From Russia With Lumber

By Virginia Prescott on Wednesday, June 24, 2009.

Lumber for the poor? Here in the U.S., the unemployed masses have food stamps and welfare to fall back on when unemployment checks run out.

But in Russia, local governments are looking for more tangible ways to help out-of-work citizens make ends meet. They are handing out everything from free plots of land to discounted lumber in an effort to keep social unrest at bay.

Andrew Osborn, Moscow correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, wrote about these unusual subsidy programs in a recent edition of the paper and he joined us on the line from Moscow.

The Wall Street Journal: Russia, a Lumbering Giant, Asks: Care for Some Cut-Rate Logs?

(Photo by sarniebill1 via Flickr/Creative Commons)

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Lumber is a euphamism for trees, a human word for the callous irreverence for that which nature provided to all that live in the forests, jungles, and other wooded habitats humans have reduced to commodities.A huge percentage of global wildlife are poached, slaughtered, traded, eaten, and millions of other species are exterminated by loggers, insects, birds, reptiles, all disappearing due to human interference and capitalist interests using THEIR homes and habitats for profit.
There is a correlation between human hubris and narcisstic attitudes that nature belongs to only our species for exploitation.
Researching the etiology of violence and war brings us always back to the first learned behaviors handed down through the ages in our so called "domestication" of other beings.
If the so called "religious" in our midst want peace, they need to understand where violence came from, using it on animals, paving the way to use it on humans, and other living things in nature, like the trees filled with living beings and which are eco-systems unto themselves.
The religion of stewardship and mercy has been paved over with the religion of money and false idols.
Let the trees and all that reside in them live.....
We should examine the connection between the commodity mind-set, everything valued for production and profit.
Trees have standing. Tikkun Olam, heal and repair man's mess.

Submitted by Laura Beth on Thu, 06/25/2009 - 07:16.

Idea Smackdown: Round III

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Word of Mouth is all about what's new. Online and on-air, the show looks at our fascinating and ever-changing world, and puts the latest ideas under a microscope. Word of Mouth investigates everything from science and technology, to health and the environment, to new trends in popular culture. The show airs Monday through Thursday at noon and is hosted by Virginia Prescott.