It all begins with disinformation – or is it misinformation?

Let’s begin by defining the difference between misinformation and disinformation. Misinformation is false information that one spreads because one believes the information to be true. Disinformation is false information that one spreads even though one knows it to be false, i.e., an effort to deceive people. 

Jesus, on the rich and the poor

We are living in difficult times. The divergence between the rich and the poor is huge and increasing. Rising inequality as registered by all indicators is as high as it has ever been since the great depression. Many have warned that such inequality will spawn a raft of severe social problems (the book, “Spirit Level”, Joseph Stiglitz, Pikett). Even some of the rich themselves have alerted us and said that this trend needs to be reversed (Warren Buffet, Bill Gates).

Thoughts on Buddhism and the environment

I’ve had a longstanding interest in Buddhism, in particular what it has to say about stress and our relationship with the environment.

What follows are some of my thoughts on this topic followed by a Buddhist prayer for peace, which I believe suggests a path forward for dealing with the environmental crisis:

Buddhism and the environment

Protest of the Royal Bank of Canada, a major global investor in fossil fuels

If you click on this link, you will see some action at the HQ of Canada’s largest bank, the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC). The top video gives a general view of the demonstration.

If you open this link, from the 2.30 minute mark to the 4.40 mark, you will see the Rebellious Seeker cancelling his RBC credit card.

Rebellious Seeker

Ottawa

October 2020

Buddhism and the Environmental Crisis

The following two audio presentations offer separate Buddhist perspectives on the environmental crisis. The first is given by the Rebellious Seeker himself; the second are the thoughts of a friend. 

Brief pauses within the presentations allow time for reflection on what has been said.

The Rebellious Seeker 

Buddhism and the Environmental Crisis

Ottawa

October 2021

My views on the NCC's decision to build a hospital in a wooded area on our experimental farmland

Here in Ottawa a new hospital will be built. Our National Capital Commission (NCC), after a detailed study recommended that the hospital be built at Tunney’s Pasture. Then suddenly it was decided to place the hospital in a wooded area on our experimental farmland. At an Ottawa city council planning committee, many citizens spoke about this decision. Here is my 5 minute contribution:

Rebellious Seeker's contribution to NCC hospital location debate

Water, the key to our future

Those who have studied water are seeing signs everywhere of an impending climate catastrophe.

First, some places have too much water. Because global warming has raised the temperature of the oceans, there is now more energy to fuel hurricanes and typhons. Recently in the Gulf of Mexico a category 4 hurricane, Ida, formed. It was so powerful that it rampaged through the entire east coast of the United States. Even in the northeastern states, the "tail" of Ida dumped record levels of rainfall in a very short time. These rainfalls were so unexpected that 50 people died trapped in their own homes and in cars on the road. Extreme rainfalls are now a global phenomenon, as seen in Germany and other countries.