Just a quick note, I've started a journal about learning the art of Karate called "The Empty Hand." (Karate literally translates to "Empty Hand" in Japanese.) You can find a bit of humor and also insiders' notes on what it's like to be learning a martial art. Stop on by The Empty Hand at http://karateemptyhand.blogspot.com/ any time.
Regards,
Dan
Friday, February 15, 2008
Sunday, January 27, 2008
It's Time To Develop Community Volunteer Pools
It's Time To Develop Community Volunteer Pools -
"Foreclosures Prompt Cities to Make Plea for Aid :
"Foreclosures Prompt Cities to Make Plea for Aid :
The United States Conference of Mayors (usmayors.org)As more than 250 mayors , agreed that the collapse of the subprime market had left a growing problem of vacant houses, depressed property values, tighter credit, and a need to cut services to close municipal budget gaps.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/24/us/24mayors.html?_r=1&oref=slogin "
With news like this, and many other stories threatening the possibility of a global Depression, (Based on a repeat of the land speculation mistakes of the 1920's and other factors) it is time to organize volunteer labor pools. Absent any real leadership from the government, the unemployed and bankrupt will increase in numbers dramatically over the next few years. This represents a lot of economically desperate people and a huge pool of idle talent.
Food security is going to become difficult under these circumstances. It will become vital to begin massive vegetable gardening efforts in urban and suburban areas. It is also going to become necessary to build large scale shelters as housing foreclosures continue to skyrocket, driving up the ranks of the homeless.
Why not begin forming the structures of a "citizens' W.P.A." now, before all this happens? Strapped municipalities could use these pools of labor to avoid much of the cost of infrastructure improvements, focusing their dwindling property tax intake on purchasing materials for volunteer workers to use. In return, such municipalities could provide materials and space for shelters and gardening projects to feed the volunteers and their families.
Additionally, judicious use of eminent domain laws could foreclose on the Foreclosers - seizing bank-owned vacant properties and using them to house homeless laborers in return for their labor hours on community projects. They do not need the federal government to solve the problem. This could be a way for rural communities and suburbs to turn the situation around - since such efforts would in effect fall outside the purview of the failing capitalist economy.
Obviously, recycling and local sourcing of materials would be driven higher by such measures. Energy efficiency could also be built into such plans.
Just as the States are taking action on renewable energy and climate change through local initiatives, the States and local communities could begin a national turn-around absent help from the federal government, in a legal and moral manner.
Idle union workers could initiate apprenticeship programs within the volunteer pools, creating a vast pool of skilled workers for when the economy does rebound. Municipal energy projects such as wind, solar, and biomass (not using food grains, but rather agricultural and yard waste) systems could be built also, driving up local renewable power generation.
Local sustainable forestry programs could also be developed and maintained, providing a source of lumber for furniture and interior building structures. Earthen housing using lumber only for floors, windows and roofing could provide highly durable and energy-efficient housing in place of the current lumber-intensive methods of buildings. Existing vacant structures could be tapped for materials and space to build with.
Municipalities that embark on such paths could begin to draw people back out into the small towns and suburbs without the need for long-distance commuting.
Small family-owned farms might even work with such communities, providing much-needed food in return for volunteer labor to help with growing and harvesting. Composting and sustainable farming methods are age-old ways of working farms without the need for petroleum-based fertilization. Natural methods of controlling pests would leave enough production in place, when combined with urban/suburban gardening efforts, to feed local populations.
Grass lawns are a waste of precious crop-growing space. If you add up the aggregate land area of lawns in the USA, that is a large area of "farmable" land.
I also wonder if milkweed pod fiber and cattail fiber couldn't be used to produce small quantities of local textiles in a manner similar to the way cotton is used today. Does anyone out there know if there are small-scale textile mills that could be used or built to operate with such materials? Milkweed and cattails are ubiquitous in the Midwestern US in my experience.
It's time to think outside the traditional box, and recover some of the skill sets that were our heritage from times when communities had to be much more self-reliant in the past, combined with modern technologies in ways that are harmonious to the natural environment and the natural rhythms of the human body.
There are things we can do to head the worst effects of a severe economic downturn off, while making the lives we lead more sustainable and healthy. More walking, biking, and horsepower in the flesh, more local foods, more local work, shared computers at libraries, community fire brigades, and many other means are available.
Open private schools where laid-off teachers could educate children and recover from the closures of public schools resulting from No Child Left Behind and lack of federal funding.
There are ways to do these things, using non-profit entities and local initiatives that would bypass the failures of national-scale systems. A mixture of the best from the past and present could lead to a more sustainable, stable, and bright future.
It's not necessary to go down in flaming despair at all - if we work together, and start now.
JMHO,
Dan Stafford
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/24/us/24mayors.html?_r=1&oref=slogin "
With news like this, and many other stories threatening the possibility of a global Depression, (Based on a repeat of the land speculation mistakes of the 1920's and other factors) it is time to organize volunteer labor pools. Absent any real leadership from the government, the unemployed and bankrupt will increase in numbers dramatically over the next few years. This represents a lot of economically desperate people and a huge pool of idle talent.
Food security is going to become difficult under these circumstances. It will become vital to begin massive vegetable gardening efforts in urban and suburban areas. It is also going to become necessary to build large scale shelters as housing foreclosures continue to skyrocket, driving up the ranks of the homeless.
Why not begin forming the structures of a "citizens' W.P.A." now, before all this happens? Strapped municipalities could use these pools of labor to avoid much of the cost of infrastructure improvements, focusing their dwindling property tax intake on purchasing materials for volunteer workers to use. In return, such municipalities could provide materials and space for shelters and gardening projects to feed the volunteers and their families.
Additionally, judicious use of eminent domain laws could foreclose on the Foreclosers - seizing bank-owned vacant properties and using them to house homeless laborers in return for their labor hours on community projects. They do not need the federal government to solve the problem. This could be a way for rural communities and suburbs to turn the situation around - since such efforts would in effect fall outside the purview of the failing capitalist economy.
Obviously, recycling and local sourcing of materials would be driven higher by such measures. Energy efficiency could also be built into such plans.
Just as the States are taking action on renewable energy and climate change through local initiatives, the States and local communities could begin a national turn-around absent help from the federal government, in a legal and moral manner.
Idle union workers could initiate apprenticeship programs within the volunteer pools, creating a vast pool of skilled workers for when the economy does rebound. Municipal energy projects such as wind, solar, and biomass (not using food grains, but rather agricultural and yard waste) systems could be built also, driving up local renewable power generation.
Local sustainable forestry programs could also be developed and maintained, providing a source of lumber for furniture and interior building structures. Earthen housing using lumber only for floors, windows and roofing could provide highly durable and energy-efficient housing in place of the current lumber-intensive methods of buildings. Existing vacant structures could be tapped for materials and space to build with.
Municipalities that embark on such paths could begin to draw people back out into the small towns and suburbs without the need for long-distance commuting.
Small family-owned farms might even work with such communities, providing much-needed food in return for volunteer labor to help with growing and harvesting. Composting and sustainable farming methods are age-old ways of working farms without the need for petroleum-based fertilization. Natural methods of controlling pests would leave enough production in place, when combined with urban/suburban gardening efforts, to feed local populations.
Grass lawns are a waste of precious crop-growing space. If you add up the aggregate land area of lawns in the USA, that is a large area of "farmable" land.
I also wonder if milkweed pod fiber and cattail fiber couldn't be used to produce small quantities of local textiles in a manner similar to the way cotton is used today. Does anyone out there know if there are small-scale textile mills that could be used or built to operate with such materials? Milkweed and cattails are ubiquitous in the Midwestern US in my experience.
It's time to think outside the traditional box, and recover some of the skill sets that were our heritage from times when communities had to be much more self-reliant in the past, combined with modern technologies in ways that are harmonious to the natural environment and the natural rhythms of the human body.
There are things we can do to head the worst effects of a severe economic downturn off, while making the lives we lead more sustainable and healthy. More walking, biking, and horsepower in the flesh, more local foods, more local work, shared computers at libraries, community fire brigades, and many other means are available.
Open private schools where laid-off teachers could educate children and recover from the closures of public schools resulting from No Child Left Behind and lack of federal funding.
There are ways to do these things, using non-profit entities and local initiatives that would bypass the failures of national-scale systems. A mixture of the best from the past and present could lead to a more sustainable, stable, and bright future.
It's not necessary to go down in flaming despair at all - if we work together, and start now.
JMHO,
Dan Stafford
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Habitat For Humanity
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| 1Housing Assistance Council To contact us: Habitat for Humanity International 121 Habitat Street Americus, GA 31709-3498 ©2008 Habitat for Humanity® International. All rights reserved. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Republican Albert Howard & Democrat Dennis Kucinich need donations for NH hand count TODAY!!
Donations to the Howard's count can be made here [9]. Donations to Kucinich's count can be made here [10]
- The BRAD BLOG - http://www.bradblog.com -
'Send Lawyers, Peace and Money': New Hampshire Election Contests Get Technical, Testy Before They Even Begin
Election Integrity Experts Converge and Join Both Republican and Democratic Candidates in Quest for Transparency
New Hampshire Secretary of State Questioned About Documentation, Poll Records and Diebold Memory Cards...
Posted By Brad Friedman On 15th January 2008 @ 04:27 In Diebold/Premier, Election Irregularities, Election 2008, BlackBoxVoting.org, New Hampshire, Dennis Kucinich, Harri Hursti, Albert Howard | 13 Comments
By Brad Friedman from Sacramento...
Election Integrity experts from around the country have been converging on the Granite State over the last several days, in preparation for "historic" state-wide hand counts of New Hampshire's Primary Election ballots, The BRAD BLOG [1] has learned. Counts of votes in both the Democratic and Republican side will begin in earnest this Wednesday, as long as the two contesting candidates deliver certified checks by 3pm on Tuesday, in an amount determined on Monday by Secretary of State William M. Gardner.
The battle for transparency and accountability on the ground, where some 80% of the state's ballots were tallied only by error-prone, hackable Diebold optical-scan voting machines, without human audit or spot-check of any kind, in last week's first-in-the-nation Primary, is already growing heated on both sides of the aisle, and even inside the statehouse as of Monday.
While representatives from each of the contestants have reportedly been working together on several aspects of the two separate counts --- each claiming to have requested the hand-counts in order to help answer questions about anomalous reported results --- what has become immediately clear, during our interviews with several members involved in the challgenges, as well as Election Integrity advocates now in New Hampshire and elsewhere, is that these election challenges may not likely mirror the partial recount in 2004, held at the request of then-Presidential candidate Ralph Nader.
As a two-page request for a detailed list of ballot and voting machine-related public documents and records, obtained by The BRAD BLOG [1], as submitted on Monday to Gardner by the previously obscure Republican candidate Albert Howard made clear, the battle for integrity and transparency in post-election challenges, may have finally caught up with the technical sea-changes in voting equipment that have overtaken the American election system over the last several years.
Due to extraordinary complexities in the ever more complicated computer systems, scanners, tabulators, record sets, databases and proprietary programming that have now been employed by election administrators across the country, the once simple task of examining and recounting paper ballots --- where they still exist, as they do in New Hampshire --- has grown exponentially more technical and confusing.
Early word on the ground in New Hampshire's capitol city of Concord, along with concerns from candidates, surrogates and election experts alike, suggests that these "recounts" could be like no other, in the history of the country...
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Who Will Fill This World?
Who Will Fill This World?
I sit in the grey rainlight wondering,
Amidst clouds of pillowed steel,
Reading my peers and feeling,
I breathe in the angst like burned steel in this air,
Feeling a tentative green ghost waiting to be born,
A future we might yet bear to fruition,
A whiff of hope drifting up from my cup,
Of ginger-peach iced tea.
When you remember everything good in life,
Isn't it the moment someone you cherished cradled you,
Stroked your hair or hummed gently holding your hand?
What I know is that using anger like a tool burns you,
From the inside out it eats you alive,
It doesn't matter if you're an entire culture or a lonely heart,
It will make you its breakfast lunch and dinner,
As surely as this world spins 'round the sun -
I've seen it happen with my own two eyes.
We were great as a nation and as a people,
At those moments we were most filled with these things -
Dreams, hope, inspiration, compassion, vision.
What I know is that love fills you,
Feeds you and nourishes you and gently guides you,
And if you want to revere the past and those who went before,
Let their angers subside and yours as well,
Get closer to your ghosts in the memory of those moments that glow,
When they dreamed and loved and accomplished,
Give your ghosts a real future -
By dreaming and loving and accomplishing.
Tearing down takes moments,
Building up is always the real work.
What is it you birth?
Who will fill this world?
AquarianM
By: Daniel A. Stafford
© 08/18/2007
I sit in the grey rainlight wondering,
Amidst clouds of pillowed steel,
Reading my peers and feeling,
I breathe in the angst like burned steel in this air,
Feeling a tentative green ghost waiting to be born,
A future we might yet bear to fruition,
A whiff of hope drifting up from my cup,
Of ginger-peach iced tea.
When you remember everything good in life,
Isn't it the moment someone you cherished cradled you,
Stroked your hair or hummed gently holding your hand?
What I know is that using anger like a tool burns you,
From the inside out it eats you alive,
It doesn't matter if you're an entire culture or a lonely heart,
It will make you its breakfast lunch and dinner,
As surely as this world spins 'round the sun -
I've seen it happen with my own two eyes.
We were great as a nation and as a people,
At those moments we were most filled with these things -
Dreams, hope, inspiration, compassion, vision.
What I know is that love fills you,
Feeds you and nourishes you and gently guides you,
And if you want to revere the past and those who went before,
Let their angers subside and yours as well,
Get closer to your ghosts in the memory of those moments that glow,
When they dreamed and loved and accomplished,
Give your ghosts a real future -
By dreaming and loving and accomplishing.
Tearing down takes moments,
Building up is always the real work.
What is it you birth?
Who will fill this world?
AquarianM
By: Daniel A. Stafford
© 08/18/2007
Words are the mind's bridge - it's connection to all the universe.
Love is the heart's bridge - it's connection to all other souls.
Loving words can work miracles.
Monday, July 30, 2007
UW-Madison News Release--Organic field day
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
07/30/07
CONTACT: Erin Silva, (608) 890-1503, emsilva@wisc.edu; Bill Stangel, (608) 846-3761, wstangel@wisc.edu
UW ORGANIC FIELD DAY SLATED FOR AUG. 30 AT ARLINGTON STATION
MADISON - The University of Wisconsin-Madison's Arlington Agricultural Research Station will hold its first field day devoted to organic agricultural production on Aug. 30 from 3 - 7 p.m.
Field crops, processing vegetables and market vegetables will all get some attention at the event, which will include information on organic weed management, cover and companion crops, soil quality, variety selection, vegetable crop trials, and no-till organic production.
The event will begin with field tours featuring ongoing research on fertility management strategies, organic soybean variety trials, organic corn seed treatments, cover crop options, and no-till organic production using crimped rye. Following the tours, there will be additional presentations on research projects involving organic processing vegetables, organic vegetable variety selection, cover crops for organic vegetable production, and weed management strategies.
A highlight of the tour will be a discussion of research using a roller-crimper for no-till production of soybeans with a rye cover crop.
"The idea is to lodge the rye severely enough so it doesn't stand back up," explains Bill Stangel, assistant superintendent of the Arlington station, who has been working with UW-Madison agronomists Josh Posner and Dave Stoltenberg to evaluate the effectiveness of various crimping strategies.
"We use it as a weed control tool," explains Stangel. "The rye serves as a mulch. It also has an alleopathic affect - the cover crop releases a compound that reduces the vigor of germinating weeds. Rye works especially well on small seeded weeds like foxtail, pigweed and lambsquarter. It also provides crop residue to protect the soil."
The presentations won't be limited to research being conducted at Arlington. Organic production specialist Erin Silva will talk about organic vegetable variety trials that she is conducting in conjunction with cooperating farmers at several locations around the state. Those trials include varieties of organic green beans, carrots, beets, edamame, cucumbers and cantaloupes.
The Arlington Research Station is located on Hwy. 51, about 5 miles south of Arlington and 15 miles north of Madison. Dinner will be available for a moderate charge at 6 p.m. Watch for Field Day signs. For more information, contact Erin Silva at (608) 890-1503 or emsilva@wisc.edu. In the event of rain, presentations will be held inside.
###
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news release system, please send an email to:
releases@news.wisc.edu
For more UW-Madison news, please visit:
http://www.news.wisc.edu/
University Communications
University of Wisconsin-Madison
27 Bascom Hall
500 Lincoln Drive
Madison, WI 53706
Phone: (608) 262-3571
Fax: (608) 262-2331
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Live Earth Replay...
Concert Replay!
http://liveearth.msn.com/artists
If you missed the Live Earth Concert, or would like to relive your favorite moment, pick the artist you want to watch.
http://liveearth.msn.com/artists
If you missed the Live Earth Concert, or would like to relive your favorite moment, pick the artist you want to watch.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Premiering on the Sundance Channel TONIGHT (07/10/2007) at 9:30pm local - Five Disasters Waiting To Happen:
Have you ever wondered what the face of Global Warming-induced sea level rise will look like? What the human costs could be, or who would be affected?
Well tune in to Five Disasters Waiting To Happen on the Sundance Channel tonight at 9:30pm your time and you'll get a very good look at where it's likely to start.
Who will be swimming, and who will cook? Who will be the largest group of nation-less people in Earth's recent history? Maybe ever? Could YOU be on the list?
Find out where Paradise will soon be lost in Five Disasters Waiting To Happen TONIGHT.
Dan Stafford
Have you ever wondered what the face of Global Warming-induced sea level rise will look like? What the human costs could be, or who would be affected?
Well tune in to Five Disasters Waiting To Happen on the Sundance Channel tonight at 9:30pm your time and you'll get a very good look at where it's likely to start.
Who will be swimming, and who will cook? Who will be the largest group of nation-less people in Earth's recent history? Maybe ever? Could YOU be on the list?
Find out where Paradise will soon be lost in Five Disasters Waiting To Happen TONIGHT.
Dan Stafford
Friday, June 15, 2007
Electric Bill Pain Reliever
Two Simple, Easy Ways To Save On Your Electric Bill And Help Save The Planet
Learn about and use Compact florescent lighting. This is good sense and a relatively easy conservation method.
There are even a new type of such bulbs mentioned in the current issue of Popular Science magazine that have a softer yellow glow more like incandescent bulbs instead of the harsh blue light of common CF bulbs, for about $4.00 - one of the main objections of most people to using CF bulbs.
There is another very simple means of conservation of electricity that is also relatively painless. Install surge strips on all TV, stereo, and computer equipment and turn the surge strip off after shutting down these devices.
All such devices nowadays go into a "stand by" mode so that they come back up quickly when a person pushes the "on" button. They never truly shut off when people think they've been turned off - and so still draw power whether in use or not. This is why modern TV's no longer need to "warm up" before displaying a picture when you turn them on - they never really turn off.
The same is true of any device using those small black transformers to convert wall outlet AC power into low voltage DC power. As long as they are plugged into the wall they use the same amount of power regardless of whether or not the device they operate is in use.
Putting a surge strip between such devices and the wall outlet allows you to truly disconnect them from the electrical supply.
Regards,
Rev. Dan Stafford
Publisher
The Great Lakes Zephyr - Wind Energy & Hydrogen Journal
http://www.whizzyrds.com/Windblog.html
Learn about and use Compact florescent lighting. This is good sense and a relatively easy conservation method.
There are even a new type of such bulbs mentioned in the current issue of Popular Science magazine that have a softer yellow glow more like incandescent bulbs instead of the harsh blue light of common CF bulbs, for about $4.00 - one of the main objections of most people to using CF bulbs.
There is another very simple means of conservation of electricity that is also relatively painless. Install surge strips on all TV, stereo, and computer equipment and turn the surge strip off after shutting down these devices.
All such devices nowadays go into a "stand by" mode so that they come back up quickly when a person pushes the "on" button. They never truly shut off when people think they've been turned off - and so still draw power whether in use or not. This is why modern TV's no longer need to "warm up" before displaying a picture when you turn them on - they never really turn off.
The same is true of any device using those small black transformers to convert wall outlet AC power into low voltage DC power. As long as they are plugged into the wall they use the same amount of power regardless of whether or not the device they operate is in use.
Putting a surge strip between such devices and the wall outlet allows you to truly disconnect them from the electrical supply.
Regards,
Rev. Dan Stafford
Publisher
The Great Lakes Zephyr - Wind Energy & Hydrogen Journal
http://www.whizzyrds.com/Windblog.html
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
"Dead In The Water" on the Sundance Channel
Dead In The Water - airs June 19th at 9:30pm local time on The Sundance Channel:
This documentary shows the long and clearly devastating history of the privatization of public waters systems around the world at the urgings of large corporations and the IMF.
Obviously and clearly a gross failure to the people of the affected regions, many countries following down this dead end trail have suffered from massive disease outbreaks as those too poor to pay for water are able to find it only in questionable sources or die of thirst. In many cases, riots and massive public uprisings result after many deaths, and the water companies are booted out in abject failure, leaving the water supplies again under municipal control.
What's not discussed here is the stealth privatization of municipal water supplies happening in various areas of the US, which has not had first hand experience with this disaster-in-waiting with some notable exceptions in California. Needless to say, those exceptions are quite enlightening, but not of the burden people will bear, literally, having to carry water home in plastic jugs right here in the USA regardless of income level.
Dead In The Water features many common-sense arguments, and direct interviews with people "served" by first public, then private water systems. You'd love to think this can't happen in first world countries, but guess what...it STARTED with a first world country of major proportions. Beyond that, there are decades of historic examples clearly exposed here.
In what I think is the most eloquently simple paraphrase of the best line in this movie, "Markets are driven to serve those with money, not those without. It's a failure of reason and logic to expect market driven systems to honestly and effectively serve the disenfranchised and destitute at the expense of their bottom line, which the obvious reason why services that peoples very lives depend on are best left in the public sector." ( In my mind, this also speaks volumes as to what is the missing chapter in classic Libertarian theory, which utterly fails to account for people in this position. Heads up, you Libertarian think-tankers, get on it if you want to get relevant. This issue gives a glaring example of what market forces will do to life-essential services. )
Watch Dead In The Water June 19th at 9:30pm local time on The Sundance Channel to learn the birthplace of the Water Barons - and what water privatization could do to, uhhhm, I mean FOR you and your family!
This film is an essential education for anyone who requires daily water to survive or thrive.
Look for my review of "Five Disasters Waiting To Happen" next week to appear at The Great Lakes Zephyr - Wind Energy and Hydrogen Journal, and at The First Church of Healing The Earth.
Meanwhile, take a good solid look at this must-see presentation of what we all need to work together on at 9:30pm June 19th on The Sundance Channel.
All the best,
Dan Stafford
Co-Chair, Progressive Democrats of Illinois
http://www.illinoisprogressives.org
Owner and Publisher
The Great Lakes Zephyr - Wind Energy and Hydrogen Journal
Founder
The First Church of Healing The Earth
This documentary shows the long and clearly devastating history of the privatization of public waters systems around the world at the urgings of large corporations and the IMF.
Obviously and clearly a gross failure to the people of the affected regions, many countries following down this dead end trail have suffered from massive disease outbreaks as those too poor to pay for water are able to find it only in questionable sources or die of thirst. In many cases, riots and massive public uprisings result after many deaths, and the water companies are booted out in abject failure, leaving the water supplies again under municipal control.
What's not discussed here is the stealth privatization of municipal water supplies happening in various areas of the US, which has not had first hand experience with this disaster-in-waiting with some notable exceptions in California. Needless to say, those exceptions are quite enlightening, but not of the burden people will bear, literally, having to carry water home in plastic jugs right here in the USA regardless of income level.
Dead In The Water features many common-sense arguments, and direct interviews with people "served" by first public, then private water systems. You'd love to think this can't happen in first world countries, but guess what...it STARTED with a first world country of major proportions. Beyond that, there are decades of historic examples clearly exposed here.
In what I think is the most eloquently simple paraphrase of the best line in this movie, "Markets are driven to serve those with money, not those without. It's a failure of reason and logic to expect market driven systems to honestly and effectively serve the disenfranchised and destitute at the expense of their bottom line, which the obvious reason why services that peoples very lives depend on are best left in the public sector." ( In my mind, this also speaks volumes as to what is the missing chapter in classic Libertarian theory, which utterly fails to account for people in this position. Heads up, you Libertarian think-tankers, get on it if you want to get relevant. This issue gives a glaring example of what market forces will do to life-essential services. )
Watch Dead In The Water June 19th at 9:30pm local time on The Sundance Channel to learn the birthplace of the Water Barons - and what water privatization could do to, uhhhm, I mean FOR you and your family!
This film is an essential education for anyone who requires daily water to survive or thrive.
Look for my review of "Five Disasters Waiting To Happen" next week to appear at The Great Lakes Zephyr - Wind Energy and Hydrogen Journal, and at The First Church of Healing The Earth.
Meanwhile, take a good solid look at this must-see presentation of what we all need to work together on at 9:30pm June 19th on The Sundance Channel.
All the best,
Dan Stafford
Co-Chair, Progressive Democrats of Illinois
http://www.illinoisprogressives.org
Owner and Publisher
The Great Lakes Zephyr - Wind Energy and Hydrogen Journal
Founder
The First Church of Healing The Earth
Saturday, June 09, 2007
Trouble In Paradise - Hawaii
Trouble in Hawaiian Islands Marine Monument on World Ocean Day
By Sunny Lewis
HONOLULU, Hawaii, June 8, 2007 (ENS) -
Out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, environmentalists say all is not well in America's first national marine monument on World Ocean Day, observed each year on June 8.
They are outraged at the recent decision of the Hawaii Board of Land and Natural Resources, BLNR, to allow bio-prospecting in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument.
Conservationists and native Hawaiians are attending the BLNR meeting today in Honolulu to demand a moratorium on all research permits in this far-flung island chain that stretches for 1,400 square miles north and west of the main Hawaiian islands.
"The BLNR's decision is unacceptable," said Vicky Holt-Takamine, president of the 'Ilio'ulaokalani Coalition and a member of the Congressional commission developing a bio-prospecting policy for the state.
Bio-prospecting is the theft of natural resources from native peoples. It should not happen in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands or anywhere in Hawaii," she said.
The conservationists argue that the BLNR should not grant rights to bio-prospectors when a law on the issue is being drafted.
On the BLNR agenda today are several permits for a University of Hawaii research mission through the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology. These researchers are seeking to collect thousands of samples of living organisms with the possibility of patenting the biological material they find.
The Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology received $2.3 million in federal funding for this research project last summer, but the permit applications were made public only last week.
The ship for this research mission, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Hi'ialakai, is requesting permission to dump human waste in the monument waters. According to the permit application, the ship's waste system is broken and unable to separate grey water from black water, so the institute says it must dump both types of waste into the ocean on a daily basis.
But dumping waste is prohibited in both the state and federal waters of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. "This is not the way to treat a fragile and unique marine environment," said Marti Townsend of KAHEA: The awaiian-Environmental Alliance. "Dumping waste water onto ancient, pristine coral reefs is inexcusable, especially when it is the federal government doing...
Full Story: http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jun2007/2007-06-08-04.asp
By Sunny Lewis
HONOLULU, Hawaii, June 8, 2007 (ENS) -
Out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, environmentalists say all is not well in America's first national marine monument on World Ocean Day, observed each year on June 8.
They are outraged at the recent decision of the Hawaii Board of Land and Natural Resources, BLNR, to allow bio-prospecting in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument.
Conservationists and native Hawaiians are attending the BLNR meeting today in Honolulu to demand a moratorium on all research permits in this far-flung island chain that stretches for 1,400 square miles north and west of the main Hawaiian islands.
"The BLNR's decision is unacceptable," said Vicky Holt-Takamine, president of the 'Ilio'ulaokalani Coalition and a member of the Congressional commission developing a bio-prospecting policy for the state.
Bio-prospecting is the theft of natural resources from native peoples. It should not happen in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands or anywhere in Hawaii," she said.
The conservationists argue that the BLNR should not grant rights to bio-prospectors when a law on the issue is being drafted.
On the BLNR agenda today are several permits for a University of Hawaii research mission through the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology. These researchers are seeking to collect thousands of samples of living organisms with the possibility of patenting the biological material they find.
The Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology received $2.3 million in federal funding for this research project last summer, but the permit applications were made public only last week.
The ship for this research mission, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Hi'ialakai, is requesting permission to dump human waste in the monument waters. According to the permit application, the ship's waste system is broken and unable to separate grey water from black water, so the institute says it must dump both types of waste into the ocean on a daily basis.
But dumping waste is prohibited in both the state and federal waters of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. "This is not the way to treat a fragile and unique marine environment," said Marti Townsend of KAHEA: The awaiian-Environmental Alliance. "Dumping waste water onto ancient, pristine coral reefs is inexcusable, especially when it is the federal government doing...
Full Story: http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jun2007/2007-06-08-04.asp
Friday, June 08, 2007
The Refugees Of The Blue Planet
The Refugees Of The Blue Planet - airs June 12th @ 9:30pm on The Sundance Channel:
The Refugees Of The Blue Planet is a beautifully shot environmental documentary that lays bare the fate that has already befallen tens of millions of people around the globe, and stands poised to overwhelm hundreds of millions of people as global warming and environmental degradation takes off with a vengeance.
This film does a wonderful job of laying bare the results of sacrificing environment and community for the sake of convenience and profit, without the usual requests for funding and projection of the producers' favored solutions that accompany so many documentary films focused on specific issues. In the end, the reader is left with a clear understanding of the nature of the beast, yet left to draw their own conclusions as to what actions to take - or not take, as they might believe best.
Shot on location around the globe, The Refugees Of The Blue Planet shows the direct human results of environmental catastrophes and exploitation in no uncertain terms. Whether the tragedies are engendered by run-amok weather or rampant environmental degradation as a result of industrial activities, the point is clearly driven home.
In some cases, the victims or refugees are who you would expect, but in many cases they are not. The viewer is left without the artificial sense of insulation from potential disaster that our disconnected-from-nature industrialized society is so good at fostering. There is a clear impression that anyone could be the next Refugees Of The Blue Planet.
The Refugees Of The Blue Planet is the lead of a series of environmental documentaries scheduled to air on The Sundance Channel this June and July. The next feature will be titled "Dead In The Water" and will air on June 19th at 9:30pm. This will be followed by "Five Disasters Waiting To Happen" at 9:30pm on July 10th.
Look for my review of "Dead In The Water" to be published early next week, followed by a review of "Five Disasters Waiting To Happen" the following week to appear at The Great Lakes Zephyr - Wind Energy and Hydrogen Journal, and at The First Church of Healing The Earth.
Meanwhile, take a good solid look at this must-see presentation of what we all need to work together on at 9:30pm June 12th on The Sundance Channel.
All the best,
Dan Stafford
Co-Chair, Progressive Democrats of Illinois
http://www.illinoisprogressives.org
Owner and Publisher
The Great Lakes Zephyr - Wind Energy and Hydrogen Journal
Founder
The First Church of Healing The Earth
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Urban Farming - Turning Our Cities Into Organic Farms?
I recently ran across the idea of Urban Farming - see http://www.urbanfarming.org - and here is what I wrote for their newsletter:
I am mainly concerned with Gary, Indiana here. Chicago is already doing many rooftop gardens and urban farming would be a natural there. Mayor daley is pushing to make Chicago the greenest city anywhere if he can.
Gary, however, has been devastated with the loss of the steel mills and heavy industry and still hasn't recovered at all. Property prices are depressed in the area and have remained so even through the recent real estate pressure cooker in the rest of the nation. Gary's youth are facing extreme difficulty finding decent jobs close to home, and so are working age adults in Gary.
Urban farming could actually transform Gary's whole economy if it really caught on there. It would be operating in a near-vacuum with a lot of out of work people with nothing better to do having time on their hands and probably a lot of unused urban/suburban space to work with.
I think if your organization could make a successful visionary pitch to the city government in Gary, it could be a real win-win-win situation for the local politicos, the urban farming movement as a whole, and most of all, for the residents of Gary.
I was reading about urban farming in E - The Environmental Magazine, and reading about Gary in the Chicago Tribune. Suddenly a picture of a revitalized post-industrial city with a flourishing URBAN & SUBURBAN agrarian economy struck me as quite possible. Especially considering that Gary is in close proximity to Chicago, Milwaukee, Detroit, Indianapolis, and Madison, WI. (Madison is extremely progressive with lots of farmers' markets and community garden plots, this would hit there very well also.)
This has real possibilities - I am going to post it on my blog. the Great Lakes Zephyr - Wind Energy & Hydrogen Journal at http://www.whizzyrds.com/Windblog.html -
I really hope your organization can take this idea and give it a little bit of push some how.
Rev. Dan Stafford
I am mainly concerned with Gary, Indiana here. Chicago is already doing many rooftop gardens and urban farming would be a natural there. Mayor daley is pushing to make Chicago the greenest city anywhere if he can.
Gary, however, has been devastated with the loss of the steel mills and heavy industry and still hasn't recovered at all. Property prices are depressed in the area and have remained so even through the recent real estate pressure cooker in the rest of the nation. Gary's youth are facing extreme difficulty finding decent jobs close to home, and so are working age adults in Gary.
Urban farming could actually transform Gary's whole economy if it really caught on there. It would be operating in a near-vacuum with a lot of out of work people with nothing better to do having time on their hands and probably a lot of unused urban/suburban space to work with.
I think if your organization could make a successful visionary pitch to the city government in Gary, it could be a real win-win-win situation for the local politicos, the urban farming movement as a whole, and most of all, for the residents of Gary.
I was reading about urban farming in E - The Environmental Magazine, and reading about Gary in the Chicago Tribune. Suddenly a picture of a revitalized post-industrial city with a flourishing URBAN & SUBURBAN agrarian economy struck me as quite possible. Especially considering that Gary is in close proximity to Chicago, Milwaukee, Detroit, Indianapolis, and Madison, WI. (Madison is extremely progressive with lots of farmers' markets and community garden plots, this would hit there very well also.)
This has real possibilities - I am going to post it on my blog. the Great Lakes Zephyr - Wind Energy & Hydrogen Journal at http://www.whizzyrds.com/Windblog.html -
I really hope your organization can take this idea and give it a little bit of push some how.
Rev. Dan Stafford
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
"Know your garden"
"Know your garden" - -- one of ten statements from the traditional Hopi Elders as told to Cho Qosh Auh Ho Oh, a Chumash/Yaqui/Maya Indian
When the whole Earth is your garden, there is a lot to learn and know - but when your garden is in your back yard, all those back yards add up.
Many, many indigenous people's prophesies speak of needing to care for the Earth in order to avoid disaster in the End Times. They also speak of needing to find peace in the world and end divisions between races and cultures, saying that we must all work together in order to avoid terrible consequences before the next world begins.
These instructions in prophesy are similar to the end times prophesies in the Bible in many respects as well - all come back to how Mankind is behaving, how we treat each other and the world we live in.
Know your garden indeed. Know every plant that you can eat when the time comes that things do not work as you'd think they do now. As the boyscout motto says, "be prepared."
Compost. Give everything back to the Earth that we do not need. Leave vile substances buried where they belong. Keep the world we were set here to care for clean and pure and filled with life and love.
These are the simple things in our hearts we all KNOW we should really be doing.
Somehow, we must break the insane cycles created by rampant capitalism and find a way to temper the capitalist system and it's technologies so that they are in perfect harmony with nature rather than trying to defeat nature.
It is time for us to join hands and become the Rainbow Warriors - the men and women of all races who work together to heal this world, whose weapons are peace and love, who finally bring technology, nature, and spirituality together into a unified existence that creates a free, loving, just world for all mankind.
We, the "ordinary people" must come together in order to achieve the extraordinary and bring this world into the Creator's plan in a fashion that shows we have accepted our responsibilities as the Creator's children and are finally growing up.
It is the only way to end the viscious cycles of greed imposed by the so-called "elite class" - who have proven themselves to be nothing but the ultimate in selfishness and soulless non-compassionates. In the end, if we do, perhaps even these people may regain their souls.
If we fail and let things go down the path of destruction, there may be very few of us left to pick up any pieces that might remain.
Time is short - time is now - now needs to be love.
Rev. Daniel
Friday, February 02, 2007
World Science Panel Report on Global Warming
Global warming: the final verdict
A study by the world's leading experts says global warming will happen faster and be more devastating than previously thought
Robin McKie, science editor
Sunday January 21, 2007
The Observer
Global warming is destined to have a far more destructive and earlier impact than previously estimated, the most authoritative report yet produced on climate change will warn next week.
A draft copy of the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, obtained by The Observer, shows the frequency of devastating storms - like the ones that battered Britain last week - will increase dramatically. Sea levels will rise over the century by around half a metre; snow will disappear from all but the highest mountains; deserts will spread; oceans become acidic, leading to the destruction of coral reefs and atolls; and deadly heatwaves will become more prevalent.
The impact will be catastrophic, forcing hundreds of millions of people to flee their devastated homelands, particularly in tropical, low-lying areas, while creating waves of immigrants whose movements will strain the economies of even the most affluent countries.
'The really chilling thing about the IPCC report is that it is the work of several thousand climate experts who have widely differing views about how greenhouse gases will have their effect. Some think they will have a major impact, others a lesser role. Each paragraph of this report was therefore argued over and scrutinised intensely. Only points that were considered indisputable survived this process. This is a very conservative document - that's what makes it so scary,' said one senior UK climate expert.
Climate concerns are likely to dominate international politics next month. President Bush is to make the issue a part of his state of the union address on Wednesday while the IPCC report's final version is set for release on 2 February in a set of global news conferences.
Although the final wording of the report is still being worked on, the draft indicates that scientists now have their clearest idea so far about future climate changes, as well as about recent events. It points out that:
· 12 of the past 13 years were the warmest since records began;
· ocean temperatures have risen at least three kilometres beneath the surface;
· glaciers, snow cover and permafrost have decreased in both hemispheres;
· sea levels are rising at the rate of almost 2mm a year;
· cold days, nights and frost have become rarer while hot days, hot nights and heatwaves have become more frequent.
And the cause is clear, say the authors: 'It is very likely that [man-made] greenhouse gas increases caused most of the average temperature increases since the mid-20th century,' says the report.
To date, these changes have caused global temperatures to rise by 0.6C. The most likely outcome of continuing rises in greenhouses gases will be to make the planet a further 3C hotter by 2100, although the report acknowledges that rises of 4.5C to 5C could be experienced. Ice-cap melting, rises in sea levels, flooding, cyclones and storms will be an inevitable consequence.
Past assessments by the IPCC have suggested such scenarios are 'likely' to occur this century. Its latest report, based on sophisticated computer models and more detailed observations of snow cover loss, sea level rises and the spread of deserts, is far more robust and confident. Now the panel writes of changes as 'extremely likely' and 'almost certain'.
And in a specific rebuff to sceptics who still argue natural variation in the Sun's output is the real cause of climate change, the panel says mankind's industrial emissions have had five times more effect on the climate than any fluctuations in solar radiation. We are the masters of our own destruction, in short.
There is some comfort, however. The panel believes the Gulf Stream will go on bathing Britain with its warm waters for the next 100 years. Some researchers have said it could be disrupted by cold waters pouring off Greenland's melting ice sheets, plunging western Europe into a mini Ice Age, as depicted in the disaster film The Day After Tomorrow.
The report reflects climate scientists' growing fears that Earth is nearing the stage when carbon dioxide rises will bring irreversible change to the planet. 'We are seeing vast sections of Antarctic ice disappearing at an alarming rate,' said climate expert Chris Rapley, in a phone call to The Observer from the Antarctic Peninsula last week. 'That means we can expect to see sea levels rise at about a metre a century from now on - and that will have devastating consequences.'
However, there is still hope, said Peter Cox of Exeter University. 'We are like alcoholics who have got as far as admitting there is a problem. It is a start. Now we have got to start drying out - which means reducing our carbon output.'
Useful links
IPCC
UN framework convention on climate change
Monday, January 22, 2007
New Warnings on Climate Change
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/20/world/20climate.html?em&ex=1169614800&en=8d1b5ef00f2da641&ei=5087%0A
"The language is far from final," said Kevin E. Trenberth, a senior scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo., who is a lead author of one section. "You can't say what the I.P.C.C. says until it actually says it."
"Jerry Mahlman, an emeritus researcher at the same center who was a reviewer of the report's single-spaced, 1,644-page summary of climate science, said that most of the leaks were from people eager to find elements that were the scariest or most reassuring."
-----------------------------------------------------------
Notes rom Rev. Dan:
- Is it really wise for any of us to wish to rush the hand of God toward Armaggeddon? Does He not work in his own time, as He sees fit? Who are we to try to rush Him along?
- Is it right and proper of us to chance damaging the gift God gave us, our home the Earth?
Friday, November 10, 2006
Whisper Simple Secrets...
Whisper Simple Secrets...
If you stare into the flickering brilliance of the candle flame,
Watch it until you can see the vanishingly small,
Somewhere in the back of your mind,
You might just understand.
A picture of the world rests behind your eyes,
That thought gleams as a fraction of the energy,
The same field that is everything's essence,
The web of white light it takes imaginary eyes to see.
Hold the world like a Christmas ornament,
Floating in a golden glow tinged with soft green,
There in the cupped palm of your hands,
Gift unto it a sweet gift.
Call the white light down from Heaven,
Do it with all your heart,
Let it flow through you,
Wash over this tiny blue globe of life - healing.
God gifts us each a spark of his everything,
Else we couldn't be here at all,
His children yet to mature,
Still in school.
If every thought you had was of something joyful,
Never would a hurtful day enter your life,
You have the keys to the Universe,
But Mother and Father say you must be a passenger first.
Think of pain and painful things come to you,
Drawn like flies to a rotting stench,
Think of joy and joyful things will come to you,
Drawn like light into the empty dark.
Call the white light down from Heaven,
Do it with all your heart,
Let it flow through you,
Wash over this tiny blue globe of life - healing.
Let's do it together.
AquarianM
By: Daniel A. Stafford
© 11/09/2006
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Saturday, August 26, 2006
What YOU can do about sewer runoff into area waterways...
What YOU can do about sewer runoff into the area waterways...
The following is excerpted from a truly excellent article on the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewer District's Deep Tunnel system. Considered controversial by many media outlets and the general public, it is looked to by water management agencies and experts around the country and the world, as the most progressive system around.
At the tail end of the excerpt are simple, inexpensive things you personally can do to reduce storm runoff into the sewer systems in your area, which is the major cause of sewage overflow events into the lakes. I will also provide a link to the full article at the end. I highly recommend reading the full article to my readers.
Reverend Dan Stafford - First Church of Healing the Earth
Link to full story:
http://www.shepherd-express.com/8_23_06/cover.htm
The following is excerpted from a truly excellent article on the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewer District's Deep Tunnel system. Considered controversial by many media outlets and the general public, it is looked to by water management agencies and experts around the country and the world, as the most progressive system around.
At the tail end of the excerpt are simple, inexpensive things you personally can do to reduce storm runoff into the sewer systems in your area, which is the major cause of sewage overflow events into the lakes. I will also provide a link to the full article at the end. I highly recommend reading the full article to my readers.
Reverend Dan Stafford - First Church of Healing the Earth
The Deep Tunnel
Perhaps no aspect of MMSD is misunderstood as much as the 19.4-mile-long Deep Tunnel, which runs 300 feet beneath area waterways, with a storage capacity of about 405 million gallons. It has been blamed for not doing the job it was built to do, as well as causing the water table to draw down and damage the pilings of numerous Downtown buildings, including the Boston Store.
“This area loves to debate whether the Deep Tunnel was a good idea or not,” said MMSD spokesman Bill Graffin. “We’ve been doing it for 20 years, and we’ll probably do it for a lot longer. We can look at the future, and what it’s going to take to further improve the waterways, or we can keep debating whether the Deep Tunnel was a good idea.”
In Chicago, a deep tunnel system five times the size of Milwaukee’s is nearing completion. Unlike in Milwaukee, Chicago’s system is being hailed by the media there as a modern wonder, MMSD officials point out.
While acknowledging that MMSD needs to do more to get overflows and volumes down, Executive Director Kevin Shafer says that expanding the tunnel to prevent future overflows would be prohibitively expensive—an estimated $8 billion to $9 billion.
Instead, Shafer says MMSD is focused on a long-term, multifaceted strategy designed to reduce stormwater runoff, which is a major cause of sewage overflows into the lake.
“It’s just an evolution,” Shafer said of MMSD’s efforts and the public’s expectations. “In 1972, the Clean Water Act passed, and everyone started looking at the point sources, the treatment plants. We addressed those very well in Milwaukee, even though we still have to do better on that. Now we are evolving to the next thing we need to do for water quality here in Milwaukee, which is containing stormwater runoff.”
West Allis Mayor and MMSD Commissioner Jeannette Bell called MMSD’s track record of cleaning up sewers and local waterways one of the best in the nation. “To go from 50 or 60 overflows per year down to two—that’s a significant improvement,” Bell said. “There is no system that can be built so large that a rainfall wouldn’t come and overload it.”
Despite her organization’s ongoing scrutiny of MMSD, Broaddus, of Friends of Milwaukee’s Rivers, says that her group doesn’t consider the Deep Tunnel a failure.
“What we are saying is that MMSD can do a whole lot better,” Broaddus said. “The question is not ‘Does the Deep Tunnel work?’ But what is the most cost-effective way to reduce overflows and the amount of sewage going through our system? We still have overflows and increasing amounts of rainfall getting into our system.”
Three years ago, before Theiler left the DNR for Seattle, he was brought in to lead an audit of MMSD operations, which includes the privatized management system run by United Water Service. Assisted by some of the best water-quality specialists from the DNR, the audit determined that “for the critical operations, they were doing a good job,” Theiler said.
That assessment isn’t always shared by residents of southeastern Wisconsin, although perhaps it should be.
“We should be really proud of the system that we have put in place,” Shafer said. “You can go to UWM to analyze their water-quality data and see the scientific proof, or you can just go to the riverfront in the summertime. This body of water has really improved.”
MMSD Defined
MMSD, the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District, is a state-chartered regional agency providing both wastewater treatment and flood management to about 1.1 million people in 28 different communities covering 420 square miles. This area includes Milwaukee, Waukesha and Ozaukee counties, and small parts of Racine and Washington counties. Each community owns and runs its own sewer system. Everything flows downstream to the Jones Island treatment plant, and to a separate treatment plant in Oak Creek.
The Deep Tunnel came online in the latter part of 1993, at a cost of about $1 billion, and was designed to keep combined sewer overflows to a minimum. Other related improvements totaled $1.3 billion, for a total of $2.3 billion. About 45% was paid by federal grants. As part of a $900 million Overflow Reduction Plan, MMSD is currently expanding the Deep Tunnel system.
Stormwater and non-agricultural polluted runoff have been identified as the biggest source of pollution. Stormwater results from rain running off of streets, yards, roofs and parking lots. Occasionally, the regional sewer system is overwhelmed by flows from the combined sewers. When this happens, flows are diverted to the Deep Tunnel for storage until there is room at the treatment plants to clean the excess wastewater.
Along with stormwater, Combined sewers take in wastewater from residential showers, sinks and toilets. Combined sewers are typically found in older sections of Milwaukee and Shorewood.
During heavy rains, Combined sewer overflows can lead to stormwater pollutants and untreated sewage entering rivers and Lake Michigan. The untreated sewage may contain potentially harmful bacteria. MMSD estimates that combined sewer overflows consist of about 85% stormwater and 15% sewage.
Overflows occur when a storm provides more rainwater than the system can handle. These overflows can occur even when the Deep Tunnel is not at full capacity. Wastewater from the combined sewer areas of Milwaukee and Shorewood hits the tunnel shortly after a storm. The combined sewer area accounts for roughly 5% of the district’s total coverage area, compared to 95% for separate sanitary sewers intended to carry only human waste matter. Whereas the wastewater from the combined sewer areas arrives quickly, it can take hours for flows from the separate sewer area to reach the Deep Tunnel. Because the overflows from separate sewer areas are more harmful to the environment, MMSD needs to ensure that there is enough room in the tunnel for that wastewater.
Sewer Wars: This protracted dispute between the city and suburbs stemmed from a period dating back to 1982 when city residents favored using the traditional property tax method to pay for capital improvements by MMSD. On the other side, suburban residents wanted to do it on a flow basis, giving their group the acronym FLOW (Fair Liquidation of Waste). Had the suburban approach been adopted, costs would have been shifted onto city residents, said MMSD lobbyist Bill Broydrick. A $140.7 million settlement was reached in 1996 to recoup capital costs for sewerage charges.
In 1972, the Clean Water Act gave the Environmental Protection Agency the authority to create legal standards for pollution control. The act also funded construction for sewage treatment plants to deal with both point-source and non-point-source pollution.
The Southeast Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission (SEWRPC), a regional governmental agency, is updating a Regional Water Quality Management Plan for the greater Milwaukee watershed. SEWRPC is also providing input to help MMSD formulate its 2020 Facilities Plan, which outlines substantial future capital improvements. SEWRPC maintains up-to-date reports on the current status of water quality in the region, which is monitored by two boats that go out and regularly take samples on area waterways.
Overflow Reduction Plan: Stipulated by the DNR and court-ordered, the overflow reduction plan is $900 million worth of work that will be done by 2010. This includes more Deep Tunnel expansion, treatment plant upgrades, and sewer rehabilitation.
Take Responsibility
There are steps we can all take to promote water conservation and lessen the risk of sewer overflows.
Back in May, MMSD officials took some ribbing after sending out a press release asking the public to limit water use in advance of predicted rain. But any public discussion is a signal that people are becoming more aware. The fact is we each use about 65 gallons of water per day. Using less water when there is heavy rain helps reduce the risk of sewage overflows.
“We are trying to help people understand that they have a role in helping improve water quality in Lake Michigan and our rivers,” said Kevin Shafer, MMSD’s executive director. “Landscaping firms are calling asking for information—it’s something that we are starting to see.”
From planting rain gardens and rainwater trees, to installing green roofs, disconnecting downspouts and using rain barrels—there’s an entire litany of things that can be done by developers and homeowners to reduce the amount of water running off into the sewer system, Shafer said.
MMSD sells rain barrels on its Web site, and had sold 2,500 before the spring/summer season started this year. Built out of old pickle barrels by the Milwaukee Community Service Corps, the 55-gallon rain barrels have a hole in the top with a screen over it and a tap on the bottom with a valve on it. The water that hits your roof is collected, and it can be used again later on.
“I have two rain barrels at home and I use the water to water my plants,” Shafer said. “Last summer was kind of dry, and I had water in my two barrels until the middle of August. We get calls from all over the U.S. from people who want to buy them.”
Rain gardens have plants that have a deeper root system, which keeps the soil turned up and absorbs more water. A proper rain garden will absorb 30% more than a well-manicured lawn.
For more information about rain barrels, rain gardens and other water conservation measures such as limiting water use inside your home, go to the MMSD Web site at: http://www.mmsd.com/programs/every_drop_counts1.cfm.
Link to full story:
http://www.shepherd-express.com/8_23_06/cover.htm
Monday, August 21, 2006
Organic Lawn Care from Conscious Choice Magazine
If you think about it, destroying our soils through the use of artificial chemical fertilizers and herbicides makes us much more dependent on big corporations.
I get a weekly newspaper from Sanibel Island on the gulf coast of Florida. Every week there is a red tide report. Red tide is an algae that creates neurotoxins which causes seizures and death in marine mamals and fish - and toxifies filtering shelfish such as clams and oysters. It also kills or sickens sea turtles.
I've read several articles in the Sanibel-Captiva Islander about people becoming sick after harvesting clams or oysters to eat, and some even die.
Red tide feeds on fertilizer runoff from our yards and farms that travels down creeks and rivers down into the Gulf of Mexico.
If healing the Earth isn't a Progressive value for you, dig deeper into this article - because you can save yourself money by not needing chemicals, and cutting the amount of water you need for your lawn almost by half. Not to mention keeping your kids, pets, and selves from exposure to toxic chemicals. Here's how you can be "the King of your own grass" in a way that helps everyone...it's a lot of little things that add up to saving the planet.
Dan Stafford
http://www.consciouschoice.com/2006/07/organiclawns0607.html
Recommend this page to a friend
I get a weekly newspaper from Sanibel Island on the gulf coast of Florida. Every week there is a red tide report. Red tide is an algae that creates neurotoxins which causes seizures and death in marine mamals and fish - and toxifies filtering shelfish such as clams and oysters. It also kills or sickens sea turtles.
I've read several articles in the Sanibel-Captiva Islander about people becoming sick after harvesting clams or oysters to eat, and some even die.
Red tide feeds on fertilizer runoff from our yards and farms that travels down creeks and rivers down into the Gulf of Mexico.
If healing the Earth isn't a Progressive value for you, dig deeper into this article - because you can save yourself money by not needing chemicals, and cutting the amount of water you need for your lawn almost by half. Not to mention keeping your kids, pets, and selves from exposure to toxic chemicals. Here's how you can be "the King of your own grass" in a way that helps everyone...it's a lot of little things that add up to saving the planet.
Dan Stafford
Organic Lawn Care in 6 Simple Steps
(Courtesy of Concious Choice Magazine)http://www.consciouschoice.com/2006/07/organiclawns0607.html
By Erica Myers-Russo
Conventional lawn care is a vicious cycle. Since World War II, American backyards have been awash in synthetic fertilizers, herbicides, insecticides, and fungicides, all of which wreak havoc on your environment, your health, and (ironically) your lawn. That’s right, typical lawn care practices turn a relatively self-sufficient lawn into a needy wreck with shallow roots, excess thatch, compacted soil, and decreased disease resistance.
The solution is to go green: build and manage a lawn the organic way. It can be done, but it means rethinking the ecosystem from the ground up.
Step 1: Define “Lawn.”
Even a healthy lawn requires maintenance: mowing, watering, and feeding. So evaluate how much lawn you really want. Take that half-acre lot and add a dwarf fruit tree or two, a garden, and a couple of perennial beds and you’ve already decreased the amount of time, money, and energy you’ll be spending on your lawn.
Next, ask yourself if you’re a lawn perfectionist. If you want putting-green quality turf, you might need to change your priorities along with your lawn-care regimen. Without the use of broadleaf herbicides, you’ll have to tolerate the occasional dandelion. And in order to build a lawn with a healthy root system, you’ll need to keep it longer than the crew-cut it has been sporting. Most importantly, developing an organic lawn takes some time. There is no quick-fix weed killer or instant green-up fertilizer.
But before you reach for the sprayer, think about the advantages to a lawn-care approach that allows you to reduce solid waste, toxic chemicals, run-off pollution, and water usage.
Step 2: Start with the Soil
You cannot have a healthy lawn without a healthy soil. Healthy soil is more than just a “growing medium” — it’s a living substance teeming with beneficial microbial life. Horticulturalist Bill Scheffler has built a business, Pure Prairie Organics, in west suburban Wheaton, around this very premise.
“Illinois is a prairie state,” said Scheffler. “If we do nothing we grow grass. But native plants, including turf, require a mature soil.”
Scheffler offered this prescription to fix a lawn:
“Number one, stop using pesticides. The soil can repair itself as long it’s not being nuked, so stop poisoning the soil. Number two, in the Chicago area we have tight clay soil. Gypsum and sugar are terrific soil conditioners.” Yes, he said sugar. “Sugar’s a short-chain carbohydrate, and the microbes just gobble it right up.” Once the microbial life is jump-started, you are well on your way to re-establishing a healthy soil that can support healthy turf.
Scheffler added, “People always ask me, ‘What about compost tea? Mycorrhizal fungi?’ They’re fine; they’re awesome. But why are the existing microbes not active? If we don’t solve that problem, we can add compost tea until the cows come home but it won’t take.”
Step 3: Choose the Right Seeds
It’s a shame ryegrass doesn’t have a name as picturesque as, say “bluegrass.” If it did, more people might plant it.
“Perennial ryegrass is a domesticated form of our native prairie grass,” Scheffler explained. “Bluegrass is native to Europe, where it never goes over 85 degrees. Around here, it’s not even summer until it gets over 85. But bluegrass and fescue stress in that kind of heat, and summer patch disease attacks them, which in turns makes grubs’ favorite food. Planting perennial ryegrass will avoid all those problems.”
But what about shady spots? Is it OK to plant fescue there?
“Even shade grasses need five hours of full sun,” Scheffler said. “If you don’t have that, your grass will always be thin. Don’t even try to grow grass under trees — just do mulch.”
Another alternative to mulch would be to plant groundcovers such as vinca or pachysandra in “problem” areas. They’re attractive and don’t require mowing.
Step 4: Feed the Plants
Once you’ve fixed the soil and planted the grass, it’s time to think about fertilizer. Scheffler recommended Milorganite, an organic fertilizer made of composted “sludge,” or human sewage.
“It took me two years to get used to the idea, but when it’s handled correctly, human compost is the Cadillac of compost. I started using it last year and the microbial response was terrific.”
Milorganite is also high in nitrogen, the element responsible for keeping your grass green. Nitrogen is the principal nutrient people try to provide though conventional fertilizers, but unfortunately, much of that excess nitrogen runs off into our waterways, where it produces hypoxic areas or ‘dead zones’ like the one in the Gulf of Mexico. Plants are able to utilize an organic source of nitrogen more effectively. Also, conventional lawn typically has compacted soil, which increases run-off. But a soil that’s well-aerated by earthworms and a healthy root system will absorb rain rather than shed it.
You can supply much of your lawn’s nitrogen needs and reduce your workload simultaneously by leaving grass clippings where they fall. Mulching grass clippings will also increase the organic matter in your soil, which in turn encourages beneficial soil microbes and earthworms, which in turn further improves your soil.
Another easy way to add nitrogen to your soil is to add some Dutch white clover seed to your lawn. Though lawn purists may shudder at the thought, white clover is a low-growing leguminous plant. It responds well to mowing, is non-invasive and — most critically — takes nitrogen from the air and adds it to the soil. Think of it as free fertilizer.
“Clover will choke out weeds, feed the grass, and soften soil. Bacteria around roots of clover actually pull water vapor out of the air. It’s unbelievable how beneficial clover is,” said Scheffler.
Step 5: Leave the Weeds
“I always tell people I do a really good job of growing things. I don’t do a very good job of killing things,” Scheffler said of weeds. “Weeds are nature’s soil-repair system. They re-mineralize the soil for free. Let them do their job!”
However, many people don’t feel as benevolent toward their crabgrass. For those folks, he has some advice:
“Gypsum is a better crabgrass pre-emergent than the chemicals ever will be,” meaning those regular applications of gypsum do double-duty. “And dandelions, with their taproots, are world-class aerators. They wedge open tight clay soil. It’s only the dandelion flower that bothers people, so I tell my clients we just need to get through this month when the dandelions are flowering, and if they bother you that much just mow the heads off. They’re biennials, so all the ones flowering now are going to die.”
After they die, it’s a matter of preventing the new crop from germinating in the fall. Corn gluten meal has gained popularity as a pre-emergent weed control, and Step 6 is helpful, too.
Step 6: Grow it Long:
Scheffler regularly tells homeowners, “Let it grow as high as you can tolerate it.” Practically speaking, this means setting mowers at 3.5 inches or even a little higher. “The longer the grass, the longer the roots. And that means access to more food and water.” Plus, longer grass will shade the soil, preventing weed emergence.
Still not sold on the idea? Scheffler had this persuasive argument:
“The guy mowing at 3.5 inches will have half the weeds and use half the water as the guy mowing at 2.5 inches. It’s an absolute no-brainer: you can cut your watering and weeds in half just by raising the mower.”
As these steps show, if conventional lawn care is a vicious negative cycle, organic lawn care becomes a positive one where each action creates greater improvements.
Erica Myers-Russo writes when the rain falls and gardens when the sun shines.
For more information:
Bio Control Network: Organic pest control company offering “bio-rational solutions for an ever-shrinking planet.” Website offers truly extensive information about all manner of pests, as well as products and consultation. bionet.com, 800-441-BUGS.
National Coalition for Pesticide-Free Lawns: A national organization promoting healthy lawns and landscapes. Visit beyondpesticides.org/pesticidefreelawns/index.html for information, outreach, and promotional materials (including “pesticide-free zone” signs for your yard).
Pure Prairie Organics: Organic lawn care service. Also check out owner Bill Scheffler’s upcoming speaking engagements and archive of informative newsletters on his website: pure-prairie-organics.com, 630-510-2483.
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