- Inspiration

Debt Slaves - As Described By A Twelve Year Old

nospam@example.com (Harvest Dream) — Wed, 16 May 2012 19:16:44 -0600

The Jungle Prescription (Film Trailer)

nospam@example.com (Harvest Dream) — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 22:05:27 -0700

The jungle Prescription - Film Trailer from The Ayahuasca Project on Vimeo.

A Glimpse Of The Other Side

nospam@example.com (Harvest Dream) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 23:40:00 -0700

The Economics Of Happiness

nospam@example.com (Harvest Dream) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 19:01:13 -0700

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Occupy Wall Street Our One Demand

nospam@example.com (Harvest Dream) — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 22:38:35 -0600

The Real Dirt On Farmer John

nospam@example.com (Harvest Dream) — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 13:16:28 -0600

Robyn O'Brien - The Unhealthy Truth: How Our Food Is Making Us Sick

nospam@example.com (Harvest Dream) — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 01:42:26 -0600

Jack Layton 1950-2011

nospam@example.com (Harvest Dream) — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 21:56:28 -0600

Rest in Peace Jack, til next time...

German Village Produces 321% More Energy Than It Needs!

nospam@example.com (Harvest Dream) — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 17:37:10 -0600

Source: Inhabitat - August 21, 2011

Ok, those Germans are just showing off now. Not only has the nation announced plans to shut down all of its nuclear power plants and started the construction of 2,800 miles of transmission lines for its new renewable energy initiative, but now the village of Wildpoldsried is producing 321% more energy than it needs! The small agricultural village in the state of Bavaria is generating an impressive $5.7 million in annual revenue from renewable energy.

It’s no surprise that the country that has kicked butt at the Solar Decathlon competition (to produce energy positive solar houses) year after year is the home to such a productive energy-efficient village. The village’s green initiative first started in 1997 when the village council decided that it should build new industries, keep initiatives local, bring in new revenue, and create no debt. Over the past 14 years, the community has equipped nine new community buildings with solar panels, built four biogas digesters (with a fifth in construction now) and installed seven windmills with two more on the way. In the village itself, 190 private households have solar panels while the district also benefits from three small hydro power plants, ecological flood control, and a natural waste water system.

All of these green systems means that despite only having a population of 2,600, Wildpoldsried produces 321 percent more energy than it needs – and it’s generating 4.0 million Euro (US $5.7 million) in annual revenue by selling it back to the national grid. It is no surprise to learn that small businesses have developed in the village specifically to provide services to the renewable energy installations.

Over the years the village’s green goals have been so successful that they have even crafted a mission statement — WIR–2020, Wildpoldsried Innovativ Richtungsweisend (Wildpoldsried Innovative Leadership). The village council hopes that it will inspire citizens to do their part for the environment and create green jobs and businesses for the local area.

As a result of the village’s success, Wildpoldsried has received numerous national and international awards for its conservation and renewable energy initiatives known as Klimaschutz (climate protection). The council even hosts tours for other village councils on how to start their own Klimaschutz program. The Mayor has even been doing global tours ever since the Fukushima disaster.

Mayor Zengerle has gone to Romania, Berlin and the Black Sea Region to speak about how these places can transform their communities and make money in the process. Speaking to Biocycle, Mayor Zengerle said, “The mitigation of climate change in practice can only be implemented with the citizens and with the Village Council behind them 100 percent of the way. This model cannot be forced from only one side. We often spend a lot of time talking to our visitors about how to motivate the village council (and Mayor) to start thinking differently. We show them a best practices model in motion and many see the benefits immediately. From the tour we give, our guests understand how well things can operate when you have the enthusiasm and conviction of the people.”

Broken Sorrow

nospam@example.com (Harvest Dream) — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 23:03:37 -0600

Hang Drum

nospam@example.com (Harvest Dream) — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 20:23:15 -0600

The People Who Feed Us: Joel Salatin

nospam@example.com (Harvest Dream) — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 09:29:23 -0600

Gimme Shelter

nospam@example.com (Harvest Dream) — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 08:14:25 -0600

Egypt LIFTS BLOCKADE On Palestine

nospam@example.com (Harvest Dream) — Wed, 25 May 2011 21:25:28 -0600

Source: BBC - May 25, 2011

Egypt is to open the Rafah border crossing into Gaza permanently to most Palestinians from Saturday, Egyptian state news agency Mena has said.

Gaza has been under blockade since 2007, when the Islamist Hamas movement took control of the territory.

Under ex-President Hosni Mubarak - ousted in February - Egypt opposed the Hamas administration and helped Israel to enforce the blockade.

Israel says the blockade is needed to stop weapons being smuggled into Gaza.

The Rafah crossing will be opened permanently from 0900 to 2100 every day except Fridays and holidays, beginning Saturday 28 May, Mena said.

"Palestinian women of all ages will be exempted from visas as will men under 18 or over 40," Mena reported.

Rafah is the only crossing into Gaza which bypasses Israel.

The BBC's Jon Leyne, in Cairo, says it is unlikely Israel will welcome the move, although it has been easing its own restrictions on its crossings with Gaza.

Significant shift

The transitional military government said last month that it intended to open the crossing permanently.

Our correspondent says the announcement illustrates the more independent-minded foreign policy likely to be adopted by Egypt's new rulers.

Egypt's co-operation in blockading Gaza was one of the most unpopular policies of former President Mubarak, he adds.

Last year, Israel eased restrictions on goods entering Gaza, but significant shortages in the territory remain.

Mena said the decision to open Rafah was part of efforts "to end the status of the Palestinian division and achieve national reconciliation".

Egypt's post-Mubarak government has already helped broker a reconciliation agreement between Hamas and the Fatah faction, which governs the Palestinian West Bank. Israel has condemned the deal.

Under Mr Mubarak, Egypt upheld its unpopular peace treaty with Israel and opposed Hamas in the internal Palestinian power-struggle.

Hundreds of smuggling tunnels run under the Egyptian border with Gaza.

The blockade has been condemned as a form of collective punishment of the population of the Gaza Strip because of the hardships it causes.

In 2010, the International Committee of the Red Cross said the blockade was a clear violation of international humanitarian law.

Norway's Humane Prison Experiment

nospam@example.com (Harvest Dream) — Mon, 16 May 2011 10:58:25 -0600

Source: The Daily Mail - May 8, 2011

As we chug ever nearer, and the outline of an old church steeple rises above a backdrop of pristine pines, it becomes clear that Sigurd is absolutely right. Slowly, the idyllic sight of what appears to be a quaint Norwegian village reveals itself, complete with cosy cottages, dirt roads and even horses and carts.

The first person we see on the island, on a wooden verandah outside a modern bungalow, is a man in swimming trunks stretched out on a sun lounger. Nils is 36. He was given a 16-year sentence for shooting dead a fellow amphetamine smuggler over an unpaid debt. Now he's relaxing between his shifts as a ferry worker.

'I spent eight-and-a-half years in a closed prison before moving here nine months ago and I'm much happier now,' he says, stating the obvious.

'I immediately trained to be a ferry worker. I'm going on a maritime course at university. I want to be a commercial captain when I get out. Normally all you leave prison with is two bin bags of clothes. It's like your life has been on pause. You just go on with all the bad habits you had before you went in.'

For many of us in Britain the idea of allowing a convicted murderer the freedom to work and mix openly with non-criminals is anathema. It offends our deeply ingrained ideas about prisons as a place of punishment and as a deterrent to possible offenders.

When he recently claimed of offenders that it was 'just very, very bad value for taxpayers' money to keep banging them up and warehousing them in overcrowded prisons where most of them get toughened up', our current Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice Kenneth Clarke was widely harangued for his progressive views.

A recent opinion poll showed the British public wants harsher prison conditions; they don't agree with the Government's response to over-population and reoffending by pushing through far-reaching reforms which emphasise shorter sentences while placing prisoners in a working environment.

And yet, an extensive new study undertaken by researchers across all the Nordic countries reveals that the reoffending average across Europe is about 70-75 per cent. In Denmark, Sweden and Finland, the average is 30 per cent. In Norway it is 20 per cent. Thus Bastoy, at just 16 per cent, has the lowest reoffending rate in Europe.

...

'Both society and the individual simply have to put aside their desire for revenge, and stop focusing on prisons as places of punishment and pain. Depriving a person of their freedom for a period of time is sufficient punishment in itself without any need whatsoever for harsh prison conditions.

'Bastoy takes the opposite approach to a conventional prison where prisoners are given no responsibility, locked up, fed and treated like animals and eventually end up behaving like animals.

'Here you are given personal responsibility and a job and asked to deal with all the challenges that entails. It is an arena in which the mind can heal, allowing prisoners to gain self-confidence, establish respect for themselves and in so doing respect for others too.'

...

From Monday to Friday, he says, inmates are responsible for getting up in time to have breakfast, make themselves a packed lunch and be at their place of work by 8.30am. The working day ends at 2.30pm and 'dinner' is then served at 2.45pm in the main hall. The inmates are then free to do whatever they like until 11pm when they must be back in their living quarters.

The angry whine of chainsaws grows steadily louder as we pull up outside Bastoy's team of six forestry workers busily chopping logs for sale on the mainland. Sigurd explains that prisoners generally choose their area of work, which can be based on previously learned skills or the desire to acquire new ones.

The range of jobs available includes farming animals and crops, ferry working, fishing, DIY, laundry, mechanics and rubbish collecting; the prisoners are paid an average of 57 kronas (£6.50) a day.

Peter, 28, a Dutch truck driver sentenced to six years for smuggling 150kg of hashish in his lorry from the Netherlands, takes a break from his work as the team's tractor driver.

'In closed prison I was locked up for 23 hours a day, so I'm really happy with this job. I am treated very well here and in return I will treat them very well also. Of course it's never nice being in any prison but it could be much, much worse.'

With 120 inmates and 70 staff (35 of whom are guards) Bastoy is Norway's largest low-security prison but it is one of four others dotted around the country. The governor claims that it is his goal of self-sufficiency that both creates jobs for prisoners and provides them with a common purpose.

'The prison is self-sustaining and as green as possible in terms of recycling, solar panels and using horses instead of cars. It means that the inmates have plenty to do and plenty of contact with nature - the farm animals, wildlife, the fresh air and sea. We try to teach inmates that they are part of their environment and that if you harm nature or your fellow man it comes back to you.'

He adds that a significant advantage of the ecological approach is that due to low staffing levels and producing their own food and fuel, Bastoy is actually the cheapest prison to run in the whole of Norway.

'We have a price for each prison bed in this country and we are much cheaper to run than a conventional closed prison.'

Continue reading "Norway's Humane Prison Experiment"