Excerpt from: “Cancun Climate Summit Report #3" by David Simpson from Planet Drum www.planetdrum.org
.......Were we to take as the basis for our working template only the level of emissions reductions indicated in the Copenhagen Accord-and now in the Cancún Agreements-world average temperatures would likely rise between 3.2 and 5.4 degrees centigrade by the end of the century. Given that the rise to date of .8 degrees C since 1870 has already produced changes of a considerable magnitude-glaciers disappearing, ocean acidifying, permafrost melting, sea level rising, unprecedented heat waves, massive flooding, 300,000 deaths by climate this year alone-the thought of enduring temperature rises 4 to 6 times greater is terrifying.

Do I personally believe that we are condemned to this eventuality because of a refusal to step outside the insulated dome in which business likes to play? Maybe. There is an inveterate, deep-seated cautiousness that surrounds large-scale business and societal investment. Also, society's long-term normative responses-what's seen as right, what's wrong, what's dumb, what might work-are strongly resistant to change-or change at the rate that climatic circumstances might demand.

We are now in uncharted territory and as normative responses migrate rapidly and caution is seen as incaution in disguise, there will be a shift. It is at this fault line where a substantial realignment is possible. Leverage must be applied. Only what has come to be called "civil society" or the "social movements" are positioned to provide this pressure.

This is because these agencies and their practitioners are proxies for alliances and social groupings that are both more local and more universal at the same time-the people of the world themselves, whose stake in this is their very lives. Many have been unable, due to accidents of birth or lack of time or resources, to mount effective action in the name of their own and the planet's survival, but humanity begins now to awaken and take stock. Let the battle for credibility begin!

Photo by Craig Smith

For Health and Happiness

What A Wonderful World It Would Be....

....if there were no more wars and people would stop fighting.

Peace and Love

Patty

"How many times must the cannon balls fly, before they're forever banned?" a line from the 1963 song "Blowin' in the Wind" written by Bob Dylan

Think of all the good we could be doing for our planet and all of its inhabitants...if they really were "forever banned".

Prince Charles eco film: HARMONY

Life is....

Life is what happens to you when you're busy making other plans. ~ John Lennon

The photo in this post and the one below are by Craig Smith

On Saturday, Oct. 2nd, 2010, Farm Aid celebrated it’s 25th anniversary in Milwaukee. In concert at this event, Farm Aid President Willie Nelson and Marty Dread performed their song “Lend a Hand to the Farmers”, written by Willie and Marty.
On March 10, 2010, I had the honor and pleasure of also doing this wonderful song and having it featured in video on Willie’s PRI website. Below is my video as it appeared on The “Willie Nelson Peace Research Institute” site.

Seasons, Cycles, and Rhythms of Life

We need to learn a lot more about nature’s seasons, cycles, and rhythms of life that are so important to both our physical and spiritual well-being. When we don’t understand these basic things, we can become lost and out of sync with the natural world that supports us. ~ Patty Ann Smith

This Year The Autumn Equinox is on Wednesday, EDT, Sept. 22.

Peace Work

If in our daily life we can smile, if we can be peaceful and happy, not only we, but everyone will profit from it. This is the most basic kind of peace work. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

A Council of All Beings

We are all embedded in the web of life, and it is your birthright to enjoy an empowering kinship with other species. There is a Council of All Beings and Evolutionary Remembering. Through practice, we must become familiar with Earth and All Beings. Don’t take yourself too seriously. We are now on the path of shifting from the industrial growth society to a life sustaining civilization. ~ Joanna Macy

Guitar Olympics

Guitar Olympics offers insight to various levels of the "Art Of Guitar", as it is presented worldwide by guitarists who have, and still are studying and applying their skills on the instrument. While most of these artists are often highly trained, some have been non-traditional in their acquisition of their techniques... learning not always from written music, but from others by the transferal of abilities through observation and skilled listening. It is generally their high level of skill that sets them apart from the "Strummers and Pickers" of guitars that are so often seen, and therefore places them at the level of Olympic Guitarists.

"We Are The Guitar".

Those of you who play at the depth of the soul know exactly what this means. the guitar, in the hands of the player, is an extension of those hands, and the entire body... both physical and spiritual. We explore the music landscape that resides within and then present it to the world. Perhaps we even to some extent help shape that world. Music is a journey, the traveler "musician" ventures out to discover his or her own Holy Grail. That special series of sounds that are life changing, and perhaps often life extending. This YouTube channel is not about me, sure I am a guitarist too, butit is about the magic in music and the guitar. It is dedicated to the "Real" Sound Of Music that the truly inspired guitarist shapes as he or she plays, bringing out ethereal forms that float through the air and only materialize when there are ears to hear them. As Michael Angelo said about sculpture... he did not make the sculpture, but only released it from the stone... so it is with music and the guitar. The sounds are there just waiting to be released, all you need is a guitarist. www.youtube.com/GuitarOlympics