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In case you are not aware, bees are usually necessary to pollinate flowering plants. This includes trees such as apple, almond and olive. Also crops like squash, tomatoes, carrots, even potatoes. Berries need bees to pollinate them. So does tea. Some species of onions need bees to pollinate them. Other insects also pollinate, such as butterflies, wasps, and the like, and a few species of birds and bats. But bees are the primary pollinators. More than 3,000 plant species are grown for food by humans. If a plant is not pollinated, it can not bear fruit and thus, seeds. Potatoes and other root vegetables are different: we eat their root bulbs. But they must flower before forming seeds and therefore, continuing their species. Some plants are wind-pollinated such as corn and wheat. Can you imagine a world without pumpkins, tomato sauce, wine, blueberry pie or olives? Many farm-raised animals eat bee-pollinated foods. Legumes like alfalfa and clover feed a lot of them. And what would happen to the creatures in the wild, which eat food such as blackberries or grapes? They would disappear, and so would the predators that eat them. Or how about a world without many of the flowers we love? Like farms themselves, over the years in the U.S. and other countries, beekeepers have become industrialised. Big time bee-keepers haul their hives around the country on a massive lorry (tractor-trailer) truck and visit the farms. Anyone with any type of biology knowledge would say, that is a bad idea. The bees will become inner-bred and not diversify their genes. This will weaken them and make them more vulnerable to disease. Also this will restrict their diet and make them more resistant to infection. In 2006 it became apparent that something horrible was happening: bees were not returning to their hives. Where did they go? (maybe they went back to Jupiter, where they came from, having had enough of global warming and stoopid humans) This caused a collapse of their colonies. Researchers in the US, France, and other countries scrambled to figure it out. They found that bees were suffering from malnutrition, fungus, viruses, and disorientation. They named the syndrome Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). Also they discovered that beekeepers would purchase bees from other countries, mainly Australia. When you import critters or plants from other countries, you usually end up with diseases infecting native species (in North Carolina in the late 80s, it was discovered that a disease that had ridden into the country on Japanese dogwood trees was infecting indigenous dogwoods and quickly killing them off). What is apparent is that a new kind of pesticide, clothianidin, kills bees, and was banned in Germany almost immediately. The USDA approved it anyway. The company who manufactures it, Bayer, claims it is perfectly safe if "applied correctly". "We are saddened by the loss of the bees…" said Dr. Richard Schmuck (Are you kidding me? Yes, this is really his name), a Bayer scientist, in a news release. CCD is still on the rise in the United States. A survey by Apiary Inspectors of America found that between September and March, 36% of colonies have been affected, as opposed to 31% the previous year. In China, in the Sichuan Province (the one hit by the recent big earthquake) where pears are grown, bees are now extinct. In the 1980s, the Chinese government decided to increase the pear orchards and step up pesticide usage. This makes it apparent that pesticides are a leading factor in this global problem. One Chinese pear farmer is hand-pollinating his pear blossoms, which is very expensive and time consuming, and not as many pears are produced by the trees. He says with a sad smile, that he is just not as efficient as a bee. Am I a doomsayer? No, I am a realist and I report the facts. Bee! I'm expecting you! The frogs got home last week, You'll get my letter by Emily Dickinson
Was saying yesterday
To someone you know
That you were due.
Are settled, and at work;
Birds, mostly back,
The clover warm and thick.
The seventeenth; reply
Or better, be with me,
Yours, Fly.
[Cross-posted] If you follow my ramblings, even when they don’t make sense, you know I had my knives out for the ANZ National Bank here in New Zealand for what I think is questionable practice. So it was interesting to meet a few people tonight who are employees of the bank, one of whom was very staunch about defending her workplace against my charges about, well, bank charges.
Humble pie time first: Sir John Anderson left the bank as a director 18 months ago, so the criticisms I put at him were unfair. I apologize to Sir John.
Tonight, I don’t know whether I should be applauding the ANZ for brainwashing its younger staff so effectively or whether I should be congratulating myself for closing the overwhelming majority of accounts held there, given that there are people who do not give a damn about the customer.
While people should defend their positions, they should also be open to hearing others’ viewpoints. Respectfully. The customer is right. Not so, it seems, at the ANZ.
‘The bank must make a profit, so it should make it from the mass customer base,’ I was told. ‘How would you do it?’
I answered, ‘Through investing, as you did years ago before charging us.’
She argued the usual points of the bank providing a service, before I confronted her with some basic logic that I have stated here before.
A deposit to the bank is, after all, my loan to the bank. When the bank loans to me, can I charge it a “Jack privilege fee”?
Around this point I was asked if we could change the subject.
There are several conclusions we can draw. First, an executive at the ANZ bank, a fairly high-up one, is not open to hearing from her customers. She has her own world, where she has been conveniently conned into thinking the monetarist solution is the only one, when history tell us it isn’t—and that the bank’s cutting of costs over the last 20 years should actually make it more efficient.
Another member of the staff, a little older but I understand a little more junior, put forward her theory which made a bit more sense, about how mortgages no longer funded the bank’s costs as effectively. She did not know for sure.
But this shows just how bad the ANZ brand is. Different answers from different people—but the higher up you go, the less they care.
Front-line staff, as I discussed earlier, cannot offer a credible explanation about bank fees that any customer who has been there for 20 or more years can fathom. Fact: people do have memories.
And it seems that it is accepted as gospel that customers are to be taken from even at a higher level, no questions asked.
How well ANZ has managed to blind its staff.
A good brand is one that listens to consumers about their concerns—and actually levels with internal and external audiences about its policies.
This experience confirms that the ANZ cannot level to either executives or front-line branch personnel, which means consumers are too far down the food chain for it to reach.
This Australian-owned bank has been profiting very well from everyday New Zealanders over the last few years, too.
But I cannot see that continue.
Any brand expert will tell you that for all the financial analyses that a client shrouds itself in, the minute the brand falters, the effects on the bottom line will be felt.
One of the symptoms is what I describe above: one based around the hope that people simply do not remember how they behaved before they began cutting their services and putting up charges.
It is a failure to be transparent and to tell the truth to those consumers—and it only takes one who is aged over 30 to be able to remember the good ol’ days versus what I consider to be the unethical treatment that is metered out today.
Just as I said a few months ago, the TSB Bank seems to be the only choice New Zealanders have, and at least the profits don’t make their way over to Sydney.
It was my ‘prerogative’, said the executive, for me to do as I wished with my money, if I had gone to the TSB.
No attempt to get it back—no promises to look into things. Even others have offered that to keep me on as a customer. Higher up, I guess, no one really cares. A lost customer isn’t important.
Even if the lost customer is a stubborn bastard with a big mouth.
If the ANZ wishes, I am happy to run a seminar for them to inform them of the niceties of listening to their customers. Unsurprisingly, I understand tonight that its profits are heading south this year.
This problem won’t be fixed with advertising, rebranding or PR.
It might be fixed by giving customers what they want and pursuing something other than short-term profit, which is exactly the message the ANZ has been sending me year after year.
Because if banks aren’t looking at the long term, then what heck are we entrusting a penny to them?
Once a month I will report on a tree species and its status, as well as the harvesting of it, and expose a company that is exploiting and decimating it. From Rainforest Relief: The majority of mahogany on the market today is taken illegally from rainforests in Brazil and Bolivia. Outlaw timber companies invade indigenous reserves, park and nature preserves destroying not only the fragile forests, but the homelands of indigenous tribal peoples. Tree poachers punch new roads into pristine forests, cut valuable trees, transport the wood to middlemen and exporters who in turn sell it to importers in the U.S., Europe and Japan. The U.S. is the world’s leading importer of mahogany. At least eight indigenous Amazonian tribes have had members murdered at the hands of mahogany loggers, prompting the campaign cry, “Mahogany is Murder”. Smaller volumes of mahogany are imported from Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Belize, Guatemala and a few other Central and South American rainforest countries. The Brazilian intelligence agency has reported that 80% of logging in Brazil is illegal. Eduardo Martins, the head of the Brazilian environment agency (IBAMA), has been quoted on at least two occasions stating that the 80% figure is correct and that the agency would need four times its current budget to properly enforce illegal logging. Two agencies in Brazil have declared South American mahogany within Brazil (the largest part of its range) to be endangered. Caribbean (true) mahogany is commercially extinct from its native areas in the West Indies, driven to near extinction by overlogging to feed the British demand for mahogany in fine furniture. When we buy mahogany doors, paneling or furniture, we participate in driving forests, endangered species and human cultures into extinction. Overhead Door Company sells mahogany doors.
I am only just now writing about this because when I first heard of it, I was too sad to do so. Now I am ready.
On June 10, 2008, a large dolphin kill occurred off the coast near Cornwall, UK. The area is known as the Fal Estuary.
When they became stranded in the river, the tide went out. They were obviously confused and disoriented. A marine biologist stated they were young and healthy and well-fed. Some speculated they went there to feed and another that maybe an Orca was after them. But closeby another dolphin kill occured, 15 kilometres away. Then ten kilometres away another school was spotted unusually close to the shore.
26 dolphins died that day. Only seven were rescued.
When questioned about sonar testing in the area at that time, the Royal Navy denied any testing had occurred. On June 16, it came out that they had indeed been testing sonar then, in fact had emitted it from a Merlin helicopter. The technology is called the "dipper", and it hunts submarines by blasting (dipping) it into the water.
Sonar has been proven to damage the hearing in cetaceans, to the point of even causing permanent hearing loss. Cetaceans use their own internal sonar to navigate and communicate.
Just dedicate your sorrow
Here and now
To the soul of the sea.
(Heart)
SOCAL exercises conducted by the US Navy are sonar exercises that use multiple warships, submarines, and aircraft. They last in sessions from three to four weeks at the time. Active sonar is used as opposed to passive sonar. Active sonar sends out pulses to determine location of objects as well as listens, whereas passive simply listens. The sonar bursts are at the level of 170-190 decibels. A rock band concert is at a level of around 110. The Navy likes to conduct these operations at its so-called ‘training waters" off the coast of southern California. Thirty-seven species of cetaceans frequent those waters. Six of them are listed on the Endangered Species Act. They are the Blue Whale, the Right Whale, the Humpback Whale, SEI Whale, Sperm Whale, and Fin Whale. Over 25% of the planet’s beaked whales live amongst the California shelf margin. The US Navy’s official Operating Area lies within this region. Sonar and Cetaceans Since the 1960s, it had been noted that when the military conducted sonar tests or operations, there would be cetacean deaths and beachings. In the 90s, a series of whale and porpoise beachings coincided with military sonar operations in the Mediterranean and off the Bahamas. It was only then that people started paying more attention and research was done on the effect sonar has on cetaceans. On January 3, 2008, the courts ruled that the US Navy must reduce the effect of sonar on marine mammals. The judge ruled that the Navy is required to discontinue use of sonar when whales or other marine mammals are within 2,200 yards. In addition, the Navy had to honour a 12 nautical mile no-sonar zone along the Southern California coast and avoid areas where Grey Whales have migration paths. Cetaceans rely on sound to navigate and communicate. They have their own sonar system. It has been proven that MFA (high frequency) sonar damages their auditory system and may cause permanent hearing loss. Also it is thought to cause "the bends" in their bodies under certain conditions. Starting in February 2007, the US Navy began conducting sonar tests off the southern coast of California. They did so without first conducting or submitting an EIS, which is an Environmental Impact Statement. The creation and submission of this document for such happenings, is the law under the Endangered Species Act. They (along with the Secretary of the Dept of Commerce and NOAA, where the National Marine Fisheries Administration has been mothballed and stuffed into by GWB), were sued effectively in court by several environmental organisations and one individual *, and it was found by the judge that the Navy violated the Endangered Species Act, as well as the Coastal Zone Management Act of the California Coastal Management Program. Dirty Rotten Scoundrels On January 15, 2008, the Council on Environmental Quality told the Navy to make "alternative arrangements" for its sonar testing, which they could do without an EIS. On the same day, President George W Bush passed measurements that would exempt the Navy from following the rules of the Coastal Zone Management Act. However, the court then ruled that the Council on Environmental Quality could not commit such a direct and ruled that it was invalid on February 4, 2008. It also decided that the President did not have the constitutional right to overrule the Coastal Zone Management Act. In addition, the court ruled that the parties had "demonstrated a possibility of irreparable harm". In September, 2007, seven months after the Navy started conducting its tests, three Blue Whales washed up dead off the coast of southern California. It was thought they might have died because of being struck by large cargo ships, but there were rarely any problems with the whales navigating around the ships before. But wait, there's more... In 2002, the National Science Foundation was conducting for seafloor mapping off the coast of Mexico and subsequently two Blue whales were found dead. The NSF denied any responsibility. Last week, Exxon-Mobil conducted soundings to find oil off the coast of Madagascar. Shortly thereafter, 100 rare Melon-head Whales were found stranded close by. You do the math. * The National Resources Defense Council, the International Fund for Animal Welfare, Cetacean Society International, the League for Coastal Protection, the Ocean Futures Society, and Jean-Michael Cousteau (who runs the Ocean Futures Society).
Dabysan has a few interesting observations about Moment of Truth, the game show airing on a Murdoch Press network in the US and, God help us, TV2 in New Zealand.
The good news is that this show has reached the end of its run in New Zealand as of this Friday and let’s hope it doesn’t return.
It’s basically a game show that paints a highly negative image of United States and the decline in taste and responsibility of New Zealand television programmers. The cancellation may be a sign that the Kiwis have found some sense again (as is the return of Life on Mars and the airing of Jekyll). The only reason it ever aired, as far as I can tell, is that it must be dirt, dirt cheap.
Dabysan wrote: ‘The show is a sure sign of the coming of the apocalypse.’ How right that is.
On Dabysan’s blog is a clip of one of the episodes:
That is the sum total of the show but somehow through “editing” (which means using the same footage over and over again, and having really long and repetitive previews telling TV audiences to come back after the break) it lasts the full 46 minutes (i.e. a commercial television hour).
If it were shown in this shortened format I might not think so ill of it, but for it to occupy an hour of some viewers’ lives is daft.
I wrote in the comments:
I can’t see the entertainment value in Moment of Truth. The contestant knows what questions will be asked so she should not be surprised. She was obviously not ashamed to reveal his or her answers to a total stranger, so why should millions of strangers be a problem? As for their loved ones, the contestant obviously has no shame to have engaged in embarrassing conduct so she shouldn’t be ashamed now. If she is potentially ashamed, she should not have gone on. I am glad this show is getting killed off after this Friday’s episode in New Zealand after a very short run.
What I did not write is that this sort of show, displaying the lax morals of certain US citizens, is an insult to decent Americans—but it has a secondary effect. There is a very real danger that all Americans are grouped in our minds as being like those idiots on the show.
When you see this and news about how many sexual partners a typical New York woman has had or that one in one hundred adult Americans are in jail, you begin to form a very negative image indeed: sleep around, cheat, lie, dis your parents, be unfaithful, commit crimes. Meanwhile, the American newsmedia, as broadcast internationally, play down things such as Sen. John McCain’s military record or provide us with exemplary behaviours (exceptions of US shows that do include the little-watched Real Life Heroes).
The blogs are good in that they give voice to some normal folks—but most people are still influenced by the stereotypes and the sensationalism caused by biased editing in the old media.
It is the same effect as the casting of Middle Eastern actors as terrorists in US shows, which groups them into a negative bunch and propagates a false stereotype.
A second danger is that young people watching this show—I forget what time it airs in New Zealand but it is not that late—might think that such behaviour is acceptable.
The message is: you can engage in any behaviour, from sexual deviancy to outright deception, and be rewarded for it if you have no sense of shame.
I can think of a few people already who act this way and am delighted at the distance I have from them.
It is not dissimilar to some reality TV shows which show that connivance and arrogance are the keys to winning major cash prizes.
The world simply does not work this way, and if it ever came to that, then civilization is in deep, deep crap.
When some people point out conspiracy theories about Communists seizing the media, promoting a value-destroying ideology and showing that emotionally harmful behaviours are normal, it’s easy to laugh at them. Then you see just what the media are propagating and you have to really think: jeez, they have a point, regardless of what Snopes might say.
It might not be Commies doing the dirty work, as some citizens are quite happy to go down a destructive path, exhibiting behaviours that every experience tells them is bad. There are enough of us whose lives have been rendered so valueless by our own governments or corporations that Schadenfreude pushes us to enjoy seeing others’ shame and controversy.
A good society, a decent, honest, progressive one, would never have the time or inclination to indulge in shows such as Moment of Truth or, for that matter, gossip tabloids that depend on a declining society for their success.
In the White House rose garden, Dubya announced his latest fabulous idea: the lift the current ban on offshore oil drilling in the United States. He also announced that he wants Congress to make it easier for oil refineries to expand. White House Press Secretary Dana Perino described the lift as to "pass legislation lifting the congressional ban on safe, environmentally friendly offshore oil drilling." (if ever there was an oxymoron…Dana is the Specialist. To say the words safe, environmentall friendly and offshore oil drilling together wins the prize. New blockbuster film idea: Dana Perino in The Specialist 2: Oxymorona. It will make the just-released film Wanted look like child’s play.) The President of the President’s (that was fun) Economic Council, Keith Hennessey admitted, this will be "measured in years" referring to, the ability to improve the current situation, which was a perfectly intelligent and informed thing to say. Then he made a complete idiot of himself and stated, that the prospect of more oil in the future will make people use more oil now, which will stimulate the economy, and fix the current problem. (Om….Isn’t our problem that we have been using too much and now it has finally caught up with us? Need I say anything about his last statement anyway? Doesn’t stoopid sell itself?) Now, as things work, someone else actually came up with the dumb idea in the first place. Who did so, you may ask? Well…on Sunday, Presidential candidate extraordinnaire John McCain blurted that he wants the ban lifted. New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson said in response, it is "a bad idea" (Go, Bill!) and will "take ten years" to get any oil of significance out of the continental shelf. He also stated that it is a "fragile ecosystem" and blasted Congress for failing to pass a bill for a solar energy tax credit. Governor Charlie Crist of Florida has jumped on McCain’s bandwagon (or should we say, SUV) about lifting the ban. This as Congress was poised to extend the ban (since 1981) on offshore drilling. Why ban it, you may ask? Well, first of all, it was banned for environmental reasons. Oil drilling = oil spills. Second of all, it is not the solution for our problems. The process will be this, if the ban is lifted: Thing is, we have been sucking up oil from any source possible at a rate far greater than any other country. Period. Want to know the stats: the US uses 20,800,000 barrels of oil per day (CIA World Factbook) with 303 plus change million people. We are number one. China is number two, and they use 6,930,000 barrels per day. People: 1 billion, 330 million plus change. They have 1 billion, twenty-seven million more people in their country than we do and use one-third as much oil. Do we see a usage problem in the U.S. here?
In the background of this newsletter is the 2008 Tibetan unrest, which began with demonstrations on March 10, 2008, and Mr. David Califa (hereunder) who contacted the undersigned for less than a week ago.
The basis of David Califa’s original idea and concept, Candle in My Window – for Tibet, is that it is an actual and spiritual act in where the internet is the vehicle to bring all people together. It needed support from a globally well connected professional and a virtual organization from the very beginning of the starting phase till the key event. This was the reason of the very first contact by Mr. Califa as mentioned above. Because of his brilliant idea, our mutual values, experience and, first of all, the great and most important cause, we ended-up to start to collaborate immediately. Now we encourage you to join us as well! We will do something really great and special. Together. Join us today: www.candle4tibet.org and http://www.sicusynergy.org/candle4tibet.htm
Climate change is fuelling conflicts around the world and helping to drive the number of people forced out of their homes to new highs over 37 Million. www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/jun/17/climatechange.food
