June 2011 Blog Posts (11)

See original post at my personal blog: http://experimentsinappliedhumanecology.blogspot.com/

     I want to write about my recent experience at Sprog, a grassroots organizing camp that I just returned home from. I'm at a loss for where to start, what to write, and how to write it. One of the norms that we established at the beginning of Sprog was to be raggedy when you don't know exactly how to communicate…

Part 1 here, and Part 2 here, and Part 3 here, and Part 4…

Part 1 here, and Part 2 here, and Part 3 here. 

I just added an edit to yesterday's "Part 3" post, on point number 13 regarding the net…

"Most people in the industrial world today seem to have lost the ability to imagine a future that doesn’t have electricity coming out of a socket in every wall, without going to the other extreme and leaning on Hollywood clichés of universal destruction. The idea that some of the most familiar technologies of today may simply become too expensive and inefficient to maintain tomorrow is alien to ways of thought dominated by the logic of abundance.

That blindness,…

As we continue with Part 2 of this series (read Part 1 here), I should say another word about why I think this is an important article by Howard Odum. 

We are coming out of the age of abundant and cheap energy, and entering an age of scarce and expensive energy.  I am no energy expert by any means, but I think it is extremely important that we laypeople make an effort to…

The reading for next week's Folk School class on Principles and Pathways Beyond Sustainability is a "classic" article by Howard T. Odum.   Although they had never met or corresponded, Odum has been Holmgren's primary intellectual inspiration.  Footnote number 1 and  Item #1 in the List of Main References for the 1978 "Permaculture One" co-authored by Holmgren and Mollison, was Odum's 1972 book "Environment, Power, and Society."  Holmgren's 1994 article "Energy and Permaculture" is structured…

“This local law embodies the will of our residents to protect our natural resources from destruction, so our children and grandchildren can have the quality of life we enjoy.” – Councilmember Mike Simon

“Tuesday, June 14th, the Town of Wales, NY, adopted a community rights ordinance titled "Town of Wales Community Protection of Natural Resources.” 

Transition is all around us- global, local and personal. If you attended Bill McKibbons talk last month you probably, like I did, came away with a better perspective on how our local (Bellingham) Transition actions can make an impact to reduce flooding in communities across the globe. If we can keep the ‘carbon bomb’ in the ground instead of shipping it to China our local actions can make a big global difference. It’s not just about our backyard, it’s about every back yard around the…

This post is primarily for the folks taking my WFS class on Principles & Pathways Beyond Sustainability, but everyone is welcome to follow along at home. Notes for Class #1 are here.



In Class #2, we will cover the following material:

1) Discussion around topics of class #1: the Five Axioms of Sustainability and Introduction to Permaculture…

Hundreds Turn Out to Mayor's Cargo Terminal Meeting by John Stark

Many of those who spoke were more interested in stating their determined opposition to the Gateway Pacific project for a wide range of reasons: health effects from coal dust and ship and locomotive emissions; climate change from the burning of exported coal in China; disruption of…

Why are corporations able to make decisions on how our community is cared for, instead of we the people having the right to make the decision?  What will living our democracy look like in the near future?

When is the next Democracy School weekend and what do citizens learn? 

Autumn 2011 Democracy School- Oct 21,22 is filling up!  For information/application contact Stoney at  lidg@ymail.com   .

Our Sept 9 & 10th…