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Ah, the tomatos look great. We've been eating tomatos from the garden for about 10 days now. Delicious!
I hope those little caterpillers had a safe landing, they were Monarch caterpillers!
Societal Collapse Due to Peak Oil ‘Inevitable,’ According to Researcher
Written by Nick Chambers
Published on June 4th, 201033 CommentsPosted in Economics, Oil
In a new article, an Oxford researcher has examined what will happen when peak oil hits. According to Jörg Friedrichs, the outlook is not good. In his article Friedrichs doesn’t attempt to answer the question when peak oil will happen (or if it already has). Instead he imagines that it has happened and the world has to deal with it.
His conclusions: the world will have a “slow and painful” adjustment to peak oil lasting a century or more with the inevitable collapse of industrial society and the disintegration of free trade. How cheerful.
In his research, Friedrichs used three historical examples to guide his thought process of how the world’s different governments will deal with being energy constrained: North Korea, Cuba and Japan.
North Korea and Totalitarian Retrenchment
In the 1990’s North Korea entered a period of time that is akin to what the world might face when confronted with peak oil. As the Soviets stopped delivering subsidized oil to its comrades, North Korea was faced with a severe oil shortage. To deal with the catastrophe, the North Korean government “basically screwed its own population,” said Friedrichs in an interview with Miller McCune. “Elite privileges were preserved, while hundreds of thousands of ordinary people starved.” Friedrichs has labeled this type of governmental response to an oil shortage as “totalitarian retrenchment.”
Cuba and Mobilization of Local Resilience
Due to the same pullback that North Korea faced from the Soviets, Cuba also entered a period of severe oil shortages in the 1990’s. But, instead of enacting more totalitarian control tactics, Cuba — with its history of grassroots communist organization and reliance on friends and family — fell back into what Friedrichs calls “mobilization of local resilience.” In other words, people being a community. “People helped each other at the neighbourhood level, and the wastelands of Havana and other cities were utilized for urban gardening,” said Friedrichs. “As a result, Cuba did not experience mass starvation despite considerable hardship in the 1990s.”
Japan and Predatory Militarism
For decades before WWII Japan had sought to expand its influence in China and secure energy resources — long considered its major growth restraint, having virtually none of its own. At the time World War II broke out, Japan was almost completely dependent on oil imports from California to fuel its growth. Given that Japan had its sights on a pre-emptory invasion of Pearl Harbor, they decided to invade the East Indies to secure their oil supply. This kind of response to an oil shortage Friedrichs calls “predatory militarism” — that is, using military might to steal resources from other areas.
How will the Various Governments of the World React to Peak Oil?
According to Friedrichs, all countries of the world that are wholly dependent on an oil economy will react to peak oil in one of the above 3 methods. “Countries prone to military solutions may follow a Japanese-style strategy of predatory militarism,” he said. “Countries with a strong authoritarian tradition may follow a North Korean path of totalitarian retrenchment. Countries with a strong community ethos may embark on a Cuban-style mobilization of local resilience, relying on their people to mitigate the effects of peak oil.”
Friedrichs thinks the U.S. will resort to predatory militarism because that is our one biggest strength. He says that liberal democracies (the U.S. being one, regardless of what the conservatives are currently spouting) will have a hard time keeping democracy viable and maintaining open free markets. If he were to guess which countries would be the most stable during the collapse, Friedrichs concludes that “Countries with a recoverable authoritarian tradition are likely to work better than liberal democracies.”
The U.S. would have a hard time resorting to Cuban style local resilience because of the Western lifestyle. “When social glue and traditional lifestyles have eroded, they are not easily recovered,” he said, comparing the Cuban and U.S. societies. “After several generations of individualism and affluence, Westerners will have a hard time accepting that they need to rely on communities and must revert to a sustainable lifestyle. After 65 years of mass consumerism, Japanese society is likely to face similar problems.”
Can’t Technology Save Us?
Not likely. Using the example of how the deep south — known as Dixieland — recovered after the Civil War, Friedrichs concludes:
“Dixieland is a cautionary tale for those who believe that social and technological innovation will take care of all problems. After Southern elites lost slavery as the backbone of their way of life [during the U.S. Civil War], it took them at least a century to adjust to the new reality.”
“Why did they not simply embrace industrial capitalism and liberal democracy? Well, I guess it is not so easy to give up one’s lifestyle. Now, imagine that people were to face an energetic downgrade, rather than the upgrade available to Dixieland after the Civil War. While the “challenge” for Dixieland was lifting its socioeconomic fabric to industrial capitalism and liberal democracy, after peak oil the opposite would be the case. Do you really think people would have an easier time adjusting to peak oil? The world would sorely miss cheap and abundant energy, and liberal democracy would become more and more difficult to sustain. The example of Dixieland shows that it takes a lot of time for the ”new consciousness” to emerge that is necessary for radical social change.”
What a cheery note to head into the weekend with.
Source: Miller-McCune
http://gas2.org/2010/06/04/societal-collapse-due-to-peak-oil-inevitable-according-to-researcher/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+gas2/org+(Gas+2.0)
Mystery Crop Damage Threatens Hundreds of Acres
http://www.wreg.com/videobeta/27c94098-39bd-4244-87e9-214c7444d43b/News/Millington-Damaged-Crops
News video link above.
June 1, 2010
WREG, Channel 3, Memphis
FAST FACTS:
* Small dots appear to "burn" through leaves
* Area affected is along Tipton and Shelby County line
* Farmers afraid they may lose their entire crop
Memphis – Something is killing crops, trees, even weeds and nobody can explain why.
Farmers are scratching their heads and some are worried their crops may be lost to the mysterious plague.
It's happening along a large swath of land near the Shelby and Tipton county border along Herring Hill Road and elsewhere near the Mississippi River bottoms.
Tiny dots appear to have burned onto leaves of all types of plants, and they appear different depending on the plant.
On corn stalks, the dots seem to turn white in the center.
On other plants, a white dust speckles the leaves and then destroys the green life underneath.
"We found it all in the herbs, in the flowers, in the plum tree, in the weeds," said organic farmer Toni Holt. "It's apparently in everything."
Holt grows organic produce that she sells at area farmers' markets.
As she and other farmers inspect the new growth covered in the perplexing plague, they fear their entire crop may be lost.
Less than ten miles from Holt's crops, the damage could possibly hit hundreds of acres of corn at Wilder Farms.
It appears to have hit everything in its path.
There does not seem to be anything in common with the affected plants.
The Holts raise organic crops, so they don't spray pesticides on any of their fruits and vegetables.
The first thought among some was a new parasite or insect caused the damage, but Wilder farms sprays pesticides and the damage there is exactly the same.
Farmers first noticed the damaging dots over the weekend.
Then Holt came home to find baby birds dead in their nests.
"There are two dead birds hanging out of two different bird houses, so we're concerned about that. We don't know if it's related, but it's alarming," said Holt. "We've got horses, we're concerned about the horses on the grass. We've got chickens. We sell our eggs at the market."
Farmers we spoke with are convinced something in the air caused this damage.
They're asking the USDA and other experts to look into the problem, and so are we.
Vanishing Farmland: How It's Destabilizing America's Food Supply
Bonnie Erbe
http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/05/28/vanishing-farmland-how-its-destablizing-americas-food-supply/
Food security. Sounds boring, eh? It's not something talked about very often, but the fact is America's rising population is creating no small amount of peril in the food-supply chain. Farmland is disappearing at an alarming rate as farms are sold off and developed into suburban housing, shopping malls and transportation systems.
The American Farmland Trust is the only national environmental organization devoted entirely to preserving farms. On its Web site are the following statistics:
• The nation lost farm and ranch land 51 percent faster in the 1990s than in the 1980s.
• We're losing our best land -- most fertile and productive -- the fastest.
• Our food is increasingly in the path of development.
• Wasteful land use is the problem, not growth itself.
Julia Freedgood, managing director of Farmland and Communities, of the Farmland Trust, told me in an interview, "We're losing about a million acres a year, so over the course of the last 30 years since American Farmland Trust has been in existence, that's about 30 million acres."
There's a healthy debate evolving in environmental circles about disappearing farmland and whether the loss could become so great as to threaten our ability to feed ourselves. Some environmentalists see farmland loss as largely an East Coast phenomenon.
Caroline Niemczyk, a board member of the Trust for Public Land, told me in an interview, "In the East Coast it's really a problem. We have enormous stretches of farmland in the Midwest and the far West, and that's of all types ranching, and citrus production in California, vegetables. We've got a lot of mixed use in the Mississippi Valley, but we are finding in the East Coast that it's harder and harder to maintain what really have become small family farms."
Other environmentalists say farmland supply in the West is also on the decline. They agree that while vacant land is still more widely available in the West, it is not prime farmland. Farms are being paved over in California more quickly than in most eastern states. In California, which used to host an abundance of prime farmland, one of every six acres developed in California since the Gold Rush was paved over between 1990 and 2004.
Most environmentalists see something called smart growth as the solution, which Freedgood describes as smarter urban planning: "What we need is to actually to have better cities, more livable cities, tighter-knit communities, more compact development, make more land available for farming so that we can feed more people."
The concept of smart growth became trendy in the 1970s. In the intervening 40 years, Americans have done nothing but tear up farmland for development in ever larger chunks to feed our voracious appetite for housing first, and worry about food production later. We're gluttons for suburban sprawl. On the other hand, our political will for smart growth is nonexistent. A large percentage of what has been developed, never to be reclaimed, was built close to or on prime farmland. The reason was early American farmers needed to quickly transport fresh crops from farms to markets in more heavily populated areas. As cities grew over time, they expanded and consumed the best farmland.
This trend is exacerbating even today. In the 1990s, according to the Farmland Trust, prime land was developed 30 percent faster, proportionally, than the rate for non-prime rural land. Marginal farmland depletes a greater percentage of natural resources than prime land when it is farmed. It requires more water and irrigation to grow crops and produces a lower yield.
The Farmland Trust also reports some 86 percent of U.S. fruits and vegetables and 63 percent of dairy products are produced on prime farmland in urban-influenced areas, or near cities. That means much of that land will soon be consumed by development, too, if present trends continue. According to Freedgood, we're already short of what we need to meet America's appetite for fresh produce: "There's new data from the economic research service that shows that we're 13 million acres short of fruit and vegetable production to meet everybody's daily requirements."
As the supply of prime farmland and fresh produce dwindle, Americans in turn grow more and more dependent on imported foods. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, we now import 79 percent of fish and shell fish, 32 percent of fruits and nuts and 13 percent of vegetables.
When we import more food, we increase our trade balance deficit, we spend much more food money on fuel for transportation, and we rely more heavily on other countries -- so disruptions in those markets affect our food prices and supply chain. We are not yet at the point where we are so dependent on foreign foods we could starve if we suddenly lost access to overseas markets. But as Freedgood points out, there's one problem few people consider when the topic of imported food is raised:
"There's a high correlation between . . . lack of food access and obesity, and if you're not producing enough fruits and vegetables and the price of fruits and vegetables is expensive, then those aren't the foods that people are choosing to eat. They're choosing to eat the cheap foods that tend to be really high in calories and salt and sugar and so on."
Any Volvo-driving, Brie-eating yuppie can tell you urban farmer's markets are all the rage and there seem to be more of them than in prior decades. But locally grown food still comprises a very small percentage of fresh foods sold on a national scale. So with dependence on foreign foods rising and development of prime farmland growing ever more rapidly, what else can be done to prevent over-development of farmland? The sad answer is, nothing the American populace seems to want to stomach right now.
Global Cold Wave May Be Looming — This Time, the Science Is Good
La Nina, a solar minimum, and a massive volcanic eruption make a threesome of cold weather events not seen for two hundred years.
May 31, 2010- by Art HornShare | In a cosmically ironic twist of fate and timing, nature may be set to empirically freeze any and all anthropogenic global warming talk: a blast of Arctic cold may encase the earth in an icy grip not seen for 200 years.
This is not alarmist fantasy or 2012 babble — several natural forces that are known to cause cooling are awakening simultaneously, raising speculation of a “perfect storm” of downward pressures on global temperature. These forces let loose one at a time can cause the Earth to cool and can bring about harsh winter conditions. If they all break free at once, the effects could be felt not just in the coming winter, but year-round, and for several years to come.
On March 20, a volcano erupted on the island of Iceland. The eruption has continued at varying intensity to this day. A volcano erupting on Iceland is not an uncommon event — the island is one of the few spots where the mid-oceanic ridge rears up out of the water, revealing its violent personality. However, this particular volcano is different — it has acted as a reliable predictor of future much more explosive and consequential activity.
This volcano has only erupted three times since the 9th century, the last eruption occurring in the early 1820s. In the past, it has been followed by a much larger eruption by the nearby Katla volcano. Katla has erupted many times on its own, usually every 60 to 80 years, and last blew in 1918. It’s overdue.
Magnus Tomi Gudmundson is a geophysicist at the University of Iceland, and an expert on volcanic ice eruptions:
There is an increasing likelihood we’ll see a Katla eruption in the coming months or a year or two, but there’s no way that’s certain. …
From records we know that every time Eyjafjallajokull has erupted, Katla has also erupted.
The reason this is ominously significant is that these giant eruptions can change the weather on a planetary scale for years. Mount Laki, another large volcano in Iceland, has a history of producing climate changing eruptions. In the early summer of 1783, Laki erupted, releasing vast rivers of lava. The explosive volcano also ejected a massive amount of volcanic ash and sulfur dioxide into the air — the eruption was so violent that the ash and sulfur dioxide were injected into the stratosphere, some 8 miles up. This cloud was then swept around the world by the stratospheric winds. The result was a significant decrease in the amount of sunlight reaching the Earth’s surface for several years.
That reduction in sunlight brought about bitter cold weather across the northern hemisphere. The winter of 1784 was the coldest ever seen in New England and in Europe. New Jersey was buried under feet of snow. The Mississippi River froze all the way down to New Orleans! Ice was reported in the Gulf of Mexico. Historical records show that similar conditions existed during the following winter.
Other eruptions have caused similar consequences. Mount Tambora in Indonesia erupted with cataclysmic force in April of 1815, the largest eruption in over 1,600 years. It also came during a time of very low solar activity, known as the “Dalton Minimum.” The following year was called “The Year Without a Summer.” During early June of 1815, a foot of snow fell on Quebec City. In July and August, lake and river ice were observed as far south as Pennsylvania. Frost killed crops across New England with a resulting famine. During the brutal winter of 1816/17, the temperature fell to -32 in New York City.
Mount Pinatubo exploded in June of 1991, after four centuries of sleep. The resultant cloud of volcanic ash in the stratosphere pounded the global temperature down a full one degree Fahrenheit by 1993. Record snowfall buried the Mid-Atlantic states and southern New England during the winter of 1993/94. Those same records were shattered just two years later in the winter of 1995/96 from the effects of the reduced sunlight.
If Eyjafjallajokull induces an eruption of Katla, that event alone could force global temperatures down for 3 to 5 years. But there is much more at work here.
We have just exited the longest and deepest solar minimum in nearly 100 years. During this minimum, the Sun had the greatest number of spotless days (days where there were no sunspots on the face of the sun) since the early 1800s. The solar cycle is usually about 11 years from minimum to minimum — this past cycle 23 lasted 12.7 years. The long length of a solar cycle has been shown to have significant short term climate significance. Australian solar researcher Dr. David Archibald has shown that for every one year increase in the solar cycle length, there is a half-degree Celsius drop in the global temperature in the next cycle.
Using that relationship, we could expect a global temperature drop of one degree Fahrenheit by 2020. That alone would wipe out all of the warming of the last 150 years.
And there is yet a third player in this potential global temperature plunge.
Since autumn of 2009, we have been under the influence of a moderately strong El Nino. El Nino is a warming of the water in the Pacific Ocean along the equator from South America to the international dateline. El Nino’s warm water adds vast amounts of heat and humidity to the atmosphere. The result is a warmer Earth and greatly altered weather patterns around the world. The current El Nino is predicted to fade out this summer, and frequently after an El Nino we see the development of La Nina, the colder sister of El Nino. La Nina’s cooler waters along the equatorial Pacific act to cool the Earth’s temperature.
The stage could soon be set for a confluence of cold-inducing forces. A La Nina, a weaker sun, and a possible major eruption in Iceland could plunge the Earth into a period of bitter cold not seen for two hundred years.
Forecasts of natural phenomena are notoriously difficult. However, a unique set of natural circumstances have a chance to unify into a formidable triad. All eyes will be on Iceland to see if Katla awakens from its long sleep, and if it does, the theory of man-made global warming will be handed yet another crushing blow.
Art Horn spent 25 years working in television as a meteorologist. He now is an independent meteorologist and speaker who lives in Connecticut. He can be contacted at skychaserman@cox.net.
http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/global-cold-wave-may-be-looming-%E2%80%94-this-time-the-science-is-good/?singlepage=true
HIGH SCHOOL CLASS REUNION OF A 60+ YEAR OLD LADY
I had prepared for it like any intelligent woman would.
I went on a starvation diet the day before, knowing that all the extra weight would just melt off in 24 hours, leaving me with my sleek, trim, high-school-girl body. The last forty years of careful cellulite collection would just be gone with a snap of a finger.
I knew if I didn't eat a morsel on Friday, that I could probably fit into my senior formal on Saturday. Trotting up to the attic, I pulled the gown out of the garment bag, carried it lovingly downstairs, ran my hand over the fabric, and hung it on the door.
I stripped naked, looked in the mirror, sighed, and thought, "Well, okay, maybe if I shift it all to the back ..." Bodies never have pockets where you need them.
Bravely I took the gown off the hanger, unzipped the shimmering dress and stepped gingerly into it. I struggled, twisted, turned, and pulled and I got the formal all the way up to my knees ... before the zipper gave out. I was disappointed. I wanted to wear that dress with those silver sandals again and dance the night away.
Okay, one setback was not going to spoil my mood for this affair. No way! Rolling the dress into a ball and tossing it into the corner, I turned to Plan B: the black crepe caftan.
I gathered up all the goodies that I had purchased at Saks: the scented shower gel; the body building and highlighting shampoo and conditioner; the split-end killer and shine enhancer. Soon my hair would look like that girl's in the Pantene ads.
Then the makeup -- the under eye "ain't no lines here" firming cream, the all-day face-lifting gravity-fighting moisturizer with wrinkle filler spackle; the 'all day kiss me till my lips bleed, and see if this gloss will come off' lipstick, the bronzing face powder for that special glow.
But first, the roll-on facial hair remover. I could feel the wrinkles shuddering in fear.
Okay, time to get ready! I jumped into the steaming shower, soaped, lathered, rinsed, shaved, tweezed, buffed, scrubbed and scoured my body to a tingling pink.
I plastered my freshly scrubbed face with the anti-wrinkle, gravity fighting "your face will look like a baby's posterior" face cream. I set my hair on hot rollers.
I felt wonderful. Ready to take on the world. Or in this instance, my underwear. With the towel firmly wrapped around my glistening body, I pulled out the black lace, tummy-tucking, cellulite-pushing, ham hock-rounding girdle, and the matching "lifting those bosoms like they're filled with helium" bra.
I greased my body with the scented body lotion and began the plunge. I pulled, stretched, tugged, hiked, folded, tucked, twisted, shimmied, hopped, pushed, wiggled, snapped, shook, caterpillar crawled and kicked. Sweat poured off my forehead but I was done. And it didn't look bad.
So I rested. A well deserved rest, too.
The girdle was on my body. Bounce a quarter off my behind? It was tighter than a trampoline. Can you say, "Rubber baby buggy bumper buns?" Okay, so I had to take baby steps, and walk sideways, and I couldn't move from my buns to my knees. But I was firm!
Oh no ... I had to go to the bathroom. And there wasn't a snap crotch. From now on, undies gotta have a snap crotch. I was ready to rip it open and re-stitch the crotch with Velcro, but the pain factor from past experiments was still fresh in my mind. I quickly sidestepped to the bathroom.
An hour later, I had answered nature's call and repeated the struggle into the girdle. I was ready for the bra. I remembered what the saleslady said to do. I could see her glossed lips mouthing, "Do not fasten the bra in the front, and twist it around. Put the bra on the way it should be worn -- straps over the shoulders. Then bend over and gently place both breasts inside the cups."
Easy if you have four hands. But, with confidence, I put my arms into the holsters, bent over and pulled the bra down ... but the boobs weren't cooperating. I'd no sooner tuck one in a cup, and while placing the other, the first would slip out. I needed a strategy. I bounced up and down a few
times, tried to dribble them in with short bunny hops, but that didn't work. So, while bent over, I began rocking gently back and forth on my heel and toes and I set 'em to swinging. Finally, on the fourth swing, pause, and lift, I captured the gliding glands. Quickly fastening the back of the bra,
I stood up for examination.
Back straight, slightly arched, I turned and faced the mirror, turning front, and then sideways. I smiled, yes, Houston , we have lift up!
My breasts were high, firm and there was cleavage! I was happy until I tried to look down. I had a chin rest. And I couldn't see my feet.
I still had to put on my pantyhose, and shoes. Oh ... why did I buy heels with buckles?
Then I had to pee again.
So I put on my sweats, fixed myself a drink, ordered pizza, and skipped the high school reunion.
If this did not give you a good laugh -- you're too young!
Huh, that's weird, won't size down the picture. Maybe this one?
http://investorshub.advfn.com/uimage/uploads/2010/5/29/liaioGuinevere_014.jpg
Lots of farms are gone now, it's a real shame. Many of us are trying to hang on, but it gets tougher each year.
I haven't been around much, just a few 'fly bys' lol to read here and a few other boards quickly.
The fields are planted,finally, and the garden is growing great! Tried a few new vegetables this year, things I haven't planted in a long time. Some parsnips (love them), lots of carrots that are doing really well, celery that amazingly overwintered here and is growing like crazy too.
At the end of last year, I had brussel sprouts and collard greens that were still growing, so I left them alone. This spring they flowered like wild and very soon I'll be cutting the tops off to dry the seed heads. I have enough to supply great numbers of people with seeds! Glad I left them in.
All this and having fun running the normal business too. Sigh.
The house in KY is coming along great, lots of traveling.
Sent a number of fattened calves off to market.
Plus an abundance of kittens this year. The ferals come into the barns to have them and then I scoop them up and humanize them before they become feral too. I'm at 15 kittens and counting now. Thankfully, most are eating food and only a couple need to be bottle fed. Anyone looking for a great kitten?
I did have a beautiful foal born 6 weeks ago, a truly lovely baby. I'll try to post some pictures of her for you.
So, all in all, a fairly typical spring in the asylum!! LOL
Hope your surgery went well and life is treating you great.
Washington food fight pits big producers against local farms
By David Goldstein | McClatchy Newspapers
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/05/21/94634/washington-food-fight-pits-big.html
WASHINGTON — There's a food fight under way between Capitol Hill and the Agriculture Department, and it's about small potatoes.
Organic small potatoes.
Big ones, too, as well as peas, beans, beef, poultry and melons. Just about anything, in fact, that's farm-raised and edible.
Three Republican senators have complained that a USDA effort to educate the public about where food comes from slights "conventional farmers who produce the vast majority of our nation's food supply."
Sens. Pat Roberts of Kansas, John McCain of Arizona and Saxby Chambliss of Georgia complained in a recent letter to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack that his agency spent $65 million last year on a program "aimed at small, hobbyist and organic producers whose customers generally consist of affluent patrons at urban farmers markets."
Or, to put it bluntly: Take your arugula and shove it.
The USDA calls the program "Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food." It has no money of its own, but the agency has spent other federal agricultural dollars to further its goals, including farm bill funds to aid locally grown food projects.
These include grants to support farmers markets in Kansas and California, crop productivity and management efforts in Missouri and Alaska, and organic agriculture research in North Carolina and Washington state.
Bruce Babcock, an economist and the director of the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development at Iowa State University, said it was "ironic" that the senators and others objected to the USDA spending $65 million on Know Your Farmer when commodity producers received $5 billion during the past two years, and the crop insurance industry received $7 billion.
"We should welcome alternative producers if we want to see entrepreneurship grow in rural America," Babcock said. "How can it hurt? It can only help."
Supporters of Know Your Farmer, such as Dan Nagengast, the executive director of the Kansas Rural Center, said that critics have ignored the program's larger goals: To spread the word about the economic value of local food production and thereby preserve America's rural heritage.
"Cultivating these new markets — not replacing old ones — is critical to revitalizing rural America," Vilsack wrote to Roberts, McCain and Chambliss.
About 40,000 mid-sized farms disappeared between 2002 and 2007, according to the U.S. Census. For many, it's too costly to compete. They're too big to market their own goods directly, but often not big enough to use wholesale.
"Towns are emptying in western Kansas because medium-sized farms don't count any more," said Nagengast, whose agency is a nonprofit research and family farm advocacy group. "Generally, he's (Roberts) got better judgment than to gratuitously dismiss something the health industry, environmental industry, rural development industry and people in small towns are interested in. It's a whole other layer of the economy that he's dismissing."
The Agriculture Department's efforts reflect a growing movement toward healthier eating and fresh-from-the-farm cooking. It embraces more than just foodies who scour the farm stands for the perfect baby eggplant and devour issues of Bon Appetit.
Followers include everyone from public school officials who want to cut fats and sugar out of their cafeteria menus, to restaurateurs such as Jane Zieha, whose Blue Bird Bistro in Kansas City, Mo., has been serving farm-to-table food for a decade.
"I am working very hard to change the myth that local food — you know what you're consuming and who's growing it — is only for the affluent," she said. "My customers come from all walks of life."
The local food movement has no bigger symbol than first lady Michelle Obama, who started a kitchen garden on the South Lawn of the White House and leads a campaign against childhood obesity.
Just this week, for instance, several major food manufacturers, spurred by her efforts, agreed to start offering more healthy choices. Meanwhile, Missouri lawmakers have created a task force to study urban farming.
Roberts is a former chairman of the House Agriculture Committee and currently sits on the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee along with Chambliss, the panel's ranking member.
He said this week that they never meant to sound dismissive of small farmers and niche producers, or their customers.
"The more people that go to the farmers markets, the more people understand agriculture and they eat a better diet," Roberts said. "There's nothing wrong with that. As a matter of fact, it ought to be encouraged. . . . But you can't go back to Walden Pond agriculture and expect to feed America."
Diana Endicott, who runs a 400-acre naturally raised cattle ranch with her husband, Gary, near Fort Scott, Kan., said she doesn't expect to feed America, nor do the 100 or so other organic farmers in a local growers' alliance she helped organize.
But what's wrong, she asked, with giving a boost to farmers who aren't interested in tilling 10,000 acres?
"Know Your Farmer is not saying we support only small-scale agriculture," said Endicott, who sells her beef and organic tomatoes to several local supermarkets and a food cooperative. "We need to be educated about our food and we need to know how to make wise choices. We have a new generation of farmers coming, and people who want to be reconnected to land. It's trying to find the right balance for everyone to be able to participate."
The squabble goes back to the rise in popularity of organic food when its producers felt that USDA was ignoring them and listening only to big agriculture. It's been a battle for who has USDA's ear ever since.
The American Farm Bureau, the industry voice, declined to comment on Know Your Farmer, beyond calling it "a good thing" that members of Congress and USDA were talking, according to spokesman Mace Thornton.
However, the criticism could hint that the conventional farming industry worries that advocates of organic and community-supported agriculture are gaining influence.
"In this Department of Agriculture, they have a more sympathetic view," said former Agriculture Secretary Clayton Yeutter, who served under President George H.W. Bush. "They have been able to get significantly increased funding for what they like to do. Know Your Farmer fits that overall niche very nicely."
Yeutter shared some of the critics' concerns, however. If there's to be more attention to smaller farms, he said, "How do you feed the immense number of people in the world, and the additional 3 billion likely to be here by 2050?"
Read more: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/05/21/94634/washington-food-fight-pits-big.html#ixzz0ol9LOfPT
credit to FuturesJackel
a Monsanto representative assured the Ministry of Agriculture that the seeds being donated are not GMO.
Wow! I can just see the pigs flying now~! What a load of complete and utter bullshit. Monsanto giving away NON GMO's, hahahahaha. I've got nice oceanfront property in South Dakota to sell....
Thanks for the great laugh for the day!
What will they print next in the news? Lordy!
Bizarre speculation circles weather bureau
From: The Daily Telegraph April 02, 2010 12:01AM 35
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/bizarre-speculation-circles-weather-bureau/story-e6frea83-1225848781810
Source: The Daily Telegraph
THEY are the digital-age equivalent of crop circles - mysterious patterns appearing on the Bureau of Meteorology's national radar system without any explanation.
And the random images described as red stars, rings of fire and white doughnuts are sending online conspiracy websites into meltdown.
The anomalies first began on January 15 when an "iced doughnut" appeared over Kalgoorlie in WA.
Satellite imagery showed there was no cloud over the area at the time to explain the unusual phenomenon but farmers' online comments claimed it was "unusually hot" all day.
It was followed by a bizarre red star over Broome on January 22 and a sinister spiral burst over Melbourne described by amateur radar buffs as the Ring Of Fire Fault.
The Bureau, which did not respond to repeated requests for comment, has acknowledged the anomalies on its popular website.
It has since posted a disclaimer above the national loop feed putting the images down to "occasional interference to the radar data".
"The Bureau is currently investigating ways to reduce these interferences," the disclaimer said.
Conspiracy websites, however, have lit up with dozens of breathless theories behind the strange anomalies from alien involvement, secret military testing to government weather modification.
One theory gaining traction online is the belief the US military has expanded its High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program.
Based at a remote research station in Alaska, the HAARP project involves shooting extremely high frequency radar bursts into the upper reaches of the atmosphere to see what happens after particles of the ionosphere are temporarily excited.
Ostensibly the research is to study the effects of solar flares on radio communications and improve missile detection and navigation systems.
But, unlike the failed cloud seeding experiments of yesteryear, conspiracy theorists claim HAARP is engaged in a sophisticated form of weather modification and that testing is also being done from a secret facility near Exmouth in Western Australia.
UK electrical engineer and crop circle expert Colin Andrews said Australians deserve an explanation.
Until (the Bureau of Meteorology) make a formal and complete response to all the various strange patterns, one can only speculate about what is taking place," he said.
Mr Andrews urged people concerned by the bizarre radar symbols and strange weather patterns to contact the Bureau of Meteorology or a government representative.
Another theory suggests the anomalies appear before major weather events such as cyclones Olga and Paul and the violent storms which hit Victoria in recent weeks.
Others argue objects in the atmosphere emitting powerful radiation could be behind the mystery.
35 comments on this story
Due to a power outage, only one paramedic responded to the call. The house was very dark so the paramedic asked Kathleen, a 3-yr old girl to hold a flashlight high over her mommy so he could
see while he helped deliver the baby..
Very diligently, Kathleen did as she was asked. Heidi pushed and pushed and after a little while, Connor was born. The paramedic lifted him by his little feet and spanked him on his bottom.
Connor began to cry. The paramedic then thanked
Kathleen for her help and asked the wide-eyed 3-yr old what
she thought about what she had just witnessed.
Kathleen quickly responded, 'He shouldn't have crawled in there in the first place........spank him again!'
Hey! There you are!
If you can leave the United States, I would suggest you GET OUT NOW
01:15 by Administrator. Filed under: Whatever
by John Galt
March 29, 2010
While I was out playing happy camper in the Everglades and checking on my ‘local’ BOL, some news snuck through the system but thankfully good old Tyler Durden at ZeroHedge.com has the scoop:
It’s Official – America Now Enforces Capital Controls
This is not something I say lightly after reviewing this information and reinforcing the commentary from the Rangel rule which restricted and penalized voluntary emigration and/or renunciation of one’s citizenship from the United States.
If you can, even if it means a 75% loss of your fortunes, get out now.
If you have a universal skill set (Programmer, trader, medical skills, security skills, etc.) and can relocate with little resources, get out now.
If you have real estate holdings in certain nations (not Canada or Mexico) get out now.
The precursor to most major shifts within western civilization have always been the restrictions placed on the flow of capital. Without going off into woo-woo land on you, all I can say is that this is a warning shot that something major is about to occur which further restricts the freedoms of the citizens of this once great nation. When I did my radio show, I warned that this one event, a key moment or marker in any nation’s history was something to be taken deadly seriously. In my opinion it means that a currency realignment or change or outright revocation of rights taken for granted was certain with a 90 day, maybe if we’re lucky, 180 day window.
One more time:
If you can escape, do it now.
Good luck to all and God Bless.
Comments (109)
Comments
Leave a comment
C. W. Livingston
29.03.10
01:29
I’ve got no adequate sums of money to go anywhere. So my best bet is to keep building supplies and learning skills that will be useful for barter.
.
The best we all can do right now is to the greatest extent possible; freeing ourselves from government interference in out personal lives and other matters!
Tweets that mention If you can leave the United States, I would suggest you GET OUT NOW | Shenandoah -- Topsy.com
29.03.10
01:42
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by johngaltfla.com. johngaltfla.com said: New Entry: If you can leave the United States, I would suggest you GET OUT NOW http://bit.ly/cDmRdw [...]
Sam Adams
29.03.10
02:01
Yep, I’m with Livingston. I’m flat broke. I have a house and car that is paid for, no debt to speak of, but that’s about it. No job, and no prospect. I was learning to be a programmer, but school just got priced out of reach so there won’t be any graduation for me.
Looks like I get to stay here and shoot the jackboots while other folk get to run like cowards.
While I understand announcing this signal, and I appreciate it as a heads up, good riddance to anyone who leaves and may karma catch up with your a$$.
Sam Adams
29.03.10
02:03
By the way Mr. Galt, any word on these raids in Michigan, Indiana, and (I think, Ohio)??
There is some talk that the Michigan raids were ‘militia’ related.
No word yet on the other raids or any more details on any of them.
Crockett Almanac
29.03.10
02:09
These colors don’t run (Don’t Tread on Me).
wheedle
29.03.10
02:21
DID ANYBODY NOTICE THAT OBAMA GOT HIS CIVILIAN ARMY ?
Section 5210 under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act,page 1312.
search,,,,,obama got his private army,,,,,
Administrator
29.03.10
02:22
No real word. I tend to dismiss the story until someone with some truth dares to talk to the national media. At this time I have no info as I do not follow that crowd…-John
Administrator
29.03.10
02:23
You will need some folks to leave to help those left behind. Don’t condemn everyone who leaves….Just my 0.02.-John
Connor
29.03.10
02:29
As has been asked before…Go where?
When this thing goes down it is going to touch every corner of the globe. At least staying in the US we have a chance when enough have been effected to band together.
Just keep prepping and networking and choose now to make your stand.
Perspective
29.03.10
02:36
@JG: I know your warning is well intentioned. But for me, one of your keyboard commando’s, I’m done running. A long time ago, at least it seems like a long time ago now, I remember reading the following:
.
The coward dies a thousand deaths, the brave man but one.
.
I find I only have one death left in me. And as another blogger puts it: I’m not going to tiptoe through life only to arrive safely at death.
.
Besides, someone has to perform rearguard actions for those that have their circumstances signal a strategic retreat is in order.
.
@All you lurkers: Flags are flying from a number of sources that between now and June/July events, financial and otherwise, are set to break. Note that it happens Jim Sinclair is out of the country currently. Maybe he comes back one more time but the next time he leaves… Other things are in the rumor category, but enough from sources I deem reliable, plus my own personal read on things, that if you are going to do it, do it now.
.
It’s final exam time on liberty. Your liberty that is. And it’s your choice, no one is going say what is your particular best course of action for your particular circumstances. Well, the government might, but I assume you are discounting them. Feels darn lonely out there where liberty is so you better like your company. Goes with the territory of I decide for me.
.
@C.W. and Mr. Bigmutts: Pleasure chatting with you and a few others. Good luck to you and yours.
Sam Adams
29.03.10
02:36
Not sure I understand how people leaving will help those who are stay (by choice or by circumstance), but I take back my admonition for now till I know more…
Administrator
29.03.10
02:39
My nominations, should you have the money (in order):
1. New Zealand
2. Singapore
3. Hong Kong
If you are multilingual
4. Costa Rica
5. Netherland Antilles
6. Brazil
7. Chile
8. Bahrain (tough to get though)
9. India
10. Thailand
Administrator
29.03.10
02:41
For those of us who are here for the long run Perspective, I’m 100% with you. I’m playing it by the book, Atlas Shrugged, that is…..
Thors Hammer
29.03.10
02:54
Run, Hell!
Mark
29.03.10
03:31
Dang it, and I just paid $1.88 on a book called “The Complete Guide to Offshore Money Havens” at the thrift store. Actually, it’s still a pretty good find for the thrift store…
Patrick Henry
29.03.10
03:36
My blood has fought for this country in every war from 1776 on down and I’ll be DAMNED to let the republic fall under my watch. Now if it breaks apart to be reformed into something better I pray I live that long to see it. Remember shoot and scoot. Dont let them get ya. And as the great Ronald Regan said ” The bombing starts in five minutes.”
templar knight
29.03.10
03:50
I had a chance to leave this country for Australia 30 years ago, but my love for my land wouldn’t let me do it. Even though I had a good friend who made the change, and loves Australia now, I look at the land I inherited from my mother’s family and think of the effort expended by my ancestors to keep it. A Civil War ran through it, my grandfather wounded and humiliated on the Southern side, yet we endured, and eventually prospered. I would hardly be worth my salt, and would be unable to face my ancestors in Heaven were I to run away from this fight. No sir, I stand, right or wrong…I stand!
http://johngaltfla.com/blog3/2010/03/29/if-you-can-leave-the-united-states-i-would-suggest-you-get-out-now/
If you can leave the United States, I would suggest you GET OUT NOW
01:15 by Administrator. Filed under: Whatever
by John Galt
March 29, 2010
While I was out playing happy camper in the Everglades and checking on my ‘local’ BOL, some news snuck through the system but thankfully good old Tyler Durden at ZeroHedge.com has the scoop:
It’s Official – America Now Enforces Capital Controls
This is not something I say lightly after reviewing this information and reinforcing the commentary from the Rangel rule which restricted and penalized voluntary emigration and/or renunciation of one’s citizenship from the United States.
If you can, even if it means a 75% loss of your fortunes, get out now.
If you have a universal skill set (Programmer, trader, medical skills, security skills, etc.) and can relocate with little resources, get out now.
If you have real estate holdings in certain nations (not Canada or Mexico) get out now.
The precursor to most major shifts within western civilization have always been the restrictions placed on the flow of capital. Without going off into woo-woo land on you, all I can say is that this is a warning shot that something major is about to occur which further restricts the freedoms of the citizens of this once great nation. When I did my radio show, I warned that this one event, a key moment or marker in any nation’s history was something to be taken deadly seriously. In my opinion it means that a currency realignment or change or outright revocation of rights taken for granted was certain with a 90 day, maybe if we’re lucky, 180 day window.
One more time:
If you can escape, do it now.
Good luck to all and God Bless.
Comments (109)
Comments
Leave a comment
C. W. Livingston
29.03.10
01:29
I’ve got no adequate sums of money to go anywhere. So my best bet is to keep building supplies and learning skills that will be useful for barter.
.
The best we all can do right now is to the greatest extent possible; freeing ourselves from government interference in out personal lives and other matters!
Tweets that mention If you can leave the United States, I would suggest you GET OUT NOW | Shenandoah -- Topsy.com
29.03.10
01:42
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by johngaltfla.com. johngaltfla.com said: New Entry: If you can leave the United States, I would suggest you GET OUT NOW http://bit.ly/cDmRdw [...]
Sam Adams
29.03.10
02:01
Yep, I’m with Livingston. I’m flat broke. I have a house and car that is paid for, no debt to speak of, but that’s about it. No job, and no prospect. I was learning to be a programmer, but school just got priced out of reach so there won’t be any graduation for me.
Looks like I get to stay here and shoot the jackboots while other folk get to run like cowards.
While I understand announcing this signal, and I appreciate it as a heads up, good riddance to anyone who leaves and may karma catch up with your a$$.
Sam Adams
29.03.10
02:03
By the way Mr. Galt, any word on these raids in Michigan, Indiana, and (I think, Ohio)??
There is some talk that the Michigan raids were ‘militia’ related.
No word yet on the other raids or any more details on any of them.
Crockett Almanac
29.03.10
02:09
These colors don’t run (Don’t Tread on Me).
wheedle
29.03.10
02:21
DID ANYBODY NOTICE THAT OBAMA GOT HIS CIVILIAN ARMY ?
Section 5210 under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act,page 1312.
search,,,,,obama got his private army,,,,,
Administrator
29.03.10
02:22
No real word. I tend to dismiss the story until someone with some truth dares to talk to the national media. At this time I have no info as I do not follow that crowd…-John
Administrator
29.03.10
02:23
You will need some folks to leave to help those left behind. Don’t condemn everyone who leaves….Just my 0.02.-John
Connor
29.03.10
02:29
As has been asked before…Go where?
When this thing goes down it is going to touch every corner of the globe. At least staying in the US we have a chance when enough have been effected to band together.
Just keep prepping and networking and choose now to make your stand.
Perspective
29.03.10
02:36
@JG: I know your warning is well intentioned. But for me, one of your keyboard commando’s, I’m done running. A long time ago, at least it seems like a long time ago now, I remember reading the following:
.
The coward dies a thousand deaths, the brave man but one.
.
I find I only have one death left in me. And as another blogger puts it: I’m not going to tiptoe through life only to arrive safely at death.
.
Besides, someone has to perform rearguard actions for those that have their circumstances signal a strategic retreat is in order.
.
@All you lurkers: Flags are flying from a number of sources that between now and June/July events, financial and otherwise, are set to break. Note that it happens Jim Sinclair is out of the country currently. Maybe he comes back one more time but the next time he leaves… Other things are in the rumor category, but enough from sources I deem reliable, plus my own personal read on things, that if you are going to do it, do it now.
.
It’s final exam time on liberty. Your liberty that is. And it’s your choice, no one is going say what is your particular best course of action for your particular circumstances. Well, the government might, but I assume you are discounting them. Feels darn lonely out there where liberty is so you better like your company. Goes with the territory of I decide for me.
.
@C.W. and Mr. Bigmutts: Pleasure chatting with you and a few others. Good luck to you and yours.
Sam Adams
29.03.10
02:36
Not sure I understand how people leaving will help those who are stay (by choice or by circumstance), but I take back my admonition for now till I know more…
Administrator
29.03.10
02:39
My nominations, should you have the money (in order):
1. New Zealand
2. Singapore
3. Hong Kong
If you are multilingual
4. Costa Rica
5. Netherland Antilles
6. Brazil
7. Chile
8. Bahrain (tough to get though)
9. India
10. Thailand
Administrator
29.03.10
02:41
For those of us who are here for the long run Perspective, I’m 100% with you. I’m playing it by the book, Atlas Shrugged, that is…..
Thors Hammer
29.03.10
02:54
Run, Hell!
Mark
29.03.10
03:31
Dang it, and I just paid $1.88 on a book called “The Complete Guide to Offshore Money Havens” at the thrift store. Actually, it’s still a pretty good find for the thrift store…
Patrick Henry
29.03.10
03:36
My blood has fought for this country in every war from 1776 on down and I’ll be DAMNED to let the republic fall under my watch. Now if it breaks apart to be reformed into something better I pray I live that long to see it. Remember shoot and scoot. Dont let them get ya. And as the great Ronald Regan said ” The bombing starts in five minutes.”
templar knight
29.03.10
03:50
I had a chance to leave this country for Australia 30 years ago, but my love for my land wouldn’t let me do it. Even though I had a good friend who made the change, and loves Australia now, I look at the land I inherited from my mother’s family and think of the effort expended by my ancestors to keep it. A Civil War ran through it, my grandfather wounded and humiliated on the Southern side, yet we endured, and eventually prospered. I would hardly be worth my salt, and would be unable to face my ancestors in Heaven were I to run away from this fight. No sir, I stand, right or wrong…I stand!
http://johngaltfla.com/blog3/2010/03/29/if-you-can-leave-the-united-states-i-would-suggest-you-get-out-now/
Paul Ryan - The Real Cost of Health Care (HD)
LOL! My very favorite Easter funny.
Yum. Love fresh peas. Can't wait to start planting them, hopefully in the next week or so. The potatos will go in soon also.
It's beginning to feel like spring!!
Oh! That's terrible that they destroyed the gardens. Is nothing sacred anymore? Sheesh.
Rotarix rotavirus vaccine contaminated, officials say
By Tom Watkins, CNN
March 22, 2010 4:22 p.m. EDT
About 1 million children in the United States and about 30 million worldwide have gotten Rotarix vaccine, the FDA says.STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Doctors have been advised to suspend use of Rotarix rotavirus vaccine
Another vaccine, RotaTeq, is still OK to use, officials say
GlaxoSmithKline, maker of Rotarix, says the contamination is not harmful
(CNN) -- Federal health authorities recommended Monday that doctors suspend using Rotarix, one of two vaccines licensed in the United States against rotavirus, saying the vaccine is contaminated with material from a pig virus.
"There is no evidence at this time that this material poses a safety risk," Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Margaret Hamburg told reporters in a conference call.
Rotarix, made by GlaxoSmithKline, was approved by the FDA in 2008. The contaminant material is DNA from porcine circovirus 1, a virus from pigs that is not known to cause disease in humans or animals, Hamburg said.
About 1 million children in the United States and about 30 million worldwide have gotten Rotarix vaccine, she said.
Rotavirus disease kills more than 500,000 infants around the world each year, primarily in low- and middle-income countries, she said. Before rotavirus vaccine became available, the disease was blamed for more than 50,000 hospitalizations and several dozen deaths per year in the United States, she said.
The FDA learned about the contamination after an academic research team using a novel technique to look for viruses in a range of vaccines found the material in GlaxoSmithKline's product and told the company, Hamburg said. The drug maker confirmed its presence in both the cell bank and the seed from which the vaccine is derived, suggesting its presence from the early stages of vaccine development, she said. The FDA then confirmed the drug maker's findings.
GlaxoSmithKline emphasized Monday that the pig virus is not known to cause illness in humans, saying "it is found in everyday meat products and is frequently eaten with no resulting disease or illness."
"No safety issue has been identified by external agencies or GSK," Thomas Breuer, the drug maker's chief medical officer, said in a written statement. "GSK is committed to patient safety and to the highest manufacturing standards for all our vaccines and medicines. We are already working closely and discussing this finding with regulatory agencies around the world."
Another vaccine, RotaTeq, is made by Merck and was approved in 2006. There is no evidence that the Merck product is affected, Hamburg said. Both vaccines are given by mouth to infants to prevent rotavirus disease, which is marked by severe diarrhea and dehydration.
Asked whether Merck would be able to meet the nation's demand, Merck spokeswoman Pam Eisele said, "Obviously, we will work with the ... FDA to evaluate supply needs."
In the next four to six weeks, the drug agency will convene an advisory committee to make recommendations and seek input on the use of new techniques for identifying viruses in vaccine, Hamburg said.
"We're not pulling it from the market, we're just suspending its use during this period while we're collecting more information," she said. "It should not be in this vaccine product and we want to understand how it got there. It's not an easy call and we spent many long hours debating the pros and cons but, because we have an alternative product and because the background rates of this disease are not so severe in this country, we felt that the judicious thing to do was to take a pause, to really ask the critical questions about what this material was doing in the vaccine, how it got there."
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health, said "a substantial amount" of the DNA was found in the vaccine. But, he stressed, "there is no evidence that it causes any disease. ... There is no evidence that it ever does anything."
The research group that discovered the contamination has asked not to be identified pending its paper's publication in a scientific journal, Hamburg said.
Anyone who has already received a dose of Rotarix should switch to the Merck product for the next two doses, Hamburg said. Preliminary testing of the Merck product has found no evidence of the porcine circovirus 1 DNA, she said. Doctors should be able to tell parents which of the two products their children received, she said.
Hamburg stressed that the suspension applies only to the United States. Public health officials in countries where the incidence of rotavirus is more severe may decide that the benefits of continuing to use the vaccine outweigh any concerns raised by the contamination, she said. "Such a decision would be very understandable," she added.
A similar virus, porcine circovirus 2, also does not cause disease in humans, but it does cause disease in its pig host, Hamburg said.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/03/22/rotavirus.vaccine/?hpt=T2
Lol. Yes, especially these days we all need a good stress reliever. Gardening is certainly one of them.
Wait, maybe the new 'healthcare' bill will restrict gardening. It might not be healthy under the new rules.
I certainly need stress relief after watching that piece of s**t pass.
Fast food, frighteningly slow decay: Mother keeps McDonald's Happy Meal for a whole year... and it STILL hasn't gone off
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1258913/Happy-1st-birthday-Mother-keeps-McDonalds-Happy-Meal-year--gone-off.html
National Reasons to Grow a Vegetable Garden
Patriotic Americans Grow Their Own Food
March 19, 2010
Elise Cooke
Patriotism takes many forms. Those who love this great nation of ours can do something positive for the United States of America, and yes, even the world, by growing some of their own fresh fruits and vegetables. Here are a few reasons why it's time for Victory Gardens to make a comeback in backyards all over our great country.
Victory Gardens Lower U.S. Dependence on Foreign Oil
Commercial farmers get hit coming and going when oil prices shoot up. Not only does farm equipment run on diesel power, but much of the fertilizer used on large farming operations are petroleum-based products. By eating locally, less food needs to be trucked in refrigerated containers to grocery stores, saving gasoline. Vegetable gardeners also take fewer gas-guzzling car trips to supermarkets. Finally, backyard gardeners can make enough of their own fertilizer by composting yard waste, lawn clippings and vegetable kitchen scraps. Bonus: By composting, gardeners also reduce the amount of waste going to the nation's landfills. (They might even see a reduction in their garbage bills, which is a good personal reason to fulfill one's patriotic duty!)
Vegetable Gardens Lower the Trade Imbalance
The national deficit and debt get more mentions in newspapers than the nation's trade imbalance, but the United States loses over half a trillion dollars every year to other countries because more is paid to imports than is received from exports. More food is very much in demand worldwide. The less commercial farms have to feed the local populace, the more they can export goods in the world market.
Patriotic Americans Help Secure the U.S. Food Supply
In 2005, the United States became a net food importer for the first time in its history. This means that Americans now consume more than the nation's farmers produce. It's easy to assume that a simple garden plot out by the swing set won't do much to secure the nation's food supply, but historically, that's exactly what it did. In both World War I and World War II, Victory Gardens grew upwards of 40% of the country's domestic produce consumption, which freed up more food for our armed forces in the war effort.
Home Vegetable Gardens Enhance Seed Sustainability
Commercial farms only cultivate a very limited range of seed varieties. This is because only a very few characteristics in produce lend themselves well to the needs of mass production, such as long shelf life, sturdiness, appealing color and so forth. The lack of genetic diversity in crops makes them susceptible to being wiped out by some kind of virulent pest. Recall the great Potato Famine in Ireland, circa 1850's, when a blight arrived and ruined the main food source for millions of Irish citizens. This kind of tragedy could still happen in modern times. Backyard gardeners maintain genetic diversity in seed supplies by growing non-commercial produce. They provide a market for more variety.
http://74.125.155.132/search?q=cache:V5yCb2sXHUgJ:americanaffairs.suite101.com/article.cfm/national-reasons-to-grow-a-vegetable-garden+National+Reasons+to+Grow+a+Vegetable+Garden&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=firefox-a#ixzz0ipLBxxkl
National Reasons to Grow a Vegetable Garden
Patriotic Americans Grow Their Own Food
March 19, 2010
Elise Cooke
Patriotism takes many forms. Those who love this great nation of ours can do something positive for the United States of America, and yes, even the world, by growing some of their own fresh fruits and vegetables. Here are a few reasons why it's time for Victory Gardens to make a comeback in backyards all over our great country.
Victory Gardens Lower U.S. Dependence on Foreign Oil
Commercial farmers get hit coming and going when oil prices shoot up. Not only does farm equipment run on diesel power, but much of the fertilizer used on large farming operations are petroleum-based products. By eating locally, less food needs to be trucked in refrigerated containers to grocery stores, saving gasoline. Vegetable gardeners also take fewer gas-guzzling car trips to supermarkets. Finally, backyard gardeners can make enough of their own fertilizer by composting yard waste, lawn clippings and vegetable kitchen scraps. Bonus: By composting, gardeners also reduce the amount of waste going to the nation's landfills. (They might even see a reduction in their garbage bills, which is a good personal reason to fulfill one's patriotic duty!)
Vegetable Gardens Lower the Trade Imbalance
The national deficit and debt get more mentions in newspapers than the nation's trade imbalance, but the United States loses over half a trillion dollars every year to other countries because more is paid to imports than is received from exports. More food is very much in demand worldwide. The less commercial farms have to feed the local populace, the more they can export goods in the world market.
Patriotic Americans Help Secure the U.S. Food Supply
In 2005, the United States became a net food importer for the first time in its history. This means that Americans now consume more than the nation's farmers produce. It's easy to assume that a simple garden plot out by the swing set won't do much to secure the nation's food supply, but historically, that's exactly what it did. In both World War I and World War II, Victory Gardens grew upwards of 40% of the country's domestic produce consumption, which freed up more food for our armed forces in the war effort.
Home Vegetable Gardens Enhance Seed Sustainability
Commercial farms only cultivate a very limited range of seed varieties. This is because only a very few characteristics in produce lend themselves well to the needs of mass production, such as long shelf life, sturdiness, appealing color and so forth. The lack of genetic diversity in crops makes them susceptible to being wiped out by some kind of virulent pest. Recall the great Potato Famine in Ireland, circa 1850's, when a blight arrived and ruined the main food source for millions of Irish citizens. This kind of tragedy could still happen in modern times. Backyard gardeners maintain genetic diversity in seed supplies by growing non-commercial produce. They provide a market for more variety.
http://74.125.155.132/search?q=cache:V5yCb2sXHUgJ:americanaffairs.suite101.com/article.cfm/national-reasons-to-grow-a-vegetable-garden+National+Reasons+to+Grow+a+Vegetable+Garden&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=firefox-a#ixzz0ipLBxxkl
As a rule, I don't pass along these "add your name" lists
that appear in emails, BUT this one is important.
It has been circulating for months and has been sent
to over 300 million people. We don't want to lose
any names on the list so just hit forward and send on.
Please keep it going!
To show your support for Obama's health care reform,
please go to the end of the list and add your name.
1. Nancy Pelosi
2.
This was excellent!!
Red Skelton's Pledge of Allegiance
http://media.causes.com:80/604250?p_id=42563578
This was excellent!!
Red Skelton's Pledge of Allegiance
http://media.causes.com:80/604250?p_id=42563578
Yeah, and the sun doesn't cause sunburn either.
Chinese Fluoride In Mass. Water Raises Concern
{Flouride is a poison that shouldn't be in the water anyway!!}
Team 5 Investigates After Amesbury Pulls Sodium Fluoride From Water Supply
POSTED: 6:12 pm EST March 11, 2010
UPDATED: 10:00 am EDT March 16, 2010
Comments (106)
AMESBURY, Mass. -- Fluoride is added to the water most of us drink because the government believes it's a safe and inexpensive way to prevent tooth decay.
However, Team 5 Investigates found the Amesbury Water Department pulled fluoride from its system amid concerns about its supply from China.
Department of Public Works Director Rob Desmarais said after he mixes the white powder with water, 40 percent of it will not dissolve.
"I don't know what it is," Desmarais said. "It's not soluble, and it doesn't appear to be sodium fluoride. So we are not quite sure what it is."
Desmarais said the residue clogs his machines and makes it difficult to get a consistent level of fluoride in the town's water.
Since April the fluoride pumps in Amesbury have been turned off and they will stay that way until Desmarais can find out what's in the fluoride that's imported from China.
Both state and federal health officials told Team 5 Investigates that Chinese fluoride is safe.
The Department of Public Health said it believes that more than 650,000 customers in 44 Massachusetts communities are getting the flouride in question and only Amesbury has temporarily stopped using it.
However, they were unable to say with certainty which of the other 43 communities are actually using the sodium fluoride from China in its water.
The fluoride from China is not used in communities getting water from the MWRA.
The New York company that supplies the fluoride said it is certified by the National Sanitation Foundation which assures the quality of the product. But the NSF said the company has never been on its certification list.
Approximately 1,000 water systems in the United States use the additive to adjust the fluoride in their water supply, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Testing continues to determine the precise composition of the residue.
"They should test it to make sure...it is safe for us to drink," said Paul Stewart who lives in Newburyport. He said he has a right to know exactly what's in his water.
"On the same day that I read the story about fluoride coming from China, I also read about stories about melamine that was being contaminated in milk products coming from China," Stewart said. "And then we had another story about more lead in kids toys from China."
Since 2007, most of the sodium fluoride has been imported from China because it's the least expensive on the market.
"I don't think that when it comes to something that I ingest every day that the lowest bidder is good enough," Stewart said.
Copyright 2010 by TheBostonChannel.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/22814488/detail.html
That was an excellent presentation. Thanks for posting it.
POLICE STATE 2010: Homeland Security Unveils Mobile Mind Screening Checkpoints
POLICE STATE 2010: Homeland Security Unveils Mobile Mind Screening Checkpoints
The Patsy Revolt of 2010
By Bill Bonner
03/12/10 Mumbai, India – “Masked youths…attacked the head of Greece’s largest trade union, who was addressing the crowd, and hurled stones at the police. GSEE union boss Yiannis Panagopoulos traded blows with the rioters before being whisked away, bloodied and with torn clothes.”
The Daily Mail account put the blame for these disturbances on Germany’s finance minister, who warned the Greeks that “the German government does not intend to give a cent.” At least Bild, a popular German newspaper, was trying to be helpful. It suggested that Greece sell Corfu…and that Greeks get up earlier and work harder.
Meanwhile, from Iceland comes news that every voter with an IQ above air temperature has cast his ballot against a bailout plan. The Icelanders were slated to make good $5.3 billion in bank losses. But why shackle common voters to the banks’ losses? The plan was so outrageous and so unpopular that Iceland’s normally compliant Prime Minister called for a referendum. Given a chance to vote on it, 93% said no. The other 7% probably read it wrong.
Insurrection is in the air. In England, government employees are preparing the biggest strike since the ’80s. In America, dissatisfaction with Congress is at record highs; four out of five of those polled say, “Nothing can be accomplished in Washington.”
Herewith, an attempt to deconstruct the rebel yell. By way of preview, it’s not the principle of the thing, we conclude; it’s the money.
There are more clowns in economics than in the circus. They invented an economic model that has been very popular for more than 50 years – particularly in the US and Britain. It began with a bogus insight; John Maynard Keynes thought consumer spending was the key to prosperity; he saw savings as a threat. He had it backwards. Consumer spending is made possible by savings, investment and hard work – not the other way around. Then, William Phillips thought he saw a cause and effect relationship between inflation and employment; increase prices and you increase employment too, he said.
Jacques Rueff had already explained that the Phillips Curve was just a flimflam. Inflation surreptitiously reduced wages. It was lower wages that made it easier to hire people, not enlightened central bank management. But the scam proved attractive. The economy has been biased towards inflation ever since.
Economists enjoyed the illusion of competence; they could hold their heads up at cocktail parties and pretend to know what they were talking about. Now they were movers and shakers, not just observers. The new theories seemed to give everyone what they most wanted. Politicians could spend even more money that didn’t belong to them. Consumers could enjoy a standard of living they couldn’t afford. And the financial industry could earn huge fees by selling debt to people who couldn’t pay it back.
Never before had so many people been so happily engaged in acts of reckless larceny and legerdemain. But as the system aged, its promises increased. Beginning in the ’30s, the government took it upon itself to guarantee the essentials in life – retirement, employment, and to some extent, health care. These were expanded over the years to include minimum salary levels, unemployment compensation, disability payments, free drugs, food stamps and so forth. Households no longer needed to save.
As time wore on, more and more people lived at someone else’s expense. Lobbying and lawyering became lucrative professions. Bucket shops and banks neared respectability. Every imperfection was a call for legislation. Every traffic accident was an opportunity for wealth redistribution. And every trend was fully leveraged.
If there was anyone still solvent in America or Britain in the 21st century, it was not the fault of the banks. They invented subprime loans and securitizations to profit from segments of the market that had theretofore been spared. By 2005 even jobless people could get themselves into debt. Then, the bankers found ways to hide debt…and ways to allow the public sector to borrow more heavily. Goldman Sachs did for Greece essentially what it had done for the subprime borrowers in the private sector – it helped them to go broke.
As long as people thought they were getting something for nothing, this economic model enjoyed wide support. But now that they are getting nothing for something, the masses are unhappy. Half the US states are insolvent. Nearly all of them are preparing to increase taxes. In Europe too, taxes are going up. Services are going down. And taxpayers are being asked to pay for the banks’ losses…and pay interest on money spent years ago. Until now, they were borrowing money that would have to be repaid sometime in the future. But today is the tomorrow they didn’t worry about yesterday. So, the patsies are in revolt.
Several countries are already past the point of no return. Even if America taxed 100% of all household wealth, it would not be enough to put its balance sheet in the black. And Professors Rogoff and Reinhart show that when external debt passes 73% of GDP or 239% of exports, the result is default, hyperinflation, or both. IMF data show the US already too far gone on both scores, with external debt at 96% of GDP and 748% of exports.
The rioters can go home, in other words. The system will collapse on its own.
Bill Bonner
for The Daily Reckoning
http://dailyreckoning.com/the-patsy-revolt-of-2010/
The Patsy Revolt of 2010
By Bill Bonner
03/12/10 Mumbai, India – “Masked youths…attacked the head of Greece’s largest trade union, who was addressing the crowd, and hurled stones at the police. GSEE union boss Yiannis Panagopoulos traded blows with the rioters before being whisked away, bloodied and with torn clothes.”
The Daily Mail account put the blame for these disturbances on Germany’s finance minister, who warned the Greeks that “the German government does not intend to give a cent.” At least Bild, a popular German newspaper, was trying to be helpful. It suggested that Greece sell Corfu…and that Greeks get up earlier and work harder.
Meanwhile, from Iceland comes news that every voter with an IQ above air temperature has cast his ballot against a bailout plan. The Icelanders were slated to make good $5.3 billion in bank losses. But why shackle common voters to the banks’ losses? The plan was so outrageous and so unpopular that Iceland’s normally compliant Prime Minister called for a referendum. Given a chance to vote on it, 93% said no. The other 7% probably read it wrong.
Insurrection is in the air. In England, government employees are preparing the biggest strike since the ’80s. In America, dissatisfaction with Congress is at record highs; four out of five of those polled say, “Nothing can be accomplished in Washington.”
Herewith, an attempt to deconstruct the rebel yell. By way of preview, it’s not the principle of the thing, we conclude; it’s the money.
There are more clowns in economics than in the circus. They invented an economic model that has been very popular for more than 50 years – particularly in the US and Britain. It began with a bogus insight; John Maynard Keynes thought consumer spending was the key to prosperity; he saw savings as a threat. He had it backwards. Consumer spending is made possible by savings, investment and hard work – not the other way around. Then, William Phillips thought he saw a cause and effect relationship between inflation and employment; increase prices and you increase employment too, he said.
Jacques Rueff had already explained that the Phillips Curve was just a flimflam. Inflation surreptitiously reduced wages. It was lower wages that made it easier to hire people, not enlightened central bank management. But the scam proved attractive. The economy has been biased towards inflation ever since.
Economists enjoyed the illusion of competence; they could hold their heads up at cocktail parties and pretend to know what they were talking about. Now they were movers and shakers, not just observers. The new theories seemed to give everyone what they most wanted. Politicians could spend even more money that didn’t belong to them. Consumers could enjoy a standard of living they couldn’t afford. And the financial industry could earn huge fees by selling debt to people who couldn’t pay it back.
Never before had so many people been so happily engaged in acts of reckless larceny and legerdemain. But as the system aged, its promises increased. Beginning in the ’30s, the government took it upon itself to guarantee the essentials in life – retirement, employment, and to some extent, health care. These were expanded over the years to include minimum salary levels, unemployment compensation, disability payments, free drugs, food stamps and so forth. Households no longer needed to save.
As time wore on, more and more people lived at someone else’s expense. Lobbying and lawyering became lucrative professions. Bucket shops and banks neared respectability. Every imperfection was a call for legislation. Every traffic accident was an opportunity for wealth redistribution. And every trend was fully leveraged.
If there was anyone still solvent in America or Britain in the 21st century, it was not the fault of the banks. They invented subprime loans and securitizations to profit from segments of the market that had theretofore been spared. By 2005 even jobless people could get themselves into debt. Then, the bankers found ways to hide debt…and ways to allow the public sector to borrow more heavily. Goldman Sachs did for Greece essentially what it had done for the subprime borrowers in the private sector – it helped them to go broke.
As long as people thought they were getting something for nothing, this economic model enjoyed wide support. But now that they are getting nothing for something, the masses are unhappy. Half the US states are insolvent. Nearly all of them are preparing to increase taxes. In Europe too, taxes are going up. Services are going down. And taxpayers are being asked to pay for the banks’ losses…and pay interest on money spent years ago. Until now, they were borrowing money that would have to be repaid sometime in the future. But today is the tomorrow they didn’t worry about yesterday. So, the patsies are in revolt.
Several countries are already past the point of no return. Even if America taxed 100% of all household wealth, it would not be enough to put its balance sheet in the black. And Professors Rogoff and Reinhart show that when external debt passes 73% of GDP or 239% of exports, the result is default, hyperinflation, or both. IMF data show the US already too far gone on both scores, with external debt at 96% of GDP and 748% of exports.
The rioters can go home, in other words. The system will collapse on its own.
Bill Bonner
for The Daily Reckoning
http://dailyreckoning.com/the-patsy-revolt-of-2010/
Search on for Death Star that throws out deadly comets
Nasa scientists are searching for an invisible 'Death Star' that circles the Sun, which catapults potentially catastrophic comets at the Earth.
By Richard Alleyne, Science Correspondent
Published: 8:00AM GMT 13 Mar 2010
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/space/7429335/Search-on-for-Death-Star-that-throws-out-deadly-comets.html
This diagram shows a brown dwarf in relation to Earth, Jupiter, a low-mass star and the sun. Photo: NASA
The star, also known as Nemesis, is five times the size of Jupiter and could be to blame for the impact that wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago.
The bombardment of icy missiles is being blamed by some scientists for mass extinctions of life that they say happen every 26 million years.
Nemesis is predicted to lie at a distance equal to 25,000 times that of the Earth from the Sun, or a third of a light-year.
Astronomers believe it is of a type called a red or brown dwarf – a "failed star" that has not managed to generate enough energy to burn like the Sun.
But it should be detectable by a heat-sensitive space telescope called WISE, the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer.
Launched last year, WISE began surveying the skies in January. It is expected to discover a 1000 brown dwarfs within 25 light-years of the Sun – right on our cosmic doorstep – before its coolant runs out in October.
The nearest normal star to us is around 4.5 light-year away.
Our solar system is thought to be surrounded by a vast sphere of icy bodies, twice as far away as Nemesis, called the Oort Cloud.
Some get kicked in towards the planets as comets – giant snowballs of ice, dust and rock – and the suggestion is that the Death Star's gravitational influence is to blame.
The paleontologists David Raup and Jack Sepkoski discovered that, over the last 250 million years, life on Earth has been devastated on a 26-million-year cycle. Comet impacts are suggested as a likely cause for these catastrophes.
A similar impact by an asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago, a major inquest by scientists concluded last week, though that is not being blamed on Nemesis.
Most stars have one or more companion stars orbiting around each other, which would make the sun's single status unusual.
A major clue to Nemesis's existence is a mysterious dwarf planet called Sedna that was spotted on an elongated 12,000-year-long orbit around the sun.
Mike Brown, who discovered Sedna in 2003, said: "Sedna is a very odd object – it shouldn't be there! It never comes anywhere close to any of the giant planets or the sun. It's way, way out there on this incredibly eccentric orbit.
The only way to get on an eccentric orbit is to have some giant body kick you – so what is out there?"
Professor John Matese, of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, says most comets in the inner solar system seem to come from the same region of the Oort Cloud – launched by the pull of a companion star to the sun that scatters comets in its wake.
He suggests it is up to five times the size of Jupiter or 7,000 times the size of Earth.
He said: "There is statistically significant evidence that this concentration of comets could be caused by a companion to the Sun."
Thank you!
Crashing Towards a New World Social Order 2012
This is a little long, but a very good read...
http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article17568.html
Crashing Towards a New World Social Order 2012
This is a little long, but a very good read...
http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article17568.html