Wednesday, March 26, 2003

Working with Nature Bill Mollison writes: Permaculture philosophy is one of working with, rather than against nature; of protracted and thoughtful observation, rather than protracted and thoughtless action; of looking at systems in all their functions rather than asking only one yield of them; of allowing systems to demonstrate their own evolution. ... I don't think anybody has summarized what is happening on the face of the Earth. In order to change our ways, we seem to need to terrify ourselves, anticipating tidal waves and catastrophes. Now those things may come off, and the San Andreas fault may shift. But we can't do much about that. What is really happening is something for which we, as human beings, are personally responsible. It is very general. Almost everything we say applies everywhere. The real systems that are beginning to fail are the soils, forests, the atmosphere, and nutrient cycles. It is we who are responsible for that. We haven't evolved anywhere in the west (and I doubt very much elsewhere except in tribal areas) any sustainable systems in agriculture or forestry. We don't have a system. (03/26/03) Surviving the Great Dying Michael Lerner writes: Scientists know with clarity this, our deepest truth. We live in an Age of Extinctions. This is the sixth great spasm of extinctions in the history of our planet. We are driving biodiversity back 65 million years, to its lowest level of vitality since the end of the Age of Dinosaurs. Climate change, ozone depletion, toxic chemicals, habitat destruction, and invasive or infectious species are five of the principal drivers of this Age of Extinctions. ... The question of how much of life we can save in this Age of Extinctions has real meaning only for those of us who neither celebrate nor embrace the end of nature. We are, we should recognize, the true conservatives of our time. We are conservative in the root sense that we are dedicated to the conservation of the tried and true ecosystems and life forms of the Earth. We are conservative in that we want our children and their children to be genetically unmodified, to live surrounded by nature in all its glory, and to live lightly and justly on Earth. We, believers in natural law in the deepest sense, regard the question of who and what can be saved in this Age of Extinctions as the greatest religious, philosophical, and practical question of our time. (03/26/03) Yellow Times Censored! Yellow Times -- Firas Al-Atraqchi writes: Somebody doesn't like hearing the truth. Okay, for a second, lets scratch that and choose a slightly less politically charged term. Someone doesn't like to be disputed with alternative views, counterclaims, research and fact. Someone wants you, the reading public, to only gather one-sided, monotone, Orwellian dispatch. News the way they "fashion" it. Or as CNN will have you believe, the "most reliable source for news." And so, once again, the staff at YellowTimes.org was threatened with a shutdown: "We are sorry to notify you of suspending your account: Your account has been suspended because [of] inappropriate graphic material." ... Within hours, the site was shut down. An e-mail hours later was more explanatory: "As 'NO' TV station in the US is allowing any dead US solders or POWs to be displyed (sic) and we will not ether (sic)." Of course, at the time of this e-mail, TV stations across the U.S. were allowing the images of U.S. POWs to be brought to the public's attention. (03/26/03) Does Thimerosal in Vaccines cause Autism? New York Times: Health -- Over the years, any number of coincidental findings have suggested that exposure to a particular substance may cause a certain illness. But under the critical eye of careful research, most of these apparent associations turn out to have no cause-and-effect relationship. The suspicion that vaccines given to infants and children can cause autism is one such association, with attention directed at the vaccines that use the preservative thimerosal, which contains mercury. Experts have poked many holes in this theory, which arose because of two facts: that mercury is a known neurotoxin and that symptoms of autism typically appeared soon after children were given vaccines containing thimerosal. While the final "i" has yet to be dotted on this question, overwhelming evidence so far suggests that thimerosal poses no significant threat to the developing brain. Erring on the side of caution three years ago, vaccine makers stopped using thimerosal to prevent microbial contamination of certain vaccines given to infants and small children, although none of the existing batches were recalled and remained in use until supplies ran out. Also, thimerosal is still used in flu vaccine, which is now recommended for otherwise healthy children ages 6 months to 2 years. (03/26/03) United Kingdom to help Endangered Species BBC Science -- The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) will provide over half of this year's total of £4 million ($6.25m) to existing projects, and the rest to 34 entirely new ones. The money is being provided in the latest round of the Darwin Initiative, which makes grants annually. Several rare mammals, birds and reptiles are to benefit from UK Government support for endangered species. They include the saiga antelope of central Asia, the black rhino, and the guanaco of Peru, a probable ancestor of the llama. Flamingos in east Africa and turtles in the Caribbean are also on the list for help. The funding is intended to help poor countries which are also rich in biodiversity. (03/26/03) A Basic Right to Water? BBC Science -- While 12,000 people were meeting in Kyoto at the official Third World Water Forum, a smaller group with a radically different agenda came here to Italy. The First People's World Water Forum, as it was called, gathered to protest at the direction of current water policies - which it believes are dominated by private corporations who favour large projects such as dams, instead of simpler technologies. The Florence meeting's 1,400 participants (70% Italians) came from pacifist, environmental, development and farmers' NGOs, as well as local authorities. The final declaration in Florence called in part for: 1) The world's water resources must become a common global good under a new international system anchored in a constitutional right to water for all. 2) A guaranteed minmum of 40 litres a day to each world inhabitant by 2020, while meeting ecosystem needs. 3) A radical overhaul of present water-wasteful processes in all economic sectors, prioritising rehabilitation and maintenance of existing water supply systems over "heavy engineering" solutions such as dams, and much more. (03/26/03)  Goodbye Spam! BBC Science -- Unwanted e-mails, or spam, are costing billions of dollars in lost productivity. Now, there's a serious effort to stamp it out. ... "Worldwide, 628 million users find spam annoying and today people are getting 200 pieces of spam a day." ... "It is our view that you have to change the architecture, the way the internet works by introducing authentication standards so you can have a trusted relationship between a sender and receiver," says Mr Brondmo.This accountability would make life hard for spammers, who tend to survive using deception."If we have appropriate industry focus, I think if you look in a mailbox in two years, spam will be more or less gone." (03/26/03) Environmental Consequences of the WAR BBC Science -- An urgent appeal to everyone in the Iraq war to think again has been launched by 38 leading scientists. They are members of the council of IUCN-The World Conservation Union, representing 70 governments. A statement by the Swiss-based IUCN urges all involved "to stand back" and see the wider picture: "We find ourselves confronted with events whose impact could undermine sustainability long into the future. ... The statement says IUCN concluded the environmental consequences of the 1991 war against Iraq had caused widespread, devastating damage extending far beyond the conflict itself. "A repetition of the damage caused then to rivers, wetlands, marshes, the desert and the seas will have disastrous long-term impacts. "Damage to the natural environment from armed conflict can undermine the natural resource base on which millions of people depend for their livelihood. "Armed conflict is always a tragic failure. Although in some extreme circumstances it takes force to move through to a new stage of cooperation and progress, the human and ecological price that is paid for modern warfare is colossal, and the debt it leaves behind takes years or decades to pay off.  (03/26/03) 6:22:08 AM

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