The Homesteader

HOMESTEADER merging with GREEN (LIVING) REVIEW

2009-06-12T20:51:00.001Z

Greetings all...

This shall, more than likely, be the last entry in the HOMESTEADER Journal here on this place.

As the editor of this publication I would just like to use this opportunity to announce that the HOMESTEADER is merging with the GREEN (LIVING) REVIEW (which also incorporates the ETHICAL LIVING REVIEW), and will therefore now be found on http://greenreview.blogspot.com/

This move and incorporation is due to at least two points:

The first one being the fact that it would appear that we do not really have all that many visitors here on the HOMESTEADER site and hence it is better to merge with the sister site.

The second part is that many of the articles for the HOMESTEADER are equally suited for the GREEN (LIVING) RREVIEW and vice-versa and it therefore might be better to, in fact, have everything run on the one site.

Hence, from now on the HOMESTEADER shall be an incorporated part of the GREEN (LIVING) REVIEW under the plain & simple living label.

M Smith
Editor
<>

Put a stop to buying chemical cleaning products

2009-04-14T18:51:00.001Z

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

Instead of buying and using chemical cleaning products use vinegar instead.

Often it is said that you should use white vinegar for this only but the truth is that all vinegar, including the brewed malt vinegar, the brown one, that is common in Britain. White spirit vinegar, too, can be used.

Vinegar is great for cleaning floors, windows, mirrors, and laundry. It whitens, disinfects, freshens and softens all colors of laundry, and the smell goes away when dry. It reduces the cost of buying expensive cleaners as well as reducing your carbon footprint.

If you had an oven pan that has food burned into it, whether of glass, ceramic or metal, or food burned into a frying pan or skillet then pour on a little vinegar, of whatever kind, over the burned residues, leave it to sit for a while, and all you have to do then is to wipe off the burned in residue. In most cases no scouring will be required.

I have been using vinegar – about a 1/2 a shot glass full – with every bowl of dishes that I wash by hand and this saves washing-up liquid and also time. The dishes go sparkling onto the drying rack and they dry off in no time.

When wiping down counter surfaces in the kitchen I use hot water with some washing-up liquid and a good full to two shot glasses of vinegar in the water. That way the surfaces are cleaned and disinfected at the same time.

Vinegar is also a great cleaner for other things. Soak a rag with a little vinegar and use it to wipe off the sap residue on the blades of secateurs (pruning shears) and loppers. This can also be used for axes, pruning saws, etc. Plant sap and tree resin can cause corrosion to a blade and therefore the manufacturers of quality secateurs recommend the use of removal agent called, I believe, Sap Ex. Why, however, use a chemical compound when nature has given one to us already in the for of ascetic acid, aka vinegar. After wiping a blade clean this way apply some lubricant as a blade protector; some salvaged olive oil or other cooking oil will do nicely.

How to obtain salvaged cooking oil (no, this is not used cooking oil): Every bottle of oil always have a small residue left in it that you cannot get out without tipping it upside down for a while. I turn bottles upside down into a small glass jar and over time quite a lot of oil thus accumulates. This is use for oiling wooden handles, blades and such.

There are a lot more uses for vinegar and, as I said, even though people always seem to stress the “white wine vinegar” it does not have to be.

Here in the UK we rarely even get that sort of vinegar and the common one is Malt vinegar. At Sainsbury's a Basics version of this can be obtained for less than 20pence pint bottle. What a great price for a ever so useful product.

Vinegar also is great in first aid use as a disinfectant wipe, for instance, and, as said, for a variety of other uses.

© 2009
<>

Make Your Own Laundry Detergent

2009-04-07T18:19:00.000Z

Make your own laundry detergent, and enjoy clean clothes for less.

You will need:

Borax
Washing Soda
Fels Naptha Soap

To make your own laundry detergent mix together two parts Borax, two parts Washing Soda and one part grated Fels-Naptha soap. You can make as much or as little as you'd like, therefore I have not given any amounts here.

Use up to three level tablespoons per wash load of this homemade laundry detergent.

The rest store in a lidded container, well out of the reach of children and pets.

Be sure to label your detergent container, so others will know what's inside. Include a list of the ingredients as an added safety measure.

Zote, Ivory or castile soap can be used in place of Fels-Naptha.

Michael Smith (Veshengro), 2009
<>

Mini Grow Bed from Lakeland – Product Review

2009-04-06T16:56:00.001Z

Review by Michael Smith

Garland Mini Grow Bed
Lakeland Ref: 51193 Price: 22.91 GBP,
Lakeland Garden Catalog page 21

Stuck with a small garden but still want to grow an abundance of crops, or perhaps the soil in your area is poor and the seedlings always struggle?

Watch those plants wake up when you put them to bed, a Mini Grow Bed that is. The Garland Mini Grow Bed gives plants such as carrots, potatoes and onions the best start in life as the soil within the bed warms more quickly, giving earlier crops. The black surrounds also, I should think, contribute to this warming process.

The enclosed growing area protects, to some extent, against disease, pests and weeds, whilst offering excellent drainage and protection against soil erosion. However, the pesky birds and the slugs and snails will still try to do their best to get at your crops, no matter what. So you will have to think of protection such as netting and what have not. There Lakeland can help too, but that is a different story.

And not only will your vegetables be happier in a raised bet such as the Mini Grow Bed; the raised growing surface also makes it easier for you, giving easier access tot he plants and less bending for your back.

The Garland Mini Grow Beds are made from 100% recycled polypropylene and the bed is simple to assemble, requiring no tools.

Read more on Green (Living) Review

Patio Planters from Lakeland – Product Review

2009-04-06T16:52:00.001Z

Review by Michael Smith

Haxnicks Patio Planters
Lakeland Ref: 50948 (3 Vegetable Planters)
Price: 14.95 GBP

Those planters are another product from Lakeland's new dedicated Garden Catalog that caught my attention when going through it after I received my press copy for review/preview.

You don't need a garden to “grow your own”...

Especially for small spaces, this collection of durable polyethylene sacks allows you to have your own vegetable plot on a patio, in a yard, or right next to the back door. Easy to manage and to maintain, they are great way to introduce children to growing vegetables too. And they might actually eat those vegetables if they have raised them themselves. With drainage holes at the bottom to avoid waterlogging, they have carry handles and can be reused year after year.

Those planters are, as I had guessed, and described thus in my review of the Garden Catalog, similar to the so-called builders' bags, being from about the same type of material. The only difference is that the material is not as heavy and it is also, in contrast to the builders' bags, additionally coated.

I have used builders' bags in my garden for container planting already and found them to work very well. The only drawback with the builders' one, despite the fact that they can ge had by the ton for free from building sites, is that they are rather big and once filled with soil can no longer be moved. They also take rather a great amount of compost and soil.

Read more on Green (Living) Review

Grass Edger from Lakeland – Product Review

2009-04-06T12:06:00.001Z

Review by Michael Smith

Grass Edger – Lakeland Ref 50965 – 21.96 GBP

This Grass Edger sold by Lakeland comes as a 2-part tube steel construction that is assembled by means of a bolt with a wing nut. The assembly cause no problems whatsoever as it was all too obvious and the device appears to be quite sturdy.

The circular cutter of the Grass Edger is not over sharp – but is probably intended to be in is way – and the cutter assembly too looks fairly robust as well. Obviously, as will all things, the proof of the pudding, as they say, is in the eating, meaning here that only over a more prolonged use would one be able to gauge how it performs and holds up to the rigors that some may inflict it the tool.

The operation of the Grass Edger is straight forward and it cuts the edge very well, even rather matted grass, as was the case with the overgrown edges at my garden areas, some about a quarter of an inch thick. I know, shame on me for letting it get that way.

Over time, when one gets used to the way that this device works, this tool will be a definite improvement over the speed and accuracy of an ordinary Edging Iron, and even more so as to neatness.

The test that I subjected this Grass Edger to is and was probably rather unfair as it is hardly intended to cut the kind of heavy matted grass, the result of neglect. It must be said though that the tool performed well, even under those circumstances though I am a little concerned that this may have put some undue strain on the tool, strain that it would not encounter under normal conditions.
In all fairness, the edges that I was cutting with this manual Grass Edger for a test would have been a challenge even probably for a motorized cutter of this kind. Thus, I made hard work for the tool and for myself. No problem though, as the Grass Edger performed well throughout.

This Grass Edger from Lakeland is about 10 GBP cheaper than the cheapest similar tool that I have seen in Garden Centers and other garden catalogs, and such.

While the real reliability and sturdiness, as I have said, will only be found in time and use, as far as I can see this is a good tool at a fair price.

© M Smith (Veshengro), 2009
<>

Economic crisis may be worse than Depression

2009-04-05T18:30:00.000Z

by Michael Smith

The global economy may be deteriorating even faster than it did during the Great Depression, Paul Volcker, a top adviser to President Barack Obama, said recently.

Volcker noted that industrial production around the world was declining even more rapidly than in the United States, which is itself under severe strain.

"I don't remember any time, maybe even in the Great Depression, when things went down quite so fast, quite so uniformly around the world," Volcker told a luncheon of economists and investors at Columbia University.

But still the likes of the head of the Federal Reserve is trying to con people into believing that the turnround will be with us before the turn of the year. Those with a proper link to reality are all aware that we are in a Depression and that it is NOT going to be over in a few months. We have seen nothing yet.

Given the extent of the damage, financial regulations must be improved and enhanced to prevent future debacles, although policy-makers must be cautious not disrupt things further while the turmoil is ongoing.

Had the old rules of banking been followed, that is to say that a bank would not; nay could not, was not allowed to, lend more that 80% of its deposit base. But what did they do? Yes, the exact opposite and anyone who has ever seen what happens in a financial trading room with dollars being sent to there spot overnight on 10% interest the night or pounds to some other places at 7% interest for the night will understand how quickly things could go wrong. The money that is transferred is only done so virtually and often it does not physically exist with the bank that is sending it either.

Volcker, a former chairman of the Federal Reserve famed for breaking the back of inflation in the early 1980s, mocked the argument that "financial innovation," a code word for risky securities, brought any great benefits to society. For most people, he said, the advent of the ATM machine was more crucial than any asset-backed bond.

"There is little correlation between sophistication of a banking system and productivity growth," he said.

He stressed the importance of preventing financial institutions large enough to pose a threat to the entire system from engaging in risky behavior such as running hedge funds or trading for its own accounts.

I would like to interject here that, maybe, we should curb the activities of such banks by cutting them down to size and making them, once again, more or less local banks, dealing with more or less local activities. Time for a change in economics and tyme for a new way which is not new at all.

The current crisis had its beginning in global imbalances like a lack of savings in the United States, but policy-makers around the world were too reticent to take action until it was too late, Volcker said.

And despite the fact that there was a lack of savings in the USA, and Britain, I would hasten to add, the banks still dealt as if they had all the world having savings in their institutions.

Now that the crisis had erupted, it was important to take decisive actions, including a more effective regulatory structure and some movement toward uniform accounting systems, Volcker said.

He said all financial institutions that are deemed too large to fail should be subject to increased scrutiny, echoing the findings of the Group of 30, a panel of policy-makers and influential economists, which he leads.

One could use a slogan from a movie that was “Houston, we have a problem” for we indeed have a problem. While Houston will not be able to change anything there the fact is that we have a problem and this problem is not simply going to go away.

As I have indicated in a previous article, I believe that it is time that we looked at a new way of doing things; a way that is not that new at all. One of those is the economy itself, then the way we, the people, do things and then also the governments also.

© M Smith (Veshengro), 2009
<>

Low-tech gadgets, tried, tested and true

2009-04-05T18:28:00.000Z

by Micheal Smith

Do we rely too much on high-tech gadgets? The answer is probably a yes.

I have seen this in many instances at home and elsewhere such as in a catering establishment that just had to buy one of those professional catering potato peeling machines. Oh dear! Those things do not peel the potatoes, they seem to glass paper them, and you still have to do some removing of “eyes” and such by hand. The use of this gadget did not last long in that place and it ended up unused and unloved in a store. They reverted back to peeling potatoes by hand with a small vegetable paring knife or a vegetable peeler. This worked and much faster too.

The same is certainly true for so many other gadgets, whether for the kitchen or elsewhere.

My favorite peeve, I know, is the Palm PDA I once had and that caused me no end of grief with crashing and losing data, which led me to revert to pen and paper again, and I have written about that before.

My pen and paper note taking system I find much more reliable and I find retyping something a lot easier and faster than having to reedit something on screen. Also, I could, theoretically, though not that I envisage this happening, have an MBT, that is a main battle tank to the uninitiated, run over the notebooks without me incurring any data loss.

Maybe it is a sign that I am getting old or that I was born in the wrong age but I find myself increasingly appreciative of the simple, dependable little gadgets of life.

A little like the amount of billions spent by NASA to develop a ball pen that could write in space – enter the Fisher Space Pen, aka the Bullet Pen; a pen that could write in low or zero gravity conditions. The then Soviet Union, on the other hand, spending zero on a writing instrument capable of working in zero gravity as it did not even need to be invented, it had existed all along: it is called a pencil.

Sure I would not want to give up my computers – I need them for doing my writing - or my cell phones, but low-tech, no-tech, no-battery and no-plug items are frequently less hassle than "improved" stuff.

The previous mentioned Palm PDA was an example in point here for not only was the product unreliable, the customer service was nonexistent.

Another favorite of mine as far as low-tech gadgets are concerned are the pinch-type (wooden) clothespins. I have put the “wooden” in brackets as they no longer always are wooden but still do a great job even if plastic.

Not only do they hold clothes on the wash line, they also fasten plant row-covering to supports in the garden and pinch shut cereal and snack-food bags to keep the contents fresh. Clipped over a metal clothes hanger, they provide handy drying above the wood stove for the endless damp gloves of winter.

My all-time favorite clothespins, on the other hand, but then I am prejudiced for my People used to make them, are the split peg ones that used to be maybe by Gypsies, the People of which I stem. I have seen some that were made carved and tinned some 100 years ago and which still will perform as well today as they did then.

There are indeed some modern gadgets out there that can be very useful and handy, but most are probably more beneficial to the sellers than they will ever be to the buyers, especially if they need constant outfitting with new batteries.

Just another of the joys of no-tech or low-tech gadgets.

© M Smith (Veshengro), 2009
<>

Are the powers that be afraid of the Blogger?

2009-03-22T17:04:00.000Z

You bet your life that they are

by Michael Smith

While, at least in say the USA, Canada, Britain and other such countries they try to pretend that they are not, and also pretend that they actually welcome the activities of the citizen journalist and Blogger, the truth is that they, that is the powers that be, are running scared.

The same is true with regards to the established media, the likes of what once was Fleet Street, though thy no longer “live” there, and its “professional” journalists. Hence also the fact that Bloggers are not, as yet, welcome to join the NUJ and the IUJ.

While many – by now nigh on all, in fact – newspapers and other media outlets have an online presence, often with Blogs, they still are in no way happy with Bloggers who run their own online publications.

Though it may be true that there are even some good commercial outfits out there that are just online and who have come, basically, out of the field of Blogging, and the Blogging community, such as Grist and especially the Huffington Post, most in the media are still stuck in the old way.. This, by the way, also goes for many of the PR companies, though not those that I deal with most of the time.

Italy recently, basically, went as far as, at least some judges did, declaring that all Italian operated Blogs and all Italian Bloggers as illegal, as under an obscure law from just after WWII only government licensed media are permitted.

So far the government of Italy has not taken any steps, as yet, but we hear a lot of clamoring from the EU and its member states about the need to police and regulate the activities of online social media and networks. This, to me, is proof enough that the powers that be are running rather scared of Bloggers.

Where is this going to lead?

We, who are Bloggers, who are citizen journalists, or freelance journalists running Blogs, and out readers too and especially must stand up against this blatant attempt of censorship.

Support the Net Freedom Foundation and in any other way possible stand up for a free Internet and for the freedom to run your own publications, whether online or in print.

Blogs are the greatest “upset” tot he established media and the establishment and are a revolution much like the invention of the Gutenberg printing press with the movable type in 1448.

In the same way that the Gutenberg press liberated Europe from the Dark Ages, basically, so does the Internet and Blogs and citizen journalists liberate the world, yet again. Problem, as far as the powers that be are concerned is that the Internet and Blogs and all the other ways of publishing and printing from home via PC is, upsetting the status quo and there control over the media.

The printing press provided a powerful demonstration of how new communications systems, when leveraged socially, can topple once unassailable empires of received truth. And this is where the “problem”, so to speak, lies as far as the powers that be and Blogs and Bloggers and citizen journalists per se are concerned.

Blogging, especially as a means to informing and of bringing forth discussion and such, as well as other social online media, it would appear, are seen by the powers that be as something that threatens them as just those very empires of “truths”, with the established media, in the main owned by members pf one very influential lobbying group, in the forefront of those that are running scared and that is why the governments, some overt some covert, try to curb the activities of Blogger and Blogs.

I mean we cannot possible allow to have people who think and analyze events and while doing so come to a different conclusion than the established media and then report such thoughts and analysis to a wide audience on the Web. This just cannot be allowed now, can it?

© M Smith (Veshengro), 2009
<>

Getting divorced from the TV

2009-03-13T17:29:00.001Z

by Michael Smith

What would you miss?

In Britain the first thing you would miss is paying the nigh on $200 annual license fee without which the viewing of television is a felony.

In addition to that you would miss all the garbage programs.

I have gotten divorced from the TV some ten or more years ago and have not really missed the one-eyed monster god in the corner at all.

Now, with BBC's iPlayer, for instance, we all have the chance to watch some of the interesting – and also, alas, the not so interesting – programs for a week or more afterwards and I must say that I do that at times now.

On the other hand seeing what is on in most cases on the box it is definitely a case of not missing anything.

In general terrestrial television in Britain is a waste of time and, so I have been told by many of my contacts in the USA, for instance, the same appears to be true in America.

While in the USA there is no license fee payable in order to watch TV the programs appear to be equally bas if not worse and therefore I doubt that anyone would seriously miss television, especially not if one can watch some stuff online; interesting stuff I mean.

What you will gain, on the other hand, by divorcing yourself from the TV is a great amount of time that you can spend with and on other much more beneficial things, and even if that be only reading books.

Personally I do not think that I could even fit the TV into my life anymore for I am way too busy with all the things that I am doing as with writing and such, and from what I have heard from others who have gone the same road of divorce from the TV they have made the same experiences.

In addition to that for those that have a family you will find that you suddenly have time for family quality time, time to do things with your children, time to spend with the other half and such.

While, at first, the kids will moan and groan about not having a TV and also think that they are being deprived something that their peers have it should not take too long and they too find that life without the box is so much better and so much more rewarding.

I have heard though of some children's services getting involved in some cases trying to get the parents to have the TV for the children and claiming that it deprives the children, etc. Instances of that have occurred in Europe as well as, as far as I know, the United States.

In Europe where a license fee is required in most countries for the watching of TV and even the listening to radio broadcasts it will take some time to persuade the authorities before they will believe that you do not, in fact, have a TV and use it without a license. It took somewhere in the region of 5 years before the British TV Licensing Authority stopped sending me letters saying that I had to have a license and that they'd we coming around to check as to whether I had a TV. They finally believed though they never actually came to check, but I still get the occasional letter claiming that, in case I now had a TV I would have to get a license and they say they'd be coming to check. Oh well! They are welcome. Not that they will be permitted to come in unless they have a warrant and a police officer with them.

Despite those little inconveniences I think it is more than worth it having gotten rid off that one-eyed god in the corner that demanded worship. Not only am I saving those two hundred bucks, I am not wasting time either; time that could be used in a much m ore productive way.

© M Smith (Veshengro), March 2009
<>

A New Economic Path

2009-03-13T17:27:00.000Z

by Michael Smith

It is time, methinks, that we looked as our economic system again in a new light. Capitalism, as we know it, has broken down, yet again, and yes, I am well aware that the communist system, as it was used, and I stress “as it was used”, does not work either.

However, the way things have failed, yet again, with the capitalist system, due to the greed of bankers, and G-d knows the greed of other businesses too, that system too cannot be seen as one that benefits the people. In fact, as we can see, it benefits only a select few. And when those screw up they get rewarded for it, basically, by being bailed out by the taxpayer, whether it be banks or the automotive industry.

In addition to that the entire system of government as we know it, whether in Britain or the USA, must be overhauled too. Democracy is not a government of the people by the people and neither is the constitutional republic thing of the USA one that is one.

Also, the way Britain, for instance, is going, as well as the USA to some degree, and some EU member states, we are heading headlong into a police state. In Britain this has arrived already with all the CCTV cameras, the searches for knives and such at so many places, the proposed scatter radar scanners for weapons to be embedded in street furniture and all that. It is a shame though that the British people are so very happy to let this all happen. Or they are just so apathetic that they do not care. Then again, it could be that they feel powerless to do anything about it and, in fact, I think we are basically powerless and it does not matter who we elect into office.

But, let us look at the economy first, for I am beginning to digress:

As far as I can see we must find new ways of doing business and we might not go too wrong if, to some extent, we would go back to the ways of old, including barter.

Banking and credit definitely seems to be the biggest problem of us all and while industry and commerce may have to have a means of obtaining credit in one way or another the ordinary mortals like you and me should looks back to the old ways.

What are those old ways? Well, they are cash and savings. In other words, if you have not got the money to buy what you may want to buy then you cannot buy it and you don't. You save up to get the money to buy this item.

We also must come to the understanding that we have affluenza – many of us – and that we misinterpret and -understand what our needs are and our wants.

Someone with a car that is say 2 years old and working fine does not need a new car while he may want a new one and that is the same for someone whose computer is working perfectly well and is doing all that he needs to do when he thinks he needs a new PC. That is when wants gets misinterpreted as needs.

In truth our needs are not complicated and also not expensive. But people mistake, as I have said, wants with needs. When they, and obviously their offspring, say that they “need” this or that in most cases this is a “want” and not a “need”.

Aside from that we must look at economics in a different way. Maybe, somehow, along the lines of what Fritz Schumacher used to write about, that is to say “economics as if people mattered”.

The state of economics that we have presently but which appears to be breaking apart is no0t one where people seem top matter., The only thing that appears to matter to those that own the businesses and the banks is profit and yet more profit for themselves, their directors and their shareholders. The workers and the people in general do not matter to most of those in the least. There are a few exceptions, or there used to be, for many of them have gone into ownership of multinationals, such as Rowntree and Cadburys, who once had great social systems in place for their workforce.

I believe that we must look at the system of economics and trade completely afresh and find new ways of doing business on a more people-orientated scale. I am sure that this can be done for it used to be done in years gone by.

In some places we are already seeing, for some years and decades even, a different local system of trade and even currency, and even though in some countries this is being frowned upon by the powers that be as, in some countries it is against the law – theoretically – to print own money and to mint coins, it is a system that should be encouraged rather than discouraged. The problem I see here though is that the powers that be do not like such local currencies and barter trade systems because they cannot get any taxes from such sales and transactions. The problem is the states, the governments, as they are. They cannot abide the idea that people could trade without the state getting its share, however unfair this share may be. If no currency of the realm changes hands but just a barter currency or barter trade in general the state has noway of getting the revenue it so desires and that is why any economic activity other that “proper” sales are discouraged and even deemed illegal.

If we want to be able to survive as people and nations in this downturn and especially afterwards and live lives that are more fulfilling then we must first of all change the system of economics under which we work and trade. This must then be followed by the system of government; a system where the people really run the show and not just an elite that has been, supposedly, representatively elected by the people.

Economics must be brought back down to scale and go local again and banking must be changed as well and especially.
We can no longer – not that we really ever could – have banks that lend far above their deposit base. This is unsustainable and not just in the long run.

As far as the economy and economics are concerned in general we must get away from the global market issue and look back to locally produced goods, products and services. On such a scale the exploitation that is happening in the present system of the economy will then be greatly reduced, and I mean here there exploitation of workers in the same way as the exploitation of resources.

As I have said in a previous article about plastics recycling I cannot understand how it can be sustainable for the recyclables to be shipped to China for processing in to plastics base again, then to have goods made from the material there and then have the stuff shipped back to us in Europe, America or Australia. This just does not compute. And it especially does not compute when one knows that there are plastics recycling companies in the UK, for instance, who reprocess the recyclables here, and then make that plastic resultant from the recyclables into new goods that sell at not much more or in fact no more than the goods that come from China. So, someone make the calculations. Once again the reason for carting the stuff to China and then the reprocessed goods back to us is greed for the profit margins are so much better when this all happens in China, obviously.

Greed – corporate greed – is what got us into this problem in the first place and it is not the first time either and still we allow it to go on and on that way.

To some degree one can but hope that economic downturn and the looming depression might be a wake up call for all of us and we may, hopefully, learn that there is and must be another way to do things; a way that is sustainable. This way will have and must have a “repair” mentality again rather than a “chuck it” mentality. However, obsolescence is built into most things that we buy nowadays. Nothing is made too last and most things simply cannot be repaired. It is either too expensive to do so and it is cheaper to actually buy new or one simply, even a technician, cannot get at the insides of the product to carry out a repair.

Mind you, the mentality of people must change first as well for we know of bicycles and other things being thrown out into the trash simply because of a puncture in care of the bikes or a broken plug in case of some electrical goods. Though this might just change in the current climate and especially if this is not over by the end of 2009, say, as predicted by the chief of the Federal Reserve.

Most eminent economists are beginning to talk the “d” rather then the “r” word, that is to say they are coming round to understanding and stating that we are in a recession heading for a depression or that we are indeed already in the latter. Therefore, this could last for quite some time and people might just then come ro0und to understand that we cannot carry on the way we have been doing, and repairing things and the demand for things to be repairable might then happen.

But, we then will have a problem also for, where are the cobblers, the radio and TV repair men and women, the chair menders, the bicycle mechanics, and all those other skilled people that can fix all those things. In most cases they are no longer around. Their businesses folded years ago when we used to buy new each and every time instead of having a pair of shoes resoled, a bike mended, or what-have-you.

Many things, however, can be fixed by someone with a little handyman or -woman experience and a few tools. A bicycle does not have to go to the tip because of a puncture or a chain that has come off but we have see just this happening in this country not so long ago at the municipal garbage dumps. A Hi-Fi system that has a plug ripped off only needs a new plug fitted at the end of the lead but, alas, many people just throw such an item and buy new rather than put a new plug on or have one fitted by someone if they do not have the skills to do it themselves. Getting an electrician to fit a plug may cost a few bucks – if one cannot do it oneself – but it is a lot less than buying a new appliance.

While, with the current economic problems and the looming depression we have the mother of an opportunity for change here I doubt that it will happen unless we all, as people, can get the powers that be to understand from where we are coming and what we want.

The situation that we are in economically and financially could also be of benefit to the environment and to the creation of “green” jobs by the ton. But will this happen and will this opportunity be used for the benefit of us all? Or is it going to be “business as usual”? Much as regards to the outcome, I think, is down too us, to each and every one of us. Let's use this opportunity wisely and not waste it.

© M Smith (Veshengro), March 2009
<>

Improvised self-defense tools for the security operative

2009-03-09T20:04:00.001Z

by Michael Smith

Innocuous looking and originally inoffensive tools are here becoming defensive tools for the operative.

This is a DIY article as to how to make your own defensive tools without needing much outlay and especially under conditions where going to a specialist store would not be possible.

I do not mean that the article is DIY but we are talking here about DIY in regards to making your own defensive weaponry, such as kubotans and other such from stuff that could be regarded as trash even.

I am sure that the experienced field operative and protection operative will have his own ideas once I have been able to stimulate the thoughts here with this little piece.

The Defense Pen

This is either a real pen, but one that, ideally, is not needed for the purpose of writing, or a specially made or machined device, so to speak, that, to all intents and purposes, it looks like a pen when carried. In fact, the truth is that an ordinary pen can be used for this purpose as well.

However, I prefer to have a separate defense pen for the task. There are, in some places, such defense pens available to purchase but there are a number of ways that one can be improvised for use by the operative by employing simple DIY and it makes a nice project to wile away some spare time, if you happen to have some.

The Defense Stick

Now this is NOT a baton of a large scale but more like a homemade kubotan, the little martial arts too that can also be bought, obviously.

I found an ideal improvisation and that is the use of the musical percussion sticks that are used in music teaching at schools. They can be bought for a couple of bucks as a pair and only one of them is needed to make into the “defense stick”. In fact, you don't have to do anything to it; it is ready as it comes. You will need to know, however, as to how to use such a defensive tool effectively.

The defense stick can be employed somewhat like a kubotan but, in my view, is probably more versatile still in its uses and deployment.

Defense sticks can be bought, factory made, from metal but it does not have to be, as it is not difficult to make one from the aforesaid musical percussion sticks. So why fork out quite a sum of money if you can “improvise” it for far less?

The other thing with such tools that might be referred to by some as weapons is that they doe not look anything like it and hence are not picked up too easily by those that are not in the know.

The defense stick, obviously, could also be made from a piece of branch wood from this or that hardwood tree and either turned or hand carved into what one may want it to be like. This is not a difficult operation either and it is also cheaper even though the percussion sticks are only a few Euro.

The Kubotan

This little device was – so rumor has it – invented and devised by an instructor for the Japanese police and has found its way into many martial arts disciplines by now. While, originally, the kubotan – at least nowadays – is of hardwood or metal even it should be most easy to make one from some length of bamboo and, as far as I know the qualities of bamboo, it would surpass both hardwood and metal. Made from bamboo will also make it undetectable. That, I know, is also true for the wooden kubotan but... not everyone can use a turner's lathe.

On the other hand bamboo is, in my opinion at least, a material that is stronger than wood and less prone to breakage in use than some woods might be. Also, bamboo has what could be called natural grooves that do away with the need for turning anyway.

Blackjack or Slapper

This too is a tool that can be made by the operative himself and with a little skill in working leather it can look quite nice too.

The ideal way of making such a tool is using a spring, a fishing weight of the right kind, whether lead or bismuth, and some leather in which to case the contraption.

My suggestion would be to “screw” the pear-shaped lead (or bismuth) weight into the spring that I mentioned (a gate spring will do nicely) and then “wrap” the thing in two bits of leather.

Once sewn up it is trimmed to shape, the edges of the leather cleaned up, sanded and then sealed with leather oil.

A nice, simple and effective defensive tool that costs little to make but would cost well over $20+ to buy, as far as I have seen.

The list above is, obviously, in no way exhaustive and I am sure that many a reader would be able to add to this. All I am trying to do here is provide you with some food for thought.

© M Smith (Veshengro), 2009
<>

Reuses for Errant Mittens

2009-03-08T20:08:00.000Z

by Michael Smith

I do not think that there is any winter that is going by here where I do not see an orphan mitten or glove lying in the snow or mud, or otherwise lost, in the parks or countryside. And, as I hate anything going to waste I tend to collect those.

I also have rather a collection of orphaned socks of different sizes and many woolly hats. What people lose is amazing at times and how anyone can lose a hat on a cold day beats me every time. But, eh, I am not complaining.

But back to the gloves in hand, so to speak...

There have been times when the gloves that have been found have been a pair even and those were of the Thinsulate brand as well... nice one, thanks. But most mittens and gloves are orphans, missing their mate.

In some instances I have made up a pair, especially for the rough outdoors stuff, from those single orphans but it does not always work and especially not with mittens that are child or even baby sized ones.

Here are some suggestions for mitten reuse. Some of these suggestions here will only work with mittens that are your size while others, such as the drawstring bag idea work also with child and baby mitts.

Drawstring Mitten Bag
You can create a drawstring bag from a mitten and use it to store marbles or drawstrings. Thread a piece of nylon cord through the mitten's cuff. If the mitten is lined, you should be able to use the lining as a drawstring channel. Otherwise you may have to build a channel. Such a drawstring mitten is also great as a money bag or purse, primarily for coins.

N.B. For more information check out a tutorial somewhere online or in books on making a drawstring bags.

You don't, necessarily, have to put a drawstring into the mitten. I have made a purse from a small child's mitten by using an elastic cord of the kind that is found in windcheater fleeces nowadays and a locking toggle. Works great.

Ice Scraper Mitten
Get a drill, a punch or an awl and a nylon cord. Drill a hole in the bottom of your ice scraper. Thread the cord through. Attach the cord to the mitten. The scraper is now attached to the mitten. You will never find yourself without a mitten when you need one.

Mitten Duster
Use that mitten as a duster. It's reusable and washable and it fits conveniently on your hand. It's not so hard to clean corners any more.

iPod Pouch
Especially the child mittens lend themselves, much like small socks that also can be found in abundance in local parks, to the use for and making of iPod pouches.

USB Sock
Well, small mittens work for that as well as small socks and their use is a lot cheaper than buying a so-called USB sock. Mind you, most USB drives nowadays are so small that they might get a little lost in such a bag, but whatever... they are kept clean and well this way.

As far as I am concerned orphaned mittens like orphaned socks can have many uses and I am sure there will be many more uses turning up in the end and many a reader will have his or her own ideas and – hopefully – suggestions which they, so I hope, will share with us.

© M Smith (Veshengro), 2009
<>

Lords issue warning regarding the 'surveillance state'

2009-03-08T20:03:00.001Z

by Michael Smith

Electronic surveillance and collection of personal data are "pervasive" in British society and threaten to undermine democracy, Members of the House of Lords have warned. And rightly so, one can but hasten to add.

The proliferation of CCTV cameras and the growth of the DNA database were two examples of threats to privacy, so the Lords constitution committee said.

Those subject to unlawful surveillance should be compensated while the policy of DNA retention should be rethought.

Too many times local authorities also have been making use of RIPA, the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000, which was never intended to be used in the way that so many councils are employing it, such as spying on people as to what rubbish is put out when incorrectly and by who, and such like.

The government said CCTV and DNA were "essential crime fighting tools", but this has, in fact, been disproved by senior police officers who have stated not so long ago that CCTV is useless in most cases. So why the continuation of the lie to the people.

The only answer here can and must be that the government of the UK is hellbent on “people control” and nothing else.

'Orwellian'

Surveillance and data collection, so the Lords' committee says, must be proportionate.
What, however, is proportionate in this instance and who decides this and who monitors this on behalf of the people?

Civil liberties campaigners have warned about the risks of a "surveillance society" in which the state acquires ever-greater powers to track people's movements and retain personal data.

Controversial government plans for a database to store details of people's phone calls and e-mails were put on hold late last year after they were branded "Orwellian".

Ministers are currently consulting on the plan, which would involve the details but not the content of calls and internet traffic being logged, saying it is essential to fighting terrorism.

While we are being told that this database will not contain the details of phone calls and emails who is to say that this is going to be thus and, yet again, who, on behalf of the people is going to monitor this.

None of these methods will aid in the fight against crime nor in the fight against terrorism. Only one things will: proper policing; one that is NOT target driven but one that uses the old-fashioned ways of investigations of officers with common sense and a nose for spotting things that are wrong.

In its report, the Lords constitution committee said growth in surveillance by both the state and the private sector risked threatening people's right to privacy, which it said was "an essential pre-requisite to the exercise of individual freedom".

The public were often unaware of the scale of personal information held and exchanged by public bodies, it said.

He only reason I can see for all those intrusive measures is that the governments are, in fact, frightened of the people and of the power the people have nowadays with the Internet. For the very same reason that they, in Italy, are trying to outlaw the citizen journalist, the Blogger and Blogs.

Instead of alienating the people by such measures the governments should empower the people to take part in the enforcement of the laws that there are and to be the eyes and ears as far as crime and terrorism is concerned and empower the people also the properly, as individuals, to hold the police to account when they do not deal with crime in the proper way.

Target-driven policing is leaving people frustrated and worse. You cannot tell a crime victim that they must book an appointment with an officer to take a statement or too tell Park Rangers when there are hoodlums rampaging through a park, threatening people, that local officers will be made aware and will attend to take a statement in a couple of days.

The reason for such replies is the target culture and the wish to appear to solve everything to which officers are being dispatched. So, if you don't send a response vehicle then that is not logged as such an incident and hence the possible lack of a result in an investigation does not reflect (badly) in the league tables. This is what it is all about and, as far as the government is concerned, “people control”

here is so much misuse of the powers under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000, for instance, that it is hardly surprising that people, and especially organizations that try to protect the civil liberties in the UK, are getting concerned.

Orwell was right only a little too early in the date.

There are and estimated 4,000,000 (in words: four million) CCTV cameras in the UK and often they are used by local councils to simply spy on people over issues such as littering and such like.

The Conservatives said the government's approach to personal privacy was "reckless".

"Ministers have sanctioned a massive increase in surveillance over the last decade, at great cost to the taxpayer, without properly assessing either its effectiveness or taking adequate steps to protect the privacy of perfectly innocent people," said shadow justice secretary Dominic Grieve.

The government and the police, as said previously, are alienating rather than making friends out of the public but then they do not seem to care. They rather see anyone and everyone as a criminal and terrorist until proven otherwise. It used to be “innocent until proven guilty” but that was a long time ago.

When the “Miranda” warning in the UK was changed from “you have the right to remain silent but anything you may say will be taken down and given in evidence” to “you have the right to remain silent but it may harm your defense if you do not mention when questioned something you later rely on in court”, the goalpost was moved and it became a “guilty until proven innocent”. In the same way as anyone carrying a knife may be considered automatically to carry it will ill intentions, for instance. A knife is a tool and not a weapon, primarily, and while there are people who carry a knife as a weapon the emphasis should still be, also with children and young people in the possession of a knife, that there is another purpose there for that knife than as a weapon of offense or defense. Guilty until proven innocent, and in the knife instance often it simply is guilty, whether guilty or not. You do not solve crime that way.

© M Smith (Veshengro), 2009
<>

Secateurs used as wire cutters

2009-03-02T19:09:00.002Z

by Michael Smith

Time and again I see this and cringe. People, whether pruning roses or people pruning vines, they need to cut some wire, often just tying wire but at times also some slightly stronger ones, resort to the pair of secateurs that they are using rather than going and getting the proper tool. Using the hardened cutting blade of a pair of secateurs to cut wire not just dulls the blade; it can, in fact, cause nicks to be broken out of the blade and with that the blade be ruined irreparably.

Now there is no more need to worry and do that for all secateurs in the Ergo range from Bahco have a special aperture at the heel of the blade which, in fact, is a wire cutter. Very clever, methinks. Only shame that until my recent visit to the Garden Press Event 2009 at the RHS Halls in London's Westminster I, and more than likely many readers neither, did not know about this. I have reviewed two of the secateurs in that range last year after the Garden Press Event and even though this aperture was already part of those pruners then no one mentioned this and this was also not included in any of the press material.

As far as I am concerned, this is a feature that should be mentioned for now one no longer has to feel guilty when using one's secateurs with which to cut some tying wire or such, as long as one uses the right part of the blade and, obviously, one of the Ergo range of Bahco's pruning shears (secateurs) that have this facility built in.

While Bahco secateurs (pruning shears) of the Ergo range certainly are not cheap, they are the only ones that allow for the need to cut, say, tying wire without damaging the blades. Nice one.

© M Smith (Veshengro), March 2009
<>

Managing your woodlot

2009-02-26T19:53:00.001Z

by Michael Smith

In this current climate in Europe with the demand for firewood being at an all-time high anyone who has the slightest idea how to manage the woodlots on his property can make quite some money.

Many people in Britain and also elsewhere do have their own little or even not so little woodlots on their property but have no idea as to how to mange it for their own benefit and also for profit, as far as firewood and such are concerned.

In addition to that there are farms that have quite a bit of woodland, even to such an extent that those plots of woodland are being used for shooting and such like. Very often, however, the tress are left to their own devices, so to speak, and no real management is being undertaken.

The same, in a way, is true for wooded parks, municipal or otherwise, where trees that have fallen are, unless the pose a danger, left where they have fallen to just rot away.

In other cases, where trees are cut in countryside management and municipal and public parks the trees are often cut into lengths and then left as “habitat piles” laying about higgldy-piggledy piled up. This is lazy forestry practice in fact despite the claims that it is “for the wildlife”.

In years gone by when people has Estovers rights and such like and even when it was no longer used in such ways woods and forests – including parks – did not have any of such debris left laying about and neither were logs left, and still wildlife thrives. More at times, it would seem, that today with the “habitat piles”.

Many forestry authorities are now advising against such “habitat piles” and that for more than one reason. The main reason being that those higgledy-piggledy left piles cause diseases to spread amongst the trees and therefore the advice is no to build proper “habitat piles” where the logs are sunk into the ground some way. That, however, requires time and effort.

The other reason is that trees left to rot in the woods and forests are a CO2 hazard, do to speak, for int heir decaying process the wood that is left to rot releases the CO2 that it has absorbed during its growing process. Fart better, therefore, to use the wood, even if it is just for firewood. The release of CO2 if the same but the heating with wood is carbon-neutral.

Also to be considered is that during he decaying process of the wood left laying about not only CO2 is set free but also a much more dangerous greenhouse gas, namely methane. This does not occur when the wood is burned.

So, instead of leaving the wood to die out there in the bush it is time to bring it in and turn it into an income, even if it be just a small one, whether for a farm or a municipal and public park or those that manage the countryside areas.

With the current demand for firewood for homes and – it could soon be – power stations we cannot afford to leave wood too rot out there.

If the right methods be applied some of the country's heating needs and those of power stations could be met by that wood which no one wants for anything else or which has no other market.

The issue of the Dutch Elm Disease in Britain could also be solved – to a great extent if not entirely – by removing all dead and dying elm trees and burning the wood in homes or better still power stations. The reason I recommend power stations here is because the wood then is not going to sit on someone's porch or in someone's yard at home for the beetle to mature and swarm and infect further trees with the pathogen that the, inadvertently, carry about.

Within less than a generation, if done correctly, the Dutch Elm Disease could, I am convinced, be overcome, if the above be employed. Other diseases too could be dealt with in this way, e.g. felling the diseased trees and burning the wood.

This is a case of killing two birds with one stone: removing – hopefully – the disease and providing carbon-neutral energy.

From the woodland owner's side this, obviously, does require some more work than just leaving things to fall and then in situ as they are. It requires the active cutting and bringing in of the wood and then preparing and selling it. The reward, however, could and should be grater here than the outlay, in finances and time.

It can be done because it used to be done. We have but become lazy in our management of woods over the years as, to some extent, the market for firewood was not there and the demand was rather low, and also as we were told in woodland management by certain people with little knowledge who thought that they knew it all to leave the wood as “habitat piles”. This, however, has caused more problems than that it did good; something that anyone with just half and ounce of brain could and should have seen coming.

If you leave diseased wood out there to rot down then you will spread the disease to other trees. This is so obvious but those misguided environmentalists who thought that they knew it all did not care about the trees and the possible income from those; all they cared about was invertebrates and such like needing a place to be.

What did they think those creatures did before when all woods and forests were managed properly, including for firewood and very little debris was lost? They lived quite well on the forest floor without human interference of giving them piles of wood to chew.

We cannot afford this practice, and in fact never could, for it caused disease to spread. Today, however, we can afford this even less for it is not beneficial for anyone, not at least the environment, that we import firewood from as far field as Poland to satisfy the need in Britain, especially as we here waste such wood.

It is most urgent that we manage our own woodlots, whether on farms or elsewhere, in such a way that they benefit us all.

The use of firewood is, as I have said before, carbon neutral as the wood only releases the amount of carbon that it accumulated during its growth. The same carbon is also released while the wood is a “habitat pile”. So not all that good for the environment, is it now.

Much better, therefore, to burn the wood and to have carbon neutral energy rather that to waste it by letting it rot in the woods.

Managing woodlots for firewood, especially if only dealing with dying and fallen timber, is not rocket science and the market is out there, at least presently, for firewood, and if we keep on at the right people the market may even get bigger as time goes by, especially when everyone realizes the facts about carbon neutrality of firewood.

This does only, though, really work, as to locally harvested firewood and not too that that has been imported from nearly as far afield as Russia. That is not a sustainable way to go. Using homegrown wood, on the other hand, is.

While I have been addressing here the British market, the lesson applies also for other countries. I do know that in other countries this seems too be understood far better than in Britain, such as in those of Europe and especially in the USA and Canada, but still there are some people who have little idea of how to get people to buy firewood because some see the smoke as an issue, as far as being “green” is concerned. However, the carbon neutrality of firewood is what should be considered by all of us; the smoke is something that is secondary and negligible, especially as far as untreated natural wood is concerned.

So, let's hear it for local firewood.

© M Smith (Veshengro), February 2009
<>

Bank of England Chief says Britain in deep recession

2009-02-24T18:50:00.001Z

by Michael Smith

In a statement on Wednesday, February 11, 2009, Mervin King, the head of the Bank of England, said that Britain is in a deep recession but, it would appear, that like the politicians as well, he is not willing to accept the fact that it is a D and not a R; in other words, it is not just a recession, it is a depression. The governor might do well to have another look at the letters of the alphabet; depression is spelled with a “D” and in this case an uppercase one too.

Mervin King said further that the economy is going into the minus range, as if people hadn't realized that as yet. The only one that does not seem to be able to realize this and willing to accept it are the Labor regime of the UK and the state bank.

The Governor of the Bank of England also stated that other measures will have to employed, other than interest cuts, as the interest rate can basically be cut not much further, and are talking about the need to “print money”. This is NOT a good idea, as we have seen in places such as the former Rhodesia.

We need to find a new way and a new style of economy or the way things are for it is no longer going to work the way things are being done.

The present system is “kaput”, as they would say in German; it is broken, and the way I see it it is not fixable either. It if finished and we need to have a look at some new options. Some of those options are not, in fact, that new and are age old and well tested.

The system of buying on credit might be something that must be reconsidered as far as the individual consumer is concerned and either it is cash, check (though nearly no one wants to accept them bits of paper no more because of the costs of processing them) or debit card. In other words, if one does not have the money – saved – in an account or under the mattress – then one cannot buy the thing that one desires. A good was to be, methinks.

The greedy banks got us into this and we must never let them do this again.

© M Smith (Veshengro), February 2009
<>

Is reuse good for the economy?

2009-02-20T18:08:00.000Z

by Michael Smith

The Financial Times has started using the word "austerity" in many of its headlines – and charity shops, the face of the second hand market in Britain, are experiencing a buying boom.
On the other hand a fair – though not so fair in other terms – of retailers, the purveyors of brand new things, have gone bankrupt, in liquidation or receivership, such as Woolworth, MFI and some other well known names.

Does this mean we are saturated with stuff?

The answer to this could be a probably maybe. But the truth, more than likely, is that people, that is all of us, are feeling the squeeze as with the recession and the prices for fuel and everything going up and up.

Do we still need to keep on spending on new things to keep the economy moving?

While the economic whizkids, who got us into this mess in the first place or who simply were so blind that they could not see it coming, and especially the powers that be, tell us to go and shop till we drop, basically, to help those ailing capitalist economies of ours, the truth is that we cannot do so. First off the environment must be considered for if we don't it does not matter what we do; we may no longer have a habitable planet. Secondly there is no money there and no credit to be had – not that one should work on the credit thing anyway – so how do the powers that be think that people can go out and spend, spend, spend.

Is designed obsolescence soon to be obsolete? Or should we keep on refreshing our material possessions to keep the economy moving?

In other words, the question is, "Is reuse good for the economy?"

I know that the government of this country – and, so it wold appear, also of other countries – is trying to create stimulus for us to keep on spending, and spending and spending; spending our way out of the recession, so they say. Personally I do not think that that will work.

Alternatively, maybe, just maybe, the economy is so far up the creek that we should consider building an alternative one and slowly migrate over to it.

There is no way, in my opinion, but then again I am no economist, that we can administer CPR to this troubled economy by spending as much as possible. It will not work and, well, do we have the money to do so, and, do we really need more stuff (only to throw other stuff into the garbage then).

Paul Smith of the Furniture Reuse Network (FRN) certainly advocates that reuse is a good thing but you might argue his focus is short-term and on real people rather than on the long-term health of the more abstract economy?

To some degree, methinks, the reason that the economy is in the dire straights that it is in because people and the planet were taken out of the equation by the the bankers and financiers and the big capitalists and especially the multi-nationals. As soon as you do that, that is to say to remove the people and the planet out of the equation as far as economy, and not just the economy, is concerned you head for severe trouble and so we did. Greed was all that fueled the banks and all that seems to have fueled industry and now we reap the whirlwind. But it is the little man an d the environment that suffers and not the fat cats. While we, the taxpayers, have to bail out the banks and certain sectors of industry, those who got everyone into that mess still award themselves fat multi-million pound bonuses and such payments. But I digressed somewhat.

Given that the governments of the world are doing everything they can to get spending going again it would seem that the powers that be certainly do not want reuse as a general practice, despite their “reduce, reuse, recycle” message about waste management, to take place. They want new cars, new houses, new washing machines, plasma screen TVs, MS Vista 09 and every other material (and immaterial thing) that generates jobs to start moving again. I mean, how many more sofas, TVs, etc. do we need. No, your old PC is not obsolete as yet, regardless of what the folks in Redmond try telling you. All you need is an operating system that works with less resources, e.g. lower processor speed, such as Linux.

There is no doubt in my mind that the economy is shrinking – and for everything that is reused that is one less thing that is made from scratch – environment 1 - economy nil. The same applies for re-purposing. But, as said, the powers that be do not seem to want this to happen, in all honesty, despite their pratter.

Artificially encouraging spending with the policy and print runs at the mint is only going to produce artificial demand – which in turn, produces artificial economy. It is the same as the alcoholic having a drink to get rid of the jitters - the junkie shooting up to avoid the come down. The example of Zimbabwe should also be obvious enough.

Grow your own, repair before replace, live lightly. Using and producing less is a global objective, or at least so it should be.

While it might be painful, painful for all of us, I do think that we have to go through this and kick the habit of waste and spend, spend, spend. I say reuse, don't refuse!

To some this may appear to be a stark choice between two paths, but is it really. We all know, at least those of us with some common sense, that business as usual will not be solving the problems we face. On the other hand, massive economic shifts in short periods of time seem to cause significant unrest and violence, do they not?

Then again, the choices here may not be as stark as some may think. Re-use often needs testing,such as in the case of electrical goods, and sometimes repair. These are key skills that allow re-use organizations to train and employ people. There is also a danger that the economic interest are short term. We live on a finite piece of rock with finite resources the longer we can keep items and resources in circulation the longer we will be able to have an economy at all. It is not a choice between the environment and the economy but a choice between short and long term thinking and, most importantly, survival.

Thus, in a reuse economy there are actually just as many jobs and transactions – just different skills and tills. An important thing wold be if we could but remember en mass some of the skills we have lost and then, maybe, get around to relearning some of those – all important, in my view anyway – skills and trades.

I would also like to add that I think that it would take us quite a while to use up what there is to reuse at the present time. It would be healthy to reuse as long as possible until we have thought up a way to a durable economy. It would also give the overexploited countries a chance to recenter themselves on their own needs and their own resources without having to hope that they can carry on pampering our so-called 'needs'. It is our own responsibility to live on what we have around us. We also have plenty of great skills and can learn some more too.

Being, as I said before, from a rather large Gypsy family, the reuse issue has always been part of us and that not just because we were a large family. In fact the Gypsy people recycled before the word was even invented. We made things from virtually nothing to sell at fairs, markets and door-to-door, and we reworked “trash” into goods people wanted to buy. Another kind of economy.

© M Smith (Veshengro) February 2009
<>

Fragility of the power grid

2009-02-13T18:22:00.000Z

by Michael Smith

The catastrophic failure of only two electricity generating plants in Britain, including the nuclear power station “Sizewell II”, in May 2008 should really have brought home to all and sundry but at least and especially to those in power that something must be done to protect the people and the country's infrastructure from such an event ever occurring again.

While I do know that there will always be the possibility of a fluke incident, as this may just have been one of, this, however, proves how extremely vulnerable we are in this country – and probably not just in this country alone – due to our highly centralized electricity generating industry.

Also to a degree the fact that most of our utility companies are foreign owned, and one is hard pressed to find one that is still a British one. Even “nPower” whose agents keep claiming that they are a green company and wholly British is foreign owned, namely by RWE of Germany.

The majority of our power stations are huge, not to say, gigantic, and far, far away from where people live and the power is actually consumed.

They, as individual stations, supply millions of households, as well as businesses, hospitals, schools, and so on.

The total failure of already only one of those can cause severe problems and also put a strain then of gigantic proportions onto the national electricity grid. If more than one station goes out then we are getting into serious trouble already and the power will, probably, go out to tens of thousands of homes, businesses and other places and this, obviously, can have rather serious impact on so many things. In some cases such failures can cause loss of life.

Fritz Schumacher in his books “Small is beautiful” suggested the things that we are, I know, finally coming to, namely localized power generating plants and people thought him crazy in those days of the 1960s when everything that was being build in that department had to be ever bigger and hence further away from the actual electricity consumer. And the fact that those stations then supply thousands upon thousands of homes, businesses, offices, and other establishment has then tremendous negative implications in the even of a failure.

Local power generating plants, as once advocated by F Schumacher and others, myself included, are now, finally, being looked at and they also make sense not just in the supply issue and the issue of a failure of the huge power stations.

Locally generated electricity can be of a lower voltage rating than that which is being generated far away and needs to travel a long distance. The power loss over the long distance in the cables is being compensated for by the extreme high voltages with which the electricity is leaving the power stations, in many cases those are 20,000 volts and more.

In order to generate that amount we waste a lot of resources and locally generated electricity would be better for everyone and here we could work on less than 1,000 volts and more than likely even directly at commercial and domestic current.

Both the environmental aspect of small local power plants and the savings in resources are important on the level of protecting the national infrastructure as well as the environment. Thus local CHP facilities, for instance, would kill two birds with one stone and also that many of those could be powered, say, by methane from sewerage plants or from waste wood and thus reduce the impact and also our reliance on oil and gas.

The fact is that those large power stations are not as economical as they once were tauted to be for they do waste a lot of resources in the production of the very high current that is required in order to transport the power over the long distance that it has to travel to its final destination, the end-consumer, to you and me at home, to our offices, factories, schools and hospitals, and everywhere else.

While the UK currently still produces oil and natural gas and is even a seller of same on the world market in the not so distant future Britain will have to become, once again, a net importer of oil and gas and then we are at the mercy of the likes of the Russian Federation and other such states and can be held to ransom over gas and oil supplies.

Smaller power stations, and here ideally local area CHPs, can go a long way towards this country's self-reliance as far as electricity is concerned, especially as other fuels can be employed here, as already indicated.

This would be good, as said, as regards the protection of the environment and the protection of the infrastructure of the nation.

© M Smith (Veshengro), February 2009
<>

Waste Wood

2009-02-13T18:17:00.000Z

Why waste wood at all, it is a valuable resource

by Michael Smith

First we have had a study that costs millions in which the British government discovered – well, so the press release said – that waste wood can be burned; something that the Neanderthals could have told them. Now they are talking of using waste wood, together with food waste, etc. and turning that into a biogas to heat homes and power electricity generating plants.

In Britain, we are told, well over ten million (10,000,000) metric tons of waste wood is chucked into landfills every year.

Now what kind of wood are we talking here? Brushwood and cuttings from agriculture and forestry, or from gardens? No. We are talking milled lumber that has been used in the building industry and elsewhere; shoring timber, joists, and other such that are removed after a building is erected and, because there are nails in the wood here or there and such it cannot, so the building industry says, possibly be reused. Other wood of this nature that is thrown away is wooden pallets and other packaging crates. All, theoretically, reclaimable lumber, ready for many DIY projects of, if need be, as solid fuel for the stove at home.

There used to be a time when pallets, for instance, had a deposit on them and were taken back by the suppliers of the goods delivered on them. No longer. It all goes too waste, and most of it ends up in landfill where it rots down releasing carbon dioxide. This same wood, however, as indicated, would never need to go that route in the first place and neither would it need to be burned (at least not most of it).

Wood, while burning, releases only the amount of carbon dioxide that it has absorbed during its growing process, hence heating with wood is, basically, carbon neutral. It does, however, release the same amount of CO2 into the atmosphere when it is composing in landfill; no more, no less. It is therefore better to burn the wood than to “compost” it or have it decay somewhere but... this “waste” wood would and should never have to be “waste” in the first place.

Many years ago I had a book from the USA, the title and author of which I can no longer recall as some “kind” soul borrowed the book from me and forgot to return it, that dealt with the making of furniture from pallets and wooden packing cases, normally thrown into the trash. This book was one of the few proper books I have ever seen on the subject – it would be good to use those ideas and reclaim pallets for some new use and also other “waste” building lumber. There is, in my opinion, no need for any of this kind of wood to be destroyed in any way. Most of this lumber is too good, in fact, to end up being burned.

Lumber of this kind is far too valuable, in my opinion, a resource to be burned, whether in the stove at home or in power stations., and nor should it ever go to the landfill either. It should be reused in whichever way possible and only those bits that have no further use should then be put to use then for the purpose of generating energy, whether as heat at home or in some furnace to make electricity.

Wood is only “waste” then when it really has no other use and cannot be turned into anything other than a source of heat and there is enough of that kind of wood discarded in woods, forests and parks on an almost daily basis in tree operations, often left as “habitat piles” for the wildlife. This practice, however, is not only a waste of a valuable resource, it is a cause of diseases in woods and it is lazy forest management practice.

However, building lumber and the wood of pallets and packing cases should never be turned in to so-called waste, in the first place, and nor should the thought be given to burning this material. The first thought should be reusing it, and if not for their original purposes, as no one, nowadays takes back old pallets for their original use, then for something else, such as the making of small items of furniture and such like. Only, and only, when all avenues of possible reuse have been exhausted should the thought go to turning this wood into a source for energy; not before.

© M Smith (Veshengro), February 2009
<>

Pandering to Muslim radicals yet again!

2009-02-12T19:37:00.001Z

A sad day for Britain

by Michael Smith

Denying entry to the UK by the Dutch MP is political correctness gone mad and is probably against the European laws that Britain has signed, as well.

Pandering to Muslim radicals is NOT going to help the so-called “war on terror” because by doing what was done again on Thursday, February 12, 2009n at Heathrow Airport on orders of the British Home Secretary is in fact allowing the Islamist terrorists to win.

While Britain seems to be unable rid itself of hate speech Islamic preachers, some of which have been jailed for a variety of reasons, anyone, however, wishing to speak up against the violent Islam – and no, it is not a religion of peace – far from it – are being forbidden to do so an are silenced.

Freedom of Speech, however, in Britain, and that is what the majority of British subjects do not understand, is, in fact not a freedom at all and not a right but a granted privilege, as one Home Secretary has stated in public, and can be removed as and when the regime of the UK will feel like.

Why is it that Muslim radicals can scream hate and murder against Jews – though the Zionist have a lot to answer for that themselves – and Christians but when others speak out against Islam they are not permitted to even if they speak the truth.

You cannot win the “war on terror” by being afraid of what those Muslim radicals will do if they may feel offended by what someone may say about Islam. The Christian faith is not protected in such a way in the UK, though according to the statute book there is a “Blasphemy Law”, which is only relevant to the Christian faith but whatever is thrown towards the Christians nothbing ever happens. It appear to be one law for the Muslims and one for others.

The British government is pandering to the Muslims and this is giving victory to the enemies of that country and the enemies of the West per se.

The score, for the record is, Muslim terrorists ONE, British government NIL. And this is going to get worse the more we pander to radical Islam.

Maybe if members of the government had actually taken a look at the film by the Dutch parliamentarian Geert Wilders and listened to the speeches by those preachers captured on film where Muslims are called upon top take over the USA, Britain, and Europe and turn all those countries into Islamic states with Sharia Law by force they might have understood what is happening rather than listening to the so-called moderate Muslims who may also but be agents of this kind of Islam – who knows.

The radical Muslims that want to turn Britain into an Islamic theocracy with Sharia Law should be told in the same uncertain terms as the former Australian Prime Minister told the Muslims in that country, namely that no one asked them to live here, in a predominately Christian country and if it does not suit them they are free to leave to countries that are governed by Sharia Law. No one is stopping them from doing so. However, while they are in this country and while they have the right to follow their religion – to an extent, and this country has already gone too far in accommodating them – they do not have the right never to be offended.

If they have a problem with Christmas or such like then that is their problem and, as said, they are free to leave. If they wish to advocate a violent overthrow of the countries of the West then I am sure we can find an answer to that and that is to be shot on sight.

Terrorism is not fought by pandering to their followers; it can only be overcome by getting rid of the cancer. The very safety and security of this country and our civilization is at stake.,

The safety and the security of the British Realm was not under threat from Mr. Wilders comin g to the U but by the very acts of stopping him entering the country and allowing him to make his point against Islamo-Fascism.

This kind of world view as espoused by those Muslim hate-mongers in the garb of Mullahs and Imams is nothing but another form of Fascism and as dangerous as was that of Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini and Mosley, or the imperialism of Japan in the 1940s. In those days the countries rose up and fought against the onslaught. Nowadays everyone seems afraid and wants, yet again, appeasement, in the same way as before the Nazis began their real sweep across Europe, which nearly caused the fall of Britain too.

If we do not stand up to the threat and are prepared to combat it with the same resolute spirit that John Howard of Australia portrayed when he told those people where to get off then we will be made to regret that soon when we find ourselves all of a sudden under Islamic rule, by the back door, and before that totally paralyzed by fear of possibly offending the Muslim minority in this country.

No one ever worries about offending the Romani minority, for instance, and all told their might be more people of Romani-Gypsy descent in Britain than there are Muslims. But dare anyone mention anything against Islam and the Koran. Twenty years ago things were different when Salman Rushdie was wrote the “Satanic Verses” and received round the clock protection and all that. Freedom of speech they said then. How things have changed.

As I said before, the safety and security of our society and of each and every one is at stake here and our freedoms.

© M Smith (Veshengro), February 2009
<>

Lords issue warning regarding the 'surveillance state'

2009-02-08T20:42:00.001Z

by Michael Smith

Electronic surveillance and collection of personal data are "pervasive" in British society and threaten to undermine democracy, Members of the House of Lords have warned. And rightly so, one can but hasten to add.

The proliferation of CCTV cameras and the growth of the DNA database were two examples of threats to privacy, so the Lords constitution committee said.

Those subject to unlawful surveillance should be compensated while the policy of DNA retention should be rethought.

Too many times local authorities also have been making use of RIPA, the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000, which was never intended to be used in the way that so many councils are employing it, such as spying on people as to what rubbish is put out when incorrectly and by who, and such like.

The government said CCTV and DNA were "essential crime fighting tools", but this has, in fact, been disproved by senior police officers who have stated not so long ago that CCTV is useless in most cases. So why the continuation of the lie to the people.

The only answer here can and must be that the government of the UK is hellbent on “people control” and nothing else.

'Orwellian'

Surveillance and data collection, so the Lords' committee says, must be proportionate.
What, however, is proportionate in this instance and who decides this and who monitors this on behalf of the people?

Civil liberties campaigners have warned about the risks of a "surveillance society" in which the state acquires ever-greater powers to track people's movements and retain personal data.

Controversial government plans for a database to store details of people's phone calls and e-mails were put on hold late last year after they were branded "Orwellian".

Ministers are currently consulting on the plan, which would involve the details but not the content of calls and internet traffic being logged, saying it is essential to fighting terrorism.

While we are being told that this database will not contain the details of phone calls and emails who is to say that this is going to be thus and, yet again, who, on behalf of the people is going to monitor this.

None of these methods will aid in the fight against crime nor in the fight against terrorism. Only one things will: proper policing; one that is NOT target driven but one that uses the old-fashioned ways of investigations of officers with common sense and a nose for spotting things that are wrong.

In its report, the Lords constitution committee said growth in surveillance by both the state and the private sector risked threatening people's right to privacy, which it said was "an essential pre-requisite to the exercise of individual freedom".

The public were often unaware of the scale of personal information held and exchanged by public bodies, it said.

He only reason I can see for all those intrusive measures is that the governments are, in fact, frightened of the people and of the power the people have nowadays with the Internet. For the very same reason that they, in Italy, are trying to outlaw the citizen journalist, the Blogger and Blogs.

Instead of alienating the people by such measures the governments should empower the people to take part in the enforcement of the laws that there are and to be the eyes and ears as far as crime and terrorism is concerned and empower the people also the properly, as individuals, to hold the police to account when they do not deal with crime in the proper way.

Target-driven policing is leaving people frustrated and worse. You cannot tell a crime victim that they must book an appointment with an officer to take a statement or too tell Park Rangers when there are hoodlums rampaging through a park, threatening people, that local officers will be made aware and will attend to take a statement in a couple of days.

The reason for such replies is the target culture and the wish to appear to solve everything to which officers are being dispatched. So, if you don't send a response vehicle then that is not logged as such an incident and hence the possible lack of a result in an investigation does not reflect (badly) in the league tables. This is what it is all about and, as far as the government is concerned, “people control”

here is so much misuse of the powers under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000, for instance, that it is hardly surprising that people, and especially organizations that try to protect the civil liberties in the UK, are getting concerned.

Orwell was right only a little too early in the date.

There are and estimated 4,000,000 (in words: four million) CCTV cameras in the UK and often they are used by local councils to simply spy on people over issues such as littering and such like.

The Conservatives said the government's approach to personal privacy was "reckless".

"Ministers have sanctioned a massive increase in surveillance over the last decade, at great cost to the taxpayer, without properly assessing either its effectiveness or taking adequate steps to protect the privacy of perfectly innocent people," said shadow justice secretary Dominic Grieve.

The government and the police, as said previously, are alienating rather than making friends out of the public but then they do not seem to care. They rather see anyone and everyone as a criminal and terrorist until proven otherwise. It used to be “innocent until proven guilty” but that was a long time ago.

When the “Miranda” warning in the UK was changed from “you have the right to remain silent but anything you may say will be taken down and given in evidence” to “you have the right to remain silent but it may harm your defense if you do not mention when questioned something you later rely on in court”, the goalpost was moved and it became a “guilty until proven innocent”. In the same way as anyone carrying a knife may be considered automatically to carry it will ill intentions, for instance. A knife is a tool and not a weapon, primarily, and while there are people who carry a knife as a weapon the emphasis should still be, also with children and young people in the possession of a knife, that there is another purpose there for that knife than as a weapon of offense or defense. Guilty until proven innocent, and in the knife instance often it simply if guilty, whether guilty or not. You do not solve crime that way.

© M Smith (Veshengro), February 2009
<>

Independence from gas and oil imports

2009-02-06T18:57:00.001Z

by Michael Smith

As we have spoken about in the article as to Russia and its gas the western developed nations – the UK, the EU, etc., must become – largely – independent from foreign gas and oil to safeguard our countries' infrastructure.

This can, I think, be done but it will require a new way of thinking and especially the political will to do so. For starters we must get away from gas for heating and cooking and electricity generation, at least too a large extent.

The biggest problem is the political will. The latter always seems to be missing, it seem, for it is the large petrochemical companies that seem to hold sway somewhere and somehow in all the developed nations and it is very much also that governments are worried about the revenue they lose from the taxes on the oil and gas if a switch would be made.

In Britain, and other countries, it would appear that the people themselves are beginning to vote with their feet ;as far as heating is concerned for sure.

Presently those that can, it would appear, in the British Isles are rediscovering the wood-burning stove, at least for heating. The cook stoves that can use wood, nowadays, are mostly of the expensive AGA and Rayburn – now one and the same company anyway – which are well out of the financial reach of most ordinary people, and are also far too heavy for the floors of many homes.

The demand for wood for burning in stoves and fireplaces in Britain int his current financial, economic crisis and that of gas supply from the Russian Federation, way outstrips supplies and, as we have learned, wood sellers go to great length, even to the countries of Eastern Europe, in order to bring in wood. This also now pushed the price of firewood up a tremendous level.

Other means of independence from oil and natural gas and petroleum-based gas are available and also possible, but again as far as the nations are concerned at a government level, local and central, the political will is missing again.

There is, aside from the use of wood for heating homes, also the possibility to use timber, and here especially the waste lumber from the building industry to run power stations and combined heat & power plants (CHPs).

Then there is the possibility to use waste incineration as a source for to run CHP facilities though I am well aware of the fact how often that idea runs foul of the NIMBYs and also – strangely enough – the likes of Friends of the Earth, who will come out ranting and waving arms that we must recycle all rubbish and not burn it. Shame that they have not understood that there will always be some rubbish left over that cannot be recycled and it would be, in my opinion, much better to burn that and use it to power the nation rather than to tip it into holes in the ground, the latter of which we are running out of rapidly anyway.

Gas from waste is another way and means and then there is the humble methane gas that is released from landfills and from sewerage works. That too could be used for heating and cooking but, ideally, for the running of electricity generating plants.

I say the latter simply because methane gas happens to be a bit on the explosive side and even though it is used in many countries on farms and homesteads for heating and cooking it might not be the best idea to pipe it through towns and cities and have it used by people who might just be a little careless.

We must not forget that the first electricity power stations were not run on oil of the petroleum kind but on methane gas in fact. Mind you, the same is true for the first motorcars of the Ford “Tin Lizzy” variety. It was not until gasoline became cheaply available that the car was changed.

But back to the subject in hand, namely that of national independence from imported oil and gas.

We can no longer afford the luxury of oil and gas being brought in from far away, especially not from areas over which politics we have no control, whether this be the Russian Federation or the Ukraine or the seaways from the Persian Gulf to the West.

Our countries must look at ways to become if not self-sufficient than some way self-reliant as regards to oil and gas imports.

While I can suggest that we must do this I, as an ordinary writer, cannot, obviously, come up with all the possible suggestions as to how this may be done, but doing it we must.

© M Smith (Veshengro), January 2009
<>

Home fires are burning again

2009-01-31T16:37:00.000Z

With wood stove sales and use up in UK logs having to be imported from as far as Eastern Europe in order to satisfy demand

by Michael Smith

Considering the global recession and, more recently, conflict over natural gas flowing into Europe from Russia, this was probably something that should have been expected.

Sales of wood-burning stoves in the UK, as well as the use of existing wood-burning stoves, have risen recently, which in turn is causing shortages of firewood. This is forcing some suppliers to go so far as Eastern Europe to find good seasoned wood.

In medieval England, peasants were allowed to collect as much deadwood as they wanted from the royal forests - just so long as they could reach it "by hook or by crook". But the rapidly rising number of households now turning back to the forest for fuel, to protect the environment, or to simply make a lifestyle statement are finding a supply chain of this renewable, carbon-neutral fuel far more complex. Others may not try to make a lifestyle statement at all but are returning to wood out of bare necessity as heating fuels had become rather expensive and many rural households reply on heating oil rather than gas for hating home and farm.

Gas supplies have become a little – now this is an understatement – uncertain with Russia every now and again throwing a wobbly and a tantrum and oil seems to be going on a high every few minutes and when the prices do fall again to quite a low, as happened recently, the oil companies are in no hurry whatsoever to pass the reductions on to the consumer.

Sales of wood burning stoves in the UK are up 50% in the last three months of 2008 compared to 2007 and, according to forestry consultant Vince Thurkettle, demand for wood is currently increasing 25-30% a year. This on an island that is a bit more than 10% wooded and produces about 1 million tonnes of firewood a year, according to the Forestry Commission.

This proves, yet again, that we must bring the old coppice woodlands back into production – this has to happen anyway if we do not want the coppice stools to fall apart – for the production of small lumber and especially the production also of firewood. About time too.

This rising demand is causing a shortage of good logs, which combined with prices as high as £95 ($139) per load of wood in the north and west of the Britain is causing some wood sellers to import wood from hundreds of miles away; from inside the UK from countries as far away as Kent, Surrey and Sussex. Those are listed as “favorite hunting grounds” for wood sellers but they even (have to) go as far as Eastern Europe in order to get wood for resale.

So, some people are apparently driving wood, presumably in diesel-powered trucks, across all of Europe, to be burned in wood stoves and fireplaces in Britain.

Is importing logs from the other side, the far side, of Europe really a good idea? Personally I do not think so. And would it really be necessary? It would not if Britain had kept up with the demand that was coming – and it was obvious that it was coming – for wood.

Even though the information officer at the Forestry Commission’s Biomass Energy Centre described the effects on the environment of burning wood, compared to oil or natural gas, as “negligible”, even if that wood has been transported by road or sea, that is really something that I do not buy – as yet – and would have to see the numbers for that first. I have a very hard time believing that trucking in wood from Poland or even further afield to the British Isles to burn for heat makes environmental sense.

The good thing about burning wood for hear though is that it is – theoretically – carbon neutral, in comparison to so-called fossil fuel, which includes the likes of coal, oil and even natural gas, as wood only releases that much carbon as it has taken up during it lifetime as a tree. Nice one there. Just something that some environmentalists have problems understanding because of the fact that wood releases visible smoke and, depending in how well the wood has been seasoned, or not, as the case may be, the smoke can be quite dense.

There are two woods, however, that are best burned unseasoned on a base of other wood that has started the fire and that is beech and birch. Those two initially release a gas when burned in their green state that makes for a very hot fire.

"The dramatic upturn in demand for firewood is fantastic news in many senses because, in theory, we have so much of this resource that it is hard to see it ever running out," Thurkettle says. "Yet after so many years of relying on coal and gas to provide most of our energy needs, we have lost the art of effective woodland management. Until we relearn how to assess, manage, cut, store and burn exclusively local wood, we will continue to squander the potential of our woodlands."

The problem is that he is so very correct with that statement and speaks about just the issue that I keep mentioning as well.

We must get back to proper woodland and forest management, also as regards to firewood, and get away from the wasteful practice of the habitat pile. The habitat does very nicely without them things too, thank you. It has done so in the times of the use of the Estovers rights and will do so still today.

I have seen well managed woodlands where little if any debris was left where there was more wildlife – including invertebrates and fungi – than in many of those places that are full of those habitat piles. On the other hand those places that have clean forest floors have fewer diseased trees, especially as to fungal and pathogen problems.

On the other hand all that wood that is used – misguidedly too often – in habitat piles (while some are a good idea to leave all wood lying about or that purposes causes problems) could find a much better use to heat homes or even power turbines. The wood that is left too rot also releases the came carbon that the one that is being burned releases; so why waste the material and allow it to rot away.

Bringing in firewood from as far afield as Poland and elsewhere should not be necessary and certainly is not a practice that should be encouraged. It should be discouraged, in fact, for this can lead to destruction of woodlands and forests in Poland and other such countries to fill the UK demand.

While it is said to be still better for the environment to burn wood that has been trucked or otherwise shipped to the UK it is not ethically the right thing to do.

Time we got back to proper woodland management and relearned the old skills of how to manage woods and forests, aside from all the other reasons, for firewood. The trees that need to be removed every now and then, and presently, because of the bleeding canker infections of Horse Chestnut and similar diseases in other species of trees, those are quite a few, have to be removed from municipal parks and especially the country parks and such like, should also be entering this “food chain” of firewood instead of being allowed to be left on site to rot away.

If this means training municipal park gardeners, foresters, wardens and rangers in the appropriate chainsaw skills and allocating one or two members of staff to the logging up of any such trees into firewood then so be it. This could be a way for such places to create a little source of income. And while this may not be a very regular income of the same amount year in year out it nevertheless should be something that should be pursued.

Now let's hear it for local firewood.

I rest my case...

© M Smith (Veshengro), January 2009
<>

Lakeland Potato Bag – Product Review

2009-01-31T16:25:00.000Z

Review by Michael Smith

Potato Bag
Lakeland ref. 12377
Price: £5.86 (and it would appear that it might be worth every penny and more in time to come)

As readers will know from an earlier article I received a sample of the Potato Bag together with some “Stay Fresh Longer” bags earlier in January 2009 and I have begun using the Potato Bag in order to test it.

As far as I can ascertain the bags are made of polycotton – a mix of 75% polyester and 25% cotton – in a canvas weave. They are a real nice design and a nice earth brown color. I love earth colors hence my liking for the way those bags look.

I have now had potatoes in this bag, finally, for about more or less fortnight and the fact has to be considered that it was not until a few days later – when I put the taters into the Potato Bag – that I actually removed them from their plastic bag. I know, I really should buy potatoes loose and not pre-packed as that also means that they are washed.

Well, OK, having that out of the way what I am saying is that even after such a treatment they are still as good as the day they came out of the plastic bag and bar one very tiny sprout, or eye, to be precise, that was showing on one potato that I used out of this bags all are firm, including the one with the eye. In my previous “open” box storage in the larger cupboard that I previously used the potatoes would by now have definite shoots and would have started to become soft. So, it definitely appear that the Potato Bag is doing the job it is designed for.

The truth be told, I am impressed in the way it keeps the potatoes fresh and, may I hasten to add, I do not impress easily.

To sum up I would say as far as potatoes and the Potato Bag from Lakeland are concerned the bag is well worth its price just to protect the potatoes from going off too fast and to waste. I love taters and, although there is still really nothing wrong them even if they are a little soft and having sprouts, as far as I understand their nutritional value is diminished then. They also peel so much easier when then they are not full of sprouts and wrinkled.

So, therefore, let's hear it for the Lakeland Potato Bag. (And no, I am not getting paid for this review – chance would be a fine thing).

© M Smith (Veshengro), January 2009
<>

Virus Warning Emails

2009-01-31T16:20:00.001Z

Unsubstantiated rumors that are being passed on

by Michael Smith

Time and again we see the Internet being swamped with people passing around “virus warnings” by email, as well as on the non-tech forums of various kinds, that state that they have had this information from this or that anti-virus software company or that one of their associated got that from there and that this report also is Snopes verified, and then always claiming that, if one clicks on a link in this or that titled email a virus is released that wipes all the contents of the computer.

Those are then headed as “Computer Danger – Please Read!” or other such like and, as mentioned above, make those claims, and claims that the information, as said, came from this or that company and that it is verified on “Snopes”.

Such emails are like the chain letters the the “Bill Gates wants to share his billions with you” and clog us the systems like all spam mail does.

The truth is that while it is very possible indeed to release a virus, Trojan, worm, or other kind of malware by clicking at links in emails, or even simply by opening an email that comes with a payload, the virus that is designed to destroy hard drive contents is hardly ever seen nowadays– in fact there has not been one of those for years now.

The aim of today's virus and malware creators is not to show what they can do by destroying a PC and its contents but their aim is to extract data from personal computers and especially company networks for financial gain, such as passwords, and complete identities.

Thus the malware creator of today is not interested in destroying the contents of your computer; far from it. The primary thing that he is interested in is that his little program can remain on a PC or a network undetected for as long as possible in order too phone home with the information it is programed to gather. It is this information that the writers, or those that the writers sell the virus kit to, are interested to gather to sell on too other criminals to exploit.

The virus writer of old often had only one intention and that was to get his virus noticed, after it had gotten through onto the computer(s), by the program destroying information or holding information captive, as in some cases, and for those that wanted the information back to pay a ransom. This is no longer the case today. Hence anyone talking about viruses being in the wild that are out to destroy your PC are talking a lot of bull dust, as the Australians would say.

Most infections today also no longer – though some people still try – on emails but on “drive by shootings” where the infection is downloaded automatically by simply visiting a website, genuine or spoof.

Even one or two anti-virus software companies' own sites had been injected with malware that would download to computers in such a manner when people visited their, totally legitimate, sites.

So, the adage must remain to “be careful out there” on the Net and to have adequate protection software and, and this is most important, such software that is updated on a daily basis.

Anti-virus software, firewalls and other such programs are a must.

While some people keep on about the need to keep the Windows system always patched with the latest patches from Microsoft I have found that many of those downloads have caused havoc to my system and rather keep ports secure and run all the protection software that I can run (and all of it is free), updated as regularly as possible.

Both BitDefender and ThreatFire, for instance, check for updates at two-hourly intervals, and while this can be annoying as, while such checking and updates are applied the system may run a little sluggish, it ensures that the system is protected.

If one would want to avoid the possibilities, to a 99% chance, of virus and malware attacks to a computer one best run an operating system that is not Microsoft.

I know that people will now look as say “but Apple Mac is too expensive”, to which I say (1) you are right and (2) those that know me will know I am not talking Apple Mac. I am talking Linux and all Linux distributions, whether Ubuntu, Fedora, or whichever, are free to obtain. In the case of Ubuntu the distributor, Canonical Ltd., will even send you a CD free of charge, if you do not wish to download the ISO and burn it yourself.

Yes, Linux does not – as yet – work with every bit of hardware and software but we are getting there, slowly but surely.

In conclusion let me stress once again that while we must be careful on the Net and especially not to open any emails that we are not sure about, if they are downloaded onto the PC via an email client, viruses that destroy your hard drives are nowadays about as rare as gold dust on the streets of London.

© M Smith (Veshengro), January 2009
<>

Children waving white flags were shot by IDF in Gaza

2009-01-30T21:19:00.002Z

by Michael Smith

In one incident, according to information, three young girls we shot and then left to bleed for over two hours by IDF personnel. The shots were fired from the turret of a tank about fifteen meters away from the children coming out by an IDF soldier using a rifle.

Then again, from what we have seen over the years of the actions of many of the IDF soldiers and officers as to when it comes to dealing with Palestinian civilians it can only be said that some of the Wehrmacht may have been better behaved than they are.

Any soldiers that have done those acts should be facing a war crime tribunal in the same way that the likes of the rebel leaders of Rwanda and other areas are sent to face trial. However, as could only have been expected, the leaders of the Zionist entity have said that they will block any attempt to put any of its soldiers on trial for war crimes.

If such actions as shooting children who we visibly unarmed and under a white flag and the use of white phosphorus against the people of Gaza are not war crimes then, I must say, I do not know what is.

No doubt that Israel will also be still finding its backers amongst the right-wing so-called Christians in the USA and obviously amongst most of the Jewish community in the USA and elsewhere, Britain, no doubt, included.

It would appear that there are different international rules for, for instance, the leaders of the Serb forces in Bosnia and for the soldiers of the illegal Zionist state in Palestine. Not that that surprises me and I am sure will not surprise anyone who has watched this entire issue over the years and decades.

The lobby that there is will not allow anything said against Israel and those that are of the Zionist persuasion, even allowing them to claim that no one ever lived in Palestine before they, the Zionist Ashkenazim came to Palestine, and yes, I am referring to comments from Golda Meir. Rather amazing considering that Jews, Arabs and Christians used to live together in peace and as friends for centuries in Palestine until the days when the Zionists began to try to take the country by force.

We have been fielded a lie for decades about how things were in Palestine as regards the Jews that were living there before 1945 and this can be best seen in books like “Blood Brothers” by Fr. Elias Chacour, a Maronite priest from that region, or other accounts. Only when the Zionists were bringing in some of those Jews that survived the Holocaust things were becoming a problem and the likes of the Irgun and Haganah were definitely not helping in friendly relations.

When you take over other people's farms and lands by force and chase them out it is no surprise that you reap a whirlwind. But, I digressed.

The world must make representation that it insists that those members of the IDF that are guilty of war crimes are held responsible for the deeds in an international tribunal. If it was good enough for the likes of Waffen SS men then it is also so for those that behave in the same manner in the modern world. Period!

Time the world stood up against the lobby that is always making itself to out to be the victim in everything. Same as they claim that they are the only one that have a right to the Holocaust and the Gypsies, the Romani People, defile the memory of the Holocaust by “wishing”, as some said, “to be associated with it” and because of this, in the media, Gypsies are always mentioned under the “also ran” as victims of Nazi atrocities. The Romani People were not just victims of the Nazi atrocities but they were victims of the Nazi genocidal racial policies. But no one can be allowed to say that now, can they. The Holocaust must be a uniquely Jewish event. Well, folks, it was not.

Gypsies were the first used as Guinea pigs to test the carbon monoxide trucks, as well as later it was 250 Gypsy children from Czechoslovakia that were to test the Zyklon B gas. But, according to the world, on Jews were persecuted in that way for reasons of race by the Nazis. The truth cannot be told for fear of being called anti-Semitic. However, the truth must be told and someone has to do it and someone has to hold those killers to account as well. Do we have the guts to do so?

© M Smith (Veshengro), January 2009
<>

Director-General of Security Service speaks on recession threat

2009-01-19T19:13:00.000Z

by Michael Smith

Britain faces a new security threat as a result of the global economic crisis, the head of the Security Service, MI5, Jonathan Evans, has warned, in the first ever interview by a director general of the Security Service.

He said the international recession could be a "watershed moment" which will shift the balance of power away from the West and the way things are going he might well be right. If that is the case we are in trouble, on more than one level.

Despite MI5 achieving notable success against al-Qaeda in Britain, Mr Evans warned that with the decline in economic power of the UK, US and Europe, new threats to national security are likely to emerge.

"Where there have been watershed moments, there have often been national security implications from that, a new alignment," he said. "We have to maintain flexibility and respond to threats. The world will not stay the same."

MI5 has scored, so its Chief explained, significant successes against al-Qaeda in Britain in the last two years which was forcing terrorists to "keep their heads down." But he warned that not all potential extremists could be monitored by the security services.

But, scores of British Muslims are still traveling to terror training camps in Afghanistan and Pakistan every year. Others are traveling to lawless areas of Somalia.
We also must not forget that the USA has “lost” a lot of young Somalis. They have all turned up in those lawless areas and are, apparently, going through some kind of training and fighting there.

And apparently the terrorists who launched the Mumbai attacks in November had indirect links to the UK. But what does he mean with “links to the UK?”

In addition to that, he said, the growth in the use of Internet telephone services may pose a "significant detriment to national security" as terrorists can communicate more freely.

Oh dear! The growth in the use of Internet telephone services may pose a "significant detriment to national security" as terrorists can communicate more freely, said the MI5 chief. Do I hear here the encoded call to limit the access of Brits to the likes of Skype?
Yes, Skype. That free Internet telephone service whose calls are end-to-end encrypted and cannot be intercepted very well. So, I guess, beside the new legislation that Internet Service providers in the UK have to have all email to be stored (and I do not believe for one moment that no contents of those emails are going to be held) for a year, they will now try to make the use of Skype illegal or limited or make it illegal for Skype to encrypt calls from UK IPs. You do not stop terrorists and terrorism that way.

But it is the economic turbulence that is gripping the world that is likely to present the security services with their latest challenge, Mr Evans said.

"Our focus in the next few years will be international terrorism, al-Qaeda and its associates, but we are also looking at the global economic crisis," he said at his Whitehall office.

Although Mr Evans declined to go into details, Britain has already experienced a surge in spying by the re-emerging economic powers of Russia and China.

This should be quite obvious to all bu the very blind seeing the recent and not-so-recent cyber attacks by Russia and China against British (and American) assets, which the MI5 chief, however, forgot to mention, it seems.

Countries which face economic and political meltdown, such as Pakistan and Somalia, are also emerging as bases for terrorism. And as global alliances are re-drawn there could also be threats from of state-sponsored terrorism, particularly in the Middle East.

"As the world develops there is a knock-on effect in terms of domestic extremism, global power and the relationship between states," Mr Evans added. "National security tends to be a spin-off issue from wider changes."

He said there was no direct relationship between economic fortunes and extremism but added that it was important to consider what would happen if the "West becomes less economically dominant."

"There is no single path that leads people to violent extremism," he said. "Social, foreign policy, economic and personal factors all lead people to throw their lot in with extremists."

Economic factors do not make people terrorists, at least not in the main. However, the kind of actions of countries with which this country is supposedly befriended and fact the actions that this country are not being condemned by the government of the UK is what breeds terrorists in this country. And yes, I am referring to the current murderous actions of the Zionist state against the Palestinian people.

If Britain wants to stop the growth of homegrown fundamentalism then its government will have to stop sponsoring the likes of regimes like that of the Zionist entity in Palestine and following the United States blindly into any action against anyone who just remotely might be interfering with US interests.

Mr Evans said that MI5 has succeeded in targeting homegrown fundamentalism, securing 86 successful prosecutions in the last two years and he described developments as "very encouraging" but warned "the networks have not gone away."

"There could easily be activities that we are not aware of," he added. "We don't have anything approaching comprehensive coverage."

No, MI5 does not have – as yet – anything approaching a comprehensive coverage but we can be sure that they are working on that. Why else are we headed for a total archiving of emails sent from and to Internet users in Britain.

Does that all make us safer in this country? It certainly does not but then again, it has nothing to do with safety of the people and the country but everything with people control, and control of the subjects of Her Majesty, for there is no such thing as a British citizen, whatever they may claim.

Back to the “Recession Threat”, however.

When it comes to the nation the threat is not from supposed Islamic terrorists or such but from other nations, such as Russia and China. I think we can safely forget about countries such as Pakistan and Somalia in this equation.

However, we must, on no account, not forget our supposed friends either. Someone once said “God defend me from my friends; from my enemies I can defend myself” and this is very true especially as regards to the “friend” across the big pond and also that one next to the big dessert.

Or does anyone really believe that they do not (1) spy on Britain and (2) would not act against our county should they feel threatened, economically or otherwise.

I am sure we remember Benjamin Nethanyahu who was abducted from Britain and then imprisoned in his country. Remember the one who told the world that Israel has nuclear weapons?

It is OK for Israel to have nuclear weapons, WNDs, but when some other Middle-Eastern country wants to develop civilian nuclear programs they are being threatened by both the USA and also Britain. How can this be?

When it comes to this nation's security we should be careful who we go to bed with and what bugs they may carry.

© M Smith (Veshengro), January 2009
<>

Russia, it's gas and the West

2009-01-19T19:01:00.001Z

by Michael Smith

What Russia is doing with regards to the issue over the gas transiting via the Ukraine is too let Western Europe and the West as a whole know that unless we in the West play ball they way Russia wants as regards the former Soviet Republics and such like issues then they may turn off the gas.

This is the second time that this has happened with regards to Russian gas on its way to Western Europe via the gas pipeline that goes through the now independent former Soviet Republic of Ukraine.

I do sincerely doubt, however, that it would be any different would the gas be going a different route, direct to the West through, say, Poland or the still Moscow line following Belarus.

This issue over the gas for heating and industry coming from Russia shows that we are all, all our countries, people and infrastructure, in problems as we can be held to ransom that easily.

Holding the West to ransom over the issue of the gas is exactly what Russia is doing and this will not be the last time that that is going to happen, of that we can be sure.

This is no way to run a railroad and certainly no way to run a country. We must have self-sufficiency, as far as possible at least, in matters of energy, whether this be gas, oil or what-have-you. We cannot be allowed to be held to ransom by then like of the oligarchs and the FSB of Russia nor by others.

The Ukraine, in my opinion, also has a part in this ransom business, though on a different level.

While Russia appears to be using the gas as a lever so that Europe and the West reconsider their ideas of letting the Ukraine into NATO and the EU, the Ukraine is playing the game the other ways around basically saying “you can get your gas if you make us member of NATO and the EU”. This is, at least, how I read both sides and, as far as we all should be concerned we should tell the Ukraine to go to h**l if that is their attitude and at that same time, unfortunately as it may be, give in to the more-or-less unspoken request by the Russian Federation and General Putin to not let the Ukraine join any of those western clubs.

I have to say as well, and I wonder how many other people may just wonder the same, why we, in fact, are even thinking of incorporating the likes of the Ukraine into NATO and eventually also the EU.

The orange revolution, as it is often called, certainly was not democracy the way we see it here, and the leadership of the Ukraine is not as benign as they are made out. However, as in the case of the likes of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, both regimes with difficult human rights records and such, the USA and other NATO allies call them their friends because it is possible to have bases in their countries that are very close to Iran. Oil is a catalyst here, yet again. Black gold. But I digressed.

The West, those that do not have any of that kind of Black Gold, or gas, will nevertheless have to find a way to become independent from the oil fields of the Iran and other such countries in the same way as they have to become independent from the gas fields of Russia and other such locations.

There are ways and means of doing that and there are countries that can show the way in this as well., However, oil (and gas0 still are king when it comes to heating and cooking in the western world and especially the use of the motorcar is a contributing factor.

As it, however, shows again and again, countries that depend on such raw materials from abroad can be held to ransom at the whim of a leader of a country or by other means. Russia is not the only country that has or can have the West of a barrel like this.

Therefore, in order to protect our nations' infrastructure we must look for way of becoming, if not entirely than largely, independent from such sources and imports.

Can Russia be trusted?

The answer is a no and a yes and it depends on the angle from which one views it. Russia, and that is the problem, trusts no one and never ever will. Long story and maybe one for a separate article, methinks.

Our infrastructure needs independence from sources such as Russian gas or oil from the Persian Gulf and such locations.

How to get that done? Let's get our thinking caps on.

© M Smith (Veshengro), January 2009
<>

Cold weather nothing to do with getting the cold

2009-01-15T19:13:00.000Z

by Micheal Smith

We are constantly being told that colds and flus are not caused by the cold weather and/or by getting exposed to cold weather the wrong way but, strangely enough, every winter we get an severe increase in respiratory illnesses, the common cold being one of them.

If the weather then has nothing to do with it how come that those infections seem to increase during the cold periods? I could say now already that I rest my case, but...

Yes, I do know that the common cold, as well as flu and influenza, are all cause by viruses but somewhere along the lines, otherwise I doubt we would have the increases of those diseases and illness always in the cold time of the year, the cold weather must have something to do with it, regardless of what the experts try to make out.

Personally, I do still believe, to a degree, in the old people's advice that the weather can give you a cold. Not as much as that the weather is the actual cause of it but that the fact that it is cold affects the body and allows the viruses to enter easier and also, though science has not said so, it may be the weather that aids the spread of the viruses. Maybe also the fact that we go into the cold, then back into the warm and back into the cold, for instance all could be contributing factors here.

This 2008 winter in Britain we are being told, yet again, in the UK that due to the weather which has been colder than for the last 30 years – well, I am doubting that claim, but – the ambulance emergency services and the hospital are overworked as with all the people that have gotten severe colds and flus. But, obviously, according to the eggheads this could not possibly have anything with the weather. This must be a coincidence even though the health authorities seem to be blaming it on the cold weather.

While viruses are the true cause of those diseases the weather, in my opinion, is a major contributing factor here and hence we must take precautions against the cold and the wet in the winter season.

In addition to that we must make sure that we do not help spreading the infections ourselves if we happen to have the sniffles by being careless and sneezing all over the place and such like. Coughs and sneezes spread diseases was the public service message that would go out every year on the wireless in Britain and was to be seen on posters all over the place and it is certainly true.

So, let's wrap up well and stay dry and keep our germs to ourselves.

© M Smith (Veshengro), December 2008
<>

Bahco Bypass Loppers PG-20-E - Product Review

2009-01-11T19:54:00.001Z

Review by Michael Smith

I must admit that I have had this pair of loppers in question for review now for the best part of a year but it does take a while, I believe, with tools to test them properly. That I have now done.

Bypass loppers of compact design to prune in difficult-to-reach places, available in two sizes. Oval steel tube handles with comfortable plastic grip and shock absorbing plastic buffers for added comfort in use. The smaller cutting head is ideal for pruning ornamental shrubs and rose bushes. Unlike for the professional range of loppers there are no spare parts available for this one.

The PG-20-E bypass loppers which I have had for review is the smaller of the two sizes and has a cutting capacity of a maximum of 30mm. This is, in my view, all academic though and depends on the hardness of the wood. I would not like to try it or any for that matter on dead prunus branches of that diameter, for instance. I have done dead branches of up to about 20mm with those loppers and I found it hard going. Not that the loppers would have broken, maybe. I just found it physically hard and would, in such cases, rather resort to a saw.

Those bypass loppers could be, and I do that at times, for they are very light and handy to carry, referred to as “secateurs on steroids”.

The specifications, so to speak are for the PG-20-E that of a cutting diameter 30 max, with a length of 440mm and a weight 665 grams. As I have said, they are very light.

Now if someone could design a carrying holster for it, of some sort, this would be an ideal too for any Countryside Ranger and such like to take out on a patrol, especially a foot patrol, in order to remove branches and such that may encroach on a footpath, a bridleway, or such.

This is, as all of Bahco's tools, a professional tool at a reasonable price and anyone in their right mind, especially a professional, I should think, would rather invest in quality tools than to buy cheap and find them broken in a few hours or days of use.

© M Smith (Veshengro), January 2009
<>

Security Stepped up After Attack

2009-01-11T19:33:00.000Z

by Michael Smith

Jewish groups said that the invasion of Gaza had provoked a surge in anti-Semitic intimidation and violence in London and Manchester.

And can anyone really be surprised as to this?

While one cannot condone violence against anyone for reasons of race and/or religion and neither against people who are not directly involved in what is going on in Palestine it is, nevertheless, not surprising.

One Jewish charity, the Community Security Trust (CST), said that the threat had increased after comments by Hamas leaders calling for attacks on Jewish people.

The most serious incident in Britain occurred recently when three youths tried to set fire to Brondesbury Park Synagogue in northwest London. Police said that the incident was believed to be a direct result of events in the Middle East.

A police spokesman said that officers were liaising closely with Jewish groups and that “reassurance patrols” had been increased in areas with substantial Jewish populations. In North Manchester, barriers have been placed outside King David High School and entry is being restricted to passholders.

The CST, which was set up to ensure the safety of Jewish people, has reported 20 anti-Semitic incidents in the past week and is understood to be in regular contact with the police.

Jewish leaders and security services across Europe are worried that emotion over the Gaza conflict could cause anti-Semitic acts or attacks. In France, where the anti-terror alert was already at its second-highest level, the police intelligence service stepped up its monitoring of prayer groups frequented by the extremists.

British police said that they were working with Muslims to reassure them that non-violent demonstrations would be facilitated. One Muslim group has written to the Prime Minister warning that the Israeli attacks could drive young Muslims into the hands of extremists.

While it seems totally acceptable for Jews to have such self-defense organizations when the Romany Community even thinks of something like that we are told that that is totally out of the question.

When suggestions were made by Gypsy groups to have their own security teams the reply from those in power was a roaring NO. Another time when it seems that Jews have more rights than other minorities. It's the lobby, I guess.

© M Smith (Veshengro), January 2009
<>

Love Food, Hate Waste, Save Money @ Lakeland!

2009-01-10T21:14:00.000Z

by Michael Smith

After the expense of Christmas, start the New Year as you mean to go on by making sure you get the most out of your weekly shop. Around a third of the food we buy in the UK gets thrown away^¹ but you can make some simple changes with a little help from Lakeland and make sure you get to enjoy everything you buy.

Lakeland, the home of creative kitchenware, has lots of fresh ideas to help customers keep food at its best for longer, which means you can reduce the amount you throw away, save yourself money on your food bills and make sure you’re all set for a thrifty start to 2009.

How many bananas do you throw away because they have ripened too quickly? Or potatoes because they’ve started sprouting^²? These exclusive bags will keep them fresher for longer and have both been specially designed for the job.

The Potato Bag is made from breathable canvas to keep out the light and give good air circulation to keep your potatoes fresher for longer, while the Banana Bag provides insulation to stop the flesh over-ripening in the fridge, and also keeps the skin warm enough to prevent it blackening. The fruit will stay just as it should for around a fortnight – twice its normal lifespan!

Banana Bag, ref 12159, £4.88,

Potato Bag, ref 12377, £5.86

I have been sent the “Potato Bag” for review and also a number of the “Stayfresh Longer Bags” and I shall, in due course, be bringing the test result and reviews in the pages of this here journal.

While the material of the “Potato Bag” is referred to as “canvas” it is in fact a canvas weave material made from 25% cotton and 75% polyester, something what some would call “polycotton”.

Stayfresh Longer Bags: By storing fruit and vegetables in these special bags, they’ll stay lovely and fresh for weeks on end. The bags come in packs of 20. A unique formula slows down the natural ageing process and helps stop moisture and bacteria forming. They really are quite incredible and remain effective for several weeks, so can be reused.

I have to say that I do not know the unique formula that is in the bags but I should assume and hope that it does not contain anything harmful.

Three sizes available; 20x23cm ref 1092, £3.91, 25x38cm ref 1094, £4.88, 28x46cm ref 1932, £6.16.

Count On It Labels: Are you always throwing away half-used jars and leftovers because you’re not sure how long they’ve been in your fridge? Well, I do at times, I am afraid to say.

These self-adhesive memory joggers take the guesswork out of storing food safely; just stick one on your packet or jar when you open it, scratch off to mark the date and you’ll know exactly when it was opened. Ref 12902, £1.95 There are 25 of them in the pack.

The way I can see it those are a great idea and should help many of us to remember as to when we put the half-jar of this or that into the fridge. Then again, if one would think, the date could be written on the label or the lid by indelible pen. On the other hand, I guess, those labels simply are easier.

Lakeland is the UK’s leading kitchenware specialist, offering a range of over 4000 products from quality kitchen utensils and storage containers, to liquorice! Their Lakeland’s products are available from 40 stores nationwide, by mail order and online.

Lakeland, founded in 1963, is a family owned and run business based in Windermere. For more fresh ideas to store and preserve your food for longer and for more information visit www.lakeland.co.uk where you can see the entire range, can order direct.

1Source: www.lovefoodhatewaste.com

2There is no need to throw away potatoes that have sprouted, though many people do. Unless the potato is actually very soft then it can still be used. Using the Potato Bag from Lakeland, on the other hand, will prevent, so it is said, this happening prematurely.

Bringing forests and woodlands “back into production”

2009-01-06T18:46:00.000Z

by Michael Smith

For far too long have woodlands and forests, especially many of the smaller, privately owned ones, been doing nothing and have not been bringing in the money that they, really, should be able to.

Too many small woods have been also left to their own devices, so to speak, simply because no money could be made, often for lack of understanding as to the marketing of woodland and forest products by their owners.

The problem with leaving woods and forest to their own devices, especially woods and forests in our developed countries is that they are not natural forests or ancient forests and woodlands. They have, more often than not, been planted to be used and often there are or have been coppice woodlands. Coppice that is not being worked for anything loner than but a decade or two is in danger of collapsing and disintegrating; meaning that there will, suddenly be nothing but fallen trees and root stocks that are broken apart. Our woods need to be worked and worked for profit as well, if possible. That does not mean that they have to be exploited.

This bring me to a little subject by way of digression: we will be on track again in a second... however, it is often claimed that is we use less paper we will have less trees and forests cut down. The fact is if we did not have the paper industry and the need for wood pulp many woods and forests that we have today in Europe, for instance, would not exist and many areas would not b e having trees at all.

I know that there are many amongst the environmental activists that think they know better and who claim that if woods and forests would be left to their own devices and if we did not use paper from trees our forests and woodlands would be better but this is not the case. In fact it is a lie and most of them know that too. Why they continue to perpetuate such falsehoods I cannot say but they do do that.

If it would not bee for some of the forest product industries we would have less woods and forests, of that we can be sure, and much more of the land that is currently in wood would be either used for this or that crop – today more than likely for bio-fuel crops – or even be built upon.

Wood is also a bio fuel; in fact the most natural of all bio-fuels. Wood has been used to keep us warm, cook our food, heat the metal in our forges, and so on and so on, for centuries, nay millenniums even, well before coal and oil, and it can save us yet again.

The burning of wood, for instance, releases only the amount of carbon dioxide that the tree has absorbed and converted during its lifetime and probably less even. With the right clean burning technology and all that wood can be more efficient today than coal and oil and wood could even be gasified and vehicles run on it. Then again vehicles be best run on the fuel that old Tin Lizzy Ford designed then to run on in the first place, namely methane gas. Yes, gas from sewerage, for instance. Same as the first electrical power plant was run on as well. But, alas, I once again digressed.

Wood has so many uses that it is amazing that so many woodland owners have no idea what resources they have and how to actually make them pay and enable them to increase their forests' productivity by ploughing back resources into it that came from the woods in the first place. Owning and managing a woodland or forest is a two-way affair and not just a one-way affair of taking only and not giving back and any good woodland owner is a husbandman, a steward of the land and will always plant anew and always replenish the trees.

Coppicing has been a system that has been in use in the British Isles – and other places where suitable trees are about and abound – for the managing of woodlands and forests and it is a system that keeps a woodland nigh on indefinitely productive.

Unfortunately much of the skills of proper coppicing is getting lost and in addition to that too many of the misguided environmentalists have been ranting and raving against the rotation coppice operations.

Proper professional woodland and forest management continuously improves those environments and ecosystems in a way that benefits everyone and everything, and it is such a shame that commercial forestry has such a bad image amongst the environmental lobby.

Without commercial forestry and commercially managed woodlands our planet would be far less green, regardless of what some, who, I am afraid to say, have no real knowledge of the subject b but think that they happen to know everything just because they have read this or that book, think and say, often way to vociferously.

While woodlands and forest might still exist in their ancient form had the hand of man not touched them, in most places of the world woods and forests have been worked my man for many thousand years if more more and here is virtually no forest that has not been worked.

The truth is that the management of woods and forests – and the word forests, by the way, means different things to different countries - is what has, in most cases, preserved woods and forests rather than the opposite, as is, so often, being claimed by the misguided ones in the environmental movement.

Without commercial forestry and woodland management for profit there would be none of those woods and forest in the prime condition that they are in presently. Commercial forestry, at least the true kind of commercial forestry not only extracts timer from the woods and forest; nay it also replants and that in a large scale.

Any professional forester knows that he does not work for the immediate gain and for the present or even a year or ten hence; he knows that he works for the future generations. Most foresters will never see the tree they they plant now or the ten year or so old trees they care for now to grow to maturity. This is for others in the future.

Without that kind of woodland and forest management, however, most woods and forests that there are today would not, as I said already, exist.

Urban forestry too can play a great role and here too the woods and forest could and indeed should be manageable for income. Whether or not then the income is wholly or partly used to replenish is another question but the income can be used to do so. Any forester in his or her right mind would also do just that.

Woods and forests are are source that can and must be managed for sustainable use in that the timber must be cut as when when ready – why else would such woods be managed otherwise. At the same time any such managed woods and forests, whether privately owned or publicly owned, in whichever way, need to have replanting schemes in operation at all times and also, as and where possible, should be expanded.

We need more woods and forests and that not only in the United Kingdom though the British Isles definitely need more woodlands. They are one of the less wooded countries in Europe.

Trees are the lungs of the planet and – while some have claimed otherwise – are what can keep the CO2 balanced to some degree.

So let's plant more trees and properly manage them, for the benefit of the planet as well as for income and, dare I mention it, profit. But then, some will say, he would say that seeing that he comes from the commercial forestry sector.

© M Smith (Veshengro), January 2009
<>

No foreign media allowed

2009-01-05T19:17:00.001Z

Israel denies foreign media access to Gaza

by Michael Smith

Gaza/Israel: The Israeli authorities refuse to allow access to Gaza by foreign, even “friendly” western, media and it is a definite no. No media person allowed in. Why, one can but ask.

The answer to the “why” is, in my opinion, rather simple, and I think everyone with just an ounce of brain will come to same conclusion.

Israel, who employs the selfsame tactic, only a modern version of it, that the Nazis used against partisans and the general population of occupied Europe does not want the world to see, through the eyes of foreign media, especially media that would have credibility amongst the people worldwide.

What is it that they, who claim to just be fighting against terrorists that threaten its nation's – which is an illegal entity, regardless of what the UN may say – security?

The answer here is about as clear as crystal as well, namely that the Israeli security forces use violence targeted at civilians and are using the same evil tactics of collective punishment which the Nazis used in the occupies territories.

The hollow excuse by South African origin Jews that are spokespeople for the Israeli government and the IDF that it is all Hamas' fault for using housing projects to store weapons and their HQs is the same that the German Nazi war machines used as an excuse when they eliminated entire villages and towns and their inhabitants without mercy.

The Zionist entity calling itself the State of Israel is using the same tactics as did the Hitler Fascists and are no better whatsoever than were the Nazis, whatever the Zionists may claim and its western sympathizers, such as the United States and the Bush regime.

The fact that they are afraid of foreign media seeing what they are doing in Gaza is, in my opinion, proof enough that the Israeli forces are targeting the population on purpose and it is also obvious, I think, what the real aim is; namely to wipe out the Palestinian government of Hamas. What we must remember is that the Hamas was elected to government fairly though it did not suit the ones that had always called for democratic elections. It is irrelevant as to whether or not the West may have declared Hamas a terrorist organization. It was allowed to stand for election and it won. Election monitors have said that this election was fairer than could be said for even some in old established democracies. But it is always the same when the results do not suit the powers that be, and the EU is a great example for that as well, but I am digressing.

I would also not put it past the powers that be in Israel and those that back it aim for more than just the removal of Hamas in Gaza and I leave it to any reader to make his or her conclusion as to what the aim may be.

If Israel's intention would really be to defend itself again missile attacks there are certainly means, I am sure. There are defensive systems that, I am sure, can shoot those missiles down rather harmlessly before they ever get to inhabited areas of Israel.

No, there is more here at play than meets the eye and I suggest that people do not get sidetracked by the rhetorics of politicians.

Jews and Arabs, including Christian Arabs – Palestinians – lived together peacefully in Palestine and worked side by side – and the book by Fr Elias Chacour “Blood Bothers” is best proof for that – until the arrival of the Zionists and especially after the Holocaust with the Jewish Agency and the special operations bringing in those survivors, most of who were Zionists – well chosen, methinks. Fr Chacour is a Meronite priest and was as a child and youngster on the receiving end of Zionist terror simply for being a Palestinian, regardless of the fact that his family were Christians.

There was no (real) friction in Palestine before the arrival of the hard-core Zionists. Only afterwards did things begin to be problematic.

What, you cannot find that in your history books and other books and in the papers? Well, think who most publishers are? I rest my case.

© M Smith (Veshengro), January 2009
<>

Wearing a hat to reduce heat loss through head myth, say scientists

2009-01-03T17:10:00.003Z

by Michael Smith

Experts claim that it is a myth, an old wives tale in the same category as getting a cold from getting cold, that wearing a hat reduced heat loss from the top of the head. According to them no heat is lost that way. Doh?

It would appear then that everyone who knows that wearing a hat has helped and helps suffers from placebo effect.

One can but be amazed again and again about the garbage that those scientists come up with after spending masses of money on research projects researching silly things. Everyone knows that you lose heat through the top of the head and that wearing a hat, a woolly hat in colder weather, cuts this down to some extent and can prevent hypothermia.

I must say that I am one of those people that can swear to it working. Or why, when I feel cold and put on a hat I feel soon warm as toast. Placebo effect, I guess. To be honest, I do not think so.

Anyone who has spent, like I have done, much of his life in the outdoors, also professionally, knows what a hat does as regards to keeping you warm. So, there you have it.

Where those supposed experts and scientists get their ideas from beats the hell out of me and I guess not me alone, but they do come up with things that really can only be filed under “weird”.

Then again it is more than likely the very same scientists that would also claim that this or that folk remedy does not work, until such a time that someone, as has been done often enough by now, in the field of medical science actually proves conclusively that it DOES work.

As far as I am concerned, and I am sure that there will be many that will follow here, wearing a hat prevents loss of body heat. Something that to me is fact in the same way as it is to any survival instructor and outdoors person. That's the reason we at least carry a har if we not, actually, wear it.

© M Smith (Veshengro), January 2009
<>

Bank of Spain chief reckons world faces "total" financial meltdown

2008-12-28T17:47:00.001Z

by Michael Smith

The governor of the Bank of Spain recently issued a rather bleak but probably more realistic, assessment of the economic crisis, one that is probably than that of any other banking chief or politician, warning that the world faced a "total" financial meltdown not seen since the Great Depression.

"The lack of confidence is total," Miguel Angel Fernandez Ordonez said in an interview with the El Pais daily newspaper.

"The inter-bank (lending) market is not functioning and this is generating vicious cycles: consumers are not consuming, businessmen are not taking on workers, investors are not investing and the banks are not lending.

"There is an almost total paralysis from which no-one is escaping," he said, adding that any recovery – penciled in by optimists for the end of 2009 and the start of 2010 – could be delayed if confidence is not restored.

He must be the only one finally willing to say what everyone, at least those of us on the lower end of the food chain, has been seeing for ages.

Ordonez recognized that falling oil prices and lower taxes could kick-start a faster-than-anticipated recovery, but warned that a deepening cycle of falling consumer demand, rising unemployment and an ongoing lending squeeze could not be ruled out.

"This is the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression" of 1929, he added.

Ordonez said the European Central Bank, of which he is a governing council member, would cut interest rates in January if inflation expectations went much below two percent.

"If, among other variables, we observe that inflation expectations go much below two percent, it's logical that we will lower rates."

Regarding the dire situation in the United States, Ordonez said he backed the decision by the US Federal Reserve to cut interest rates almost to zero in the face of profound deflation fears.

Central banks are seeking to jumpstart movements on crucial interbank money markets that froze after the US market for high-risk, or subprime mortgages collapsed in mid 2007, and locked tighter after the US investment bank Lehman Brothers declared bankruptcy in mid September.

Interbank markets are a key link in the chain which provides credit to businesses and households.

The problem is that nothing is going to kickstart anything. If those people really think that a few percent – 2.5% as in the case of Britain – of reduction in sales tax or such gimmicks will boost consumer confidence and they will run out to the stores to spend, spend and spend even some more then they need to leave office now, for they live even more in cloud cuckoo land than we, the people, have assumed for years. Most of those people do not appear to live on this planet anyway but on some parallel universe; that much is clear to all but the blindest person possible. And this blindness has nothing to do with eyesight but everything with vision.

The truth, as I see it, is, I am certain, that the recovery penciled in by the optimists, who seem to try and tell everyone that that is definitely the time that the economy will be back on track, may not just be delayed a little but a lot more, more like a number of years.

The realists, though some would call them pessimists, amongst the financial wizards and analysts, reckon that this economic downturn, as some still term this current depression, might make the Great Depression of 1929 and beyond look somewhat like a walk in the park.

If things really get that bad then we are all in for trouble for, while in the Great Depression people, neighbors, family and community looked out for everyone, in general, such safety net, if we might call it thus, no longer exists.

Families no longer are together, neighborhoods no longer function as they did then and as for community; what community. However, maybe, just maybe, this economic crisis might return us all to the real values of life.

We can but hope, I guess.

© M Smith (Veshengro), December 2008
<>

Americans sell possessions and buy used to cut costs

2008-12-27T17:05:00.000Z

Good for the environment but a bad sign as to any economic recovery

by Michael Smith

More and more Americans, to it would appear, are selling possessions in order to make ends meet, even selling used children's toys to secondhand dealers, the same as with other items, including family heirlooms.

When it comes to buying things they now, more often than not, look at choosing used rather than new. Amazing what a downturn can do, even as regards to suddenly looking at used again. Also very green for any item that is thus brought back into circulation does not end up in the landfills.

While the fact that folks buy used, secondhand, rather than new may be very good for the environment but it is a bad sign as far as the economy is concerned. It means that people do not believe the talk of the politicians as to this crisis being of short duration only.

The feeling that I, and especially many analyst, have as regards the current economic situation, the credit crunch and the business closures is that it is not going to get better quickly; definitely not in the time frame that the governments, in the USA, Britain and elsewhere, try to tell the people.

Some analyst said that from where he is standing and from what he is seeing that this could be as bad if not even worse than the crisis of the 1930s. If that be so then the gods help us for most people are today in no position to overcome this.

First of all the communities that once existed and that helped one another are gone and secondly most of them are so deep in dept that they do not stand a chance.

In the 1930s as well as before and even after until well into the 60s and 70s people did not live on credit then - in the main – and only lived within their means, as far as the majority was concerned. Purchases were made mainly in cash back then and you saved up for expensive items and did not go out to get it because the Joneses had one or the Millers. You looked at whether you needed it and whether you could afford it.

Enter the era of easy loans and everyone went out with credit cards and such on a spending spree and most people began to live well beyond their means. It had to be the latest TV, the latest HiFi, the latest sofa and such, often just because the neighbors got a new one, regardless whether the old one was bad or not and from what I have seen when growing up even already doing the rounds collecting all those items that people put out at the curb for the special collections to take most of it was in good order.

It was only a matter of time until this bubble burst and it finally has done, in the US as well as elsewhere.

I am more than convinced that there is no quick fix to this and that we will be going through an number of years if not even a decade of very bad economics but, in many instances this may not be a bad thing at all. We may in fact get back to proper communities of people, in the real world as well as the virtual world, that will work together for the common good and support each other and we may also, finally, because of costs, get back the local firms making things. This would be good for our communities and the planet.

The horrible greed that has caused all this may, hopefully, be overcome and maybe we could even get a banking system that does not charge usury, like the Muslim banks. Chance would be a fine thing, I know.

Our countries, whether Britain or America, claim to be based on Christian principles but if that is so then I must say that I think that the Christian faith has absolutely nothing to offer the world. I am serious here. In fact, personally, I do not think that it has anyway. Please no one tell me that those people are just an exception, etc.

Capitalism has not worked and neither has socialism, I am aware of the latter fact as well. Is there a system that we could find so that good could come out of evil in this case?

Maybe out of this collapse or nigh collapse, if we work carefully on it, something good may come. But only if we, the people, actually work on it and ensure that the greedy bankers and politicians do not get to spoil and ruin it again.

It was greed that got us into this mess, total greed. Greed by bankers as much as greed by those who took out the loans.

Many British municipalities and charities are in dire straights because they have lost lots of money in the collapse of the Islandic banks. I feel so sorry for them, NOT. They invested in those unprotected banks of that foreign country for what reason? For the very reason of greed. Island's banks were offering high interest rates, rumored in the region of 15%-25% on high value investments and those institutions and councils thought they could make great profits this way. Now, as far as the councils are concerned it is the local taxpayers, that is to say, the residents, that have to pick up the bill or they will have to face loss of services. No council official, however, seems to be held accountable for those actions of having invested abroad.

Let us hope that good will come out of this and that we will have a new system, one that will be by the people for the people, and maybe we could even have new governments in that same vein. I know, chance would be a fine things, but... the truth is that it is now up to us what we make out of this crisis.

If we, the people, be willing and are prepared to have real solidarity and community then maybe, just maybe, a new society can rise from the ashes. We can but hope (and pray).

© M Smith (Veshengro), December 2008
<>

Lone environmental activist gets into power station

2008-12-23T20:53:00.001Z

A lone environmental activist strolled into power station and shut down 500MW turbine.

By Michael Smith

On 22hrs on Friday, November 28, 2008, a one environmental activist, in full view of CCTV cameras, climbed two, supposedly electric, razer-wire topped fences at Kingsnorth power station in Kent and than literally strolled through an open door into the main generating house and shut down a 500MW turbine. He then strolled back out of the facility leaving behind a banner stating “No New Coal”.

This comes around the same time when in another – unrelated incident – about 50 environmental protesters went through the perimeter fence at Stanstead airport getting into high security air side areas of the airport.

During the year 2008 we have had at least three of such major breaches of security at establishments that should be made and kept secure. Two of those were at airports, the first at Heathrow when protesters actually managed to get onto the fuselage and wings of a parked aircraft and were not noticed until they unfurled a large banner, the the incidents at Stanstead and at Kingsnorth power station. Not counting the one when protesters managed to actually scale the chimney at a power station.

Either we are totally inept at guarding vital infrastructure against potential terrorist attacks or there is no real threat in existence at all. Which is it?

While the surveillance of the individual, especially in Britain, is becoming more and more complete and no one can do anything without not being monitored by CCTV cameras, scanned by scatter radar or such, and/or have their emails and even phone conversations routinely monitored, our vital infrastructure targets are wide open for people to simply walk in unchallenged. Something, in my opinion, does not compute here whatsoever.

It is high time that we either beefed up security at such installations, whether airports, power stations, water works, power lines, and such like, and really guarded such areas or government came clean and admitted finally there there is no real threat from so-called Islamists terrorist whatsoever. Either, as I said, we are totally inept in protecting out vital installations or we are that lax because there is no threat and government is lying to us.

Just a little food for thought!

© M Smith (Veshengro), December 2008
<>

Powers of RIPA legislation abused

2008-12-22T20:21:00.000Z

Ex-Chief of MI5 'astonished'

by Michael Smith

The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) was passed in 2000 to regulate the way in which public bodies such as the police and the security services carry out surveillance.

To begin with originally only a small handful of authorities were able to use RIPA but its scope has, for some reason, been expanded enormously and now there are at least 792 organisations using it, including hundreds of local councils.

This has generated dozens of complaints about anti-terrorism legislation being used to spy on, for example, a nursery suspected of selling pot plants unlawfully, a family suspected of lying about living in a school catchment area, and paperboys suspected of not having the right paperwork.

Now those campaigning against the abuse of RIPA have got a new ally in the person Lady Manningham-Buller, the former head of MI5. In a speech in the House of Lords recently, she said she was "astonished" when she found out how many organisations were getting access to RIPA powers.

Those that nowadays, more or less willy-nilly seem to be granted the right to carry our surveillance for this or that reason, should never, so it seems as far as the Security Services are and were concerned, be given those powers and rightly so.

While there may be reasons in fact for councils and others to, at times,m be granted powers under RIPA no council, per se, needs to carry our covert surveillance of dustbins for instance as to what people put into them. The same is true in respect to other uses that RIPA has been used for.

When RIPA was introduced the activities authorised by that legislation were meant be confined to the intelligence and security agencies, the police, and Customs and Excise.

The legislation was drafted at the urgent request of the intelligence and security community so that its techniques would be compatible with the Human Rights Act when it came into force in 2000.

Nowadays, however, for reasons unfathomable, every authority of whatever kind, from local councils and trading standards – and that latter one can still be understood – over the Milk Marketing Board equivalent and the one responsible for eggs and whatever else, aside from police, security services and HMRC, that is to say Customs and Excise, are given such covert surveillance powers.

Britain is the fast becoming, if it is not already, an all-pervasive surveillance society and British subjects are the most spied upon people on this planet, ahead even, so it would appear to citizens of Russian and even of Cuba.

On the principle governing the use of intrusive techniques which invade people's privacy, there must be total clarity in the law as to what is permitted and they should be used only in cases where the threat justifies them and their use is proportionate.

Presently, however, it would appear to be neither and as far as a great many people who are in the know amongst the general public are concerned this is very disconcerting and it is creating resentment amongst the people.

However, it seems that the current Labor administration in the United Kingdom could care less as to what the public thinks really. They have a majority in the House and hence do not care one iota about the people.

How can we expect to combat terrorism on our shores when we alienate the general law-abiding public who should be the eyes and ears of the authorities by using spy techniques and anti-terror legislation against them who have done nothing wrong.

The idea of the DNA and fingerprint database and the idea of monitoring all email and Internet traffic of every subject of Her Britannic Majesty is not going to bring the people onto the side of the government. Rather the opposite.

People who work in the field of security, I am sure, can see that but those that try to lord it over the people, whether central or local government do not care, it would seem. Councils up and down the country use RIPA powers against people that may or may not put the wrong stuff into their dustbins; who may put their dustbins out at the wrong day, and such like. As far as I, and Lady Manningham-Buller, see this is a total misuse of the powers of the act. Time some reigning on was done here.

© M Smith (Veshengro), December 2008
<>

What part of “NO” does the European Union not understand?

2008-12-22T20:11:00.001Z

by Michael Smith

Earlier in 2008 the people of the Republic of Ireland, of Eire, rejected in a referendum the amended European Union treaty, which often was referred to as and EU Constitution by a majority vote and, according to the rules the treaty is, therefore, supposed to be dead.

Oh no, says Brussels, we carry on regardless and ask Ireland to hold another referendum until the people say “yes”. The treaty is dead, long live the treaty, seems to be the approach here. The word “NO” seems top be difficult to understand to the bureaucrats, none of which are elected, that run the European Union.

Welcome to democracy a la European Union. Their view is just to hold referendums for so long until the people finally give them what they want or, as in the care of Britain, where the Labor regime simply does not permit a referendum as they know full well that the people would reject any idea of giving the EU still more power, especially for affairs such as defense, policing, and such like. The British people are not as stupid as the government makes them out to be even though there are a few sheeple too many.

Ireland has now, recently, in December 2008, stated that it will hold another referendum and is advising the people to vote yes so as to no lose various European Union subsidies and other monies. This makes it rather obvious that pressure has been brought to bear on Dublin and that the threat of withholding of funding has been mentioned.

The European Union definitely wants to have is own version of democracy: votes and referendums until they get the “right” result, the result that they want. And they have the audacity to talk about other countries.

The people , where they have given a say, have for the second time have rejected this EU Constitution by whatever name. Is that not answer enough to the people in Brussels? Obviously not. They have other ideas of democracy. They have their new version where the people have no say and it is the parliamentarians, the politicians, in the various countries decide.

It would appear that in the European Union the voice and the will of he people only counts if it happens to coincide with the wishes and desires of the minions.

How did we ever get into this mess? More important, however, is how do we get out of this mess?

© M Smith (Veshengro), December 2008
<>

Wake-up, we are in a depression

2008-12-22T20:09:00.001Z

by Michael Smith

We are being told again and again presently that we are not in a depression but this is just a recession and that it this recession is going to be over latest by next year. Sure, and on an airfield nearby a squadron of pigs is preparing for takeoff.

So how many jobs must be lost in how short of a period of time to make a depression? How big a loss of consumer spending to make a depression? How many business closkings to make a depression? How many other area's of the economy have to suffer sudden sever loss to make a depression?

According to some sources, such as Panjiva, a firm that analyzes information drawn from shipping manifests filed with US Customs, said the number of global suppliers actively serving the US market fell from 22,099 in July to just 6,262 in October, a decline of more than 70 per cent.

In China, government statistics estimate that at least 67,000 factories across all sectors closed during the first half of the year.

US November Unemployment figures state that November 2008 added 533,000 + to the 320,000 and 403,000 of October and September 2008 respectively. This make 1,256,000 jobs lost in the last three months up to December 2008.

Will the US lose 1 Million jobs per month in 2009? The way things are going at present this might just be the case.

Is that still not bad enough for them to acknowledge that we are in a depression and no longer just a recession, if the latter would not be bad enough already?

This all raises a lot of questions, does it not?

Why? Why so drastic a drop?

Why the sudden rush of business closing, layoffs?

It is hard to believe this all started with a so called "housing" bust. How could one facet of the economy affect all the rest? It would rather appear that the housing bust was one of the latests signs of this.

If the rush of closings, layoffs continue, many, millions will be homeless and penniless. What happens then?

Also, when I look at this with the eyes of someone who does not generally and necessarily accept everything just the way it may appear then I see that somehow things are strange and so not really add up.

Are they really going to tell us that no one noticed the hosing bubble and the bank problems and that it could not have been dealt with before? It could have been handles before but, it would appear that the collapse was something that was intended to happen.

I know that I may look at things strangely, as some of my readers, I am sure, will have noticed, but it makes sense. For, if you want to reorganize the world, so to speak, and where people work and how and where they live and how, you will have to tear down the fabric first to make things easier. And this is what they have done and are doing.

They allow the collapse, the intervene where it suits, and then... well, I guess we have to wait a little longer for that installment of this story.

But, look at it this way. If they can rearrange where the businesses are and where everyone lives – ideally, as they see it, near the factories and businesses – they can then control us all far better. Am I that far off? I think not.

Food for thought...

Let's just be careful outside, keep our powder dry and watch our six.

© M Smith (Veshengro), December 2008
<>

Spending our way out of the downturn

2008-12-17T19:50:00.000Z

by Michael Smith

For years and years, especially as regards to the environment and such, we have now been told to get away from being too much of a consumer and consumption society and now, with an economic crises at hand, for it no longer just looming, folks – it has well and truly arrived, we are encouraged by various government measures to go out and spend, spend, spend. Doh?

I personally cannot see how this spend, spend, spend, thing is, supposed, to help the economy and I also cannot see people doing it. What I can see people doing is in fact to hold on to their money in the hope that things are going to get cheaper still., and things will in the end. We are headed, in Britain at least, rapidly for deflation and this means that things will get cheaper and cheaper and people, and that is human nature, are NOT going to buy something now, this very moment when, more than likely, the same product if 20% cheaper by next week or so.

The British Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Secretary of State for Finance, Alistair Darling, has decided that is exactly what they are trying to do, namely to get the public to go out and spend and spend. With this in mind he has reduced the VAT, the sales tax, by 2.5% from 17.5% to 15%, something which has caused nothing bu extra work and cost for retailers who had to adjust all their tills and all their prices. What he should have done instead, if he thinks that lower taxes will make people go out and spend their way out of a recession – not that that is going to work – is to lower the income tax, especially for the lower earners. But he did not do that.

Other governments in the developed world are implementing or are considering similar fiscal measures. The problem is that, so I see it, this is going to do absolutely nothing; nothing whatsoever, and we will be in a recession and deflationary depression faster than we can imagine by going down this route.

OK, I admit, I am no financial whizkid now expert or analyst but I can sure see the writing on the wall and I can see what people are going to do. They are going to say “thanks, Chancellor” and the money will stay in their accounts or pockets.

In times as uncertain as these no one in their right mind is going to go on a spending spree to help the general economy; they are going to tighten their purse strings for the “just in case”.

We are also currently in the, what could be called, “austerity chique” in which even the better off and those with a job are digging up their gardens, or quite a sizable chunk of it, in order to plant and grow vegetables for themselves and their families. Some do it for reasons of wanting some more organic vegetables and also wanting to know where the food actually comes from and what is it it, and others also may do it because it is at present the in thing to do.

This thing of “spend, spend, spend” is morally irresponsible and unsustainable as most of the people of this country and, I guess the same is also true in other countries, and the country itself are deep in debt, to banks and credit card companies. However, we do not seem to learn the moral lesson from this and the government is trying to simply get people to spend more and more. This is simply not sustainable and sustainability is not just something that we must look at as far as the environment is concerned. Our entire life must be, once again, sustainable but it is not – presently – and the government, as said, is not helping here by encouraging spending in order to, hopefully, revitalize the economy. Revitalize it in what way, that must be the question. For corporate greed to be able to continue as is?

The truth is, as said before, that the common punter is not going to go out and spend any money that they may b e “handed” by the government. The current huge amount of government borrowing by the British government as much as others, though the British seem to be one of those that really think that they can get out of problems by borrowing such humongous sums, is not sustainable and means that the public will be hit by tax hikes in the not so distant future. In view of the fact that such borrowings, as said, means more taxes to pay for this later, people are not going to go out onto the High Street and spend all this money that they are receiving by cuts in VAT and such. They are going to keep some of it if not indeed most of it back for the “in case”.

A “spend, spend, spend” approach that we are being encouraged to take up is a non-sustainable way to go and it much be discouraged rather than encouraged.

Are the government of this country, and others, really thinking that we can buy ourselves out of an economic downturn?

Apparently yes. Cloud Cuckoo Land comes to mind, does it not.

Instead of telling the people to take steps and protect themselves in this economic downturn and to make provisions they think that if people will go out with a little extra money and spend that in High Street shops and the department stores of this country. It is NOT going to make any difference and people are not going to go out and spend, spend, spend.

We are seeing already that they are not going to that. Instead they are holding back, though sales have not completely gone down the drain as yet on the High Street, but then it is the Christmas period and also stores are having pre-Christmas sales to lure the punters in.

People are going, and that is becoming slowly obvious, to hold back in general with spending, waiting for prices to fall further. This means that we are headed towards deflation in due course and instead of the economy picking up it will be doing the opposite. And as soon as this is going to become evident to people they will hold back even more when it comes to spending on the non-essentials.

Talks about prices going down does not seem to be working, as yet, at least not as far as food stuffs is concerned. Here prices seem to be still on the up in most places if not indeed all.

Oil prices, on the other hand, do seem to be falling, and not just in the global wholesale market. Even at the pumps we are seeing prices coming down. Whether that will also be seen as price reductions to the home energy consumer, as regards electricity and gas remains to be seen. The problem simply is that the energy companies are way too greedy, even those that claim to have ethics.

But whatever, we cannot spend ourselves out of an economic downturn that is about 2 seconds away from a recession and not all that far from a depression even. It is just the same madness as the way we have dealt with the natural resources. We have spent, spent, spent until now everything is polluted and nigh on gone.

There is only one way out; on both counts: Cutting back and living a simpler life. Period.

© M Smith (Veshengro), December 2008
<>

Simplify the Holidays

2008-12-16T19:19:00.000Z

by Michael Smith

The holiday season is upon us and I am suggesting that we all "simplify the holidays."

Let's use this time of both great hope and great challenges to refocus on the season's deeper values of joy, peace, and family by making holiday choices that support and nurture our homes, our communities, our planet – and our family budgets, too.

I am no Christian and no believer in the story that Jesus the Messiah – Yeshuah ha Meshiach – was supposedly born on December 25 some 2,000 or so years ago in the so-called Holy Land in order to die on the cross to save us all, but nevertheless I believe that this season has become a hectic “must-have I want” kind of time and we must get back to the real values; those that really count.

When we watch then children in the stores with their parents it is not a case of “I would like this or that for Christmas”. No it is “I want that and that and that and that, ad infinitum” and the parents go “we'll get Santa to bring you that all” or such statement. Today's children are made into consumption zombies with no real understanding of the values of things. This can be seen in so many aspects, for instance the way they throw away things and such.

Join me in this campaign by making one or more of a special list of commitments to change our approach to the holidays. Some of the commitments could include: using a locally grown or potted Christmas tree, or, better still, don't use a tree at all (poor thing gets cut off and then discarded and even a potted one is not generally going to survive), giving edible gifts or plants, or hand-made gifts, reusing or using alternatives to traditional wrapping paper, and starting eco-friendly traditions such as picking up litter while caroling, if you do do the caroling bit, I mean. Would not be a good idea for me to do; my voice is horrible and I cannot carry a tune.

There are other things that you can do. Bring some cheer into the lives of some people that are worst of than you, such as homeless children, children in orphanages, at home and abroad. There are the schemes of packing a shoe box with a gift for a needy child ; somewhere. But most of all, give your time to someone. Start with your own child or children or some other loved one.

When it comes to giving gifts, make those gifts from the heart, gifts that you have made for the recipient, and not store-boughten goods.

If you have never tried to simplify the holidays then why not make this season the first. The fact that many, and maybe you too, do not have as much to spend and in light of the world economic situation think of laying by some money, this may be the best “excuse”, if one be needed, to start simplifying the holiday season.

Change begins with each and everyone of us and if we slowly but surely make a real effort to no longer give in to the commercialism of this season then maybe, just maybe, we can change the people around us as well, and here especially our families and friends.

If we want more compassionate communities, a more resilient economy, and a more sustainable environment, we ourselves have to take the first steps, even if they may be difficult or feel a little awkward at first.

With enough initiative and encouragement, we can help create a tipping point for how we approach the holidays – to live more consistently with the values that they stand for.

And this does not just have to be for the holiday season now, does it? We can use a similar approach to simplifying our entire life as much as possible.

© M Smith (Veshengro), December 2008
<>

Is Pakistan the next country on the attack list?

2008-12-16T18:58:00.001Z

by Michael Smith

First the outgoing US President Bush made a statement in the middle of December 2008 as to Pakistan and support, whether official government or not, for Islamist terrorists and the talk began that the United States and its security community is intending to put Pakistan on the list of countries that support terrorism. Now on December 14, 2008 the UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown stated that 3 out of 4 terrorist plots against the UK were hatched, so to speak, in Pakistan, while being on a visit to that country.

It does appear to me that those two are now preparing the world for an attack on Pakistan by claiming that it is a supporter of Islamist terrorism, e.g. Al-Qaeda.

Assuming that the attack on Mumbai may have been a false flag operation then it is quite obvious what is going on and that Pakistan is being put on the list of countries to be targeted for attack.

The two countries, that is to say the regimes of both the United States and the United Kingdom, have told Pakistan to act against terrorists and terrorist sponsoring organizations in that country and Gordon Brown had requested for British police and security services to be given access to any of the suspects for the Mumbai attacks that have been arrested in Pakistan. The Pakistani government, however, rejected this request or shall we call it a more or less demand.

The Pakistani Prime Minister basically told the British that any suspects will be questioned only by the Pakistani security services and will, if found to have charges to answer, be tried in Pakistan under Pakistani law. A rebuff to the British and American involvement and interference for sure.

This could more likely now lead to the two regimes that have an agenda in the area of Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq to further actions, one can nigh on be sure about, against Pakistan. Let's hope not but things do not look promising right now and we might suddenly find that we, or better us in those two countries due to our respective governments, are involved in yet another foreign adventure which they like to claim a conflict instead of war and give us even more “friends”.

With actions like those against those Al-Qaeda terrorists and the Taliban we certainly have not made ourselves friends around the world and the longer we continue the way we, as countries, are going along we are not getting anywhere. We are making things worse, in fact.

The UK and the United States, by their very actions, have made all their citizens at home and abroad targets of any kind of misguided terrorist and those that think they are holy warriors. The more or less permanent support for everything that the Zionists did in Israel basically was the very beginning to this all. In the eyes of the United States, and to a degree this also seems to hold true as regards to Britain, Israel, the Zionist state, can do no wrong, apparently, and can, with virtual impunity perpetrate acts against the Palestinians that, if perpetrated against another people by another state would immediately, and rightly so, reap condemnation of the highest degree upon the perpetrator. Why not, though, in the case of Zionist Israel?

Even if the Zionist state murders British citizens who are aid workers in Palestine the government in the UK remains rather quiet and it needs the relatives of those murdered to push and shove before things, finally, get done and even then there is a total whitewash permitted.

And American vessel gets attacked by the Zionists and still nothings is said and done really and while I know that that is an old hat, really, as to that ship how come that the US just let it pass off. Had it not been Israel all hell would have broken lose.

But, sorry, I digressed.

It would appear as, presently, yet another target on the axis from Baghdad to the Indus River is being lined us, and this time Pakistan. What is it about that region that the West is so obsessed with?

Think!

© M Smith (Veshengro), December 2008
<>

More and more customers coming back to good old-fashioned cash

2008-12-15T19:08:00.000Z

by Michael Smith

Cash or credit? For more and more Americans, who have either already overstretched themselves on credit cards, have gotten rid of them, or are just trying to manage their spending better in the tough economy, the answer is increasingly the old-fashioned one, namely cash. No, not Johnny, the other one.

Retailers like Wal-Mart, Target, and other are beginning to notice, so they report, a marked shift away from credit cards in favor of cash and debit cards. A big factor is less credit available as major card issuers cut spending limits and raise fees even for customers who pay their bills on time.

The shift ends Americans' long love affair with credit cards and is one of the changes in consumer behavior that has emerged since the financial meltdown that could depress consumer spending this holiday season and affect shoppers' habits long afterward.

Particularly during holiday seasons past, shoppers could count on a pile of plastic to give them the extra financing needed to splurge on presents before they had to face the bills in January or later.

But even when the economy recovers and credit loosens up, analysts say Americans – shaped by what could be a deep and long-lasting recession – are likely to stick with buying only what they can afford just as their parents or grandparents did after the Great Depression.

This is, definitely, not a bad idea.

Personally, I refuse each and every credit card as I would not have one on any account; no pun intended here. I use a card, yes, but a debit card, which means that I cannot spend more than I have in my bank account. I also would never spend more than a certain limint per month from that anyway.

Why? Because I like to have a safety net and a little financial cushion there for the “just in case”, in the same way as our parents and grandparents did with the money they kept hidden in various places.

Although I have my money in the bank one can but wonder in today's climate as to how safe that actually is and whether a good sturdy safe somewhere at home and keeping the stuff there in coin and paper under lock and key might not be a better choice still.

As I said, I either pay by cash or, in most cases, for convenience of carry, and security, by debit card with chip & PIN. Monthly payments for utilities are going through the banking system by so-called direct debit. This works out cheaper than actually going to a payment center, like the Post Office, to pay those bills or to use check. In fact here we get charged extra if we pay by any other way than by direct debit.

I buy, as said, everything that way for like to know what I have bought and what I have spent and to know that I am not going to be hit with a big bill with the Gods only know what interest added to it. Use cash or debit card but no credit and loans. Cash still is best but debit card is basically cash in plastic form.

Credit cards, on the other hand, can be compared with a loan agency in your pocket. And, just like a loan agency, they charge you the earth for the money they, basically, lend you.

Cash may be seen as old-fashioned and the biggest problem is that cash is also, at some places, seen as dubious, it still is, in my opinion, and, it would appear, also the opinion of a lot of other people, especially in the US, better than credit card.

In this country, that is to say, Britain, though you may no longer use checks, for instance, in most stores in order to pay for your purchases. Is has to be either debit or credit card with chip & PIN. Or, obviously, cash. They still take that – for the moment. In fact, even though cash's death has been foretold so many times, I do not think cash is dead by a long shot. As fas as I can see it is coming back in fashion in many places, and that with a vengeance. Good for it as well.

© M Smith (Veshengro), December 2008
<>

Do you know what's in your toothpaste?

2008-12-13T18:36:00.002Z

Aside from fluoride, which is dangerous enough, I mean ...

by Michael Smith

Aside from the fluoride, which is after all a poison, an accumulative one like arsenic, and, so it is said, a neural pathway agent, there are other things in most toothpaste that too can be harmful to you.

The FDA limits the content of fluoride in toothpaste to 1150 ppm, because of its toxicity and too much fluoride can produce fluorosis, a common finding today.

Fluoride is, as I mentioned, a poison like arsenic and like aspartame. And yes, we tend to end up with both fluoride and aspartame in stuff that we put into our mouths and bodies.

The Negative Effects of Fluoride:
While so many toothpastes today contain fluoride and the "virtues" of fluoride are literally everywhere in the media, the negative effects of fluoride are rarely mentioned. It cannot be denied that fluoride promotes a hardening of the outer layers of enamel by combining fluoride with the tooth enamel. These hardened areas may resist acid better than a calcium based-matrix, but will eventually stain (fluorosis) or fracture. They may begin as hypo-calcified areas or whitish spots on the enamel surface. Later in time these areas will darken and chip, leaving unsightly spots on the teeth and areas for requiring restoration.

We are told, again and again, that fluoride in toothpaste and in drinking water prevents cavities, but many studies reveal a different story. There appear to be many studies in which fluoride increased the caries rate. Of course, the Dental Associations in most countries take a different point of view. Other studies have revealed that when fluoridated cities were compared to unfluoridated cities, there was virtually no difference in caries rates.

The next thing that comes to mind, after the fluoride, is the surfactants of the various sorts that are used to make the toothpaste foam. More often than not those are the very same surfactants that are also found in the various detergents. Yuck!

But let us look at a list of common ingredients that are found in many major brand toothpastes:

First of there is Sodium Fluoride and please note that as is the first on the list of ingredients it means that it is the highest proportion in the contents.

Sodium Fluoride is a cancer causing agent and neurotoxin. In toothpaste it is – supposedly – used to prevent tooth decay and as insecticide, disinfectant, and preservative in cosmetics. It can cause nausea and vomiting when ingested and even death, depending upon the dose. Tooth enamel mottling has also been reported.

Then there is are the surfactants and other things that also do not necessarily make for good reading.

Depending on the brand there is Sodium Carbonate - Soda Ash. It absorbs water from the air. Has an alkaline taste and is used as an antacid and reagent in permanent wave solutions, soaps, mouthwashes, shampoos, amongst other things. It is the cause of scalp, forehead, and hand rash experienced by some people when using soaps and other preparations that contain this substance.

In addition to that there are often artificial sweeteners, whether Sodium Saccharin which is 300 times sweeter than sugar, but leaves a bitter after taste and on the FDA's priority list for further safety testing, or there is Aspartame, which is known to be toxic and also a neural pathway agent.

Then there are preservatives and other stuff in there the reading of which makes me feel rather nauseous. No, just reading the list, not actually using a fluoride toothpaste, for I don't.

Since we still need to brush our teeth, what do we do? Luckily there are companies that use high-quality, safe ingredients, including:

calcium carbonate—a natural mineral used to gently clean teeth
baking soda—a gentle abrasive that leaves your teeth feeling smooth after you brush
silica—a mild abrasive that helps remove plaque
stevia—a natural herbal sweetener without the harmful effects of artificial alternatives
xylitol—an important ingredient because it is believed to reduce decay causing bacteria and enhances remineralization
tea tree and neen—both contain antibacterial properties which help prevent tooth decay and gum disease.

Now that you are equipped with your lists of ingredients, you will be better able to make educated choices about the toothpaste you use. Start by examining the ingredients list of your favorite toothpaste and consider some natural alternatives. Your body will appreciate it.

Other tips to maintain healthy teeth include replacing your toothbrush regularly and asking your dentist to demonstrate the proper techniques to brush and floss. Also, throw away that manual toothbrush and get an electric one. While this may increase you environmental footprint somewhat it certainly is worth the investment. I can vouch for that.

Your teeth are important; they are the first step in achieving good digestion. The break down of food begins in the mouth. The more we chew, the better the cell walls get broken down, preparing the food for the digestive system and helping the body to receive all the food’s nutrients. With education and informed choices, there need not be a conflict between oral health and overall health.

I have been using a particular brand of fluoride-free toothpaste bought from healthfood stores, one which is supposed to be all natural ingredients – but having investigated the ingredients list there I must say that I am somewhat concerned as well for while it contains tea tree oil and aloe vera it still have glycerol and such ingredients, though claimed to be from natural sources. This still makes me wonder somewhat as to what we can and cannot believe of claims until we actually research each and everything to the greatest possible depth. But, who has got the time to do that all the time?

Maybe we should create our own tooth powder from the above safe list?? It might also be healthier and safer.

© M Smith (Veshengro), December 2008
<>

Southcrop Forest – Book Review

2008-12-13T13:08:00.001Z

Review by Michael Smith

Southcrop Forest (Paperback)
by Lorne Rothman
184 pages
Published 2008 by iUniverse, Inc.

This books is for children and young people (and everyone else) from reading level 9-12 upwards
ISBN-10: 0595495885
ISBN-13: 978-0595495887

Part fantasy quest, part natural history, "Southcrop Forest" has recently been named an Award-Winning Finalist for Nature Writing in the National Best Books 2008 Awards, USA Book News.

"Southcrop Forest" is a children's book - and more. It is steeped in nature, science and Canadian history, made accessible through an engaging, Tolkienesque narrative. A menagerie of plants and animals parades across its pages. Threats from urban sprawl and climate change are central to the plot.

"Southcrop Forest" is an animal fantasy, with a young protagonist who faces terrible dangers, daunting tasks, impossible odds and his own fears. But what a strange protagonist. He is Fur, a colony of caterpillars--a single creature, with one voice and one mind made from a collective. And his companion in this story is Auja, a young oak tree.

Auja lives in Southcrop Forest and Southcrop is in danger. Tree civilization is built upon a subterranean communication network - like a worldwide web for trees, a tree Internet. The hubs of this web are the trees' special farms that hold the source of all tree power. And the last farms in Southcrop are about to be destroyed by humans. The farms of Southcrop are unlike any other. They hold a secret treasure, only just discovered - a treasure so great it could change the world for trees everywhere. But Southcrop Forest is a fragment, bounded by highways and sprawl. Since trees can't walk and their communication lines have been cut, they cannot spread their new-found gift across the land.

The adventure begins when Auja discovers little Fur amongst her branches, a legendary creature not seen for a thousand years. Though small and meek, Fur can travel through the forest and communicate with trees. Fur embarks on a desperate quest to gather the trees' great treasure and carry it across Oak River to the forests of Deep Sky. Ghoulish enemies hunt him on his journey of enlightenment as he learns about the ecology of his world, the threat of humans, and finally, the eerie secret of his existence.

Author, Lorne Rothman states, "I wanted to write an exciting, mythical fantasy but one in which all the creatures and places are real. I wanted to pull kids away from their computer screens and help them to see the nature that's all around us." Readers agree he succeeded. "There has never been a book like this," says Bookreview.com "Makes you see nature in a fresh way." And fourteen-year old Ian McCurley, reviewer for Reader Views observes, "Though the book includes many scientific facts, they are expressed in a way perfect for children."

“Southcrop Forest” is a little in the genre of Watership Down and other similar novels and stories but with a twist and this twist is that of the climate problems our Earth is faced with, and we are, ultimately.

While it may be seen as a whimsical story, by some, as we are here having talking trees and a talking colony of tent caterpillars, it is a great educational tool for environmental education of children and young people. While, probably, more suited for those young people that are above elementary school age, I would say that anyone who can read well enough from age 9 or 10 up will definitely enjoy this book and learn a great deal from it,with regards to the environment, natural history and also something about Ontario, Canada.

One could call this book cute, in a way, and I must say that I have enjoyed it immensely and it was one of those where, although you had to, you did not want to have to put it down. You just wanted to carry on reading it to find out how the quest is progressing.

“Southcrop Forest” is an extremely well written book by someone who is able to convey the aspects of science and natural history to the reader through the medium of this story to a great depth, aided by the copious endnotes by the author. Those are very helpful indeed though I – personally – think that they might have been better still as “footnotes” than as “endnotes”, as that would eliminate the going back to the end of the book every so often to check up on the explanations.

I have enjoyed this book immensely and to the greatest extent this book is a page turner, and this becomes especially so towards the last chapters and sections. The reader just wants to know how Fur is going to fare in his quest to save Southcrop Vision and here especially it becomes very difficult to put the books down until one has finished reading.

This is most certainly a book that I can most highly recommend. I am a forester by original trade and I know very much what the author is talking about and I believe that would be most hard pressed to find any other book or text that can explain this all in the same easy way and manner to not just children and young people, even though this book is intended for them.

“Southcrop Forest” should be in as many libraries in Canada and elsewhere as possible, and especially, if they still have them, each and every school library in English-speaking countries and schools.

About the Author

Lorne Rothman holds a Ph.D. in Zoology and studied ecology at the Universities of Toronto, British Columbia and Alberta. He lives in mid-town Toronto, Canada with his wife, two daughters and two cats, under the canopy of one of the finest stands of old growth oak in the city.

© M Smith (Veshengro), December 2008
<>

Environmental protesters get into secure airport area

2008-12-12T19:49:00.001Z

What the h*** happened to the security?

by Michael Smith

When, on Monday, December 8, 2008, environmental activists, gained access to a high security area air side on Stanstead airport in Essex one can only ask as to what the h*** has happened to the security at that airport, whether their own security teams or the police. Was everyone asleep at that time of the early morning?

If that is the security on the air side side of our airports then what is going to prevent a more or less major terrorist attack. If environmental activist – unarmed – except for bolt croppers and such like – can get air side on a more or less major airport, the second-largest airport in the UK in fact.

Not so long ago activists got onto a parked aircraft at Heathrow, Britain's largest airport, and one of the world's busiest and no one had noticed until some of them in fact unfurled a banner on the plane.

I must say that if that is our air side security at airports then all the other security measures are a waste of time and useless and will not make our airports and air travel secure.

While those measures aimed at air travelers inconvenience those traveling by air and make check ins and arrivals and longer process they will not prevent explosives, for instance, being placed on a plane. Not as long as the security on airports remains a joke as it is presently. The problem is that this joke is not funny by a long shot.

All the measures currently in place, as I have said already, do is inconvenience the airline travelers and not the terrorists for all they have to do is get air side, by cutting through a fence a la environmental activists and place a device at the belly, for instance, of a parked aircraft. And, the way security (what security?) is on that side of the airports at the present this is not, despite what we are being told, a difficult undertaking and this should make us really worried.

This is also very much the same as regards to security of the railroad rolling stock. While, for instance, as regards to the Eurostar trains, for example, airport style scanners and security checks are used and now even small penknives are illegal to be taken on that train there is very little stopping any more or less determined person getting near the parked trains and attaching a device to it or getting onto the tracks and sabotaging them.

I know that as much as with cyber security there is no 100% security possible anywhere and it cannot be unless we would surrender all our liberties and freedoms and we, as people, should take some responsibility – in fact the greatest part of it – for our own personal security and that of our families and loved ones, and, to some degree of society as a whole.

However, when we look at the ease that people can get into supposedly secure areas and get onto, as in the instance of Heathrow, a parked aircraft then we must ask what is going on.

One must then also wonder as to whether there really is the threat that we are told is there or are we just being told that so that the powers that be can make things more and more difficult for the ordinary people to go about their daily lives, such as having biometric ID cards (probably with transponders) forced upon them and the threat that any cop may demand to see ID and if no ID carried that one then might find oneself in jail.

If the security is allowed to be as lax as it appears to be then on can but come to the conclusion that in reality there is no such threat as the security services and government keep trying to tell us. If not then the lackadaisical approach taken to the air side security at British airports is criminal negligence and some heads should, nay indeed must, roll, and security must be made nigh on watertight.

As I said already, I know, and I hope that everybody else does too, that there is no such things as 100% security without living in a fortress and giving up all liberties and freedoms, and it would be then that the terrorists and enemies of freedom have succeeded and this we must not allow to happen.

If anyone is supposed to feel secure again flying – I for one would not, then again I do not like flying, period – then air side security must be enhanced and made as good as watertight. No good inconveniencing the passengers with all those checks and searches and restrictions when anyone can just saunter into any airport directly through the fence with bolt cutters and then can do, unmolested for quite some time, what they wish to do. There are many countries in the world where anyone entering such a secure are of an airport would simply be shot by snipers.

I do not think that we would, necessarily, want to have such kind of operations in the United Kingdom, but...

© M Smith (Veshengro), December 2008
<>

Automakers bail out failed

2008-12-12T19:44:00.001Z

by Michael Smith

Washington, DC., December 12, 2008: The bail out desired by the US automobile makers such as GM, Ford, and others did not go through in the US Senate and was rejected.

In the light of this the market has taken a nose dive on Friday, December 12, 2008, and it can only be expected to get worse. This aside from the fact that, if he automakers cannot get finance from other sources, we will be seeing a lot more job losses in the USA, and elsewhere, such as the UK, as this will be having a knock-on effect with the subsidiaries of those companies over this side of the pond, that is to say Ford and Vauxhall, in the UK, for instance.

That kind of direct knock-on effect aside there will be a far great knock-on effect hitting home as well, as an difficulties with the automakers will also affect those companies that supply products to them.

Very much like the toppling dominoes this spells real problems for the economy, and not just for the US economy or that of Britain.

On the other hand, had the US government given the automakers the desired billions then they would have to go and help out others as well.

In the UK and the USA a bailout of the banking system started this all and while the reason for the banking bailout may just about make sense in that a collapse of the banks, and especially more or less the entire banking system, would have crippled not just the economies of the respective countries and much more, other bailouts just do not make sense.

No government, theoretically, can go and say “we bail out the banks and the automakers, but no one else”. That certainly would not go down very well indeed and it is something that cannot be done. Otherwise the likes of Woolworth too, where in the UK alone 30,000 jobs are at stake, also needs to be bailed out and this would then mean each and every business affected would, automatically, qualify for government assistance. That, I do not think, could be done.

Hence, while it may be cruel, aside from the banks no other businesses should be able to even get as far as the automakers did get. There is no limitless supply of money there and we must not even contemplate the idea of printing more money to finance such efforts. It does not work.

As harsh as it may sound, many businesses just have not been very prudent when times were good and have been throwing money about left, right and center to CEOs and the likes. Those people were on salaries of millions and were given annual bonuses in the millions but nothing was invested really into the companies and nothing was laid up “for a rainy day”. While CEOs ended up with salaries in the millions and bonuses in the same region the poor workers were given a pittance compared to those salaries.

It is now, unfortunately, as always, the poor workers who are going to have to take the brunt for it will be them that end up losing their jobs while the fat cats have enough money stashed away to make a lovely retirement without having to worry. But then, what's new about that? Was is not always the same.

There is a depression coming, folks, and it is time to batten down the hatches. Prepare while you still have the funds to do so and, where you can, get a garden going to have at least some food that you can grow.

Also have a look at how you can protect you own assets and what skills you have that can get you some additional finances and skills that you can use for providing for yourself and your family in time of crisis. The crisis which appears to be just over the horizon.

The British PM Gordon Brown and his Chancellor Alistair Darling try telling the people – and the world – that this is only a little recession and that there is no full blown depression looming but to most of us common people, I am sure, it would appear that the dreaded “D”-word is just a short way away.

Be prepared, must be the motto and we must look at what we can do to aid ourselves. No government is going to come along to help. We are already now, in Britain, being prepared for the fact that there is going to be virtually no unemployment benefit going to be paid in due course and that everyone will have to do some slave labor to get the little bit of money that is currently called “job seeker's allowance”, the dole as it was once known as.

The Subotnik idea was spoken about some years back and that is also still in the offing in which every one is supposed to do some forced voluntary work “for the good of the community”. This is, no doubt, going to come to a community near all of us in due course. “Pre-warned is pre-armed”, as the motto of the old Royal Observer Corps used to go.

© M Smith (Veshengro), December 2008
<>

Second-Hand Gifts

2008-12-12T19:25:00.002Z

by Michael Smith

Is buying second-hand gifts is a great way to keep those holiday costs down? Is it acceptable? Is it unacceptable? Is it just plain tacky?

I, for one, do it and think it's fine . . . but one has to put a lot of thought into how one does it. That antique or collectible that would fit perfectly into Aunt Hilda's collection is a go. But that puzzle with the missing pieces? That just is not going to happen and it cannot.

Anything that is broken or chipped, has pieces missing or such like, obviously, is not suitable as a gift, and not just on occasions such as Christmas and such like.

However, in any other cases, I surely think that second-hand should be an option that should deserve consideration.

Personally I never have (much of) a problem with receiving second-hand gifts – in fact I get quite a number of things given to me that way – though there are some things that are not suitable, in the same way as I would not buy them from any second-hand store myself.

Maybe you can encourage your family to embrace a 'second-hand gift exchange'. There are many perfect gently-used or never used things at goodwill, charity shops, garage sales, etc. that just would make the perfect gifts.

Being frugal, whether as regards to gifts or in other ways, does not need to mean being cheap. The way I see it is that it helps the environment by giving this or that item a new lease of life, living with me if someone gives it to me, or the other way round. It means this particular item did not have to be made again just for me to have it; it was there already and someone else had “outgrown” it.

Gifting second-hand only works either if the items really look new and maybe even are – and you can find such things often in charity shops here – with the tags still on them and have the boxes to go with them too, or if they are collectibles or such like. It is different, maybe, for small children.

The other option, in my opinion, is to make gifts – handmade gifts are great – for people rather than buying them, whether second-hand or not. When I was a child handmade gifts were the norm for the winter celebrations, and also on other occasions.

The other thing was when I was a child was hand-me-downs, in clothes as much as in other things, or things that came from thrift stores or such. But that was more or less in general, that is to say not necessarily a gift for the winter holidays or for birthday or such. Then, in general, it was hand made, whether clothes or something else.

Personally, I have no problem either giving or receiving second-hand gifts. This is especially the case with books. I frequent used bookstores and love giving my friends and family a book I think they will enjoy.

I try to never give someone a gift just because I got it at a great price. It needs to be something that person would really enjoy.

I must say that I am rather perplexed by folks who would turn up their noses at a second-hand gift. Besides showing poor manners, it shows an amazing lack of perspective. The world is running low on raw materials. Living like we are all entitled to every brand new thing we want is leading us toward ruin. Christmas has become just an opportunity for businesses to make money. Perhaps instead of shopping we would be better off spending time with loved ones.

I know that the same, as regards second-hand gifts, is true with hand-made. There are people, and especially children of today, that will turn their noses up on that.

I remember to this day when, as a young one of about six or so I got my first pocketknife – I have had a small sheath knife before that but I always had wanted a small pocketknife. This was a second-hand knife that was in great condition and I loved it. I still have it today.

The same was true – though alas I no longer have it – of a slingshot that an Uncle made for me at about the same age. Aside from the fact it was a real nice catapult I loved it because it, to me, showed the person's love for me having made it for me; especially for me.

Unfortunately adults and children, and especially children, today have the entirely wrong conception of things.

You see them in the stores, the children that is, and it goes I want that and I want that and I want that – ad infinitum – and the parents will say yes to every request and, even if they have to go into debt for this, they are stupid enough to buy their kids everything they ask for. We are creating a generation of people who are never going to be satisfied.

Do not hesitate to give a used gift this year. Just take a look at the current economic crisis. You will be sharing with those you love a way that they can save money and live a better, more frugal lifestyle. This is a good way to get conversations going about everything you do that is frugal. The knowledge they gain from this may well be the greatest gift of all this year.

© M Smith (Veshengro), November 2008
<>

How much power the security services

2008-12-09T16:43:00.002Z

by Michael Smith

I am writing this not just with reference to the recent events in the UK but they have given the impetus to this, that is sure.

The question is how much power do the security services of your country have over you. What has recently happened in the UK with regards to a Member of Parliament should not have happened in our supposed free and democratic country and it shows that either the security services have take this power unto themselves or it has been given to them. Either way, it is dangerous and we are headed the same direction, in this case, as the like of the former Rhodesia under the “Mad **** up North” (please replace **** with the term you may see fit), as the Afrikaners say.

What seems to have happened, in all honesty, is that the government of the UK is using the services to snoop on the opposition and also, not to be forgotten, everyone else who may not agree with them, from parties, over journalists, to activist groups and clubs, as well as and especially Bloggers of all colors and persuasions.

Welcome to freedom and democracy a la UK and European Union.

Are you any better in the United States or in Australia? Methinks, not, esp. not Australia where it has come to light that private security agencies, on behest of the govt are snooping on the online activities of all the country's citizens.

The opposition Tory Party in the UK has its offices in the Houses of Parliament and its general offices routinely swept for bugging devices (and some appear to have been found). Apparently the security services have now taken to watching the Tories even. Seems that the Conservative Party is now seen as subversive. Wow! I wonder who else has to watch their backs from now on as to the long tentacles of the Kraken that is the government and the security services.

Who runs the services and who gave them the orders to bug and to go after more or less legitimate activities of MPs, such as making use of leaked documents the exposure of which is in the public interest.

Does anyone really, for one minute, believe that the Security Service (MI5), and Special Branch act entirely on their own in those matters. This has to be authorized at a very senior level, higher than the Commissioner even. So, where does the buck stop in this case or where would the authorization have been issued? Think!

© M Smith (Veshengro), November 2008
<>

Bulldog Ratchet Pruning Shears BD31303 – Product Review

2008-12-09T16:41:00.001Z

20mm cutting diameter ratchet pruning shears

Review by Michael Smith

I have to say that this is the first of those kinds of pruning shears that I ever really have had an opportunity to use and review.

Other manufacturers and vendors for some reason have been more than reluctant, to say the least, to part with one of those for a proper and thorough product review and I leave the reader to draw his or her own conclusions as to the why and wherefore of this.

Bulldog's representatives on IOG Saltex 2008 were more than happy to supply me with one of those and so far I must say that I am quite impressed with this tool.

It took a little while for me to get the proper hang of it as to the best way of using it but once that had been mastered it is just a great piece of kit.

The maximum cutting size, in my opinion, should not be exceeded when cutting hardwoods, whether green or not, such as apply, plum, oak, etc. While it may work alright with slightly larger branch diameters, I must say that I would not recommend doing it.

Once the “trick” of properly using the ratchet is mastered this pair of pruners cuts through quite thick branches without any real effort. Small pruning is best done with the topmost tip of the pruners as it is then just the single snip. This is very good for dead heading of roses and also general small pruning rather than using the cutting jaws further down that then still employs the ratchet, making the cutting process a little slower.

On larger material the ratchet makes cutting virtually effortless and I recently used it to cut back a Willow (Salix) and in this instance cutting material with diameters of 35mm and such without any problems. It must be considered thought that green willow is a rather soft wood.

I also used it to prune some apple trees and in that case I restricted myself to about the maximum given diameter for this pair of pruners and there as well very little effort and strength was needed for the cutting.

From what I have seen so far as to the performance and reliability I can, I think, very much recommend this model of Bulldog's pruners without any hesitation.

Once again another piece of kit that is of fine quality at a very reasonable price.

© M Smith (Veshengro), October 2008
<>

Were the attacks on Mumbai of 11/26 a false flag operation?

2008-12-09T16:39:00.001Z

by Michael Smith

Some sources have suggested that the terrorist attacks on the various targets in Mumbai, India, at the end of November 2008, were not perpetrated by Islamist terrorists from Pakistan (or wherever) but by Hindu extremists, probably in the pay of the Indian government.

A suggestion has been made that the boys were wearing the saffron yellow threads of Hindus and, as far as I have seen from some of the photos that were circulated, some indeed seem to have had those thread “bracelets” on their wrists.

A Muslim commentator mentioning that noted that no Muslim would ever wear such Hindu “regalia”, though I would like to question that, that is to say, I would like to suggest that, in order to pass as Hindus initially, that they might have been wearing them.

However, there are a few other things that make one ask as to whether this is another 9/11, in other words something that may be considered questionable and a possible false flag operation in order to have reason to attack another country or simply to put in force repressive measures against the population.

One of them the fact that local Muslin cemeteries refuse to bury the young terrorists, using the claim that because of what they have done they are not true Muslims. Cemeteries in other Islamic countries, I am sure, would line up for the honor to busy those martyrs.

Now the latest twist came in at the fist weekend in December in that one of the men the authorities have arrested; one of them who has bought the SIM cards for the cell phones, is in fact a undercover officer of the security forces.

The plot thickens, I would say, and the claims by some Pakistani Bloggers and even some Pakistani politicians begin to no longer look like the claims of cooks.

The question now is, like with 9/11, what has really happened and what is going on behind the smokescreen right now.

We have had the same strange things happen in the UK with 7/7, where there were very strange things happening at the same time, such as the “paper exercise” of the security services that was dealing with a terrorist attack, so I understand, at exactly the very same targets that the 7/7 bombers did attack. Coincidence? I don't know. I just would like make the old statement here that so many patriots use: I do not hate my country, I fear its government. And the other adage that is so true here as well: God defend me from my friends; from my enemies I can defend myself.

Let use keep vigilant and use discernment in all matters.

© M Smith (Veshengro), December 2008
<>

India apportions part-blame for terror attacks to modern technology

2008-12-06T20:13:00.001Z

by Michael Smith

After the horrific attacks by terrorists on hotels and other targets in the city of Mumbai (Bombay), India, on November 26, 2008, the hysterical online press tried to partially blame modern technology for the fact that the attacks were made possible.

It is, apparently, the fault of the GPS systems and satellite telephones that it was possible for the terrorists to attack those targets in Mumbai with impunity. Doh?

I mean ,folks, let's be serious, this is like claiming the knife jumped out of its sheath and attacked the person that was stabbed, for instance. Help!

A few days after the attacks various online media outlets knew immediately why it was at all possible for the terrorists to attack. On board of the ship that the terrorists may have used – nothing certain as yet on that – to come to India GPS maps and a satellite telephone have been found and it, therefore, obvious that modern technology must shoulder a large part of the blame for this attack having become possible. Wow!

And, in addition to that the email system is also at fault for it made it possible for the "Deccan Mujahideen" after the attacks to send messages to all the news agencies claiming responsibility. It is being claimed that the emails could be traced back to have originated in Russia,. Oh dear. Now there is Russian involvement there as well, is there?

Obviously, had modern technology not existed those attacks would not have happened. That, at least, appears to be some of the reasoning of those so-called journalists.

On the other hand, there are some that put even different angles on this tragic events but...

Some security officials apparently have said that the use of emails by terrorists is by now so common and widespread for them to use this medium to be able to spread their poison far and wide across the globe. I guess that the powers that be will – next – try to stop us using emails or they will claim that they must be able to have the rights to snoop on our email traffic (not that they are not doing this already).

In addition some of the same experts have said that the situation appears that that terrorists can use, without any problems and restrictions, use satellite phone or a Micro-Blogging System as aids for his terrorist activities. So, the experts say, we must now look at how to keep those high-tech tools out of the hands of terrorists. Oh dear!

Now how do they think that is going to be feasible? Only if they make the use of emails and such illegal or by monitoring all the emails that you and I, who are not terrorists, send across the world, whether for business or other reasons. In addition to that, I am certain, they would like to censor all Blogs and Bloggers. That would suit the authorities anyway, would it not.

We only need to look with regards to Blogging to Italy where the courts have, basically, ruled that Blogging is illegal, and that Bloggers require a government permit.

© M Smith (Veshengro), December 2008
<>

SWAT Team like raid by Ohio authorities on a farm house in LaGange

2008-12-06T20:06:00.000Z

By Michael Smith

According to the Christian Worldview Network authorities in the State of Ohio stormed a farm house in LaGange on Monday, December 1, in order to execute a search warrant, holding the Jacqueline and John Stowers and their son and young grandchildren at gunpoint for nine hours.

During the raid the Ohio Department of Agriculture and police confiscated over ten thousand dollars worth of food, computers and cell phones. The Stowers’ crime? They run a private, members-only food co-op.

While state authorities were looking for evidence of illegal activities, the family was not informed what crime they were suspected of, they were not read their rights or allowed to make a phone call. The children, some as young as toddlers, were traumatized by armed officers interrogating the adults with guns drawn.

The Morning Journal, a newspaper serving northern Ohio, reported that the Stowers were believed to be operating without a license. However, the Stowers claim that the food co-op they run does not engage in any activities that would require state licensing.

Friends of the Stowers openly question why such aggressive tactics were necessary to investigate a licensing complaint.

The Ohio Department of Agriculture has apparently been chastised by the courts in previous cases for over-reach, including entrapment of an Amish man to sell raw milk, which backfired, when it became known that the man gave milk instead of selling it to a state undercover agent, refusing to take money for what he believed to be a charitable act. The Amish literally interpret the Gospel of Matthew (5:42) to “give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.”

The matter has been forwarded to the Lorain County Prosecutor’s Office and the Lorain County General Health District according to Lorain County court records.

What we can see here is the state, yet again, taking things way too far but then, thus is the nanny state.

Many Americans keep accusing us in Britain of living in a nanny state and allowing it to be thus. The truth is that it is no different in the USA and the more I see of that country the more I can but say “be afraid, people, very afraid, of your government”.

It would appear that running a private, members-only food co-op is seen as “hoarding food” and hence as a felony. Or haven't you realized that it is, in fact, illegal in the eyes of the law enfarcement and such like, to stockpile food; at least more than the recommended 72hour or such amount?

While there may be no actual law, in most states, or other ordinances, against the stockpiling of food, to those in authority people who are self-sufficient and independent in food, water and other things, and who can, hence, not be easily controlled, are an anathema and something that just must not be. Hence the raids on people who have a large amount of food and supplies stored.

Let's face it. This is not the first raid of this kind in one or the other state. We can but wonder what is going to be next on their list. Oh. Yes, rain water harvesting, something that is becoming now a legal requirement in the UK with new houses, is, BTW. You may not, in many places in the USA, collect rainwater from your roofs and such. It is a felony.

And you thougth you were free. Think again!

© M Smith (Veshengro), December 2008
<>

Private Web spies monitor activists online for Australian police and attorney-general

2008-12-02T15:53:00.001Z

God defend me from my friends – from my enemies I can defend myself

by Michael Smith

A private intelligence company has been engaged by police in Australia to secretly monitor internet and email use by activist and protest groups, according to a report.

The company was hired by Victorian Police, the Australian Federal Police and the federal Attorney-General's department to monitor and report on the internet activities of anti-war campaigners, animal rights activists, environmental campaigners, and other protest groups.

The Melbourne-based firm has for the past five years monitored websites, online chat rooms, social networking sites, email lists and bulletin boards, so says the report, and has gathered intelligence on planned protests and other activities, and even though many, if not even the majority, of those on the watch list have broken no laws.

Welcome to the fascist Dominion of Australia. Then again, it would appear that the mother country, Britain, is headed the same way, with the security services running roughshod over all civil liberties possible. Is this a sign of things to come?

This private intelligence company has also prepared threat assessments and intelligence reports for government agencies that included material from media reports, speeches, academic journals and publicly available company data, but no private correspondence, so it is claimed, was monitored.

As to the latter I would, personally, be very dubious. If they go as far as they have gone the chances are that they may have gone further still but that this is more secret than other things.

The company was not named at the request of its management for fear extremists may target the firm.

The news comes a month after Victorian police were found to have targeted community and activist groups in a long-running covert operation.

So much for the claims of freedom and liberties in Australia. If that is freedom and liberty then I would not want to see what happens should they change tack.

There is one difference between Australia and the UK and that is that in Australia it seems to be easier to find out those things that the services are up to compared to the UK. In the latter place the law and the culture of secrecy makes getting such information very difficult indeed, despite of the “Freedom of Information Act” and if they can claim that they are monitoring suspected terrorists then, well, no chance of getting info and anything that ends up leaked and then published could get one killed.

© M Smith (Veshengro), November 2008
<>

St John's Wort “as good as Prozac”

2008-10-10T16:09:00.001Z

by Michael Smith

Despite many claims made to the contrary by what one could called “standard mainstream medicine” and their representatives, especially and including the pharmaceutical industry, as regards to herbal medicines, a recent study by German scientists has found that St John's Wort (Hypericum) may be as good as an anti-depressant as Prozac.

According to this study the herbal extract is as effective as the drug and has fewer side effects. As far as my own experiences go with herbal medicines there are very few, if any, what could be called side effects, whatever claims to the contrary are being made by the ordinary practitioners mainstream medicine and especially the pharmaceutical industry.

German researchers found that St John's Wort is also a match for other old and new anti-depressant pills.

While, I am sure, we can all understand the reasons for the pharmaceutical industry poohpoohing herbal and other alternative medicine why this is being done by the general practitioners in countries such as the UK and the USA is something that should give food for thought. In other countries, such as in the Netherlands, it is common for a GP to prescribe homeopathic and herbal alongside the conventional treatments.

There is but one problem, however, and that is the fact that products containing Hypericum perforatum vary greatly. This means that some may be more effective than others. Is that a good reason, though, to take the standard drugs and to be faced with the side effects, such as those of Prozac that seem to be rather dangerous? Personally, I think not.

Many of the readers, I am sure, will not surprised as to the fact that Hypericum has been “cleared”, so to speak, and has even, to some degree, elevated above the drugs, like Prozac.

So, let's her it for plant extracts and herbal medicines...

© M Smith (Veshengro), October 2008
<>

East Tennesseeans switching to firewood to save money

2008-09-24T18:42:00.000Z

In order to save money this winter, some residents of East Tennessee are switching to firewood for their heating

by Michael Smith

One resident of the State who decided last year to switch solely to firewood instead of using propane gas to heat his home says that it cost him about $350 for the wood to warm his three-bedroom, two-bath house and with energy prices even higher this year, it is something he certainly will continue. He reckons that with the rate then it has saved him $600 and with the ever increasing prices it will be even more so. Others are looking into the old-world energy source as well.

Aside from the fact that it is, more than likely and especially if one has access to a cheap source of wood, a cheaper way to heat a home (and whatever else) than using gas or oil and even coal, it is also much more environmentally friendly. Burning wood is, basically, carbon neutral for the only carbon released is that that the wood used in order to grow and mature.

Many, like the Tennessee resident mentioned, in that State and elsewhere, and not in the USA alone, made and are making the switch to heating and even cooking with wood because of the
skyrocketing prices for gas and other sources of heat and cooking source.

Having said before that the saving that was made by this particular resident was $600 and that with the increasing costs of gas and oil it may be even more in the future we can, though, of that I am sure, be certain that the price of firewood is going to go us as well as demand increases.

Soaring energy costs and threatened scarcity of some fuels like home heating oil this year have led more homeowners to seek alternative sources for heat, and as a result, both seasoned firewood and some supplies of wood-burning stoves are expected to be in short supply.

The demand for wood-and-pellet burning stoves has caused local sales to increase this year, and already firewood sales have taken off about a month early.

The owner of Ben's Firewood in Knoxville said that while they normally start the winter season around October this year it has already started. People are apparently so worried that things are going to get worse, so they are lining up before it gets too bad.

The push for alternative home heat has largely been driven by the Northeast, where the price of heating oil, still the primary method for home heating, has soared. The average household is projected to spend more than $2,500 this winter, according to the Energy Information Administration, a 30 percent increase from last year. And even with crude oil prices - which factor largely into the price of heating oil - falling to a six-month low recently, the price of heating oil was still just under $3 a gallon, its lowest price since early March. Prices once were projected to hit as high as $4 a gallon.

The Knoxville wood- and coal-burning cook stove company already is backlogged on its most popular item, the Torridaire coal heater, a stove that requires no electricity. Stove sales are typically higher after natural disasters, such as Hurricane Katrina, and when economic times are a little rough.

Sales also are up for many firewood dealers - business is up 40 percent in many cases - and the true firewood season has not even begun yet.

But the seasoned wood, or wood that has been dried naturally for about eight or nine months, is quickly becoming in short supply, since it has to be cut around March in order to be ready for winter months.

Kiln wood, or wood that is accelerated through the drying process by sitting four or five days in a 190-degree oven, also is limited based on how much that kiln can produce.

There are, on the other hand, woods that can also be burned green and some burn better and hotter green than seasoned and those are beech and birch. Where they are in ample supply things should not be too bad.

A full cord of seasoned wood will replace about 300 gallons of diesel fuel for heating a home while green wood would only replace about 225 gallons. The difference is water content - the more water that's in the wood, the more water you have to burn off before you get any heat. But even burning green wood is still cheaper than any other energy source.

The most important part in all of this is, however, and this must be observed, that the wood comes from well managed and renewable sources and that it is replanted.

In the UK, if would go back to firewood, and in many places we certainly could and even should, nay, let me rephrase that, must, the coppice woodlands could, once again, come into their own and new ones can and must be planted.

Coppicing, I am certain, could also be done in other countries and environments, such as in the United States.

Wood shortages will, no doubt, occur, especially in the places where it is more used such as in the rural areas of the USA and elsewhere, especially shortages of seasoned wood. Another source of firewood that should not and must not be overlooked for those that need to watch pennies is waste lumber from building sites. The only worrying aspect here could be the release of certain chemicals that were used in the wood, as some building lumber, even if only used for shoring up, is treated.

There is a lot to consider when deciding to switch to alternative heating, such as buying a wood- or coal-burning stove, but many of them do burn more efficiently and cleanly than they did in the 1980s. While there will be more cost up front for a stove, most mid- to lower-level priced stoves should pay for themselves in about two or two and a half years.

As for firewood, it is recommended buyers check references of dealers and be sure to have their chimneys swept at least once a year.

If you have got any amount of land or access to land, and a chain saw, you have basically an inexpensive fuel. A lot less expensive than fuel or gas or electricity.

© M Smith (Veshengro), September 2008
<>

The Romani People's Mokadi Law is right after all – proven yet again

2008-09-09T20:37:00.003Z

by Michael Smith

Many Gohja believe that if some piece of food falls onto the floor and has been there for five seconds or less – the so-called “five second rule” - it can still be eaten and is entirely safe. They also believe that the Romani Mokadi code's rule of throwing away food that has fallen on the floor and not eating it is superstition and such.

However, yet again, much as with the case of not having dogs and cats indoors, science has proven that our Ancient Ones were right in the first place. There is no safe time with food falling on the ground.

It is probably not safe to eat anything that has been on the floor for even one second. In a recent experiment, food scientists contaminated several surfaces with Salmonella. They then dropped pieces of bologna and slices of bread on the floor for as little as five seconds and as long as a whole minute. In the five seconds, both the bread and the bologna picked up an alarming 1,800 types of bacteria. So unless sterilize someone's floor is sterilized and I mean sterilized on an hourly basis it is not safe in any way to eat anything that has fallen onto the floor. The same applies for anything that your shoes may have touched, too.

So, once again proof that the Mokadi Code given to us by our Ancient Onces is as valid today as it was in the days of yore. Hence, once again, we should live by it still and continue to do so.

What is the most amazing part, in my view, is that our Old Ones knew this without having the science to prove it. We do have, I know, all the means of sterilizing cutlery and such like so they do not, maybe, have to be thrown after having accidentally fallen onto the floor or the earth. Food, however, is a different kettle of fish, so to speak, and this does not just apply to fish, and with the food poisoning bacteria it can pick us to quickly by falling on the ground it just is not safe to eat anything that has thus fallen and come in possible contact with contamination.

We can now but wonder how much else is in that ancient knowledge transmitted to us via the old codes, such as the Mokadi Law, which science will, sooner or later, prove to be right and valid still to this very day. Very good reason, methinks, to keep living by it.

© M Smith (Veshengro), September 2008
<>

Plant Minder - Product Review

2008-08-27T09:04:00.001Z

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

Clay Pot Irrigation, also known as olla irrigation, is used in many regions of the world including Asia and Latin America, and only more recently in the US in places like New Mexico.

Clay pot irrigation is an effective and low cost and minimum effort method of watering plants, whether in containers of in beds, and the technique is simple as well.

In principle all you do is to take an unglazed clay vessel and bury it in the ground up to the rim. Pour water into the pot and let osmosis do its thing. OK, maybe it is not that simple, but that is how it, basically, works.

There are a few factors to take into account such as the porosity of the clay pot or olla and the surrounding soil as well. The porosity of the vessel depends on the type of clay used, but unless you specifically purchase an olla or make your own clay pots, this factor might be out of your hands. In other words, it may probably not be advisable to use any old unglazed clay pot. In addition, the soil should ideally be well drained. Add compost or organic matter, or sand if needed. Ensure that it is enough to allow water to percolate from the clay pot to the soil and then to the plant root zones.

If you are planning on irrigating a vegetable garden, place each clay pot or olla about 3 feet apart and plant your crops around each olla. Fill the olla with water every week or so, depending on rainfall.

With the Plant Minder from Feed N Leave Ltd. in the UK, on the other hand, you don't have to worry as to whether you top up the container often enough. Checking whether there is still water in the green (blue in the diagram) “bubble” will do the trick.

Plant Minder is the modern way of clay pot irrigation and the principle is the same but it takes it a little bit further in that you fill a green plastic “bubble” - for lack of a better word - with water, turn it upside down into the clay “pot” rather than just fill up the pot with water. This prevents evaporation and also any debris falling into the pot and the water in it. Works brilliant.

A variety of different porosities are available, including for those kind of plants that are rather thirsty, such as tomatoes.

Plant Minder are entirely UK made with the clay pots made in the old pottery areas of Staffordshire.

I have a review sample of the Plant Minder installed in a pot with a newly planted lemon balm plant and I have got it in the pot for the last month or so and, while the plant is growing extremely well, the water i still half full in the green “bubble” which means that very little water, has so far been used from the clay pot. This may also be due to the fact that we have a rather wet summer this year – yet again, much like last year – but the pot does not really get that much rain water.

All I can say is that this system is a real great idea and invention and I can but recommend it to anyone, especially those of us who garden in containers, whether fruit and vegetables or just flowers.

Depending on condition and such it is reckoned that Plant Minder only will need refilling once every six weeks. That does not mean that you do not have to check on it as to whether it may need filling. As long, however, there is water showing in the green plastic globe then you still have more that enough water in the clay pot to water the plant or plants.

Plant Minder is available from PlantMinder.com in the UK and from a variety of garden centers and other such outlets.

© M Smith (Veshengro), August 2008
<>

Legal & General offers Brits ten top security and safety tips in support of National Home Security Week

2008-08-23T17:45:00.002Z

Legal & General is encouraging Brits, in support of this year’s National Home Security Week, which runs from 23rd to 29th August 2008, to ensure they check their home security and safety. This would appear to be particularly important as a previous Legal & General online survey, ‘Safe as Houses', revealed that although we’re very good at putting home security features in place we’re not so good at checking that they are still working.

Research highlighted that although more than eight in ten, 84%, have smoke alarms in their homes and that almost one in three, 30%, have installed a security alarm, worryingly over 50% admitted that they have never checked their security alarm.

Elaine Parkes, Head of technical services, at Legal & General’s general insurance business commented: “Our research showed that while many Brits have installed security and safety devices to protect their homes, many are not as vigilant as they should be in carrying out regular checks that they actually work.

So, to help prompt people to carry out these important checks we have prepared the following security tips to hopefully encourage more people to make a conscious effort to ensure their homes are safe and secure.

Top ten home security and safety tips

Check your burglar alarm works or consider installing one if you don’t have one already. These should be regularly checked in accordance with the installer’s or manufacturer’s recommendations, which normally suggest annually.
At least every month check that smoke alarms are clear of any dust and that the batteries are working.
Check locks fitted to all accessible windows are in working order, particularly those that may not have been opened for a while.
Make sure your shed and any other outbuildings are secure. This may mean replacing any locks that have rusted and repairing or replacing any rotten or damaged window frames.
Check trees and shrubs for storm and wind damage so they are not likely to fall on the house and cause any damage.
Clean out your kitchen oven extractor hood to remove any oil build up to reduce the risk of fire.
Clean tumble dryer filters and exhaust duct and the area under the dryer to reduce risk of fire and flood.
Check the roof for any missing tiles or cracks in roofing felt and that the guttering and* drains are undamaged and clear of any debris.
Check brickwork for any cracks.
Check gutters for any debris collections or animal or wasp nests.

Legal & General has also prepared a special guide, Safeguarding Your Home which outlines in more detail how people may protect and safeguard their home and possessions. The guide is available to download at www.legalandgeneral.com/safeguard

More details on the National Home Security Week are available at http://www.homesecurityweek.co.uk

Source: FD Consumer Dynamics
<>

Plastic Lids from Coffee Jars

2008-08-17T07:54:00.001Z

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

The lids from glass coffee jars of the instant coffee variety, such as Nescafe, and others, which more often than not are of plastic, and of a kind of plastic that, so I understand, is not easily recyclable via local authority recycling schemes, for instance, can be easily re-purposed and recycled into nice and useful little dishes for a number of different uses.

Once the paper seal, that is, invariably, found stuck, by one means or another, in the top, is removed and the lid cleaned such lids can be used for a number of tasks, from holding paper clips, rubber bands, or drawing pins on the desk, to be used as individual serving dishes for peanuts, raisins, or other small snack of this kind. They also make great “small change” trays and such like. With some lateral thinking, I am am sure, we can all come up with a lot more uses for them.

The lids from the larger glass jars are, obviously, better suited for the use as serving dishes, though all sizes, I am sure, can be recycled into some use around the home and office and even the workshop.

The jars themselves, with lids, also have their uses, as our grandfathers and grandmothers sure could tell us. I am sure that many of us will have seen grandpa's workshop with those glass jars full of nuts, bolts, screws, nails, or whatever else, or grandma's button collection in jars. Other uses of glass jars shall come to be mentioned in another little article, with and without lids. Here the main issue, is and was, the plastic lids, and this primarily because they cannot, in most cases be recycled and even if we would send our jars to recycling the lids would still end up in landfill sites. Aside from the fact that it would be a shame of them filling up those sites it would be a shame to waste them.

© M Smith (Veshengro), August 2008
<>

Homemade window glass and mirror cleaner

2008-07-30T15:43:00.001Z

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

Make your own glass cleaner, and get beautiful, streak-free windows for little money.

You will need only two ingredients and one further item:

White vinegar
Water
A spray bottle

You fill the spray bottle with equal parts vinegar and water and then you use it as you would any other glass cleaner.

The benefits of using vinegar as a glass cleaner are that it inexpensive, contains no harsh chemicals or fumes (though the smell of vinegar is not everyone's cup of tea), it effectively removes fingerprints and other window grime and it does not leave streaks.

It is generally recommended that, for safety, you do not reuse empty cleaner bottles, as the vinegar can react with the residue of the chemicals that were in that bottle previously. Ideally you should buy a new bottle for your glass cleaner. I must say here though that I just thoroughly wash such a bottle and then use water in it a couple of times before I use it for anything else. I, fir instance, have used such spray bottles for use with washing up liquid for black fly and such on beans, etc.

Also, always label the contents of your cleaner bottles, regardless of what cleaner they may contain, and always keep out of the reach of children and pets.

A special word of warning here: Many recipes for glass cleaners that can be found on the Internet contain ammonia and/or isopropyl alcohol. Those ingredients are, so it is said, poisonous when swallowed or inhaled in large quantities. Ammonia is a very nasty substance that, while it has been used in cleaners for a long time, inhaled or ingested is poisonous, as said. Not something that is very safe to have around and definitely not safe for the environment.

© M Smith (Veshengro), July 2008
<>

BRITONS BITE INTO BYO SANDWICHES AND “FAKEAWAYS” AS THE CREDIT CRUNCH CONTINUES

2008-07-28T19:07:00.000Z

Plastic sandwich box sales up 36% and sandwich bag sales up 25% at Sainsbury’s as DIY lunches increase in popularity
Trend reflects increasing tendency to check and use what’s in the fridge to make financial and environmental savings
National poll shows collapse in household expenditure on the £5.2 billion takeaway sector, with 52% of us cutting back or no longer buying them

British consumers are embracing the art of the “bring-your-own” (BYO) lunch culture in an effort to save money during the working week.
Sales of plastic sandwich boxes at Sainsbury’s are up 36% year on year and sandwich bag sales are up 25%.
The figures are released as evidence suggests that we are turning to our fridges and store cupboards in an effort to economise and reduce unnecessary food waste, and this certainly is not a bad idea.

Alison Austin, Environmental Manager at Sainsbury’s, said: “The cost of a homemade sandwich, using ingredients from the fridge and bread from the breadbin, is substantially lower than the prices at sandwich chains. Buying the ingredients on the weekend and planning ahead or using leftovers can save a huge amount.”

It is about time that people came to realize that they are being ripped off by the sandwich chains and sandwich bars and cafes. The cost of £1.90 and more for a simple Cheese & Onion Sandwich to me is not just excessive; it is daylight robbery.

A block of Basics Full Flavor Cheddar at Sainsbury's costs about £3.00 from which I can make an awful lot of cheese sandwiches. Add to that the cost of two slices of good quality bread and a couple of slices of onion and each sandwich would be probably less than 50pence, if that.

Britons who buy their lunch each day are likely to be spending as much or more as they would if they made their own lunches for a fortnight. For less than the cost of a £2.95 sandwich and £1 fruit juice, it is possible to buy enough food to make sandwiches for two for a week, as the following table shows. If leftover ingredients are used, the price effectively falls to zero.

According to the most recent available figures from the British Sandwich Association the market for commercial sandwiches in the UK is worth nearly £5 billion, with approximately 2.7 billion sandwiches bought outside the home each year.

YouGov research for Sainsbury’s also reveals that the Friday and Saturday night call to the takeaway is becoming increasingly rare as the DIY trend extends to other eating habits as the credit crunch bites. Instead, Britons are using what they have, supplemented with bought ingredients to make “fakeaways” - homemade curry, Chinese or pizza.

More than half (52%) of those polled for Sainsbury’s said that they had reduced significantly the amount that they spend on takeaway food or stopped entirely since the beginning of the year. More than a third (37%) have cut back their expenditure and 15 percent said that they have stopped buying takeaways altogether. The most recent ONS statistics revealed that Britain spends nearly £100 million per week on takeaways.

28% said that they now routinely use leftover meat and vegetables in curries and 26% use leftover vegetables in Chinese-style stir fries. Around one in four (22%) is more likely to make good use of leftovers as a direct result of the credit crunch and 20% said that they now throw away less food.

Sales of key ‘fakeaway’ ingredients are up at Sainsbury’s this year as households try to emulate Indian, Chinese and Italian restaurant tastes for a fraction of the cost. Vindaloo curry paste sales are up 33% year on year, plain poppadums are up 47%, light coconut milk is up 14% and Peshwari naans are up 16%.

Alison Austin added: “Fakeaways are here to stay. They’re created for a fraction of the cost of traditional takeaways, you know what’s going into them and they use up food that would otherwise be chucked out and sent to landfill.”

Alison continued: “A staggering third of all the food we buy is thrown out, according to recent research, so what tastier way is there to tackle an environmental problem and save a lot of money? Leftover vegetables and meat are ideal ingredients for curries, and pizzas lend themselves to a huge range of toppings. Cooking fakeaways at home is great fun and is the perfect way to love your leftovers.”

Better value Indian and Chinese ready meals, which were recently praised for their relatively low fat content by Which?, are also growing in popularity, reflecting the savings they offer over conventional takeaways. Sales of Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference pizzas are up 513% year on year.

Sainsbury’s five step guide to the fakeaway habit:

Curries by their nature are a mixture of meat and vegetables. This makes bowls of leftovers from the fridge a perfect source for curry ingredients.
Many leftovers are perfect for pizza toppings – leftover cheese, tomatoes, peppers, onions and mushrooms are perfect toppings, as are most meats. Always keep a box of ready-made pizza bases in the freezer.
Most vegetables are also great ingredients for a Chinese-style stir fry.
Keep a jar of stir fry sauce and pasta sauce in your cupboard for easy suppers on the go.
Freeze any leftover tomato-based pasta sauce – it makes a great pizza topping.

by 1238.com and Michael Smith (Veshengro), July 2008
<>

Grow your own small vegetable garden

2008-07-25T20:18:00.000Z

Even the smallest space can produce plenty of vegetables, even a patio can

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

I am no market gardener, that's for sure, and I have varied success with my own small garden in that fashion but that is due to the location and the fact that I get overrun by slugs and snails and also the squirrels and pigeons think that my garden is a feeding station for them. Well, it is not but try telling them that.

Also, I must add that I am not the most consistent home gardener, as I am often too busy with writing material for the many magazines that I own and edit.

However, while I doubt that most families could become entirely self-sufficient (then again, is complete self-sufficiency even possible?) in the suburbs on their patio and/or small part of garden that they are often only willing to sacrifice for food growing, the food thus grown can go someways towards reducing food miles and costs.

Obviously, the bigger the area the more food you can grow. But, having said that, lots can be done in a small space. This was shown at the “Grand Designs Live” exhibition with the small garden that was shown there and also in other places. It is possible.

If you do not want to build raised beds with timber, bricks or whatever, then there are nowadays a couple of companies that produce “clickable” plastic siding that make then up a raised beds. But be warned! They are not cheap but they will last nigh on forever, unlike timber.

However, there are many other options for building a small garden – I mean other than digging up the ground. On a patio you would not and could not do that anyway. So, here comes “container gardening”.

There are containers and there are containers for gardening, obviously, From the old style terracotta put and tub to the plastic ones and everything else. You do not even have to go and buy such containers, as they can often be found thrown away. Old washing-up bowls can be used, the pots that contained trees from nurseries, the barrels that contained cooking oils – cut in half makes two – and many more. In addition to that there are the large bags in which building sands and the likes comes nowadays. Fold over the sides and – voila – one square raised bed of rather some depth.

The tubs presently mentioned all – bar the containers that once will have had trees in them – will require holes for drainage drilled into the bottom. I handle that quite simply and quickly here; a few shots of target practice with a .22 air rifle and, well, drainage holes. Who said they had to be x-amount of millimeter in size and perfectly round?

That is container gardening on the cheap, basically. It beats – in cost at least – any store bought tubs for plastic tub/container gardening.

In addition to that there are other containers that can be employed as well. Know of an old bathtub, whether iron (well, they are worth money...) or fiberglass? They too make great planters for vegetables.

There have been articles around about the advantages of growing your own vegetables and in them it is pointed out that not only do people waste less food by being able to go pick fresh vegetables when they need them, but the cost of having a small garden compared to buying fresh produce from the grocery store can save us all a lot on food.

So, what's stopping you?

© M Smith (Veshengro), July 2008

Growing potatoes in biodegradable cardboard boxes

2008-07-16T12:46:00.000Z

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

Growing potatoes in raised beds works well but building a raised bed can be costly and requires hard work. An easy to build, inexpensive, useful and attractive alternative for growing of potatoes can be had by using cardboard boxes.

Because of the hard work of building raised beds and the cost of it I decided to use the existing beds for other crops rather than potatoes and left growing potatoes out for a couple of years.

However, this year I came up with the idea of cardboard boxes, in lieu of the potato patio planters which are rather costly to the tune of about US$35 around these parts of the world. I am thinking, though, of maybe building my own (oar maybe I can find a manufacturer who would like me to review a couple of them). So, I have took two boxes that I had lying about, lined them up in the garden and planted potatoes in the bottom of the box using a soil mixed with mild potting compost. As the potatoes grew, I have added more soil. So far they are growing beautifully but we don't know as yet as to how good they are producing and as to whether it works at all, though there seem to be some small potatoes already to be had.

Such boxes are free, can be quite attractive and will bio-degrade and compost at the end of the season. New ones can be set up the following year and years in different parts of the vegetable garden to help rotate the crops. The top flaps of the boxes can be closed to protect the tender plants from a late frost. It is easy to build up soil around the growing potatoes; harvesting is also easy. You can either reach in for new potatoes, or you can peel the rotting sides away at the end of the season.

It is important to consider that as with all container planting you may need to check a little more on the watering.

So, why not grow your spuds in cardboard planters? No cost (for the planters, I mean) and at the end of the useful life of the “planter” it will compost to soil.

© M Smith (Veshengro), July 2008

Birthday party snub sparks debate

2008-07-01T19:26:00.000Z

Another good reason for, where it is permitted, to homeschool.

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

An eight-year-old boy has sparked an unlikely outcry in Sweden after failing to invite two of his classmates to his birthday party.

The boy's school says he has violated the children's rights and has complained to the Swedish Parliament.

The school, in Lund, southern Sweden, argues that if invitations are handed out on school premises then it must ensure there is no discrimination.

The boy's father has lodged a complaint with the parliamentary ombudsman.

He says the two children were left out because one did not invite his son to his own party and he had fallen out with the other one.

The boy handed out his birthday invitations during class-time and when the teacher spotted that two children had not received one the invitations were confiscated.

"My son has taken it pretty hard," the boy's father told the newspaper Sydsvenskan.

"No one has the right to confiscate someone's property in this way, it's like taking someone's post," he added.

A verdict on the matter is likely to be reached in September, in time for the next school year.

Sweden has, as we all know, a very strange set of laws in this department and tries to be so advanced that it is in fact making a mockery of itself.

© M Smith (Veshengro), July 2008

The school bus may not come next school year

2008-06-30T19:55:00.002Z

In the new school year the bus may not make a stop for your kid as high fuel prices force cost-cutting nationwide

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

Families are not the only ones who are examining their driving habits as fuel prices continue to climb. The same applies for municipal governments, police departments and school districts. They are all also tightening their belts, as budgets get stretched by high fuel costs.

In certain suburban areas, school officials are asking children to walk farther to their bus stops so districts can squeeze a few more miles per gallon. In other areas it may be a case that children will be asked to walk to school altogether or to cycle. I am sure that there will be more districts and counties to follow suit soon, as it would not appear that the prices will be going down in the near future. It seems that they will rise still further. The $200 a barrel oil by the end of the decade, e.g. 2010, does not seem all that far off anymore; a notion when mentioned by Dr. Stephen Leep in his book “The Coming Economic Collapse” was laughed off as impossible fantasy.

Read more here...

Free software for all

2008-06-30T19:50:00.001Z

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

Open Source software is the biggest open secret in the IT world.

Open Source software is free, secure, and supported by some of the world's largest software and hardware companies. The software they will be promoting includes OpenOffice, a complete office suite, Firefox, a secure web browser and Thunderbird, an email and calendar manager. Companies that are committed to open source include Dell, Hewlett Packard, Sun Microsystems and Novell.

Operating systems like Linux and BSD are safe and secure to use and some easier than others. The current one that I find, probably, to be the best is Ubuntu Linux in this regards.

Read more here...

PETA upset after pigeons shot dead at Wimbledon

2008-06-25T19:00:00.000Z

Here we go again with PETA – Wimbledon under fire for pigeon cull

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

The Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Tournament has come under fire from animal activists on the second day of Wimbledon for using marksmen to shoot down dive-bombing pigeons.

The Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Club does “employ” two hawks during the tournament to scare away pigeons who that have become a pest swooping down onto Centre Court and distracting players in the middle of tense matches.

However, the hawks have failed to keep the pigeons away from the players’ lawn and the open-air media restaurant, due to the high number of pigeons in the area, so marksmen were called in to shoot them.

“The hawks are our first line of deterrent”, said Wimbledon spokesman Johnny Perkins, “and by and large they do the job well enough.”

“But unfortunately there were one or two areas where the hawks didn’t deter the pigeons, so it was deemed necessary to take a harder approach,” he explained.

The marksmen were summoned by Wimbledon as pigeon droppings on the restaurant tables were thought to be a health hazard.

The decision to call in the marksmen was condemned as “cruel and illegal behaviour” by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) which complained to the tournament organisers and the police.

“Since the use of marksmen to kill pigeons appears to have been carried out as a first, rather than a last resort, and not out of a concern for public health, but rather because the animals were deemed inconvenient by players, you appear to be in clear violation of the law,” PETA vice-president Bruce Friedrich said.

I do not know where this idiot from PETA comes from – what planet, I mean – but there is no law against shooting pigeons, as they are classed as vermin. It needs nothing to do with public health or whatever. PETA, kindly wake up and also, if possible, return to the planet whence you have come.

Apparently there are always again and again people who have nothing else to do but to involve themselves in needless campaign such as these. It looks like they cannot find anything else that can get them into the news well enough bar things such as the Wimbledon Tournament and pigeons.

I must say and will also do so that, while I am all for the environment and everything ecological, when it comes to pigeons, whether feral, as in rock doves in the cities, or to wood pigeons, as well as to the gray squirrel, that's where it ends and those end up in my freezer.

Does someone out there have the phone number for the marksmen? I'd like to contact them for the pigeons. My freezer could do with filling up and as food is getting a little expensive those would do nicely, thank you.

© M Smith (Veshengro), June 2008

Dump that screen saver

2008-06-24T20:22:00.002Z

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

Dump those flying toasters and endlessly looping slide shows. They may be doing more harm than good.

In today's world the screen saver is no longer needed, and it has not been needed for many years now. Our monitors are no longer the ones that can end up with so-called screen burn or burn in, as the old green and gray ones once did. So, why do you still use a screen saver.

You do not still use a screen saver, do you?

Read more here...
<>

Wood Stoves and Air Pollution

2008-06-24T18:32:00.000Z

Clean Burning Wood Stoves Minimize Health Risks

Many households use wood as a primary heating fuel, while other households use wood stoves and fireplaces as supplementary heating sources. For many people, the sight and smell of wood smoke curling out of a chimney brings back fond memories of hearth and home. Wood is a renewable resource, unlike fossil fuels such as oil, coal and gas, which are non-renewable. In fact, if firewood is harvested in a sustainable way, woodlots can provide an abundant source of fuel for years to come.

Unfortunately, smoke from wood burning stoves and fireplaces can be a significant source of air pollution, negatively impacting public health and the environment. People can reduce the amount of smoke from their wood stoves by choosing low-emissions certified stoves, operating them properly, and using good quality firewood. This will improve combustion efficiency, reduce emissions, help protect public health and the environment, and save fuel costs.

The Problem: Smoke from Wood Stoves is a Public Health Risk

The smoke produced from woodstoves and fireplaces contains over 100 different chemical compounds, many of which are harmful and potentially carcinogenic. Wood smoke pollutants include fine particulates, nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds, dioxins, and furans. Breathing air containing wood smoke can cause a number of serious respiratory and cardiovascular health problems. Those at greatest health risk from wood smoke include infants, children, pregnant women, the elderly, and those suffering from allergies, asthma, bronchitis, emphysema, pneumonia, or any other heart or lung disease.

Fine particulate matter, the very small particles that make up smoke and soot, may be the most insidious component of wood smoke pollution. The most harmful particles are those ten microns or less in diameter (a human hair is approximately 70 microns in diameter). These particles can easily be inhaled deep into the lungs, collecting in the tiny air sacs (called alveoli) where oxygen enters the blood, causing breathing difficulties and sometimes permanent lung damage. The particles are also often composed of harmful substances, such as sulfate, which is acidic, and toxic trace metals like lead and cadmium. Inhalation of fine particulate matter can increase cardiovascular problems, irritate lungs and eyes, trigger headaches and allergic reactions, and worsen respiratory diseases such as asthma, emphysema, and bronchitis, resulting in premature deaths.

Pollution from wood stoves is a particular concern in the winter when cold, stagnant air and temperature inversions limit air movement. Communities located in valleys are more strongly affected. As wood burning increases on cold, clear, calm nights, smoke is unable to rise and disperse. Pollutants are trapped and concentrated near the ground, and the small size of the particles allows them to seep into houses through closed doors and windows.

In addition to its potential health impacts, wood smoke contributes to the unpleasant brown haze we often experience on winter mornings. Regional haze reduces visibility and obscures our enjoyment of scenic vistas.

The Solution: Increasing Wood Stove Efficiency to Reduce Smoke

Smoke from wood stoves is generated primarily by incomplete combustion, which can be caused by a number of different factors related to the wood stove's efficiency. Improving a wood stove's efficiency will improve the combustion process, and thus reduce the amount of smoke and harmful air pollutants released into the air. A wood stove's efficiency is affected by both the design features of the stove and how it is operated and maintained. Here are some ways to improve wood stove efficiency, resulting in less smoke and money savings on wood fuel costs.

Select a clean-burning stove and make sure it is the proper size

When buying a new wood stove, make sure you are purchasing a certified clean burning, more efficient model with design features that promote complete combustion. Wood stove design technologies that are desirable include advanced combustion stoves, catalytic stoves, and wood pellet stoves. Advanced combustion stoves are designed to create the conditions necessary to burn the combustion gases as they go up the chimney. Catalytic stoves contain a catalytic combustor that ignites smoke gases and particles at a lower temperature, resulting in a more complete burn of harmful substances. Wood pellet stoves burn small pellets of compressed wood by-products instead of cordwood. The pellets are fed into the stove through a hopper at a controlled rate, producing a clean optimum burn with low emissions.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) set standards for wood stoves in 1990. Stoves cannot be sold to consumers in the U.S. unless they meet certain emission standards for particulate matter and carry the EPA Emission Certification label. Certified stoves reduce smoke emissions by as much as 90 percent, compared with conventional stoves, and are much more efficient. EPA-certified stoves often include design features that promote secondary combustion aimed at burning off dangerous chemicals and toxic substances before they leave the firebox. Be sure the wood stove you are using is EPA-certified, and if your wood stove is old, consider replacing it with a cleaner, more efficient model if at all possible.

EPA offers advice to consumers for purchasing woodstoves, ranging from considerations relating to installation, operation and maintenance, to determining the best size stove for your heating needs. A wood stove should be the proper size for the area being heated. A stove that is too large or too small will create more pollution.

Make sure your wood stove is properly installed

All wood stoves should be properly installed to ensure tightness, safety, proper draft and efficiency. Improper installation could result in more air pollution, chimney fires, or house fires. Follow the manufacturer's instructions and recommendations for flue size, clearances and connections, and consider having your wood stove installed by a certified installer. Before installation, be sure to check with your local authorities regarding building codes and permits, and notify your fire insurance company.

Choose the proper fuel

The best wood to use in wood burning stoves is air-dried hardwood (oak, beech, maple, elm, ash - not pine), seasoned for six to eight months prior to burning and stored under cover for protection from the weather. Wet or freshly cut ("green") wood is not energy efficient because the heat produced is used to evaporate water, rather than heat the home. The water content of a tree or freshly-cut firewood can be as high as 50 percent, compared with 15 - 20 percent in dry, well-seasoned wood. Burning dry wood produces a more even burn and helps prevent the formation of creosote, a highly-flammable crusty deposit that sticks to the inside walls of your chimney.

The use of properly sized wood pieces is equally important. Wood should be split to a maximum thickness of four to six inches, depending on stove size. This size increases the surface area exposed to flame, resulting in higher burn efficiency.

NEVER burn household wastes such as plastics, color newsprint, diapers, magazines, packaging materials, coated or laminated papers, or painted or treated wood in residential stoves or fireplaces. When burned, these products produce smoke, odors, and release toxic fumes, and the remaining ash may be hazardous. Only dry, untreated wood is acceptable to burn.

Use proper burning techniques

Efficient wood burning requires proper starting, an adequate supply of oxygen, and temperatures high enough to ensure that gases coming off the fire are burned. Start a wood stove fire small at first, with dry kindling or small pieces of clean paper. Once the flames from the kindling just begin to subside, add several small pieces of wood, being careful not to smother the fire. The key to maintaining a good fire is careful control of the air supply. The fire should be small enough for air to get to it, but large enough to be hot and able to be hot and able to burn for hours without opening the wood stove door. Unwanted emissions can be released in the house whenever the wood stove door is opened.

A fire that is burning brightly without visible smoke is a sign of good combustion. Excessive smoke from a chimney in the middle of a burn means the smoke is not being burned in the firebox, but is going up the chimney. Never allow the fire to smolder. Smoldering fires are the worst polluters because they burn at a temperature too low for efficient combustion. The result is more smoke - unburned wood going up the chimney, wasted. This means more air pollution and creosote deposits that could lead to a chimney fire.

In addition to checking the fire and smoke conditions, keep the wood stove properly maintained and check it frequently for leaks. Leaks in a stove reduce its efficiency and cause indoor air pollution. To enhance chimney safety and maintenance, periodically check and clean the stack pipe and chimney. See your local fire officials for more information on maintenance of wood stoves, stacks and chimneys.

Reduce the amount of firewood burned by making your house more energy-efficient

Before installing a wood stove, consider insulating and weather stripping your home to conserve heat. Also, make sure that all doors and windows are properly caulked.

Source: N.H. Department of Environmental Services

P.S. “NEVER burn household wastes such as plastics, color newsprint, diapers, magazines, packaging materials, coated or laminated papers, or painted or treated wood in residential stoves or fireplaces. When burned, these products produce smoke, odors, and release toxic fumes, and the remaining ash may be hazardous. Only dry, untreated wood is acceptable to burn” may be the advice of the agency but in the UK it is now being talked about that we should consider burning waste lumber in power stations and such. Well, as far as I am concerned, of you have a woodburner at home that's where that stuff gets burned as well. M.S.
<>

Make Do and Mend

2008-06-24T18:19:00.002Z

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

This is a philosophy that I grew up with as a child as much as I grew up in hand-me-downs whether this were clothes, bicycles, or what-have-you, and it is one that I have never forgotten. I still practice this philosophy – nowadays known as practical recycling – in various forms to this very day.

Already as a small boy I developed the habit, and it has – unfortunately some of my friends would say – stayed with me, of picking up anything from the streets, the woodland paths, the hedgerows, and so on that might just come in handy. Old nails and screws; nuts and bolts; tools that have been lost or thrown away; old knives; and much more are in that category. Among the knives that I have found there have been knives for the re-working into sheath knives as well as pocketknives with nothing wrong with them; there have been spanners and wrenches, screwdrivers, and many other tools; the list would be far too long to write down.

This habit also applies with me to making use of everything that can be, in one way or another, re-worked into something else, whether this be old and worn Jeans into Ditty/Possibles bags or other things; old kitchen and butcher’s knives into “new” sheath knives. The leather of old boots, shoes and bags will be made into the sheath for such knives and/or into other items such as belt pouches for folding-knives, compass, pocket-watch, and so on. There is only one severe drawback to such a habit and that is the need for a fairly large storage area in your home for all the things ”that might come in handy some day”.

During WWII in England booklets galore were published by the Ministry (and there was a shortage of things but they seemed to have enough paper to produce those official booklets) on the very subject of Make DO & Mend telling people, for instance, of how to change adult clothes into underclothes for children; to convert Dad’s old cotton shirts into nightshirts for the boys, and so on.

The philosophy and attitude of making DO also applied in those days to digging up one’s flowerbeds and “digging for victory” by growing vegetables there instead of flowers in one’s garden. That could also still be a very valuable philosophy today to – instead of filling the garden up with grass and flowers, which may be esthetically pleasing to the eye and all that don’t feed no-one. Growing at least some of one’s own vegetables and such could give one some more cash in one’s pocket. Vegetables can – in actual fact – grown behind say a flowery border in a garden and look quite nice as well. The trees in one’s garden should not be ornamental this or that but fruit trees such as apples, pears, cherries, walnut and hazelnut, and anything else in that league and the ground beneath such trees should be utilized by vegetables and soft fruit such as strawberries. Also grow your own culinary and medicinal herbs in your garden, including such beneficial plants as Aloe Vera. If the weather isn’t suited for growing the latter out-of-doors than grown those in pots in the house. The same can also be done with many other herbs and spices. And if you have no garden to grow your own vegetables and such but live, for instance, in a trailer park with only hard-standing of concrete then you can use various forms of containers such as the raised bed, tubs made of various things such as old bathtubs even, and also old automotive tires. Even fruit trees can be grown in containers.

M Smith (Veshengro), June 2008

The Voluntaryist - Advertisement

2008-06-23T18:13:00.000Z

Fourteen ways to save water in your garden

2008-06-23T18:08:00.001Z

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

It is important, especially nowadays, that we all protect our precious water sources and water resources by using water wisely. This does bot mean, however, that you have to let your yard and garden dry up completely. The trick is to know when to water and how much water to use on the plants and also and especially as well as what to plant and when. The following tips will help you water less often and more effectively.

Please also remember that everything that you put in or on your plants and lawn to make them grow is also going to find its way either onto your skin or into your vegetables, and the excess will go into the groundwater.

Chemicals do not all decompose into meaningless neutral entities. On the contrary rather. If you have not done so already, it might be advisable to make a change t to organic or natural fertilizers and insecticides. They are safer to handle, safer for your pets and safer for your kids, plus they don't contaminate the groundwater.

1./ Plant in the early spring or fall when watering requirements are lower and rains more likely. This gives smaller plants a good start and you don't have to worry about watering as much.

2./ Make sure your sprinkler isn't watering the roof, driveway, sidewalk or, worse yet, the street. Using the kitchen timer is a helpful way to remember to turn the sprinkler off.

3./ Spring is the perfect time to start a compost pile. Compost adds water-holding organic matter to the soil as well as fertilizer, keeps weeds down, reduces landfill waste and water waste from kitchen disposal use.

4./ Put mulch around plants to help keep water from evaporating. It also benefits you by keeping weeds down.

5./ Water your lawn when you notice you leave footprints when walking across it, that's an obvious indicator that it is dry.

6./ Set your mower higher. Longer grass shades itself and keeps water from evaporating.

7./ Use pervious paving options for driveways, walks and patios so your water does not run off into the sewer or retention ponds. Turn downspouts so that they drain away from the house and into bushes and gardens.

8./ Plants that are watered deeply need less frequent watering and send roots deeper, making them heartier.

9./ Group plants with the same watering needs together to get the most out of your watering time.

10./ Plant trees to help lower air and soil temperatures, reducing plant and soil moisture loss. (They also keep your house cooler in summer and warmer in winter.) One word of warning on that, however, and that is that lots of trees around your properly can also make the house dark and the garden too moist and lacking light for proper growing.

11./ Water lawns during the early morning hours when temperatures and wind speed are the lowest. This reduces losses from evaporation. However, in reality you do not, unless your zoning laws require you to do so (and then the authorities should pay you for doing so), have to water grass at all. I know that it gets brown when not watered under semi-drought and full drought conditions, but it reinvigorates immediately once the water returns. So far I have not found any lawn that has gotten brown that did not revitalize after a little rain. My advice would not to waste valuable water on grass. If you think that you have to water your lawns then also remember not to water your lawn on windy days. After all, sidewalks and driveways do not need water. Also avoid over fertilizing your lawn. The application of fertilizers increases the need for water.

12./ Replace worn washers between the spigot and hose to prevent leaking, and use a hose with a shut-off nozzle, which can be used to adjust water flow as needed. And turn off the hose at the spigot instead of at the nozzle to avoid leaks.

13./ Drip hoses and sprinklers work great for large areas, but water small areas by hand to avoid waste. Use a watering can for raised beds and tubs and such, whether those are used for flowers or for growing produce.

14./ Add rain barrels to catch rain off the roof. They are more popular now and are available in many sizes. Many include faucets and attach easily to down spouts.

© M Smith (Veshengro), June 2008

BOGO LIGHT - Advertisement

2008-06-23T18:07:00.000Z

IDEAS FOR A SIMPLER LIFE

2008-06-23T17:57:00.003Z

by Lawrence Marsh

I would like to share with you all some of the thoughts and beliefs that have helped me move toward an even more simple and peaceful lifestyle. I have never been more happy in my life = thanks to these ideas…

1./ A wise man or woman will own as few things as possible. The goodness in people is tarnished by material possessions.

2./ Everything you own, owns you. What you chain to you, you are also chained to it. (This applies to animals, too.)

3./ How quickly we become the servants of our tools (machines).

4./ So many exhaust themselves in their own service – rushing to self-appointed tasks, most of which need not be undertaken in the first place.

5./ Spending is a form of mental illness. It is to be avoided whenever possible.

6./ Love your enemies, for they are your teachers.

7./ A radish does not care what time you get up, animals you own most certainly do.

8./ Everywhere a blade of grass will grow, something else will grow that you can eat or sell.

I still cannot understand the refrigerator debate. I can’t put root crops in it, not tomatoes, nor fresh fruit, nor grain. I buy fresh vegetables, don’t eat meat, and am too old to drink milk. My sister-in-law in Latin America has a refrigerator to show off to the neighbors. When she was gone one day, I looked inside – there was nothing in there but one bottle of Coke. (She’s from the “third world” – she likes fresh food!).
<>

U.S. School District starts to microcip students

2008-06-22T10:01:00.000Z

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

A school district in Rhode Island has announced that it is implementing a pilot program to monitor student movements by means of radio frequency identification (RFID) chips implanted in their schoolbags.

How long until they will be implanted in the child him- or herself? Not long, I should think.

The Middletown School District, in partnership with MAP Information Technology Corp., has launched a pilot program to implant RFID chips into the schoolbags of 80 children at the Aquidneck School. Each chip would be programmed with a student identification number, and would be read by an external device installed in one of two school buses. The buses would also be fitted with global positioning system (GPS) devices.

Parents or school officials could log onto a school web site to see whether and when specific children had entered or exited which bus, and to look up the bus's current location as provided by the GPS device.

And in due course the chip implanted in the child's schoolbag or under his or her skin will also have a transponder, I am sure, that will make it possible to global position the location of the child as and when he or she has left the school bus even. Great – NOT!

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has criticized the plan as an invasion of children's privacy and a potential risk to their safety.

Because the pilot program is being provided to the school district at no cost, it did not require approval from the Rhode Island ethics commission.

M Smith (Veshengro), June 2008

Pea pod soup

2008-06-18T15:27:00.000Z

At one time I thought growing English peas was a waste of time and garden space for what we got back. Now I grow lots of peas since my wife discovered how to make soup from the pods.

In case you would like to try it, here is the recipe.

2 qts green pea pods(pods only)
1 tsp salt
1 onion
1 tsp pepper
2 Cups milk
3 TBSP flour
1 tsp sugar
a little Nutmeg
3 TBSP butter

Wash pea pods, cut into 1' long pieces, boil in water with onion for 1 1/2 hrs. Strain through colander, add pepper, salt, sugar, nutmeg, and milk (which has been scalded). Bring to boil and thicken with butter and flour mixture.

With a sandwich, this is really good, especially on a cold day.

Owen Newman 2008

Farms need emergency plans before disasters strike

2008-06-16T20:11:00.000Z

(Wisconsin) Farmers should have emergency plans before a tornado, fire, or other disaster hits their farm, according to the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation. The Farm Bureau posts a farm emergency plan template on its web site, www.wfbf.com, for farmers to make their own list of emergency contacts, family members and employees, a plan to meet away from the farm in an emergency, and a diagram of their farm.

“When an emergency responder pulls into a farm’s driveway, they may not always be prepared for what they are going to find,” said Casey Langan, Director of Public Relations for the Farm Bureau. “They might not know how grain bins operate, how livestock react under stress, how anhydrous ammonia tanks work and the danger involved with handling the product. Therefore a farm emergency plan should include a description and location of production facilities, livestock and equipment to help minimize the devastating effects of a farm disaster.”

The Farm Bureau said current operational procedures exist for local police, fire and emergency response teams, but many of them may have little knowledge of the workings of a farm. An emergency plan should provide the additional safety information that emergency responders will need.

Farms may have equipment, building structures, livestock bio-security measures, farm chemicals and fuels, power usage and generation, and other aspects of raising livestock and growing crops that require special attention by emergency officials or other important partners who respond to the special needs of farms.

The Farm Bureau is recommending that farm families review and update this emergency list with their family and employees, and to have copies posted near telephones and shared with neighbors and emergency responders.

Items to include in a farm emergency plan:

List of family members, employees or neighbors, who are familiar with your farm business.
List of emergency contacts.
Description of medical history or medical information of family members and employees.
Description of location of the farm and directions from nearest major intersection.
A general diagram of the farm that includes the location of chemical, fuels, livestock, equipment, overhead and buried utilities, etc.
Location of spare keys for vehicles or buildings.
Contact information of businesses providing services such as veterinarian, heavy equipment, electricity, livestock and milk hauling, insurance, financial, etc.
List of suppliers of chemicals, fertilizer, medications, etc.
Contact information of medical care provider.
Telephone grid of farmers to help provide livestock care, emergency feed and water, power, etc.
Safe storage of farm and personal financial information and computer records in fire-proof boxes or off-site safe deposit boxes.
Off-site meeting location and contacts for family and employees to gather following a disaster to assess the situation and coordinate response.

The template of an emergency plan can be found under the “Ag Resources” section of www.wfbf.com.

Source: Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation (USA)

Special Needs Require Special Preparation

2008-06-16T20:01:00.003Z

Do you or a family member have a disability? Will you be responsible for the care of an elderly adult in case of an emergency or disaster? Do you have small children that will need extra supplies and care in the event of a hurricane? If the answer to any of these questions is "yes," then you should consider now what extra steps to take in your disaster plan.

As the 2008 hurricane season begins, all levels of government, from city councils to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency (MEMA), are working to prepare for potential storms that may strike Mississippi in the coming months.

"An aspect of preparedness that cannot be overstated as we continue to focus on recovery here in Mississippi is that of individual preparedness. We should all be prepared and alert as hurricane season is here once again." said Sid Melton, director of FEMA’s Mississippi Transitional Recovery Office (MS TRO).

Residents should be mindful that disaster preparedness is not a "one size fits all" concept. Those with special needs require special preparations.

"It is critical that Mississippi’s most vulnerable residents and their caregivers take the time now to get a plan," said MEMA Director Mike Womack. "They should consider such details as medication and special transportation when planning for the upcoming hurricane season."

General considerations for those with family members with disabilities:

Make prior arrangements with your physician or check with your oxygen supplier about emergency plans for those on respirators or other electric-powered medical equipment. Be sure to have electrical back up for any medical equipment.
Maintain a two week supply of such items as dressings, nasal cannulas and suction catheters.
Maintain a two week supply of medications, both prescription and non-prescription.
Keep copies of your medical records.
Keep copies of prescriptions for medical equipment, supplies and medications.
Keep extra contact lenses and supplies, extra eyeglasses and extra batteries for hearing aids.
Make plans now to have accessible transportation in case of evacuation.
Shelters may be limited in accommodations to meet some of the needs of those with disabilities. Prepare ahead of time to ensure that you will have what you need.

Considerations for those with small children:

Assemble extra items in your disaster supply kit such as diapers, baby formula, medications, favorite books, crayons and paper, puzzles, favorite toys, a favorite blanket or pillow, pictures of family and pets and any other items that will comfort your children.
Remember that children’s fears often can stem from their imagination – fears they may be separated from family, someone will be injured or killed, or that they will be left alone. Communication is very important in maintaining your children’s mental well-being in times of crisis.
Also, keep a copy of your children’s immunization records, including the date of their last tetanus-diphtheria shot.

Considerations for those who are responsible for the care of senior citizens:

Remember to help seniors who live alone. They may need help evacuating from their home, preparing for a storm and dealing with the aftermath of a disaster.
If an older adult lives in an assisted living facility or nursing home, you should contact the administrator to learn about the disaster plan for that facility.

Other considerations:

Hearing Impaired - make special arrangements to receive warnings.
Mobility Impaired - plan for special assistance to get to a shelter.
Single Working Parent - may need help to plan for disasters or emergencies.
Non-English Speaking - may need assistance planning for and responding to emergencies.
People without vehicles - make arrangements for accessible transportation.
Special Dietary Needs - take steps to ensure you maintain an adequate emergency food supply.

In case of evacuation due to an approaching storm, those who require transportation to a storm shelter should contact the Coast Transit Authority at 228-896-8080.

Additionally, people with special needs should create a network of neighbors, relatives, friends and coworkers to aid them in an emergency. Discuss needs and make sure everyone knows how to operate necessary equipment.

More information regarding disaster plans and planning for special needs can be found at www.msema.org, www.ready.gov and www.fema.gov.

FEMA coordinates the federal government’s role in preparing for, preventing, mitigating the effects of, responding to, and recovering from all domestic disasters, whether natural or man-made, including acts of terror.

Source: FEMA (USA)

Homemade Fruit and Vegetable Wash

2008-06-15T17:46:00.000Z

Do you want to use a fruit and vegetable wash, but are scared off by the price? Here is how to make your own at a fraction of the price:

All you need are white vinegar, water and a spray bottle

When it comes to using it use the following procedure:

In case of hard-skinned fruits and vegetables:

1./ Fill a spray bottle with equal parts white vinegar and water.
2./ Then, spray the solution onto your fruits and vegetables; rub it in; and rinse.
Hint: Use a scrub brush to work the solution into the skin

For soft-skinned fruits and vegetables:

1./ Fill a bowl with equal parts white vinegar and water.
2./ Then, soak your fruits and vegetables in the solution for a minute or two, and rinse.

The reason this works is as follows: The acetic acid in vinegar kills bacteria and helps to dissolve the wax and pesticide residues found on the skins of many fruits and vegetables.

The benefits of making your own fruit and vegetable wash are that it is cheaper than store-bought washes, cleans more effectively than water alone and is all-natural.

As with all cleaning materials store your fruit and vegetable wash out of the reach of children and ALWAYS label the contents of your spray bottles. Too many accidents happen because a bottle is not labelled and contains some poisonous substance or such.

M Smith (Veshengro), June 2008

Lights Out!

2008-06-15T14:14:00.001Z

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

Think about your sleeping schedule and how it effects your power consumption.

While it is certainly true that late at night power is usually at less demand, that is to say, after a certain watershed when everyone else has gone to bed. However, would it not be better to use less electricity yourself?

Read the rest of the article here>>>

Turn off the tap while brushing your teeth

2008-06-15T14:10:00.001Z

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

I must say that I have never understood why anyone would want or need to have the tap running when brushing their teeth, especially in some case the hot tap, and have always found this rather strange.

Read the rest of the article here>>>

Washing hands in cold water

2008-06-13T16:27:00.002Z

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

If like me you are a frequent washer of hands – in my case this being due to my Romani-Gypsy Culture and our People's Cleanliness Laws – then using the hot tap for this purpose would be rather wasteful, both in terms of water and energy. By the time the water reaches the tap, generally, you will have finished washing your hands which means that – one – you have anyway washed, basically, in cold water and – two – and this is the important bit – you have needlessly fired the boiler.

Read on...

Mule Power!

2008-06-11T16:04:00.000Z

Farmers in the United States are turning to mule power to fight rising oil prices

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

Rural areas in the United States are now feeling the severe and profound effects of the ever rising fuel prices. The fuel price rise is felt more stronger in the countryside than in other parts of the country. This due to the combination of lower incomes and also and especially the heavier dependence on farming equipment, tractors, pickup trucks and vans, which either require gasoline or diesel in order to run.

Read more...

INCOGNITO INTRODUCES NEW PRODUCTS FOR A MOSQUITO-FREE SUMMER

2008-06-10T19:39:00.001Z

Incognito, the revolutionary new approach to dealing with the age-old problem of being bitten by insects is expanding with the introduction of two ranges of luxury soaps. Incognito is a pleasant-smelling powerful camouflage that make the user invisible to all things small that bite. Its unique blend of 100% natural ingredients, including organically-certified citronella (C. winterianus) and eucalyptus, has taken years to perfect and a new, improved formula is being launched in a 100 ml size alongside the soaps.

Rad the rest of this information here.

Wash in cold water and do your bit for the environment

2008-06-10T19:37:00.001Z

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

Setting the temperature on your washing machine to cold or 30 degrees Celsius is a great way to save energy, money, and carbon emissions.

Read the rest of the article here.

Is your drinking water causing depression?

2008-06-10T19:29:00.001Z

Other impacts of fluoridation are “constipation, fuzzy thinking”

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

A New York organization whose members are raising alarms about the damage from fluoride in America's water supplies says a government study available online suggests the additive can be blamed for a multitude of problems stemming from thyroid imbalances, including cardiac disease, depression, constipation, fuzzy thinking and fluid retention.

The New York State Coalition opposed to Fluoridation Inc., has said that there is clear evidence that small amounts of fluoride, at or near levels added to U.S. water supplies, present potential risks to the thyroid gland.

The organization cited a study by the National Research Council that reviewed fluoride-thyroid research and literature.

“Many Americans are exposed to fluoride in the ranges associated with thyroid effects, especially for people with iodine deficiency," Kathleen Thiessen, Ph.D. and co-author of the government-sponsored NRC report, wrote.

"The recent decline in iodine intake in the U.S could contribute to increased toxicity of fluoride for some individuals," she said.

"A low level of thyroid hormone can increase the risk of cardiac disease, high cholesterol, depression and, in pregnant woman, decreased intelligence of offspring," she continued.

The statement said other common thyroid symptoms include fatigue, weight gain, constipation, fuzzy thinking, low blood pressure, fluid retention, depression, body pain and slow reflexes.

The New York group said fluoride, in the form of silicofluorides, is added to public water supplies across about two-thirds of the U.S. The program dates back decades and was "ostensibly to reduce tooth decay, [but] was never safety-tested," the group said.

Robert Carton, Ph.D., an environmental scientist whose more than 30 years of work for the U.S. government included managing risk assessments on high priority toxic chemicals, told the New York organization, "Fluoride has detrimental effects on the thyroid gland of healthy males at 3.5 mg a day. With iodine deficiency, the effect level drops to 0.7 milligrams/day for an average male."

The report also cites studies documenting fluoride concentrations in thyroids exceeding levels found in other soft tissues except kidneys, an association between endemic goiter and fluoride exposure or enamel fluorosis in human populations and how fluoride adversely affects thyroid and parathyroid hormones, which affect bone health.

The National Research Council functions under the auspices of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering and the Institute of Medicine. It is one branch of a private, nonprofit institution that provides science, technology and health policy advice under a congressional charter signed by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863.

The collective mission of the organizations is "to improve government decision-making and public policy, increase public education and understanding, and promote the acquisition and dissemination of knowledge in matters involving science, engineering, technology, and health."

Most people think that fluoride is what you have in your toothpaste or water, but they are unaware of the fact that Prozac is a fluoride product; almost all psychotropic drugs are fluoride products."

The study itself notes various studies have linked secondary hyperparathyroidism to fluorosis and that other studies have found "there are some data to suggest that fluoride does adversely affect some endocrine glands."

This study also includes other chapters on studies that found lower IQ scores for subjects of Chinese studies who had exposure to fluoride.

"The IQ scores in both males and females declined with increasing fluoride exposure," the online study reported. "Of special importance, 21.6 percent of the children in the high-fluoride village scored 70 or below on the IQ scale. For the children in the low-fluoride village, only 3.4 percent had such low scores."

And this is what they put into the drinking water in the Unites States and intend to put into the drinking water in Britain.

People just are entirely unaware of what fluoride actually is and most dentist do not even seem to understand it, and it is them that had been pestering the authorities, so it is said, to fluoridate drinking water “in order so that children get healthy teeth”. Shame that they get also damage tooth enamel and more importantly that it will affect many other things, such as, amongst others, the brain. Fluoride is also a neural pathway agent, so it is understood by this writer. Hence the fact that fluoride is an ingredient in Prozac and other neural pathway drugs.

© M Smith (Veshengro), June 2008

Taking notice of the invisible wasteful things

2008-06-09T17:02:00.002Z

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

The most frequently discussed and mentioned way to go green is changing habits. To do this, instead of that, we are told and such. However, much less do we here mention of one as important if not more important than changing habits and that is “changing the mindset”.

Habits are one thing; put the empty glass bottle into the recycling bin for glass, the waste paper into the paper recycling bin, and so on, instead of simply chucking those things into the garbage can, which then ends up, more often than not, in the landfill. Changing the mindset is where things must get to and that is much more important and much more difficult, I think, for most. Me must develop, the older generation as much as the younger generation, a “green mindset”.

Read the entire article here