Are you a leader or a steward?
Posted on 12. Oct, 2011 by timrayner in Open culture, The movement
Are you a leader or a steward? Leadership is important. But stewardship is vital in a world of syncretic networks. Stewardship is similar to leadership. It assumes the initial functions of leadership: it reaches out to a community, extends invitations for collaboration, puts pieces together, and nurtures a project once it gets going. Stewards know [...]
Swarm Wall Street: why an anti-political movement is the most important force on the planet
Posted on 10. Oct, 2011 by timrayner in Open culture, The movement
Why are people occupying Wall Street? The US political elite and mainstream media don’t know what to make of it. ‘Anti-capitalist and unAmerican’, says Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain, echoing the sentiments of the conservative left and political right. The mainstream commentariat, when it dares to peer closer, paints an unflattering picture of disaffected, disorganized youth, milling [...]
Climate skeptics – check the facts!
Posted on 25. Feb, 2011 by richard_whiteford in The movement
Since America has experienced severe snowstorms this winter, the climate skeptics are out in droves poking fun at how “Al Gore’s liberals” use every weather event to prove global warming. I’m not sure how climate change, or global warming, got politicized because its ramifications will impact conservatives and liberals; Republicans and Democrats alike. It’s easy [...]
Introducing GreenTribe – an environmental action hub
Posted on 24. Feb, 2011 by timrayner in Campaigns we support, Open culture, The movement
This is an interview between Tim Rayner and Gabe Stern of GreenTribe. Q. What is GreenTribe? What are you trying to do? How did it get started? The Green Tribe is a place for people to find practical environmental information – how to recycle a computer, what is the most water-efficient shower head, who are [...]
Coalition of the Willing contributors – we salute you!
Posted on 02. Feb, 2011 by timrayner in Campaigns we support, Coalition Events, Open culture, The movement
I can’t believe that only seven months have passed since Coalition of the Willing was released. A lot has happened since then. The Guardian got things off to a flying start by posting the film on their environment page. Since then, Coalition of the Willing has won the Grand Jury Award at the Hampton International [...]
War, what’s it good for?
Posted on 21. Dec, 2010 by timrayner in The movement
One recurring criticism of ‘Coalition of the Willing’ concerns the use of ‘war talk’ in the film. Do we really want governments to launch a ‘war’ on global warming? If they refuse to issue the call to arms, should we expect civil society to launch this war itself? This is what we suggest in the [...]
Connecting the dots
Posted on 10. Dec, 2010 by fabio_barone in Open culture, The movement
What is our situation, today? We could dream of a planetary nervous system, of a united humanity, of a species cooperating on a marvelous magic satellite. We could philosophize over the destiny of mankind, over teleology and the universal mind. We could delve into collective intelligence, shifted consciousness, raised awareness, and speak of transcending boundaries, [...]
Sonnet for Cancun
Posted on 08. Dec, 2010 by timrayner in The movement
The chat-fest at Cancun inspires many reactions. Paul Horan has recommended the following passage, an excerpt from the Sonnets to Orpheus, by the German poet Rainer Maria Rilke. I hope it resonates with you as much as it does with us. ^TR ————————————————————— The Machine endangers all we have made. We allow it to rule [...]
Message to the negotiators at Cancun
Posted on 05. Dec, 2010 by richard_whiteford in The movement
For the last three million years natural CO2 levels hovered around 280 parts per million (PPM). But since 1750 they abruptly (in geological time) increased to today’s 390 PPM. Life’s stability on the planet now teeters on a CO2 fulcrum precariously tilting toward demise. Skeptics can shout all the Cassandra epithets they want about this [...]
What I learned at Movement Camp
Posted on 17. Oct, 2010 by timrayner in Campaigns we support, Coalition Events, Open culture, The movement
Take a Drupal back-end enabling user-generated video uploads. Add two video portals, side by side, linked from Justin.tv, and configured so that participants can go live at the push of a button. Add an entry portal to Freenode Internet Relay Chat, so that everyone involved can exchange ideas in real time, bouncing off and interjecting [...]
