Waking up...

Wake up, freak out... and then get a grip. This is the sequence of occurrances that may happen to you when you watch this beautifully animated video.

It's what happened to me.

Wake Up, Freak Out - then Get a Grip from Leo Murray on Vimeo.

The time really is upon us to start acting on the warning signs that have been affecting everyone on the planet. Many millions have experienced the first effects of a warmed planet in catastrophic ways. Others, in less obviouis and dramatic ways, but like the canary dying in a coal mine, their messages should be heeded, and radical action should be taken.

Extreme flooding across the African continent in 2007, Hurricane Katrina, the recent Australian bush fires, retreating glaciers, the collapse of Antarctic ice sheets, desertification in China, and the early appearance of daffodils and other natural events associated with warmer weather, happening in the middle of January. These events are signs of a 'sick' planet, whose syndromal sickness has been brought about by humankind's excessive consumption, an unhealthy addiction to dirty sources of energy. Pathology is complex but includes rising CO2 emissions, leading to more retention of solar energy which heats our atmosphere. Symptoms include more freak weather events, melting ice sheets and glaciers, rising sea levels, mass extinctions, food shortages, water shortages, increased transmission of certain diseases, and the list goes on. Diagnosis needs only a few of these to happen (and these events really are happening on a massive scale). Effects from CO2 are noticed around 30 years after it is initially released (we are experiencing warming due to CO2 levels released 30 years ago). Natural course of this illness is that once a 2 degree celsius rise takes place, the climate will enter into a system of positive feedback, so runaway warming will take place even if we all vanished off the surface of the planet - which is something which very well may happen if we don't stop this addiction of ours! 

Our society is sick, and has led to the gradual destruction of our planet (never mind the stockmarkets - although it's no coincidence by the way), and it's threatening our very existence! 

Watch the video above, and watch An Inconvenient Truth, and also Age of Stupid (coming soon to a cinema near you!). Ride your bike more, drive less, eat less meat, fly a lot lot less, and tell others about it. Join a local campaign group such as Not Stupid and be a part of the movement. Once you realise how many people are bothered, and are doing something about it, you'll realise you're not weird and alone.

We certainly won't solve it by transforming ourselves into hippies though, so use your right to free speech, and tell some darn important decision makers about it NOW!! And please, whatever you do, don't stoop to the absolutely immoral low of shrugging off your responsibility, and defaulting it to your children's or grandchildren's generation to sort it all out. It'll be too late soon. We may only have until 2012.

A night for Gaza

My housemate Omar put on a fantastic evening last night in Leeds, a cultural event with an impartial-as-possible history of Palestine which was interesting and poetry readings. The evening was generally quite upbeat, but was punctuated with a heated exchange relating the use of certain words to describe the situation in Gaza. Regardless of the phraseology, I felt that the qualitative nature of the situation was generally well understood. Arguments about the words used seemed to be a distraction from the main issue of agreeing to disagree, and moving on to a solution. 

It would be really fantastic if representatives from Leeds from all sides of the situation could come together and come to an agreement. I mean, we can't do it in a local setting, or amongst students, then what hope is there for the international stage?! We students should start behaving as real citizens of the world, setting a good example to everyone. Of all people, we should be the ones who should be able to reach consensus on many important issues. 

Unless we collaborate, coordinate, and communicate with each other on all things to do with the bettering of society, then we'll be sure to find it difficult once we graduate and enter the 'real world'. Let's practice what we preach, and perhaps the world will follow.

Gaza

The bombs keep falling on Gaza right now, and the ground invasion is really taking hold. The mainstream media reports in the UK are shockingly biased, and are not reporting on the true stories of human tragedy unfolding in Gaza itself. These stories reveal the consequences of Israel's Zionist actions.

Hospitals and medics are being targeted! Mosques are being bombed when people are inside praying! These are not signs of military campaign aiming to minimise civilian casualties. Keep up to date with what's really going on in Gaza by following these blogs: ingaza.wordpress.com, talestotell.wordpress.com

My friend Jen is keeping up to date and summarising what's going on in Gaza in her blog. She's also been reporting on what the British people are doing in the streets, holding vigils, and protests. But is this really working?

I was at the Leeds Coalition against the War meeting last night, who were organising people to get to the big London march on Saturday 10th January, and also a smaller demonstration here in Leeds. Thousands, millions have marched around the world in recent days, but Hamas and Israel are firmly saying "no" to a ceasefire. MPs have spoken out, but not enough. They need to go even more public, to pressure the UK Government, to not be soft with Israel with any actions or statements. And where is Obama? He hasn't spoken out on this yet. In my opinion, he is failing his first test. He's not the President of the USA yet, but he's certainly been very vocal about the economic crisis and Guantanamo. Will he lead the USA into another 4 years of arming and faithfully siding with Israel? I would certainly like to see Ehud Barak and Szipi Livni & Co. charged with war crimes.

I'll stop here. I'm ranting now. I'm angry with the situation, the lack of accurate media reportage, the silence of our leaders. But I still stand side by side with our Palestinian friends who are going through dark times right now.

From thoughts to words to others

There are a lot of times when my mind gets fired up and starts to wander along a certain thought. What's the point in thinking so much, when it's not shared with anyone? Don't you wish you could capture the whole lot, and share it with someone? I do, which is why I've created this blog.

This will be my note book, a scribble pad for getting my thoughts down, and make them coherent. I hope that by sharing my thoughts, any good ideas I have will be passed on, and make people think. By generating a bit of thought in others, and eventually debate, our ideas will evolve, and from them... well, who knows. 

2009 is a big anniversary year for Darwin, who chap who had big ideas, and dared to share them with a world who, on the large part, saw him as a bit of a heretic. But if he didn't share his ideas, we would not have benefited from his creativity, perseverance and genius.

Not that I am saying my thoughts are as world changing as Darwin's, but all well-thought through ideas deserve an airing and to be criticised. I'm in no position to determine the importance of any of my thoughts, but by disseminating them, they will be open to the judgement of others.

Of course, I'm not always thinking. Whether I'll write about those times is yet to be seen. For now, an introduction is enough. I'm sure I'll have time to be bored enough tomorrow for some