tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-67419465247406424242024-03-13T06:42:23.985-07:00Rev Peter's Environmental NotesI hope you find this Blog a resource for moral & environmental thoughts from a Christian viewpoint. "A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in".Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger219125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6741946524740642424.post-69891262265271957672014-12-21T08:22:00.000-08:002014-12-21T08:23:30.812-08:00Christmas Wishes and Blessings<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/ITIaYoWCPkE" width="560"></iframe><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Some 2000+ years ago, probably in June, a pregnant single girl, perhaps a teenager who, accompanied by her fiancee were, with the rest of the population, ordered to return to their place of birth by the government of the day for taxation reasons. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">She gave birth in a stable and then fled to and lived as refugees in a neighbouring country. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This evening I will be reading the intercessions I have written for a service at a remote country chapel. There may not be many people there, it is dark, cold and wet outside even now, but those that are there will be there not because it is the thing ‘to do’ but because it is the thing they ‘want’ to do and is that not what it is really all about?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">May I wish you a happy Christmas and a heathy 2015.</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6741946524740642424.post-8474612640787518182014-10-03T06:20:00.000-07:002014-10-17T02:57:33.327-07:00FRACKING FACTS; ESPECIALLY FOR THOSE IN THE UK <div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>I am the Vice Chairman of our Parish Council a member of the planning committee and an environmentally concerned individual. I have watched the technology of Fracking develop and expand over the years in the USA and noted the problems. I have researched the following carefully and checked it with those concerned. I am of the opinion that this will be as disastrous to our environment as it is in the USA. </i></span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Much of the UK is under offer for Fracking, you can view the U.K. Government map <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/330774/14R_Offer.pdf" style="color: #7d181e; text-decoration: none;">HERE</a>. </i><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The above is a typical Frack site while drilling operation are commencing and the two to four million gallons of water and chemicals are blasted underground by high pressure pumps. The operation of the site is then 24/7/365 you can view this operation <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPE2RU5099U" style="color: #7d181e; text-decoration: none;">HERE</a>. </i><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">In the UK Rathlin Energy is trying to Frack a shale gas well at Crawbury Hill in East Yorkshire, you can see this operation <a href="http://bambuser.com/v/4977076">HERE</a>. </i><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">Please watch these short videos and then please read on, and, a</i><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">s more information becomes available, </i><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">I will update this. Rev'd Peter Doodes</i><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You will have heard a lot recently about Fracking recently and perhaps seen and read reports on the events that surrounded Caudrilla’s drilling operations at Balcombe in West Sussex. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Much of the reporting of both the technology and the protest was sensationalised and incorrect. I know this for a fact as I have been concerned about the dangers and problems regarding the many recorded and verifiable problems surrounding the debatable technology involved in Fracking for some time now.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The following are straight-forward facts regarding Fracking and if you have any comments/thoughts/questions regarding them, please feel free to contact me. Regarding the links, I have checked them all several times and have had no problems. The UK Government link did say on my system that the ‘attachment could harm my system’, but there were no problems.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">First of all, exactly what is Fracking? Basically High Volume Hydraulic Fracking is the process of directional drilling, i.e. first of all drilling down deep vertically for some 4,700 feet or more and then drilling horizontally for a long distance, which can be up to a mile or even a longer distance into the layer of shale rock that holds oil or gas. If you imagine this layer of strata that holds the target material in a ‘sponge’ like way then you will not be too far wrong. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This drilling then has ‘concrete’ sprayed on the drilling's walls, then a flexible metal pipe with many small explosive charges attached around the circumference is inserted into the drilling and along to its target, which is the horizontal section. These charges are then set off, blowing holes into the horizontal drilling and initiating the fractures in the strata. The vertical section of the drilling then has a steel tube inserted into it and the entire system has very high volumes of a water/chemical Fracking Fluid mixture injected into it at a very high pressure which blasts out from the holes in the horizontal drilling and fractures the surrounding strata. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The process used is a US process where the amount of Fracking Fluid used is between two and four million gallons. This Fracking Fluid is made up of water which has a high percentage of chemicals has added to it, these dissolve the minerals in the rock and initiate cracks, prevents bacteria build up, prevent the surrounding clays from swelling or shifting, lowers the surface friction etc. The Fracking Fluid also has Silica Sand added to hold open the fractured strata and so if you have heard that these are the sort of things that can be found “under your kitchen sink”, you have been very much misinformed. (1) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In theory the majority of the water/chemical/sand mixture should then be forced back by the inflow of whatever hydrocarbons are freed up as the pressure of the collapsing strata that surrounds the pipe-work squeezes it back to be followed by the oil or gas. However in practice much of the Fracking fluid still remains in the earth and often, due to the seismic damage to the surrounding strata’s structure, finds its way to the surface, migrating into groundwater as it does, and bringing the relevant hydrocarbon, oil and gas, with it. This can and does cause enormous health and environmental issues. (2)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Despite the reports you may have read/listened to/been given, this particular process, High Volume Hydraulic Fracking has only been used <u>once</u> so far in the UK by Cuadrilla at the Preese Hall well in Lancashire; this has been confirmed by the Government Department concerned. When the Preese Hall event took place there were earth tremors in the surrounding area and property was damaged. This was confirmed as being due to Caudrilla’s operation in an independent government report.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You perhaps have been informed that Fracking is a safe process and that there have been no reported problems such as environmental or health issues in the US. This is so far from the truth that I personally am seriously concerned as to exactly what is or was the incentives for those that have said such things. (3) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The returning Fracking Fluid is now additionally contaminated with, among other contaminants, low level radiation from Radium as well as containing bromide. (4) The main ‘benefit’ that is trumpeted about Fracking and shale gas is that it will bring down prices, but that is not what the drilling company says. (5) Or Lord Stern says (6) or Sir David King says (7)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But why should Fracking concern us as individuals or as members of councils? Actually, it should concern us for a very good reason, because according to the following map, many local areas are within one of the 13<sup>th</sup> onshore round of Fracking Licensing Blocks on offer. (8)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While it is a planning given that the voices of locals will be taken into consideration regarding wind turbines or solar farms, the same does <u>not</u> apply to Fracking operations, (9) and (10) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Incidentally, all of the main political parties as well as UKIP are in favour of Fracking, (11) and (12) although this vocal support for Fracking has more than somewhat faded recently due to the action in Balcombe...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Other facts that you should be aware of are that household insurance may not cover Fracking damage and that house prices have already dropped substantially in areas subject to Fracking. (13) and (14)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As far as planning permission goes, at the moment both the vertical drilling and the horizontal drilling need permission, but soon the horizontal drilling may not require planning permission, see page 6, items 10 to 12 of (15).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You may well have heard that at the Fracking protest at Balcombe, (much of the reporting was sensationalised and incorrect) the residents of Balcombe were opposed to those that were protesting there and wanted them away, this is not so, please see (16) and read the following</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To Ms Goldsmith (leader of West Sussex County Council) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>“Dear Ms Goldsmith,</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am a resident of Balcombe. I am concerned that the WSCC’s influence and manpower go into ensuring that the company, Cuadrilla, are evicted from Lower Stumble by Saturday 28th September, and that no further planning permission is granted. Today a truckload of their toxic chemicals thundered past our primary school as the children attempted to cross.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is horrendous for us to see and hear Cuadrilla in operation here, and we would like to use all democratic and legal means to stop them. The County Council’s eviction of the protesters is unjust and deeply ironic. Protecting the interests of this company is not the role of our council, nor Sussex’s expensive police force. WSCC’s safety concerns should focus on Caudrilla’s reckless breaches of agreement, not on the peaceful protest outside the gate. Yours sincerely, Rosalind Merrick”<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>By Louisa Delpy</i><i><br />“As I sit here wine in hand, waiting for Xfactor in my home on my sofa, 80+ people are camping in tents, in the rain, in horrendous conditions protecting my village and me from something that has hasn't here yet, but is intended for every village and town across our countryside.<br />These people, heroes in my opinion, have stood up for what they believe in and are divided as to whether they will leave the camp before being evicted or stand strong until the end and be literally thrown off the grass verge. They are sleeping next to a drilling rig, whirring, clanking, droning 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, next to a road in sodden conditions and they have been doing that for 7 weeks. Not only do they have to contend with very little sleep but constant intimidation from our police force - opening their tents, shoving cameras in their faces, shining torches in their eyes. Those police officers are also telling them that Balcombe residents do not want them here, that their belongings will be taken by bailiffs at any moment, that they will be forcibly evicted. Whatever they individually decide to do, stay or go and to all the others who have camped on that verge I say thank you, whether you stay or go thank you.”</i><i><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you look at a map, you will see that the Cuadrilla site at Lower Stumble Wood is situated close between the B2036 road and the main London to Brighton railway line, near to Balcombe village and the Ardingly Reservoir, and within a couple of miles of the Millennium Seed Bank at Wakehurst Place; it is no wonder so many were so concerned.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These protesters were often called ‘rent-a-mob’ and some were personally vilified in the media. I know some that are in their 70s and 80s, many that took their holiday time to be there and others that had time off work to do so; to describe these well informed and concerned individuals as such was not simply far from the truth but, quite frankly, vile. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have been involved in the area of environmental concern now for well over thirty years and never ceased to be surprised by the attitude of others who appear not to want to notice that which is under their noses, ignoring the obvious does make it go away.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Recently I was sent a newspaper cutting by an anti solar farm individual that had a negative article and picture of a Solar Farm taken from a helicopter. I replied pointing out that it was not possible to see the solar farm from the ground (easy to check using Google Earth) but what could not be missed from the ground was the vast power station building and its tall chimney less than a quarter of a mile away. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another person, when I spoke of Balcombe, made a ‘Rent a Swampy’ remark having only seen the TV coverage, which made it painfully aware for me of just how the media slant can ‘inform’ people.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, what do you do now? It is easy to blame others, but the facts remain that many have been fiddling while Rome started to burn. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The UK, just like the rest of the Western World and developing nations, exists on energy and the painful fact is that the cost of that energy is going up. We all have become reliant on power surging through small holes in our walls, but how we keep that power going is the question. The Middle East has become ever more unstable in the recent years and oil supplies have now become unpredictable. (17) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At the moment renewables cannot totally replace oil, however the facts are that in the daytime (when we need the power most of all) energy via Solar Farms along with the already existing power from Wind Turbines is generated and then the conventional power stations can be turned right down making a massive saving of the oil and gas that is used for power generation. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Please do not imagine that all Fracking entails is a clearing and a ‘Nodding Donkey’, that is most certainly not the case; Fracking drills into strata, not an underground reservoir, and so requires a large number of wells. This can be 8 wells or more per square mile and these all require the necessary pads, drilling rigs, pipelines, compressor stations, waste storage ponds, treatment facilities, flaring stack, and the associated transport with the attendant road traffic of tankers transporting the gas. In addition Fracking wells have a limited life span, this can be between approximately 4 and 25 years, with a steadily declining production. (18)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> As I write this the alternative to renewables is Fracking, what would you prefer, this (19) or this (20) and if Fracking does cause pollution and the fracking companies cannot pay for the problems, guess who does have to pay? (21) </span></div>
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<span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><u>Updates and recent events</u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A recent Fracking fire noting injury and death in the USA can be found at (22)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 15.6pt;">For a video </span><span style="line-height: 20.7999992370605px;">explanation</span><span style="line-height: 15.6pt;"> by a company that has designed and marketed the underground explosive charges used in the fracking process, GEODynamics, </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 15.6pt;">please see here (23)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 15.6pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 15.6pt;">For the South East Farmer Magazine view of Fracking see (24)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For the result when a BOP, Blow Out Preventer [which is one of the most important components in the operation] fails on a gas operation see (25)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And the BOP failure for an oil operation see (26)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Map of Fracking accidents in the US (27)</span><br />
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<span style="font-weight: normal;">A study reveals almost all the the oil and gas bearing shales in England and Wales underlie drinking water aquifers (28) </span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A YouTube video of the operation of a Fracking site in the US (29)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Changes in Trespass Law allows Fracking under homes (30) & (31)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A link to the UK Government Website showing that almost all of the UK is offered for Shale hydrocarbons, (the areas in pink). (32)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">List of World-Wide bans and moratoriums on Fracking (33)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The UK Government has had a <span style="background-color: white; line-height: 15.3599996566772px;">public consultation on drilling for fracking. The response they note was was the following: "</span><span style="line-height: 15.3599996566772px;">Over 99% of the freeform responses, and all campaign responses, opposed the </span><span style="line-height: 15.3599996566772px;">proposal to legislate to provide underground access to gas, oil and geothermal developers </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 15.3599996566772px;">below 300 meters". This response made no difference, Fracking will still take place. (34) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1)<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span><a href="http://www.nachicagonorth.com/CHI/October-2013/Fracking-in-Southern-Illinois-Raises-Widespread-Concerns/" style="color: #7d181e; text-decoration: none;">http://www.nachicagonorth.com/CHI/October-2013/Fracking-in-Southern-Illinois-Raises-Widespread-Concerns/</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2)<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span><a href="http://www.resilience.org/stories/2013-07-10/epa-s-abandoned-wyoming-fracking-study-one-retreat-of-many" style="color: #7d181e; text-decoration: none;">http://www.resilience.org/stories/2013-07-10/epa-s-abandoned-wyoming-fracking-study-one-retreat-of-many</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3)<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span><a href="http://pennsylvaniaallianceforcleanwaterandair.wordpress.com/the-list/" style="color: #7d181e; text-decoration: none;">http://pennsylvaniaallianceforcleanwaterandair.wordpress.com/the-list/</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">4)<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/oct/02/dangerous-radioactivity-fracking-waste-pennsylvania" style="color: #7d181e; text-decoration: none;">http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/oct/02/dangerous-radioactivity-fracking-waste-pennsylvania</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">5)<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span><a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-living/cuadrilla-pr-man-admits-george-osbornes-shale-gas-revolution-wont-cut-energy-bills-8656246.html" style="color: #7d181e; text-decoration: none;">http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-living/cuadrilla-pr-man-admits-george-osbornes-shale-gas-revolution-wont-cut-energy-bills-8656246.html</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">6)<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/sep/04/david-cameron-fracking-lord-stern" style="color: #7d181e; text-decoration: none;">http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/sep/04/david-cameron-fracking-lord-stern</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">7)<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/sep/16/david-king-fracking-shale-gas" style="color: #7d181e; text-decoration: none;">http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/sep/16/david-king-fracking-shale-gas</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">8)<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/63941/13r-acreage-on-offer.pdf" style="color: #7d181e; text-decoration: none;">https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/63941/13r-acreage-on-offer.pdf</a> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">9)<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/10231717/Theres-no-room-for-wind-farms-but-plenty-for-fracking-says-PM.html" style="color: #7d181e; text-decoration: none;">http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/10231717/Theres-no-room-for-wind-farms-but-plenty-for-fracking-says-PM.html</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">10)<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/10236354/You-must-accept-fracking-for-the-good-of-the-country-David-Cameron-tells-southerners.html" style="color: #7d181e; text-decoration: none;">http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/10236354/You-must-accept-fracking-for-the-good-of-the-country-David-Cameron-tells-southerners.html</a> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">11)<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/10244182/Tory-and-Labour-MPs-join-forces-to-demand-more-money-for-fracking.html" style="color: #7d181e; text-decoration: none;">http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/10244182/Tory-and-Labour-MPs-join-forces-to-demand-more-money-for-fracking.html</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">12)<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span> <a href="http://www.kentonline.co.uk/east_kent_mercury/news/lets-go-for-fracking-says-5203/" style="color: #7d181e; text-decoration: none;">http://www.kentonline.co.uk/east_kent_mercury/news/lets-go-for-fracking-says-5203/</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">13)<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span><a href="http://www.paliltd.com/blog/fracking-effects-house-prices" style="color: #7d181e; text-decoration: none;">http://www.paliltd.com/blog/fracking-effects-house-prices</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">14)<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span><a href="http://www.toletting.co.uk/blog/?p=479" style="color: #7d181e; text-decoration: none;">http://www.toletting.co.uk/blog/?p=479</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">15)<span style="font-size: 7pt;"></span><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/236945/Revised_requirements_relating_to_planning_applications_for_onshore_oil_and_gas_-_Proposals_for_comment__2_.pdf" style="color: #7d181e; text-decoration: none;">https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/236945/Revised_requirements_relating_to_planning_applications_for_onshore_oil_and_gas_-_Proposals_for_comment__2_.pdf</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">16)<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span><a href="http://greatgasgala.org.uk/balcombe/" style="color: #7d181e; text-decoration: none;">http://greatgasgala.org.uk/balcombe/</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">17)<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span><a href="http://www.mees.com/en/articles/8378-libya-and-iraq-the-weakest-links-in-world-oil-markets" style="color: #7d181e; text-decoration: none;">http://www.mees.com/en/articles/8378-libya-and-iraq-the-weakest-links-in-world-oil-markets</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">18)<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span><a href="http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-10-10/u-dot-s-dot-shale-oil-boom-may-not-last-as-fracking-wells-lack-staying-power" style="color: #7d181e; text-decoration: none;">http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-10-10/u-dot-s-dot-shale-oil-boom-may-not-last-as-fracking-wells-lack-staying-power</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">19)<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span><a href="http://blog.ucsusa.org/what-do-food-and-fracking-have-in-common-130" style="color: #7d181e; text-decoration: none;">http://blog.ucsusa.org/what-do-food-and-fracking-have-in-common-130</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">20)<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span><a href="http://www.lightsource-re.co.uk/news/2013/August/land-diversification-project-could-graze-sheep-and-produce-solar/" style="color: #7d181e; text-decoration: none;">http://www.lightsource-re.co.uk/news/2013/August/land-diversification-project-could-graze-sheep-and-produce-solar/</a></span></div>
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21)<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/dec/11/taxpayers-fracking-pollution-companies" style="color: #7d181e; text-decoration: none;"> http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/dec/11/taxpayers-fracking-pollution-companies</a><br />
22)<a href="http://www.wtae.com/news/local/explosion-reported-at-gas-well-in-greene-county/24407710" style="color: #7d181e; text-decoration: none;"> http://www.wtae.com/news/local/explosion-reported-at-gas-well-in-greene-county/24407710</a><br />
23) <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrM4rrKhopY" style="color: #7d181e; text-decoration: none;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrM4rrKhopY</a><br />
24)<a href="http://edition.pagesuite-professional.co.uk/launch.aspx?pnum=1&eid=93b8ecba-ce23-4607-ba22-7e630a73e891&skip=true" style="color: #7d181e; text-decoration: none;">http://edition.pagesuite-professional.co.uk/launch.aspx?pnum=1&eid=93b8ecba-ce23-4607-ba22-7e630a73e891&skip=true </a></div>
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25) <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ntsk1g-2oY" style="color: #7d181e; text-decoration: none;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ntsk1g-2oY</a><br />
26) <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wvnim3qRkbc" style="color: #7d181e; text-decoration: none;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wvnim3qRkbc</a><br />
27) <a href="http://earthjustice.org/features/campaigns/fracking-across-the-united-states" style="color: #7d181e; text-decoration: none;">http://earthjustice.org/features/campaigns/fracking-across-the-united-states</a><br />
28)<a href="http://www.theecologist.org/News/news_round_up/2463567/fracking_95_of_oil_and_gas_shales_underlie_drinking_water_aquifers.html" style="color: #d52a33;"> http://www.theecologist.org/News/news_round_up/2463567/fracking_95_of_oil_and_gas_shales_underlie_drinking_water_aquifers.html</a><br />
29) <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPE2RU5099U" style="color: #7d181e; text-decoration: none;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPE2RU5099U</a><br />
30)<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/jun/04/plan-fracking-firms-drill-homes-queens-speech" style="color: #7d181e; text-decoration: none;"> http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/jun/04/plan-fracking-firms-drill-homes-queens-speech</a><br />
31) <a href="http://www.planningresource.co.uk/article/1295781/government-outlines-fracking-trespass-law-changes" style="color: #7d181e; text-decoration: none;">http://www.planningresource.co.uk/article/1295781/government-outlines-fracking-trespass-law-changes</a></div>
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32) <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/330774/14R_Offer.pdf" style="color: #7d181e; text-decoration: none;">https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/330774/14R_Offer.pdf</a><br />
33) <a href="http://keeptapwatersafe.org/global-bans-on-fracking/" style="color: #7d181e; text-decoration: none;">http://keeptapwatersafe.org/global-bans-on-fracking/</a><br />
34) <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/358521/Government_Response_FINAL.pdf" style="color: #7d181e; text-decoration: none;">https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/358521/Government_Response_FINAL.pdf</a></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6741946524740642424.post-57132654462388387812014-01-08T12:35:00.000-08:002014-01-08T12:35:01.015-08:00David Cameron the UK PM said that 'suspects' climate change is behind recent storms<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/VfZRh8bjvv8" width="560"></iframe></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are times when I truly despair, our PM only<span style="font-size: large;"> ‘suspects’
</span>climate change is behind recent storms? Really? (1)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Just some of the recent events that seem to have
made Cameron think:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Check out the UK floods and storms (2)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The record freeze in the US (3)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Record high temperatures in Australia (4)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">China had problems (5)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And who can forget the Philippines Super Typhoon?
(6)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But for a breakdown of many more of the 2013 events
see (7)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As you look at these events, just think, many of
them involve insured property, and insurance cost is based on predictable risk.
But, as you would imagine, Climate Chaos cannot be predicted. So, what do the
insurance companies say about the ‘suspected’ (excuse me while I laugh Mr.
Cameron) climate change? It is very interesting and well worth a read. (8)</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">(1) </span><a href="http://esciencenews.com/sources/the.guardian.science/2014/01/08/david.cameron.very.much.suspects.climate.change.behind.recent.storms">http://esciencenews.com/sources/the.guardian.science/2014/01/08/david.cameron.very.much.suspects.climate.change.behind.recent.storms</a></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">(2) </span><a href="https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=floods+in+the+UK&safe=active&espv=210&es_sm=93&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=5ajNUp3zDcOAhAf5pIHQAQ&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAQ&biw=1280&bih=932">https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=floods+in+the+UK&safe=active&espv=210&es_sm=93&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=5ajNUp3zDcOAhAf5pIHQAQ&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAQ&biw=1280&bih=932</a><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">(3) </span><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-25647963">http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-25647963</a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">(4) </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/weather/2014/jan/08/temperatures-head-towards-record-52c">http://www.theguardian.com/weather/2014/jan/08/temperatures-head-towards-record-52c</a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">(5) </span><a href="http://www.travelmole.com/news_feature.php?news_id=2008480">http://www.travelmole.com/news_feature.php?news_id=2008480</a></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(6) <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-25628192">http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-25628192</a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(7) <a href="http://www.wri.org/blog/timeline-look-extreme-weather-and-climate-events-2013">http://www.wri.org/blog/timeline-look-extreme-weather-and-climate-events-2013</a></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">(8) </span><a href="http://www.climatenewsnetwork.net/2013/06/insurers-given-severe-weather-warning/">http://www.climatenewsnetwork.net/2013/06/insurers-given-severe-weather-warning/</a>
<span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6741946524740642424.post-36022807651690675382013-12-21T06:18:00.000-08:002013-12-21T06:18:39.230-08:00YOU DON'T NEED A CHURCH OR CATHEDRAL TO BE A PART OF A CHOIR!<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">May I wish everyone a happy,peaceful and healthy 2014</span><br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/Vnt7euRF5Pg" width="420"></iframe>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6741946524740642424.post-27165965789273629332013-11-24T02:25:00.001-08:002013-11-24T02:25:53.631-08:00THE REAL PRICE OF CHEAP FOOD AND OUR OVER USE OF ANTIBIOTICS<div style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: .75pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">England’s Chief Medical Officer, Dame Sally
Davies, said recently that resistance to antibiotics are one of our everyday
health’s greatest threats Dame Sally actually warned that death rates from
bacterial infections have a chance to return to those of the early 20<sup>th</sup><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>century, describing resistance to
antibiotics in her book as a "catastrophic global threat" that should
be ranked alongside terrorism, writing “We have
taken antibacterial and other antimicrobial drugs for granted for too long. We
have misused them through overuse and false prescription, and as a result the
bugs are growing in resistance and fighting back. We are also not developing
new drugs fast enough. (1) <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: .75pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: .75pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;">This is not a distant
threat: already, resistant bugs are killing 25,000 people a year across Europe”.</span><span style="color: #333333;"> (2) </span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: #333332;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: .75pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: .75pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333332;">Dr. Thomas Frieden, the
director of the U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention,</span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: #57ad68;"> </span></span>issued a blunt warning<span style="color: #333332;">: “If we’re not careful, we will soon be in a post-antibiotic
era. For some patients and some microbes, we are already there. A</span>t least 2
million people per year in the U.S. get infections that are resistant to
antibiotics and 23,000 die as a result of these infections”.<span style="color: #333332;"> (3)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: .75pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: .75pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There is no dispute of this. Dame Sally Davies said that the reason for
this was the lack of new drugs combined with massive overuse of existing
antibiotics. Another reason for this
resistance is the situation of the overuse of antibiotics in livestock and
poultry production. (4)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: .75pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: .75pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">UK factory farmed chickens are bred to
reach a weight of 2.2 kilo in five weeks with a stocking density of 17 to 20
birds a square metre, slightly less than an A4 sheet of paper. In these situations antibiotics are needed on
a regular basis. It is a fact that
about two thirds of chickens on sale in the UK have been found to be
contaminated with the bug campylobacter. (5)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: .75pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: .75pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Superbugs that
are highly resistant to the antibiotics used by doctors have been found in
British farm animals. Livestock, especially
pigs, are a reservoir of new bacteria which are a threat to human health,
suggest a new Government study. Virtually
all - 94.5 per cent - of the 13million pigs slaughtered in the UK in the past
year carried campylobacter, which can be very serious indeed, it can kill.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nearly one
in four pigs’ carries salmonella and one in three will carry another
little-known food-poisoning bacterium, Yesinia. In fact over half the worldwide production
of anti-biotics are used on animals. The
ciwf report states “The world’s public-health experts, from the European Union,
the United States and the World Health Organization, are agreed that
drug-resistant bacteria are created in farm animals by antibiotic use and that
these resistant bacteria are transmitted to people in food and then spread by
person-to-person transmission. In addition, genes for antibiotic resistance are
known to be transferable to other bacteria of the same or a different strain or
species. (6)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Any humans infected through food or
contaminated water with these bugs - new strains of E.coli and campylobacter -
are at serious risk. For the bugs have
become immune to the medicinal antibiotics which would normally be used to
drive them out of the body. Doctors are
also worried that this immunity is being passed on to humans over time, through
food. (7) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 7.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;">Without
effective anti-biotics the world we know would change tomorrow. </span><span style="color: #0b0c0c;">We could all be facing a
future where it is no longer possible to have an organ transplant, hip
replacement or help our bodies through cancer treatment as the risk of fatal
infection is too great. Everyone has a role to play in preserving the
antibiotics that we have now, both for ourselves and to protect future
generations.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 7.5pt;">
<span style="color: #0b0c0c;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Are
we paying the price due to the never ending consumer demand for antibiotics
whenever we have a cold or flu and our insistence on ever cheaper food? (8)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 7.5pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -18pt;">(1)<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Drugs-Dont-Work-Penguin-Special-ebook/dp/B00EZEC0SM/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top" style="background-color: transparent; text-indent: -18pt;">http://www.amazon.com/Drugs-Dont-Work-Penguin-Special-ebook/dp/B00EZEC0SM/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top</a> </div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 7.5pt;">
<span style="line-height: 15pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;">(2)</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 7pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;"> </span><a href="http://www.rsc.org/AboutUs/News/PressReleases/2013/Antibiotics-survey-results.asp" style="background-color: transparent; line-height: 15pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;">http://www.rsc.org/AboutUs/News/PressReleases/2013/Antibiotics-survey-results.as</a> </div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 7.5pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; line-height: 15pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;">(3)</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 7pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; line-height: 15pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;"> </span><a href="http://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2013/t0916_health-threats.html" style="background-color: transparent; line-height: 15pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;">http://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2013/t0916_health-threats.html</a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333;"> </span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 7.5pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -18pt;">(4)<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -18pt;"><a href="http://www.fwi.co.uk/articles/18/11/2013/142041/alliance-calls-for-tighter-rules-on-antibiotics.htm" style="text-indent: -18pt;">http://www.fwi.co.uk/articles/18/11/2013/142041/alliance-calls-for-tighter-rules-on-antibiotics.htm</a></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; text-indent: -18pt;">(5)<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><a href="http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/more-two-thirds-chickens-infected-6074251" style="text-indent: -18pt;">http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/more-two-thirds-chickens-infected-6074251</a></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; text-indent: -18pt;">(6)<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><a href="http://www.ciwf.org.uk/includes/documents/cm_docs/2011/a/antibiotics_in_animal_farming.pdf" style="text-indent: -18pt;">http://www.ciwf.org.uk/includes/documents/cm_docs/2011/a/antibiotics_in_animal_farming.pdf</a></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; text-indent: -18pt;">(7)<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><a href="http://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(13)70318-9/fulltext" style="text-indent: -18pt;">http://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(13)70318-9/fulltext</a> </div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst">
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 15pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;">(8)</span><span style="font-size: 7pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;"> </span><a href="http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-11/21/antibiotics" style="line-height: 15pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;">http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-11/21/antibiotics</a></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6741946524740642424.post-62877179870853336462013-10-15T00:09:00.000-07:002013-10-16T03:33:03.316-07:00FRACKING: AN ENVIRONMENTAL DISASTER WAITING IN THE WINGS<div class="MsoNormal">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
You will have heard a lot recently about Fracking and seen
and read reports on the events that surrounded Caudrilla’s drilling operations at
Balcombe in West Sussex. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Much of the reporting of both the technology and the protest
was both sensationalised and incorrect.
I know this for a fact as I have been very concerned about the dangers
and problems regarding the many recorded and verifiable problems surrounding
the debatable technology involved in Fracking for some time now, and are also
friends with many of those that were protesting at Balcombe. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The following are straight-forward facts regarding Fracking
and if you have any comments/thoughts/questions regarding them, please feel
free to contact me. Regarding the
links, I have checked them all several times and have had no problems. The UK Government link did say on my system
that the ‘attachment could harm my system’, but there were no problems.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
First of all, exactly what is Fracking? Basically High Volume Hydraulic Fracking is
the process of directional drilling, i.e. first of all drilling down deep vertically
for some 4,700 feet or more and then drilling horizontally for a long distance,
which can be up to a mile or even a longer distance into the layer of shale
rock that holds oil or gas. If you
imagine this layer of strata that holds the target material in a ‘sponge’ like
way then you will not be too far wrong.
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This drilling then has ‘concrete’ sprayed on the drillings
walls, then a flexible metal pipe with many small explosive charges attached around
the circumference is inserted into the drilling and along to its target, which
is the horizontal section. These
charges are then set off, blowing holes into the horizontal drilling and then
this charge holding pipe is removed.
The vertical section of the drilling then has a steel tube inserted into
it and the entire system has very high volumes of a water/chemical Fracking
Fluid mixture injected into it at a very high pressure which blasts out from the
holes in the horizontal drillings and fractures the surrounding strata. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The process used is a US process where the amount of Fracking
Fluid used is between two and four million gallons. This Fracking Fluid is made up of water which
has a high percentage of chemicals has added to it, these dissolve the minerals
in the rock and initiate cracks, prevents bacteria build up, prevent the
surrounding clays from swelling or shifting, lowers the surface friction
etc. The Fracking Fluid also has Silica
Sand added to hold open the fractured strata and so if you have heard that
these are the sort of things that can be found “under your kitchen sink”, you
have been very much misinformed. (1) </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In theory the majority of the water/chemical/sand mixture should
then be forced back by the inflow of whatever hydrocarbons are freed up as the
pressure of the collapsing strata that surrounds the pipe-work squeezes it back
to be followed by the oil or gas. However
in practice much of the Fracking fluid still remains in the earth and often,
due to the seismic damage to the surrounding strata’s structure, finds its way
to the surface, migrating into groundwater as it does, and bringing the
relevant hydrocarbon, oil and gas, with it.
This can and does cause enormous health and environmental issues. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Despite the reports you may have read/listened to/been
given, this particular process, High Volume Hydraulic Fracking has only been
used <u>once</u> so far in the UK by Cuadrilla at the Preese Hall well in
Lancashire; this has been confirmed by the Government Department
concerned. When the Preese Hall event
took place there were earth tremors in the surrounding area and property was
damaged. This was confirmed as being
due to Caudrilla’s operation in an independent government report. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
You perhaps have been informed that Fracking is a safe
process and that there have been no reported problems such as environmental or
health issues in the US. This is so far
from the truth that I personally am seriously concerned as to exactly what is
or was the incentives for those that have said such things. (2) </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The returning Fracking Fluid is now additionally
contaminated with, among other contaminants, low level radiation from Radium as
well as containing bromide. (3) The main ‘benefit’ that is trumpeted about
Fracking and shale gas is that it will bring down prices, but that is not what
the drilling company says. (4) Or Lord Stern says (5) or Sir David King says (6)
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But why should Fracking concern me or us as members of
councils? Actually, it should concern
us for a very good reason, because according to the following map, many local
areas are within one of the 13<sup>th</sup> onshore round of Fracking Licensing
Blocks on offer. (7) The nearest one to the Parish Council I serve that shows
as being under licence is in the Heathfield – Horam area.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
While it is a planning given that the voices of locals will
be taken into consideration regarding wind turbines or solar farms, the same
does <u>not</u> apply to Fracking operations, (8) and (9) </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Incidentally, all of the main political parties as well as
UKIP are in favour of Fracking, (10) and (11) although this vocal support for Fracking
has more than somewhat faded recently due to the action in Balcombe...</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Other facts that you should be aware of
are that household insurance does not cover Fracking damage and that house
prices drop substantially in areas subject to Fracking. (12) </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As far as planning permission goes, at the moment both the
vertical drilling and the horizontal drilling need permission, but soon the
horizontal drilling may not require planning permission, see page 6, items 10
to 12 of (13). </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.75pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
You may well have heard that at the Fracking protest at Balcombe, (much
of the reporting was sensationalised and incorrect) the residents of Balcombe
were opposed to those that were protesting there and wanted them away, this is
not so, please see (14) and read the following </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.75pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.75pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<o:p> </o:p><span style="line-height: 15.75pt;">To Ms Goldsmith (leader
of West Sussex County Council)</span><span style="line-height: 15.75pt;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.75pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.75pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<i>“Dear Ms Goldsmith, </i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: 21.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<i>I am a resident of
Balcombe. I am concerned that the WSCC’s influence and manpower go into
ensuring that the company, Cuadrilla, are evicted from Lower Stumble by
Saturday 28th September, and that no further planning permission is
granted. Today a truckload of their
toxic chemicals thundered past our primary school as the children attempted to
cross.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;">
<i>It is horrendous for us
to see and hear Cuadrilla in operation here, and we would like to use all
democratic and legal means to stop them. The County Council’s eviction of the
protesters is unjust and deeply ironic. Protecting the interests of this company
is not the role of our council, nor Sussex’s expensive police force. WSCC’s safety concerns should focus on
Caudrilla’s reckless breaches of agreement, not on the peaceful protest outside
the gate. Yours sincerely, Rosalind
Merrick” <o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;">
<i>By Louisa Delpy</i><i><br />
<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">“As I sit here wine in hand, waiting for Xfactor
in my home on my sofa, 80+ people are camping in tents, in the rain, in
horrendous conditions protecting my village and me from something that has
hasn't here yet, but is intended for every village and town across our
countryside.</span><br />
<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">These people, heroes in my opinion, have stood
up for what they believe in and are divided as to whether they will leave the
camp before being evicted or stand strong until the end and be literally thrown
off the grass verge. They are sleeping next to a drilling rig, whirring,
clanking, droning 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, next to a road in sodden
conditions and they have been doing that for 7 weeks. Not only do they have to
contend with very little sleep but constant intimidation from our police force
- opening their tents, shoving cameras in their faces, shining torches in their
eyes. Those police officers are also telling them that Balcombe residents do
not want them here, that their belongings will be taken by bailiffs at any moment,
that they will be forcibly evicted. Whatever they individually decide to do,
stay or go and to all the others who have camped on that verge I say thank you,
whether you stay or go thank you.”</span></i><i><o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If you look at a map, you will see that the Cuadrilla site at
Lower Stumble Wood is situated close between the B2036 road and the main London
to Brighton railway line, near to Balcombe village and the Ardingly Reservoir, and
within a couple of miles of the Millennium Seed Bank at Wakehurst Place; it is
no wonder so many were so concerned.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
These protesters were often called ‘rent-a-mob’ and some
were personally vilified in the media.
I know some that are in their 70s and 80s, many that took their holiday
time to be there and others that had time off work to do so; to describe these
well informed and concerned individuals as such was not simply far from the
truth but also vile. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I have been involved in the area of environmental concern
now for well over thirty years and never ceased to be surprised by the attitude
of others who appear not to want to notice that which is under their noses,
ignoring the obvious does make it go away.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Recently I was sent a newspaper cutting by an anti solar
farm individual that had a negative article and picture of a Solar Farm taken
from a helicopter. I replied pointing
out that it was not possible to see the solar farm from the ground (easy to
check using Google Earth) but what could not be missed from the ground was the
vast power station building and its tall chimney less than a quarter of a mile
away. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Another person, when I spoke of Balcombe, made a ‘Rent a
Swampy’ remark having only seen the TV coverage, which made it painfully aware for
me of just how the media slant can ‘inform’ people.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So, what do you do now?
It is easy to blame others, but the facts remain that many have been
fiddling while Rome started to burn. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The UK, just like the rest of the Western World and
developing nations, exists on energy and the painful fact is that the cost of
that energy is going up. We all have
become reliant on power surging through small holes in our walls, but how we keep
that power going is the question. The
Middle East has become ever more unstable in the recent years and oil supplies have
now become unpredictable. (15) </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
At the moment renewables cannot totally replace oil, however
the facts are that in the daytime (when we need the power most of all) energy via
Solar Farms along with the already existing power from Wind Turbines is
generated and then the conventional power stations can be turned right down making
a massive saving of the oil and gas that is used for power generation. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.6pt; margin-bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 15.0pt; margin-top: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;">
Please do not imagine that all Fracking
entails is a clearing and a ‘Nodding Donkey’, that is most certainly not the
case; Fracking drills into strata, not an underground reservoir, and so
requires a large number of wells. This
can be 8 wells or more per square mile and these all require the necessary pads,
drilling rigs, pipelines, compressor stations, waste storage ponds, treatment
facilities, flaring stack, and the associated transport and tanker movements
etc. As I write this the
alternative to renewables is Fracking, what would you prefer,
this (16) or this (17)? </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->1 1)<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]--><a href="http://www.nachicagonorth.com/CHI/October-2013/Fracking-in-Southern-Illinois-Raises-Widespread-Concerns/">http://www.nachicagonorth.com/CHI/October-2013/Fracking-in-Southern-Illinois-Raises-Widespread-Concerns/</a></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->2 2)<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]--><a href="http://pennsylvaniaallianceforcleanwaterandair.wordpress.com/the-list/">http://pennsylvaniaallianceforcleanwaterandair.wordpress.com/the-list/</a></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->3 3)<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]--><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/oct/02/dangerous-radioactivity-fracking-waste-pennsylvania">http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/oct/02/dangerous-radioactivity-fracking-waste-pennsylvania</a></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->4 4)<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]--><a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-living/cuadrilla-pr-man-admits-george-osbornes-shale-gas-revolution-wont-cut-energy-bills-8656246.html">http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-living/cuadrilla-pr-man-admits-george-osbornes-shale-gas-revolution-wont-cut-energy-bills-8656246.html</a></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->5 5)<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]--><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/sep/04/david-cameron-fracking-lord-stern">http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/sep/04/david-cameron-fracking-lord-stern</a></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->6 6)<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]--><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/sep/16/david-king-fracking-shale-gas">http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/sep/16/david-king-fracking-shale-gas</a></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->7 7)<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]--><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/63941/13r-acreage-on-offer.pdf">https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/63941/13r-acreage-on-offer.pdf</a> </div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->8 8)<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]--><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/10231717/Theres-no-room-for-wind-farms-but-plenty-for-fracking-says-PM.html">http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/10231717/Theres-no-room-for-wind-farms-but-plenty-for-fracking-says-PM.html</a></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->9 9)<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]--><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/10236354/You-must-accept-fracking-for-the-good-of-the-country-David-Cameron-tells-southerners.html">http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/10236354/You-must-accept-fracking-for-the-good-of-the-country-David-Cameron-tells-southerners.html</a> </div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->1 10)<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span><!--[endif]--><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/10244182/Tory-and-Labour-MPs-join-forces-to-demand-more-money-for-fracking.html">http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/10244182/Tory-and-Labour-MPs-join-forces-to-demand-more-money-for-fracking.html</a></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->1 11)<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span><!--[endif]--> <a href="http://www.kentonline.co.uk/east_kent_mercury/news/lets-go-for-fracking-says-5203/">http://www.kentonline.co.uk/east_kent_mercury/news/lets-go-for-fracking-says-5203/</a></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->1 12)<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span><!--[endif]--><a href="http://www.paliltd.com/blog/fracking-effects-house-prices">http://www.paliltd.com/blog/fracking-effects-house-prices</a></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->1 13)<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span><!--[endif]--><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/236945/Revised_requirements_relating_to_planning_applications_for_onshore_oil_and_gas_-_Proposals_for_comment__2_.pdf">https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/236945/Revised_requirements_relating_to_planning_applications_for_onshore_oil_and_gas_-_Proposals_for_comment__2_.pdf</a></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->1 14)<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span><!--[endif]--><a href="http://greatgasgala.org.uk/balcombe/">http://greatgasgala.org.uk/balcombe/</a></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->1 15)<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span><!--[endif]--><a href="http://www.mees.com/en/articles/8378-libya-and-iraq-the-weakest-links-in-world-oil-markets">http://www.mees.com/en/articles/8378-libya-and-iraq-the-weakest-links-in-world-oil-markets</a></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->1 16)<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span><!--[endif]--><a href="http://blog.ucsusa.org/what-do-food-and-fracking-have-in-common-130">http://blog.ucsusa.org/what-do-food-and-fracking-have-in-common-130</a></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->1 17)<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span><!--[endif]--><a href="http://www.lightsource-re.co.uk/news/2013/August/land-diversification-project-could-graze-sheep-and-produce-solar/">http://www.lightsource-re.co.uk/news/2013/August/land-diversification-project-could-graze-sheep-and-produce-solar/</a></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6741946524740642424.post-49574579937535942032013-10-06T09:25:00.003-07:002013-10-06T09:25:47.142-07:00Global Warming Facts As The World Sees Them?<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The following weather report is actually 100% correct, sad to say, most people are in the guise of the anchor man.</span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.upworthy.com/the-one-where-the-weather-lady-starts-telling-the-truth-a-little-too-much-truth-to-be-honest-9?g=2">http://www.upworthy.com/the-one-where-the-weather-lady-starts-telling-the-truth-a-little-too-much-truth-to-be-honest-9?g=2</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6741946524740642424.post-41747222352661947832013-08-15T12:33:00.003-07:002013-08-15T12:33:58.648-07:00"It is no exaggeration to say that the fate of Japan and the whole world depends on No. 4 reactor." <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Rcb_2AF6Iek/Ug0sWucOkMI/AAAAAAAAN8M/c8S6tH8uUNs/s1600/Fukishima+Disaster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Rcb_2AF6Iek/Ug0sWucOkMI/AAAAAAAAN8M/c8S6tH8uUNs/s1600/Fukishima+Disaster.jpg" height="248" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 14.25pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 14.25pt;">So said the former Japanese Ambassador
to Switzerland Mitsuhei Murata to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in April
2012; so what has happened since, and why the silence?</span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 12.0pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The operator of Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear plant is
preparing to remove, beginning this November, 400 tons of highly irradiated
spent fuel from a damaged reactor building, a dangerous operation that has
never been attempted before on this scale.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 12.0pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Containing radiation equivalent to 14,000 times the amount
released in the atomic bomb attack on Hiroshima 68 years ago, more than 1,300
used fuel rod assemblies packed tightly together need to be removed from a
building that is vulnerable to collapse, should another large earthquake hit
the area.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 12.0pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco) is already in a losing battle to
stop radioactive water overflowing from another part of the facility, and
experts question whether it will be able to pull off the removal of all the
assemblies successfully.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 12.0pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The operation at the plant's Reactor No. 4 is fraught with
danger, including the possibility of a large release of radiation if a fuel
assembly breaks, gets stuck or gets too close to an adjacent bundle. That could lead to a worse disaster than the
March 2011 nuclear crisis at the Fukushima plant, the worlds most serious since
Chernobyl in 1986. To see the possible
problem <i>see 1)</i> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 12.0pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Each fuel rod assembly weighs about 300 kilograms (660 pounds)
and is 4.5 meters (15 feet) long. There are 1,331 of the spent fuel assemblies
and a further 202 unused assemblies are also stored in the pool. Almost 550 assemblies had been removed from
the reactor core just before the quake and tsunami set off the crisis. These
are the most dangerous because they have only been cooling in the pool for two
and a half years.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 12.0pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“The No. 4 unit was not operating at the time of the accident,
so its fuel had been moved to the pool from the reactor, and if you calculate
the amount of caesium 137 in the pool, the amount is equivalent to 14,000
Hiroshima atomic bombs," said Hiroaki Koide, assistant professor at Kyoto
University Research Reactor Institute.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 12.0pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The seawater around the nuclear plant has been contaminated from
the water pumped into the plant and dropped from helicopters used to cool the
radioactive fuel rods which has the leaked out into the Pacific Ocean. <i>See (2<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 12.0pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, why is there the silence from the National News and
Government sources, remembering the news that was released after
Chernobyl? There have been no rebuttal
of these facts from the US authorities, <i>see
(3</i> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 12.0pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And for a full update see(4</span></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 12.0pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1)<span style="font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span><!--[endif]--><a href="http://real-agenda.com/2013/08/15/fukushima-a-nuclear-war-without-a-war/">http://real-agenda.com/2013/08/15/fukushima-a-nuclear-war-without-a-war/</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 12.0pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2)<span style="font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span><!--[endif]--><a href="http://fukushima-diary.com/category/dnews/sea-contamination/">http://fukushima-diary.com/category/dnews/sea-contamination/</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> 3) <a href="http://www.globalresearch.ca/fukushima-radioactive-fallout-in-california-and-alaska-health-impacts-on-american-children/5329553">http://www.globalresearch.ca/fukushima-radioactive-fallout-in-california-and-alaska- health-impacts-on-american-children/5329553</a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> 4) </span><a href="http://consciouslifenews.com/wont-believe-whats-going-fukushima/1161974/">http://consciouslifenews.com/wont-believe-whats-going-fukushima/1161974/</a><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6741946524740642424.post-14081092976557416222013-06-28T02:45:00.002-07:002013-06-28T02:45:44.140-07:00Words Of Wisdom From The Dalai Lama <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vzdV64VrLJo/Uc1Z-61saQI/AAAAAAAAN7E/IUaN5CngbGE/s550/Dali+Lama+Wisdom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vzdV64VrLJo/Uc1Z-61saQI/AAAAAAAAN7E/IUaN5CngbGE/s400/Dali+Lama+Wisdom.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">If anything sums up the state of the world and of life for so many today, the Dalai Lama's observational wisdom does. </span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6741946524740642424.post-13897360049897902842013-06-20T08:27:00.000-07:002013-06-20T08:27:04.461-07:00So why did UK Minister Owen Paterson push GM food?<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span id=".reactRoot[8066288].[2]{comment579917545362706_6528365}.[1:0].[4:0:1].[3:1].[4:0:1].[1:1].[1:0].[1:0:2].[2:0].[2:0]" style="background-color: #fafbfb; color: #4e5665; line-height: 14px;"><span id=".reactRoot[8066288].[2]{comment579917545362706_6528365}.[1:0].[4:0:1].[3:1].[4:0:1].[1:1].[1:0].[1:0:2].[2:0].[2:0].[3:0:5]">What do we know about Owen Paterson? </span><span id=".reactRoot[8066288].[2]{comment579917545362706_6528365}.[1:0].[4:0:1].[3:1].[4:0:1].[1:1].[1:0].[1:0:2].[2:0].[2:0].[3:0:7]">Married to Rose Ridley, sister of Matt Ridley (son of Viscount Ridley) who is a genetic scientist - and also sits in the House of Lords. He's visiting professor at Cold Spring Harbo</span></span><span id=".reactRoot[8066288].[2]{comment579917545362706_6528365}.[1:0].[4:0:1].[3:1].[4:0:1].[1:1].[1:0].[1:0:2].[2:0].[3:3]" style="background-color: #fafbfb; color: #4e5665; line-height: 14px;"><span id=".reactRoot[8066288].[2]{comment579917545362706_6528365}.[1:0].[4:0:1].[3:1].[4:0:1].[1:1].[1:0].[1:0:2].[2:0].[3:3].[2:1]"><span id=".reactRoot[8066288].[2]{comment579917545362706_6528365}.[1:0].[4:0:1].[3:1].[4:0:1].[1:1].[1:0].[1:0:2].[2:0].[3:3].[2:1].[3:0:0]">r Laboratory where they study plant genetics.</span><br id=".reactRoot[8066288].[2]{comment579917545362706_6528365}.[1:0].[4:0:1].[3:1].[4:0:1].[1:1].[1:0].[1:0:2].[2:0].[3:3].[2:1].[3:0:1]" /><span id=".reactRoot[8066288].[2]{comment579917545362706_6528365}.[1:0].[4:0:1].[3:1].[4:0:1].[1:1].[1:0].[1:0:2].[2:0].[3:3].[2:1].[3:0:2]">Cold Spring Lab are the main protagonists in the iPlant collaborative. </span><span id=".reactRoot[8066288].[2]{comment579917545362706_6528365}.[1:0].[4:0:1].[3:1].[4:0:1].[1:1].[1:0].[1:0:2].[2:0].[3:3].[2:1].[3:0:4]">Possible conflict of interest for Paterson?</span><br id=".reactRoot[8066288].[2]{comment579917545362706_6528365}.[1:0].[4:0:1].[3:1].[4:0:1].[1:1].[1:0].[1:0:2].[2:0].[3:3].[2:1].[3:0:5]" /><span id=".reactRoot[8066288].[2]{comment579917545362706_6528365}.[1:0].[4:0:1].[3:1].[4:0:1].[1:1].[1:0].[1:0:2].[2:0].[3:3].[2:1].[3:0:6]"><br /></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #fafbfb; color: #4e5665; line-height: 14px;"><span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span>Who fund the Cold Spring Harbor Lab? Amongst others, Dupont, whose subsidiary Pioneer Hi-bred International specialise in GMO corn.</span><br id=".reactRoot[8066288].[2]{comment579917545362706_6528365}.[1:0].[4:0:1].[3:1].[4:0:1].[1:1].[1:0].[1:0:2].[2:0].[3:3].[2:1].[3:0:7]" /><a class="" forcediv="true" forceinline="true" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_Sp...bor_Laboratory" id=".reactRoot[8066288].[2]{comment579917545362706_6528365}.[1:0].[4:0:1].[3:1].[4:0:1].[1:1].[1:0].[1:0:2].[2:0].[3:3].[2:1].[3:0:8]" original_target="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/cold_sp...bor_laboratory" rel="nofollow" saprocessedanchor="true" style="color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_Sp...bor_Laboratory</a></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #fafbfb; color: #4e5665; line-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br id=".reactRoot[8066288].[2]{comment579917545362706_6528365}.[1:0].[4:0:1].[3:1].[4:0:1].[1:1].[1:0].[1:0:2].[2:0].[3:3].[2:1].[3:0:9]" />Defends the use of pesticides that kill bees<br /><a class="" forcediv="true" forceinline="true" href="http://www.shropshirestar.com/news/environment/2013/04/30/owen-paterson-defends-use-of-bees-link-pesticide/" id=".reactRoot[8066288].[2]{comment579917545362706_6528365}.[1:0].[4:0:1].[3:1].[4:0:1].[1:1].[1:0].[1:0:2].[2:0].[3:3].[2:1].[3:0:13]" original_target="http://www.shropshirestar.com/news/environment/2013/04/30/owen-paterson-defends-use-of-bees-link-pesticide/" rel="nofollow" saprocessedanchor="true" style="color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">http://www.shropshirestar.com/news/environment/2013/04/30/owen-paterson-defends-use-of-bees-link-pesticide/</a></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #fafbfb; color: #4e5665; line-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br id=".reactRoot[8066288].[2]{comment579917545362706_6528365}.[1:0].[4:0:1].[3:1].[4:0:1].[1:1].[1:0].[1:0:2].[2:0].[3:3].[2:1].[3:0:15]" /><span id=".reactRoot[8066288].[2]{comment579917545362706_6528365}.[1:0].[4:0:1].[3:1].[4:0:1].[1:1].[1:0].[1:0:2].[2:0].[3:3].[2:1].[3:0:16]">Paterson's letter to Syngenta published in The Guardian...</span><br id=".reactRoot[8066288].[2]{comment579917545362706_6528365}.[1:0].[4:0:1].[3:1].[4:0:1].[1:1].[1:0].[1:0:2].[2:0].[3:3].[2:1].[3:0:17]" /><span id=".reactRoot[8066288].[2]{comment579917545362706_6528365}.[1:0].[4:0:1].[3:1].[4:0:1].[1:1].[1:0].[1:0:2].[2:0].[3:3].[2:1].[3:0:18]">Link</span><a class="" forcediv="true" forceinline="true" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/interactive/2013/apr/29/environment-secretary-letter-syngenta-insecticide-ban" id=".reactRoot[8066288].[2]{comment579917545362706_6528365}.[1:0].[4:0:1].[3:1].[4:0:1].[1:1].[1:0].[1:0:2].[2:0].[3:3].[2:1].[3:0:19]" original_target="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/interactive/2013/apr/29/environment-secretary-letter-syngenta-insecticide-ban" rel="nofollow" saprocessedanchor="true" style="color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/interactive/2013/apr/29/environment-secretary-letter-syngenta-insecticide-ban</a></span></span><br />
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<a border="0" href="https://www.siteadvisor.com/sites/http%3A//www.guardian.co.uk/environment/interactive/2013/apr/29/environment-secretary-letter-syngenta-insecticide-ban/-?pip=false&premium=false&client_uid=1673218636&client_ver=3.6.2.168&client_type=IEPlugin&suite=false&aff_id=0&locale=en_gb&ui=1&os_ver=6.0.2.0" saprocessedanchor="true" style="background-image: none; color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-decoration: none; width: auto;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="data:image/gif;base64,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" style="border: 0px; display: inline; float: none; height: 16px; margin: 0px; position: relative; width: 16px;" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: #fafbfb; color: #4e5665; line-height: 14px;"><br id=".reactRoot[8066288].[2]{comment579917545362706_6528365}.[1:0].[4:0:1].[3:1].[4:0:1].[1:1].[1:0].[1:0:2].[2:0].[3:3].[2:1].[3:0:20]" /></span><span style="background-color: #fafbfb; color: #4e5665; line-height: 14px;">One of the two chief lobbying organisations paying Paterson to push GMO...</span><span style="background-color: #fafbfb; color: #4e5665; line-height: 14px;"><br /><a class="" forcediv="true" forceinline="true" href="http://www.abcinformation.org/" id=".reactRoot[8066288].[2]{comment579917545362706_6528365}.[1:0].[4:0:1].[3:1].[4:0:1].[1:1].[1:0].[1:0:2].[2:0].[3:3].[2:1].[3:0:24]" original_target="http://www.abcinformation.org/" rel="nofollow" saprocessedanchor="true" style="color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">http://www.abcinformation.org/</a></span></span><br />
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<a border="0" href="https://www.siteadvisor.com/sites/http%3A//www.abcinformation.org/-?pip=false&premium=false&client_uid=1673218636&client_ver=3.6.2.168&client_type=IEPlugin&suite=false&aff_id=0&locale=en_gb&ui=1&os_ver=6.0.2.0" saprocessedanchor="true" style="background-image: none; color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-decoration: none; width: auto;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="data:image/gif;base64,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" style="border: 0px; display: inline; float: none; height: 16px; margin: 0px; position: relative; width: 16px;" /></span></a></div>
<span style="background-color: #fafbfb; color: #4e5665; line-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br id=".reactRoot[8066288].[2]{comment579917545362706_6528365}.[1:0].[4:0:1].[3:1].[4:0:1].[1:1].[1:0].[1:0:2].[2:0].[3:3].[2:1].[3:0:26]" /><span id=".reactRoot[8066288].[2]{comment579917545362706_6528365}.[1:0].[4:0:1].[3:1].[4:0:1].[1:1].[1:0].[1:0:2].[2:0].[3:3].[2:1].[3:0:27]">Another UK lobbying group operating on behalf of Conservative party donors;</span><br id=".reactRoot[8066288].[2]{comment579917545362706_6528365}.[1:0].[4:0:1].[3:1].[4:0:1].[1:1].[1:0].[1:0:2].[2:0].[3:3].[2:1].[3:0:28]" /><a class="" forcediv="true" forceinline="true" href="http://www.cropprotection.org.uk/" id=".reactRoot[8066288].[2]{comment579917545362706_6528365}.[1:0].[4:0:1].[3:1].[4:0:1].[1:1].[1:0].[1:0:2].[2:0].[3:3].[2:1].[3:0:29]" original_target="http://www.cropprotection.org.uk/" rel="nofollow" saprocessedanchor="true" style="color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">http://www.cropprotection.org.uk/</a></span></span><br />
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<a border="0" href="https://www.siteadvisor.com/sites/http%3A//www.cropprotection.org.uk/-?pip=false&premium=false&client_uid=1673218636&client_ver=3.6.2.168&client_type=IEPlugin&suite=false&aff_id=0&locale=en_gb&ui=1&os_ver=6.0.2.0" saprocessedanchor="true" style="background-image: none; color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-decoration: none; width: auto;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhEgASAPeCALTttfLy8mHSYNTm1FfPVt3r3CmEJ6jqqRd7FmvWa/T484Pdg93733fad/b69k7MTfPz88DbwDSLMlmgWI/hkEKTQZvGmju0OpzmnIe6hg92DQx0Cvz8/Bp8GPf398jgyCeYJj+RPv///z+4PsXjxWeoZkW3RKnaqmrVak26TITOhGOxYWGuYaDfodjm1z2UPEvISsPdwk+pTszhzO717i6ILZzbnTGJL1+tXnCtb1W4VPn8+YvYi/Dy8KThpHPJc+rz6R2DG2KsYhyKG+v064ncisrgysHewF+jXi6QLUiWRzuxOs3izdP11W/Mb0uwSiqHKRF7Dy6eLWKlYNbl1nO7ch2TG+Xs5TihN3OvcsbexcDcv226bdnn2cPxxfDx8Nrq2pfNlxSAEki2R5PLlFW6VTGSMD+1Pj6rPWWvZTKeMJTfk32/fbLWsjeuNnzAfPz9/DiqN0K1Qo7Xj7/fvxt+GmrOaiKFIE63TdPk02qqaWrGadnp2X7NfsDxwcr1zNT41hmQF////wAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACH5BAEAAIIALAAAAAASABIAAAj/AAUJHCiwAA2CCAfCsaBkA5Q6CCZoSSgQzA0hJxhobELmxRQHCAd0YAOopMmSaSqAFKjAwJs/MGP+sRHICws9AzPg8MOzpx8VgaoE8qFhgEADLQAoXdonEAkRYQJxySKowJ0DWAPxOPAjEB0OHIBYmSNBUAQzGDAEkhFoT6AjHjzwCaRjTQezSSgEWtFjS6A2ECC4CFSGQhEEVYMsCGQkQIArXwJQCYRnwQInZQUZsJMi0AzHAfIEGtOg9JMcAjNgSWAiEBMIXQLJSUAbRVGWBtAIOBPoQ6AlAoILUFOC4AAEcQhcCHSBgHMCUkKsHDigBogRD7LDcDMEiQKKOyxUDdggJkrEGBQTFiCSPiAAOw==" style="border: 0px; display: inline; float: none; height: 16px; margin: 0px; position: relative; width: 16px;" /></span></a></div>
<span style="background-color: #fafbfb; color: #4e5665; line-height: 14px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br id=".reactRoot[8066288].[2]{comment579917545362706_6528365}.[1:0].[4:0:1].[3:1].[4:0:1].[1:1].[1:0].[1:0:2].[2:0].[3:3].[2:1].[3:0:31]" /><span id=".reactRoot[8066288].[2]{comment579917545362706_6528365}.[1:0].[4:0:1].[3:1].[4:0:1].[1:1].[1:0].[1:0:2].[2:0].[3:3].[2:1].[3:0:32]">UK research council, funded by Monsanto, Bayer, Syngenta, Dupont et al...</span><br id=".reactRoot[8066288].[2]{comment579917545362706_6528365}.[1:0].[4:0:1].[3:1].[4:0:1].[1:1].[1:0].[1:0:2].[2:0].[3:3].[2:1].[3:0:33]" /><a class="" forcediv="true" forceinline="true" href="http://www.bbsrc.ac.uk/home/home.aspx" id=".reactRoot[8066288].[2]{comment579917545362706_6528365}.[1:0].[4:0:1].[3:1].[4:0:1].[1:1].[1:0].[1:0:2].[2:0].[3:3].[2:1].[3:0:34]" original_target="http://www.bbsrc.ac.uk/home/home.aspx" rel="nofollow" saprocessedanchor="true" style="color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">http://www.bbsrc.ac.uk/home/home.aspx</a></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: #fafbfb; color: #4e5665; line-height: 14px;"><br id=".reactRoot[8066288].[2]{comment579917545362706_6528365}.[1:0].[4:0:1].[3:1].[4:0:1].[1:1].[1:0].[1:0:2].[2:0].[3:3].[2:1].[3:0:35]" /></span><span style="background-color: #fafbfb; color: #4e5665; line-height: 14px;">Cropgen - another powerful GM lobbying group, paid for by Monsanto, Bayer, Syngenta, Dupont et al...</span><span style="background-color: #fafbfb; color: #4e5665; line-height: 14px;"><br /><a class="" forcediv="true" forceinline="true" href="http://www.cropgen.org/" id=".reactRoot[8066288].[2]{comment579917545362706_6528365}.[1:0].[4:0:1].[3:1].[4:0:1].[1:1].[1:0].[1:0:2].[2:0].[3:3].[2:1].[3:0:39]" original_target="http://www.cropgen.org/" rel="nofollow" saprocessedanchor="true" style="color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">http://www.cropgen.org/</a></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: #fafbfb; color: #4e5665; line-height: 14px;"><br id=".reactRoot[8066288].[2]{comment579917545362706_6528365}.[1:0].[4:0:1].[3:1].[4:0:1].[1:1].[1:0].[1:0:2].[2:0].[3:3].[2:1].[3:0:40]" /></span><span style="background-color: #fafbfb; color: #4e5665; line-height: 14px;">AND the research institute funded by the UK government and the GMO food companies quoted in this mornings BBC report;</span><span style="background-color: #fafbfb; color: #4e5665; line-height: 14px;"><br /><a class="" forcediv="true" forceinline="true" href="http://www.ifr.ac.uk/" id=".reactRoot[8066288].[2]{comment579917545362706_6528365}.[1:0].[4:0:1].[3:1].[4:0:1].[1:1].[1:0].[1:0:2].[2:0].[3:3].[2:1].[3:0:44]" original_target="http://www.ifr.ac.uk/" rel="nofollow" saprocessedanchor="true" style="color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">http://www.ifr.ac.uk/</a></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, is GM safe? <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">There’s the research that’s being paid for by the biotech industry. And then there’s the independent research being done in foreign countries, mostly in Europe, and foreign universities. Most, if not all the research sponsored by the biotech industry says genetic engineering is innocuous and safe. But most of the research done elsewhere concludes otherwise. So says Thierry Vrain, retired former pro-GMO scientist for Agriculture Canada, now campaigning against GMOs.</span></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6741946524740642424.post-8946162353119347662013-06-10T04:27:00.000-07:002013-06-10T04:27:36.845-07:00THERE IS NO SUCH PLACE AS 'AWAY'.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Killer whales so contaminated that they were classified as toxic waste. A once-beautiful Lebanese beach that’s now a towering mound of garbage, bleeding contaminants into the Mediterranean Sea. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, an area the size of Quebec that has six times as much plastic as plankton, the foundation of the food chain.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.078125px; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We all know that trash is a serious environmental problem, but it’s hard to grasp the full extent of the global predicament, and even if you are well-informed, it’s good to be reminded that waste is perhaps the most dire environmental crisis today. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So often I hear people say that they are going to throw something 'away'. There is no such place as 'away'.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.078125px; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In this documentary Trashed tells the story of the world’s waste disposal problems through the eyes of Jeremy Irons. The actor-turned-environmental activist takes the audience around the world, showing first some of the most gory garbage patches, before presenting the challenges of getting rid of such trash.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jeremy Irons, who narrated the film, noted, “We’re making more garbage now than at any time in history.” At the beginning of the film, Irons travelled to Sidon, Lebanon where he found a large, uncontrolled waste dump on the beach. He interviewed a Palestinian refugee who had come to Lebanon 30 years earlier, when the trash mound was non-existent. “When I first worked here it wasn't here,” the refugee said.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In Britain, Irons found that the waste problem was not quite as obvious as in Lebanon but was still significant. Paul Dainton, a British activist who tries to promote regulation of landfill sites said, “We have the most landfill sites in Europe.” Dainton added that breaches occur in the lining of the landfills with “notorious regularity.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The waste problem is no less serious in the United States. “Over the past decade, 14 dumps around New York have reached capacity,” Irons said. A major problem with these landfills is that the lining used to prevent seepage of materials to the surrounding soil is not always reliable. As a result, landfills can threaten the environment for hundreds of years.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">An alternative to landfills used in some parts of the world is incineration of waste. This method has its advantages, but in many ways is not much better than using landfills.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“It’s a very, very challenging environment inside an incinerator,” Professor of Bio-imaging at the University of Ulster in Northern Ireland Vyvyan Howard said in the film. Incinerators produce man-made halogenated dioxins, which cause health concerns and can be extremely toxic.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In one small French town, 24 out of 80 residents on a street near an incinerator got cancer. There is no conclusive proof that their cancer came from toxins released from their incinerator, but such a high rate of the disease is unusual. “Governments have to be prepared to act with caution,” Howard said, referring to the danger created by toxins from incinerators.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No area of the planet has been safe from the toxins and waste spread by incinerators, factories and other means. “The Arctic has become one of the most contaminated places on Earth,” Irons said. Charles Moore, an oceanographer and boat captain who has done research on the Great Pacific Garbage, noted, “It’s rare to find a trawl that has no plastic in it.” As Moore says, waste is a problem both on land and sea, with no areas immune to the effects of pollution.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“This is not about what might happen in some distant future,” Irons warned. Howard added, “What we have to do is to stop making that amount of waste.”</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Irons ends the film by saying that the status quo in terms of waste management must change. “We are trashing the planet and it’s time to stop,” he said. If waste management practices do not change, Irons and other environmentalists believe the waste problem will continue to damage the planet.</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6741946524740642424.post-29994054215966336762013-05-02T08:25:00.001-07:002013-05-04T04:24:19.774-07:00“A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they will never sit in.” — Greek proverb <br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bR1ojzNospk/UYKDRqETrXI/AAAAAAAANzI/wQylrLYTZwg/s1600/IMG_2167.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bR1ojzNospk/UYKDRqETrXI/AAAAAAAANzI/wQylrLYTZwg/s320/IMG_2167.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For the Queens Jubilee Year our little Parish Council
decided to plant a Jubilee Wood. We were fortunate to be granted 420 saplings
from the Woodland Trust that we planned to use as hedging and asked local
residents to sponsor a tree, this could be in memory of an event, a person, or
as simply as a gift to the parishioners present and future. So far we have 60
trees sponsored. We plan to have seats in the centre
where locals to come and meet or just sit and enjoy the view. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The recently started Youth Club became involved and they
also sponsored a tree and, on a cold spring day (!) came to plant it and some others. They chose a fruit tree and we hope that in the many years to come they will bring their families to
what will be then a small wood, tell them the story of the event and pick an apple or two.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Although the area is somewhat waterlogged and bare in places
as I write, this will soon change as many have given willingly of their time
and knowledge, working hard to turn what was a once small area of grazing land
into what will become an attractive village facility. As for the value of a tree, just look at the image below, and for more detail of that and the value of trees, see <a href="http://www.uow.edu.au/~sharonb/STS300/valuing/price/pricingarticles.html">HERE</a>. </span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-H5u8DPtcZtE/UYKDw-25xFI/AAAAAAAANzQ/HDd7wCEfN4Y/s1600/The+Value+of+a+Tree.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-H5u8DPtcZtE/UYKDw-25xFI/AAAAAAAANzQ/HDd7wCEfN4Y/s320/The+Value+of+a+Tree.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6741946524740642424.post-77070497968884534632013-04-02T06:00:00.000-07:002013-04-02T09:36:10.853-07:00I HAVE ACTUALLY MET JESUS<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was late one dark, cold and wet October night when, like
many of our team after hearing an unspoken direction while searching for the
lost and lonely, I finally found Jesus. As I walked along the edge she became illuminated by the light of my torch, sitting with her legs
dangling over the drop, almost shapeless and shivering in her tattered worn
coat and falling apart open sandals. I
came close but Jesus gently told me not to get too close as the edge was not
safe, so I sat down a few feet away and spoke to her, telling of my concern for
her and asking for her story. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jesus said how she had been born into a family to be
sexually abused by them and their friends and that when she was fifteen she had
run away and lived with a group of people in a squat. The squat seemed good at first, but the
novelty soon wore off and she found out that it was cold, dirty and used by
alcoholics and drug takers. Money was a
problem but she soon became adept at picking pockets and shoplifting, and if
things got really bad, she sold her body.
“At least I had the choice then” she said with a slight grin, through the
stumps of broken and rotten teeth. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Living on the streets was a nightmare Jesus said, telling of how she had
been crawled over by vermin, urinated and defecated on by people and animals, spat
at, kicked, and beaten up, the mocking sarcastic voices and comments still
echoing in her ears. “The bruises and
breaks usually healed, but the looks of disgust and the insults and abusive comments never do, they always, always hurt” she
said.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I asked how old she was, “Thirty four” was the answer. Thirty four... good grief half my age and I
was sure she was only a little younger at best. She turned and looked at me, her tears had
made clean tracks down her dirt encrusted face, “and I can’t even sell my body
now” she said. Jesus moved, and an
expression of pain winced across her face, “everything aches, everything hurts,
everything is such an effort, it’s not possible to avoid all the punches and
all the kicks”, her ever laboured breathing and feeble voice was evidence of this.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">She read the look on my face when the noise echoed around the hills of a speeding car
passing by on the nearby road “The world has
always been concerned for itself” Jesus said.
The wind changed direction slightly and I could sense the unmistakeable
smell of her urine, I asked if the black sack I had passed by on my way to find
he was hers. “Yes it is, but I won’t need it
where I am going” was Jesus reply.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So here we were, me, a man who knew without any doubt just
who he was in the company of showing her concern, yet she had the right to hate all
men but so obviously didn't, in fact I heard not one word of condemnation and not one word of hate for anyone, just the stories of the events that had led her there.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then, as the rain and cold increased and in the middle of a
scene the world would rather forget, a filthy and unloved victim journeyed to paradise.</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6741946524740642424.post-37910273317871449602013-03-21T08:51:00.000-07:002013-03-21T10:52:00.715-07:00THE IRAQ WAR FIASCO AND A LETTER FROM A DYING VETERAN<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ten long years ago
the combined might of the US and UK military under President Bush and Prime
Minister Blair with their relationship that rode over legalities and know facts
(1) took armed action against Iraq in a “Shock and Awe” bombing campaign and a
land based invasion. In those ten years thousands of military personnel have
died. On the Iraq side an unknown number members of public have been killed. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All this was
carried out in order to stop the Iraq military from using what the US
authorities said were their ‘weapons of Mass Destruction’. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As Bush and Blair
knew, there were no such weapons.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So why start a war
and who profited out of it? George Bush’s Vice President, former CEO of the giant
US Company Halliburton, (one of the world’s biggest oilfield companies who also
have subsidiaries involved in private military contracting) Dick Cheney certainly
did. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Despite his denials
to the contrary, when special advisor to the under
secretary of defence for policy at the Pentagon Michael Mobbs stood up
to give an under-oath statement, he told how<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Cheney had held more than $3 million in Halliburton stock options until
sometime in 2005, and that Halliburton paid the vice president $178,438 in
deferred compensation. (2) A Pentagon Whistleblower, Bunny Greenhouse
complained, and was demoted and sacked. (3)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="intro"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0cm;">Halliburton’s Iraq war income actually began in </span></span>1992, <u>before</u> the Iraq war
started when Cheney’s Defence Department paid Halliburton $3.9 million to prepare
a classified report on privatising war logistics. Halliburton spent the $3.9
million and then were given a further $5 million for a follow-up report, and later
granted a five-year contract to provide the army with logistical support.<span class="apple-converted-space"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Bush family made profits from the war via their many
interests in different companies, the 2006 article in (4) explains how.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tony Blair has profited from the war (5) and I wonder where the missing Iraq $billions are? (6)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But for the vast majority of those involved in the Iraq War
there has only been despair, pain and anguish. One such Person is Thomas Young, a dying
Iraq War veteran, he wrote the letter below to George Bush and Dick Cheney, but I personally think that it should be addressed to Tony Blair as well.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><span style="line-height: 132%;">I write this letter on the 10th
anniversary of the Iraq War on behalf of my fellow Iraq War veterans. I write
this letter on behalf of the 4,488 soldiers and Marines who died in Iraq. I
write this letter on behalf of the hundreds of thousands of veterans who have
been wounded and on behalf of those whose wounds, physical and psychological,
have destroyed their lives. I am one of those gravely wounded. I was </span><span style="line-height: 21px;">paralysed</span><span style="line-height: 132%;"> in an insurgent ambush in 2004 in Sadr City. My life is coming to an end. I am
living under hospice care. <o:p></o:p></span></i></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 132%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 132%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>I write this letter on behalf of
husbands and wives who have lost spouses, on behalf of children who have lost a
parent, on behalf of the fathers and mothers who have lost sons and daughters
and on behalf of those who care for the many thousands of my fellow veterans
who have brain injuries. I write this letter on behalf of those veterans whose
trauma and self-revulsion for what they have witnessed, endured and done in
Iraq have led to suicide and on behalf of the active-duty soldiers and Marines
who commit, on average, a suicide a day. I write this letter on behalf of the
some 1 million Iraqi dead and on behalf of the countless Iraqi wounded. I write
this letter on behalf of us all—the human detritus your war has left behind,
those who will spend their lives in unending pain and grief. <o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 132%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><span style="line-height: 132%;">I write this letter, my last letter, to
you, Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney. I write not because I think you grasp the
terrible human and moral consequences of your lies, manipulation and thirst for
wealth and power. I write this letter because, before my own death, I want to
make it clear that I, and hundreds of thousands of my fellow veterans, along
with millions of my fellow citizens, along with hundreds of millions more in
Iraq and the Middle East, know fully who you are and what you have done. You
may evade justice but in our eyes you are each guilty of egregious war crimes,
of plunder and, finally, of murder, including the murder of thousands of young
Americans—my fellow veterans—whose future you stole. </span><span style="line-height: 132%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 132%;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 132%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Your positions of authority, your
millions of dollars of personal wealth, your public relations consultants, your
privilege and your power cannot mask the hollowness of your character. You sent
us to fight and die in Iraq after you, Mr. Cheney, dodged the draft in Vietnam,
and you, Mr. Bush, went AWOL from your National Guard unit. Your cowardice and
selfishness were established decades ago. You were not willing to risk
yourselves for our nation but you sent hundreds of thousands of young men and
women to be sacrificed in a senseless war with no more thought than it takes to
put out the garbage. <o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 132%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 132%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>I joined the Army two days after the
9/11 attacks. I joined the Army because our country had been attacked. I wanted
to strike back at those who had killed some 3,000 of my fellow citizens. I did
not join the Army to go to Iraq, a country that had no part in the September
2001 attacks and did not pose a threat to its neighbours, much less to the
United States. I did not join the Army to “liberate” Iraqis or to shut down
mythical weapons-of-mass-destruction facilities or to implant what you
cynically called “democracy” in Baghdad and the Middle East. I did not join the
Army to rebuild Iraq, which at the time you told us could be paid for by Iraq’s
oil revenues. Instead, this war has cost the United States over $3 trillion. I
especially did not join the Army to carry out pre-emptive war. Pre-emptive war
is illegal under international law. And as a soldier in Iraq I was, I now know,
abetting your idiocy and your crimes. </i></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 132%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 132%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>The Iraq War is the largest strategic
blunder in U.S. history. It obliterated the balance of power in the Middle
East. It installed a corrupt and brutal pro-Iranian government in Baghdad, one
cemented in power through the use of torture, death squads and terror. And it
has left Iran as the dominant force in the region. On every level—moral,
strategic, military and economic—Iraq was a failure. And it was you, Mr. Bush
and Mr. Cheney, who started this war. It is you who should pay the
consequences. <o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 132%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><span style="line-height: 132%;">I would not be writing this letter if I
had been wounded fighting in Afghanistan against those forces that carried out
the attacks of 9/11. Had I been wounded there I would still be miserable
because of my physical deterioration and imminent death, but I would at least
have the comfort of knowing that my injuries were a consequence of my own
decision to defend the country I love. I would not have to lie in my bed, my
body filled with painkillers, my life ebbing away, and deal with the fact that
hundreds of thousands of human beings, including children, including myself,
were sacrificed by you for little more than the greed of oil companies, for
your alliance with the oil sheiks in Saudi Arabia, and your insane visions of
empire. </span><span style="line-height: 132%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 132%; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 132%;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 132%; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="line-height: 132%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>I have, like many other disabled
veterans, suffered from the inadequate and often inept care provided by the
Veterans Administration. I have, like many other disabled veterans, come to
realize that our mental and physical wounds are of no interest to you, perhaps
of no interest to any politician. We were used. We were betrayed. And we have
been abandoned. You, Mr. Bush, make much pretence of being a Christian. But
isn’t lying a sin? Isn’t murder a sin? Aren’t theft and selfish ambition sins?
I am not a Christian. But I believe in the Christian ideal. I believe that what
you do to the least of your brothers you finally do to yourself, to your own
soul. <o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 132%; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="line-height: 132%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 132%; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="line-height: 132%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>My day of reckoning is upon me. Yours
will come. I hope you will be put on trial. But mostly I hope, for your sakes,
that you find the moral courage to face what you have done to me and to many,
many others who deserved to live. I hope that before your time on earth ends,
as mine is now ending, you will find the strength of character to stand before
the American public and the world, and in particular the Iraqi people, and beg
for forgiveness. <o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-top: 12.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]--><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/jan/21/tony-blair-george-bush-iraq">http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/jan/21/tony-blair-george-bush-iraq</a> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: 0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]--><a href="http://www.texasmonthly.com/content/soldier-fortune">http://www.texasmonthly.com/content/soldier-fortune</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: 0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]--><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/29/world/middleeast/29reconstruct.html?_r=0">http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/29/world/middleeast/29reconstruct.html?_r=0</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: 0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">4<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]--><a href="http://www.heatherwokusch.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=86">http://www.heatherwokusch.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=86</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: 0cm;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">5<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]--><a href="http://rainbowwarrior2005.wordpress.com/2010/03/28/tony-blairs-attempt-to-keep-his-iraqi-oil-profits-a-secret/">http://rainbowwarrior2005.wordpress.com/2010/03/28/tony-blairs-attempt-to-keep-his-iraqi-oil-profits-a-secret/</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto;">
6 <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7444083.stm">http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7444083.stm</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6741946524740642424.post-83185107114197763862013-02-11T15:12:00.000-08:002013-02-11T15:20:48.549-08:00Do We Have Only A Food Scandal, Or Is It More Than Simply That?<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9S-aVy0lyrY/URl5q0qH6MI/AAAAAAAANwk/Sbfm1_7o2tw/s1600/Horse+Meat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="323" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9S-aVy0lyrY/URl5q0qH6MI/AAAAAAAANwk/Sbfm1_7o2tw/s400/Horse+Meat.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the UK we are, as I write this, going through a food scandal. It has been found <span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">that many ready
meals sold in Europe and the UK labelled as beef contained </span><span style="line-height: 18px;">horse meat</span><span style="line-height: 115%;">, in some
cases, 100% </span><span style="line-height: 18px;">horse meat</span><span style="line-height: 115%;">.</span></span><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To be
totally honest I am not at all surprised.
When it is possible to buy a ready meal for the same price as a cabbage
then there must surely be something amiss somewhere. What this does show though is just how detached
the vast majority of our modern (i.e. Western) civilisation has become from the
environment that it actually depends on for its very existence.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We in
the West don’t need to know where our food came from, where or who made our
clothes, or who was it that picked those tomatoes in Senegal that are on our
supermarket shelves, or if those Jordan River dates were grown on seized land
or not. We can ignore everything about
food, our homes, our clothes, or our transport as long as we have the money to
pay for it. Most do just that of course,
simply ignore what is in front of them by the use of their wallet or purse, but
there is always a price to be paid sooner or later by this ignorance, deliberate
or not.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The
last 60 or so years have seen the depletion of Earth’s resources on a massive
scale. Fossil fuel is diminishing and the
world has passed Peak Oil. The climate
is warming causing instability in the world’s weather with “every 100 years” floods,
droughts and tornado’s now being regular, often year-on-year events as
ecosystems fail. Deliberate blindness
and amnesia does not make a problem, any problem go away. The fact is that, cheap (horse) meat or not,
our present lifestyle is not one that can be afforded.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What
is ignored is the fact that the economy is a wholly owned subsidiary of the
environment, or what is
usually termed as the world’s ‘natural resources’. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">The
Western Culture takes in its stride the exploitation and abuse of people in
other countries, whatever their age, that lack safe working conditions, honest
working hours, a proper roof over their head, running water, and decent food. Everything is reduced to the bottom line, to
a financial or political advantage. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The
total and utter obscenity is that hungry people in arid lands work for a
pittance so we can eat cheap food that exports with it their water. (1) and (1a) <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That
badly clothed and badly treated people work so we can wear good clothes. (2)</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That
people that try to protect the oppressed whose lands are being ‘acquired’ by
governments and businesses are victims of death squads. (3)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our
modern Western food systems tell of abundance.
Groaning supermarket shelves surely can’t lie... or can they? Actually they can, and do. We have manufactured over the last sixty or
so years an illusion that cannot be sustained for much longer. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There
are droughts in the grain areas of the US (4)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There
are droughts in the grain areas of Russia (5)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There
are droughts in Australia (6)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There
is a seemingly unnoticed farming crisis in the UK (7)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While
the above takes place the message is that ‘we’ need to double food production
by 2050 to feed a growing population, while even now we waste enough food to do
just that. What has been </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">created is simply a mirage. A
mirage looks real from a distance but as the inevitable happens, time passes and one gets
closer to it, it fades. What is needed
is to recognise the mirage of seeming abundance of cheap food while the chance to do so is still
available to us.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(1)
<a href="http://www.wfp.org/stories/sahel-crisis-by-country">http://www.wfp.org/stories/sahel-crisis-by-country</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(1a)
<a href="http://www.compagniefruitiere.fr/en/nosproduits/tomatecerise.php">http://www.compagniefruitiere.fr/en/nosproduits/tomatecerise.php</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(2)
<a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2188085/Indian-sweat-shop-boys-13-sold-11-month-rescued-forced-cover-murder-11-year-old-beaten-death-young-worker.html#axzz2KdARrHGf">http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2188085/Indian-sweat-shop-boys-13-sold-11-month-rescued-forced-cover-murder-11-year-old-beaten-death-young-worker.html#axzz2KdARrHGf</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(3)
<a href="http://www.christianaid.org.uk/statement-about-cicero-guedes.aspx">http://www.christianaid.org.uk/statement-about-cicero-guedes.aspx</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(4)
<a href="http://news.yahoo.com/u-drought-expands-top-wheat-growing-state-kansas-170953804.html">http://news.yahoo.com/u-drought-expands-top-wheat-growing-state-kansas-170953804.html</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(5)
<a href="http://www.sott.net/article/253663-Russian-drought-means-every-breadbasket-region-on-Earth-has-been-hit-with-crop-failure-in-2012-wheat-prices-set-to-soar">http://www.sott.net/article/253663-Russian-drought-means-every-breadbasket-region-on-Earth-has-been-hit-with-crop-failure-in-2012-wheat-prices-set-to-soar</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(6)
<a href="http://www.carbonbrief.org/blog/2013/01/heatwaves,-droughts-and-wildfires-in-australia-what%E2%80%99s-the-link-to-climate-change">http://www.carbonbrief.org/blog/2013/01/heatwaves,-droughts-and-wildfires-in-australia-what%E2%80%99s-the-link-to-climate-change</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(7)
<a href="http://www.ukagriculture.com/farming_today/farming_crisis.cfm">http://www.ukagriculture.com/farming_today/farming_crisis.cfm</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6741946524740642424.post-57286421569041078182012-12-22T04:52:00.002-08:002012-12-22T04:52:49.538-08:00<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/vRuQCePY6Kc?rel=0" width="560"></iframe><br />
<br />
May I wish everyone a happy Christmas season, and a healthy and very peaceful new year.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6741946524740642424.post-24225416900888792592012-12-11T04:58:00.001-08:002012-12-11T08:32:25.977-08:00SO; WHAT DO YOU WANT FOR CHRISTMAS?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OnBO9gXiAeo/UMcscbLaadI/AAAAAAAANoo/ivXP_uIkc-g/s1600/Plastic+water+Bottle+Shoes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OnBO9gXiAeo/UMcscbLaadI/AAAAAAAANoo/ivXP_uIkc-g/s400/Plastic+water+Bottle+Shoes.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have been lucky in my ministry in becoming involved with
people that have been on the edge of society, the suicidal, the depressed, the
addicts, the abused, and the victims of society’s deliberate blindness. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The sad
fact is that disaster can overtake anyone from any strata of society. I and my
colleagues have worked to help concert pianists, builders, doctors, gardeners,
engineers, those that left school unable to read or write and those that had
university degrees. It made me realise just how fortunate I am, and just how
close are the disasters that can overtake any one of us.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I will freely admit that there have been times when I, like my colleagues, have
most certainly put my personal safety in great danger and when I have made
myself more than vulnerable, but unless this is accepted, then it is not
possible to reach out to those that need help most. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I work with those that have given up much, far more than I, in order to also help
those I have mentioned. These are people that have left the security of their
everyday lives in order to help those that have lost everything. It has been,
and still is, a humbling experience to stand alongside those that could so
easily be very wealthy in the eyes and standards of the world and yet these heroes have, as I have, endured the sarcasm and derision of some for not just the thought of helping others, but who for any act of kindness is seen as pathetically stupid. Yet the people that I work with have made the commitment to devote
their lives in order to help those far less fortunate than they are.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When you live alongside those that need help, it is obvious
that there is an unbridgeable difference between want and need. Those that I
and my colleagues reached out to needed help of many differing kinds. Protection
from physical violence and sexual and mental abuse, a safe house, medical assistance, shelter from
the elements, a hot meal, financial advice, these needs seemed never ending,
but more than anything else, they needed someone that cared enough for them, was prepared to listen to
them and, after doing so, to offer them advice and help. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When a person’s uppermost thought is how best to commit
suicide then there is nothing whatsoever in the world that they want, but much
that they need.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“What do you want for Christmas?” This will be a question
asked in millions of homes over the next weeks; perhaps the real question
should be “what do you need for Christmas?” </span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6741946524740642424.post-74684494184250702072012-11-04T04:04:00.001-08:002012-11-04T09:31:11.792-08:00IT'S GLOBAL WARMING STUPID!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_Z6wGBgZnDM/UJZZFgQnMkI/AAAAAAAANj0/7WxwwSigNhY/s1600/BBW.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_Z6wGBgZnDM/UJZZFgQnMkI/AAAAAAAANj0/7WxwwSigNhY/s320/BBW.jpg" width="239" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">I don’t know where you
live, but here, in the UK, we had the wettest summer for 30 years with flash
floods in many areas. This followed the driest winters for years, near empty
reservoirs and a hosepipe ban. There were record droughts across the grain belt
in America, worldwide crop failures, worldwide floods, wild fires in Spain and
the US, and record ice melt at the poles and Greenland. As I write this, in
early November, it is pouring with rain and blowing a gale outside and our son
has just phoned to tell us that there is a blizzard where they live in Dorset. I
could go on but I am sure you get the picture.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">Where we live the fields
that surround us are so wet that any farmer taking a tractor out on them would,
at the present rate, only be able to drive it back next April; any harvest that
remains will rot in the fields and the UK has recently had an Environment
Agency alert to be aware of flooding due to the saturated fields being unable
to absorb more water. Time after time and month after month we are experiencing
once in a century events. Floods, droughts, rainstorms, all coupled with rising
sea levels, the changes in the Gulf Stream, (Atlantic Conveyor) the movements
in the Jet Stream and the horror that the US has only just experienced with
Hurricane Sandy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">Forget Star wars, let’s
face the facts, the environment strikes back at our way of life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 13.5pt;">There seems to be a
mindset in the Western World that it is our God given right to consume, that
the earth has no limits, that we can extract what we like, emit what we like, produce
what we like, consume what we like and waste what we like. This mindset has
been built by, and ruled by, and run in favour by many of the mega companies
that have the financial power, and so the political power to rule in their
favour. If you think that is an exaggeration then just remember the power that
Rupert Murdoch and his News Organisation had over UK governments. What Murdoch
said went, and it was only when his company finally </span><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;">stepped</span><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 13.5pt;"> so far over the mark that the situation was blindingly obvious that the whole
obscene operation came to light. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">We live in a society that
is addicted to consumption. In the UK we are regaled by the main political
parties about the need to increase our national growth via consumption, the
desire is, we are told, to increase national prosperity, but how do you measure
prosperity? Is it the need to have what we are told we need in order to have a
happy and fulfilled life? If so, why are so many unhappy and unfulfilled? <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">I know from my own work
that many are addicted to prescription drugs, let alone the illegal ones. From
the local recycling facilities it is blindingly obvious that local alcohol
consumption has rocketed, and yet we are told what we need to do is to grow the
economy by consuming more. So what is needed to cure our financial ills is another dose of what caused our financial ills... Really... is that what will make us
all happy? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">The dream of our Western
life has now hit the realities of the environment. The earth has limits.
Society cannot continue to pollute the atmosphere, plunder the earth and go to
war for ever dwindling resources of fossilised sunlight. We cannot continue to mortgage
our children’s and grandchildren’s future by ignoring these realities, as the
American Indians knew, we did not inherit the world from our ancestors; we
borrow it from our children and grandchildren. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">The sad fact is that this Global Warming (Climate Chaos) environmental disaster has been forecast for
many years and yet the population in general seems to be of the opinion that
this is but a recent discovery.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"> In 1965, US scientist Roger Revelle forecasted
that by the year 2000 there would be 25% more CO2 in the atmosphere and that
this could lead to a modification of atmospheric heat balances and marked
changes in climate. Revelle also forecast rising sea levels and melting polar
ice. US economist William Nordhaus also wrote at this time about ‘the imponderable side effects
on society – coastlines and agriculture, on life in high latitudes, on human
health and simply the unforeseen’ if CO2 pollution was unchecked.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">So, why was this knowledge
not acted upon when there was time?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">Much in the same way as
the tobacco industry used doubt to counter the claims of doctors and scientists
(“our weapon is doubt” was said in a leaked memo) the energy and political
lobby groups also used doubt and the views and opinions of ‘doctors’ and
‘scientists’ to do the same. The problems were, so the merchants of doubt
informed us, “due to sunspots, volcanic activity, were normal climatic events etc, etc”.
Meanwhile the future grew ever closer.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">In the UK an ex Chancellor
of the Exchequer, Nigel Lawson, has said that there is no such thing as Global Warming.
In the US presidential hopeful Mitt Romney has laughed at Obama’s climate
concerns, meanwhile Stephen Hawking, the greatest brain that has ever existed,
said that after a nuclear war, the biggest threat to the human race was Global
Warming; I know who I would put my money on!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">The fact is that the environmental
future for our grandson of but a few months will be very different from the environmental
life I have been lucky to enjoy, and my hope is that in the future years, when I am
probably just an image in a photo, he will read this, because this entire post is for
him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">You will wonder H, as will
others, why no one did anything about the environmental situation you are now
experiencing. The sad fact is that many tried their hardest, but were ignored,
decried and laughed at until it was too late to halt it. I would just like you
to know that I was one of those that tried their hardest and were ignored, decried
and laughed at. I have tried to live as low an impact carbon neutral life as
possible.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 13.5pt;">So when your fellows ask about
the environmental situation “Why </span><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;">didn't</span><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 13.5pt;"> someone try to do something about it” your
answer is quite simple, “someone tried”. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;">Granddad</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 13.5pt;">XX</span></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6741946524740642424.post-1046765359618289862012-10-15T07:25:00.004-07:002012-10-15T07:25:44.337-07:00THE POWER OF WE<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yoSrhMqciv4/UHwblPAP_pI/AAAAAAAANjQ/JUqcB6kb39Q/s1600/Blog-action-day.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yoSrhMqciv4/UHwblPAP_pI/AAAAAAAANjQ/JUqcB6kb39Q/s1600/Blog-action-day.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A big difficulty is that when people are faced with what seems to be an insurmountable problem, the reaction is "But what can <u><b>WE</b></u> do about it?" The fact is though that <b><u>WE</u></b> can actually do a lot!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Please read my previous post and then sign the Oxfam Petition attached below, then WE can really make a difference to those who lives have been blighted; thank you.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.oxfam.org.uk/get-involved/campaign-with-us/find-an-action/land-freeze?intcmp=hp_87_hych2_landgrabs_2012-10-15">http://www.oxfam.org.uk/get-involved/campaign-with-us/find-an-action/land-freeze?intcmp=hp_87_hych2_landgrabs_2012-10-15</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6741946524740642424.post-17888770016211026172012-10-11T09:50:00.000-07:002012-10-15T07:09:50.159-07:00THE REAL COST OF BIO-FUELS "You've got two minutes to get your things and get out. Stop crying. There's nothing you can do. Say goodbye to your home. It's gone."<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-v4RR7L_6ObQ/UHwYzzm90oI/AAAAAAAANjE/1nCe25B4rYY/s1600/eubiofuelscartoon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="228" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-v4RR7L_6ObQ/UHwYzzm90oI/AAAAAAAANjE/1nCe25B4rYY/s320/eubiofuelscartoon.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 13.5pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 13.5pt;">As banks and private investors
scramble to buy land in the developing world, stories of poor farmers and
communities driven from their homes, often at the barrel of a gun, left
destitute and unable to feed their families have become all too familiar. We
would not accept this happening in the developed world, and so should not
accept it in the developing world and yet he global land rush is causing
vulnerable people to lose their homes and livelihoods in the Third World</span><br />
<div style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 13.5pt; margin: 12pt 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: normal;">The scramble for land</span></strong><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">is vast and happening across the developing
world. In poor countries, foreign investors have been buying an area of land
twice the size of Mexico City every five days. In Liberia more than 30 per cent
of land has been handed out in large-scale concessions in the past five years,
often with disastrous results for local people. Alfred Brownell, community
spokesperson in Liberia, says, "You don't need guns to kill people. When
you take food from a village by destroying farm lands and cash crops, you are
starving its people. These things must stop. Our people deserve the right to
survive. They shouldn't be denied their land."<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Europe has helped spark a global rush
for [land for] biofuels that is forcing poor families from their homes, while
big business piles up the profits. Biofuels were meant to make transport
greener, but European governments are pouring consumers' money down the drain,
whilst depriving millions of people of food, land and water,” said Natalia
Alonso, Head of Oxfam’s EU Office.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Land used to
power European cars with biofuels for one year could produce enough wheat and
maize to feed 127 million people, this with the world’s poorest at greater risk of hunger as a
result of spiralling food prices.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In Europe, EU
biofuel mandates could cost every adult about €30 each year by 2020. In 2008, about
€3 billion were spent in tax exemptions and other incentives for biofuel
production in the EU, comparable to the value of cuts agreed under the
controversial Greek bail-out deal in February. Current EU law requires 10% of
transport energy to come from renewable sources by 2020, with almost all of it
expected to come from biofuels made from food crops.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b> </b>Corn and soy prices reached record
highs this summer, hitting poor people hardest as they can spend up to 75% of
their income on food. By 2020, EU biofuel mandates alone could push up the
price of some foods by as much as 36%. This would affect us all but would have
a particularly severe impact on poor people who are already struggling to
afford the food they need to survive.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin: 12pt 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 13.5pt;">Since 80% of EU biofuels is biodiesel,
made mostly from rapeseed, soy and palm oil, EU mandates have a particular
impact on the global price of vegetable oil and oilseeds. This drives up the
retail price of cooking oil in importing countries such as Haiti and exporting
countries such as Indonesia. The latter is one of the EU’s main sources of </span><span style="line-height: 18px;">bio diesel</span><span style="line-height: 13.5pt;"> By 2020, Europe could require <u>a fifth of all the vegetable oil
produced globally to meet its demand</u> for fuel. When this happens the world’s
poorest will be the ones to suffer, for proof, just watch this Oxfam video; this is happening now, as the rich countries feed their cars by taking the food from the mouths of those in the world's poorest countries.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/VwuNpbLRr5A?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6741946524740642424" name="Prov14:31_"><b><span style="background: white;">Prov. 14:31<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span></b></a><span style="background: white;">Anyone who oppresses the poor is insulting God who made them.
To help the poor is to honour God.</span></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6741946524740642424.post-68083411850358730912012-09-05T12:35:00.006-07:002012-11-12T04:37:16.277-08:00So, does being ‘Green’ or ‘Christian’ have anything whatsoever to do with the economy?<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: arial;">Let's face facts, being ‘Green’ has nothing to do with lambs bouncing in a field, a combine cutting corn under a sunny sky or wearing wellingtons as one walks in dew soaked pastures.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: arial;">Being ‘Green’ i.e. being sustainable, living today without losing sight of those as yet born is quite simply fundamental Christian belief and Christian economics. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 100%;">We are totally addicted to growth, which is why the western World is in the state it is. Borrowing is seen by all major political parties as a necessity, a good thing, and yes we do need some form of economic stimulation and yet countless billions of </span>pounds<span style="font-size: 100%;">, dollars and </span>euros have<span style="font-size: 100%;"> been printed or electronically created, via the quaintly named ‘quantitative easing', in order to stimulate growth in the West. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 100%;">It has failed. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial;">Constant growth is simply impossible. If you have a calculator handy start with 100 and add 5%, and continue doing this, this will represent the 5% year-on-year growth that economists are telling us is needed. By the 15<sup>th</sup> year the figure is 207.89%. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial;">There is no way that within 15 years we will be producing more than twice the number of cars, building twice the number of houses and twice the number of runways and growing twice the amount of food to be sold by twice the number of supermarkets. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial;">Those that have, like me, been privileged to live and work in a farming community know one thing for certain; there are limits. The world’s economy is a wholly owned subsidiary of the environment; our world’s economy is limited to what can be produced from our planet. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial;">Christian principles should be focused upon the unavoidable fact that total addictions are wrong, and yet the Western World is addicted to growth. The attempts to outgrow the limits of our planet are now ever obvious, climate change and the disaster with the world’s weather while frantically drilling for oil at the poles as the ice melts. Feeding a seemingly ever growing population while droughts and floods and famines increase. The evidence of the ever larger land raise waste sites, or as most people think of them ‘away’, and so it goes on, and yet most imagine that recycling the odd bottle or sheet of cardboard is all that is needed in order to keep the status quo.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 100%;">They are wrong; the </span>unavoidable<span style="font-size: 100%;"> fact is that for the sake of those just born or as yet to be born, there is such a thing as enough.</span></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6741946524740642424.post-1711332717320619332012-07-02T10:18:00.005-07:002012-07-02T10:57:29.201-07:00PROOF THAT GLOBAL WARMING CONTINUES ITS ADVANCE.<span style=" font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-family:arial;font-size:100%;">You might be amazed at some of the comments people have made about me and my views about Global warming, or, as I prefer to call it 'Climate Chaos'.</span><div style=" font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">It seems that I am an 'Obama loving communist' who should 'go back to Russia'. I pointed out that it is actually impossible to go back to somewhere where one has never been and that I was actually in the UK. I am also, </span>apparently<span style="font-size:100%;">, someone who is a 'bleeding hearted tree hugging anti-capitalist who takes full advantage of all that capitalism has to offer'. </span>Yeah<span style="font-size:100%;"> right...</span></span></div><div><span style=" ;font-family:arial;font-size:100%;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Well over 20 years ago it was pointed out by climate scientists that the increase in global temperature would mean that the moisture in the air due to </span>evaporation would become far greater, and this would lead to increased storms of far greater intensity. Scientists also said that the increase in global temperature would be far greater at the poles and that the melting of the ice caps would mean that the Gulf Stream / Atlantic Conveyor which relies on sea water salinity would become diluted by the fresh water from the melting ice. This, they said, would cause not only a lowering in temperature of that which keeps Europe's coastal areas warm, (Edinburgh is on the same line of latitude as Moscow and Madrid on the same line of latitude as New York) but also cause the Jet Stream to wobble and move.</span></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;">So, <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/features/18679686">HERE</a> are some of the recent weather problems the US has.</span></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;">And <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/features/18679686">HERE</a> are some of the recent problems the UK has regarding the Jet Stream.</span></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;"><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/features/18424107">HERE</a> are some of the weather problems Taiwan has.</span></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;">And <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/features/18397611">HERE</a> are the weather problems India has.</span></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;">I could so easily go on... but you get the picture I am sure. </span></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;">So then; the scientists were right, the proof is now with us... sadly.... </span></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;"> <span style="font-size:100%;"> </span></span></div><div><span style=" ;font-family:arial;font-size:100%;"> </span></div><div><div style=" font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-family:Georgia, serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></div><div style=" font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-family:Georgia, serif;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6741946524740642424.post-71902312010228963772012-05-06T10:28:00.001-07:002012-05-18T03:39:01.433-07:00FRACKING FACTS! – IS FRACKING COMING TO A PLACE NEAR YOU?<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/phCibwj396I?rel=0" width="420"></iframe><br />
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The US has now turned its fortunes around and become energy rich. In only a few short years the United States has become the world’s largest producer of natural gas; shale gas, produced by a process known as Fracking. In 2000, shale gas accounted for just 1 percent of U.S. natural gas supply. By 2011, it was 25 percent, and by 2030 it could be 50 percent or more. But this production has been bought, due to Fracking, at an environmental price that many in that country find utterly unacceptable.<br />
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Fracking, or to give it the full name, Hydraulic Fracturing, is the process of extracting natural gas from shale rock layers deep within the earth.
The controversial technique used to extract shale gas, has been widely used in the USA and been linked to contamination of water supplies, increased air pollution and small earthquakes. Whereas conventional drilling entails drilling straight down into a pocket of oil or gas, Fracking is a highly industrialised and lengthy process that drills down more than a mile into the earth, and then drills horizontally into the shale rock layer that holds the gas. Imagine the shale rock as being a deep underground layer of the planet that, like a sponge, holds gas between the spaces, with the drillings as an underground spider’s web radiating from the centre.
These drillings then have their walls coated with a cement mixture, and, when set; these miles of walls have holes blown though the cement walls.<br />
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The Fracking Fluid, a chemical, water and sand mixture, is blasted into the pipes and out of the underground holes, often at the rate of 4,200 gallons a minute. This hydraulic shock creates millions of fractures throughout the shale rock, freeing free the trapped gas which then flows at high pressure into the casing and up to the surface. Some of the pumped in liquid mixture flows back to the surface with the gas, where it is separated and collected the rest remains underground to seep into the surrounding areas.
The Fracking Fluid is mainly water a special sand and a cocktail of chemicals. The Fracking Companies claim that at a 1% to 2% ratio of the Fluid the 500 chemicals used are a very small proportion of the total, but as 1 to 2 million gallons of Fracking Fluid can be used per well, 1% to 2% will equal 10,000 to 20,000 gallons of many highly dangerous chemicals.<br />
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The problems really begin when the fluid that is not recovered spreads out and, now radioactive from the natural radiation in the shale layer, reaches aquifers in the area and pollute the areas water supply. In addition, due to the removal of the gas from such vast underground areas local ground settlement often occurs, with localised small, but damaging, earthquakes. When earthquakes occurred around the area of a Lancashire Fracking site in the summer of 2011, reports showed that fracking fluid disrupted a previously unknown fault which caused the earthquakes.<br />
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In the UK there are many projected Fracking Sites; one is in West Sussex, some 40 miles away from where I live so I know many facts about it.
It is in Balcombe, in an area close to a railway line and Controversial US drilling company Cuadrilla has planning permission to drill & test Frack, just outside the village of Balcombe in West Sussex, five miles from Haywards Heath, 100 yards from the main London to Brighton railway line and less than a mile from both the reservoir and the river.<br />
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You might assume then that the Local MP and Parish Council would be up in arms against Cuadrilla to protect their voter’s interests, after all that is what they are there for; sadly the facts seem to indicate the exact opposite.
Balcombe MP Francis Maude appointed Lord Browne, a director of Cuadrilla Resource Holdings Ltd, to the Cabinet Office in June 2010. The Cuadrilla executive works closely with the cabinet office board, chaired by Maude, in his role as ‘lead non-executive’. On appointing Browne, Maude said: “his experience will be a real benefit to make Whitehall work in a more businesslike manner”.<br />
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In January Maude visited Balcombe to talk to constituents’ concerned about hydraulic fracturing in the village. Those who attended described the MP as ‘non-committal’. At the meeting, Maude failed to disclose his association with a senior member of the Cuadrilla management team, nor their close working relationship.
Lord Browne joined Cuadrilla four months before his appointment to government. In one of his many roles he acts as Managing Director of Riverstone LLC. In February 2010Riverstone invested 27m in Cuadrilla and Browne and two other Riverstone executives joined the Cuadrilla board. He was instrumental in hiring the current head of UK operations, Mark Miller.<br />
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Please see the US Video above. Those taking part are people that know from their first hand experience the dangers of Fracking. The professionals taking part are easy to check up on and deserve your attention.<br />
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I will leave the last word to Dr Paul Hetzler, a former technician responsible for investigating and managing groundwater contamination at the US Department for Environmental Conservation said: "I'm familiar with the fate and transport of contaminants in fractured media, and let me be clear: hydraulic fracturing as it's practised today will contaminate our aquifers. If you were looking for a way to poison the drinking water supply, you couldn't find a more chillingly effective and thorough method of doing so than with hydraulic fracturing."Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6741946524740642424.post-37046221115326547772012-04-19T11:58:00.001-07:002012-04-19T12:00:46.992-07:00Just watch this and wonder...... if the world will wake up before it is too late...<br /><iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/pMNMvaBC4_U?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6741946524740642424.post-8990368968790957402012-03-24T10:36:00.015-07:002012-03-24T11:45:36.456-07:00A conversation with God about Global Warming!<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/hVTA1xAdyag" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br />Hi God, yes me again and yes, I have a problem. It’s the same one as I have been talking to you about for the last 25 years, but it is now getting very serious. I know you are concerned about it as well but I am getting very frustrated about the way people are ignoring the problems of the weather.<br /><br />It’s March here in East Sussex... OK, it’s March everywhere else that uses the Gregorian Calendar, I know that, but what I mean is that it’s March and we are about to have a hosepipe ban, yes, a hosepipe ban in the South East of England in a few weeks time. The reservoirs here are as low as they were in the August drought of 1976 when the weather, like me, was really hot. I no longer am hot but the weather certainly is.<br /><br />The farmers are getting worried; in parts of the SE they are not even planting fields as they can’t see the point when there isn’t going to be the water available for them. Rivers are drying up as are natural springs and the fish; insects and birds that rely on them are dying off. <br /><br />I tried to explain the situation to someone who after listening looked at me as though I was speaking Swahili; they seemed totally incapable of taking in the problem. Then they said that the good thing with the hot weather was that we could now have really productive vineyards in the area. I did try to get the point across that the water shortage problem was not just ours but a French and Spanish water shortage as well but I got the impression that while (as they say) the lights were on there was nobody at home.<br /><br />Crop production will be low this year in Europe, but the problems with the weather are not just here but world-wide. There are <a href="http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22280">floods in Thailand</a>, <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/australia/9162193/Flash-floods-hit-Australias-Sunshine-Coast.html">floods in Australia</a>, <a href="http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/10/russian-heat-climate-change/">heat waves in Russia</a>, <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-17308913">drought in Africa</a>, <a href="http://minnesota.publicradio.org/collections/special/columns/updraft/archive/2011/09/usa_2011_most_catastrophic_wea_1.shtml">catastrophic weather events in the US</a> and a <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/22/texas-drought-2011_n_1371907.html">massive drought in Texas</a>, and so it goes on.<br /><br />The Church seems almost oblivious to the problem although there are <a href="http://www.operationnoah.org/ash-wednesday-declaration">a few of us that have been working hard </a>to wake those that claim to be your Son's body on earth, and give Him our love please when you see him next.<br /><br />Sorry to sound down but I feel rather down when I see the ice caps melting, the sea levels rising, the <a href="http://www.spiritofmaat.com/announce/ann_dryice.htm">Gulf Stream problem</a> and as for the <a href="http://www.met.reading.ac.uk/~swr01tjw/pubs/win10-winds.pdf">Jet Stream</a>, the future is particularly uncertain for Europe, as our climate is strongly influenced by the jet stream.<br /><br />So what now? My wife and I have cut down our carbon footprint and live in a well insulated small home and grow lots of our own food because it was obvious to us that Global warming and <a href="http://www.oildecline.com/">Peak Oil</a> were facts, so we are actually sort of OK, but what about the children of the future? It's them I worry about. <br /><br />I remember only too well the world of fifty years ago and today's environmental disasters would have seemed like total science fiction to us then. What will the world be like in fifty years time if humanity does not wake up until it's too late? that's what concerns me, but that's what your giving us free will is all about isn't it? <br /><br />Anyway, that's enough from me, I will keep trying to make a difference I promise, there are times when I think that enough is enough, then you send a sunrise through the mist over the field like there was this morning and I know I can't give up; but you knew that anyway, didn't you... ...Unknownnoreply@blogger.com7