Trees granted rights by N. American town

The Earth's forests used to be very dense.

A tiny town in Quebec has become the first municipality in North America to officially recognize trees as living beings with a fundamental set of rights.

Terrasse-Vaudreuil, a town of about 2,000 people just west of Montreal, Canada, adopted a resolution on June 9, 2026, to sign the Universal Declaration of Tree Rights.

• 55,000 ancient trees in one forest that scientists still can't fully explain

This declaration was launched in 2018 in response to worldwide deforestation and the perception of trees as nothing more than objects and a resource to be extracted by humans. Its stated goal is to "recognize the Tree as a sentient living being, a source of Life, and a common good of humanity."

Why do trees need rights?🌲Let's give'em to robots

American activist Julia Butterfly Hill will be so happy to hear it as will Luna the Tree

A 2019 petition in support of the declaration had garnered just shy of 88,000 signatures, and Terrasse-Vaudreuil's adoption of its principles marks the first public entity in North America to sign on as well.

The town's Mayor Michel Bourdeau said in a press release translated from French: "By adopting this resolution, Terrasse-Vaudreuil reaffirms its commitment to building a sustainable future.

"This recognition will be accompanied by concrete programs aimed at protecting our tree canopy, planting trees, and raising public awareness of their importance."

Mayor Bourdeau told Canadian outlet CBC that "our biggest ally is the trees" when it comes to fighting climate change. The town's mayor said he is committed to protecting the canopy, raising awareness of the importance of trees, and planting more of them.

The Universal Declaration of Tree Rights was created in response to worldwide deforestation.

Town adopts tree rights principles

Terrasse-Vaudreuil has promised to abide by the three fundamental principles of the Universal Declaration of Tree Rights.

1.  The first principle states: "The Tree, a sentient living being and source of Life, is a common good of humanity."
2. The second principle states: "Life on Earth depends upon the existence of the Tree."
3. The third states: "Human beings, endowed with reason and conscience, must act with the Tree in a spirit of fraternity and solidarity."

According to the town's press release, adopting the resolution was a citizen-led initiative inspired by the film Des arbres et des arts ("Trees and the Arts"), by Quebec filmmaker André Desrochers. The film argues that trees are living beings that communicate with each other through [VOCs and] underground fungal networks that interact symbiotically with roots.

The first article of the Universal Declaration of Tree Rights, which claims trees are "sentient," makes a similar argument, though it also emphasizes a distinction between the rights of trees and those of humans.

"The recognition of Tree Rights must not automatically be confused with the attribution of legal personhood," the declaration states. "In certain legal systems, legal personhood may constitute one mechanism for protecting a natural entity. It is, however, neither a necessary foundation nor the exclusive objective of the Universal Declaration of Tree Rights."

The Universal Declaration of Tree Rights aims to change the perception of trees as simply a resource to be extracted by humans. 

The town adopted the resolution after being inspired by a film that argues trees communicate through fungal networks [called mycelia] connected by roots.

Trees recognized as sentient beings

Let the dryads (tree spirits) rejoice!

The main idea behind recognizing trees as sentient beings is to stop people from viewing the plants "solely as an object, property, raw material or resource available exclusively for human benefit," according to the declaration.

Other natural bodies have been granted similar legal protections in North America on occasion. Quebec’s Magpie River was given legal personhood in 2021 by the Innu Council of Ekuanitshit and the regional municipal council of Minganie (Duck River).

The protection granted the river nine rights, including freedom from pollution, the right to evolve naturally and a mandate to retain its natural biodiversity.

Lake Erie in Ohio was temporarily granted legal personhood similar to that of an individual or corporation through the 2019 Lake Erie Bill of Rights, but a federal judge ruled the measure unconstitutional in 2020. The Daily Mail has reached out to Bourdeau, the mayor of Terrasse-Vaudreuil, for comment. More

USA to invade Greenland to fight China

WRONG: "It's all about the oil, Stupid!": [colonized thinker] Mehdi Hasan on Trump [doing what drug dealers in the CIA told him to do, which is keep] attacking Venezuela and [start] kidnapping [Jewish converso] Pres. Maduro [to thwart China]

• Penis Diddy and Nick Maduro 😂 #donaldtrump #venzuela #maduro #cartoon

Buddhist Thailand and Cambodia at war

Have Israel and the CIA's crimes in Gaza made war the norm? 

Thailand Cambodia War Timeline Explained?

(AiTelly) July 25, 2025: UNITED STATES. The roots of the Thailand–Cambodia border crisis stretch deep into the colonial past, when the Franco-Siamese treaties of the early 1900s left boundaries ill-defined and susceptible to later dispute.

• Thai means "free" as it was never formally colonized by Western powers, though Japan intruded during WW II to cross The Bridge on the River Kwai (The Bridge over the River Kwai)

Tensions simmered for decades, especially around ancient Buddhist temples that dot the border. Among these, Prasat Ta Muen Thom and the areas near Preah Vihear became focal points for competing national claims, bearing not just strategic significance but also the weight of cultural pride.

(DW) Could US and China become involved in neighborly dispute?

• What's the real motive beyond the manufactured pretext? Gas or oil reserves, greed of a corrupt Thai government, greed for tourist destinations? This is not a religious dispute but an economic one, according to one Thai American Wisdom Quarterly spoke with. It is reminiscent of Israel's greed for Gaza's underground resources, preferring to let people believe it is all about ideology, national security, and a biblical dispute rather than what it really is, genocide for economic advantage.

As the year 2025 began, a sense of unease hovered along the frontier. On May 28, the fragile calm shattered. Gunfire erupted at the Emerald Triangle, where Thai and Cambodian soldiers exchanged shots.

The clash caused the lives of one Cambodian soldier, and the Blame Game began immediately, with each nation accusing the other of provocation. By June 7, the rhetoric gave way to visible preparations for confrontation.

Thailand bolstered its border positions, simultaneously leveling accusations of provocations against Cambodian forces and civilians. Throughout June and July, the border region grew ever more volatile. Spasms of minor clashes flared up, border crossings shut down, and the movement of civilians became increasingly restricted.

Military alerts were raised on both sides. The crucial turning point arrived on July 24, 2025. Before dawn, Thai troops reported the presence of Cambodian drones buzzing near Prasat Ta Muen Thom.

A patrol of six armed Cambodian soldiers soon appeared at the perimeter of a Thai base, setting nerves on edge.

Around 6:30 am, shots rang out once again. The chaos of combat bred confusion and recrimination: Cambodia accused Thailand of launching an unprovoked assault, while Thailand claimed Cambodian soldiers had fired first near the temple.

The conflict escalated with frightening speed. By 9:40 Thailand reported a salvo of B M-21 rockets arcing from Cambodian positions toward Prasat Don Tuan, their impact threatening nearby civilian neighborhoods.

Barely ten minutes later, the violence spilled to the vicinity of Ta Kwai Temple, where further clashes erupted. At 10:58 am, the smoldering border ignited fully F-16 fighter jets from the Royal Thai Air Force thundered overhead, bombing Cambodian military positions at Chong An Ma.

Thai officials declared that key Cambodian command posts had been destroyed. As the day wore on, the fighting sprawled along several kilometers of the contested boundary. Artillery thundered, rockets exploded, and both armies unleashed heavy weaponry, transforming the frontier into a battleground.

• Thailand Cambodia War Timeline Explained?

Instagram: aitelly3d. Twitter: aitelly3d. Made on Blender. Download it is free and safe (blender.org/download). Peace out.

As a small channel, we encourage sharing of our videos. However, please be advised that any unofficial translations or editing of our work in any medium will be considered a breach of our intellectual property rights. We apologize for the legal language, which arises from our experiences dealing with a lot of duplicated content. This has been a result of big channels duplicating our videos, ripping our original hard work, which we have created from scratch, from modeling to rigging to animation and  rendering. As a result, we've had to involve lawyers.

When do we attack and take Canada?

(Task & Purpose) Europe prepares for war. Gee, thanks, Trump

A.I. Predicts US war with Canada

(How to Survive) March 26, 2025: Picture the unthinkable. An early morning scroll through the newsfeed suddenly reveals U.S. troops are rolling across the Canadian border. How to react? Today, let’s explore a riveting, A.I.-driven timeline that unfolds like a war novel written by Tom Clancy. And it all feels like a terrifying possibility. How could two peaceful neighbors escalate to all-out warfare? Would the United States’ massive firepower beat Canada’s rugged defenses? Could NATO survive a conflict between its own member nations? 

(South Park) The American-Canadian War to come

10 countries warning their citizens not to visit the United States

• 00:00 A.I. Predicts US war with Canada
• 01:42 Trigger event
• 03:20 NATO’s dilemma
• 03:45 Civilian impact
• 05:12 Flashpoint: Detroit-Windsor border clash
• 06:28 NATO’s Article 5 debate
• 07:24 U.S. military action
• 08:40 Global fallout
• 09:50 Survival tips
• 11:16 U.S. domestic unrest
• 13:40 Ceasefire talks
• 14:41 Ceasefire vs. annexation
• 16:57 Devastation of U.S.-Canada War

• How to Survive, 3/26/25; South Park; Pfc. Sandoval, Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

How to survive grief: World's saddest song

Surviving Grief; Jack Brewer (Saccharine Trust); Pfc. Sandoval, A. Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

"Surviving Grief" (survivinggtrief.org) is a project of love created in the heart of the pandemic.

Once social isolation forced grief communities apart, we migrated to the digital world to keep sane.

The goal of Surviving Grief is to provide a one-stop-shop for grief resources, instead of searching the Web endlessly looking for grief books or organizations that apply for specific forms of grief.

Take a look around, stay a while, and please contact to add any resources options: Find resources HERE

The depths of human misery

Vocalist and lyricist Jack Brewer/Saccharine Trust "A Human Certainty" (STP Records)

Sal tree dryad (Ranganathaswamy Temple)

LYRICS: "A Human Certainty" (Saccharine Trust) "Don't come in here/ You'll see something ugly/ It's not the kind of thing/ You'd expect from a body/ Don't come in here/ Don't see me this way/ With my knees on rice/ And a prayer for the prey/ My face is heavy/ My mind is clenched/ My eyes are disgusted/ My hands are hot/ My walls are green/ My walls are red/ I only cry wolf/ When all my sheep are dead/ Oh they died/ Oh they're dead/ As dead can be/ Don't come in here I beg of you/ Yes there's love in my heart/ But there's hatred in my thoughts/ Don't believe in me/ Or anything that speaks/ Cause you won't be deceived/ By a human certainty/ My face is heavy/ My mind is clenched/ My eyes are disgusted/ My hands are hot/ My floors are green/ My floors are red/ I only cry wolf/ When all my sheep are dead/ Oh they died/ Oh they're dead/ As dead can be/ Human certainty/ Human certainty/ Human certainty/ Aaarrrgh, aaarrrgh/ I'm okay now/ I'm okay now/ Oh/ Last night I had a dream about you/ And in my dream you were only asleep/ I sat in a chair and watched you/ As you laid there so beautifully/ The still of the night made me lonely/ I wanted to touch you/ I wanted to feel you/ I wanted things to be just like they used to be/ Except I'd keep all my promises/ And then I felt so ashamed/ I was so ashamed/ Until I realized/ We're all guilty of that dream/ And forever I wished you a beautiful sleep."

Jack Kornfield: Pandemic Resources (audio)

Jack Kornfield (jackkornfield.com, spiritrock.org), Trudy Goodman (insightla.org, insightLA); Dhr. Seven, Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Jack Kornfield (spiritrock.org)

We have a choice. Epidemics, like earthquakes, tornadoes, and floods are part of the cycle of life on planet earth. How will we respond?

With greed, hatred/fear, and ignorance? This only brings more suffering.

Or with generosity, clarity/heart, and wisdom? This is the time for love.

This is a time for Bodhisattvas, Buddhas-to-be. In Buddhist teachings, Bodhisattvas are people who vow to alleviate suffering and bring blessings in every circumstance. Bodhisattvas choose to live with dignity and courage and radiate compassion for all, no matter where they find themselves.

• Pandemic Resources (jackkornfield.com)

This is not a metaphor. As Bodhisattvas we are now asked to hold a certain measure of the tragedy of the world and respond with love.

The Bodhisattva path is in front of us. The beautiful thing is, we can see Bodhisattvas all around. We see them singing from their balcony to those shut inside. We see them in young neighbors caring for the elders nearby, in brave healthcare workers and unheralded workers who stock the shelves of grocery stores.

As a father, if she called me, I would fly to the ends of the earth to help and protect my daughter. Now she and her firefighter/paramedic husband and my toddler grandson await the virus. His urban fire department, like many hospitals and first responders does not have masks. And 80% of their work is responding to emergency medical calls where they all expect to get the virus. They will not be tested, because the department can’t afford to lose too many of their firefighters.

What can I do? What can we do? In this moment we can sit quietly, take a deep breath, and acknowledge fear and apprehension arising with uncertainty and helplessness -- and we can hold all of these feelings with a compassionate heart.

We can say to our feelings and doubt, “Thank you for trying to protect me” and “I am okay for now.”

We can put our fears in the lap of the Buddha, Mother Mary, Kwan Yin, place them in the hearts of the generations of brave healers and scientists who tended the world in former epidemics.

When we do we can feel ourselves part of something greater, of generations of survivors in the vast web of history and life. We can feel as if we are “being carried,” as the Ojibwa elders say, “by great winds across the sky.”

This is a time of mystery and uncertainty. So take a breath. The veils of separation are parting, and the reality of interdependence is apparent to everyone on earth. We have needed this pause, perhaps even needed our isolation, to see how much we need one another.

Now it is time to add our part. The Bodhisattva ideal deliberately turns the suffering around to serve and help those around in whatever way it can. This is the test we have been waiting for. We know how to do this.

It is time to renew your vow. Sit quietly again and ask your heart, What is my best intention, my most noble aspiration, for this difficult time? Your heart will answer. 

Let this vow become your North Star. Whenever you feel lost, remember and it will remind you what matters.

It is time to be the medicine,

the uplifting music, the lamp in the darkness.

Burst out with love. If you are a carrier,

be a carrier of hope. If there is a funeral,

send the traveler off with a song.

Trust in dignity and goodness.

Where others hoard, help.

Where others deceive, stand for truth.

Where others are overwhelmed or uncaring,

be kind and respectful.

When you worry about your parents,

your children, your friends, your beloveds,

let your heart open to share in everyone’s care

for parents, children, and love ones.

This is the great heart of compassion.

The Bodhisattva directs compassion

toward everyone.

Those who are suffering and vulnerable

and even those who are causing suffering.

We are in this together.

It is time to re-imagine a world,

to envision sharing our common humanity,

to vision how we can live in the deepest

and most beautiful way possible.

Coming through this difficulty,

what we intend and nurture, we can do.

In the end remember who we are is timeless

awareness, the consciousness that was born

into a body.

You were born a child of the spirit,

and even now you can turn toward the awareness

and become the loving awareness that witnesses

yourself reading and feeling and reflecting.

When a baby is born, our first response is love.

When a dear one dies, the hand we hold is a gesture of love.

Timeless love and awareness is who we are. Trust it.

Dear Bodhisattva, the world awaits your

compassionate heart.

Let’s join in this great task together.

- Jack Kornfield 🙏🏻

P.S. You can listen to these free meditations:

• A Steady the Heart in the Time of Coronavirus
• Compassion in the Time of Coronavirus
• and more at jackkornfield.com

• Santa Monica: 1430 Olympic Bl., Santa Monica, CA 90404
• East Hollywood: 4300 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90029
• Benedict Canyon: 9940 Westwanda Dr., Beverly Hills, CA 90210
• Mail: InsightLA P.O. Box 7278, Santa Monica, CA 90406
• InsightLA is a non-profit meditation center teaching the highest quality mindfulness practices in locations throughout the greater Los Angeles area. Please consider making a donation today (insightla.org/donate).

Coffee cherry fruit husk flour for baking

Dhr. Seven, CC Liu, Imogen, Dev (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly; Jenny Neill (sprudge.com, 4-18-14)

Coffee cherry fruit husks (Jansen)

"Flour" made from coffee fruit? Who even knew coffee came from fruit? But, yes, flour for baking can be made from the byproduct of coffee bean harvesting. It's gluten-free, has protein, is best mixed with other flours.

Moreover, it's highly nutritious, only mildly caffeinated (depending on serving size), and it's environmentally conscious.

It's a fine powder like a bitter cocoa that makes a dense product (CoffeeFlour.com).

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I'm already a coffee drink addict.

It's made from the coffee cherry pulp left over from green coffee processing. A crazy sounding idea to be sure, it is something that got a number of news outlets quite excited when it was first launched in 2014.

This is more than just a health-food craze. It might also be a capitalist move to maximize profitability. CoffeeFlour.com founder Dan Belliveau has big plans to reshape the environmental and economic impacts of the coffee supply chain.

 

Big plans with big backers, including Intellectual Ventures, the massive intellectual property and R&D firm founded by Nathan Myhrvold (co-creator of the landmark Modernist Cuisine), and industrial coffee supply chain heavyweight ECOM Agroindustrial Corp. Ltd and Mercon Coffee Group. Sprudge.com sat down with Belliveau to hear more about the Coffee Flour story. More

Chocolate (Theobroma cacao) comes from the bitter roasted seed of a nice fruit.

Happy Hemp History Week (June 5-11)

Lauren@votehemp.com (HHW); THR; Pat Macpherson, Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

2017 Press Releases

Hemp History Week Launches Nationwide June 5-11, 2017

Environmental Sustainability, Nutritional Benefits, Regenerative Agriculture and New Technologies of Hemp to be Featured During Hemp History Week

Hemp History Week to Host Media Reception Breakfast at NoCo Hemp Expo

Organizers Debut Promotional Video and Announce Dates for Hemp History Week: June 5-11, 2017  More

(Hemp Industries Association) The 8th annual Hemp History Week campaign video “Breaking Ground” shares the story of Alex White Plume, Oglala Lakota hemp farmer and activist, whose hemp crop was unlawfully raided and destroyed by the DEA in 2000. Since then he has been fighting for the right to grow hemp on tribal lands, which have been left out of current federal hemp farming legislation. Sign up to get involved at hemphistoryweek.com. Directed by Lauren Stansbury, produced by Movement Media and Bell Visuals for the Hemp Industries Association © 2016.

• Hemp is Mother Nature's gift to free humanity (which is why it's so aggressively suppressed)

"Escape from Suburbia" (Movie)

The film "Escape from Suburbia" is a wake up call that challenges the illusion of never ending growth. It examines alternatives for a more sustainable society in the 21st century and beyond.

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Suburbia with all its promises became the American Dream -- a lifestyle predicated on the dwindling availability of cheap and abundant resources like oil. Escape introduces three engaging characters in a small town who move us from the realm of theory to the real world.

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There is an emerging movement of citizens' groups confronting our addiction to finite resources. With vision and courage, it is pointing the way to what we can do on our own little island.

• Escape from Suburbia (director Gregory Greene, USA 2007, 95 mins.)
• LINK