An ancient shelter taking in weary travelers hiding from the rain, sleepy lovers resting after a picnic and a passionate bonding. Children playing games by hiding from one another and those looking for somewhere quiet and private to contemplate. The Willow tree has had many guests under neath her welcoming arms. Including your humble author. As an unpopular, serious minded kid I found the willow as a great hiding place from the torment of the popular crowd--you know, "The Chosen Ones." She never asked questions and just gave me a serene sanctuary to read within.
Surrounded by living walls I always felt (and still do) a stable yet comforting energy that gives her space a feeling of a rest stop for pilgrims along the journey of life. She is a good listener as she is always to some degree mourning for the loss of all dying green, growing life as evidenced by her sagging limbs. When tears rain down upon red, angry cheeks she sways her arms and emits a hushing noise as if to console the distraught looking for a place to let it all out in private.
All secrets are safe within her core for she is understands the pain of betrayal from double talking humans killing tree groves they previously honored. She would never hurt others as was done to her. She just doesn't have that within her nature -- she welcomes all without question. She is the mother of all that grows and I honor her this day. May she and her offspring grow forever upon this green planet.
I'm not going to repost the offensive comments but suffice to say they were bigoted. Johnny defended himself well and held his gorgeous head up high. He's such a classy guy and I would love to have a conversation with him. I bet we'd have a lot in common actually. He's an inspiration--even for a 34 year old guy like me. I especially liked what he said about the line between masculinity and femininity being old-fashioned. Go Johnny go go go!!
An hour outside Manaus, the Amazon's biggest city, the blackened remains of a virgin forest smolder. Chain saws whine. And Jonas Mendes tosses logs, one after another, into his kiln. "I know it's wrong to cut down the trees," said Mendes, 48, sweat streaming down his neck and torso. "But I have no other way to make a living." If the Obama administration succeeds in its pledge to curb climate change, billions could flow from the U.S. to help forest dwellers such as Mendes change their ways. Governors of the Brazilian Amazon's nine states are pushing the U.S. and other industrial nations to invest in projects under rules known as REDD -- or Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation -- that are being designed through the auspices of the United Nations.
Under pending legislation to cap greenhouse gases, the U.S. government would auction emission allowances, funneling as much as $3 billion from the annual proceeds into rain forest protection. U.S. companies facing carbon controls could meet part of their obligations by investing as much as $13 billion a year by 2020 to preserve forests. The reason? Slash-and-burn deforestation accounts for about 15% of humanity's carbon dioxide emissions. Despite activists' efforts, forests have been disappearing at the rate of about 34 million acres a year for the last two decades. Globally, Indonesia and Brazil are the third- and fourth-largest emitters respectively of greenhouse gases, after China and the U.S., because of their breakneck pace of forest destruction.
Saving the Amazon, Earth's largest tropical jungle, can be a cheaper and faster way to avoid greenhouse gas emissions than replacing coal-fired power plants with renewable energy or switching to electric cars -- although all such measures are considered necessary by climate experts.
Green Man: I first heard about this idea when the government of Guyana announced that some European countries are buying emission allowances to protect the forests there, which are some of the last virgin stands in the world. Some people in the United States though don't see the upside to this idea--they think we're just redistributing wealthy to poorer countries with nothing in exchange. That is a myopic way of looking at the situation though because if we just continue to allow the free market to go unfettered without pollution controls then there will be no world for these companies to live in, work, in and enjoy their money upon. In the rich countries we don't see the consequences of our everyday actions so much as the places who are getting hit first with environmental degradation. We don't see on a daily basis the island nations whose rural livelihood is being directly threatened but yet they did nothing to bring such trouble upon themselves. Yet in the cruel twisting of fate they have to pay for our mess first.
What's in it for the wealthier countries? A clean environment where our children and grandchildren can thrive. I never understood how the American Conservatives are so against protecting the environment when it has direct repercussions for their families. I say this because, ironically, they are very much in support of strong families and protecting their posterity!!
The Amazon along with all the other big forests around the world are our lungs as well as our liver and kidneys, filtering out the toxic gases and it should be starkly clear that any organism can't survive without its physiological systems intact. Well, the Earth is just as alive as any other being on Earth. It's constantly moving, growing, changing and just like all organisms it can get sick. The Earth has "physiological systems" at work in the air, water, earth and fire. It all has to be balanced or the perfect conditions for ALL life to thrive within will die. This should have been plainly made clear in school for most people when discussing the basic "food chain" concept. If one of the animals in the food chain goes extinct (say a predator) then it throws the balance of nature completely off and you get over-population of species, which in turn depletes the grasses and on and one the domino effect goes. How would it be any different for the plant life growing on Earth?
We need to stop looking at the environment as optional and realize that NOTHING, literally NOTHING else is possible in this life without it. I don't care how big your house is, how much money you have or how healthy you are right now because if we don't clean up our environment and get the cycles back in order then we'll all be dead. I'm not being hyperbolic on this--It's a really crisis. There won't be another chance to make up for missing the boat on this one. It's not like we can always revisit the issue like other issues before governments such as health care programs and such. We have one shot, one opportunity and it would be a shame if we humans were the ones to fuck it all up. It would be shame because it would be our own damn fault. We'd be nothing better than a stupid parasite who killed off its host and thus it as well.
And isn't it better to be safe than sorry? If for some reason ALL the scientists in the world are wrong and Earth will be just fine then at least we protected the last natural places on the planet. Open air museums for our children and grandchildren to visit. And if nothing else we will have created a whole new economy for the world in green energy, which will also free us from foreign oil imported from countries who don't like us anyway!! It's win-win situation either way if you ask me!! I really encourage you to read the rest of the article because it goes into so many great points that I don't have space or time to extrapolate upon them here. Click here for the full article.
One of my favorite sports in the Winter Olympics is figure skating. It requires more strength than I think most people realize. They make it look easy but I challenge any man who thinks the male figure skaters are just, "girly men" to do what they do. They wouldn't be able to jump an inch off the ground and land it--let alone do three, four spins in the air and then land!! As for me, I like a "girly man" anyway.
The skater I like most in the 2010 Vancouver Olympics is Johnny Weir (pictured above) as he has the perfect balance of talent, strength and flamboyancy. He is a three time U.S. National Figure Skating Champion. I love his flair and exuberance for life and skating. He's so elegant, hypnotically graceful, artistic and really damn sexy. He's muscular, but not with that over-cooked, "hot dog look" of bulky muscles--he's more toned with a lean figure that makes my knees weak. And look at that ass peeking out from his pants--too bad figure skating isn't done in the nude!! I doubt that there isn't a part of his body that's not, *ahem* toned.
Weir showed in this response to the obsession with his sexuality, a maturity beyond his 25 years:
"People talk. Figure skating is thought of as a female sport, something that only girly men compete in. I don't feel the need to express my sexual being because it's not part of my sport and it's private. I can sleep with whomever I choose and it doesn't affect what I'm doing on the ice, so speculation is speculation." And: "I like nice things, and beautiful things, so if that is the only way people are determining that I swing one way or the other, then to me, that's sad. I am who I am, and I don't need to justify anything to anyone.
And, "There are some things I keep sacred,” Weir said. “My middle name. Who I sleep with. And what kind of hand moisturizer I use."
Green Man: O.k., enough with the maturity--bring on more photos of Johnny Be Bad, er, Good!! How can you not like, and/or respect a man who has the self-confidence to rock 6 inch heels?!! And as if he wasn't sexy enough, Johnny speaks both French and Russian--two of the sexiest languages in my opinion. I'm pretty fluent in French from having lived in French speaking West Africa for a couple of years. So I'm sure we could converse together as he relaxes his muscles in a hot tub after a tiring figure skating competition...Ooo la la!! It's getting hot in here so I'll focus (or try) on some other details about the beloved eccentric skater. But I love that sassy attitude he's flashing in this picture below:
I must, however, take him to task on wearing fur--that's a turn off Johnny, but before you bombard my man-crush with hate mail, he has stopped wearing it after complaints. I hope he will continue to avoid fur in the future. And to the delight of this animal lover, (me) he has two pet chihuahuas named: Bon Bon and Vanya--cute. Sundance Channel did a reality show following Johnny around--here's the website for clips where he is often not wearing a shirt!! And in this clip--not much more!! Johnny, you so bad, you good!!
The 2010 Vancouver Olympics and some of the athletes have embraced Pagan cultures' symbols and designs. For a more in-depth read on that--please visit my good friend, Riverwolf. In this post I'd like to write about the logo for this Olympics named, Ilanaaq the Inunnguaq. The Inunnguaq are statues made from rocks stacked together to create the form of a man by the Inuit native peoples who live in the vast Canadian, Arctic lands. The word, "Inunnguaq" means, "Immitation of a person."
To these nature based/Pagan peoples these statues served as steadfast guides posts of direction when walking the vast white horizon. It would seem easy to get lost in such an all-white, monochromatic landscape and these large, contrasting gray stone guardians seem like Arctic lighthouses and landmarks for navigation as the Inuit follow the herds. Over time the Inunnguaqs' welcoming arms standing straight out from the body gave the impression of a being forever ready to offer a hug. Thus, they came to symbolize friendship and hope that even the harsh Arctic weather would not hinder the Inuit people.
The 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games emblem called Ilanaaq is a contemporary interpretation of the Inunnguaq. I like these "stone huggers" and might have to make my own small version for my altar. These stone men are some of the oldest objects placed by humans throughout the Arctic and are sometimes used to designate the memorial of a deceased loved one. If I wasn't going to be cremated, I'd want a small Inunnguaq as a memorial stone on my grave. It would sure beat the same-old boring headstones used by most people.
These stone guides remind me of Stonehenge in England, which might be why I'm so attracted to them because I am enthralled by the giant stone circle at Stonehenge. Rocks in general are sacred objects for me as they symbolize the durability of Mother Earth--mountains for example are her backbone. Their hard, strong and tough properties make it a powerful sign of endurance, safety and protection.
The New York Times had a very interesting Op-Ed Friday, which took an unusual approach to the concern that factory farms are inhumane. Adam Shriver, a doctoral student in the philosophy-neuroscience-psychology program at Washington University, makes the argument that the key to raising more humane meat isn't changing the methods by which they are raised, but to genetically engineer them so they feel less pain from their conditions.
James: Are you kidding me? This sounds like some bizarre Nazi eugenics experiment. Why don't we just genetically engineer these animals to have no legs, no eyes and no brains so that they're just a pile of meat? I think, (as a reader on Huffington Post said) it's the humans who should be genetically engineered to learn how to care for other living beings other than themselves. Better yet, maybe we should genetically engineer the homeless so that we can eat them!! Isn't it funny that we'll eat fist fulls of meat and think nothing of it but find cannibalism to be revolting? Maybe people would care more about the treatment of these animals if their meat came to them like it did when people lived on the farm--bloody, hairy and with the hooves still on it.
As it is people don't even have to think about where that meat comes from and what it looked like when that animal was slaughtered, drained of blood and skinned. People just go buy the plastic covered sanitized version, which helps them not think about where it came from. In addition, maybe people would think twice about eating if they had to kill, skin and gut their own meat. But there are other reasons to be against eating meat, "Meat production is also responsible for more greenhouse gas emissions than all modes of transportation." For these and other reasons I went vegetarian four years ago.
PHOTO: Animal rights activist Harmony Qura lays spattered with fake blood in a giant meat tray during a protest on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. on Oct. 2, 2007. Oct. 4-10 is World Farm Animals week and activists around the world are demonstrating to put an end to animal suffering at factory farms and slaughterhouses. Reuters photo: Jason Reed
Yesterday President Obama announced the building of the first nuclear reactor in decades. I'm shocked that this is happening under a democratic president but further more I'm aghast that Obama is buying into this propaganda that nuclear energy is "green" and "safe." Sure it reduces green house gases but it more than makes up for that in waste. No one has solved how to properly and safely dispose of nuclear waste, so call me a "environmental nut" all you want but I personally I don't want uranium leaking into the ground and water table. The president and others say that they want to be like France who gets like 90% of their energy from nuclear energy but for one France is a smaller country but more importantly they haven't figured out how to deal with nuclear waste:
Nuclear waste is an enormously difficult political problem which to date no country has solved. It is, in a sense, the Achilles heel of the nuclear industry. Could this issue strike down France's uniquely successful nuclear program? France's politicians and technocrats are in no doubt. If France is unable to solve this issue, says Mandil, then "I do not see how we can continue our nuclear program."
Green Man: So before they dot the countryside with nuclear reactors and turn out mountains like Yucca Mountain into hallowed out trash bins for nuclear waste perhaps we should first learn how to solve the storage problem. Otherwise it's like prescribing medications to people whose side-effect is possible cancer and/or death. This is somewhat similar to what happened with the silver and gold mining in the 19th and 20th centuries where they didn't know what to do with the toxic byproducts of mining so they just flushed it down mountain streams. Now a century or so later we are having to invest millions if not billions of dollars to "clean" them up but nuclear waste is a lot harder to "clean up" than arsenic in water. You can't just bury nuclear waste, "away"--there is no away. Geology is a very intricate science and the make up for the ground below mountains and even valleys is full of aquifers where nuclear waste could easily leach into. Sure, sounds safe to me!!
And finally, did you know that Utah is looking to import nuclear waste from other countries? I'm sure glad I don't live in Utah anymore!! Yeah, Utah is considering importation of waste from Italy. I don't want to be reliant on Middle-Eastern oil either but nuclear energy isn't the way to do it. That's like getting off heroin (oil) and switching to crack (nuclear energy). So, now America exports jobs to other countries and imports other countries radioactive waste. What a great new slogan for American tourism. "America: The World's Nuclear Waste Dump." I have an idea of where to put the waste--in the backyard of the houses of all the politicians who support nuclear energy. Oh, and interestingly President Obama took hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign donations from the nuclear energy industry. Oops.
Did you know that today is the day we celebrate a murder? Yep, Valentine's Day is in honor of a martyred priest. Doesn't exactly bring to mind romance now does it? Valentine was a Christian priest in second century Rome, which was basically like being a turd bobbing in the punch bowl at a party because Rome at this time was a Pagan stronghold. He angered the locals with his preachin' and was arrested and interrogated by Emperor Claudis II. It seems though that Claudius II was impressed with the priest and attempted to get him to become become Pagan to save his life. It was a gesture of mercy. Instead, however, Valentine tried to convert Claudius. The Emperor certainly wasn't use to being turned down and wasn't amused with his beliefs being dismissed right to his face, which clinched Valentine's execution. So, now, when I see all the red themed Valentine's Day kitsch it makes me think of Saint Valentine's body dripping white with blood. So, with that thought in mind,
"HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!!"
As for me, I don't like Valentines Day and thankfully neither does my wife. It feels contrived and just another day for corporations to rape our wallets.
It's scary how many people deny and outright HATE science!! I'm thinking most recently of the many climate change deniers. It's like shaking your fist and denying the sun!! Especially when they benefit in SO many ways from science. The really frustrating part is that some (if not many) of the benefits they experience from scientific research they probably aren't even aware of. Ignorance is a weapon of mass destruction. They love our modern medicine but when science shows that our use of fossil fuels is eroding our very thin but critical for life ozone layer, that's going too far? And I always say to them, "Isn't it better to be safe than sorry? What's the worst that happens? We free ourselves from foreign oil with green energy and in so doing create an industry that re-energizes our economy??? Sounds likes a win-win scenario to me!!
And I would venture to say that a sizable portion of the climate change deniers are conservative Christians who believe there is a man in the sky who talks to them. But climate change is where they draw the line? Seriously? Something that has been scientifically proven by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is more illogical to you than the man in the sky theory??? The IPCC is a WORLD scientific body sponsored by the United Nations to study climate change. This aren't just "liberal" scientists from America but from across the globe, o.k.? Most industrialized countries (and others) see the IPCC as authoritative.
You'd think that the American, conservative, Christian tendency of worshiping giant families would be enough to trigger them to action for the sake of their grandchildren. I guess they're willing to gamble their lives too. Family values my ass. Whatever happened to conservatives who believed in protecting nature like Teddy Roosevelt? You know, conserving our natural museums and churches? Would your belch black smoke into your sacred church or temple? Of course not, so don't belch pollution into nature's sacred temple loft, which is our atmosphere.
So either the entire world, whole nations and all its scientists are together in on some uber-conspiracy of epic proportions, (which would arguably be the biggest conspiracy of all time) or the science is right and your an asshole moron. I'm betting on the latter. Thanks climate change deniers for doing the global, climate equivalent of pissing in the public pool.
Some of the "geniuses" on the right are saying that the two day storm on the east coast this week proves that global warming isn't real. Just because the east coast gets hit with a 100 year storm doesn't mean that the rest of the time there isn't global warming. The exception of a huge snow storm doesn't disprove the over-all trend or rule. Mild temperatures in the winter mean more evaporation and thus more water in the air. So when it does snow they are monster storms. Global warming LEADS to climate change but they are not necessarily the same thing. Steven Colbert and Bill Nye, "the Science Guy" go after this latest right-wing example of sticking their heads in the sand when it comes to science:
Green Man: Elephants are some of my most favorite animals. They look ancient; almost dinosaurs. They're super smart. I saw a documentary once on this pack of elephants. They followed them around for awhile and noticed that they would travel to places where fellow elephants had died. They noticed them lovingly picking up the bones with their trunks and handling them with care. It was as if they were mourning their relative just as humans often do by visiting grave sites. This little guy seems to be having a blast in the water. It looks like it feels so good on his likely hot skin.
He even appears to rub his body along the bottom of the water against the ground for what looks like a good, natural rubdown. I like when his little trunk flaps about. They are adorable when they're young because an elephant's version of a "baby" is still pretty damn big and heavy. So, when they play, they can still knock you around. I like how their ears stand straight out to the sides of their heads, unlike the adults whose ears lay back against the head for the most part. I also like how the babies run about playing like any other baby creature with their cute baby fuzz all over their bodies. When they run it's kind of a gallop to keep up with the adults, so combined with their ears sticking straight out I just giggle every time I see them do that.
As you probably know by now I am primarily a Buddhist but with a strong Neo-Pagan influence. If you've been reading me for a while now then you also know that I like deities, Bodhisattvas and other super natural beings, but as archetypes only. They inspire, motivate and help give me strength to face the challenges of life. That is primarily because as an artist their visual representation brings their meaning and symbolism out stronger for me sometimes than just reading esoteric lines in a daunting tome.
Though don't get me wrong, I adore a good esoteric tome but they are best absorbed in my brain coupled with visual representations. These statues of beings are powerful representations of aspects that exist within all of us. Fudo Myo-o is one of the "Five Wisdom Kings" in Vajrayana Buddhism. A wisdom king is a being that is not yet a Buddha, nor Bodhisattva. They are guardians of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas--they are the gate keepers to those advanced states of being. Those states of being that unlock the doors to allow the lotus of enlightenment to unfold above the waters of fear and delusion. Of course wisdom isn't the only attribute to cultivate. The masters teach us that it must be balanced with compassion to reveal the truly balanced being that comes from realizing enlightenment. Represented by the mythological demi-Buddha, Avalokiteshvara of Kwan Yin.
Fudo Myo-o (also known as Acala in sankrit, which appropriately means "Immovable") is known for his wisdom, which compares to the development of wisdom in our practice. Fudo Myo-o is that development process--he is that state of mind, which propels us to realize greater wisdom. Meditating upon him is to remind ourselves of our potential. He is a destroyer of delusion. So, he compares to the strength and perseverance within us all to realize the hold that delusion has over our lives, and destroy it through wisdom. He reminds us that wisdom is also a sacred treasure to be protected but shared. This, "knowing" then, like a guardian protects our Buddha-to-be essence and/or our Bodhisattvas vows, which can be compared to our true nature. This wisdom protects these natures and vows from the "poisonous" influences of greed, hatred and delusions. Thus, the fierce-some appearance of the kings who will turn on even us if we miss use our wisdom.
Green Man: Happy Imbolc!! I am posting this in honor of early shoots of Spring: Environmental experts at Yale and Columbia universities released their biannual Environmental Performance Index at the World Economic Forum. The index ranks 163 nations according to their performance on 25 indicators that fall into ten policy categories, which are as follow: environmental burden of disease, air pollution (effects on humans), air pollution (effects on ecosystem), water (effects on humans), water (effects on ecosystem), biodiversity and habitat, forestry, fisheries, agriculture, and climate change. Iceland came in first:Iceland snatched the top spot with its performance on environmental public health, controlling greenhouse gas emissions, and reforestation. According to the Iceland Review, the decision ultimately came down to the fact that nearly all the country's energy comes from renewable resources, such as this geothermal plant:
Green Man: In earning my minor degree in Geography at university I took a class on natural energy and did a research paper on Iceland's use of geothermal energy. It may evoke white winter weather but it is one of the "greenest" countries in the world. In the winter the geothermal energy is so abundant that it actually warms up the asphalt roads near these plants, which helps keep them clear of ice. A quarter of Iceland's energy comes from geothermal and it meets the heating and hot water demands of 87% of Icelanders. However, Iceland's green energy doesn't stop there--75.4% of their energy comes from hydroelectric sources and only 0.1% from fossil fuels. It is one of the youngest places on Earth and also one of the most pristine natural environments in the world. So, it's easy to see why this small but technologically advanced country tops the list. Next, is meticulously clean and beautiful Switzerland:They have done much to invest in and build up environmental infrastructure as well as strong and aggressive policies to increase their green energy use and reliance. It is a mountainous country, which gives them a very clean and clear water source and the recreational options in those mountains and hills offer a great quality of life for the Swiss. As of 2007, Switzerland's overall electric production comes primarily from hydropower at 96.5%. In addition, the European alpine country have laid out an aggressive framework for rapidly increasing and investing in green energy:
In a surprising move, Switzerland has adopted one of the world's most aggressive systems of Advanced Renewable Tariffs. The Swiss, famed for conservative traditions, stodgy bankers and trains that run on time, have joined a growing list of countries using feed-in tariffs to promote the rapid development of renewable energy. Not content to start with a timid program incrementally raising the bar year by year, the Swiss federal government this spring launched a full-system of feed-in tariffs differentiated by technology, size and application. There are tariffs, or payments per kilowatt-hour (kWh), for solar photovoltaics, wind, hydro, geothermal and biomass.
Green Man: The final one that I'll mention in this post is the only non-European country in the top three--Costa Rica. It is one of the most bio-diverse environments in the world. Costa Rica has invested aggressively in its environmental tourism, which demands protection of their rain forests:
Costa Rica is looking to capitalize on its forests in ways other than eco-tourism. In 2005, Costa Rica joined a coalition of tropical developing countries that proposed a "rainforest conservation for emissions" deal at the December United Nations summit on climate change in Montreal. The plan, which was accepted by the UN, called for wealthy nations to compensate poor nations for rainforest conservation. Costa Rica already had a similar program in place which protected rainforest by selling allowances to emit greenhouses gases. In 1999, the program generated some $20 million.
Green Man: That's a very smart and understandable way to leverage their assets (nature) to gain business from it while protecting it at the same time. They have become leaders in the eco-tourism business and is part of the reason why my wife and I will be going there for our 10th wedding anniversary in April of this year. We're excited to explore the dense, green, old growth, primal cloud forests and rain forests especially.
It isn't any wonder then why Costa Rica is so proud of its environment and why so many flock to experience it from all over the world. If you go, please do your best to stay with reputable eco-lodges who are actually devoted to protecting the environment rather than cashing in on the "eco-tourism" label. Please leave it the way you found it so that humans can experience this special place for generations to come. It is a jewel in an environmentally devastated world and serves as an example of how to preserve nature while still keeping a vibrant economy.
An ancient shelter taking in weary travelers hiding from the rain, sleepy lovers resting after a picnic and a passionate bonding. Children playing games by hiding from one another and those looking for somewhere quiet and private to contemplate. The Willow tree has had many guests under neath her welcoming arms. Including your humble author. As an unpopular, serious minded kid I found the willow as a great hiding place from the torment of the popular crowd--you know, "The Chosen Ones." She never asked questions and just gave me a serene sanctuary to read within.
