Globalization - Another Point of View

I was reading email withe the NewsHour playing on the TV on Friday night when I heard an interview that captured my total attention.

Going Global
As part of his ongoing series of conversations about globalization, Paul Solman talks with Indian activist Vandana Shiva.

It was the comments of Vandana Shiva that just blew me away. I found myself agreeing with a lot of her arguments. If you have a bit of time the interview is worth the listen. Podcast

I now find myself looking for more info on her writings.

She appears to be well published in Resurgence Magazine. Here are some quotes from Issue 240...

Both ecology and economics have emerged from the same root: oikos, the Greek word for ‘household’. As long as economics was focused on the household, it recognized and respected its basis in natural resources, the limits of ecological renewal. It was focused on providing for basic human needs within these limits. Economics based on the household was women-centered.

There are also three levels of economy: nature’s economy, people’s sustenance economy, and the market economy. Nature’s economy is the foundation of all economies because it supports all life on Earth. In nature’s economy the currency is life and processes that maintain life. Money cannot measure nature’s health and wellbeing.

I have witnessed again and again that as people’s resources are commoditized and people’s economies are commercialized, money flow does increase in society, but it is mainly outflow from nature and people to commercial interests and corporations.

Source: Resurgence Magazine Issue 240: How Weaalth Creates Poverty

For more of her writings on Resurgence try this LINK

A real look at spring in the Blue Ridge Mountains

Marie just posted a photo from her deck above Valle Crucis...go check out the look of early spring in the North Carolina mountains.

This was the view from my deck. As you see, there are no leaves on our trees up here. In fact, the sexy blush of spring is not yet visible upon the branches. But what you do not see are the sounds of approaching spring in my neck of the woods.

Source: Blue Ridge blog: A few minutes ago...

TGIF - 2771

From the Thursday paper... Is it just me, are is this really just a "duh" moment.

WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday that it would bar outside medical experts with a financial interest in a manufacturer from voting on advisory panels assessing whether drugs or other products made by that company are safe and effective.

The proposed restrictions — which would also apply to experts with ties to competing companies — would significantly strengthen the FDA's conflict-of-interest policy. One recent study suggests that more than one-fourth of FDA advisers may be prohibited from voting.

I mean...Really people, you just thought of this?

After six years of the Bush White House running the FDA, they have finally decided there may be an image problem. Come on, how many of you can relate to the phrase "like putting the fox to guarding the hen house"? Like almost every other branch of the Federal Government this administration has appointed industry proponents to oversee industry oversight. They have relaxed the rules and regulations or at very least the enforcement of the rules and regulations. Is there any wonder that the American People have lost confidence?

Source: FDA will bar experts with financial conflicts | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle

It's time to check the mail...I'll be back if anything is interesting...enough.

Well, I see spring has returned with a vengeance to the Blue Ridge Mountains. The forecasted highs are in the 70's all the way up into Virginia. Ray says Boone may see a record high temperature for this day busted. The old high is 71, should be easy enough to break. Looks like our trip the end of July may be a bit warmer than usual. I sure am glad we are staying up high on the mountain. I am not even gonna talk about the weather here, suffice it to say we should see 80 today. Didn't someone say this was the first week of Spring?

This piece from the Washington Post pretty much explains what I see as the major problem with the Bush Administration...

The Bush political operatives have become the people the Republicans once warned the country against -- a club of insiders who seem to think that they're better than other folks. They are so contemptuous of government and the public servants who populate it that they have been unable to govern effectively. They are a smug, inward-looking elite that thinks it knows who the good guys are by the political labels they wear.

This contempt has been evident in many of the administration's failures.

From Iraq to Katrina with numerous other fiascoes in between. We will probably never know how much they have screwed up our government, but we will know this...It will be a long time before it's right again.

Source: David Ignatius - An Inside-the-Bushies Mentality - washingtonpost.com

A Photo Just 'cause