17 Sep 2005
Freyja.com

Ran across Freyja.com via Sannion - fascinating stuff, even if many of the links (and the gallery) are broken. See especially the information page for some great discussion on lore, personal gnosis and worship of the Lady of the Jewels.

00:00 /Asatru | 0 comments | permanent link

Call It Poultry Flu

Here's an interesting re-take on the spread of the avian flu (specifically the H5N1 variant). Perhaps migratory birds are the culprits in it's spread after all - it would be just like agribusiness to seek to place the blame elsewhere.

Volumes have already been written about this virulent strain that has led to the culling of entire populations of poultry livestock in Asia. This is not the place to reiterate what has already been explained so well in so many places. Rather, my interest is in seeing both the scientific and the birding communities join together to make sure that the public response to this pandemic is appropriate and focused in the right place.

(link) [10,000 Birds]

00:00 /Agriculture | 0 comments | permanent link

Corzine Vows to Keep Wearing His Beard

U.S. Sen. Jon S. Corzine, D-NJ (AP photo/Mel Evans)I wear a beard because, well, if you had a face like mine you'd want it covered with hair, too! But I do have the "hippie" streak the article talks about, and I am a "Child of the 60's", no doubt.

On the other side of the coin is Jesse Ventura, who undoubtedly shaves more than his beard... and he had no problem getting elected, in part because of his anti-authoritarian image.

I find it interesting that the last American President to be bearded was Benjamin Harrison, who also happens to be the only Hoosier President... hmmm, maybe I should run for something!

AP - It's an age-old rule in politics: If you want their votes, let 'em see your face. A beard? Better shave it off. Don't want to look like a hippie or a hobo, do you? Some learn it the hard way — at the ballot box. Others resist it outright, insisting the beard is part of who they are. That's where Sen. Jon Corzine, the Democratic candidate for governor of New Jersey, comes in.

(link) [Yahoo! News: Top Stories]

00:00 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link

Tobacco industry weakened pesticide regulations, UCSF study shows

I wonder if anyone's thought about this: the tobacco industry was seemingly bent on massive pesticide use. Yet, nicotine is a natural insecticide, and about the only major infection I've heard of in tobacco is viral (mosaic virus), which cannot be treated with pesticides. So the obvious question is: why? What eats tobacco (besides humans)? Assuming this article is correct, there has to be a rational reason they'd want to spend the money to spray the fields with expensive pesticides.

The second question is more subtle, but also more pertinent: assuming smoking cigarettes indeed causes cancer, and assuming that the anti-tobacco sites are correct in their identification of all manner of known carcinogens in cigarettes, where exactly did those chemicals come from? Are they naturally occurring in the plant, or are they breakdown or combustion products of petrochemical pesticides? Some of both? Which is which?

Inquiring minds want to know.

The tobacco industry coordinated cross-industry campaigns to delay and weaken federal and international regulations on pesticide use, according to new findings by UCSF researchers.

(link) [EurekAlert! - Breaking News]

00:00 /Agriculture | 0 comments | permanent link