The Circus has an long and illustrious history, all the way to the decadent stages of the Roman Empire, with the famous Circa of Rome - Circus Maximus, Flaminius, Maxentius and of course that of Nero (Neronis). However, today horror stories about maltreated, starving animals in circuses around the world often make headlines, with cities and countries such as Austria introducing bans of circa featuring wild animal performances. Yet there is fresh proof, if it ever was needed, that circus misery is not confined to animals: Italian police have just rescued two teenage Bulgarian sisters who had been forced to swim with piranhas....a clear link between human and animal trafficking. Circuses are not just a matter of bad taste but a matter of violation of human and animal rights. Time to pull the plug!

Italian Minister of Agriculture's proposal to name 'Mediterranean diet' as a World Heritage may sound a bit surreal but the underlying forces may be a contest between bodies such as FAO (based in Italy) UNESCO (based in France) the EU and the World Trade Organisation. A lot of money to be made in the protected 'appelation d'origine' industry...There is also a danger that if we are to recklessly expand the definition of world heritage beyond natural areas and cultural relics to include commercial products, the whole concept may become discredited. Meanwhile it is already hard to manage and protect existing world heritage sites with 30 such sites being officially in dangerHowever, traditional food making facilities can indeed be recognised as part of a country's heritage, but they have to be something truly spectacular to acquire world heritage status.

ever wondered why you have to *pay* an intermediary to 'offset' your emissions? Offset them yourself without paying, by walking to work, not eating meat, by not buying useless items, by giving directly to a green cause of your choice!It seems it is getting harder for them to sell these days: we received a spam email which offered us to "create an offsetting product of our own"... Which means that these folks are propagating themselves like geraniums, pyramid-scheme like. So next time you try clicking n offsetting at a website, imagine how many irrelevant profit margins and administration costs you will be covering. (see, if you spam many people what happens? you may end up annoying the wrong person). Oh, yes, and the funny part is when the spammers mention you must keep the email content confidential Don't worry, don't worry.

Farewell to our friend and member Kostas Papastathopoulos who suddenly passed away. The happiest and most positive person who had achieved many professional goals but also found time for his beloved wife, two young children, his ancestral village and vineyard, always with a smile. Why do good people have to die young? Why are billions wasted on means of destruction and not spent on much needed cures?

a thought: animals spend most of their time foraging, while humans spend most of their time working, allegedly so that they can indirectly forage (buying food with money), but also so that they can be seen from their peers that they forage, as idleness is taboo. An evolution leftover? How about leisure & free time management in primates? Precious little can be found online on this.Somewhat related research:http://www.cambridge.org/catalogue/catalog...isbn=0521858372http://www.unisci.com/stories/20021/0218021.htm

A consultant friend sent this as a holiday greeting SEASONAL GREETING MEMORANDUMFrom us ("the wishor") to you ("hereinafter referred to as the “wishee”), please accept without obligation, implied or implicit, our best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, politically correct, low stress, non-addictive, gender neutral, celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasions and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all...and a financially successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2008, but with due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures or sects, and having regard to the race, creed, colour, age, physical ability, religious faith, choice of computer platform or dietary preference of the wishee.By accepting this...

Shame to the Austin-Texas disco that decided to install a concrete shark tank in the middle of a dancehall lounge, for the 'pleasure' of its patrons, supposedly to 'raise environmental awareness'... Sea Shepherd is rightly protesting about it.The video struck me as something right out of the decadent stages of the Roman Empire. Sharks dancing with sharks.

It may not come as a surprise to university professors butit's really funny - watching 3 videoswhere young chimps outperform university students http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7124156.stmWhile humans exterminate each other with ever greaterefficiency, and argue over the names of teddybears,our cousins are already learning to count.Maybe they should take over at some stage,making Darwin and Pierre Boule proud.

40 years ago, at the height of the cold war, the lonely foreign revolutionary on a quixotic quest to overthrow the status quo was betrayed, and then cowardly & hastily executed, probably by remote control. Yesterday, a democratically elected, progressive and indigenous president of that same country visited his grave and paid homage to his ideas, while castigating the 'great satan'. There is an irony somewhere in all this. What is certain however, is that there is much less fear nowadays & much more information available to the common man, which is positive, as people are able to think for themselves. But they should study too, including history so that it may stop repeating itself.

BBC has today acquired Lonely Planet. I always have a feeling of sadness when founders feel inclined to sell, invariably recognising that it is for the common good, that they are certain that their ideals will be respected etc etc. This is rarely so of course, and a few sales down the road (a bought company rarely stays in the hands of the buyer) you are dealing with a wholly different beast. This of course may not be the case here, as travel guides carry sociopolitical & geopolitical clout, and at the hands of a state-owned agency they can work 'miracles'...A look into the ownership of other major travel guides would surely reveal interesting things.