lived in? Walk in our shoes, Aboriginal
>Australia's, and ask yourselves, what would it be like to have this done to
>us? And then, walk with us.
>Jennifer Martiniello
>Warning:
>This email may contain creative spelling!
>Jennifer Martiniello
>e: kemarre@...
>m: 0423629470
>w: http://www.kemarrearts.com.au
>
>'There is one thing stronger than all the armies in the world: and that is,
>an idea whose time has come'.
>Victor Hugo.

_________________________________________________________________
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36 hours later .... NO DONATIONS SO FAR

Life is getting tricky again / worse than usual

With no donations, I have to decide whether to
cancel the website, or not be able to eat in a
week's time when my monthly payment is taken
for http://www.worldgathering.net

One reason I feel 'World Gathering' may be worth
pursuing is because two days after launching 'World
Gathering 25/26 August 2007' - on May 1st - the
power of the directed energy attack on me doubled.

This increase in harassment seemed to tell me
that there are things 'they' do not want me to do.
The truth is, though, whenever I do any large
postings on the Internet, the power of the laser,
microwave, pulse, sonic, or whatever it is, increases.

'They' just do not want me to communicate with
many other people.

Why are they worrying?

So far, hardly anyone seems interested in the
World Gathering.

A few weeks ago quite a large number of people
were copying World Gathering posters and banners
onto their websites and blogs. But I didn't really
receive feedback from anyone, saying it's a great
idea, or promising organisation of a local supporting
event for 25/26 August.

I get a spooky feeling.

I was bankrupted in 2004 by four years of targeting,
24/7, by severe amounts of directed energy (my eyesight
went bad and I could hardly walk on many days). I was
therefore made homeless in 2004 and had my full time
attention on the Internet diverted.

The spooky feeling I get is that the world seems to
have disappeared in the three years I have been pushed
off the Net.

People won't participate.

People won't encourage other people.

People won't give donations.
(In the past three years, I have received three
donations via the Internet ... in that time many
millions of people have benefited from the information
I left on the Net and duplicated at perhaps 200+
other websites.... not a very good 'energy exchange',
is it?)

It feels like 'The Nothing' has rendered people useless.

It looks like people are lost in The Matrix.

I think the massive Chemtrail Spraying has perhaps
made most people even more apathetic than they were
three years ago.

Perhaps that is why the World Gathering 25/26 August
2007 would be important .... to help people waken up
again. And to warn the world about the 'Nothing'
spraying......

As the late Hopi elder Dan Evehema said:
We must unite for our SURVIVAL.

But .................... NO donations so far.

Michael Irving


> World Gathering 25 & 26 August 2007
> http://www.worldgathering.net
> http://www.michael-irving.com
> Mirror websites
>
> 1) Appeal By World-Action / World Gathering
> 2) Words of Inspiration To Change The World
>
> ---------
>
> 1) Appeal By World-Action / World Gathering
>
> WORLD GATHERING NEEDS DONATIONS
> - OR WEBSITE MAY GO
>
> World Gathering Needs Your Help ...
>
> http://www.worldgathering.net/news03.html
>
> I am asking people who have benefited now
> or in the past from inspiration, information
> and events organised through the various
> websites I have had over the years, to make
> a donation to help this effort to assist
> the world keep going.
>
> Can you put in a bit to help?
>
> Then, together we can press on forwards
> to help change the world.
>
> Please go to this webpage:
> http://www.worldgathering.net/news03.html
>
> Please pass this request to your friends who know
> about World-Action, Stop-Chemtrails, World Gathering,
> Inspiring Times, Words Waken World, etc. - thank you
>
> Thank you for your help.
>
> Sincerely,
> Michael Irving
> World Gathering, World-Action, Stop Chemtrails,
> Inspiring Times, Words Waken World, World-Action 2
> http://www.worldgathering.net
> http://www.michael-irving.com
>
> ---------
>
> 2) Words of Inspiration To Change The World
>
> "We must do what we conceive to be the right
> thing and not bother our heads or burden our
> souls with whether we will be successful.
> Because if we don't do the right thing, we
> will be doing the wrong thing and we will just
> be a part of the disease and not a part of
> the cure." - E. F. Schumacher
>
> "Each of us is put here in this time and this
> place to personally decide the future of humankind.
> Did you think you were put here for something
> less?" - Chief Arvol Looking Horse
>
> "To be yourself, in a world that tries, night
> and day, to make you just like everybody else
> - is to fight the greatest battle there ever
> is to fight, and never stop fighting."
> - e. e. cummings
>
> "We are at the final stages now ... so as our
> prophecy says. Then it must be up to the people
> with pure hearts that will not be afraid to
> help us to fulfil our destiny in peace for
> this world" - Dan Evehema, late Hopi elder
>
> "Learn to listen to the voice of truth which
> is within you and will lead you onto the path
> of evolution. This is our message to you,
> our dear friends. We have watched you growing
> for many years, just as you have watched our
> lights in the sky. You know now that we are
> here and that there are more beings on and
> around your Earth than your scientists care
> to admit. We are deeply concerned about you
> and your path towards the light and we will
> do all that we can to help you."
> --- This is the ending of the 1977 'Voice-Over
> Message' in the UK. Millions of TV viewers
> in southern England heard a voice give this
> message while normal TV pictures were shown.
> TV engineers struggled to stop the audio
> broadcast, but failed. A similar TV voice-over
> happened in the USA within a year or two
> of the above message.
>
> "Our lives begin to end the day we
> become silent about things that matter."
> - Martin Luther King, Jnr
>
> "The most courageous act is still to think
> for yourself. Aloud." - Coco Chanel
>
> "The world is now too dangerous for anything
> less than utopia." - Buckminster Fuller
>
> ---------
>
> WORLD GATHERING NEEDS DONATIONS
> - OR WEBSITE MAY GO
> World Gathering Needs Your Help ...
> http://www.worldgathering.net/news03.html
>
> ---------
>
> World Gathering 25 & 26 August 2007
> http://www.worldgathering.net
> http://www.michael-irving.com
> Mirror websites
>
> Please forward to friends and contacts
> - thank you

Socialist Voice
Number 129, July 2, 2007
Web Edition: www.socialistvoice.ca <http://www.socialistvoice.ca/>
Download in PDF format: www.socialistvoice.ca/SV-PDF/SV-129.pdf
<http://www.socialistvoice.ca/SV-PDF/SV-129.pdf>

Cuba's Fight Against
Capitalism's Climate Crisis
by James Haywood

"Cuba has an energy policy whose core concept is to rely less and less
on hydrocarbons and give greater space in the energy balance to
renewable sources like solar, wind, tide, and water. Cuba has put in
place a conservation system that starts at house level and continues to
the public sector and cooperative farms, by substituting incandescent
lamps by fluorescent bulbs, distributing energy-saving household
appliances, and revamping the national power grid." (Elsy Fors, Prensa
Latina, June 8, 2007)

Much has been written about healthcare and education in revolutionary
Cuba, but the country's fight against capitalism's destruction
of the environment is equally remarkable.
Mass mobilizations
The cleanup of Havana Bay, which involves over 40 local People's
Councils, is just one example of the high priority given to the
environment by the Cuban government. It is much more than a simple
cleanup: Cuba's holistic approach to the environment can be seen in
the way it dealt with the river Luyanó, which was accumulating
organic waste from four large slaughterhouses that were contaminating
the water. To ensure that the pollution didn't recur, the Cubans
implemented a simple yet dramatic fix: they relocated the
slaughterhouses. Imagine that even being considered in a capitalist
country!

Another example is a Wind Park recently opened in the municipality of
the Isle of Youth to provide 10% of the municipality's electrical
needs. That's impressive enough, but so too is the approach to
construction: work began on it in August last year and by January one
machine had already begun delivering power. What's more, because
ferocious storms affect the area, the entire wind farm is designed to be
dismantled within 3 hours.

The list of initiatives is endless; from investing in better piping to
stop leaks and save water, to the South Coast Project, which is cleaning
up the environment along a 142 km strip of coastline south of Havana
Province and improving the lives of the people in the area at the same
time.

This is really the key point — Cuba is not imposing Green policies
on the masses, it is mobilizing the Cuban people to confront climate
change and environmental degradation.

Cuba's response to the U.N. Climate Change Conference's call for
140 billion trees to be planted in 10 years is a case in point. The
Ministry of Agriculture mobilized people through mass organizations such
as the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDRs) and the
Federation of Cuban Women: 24.3% of Cuban land now is planted with
trees.

In Cuba: Beyond the Crossroads, Ron Ridenour described a similar
mobilization to distribute energy saving light bulbs:

"Many of the nation's youths were being organized to conduct social
tasks and save on energy. In 2005, these social workers — mostly
university students on study leaves — began going door-to-door
replacing filaments and light bulbs with new ones which save enormous
amounts of energy and reduce dangerous carbon pollution. The first bulbs
are provided courtesy of the government. By the end of the year, five
million people had been served. By summer 2006, as predicted, the policy
was implemented nationwide, and energy savings alone from the new lights
had tripled…. [Cuba] is the only country in the world to implement a
universal low-energy, low-polluting lighting policy. By summer 2006, the
low-energy, low-polluting bulbs are the only ones sold in Cuban stores."

Today Cuban social workers are helping other Caribbean nations to
convert to energy saving light bulbs. Crofton St Louis, a member of the
UK Cuba Solidarity Campaign, was in Grenada during this effort.

"I only knew of the scheme when two young Cubans visited me … and
offered to make the no strings attached switch. I agreed and the two
young men set about the task. As I looked out I saw teams including
young women in their distinctive red T-shirts going from door to door in
the neighborhood." (CubaSi, Spring 2007)
Urban farming
In the early 1990s Cuba lost almost three-quarters of its trade due to
the collapse of the USSR. During this time, which they refer to as the
"Special Period," Cuban workers were forced to improvise and work with
whatever was available. Oil, for example, was scarce and agricultural
labourers had to abandon tractors for oxen.

An important result of this Special Period was the growth of urban
agriculture. Workers in cities were encouraged to grow their own fruit
and vegetables on allotments, balconies and virtually every other open
space. The organopónicos, as they are called, today account for 90%
of fruit and vegetables consumed in Havana.

This move away from massive industrial farming based on toxic pesticides
and monocultural export crops has led to more sustainable farming in
Cuba, and an improved diet for the population.

At the same time, Cuban agriculture has been shifting from dependence on
sugar to a wider variety of food crops in an effort to become more
self-sufficient. Such changes could have been very disruptive, but when
they began in April 2002, the Cuban government offered sugar workers the
choice of moving to new workplaces or going back to school to learn new
skills, and in either case guaranteed that they would earn at minimum
the same wages they had been receiving.
Fidel Castro on biofuels and energy
Other Third World countries are also going through big changes in
agriculture — but the change is in the other direction, away from
food towards monoculture crops for the biofuel industry. Fidel
Castro's first political statements since his recent illness,
published in the Socialist Voice pamphlet Fidel Castro on Global
Warming, Biofuels and World Hunger
<file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Ian/My%20Documents/My%20Webs/myweb4/Pamph\
lets/PamIndex.htm> , attack this disgraceful development.

He describes how the bourgeoisie would "…lend funding to poor
countries to produce corn ethanol, based on corn or any other food, and
not a single tree will be left to defend humanity from climate change."
In effect, some semicolonial countries could be coerced into converting
their agriculture entirely to ethanol production, leaving their
populations to starve.

He developed this point in an article published on May Day of this year:

"The struggle against hunger — and there are some two billion people
who suffer from hunger in the world — will be seriously impaired by
the expansion of land taken over by agrifuel crops. Countries where
hunger is a universal scourge will bear witness to the rapid
transformation of agriculture that would feed the insatiable demand for
fuels needed by a civilization based on their irrational use. The only
result possible is an increase in the cost of food and thus, the
worsening of the social situation in the South countries.

"Moreover, the world population grows 76 million people every year who
will obviously demand food that will be steadily more expensive and
farther out of their reach."

In another article he writes:

"The dangers for the environment and for the human species were a topic
that I had been meditating on for years. What I had never imagined was
the imminence of the danger. We as yet were not aware of the new
scientific information about the celerity of climatic changes and their
immediate consequences."

Fidel has called for "an immediate energy revolution." He points out
that far from fighting climate change, the move to biofuels such as
ethanol will actually make things worse.

"The engines of tractors, harvesters and the heavy machinery required to
mechanize the harvest [of ethanol] would use growing amounts of
hydrocarbons. The increase of mechanization would not help in the
prevention of global warming, something that has been proven by experts
who have measured annual temperatures for the last 150 years."

No capitalist head of state, anywhere, has spoken so insightfully on the
ecological crisis.
Sustainable development
As a result of its efforts to defend the island's environment, Cuba
is the only country in the world that meets internationally recognized
standards for sustainable living and development, including the
WWF's ecological footprint measure and the United Nations
Development Program's Human Development Index.

In the recent Pathfinder Press book, Our History Is Still Being Written,
Armando Choy, who heads the Working Group for the Cleanup, Preservation
and Development of Havana Bay, explains why Cuba has been so successful
in protecting its environment:

"This is possible because our system is socialist in character and
commitment, and because the revolution's top leadership acts in the
interests of the majority of humanity inhabiting planet earth — not
on behalf of narrow individual interests, or even simply Cuba's
national interests."

James Haywood is a Contributing Editor of Socialist Voice.
He lives in Manchester, U.K.

SOCIALIST VOICE
Editors: Roger Annis, John Riddell
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