December 21, 2018

Great article on addiction!!!

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/us/addiction-heroin-opioids.html?emc=edit_nn_p_20181221&nl=morning-briefing&nlid=65276920section%3DlongRead&section=longRead&te=1


"One is too many. And a thousand is not enough"




The opioid epidemic is devastating America. Overdoses have passed car crashes and gun violence to become the leading cause of death for Americans under 55. The epidemic has killed more people than H.I.V. at the peak of that disease, and its death toll exceeds those of the wars in Vietnam and Iraq combined. Funerals for young people have become common. Every 11 minutes, another life is lost.

So why do so many people start using these drugs? Why don’t they stop?

Some people are more susceptible to addiction than others. But nobody is immune. For many, opioids like heroin entice by bestowing an immediate sense of tranquility, only to trap the user in a vicious cycle that essentially rewires the brain.

December 20, 2018

Resilience and the fight against big oil: Saving the Amazon

Cross posted in Video

This is a wonderful, short video. The resilience of the native amazonians and their efforts to use technology to save their land is uplifting. A nice break from US politics.



“While the Amazonian basin is most often touted for its biodiversity, there are also hundreds of indigenous tribes that live in the rainforest. Many of these tribes are under direct threat of displacement by resource extraction and deforestation. To this day, 70 percent of the Ecuadorian Amazon has been leased to oil companies, and plans have been set to auction off more land.

One of these areas includes a large swath of Waorani territory, labelled Block 22 by the Ecuadorian government. The territory is home to 18 roadless Waorani communities, including hundreds of medicinal plants, hunting routes, cemeteries, battlegrounds, watering holes, and a huge diversity of flora and fauna.

Four years ago, the Waorani decided that they needed to map their territory as a means not only to prove their rightful ownership of the land but also to document the rich biodiversity of their territory and the wisdom of Waorani elders for future generations. Over four years, the Waorani used hi-tech GPS technology, camera traps, and drones to map out 180,000 hectares of their territory. The maps include almost 10,000 GPS points.”

https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/amazonian-tribe-defending-land-technology-181220113423595.html

December 20, 2018

Resilience, hope, and fighting big oil: Amazon fights back

This is a wonderful, short video. The resilience of the native amazonians and their efforts to use technology to save their land is uplifting. A nice break from US politics.



“While the Amazonian basin is most often touted for its biodiversity, there are also hundreds of indigenous tribes that live in the rainforest. Many of these tribes are under direct threat of displacement by resource extraction and deforestation. To this day, 70 percent of the Ecuadorian Amazon has been leased to oil companies, and plans have been set to auction off more land.

One of these areas includes a large swath of Waorani territory, labelled Block 22 by the Ecuadorian government. The territory is home to 18 roadless Waorani communities, including hundreds of medicinal plants, hunting routes, cemeteries, battlegrounds, watering holes, and a huge diversity of flora and fauna.

Four years ago, the Waorani decided that they needed to map their territory as a means not only to prove their rightful ownership of the land but also to document the rich biodiversity of their territory and the wisdom of Waorani elders for future generations. Over four years, the Waorani used hi-tech GPS technology, camera traps, and drones to map out 180,000 hectares of their territory. The maps include almost 10,000 GPS points.”

https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/amazonian-tribe-defending-land-technology-181220113423595.html