Dave Darby
Well done for fighting food waste, Hugh; but let’s take it a step further
Have you seen any of the TV programmes about food waste, hosted by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall? He’s trying to highlight the amount of food that gets wasted in the UK – which is truly phenomenal, and a ridiculous waste of land, money, energy and time. Read more
Join the people who are fighting back against corporate control of global food production
There’s something seriously wrong with the way most of our food is produced and sold. The corporate sector is gaining control of more and more of global food production, shifting the focus from nutrition, flavour and nature towards profit and profit only. Read more
Beware the ‘sharing’ economy – back door for a more rapacious form of capitalism
Something that’s been troubling me for a while. The ‘sharing’ economy must be a good thing, right? I’ve been trying to see the good in it for a while. Sharing anything must mean that fewer resources are used, less waste produced, people get to know each other in their communities. All sounds great, doesn’t it? Read more
Free event in Oxfordshire this Sunday using game theory to explore Trident and the potential for nuclear conflict
An experimental day looking at aspects of game theory in parallel with discussions around the replacement of the Trident nuclear deterrent. Read more
TPP is not secret any more; we can now see the text of the deal, and it’s worse than we thought
The text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (deal similar to TTIP, but for Pacific Rim countries) has been agreed. However, there are some US politicians who are already calling for it to be re-negotiated, because big pharmaceutical corporations don’t think they get enough. Read more
The Yamagishi Association: successful, moneyless, leaderless network of communes in Japan and elsewhere
In the 1990s I visited the headquarters of the Yamagishi Association in Mie-ken in Japan. It’s a federation of intentional communities that is still going strong – but even then it comprised 3000 people in 30 villages all over Japan Read more
How much do you know about TTIP? Take the quiz
Here is a quiz developed by the wonderful Transnational Institute to test your knowledge of TTIP. Read more
Should the international response to mass killings be the same, regardless of where they take place?
I’m guessing that most people’s answer to this question is a resounding ‘yes’. There are no countries, surely, whose citizens are more important than the citizens of any other country? Read more
There are plans to water down the Freedom of Information Act; here’s what you can do
In the great state/corporate battle against you, the latest round is an attempt to water down the Freedom of Information Act (other major assaults are TTIP and the Global Redesign Initiative). This is the act that brought you the MPs’ expenses scandal, and the fact that the UK government worked with chemical corporations to block… Continue reading There are plans to water down the Freedom of Information Act; here’s what you can do Read more
Condensed: Paul Mason’s ‘Postcapitalism: A Guide to Our Future’
Paul Mason has a book out called Postcapitalism: A Guide to Our Future, and below is a video of a recent public debate at St. Paul’s Cathedral, featuring Mason talking about his book with Ann Pettifor and Phillip Blond. Read more
How Charlie and Meg’s self-built, natural home finally received planning permission with the help of the One Planet Council
You may remember a previous article about Charlie and Meg’s natural home in Pembrokeshire, that the planners decided needed to be bulldozed because it was ‘harmful to the rural character of the locality’. See here. Read more
The number of people with allergies is rising rapidly; but 10 times as many people believe that they have allergies, when in fact they don’t
Just heard a Radio 4 programme about allergies, which dovetailed with a lot of our beliefs. Here are the highlights. Read more
Why do giant corporations pretend to be small, local, craft businesses?
Jack Daniel’s is a classic example of this. You must have seen their ads – on posters, in magazines, on TV? The ones where they try to disguise a massive corporate behemoth as a folksy, friendly, small, local business? Old men in dungarees play cards on upturned barrels Read more
Global Redesign Initiative: how banks and corporations are planning to become global governors
This report is really something that everyone in the world should understand, because it spells out precisely what the corporate sector intends to do. Read more
The impossibility of perpetual economic growth in four easy steps
Step 1: perpetual material growth in the economy is impossible on a finite planet. Read more
‘The Tyranny of Structurelessness’: some thoughts
The Tyranny of Structurelessness is a seminal essay by Joreen Freeman (above), written in 1970. I read it for the first time recently, but I’ve known about it for many years, and in fact, I lived in an intentional community where it was regularly mentioned, and at least some of us lived by its main… Continue reading ‘The Tyranny of Structurelessness’: some thoughts Read more
Why international investors (i.e. ‘the 1%’) couldn’t care less about politics
Bloomberg recently covered a Credit Suisse report on the concerns of international investors in the US, in Europe and in Asia. What they found was very interesting – that their concerns were entirely economic. They just couldn’t care less about politics – and especially who gets elected in which country. Read more
Overview of TTIP, and why Europeans are very unhappy about it
I don’t know who slipped these anti-TTIP posters onto London Underground trains, but respect to them. If you don’t know about TTIP, here’s some basic information. Read more
Communities in Scotland may soon be able to purchase land even if the landowner doesn’t want to sell; where do you stand?
There are radical changes on the table when it comes to land ownership in Scotland. The Land Reform Scotland Bill is intended to address the huge disparity in land ownership in Scotland – but there is one clause that is making some people extremely hopeful, and other very worried. Read more
Rebels vs the Empire: why real life is like Star Wars
My brother is not politically or philosophically motivated, not particularly well read, and doesn’t keep up with current affairs. Most people are like that. Let’s call them ‘the mainstream’, if that’s not disrespectful. I don’t think it is – he’s my brother, after all. Read more