BOLIVIANS BLAST EVO OVER VIOLENCE AGAINST INDIAN PROTESTS

No doubt about the fact that large projects of infrastructure development are needed to promote the Bolivia's Brazilian-financed model of globalization and economic growth. There is also no doubt that the benefits of these projects arrive at the cost of much destruction... and the local Indians know it. What is new is that they are gaining supporters in the cities and from the labor movement and Evo Morales is being challenged to make his deeds match his promise to defend Pachamama.

THE DAILY VIEW: Waiting

Waiting -- photo by Lou Gold

DAM(N) GOOD NEWS

AMAZING!!! There are TWO good developments to report:


Work must halt on Brazil's monster dam, Belo Monte

Work halted on divisive Myitsone hydro project in Mayanmar

THE DAILY VIEW: São Miguel

São Miguel -- graffiti by Tiago Tosh

Crumbling wall art from a Rio Branco graffiti chapel for the Day of Saint Michael.

VIVA! São Miguel Arcanjo

UPDATE: PROTESTS SPREAD ACROSS BOLIVIA

As protests spread to the cities and a Bolivian labor federation calls strikes in sympathy with the Indians, the march against the road is resuming.

You can offer support and TAKE ACTION at Amazon Watch or AVAAZ.

BOLIVIA SUSPENDS AMAZON ROAD PLANS AFTER INDIANS AND POLICE CLASH

Police blockade road in Bolivia preventing Indian protesters' route to La Paz

Survival International reports, "Bolivia’s President Evo Morales has suspended plans to build a major highway through indigenous peoples’ land in the Amazon rainforest. His decision follows a 40-day protest march, which was brought to an abrupt halt on Sunday, when police used tear gas and truncheons to dispel 1,000 protesters."

Several government ministers have resigned as more protests erupt. There is an
AVAAZ petition gathering 500,000 signatures in support the indigenous people.

More news and analysis here and here.

IS THIS HOW THE GREAT DISRUPTION BEGINS?

Trader Alessio Rastani, in a BBC interview that has gone viral, says that the Eurozone market is going to crash. I don't think than one has to has a Nobel in economics to see that it's a distinct possibility as governments struggle to achieve a rescue plan that many see as "too little and too late".

REVOLUTION

THE DAILY VIEW: Delicacy of the Orient

Delicacy of the Orient -- wall painting by babu

At the Rio Branco restaurant Delicias do Orient a piece of babu's mural depicts the dragon's view of a possible meal.

WANGARI MAATHAI -- "I WILL BE A HUMMINGBIRD"

On Sunday night Wangari Maathai -- the greatly loved and world renown Kenyan carrier of the message of the hummingbird -- passed from among us after a struggle with cancer. She was a passionate advocate for justice, protection of nature and women's rights, which she saw as bundled together in a spiritual environmentalism. She was the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004 for her efforts in Kenya which linked forests, justice and empowerment of women in the (now-global) Greenbelt Movement.

THE DAILY VIEW: Oracle

Oracle -- image by Lou Gold

THE DAILY VIEW: Changes

Changes -- photo by Lou Gold

MOVING PLANET WAS AMAZING

Moving Planet was a worldwide day to move beyond fossil fuels, with over 2000 events in more than 175 countries! Have a look.

THE DAILY VIEW: Night-rider

Night-rider -- photo by Lou Gold

CLASSIC QUOTE

photo -- Allen Brisson-Smith for The New York Times

LAFAYETTE, Minn. — A rash of thefts has law enforcement officials stumped. Among other challenges, the missing hogs are difficult to single out. “They all look alike,” said a sheriff.

THE DAILY VIEW: Night Colors

Night Colors #1 -- photo by Lou Gold

Two versions of this one because I could not decide which I liked best. The second one is over the jump.

IDIOCY AND ADVOCACY

Some good commentary from Timothy Egan....

THE DAILY VIEW: A Rain of Color

A Rain of Color -- photo by Lou Gold

I've often commented on and displayed the extraordinary use of color in Rio Branco. It is said that "color expresses the Acreano will toward happiness." Now, the national oil company Petrobras seems to be using color to express the late-in-the-dry-season desire for rain. Or, perhaps the colors express the happiness that will be felt when the rains finally return. Or, more likely, it's to celebrate Children's Day in Brazil. Either way, it surely reaches for happiness.

[Update - 24 September 2011 -- We had a blessed serious rain last night.]

FLOODING AND STEALING OUR FUTURE

Chief Almir Narayamoga Surui, leader of the Suruí tribe of the Madeira River Basin, Brazil.

Chief Almir Narayamoga Surui is the leader of the Surui people in Rondonia where infrastructure development such as roads, large hydro projects and deforestation are threatening ancestral peoples of the land. On Equinox -- the moment of balance between light and dark -- he spoke to the UN about the imbalance that is spreading across Amazonia.

POETRY COMBINES WITH POLITICS AGAINST THE DAMN DAMS

Poetry from Mayanmar's U Maung Sein Win inspires the global struggle against the damn dams:

Whole forests are cleared and
mountains laid bare

Sand bars emerge at the narrows

Not so far in the future, Myanmar’s people may disappear

Did we drink our own blood?

This is the frightening thought

That one day the river might be dead.

THE DAILY VIEW: No Parking

No Parking -- photo by Lou Gold

THE DAILY VIEW: Terminal

Terminal -- photo by Lou Gold

Equinox day and the sun is passing directly above the equator. Like the buses in the terminal, its arc will turn around for another run.

Here in the Brazilian Amazon the turn of the arc of the sun is toward summer and cooler rainy weather that will be much appreciated after the long hot and dry winter season.

TALK LIKE A PIRATE DAY IS MORE THAN TALK

Members of the Pirate Party at the state parliament in Berlin on Monday. The party won 8.9 percent 
in elections in the city-state.     photo: Hannibal Hanschke - European Pressphoto Agency

September 19 was International Talk Like a Pirate Day but in Berlin the pirates were THE talk.

LEAP

THE DAILY VIEW: Bike, Bus and Bush

Bike, Bus and Bush -- photo by Lou Gold

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

OK, here I am living in and surfing the Internet world from Brazil's Acre State which holds both one of the world's epicenters of biodiversity and is a hub of fast-paced development that is changing everything. One of the reasons that I chose to be here (and love it) is that it seems to contain all of the contradictions. There are meat-eating environmentalists, rubber-tappers raising cattle, ranchers against deforestation and, of course, their opposites -- all of which gives a tree-hugging guy like me a lot to think about. And, it generally turns out to be -- as the Brazilians like to say -- "COMPLICATED" way beyond the sound-bites of the media.

THE DAILY VIEW: Love Embrace

Love Embrace -- painting by Freida Kahlo

One of my favorites, the full title is "The Love Embrace of the Universe, the Earth (Mexico), Me, and Senor Xolotl." View more of Frieda Kahlo's paintings at Mark Harden's Artchive and at WikiPaintings.

NO DOUBT ABOUT IT

Despite the concerted efforts of the merchants deceit to spin a web of doubt over the climate issue, American public opinion is not buying it. According to a new poll by Reuters/Ipsos, the percentage of Americans who believe the Earth has been warming has risen to 83 percent and 71 percent of the Americans who believe warming is happening think that it is caused either partly or mostly by humans.

Deeper than the problem of deceptive advertising and media manipulation is the fact that the Congress driven by lobbyists and corporate campaign contributions does not represent the opinion of the scientists or the public.

TAKING DOWN THE DAMS

Elwha Dam -- photo by Keith Thorpe (AP)

The destruction of Washington state's Elwha Dam began yesterday 17 September 2011. The removal of the dam and a companion will allow salmon to swim upriver for the first time in a century. Some errors of the past can be corrected. Indeed, restoration may become the new "great work" of humans on earth.

Will the forces now planning more than 140 dams for Amazonia heed the lesson?

THE DAILY VIEW: Seeing Red

Seeing Red -- photo by Lou Gold

A LIVING BRIDGE TO THE FUTURE

A bridge built to last 500 years! Think on it. What kind of consciousness does it take to take the care and time build for that kind of future?

THE DAILY VIEW: Hot day

Hot Day -- photo by Lou gold

It's going to be hot again today.

DOUBT

DOUBT from The Climate Reality Project on Vimeo.

EARTH RIGHTS ARE DIFFICULT TO DEFEND IN ECUADOR

Ecuador Indigenous Protest 08 April 2010. -- Photo: EPA/JOSE JACOME

Three years ago, I posted enthusiastically about Ecuador's new constitution which accords rights to nature. Realizing the promise has turned out to be most difficult. What's new, according to Manuela Pycq writing at Al Jazeera is, "...that a leftist president - who has repeatedly fallen back on ethno-politics to increase his legitimacy - is using forms of martial law inherited from past military regimes to destroy indigenous calls for environmental justice".

THE DAILY VIEW: Color Weave

Color Weave -- Image by Lou Gold

For a change, something different. Just playing with some filters.

TAR SANDS ACTION IS STICKING IT TO OBAMA

So good to see that action is following the big media event in DC. Here is the latest report from Duncan Meisel at Tar Sands Action:

THE DAILY VIEW: Fast Forward

Fast Forward -- photo by Lou Gold

[UPDATE: Thanks to fast responses from Lenny Kolm and Jerry Boyle at my Facebook page, I've changed the title to "Fast Forward" because, as high tension lines and electrification spread across urban and rural areas, Acreanos are "fast-forwarding" in the future.]

I shot this one yesterday from the bus and liked it but I don't know what what to call it. I considered "No Parking" and "Rear View Mirror" but somehow neither worked for me. Got any suggestions?

CROWD-SOURCING OUR INTERDEPENDENCE

DotSub, the great open source video translator has a brilliant project to give meaning to our interdependence via cyberspace. Please click here to see how you can help put the film DECLARATION OF INTERDEPENDENCE into 100 languages.

IS IT WEIRD ENOUGH YET?

Burning Man - 2010 -- photo by Scott London -- more of his incredible Burning Man photos here

As the world heats up toward more extremes of politics, weather and general craziness, the Burning Man festival turns it into artistic statements -- and, the real world gets even weirder...

THE DAILY VIEW: I Am the Shine of the Sun

I Am the Shine of  the Sun -- photo by Lou Gold

This one is for Christopher Howe who walks this way a lot.

FLAGS OF CHANGING TIMES

According to the Wall Street Journal, Brazil and other BRICS may join on aid for Europe. A token gesture, for sure, but quite likely a harbinger of changing times.

PERU PRESIDENT SIGNS INDIGENOUS RIGHTS ACT INTO LAW

Ollanta Humala campaigning in indigenous dress

Rising above the fear-mongering of the global reactionary Right, Peru's President Ollanda Humala is taking the first concrete steps toward dealing with the devastating impact on indigenous people of Peru's rapid development which is based largely on extraction of it's vast natural resources often located on ancestral lands.

THE DAILY VIEW: The Portal

The Portal -- photo by Lou Gold

THE GIFT OF LIGHT

Emmanuel's story is deeply moving and, of course, it produces many reactions. Here's mine:

THE DAILY VIEW: Getting Green Again

Greening Again -- photo by Lou Gold

We've had some blessed rain across recent days and the plants really seem happy. We are too! Let's hope that the 2011 drought will not be as severe as was feared.

THE DAILY VIEW: Salve! The Boat of Peace

Salve! The Boat of Peace -- photo by Lou Gold

LAND OF THE FREE: HOME OF THE POOR

Where would you choose to be?

BILL MCKIBBEN'S RESPONSE TO ANDREW REVKIN

Bill McKibben being arrested in a anti-Keystone pipeline action in front of the White House

Andy Revkin opened his Dot Earth blog to reactions to his support for the Keystone pipeline. Bill McKibben brilliantly states the case against it.

THE DAILY VIEW: Mistura da Amazônia

"PIEDADE AMAZÔNICA" -- painting by Clementino

Brazil seems (to me) to be distinctly different from the US pluralistic multicultural "melting pot" in that it presents as a national characteristic and goal an actual blending in addition to a mere cultural mix. In the words of world musician and ex-Minister of Culture Gilbert Gil, "Brazil is the world's miscegenist culture." The cultural (and, often, biological) goal is a great blending, or as a Brazilian might say, "uma mistura grande e bonita".

THE DAILY VIEW: The Earth is Flat

Guest Shot: "The Earth is Flat by Porter Yates, on Flickr"

Looking onto Andean fields near Simiatug, Ecuador. My vantage point was from ~ 13,000 ft. The clouds filled the valley below as the sun began to set. I had never seen a sky quite like this.

via boingboing.net

ANDREW REVKIN PROPOSES NEW STRATEGY OF LOOKING AT OTHER PEOPLE'S BACKYARDS

On the sidelines covering the protest march at the climate talks in Copenhagen (credit: Andrew Revkin)

Andrew Revkin, has given this blog wonderful coverage (see here and here and here) at his NY Times Dot Earth blog but, when he recently took a pro-Keystone pipeline stand, he definitely crossed my line.

No! It's not a moral line, or a scientific line, or even a specifically tar-sand line. It's something way more practical.

THE DAILY VIEW: The Tar Sands Trade-Off

I want to depart from the usual "daily view" format today to present my "visual reaction" to the "rational" argument that there is a "reasonable trade-off" that favors the building of the Keystone XL pipeline from Northern Alberta to Texas refineries in order to feed America's oil addiction while waiting for some better non-fossil fuel technology to come online. This is the position of the US State Department, of Energy Secretary Steven Chu and is now also supported by Andrew Revkin of the NY Times.

I see the "trade-off" as working more like this:


Northern Alberta Forests and Ox-Bow Lakes

THE DAILY VIEW: Santo Daime on the Wall

Santo Daime on the Wall -- photo by Lou Gold

The Rio Branco graffiti artist is Tiago Tosh. The scene appears to be from Colonia Cinco Mil.

PEOPLES OF THE FOREST

It feels so good just to know that they exist.

As companions for the video I encourage you (very much!) to read Hold a Blossom to the Light and to follow some of the latest developments at Peoples and Forest News and Survival International.

THE DAILY VIEW -- Where is the Forest?

Where is the Forest? -- photo by Lou Gold

On this Amazon Day, in the midst of a severe drought and smoke-filled skies, graffiti artists Claudeney and Tiago Tosh ask, "onde esta a floresta?"

JOHN TRUDELL and CRAZY HORSE

John Trudell is a true voice of Crazy Wisdom -- the kind that cuts through the illusion, the kind that may once again rise from the streets. Give a listen to his words from the street.

MELLOW FREAK-OUT

Japanese psych to end the summer with Yuya Uchida & The Flowers covering "Summertime" from their 1968 album, Challenge!.

Via boingboing

WHEN THINGS SEEM TOUGH FOR THE FOREST

I think of the beija-flor




and the one who became one...

THE DAILY VIEW: "In the room the women come and go talking of Michelangelo"

"In the room the women come and go talking of Michelangelo" -- collage by Lou Gold     


The title is a line from a great TS Eliot poem, "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock". After Obama's recent dreadful decision to do nothing on ozone pollution and smog and his persistent backing down on the environment, Prufrock's lament (written in 1920) seems to fit almost too perfectly...

A SCARY AMAZON DAY: Rio Branco, Acre 2011

The Brazilian Amazon Day holiday occurs on Monday (05 September) but the school children of many neighborhoods in Rio Branco, Acre hold their local parades today in sort of an advance announcement.

In the photo above, it's 8am under a cloudless sky but everything seems dark because of the smoke that has been drifting over Acre from fires to the Southeast in Bolivia.

A MEDITATION: The logic of insanity.

Now watch Nobel Prize-winning US Energy Secretary Steven Chu offer his "rational" explanation...

THE DAILY VIEW: Through the Glass

Through the Glass -- photo by Lou Gold

Bus window reflections sure are fun.

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED: Christopher Howe has made it to Mapia

When I last saw Christopher Howe, he was chewing on a straw, shining a big shine and embarking on the final leg of his epic walk that started nearly three years and many 1,000s of miles ago in Los Angeles, California.

THE DAILY VIEW: Towels

Towels -- photo by Lou Gold

Laundry can be a neighborhood decoration in Rio Branco.

Big News Day: Tar Sands Action Endorsed by Al Gore, Tops Google News

LATE BREAKING...

MARIA LUCIMAR PEREIRA -- Happy 121st Birthday

Thought to be the world's oldest living person, Acre resident Maria Lucimar Pereira will have passed 121 full sun circles in the forest on Saturday. PARABENS! and much health and happiness to Maria Lucimar, her family and her people.

WHY I FIND THE TAR SANDS ACTIONS SO INSPIRING

Why do I find the tar sands actions so inspiring despite the sober analysis that they will probably be ignored by Obama?

I believe that it's because I sense that a whole different kind of movement is emerging that is bringing the mature professionals out of their offices and young idealists beyond election campaigns to the work of creating an actual WE in the streets. This WE is not just of and for the USA -- the forests that are threatened belong to Canada and the climate that is being threatened belongs to everyone. And, because I live in Brazil, it offers an important message that Americanos are not just demanding that the people of developing economies save places like the Amazon rainforest.

Here are a couple of moving examples:

THE DAILY VIEW: Me and my camera

Me and my camera -- photo by Lou Gold

At the Library of the Forest in Rio Branco.