http://lucysdiamonds.tigblog.org/ What's on the minds of young leaders from around the globe? en-us http://lucysdiamonds.tigblog.org/post/35538
They want to recruit at least 10,000 people to take part in the experiment - quite ambitious! So what are they asking of participants? Computer capacity.

So without claiming to be any kind of an IT computer expert, it sounds as if they want to harness all the unused capacity in people's computers round the world in order to build a super-computer that has enough brain power to calculate how climate change could effect the world.

The better the predictions we have about climate change, the better prepared we'll be for extreme weather conditions, changing landscapes and rising tides.

Intrigued? Want to join the experiment?
Go to: www.bbc.co.uk/sn/hottopics/climatechange/]]> Wed, 15 Feb 2006 20:32:00 EST http://lucysdiamonds.tigblog.org/post/35538 -33.8852778 151.23-33.8852778151.23 http://lucysdiamonds.tigblog.org/post/35129
If that's you...read on:

There's a new book out by an American called Margaret Lobenstine called 'The Renaissance Soul; life design for people with too many passions to just pick one'.

As soon as I read that title I t could hear a few bells ringing myself. So far (and I'm not too far down the track) I've worked as a teacher, a volunteers coordinator for an NGO, in big business in logistics and corporate affairs, as a sustainability consultant, in film production, as a publicist and a journalist. Add to that all the hobbies + interests I've had over the years; playing piano, singing, drama, dance, rowing, flying light aircraft, sailing, travelling, photography, watercolour painting and you start to get the picture....

Despite that fact that I've been able to make career changes and pick up / leave hobbies without feeling like a crazy person, I've always had a niggling feeling at the back of my mind that I should stop dabbling in a million different things and just focus on one. That focus and steady systematic work on one area is the only real credible way to go, and certainly the only way to recognised as credible, or as an expert. That it's OK to experiment a bit when you're young, but ultimately we all find the ONE thing we want to do with our lives sooner or later.

Ha!

Well thank you Margaret Lobenstein for declaring otherwise. Margaret draws on the image Europeans in the Renaissance period (16C) had of a well-rounded individual; someone who was familiar with all areas of academic endeavour, could speak several languages, hunt, play music and who generally sought to enlarge and broaden their knowledge and interests rather than narrow these down.

She points out that these days, although job insecurity is meaning people do change careers, in western society the dominant paradigm is still one which rewards consistency and focus in a CV over diversity and variety.

But imagine what the world would be like if people were encouraged to go out there and explore all their interests rather than aim to become top of their field. And what about if it was seen as perfectly acceptable to start training to be a dentist at age 45 or if it were normal for people to combine two part-time jobs; doctor/ artist, teacher/marketing exec??

Of course not everyone is a 'renaissance soul' by any means; there are plenty of people out there who are perfectly happy to spend their lives in one chosen profession or occuption. This group (who Margaret calls the 'Mozarts' since that famous composer effectively chose his profession at age 3 when he asked for his first piano and carried on composing until his death) are no better or no worse than the 'Renaissance souls' of this world, we're all equal, however society is skewed in favour of the Mozarts. I think it's time to redress the balance!

If you're interested to know more about the book have a look at www.togetunstuck.com
I'd be really interested to hear your comments too.

Bye for now]]> Wed, 08 Feb 2006 18:09:00 EST http://lucysdiamonds.tigblog.org/post/35129 -33.8852778 151.23-33.8852778151.23 http://lucysdiamonds.tigblog.org/post/33103
I've just come across news from CSR Asia of a recent human rights report from Global Exchange. GE has put together a 'Most Wanted' list of corporations they say are the worst human rights abusers in the world.

Wondering who's on the list?

Well, the list I saw is alphabetical, so it's not clear who they think is the worst of the worst, but here goes:

Caterpillar
Chevron
Coca-Cola
Dow Chemical
DynCorp / CSC
Ford Motor Company
KBR (Haliburton)
Lockheed Martin
Monsanto
Nestlé USA
Philip Morris
Pfizer
Suez-Lyonnaise Des Eaux
Wal-Mart

CSR Asia covers Corporate Social Responsibility in Asia-Pacific region, and is an excellent source of up-to-date news and analysis.

Here's an extract of the article from Jonathon Hills;

' Global Exchange (GE) has released a report on what it says are the worst corporate human rights violators of 2005. The San Francisco-based international human rights organization’s list identifies 12 companies it accuses of involvement in issues such as assassination, torture, kidnapping, environmental degradation, abusing public funds, violently repressing political rights, releasing toxins into pristine environments, destroying homes, discrimination, and causing widespread health problems.

Companies on the list with an Asian link include Coca-Cola, which GE accuses of violent killings, kidnap and torture, water privatization, health violations, and discriminatory practices. The report summarizes allegations surrounding the company in Colombia and Turkey and inevitably goes on to mention India, where Coca-Cola has come under sustained pressure from a coalition of NGOs, community groups and anti-globalisation activists. “Coca-Cola destroys local agriculture by privatizing the country's water resources,” the report says. It alleges the company depleted groundwater resources at Plachimada, Kerala and contaminated the remainder with high chloride and bacteria levels, leading to health problems in the local population. GE also says the company is the cause of water shortages in Varanasi, Thane, and Tamil Nadu, and further accuses it of reselling its plants' industrial waste to farmers as fertilizers, despite its containing hazardous lead and cadmium.

Also on the list is Dow Chemical, which GE accuses of creating chemical weapons, marketing poisonous chemicals, illegal dumping of toxins into populated areas, and of causing environmental destruction, health problems, and death. Dow was one of several companies involved in the development of Napalm and Agent Orange, which were subsequently used in the Vietnam War. Agent Orange victims in Vietnam are currently appealing against a March 2005 ruling which dismissed a lawsuit demanding compensation from Dow and 36 other chemical firms.

GE also points a finger at Dow over its 2001 acquisition of Carbide Corporation (UCC) and its “outstanding liabilities” in Bhopal, India. GE accuses Dow of “refusing to address its liabilities in Bhopal or even admit its existence.” The NGO says UCC still faces manslaughter charges and is “considered a fugitive from justice” in India.

Other companies with an Asian connection include Monsanto, which GE accuses of displacement, health violations and child labour. The company is accused of “undercutting food prices by flooding several countries, including India, with cheap, genetically modified foods, resulting in the displacement of millions of farm workers, who are forced to migrate to cities or work as landless peasants or share croppers.”

To read the full report go to page 15 of CSR Asia Weekly at www.csr-asia.com (Vol 1 week 50).]]> Wed, 14 Dec 2005 17:24:00 EST http://lucysdiamonds.tigblog.org/post/33103 -33.8852778 151.23-33.8852778151.23 http://lucysdiamonds.tigblog.org/post/32650
Did you know that Madrid is on roughly the same latitude as New York? Ever wondered why it has such a balmy climate compared to NYC over on the other side of the Atlantic?

Madrid, indeed most of Western Europe has vastly higher average temperatures than many countries of a similar latitude because the Gulf Stream channels warm sea water up from the equator towards Europe. This warm water warms the air and elevates the temperature around it so that New York's icy winters of weeks and weeks of snow are an alien concept in Spain, much of France and the UK.

But all this is set to change; scientists have released some worrying findings today that indicate that the Gulf Stream is weakening by a staggering 30%. Less warm current could mean that millions of people will have to adjust to lower temperatures in coming years.

This BBC article has more:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4485840.stm
]]> Thu, 01 Dec 2005 02:27:00 EST http://lucysdiamonds.tigblog.org/post/32650 -33.8852778 151.23-33.8852778151.23 http://lucysdiamonds.tigblog.org/post/32619
I've just read this excellent article on Grist about 'greening' conferences. Most of the references are USA-centric but it's good to know that people out there are changing the conference and exhibitions industry. See http://www.grist.org/biz/tp/2005/11/29/conferences/index.html
]]> Wed, 30 Nov 2005 07:01:00 EST http://lucysdiamonds.tigblog.org/post/32619 -33.8852778 151.23-33.8852778151.23 http://lucysdiamonds.tigblog.org/post/32591
So to try and make up for it, I thought I'd post a blog at least....If anyone in Australia wants to know more visit www.walkagainstwarming.org or all events around the world are listed at http://www.globalclimatecampaign.org/

I got an email from a friend in London telling a group of us about the march that is planned there....and I know that there is lots going on all over the world. I hope that it sends a clear message to the leaders and politicans over in Montreal that we want our world to be powered by clean, green energy in the future.

I participated in the Catholic Earthcare Australia conference on Climate Change a week of so ago. It was great to meet so many people from all walks of life who are dedicated to sustainable living. Together we can make a difference!!!]]> Tue, 29 Nov 2005 15:12:00 EST http://lucysdiamonds.tigblog.org/post/32591 -33.8852778 151.23-33.8852778151.23 http://lucysdiamonds.tigblog.org/post/31378
Rights and Humanity have published some hard-hitting statistics on their site (www.rightsandhumanity.org) which illustrate why Mrs Blair was indeed right. Here they are:

• Women are twice as likely than men to live in poverty.

• Of the 130 million children not in school, two out of every three are girls.

• Two thirds of the world's 876 million illiterates are women and the number of illiterates is not expected to decrease significantly in the next twenty years.

• Women own an estimated 1-2% of all titled land worldwide. This is a huge problem as realisation of the rights to land and property ownership are essential to enable women to provide for themselves and their children. This in turn is crucial for solving problems that face nations as a whole such as a lack of education, hunger, poverty and poor health.

• Even in Western countries, women do not receive equal pay with men. In France for example, even when matched for job sector, organisation size and region, men at the start of their working lives earn 8.5% more than women. After 5 years of work this gap increases to 26%.

• Women are still not sufficiently assisted to reconcile paid work with their household and family responsibilities. In several countries, including the USA, paid maternity leave is still not a legal requirement.

• Of the 181 countries with national parliaments, there are only 14 where 30% or more of members are women. The United Nations and the Inter-Parliamentary Union consider that parliaments must have women making up at least 30% of members for these women to have an impact on government. Among those countries with less than 30% women in parliament are the United States, France, Italy and the United Kingdom.

• At least 60 million girls are “missing” from the population, presumed to be due to abortion of girl-child foetuses, discriminatory feeding and other practices. This is despite the introduction in some countries of laws banning sex-determination testing and sex-selective abortions.

• Women are now overtaking men in rates of HIV infection. Across the world more than 60% of new HIV infections are in young people aged between 15 and 24, the majority of whom are girls. In Sub-Saharan Africa, women aged 15-24 are three times more likely to have AIDS than their male counterparts and in the US 90% of people under 20 living with HIV/AIDS are women.

• FGM (Female Gential Mutilation or Cutting) is estimated to affect between 100-140 million girls world wide. Some form of the practice has been observed to take place in more than 30 countries, including industrialised nations. In the UK, despite a criminal law prohibiting the practice, guidelines published by the British Medical Association in 2001 estimated that there are as many as 3,000 to 4,000 new cases of FGM every year in this country.

• In Europe more women are killed or injured through domestic violence than by cancer or road accidents.

That last one I was particularly surprised by (saddened not surprised by many of the others). I did not realise that domestic violence in Europe was so widespread.

I can't resist making one small positive comment in the face of those depressing facts. Having been in Australia for almost 1.5 years now I have learnt a lot more about neighbouring New Zealand...including the fact that the country had an amazing record for female leadership. The current prime minister is a woman, Helen Clark. She took over from a previous female leader (of an opposing party) in 1999. There are women in many other top positions in NZ and the country was one of the first to give the vote to women.
]]> Tue, 01 Nov 2005 20:39:00 EST http://lucysdiamonds.tigblog.org/post/31378 -33.8852778 151.23-33.8852778151.23 http://lucysdiamonds.tigblog.org/post/31252
As you can see if you delve into my blog and profile, I only signed up last week and have only managed to post a couple of blog entries so far. I'm only just finding my way around the site and getting familiar with its features.

But I am sure I will be posting and getting involved in TIG stuff quite a lot. I am so excited by the idea of a global network of people who all seem to be passionate about much the same stuff as me. So many really impressive profiles.....so many excellent ideas and truly visionary plans for the future.

What has been lovely just now is that I've had two personal messages from other TIG people; one in Kashmir and the other in Pakistan. Their stories are great and it is lovely to make personal contact with people in a very troubled part of the world.

On a sadder note, it has brought the terrible devastation caused by the earthquake in that region to tbe forefront of my mind.

Of course we could and should support the relief efforts there with any financial aid we can manage. But one of the things I have been doing a lot of thinking about recently is about the power of trade. I firmly believe that our decisions as consumers can change the world.

Imagine if all of us decided to only buy from companies with respectable human rights records. If we demanded from our energy suppliers that they generate electricity from renewable energy sources. If we looked for products that had been made by empowered and unexploited workers rather than overworked underpaid people trying to cope with sweatshop conditions.

So I am going to have a look for products on sale here in Australia of which the proceeds would directly benefit the communities in the quake zone. If anyone has any ideas please let me know.

And yes, I'll be visiting the Fair Trade Association of Australia and New Zealand's website to see if any of the products there fit the bill.

As a post script I should say thanks to Cameron Neil who as far as I can tell founded the FTAANZ. Through reading his biog I first arrived at the TIG site. Thanks Cameron!!]]> Sat, 29 Oct 2005 11:16:00 EDT http://lucysdiamonds.tigblog.org/post/31252 -33.8852778 151.23-33.8852778151.23 http://lucysdiamonds.tigblog.org/post/30952 Fri, 21 Oct 2005 22:57:00 EDT http://lucysdiamonds.tigblog.org/post/30952 -33.8852778 151.23-33.8852778151.23 http://lucysdiamonds.tigblog.org/post/30954
Right now it's hard to imagine what it will be like over there. Not a person in sight hopefully (I've been reading the Mexican paper El Univeral's accounts of tourists and locals alike being herded into out-of-harm's-way sports halls) with dark clouds swirling overhead and a ferocious wind whipping up the sea.

While I write this, an electrical storm is playing out on the horizon somewhere off the Sydney coast. I can only see it faintly; the flickering is orangey yellow, almost like a broken street lamp.

I've been thinking of my friend Jennifer who has cut short her travels round Asia to fly home. Home for Jen is New Orleans. Luckily for her and her parents their house wasn't flooded. All but. The roof was ripped off, and the waters rose high enough to wreck their car. I met her in Mexico when we were both working in a little village called Colola, on a sea turtle conservation project.

So there's is a little chain of associations going on, with hurricanes being the common theme.

According to Grist, Katrina affected an area of the US not much smaller than the entire UK.

http://www.grist.org/news/counter/2005/10/20/hurricanes/index.html

Let's hope that Wilma, even if she is faster and nastier will steer clear of Mexico...and Cuba....and Florida. And then it's only 6 weeks until the Hurricane Season is officially over in that part of the world.
]]> Fri, 21 Oct 2005 09:10:00 EDT http://lucysdiamonds.tigblog.org/post/30954 -33.8852778 151.23-33.8852778151.23