Special Report: Someone Gets It Right.

ROME – After singing of "Fields of Gold," British rock star Sting is tending fields of grapes as he prepares to market red wine made at his country estate in Tuscany.
Some 30,000 bottles of wine produced on the property will go on sale in September, mainly in Britain and the United States, Paolo Rossi, the estate's manager, said Thursday.
In 1997 the former Police frontman purchased a 16th-century villa, called Il Palagio, in Figline Valdarno, a small village some 19 miles (30 kilometers) south of Florence.
Over the years he has turned the surrounding 860 acres (350 hectares) into an organic farm that also produces honey, olive oil, fruit, vegetables and Tuscan salami.
"When I came here to Figline I wanted first of all to feed my family," Sting said on Tuesday during an event at the village where the 57-year-old star spoke of the time he spends at Il Palagio.
"I also wanted to use agriculture with practices that would nourish the land and not deplete the land and so we went to traditional methods with farming, we got rid of pesticides, we shunned monoculture, and it works, the farm is also a garden," he said in the remarks broadcast by local television Rtv38.

He takes from the land for the right reasons, and takes care of the land while taking from it.
Now I know that is obviously the goal of farmers and agriculturists worldwide, but they do it only to ensure that more will be available to take in the following harvest season. Perhaps if we focus of the preservation of the land while using it (for preservations sake) then a full harvest would be an added side-effect. Wouldn't everyone win out?
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Corn Flakes Aren't Just for Breakfast Any More

...According to the folks at the UAA Sustainability fair, it's also good for eating our breakfast out of. When I played witness to this modern miracle, my first inquiry was to ask about the adverse effects of corn dishware. After all, everything had bad along with the good, right?
Right. When I asked the presenter this question, she stumbled and really had no idea. Now, I won't blame her, but I will admit that it'was a bit disappointing that she came prepared only to pitch the wonderful things about this end of sustainability. To me, that's like the doctor who endorses the next wonder drug without paying heed to whether or not it causes liver damage.
A bit of light internet sleuthing found the apparent answer: Cost. I don't quite recall the numbers(You can use Google just as well as I can.) but it turns out that these Biodegradable products are more expensive than regular cheap plastic, incredibly more so. Now, is that simply the cost of saving our planet, or is it an unnessesary expense? Hmmmm.
I also wonder if these products have any ill effects on the the human body or the food that they will one day hold. I doubt it, but one never knows.
However skeptical I may be, I do see the merit in the efforts of people who are trying to improve our planet, as opposed to those that are either doing nothing, or knowingly endangering it.
So, I say "Bravo!" to the scientific minds that came up with the idea, and I say "keep on trying."
As for the fair itself, I got to see something that I otherwise might not've bothered to get to.
I'm not a big fan of sustainability fairs and the like in general, but this time I gave in and made didgeridoos with the hippies. 'Twas great fun, although I still question what is so sustainable about making didgeridoos from PVC pipe. Hmmmmm.
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Poor Homo-Who?

Homo Magister is a curious fellow who shakes up the world like a bowl of Jell-O.
He wanted the sun to go 'round the earth,but astronomers scorned him and reacted with mirth.
He wanted mankind to be a godlike creature,but Darwin showed him his origins in slime, like a sci-fi double feature.
He wanted to think he was born building great civilizations,but anthropologists found a startling revelation; for 2 million years, since the first human birth we lived peacefully in tribes as part of the earth.
Everything he thought turned out to be wrong,but he still keeps singing that same old song.
Even if the evidence can't quite be produced,and his logical thinking is poorly deduced.
He props up his ego and tells himself talesof being superior to butterflies, puppy dogs and whales.
He says his god gave him dominion over it alland excuses the mess he's made 'cause he had quite a fall.
But he'll get it right one day this surely he knowson earth or in heaven or old star trek episodes.
'Cause he's king of the hill and so highly evolved,if he wasn't could he create so many problems unsolved?
The greenhouse and ozone and nuclear radiation,mass extinction, world war, an apocalyptic invitation.
Though the signs suggest he won't survive for much longer, he huffs and he puffs and says he'll get stronger.
He'll stomp and he'll chomp and devour the planet, but it won't do his bidding no matter how much he damns it!
It just spews him and eschews him and reminds him again,that like the dinosaurs, his story is reaching its end.
With his last breath he proclaims he could not be mistaken,but wonders about that road he'd not taken,the one that the Hopi and Lakota stayed on so true through eons of travels under skies so blue.
Homo Magister lingers on this final thought and learns that the world cannot be bought,
that salvation was never something he had to attain, it was given to him like the wind, sun and rain.
And now he's been stripped of his claim as world's Lord and Master, delusions of grandeur killed poor homo Magister.

Contentment is Not a Four Letter Word

Ahh, contentment. Ahh, satisfaction, These words even taste sweet when you speak them aloud. There have been poems written about them, songs written for them, and even lives lost in search of them. Isn't that really the key to ourt lives? After we've found our reason to exist in this world, and we've found ourt happiness within it, what more is there to want?
Ishmael poses a problem. And, as well know, every problem begs a solution. We've read this book and now we wonder what the heck we do with the things we've uncovered. Let sleeping wolves lie? I think not.
The problem, which has been ignored for so long, has been realized.
The ugly truth will no longer be ignored but instead looms threateningly in front of us, blocking the light of future for the human race, a future which we may very well have destroyed by paying no attention to the past. What to do, what to do? It seems that the only thing to do is to work toward a collective solution; to fundamentally change our lifestyles and adjust our habits in an extreme way. Others may argue that we need to blend the best parts of the “taker” lifestyle with the best of the “leaver” philosophy, creating a utopian society in which we all, the “community of life, “can live not only live happily but to truly live contentedly, with no façade of happiness but real meaning of purpose to which we can all wake up in the morning. Gee, that sounds nice. Forgive the first person sarcasm here, but if this could’ve been done, wouldn’t this type of panacea already have come to be? To borrow the colloquialism, blending the “best of both worlds” certainly sounds appealing, but I believe that the fundamental working philosophy of taker culture prevents this from happening. However, if there is no solution to be had as a group, then what are we left with but ourselves? Humans have been taught for centuries that individuals are weak, that they must come together as whole to be strong- take the bundle of sticks illustration as an example. Everything we’ve been told throughout our maturation stresses that we have to work together and build “synergy” to succeed in anything.
Feel free argue the point of working together all you like, but I digress- Individuality is not a prohibiting factor in solving the problem at hand. Nay, I say that individuality itself is the solution. Now, I’m not supposing that our culture does not reward individuality; it does. However, our culture stresses the selfish type that spawns jealousy and competition among own people. Therefore, we are seemingly not only at war with the planet, but also constantly battling among ourselves, and it cannot end until one thing is satisfied. Very simply, we are all looking for our reason to exist. Each night we lay down to rest, the majority of us are defeated in our internal quest to find our place in this world, to find where we truly belong. Few of us are satisfied because that is what taker culture does- it creates the illusion of contentment by surrounding us with material possessions and one-hit wonders, but in reality leaves us knowing that we are not whole. Now, I’d like you to have a moment to breathe and take in what you’ve just read. I want you, dear reader, to chew on your thoughts, digest your conclusions, and read on- I promise you answers. Onward!
We’ve established that no solution can be found when acting as a group; the human race as one. We cannot make blanket changes for every person. We’ve also supposed that the answer to solving this potentially catastrophic problem of ours is to use our individuality. How does this work? Making changes individually must work simply because our diversity prevents us from solving the problem any other way. We each must find what truly satisfies us enough that we no longer feel the need to destroy the world looking for a sense of belonging. The answer lies not in the taking of the world, but in the partaking of the world. This can be related in a concept of a hungry man sitting in front of a bountiful feast. Now, understand that this man is hungry, and every last bit of the food on the table is exactly to his liking.
All his favorites are present, and he doesn’t quite know where to start, so he begins to eat…and eat and eat. He gorges himself, thinking that he’ll only be satisfied when he has it all. However, what the man forgets are two things. First, that there are other guests waiting to eat who also enjoy the various delicacies that have been prepared. Second, and even more so, the man does not realize that he would’ve been just as happy had he only taken enough to tame his appetite, thus not only satisfying his hunger, but also avoided the feeling of being bloated. For some reason, every time this man sits down to a similar table, he feels that he must eat it all, and after a while, the natural consequences of overeating come- Obesity, diabetes, and even death. If we relate this man to taker culture, the food to the resources of earth, and the other dinner guests to all the non-human life on the planet, we can see quite easily that there is really is no valid reason to overeat, or as the case may be, to take everything for ourselves. We don’t need to have the world, we only need to find the parts of the world that will make us happy as individual people, and it is then and only then that we can find the true joy in life- Not just our own life, but the life of all other living things, the life of the planet, and perhaps most of all, the life of our future that could be so bright, I think I’ll need shades.

We must find joy for ourselves -by ourselves- so that we can put put all logic asleep and survive together.

For now, I'll say no more.
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Broken Britain? Nay, I say "Broken World"

Forget the photos above and instead read the following article and take a moment to ponder.

"LONDON – Ahhh, Britain. The land of Shakespeare and the Beatles, Churchill and the Queen. Rolling green hills, groovy London shops, hip plaids splashed over raincoats and umbrellas.
Cut to the reality of 2009: the highest teen pregnancy rate in western Europe, a binge drinking culture that leaves drunk teens splayed out in the streets and rising knife crime that has turned some pub fights into deadly affairs.
Ahhh, Britain.
In the latest symbol of what some are calling "broken Britain," 13-year-old Alfie and his 15-year-old girlfriend Chantelle became parents last week. The news sparked a flurry of handwringing from the media — and even ordinary folk admitted it didn't help that Alfie barely looked 10, let alone 13, as he cradled his newborn daughter.
Alfie's father, who reportedly has nine or 10 children of his own, gamely promised to have a "birds and the bees" chat with his son to prevent him from producing a second child before he grows facial hair.
Somehow that was not reassuring.
Sir Bernard Ingham, once press secretary to former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, told the Associated Press that people from across Britain's political spectrum are in despair over the country's social breakdown.
"It's an indication that we've lost our way, that people don't know the difference between right and wrong," he said of young Alfie. "The plain fact is society can't proceed on this basis. I think this is an indication of broken Britain."
Ingham said Britain's binge drinking and youth violence reflect the same general fall in standards and discipline.
"I think in time there will be a swing against this permissiveness," he said, noting a shift from British debauchery in the 18th century to Victorian straight-laced standards 100 years later.
Binge drinking has produced a rise in liver disease among Britons in their 20s and the unpleasant reputation of British "lager louts" at holiday resorts across Europe.
On any given night, London residents can see drunken teens staggering through the Underground subway system. Usually their friends help them, but sometimes collapsed teens are left on their own until police or transit staff intervene.
The rise in knife crime harkens back to the 1950s "West Side Story" era in the United States. The number of robberies carried out with knives rose 18 percent for the third quarter of 2008 compared to the year before, according to government figures released in January.
Too often now, public disputes have ended in teen stabbing deaths. Rob Knox, an 18-year-old actor in a "Harry Potter" film, was killed in May, while Ben Kinsella, the 16-year-old brother of a television soap actress, was stabbed to death in June. Both were trying to break up fights in London.
Other, less well-known youths have also died in knife fights.
All this was bemoaned, but the final straw came this week, when Britain's intensely competitive tabloids focused on the young, clueless Alfie.
Alfie's daughter Maisie was reportedly conceived when he was 12. Chantelle's parents let the lad spend the night with their daughter, 14 at the time, at their public housing unit near Eastbourne, 70 miles southeast of London.
There are still some questions about the birth. The Sun newspaper did not say whether any tests were conducted to prove the boy's paternity, and The Sunday Times reported that at least two other teens claimed to have slept with the young mother.
Alfie told The Sun he plans to look after his newborn daughter. But in a heartbreaking interview, the boy admitted he didn't know what the word "financially" meant and acknowledged he doesn't even get an allowance."

...And people say we are still in control of our own culture. Were I not so wildy opposed to the fundamental "Our world is dying" message of DQ's philosophy, I'd be qute inclined to side with the point of Ishmael. We say that our hope is always in the "next generation," and yet we fail to remember that we are the ones that will bring up this "new generation." "They'll fix things" we say, and then they go on to grow up and attain positions as doctors, scientists, politicians, and other world leaders. Guess what? All they have from which to base their own conclusions on how to live is from the ways that they were taught growing up; from their parents/mentors. We see it in nature every day. The animal young learn the way to live from their "parents." The don't question what they've learned, because they are taught to follow a set of natural laws that almost every other creature on the planet follows, except us. They have no reason to question these laws. Why? Simple. Because they work. Because of this vicious cycle, it make me wonder whether we even have the capacity to save ourselves. Even Daniel Quinn is at heart, a taker, albeit one who realized the apparent error of his ways. However, that still doesn't change his actions when he gets up each day and lives the life of a succesful author, practicing the oh-so-comfortable taker ways which which we have all become accustomed to.

I'll say it again- Do we actually have the capacity to save ourselves? I think we all remember the last time a group of young people thought that they could change the world. See photos at top of page.

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Biology = The Study of Life

[Pardon the above misspelling.]

Hmm. There we go again. As a scientist-in-training, I have a curious desire to study the life and world that surrounds me, and this video, simple as it is, intrigues me. The funny thing about science is that we seem to bungle about, following our methods, collecting data, and trying to act intelligent, when the majority of our biggest discoveries and advances come from complete accidents. Take the X-Ray for example, which is a technology that has literally changed the face of medicine and its applications from healthcare to military technology have only served to further our "conquest of the world." X-Ray was first discovered by Physics professor Wilhelm Rontgen Röntgen who was investigating cathode rays. In the course of one of his experiements involoving a tube and a screen, he noticed a faint green glow about 1 meter away. The invisible rays coming from the tube to make the screen glow were passing through the cardboard he had set up. He found that these rays would also pass through books and papers. The funny thing is that he didn't even know what he had discovered. This is man who had spent his entire life studying the earth, and only discovered the medical use of the rays by complete accident when he saw a picture of his wife's hand on a photographic plate formed due to X-rays. Thus, medical X-Rays were born. Doesn't that make you wonder if perhaps we, the "rulers of the world" really are just bumbling dangerously about with no clue what we are actually doing? Liken us to a rocket, if you will. It can fly about, doing no one any kind of harm. It has the capacity for good as well great destruction, but really has no clue what it is meant to do. It has to recieve instructions from somewhere. How do we receive our instructions, you ask? If Quinn is to be believed, our place is obvious: Another species in the community of Earth.

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Taker Thunderbolt, Grounded

...Close your eyes and imagine the world as Ishamael tells his pupil; without humans on it.
Are you picturing the great untamed forest, red with tooth and claw, just as in the book? Good.
Now, close your eyes once more and zoom in a little closer. Imagine that humanity had been there, and that you had been there. Imagine that all you knew was crushed, littered and scattered about, everything you had owned and read about, littered around like one giant dump.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bmxyj6iInMc
Now, how do you feel?
What caused this destruction? Was it you, or was it someone that you knew?
Or, was it all of humanity? Did we destory it willingly or did our lack of understanding of what we were doing to the planet bring about the destruction?
If you could've done it differently, what would you have done?
I think that the REM song embodies what is so oddly funny about Quinn's concept. We know we are destroying the world, and we know that the end will come eventually, and yet we seem to not care, going on living our lives, doing nothing to "save the world." Is it because we know that it cannot be saved?
"It's the end of the world as we know it...and I feel fine."
Yep, I do. I'm going to lunch now. I know all that I've learned from this book, and yet I still feel indifferent. Funny eh?
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