chasing dancing giants...

Had another dream where I was searching for the giant dancing gods of Taiwan (performed during Taoist religious festivals). This is the second this year... the first dream was on New Years Eve 2014 and the second was a week later on my Birthday... I have not had a dream like this in many years... is it a coincidence that I will be traveling to Taiwan this April, the first time since 2008, before I had moved to Kuwait? Click on this video link to hear all the fireworks and hypnotic ritual music and to see how these giant gods dance (the photos are mine but not the video - however the video is at my favorite temple in Taipei, close to where I used to live) and make sure to see the dramatic end of the video! Also note that these photos and video are taken during the day so are clearer but most often these festivals take place at night - making them much more mysterious - in my dreams of chasing these dancing giants it is always at night)...

for those saying the mining bill will "create jobs"

• The bill does nothing to guarantee that jobs will be created for Wisconsinites.
• The bill opens the entire state to mining and plays favorites by placing the needs of the mining industry above those of every other economic sector.
• The bill forces other businesses to subsidize mining companies’ profits.
• The bill does nothing to mitigate the boom-and-bust cycle that Wisconsin experienced during the early days of the timber industry and earlier mining enterprises.
• The bill exposes taxpayers to costly lawsuits.

Read more:http://host.madison.com/news/opinion/editorial/gop-mining-bill-fails-on-job-creation/article_a94a3814-665c-11e2-92b0-0019bb2963f4.html#ixzz2IzyvUzIZ

GOP mining bill fails on job creation : Ct

host.madison.com

What do responsible business advocates say about the proposal from Gov. Scott Walker and his legislative allies to radically alter Wisconsin’s rules for the development of mines?

Selling Out Wisconsin

"The corporate influence and biased nature of the proceedings were evident throughout the day. According to Williams’ rules, the bill’s sponsors would be given 10 minutes to speak, and the Department of Natural Resources would be given 5. Everybody else was supposed to restrict their remarks to 2 minutes, with time allowed for committee members to ask a maximum of two questions.

But it was no surprise when the CEO, Chief Engineer and lobbyist for Gogebic Taconite – the company that is proposing to blast a 1,000 foot deep open pit mine 21 miles long and half a mile across at the headwaters of the Bad River near the shores of Lake Superior – took up nearly an hour of the committee’s time. GTac was also allowed to show pictures and graphs – something others were prohibited from doing."

The Million Dollar Bill

Mining Votes Will Make Or Break Wisconsin and Leader' Good Names

BREAKING: Public hearing scheduled for the Open Pit Mining Bill for Wednesday, January 23. Learn how you can help protect these hills here: http://bit.ly/13NVZj6   Image of Penokee Hills: Derek Johnson

A lawmaker voting "aye" for the bill is saying... 'I want to clear cut the Penokees, blow a pristine mountain range to smithereens, gouge out miles of open pit scars and release tons of acid runoff into publicly-held rivers, lakes, streams and the Bad River Band's treaty-protected water, wild-rice food supply and culture.'

Mining Votes Will Make Or Break Wisconsin and Leader' Good Names 

Tell KFC to stop using rainforest destruction before it's too late!

Tell KFC to stop using rainforest destruction before it's too late!

KFC is driving the destruction of critical Sumatran tiger habitat with its throw-away packaging! But KFC can stop this by dumping rainforest destroyer APP from its supply chain. Join Greenpeace and take action now!

REUSE 5.0 still on tonight and tomorrow 5-9pm!

REUSE 5.0 list of organizations, artists, students (the AUK students are MY students!), etc. participating in REUSE 5.0.

Check out the list of organizations, artists, students (the AUK students are MY students!), etc. participating in REUSE 5.0.

en.v Announces REUSE 5.0 Participants

projectreuseme.wordpress.com

REUSE, now in its fifth year, serves as an opportunity for non-profit organizations, companies, professionals and aspiring creative talents to showcase their accomplishments in the fields of social responsibility and sustainability via a range of artistic mediums and interactive activities for the general public.

This year REUSE 5.0 is being held on April 19-22 of 2012 on the premises of the Australian College of Kuwaitfrom 5 to 9pm daily with an expansive participation list to date.  On a daily basis, REUSE 5.0 will feature a dynamic mix of art galleries, music, short films, a lounge, trendy eco- fashion & accessories & more. We have compiled a detailed list of participants to date. We apologize if certain names were not mentioned – we definitely appreciate everything you have done for us thus far and look forward to showcasing your talents at REUSE 5.0!

Artist Sleeps Outside Till the Grass Grows

The artist's "piece is a commentary on human choice in the grand scheme of things…"

Artist He Yunchang (aka A Chang) is sleeping outside in Beijing's Caochangdi art village till the grass grows. (all photos by xingrui_beijing)

Artist Sleeps Outside Till the Grass Grows

hyperallergic.com

Since March 24, He Yunchang, also known as A Chang, has been sleeping outside in the Beijing artist village of Caochangdi (whose name literally means “Grassland/s”) until the grass is fully grown.

AWESOME!: The Scale of the Universe 2

AWESOME (literally)!

The Scale of the Universe 2

htwins.net

Zoom from the edge of the universe to the quantum foam of spacetime and learn about everything in between.

Peru update: National Protest in defense of Water planned for 9th and 10th February!

After re-posting about what I thought was good news: New rainforest and indigenous reserve established ... I had my parade rained on by someone much more familiar with the region.  She believes this is "just a smart PR move to turn the attention away from the ongoing and escalating conflict around the gargantuan mining operations in the Cajamarca Province. There, an access to fresh water is at stake. Apparently, people in the city have only access to water 1-2 hrs a day and the situation in the rural areas is often much more dramatic. National Protest in defense of Water is planned for 9th and 10th February."

I guess we need to be suspicious of all "good news" when "millions of dollars from the multinationals might be involved"  (it still must be "good" in someway though since another very large track of the Amazon has become a nature reserve (that also importantly connects to other reserves), no????).  But of course my heart is with the marchers!

"Beginning of the Water March" from:  http://globalvoicesonline.org/2012/02/07/peru-following-the-great-water-march/

Here is a link to the group's webpage:  Marcha Nacional del Agua

And a link to decent info in English:  http://globalvoicesonline.org/2012/02/07/peru-following-the-great-water-march/

More Damning Evidence Points to Pesticide as Cause of Mass Bee Deaths

Findings give credence to fears that neonicotinoids are behind a worldwide decline in honey bees. (photo: Samantha G)

More Damning Evidence Points to Pesticide as Cause of Mass Bee Deaths
www.commondreams.org
A new study published in Naturwissenschaften - The Science of Nature by a leading bee expert provides damning evidence that a widely used pesticide, even at low levels, is responsible for the recent catastrophic decline in honey bees. Dr. Jeff Pettis of the USDA's Bee Research Laboratory in Beltsvil...

Open season on sandhills? Send our crazy legislators home!

 Sandhill Crane parent with child maybe four weeks old.  http://www.birdphotos.com

Lawmaker wants hunting season for sandhill crane - m.JSOnline.com

m.jsonline.com

Plain Talk: Open season on sandhills? Send our crazy legislators home

host.madison.com

Here's still another reason why we've got to return to a part-time Legislature and get these people out of town...

HAPPY WINTER SOLSTICE EVERYONE!

HAPPY WINTER SOLSTICE EVERYONE!

Japanese Sun goddess Amaterasu emerging from a cave.

I don't think things are going to end well in Wukan!!!

I don't think things are going to end well!!!

Relatives carried a picture of Xue Jinbo, who died in police custody after villagers chose him to negotiate a solution to a land deal in Wukan, China.

Wukan Revolt Takes On a Life of Its Own

By MICHAEL WINES (NYT)

Anger at a possible land deal boiled over in Wukan, China, after a popular villager chosen to negotiate a solution died in police custody.

Ai Weiwei Absent (艾未未‧缺席)

Ai Weiwei, Forever Bicycles, 2011

Absent indeed - Taipei Times

www.taipeitimes.com

Ai Weiwei Absent (艾未未‧缺席), the appropriately titled exhibition currently on view at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum (TFAM), is the best show of the Chinese artist’s work you are likely see in Taipei for at least the next few years. Unfortunately, the displayed works reveal little about why he has become...

a natural solution for pests and fertilizer?

This seems like such a natural solution to so many problems, not sure why this is not used more (I can only speculate that pesticide and chemical fertilizer companies have something to do it).  I have heard about this practice being successfully used in China too, but the below link is about rice farmers in the Philippines that have found an ally as they try to protect their crops from pests and the effects of global warming. Farmers use ducks to help keep the water in their paddies fresh, and to get rid of weeds and other pests that could damage their crops. Duck manure also works as a good organic fertilizer, which helps to decrease the amount of money farmers spend on harmful pesticides.

Feathered labour for Philippines rice farmers

www.aljazeera.com

Integrated rice-duck farming has helped farmers to spend less money on harmful pesticides.

The strange existence of anti-matter...

Taoism seems to me to come closest to contemporary physics with its yin and yang symbolism, e.g., "For cosmologists studying the origin of the Universe it was pretty clear that equal amounts of matter and anti-matter must have spewed out from the fireball at the beginning of creation." Anti-Matter Trapped For 16 Minutes)

Anti-Matter Trapped For 16 Minutes

www.npr.org

The strange existence of anti-matter and its radical imbalance as a cosmic constituent is a fundamental mystery that has persisted for eight decades. We may finally be poised to understand not only the universe that is but also the universe that might have been.

China’s Taoism Revival?

my favorite Taoist temple anywhere (photo above), mostly because of the otherworldly spectacle of its annual festival, the Qingshan Temple (or 'dark bluish green' Mountain Temple) is hidden between apartment buildings just down the street from my old domicile in Taipei, at the end of Snake Alley, behind the much more famous Lungshan Temple (Dragon Mountain Temple) and surrounded by a dozen other Buddhist and Taoist temples.  If you want to see real Taoism, head to Taiwan or Hong Kong, but there seems to be a revival happening on the Mainland (read New York Times recent article  China’s Taoism Revival), although from what I've seen, it is much more about tourist dollars than anything else.