World looks a little shakier

[Shane Hughes]

Hi all,

just back from the Transition conference and thought i'd direct you
towards a presentation that shook the conference. Click the audio and
you can scroll down and the page to follow the slides.

http://sheffield.indymedia.org.uk/2010/06/453356.html

Most people who sore it were overwhelmed and reviewing much of their
near future life choices, there was even tears and it got a bit dark
and emotional. It was classed by many as a kind of maturing of the
movement. There was still alot of the heart warming and fluffy stuff
but It was certainly embedded withing a new tone.

shane

[RICHARD GILLARD]

Dear Shane   I am writing this at a computer class, which I give at 10:00 AM of a Wednesday morning at Sir William Harpur House in Brickhill.  I will need to wait until I get home before I can view the video.  However, you have whetted my appetite so I am looking forward to it.   On a much more mundane level, a lady named Janet Cook has offered me a computer monitor.  I have no need of such a thing.  However, I have carbon copied you on my reply to her, in case you are aware of any recycling opportunities I am not aware of, so that the monitor can be used and not be sent to landfill.   I regret I did not think to copy Esin and Wahid on the original e-mail, but I am doing so now.  Esin and Wahid:  Would you, Sue Brandreth, or anyone else at Bedford College, have any use for a 17" Samsung CRT monitor, model number 750S?  If so, please let me know.  If not then, apparently, it is on its way to a landfill site near you, adding yet more rubbish and pollution to this already polluted world!     Best Wishes     Richard --- On Wed, 16/6/10, Shane Hughes <shane...@lycos.com> wrote:

-- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Transition Bedford" group. To post to this group, send email to transitio...@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to transition-bedford+unsub...@googlegroups.com You can also change your settings so that you only receive an email digest or web browser view only.  Log in to google > Go to http://groups.google.co.uk/group/transition-bedford?hl=en?hl=en-GB > then click the "edit my membership" tab which can be found on the right hand side of the control panel. Some people may not be able to log in. if you have any problems, PLEASE contact me direct, i'm very very happy to change your subscription manually. It's important that we have a vibrant discussion group but it's also vitally important that it's not a pain in the bum to those feeling their inbox has been invaded. Kind regards Shane

[little_web_wizard]

Hi,

Please don't throw your monitor away, there is no need. Please offer
it on Bedford Freegle instead:

http://www.bedfordfreegle.org.uk/

Freegle exists to rehome unwanted, but still perfectly useable, items
- to stop them going to landfill.

Only today we had a request from a member for a computer monitor:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BedfordFreegle/message/121135

"Does Anybody have a spare or unwanted PC Monitor .. Working please
can collect
ASAP"

Please let me know if you would like an invitation to join the group
and I will be very happy to assist.

Best Wishes

Jacqui
Group Moderator - Bedford Freegle

On Jun 16, 11:03 am, RICHARD GILLARD

[Richard Gillard]

Ladies and Gentlemen

Listening to the tale of woe available from the link in the e-mail, which is copied out  below, I am inclined to think: What are the positives here?  If every problem is an opportunity (and there are people who tell me this is so) what are the opportunities presented to us by this whole "peak oil" scenario?

I believe that there are some opportunties.  Here are some possible opportunities for your consideration:

1. In the early 1970s a gentleman name Ernst Friedrich (Fritz) Schumacher (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._F._Schumacher) published a book called Small is Beautiful (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_Is_Beautiful) our current problems are an impetus and an opportunity for us to start taking Mr Schumacher's ideas very seriously.
2. One of the biggest uses of oil based power is for transportation.  We all spend far too much of our time travelling.  It is not uncommon for people to lose five hours of their day, every working day of their lives, travelling to and from their place of work.  This uses up huge amounts of energy.  It is also a huge waste of time.  We are talking here of five hours a day, which people could spend talking with their families, relaxing, reading or whatever, whereas, instead, they are performing the very stressful activity of travelling for hours and hours, all day every day, in their own cars and on public transport.  Yet we now have the technology for people to work from home.  We have the Internet.  We have access to software which will alllow a person sitting at home to access and drive a computer in their office, whether that computer be 20 miles away, 300 miles away or even 3000 miles away.  We have Skype.  We have video networking.  We even have wireless internet!  For example: I am interacting with you right now, while sitting up in bed, typing these words into a laptop PC, connected to a wireless router on the other side of my bedroom.  We have the technology!  We do not need to "go to work" to do our work!  How much time and energy could we save if we simply stopped all of this frantic travelling from one place to another?  It's not rocket science people!  It's as plain as day.
3. Of course, it's not as plain as day to the captains of industry.  They are blinkered.  They see the bottom line.  They see their salaries and bonuses and "performance related rewards".  We need to educate these people.  We also need a fairer, more egalitarian society.  There are several people who can help us here.  We can turn to Noam Chomsky.  We can turn to Naomi Klein.  These two individuals are brilliant!  However, please don't take my word for it.  These two people can speak for themselves.  There are some fabulous videos on YouTube and elsewhere, in which Naomi Klein and Noam Chomsky detail their ideas and visions for the future.  You can find some of Naomi Klein's fabulous videos via the following page on my own website: http://www.richardgillard.webs.com/YouTubeIndex.html#NaomiKlein

Do not despair good people.  Every problem is an opportunity.  Peak Oil is a huge problem.  Ergo Peak Oil is also a huge opportunity!


Yours sincerely

Richard Gillard
www.richardgillard.webs.com

[shane hughes]

i've got to agree that "every problem is an opportunity". It's a mantra that i live by but we've got to be amazingly lucky, smart and prepared if we're to realise the 'right' opportunity and not to emerse ourselves in decade of the problem on route. She is predicting a downturn (or problem) worse than the great depression. Which economists largely agree took the WWII to stimulate the economy on the road to recovery and the recovery (or opportunity) ended up being Bretton Woods and unabated capatilism. Ofcourse much progress has been made and we enjoy lives of luxury in comparison but i'm not quite sure we are prepared from the oncoming problem in anyway shape or form nor understand the opportunity enough to manifest it withouth the bagage of it being a double edged sword. Shane ---------[ Received Mail Content ]---------- Subject : A wise man once said: Every problem is an opportunity! Date : Thu, 17 Jun 2010 08:24:59 +0100 From : Richard Gillard <richardg...@btinternet.com> To : transitio...@googlegroups.com

Ladies and Gentlemen Listening to the tale of woe available from the link in the e-mail, which is copied out below, I am inclined to think: What are the positives here? If every problem is an opportunity (and there are people who tell me this is so) what are the opportunities presented to us by this whole "peak oil" scenario? I believe that there are some opportunties. Here are some possible opportunities for your consideration:

1. In the early 1970s a gentleman name Ernst Friedrich (Fritz)

Schumacher (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._F._Schumacher) published a book called Small is Beautiful (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_Is_Beautiful) our current problems are an impetus and an opportunity for us to start taking Mr Schumacher's ideas very seriously.

2. One of the biggest uses of oil based power is for transportation.

We all spend far too much of our time travelling. It is not uncommon for people to lose five hours of their day, every working day of their lives, travelling to and from their place of work. This uses up huge amounts of energy. It is also a huge waste of time. We are talking here of five hours a day, which people could spend talking with their families, relaxing, reading or whatever, whereas, instead, they are performing the very stressful activity of travelling for hours and hours, all day every day, in their own cars and on public transport. Yet we now have the technology for people to work from home. We have the Internet. We have access to software which will alllow a person sitting at home to access and drive a computer in their office, whether that computer be 20 miles away, 300 miles away or even 3000 miles away. We have Skype. We have video networking. We even have wireless internet! For example: I am interacting with you right now, while sitting up in bed, typing these words into a laptop PC, connected to a wireless router on the other side of my bedroom. We have the technology! We do not need to "go to work" to do our work! How much time and energy could we save if we simply stopped all of this frantic travelling from one place to another? It's not rocket science people! It's as plain as day.

3. Of course, it's not as plain as day to the captains of industry.

-- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Transition Bedford" group. To post to this group, send email to transitio...@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to

transition-bedf...@googlegroups.com

You can also change your settings so that you only receive an email digest or web browser view only. Log in to google > Go to http://groups.google.co.uk/group/transition-bedford?hl=en?hl=en-GB > then click the "edit my membership" tab which can be found on the right hand side of the control panel. Some people may not be able to log in. if you have any problems, PLEASE contact me direct, i'm very very happy to change your subscription manually. It's important that we have a vibrant discussion group but it's also vitally important that it's not a pain in the bum to those feeling their inbox has been invaded. Kind regards Shane

Shane Hughes http://www.carbon-accounting.com/ http://www.sustainableevent.com/ 07809 882077