Peter Spencer Explained

This public letter provides some of the historical background to Peter Spencer's current hunger strike protest. All up it is a swindle by the Federal and State governments against all Australian farmers. It is breathtaking when you see some of the shenanigans that have, and are still occurring in the background.  I love the quote of Thomas Jefferson in this context: 'When people fear governments you have anarchy, and only when the government fears the people will you have demoncracy.'

Agriculture Left Off

There was not a single mention of agriculture or its potential to help reduce global greenhouse emissions in the Copenhagen Accord agreed to after marathon climate change negotiations. In particular there was no change to the international accounting rules which govern agricultural emissions and currently exclude agriculture from mitigation opportunities like bio-char and soil carbon sequestration.

Don't Forget the Kangaroos

Kangaroos could play a far greater role in increasing methane emissions and reducing soil carbon levels than existing scientific theory suggests. Understandings of how grazing animals interact with the landscape suggest that it is not what kangaroos emit but how they effect the emissions of other animals that is the real – and currently overlooked – story of the carbon debate. 

Grazing Key to Ecology

The NSW Western Division can grow far more grass and run far more livestock, but simply locking up properties to promote revegetation is not the full answer to improving the ecology of this region. In fact, locking up properties in the so-called interests of conservation will have the opposite effect over an extended period.

Senator Fieldings Three Questions

Senator Steve Fielding posed three direct questions to the Minister for Climate Change, Senator Penny Wong, in order to clarify whether or not evidence exists that human carbon dioxide emissions are causing dangerous global warming, as alleged by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Four scientists where called in to discuss the questions and this is their response back to the process. [It is insightful to read each scientists biography at the end – one even reverted from alarmism to skepticism after viewing the mounting evidence!]

Evangalists Reexamining Climate Change

The Cornwall Alliance believe that  “global warming alarmism” fails the tests of theology, science, and economics. It rests on poor theology, with a worldview of the Earth and its climate system contrary to that taught in the Bible. It rests on poor science that confuses theory with observation, computer models with reality, and model results with evidence, all while ignoring the lessons of climate history. It rests on poor economics, failing to do reasonable cost/benefit analysis, ignoring or underestimating the costs of reducing fossil fuel use while exaggerating the benefits.

Yields Without Chemical Inputs

Congratulations David – it’s so nice to see your methods getting aired in The Land! David Slack-Smith, who has been growing corn for 20 years on his 550-hectare Dubbo farm, “Lucernevale”, five years ago moved to focus on biological farming and biochemical sequence, which he says involves balancing soil nutrition and working with nature to get microbes to do most of the work. He is saving about $17,545 in nitrogen costs on his 55-hectare sweet corn crop, and achieving three tonnes a hectare more in yields, by using non-traditional growing methods. [David is using a range of fantastic innovations which I have enjoyed reading as he has forwarded them on to me over the years]

Connecting Rivers to Flood Plains

Reconnecting flood-plains to rivers will help reduce the risk of future flooding. For example, allowing agricultural land to be submerged by floodwater would not result in a permanent loss of farmland or crops being destroyed. "Control infrastructure [e.g. levees] prevents high flows from entering flood-plains, thus diminishing both natural flood storage capacity and the processes that sustain healthy riverside forests and wetlands."

Fertile Urine

"(Urine) contains the three most important plant nutrients which farmers buy as artificial fertiliser. These are nitrogen, phosphorus) and potassium - but it also contains all eight micronutrients plants need for growth." When a user sits on a new purpose built "fertiliser-producing toilet", the urine will go one way to a storage tank fitted with a compressor and a valve, from where it can be collected for direct use as liquid fertiliser after dilution. The solid waste will fall into a shallow pit where it will be covered with soil and compacted; it will dry it out and neutralise before it is ready for use as fertiliser.

Return of the Fungi

A bulbous, prehistoric-looking mushroom called agarikon prefers to colonize century-old Douglas fir trees. Paul Stamets, a mycologist, is on a quest to find this endangered mushroom that could cure smallpox, TB, and even bird flu. But can he unlock its secrets before deforestation and climate change wipe it out? [What a man and what a great story!] 

Putting Drugs into Food

Health Canada is proposing an unorthodox way of combatting a food ingredient suspected in some cancers - acrylamide: It wants to let manufacturers put small amounts of a cancer-fighting drug into potato chips and similar foods to curb production of the harmful chemical. Swedish scientists discovered in 2002 that acrylamide, used in making various industrial and consumer products, also occurred in foods ranging from breakfast cereals to bread cooked at over 120-degrees celsius. A by-product of heating certain sugars, levels are particularly elevated in carbohydrate-heavy food heated to high temperatures like chips and fries.

Inert Ingredients to be Labeled

The US EPA announced that it plans to require pesticide manufacturers to disclose to the public the inert ingredients in their products. An inert ingredient is anyting added to a pesticide that does not kill or control a pest. In some cases, those ingredients are toxic, but companies do not identify them on pesticide labels. Manufacturers worry about revealing trade secrets.

Secret Chemical Ingredients

Of the 84,000 chemicals in commercial use in the United States -- from flame retardants in furniture to household cleaners -- nearly 20 percent are secret, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, their names and physical properties guarded from consumers and virtually all public officials under a little-known federal provision. 

Litmus Test for Pesticides

Testing food or water for pesticide contamination usually involves sending samples off to a laboratory for analysis, at significant cost in time and money. Now, the development of a simple paper sensor — a “laboratory on a strip” — it can be dunked in a sample and give a reading a short time later, like a litmus test. The researchers say the strips, which have a long shelf life, could be a rapid and cost-effective way to test for environmental contaminants.

Organics Retain Market in Recession

Organic food sales in much of Europe have held up in the recession, bucking fears that the price premium would put off consumers.

The Importance of Honey

The benefits continue to unfold. Current research out of the UK indicates honey may play a role in preserving human memory by serving as a fuel source for the brain during times of rest, or noctural fasting, when other food sources are unavailable. After an early evening meal, the liver may be selectively replenished prior to sleep by taking an ounce or two of quality honey.

More on Bees

Did you know: Bees have a memory; they vote, are being trained to count and are helping people as an early detector of disease by sniffing skin and lung cancers, diabetes and tuberculosis; and researchers from the University of Montana are using bees to find TNT residue — the primary ingredients in landmines — while conducting surveys many miles away from the hive. What an information packed read on bees that includes the likely reasons for their current demise.

More Herbicides on GM Crops

The authors of the report, entitled "Impacts of Genetically Engineered Crops on Pesticide Use," used US Department of Agriculture data to look at America's three largest genetically engineered crops - soybeans, corn, and cotton. They found that the amount of herbicides used on them has increased from 1996 to 2008 by approximately 7 or 8 percent, with a particularly sharp increase from 2005 on. "This big increase in herbicide is driven largely by the emergence of Roundup-resistant weeds."

GM Tadpoles for Water Pollution

African clawed frog tadpoles modified with jellyfish genes show promise as a faster and less expensive way to detect pollution than traditional methods. The green-glowing tadpoles indicate whether pollution exists in a form that can be absorbed by an organism and therefore might be dangerous to people. Some tadpoles have been engineered to light up in response to metals. Others fluoresce when exposed to pollution from plastic that might cause health problems by mimicking the hormone estrogen.

Natural Gas Drilling

Drilling companies assert that the destructive forces unleashed by the fracturing process, including the sometimes toxic chemicals that keep the liquid flowing, remain safely sealed as much as a mile or more beneath the earth, far below drinking water sources and the rest of the natural environment. But it remains unclear how far the tiny fissures that radiate through the bedrock from hydraulic fracturing might reach, or whether they can connect underground passageways or open cracks into groundwater aquifers that could allow the chemical solution to escape into drinking water. Case studies of the impossible continue to show up. “This is a field where there is almost no research.”

Green Techology's Hidden Pollution

Some of the greenest technologies of the age, from electric cars to efficient light bulbs to very large wind turbines, are made possible by an unusual group of elements called rare earths. The world’s dependence on these substances is rising fast. But these elements come almost entirely from China, from some of the most environmentally damaging mines in the country, in an industry dominated by criminal gangs.

Biomimicry

Nature-inspired engineering could be the source of environmental improvements to the river that runs through Cleveland -- especially in the biologically challenged, steel-lined shipping channel. Industrial design students presented a half dozen nature-inspired options for better growing plants along the riverbanks in the six-mile shipping channel. Among them was a plan to "grow" a fabric along the walls, inspired by both the growth of the coral reef in the oceans, but also the strength of a bird nest.

Stormwater Rethink

Philadelphia has a groundbreaking idea about what to do with stormwater: Use it to feed grass and trees instead of letting it rush into the sewers. The concept may seem obvious. But for most cities, a stormwater management plan that doesn't expand sewers or treatment plants is counterintuitive. “It's really impressive for a place that's as densely populated and as paved over and urbanized as Philadelphia is."

Floating Houses

Aggressive tactics, like building the world's biggest sea gate and creating "new islands," are being blended with more adaptive ones that simply acknowledge there will be more water and less land in the Netherlands of the future. There are 50 "water houses" in Cees' neighborhood along the Maas, the country's first large-scale effort to build floating homes. Floating homes allow for commercial development without displacing flood plains. Many have lawns and gardens on top of the foam foundation.

Light Emitting Wallpaper

Light-emitting wallpaper may begin to replace light bulbs from 2012, according to a government body that supports low-carbon technology. A chemical coating on the walls will illuminate all parts of the room with an even glow, which mimics sunlight and avoids the shadows and glare of conventional bulbs. Although an electrical current will be used to stimulate the chemicals to produce light, the voltage will be very low and the walls will be safe to touch. Dimmer switches will control brightness, as with traditional lighting.

Dangers of Old Tyres

ABC News (US) went undercover and found retailers selling aged tires as brand new. This can be incredibly dangerous. Your "new" tires could be six years old and ready to disintegrate on the highway! The code for dating tyres is shown in this short video.

Country Town Living 2025 Forum

Another thought provoking forum from Bingara and District’s Vision 2020 that discusses future trends (with futurist Dr Peter Ellyard), future farming (with Dr Maarten Stapper), Feeding Greening and Caring (with John Mongard), and numerous case studies, with the first day ending with a dinner at The Roxy and a presentation on The Cumnock Story and why it is difficult to change. The second day involves workshopping ideas. Bingara 24th & 25th February. More details to come.

Health

Codex Overview

I put this video up a year or so ago, and it is as valid now as then (if not more so). It was forwarded to me by a subscriber recently, and I thought it timely to put it up again. It's interesting how the goals for Codex seem ever so similar to signing the Copenhagen agreement - World Order and overriding national sovereignty all for the argument of so-called common good....

The Human Microbe

The human body has more microbial than human cells, but this rich diversity of micro-helpers that has evolved along with us is undergoing a rapid shift--one that may have very macro health consequences. With rapid changes in sanitation, medicine and lifestyle in the past century, some of these indigenous species are facing decline, displacement and possibly even extinction. 

Cancer Gene vs Cancer Environment

It was considered a radical idea. Gene mutations are part of the process of cancer, but mutations alone are not enough. Cancer involves an interaction between rogue cells and surrounding tissue. Researchers say they can explain many anomalies of cancer with this new paradigm. For example, a blow to the breast might spur cancer, an infection might fuel cancer cells, a weak immune system might let cancer spread. Cancer may not be a disease caused by a rogue cell that divides and multiplies until it destroys its host. Instead, it may be a disorder of cellular organization. [Yay, mainstream might start to head down the holistic path finally]

Less Drugs, Less Staph Resistance

Twenty-five years ago, Norwegians were losing their lives to the MRSA bacteria. But Norway's public health system fought back with an aggressive program that made it the most infection-free country in the world. A key part of that program was cutting back severely on the use of antibiotics. And tests in other hospitals around the world are recording stunning results using the same strategy – but wholesale change is still not happening.

Stunning Tamiflu Revelations

Witholding evidence, poor performance, side-effects and complications....and now recycling excess stockpiles of Tamiflu into children's drugs, with special permission to ignore use-by-dates and storage requirements!! [What next?]

Fructose

Scientists have proved for the first time that fructose, a cheap form of sugar used in thousands of food products and soft drinks, can damage human metabolism and is fueling the obesity crisis. It isn’t that fructose itself is bad -- it is the MASSIVE DOSES you’re exposed to that make it dangerous, and its in everything, just about.

Quote

'A happy life is just a string of happy moments.  But most people don't allow the happy moment, because they're so busy trying to get a happy life.'  Abraham, excerpted from the Sacramento, CA workshop on March 15th 2003.

Cartoon

Miscellaneous

Europe’s small, debt-strapped countries (Latvia, Greece and Iceland) could follow the lead of Argentina and simply walk away from their debts. That would shift the burden to the creditor countries, which could solve the problem merely by a change in accounting rules. Dozens of countries have defaulted on their debts in recent decades, the most recent being Dubai, which declared a debt moratorium on November 26, 2009. “The European Union and International Monetary Fund have told them to replace private debts with public obligations, and to pay by raising taxes, slashing public spending and obliging citizens to deplete their savings. Resentment is growing not only toward those who ran up these debts . . . but also toward the neoliberal foreign advisors and creditors who pressured these governments to sell off the banks and public infrastructure to insiders.”  [ie, the IMF wants the working people to bail out mainly corporate debts yet again, and ensure their vaults are filled!]

Events

* Country Town Living 2025 - Bingara NSW 24th - 25th February 2010.

Postscript

Clever clever advertising - The take home message: a marketer must know how to make use of the environment and circumstances to achieve the best possible impact. In this case it's buses.

Or for something more profound, check out the message from this National Geographic photographer - Celebrate What's Right About the World. Many journey the world only believing if they see, but the paradigm shift of believing before seeing it is truly beautiful, and real to those that practice this art of 'seeing'.