Imbolc

It is candle day or Imbolc. For those who practice the ancient ways, Light a candle on the night of Feb. 1^st. Let it burn all night.

From The Celtic Connection;

Imbolc, (pronounced "IM-bulk" or "EM-bowlk"), also called Oimealg, ("IM-mol'g), by the Druids, is the festival of the lactating sheep. It is derived from the Gaelic word "oimelc" which means "ewes milk". Herd animals have either given birth to the first offspring of the year or their wombs are swollen and the milk of life is flowing into their teats and udders. It is the time of Blessing of the seeds and consecration of agricultural tools. It marks the center point of the dark half of the year. It is the festival of the Maiden, for from this day to March 21st, it is her season to prepare for growth and renewal. Brighid's snake emerges from the womb of the Earth Mother to test the weather, (the origin of Ground Hog Day), and in many places the first Crocus flowers began to spring forth from the frozen earth.

For the rest click here.

Suicides at the Foxconn Plant

According to the New York Times, workers at a factory in Shenzhen, China, owned by Foxconn (a company that manufactures iPhones, iPads and other devices for Apple) regularly work sixteen-hour, seven-day work weeks.

They stand until their legs swell and they can’t walk, and they perform repetitive motions on the production line for so long that some permanently lose the use of their hands. To cut costs, managers make workers use cheap chemicals that cause neurological damage. There has been a rash of suicides at the Foxconn plant, and 300 workers recently threatened to jump off the roof over a safety and pay dispute.

In short, as one former Apple executive told the New York Times, "Most people would be really disturbed if they saw where their iPhone comes from."

Mark Shields, a self-described member of the "cult of Mac," started a petition on Change.org demanding Apple exert its influence on its suppliers to improve working conditions for the factory workers that make iPhones, iPads and other Apple products. Click here to sign Mark’s petition right now.

Apple knows it can play an important role in ensuring safe and fair working conditions for the workers at its suppliers, like Foxconn. In 2005, the company released a supplier code of conduct, and it performs hundreds of audits each year in China and around the world to confirm its suppliers are meeting the code’s expectations.

But that’s where Apple’s commitment falters: the number of supplier violations has held steady year to year and Apple hasn’t consistently publicly stated which suppliers have problems or dropped offending suppliers.

The bottom line, Apple executives admit, is that they’re not being forced to change.

One current executive told the New York Times that there’s a trade-off: "You can either manufacture in comfortable, worker-friendly factories," he said, or you can "make it better and faster and cheaper, which requires factories that seem harsh by American standards. And right now, customers care more about a new iPhone than working conditions in China."

That means public pressure is the only thing that can force Apple to ensure its suppliers treat workers humanely. If enough people sign Mark’s petition -- and tell Apple they care more about human beings than they do about how fast the company can produce the next generation iPhone -- the company could be convinced to make real change for the workers at Foxconn and other factories.

 Click here to sign Mark’s petition demanding Apple change the way it does business.

Venus comes to life

Now we may find life on Venus. Just check out this article;

A Russian scientist claims to have spotted signs of life in the most unlikely spot in the universe: Venus, the arid, scorching second-closest planet to the sun.

Venus is widely considered to be lifeless and barren, thanks in part to superheated clouds of sulfuric acid that cover the planet. NASA’s Solar System Exploration site says the scorched world has temperatures higher than 880 degrees Fahrenheit (471 degrees Celsius) -- that's hot enough to melt lead. Indeed, probes that have landed on Venus survived only a few hours before being destroyed by the incredible temperatures, NASA notes.

For more click here.

Yoko Ono

http://new.livestream.com/channels/546/videos/112251

R.E.M. - It's The End Of The World

Panama Red New Riders

Some youngsters under the age of 20 may not know what this song is actually about.

New Monument to the greatness of Wichita’s Corporations

 From Wichita Peace and Freedom Party Examiner;

During the Cold War, the west was quick to show us pictures of great monuments to great leaders in the Soviet Union, and its allies, that were supposed to deify their leaders as gods. For example there are many museums to the leader Kim Il Sung in DPR(North)Korea.
Here in Wichita, KS we have similar public art to remind us who are real leaders are. Our local corporations really believe they our people, (that is what the Supreme Court said). As capitalist deities they seem to find it necessary to build monuments to themselves. The recent one is a light-up-giant cog looking design dedicated to the Wichita Rotary Club and the Coleman Co. It seems W.C. Coleman, and his son, Sheldon Coleman, devoted 103 years to the Rotary Club of Wichita and both served as presidents.
The $1.18 million project includes a huge parking lot put in to replace the down town Coleman Building near 2nd and St. Francis. The Wichita Rotary Charitable Fund donated $300,000 to move and display this monument to their own greatness. According to The Wichita Eagle, County officials wanted to remember downtown’s history. To do that they took bricks and pieces from the old building to build the monument.

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In this time of class war, where the Occupy Wichita movement and other Occupy movements across the country are complaining that these corporations are waging class war on the majority of us, including the working poor, this monument is one more reminder who really owns this city and its governments, both city and Sedgwick County. Sedgwick Country took part in the big tower’s dedication.
So when do we create a monument to the dedication of the hard working people who keep these corporations in business instead of waging a class war on them? Apparently it will be no time in the near future.

FUTANTS Money to Burn