"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

Friday, January 31, 2003

Hell in a handbasket

I am really tired of hearing the term ‘weapons of mass destruction.’ But it seems that it’s everywhere these days. From the weapons inspections in Iraq, to terrorist bioweapon programs, to the plight of those affected by radiation fallout at the U.S. military test sites in Nevada, I’m surrounded by reports of weapons of mass destruction. I can’t escape.

Every time I hear the term ‘weapons of mass destruction,’ I feel like I’m reading a comic book or watching a cartoon. As I read the words on paper, my mind creates this dramatic, booming voice like the ones created for action cartoons when the announcer says “stay tuned for more…{dramatic voice starts here} Weapons of Mass Destruction {cut to commercial here.} Or perhaps the voice is more like the one used for those cheesy reality shows: “Coming up next in Weapons of Mass Destruction.”

In my naivety, or perhaps my frustration with almost everything post ‘nine-eleven,’ I had assumed that the term ‘weapons of mass destruction’ was a post nine-eleven thing. Actually it’s not. It’s a term that has been around for a while, and is apparently affectionately shorted to WMD by national security experts. Weapons of mass destruction describe any weapon capable of, well, mass destruction. They include atomic or nuclear weapons, dirty bombs—conventional explosives wrapped in radioactive material—chemical weapons, and biological weapons. Some people even include computer hacking to attack a nation’s water or food supply, energy infrastructure, or financial and communications systems into the category of a weapon of mass destruction. So if a weapon of mass destruction is one that massively destroys, what does it have to massively destroy to be considered a weapon of mass destruction?

Nuclear, biological and chemical weapons all have the capacity to directly destroy people. That’s simple enough. Biological and chemical weapons also have the capacity to indirectly destroy people if they are used to destroy crops or food supply, resulting in starvation of a population. Computer hacking to attack water or food supply would also be an indirect method to kill people. But what about attacking energy, financial or communications systems? That’s would result in the destruction or incapacitation of constructs of our society. Such and attack might destroy societal life as we know it now, and certainly has the potential to cause mass amounts of chaos and make life difficult, but it does not destroy people. So a weapon of mass destruction, I guess, does not have to actually kill anyone.

What about something that causes society to communicate poorly with each other, or retreat from physical interaction with each other, resulting in the mass destruction of language and social interaction? Would that be a weapon of mass destruction? This would make email, text messaging and the internet a weapon of mass destruction, because I certainly feel that in some ways these things are resulting in a society that communicates and interacts less effectively and eloquently than out forefathers. I guess if used as a weapon, it would be a WMD. But I don’t think email, internet and messaging fit the definition of weapon. Perhaps we could call it an instrument of mass destruction?

Into the instruments of mass destruction pot I can also throw other practices that while not weapons are ultimately doing exactly what some weapons of mass destruction could be designed to do: reduce or disrupt resources like water, food and energy. Take a look at the irrigation and farming practices in California and the impact those practices have had on water supply in that state; take a look at the way monoculture in farming is reducing biodiversity and resistance to disease in food crops; take a look at GM technologies that create crops that can not reproduce; take a look at the way western society wastes non-renewable energy. All of these tings, if continued, have the potential to create the same end-point as some of the weapons of mass destruction defined above. But I digress… (this is a ramble of course…)

Getting back to the term ‘weapon of mass destruction’ that I have become so tired of these days: I guess the term separates these new weapons of our era from handguns, rifles, grenades and more traditional bombs, but the phrase sounds sensationalistic to me. Weapons of mass destruction elicits a more emotional response from me compared to just ‘weapons.’ And I guess as well as being a descriptive term, that’s what its supposed to do. Make me angry. Make me afraid. Make me indignant.

I wish we could all stop talking about weapons of mass destruction. I wish that we didn’t have to consider the fact that some people would be so ego-centric and simple-minded as to intentionally create weapons capable of destroying entire cities, countries, and the planet, including themselves. I wish combat was restricted to a healthy game and sport and not as a means to gain power and exert control. I wish we could live in a peaceful, utopian society. But that’s not going to happen. We’re all going to hell in a hand basket, and it’s the pettiness and short-sightedness of the world leaders and corporate moguls who are driving. Hold on tight, it’s a bumpy ride.

p.s. If anyone is interested in signing a petition to send weapons inspectors into the United states to see what George Bush is hiding, here is an interesting link:
http://www.rootingoutevil.org/

Amanda 11:15 AM
E-mail your comments to: ramblingraven@cosmic-muse.com

Tuesday, January 28, 2003

Good News for the World

A friend of mine passed me a list of good news in the news. With all the doom and gloom we experience in our lives, I thought I'd pass some of the highlights along:

Ozone hole is closing. It seems that the ban on CFCs may be working. At its peak the whole in the ozone layer was the size of Australia, now it seems that the hole may be nothing but a memory as early as 2050. For more information click here.

Bahraini women given the right to vote. The tiny Islamic kingdom of Bahrain became the first Middle Eastern Arab state to allow women to vote and run for public office. In the last election, eight of the 170 candidates campaigning were women. For the complete article, click here. And for an article from the point of view of bahraini women, click here.

I usually hate this "click here" business so I generally try to work the title of the link into the text of the writing itself. But I seem to be incredibly busy these days, so I decded to cheat in the interests of saving time. Hopefully I should get a chance to post on some other stuff that I've had floating around in my head for the past few days... like the plight of the banana and how a common parasite may be exerting mind control over the human species. Stay tuned.

Amanda 11:16 AM
E-mail your comments to: ramblingraven@cosmic-muse.com

Monday, January 20, 2003

More on smallpox

Oddly enough, while doing research today on eczema, I noticed that many health sites had provided prominent links to the Centre for Disease Control (CDC) pages on smallpox. It would seem that the United States has decided that smallpox is a very real biological warfare threat and is recommending vaccination for key military and civilian personnel who are at high risk for coming into contact with the virus in the event of an attack. It is also considering mass vaccination programs for the general public later this year or in 2004. For more information, visit the CDC smallpox pages.

Amanda 11:20 AM
E-mail your comments to: ramblingraven@cosmic-muse.com

Sunday, January 12, 2003

Straight out of the movies... almost

John Carpenter couldn't have done a better job himself of creating a truly gorey and disturbing disease :

It's an airborne virus, one so contagious that if you inhale a single particle of the virus, you can come down with the disease. After you've been infected, there is a typical incubation period of ten days, during which time you start to become infectious. "During that time, you feel normal. Then the illness hits with a spike of fever, a backache, and vomiting, and a bit later tiny red spots appear all over the body. The spots turn into blisters, called pustules, and the pustules enlarge, filling with pressurized opalescent pus. The eruption of pustules is sometimes called the splitting of the dermis. The skin doesn't break but splits horizontally, tearing away from its underlayers. The pustules become hard, bloated sacs the size of peas, encasing the body with pus, and the skin resembles a cobblestone street.

"The pain of the splitting is extraordinary. People lose the ability to speak, and their eyes can squeeze shut with pustules, but they remain alert. [For some reasone thsoe afflicted remain concious, in a state of paralyzed shock almost up until the time of death.] Death comes with a breathing arrest or a heart attack or shock or an immune-system storm, though exactly how [the disease] kills a person is not known. [...] if the pustules merge into sheets across the body, the victim will usually die: the virus has split the whole skin. If the victim survives, the pustules turn into scabs and falloff, leaving scars..." About one out of three people who contract this form of the disease die.

Some people develop more extreme cases of the disease. In one variation, the skin remains smooth and doesn't pustulate, but it darkens until it looks charred, and it can slip off the body in sheets. In a hemorrhagic version, black, unclotted blood oozes or runs from the mouth and other body orifices. These extreme cases of the disease are almost 100% fatal. If any sign of it appears in the body, the victim will almost certainly die. In the bloody cases, the virus destroys the linings of the throat, the stomach, the intestines, the rectum, and the vagina, and these membranes disintegrate. During the final phases of an intestinal "bleed-out" caused by the disintegration of the intestinal linings, the lining of the instestines and/or rectum can slip off. The lining is expelled through the anus, coming out in pieces or lengths of tube. During this time the patient is concious, witnessing the hemorroghes wand the body falling apart. The state of conciousness of vitims is said to be "... a peculier state of apprehension and mental alertness that are unlike the manifestations of any infectious disease."

Boy, I am glad that the world no longer has to deal with smallpox. That's right, the devastating disease described above is smallpox. A disease that my generation, thankfully, never has had to worry about. It was declared eradicated from the human species in 1979 after a twelve-year effort by workers of the World Heath organization. Now smallpox only exists in laboratories... but the question is whose laboratories?

Some bioterrorism experts say forget anthrax... worry about smallpox. Most people today have almost no immunity to smallpox, and mass vaccinations for the disease came to a worlwide halt abou 25 years ago. Smallpox virus is easy to release into an environment, and there is very little smallpox vaccine left on hand to vaccinate the population in the case of an outbreak. Also, what vaccine is left has been sitting in freezers now for over 20 years and nobody knows how effective those vaccines would be today. Everything has a shelf life and starts to disintegrate eventually. There is no cure for smallpox.

In the event of an outbreak in a major city, smallpox is now so far-removed from doctors' minds, that most would probably fail to recognise it in its inital stages. Smallpox infections come in waves of about 14 days, each wave at least ten to twenty times larger than the last. It would probably be at lease a couple of waves before the disease was identified, at which time, with today's global travel environment, it would probably be too late to contain to a limited geographic area.

Sounds like someting right out of a movie, doesn't it. But it isn't.

I for one, don't really believe that a disease can be 100% eradicated. Virues are tricky little organisms. Biowarfare aside, it wouldn't astound me if somehow, somewhere some of the virus has survived, lying dormant until opportunity knocks. Fortunately, with the threat tof biowarfare, research continues on smallpox and some scientists are looking for a cure in the event of an outbreak. The DNA of the smallpox virus has been sequenced, and molecular biologists and geneticists are starting to look for clues as to how the virus works. The problem is, the genetic code of the virus is big and complex. In fact it is the biggest and most complex virus known, contining about 187 genes. At present, the best hope in the event of a smallpox outbreaks seems to lie in potent antiviral drugs, most notably cidofovir developed for AIDS patients. But the drug comes at a price, it must be administered by IV and may damage the kidneys. Also, until there is an outbreak, cidovir, or any drug, can not be tested on a human population ahead of time. Its only test will lie during an outbreak itself, and it will be a test that the whole world will be counting on it to pass.

(Quotes and information taken from "The Demon in the Freezer" by Richard Preston, published in "The New Yorker" on July 12, 1999.)

Amanda 11:25 AM
E-mail your comments to: ramblingraven@cosmic-muse.com

Monday, January 06, 2003

Pharming Revisted

I just came across this story, courtesy of Utne Web Watch, which highlights some of the dangers of the under-regulation of Pharming. I haven't taken a look at the article yet, but since I already posted on this topic a few days ago (January 1st), I thought I'd post it now and then get back to my thoughts on it later.

The Three Mile Island of Biotech?
Published in The Nation, December 12, 2002

Amanda 11:45 AM
E-mail your comments to: ramblingraven@cosmic-muse.com

Saturday, January 04, 2003

From Food to Fuel

Back on to recycling again. I saw an interesting article that sort of relates to my post on December 10th about turning food waste into biodegradable plastics. Apparently researchers at the University of the West of England have developed a small, inexpensive reactor that turns household food scraps into a battery. The fuel cell is the size of a portable walkman and cost about $25 to make. Inside the reactor, is a colony of e. coli bacteria that produce enzymes that break down the carbohydrates in food waste and release hydrogen atoms. The cell also contains chemicals that strip electrons from the hydrogen atoms and deliver them to the fuel cell's anode to produce electricity. So far the experimental cell is only running on sugar cubes, but the development team is optimistic that it can be adapted to use regular household waste. Pretty ingenious.

Amanda 1:38 PM
E-mail your comments to: ramblingraven@cosmic-muse.com

Left-Handed Tantra

I was in a discussion recently about Tantra in Hinduism, particularly Left-Handed Tantra. Since I promised to pull something together on this topic for one of the folks involved in the discussion, I thought I might as well post it here as well.

The Tantras were the third major development of the medieval period (600-1800CE) and seem to have arisen out of the elite Brahmin tradition. Tantrism assumes that each individual is a miniature of the macrocosm, and that by learning the sacred geography of the body and through various ritual techniques is is possible to bring one's own spiritual fulfillment, thereby achieving liberation or moksa.

The Tantras do distinguish between right-handed and left-handed paths. The right-hand path is for adepts and consists primarily of the use of mantras, mandala and ritual techniques based on Tantric sacred body geometry. The left-handed path centres upon a particular ritual in which the adept partakes of five forbidden things, thereby transcending the tension between the sacred and the profane and gaining liberation. The left-hand path is considered appropriate only for warrior and those of special heroic temperament, and has been greatly criticised by the Brahmins.

Left-handed Tantrism is believed to have arisen among the village practices, by ordinary folks who did know or who were not permitted to perform Brahminic rituals. The quests of let-handed Tantrism are generally undertaked alone or under the guidance of a guru is an isolated location. One's place in society is unimportant to the the success of the quest and as such many followers of left-handed Tantrism show disregard for societal values or norms. This is also shown in how left-handed Tantrism "ranks" success. The lowest ranked individuals are the practice of social confirmity and the practice of prescribed customs, while in the highest rank confirmity to social norms is a matter of indifference. Adepts who have achieved this stage recognize the underlying unity of all realty and as such have no need for the artificial rules and disctinctions made by the unenlightened.

The central act in left-handded Tantrism is that of "pancha tattva" or the five forbidden things. In this ritual, the seeked partakes in five of the most bodily and spiritually polluting things to traditional Hinduism: wine, fish, parched grain of some kind (probably dung), meat and illicit sexual intercourse. For many traditional Hindus, the undertaking of this ritual by the followers of left-handed Tantra is seen as an excuse for libertinism under the guise of religion.

The reason for this ritual is based on the idea that Brahman pervades everything in this world, even the forbidden things. The "pancha tattva" ritual is an attempt to shock the seeker into realising this truth. By partaking in the five forbidden thigs, the seeker affirms their own sacredness and also dissolves all preconceived or societal notions, prejudices, habits and other barriers that cause them to see the world as fragmented and compartmentalised instead of the unified whole that it is.

Left-handed Tantra may be considered a criticism of traditional Hinduism and particularly those aspect that emphasize conformity to social norms and customs as being something that brings spiritual merit to to practitioners.

More reading:
Hinduism - A cultural perspective by David Kinsley (1982)
The Tantric Tradition by Agehananda Bharati (1965)
Tantra of Great Liberation (Mahanirvana Tantra) translated by Arthur Avalon
(1972)

Amanda 12:39 PM
E-mail your comments to: ramblingraven@cosmic-muse.com

Wednesday, January 01, 2003

Ponderings on Pharming and the Genetic Engineering Debate

Medicine has made a lot of progress in the past century. Doctors and scientist understand more about the causes of disease , and more medicines than ever are available to treat disease… or at least the symptoms. And with each new discovery, the production of medicines has also gotten easier, with no small thanks to genetic engineering. These days genetic engineering is often much maligned in the alternative press, and often quite rightly so. However, genetic engineering isn’t all bad, for example it has enabled the mass production of insulin thereby potentially saving or improving the lives of millions of diabetics in the process. It also enabled the mass production of penicillin and other similar antibiotics, making treatment of simple infectious disease relatively simple and inexpensive. Perhaps a genetically-engineered solution to HIV drugs could help extend the lives and quell the carnage of HIV in developing countries as effectively as antibiotics did to infectious disease in those same countries earlier this century.

Now genetic engineering and pharmaceuticals have combined to form a new kind of operation – PHARMING. Basically, pharming is genetically engineering crops to contain genes for pharmaceuticals. The crops are then harvested and the drugs produced from the harvest. In current methods of genetic engineering, bacteria are the most common host for introduced genetic material.

Pharming is an appealing idea for a variety of reasons, not the least of which are its potential to make large quantities of cheap drugs and vaccines. However if the recent cases of cross-field contamination of genetically engineered or modified (GM) food crops are to be an example of the delicate nature of containing GM plants, then the idea is also a very worrying one. If GM crops can spread as easily into neighbouring fields as easily as scientists are finding out it does, it wouldn’t be difficult for GM crops containing genetically engineered pharmaceutical to show up in a neighbouring farmers traditional harvest, and into your morning cereal. If the idea of “frankenfoods” concerns you, then the idea of “pharmed” crops produced under the similar containment regulations should horrify you. I know it does me.

The confinement regulations put down by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) for pharm crops of corn is 400 metres. That means that crops containing pharmaceutical genes can not be planted within 400 metres of regular non-GM food crops destined for general public consumption. In addition, pharm crops must be planted two weeks before or after nearby crops so that they aren’t fertile at the same time. Similar regulations exist for other varieties of potential pharm crops, like wheat, barley, rice and sugar cane. Okay, seems safe enough right? But the problem is, we don’t know. There hasn’t been enough scientific evidence collected from formal tests on how far pollen travels from genetically modified crops, and anecdotal evidence seems to point to the fact that contamination risk does not drop off with increasing distances. In fact earlier this summer, Australian researchers reported pollen from GM crops had contaminated fields as far away as three kilometres (Science 2002;296:2386). That’s over seven times the distance set out by the USDA regulations.

Another disturbing consideration in pharm crops is the vague, wishy-washy regulations outlining harvesting of the crops. In fact, I’d call them un-regulations, requiring only that pharm crops be adequately identified, packaged and segregated. Okay, so who defines “adequately”? And why set down seemingly strict guidelines for the sowing of pharm crops, but not their harvesting? What is the scientific rationale? Is there even one? We’ve already seen in the GM food industry that GM and non-GM crops and seeds can easily get mixed up, what’s to stop pharmed crops?

In case that’s not enough, drug companies growing pharm crops are not even required to disclose what drug is being pharmed. That’s because the USDA considers that the genes added to plants are commercially confidential. In other words, commercial profits are considered more important that public safety. I don’t know about you, but I’d like to know that if cross-contamination occurs between pharmed and conventional crops and seeds, that there would at least be some way to identify the contaminating gene.

It often strikes me that with genetic engineering, we’re essentially “running with scissors.” Genetic engineering and biotechnology are incredibly powerful technologies, with huge potential both commercially and scientifically. It’s no wonder that researchers have picked it up and essentially “run with it,” especially when backed by the awesome power and investment from commercial interests. The problem is, we’re not sure where we are running to and what exactly we’re running with. We’re running without having adequately become aware of its strengths and limitations, its potential for harm. I think before we go any further with genetically modified crops, be it for food or pharm, we need to take a step back and re-examine what we really know about traditional farming and genetics, and realistically examine solid ways to use the opportunities afforded by genetic engineering with minimal risk to our own health, and the overall health of the environment and local ecology.

Amanda 11:12 AM
E-mail your comments to: ramblingraven@cosmic-muse.com