Life, Technology, and Ethical Philosophy
Common Good Conference (On-line event)
October 1, 2021 $39 early registration
“Cultivation and restoration happen in your work. The place you cultivate might be at home, an office, or somewhere in between. Where you spend your days is where you steward the work of your hands. This year’s Common Good Conference will encourage you in your place, your work, and your faith.”
MadeToFlorish.org
A local project proposed to house all of Vancouver’s homeless – sounds amazing, almost too good to be true. Maybe it is. I haven’t looked into it in the depth I normally do, so I don’t know if the guy behind it is legit or not. I am not recommending the GoFundMe project by posting this blog, I am recommending that you look into it. And I am posting this blog because the idea behind it is a darn good one. I really hope this is legit, and I very much hope for all those who need affordable housing anywhere that you get a hand up, not a hand out.
While I am not a fan of shrinking living space, this 2br/2ba free standing home would be a huge improvement over my current cramped 1br/1ba I share with my husband. The kitchen is about the same size but the model has its own washing machine and dryer, while I currently have to do my laundry in shared unit in the basement of the apartment building. While some apartments have their own w/d, our unit does not. The apartment I live in is not ideal, but there was a 2 year waiting list for most apartments in the area and only 2 of the dozens we called bothered to called up back when we were looking.
Food, shelter, and safety – these are the three most fundamental human needs. If these needs are not met, everything else becomes irrelevant. Thus, historically, the only times humanity has been able to make social advances is in times of plenty. We are currently in an unusual time where abundance is being deliberately destroyed and the middle class is being forced back into serfdom by the rich. A primary Sumptuary Tax is the ability to own a house, especially a house with land.
This was a really cool YouTube video I came across on a German company that built a 3D printed house. Yup, that’s right – a 3D printer can now build a house with a little bit of highly skilled human help.
In 2020/2021, people who were formerly trapped in a cycle of paying exorbitant rent for lousy apartments have lost even that. Tent cities in Vancouver are not immigrants. Mainstream media does not like to show people who used to own their own businesses or worked full time jobs who have lost everything. Many people who still have a roof over their heads are in constant fear of losing it and ending up on the streets. Many homeless people have jobs, some even work two jobs, but still cannot afford the high cost of rent. Then you have retired individuals, the elderly, and those that require assisted living who require a place to live as well.
We do not need a “basic income” if that level of welfare still does not cover food and rent. What we need is less welfare and more jobs, and place the emphasis less on handouts and more on clean, safe, quiet AFFORDABLE housing. Human rights require a hand up, not a hand out.
March 18th, Free online workshop sponsored by the Burnaby Board of Trade (Vancouver, Canada)
10am-11am PST
STARTS MARCH 17, 2021 3pm EST (10 days, free online seminar) Not a sales event, actual specialist advice by medical experts on migraine.
Migraines – for anyone who suffers from migraines (actual, real medically diagnosed migraines, not headaches) this has been a life changer for me so I wanted to share. Actual medical experts from all over the world. In the U.S., there is only 1 migraine specialist per 17,000 sufferers, so most people who have migraines go undiagnosed and untreated. Don’t know what the stats are in Canada, but specialists are rare globally.
So this group (who suffer from migraine themselves) collected them all together and put them online. I got diagnosed in my 50’s after 30 years of wondering what the hell was wrong me, then never got to see a doctor for it again. Migraines can be managed, and reduced. And you find out there are thousands of other people going through the same thing, most high achievers. This seminar is designed to help migraine sufferers get specialist’s advice and then communicate with their regular doctor on a more informed level.
And you will meet some pretty amazing people who get severe migraines and still do some pretty amazing things. Like help win a NFL championship while in the middle of an attack and completely aura blind (so the coach used him as the bait in a fake pass play and his teammate scored the winning goal. All he had to do is confidently run blindly and look like he was going to receive the ball). Or be a national reporter for a major news channel and have migraine induced aphasia (garbled, unintelligible speech) as she was reporting live at the Olympics. Last year’s guests’ stories encouraged me I could still be amazing.
Interested in joining a global community of industry leaders, professionals, researchers, and policy makers aimed at creating a sustainable future? For over a decade, our international MSc programmes have been a proven pathway to a career in sustainable energy and electric power.
Applications are open for students and professionals from the EU/EEA and countries that do not require D-visas upon arrival. This includes Australia, Brazil, Canada, Columbia, UK, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, United States of America, and more (see our link).
“Sliders” episode “Please Press One”(S5E6) has the team sliding into a world where everyone is microchipped and reduced down to a number. Pretty standard for science fiction. Every time you wave your hand, walk through a door, buy a newspaper – the chip records it all. “In Time” (2011) starring Justin Timberlake got a little edgier where the currency was time rather than cash, but the technology was still embedded in each person’s arm.
The key scenario is that no action or transaction takes place without the system knowing it. We all know GPS tracks your cell phone whether its turned on or off. Every single transaction you make with your debit or credit card is recorded. We’ve been living with Big Brother for years now. But now…but now its in you. Now you wont be able to leave it home.
This is a man in Wisconsin whose company just had the employees microchipped. The company threw a party while it had it done.
company throws microchip party
Its here in the United States now. The news report uses the language that Three Market Square is the first to “offer” this program. But imbedding chips into human beings should have been one of the big things we fought as human beings to keep utterly illegal. Its not “convenient.” Its pervasive. You wont be able to buy or sell without it soon. You wont be able to open your apartment or start your car. It may not be the biblical mark of the Beast, but functionally, there’s not a damn bit of difference.
Annual Academic & Community Conference, online this year.
May 24th-26th, 2020
Vancouver School of Theology (VST)
I will be giving a paper, “Christianity and the Vat Grown Burger” on Tuesday during the 10:45-12:15 session.
For more information, click here.
For registration information, click here.
Registration ends May 21, 2020
We can change the world. If we make one person’s life better, we have made the world a better place. Its the star fish principle. The media doesn’t spotlight simple, practical solutions because the media wants hype and drama. This is a drama-free solution, but what an amazing difference it would make to someone struggling to find meaning and value in their life.
Having a safe and restful sanctuary is critical to good mental and physical health. Its a simple idea – go in and decorate a living space for a person recovering from trauma so they feel like they have a home. Homes and Haves describe the work they do as: “We partner with local ministries that are helping women overcome abuse, addiction, homelessness, sex trafficking, and incarceration by helping furnish and decorate their new living spaces after graduating local programs. We design each space to be therapeutic and healing.”
A volunteer’s story of her experience said she was expecting the usual dismal, bland furnishings that people usually give away for free. Something so worn out it couldn’t be sold on e-bay. Something with no value left so its given to charity. But instead she found Homes and Haven were providing lightly used furnishings, and using quality, cheerful paint to fix them up.
She found Homes and Haven operate on a principle all of us know: “The message: this furniture was to show women that they were worth something really nice. Surroundings could boost their self-esteem. As a volunteer, I did not merely take something substandard and make it satisfactory. No, I actually helped to create something beautiful which these women so heartily deserve.”
I would love to see this happening in every community.
Chemicals are not always the answer. Working with nature to find alternatives can work. A lot of us love the look and feel of leather but do not like the cruelty to animals aspect. Vegan leather made of plastic has been a viable option for years, but now plastic has become an environmental concern.
Two entrepreneurs, Adrián López Velarde and Marte Cázarez, have come up with a new solution. They use cactus to make a plant-based leather alternative. They claim the cactus is tough and water proof like leather, but because it its plant-based it is bio-degradable and less harmful to the environment. And cactus uses significantly less water to grow to maturity than cattle do.
The fabric in the video looks like leather. They have made shoes, purses, and even clothing from Desserto. They have made car seats from it, so it must pass the durability test. Cactus may just be the Pleather we’ve been looking for.
See original story here.
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