Musings & Research on Sustainability & More

Ignorance is not bliss...

2009-11-23T01:54:00.003-05:00

And last I checked, no one ever said that hypocrisy was bliss. And yet it seems to run rampant through the world and launched at others from on top of the high horse that our opinions are the opinion.

I generally stay away from the news in all its forms because I greatly dislike all the drama drummed up. H1N1 was/is a prime example of that recently. I caught it from my husband who caught it on our wedding day. It was nothing compared to the normal flu and more like a stubborn cold that produced an ear infection. Sometimes the news finds me, however. Usually these pieces are actually interesting. Sometimes it's just plain irritating. Like all the fusses people make over anothers point of view. Most recently, it was about a Catholic United States Rep. being asked to forgo receiving communion and priests supposedly being informed not to give communion to him. Naturally, this raised a stink, most likely because it's comming from the Catholic church, but who knows why people do these things.

Many seem to think that a religion opposed to abortion and contraception have no business being in a country that has legalized it and that they have less right than anyone else to voice their opinions and even that they are being hypocritical being in the country. Just as many seem to think that the religion is run by nothing more than sexual predators, pedophiles and the like. Honestly, what gives? Oh yeah, there's "something systemic in the Catholic church that turns these men into disgusting human beings." Because only in the Catholic church are there pervets, fetishists, pedophiles and rapists. Yep. No one else in the world is guilty of these things. And what of all the murderers and kidnappers and abusers? Surely our prisons are not filled with Catholic priests!

In that light, I suppose that we should label teachers the same way and lets not forget to label all Muslims as terrorists. What in the world is wrong with people? Abortion wasn't always legal. It's a relatively new thing, actually. A group of people lobbied for the legalization because they believed that women should have the choice and not have to risk their lives getting it done illegally. Personally, I don't agree with abortion, but to each their own. If they feel that is their only option, then so be it. I'll not judge them or condemn them for it. Yet when the church voices it's own opinion that abortion is morally wrong, everyone gets pissed off about it (except the people smart enough to let it be and the people who agree with the church). I see no difference between either group, when it comes down to it, except that they have differing opinions and one is being persecuted for it from a high horse. You don't see this where I live. The church lobbies outside the hospital on a regular basis, promoting anti-abortion. Everyone just takes a glance and goes on about their day. It certainly doesn't make the news and gather an angry mob of people on the internet spewing condemnations. I'm truly glad not to be part of such a country that seems to do this every week and sometimes daily.

Perhaps one reason for the persecution is that people keep throwing around that there is a separation of church and state. Okay. Well, President Bush did a lot to diminish that one to begin with. But what is wrong with them voicing their opinion on a matter they feel strongly about? Because they're from the church. Let someone not from the church voice the same opinion and it's received less indignantly, even if it's no more appreciated or welcomed. These same people are crying out and throwing stones over the fact that this Rep. has effectively been denied communion by the Catholic church because he is a strong proponent of abortion. This is somehow a matter of politics rather than a matter of religion, which I don't get whatsoever. It seems purely about religion to me. This Rep. goes to church and receives communion while going against his faith outside the church. Yes, everyone has a right to their opinion. The Catholic church makes their opinion clear and this Rep. makes his opinion clear.

Now, there are many different schools of thought in Christianity. There are many churches who interpret the word of God and the life of Jesus differently. The Catholic church is the only one that is still against abortion and contraception outside of natural family planning. Does it not stand to reason then that, if you do not believe in the teachings of the religion you are in that you perhaps belong to a different religion? I stopped going to church because I did not believe in everything they stood for. Through my marriage, I'm back to attending and I take from it what I do believe while letting the rest slide by. I do this for my husband and for our future children. I also refrain from going up for communion because I believe that I would be hypocritical in accepting it because I don't believe whole-heartedly in what they teach and certain actions that they take. Mainly, I do it because I do not wish to be a hypocrite.

Some mention that the church should be more accepting of others' beliefs and not deny them anything because their beliefs go against those of the church yet they still wish to participate in said church. 9 out of 10 priests I have known have made clear that, if you are not Catholic in name and in practice, then you are welcome to come forward for a blessing rather than communion. I see no problem with this. I do see a problem with professing to be Catholic while going against the very faith you claim to follow. Yet so many feel righteously vindicated to practice something they don't believe in. This seems strangely like a world of selfish, spoiled children used to getting things the way they want it. No one is holding a gun to your head and making you be Catholic. If you do not agree with their teachings, there are many different teachings and one of them is bound to fit your own beliefs and translations of the church; which, quite frankly are one and the same. Their interpretation of the bible and God is their belief, not just their interpretation that is to be taken however you wish to take it. No one is forcing anyone to be part of anything, so why get so upset over it? Why not let the church have their beliefs and hold true to your own beliefs? Why lie to yourself and claim to be Catholic when you dislike their interpretation and their tennets?

Another amusing comment is that the church is being hypocritical by being against contraception and abortion, yet "bemoan all the starvation and suffering due to famine and overpopulation...." Somehow, this comment figures this means the church expects people to "Keep popping 'em out and watch 'em starve to death...." How so? It's not like the church comes to the doors of Catholics these days and looks to see if your wife is either pregnant or nursing. As a matter of fact, they've provided Catholics with an alternative to contraception. That being natural family planning, which is not just about abstinence, but about viewing everything you do together as a couple as something inately sexual. They are trying to heed the problems of the world and provide practicing Catholics with a way to do be conscious of these things while remaining true to their faith. And what about all the help they extend to the poor, the homeless and those less fortunate than ourselves? How many times does a non-profit organization knock on your door asking for help and you say "sorry, I don't have anyting" even when you do? Yet the church is the one being hypocritical.

Yes, I find a lot of hypocrisy in the church. It's a large reason why I don't receive communion. The things being thrown around in argument as being hypocritical is just laughable. Are the majority of people really so ignorant and blind? You live in a country that spouts freedom and yet you would condemn the freedom of Catholics to practice their religion because they are doing so in a country that has put up laws legalizing things the Catholic church is against. So they're hypocrites for practicing and should leave. Um...they were there before those laws for one. Freedom of speech and freedom of religious belief for another. Or do those things only apply when you say they do? Is an oppressed woman lobbying against oppression in a country where it is legalized a hypocrite? There is far more hypocrisy in the arguments against the church and in the world at large than there is in the church. Double standards all around!! Get your daily dose right here!

The biggest reason for abortion seems to be the case of women who've been raped. To each their own, that's for them to decide if they think it's the only course of action. I was there. I couldn't stomach the idea of aborting the child, and am still troubled by it's natural loss after 5 years. I'd rather give a child up to a loving home than kill it, if I couldn't stand raising the child myself. This is my opinion and I'm not about to make anyone else follow it. But there are always options that don't mean the loss of a life. It's a choice. Be for or against abortion, it makes no difference to me, but be careful when you throw around the word choice. It's also a woman's choice when she kills her own child after it's been born. Should that be legal as well? How about someone who chooses to kill or otherwise harm another human being or an animal dependent on them that they "lovingly" took into their homes and, for some reason, chose to torture and/or kill. If that's what you think, then lets let everyone out of jail today because it was their choice and, for whatever reason, they decided it was something they should do. On the other hand, there are abortions due to life-threatening pregnancies. I don't know about you, but there's a Catholic hospital where I live and they actually perform abortions if it means the life of the mother. Let's face it, chances are, if the mother dies, the child is probably going to die unless it's reached a late enough stage of pregnancy. Most people seem to think the church will let the woman die in the hopes that the child lives. Maybe there are some. I haven't come across them.

In the end, no one forces you to be Catholic and no one forces you to listen to them when they speak out against something they believe is wrong. They are doing what they think is right for the good of everyone/everyone's souls. Just like pro-choicers lobbied for legalization of abortion. They're put up on a pedestal while the church is condemned. It doesn't make much sense at all. Give freedom to all; oh, but wait, not you, you're Catholic. Isn't that a bit hypocritical? I don't uphold your teachings, but I demand my right to receive communion from you! Where's the logic here? Why do you care about Catholic communion when you don't care about the teachings of the Catholic church? There are many other Christian churches. Same God, same Jesus, same prohets and saints. Different interpretation of the writings and, thereby, different faith. I went out and found my home (regardless of where I am today), perhaps you should do the same. Get off your high horse. Everyone has an opinion and a right to their opinion. Don't like it, let it be and be with those who share your opinion. While many churches have differing views, I'm pretty sure the majority want you to love your neighbour, no matter the differences. Perhaps you should take a look at yourself and take a look around you before you throw stones. We live in a world of choice and opportunity. We live in a world of freedome and in a world of rules. No rules are being broken except in your imaginary world of self-righteousness and indignant fury that the Catholic church, of all groups, should oppose your opinion. Just ignore them if you don't like it. No one's holding a gun to your head and making you listen or making you practice a faith you don't truly believe in. They aren't hurting you, they're just speaking their mind and standing up for their values. The same as you are. Except you can only do it by lodging a smear campain and throwing ignorant insults with little to no basis and as much (or little) intelligence and information.

It's about the same reaction you get when you hear about someone torturing a cat, dog, any pet and even really small children (not so much the teenagers it happens to, nor the adults). Man throws cat in washing machine? "We should throw HIM in a washing machine and see how he likes it!" "He deserves to die!" "I want to see him burn! The disgusting pig!" While I agree that it is deplorable and wrong of him to have done, it doesn't warrant similar action be done to him. Sure, it sounds nice and it would be fair, but it makes you no better than the man you're sentencing to death. You're just doing it from a self-righteous high horse, or (the case of the death penalty that these same people want to bring back just for these people that do these attrocious acts) behind the law as an authority pulling the trigger. You're no different, you just found a legal way to go about it. An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind. Should they be punished? Sure. But who are we to do the punishing? What gives us the right? What makes us better? If you truly want to be better than the one who tortured the cat, then be smart and live your life well.

And stop lying to yourself. If you are going to church and receiving communion, it should be because you believe in what they are teaching and you live your faith. Not because someone told you that you should or because you were born into it. You have a choice. If we could all be honest with ourselves and with each other and if we could live and let live, the world would be a better place. By the way, look at the wars you've launched in the name of your beliefs. You're actually worse than the Catholic church you are condemning. They aren't forcibly trying to cram their beliefs down your throat. They're speaking out like anyone else. Throw your stones when they start killing people for supporting or turning to abortion. Oh, but please only bother throwing them when you stop killing in the name of your beliefs. If you think I should die for disagreeing with you and actually speaking instead of insulting; you first. But no, seriously, how can we be a world of freedom when everyone is still so intollerant?

I married a Catholic because he is a wonderful man. I go to church because I support my husband, not because the church told me I should. To me, marriage is supporting your spouse and their beliefs. As such, I will do my best. I will also raise my children Catholic. Not half-heartedly and hypocritically, but to the fullest of my capabilities and when they are old enough to think for themselves they can decide whether or not the religion is for them. If it is not, I hope that they will find their path and their home as I did in the religion I followed in my life without even realizing it. There is a home for everyone in this world and there is a belief system to support yours. You just have to find it. There are countless religions in the world. Enough that there is no need to be a hypocrite and no need to lie to yourself. You only hurt yourself by doing this, whether you realize it or not. Find peace and be content in your life so that you don't need to attack others who happen to live their lives differently.

There is no matter of politics here and it should never have even been made into a public debacle. It's a publicity stunt in a war of differing opinions meant to hurt the opposing view. Nothing more. Just because you don't hear about it on the internet or in the news doesn't mean normal people are not asked to forgo receiving communion. On the same token, why would the church feel the need to deny you communion if you weren't actively speaking against their teachings in a public setting in such that they hear about it? Obviously they can't deny you communion if they don't even know that you are against their teachings. If they knew, obviously they would ask you to desist. Because it's hypocritical and that is more hurtful to yourself and/or your soul than you believing in abortion or not.

By the way, in case anyone who wishes to condemn me over this has forgotten or doesn't know; I'm also persecuted by feminists for being a traitor to all women because I stated that I'd be as happy being a housewife as I would be earning money in a job. It's a choice people. Stop trying to force others to accept your choices and to do so without compromise. I don't even call myself Catholic and I still defend their right to voice their opinion the same as everyone else has that right (oh yeah, and I'm persecuted for being Catholic too, even though I can't help being born into the religion and don't identify with it). Oh yes! And lets not forget that I'm persecuted by still others because I am actually not against the idea of natural family planning. No sex for 1 or 2 weeks? Impossible! How dare they! You know, sex isn't everything. And all those couples cheating on each other because they've lost the "spark" in their sex lives? Ever thought that going without for a while might actually be beneficial in that it would make it more exciting and more electrifying when you actually do have sex with your spouse? It's rather like staying on your honeymoon, honestly. And don't forget to include being a traitor to women's rights because I don't agree with abortion, even though I couldn't care less if a woman did choose to abort. Did I miss anything? Probably.

We're a world of intolerance. A world of selfishness. A world of greed. A world of oppression and violence. A world of ignorance and idiocy. Where's the world of freedom we claim to be? Where's the world of peace? Of acceptance? Of loving ourselves and our neighbours? Of intelligence and enlightenment? I still don't wish to take part in this world we live in. I want to live in the world we claim to have, but in fact couldn't be further from. Humans are so sad.

Explanations are just an art form

2008-10-17T15:57:00.002-04:00

It started at around 03:30 this morning. Having finally satisfied my curiosity and finally having settled the debate my body was going through over sleep and hunger, it was time to go to bed.

I'd spent the day at my boyfriend's and we'd watched Stay Alive before dinner. While the acting left something to be desired (although, I find that this is so with nearly every film as most actors can't act all that well outside of who they themselves are as a person), I found the concept really interesting. It's nothing to do with anything (at least, I don't think it is), but we watched teh first 20 minutes of Eleventh Hour before returning to my place, being disappointed that the mystery had been revealed so quickly and before anyone on the show got a clue about it.

At any rate, after he left, I started looking into Elizabeth Báthory again, dipping up facts as well as lore. I also looked up the film to learn more and, I admit, partially to see if there was any talk about fashioning a game after the game in the film. Not that I'd have been able to play it should it exist, but I was disappointed all teh same that there was not. Again, this is neither here nor there to the events that followed. The search sprung up others, like the Loomis Crowley connections mentioned, and which I read up on as I nibbled on some cold turkey left over from Thanksgiving in order to bring my stomach to a point of non-hunger with which I could actually sleep. I was left with an uncertain doubt of any connection other than a blending of the two names and see no reason why it should have been mentioned; neither in relation to the character nor to the story. It did make for some interesting reading.

And so it was that at 03:30 I finally made my way to bed with thoughts of writing about the philosophical question of existance that plagues my mind every now and again. After I'd turned my light off, I realized I'd left my studs in. I didn't want to get teh kittens all excited by turning the light back on so I sat on my bed and began to switch the studs out for hoops. No sooner did I have the studs out did I think that I felt something drop beside me onto the comforter. In the instant replay of my mind, I was pretty sure I'd even seen a dark form about the size of a mouse drop from the corner of my right eye. Looking back again, I can't say if I actually saw something as it happened or if my mind planted that I had seen it. In the very short moments it took my brain to process these thoughts, I swore I felt that something move toward me. Reflexively, I jerked the comforter to displace whatever it was while I jumped from the bed and turned the lights back on. My heart was racing. There was nothing there.

Now, I don't charictaristically scare easily. I'd watch a mouse run across the flood with curiosity back when I had them, before I watched a co-worker's cat. I love to sit down and watch horror movies and, I admit, it's largely in an attempt to find one that will frighten me. I especially love to sit there and watch them in an empty house in the dead of night with no lights on. Child's Play and Dolls remain the only two that I can't watch because I'd seen them as a young child and every time I watch them, I return to the frightened mind of that child even though I know that it is not real. The scariest thing about Dolls had been the fact that I had a similar looking doll made by my grandmother in my likeness sitting in my room. It is like I am trained to be frightened of these things because I was frightened by them as a child. I'd watched Stay Alive twelve hours before going to bed, had not been frightened by it and had found nothing frightening in the reading I'd done following watching the movie. I have no idea why I'd been so open to being spooked.

And yet, despite all this, I felt no choice but to sleep with the light on for fear of more scares of things dropping onto my bed and coming in my direction. Since my lamp was burnt out and the overhead light is impossible to sleep under, I went and grabbed another lamp from elsewhere in the house. As I lay there, I thought about how the mind feeds itself if you don't take control and stop it. So it was that my heart skipped a beat at every little sound.

The lampshade re-adjusting itself since I'd skewed it to divert the light away from me sounded like something brushing up against it. Yet I couldn't bring myself to turn around and look at the lamp because my mind conjured up this image of some creature and then of a nightmarish lamp that was altering shape behind me.

Small noises from outside my window were things out of horror movies. The kittens, now running around and playful since I had the light on, because sounds of a possible intruder ransacking the place. The light reflecting off the zipper of my luggage was suspect enough that I entertained thoughts of covering it, especially when the little black dots that occasionally float through the vision of my left eye gave the illusion of movement from the corner of said eye. And I thought about how the mind plays tricks and how, if you start looking for something, be it fear or coincidence or any such thing, you'll find it in abundance. I'd had a scare and now my mind was conjuring up fear in everything. Just as, when you happen across a coincidence and dwell on the coinsidence, you start to see coinsidence everywhere.

I knew that I'd never get to sleep at that rate and my mind was spinning with writing down this unusual (for me) experience that I figured I might as well give up the fight and write so I could regain control of my mind and eventually get some sleep. It is times like these that I think I could benefit from some strong sleepling aid from a doctor so that I can quiet my sometimes overactive mind.

One hour since the beginning of this and I have halted all the irrational fears running rampant in my mind, but I still don't dare look behind the curtains and out my window. Just the thought of doing so to prove that there is nothing there brings flashes of images in my mind's eye. Sometimes a face which is sometimes a monstrous face from some horror flick and sometimes the face of your average peeping Tom with the latter of the two being the more frightening thought. Sometimes it's some blody tableau, be it on my window, on a face in my window, or a bloodied hand running down and smearing my window. At least I've quelled the rest with the writing of it. I think I'll wait for daylight before looking out my window.

This all begs the question to what extent our own experiences can lie to us? The human mind can deceive itself to an extraordinary degree. It's impossible to draw a clear line between the real thing and a hallucination; both in theory and in practice. Maybe that distinction, between what is illusion and what is reality is really unimportant. But what is reality? We know that there are limits to logic and the things we can prove. We know that there are limits to what can be known simply because it is inherently unknowable. Still, scientists go on probing and discovering new particles and coming up with theories and refining equations in pursiot of one unified theory that explains everything. There are things that defy logic, yet the human mind is wonderful at rationalizing these things. There are things that logic can neither prove nor disprove. Such as our reality.

"But suppose," I said, "just suppose it's a hopeless quest. Suppose the universe isn't made up of any one thing that we can finally put our finger on and say "That's it". Suppose all that ever happens is that when we look at something closely enough, it turns into something else? Mass becomes energy; a wave becomes a particle; a particle becomes a superstring; and so on ad infinitum. In other words, reality is a stack of Russian dolls - open one and there's another one inside. All we're really doing is chasing our own tails. Sure, we're building rockets to Mars and microwave ovens, but those are by-products, not the goal. It's a scary though that maybe there is no goal. Maybe it really is turtles all the way down - turtles or whatever. But no final answers. Because we're looking in the wrong place." (Excerpt from Coincidence by David Ambrose)

People say such things as "I am what I am" or "I think/feel therefor I am." But what are you, really? How do you know, for that matter, that what you take for granted as your reality, as your life, isn't just a dream? Maybe you're dreaming the whole thing. Or maybe someone else is dreaming the whole thing. I think therefor I am. This neither proves nor disproves that what you are is more than a dream. Neither does saying that it's an awfully long dream as time is a subjective concept. Is reality equally subjective? How about truth? Are you lying when you say you didn't do something when you can't prove you didn't do it, but you believe you are telling the truth? Maybe we're even in a string of dreams going on into a possible infinity. Haven't you ever had a dream where "dream you" is dreaming?

A spin on the same question arose from David Ambrose's Coincidence. What if we're all just part of a computer program created in another reality for research purposes? And what if that reality is also just a program that was created and is running on a computer in yet another reality? You can neither prove nor disprove that this is not true.

Reality becomes as subjective as time. All we have; all we logically know is what our experiences tell us via our own mind. But what if that's all a lie? What is the truth? Does it even matter? Does it really make any difference if all reality is is just a dream or a computer program? Would it change anything for you? Would it change your perceptions? your actions? Does the truth, being as subjective as time and reality, matter?

Perhaps it's all just turtles in the end.

Various Discoveries Made About Different Bodies Thanks to a Fall on Black Ice

2008-03-29T22:01:00.001-04:00

Now, I fell a few times in the last month due to the city wanting to cut corners. One such corner was to neglect to salt the sidewalks this winter. There is enough traffic on the main streets that they don't pose much trouble to the pedestrian, nor to the driver. The side streets, on which most people live, are another matter entirely. Most of the winter, due to the nature of my job, I could lessen my chances of falling by walking on the road as I was up long before traffic started up and, by the time I headed home again, traffic, or mother nature, usually took care of things so they weren't so trecherous. Not always, but usually. This isn't what I want to write about, however. What I wanted to write about are the things I have seen as a result of my last fall.

What with the heating during the day that kept melting the snow and ice only to freeze it again overnight, it was a very good environment for black ice. So it happened that I had a few falls on my way to work; a couple of them helped by a problem with my right hip that has, for almost 6 months, randomly dislocated to varrying degrees while I walk. It is nearly 100% likely that I will fall if it happens over ice. I found it better to fall with a dislocation though, as I would already be halfway down when I fell, but something that would not happen if the city was looking after things. This was not the case at 4 am on March 6th.

I started off walking on the sidewalk, but moved to the road after a few near misses of losing my footing just going around the corner. They had already been out to thros dirt on the roads. My first discovery, as I went from just walking on the road to walking squarely on the "path" of thrown dirt, was that it doesn't help in the least. No matter where I walked, the result was the same and it didn't even matter how slowly or carefully I walked. So it was that I moved back up onto the sidewalk, knowing it would be safer to fall there than to fall in the middle of the road. I had gone four or so blocks in an agonizingly slow thirty minutes before I lost my footing completely and fell hard on my right hand. Next I knew, my arm was flying out from under me and twisting sharply as it shot behind me. I slipped about a dozen times after that and nearly lost my feet again another 6 before I could get help as I couldn't release my right hand long enough to even make an attempt to reach my cellphone and call for help.

I can't recall, but I believe it was around noon when I found myself sitting in the emergency room at the hospital to get my wrist looked at as the pain and swelling were going nowhere fast, except to get worse. I'm stubborn or I'd have been there sooner. If I'd not called my mother, I'd probably not have had it checked out for a few days and might even have tried working, which would have promptly failled. My penchant for being stubborn kept me from taking anything while I waited, prefering to be fully capable of feeling and measuring the pain while it was looked at. I was seen nearly 12 hours after I had injured myself.

The next thing I found, which I already knew, but had never been able to compare all in one treatment, are the different ways in which you are treated. You are faced with someone who is coldly clinical, someone who is over sympathetic, or someone who knows what it feels like and wants to make it as easy for you as possible. I have dealt with many of these varrying personalities in the time I've spent trying to heal, and not all of them to do with this injury, but with older injuries. The most point blank display of this was in the x-ray technician who manipulated my wrist into the positions she wanted for x-ray upon seeing how slowly I was comfortably moving. I quickly lost count of how many times I whimpered in pain, bit my tongue, or saw stars. Then another tech came in to x-ray my elbow, taking shots out of sequence to minimize how much I had to move and letting me do the majority of the work rather than trying to twist my arm for me, all the while apologizing profusely every time I so much as winced. I'd gone from one extreme to the other. In all of this, I found the most comfortable environment is with a professional who is not so clinical and who is not over-sympathetic, but who is somewhere in the middle; doing what they can to make it easier and more comfortable for you, asking if there is anything they can help you with. Unfortunately, those are rare and I've only encountered two who pulled it off perfectly. My old doctor, Dr. Paddon and the woman who put me through the bone scan for my hip. Another thing I liked about her was that she said she had her students raise their arms the way they ask us to so that they know what it is we are feeling. It gives me some measure of hope that there will be more people like her in the profession. Perhaps if there were more like those two and less like my current doctor and the x-ray technician who looked at my wrist, people would be a little less inclined to avoid doctors.

After the x-rays, it was back to the waiting room. Eventually, I was seen by a doctor and told that the only anomally on the x-rays that the radiologist was concerned about was with my elbow. One thing that bothered me was how vaguely the doctor answered any questions I, or my mother, asked. What I got from it was that my elbow bone was bruised, but that it did not require a cast and that I should try bending and straightening it after a couple days to avoid stiffness. Despite my wrist showing the classical swelling and bruising of a break, not to mention having 90% of the pain and impossibility moving it, I had only badly sprained it. I was put in a splint and given a flimsy cheesecloth sling that couldn't hold the weight of my arm and keep it straight without my constant tugging it back into place and told that I should try taking the splint off and moving my wrist to avoid the same stiffness after 4 or 5 days. The doctor suggested that I do this by removing the splint overnight and directed me to otherwise not use my right arm for 1 week, after which I was to go see my doctor for a check-up.

The next discovery was seeing just how ill-informed my place of employment is as I was getting conflicting information from management. Adding to what I already knew of our current management through my little dealings with them and through observing what others went through dealing with them, I was rather taken aback when I was asked if I could still go to work out of town after I had informed them of the ER doctor's directions.

Following directions, I took the splint off after four days, on March 10th, and attempted to move my wrist very carefully without using my left to manipulate it. The result was so much pain my vision blacked out and I started feeling really sick. And so I looked at filing for Employment Insurance so that I could get some money coming in to make sure that I would continue to be able to pay my bills and put food on my table if things took longer than anticipated. Doing so told me that I needed to request my Record of Employment from my employer, which I promptly did. My boss told me that he wouldn't change my status or request the ROE until I had my check-up and that if I did not have confirmation before Friday March 14th, I would have to wait another 2-3 weeks for this change to take place. Odd.... Meanwhile, I was playing phone tag with my doctor's office and told that he was out of town and I could either see him in walk-in on the 18th or wait until the 27th to see him. The very next morning, that same office called my mom to set up an appointment for the very days I'd been trying to get in myself. My doctor has proven very difficult to deal with and not very competent and helpful when you actually do get to see him, but this took the cake. Unfortunately, things here are such that if you already have a doctor, you may not go and get a new doctor if there are any accepting patients because too many people in the city have no doctor. It does not matter in the least that most express the opinion that they do not want a doctor. And so, I am forced to keep the one I have and rely on walk-in clinics should I want better treatment than that I have experienced with him.

I went to the clinic with my mother in the hopes to see my doctor through the walk-in or get squeezed in with her as he will sometimes do. They had closed the clinic early and refused to open it for the last half hour despite there being only 3 people waiting and my doctor was supposedly double booked. Needing to see a doctor, we went on a hunt for another clinic after my mother was done with her appointment considering my apparent deadline the next day. I was seen in relatively short order by a very pleasant woman and asked to remove my splint and try moving my wrist so she could see the range of movement. At this point, I had a little and the benefit of stopping as soon as I felt a spike in pain. I was given a prescription of more anti-inflamatories and told not to use it for 2 weeks. She also suggested that I try replacing the splint with a brace for added comfort. A suggestion I jumped on, but knew I was in too much pain to try for at least half a week. So, I bit through the pain as I fired off a message to my boss and ran around town to fill my prescription and buy some braces.

On March 20th, I sent another message to my boss, enquiring about my ROE as it had still not arrived, despite the fact that another pay period had passed. Despite the passage of time, I was as dubious over my check-up as I had been about the prognosis at the ER as the swelling in my wrist and hand had not gone back down since the check-up and neither had the increased pain. Had I been less stubborn and less busy with appointments, be they medical or social, I would have, and should have, gone to see another doctor and had more x-rays done. I'm sure that the bone scan I had scheduled for the 18th did nothing to help decrease the swelling and pain as I had to put on and remove a pair of pants 6 times that day and jostled my arm around many other ways to get through the test. While not quick at getting things done, my boss is at least quick in his replies and assured me that my ROE should be on it's way, but that I may get it the following week due to the Easter holiday and that I should notify him if I still did not have it by the end of the following week; this week.

Had I been able to work, I would have had my pay deposited into my bank account at midnight on Wednesday or Thursday. Being unable to work, I have nothing coming in. As my ROE has still failed to materialize, I do not even know when I can apply to have EI supplement my pay and ensure that I remain able to pay my bills and put food on my table. By all appearances, I will be forced to go downtown to file for EI and have the government force my employer to relinquish my ROE. Trouble I really hoped to avoid going through. It has been nearly one month since I fell. Nearly one month since I have been capable of using my right arm. Nearly one month since I have been able to earn a living. Nearly one month and still no idea when I will be able to work again.

Now, on the 22nd, I had myself in a brace. My fingers needed a lot of slow movement to stretch out the muscles, but I had to settle for massage mostly because the little movement sent pain spiking through my wrist and partway up my arm. Using it was out of the question. But I was able, for the first time, to leave the brace on without any more pain than I experienced in the splint. Until Monday night when I had to take out the trash. Try as I might, I have not figured out how to tie a bag without using the fingers of my right to hold one half steady so that I can tie with the left. It didn't help that my landlord had filled my recycle bin up so that it was both too full and too heavy for me to lift with just my left so that I needed my right to lift it high enough to prop on my hip. I was confused by the feeling of something, yet again, seeming to move painfully in my wrist and was back in the splint as soon as I could get help getting it on.

Thursday, I followed the advice of an old friend I had run into, who looks a lot like the new boss we got in our office, and went to yet another clinic that had an x-ray lab attached. Again, I was seen in relatively short order and met with very friendly faces. I also had the bemusing, and very pleasant, first-time experiebce of being treated by a doctor who sang softly as he worked. In about two and a half hours, I was in, x-rayed, treated, filled a prescription and on the way home, feeling as though I had received much better care and more competent care, than any other doctor I had seen for this injury. It turns out that my wrist had been fractured. Whether or not it is also sprained, I do not know, but, for the first time, I had been told that I most definitely broke it. Lucky for me, it did not appear to be a complete break and seemed to still be in place, so nothing had to be rebroken and set. I was then given the choice between keeping the splint on, or having my arm casted. A quick discussion over the inadequacy of a molded splint held in place by a tensor wrap saw me being wrapped in plaster. The relief in the joint was nearly immediate after the plaster was on and drying. The waves of pain are gone except for the occasional needle of pain when I have my wrist below heart level for too long. The current estimate is that it will be 4 additional weeks and I should be hearing from a clinic dealing specifically in breaks to this area for an appointment.

Saturday, I finally get a reply from my boss about my ROE. This time, my boss wants me to wait until Wednesday, at which point he will get in touch with head office to track it down. I'm sorry, what? I've been off work since March 6th and been trying to get my ROE since March 10th and you want me to wait longer before you do anything about it? Unfortunately, EI takes long enough as it is and I have bills to pay, never mind that I need to eat. What I should have done, I suppose, is go to EI as soon as I was put off the first time and gotten the ball rolling. Now I have to wait for Monday to get it rolling because I sure as hell am not going to wait for my employer to keep dragging it out until I get the okay to return to work. And that's assuming I get the okay before I run out of savings to pay my bills. Perhaps I wouldn't be so angry over this if it were the only way this company tells it's employees that they don't care and to bugger off. Sadly, it's only one of the many areas where they seem to walk a fine line with workplace legalities with less than a handful of cowokers exhibiting even professional courtesy; even less than that displaying respect of others and the belongings of others. My experience with this particular branch of the company keeps getting worse at a nearly exponential rate. I certainly did not expect to be faced with so much delay and hassle to get something the law says employees have a right to request at any time and the employer an obligation to provide.

What I have not yet figured out is how the fracture, which the doctor said was very clearly shown, was so completely missed. Is it due to the fact that they want to move through patients as quickly as possible in the ER and do not take the time to properly look at things? Was it a mix-up with another x-ray? Or did the swelling in my wrist hide it from view? I may never know the answer to that. I do know that I am rather shocked at having gone so long without knowing it was broken and that, by following the advice of the doctor, I may have set my healing back quite a while. It is somewhat disheartening, though not nearly so much as dealing with my employer through all of this has been. And all of this is because of a little slip on some black ice because the city does not take care of the sidewalks. Nor do homeowners bother with it. I often see them clearing the snow in front of their houses so that they do not need to trudge through the snow when the plows neglect to pass through, but only 2 houses along those first 5 blocks had bothered to throw salt on the icy sidewalks in a little one foot square. There is really nothing to be said about it. It has, however, lead to many discoveries and even more questions.

Apologies

2007-10-14T13:48:00.000-04:00

My apologies for my continued long absence from this blog. I have been very busy with my life. I am continuing to piece together my essays, but my time is limited and there are few essays I can post to this blog. I am currently in the process of trying to arrange another bit of space on the web where I will continue to write on a regular basis using a pen name. The reason for all of this is that Mr. Smith knows about this blog and he continues to visit it. I do not wish this man to use my work to further his own goals and do not want to give him anything he can take and claim as his own work as he has done with all the work I did for him and his "organization", SCRI Foundation. To this day, he refuses to give me credit for the work and refuses to give me the payment we agreed upon for that work. There are possibilities of taking him to court over these things, but my time and options remain very limited. So until such a time as I find another space in which to post my work, there is little for me to write in here. I will try to notify everyone of the move and I will be keeping this blog open regardless, it will just be limited to contain those essays that do not pertain to my work and from which Ian has nothing to gain.

I apologize for the inconvenience and the long bouts of silence. I am doing what I can to get this back up and running on a regular basis while protecting my intellectual property from someone who has made clear that he would use it for profit while taking steps to ensure I cannot use it at all.

Honey and Cinnamon

2007-09-19T15:28:00.000-04:00

In my various readings, I came across something about honey and cinnamon as a cure for many different things. Now, due to lack of time, I haven't been able to do much digging into it and thus haven't found credible sources to site. I do have the time to experiment with it though, seeing as preparation is minimal and easily done with working odd hours.

Pulled from Nourishing Traditions, page 536: Honey that has not been heated over 117 degrees is loaded with amylases, enzymes that digest carbohydrates, as well as all the nutirents found in plant pollens. This makes it an ideal sweatener for porridge and toast, as the amylases in raw honey help digest grains. Glucose tolerance tests indicate that, for most people, honey does not upset blood sugar levels as severely as does refined sugar.

There are many studies quoted throughout that book regarding refined products vs naturally occuring ones. Particularly in dealing with salts, fats and sugars, where the refined products always lead to ill health and diseases. A prevalent and common one today is Diabetes. This article I read said that even though honey is sweet, it does not harm a diabetic patient if taken in the right doses. As I mentioned, it was not a creditable source and I have not yet had time to look into. While this may be true, I question whether it is honey as readibly available in the grocery store or whether it would need to be raw honey.

The various "cures" I have found:

ARTHRITIS: Arthritis patients may take daily, morning, and night, one cup of hot water with two spoons of honey and one small teaspoon of cinnamon powder. If taken regularly even chronic arthritis can be cured. In a recent research conducted at the Copenhagen University, it was found that when th e doctors treated their patients with a mixture of one tablespoon Honey and half teaspoon Cinnamon powder before breakfast, they found that within a week, out of the 200 people so treated, practically 73 patients were totally relieved of pain, and within a month, mostly all the patients who could not walk or move around because of arthritis started walking without pain.
BAD BREATH: People of South America, first thing in the morning, gargle with one teaspoon of honey and cinnamon powder mixed in hot water, so theirbreath stays fresh throughout the day.
BLADDER INFECTIONS: Take two tablespoons of cinnamon powder and one teaspoon of honey in a glass of lukewarm water and drink it. It destroys the germs in the bladder.
CANCER: Recent research in Japan and Australia has revealed that advanced cance r of the stomach and bones have been cured successfully. Patients suffering from these kinds of cancer should daily take one tablespoon of honey with one teaspoon of cinnamon powder for one month three times a day.
CHOLESTEROL: Two tablespoons of honey and one tablespoon of Cinnamon Powder mixed in 16 ounces of tea water, given to a cholesterol patient, was found to reduce the level of cholesterol in the blood by 10 percent within two hours. As mentioned for arthritic patients, if taken three times a day, any chronic cholesterol is cured. According to information received in the said journal, pure honey taken with food dailyrelieves complaints of cholesterol.
COLDS: Those suffering from common or severe colds should take one tablespoon lukewarm honey with 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon powder daily for three days. This process will cure most chronic cough, cold, and clear the sinuses.
FATIGUE: Recent studies have shown that the sugar content of honey is more helpful rather than being detrimental to the strength of the body. Senior citizens, who take honey and cinnamon powder in equal parts, are more alert and flexible. Dr. Milton, who has done research, says that a half tablespoon of honey taken in a glass of water and sprinkled with cinnamon powder, taken daily after brushing and in the afternoon at about 3:00 p.m. when the vitality of the body starts to decrease, increases the vitality&nb sp;of t he body within a week.
GAS: According to the studies done in India and Japan, it is revealed that if honey is taken with cinnamon powder the stomach is relieved of gas. HEARING LOSS: Daily morning and night honey and cinnamon powder, taken in equal parts restore hearing.
HEART DISEASES: Make a paste of honey and cinnamon powder, apply on bread, instead of jelly and jam, and eat it regularly for breakfast. It reduces the cholesterol in the arteries and saves the patient from heart attack. Also those who have already had an attack, if they do this process daily, they are kept miles away from the next attack. Regular use of the above process relieves loss of breath and strengthens the heart beat. In America and Canada, various nursing homes have treated patients successfully and have found that as you age, the arteries and veins lose their flexibility and get clogged; honey and cinnamon revitalize the arteries and veins.
IMMUNE SYSTEM: Daily use of honey and cinnamon powder strengthens the immune system and protect s the body from bacteria and viral attacks. Scientists have found th at honey has various vitamins and iron in large amounts. Constant use of honey strengthens the white blood corpuscles to fight bacteria and viral diseases.
INDIGESTION: Cinnamon powder sprinkled on two tablespoons of honey taken before food relieves acidity and digests the heaviest of meals.
INFLUENZA: A scientist in Spain has proved that honey contains a natural ingredient which kills the influenza germs and saves the patient from flu.
LONGEVITY: Tea made with honey and cinnamon powder, when taken regularly, arrests the ravages of old age. Take four spoons of honey, one spoon of cinnamon powder and three cups of water and boil to make like tea. Drink 1/4 cup, three to four times a day. It keeps the skin fresh and soft and arrests old age. Life spans also increases and even a 100 year old, starts performing the chores of a 20-year-old.
PIMPLES: Three tablespoons of honey and one teaspoon of cinnamon powder paste. Apply this paste on the pimples before sleeping and wash it next morning with warm water. If done daily for two weeks, it removes pimples from the root.
SKIN INFECTIONS: Applying honey and cinnamon powder in equal parts on the affected parts cures eczema, ringworm and all types of skin infections.
TOOTHACHE: Make a paste of one teaspoon of cinnamon powder and five teaspoons of honey and apply on the aching tooth. This may be applied three times a day until the tooth stops aching.
UPSET STOMACH: Honey taken with cinnamon powder cures stomach ache and also clears stomach ulcers from the root.
WEIGHT LOSS: Daily in the morning one half hour before breakfast on an empty stomach and at night before sleeping, drink honey and cinnamon powder boiled in one cup of water. If taken regularly, it reduces the weight of even the most obese person. Also, drinking this mixture regularly does not allow the fat to accumulate in the body even though the person may eat a high calorie diet.

At any rate, I figure it can't hurt to test some of this out for myself. On one hand, it proves to be a waste of time. On the other hand, I finally manage to kick the worst of my fatigue, my shortness of breath and the arthritis in my knees.

According to the above list, I would need on a daily basis:
~half tablespoon of honey taken in a glass of water and sprinkled with cinnamon powder twice a day for fatigue
~a paste of honey and cinnamon spread on toast in the morning for shortness of breath/heart diseases
~one cup of hot water with two spoons of honey and one small teaspoon of cinnamon powder taken in the morning and at night for the arthritis

The recipe for fatigue and that for the arthritis are easily combined into one. I don't really think that altering one will drastically affect the effect of the honey and cinnamon. That is to say, I doubt the first recipe I listed, if accomodating the larger dose of the arthritis recipe will mean it won't affect the fatigue at all. I doubt consuming the honey and cinnamon in a way other than as a paste on toast will affect things either. Although I do wonder at the significance of putting it on a piece of toast in the morning. At any rate, those are my three problem areas that subsist to this day and were found in this article, so we'll see what I can work out for a daily experiment to test this theory out. If it fails, I may do more research. If it succeeds, I will definitely try to make time to do more research.

The End Result?

2007-07-08T12:15:00.001-04:00

I'm sure that many tuned in to the Live Earth concert like many had tuned in to the Live 8 concert a couple of years ago. This time, instead of poverty, it was about the climate and raising awareness about global warming and the little things each of us can do to help reduce our consumption and waste. I suppose it's because poverty was already done and...well...that project didn't do much to the state of poverty, in the end.

I'm sure that the message in Live Earth got to a few, but most were probably only interested in the entertainment. Live 8 stood a better chance at success than Live Earth. I mean there's only so well that a message touching on over-consumption of resources can do when it is presented through a vast consumption of said resources and delivered by people who very likely use far more than the average person. But remember, the important thing wasn't the environment, but the entertainment. Forgive me while I roll my eyes and laugh at the whole thing.

Looking at the Wikipedia article, you can see just how much Live Earth cost us, if we listen to the Global Warming doomsday speeches:

The estimated carbon footprint of the event "at least 31, 500 tonnes"; further estimate places the need of 100, 000 planted trees to offset the carbon emissions
All together, performers flew around 222, 623 miles to attend the event; this does not include everyone else required to pull off the performance
People were so touched by the message in Live Earth that thousands of plastic cups were left lying around of Wembley Stadium alone. How much other trash was left lying around everywhere else these concerts were held? If I can find the time to dig around some more, I'll expand on this.
After their show, Razorlight went via tour bus with police escort to get on a private jet to Scotland, then a helicopter to Balado for additional performances.

I'm really going to listen about Global Warming from big fancy artists who ride in private jets and empty tour buses, preaching about how we should all cut down on our own travel pollution by, say, taking one car instead of two. Right. We need to cut down so they can enjoy their private jets and tour buses instead of a second car for a 4 member family meeting up at a weekend cottage. Makes me want to gag.

So, yeah, I'm sure it reached some...very few...poor souls. But I think it was the biggest waste and flop I have seen in a long time. I'm still not even sure how valid the message is. Right now, the Global Warming movement seems to be the next big money holder, so it's getting a lot of attention. Just like tobacco. Just like oil. Just like countless other things. Doesn't make it any more true than they were. I started off really concerned about where things were going. I fell in with someone who lets out loud outraged cries about Global Warming and is hell bent on creating his own little utopia of "elite" people (and THAT is a whole other can of worms). The most he did was open my eyes to a lot of things. Gave me some direction to support his own research, not figuring that I'd find something else and start to question what's being shoved down everyone's throats these days.

Yeah sure, Global Warming is real. It's happened time and again throughout the course of history. They even show that in "An Inconvenient Truth". And proceed to yell doomsday at everyone about how current numbers are off the charts and so much higher than past numbers. Without a warming of the globe, there can never be ice ages. It's common sense. So yes, it's happening. I don't think that's the issue, actually. The issue they push and that everyone seems to miss is how quickly it's happening. Supposedly much faster than any time previously. I don't even think that's as big a deal as it's being made out to be. But then, I'm a misanthrope and I don't think humans are all that we like to think we are. Life will continue to move forward, whether or not we are a part of it. And honestly, I think we fail as a natural species.

However, I don't think that global warming is all that publicity and big power-seeking figures are currently saying it is. Yeah, we're getting a little warmer. Read the little guy news once in a while. Ignore the big headlines and look at what's underneath them. Here are a couple of old articles I read and never found time to finish researching and writing about (those works for this blog are still in progress...just very slow progress):
Earth's Magnetic Field Weakens 10 Percent
When North Becomes South: New Clues to Earth's Magnetic Flip-Flops

Now, Mr. Smith ranted and raved at me about how bad it was that winter where I was living was so abnormally warm and mild. Granted, it was weird and caused a lot of worry about what the summer would be like for us. He used this to support his own doomsday plans. What gets me about all of that is the fact that it was abnormally cold where he was and they were getting a lot of snow, when they usually get next to none. You hear about this all across Canada and the States. In the news, they constantly show the record highs. I told you that Global Warming was the next big money holder. What they don't show is that beside these record highs in places that are generally colder, there are record lows in places that are generally warmer. I don't mean all-time records, but records like, "we haven't seen temperatures this high/low in _____ years." This is what is plastered all over the news. Well, the highs are. They ignore the lows because that would raise questions about the whole Global Warming outcry that's been picking up momentum.

My research is incomplete. I've been really busy trying to pull my own life together since September and haven't had nearly as much time as I'd like to continue the work I started with this blog. But...those two articles I linked above this section make sense to me in light of this. It makes sense that if the magnetic poles are indeed flipping around, then the climate would as well. It doesn't make so much sense to me that we are experiencing a warming of the Earth but yet some places are getting colder. On the whole, temperatures seem to be climbing a little, but not nearly so much as is being preached on the news. Take everything you hear with a grain of salt and form your own opinions based on your own experiences. Somewhere in there is the truth.

Remember what I said about the fact that I experienced a winter that was warmer than was usual for this city? And how we were all worried about the summer? Well, so far, the summer is about about 10 to 15 degrees C colder than it was when I visited last year around the same time. It's rather scorching at times and the grass is having trouble staying alive, but it's cooler than it was and cooler than the winter predicted. It also can't make up it's mind. One day, we are near 30 or 40 C and the next we are under 20, or, even more dramatically, under 10. All in all, I find the Global Warming cookie a little tough to swallow right now. Though I wouldn't say it is without concern or basis. I think it's very real...I'm just unsure how much is true and accurate.

As to Live Earth, we'll see if Razorlight plants those trees that will offset the emissions from their travel during the event ;)

Because it's easy

2007-04-21T13:28:00.000-04:00

What's the point of reading books? It doesn't matter how many books you read, they're just words. Words are meaningless. We created words to help pass on knowledge, to help get our point across to those around us. We created words to make it easier on ourselves. Over time, we narrowed down the definition of those words and created new words to fill in the gaps left behind and we've lost all their meaning, we've lost the intent and the understanding. We've lost the ability to listen, to hear what is being said.

Take the word "fight" for example:

1. a battle or combat.
2. any contest or struggle
3. an angry argument or disagreement
4. a game or diversion in which the participants hit or pelt each other
5. ability, will, or inclination to fight
6. to engage in battle or in single combat; attempt to defend oneself against or to subdue, defeat, or destroy an adversary

When someone asks you to fight, you imediately think of ways to defeat and destroy that thing. You don't think of ways to make it better or to help it, you think of ways to kill it. The true meaning has been completely lost.

Parents no longer hear and understand their children, their babies. Children no longer hear and understand their parents. People no longer hear and understand each other. Mothers have lost touch with the babies growing in their wombs. We've forgotten how to listen because we are so caught up and lost in all these meaningless words. Words are but illusions, a means to an end and all too often, words are used to hurt people. They are deceiving. Since when has “easier” meant “better”?

Factories are set up to work with assembly lines because it is more a more efficient way to make more things and it's easier on the workers. It's “necessary” to become more efficient so that we can make as many things as possible in the shortest amount of time possible so that we can make more money and so that people don't have to wait as long for what they want. In other words, because it is easier. We keep “progressing” technology and coming up with new things every day to make something easier. But none of it makes things better. Take something done the old fashioned way and compare it to the same thing put together on an assembly line. The former is always of better quality and last longer.

Why is a chicken stuck in a little cage and fed the same food day in and day out? Why are cows and other livestock locked up and fed the same food day in and day out? Because it's easier that way (even though you lose the quality and much of the nutrients you would otherwise be getting from them). Grocery stores carry perfectly straight and perfectly ripe produce and their fruits and vegetables are all the same size. Why? Because it's easier. Stores sell pre-packaged foods and throw away tons of expired products even if they aren't “bad”. Why? Because it's easier. Some stores shove old products to the back where they go stale or moldy to make room for the new shipment instead of the new ones being put to the back so the old ones get sold first. Why? Because it's easier. A child does their best to do up a button on their shirt and the parent tells them to put on a t-shirt or sweater instead. Why? Because it's easier for the parent rather than let the child learn or help them do it. You can buy books at a used book store for a few dollars or a few cents, but people use the internet to read the reviews instead. Why? Because it's easier than going to the store and easier than reading the book. You have to write a report on a book you have to read for class, but you look up the answers on-line. Why? Because it's easier than reading the book. You could arrange to meet and speak directly to someone, yet you still choose to use your cellphone instead. Why? Because it's easier than meeting in person and it's easier to say the truth about what you think and how you feel over the phone than when you are face to face. People rely on mass media and propaganda to keep them informed about the world. Why? Because it's easier to read the paper than to do their own research on it. Schools shove students into a class based on age where teachers cram the same curriculum into their brains over and over again. Why? Because it's easier. A student can't keep up with the class, but the teach has to push through the material according to teh curriculum. Why? Because it's easier. A student chooses not to think for themselves, but always asks the teacher to give the answers. Why? Because it's easier.

All such questions can be answered with “because it's easier.” They can be answered in more complex ways, but the answers to the questions boil down to the same thing and they are answered in the same way. Why? Because it's easier! But “easier” has never meant “better” and making life easy is a very different thing than making life better, or making life happy. I think it's time to take back our understanding. Time to stop memorizing the words in books and regurgitating them. Time to speak with our “true” voices and to really hear with our ears; to become aware of what is around us. Time to learn, really and truly learn. True learning comes from within and not from a book. True learning is something that has to touch you personally. It speaks to your heart. Learning is all about our own experiences. It's about how we feel beauty within our hearts. Learning is all about how each of us experiences beauty in our heart of hearts.

We tend to live our lives in our own clouded reality. We tend to live our lives unaware of a single thing. We tend not to be aware even of the people closest and dearest to us. The understanding is gone, lost in a web of meaningless words. We don't see despite our eyes. We don't hear destpite our ears. We don't smell despite our noses. We don't taste despite our tongues. We don't feel despite our sense of touch. We don't think despite our minds. “To pollute this planet is to pollute your own self” and those who pollute themselves can only be destroying themselves. What do you think your body is made of? What are you? Your body is made from the air, the water, and other living things.

All of the food you eat, the air you breathe; it all becomes you. But what are you? The waves rush in over the waves that are rushing out. Those things that are “living” and those that are “not living.” The things that are seen and those that are not seen. The things that live inside the body and those that life outside the body. Everything that takes place on this planet is one and the same. The forms and the shapes all things on this planet take are all very different, but really, in the end, it is all the same. We were all one before we were born and we are all one when we die. The grass and the bugs, a human and the wind; they are all so different, but the same. We've all known this and we know it's true, deep inside. We just need to become aware again. Shed the confusion and deception of all these words and reclaim ourselves. No matter how happy we are, there are times when we feel so empty. No matter how close we get to a loved one, there are times when we feel so full of sorrow. Somewhere deep inside our heart of hearts, we feel it. We feel the suffering and the pain of this chaos and discord we've created. Somewhere deep inside of us, we feel the hurt of this planet, but we keep pretending that we don't know because it's easier to do that than to be aware and responsible. Live in the here and now. This moment is reality. It is a part of me and a part of you. It is a part of this planet and we are all connected as one. Don't live in the past, don't fret about the future, embrace the here and now and live in the present where past and future are one and the same.

It's time to wake up. It's time to think. It's time to learn. It's time to see. It's time to hear. It's time to feel. It's time to take responsibility. It's time to become aware and realize that everything is connected; that everything is one and the same. The air, the water, the plants, the insects, the animals; we are all one. There is something in nature specialized to eat everything else (like insects eat leaves), breaking it down, absorbing what can be used and is needed and returning the rest to the earth where something else will come along and use it. Well all need the other to replenish, to nourish, to cleanse, to break down, to create, to complete a life cycle.

Why not try to hear, to see, to be aware of all that is around you? Why rape the Earth to grow things more efficiently and easily? Why not give back to the Earth what we take? We might be surprised at how much so little can do. We might be surprised at how much better the food is if we allow it to grow naturally and consume what is in season. Everything is one and the same and all of it has it's place. Even the weeds. You might be surprised at what will come of it if you let the weeds grow with the flowers and vegetables around you and let the insects and small animals tend to your garden instead of dumping synthetic fertilizers on it to replace what you killed with machines and pesticides. They won't be perfectly shaped and all the same, but that never made them better. Be one with the world and let the world tend itself and you will find a naturally "easy" life; a better life; a happy life.

What will you choose? Will you choose what is easier? Or will you choose to become aware and embrace all you now...will you choose to hear the true voices in this world?

Commercial Composting Toilets

2006-09-15T02:24:00.000-04:00

Sun-Mar Composting Toilets
Sun-Mar offers toilets that are quick to install and easy to use with models that require no water and no plumbing. Sun-Mar toilets range from $249 for a toilet (which is combined with Sun-Mar Central Composting Systems, which start from $1,299) to $1,299-1,599 for their complete composting toilets. Sun-Mar composting toilets recycle through decomposition and evaporation. Water content is evaporated and released into the atmosphere through a vent system, the rest of the material composted through natural decomposition.

Sun-Mar toilets use three separate chambers. The drum, the evaporation chamber and the finishing drawer. The drum works to compost waste in a warm and moist environment with the organic material and oxygen needed to promote the work of aerobic microbials (found in the topsoil that is added to the compost) for decomposition. A peat mix is used as a bulking material. You must mix this with the waste by periodically by rotating the drum 4-6 full turns via a handle, which will also ensure aeration of the contents. Turning the drum should be done 3 times a week when the toilet is in use.

Emptying the drum into the finishing drawer is a mater of releasing the drum locker and rotating it backwards when it is 1/2 to 2/3 of the way full. The drum also maintains optimal moisture content for the aerobic microbials. When moisture rises above 60%, liquid is drained into the evaporation chamber through a screen at the bottom of the drum. Sun-Mar ensures moisture content in the drum for composting by not applying direct heat to the compost. Sun-Mar's electric units include a base heater, which they say supports the heat generated by the microbes.

The evaporation tray in Sun-Mar's electric units work with a 110 Volt heating element controlled by a thermostat, heating the floor of the evaporating chamber without drying the compost. In non-electric units, excess liquid is evaporated through passive venting and through overflow drains. The finishing drawer completes the composting process, ensuring the compost is not contaminated with fresh waste and is sanitized. The compost drops into the drawer when the drum is rotated backwards and is surrounded by a stream of drying air to dry it until it is ready for removal. The contents of the drawer should be left to age for 3 to 4 weeks. The drawer should be removed and/or emptied of compost before more compost is deposited from the drum.

Sun-Mar toilets are free of odour. Then environment created in Sun-Mar's toilets promote aerobic decomposition which produces no bad smells, as opposed to anaerobic decomposition. In addition to this, electric models include a fan that draws air in, creating a partial vacuum that ensures no smell escapes the unit. Non-electric models do this through a vent chimney, placed over the evaporating chamber, as is the fan in electric models. They suggest adding peat to the drum at a rate of one cup per person per day.

Rota-Loo
The system of the Rota-Loo requires no water to transport your deposits in the toilet and sits directly below your toilet room. The system is made of polyethylene and contains 6 removable compost bins housed on a turntable. When one bin is full, the turntable is manually rotated so a fresh bin is under the toilet. These bins remain inside the system where the composting process continues until all of the other bins have been filled and it comes full circle, full of humus. You just pull the bin out, empty it and replace it inside the system to be filled again. If all of the bins in the system fill up before the first bin is finished composting, you can remove the bin to a safe place for the composting to finish and put a spare bin in its place within the system.

Each composting bin has a geo-textile filter in the bottom that has a porous rate of around 300 litres/second/square meter and a mesh density of 175 microns, allowing liquids and oxygen to pass through and no solids larger than 0.175mm. This is supposed to assure an aerobic process with minimised smell. You may also add a far to the system to avoid having too high a moisture content if this is a problem. Any odours in the toilet room are said to be taken down the waste chute, due to air being continually pulled through the vent. The air inlet is placed as close to the base of the system as possible with the vent coming off close to the top, allowing for air to pass directly over any liquid drained through the bin to be stored under the base turntable.
Rota-Loos come from a 65cm tall/120cm diameter system that will cater to 4-5 people, designed for holiday homes, to a 95cm tall/120cm diameter system that will cater to up to 8 people and can accommodate 2 pedestal toilets as opposed to 1.

Clivus Multrum
This system comes in many convenient sizes, taking into consideration how many people will be using it, how much space there is for the composting system; ranging from a small system suitable for small homes or holiday houses, to a much larger system suitable for high-traffic public areas. Any but the smallest of these systems can support more than one toilet room if they are located beside each other. If the toilet rooms are located at some distance from each other, however, they will each require their own composting system.

Since aerobic composting requires warmth, additional insulation around the system may be required in areas where the temperature is cooler to ensure that the heat generated by the aerobic microbials is kept inside. This system needs to be placed under the floor of the toilet room, like that of the Rota-Loo. This system allows you to connect two toilets on different floors to one system simply by extending the length of the chute that connects to the toilet on the second floor, so long as the toilet room is located close to the toilet room below it.

The Clivus Multrum uses electricity to run, with a solar power package available to run the fan during daylight hours, or 24 hours. If neither is desired, or available, continuous odourless operation is not guaranteed. A normal 240V power point is required near the fan housing in a weatherproof location, with a 12V transformer plugged into it if a smaller fan is to be used. This system has three fans available to it, from 12V/5Watts (2.5Watts for solar installations) to 240V, used with commercial installations.

You may also use worms with this system, if this is desired. If you are going to add worms to the system, then you need to take special care to ensure adequate moisture, good pH and a balance of carbon/nitrogen, as well as plenty of food.

Envirolet
Envirolet toilets range in cost from $1,450 to $1,995. Models are waterless with or without electricity requirements, with a low-water system that uses 1 pint of water to flush. They offer a self-contained system as well as the style used by the previously mentioned Rota-Loo and Clivus Multrum.

The self-contained system is recommended for use in ground-level homes, or for cottages and cabins. They are constructed of polyethylene plastic and have UV protection, available for 12VCD battery, 120VAC electric, and non-electric. The electric models have a switch control for fans and/or heating systems. These self-contained systems also contain a built-in Rake-Bar and a collecting tray to make emptying the compost easy and a Mulcherator to occasionally assist in the composting process. The non-electric model with service 2 people full-time and 4 people if used as a vacation toilet. The battery operated toilet will service 4-6, while the electric model will service 6-8. They are fitted with a filter drain and require a proper drain site; a vertical vent system. Costs range from $1,450 to $1,650.

The waterless remote system is made from HDPE plastic and is comprised of a toilet with a remote waste treatment center that is installed directly underneath the toilet, below the floor. This system has the highest capacity, servicing up to 10 people per day with occasional guests. The system is ideal for cold-weather use and, like the self-contained system; electric models come with a switch control for fans and/or heating systems. The non-electric model will service 4 people full time and 6 people if used as a vacation toilet. The 12VCD model will service 6-8, and the 120VAC model 8-10 (with occasional guests). These models also require a proper drain site and a vertical vent system. Costs range from $1,795 to $1,995.

The low-water remote system is made of porcelain and comes with the same features as the self-contained systems and the waterless remote systems. Additionally, natural organic products may be added to the treatment center via a service port. This system requires good insulation if used in cold weather and will service the same number of people as the waterless remote models (minus the occasional guests on the 120VAC model, apparently). These systems cost no more than the waterless remote systems, although you have the added cost of the pint of water being flushed down the toilet every time

Cotuit Dry Toilets
Cotuit toilets use a separate urinal to keep the compost bin from becoming anaerobic due to excess liquid. Excess liquid shouldn't be a problem though if you just keep an adequate cover of clean organic material. Generally, you may find the need to add moisture, not reduce it. Their toilets use no mechanical devices to turn the contents of the compost bin. They stress the importance of cleaning all surfaces that come into contact with manure to remove any fly larva, which should only be the composting bin itself in these toilets, lending cotuit one of the highest in terms of toilet management demands.

Cotuit toilets run in two modes:
They maintain that nitrogen conversion into ammonia will be inhibited by the closing of an inner hatch after every use to cut off the supply of air, limit moisture build-up and inhibit insects. They suggest the use of a power vent as well as insecticides or diatomaceous earth once a month to further inhibit insect development in hot weather.
The second mode is one of dehydration through the continuous use of a vent, rendering the end product hard instead of decomposed compost and potentially doubling the capacity of the chamber. Manure coming from their system has a generally mild odour and it is recommended that it is used in an ornamental garden underneath a layer of mulch, keeping it away from possible contact with people or animals.
Another suggestion is to add it with other organic materials to a compost bin, but for all that, you might as well just build yourself a cheap sawdust toilet

Cotuit also maintain that urine is free of pathogens so long as it does not come into contact with feces, which is why it is so important to urinate in a separate area from your composting toilet. Suggesting that this urine is therefore free of all pathogens, they say you can use it straight on your vegetable garden and the vegetables will still be safe to be eaten raw.

Cotuit dry toilet sells for $850 with additional supplies ranging from $5 (for a scoop) to $260 (for a flush toilet interchange vent kit).

A Simple Solution

2006-09-12T00:18:00.000-04:00

Whether you want to invest in a composting toilet for the good of the environment but don't want to spent $1000+ on the available toilets or you just want to stop flushing so much cash down your toilet, here is a simple solution. With just a non-corrodible and waterproof bucket with a 5 gallon capacity, you can put together a very simple, and very cost-effective, composting toilet. This could be a plastic bucket, or a clay urn for example. You can also collect your food scraps in the same bucket, or you can collect those separately. If a full five gallon bucket is too heavy for you to carry, simply empty it when it is half full instead of full. The downside to this toilet is that it takes a little more management than your average commercially available composting toilet and does require space for a compost bin. Outdoor space with direct contact to the ground is best to allow your worms to come and go as needed throughout the composting process, but is not necessary. A completely isolated compost bin can work just as well, and can even be kept indoors. Just be sure to add your worms at the proper time, or use a bin that allows the worms escape when the temperatures get too high.

Make sure you keep the contents of the toilet covered with clean organic material. This material could be grass clippings, hay, leaf mould, peat moss, rice hulls, sawdust, straw, weeds, etc. If you are using sawdust, rotted sawdust from a sawmill, which has some moisture content, is recommended over kiln-dried sawdust from a carpenter's shop. Kiln-dried sawdust is too light and airy to be really effective as cover material, and may contain hazardous chemical poisons, especially if it comes from "pressure-treated" lumber. You should always avoid putting materials in your compost that have been treated with toxic chemicals. You do not need to collect urine separately from your feces; it can go in the same bucket. Just be sure to keep the contents covered with whatever clean organic material you have readily available for your use, which will prevent odours and the attraction of flies. This cover will also absorb the urine. If the liquid surface rises, just use more cover material.

It is preferable, for convenience and aesthetic reasons, to keep a lid on the toilet. This lid need only be your standard, hinged toilet seat, which will cost you around $10 or less (unless you want to get fancy about it, in which case it can cost you up to $1,000 or more). It is a good idea to keep 4 five gallon buckets around, with lids. Since buckets vary in height, width and shape, these buckets should be exactly the same so that they fit your toilet. If you have a large number of people to compost for, you may want more buckets. As a recommendation, use one bucket under the toilet seat and keep two set aside in the toilet room, covered with a lid. When the first bucket is full, take it out of the toilet and replace it with one of the empty ones. You can set the full bucket to the side with a lid on top. When the second bucket is filled, replace it with the third. It is just as easy to empty two buckets onto the compost pile as it is to empty one bucket. Keeping extra buckets on hand also eliminates the need to empty a full bucket and prep it for use again while someone is waiting to use the toilet (or while you, yourself, are in need of the toilet). The extra buckets are also useful to avoid a shortage of toilet capacity when you have guests, unexpected or not. This way, you will have buckets on hand to replace full buckets without the need to empty them while your company is present.

The top of the bucket should be taller than the toilet cabinet and have contact with the bottom of a standard toilet seat. This will help make sure that all organic material goes inside the bucket and not elsewhere. Since all buckets tend to be of slightly different height and diameter, it is suggested that you buy your buckets at once and of one style. Your toilet should be made to fit the size of your bucket.

To make this simple toilet, you will need: 2 plywood boards that measure 3/4"x10"x18", 2 plywood boards that measure 3/4"x10"x20.5", 1 plywood board that measures 3/4"x18"x18" and 1 plywood board that measures 3/4"x18"x3", 4 plywood boards that measure 3/4"x3"x12", 2 hinges, 4 identical 5 gallon buckets (more or less, as you desire), 1 standard toilet seat

~Cut a hole the size of your bucket in the 18"x18" board
~Hinge the 18"x18" and the 18"x3" boards together
~Screw together the 10"x18" and 10"x20.5" boards to form a box that is 10" deep, 18" wide and 21" long
~Screw the 18"x3" board to the box, leaving the 18"x18" board loose (you can attach the 18"x18" board if you desire, and create a toilet you lift away from the bucket, instead of a hinged seat)
~Screw the 4 3"x12" legs to the inside of the box, in the corners (you should adjust the height of the legs so that your bucket can protrude through the top of the box by 1/2"
~Swivel the plastic bumpers on the bottom of your toilet seat so that they will fit around your bucket
~Place the toilet seat over the 18"x18" top and mark the holes for the toilet seat's attachment
~Drill the holes and attach your toilet seat to the top of the box
To put a final touch to your composting toilet, you can be as creative as you like with your box and stylize it with stains, varnishes, paint, etc. Be creative, make it your own. It can be attractive as well as functional. If you want a few examples or are just curious to see what other people have done, this page has many examples of homemade composting toilets.

This toilet is one part of a system. The second part is your compost pile and don't forget that clean organic material! In the end, you aren't flushing it anymore, but make sure to keep it covered! This will prevent the smells. Compost it and keep the compost covered! Here are instructions to your composting toilet.

You may, for added convenience, wish to locate your toilet room by a door that allows direct access outside to your composting area. When the bucket is full (or half full, as you will), carry it out to your composting area and deposit it on the top center of the pile. Digging a slight depression in the top center of the pile helps to keep the fresh deposit in the hotter center of the thermophilic compost. Just rake (or shovel) the cover material on top of the pile aside, dump your toilet contents in the space you just created and rake the cover material back over the deposit. Don't forget to cover the area with fresh cover material (straw, leaves, weeds, etc) to eliminate odours and trap in essential oxygen. Prefer pictures and step-by-step instructions? This page should help you with that.

After that is done, scrub your bucket thoroughly with a small quantity of water and a little bit of biodegradable soap (if desired); a thorough rinsing is adequate. If you do decide to use soap, make sure it is not anti-bacterial soap, you don't want to kill the bacteria in your compost pile, after all. Pour your soiled water on top of the pile and not on the ground. Once done, the bucket can be placed back inside your toilet area with the inside of the bucket dusted with sawdust (or whatever material you are using). With an inch or two of cover material at the bottom of the bucket, it is once again ready for use.

"After about ten years, the plastic bucket may begin to develop an odour, even after a thorough washing. Replace odorous buckets with new ones in order to maintain an odour-free system. The old buckets will lose their odour if left to soak in clean, soapy water for a lengthy period (perhaps weeks), rinsed, sun-dried, and perhaps soaked again, after which they can be used for utility purposes (or, if you really have a shortage of buckets, they can be used in the toilet again)." (Humanure Handbook: Chapter 8: The Sawdust Toilet)

If you want an even cheaper solution, try Cabela's "Luggable Loo".

An Introduction to Composting Toilets.

2006-09-09T01:59:00.000-04:00

There are different types of composting toilets commercially available on the market today, or you have your homemade options. There are the toilets that compost human manure inside the toilet itself, under the toilet on a separate floor, or toilets where you move the manure to a separate composting area. The commercially available composting toilets usually compost at low temperatures, though there are some that do thermophilic composting.

The cheapest and most easily attainable of composting toilets for any culture and people of low-income is simply to collect your manure in a toilet and add it to your compost pile. This also makes it rather easier to create proper and thriving thermophilic composting conditions.

To have an odorless, waterless and environmentally friendly toilet for one person for two weeks, all you need is two 5 gallon buckets and a large bag of either peat moss, sawdust, or just shredded junk mail (the junk mail should be shredded to facilitate decomposition). Add in a compost bin and a steady supply of peat moss, sawdust, etc, and that toilet would last for decades. While the cheapest, this type of toilet requires more work than most commercial composting toilets as you need to regularly empty buckets of your compost onto your pile and manage the pile to prevent unpleasant odours and promote thermophilic conditions.

A homemade composting toilet would be a more costly, but a usually cheaper alternative to the commercially available composting toilets. Homemade toilets usually have the compost bin under the toilet and require proper management, like the addition of sawdust, peat moss, straw, hay, or weeds to ensure a good carbon/nitrogen balance. A homemade toilet also allows for personal creativity and usually requires no water or electricity. It is usually a permanent fixture in the home, or can be built as a free-standing outhouse.

Homemade composting toilets usually have two chambers underneath. One is used until it is full and then the other is used while the first matures for at least two years. After two years of nothing being added, the first chamber can be emptied. Some of these toilets collect manure and urine separately to cut down on the amount of moisture and nitrogen being gathered in the chamber. This is unnecessary so long as one adds enough clean organic material that is high in carbon in order to balance out the nitrogen, which also promotes thermophilic composting.

Commercial composting toilets sometimes require water or electricity, both or neither. They are usually made of plastic or fibreglass and come in many different shapes and sizes, different types and are available in different price ranges. Commercial composting toilets commonly use a fan located near the top of the system and a vent located near the bottom of the system to aerate the compost. This will suck out any unpleasant smell if the compost isn't properly thermophilic, although it will run the risk of drying out your compost, further promoting anaerobic decomposition. Another common problem with improperly managed commercial composting toilets is that the compost becomes drowned in liquid, which drowns the aerobic bacteria and promotes the growth of anaerobic bacteria. This last should be no problem if the toilet's management instructions are followed. It would probably be helpful for a member of the household to take the responsibility to ensure proper management, especially if there are young children around.

All of these different composting toilets need proper management in order to be successful and not breed problems. The level of management needed depends on the toilet you use. Instead of creating pollution and paying someone to take care of the waste you flush down a toilet with clean drinking water every single time you go to the bathroom, you can get useful compost with a little bit of effort. Most composting toilets will only require that you add clean organic material after every use, instead of flushing, to avoid unpleasant smells and make sure that the compost has all the oxygen it needs along with enough carbon to balance out the nitrogen. You must also make sure that you are not using the toilet beyond its capacity.

Composting toilets can be on the costly side; commercial toilets ranging from $850-1,995. A homemade composting toilet is more flexible, the costs depending on the materials used to make it and whether or not you hire a contractor to build it, etc. If you are really economical and resourceful about it, you could easily build one for under $50. Other costs would be the organic material needed in order to eliminate smell. In comparison, flush toilets start off at $150, with septic tanks ranging from $5,000-$20,000. Then you have maintenance costs, the cost of having the sewage you produce treated and the cost of the drinking water that toilet uses.

You can pay someone else to take care of your waste, or you can put in a little more effort than it takes to flush a toilet and get rich fertilizer in return. If you aren't going to use it in your own garden, someone else will and maybe they will pay you for it. Instead of creating more waste and paying for that waste, why not get paid yourself for using a valuable resource? And why waste the world's precious supply of good, clean, not to mention safer, drinking water?

This page has a list of commercial composting toilets along with contact information, listed by country. It also includes Owner built toilets and many other informational tools. In a later post, I will talk about some of the more well-known commercial composting toilets.

Humans a Natural Disaster?

2006-09-06T03:23:00.000-04:00

The history of this planet has seen 5 mass extinctions, suspected of being caused by natural disasters, such as asteroid strikes, volcanic eruptions or sudden shifts in the planet's climate. These extinctions happened 440, 375, 250, 205 and 65 million years ago. It is currently believed that humans are causing the 6th major extinction, larger than that of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. It is estimated that the current species loss of this planet is 1,000 times as great as it has ever been and is a direct result of human activities.

The World Conservation Union says that there are 844 plants and animals known to have gone extinct in the last 500 years, though they believe that this number is a large understatement. IUCN Red list says the number 784 with 65 species found only in captivity. Sadly, habitat change, habitat loss and the over-exploitation of resources directly cause loss of biodiversity, which shows no sign of abating and is, in fact, increasing. We have, over the years, placed 12% of the Earth's land surface under protected areas, but only 0.6% of the Earth's oceans and we are still grossly abusing our fresh water and timber. Between 1990-2000, we were losing 8.9 million hectares of forest a year, which we have slightly reduced the last 5 years to 7.3 million hectares a year (which is an area about the size of Ireland). We still do not know just how many plant, animal and insect species share this planet with us, but it is believed that 1/5 of them will be extinct in the next 30 years and the number of known threatened species has reached 16,119 from 2003's 12,000 (a 15% increase from the 2002 red list, adding more than 2,000 species).

About 300 invasive species have been introduced into the Mediterranean since the late 19th century, coming in from the Red Sea since the opening of the Suez Canal. Half of the coastlines and nearly 60% of the coral reefs on the planet are threatened with overdevelopment, pollution, and overfishing. CO2 levels are not only increasing global temperatures, but are increasing the acidity of our seas. Naturally, the oceans have a pH of 8.2, but the rate of CO2 input is almost 50 times the normal rate and it is estimated that pH levels will drop to 7.7 in less than 100 years. CO2 levels are rising and dissolving into the oceans to create carbonic acid is happening so quickly that sea dwellers are unable to absorb it, increasing the acidity of the water. A little carbonic acid is beneficial and, in fact, is needed by coral and other species (like crabs, oysters and mussels) in order for them to build and repair their shells, but these shells are made of calcium carbonate (the same substance as chalk) and the building acidity actually dissolves this. These species may die out, unable to build or repair their shells. Some may be able to rebuild their shells, but it is doubtful that they would be able to reproduce. The loss of these spells trouble for the larger marine life, such as salmon, mackerel, herring, cod and baleen whales, who feed on those species most threatened by rising acidity.

Nearly 70% of fish species are either fully exploited or overexploited by humans. Mercury contamination has increased by a factor of five in the Baltic Sea and 85% of marine species have disappeared from the Black Sea due to humans using the oceans and other bodies of water as dumps for waste. In America, freshwater fish face a rate of extinction of 37%. That rate is 42% in Europe and 67% in South Africa. Over-fishing also affects the slow-growing species of our oceans. Of the 547 species of sharks and rays listed, 20% are threatened with extinction. Squatina squatina, the angel shark, has been declared extinct in the North Sea and the Dipturus batis, common skate, has become extremely scarce in the Irish and southern North Seas. Extending fisheries have reduced local populations of Centrophorus granulosus, the gulper shark, up to 95%. Of the 252 species of freshwater fish in the Mediterranean, 56% are threatened with extinction; higher than any other regional assessment of freshwater fish. Alburnus akili in Turkey and Telestes ukliva in Croatia are extinct. 1/3 (174 of the 564) species of dragonfly and damselfly are threatened with extinction. A study that took 10 years to complete says that 90% of all large fish have disappeared from the world's oceans in the past 50 years, due to industrial fishing.

More than 10% of all bird species, 25% of all mammals, and 50% of all primates are threatended with extinction. Out of an estimated 10,000 bird species, 1,100 are on the edge of extinction. Between 1992 and 1995, the Cape Sable sparrow population dropped by 60%, falling from a healthy 6,400 to 2,600 despite the fact that they inhabit a 1.5 million acre national park. However, water management companies feel that the drying Everglades are a nice place to dump excess water, which means that the nesting habits of the Cape Sable sparrow and of many other birds in the area are being disrupted by the increase of water. With global warming an increasing problem and summer sea ice expected to decrease between 50% to 100% in the next 100 years, the polar bear populations are expected to decline 30% in the next 45 years. For years, they have been conservation dependant, but they have been moved onto the list of threatened species. Retreating sea ice is also threatening the walrus populations. We pay little attention to the biodiversity of the Earth's deserts, but the Gazella dama population has decreased by 80% in the last ten years due to unregulated hunting and habitat degradation and may well follow the path of the Oryx dammah. Of the 625 species of known primates, it is estimated that 25% are likely to disappear in the next 20 years. Among the 5 most endangered primates are the golden-headed langur of Vietnam and the Hainan gibbon of China, whose populations numbering only in the dozens. There remain only a few thousand wild tigers in the world and Africa's lion population has seen a 90% decline in the past 20 years, going from an estimated 200,000 to 23,000. 1/5 of all the animals in the US are at risk of extinction.

Botanists say that 1 in 8 plants are at risk of becoming extinct, while fully 1/6 of plants in the US are threatened with extinction. Of 242,000 plant species surveyed by the World Conservation Union in 1997, one out of every 8 (so, 33,000 species) was threatened with extinction. Thousands of our known medicinal plants are being harvested into extinction. The Royal Botanic Gardens in London contains a collection of plants that have since gone extinct in the wild. It is hoped that some may be returned to their native habitat under favourable conditions, but, for some, that is impossible. I remember learning about the last remaining Tazmanian Devil in primary school, and how it died in captivity. The last remaining Encephalartos woodii currently lives in the Royal Botanic Gardens with no hope of restauring the species. There are few Encephalartos woodii trees alive today and all are a clone of the last remaining male specimen, with no female tree with which this species can naturally reproduce.

How many more species will suffer the same fate because of our actions? Biodiversity is known to be beneficial to all life. Take corn for example: The corn crop in the US was almost completely wiped out by a leaf fungus, but was saved by mixing it with a species of wild corn from Mexico. At the very least, we are depriving ourselves of medicines and cures, both known and as-yet-undiscovered. 47 of our major drugs were produced from flowering plants found in rain forests with an estimated 320 valuable drugs remaining undiscovered. On the consumption level: Historically, appriximately 7000 plant species have been used as food and today, 30 of these provide 95% of our food. Over 70,000 plant species are edible and many provide better nutrition than those 30 we rely on so heavily.

If the state of the planet doesn't concern you, perhaps the knowledge that you are causing yourself and your decendants harm by depriving them of the biodiversity needed for survival will make you stop and think a little. If we humans are the cause of this 6th mass extinction, then we have the power to avert it. We have the power to be the sollution and not the problem.

Some Composting Necessities...or Not....

2006-09-03T04:01:00.000-04:00

Thermophilic types of bacteria are responsible for the spontaneous heating of compost and can cause the compost pile to burst into flame if the pile is allowed to overheat. This happens if your pile becomes too dry, which makes the moisture content of your compost pile important to maintain. Compost requires 50-60% moisture for the micro-organisms to thrive and function properly. As composted materials lose water, it may be necessary to add 200-300 gallons of water for each cubic yard of finished compost. The compost pile is a living, breathing mass and should be kept with a moisture content equivalent to a squeezed-out sponge. The amount of water you need to add depends on the rainfall in your area, the size of your pile and the characteristics of your pile, but the moisture requirement should be easily met if the pile receives adequate rainfall and you include human urine. Water also comes from moist organic materials, like food scraps. If moisture is a problem, just collect rainwater or water from your household drains. Outside of a composting bin, it is recommended that your pile be at least 3 feet high and 3 feet wide to maintain moisture and warmth. If the pile is too small, you may find that only the middle remains moist and warm.

Freezing, which happens often during cold northern winters, will help destroy some potential pathogens and will also cause the micro-organisms in your compost pile to stop working. You can continue to add to your pile through the winter and the micro-organisms will just wake up and start to work up a steam after the thaw. Thermophilic types of bacteria thrive above 45°C (113°F), with some found to have optimum temperatures ranging from 55°C (131°F) to 105°C (221°F). Temperatures above 82°C (179.6°F) in the compost pile effectively stops biological activity. Actinomycetes tend to be absent in compost above 70°C (158°F), with fungi being absent in compost above 60°C (140°F), although most fungi cannot grow in temperatures above 50°C (122°F).

Anaerobic bacteria will decompose your pile in a slower and cooler process which stinks. To avoid such odours and ensure thermophilic decomposition of your compost pile, you want to cultivate aerobic bacteria. Aerobic bacteria suffer from a lack of oxygen and if your pile is too moist, you will drown them, promoting the growth of anaerobic bacteria. Also, if your pile is too compacted, there won't be enough air trapped inside to keep the aerobic bacteria happy. To further avoid any unpleasant odours, just be sure to cover anything that smells bad with clean and organic material, such as sawdust, peat, leaves, weeds, straw, hay, or even junk mail.

One way to achieve aeration is to use a fan and have a vent on the bottom to suck air out. This is generally more useful to large-scale composting and is good for keeping the pile from becoming too warm. Another way is to poke holes in the compost, or to physically turn the compost. If you build the pile so that air spaces are trapped in the compost then you don't need to do any of these things. You can trap air in your compost by using bulky material, like hay, straw, or weeds.

A common belief is that one must turn their compost piles. This is supposed to add oxygen to the pile which is good for aerobic micro-organisms. It is also supposed to prevent your pile from becoming anaerobic and smelly. Turning the pile is also supposed to ensure that the entire pile gets subjected to the pathogen-killing high internal heat. Turning the compost is supposed to make it look better for marketing purposes as it becomes chopped and mixed rather than coarse. Another reason why one might want to turn their compost pile is to speed up the composting process. The last two reasons really only matter if you are composting for marketability. Turning the pile actually dilutes the thermophilic top layer of the compost with the thermophilically spent layer that sinks lower and lower in the pile to be worked on by fungi, actinomycetes and earthworms, which can actually stop the thermophilic activity of your pile. If your pile is a continuous pile (that is, you are continuously adding new organic material), then, by turning the pile, you will be mixing the new material with the more composted material. If you turn your pile, it is suggested that you do batch composting, adding all your organic material at once.

Adding manure to your compost pile will help keep a good balance of nitrogen for all the carbon that comes from your organic garbage, which is necessary to keep your pile nice and hot. Most educators will tell you that old manure filled with straw or hay is good to add to your compost pile, but that you should never add human manure or the manure of cats and dogs due to the pathogens. Proper thermophilic composting, however, will readily destroy these as the temperatures are easily raised above that of the human body. "Hmmm. WHERE can a large animal like a human being find manure? Gee, that's a tough one. Let's think real hard about that one. Perhaps with a little "ingenuity and a thorough search" we can come up with a source. Where IS that mirror, anyway? Might be a clue there." (Humanure Handbook: Chapter 3: Four Necessities for Good Compost) A good carbon/nitrogen ration is 20-35 parts carbon to 1 part nitrogen. If there is too much nitrogen, it will not be used by the micro-organisms digesting your compost pile and will be lost in the form of ammonia gas.

Some believe that you need to add lime to your compost pile, or other mineral additives. Lime is used to kill micro-organisms in sewage sludge, which you do not need to do in your compost pile. Bacteria do not digest lime and aged compost is not acidic, no matter how acidic the organic garbage added to the pile may have been. Your garden soil might want lime, but the micro-organisms in your compost pile don't want it and you shouldn't give them what they don't want. The addition of lime to neutralize acidity is rarely necessary in aerobic decomposition and may do more harm than good due to the loss of nitrogen in ammonia gas. Don't assume that you need to add lime to your compost. The pH of your finished compost should be slightly higher than 7. If the measured pH of your finished compost is consistently acidic, then you may want to add lime to your pile.

Another misconception is that one should never put certain materials in their compost pile. This list includes: meat, fish, butter, bones, animal carcasses, cheese, lard, mayonnaise, milk, oils, peanut butter, salad dressing, sour cream, weeds with seeds, diseased plants, citrus peels, rhubarb leaves, crab grass, pet manures and human manure. The list probably includes any other food dishes that included the above materials. But when a compost pile heats up, all these organic materials are quickly degraded. The materials listed above require thermophilic composting conditions to achieve the best results. A thermophilic environment should prevail if those ingredients are included with all the other composting materials you will likely throw in it, just maintain a good nitrogen balance and good moisture, which should mostly be taken care of with manure and urine.

Newspapers and junk mail can be added to your compost pile, though the glossy pages retard composting and should be kept to a minimum. Newspaper inks still come from ingredients that can be harmful to human health if accumulated, although quite a few newspapers are turning to soy-based inks instead. Old phone books can be readily added to your pile, though you may want shred the pages and remove the glossy cover for the reasons stated above with newspapers and junk mail. Sanitary napkins and disposable diapers can be composted as well, although should be avoided unless you don't mind sitting there and picking plastic strips out of your finished compost. Toilet paper and the cardboard tubes in their center can be composted rather well. Bones are one of the things that still do not compost very well, but they will do no harm in a compost pile. Toxic chemicals, however, should always be kept out of your backyard compost pile, including pressure treated lumber, or sawdust from the same. Eggshells and hair are two other things that do not compost well. Bones and eggshells can be put in a fire, or bones can be given to your cats or dogs. Hair can be left out for the birds who like to make nests out of it.

Comfrey leaves, young weeds, grass cuttings, chicken and pigeon manure will all rot quickly and work as activators in your compost to get it started, but these will just decay and smell on their own. A good mix of ingredients is needed for this and you will find the best results through experience. You can also add wood ash, cardboard, paper towels, paper bags, cardboard tubes and egg boxes. Your compost will have a "balanced diet" if you include such things as fruit and vegetable scraps, tea bags, coffee grounds, old flowers, bedding plants, old straw and hay, the remains of vegetable plants, young hedge clippings, soft prunings, perennial weeds, or the bedding from your gerbils, hamsters and rabbits.

It is suggested that you keep two compost bins handy, about 5 feet by 5 feet. It should take about a year to fill the first, and it can be left to age for a year while you start to fill the second bin. After an initial two years, you will have a large batch of good compost for your use. Keeping a third bin in between these two will help ensure that material doesn't accidentally get dumped in the wrong bin. This third bin can be used to store your organic cover material, etc.

So, Can You Tell me Why we are Flushing our Freshwater?

2006-08-31T04:01:00.000-04:00

For many years, the developed world has used toilets as a means to dispose of our what we think of as our waste products (human feces and urine for the most part, though prescription drugs and other chemicals find their way down the same watery path). In the words of the author of the Humanure Handbook: "You take your dump into a large bowl of drinking water, then flush it." Why do humans do this when no other land animal will purposely dispose of their waste in water, much less in their drinking water? Remember, 97.2% of the Earth's water is saltwater and only 2.8% is freshwater. So.... Why do we take a dump in our drinking water and flush it away when 2/3 of that 2.8% is ice and much of the remaining 1/3 is otherwise unavailable to us?

And what if the entire population of the world took a dump in their drinking water supplies? Well, if the whole world took a dump in their water and then treated that water to make it "safe" again...well...it just plain couldn't be done. Older toilets (those installed before 1996), use about 5 gallons of water for every time you flush the toilet. If you have a leaky toilet, then you are using even more. Newer toilets have gotten better with this, but they still use 1.6-3 gallons of water per flush. The average person flushes the toilet 5 to 8 times a day. That means that each person uses between 8 and 40 gallons of water every day just to use the toilet. That means that each person uses between 2,920 and 14,600 gallons of water every year just to flush the toilet. And, "it takes between 1,000 and 2,000 tons of water at various stages in the process to flush one ton of humanure. In a world of just five billion people producing a conservative estimate of one million metric tons of human excrement daily, the amount of water required to flush it all would not be obtainable." (Humanure Handbook: Chapter 5: Global Sewers and Pet Turds)

Discarded human feces and urine allows for the transmission of diseases, is largely responsible for the world's water pollution and deprives us of much needed soil fertility. So...why don't we put our human waste to good use? Discarded, it is nothing more than waste and a dangerous pollutant to ourselves, our fellow cohabitants of Earth and to the Earth itself. However, if these by-products of our digestive system were recycled instead of thrown away, we would have a wonderful organic resource material that is rich in soil nutrients. It came from the soil, so why not give it back to the soil? This is something that can be done quite easily and readily, not to mention safely, through the process of composting.

Let's leave the title of human waste where it belongs: With the cigarette butts, the plastic six-pack rings from beer and soda cans, the un-recycled beer and soda cans, the tubes of toothpaste, the Styrofoam burger boxes, the disposable diapers, the worn out appliances, the old car tires, the old cars, the spent batteries, the nuclear contamination, all manner of food packaging and the plastic bags used to carry it all home from the store, the exhaust emissions, the toxic chemical dumps.... Most of us recycle our aluminum cans, tin cans, glass bottles and jars, the plastic containers that have been labeled as recyclable (which are turned into such things as park benches and fleece jackets). Some of us have started turning in our used major appliances, old television sets, old computers, tires, car batteries, and used motor oil, but these things are still largely thrown away, as are newspapers, magazines, corrugated cardboard, junk mail, yard wastes and kitchen scraps. So let's eliminate wasted office paper, newspapers, cardboard and junk mail from the list. Let's also remove the millions of tons of organic material we discard into the environment every year and the 5 billion gallons of drinking water we flush down our toilets every day from the list of human waste.

Composted human manure, as well as raw human manure, has been used throughout Asia for thousands of years. While raw human manure is not hygienically safe, it still succeeds in killing many human pathogens and is at least using a valuable organic resource rather than throwing it away as waste and polluting valuable freshwater supplies in the process. "Cities in China, South Korea, and Japan recycle night soil around their perimeters in greenbelts where vegetables are grown." (Humanure Handbook: Chapter 2: Waste vs. Manure) "Humanure can also be used to feed algae which can, in turn, feed fish for aquacultural enterprises. In Calcutta, such an aquaculture system produces 20, 000 kilograms of fresh fish daily. The city of Tainan, Taiwan, is well known for its fish, which are farmed in over 6, 000 hectares of fish farms fertilized by humanure."(Humanure Handbook: Chapter 2: Waste vs. Manure) Sadly, however, Asians are turning more and more to Western methods, using synthetic fertilisers on their fields and polluting their water with conventional flush toilets, sewage systems and sewage treatment plants. This is especially true in Japan.

Anything on the Earth's surface that was once alive, or that came from a living thing should be considered as material with which to make compost and not as trash that needs to be thrown away to be sealed and buried in a large hole. This means manure, urine, food scraps, animal carcasses, plants, leaves, sawdust, peat, straw, grass clippings, cotton clothing, wool rugs, rags, paper, cardboard, etc. Basically, anything that will rot can be composted and turned into humus (a brown or black substance resulting from the decay of organic refuse) to be used to nourish the soil. Humus doesn't attract pests and can be easily stored for future use if necessary.

While beneficial to the soil, human excrement should not be applied to the ground without being composted. Raw human manure does carry a significant potential for danger through disease pathogens, such as intestinal parasites, hepatitis, cholera and typhoid. These pathogens are destroyed through composting. This not only leaves you with a rich soil-building material, but it gives you rich humus that smells pleasant, not at all like the offending odour of sewage. To be considered safe, human excrement should be processed either in a composting pile of low temperature for two years, or in a much more timely fashion through a composting process that generates internal, biological heat.

Low temperature composting eliminates most disease organisms in a matter of months and eventually should eliminate human pathogens, creating a soil additive that is safe, at the very least, for ornamental gardens. Thermophilic composting, on the other hand, involves the cultivation of heat-loving micro-organisms in the composting process. This can create an environment which effectively destroys all pathogenic organisms and creates a soil additive that is safe for your food gardens. Adding in other organic materials such as food scraps, grass clippings, leaves, garden refuse, paper products and sawdust is necessary for proper composting and will give you a soil additive that is suitable for agricultural use as well as for use in personal food gardens.

Composting your manure and organic garbage eliminates the potential for danger through disease pathogens with the biological heat generated by the compost micro-organisms. But such isn't the sole factor in making your compost safe for use in food gardens. These pathogens need to compete for food with the compost micro-organisms who tend to produce an environment that inhibit the pathogenic organisms. Compost micro-organisms also produce antibiotics against pathogens and even consume some of these pathogens directly. This is achieved with a large and diverse microbial population; something that is best achieved by temperatures below 60°C (140°F), with a significant reduction in pathogen numbers occurring in temperatures that have not gone over 40°C (104°F).

As mentioned earlier, the best way to ensure the death of possible pathogens is with thermophilic composting conditions. A low-temperature compost will still kill most pathogens if given enough time as pathogens have a limited time in which they can survive outside of a human host, but thermophilic conditions will achieve this faster and with better success if the temperature is allowed to rise significantly above the temperature of the human body. Most commercial and homemade composting toilets are designed for low-temperature composting, usually dehydrating the material collecting in the composting chamber in order to limit the frequency with which they need to be emptied. Low-temperature composting, as mentioned, will kill most pathogens in a few months time. However, the roundworm egg, being the most resilient, is estimated to live in soil from a couple of weeks up to ten years under certain conditions and soil types, which is why low-temperature composting is not recommended for use in food gardens. If you wish to ensure safety for use in food gardens, thermophilic composting is recommended as it will readily destroy roundworm eggs. That being said, the risks you face in using compost made from your own manure in a food garden is limited to the health of you and your family, or of anyone else using your toilet. For example, if you know you don't have roundworm and you know no one who uses/has used your toilet has roundworm, then you really don't have to worry about roundworm eggs surviving the composting process, if you catch my drift.

Furthermore, a protected compost pile keeps the material from drying out or prematurely cooling down. Whereas a pit may become waterlogged, which will rob your compost pile of oxygen and run the risk of leaching harmfully into the ground and any nearby supplies of groundwater unless the pit is lined with plastic or something similar. A pile, or compost bin, also makes it easier to cover the raw refuse you dump on it with a layer of clean organic material in order to eliminate any unpleasant stench and trap oxygen within the pile. Constructing a bin can be made from recycled wood, cement blocks, or even bales of straw. Wood would insulate the pile and prevent heat loss and frost in cooler temperatures. Leaching of liquids into the groundwater is not so real a problem in composting as many people fear, but covering the pile will prevent any leaching from a heavy rain.

How Scarce is Earth's Fresh Water?

2006-08-28T04:04:00.000-04:00

About 70% of the Earth is covered with water, equalling some 1,400,000,000 km3. 97.2% of the Earth's water is saltwater, leaving only 2.8% as freshwater: 0.022% is on the surface, 0.397% is in underground aquifers and wells, 0.001% is in the air and soil with 2/3 of the Earth's supply of freshwater locked in the polar ice caps and glaciers. So, 99.7% of all the water on Earth is unusable, being in the oceans, seas, atmosphere, or frozen in the ice caps and glaciers. That leaves 0.3% usable water, most of which is groundwater and out of our reach. The water we do use comes largely from our rivers and freshwater lakes, which represent a small portion of the Earth's freshwater sources.
http://water.usgs.gov/index.html

With such a small percentage of available freshwater, you would think that we would take care of it. The little water we have for our use is being polluted by the waste we create, most notably our sewage and the synthetic fertilizers and pesticides we douse our agricultural land and crops in. Add in the toxins, medications and pathogens from hospitals, or prescription medications that get dumped down toilets or sinks. Let's not forget about the petroleum, radioactive substances and all the other toxins that are dumped or get spilled in transportation.

Instead, much of our drinking water has to be heavily treated in order to make it safe for consumption again. We spend a lot of time and money to treat the sewage produced from sinks, toilets, and industrial processes and then put that treated water back into circulation. The quality of our water is declining in most regions, which not only affects us, but affects the diversity of our freshwater species and ecosystems. Estimates suggest that nearly 1.5 billion of the world's population does not have access to safe drinking water and many places are losing 30-40% of their water. But is our drinking water as safe as we think it is? These days, there is scarce any water that is safe to drink straight. Most of the water coming through our taps has been heavily treated to render polluted water "safe" again. This water often contains a lot of chlorine.

And what about those ice caps and glaciers? The ice cap on Greenland is moving toward the sea at a faster rate, with larger chunks of ice breaking off from the land to fall into the sea. Greenland's ice cap – which covers more than 650,000 square miles and stands up to 2 miles thick in places - is melting and moving at a much faster rate than previously estimated. In fact, Greenland's ice cap is moving toward the sea and melting at an exponential rate. The sea level is already rising with expansion brought on by higher temperatures and Greenland contributes to 1/6 of the rise in sea level, its southern glaciers are among the fastest moving in the world, and they have increased their flow rate to about 8 miles per year. 1 cubic mile of water is about five times the amount of water Los Angeles uses in a year. In 1996, Greenland dumped 90 times more ice and melt water into the sea than Los Angeles consumed, losing 22 cubic miles of ice and the frozen island is estimated to lose more than twice that much in 2006. Greenland poses a more immediate threat to the sea level than does Antarctica, but the melt water from Greenland greases the way for massive outflows of ice, which could unleash a chain of events bearing greater consequences than the current rise in sea level.

Sections of ice the size of small states from the Arctic and Antarctic are disintegrating into hundreds of tiny pieces. Large portions of Antarctica are melting, or breaking off to fall into the Southern Sea. The ice shelf that is sitting on land and is about ten times the size of Greenland's ice cap. The main cause for alarm here is the Western Antarctic Ice Shelf (WAIS) - which is about the size of Greenland's ice cap - but not because it is melting. The main danger from WAIS is that the ice sheet is actually sitting in an oceanic basin of slippery mud. WAIS has been protected by a veritable ice river. This sheer mass of ice prevents WAIS from much movement and it slows erosion by blocking the ocean waves, providing a very important benefit to the stability of the shelf. But those ice flows around the shelf are rapidly diminishing, both melting and moving away at a faster rate than before, aided by the melt water from Greenland. What if the water of the ocean were to slip under break up the slippery mud supporting WAIS, sending the ice shelf in a free float?

Ice, as in the ice covering the North and South poles', bounces back 90% of the sunlight and energy that hits it whereas water absorbs 90%. As the ice shrinks back, there is more water surface, which means that more energy gets retained and it gets warmer. This, in turn, means that the ice melts and shrinks faster than previously, each mile vanishing faster than the last.

We don't need to worry so much about the melting of the already floating glaciers as they have already displaced all the water they are going to and aren't going to cause the sea level to rise any more than it already has. Remember that 2/3 of the Earth's freshwater is locked in the polar ice caps and glaciers. One estimate says that the Antarctic has enough ice to raise sea levels more than 215 feet. WAIS itself could raise the sea level by 10-20 feet. Greenland's ice cap would cause sea levels to rise by about 20 feet. Dumping Greenland's ice into the sea would swallow large parts of Florida and most of low-lying Bangladesh. What if all the ice currently on land were to melt or fall into the sea? A one foot rise in sea levels will cost us up to 100 feet of land, depending on the land's altitude. That is a lot of land, especially to a growing population with shrinking resources.

Introductory Post

2006-08-25T05:13:00.000-04:00

The human race is showing a frightening trend of behaving like a disease. Humans act more like pathogenic organisms; not following the same laws that every other mammal (and reptile) on this planet adheres to (kind of like an animal who finds itself outside its normal habitat and becomes a pest) and we are fast on the path to destroying our host, the Earth. Our numbers are increasing at a great rate and so is our consumption of the Earth's resources: Like a pathogenic organism who overwhelms it's host, sucking out it's vitality and leaving poisonous wastes behind without a care. Similarly, we seem to multiply without regard for any limit; consume resources like there is no tomorrow and excrete waste products that harm our host grievously. There is one thing that a pathogenic organism has, however, that we do not, and that is the ability to move on to another host, which ensures that the organism does not completely die out with the exhausted host. Not only do we run the risk of destroying our host, but we will take many other species with us on the road to our own demise. Already, the threat of extinction hangs over an alarming number of our cohabitants of Earth. Our only hope lies in stopping this wasteful behaviour (or in finding a new planet to live on).

Since the 1950s, our rate of catching fish has increased from 19.3 million tons to 132.5 million tons in 2003; with 18.7 million tons and 90.2 million tons of fish being caught in the wild (respectively). Consumption of paper has increased five-fold, grain consumption has tripled, and atmospheric concentrations of CO2 have reached their highest levels in 650,000 years. CO2 is 30% higher at 377.4 ppm, with methane 130% higher than they have been at any other time. Total forest area in the world equals 4,000,000,000 hectare, but at the end of the 20^th century, almost half of the world's forests are gone with 0.1% of forests disappearing each year (that's 13,000,000 hectare per year). We can replant forests and keep the same amount of hectare, but it will still take 30 years to support any life and 300 years to reach its previous culture. In fifteen years, between 1980 and 1995, we lost areas of forest larger than the area of Mexico. Water tables are falling between 2 to 6 meters per year on every continent. Wetlands are disappearing, rivers are dying and species are becoming extinct at an alarming rate. The human population is now increasing by 80 million people each year, which guarantees increased consumption as well as increased production of wastes. Startling fact: the 225 richest people in the world have as much acquired wealth as the poorest half of the entire human race. The wealth of the world's three richest people is equivalent to the total output of the poorest 48 countries. Americans account for only 1/20^th of the world's total population and use 1/3^rd of the world's resources.

Since the 1950s, more than 750 million tons of toxic chemical wastes have been dumped into the environment. Human-made synthetic organic chemicals linked to cancer had exceeded 200 billion pounds per year by the end of the 1980s. That is an increase of one hundred-fold in two generations. Over 435 billion pounds of carbon-based synthetic chemicals were being produced by 1992 in the US alone. Well over 1,000,000 tons of toxic chemicals were released into the environment in 1994, 177 million pounds of which were either known or suspected carcinogens. There are about 75,000 chemicals in commercial use today, 3,750-7,500 of which are thought to be carcinogenic to humans. Of the forty thousand most notorious dump sites and hazardous waste landfills, there are 1,231 "priority" sites with 40 million people living within four miles of one.

As a result, 40% of Americans can expect to contract cancer within their lifetimes. I personally know 5 people who have contracted cancer in the last year and 5 others who have died of it. The World Health Organization has concluded that at least 80% of all cancer is attributed to environmental influences. Industrialized countries have a lot more cancers than countries with little or no industry. Breast cancer rates are 30 times higher in the US than in parts of Africa. Since 1950, childhood cancers have risen by 1/3^rd. 1 in every 4 hundred Americans can expect to develop cancer before the age of 15. Between 1950 and 1991, incidences of all types of cancer in the US have risen 49.3%. Cancer is the leading cause of death among Americans between the ages of 35-64 and the second leading cause of death overall.

Some of these pollutants mimic natural hormones and wreak havoc with the endocrine systems of humans and many other animals. Male fish are being found with female egg sacs, male alligators with shriveled penises, male human sperm counts are plummeting. These pollutants lodge in animal fat cells and travel up the food chain so that a higher concentration is found in the top predators (like humans).

Since 1950, 50 new diseases have emerged. Included in this list are Ebola, Lyme's Disease, Hantavirus, and HIV. With rising temperatures, researchers are warning of the epidemic potential of malaria carrying mosquito populations. There are epidemic levels of coastal algal blooms, some of which are highly toxic to humans and to fish and are directly linked to our excessive pollution. For those who think that it is ludicrous that a tiny organism such as humanity could affect something so large as Mother Earth; think about the tiny pathogenic organisms that can so affect our bodies.

An infected host fights back against the disease invading it. The Earth is reacting in the same ways as does a human being infected with a pathogenic organism. As our bodies raise temperatures to kill off the disease, so too is the Earth when one looks at global warming. Since 1980, we have recorded the 15 warmest years, with NASA scientists stating that "a new record by a wide margin," was set in 1998 with the highest ever recorded temperatures and the largest annual increase. In 1995, we saw the highest sea temperature in the North Atlantic, coincidentally the same year we had twice the usual number of tropical storms.

Instead of launching white blood cells, T-cells, and other bodily defenders against a disease, the Earth is showing us an increase of insect populations, new strains of deadly viruses and bacteria, as well as algae that is especially toxic to human beings.

With our rapidly growing human population, our non-sustainable habits are bringing us face to face with dire environmental problems that threaten our existence. It is time to change these wasteful and polluting old habits and turn to more sustainable means. It is time for us to get our act together and do our share toward more sustainable lifestyle choices. Nature holds the keys we need to a sustainable and harmonious existence on this planet, we just have to pay attention.

Either way, time is running out and humans have to collectively make a decision. Will we continue on this path and destroy the Earth and ourselves? Will we perhaps just destroy ourselves while the Earth overcomes our infection and survives to flourish another billion years? Or will we learn to live in a symbiotic relationship with our planet? Will we continue on a path similar to a disease-causing pathogen, or will we start a new path as dependent and respectful inhabitants?

What causes a planet to die? When does it fail completely? Did Mars fail to stabilize during one of its changes? Is Mars then an example of how a planet that possibly teemed with life, where rivers, long since dried, flowed on it's surface can get sick and die? And how did the Earth recover from previous massive changes and avoid death? We don't have answers to any except the last of these questions, buried under mountains of data and dirt.

If we survive long enough explore other planets, we might find out when they fail to regulate themselves and survive change. Our geological data (CO2, Temperature, Magnetic poles, water level, living species) points toward long term stability with extinctions and drastic effects whenever any value we examine goes higher than normal. Species diversity is critical to surviving changes, because in a living system, it is species that do the regulation, species that emit or absorb gases or compounds. Did Mars lack enough species to avoid its own planetary death?

With the help of Ian Smith.

Additional reference: State of the World 1999