Be a CITIZEN , not a CONSUMER
So if you can, work less, so others can work more, on some days buy nothing – expect the New Statesman, of course. Otherwise buy less, buy better, but buy time, love, care, compassion, freedom and some control over your life and your society the only way you can – by doing it not as a consumer but as a citizen
Why is the left silent on the scourge of consumerism? Labour must look beyond the
politics of more and recognise that the good life cannot be bought off a shelf. New Statesman, BY NEAL LAWSON 29 NOVEMBER 2012 Did you do it – by accident or design? Did you manage to buy nothing on Buy Nothing Day last Saturday? What do you mean you didn’t know you it was Buy Nothing Day? Too busy Xmas shopping?
The idea that an issue can only be raised by dedicating one day out of 365 to it is just one indication of how we have become a consumer society. Being a consumer society doesn’t mean that all we do is shop, rather it suggests that knowing ourselves and others by what we consume is the prime way in which society now reproduces itself. It is the dominant way of being, just as work once was, when we knew ourselves, and others, primarily as producers. We were what we did.
Now we are what we buy.
I don’t know the ‘Buy Nothing Day’ people but I’m guessing the problem isn’t consumption per se. We have to consume to live. The problem is one of balance. What is the damage being done to us, our society and the planet by consuming too much? Continue reading
Bold anti uranium banner flies above BHP Billiton’s annual general meeting
Nuclear: getting the message in 18 seconds http://www.youtube.com/watchv=WOAep34AeRc&feature=youtu.be
The bold black and white banner, flung over large windows, highlighted the connection between Australian uranium and the continuing Fukushima nuclear crisis.
It was confirmed in October 2011 that Australian uranium was inside the failure Fukushima reactor complex when the plant melted down. Rocks dug up in the NT and SA and shipped out of Darwin and Adelaide are now the cause of radioactive fallout in japan and beyond.
“Fukushima should be a wake-up call – we need to phase out nuclear power. However companies like BHP Billiton ignore the human cost of nuclear disasters and continue to pursue an expansion of its uranium business.
Australian uranium could fuel another Fukushima and we demand BHP keep the uranium in the ground”, said Sakyo Noda a Japanese activist from the Uranium Free NSW community group who – along with Beth Malone – delivered the powerful message .
For BHP and other companies involved in the uranium trade the writing is literally on the wall and the message is clear: In the shadow of Fukushima there can be no radioactive business as usual.
Labor-Liberal coalition refuse to study dangers of uranium transport
29 November 2012. Labor and the Coalition stood united today in their strenuous effort to completely ignore the dangers posed by uranium mining and transport.
Australian Greens nuclear policy spokesperson Senator Scott Ludlam said the major parties “defied logic and decency” by refusing to support an inquiry into the uranium industry.
“With no fewer than three states pushing for uranium mining we need an inquiry into the existing laws governing the industry; yet the major parties studiously keep their heads in the sand.
“You’d assume the ALP and Coalition would want to know if our regulations properly protect the public from radiation exposure from uranium oxide transport – but it appears that’s not the case. Continue reading
Arrests of abseiling anti uranium protestors at BHP annual general meeting
Abseiling BHP protesters expected to be charged Financial Review 29 NOV 2012 Four abseilers who scaled the Sydney Convention Centre as part of an environmental protest outside BHP Billiton’s annual general meeting are expected to be charged…… Police at the scene told AAP they expected to charge the abseilers A Friends of the Earth spokeswoman told AAP the first pair of activists had been brought down by a police rescue team and taken to Surry Hills police station.
The last two had climbed back onto the roof voluntarily and had notyet been detained, she said.
Arabunna man Kevin Buzzacott was among protesters who gathered at Darling Harbour for the launch of an alternative annual report, Dirty Deeds, which was distributed to shareholders. The report focuses on the uranium and copper mine at Olympic Dam, South Australia, and the company’s proposed liquefied gas hub at James Price Point, in Western Australia. Continue reading
The psychological dimension of denying the seriousness of Fukushima
the international scientific community has failed us and become the promoter of “Dysfunctional Science.”
“Science is at a tipping point because, having fragmented into specialties and sub-specialties, it is no longer equipped to deal with falsifying data. The barricades of technical jargon and self-serving politics prevent the specialists from seeing what would be all too obvious from a higher vantage point. Such a system is averse to outside challenges by ‘those who transcend the conventional,’ and leading authorities feel free to ignore them….
Few universities have shown the courage to insist on a broad and balanced picture of present knowledge or an even-handed comparison of theoretical assumptions and available alternatives. To apply such basic standards today would risk discrediting entire departments” (30).
Nuclear energy, which provides only 2.5 percent of global primary energy needs, is the most dangerous experiment humanity has ever undertaken. The time to end the insanity is now (31). Between reducing consumption, rearranging society in a less consumer intensive form, and implementing an array of alternative energy schemes, our problems could be solved
Underestimating Japan’s Nuclear Disaster By Richard Wilcox theintelhub.com November 30, 2012 “………Postmodern Postmortem Denial Syndrome The college aged students I teach in Japan are in denial and do not want to talk about Fukushima. Some have even give pro-nuclear presentations in class! Indeed, many are keenly aware of the nuclear dangers and are critical of nuclear power, but others have fatalistic attitudes. Some students told me their parents who live in Fukushima or near there are worried and angry about the situation, but if you ask the average person in Tokyo about the issue, they would probably just shrug their shoulders. People do not like having bad news pointed out to them or having their noses rubbed in radioactive debris. If they feel, or the mass media helps them to believe, that they are far enough away from the problem, they can convince themselves that it is not worth worrying about.
Escapism and distraction is the name of the game. Japanese TV variety shows can only be described as narcissistic, self-absorbed, childish, silly and often substance-less nonsense. This is great for creating a dumbed-down and subservient society but not good for long term sustainability. A thriving democracy depends upon a well informed public. The situation is similar in many countries.
What is the psychological dimension for understanding how a society can become so complacent while life-threatening dangers stare us in the face? Continue reading
Opposition continuing to pursue Lynas rare earths project in Malaysia
”They will continue to pursue the judicial review cases to get the court to revoke the temporary licence given to Lynas on the grounds that Lynas still has no safe solution to tackle their radioactive waste,’
Lynas plant on line, protests to continue, SMH December 1, 2012 Glenda Kwek A MALAYSIAN environment group says it plans to continue campaigning for the closure of Lynas’ controversial rare-earths processing plant, as the Australian miner announced it had started production. Continue reading
Canada: a precedent for silencing Aboriginal critics of uranium mining
(A condition of agreement between uranium mining companies and indigenous community) – To Not make 
statements or say things in public or to any government, business or agency that opposes Cameco/Areva’s mining operations; Make reasonable efforts to ensure Pinehouse members do not say or do anything that interferes with or delays Cameco/Areva’s mining, or do or say anything that is not consistent with Pinehouse’s promises under the Collaboration Agreement.
1 Dec 12, This is happening in Canada. Far from the extractive industries in emerging nations but in a “developed country” and on Aboriginal land and with Indigenous people. You will recognize the names of the same players.
The public is being alerted to a plan for a “Collaboration Agreement” between uranium giants Cameco & Areva and the community of Pinehouse in Northern Saskatchewan. The parties want to sign this agreement by December 31, 2012.
Although this agreement is being presented as an opportunity for Pinehouse to receive resources for investments in Community Investment, Workforce Development, Business Development and Community Engagement and Environmental Stewardship, it represents an exchange of money from the nuclear industry to Pinehouse with a promise from the community that its members will stop speaking out against current, proposed or future uranium mining projects in the area. Critics are calling this a gag order.
Continue reading
No Uranium Campaign Takes Off as Qld Parliament Rises
1 Dec 12 Concerned residents of Brisbane, Townsville and Cairns will unite to send a clear message of opposition to the Newman government’s backflip on uranium mining today – the last sitting day of Queensland Parliament.
Woodend Integrated Sustainable Energy sets the pace for Victorian community wind energy
Insight: How communities can take lead in green energy REneweconomy, By Giles Parkinson 30 November 2012 This is the second in a series looking more deeply into issues which affect the development of the clean energy industry in Australia. The first was on the 2kms set-back rule imposed by the Victorian government and at least partially adopted in NSW.
For the past 12 months, a digital display located behind the counter of the newsagent in High Street in the Victorian town of Woodend has logged what Barry Mann describes as a major lost opportunity. Real time data from a wind mast located in an old timber mill a few kilometres out of town documents the amount of electricity that would have been produced if a proposal to install three wind turbines in a harvested pine forest 6kms from town had been allowed to go ahead.
Before the mast was taken down earlier this month: the data stood at this: 12.6 gigawatt hours of electricity generated over 12 months and four days (12.630 million kilowatt hours) – about enough electricity to satisfy the needs of 2,037 homes and generate $1.5 million in revenue from selling the electrons to the grid. (You can find the data on their website)
Mann is a director of WISE (Woodend Integrated Sustainable Energy) – a local not-for-profit group that says its goal is to ”assist communities to take responsibility for their energy and carbon future.” It is one of dozens of similar groups in Australia that are hoping to implement their own local plans, but don’t have so many electrons to show for it yet.
For the moment, Woodend’s own plans have been frustrated by the election of the Baillieu Conservative government, and the introduction of a 2km setback ruling and the declaration of a “no-go” zone through large slabs of the Mt Macedon ranges – two initiatives that local member Donna Petrovich is proud to take responsibility for. (See addendum below) Continue reading
1 This month
of the week – Disrupting War & Militarism in Oceania. Active solidarity. Radical practice.
Antinuclear 