[alternet-l] AlterNet News # 69

[Adrian Harris]

THE ALTERNET NEWS - ISSUE # 69

This issue:

HOT SITES/
0.7% FOR AID/
COPYRIGHT? NO COPYLEFT!/
BIG BROTHER AWARDS/
SOIL AND SOUL/
STOP THE WAR COALITION/
OUT OF THE ASHES EXHIBITION/
ECOPSYCHOLOGY NETWORK/
ECOPSYCHOLOGY COURSE/
CENTRAL AMERICA CONFERENCE/
GM WEEDS WARNING/
RACISM CONFERENCE/
QUOTE/UNQUOTE/
DIARY/

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HOT SITES

Ever wondered where in the world you find information on aviation and its 
environmental impacts? The answers are probably to be found on the new
GreenSkies website:


www.greenskies.org/

Information Systems for Biotechnology provides information supporting
environmentally responsible use of biotechnology:


www.quillinternet.co.uk/hmd/database/list.asp

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0.7% FOR AID

In 1970 the richest countries in the world promised 0.7% of GNP for aid. Over
three decades later that commitment is yet to be met.

BOND, a network of more than 250 UK based voluntary organisations, is
co-ordinating a campaign calling for the UK Government to meet 0.7%
commitment this parliament.

Join the 0.7% Campaign Online action - Tell Gordon Brown, Chancellor of
the Exchequer to hit the aid target.        
                        
--> www.bond.org.uk/advocacy/campaignindex.html

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COPYRIGHT? NO COPYLEFT!

New Scientist has published an article on 'open sourcing' under what's
known as a "copyleft". You can copy the article, redistribute it, modify or
reissue it, without violating copyright.

Open sourcing is about free circulation of knowledge - an emerging alternative
to growing corporate power and restrictive property rights.

In software, open source is a major success, and the idea is spreading.
Already there's open source music, open source encyclopaedias, open source
law, even open source soft drinks!  

New Scientist see this as a social experiment, and will publish the results of
how the article is used. The copyleft experiment could mean profound
changes in publishing, technology, music, even consumer products.

Full Story: 
--> www.newscientist.com/hottopics/copyleft

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BIG BROTHER AWARDS

Once again GreenNet are sponsoring the annual UK "Big Brother" awards. The
awards will be bestowed at a special event on 4 March at the London School of
Economics.

Three "Big Brother" awards will be presented to the:
· Worst public servant and Most Heinous Government Organisation 
· Most invasive company 
· Most Appalling Project 

which have done most to invade personal privacy. A "Lifetime Menace" award
will also be presented.

Previous award winners include Jack Straw, the Department of Trade and
Industry, Harlequin, Newham Council, and Racal.


Channel 4's Mark Thomas will present the awards.

--> www.privacyinternational.org/bigbrother/uk2002/

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SOIL AND SOUL

"Scottish Environmentalist Alastair McIntosh offers a dizzying synthesis of
ideas in a truly 'world-changing' book." - John Burnside, The Scotsman, 27
October 2001.

Read more about Alastair McIntosh's 'Soil and Soul: People versus
CorporatePower':
--> www.alastairmcintosh.com/soilandsoul.htm

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STOP THE WAR COALITION
The date of the national demo has been changed to March 2nd, in Hyde Park,
at 1 pm.
  
The importance of the demo was underlined by Bush's warmongering 'state of the
nation' speech.  In it he said "our war against terror is only just
beginning".

He mentioned North Korea, Iraq and Iran as possible targets.

--> www.stopwar.org.uk/

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OUT OF THE ASHES EXHIBITION

The Artesian, OUT OF THE ASHES open exhibition is for anyone moved to express
in paint, ink or sculpture their reactions to the destruction of the World
Trade Centre, the bombing of Afghanistan and whatever happens next. You are
invited to submit works for consideration by 1st March 2002. Artesian is keen
to include works by people who do not normally consider themselves to be
artists or writers, as well as pieces by established artists and poets.

Please send JPEGS of works for consideration by 1st March 2002. Donations
will also be welcome. 

E-mail: visionary at artesian-arts.org
--> www.artesian-arts.org

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ECOPSYCHOLOGY NETWORK

Join an Ecopsychology Networking Afternoon on March 16th, 2-6pm, at Cecil
Sharp House, 2, Regents Park Road, London NW1.

Anyone with an interest in the field of Ecopsychology is welcome to come along
for an informal time, to connect, share information/events/reading, make merry
and whatever else. There will be a minimal cost of sharing the room rental.
Students/UB40 can pay whatever is affordable.

Please contact Mary-Jayne Rust on mjr at gn.apc.org if you intend to come, so
that we can get an idea of numbers.

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ECOPSYCHOLOGY COURSE

WHERE EARTH AND SOUL TOUCH: A JOURNEY IN  ECOPSYCHOLOGY
John Seed, Ruth Rosenhek and Mary-Jayne Rust

April 14 - May 3, 2002

Ecopsychology takes as its starting point the understanding that the human
self is fundamentally interconnected with nature.  It then goes on to ask
how we have come to be so destructive of the world we depend on and why we
are so
addicted to growth and consumption.  It suggests that people's anxieties and
ill-health are not just a consequence of inadequate human relationships or
social problems, but are inextricably linked to the state of health of the
planet.

Philosophical inquiry, discussion, experiential deep ecology exercises and
rituals will all be used to help participants to understand and experience
what being part of "the greater whole" really means.



Details:
--> www.gn.apc.org/schumachercollege/

Ecopsychology by John Seed:
--> www.gn.apc.org/schumachercollege/articles/jseed.html

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CENTRAL AMERICA CONFERENCE

Saturday 9 March 10.30am - 6pm. Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, Mount
Street, Liverpool, L1 9HE and Sunday 10 March 11.30am - 3.30pm. The Casa, 29
Hope Street, Liverpool, L1 9BQ.

What does globalisation mean for Central America?
What is the future of solidarity in an era of globalisation? 

Speakers from Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua representing a banana
workers trade union, fair trade producers, community and human rights
organisations, local government, and the women's movement.

Plus salsa night, popular theatre workshop, Latin American feast.

Registration: £12 waged/£5 concessions. Lunch £5. Creche free.

Further details and registration forms:
e-mail Ruth Melville on ruth at esnet.co.uk

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GM WEEDS WARNING

A new report from English Nature warns of the environmental risks of 'super
weeds' resulting from cross-pollination of GM plants. English Nature
discovered that "genes from separate GM varieties can accumulate in plants
that grow from seed spilled at harvest..these plants are now resistant to
several widely used
herbicides, with farmers regularly resorting to old herbicides to control
them".

Attempts to eliminate the super weeds could lead to more intensive herbicide
use with devastating impact on wildlife.

"Environmentalists have been flagging up these warnings for years", said Gill
Lacroix, Biotechnology Coordinator at FoE Europe.

Lacroix said that recent developments should make Europeans even more cautious
about GMOs. "In the past few days, we've had both the Food Safety Agency in
France and The Royal Society in the UK warning that more research is required
into the safety of GM food. Now we have a government nature conservation
agency raising the red flag about chemical use and GMO contamination. The EU's
moratorium on GMO commercialisation is more justified than ever".

More:
--> www.english-nature.org.uk/news/news.asp?Mode=3, 
--> www.royalsoc.ac.uk
--> www.foe.uk

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RACISM CONFERENCE

Three years on: fighting to end institutional racism. A national conference to
mark the third anniversary of the Lawrence Report

Saturday 23rd February 2002, 9.30am - 5pm

TUC Conference Centre, Great Russell Street, London WC1
Nearest tube: Tottenham Court Road, (Dominion Theatre exit)

A day of discussion on the agenda and alliances against racism. Themes
include: attacks on black communities, campaigning to end institutional
racism, defeating the BNP, immigration and asylum rights.

Telephone queries: 020 7247 9907 or 020 7247 3146.
Registration fees: Organisational delegates £10. Individuals £5 waged / £3
unwaged/students/pensioners.

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QUOTE/UNQUOTE

"The time is always right to do what is right"


Martin Luther King, Jr.

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DIARY DATES

Walk in Peace for Peace
Every first Sunday of the month. Meet at Speakers’ Corner (by Park Café), Hyde
Park 10.45am for 11am
The walk will take about an hour.
If you arrive a bit late don’t worry, you’ll see the Walk on ‘Broad Walk’
going south from Speakers’ Corner.
Enquiries: Clare Brunt 020 8755 0353

The Campaign for Co-operative Socialism Campaign meet at The Global Cafe in
London's Golden Square every Wednesday from 11-1:
--> www.cooperative-socialism.org/

FEBRUARY:

15th Feb - 9th March
Ladies of the Lwa exhibition: The Female Spirits of Vodou 
Rebecca Hossack Gallery, 28 Charlotte Street, London.
Sequin flags and metalworks, with some paintings and dolls, all
representations of the female spirits of Vodou that reflect the
aspirations, the reality and
the myths of women's lives in past and present-day Haiti.

15th Feb - 9th March
Women of Haiti photo exhibition
Rebecca Hossack Gallery,35 Windmill Street, London.
Exhibition of photographs by Leah Gordon and Chantal Regnault that portray
Haitian women in both sacred and secular settings.

16 th:
Anti-war petition 1pm at Monument. Silent vigil at St Thomas' at 3pm.


23/24 th:
"Plan Colombia - Clearing the Way For the Multinationals" Conference 
in London. Colombia Solidarity Campaign, colombia_sc at hotmail.com  07950 
923 448

MARCH

2 nd:
Women in Black/Women Against Fundamentalism Teach-In (including Terrorism Act
discussion). London. For details ring Cynthia 020 7482 5670.

8 th
United Nations Day for Women's Rights & International Peace.

More Diary Dates on GreenNet:

--> http://webboard.gn.apc.org:8086/default/

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--->  www.gn.apc.org

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