Journalism

Below The Net - The Earth: The Study of Ecological Value - from Pieces to Bits. words by john pace... art by paul kalemba Insert==== Play---- Fast forward>>>> Under the tutelage of neoliberalism's 'sustainable development' venture, with its manifest eco-capital enterprises like ecotourism, and its proposed carbon credit scheme, ecological value is being refigured and refined as a unit of global informational capital

This is a space for an ongoing blog by GECO activists involved in saving old growth forests in East Gippsland, Victoria...

Friday 10/03/06 The forest is angry and I don't blame her, the spirits are walking and they don't like what they see. In one of the most magical places that you can imagine - it shook me the first time I came here - there is terrible destruction going on. Some of the last old growth mixed-species rainforest is seriously under threat. Rodwells and Jamieson Bros. are two of the largest logging contractors in East Gippsland at the moment and they are doubling, even tripling crews to get in and log Centre Rd, and Survey Rd which are situated approx. 800 metres above sea level, and it is the top of our local water catchment here in Goongerah. There are prescription changes coming in June, which will most-likely protect the areas that they are logging at the moment, which is why they're rushing to clearfell them now.

A fully illustrated, downloadable PDF booklet reprinting the Undergrowth feature article, "REBIRTH: The Psychedelic Movement Comes of Age" by Rak Razam (13,000 words). To read online click here.

The World’s Best, Greenest and Safest, Pulp Mill. Proudly brought to you by Gunns and the Department of Economic Development George Orwell would be so proud. Before reality TV, Orwell coined the phrase `big brother’ in his novel `1984’, first published in 1948. In the 1984, a satire on Western Society and government, Big Brother represents dominance and authoritarianism. We are now seeing a plethora of examples of Big Brother style control (governance) here in Tasmania, and throughout the world, through the control of language, civil rights and corporate dominance.

GUNS, CORRUPTION, ILLEGAL LOGGING, JI & THE INDONESIAN MILITARY IN PAPUA NIUGINI A PNG INVESTIGATION INTO CROSS-BORDER ISSUES; CORRUPTION, RIMBUNAN-HIJAU, GUN SMUGGLING, AND MUCH MORE.... (OR “TASMANIA ISN’T THE ONLY PLACE WHERE GUNS AND TIMBER GO TOGETHER”) This preliminary investigation is based on field interviews conducted in Papua New Guinea throughout November 2005. Information was gathered through interviews and conversations that were conducted with West Papuan refugees, guerrillas, priests, bishops, grassroots activists, aid workers, ex-premiers, members of Parliament, NIO agents, PNGDF personnel, ADF personnel, ex-police, pilots, fishermen, villagers, journalists, bookmakers, vanilla growers, marijuana growers and even gun smugglers and a pimp. Over twelve formal interviews were conducted in total, and the majority of those interviewed asked not to be identified in any preliminary investigations (in the hope of ensuring a full scale investigation would be conducted).

This story is reprinted in The Journeybook: Travels on the Frontiers of Consciousness anthology out now from Undergrowth. Please visit The Journeybook

 

In the End I was cast out of the alchemists' den, a lost mystic exile from the beats, wandering the naked streets of Basel at dawn and transmitting a lovely fix. I was high on acid, a green tab of Hofmann's bicycle wheel I had reverently acquired from the Californian High Priest nights before, high in the hotel room overlooking the tram depot opposite the Basel Congress Centre. Site of the conference diabolique with Dr. Albert Hofmann, the 100 year old Alchemist that birthed LSD - the 'Problem Child' that switched on the world.

So anyway, apparently the global environmental scenario isn't so good. Apparently we've done some damage to the planet. Apparently this could have repercussions for all life on earth. Even us humans. Apparently. I know this because the Pentagon knows this. According to a report released in 2003 the reality of climate change may be in fact far more catastrophic than many people have been prepared to speculate.

INTRODUCTION

While Australia negotiated the much-publicised Australia / US Free Trade Agreement (AUSFTA), there was little warning of a more ominous development - the implementation of secret military negotiations in parallel to the AUSFTA talks.

UNDERGROWTH //interview with RICHARD NEVILLE

Richard Neville has been one of Australia's leading cultural dissidents since his student days in the early 1960's, when he launched the first incarnation of Oz magazine that helped spawn the underground press in Australia. Oz magazine carried on in the UK as was hailed as `the spirit of it's time' by some and as `obscene literature that corrupted the morals of children' by critics. This lead to an obscenity bust and the infamous trial in the Old Bailey in London that legitimized the merit of alternative media. His book, Playpower, `the first international book on the underground', charted the social transformations of the 60s global counter culture, and he has been a frequent social commentator in print and tv ever since. His best selling books also include Hippy Hippy Shake, Out of My Mind, Playing Around, The Life and Crimes of Charles Sobhraj, Amerika Psycho and Footprints of the Future. His `Journal of a Futurist' articles on the current War on Terror and war in Iraq, globalisation, the re-invention of work, the consciousness movement, the new role for business in the 21st century and more provide a liberal dash of realpolitik reality expansion for these times and can be read at http://www.richardneville.com/ .