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by Zoe Blunt | March 19, 2017 · 9:10 pm
Don't let your cause suffer for lack of funds. Get the handbook.
The Power of Grassroots Fundraising is 32 pages of knowledge gained from three decades of experience in all kinds of fundraising, from homegrown non-profits to radical resistance groups.
PRE-ORDER SPECIAL: PICK YOUR PRICE
Place your order for an ADVANCE digital copy with a contribution here. Send a message for more info.
I had to write this book because so many grassroots groups are struggling to accomplish their goals. People are going into debt for the cause and it doesn't have to be that way.
In my career, I've raised over a million dollars for humanitarian and environmental causes. The teams I hired and trained have raised millions more. Now I want to share these skills.
For the record, I'm living proof that anyone can do this work. I started with no plan and no training, just desperation. Fortunately, I had the opportunity to learn from some of the best fundraisers in North America, at places like Greenpeace, Citizen Action, and the Institute for Social Justice.
by Zoe Blunt | January 29, 2017 · 1:04 pm
Wingnut sighting! Turns out that Josh Steffler is now deputy leader of the BC Libertarian Party and he's planning to run in the May 2017 BC election. Have the years mellowed his petulant rage at everyone who is not a white male Libertarian? Apparently not!
This month, Josh is angry at women. Thousands of women, and some men, too. While other provincial politicians came to the Women's March to shake hands and express support, Steffler stood on the sidelines with members of the alt-right group We Are Change and heckled the marchers.
Josh Steffler (center) with a sign mocking trans people at the Women's March in Victoria, January 21 2017. The other side of the sign reads "Grab Life By the Pussy."
Truly a bold campaign strategy!
Full report and more photos at Anti Racist Action.
Earlier encounters with Josh Steffler and We Are Change:
Hate Mail from Haters (2012)
Turfing Out the Racists (2013)
The Wingnut Lawsuit (2014)
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2017 Zoe Blunt
Filed under Feminism, Josh Steffler, Misogyny, Politics, Racism, Ryan Elson, transphobia, We Are Change Victoria, Wingnuts, Zoe Blunt
by Zoe Blunt | April 25, 2016 · 6:03 pm
"I'm in love. With salmon, with trees outside my window, with baby lampreys living in sandy streambottoms, with slender salamanders crawling through the duff. And if you love, you act to defend your beloved." — Derrick Jensen
Pacific Coast people have always defended the places we love. Most of British Columbia is unceded indigenous land, because native peoples never abandoned, sold, or traded their land away. Many fought fiercely against the power of the British Empire. Cannonballs are sometimes still found embedded in centuries-old trees along the shore – leftovers from the gunboats that tried to suppress indigenous uprisings in the late 1800s.
Nuu-chah-nulth war canoes (Edward Curtis, BC Historical Society)
A century later, descendants of the settlers have joined forces to battle corporate raiders. In the 1980s and 1990s, a groundswell of eco-organizing brought thousands of people together to stop clearcut logging in the cathedral forests of Vancouver Island's Pacific coast, where timber companies were busy converting ten-thousand-year-old ecosystems into barren stumpfields and pulp for paper.
During those years, police arrested hundreds in Clayoquot Sound and the Walbran Valley at mass civil disobedience protests. Young and old alike sat in the middle of the logging roads and linked arms. The resistance went far beyond the peaceful and symbolic: unknown individuals spiked thousands of trees to make the timber dangerous to sawmills. Shadowy figures burned logging bridges and vandalized equipment. The skirmishes went on for over a decade.
Clayoquot Sound, 1993
We won a few battles. Several coastal valleys are protected as parks. But many of them have been logged. And now the logging companies are coming back for the valleys that remain unprotected.
One of the worst corporate offenders is Teal Jones, the company currently bulldozing the majestic Walbran Valley, two hours west of Victoria, BC. They are laying waste to a vibrant rainforest for short-term profit, without the consent of the Pacheedaht First Nation, the Qwa-ba-diwa people, or anyone else outside of government and industry. Teal Jones does not even own the land; it was taken from indigenous people in the name of the BC government sixty years ago.
Pacheedaht territory, Vancouver Island BC
This year, the elected leadership of the Pacheedaht First Nation threw its support behind building a longhouse in the contested valley, on the land that has sustained them for countless generations. At the same time, locals are pushing back against the logging by occupying roads and logging sites. This in spite of the company's court order telling police to arrest anyone who blocks their work. Forest defenders are regrouping, but the destruction continues.
Women for the Walbran and Forest Action Network are ramping up to break the deadlock. We're hosting direct action trainings to share skills and develop strategies for defending ecosystems. The agenda includes tactics like non-violent civil disobedience, occupying tree-tops, and backcountry stealth. We'll have info on legal rights, indigenous solidarity, and more.
Tree-sit occupation, Langford BC. (Photo: Ingmar Lee)
Our adversary, Teal Jones, is a relatively small company. Its owners are relying on the police to protect their "right" to strip public forests on Pacheedaht traditional territory. Profit margins are slim, and lawyers are expensive. The forest defenders are poor, but we have community support and a wide array of strategies for beating Teal Jones at its own game. Every tool in the box: we can launch a mass civil disobedience campaign, carry out hit-and-run raids on costly machines, coordinate a knockout legal strategy, or deliver the tried-and-true "death by a thousand cuts" with a combination of tactics.
However it plays out, Teal Jones is on borrowed time in the Walbran. But that's cold comfort when the machines are mowing down thousand-year-old forests like grass.
Photo: Walbran Central
The forest defenders do have certain advantages. On the practical side, we're investing in the gear and training that will provide the leverage to win. We have a legal defense fund that's both a war chest for litigation and a safety net for those who risk their freedom on the front lines. But our best defense is the thousands of people who love this land like life itself. Many live nearby and visit every chance they get, others came once and fell in love, and untold numbers have yet to see the Walbran's wildlife firsthand, but they hold it in their hearts.
Photo: Stasher BC
Those who love the land are a community. We are the organizers, sponsors, and volunteers who drive this movement forward. Everyone who shares these values can be a part of it; no contribution is too small. We're going all-out to defend the forests, rivers, bears, cougars, otters, and eagles of the Walbran Valley. They sustain us and we give back by fighting to protect them.
Walbran River, the heart of the Walbran Valley, spring 2016. (Photo: Walbran Central)
Remember: Forest Defenders Are Heroes!
Filed under Animals, Environment, Legal Battles, Love Letters, Politics
by Zoe Blunt | January 8, 2016 · 12:38 pm
The more we challenge the status quo, the more those with power attack us. Fortunately, social change is not a popularity contest.
Activism is a path to healing from trauma. It's taking back our power to protect ourselves and our future.
From a spoken-word presentation in Victoria BC, 2009
Thank you for the opportunity to launch my speaking career. Some of you may know me as a writer and an advocate for social and environmental justice. Others may know me as a cat-sitter, odd-jobber, and temp slave. (Laughter)
I knew when I started out as an activist that I would never be a millionaire and I was right. But I have a certain freedom and flexibility that your average millionaire might envy.
The market demand for social justice advocates is huge right now. It's a growth industry. And the job security is fantastic – there is no shortage of urgent issues demanding our attention. Experience is not necessary, people come to activism at every age and stage in their lives. It's that easy!
OK, it's not actually that easy. (Laughter) But it is a fascinating time to be a "radical."
There is a great tradition of courage and action here on Vancouver Island. There is potential for even greater future action, so we are doing everything we can to nurture that potential. Building community, linking up networks, teaching, learning, coming together, healing – this is all part of the movement.
For most of my adult life, I suffered from social phobia. I was afraid of authority, filled with self-doubt, paralyzed by anxiety. Getting interviewed live on national TV doesn't make that go away. But hiding under the covers doesn't cure it either. So my insecurities and I just have to get out there and do our best.
What compels me is the knowledge that we're rewriting the script – the one that says, "You don't make a difference. It is what it is, you can't fight city hall, the big guys always win." We can remember that we are not powerless. And when we choose to stand up, it is a huge adrenaline rush – bigger than national TV or swinging from a tree top. That's the reward – that flood of excitement that comes from taking back our power and using it effectively, for the collective good.
It helps to get love letters from friends and strangers who want to thank me for standing up for what's important, and who get inspired to take action themselves.
But it's not all warm fuzzies and celebratory toasts. We face backlash and punishment and threats to our lives and safety.
I led a workshop for new activists this year, and I asked them, "Who are your heroes?"
They named a dozen. Gandhi. Martin Luther King. Tommy Douglas. Rosa Parks. These folks led amazing, heroic movements, but our discussion focused on the ferocious backlash they faced. British media reports on Gandhi when he was challenging the monarchy had the same tone as white Southerners responding to Rosa Parks refusing to give up her seat on the bus. It was vicious. "Uppity and no-good" were some of the polite terms. They were targeted with hate speech and death threats. We hear the same now about whistleblowers. And feminists and environmentalists. It can be terrifying.
The more we challenge the status quo, the more the entrenched powers attack us. The more effective we are, the more they attack us. As Gandhi said: "First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win."
The fight for justice and liberation won't be won by popularity contests.
Every "hero" finds her own way of dealing with the counter-attacks. Some laugh it off. Some pray, some cry on their friends shoulders. Some go on the counter-offensive, some compose songs, some write long academic papers deconstructing their opponents' logic. The important thing is, they deal with it, and they don't give up.
We take care of each other as a community. Because we are all so fragile. Because there is so much trauma and despair everywhere and it affects everyone. But inside that despair, in all of us, there is a solid core of love for the earth and the knowledge that we can act in self-defense. That's where we find strength.
It's humbling to note that the economic downturn has done more to preserve habitat and stop climate change than all of our conservation efforts of the past years combined. We take responsibility for recycling and turning down the thermostat, but who is responsible for the scale of destruction from the Tar Sands? That project is the equivalent of burning all of Vancouver Island to the ground. It negates everything we could hope to do as individuals to fight climate change.
How do we deal with that horrible reality? I couldn't, for the first year of the campaign. I didn't want to look at the pictures and hear the news stories about the water and air pollution and the rates of illness among the Lubicon Cree people. The scale and the horror of it were too great.
I've worked on toxics campaigns and I dread them. Old-growth campaigns are inspiring, because where the action is, the forest is still standing – it's beautiful and magical and we're defending nature's cathedral from the bulldozers and chainsaws. The good earth is here, and the evil destructive forces are over there. It's clearcut, so to speak. But when a toxics campaign is underway, the damage has been done. The landscape is poisoned and people have cancer and spontaneous abortions, and the birds, the fish, the animals, are dead and dying. It is a scene of despair.
If it sounds traumatizing, it is. And we are all traumatized.
Look at this landscape – concrete, pavement, bricks and mortar, toxic chemicals, but underneath, the earth is still there. We have whole ecosystems slashed and burned without so much as a by-your-leave. We've lost whole communities of spruce, marmots, murrelets, arbutus, sea otters, and geoducks. These are terrible losses.
And we humans suffer on every level. Is there anyone here who doesn't know someone who's had cancer? Who hasn't seen the damage caused by diseases of civilization? Who here hasn't been forced to do without for lack of money? Are there any women here who have never been sexually harassed or raped or assaulted?
Something fundamental has been taken from us here. How do we deal with these losses?
I consider myself fortunate because after a lifetime of abuse from my family and male partners, I participated in six months of Trauma Recovery and Empowerment at the Battered Women's Support Centre in Vancouver.
And I got to know the stages of trauma recovery:
Acknowledge the loss, understand the loss, grieve the loss.
And the stages of grief:
Denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.
These steps are a natural and necessary response to the loss of a loved one, and also to the loss of our humanity and the places we love.
There are people living in national sacrifice zones, people who burn with determination to make change. They are angry, and they have a right to be. I am angry because I'm not dead inside, in spite of all they've done to me. Anger is part of the process of grief, and it's useful. It grabs us by the heart when people are hurting the ones we love.
For me, part of the process is taking action – rejecting helplessness and taking back power. Stopping the bleeding and comforting the wounded.
I fall in love with places and I want to protect them. I fell in love with the Elaho Valley and some of the world's biggest Douglas Firs in 1997. That forest campaign was a pitched battle, far from the urban centers, against one of the biggest logging companies on the coast at that time.
In the third year of the campaign, I walked into my favourite campsite shaded by majestic cedars. I saw the flagging tape and the clearcut boundaries laid out, and I realized it was all doomed. I could see the end result in my mind's eye: stumps and slash piles as far as the eye could see, muddy wrecked creeks, a smoldering ruin.
I realized no one was going to come and save this place – not Greenpeace or the Sierra Club, no MP's private member's bill, or whatever petition or rally was being planned back in the city. It was as good as gone. All we had to do was stand aside and do nothing, and this incredible, irreplaceable forest would be just a sad memory.
But after that realization, and after the despair that followed, I had a profound sense of liberation. If it is all doomed, then anything we do to resist is positive, right? Anything that stops the logging, even for a minute, or slows it down, or costs the company money, or exposes it to public embarrassment and hurts its market share, is positive – it keeps the future alive for that one more minute, one more hour, one more day. It was a revelation.
Acceptance, for me, meant being able to act to defend the place I loved. It meant standing up to the bullies and refusing to let them take anything more from me.
In the third year of the Elaho campaign, it was just a handful of people rebuilding the blockades, defying the court orders and continuing the resistance. We didn't quit when the police came, or when we were called "terrorists" and "enemies of BC." We didn't quit even after 100 loggers came and burned our camp to the ground and put three people in the hospital.
The attack was a horror show. People were in shock. But a crew was back with a new camp five days later. By then, the raid was national news. And our enemies had nothing left to throw at us. The loggers didn't know what to do next. Short of killing us, what more could they do?
We had called their bluff.
We didn't know about the negotiations going on behind the scenes. We didn't realize that we had already cost the loggers more than they could hope to recoup by logging the entire rest of the valley. (They were operating on very slim profit margins.) We found out when the announcement came that the logging would stop. And it never started again. We won. Now the Elaho Valley is protected by the Squamish Nation — and by provincial legislation — as a Wild Spirit Place.
The violence of the mob showed the level of fear and desperation of the losing side. It was their weapon of last resort and it didn't work. And they lost.
In the fourth year of the stand for SPAET – the campaign to stop the development and protect the caves, the garry oaks, and the wetlands on Skirt Mountain. We faced the same tactics – we were called "terrorists," and in 2007, the developers sent 100 goons to rough up people at a small rally. And again, most of our comrades are in shock. There's only handful of us still bashing away at the next phase of development.
But we are winning. The other side has thrown everything they have at us and they have nothing left.
There are still sacred sites on SPAET. The cave is still there, buried under concrete.
Meanwhile, the developer is bankrupt. His little empire fell apart, either because of our boycott campaign, bad karma, or because it was operating on the slimmest possible margin. We took the next phase of development to court. Our campaign, and the economic downturn, turned out to be enough to scare off investors and cancel the project, at least for now.
This work is difficult, painful, and traumatic. So the first step to courage is to acknowledge that pain and loss. We need to name what has been taken from us. Then we can cry, and rage, and grieve. We can name the ones who are doing the damage. We can reach down inside and find our core strength and our truth, and use it. That's where courage comes from.
Martin Luther King said, "Justice shall roll down like waters, righteousness like a mighty stream." But I'm impatient. I want to see that mighty stream now – what's the hold-up? What's holding us back, when there's so much to do?
We're not heroes, actually – none of us is smart enough, or tough enough, or connected enough, to take this on alone. We're don't have superpowers. We are only human, we struggle and suffer and sometimes, we win.
Some folks assume I have some unique privilege or special power that gives me an edge. Nope. I have material analysis and long-range vision, but mostly I'm flailing around on the political landscape, taking potshots when I see an opening. Sometimes it's intuition, and it pays off. When we are right, it is amazing. When we win, it sets a precedent for the future.
In order for evil to prevail, all that's required is for good people to do nothing. Don't be one of those good people.
Activism is part of the healing. It's taking back our power to protect ourselves and our future.
Thank you for the opportunity to tell these stories today.
Filed under Environment, Feminism, Hate Mail, Legal Battles, Love Letters, Misogyny, Politics, Zoe Blunt
Tagged as courage, ecofeminism
by Zoe Blunt | June 23, 2015 · 3:47 pm
The Wingnut Lawsuit at the House of Solidarity
Heads up! After a year and a half of sulking, the wingnut is back and stupider than before. I'm in court this month because this Libertarian dude is still trying to sue me for things I wrote on this blog three years ago. He's not doing a very good job of it.
It started in 2012 when the wingnut and his buddies invited a well-known white supremacist to speak at a rally at the BC Legislature. We showed up to counterprotest. A few of the nuts confronted us and their feelings got hurt.
Now this dude is trying to sue me for libel in Supreme Court. For this round, he's filed over one thousand pages of documents, plus a half dozen DVDs and minidiscs. Everything I've published in the last ten years, my blog, Twitter, everything other people have written about me, private messages hacked from a friend's email account (luckily mine was more secure), and police reports from all the times he tried to get them to arrest me.
This guy also claims the police should arrest me for "hate crimes" against him as a white male. I wasn't aware he had made police complaints until he brought them to the court. It's astounding.
I'm in court tomorrow. Stay tuned for the report back about the hearing. If the court won't strike his claim, I will have to go to trial with the loon. I'm representing myself.
UPDATE August 4: the hearing was only half-finished in June. The wingnut has the opportunity to present his side next but so far he won't confirm a date to do that. My next trick would be compelling him to meet his date with destiny.
Filed under Feminism, Greg Hill, Legal Battles, Racism, Ryan Elson, Wingnuts
Dealing with abusive men and their enablers in social justice and media collectives
Privilege-denying dudes. They're everywhere, including in our social justice collectives and alternative media groups. Some are dangerous, some are abusive, and some are just enablers. In the last ten years, I've probably butted heads with all of them.
Got privilege-denying dudes? It's not always obvious, because they know the language of anti-oppression. The difference is, they use it to manipulate others and hide their motives. Bad faith is the key indicator that your dude is a abusive piece of shit.
But these pieces of shit do have their uses. The worst offenders – the violent sociopaths – provide a handy litmus test. They draw out the smarmy suckups who chime in to defend the asshole's "right" to abuse women. Without this support, the sociopaths wouldn't be half as successful at what they do.
Simply removing an abuser won't cure a PDD infestation, because the contagion infects the others: you may find your activist work has become a gender minefield full of hidden booby traps, and your comrades' loyalties are divided between punching down on women and preserving the status quo. It's better to just walk away.
The litmus test instantly shows whether your sincere-sounding dude is actually a sexist jerkoff, and whether your white-male-dominated collective deserves another minute of your time.
In Vancouver, my litmus test was this misogynist woman-beater who stalked me for about a year. He came to my workplace, he came to my volunteer gigs, he would appear suddenly on the street and tackle me. I wasn't the only one he attacked; several of us were getting the same treatment around the same time.
After the third or fourth time the stalker knocked me down, my world divided in two. Places where he was banned (there were several), I could relax and hang out. Places where he was welcome, I had to avoid. I started carrying a weapon every time I left the house. I was wound tight, watching for him, waiting for him to hit me again. I was pissed right off.
It was no secret this guy was going around attacking women. He did it in public places, in front of lots of witnesses, and the women he attacked complained loudly. But the men who acted like they were in charge of certain activist groups still welcomed him despite our protests.
Several enablers explained to me earnestly that their hands were tied. There was nothing they could do about the stalker. They couldn't exclude him, because that would violate his rights. This is an inclusive space, they assured me. We can't exclude people. But if you don't feel comfortable, you can leave. I did.
In another collective, the alpha males went out of their way to help the stalker get at me. It was entertainment to them. They invited him to a large public event where I was volunteering. I will never forget their faces when the stalker showed up and made a beeline straight to me. They enjoyed it. They watched every move, grinning and baring their teeth. They taunted me and egged him on. That was enough of that; I was out of there.
In a way, I should be grateful to that stalker. If it wasn't for him, I might still be working with those ignorant suckholes. The stalker is a sociopath, and I don't expect anything better from him. But it was a shock to witness men I thought of as comrades shitting all over me and the other women in the collective. (The stalker was also harassing the others, and they left soon after I did.) Solidarity, for these assholes, meant using women however they liked, and mocking us when we complained.
Fast-forward: A 66-year-old political candidate was convicted of sexually assaulting a young teen. This creep has a huge hate-on for me because I told the world about his criminal record. So he's my new litmus test.
A self-styled "media activist" in Victoria BC invites me to work as a volunteer fundraiser for "his" collective. When I ask, media dude says the creep isn't a group member yet, but he's welcome to join anytime he wants. It wouldn't be ethical to exclude him, you see.
What about adopting policies to protect volunteers? No, no, never mind that – what dude-man really wants to hear is more about the harassment, please. Dates, times, witnesses, detailed descriptions of exactly what the creep said and did, and physical evidence (tape recordings, if possible). He needs to know all this so he can judge me. It's for my own good. After all, he explains, I'm probably just paranoid. And if I'm so afraid of the creep, why don't I just call the police? I tell him to fuck off and find someone else to exploit.
A longtime peace activist at a mini-conference in Vancouver explains that they hired the creep before they knew he raped a child. But they can't exclude him now – it's illegal to discriminate against people, you know. Does the peace group have a human-rights policy? A safe-space policy? Any procedures to address harassment? No, they don't.
This activist isn't a dude – she's a woman in her 60s. Surprise!
By her logic, if Baby Doc Duvalier shows up, she's obligated to let him join. If the Young Conservatives, StormFront and the entire Canadian Armed Forces door-crash this peace group, they are welcome. Right, dudette?
It's frustrating to explain the blindingly obvious to someone who should know better, but I'm giving it the old school try:
What I'm hearing from your letter is that you believe the group can't "legally" exclude someone they would prefer not to work with. But any group, non-profit, club, committee, or ad hoc organization has the right to choose who to admit as volunteers and who to exclude. It is not discrimination to say "we don't want to work with someone who raped a child and harassed another woman."
Associations like [this peace group] are run on mutual-aid principles by like-minded people, and much of the work revolves around making principled decisions about which individuals, groups, and causes to support.
The courts have long held that "collegial" groups like yours have this right. In fact that's a major purpose of such groups — to bring together like-minded people. It might be helpful to discuss this point with a lawyer or human rights advocate if it is not clear.
I follow up with the suggestion that "inclusion" means creating spaces and policies that support diversity and human rights, not providing a safe haven for creeps. That was five years ago. I'm still waiting for a response.
We don't just have the right, we have the obligation to exclude those who don't share our principles or who cause trouble.
At this point, I have some questions for the privileged dudes (and dudettes): What the hell do you think we're here for? Is this a social justice movement or a mutual admiration society? Is our movement so desperate that you need to recruit any sexist creep or child-molesting dirtbag who comes along? Aren't you concerned that this predator might be using you to find more victims? Are you so afraid of rocking the boat that you won't even try to protect your own friends and comrades? What kind of "activists" are you?
Have you heard of the global war on women? Are you aware that hundreds of thousands of women are murdered by husbands, fathers, boyfriends, and strangers every year? Did you know that millions more women and girls are raped, molested, and terrorized? That gender violence is a weapon of war and social control? Do you believe that peace and justice includes peace and justice for women too?
Do you think being "nice" and "inclusive" is going to stop this shit? It won't. You know what stops it? Stopping it. Let me show you how.
Dudes who feel the need to jump in with a privilege-denying comeback should consider the following:
1. Dude, I don't give a fuck if I've offended you. I really don't.
2. Don't tell me I'm giving feminists a bad name. In fact, don't tell me anything about feminism, jackass.
3. I don't need to forgive anyone, and I'm not going to apologize. The abusers are the ones who need to apologize — to me, and to their other victims. Until they demonstrate some real remorse and a change in attitude, they're my enemies.
4. I'm not going to shut up about this bullshit, ever.
From Vancouver Media Coop, January 2011.
Filed under Feminism, Misogyny, Wingnuts
by Zoe Blunt | September 27, 2014 · 6:12 pm
In every part of the province, industry is laying waste to huge areas of wilderness – unceded indigenous land – for mining, fracking, oil, and hydroelectric projects. This frenzy of extraction is funneling down to the port cities of the Pacific and west to China.
BC's gas projects. Click for a full-size image. Courtesy of Watershed Sentinel.
In 2014, Prime Minister Harper stripped away all legal recourse for environmental defense by signing a new resource trade agreement with China that trumps Canadian and local laws and indigenous rights. Not even a new government has the power to change this agreement for 31 years.
For mainstream environmental groups (and my lawyers, who were in the middle of a Supreme Court challenge to the trade agreement when Harper pre-empted them), it is a total rout. We are used to losing, but not like this.
The only light on the horizon is the rise of direct resistance. BC's long history of large-scale grassroots action (and effective covert sabotage) is the foundation of this radical resurgence.
But the question hangs over us like smoke from an approaching wildfire. How to stop it? The courts are hogtied. The law has no power. The people have no agency. This government simply brushes them aside and carries on. We get it. We've had our faces rubbed in it.
This is activist failure. The phase of the movement when most of the public is already on side, when we have filed all the lawsuits, taken to the streets in every city, overflowed every public hearing, and uttered every legal threat we can muster – and the end result is they are bulldozing this province from the tarsands straight to the coast.
This is the moment when we can expect activists, especially mainstream enviros, to become demoralized and quit. Or start on a campaign of self-delusion: Green groups are casting about for a strategy that will allow their donors to maintain false hope in a democratic solution. Election campaigns, for example. Some are still trying to raise money for legal challenges that were overruled by the treaty with China.
But small cadres are preparing the second phase of the resistance. Indigenous groups are reclaiming territory and blocking development at remote river crossings, on strategic access roads, and in crucial mountain passes. Urban cells are locking down to gates, vandalizing corporate offices, and organizing street takeovers.
It's a good start. But now we have to look at how to be effective against powerful adversaries with the full weight of the law and the police on their side. How will we protect the land and each other, when push comes to shove?
The new rules don't change our strategy to bring down the enemy: kick them in the bottom line. The resource sector will wind tighter as competition to feed China intensifies. Or conversely, we expect the industry will become even more desperate as demand and prices fall. Profits are slim enough to start with – made up in volume – and investors are jittery already.
Either way, it's a fight to the death.
We urge our allies to heed the lessons of history. We don't win by giving in or turning on each other. Tenacity, focus, flexibility, and diversity of tactics will turn back the invaders.
Celebrate the warriors. Raise that banner now, and we'll find out soon enough who's with us, and who's looking to appease our new dictators.
Filed under Environment, Legal Battles, Politics, Zoe Blunt
Tagged as Solidarity
Something happened this year. I realized my voice is bigger than me. I saw that it has a life beyond me. It's more than my lips and vocal cords making the sounds. It contains more than my breath. It's not really mine at all.
Something opened up and let the wind in. It pours in like a mountain stream through my chest. It rushes through my throat and bursts out uncontrolled. It's a message.
This just happened recently. Growing up, I kept quiet and choked back words. But I also learned to sing. As the years went by, I stayed small and runty, but my voice got bigger and wider.
I first witnessed this voice power last summer when a friend was singing. I saw his voice coming out, and it had a force and a shape of its own. I was amazed. I'm beginning to understand.
This voice of mine compels me to say things that need to be said, whatever the consequences. Because this voice is bigger than me and it won't back down. It won't let me back down. I have to deliver the message regardless of the cost or trouble.
Even if I wanted to stop, the voice won't let me. There's a physical force pushing me. I can feel it between my shoulder blades. I hear it saying that I'm here to bear witness and say what needs to be said. That's the promise I made.
So my voice makes me a target. I feel that heat, but I welcome it. It means I'm doing my job. The voice was heard. And I'm grounded like a lightning rod. Every attack on me is an attack deflected from someone who might be more vulnerable. Not that I'm super-sturdy all the time, but the good loving people around keep me rooted and upright.
Knowing my friends, and being with all of you, is a huge burst of positive energy. When we come together for a common purpose, we're a force of nature. Our voices converge like a mighty river. Thank you for bearing witness.
Filed under Love Letters, Zoe Blunt
by Zoe Blunt | January 9, 2014 · 2:07 am
BC's Summer of Sabotage
Thirty years ago, Paul Watson and a handful of tree-huggers spiked hundreds of trees on Grouse Mountain, just north of Vancouver.
Twenty years ago, Watson and others spiked 20,000 trees in Clayoquot Sound. Arsonists destroyed two logging-road bridges.
Fourteen years ago near Whistler, unknown "elves" wrecked machinery and spiked hundreds of trees in an active logging area along the Elaho River.
This is the story of the Elaho Valley, summer 2000 – the summer of sabotage.
http://www.zoeblunt.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Monkeywrenching-Edit.mp3
Six months after this broadcast, the logging company that was trying to clearcut the Elaho Valley gave up and left. Now this cathedral forest is protected as a Wild Spirit Place by the Squamish First Nation.
More about the Elaho Valley campaign.
CREDITS: Zoe Blunt (spoken word) Die Anarchistische Abendunterhaltung (music). Produced by Green Monkey Radio and Coop Radio, CFRO 102.7 FM, Vancouver BC, August 15 2000.
Sims Creek, Elaho Valley: Preserved forever as a Wild Spirit Place. Photo: Western Canada Wilderness Committee.
Filed under Environment, Politics, Zoe Blunt
Tagged as Earth First!, Elaho Valley, monkeywrenching, tree-spiking
by Zoe Blunt | September 30, 2013 · 12:57 pm
Len Barrie guilty in tax charges
VICTORIA BC — Disgraced Bear Mountain developer Len Barrie has pleaded guilty to tax charges in a BC court as he continues his karmic slide into oblivion.
Just five years ago, Len Barrie was golden – "living the dream," as one newspaper reported. That dream has turned to dust, along with the millions he owes to everyone from day labourers to the government of Canada.
Len Barrie was once known for his mediocre NHL career, but his real fame comes from the antics that won him the title "Vancouver Island's most racist developer."
The McMansion that Barrie built in his brief heyday sold last week for a $10 million loss. The resort he boasted would be worth $3.5 billion was repossessed by the bank for a $300 million debt and now is up for sale. Word is it may go for as little as $50 million.
In laying the foundation for his resort fiefdom, Barrie chose confrontation over diplomacy. He drew the anger of local First Nations by destroying indigenous heritage sites and ignoring provincial guidelines on heritage preservation. Under his direction, builders bulldozed and blasted caves, cairns and gravesites that were used and tended by indigenous groups for hundreds of generations. He dispatched goon squads to assault and intimidate protestors, and filed a million-dollar lawsuit against indigenous activists who sought to protect the mountain they call SPAET.
Barrie was never charged with destroying indigenous heritage sites.
The first sign of the impending collapse at Bear Mountain came when nearby residents noticed work had halted at the interchange intended to link the resort to the TransCanada Highway. Soon after, we learned that Bear Mountain, which was responsible for the majority of the cost of the interchange, had defaulted on its payment to the city of Langford. It is not clear whether the resort ever made good on its debt. In any event, four years and millions of dollars later, the "Bridge to Nowhere" is a roundabout, and only a rutted overgrown track leads up the mountain to the resort.
In 2010, as his ill-fated empire crumbled, it emerged that Barrie had fleeced a raft of investors, including $13 million from fellow hockey players. Over a hundred smaller creditors were also bilked, including contractors, windows installers, concrete suppliers, plumbers, and general labourers.
It is small consolation that Barrie is in the same boat. His family trust was wiped out and all his properties are in foreclosure. At last report, he was living in Youbou near Cowichan Lake, in a modest house that was foreclosed but not yet seized by creditors.
In addition to the tax charges, the RCMP is investigating allegations of fraud relating to auditor reports that Barrie improperly diverted $16 to $20 million from the resort to purchase the Tampa Bay Lightning. The hockey team was sold a year and a half later for an estimated $80 million loss.
Court documents filed in 2011 allege that during this time, Barrie gambled and lost almost $2 million at the Bellagio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. The casino filed suit when Barrie's credit payment was refused by his bank.
Eight years after embarking on his development career, Barrie has lost everything. His reputation is irrevocably tainted by greed, arrogance, defaulted payments and broken promises.
Developers and hockey pros across Canada, take note: Don't be that guy.
Update: In March 2014, the Boardwalk Regency hotel and casino in Atlantic City, NJ filed its own claim against Barrie. More details to come.
Filed under Environment, Politics, Racism
Follow @Blunt1 on Twitter


Hello and welcome to Maggie Made Designs. My design interest has been developed over many years. I took an interest in beading and designing jewelry about 10 years ago and it has only continued to grow. It has become my true creative passion; an artistic sense of joy. I enjoy putting colors and textures together in unique and fun, stylish designs. I use precious, semi-precious stones, precious metals and some glass beads for my designs.
My journey started with a store online for over 2 years, selling across the country and internationally. I decided in order to truly expand my creativity and independence, I needed to set up my own shop. I trademarked my business name and thus, MaggieMadeDesigns was born! In addition to my own website, I showcase my jewelry designs on Etsy with my store called MMDArtisanJewelry. To complement my on line presence I participate in juried shows around the country.
In 2018 I was an exhibitor in the Chicago area, Ann Arbor, MI, here in Louisville and also Cincinnati, OH. Now, as I start to firm up my show schedule for 2019, I will be doing a wonderful trunk show in Shelbyville, KY and will be an exhibitor at the American Artisan Festival in Nashville, TN. I look forward to participating again in Ann Arbor at the State Street Art Fair and the Big Four Bridge Art Festival at Waterfront Park here at home in Louisville. I plan to introduce some new precious metal pieces as part of my exploration of metalsmithing. Taking metalsmithing classes has been so much fun and I love learning new skills..I will be including some earrings, cuff bracelets and wire collar necklaces.
Please take a look at my website, Etsy store and show schedule. I hope something will catch your attention! Please feel free to contact me with any questions!! Thank you.


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Once you receive your FNOL report, you can control your accident management process and any related claims process. You'll be able to provide support to your driver quickly, especially important if they are on their own when the incident occurs. This also helps you to comply with your duty of care responsibilities.
*Independently verified by Transport Research Laboratories, February 2015.


text:
Q: testing helpers with 'haml_tag' module FooHelper
  def foo
    haml_tag(:div) do
      haml_content("bar")
    end
  end
end

When I test this I get:
NoMethodError: undefined method `haml_tag'
This code is perfectly valid and works in a development/production environment.
It's something to do with having the haml helpers properly loaded in the test environment.
Thanks!

A: It looks like the Rails test scaffold isn't including Haml::Helpers in its context. If you're using Test::Unit, you can probably just include it yourself in the test class. You'll also want to run Haml::Helpers#init_haml_helpers in the test setup so that all the Haml stuff is properly initialized.

A: http://haml-lang.com/docs/yardoc/Haml/Helpers.html#init_haml_helpers-instance_method

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Exposure to small amounts of radiation over a long time raises the risk of cancer. It can also cause genetic mutations. Exposure to large amounts of radiation over a short period, such as from a radiation emergency, can cause burns or radiation sickness.
Data from patients with radiation exposure, who reported starting treatments within the last 5 years.
Who has radiation exposure on PatientsLikeMe?


text:
Lancaster, PA > Bird-in-Hand > Restaurants in Bird-in-Hand
Restaurants in Bird-in-Hand
Places to Eat near Bird-in-Hand, PA
If you love good food, you've come to the right town. Bird-in-Hand, PA and the nearby communities offer you an excellent selection of restaurants for breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner, or dessert.
See The List Below »
Before or after your meal, enjoy exploring all that the area has to offer (including the towns of Ronks, Smoketown, and the Village of Intercourse).
Things To Do in Bird-in-Hand
Shopping in Bird-in-Hand
Lodging in Bird-in-Hand
Restaurants in Bird-in-Hand have Pennsylvania Dutch cooking at its finest. Dig into the list below!
Restaurants In & Around Bird-in-Hand, PA:
Bird-in-Hand Bakery & Cafe
We're famous for our wet-bottom shoofly pies, whoopie pies, cakes, cookies, giant apple fritters and much more. Bring home a loaf of our scratch-made bread or a bag of our fresh-milled flour for your own recipes. Stop in for soups, salads, sandwiches and our artisan ice cream.
Map Reviews Menu Hours
Bird-in-Hand Family Restaurant & Smorgasbord
If you're craving home cooking, you're in the right place. Our unique, Amish-made Noah's Ark Kids' Buffet offers items such as macaroni and cheese, chicken nuggets, fish sticks, spaghetti and other fun foods. Includes our dessert bar with homemade puddings, soft serve ice cream, slushies and more.
Coupon Map Reviews Menu Hours
Bird-in-Hand Family Inn, Restaurant, Stage, & More
The Smucker family welcomes you with an array of lodging (with complimentary bus tours), dining, and stage shows. Enjoy your visit!
Old Philadelphia Pike (Rt. 340)
Coupon Map Reviews Events Rates Menu Hours
Hummer's Delicatessan
S. Clyde Weaver
Bird-in-Hand Farmers Market
Bird In Hand, PA 17505
Smokehouse Shop, The
Other Bird-in-Hand Points of Interest:
Bird-in-Hand Things To Do · Shopping in Bird-in-Hand · Bird-in-Hand Lodging · Welcome to Bird-in-Hand
Thanks for Visiting Bird-in-Hand!
Bird-in-Hand is about halfway between Lancaster City and the quaint town of Intercourse, PA, which you also might enjoy. There are also many attractions, restaurants, and things to do along Route 30 East (the Lincoln Highway), which is just south of town.
You can add your business to this listing, Check out our Advertising page to learn more.
Lancaster Dining
Birthday Meals
Deli, Soup, Salad
Ethnic Restaurants
Family, Kid-Friendly
Lancaster City Dining
Open Thanksgiving
Open New Year's
Sandwiches, Soup
Pizza Shops
Restaurants Near Sight & Sound
Restaurants Near Dutch Wonderland
Restaurants Near Strasburg Rail Road
Major Events in Lancaster County
Events in Lancaster, PA
Winter in Lancaster County, PA
Valentine's Day / President's Day
Lititz Fire & Ice
Labor Day Events
Halloween & Oktoberfest
Thanksgiving Dining
Small Business Sat.
Christmas Dining
New Year's Dining

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Dear Pd Forum, I am on OSX 10.8.5 and using Firefox 48.0.2. The forum stopped displaying correctly arround two weeks ago. Also I cannot anymore post, or click on personnel buttons. I attached a screenshot. Via Safari everything works as expected.
@Johnny-Mauser Did you try to empty your cache (empty cache & hard reload)? Is it only in Firefox?
@EEight clearing the cash worked!! thanks!


Child rights activist and Noble Laureate Kailash Satyarthi and space scientist A S Kiran Kumar, Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), were given 'Santokbaa Humanitarian Award'.
The award was presented by the President of India.
The award is instituted by Shree Ramkrishna Knowledge Foundaton (SRKKF).
The World Health Organization (WHO) and World Bank Group has launched a new mechanism that intends to strengthen global health security.
The Global Preparedness Monitoring Board was created on the margins of the 71st Session of the World Health Assembly on 24th May.
The Board's Secretariat will be housed at WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.
The resolution on digital health brought out by India was adopted by the 71st World Health Assembly, the decision-making body of the World Health Organization (WHO).
The 71st World Health Assembly was held in Geneva and was attended by delegations from all WHO member states.
The resolution paves the path for WHO to establish a global strategy on digital health.
Scientists have demonstrated that the chemical element ruthenium (Ru) is the fourth single element to have unique magnetic properties at room temperature.
The discovery could be used to improve sensors, devices in the computer memory and logic industry.
Only 3 elements have been found to be ferromagnetic at room temperature — iron (Fe), cobalt (Co), and nickel (Ni)..
In a first of its kind initiative, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) issued draft guidelines to curb pesky calls and SMSes by using blockchain technology.
Blockchain will ensure two things—non- repudiative and confidentiality.
Only those authorised to access details will be able to access subscriber details and only when they need to deliver service.
The Central government announced that a Brahmaputra Study Centre would be set up at Gauhati University to conduct research on the causes of and how to prevent frequent floods in the river.
The fund for setting up the study centre will be provided by the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region.
The study centre would offer an opportunity for research in different aspects of the river.
Goa attained full statehood on 30th May 1987 and became India's 25th state.
Daman and Diu were separated from Goa and continue to be administered as a union territory.
Earlier, Goa was a union territory, namely, Goa, Daman and Diu for all administrative and governance considerations.
A MoU has been signed between the Women and Child and Development (WCD) Ministry and the Uttar Pradesh government for managing a shelter home for widows in Vrindavan.
The MoU shall be in force for a period of two years.
According to the MoU, the UP government shall be responsible for activities including setting up mechanism for identifying beneficiaries and other norms.
A Bangladesh Coast Guard Ship, Tajuddin, arrived at the Visakhapatnam Port.
The aim of the visit is to develop working level operation between Coast Guards of maritime nations and enhance interoperability in the fields of maritime search and rescue, anti-piracy operations.
Tajuddin has participated in the 10th Regional Co-operation Agreement (ReCAP) for safe and secure sea in February 2017.
The food, civil supplies and consumer affairs department of Himachal Pradesh has launched a mobile app for ration card holders.
The app will function as a digital ration card and beneficiaries can open it on their android phones to make transaction at fair price shop, submit complaints and suggestions and contact department officers.
This app is available under the name of ePDS.
The GI tag has been given by the Geographical Indication Registry and Intellectual Property India.
A GI tag connects the quality and authenticity of a given product to a particular geographical origin.
ICICI Bank has appointed MD Mallya as an additional independent director on the board.
Mallya in the past has served as the managing director & chairman of Bank of Baroda.
Mallya's tenure is for a period of 5 years, it is subjected to the approval of shareholders.
Mallya was also engaged extensively with the government as Indian Banks' Association chairman.
'Praapti' stands for 'Payment ratification and analysis in power procurement for bringing transparency in involving of generators'.
It aims to bring transparency in power purchase transactions between Generators and power distribution company- Discoms.
Justice R K Agrawal has been appointed as the next President of the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission.
Justice Agrawal will take over from Justice DK Jain who retires on May 31, 2018.
International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers is observed every year on May 29 to pay tribute to all men & women who have served & continue to serve in UN peacekeeping operations.
Theme of International Day of UN Peacekeepers 2018 is UN Peacekeepers: 70 Years of Service & Sacrifice.
So far India has taken part in 43 Peacekeeping missions with a total contribution exceeding 180,000 troops.
India has signed a loan agreement with the World Bank for USD 21.7 Million for strengthening the public financial management in Rajasthan project.
The project aims to contribute to improved budget execution, enhanced accountability and greater efficiency in Revenue Administration in Rajasthan.
India and China have agreed to start formal negotiations on a bilateral social security agreement.
So far, India has signed social security agreements with 18 countries from different parts of the world.
The bilateral social security agreements are aimed at protecting the interests of Indian professionals, skilled workers working abroad.


What Were the Treatments for the Black Death in the Renaissance?
What People Were Hit the Hardest by the Black Death?
During Medieval Times, How Did People Believe Disease Was Spread?
Canons were fired to fight off disease.
Superstition trumped medical science during Medieval times. It wasn't until the 1800s and the introduction of germ theory that people learned how disease was contracted and spread. Before the Age of Enlightenment, many people viewed sickness as punishment for sin. Diseases like mental illness and ergotism were seen as the devil's handiwork. When the plague struck Europe, public officials realized it was a disease that should be quarantined, but beliefs of supernatural causation persisted within the population.
Some diseases were believed to spread through human contact. For example, leprosy sufferers were required to wear long tunics, gloves and footwear to avoid infecting others, according to an article in "The Social Science Journal." People with leprosy were forbidden to speak unless they were downwind. Lepers were banned from bathing in rivers. Leprosy sufferers entering a public place were expected to announce their presence by ringing a bell because they were considered highly contagious.
Beginning in the Middle Ages, people believed that toxic vapors called miasma arose from the dirt and gave people diseases, such as malaria. At the time, scholars posited that a particular alignment of the planets had caused earth to release these toxic vapors. When an epidemic of measles struck London in 1670, scientist Sydenham attributed it to toxic miasma, which contradicted a theory proposed by physician Fracestero in 1546 that measles spread person-to-person.
Decaying bodies were suspected of spreading plague known as the "Black Death," which killed about one-third of Europe's population in the 1300s. The bodies of plague victims were buried in mass graves or tossed into the Rhone River, causing an overpowering stench. Peasants believed that disease from dead bodies spread through the air, so they covered their mouth with handkerchiefs dipped in aromatic oil whenever they ventured outside. Herbs were burned in an attempt to filter the air, and magic spells were cast for added protection.
What Happens If Your Body Is Cremated According to Islam?
What Happened to the Ill & Elderly People Sent to Concentration Camps?
What Did They Eat in Ancient India?
Mary, Dr.. "During Medieval Times, How Did People Believe Disease Was Spread?" Synonym, https://classroom.synonym.com/during-medieval-times-did-people-believe-disease-spread-20101.html. Accessed 18 April 2019.


Congratulations to K.I.N.G. Chess League's River Oaks Baptist School team who placed 3rd in the 2018 National Elementary K-6th Championship!
This unique tournament featured multiple fun, but competitive sections. Congratulations to all of our students who participated!
Don't see your child's picture? Fill out our media release form here.


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text:
UN Reforms & India
GS Paper - 2
Important International Institutions
International Treaties & Agreements
Groupings & Agreements Involving India and/or Affecting India's Interests
This article is based on "UN and the new multilateralism" which was published in The Indian Express on 22/09/2020. It talks about the need for reforms in the United Nations (UN) system.
The United Nations (UN) was set up, 75 years ago, with the principal aim of maintaining world peace and security. It has been successful in the decolonization process and preventing another World War. However, the 21st century world is very different from that 20th century and poses many new problems and realities.
The present humanitarian and economic losses associated with Covid-19 pandemic are comparable to that of major wars and unemployment is worse than at any time since the Great Depression 1929. This has highlighted the challenges pertaining to the multilateral UN system.
Furthermore, there has been a general trend of increasing the number of challenges that are Trans-national in character (for example, terrorism, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, pandemics, climate crisis, cyber-security, and poverty). UN being the epitome of multilateral world order will be much needed in dealing with global issues.
Therefore, reforms in the UN are necessary in order to strengthen the UN's effectiveness as a multilateral organization, bring more transparency to the institution and enhance its credibility.
Challenges Against Multilateralism in Present Times
Rise of New Cold War: Conflict between the US on the one hand and China and Russia on the other has become a new reality in West-East Conflict.
Divided West: Despite the enduring post-War alliances, there is a growing divergence between US and its European partners on many global issues.
Some of the differences between the US and the other powers is very visible in the Iran Nuclear Deal.
Further, rejection of post-War multilateralism and post-Cold War globalism is at the heart of Trump's "America First" foreign policy.
Ineffectiveness of UN: The UN has been unable to respond effectively to the once-in-a-century global crisis triggered by the coronavirus.
At the UN Security Council, China blocked a serious discussion on the origin and sources of the crisis. While the US walked out of the World Health Organisation on allegation of supporting China.
Areas of UN Reform
Defunct UNSC: The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is the UN's main executive body with the primary responsibility of maintaining international peace and security.
However, the veto powers possessed by the UNSC's five permanent members are used as an instrument to shore up their geopolitical interests, regardless of the disastrous consequences for the victims of armed conflict. As it can be seen in Syria, Iraq, etc.
Further, It does not reflect today's distribution of military and economic power, nor a geographical balance. Thus, the structure of the 15-member Security Council ought to be more democratic and representative.
This has been long overdue on the demand, especially from the so-called Group of 4 (G4) countries — Brazil, Germany, India and Japan — which advocate a permanent seat for all of them.
General Assembly Reforms: The UN General Assembly(UNGA) can only make non-binding recommendations, which is another reason for ineffectiveness of the UN and another important issue of UN reform.
Undermining of Associated UN Bodies The Economic and Social Council has been criticized, as it has become overshadowed by institutions such as the IMF and the World Bank, which are lacking democratic processes, transparency, and accountability.
UN's Financial Crisis: It can be said that the UN has a lot to do but it has too little money, as it is in a permanent financial crisis due to the unwillingness of many members to pay their contributions on time.
As long as the UN's budget remains tightly constrained, it cannot be effective.
Toothless UN Peacekeeping Operation: While the vast number of international law treaties affecting international trade, economics and human rights has proved very effective, laws prohibiting the use of force have been less so.
Thus, there is a need to include more personnel and carry out structural reforms for the UN Peacekeeping Operations.
India's Role in Reforming UN System & Way Forward
While the UNSC was dysfunctional, India developed a multilateral agenda of its own — from decolonisation and disarmament to a new international economic order — and mobilised considerable political support for it. This underlines the possibilities for shaping the global discourse in the present.
Reforming UNSC: As former UN secretary general noted that "No reform of the UN would be complete without reform of the Security Council". Therefore, equitable representation as well as expansion of the UNSC is the desired reform that India envisages.
However, this would be the most challenging aspect of UN reforms, as the most permanent five are generally opposed to strengthening the institution and use their power to stop any significant change.
Engaging With Other Multilateral Forums For UN Reforms: Possible solutions to reform UN finances can be establishing a 'reserve fund' or even a 'world tax'.
Also, in order to make UNGA more effective, India can propose a bicameral parliamentary assembly framework for UNGA.
Balancing National Interest and Multilateralism: The primary objective of India's present multilateralism should be to ensure its territorial integrity, especially at a time when China has adopted aggressive posture on the border.
Here, India can leverage multilateralism to serve India's interests. Like aligning with Quad countries or working with mechanisms like FATF to mount pressure on Pakistan to stop supporting cross-border terrorism in India.
Further, while reclaiming its role in the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), India must engage with other multilateral institutions as new rule-making as India is not at disadvantage if rule making takes place outside the UN.
History teaches that the fact that crises catalyse states to rise above inertia, myopia, and narrow self-interest. This can be reflected in the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, conferences at Bretton Woods and San Francisco in the 1940s. The present pandemic is similar to the crisis that can lead to tectonic shift in world affairs.
Further, given the global issues, today the world needs multilateralism more than ever. Thus, it is necessary to reform the UN. In this context, India must utilize the next two years of its non-permanent member of UNSC for bringing much needed reforms in the system.
Drishti Mains Question
Given the global issues, today the world needs multilateralism more than ever. Comment
This editorial is based on "Bully & Pulpit" which was published in The Indian Express on September 21st, 2020. Now watch this on our Youtube channel.


Official Selection at the Telluride Film Festival. Winner of the Rare Pearl Award at the Denver International Film Festival. Nominated for Best French-Language Film at the Lumiere Awards. Audience Award Winner at the Mill Valley Film Festival.
Would have preferred this film as a silent....slapstick Is best seen not heard.
Fun filled film. Say that 3 x fast. A tribute to all the inventive stars that came before. Could've done without the dancing feet, which Chaplin originated.
Enjoyed this a great deal, more than I thought I would considering dementia is a theme, and my father died from it only a few months before i viewed it. Like all the Gordon-Abel films I've seen, this was charming and funny and so human. Thank you Kanopy for completely spoiling me, I can't enjoy Hollywood-style comedies any more.
Reminded me of Charlie Chaplin and Laurel & Hardy films. Very good.
A fun and quirky film a'la Wes Anderson.
I liked Amlie, I didnt particularly like this one.
I kept waiting for the movie to become funny. Or charming. Instead, it literally bored me to sleep at the (SPOILER ALERT!) dancing feet scene. At that point I just sort of closed my laptop and gave up on this movie. Why waste more time watching some distinctly unattractive actors make nonsense on film?
This is a great film, with some incredibly inventive sequences that will have you laughing long after the film has ended. One of the best comedies I've seen in a long time.
If you like quirky slapstick comedies, this film is for you. The storyline does draw you in!
just lazy and nonsensical after having watched the other. There are too many mistakes and lapses in logic - the cute dance, dream sequences don't make up for it. Watch The Fairy instead. I'm 3/4 of the way through the film and think I can't even last until the resolution - it's that silly.
If you like Amelie, you'll like this one.
I don't normally like quirky films, but I decided to stick with this and ended up enjoying it. There are many scenes that are just very well done and a pleasure to watch.
Tres tres bien ...a lovely, original funny movie that's both offbeat and yet endearing. A rare combination.
Love it! visually beautiful with so much humour. Bravo!
It is a rare pearl of a movie with many good laughs.


Does this waterworld have "technology"? Does it have a crystal or magnetic power sources equivalent to electricity? Does it have a "civilization" as we would know it - with a history, laws, art, governments, music, architecture, and organized armies? Are the depths of the oceans lit with lights or does everyone live in a dark hole?
Can they give us a more comprehensive picture of what that world is going to be like?
If one were to take a census on intelligent life in the part of the Universe the Earth goes around in, the results would probably shock humans.
On a world by world basis there are about 1,000 dead worlds for every one that holds life. Humans are familiar enough with their surroundings to understand conditions on other planets, and if anything, would be surprised at the percentage capable of life. Not every life bearing planet sustains life that can develop to the level required for conscious and intelligent thought.
There are about 2,500 primordial worlds for every one that can support an intelligent species. Your Earth, for instance, had many such species with this potential.
Of these worlds that hold intelligent species, the vast majority, perhaps 75%, are water babies, as the vast majority of habitable planets are essentially water planets. These species may be crablike, fishlike, squidlike, or formed like almost any of your ocean inhabitants - an almost infinite variety.
Of the worlds that sustain land dwelling intelligent species, the greater share, just under 60%, are reptilian. Reptilian life forms appear first, and thus better their percentages. A minority are mammalian, above 10%, but whenever these life forms are a candidate they beat out all other candidates as mammalian existence is highly interactive and thus a good spiritual schoolyard.
The remaining land dwelling species range between birdlike or insect types, the latter more prevalent at about 30%.
Life only evolves where something akin to DNA can develop and be nurtured. Where the physical processes are essentially explosive, as within suns, or immobilized, as on your frozen outer planets, any DNA type structure would either be torn apart or fail to grow. What kind of thought process could a single atom maintain?
1. Those that are not undergoing an essentially explosive process, such as suns undergo, or are not in such close proximity to such a process that they share the same environment.
2. Those that are not so far from a heat and light generating process that their atoms are essentially immobilized. There is more variety in these types of worlds than mankind currently surmises. As long as a DNA type structure can form and not be destroyed, life can exist. However, such slow-motion worlds are poor school houses and souls fail to spark in such a boring environment.
3. Those that contain a heavy preponderance of a liquid, such as water, to encourage mobility. Mankind assumes that life requires water, and they are not far from the truth. There are other substitutes, just as there are other substitutes for carbon in the chemical chains that form into DNA type structures, but the stage must be set, for any type of complex life forms to develop, for mobility.
However, within your Solar System, only the Earth currently supports complex life, with ample water and heat from a molten core and the right amount of sunlight from a moderate sized sun.
Both Mars and Venus and a number of planets formerly in the Asteroid Belt supported life in the past. The Asteroid Belt had water planets capable of developing complex life forms, but were dashed to pieces by the trash and Moons that accompanies the periodic passages of [Planet X].
Your gaseous planets have a chemical mix that aborts, rather than supports the building of DNA type structures. And Planert X, also a member of your Solar System, has a slow and very controlled explosive process that supplies it with its own heat and light, which emerges through deep rifts in the oceans and scatters in the atmosphere to form a diffuse light around this traveling planet.
Greek God was presented in the lineup of hominoids. He was an example of the 8 foot tall giants that live on Planet X, and came to Earth to mine for Gold when their planet was passing through. He made Arnold Schwartzeneger look like a 97 pound weakling. He was wearing a Roman legionnaire's outfit and was attractively proportioned. What a hunk! My comment to him was, "No wonder they thought you were gods."
Chicken Man was presented in the lineup of hominoids. He looked just like a flesh-colored chicken without feathers, but upon close examination I saw there were toes on the feet and fingers on the end of wing-like arms. There was no beak, just a pointed face. When I asked what his planet was like I was given a telepathic view of a bleak rocky place. I was told this was a female who was hugging and protective of the next hominoid, a male.
Tiny Man was presented in the lineup of hominoids. He stood about a foot tall, and was flesh colored with a rounded head and short limbs. He seemed terribly shy, and when spoken to would titter and look at the floor. Chicken Man did all the talking.
Horned Toad Man was presented in the lineup of hominoids. He was less than 4 foot tall and wore clothing. His skin was covered by large humped plates similar in appearance to the top of a turtle shell, but with more flexibility. When asked, he explained that his home planet was a dry, rocky place. There were two of these, one smaller than the other, but I failed to ask if they were from different planets or were different sexes.
Broom Stick Man is the very tall and skinny alien from Close Encounters, the one with a small thin head. He appeared to be in charge of presenting the hominoid lineup. He seemed responsible and sensitive to the varying discomforts and expectations of the group.
Little Green Man was presented in the lineup of hominoids. He was less than 4 foot tall, had a round green face but thin body, and had splayed fingers from a small round hand. He wore a plain blue outfit.
Slinky Man was presented in the lineup of hominoids. He was short and appeared to have no neck, wrists, or ankles - all was one round tubular shape like connected slinkies. He wore an outfit with a high collar and his hair was clumped and still, black, standing straight up along the back of the head in peaks. I asked about his home planet but received for an answer this movement. His right leg stretched out to twice its length and landed to the side, then retracted and came back. He stretched like a slinky, without sign of bones inside. Persevering, I next got the following motion. His head rose up on a stretching neck 2 feet above the shoulders. His neck didn't get thin, all just rose up like a slinky.
Broom Stick Man explained telepathically that I had offended Slinky Man, because I hadn't bowed before talking to him. I bowed deeply from the waist and begged his forgiveness, and got warm, happy vibes from Slinky Man telepathically. I never did get my question answered. I asked the Zetas about him afterwards, and they explained this race is from a 3rd Density planet, not mature as our planet is not mature. Where we are violent, they get into a lot of posturing and political chits. The Zetas said "Very tiring."
Swamp Creature was presented later, after the presentations of hominoids, where the presentations were moving to other variations of intelligent creatures. He looked like the Creature from the Black Lagoon except that he was green, not black. A gentle giant, in and out of the water.
Vampire Man looked like a hominoid flea. He stood 4 foot high with stubby little legs and arms and gray leathery skin. The outstanding feature was 2 long, gray tusks coming down from his face about 4 inches apart. My understanding was that this was the equivalent of our vultures, in that it eats the dead by sucking fluids from a corpse. He seemed negative to me in that he wanted to intimidate, but like most bullies backed away when really confronted. I grabbed a tusk and flipped him onto his back. Not being agile, it took him some minutes to right himself, his stubby arms and legs flailing.
Dino Man looked like a small Tyrannosaurus Rex, but was no taller than a large man. He was dark green, with a ridge down his back, and stood erect while leaning back on a large fat tail used for balance. The end of his tail had a couple of pointed yellow barbs, which looked fluid filled and puffy. The mouth was lined with many teeth. He was not a telepathic conversationalist except to insist that I was to obey him, a command he repeated several times. When this was refused he opened his mouth to show all his teeth, leaning toward me. When he found he could not intimidate me, he lost interest and turned his back.
Octopus Man had a body and tentacles like an octopus. He was chocolate brown on the outside and cream colored on the underside of the tentacles. I was delighted to find him very chatty. I asked what his home planet was like and was telepathically shown a planet of water with only an occasional rock sticking out - very windy above the water line and inhospitable where the water was warm and inviting. We shook hands at the end, hand to tentacle. He had a special pink tentacle like a long earthworm that wrapped around my wrist, to improve communications it seemed. I had no problem with that. It's not the life form, it's the vibes coming from the soul within that matters.
Introduction to this intelligent alien caused me to faint for the first time in my life. The Zetas dragged me to my feet and the introduction proceeded. Bean Bag Man has 2 eyes in a broad round head, and a single mouth. Asked what his home planet was like, I received a telepathic explanation of a green hothouse kind of place. Bean Bag Man looked like a round green blob with no bones. When I asked what he ate, I got a telepathic view of a bug like a beetle being crushed. I gave Bean Bag Man a telepathic view and explanation of our custom of shaking hands, and he extended one of about fifty little claws that fringed around his waist. After a moments hesitation, and I took and shook one of the claws.
I asked about technology, and didn't get anything back. He did not come for this visit on his own power. I asked about housing and got a telepathic scene of Bean Bag Man sort of flowing along the ground toward a sheltered place along an embankment. Saying goodby, Bean Bag Man moved away from me, flowing along by heaving parts of his body forward or backward along the ground. Bean Bag Man was all green, except for his bottom where he abutted the ground, and this was black. A pleasant fellow, meaning me no harm.
Cockroach Man emerged from a blue/green pool, where he had been floating face down. The pool appeared to be thick with algae. His back was smooth and rounded like a turtle shell, with no sign of wings, and he was gray all over. He stood erect on a rear set of legs, looking like a giant cockroach on the front with several sets of leg/arms ending in two toe/fingers and with a couple of round eyes at the head. He was not particularly communicative.
Amoebae Man was light green and without form or distinction. He had no markings. He was on the floor, and flowed parts of itself around my ankles so communication could occur. A picture of a rocky world where life only occurs in the crevices was relayed to me. Amoebae man had to lay low to survive.
Within these parameters there is great variation on other facets, however, as the life form must live on the world they evolved on, and this cannot be ignored. Thus, on those worlds where the mass of the planet is such that gravity exerts a great pull, the life form will evolve with enough strength in bone and muscle to move about. Thus the giant hominoids from Planet X are large, heavy boned, and strong in comparison to humans, as their planet exerts almost twice as much gravity pull as the Earth.
Thus we, the Zetas, are stronger than humans as our planets also had more mass and resulting gravity pull. Where skinny, our bones are bolstered by wrap around ribs and joints that move in fewer directions than human joints, thus preventing strain.
The evolution of a life form and the home planet determines to some degree where the life form can travel and work. Beyond the obvious differences in ability to tolerate high radiation from a hot sun or the need to breath air or water or the base chemistry of the DNA, there are issues of gravity tolerance.
- covered with feathers or fur or scales or without an outer garment.
Life forms come in all shapes, and humans embracing the Awakening should be mentally and emotionally prepared to encounter them. Bear in mind that they think of the human form as strange, too.
* On water planets, where no dry land exists, the life form that emerges as the intelligent species is most often a type of octopus, as their tentacles allow manipulation of the environment and intelligence eventually develops due to that capacity.
* On planets where reptiles prospered well, where a rapid rotation of the planet toasts the environment evenly and allows cold-blooded reptiles to be constantly active, the reptiles simply eat the emerging mammals.
* On planets where a mammal life form emerges routinely have an environment that is harsh in some way to reptiles. Your Earth is such a planet, with a slow rotation that creates cold nights, winters, and poles such that cold-blooded reptiles are sluggish and slow.
* On planets where insects develop as the dominant intelligent species the planet has land but does not have a generous food supply in its waters or as vegetation on the land. Insects eat anything, in tiny bites, and can live on dung, rotting tissue, crumbs, and the slime that may cover rocks along the edge of water pools.
In the case of planets where insects emerge as predominant, some insect forms begin to eat other insects, and thus can grow larger. Humans, used to insect forms that are tiny, are seeing what occurs when all insect forms are consumed by others. On Earth, insects are consumed not only by other insects but also are the favorite food of birds, reptiles, and rodents.
For any insect to evolve as a large specimen on Earth would require a protected environment where none of the other Earth creatures could discover it. This is simply not the case on your Earth, but is the case on those rare worlds where insects evolve as the predominant, and eventually the intelligent, species.
We ourselves, the Zetas, have been described as lizards, where we do not have a genetic affinity for what Earthlings know to be lizards at all. Our genetics are similar to humans, from the same base, and we are warm-blooded. There are cold-hearted humans, who are warm-blooded, and there are warm-hearted reptilians, who are primarily cold-blooded. However, as the reptilian genetics allow for less empathy, or telepathic awareness of others.
There are numerous reptilians at work in the vicinity of Earth. Some of the forms are humanoid, with arms and hands with fingers and opposable thumbs and legs and feet with toes, eyes forward on the face, rather than facing to the side, and a bi-pedal stance. Others take the form of what you would call snakes, with some development of limbs in varying numbers. Others have forms similar to lizards, and walk on four or more legs, their bodies too stiff to allow a stance. These alien forms can rear up to perform functions, but essentially work at the floor level.
A reptilian form familiar to humans is the Dino. Where not as large as the Earth's dinosaurs, this reptilian looks like a miniature Tyrannosaurus Rex, and stands at least as tall as the average human.
Humans think of hominoids as bipedal and hairless - the naked ape. Hominoid forms evolve naturally on many worlds, and just as the proto-hominoid on Earth was a hairy ape, the proto-hominoid elsewhere can take many forms. Due to the genetic engineering that takes place, grafting genetics from existing hominoid stock, the hominoid visitors that humans have encountered look similar to humans in the main, and thus have given the erroneous impression that this is the hominoid form. The naked ape is but one variation of the hominoid form.
What is termed the Praying Mantis is a hominoid, and what many contactees take to be the insect forms of their visitors are almost invariably hominoid. There are alien hominoids that look like monkeys or apes to humans and a variation on this form is a furry hominoid humans take to be a bipedal cat. Humans have whiskers, but not the stiff sensing kind that rodents and their pet cats and dogs possess, so seeing whiskers on the delicate face of a fuzzy visitor has caused them to assume these visitors to be cat people.
The Praying Mantis is large, dark, and, to humans, insect like. They have no physiological similarity to the insects of Earth, however, and in fact are a form of hominoid - mammalian. The Praying Mantis are few in number. They possess remarkable telepathic abilities.
Some aliens create chlorophyll in response to energy emitted from a sun, and synthesize crude nutrients such as minerals and water into sugars. This all only goes so far, and in fact only gives what you would describe as a sugar high, a boost.
Grey. What does that mean? That the skin tone is gray, rather than green or blue or beige? Well, we've got news for the human race. Most of the alien forms they will meet will be gray. Of the some thousand or more visitors to Earth, over half have been of a gray tone. Why is this?
The color is what the eye can perceive. Do you imagine that the human eye sees all? Your scientists will tell you this is not so, that your eyes see a very small spectrum of what is to be seen. When the color of the skin before you cannot be seen by you, you register gray. It is impossible to describe the color spectrum that humans are missing, as they would have no frame of reference. The colors are new to humans. The rainbows we see have dozens of colors beyond the rainbows you see.
The Nordics have less patience with humans than other alien groups, and expect humans to be pure in heart who have little conflict about their roles. The Nordics work at a high level toward solving the Earth's problems, and feel they make best use of their efforts in this way, and their track record reflects this.
Some Pleiadean genetics were utilized in humankind's past, during prior genetic engineering phases. The Pleiadeans feel they are particularly adept at communicating the Service-to-Others philosophy to humans, due to these genetic links, and have carved out this role for themselves. This is a worthy and time consuming task, and one which they work at with great dedication. They are very active. They often touch people and communicate, being considered greeters, and are very social. The Pleiadeans are a tiny proportion of the total visitors at present, less that 1/2 of 1%.
Orion received bad press early on because of a much trumpeted visit to the United States government. The pendulant noses of the entities from Orion are a signal identifier.
There are currently no alien visitors that would be taken as human by other humans. This myth was spread by government disinformation agents as a means of raising paranoia in the populace. The distrust of aliens and their purported takeover agendas was to reach into every household, every family, and every bedroom. You, too, may be married to an alien. Movies were produced that showed humans being snatched and clones put in their place, and if not a replacement, then possessed by an alien soul or implanted with a control mechanism. All to raise the level of paranoia so that citizens could be expected to turn in their friends and neighbors if they mentioned having had contact with aliens. There are no alien life forms living in human society, as human lookalikes or otherwise.
It is frequently mentioned that the Pleiadeans look very much like humans, as well as the Nordics and Sirians. Where the similarities immediately impress humans having contact with these hominoids, there are differences that would stand out should they simply set up housekeeping in the neighborhood. The eating habits would be the first to be noticed, as where genetic engineering of hominoids has resulting in similar looking forms, the worlds the hominoids had to adapt to differed greatly.
Nordics eat little, having learned to adapt to lean times on their world. Faced with what humans consider a meal, a Nordic would appear a picky eater. Just as the Men-In-Black are under stress when exposed to the Sun's rays, hominoid life forms from dim suns such as ourselves have difficulty dealing with a mid-sized sun such as yours. This would be true of Pleiadeans as well as Nordics, who would not simply get sunburn, but would develop symptoms of radiation poisoning as well.
The Men in Black have received a lot of press as their visits are in the consciousness of humans. Where do they come from? They are not extraterrestrial at all, but live underground, in tunnels and caverns. The Men in Black have constructed cities underground, structures with multiple stories and tram systems run by electricity, but these are in natural caverns and are not connected to one another unless natural passageways exist.
The electrical energy the Men in Black use is chemically generated, a method learned on their home planet prior to their transplantation to Earth. Their electrical energy is not abundant, and would hardly support the average United States homeowner with her many electrical appliances.
If the Men in Black live in natural underground caverns, then how have they escaped the eyes of eager explorers, who pass up no opportunity to discover new underground passageways and caverns? There are a thousand times more caverns and passageways than they have yet come upon, or even suspect, many far deeper than man has even probed. The Men in Black, being unable to live on the surface, established themselves underground when they first arrived on Earth, in a technologically advanced state.
They are not violent, as humans are by nature, but they're scared silly of being discovered by humans. Being no less intelligent than humans, they have spent no small amount of time devising ways to keep from being discovered, like a rat in a hole with no back door.
Bigfoot has fascinated mankind for as long as the two races have been in contact with each other, as infrequent and fleeting as that many be. The reason for this has less to do with Bigfoot's size and ape like appearance, which would be understandable on this Earth, as with Bigfoot's elusiveness. Gorillas, for instance, are as large. Chimpanzees seem as intelligent. Why is Bigfoot a fascination?
The answer lies in his seemingly uncanny ability to elude detection. The reason for this is that Bigfoot was to house a group of [souls] who are in quarantine. They remain elusive because they are not to intermingle with mankind. In this effort, they do not go unassisted.
Bigfoot is there, right under your nose. Why are they in quarantine? These souls have been placed into a primitive condition at their request, so that they can return to a basic understanding of how to get along with each other, with nature, and ponder the wondrous workings of nature. Their quarantine is not an exile. It is a search for peace.
Little known is that a reptilian race lives underground, in the caverns and waterways that occur naturally. This reptilian race, if seen by humans, would not be recognized as an intelligent species, as they carry none of the trappings of civilization. Do they have technology, structures, computers? Yes and no. Where their IQ is less than humans and they are not as dexterous nor upright, they nonetheless can maneuver their surroundings. Socially, their existence is not that much different from humans. They both care for and murder each other. We will not mention their form, nor the locations of their homes, as they would be vulnerable should humans go hunting for them, for sport, as those inclined toward [power trips] surely would.
These transplants to the Earth came from worlds that could no longer support them. The Men in Black cannot tolerate life on the surface. They were used to dim light. The Men in Black in fact are not even biologically compatible with humans to the degree that offspring might be possible. The reptilian race developed on a water planet. They also suffered from a dying sun, and were used to cold, dark conditions before they were transplanted.
Humans instinctively avoid food that is rotten, and are attracted to food that smells fresh. Men see beauty in women who have full hips, slender waists, and ample bosoms - all traits that indicate the ability and readiness to bear young. Both sexes find a diseased partner unattractive - a safe guard against spreading infections or perpetuating genetic diseases.
A life form that looked like a slime covered horned toad or an amphibious octopus is not a life form humans would instinctively cuddle up to . Humans, due to their evolutionary roots, are inclined to think about dinner or avoidance when encountering such creatures, not about communion.
The global shift in thinking that humans make when realizing that they are not alone as an intelligent species includes contemplating what this means. It does not mean sitting around a table chatting with other very human-looking aliens, an image the media has portrayed. Humans should bear in mind, when making these adjustments, that their appearance may be just as disgusting to their visitors.
It may be argued that plants and single cell creatures live by absorbing only chemicals and light, and thus sustain themselves in a benign manner, but close examination proves otherwise. Bacteria or virus material considered on the borderline of being living matter, infects and destroys that which they need for nourishment, and the amoebae and protozoa likewise surround and consume foodstuffs they encounter, whether this food be living or not. Plants seem to take in carbon dioxide and light and transform this into sugar. Yet the roots of the plant draw up the nourishment the plants need only because they are embedded in soil moistened in the byproduct of other life, which must die for the plant to grow, and some carnivorous plants don't wait for the donor to die.
Eating one another starts early. Carnivorous behavior is intrinsic to corporeal life. Why God so structured the world in this way is not known, but considering that all [young souls] begin their life incarnated, there are certain lessons that are guaranteed. As empathy in some degree is also intrinsic to corporeal life, a conflict between the self and the other is a given. Thus, the conscious decision to sacrifice the self is frequently made, and this is the spark that begins development toward empathy.
It is a water world, with scarcely a rock or two jutting above the surface of the endless waves. The species on this planet have all evolved from life forms that spend their entire life in the water. Thus, no mammals exist on this planet, since a stint on land, such as occurred in the past for your whales and dolphins, was not possible during their evolutionary past. This world has received transplants from other worlds frequently, so there is a broad spectrum of past experiences in the memory of those incarnating there. Humans reincarnating there will find they quickly adjust to living on a water world, having tentacles instead of hands, and tending the occasional batch of eggs.
Humans, being land based animals with hands and digits that can manipulate their environment cannot imagine being an intelligent creature in a water world. Fins? Tentacles? How does one work a keyboard or accumulate a 401K or conduct the equivalent of dentistry as a water creature? Modern civilization has as one of its driving engines electricity, which surely would not work in a water world unless mass suicide were desired. Does knowledge about their history get passed down to the young by the fishy equivalent of world of mouth, as legends? If they have the equivalent of the written word, what is the tablet, and more importantly, what holds the pen? Certainly, the ink could not be water soluble. Issues of warfare do not seem so unimaginable, as mankind has scarcely stepped away from the fist fight as automatic response, and all animals have some sort of defense mechanism, be it fight or flight.
Spiritual growth or spiritual interaction does not require the trappings of modern civilization - electricity, long distance communication, and dentures. Spiritual growth was ongoing during the days of the cave man, and proceeds today in Third World countries where life is scarcely better. In trying to project what life might be like in a waterworld, man should not assume that light is a necessity! Or even eyes. It has been documented that some blind men can read printed words though their skin, sensing some difference in the light emitted. Telepathy, a 6th sense, is used in the animal kingdom extensively, a method by which mothers communicate to their young, the herd or flock communicates with its members, and mating pairs find each other. For spiritual growth, what is needed is for the incarnated creature to be able to INTERACT with each other, to enable anothers life, improve it, out of caring, or conversely to punish, intimidate, or starve another out of concern only for the self. Guns and knives and the oppression of debt are not needed to enable or express a Service-to-Self orientation. In a waterworld, snatching food from those weaker, blocking the way so that escape from a threatening situation is delayed, are all tools by which the selfish can demonstrate, by their actions, their chosen orientation. Likewise, opportunities to care for one another are available to every species.
High tech? Is electricity the only medium by which a creature becomes high tech? We have stated that crop circles are laid by water creatures, their only opportunity to participate. Crop circles are made by a ray which incites a growth hormone in the crop, combined with wind action caused by changes in the air over the spot to be swirled. Particle movement is NOT incited simply by the press of electrons. In man's world, heat, light, and electrons seem to go together, but those seeing crop circles laid down have not reported that either heat or light are a necessary component. Perhaps, in their waterworld, they have identified particles to be manipulated that mankind has not yet dreamed exist. Even sound waves, which utilize anything physical around them to be transmitted, can travel long distances, through oceans, being one of the means by which whale pods communicate with each other. If man needs phones or carrier pigeons, whales do not. Status within a society, rules and laws, can certainly be enacted in a waterworld. The dolphin has been noted to swarm to protect their young, or even hapless human swimmers, from danger or attack. What message goes out to the group that their help is required? Is this not a societal expectation known to all? These rules are not written on paper, for the dolphin, they are written in the creature, passed down by interaction, old to young, and are kept simple, devoid of pedantic qualifiers, for that reason. Is this not a better system than the contorted system that man has developed?