Category Archives: hippie

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“Virtually all indicators of the likely future for the diversity of life on Earth are heading in the wrong direction, a major new report says.” (BBC)

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The bad news on food miles: “At the moment, science can’t help – as we simply don’t know enough. My personal advice would be to do what ever best satisfies your conscience, but don’t kid yourself that by so doing you are saving the world.” BBC

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“The Australian Government has joined the United States to oppose efforts by the United Nations to protect world heritage sites such as the Great Barrier Reef from global warming.”
My emphasis, and my disbelief. I never realised the Australian/US ‘special relationship’ would go that far. I think we need to describe Howard as a PIMBY – “Please, In My BackYard”.
The Age

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Ah, Australia. My travelling correspondent reports the following conversation:
me: [My friend Mia] was complaining about the lack of types of tofu in london supermarkets
mum: there’s not much here either…
me: no?
mum: …I think there are only 4 types at coles. And it’s not local and fresh.
me: the tofu is imported?
mum: no, it’s from nsw or vic. In chinatown they make some types in the shop.

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This Bono-led Red campaign worries me.
He’s hooked up with brands like Converse (owned by Nike) and GAP (of sweatshop fame) to produce a few limited edition token items, some of the profits from which go to ‘fight poverty in Africa’.
So the companies get to spruce up their image without impacting the vast percentage of their profits, and Bono gets to look like a saint, again. Seems a small price to pay for priceless positive spin that counters their ‘evil, exploitative multinational’ image.
Is it me or is watching big business co-opt and subvert the ethical and fair trade movements incredibly depressing?

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I’ve been struggling a little with my intention of reducing the number of flights I make each year, but this unintentionally ironic sales email from EasyJet helped:
“Snow time like the present…
Catch the white stuff before it melts!”
I’m sure they didn’t mean to make an unintentional reference to global warming, but it does remind me of these Greenpeace Olympics videos about the impact of climate change on the Winter Olympics.

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“A Nigerian court has ordered oil giant Shell’s local operation to pay $1.5bn to the Ijaw people of the Delta region.
The Ijaw have been fighting since 2000 for compensation for environmental degradation in the oil-rich region.” (BBC)
I wonder if that’ll set a precedent.