Early bird sent this to me. AS it's right next to the Gardening thread, it fits in. Sorry, it's a bit long.

> FUNDING FOR ORGANIC FARMERS RIVALS THE COST
> OF A WHITE HOUSE PARTY
>
> Congress has passed an amendment to the Agricultural
> Appropriations Bill that will increase federal funding for organic
> agriculture research from $1.8 million per year to $5 million (as
> a reference point, eight times that amount was spent on Bush's
> last inaugural party). Although this allocation is better than
> nothing, organic subsidies and program funds are ridiculously
> small, given the USDA's annual $90 billion budget and the $25
> billion in annual crop subsidies allocated to chemical intensive
> farms and genetically engineered crops.
>
> According to the Organic Consumers Association's National
> Director, Ronnie Cummins, "Since organics represent 2.5% of
> all grocery sales, $15 billion in annual sales, we deserve at least
> 2.5% of all USDA program monies." Learn more:
> https://www.organicconsumers.org/2006/article_534.cfm
>
> ___________________________________
>
>
> MILK FROM COWS INJECTED WITH GENETICALLY
> ENGINEERED HORMONES MAKES TWINS
>
> New research shows that consumers of hormone-tainted dairy
> products are five times more likely to have fraternal twins than
> vegans. In a report published in the current issue of the Journal
> of Reproductive Medicine, researchers linked recombinant
> bovine growth hormone (rBGH) with this rise in twin birth rates.
> The study shows how rBGH, a synthetic growth hormone used
> to increase [Image] milk production in dairy cattle, increases
> ovulation in humans and persists in the body after entering via
> digested food, particularly milk.
>
> Monsanto's controversial hormone has been banned in almost
> every industrialized country in the world, due to scientific
> evidence indicating that the milk from injected cows contains
> more pus, antibiotic residues, and IGF-1, a potent cancer tumor
> promoter. Consumers can avoid dairy products that contain
> rBGH by purchasing organic dairy products or by looking for
> labels on natural products that say rBGH or rBST-free. Learn
> more: https://www.organicconsumers.org/2006/article_512.cfm
>
> ___________________________________
>
>
> BOYCOTT ORGANIC DAIRY FEEDLOTS & TELL USDA
> NOT TO LOWER STANDARDS
>
> The Organic Consumers Association's (OCA) call for a boycott
> of Horizon and Aurora organic milk is resonating among
> consumers across the country and generating significant media
> coverage. Horizon Organic (owned by food giant Dean Foods)
> and Aurora are currently taking advantage of loopholes in
> organic regulations by purchasing the majority of their milk from
> intensive confinement dairy feedlots where the cows have little or
> no access to pasture.
>
> At their recent shareholders meeting in Dallas, Dean Foods
> executives expressed alarm [Image] over the public relations
> and investor fallout they are currently facing. Besides
> recommending that conscientious shoppers boycott Horizon and
> Aurora products, OCA is asking consumers to keep flooding the
> USDA with email letters calling for mandatory pasture access for
> cows on organic farms, as well as an end to the unethical practice
> of continuously importing calves from conventional farms to
> organic dairies.
>
> Please take action now:
> https://www.organicconsumers.org/nosb2.htm
>
> ___________________________________
>
> CONGRESS PONDERS LEGISLATION REQUIRING ID
> CHIPS IN ALL U.S. FARM ANIMALS
>
> Congress is debating a controversial program called the National
> Animal Identification System (NAIS). The system would require
> tagging or implanting all farm animals with radio frequency
> devices and registering those animals with a federal government
> tracking system. The plan would require every owner of even
> a single livestock animal to register their home with a national
> tracking system, including Global Positing Coordinates (for
> satellite tracking) and implant or tag every animal with a radio
> image parody frequency device (RFID).
>
> Large-scale livestock producers say NAIS by Michael Gibbs
> would help them control an outbreak of disease by allowing
> individual animals to be tracked to their origins. Small-scale
> farmers say the registration fees, RFID expenses and
> administrative bureaucracy of the system would drive them out
> of business. OCA supports the principle of being able to track
> animal diseases back to the source in order to protect public and
> animal health, but any national program needs to be designed so
> as to not harm small farmers and must insure the privacy of
> farmers and animal owners. Take action:
> https://www.organicconsumers.org/rd/nais.cfm
>
> ___________________________________
>
> STARBUCKS UNDER FIRE FOR USING RBGH MILK &
> NOT SERVING UP FAIR TRADE COFFEE
>
> A National Week of Action pressuring Starbucks will be taking
> place June 19th-25th. The OCA and its allies are calling on
> Starbucks, the largest coffee distributor in the world, to
> discontinue serving milk from cows injected with Bovine Growth
> Hormone (rBGH) and ensure that at least 5% of their coffee is
> certified Fair Trade. Global coffee prices have plummeted,
> pushing millions of small coffee farmers into desperate poverty.
> Fair Trade coffee guarantees farmers are paid a fair price for
> their crops.
>
> While Starbucks plasters their store walls with photos of Fair
> Trade coffee farmers, Fair trade & organic represents only a very
> small percentage of their total coffee sales (about 3.7%). Starbucks
> continues to post record annual profits by exploiting the world's
> coffee farmers. 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. Join OCA and
> its allies to leaflet Starbucks cafes in your neighborhood. Take
> Action: https://www.organicconsumers.org/Starbucks/
>
> ___________________________________
>
> EPA'S SCIENTISTS CONDEMN EPA
>
> In an unprecedented move, EPA's own scientists are lashing out
> against the agency, saying the profits of the pesticide industry are
> taking priority over measures to protect public health. A union
> of over 9,000 EPA scientists has submitted a letter to the EPA's
> Administrator, Stephen Johnson, indicating that [Image] due to
> industry pressure, the "integrity of the science upon which
> agency imagedecisions are based has been compromised."
>
> In particular, the scientists are parody concerned about a group
> of organophosphate pesticides they believe should no longer be
> allowed on the market due to their harmful effects on children,
> infants and fetuses. Specifically, the letter references 20 toxic
> pesticides that were developed from nerve gases after World
> War II, many of which are still available for purchase at most
> gardening centers. The EPA has not responded to the letter.
> Learn more:
> https://www.organicconsumers.org/2006/article_540.cfm
>
> ___________________________________
>
>
> THE THINGS THEY DIDN'T TELL YOU ABOUT ETHANOL
>
> In the wake of ever-escalating gasoline prices, the ethanol craze
> has officially taken hold. Congress has approved $5.7 billion in
> federal tax credits to support the ethanol market, in addition to
> the $10 billion U.S. corn farmers annually receive in subsidies.
> While the corn-industry-lobbying-machine has President Bush
> predicting ethanol will replace gasoline, the science behind
> corn-based ethanol seems to suggest this alternative fuel may
> be more about politics than an actual solution.
>
> According to the U.S. Department of Energy, it takes the
> equivalent of three barrels of oil to create four barrels of
> corn-based ethanol. Couple that with the fact that ethanol
> gets lower miles per gallon than gasoline, and the corn-based
> solution begins to show its true colors. But other nations are
> demonstrating that plant-based ethanol fuels can help meet our
> energy needs. Brazil makes ethanol from sugar-cane, which is
> almost eight times more energy efficient to produce than the US
> corn-based fuel.
>
> Crops with high cellulose or sugar content that can be easily
> grown in the U.S., such as sugar beets, hemp or switch grass,
> make much more efficient fuels. But, in the U.S., where special
> interests, not the public seem to govern federal policy, it appears
> the immediate future of U.S. automotive fuel is going to the
> highest bidder: genetically engineered corn. Learn more:
> https://www.organicconsumers.org/2006/article_461.cfm
>
> ___________________________________
>
>
> QUICK TIDBITS
>
> Scientists have screened more than 16,000 varieties of soybeans
> and have found two non-genetically engineered Chinese breeds
> that do not contain the protein linked to allergies. Nearly ten
> percent of children have allergies to mainstream soybean
> products, including infant formulas.
>
> Crop scientists at the University of Illinois and the USDA
> believe these allergy-free soybeans will have a major beneficial
> impact on the food market. "We are releasing this information
> with no patents so that companies and breeders involved with
> soybeans can incorporate these two lines as quickly as possible,"
> said lead researcher Theodore Hymowitz.
> https://www.organicconsumers.org/2006/article_526.cfm
>
> The largest study ever conducted on the relationship between
> sleep and weight gain was presented yesterday at the American
> Thoracic Society International Conference. In the report,
> scientists analyzed the sleeping patterns of nearly 70,000
> womenover the course of 16 years.
>
> The study revealed that women who sleep too little (5 hours or
> less per night) are at risk of major weight gain. In comparison to
> sound sleepers, women who sleep only 5 hours per night are 32
> per cent more likely to experience major weight gain - defined as
> an increase of 33 pounds or more.
> https://www.organicconsumers.org/2006/article_545.cfm
> ____________________________________
>
> https://OrganicConsumers.org/logos.htm
>
> Subscribe: https://www.organicconsumers.org/organicbytes.htm
>

Thanks for posting this.
My DH was just wondering out loud last night about how much energy it would take to make ethanol, and whether or not it might not turn out to have some tragic flaw, like solar and wind energy do. The article here answered his question, unfortunately.

Roxie

Our converting corn to alcohol has got to have the Arabs laughing all the way to the bank. But as long as we have a strong corn lobby the use of more efficient crops to make alcohol is out of the question. However at least on the plus side, the residue form making alcohol is supposedly a good livestock feed.

As far as solar goes there are some good systems for making hot water and for solar heating and windmills have the potential to be a substantial source of power if they don�t get blown away by the not in my backyard crowd.

Mad Scientist,
Please correct me if I am wrong on this....I would love to see evidence that I am wrong, believe me!

We have had solar hot water for over 30 years, so I know a bit about it. The problem with solar is that it requires a lot of space to really do the whole job of running homes, etc., and even worse, it requires huge amounts of selenium for the solar cells. Selenium mining is very destructive, worse than strip coal mining, and it's not cheap either.

The problem with wind power is that it kills birds. Insects have discovered that it is safe to be on the ground below the fields of windmills used to make wind power. But, hungry birds cannot resist the buffett they see crawling below, and they try to dive between the blades. Thousands of them are killed every year. The solution would be to leave a decent amout of space between each windmill, but land is expensive, so I am not holding my breath.

Hope you are having a nice holiday,

Roxie

Regardless of how much money is allocated to organic research and development the organic departments in our local grocery stores are growing by leaps and bounds. Even the most conventional Western Family line of products that supply several different smaller grocery stores have a organic line of canned foods.

What this tells me is that those who are into orgainc are into it with a passion and they have been diligently working on product lines and expanding markets over the years. I buy more and more orgainic.

Argue with the government? Beg for money? Hell no. I have no time for that. We all have to keep putting our money where our mouth is.... and directly into the organic growers hands by purchasing their products even if they cost more.

Everytime your store starts selling a new organic product drop them a note and tell them you appreciate it and that you will now shop there more for that product.

I was recently at an alternative energy fair and one of the venders there was showing a new generation of high efficiency solar roof panels to make hot water. The hot water is then used to provide radiant floor heating, excess heat is stored in a conventional hot water tank(s) for nighttime use. His system is basically for new construction and at the moment he has all the orders that he can handle. Considering that he is in the Chicago land area he must be doing something right!

Current photovoltaic solar panels are made of silicon, essentially a glass, not selenium.

I have heard the claim that windmills eat birds and I�m sure that windmills have whacked some birds. However I find it hard to believe that this is a serious problem. The large windmill farms generally have large windmills and the blades on these windmills turn rather slowly, one revolution in 2 seconds. At this speed there is plenty of time for an alert bird to steer clear. However if he is not watching were he is going and gets hit, considering the low speed, he will not be sliced and diced but rather just pushed out of the way. Of course he my wind up with a headache reminding him to be more careful next time.

Small windmills that an individual might have, 10-12 foot blades, do run at much higher speeds. But it is not cost effective to fill a whole field filled with these small machines. Thus by them self they do not pose much of a problem. Also the higher you make a windmill the more efficient it becomes and this leaves more space between the blades and the ground and this gives the birds more room to terrorize the insects.

Thanks, Mad Scientist, I will pass this info along to my contractor DH, who gave me the info about selenium. Our solar panel is 30 yrs. old. There is not much call at all for solar here, despite all the sun, since the regulations have made installing it twice as expensive as electric hot water.

Roxie

Here's my weak minded take on the 'ethanol question'

Major league food processing conglomerates are always
looking to the future to expand/protect their domains.

Let me postulate this. Suppose the trend for less and
less sugar/carbohydrates consumed by the public was
a concern to you, a senior level exec at a huge food
producer.

(These healthfood maniacs cannot be stopped!)

What are you going to do with those dozens and dozens
of sugar and corn plants that you have spread around
the middle of the US?

If the consumers won't eat the stuff, how about having
them burn the stuff?

Wallah! We'll just go to congress and have them mandate
ethanol in the fuel supply! Easier to produce, less money
to distribute, no waste or bad product. It's a win/win/win
for BigFood!

Holy Smokes! Why didn't we think of this before!

:wink:

You may be right about the corn. And, it would certainly not be without precedence. It is a deja vu experience.....
Can anybody spell f-l-u-o-r-i-d-e!

IMO, we have to do something to get independent of foreign oil however, because if we don't cripple the hatemongers econmically, we will bring on Armageddon by feeding them the money they need to try to destroy us.

What do you think we should do for alternative energy???

Roxie

Just got the new Consumer reports magazine today and it sort of fits in with what JPS said. The cover story is on using E85 ethanol. This is a blend of 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline. They stated most studies showed that people who purchased flexible-fuel vehicles did so for reduced dependency on petroleum and improved fuel economy. But that is not what they are getting. In the article they used a 2007 Chevrolet Tahoe as a test vehicle. There overall mileage with gasoline was 14 MPG. Using the E85 the mileage dropped to 10 MPG, this was the lowest fuel mileage they got from any vehicle in recent years. The conclusion was it will cost you more money to go the same distance if you use the �cheaper� E85 fuel.

Finding gas stations that carry E85 is difficult at best and outside the Midwest area almost imposable. Still the automakers have built more then 5 million vehicles that will run on E85. However they do get credits towards the CAF� fuel economy standard for every one they make, regardless if it ever runs on E85. These credits then allow them to build and sell other vehicles that get poor mileage and yet still allow them to meet the CAF� standards. The conclusion is that these vehicles are actually causing us to use more gasoline not less.