Allan Savory: How to green the world’s deserts and reverse climate change (by TEDtalksDirector). This is fascinating – the real answer to global warming is to eat more meat!!

The desert fathers, because of their clairvoyance, have seen more clearly the approach and assault of spiritual forces against a Christian who wishes to pray, and have written about the development of sin from within a person.

The first stage is the intrusive thought, which “pops into our head” – a mere suggestion of doing something. This is not a sin, but if within us there is some part of the heart that is not cleansed, then the suggestion will take root and turn into a temptation. The person then begins to contend with the temptation – weighing up the pros and cons of the suggestion. This is also not a sin, because the temptation can be rejected in the mind, but this is already a dangerous place to be in. Without being rejected the temptation becomes a desire, and the person will find a way to carry out the evil deed suggested. This is a sin which must be repented of – it is committing the sin in thought – although even here there is the possibility that the person will not – in the end – carry out the deed. The next stage is to commit the sin in deed as well as thought. If this sin is not repented of then it may completely “possess” the person and become habitual, like a second nature.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=od_6M8cFdUA

Watched the Dude the other night for the first time in ages – a real Sarsparilla for the soul – but picked up a definite Magnolia/PTA vibe this time, not least in a brief cameo role for Aimee Mann.

Beyond the field of conservation, the neo-environmentalists are distinguished by their attitude toward new technologies, which they almost uniformly see as positive. Civilization, nature, and people can only be “saved” by enthusiastically embracing biotechnology, synthetic biology, nuclear power, geoengineering, and anything else with the prefix “new” that annoys Greenpeace. The traditional green focus on “limits” is dismissed as naïve. We are now, in Brand’s words, “as gods,” and we have to step up and accept our responsibility to manage the planet rationally through the use of new technology guided by enlightened science.

Neo-environmentalists also tend to exhibit an excitable enthusiasm for markets. They like to put a price on things like trees, lakes, mist, crocodiles, rainforests, and watersheds, all of which can deliver “ecosystem services,” which can be bought and sold, measured and totted up. Tied in with this is an almost religious attitude toward the scientific method. Everything that matters can be measured by science and priced by markets, and any claims without numbers attached can be easily dismissed. This is presented as “pragmatism” but is actually something rather different: an attempt to exclude from the green debate any interventions based on morality, emotion, intuition, spiritual connection, or simple human feeling…

(in other words, they are asophic)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csstykAOQKI

“emotions… they come and go like clouds”

It’s called the American Dream because you have to be asleep to believe it.

Only those who understand, will understand. (via James at the Matrix)

The pursuit of economic growth will now come before all other concerns” – how depressing is that?