I got a lovely email this week from a man who is a Peace Tax Resister. In it, he suggested I spearhead a new website called Peace On. His idea is that our various and sundry War(s) on various and sundry themes—terrorism, drugs, obesity—aren’t working and he wondered about the notion of throwing a little peace on these matters to see if that might work better.

Not so coincidentally, I’d been thinking about ways to use the worldwide web for peace. His idea made me smile.   Read more...

It seems that so often the buzzword these days is “Intention”: the focusing of consciousness to picture a scene so real that it becomes actual. It is about how “thoughts are things”, as Edgar Cayce would say, and how we make our how reality though our mental skills and attitude. (1)

In Ode’s October issue there was a well-written, insightful article by Peter Russell called “The Real Secret”. It dealt with quantum physics and the human mind. That article dispelled many false beliefs and misunderstandings about the pop culture’s interpretation of mental powers. Among many other helpful ideas, Russell pointed out that the poor and ill should not be accused of creating their condition because they did not think happy thoughts. In the end of his article Russell said, “ . . . we always have a choice in how we see, experience and interpret reality.”   Read more...

With effect from 1st September 2007, the ban on polythene bags commonly known as "Kavera" in Uganda took effect. Uganda joined her neighbours in the East African community in banning a material that has wreaked havoc on the environment. It has now become illegal to import these polythene bags and its use is being phased out. The polythene bags have been a major environmental hazard and a menace for many years especially in both urban and rural settings where mushrooming commercial activities increased the demand for "kaveera" for packaging among other uses.   Read more...

For our October submission we Bloggers have been requested to write a piece about the Environment. So much press about that timely topic is concerned with correcting human-caused disasters. That is crucially important, of course, but I have decided to focus on the topic from a different angle: the Environment and how it affects our soul. Since I live in Japan, I will write about how things manifest here.   Read more...

I have recently joined the moderation team of an online community by the global project dropping knowledge (http://www.droppingknowledge.org). What is dropping knowledge? “dropping knowledge encourages social change. Using advanced web technologies, the initiative with offices in Berlin, Germany and Cambridge, MA, USA, links the voices of individuals and organizations. The web-platform enables the global public to ask and answer questions, exchange ideas, and start initiatives around the most pressing issues of our time. Events like the Table of Free Voices, campaigns like "ask yourself" and projects in cooperation with different partners create a meaningful bridge between the on and offline worlds.”   Read more...

Today bloggers all around the world are going to write about nature, conservation, the need for a more sustainable environment. I don’t need to explain to you that this is necessary, because you read and hear the sad news each day. You see things that might make you angry, sad or helpless. But life goes just the way it’s supposed to be, we are always in the situation that we are supposed to be in. There is always something to be learned and an almost immediate solution. Doesn’t mean that when we go for the solution all the done damage will turn itself around in a second, but the way to sustainability is here, it can be instant ...   Read more...

Although I am a member of the English Department in my college, I also teach in the other departments as well. I always try to have my English lessons tie in with my students’ majors. So of course, for the Environment Department I recently assigned a project dealing with that theme.   Read more...

I live in a rural community where there is little to no overt emphasis on caring for the environment; it

Is there room in your home for peace? I’m really asking.

How can we expect to create peace on this blessed orb if we don’t or won’t work to create peace in our own homes?   Read more...

I am an optimist, but in writing a blog about the environment I found myself dubious about the value of small progressive steps. I just don't see buying a Prius or hydrogen fuels happening in time. So I've written about what I see as the obstacles instead. We need to look at environmental rights as fundamental human rights, but won't. Here you go.....

This blog is influenced by The Rambler, by Samuel Johnson. I suggest that environmental rights are human rights, and like all human rights, they should be enforceable in the courts of all countries. It may be, however,that although an International Convention on Human Rights is capable of broadly protecting our environment, it may pass without notice, huddled in a variety of things, and thrown into the general miscellany of life. Even though our natural environment is comprised of individual parts comprising a whole, our environmental community does not operate that way. Admittedly, the hardest work is done by the valiant efforts of those who struggle to protect every forest, river, and species. I have done this by arguing many lawsuits in state and federal courts. But the law which is the will of the people and the guardian of the environment is inadequate to the task.   Read more...