HOME – YouTube

Not sure why I can’t recall having seen this earlier…

Via HOME – YouTube

We are living in exceptional times. Scientists tell us that we have 10 years to change the way we live, avert the depletion of natural resources and the catastrophic evolution of the Earth’s climate.

The stakes are high for us and our children. Everyone should take part in the effort, and HOME has been conceived to take a message of mobilization out to every human being.

For this purpose, HOME needs to be free. A patron, the PPR Group, made this possible. EuropaCorp, the distributor, also pledged not to make any profit because Home is a non-profit film.

HOME has been made for you : share it! And act for the planet.

Yann Arthus-Bertrand

HOME official website
http://www.home-2009.com

WordPress 3.04 Visual Editor (TinyMCE) Missing

I had a problem on one of my blogs wherein the WordPress visual editor (or TinyMCE) had gone missing with one of the recent updates. Tried disabling plugins to no avail. Finally found a solution that involves editing wp-config.php (which doesn’t seem to have created any other problems, at least not that I’ve noticed yet).

The solution was to add the following line to wp-config.php

define('CONCATENATE_SCRIPTS', false );

Keane on Election 2010

A corker of an article in today’s Crikey from Bearnard Keane on the dismal state of politics in Australia. He starts off with…

Yes, this election is rubbish, and it represents the lowest point in policy debate since, probably, 1980.

Yes it’s boring, and visionless, and run by two parties that are entirely risk-averse and who have turned their backs on so much achieved by previous generations of leaders. Parties for whom a key campaign strategy is to explain to voters that they have no intention of carrying out reforms they have long insisted were crucial.

But bad luck – it’s your fault. Politicians, and the media, and the business community all share responsibility for this dire state of affairs, but it’s voters themselves who have ultimately brought this about.

Read the entire article on the Crikey website: This is all your fault.

Update: I should have probably posted earlier about the equally if not more worthy of note piece by Grogs Gamut on the media in this election: waste and mismanagement – the media.

CERES FoodConnect Basics Box

Update: Almost a year has passed since this post. The program has since been renamed CERES Fair Food and has grown in leaps and bounds. We’re still getting the boxes – alternating between a Small Basics and a Small Fruit & Veg. Throughout the year the produce has remained of an excellent standard. It is great to regularly enjoy fruit that tastes fantastic!

We picked up our first box of fruit and vegies from the CERES FoodConnect program this afternoon from Loophole in Thornbury. The process was very easy and the unboxing yielded the goodies below. We ordered the ‘Basics Box’, which is one of the smaller offerings. The mandarins were very hard to resist, and didn’t survive for very long after this photo. The rest of the produce looks fantastic (the mystery vegetables in the brown bag are, of course, mushrooms). All in all, a great start to the program!

Teh Scary Wind Turbines

Adam Morton has a piece in The Age today on some of the political goings on around wind farms in Victoria: You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows. Well worth a read.

The article mentions the recent findings of the National Health and Medical Research Council research into Wind Turbines and Health. A helpful pushback to some of the random anecdotal claims going around.

The Public Statement presents the current evidence relating potential health impacts of wind turbines on people living in close proximity. The Statement concludes that there is currently no published scientific evidence to positively link wind turbines with adverse health effects.

And also reminded me of a recent tweet from Hepburn Wind highlighting recent analysis done to overcome the need for illumination and red flashing lights on wind turbines: Wind farm switches off lights

Feature on Bob Brown in The Age

An interestingly timed feature on Bob Brown by Michael Gordon in The Age: Coming in from the wilderness. Worth a read. Quite a positive piece. It concludes with a focus on current events…

Brown agrees, and insists the Greens will work constructively with whoever wins the election to achieve good results and advance an agenda that includes introducing a carbon tax, better funding for mental health, a national dental scheme and a permanent solution for forest protection. Brown says he has worked with Julia Gillard on industrial relations and youth issues and found her ”matter-of-fact, plain-speaking and does what she says she will do”, but he isn’t expecting too much to change.

”Everybody with a progressive bone in their body raised a glass at the news of our first female prime minister, but that’s where that ends,” he says. ”Politically it doesn’t change the dynamic at all. There’s no way that we’re going to get a green Gillard government any more than a green Rudd government or a green Howard government. That’s why we’re here.”

CERES Food Connect

Update: For an update on the renamed CERES Fair Food, and our experience of using if for almost a year, check out this post.

CERES has just recently launched CERES FoodConnect, which I’ll let them explain

CERES Food Connect is a Melbourne based organic food delivery service which is setting 
out to create a healthier, happier food system by ensuring our members have access to affordable, fresh and tasty organic fruit and vegetables, all sourced from local growers who are paid a fair price for their produce and practice 
eco-friendly farming.

We deliver a variety of fruit and veg boxes, with the contents changing each week based on the freshest arrivals from our organic growers. Our unique distribution method means that we
 significantly reduce the carbon footprint associated with distributing food and that we are reconnecting our community with where their food comes from. By becoming a CERES Food Connect member, you make a big difference simply by choosing to shop with us!

A fantastic initiative. We’ve signed up for a Fruit and Veg box, so will be able to report first hand on how it goes.

Replace Hazelwood

The Replace Hazelwood campaign has been on in earnest for some time now. In short, from replacehazelwood.com.au

Hazelwood is Australia’s dirtiest power station. This election year, we’re calling on the Victorian and Federal Governments to commit to Replace Hazelwood with Clean Energy by 2012. Can you help us make it happen?

Check out the official website.

Doorknocking has been underway in a number of suburbs in Melbourne for about a month now. There have also been a range of other actions around the place. More info on upcoming dates at the climate action centre.

  • Sat 3 July – Brunswick with Climate Action Moreland
  • Sunday 4 July – Richmond with Yarra Climate Action Now
  • Sun 10 July – Westgarth (DCAN) 1-4pm Jika Jika Community House cnr Plant and Union Street Northcote with Darebin Climate Action Network
  • Sat 17 July – North Melbourne with Inner Northwest Climate Change Community

The Victorian Greens have recently incorporated action on Hazelwood into their campaign.

Federal Labor MP Kelvin Thompson has also recently voiced support for  taking steps to close the plant.

There is a National Day of Action to Replace Hazelwood on July 17.

Politician Rebranding in Clifton Hill

A very successful Politician Rebranding session was held this morning by members of Yarra Climate Action Now (YCAN) in Clifton Hill. Local Labor MP Richard Wynne had set out to promote his green credentials with a ‘Showerhead Exchange’. The YCAN members were on hand across the road to point out some more urgent environmental priorities! The ‘Honk for Urgent Climate Action’ sign proved a real winner with passing motorists (much to the chagrin of Mr Wynne and his staffers!) Video below.

For more info on the weekly rebranding sessions outside Richard Wynne’s office, check out the YCAN blog.