28 Nov 2006
Canada backs Quebec nationhood

This is really getting eerie: I've blogged about the prescience of this tome before, but this one takes the cake: if you've still managed to avoid reading Friday by all means you should do so now. I think it's predictive accuracy level has passed those of all the sacred religious texts I've perused.

Canada's parliament approves a government motion recognising Quebec's people as a nation within Canada.

(link) [BBC News | News Front Page | World Edition]

18:04 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link

Truce declared in peace wreath battle

Proof positive that you don't own the land or a home that comes with restrictive covenants, you're just renting it. And paying taxes on it. And being held liable for any accidents that occur on it.

Ownership entails control: no control, no ownership. It's that simple. Covenants decreeing that only members of a certain race could occupy the property have been declared unenforceable: all restrictive covenants should be similarly deemed.

A subdivision has withdrawn its threat of $25 daily fines against a homeowner who put a Christmas wreath shaped like a peace sign on the front of her home.

(link) [CNN]

18:02 /Politics | 2 comments | permanent link

Free or Farmed, When Is a Fish Really Organic?

Of course free, wild fish can't be "organic" - they're not controlled, and labeling, be it of fish, vegetables or people, is all about control.

The products we sell here at Hammerstead are labeled "farm fresh" or "natural" or "free range" or "grass fed" - and I invite my customers to come out and inspect the property for themselves. We try to apply as little control as is practical to our livestock - and beyond disease control, fencing and chicken feed they're pretty "wild" and natural. I believe that this approach makes better tasting food that's better for you.

Wild fish, whose living conditions are not controlled, are not likely to meet the requirements for an “organic” label.

(link) [New York Times]

08:43 /Agriculture | 2 comments | permanent link

Afghan drug war will take a generation to win: study

Mark this date on your calendar: by December 2026 Afghanistan will no longer be producing opium poppies. Or marijuana. After all, those plants have only been cultivated there for the last 4000 years - surely it'll only take us twenty to eradicate the trade and force the happy Afghan farmers to grow cotton instead...

And if you believe that, I daresay you've been using some popular Afghan products!

Reuters - Afghanistan will take a generation to wipe out the opium trade, which is fed by graft and the grip of a small but increasingly powerful band of drug lords with political connections, a new U.N. and World Bank report says.

(link) [Yahoo! News: Top Stories]

08:23 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link