The War Industry 戦争産業

Apologies for not updating much but I am about to take off to my next adventure. Lots of half written pieces.....also know as clutter.

Anyways, doesn't this seem crazy?!
BBC today

US confirms $60bn plan to sell Saudi Arabia arms

State department official Andrew Shapiro on the "tremendous significance" of the sale

US officials have confirmed they intend to sell $60bn (£38bn) of arms to Saudi Arabia.....If completed, it could be the most lucrative single arms deal in US history and could support 75,000 jobs.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-11587348

Job-creation.
The military-industrial complex in your face.
and who will be the target for $60bn worth of weapons?

and also in the news.....

China is trying to prevent a report which says Chinese bullets have been used against peacekeepers in Darfur from being published
....
The report says that a dozen different brands of Chinese bullet casings have been found in Darfur, some at sites where attacks on UN troops took place
...
The panel has previously claimed that large amounts of foreign arms and ammunition are being trafficked into Darfur and fuelling the conflict between the government and rebel groups
...
The UN says that about 300,000 people have been killed in Darfur and more than 2.6 million displaced since rebels took up arms there in 2003.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-11593516

Weapons for wars in developing countries are made in our country and sold to corrupt governments and militant groups. Please just think about that for a second, because it just doesn't seem to me like we can dismiss that reality and continue on with our everyday lives. Does this not warrant a pause? A desire? An action and then a chain of actions?

And what happens to those jobs when they finish making the weapons for the Saudi's? In this design, peace in the middle east or Saudi post peak oil will lead to the loss of 75,000 jobs (of course its a simplification but perhaps with some truth in it).

If you are interested in more about this subject, check out
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
http://www.sipri.org/

Also, if you haven't already seen the documentaries Why We Fight and Blow Back, I highly recommend it to put perspective on this issue. They are quite well done.
You can watch it here
http://freedocumentaries.org/
Super cool site where you can watch tons of amazing and mediocre documentaries.

I want to recommend a bunch of documentaries but I feel like planting seeds for WE: Arundhati Roy. Also available at freedocumentaries.com. She will take you on a journey of heartful lyrical eloquence about our world and expose the injustices while elevating our souls for a better future. We.

Nut Quiz クイズ（ナッツ編）

Both these nuts are sold in US supermarkets, and you most likely have eaten them.
両方とも日本のお店で買う事ができます。
特に珍しいナッツではありません。
食べた事が無ければ、聞いた事があると思います。

First nut
第一

Rasta nut! Fierce like a lion.
That would be my vote for a name.
ラスタナッツ。
ジャマイカのライオンの神様と連想しました。
さて、何ナッツでしょうか？

ヒント
チョコレートとよくあうナッツです。
Hint:
Goes well with chocolate.

A relative to poison oak and mango. This is a picture I took while living in the tropical dry forest of Guanacaste, Costa Rica. The howler monkeys who hung out all around us, sometimes coming right by our screen (we had no windows), loved the fruits above the nuts. We went straight for the nuts and threw thm into the fire to burn off the toxins and access the nuts. It was a very intense involved process and all the locals that we met only had interest in the fruit.

ポイゾン・オーク（ウルシ属の低木）やマンゴーの親戚。コスタリカ、グアナカステの熱帯乾林の中で生活をしていた時に撮った写真です。ナッツの上の実はホエザルの大好物で、時にはスクリーン（窓が無かったので）際まできて可愛い音を立てながら食べていました。僕たちはナッツを集めて火の中に放り込み、毒物を焼き尽くしてから食べみました。結構大変な作業でした。現地の人はナッツには全然興味がなく、ホエザルと同じく実を好んでいました。なんと懐かしい〜。

There's the plant.
若い実の写真。


Answers
1. TOP nut
2. BOTTOM nut

PDC in Hawaii Feb 5~19 2011

二月にここのパーマカルチャー・デザイン・コースの先生方がハワイ島でデザイン・コースを行う事になりました。コースは英語で行われます。ダグ・ブロックとジョン・ベネズエーラは長い間ハワイでパーマカルチャー生活の経験をしており、とても楽しいコースになると思います。特に、ハワイアンの生活、多年草や果樹、食べ物の森に興味がある方にはかなりお勧めです。また、コースが行われる食べ物の森「ウルウェイ農場」の近辺に小田まゆみさんのジンジャーヒルファームがあると聞きました。
今年の冬に僕も日本に帰国するついでに、トムの食べ物の森とジンジャーヒルファームに訪ねてみる予定です。

キャンプとごちそう込みで＄１５００
そういえば、映画「the men who stare at goats」のインスピレーションとなったジェフブリッジスが演じた不思議な先生も登場するかもしれないそうです。

今年ここで行われたコースにそこそこ似ていると思うので、まだ三週間目の出来事しか書いていませんが参考となるかもしれないので、リンクを見てみてください。
http://livingpermaculture.blogspot.com/search/label/Permaculture%20Design%20Course

また、来年興味がある人が数人集まれば、日本人のための特別パーマカルチャー・コースまたはツアーを行いたいと思っています。興味があれば是非連絡ください。


Here is a course that Doug Bullock, John Valenzuela, Tom Baldwin (owner of Uluwehi) and Dave are planning to teach on the Big Island. I bet it will be a lot of fun and excellent learning, but of course I am biased (I mean who isn't.....the Buddha).

More info at http://www.permacultureportal.com/courses_current.html#design_uluwehi
詳しくは上のリンクにクリックしてください。ご質問等があればコメントを残すか、メールをください。