Wednesday, February 18, 2004

Programmed for Conflict Barry Carter writes: The primary problem with wealth creation systems of the Win/Lose Era is that they have limited the levels of emotional and spiritual intelligence in people. This is because wealth creation in this era has been fear based. The desire to control others comes directly from fear and mistrust. For our present level of maturity if the consequence of losing did not exist, the drive to win would not be so important. When humans were in the hunter gather era and the rule was "Eat or Be Eaten," losing could mean death or pain. If losing had meant no discomfort then winning would not have been so important. The fear of losing, at least in the Win/Lose Era, makes winning extremely important. It forces us reactively and defensively to look for ways not to lose first as opposed to looking for ways to proactively win. This rule still holds true in our Industrial Age based civilization. Fear, therefore, is the primary motivator in the win/lose era. This fear-based paradigm is deeply ingrained within human's today. Our normal view of human nature is that of humans being competitive, selfish, judgmental, greedy, sinful, lazy and violent. Our thinking is that humans must be restrained against their natural tendencies through rules, regulations, discipline, punishment and must be managed, regulated and led by strong men. Our paradigm of human nature is, however, merely a reflection of our finite wealth creation, win/lose paradigm based upon fear. (02/18/04) CSA's World of Possibilities Steven McFadden writes: In 1990, when I coauthored "Farms of Tomorrow" with Trauger Groh, there were about 60 CSAs in the United States. The years from 1986 to 1990, I feel, mark the first wave of CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) development. Eight years later, when I returned to the subject with Trauger to write "Farms of Tomorrow Revisited," we found there had been steady growth in the CSA movement, albeit growth in many different directions. CSA had diversified into a range of social and legal forms, with philosophically oriented CSAs at one end and commercially oriented subscription farms at the other. Books were written, organizations such as the Biodynamic Farming and Gardening Assoc. and Robyn Van En’s CSA North America took an active interest, and the movement enjoyed a steady stream of favorable publicity. The CSA archetypes and infrastructure had been established. By the late 1990s, at least 1,000 CSAs had taken root in the United States, and growth continued quietly.This slow, steady increase through the 1990s up through 2003 constitutes a second wave of CSA development. While CSAs overall numbers have climbed over the years, there has been a significant attrition rate and many CSAs have failed. Common causes of failure include: The farmers did not ask enough for their effort, they did not have the skill to grow adequately, or they were farming on unsecured land. Some CSAs have also failed because the members of the community could not get along. For the past five or six years, estimates of CSA numbers have remained in a range from 1,000 to 1,200. But most educated observers say that number is low. Many CSAs operate privately and quietly, while most regions of the country report many new CSA farms. Thus, it follows that a more up-to-date and accurate estimate would be around 1,500 to 1,700 CSA farms across the country, ranging in size from large gardens with a few households to hundreds of acres with more than 1,000 subscribers. (02/18/04) Practicing Better Medicine BBC Health -- Doctors could soon be able to diagnose diarrhoea, one of the world's biggest killers, much more quickly. British scientists have developed a test which they say can identify the bugs that cause diarrhoea in one hour. At present, doctors can wait days for the results of laboratory tests before they can make a firm diagnosis. Researchers at universities in Bristol say their test could help speed up that process dramatically, saving lives and money. According to the World Health Organization, diarrhoea claims the lives of over two million people each year. Most of these deaths are in developing countries. Diarrhoea as a result of an infection can last a few days or weeks. In severe cases, it can be life threatening because of the loss of fluid. Infants, young children, people who are malnourished and those with weak immune systems are most at risk. Diarrhoea can also be a problem for people living in developed countries. There are 15,000 cases of clostridium difficile infection, one of the most common causes of diarrhoea, in England and Wales each year. This test, which was developed by researchers at the University of Bristol and the University of the West of England, analyses the odour from stools to identify what bacteria may be causing the diarrhoea. ... "Put simply, the odours or 'volatiles', from normal, bacteria and viral stools differ significantly in their chemical composition. By using portable instruments we can identify which volatiles are found in a stool sample in less than an hour of the sample collection being made and use this information to make a rapid diagnosis." Dr Chris Probert, a consultant physician at Bristol Royal Infirmary, said the test could benefit UK hospitals. "Hospital wards in the UK have sometimes had to close because of the fast spread of viruses that are not detected early enough for infected patients to be isolated. This causes enormous strain on hospital resources and of course can be very expensive." Professor Ratcliffe added: "The test has the potential to reduce mortality and unnecessary suffering and, crucially, the spread of infection." (02/18/04) River Dolphin Census BBC Nature -- India has embarked on a major census of river dolphins, which face becoming extinct in South Asia. The census, the first of its kind in the Sunderbans delta region in West Bengal state, will also cover the neighbouring states of Bihar and Assam. Just 2-3,000 river dolphins remain in India, down from thousands a century ago, wildlife officials believe. Plummeting numbers have been blamed on pollution, hunting and fishing nets, in which dolphins become entangled. Poachers kill river dolphins mainly for their oil, which is then used by fishermen as bait, wildlife officials say. Most river dolphins are blind - the only species in the world to have eyes without lenses. They navigate through the silt and mud using a sophisticated sonar system. ... "They are as endangered as the better-known tigers, if not more endangered," Subrata Pal Chowdhury, a senior West Bengal wildlife official told Reuters news agency. He said the census would reveal the actual number of dolphins left in the rivers of eastern India. Wildlife officials say they are scanning the Ganges and its tributary, the Bhagirathi river, for dolphins using sophisticated photo imagery equipment on boats fitted with searchlights. World Wildlife Fund (WWF) official Colonel Shakti Banerjee told the BBC that the presence of dolphins in a river points to a healthy ecosystem. "Since the river dolphin is at the head of the aquatic food chain, its presence in adequate numbers symbolises greater bio-diversity in the river system," he said. River dolphins are also found in China, Brazil, Pakistan, Nepal, Myanmar and Bangladesh. (02/18/04) Protecting Biodiversity BBC Nature -- Environment ministers from around the world meet in Malaysia on Wednesday to try to reach a deal to save threatened habitats and species. Discussions at the UN-led conference are likely to centre on attempts to reduce loss of biodiversity by 2010. However, both the European Union and environmentalists say the discussions lack the sense of urgency they believe is necessary. The horse-trading over protecting the environment is about to begin. Though countries rich and poor alike say they want to save the planet, all have their own concerns - and most of those centre on money. The developing nations say they want a bigger share in the benefits of protecting the environment. Between them they have most of the world's remaining pristine habitats, but saving them costs money they do not have. Nor do they want big business to develop products derived from flora and fauna found there without receiving some of their profits. Equally, wealthier nations do not want to leave their companies open to endless legal action over their discoveries, nor do they want to simply hand the countries of the South a blank cheque to pay for their help. (02/18/04)   6:49:50 AM

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