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[lunamoth]

It seems to me that we shouldn't really need to shout "Global Warming!" or "Mass Extinctions" (which of course have happened in the past without any help from humans) to realize that it's not a good idea to chop down entire forests or keep pouring toxic chemicals into our environment. However, the sad truth is that any reversal of this now is going to be very painful.

In my professional life I worked on the effects of pollutants on plants and part of the stated goal in our grants was always to try to develop commercially useful plants that better tolerate the pollution. And always deep down inside I was thinking 'Wouldn't it just be better to stop making the pollutants and depleting the ozone layer?' Clearly these things have an adverse affect on our environment. Research can be done ad nauseum to back this up and so put teeth into environmental policy, but we need to be able to make the sacrifices to go along with that. And hey, I'm guilty as charged. I'd go crazy in my suburbia matrix if I couldn't drive my car to get groceries whenever I need them or just to get the kids out of the house.

Sacredstar, I like the idea of eco villages and think it should be applied at a much larger scale. But we need to make a living too and no way will I convince my husband to pull up stakes (again), quit his good job and move to a place where his chances of employment are nil. I'm totally in favor of raising the cost of gasoline in the USA to make the cost reflect not only the production cost but also the environmental cost and use the dollars to develop eco-friendly fuel alternatives. Heck, I'd like it to be mandatory that companies pay every employee a living wage for the neighborhood where they set up shop so people are not forced into long expensive commutes.

My favorite daydreams are about living in smart communities where we can make things more sustainable and friendly to families too.

peace,
lunamoth

[Sacredstar]

Dear Vajradhara

You won't be concerned that Buddishm is going be wiped out either then.
Big smiles.

Dear Faithfulservant.

I totally agree.

Love beyond measure

Sacredstar

[Sacredstar]

Dear Lunamoth

Thank you for your excellent contribution. Yes eco-communities did you know that there is one in the centre of London.

One of the benefits of living in a eco-village is that it is much more cost effective and energy efficient. You grow your own food and energy is solar powered. One of our local communties on the Essex/Suffolk border was started in 1968 it isn't as eco friendly as the new ones are but it is very cheap to live there. £135 per month for all living and eating costs per person and the children have grown up safe living on 65 acres of unspoilt constable country. Some of the people are self employed in the community and some have ordinary jobs like a bank teller. Everyone does 16 hours shared work in the community.

If anyone is interested in Eco-Living ~ Findhorn in Scotland do a fantastic intensive month long training course backed by UNESCO.

In the days to come many things we take for granted now will become a luxury and the sooner we cut our cloth, the sooner the planet we resume its eco balance. Ultimately we have decide what kind of future we are leaving for our children and their children. At this point it looks quite gloomy but yet I live in hope that humanity will turn the corner and start returning resources back to mother earth who is ailing.

Love beyond measure

Sacredstar

[Sacredstar]

Dear Lunamoth

Thank you for your excellent contribution. Yes eco-communities did you know that there is one in the centre of London.

One of the benefits of living in a eco-village is that it is much more cost effective and energy efficient. You grow your own food and energy is solar powered. One of our local communties on the Essex/Suffolk border was started in 1968 it isn't as eco friendly as the new ones are but it is very cheap to live there. £135 per month for all living and eating costs per person (just imagine no bills) and the children have grown up safe living on 65 acres of unspoilt constable country. Some of the people are self employed in the community and some have ordinary jobs like a bank teller. Everyone does 16 hours shared work in the community.

If anyone is interested in Eco-Living ~ Findhorn in Scotland do a fantastic intensive month long training course backed by UNESCO.

In the days to come many things we take for granted now will become a luxury and the sooner we cut our cloth, the sooner the planet will resume its eco balance. Ultimately we have to decide what kind of future we are leaving for our children and their children. At this point it looks quite gloomy but yet I live in hope that humanity will turn the corner and start returning resources back to mother earth who is ailing.

Love beyond measure

Sacredstar

[Vajradhara]

Namaste Sacredstar,

thank you for the post.

Originally Posted by Sacredstar

Dear Vajradhara

You won't be concerned that Buddishm is going be wiped out either then.

that's pretty funny, actually

no, of course, no Buddhist could be worried about such a thing. Buddhism is, for want of a better term, a convientent paradigm within which we can practice, however, this particular Turning of the Wheel of Dharma is only to last for 10,000 years, at which point, the Wheel will be turned again.

of course... that's also a bit of a lark since it's only applicable to this blue ball of mud we call earth. the Dharma, itself, is universal and is present in all sentient beings in all three times and ten directions, in the various multiverses where they may exist.

to be frank with you, the "end times" prophets have always seemed a bit histronic to me and, honestly, how hard is it to say that "the earth will end"? that is, of course, a very correct statement.. this compounded object will decay, like all compounded objects do. so.. perhaps, everyone that has said that the earth will end is an "end times" prophet

[Sacredstar]

Dear Vajradhara

Well yes I agree with you but Buddhism did not always exist and may not in the future. As far as the world will end, once one truly understands the prophecies one discovers that the world will not end but our view of it will. It is the end of the world as we have known it not the end of the world as a planet. (Unless of course we blow it up completely which I feel is very unlikely) But whole civilisations and species have been wiped out before and we are certainly witnessing different species being eliminated again. How much further the devastation goes rests with man to decide as the prophecies predict. I think it was the ancient Tibetans that predicted that following the end times/kali yuga planet earth would become the healing planet for the rest of the cosmos, so I have faith that paradise will return to our precious planet. But who will be here to enjoy it is another matter as man continues to self destruct.

Blessings in abundance

Sacredstar

[Sacredstar]

Dear Faithfulservant

yes I agree

more in todays news


- Lava pouring into sea at two locations  -  at Honolulu Advertiser  (Feb 3, 2005)
- Lava From Hawaii Volcano Drops Into Ocean  -  AP via Yahoo! News  (Feb 3, 2005)
- Moderate quake shakes northern Japan  -  AFP via Yahoo! News  (Feb 2, 2005)
- Japanese villagers return to island five years after volcanic eruption  -  AFP via Yahoo! News  (Feb 2, 2005)
- Japanese ship probes focus of massive quake that caused killer tsunamis  -  AFP via Yahoo! News  (Feb 2, 2005)
- Homes damaged as new earthquakes jolt Indonesia  -  AFP via Yahoo! News  (Feb 2, 2005)
- Eruptions Possible at Two Alaska Volcanoes  -  Reuters via Yahoo! News  (Jan 31, 2005)
- Lava Dome Surges at Mount St. Helens  -  at ABCNEWS.com  (Jan 31, 2005)
- Moderate quake rocks Taiwan  -  AFP via Yahoo! News  (Jan 31, 2005)
- Quake moved Sumatra by only 20 centimeters: Danish scientists  -  AFP via Yahoo! News  (Jan 31, 2005)
- Ecuador Quake Fears After Hundreds of Tremors Hit  -  Reuters via Yahoo! News  (Jan 31, 2005)
- Scientists Keep Eye on Alaska Volcanoes  -  AP via Yahoo! News  (Jan 30, 2005)
- U.N. to Coordinate Asia's Tsunami Warning Centers  -  Reuters via Yahoo! News  (Jan 29, 2005)
- Tsunami Warning Centers to Be Created  -  AP via Yahoo! News  (Jan 29, 2005)
 

[I, Brian]

Yep - there are thousands of earthquakes happening around the world on any given day. The majority of which will not be widely experienced. As we are more spread out as a species, and have better communications with it, we're better able to report when the ones we feel actually take place.