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POPSLa Paz celebrates Day of the Skulls Earlier this month the Church called on the faithful to stop using human skulls at special mass celebrations. The Archbishop of La Paz, Edmundo Abastoflor, urged followers of the Andean rite to "let them rest in peace". Some inside the Church even link the practice to the occult. However, some priests believe they have no other choice than to let people pray Catholic prayers to their skulls, and even allow them to go to church with them. "I receive them and not as enemies of the Catholic faith," the cemetery's Roman Catholic priest, Father Jaime Fernandez, told the BBC after giving an informal blessing to thousands of skull-carrying devotees at the cemetery's chapel. "Officially the Catholic Church does not recognise such a thing," Father Fernandez adds. But, let's be honest, in the end, who am I to stop their uncontrollable faith?"
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POPSWill We See Another Land Rush to Steal Indian Land for Solar Gold? Custer's Last Stand came after some gold fever, Oklahoma was supposed to be the "refuge" of Native Americans kicked out of homelands in North Carolina, Tennessee, Michigan and Wisconsin, as well as Ohio - until "we" decided we wanted it to. Who will the Sooners be this time? A suddenly "green" BP or Shell?
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POPSWHAT IS TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE? An understanding of traditional knowledge and how it differs from non-indigenous knowledge is an important basis for determining how to use it. Knowing what it contains and how it is acquired and held is fundamental to being able to make good use of the knowledge and to encourage all parties to be aware of the added value its use will bring.
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POPSAre New Orleans residents perpetual victims? At some point, aren't we all going to have to stop looking upon New Orleans' residents as perpetual victims of a natural disaster that occurred over four years ago? So far, the US has spent billions of dollars in aid and committed significant resources to the crescent city. It is becoming a bottomless pit. A rabbit hole. In stark contrast, observe how the thousands of eastern Iowa flood victims have handled their own natural disaster since 2006. You do not hear about Iowa because most Iowans are not culturally inclined to assuming the role of lifelong victims. The indigenous population of New Orleans, on the other hand, seems both intent and destined to remain forever wards of the state. At some point, New Orleans constituents will need to look inward and ask themselves whether they have any responsibility in their own recovery.
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POPSA Simple Observation The war in Afghanistan has become an aimless absurdity. It began with a reason, to find Osama bin Laden. Or so we were told. Since then, he ‘may have’ moved into Pakistan. No one knows for certain. Is it really necessary to continue this seven year long bled letting against a bunch of religious extremists and druglords many of whom have safe haven in Pakistan, only for the occasional victory? Victories that soon are negated by retaliatory actions of many of the same people we are there to ‘bring into the 21st century’. Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s corrupt government skims the very drug trade that funds the indigenous forces NATO forces are fighting against and will therefore never lift a governmental finger to stop it.
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POPSThe roving runner goes barefoot More: Web sites on barefoot running recommend starting slowly to acclimate your feet, and they are right. Although I wasn’t feeling any pain during the run, my feet were indeed hurting a bit the next day on the top and outside. But it felt more like the soreness of underused muscles rather than an injury. As for the soles of my feet, they were fine… My facial muscles felt a bit tired, but that was from smiling most of the way. I’m not sure if it was the liberating feeling of running barefoot, or chatting with an author whose book I had just devoured, or if I was just enjoying other runners’ reactions to two guys running barefoot in Central Park, but this was fun, just as running should be. Near the end of our run, as we passed Tavern on the Green, a runner sidled up alongside us. “You guys enjoying your barefoot run?” he asked. Sure are, we responded. “Well listen, there’s this book you have to check out,” he said. “It’s called ‘Born to Run.’”
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POPSAmazing Rice Terraces Upon seeing these stunning images of rice terraces in Southeast Asia and China, one could think that rice is actually only the byproduct of a bigger project: landscape art. The technique of rice farming and the work today is done pretty much the way it was millennia ago – one reason why most of the amazing rice terraces are still intact. Rice farming is also backbreaking work, as most of the narrow paddies can only be farmed by hand, like they were millennia ago. No wonder then that the younger generation is more drawn to jobs in the hospitality industry, or moves away...
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POPSPure Joy: Pura Fe, Singing the Blues About a year ago, I made a really good find of a great blues singer who brings her Native-American soul into the blues. Check her out sometime - if you like the blues, you will have found a new love, as I did.
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POPSEndangered Cultures This is a really interesting video (that wouldn't clip). It compares the elimination of cultures to the elimination of species and tries to put it into context. It's a lot of info in a short time and touches on a lot of topics
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POPSNew film seeks answer to mystery of vanishing bees Other factors could also contribute, it added, including the fact that bees are being transported long distances to pollinate single crops, or monocultures, rather than producing honey. "They are one of our most ancient allies," Henein said in an interview in London. "We actually depend on honey bees to eat. May be out of selfishness it raises a red flag." Langworthy added: "It's a broader issue about the system of agriculture. People are going to have to rethink it and maybe they don't want to. It really will have to be driven by the general public's call for change."
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POPSHopi Moved to Side with Coal Power Over Its Culture Sad. When marginalized indigenous peoples are forced to extend their marginalization out of need for money to survive in a world not of their making. There are Hopi who warned of this when Hopi and other indigenous peoples were forced by the US to adopt US self-government forms and discard their traditional ways of governing themselves. In the end culture is all a people have to support their sanity and survival - that applies to us as well. Money does not equal culture!
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POPSWhat are animal spirit guides? I have found this Article by Alice Landry to be an enjoyable, thorough, easy to read intro to such a huge topic. will be sharing this post on the 140Plus miniBlog Friday October 16, 2009
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POPSChickens Not Fooled by GM Crops When an animal refuses to eat its regular feed it is oftentimes a clear sign that something is wrong with the food. Animals, as opposed to humans, tend to have a “sixth sense” about what’s safe to eat, and what’s not.
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POPSChickens Not Fooled by GM Crops GM corn found itself in the hot seat late last year, after a highly reputable study commissioned by the Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety discovered that mice fed GM corn had significantly smaller and fewer offspring compared to the control group. The lead author of the study stated there was a direct link between the GM diet and reduced fertility. Likewise, Jeffrey Smith, author of Seeds of Deception and Genetic Roulette, has documented 65 serious health risks from GM products of all kinds. Among them: * Offspring of rats fed GM soy showed a five-fold increase in mortality, lower birth weights, and the inability to reproduce * Male mice fed GM soy had damaged sperm * The embryo offspring of GM soy-fed mice had altered DNA functioning * Several US farmers reported sterility or fertility problems among pigs and cows fed on GM corn varieties So the question is, what
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POPSNo oil drilling without tribes' consent', UN tells Peru "The Committee also urged Peru’s government to investigate the conflict in Bagua, northern Peru, in which more than thirty policemen and civilians died. ‘The government should urgently form an Independent Commission, including indigenous representation, to carry out a definitive, objective and impartial investigation,’ CERD’s statement said. The government’s appearance before CERD was heavily criticised by organisations in Peru. CERD had asked the government to provide information about a number of issues that it ignored, including efforts to protect the rights of uncontacted tribes and controversial comments made by Peru’s president Alan Garcia in a Peruvian newspaper. Survival director, Stephen Corry, said today, ‘We urge President Garcia to put an end, once and for all, to its policy of carving up the Amazon without the consent of the people who actually live there.’"
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