I am looking at the wonderful resource of traditional medicines from indigenous rain forest regions and seeing how the forests are getting mown down, slash, bun and palm oil.



YouTube banned Greenpeaces protest video (don't click this link, you have been warned http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/files/po/index.html?gclid=CIO-gqL5n6ECFSJl4wodO3_YvA

if you do click it don't watch the video it is… Continue

I am trying to make a Venus of Willendorf type symbol the original (below) is 20 to 30 thousand years old. It is not clear what it symbolised when it was made. I take it as a symbol of a matrilinear orientation, she is a guardian of the home and the fire.



It is a symbol that expresses the value of a society which provides a stable environment for families to flourish. This type of society is… Continue

Every municipal building, every factory and hangar have solar pannels covering their roofs. All hospitals and schools have Energy Provided Status. Throughout the city there are pavements and roads which make use of previously wasted energy. This energy is provided as a greatly reduced cost for vehicles and so many vehicles in the city have been converted to use electrical power. This is being taken up through out the country so the number of cars which are bi fuel will eventually convert to… Continue

I am having some difficulty getting the resillience plans for hte city nearest me and will go up to the town hall soon... however in the meantime I can see that they will be thinking about greening the city and the wise and innovative use of energy:

Pavement power lights up Toulouse

Electricity generated by pedestrians used to illuminate street lights in France's technology…

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In 2001 three miles from my city centre a fertilizer factory, part of the Total group, blew up. 30 people died, thousands were injured and a pall of fumes hung over the city.

There could have been many more fatalities. Directly across the river there was another… Continue

Rawa wasn't one of the global projects designed to provide equal education and economic opportunity to women by the game but as an afghan womans organisation set up in 1977 it seemed like one that should have been mentioned and was the one I chose to support. Life in 2020 for Afghan women has changed greatly. One of the daughters of the Afghan poet and leader Massoud is now president, she is nationally and internationally respected and her…

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This is from the Afghan Women's Organisation news feed.



http://www.rawa.org/rawa/2009/12/06/not-all-feminists-love-escalation-in-afghanistan.html



'The US "War on terrorism" removed the Taliban regime in October 2001, but it has not removed religious fundamentalism which is the main cause of all our miseries. In fact, by… Continue

http://www.rawa.org/x-courses.htm



RAWA is Afghan women doing great work with Afghan Women and Children.





If you follow the links you can see that it is not easy to donate to them there are a number of methods, the easiest is by card but you have to do it through another aid organisation in America.



It might help to set it up for them directly. I don't know how to do… Continue

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I wrote this after reading Evokes week six story.



It would be wrong to think that inequality was an islamic problem or something caused by islamic militants.



Although only 20 economies have equal rights for women and men in those countries it is obvious equal rights don't mean equality. Equality and Women's rights are live issues where ever you find yourself in the world.





Interesting statistics from:…



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I have just tried to see a.v.koshy's page and I can't find it. First I tried the leader board link because I was interested to see what he had written for Imagine5, it didn't link. Then on my friend page he seems to have disappeared.
Can anyone help?
Thanks

1. Along with learning a bit about money and alternative finance this week I have been able to put some of this learning instantly and easily into practice thanks to Mark Mulkerin's excellent new Evoke banking system.



2. Through the Evoke Kiva group (which was wonderfully easy to use) I was able to make a micro loan. Thank you and well done for setting it up to… Continue

Wintermute says 'There are 15,000 Evoke agents and I am only friends with 150 of them. I am magnitudes away from being in touch with everyone.' He is doing pretty well all the same.



I would like to know how many of the 15000 are participating and continuing to participate. Is there a list somewhere of these people and how many are on it? The list with the newest heroes and emerging heroes is good but in… Continue

The triple bottom line: people, planet, profit has the ability to change the future of money forever. Not as a new money system but a new way of using the old one. A new type of accounting. In businesses money or profit is traditionally the bottom line but some businesses and… Continue

For some reason Sophie Sensuryia's blog reminded me of a story of another hero. I came across some months back on the BBC website.

Barbar Ali was one of the few children of his village who were able to afford the bus fare, clothes and costs to go the local school some miles away and so… Continue

A real idea is rarely original, is it?



While thinking about economics, very rich people and giving money away, I came across this excellent explanation of the Slate 60.



The Slate 60 list is of Americas Top 60 most generous givers. I am quoting from an article about it below but the wh*** article is worth reading and highlights the fact… Continue

I appreciate the idea of micro finance, lets schemes, community banks, building communities and resilience.



They all make life more possible, give hope and target emergency situations.



But they are not breakthrough solutions that will change the future of money forever.





40% of the worlds entire wealth is held by… Continue

Inspired by a.v.koshy I have been reading Tagore. This poem seems like a good message for us when these ten weeks are over.



Leave This.



Leave this chanting and singing and telling of beads!

Whom dost thou worship in this lonely dark corner of a temple with doors all shut?

Open thine eyes and see thy God is not before… Continue