Image by UggBoy♥UggGirl [ PHOTO : WORLD : SENSE ] via Flickrhttp://www.homelandstupidity.us/2010/07/02/the-war-thats-not-a-war
For most Americans, we are at war — at war against a tactic called terrorism, not a country.
This allows our military to go any place in the world without limits as to time or place.
But how can we be at war? Congress has not declared war as required by the Constitution.
That is true, but our presidents have and Congress and the people have not objected. Congress obediently provides all the money requested for the “war.”
People are dying, bombs are dropped, our soldiers are shot at and killed.
Our soldiers wear uniforms; our enemies do not. They are not part of any government. They have no planes, no tanks, no ships, no missiles, and no modern technology.
What kind of a war is this anyway? If it really is one. If it was a real war we would have won it by now.
Along Scar from Iron Curtain,
A Green Belt Rises in Germanyhttp://e360.yale.edu/feature/along_scar_from_iron_curtain_a_green_belt_rises_in_germany/2390
More than two decades after the dismantling of the Berlin Wall and Germany’s East-West border zone, Friends of the Earth and other conservation groups, joined by the federal and state governments, are close to completing an amazing metamorphosis: They are turning the former “Death Strip” into one of the world’s most unusual nature preserves. Although it runs the length of a reunited Germany, it is only 30 to a few hundred meters wide. But despite its bizarre dimensions, this border green belt — where hundreds once perished trying to escape to the West — is uniquely valuable
‘Fracking’ Comes to Europe,
Sparking Rising Controversy
As concerns grow in the U.S. about the environmental impact of hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” to extract natural gas from shale, companies have set their sights on Europe and its abundant reserves of this “unconventional” gas. But from Britain to Poland, critics warn of the potentially high environmental cost of this looming energy boom.
Britain’s New Green Deal:
Transforming Energy Efficiency
Britain’s new government is proposing radically new energy policies, with a “Green Deal” that would retrofit the country’s woefully energy-inefficient housing stock. In an interview with Yale Environment 360, UK Energy and Climate Minister Greg Barker talks about why an overhaul of the approach to energy is essential for the nation’s future.
New Hope for Pavlovsk Station
And Russia’s Rare Plant Reserve
In the early 20th century, Russian botanist Nikolai Vavilov created a preserve outside St. Petersburg that today contains one of the world’s largest collections of rare seeds and crops. Now, scientists and conservationists are waging an international campaign to save the reserve’s fields from being bulldozed for housing development.
What Makes Europe
Greener than the U.S.?
The average American produces three times the amount of CO2 emissions as a person in France. A U.S. journalist now living in Europe explains how she learned to love her clothesline and sweating in summer.
The New Urbanists:
Tackling Europe’s Sprawl
In the last few decades, urban sprawl, once regarded as largely a U.S. phenomenon, has spread across Europe. Now an emerging group of planners is promoting a new kind of development — mixed-use, low-carbon communities that are pedestrian-friendly and mass-transit-oriented.
Radioactivity in the Ocean:
Diluted, But Far from Harmless
With contaminated water from Japan’s crippled Fukushima nuclear complex continuing to pour into the Pacific, scientists are concerned about how that radioactivity might affect marine life. Although the ocean’s capacity to dilute radiation is huge, signs are that nuclear isotopes are already moving up the local food chain.
As Larger Animals Decline,
Forests Feel Their Absence
With giant tortoises, elephants, and other fruit-eating animals disappearing from many of the world’s tropical woodlands, forests are suffering from the loss of a key function performed by these creatures: the dispersal of tree seeds. But a new experiment shows that introduced species may be able to fulfill this vital ecological role.
In Aeolus Cave, A Search for the
Vanishing Bats of the Northeast
When wildlife biologists ventured into a Vermont cave this month, they found disturbing evidence that white-nose syndrome was continuing to take its toll on once-abundant bat populations. But the question remains: What can be done to halt the spread of this still-mysterious ailment?
Japan’s Once-Powerful
Nuclear Industry is Under Siege
The disaster at the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power plant has highlighted the importance of nuclear energy to Japan and the power long wielded by the nuclear sector. But that influence now is sure to wane, to the relief of opponents who have fought for years to check nuclear's rapid growth.
Agribusiness Boom Threatens
Key African Wildlife Migration
The Ethiopian region of Gambella is home to Africa’s second-largest mammal migration, with more than a million endangered antelope and other animals moving through its grasslands. But the government has now leased vast tracts to foreign agribusinesses who are planning huge farms on land designated a national park.
‘Fracking’ Comes to Europe,
Sparking Rising Controversy
As concerns grow in the U.S. about the environmental impact of hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” to extract natural gas from shale, companies have set their sights on Europe and its abundant reserves of this “unconventional” gas. But from Britain to Poland, critics warn of the potentially high environmental cost of this looming energy boom.
Alien Species Reconsidered:
Finding a Value in Non-Natives
One of the tenets of conservation management holds that alien species are ecologically harmful. But a new study is pointing to research that demonstrates that some non-native plants and animals can have beneficial impacts.
Climate’s Strong Fingerprint
In Global Cholera Outbreaks
For decades, deadly outbreaks of cholera were attributed to the spread of disease through poor sanitation. But recent research demonstrates how closely cholera is tied to environmental and hydrological factors and to weather patterns — all of which may lead to more frequent cholera outbreaks as the world warms.
Arctic Roamers: The Move of
Southern Species into Far North
Grizzly bears mating with polar bears. Red foxes out-competing Arctic foxes. Exotic diseases making their way into once-isolated polar realms. These are just some of the worrisome phenomena now occurring as Arctic temperatures soar and the Arctic Ocean, a once-impermeable barrier, melts.
Growth of Wood Biomass Power
Stokes Concern on Emissions
Across the U.S., companies are planning scores of projects to burn trees and wood waste to produce electricity, claiming such biomass plants can be carbon-neutral. But critics contend that combusting wood is not really a form of green energy and are urging a go-slow approach until clear guidelines can be established.
Recommended Reading - attachment parenting and natural learning.
http://joyouslearning.info/content.php?3-Book-List
Classrooms of the Heart – John Gatto (1991)
http://whatwouldjesusthink.net/classrooms-of-the-heart-john-gatto-1991
It’s Nice to Share
http://belindamoore.com
Collaborative Consumption Groundswell Video from rachel botsman on Vimeo.
Interested in joining this movement? It’s not just goods which can be exchanged, services are equally swap-able. Here is just a sample of the initiatives thriving worldwide right now -
A to Z Barter
AirBnb
Alternative Currencies
Babysitting Clubs
Bartercard
Barter Bank
Book Crossing
BookMooch
Community Exchange System
Couchsurfing
Food Swap
Freecycle
Friends with Things
Garden Share
Home Exchange
Landshare
Lending Club
LETS Australia
OzRecycle
Small Mart
Swap.com
thredUP
Shared Earth
Urban Garden Share
WhatsOnMyBookshelf
Zilok
Zipcar
And don’t forget local city libraries and toy libraries, seed bank groups, community gardens and textbook exchanges.
17 February, 2011
Food Crisis
Cross-posted at the Simple, Green, Frugal Co-Op Blog.Plato said that society is “just a few meals away from babarism.” And I guess it is more true in our modern age than ever before. Apparently, the British M15 use a ‘four meals away from anarchy’ scale to evaluate threats.
I typed ‘food crisis 2011′ into a search engine and got over 54 million results. Okay, so I don’t watch or listen to much news, but am I the last person to hear about this?
I don’t really understand enough about the global food market, but it seems like there are predictions of ramifications for all of us this time, not just those nations forced to import food or those having issues growing their own at the moment. It seems everything is so out of balance that the crisis will be felt globally. Usually, because we live in a wealthy country, we seem to just absorb the cost when grain prices double overnight (as rice did a couple of years ago, and wheat has before too). But what about when more than one crop is affected? And what about our neighbours?
It seems to me that there are several causes to consider:
Our government doesn’t value the agricultural industry
A lot of our country’s farms are foreign owned
Peak Oil
Climate Change (or a lot of bad weather, if you don’t subscribe to the climate change theory)
.......
Opit
Food Crisis. I rather wonder how many people do know - unless they are affected. Riots in India, uprisings in the Middle East… Egypt’s change of government was sparked by rising food prices, for instance.
How come ? Well…I feel like the Grinch on that one. Basically I should say that it is a result of globalization.
I read a book years ago about Nelson A. Rockefeller, a head of the Central Intelligence Agency, from an international photojournalist that I used to quip with for years. He despaired of how naive I was. But the point is that this man instituted a change from family farms to corporate ones using banking policy to drive peoples’ choices. This is going on today, but back in the 1940’s and 50’s it was tested out in Central and South America.
To make along story short : it was unsustainable. Agriculture crashed and there was terrible suffering. Today it is going on worldwide as economic warfare.
Search ‘Monsanto Rumsfeld’ or ‘New World Order’ for results you won’t like but will likely face. August 12 or so 2009 I posted articles from two farmers I ‘met’ on Care 2. Plus in the Topical Index is a section on Corporate Farming. One video at the Panelist was originally an article which more comprehensively laid out information showing how deliberate sabotage of agriculture was carried out…and is going on today… internationally.
‘ The Real Winner in Iraq is Monsanto.’
“Purpose of Good Preaching” Pt 1
http://whatwouldjesusthink.net/purpose-of-good-preaching-pt-1/#comment-11839
Gawker and Your Password
“Splinternet” is marketing bullshit!
American for Prosperity ( Koch Bros )
euronews
L. A. Times
Washington Monthly
- Thursday's Mini-Report 7 hours ago
- The origins of a mess 8 hours ago
- Round 3 at the White House falls short, Round 4 coming up 9 hours ago
- Reid questions Boehner's willingness to work in good faith 10 hours ago
- Putting the GOP's hatred of government spending to the test 11 hours ago
- POTUS won't sign one-week extension 12 hours ago
- Mr. Macaca strikes again 12 hours ago
Worldwide Hippies
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment