To another capitalist Christmas

Money, money, money!

May business go well this season!

I cannot hear the commercials anymore, all the repeating Christmas songs, all the praise of the stuff that is the best to buy for the loved ones and who wraps them up most gloriously.

How much food we buy and prepare. Vomit or throw away. Or complain how we've gained weight over the holidays.

The feast of love!? It is the time of the year when more animals than ever are being killed and eaten. For love? o.O

Oh Lawd.... 

Spend well everybody!

Or just change the game, keep it simple, cook like for any other Sunday, make a symbolic small gift, join some humanitarian action or donate, and play board-games with the loved ones.

Make something good! =)

Artwork by #Banksy

Well, good bye 2016

So, there were not many posts here this year.
But why not say a few words nevertheless now, at the end of it =) About Trump? No.
Elections? Nope.
About change? Yes. Be the change if you don't like it!

Today I was tagged on a post on FB speaking about activism and how to finance it. Having a job and being vocal isn't easy they said. I would say we have to start somewhere and see where it gets us, right? Elvis said "a little less conversation a little more action please". And he was right. Good ideas, a good team, and good planning can make our activism work. Hoping we can make a living from our activism is nice, and possible. But shouldn't be the goal.
Alice Walker said "Activism is my rent for living on the planet." and Gandhi said "Be the change you want to see". So the moment we realize that something is wrong with this world and feel the urge to change something, we simply start being vocal, speaking up, start to change our lives. The waves and ripples of our personal change move around, touch others and their thinking is influenced. It is the viral effect.
A group might and should form, you can't do this alone. Ideas will come up, goals will be set, activities will be planned, projects will form, and resources can be found in some way or another. Good activities and projects can find donations, grants or funds today, the internet offers so many contacts to foundations, individuals, government and EU funding, etc., well and then there is crowd funding, yard sales, cook-outs, etc.
Just go and try to create a project/product that deserves funding. And if you have questions - here is a comment section or we can talk in private about your ideas. I am happy to help.

Sorry for the inconvenience. We are trying to change the world. 

So what I am trying to say here?
Start building your house from the foundation (yourself), not from the first floor (financing projects). "The time for the lone wolf is over. Gather yourselves! Banish the word struggle from you attitude and your vocabulary. All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration. We are the ones we've been waiting for." (Hopi) Yes, we don't even have to make up words - all has been said before. We only have to pick up the pieces and continue the work of the our predecessors. How? Start with yourself, be determined, team up, pick ONE goal, make a good plan - everything else will follow. I am not saying it s going to be easy. What I am saying is, that it can be done and you should not doubt yourself.

There are two kinds of folks standing in front of the mountain.
One just think how they are gonna climb it.
The other see all the obstacles that stop them from getting going.
Which one are you?

Be bold. Go for it. Be the change.

Well hello 2016!

So we left a 2015 with turbulent changes behind us. 
As a European I guess the refugee crisis is on top of the list of events from a political and economical point. Unrest, fear, so-called terror, militarisation of cities, endless willingness to help, social action, armchair activism and direct volunteering are only a few words that come to mind. 

We are torn between helping people, who have nowhere to be anymore, because their homes are attacked/destroyed, and hating them because they flow into our countries by the thousands. Arguments arise that these people are not refugees, they have new phones and good clothes, they have money. Stupid argument, if you ask me. If we watch how extremists destroy entire cities, we must understand that their possible stable income or at least pretty normal life did not prevent them from being under siege and made them run.With their new phones and good clothes.

European cities now overflow with people that have nowhere to go. New jobs thus are created to protect the borders, to handle bureaucracy, to take care of those refugees and the places they are placed. Lots of money is spent on that new-born system. And nobody knows where this will lead us. 

I heard a prediction that about 20 Million refugees will come to Europe in the coming time. Poor people, but also highly trained people. Recent figures from the U.N. and other aid organizations have shown that the majority of people arriving in Europe often come from upper middle class, well-educated backgrounds. Their children will enter our education system and form the next generation of Europeans. 

And then there is the famous "maybe there are terrorists among them" - as if those haven't been here before. Keeping refugees out will not stop terrorism yet letting them in will obviously stop them and their children from taking up arms.

So we cannot stop the refugee crisis, we cannot turn back time, not undo what happened until now, we can be against all this - but it will not change the fact that hundreds of thousands of people will keep coming to Europe. Instead of resisting and fearing this, we should accept this fact and try to find way to live with this new situation. It is not merely a crisis, it is a new situation.

Many of my school-mates in the 80s were refugees, from Iran, Lebanon, Vietnam even. There were my friends, I grew up with them. And today, they are just living their lives in our countries as we do.

So move aside a bit, make place, get your good will together. 
It's gonna be a bumpy ride this future - but it is happening. The world is changing.
Let's make the best of it.

Peace V

Well hello sleepy world, this blog hasn't received any update for too long.
Lemme see if we can change that in the coming weeks :) 

Stay tuned.

Make a Difference

Happy 2014! Be the change - make a difference =)

It has been a while since I have posted to my blog. First I want to have a blog, then I post a few things, then I stop, neglect the blog and huh here I am again. Let's try it with some consistency now :)

Make a difference - this is my slogan to, be the change, don't be passive. I have followed the KarmaTube for a few years now, and I think they post exclusively great stuff. 
So let this video be the one I am going to re-launch this blog with. 

Happy Whatever to everyone =)

Watch it, think about it, share it, be the change and make a difference.

http://www.karmatube.org/videos.php?id=4354

Peace out.

7 Lovely Logics ♥

I just came across this picture, and it makes a lot of sense =)

An Earth Religion?

An Earth Religion? By Link (Anthony) A Circle of people stand in the midst of a beautiful green field, tightly and joyously hand-in-hand. A small bonfire burns gently in the center of their Circle, sending its warmth and light all about. The Circle of people dance round the flame, singing and chanting their special songs, and paying honor to the Earth in this religious rite. Their Earth-based religion has taught them over the ages to respect and worship their world, and to love Her as something sacred. Who are these Earth-worshipers? An ancient Druid grove, or a Native American tribe? A band of Aborigines in the South Pacific, or perhaps a Coven of modern-day urban Pagans? Over time many have practiced Earth-based religions, where our planet is revered as a Deity. The followers of today's Earth religions still hold a special reverence for Mother Earth, but often do not have that same personal contact with Her that their ancestors felt. We no longer listen to the wind to find our food; we don't speak to the clouds to ask for rain. While we still may love and worship the Earth, we've outgrown many of our dependencies, at least the everyday dependencies that have been replaced with modern-day conveniences. Where the Earth was once our Mother, a member of our immediate family, perhaps to some She is now more like a distant cousin. This distance sometimes causes us to speak of the Earth in vague, macro terms. We worship what we call the Earth, but what exactly does "Earth" mean? Is your kitchen table part of the Earth? Does it have an Earth Spirit? And what about the food you eat at that table? Is your dinner part of the Earth too? Your favorite jewelry? Your copper plumbing? Your telephone wires? The answer here is obviously yes, but it's not always easy to bridge the gap between broad spiritual concepts and tangible everyday things. Ordinary things are sacred too and being ordinary makes them no less special. That same Earth essence living in the lush green forest also lives in all the simple objects we see and touch every day. So, perhaps you can find an aspect of the Earth on the streets you travel each day, even if those streets are filled with busy traffic. Perhaps you can find an aspect of the Earth within your home-town, your neighborhood, your home, your own bed. If you see a bit of the Earth's Spirit in all things around you, then you can revere and worship the Earth in a much more personal way, more face-to-face, more one-on-one. Earth worshipers often hold special reverence for natural settings, the woods, the beach, the mountains. But are things made by humans any less Earthly? We too are part of the Earth, not something separate. We are linked to it, part of the same whole, and therefore so are the things we build. We make things because it is our nature to do so, like a forest makes trees and like trees make leaves. So, while you may discover the mysteries of nature by watching a river flow, you can also find a few lessons by watching a railroad. Can the hot and cold knobs of your faucet help you understand balance between opposites? Can pondering your electrical outlets give you new sources of energy? Can the telephone help you feel how all things link together? Can washing and waxing your floor teach you anything about cleansing and protecting yourself from negativity? Perhaps "worship" is not always the right word for every situation. But you can certainly relate to and talk with every person, place and thing you encounter in a very special way! Have an old comfortable chair? When was the last time you told it just how much you appreciate it? Perhaps an "offering" of polish or oil for its wood would be greatly appreciated, like a back-rub for any hard-working friend! Do you have a special place where children love to play, like a park, a field, a sandbox, a porch? Try thanking this special piece of the Earth for the happiness it brings; ask it to continue providing its safe guardianship over our little loved ones. Even thanking your parking space counts. This does not include asking for a parking space when you need one, but saying thank you before you leave one. (There's a big difference between saying please -- and saying thank you!) Not only can Earth worshipers narrow their focus to recognize ordinary things, but we can also widen it too. Earth is but one of several planets orbiting a single star. Do all the planets have Spirit the way the Earth does? Are they part of nature too? Some say that stones and boulders and rocks are alive. What greater boulder could you find than one of our planets? Does our Solar System, this Coven of planets orbiting the Sun, have some type of collective Spirit? (Can this help explain astrology?) Our star, like the small bonfire burning gently in the center of our Circle, sends its warmth and light all about. A Circle of planets dance round its flame, singing and chanting their special songs. But it is only an average star, one of many stars in an average galaxy, one of many galaxies within a very, very big universe. So, if we are part of a vast universe, is my Earth religion somewhat self-centered? Maybe, maybe not. It depends on whether you recognize just how vast nature really is. It is only natural that we hold most dear our "immediate family" of the Earth. Hopefully, we still recognize that we are part of a much larger family, a community of all things, reaching out from across our kitchen table or across the galaxy, tightly and joyously hand-in-hand. In this way, worshipping the Earth becomes a key that unlocks our relationship to all things, whether vast or very small and simple. Article by Link (Anthony) Copyright held by (Link) Anthony AnthLink@aol.com

Please Stop Obsessing About Animal Cruelty

STOP Eating Animals

Chris is a very dear friend that I met through Facebook. We have a very similar thinking and I enjoy reading his posts. Once he wrote something that I would like to share with you here. 
Thank you Chris for the permission to re-post this in my tiny humble blog ♥
I hope you will soon start your own blog - it is a pity your works get lost on Facebook, besides Facebook's questionable copyright policy on things posted there. 


So Ladies and Gentleman: 


Please Stop Obsessing About Animal Cruelty

by Chris Aultman

If you're interested, I have a few tips on how to keep your sanity & be happier than you might be. I'm not naming names, but there are a lot of people who need it. First, stop obsessing about animal cruelty. It only serves to anger you. Do you think if you skip a day, you'll forget it exists? There are many pages (that I no longer visit) that are almost entirely composed of cruelty videos & pics. Like Wayne Dyer says, "Being informed is fine, but not being inundated." And I can't recall who he quotes (Einstein, maybe), but "No one ever discovered the Law of Floatation by studying why things sink."

What you focus on expands. Stop putting all your energy into things that anger you! There are 2 main reasons I only post a few cruelty videos or pics per month: 1) Every time I look at 1, I'm so angry, I want to break something & 2) Omnivores stay away from the pages of vegans who have a non-stop barrage of cruelty. My page is a wake-up call for them; other pages are avoided by them because no one wants to be constantly told what horrible people they are & if you'll notice, the angry vegans' pages contain comments primarily by other angry vegans. No happy person wants to read all that anger.

I've also noticed that the angry vegans (most of whom I've deleted because while I respect their pain, their overall energy is a downer) are angry about many other things: implants, raw vegans, 80/10/10, you name it. Of all the negative, hateful comments I've ever seen on FB, easily 99% are by vegans. You are representing the movement & as I've said before, the ONLY thing that matters is CONVERSION. If you aren't persuading people to change, you're wasting your time (& VERY few people are converted by being called corpsemunchers).

Venting is a complete waste of energy. It's what people do who don't know how to channel rage productively. Next, when you encounter 1 of these people, like 1 angry person on last night's status, the solution is to engage them briefly & if they persist, say goodbye. Period. Whenever I read negative, hateful comments on other people's pages, I just avoid the page & focus on something more positive. I still have veganazis & vegan police go off on me & others...so what? Let them stew in their negativity.

As for converting people, here's the biggest lesson of all: if someone is stubborn, MOVE ON! Do you realize there are literally tens of millions of people who are completely ignorant of their impact on health, animals & the environment? ALL your time should be spent getting the word out instead of arguing with people. I know many of you don't believe in the law of attraction or anything you can't explain, but it works. I've consciously meditated on love, abundance, positive change & compassion & look what's happened...I have a very clear path in life, have manifested my soulmate & have more amazing people flowing into my life than I know what to do with!

Take notice of how your body FEELS. Go to an angry vegan's page, read all the rage & bitterness & your stomach should be in knots. Then read comments by well, more people than I can list here. You should feel elated. Now seriously, who in her right mind chooses to feel like the former?! Last message I've mentioned many times: STOP with the infighting already! We are like freaking crabs in a bucket. Tearing down is what bitter, unenlightened people do instead of inspiring, educating & supporting.

I'm so grateful I've met so many truly amazing people, but most of us sane vegans are positively ashamed of the angry ones. We have to work extra hard to counter all their negativity & what they don't realize is by converting very few people, they're actually doing damage to the very animals they're trying to save. Look at it this way: you have several hundred or thousand friends. Why do you need negative, bitter, angry, devisive people in your life? Here's my suggestion: relish in the amazing people in your life & simply remove the negative ones. Life's too short not to be happy.

source: https://www.facebook.com/chris.aultman1/posts/10150909796250246
photo source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ctolentino/699737665/in/photostream

Obituary of Common Sense

Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. 

No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape.

He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:

• Knowing when to come in out of the rain; 
• Why the early bird gets the worm, 
• Life isn't always fair, 
• And maybe it was my fault. 

Common sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults are in charge not children).

His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of an 8 year old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate, teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch, and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.

Common sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children. It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an aspirin to a student, but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.

Common sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses, and criminals received better treatment than their victims,

Common sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.

Common sense finally gave up the will to live, after a women failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.

Common sense was preceded in death, by 

• His parents, truth and trust
• His wife, discretion
• His daughter, Responsibility
• His son, reason.

He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers

• I know my rights
• I want my rights
• I want it now
• I’m a victim.

Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone. If you still remember him, pass this on if not, join the majority and do nothing.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/stoke/content/articles/2009/02/03/obituary_common_sense_feature.shtml 

Watch: Change For A Dollar

Welcome 2012! 

Everybody expects you with great anticipation!
Nobody really knows what will happen, is it the end or the beginning. 

Or just another year... 

And what shall I say - do we actually care?

Do we really depend on what other predict us?
Time is no definite thing, it is three dimensional, moves forwards, backwards, sideways. If someone tells you your future, you only know what CAN happen, but now you got the chance to work on it and maybe change something.
This is why I keep saying "be the change", because we can change things. Try it and you will see. In your own life and around you.

Do something good everyday. Make someone smile, every day. Help others. Be the change.

This nice short-film teaches us that however bad our situation is, we can always find people that are in a worse situation. And there is always something we can do for them, share with them.

Have a good start into 2012 and make the best of it!
You are the master of your destiny! No one else!

Video credit: written and directed by Sharon Wright

www.shesalwayswright.com

I have subscribed to this InnerNet Weekly newsletter I don't know how many years ago, really rarely there is a post that does not touch me and I forward them all to friends, almost weekly :) 
The people at iJourney.org always share really deep and lovely messages. 
This one in particular is something that talks to me... 
Read and see for yourself. 
Happiness comes from within ♥

Make Your Life Into a Giving

--by Jaggi Vasudeva (Dec 27, 2011)

Listen To Reading!

Make your life into a giving. When I say a giving, it is not to be understood as an act. Giving as an act is a deception because, after all, what can you give? Everything that we have, including this body, we have taken from this planet. What we can give is only a paltry part of what we have taken. Giving as an act could be very deceptive and could turn ugly, but if your way of being is giving and your actions are only a manifestation of that, when you open your heart to give, grace invariably seeps in. That is inevitable.

It has been my fortune and privilege that at a very early age, I became witness to a certain state of giving -- my great grandmother who lived to be 113 years of age.  In the morning, if she was given breakfast, she would always go about giving away at least two-thirds of it to the ants, birds and squirrels, particularly to the ants.  People would say, ‘She is throwing all her food around, this old woman will die without eating,' but they all died while she lived.  There were many days where I saw her with a little bit of breakfast that was left on her plate. She would simply sit there, watching the ants eat. Tears would be streaking down her cheeks and when somebody asked, ‘Won't you eat?’ she would say, ‘I'm full. I'm already full.’ It was many years later that I realized her way of transacting with the world. If the ants ate, she was being nourished. A logical mind would never understand this, but it was this nourishment which gave her an extraordinary longevity.

Each of us can also make every act and every breath into a process of giving – seeing how we can contribute to everything around us, no matter what we are doing.  In just 24 hours, we will be so rich that the experience of life, the beauty of life, will set a glow on our face because that is the only way life functions.  The whole process of life is a giving. It is a transaction. In every giving there is a taking. We are taking more than we are giving, but in your mind, just ignore the taking. You just keep giving because you do not have to take; it will be pushed into you.

There was a man who cleared one hundred acres of forest and made it into farmland. His two sons helped him and they became prosperous. When the man was dying, he called his two sons and told them that the land should never be divided, but the produce should be taken equally, fifty percent, by each son.

Accordingly, they went by their father’s word. One of the brothers got married and had five children. The other one never got married. Life went on and they each took fifty percent. One day, a thought entered the mind of the brother who had a wife and five children: "I'm getting fifty percent; my brother is also getting fifty percent. But I have a wife and five children while my brother has nobody. When he gets old, who will take care of him? He should have a little more than me because I have the wealth of my children. But he is too proud; he will not take it from me." So in the dark of the night, he carried a bagful of grain quietly and walked into his brother’s store, dropped this bag and walked back. Whenever he could, he went on doing this.

The same thought also entered his brother's mind. He thought, "I am alone, my brother has five children to feed and I am getting fifty percent, but if I give him extra, he will not take it." So he started doing the same thing at night. This went on for many years and both of them never noticed. One night, both of the brothers carrying sacks of grains in secrecy walked towards each other's storehouse and came face to face. Suddenly, they realized what was happening. 

--Jaggi Vasudeva
(http://www.ijourney.org/?tid=782)

Watch: This is Because We Must

This is one awesome video that was posted to the FB page Peace Activism - thanks Jeff!
It is really inspiring and does belong here! See for yourselves:

Video: This is Because We Must (vimeo)

ANIMAL * EARTH * HUMAN 

Because We Must is founded on the idea that all forms of oppression and, in turn, the struggles against them, are intimately connected. The subjugation of the earth, it’s non-human animal inhabitants, and the people that are not members of the wealthy white male elite are not unrelated phenomena. Each of these, among the many other injustices that must be confronted, is a product of the white supremacist, patriarchal, capitalist culture that dominates the planet. If we intend to mount a serious attempt at confronting, undermining, and overcoming the forces of oppression, we should understand that though there are many battles to fight and many more ways to fight them, we will always face the same essential enemy.

In order to promote this awareness and move forward, Because We Must strives to be a source for informational media that illuminates both the diversity and interconnectedness of struggles against oppression. Rather than pushing a monolithic set of beliefs and expecting others to tow the party line, we intend to present a wide range of radical viewpoints on the urgent issues that we face today and, in doing so, encourage every person to find the ways that their passionate opposition to injustice can be translated into effective action against it.

http://www.becausewemust.org 

Ugly the Tomcat

remember them, now in the "holiday mood" where we only think of pleasing our beloved one...
take a moment to remember those, who suffer. and think if you can help one of them maybe in some way or the other. and if you only go and volunteer at your local shelter for a day in a month... ♥

This is the story of Ugly the Tomcat

Everyone in the apartment complex I lived in knew who Ugly was. Ugly was the resident tomcat. Ugly loved three things in this world fighting, eating garbage, and shall we say, love.

The combination of these things combined with a life spent outside had their effect on Ugly. To start with, he had only one eye, and where the other should have been was a gaping hole. He was also missing his ear on the same side, his left foot has appeared to have been badly broken at one time, and had healed at an unnatural angle, making him look like he was always turning the corner.

His tail has long age been lost, leaving only the smallest stub, which he would constantly jerk and twitch. Ugly would have been a dark gray tabby striped-type, except for the sores covering his head, neck, and even his shoulders with thick, yellowing scabs. Every time someone saw Ugly there was the same reaction.

That's one UGLY cat!!

All the children were warned not to touch him, the adults threw rocks at him, hosed him down, squirted him when he tried to come in their homes, or shut his paws in the door when he would not leave. Ugly always had the same 
reaction. If you turned the hose on him, he would stand there, getting soaked until you gave up and quit. If you threw things at him, he would curl his lanky body around feet in forgiveness.

Whenever he spied children, he would come running meowing frantically and bump his head against their hands, begging for their love. If ever someone picked him up he would immediately begin suckling on your shirt, earrings, whatever he could find.

One day Ugly shared his love with the neighbor’s huskies. They did not respond kindly, and Ugly was badly mauled. From my apartment I could hear his screams, and I tried to rush to his aid. By the time I got to where he was laying, it was apparent Ugly's sad life was almost at an end.

Ugly lay in a wet circle, his back legs and lower back twisted grossly out of shape, a gaping tear in the white strip of fur that ran down his front. As I picked him up and tried to carry him home I could hear him wheezing and 
gasping, and could feel him struggling. I must be hurting him terribly I thought. Then I felt a familiar tugging, sucking sensation on my ear.

Ugly, in so much pain, suffering and obviously dying was trying to suckle my ear. I pulled him closer to me, and he bumped the palm of my hand with his head, then he turned his one golden eye towards me, and I could hear the distinct sound of purring. Even in the greatest pain, that ugly battled scarred cat was asking only for a little affection, perhaps some compassion.

At that moment I thought Ugly was the most beautiful, loving creature I had ever seen. Never once did he try to bite or scratch me, or even try to get away from me, or struggle in any way. Ugly just looked up at me completely trusting in me to relieve his pain.

Ugly died in my arms before I could get inside, but I sat and held him for a long time afterwards, thinking about how one scarred, deformed little stray could so alter my opinion about what it means to have true pureness of spirit, to love so totally and truly. Ugly taught me more about giving and compassion than a thousand books, lectures, or talk show specials ever could, and for that I will always be thankful. He had been scarred on the outside, but I was scarred on the inside, and it was time for me to move on and learn to love truly and deeply.

To give my total to those I cared for. Many people want to be richer, more successful, well liked, beautiful, but for me, I will always try to be Ugly.

I feel...

This is one very interesting video presenting two sensitive kids, born as empaths. They see and feel the world differently, with other eyes then we use to see it. They see colors, auras, talk to animals, read thoughts, foresee events.

We have often heard about such people, here you can meet two of them. This video shows, how naturally these two children live with their gift. And I personally wonder, how will they grow up and live their lives in this world.

The video is only available on Vimeo, 
so click here to watch I feel... :)

Jasmijn is a seven year old girl, who loves hugging trees and having conversations with animals. Anything she touches seems to breathe a sense of aliveness. Robert is ten years old, and the only place where he feels at ease is in nature. He climbs trees as high as he can escaping the everyday reality that is not always easy.

I feel… is about children who experience their environment differently compared to most of us. They travel their own way against the mainstream and dare to see the world with a pureness of vision over and over again.

Video: She's Alive... Beautiful... Finite... Hurting... Worth Dying for...

If this video won't send shivers down your spine, I think you are doomed ;) 
It shows the amazing beauty of this planet, her amazing inhabitants, human and non-human, nature, and ultimately what we do to all this. And gives credit to those activists that were ready to die in order to defend Earth, nature and animals. 


I am not sure if we really destroy Mother Earth, I think she will survive us. She just has to get rid of the parasites and will heal. The question is, do we want to survive? If so, it is time to take action and start change. With ourselves and our surrounding. 


Serj Tankian says it very well: "We've fallen asleep as people as animals on this planet. We are here to nurture our planet. We are here to help guard this f*** place, not destroy it for gods' sakes! I am sick and tired of unequal globalism. I am sick and tired of fascism. I am sick and tired of this type of people."


This amazing and beautiful video below is a non-commercial attempt to highlight the fact that world leaders, irresponsible corporates and mindless 'consumers' are combining to destroy life on earth. It is dedicated to all who died fighting for the planet and those whose lives are on the line today. The cut was put together by Vivek Chauhan, a young film maker, together with naturalists working with the Sanctuary Asia network (www.sanctuaryasia.com). 

♥ I just love Julia Butterfly Hill ♥

♥ I just love Julia Butterfly Hill ♥

For 738 days forest activist Julia Butterfly Hill lived 180 feet high in the canopy of an ancient redwood tree to help make the world aware of the plight of ancient forests. Julia, with great help from steelworkers and environmentalists, successfully negotiated to permanently protect the tree and a nearly three-acre buffer zone. She came down to a world that recognized her as a heroine and powerful voice for the environment.

Julia's occupation of the over 1000-year-old tree known as Luna is only a part of the fifteen-year struggle to save Headwaters Forest and the 3% of the ancient redwood ecosystem that remains. Luna's hillside is where a massive 'debris torrent' originated that destroyed seven homes in Stafford, California. Seeing the mudslide scar from Julia's treetop perspective was a daily reminder that the health of our forests and watersheds directly affects our lives.

Luna stands as a beacon of hope, showing that individuals and communities can speak out against corporate irresponsibility. Luna reminds us to stand up for our own survival and for the future of our shared planet.

On her website she invites us to be the change, to become active. Read for yourself: 

"Believe in your Dreams and your Power to change the world. Play BIG. Play full out. Don’t let fear Stop you. Trust your intuition. Be as BIG as you can be and at the same time remain humble.

We are made up of the same material as stars and the same material as dirt. Be willing to give your life over to something greater than yourself, and see just how great your life can become! Choose to live life as an exploration. Choose to be a truth seeker, instead of a truth know it all. Make a commitment to remain more committed to being connected than to being right. Laugh a lot – especially at yourself. Stop and smell the flowers.

Enjoy the absolute magic of this gift called life – the miracle of every breath. Become a joyous vegan – our forks are weapons of mass destruction or tools of mass compassion depending on the choices we make.

Remember to CELEBRATE! Even if it is celebrating the miracle that you chose to wake up another day and have the courage to keep caring in a time that it would be a lot less painful to choose not to care. Look for the miracles in the Small things like a blade of grass pushing through the concrete. Celebrate it! Cry when you need to. And don’t apologize for it, Never apologize for having the courage to care. Build community in everything you do and look for ways to always extend the concepts of what community looks like.

Dance, Sing, make art, be creative. And look for ways to enjoy this profound miracle called life as we know it. You are the ancestor of the future. Start living that way."

Visit Julia Butterfly Hill's Website

Watch: Charlie Chaplin: The Greatest Speech Ever Made

Final Speech from The Great Dictator:

…

I’m sorry, but I don’t want to be an emperor. That’s not my business: I don’t want to rule or conquer anyone. I should like to help everyone if possible: Jew, gentile, black man, white. We all want to help one another; human beings are like that. We want to live by each other’s happiness, not by each other’s misery. We don’t want to hate and despise one another. In this world there’s room for everyone, and the good Earth is rich and can provide for everyone. The way of life can be free and beautiful.

But we have lost the way. Greed has poisoned men’s souls, has barricaded the world with hate, has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed.

We have developed speed, but we have shut ourselves in. Machinery that gives abundance has left us in want. Our knowledge has made us cynical, our cleverness, hard and unkind. We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery we need humanity. More than cleverness we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost.

The aeroplane and the radio have brought us closer together. The very nature of these inventions cries out for the goodness in men, cries out for universal brotherhood, for the unity of us all. Even now my voice is reaching millions throughout the world, millions of despairing men, women and little children, victims of a system that makes men torture and imprison innocent people. To those who can hear me I say, “Do not despair.”

The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed, the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress. The hate of men will pass, and dictators die. And the power they took from the people will return to the people, and so long as men die, liberty will never perish.

Soldiers, don’t give yourselves to brutes, men who despise you, enslave you; who regiment your lives, tell you what to do, what to think and what to feel; who drill you, diet you, treat you like cattle, use you as cannon fodder.

Don’t give yourselves to these unnatural men, machine men, with machine minds and machine hearts. You are not machines. You are not cattle. You are men. You have the love of humanity in your hearts. You don’t hate. Only the unloved hate. The unloved and the unnatural. Soldiers, don’t fight for slavery. Fight for liberty.

In the 17th chapter of St Luke it is written, “The kingdom of God is within man.” Not one man, nor a group of men, but in all men. In you.

You the people have the power: the power to create machines, the power to create happiness. You the people have the power to make this life free and beautiful, to make this life a wonderful adventure. Then in the name of democracy let us use that power: Let us all unite. Let us fight for a new world, a decent world that will give men a chance to work, that will give you the future and old age and security. By the promise of these things, brutes have risen to power. But they lie. They do not fulfill their promise. They never will. Dictators free themselves but they enslave the people. Now let us fight to fulfill that promise. Let us fight to free the world, to do away with national barriers, to do away with greed, with hate and intolerance. Let us fight for a world of reason, a world where science and progress will lead to all men’s happiness.

Soldiers, in the name of democracy, let us all unite!