There has never been a better time to break free from fossil fuels. Record-breaking global temperatures, plummeting fossil-fuel prices, historic investments in renewable energy, and global pressure to honour climate pledges are all coming together to create the ideal setting for this world-changing shift. The shift could not be more urgent. The United Nations climate … [Read more...]
Turkish PM Erdoğan violently clears Gezi Park
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has sought to end the protests against his government with a mixture of duplicity and brutality. He is being aided and abetted by the leaders of the protests, who are playing into his hands. The mass demonstrations against Erdogan’s Islamist Justice and Development Party (AKP) government began in Gezi Park in Istanbul in opposition … [Read more...]
Saving trees costing lives in Turkey
A friend of ours from Germany received this urgent message last night from her friend Anne who has lived in Turkey for some years now. Here is her plea: Something terrible is happening in Turkey. It all began with a peaceful demonstration against deforestation of 80-year-old trees in a park (Geziparki) located in Taksim Square, where the Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan is … [Read more...]
Beekeeping in the Western Cape
We in Southern Africa have had our honeybees since time immemorial. Among the !Kung clans, an old and well-managed hive was cared for as a family treasure and passed down to the next generation, and theft of honey was considered a capital crime. The San of the Outeniquas (a KhoiSan word meaning 'honey mountains') were well known as honey traders, bringing down buckskin bags of … [Read more...]