Sweet Misery: A Poisoned World

Screens Tuesday, 2nd October, 7:30pm at the Waiheke Island Community Cinema

When food is being poisoned with additives known to be harmful, and the food authorities stand by and allow it, one has to ask the question: "How is this possible?" We'll come back to that question, but first let's set the scene for this film.

A major figure in US politics also holds an influential role in a company producing an artificial sweetener. Studies are undertaken but the results are hidden through overlooking some of the data and focusing only on the data that allows the FDA to approve the product going to market. Add to this the rising cost of sugar, and the ability to use a cheap (albeit dangerous) substitute and, before you know it, the coded numbers and variations on trademarked names start appearing in unlikely places on the labels of commonly purchased food and drinks, poisoning their unsuspecting consumers.



While this reads like a cheap suspense novel, it is all sadly true. "Sweet Misery" takes us into the world of both independent and official researchers of the product called Aspartame. It also speaks with sufferers who have discovered the reason for their ailments -- some of them severe.

My mother always told me, "moderation in everything," and while I went on to learn that this philosophy could also embrace excess, I wonder at the addictive nature and intelligence of our species, and our ability to consume large quantities of a single product, and then wonder why we don't feel well. Just as in healthy ecosystems, when diversity appears in our lives and society in general, we tend to see healthier and happier people. Yet we are living in a time when we losing much of our diversity and the resilience that accompanies it.

Humans are currently causing the greatest mass extinction of species since the extinction of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. If present trends continue, one half of all species of life on earth will be extinct in less than 100 years as a result of habitat destruction, pollution, invasive species, and climate change. But the lack of diversity doesn't end there. . . it is evident in virtually every aspect of our society, and can be seen dramatically in the areas of corporate domination and a two or three-party political system which assumes economic growth and capitalism as its foundation premise.

The very nature of a corporate entity demands that it attempts to survive and thrive by swallowing up its competitors. Thus we get bigger and bigger corporations, to the point that the top 200 multi-national corporations now have a combined turnover greater than a quarter of the world's economic activity, and greater than the annual combined GNP of 180 countries.

Which leads me back to the question: "How is it possible that we have allowed our food to become a threat to our well-being?" With power and money concentrated in the hands of corporations, and a system that has elevated money almost to the status of a religion, it is not hard to buy the research results you want, and position yourself to profit enormously from a chemical replacement for sugar -- especially if you have the political influence of Donald Rumsfeld. . . but I am letting you into too much of the film now.

Come along on Tuesday night (at the new time of 7:30pm). Watch "Sweet Misery," and be informed.

Try Revolution @ Cinema

Try Revolution tells the story of how the protests surrounding the 1981 Springbok Tour of New Zealand impacted on South Africa. In this one hour documentary South Africans from Archbishop Desmond Tutu through to ordinary rugby fans talk about how the games, the images, the reports and the conversations that surrounded "The Tour" affected them personally and helped to change the apartheid system.

The 1981 Springbok Tour of New Zealand had been greatly anticipated by the rugby mad white community of South Africa. New Zealand was their most cherished rival and this tour was going to be live on television…a first for South Africa. So when they tuned into the first broadcast, the Hamilton match, and saw hundreds of protesters standing on the field they went into a kind of collective shock.

Try Revolution explores what happened over the ensuing months and indeed years as the impact of the "The Tour" was fully realised. From a prison mate of Nelson Mandela to the Captain of the '81 Springboks, the documentary uncovers how the actions of the New Zealand protesters were perceived, understood, and used to help in the struggle against the apartheid regime.

"To see strife between families in New Zealand and how it really ripped the country apart, well I think that's quite bad and then realising this isn't the way it should be… that was a big eye opener." - Wynand Claasen, Springbok Captain 1981

"You really can't even compute it's value, it said the world has not forgotten us, we are not alone" - Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Produced and directed by Leanne Pooley

This is a must see for anyone who was involved in or aware of the struggles by ordinary New Zealanders who could not stand by and accept the Apartheid regime. If you thought it was a wasted effort, watch this film and you will think again. We will have a dialogue circle after this film to share stories and feelings about this event and about protest or civil disobedience as a method of effecting change.

Screening at the morning session time of 10:00am and the evening session time of 7:00pm on Tuesday the 4th of September at the Waiheke Community Cinema in Artworks.

Uncovering the Web

A seniors workshop on getting more out of the internet, by James Samuel

On Wednesday the 22nd of August (from 10am) I am offering a two hour workshop to anyone who wants to learn how to get more out of the internet and use some of the new computer technology to best advantage. These days more and more services are only available online, so it helps to know how to access them. If you can navigate and find your way around the vast information pool we call the worldwide web, it can save you hours of time, and also reveal things you may not have otherwise known. While the web can be overwhelming, with good searches and a disciplined approach, it is possible to get to the information you want quite quickly.

We will visit some Google Maps and see how they are being used to share information in interesting ways. We'll look at YouTube and Google Video, and what they have to offer. We'll go to some news sites and at our local Council pages - you may be surprised at what is available there. We''ll touch on internet phone calls, sharing photos, backing up files, and more.

Why now? It is my sense that there is a growing awareness amongst the seniors in our community, of the overlapping issues of Peak Oil, Climate Change, and Local Governance. I am delighted to observe this and support its growth, because I feel that there is so much that can be offered by you. You have more time to talk with others, to do the work of digging out information that is of help, and you have the life experience of a simpler way of life that will be of enormous benefit to the entire community as we make our way down the slope towards a lower energy future.

How it will be run? The internet will come alive on the big cinema screen so that everyone can follow the process as it unfolds. There will be time for questions at the end of each section, and we will do a short review at the end to see if everyone got something of value from the morning, and find out if any follow up would be helpful. A handout will be given at the end, so you have some reference material to take home with you. Contributions towards costs will be welcome in the form of Koha.

Zeitgeist the movie

"They must find it difficult. Those who have taken authority as the truth,
rather than truth as the authority."

- Gerald Massey

Watching it for the second time the other night with my partner Kim, gave me an even greater appreciation of the gift of this work. The film Zeitgeist was created as a not for profit expression to inspire people to start looking at the world from a more critical perspective and to understand that very often things are not what the population at large think they are. The information in Zeitgeist was established over a year long period of research and the excellent source page on their website reflects this.

We now have the ability to produce films with inexpensive cameras and desktop computers, with these tools and huge databases of film footage, the ability to share information via film has come into the hands of the people. This is significant, because we are no longer dependent on the dominant forms of corporate controlled media. This film is one example of people providing others with knowledge that would otherwise be accessible to only a few privileged individuals. While CNN or TVNZ are not likely to play this documentary any time soon, you and I and our friends can watch it, view it online, and even make copies and share it around.

Throughout the ages small groups of people who had access to knowledge that the masses were not privy to, made decisions which affected the lives of many. Sometimes these rulers, or ruling elite, were wise and benign though some times their decisions make them look less compassionate and generous. Today is no different. Despite today's widespread rhetoric about democracy and freedom, the sad fact is that very few people are aware of how the power structures function in today's society. This film is changing that. It has the potential to rock the foundations of your belief systems so much you will never be the same again. At the very least it will leave you with some questions, and reveal that all is not as we have been told. Either way it is too important to let it pass you by.

Please note this two hour film will start at the winter screening time of 7:00 pm (August 7th). Feel free to bring some food or refreshments to share at the 15 minute intermission.

If you don't make it to the cinema on the night, you can watch it (in lower resolution and without the pleasure of the good company who will be there) on my blog.

Thriving in a low energy future

A film night at the Waiheke Cinema - July 3rd, 2007 - 7.30pm

Had enough of the 'reality picture' of the world and the madness of the consumption and competition paradigms? Seen enough of the documentary films that detail the effects of self-interest and greed especially when it manifests at the level of global leadership? Do you feel as though you have a good sense of the issues and implications of peak oil, climate change and a human population that continues to grow exponentially? And you are making (or wanting to make) changes to your way of life in response to what you understand?

If you identify with any of these feelings, then this months People's Cinema night (the first Tuesday of every month), is for you. I am showing two uplifting films that are showing what people are doing across the world are doing to take care of their own needs.

The Synergistic Garden, a wonderful story of Emelia Hazelip and her French raised-bed gardens. She has been inspired by Permaculture and has created a no dig system which is building in fertility despite no addition of fertiliser or compost. She speaks eloquently and with authority in describing the details of the system she has created.

Then we will screen one of a four-part series by Bill Mollison, co-founder of the Permaculture concepts. This shows Bill in his home garden, and in locations in Africa and India.

This is not so much a how to 'do' Permaculture as it is a how to 'think' about systems that use nature's integrated Some of the stories refer to the side-effects of a globalised world, and offers the solutions, showing how at least some people are making a better world for themselves.

The films will run for about one hour. After which we will re-arrange the couches into a large circle and have a round (using a talking piece) where each person has an opportunity to hear and be heard.

I promise that you will walk away from this evening of film and dialogue, with renewed faith in the human spirit.

James
www.yesterdaysfuture.net

A Crude Awakening

A Crude Awakening - Tuesday Documentary at the Waiheke Community Cinema

"If a path to the better there be, it begins with a full look at the worst."
- Thomas Hardy

The film 'A Crude Awakening - The Oil Crash' is the noble successor to ‘The End of Suburbia’, whose crown it steals, becoming, for me, the best exposition of the peak oil argument yet committed to film. Basil Gelpke and Ray McCormack’s have done a magnificent job of putting the subject matter into a wider historical context, with beautiful and sometimes shocking imagery, and many respectable speakers. Unlike The End of Suburbia’ this film goes beyond the US experience, being more of a global film. Crude Awakening keeps its focus on peak oil, and presents a well argued, well-paced, and well-edited summary of what peak oil is and what it will mean for us all.

It begins by discussing what an amazing material oil is, how it was formed and how much energy it contains. The message is simple; oil is a one-off extraordinary legacy left to us by history, a material which is so extraordinarily energy-dense that it is little wonder that we have sucked it out of the ground and built an entire society out of it in little over 150 years. As the film goes on to point out, this absurd degree of dependency cannot continue, due to the imminent peaking in world oil production. This is the first film to contain archive film of M.King Hubbert, it is fascinating to see the great man himself on US television in 1975.

It is a film which avoids over sensationalising the material, allowing the facts to speak for themselves. It isn’t overly explicit about what the impacts of peak oil might be, allowing the viewer to follow those trains of thought in his or her own head. For those who feel that technology will provide the solutions, the statistics relating to the various tecnological alternatives to oil, put them into perspective. The film takes you to a place where the enormity of the challenge sets in and leaves you there. It is a powerful place to visit.

I have been following this issue for the last couple of years, and been willing to look at both sides of the argument. As such I experience times when I wonder if the whole Peak Oil matter is a non event, but then a film like this comes along, and wakes me from my slumber, reminding me that the time to prepare is now.

The film will begin promptly at 7.30pm, Tuesday 5th June at the Waiheke Community Cinema. Entry by koha.

See this National Geographic article on this subject.

Food and Oil

We are animals, like it or not - and we require food to live. For most of us the local supermarket is our garden, and our farm, and we rely upon its well stocked shelves. Despite our reputation as one of the great food producing nations of the world, we import more food than almost any other OECD country. In a 6 month period last year, NZ imported $84 million dollars worth of food from China alone?

Whether grown locally, or brought in from elsewhere, our food started its life in the soil - something that is easily forgotten as we stroll down the aisles of colourful packaging in the supermarket. In his book A Short History of Progress, Ronald Wright demonstrates that empires which collapse show similar behaviours: sticking to entrenched beliefs and practices; robbing the future to pay the present; and spending the last reserves of natural capital on a reckless binge of excessive wealth and glory - and soil degradation and loss specifically, has been the most frequent cause of total civilisation collapse. Of the earth's surface, about 3% of it is arable land. The entire world's population relies on the food grown on the thin covering of nutrient rich soil on that 3%, which is presently being lost at the rate of 25 billion tonnes per year (UNEP, 1992b). If you watched the film at the Waiheke Community Cinema last Tuesday night - One Cow, One Man, One Planet - you will have seen what devastation is being wrought by the indiscriminate use of chemical based agriculture methods. The result has been soil degradation, leading to massive crop failures, indebtedness and tens of thousands of farmers committing suicide by hanging, or by drinking the chemicals they are now realising are poisonous. Thankfully all is not lost, and in the same film you will also have seen what can be done when life-positive practices are applied.

Our’s is the first and only fossil-fuelled civilisation. Our entire economy and standard of living currently rely on the burning of fossil fuels as a cheap, convenient form of energy. In the last 100 years or so, it has allowed the development of a fossil-fuel based industrial agriculture. But this resource is not endless. Global Oil discoveries peaked about 40 years ago, and now Global Oil production is at or near its peak. Assume for one moment that the boats stopped running to and from Waiheke, and no goods were being brought over to stock the shelves. While this worst case scenario is unlikely it may be useful to notice that at present we have very little by way of food production occurring here. If there was a squeeze, we might find ourselves scrambling to get some seeds and be looking for some good land to grow them in. Then there would be a need for compost materials to feed the soil, and nurture the plants, and some help from those more knowledgeable than ourselves about what to grow and when.

Right now we are heavily reliant on trade and transporting our basic food necessities onto the island, and I am finding more and more people who not only think this is unwise, but are making the necessary gestures in the direction of greater self-reliance. There is lots we can do, and preparation for future change is easier and more effective than responding to a crisis. In relation to food production we have the beginnings. There is a small but active seedsavers group, the first community garden was established over a year ago and more are being mooted, and food exchange stall operates every weekend at the Ostend market. There are food growing plots with a history of cultivation - now idle because the people who used to grow on them are too old to do the work, or have moved on, and there are many under-utilised fruit trees which offer their abundance every year. These would respond well to a little nurturing and care. The energetic physicist, ecologist, activist, editor, and author Vandana Shiva, put it very succinctly stating that "When countries have pulled back from large scale industrial farming for a variety of political and economic reasons, and especially when they've also paid attention to indigenous knowledge, they have experienced benefits in terms of food production that are nothing short of astounding."

We have the land, we have the need, we have the knowledge, we have the willingness.