MAN TRAPPED BETWEEN TWO FIRES: A RAW LOOK AT OURSELVES

By Hugo M. G. von Österreich und von Toskana
Member of the Union of Concerned Scientists (USA)

February 11, 2013

Source: KM Photography

Human... Who can tell that this creature can be sometimes so destructive and nasty and at other times be so caring and loving as well just by looking at him? He is caught between two fires. He is neither an angel nor a demon. He is both. He is trapped and perpetually struggling between these two opposite forces all the time. He is a hanged beast. Thus is his curse.

He can be so cruel, so much so that perhaps he has no match on Earth. A Nigerian once told me that "even demons in hell tremble when a man gets mean and mad."

On the other hand, when it comes to being loving, loving he is but there is no doubt humans have a great deal to learn from what a lot of people call, sometimes disdainfully, "lower animals". 

Lower animals can they never be, for man is a primitive neotenic chimaera with only his brain beyond his grasp, which can torture him when he is quite restless or elate him when he is at peace.

A newer arrival on the scheme of life he is indeed. He is the newest beast on the block. And yet he has worked hard to sweep many a lives of his brethren away and forever who were here long before him. 

He does not understand yet those who he feels are underneath his feet. And yet he often pretends to understand the meaning of life. He has invented a written language to spit and write his ideas, sometimes good or others bad, judged depending how they impact upon his neighbours. 

Yes, those ideas that can drive him insane or make him reach the sky in joy, in hopes to perpetuate his memory beyond his fate.

Human... Can you transcend and climb the hill to look at the ocean of consciousness, the real one not that imagined, surrounding you, be it in a fly or in a whale. 

Yes, they are more sentient than man. They are older nations trapped in space and time like himself. In life, one without the other there can never be a sequence of thought. By that is meant that if they, the "lower animals", did not have this Gift he would not have it either.

Man is a sequence of sequences but with no sequence and when one with no sequence comes along, sequences that are true sequences of sequences of conciousness like man lacks, for he is cursed with disconnetion with the whole notwithstanding he pretends to be, such a sequence disrupts the Pattern of life. Thus he has done on Earth. 

Human... Can you listen the beat that which is not yours, not with your tools but with your inner sight if you still have any left?

If so, you can still get a glipse of the greatness that was handed to you in hopes that you took care of Planet Earth as the ancient legends say you should have.

If so, why do you go about hurting us, your brethren, and at the same time you keep saying you are so special that you think of yourself above us in everything you can guess there is and yet we know very well you do not have? 

Why do you act son mean to us (Video 1)? We always do our best with our company on Earth to keep you from going insane in your loneliness of your mind as you cannot as yet feel touched by the stars, the grains of sand on a beach or by a humble pebble in a riverbed notwithstanding you try hard?

                                             Video 1. Cruelty at the hatchery.

 

Human ... Are you listening? Are you paying attention to the message your "lower" brethren never stop sending you? 

Change your suicidal course, that is a must, for you only have one home: Earth.

References

National Research Council (1991). Animals as Sentinels of Environmental Hazards. National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., USA. 160 p.

Turner J & D´Silva (Eds.) (2006). Animals, Ethics and Trade: The Challenge of Animal Sentience. Earthscan, London, UK. 286 p.

GREEN CITIES: A FASHION WITH SENSE

By Gundhramns Hammer
January 30, 2013

Source: flickriver

 

Green cities. A very good objective to have in mind and pursue and we should all pich it in one way or another to achieve this goal.

Nowadays a lot of wildlife species are finding that surviving in cities is much easier. Cities are becoming centres of biodiversity and it is our responsibility to protect these species and do our best so we can live in harmony with them. We all have a lot to gain. 

There are a lot of nature lovers who enjoy supplementing the diet of wild birds  during the tough days of cold weather. Providing with food these birds help them survive through the Winter and have a better chance of reproducing when Spring comes. In Jaca at the foot of the Pyrenees (Huesca, Spain) there is a family who spends a few hundred euros monthly from October to March feeding the local avian fauna and keep record of each species that comes to the "Avian Restaurant". This year these naturalists caught in video a few Red Kites (Milvus milvus) diving to catch food in the garden (Video 1). It is a wonderful sight!! 

                             Video 1. Red Kites (Milvus milvus) diving for food in Jaca, Spain.


Food supplementation during cold weather spells or Winter is important considering that some species such as the House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) (Video 2) are on the decline thoughout Europe.

  Video 2. House Sparrows (Passer domesticus) eating bread crums and maize in a garden in Jaca, Spain.



Moreover, their importance become more crucial since any urban species of animal or plant has a very important role to play: They are Bioindicators of the Environment´s health, in short they are "Sentinels of everyone´s health" (National Research Council, 1991).

Nature heals and soothes our psychology and can keep us healthy as well. Recent research has shown that people who live within 200 metres from a green park are healthier than others who are surrounded by concrete only, for contact with nature when taking a walk on a green trail helps them release and remove the stress of everyday life in societies in perpetual motion.  

This is not surprising when we consider that humans have lived in close contact with nature for thousands of years before getting cramped in concrete jungles.

Furthermore, medical investigations have shown that patients who have windows where they can see trees heal faster and use less analgesics than those who have windows facing brick walls (Ulrich, 1984). So there is still an echo of our natural past buried in our subconsciousness that given the chance finds its way to the surface to make our life more meaningful and psychologically rewarding. 

Unfortunately, modern man seems to have acquire a taste for synthetic foods, asphalt and cement. Instead of smelling lillies and fresh grass he prefers to fill up his lungs with car fumes and smoke of burt automovile tires in his cities. The result? He is not fully happy neither is he healthy. On the contrary he is besieged by countles ailments new and old.

It is been said that this transition from a natural environment to an artificial one like cities is perhaps at the root of all of his disorders and maladies.

So, why no take the time to enjoy and marvel at the birds or any species of animal or plant that are found in gardens and parks to reestablish the ancient connection we all carry deep within ourselves? 

Good thoughts and wonderful natural views work wonders on us if we let them permeate our hearts.

So, why not be gentle and loving to those species that come to live with us in our unnatural concrete jungles and help us reconnect with Mother Nature? 

The following documentary (Video 3) takes us to London, one of the greenest cities in Europe.

                                                  Video 3. The unnatural history of London.

If we study the parish records in the British Isles during the last two millenia we will realise that a lot of people have been quite busy destroying wildlife and collecting rewards handed out by the government to get rid of some species that were considered vermin or dangerous, thus there are no more wolves on these islands. 

But at the same time there were always people who fought hard to defend the animals´ rights. In the end we have a British society that has learnt to tilt the balance towards the positive side, for the benefit of wildlife, be it urban or otherwise.  

They still have a lot of work to do, especially those people who shoot birds just for the pleasure of blasting them in the air with their shot guns and thus killing them or those who are into fox chasing. These are things that have no place in a world we brag about so very often by calling ourselves "human" or being "humane". 

Nevertheless, British people as a general rule are fond of wildlife and are nature lovers and this is a good way to go indeed. 

In the long run we all must strive to reconcile with Mother Nature if we want to survive as a species. Thus, biophilic and green cities are a new fashion with a lot of sense.  

Furthermore, if every city had its own space to achieve true self-sufficiency, be really green, it would be much better indeed. A goal that makes even more sense.

Acknowledgments

Many thanks to Mrs. Milagros S. Trullen for her willingness to record bird videos at her garden in Jaca (Spain), her "Avian Restaurant", for different species of birds during the current Winter 2012-2013. 

References

Altman I. & Wohlwill J. F. (Eds.) (1983). Human Behavior and the Natural Environment. Plenum Press, New York, NY, USA. 346 p.

Beatley T. (Ed.) (2012). Green Cities of Europe. Island Press, Washington, D.C., USA. 234 p.

Bechtel R. B. & Churchman A. (Eds.) (20029. Handbook of Environmental Psychology. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, NY, USA. 722 p.

Clayton S. & Opotow S. (Eds.) (2003). Identity and the Natural Environment. The Psychological Significance of Nature. The MIT Press, Cmbridge, MA, USA. 353 p. 

Dasgupta P. (2001). Human Well-Being and the Natural Environment. Oxford University Press Inc., New York, NY, USA. 305 p.

Desonie D. (2008). Humans and the Natural Environment: The Future of Our Planet. Chelsea House, New York, NY, USA. 210 p.

de Vries S., Verheij R. A., Groenewegen P. P. & Spreeuwenberg P. (2003). Natural environments - healthy environments? An exploratory analysis of the relationship between greenspace and health. Environ. Plann., 35 (nr): 1717-1731.

National Research Council (1991). Animals as Sentinels of Environmental Health Hazards. National Academy Press, Wshington, D.C., USA. 160 p. 

Park R. E., Burgess E. W. & Mckenzie R. D. (1967). The City. Suggestions for Investigation of Human Behavior in the Urban Environment. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL, USA. 239 p. 

Smith J. A. (2010). From nest building to life-history patterns: Does food supplentation influence reproductive behaviour of birds? Ph.D. Thesis, The University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK. 244 p. 

Ulrich R. S. (1984). View through a window may influence recovery from surgery. Science, 224 (4647): 420-421.

Ulrich R. S. (2002). Health Benefits of Gardens in Hospitals. Paper for conference, Plants for People, International Exhibition Floriade, 2002, 10 p.

Vincent K. E. (2005). Investigating the causes of the decline of the urban House Sparrow Passer Domesticus population in Britain. Ph.D. Thesis, De Montfort University, Leicester, UK. 302 p.

HOW TO CONNECT WITH THE INFINITE WITH A SNAIL

Source: The CFS Report

Source: treehugger

A Beautiful Voice:   Elisabeth Tova Bailey's
The Sound of A Wild Snail Eating

By Craig Maupin at www.cfidsreport.com

"Childhood pneumonia, college mononucleosis --those were nothing compared to this... I spiral into a deep darkness... I cannot come back up; I cannot reach my body". With those words, and an experience familiar to those who suffer from chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), Elisabeth Tova Bailey's The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating begins.

Bailey's poetic prose is more than an account of illness, it is also the remarkable natural history of a individual snail.  It is an account of change, of survival, and of adaptation. When a friend brings her a snail from the woodlands nearby, the small gift opens a novel world -- and a mysterious life -- that before went unnoticed. Confined to her bed, Bailey observes the snail as it explores, seeks shelter, gives birth, and relates to its miniature world. Within its flower pot or terrarium, the snail becomes a companion and a catalyst for new questions and exploration.

The author compiles a rich body of knowledge about snails, blending scientific knowledge with literary accounts. The snail's world, though often unnoticed, is rich and fascinating. For instance, a snail's brain has between 50,000 and 100,000 giant neurons. Snails find their way through their world much like Helen Keller, relying on smell and touch. They use their slime as a Teflon highway, a surface to enable effortless and silent locomotion. The snail's world, though foreign, is amazingly intricate and unique.

After experiencing years of full life of working, gardening, sailing, and hiking, the author's new life with chronic fatigue syndrome was as undesired as it was foreign. She describes life with CFS vividly. Orthostatic intolerance limits movement and isolates: "Offices, stores, galleries, libraries and movie theaters are not made for horizontal people". Post-exertional costs are incurred for routine activities once taken for granted. She writes that "holding and reading a book for any length of time involved levels of strength and concentration that were beyond me".

Realizing her snail is similarly confined, the author takes interest in the environment that she provides for it. A woodland terrarium is prepared for the snail, a place for the snail to explore and live comfortably. Yet, a reader wonders: Is a bed, a table, some white walls, and a water pitcher a stimulating environment for a human? The author herself speaks of being "trapped inside a stark, white box", unable to fully enjoy a window, hear pleasing sounds, or enjoy sunlight. Just as the snail requires stimulation in its environment, so, too, does she.

Before she was ill, Bailey was not very aware of what a snail's world was like;  it seemed small and inconsequential.    CFS is equally inconspicuous to the healthy public.   The author recalls those who found her "disappearance from work and social circles inexplicable."    Like snails in the woodlands, she also becomes invisible:   "I was simply homebound, like a snail pulled into its shell. But being homebound in the human world is a sort of vanishing."

Snails lack many senses.   Their vision is poor, and they cannot hear. As if to make up for the missing senses, snails develop other senses, such as an acute sense of smell. As CFS creates severe physical and mental exhaustion, the mind seeks imagination and contemplation.   The author remarks, "When the body is rendered useless, the mind still runs like a bloodhound along well-worn trails".

The mind creates new trails as well. As authentic proof of those trails, chronic fatigue syndrome has produced its share of skilled authors.   Hillary Johnson's Osler's Web and Laura Hillenbrand's Seabiscuit are substantiation of this lineage of powerful pens.   In my home, both these books sit on a bookshelf.   When I see these books, I am reminded of courage, of survival, and of the human spirit.   Elisabeth Tova Bailey's The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating now rests beside their works, in a growing corner -- my a Hall of Fame of CFS authors.

Bailey speaks of survival as spurred by a "specific focus.. a hope balanced on the edge of possibility". Possibility and hope are fuels that help those with chronic fatigue syndrome survive.   Possibility and hope also conspire to create powerful prose.   And Elisabeth Tova Bailey's book is powerful prose, a masterpiece of natural history that cuts through disease, environmental concerns, and sociological questions to find a uniquely beautiful voice.

Sound of a Wild Snail Eating can be purchased from Amazon.com.  

Elisabeth Tova Bailey's website is www.elisabethtovabailey.net.   

The author and Algonquin Publishers will donate a portion of the proceeds from the sale of the book to The Whittemore Peterson Institute in Reno NV. 

Source link:

http://www.cfidsreport.com/News/10_Elisabeth_Tova_Bailey.html

                                                 

MORAL CONSIDERATION

Source: veganism.com

In many situations in which we act we try to make sure our actions don’t harm others, or are actually beneficial to them. This means that we are taking others into account. We consider how they would be affected by our actions. This is moral consideration.

Moral consideration has to do both with other individuals and with ourselves. In any decision in which we have to choose how to act, we have to weigh different alternative courses of action. How do we, ultimately, decide which one to follow? We may do it according to how it affects just ourselves, or we may do it according to how it affects ourselves and other individuals as well.

However, in those decisions we may not take into account, for instance, how that decision may affect, say, a sheet of paper, a lamp, or a leaf on the ground. Or, rather, we may take into account how it affects these things, not for their sake, but because of the way that affecting them may affect other conscious individuals. This means that we don’t consider these objects morally. The reason for this is simple: they don’t suffer or experience wellbeing, so we can do no harm or good to them.

This means that moral consideration is about which individuals we ultimately take into account in our decisions. Most people have a speciesist perspective and only take other humans into consideration. In fact, many people (such as racist or xenophobic people) don’t even give moral consideration to all humans, but only to some of them. However, because all humans are individuals who, like us, can feel suffering and wellbeing, it is arbitrary not to morally consider them as well.

The same is true of nonhuman animals. They are individuals with feelings and needs and lives that matter to them. They can be benefitted and harmed just as we can. To deny them moral consideration simply because they belong to another species or for some other arbitrary characteristic such as not having a human-like language is speciesism, a form of discrimination.

 Source link: 

 http://www.veganism.com/moral-consideration/