Nature in May – what to look out for
Living in a cool and slightly windswept location in the South Shropshire Hills means that the arrival of migrant birds or the appearance of the first spring butterflies occurs a little later here than it does in counties further south and east. Read more
Can you think about sending this letter (or something similar) to your MP about TTIP?
Can you take 10 mins to send this letter, or something very similar, to your MP? People have been asking MPs some of these questions and getting silly answers, which suggests we are hitting a nerve – so we need to keep on hitting it. Read more
The 6 main approaches to changing the world; which one do you subscribe to?
We received an email recently with these sentences: ‘This idea of those evil corporations is mistaken because we are all involved in society and economy. There is no us and them we are all part of it and need to take responsibility for that.’ Read more
Public support for TTIP has plummeted in Germany and the US to 17% and 15% respectively
A report for the Bertelsmann Foundation has shown plummeting support for TTIP in Germany and in the US – down to 17% in Germany and 15% in the US, with 18% of Americans and a full third of Germans saying that it is ‘a bad thing’. Read more
Stephen Hawking says that we should prioritise space travel and that ‘philosophy is dead’; cleverness and wisdom are very different
There’s clever and there’s clever. There’s clever like a computer or a calculator, and then there’s clever as in wise. The first kind of cleverness is the technical type, that can work out how to build nuclear weapons, or to genetically modify food crops, or to cut through the branch that we’re sitting on Read more
Work / farmshare opportunity for someone interested in farming, smallholding, forestry, livestock, mushrooms or building stone
Here’s a very interesting opportunity for a budding smallholder – either paid work or farm share, near Totnes in Devon. Over to Richard: Read more
If the BBC advertises Tesco, why is there a licence fee?
Just listened to a ten-minute advert for Tesco on ‘You and Yours’ on Radio 4, masquerading as news. I have some questions: Read more
A small key can open a large door: why we should all know what’s happening in Rojava
I don’t believe that any ethnic group anywhere in the world can truthfully claim that they have never carried out atrocities against another group. Every nation has been victim and perpetrator at some time. Read more
How the CEOs of Europe’s biggest corporations write EU policy
There’s an organisation based in Brussels called the European Round Table of Industrialists (ERT). It’s a club – invitation only, not transparent, not democratic – just a private club. Read more
Great opportunity to work with the wonderful ‘Stir to Action’
Stir to Action is a community organisation that publishes a quarterly magazine, runs workshop programmes and short courses, produces how-to resources for setting up co-operatives and community enterprises, commissions original artwork and facilitates social economy start-ups. Read more
How to knit a basic blanket – step by step (including how to knit)
This video is fantastic. It shows how to create a blanket from scratch. It’s for complete beginners, so you can do it even if you don’t know how to knit. Read more
Come to the ‘How to do it’ gathering next weekend to talk about system change – full programme and timetable
We blogged in January about the ‘How to do it’ conference about grassroots change that’s happening next weekend in London. There are still places available – book your free ticket here. Read more
Where does money really come from? (erratum: there is no fractional reserve system in the UK)
There is a simple conception of the banking system – that banks look after money for savers, and pay them interest. They then loan out that money to other people and charge them a slightly higher rate of interest, and that’s where they make their profit. Read more
Should the TV licence fee be scrapped?
It’s a tricky one. The argument for the licence fee (and one that I used to subscribe to until I watched the Panorama corporate propaganda piece – see below) is that the Beeb produces drama of a quality not found anywhere else. Read more
Ageing: rejecting cosmetic surgery and embracing the crone
When I sit in a coffee shop people-watching other older women, I am often drawn to two main types. First there is the older woman keen to retain an image of youth to whom ageing successfully is to be seen to be as young as possible for as long as possible by whatever means. Read more
More on the EU referendum from a low-impact perspective: is another Europe possible?
Is the European Union an empty vessel into which any political content may be poured? Can it accommodate not just neoliberal conservatism but also Keynesian social democracy, hard-line greenery and even pro-nationalisation democratic socialism? Read more
Installing a horizontal-flow reedbed
This week we undertook the building of a ‘proper’ horizontal flow reedbed. Our existing little ones were a hastily built, stopgap measure that we installed when we got here, and it was time to do things correctly. Read more
Thinking of starting a community enterprise? Win a free place on a three-day workshop
Our friend Jonathan at Stir to Action (incorporating STIR Magazine) is hosting a three-day workshop for people who are interested in starting a community enterprise, rather than joining the corporate rat-race. He’s offering one place on this workshop for free Read more
The EU referendum from a low-impact perspective
We’ve got a referendum coming up in June that Cameron didn’t want, but was forced to promise at a time when it looked as though votes lost to UKIP might have cost him the election. His arguments now are largely based on the number of jobs that could be lost if we leave. Read more
The environmental damage caused by flail cutting of hedgerows, and what can be done about it
One of the most damaging post-war developments in hedgerow preservation was the increase in mechanised cutting of hedges, in particular using the flail. Read more