See The Truth

If you haven't seen Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" please click below and pledge to do so today.



Or go to the website www.climatecrisis.com and find out more or just go ahead and order the DVD or the book

Lets make sure our children have a planet they can live on.

Light a candle for AIDS - or pharmaceutical profits?

'Thank you for lighting a candle to support the fight against HIV/AIDS' Bristol-Myers Squibb tell us on their Light to Unite (TM) campaign page designed, they say, 'to help raise awareness of the ongoing HIV/AIDS epidemic in the U.S'.

Cute candle ... I lit one ... felt good ... and then regretted it when I checked out what independent writers in the New Internationalist have to say about Bristol-Myers Squibb.

Looks like B-M don't have such a feel-good-thing going in AIDS stricken poor world countries.

NI article 'Patient versus Patent' describes the company's attempts to patent HIV drugs in Thailand - thus making them unaffordable to most of the million or so Thai's who have or have died from HIV.

Another independent article on AIDS explains how lucrative it is for pharmacuetical companies to maintain their monopoly on the
market through patents which prevent the production of cheaper generic medicines for at least 20 years.

It also reports that Bristol-Myers has paid its CEO at least $146 million in one year.

As they've capped their donation to AIDS research at $100 thousand I'm afraid it looks to me like those cute Christmas candles are merely a smidge of the CEO's pocket money being spent on an image makeover.

They might even be providing a useful return in skewed research findings!

Sorry to be a candle snuffer!

Adopt a drought stricken sheep in the Australian outback

In our over consuming world I love the idea of gifts that give something important to those in need. It's like getting double your money's worth. In fact there are really three recipients - you and the person receiving the gift from you who both get to have a great feeling of having made a difference in someone's life and the person or family who actually receives the goat or the loom or the medical care that you have paid for.

The first gift giving organisation that I came across was www.heifer.org who call themselves "the most important gift catalogue in the world". Their gifts come with a card which can be sent electronically to the recipients - great for those super last minute gifts to far away loved ones. Heifer.org works in US$ and you can give someone (for instance) the geese to start a flock for US$20.

For the Australians there is TEAR australia who have a catalogue at



TEAR's gifts start a little cheaper with eye examination and care for a needy person in Bangladesh or school supplies for a child in Ethiopia or Zambia for as little as AU$5. Tear also offer e and postal cards to give to your recipients.

And if you would like to offer your gift to a drought stricken Aussie sheep or lamb check out Adoptasheep where your "donation" will provide essential hay and grain for your personal sheep for 100 days. The Kiely family are dedicated eco-farmers battling the worst drought in 1000 years. They offer you the opportunity to name your sheep and they will send you a photo of it along with your gift recipients certificate (check it out here it's delightful!). They will even read out your emails to your sheep although they do warn ... "we will print it out and read it out to the flock. We have too much trouble isolating an individual sheep for a personal communication. So be aware and don't get too personal in your emails!"

Global mind shift urgently needed

The wombat speaks, and he's smarter than you, so listen up! In less than a minute, this rapid-fire animation tells you everything you need to know about how to get along on earth for the next million years.

View it now!

And if the wombat's message stirs you at all, do yourself and your children's children a favour and buy a copy of the New Gaia Atlas of Planet Management for Christmas. As it says in the introduction

"This is no ordinary book. It maps and analyses a living planet at a critical point in its history - as one species, our own, threatens to disrupt and exhaust its life-support systems. It charts the growing divisions in the human family. And it proposes that we have the chance to redirect our course and become caretakers of our future."

You can read more of the book here


And for more great material from the global mind shift crew see their memebase.

Starhawk speaks for the goddess

Newsweek and the Washington Post have started a new website devoted to religion. They have a number of panelists with widely differing perspectives, among them Starhawk who is as they say "a prominent voice in modern Wiccan spirituality". If you don't know Starhawk she is the author a number of fabulous books on Pagan Spirituality and the Goddes and the novel 'The Fifth Sacred Thing' which is a fantastic and powerful read. In her mailing list Starhawk says
"I’ll be responding to questions they pose and participating in interfaith dialogue. The more of you that click on my page, the more they’ll know there’s interest out there in the Goddess:"

Click away..
http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/starhawk/

Starhawk's website is http://www.starhawk.org/

"Obese" mum commits suicide

Grief stricken family sue Science Museum.



No - not really!
But these were some of the possible headlines that floated through my brain after a recent experience at the Brisbane Science Museum.


I have shied away from weighing machines for over a decade, having spent much of my teenage years and early adulthood obsessed with the figures on those unforgiving dials. Recently however I have made some pleasing progress with my battle with the bulges and I now fit comfortably into a size 14 and even occasionally a 12.


So when confronted with an interactive Body Mass Indicator exhibit at the Brisbane Science Museum on a recent trip with my son I decided I might finally be willing to break my taboo and face those scales.


The height measuring part was fairly painless (although the measure jerked rather uncomfortably down on my head) and only slightly surprising (when I realised that the last time I had measured my height it had been in feet and inches).


But the scales were another story. They must have seen me coming! Maybe they have a special sensor detecting scales aversion because when I first stepped on the readout confidently read 72 kilos and then quick as a flash it changed its mind and jumped to 80 kg. Yikes - that can't be right I screamed internally in a panic. 80 kilos - why thats only a mere kilo or two less than I weighed after my son was born - a comfortable motherly size 18. What's going on? Heavy bones? Muscles? I have been doing a lot of bike riding but really ....


I jumped off and tried to start over but the machine was having none of it. It appeared that once you'd started you had to finish or remain forever ignorant of your BMI score.


I probably should have chosen the latter option but I remembered those pleasingly loose size 14 jeans and I plucked up my courage and pressed the button for the final section of the exhibit. The red LED display teased me for a moment as it computed my fate. It whirred and pondered and then spat out my BMI readout - 30.1! I turned nervously to the scale printed on the wall and ran my finger up the scale: past average .... they tell me 14-16 is the average for Australian women ... but no ... up into overweight .. oh well I guess I could still loose a bit without fading away ... but no ... horror of horrors .. I passed overweight at 30 and ... discovered my distressing diagnosis...


... OBESE!


I decided on something sweet to cope with the trauma.
Well - I'm an obese size 14 - what difference was it going to make?

End hatred in this world?

What can you do to end all forms of hatred in this world?
What can you do to bring more bliss into this world?


..asks Lisa Dale Miller in her powerful video/performance Millennial Burn




Listen here (you'll need Real Player)


Lisa is a talented lady. As well as her artistic endeavours she is an insightful astrolger.

I have been enjoying her moon analyses (at www.astrowisdom.com) for some months and sharing them with my women's circle as a guide to direct our energies at the different phases of the lunar cycle.

Lisa recently posted an interesting perspective on the demotion of Pluto to "dwarf planet" status by the International Astronomical Union (IAU). She reflects on the astrological significance of this "demotion" and suggests that 'The dwarfing of Pluto is in fact a perfect metaphor for a world in denial of its own destructive nature'.
Full article here

Her piece on 'Postmodernity, Spirituality and Guidance' is also well worth a read.

Real Beauty?

Wow - check this video out

Fascinating - I couldn't stop watching it!

However I do have to add my piece (courtesy of the New Internationalist) about Unilever who produce Dove.

They may have an politically correct and women empowering advertising take but they are not super ethical about their supplies. In spring 2006 Unilever was challenged to dissociate itself from a major Indonesian palm oil supplier accused of mass firing of union members, expulsion of children from their homes and criminalisation of legitimate trade union activity. They are also accused of eviction and harrassment of indigenous people living in the area of tea plantations run by their Indian wing and farms supplying cotton seed to the same Hindustan Lever were accused of using child labourers as young as 10 to work in fields doused in pesticides which caused nausea and convulsions.

Still - great video!

Drinking from the wellspring of the Goddess

Last weekend I went to a Goddess Conference.

It was a rich and delightful experience.
The conference was convened and beautifully held by the women of the Goddess Association In Australia (GAIA).
An intriguing mix of ritual, circle work, singing & dancing, experiential workshops and inspiring lectures, the event was filled with gorgeous invitations to connect with a bunch of beautiful women, delicious opportunities to indulge in that most sacred of goddess activities - shopping - and completed with hearty feasting, heartfelt celebration and copious quantities of chocolate.

It was enough to make a goddess wax a bit lyrical.
I hadn't realised I was so thirsty.

One of the many highlights for me was finally meeting Shekinah Morgan whose beautiful Moon Diaries I have been selling in the yOni.com shop for quite a number of years. Shekinah was one of three speakers, elders of the circle, who opened the conference by reflecting eloquently on the past, present and future of the Goddess in Australia. She urged us to take time to appreciate and experience the gifts of our natural womanly cycles, menstruation, mothering and menaupase. Shekinah has kindly allowed me to put a version of her address online in yOni.com. Titled 'Women's Spirituality - Ushering in the Sacred Feminine' it is well worth a read.

It was also wonderful to connect with Glenys Livingstone, author of Pagaian Cosmology. She describes her book as a resource for individuals or groups seeking new forms of devotional expression and an Earth-based pathway to wisdom within. The work grew from her sense of alienation from her place as female white European transplanted to the Southern Hemisphere. It is available to download at pagaian.org.

Altogether a total treat.
If you are in Australia don't miss it next year.

The cost of the war in Iraq

Victoria Vulva's video debut

Victoria is an unusually vocal velvet vulva. In her video debut she demonstrates how to do your kegel exercises correctly. You can see her on Google video.

Victoria would love some fan mail. Post a comment on google video or on the Do the Kegel forum and let us know and I'll send you a link to download the song for free.

Continence Awareness Week

I love the way songs teach me about things. I'm talking, not just about songs that I hear, but particularly about songs that I have written myself.


It happens like this: I write the song and I think I know what it's about - well I wrote it didn't I? And then, over time, I find the the song teaches me more than I had ever realised was contained in it. It makes me question the whole idea of "I write" and to accept more and more that I am much more of a vehicle for the song to come through than the creatrix.


I wonder if other song writers, or poets and artists have had similar experiences. I'd love to hear about it if you do.


Mostly the revelations I get from my songs are on an emotional level - how I feel about things and how to deal with situations in my life. Recently though 'Do the Kegel' has been revealing stuff big time - in a very practical way. Before started on compiling the support information for the website (www.dothekegel.com) I didn't really have an idea of how widespread incontinence problems are. Nor what a huge industry disposable continence products is becoming. I certainly never knew that there was such a thing as 'Continence Awareness Week' here in Australia and also in the UK. Maybe it also exists in the US also but I haven't tapped into it there yet.


And I certainly wouldn't have had the remotest notion that I would be flying up to Melbourne with my CD in my hand to attend the Continence Awareness Week breakfast next week! Nor quite how passionate I would become about supporting awareness about this oh so common but hidden, embarrassing and, for some, incredibly debilitating problem.


Continence Awareness Week 2006 in Australia is 6th - 12th August.
The Continence Awareness foundation's slogan is Pelvic floor- use it or lose it!



Lets get kegeling!


PS The feedback I'm getting for 'Do the Kegel' has been great so far. Women are finding that the song really motives them to do their pelvic floor exercises and they have fun while they are doing them. There's still an opportunity to get a free download by heading to the forum and posting your kegel related tip or question - but be quick!


See also my earlier posts Do the Kegel and Coughing and Kegeling

Marketing without the hype?

Sounds good to me. I am so fed up with sales letters that are twenty screens long and chock full of hype about the money I will make, how easy it will be and how much I'll kick myself if I don't buy right now.

There are so many of them out there that I am guessing they must work for some people. Not me although occasionally I actually do want the product in spite of the ghastly sales letter. That feels very weird!

I fit more in the category that Brett Hurt describes in his review of "Waiting for the Cat to Bark" the newest book on marketing by Jeffrey and Bryan Eisenberg.

He says "An educated person doesn't react well to the traditional 'art of manipulation' that most marketers attempt to employ in their campaigns. As a matter of fact it tends to make them feel defensive - like a cat backed into a corner. (That's me Brett) No-one understands this new world of marketing better than the Eisenbergs. "Waiting for Your Cat to Bark? is the marketing manifesto of our generation. Read it, weep, and then go do something about it."

I'll be reading.

Read more about the book on Michele Miller's blog

Conspiracy against Natural Health - Say No to Codex

Back on the anti Codex bandwagon I pass this on verbatim from health professional, medical reform advocate and writer Eve Hillary. It is particularly relevant to Australian readers. Please take action.

Have you ever considered the luxury of our well-stocked health shops?
You can choose from many brands and sizes, containing varying strengths and ingredient combinations.
Want Vitamin C? Powder or tablet? 250mg, 500mg, 1000mg? Take your pick.
Or would you rather choose another vitamin or herb?

This freedom of choice could soon be a thing of the past.

WHY?
Because if the government (and pharmaceutical companies) get their way, the Codex Legislation being implemented in Europe will be passed and you may need to visit your doctor for a prescription to get any of the natural health supplements that are now available from your health store, naturopath or distributor. These prescribed supplements will not only contain minimum levels of the current supplements, but many will be synthetic (molecules changed for patent purposes). These European laws could be transposed upon Australia via Free Trade Agreements and WTO obligations.

What this means is: supplements will have no therapeutic effects and in due course, you will need to go to pharmaceutical drugs in order to look after your own health.

Ultimately: you won’t be able to choose your own supplements any more! Doctors will have to do it for you. So then the scenario may be, no naturopaths, no health stores, no herbalists, and no natural health professionals.

Australia is a democratic country and yet something as important as this has not been made widely public.

Our right to choose is being removed without public consultation.

What is the Codex Legislation?
In a nutshell, it is a result of a complex relationship between the United Nations, the World Trade Organisation and the World Health Organisation, which seeks to standardise, worldwide, the quality and dosage of natural medicines (vitamins, herbs, homoeopathic, etc.) Once Australia and NZ agree to this legislation they will lose control over this choice. Supplement production and usage will become part of an international policy, which Australia and all countries must adhere to or they will be heavily fined.

Codex also:
· Permits non-labelling of genetically modified foods
· Allows high levels of chemicals in foods
· Encourages antibiotics in animal feed
· Restricts organic food (an area in which Australia and NZ are well regarded)
· Permits irradiation of food and herbs
.
What you can do
Write to your local state and federal politicians. (Click for your local politician's contact details). A letter is already written for you on the Eve Hillary site.
· Help us spread this information – all help will be welcome.
· Join our committee (there is one in each state of Australia). .
· Check out http://www.evehillary.org and click onto Taking Action or go to the AHFA (Alliance for Health Freedom Australia website)


Say NO to Codex or you will be shepherded towards prescription drugs

The delights of daily practice

The topic of daily practice is up within my women's group.

We all recognise the value of making a commitment to a daily sacred ritual. We know that it does not have to be long or complicated but that it should provide an opportunity to step outside of our ordinary world and to re-connect with the divine, with the bigger picture, with something greater than our daily lives and the story created by mind.

Although we could all feel the value of such practice, a quick round of the circle revealed only one of us who could say that she did something sacred every day.

We explored some of the possibilities:
* Lighting a candle and giving thanks for the blessings in our life;
* Ten minutes (maybe even only five!) of chanting or meditation, dancing or breathing;
* A yoga ritual, a simple asana series or maybe a longer practice;
* A walk in nature, a run on the beach or a ride on the bike made sacred by our dedication or intention.

One of the women revealed that the time that she felt most connected to the divine was when practicing her cello. We seemed to agree that it was our intention with our practice that was more important than it's content. Even our resident yogini expressed that as part of our experiment she wanted to make her daily yoga routine more of a prayer.

We supported one another towards a decision about the form of the practice that we would take on. It needed to be achievable within our busy lives, suitable for our body and realistic given our family commitments. It was surprising how easy it seemed to be for each of us alone to set ourselves up to do something we were bound to fail at. Thank heavens for the other women!

Duly committed we set out on our week.

My commitment was to three sun salutes, offered as a prayer. I had been making a vague effort to do three sun salutes each day for some months but my success rate was about one in two. I realised that to make it a daily reality I needed to do them as early as possible, before I ate and ideally as soon as I got up. I share the care of my son and noticed that it was much easier on the mornings that my son was not at home. I also noticed that the knowledge that I would be reporting back to the group really supported me to remember - even on the busy school mornings when I had previously let my mothering take precedence over my practice.

But the most interesting discovery was in relation to the "prayfulness" or otherwise of the ritual. I had thought I had a sense of this when I had expressed what I wanted to do to the other women. But when it came to it I found myself wondering and pondering for several days what it really meant to offer my practice as a prayer. Was it about gratitude, dedication, intention, a request even? Was it to do with my presence and focus within the movements? Over the week I explored the possibilities in my attitude as I moved my body through the familiar stretches. And it was within the sensation of the stretching that I found my answer. My practice feels sacred when I follow the feeling of stretching and extend it out beyond the physical expressing the longing of my heart and my willingness and my prayer to stretch ever open in all ways towards truth, love and the divine.

Do the Kegel

I'm back on my pelvic floor muscle exercise bandwagon again!
(See earlier post coughing & kegeling)

Back in the hey day (!?) of the Voices of Gaia I wrote a song called Do the Kegel. It was a popular song but we never recorded it although we were often asked for it.

Recently I decided to indulge my inner diva and my Aquarian desire to change the world and go into the recording studio and make a solo recording of the Kegel. With the help of seasoned musicions and producers Bharti & Atmo we have come up with a catchy, invasive little number that gets into your brain and is difficult to get out. An excellent quality for a song that is designed to get you to do something!

I'm going to put a warning on the cover

WARNING : This song is a viral marketing device targeted at your well being. It is designed to get stuck in your brain and to seduce you into doing pelvic floor exercises!

It's sounding good and we are in the final stages of production and already planning a lounge mix, dance mix, DVD etc!!. I hope to have it available for download in a couple of weeks. The first two of verses are online at www.dothekegel.com and you can drop me an e-line to be the first to know when it is ready to download.

The first fifty people to email me will get a free copy as soon as it is ready!

Happy Kegeling

Recycle with Freecycle(TM)

My mother recently sent me a link to an organisation called freecycle.org. It is a great concept. They support people to link up or create local groups who run an email list. On the list you can post and respond to offers of items that you want to get rid of but can't bear to throw away.
You know the things.
That old film camera that someone must want but you don't.
The kids outgrown toys that no-one has time nor inclination to put in a garage sale.
The carpet from the spare bedroom that still has some wear in it but no longer matches the new paint.
There must be someone out there who want's it.
Well with any luck they are tuned into the local freecycle group.

One person's trash is another person's treasure after all!
The aim is to keep good stuff out of landfill.

You can find your local group at www.freecycle.org and if there is no group in your area you can apply to start your own. I started Freecycle Byron Bay for my local area. It's quite painless and there is lots of support.