ECOCLUB Blogs™

Along with the mainstreaming of worries for Climate Change, there are sinister attempts through a revival of long-discredited malthusianism, to blame it on the many have-nots rather than the few haves, on overpopulation rather than on capitalism, on some of the symptoms rather than the causes. The 8-point platform of 'Deep Ecology', written by Arne Naess and George Sessions,  contains an arbitrary malthusian argument that is very hard to digest: "The flourishing of human life and cultures is compatible with a *substantial decrease* of the human population. The flourishing of nonhuman life *requires* such a decrease." Most of the other 7 points are apolitical truisms ("Eco-La-La" a la Bookchin) talking about..."humans" in general. Arne Naess, the founder of Deep Ecology, was a very affluent dweller of a very affluent country, in fact the younger brother of the famous Norwegian shipping magnate Erling Dekke Naess. Indeed many radical philosophers and leaders (such as Engels and Marx, Kropotkin, Bakunin, Castro, Che) were also offsprings of the bourgeoisie and of the aristocracy, however they went against the interests of their class, and suffered to various degrees for it. Naess, perhaps the youngest ever university philosophy professor at 27 y.o., went mountaineering and had time...

The Kalash people, living in Bumburate, Birir and Rumbur valleys of the district, began to celebrate their winter festival Chitramas on Wednesday with spiritual zeal. The final day of the weeklong festival coincides with the first day of the new year of Kalash calendar. In every village, some Kalash men and women volunteer to confine themselves in a cattle pen. The tradition is called Autik, which means ‘to get secluded’ in the local dialect. The secluded persons completely insulate themselves from other people during the week and eat the meat of slaughtered goats, drink and pass time in merrymaking. The elder Kalash congregate on the hilltops or plateaus to observe the movement of sun on the basis of which they declare the advent of new year on the final day of the festival. Tash Khan, a Kalash youth from Rumbur valley, working at a government office in Chitral city, said he availed a week leave to participate in the festival but failed to enlist himself among the people on seclusion. He said during Autik even a sight of other people was believed to pollute them. “Kalash slaughter their goats, mostly one goat per adult man or woman, on the concluding day...

University of Missouri and Crete’s Culinary Sanctuaries 10-Day Seminar Study Abroad in Greece: The Mediterranean Diet and Lifestyle May 17 - 27, 2011 Students will study aspects of the Mediterranean diet through activities: visits to organic farms, markets and olive oil producers, food preparation demonstrations and classes. The program includes private tours of historic sites, botanical hikes, cultural activities and community-based tourism projects. Learning opportunities will be provided by MU Nutrition and Exercise Physiology faculty, Professional Chef-Instructor Nikki Rose and Crete’s Culinary Sanctuaries Eco-Agritourism Network (8-days in Crete) and Antonia Trichopoulou, PhD, Mediterranean Diet researcher, University of Athens, (2-days in Athens). This program is also open to teachers and students of other educational institutions (based on availability). Limited to 20 participants. UM program details: http://extension.missouri.edu/hes/studyabroad/Greece/ Crete’s Culinary Sanctuaries: www.cookingincrete.com

  Mention Pulau Perhentian, Malaysia, and people would think of the sandy beach island getaway. Quiz them more, and people may say turtles. Perhentian, which means “stop-over” in Malay, is one of the islands in Malaysia where sea turtles can still be spotted either on the beach laying eggs or swimming in the water. Turtles discovered Perhentian long before humans arrived. They thrived for thousands of years, but are now struggling to survive. At present, there are just a handful of turtle nests found of the Hawksbill, Leatherback and Olive Ridley species. Only the Green turtles have a chance to maintain their numbers with more than 2000 nests per year along a coastline of more than 300km. Considering that each nest has an average of 100 eggs, but only one in 10,000 turtle hatchlings becomes an adult, the handful of nesting numbers virtually means that the three species of sea turtles are almost locally extinct.  Perhentian is a popular backpacker haven where many go for snorkelling or diving activities to see turtles swim gracefully underwater. However, many of these visitors are uninformed of the ethics when being in the water, and they have no qualms about touching or chasing the turtles....

Greetings, Crete’s Culinary Sanctuaries 2-Day Seminars Discover a taste of Crete's fascinating cultural and culinary heritage.  Enjoy private guided tours of ancient sites, historic villages, an organic winery and organic vegetable garden. Savor wonderful fresh and local cuisine along the way. This program is limited to 12 attendees, providing a unique opportunity to discover Crete's heritage in the company of resident specialists. Available Dates in 2011 (please contact us first to confirm space is still available): May 10 and 11 June 21 and 22 June 28 and 29 Details are on the Schedule Page of our website. Crete's Culinary Sanctuaries Eco-Agritourism Network www. cookingincrete.com

Normal 0 false false false EN-GB X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Considering that not only diplomacy and international relations, but the modern human (capitalist) civilization itself, is built on lies, small and large, it takes a Hero-madman, the first  Internet Hero (although we could also add the founders of Wikipedia), Julian Assange, to reveal global hypocricy (...in installments). Wikileaks has proven that the Internet is still not controlled by the state, the superpowers and the corporates, and that people power is a match for the military-industrial complex, the war mongers. Each one of us can and should become an Assange, against violence exploitation of all types. And already wikileaks mirrors and offshoots are popping up. The incident has also proven, as if proof was needed, of the limitations and dependencies of the corporate part of the Internet, as providers were quick to shut Wikileaks down under heavy pressure from the system, as did the monopoly (another scandal) which controls credit card and online payments. Because we do need another Internet, to bring about another world.  As George Monbiot rightly points out, we need to "reclaim the cyber-commons". And we do need Heroes, besides collective action and coordination, and we are not likely to...

Last week I was invited to participate in a UNEP-sponsored ‘International Year of Biodiversity’ conference held in Athens, organized by MedSOS, a leading Greek environmental NGO, a genuine one, focusing on marine and coastal pollution.  The conference was held a few days before a new biodiversity legal framework is brought to parliament, at a time when the financial crisis which brought us the IMF is increasing development pressures for neoliberal recipes such as a controversial “fast-track” plan to facilitate large scale foreign investments and circumvent environmental legislation, local protests and other civilized niceties. The subtitle of the conference could have been: “what happens when EU subsidies, including subsidies for environmental conservation, dry out”? There were representatives from most protected area management bodies, all complaining about lack of state funding,  lack of authority to do something about issues such as illegal hunting and fishing and pollution. In private conversations one could also hear of more juicy bits, such as allegations of nepotism and mismanagement. Even this picture is an improvement from the situation under the previous conservative government, which largely ignored the issue of environmental protection in favour of unsustainable pharaonic developments. The conference was very interesting however it was mostly attended...

  Greetings, A short slide show of Crete's Culinary Sanctuaries Historic Food and Wine Routes Seminar is up!  http://www.14dd5266c70789bdc806364df4586335-gdprlock/watch?v=RGED3W_SGRA Also, deadline for scholarships is December 1st. Information on our Schedule page. http://www.cookingincrete.com/Schedule.html Best regards, Nikki

Tourism businesses on Vancouver Island have turned winter storms into a major tourism attraction. Each fall and winter people drive to the windy road to Tofino on the west coast to watch the big storms roll in from the Pacific. Keys to a great storm watching experience are a comfortable room to while the time away. Good eats and a wide selection of reading material help as well! To see more watch http://www.14dd5266c70789bdc806364df4586335-gdprlock/user/Reinventure?feature=mhum#p/a/u/0/D0LA9Tqcos4

  As a small boy Nick Hogervorst(20) from Holland loved to watch wildlife documentaries on the Discovery channel. Especially Africa drew his attention. When he got older he really went for the adventure. A three months trip to south Africa, an amazing experience. Now back in Holland he shakes up the world. Be careful with nature! “Most of my toys were plastic wild animals or stuffed animals”, is what he remembers. “ and besides my uncle had a dairy farm where I often stayed in the holidays and helped out. I think this is where my passion for animals developed.” After High school Nick started a study to become a veterinary assistant. the plan was to study further and become a vet. But after a while the study started to bore him so it appeared not to be the right choice. “I needed to get out and do something completely different” “With my mum I stated to look at travel agencies. I always wanted to experience Africa. After a few weeks we found the perfect organization with amazing projects. After a intensive preparation I went to Hoedspruit, South Africa. Where I had the best 12 weeks of my life! I got...