Blogging from the Bog

   What started out as school project a few years ago has grown into an international effort of creativity, forward thinking, and co-operation among individuals and groups with a view to the future.  Not satisfied with the rhetoric of government, big business, or doomsday theorists these visionaries are proactively making a concerted effort to prepare their communities for the inevitable.  They are not passing judgement, they are not getting entangled in spurious debates or mudslinging, and they are not promising miracles.  They are creating Transition Towns.

   In 2005 Rob Hopkins was teaching a class in the world’s first two-year program of permaculture at a college in Kinsale, County Cork a seaside community on the southern coast of Ireland.  Permaculture, in theory and practice, is the idea of sustainable living and as part of his lecture series Hopkins showed the movie The End of Suburbia to his class.  At a time when the price of oil was still around the $35 per barrel stage the implications of peak oil were not lost on the students and a proposal was drafted designing the Transition Town concept.  The cleaner, greener, community based initiative was adopted by the Kinsale Town Council as proposed by student Louise Rooney and the project was underway.

   The Transition Town concept is becoming more and more relavent, as the price of oil is now $135 a barrel, and deals with how communities will adapt, adjust, and flourish despite being faced with declining natural resources, rising fuel and energy prices or shortages, and climate change.  There are currently 50 towns actively participating in this project and hundreds of others contemplating the idea of getting involved.  Is your town or city considering the prospect?  Check this list of communities around the globe.

   A quote from Rob Hopkins’ website reads, "We are communities, a society, a world in transition, and to do that we need a culture of transition, but also we need the tools for manifesting it."  Indeed we do Rob, indeed we do.

Rob

   In our globalised economy and lifestyle many things have changed here in Ireland.  The increase in discretionary income has allowed for more frequent travel, a larger variety of exotic food and beverages on our grocery shelves, and some changes in our consumption patterns.  One notable item features high on our new shopping list, wine, the Irish are now in love with the nectar of the vine. 

   Amid all the controversy with global warming, fuel prices, and a slumping world economy the French wine growers, Irish truckers, UK and Scottish fisherman, and others around Europe are reacting to rising costs, EU controls and dwindling profits by holding strikes, slow downs and riots.  Is this a sign of the times and a preview of what is to come?  Or, will we take a pro-active stance, adapt as humans are capable of, and rise to the challenges we face as we approach peak oil?

   In late July a ship will quietly leave a dock in France bound for Irish shores, it’s hold will contain 12,000 bottles of wine for the thirsty Irish market, and it will be using free fuel.  A three-masted schooner, the Kathleen & May, is scheduled to deliver her cargo to the Dublin port on the 25th of July.  Over one hundred years old, the sailing vessel is one of many operated by the Compagnie de Transport Maritime a la Voile, and according to company executives will save nearly 5 ounces of carbon emissions per bottle. 

   Will we again see horse drawn wagons and a return of the canal barges in Dublin?  We can only hope! 

   Nearly 40 years ago Alvin Toffler wrote a sociological discourse in the form of a book called Future Shock, and although I read it some time back with only casual interest, these two themes have stuck with me:  data overload, and too much change too soon.  What way will our lives, cultures, and societies deal with and change during this age of informational and technological onslaught?  What role does affluence, globalisation, and the internet play in the evolution of our species?

   We like to consider ourselves social creatures; but, how social are we becoming?  Where once we banded together in groups or clans who shared the tasks, joys, and disappointments of day to day life we have now become independent, isolated, and intolerant of others.  It is becoming evident by recent news that we cannot handle stress, financial pressures, or misfortune without acting out in violence and abuse or some other offensive/defensive manner.

   The family is of course the basic social group or clan and instead of building on that solid structure it seems to be diminishing in importance to this new human.  Are the successes of Social Networking sites the proof that there is a void in our need to belong? somewhere, anywhere?  I wonder.  Once we have acquired some wealth, or in the process of seeking it, we tend to leave those who have nurtured us, taught us, and shared our burdens.  Do we spend the rest of our lives in search of that sense of belonging? 

   A wealthy, well travelled, and high-tech populace is growing on all continents and within all cultures.  We can communicate instantaneously to all regions of the earth and physically travel to any point on the globe within 24 hours.  We may take these marvels for granted today; but, this is only a recent phenomenon in human history.  Toffler’s future is our present.  How will we change or adapt to handle these changes?  Euro Yank offers the theory that Eastern and Western cultures are fundamentally different in that the West focuses on the independence of man while the East is more concerned with the interdependence of man.  Will one culture surpass the other in it’s ability to adapt?  Or, will the cultures of the world become more homogenous and grow so much alike as to become indistinguishable from one another?

   What price will technology extract from the social, cultural, and emotional qualities of human nature?

   Is there an idea, concept or belief that is more valuable than a human life?  Are ideas, concepts, or beliefs, even considered reality?

   Throughout history we have heard of people risking and losing their lives for ideals and principles; but, these were people who were able to rationalise for themselves what the consequences and outcomes might be.  What is the proper consideration for us to take with regards to people who are not competent, who may be children, or even infants?

   There was a discussion on this very topic at Ash’s place over at Into the Rabbit Hole as to what the community responsibility should be when an eleven year old girl was allowed to die because her parents refused to get her the medical care she needed to live.  At what point does a person have a unique presence on this earth and the right to life?  In the womb? at birth? at eighteen or twenty-one?  If pre-natal abortions can be legalised how about post-natal ones?  The threat of post-natal abortions would go a long way in controlling the Anti-Social Behaviour problem with modern teenagers wouldn’t it?  *that was sarcasm ok?*

   There is a case here in Ireland that will be heard in the court system within the next few days.  Parents of unborn twins are trying to prevent medical intervention and blood transfusions, that doctors feel necessary to save the childrens lives, because of their beliefs.  In this country, I believe, that the State can intervene and declare the newborns to be Wards of the State because of the sanctity of life provisions within the Constitution and in doing so can approve of any necessary medical treatment regardless of the parents wishes.  Would it be morally feasible to have the courts allow the medical staff to treat the infants while they are still in the womb?

   Should we as a community take the responsibility to care for each and every life even if it goes against the wishes of the parents?

   What is all the fuss about?  What is there to know about the Lisbon Treaty referendum?  The answer to this Euro-riddle is as plain as Irish stew!  And for all the eejits out there having a great auld chinwagging session on the pros and cons of our future economy, neutrality, or our small voice in the greater European scheme of things answer me this one question will ya?

   Why, if voting yes for this treaty will make the EU 27 a more democratic union, are they not allowing all citizens to vote in a democratic electoral process throughout the member States?  If this passes in June do you think they will ever allow us to vote on anything again?  Why should they?  For Heaven’s Sake people wake the feck up will ya?

   Only a flock of bloody sheep would vote yes for this shite.  Off ya go!

   View this video, posted by Jazz Biscuit, before you vote!

   The ongoing discussions concerning global warming, peak oil, and sustainability come to us in a variety of mediums and by a plethora of experts, many of whom cannot agree and some hold completely opposing views to one another.  They talk about carbon footprints, carbon credits, conservation, and the adverse effects of globalisation.  Food miles is a calculation of how much petroleum it takes to get Brazilian bananas or Spanish strawberries to your breakfast table.  We are inundated with information, opinions, and predictions, is there any way to make any sense of all this?  Who do we believe, who can we trust? 

   It is a good policy to try to get to the core, the essence, of a situation in order to find the truth.  With so much data available where can we begin?  Why not begin with yourself?  You are a bright and intelligent person.  If you were to avail yourself of a logical, systematic, and irrefutable method of divining the truth out of a myriad of conjecture and hyberbole you would have the power of discerning the data into useable material by which you could draw your own informed conclusions.  You do not need to be told by others if you think for yourself, believe in your decision making, and trust your instincts.

   Our energy usage, and our natural resources, and the concepts to conserve or sustain their availability is a hot political topic.  It is discussed daily in every country.  It was also important enough for the UN Secretary General to highlight the problems, that shortages can cause, at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland last month.  He asserted that "conflicts over scarce supplies" were triggered in areas of the Middle East and Africa, and that it was his hope that water shortages in these regions could be eliminated by 2015.  Surprisingly enough he also touched on a subject of much controversy which is the fact that population growth is becoming a recognised detriment to sustainability.  Most criticism is directed at developing nations; but, in fact the un-checked population explosions in the developed countries are where the greatest problems lie.

   Professor Chris Ripley raised the debate in this article by Charles Glover in the Telegraph last summer.  He says that the most disturbing aspect of the debate on overpopulation, as a inhibiting factor on environmental issues, is the fact that no one is willing to talk about it.

   James, over at The Good Life, has 40 posts concerning overpopulation and the effects it has and will have on society.  Politicians are duplicitous in their discussions and uninformed in their opinions of the real nature of population growth.  The "zero population growth" concepts of the 70’s fell on deaf ears, and China’s "one-child" per family proclamation was condemned from every political pulpit in the world.  You will not see a politician tackling this issue with any conviction.  If you would like a pragmatic explanation of the fundamental issue at the heart of our resource requirements go to this site.  It is a series of videos in which Dr. Albert A. Bartlett explains the dilemma of population and energy.  Arm yourself with the innate, core facts of the situation and draw your own conclusions.

   Broadband has just arrived in the bog!  And I want to thank my good friend Maireid for sending me the link to Dr. Bartlett’s video, and although she sent it some time ago, I was only able to view it today. 

   There is no provision within Irish law that enables "class action" lawsuits.  This is  a legal avenue in which two or more persons unite to take a common defendant to court because the facts and complaints are similar.  Our legal landscape is founded in British Common Law but this little gem was not included in the Irish scenary.  Why is that?  Edward McGarr poses this very question in one of his posts.  The answer?  Well maybe it was an oversite, or maybe it was deemed unneccessary at the time, or maybe it was something else?

   Whatever was in the minds of the men who drafted our constitution concerning this issue we’ll never know; but, neglecting to adopt this ability for citizens to band together to challenge possible legislative atrocities has had recent repercussions.

   There could be as many as 150 families, possible plaintiff’s, that have a personal interest in the case of the O’Cuananchain’s versus the Department of Education and Mary Hannafin.  Cian and Yvonne had to go it alone against the State in a test case instead of a class action.  This was not a frivolous action, it was not about money, it was a human rights issue, it was about getting special education for an autistic child.  The court costs in this case could have provided each of the 100 plus children concerned with one year of the special attention they need.

   In the area of family rights there is also a need for renewed legislation as the traditional views of "family" are changing.  The definition of the family, of marriage, and of cohabiting partners is undergoing a momentous re-evaluation.  Equally at issue here is not only the vague, and possibly outdated, view represented in the Constitution of what makes up the family unit; but, the losses to the government purse when the transfer of property occurs under the provisions of the Capital Acquisitions Tax.  Surely the government would prefer to beat down one claim at a time instead of facing hundreds, if not thousands, of coordinated litigants.

   The rights of the family are also a great concern in the outlook we take on Immigration, and any changes will impact heavily on families living in Ireland today.  One case in point is Latif Yahia.  Latif is an Iraqi native, author, husband and father, and married to an Irish woman, who make their home in Dublin.  For years he has been fighting to stay in Ireland, his latest book The Black Hole, is supposedly banned here and in America, and he has letters of advocacy from none other than Bertie Ahern displayed on his blog.  It seems Bertie had better luck with his friend from Manchester as a Cabinet Member than he had against Michael McDowell as Taoiseach.

   Not having the ability to bring class actions in these and other cases is severely detrimental to our legal system.

  Four Courts, Dublin

   It is estimated that 80% of the world’s population will live in urban areas by the year 2020, another prediction has the population of the planet approaching 10 billion, a 150% increase over today’s numbers, by the year 2050.  Today, we can all see that the unsustainable use of critical resources, ie. water, food, and energy, can no longer be taken for granted and that we will need changes in our behaviour, thinking, and practices to enable future generations some chance of survival. 

   Change will also be needed in the way we build and inhabit the cities of the future.  Food, clothing and shelter (the big three), employment, services and entertainment must be readily available and within easy reach of the future city citizen.  The success of these futuristic cities will be measured by the voluntary abandonment of the automobile, the efficient use of resources, waste management, and co-operation between the crowded individual and the needs of the masses.

   William McDonough designed the first solar powered house in Ireland in 1977 and was named Time magazines "Hero of the Planet" in 1999 for his ecological design concepts.  With three decades of imaginative thinking, creative architecture, and re-inventing the box (never mind thinking outside of it) behind him, McDonough’s team has recently come up with a "living" structure that will, according to them, do everything but replicate itself.  A mixed use building, the "Tower of Tomorrow" uses bio-mimicry, in that it will create oxygen, distill water, produce energy, change with the seasons and provide shelter for housing, work and entertainment! 

   Norman Foster, another architect, and his company Foster & Partners, are the creative geniuses behind the 6 million square metre walled city of Masdar, to be built in Abu Dhabi, that is a carbon neutral, zero waste, and an automobile free community.   Foster and McDonough will both unveil their projects next week at the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi.  This monumental event is being shunned by the Irish government.  Why is that?

   Dickson Despommier a microbiologist from Columbia University is ploughing ahead with his ideas of vertical farming.  In these cities of the future there will need to exist an easily accessible supply of food.  The Vertical Farm Project plans to do just that by building high rise gardens of Eden for the city dwellers to "grow locally" all their dietary needs.  A firm in the Netherlands, MVRDV, has envisioned a Pig City in the sky; but, if raising chickens for food in confined factories is causing a lot of drama at the moment I can’t imagine that pigs using elevators is going to catch on.  Maybe there is less meat in our future?  Things are looking up!

   As a follow up on yesterday’s article , “One World, One Dream“, I would like to continue in the effort to publicize China’s human rights violations before the start of the 2008 Olympic Games in August.

   This graphic, called “Dancing Beijing Man (in chains) Olympic Logo”, and the concept were created by Faithmouse.  The idea is to post this graphic on your site and to link to all the others (or as many as you can) who do the same.  This crosslinking should boost the graphics’ rating on Google and other search engines thereby raising awareness to the suffering caused by the Chinese government.

   Below are the blogs that are joining together for this cause and I will be adding more when others let me know of their participation.  Visit Faithmouse for the image and to sign on to the list of bloggers who are trying to make the world a better place.  Let me know when you post it!

   Faithmouse, Leticia, SFO Mom, Blogs4Brownback, 50 Days After, Kaj, The Good Life, Cooper, Lina Lamont Fan Club, Kaj la hundo, Scarlett Crusader, Makina, Team-Swap, Berlin Wall, WorD, Faith…, Jana, Get Aware, Cao’s Blog, extra! extra!, 4Points, Candy Minx, The Sudanese Thinker, Daja, TIBETSPACE, Loraleigh, Your blog here!   See this extensive list for government contacts to voice your objections to this human suffering!