This week’s news carries one
of the very best “Roses” of all time: the Delhi High Court upheld the Indian
Patent Act, which states that both seeds and all life forms cannot be patented;
it upheld as well the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Act of
2001 which rules that key plant genetic material cannot be patented, this after
over a quarter million Indian farmers committed suicide between the years of 1995 to 2013, with the rate accelerating
42% in more recent years. Their desperation being forced to buy GMO seeds year
after year (rather than the traditional method of saving seed), and the
enforced use of fertilizer and pesticides, cornered them on a road with no
return. Compounding that road is the
predatory land policies of the Indian zamindar class of land-holders, and the
cultural devaluation of girls, which forces on farmers the dowry system, although
in her lifetime, a woman’s work easily surpasses that of men’s.
It is hard to imagine that
such a national court judgment could have happened without thousands of farmers
marching all over India to assert their rights. The most recent march saw
30,000 farmers walking on foot in sweltering heat, five days, (180 kms.) to
Bombay to lay their concerns at the foot of the regional government. The
take-away here is that a peasant class assures a civilization that the soil and
the seed by which is feeds itself will be protected.
What Earth Wants
Central to Life on Earth is
the question of where Humanity finds itself now. The Earth by every indication is telling us
exactly how small and powerless we are in the face of her great movements of climate
disruption, rising temperatures, ocean acidification, polar ice melt and so
forth.
And central to human life on
Earth is understanding our insignificant place here, freed of the hundreds of
years of so-called “civilization,” which have caused us to lose track of what
is most important to us AND to all life on earth: how we live, how we manage to
survive.
We do not survive by
thinking, we do not survive by video game, we do not survive by talking
aimlessly. We survive as do all other life forms, by eating. What we eat does not come out of cellophane
or plastic wrap, it comes from the stoop labor of millions of farmers, in Third
World countries —most of them women—and by our indentured servants in the far
Western world: the Mexicans and Salvadorenos, and Hondurans,—mostly indigenous
people—who somehow manage to penetrate our borders to put food on our tables, the
lowest paid, and most despised workers in the United States.
That is why what we eat is
linked to so many other issues plaguing us now: immigration and detention
policies, racial policies, oil, gas, and pipeline-derived “energy” policy, and militarism,
the greatest polluter of all. Fragmentation prompts governments and people the
world over to obscure our main issue:
1) The planet is becoming
hostile to life on Earth.
2) Our own existence as the
humans we like to think we are is threatened.
That is why the decision by
the Delhi High Court is a decision that affects us and all life forms as well.
1. Give up your car.
2. Drive less; fly not at
all.
3. Make less & less
garbage.
4. Find ways to avoid plastic
and its use. Avoid plastic tableware and
plastic straws.
5. Buy less.
6. Recycle e-waste.
7. Waste less food by
shopping smart and composting.
8. Cut down on meat.
9. Turn off lights.
10. Stay put.
11. Mow less often to keep
your lawn bee-friendly.
12. Vote for eco-friendly
policy.
 |
| Pastinian women baking bread |
Despite mounting concerns
from the international community, Israeli soldiers reportedly killed at least
four more Palestinians and injured hundreds last Friday as the March of Great
Return continued for the fourth straight week according to Common Dreams. Palestinian
women are acting as human shields, keeping to the foreground to protect the
men. Tents are arrayed all across the
border, each bearing the name of the town they were forced to abandon in 1948.
Conditions in Gaza have been steadily deteriorating since then, and now
Palestinians of the new generation find themselves at a break point.
Monsanto loses right to
patent seeds.
Common Dreams announces:
Banking giant HSBC ditches coal, tar sands and offshore arctic drilling.
On Earth Day, the Global Union Against
Radiation Deployment from Space (GUARDS) warns
it is essential the public recognizes
what experts have long known: wireless radiation harms insects, birds, and trees.
As yet no global action has yet taken place. The
2010 Report on Possible Impacts of Communication Towers on
Wildlife Including Birds and Bees,
commissioned by India’s Ministry of Environment and Forests, reviewed the
literature on health and environmental impacts of wireless radiation. 900 peer-reviewed studies show wireless
radiation causes negative biological effects on humans, other animals, plants,
wildlife, bees, and birds.
Common Dreams announces:
Court rules California can list glyphosate as a probable carcinogen.
Union representing 1.7
million teachers dumps well fargo over relationship with NRA and gun makers.
Durham, N.C. City Council
passes a resolution prohibiting police exchanges with Israel.
Three tree sits oppose the
mountain valley pipeline.
India announces first-ever
programme for clean air.
A mistrial was declared in
the two-day trial of the Plowshares, freeing three Des Moines drone-command
protesters.
Maine Supreme Court approves
ranked-choice voting for 2018 elections.
Court orders private attorney
to stop Joe Arpaio’s candidacy.
California Assembly passes
bill protecting all from ex-gay therapy.
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