Fifteen years ago, twelve-year old Severn Suzuki scraped together enough money to travel from Canada to the Rio Summit. She gave this speech to the delegates - a bone-chilling reminder of their responsibility.
It seems more relevant today than ever.
The European Union is seeking again to ban the swastika symbol. There has been a flurry of debate about the vastly different meanings the symbol has to different cultures.
This has centred on the feelings of the German nation, European Jews and Hindus.
From YNet News (via Anarchaia):
Germany plans to use its presidency of the EU to launch an initiative which could lead to common laws across the bloc making it a crime to deny genocide and display Nazi symbols.
“The swastika has been around for 5,000 years as a symbol of peace. This is exactly the opposite of how it was used by Hitler,” said Ramesh Kallidai of the Hindu Forum of Britain.
“It is almost like saying that the Klu Klux Klan used burning crosses to terrorize black men, so therefore let us ban the cross. How does that sound to you?”
Links
At the recent SLDevU conference in London, I understood the vision behind the online virtual world, Second Life, to a much deeper level: a platform for the 3D Internet - a richer, more compelling and more collaborative space for information and communication than our current, flat-screen Web.
Created by visionary programmers and inhabited by curious explorers, soul seekers, revellers, entrepreneurs and a frenzy of big-bucks brands, I wonder if we could turn this new Frontierland into something greater than our First Life?… Read more…
A time for goodwill, for giving, for sharing… Or a time for consuming, for devouring, for spending…
As Christmas hype reaches its zenith, millions of last-minute shoppers stock-up on their obligatory must-gives. I wonder how much money is spent each year on unwanted gifts. Still, you’ve got to give something and it is good for the economy…
An Idea for Next Christmas
There’s no need to buy new, expensive gifts when the world is already full of perfectly good but unwanted possessions. And because so many of us have things that we no longer need, why not organise a local community bring-and-share for Christmas presents?…
People would bring good quality items to give away, and they’d take home gifts from others. Perhaps there’d be a small fee for each present, which gets donated to charity.
Would you want to take part?
Prout (PROgressive Utilisation Theory) is a visionary socio-economic system to encourage a cooperative society. A new short story competition has been announced for writers to open a window on a future, Proutistic society. From the press release:
IMAGINE A SOCIETY IN WHICH…
…food, clothing, housing, education and medical care are guaranteed to everyone.
…most farms, banks, industries and services are run as cooperatives owned by the workers.
…there are no multinational corporations.
…different voices, languages and cultures are respected.
…there is self-sufficiency in food, medicines, clothing, housing, and local transport.
…the environment is protected and restored, all agriculture is organic, waste is recycled and renewable energy is used.
…universal spirituality is valued, not religious dogmas or conflicts.
…leaders are selfless servants of the people. Read more…
Bookmark Page (del.icio.us)
Digg It!
Donate to Dharmasphere
Join us on Last.fm
