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Transition Towns in the Illawarra (First Meeting 23 August!)
Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

Dear friend,

You are invited to attend the first meeting of Transition Illawarra.

When: 2pm Saturday 23 August 2008
Where: Project Contemporary Art Space, 255 Keira Street, Wollongong

The Transition model offers communities a unique way of responding to Peak Oil and Climate Change. Our community has the capability and will to increase local resilience and drastically reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. By coming together, we can develop and implement solutions.

The purposes of this first meeting will be to (1) explore what a Transition Town means and (2) establish a steering committee.

This will be an open space meeting. This means that participants define the agenda, and may adjust it as the meeting proceeds. Further purposes of the meeting may be determined by participants.

For further information about Transition Towns, please see www.transitiontowns.org

If you have questions please contact Keely Boom by email (keelyboom@gmail.com) or phone (0418884804).

Please help spread the word. The meeting is open to anyone and everyone.

See you there!

P.S. We have a Facebook group (Transition Illawarra). Feel free to join!

July 29, 2008 | 8:36 AM Comments  0 comments

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The unfinished work of my hero...

I was listening to a Ben Harper song recently and heard some powerful words. “The unfinished work of our heroes must truly be our own.”

My hero is, without a doubt, Mohandas Gandhi. He had a few things that he felt he left unfinished (untouchability and the Muslim/Hindu divide among them). But in his autobiography the unfinished work that he laments most strongly is his failure to liberate our fellow creatures. Unfortunately I don’t have his autobiography here, so will have to share the quote once I get back to Australia.

This is the unfinished work of my hero that is my own.

We search for intelligent life in the rest of the universe. We dream that in this big, big universe “we are not alone.” The discovery of minerals and matter on Mars that shows some faint possibility of life makes headlines. The possibilities of a distant star and a neighbouring planet like our own light years away excites scientists, astronomers and the lay alike. Stories of aliens capture imaginations and bring the creation of science fiction books and movies.

But we are not alone. All around us, we are surrounded by intelligent life forms that breathe, eat, drink, love, show compassion and companionship. They are troubled by fear and will cry out in pain. They bound about with youth, then care for their young, and finally slow down in old age. Every one of us has interacted in some way with these life forms. Most of these creatures we give the name “animals.”

In the aftermath of the tsunami, it was revealed that no elephants died. Indeed, in the Yala national park of Sri Lanka, not a single animal carcass was found. Amazingly, these animals had sensed the coming danger and knew to go to higher ground. Working elephants in Thailand even picked up people and carried them on their backs to safety. This is but a small taste of what our fellow creatures do in our world. What they offer besides their flesh and skins.

The immense intelligence, compassion and complicated relationships these beautiful and spiritual beings demonstrate should captivate us. Imagine that any of these animals were found on a neighbouring planet. We would strive to communicate, to understand, to learn; and we would show respect. We would not see our difficulties in communicating to mean that they are below us. We would realise that these differences are characteristics to be truly celebrated.

I find it incredible that despite this, for most people, the dominant thoughts about our fellow creatures is what dish to make out of them.

Life is life. Pain is pain. Death is death.

I have heard that it is hard to give up “meat”. I have heard that we need to eat “meat”.

For me, well, I’ve never eaten any of our fellow creatures. Their blood is not on my hands. But I have been a witness. I have sat down so many times to a table where the remains of my fellow creatures have been served up. I have talked with people as they crewed on bones and cooked flesh. I have lived in houses where the fridges and freezes seem like crime zones for the remains of slaughtered females and males, and babies, are preserved within.

As someone who was raised in a vegetarian household, I am continually overwhelmed and disturbed by the way the world is. I will always have my separate meal, but I cannot help but feel that I am letting fellow life down when I sit at that table. It is a denial of truth and I am constantly fighting my urge to walk away in protest.

My reasoning for staying is that in showing people my meal, that by answering those predictable questions, I may help bring more people to this way of life. Over the years I have seen this happen. But not enough. Not near enough.

I really don’t know how much more I can take of this horror. I am realising that I must speak up. I will never try to force my opinions on someone. But I refuse to be a bystander to cruelty and suffering. I will bear witness. I will be a force for change.

There will always be people who get some enjoyment from killing others. We can do things to bring them back to the light, with patience and love. But we can not let them influence our group ethics to such a degree any more. The time for violence and greed is over.

For anyone who today eats flesh, I ask you to please stop. Gandhi believed that we can each find the truth through experimenting. Society tells us that there is nothing wrong with taking the lives of cows, sheep, pigs and other creatures. What I ask of you is to consider that perhaps society is wrong. Experiment with a new way of life. You will be welcomed.

July 8, 2007 | 10:49 AM Comments  1 comments

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China: The price is freedom
Related to country: China


China has been pretty overwhelming for me. Shanghai is a huge city with buildings that hold 2,000-3,000 people. The buildings are exactly the same, literally there'd be 20 or 30 buildings that are exactly the same all next to each other. And then down on the ground there's beggars. More beggars than I've ever seen before. Mostly old men, some families, some mums with their little children/child. They all get ignored by the high flyers or should I say high risers. On my first night I went out with a friend of mine. I was simply overwhelmed by the number of beggars. My belief is that you should always give, but as soon as I gave I was surrounded by all the other beggars around and they all wanted more more more. I came across a man in a really horrific way. He would have been 60 years old, he was laying face down on the ground, sobbing and banging
his head on the cement. This was next to the Bund which is a huge tourist attraction. I walked past him with my friend and her family and came up to the Bund (basically just a platform on the harbour) where there was a huge crowd of people taking photos of all the tall buildings and flashy light displays, laughing and smiling, and I just felt sick. I went back to the man and sat with him. I put my hand under his head so he wouldn't be banging it anymore. At some point I started crying with him. I can't remember exactly. He ended up sitting up. Seeing the tears falling down his face made me even worse. Then I became aware that people were stopping around us. I couldn't look at them but started to feel some hope that perhaps they (mostly Chinese people) would help. How mistaken I was. They all started taking photos like this man and I were some sort of tourist attraction. It was
SICKENING. The man then got scared and got up on his frail legs. His legs were bowed out, he didn't have any shoes, his feet were filthy and battered, like all of his body. He had a small black plastic bag that I suppose his whole life is in. He stumbled away, I went with him for a little while, he was still sobbing, and then he said bye and went off, with this look of fright and pain on his face that burns in me. That was my introduction to Shanghai.

The next day was much better as a truly extraordinary thing happened to me, I would call it a miracle. I came into the city by the metro, got out and started walking down Central Tibet Road. I didn't get very far before I came across a musician. The music was utterly captivating, and though it was in Chinese I would tell immediately that he was there with a message. He was a hippie, young man with long hair, a look of determination on his face. He had posters set out on the ground in front of him. Clearly his message was a political one. There was a big crowd around him. I listened to him, took photos of him. As I started taking photos of his posters he was pulled up. It
was the police. The police woman spoke to him and the musician had a friend that rolled up the posters while the musician packed up his guitar and amp. I tried to speak to him but he didn't speak English. So I just gave him the thumbs up and then clapped for him. I expected everyone else to join me in clapping but no one else did. Anyway, the musician said thank you to me a number of times and then left. I felt so inspired by him and the courage he had shown. I don't think this sort of thing happens often in China and so I believe I am truly blessed to have been a witness and minor participant in such an event. I realise that there was some risk for me being there, taking photos,
but really my risk of having my camera taken, being deported etc is nothing compared to what he risked. Showing him support was the least I could do. I was disappointed after though, when I told my friend about it she wasn't the least bit interested in the musician's message or courage, and instead told me off as she considered that I was putting her and her husband at risk since I was staying with her. It is amazing how powerful fear can be.

Xian has been similar but perhaps a bit better. The Terracotta warriors were simply amazing. Completely violence/killing-worship in nature but nonetheless very interesting. There is a huge amount of beggars here. Again I was overwhelmed by them, I gave some money and then was swamped by them. I ended going to a market and buying some green bean cake which comes in little packets and giving out handfuls of those. All of the beggars loved them and I had heaps to spare so I think I'm just going to go around with reserves from now on. The last lady and child I gave them to were asleep on the pavement the first time I passed, and then when I gave them the green bean cake they were both so happy that as I walked away I would glance back and the lady
would wave to me, a big smi le on her face. The beggars are certainly overwhelming, but the reward for showing them kindness is immeasurable. I just wish I was here for longer and could get them into shelters with some sort of long-term solution.

These experiences are helping me develop my understanding of the world. Our world is so wrong. I should mention, the pollution here is horrific - the rivers, the air, everything is simply awful. To the
level that it is ever present and makes people sick - from the rich to the poor. The problem in all this is that for some bizarre reason we value material outcomes in life, the fancy apartments, the gadgets, the fancy clothes, all the status symbols that we can get our hands on. We value
being number 1, the competitive spirit infects all of us. This form of living means that a person can exploit another, feel as though they are not responsible for another's misery, and then amazingly walk past someone who is suffering and is truly desperate and not even glance at them. They do not feel the need to show compassion as they have all their status symbols and a beggar can offer them no more material benefits or help them climb the social ladder. This is all terribly wrong. To my mind and heart, a society that creates and reinforces this world (and let's face it, Australia is pretty much exactly the same) is a society that has failed. What does any of that flashy crap
mean if even one person's suffering is ignored, or if the land is polluted and exploited so badly that the only fitting term is "rape". I'm sick of it all. I simply can't believe that people buy in for this crap.

On my bright note, I do feel hope when I think of that musician. I had another friend translate some of the posters and he couldn't get it all but it said something like "People are suffering" and "This has gone on too long." I am so inspired by this musician's courage, his commitment to truth and kindness, his determination. As long as there are people like him there is hope. At the spiritual level, I know that I was meant to see this man. Neither of my friends have ever seen anything like this
despite living in Shanghai for some time. I didn't go out looking for political protesters, I was just strolling along being a tourist. I believe my spirit guided me there and guided my actions. Before seeing him I was having that awful feeling again that I am such a freak that I question whether I belong here at all. But I know that I belonged in that moment, my applause was the perfect match for his music, just as I belonged with that old beggar. Even when we're in the smallest minority, even just of one, we still belong.

So this has been China. I go to Beijing today and then leave on Wednesday on the trans-siberian. This is a long blog so if you've got this far BRAVO!! Peace, Keely

May 17, 2007 | 9:18 PM Comments  0 comments

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Be realistic

"Be realistic," you say to me,
But to be realistic, is to believe.
Recognise the problems in our world,
But know that we can alter all this and more.
Recognise your own failings and sin,
But never doubt the power and strength within.
This Truth comes from the depths of my soul,
If you understand, you won't say I'm a fool.
Naivety isn't in our great dream,
But when our fear hides what we harbour within.
The world you dream of is within your grasp,
It is just your doubt that stands in its path.
So join me now and shake all that free,
Let's be realistic, rid of naivety.

May 1, 2007 | 10:45 AM Comments  1 comments

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Pigs sentenced to another 10 years of cruelty

On April 20th, nine Australian politicians charged with the responsibility of reviewing cruel pig industry practices voted to allow the use of inhumane sow stalls to continue unabated for another decade.

These politicians ignored community views, pre-eminent science, international precedents and their ethical responsibilities to provide millions of Australian animals with fair and just governance.

This shameful decision will leave Australia behind other Western countries that have acted to ban or phase out the use of cruel sow stalls.

All is not lost. Recently the world's largest pig producer—US-based Smithfield Foods—announced a voluntary phase out of sow stalls over the next decade. The following week Canada's largest pig producer followed suit.

These decisions were not forced by governments; they were forced by community concern. In the US Burger King (Hungry Jacks in Australia) and major supermarkets have listened to consumers and have committed to sourcing free-range products—their purchasing power is underpinning the decisions by pig producers to end cruel practices.

Change for Australian pigs will be brought about when these powerful companies are made aware that civilised societies will no longer tolerate industrialised animal cruelty.

It is time to make uncaring politicians irrelevant.

Please take a moment to send this important message. Tell McDonald's, Hungry Jack's and Subway that whilst Australian politicians don't care about animal cruelty—you do.


Take action and send your message here: http://www.savebabe.com/eupdate/takeAction.html

All info taken from www.savebabe.com


April 30, 2007 | 11:45 PM Comments  0 comments

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