February 7, 2009

E-Mail to perspective streering group members;

Hello,

I did get a chance to check out the free webinar regarding the Transition Town Initiative. This was the first step, and a biggie for me. I was able to ge a better understanding of what the initiative is, where it came from, and how its being implemented. I would highly recommend if you have a chance to check out this presentation.

midwestpermaculture.com
online courses, seminars on transition town initiatives
http://www.midwestpermaculture.com/TransitionIllinois.php


Transition Town U.S. networking web site
http://transitionus.ning.com/


The next free online seminar is scheduled for feb 18th, at 10 am. I am definately going to check this out again, especially seeing that i lost transmission for the last part of the presentation. It short, this initiative are the guidlines that have been put together after the first implementations of transition towns in England and Ireland. Currently there are about 100 initiatives in the works and 700 initiatives in various stages of development.

From the 'Transition Town U.S." web site
http://www.transitionus.org/index.php
The Viral Spread of Transition Initiatives

"At the forefront of this new approach is a growing band of communities who are adopting the Transition Model as they devise an entirely new way of thinking, living and working together to make our local communities more resilient and more abundant. Since the "unleashing"of Transition Town Totnes, England (the first in the UK) in the summer of 2006, the Transition concept has spread rapidly around the world. To date, there are about 80 officially designated Transition Towns (or cities, districts, villages, or islands) in the UK, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, New Zealand, Australia, and the U.S.; Transition Boulder County became the first Transition Initiative in North America in May 2008. There are some 700 additional communities who are in various stages of becoming Transition Initiatives or considering whether they're ready for this journey, and more join their ranks nearly every day.

http://www.transitionus.org/transition_training.php
there is a 2-day traing course available in montpelier, vermont in march I beleieve there is also a portland maine transition group.

So heres the idea for the set up for a meeting on Monday night.

Since the transition initiative is basically a guideline to create an 'energy descent action plan' for individual communities, it fits nicely into the outline and blueprint for what I have outlined in Newburyport; An American Perspective.
http://www.sunspiritgallery.com/NewburyportAnAmericanPerspective.htm

The perspective is basically an idea for a presentation that includes several avenues and plans for incorporating an historic waterfront district, a sustainable community center for the arts and education, and cultural creative sustainable community developments based on the principles of permaculture. Even though the 'Transition Town' initiative doesnt cover all the aspects outline and presented within the perspective, I feel that there is a connection between the two and I would like to toss around ideas and possibilities on how the two relate and how we can use the transition initiative as a stepping stone to introduce it to the idea as a sustainable community development in newburyport. In other words, its possible to have 'Transition Town; Newburyport" as part of the perspective. I would also like to explore the possibility of renaming the perspective or perhaps splitting it up into several renamed projects....?????

A good video to watch is (27 minutes);
Interview with Jennifer Grey on the Transition Town Movement
http://www.wordpress.peakmoment.tv/conversations/?p=254

Twelve steps to transition and getting started
http://www.transitionus.org/getting_started.php

I would also like to take this opportunity to point out that the article;
The Coming Energy Revolution
http://www.sunspiritgallery.com/energy.htm

Posted on my website is the story of how I spent a year writing another energy plan called 'The Citizens Energy Plan' that was presented to a member of congress, during the 'March for Peaceful Energy' in October of 1998, almost ten years ago now. If we implemented the Peaceful Energy Plan then, would we be in the same predicament as we are in today?

FYI

On a personal note, I need to do now what I should have done then. I pretty much have an idea now on how I am going to be approaching this avenue and work with permaculture over the coming months and immediate future. I am more convinced now then ever that this is an avenue and 'calling' for me now at this time of global change and transition. Perhaps, our only and.........last chance, to get it right.

There are two training courses that I would like to approach over the next few months. One is the two day training on Transition Towns (possibly in March in Montpelier, Vermont). This training will give me the ability to better present the Transition Town Initiative to my community (Possibly creating the foundation for 'Transition Town; Newburyport').

Secondly, I will be aiming to undertake a permaculture design certification (PDC) course. This is a 72 hour course in which one becomes certified to use the term 'permaculture' in their marketing, promotions, and presentations. Although there is no certification per say in permaculture design, or to become a permaculture designer, the course is an intense education in permaculture itself.

I have found through my research, there are several ways at approaching a PDC course. A complete course is 72 hours of instruction and runs for approximately $1500.00, although I have found them for less. Another avenue, and one that fits my time and availability is through mid west permacultures (midwestpermaculture.com) online seminar outline which involves 12, 2 hour online seminars. This course runs for 165.00 and credits you for one half of the 72 credited hours of the PDC. One week intensives are then offered for around 750.00 for one week of training and certification.

All certification courses are based on Bill Mollisons Designers manual for 95.00 (which I have available for monday night).

Please pass this information on to anyone that you might feel is interested. If anyone has any questions or anything to add to Monday nights meeting, please do.

Look forward to seeing you.

Jon

February 13, 2009

Enter the Age of Aquarius

The Aquarian Alignment 14th February 2009 http://www.judecurr ivan.com/ media-articles/ articles/ the-aquarian- alignment-14th- february- 2009/

We measure our global sense of both space (latitude and longitude) and time (universal time - UT or GMT) from the prime meridian located at Greenwich, England. So we can perceive the collective influence of this momentous astrological event by looking at the alignment from this globally ‘centered' perspective.

When we do something extraordinary and exquisite emerges

At dawn on 14th February the day dedicated to St Valentine, the patron saint of Love, the Moon in Libra enters the seventh house of relationships. And Jupiter and Mars are aligned in Aquarius in the twelfth house of spiritual transformation.

Forty years ago, the intuitive words of a song called Aquarius, brought the dawning of the new age into our collective awareness:

When the Moon is in the seventh house

and Jupiter aligns with Mars.

Then peace will guide the planets

and love will steer the stars

At dawn on 14th February the Cosmos actually embodies this perfect alignment to support our collective manifestation of love and peace and dawning of the Age of Aquarius.

The Aquarian chart of 14th February reveals an incredible concentration of cosmic influences blending with the energies of Aquarius in the twelfth house. Expansive Jupiter and energetic Mars are aligned with the higher purpose of the North Node. The presence of Chiron the wounded healer offers us the opportunity to heal the schisms that have separated us for so long. Neptune emphasizes collective humanitarian movements and the co-creation of social justice. And the presence of the radiant Sun enlightens the entire alignment.

Mercury also in the twelfth house but just beyond the cusp in Capricorn, allies with transformational Pluto to communicate and anchor the Shift throughout our global structures and institutions.

The Moon in Libra in the seventh house emphasizes harmonious real - ationships.

Venus in Aries in the first house energizes and empowers dynamic co- creativity.

And whilst Saturn the great task master in opposition to Uranus the unexpected awakener is suggesting an ongoing confrontation as the dregs of the unsustainable old paradigm reluctantly give way to the untested hope of the new, their placements in Virgo and Pisces brings practical altruism and visionary inspiration to the transition.

At 7.25am on 14th February - and for the 18 minutes of the alignment, I invite you, in the universal heart, to add your own intention for love and peace and to co-create the dawning of the Age of Aquarius to that of the Cosmos. In whatever way feels appropriate for you, you may choose to align with7.25am (UT) or 7.25am your own local time energizing a wave of intention that will surge around the Earth.

Please feel free to circulate this information, the Aquarian chart and its cosmic invitation to birth the Age of Aquarius.

Jude Currivan PHD
http://www.judecurrivan.com/media-articles/articles/the-aquarian-alignment-14th-february-2009/

February 15, 2009
The Growing Army of Angry Men Whose Lives Have Been Destroyed by the Federal Government
by Mark R. Crovelli

One of the hardest things to deal with in the current economic depression is the disgusting hypocrisy of the U.S. congress, the new president, and the members of the Federal Reserve System. It is one thing to be told, as we all are, that we must hand over fat wads of our hard-earned money to these warmongering and thieving snakes or face jail terms, but one feels a whole new level of revulsion when these people make statements to the effect that they, and they alone, are in a position to "save the economy" by "creating jobs." These statements are made by people who have done virtually everything in their power to destroy the American economy over the last few decades, but who have now proclaimed themselves to be our saviors. Only the most naïve and unlearned among us could possibly be falling for the idea that a bunch of self-serving politicians, bureaucrats and bankers are going to "save" us from problems they have caused.

On its face, the idea that politicians, bureaucrats, and bankers could "save" the economy is laughable. These are people, after all, who live exclusively at our expense. That is, these are people whose entire livelihoods are dependent upon taking money away from productive people and spending it on themselves and their favorite wasteful projects. It's true that they do not all share the same ideas about how to spend the money they take from us. Some prefer to use it to blow up innocent people in foreign lands, while others simply want to take our hard-earned money without our consent and hand it over to other people. The bankers, on the other hand, merely content themselves with printing vast amounts of new money out of thin air that they either hand over to the Treasury Department, or gift to their other banker-buddies to lend out at a profit at our expense. Nevertheless, it should be crystal clear that these people do not actually produce anything themselves (except the bankers, who are very skilled counterfeiters of money). They take money from us through taxation and inflation, (and threaten us with severe punishments if we refuse to obey), and then spend every last penny of it – and more – on war, socialized boondoggles, and welfare. These are the people who would have us believe that they can "save" the economy? How exactly would they accomplish such a thing? More taxes, more idiotic socialized projects, more war, and more newly-printed green paper? Do these actions really seem likely to produce a vibrant and healthy economy, or do they seem more like the actions undertaken by the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R.?

They would also very much like for us to believe that they are the only people in the world capable of "creating jobs" in the United States. A more ridiculous idea would be hard to find. Again, these people are only in the business of taking money from productive people, and either wasting it entirely (e.g., war), keeping it themselves, or giving it to other people (e.g., entitlement programs, foreign aid, and paychecks for bureaucrats). As such, any actions undertaken by these people will necessarily depend for funding upon those who are forced to pay taxes; namely, the increasingly-dwindling group of productive people who have not yet lost their jobs in the private sector. Does it really seem possible that this sort of parasitism on the productive people of the United States really can create jobs that produce the things that people actually want? If socialized job creation is the only way out of this economic quagmire, as the politicians would have us believe, then why don't they socialize the entire economy? If it were indeed the case that the federal government can "create" productive jobs better than the private sector, then why don't they take over all aspects of the American economy, and we can all live happily ever-after in a brave, new, socialized America where everyone is enslaved, I mean employed, by the State.

And don't think for a moment that the politicians and bureaucrats are themselves going to help the productive people shoulder this onerous tax burden. On the contrary, politicians and bureaucrats do not actually pay taxes. As Murray Rothbard has noted in this regard:

"If a bureaucrat receives a salary of $5,000 a year and pays $1,000 in 'taxes' to the government, it is quite obvious that he is simply receiving a salary of $4,000 and pays no taxes at all. The heads of the government have simply chosen a complex and misleading accounting device to make it appear that he pays taxes in the same way as any other men making the same income. The UN's arrangement, whereby all its employees are exempt from any income taxation, is far more candid."

Hence, while Mr. Obama is fond of telling us that "we" are going to have to get out of this recession together, what he really means is that those of us who are employed in productive private lines of work in this country are going to have to hand over more and more of our hard-earned money to those people in this country who pay no taxes at all; namely, men like Mr. Obama himself and the rest of the fat, parasitic political and bureaucratic class that infests this country.

Some of the more shameless of the political class in this country, or their academic lackeys, have even tried to convince us that the trillions of dollars they are wasting in Iraq and Afghanistan are going to help us get out of this depression. They have been taking our money and blowing it up in these two dreadfully poor countries year after year, and they would like for us to believe that this senseless destruction of wealth is going to make us richer. Often known as "Military Keynesians," this group is perhaps more aptly described as the "kill ourselves rich" crowd. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that neither you nor I are made better off when the federal government steals our money, hands it over to Lockheed Martin to purchase bombs, and then uses those bombs to blow up Pakistani civilians. The only people who benefit from this forceful expropriation of our money and indifferent murder are the merchants of death occupying lucrative posts at Lockheed, Blackwater and the Pentagon.

What the political and bureaucratic classes are actually accomplishing very well, however, is creating a veritable army of angry men whose lives have been destroyed by the federal government. Many have lost their jobs, thanks to the collapse of the largest artificial economic boom in American history – a boom that was directly caused by the actions of the federal government and the Fed. In addition, thanks to years of merciless and ceaseless money creation by the Fed, this army of men has found that their savings purchase fewer and fewer goods over time. This depreciation of the dollar will inexorably increase astronomically over the next few years as the massive amount of new money the Fed and treasury have already jointly printed, and are planning to print over the coming months and years, floods the system.

This army of angry men has very little to be optimistic about in the near future. At best, they might be able to keep their present jobs in the private sector – shouldering a heavier and heavier portion of the tax burden that funds the congress and president's wars and socialization schemes, while the value of their savings continues to erode into dust. Those who have lost their jobs might be permitted to work on Mr. Obama's "public works" projects, and thereby become virtual slaves to the whims of the political and bureaucratic classes. Many others will simply find it easier to start sucking at the state's teat in the form of unemployment insurance or food stamps, et cetera, and thereby lose all respect for themselves. One thing is certain for every member of this army of angry men, though; every single one of them will now find it very difficult, if not impossible, to carve out a living for himself, on his own terms, and without being at the complete mercy of politicians, bureaucrats, and bankers he has never even met. The age of the independent, responsible, and free American citizen is now dead.

The hour is fast approaching when each and every one of us will have to decide for ourselves whether we will try to fight this devastating government machine, or join it.

February 10, 2009

Mark R. Crovelli [send him mail] writes from Denver, Colorado.

Copyright © 2009 LewRockwell.com

Mark R. Crovelli Archives

February 17, 2009
Update on the 'Transition Town Initiative'
and 'Transition Town Newburyport'

Transition Initiative Primer - Suggested study for 2 Day Intensive
http://transitionnetwork.org/Primer/TransitionInitiativesPrimer.pdf

Network group page for; Transition Town Newburyport
http://transitionmassachusetts.ning.com/group/newburyport

Network page for Transition Massachusetts
http://transitionmassachusetts.ning.com/

2-Day Transition Training
http://www.midwestpermaculture.com/TI-Training.php 2-Day Transition Training Details
http://www.midwestpermaculture.com/TI-TrainingDetail.php

Another source for Training Details
http://transitiontowns.org/TransitionNetwork/TransitionTrainingDetail

Montpelier, Vermont
http://www.transitionus.org/transition_training.php

Training for Transition Network Page
http://transitionvermont.ning.com/events/training-for-transition

Transition Training Flyer


Next free transition training webinar
Wednesday - 10:00 am Central Time
presented by Midwest Permaculture
http://www.midwestpermaculture.com/TI-Webinars.php

Free 30 Minute Introductory Presentation (Slide Show and Audio)
http://www.midwestpermaculture.com/TI-Presentation.php

February 22, 2009

Transition Vermont
http://transitionvermont.ning.com/

Transition Towns WIKI
TransitionNetwork / TransitionWiki
http://transitiontowns.org/TransitionNetwork/TransitionWiki