AN ADDITIONAL ‘R’

My ideas have often been challenged and my actions inspired by the words and deeds of my fellow Bloggers. Kati who gardens in Alaska, yes that is correct, Alaska. No daylight in mid-winter and no darkness in mid-summer and the temperatures are just as extreme. Barefoot, who has a turn of phrase that I would dearly love to possess. Regarding the energy crisis she wrote “Now, I am not going to sit and tell you all that we are in for an apocalypse. I am not going to say that someday we will just wake up to find that the lights won't go on no matter how many times we flip the switch or that the gas stations will all just close down overnight. There are other folks who say that better than I". [I have my doubts there barefoot.]

Becoming Me, a talented author who has struggled against and is triumphing over health problems, and there is Mrs.Green and Mrs.Average, both whom make my efforts seem inadequate. I could keep going on and you can see my favourite blog sites on the left, but recently I visited one blog, Russell's, and found a simple statement that stopped me in my tracks.

When I have been asked “do you practice the five R’s” I have usually (far too smugly) replied “no I practice the *five* R’s, not just reduce, recycle & reuse but also, repair and refuse”, e.g. refuse excess packaging, plastic bags etc. But Russell has added one more ‘R’, R for ‘Respect’.

Respect for the person that made the item and respect for the quality of an item. I personally cannot respect something made under sweatshop conditions or a cheaply made item. I have far more respect for a Fair Trade T shirt than one from a Third World country that I suspect was made by child labour and also far more respect for a 100 year old handmade spade that is still giving good service than I have for a Chinese manufactured stainless steel item.

In a way one only needs the one ‘R’ as it sums up all the other five and, on reflection, shows why I decided to clear 'my' lane, see my previous post. Those that discarded their 'rubbish' (they had actually purchased it) had absolutely zero respect for it or for the creation of our local environment.

Driving down the lane I thought "not even Solomon in all his splendour was dressed like one of these". Then I noticed the plastic bags!

They were in the hedges that ran along the beautiful country lane to where we live and as the lane is only just over a mile long, a turning off a major road, I thought that I should do a litter pick along its length; so donning my best red T shirt, (well, second best, my best has Buggs Bunny on the front) I started, and you can see the result in the photo, 21 lbs of rubbish!

Approx 5 miles away there are a KFC and McDonald's drive through, and the most popular type of litter was, in order from the main road, (but you are an intelligent person and you've guessed the answer already, I can see that from here) food wrappings and trays from those two, followed by drinks containers from the same places, followed by cigarette packets. So it would seem that those responsible for the majority of roadside litter in our area are fast food drive through clients that smoke!

There were other items though. One Wellington boot, a half of a wash hand basin, one shoe, and a few bottles filled with liquid, some soiled paper (no idea what the contents of the last two were, but I had a fairly good idea...) various items of clothing and the plastic bags that started the mission off. I did intend to sort the items for recycling but the stench was so disgusting that I regret to say it all went to landfill. I have told myself that it is better of there than where it was, but wouldn’t it be great if it wasn’t ‘where it was’ in the first place?

Insulation is always a good idea as is turning the heat down...

I regret you can't breathe the air, drink the water, grow your food, and I'm sorry you have cancer, but I really wanted a bigger house and a new SUV

The above is a line from a Canadian Newspaper, 'The Times Colonist' and it is the message the writer suggests we leave for our grandchildren. The article documents the environmental disaster that Canada faces. It details the collapse of the Cod Fisheries, the dying forests and toxic waste areas created by the Oil sands projects.

The author describes the wealth of today as being 'dirty money', in that it has been created by crimes against nature, which in my book means crimes against creation which equates to crimes against God. Please read the full article HERE it makes sobering reading...

It is not, of course, only Canada where this type of event occurs, the destruction of our childrens', children's future is everywhere.

"Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted."

The heading is a quote from John 6:12, and the full passage is taken from the report of the Feeding of the Five Thousand which reads “When they had all had enough to eat, He said to His disciples, "Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted." So what’s that got to do with the image on this post?

All those Kiwi fruit that you see in the image, 520 in all, have to be trashed; they can’t even be given away due to EU (European Union) regulations! They are perfectly wholesome but they are too small… yes, approx 1mm in diameter too small…

Grown in Chile, transported in refrigerated conditions half way round the world, and dumped into landfill in the UK, “The inspector's decision is consistent with RPA's commitment to protect consumers” said the man who enforced the decision, “Let nothing be wasted” He said.

Still can't believe it? ... see the BBC report here.

LIES HYPOCRISY AND SPIN

On a previous posting I mentioned that in the US, at last, the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) had reported on the effects of Greenhouse Gasses under the orders of The US Supreme Court.

The report has at finally been emailed to the White House, but since the Bush administration did not want to accept the EPA conclusion that greenhouse gases are pollutants that need controlling, they have ordered that the email should not be opened! Meanwhile the EPA has been pressured to dilute the report, eliminate parts of it and resubmit it... Hard to believe...(?) just see here then.

Now, if you are living in the UK and think that this lack of principle could never happen here, I am sorry, but think again. In the UK, in 2007, the High Court ruled that the Government’s plans to build a new generation of nuclear power stations were “unlawful” and the way it consulted with the public over the decision was “misleading, seriously flawed, manifestly inadequate and procedurally unfair”. So naturally the plans are going ahead, so what are the facts?

Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s great friend, advisor and supporter is the UK Treasury Minister MP Ed Balls. Ed Balls is married to MP Yvette Cooper, who, as Minister of Housing was responsible for the new planning laws that will speed up major projects, like nuclear power stations. Yvette Cooper’s Father is Tony Cooper, who, until recently, was the chairman of the Nuclear Industry Association, which lobbies Ministers on the benefits of atomic power. He is now director of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority and has become one of the most outspoken champions of the industry's 'green' credentials."

Gordon Brown’s brother is Andrew Brown, who was director of media strategy of the PR and UK government nuclear lobbying company Weber Shandwick. Weber Shandwick has a long history of involvement with the atomic industry, a former UK chief executive Philip Dewhurst, is corporate affairs director for British Nuclear Fuels Ltd (BNFL). Andrew Brown no longer works for Weber Shandwick but is now Head of Media relations at EDF Energy, one of the largest energy companies in the UK, employing over 12,000 people. It is one of over 70 subsidiaries of the EDF Group, which has over 40 million customers worldwide, is the world’s largest nuclear operator and is pushing for a nuclear rebuild programme in the UK.

All a coincidence naturally... now what does Proverbs say? "He whose walk is blameless is kept safe, but he whose ways are perverse will suddenly fall". (28:18)

PURCHASING POWER – IT’S YOUR ABILITY TO CHANGE THE WORLD!

To supply us with a wide range of cheap food, clothing and footwear, slavery exists on a massive scale, most of it economically legitimised by western governments. We still have slavery, which is a business built on the blood, sweat, and tears of other human beings, all we have done though is to move it out of sight of the masses. Free trade and lack of just regulations between borders encourage such atrocities, and these are often fuelled by the mindless shopping spree know as ‘retail therapy’.

In order for the members of the Western World to continue with their current lifestyle the fact is that the poor are needed to produce goods at a price the Western World is easily able to afford because if we got rid of slavery in all its forms Western society would seemingly ‘degrade’ for the masses. Yet this is the area where hypocrisy reigns, because those in the Western World that buy this cheap food and these cheap goods would not work in, or let their wives, husband’s sons or daughters work in industries that pay 50p a day picking crops or making high street clothing. The fact is though that millions are forced to work for a similar wage.
We must take responsibility ourselves. Every time we buy the cheapest goods we can find we may well be contributing to continuing slavery. Find out where things are made and how they are made. Don't keep passing the buck. It won't get rid of all slavery but it will help and you won't be blindly supporting it. We must never oppress others in order to eat cheaply and look good.

For the full story of the above image, please left click and read the full story here thank you.

WE WENT TO WAR FOR OIL, 9-11 WAS THE EXCUSE

In a past address address, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld called suggestions that the US is really after Iraq's oil "utter nonsense. We don't take our forces and go around the world and try to take other people's real estate or other people's resources, their oil. That's just not what the United States does," he said. "We never have, and we never will. That's not how democracies behave."

BAGHDAD — Four Western oil companies are in the final stages of negotiations this month on contracts that will return them to Iraq after losing their oil concession to nationalization as Saddam Hussein rose to power. Exxon Mobil, Shell, Total and BP — the original partners in the Iraq Petroleum Company — along with Chevron and a number of smaller oil companies, are in talks with Iraq’s Oil Ministry for no-bid (?) contracts to service Iraq’s largest fields, according to ministry officials, oil company officials and an American diplomat. The deals, expected to be announced on June 30th, will lay the foundation for the first commercial work for the major companies in Iraq since the American invasion, and open a new and potentially lucrative country for their operations.

The no-bid contracts are unusual for the industry to say the very least, and the offers prevailed over others by more than 40 companies, including companies in Russia, China and India. There was suspicion among many in the Arab world and among parts of the American public that the United States had gone to war in Iraq precisely to secure the oil wealth these contracts seek to extract. The Bush administration has said that the war was necessary to combat terrorism. It is not clear what role the United States played in awarding the contracts, but there are still American advisers to Iraq’s Oil Ministry.

Iraq is now our oil colony... Well, are you going to be supporting a war because the price of fuel is getting ever higher? Is the price of cheaper fuel worth the blood of our sons and daughters? God, save us from the hypocrisy and lies of our 'leaders'.