‘The Spell of the Sensuous’…….From ‘Free Tibet’…… BBC Pics of Scotland…..
by Bernie Bell - 08:27 on 16 November 2024
‘The Spell of the Sensuous’…..
I’ve started reading ‘The Spell of the Sensuous’ by David Abram, and he ‘gets it’ – gets it that we are all one, all connected.
At the beginning of the first chapter he describes how he steps out of his hut among the rice paddies of eastern Bali to see the stars reflecting in the water around him. He becomes disorientated between what is above and what is below – what is above and what is below becomes im-materiel.
I think I’m going to enjoy this book – it’s like having a conversation with someone who is truly aware and alive.
From ‘Free Tibet’…..
“As world leaders gather in Azerbaijan this week to discuss the climate crisis, Tibet will not have a seat at the table.
It is unable to demand that China stop greenwashing its occupation in Tibet, building hydropower dams across Tibet’s rivers with dire social and ecological costs.
These themes are explored in a new briefing released today by our research partner Tibet Watch, and Turquoise Roof.
The Risks of China's Dangerous Dam-Building in Tibet reveals that, having built half the world’s total dams by the end of last century, China is for the first time constructing more hydropower dams upstream in Tibet on the sources of Asia’s great wild rivers, despite the perilous geological conditions.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change highlighted in its 2022 report that vulnerability of ecosystems and people to climate change is driven by patterns of intersecting socio-economic development, unsustainable ocean and land use, inequity, marginalisation, historical and ongoing patterns of inequity such as colonialism, and governance.
The new report reveals how all these factors unravel on the Machu River, known internationally as the Yellow River.
To make way for environmentally friendly energy sources, such as hydropower dams, China has forcibly evicted Tibetan Buddhist monks from the 19th century Atsok Monastery, revoked its protected status and demolished it.
What was once Atsok Monastery now lies underwater, while 160 monks live in makeshift tin huts. This is an outcome that risks being repeated in Dege County.
The briefing also shows how the Chinese government is upending Tibet’s ecology by introducing the massive breeding of trout, a non-native fish species, which is marketed to Chinese consumers as salmon.
These are the ‘green’ stories of Tibet that China does not want the world to know.
See the photos taken by eye-witness, and also an interactive 3D map, illustrating where the sources of renewable energy being exploited by China coexist with coal infrastructure, undermining Beijing’s claims that its solar and hydro projects demonstrate a green transition.
Thank you for your continued support.
John Jones
Head of Campaigns, Policy, and Research
P.S. Our research partner, Tibet Watch, works hard to bring news from Tibet to light which allows us to continue the campaigning work we do. Please consider supporting them over on JustGiving!
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BBC Pics of Scotland……
8th - 15th of November 2024….
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvgxkj918r0o
Re. Raymond Carstairs pic – imagine going through the Falkirk Wheel in a kayak!
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