Greenspiration News: vids, nukes, car-free, drugs

Wed Jul 1 18:56:55 EDT 2009

Greenspiration News

'The things we call "cars" may have been fun to drive, but they are  
like a million daggers into the heart of Mother Nature. To continue  
to build them would only lead to the ruin of our species and much of  
the planet''. – Michael Moore

“I act on the assumption that we’re always making a difference.  
Simply by consuming resources and space makes a difference. It is  
what kind of a difference that is up to each of us.” – Fran Peavey

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Wow - a MUST see film, online, free - it will blow your mind, the  
cinematography and the message.
-a

HOME - A hymn for the planet

HOME is an ode to the planet's beauty and its delicate harmony.  
Through the landscapes of 54 countries captured from above, Yann  
Arthus-Bertrand takes us on an unique journey all around the planet,  
to contemplate it and to understand it.

But HOME is more than a documentary with a message, it is a  
magnificent movie in its own right. Every breathtaking shot shows the  
Earth - our Earth - as we have never seen it before. Every image  
shows the Earth's treasures we are destroying and all the wonders we  
can still preserve. "From the sky, there's less need for explanations".

http://www.youtube.com/homeproject

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Michael Jackson - RIP - Earth Song

Catch this exquisite 7 min. music video produced by Michael Jackson -  
Earth Song

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOnL5c8LMqM&feature=related

Do we all need to be starkly and perennially reminded of the  
potentially toxic nature of drug interactions that happen with  
commonly-used prescription drugs?

http://blogs.consumerreports.org/health/2009/06/michael-jackson-death- 
possible-prescription-drug-interactions-.html#more

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Ontario hits pause on nuclear

Minister George Smitherman today announced that the province has  
indefinitely postponed any decision on building new nuclear units  
until the federal government decides what it will do with the  
troubled Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. (AECL).

The Minister also noted that unless he sees a better price than what  
was offered in the first round of proposals, Ontario will not  
purchase any new nukes.

These statements and actions are to be commended as they hint at a  
more enlightened approach to Ontario’s energy future – one that  
favours plentiful green and clean alternatives over high cost, high  
risk nuclear power (for more on these, see our Powerful Options report).

Now it is time for the federal government to get sensible and say no  
to throwing more money at the “dysfunctional sinkhole” of AECL.   
Using federal money to pay for Ontario’s nuclear plants is just  
taking money from taxpayers’ right pockets instead of their left –  
the bottom line is still more wasteful bailouts for yesterday’s  
technology.

Please congratulate Energy Minister George Smitherman on his sensible  
move to postpone any decision on costly nuclear, and please tell  
Prime Minister Stephen Harper that you do not support further  
subsidies for AECL.

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Auto-ban: German town goes car-free

In Vauban, a suburb of the university town of Freiburg, luxuriant  
beds of brilliant flowers replace what would normally be parking  
outside its neat, middle- class homes. Instead of the roar of  
traffic, the residents listen to birdsong, children playing and the  
occasional jingle of a bicycle bell.

Being virtually car-free is only the start of what has been hailed as  
one of Europe's most successful experiments in green living and one  
which is viewed increasingly as a blueprint for a future and perhaps  
essential way of living in an age of climate change.

http://culturechange.org/cms/index.php? 
option=com_content&task=view&id=470&Itemid=1

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SSRI Antidepressants Linked To Male Infertility

A new study just published in the online edition of the journal  
Fertility and Sterility concludes as many as fifty percent of all men  
taking the antidepressant could have damaged sperm and compromised  
fertility.

The study, one of the first scientific investigations into the effect  
of SSRIs on sperm quality, also confirmed that paroxetine impairs  
sexual function. More than a third of the research subjects reported  
significant changes in erectile function and about half had  
difficulty ejaculating.

http://www.naturalnews.com/026483_SSRI_fertility_DNA.html

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Deadly Roads Are Not Just a Metaphor

What kills 1.3 million people worldwide each year, 90% of them in  
developing countries? It's not a disease, pandemic, or plague.  
Rather, it's traffic accidents.

Why doesn't road safety garner the same kind of developed-world  
sympathy - and aid dollars - that infectious diseases do?

http://globalhealth.change.org/blog/view/ 
deadly_roads_are_not_just_a_metaphor

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The Disappearing Male

An investigation into the worldwide decline in the male birthrate and  
the toxic threat to the male reproductive system. The cause?  
Chemicals used in everyday plastics, from drinking bottles to soft  
toys for infants

http://www.cbc.ca/documentaries/docplayer2.html? 
playlistId=playlistId=f21067aaabfdece3076458e7e035e69febe7cfe7&id=911913 
844

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Welcome to Meat Free Mondays
A site dedicated to helping people have at least one day a week  
totally free of meat

So why have a meat-free day?

- Variety is the spice of life, try something new.

- Take advantage of all those delicious vegetables which are  
currently in season and make them the champion of a meal rather than  
a companion.

- To boose your 5 a day.

- To reduce your red meat intake.

Carnal knowledge The meat industry

* Meat is a "major stressor" on the world's ecosystems, according to  
a UN report

* Meat makes 1.4 per cent of global GDP but 18 per cent of greenhouse  
gases

* Forty calories of fossil fuel energy go into producing a calorie of  
beef, but 2.2 calories for one calorie of plant protein

* Livestock production uses 8 per cent of the world's fresh water

* One billion people are overweight, mostly in the West, where meat  
consumption is higher. Vegetarians tend to be slimmer

* The World Cancer Research Fund recommends eating no more than 500g  
red meat a week

http://www.meatfreemondays.co.uk/

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Withdrawing from anti-depressants - looking for testimonials

I am writing a piece for Chatelaine magazine on withdrawing from  
antidepressants, and am interested in hearing from women in their  
thirties living in Canada who would be comfortable describing their  
own experience withdrawing from an antidepressant. You can do this  
using a pseudonym, and I am happy to review all quotes with you etc.  
If you are interested, please feel free to e-mail me at  
rickdi at rogers.com. I am hoping to connect with women before the end  
of this week, as I am on a tight deadline.

Please know that this article will not be making any judgments about  
why women are on antidepressants. (I am on them myself.) The purpose  
is to provide information about what women can expect to experience  
when and if they are ready to go off their medication, and how they  
can do so safely.

Thanks so much for considering this request.
Diana Ballon rickdi at rogers.com

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The Uprising in the Amazon Is More Urgent Than Iran's:
It Will Determine the Future of the Planet

In the depths of the Amazon rainforest, the poorest people in the  
world have taken on the richest people in the world to defend a part  
of the ecosystem none of us can live without. They had nothing but  
wooden spears and moral force to defeat the oil companies -- and, for  
today, they have won. The Peruvian Congress repealed the laws that  
allowed oil company drilling, by a margin of 82 votes to 12. Garcia  
was forced to apologize for his "serious errors and exaggerations".  
The protesters have celebrated and returned to their homes deep in  
the Amazon.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/johann-hari/the-uprising-in-the- 
amazo_b_219836.html

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