Great video showing the other side to globalisation. 3 billion people have been lifted out of poverty because of capitalism (free market economy).
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Eliminate Poverty
Libertarians often get criticized that we are greedy and selfish. This is often miss guided as those making these comments are often greedy themselves eg. unwilling to share what they have with those in 3rd world countries. We often say “world aid is taking form the poor in rich counties and giving to the rich in poor countries” so how do we really help?
1/ Break down all tariffs. Poor farmers have no chance of competing and even go broke because of subsidised imports.
2/ Stop funding overseas governments. Often gets funnelled into other areas eg. military weapons. Even foreign food aid is diverted. The the amounts that are not diverted it builds dependency which isn’t good for both parties (what if the USA goes broke or the receiving country doesn’t adjust?)
3/ Teach them to fish. In this century the best way to get out of poverty is education with capitalism. Most of us live in Western counties where we are given these opportunities but most of the world isn’t. Foreign aid doesn’t always work (see above) but smaller personalised aid does work. The best I have seen is . Students are selected and then pay back the loan with interest so the money can then be recycled back for future students. Is costs $300 per year for one student but any donation will be accepted.
BioStim Pty Ltd is supporting this project at one student for 4 years (university degree). I hope others can consider it also as it will be great to be part of self funding aid that lasts forever.
The Organic Fraud – Why Chemical Free is Not Enough
Have you ever wondered why organic flour doesnʼt rise properly? Why your vegetables rot in the fridge in record time? Why
apples sometimes have brown rot in the centre or show a collapsed structure when cut open in two? Why broccoli or carrots split or worse when they are bitter to taste?
To shed light on these difficult questions, Adam Willson, Director of Soil Systems Australia, was recently invited to speak at Biofach Shanghai – the worlds largest annual Organic Expo. His talk titled “High Yielding Organic Production – why chemical free is not enough” was presented to a packed room of over 300 delegates.
“The organic consumer is now asking the hard questions that the industry has refused to deal with over the last 10-15 years. Why am I paying a premium for food that isnʼt top quality? In the past the organic consumer shrugged his/her shoulder and accepted that this was all part of the organic image. Now it is not the case, they want value for money. They are voting with their feet and moving away from organic towards natural products.”
“The interesting fact is the organic industry was founded on two important principles, the first being building soil humus and the second remineralisation of the soil. Both of these principles are not audited under the certification process, they seem to be optional extras that come second to record keeping and being chemical free. Very few organic auditors actually check or know how to check to see if the soil is humifying (a process where the organic matter in the soil is directed to break down to form stable soil humus) and whether minerals are being replaced. The only check in the audit is whether you have had a soil test. When I reviewed the annual farm audits at Australian Certified Organic (ACO) I constantly observed something that still hasnʼt changed, “less than 5% of the organic farms remineralise, build soil humus or apply soil building practices like green manure cropping or on-farm produced compost. What is frightening is the ACO 2010 Standards (Sections 4.11 to 4.13) clearly outlines the need for these practices to be implemented but unfortunately they are not. What we are seeing is a watering down of the standards leading to poorer and poorer quality food that isnʼt being monitored. It is a dilution of the organic brand and dangerous for business”.
“Despite this lack of understanding about the foundation principles of organic farming, the certification bodies and organic industry at large use misleading data to promote the health benefits of organic food. The industry constantly uses research data from UK, Europe or North America that shows how organic food has many health benefits. Upon closer examination, it becomes evident that this data cannot be used here in Australia. The northern hemisphere soils were developed during the last ice age (around 15,000 years old) whereas our soils are millions of years old. We have up to 100 times less minerals in our soils which means organic food grown here is highly depleted and using this research is bordering on fraudulent”.
“There is no research here in Australia on the mineral levels, vitamins and amino acid levels of organic food. And yet, evidence is mounting that many degenerative and auto immune diseases occur when there are deficiencies in these critical nutrients. The role organic farming could play in providing the building blocks for optimal health is huge. You canʼt provide this with just chemical free food. Deficiencies in trace elements and essential nutrients lead to bitter flavours, split vegetables and poor quality protein in grains and legumes. Poor quality protein due to declining amino acid levels and amino acid balance is one reason why cooking and baking quality of organic grains is so variable. Wheat protein levels should be above 12-14%, not the usual 10-11% we are seeing from many producers. This also puts enormous pressure on poultry producers when they try to source quality grain. In addition, the methionine levels in our grains are pathetic and this is linked to trace element deficiency. It is all about soil nutrition and this is specific to each soil type. It should be a mandatory part of each organic audit to test the nutritional levels in the produce and publish this through the organic network. It sets a benchmark that can be improved upon each year giving confidence to the sector”. “Food production has been pushed out of our best soils onto ever increasing marginal farming country. The spread of urbanisation, mining and now coal seam gas highlights the need for organic production to address soil building practices. Buying an organically allowed input is not the complete answer and is often suboptimal; each soil type has differing mineral levels and these are often best chelated in a quality on-farm produced compost. If producers donʼt attend to the basics of nutrition it will lead to more and more consumers moving away from certified organic food to natural food products. It is happening already, this blur between natural and organic – just look at Woolworths Macro label”.
“The industry has been historically swept up with the self-adulatory fever of being chemical-free. The organic industry is more interested in whether a quality assurance system is in place and the product is wrapped up in plastic ready for the retail outlet. Rarely does the industry promote farmers who harvest the day before a farmers market – fresh in vitamins and amino acids. They prefer the supermarket model where fresh means up to 15 days old all the way to more than 12 months (apples). The industry was founded on fresh whole food but now we are having organic junk food. When you process food it becomes junk, critical enzymes and organic compounds are lost – no wonder degenerative diseases like diabetes and arthritis are out of control. The body is lacking the building blocks, fresh nutrient dense food. We need to return to local food production and fresh is always best. If certifiers are going to do something useful maybe they should make producers say when the product was harvested. Let the consumer judge what is fresh”.
“This is a serious subject that requires action by the both certifiers and producers if they wish to protect the organic brand. In Section 4 of the ACO Standards it states that Organic production systems are guided by the following principles and outcomes: • Production of naturally safe, high quality, nutritionally vital foods. How can this be if we donʼt test for quality. Does this mean that every producer is potentially breaching the standards?”.
“What we need is a targeted approach to marketing the benefits of quality organic food. First food should be audited for quality every 1-3 years and compared to conventional food. Second, new growers should at least undergo education on organic farming practices and the links to nutrition. A Diploma of Organic Farming run by TAFE is one such example. Lastly consumers must be linked to this process through surveys comparing taste, flavours and aromas”.
Adam Willson is the director of Soil Systems Australia www.soilsystems.com.au
Democracy – Two Wolves and a Sheep Voting on What’s for Dinner
Colin Campbell Will Be Missed
Colin Campbell has done so much for gardening and horticulture in Australia. He will be missed but we remember what he has done especially his Q and A on 4BC and the Qld Garden Expo. Bev said he hasn’t been well this week and our thoughts and prayers are with her. Thanks for the memories and all that that you gave to gardening Colin.
Real Sea Salt
Once upon a time, salt was expensive and disputes were even fought over it. Salt was in such demand, and was so valuable, such salt became a commodity, with it becoming as valuable as gold. At other times, it was minted into coins so that it could be used anywhere and at any place. Because of this craving for salt, from the rich to the poor, even empires tried to control this huge market, with taxes, wars, riots, and sometimes even revolutions.
Not only do salt bring a wondrous and rich flavour to food, it also provides humans, balance in cells and tissues. Salt also helps us with a normal amount of blood, and is the formation of fibres while also playing a important part in our digestion, and correct heart beat. The sodium (often confused with salt itself) regulates the blood and is responsible for correct muscles. Through those reasons, salt is a very important part to our heath. Salt also offers cures, because of it’s healing agent, which is why nowadays, salt is also used to eliminate dead skin and increate circulation.
What you have in the kitchen is probably conventional salt, while real mineral salt is organic, real, natural salt, that differs from normal salt, because of it’s incredible minerals and trace elements inside, that was meant by nature. While most salts are salt, most of them don’t end up very similar. After the salt is created through processing and drying, a lot of foreign chemicals are added into the mix, then to further contaminate the salt, it is bleached to help produce free flowing salt. This is why real organic salt is the solution, because natural always the best. Another benefit of using natural mineral salt is because of the flavour, that is just fantastic! Because Natural sea salt is hand harvested, and dried with the sun, it takes nutrients and flavour to new levels!
Why You Need To Choose Erythritol
Health risks and diseases are well – known when consuming too much of table sugar and thus using artificial sweeteners as a substitute for table sugar is good. Until recently there are artificial sweeteners as a substitute for table sugar such as Xylitol, Sorbitol and Malitol but now there is some health concern regarding the use of these artificial sweeteners. What other alternatives do we have?
Use VitaSweet, a sugar alternative that is natural and all – healthy. VitaSweet is made from erythritol that is naturally found in fruits (such as pear, grapes, and melons) and vegetables (such as mushrooms) as well as in human body. Known as sugar alcohol (also known as polyols), this type of sugar is produced by fermentation of the natural sugar found in corn or wheat starch in industrial – scale production. The corn or wheat starch is treated with special enzymes to break it down, producing glucose, which are then mixed with yeast. The yeast are then ferments the produced glucose to form erythritol. Erythritol are then made in to crystal forms by heating the mixture to kill the yeast and then dried before several stages of purification.
Erythritol was found by a British chemist named John Stenhouse in 1848. Erythritol occurs naturally in fruits and fermented fruits. This type of this monosaccharide sugar is nearly 70% as sweet as table sugar minus the after taste in other sugar alternatives and it’s non – caloric. There are many benefits when using erythritol as an alternative of table sugar such as;
• Non – caloric content that is less than 95% than table sugar
• Does not affect your blood sugar and tooth decay
• It’s partially absorbed into your body, a useful properties if you want to lose weight
• Non – laxative, compared to other sugar alternative
• May reduce the risk of disease as it’s an antioxidant and a free – radical scavenger
• Zero in glycemic index, meaning it won’t affect your blood sugar
• Suitable for diabetic patients, people with pre – diabetic conditions, and children
• Can be consumed by vegetarians
• Easy to digest compared to other sugar alternatives
• Readily absorbed but not metabolized, meaning it won’t affect your digestive system
Avoiding Health Risk from Electromagnetic Waves
According to Dr. David Carpenter, Dean at the School of Public Health, State University of New York; it is likely that up to 30% of all childhood cancers come from exposure to electromagnetic field (EMF). And The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) warns “There is reason for concern” and advises prudent avoidance”.
This indeed caused some health concern.
Nowadays electrical appliances and devices are everywhere and we get exposed to EMF to such high exposure that it’s no surprised that even children suffered from over – exposure of EMF.
EMF exists surrounding any electrical devices. Since nearly everywhere we have electrical devices and appliances it’s quite impossible for us to avoid the EMF exposure totally. Nowadays people have begun to realize the danger of long term (or chronic) exposure to electromagnetic waves and how it cause fatal disease to us.
To date there are many health risks associated with over exposure of electromagnetic waves and it’s proven by countless studies worldwide. Some of the health risks of over exposing yourself to electromagnetic waves include;
• Damage to your DNA by the radiation that are sometimes cannot be repair by cells
• Damage to brain cells, that can lead to suicide
• Increase in blood pressure
• Cause cancer such as brain tumour, bone marrow and lymphatic cancer, and breast cancer
• Increasing the growth of cancer cells
• Miscarriage
• Asthma
• Affecting your immune system
In order to avoid these health risks, you need to prevent yourself from getting unnecessary exposure from EMF such as electrical devices. It’s a good idea to buy using electrical devices or appliances that are battery – operated whenever possible as they produce lower EMF. When buying electrical appliances always opt to buy from reputable and established brands
Of course, realistically speaking you can’t possibly discard all the appliances and buy new ones according to the safety steps mentioned above. But you can take proactive steps by purchasing an EMF detector so you can prevent yourself from getting unnecessary chronic or acute exposure at all costs.
The Magnesium Oil Scam
It does not take much effort when you are searching the Internet to uncover links referencing a magnesium oil scam. Unfortunately, there are many people that are trying this product every day in hopes for various cures to a growing list of ailments. There are brick and mortar stores selling these products with their cure-all claims as well as websites. It is imperative that the truth is shared because the scam is not only dubious but it is also very costly.
Just to make this clear from the beginning, what has been deemed magnesium oil does not exist. The mineral itself is incapable of producing an oil. When magnesium chloride blends with water, it creates a solution that can have a somewhat ‘slick’ feeling. That experience is not the result of oil in any way. This is a mineral and oil is not produced by its chemical breakdown at all.
Scammers are making claims that their oil is transdermal magnesium. In other words, they want us to believe that this product absorbs through the skin and cures all kinds of medical issues. As part of the sham, male pattern baldness is said to be cured. They claim the product clears out the clogged pores of the scalp that are hindering the hair growth process. This would be fantastic if it were possible for the scalp to absorb the magnesium as the claims express. The reason for this is that this mineral is an ‘ion’ and studies have shown in the past that penetration by the skin does not happen very well. Additional testing with lab results is needed to support the manufacturers’ claims.
In addition to hair loss cures, there are claims transdermal magnesium therapy cures cancer. The amount of mineral that is absorbed by the body can easily be achieved by using Epsom salt. It is much more cost effective to invest in a few boxes of that than to fall for their scam. According to them, magnesium deficiency in the body manifests in low lying, seemingly non-related health concerns. It is of the utmost importance, according to the peddlers of the product, for many people to use a magnesium supplement. There are believers that accept our bodies’ age due to incorrect levels of magnesium in the tissues. Interesting, that is another angle they use to reel people in. Seniors and those that fear aging are more likely to jump on board if they put a fountain of youth type of spin on it.
There are also reports that the mineral can get rid of pain. They claim an arthritic attack can be cured. When affected hands are placed in the magnesium chloride bath or rubbed with the oil, swollen hands should shrink and the pain should leave within five minutes or so. Does this really happen? Is the solution capable of creating that kind of relief? They conclude that most pain related suffering would improve based upon this so-called oil. Again, the manufacturers and their proponents made these claims without substantiating evidence of proof.
Transdermal magnesium is pushed as a body supplement. It is not difficult to find out what the RDA requirement is for supplementation. The Internet has shown some companies that state this oil cures diabetes. There are listings of elimination of nerve damage by its use. Research shows that the amounts in the body would have to be approximately 40 to 50 times the RDA recommendation. Again, this is not with anything to support these claims. This scam is making claims of nerve regeneration and cures for ailments that otherwise there are no known cures.
The only warning that researching this scam showed was that people using the supplement initially should not overuse it. The transdermal magnesium may cause skin irritation when applied to the skin in the beginning. Some skin is more sensitive than others are. According to them, the body will have a better response if it is allowed to get acclimated to the oil. Next, they hit you with it will take around 2 to 3 months of using their supplement to get your magnesium levels where they should be in your cells. What a joke! That is how they get you to continue to buy their product because they know you most likely will not see any results.
Magnesium is the supreme cure. Where are the case studies to prove this? If the claims that it has panoramic action, and is similar to a tonic for cells, where is the supporting evidence? Unfortunately, there are far many reviews on the Internet that tell a different story. They make claims of nary side effects. It has been stated that in comparison to prescription medications, it is far better for the body. It is accurate that prescription medications can have adverse reactions on the body. This should not be compared to a scam of a product. The makers want us to believe that this mineral ‘oil’ is helpful to individuals with any type of disease. It is recommended that you do your own research. People with serious conditions, such as kidney malfunctions, should seek medical advice from a physician.
The mag oil scam states that it is one of the more needed minerals in the human body, they sale it as a great disease preventive. Write-ups on its use for extending life exist, as well. According to them, no one would ever become ill from a stroke, heart attack, cancer, hair loss, or diabetes if their body’s magnesium levels were at the perfect levels. Again, learn all that you can and decide for yourself.
You can read a real doctors opinion at http://www.worldhairloss.org/index.php/forums/viewthread/93
Soil Food Web Graphic
This is the famous US Department of Agriculture Soil Food Web graphic but in vector so great for publications of posters. They gave me the files/permission to improve it. If you would like to put this graphic on your site please use the code below: