"The Earth Path" by Starhawk

"Phantom Parks: The Struggle to Save Canada's National Parks" by Rick Searle

Interesting Links:
Utne Reader
David Suzuki Foundation
New Scientist
Discover Magazine
The Medical Post Online
Ad Busters!
New Internationalist
Mother Jones.com
Salon.com
NOVA On-line
The Book of Zines
Killing the Buddha
London Review of Books
American Council on Exercise
Runner's World
The Great Illusion


Recent reads:
"A Deepness in the Sky" by Vernor Vinge

"Celtic Folklore Cooking" by Joanne Asala

"Power Spellcraft for Life" by Arin Murphy-Hiscock

"Reinventing Medicine" by Larry Dossey

"Wicca: A Year and a Day" by Timothy Roderick

"The Science of the Craft" by William H Keith

"50 Years of Wicca" by Frederic Lamond

"The Magical Life" by Vivianne Crowley

"Which Witch is Which?" by Patricia Telesco

"Perdido Street Station" by China Mieville

"Cyberhenge: Modern Pagans on the Internet" by Douglas E. Cowan

"An Ye Harm None: Magical Morality and Modern Ethics" by Shelley Rabinovitch

"Crystal Ball" by Sibyll Fergusen, revised and expanded by Witch Bree

"Gaia Eros: Reconnecting to the Magic and Sprit of Nature" by Jesse Wolf Hardin

"A Century of Spells" by Draja Mickaharic

"Evolutionary Witchcraft" by T. Thorn Coyle

"Witching Culture: Folklore and Neo-Paganism in America" by Sabina Magliocco

"Kundalini for Beginners" by Ravindra Kumar

"Ka: Stories of the Mind and Gods of India" by Roberto Calasso

"Magical Tattwa Cards" by Dr. John Mumford

"WitchCraft Today (Expanded edition)" by Gerald B. Gardner

"Self-Initiation for the Solitary Witch" by Shanddaramon

"The Second Circle: Tools for the Advancing Pagan" by Vanecia Rauls

"Grimoire for the Apprentice Wizard" by Oberon Zell-Ravenheart

"Black Magick Woman: The Sinister Side of the Song of Solomon" by Janet Tyson

"Everyday Moon Magic" by Dorothy Morrisson

"Advanced Witchcraft" by Edain McCoy"

"Handfasting and Wedding Rituals" by Raven Kaldera and Tannin Schwartzstein

"Joing Hearts and Hands: Interfaith, Intercultural Wedding Celebrations" by Rev Susanna Stefanachi Macomb

"Handfasted and Heartjoined" by Lady Maeve Rhea

"Handfasting: A practical Guide" bu Mary Neasham

" Goddess in the Grass: Sperpentine Mythology and the great Goddess" by Linda Fourbister

"Theories of the Chakras: Bridges to Higher Conciousness" by Hiroshi Motoyama

"The Knife Thrower" by Steven Millhauser

"Schizophrenia: A Very Short Introduction" by Christopher Finn and Eve Johnstone

"Schizophrenia: The Facts" by Ming T. Tsuang and Stephen V. Faraone

"A Community of Witches" by Helen Berger and Colleagues

"American Gods" by Neil Gaiman"

"Scherzo" by Jim Williams"

"Goddess in the Grass: Serpentine Mythology and the Great Goddess" by Linda Fourbister

"The Forest of Souls" by Rachel Pollack

"Wiccan Roots" by Philip Heselton

"A User's Guide to the Brain" by John J Ratey, MD

"A Goddess Arrives" by Gerald Gardner

"A Community of Witches" by Helen Berger

"Nature Spirits" Selected lectures by Rudolf Steiner

"Fatal Majesty" by Reay Tannahill

"Myths to Live By" by Joseph Campbell

"The Secret Life of Germs" by Philip M Tierno Jr, PhD

"Adam, Eve, and the Serpent" by Elaine Pagels

"Whiteout: Melt" by Greg Rucka illustrated by Steve Lieber

"Whiteout" by Greg Rucka illustrated by Steve Lieber

"Queen and Country-Operation: Crystal Ball" by Greg Rucka illustrated by Leandro Fernandez

"Tunnel in the Sky" by Robert Heinlein

"The Sex Chronicles" by Zane

"The Black Man's Guide to Good Health" by Reed, Schulman and Shucker

"The Withdrawing Room" by Charlotte MacLoed

"Queen and Country-Operation: Morningstar" by Greg Rucka illustrated by Brian Hurtt

"The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2000" edited by David Quammen

"The Bourne Identity" by Robert Ludlum

"Gerald Gardner: Witch" by J.L. Bracelin

"Queen and Country-Operation: Broken Ground" by Greg Rucka illustrated by Steve Rolston

"The Ferryman Will Be There" by Rosemary Aubert

"Philosophy of Wicca" by Amber Laine Fisher

"Wilderness Tips" by Margaret Atwood

"Origins of Modern Witchcraft" by Anne Moura

Saturday, December 28, 2002

Disinformation and the Pentagon

I saw this interesting article and since it has been a while, I thought I'd post and comment:

Lies, damn lies, and the Pentagon

The U.S. government could have a much better relationship with foreign governments if it could focus on telling the truth. Apparently, the US is looking at ways to influence public opinion in other countries by using covert operations. Nothing new I suppose, but really quite stupid if you ask me. I mean nothing destroys credibilty faster than being sneaky and then being discovered to have been sneaky. Which is exactly what the U.S. is setting themselves up for. Not that I wouldn't enjoy watching the current current U.S political administration self-destruct, but I'd worry about Canada being dragged through the mud as well. Especially since Canada rarely seems to have the balls to "go it alone" and not follow the U.S lead. (Although things are looking up for the decriminalisation of marijuana... more on that later.)

I must say, I have to agree with the author of this article: "The most effective weapon in any information campaign is a reputation for telling the truth." But I guess that is something that would be abve the abilities of politicians and especially american politicians and government. The article also points out that the current Bush administration seems to be obsessivly secret and while I don't follow U.S. ( or any) politics too closely, I suppose that if true, obsessive secrecy wouldn't surprise me. After all, who really is runnning the show down there?

Amanda 6:45 PM
E-mail your comments to: ramblingraven@cosmic-muse.com

Tuesday, December 10, 2002

More on Recycling

This seems to be my pre-occupation these days.

I was doing a bit of research on recycling in Montreal and waste and such... Apparently the average Montrealer produces half a ton of waste every year. The average Montreal household's waste is 31% paper and carboard, 24% perishble material (food waste, I guess), 10% garden waste, 6% plastic, 5% glass, 4% metal, 3% wood, 1% hazardous waste and 16% unclassified waste {source: http://sanisoft.tripod.com/envstud/mongarb.html} that looks like a lot of recylable material ending up in the garbage if you ask me.

But there is hope. If you look at trends over the past ten years or so, recycling increased 400% (from about 12 000 tons to 50 000 tons) and waste decreased 25% (from 423 000 tons to 307 000 tons) {source: Montreal, Production de déchets domestiques 1989 - 1997} Although, the report doesn't say what percentage of reclycled materials were actually recylable; and what percentage of garbage could have been recycled. In any event, the statistics are interesting.

Another thing I saw recently on recylcing: Scientists in Hawaii have developed a biological reactor that converts food waste into biodegradable plastics. The plastic is called biodegradable polymer (PHB), and is in fact not new. What is new is the idea of making the polymer from waste as opposed to materials purposely farmed for the manufacture. Since food waste is such a huge portion of household waste, and also can comprise a chunk of commerical waste (restaurants, canteens, school cafeterias etc...), converting it to plastic instead of dumping it in landfils is a pretty cool idea. It also seems to be something straight out of a science fiction novel. (I've also seen recently an article on generating energy from food waste. Again not a new idea, but one that seems to be getting more efficient and more realistic as an alternative energy source.)

Amanda 9:52 PM
E-mail your comments to: ramblingraven@cosmic-muse.com

Saturday, December 07, 2002

Bowling for opportunity

Last night I was out for dinner with some friends and the movie "Bowling for Columbine" came up in conversation. Today I was listening to the radio, and I hear the movie mentionned again. No, I wasn't listening to the Arts Report or movie reviews, I was listening to the three o'clock news.

"Bowling for Columbine" is the latest creative endeavour of filmaker and political activist Michael Moore, and it examines America's obsession with guns. I haven't seen the film, but here is the description form the web site:

"Bowling for Columbine" is an alternately humourous and horrifying film about the United States. It is a film about the state of the Union, about the violent soul of America. Why do 11,000 people die in America each year at the hands of gun violence? The talking heads yelling from every TV camera blame everything from Satan to video games. But are we that much different from many other countries? What sets us apart? How have we become both the master and victim of such enormous amounts of violence? This is not a film about gun control. It is a film about the fearful heart and soul of the United States, and the 280 million Americans lucky enough to have the right to a constitutionally protected Uzi.

"Bowling for Columbine" was the first documentary film accepted into competition at the Cannes Film Festival in 46 years. The Cannes jury unanimously awarded it the 55th Anniversary Prize. From a look at the Columbine High School security camera tapes to the home of Oscar-winning NRA President Charlton Heston, from a young man who makes homemade napalm with The Anarchist's Cookbook to the murder of a six-year-old girl by another six-year-old, "Bowling for Columbine" is a journey through America, and through our past, hoping to discover why our pursuit of happiness is so riddled with violence."

Sounds good. And from what I understand from people who've seen the film, it is good. But as I said, that's not why it was leading up the three o'clock news headlines. It turns out that the documentary just received the dreaded "R" rating. I missed whether this was the Canadian or American rating, but basically what this means is that children/teenagers under age of 18 are not permitted to see the film when in plays in cinemas. Ironically, the French government was so impressed with the film, it is now pretty much required viewing in French schools.

Personally, I wonder if the rating for the movie would have even been newsworthy if it was not for the news reports that enforcing Canada's new gun control legislation is going to cost Canadians a whole lot more that originally anticipated (1 billion dollars instead of $119 million - ouch!). I mean timing is everything, right? If gun control was not something already being reported on in the Canadian press, would the reference to the film have come up? I wonder.....

Ahhh... but I ramble

Amanda 5:08 PM
E-mail your comments to: ramblingraven@cosmic-muse.com

Friday, December 06, 2002

Waste...wonderful waste...

Recycling. Eveybody seems to do a lot of it these days. It's the last "R" of the three "Rs". Reuce. Reuse. Recycle. The thing is, it is the last "R," but it's often treated as the first. What ever happened to "Reduce" and "Reuse?" Most cities have now made it pretty easy to recycle. But reducing consumption and reusing what we have already bought ... well that takes effort.

Consider this: Despite the rise of recycling, North Amercans actually produce twice as much waste per person (average) now than they did 30 years ago. The average North American produces 4.5 pounds of waste a day! And Americans, who live on 5% of the planet, consume 25% of its natural resources. {source: Utne Reader 2002, #114, p44}

Recycling isn't all it's cracked up to be either. Debates rage over the trade-offs in recycling. Many recycling processes are inefficient, polluting and expensive. In North America, where recycling is often picked up like garbage, there is also the pollution of the reycling trucks to consider as well. Also, not all recyclables are truly recyclable. For example, plastics when recycled have to be fortified with virgin plastic. And then this recycled plastic, is both a lower grade of plastic and no longer recylable itself. In fact, plastic is so inefficient to recylce, some recycling centres just ship the stuff over to the landfill. It's cheaper and easier.

Do you know where your recycling goes?

Amanda 10:36 AM
E-mail your comments to: ramblingraven@cosmic-muse.com

Wednesday, December 04, 2002

High flying thoughts...

As if we didn't need more clues that modern lifestyle may be affecting our environment, consider the impromptu experiment on the effects of air travel that took place for a few days last September when jet traffic halted after September 11th, 2001.

Cirrus clouds are high floating clouds (they're those really thin, pretty looking ones that float above other clouds in delicate, whispy filaments) which are actually collections of billions of loose ice crystals, unlike other clouds which are generally supercondensed water droplets. The ice crystals in the cirrus clouds reflect and refract light, and appear to play an important role in regulating the planet's temperature by reflecting warming sunlight back into space, and trapping radiation from the earth. Condensation trails for jetliner aircraft also create streams of ice crystals similar to cirrus clouds. In fact, it is believed that these condensation trails can act like a "germination bed" for cirrus clouds, triggering the spread of cirrus cloud cover. In the few days following September 11th, scientists observed that the daily temperature variation across the United States grew by up to 3 degrees Celsius as the cirrus "blanket" shrank, allowing more sunlight to warm the earth during the day and allowing more heat to escape by night (sort of like a badly insulated house).

Admittedly this was a one off event and certainly not enough to prove that air traffic has such a tremendous effect on global climate. It could be coincidence after all that the gap between morning and evening temperature started to widen when air traffic was halted (it was early September- brrrr). But it is certainly something that warrants further inveestigation. (It also shows that "greenhouse gas" emissions are not the only factors in global warming and climate change.) Personally, the enquiring mind in me would like to see recorded global climate change plotted against the rise in high-flying jet traffic. I wonder what it would show. perhaps Cirrus clouds are more important to global climate than we currently think.

Amanda 10:53 AM
E-mail your comments to: ramblingraven@cosmic-muse.com

Tuesday, December 03, 2002

Don’t smoke, don’t drink, what do you do?

So, you go to the doctor and they ask you about your family history, they ask you if you smoke, if you drink and maybe they ask if you are sexually active, having unprotected sex or if you use “drugs.” You tell them the reason for your visit, they take out the stethoscope, listen to your chest, check your throat and do all those things that a doctor does when you go for a visit. Then they come up with a verdict… errr… diagnosis, and send you away with a prescription, referral or a set of instructions for you to follow.

But what about what I eat and breathe. Maybe I don’t smoke, but perhaps I work in a smoke-filled bar seven nights a week. Maybe I work in an environment where I am exposed to potentially carcinogenic chemicals and solvents. Maybe my diet consists of burgers and fries for every meal. Wouldn’t, shouldn’t these factors also be considered when a medical history is being taken.

Our physical environment must be one of the most important influences on personal health. Think about it. Where do we spend most of our time? Indoors. At work. At home. In the car. Each time we step into these environments, we are exposed to whatever environmental health hazards are lurking there. And we’re not just exposed once, we’re exposed repeatedly. Chronic exposure to low levels of potentially harmful chemicals may be just as dangerous, if not more dangerous, than single high-level exposure.

In pregnant women low levels of repeated exposure to solvents, pesticides, PCBs, heavy metals and dioxins may be linked to spontaneous abortion, stillbirth rates and congenital birth defects. Children exposed to low levels of heavy metals like mercury and lead may have behavioural defects and cognitive developmental problems. Allergies in adults and children are increasingly being linked to air quality, and dysfunctional immune system response is also an area being investigated in regards to environmental pollutants.

Potentially harmful environmental pollutants can lurk anywhere. They may be found in the cleaning products you use, the candles you burn, the building products used in your home, office or school. They can be the supplies you use making arts or crafts, renovating your home or painting your bedroom. They can be the air freshener you use to mask the pet odour, the fertiliser you use in your garden, or even the drinking water that comes out of your tap. And yes, while many chemicals have not been proved harmful – why take the risk; and shouldn’t questions concerning your environment be routine when visiting a doctor for a check up or visit for an illness. Maybe that low-grade headache you’ve had for months isn’t stress, perhaps it’s air quality. Maybe that rash that keeps coming and going is related to that nickel-plated necklace you wear on occasion. Maybe your child is hyperactive because all you feed him is pre-packaged food filled with additives and colouring. Maybe your wheezing is related to the fact that they haven’t cleaned the office carpets in four years!!! And perhaps if you work around chemicals or solvents all day, the physician should be more alert for illnesses that may come from this kind of repeated exposure.

It really wouldn’t be that difficult to work into the standard physician-patient interview. Where do you work; what kind of air quality do you have? Where do you live? How old is your home? What are your hobbies? Describe what you eat in a typical day, etc… it would take a few minutes, but it may give the physician valuable insight into the whole patient, and not just the body slumped into the chair across the desk.

Amanda 2:49 PM
E-mail your comments to: ramblingraven@cosmic-muse.com

Monday, December 02, 2002

Food Additives and Behaviour

I seem to average only one post a month, but that’s not through lack of thinking, it’s more through lack of posting. perhaps I should post what catches my attention, instead of commenting on them all the time! So here is another thing that caught my attention today:

According to a report by Britain’s Food Standards Agency, food additives and colourings may cause tantrums and hyperactivity in a quarter (that’s 1 out of 4) children who consume them. The study has not been published yet. {New Scientist, 02-Nov-2002}

Okay – I can’t help but to comment. Twenty-five percent is a pretty high proportion of children having adverse reactions to food! I wonder if these were drugs and have been forced through the rigorous (okay – not always so rigorous) safety testing of the drug industry if these food additives would have passed the test. It always appals me that food additives, which are consumed much more widely within the population than pharmaceuticals, do not have to undergo the same safety testing or achieve the same safety standards.

Anyway, I’d love to get my hands on that report, if and when it ever comes out, to see which additives seem to be causing the problems. I wonder if we eliminated them from the food chain, whether the “need” for drugs like Ritalin to “treat” ADHD would decline. (Not to say that there aren’t legitimate cases of ADHD, but I’d be willing to bet that most cases are due to environmental disturbances of brain chemistry as opposed to genetic or “natural” disturbances.)

Amanda 12:30 PM
E-mail your comments to: ramblingraven@cosmic-muse.com

WHO Top Ten List

According to the World Health Organisation, the top ten risks factors causing death and disease worldwide were (in order) being underweight, unsafe sex, high blood pressure, tobacco use, alcohol, lack of clean water and sanitation, iron deficiency, indoor smoke from fires, high cholesterol and obesity. Together these risk factors account for over a third of deaths world-wide. Yikes! What a collection.

See: http://www.who.int/whr/2002/overview/en/

In its report, the WHO also examined risk factors of death and disease by groups of similar countries. Not surprisingly, among high-mortality, developing countries the strongest risk factor was being underweight, while in developed western countries it was tobacco use. Unsafe sex was attributed to the about same amount of death and disease in high-mortality, developing countries as high blood pressure in developing countries; both were ranked second. Being overweight didn’t make it into the top ten of high-mortality, developing countries, but was ranked number four in developed nations; but three of the top ten listings in these countries were nutritional deficiencies (zinc, iron and vitamin A).

There seems to be a few theme running through this top 10 list. Many of the risk factors may be linked to poverty (underweight, unsafe sex, lack of clean water and sanitation, iron deficiency, indoor smoke from fires); some can be linked to modifiable life-style choices (unsafe sex, high blood pressure, tobacco use, alcohol, iron deficiency, high cholesterol, obesity), and a few seem to focus around diet (underweight, iron deficiency, high cholesterol, obesity). Also, some risk factors may be consequences of larger risk factors. For example, obesity has been associated with high blood pressure and high cholesterol; smoking is associated with high blood pressure, and being underweight may be associated with iron deficiency.

The fact that both being underweight and being obese appear on the list is interesting to me. Both seem to represent opposite ends of the scale on a pattern of consumption: too much or too little. According to the WHO, over 170 million children in poor countries are underweight and over 300 million people worldwide are clinically obese. In North America and Western Europe about half a million people die from obesity-related diseases every year. Without having the actual numbers and geographic distribution in front of me (no mention is made of incidence of obesity if poor countries, or underweight in North America and Western Europe), it would appear on the surface that death and disease from being underweight is predominant in poorer or “developing” countries, while death and disease in richer, western countries may be attributable to the complete reverse – obesity. Now to flip-side that even more, in Western countries where obesity is epidemic (and it is epidemic, look at the charts) , some men and women voluntarily starve themselves to achieve the “perfect” body represented by models and movie stars, and promoted by fashion and popular magazines. How screwed up is that?

Unsafe sex is an interesting one, especially since it made rank #2 on the top 10 list, ahead of tobacco and medical conditions. Unsafe sex is a is modifiable risk factor, and again, death and disease from this risk factor is probably most attributable to developing countries, given the spread of AIDS in these countries. Indeed the WHO report estimates that 99% of new HIV cases in Africa are due to unprotected sex. According to the WHO, HIV/AIDS is now the world’s fourth largest cause of death and 70% of people infected with HIV are in Africa. However, incidences of HIV in Eastern Europe and central Asia are the fastest rising.

People don’t usually think of obesity as being a killer disease. But there it is, up ahead of heart disease, cancer and even diabetes, none of which even made it in to the top ten. Obesity has been linked to high blood pressure, high cholesterol, hypertriglyceridemia and insulin resistance, which in turn have been linked to heart disease, diabetes, stroke and some forms of cancer. According the WHO report, obesity is killing The report shows that obesity is responsible for the deaths of about 220 000 men and women a year in the United States and Canada, and over 320 000 people in the 20 countries of Western Europe.

Obesity itself is a state of over-consumption. Looking closely at the top 10 list for developed countries, many of the risk factors are themselves over-consumption or attributable to over-consumption: tobacco, blood pressure, alcohol. cholesterol, overweight, illicit drugs. Interestingly, 30% of the list are problems of under-consumption: low fruit and vegetable intake, physical inactivity and iron deficiency. Even more revealing about “western” lifestyle when you consider that overweight shares the limelight with iron deficiency and inadequate consumption of fruits and vegetables. The last risk factor on developed countries was unsafe sex, the only item that I probably not a consumption issue.

When you look at the top 10 of developed countries (tobacco, blood pressure, alcohol. cholesterol, overweight, low fruit and vegetable intake, physical inactivity, illicit drugs, unsafe sex, iron deficiency) and compare them to those of high-mortality, developing countries (underweight, unsafe sex, poor sanitation, indoor smoke from solid fuels, zinc deficiency, iron deficiency, vitamin A deficiency, blood pressure, tobacco, cholesterol), what seems to jump out is that all of the risk factors of the developed countries are lifestyle-related and probably modifiable; whereas in the developing countries many of the risk factors are a consequence of standard of living and resources, and not modifiable by the individual. One thing that was not done by the WHO, which I think would be very interesting is to see if the underprivileged in developed countries have risk profile similar to those of developing countries, or to those of the “western” profile in which they live.

Amanda 12:15 PM
E-mail your comments to: ramblingraven@cosmic-muse.com