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Wednesday, January 14, 2004
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 ECO writes: Yesterday,Tom Robertson wrote: The question regarding change is from what to what, and how fast. And the issue is not how we feel about change but the fact that the greatest force for change to affect humanity in its history is coming down the pike, and there is little known and agreed to about how fast it is coming, what its affect will be, and what we can physically, ecologically, and culturally do about it in time. ... The answer to how fast, depends on how quickly we can organize community groups. Where the dialogue must begin, I think, is with the question: "How do you make your community secure, that is, ensure the basic necessities of life, while at the same time enact resource conservation and begin viable restoration programs?" Maybe this cannot be accomplished, so then the question arises as to what the community does. Must it move to a different location? Is this feasible? Somewhere along the line the question of population growth will arise and I think it best to let it arise naturally rather than structure the dialogue. Another more personal version of the question that has been used with some success is: "If the survival of the Planet and my well-being and that of my children and all other life forms for generations to come, is dependent upon me and who I am and what I do, who do I want to be and what will I do?" Using 'journaling' combined with group dialogue has been demonstrated successfully in one program that I am aware of using the above question. The group facilitator of this program actually took her learners on eco-trips to Africa where they reconnected with nature by helping to rehabilitate an African village, including the small hospital there and then they went on a photo safari to the Serengeti. This is not practical, but I think the question used along with journaling to create personal transformation in this instance is worthwhile considering as a method. And I think reconnecting to nature is an important part of the process as well. One problem is centered around how to form the initial groups. This is not easy because there are so many acting in denial of the crisis, perhaps because it is so overwhelming and many simply cannot deal with the issues involved, as has been voiced by several on this list as they try to communicate with family and friends. Sticking one's head in the sand and hoping the problem will go away is easier for most than confronting the issues. This is very scary stuff to most people. (01/14/04)
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 BBC Health -- If any country's citizens needed de-stressing it would be those of Iraq. Now India's Art of Living Foundation is bringing yoga, meditation and breathing exercises to try to soothe a people rattled by war and continuing violence. The Bangalore-based foundation whose stated goal is to "eliminate stress, create a sense of belonging and restore human values" has added Iraq to its 140 countries of operation. About 15 volunteers, including doctors, are running medical camps using traditional Indian alternative medicine, and meditation and yoga classes to ease the strain on Iraqis. ... volunteers have set up medical camps in two rooms borrowed from a municipality office in al-Qadisiyah on the outskirts of Baghdad, and a meditation and breathing exercise centre in a Baghdad neighbourhood. The response, say team members, has been very encouraging. At one of the al-Qadisiyah camps, 200 Iraqis queued up every day. "After the bombings, trauma and anxiety levels among people in Baghdad were very high," said Vinod Kumar, the leader of the group in Iraq. "Though the war is over, we found many residents were unable to sleep or even eat. The residents go through mood swings and depression. The majority of the men smoke heavily and a large number of women have begun smoking," said Mr Kumar. The volunteers also found that people were taking pills indiscriminately to get to sleep or forget their worries. "If they have a headache, they pop a valium. If they feel pain, they take steroids. There's a lot of reckless self-medication," said Mr Kumar. The volunteers conduct stress-busting sessions - two-hour-long special breathing exercises over four days - and the doctors recommend traditional Indian herbal medicines. The volunteers found that Iraqi children were among the worst affected by the continuing violence and insecurity in the country. "Children in schools break into tears whenever they hear an explosion. They suffer from nightmares," said Mr Kumar. The children are being put through breathing exercises and play stress-relieving games. (01/14/04)
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 BBC World -- The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) has begun an attempt to improve its scientific knowledge about the planet's problems. A meeting at UNEP's HQ in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital, is seeking to identify gaps in existing knowledge, and how one problem can have impacts on others. One proposal, for a new multi-national body on environmental change, has been met sceptically by many governments. But UNEP insists some changes will be needed for it to give better forecasts of how humanity is affecting the world. The meeting starts on 12 January with two days of scientific talks, followed by two more involving ministers and officials. A fifth day is for talks between governments. UNEP says the issues for discussion include links between global warming and heavy metal pollution, and between microbial life in the soil and good crop yields. The meeting will also look at how far environmental degradation can trigger political instability. UNEP says knowledge needs strengthening on the health effects of chemical hazards, the impacts of urbanisation and megacities on the wider world, and scientific understanding of biodiversity, the planet's wealth of species. It also wants to learn more about: how fertilisers and traffic fumes disturb the global nitrogen cycle, assessments of biodiversity in marine and fresh water, the wider impacts of land cover as a result of forest loss, and farming the health and environmental effects of a build-up of toxic chemicals. UNEP's executive director, Dr Klaus Toepfer, said: "Sound science is vital. (01/14/04)
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 BBC Health -- UK government scientists have given a cautious thumbs up to mobile phones and transmission masts. A report from the Advisory Group on Non-Ionising Radiation says there is no evidence they harm health. However, the scientists said more research is needed before they can be absolutely certain there is no risk. The report is based on a review of all of the scientific research into mobile phone safety published over the past three years. More than 40m mobiles are in circulation in the UK. Many of these are used by children. In 2000, a report by the Independent Expert Group on Mobile Phones - the so-called Stewart Report - suggested that children should only use mobile phones in emergencies. The recommendation was based on the theory that children could be more at risk from the radiowaves emitted by mobile phones. This is because their brains are still developing and their skulls are thinner, making it easier for the radiowaves to penetrate them. The Stewart Report said there was no evidence mobile phones were harmful to adults. However, it recommended a "precautionary approach" until further research is carried out. This latest report is the first major review of the scientific evidence on mobile phone safety by UK government scientists since 2000. The advisory group said there was no reason to change the advice on mobile phones. It said "little has been published specifically on childhood exposures" in the past three years so the advice to children remained the same. Similarly, there was no new evidence to suggest adults were at risk. "In aggregate, the research published since the IEGMP report does not give cause for concern," the report states. (01/14/04)
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 BBC Politics -- President George W Bush is to set out ambitious space exploration plans, which include a permanent base on the moon and a manned mission to Mars. In a speech on Wednesday, he is expected to announce a $800m boost to Nasa's budget to start the programme. ... The new focus will be manned exploration, first to the Moon and then to Mars. For the first time in decades astronauts will be going somewhere. "The spirit is going to be one of continued exploration... seeking new horizons and investing in a programme that... meets that objective," Mr Bush told reporters in Mexico on Tuesday. To detail his plans, President Bush will be making a rare visit to the US space agency's headquarters in Washington. The new plan will call for: the space shuttle to be retired in 2010, a new manned spacecraft that will be cheaper and more reliable than the shuttle, and the International Space Station to be curtailed after its next phase of construction. After 2016, Nasa will leave it to its international partners, the European Space Agency, Russia, Canada and Japan. A return to the Moon in 9-12 years, with a manned Moonbase soon after Plans for manned missions to Mars. Already the White House has earmarked an extra $800m to get things underway, and there may be an extra 5% per annum increase for Nasa in its budget. ... The current president's announcement comes as the US space programme celebrates the successful landing of its robot rover Spirit on Mars. As well as sending back images of the Red Planet's surface, Spirit is also due to start exploring the terrain and collecting data. At the same time as President Bush is visiting Nasa's headquarters, his Vice President Dick Cheney will go to the agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California - the home of unmanned planetary exploration - to tell them about the new direction. (01/14/04)
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6:13:26 AM 
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© TrustMark
2004
Timothy Wilken.
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2/2/2004; 6:15:28 AM.
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