Every time I read a headline that an indigenous activist or environmental leader is murdered, I feel unbearable heart ache. This week it was this headline – Ecuadorian Indigenous Leader Eduardo Mendúa Assassinated at His Home – and there’s always a new one. On October 14th, Australia is having its next referendum, to give our First Nations People a voice and finally, a place in the constitution, but only if enough vote yes. That remains up in the air.
Read this: The murders of Indigenous activists mark the death of the planet | Indigenous Rights | Al Jazeera
If you haven’t had a chance, please do listen to this special episode where we discuss the Australian Referendum, featuring three amazing humans – Willie Wahlin, Cymbeline King, and Gavin Warring. We talk about what’s been going on in Australia right now, how ugly it’s been, and why voting yes is so important.
As you read the news this week, especially the environment news, it is truly becoming alarming. I can be honest and admit I had a surge of emotions this week, and even though I’m usually strong, sometimes it creeps up on me. Why?
Well apart from the Amazon, Antarctica, and so many other issues, the September heat records blew many minds (mine included), because it is off the charts, and for those of us in the Southern Hemisphere, this heat is brewing and coming our way. The worst part is we are not ready. Not at all.
Do you know who can help us turn this around? Our Indigenous brothers and sisters. Yep, they are earth’s custodians, and in case you didn’t know, Indigenous peoples use or manage more than a quarter of the Earth’s surface yet represent just five percent of the world’s population. In fact, Indigenous land overlaps with 80 percent of the planet’s biodiversity. These communities are critical.
If you want to learn more, check out Conservation.org.
So, what we absolutely MUST do is wake up to the cynical politics and cynicism that is relentless and dividing us every day, and maybe, just maybe, we can get smart enough to embrace the communities we have terrorized and held down for so long, and maybe, just maybe, they’ll come to our rescue, because we sure don’t seem to know how to do it.
Australia, please, lead the way. The world needs hope, and wouldn’t it be something if it was our nation offering that to the world? Besides the fact our very future as a species is on the line, so we help ourselves too.
It is beyond time we right our wrongs, and while we’re doing it, we might even save ourselves.
Friend’s content and mine
Wet bulb temperatures are coming for us here in the Global South and we must get ready! Looking at the heat predictions in the months ahead, that first chapter from Ministry for the Future is looking very likely. We MUST prepare and take care of as many as we can!
Donation time
If everyone gave #just10percent of their time, talent, money or voice, we’ll change the world. Can you donate? Why not make a regular donation to the World Food Programme. Or donate to the UN Refugee Program, Medicine Sans Frontier, PowerOf, Kiva.org, Red Cross, and so many more, including urgent fundraising and those supporting animals, like the Soi Dog Foundation. A fabulous organisation I support is B1G1 – check it out and set up an account. It’s a time for giving and taking care of each other.
Content to read
And here’s the content I’ve been reading, listening to or watching. Scan the headlines, read the ones that jump out at you, read, listen to or watch them all. It’s time to pay attention to the information that matters.
Planetary emergency
Revealed: Meetings Blitz Between Big Ag and Anti-Green Lawmakers in Europe – DeSmog
World breaches key 1.5C warming mark for record number of days – BBC News
Canada’s buildings have an emissions problem. Could fish skin provide an answer? | CBC News
As rain vanishes, Guatemalans learn to use every drop of water (phys.org)
Sadly, It’s Not ‘Just Another Summer.’ We Must End the Fossil Fuel Industry | Opinion (newsweek.com)
Earth is on track for its hottest year yet, says European climate agency : NPR
Ecuadorian Indigenous Leader Eduardo Mendúa Assassinated at His Home | Democracy Now!
Warmest September on record as ‘gobsmacking’ data shocks scientists – BBC News
Why countries are choosing to build new cities in places at high risk of worsening floods | CNN
Wildfires, Flooding, Heat: How Climate Changed Upended Summer – The New York Times (nytimes.com)
Sikkim: Race against time to save 102 missing in India floods – BBC News
The Cruel Fantasies of Well-Fed People – George Monbiot
New Zealand records hottest September on record | New Zealand | The Guardian
Frankenstein’s Monster of a Climate Emergency: Dangerous Global September Heat Spike (juancole.com)
“Being unprepared for droughts could prove fatal: we simply won’t have any food.” | 24.hu
Australian towns battle fire and flood back-to-back – BBC News
Home – Can you change the future?
Why Are We So Gloomy? – Human Progress
As Waters Rise, a Community Must Decide: Do We Stay or Go? – Yale E360
World scientists’ warning: The behavioural crisis driving ecological overshoot – PubMed (nih.gov)
The U.S. Government Should Push People To Move To Climate Havens (noemamag.com)
Canada left battered by ‘never before seen’ wildfire season (phys.org)
Tire Dust Makes Up the Majority of Ocean Microplastics: Study (thedrive.com)
Autumn heat continues in Europe after record-breaking September | Climate crisis | The Guardian
Mass death of Amazonian dolphins prompts fears for vulnerable species | Dolphins | The Guardian
Redonda: Tiny Caribbean island’s transformation to wildlife haven – BBC News
New online map tracks threats to uncontacted Indigenous peoples in Brazil’s Amazon
The Capitalists Will Let You Drown – by Joshua P. Hill (jphilll.com)
Underwater cave appears as water levels drop at Canyon Lake | CNN
Are we at the brink of a ‘bug-pocalypse’? – BBC Reel
What ‘Losing’ To Climate Change Looks Like — indi.ca
Global politics
Rishi Sunak faces furious backlash amid reports HS2 to Manchester has been shelved | ITV News
A Reality Check for the Left – Matt Goodwin
Palestinian gunmen infiltrate Israel from Gaza Strip after rocket attack – BBC News
Bavaria election: Toxic campaign heralds big vote for Germany’s populists – BBC News
Central Asian economies are booming thanks to Russia: Here’s why | Euronews
Ukraine dam: Rebuilding shattered lives after Ukraine’s dam collapse – BBC News
Ukraine war: Western allies say they are running out of ammunition – BBC News
Voice referendum: Indigenous rights vote is a reckoning for Australia – BBC News
Voice: Polling shows No voters see Australia as already divided (crikey.com.au)
As vote nears, ‘horrific racism’ mars Australian Voice referendum campaign (msn.com)
Labor voters against the Voice referendum in ‘large numbers’ (msn.com)
Slovakia elections: Populist party wins vote but needs allies for coalition – BBC News
In new breakthrough, EU countries agree new rules to manage future migration crises | Euronews
Chaos in Washington Feeds Americans’ Dismal View of Politics – The New York Times (nytimes.com)
The Daily: Chaos or Conscience? A Republican Explains His Vote to Oust McCarthy. on Apple Podcasts
Capital vs. labor under Biden – Robert Reich (substack.com)
Interim House Speaker ‘evicts’ two senior Democrats from Capitol – BBC News
Speaker Kevin McCarthy: US House of Representatives votes to oust Republican leader – BBC News
Jamaal Bowman: Democrat denies setting off fire alarm to stall spending vote – BBC News
US Congress avoids government shutdown in last-minute deal – BBC News
Hardline Republicans seek to oust House Speaker Kevin McCarthy – BBC News
New Phuket Governor arrives (thephuketnews.com)
New Phuket Governor outlines plans (thephuketnews.com)
Business and technology
Why your new Apple iPhone 15 is overheating – BBC News
Abercrombie & Fitch ex-CEO accused of exploiting men for sex – BBC News
Social issues
The Failure of Positive Thinking (okdoomer.io)
Dead soldier suffered relentless sexual harassment – Army report – BBC News (ampproject.org)
Exercise-Induced Anaphylaxis Explained (healthline.com)
Bangkok: Two dead and 14-year-old held over Siam Paragon mall shooting – BBC News
GB News ‘Axes’ Dan Wootton After Fox Storm and Catfish Scandal: The Full Story – Byline Times
Russia police crisis: Burned out, disappointed and demoralised – BBC News
I Got Divorced in Asia and Raised My Son As a Single Working Expat Mom (insider.com)
Passion/humour/history/celebrities
Finalists Announced in the Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2023 (people.com)
Drew Barrymore’s Writers Refusing to Return Marks a New Era | Time
Pythagorean Theorem Found On Clay Tablet 1,000 Years Older Than Pythagoras | IFLScience
Domestic horses’ mysterious origins may finally be revealed (nationalgeographic.com)
New kind of pit viper discovered in South (bangkokpost.com)
So, what did you read? What jumped out at you? Or share with me what you’re reading? I love that!
Cheers
Andrea
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Environment education
Four environment resources to help you navigate this challenging territory.
- Knowledge, constantly updating
- Individual action and awareness, so we do our part
- Resources for those struggling with eco-anxiety. Please share with your community.
- Finally, more than 100 mini-videos on many topics regarding the multiple crisis’ we face. Feel free to download and use as your own. No credit necessary.
Uncommon Courage: an invitation
Uncommon Courage is an invitation to be your courageous best self every day. It’s also an antidote to the overwhelm, fear, and rage rolling around the world. But it’s more than a book; it’s an invitation to join an inclusive community that wants to better understand humanities challenges – both global and personal – in order to take courageous action and create a better world for everyone. If Covid19 has given us the time and space to reflect, Uncommon Courage gives us the nudge we need to create lasting change.
You can buy it on Amazon, Apple Books, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, Booktopia, Smashwords, Kobo, Gardners, Odilo, Indie Bound, BookShop by BookTrib and Scribd.
Better yet, order it from your local bookstore, so you can #SupportLocal.
You can read the reviews, including a new five-star review on Book Commentary, another five-star review on ReaderViews, a review on BookTrib, and three more on Booklife, another on Book Commentary and Blue Ink Reviews. I’m also collating reviews on my Website too. Have a look and grateful to everyone who has written or recorded one.
Come and join the conversation in my Facebook Group Uncommon Courage.
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The Know Show
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Climate Courage
A fortnightly conversation on issues that matter to you and I, focusing on the actions we can all take.
18 Steps to an All-Star LinkedIn Profile
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Are you a Social CEO? The Social CEO: How Social Media Can Make You A Stronger Leader.
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