MUSIC

EARTH DAY

Happy Earth Day!

I have to spend today studying, partly on my computer, but I'm going to save as much energy as possible. I'm studying and celebrating!
So I want to talk today about biodiversity. Biodiversity is the variety and diversity of living things on the planet. The biodiversity of the Earth is UNIMAGINABLE. I wrote a bit already today on facebook.
Biodiversity is one of the most important things. We are currently in and for a large part causing one of the great global extinction events of the planet's history. But, if we want to survive, we have to recognize that all life is interdependent. We depend on ecosystems for oxygen, clean water, food, and medicine. The level of biodiversity is indicative of an ecosystem's health. The more species there are, the greater the health of the organisms, the greater the health and resilience of the ecosystem, and also the finer the balance of the ecosystem. Things we now depend on, like the Agri-Business Corporations of the food processing industry, the Pharmaceutical Companies, Bottled Water Companies or just modern water treatment, and especially Land Developers are all contributing to habitat destruction and the destruction of biodiversity while providing chemically altered forms of those things that we could be getting cleanly and for free from life on the planet.








This world blows my mind.

Thank you.

Hi. It's 420, and everything was looking bright this morning when I almost was hit by a car being crashed into by a recycling truck. I'm ok now, but I must say,
Thanks for Life! Glad to be alive (and not injured)!

Wangari Maathai is one of my heroes (I guess that's heroines).

Hello!
I'm taking a break from studying to write here a bit. A few months ago, at my school's alternative documentary night, Cinema Politica, they screened a documentary called "Taking Root: The Vision of Wangari Maathai." I had heard of her before this, and had heard her speak very well on the need for healthy environments, for ourselves and the rest of the world.
However, I knew virtually nothing about her until I saw this documentary, which is AMAZING. Wangari Maathai was the first woman Eastern African woman to receive a PHD, in 1971, and then in 2004 she won a Nobel Peace Prize. Her story is absolutely incredible, and her fight for the environment became a fight against injustice and tyranny in Kenya.
Her experiences and accomplishments are far too numerous and gigantic for me to tell here, but here's the basic thread: after getting her education, she was a professor at the University of Nairobi. She was the first woman ever to do so. She was a lecturer, and she was also doing field work. She was faced with deforestation, poverty, malnutrition, diseases, and lack of water. Speaking with these poor people, she asked "Why don't you plant trees?"
So they started the Green Belt Movement, which began as a simple project in reforestation, learning, teaching and sharing knowledge, and sustainability. Then they became entagled with the government. At the time the President of Kenya was Daniel Toroitich Arap Moi. He became president in 1978, a year after the Green Belt Movement had begun. He turned out to be a corrupt dictator, who kept his power not by denying elections, but by cunningly manipulating the other parties and exploiting the tribal tensions between the people. He and Maathai ended up battling til the end. He held onto power for 24 years; he was constitutionally barred from running again for president, but his supporters floated the idea of amending the constitution in order to allow him to run again. He however apparently chose to retire. The movie says though that he was "defeated" in 2002 when he stepped down. It's very possible that he didn't choose to retire but was defeated, and he's only remembered as deciding to retire. Maathai was elected to parliament with the National Rainbow Council. When Moi stepped down, the occasion drew one of the largest crowds ever seen in Nairobi. The people were openly hostile towards him. Maathai became Assistant Minister of Environment, Natural Resources and Wildlife. She's since moved to a few different positions in the government, but lost elections in 2007, possibly due to fraud.
This covers very very little of her story.
Yesterday, 'Taking Root' aired on Independent Lens on PBS. I was hoping to find the whole movie available on pbs.org, but unfortunately it's not. Youtube and Google Video seem to only have small snippets of it.
Here's a preview:



Women's rights are actually a very important Environmental issue. I think this documentary kind of illustrates that. I'll write more on that subject tomorrow. Until then, keep believing in changing the world for the better. Because if you do, you will succeed.
Peace!

Home.

I envy those who are already done.

Hello.
I just had a lovely walk through the rain. It's April now, and I'm so glad for the warming temperatures and the rainfall. I'm kind of unusual because I absolutely love the rain! Spring is here, which is awesome after a freezing cold Montreal winter.
Man, there is so much on my plate and on my mind right now, I can barely function. My brain feels like pudding. It's crunch time. One of my buddy's is already done though. That lucky bastard. Exams exams exams.
I want to thank my friend Erin, who left a comment on one of my posts. She brought up a few things that I'm still hoping to address here soon. Right now I just want to write a short little post. Specifically, though, she mentioned the energy consumption of electronic devices, like this computer, our cellphones and all that stuff. This is very true. A huge amount of net energy is being consumed needlessly every day. Personally, I am of the opinion that everyone in the world should be using 100% renewable energy. Which is of course far from realistic, but I don't see why it should stay unrealistic.
Secondly, in response to my ranting about the World Bank and the IMF, she raised the huge question of "but what about Monsanto?" This is a subject I've been saving for later, but she is very right. I'll be talking pretty soon about food, and the myriad issues that currently plague us in that field right now.
I need to leave those for now, though, and rest myself. I'm leaving to visit home in a few days, and I CAN'T WAIT!!! Home equals the countryside north of Peterborough, Ontario.

WE ARE A PART OF NATURE