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This is the weblog of
Raymond Powers.
Here I will be sharing what I find of import, humor, concern, inspiration and on the transformational edge
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A Quote:
Women and children first, then tap dancers. --Richard Kehl
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Raymond lives in Ojai, where the time now is:
03:58PM
Unique Readers:
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Everything I've written here, except my copyrighted
essays, poetry, lyrics, and music is hereby placed in the public
domain. The quotes from other people's writings, and the pictures
used might or might not be copyrighted, but are considered fair
use. Thus the license here would best be described as:
Primarily Public
Domain.
Please ask permission if there is any question in
regards to public domain usage.
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| Monday, September 18, 2006 |  |
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 18 Sep 2006 @ 23:03
Greenpeace Activists in Brazil Block Cargill Soy Facility
After two years of investigation, we’ve uncovered a string of illegal soy production that is destroying the Amazon rainforest, and can be traced to a large American corporation: Cargill.
A team of climbers from our ship, the Arctic Sunrise, shut down Cargill’s illegal soy facility in the heart of the Amazon rainforest. Our activists unfurled a banner on the conveyor belts at Cargill’s facility, but angry Cargill employees nearby blasted the sign down with high-powered hoses. Police arrived on the scene and arrested 16 of our activists.
The Arctic Sunrise itself blockaded the Cargill port, preventing exports of soy from leaving the facility.
In the nearby city of Santarém, a group of Cargill’s supporters surrounded the police station holding our activists, but were dispersed by military police.
Police secured the Arctic Sunrise as well, but an angry mob boarded our ship despite the police presence, and painted graffiti along the sides. Fireworks were also aimed at our ship and activists, even hitting an activist in the chest, but fortunately leaving him unharmed. Meanwhile, police used pepper spray to force the crew to open the radio room, and took them into custody. The rest of our activists were put in lockdown within the ship. Cargill tug boats pushed our ship out of the dock, dragging it and our anchor out into the Tapajos river.
The illegal soy Cargill is producing has been linked to a massive fast food chain, including KFC’s European restaurants. These fast food chains are literally eating up the Amazon, and we’ve detailed exactly how in a recent report.
Our volunteers want to prevent soy from the world’s most precious rainforest being exported to Europe to feed chickens, pigs and cows -- and you can help support them by writing to KFC.
Cargill, based in the United States, is the largest soy producer and exporter in the Amazon, operating 13 silos in the heart of the Amazon rainforest.
Soy is now a leading cause of rainforest destruction in the Brazilian Amazon. In total, an estimated 12,000 square miles of what was once rainforest has already been destroyed, mostly illegally, to grow soybeans. Cargill makes no secret of helping establish soy farms in the Amazon, some of which are complicit in other illegal activities such as land grabbing and slavery.
Corporations like Cargill must stop seeing the Amazon as a place to expand their soy businesses, and recognise it as the world’s greatest rainforest in need of urgent protection, not exploitation. We’re calling on Cargill, and their fast-food industry customers, to ensure that the soy and animal feed they buy does not contribute to the destruction of the Amazon. More >
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| Friday, August 18, 2006 | |
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18 Aug 2006 @ 20:42
California Senate Passes Law Allowing Farmers to Grow Hemp--Bill Needs Governor's Signature
California Industrial Hemp Farming Act Passes Final Senate Vote Groundbreaking Bill Expected to Go to Governor's Desk U.S. Newswire, August 16, 2006
Contact: Patrick Goggin, 415-312-0084,
Tom Murphy, 207-542-4998, or
Adam Eidinger, 202-744-2671 or adam@votehemp.com, all for VoteHemp.com
SACRAMENTO, Calif., Aug. 16 /U.S. Newswire/ -- AB 1147, The California Industrial Hemp Farming Act, passed in the Senate today by a vote of 26-13. The bill now heads to the Assembly for a final concurrence vote and will then be sent to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's desk for his signature. Since passing out of the Assembly in January of this year, AB 1147 has gained momentum as legislators learned that California businesses spend millions of dollars each year importing hemp from Canada, China and Europe. Demand for hemp products such as clothing, food, body care, paper and even auto parts has been growing rapidly in recent years with the U.S. hemp market now exceeding $270 million in estimated annual retail sales. The new law would give farmers the ability to legally supply U.S. manufacturers with hemp seed, oil and fiber and would not weaken anti-drug laws.
"We thank legislators from both parties that listened to the facts about industrial hemp and made a historic decision to bring back the crop," says Vote Hemp President Eric Steenstra. "Passage in the California Legislature is a major accomplishment for the authors and sponsors of the bill as well as thousands of ecology conscious people, farmers, and businesses that wrote California legislators," says Steenstra.
The California Industrial Hemp Farming Act was introduced in February of 2005 by Democratic Assemblyman Mark Leno. This year, the bill was amended, and Republican Assemblyman Chuck Devore joined as a co-author. In the bipartisan spirit of the legislation the bill was managed on the floor of the Senate by Republican Tom McClintock and received support from Senator Able Maldonado, a farmer and Republican member of the Agriculture Committee. Another influential Republican Senator who supported the bill was Sam Aanestad who is Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee.
AB 1147 has been carefully crafted to comply with federal law and minimize impact to law enforcement. It includes tough regulations without placing an undue burden on farmers. The bill only permits cultivation of ultra-low THC industrial hemp when grown as an agricultural field crop or in a research setting. Backyard or horticultural cultivation is prohibited. Any clandestine grove of Cannabis will be considered a controlled substance regardless of its THC content.
California's AB 1147 has already passed a series of committee votes and a floor vote in the Assembly. The final passage in the Assembly is expected by the end of August. Vote Hemp believes the new law would withstand federal scrutiny in the form of legal challenges and ultimately will result in commercial hemp farming in California. No industrial hemp is grown in the United States today even though seven states have passed hemp farming and research bills in recent years. More details on industrial hemp legislation can be found at [link] .
Final passage of AB 1147 could revitalize commercial industrial hemp farming, which occurred in California until shortly after World War II. "It appears the hemp seed and oil we currently import soon will be grown and produced right here in California," says David Bronner, chair of the HIA's Food and Oil Committee and president of Alpsnack/Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps. "The Hemp Industries Association's member companies are urging Gov. Schwarzenegger to promote sustainable growth for the California economy by signing the industrial hemp bill. Increasing double digit sales growth over the last few years in the hemp food and body care sector indicates strong consumer demand for hemp products that will sustain high prices for farmers for years to come," said Bronner.
More information about hemp legislation and the crop's many uses can be found at [link] More >
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 18 Aug 2006 @ 20:35
:: Repreve —100% Recycled Yarn
August 18, 2006 03:37 AM - Warren McLaren, Sydney
Repreve by Unifi is a 100% recycled polyester yarn made from both post-consumer and post-industrial waste. It can be dyed at the spun fibre stage. It’s uses range from home furnishings through to automotive upholstery. Two companies who have elected to run with it are Malden, who we noted earlier are doing a big launch on recycled fleece and bodywear fabrics and Consoltex. The later makes a line of cloth also for the outdoor industry that goes by the name of Earthwhile (cute), that seems like it also gets blended with organic cotton. Expect to see garments made of such materials popping up on retail hangers next year. Unifi also offer Satura, a dyeing process that reportedly saves 18 gallons of water per pound of yarn produced. They reclaim water & energy (which are recycled repeatedly) from condensation and dyebaths, which helps heat the plant and conserve water
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 18 Aug 2006 @ 20:32
If you're as disappointed as we are about McDonald's giving away thousands of toy Hummers in its Happy Meals, the Environmental Working Group and HybridCars.com have created a site where you can exercise your creativity and tell the fast food giant what you think of their latest promotion for kids: the Ronald McHummer Sign-o-Matic. Users are encouraged to make their own McDonald's sign with an appropriate message, and to send a pre-written letter to the company noting the environmental and public health effects of gas guzzlers like the Hummer. Make a sign, make sure to share it with us, and also let the Golden Arches marketing folks know you don't like super-sized vehicles any more than super-sized meals. More >
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| Friday, July 7, 2006 | |
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7 Jul 2006 @ 02:48
Hands shown to emit light
By Jennifer Viegas, Discovery News
Human hands glow, but fingernails release the most light, according to a recent study that found all parts of the hand emit detectable levels of light.
The findings support prior research that suggested most living things, including plants, release light. Since disease and illness appear to affect the strength and pattern of the glow, the discovery might lead to less-invasive ways of diagnosing patients.
Mitsuo Hiramatsu, a scientist at the Central Research Laboratory at Hamamatsu Photonics in Japan, who led the research, told Discovery News that the hands are not the only parts of the body that shine light by releasing photons, or tiny, energized increments of light.
"Not only the hands, but also the forehead and bottoms of our feet emit photons," Hiramatsu said, and added that in terms of hands "the presence of photons means that our hands are producing light all of the time."
The light is invisible to the naked eye, so Hiramatsu and his team used a powerful photon counter to "see"it.
The detector found that fingernails release 60 photons, fingers release 40 and the palms are the dimmest of all, with 20 photons measured.
The findings are published in the current Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology B: Biology.
Hiramatsu is not certain why fingernails light up more than the other parts of the hand, but he said, "It may be because of the optical window property of fingernails," meaning that the fingernail works somewhat like a prism to scatter light.
To find out what might be creating the light in the first place, he and colleague Kimitsugu Nakamura had test subjects hold plastic bottles full of hot or cold water before their hand photons were measured. The researchers also pumped nitrogen or oxygen gas into the dark box where the individuals placed their hands as they were being analyzed.
Warm temperatures increased the release of photons, as did the introduction of oxygen. Rubbing mineral oil over the hands also heightened light levels.
Based on those results, the scientists theorize the light "is a kind of chemiluminescence," a luminescence based on chemical reactions, such as those that make fireflies glow. The researchers believe 40 percent of the light results from the chemical reaction that constantly occurs as our hand skin reacts with oxygen.
Since mineral oil, which permeates into the skin, heightens the light, they also now think 60 percent of the glow may result from chemical reactions that take place inside the skin.
Fritz-Albert Popp, a leading world expert on biologically related photons at The International Institute of Biophysics in Germany, agrees with the findings and was not surprised by them.
Popp told Discovery News, "One may find clear correlations to kind and degree (type and severity) of diseases."
Popp and his team believe the light from the forehead and the hands pulses out with the same basic rhythms, but that these pulses become irregular in unhealthy people. A study he conducted on a muscular sclerosis patient seemed to validate the theory.
Both he and Hiramatsu hope future studies will reveal more about human photon emissions, which could lead to medical diagnosis applications. More >
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| Thursday, June 22, 2006 | |
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22 Jun 2006 @ 20:01
AT&T to customers: We own your data
It revised its privacy policy; changes take effect tomorrow
Reuters Today’s Top Stories or Other Privacy Stories
June 22, 2006 (Reuters) -- AT&T Inc. said yesterday that it was revising its privacy policy, explaining to customers that it owns their phone records and can hand them over to law enforcement officials if necessary.
The changes take effect tomorrow and come at a time when AT&T and other phone companies face lawsuits claiming that they aided a U.S. government domestic spying program by giving the National Security Agency call records of millions of customers without their permission.
AT&T said the updated policy was aimed at helping customers understand its practices better and does not change how it treats customer information.
The new policy, unlike the old one, spells out the fact that AT&T owns its customers' data. It says that customer information constitutes "business records that are owned by AT&T. As such, AT&T may disclose such records to protect its legitimate business interests, safeguard others or respond to legal process."
The earlier policy had simply said that, aside from normal business operations such as billing and service provisioning, the company could share customer information to "respond to subpoenas, court orders or other legal process, to the extent required and/or permitted by law" as well as to "to establish or exercise" its legal rights.
Under the new policy, which is being mailed out to AT&T's more than 7 million Internet customers, the company also said that it would track viewing information for customers of a television service it's developing, in order to help it make recommendations to customers based on their viewing habits.
It also said that before customers use its services, they must agree to the policy, an element that was not in its previous guidelines.
Spokesman Michael Coe said the company, which was formed in November by the merger of AT&T Corp. and SBC Communications Inc., had been working on the new policy for the past six months.
"We are not changing how we treat customer information," said Coe. "We updated our policy to make the language clearer and easier for our customers to understand." More >
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22 Jun 2006 @ 05:31
Chocoholic germs can reportedly provide hydrogen, the clean-burning energy of the future.
British scientists fed Escherichia coli bacteria a diluted mix of waste caramel and nougat. The germs tucked into the sugar and in the process produced hydrogen, using their own enzyme, called hydrogenase, New Scientist reports.
The hydrogen was used to power a fuel cell, generating enough electricity to drive a small fan.
The experiment has applications far beyond the lab. Waste chocolate, instead of being thrown away by confectionary companies, could be turned into hydrogen and used to help power their factories or sold to energy companies.
The British team, led by Lynne Mackaskie at the University of Birmingham, central England, got the same bacteria to tuck into catalytic converters from old cars.
The bacteria cleverly recovered the precious metal palladium after they were immersed in a vat with hydrogen and liquid waste from spent converters.
The work is reported in full in a specialist journal, Biochemical Society Transactions, the report says.
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22 Jun 2006 @ 05:28
From miaminewtimes.com
Originally published by Miami New Times 2006-06-22
©2005 New Times, Inc. All rights reserved.
Local Boy Makes Food
This Miami Beach hippie is not like the others
By Emily Witt
Courtesy of Stephen Brooks
Miami Beach native Stephen Brooks's TV show debuts this week
Late afternoon on May 5 in a windowless, wood-paneled North Miami office, Stephen Brooks feeds his family and friends. His grandparents sit on a low pleather couch, chewing on pieces of dried mango. His father and business partners look up from a topographical map of a hill in Costa Rica to accept an offer of dried Cape gooseberries. They're planning some houses down there, and pause from deliberation just long enough to pucker severely at the berries' tartness.
"Yeah, it's sharp," Brooks concedes. "But isn't it amazing? You could put it on a salad."
Brooks is a tan, blue-eyed 32-year-old who is wearing corduroy cut-offs, a button-down shirt, and sandals. His frizzy hair is bound in a ponytail. Assorted leather pendants hang around his neck. With evident glee he dips plastic spoons in small pots of banana jelly (from Brazil) and maple sugar spread (from Maine) and delights visibly at the chorus of mmms from his family members. His exuberance would give an aerobics instructor an inferiority complex.
Stephen Brooks knows the power of delicious food. Just a few months ago he walked into the executive offices of the Travel Channel in Silver Spring, Maryland, bearing a box of exotic fruits he had grown. He fed everybody, gushing with the same enthusiasm he displayed for his family. Brooks was trying to land himself a television show. And it worked — the pilot for the as-yet-untitled show (Edible Planet? Edible Journeys?) will air Monday, June 26, at 8:00 p.m. "Prime time!" crows a very satisfied Brooks.
The show is about where food comes from. But not in a Fast Food Nation or Omnivore's Dilemma kind of way. Brooks will travel around the world to document the cultivation of food in a style called permaculture. "It's about trying to figure out how we can meet our goals and use less energy — our mental energy, our physical energy, and most importantly the planet's," he says.
The television show is only the most recent phase of Brooks's role as a green-food prophet. Last year, to promote Kopali Organics, his farmer-friendly food company, Brooks drove a vegetable-oil-fueled coach bus (with coconut wood floors, natural rubber latex seats, and hemp upholstery) to Whole Foods stores around the nation. In the late Nineties, he founded an ecotourism company and organic farm on Costa Rica's Caribbean coast.
And Brooks is of a rare breed: a second-generation Miami Beach native. "He was always a little crazy, a little adventuresome," says Bonnie Brooks, Stephen's pretty, well-coiffed, decidedly not countercultural mother. She moved to Miami Beach at age eleven. His father, Norman Brooks, a retired dentist, was born here. Both Miami Beach High graduates, his parents have been together since eighth grade. "They're still madly in love," Stephen gushes.
"He was the ringleader that everyone followed," recalls his mother. "It was always something unusual. Like getting everybody to start jumping into my pool from the roof."
Brooks graduated from North Miami Beach Senior High and then attended the University of Wisconsin at Madison. At the end of his senior year, he visited a girlfriend who was studying abroad in Costa Rica. Not only did he fall in love with the country, but he also found his calling — in a banana field. "We were going to visit a Bribri village," he says, referring to an indigenous Costa Rican culture. "We came around a turn that opened out into a view of endless banana plantations. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw an airplane swooping down. It had a white plume of pesticides trailing behind it. Suddenly it flew right over us and my eyes, my nose, everything was burning."
Then Brooks saw the crop duster buzz over a group of children playing. At first he was outraged, but then he had an epiphany. "Who was responsible? I was. Every morning, when I ate my Chiquita banana with my Cinnamon Life growing up," he says.
In 1996 his paternal grandfather passed away. With $38,000 — the inheritance left to him — he purchased a 30-acre tract of land on Costa Rica's Caribbean coast. It had no roads, no electricity, and no running water. He moved there.
The land had once been part of an Afro-Caribbean community. Brooks quickly befriended its only remaining inhabitant, Blas "Padi" Martínez. Like his elderly neighbor, he learned to live off the land. At first he ate only yuca, plantains, and fish. "I came up with some pretty funky recipes," he insists. Within a year, however, his gardening skills improved. Soon he found himself growing a grove of 50 trees, collecting useful plants, and getting "really into" agriculture.
The farm, which he named Punta Mona, grew into a botanical breadbasket, completely self-sustaining. With the help of friends who eventually joined him, he constructed buildings from fallen trees, and roofs from thatched leaves. Solar panels provide the only electricity. Methane gas from the septic system powers the stoves in the kitchen. ("Did you have a brother? Did he light his farts on fire?" asks Brooks.)
The biofuel bus tours began in 2003. "I got into a conversation with a friend in Punta Mona, this crazy hobo anarchist named Spider," Brooks says. Spider asked him how he justified flying back and forth to the United States. "He pointed out that each flight was like 600 car trips' worth of fuel." Spider's indignation planted the seed of an idea in Brooks's mind. In November 2003, after raising $25,000 to outfit the ride, Brooks and others piloted two buses filled with 26 people from San Francisco to Costa Rica. Their fuel? Discarded vegetable oil, picked up from restaurants along their route through Central America.
They would pull into tiny towns and draw crowds. Univision's news show Primer Impacto followed them on a leg of the trip. Newspapers branded them ecological missionaries. The journey was repeated in 2004. Another bus tour will travel through Mexico this year.
Brooks also embarked on epic journeys — to the Amazon, to the jungles of Borneo — collecting seeds and useful plants. He met farmers, both in Costa Rica and other countries, and wanted to help them achieve financial independence. To do so he founded his company, Kopali Organics, in 2004. Whole Foods agreed to distribute its products, which will be in Florida stores this summer.
Back in the windowless office in North Miami, Stephen's parents explain they try to eat organically now, and their back yard has a new crop of fruit trees. Stephen and Norman are also planting a garden with vegetables, herbs, and flowers. Stephen admits he feels a little culturally isolated from the place where he grew up, although he's been looking to purchase some land in Homestead. "I'm obsessed with the Fruit and Spice Park," he says.
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22 Jun 2006 @ 05:22
For Immediate Release
June 20, 2006
Contact: Shannan Velayas
(916) 319-2013
Leno-Devore Bill To Permit Farming Of Industrial Hemp Passes Senate Public Safety Committee
U.S. consumers spend $270 million each year on hemp products, increasing by $26 million annually
SACRAMENTO - Assembly Bill 1147 authored by Assemblyman Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) and Assemblyman Chuck DeVore (R-Irvine), permitting California farmers to grow industrial hemp for the sale of seed, oil and fiber to manufacturers passed the Senate Public Safety Committee today on a vote of 4 to 2.
"California farmers are missing out on a multimillion dollar market that already exists in California," said Assemblyman Mark Leno. "Hundreds of hemp products are made right here in California, but manufactures are forced to import hemp seed, oil and fiber from other countries. This measure will allow California to lead the way in tapping into a $270 million industry that's growing by $26 million each year."
Sponsored by Vote Hemp, AB 1147 would permit California farmers to grow industrial hemp, a variety of cannabis that grows up to 16 feet tall, resembles bamboo, and has no psychoactive properties. Under the bill, industrial hemp is defined as cannabis having 0.3% THC or less and its cultivation is only permitted as an agricultural field crop or in a research setting. Cultivation in groves, yards, or other locations is prohibited.
"Our bill is about letting California farmers grow a crop that's legal worldwide. We can import hemp, we can process it into shampoo, plastics, and food, but we won't let our farmers grow it. AB 1147 is a common sense measure that regulates the industrial farming of hemp to conform with federal law while relieving law enforcement of the burden of having to discern legal hemp from illegal marijuana grown in clandestine groves," said Assemblyman Chuck DeVore.
Hemp is one of the strongest natural fibers known and is grown and processed throughout the world for paper, fuel, clothing, building materials, canvas, rope, beauty care products, food and automobile parts, among others. The seed has many nutritional benefits because it contains essential amino acids, including omega-3 commonly found in fish, and is an alternative source of protein. Hemp also has strong environmental benefits. It's a source for paper that could enable us to save our trees for higher end uses such as lumber. Hemp can be used as a raw material for ethanol fuel with no net addition to greenhouse gases. It requires little or no agricultural chemicals, smothers weeds, and improves soil conditions, making it an excellent rotational crop.
"Once this bill is enacted, it will create a more efficient market, leading to better prices for the consumer, and provide an opportunity to expand the market for the nutritious hemp seed," said David Bronner, head of Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps, an Escondido-based company is the number one producer of natural soaps in the world with sales near $20 million annually. Mr. Bronner says his company has spent $800,000 in the last five years importing hemp oil from Canada.
For years, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency has scheduled live cannabis plants as a controlled substance despite the fact that hemp has no psychoactive effects. Hemp has less than three tenths of one percent THC while marijuana contains five to twenty-five percent THC. In 2004, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the DEA did not have the authority to regulate industrial hemp under the 1970 Controlled Substances Act. The DEA decided not to appeal that decision and the Court's ruling now stands as U.S. law on the issue.
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Capitol Office: State Capitol - P.O. Box 942849 - Sacramento, CA 94249-0013 - Phone (916) 319-2013
San Francisco District Office: 455 Golden Gate Avenue, Suite 14300 - San Francisco, CA 94102 - Phone (415) 557-3013
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| Wednesday, June 21, 2006 | |
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21 Jun 2006 @ 03:25
Mass medication with Omega 3 would wipe out global fish stocks
Our children need their fatty acids, but after we have fed our stocks to cattle and pigs there simply aren't enough left
George Monbiot
Tuesday June 20, 2006
The Guardian
The more it is tested, the more compelling the hypothesis becomes. Dyslexia, ADHD, dyspraxia and other neurological problems seem to be associated with a deficiency of Omega 3 fatty acids, especially in the womb. The evidence of a link with depression, chronic fatigue syndrome and dementia is less clear, but still suggestive. None of these conditions is caused exclusively by a lack of these chemicals, or can be entirely remedied by their application, but it's becoming pretty obvious that some of our most persistent modern diseases are, at least in part, diseases of deficiency.
Last year, for example, researchers at Oxford published a study of 117 children suffering from dyspraxia. Dyspraxia causes learning difficulties, disruptive behaviour and social problems. It affects about 5% of children. Some of the children were given supplements of Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acids, others were given placebos. The results were extraordinary: in three months the reading age of the experimental group rose by an average of 9.5 months, while the reading age of those given placebos rose by 3.3. Other studies have shown major improvements in attention, behaviour and IQ.
This shouldn't surprise us. During the Palaeolithic era, humans ate roughly the same amount of Omega 3 fatty acids as Omega 6s. Today we eat 17 times as much Omega 6 as Omega 3. Omega 6s are found in vegetable oils, while most of the Omega 3s we eat come from fish. John Stein, a professor of physiology at Oxford who specialises in dyslexia, believes that fish oils permitted humans to make their great cognitive leap forwards. The concentration of Omega 3s in the brain, he says, could provide more evidence that human beings were, for a while, semi-aquatic.
Stein believes that when the cells that are partly responsible for visual perception - the magnocellular neurones - are deficient in Omega 3s, they don't form as many connections with other cells, and don't pass on information as efficiently. Their impaired development explains, for example, why many dyslexic children find that letters appear to jump around on the page.
So at first sight the government's investigation into the idea of giving fish oil capsules to schoolchildren seems sensible. The food standards agency is conducting a review of the effects of Omega 3s on behaviour and performance in school. Alan Johnson, the secretary of state for education, is taking an interest. Given the accumulating weight of evidence, it would be surprising if he does not decide to go ahead. Already companies such as St Ivel and Marks & Spencer are selling foods laced with Omega 3s.
There is only one problem: there are not enough fish. In March an article in the British Medical Journal observed: "We are faced with a paradox. Health recommendations advise increased consumption of oily fish and fish oils within limits, on the grounds that intake is generally low. However ... we probably do not have a sustainable supply of long-chain Omega 3 fats." Our brain food is disappearing.
READ MORE More >
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| Friday, May 26, 2006 | |
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26 May 2006 @ 07:53
UTEK Completes Two Technology Transfers to UK-Based Kwikpower International plc.
LONDON & PLANT CITY, Fla. --(Business Wire)-- May 25, 2006 -- Transfers Include Licenses to a Unique Organism That Produces Bio-Derived Transport Fuel Hydrocarbons and for the Production of High Yields of Bio-Derived Hydrocarbons from Algal Varieties
UTEK Corporation (AMEX:UTK) (LSE-AIM:UTK), a specialty finance company focused on technology transfer, and Kwikpower International plc., a diversified renewable energy and fuels company offering "Low Carbon Solutions," announced today that Kwikpower International has completed two technology transfers in stock-for-stock transactions. Both technology transfers relate to bio-derived hydrocarbon fuels.
First technology transfer
The first technology transferred includes the exclusive license from the University of California-Berkeley to a plant patent which describes a distinctive variety of the green alga known as Botryococcus that is unique in the quality and quantity of the liquid hydrocarbons it produces. The ancestors of Botryococcus are thought to be responsible for many of the world's fossil fuel deposits.
Kwikpower International will use these green colonies for the production of bio-derived liquid hydrocarbons, which are potential substitutes for petroleum in the synthesis of many liquid fuels and petrochemicals.
The ability to grow bio-derived gasoline and diesel components inexpensively offers Kwikpower a unique opportunity to meet demands for energy security while providing a "Low Carbon Solution" to the world's ever increasing demand for fossil fuel derived energy.
Second technology transfer
The second technology transferred is an exclusive license to a patent pending method developed by Plenty Energy, Inc. for the production of bio-derived hydrocarbon chains in novel algae. This new strain was derived from a variety isolated by Dr. Arthur Nonomura, while at the University of California in Berkeley. This new strain grows faster than previous wild-type algae and, when combined with methods to switch on growth and accelerate hydrocarbon production, this technology may allow bio-fuel production at costs much lower than currently possible.
"This variety of Botryococcus has been shown to produce high levels of long-chain hydrocarbons that could be processed and utilized as gasoline and diesel," said Dr. Arthur Nonomura, inventor of the technology while at the University of California, Berkeley and founder of Plenty Energy, Inc. He added: "We are enthusiastic about the prospect of reducing the burning of fossil fuels and look forward to working with Kwikpower to be able to grow renewable supplies of fuel and hope to be able to implement a commercially viable development program of the algal strain."
Dr. Jim Watkins, Chief Executive Officer of Kwikpower International commented, "A major focus of Kwikpower since it was founded ten years ago has been the production of bio-fuels and the reduction of GHG CO2 emissions. This new algal strain will provide Kwikpower with the ability to grow bio-derived gasoline and diesel components at prices that could be as low as US $25-35 per barrel. Compared to the current crude oil prices of US $65-75 per barrel, this offers Kwikpower a unique opportunity to produce bio-derived feedstocks at competitive prices. We believe this new strain will not only help to meet demands for energy security but will provide a `Low Carbon Solution' to the world's ever increasing demand for fossil fuel derived energy."
"UTEK is pleased to consummate this technology transfer with Kwikpower International and we look forward to continuing our efforts to identify additional technology acquisition opportunities for its consideration," said Joel Edelson, Vice President Technology Licensing for UTEK Corporation.
About the University of California Berkeley Office of Intellectual Property
The University of California Berkeley's Office of Intellectual Property and Industry Research Alliances (IPIRA) was created in 2004 to provide a "one-stop shop" for industry research partners to interact with the campus. IPIRA's mission is to establish and maintain multifaceted relationships with private companies, and thereby enhance the research enterprise of the Berkeley campus. These relationships include sponsored research collaborations, and intellectual property commercialization. For more information about the Office of Intellectual Property and Industry Research Alliances, please visit its website at [link]
About Plenty Energy, Inc.
The focus of Plenty Energy, Inc. is on the use of microorganisms to grow gasoline components. By driving the costs of producing a barrel of petroleum down, we believe that bio-derived gasoline components can now be grown at a competitive price. When gasoline is produced by microorganisms, it can be continuously supplied and will consume thirty-six molecules of carbon dioxides in order to make a single molecule of fuel. Some fossil fuel deposits originated from microscopic fossils that grew gasoline for millions of years. The first living fossil that produced large quantities of gasoline-type oils was discovered 26 years ago by Dr. Arthur Nonomura during the first gas crunch and has been verified by scientists worldwide to contain up to half of its weight in oil. Dr. Nonomura founded Plenty Energy, Inc. based on his ability to grow gasoline, aviation and diesel fuels from the original source. We believe that Plenty Energy, Inc. owns the only commercial means of using microorganisms to grow gasoline-type hydrocarbons known to humanity.
About Kwikpower International plc.
Kwikpower International plc. is a diversified renewable energy and fuels company offering "Low Carbon Solutions" through its Engineering Division (KP Wellman) and its Renewables Division, which includes its renewable energy subsidiary, KP Renewables plc. (LSE-AIM: KPR).
The Kwikpower group is headquartered in Gibraltar with representative offices in London, England, Melbourne, Australia, and Toronto, Canada, and has manufacturing facilities in Oldbury, Dukinfield and Portsmouth, England. It had a turnover of US $75 million in 2005 (on an annualized basis), and approximately 300 personnel.
Kwikpower's Engineering Division (KP Wellman) has over 100 years of expertise in the design and manufacture of boilers, furnaces, heat exchangers and gas clean-up/recycling equipment.
KP Renewables plc. was established by Kwikpower to be the leading independent renewable energy company in the UK. KP Renewables plc. was listed on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange in July 2005 under the symbol KPR and is also quoted on the Frankfurt, Munich and Berlin Stock Exchanges under the symbol K1P.
For more information about Kwikpower International plc., please visit its website at [link]
For more information about KP Wellman, please visit its website at [link]
For more information about KP Renewables plc., please visit its website at [link]
About UTEK Corporation
UTEK(R) is a specialty finance company focused on technology transfer. UTEK enables companies of all sizes to acquire innovative technologies from universities and research laboratories worldwide. UTEK facilitates the identification and then finances the acquisition and transfer of external technologies for clients in exchange for their equity securities. This unique process is called U2B(R). In addition to its U2B(R) service, UTEK offers both large and small capitalization companies the tools to search, analyze and manage university intellectual properties. UTEK has operations in the United States, United Kingdom and Israel. For more information about UTEK, please visit its website at [link]
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain matters discussed in this press release are "forward-looking statements." These forward-looking statements can generally be identified as such because the context of the statement will include words, such as UTEK or Kwikpower International plc. "expects," "should," "believes," "anticipates" or words of similar import. Similarly, statements that describe UTEK's or Kwikpower International plc.'s future plans, objectives or goals are also forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, including the financial performance of UTEK or Kwikpower International plc., as appropriate, and the valuation of UTEK's investment portfolio, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those currently anticipated. Although UTEK and Kwikpower International plc. believe the expectations reflected in any forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, they cannot give any assurance that their expectations will be attained. Shareholders, potential investors and other readers are urged to consider these factors carefully in evaluating any forward-looking statements. Certain factors could cause results and conditions to differ materially from those projected in these forward-looking statements, and some of these factors are discussed below. These factors are not exhaustive. New factors, risks and uncertainties may emerge from time to time that may affect the forward-looking statements made herein. These forward-looking statements are only made as of the date of this press release and both UTEK and Kwikpower International plc. do not undertake any obligation to publicly update such forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.
UTEK's operating results could fluctuate significantly due to a number of factors. These factors include the small number of transactions that are completed each quarter, the value of individual transactions, the timing of the recognition and the magnitude of unrealized gains and losses, UTEK's dependence on the performance of companies in its portfolio, the possibility that advances in technology could render the technologies it has transferred obsolete, the loss of technology licenses by companies in its portfolio, the degree to which it encounters competition in its markets, the volatility of the stock market and the volatility of the valuations of the companies it has invested in as it relates to its realized and unrealized gains and losses, the concentration of investments in a small number of companies, as well as other general economic conditions. As a result of these and other factors, current results may not be indicative of UTEK's future performance. For more information on UTEK and for a more complete discussion of the risks pertaining to an investment in UTEK, please refer to UTEK's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
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21 May 2006 @ 14:05
My personal suggestion is that if you use dairy products buy Stonyfield Farms, Organic Valley or Strauss. Ask your local market to carry these products.
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Investors Question Dean Foods at Stockholders Meeting re: Horizon Organic Dairy Practices
Investors Question Dean Foods at Stockholders Meeting
Horizon Organic Milk Brand Faces Consumer Boycott Over Factory Farms
PRWEB, May 18, 2006
[link]
Socially concerned investors, who filed a shareholder proposal with Dean Foods, today questioned the company's management at its Annual Meeting of Stockholders in Dallas as its marquee organic brand faces a growing consumer backlash over its reliance on factory-farm milk production. Investors believe the large-scale dairy operations are damaging the Horizon Organics brand and threaten shareholder value.
Dallas, TX (PRWEB) May 18, 2006 -- Socially concerned investors, who filed a shareholder proposal with Dean Foods, today questioned the company's management at its Annual Meeting of Stockholders in Dallas as its marquee organic brand faces a growing consumer backlash over its reliance on factory-farm milk production. Investors believe the large-scale dairy operations are damaging the Horizon Organics brand and threaten shareholder value.
Because of their concern, shareholders filed a proposal in December 2005 asking Dean Foods' management to report to investors on how it is responding to widespread public criticism that industrial-scale organic dairies, supplying milk for its Horizon brand, violate consumer trust and seriously jeopardize share value.
Company management responded to the proposal by having its attorneys file a formal protest with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission asking for permission to omit the proposal from Dean's 2006 proxy statement on a series of legal technicalities. Proponents withdrew the proposal in March in response to the challenge but brought their concerns to today's annual shareholders meeting.
The shareholder proposal is a by-product of the five-year debate raging in the organic industry over the introduction of large-scale factory-style dairy farms, milking as many as 10,000 cows each. A growing number of public interest, environmental, and farming groups are suggesting that these farms violate current USDA regulations by labeling their products as organic.
The shareholders, led by Boston Common Asset Management, are asking for greater transparency from Dean Foods in terms of its organic milk suppliers and its plans for meeting the high consumer expectations for ethics and integrity in the rapidly growing organic milk market.
"Even though Dean Foods and its Horizon brand procure at least half of their organic milk from family farms, we think management needs to rethink its sourcing of milk from these controversial mega-dairies, or this ongoing practice will drag down the Horizon brand and harm shareholder value," said Steven Heim, Director of Social Research of Boston Common Asset Management.
Last year, The Cornucopia Institute, a Wisconsin-based farm policy group, filed formal complaints with the USDA against three industrial dairies, including one owned by Dean Foods and another dairy from which it purchases organic milk for its Horizon label. The complaints allege that these mega-farms are violating the law by confining their cattle to feedlots and sheds rather than grazing the animals on pasture. The Institute is preparing to seek court intervention in order to force a full investigation of the alleged improprieties.
In March the Cornucopia Institute published a report (available at www.cornucopia.org) profiling the ethical and farm management practices of the nation's organic dairy product suppliers. The Horizon brand ranked poorly relative to most of the 67 other branded organic dairy products.
"We find this a credible report, and we are disturbed by its implications for Dean Foods," Heim said.
Dean Foods is the nation's largest milk marketer and has also become the biggest U.S. marketer of organic dairy products with its acquisitions of the Horizon Organic, Alta Dena, and Organic Cow of Vermont brands. The company's core business has been somewhat stagnant in recent years, and it has recently been touting its investments in the organic milk labels and the country's leading soy milk brand, Silk, as vehicles to make its stock more attractive on Wall Street.
But negative press surrounding Dean's organic milk procurement practices has already led to some retailers dropping the Horizon brand. And members of the Organic Consumers Association recently voted in favor of a boycott.
"It is very important for Dean to address the core concerns articulated in our shareholder resolution," said Margaret Weber, Coordinator of Corporate Responsibility with the Adrian Dominican Sisters. "Transparency regarding organic practices has business implications for the company."
Weber explained that the shareholder proposal asked the company to appoint an independent committee of the board to review its policies and procedures for sourcing raw milk for its organic dairy products, and whether its current practices conform to the spirit as well as the letter of the official rules defining organic dairy products.
The investor groups also want to know how the company intends to respond to increasing consumer and media scrutiny, and whether a proposed $10 million investment in an additional large-scale dairy farm in Idaho will mitigate or exacerbate the criticism.
Horizon has also been criticized for disposing of calves born at its organic farms and replacing them with yearling heifers that were not raised organically a practice that was disclosed and verified by Horizon senior management during direct discussions with The Cornucopia Institute concerning their procurement of the brand's organic milk.
To replenish the farm's milking herd, commercially raised replacement cattle are then brought onto the Horizon farm. These animals may have been raised on feed treated with pesticides and mixed with additives including blood products recovered from slaughtering operations.
"We are concerned that Dean Foods' lack of transparency to its shareholders betrays a similar attitude toward its core consumers, particularly consumers of its Horizon brand products," said Daniel Stranahan of the Needmor Fund, another investor-sponsor of the resolution. "Industrial dairies with 2,000 to 10,000 cows are antithetical to the concept of organic farming, which supports family-scale production with sound environmental policies."
And Leslie Lowe, director of the environment program at the Interfaith Center for Corporate Responsibility in New York, said, "Dean Foods has an excellent opportunity to return value to its shareholders through its investments in the organic industry. But they must respect the ethical beliefs of their organic customers, a very loyal and sophisticated market segment. Otherwise these investments could end up damaging their brand and costing investors dearly."
EDITOR'S NOTE: A Representative of the shareholders' groups will be in Dallas for the Dean Foods Annual Meeting of Stockholders being held Friday May 19th at the Dallas Museum of Art, located at 1717 North Harwood. Steven Heim is available for interviews before and after the meeting and can be reached at 617-720-5557 or 617-785-9527 (c).
Mark Kastel, of The Cornucopia Institute, is also attending Friday's shareholders' meeting. Mr. Kastel can be contacted at 608-385-3803. The Cornucopia Institute acts as a technical adviser to investment groups regarding organic dairy production issues, USDA organic standards, and their policy/marketing implications.
More criticism of Dean Food's organic brand management is also being raised concerning the use of commercially raised replacement cattle being brought onto their Idaho 4,000-head dairy. These commercial replacement cattle may have been raised on feed treated with pesticides, weaned on milk replacer containing blood products recovered from slaughtering operations, and been injected with hormones and antibiotics. All of these practices are unacceptable to organic consumers. At issue is how this affects the company's representation of its Horizon milk products as produced without antibiotics, hormones or toxic pesticides.
Contact: Steven Heim, Director of Social Research, Boston Common Asset Management, LLC, 84 State Street, Suite 1000, Boston, MA 02109 Tel. 617-720-5557 Fax 617-720-5665, email sheim @ bostoncommonasset.com More >
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21 May 2006 @ 13:35
Protest Starbucks: National Week of Action June 19th-25th
Join OCA and Food and Water Watch June 19-25, to take the Starbucks challenge and protest or leaflet Starbucks cafes in your neighborhood. Let's educate Starbucks' patrons about Fair Trade and rBGH. Help us reach our goal of 300 actions!
Despite over five years of grassroots pressure, Starbucks continues to serve milk from cows that are injected with genetically engineered recombinant bovine growth hormone, also known as rBGH or rBST. Virtually every industrial country, except for the United States, has banned the sale of rBGH milk. Milk produced from cows injected with rBGH poses serious dangers to human health and the general welfare to dairy cows.
The time has come to kick rBGH off the market, once and for all. If Starbucks, a major buyer of milk, were to reject rBGH dairy products, we could effectively eliminate it from the market.
Similarly, while Starbucks has slowly bought more certified Fair Trade coffee, it represents only a very small percentage of their total coffee (about 3.7%). Starbucks rarely offers certified Fair Trade coffee as their coffee of the day, nor has it followed its own policy of brewing Fair Trade coffee, on demand.
1. Take the Starbucks Challenge! Hold Starbucks to their word. Simply visit your local Starbucks and ask: "Could I get a cup of fair trade coffee?" and let us know how it went.
2. Protest or Leaflet outside Starbucks stores. Download materials from the sidebar on the Organic Consumers website.
3. Be sure to let Starbucks know your thoughts, either online or with their postage paid comment cards available at their stores. More >
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21 May 2006 @ 13:17
This is from one of my favorite environmental blogs: Tree Hugger
Green Credit Cards: Get Your Money's Worth
May 20, 2006 04:33 PM - Erin Oliver - Madison, WI
Those of us who depend on e-commerce to shop for much of the eco-hip fashion, gizmos and accessories featured in TreeHugger also depend on credit cards to make the transactions. Unfortunately many credit institutions are known to finance some rather un-TreeHuggeresque activities (like illegal logging and dirty gold mining), so even though the end (product) is good, the means (credit) we use to get there isn't so great. There are options however, and taking a cue from Ideal Bite's informative financial tips featured during Money Week; we've gone looking for the perfect plastic…
Affinity Cards
Major credit card companies offer "affinity cards" like the RED Amex card Lenora told us about in March. These cards provide donations to nonprofit organizations whose logo or image is featured on the card. Donations usually run a half a percentage point from every purchase, balance transfer or cash advance made with the card. On the plus side, this is a dependable revenue stream for the nonprofit - on the minus side, purchases made with these cards still may support nefarious projects. Annual Percentage Rates (APR) for these cards can be 15-22 percent (though some are much less) and many have an annual fee. The credit card company MBNA offers the most affinity cards, they even have a PVC-free WWF card available in Europe.
Working Assets Visa Card
Considered the "greenest" affinity card by financial experts at Co-Op America, the Working Assets card donates ten cents with every purchase to your choice of one of 50 nonprofits. It also has a reasonable 9.9 APR and no annual fee. The card is issued by MBNA.
Salmon Nation Visa Card
Provided by eco-friendly lending institution Shorebank Pacific, the Salmon Nation Visa Card offers the biggest eco-bang for your buck. Half of the income generated for Shorebank from the card goes to "Salmon Nation" an economic, cultural and ecological community collective in the bioregion that contains Pacific salmon spawning grounds.
Check out Co-Op America's Real Money article, Responsible Credit Cards: Myth or Reality? To read up on the ethics (or lack thereof) of various mega-banks.
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Sounding Circle implies the cycles, spirals and symbols of our thought, our culture, our lineage and our imagination.
A place to share ideas, create community, and give voice to our muse.
"Giving more than we take, taking just what we need."
"The universe is music connecting 10th dimensional hyperspace".
Prof. Michio Kaku, Phd. |
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