From the category archives:

WORK

Thom Yorke - payback time

Ewan McGregor, Radiohead and Bill Nighy are the latest to join the campaign for a Robin Hood Tax on the financial sector.
McGregor and Radiohead created a Youtube video.
The movement has been growing since the credit crunch first hit, demanding that bankers and hedgies should repay the vast amounts plundered from the global economy. Off-Grid.net has been calling for a “Pay it Back tax.” A powerful new coalition of charities, trade unions and church groups argue that a Robin Hood tax could generate $700bn (£450bn) worldwide. The tax would see 0.05% levied on each bank and hedge fund trade ,ranging from shares to foreign exchange and derivatives, creating a cash pile to be spent on measures to combat domestic and international poverty as well as fight climate change.
The Guardian and comedian Bill Nighy have just released this video

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Land prices set to collapse

January 8, 2010
Land prices set to collapse Be prepared for the next phase of the recession and keep watching land prices - if you are nimble, there will be an affordable moment to pick up prime land for your bug-out location. "I recently spent a week sailing in the warm and sunny waters of the Caribbean on a FORBES investor cruise," reports one of the magazine's overpaid columnists in the latest issue. "Instead of being refreshed by the calming sea air and restful floating digs I came back even more stressed about the market than I was before I left." Poor dear. He is right to be stressed.  

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India’s cleantech start-ups

December 11, 2009
India’s cleantech start-ups We all know that China is the world leader in relatively low-tech solar panels.  Now a clutch of tiny Indian start-ups  are proving  that global warming's business opportunities  will not be the exclusive preserve of  the developed nations. EnNatura of Dehli has developed washable,bio-degradable printing ink from vegetable oil.The offset printing industry in India alone consumes one million tonnes of petroleum products and emits 500,000 tonnes of volatile organic compounds every year. "I can see a company like this growing into a billion dollar global business," says Vivek Wadhwa of Duke University, who studies entrepreneurs. Solar-based LED lighting start-up Pegasus Semiconductor of Rajasthan makes off-grid home and street lighting systems using LED lights and solar for the power. It has done about 1,200 installations in Rajasthan and about 35 with companies and government and is expecting to reach revenues of $250,000 by the end of fiscal 2009.

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From greed to green

October 13, 2009
From greed to green Ireland's eco-minister Dublin - Political chaos of the most creative kind in Eire, where the ruling coalition is being kept in power by the Green Party. The country, one of the worst hit by the credit crunch, is in the midst of a fullscale. 1930s-style economic collapse. Now state-run Anglo Irish Bank could become a symbol of a new Irish society by transforming into a low-cost green bank, it was claimed today. The radical plan would see the nationalised lender throw off its close ties with property developers to offer cheaper mortgages for eco-friendly homes as part of the price for Green Party support. John Gormley, Environment Minister and Green Party leader, backed the proposal from research body the Comhar Sustainable Development Council claiming it would signal a shift in attitudes.

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Tough Times Survival Guide vol 1 – book review

October 8, 2009
Tough Times Survival Guide vol 1 – book reviewReading, learning, it's what I enjoy doing. Before the internet, I would go to the three local libraries in my hometown, I would check out as many books as each on would allow, take them all home, read-read-read until I had gotten through all of them, then I return the books to their respective homes and start all over again. I tended to read non-fiction, I preferred them over fiction most of the time. With the exception of a few notable authors such as Stephen King, Jean M. Auel, and such… With the advent of the internet and ebooks, I mostly read what I can get in digital format, including audiobooks. So these last couple of books I’ve read, I have held in my hand, turned pages, it was quite old-school for me. J I love it. Now, on to the book review.

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Eco-sensitive investments

October 6, 2009
Eco-sensitive investments

The Green Reaper In the Netherlands legislation has encouraged green investing, and although there is nothing yet on that scale in the US or the UK, you don't need to go to Holland to find green investments.With over 30 dedicated green portfolios to choose from, there is little excuse for keeping your  savings in conventional investment vehicles.

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More things you might not know about me

July 17, 2009
More things you might not know about me

Country Store where I work I know I haven't written anything in a while, I have excuses though! ;) I've been sick, the gov is harassing me, my garden is calling... Well, they are all true, I'll explain more in a future message, in the mean time, here is something fun I found on another blog and thought I'd post it here.

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Survivorman in toe-curling interview

July 9, 2009
Survivorman in toe-curling interview

Les Stroud: special needs We always thought Les Stroud was a total divit, and now it has been confirmed.

The self-regarding air-head who fronts the Survivorman series on Canadian TV recently gave this pompous interview to a Canadian outlet about his practices when travelling.

If you sit next to this guy on a plane- be warned - you will want to strangle him.

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Environmentalism classed as a ‘belief’ in UK

June 1, 2009
Environmentalism classed as a ‘belief’ in UK

Grainger employee You don't have to be crazy to be an environmentalist, but (according to an employment tribunal in London) it helps.

The Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003 prohibit discrimination in the workplace by reason of any religion or belief. The regulations were amended in 2007, so that "belief" now means "any religious or philosophical belief".

Tim Nicholson, who had been head of sustainability at Grainger Plc, was made redundant. He brought a number of claims, including unfair dismissal and discrimination on the grounds of religion or belief.

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