The global seed vault opens (or closes?) in Norway. (So Titan A.E.!) I wish I lived in Norway.

LONGYEARBYEN, Norway, February 26, 2008 (ENS) - The Svalbard Global Seed Vault opened today on a remote island in the Arctic Circle, receiving the first shipments of what will be a collection of 100 million seeds from more than 100 countries. Unique varieties of the African and Asian food staples maize, rice, wheat, cowpea, and sorghum as well as European and South American varieties of eggplant, lettuce, barley, and potato are the first deposits in the icy vault.

At the opening ceremony, Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg unlocked the vault and, together with Nobel Peace Prize laureate environmentalist Wangari Maathai of Kenya, placed the first box of seeds inside.

Containing varieties of rice seeds from 104 countries, the box was opened during the ceremony, and then resealed before being placed in the vault.

“With climate change and other forces threatening the diversity of life that sustains our planet, Norway is proud to be playing a central role in creating a facility capable of protecting what are not just seeds, but the fundamental building blocks of human civilization,” said Stoltenberg.

Maathai, founder of the African Green Belt Movement, said, “The significant public interest in the seed vault project indicates that collectively we are changing the way we think about environmental conservation. We now understand that along with international movements to save endangered species and the rainforests of the world, it is just as important for us to conserve the diversity of the world’s crops for future generations.”

[Photo by Mari Tefre, courtesy Crop Diversity Trust]

There’s so much great stuff to be found out there on the Buddhist blogs. Here’s just a tiny taste:

Anyone planning to be in New Haven, Connecticut on April 11th should check out Danny Fisher’s lecture, “What Does a Buddhist Chaplain Do? A Dharma Practitioner’s Reflections on Spiritual Care and Counseling” at the New Haven Shambhala Center.

The Buddhist Geeks continue their conversation with Brad Warner, who as all Hardcore Zen fans know is critical of Genpo Roshi’s Big Mind process.

A great Zen story from Master Seung Sahn (slightly changed) on Marcus’ Journal.

And a wonderful post from last week on The Level 8th Buddhist about the Joys of Devotional Buddhism (including quotes from the Pali Canon, if you like quotes from the Pali Canon.)

Bodhipaksa has a book out on vegetarianism as a Buddhist practice, and you can read sections of it on his blog. Thanks to Going for Refuge for pointing it out.

And for all us internet old-timers, Netscape is finally dead. Thanks to Simra.net for the pointer (and for helping develop Firefox.)

Deposed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is expected back in Thailand February 28th.

After President Bush imposed fresh sanctions on Burma’s business interests, The Irrawaddy says Burma’s Asian neighbors, who are bigger trading partners than the U.S., need to do the same.

Reuters on Monlam Chenmo, Tibet’s Great Prayer Festival. More on Monlam from Phayul.com. There was also a clash reported in Amdo province between Tibetans celebrating the event and Chinese authorities.

The International Campaign for Tibet reports that police in Nepal raided a Tibetan refugee center and handed a man there over to the Chinese authorities. And in related news, the Chinese government complains that more border crossings are needed to increase trade between Tibet and Nepal.

We’ve received a lot of comments about Gandhi, who appears in our current issue, on our Who Are We? page. We’ve moved all these comments over here to open up the discussion.

- Philip Ryan, Web Editor

A series of YouTubes, courtesy of Hokai.

Krishnamurti speaks with Chogyam Trungpa (5 videos)

Fleet Maull on Integral Peacemaker Training