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Tales From The Other Side - Alternative Culture to enlighten a mediocre mood

 
Alternative Culture and ideas, ready to be injected into your Reality.

Global Warming Quotes

January 26th 2009 14:04
We simply must do everything we can in our power to slow down global warming before it is too late... The science is clear. The global warming debate is over. Arnold Schwarzenegger, bill signing ceremony for California's strict anti-emissions law, September 26, 2006

The answer to global warming is in the abolition of private property and production for human need. A socialist world would place an enormous priority on alternative energy sources. This is what ecologically-minded socialists have been exploring for quite some time now. Louis Proyect, Columbia University

Since global warming Eskimos now have twenty different words for water.’ John O'Farrell - This Is Your Life 2001


I think it is manmade. I think it's clearly manmade. If you don't understand what the cause is, it's virtually impossible to come up with a solution. We know what the cause is. The cause is manmade. That's the cause. That's why the polar icecap is melting. Joe Biden

While human-induced global warming is not going to turn present-day Earth into present-day Mars, global warming is dire enough that our most distinguished scientists recently concluded that as many as 1 million species on the planet could be extinct by 2050 if affairs do not change. Jay Inslee

We can drift along as though there were still a cold war, wasting hundreds of billions of dollars on weapons that will never be used, ignoring the problems of people in this country and around the world, being one of the worst environmental violators on earth, standing against any sort of viable programs to protect the world's forests or to cut down on acid rain or the global warming or ozone depletion. We can ignore human rights violations in other countries, or we can take these things on as true leaders ought to and accept the inspiring challenge of America for the future. Jimmy Carter


Global warming is not a conqueror to kneel before - but a challenge to rise to. A challenge we must rise to. Joe Lieberman

At its core, global climate change is not about economic theory or political platforms, nor about partisan advantage or interest group pressures. It is about the future of God's creation and the one human family. It is about protecting both `the human environment' and the natural environment. United States Conference of Catholic Bishops statement

The world’s forests need to be seen for what they are.. giant global utilities, providing essential services to humanity on a vast scale. Rainforests store carbon, which is lost to the atmosphere when they burn, increasing global warming. The life they support cleans the atmosphere of pollutants and feeds it with moisture. They help regulate our climate and sustain the lives of some of the poorest people on this Earth. Prince Charles

Global warming is too serious for the world any longer to ignore its danger or split into opposing factions on it. Tony Blair, speech, Sept. 27, 2005

There are many who still do not believe that global warming is a problem at all. And it's no wonder: because they are the targets of a massive and well-organized campaign of disinformation lavishly funded by polluters who are determined to prevent any action to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming out of a fear that their profits might be affected if they had to stop dumping so much pollution into the atmosphere. Al Gore

Our nation has both an obligation and self-interest in facing head-on the serious environmental, economic and national security threat posed by global warming. John McCain

On average, global warming is not going to harm the developing world. Bjorn Lomborg

All across the world, in every kind of environment and region known to man, increasingly dangerous weather patterns and devastating storms are abruptly putting an end to the long-running debate over whether or not climate change is real. Not only is it real, it's here, and its effects are giving rise to a frighteningly new global phenomenon: the man-made natural disaster. Barack Obama

The global warming scenario is pretty grim. I'm not sure I like the idea of polar bears under a palm tree.Lenny Henry

We want a national emissions trading scheme, the Government does not and has rejected one for years. We want to boost the mandatory renewable energies target, the Government has failed to do that. We want a national demand side management strategy for the country to reduce electricity consumption and the Government, up until now, has done very little on that score. Kevin Rudd

The Greenland ice sheet is likely to be eliminated [within 50 years] unless much more substantial reductions in emissions are made than those envisaged [and will] probably be irreversible, this side of a new ice age. Jonathan Gregory, climatologist, University of Reading, April 2004

W]hen we look at the graphs of rising ocean temperatures, rising carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and so on, we know that they are climbing far more steeply than can be accounted for by the natural oscillation of the weather ... What people (must) do is to change their behavior and their attitudes ... If we do care about our grandchildren then we have to do something, and we have to demand that our governments do something. -David Attenborough.

Global warming is one of those things, not like an earthquake where there's a big bang and you say, 'Oh, my God, this is really, has hit us.' It creeps up on you. Half a degree temperature difference from one year to the next, a little bit of rise of the ocean, a little bit of melting of the glaciers, and then all of a sudden it is too late to do something about it. Arnold Schwarzenegger

The whole (global warming) thing is created to destroy America's free enterprise system and our economic stability. Jerry Falwell

The European records, being so long, make a convincing case that we're already seeing changes ... This is not like 'Centuries from now the ice sheets will melt.' This is 'In a few decades it will be dramatically different.' To me, that's alarming. Drew Shindell, NASA physicist

We are upsetting the atmosphere upon which all life depends. In the late 80s when I began to take climate change seriously, we referred to global warming as a "slowmotion catastrophe" one we expected to kick in perhaps generations later. Instead, the signs of change have accelerated alarmingly. David Suzuki

Some of the scientists, I believe, haven't they been changing their opinion a little bit on global warming? There's a lot of differing opinions and before we react I think it's best to have the full accounting, full understanding of what's taking place. George W Bush

..The United States is a quarter-century late in responding to global warming; serious climate change is already underway and requires action now, not later. There were warnings from the scientific community as early as 1979 and many in the 1980’s. We frittered away that chance to respond, and here is what we are up against now. If we want to avoid leaving a ruined world to our children, we are going to have to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by about 60 percent globally and 80 percent in the United States and other developed countries, both by 2050. To do this, global emissions must peak about 2020 and decline steadily thereafter. Developed country emissions should already be declining. The United States is clearly on the wrong path. The Energy Information Administration projects that both U.S. coal use and carbon dioxide emissions are currently slated to increase by 40 percent by 2030. Gus Speth, dean of the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, 2006

Environmental organizations are formenting false fears in order to promote agendas and raise money. Michael Crichton

The danger is that global warming may become self-sustaining, if it has not done so already. The melting of the Arctic and Antarctic ice caps reduces the fraction of solar energy reflected back into space, and so increases the temperature further. Climate change may kill off the Amazon and other rain forests, and so eliminate once one of the main ways in which carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere. The rise in sea temperature may trigger the release of large quantities of carbon dioxide, trapped as hydrides on the ocean floor. Both these phenomena would increase the greenhouse effect, and so global warming further. We have to reverse global warming urgently, if we still can. Professor Stephen Hawking - ABC News interview, August 16, 2006

We want to annoy the fuckers whenever we can. The best thing we can do with environmentalists is shoot them. These headbangers want to make air travel the preserve of the rich. They are Luddites marching us back to the 18th century. Michael O'Leary, Ryanair Chief Executive

It used to be controversial whether smoking caused lung cancer, it used to be controversial wheter HIV caused AIDS. Now, there are a few mavericks who deny those things. In the case of climate change, I think the debate is going the same way in that there is a strong consensus that it is a serious matter. Lord Martin Rees, Royal Society president and Astronomer Royal of Great Britain, November 29, 2006

Our generation has inherited an incredibly beautiful world from our parents and they from their parents. It is in our hands whether our children and their children inherit the same world. Richard Branson

I want to tell them that France will always be by their side when they need it, but I also want to tell them that friendship means accepting that your friends may think differently and that a great nation such as the United States has a duty not to put obstacles in the way of the fight against global warming, but on the contrary to take the lead in this fight, because what is at stake is the fate of humanity as a whole. France will make this battle its primary battle. Nicolas Sarkozy, president of France, May 2007
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Min Min Lights

December 1st 2008 23:19
The Min Min lights are one of Australia’s most enduring legends. The story goes like this; you’re driving down the road. Suddenly, you’re practically blinded. Right in front of you, coming straight at you, is a light. You try to keep driving, but the light keeps flying straight towards you.

This is not uncommon in the area of Min Min in Australia. The phenomenon of these lights happening on the road to Min Min has been creatively labelled ‘The Min Min’ Lights, and is widely credited with Min Min’s demise into a ghost town.

Most Urban legends are regarded as just that; legends. The Min Min lights are however, regarded very much as a factual, yet unexplained phenomenon, as can be seen by the warning sign.

A suggested and widely accepted explanation does exist. The idea is that light bouncing off bits and pieces basically causes a reflection miles away. From what has been done, it would seem there is an indication that this is a satisfactory explanation. I have to admit, for a moment when I heard this, I was disappointed. Mysteries are so much better when they haven’t been unwrapped.
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Sexual Slavery in Australia

November 3rd 2008 20:49
Sex Slave Graffiti


Sexual Slavery is one of those things we all picture happening in other countries. Is it, however, happening in Australia. And by most estimates, it is happening more and more.

The women being pulled into this illegal industry are generally Asian, with numbers of Thai sex slaves decreasing, yet South Korean slaves believed to be increasing. Many of the women involved are brought to Australia by shady dealers, unaware of the conditions of their transportation. Ages range, but many are underage, some as young as twelve.

Coroner Carl Milanovich stated in a report following the death in custody of Puongtong Simaplee, a sex slave in Australia from the age of twelve, that - "It would seem that there is evidence that young women are enticed to this country on the premise that they will be provided with work and earn a good income, only to be exploited and forced to work in brothels,"

Surely one of the most disturbing thing about the whole matter is that for an industry so large, awareness must extend well beyond the direct perpetrators of the industry itself. Men know, men’s friends know. Like drugs, the industry does not exist without clients. So… who knows and doesn’t tell?

CHERYL J SAYS
...many of the children and women who are forced into the sex slave industry are poor Asian immigrants who come to Australia with the promise of a job and a life. The people that bring them over immediately confiscate their passports and detain them with threats of deportation or harm to their families.

Many are forced into addiction and are even less able to help themselves. Many women are forced by circumstance into prostitution to survive but I'm not sure that I was class them as slaves, more victims of terrible circumstance. Many women happily go into the industry to pay their way through uni or buy homes to start themselves off. I would say the latter is the majority when it comes to well known brothels and the former in the shadier ones.

...Why doesn't anyone speak up when they know it's happening? I think because far too many people in positions of power are the ones using these 'services' so they shut up lest a) they are found out and b) the sex gravy train comes to a screeching halt.


REFERENCES.

Really Long Link

Really Long Link

Image by Steve Weaver, used under a Creative Commons Attribution License.
Image Description; An exhibition set up in Trafalgar square from September 22nd to the 30th 2007 by the Helen Bamber organization to highlight and lobby the government to the shocking trade of sex trafficking and enslavement happening on our doorsteps. To find out more and to sign a petition go to:-
Really Long Link
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Role Models and Unhealthy Behavior

August 3rd 2008 14:23
wtf dude
If we had to judge our every action by the fact it might inspire immitation, we would be in a state of constant self censorship.


Tupac once said ‘I refuse to be a role model’. Then he got shot. (Or in the other order if you feel like indulging a conspiracy.)

Joke; A kid walks into a room where her dad has just knocked over the chair. She says, “What the bloody hell was that”. And her dad stares at her and says, “Where the bloody hell did you learn to speak like that?”

Brett Easton Ellis wrote the novel ‘American Psycho’, featuring several gruesome sequences of elaborate murder. He was shocked when he discovered a murderer had copied some of these scenes.

Charles Manson’s murders were inspired by the Beatles White Album, most explicitly the song Helter Skelter.

The Murder of John Lennon was committed by a man who was inspired by the novel Catcher in the Rye.

The point (oh yes dear readers, if you squint hard enough, as usual, there is one) is that our actions are a constant inspiration to others. Sometimes, the nature of this inspiration is impossible to determine. However we are, each of us, in some way a role model.

Current drinking government campaigns are reflective of this. The message is that ‘kids adsorb your drinking.’

Football codes also have the role of sportspersons as role models written into their very fabric. Wendell Sailor discovered this on a very personal level when he was prohibited from playing for a period for cocaine use.

For whom are we living our lives; for ourselves or others? To what extent can we accept that the negative choices we make are going to inspire similar choices in others (perhaps, !!!, children) and to what point do we live a less ideal lifestyle in order to have a more positive influence on those around us? If we can accept ‘negative behaviour’ for ourselves (eg, drinking, sexual promiscuity, misuse of public property, rudeness et al) then what makes it so unacceptable when others do it?

Finally, provided we believe in a live and let live philosophy; doesn’t this mean attempting to control and make examples of others is inherently bad role modelling?


image by Simon Davidson under a creative commons attribution license,
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Death of Marvin Gaye

July 1st 2008 02:58
Marvin Gaye Painting
Painting of Marvin Gaye by Ronnie Wood


Marvin Gaye was a singer songwriter most famous for his song ‘Sexual Healing’. His death was one of profound tragedy, in it’s unusual circumstance.

Marvin Gaye was born ‘Marvin Gay’ but added an e to the end of his name to disassociate himself from his father. He was very close with one of his duet partners, Tammi Terrell.

Following her death from a brain tumor, Gaye became seriously depressed and didn’t perform for two years.

He continued to have success musically, though soon after his main hit, Sexual Healing, he went back into solitude, moving in with his parents, where he reportedly had suicidal feelings several times after fighting with his preacher father.

Marvin Gaye was killed on April one 1984, the day before his birthday, shot to death by his father. His father was to be charged with first degree murder, changed to manslaughter after the discovery of a brain tumour.

It has been suggested that Marvin Gaye’s death was in fact the result of a conscious suicide attempt of sorts.

Image by Steve.Wild under a Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike License.
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Hell Bank Notes

May 1st 2008 21:56
In Chinatown the other day I bought myself a wad of ‘Hellbank’ notes. I thought the name was just one of those cute mistranslations. However, browsing a bit of reading, I found the truth was quite different.

Hell Bank notes are simply paper money with ‘Hell Bank’ written on them. They are not play money though, and have a specific ritual purpose to be used at funerals. When a person dies, the money is burnt, in a careful way (either folded or put in an envelope, due to the concept that burning real money brings bad fortune). The basic concept is, as within other cultures where paper effigies of consumer products are burnt, that the money can be used in the afterlife


[ Click here to read more ]
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Nazca Lines

April 1st 2008 06:59
In the middle of the Nazca desert, Peru, are massive animal shapes. These are known as the Nazca lines, and are the subject of much discussion over their unknown origin. The largest is almost 900 Feet in size. The main confusion over these markings is that while impressive in scope and appearance, there would seem to be no real means for the creators to have SEEN their creations.
Nazca Monkey


[ Click here to read more ]
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Living With Nature

February 21st 2008 13:16
There’s a 100% effective way to protect beach goers from shark attacks. Kill all the sharks. And why stop there? We see people dying from spiders, snakes, lions, tigers, bears, wolves… let’s just kill the lot of them.

Of course, this is a stupid idea. We can’t just eliminate all the dangers in nature. However our common approach seems to be to hide from nature – put ‘us’ in the house, control the places where trees are and aren’t, cut the grass and determine the boundaries between our space, and natural space


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Was Charles Darwin a Racist?

February 14th 2008 05:41
Evolution
A Social Theory of Evolution


Darwinism is effectively the theory of Evolution – the idea that different species evolve through the thriving of creatures with useful genetic traits, which go on to pass on their traits, and the elimination of genetic traits that do not lend themselves to survival


[ Click here to read more ]
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Bangladesh Shipping Yards

February 8th 2008 13:19
Ship Breaking in Bangledesh


You are the owner of a Cruise Ship. It’s served you well but is ending it’s usefulness. Anywhere you want to dump it though is either environmentally sensitive, thus restricted, or expensive


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Possible Calamity vs. Certain Bad

February 4th 2008 13:57
Soviet Era Gas Mask
A life so protected, one's joy is neglected? Or a life so exited, that woe is invited?


There is a brick chimney on your roof that has been corroded by rain. You really have two choices. You can climb up on the roof and run the slight risk of slipping and seriously injuring yourself, or you can leave it and wait until it all falls to bits and you have to pay someone a stupid amount of money to fix it for you


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Equality in an Unequal World

January 31st 2008 13:54
Martin Luthor King claimed that all men were created equal. However, we all know that’s false. Some men are taller. Some are shorter. Some are fat. Some are missing bits. I myself am missing a piece of my kidney.

As some smart arse one said – if all men are equal, why are some in jail


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I hate my Dad

January 28th 2008 13:44
There’s a protest on. Cars are stopped at the lights, waiting for the protesters to walk by. The first comes by with a Placard and yells “Down with Howard, War Mongering bastard”. The second comes along with a massive placard – “Destroy the neo-fascist evil Capitalist system!” Then a third comes along with a placard and yells;
“I hate my Dad!”


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Nihongo ga dekimasuka? I can! I speak Japanese and English. Kevin Rudd can speak Mandarin. Kerry Armstrong can speak Italian.

No matter who you are, learning a second language is more than worthwhile. But why


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Kids Want To Learn

January 21st 2008 13:23
When you play your Nintendo DS and you’re working on an awesome game, and you get past level one, the game rewards you with a second level that is harder than the first. Your reward for completing a challenge is a harder challenge.

Think about small children. You see them poking, prodding, moving things around, experimenting. This is playing. It is also learning. To a point, the two things are, and should be, essentially linked


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Scissors, Paper, Rock, PAIN!!!

January 17th 2008 13:32
Scissors Paper Rock
PON!


This is a story from Japan. Now, I really don’t know how widespread this practice is, but I’m guessing it’s probably pretty wide, looking at some other precedents that I’ll get into later


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What is Worth Living for?

January 14th 2008 12:54
I wrote an article a while back entitles ‘What is worth dying for’? It seems only logical that there should be a similar assessment of the equal, opposite question- what is worth living for?

I don’t want to make a feel good list of glurge here. I want to make a list of real, reasons to be alive – things that, if you met someone hovering halfway between life and death, would provide real, genuine motivation to choose the former


[ Click here to read more ]
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