“Deadly Monopolies”: Bio-colonialsm and medical corporatism: organism, gene and human tissue patents.

20 11 2011

Watch or listen to the 45 minute interview here.

From Democracy Now:

One of the major themes raised by the Occupy movement is the increasing power of large corporations over more and more aspects of our lives. We spend the hour looking into the issue of the corporate control of life itself. Our guest, Harriet Washington, is a medical ethicist and has just published a book that examines the extent to which what she calls the medical-industrial complex has come to control human life. In the past 30 years, more than 40,000 patents have been granted on genes alone—many more patents are pending. Washington argues that the biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies patenting these genes are more concerned with profit than with the health or medical needs of patients. Her new book is called “Deadly Monopolies: The Shocking Corporate Takeover of Life Itself—And the Consequences for Your Health and Our Medical Future.”





Mayor investigated for mass assasinations of Peruvian shamans

7 10 2011

This is very disturbing.  But I am compelled to share.

Peruvian government sends team to remote Amazon region to look into killing of 14 shamans, allegedly at behest of local mayor.

Guardian.co.uk





Occupy The Mind – Legalize DMT.

7 10 2011

DMT is chemical produced and used by the human nervous system.  It can be found in almost any plant or animal species and is a psychedelic chemical that is used in shamanic healing practices of South America.  DMT is also listed as a Schedule 1 substance.  According to the US government, not only are nature and shamanism illegal, but so are YOU, of possession AND manufacturing of an “illegal narcotic.”





Cultivating A Cure

26 02 2011

Cultivating A Cure is a documentary in production and currently fundraising for completion.  It is about the wealth of medicinal plants in the Amazonian rainforest and their impending threat of eradication.  It includes  interviews with native healers and research scientists such as Dennis McKenna.

Please the watch the trailer for what looks like a beautiful and immensely important project: CultivatingACure.com






Promo for Ayahuasca TV Show in Development

4 02 2011

Here is a 7 minute promo for what appears to be a mainstream adventure/documentary television program in development about Ayahuasca healing in the Amazon.

Bringing valuable information to spiritually starving masses sounds pretty good but it’s also possible to trivialize entheogenic practices with pop-culture antics or feed the still unstable aspects of ayahuasca tourism.  We’ll see what happens.





Trailer: Stepping Into The Fire

19 01 2011

This seems to point toward how high-end psychedelic documentaries are going to become:





Colombian shaman arrested in TX, charged with Ayahuasca possession

26 10 2010

Help Free A Major Indigenous Leader Imprisoned in the U.S.

From http://www.freetaitajuan.org/

On Tuesday, October 19, 2010 while en route to leading traditional Ayahuasca ceremonies in Oregon, indigenous Colombian healer Juan Agreda Chindoy was detained in the Houston International Airport. He was formally arrested by ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) for possession of his traditional medicine Ayahuasca. He is now being charged as a federal criminal and is facing up to 20 years in federal prison. Taita Juan is certified by his community and by the Colombian ministry of health as a traditional healer. He is one of the few remaining indigenous spiritual leaders in the world that holds the ancestral medicinal knowledge of an ecosystem that is rapidly disappearing. Taita Juan is a father, a husband and a godfather to more than 20 children. With more than 3000 supporters from several countries in the world, his life and work have touched many.

UPDATE:  ALL CHARGES DROPPED!!   :D





Gringo Shaman

9 06 2010

I recently had the opportunity to see the documentary film, Gringo Shaman.   Beautifully filmed and edited, the film profiles an American who followed the calling and became a full-fledged ayahuasquero.   The feel of this documentary is somewhat different from others, successfully fusing raw sincerity with artistic direction to create a very appropriate aesthetic.  I definitely recommend it.

You can order the DVD as well as Shipibo-style merchandise at gringoshaman.com

Trailer:

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Green Spirits

25 04 2010

Book of entrancing, kaleidoscopic nature portraits:

Espiritu


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Wade Davis: Why Ancient Wisdom Matters in the Modern World

20 02 2010

What does it mean to be human and alive?

The thousands of different cultures and languages on Earth have compellingly different answers to that question. “We are a wildly imaginative and creative species,” declares Wade Davis, and then proves it with his accounts and photographs of humanity plumbing the soul of culture, of psyche, and of landscape.

A 2 hour presentation by the eminent ethnobotonist, explorer and cultural anthropologist, Wade Davis, with exquisite photography of the dynamic human spirit from diverse cultures of the world.

Watch the program here. ( There is 4 1/2 minute slideshow before the lecture which you can skip.)

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The Role of Sacramental Plants in Sustainable Communities in the Western Amazon

5 02 2010

I highly recommend this lecture given at Google, especially if you care about conservation or entheogens.

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Eight Ways In-Vitro Meat will Change Our Lives

23 11 2009

Extremely though-provoking article from H+ on the ramifications of this developing technology:

Eight Ways In-Vitro Meat will Change Our Lives








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