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Compassion
Guides to a friend-filled, compassionate, ethical life. Link.
Will this reduce stigma?
Mental disorders are currently diagnosed based on behavioural symptoms, which may be why it can be difficult to really know what's going on - you have to wait and watch, try something, more waiting and watching. This reliance on behaviour may also be, in part, why there is so much stigma surrounding mental illness. Most people believe that they can control their own behavior and that a mental illness is a sign that they are unable to control themselves. Society does not look favourably upon people who cannot control themselves.

Mental illness is bigger than controlling one's behavior. It's about systems that are out of balance, that have been knocked askew. There are no biological tests of mental disorder - yet. There is some interesting research being published now on physiological markers. We'll see if that has an effect on stigma.

THOUGHTS
IDEAS, SUGGESTIONS & THEORIES

Ensuring food security

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Globe & Mail, April 29, 2011: "We have become the fattest generation in Canadian history, addicted to eating and riddled with cancer, diabetes and heart disease," writes Jessica Leeder, the newspaper's global food reporter. "A national food policy is the only way to bring symbiosis back into the system. Cathleen Kneen, a long-time activist with the People's Food Policy Project, argues that it's even a matter of Canada's security. 'If you're at all interested in sovereignty, start with food,” she says. “Any jurisdiction that doesn't feed its people is at the mercy of whoever does.' ... The People's Food Policy Project, the largest civil-society effort, released its version of a national food strategy this month, based on more than 3,000 interviews. The Canadian Federation of Agriculture is at work on the final draft of its plan, and the Conference Board of Canada is slated to release the first findings of a three-year project in May."  Click for the full story.

Related links:
  • Canadian Federation of Agriculture - Initiated the National Food Strategy in February 2010.
  • Centre for Food in Canada - An initiative by the Conference Board of Canada that will focus on food security and sustainability.
  • Food Secure Canada - nonprofit organization with individual and organization members across Canada.
  • National Food Strategy - an industry-led initiative to develop a long-term strategy for the Canadian food system that involves stakeholders primary production, input, distributors, processors, retail and consumers.
  • People's Food Policy Project - pan-Canadian network of citizens and organizations that is creating Canada’s first food sovereignty policy.
"Canada currently does not have a long-term vision for the agriculture and food sector... In today's global crisis -  increase in the world's population from 6.8 to 9 billion by 2050, climate change affecting production patterns, fossil fuels reserves being depleted and unprecedented economic challenges - this lack of planning is increasingly troublesome."
Link.
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_Lawrence Lessig on How Money Corrupts Congress - and How to Stop It
How money came to corrupt US government. Rolling Stone, Oct. 5, 2011
Go.
Cultivation Theory predicts Mean-World Syndrome
Cultivation theory suggests that exposure to a consistent set of messages, however inaccurate, encourages people to incorporate the message into their worldview. The theory predicts the “Mean World” syndrome, which occurs when people who are heavy viewers of television begin to perceive the world as more violent than is actually the case