The World According to Monsanto

Filmmaker Marie-Monique Robin on the troubling past of one of the world’s biggest agricultural companies.

Don’t miss the very last line by Poppy Bush.

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Beautiful rainstorm washes away firecracker smoke

I made this video in my backyard at about 5:00 p.m. today when the rain returned and washed away all the toxic firecracker smoke. This is the time of day when I put the chickens to bed, feed the fish, and close everything up in the back for the night.

After I came in the house, this rain turned into a huge, thunderous storm with blinding lightening and earth shaking thunder. I felt thrilled and in awe of the power of nature to cleanse and recharge the earth. I take it as a good and auspicious omen at the start of 2009.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, Canaries!

Here is my New Year’s Wish for you, Dear Canaries:

May good befall all.
May there be peace for all.
May all be fit for perfection and
May all experience that which is auspicious.
May all be happy. May all be healthy.
May all experience what is good and let no one suffer.

May all be well and safe, always.

Aloha,

Susie

This video is a sanskrit Hymn with message about peace and prosperity for all.

आपकॊ नव वर्ष २००९ की हार्दिक शुभकामनायें। भगवान आपके अनुकूल आपकी सभी मानॊकामनायें पूरी करे।

I wish you a very peaceful, prosperous and happy new year 2009. May GOD fulfill all your wishes that are good for you.

Lyrics:
Sarveshaam Svastir Bhavatu
Sarveshaam Shaantir Bhavatu
Sarveshaam Purnam Bhavatu
Sarveshaam Mangalam Bhavatu

Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinah
Sarve Santu Niramayaah
Sarve Bhardrani Pashyantu
Maa Kadhchit Duhkhabhahg Bhavet

Meaning:
May good befall all,
May there be peace for all,
May all be fit for perfection, and
May all experience that which is auspicious.
May all be happy. May all be healthy.
May all experience what is good and let no one suffer.

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Beautiful Mauna Kea this week

Here is Mauna Kea blanketed in snow.

Link to beautiufully done video by Tim O. Bryan at Big Island Video News– give you a good idea of my island home, the beauty and the danger.

A shot of fresh air: A walk on Ilkley Moor

Here’s a pair of lovely blokes taking a walk on the moors. Enjoy the Breath of Fresh Air! (We need it after the last post!)

Breath of Fresh Air is a series of short films to appear on the Calendar News programme on ITV1. This is weatherman Jon Mitchell’s walk on Ilkely Moor.

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No comment

Happy Birthday, Ruth!

Get out your birthday hats and get ready to boogie– we have another Canary Birthday today!!

Today is Ruth’s Birthday! For those of you new to The Canary Report today: Ruth is one of our regular comment contributors. Thanks, Ruth, for all you bring to our discussions!

Okay Ruth, here we go, all for you: *Puts on party hat* and then *Dance, dance, dance, twirl around, skip, jump, throw hat in air, catch, do another twirl, side step, sashay, scoot and dance, dance dance!!*

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, RUTH! All the best in the world to you!! *Cuts cake, pours hot chocolate, and passes around to everybody!!*

xoxoxoxo

How to sew a sexy organic corset dress

Here’s the newest creation from Leslie!

This ‘corset dress’ is made with 100% organic cotton fabric with low impact dyes sourced locally from Spiritex for under $5! It’s made from end of the mill scraps - and I can say this project is not easy at all! lol - but is well worth the time. I made this project as a challenge to myself to see if I could possibly take very boring tan checkered pattern fabric and turn it into something sexy and fun - the style is inspired by the many drawings of woman’s clothing I did in the 80’s as a child. PS- You will want to add a zipper, side ties or some other open/close device on the sides if you don’t use stretch fabric.

xoxo- Leslie

The Oko Box, Leslie’s eco-boutique of hip, fun clothing

The Oko Box Blog, an eco-friendly interactive commentary on organic clothing, environment, pollution, health, organic food, fair trade and organic farming.

Find more of Leslie’s DIY videos at her YouTube channel Ecofashionista

How to sew an organic cotton jumpsuit

Here’s the ever-creative Leslie showing us how to sew an organic cotton jumpsuit. So cute!!

This is a simple pattern for a jumper mini skirt, with racer back style. It’s made in 100% organic cotton, low impact dye and was scrap fabric sold by Spiritex (a local organic cotton weaver). I was inspired to make this style by the re-surge of 80’s gear, the Ting Ting’s video, and my friend Bort who wears overalls.

xoxo Leslie

The Oko Box eco-boutique

The Oko Box Blog

Link

And more DIY 100% cotton sewing projects from Leslie at her YouTube channel Ecofashionista

A walk through England’s Savernake Forest

C’mon, let’s take a walk and get some fresh air!

A Sunday afternoon stroll through the magical Savernake Forest in the amazing county of Wiltshire, in England.

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Happy Holiday

Be well, dear flock!

Aloha Dear Canaries,

Whether or not you celebrate Christmas, I hope everyone in the flock gets everything they are wishing for, most especially health, happiness and prosperity now and throughout the coming year.

Take care, stay warm, and hang tough.

Aloha,

Susie xo

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Nature Knows

“Nature Knows”

Here’s a simple slide show set to an original song composition I wrote and recorded back in 1999. Best viewed with headphones on, and when there’s time to relax. The song was inspired by a dream I had. The lyrics have been published by 3 different Poetic Societies! (My dear friend Marylynn La Gier assisted with some lyrics.)

Photos are mostly mine- taken over the years at various beaches up and down the Pacific coast from Mexico to Oregon; with a couple from Hawaii tossed in for good measure. The underwater photgraphs are not mine; but are in the public domain. Most are unattributed. The deep space images are from NASA.

“…Footprints side by side provide the proof,
With every stride they’re nearer to the Truth…
All things paired, for Life’s to be shared, and so it goes,
It’s right it’s real, it’s Love that you feel, Nature knows…”

All right now, Deep breath… heavy sigh… Okay, you’re good to go. Hit the play button. :oD

Paul

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Winter Solstice: The return of the Light

In celebration of the beauty and the blessed rhythm of our Earth.

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Happy Birthday, Irene!

One of our flock, Irene, is having a birthday! For those of you who may not have followed the comments left by Irene on The Canary Report over the past few weeks, along with her Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, she also is recovering from a stroke and experiencing myriad other health problems. On top of that, she feels alienated by the health care system and isolated in general. These are problems all too familiar to people suffering MCS, and my heart goes out to Irene in her struggles.

To Irene I say:

Happy Birthday, Irene! Hang in there, Canary, you’re a tough old bird.

Happy Birthday and godspeed to you!

Aloha,

Susie

Cob: Homes as living sculptures

Beautiful nontoxic homes made out of clay, sand and straw, called cob.

What is cob? Cob is a building material composed of clay, sand, and straw. This humble formula often prompts jokes about mud huts or spurs snap judgments that cob structures will dissolve in the first rainstorm. Such understandable misconceptions, however, are immediately put to rest the first time one gets a look at a sophisticated cob work of art that one can sculpt with one’s own hands, live in, and leave to one’s great great grandchildren. Cob is very durable and requires little upkeep. As Daniel Chiras puts it, “It won’t burn, bugs won’t eat it, and it’s dirt cheap.” Additionally, it’s non-toxic, creates no waste, and requires minimal tools to construct. Thousands of cob houses have weathered rainy England for hundreds of years, and a recent renaissance of cob building centered in Oregon has joyfully explored the modern artistic and architectural possibilities of the material.

Link to video

Link to more about cob projects

This cob house is like a dream

How to sew sexy organic cotton lingerie

Leslie, our favorite MCS Pin-up Girl and now our favorite Bond Girl, shows us how to make another lingerie set for pennies. Okay, so everybody has fallen in love with Leslie by now, right?

This is part 4 in my organic cotton lingerie series! I am learning to sew by using cheap locally sourced scrap fabric - this organic cotton outfit was made for $3.50. The top is a strapless tube top that ties in the back - with pleated ruffles along the edges. The bottoms are a boy short style with drawstring tie at the waist and pleated ruffle on the bottom. Hope you like the video!

xoxo- Leslie

The Oko Box
The Oko Box Blog

Link to Leslie’s YouTube channel Ecofashionista

Organic Cotton Lingerie Part 3

Organic Cotton Lingerie Part 2

Organic Cotton Lingerie Part 1

How to sew organic cotton camisole and shorties

So here’s the third in Leslie’s series on sewing your own organic cotton lingerie. Over at Leslie’s blog The Oko Box Blog, I commented on this video, about how fearless and gutsy she is, so true to her nontoxic fabric creed. She commented back:

“I would like to think I am making a few statements at once…
1. Buy only organic
2. learn creative skills
3. use what you have laying around
4. don’t buy into the marketing hype from big companies
5. don’t be a prude ….”

In Hawaii, we call people like Leslie “rascal.” Even though she has Multiple Chemical Sensitivity from severe chemical injury, along with a few other chronic health conditions, her spirit is strong and bright and she inspires all of us to push through our disability and PRODUCE. She does it all with warmth, smarts and a good dose of rascal.

About this most recent video, she says:

Here is part 3 of my organic lingerie series - learning to sew using locally sourced organic cotton scrap fabric that is dirt cheap, and turning it into something cool! This project is an easy camisole and shorty set with side ties, ribbons, and scrunch on the sides of the top.

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The Oko Box, Leslie’s hip, fun and practical nontoxic clothing boutique

The Oko Box Blog, an eco-friendly interactive commentary on organic clothing, environment, pollution, health, organic food, fair trade and organic farming. On today’s post, she’s put a fox on her undies (I told you she was a rascal).

The save the planet song

This song is so beautiful. And I love the images in the vid. The lyrics ask, “What better ways can we come up with?” The first image he gives us as “a better way” is an awesome chicken coop! It looks like half of the structure is for the chickens and the other half for growing food. It’s really a wonderful montage of images. And the video was made by the musician himself, Douglas Stambler. His YouTube channel is here.

Download this song at:
http://www.tradebit.com/visit.php/436…

Drawings from: www.solviva.com
Domes from: www.monolithic.com

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Vandana Shiva on Earth Democracy

Vandana Shiva, a physicist, environmental activist and author, argues for a return to traditional farming practices as a way to reclaim the health of the planet. In this video she talks about the importance of saving non-GMO seeds and her concept of Earth Democracy.

The herbicide resistant crops she mentions are food crops that are genetically engineered (GMO is the acronym for Genetically Modified Organism) to withstand pesticides such as Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide, allowing farmers to spray crops all they want to kill weeds without harming the crop.

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Thanks, Mokihana, for the inspiration for this post!

How to sew an organic nightie

Here’s another video from Leslie, this one on sewing a darling organic cotton nightie. How cute is this?

This nightie was sewn from 100% undyed organic scrap fabric purchased for $1.75, and organic lace trim! The drawstring ties at the neckline are made from soy yarn, crocheted with a simple chain stitch. A really easy sewing project that makes a quick, comfy & sexy nightie to sleep in. xoxo- Leslie

The Oko Box

The Oko Box Blog

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