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The invasive acacias and mimosas of Monchique.
A report on a dangerous state of affairs by Theobald Tiger

A report on a dangerous state of affairs by Theobald Tiger

Saturday the 24th of June 2023. Those walking from Caldas de Monchique to Esgravatadouro, continuing on to Fornalha and taking the short PR5 route up to the summit of Picota cross what you could call a minefield of millions of acacia and mimosa trees. Some of them six feet high, others a little shorter still, some already taller, they reach the rim of the tarmac road. Hikers will be crossing the dead country left after the 2018 forest fires. This is where the wild shoots of acacia and mimosa grow on both sides of the tarmac, and no council whatsoever …

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Money and Love

At some point I decided to no longer allow money to occupy such a prominent position in my life. I try to remain true to myself and not do anything for money that I wouldn’t do without receiving money for it. This is not the same thing as renouncing money completely. I do have to have something to live on. And I too love to be paid fairly for what I do. However, I don’t want to be a wage slave, I don’t want to sell myself, my work and the time available to me in this life so I …

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Can the logic of our tax system change?
Yes, if you ask GEOTA*.

Off the bat, I wouldn’t consider talking about taxes an interesting topic, because recent experience suggests that for many of us they simply represent a very real burden. A burden that despite everything, society pledges to take on. And all of us have an opinion on the matter; without much hesitation, I’d say that what we all want is for taxes to not overburden us, and at the same time for them to provide truly beneficial effects to society. It’s obvious that what constitutes something “truly beneficial” is subjective, variable and sometimes contradictory, as the preoccupations felt by citizens vary …

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The Abuse of Power in Times of Crisis.
By Theobald Tiger

There are stories that all seem to resemble one another. It’s always about money and the lack of justice, including social justice. These stories tell of arbitrary actions on the part of state institutions, injustice, a lack of rights and the abuse of power. No, we’re not writing a story about China or the Philippines. Instead, we’re trying to keep our own house in order. This story was told to me by Maria N*, who is 67 years old and has been retired for a year. Every month she receives just under 400 euros. To earn this right, she paid …

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The democratisation of finance?
A conversation between a finance “shark*” and a journalist

We said that this would be a conversation and not an ordinary interview, you remember?   Manuel Nina: Yes, I have lots of questions about permaculture. I actually just went to see my father-in-law, who’s a farmer in the Douro valley. He has a two-hectare smallholding, where he grows vines and fruit for the family, and I brought these big baskets of lettuces and cabbages back home with me to Lisbon. But he also showed me the local trees. He has a small plot of land with pine trees, medronho trees, and olive trees as well. My first question is …

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It’s a Man’s Man’s World

People usually define success using external values such as money, status and bodily perfection. What human beings tend to leave aside are mental goals such as emotional well-being, the ability to enjoy life and to manage emotions, as well as the acquisition of the skills involved. You seldom learn these things at home, in school or at university. A cloak of silence covers any discussion of mental well-being and the management of emotions: not functioning is considered embarrassing. If humans want to find out how come they spend their lives running after money, work and a sick economic growth, they’ll …

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Pisciculture meets Horticulture

A première in Portugal: a closed water and nutrient cycle; the production of strawberries and lettuce, pumpkins and tomatoes (and much more) and freshwater fish all year round. One supports the other, the fish support the growing of vegetables with their natural fertiliser, and the vegetables support the fish with treated, reusable water. The water circulates from one tank to the next and is pumped back again, all day long, 24 hours a day, by solar-powered pumps. This is known as aquaponics, and this form of organic, urban agriculture is advocated and financially supported by the EU. On a drawing …

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ResponsAbility Investment AG

The World of Microcredits This company has its headquarters in Zurich and Geneva, and branches in France, India, Kenya, Peru, Norway, Hong Kong, Luxembourg and Thailand. It specialises in microfinance in the following five areas: finance, agriculture, renewable energy, health and education. In agriculture, for example, it strengthens cooperatives and farming that operates sustainably, in finance it supports microfinance banks; in the field of energy, it finances domestic solar power systems for low earners; in health and education, it supports networking and improvements in the IT field. Its involvements are long-term and worldwide: for example in Central and South America …

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UROBORO makes itself useful

Good news from the Higher School of Art and Design in Caldas da Rainha – IP Leiria  Uroboro* is a completed research project that has led to an everyday product which also has the objective of promoting environmental education in the home. It is an invention for cutting the disposal chain of biodegradable waste in urban areas and for finding individual solutions. Its inventor, Marco Balsinha (32), shows that is possible to avoid up to 30 percent of biodegradable waste with earthworm composting. Using his worm composter, the outcome of his final Master’s project at the Higher School of Art …

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Mirror research in the solar village of Tamera

Green investment in Portugal Lightweight membrane optics is a pioneering discipline in the generation of solar energy. Who would imagine that high-tech devices for industrial use were being developed in a remote workshop in the Alentejo? In September 2014, the solar village of Tamera received 100,000 dollars from an Indian client to take this development a step further. The technique builds on the principle of the fixed-focus mirror, as used in Tamera for cooking with the Scheffler mirror. But the latter does not need to be high precision to reach a temperature of 200°. The developer Dr. Douglas Baillie says: …

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