"Firefighters in Colorado continue to battle an explosive wildfire that has already displaced 32,000 residents from Colorado Springs.
Winds gusting up to 65 mph are spreading the fire quickly across 6,200 acres, where record high temperatures and thunderstorms heavy on gusty winds and low on much-needed rainfall have slowed containment of the Waldo Canyon wildfire to only 5 percent. Six additional fires are active in the state, including a new fire in Boulder, which prompted pre-evacuation notices to 2,300 phone numbers. The High Park fire is the largest, having consumed nearly 90,000 acres, 257 homes, and cost $33.1 million to contain.
Representatives of the National Wildlife Federation in Boulder, Colo. say the intensity of the latest fires are reflecting a pattern of growing heat and dryness predicted by scientists concerned about how climate change is impacting the region. With similar conditions in Utah, Arizona, and Nevada, and record temperatures expected for this week, western residents are likely hoping for some serious rainclouds in the forecast."
Whether you personally agree or not, the scientific consensus about global climate change is a reality, and the consequences are horrendous.
"Msgr. William J. Lynn, a former cardinal’s aide, was found guilty Friday of endangering children, becoming the first senior official of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States convicted of covering up sexual abuses by priests under his supervision.
...The single guilty verdict was widely seen as a victory for the district attorney’s office, which has been investigating the archdiocese aggressively since 2002, and it was hailed by victim advocates who have argued for years that senior church officials should be held accountable for concealing evidence and transferring predatory priests to unwary parishes. ..."
The trial sent a sobering message to church officials and others overseeing children around the country. “I think that bishops and chancery officials understand that they will no longer get a pass on these types of crimes,” said Nicholas P. Cafardi, a professor of law at Duquesne University, a canon lawyer and frequent church adviser. “Priests who sexually abuse youngsters and the chancery officials who enabled it can expect criminal prosecution.”
Just about time to bring down the entire Vatican. It is, and has been, a corrupt institiiution for over 2,000 years.
As Bill Maher points out in this clip from his show, President Obama has broken his campaign promise to label genetically engineered food. Whereas in 2007, he said GMOs should be labeled, now his campaign says, "[S]ome Americans want more information to help them choose their food. . . . ."
Not only Americans, but the people of the world should become aware of the fact that Monsanto is undoubtedly the most evil corporation on the planet.
"Franz Ignaz Danzi (June 15, 1763 – April 13, 1826) was a German cellist, composer and conductor, the son of the noted Italian cellist Innocenz Danzi. Born in Schwetzingen, Franz Danzi worked in Mannheim, Munich, Stuttgart and Karlsruhe, where he died.
Danzi lived at a significant time in the history of European concert music. His career, spanning the transition from the late Classical to the early Romantic styles, coincided with the origin of much of the music that lives in our concert halls and is familiar to contemporary classical-music audiences. As a young man he knew Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, whom he revered; he was a contemporary of Ludwig van Beethoven, about whom he—like many of his generation—had strong but mixed feelings; and he was a mentor for the young Carl Maria von Weber, whose music he respected and promoted." [Wikepedia]
"El destacado clarinetista Luis Rossi interpreta de Franz Danzi su "Variaciones sobre un tema de Mozart"." [The outstanding clarinettist Luis Rossi plays Franz Danzi in his" Variations on a Theme by Mozart .]
"Agribusiness giant Monsanto, a leading developer of genetically modified (GM) crops, has threatened to scrap its plans to invest in GM corn production in Thailand unless the government lifts its ban on open field trials and the commercialisation of transgenic crops.
Poomin Trakoontiwakorn, director of Monsanto's Southeast Asia technology development division, said the US-based company had begun shifting its operation from Thailand to India and the Philippines, where the commercial planting of GM corn and cotton has been approved.
``Over the past four years, we have tried to convince the public and the government to embrace GMOs, but to no avail. So we can't think about expanding our business here,''
Thailand may be a small country, and admitedly has a few political problems, but obviously has no trouble recognizing a rat when it sees one.
2 - Monsanto Lied, GMO Corn Filled with Toxins
"Monsanto's genetically modified corn contains toxins, and will soon be sold at Walmart."
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David Versus Monsanto
"Imagine that a storm blows across your garden and that now, genetically-manipulated seeds are in your crops. A multi-national corporation pay you a visit, demand that you surrender your crops - and then sue you for $200 000 for the illegal use of patented, GM seeds. In this definitive David and Goliath battle, one farmer stands up against a massive multinational, and their right to claim ownership to a living organism."
Several days ago I briefly described, and presented a video, about the process of becoming a Buddhist monk here in Thailand. Several years ago when my neighbor and very good friend Pae [also known as 'Justin'] went through the ordination process, I later wrote about it. Even posted it on another of my personal web sites, 'Chiang Mai Tales'. This is the link to the complete story of Justin's ordination.
Many years ago I also went though the Buddhist ordination process, though mine was in 1955 and occurred at the Eiheiji monastery [永平寺] in western Japan. Many of the features of the process were similar, though couched in the customs and traditions of Japan. I have also written about that process, and the events which led up to it, in 'The Repository'. This is the link leading up to my own Buddhist ordination process.
The attached video of the Eiheiji monastery was taken by my good buddy from Oz, Yakov Smirnoff when he visited there several years ago.
"Established in 1244 and Japan's most active zen meditation monastery since the late 16th century, Eihei-ji, Temple of Eternal Peace, is about 30 minutes by bus from Fukui and is home to about 50 elders and 250 black-robed trainees. This serene community, set on the slopes of a mountain and surrounded by cedars, is moss-green in summer, and serenaded by cicadas. In winter, snow arrives to transform the complex into a glistening white mountainscape."
This video is so typical of life here in the Land of Smiles. Abunant music [occasionally quite loud], smiling happy people, a wonderful comraderie, and of course lots of alchohol to keep the gears of society well lubricated.
Nearly every young male in Thailand becomes a monk at some point. although most only do it for one month. The street, or neighborhood, party occurs on the day before the young men go to the local wat [temple] for the offical ceremony which takes about five hours and includes having their heads shaved.
"Moisés Kaufman and members of New York's Tectonic Theater Project went to Laramie, Wyoming after the murder of Matthew Shepard. This is a film version of the play they wrote based on more than 200 interviews they conducted in Laramie. It follows and in some cases re-enacts the chronology of Shepard's visit to a local bar, his kidnap and beating, the discovery of him tied to a fence, the vigil at the hospital, his death and funeral, and the trial of his killers. It mixes real news reports with actors portraying friends, family, cops, killers, and other Laramie residents in their own words. It concludes with a Laramie staging of "Angels in America" a year after Shephard's death."
The next time you encounter a news report about some 'Christian' preacher ranting about gay people, remember the events portrayed in this moving film. 'The Laramie Project' is about American intolerance, fear and hatred. A cultural hatred based on their narrow, warped interpretation of christianity.
On a technical note, this HBO production is a seamless and near perfect blending of professional actors and TV clips from the time of the incident. Powerful and thought provoking film.
My early adolescence was made special by an inordinate love of reading, and few authors were more special to me than Ray Bradbury. The first of his many books that I purchased was The Martian Chronicles in 1951.
"The fantasy writer Ray Bradbury scorned the label of “science-fiction writer” and taught generations of readers the benefits of letting their imaginations run wild. . . "
"This documentary tells the story of how the evil and greedy American corporation Mansanto has developed food staples (soy, corn) that have been genetically modified (GM) and carry potentially lethal (carcenigenous) strains and how it has conspired, with the help of corrupt officials everywhere, to have those GM seeds gradually replace the existing ones worldwide, all in the name of profit, thereby levying royalties on anyone who uses their products.
These GM organisms are also based on a lie. They were created to eliminate the need for insecticides, yet require just as much insecticides and fertilizers as non-genetically modified organisms.
This unrelenting policy has made possible the silencing of dissenting scientists, the firing or corruption of government employees and officials in the United States and abroad and the displacement, elimination, impoverishment and, frequently, death or suicide of thousands upon thousands of small farmers in the world's poorer countries (Brazil, Mexico,Argentina, India, and so on). Monsanto's deadly poisonous seeds are also destroying by contamination the genetic stock of most foods on this planet so that the time will soon come when the Earth's population will never be sure of what it is ingesting and of its effect on their health.
It sounds like a sci-fi or at least nightmarish scenario. Unfortunately, it's all true. This film could only be made in France as the European Union requires the labeling of all GM products while the US do not." [Amazon comment]
"There's nothing they are leaving untouched: the mustard, the okra, the bringe oil, the rice, the cauliflower. Once they have established the norm: that seed can be owned as their property, royalties can be collected. We will depend on them for every seed we grow of every crop we grow. If they control seed, they control food, they know it -- it's strategic. It's more powerful than bombs. It's more powerful than guns. This is the best way to control the populations of the world.
The story starts in the White House, where Monsanto often got its way by exerting disproportionate influence over policymakers via the "revolving door". One example is Michael Taylor, who worked for Monsanto as an attorney before being appointed as deputy commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1991. While at the FDA, the authority that deals with all US food approvals, Taylor made crucial decisions that led to the approval of GE foods and crops. Then he returned to Monsanto, becoming the company's vice president for public policy.
Thanks to these intimate links between Monsanto and government agencies, the US adopted GE foods and crops without proper testing, without consumer labeling and in spite of serious questions hanging over their safety. Not coincidentally, Monsanto supplies 90 percent of the GE seeds used by the US market. Monsanto's long arm stretched so far that, in the early nineties, the US Food and Drugs Agency even ignored warnings of their own scientists, who were cautioning that GE crops could cause negative health effects. Other tactics the company uses to stifle concerns about their products include misleading advertising, bribery and concealing scientific evidence." [YouTube leader]
