i come to talk story

thank you Marion Nestle Will Allen, not to mention this list is very long.

        we have great admiration for you folks, your work, your respect for life + your ability to be clear. this is appropriate place to attach postings as we reach out on the 2012 Farm Bill restoration;

Dear Senator, Congress + Barack Obama,

When (should not be the question, rather it is your responsibility now to see that these issues are made clear + policy enacted, for it is long overdue) the Senate should consider the next Farm Bill ASAP, I urge you to defend progress made in the 2008 Farm Bill and to protect critical programs that we need to help farmers transition to organic production.

people as in wallmart ex; please go sit down + observe, none of these people should get US aid without again more positions being filled for them to become aware of how they are producing their own illness, look at their shopping carts, already extremely overweight, some unable to walk, sores of diabetes, etc. all food related, meanwhile every degreed persona/skilled or not/as in doctor we invite to do a walkabout with students throughout their local community for extended education, as you see your patients in their home turf.  see the affects you leave on them.

no more should anyone continue to make funds on another person`s illness without proper understanding.
Professor Marion Nestle at NYU + her students deciphering the 2012 farm bill say it is totally incomprehensible to you legislators + her. they have been  trying to decipher it. as well the farmers are penalized for growing vegetables + fruits, anything beyond the commodities. which is wrong, for a balanced healthy natural diet is not being made available in many communities as well their school lunch programs. leaving people ill + expensive western medicine surges as people gain at the loss of other`s health.
 
which is prehistoric, for the farmers/people in port townsend, WA are working with school administrators + students become aware as they interact with the local farmers, creating balanced natural grown school lunches, etc. with success. which all communities should have without even questioning.

not to mention our international affairs should be sharing what works, supporting all to be self-reliant for their own local food sovereignty, economic development living local, not aid dependence from food being brought in from afar, or traveling around the world for packaging, as professor Miguel Altieri of Berkeley, CA can show with his agro-ecology curriculum created as he works out in the world with indigenous `ways that work. he sees the world food crises very clearly.

we have patches of very aware people living within natures limits, yet other pockets without. which we welcome you to support project osic, as we continue to reach out for international school bulk emails, along with US community representatives without schools along with international, so we can do this mail out, putting all on same page as we restore sound ecological working communities that harmonize. where people sit down eye to eye + make decision.

folks it`s long overdue, we can link as we build project osic to share archive of these strategies, transitions + schematics as students are welcomed to come out of schoolroom into community + restore together self-reliance by building their local community + networking sharing what works via like ecosystem/subject.

US Ed Dept has given us their school bulk emails, so please if have contacts for international + reps for those communities without, than please post school bulk emails on our forum subcategory:

http://i-come-to-talk-story.3220728.n2.nabble.com/place-bulk-school-email-list-community-representitive-with-no-school-link-here-f7473806.html
 
        students will aid people to not put another layer on top of layers, as presently are. rather all of us please take off your hats + as a local community participant please rid these layers + go within to see how your position/policy can aid this local efficiency now. for many people/other species are being negatively effected by others misuse/abuse locally + afar.

                                       we don't want to leave anyone left behind.

this is prehistoric to see as in Midwest farms now proving fertilizers where over sold to them, thinking they needed it as they depleted all the natural grasses/wetlands leaving Nitrogen to run down the river into gulf producing dead zones for marine life. now they see that + are replanting grasses + rebuilding wetlands to filter N even though using less.

yet why should they be able to even do large monoculture that are destructive vs rotating small crops. US has supported biotech companies with bad science paid for. this is wrong.

as well it is wrong to use GMO seeds, wrong to send foods back + forth to package.
what is good is to have local plans where each community restores natural species + wild to sustain/restore genetic biodiversity, not to mention fresh natural grown local foods + fish as in working with the commercial fisherfolks to do a cooperative directly + only with the state as in F+W, so equally all come to the table + work for sustainable fisheries.

as i try to make sense of the Executive order from Barack Obama`s ocean policy + energy programs, we still have layers of people`s values that interfere while even more as in marine reserves wants to put another layer of regulation, yet commercial fisherfolks are still not an equal voice + layers over regulate interfering in their work.

when yet these cooperatives can simply be formed + supported by government to rid the dysfunction. for they can`t afford to take part + not be listened too.

what is happening here is people are fed up + tired + have no trust in legislators/regulators, meanwhile it appears Barack has tried to create a system where locals take part in making the reality, yet it is not happening for many won't take part due to being tired + disgusted, feeling they are not being listened too. + the few that do are without good sustainable science that was experienced yet not recorded.
meanwhile when you legislators + Barack do large energy development, you still have yet to do good science as in ecological assessment so as not to interfere in micro + large browsers trans boundary migration. it is a known small development only can sustain our local communities. such as our findings will show with our students tallies. small small small.... is best.

 as well i feel the parks set aside + wild lands should not be set aside without allowing good stewards to work them with gauges as in agro-ecology, starting review to restore from the top in a land/freshwater flow to sea use review. so people once again can `boon with the natural world where there is no ecological isolations + people are free to migrate as once did, for the human species depends on this movement for our food.

students can create modes of development for good market, good business as those leaving negative effects go thru the tapering transition with support from community that perceives solution, making a win win situation, turning wrongs into rights..

this requires many positions that can be filled as people become aware + control themself for the respect of life. it can be simplified.

producing large farms totally distorts the human mode of energy, destroying life giving principle for life we as a living organism is dependent on for our good health, to co_evolve, creating the many ill people, not to mention the processed foods still being sold. coming from a long ways away, interfering with locals ability to self-sustain.

local food sovereignty is the only way to prevent the commons + to prevent land/sea from being grabbed. La Via Campesina can show what is happening throughout the world negatively from US + other so called developed countries. yet many local people are yet to be aware of their own misuse/abuse.
i've told this to Barack + he says study what they are doing with energy, + as i read i see this wrong doing continue.

every house once define the house should remain, due to not being in a trans boundary path + or if so could be supported by community to rid, etc. but each one could have a solar panel, vs hundreds of them in 1 location interfering in life.

wave energy put in interferes in natural life.

legislators are fragmenting bad science +  many people being confused are not taking part, which is wrong. our processes need to be simplified. we should not be buying food /fish from afar, we should be raising locally + naturally.

you people should not allow this + if you do, it only proves the dysfunction of existing government. which we ask what is your position? why is it that you are not taking part of your local community + seeing this not in place.

if you look at what US citizens are doing in ex; Honduras, it is very wrong, yet you do not hold locals accountable afar. the land that is being grabbed + manipulated by the Honduran government, + is taking land from locals, raising animals/deforesting + than bring profits back to US. same with other countries. this is very wrong.

this is very wrong for when Barack, you told India to put in a wallmart for these reasons. it is bad enough our US is not living local in every community, let alone push these unethical practices on other farmers/people afar.

the biotech industry/false green movement is wrong. history shows the earth should actually be hotter, so many have got a wrong perspective with global warming + response to it.

everyone should be able to locally in a tapering transition remove large monocultures from their community, as well GMO`s + toxic fertilizers, toxic spraying of chemicals over fields + over new seed lands as in forestry replanting, when toxic chemicals blow into communities.

not to mention many people are very over emotional to ER diasters, + it is incomplete to leave this out;

           many are unfamiliar with their own wild back wilderness area, which can become a friendly seasonal migration as perrenial foraging becomes a true bi`joy experience, along with some chosen locations for fresh water ponds filled with species so as to drink the water + eat the plants/fish, piles of lime in high ground for outhouses, compost piles in good locations rebuilding good earth, shelter to take a nap from the days trek/plantings/pickings + true joy when we self-sustain in our wild with security for food/medicine as we identify + semi domesticate some speciesknown for resilence for each ecosystem/subject, as people create on this beyond survival mode..

           as we plant along the trek to our seasonal camps at high elevations + in strategic locations for known natural diasters + leave the wild with limited use, yet have as in agro-ecology gauges to work the wild leaving no ecological isolation. for wild life is much more sensitive than us + if we listen to them they will lead our path, securing fresh water, giving us safty in all forms of earth changes, no longer leaving us fearbased just because we have incomplete awareness of the natural world that many `boon with now.

which we are fortunate to have natives/indigenous that are good stewards to show us the `way. as we become sensitive as we `boon with the natural world, enabling us to build our path as we walk it into our opening. leaving no footprint on any life.
 
we have excellent global natural farming people + an understanding of this transition for alternative support to have small farms/forage locally, vs. as in the Dept of Justice now defining supposedly by june of 2012 of the inability to forage for sea palm seaweed in Oregon for personal consumption which is wrong.
 
 due to as in i`ve been told no resources locally to study the sea palm + feel it does not come back that fast, due to their limited studies. this is not true, for people can learn to be sensitive to life + harvest it accordingly. so this is an awareness issue of how to harvest for personal consumption so all can have sustainable species, as well enforcement. for natives have done it well.

Specifically, I urge you to:

Include a Packer Ban: Allowing meatpackers to own the animals they slaughter reduces competition for livestock raised by independent farmers and ranchers. A ban on the ownership of livestock by meatpackers would afford family farmers the opportunity to remain independent and retain control over their operations. I urge you to include S. 2141 in the Farm Bill.
 
the Amazon has given great lessons yet even today people are deforesting to raise cattle to find the land cannot perform, etc. how much of these negative acts need to be reproduced. the earth is very scarred from such abuse.

sadly many put it in the hands of government when government is not being locally a responsible participant, for all to become a local, global + beyond participant.

Protect Organic Agriculture: The 2008 Farm Bill made progress on giving organic agriculture a fair share of support. In this Farm Bill, I urge you to protect the organic cost-share program, amend the AFRI program to require 5 percent of funding to go to the development of locally adapted, publicly available seeds and breeds, and to keep language from the last Farm Bill that would assure organic producers that they are not required to pay unfair surcharges to access crop insurance.

Protect Country of Origin Labeling: Consumers started to get this basic information about their food just a few years ago. We need more information about where our food comes from, not less, and this Farm Bill should not weaken the current requirement for mandatory country of origin labeling for meat, poultry, fruits and vegetables, seafood and nuts.

even this is so prehistoric, for it should not even travel long distance + should be prevented ASAP.
the Japanese nuclear accident with the Tsunami should be a great lesson, yet it has not even been honestly told to us. as people in the air flying are getting ill, as well the salmon in the waters of AK, EU + circulating. yet still people are not getting the reality of how much radiation damage is out there. stories are coming in from all over.

this is truly a shame for we have great lessons on this earth from those that know how to `boon with the natural world + this is what our project osic hopes to share story of, as we are fortunate to still have these good stewards to share awareness. sadly many have negative acts to date, as land/water/sea is grabbed.

thank you for what you can do now.

sincerely,

kara j Lincoln

we thank the many folks for giving `ways that work, as in splendid table turning us on to Prof. Marion Nestle, Will Allen + many more..

            Ex: for audio recording of Will Allen, talking about growing for 10,000 people on 3 acres, aprox 40 tons of food + then he grew into non-profit of over 20 farms, regional training centers around US, increasing to 100 acres of greenhouses, promoting local agriculture creating local jobs with loop houses, growing farmers to grow own soil, collecting food waste for a large compost, also growing worms + fish for protein, growing on roof tops + concrete…;

Will`s conversation with Splendidtable;

http://splendidtable.publicradio.org/www_publicradio/tools/media_player/popup.php?name=splendid_table/2012/05/05/splendidtable_20120505_64&starttime=00:13:40&endtime=00:21:30


i share Marion`s posting in Dissent;

Utopian Dream: A New Farm Bill
MARION NESTLE

In the fall of 2011, I taught a graduate food studies course at New York University devoted to the farm bill, a massive and massively opaque piece of legislation passed most recently in 2008 and up for renewal in 2012. The farm bill supports farmers, of course, but also specifies how the United States deals with such matters as conservation, forestry, energy policy, organic food production, international food aid, and domestic food assistance. My students came from programs in nutrition, food studies, public health, public policy, and law, all united in the belief that a smaller scale, more regionalized, and more sustainable food system would be healthier for people and the planet.

In the first class meeting, I asked students to suggest what an ideal farm bill should do. Their answers covered the territory: ensure enough food for the population at an affordable price; produce a surplus for international trade and aid; provide farmers with a sufficient income; protect farmers against the vagaries of weather and volatile markets; promote regional, seasonal, organic, and sustainable food production; conserve soil, land, and forest; protect water and air quality, natural resources, and wildlife; raise farm animals humanely; and provide farm workers with a living wage and decent working conditions. Overall, they advocated aligning agricultural policy with nutrition, health, and environmental policy—a tall order by any standard, but especially so given current political and economic realities.

What’s Wrong with the Current Farm Bill?

Plenty. Beyond providing an abundance of inexpensive food, the current farm bill addresses practically none of the other goals. It favors Big Agriculture over small; pesticides, fertilizers, and genetically modified crops over those raised organically and sustainably; and some regions of the country—notably the South and Midwest—over others. It supports commodity crops grown for animal feed but considers fruits and vegetables to be “specialty” crops deserving only token support. It provides incentives leading to crop overproduction, with enormous consequences for health.

The bill does not require farmers to engage in conservation or safety practices (farms are exempt from having to comply with environmental or employment standards). It encourages production of feed crops for ethanol. In part because Congress insisted that gasoline must contain ethanol, 40 percent of U.S. feed corn was grown for that purpose in 2011, a well-documented cause of higher world food prices. Because the bill subsidizes production, it gets the United States in trouble with international trading partners, and hurts farmers in developing countries by undercutting their prices. Taken as a whole, the farm bill is profoundly undemocratic. It is so big and so complex that nobody in Congress or anywhere else can grasp its entirety, making it especially vulnerable to influence by lobbyists for special interests.

Although the farm bill started out in the Great Depression of the 1930s as a collection of emergency measures to protect the income of farmers—all small landholders by today’s standards—recipients soon grew dependent on support programs and began to view them as entitlements. Perceived entitlements became incentives for making farms larger; increasingly dependent on pesticide, herbicide, and fertilizer “inputs”; and exploitative of natural and human resources. Big farms drove out small, while technological advances increased production. These trends were institutionalized by cozy relationships
among large agricultural producers, farm-state members of congressional agricultural committees, and a Department of Agriculture (USDA) explicitly committed to promoting commodity production.

These players were not, however, sitting around conference tables to create agricultural policies to further national goals. Instead, they used the bill as a way to obtain earmarks—programs that would benefit specific interest groups. It is now a 663-page piece of legislation with a table of contents that alone takes up 14 pages. As the chief vehicle of agricultural policy in the United States, it reflects no overriding goals or philosophy. It is simply a collection of hundreds of largely disconnected programs dispensing public benefits to one group or another, each with its own dedicated constituency and lobbyists. The most controversial farm bill programs benefit only a few basic food commodities—corn, soybeans, wheat, rice, cotton, sugar, and dairy. But lesser-known provisions help much smaller industries such as asparagus, honey, or Hass avocados, although at tiny fractions of the size of commodity payments.
The bill organizes its programs into fifteen “titles” dealing with its various purposes. I once tried to list every program included in each title, but soon gave up. The bill’s size, scope, and level of detail are mind-numbing. It can only be understood one program at a time. Hence, lobbyists.

The elephant in the farm bill—its biggest program by far and accounting for nearly 85 percent of the funding—is SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly known as food stamps). In 2011, as a result of the declining economy and high unemployment, SNAP benefits grew to cover forty-six million Americans at a cost of $72 billion. In contrast, commodity subsidies cost “only” $8 billion; crop insurance $4.5 billion, and conservation about $5 billion. The amounts expended on the hundreds of other programs covered by the bill are trivial in comparison, millions, not billions—mere rounding errors.
What is SNAP doing in the farm bill? Politics makes strange bedfellows, and SNAP exemplifies logrolling politics in action. By the late 1970s, consolidation of farms had reduced the political power of agricultural states. To continue farm subsidies, representatives from agricultural states needed votes from legislators representing states with large, low-income urban populations. And those legislators needed votes from agricultural states to pass food assistance bills. They traded votes in an unholy alliance that pleased Big Agriculture as well as advocates for the poor. Neither group wants the system changed.
Health Implications

The consequences of obesity—higher risks for heart disease, type 2 diabetes, certain cancers, and other chronic conditions—are the most important health problems facing Americans today. To maintain weight or to prevent excessive gain, federal dietary guidelines advise consumption of diets rich in vegetables and fruits. The 2008 farm bill introduced a horticulture and organic title, but aside from a farmers’ market promotion program and some smaller marketing programs, does little to encourage vegetable and fruit production or to subsidize their costs to consumers. If anything, the farm bill encourages weight gain by subsidizing commodity crops that constitute the basic cheap caloric ingredients used in processed foods—soy oil and corn sweeteners, for example—and by explicitly forbidding crop producers from growing fruits and vegetables.
Neither human nature nor genetics have changed in the last thirty years, meaning that widespread obesity must be understood as collateral damage resulting from changes in agricultural, economic, and regulatory policy in the 1970s and early 1980s. These created today’s “eat more” food environment, one in which it has become socially acceptable for food to be ubiquitous, eaten frequently, and in large portions.
For more than seventy years, from the early 1900s to the early 1980s, daily calorie availability remained relatively constant at about 3,200 per person. By the year 2000, however, available calories had increased to 3,900 per person per day, roughly twice average need. People were not necessarily eating 700 more daily calories, as many were undoubtedly wasted. But the food containing those extra calories needed to be sold, thereby creating a marketing challenge for the food industry.

Why more calories became available after 1980 is a matter of some conjecture, but I believe the evidence points to three seemingly remote events that occurred at about that time: agriculture policies favoring overproduction, the onset of the shareholder value movement, and the deregulatory policies of the Reagan era.

In 1973 and 1977, Congress passed laws reversing long-standing farm policies aimed at protecting prices by limiting production. Subsidies increased in proportion to amounts grown, encouraging creation of larger and more productive farms. Indeed, production increased, and so did calories in the food supply and competition in the food industry. Companies were forced to find innovative ways to sell food products in an overabundant food economy.

Further increasing competition was the advent of the shareholder value movement to force corporations to produce more immediate and higher returns on investment. The start of the movement is often attributed to a 1981 speech given by Jack Welch, then head of General Electric, in which he insisted that corporations owed shareholders the benefits of faster growth and higher profit margins. The movement caught on quickly, and Wall Street soon began to press companies to report growth in profits every quarter. Food companies, already selling products in an overabundant marketplace, now also had to grow their profits—and constantly.

Companies got some help when Ronald Reagan was elected president in 1980 on a platform of corporate deregulation. Reagan-era deregulatory policies removed limits on television marketing of food products to children and on health claims on food packages. Companies now had much more flexibility in advertising their products.

Together, these factors led food companies to consolidate, become larger, seek new markets, and find creative ways to expand sales in existing markets. The collateral result was a changed society. Today, in contrast to the early 1980s, it is socially acceptable to eat in places never before meant as restaurants, at any time of day, and in increasingly large amounts—all factors that encourage greater calorie intake. Food is now available in places never seen before: bookstores, libraries, and stores primarily selling drugs and cosmetics, gasoline, office supplies, furniture, and clothing.

As a result of the increased supply of food, prices dropped. It became relatively inexpensive to eat outside the home, especially at fast-food restaurants, and such places proliferated. Food prepared outside the home tends to be higher in calories, fast food especially so. It’s not that people necessarily began to eat worse diets. They were just eating more food in general and, therefore, gaining weight. This happened with children, too. National food consumption surveys indicate that children get more of their daily calories from fast-food outlets than they do from schools, and that fast food is the largest contributor to the calories they consume outside the home.

To increase sales, companies promoted snacking. The low cost of basic food commodities allowed them to produce new snack products—twenty thousand or so a year, nearly half candies, gum, chips, and sodas. It became normal for children to regularly consume fast foods, snacks, and sodas. An astonishing 40 percent of the calories in the diets of children and adolescents now derive from such foods. In adults and children, the habitual consumption of sodas and snacks is associated with increases in calorie intake and body weight.

Food quantity is the critical issue in weight gain. Once foods became relatively inexpensive in comparison to the cost of rent or labor, companies could offer foods and beverages in larger sizes at favorable prices as a means to attract bargain-conscious customers. Larger portions have more calories. But they also encourage people to eat more and to underestimate the number of calories consumed. The well-documented increase in portion sizes since 1980 is by itself sufficient to explain rising levels of obesity.
Food prices are also a major factor in food choice. It is difficult to argue against low prices and I won’t—except to note that the current industrialized food system aims at producing food as cheaply as possible, externalizing the real costs to the environment and to human health. Prices, too, are a matter of policy. In the United States, the indexed price of sodas and snack foods has declined since 1980, but that of fruits and vegetables has increased by as much as 40 percent. The farm bill subsidizes animal feed and the ingredients in sodas and snack foods; it does not subsidize fruits and vegetables. How changes in food prices brought on by growth of crops for biofuels will affect health is as yet unknown but unlikely to be beneficial.

The deregulation of marketing also contributes to current obesity levels. Food companies spend billions of dollars a year to encourage people to buy their products, but foods marketed as “healthy”—whether or not they are—particularly encourage greater consumption. Federal agencies attempting to regulate food marketing, especially to children, have been blocked at every turn by food industries dependent on highly profitable “junk” foods for sales. Although food companies argue that body weight is a matter of personal choice, the power of today’s overabundant, ubiquitous, and aggressively marketed food environment to promote greater calorie intake is enough to overcome biological controls over eating behavior. Even educated and relatively wealthy consumers have trouble dealing with this “eat more” environment.

Fixing the Farm Bill

What could agriculture policies do to improve health now and in the future? Also plenty. When I first started teaching nutrition in the mid-1970s, my classes already included readings on the need to reform agricultural policy. Since then, one administration after another has tried to eliminate the most egregious subsidies (like those to landowners who don’t farm) but failed when confronted with early primaries in Iowa. Defenders of the farm bill argue that the present system works well to ensure productivity, global competitiveness, and food security. Tinkering with the bill, they claim, will make little difference and could do harm. I disagree. The farm bill needs more than tinkering. It needs a major overhaul. My vision for the farm bill would restructure it to go beyond feeding people at the lowest possible cost to achieve several utopian goals:

Support farmers: The American Enterprise Institute and other conservative groups argue that farming is a business like any other and deserves no special protections. My NYU class thought otherwise. Food is essential for life, and government’s role must be to ensure adequate food for people at an affordable price. Farmers deserve some help dealing with financial and climate risks, and some need it more than others. The farm bill should especially support more sustainable smaller-scale farming methods. And such programs should be available to farmers of fruits and vegetables and designed to encourage beginning farmers to grow specialty crops.

Support the environment: The farm bill should require recipients of benefits to engage in environmentally sound production and conservation practices. Production agriculture accounts for a significant fraction—10 percent to 20 percent—of greenhouse gas emissions. Sustainable farming methods have been shown to reduce emissions, return valuable nutrients to soil, and reduce the need for polluting pesticides and fertilizers, with only marginal losses in productivity.

Support human health: The United States does not currently grow enough fruits and vegetables to meet minimal dietary recommendations. The 2008 farm bill explicitly prohibits farms receiving support payments from growing fruits and vegetables. Instead, the bill should provide incentives for growing specialty crops.

Support payments should be linked to requirements for farm-based safety procedures that prevent contamination with pathogens and pesticides.

Support farm workers: This one is obvious. Any farm receiving support benefits must pay its workers a living wage and adhere to all laws regarding housing and safety—in spirit as well as in letter.
Even educated and relatively wealthy consumers have trouble dealing with this “eat more” environment.

Link nutrition policy to agricultural policy: If we must have SNAP in the farm bill, let’s take advantage of that connection. Suppose SNAP benefits had to be spent mostly on real rather than processed foods, and were worth more when spent at farmers’ markets. Pilot projects along these lines have been shown to work brilliantly. Consider what something like this might do for the income of small farmers as well as for the health of food assistance recipients. Policies that enable low-income families to access healthy foods wherever they shop are beyond the scope of the farm bill, but must also be part of any utopian agenda.
Apply health and conservation standards to animal agriculture: The livestock title of the farm bill should require animals to be raised and slaughtered humanely.

It should require strict adherence to environmental and safety standards for conservation and protection of soil, water, and air quality.

Utopian? Absolutely. In the current political climate, the best anyone can hope for is a crumb or two thrown in these directions. The secret process for developing the 2012 farm bill contained a few such crumbs—more money for farmers’ markets and for programs to take SNAP benefits further when spent on fruits and vegetables. Whether that bill would have been better or worse than the one we eventually end up with remains to be seen. But the failure of that process provides an opportunity to work toward a healthier food system by restructuring farm bill programs to focus them on health, safety, and environmental goals and social justice.

These goals are well worth advocating now and in the future.

The one bright ray of hope about the farm bill comes from the burgeoning food movement. Grassroots groups working to promote local and regional foods, farmers’ markets, urban farming, farm-to-school programs, animal welfare, and farm workers’ rights join a long and honorable history of social movements such as those aimed at civil rights, women’s rights, and environmentalism. Changing the food system is equally radical. But food has one particular advantage for advocacy. Food is universal. Everyone eats. Food is an easy entry point into conversations about social inequities. Even the least political person can understand injustices in the food system and be challenged to work to redress them.

Occupy Big Food is an integral part of Occupy Wall Street; it should not be viewed as a special interest. The issues that drive both are the same: corporate control of government and society. The food movement—in all of its forms—seeks better health for people and the planet, goals that benefit everyone. It deserves the support of everyone advocating for democratic rights.

Marion Nestle is Paulette Goddard Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health at New York University. She is the author of Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health and, with Malden Nesheim, Why Calories Count: From Science to Politics. She blogs at www.foodpolitics.com and tweets @marionnestle.

 thank you Dissent Magazine

www.dissentmagazine.org

           We each have an obligation to live locally sustainable + build our working community supporting all to harmonize. Which fuels us to share what works locally + afar, in a `way each can understand.
           We feel this can be efficiently done if we integrate good science universally + focus direct our students to come out of the schoolroom into their community. + Together co_evolve, as we integrate daily into our lives, simple respect for all life, + create upon the many good lessons our stewards of the earth + beyond reflect.  Please welcome project osic into your local community to share in this focus.
          We welcome all to give Mitt + Barack space to go within themselves + rethink as each community locally + afar share this focus + lay out  their tallies on a cloth/table platform, giving us options of what each can do to restore local community, leaving no one left behind. Than come together sharing their `plan as we accept nothing less than peace + end the war mode economy where never again a strong military is needed to replace people from sharing awareness holding them self-accountable locally + afar;
             With only good local enforcement in place, so as to aid those unaware to become whole + same with Mitt + Barack, after some self-reflection with others sharing options that work, come back into your local community of choice + cooperatively support so all to become a local, global + beyond participant that harmonizes with this beautiful earth below our feet, exploring freely seasonal offerings living local with simple respect where ever one chooses. Government needs to come out of their bubble.
      Peace is our option now if we share what works as each do their homework in the natural world.
      The earth has many scars from all that has happened, leaving many without basic daily needs met in every community. Do you realize all the positions needed to do just this that we write on this 1 page, let alone stories from many. It takes us all working together to make this happen, for many communities do not have the ecological balance of genetic bio-diversity to balance the numbers of people living within the community.
        We believe there is no isolation amongst ecological categories, their fore all wild lands should be reassessed with gauges from agro-ecology in place for people to become aware + work them sensitively, not restrict people from using land, sea, fresh water when used correctly. Starting from the top, with respect for life, as each community do their land/freshwater flow to sea use review. Not just by regulators or foreigners, rather all locals take off their hats + come together as a local participant + eye to eye go figure small community development that stays within natures borders.
                   + If in need  students network using good virtual tools as they go eye to eye working locally + afar enhancing their education.
                 Mitt, Barack + your families, all are very capable + if you cannot see peace in this, please be the better person + support the other to allow no one to lead. As we all have a lot of work ahead of us.
 Peace be with you in your decisions, our combined ` effect

please see our comment to Peace Action West`s post;

May 2, 2012

by Rebecca Griffin


What did you think about President Obama’s speech last night? Read my take,
which appears here today in the San Francisco Chronicle, and share your
thoughts in the comments below.


The White House has been telling Americans fed up with the war that the
deal signed Tuesday with the Afghan government is the light at the end of
the tunnel. Meanwhile, the Obama administration is selling the same deal to
NATO allies as a sign of the United States’ enduring commitment.

The reality is that the new strategic partnership agreement is not all
things to all people. By the end of this summer, there still will be 68,000
troops in Afghanistan. The new agreement authorizes the U.S. military to
“advise and assist” the Afghan military through at least 2024. That could
translate to another 12 years of repeating our mistakes, with tens of
thousands of soldiers still in harm’s way.

This means that a large majority of Americans have reason to be
disappointed. According to a recent CNN poll, 77 percent of Americans want
all U.S. troops out of Afghanistan by the end of 2014, with 55 percent
wanting them out sooner. Last month, a Pew poll found that 59 percent of
swing voters want them home as soon as possible. Americans want out of a
war that costs us $2 billion a week. The NATO summit coming up this month
is a chance to take real steps toward that goal.

The U.S. occupation is the primary target for the Afghan insurgency, which
makes an enormous military presence inherently destabilizing to the Afghan
nation. Recent revelations have underscored this reality, such as the
photos of soldiers posing with dead insurgents, and the accidental mass
burning of Qurans. It is no surprise that Afghans are growing more
resentful of the American military presence. The international community
could play a constructive role in helping Afghans rebuild their country and
strengthen their government. But the trust needed to build that kind of
partnership between Afghans and Americans is sorely lacking. A clear and
responsible plan to withdraw U.S. troops as soon as possible would be a
first step in building that trust.

Withdrawing should not mean abandoning Afghanistan. The United States has a
responsibility to keep its commitment to Afghans. We also have an interest.
After more than 10 years of war, our futures are linked. Afghanistan’s many
challenges – from the lack of public support for the Karzai government to
widespread corruption – are rooted in politics. These problems require
political solutions that can’t be delivered at gunpoint. Ending the
occupation could provide an opening for a diplomatic and development
mission that would be not only more effective, but much less deadly and
costly.

At the May 20-21 summit in Chicago, NATO will address its role in
Afghanistan, and could lay groundwork for making this crucial strategic
shift. This week marks one year since Osama bin Laden was killed in
Pakistan. His death, along with a diminished al Qaeda presence in
Afghanistan, removed the primary justification for this war. The next few
weeks will be an opportunity to set forth a clear commitment and timeline
to bring the troops home.

That means now is the time to act. If you want this war to end, call your
congressional representative now. The House will be taking up a defense
policy bill the week before the NATO summit. Tell your elected
representative to use this debate to take a stand for a serious, detailed
plan to end this war.

Rebecca Griffin leads Peace Action West’s campaigns for alternatives to
war. www.peaceactionwest.org

end Rebecca.

start kara;

wow!, nice job Rebecca + PAW, just when i was about to write a few
legislators, you just gave me another peace of the puzzle, so i'll send
them your letter + mine.

i've come to the conclusion of this, those that know me, bare with my yada
for we have to speak up hear;

sadly due to our present security in place for many, as in Barack Obama,
Governors, legislators, etc. + family do live in a bubble with an unreal
world of guards around them.

this is 1 thing in common with those that lack of simple survival
mechanisms in place also in a bubble mode of not having what many of us are
fortunate to have. especially those that add the war mode economy, in their
back yard.

the commercial fisherfolks had their engines on on 1 side of mine + the CG
had theirs on on the other side, sounding, feeling just like a war zone.

so i never have been in one, yet have had dreams, shot, etc + can give
great empathy for yous right in this mess.

i saw the Ocean Frontier - The dawn of a New Era in Ocean Sustaoinability,
a movie last week with the governor of Oregon`s wife, along side Rep. Arnie
Roblan speaking out  in support of this film, which did have nice pieces of
solution, but by far did they cover a reality perspective of our local +
beyond communities. rather it was like a twilight zone giving phrase.

rather ist lady made a few jokes, few wiggles + that was ok, their where
children in the audience, but they did have a mutual simple respect for
life + for each other, as Arnie spoke high of her kindness.

my issue is our colledge students can + need to reflect with a little bit
more reality + yes retain simple common respect for coming together with 1
good universal science that we can all efficinetly bring home to self-
sustain as we adjust to each ecosystem/subject.

where each take part + build working sustainable communities that build
themself not just for their own back yard, rather with fuel left over to
share what works, so others locally + afar can do the same.

so Barack - advise + assist can truly interfefre in their ability to
self-sustain, gain fuel + also be in an exchange offering us what works for
them, as we then let it trigger us to bring home, the goodness of many
natives/indigenous on this planet`s offerings. but they can't have this
equal exchange if you are over powering.

so i'm awaiting a telephone call from the greenfire producer of the movei
above, asking,  why the natives + indigenous  where not added more than
just as in some quotes, why are they not acknowledged for having ways that
we can translate + equate good science with, as they describe the Iowa
farmers, that are now seeing their negative effects afar in the gulf with
dead zones the nitrogen fertilizer, that was marketed as needing much, was
discovered they didn't + don't. but i need to be clear if they still are
doing monocultures which pollutes the soil to begin with, for large farms
are very destructive, when our natural world requires small farms in
harmony with wild biospheres with balanced genetic bio-diversity which we
don't have locally in many US communities.

but to offset this Nitrogen excess damage they are replanting the native
grasses + restoring watershed areas they originally destroyed when put in
the monocultures, which natives never would do, prior to their lands being
taken, which now their is abig movement with the Bureau of Indian Affairs
in the US where over 564, as of 2010, more now tribes, are restoring the
wild lands the way they once lived them for their children to experience
the wild in balance as they did.

Arnie says we need a baseline understanding before we do anything, + wants
to support a marine reserve in the local areas, when yet the commercial
fisherfolks are over regulated in a process, + they would interfere, plus
the process has shown they want to dictate vs sit down + negotiate, + the
film showed in port orford there process of the same but have worked thru
it. where here they did not have good data + have not made good science
working together with the locals, so they have no baseline from history of
the many good sustainable fisherfolks that say we do not need them on the
Oregon coast.

others say it could be real easy, that maybe if 50 people from both sides
sat down + looked each other in the eye + talked + listened, could resolve
real issues, remove wasted layers of misinformation + over regulation,
giving our locals that give us our food a lot more friendly smile when they
come to work vs stress + make life easier with simple common sense.

why do i bring this up, well Calum Stevenson a natural shores resource
specialist at Ocean Shores, working for Oregon state Parks, tells me i
cannot pick sea palms most likely after june of this year, due to no
resources to show the studies needed thinking old rules could irradicate +
better than old rules, they will say no picking for personal use of this
species. no funds availble.

well i than said i can't accept that whom is making this rule, + are they
open for public comment, so i'm awaitng that call to confirm again that i
understand right. + no commercial harvest of any seaweed will be done on
the oregon coast due to an expensive baseline study that would be required.

ok than i said if can't locally sustain a very good nutritous foraged
process that i have done for the few years here + done it sustainably, than
this is bad, because i'm penalized for another persons incorrect use. that
is wrong, now we have an enforcement issue of those that harvest wrong, not
in place, as well no awareness education, nor no good science that has
simply respected the natives that have done this forever, not to mention us
new combers + welcomed us all into the study.

ya know like the simple good old kindness that Arnie + 1st lady showed. not
what Calum stated, that it wpould be so expensive to cover all the
different ecosystems along this coast in the different studies that would
take place. well i ask where is the simple common sense of life when we see
it, where is it enacted in our curriculum, where in  our project osic we
are building, we will focus this as students are welcomed to come out of
the schoolroom + with the community develope/restore this simple respect.

where 1st people with out daily support will get hands on support, not to
mention once all that done + the students gain awareness in this great
exchange as they feel the enegy redirected once people stop struggling,
unable to see beyound into their community, due to struggling within them
self. now energy starts flowing + this cannot be done in a classroom only.
now all are working to change curriculum for their local community
restoration. where we will focus a land/freshwater flow to sea use review
before any development is done. for large developments are not doing their
ecological assessmenst due to not haveing studies in many cases +
interfereing in our natural workd that we as a living organism is dependent
on for all life to be healthy.

ok so Barack is your ideal of advise + assist this? how about yours
Congressman Peter DeFazio or yours Senator Merkely? + on as each
self-reflect??

Barack + Michelle has showed me that they want to make changes + understand
where government + market is wrong to make it right. what i ask of Barack
is to show me the fine tune assessment requirement for this EX; MOU
agreement locally + afar, so that we can create a sound way locally to
resolve our unclarity that many have lost in fragmented science, due to
their restrictions, etc.

in US it is not easy to talk to any legislator more than a typical 3 min
session or beyound a generalized response, this is wrong, + when we can"t
do it yet locally in US, no way do i trust you to speak for me afar. when
yet we havve good solutions with the international community coming
together now.

+ add our ability to reach out to these patches of plenty sound sustaining
folks locally + globally + link with the pockets still in the war mode
economy, still in the layers of dysfunction, for we welcome all into a
tapering transition, for some of these people + issues are in such a mness
that we need thee people to help sort it out, + we can support those
leaving negative effects as community locally welcomes folks with solutions
of sharp sensors with perceptions that did  their homework to then aid
options giviening people the reality of going with in them self + make it
right, make wrongs right as they become whole + again a responsible local +
afar community participant.

+ get away from this shooting mode of killing those that have done wrong,
meanwhile their is so much baggage intertwined amongst many simply knowing
nothing else than to carry forward behaviors of trying to survive.not to
mention the military involvements of US  than to be on the otherside, as
weapons are still traded to both sides, how bad is that.

wwell i'm not settling for a false policy to override natures real
sustaining way, i will follow nature + continue to attemtp to correct the
wrong policys that are interfereing + leaving negative effects to become a
positive way that works with a good science terminology that can back it +
co_evolve with it.

when now we have the resources as Barack you say let each live their
destiny, where i say we can support each to rid this past baggage taken as
normal, build sound networks locally for all to gain rehab so they all come
to table/cloth with support + now we gather with good networking + students
fill in these over due worn torn threads + build new connections along with
our neuro networks that many are still deficient with.

i'm sorry Arnie + 1st lady, yes you where kind, yes a lot of good people
telling real story in the Ocean Frontier movie, but wait until you see the
tallies from students with the reality of whos is doing what + why + what
can be done, what will be done, even in modes if have to , instead of
ecologically whoring from short sighted, people in all areas, that sadly
have degrees in many cases, yet are dysfunctional in responsible roles.

so i ask us all to take a inner review + rid your position if just another
layer or rid yourself from interfereing for we all have done it, + yet did
not realize but we can stop it now. + rethink, + come back into your local
community, which sadly due to so many in government in high security you
have totally lost perspective of what local natural community building is.

so i ask you what right due you have to tell an ancient civilization as in
the Middle East + parts in the world, Russia, that is hundreds of years
older than US as 1 example, + their are many good folks that we are
forunate to have that have retained good cultural common sense as they
still live close to `boon with the natural world below their feet.

we are so fortunate to have the cultural indigenous to share our ability to
survive + go beyond as our students will  bring us together, with good
gauges as in agroecology science amongst othes created from working with
the indigenous, as we combine old + new where not just degreed gets to fill
a position, rather all should be required to take a test, as in a farmer, a
politician, even an old legislator, etc. for life awareness now in this
time.

we suggest no more than 2 terms due to needing many of you to help figure
this out. but you older folks that have been here for a long time, please
step down + help these young bright minds, + many have their head in their
you know what, what their ability to build new neuro networks daily along
with rid their baggage as they see clearly from many of your acts, so
easily with your goodness + with their hands on aiding yous to once again
heal, + become self- reilant boon with your local naturall community +
welocme us all to restore our communities + be fueled to come together in a
very good tool that our virtual world now offers as we share what works,
each step of this process.

as in the WASH grant we worked so hard for + did not get, but we learned
alot + still working it, for we refused to do as USAID/DIV asked along with
Bill Gates supporting the grant, as they wanted us to target the poorest in
the world without water, food, sanitation, rather our ideal is project
osic, for us all to show each, how locally we produce it unknowingly. + we
will show the threads so we stop.

but until we do this, we have no right showing anyone our way, thinking we
all in US are fine, no way rather we have many left behind + much
disorgainization with simple survival tools ourself, as in our health care,
our education where here children don't have the resources even to come to
school without being hungry at Sunset Middle school says the teacher, + it
is hard to teach them. as well other schools only going 4 days a week due
to funding, ect.

oh + i can tell you many stories of people going in + out of ER vs good
home support due to their doctors in western medicine not paying attention,
which we will invite all to come along + do this local community walkabout
with students, perhaps own child as children + parent develop the
undeveloped within as we share + gain tools to build local community that
responsibly lives aiding all to be local, global + beyond participants.

i can't accept giving aid making people dependent thinking we are doing
good, as i told today the CLINTON FOUNDATION, this is wrong to negotiate
with greedy pharmaceutical companies along with energy bio-techs, as Al
Gore was, + maybe still is, that are in this false green moivement, then
give to the locals, meanwhile they don't sustain it themself or become over
consumed with more debt, all this is wrong, + with all the good resources
all give in our tapering transition each local community can do, then these
good gestures gone wrong will be more efficiently addressed so all
communities are economically stable yet their commons for soverighnty is
protected where all hold each accountable, so no more can business whores
gain from manipulating markets. rather they also will see how they can
invest in modes of good investment to restore ecological soundness as
genetic bio-diversity gains balance + now we link our global communities to
do earth balancing acts from the human interference, as people stop
polluting + networkd ways that work, with good virtual tools if choose, but
not make everyone have to have them, for nothing is better than going eye
to eye with our neighbors..

well we have learned this goes beyond funding, rather it is simple respect
for life + we have had it from the natives, which sadly where abused + now
people are coming together to make that right. but we don't need to do it
in fragments, rather we can acknowledge as in the ex of the film. markets
had bad science + over sold fertilizers that destroyed other life. large
monocultures ruined the watershed natural areas + requires toxic
fertilizers due to no crop rotation, destroying life in soil. the large
monocultures are trading with over seas corporations that over fish, fish
wrong with farmed fish that are toxic + pollution, as well being wastefull
processing food that has traveled back + forth actross the planet from
those that land + water grab + packaged food destroys more habitats. so
this list goes on + many are struggling, being indjured as in Honduras as
land/water is grabbed + government has sold out + people suffering, as well
other places which La Via Campesina can show you this detail as they
support local people globally, along with NYLENI, + many more.

not to mention PAW with your real stories.

so again thankyou all for coming together for we have solutions, but not if
we stay stuck in our own back yard, we are on this planet together +
deserve to have support so as for all to go figure how we can best obtain
harmony locally + beyond, which what i state here is an over abundance of
good positions to be filled. for we have a lot mnore work ahead of us + we
can do it as music fills the air, art is lived + good science is integrated
as we live it daily + co_evolve it as we keep life flowing in harmony +
accept nothing less.

any of you have bulk international school email addresses + also US
representitives + global reps that don't have local schools, then please
come aboard + send us your emails for our 1 time ebook mail out so we are
alll on the same page as we build this project osic together, you can go to
our forum + post it on subcatagorie bulk school emails;

http://i-come-to-talk-story-net.3220728.n2.nabble.com/

I'm sorry we did not get the grant, they said i had all that was needed,
for the resources could of done this a lot faster, so as to not let people
over working make fragmented decisons that leave negative impact, when we
can if we do this together cover everybody so as to fill int the missing
detail.

for many are just to pissed to even take part, leaving others over worked,
so please rethink for many folks are living in harmony + have no guilt for
they daily do their homework + make it work as they address what sustains
them + makes sure no one interferes, yet are able + fueled to do an
exchange so as to fill in the missing gaps giving folks another perspective
to make local life work, even if it is temporary, it will get us to the
next step fulfilling our desires as we gain strength to walk our path as we
build it, from clear sharp sensors maintained as we share this awareness,
that all can gain, bringing self to the moment, making good choices
controlling only self + aiding those unable to do the same with support in
place as needed until needed.

thank you, peace is our option now if we share what works, kara j lincoln

i will respond as a earth citizen equal to you all, for as a US citizen i see no democracy, as i would describe it;

   meaning all having support for awareness to understand how we work most efficiently as a human species. we as a living organism are dependent on balanced genetic bio-diversity in local balancd bio-spheres. this is our human obligation to not interfere in natures enhanced ability as in agro-ecology as a gauge for land/fresh water/sea. if nature sustains itself locally it than can link globally.

here in US large agriculture business as well energy development is happening by people that should of been tested with life rights awareness, for many micro biomes/large browser trans boundary migration has been + is being interfered with, which our + all life are dependent on.

this is why only a small farm should exist + after a `plan of the entire biome(s) is done. who would think a farmer should have to be tested, before he would farm? who would think a commercial fisherfolk would have to be tested before he fishes? but it is people doing business that have failed to carry forward as mnay still do, the life giving properties so as to further the tools, further the services of our conservation services, so that our small communities which are most efficient with the real world, can have all life within it simply respected.

now many places have no balance between our human count + this bio-diverseness locally. rather it appears many are preoccupied in survival. i also shared that coming from a dysfunctional family in US. then to discover self-satisfaction as i pursued thought of harmony. but i cannot have only my back yard in harmony, nor myself, for it takes us all to do this, so all can obtain the same.

we are building a project osic, to welcome students to come out of school room + into community to 1st aid those left behind, unable to be clear, as they struggle to survive. than in an exchange young minds can self-reflect + network locally + globally as we invite all to use a simple forum thru Nabble, each could do their own freely. but we invite you to focus with us, so we can build working sustainable harmonizing communites.

mother would pull my hair early on  in church, when i said mother this makes no sense. then to see how she perceived + lived for her god + as many of you it appears doing the same, stressed mindbody + she was a beauiful lady that was very ill. she suffered dearly thinking she was here for a purpose + their would be a better after life.

well folks i disagree. sure i would love to see something clearly defining our path beyond earth, but what i have seen, i have no verbage of religion, nor do i want it. rather i really appreciate the ability now to process my perceptions. i do my homework, + it is a challange, sorting thru all that is.

but i do love nature very much + my understanding working thru this is that we can build + support all to build one`s path as each walk it into their own opening.

but you have to do your homework, rid your baggage + `boon direct with the natural world. it is up to each of you/us to define the language you want to speak. + than take responsibility to follow thru. + it is most efficient if we can do 1 universal science good language. not what exists today, rather 1 that flows with the real world as we co_evolve each step of the `way, making it work, as we stay within the boundaries of natures enhancement ability as with agro-ecology.

today in defining in a discussion that sea palm seaweed in Oregon after June cannot be harvested from the shoreline due to not having good science to define how to preserve due to limited knowledge, thinking it does not come back easily. so to perserve, they will say no. this is better than the exisitng no policy in place..

this i could not accept, for democracy to me is having natural space so as to become sensitive to self + equally to all life. we don't even have to get into the different species, + i will add here after reading above article on the Arab Spring/ dispute with Israel + Iran, even different religions.

we can generalize + just state lives. a living specie, when we see it, we need to understand our life is dependent on a balance of life in our biospheres locally than link globally.

i love the natural world + daily i'm in it addressing what sustains life every day. + sadly due to everyone preoccupied in belief, many have dulled their sensors, unable to maintain discipline of self-sensory observation, which our human potential gives us the ability to rid our baggage + daily assert positive understanding, sort out the negative, admit wrong doing + make a responsible decision + follow thru short term. if don't work than do some home work, network. + see how the local community cooperative is failing to prioritize, reaching out + not settleing for 2nd best, as another unexperienced person inteferes in another life, another habitat, + pays to get a way with it.

or

as i'm seeing just because locals are not on top of our ability to network + organize gaining the synergy for mental clarity + physical strength for those that can to reach farth for solution + make wrongs right as we welcome these people into a tapering transition, as many are simply unaware, not knowing.

a good ex: is the greenfire productions of the `ocean frontiers, movie we just saw in Oregon. showing the undeveloped states of humans awareness as in Iowa farmers monocultures now replanting the water shed areas they removed originally, after gather with folks, going fishing in gulf + understanding the dead zone, as they state they want to make it right + give back, yet monocultures to my understanding are still happenng, but i yet to look into these people specifically.

point is this is still fragmented unless a plan is in place i yet to see, where small rotating crops/agro-ecology gauges will be put in place to even have to use the  chemicals, such as the excess nitrogen that know will be filtered thru the water shed areas. rather yes reestablish the water shed + surrounding ecosystems, but complete the efficiency we know now for all local life as in the micro biomes in the soil, in the watershed areas + the rivers now not having to process that water so it leaves no harm for the gulf.

  this is good science when it is integrated for it`s full potential + it is life giving with a purpose in mind, so as to stay with daily + co_evolve with these natural tools we gain from the results of the environmental services. the natural foraged gardens for all to become aware of how we can feed ourselves + obtain this food soverighnty.

end the aid + create economic/social local sustaining `ways of development so now no one is left behind.

     many have died, including mother in this battle, as they felt they should give for another, rather than simply give to self, when yet someone else also interfered, without the awareness, making struggling worse.

but we do not have this issue now, this is 2012. we have many good people working on solutions + with our virtual tools we can channel to the appropriate missing link for the worn torn threads to be replaced. for many good people are trapped being degreed yet unaware of simple respect for life within self + the effects this leaves on other life, whether yours, mine or in the earth below their feet, being bought + controlled yet still unaware, as life is depleted.

  take a look at Professor Marion Nestle, NYU, as she + her students deciphered the US 2012 Farm Bill, which penalizes farmers for growing healthy food we need in diversity for nutritional balance.. + the bill was incomprehensible from Congress, etc.;

http://www.foodpolitics.com/2012/03/resources-on-the-farm-bill-dissenting-and-otherwise/

 Barack Obama signed sanctions today + he is trying to keep the internet open for all to go figure. for we have good solutions + i don't think any one should struggle as i or you, to learn the good solutions we have now. when we can simply network + share. the days of our parents/grandparents struggles do not have to be repeated. interpersonally we can bring ourself to be present with only our self in the moment + hold our self accountable. no more grief/revenge/misuse/abuse carried forward as normal, etc. + if so, it is because we still are not building local community to build a self, that self-sustains 100% with mindbody now.

this is what we invite project osic to take part in, as students fill these missing gaps in themself, + thruout community, as all energy is used efficiently, not as machines, but as living giving awareness for simple respect for each to being self to the moment + have support to share what efficiently can work now. + have interchangable roles in exchanges for each to understand + build new neuro networks. each with support to do their homework.

now we have all with rehab/support in place to come to cloth/table as an equal participant, as we still work at our baggae, but now it no longer interferes in our vision now, our work in progress becomes a bit clearer as we locally plug in + if needed network.

than share what works so more interpersonal + environmental tools become available.

so i invite you to offer your school bulk email lists + representitives with no schools to our subcatagorie on our forum, + we will mail you 1 email only that is an ebook giving you a variety of focused reflection, for us to start with. as in some ideals to trigger sharpening dull sensors, as in aid people to heal in an ER mode ist.

    than we do a `plan to restore our community, as we do a land/freshwater flow to sea use review, starting at the top elevation of our biomes, with our neighbors. + seeing our negihbors afar are equally important, so together we globally fill our obligations + link biospheres, as we share like life needs for each local ecosystem/subject;

that when in balance, in harmony, cultural experiences continue to `boon with hands on exchange. not just build a museum for what was, or talk about what once did, but to flourish with life giving exchanges now, as communities than are fueled to share what works, shares when early signs calling out + conserves vs. send abundance around the world inefficiently, as many now are interfering in locals ability to self-sustain. thinsking their values are saving them.

so lets have compassion for misinformation + unawareness + target this detail, as we support those with solutions to gather in local tapering transitions with those leaving negative effects, going eye to eye + together making better channels, so if 1 attempt doesn't work, we find another until it does.

   than come back + share thought on our forum via like ecosystem/thought to build an archive to reflect with, thoughts that are unable to be clear, stratgies to schemetics that work, so we prevent this depletion of energy, when we can simply do.

  plus we have few more focus ideals to share together giving each the ability to self-sustain, self-satisfy, making you aware as we have shared, in our local obligations, to responsibly build a local community that fuels all to become a local, global + beyond participant.

  so this is what i'm doing today as i hold Barack Obama accountable + we cannot support in US nor foreign relations, until we can define 1 good universal science language to deciphere the many cultural native indigenous acts of positive `ways that work now, when yet science regulators state no resources to allow as in us to locally forage correctly, as we do, within our local community. vs. having to buy from afar, which is wrong..

  yes this is what democracy is about, not the US or EU thinking they have it + others don't, rather how each of us can work together to say this earth has enough scars, fuck this shit carrying forward such aggressive acts just to want to pull own way. US has more nuclear weapons than the rest of the world put together, so why think you should follow US. follow the universal energy we all have, by following the earth below your feet now. everyone with nuclear in my eyes is a fool, if used for weaponry + do to all this high risk of safty, even energy development should be stopped until we can share awareness, heal + reduce volts, vs. supply energy to wasteful consumption.

             we are not interested in an accident from such foolishness exisiting, as in the present lack of clarity as peace negotiating `ways that work are still not efficiently being shared.. many people are without struggling..

             we are not interested in a WW3.

            lets go to work to rid this risk on this planet please.

   life is good, we have patches on this planet of small cooperatives that simply live daily with what sustains them, as each moment is conscious of simple life giving principles. they don`t loose them as they preoccupy focus, such as on a campaign, or anything else, rather they remain responsible to themself 1st;

      each than find time for local communnity - taking old/young, past/present + come together in regular coordinated discussion, always in priority + find a `way to sit down eye to eye on cloth/table platform + make it work. than reach out to neighbor that was unable to attend + make it work. + it does.

now students understand their equally held accountable for their obligation to themself + part time to theier community, but never failing to see the lack of respect for life that crosses their path, they they gain support to build, as they follow their opening.

  do you see folks what now is missing, in yourself + your community. + now is the time to stop this misuse/abuse + hold self accountable, as well others, locally + at the end of their focus afar.

   so if ya want to stay preoccupied on what belief should rule, remain in confusion, than where is your energy now for you + for your communnity? whom is taking care of the daily chores to build a community that harmonizes, where we have fresh small farmed natural food, no to GMO, no to monocultures, no to large energy developments, when we can't here in US even come to a language to deipher into a good science due to no resources, as in our natives had worked these beaches picking seaweed as a very nutrient giving food for thousands of years.

      meanwhile they had their land taken away + thru out the years many are now politically recognized as land owners + can occupy once again. but it is fragmented. in our ebook we share ex`s as in the Amazon, where the human species does best when we migrate with seasons offerings in a wide variety of genetic bio-diversity. many are struggling to have space for a small farm, not to mention have our local biomes have many foraged/small farms so as to supply our life giving needs + `boon with our natural human potential.

so when people are stoped from this `booning ability with our walkabout, it is producing ill states.

          also cultural exchanges are happening to perserve what once was.
but i said today, what is important is what we are doing today, not just save the past for a museum, but live + bring thought to the present moment + co_evolve with our unique opportunities + live them now, not in patches as is, but link these pockets without + address all that are leaving negative effects locally, as this requires many positions to be fulfilled, creating self-satisfaction as energy is no longer wasted being confused/pissed off, as people support each to become whole + rethink, give them space with options, + let them heal as they build new neuro networks, + let others fill the space that is needed or that has been abused/misused, as together you try to recycle what can.

           making wrongs right as profits are reallocated not to share holders but to those that have been negatively affected + the awareness training if want to contunue as is. this will make a few take note quickly.

   we work a lot + we will continue to ask Barack Obama to send detail, as in the form MOU or like to clearly perfect the simple respect for life locally for locals to sustain (people + micro/large biomes), building food soverignty is a good gauge to start.

      i request again today, to specify this ecological assessment, equating natives/locals `ways that work, with indigenous do-in along side good science being written with fisheries, land + fresh water. so no more, any one`s land/fresh water/sea is being grabbed. as La Via Campesina can easily show you as they represent many in the world now struggling.

   so to me this is not democracy, when we fragment + can't live local becomeing aware of respect for life that we can learn it`s behaviors as in the local offerings of sea palm seaweed as a1 example here in US, which opens the doors to addressing real life issues now being misused/abused.

   so as to continue to pick + all can continue to forage + have local food soverighnty enabling good development for life that is lived wisely + not supply foolishness, rather share awareness + give us all the opportunity to become aware, vs just saying no.

      without huge expense of base line studies to prove commercial foraging permits, as required, which regulators state their is no resources for that. i refuse to be penalized when i am willing to learn + do right, to be prevented, due to others abuse. this can be redirected. + people can become aware. this is more positions needing filled + prioritized, as we all take another look at how if we can do this locally, we than can know how best to internationally communicate. until than what ever is being negotiated is fragmented, + has no root of organic intuitive origin, coming from a whole person standing ground as they live their local community.

only than can we network efficiently. other wise more interference take place.

       US commercial fisheries struggles being over regulated, which presently agian, we ask you Barack, along with NOAH/Fisheries Management to address this conflict of interest, plus the Maguson Stevens Act, as many fish products are brought into US that is farmed, unhealthy + processed + wastefully packaged sent back + forth.

  same with farmed food, we won't accept that, not when we have the clarity + ability to handle local community + industry with state directly + cooperatively bring in indigenous natives/locals to show unskilled degreed people, good `ways to write science that `boons with the natural world as we come together in real time as each local community, does this `plan restoration;

      change curriculums to co_evolve with each local communities sustainable ways that have been from the beginning of time, + as with Prof Miguel Altieri, he has no problem creating good science of agro-ecology from working out in the world with indigenous. but we also have to change the poltical policies that still prevent good science from being applied, as those with bad science, unskilled degrees, promoted by people with money or political power being misused/abused to control + manipulate to over rule..

Barack, i heard as i stated before that you have chosen a committee to look into this to stop government from interfering in local industry + state to work together + due this ecological study, which requires good science, not present ways with degreed unskilled, etc.

this needs to be made aware clearly, not just a brief few minutes on NPR.

locally people need to know what we can do now, + in not seeing this clarity, we proposed our project osic. we originally attempted to get more support with WASH grant, but still awaiting why failed 2nd part, when yet all in place in 1st part.

     All please say no to trade across countries, live local + share so all can locally sustain, prioritizing local issues 1st.

   so we all have to keep working at this for yes we all have problems of different subject. but we can work thru them, we don't have to reinvent the wheel. we don't have to ignore suffering. we don't have to repeat the past.

right now we can network + solutions are abundant. sure it will take a bit of time before Barack you fight Congress + Senate with neuro networks filled with dysfunction, whom are in great need of taking a rest, + no one should lead any able being, nor should any one be doing business without knowing what they are doing to life below their feet or below the subject focus afar;

      this can be changed as young good minds fill positions in all communities to sort out good working `ways, ending layers beween us + control self + our local industry. co_evolving even with no one in any position lasting over 1 term, some maybe 2 just to rid so much dysfunction. than all go back into community they left, + still should be required to live local, before they represent anyone locally or afar now. so this review needs to be done + will by students tallying, whom is locally responsible, building local community.

    + together ask why we need government, accept to recycle down, giving people power to heal + self-empower. why are you doing what you do than if able people are responsibly doing, please get out of the way + you people come back into your local community + take part with us, as we sort this out.

        + simplify these local `ways + let go of interfereing in peoples ability to self sustain. a rehab can be built more effectively than government now.

    please be aware - all the baggage we have been thru, along with our past generations, has left a lot of baggage in us all. + if we don't work together we continue that baggage. but we can daily be positive, plug into the real world, yourself + all life around you, + than you will have a good night sleep + each night we all can build new neuro networks that go beyond + add more peaceful solutions, so no more war mode economy from fragmented dysfunction gaining profit fueling both sides of controversy adding more dysfunction, yet financially gain what? especially when bad science has given the military data to than act on. this is wrong. gopod science will show peace can happen now if we share what works.

what possibly can a person wanting war, wanting weapons, wanting nuclear or biological tools to destroy life, what can they possibly gain by their money, their mindbody will soon be deseased from this distraction of good energy lost in baggage, when yet the body`s organs demand the attention, leaving you with more dull sensors, unable to get thru this. unable to truly connect straight to the universal energy free to us all.

   yes i see many people on this planet with a serious concentration  problem to sort out our options of solutions now, so come check us out. don't do this alone unable to know which belief, due to mixed signals as your neruo network is over whelmed with stress. when yet we, meaning our combined` effect, see calm beautiful fortunate people that have gathered like thought + with their children work daily at building good sustaining cooperative, where art is lived + music fills the air.

this also is your choice;

  thank you for sharing for we are anxious to explore your goodness + many have worked hard to build this network for many have not been as fortunate as us to still live + endure. don't push your luck + be a fool or you will break. life is short + in this walkabout we can share tools with young as they aid, building their path to even know how to get out of this mess that we have produced/producing now.

our combined ` effect makes a difference. please come take part + make our forum in the building a nice tool for us all to meet, + let it trigger another `way that is real + is being lived by some one somewhere for this truely is a beautiful time now on planet earth. + together we can sort this stuff out, for none of it compares to the beauty many cultures have created as they developed `ways from nature sustaining itself which they did not interfere, rather they gained as they contributed to the environmental services that can be abundant when we respect all life. + they now co_evolve with the times offerings + we are still fortunate to have these reflections shine on, giving us yet another `way to rethink as we go figure.

those of you close to Iran, Syria, Isreal, etc. that are preoccupied in nero networks with mixed signals, please tell them to take a rest, take a breath of fresh air + together we all need to rid these weapons of mass destruction before we have a serious accident. rethink, we welcome those leaving a negative effect into a tapering transition, let those with sharp sensors show you another `way that works. so those of you in need, take a break + than come back whole + participate. for a lot of life is struggling, while many are being wasteful, when yet so much goodness is really happening in patches when efficient.

  come check us out + gather your emails + i'll send you some nice work from many, as we rethink;

                http://i-come-to-talk-story-net.3220728.n2.nabble.com/

             peace is our option now if we share what works..

thank you for your support, kara j lincoln

our combined`effect states;

thank you La Via Campesina for your great orgainizing opportunity here for us all today!

this is the time of virtual tools, which we thank Nabble + all to bring us together for life we are dependent on, as we share earth + beyond together.

we have the opportunity now to share awareness to build new neuro networks understanding our obligation as a living organism dependent on our earth now, to link globally as we protect, build, restore our local biospheres for proper good science as in mathematical balance of our genetic bio-diversity to sustain human life, which is out of balance for many local communities.

we have the indigenous that have struggled dearly to sustain our commons as good stewards, + fortunately we have them to guide us to do this restoration.

we have compassion for those that have left negative effects, for the intention was not to deplete life, rather due to struggling past down + the many scars on earth, we have to come together + give thanks for this moment.

we thanks those that did not make it, as well the many that did their best to continue on, but now we are here together + have good folks to thank for it, for the natives/indigeous/peasants that fought for our commons has been abused in the past + presently due to people`s neuro networks without ecological sound simple natural living in tact.

rather we have many in the world that are without `boon with their natural local community, yet fighting to aid people/plants/critters of all form.

we ask these folks today to listen, to welcome us into their life, as we show them we can with students/community coming together in the many projects for peace in this movement.

ours in particular in the building called project osic, where we welcome you to give us international schools of all kinds + representitives without schools email bulk list, US Education department has given us access to theirs, now please give us yours, so together we can do this email of our ideals in 1 ebook, so as to synch our good universal science to integrate + apply locally for all to network what works, via this forum, building strategies, sharing thoughts yet could not figure out, sharing finished schematics that due work, as cooperatives that are small + sustainable, working daily in harmony, support + reflect `ways that work.

please submit links to our forum subcategory - school bulk emails.many say that is what we have been doing in our large developments to reach out faster to help more. intent their yes but withour ecological skill.

folks we welcome you to a tapering transition, to rethink, for many are leaving negative effects + are wrong, their is a more efficient `way to utilize your good resources. our natural living organism depends on small development fro all species to maintain their natural living. for many are interfered + have become extinct from their inability to live due to the incorrect development, land, fresh water to sea.

with our students/community locally coming together in this focus directed `way, we will tell exactly whom + what is ecologically interfering in our commons that is needed for each community.  we can show you exactly how the negative effects can stop + those folks can redirect, as they are supported to become whole, to see + understand the life interference they have done + you the World Bank have supported them, as many did it unknowingly of the damage they did + are still doing.

you as an individual as us, each have a obligation to hold self accountable as we become aware + stop our misuse/abuse locally + afar.

we are fortunate to have our tools + we must stop bad science from those that interfere, leaving it fragmented as others than rule their ways in, thinking their values are good + can do better for more. many good minds are trapped in this fragmentation you have supported, along with many.

we say no thank you, for we do not want to remain ignorant of our obligations, rather we want to stop our misuse/abuse + we no longer will support this negitivity taking place + we ask you to rethink + join in where we know needs are needed.

our local stewards/indigneous/peasants that have this sensitivity + skill that have saved our genetic bio-diversity can appreciate your support for them to work the commons in every community + work it as good people as Professor Miguel Altieri has written good science curriculum of agro-ecology, for we can locally all do a `plan restoration, starting from the top with a land/freshwater flow to sea review, + show exactly whom has fragmented, negatively leaving effects where positive good science can be replacing that which is interfereing in our ability to build working, sustainable harmonizing communites.

that not just give jobs, rather people come together + take part + 1st in this review we address those negatively affected that need to heal, be supported as rehabs are structured to care so all than can come to cloth/table + responsibly be a participant so we all become local, global + beyond participants.

leaving no one left behind.

it is these sharp sensors maintained by simple natural `ways lived that will help those that have dulled their sensors, thinking large development is the way, which it is not. these people that had good intention where then invested to do their job as these values over ruled good science as with Prof from Berkely, CA Miguel Altieri`s many research reports working in the world with indigenous, that showed same yields but at less cost + with no ill health effects, etc. which his data can clearly show you, which in past responsible roles have failed to add this good science data, as money supported other ways that went on to develop + left negative effects.

the planet + beyond has many scars from past + presently in dire need of restoration.

we ask you to support the many good projects along with project osic so we may give clear anaylsis to do it right, as ecology is prioritized for our commons, for our food/energy soverighnty to be the ruling decision. so now sound investors that go thru their local tapering transitions know exactly the true needs + offerings of each local biome(s) + each than can hold self-accountable locally + at the end of their focus afar.

     + now they can appreciate investment support, because you also will be welcomed to review all your exisitng loans as you invite your clients into this sound investment support to come into their local tapering transition as local stewards protect + work with good agro-ecolgy gauges not just the land, but starting from the top in this `plan review we suggest, than all fresh water will again be nurturing our soil has it effieciently flows giving life building qualites to all in its path on it`s way to sea, giving our marine life it`s needed food.

                as well you will see the tallies of injury from all the people + local life rom each one.

     + now policy makers/enforcers also seek support as they now have an organic foundation from the stewards creating with your support as they strenghten from the years of struggle we have subjected them to as you + many supported land/fresh water/sea grabbing which now internationally we stop the waste + consumption of transfering product from local communities, rather locals now sustain what is needed + share with neighbors what the natural gauges can handle.

for all large developments have went beyond natural perimeters + falsely created a green movement that exploits natures boundaries.

life on this earth has created life, for earth was once a very unhabitable place to live + any good geologist can prove earth has a norm to be much hotter. so those that have exploited global warming for economic gain has been wrong + we welcome them into their local tapering transition as well, to rid waste + recycle + not continue some products as real needs are now clear or becoming clear in ` plan restoration review to be had by all participating locally..

for all life on this planet can become aware to `boon with the natural world + become friendly with it`s natural cycles + as we live + create harmony working sensitively + skillfully with our natural resources, only than when we have a  natural disaster can we than already have tools in place. for now as we work our natural seasonal offerings with wilderness awareness, we can prepare as in adding fresh water species to kill the malaria larvae, cleans the fresh water to drink, create forages/small farms naturally grown, stop the large developments as in wind/solar + desalinization + stop the interference in our natural resources as many have done without proper assessment + their fueling process leaves chemical pollution on land, fresh water + in sea. + not interfer in micro biomes/large browsers trans boundary migration.

+ most important put small development back into people locally so their hands are maintaining it, with sound protection working the commons. originally when parks where created, the isolation started a wrong path, for their is no ecological isolation of any catagorie in nature, 1 fuels the other, + our interrepetation cognitively cannot comprehend so it leaves mixed signals in our nero network, which we have to open these barriors false made by humans, so now we can heal + become 1 with our natural world gaining our human potential to co_evolve.

we have positions needed everywhere to build lifes, not just supply a job, rather for life build a life that self-satisfies with  prioritizing common sense as 1 universal good science is used + networked, ending the war mode economy as people build new neuro networks for understanding their obligation, + as all gather + take part than industry is locally maintained for human health to live in respect of our conservation services, for we are dependent on our microbiomes + large browsers to lead our path, for all to build ones path as each is supported to walk into their opening.

not no longer controlled by a handful of families, thankyou for your attempts but now your job is done, let us equally become aware from natures tools + those that know best that have sustained it.

so please how best for our young to even have mental clarity + physical strength to walk into their future, as many now are still starving dieing of diarrhea, than to walk now side by side with support, with us all, as together we go figure, admit the truth, state we where wrong + be thank ful we have `ways now to define the answers, as we interpret what nature speaks. become a bit more sensitive as we listen to those that have deciphered.

now we gain tools to stop our misuse/abuse + become locally trained to maintain what works as old + new `ways come together with young + old.

thank you for peace is our option now not just for a few, but for those badly in need. no more can we accept as in the Congo major crises, or others being supported on each side as weapons economy surges as in Syria + others, on peoples desire for democracy, yet without tools to stop this aggression + i don't mean more weapons I mean good diplomacy that we have now that many offer, that has been unsupported from responsible roles as many feed off our earths resources. we cannot just clean up our back yard, rather local living responsibly + sustainably fuels us to come together for we need to link our balanced biospheres globally. + any broken link contributes to ill health on our planet.

we can stop this war mode economy, + many than will be without weapons or toxic biological products that presently take a lot of resources to clean up, locally, globally + beyond. which are in need of your resources, which you could give to locals to clean local communities + together we define to aid those unable to build economic self-reliance, not aid dependent, or bring in from afar, rather bring in from closest sustaining neighbor + let a domino effect occur as we support a hib of hubs to reach farther until entire biome is working within its natural capacities.

we can build working communites everywhere + end the military, + build good police enforcement as people come together + allows no able person to be controled, as good rehabs are built supporting those now in need.

government can be appreciated for coming together with these tapering transitions, supporting no one to have layers, rather industry + state create cooperatives + clean out the fragments as worn, torn threads are replaced. going direct to the commons support for local soverighnty + decentralization.

where students with good science become good engineers, always having a mode of investment on the cloth/table platform locally to enhance the local commons, never allowing a private/corporation/individual to again mis manage or interfere in natures` way.

this is the most efficient way for a living organism as a human to be dependent on another living organism such as earth to exist in harmony.

peace, kara j lincoln

end our combined` effects comment. please see below of what is needed to day + how to participate;

Farmers demand the World Bank and Wall Street stop grabbing their lands at opening of the Bank’s annual conference in Washington, DC.

Media teleconference from Washington, DC, Monday, April 23rd, 11:00 am EDT (details below)

 The World Bank is playing a leading role in a global land grab, says farmers' movement and its international allies.(1) The World Bank’s policies for land privatisation and concentration, have paved the way for corporations from Wall Street to Singapore to take upwards of 80 million hectares of land from rural communities across the world in the past few years, they say in a collective statement released today at the opening of the World Bank’s Conference on Land and Poverty in Washington DC.

 "Rural people are losing control over land and water because of this global land grab," says Honduran farmer leader Rafael Alegria of the international farmers' movement La Via Campesina. "We want the land grab stopped and the lands taken to be returned to the local communities. In Honduras, we demand that the law for rural modernisation promoted by the World Bank be canceled and that a new law for agricultural transition be adopted".

 The World Bank will be meeting with government officials and private sector investors during its annual conference, where they will discuss large-scale farmland acquisitions by foreign corporations in developing countries. The World Bank will be promoting its controversial Principles for Responsible Agricultural Investment (RAI).

 "The World Bank's RAI principles are an attempt to legitimise corporate land grabs and the expansion of an industrial model of agriculture that is destroying people’s livelihoods and the planet," says Giulia Franchi of Campagna per la Riforma della Banca Mondiale. "Decades of World Bank programmes promoting market-based approaches to land management have set the stage for a massive takeover of peoples' lands, massive environmental destruction, and a massive backlash by farmers and other frontline communities."

 The global land grab was denounced at over 250 worldwide protest actions on April 17th, the International Day of Peasant's Struggle. Tomorrow another major farmland investor conference in New York City involving the World Bank and big money managers like the Canadian Pension Fund, TIAA-CREF and PensionDanmark, will be targeted for protests by New York’s Ethiopian Community, Occupy Wall Street and others.(2)

"U.S. farmers, particularly young and beginning farmers, can't afford the rising costs of good land and are in no position to compete with speculators and Wall Street investment schemes,” says Bob St.Peter, Director of Food for Maine's Future and Executive Committee member of the National Family Farm Coalition. “Here in the U.S., 400 million acres of farmland are going to change hands over the next 20 years. Whether those lands will support diversified family farms or multi-national corporations is one of the most important political questions in the U.S. today."

The National Family Farm Coalition and international allies will hold a media teleconference from Washington, DC on Monday, April 23rd at 11:00 am EDT.

 Participants at the press conference are:

-Rafael Alegria, La Via Campesina (Honduras)

-Bob St. Peter, National Family Farm Coalition (USA)

-Giulia Franchi, Campagna per la Riforma della Banca Mondiale (Italy)

-Devlin Kuyek, GRAIN (Canada)


**To Participate by Phone: Call-in information: 1-866-305-2467; code is 260454#

 or if calling from outside the US, please contact Kathy Ozer at +1-202-421-4544 or by email at kozer@nffc.net for call-in information

**To participate in person, please join us at 110 Maryland Ave., NE, Suite 108; Washington, DC 20002, National Council of Churches Conference Room

 --------
(1) Signatories to the statement are Campagna per la Riforma della Banca Mondiale, FIAN International, Focus on the Global South, Friends of the Earth International, GRAIN, La Via Campesina, and the Transnational Institute.

(2) For information about the NYC event contact Corbin Laedlein, +1-917-628-1699, Theodros Tamirat, +1-347-302-7292, and Tedla Asfaw, tedla.asfaw@gmail.com, +1-347-206-1823.

- WORLD BANK: GET OUT OF LAND! -

"Land governance in a rapidly changing environment" is the theme of the 2012 World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty being held April 23-26 in Washington DC. Corporate investors, governments and International Financial Institutions are meeting at World Bank headquarters to “discuss issues of concern to land practitioners and policymakers worldwide”. While they devise ways to help corporations acquire land around the world, people on the ground are suffering from the corporate-friendly land policies and laws promoted by the World Bank and its allies.

 The World Bank has for decades pushed a market-based approach to land management based on its political and economic recipes for poverty reduction. It has promoted land privatisation and sought to create the conditions for land markets to be established by transforming traditional and customary land rights into ready-to-be-marketed titles and by funding land-titling programs in many countries -- in support of a corporate-led agri-industrial model of development.

 Its land programmes have increased the concentration of land in the hands of a few and set the stage for a massive global land and water grab. Attracted by high food prices and an increasing demand for agrofuels, feed, and raw materials, multinational agribusiness corporations and players from the financial industry, such as private banks and pension funds, are rushing to gain control of land and other associated resources such as water. An estimated 80 to 230 million hectares of land have been leased or bought up in recent years, mainly to produce food, feed or fuel for the international market. As a result, peasants, herders, fishers and rural households are losing their access to and control over natural resources (land, water, fisheries, forests, pastures) and production processes, and therefore being dispossessed of the means to feed themselves and their communities. Local populations are being evicted and displaced, human rights such as the right to food and housing are being violated, and the environment, as much as traditional community structures, are being destroyed.

 The World Bank is playing a key role in this global land grab by making capital and guarantees available for big multinational investors, providing technical assistance and support to “improve the agricultural investment climate” in so-called recipient countries, and promoting policies and laws that are corporate-oriented rather than people-centred. All this is being done while the Bank promotes its seven principles of Responsible Agricultural Investment (RAI) to legitimise the global capture of people’s lands by big corporate investors for industrial agriculture. The World Bank continues acting in total impunity. States must stop it and fully comply with their extraterritorial human rights obligations.

 While the World Bank meets inside its headquarters with the global land grabbers, people outside are mobilizing around the world to outlaw land grabbing and to reclaim all the grabbed territories. They assert that no corporate-led transparency or responsibility schemes will ever make the expropriation of people’s land or the agri-industrial model acceptable or sustainable.

 In the framework of the International Day of Peasant Struggle launched by La Via Campesina for April 17, we join with farmers and fisher-folk movements, agricultural workers’ organisations, students, human rights activists and environmental groups, women’s organisations and social justice movements in the struggle to oppose land grabbing and the corporate control of lands and to stop any attempts by the World Bank and its corporate allies to package the expropriation of peasant farmers’ land worldwide as a responsible deal.

World Bank, get out of land, now!

Signed by Campagna per la Riforma della Banca Mondiale, FIAN International, Focus on the Global South, Friends of the Earth International, GRAIN, La Via Campesina, and the Transnational Institute - 23 April 2012

Apr 17, 2012 12:29 PM EDT

In a letter exclusively obtained by The Daily Beast, Palestine’s president threatens legal action against Israel if it doesn’t agree with demands. Dan Ephron reports.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is threatening unspecified legal action against Israel if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fails to comply with four Palestinian demands, including a freeze on settlement expansion in the West Bank, and the acceptance of the 1967 borders plus land swaps as a basis for negotiations between the two sides.

The ultimatum is contained in a letter Palestinian officials handed Netanyahu earlier today, a copy of which was obtained by The Daily Beast. People familiar with the thinking behind the letter said the legal action would likely include another United Nations membership bid and possibly a petition to the International Court of Justice.              

Drafts of the letter had been labored over for some weeks by Palestinian officials, who in private conversations had said it would include a dramatic announcement. While the text accuses Israel of effectively stripping the Palestinian government in the West Bank of powers, Abbas stops short of threatening to dismantle his administration—an idea that has been discussed during the writing of the letter

“Should the Government of Israel refuse to honor these above-referenced obligations, we will seek the full and complete implementation of international law as it pertains to the powers and responsibilities of Israel as occupying power in all of the occupied Palestinian territory,” says the text, which runs to three pages.

An Israeli official confirmed Netanyahu received the letter and said he would respond within two weeks.
 
The correspondence comes amid one of the longest droughts in diplomacy between the two sides since their landmark Olso accord in 1993. Though negotiators have had sporadic contacts over the past few months, there have been no sustained negotiations since 2009.
 
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas., Abbas Momani, AFP / Getty Images
 
Netanyahu has made repeated offers to meet Abbas but the Palestinian leader says he’ll renew the peace process only after Israeli stops building new homes for Jews in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967.              

The letter also demands Israel release all Palestinian prisoners and “revoke all decisions taken since 2000 which undermine agreements signed between Israel and the PLO”—an apparent reference to the troop positioning in the West Bank.              

“Twenty years ago, we concluded with Israel an agreement under international auspices which was intended to take the Palestinian people from occupation to independence,” Abbas writes.

“Now, as a result of actions taken by successive Israeli governments, the Palestinian National Authority no longer has any authority, and no meaningful jurisdiction in the political, economic, social, territorial and security spheres. In other words, the P.A. lost its reason d’être.”

Gesturing at Israel’s security concerns, Abbas says in the letter that violence and terror committed by both sides is “not the way.”

Gesturing at Israel’s security concerns, Abbas says in the letter that violence and terror committed by both sides is “not the way.”

“I know that it erodes both of our public’s trust in peace. Therefore, I reiterate our full commitment to a policy of zero tolerance against violence.”

“At the same token, I expect your understanding that settlement building is eroding the Palestinian trust in your commitment to reconciliation and the idea of the two states solution. The logic is simple: If you support the establishment of a Palestinian state, why do you build on its territory?”

One source familiar with the details said the letter was a watered down version of previous drafts, which contained more specific ultimatums.

The source said Abbas’s renewed membership bid with the U.N. would be channeled through the General Assembly, where Palestinians are likely to get a majority, and would probably take place in the coming months. The move would serve to isolate Israel but would likely have few practical consequences.

A previous gambit at the Security Council last year got bogged down over America’s threat to use its veto power.

this is what i believe we can do, + this is what i do;

with your support we can do more..
why why why + why please consider this;
 
as a living organism from the same species we innately perceive `boon with the natural world, to be shared by all. but then we add stuff that continues to become baggage, now we become enslaved by our own programming or those we ride on, etc.
 
so we must have compassion as we can with daily positive assertion as we go within + sort this out, bring it to cloth/table, so now we can see aha, this is not me, i did not mean this, i did not complete this, wow how did i allow that, do you see + neuro networks continue their thing + make connections wrongly  
or
we sit down with ourself, + not get up until we make it right, maybe have to call another near to go eye to eye + truly with sincerity, even if that party is deceased, choose a friend + discuss this issue very clearly + gather with facts, more input until it cecomes clear, that now once you remove this viable energy that has depleted your internal workings, make signals become confused, where you thought something that now can see differently.
 
so follow thru + correct it.
 
yes our neuro networks allow us to do just this. we don`t have to have a war mode economy confusing issues more.
 
hold your self accountable + take part in this world. together please help us build project osic, where we presently are collecting bulk email data banks for a 1 time mailout to all schools.
 
US education department has given us theirs, please now give us yours.
 
we want along with Barack Obama to make wrongs right, not just passify, not just give in, but truely get to the root of what went wrong + go back + bring that to now + lay it on the cloth/table, so we know what is real, what we can do together as a human family, to share this earth together.
 
we invite you as a local participant to want to build your local community, so all can become a local, global + beyond participant responsibly, so now of us have toxic/nuclear weaponry, rather only a police coming together with knowing local community understanding we can network `ways that work.
 
please share your email list for your country so students can come out of school room + help us restore ecological working sustainable communities that harmonize sharing awareness so we all self-develop, heal + good rehabs in place bringing us all to the cloth/table as we stay present in the moment with peace building options, as we simply `boon with our natural world.  
 
enjoying the wealth many cultural indigenous stewards have continued to share as together we can reflect + also learn how to protect local commons, + build working genetic bio-diverse biosphers as each gain our understandings of our obligations as a living human participant now.
 
please put in your school link in subcatagorie for bulk school email list;
 
http://i-come-to-talk-story-net.3220728.n2.nabble....
 
our combined` effect makes this a better world as we pool out resources + enjoy!

peace, we can go figure!

 kara j lincoln

Note from our combined` effect;

   as we got out of the taxi in Honduras, a young child 7 yrs old, whom actually served us as a young man, stated lady what did you pay, i told him + he said, lady you got screwed + he proceeded to show me the goodness of his community..

              we ask you all to do the same, come share in building our network here + support La Via Campesina + Nyeleni + others that represent peasants + indigenous around the world, including you people in Honduras, so together we can build peaceful neuro networks that can than override this aggression from the past + present to stop.

             we work hard to do this in US telling military it is a program of the past, our planet earth we share together, has had enough pollution from undeveloped mental acts. now is the time for us to come together + end the war mode miltary + make police become community friends as all else is ended + people are supported to become aware + restore local working harmonizing sustainable communities.

so we all become a local, global + beyond participant.

      we ask you the people, the government of Honduras to come share as together we work thru these issues, share what works for each to build community that can help people build a sustainble self. as we all freely work to explore the goodness on this earth as we restore + link our genetic balanced bio-diversity of our biospheres.

      locals can create investment from local tapering transitions as people rethink + support the stewards as they work these commons, for the ecological, social, political gain of all, as enviromental services become our best tools to guide for our food, our health + local soverighnty.

please review again La Via Campesinas request below as we submit to all below + ask you all to do the same.

peace is our option now if we share what works.

note we are gathering international bulk school email lists to share our project osic, as students come out of the classroom + together we do this. please submit link in subcatagory for school bulk email lists + watch for deadline for our email mailout to all. we would like to include yours.

thank you, kara j lincoln

               Jakarta, 20-04-2012

On the International Day of Peasant Struggle, April 17th, in Honduras massive land occupations have started by peasants.  More than 12 000 hectares in at least six departments that were occupied by about 3000 farm families. The avalanche of criticism against the coordinator of La Via Campesina Central America  Rafael Alegría were unexpected and today most media accuse our friend Rafael Alegria to invade private land, jeopardizing the domestic and foreign private investment.

 La Via Campesina in solidarity with the farmers movement in Honduras, recalls that in the final declaration of the International Conference Nyeleni against land grabbing a commitment was given  to "support the control by people of their natural resources through land occupations , occupations of companies and corporate investors, protests and other actions to mobilize the masses to claim their commons."

 If these families have made the decision to recuperate land with all the risks involved for them, we support them so that they do not continue to live in extreme poverty and can engage in the production of food for  thier survival. According to a report of CEPAL/FAO in December, 2011, 68% of the rural population in Honduras lives in poverty.

 La Via Campesina calls upon its organizations and other social movements to express their  solidarity with peasant families and send letters to the Government of Honduras to approve the proposed comprehensive agrarian reform law that the peasant movement has presented to Congress in October, 2011.

 La Via Campesina also requests the government of Honduras to stop promoting the use of public and paramilitary forces to repress peasant families and especially to respect the physical integrity of people who struggle for land. We reject all forms of violence and the criminalization of our struggles and mobilizations in defense of our rights,

Henry Saragih
General Coordinator La Via Campesina

-------------------------------------------------
On the 17th of April massive land occupations have taken place in Honduras. Because of this Rafael Alegria and other leaders
are under threat. We ask you to send protest letters to the Honduras government with copy la La Via Campesina.
 
please send them to the following addresses:

Ministra de Derechos Humanos, Lic. Ana Pineda, E-mail: i.quintanilla@sjth.gob.hn, i.quintanilla@hotmail.com

Presidente del Congreso de Honduras, Lic. Juan Orlando Hernandez, E-mail: tyase_00@yahoo.com

 Ministro-Director del Instituto Nacional Agrario (INA), Sr. Cesar Ham, E-mail: karolrodriguez15@hotmail.com

with copy to La Via Campesina - Centro America  laviacampesina@cablecolor.hn

EN             Landgrabbing

     Just before the annual World Bank conference on land and poverty, the Newsletter offers an in-depth look to land grabbing!

Take action against land grabbing on the 17 of April for the International day of Peasant Struggle!


The Newsletter is published every two months on the www.nyeleni.org website.

Next edition on Rio+20. Send your contributions by the 20th of May.


 For any further information, please contact info@nyeleni.org
Please circulate it to your contacts!

--
Emanuela Russo
 Coordinator of the international Nyéléni Newsletter
on Food Sovereignty

www.nyeleni.org
info@nyeleni.org

--


La Via Campesina
Via Campesina is an international movement of peasants, small- and medium-sized producers, landless, rural women, indigenous people, rural youth and agricultural workers. We are an autonomous, pluralist and multicultural movement, independent of any political, economic, or other type of affiliation. Born in 1993, La Via Campesina now gathers about 150 organisations in 70 countries in Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas.

International Operational Secretariat:
Jln. Mampang Prapatan XIV no 5 Jakarta Selatan 12790, Indonesia
 Tel/fax: +62-21-7991890/+62-21-7993426
 Email: viacampesina@viacampesina.org

Press Release – La Via Campesina

17 April: More than 250 actions around the world for the International Day of Peasant's Struggle

(Jakarta, 16 April 2012) Small scale farmers and their allies are celebrating the International Day of Peasant's Struggle tomorrow, 17th of April 2012, organising more than 250 actions and manifestations all over the globe.

This event commemorates the massacre of 19 landless farmers demanding access to land and justice in 1996 in Brazil (1). A full list of actions, ranging from university lectures to land occupations is available on the website www.viacampesina.org

The international farmers movement La Via Campesina is mobilising this year to oppose the current offensive by some states and large corporations at international level to grab land from the farmers, women and men, who have been cultivating it for centuries. Small farmers' demand is simple: they need access to land to grow food for their communities. When land is grabbed by transnational companies, huge monoculture plantations for export are developed. This only leads to increased hunger, social unrest and environmental devastation, including the current climate chaos.

Tomorrow, Farmers organisations and their allies will reclaim land all over Brazil and organise mass mobilisations against landgrabbing in Tete, Mozambique and in front of the Constitutional Court in Jakarta, Indonesia. In Brussels, they will launch a parody of the EU Commission's website marking the 50th anniversary of the Common Agriculture Policy.

This action day will take place a few days before the World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty in Washington DC, April 23-26, 2012. The Via Campesina mobilisations will voice small farmers' strong opposition to the World Bank initiative of Responsible Agricultural Investment (RAI) that is supposed to prevent land grab abuses but in fact legitimizes farmland grabbing by corporate and state investors.

“In the run up to the Rio+20 Earth Summit, farmers and supporters of the food sovereignty and agroecology movement are now actively opposing the “greening of capitalism” that is now promoted at international level. We believe that land, water, seeds and all natural resources should be used by small farmers to protect them and feed to world, and not by transnational corporations to make profit”, said Henry Saragih, general coordinator of la Via Campesina.




For interviews and more information

Henry Saragih (in English): +62 811655668 (Indonesia)

Itelvina Masioli (in Spanish): + 55 11 63 59 00 44. (Brazil)

Josie Riffaud (in French) + 33(0) 6 13 10 52 91 (France)

Ibrahim Coulibaly (in French) + +22366761126 (Mali)

More information on www.viacampesina.org

e-mail: viacampesin@viacampesina.org

(1) OnApril171996,intheAmazonianstateofPará,atEldoradodosCarajás,thestatemilitarypolicemassacredpeasantsorganizedintheMovementofLandlessRuralWorkers(MST),killing19individuals.Thatday,1500womenandmenorganizedintheMSToccupiedandblockedtheBR-150highwayinEldo-adodosCarajás,withtheintentiontopressurethestateandfederalgovernmentsforagrarianreform.Atabout4pm,155statemilitarypolicefromtwobrigadessurroundedtheMSTonthehighway,firingtear-gas,liveammunitionandmachineguns.Inadditiontothe19MSTkilledduringthemassacre,threemorediedlaterfrominjuries,and69peoplewerewounded.Stateauthorities,thepolice,thearmyandpowerfullocallandownerswereinvolvedinplanningandexecutingofthemassacre.Fifteenyearslater,noneofthoseresponsibleforthemassacreatEldoradodosCarajáshasbeenimprisonedorpunished.

La Via Campesina
Via Campesina is an international movement of peasants, small- and medium-sized producers, landless, rural women, indigenous people, rural youth and agricultural workers. We are an autonomous, pluralist and multicultural movement, independent of any political, economic, or other type of affiliation. Born in 1993, La Via Campesina now gathers about 150 organisations in 70 countries in Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas.

International Operational Secretariat:
Jln. Mampang Prapatan XIV no 5 Jakarta Selatan 12790, Indonesia
 Tel/fax: +62-21-7991890/+62-21-7993426
 Email: viacampesina@viacampesina.org

People in responsible positions please self-observe your ability to have sharp sensors to move forward assertively + responsibly..

 This sickens me to think this has not been put behind us. our children study curricuIum to communicate yet you people are being hypocritical;

            it sickens me that US has as much Nuclear weapons as the whole world put together. yet you people allow others to disrespect this important need to resolve, + allow awareness to be shared for peace for all.  + end all from having nuclear weapons, not just Iran.

as much as this makes me sick, we have worked for solutions, building 1 universal science to be shared, as we welcome students to come out of classroom + with schools support come into community. as all restore ecological sound, harmonizing working communites, that are fueled to share what works with neighbors locally + afar.

we cannot send people in need of new neuro networks to mars, but we can share how to reprogram, lay out cloth/table discussions eye to eye, so as to interpret not just language, but are wrong doings. + be the better person to reach out + with compassion be real + allow each to go back as far as it takes to define our human family common denominator to share this earth in peace.

yes make wrongs right + those unable to be self-reliant, in an exchange define what is missing. the repression/grief/hatred/suppression + results from disassociated energy causes great waste fo energy eating away at vital energy needed for our organs to serve us well. for our brain function comes from a balanced heart, kidney + lung. when we deplete this vital balance, we end up confused with mixed signals,.

it is 2012, we are fortunate for our good tools, for our indigenous natives that have been good stewards to reflect, so as to have another chance to support people to heal. for many are misusing/abused due to thinking as same as what was passed on from the folks which many struggled in the disasters experienced on this earth.

never again should anyone have to suffer like this, for it is well documented what lack of good communication results in.

please we can build new neuro networks every night that follows a day of good positive exchange. for those people that can't see this positive, that are still carrying negative reality, yes it was real, it still may be in the memory bank, but with positive affirmations we can replace these long over due negativity.

we can redirect + invite all into a tapering transition where we don't just forget about what is real within us, rather we have to allow it to come out in the proper cloth/table setting, directly addressing real issues that have yet to be resolved.

1 at a time they can be worked. we have great people on this earth, many have died with peaceful solutions, giving many to carry on as we continue to create with each thought in real time continually until all has been dealt with.

this is a priority we must do now. with 1 good universal science we can integrate, apply, percisely network via like subject/like ecosystem + strategize along with exchange schematics to create the priority function in need. + do it energy efficiently, not with the false green movement but with ethnic ecology guiding from real enviromental services, as we restore our natural boundaries with good gauges in place such as agro-ecology.

we have solutions to trigger focus;

please see our project in the building;

http://i-come-to-talk-story-net.3220728.n2.nabble.com/

we invite you to come aboard + we are soon to be collecting international data banks for school emails, along with communities with no schools.

support your local students to network with the world as we share what works, as together we build responsible communities so we all can be a local, global + afar particapant.

yes even those unable, will have hands on support as rehabs are created to bring support to those in need, so all have equal rights to take part `as we boon with earth.

 i am writing because I am deeply concerned that, unless we can change course, the United States people that have undeveloped neuro networks, still programmed out of real time, unable to come to be present in the moment, may be headed to devastating war with Iran.

 To prevent war, resolve the nuclear standoff with Iran, and effectively address the human rights situation in Iran, we must ensure diplomacy can succeed.  That is why I am asking you to cosponsor H.R. 4173, The Prevent Iran from Acquiring Nuclear Weapons, including to end ours in US + everywhere. + Stop War through Diplomacy Act, and to oppose H.Res.568, a dangerous resolution that would make war far more likely by changing the President's stated "red line."

Unfortunately, there have only been two bilateral meetings between the U.S. and Iran since President Obama took office.  These meetings never moved beyond the nuclear file to other critical issues such as human rights in Iran or stabilizing Afghanistan.  That is why H.R. 4173 would appoint a U.S. envoy to lead sustained, multilateral and bilateral negotiations with Iran to ensure the U.S. effectively uses all diplomatic tools at its disposal.

plus in our student project we can gain great support in doing the leg work, as we create our project sharing each step of the `way, only then will we have a common sense common denominator. where our good science now can be applied everywhere as each finetune the worn, torn threads as they are replaced. leaving now 1 earthly good science that studetns everywhere can share curriculum + no where can any ecological whor interfere, or manipulator, or one that would buy their way or power grab, for our gauges will be in place + people together will say no more, for we are protecting our commons for local soverighnty.

If we are serious about preventing an avoidable war, we must also ensure there are no unnecessary obstacles to a diplomatic breakthrough.  H.R. 4173 would eliminate the counterproductive "no contact" policy that bars U.S. diplomats from making any contact with Iranian officials. with our great students within us all, young + old working together, this never should of been delayed.

               Military leaders strongly agree there must be greater diplomacy with Iran.  As the former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Michael Mullen, has said, we must utilize "any channel that's open." Congress should take an important step to open those channels by eliminating the no contact policy.

we are fortunate for folks to have clarity with sharp sensors + we must reflect + let them guide. for so many in Congress/Senate have dulled their sensors. + this country has become a manipulator that has many  conflicts of interest, yet lobbyists are allowed to serve the world with unfair trade for the greed of some, which totally is ecologically interfering in our natural resources, as well not allowing state + industry to be in control of their own hands on as they work the elements. the commercial  fisher folks are 1 example that are being left behind, while entities are allowed to remain that interfer.

we must lay out this detail + stop the layers from confusing + detaining resolution from happening. for yes many are without clarity due to their attempts to survive as misuse/abuse continues. but their are those that also are very clear + can concentrate on issues at hand + it is these folks that can lead us out of anyone having to have such a deadly/highrisk material in weaponry, as well weaponry at all.

peace is our option now if we share what works + share sincerely + remove all those with dull sensors that stand in the way. + let us support them in the tapering transition so as to give them another chance to become whole as a fellow human. as we aid their clarity + support them to heal.

This bill also makes clear that, without Congressional authorization for war with Iran, no funding may be used for such a purpose.  Iranian human rights and democracy defenders have also warned against war.  Akbar Ganji has said, "Even speaking about the possibility of a military attack on Iran makes things extremely difficult for human rights and pro-democracy activists in Iran."  Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi has cautioned, "Dictators actually like to be attacked by foreigners, so using the excuse of national security, they can put away their opposition."

Military leaders have also warned unequivocally that war with Iran would be disastrous.  Former CENTCOM Commander Admiral Fallon has stated, "No one that I'm aware of [in the military] thinks that there's any real positive outcome of a military strike or some kind of conflict."  Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates has warned, "A military strike would only delay Iran's nuclear program, while the regime's resolve to build a weapon, if it so chooses, may only be hardened." And eight former military and intelligence officials recently wrote in a public message in the Washington Post to the President, "Our brave servicemen and women expect you to exhaust all diplomatic and peaceful options before you send them into harm's way."  

I encourage you to support a diplomatic solution that can prevent war, prevent a nuclear-armed Iran, and effectively address the human rights situation in Iran.

Please cosponsor H.R. 4173 and help ensure we avoid a war of choice and forge a peaceful solution, as you reconsider, redirect + add positive affirmation of solutions we have now, as i state above.  I thank you for your consideration and look forward to your response.

sincerely we can offer solution now as a peace intermediator,
kara j lincoln

                               FOEI, La Via Campesina and Combat Monsanto, new publication

WASHINGTON (US) / MONTEVIDEO (URUGUAY), PARIS (FRANCE), APRIL 4, 2012 – Today, the day that biotech giant Monsanto releases its second quarter earnings, a new report by civil society organisations shows that around the world small-holder and organic farmers, local communities and social movements are increasingly resisting and rejecting Monsanto, and the agro-industrial model that it represents.

The new report, jointly produced by La Via Campesina, Friends of the Earth International and Combat Monsanto - available in English, French and Spanish [1] - provides snapshots of frontline struggles against Monsanto and other agrochemical corporations pushing genetically modified (GM) crops onto farmers and into the environment.

“This report demonstrates that the increasingly vocal objections from social movements and civil society organisations are having an impact on the introduction of GM crops.” said Josie Riffaud from La Via Campesina.

The testimonies and analysis contained in this report aim to inspire and unite consumers, activists and communities against the abuses carried out by Monsanto and other biotech corporations around the world.

"Who will hold Monsanto responsible for the global depletion of biodiversity, soil erosion, and violations of peasant rights wrought by the application of petroleum-based inputs required by industrial agriculture?” asked Dena Hoff of the National Family Farm Coalition / La Via Campesina North America. “Farmers worldwide are resisting for food sovereignty, but the rest of the world must join us," she added.

“This new report documents the intense opposition to this powerful transnational company, which peddles its genetically modified products seemingly without regard for the associated social, economic and environmental costs,” said Martin Drago, Friends of the Earth International's Food Sovereignty programme coordinator.

“The majority of Europe’s public remains opposed to GM food production, and several countries in Europe now have national bans on Monsanto’s MON810 maize and BASF’s Amflora potatoes, despite the strong pressure of the biotech industry and of the European Commission to lift those moratoriums,” said Héloise Claudon from Combat Monsanto.

The use of GM crops destroys essential crop diversity, homogenises food, and eradicates associated local knowledge and culture. In this and other ways social inequality, poverty and the exploitation of natural resources are able to thrive within the global food system, which focuses on profit generation rather than sustainable food production and food sovereignty.

The combined area of all GM crops covers just 3% of agricultural land worldwide. 97% of agricultural land around the world remains GM-free. GM crop cultivation is predominately limited to a few countries: 90% of GM crops are grown in the US, Brazil, Argentina, India and Canada. Almost 60% of GM crop field trials are carried out in the US.

The large majority of GM crops are grown for animal feed or agrofuels destined for rich nations rather than food for the poor and hungry.


FORE MORE INFORMATION

In the US (in English):

Dena Hoff , National Family Farm Coalition / La Via Campesina North America
Tel: + 1 (406) 939 -1839

In URUGUAY (in Spanish):

Martin Drago, Friends of the Earth International's Food Sovereignty programme coordinator: martin.drago@redes.org.uy
or Tel: +598 (99) 13 85 59

In FRANCE (in French):

Josie Riffaud from La Via Campesina: josieriffaud@yahoo.fr

Tel: + 33(0) 6 13 10 52 91

Héloise Claudon from Combat Monsanto: Tel: + 33 (0) 6 01 85 30 80

heloise.claudon@combat-monsanto.org

NOTES:

[1] The report is online http://www.viacampesina.org/downloads/pdf/en/Monsanto-Publication-EN-Final-Version.pdf

--
La Via Campesina
Via Campesina is an international movement of peasants, small- and medium-sized producers, landless, rural women, indigenous people, rural youth and agricultural workers. We are an autonomous, pluralist and multicultural movement, independent of any political, economic, or other type of affiliation. Born in 1993, La Via Campesina now gathers about 150 organisations in 70 countries in Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas.

International Operational Secretariat:
Jln. Mampang Prapatan XIV no 5 Jakarta Selatan 12790, Indonesia
Tel/fax: +62-21-7991890/+62-21-7993426
Email: viacampesina@viacampesina.org

Now you know the score
by Jon Rainwater

It's an election year. That means it's prime accountability time.

And this email has everything you need to let your representatives in DC know you've been watching them like hawks.

I’m excited to bring you Peace Action West’s report on the 2011 Congress in a new interactive format. It’s not only a guide to what happened in Congress last year—it’s a roadmap to action.


Explore the features and see if your representatives stood up for peace or dragged their heels in 2011.

•    Navigate the interactive map. See the landscape of peace votes for the whole country, with color-coded districts showing you where to find the peace leaders. Zoom in to see individual districts. Or search by last name or zip code.

•    Click on your representatives' names to drill down for detailed analysis of the votes they cast. Read about the most crucial foreign policy votes that came up in 2011, and get the details on what happened.

•    2011 Highs and Lows. Read about the good, the bad and the ugly of 2011—from the first successful passage of a bill to accelerate withdrawal from Afghanistan to frightening attacks on civil liberties in the name of the “war on terror.”

•    Executive perspective. Get the big picture on 2011’s peace votes and what they mean for this critical election year.

•    Take action. Once you’ve checked out your representative’s voting record, click here to make your voice heard.
This voting record shows that we have our work cut out for us. Too many members of Congress are still stuck in Cold War thinking. But it also showed the immense power of organized grassroots efforts and the giant steps we have made toward ending the war in Afghanistan -- progress that would have seemed impossible only a couple of years ago.
Sweeping redistricting throughout the country has put new congressional races in play and given us a real opportunity to make the peace movement a louder voice in this election. Let this Congressional Voting Record be one step in learning the landscape of Congress and showing our representatives that the peace vote is a formidable force.

Jon Rainwater | April 2, 2012 at 1:16 pm | Categories: Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Middle East, Military spending, Peace Action West News | URL: http://wp.me/pusbl-Tg

In the call of the alliance, you will find the address of the blog where all actions against land grabbing will be consolidated :
_www.stopauxaccaparementsdesterres.over-blog.com <http://www.stopauxaccaparementsdesterres.over-blog.com/>_

A map of the actions will also be made visible on La Via Campesina web site

Have a very nice April 17 and please share your actions. (send info to email addresses listed in the Alliance's call).

kind regards,
----------

* Poster Action
*17 April: International Day of Peasant's Struggle*
*_Denounce land grabbing!_*
Wherever you are, fill in this poster with the name of your local land grabbers
and send us a picture of how you protest with this poster.

E-mail: viacampesina@viacampesina.org <mailto:viacampesina@viacampesina.org> 

Website: www.viacampesina.org <http://www.viacampesina.org/> 

Facebook Event
<http://www.facebook.com/events/262282300519236/?ref=ts> 

Apr 2, 2012

Dear Ms. Lincoln:

  Thanks for your message in opposition to exporting coal.  I appreciate
hearing from you and having this opportunity to respond.

  Unfortunately, the United States cannot prohibit exporting coal and
other raw materials thanks to America's membership in the job-killing
World Trade Organization (WTO).  I voted against U.S. participating in
the WTO when it was rammed through a lame duck session of Congress by
President Clinton in 1994 and have consistently cosponsored legislation
to withdraw the U.S. from the WTO.

  Early in my career I attempted to ban the export of raw logs in order to
save jobs in rural Oregon and to maintain the existing timber
infrastructure.  While I was able to secure a ban on exporting raw logs
from federal lands, I lost the battle to ban exports of raw logs from
private lands. Under the WTO, exports of raw material can only be
prohibited for conservation or national security purposes.  Thus, thanks
to the WTO it is possible the important restrictions I helped secure on
federal raw logs could be successfully challenged by our trading
partners.  

  I have also attempted to assess a tax on imported oil and urged
Presidents Clinton, Bush, and Obama to take on the colluding and
monopolistic Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
But my efforts have consistently been blocked by WTO rules or by
lethargic administrations and congresses unwilling to challenge our
failed trade agreements.  

  If the construction of coal export terminals moves forward on the West
Coast, terminals should be constructed to the highest standards in order
to reduce the impact of public health and the environment.  I would
expect and fully support: ensuring rail cars are sealed to reduce the
emission of fugitive coal dust; coal is transported using rotary dump
(solid bottom) systems; coal will be stored indoors at facilities
equipped with proper filtration systems to prevent emissions of fugitive
coal dust; and coal will be transferred on an enclosed conveyer from
ports to ships.  

  As a member of the House Natural Resources and Transportation and
Infrastructure Committees, I have a deep interest in this issue and will
continue to follow it closely. Carbon emissions are a worldwide problem
and we need to continue to pursue international agreements that
encourage reductions in emissions. I will continue to fight for better
trade laws that do not undermine America's ability to protect the health
of our citizens, our communities, and our environment.  Regrettably,
this effort has largely been an uphill battle.  

  Again, thanks for writing and please keep in touch.  

  Sincerely,

Rep. Peter DeFazio
Fourth District, OREGON

Bamako, on March 22, 2012.

Following the events that occurred in the night of March 21, 2012 in Bamako and in the regions, the Forum of Civil Society Organisations of Mali has held a meeting at its headquarters.

After analysis and review of the situation, the Forum of Civil Society Organizations condemns, as a principle all forms of coup d'état and acts of violence for the settlement of problems within the Malian nation. The Civil Society Forum takes note of the declaration made on March 22, 2012 by the CNRDR, and among them the following points:

-           The establishment of an inclusive Government of National Unity to be constituted after consultation with all the active social forces of the country;

-           The non-confiscation of power;

-           The restoration of national unity and territorial integrity;

-           The commitment to work with all forces of the nation without any distinction;

However, the Forum of Civil Society Organizations also declares:

Considering that:

-       Mali, our beloved country, is the subject of a violent attack by armed secessionist groups who want to break away the Northern and Central part of the nation,

-       The complexity of this crisis and the diversity of players involved render its resolution difficult;

-       There is a deep unease in all layers of Malian society in the face of this crisis and the exit strategies or solutions to it are not immediately and clearly visible or understandable;

-       The food crisis, nutrition and health problems have a strong impact on almost the entire country;

-       The school and university crisis remains unsolved;

-       Because of the security situation in the North / Center of the country as well as the state of the current electoral register, it has not been not possible to organize a legitimate election process. At the same time the primary concern of most politicians appear to be holding on to power or gaining access to it immediately;

-       The national army clearly encounters many problems in its struggle to preserve the unity and integrity of the country;

-       The task of preserving the honor of the Malian people and of defending the integrity of our national territory is the sole responsibility of the Malian army;

-       The overwhelming support of the people towards the national army is an expression of the peoples' attachment to national sovereignty and not an act of charity;

-       The people are experiencing a growing concern for the preservation of their safety and that of their property;

-       In the current situation, an offer of ceasefire or a peace agreement could be perceived by the people as an act of capitulation.

The Civil Society Forum makes the following proposition to the National Committee for the Rebuilding of Democracy and the Restoration of the State (CNRDR):

1. The establishment of a government of national unity with limited powers and objectives and that will be given the means and powers to carry out the four following priority missions:

safeguarding of national sovereignty, of territorial integrity and of national unity;
preparation and organization of national roundtables on citizenship, governance and sustainable development in Mali;
preparation and organization of credible elections (presidential, parliamentary and municipal) within the present year, based on a finalized and reliable updated version of the RAVEC registration database;
strengthening the application of laws and legislations on decentralization and the principles of good governance with a focus on proper management of public funds and administration of justice (intensifying the fight against financial crime and corruption);

2. Public auditing of all the development plans and programs in the country;

3. Suspension of the territorial reorganisation scheme, actually in progress;

4. Reallocation of the country's budgetary resources in order to be able to complete the above outlined tasks.

5. Implementation of measures and infrastructures to reduce the impact of the food crisis and of the nutrition and health problems as well as improving the quality of the education and university system.

In doing so, while wishing speedy recovery to all the people wounded, the Forum of Civil Society bows to the memory of all civilian and military casualties and invites the CNRDR to ensure respect for individual and collective rights and freedoms.

In conclusion, the Forum of Civil Society Organizations makes itself available to anyone and to any national initiatives whose aim is the implementation of the above proposals.

 --
La Via Campesina
Via Campesina is an international movement of peasants, small- and medium-sized producers, landless, rural women, indigenous people, rural youth and agricultural workers. We are an autonomous, pluralist and multicultural movement, independent of any political, economic, or other type of affiliation. Born in 1993, La Via Campesina now gathers about 150 organisations in 70 countries in Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas.

International Operational Secretariat:
Jln. Mampang Prapatan XIV no 5 Jakarta Selatan 12790, Indonesia
Tel/fax: +62-21-7991890/+62-21-7993426
Email: viacampesina@viacampesina.org

New post on Groundswell Blog, from Peace Action West

by Rebecca Griffin
see link for further links in page for more detail;
http://blog.peaceactionwest.org/2012/03/26/report-from-dc-the-pulse-on-peace-issues/#comments

with Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA), a leader on peace issues and one of Peace Action West's 2012 endorsed candidates

Last week, Katie and I spent the week in Washington, DC, bringing Peace Action West’s priorities to Capitol Hill and connecting with other organizations from around the country that are doing wonderful work to rid the world of nuclear weapons.

Here’s a quick update on the top issues we talked about in our meetings with more than 25 different congressional offices:

Chipping away at the bloated nuclear weapons budget

We joined in on the lobby days of the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability, a coalition of grassroots groups around the country working on nuclear weapons, power and waste. It was inspiring to spend a few days with their knowledgeable, committed and passionate activists, ranging in age from teenagers to octogenarians. In addition to meetings with congressional staff, ANA had an awards ceremony at which they presented awards to activists as well as Reps. Ed Markey (D-MA) and Loretta Sanchez (D-CA). I even got the opportunity to sing original lyrics to jazz songs about nuclear weapons written by a great antinuclear activist at the Monday night pizza party.

The message in our meetings was that Congress needs to slash the increased budget for nuclear weapons activities in the FY2013 budget, targeting wasteful programs and facilities that would increase our capacity to build nuclear weapons—a huge waste, especially when we are reducing our reliance on nuclear weapons. We also urged representatives to cosponsor Rep. Markey’s SANE Act, which would cut nuclear weapons spending by $100 billion over the next decade. Given the intense budget pressures, there is room for progress in pushing Congress to make these cuts, and encouraging statements from Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), chair of the committee that sets the nuclear weapons budget, are a good sign that we can see results if we keep pushing in the next couple of months.

Continuing the drumbeat to end the war in Afghanistan

The momentum against the war in Afghanistan is even stronger now after several weeks of tragic incidents that call the wisdom of keeping a military presence there into question. Members of Congress certainly understand that the war isn’t getting any more popular with the American public, and many of them are eager to find opportunities to continue pushing for an end to the war.

Our big question was what comes next after the success of the Senate and House letters supporting a quicker military withdrawal. We encouraged people to support Rep. Barbara Lee’s bill limiting funding to a safe and responsible military withdrawal from Afghanistan. The next big step will be using the May NATO summit as an opportunity to push the administration for an accelerated withdrawal (there are some reports that they are looking at a few different options for withdrawal).

Silencing the war drums on Iran

Congress has a history of not being particularly helpful when it comes to reasoned debate and policymaking on Iran. The latest manifestation of this is a pair of resolutions that supports lowering the threshold for military action against Iran to nuclear weapons capability. This is a disturbingly vague term that means different things to different people (the sponsors of the resolution have not offered a clear definition), and undermining the administration’s position and pushing for a more militaristic approach to the Iran problem is highly counterproductive. We strongly urged representatives and senators not to cosponsor the bill, but supporters of the bill have mobilized heavily in favor of it, so we will need to push back hard in the coming weeks.

Rep. Barbara Lee is offering a bill that would bring more sanity to the debate, appointing a special envoy for talks and lifting a counterproductive “no contact” policy, while also explicitly affirming that money cannot be spent on military action without prior authorization from Congress. We also urged representatives to cosponsor this bill and give the president political space to pursue a peaceful solution with Iran.

Reining in massive military spending

Congress still hasn’t settled the question of what will happen with the $1.2 trillion in automatic cuts that are supposed to go into effect next year because of the super committee’s failure to make a deficit deal. There are many hawks who are desperately trying to find a way to prevent additional cuts to the military budget, despite the fact that the Pentagon could sustain the sequestration cuts without harm to our national security. There’s not much appetite for dealing with this issue in an election year, and it likely won’t come up until a lame duck session at the end of the year. We urged members of Congress to oppose any deal that makes domestic spending bear the brunt of cuts and lets the Pentagon off the hook.

 

 

 

Declaration of La Via Campesina in the Alternative World Water Forum

      We, as peasants’ and farmers’ organizations from countries all over the world, members of La Via Campesina, met between the 12th and 17th of March 2012, for the Alternative World Water Forum in Marseille, France. Delegates from Turkey, Brazil, Mali, Mexico and other countries gave voice to the distress of “environmental victims”, making known the plight of people affected by dam construction, by the shale gas and mining industries, by the grabbing, commodification, scarcity and widespread pollution of water, and by the repression and murder of activists who are defending water.

      We demand that the right “of” and “to” water should be respected within the framework of food sovereignty. The right “of” water means continuous respect for the entire water cycle.

      We state that the privatization and commodification of water and of any other common good (land, seeds, knowledge, etc.) are crimes against the planet and against humanity. Large-scale dams and hydro-electric projects grab and sequester water, taking no account of the needs, traditional practices and opinions of local communities, and totally disregarding the protection of ecosystems. The water and biodiversity crises, the social and financial crises, and the energy crisis are all linked. They are the consequences of neo-liberalism and of the industrial agricultural model that is promoted by the international financial institutions (the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the World Trade Organization), through free trade agreements, by the World Water Council, and by transnational Corporations as well as by most national governments.

                The Green Economy is a false solution to climate change and water scarcity. The supposed answers to the crises: the commodification of water, of carbon and of biodiversity; nanotechnology; geo-engineering; and GMOs represent new opportunities for neo-liberal economic expansion. Despite the fact that these technology-driven and market-driven responses are the main cause of the environmental and social chaos that we are suffering, neo-liberalism’s headlong rush continues. The industrial model of production, with its monoculture and its agro-chemicals, has polluted our water and endangered our health.

     We defend agro-ecological practices and small-scale and peasant agriculture that put into effect food sovereignty and contribute to the protection and sustainable use of water. Water is a common good for the benefit of all living beings and it should be under public, democratic, local and sustainable management. Local and traditional systems of knowledge regarding forms of water management that take into account and protect the whole ecosystem have existed for thousands of years; they have demonstrated over time their effectiveness.

     We believe that public policies and laws related to water should recognize and respect this knowledge.  

 --
La Via Campesina
Via Campesina is an international movement of peasants, small- and medium-sized producers, landless, rural women, indigenous people, rural youth and agricultural workers. We are an autonomous, pluralist and multicultural movement, independent of any political, economic, or other type of affiliation. Born in 1993, La Via Campesina now gathers about 150 organisations in 70 countries in Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas.

International Operational Secretariat:
Jln. Mampang Prapatan XIV no 5 Jakarta Selatan 12790, Indonesia
Tel/fax: +62-21-7991890/+62-21-7993426
Email: viacampesina@viacampesina.org

 

I share with you my question to Barack Obama + our legislators regarding our energy US plan + affiliation globally.

+ i ask all of you to ask the same until we can get a clear picture + our legislators are true local community representives of our restoration reality.

leaving no one left behind as we can now in every community sit down at a cloth/table review + eye-to-eye create cooperatives that talk to each other vs. dictate as the present commercial fisherfolks feel totally over regulated.

right now i speak for the small fisherfolks everywhere. take a look in Charleston, close by.

legislators why are you not supporting this to happen, i invite you to intervene in the Maguson Stevens Act changes being made now + soon another public comment period, + require an easier way to remove all the layers of regulation + make 1. + allow the locals to have equal say as they take back their obligations to be fully aware of their local fishing industry.

this is a good example of NOT allowing any marine reserve when so many inefficent layers are already over regulating/disorganized, etc., this is a waste of resources. as well leaving negative effects on fisher folks that are already at high risk working in the elements, for our food, what sustains us.

please review my letter to Barack Obama, for this ecological review;

(which is why we ask you to support project osic, as we support students to come out of classroom + into community to restore ecological working communites, with focus direction, those under will gain clarity/strength to then share as students + community share their goodness + self-develop, along with creating support mechanisms for all to fulfill our obligations locally + globally, as our balanced restored biospheres link + our human family gains respect + understand common sense in our good science created that all can then draw from as we live local + share what works) can contribute to creating mental clarity + physical strenght + that is all able people need to aid the layers of confusion, to go back to creating a life, not just a job that many are trying to do. give people awareness vs. dyfsfunction + human nature excells within nature`s limits, only then will a balanced environment be our best medicine;


Hello Barack + associates,

i sure have a hard time defineing how ecologically sound your innovations of home/business bound US energy  is to be, as well with existing entities in motion.

i never hear the words ecologically sustainable starting from the top with a land/freshwater flow to sea use review, for natural soil building for life on land + in sea, as well protect our shorelines, river beds, + natural small farmland, balance so no pests, clean co2 + fresh air + water, support fear based misinforamtion for ER preparedness as in with wilderness awareness as common sense as we live on a planet that is alive, that we as a living organism are dependent on.

1 good universal science integrate this ecological requirement as the indigenous of done for years, whom we are very fortunate to have these stewards to help us become aware, along with creating in time co_evolution `ways that work carry the gauges for life.

which is what project osic  in the building is focusing on with students.

ex; you cannot take wild public properties for it can interfere in our obligations individually to support the needed restoration of our genetic bio-diversity locally. which is already underestimated + not balanced with number of people locally thruout this planet. + energy development without this assessment can disrupt the natural trans boundary migration for micro + large browsers, which we are ecologically dependent on for our sustainability, by them being in balance locally + globally.

so please tell me what review you require, what policy? how are you changing this + we can help all with you supporting project osic, which we state in our WASH GRANT from USAID/DIV, awaiting confirmation.

please tell me how you presently are requiring all to do this?

+ to have a business install solar panels on their business property for a house is very large + can interfere in this path of critters vs, if house is correctly built efficiently?? + city is planned efficiently?? as we suggest in this review to be done locally everywhere, where tallies will tell whom/what is resisting?? which can bring many sound people to sharpen their dull sensors, creatively express creating jobs by prioritizing function, energy efficiently in a focus directed to aid healing, rid layers of waste + become present in the moment as young + old innovate.

        then each house would have it's own solar panels, efficiently made by locals + alternative energy as a supplement only, to a sound natural adapting natural resource that is assessed with agro-ecology gauge in place for what sustains all life, working within our natural limits.

where now locals always have a investment mode on the edge, awaiting those that come thru tapering transitions, that have worked with those that perceive solution, as now energy is really surfacing from that dormant left in confusion, disassociation that so many are bogged down with. yet

we can harness this shapeless energy for our fuel, our interpersonal fuel  + all do baggage removal as we unwind the weaves web, that only drained vital resources.

please tell me + all where your detail in this is, for we have a tapering transition to welcome people so no more hedge funding market manipulation leaving negative effects. rather now people are reborn + not with religion interfereing, rather 1 good universal science that deals with our human realities on earth now as a living organism dependent on natural balance, which requires many positions/tasks to gain this natural balance for our wild to sustain our co_evolution, that does take some time to comprehend for it requires us to daily `boon with what sustains us within the natural world`s enhancement as with Prof Miguel Altieri`s agro-ecology gauges, to nightly build new neuro networks.

fortunately we have him + many good indigenous as well young followers that are sensitive in patches of cooperatives to reflect with as students locally come out of classroom, + create a curriculum with the goodness from community, once they prioritize focus on their ER assessment as in their healthcare that is still in need of help with daily misuse/abuse, etc.

which we invite  in project osic, all professionals to do a walkabout locally with studetns + see the negative effects left from your intervention, + together we can make a change, as students aid the linking of these worn torn threads, + build new ones as they build themself along with each community as each are supported to understand our human obligations.

no more some gain wealth at the expens of others being ill + uncomfortable, for no matter what shape one is in, Dr, Yun Wang alone can counsel doctors as he does, as well patients with herbal formulas, TCM, so locals can plant/forage for herbal medicines that work, CSA's, Natural small farms to fuel thru natural food, + awareness of these behavior changes.

what are you do_in to stop the GMO`s everywhere + build local communites to sustain naturally, as they exchange theri seeds as they always have, until the false green energy movement of bio-tech has interfered.

do you not see these ill effects left. Miguel Altieri can show you them, along with same yields produced from indigenous `ways that work without the negative effects of pesticides/fertilizers/GMO`s that multinational corporations are profiting/hedgefunding from. this is wrong people.

we each have an obligation to balance ourself 1st. then come together part time in these solutions to aid our human family + the critters that aid our life.

thank you, peace is a solutions if we share what works + give respect for others to have little support to enable their understanding to this good science we all can live with + integrate locally.

peace, our combined` effect makes a difference.



thank you for confirming what you do for analysis, kara



     

http://www.ploughshares.org/blog/2011-12-20/what-nuclear-weapons-cost-us-%E2%80%93-itHome ›
 
    VIEW ALL BLOG POSTS at link above

      Ploughshares Blog › What Nuclear Weapons Cost Us – It’s the Right Time for a Debate

         BY JOEL RUBIN
         DECEMBER 20, 2011
         
The debate over the extent to which the U.S. government is committing itself to spending vast sums of taxpayer dollars on nuclear weapons and related programs over the next decade is in full force in Congress, inside the administration, and in the media.

An open, transparent debate is essential to ensuring that citizens and policymakers alike have the right information in their hands when deciding about our country’s future spending on both these weapons and their related programs. It’s understandable that there will be differences of opinion throughout this debate – one that’s been made more difficult due to a lack of transparency about what our government actually spends on nuclear weapons and related programs.

It is because of this lack of clear information that Ploughshares Fund is providing its third working paper estimate on what it will cost Americans to produce, build, maintain, and clean-up nuclear weapons and related programs over the next decade. To our knowledge, this estimate is the only current comprehensive assessment that projects these costs for the next decade. It is based upon the best publicly available information.

Our conclusion continues to be that current plans for nuclear weapons and related programs over the next decade will cost the American taxpayer approximately $700 billion.

The state of the debate over these estimates

There is significant consensus between this estimate and others being discussed both on Capitol Hill and in the media. Specifically, there is a common view that the taxpayer will spend a combined $358 billion on nuclear incident management, nuclear threat reduction, missile defense, deferred environmental and health costs, and nuclear weapons activities.

These programs are included in our projection because, as the Congressional Budget Office has noted, they are part of the full cost accounting of nuclear weapons and therefore “…might reasonably be attributed” to nuclear force expenditures.

The debate on nuclear weapons spending has thus largely centered around the Department of Defense's estimate that it will spend $125 billion on nuclear forces over the next decade. A variety of experts have weighed in on this question. Our review of this commentary, the literature, and the actual budget submissions provided by the Pentagon have led us to conclude that the number will be significantly higher than official government estimates have indicated. Specifically, we estimate that spending for Major Force Program 1 and for overhead and support costs related to the nuclear forces, in addition to projected costs for the new submarine and bomber, will bring the estimated cost to the American taxpayer up from $125 billion to $287 billion.

Additionally, there are major expected additional costs for programs that are planned but not yet included in the government’s future budget projections. These programs, such as the procurement and deployment of missile defense systems in Europe and potential cost overruns at the Department of Energy and Department of Defense, could account for tens of billions of dollars of additional expenses.

Regardless of which estimate for nuclear forces one accepts, a full-cost accounting demands that the cost of nuclear weapons and their related programs be combined. This means that the generally accepted conservative parameters of the debate should be that the taxpayer will be spending, at a minimum, somewhere between $500 billion to $700 billion over the next decade on weapons systems geared towards the Cold War.

Bringing it all together

Having a debate over the numbers creates an opportunity to ask important questions about our country’s national security and fiscal policy.

For example, what does it really cost to protect Americans from terrorism, cyber attack, and nuclear threats from states such as North Korea and Pakistan? Should it cost that same amount as if the Cold War had never ended? Are there better places to invest these limited defense dollars? And in a time of soaring national debts, should we be asking the Chinese to lend us more money for outdated weapons?

Ultimately, this estimate provides both the public and American policymakers with an additional tool to debate the type of future they want for their country. We look forward to exploring these strategic security and financial questions in the days ahead as this issue makes its way into the public eye.

        http://blog.peaceactionwest.org/2012/02/10/put-nukes-on-the-chopping-block/

Put Nukes on the Chopping Block
FEBRUARY 10, 2012
by Katie Heald
“We need more nuclear weapons programs like Lady Gaga needs another outfit.”

That’s what Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) said yesterday, as he introduced a bill that would put a huge dent in the billions that are wasted on nuclear weapons every year, and halt plans to build new nuclear bomb factories.

Go to blog link above to see the video of Rep. Markey introducing his bill on House floor.

The bill has 35 cosponsors already. Go to Blog above to tell your representative to cosponsor H.R. 3974, the Smarter Approach to Nuclear Expenditures (SANE) Act.

The SANE Act would:

Reduce the fleet of nuclear-armed submarines and cancel plans for new nuclear bombers and new nuclear missile systems
Cancel the two new nuclear bomb plants that are being planned in New Mexico and Tennessee
Make over a dozen other cuts to nuclear weapons programs
These and the other cuts in the bill would save up to $117 billion over the next ten years. Tell your representative to reduce our reliance on nuclear weapons and save money by supporting this bill today.

In the current deficit-cutting frenzy in Washington, crucial funding for things like Medicare are being threatened with massive cutbacks. Help us make sure that Congress makes the cuts where they are sorely needed. Click here now to tell your representative to cut billions from wasteful and dangerous nuclear weapons programs.

 CSO Press Release


(Rome, 13/03/2012) Last Friday, 9th of March in the evening, the Committee on Word Food Security
 (CFS) completed the intergovernmental negotiations of the FAO Voluntary Guidelines on the
 Tenure of Land Fisheries and Forests in the context of National Food Security. With the
 successful completion of these negotiations after a participatory process lasting nearly 3
 years, the CFS has shown clearly that it has the capacity to bring a wide variety of social
 actors to the debate and to seek solutions to one of the most difficult and delicate issues we
 face today, that of access to natural resources for food production/provision. More than 45
 persons representing 20 civil society organizations attended the final round of negotiations.
 The Guidelines contain valuable points that will provide backing to organizations in their long
 struggle to ensure the care and use of Resources and Natural Goods in order to produce
 more nourishing food, so helping to eliminate hunger from the world by addressing its root
 causes.

 Ensuring access to land, fisheries and forests is absolutely vital, not just to enable small food
 producers to nourish the world. Access to natural resources is a question of dignity and a
 matter of life and death for millions of peasant communities, pastoralists, indigenous
 Peoples and fisher folk. In many parts of the world, land-grabbing causes great suffering by
 displacing people and communities and destroying and confiscating their lands, further
 increasing the incidence of violent conflicts.

 Just in the last few months, while this document was being negotiated, leaders of social
 movements in different parts of the world have been persecuted or assassinated for their
 struggle. In Latin America, we wish to remember Jerónimo R. Tugri y Mauricio Méndez de
 Panamá, Bernardo Méndez Vásquez de México, Christian Ferreyra de Argentina, and the
 peasants who were assassinated in the land conflicts of the Bajo Aguan region of Honduras.
 We also want to show our solidarity with Herman Kumara, leader of the World Forum of
 Fisher Peoples, who has been threatened with death and forced to leave his country, Sri
 Lanka.

 In spite of the massive and systematic violations of human rights, violations that take many
 forms in rural regions of the world, governments remain reluctant to re-affirm the
 commitments they have already made to different international Human Rights instruments
 relating to natural resources. This means we must all redouble our efforts. We deeply regret
 the fact that over the course of these negotiations, governments maintained their position
 that large investments in industrial agriculture are essential for development.
 We call once more on the whole international community, the states and governments of
 the world, to finally commit themselves to establishing a new era in history, based on food
 sovereignty. These Guidelines, when understood as rights to land, fisheries and forests, are
 another tool in the ongoing struggle to eradicate hunger from the world

 *******

 CSO media contact: Sofía Monsalve Suárez, monsalve@fian.org, phone +4962216530051


--


La Via Campesina
Via Campesina is an international movement of peasants, small- and medium-sized producers, landless, rural women, indigenous people, rural youth and agricultural workers. We are an autonomous, pluralist and multicultural movement, independent of any political, economic, or other type of affiliation. Born in 1993, La Via Campesina now gathers about 150 organisations in 70 countries in Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas.

International Operational Secretariat:
Jln. Mampang Prapatan XIV no 5 Jakarta Selatan 12790, Indonesia
 Tel/fax: +62-21-7991890/+62-21-7993426
 Email: viacampesina@viacampesina.org

        Here we try to share what people offer locally eye-to-eye, in acts of do_in, as we travel thru, utilizing virtual tools for this kind of sharing, read a good book or have hands in the dirt, alongside;

  considering the present negative issues taking place in the Amazon today, which we ask your support, check here to see what you can do now;

   http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/campaigns/forests/amazon/Tell-President-Dilma-Rousseff-to-veto-the-new-Forest-Code-bill/

            Greenpeace has done a lot of work for this support along with many folks in the past..

please take a review as i quote some research from long ago -

                           'The Dilemma of Amazonian Development'

                        edited by Emilio F. Moran (very well i must say)

          When we see story of the past that has left devastation, we don’t have to repeat it. This forum`s goal is to invite you to share + do your homework.
 
Before a `plan in place, review like ecosystem/subject, for there are many good lessons learn`t from many folks that have suffered + still are, along with premature death. We are so fortunate to still have indigenous folks living old `ways that still work, along with new that makes common sense.

We are not going to address fear based misinformation, rather actual experiences +  sharing bi`joy experiences of nature`s offerings, if we work within it`s limits + enhance accordingly to its potential, as with agroecology.
       
This is nothing new, actually I share with you experiences  also from `Conserving the World`s Biological Diversity, 1990 prepared + published by the International Union for Conservation of Nature + Natural Resources, World Resources Institute, Conservation International, World Wildlife Fund – US + the World Bank. To show a lot of work yet new entities continue to merge as in the upcoming  preparation for the Earth Summit 2012 in Rio, as I review 2010’s summary from the 8th annual meeting of UN + International Organizations Civil Society Focal Points in Manila, Philippines.
 
   People yet to realize climatic change often relates to changing regional vegetation patterns. Producing global carbon dioxide buildup, regional El Nino + monsoon systems + local effects, involving fire management. (Graham + White, 1988) Climate change, which appears to be taking place at the fastest rate in history, could have drastic effects on boreal forests, coral reefs, mangroves, wetlands + change boundaries of world`s biomes.
 
     Introduced species on many oceanic islands have virtually replaced the native species of plants (Fosberg, 1988), even Galapagos Island has as many introduced as native ones (Adsersen,1989). This is most serious threat facing US national park system. Animals are not immune to such threats.
   
   History Ex: African Rift Valley lakes, w/high level of endemism, introduced species of fish have threatened most native species w/extinction. Mongooses, snakes + others introduced can rather quickly lead to the extinction of the native fauna. While introduced herbivores such as goats + even reindeer can extinguish the native flora.
   
     Let micro + large browsers show us the `way, as we support trans boundary migration. Which has been successful + amazing what issues take place when this is not in place;
   
    History Ex: The S.E. of Tarangire National Park experiences, in Tanzania, where poaching + uncontrolled hunting of elephants + rhinos led to bush encroachment. Because main browsers no longer had a major influence on the vegetation. This in turn caused an increase in tsetse flies, which reduced the population of domestic livestock in the area.
Far from being just an ethical act, the conservation of elephants + rhinos would have enhanced the productivity of the livestock industry.
 
           Amazonia has taught many lessons on negative experiences where people deforested for raising cattle or farming then to find out soil would not permit, or in flood zone, etc. leaving yet a bigger crises by removing the trees. Their 1973 Altamira Project proved that there is a serious problem in the linkage between functional performances + the structural organization of development institutions. The numerous institutions that were placed in the colonization areas were unable to make adjustments to the difference between what the plans had indicated + what the empirical realities they faced;
 
            Lack of knowledge unrealistic, credit incentives should not of been tied to specific cereals giving the spotty performance of cereal production in humid tropics + lack of research on soils in 1971. Roads could not be kept open during the long rainy season, crops where rotting in the fields due to no feeder roads + storage facilities throughout the region. Planned communities along feeder roads were unable to attract + keep education + health personnel. Farmers were moving to their lots in this packaged deal, suggesting the construction of such communities was unjustified.
           
          The Maraba Integrated Colonization project was severely curtailed by high increase of malaria +  Itaituba Project by bad soils (Ipean 1974).
   
      The locals were aware of many of these problems, the information did not flow to decision nodes in the Brazilian Planning Institution. So that changes might be made. Nor where local adjustments made to meet the problems encountered.
           
          4 criteria in order of importance to bring in people to settle + work the grounds; they looked at their management experience, residential stability, previous credit experience + initial capital or liquid assets.
   
         The more experienced managers sought out the local Caboclos, + followed managing farms from the start, choosing accurate soil selection with areas w/ph > than 6.0 + got twice the yield per Hectare; diversified cropping practices bringing in a higher income than cropping dominated by rice farming, greater use of family labor in farm production processes, greater use of technology available, lower expenditures in consumptive items, less dependence on salaries to meet food needs.

     The soils could not sustain sedentary agriculture, environment is unhealthful, government had poor record for support for colonization, local markets are unable to absorb production + colonists lacked managerial skills. Much of land was held by few; loss of species diversity, fragility of ecosystems, destruction of native peoples way of life, global in changes in climate as only a few of the potential dangers associated with deforestation + development (Goodland + Irwin 1975; Lovejoy + Schubart 1980). Soils are acidic, leached. Ion in soluble nutrients + lateritic (turning to hard pan after minimal erosion). + These people were given a 100 Hectares of virgin forest each + told soils hailed to be as fertile as those of Parana. Along with many promises never fulfilled.

     Yet here in 2012 Greenpeace is on it’s way to Brazil, due to another mode of development that is not good + together we can make a difference.

         we can end these repeated patterns of destruction.

   It is clear good soil protection by natural vegetation cover + litter can preserve the productive capacity of the land, prevent dangerous landslides, safeguard coast lines + river banks + prevent the destruction of coral reefs + fresh water+ coastal fisheries by siltation. In Malaysia suspended sediment load following logging increased 70-97% in comparison with non-logged area.
   
      Management of watershed as a protected area can greatly reduce sediment loads + contribute to the longevity of resources + irrigation systems downstream.
   
           History Ex: Nepal`s Royal Chitwan National Park, villagers cleared + grazed N. bank of Rapti River (forms park boundary) so intensely that it has been subject to rapid erosion. On S. bank in park the protected vegetation binds the soil so that when monsoon rains swell the Rapti on the N. bank is washed away. As a result the course of the river has shifted + in less than a decade roughly 100 Hectares has been taken from villagers + added to park by natural forces.
 
       Maintaining natural balance of an environment affords natural habitat`s sanctuary to breeding populations of birds that control insects + mammal pests in agricultural areas. Bats, birds, bees that nest + breed in reserves may range far outside their boundaries + pollinate fruit trees in the surrounding areas.
 
 I don't want to add here History Ex due to no trees left or no bees or no Agouti, etc..

            Ex: Brazil nuts depend on a variety of poorly known forest plants + animals. Male Euglossine bees that pollinate the flowers of the Brazil nut tree gather certain organic compounds from epiphytic orchids to attract females for mating. The hard shell covering the nut is opened naturally only by the forest dweller Agouti (a large rodent), enabling tree to disperse seed.
 
        Maintaining production appears to require conserving enough natural forest to protect bee nesting habitat; Other bee food plants, certain orchids + trees upon which they grow, the insects or humming birds that pollinate the orchids (+ all their necessities in turn) + Agoutis.

                   
                    spring is in the air, bu is busy planting seed..

                                   

who would think lil one loves to skype text is baboo + dedoo. + for the 1st time see us in skype photo in a ipad, as mama carries us up a latter as he climbs to the top + wants to spend time alone with us up side down. meanwhile i'm sayimng i think if that was me i would turn it around to see if we were inside.. we just now are thinking to teach him to spell, so we can understand what he wrote, although mama understands him well.

bu speaks w/ the right tenses most of the time n corrects + then does right once he hears it right.  We don't correct or teach just speak to + with him in regular talk vs. about him or in "baby"talk, and acknowledge by repeating back often but not always and we repeat back the way u would say it if he says a lil differently.  

meanwhile he is not quite 2 years old + he loves to work the sails + lines with papa, + play his ukele along with papa with his guitar.

                       only 2012, times of the now could support this.

so don't you think we could build neural networks for peace, along this `way. i'm not saying computers are the `way, but it is a nice tool to bring folks together eye to eye, when unable to be close. as well it supports us to respect those not interested so we can still make life simple to do our daily tasks without requiring all to have a computer.

    which is what i just told Deb Lambert, as i introduced her to a very fine fishermen, + feel together can accomplish a breath of fresh air, from the long over due feeling of over regulated, etc. Deb works on the portal for Noaa, for the new upcoming comment period, in regards to the Maguson Stevens Act changes.

         i think we can find `ways that work, amongst the many, it was wrong for some fisher folks to have to buy expensive computer equipment in the past + still now in the present, when yet simple `ways work fine + it should be a choice for all.

      lucky us to have `ways to work thru this so all happy, so please join in to make it work!

                     our combined` effect makes a difference..

       to view more of Prof. Miguel Alteri`s offerings;

                  http://agroeco.org/projects/

http://www.cnr.berkeley.edu/~agroeco3/the_potential_of_agroecology.html


The Potential of Agroecology to Combat Hunger in the Developing World

Miguel A. Altieri
Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management
University of California at Berkeley

Peter Rosset
Institute for Food and Development Policy/Food First
Oakland, CA

Lori Ann Thrupp
World Resources Institute
Washington, DC

Hunger and malnutrition affect nearly 800 million people in the developing world. By and large those problems are not due to an absolute scarcity of food, however, but to the more complex issues of who grows food and how and where it is grown, how it is distributed, and finally, who has access to it. In this complicated web of causality, inequality is the outstanding driving force behind hunger. Misuse and over-exploitation of natural resources are other central factors underlying food gaps. Any technological policy for rural and agricultural development then, must be judged on, among other factors, whether it tends to increase or decrease inequity in the distribution of and access to resources and food, and whether it ensures sustainability of resource use.

Proponents of a ‘second’ Green Revolution (GRII) generally argue that scarcity and low agricultural productivity cause food insecurity and will also aggravate global hunger in the future. Those holding this perspective usually believe that "overpopulation" and food scarcity cause hunger, and likewise, dwell on aggregate global food production/consumption figures to justify GRII, but seldom look at distribution and disparities at the local or regional level. Therefore they propose a new wave of agricultural intensification based on stepped up fertilizer and pesticide use in Africa and parts of Latin America, bioengineered crop varieties, and trade policies that would allow northern food supplies to cover for any ‘food gaps’ remaining in the South after GRII. Likewise, they usually promote the agroindustrial model that stresses uniformity, standardized technologies for large-scale high-input and mechanized systems, aimed at maximizing yields of commercial crops, to fuel a global food system.

Yet, evidence suggests that this GR approach is unlikely to be the appropriate strategy to end hunger. Serious concerns have been raised by economic analysts, NGOs (non-governmental organizations), and farmers in many parts of the world, about the validity of this approach. Earlier versions of the GR technological package have in many cases generated soil, pest and weed problems, sometimes leading to long-term yield decline. Bioengineering produces varieties that are not locally adapted, and must be purchased by cash-strapped farmers. The widespread introduction of such varieties poses environmental risks and can reduce the genetic diversity of food crops and varieties, elevating risk and food insecurity for farmers in many areas. Dumping of Northern food surpluses is already a key factor depressing productivity in the South. The GR II emphasis on capital-intensive, off-farm, chemical inputs, is likely to both reinforce yield leveling or decline, and generate further inequity, thus making it a less than ideal policy package for attacking hunger.

In contrast, the agroecological approach favored by increasing numbers of farmers, NGOs, and analysts around the world, offers several advantages. First, it is a alternate path to agricultural productivity or intensification that relies on local farming knowledge and techniques adjusted to different local conditions, management of diverse on-farm resources and inputs, and incorporation of contemporary scientific understanding of biological principles and resources in farming systems. Second, it offers the only practical way to actually restore agricultural lands that have been degraded by conventional agronomic practices. Third, it offers an nvironmentally sound, and affordable way, for smallholders to sustainable intensify production in marginal areas. Finally, it has the potential to reverse the anti-peasant biases inherent in strategies that emphasize purchased inputs and machinery, valuing instead the assets that small farmers already possess, including local knowledge and the low opportunity costs for labor that prevail in the regions where they live. Thus it is an approach that is likely to decrease, rather than exacerbate, inequality, and also enhance sustainability.

Box 1: THE MEANING AND PRINCIPLES OF AGROECOLOGY

Agroecology is a scientific discipline that defines, classifies, and studies agricultural systems from an ecological and socioeconomic perspective. It is also considered the scientific foundation of sustainable agriculture as it provides ecological concepts and principles for the analysis, design, and management of productive, resource-conserving agricultural systems. Agroecology integrates indigenous knowledge with modern technical knowledge to arrive at environmentally and socially sensitive approaches to agriculture, encompassing not only production goals, but also social equity and ecological sustainability of the system. In contrast to the conventional agronomic approach that focuses on the spread of packaged uniform technologies, agroecology emphasizes vital principles such as biodiversity, recycling of nutrients, synergy and interaction among crops, animals, soil, etc., and regeneration and conservation of resources. The particular methods or technologies promoted by agroecologists build upon local skills and are adapted to local agroecological and socioeconomic conditions. The implementation of such agroecological principles within the context of a pro-poor, farmer-centered rural development strategy is essential for healthy, equitable, sustainable and productive systems.

Today there are thousands of examples where rural producers in partnership with NGOs and other organizations, have promoted and implemented alternative, agroecological development projects which incorporate elements of both traditional knowledge and modern agricultural science, featuring resource-conserving yet highly productive systems such as polycultures, agroforestry, the integration of crops and livestock, etc.

There is enough evidence available today—despite the fact that researchers have paid scant attention to these systems—to suggest that these agroecological technologies promiss to contribute to food security at many levels. Just how productive and sustainable they are is to some degree still an empirical question. But it is likely that the prevalence of similar systems among smallholders is a factor in the universally observed inverse relationship between farm size and production, whereby smaller farms make far more productive use of the land resources than do large farms. Yet, even medium and large scale producers are increasingly making use of the agroecological approach, recognizing the advantages of these principles and techniques over conventional approaches.

Critics of such alternative production systems point to lower crop yields and in high-input conventional systems. Yet all too often it is precisely the emphasis on yield—a measure of the performance of a single crop—that blinds analysts to broader measures of sustainability and to the greater per unit area productivity obtained in complex, integrated agroecological systems that feature many crop varieties together with animals and trees. There are also cases where even yields of single crops are higher in agroecological systems that have undergone the full conversion process.

Assessments of various initiatives in Africa, Asia and Latin America show that agroecological technologies can bring significant environmental and economic benefits to farmers and communities. If such experiences were to be scaled up, multiplied, extrapolated and supported in alternative policy scenarios, the gains in food security and environmental conservation would be substantial. In this article we summarize some cases from Latin America and Africa to explore the potential of the agroecological approach.

Stabilizing the Hillsides of Central America

Perhaps the major agricultural challenge in Latin America is to design cropping systems for hillside areas, that are both productive and reduce erosion. Several organizations have taken on this challenge with initiatives that emphasize the stewardship of soil resources, utilization of local resources, and inputs produced on-farm.

Since the mid 1980s, the private voluntary organization World Neighbors has sponsored an agricultural development and training program in Honduras, to control erosion and restore the fertility of degraded soils. Soil conservation practices were introduced—such as drainage and contour ditches, grass barriers, and rock walls—and organic fertilization methods were emphasized, such as chicken manure and intercropping with legumes. Program yields tripled or quadrupled from 400 kilograms per hectare to 1,200-1,600 kilograms, depending on the farmer. This tripling in per-hectare grain production has ensured that the 1,200 families participating in the program have ample grain supplies for the ensuing year. Subsequently COSECHA, a local NGO promoting farmer-to-farmer methodologies on soil conservation and agroecology, helped some 300 farmers experiment with terracing, cover crops and other new techniques. Half of them have already tripled their corn and bean yields; 35 have gone beyond staple production and are growing carrots, lettuce and other vegetables to sell in local markets.

Throughout Central America, CIDDICO and other NGOs have promoted the use of grain legumes to be used as green manure, an inexpensive source of organic fertilizer to build up organic matter. Hundreds of farmers in the northern coast of Honduras are using velvet bean (Mucuna pruriens) with excellent results, including corn yields of about 3,000kg/ha, more than double than national average, erosion control, weed suppression and reduced land preparation costs. The velvet beans produce nearly 30 t/ha of biomass per year, or about 90-100 kg of N/ha per year. Taking advantage of well established farmer to farmer networks such as the campesino a campesino movement in Nicaragua and elsewhere, the spread of this simple technology has occurred rapidly. In just one year more than 1,000 peasants recovered degraded land in the Nicaraguan San Juan watershed. Economic analyses of these projects indicate that farmers adopting cover cropping have lowered their utilization of chemical fertilizers (from 1,900 kg/ha to 400 kg/ha) while increasing yields from 700 kg to 2,000 kg/ha, with production costs about 22% lower than farmers using chemical fertilizers and monocultures.

Scientists and NGOs promoting slash/mulch systems based on the traditional "tapado" system, used on the Central American hillsides, have also reported increased maize yields (about 3,000 kg/ha) and considerable reduction in labor inputs as cover crops smother aggressive weeds, thus minimizing the need for weeding. Another advantage is that drought resistant mulch legumes such as Dolichos lablab provide good forage for livestock.

These kinds of agroecological approaches are currently being used on a relatively small percentage of land, but as their benefits are being recognized by farmers, they are spreading quickly. Such methods have strong potential and offer important advantages for other areas of Central America and beyond.

Agroecology in the Andean Region

In Peru, NGOs have studied pre-Columbian technologies in search of solutions to contemporary problems of high altitude farming. A fascinating example is the revival of an ingenious system of raised fields that evolved on the high plains of the Peruvian Andes about 3,000 years ago. According to archaeological evidence, these waru-warus, platforms of soil surrounded by ditches filled with water, were able to produce bumper crops despite floods, droughts and the killing frosts common at altitudes of nearly 4,000 meters.

In 1984, several NGOs and state agencies created the Projecto Interinstitucional de Rehabilitación de Waru-warus (PIWA) to assist local farmers in reconstructing the ancient systems. The combination of raised beds and canals has proven to have important temperature moderation effects, extending the growing season and leading to higher productivity on the waru-warus, compared to chemically fertilized normal pampa soils. In the district of Huatta, reconstructed raised fields produced impressive harvests, exhibiting a sustained potato yields of 8-14 t/ha/yr. These figures contrast favorably with the average Puno potato yields of 1-4 t/ha/yr. In Camjata, potato yields reached 13 t/ha/yr and quinoa yields reached 2t/ha/yr in waru-warus.

Elsewhere in Peru, several NGOs in partnership with local government agencies have engaged in programs to restore abandoned ancient terraces. For example, in Cajamarca, in 1983 EDAC-CIED together with peasant communities initiated an all-encompassing soil conservation project. Over 10 years they planted more than 550,000 trees and reconstructed about 850 has of terraces and 173 has of drainage and infiltration canals. The end result is about 1,124 has of land under conservation measures (roughly 32% of the total arable land), benefiting 1,247 families (about 52% of the total in the area). Crop yields have improved significantly. For example, potato yields went from 5 t/ha to 8 t/ha and Oca yields jumped from 3 to 8 t/ha. Enhanced crop production, fattening of cattle and raising of alpaca for wool, have increased the income of families from an average $ 108 per year in 1983 to more than $ 500 today.

In the Colca valley of southern Peru, PRAVTIR (Programa de Acondicionamiento Territorial y Vivienda Rural) sponsors terrace reconstruction by offering peasant communities low-interest loans or seeds and other inputs to restore large areas (up to 30 has) of abandoned terraces. The advantages the terraces are minimizing risk in times of frost and/or drought, reducing soil loss, broadening cropping options because of the microclimate and hydraulic advantages of terraces, and improvement productivity. First year yields from new bench terraces showed a 43-65% increases of potatoes, maize and barley, compared to these crops grown on sloping fields. The native legume Lupinus mutabilis is used as a rotational or associated crop on the terraces; it fixes nitrogen, which is available to companion crops, minimizing fertilizer needs and increasing production. As shown in Table 1, though yields are greater in chemically fertilized and machinery prepared potato fields, energy costs are higher and net economic benefits are not necessarily greater than the agroecological system. Surveys indicate that farmers prefer this alternative system as it optimizes the use of scarce resources, labor and available capital, and is accessible to even poor producers. These kinds of methods are being scaled up and multiplied, showing great potential for improvements in productivity and sustainable food security throughout the region.

Integrated Production Systems

A number of NGOs promote the integrated use of a variety of management technologies and practices. The emphasis is on diversified farms in which each component of the farming system biologically reinforces the other components, for instance where wastes from one component become inputs to another. Since 1980, CET, a Chilean NGO, has engaged in a rural development program aimed at helping peasants reach year-round food self-sufficiency while rebuilding the productive capacity of their small landholdings. The approach has been to set up several 0.5 ha model farms, which consist of a spatial and temporal rotational sequence of forage and row crops, vegetables, forest and fruit trees, and animals. Components are chosen according to crop or animal nutritional contributions to subsequent rotational steps, their adaptation to local agroclimatic conditions, local peasant consumption patterns and, finally, market opportunities. Most vegetables are grown in heavily composted raised beds located in the garden section, each of which can yield up to 83 kg of fresh vegetables per month, a considerable improvement to the 20-30 kg produced in spontaneous gardens tended around households. The rest of the 200-square meter area surrounding the house is used as an orchard, and for animals, (cows, hens, rabbits and langstroth beehives).

Vegetables, cereals, legumes and forage plants are produced in a six-year rotational system within a small area adjacent to the garden. Relatively constant production is achieved (about six tons per year of useful biomass from 13 different crop species) by dividing the land into as many small fields of fairly equal productive capacity as there are years in the rotation. The rotation is designed to produce the maximum variety of basic crops in six plots, taking advantage of the soil-restoring properties and biological control features of the rotation.

Over the years, soil fertility in the original demonstration farm has improved, and no serious pest or disease problems have appeared. Fruit trees in the orchard and fencerows, as well as forage crops are highly productive. Milk and egg production far exceed that on conventional farms. A nutritional analysis of the system based on its key components shows that for a typical family it produces a 250% surplus of protein, 80 and 550% surpluses of vitamin A and C, respectively, and a 330% surplus of calcium. A household economic analysis indicates that, the balance between selling surpluses and buying preferred items provides a net income beyond consumption of US$ 790. If all of the farm output were sold at wholesale prices, the family could generate a monthly net income 1.5 times greater than the monthly legal minimum wage in Chile, while dedicating only a relatively few hours per week to the farm. The tiime freed up is used by farmers for other on-farm or off-farm income generating activities.

In Cuba, the Asociación Cubana de Agricultura Orgánica (ACAO), a non-governmental organization formed by scientists, farmers and extension personnel, has played a pioneering role in promoting alternative production modules. In 1995 ACAO helped establish three integrated farming systems (called ‘agroecological lighthouses’) in cooperatives (CPAs) in the province of Havana. After the first six months, all three CPAs had incorporated agroecological innovations (i.e. tree integration, planned crop rotation, polycultures, green manures, etc.) to varying egrees, which, with time, have led to enhancement of production and biodiversity, and improvement in soil quality, especially organic matter content. Several polycultures, such as cassava-beans-maize, cassava-tomato-maize, and sweet potato-maize were tested in the CPAs. Productivity evaluation of these polycultures indicates 2.82, 2.17 and 1.45 times greater productivity than monocultures, respectively. The use of Crotalaria juncea and Vigna unguiculata as green manure have ensured a production of squash equivalent to that obtainable applying 175 kg/ha of urea. In addition, such legumes improved the physical and chemical characteristics of the soil and effectively broke the life cycles of insect pests such as the sweet potato weevil.

At the Cuban Instituto de Investigaciones de Pastos, several agroecological modules with various proportions of the farm area devoted to agriculture and animal production were established. Monitoring of production and efficiencies of a 75% pasture/25% crop module, reveals that total production increases over time, and that energy and labor inputs decrease as the biological structuring of the system begins to sponsor the productivity of the agroecosystem. Total biomass production increased from 4.4 to 5.1 t/ha after 3 years of integrated anagement. Energy inputs decreased, which resulted in enhanced energy efficiency (from 4.4 to 9.5) (Table 2). Human labor demands for management also decreased over time. Such models have been promoted extensively through field days and farmers cross visits. Similar results have been obtained by ICLARM researchers in Philippines, where integrated rice-based systems with livestock, aquaculture, tree and vegetable components have proven to be productive, efficient and profitable, given labor availability and secure tenure.

In the African context, positive results from agroecological approaches have also been achieved. In Senegal, for example, the Senegal Regenerative Agriculture Center is working to promote sustainable agriculture based on soil regeneration for small-scale farmers who have suffered from soil degradation. The cropping system is a millet-groundnut rotation, and legumes and intercropped with cereals. Compost is also being used to restore soil fertility. Cows, goats, and sheep are usually kept by each household, and their manure is collected for the compost mixture. This project is operating in 11 villages, with active farmer participation. Results show that farmers can obtain an increase in millet grain of more then 400 kilograms per hectare if they put on at least 2 tones of compost. Similar yield increases were achieved with chemical ertilizers, but the cost-benefit ratio was less favorable.

In Tanzania, a Soil Erosion Control and Agroforestry project was begun in 1980 in the Lushoto district. It included planting of perennial grass along contours to alleviate soil erosion and promote soil regeneration, as well as use of contour strips of trees, shrubs, and creeping legumes. The combination of these integrated methods reduced erosion by an average of 25 percent, and improved soil health. Trees species are also valuable for fodder. Total yields per hectare increased by 64 percent for areas with grass strips, and 87 percent for areas with contours. Gross marginal returns were 74 percent higher in the contour systems compared to conventional approaches. These practices are being adopted by hundreds of people in this district, and offer promising alternatives for many other similar farming areas.

Current experiences in Ethiopia also show the importance of respecting and upholding agroecological principles. In this country, as in other African nations, there have been heavy pressures to promote GR II technologies, particularly through the widespread imposition of uniform wheat and maize varieties, and a technology package policy that requires farmers to buy fertilizers and other inputs. However, local people and government and NGO officials have opposed this model, recognizing the problems and risks it entails, and they have defended and upheld the use of their diverse valuable local varieties of teff, sorghum, millet, and other grains that provide food security for the people. They also have worked on revival and "rescuing" of local seed varieties in community-based seedbanks, and promote integration of diverse sustainable farming practices in food security efforts.

These examples offer evidence of positive results, and also indicate increasing adoption and spread of the methods, as farmers realize their benefits for food security and sustained production for market as well. In many parts of the world there is great potential for even wider application of these agroecological approaches.

Conclusions

Throughout the developing world— in addition to the examples summarized above—there are thousands of experiences of sustainable agriculture implemented at the local level by farmer organizations, NGOs, and other agencies. These experiences demonstrate the feasibility of intensifying production, regenerating and preserving soils, and maintaining biodiversity, based on agroecological technologies and locally available resources. In fact, data from documented cases show that when correctly managed, agroecological systems:

exhibit more stable levels of total production per unit area over time,
produce economically favorable rates of return, in both energetic and monetary terms,
provide a return to labor and other inputs sufficient to provide an acceptable livelihood to small farmers and their families,
ensure soil protection and conservation and enhance agrobiodiversity.
The combination of stable and diverse production with relatively high levels of production, internally generated and recycled inputs and nutrients, favorable energy input/output ratios and articulation of both subsistence and surplus for market production, is a clear indication of what the agroecological strategy of intensification can achieve. This approach also enables farmers to reduce dependency on external capital-intensive inputs, to take advantage of local resources, and to avoid the vulnerability associated with monocultural production systems. As such, it is a more equitable and sustainable strategy than the conventional GR approach. These experiences show direct improvements for household food security and livelihoods. The values of such an approach are also being recognized and shown by scientists/researchers in the science of agroecology and its applications. Even modern commercial agriculture enterprises who have become tired of the high costs and constraints of conventional chemical-oriented approach are now realizing that the ‘state of the art’ in achieving success farming requires significant changes, to better understand, respect, uphold and enhance agroecological principles and biological limitations/capacities. As we move toward the 21st Century, agriculture should take on a new orientation or paradigm to achieve win-win-solutions; this orientation should be ecologically and socially oriented, knowledge-based, and farmer-friendly. A major question often asked is why hasn’t this agroecological approach spread more rapidly in recent decades? A major xplanation is that powerful economic/corporate and institutional interests have backed R&D for the conventional GR agroindustrial approach, while R&D for agroecology and sustainable approaches has been largely ignored or even ostracized. Only in recent years has there been growing realization of the advantages of alternatives.

Since there is increasing evidence and awareness about the advantages of agroecological alternatives, how can this approach and associated technologies be multiplied and adopted more widely and consistently, worldwide? Clearly, a technological or ecological approach is not enough. Major changes must be made in policies, institutions, and methods of R&D to ensure that these agroecological alternatives are adopted, made accessible equitably and broadly, and multiplied, so that we can realize their full benefit in terms of food security.

The challenge is to increase the investment and research into this strategy, and to scale-up projects that have already proven successful, thereby generating a meaningful impact in the income, food security and environmental integrity of the world’s population, and especially the millions of poor farmers yet untouched by modern agricultural technology. Existing subsidies and policy incentives for conventional chemical approaches must be dismantled, and institutional structures and partnerships and educational processes must change to enable this agroecological approach to blossom. In addition, participatory, farmer-friendly methods of technology development must be incorporated, ensuring that women, men, elders, and marginalized poor farmers or labor groups are included in development of alternatives. If we fail to seize this opportunity, the existing cases will remain as "islands of success" in a sea of deprivation, merely living testimonies of the potential of the "path not taken" to feed the rural poor. On the other hand, if we go forward to widely support and develop an agroecological approach, humanity can benefit from its potential to address the inequity, hunger and environmental degradation that so often accompany high-input, energy intensive, corporate-style agriculture.

 
 

La Via Campesina and the International Women’s Day

      a day on which we honour the memory of the many women workers, both rural and urban, who sacrificed their lives in the struggle for their rights, for justice, in order to end all discriminations and the social, economic and political inequalities that are among the underlying aspects of the development of global capitalism. It is also a day for celebrating the important progress that has been achieved in women’s struggles for emancipation.

March 8th is also a day of mobilisation and reaffirmation of the unlimited, on-going commitment to the struggle to end the patriarchal, capitalist system that is more oppressive to women in all spheres of society all over the world. This huge struggle continues to drive the urgent reflection of both men and women in La Via Campesina on how to progress, and change to acheive the type of society that we wish to build, with a new balance of power in social relationships where men and women have equal opportunities, rights and duties.

The Via Campesina message

We welcome the International Day of Action and Struggle that the Women of La Via Campesina are holding at global level. The objective is to denounce the advances of capitalism in agriculture via transnational companies as well as the destructive model of agribusiness that is threatening not only peoples’ food sovereignty, but also the environment. It is directly threatening women’s lives and freedom.

La Via Campesina clearly wishes to state that it is essential to raise the level of awareness of all men and women, by emphasizing the important role and the historical and current value of women’s contribution to small-scale family/peasant farming. They play an important part in preserving ancestral know-how and seeds, and guarantee the biodiversity and food sovereignty of peoples. It is highly regrettable that rural women, who account for 80% of food production, only own 2% of the land.

As La Via Campesina women and men struggle together to decry male chauvinist attitudes at both political and economic levels in the capitalist, patriarchal society that dominates today’s world. We shall mobilise to fight the offensive of the transnationcal companies that are grabbing our territories, our resources and our work, and shall continue to build a society based on equality and justice.

We share the challenges of integral agrarian reform, ending land-grabbing and guaranteeing social justice that will serve as a means of consolidating food and environmental sovereignty, and ending violence against women. We struggle to achieve agriculture based on agro-ecology, defending our land, water and seeds, and against the commodification of life.


La Via Campesina says Stop Violence against Women!

Women’s struggles against agribusiness, agrochemicas and for food sovereignty, health and women’s sovereignty!

Globalise the struggle! Globalise hope!



--



La Via Campesina
Via Campesina is an international movement of peasants, small- and medium-sized producers, landless, rural women, indigenous people, rural youth and agricultural workers. We are an autonomous, pluralist and multicultural movement, independent of any political, economic, or other type of affiliation. Born in 1993, La Via Campesina now gathers about 150 organisations in 70 countries in Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas.

International Operational Secretariat:
Jln. Mampang Prapatan XIV no 5 Jakarta Selatan 12790, Indonesia
 Tel/fax: +62-21-7991890/+62-21-7993426
 Email: viacampesina@viacampesina.org

thank you Peace Action west for detail follow thru to work with;

I am writing to urge you to cosponsor Rep. Markey’s bill, H.R. 3974, the Smarter Approach to Nuclear Expenditures Act of 2012 (the SANE Act).

The Cold War has been over for more than two decades, and yet we are still spending billions of dollars every year on these weapons that are outdated and do not keep us safe. The SANE Act would reduce the number of deployed nuclear warheads to no more than 1,000 and would save $117 billion over the next 10 years by cutting or freezing more than a dozen nuclear weapons programs.

These smart cuts would not only save billions and reduce the deficit, but would reduce the nuclear threat.

I urge you to join the 35 original cosponsors of H.R. 3974, and to speak out strongly for significant cuts to nuclear weapons spending. Please write to tell me what action you will take.

in a recent attack on a local, pushing him into cold water + then running, i see law enforcement is yet to fill in missing links. this man has been a narc, supposedly, on a witness program, yet takes drugs + for 4 months people have been abused by his negative effects left. then to see he goes to jail + released.

people have come so accustomed to dull sensors. unless you are in a important position, such as the local marina port employee, that got addressed in a negative manor, which finally removed him from the grounds.

where is the rehab in place to teach one to rid their baggage + build new neural networks. not just go to church, rather seriously go thru counseling to build understanding of how to communicate with self + others , to responsibly build + maintain discipline over their self-sensory observations vs belief.

then they can responsibly choose their own story, as long as it leaves no negative effect on self + others.

well this party continued to act out negatively to many.

 i say this due to if we cannot get local community building filling in these links so people self-develop, how do you expect anyone to locally sustain peace with a local police force that may do their job, but then the courts + rehab have missing links for self-development + housing them so they do not hurt them self + others until they calm them self.

it is this kind of people that continue to misuse/abuse, + then weapons are used against them, this is sick. we have good tools now to link these fragments + stop this immature lack og organizing, so as to follow thru with peoples early signs to their development.

just as we can say no to weaponry production of any kind. it is wrong to injure a ill person that is undeveloped.

how can you people even consider to spend funds foolishly on weapons when together we can build local communities where people know each + develop awareness of early signs + follow thru with good human development for rehab.

live local + network what works so all local + afar can do the same. this is what our international community wants. so please don't stand in the `way, self observe + awaken to what can be + is in many sound communities.

with all these funds that are presently used to injure + pollute our biospheres, which presently are not accurately sized for our  present population or our co_evolution, as well rid our pests we create + the toxic co2, which we also can stop such industry. which with balanced genetic biodiversity restoration prioritized with this funding, actually restoring many jobs for our healthy natural restorations, which only then can our local community sustain us, as our best medicine, when natural world in balance.

it is our obligation to link these biospheres for our global balance. we no longer can accept people programmed with fear based misinformation + paranoia, that is an ill state + it contradicts all the curriculum being taught.

as well we cannot just employ alternative energy, without ridding the layers of interference in our natural world + prioritize enhancing natures limits 1st. vs fragment, wastefully consume + then have to redo error when too late.

no more back peddling with the good young + old now working with indigenous `ways that work to enhance upon.

it is time you people take responsible action + stop a war mode economy, for we intend to show you people whom is interfering + show details in a new community project that we intend to do globally. no more can you act in fragments when we tally these threads + link those responsible for interfering in good sound policy for local police to be better trained with people to adjust to early signs that we can easily control with good common sense, people working together.

if you can not see this potential then it is time for you to step down + become aware yourself. + build new neural networks for peace. this is our human potential now..

we can help you do just that. please contact us for assistance. thank you for responsibly ridding more then even what is presented here.

thank you, kara j lincoln

i've said no on the west coast for the proposed area Cape Arago in Oregon, due to the process being very bad science.

my ideal of good science is to fine tune each area, not carry forward thought from another, yes like detail can share but each to be treated individually + by locals. giving them the option to include this research into their daily chores + pay them for it.

to define if needed. if needed use good math for what their income was + adjust for how long they will not make it. remember this is our fish they are catching for our protein. not to mention the high risk of working in the elements. which they are over regulated as is.

so now they choose a new perhaps temporary or permanent career change to protect their livlihood. or get adjusted subsidizing. but most important before any new procedural protocals, cancel out or clean up existing + let the fisher folks cooperatively do it.

right now Deb Lambert states they are redoing the Maguson Stevens Act due to public opinion, + then will reopen again for new comments.

the people pursuing environmentalism, MPA/reserves, ask yourself, do you go to the local fisher folks + ask them to do this work + pay them. i see a lot of science bad science not integrating them, as well they end up isolating, fragmenting without adding reality. rather just move aside + let them in.

in reviewing the bad energy ideals presently as i just told Barack, ecologically their is detail to be considered when enhancing from the top i say good ecological enhancement of natural systems 1st, vs. fragmented not realizing until after the fact that it interferes in a natural tool.

good science needs to integrate + only allow alternative energy when other layers of wrong doing that messed up our environment is stopped. where simplified understanding is laid out for local traditional co_evolving modes.

i use the Amazonian as an ex; where natives where dependent on large parcels of property with many ecosystems as they moved with seasonal camps with fine precision, understanding the interrelations of soil/plant/animal in all modes of fresh water, sea, brackish, flood + occasional 7 yr or so flood + what to do where.

them like the natives everywhere have been abused by people fragmenting. even the IUCN in it's definition of protection. we are the human species dependent on interacting  + require large areas to `boon with. only then can we + as they did + some indigenous still we are fortunate to have, then fine tune their neural networks + enhance human development to  be sensitive to this life.

where look around + if we could test those neural networks of us that have abused many years not being aware, i sure have. do you see we where taken away from our livlihood by quote protecting it being the wrong policy. rather live with those that have developed `ways for it to survive.

these indigenous stewards rather a plant colony such as the mangroves or people such as many doing agroecolgy as with Professor Miguel Altieri from Berkely writing curriculum from indigenous `ways that work.

we have so much simple `ways to integrate + respect all life, so locals don't no longer get pushed aside, + yes many can only talk about what used to be as resources are depleted. but we have globally many that offer an abundance yet we do not support them. why.

our project we invite people to share via biomes/subject + use strategies + schematics that can resolve as we end the layers. yes don't just add another, invite those in that where abused misusing, etc. + together simple understanding of local awareness can set the cloth/table stage to make protection be common sense, not a means to have others afar come in, rather for locals to learn + take control, so commons is for everyone. + sovereignty exists.

we applied for a grant + are working at project osic to support students. to come our of the classroom into the community + together define + prioritize working communities for harmony.

our forum is crude for we stopped it to do the WASH grant + our proposal is to not just target the poorest countries, rather do it globally + show our effects left on our self + others as we reflect with `ways that work so together we work thru our baggage, we have become familiar taken it as normal.

please join + share what works + we can integrate + restore life so as to maintain discipline of our self sensory observation vs belief that takes us away from the moment, leaving us chase something allowing us to not respect life.

come take a look;

http://i-come-to-talk-story-net.3220728.n2.nabble.com

peace is an option if we share what works.

our combined` effect adds;

  locals that work the land are valuable resources + project osic will work to ensure locals have self-reliance + build community with rights for survival. it is wrong to isolate any ecological corridor + sell property to anyone that divides natural biomes that locals are dependent on.

it was wrong to do this in past to all indians as they where moved from this natural migration as they `boon with their natural world + it is wrong to do it now.

people please invite us into your local community to help share reflection of our true human needs as a living organism, dependent on natural environments with abundant genetic bio-diversity, along with understanding correct use of our interrelations with the natural world.

  only then are we fueled to self-develop + be free to explore, as we all come together, live local + change this global lack of awareness that produces a war mode economy, pests, + pollution. which a tapering transition can add solutions to a viable market that now ethically - ecologically invests in sound modes, as locals create blueprints from good data base where markets build sustainability, no more hedge fund manipulation or no more aid, rather economic viable stability in what sustains all life.

support locals to be responsible + become aware of our local, global + beyond obligations;

Oral Intervention of FIAN International and La Via Campesina in the 8th session of the UN Human Rights Council Advisory Committee
More on www.viacampesina.org
21 February 2012

Dear Mr. /Mrs. President,
La Via Campesina, the international peasant movement, together with FIAN International, would like to commend the Advisory Committee for its final study on the advancement of the rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas.

Secure access to and control over land and productive resources are inextricably linked to the expression of the rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and several regional and international human rights treaties. They include the right to adequate food, self-determination, an adequate standard of living, housing, health, culture, property and participation.

We note with grave concern that the current land grabbing phenomenon has been undermining those rights. Powerful foreign investors are signing backdoor agreements to take possession of or control land. Many of these agreements involve more than 10,000 hectares and several include more than 500,000 hectares. This land is very important for current and future food sovereignty in the host countries. The High Level Group of Experts of the Committee on World Food Security FAO estimates that between 50 and 80 million hectares in poor and developing countries has been negotiated, acquired and leased by international investors. All available studies that have examined the impact of this lust for land agree that large-scale land transactions are undermining the food security, endangering the livelihood and damaging the environment of the local population.

During an international conference held in the Nyeleni Village in Mali November 2011, we reiterated the Dakkar Appeal signed by over 900 organizations worldwide. It pledges to resist land-grabbing by all means possible, to support those who fight land-grabs, and to put pressure on national and international institutions to fulfill their obligations to ensure and uphold the rights of people.

The final study of the Advisory Committee plays an important role in addressing the problem of land grabbing. It also plays an important role in alleviating the longtime discrimination against peasants, especially women, in access to and control over productive resources such as land, water and seeds.
We urge the international community, including the development agencies and the United Nations, to make a significant policy shift toward the full integration of human rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas. This policy shift includes policies that prioritize the needs of the most vulnerable people working in rural areas. It includes improvements in the implementation of existing human rights instruments that protect the rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas. We feel that the existing instruments are clearly insufficient to ensure the protection of our rights.

Violations of our rights to land are escalating, and hunger is still predominantly rural. These are the main reasons why we need further recognition and protection of the rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas. Thus, the creation of a new mechanism to ensure international human rights for peasants and other people working in rural areas is crucial to overcome the problem.

The increasing impoverishment and marginalization of peasants and other people working in rural areas, in many ways, has significantly contributed to the degradation of the current food situation. Peasants and other people working in rural areas ought to be at the very core of efforts aimed at overcoming discrimination in the exercise of the right to food. If human rights are to prevail, the international community needs to be bold and act now to increase the protection of the human rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas.

Thank you, Mr. /Mrs. President.

Submitted by Javier Sáchez Anso, a member of International Coordinating Committee (ICC) of La Via Campesina


La Via Campesina is the international movement of peasants, small- and medium-sized producers, landless, rural women, indigenous people, rural youth and agricultural workers. Founded in 1993, La Via Campesina now comprises 150 organisations in 70 countries in Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas. This equates to around 200 million peasant farmers worldwide.
International Operational secretariat:
Jln. Mampang Prapatan XIV no 5 Jakarta Selatan, Jakarta 12790 Indonesia
Tel/fax: +62-21-7991890/+62-21-7993426
Email: viacampesina@viacampesina.org

People,

    please review our tapering transition;

          we can stop the energy inefficiency of struggling, law suits, protesting aggressively, misinformation allowed to be applied when people go beyond natural limits - yet they are allowed to ecologically destroy.

   by seriously pooling our resources, redirecting our energy + welcoming these people into a cloth/table platform where we support them to rethink.

          yes support them, with our specific, science made good + clearly define holistic reality, that they have missed + been allowed to do. they had no ethics ecologically which where common sense to them. then many rode on their wave with greed, attempts to survive, unaware, what ever. it is a waste of energy to go this route, when yes we may not yet have the neural network for some to comprehend this. but enough do. + it is this direction that will reflect solutions for each then to fill in locally. so as to not generalize or assume.

   rather be in the present + address directly the people behind each shield. + together if we do this globally, we then can make a difference. for these resources are abundant + they can be used wisely, as indigenous lead the path with the good science they continue to live. yes the bad science has ignored them as well themselves as they stay muttled with no real time integration for building sound working comminties that harmonize. which we propose in project osic;

   + although my friends below do not support the USAID as they direct their statement, read below, but i want you to know this grant application from them i just did was very hard. why because if you see it, which i'm happy to show you it all, if you ask for it. you will see that Barack has asked us to show where market /government is wrong so we can make it right. if we can pool our resources + back him, then he also can fight this long over due disassociated energy that many are trapped in, yet they think they do their best for the world, when yet they fail to for them self + their local community. + to do what should be done in priority is not happening because of the neural network many are housing, which can change.

  if Barack gets over ruled + succumbs to not comply, then we again help him understand what should be, from sharp sensory perspective, with him in this responsible role. vs those that have dulled their sensors in attempts to make it right. + as i`ve proposed with grant, i cannot accept just focusing on the poorest countries without starting here in the US + thread with all countries to see how we produce them. as well take care of our local people without their daily needs met, etc. as we use these funds to not allow dysfunction to continue, rather pool resources for chosen stewards already in place as a hub of hubs to then reach out, not with aid, but a loan for economic gain to now control these lands of sustainability. which each one of you will then share what works best.  as we not bring in aid, rather we support local market that is most efficient then to reach out to those without + together look at the global picture for each local community obligation to self -sustain + say no to these false green movements.

       students in each community, will have modes ready to invest from those that have gone thru the tapering transition + now ready to happily be an investor of modes that build self-reliance, respecting indigenous control's for their work place, that have protected the commons for sovereignty + decentralization. + investor is now whole within himself, no longer adrenalizing on the roller coaster ride, rather happy for a calm stability, a breath of fresh air literally, as our local biospheres then link as genetic biodiversity is restored. 1 good science is lived every day, no longer just for groups, rather community self-devlops as we realize our interdependence as a living species on this planet;

   fueling us all to clean up the waste to then have a good foundation to co_evolve with. so all gain tools to become a local, global + beyond participant. + i don't mean just all on the computer, rather each should have respect to choose. + never should a way be only by computer, rather students can learn + a spoke person can tally for those unaware or uninterested. for it is just a tool, even though good, it should not be controlled. rather all need to be aware of the scams, etc. as in anything, if a child has awareness then they make good judgement. + until we walk side by side admitting our wrong doings, in this walkabout, giving them reality as an equal now, taking responsibility of why so many are without. now adults have a chance to develop along side their child. reprogramming what many think is natural, realizing we can build new neural networks + never go back to the past of such horror as this planet + beyond has experienced.

   rather we can celebrate, play music as wild critters help us restore a natural reality of living within nature`s limits. + regain balance for all life. networking continuing to explore the unique cultures created from being `boon with the wild. no more over emotion thinking we have a natural disaster leaving us distraught, when we can be understand wilderness awareness + see the beauty of regeneration of new life. with each global experience, whether a hurricane or tidal wave, we can be better prepared as we live in the wild + integrate, building appropriately. without fear based misinformation.

only together can we do this. for the WB, WTO, UN + many, also has had so much ingrained incorrectness from the hand full of people that have controlled this planet + done it unethically + used no sense of good science at all. yet i see many that had good thought, but it was fragmented, no good science or simple respect for indigenous when they supported people to act. indigenous have been abused + never respected for what is real science, when you live in real time respecting life as an equal. + truly giving life its` space. + no life should interfere in another. if so then they stop + correct it.

many people have been abused/misused + still are. this we cannot accept. what we can do with our energy is to focus direct + stay in the moment. so that we truly co_evolve. giving support to those unable to stay present, as their baggage long carried forward from the past surfaces, which they also can rid that if they do their homework.

it is this compassion that will fuel answers to stop the false green movement + do a land use review for all life. + in project osic, which i proposed in the grant with or without, this we will review with local students, tradional `ways aware now, those unavailable that where ruled out/abused, + seek them again. only then will we consider as a supplement only, an alternative form of energy to supplement what should be after analysis of land use review.

for all those party`s involved in the present deforestation projects globally as well implementing large so called green projects are seriously wrong + interfering in our global/local ability to build + link our genetic biospheres, which is our survival + is not presently calculated correctly to sustain our health locally + or globally nor to co_evolve as the human species.

plus these people + all before them, are wrong to of interfered in the local people`s ability to migrate + provide food + shelter dependent on each local biomes offerings.

in do_in study on the Amazon, it is a human disgrace to see how investors purchase land, cut trees to plant fields without even realizing a specific soil type will not facilitate that crop, etc. only the indigenous that have been badly abused, know exactly how to migrate seasonally + what soil of a ph more then 6 as in the Kayopa tribe, as they had several camps, + even when others thought they had abandoned their fields, they still grow species for 5, 15, 30 years, etc. to put in dams, to deforest, eroded soil, interfered in water shed areas, same as they are do_in in US + globally with the false green movement. micro biomes of air flow for insects/birds, etc are being interfered with, when large green so called energy is used. this is wrong.

to see people in US/globally, to not even take the time to have data of land use review correct, along with not knowing how our human species works is amazing, yet natives have been taken from their lands, from their ability to migrate seasonally, knowing which plant is on what soil + what plant attracts what animal to hunt, etc. where the science of indigenous living was not + is not being used, same as the marine reserves + marine protected areas, that people are running with;

           meanwhile the small commercial fisheries are struggling being over regulated, not by just 1 entity but several that are not even integrated, making those that work directly with the elements to struggle that much harder. that is wrong. + Maguson Stevens Act in the US is presently being worked to open for comment. but sadly the good old fishery folks have left without good science being made + more are being pushed out while market/government allows large commercial boats to make havoc for the small boats, as they rape the migrating species. leaving international waters incorrectly enforced as well no good communication in place working with all the commercial small fisherfolks, to re leave their nonsensical over regulated many entities. especially before adding more restrictions as in the marine proposals..  point is people are running wild with different agendas, without thinking of all the negative effects left.

this we cannot allow, when we can welcome each to take a review + then as a human, come back as a community participant + recycle what can + make wrongs right, with now a clear direction for all to go figure. so now we gain an ethical ecological prioritized investment of modes, where locals know exactly their needs +they define parts if any to supplement traditional `ways that work + if enhancement fits into the agroecology gauge then all the better. + locals then define to build parts or where best locally to get them + then be trained to maintain, vs the multinational disrespect + unfair trade, as well wasteful consumption of doing trade from afar. especially as in our food where it goes back + forth for marketing, which is totally unexcused.

people hold yourself accountable, + be the better human + come forth + self-register into the tapering transitions, so we can set the cloth/table stage + now share strategies/schmetics that are ethical + ecologically sound with agroecology gauge in place for land + for water -fresh + sea, for it is wrong + inefficient to do wave energy or river energy + then continue with bad land energy ways that are bring toxins to the ocean, such as the mono cultures damage with toxic run off, or GMOS air born contamination, etc. destroying the natural nursery grounds. + then support farmed fish, which is wrong + the Canadian salmon farms have proven to be very negative + damaging.

  to put all this data together on what is bad, can be done + will be done as we pool our resources. + to be most efficient is to move on + correct it, giving an abundance of work to all, to come together + volunteer as each fall into position for long term careers as good stewards. + the student in all  do this continued walkabout, so as to see the negative effect degreed/so called developed people leave on their local community + afar. where now with tallies being transparent we can show people, products + now alternatives, so if people leave negative effects + resist the tapering transition then they will not last long once we self-actualize with sound direction, by sharing what works.

      bringing in indigenous `ways + showing the good science to create with as we do a new land use review + incorporate ethically what is ecological reality for our local sustainability for each biome;

     to get serious of linking our biospheres for our human + all life priorities to regain our environments to be our best medicine. for those that perceive solutions to address appropriately as people come together with their local community participants + hold them accountable + ourselves as we co_evolve in this in time process. where not just math + technology is studied rather we add the ecology, biology, agroecology, so all can learn the same language, so all know the same shade of color when we speck it locally, no matter where we are on this planet.

thank you for this review, kara j lincoln

        our combined` effect makes a difference + we all need to prioritize this;

                      La Vía Campesina Call to action

        Reclaiming our future: Rio + 20 and Beyond

On 20-22 June 2012, governments from around the world will gather in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to commemorate 20 years of the "Earth Summit", the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) that first established a global agenda for "sustainable development". During the 1992 summit, the Convention on Biological Diversity (CDB), the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) and the Convention to Combat Desertification, were all adopted. The Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) was also established to ensure effective follow-up of the UNCED “Earth Summit.”

Twenty years later, governments should have reconvened to review their commitments and progress, but in reality the issue to debate will be the "green economy" led development, propagating the same capitalist model that caused climate chaos and other deep social and environmental crises.
La Vía Campesina will mobilize for this historical moment, representing the voice of the millions of peasants and indigenous globally who are defending the well-being of all by implementing food sovereignty and the protection of natural resources.

             20 Years later: a planet in crisis

20 years after the Earth Summit, life has become more difficult for the majority of the planet's inhabitants. The number of hungry people has increased to almost one billion, which means that one out of six human beings is going hungry, women and small farmers being the most affected. Meanwhile, the environment is depleting fast, biodiversity is being destroyed, water resources are getting scarce and contaminated and the climate is in crisis. This is jeopardizing our very future on Earth while poverty and inequalities are increasing.
The idea of "Sustainable Development" put forward in 1992, which merged "development" and "environment" concerns, did not solve the problem because it did not stop the capitalist system in its race towards profit at the expense of all human and natural resources:
 
    - The food system is increasingly in the grips of large corporations seeking profit, not aimed at feeding the people.
    - The Convention on Biodiversiy has created benefit sharing mechanisms but at the end of the day, they legitimize the capitalization of genetic resources by the private sector.
    - The UN Convention on Climate Change, instead of forcing countries and corporations to reduce pollution, invented a new profitable and speculative commodity with the carbon trading mechanisms, allowing the polluter to continue polluting and profit from it.
The framework of “sustainable development” continues to see peasant agriculture as backwards and responsible for the deterioration of natural resources and the environment. The same paradigm of development is perpetuated, which is nothing less than the development of capitalism by means of a “green industrialization.”

           The “Green Economy” – Final Enclosure?

Today the "greening of the economy" pushed forward in the run-up to Rio+20 is based on the same logic and mechanisms that are destroying the planet and keeping people hungry. For instance, it seeks to incorporate aspects of the failed “green revolution” in a broader manner in order to ensure the needs of the industrial sectors of production, such as promoting the uniformity of seeds, patented seeds by corporation, genetically modified seeds, etc.

The capitalist economy, based on the over-exploitation of natural resources and human beings, will never become “green.” It is based on limitless growth in a planet that has reached its limits and on the commoditization of the remaining natural resources that have until now remained un-priced or in control of the public sector.

In this period of financial crisis, global capitalism seeks new forms of accumulation. It is during these periods of crisis in which capitalism can most accumulate. Today, it is the territories and the commons which are the main target of capital. As such, the green economy is nothing more than a green mask for capitalism. It is also a new mechanism to appropriate our forests, rivers, land… of our territories!
Since last year’s preparatory meetings towards Rio + 20, agriculture has been cited as one of the causes of climate change. Yet no distinction is made in the official negotiations between industrial and peasant agriculture, and no explicit difference between their effects on poverty, climate and other social issues we face.

The "green economy" is marketed as a way to implement sustainable development for those countries which continue to experience high and disproportionate levels of poverty, hunger and misery. In reality, what is proposed is another phase of what we identify as “green structural adjustment programs” which seek to align and re-order the national markets and regulations to submit to the fast incoming "green capitalism".
Investment capital now seeks new markets through the “green economy”; securing the natural resources of the world as primary inputs and commodities for industrial production, as carbon sinks or even for speculation.

This is being demonstrated by increasing land grabs globally, for crop production for both export and agrofuels. New proposals such as “climate smart” agriculture, which calls for the “sustainable intensification” of agriculture, also embody the goal of corporations and agri-business to over exploit the earth while labeling it “green”, and making peasants dependent on high-cost seeds and inputs. New generations of polluting permits are issued for the industrial sector, especially those found in developed countries, such as what is expected from programs such as Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD++) and other environmental services schemes.

The green economy seeks to ensure that the ecological and biological systems of our planet remain at the service of capitalism, by the intense use of various forms of biotechnologies, synthetic technologies and geo-engineering. GMO’s and biotechnology are key parts of the industrial agriculture promoted within the framework of "green economy".

The promotion of the green economy includes calls for the full implementation of the WTO Doha Round, the elimination of all trade barriers to incoming “green solutions,” the financing and support of financial institutions such as the World Bank and projects such as US-AID programs, and the continued legitimization of the international institutions that serve to perpetuate and promote global capitalism.

        Why peasant farmers mobilize

Small-scale farmers, family farmers, landless people, indigenous people, migrants - women and men - are now determined to mobilize to oppose any commodification of life and to propose another way to organize our relationship with nature on earth based on agrarian reform, food sovereignty and peasant based agroecology.

   We reject the "Green Economy" as it is pushed now in the Rio+20 process. It is a new mask to hide an ever-present, growing greed of corporations and food imperialism in the world.
We oppose carbon trading and all market solutions to the environmental crisis including the proposed liberalization of environmental services under the WTO.

   We reject REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) which allows rich countries to avoid cutting their carbon emissions by financing often damaging projects in developing countries.

   We expose and reject the corporate capture of the rio + 20 process and all multilateral processes within the United Nations.

   We oppose land grabs, water grabs, seeds grabs, forest grabs - all resources' grabs!

   We defend the natural resources in our countries as a matter of national and popular sovereignty, to face the offensive and private appropriation of capital;

   We demand public policies from governments for the protection of the interests of the majority of the population, especially the poorest, and landless workers;

   We demand a complete ban on geoengineering projects and experiments; under the guise of ‘green’ or ‘clean’ technology to the benefit of agribusiness. This includes new technologies being proposed for adaptation and mitigation to climate change under the banners of “geo-engineering” and “climate smart agriculture”, including false solutions like transgenic plants supposed to adapt to climate change, and "biochar" purported to replenish the soil with carbon.

   We resolve to protect our native seeds and our right to exchange seeds.

   We demand genuine agrarian reform that distributes and redistributes the land - the main factor in production - especially taking into account women and youth. Land must be a means of production to secure the livelihood of the people and must not be a commodity subject to speculation on international markets.

   We reject "market assisted land reform", which is another word for land privatization.

   We struggle for small scale sustainable food production for community and local consumption as opposed to agribusiness, monoculture plantations for export.

   We continue to organize and practice agroecology based production, ensuring food sovereignty for all and implementing collective management of our resources
Call to action

   We call for a major world mobilization to be held between 18-26 June in Rio de Janeiro, with a permanent camp, for the Peoples Summit, to counter the summit of governments and capital.

   We will be in Rio at the People’s Summit where anti-capitalist struggles of the world will meet and together

   we will propose real solutions. The People’s Permanent Assembly, between the 18 and 22, will present the daily struggles against the promoters of capitalism y the attacks against our lands. Today, Rio de Janeiro is one of the cities which receive the most contributions from global capital and will host the Soccer World Cup and Olympics. We will unite our symbolic struggles from the urban to the landless movements and fishers.

   We also declare the week of June 5th, as a major world week in defense of the environment and against transnational corporations and invite everyone across the world to mobilize:

      Defend sustainable peasant agriculture

   Occupy land for the production of agroecological and non-market dominated food

   Reclaim and exchange native seeds

   Protest against Exchange and Marketing Board offices and call for an end to speculative markets on commodities and land

  Hold local assemblies of People Affected by Capitalism

  Dream of a different world and create it!!

The future that we want is based on Agrarian Reform, Peasant's based sustainable agriculture and Food Sovereignty!

         GLOBALIZE THE STRUGGLE!!

         GLOBALIZE HOPE!!!
--
La Via Campesina
Via Campesina is an international movement of peasants, small- and medium-sized producers, landless, rural women, indigenous people, rural youth and agricultural workers. We are an autonomous, pluralist and multicultural movement, independent of any political, economic, or other type of affiliation. Born in 1993, La Via Campesina now gathers about 150 organisations in 70 countries in Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas.

International Operational Secretariat:
Jln. Mampang Prapatan XIV no 5 Jakarta Selatan 12790, Indonesia
Tel/fax: +62-21-7991890/+62-21-7993426
Email: viacampesina@viacampesina.org

 

 

  wow this was very hard, to address how we as people, that are subjected to so much fragmentation, can pool our resources. we have the ability to reflect + support each to interrelate, build community that helps each sort out their life. so as to build neural pathways that harmonize. where we leave aggressive measures beyond a healthy ego behind. yes actually ending war mode economies. where people can clear see the worn torn links that have kept us in the fog, while many make business out of war;

   + with all this money exchanging hands, we welcome people into a tapering transition so as to lay out solution on cloth/table mode so as to give support for people to rethink. become aware of local community needs + how they left negative effects by their choice of product/service. so we recycle + make wrongs right.

    so as to address our bigger pictures such as heal, rid baggage, reprogram, bring self to be present + walk side by side with children showing them how wrong we have been. admit the truth as we co_evolve together, building self-reliance along with sound working communities to let us live locally in harmony;

      we are fortunate to have students, yes many air heads but with a little focus direction they will far exceed ourselves + together we can create 1 good universal science that can be applied in our daily living to co_evolve with + create as we restore our present mindbody. simple common sense to some, that we are fortunate to reflect with that have retained `ways that work. as we share via like biomes/subject, triggering what we can bring home + apply, as we fine tune.

               creating more wild lands to support the restoration of our genetic bio-diversity, so as to support small natural farms giving us fresh local grown natural variety of produce, foraged annual + perennial areas, along with small gardens in our back yards linking community offerings, + fresh markets easily affordable for all. link our biospheres giving us means to clean our air, reduce the co2, rid pest issues as we become aware that only we make pests as we leave space for nature to multiply, + pollinate our fields as we restore our saved seeds, + aid the removal of all mono cultures, along with helping those farms still using GMOS/toxic chemicals to understand their is a better more economical `way.  

    we invite you to support project osic which we propose in these grants, to thread globally so all local communities support students to come into community, so together all co_evolve. + see how people conduct unethical practices, that are not ecologically sound, as they interfere in natures `way. which is the `way we are dependent on;

         we as a  living organism are dependent on our wild to contain the correct amount of genetic bio-diversity, to be our best medicine as we restore a healthy balance + `boon with our seasonal offerings.

   to think that anyone could simply put real estate/property ownership in front of ethical human values has blown me away. the deforestation of Indonesia + Amazon is just as bad as when land was taken from the American Indians. we as humans require roaming migration for our seasonal offerings to be fully experienced. it was + still is very in humane for people to not be allowed to migrate, as in many that have been removed from this ability to travel + expected to survive on a limited lot size, or had/still have their land stolen from them.

       depending on our soil type many people have to go farther to provide for their variety of foods. not to mention as we continue to consume more, even with bio-fuel it is triggering a global negative issue, from those that do not waste. take a review of this;

       http://www.commercialpressuresonland.org/press/us-biofuels-policy-drives-deforestation-indonesia-amazon

       if we do our homework, we have the answers + solutions to stop our misuse/abuse. we need to organize efficiently + simply live local where ever we end up + network what works. our wild in our local communities is not large enough to supply the number of people that live in the local community. so in our land use review, we suggest to recalculate + correct the math. this is the good universal science we can share. that we apply daily, as students aid the evolution process, having hands on with their school activities + community maintenance, for continuing to receive accreditation/incentives for furthering their education + continue to explore, as they do an exchange with their local community members;

      as each are supported to build their path as they walk it into their opening. not pushed + shoved by any belief. rather supported to maintain own discipline as one prioritizes their self-sensory observation vs belief.

  which is difficult when filled with baggage from so many layers of people doing vs. do_in. leaving dull sensors with clouded cues. which project osic can help clarify + support so we regain sharp sensors, able to listen + recognize early signs, what to rid, what to follow, as we edit responsibly, as we start moving our muscles to fuel good rest as we repair + rebuild, giving us fuel to create new neural networks so we are self-satisfied completely without leaving a footprint;

           yes, that means fulfill our obligations to our own inner tools as well stop leaving negative effects on other life, so we self-observe + check in as we bring our self to calm, rid our baggage + bring future thought + apply it to now, so as to remain in the present, making good judgement. now understanding the many missing links that we have allowed, that produces our misuse/abuse.

  to recently review the weapons list of the US really makes me ill. + to see how people are pursuing continually wanting more as in the republican campaign. it is bad enough that even though Barack is reducing, it is not fast enough, for our nuclear weaponry, when all weapons should be eliminated, etc. while others are wanting more. right now we should be bringing together our local communities so our police force gets to know the local community + we create links for early signs, so as to offer solutions in all stages of development + for those misusing/abused.

  all these solutions we have offer employment for those clear interested in such subjects. + as we do this walkabout people gain energy to volunteer + explore their new thought of self-actualizing, when before they could not get out of their own way. unable to work the confused signals, from all these layers dulling their sensors.

  this is our choice to continue to live in the fog, thinking it is the only way or giving it a try as you rid your baggage + realize this time we are fortunate to have such good tools to network to help us go eye to eye + inter personally get clear + gain physical strength/heal, integrate as we interrelate building our local community;

            people where are you, are you taking advantage of another as people use the war mode economy or are you reacting aggressively, falling into their trap, as they gain. even though they are programmed thinking they are helping. when no aggressive measures anywhere/anytime are healthy acts.

so Michelle Obama when you ask me to help you support the military participants, believe i do, for i want war to end completely, no more repeats of the past. no more belief that it is needed. rather Barack you are in a very important role + we ask you to stop all military acts + guide people to communicate correctly + network building sound local communities. once people are aware of these links that many do not see, that know we will being to their attention, so as to thread our obligations. seeing how we interfere or not + responsibly stop the consumption as presently have been doing without being aware.

   our planet has had this war mode economy for to long.  as family members passed down behaviors in attempts to survive, yet never fully getting a grip of clarity to end it. now we can pool our resources + do it.+ many yet to have the neural network for peace, + this is what we will build. fortunately we still have indigenous to show us the many `ways that work, along with many small natural communities that are self-reliant. that are in harmony as young + old are fulfilling their obligations for what sustains them everyday as they address their chores. + they are willing part time to share what works as they remain living local.

            no more do we accept aid, rather we want economic stability for our sovereignty. + we can obtain it by bringing our self to calm, as we continue our exploration. supporting all to build their path as they walk it into their opening.

   it is so wrong to allow market/government/people to interfere in these priorities needing attention.

our ability to comprehend solutions is very real, people live in harmony all over the world + have many unique offerings as indigenous still `boon with our natural world. giving us reflection to self-observe + do the same. for our universal fuel source is abundant when we maintain sharp sensors.

           while others are being left without basic survival, in ill states + premature death, as many children + old are without water + sanitation tools. (the WASH For Life grant gives these statistics.)

   yet as in US + the global community we can share solutions + prioritize our interference. not just waste energy blaming, or trying to be the best, or suing when the social economical or justice system is dysfunctional. ignoring our aggressive acts, when we can come together + take responsibility as a community participant + change our attitude to help with early signs. don't just sit back + allow another to be aggressive/misuse or be abused. reach out + find a solution, make a connection, create  + resolve peacefully + calmly.

  this ideal of arming more people, more weapons, more troops on the ground is a programming that has to stop. each have to deprogram from this long over due behavior. + together we can do it. for the international community wants to live local + network what works.

we have very good people to create 1 good universal language as an agroecology gauge, prioritizing life that sustains ours. i won't repeat the goodness from many as in navsanya shiva + her many lectures to stay updated with current news, where this old one is appropriate + i use it on comment to ask Barack;

         war economy/business mode, is interfering in our global family`s life right. Vandana Shiva says it best.

              http://www.yesmagazine.org/pla­net/vandana-shiva-alternatives­-to-monsanto-in-india 

how will you stop these wasteful lawsuits, Bill Gates truth, as he states GMOs are given to poor, for he has values that he represents in his global lectures.. meanwhile Prof Miguel Altier`s with agroecology facts get over ruled + is the gauge for peace building, job creation as we do this land use review. France just won a lawsuit against Monsanto + other countries are stopping the use of GMOs, we must to.

  our priorities need to be fulfilled ASAP. + the tapering transition is a good `way for all to turn the market for ethical ecological restoration. not just in US but globally;

          to think that US supports Israel yet not the Palestine people is so wrong. this article is right on, accept now we can go beyond + communicate + add the tapering transition process. this is what happens to our neural pathways once we do our homework + self-satisfy without leaving a footprint.

               see this old comment on a terrible disease of the mind;

    file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Administrator.USER-6803F93D52/My%20Documents/A%20%E2%80%98terrible%20disease%20of%20the%20mind%E2%80%99%20%20%20Jordan%20Times.htm

the point is people neruonally are pulled with all the layers of information, when good co_evolved curriculum can prioritize each local community, supply its hands on support as students help us sort this out. where we can use good gauges as in agroecology to prioritize each local community to utilize existing tools, network what can be pooled so we prioritize not just our self, as we build our mental clarity + gain physical strength. but we also look at locals + afar, + define how as a global family we can resolve ER issues that presently many are in.

             we can't just go build manufacturing businesses, create energy, randomly. we must take a review + clean up the past, as we address the present negative issues where people are having a hard time simply working with our elements, such as the commercial small fisheries getting over regulated, etc.

in our exchange all self-develop, rid baggage + develop values based on our human species needs. which we must prioritize our sustainable natural communities to restore our genetic bio-diversity to sustain the trillions of microbial life our immune systems when healthy, presently juggle. leaving many without/ill/diseased/premature death.

when yet we will reflect with the many good offerings locally + afar + via like ecosystem/subject, as we review traditional `ways that once worked + create upon or use them. our students will create a schematic to bring home, that we can fine tune. now we define how we can do fair trade + build these parts or obtain them from another. as we locally train to locally maintain our own energy infrastructure that goes beyond the false green movement;

   where we include traditional `ways that work simply respecting all life`s ability to migrate seasonally.+ then add parts of alternative energy to supplement. this is different then supporting as in the WB/WTO/UN/Wallstreet, etc. to market for profit, as many gain on businesses as they trade on them to go down, + interfere in the ability for any sound good science to control good gauges + administer what is needed to balance each local good working community. Indonesia + Amazon deforestation right now, along with the past severe lessons not learn`t continue, as locals get abused, land gets taken for a use without good science. they think they can use the soil, cut the trees to find out they can`t , etc. leaving devastation for locals.

  which we in a tapering transition will have running totals of sound good investment, to rid this unethical practice as people are supported to rethink + make it right. now we can make a standard for life to be restored, math can be used in good science as we apply it into our daily chores/school curriculum now has hands on responsibility to inner personally center + ground + no one is left behind in our local communities, locally or afar.. as we add biology, ecology, agroecology along with the science Barack has initiated, showing us our human priorities, before we just create wastefully as the present false green movement is doing.

  when we review the negative effects that exist in the US + all other communities, we see how life has not been respected from the war mode economy, that has to end. peoples farms where torn up when their could of been a more sensitive approach. people locally abused due to attempting to reach those responsible is not  our `way. those people are ill + can be addressed individually as we all work together.

  people young + old, we invite you to take Nabble` forum we have worked with here + create with us your best community shared tool shed.

    it is not appropriate to have to do a job for a government senator/congressperson, etc. when they get paid what they do. nor with all their inside information they should not be able to do any trading at all in the global market. they want to serve they should, + sadly they are paid a lot.

       we need to focus + share, for each to reprogram + build healthy human neural networks.

which due to our hard work here, we need a break, + once we get one, we will be back prioritizing cleaning up patches` message board to bring us eye to eye. rid the wordy issues, reach out + do a walkabout, gathering tallies as we instantly do a hands on exchange do_in an ER like triage. using this medium to simplify.

this brings people together to prioritize building working communities, gaining support by those already do_in, so as for many to stop doing. conserve energy, celebrate as awareness is shared, not fragmentation creating jobs, but awareness for clarity to heal, to self-develop + volunteer even to gain self-satisfaction + say no thank you to the many jobs that continue to ecologically interfere in what is desperately needed in our life now.

     as DR. Jessica Green states that 90% of people are living in side, creating trillions of pathogens, 94% adding cars. we are to live inside the same as outside, when yet people are creating poison air + taking it as normal. she shows our hospitals being the worse, along with cooperative shared buildings/schools, etc.

              together in project osic we create/reflect with solutions to heal, to build sound working communities that sustain healthy living.

come join us, + please start now, we appreciate Barack stating he wants to know the market/government wrongs to make them right, but we don't have to wait for a grant to give us loans, to self-actualize sovereignty + decentralize.

          start by pooling your community resources, + self-satisfy, this can not be bought.

                        we can learn not to leave a foot print while we build new neuro pathways that we don` t have to question or be mislead or confused when try to figure out.

                        we can be very clear + regain sharp sensors.

ASAP, comfortably, please go to your school boards + ask them to create with project osic. + we will  be ready in a few months to go full time, for now we will rest + rid our baggage to be a better participant our selves.

  our combined` effect makes a difference once we retain sharp sensors. take a break + say no thanks the money we don't want unless we can be clear with sharp sensors working for our sovereignty not further self enslave as we continue to exceed beyond natural borders knowingly or not.

   warm wishes to all + thank you USAID/Div staff for your support. we have many good tools to work.
+ we can do it with 1 good universal science as a gauge. where the science in us all is understood as a common sense to apply. the gauges Bill Gates see, along with Vandanya Shiva, Wall street, yourself + any local business, will all gain understanding with inner tools to see the same shade of color being on the same page, respecting all life, not just own, or humans, but all to nor interfere in others.

    we do not need to carry a microscopic, leave science data in files, as is only easily available to circles of like subject. rather we carry it into our self, our local community as we sustain our own regulation.

yes develop our own self-regulation so as to all have an obligation to live as a local + share what works, not overly consume being lost with dulled sensors. it is our responsibility to say no, i want to self-develop + i want to do it with people that live in harmony with the natural world that sustains us. so now we focus + prioritize our global land use review, + build + link our wild with healthy genetic bio-diversity.

  where as now our many wild spaces if lucky to have, have no life, it must be restored, to link our global biospheres. i have compassion for it is more efficient to welcome all into our tapering transition, then to fuel more waste in law suits, anger, aggressive acts, supporting military war mode economy, etc.

          people say no thanks to your legislators + tell them it's over, no more will you support any military anywhere, their is another `way that works. tell them to come build their local community + network with us what works.

   looking forward to working with you,  peace is an option if we remain calm + work energy efficiently for simple understanding. then no one needs to regulate. so don`t accept anything less then harmony, for good science lives the arts, + music fills the air as we celebrate every day, `boon with our natural world.





         




           

please note Wikipedia will be deleting, due to stating they are not a social group, when yet i asked them to rethink, for good tools share the act not just the words, this is of old school. + our commons does need clarity. but yes we want to respect those that do offer, + welcome them to rethink, as i did. so we share it here.

Goals

as many folks have co_evolved this format, i would like to state we also have emailed Occupy Wallstreet along the `way, but we add this today for all to rethink our goal as a human family. please see our offerings + come offer partnership, so i may submit your letter of intent along with out application for the WASH For Life Grant, due by mid jan, which i would like to mail in by 1st week of jan.

please note we can work with Barack on this + show him what he asks, to define market /governing error + add solution. we have this solution now + we want to take advantage of all peoples obligation now for energy efficiency to be focused in a shared goal:

            Subject: please when can, we share a path that all can build as each of you walk into your opening. conservation is to lived not fought for.. Sender: kara Recipient: occupydsmcomms@googlegroups.com Date: Today 11:03

Hello folks,
i have tried to add input from day 1, but i not clear if you understand my input.
as i review your list of needs, i see that if you where clear in your focus you would be staying on the small natural/organic farms camping out, you would be on the small commercial fishing boats when in dock.
you would not be eating ramen noodles or transnational goods becoming smushed with part of the problem.
some of you young great minds may have the answer to send bastards to the moon, + then wipe out your pissed off perception, but i don't know this.

          what i know is to give compassion, respect + invite those leaving negative effects to come into a tapering transition in a clear agenda. where we the local community, once we coordinate this student orchestrated aloka, i call it. based on the positive lessons from the Annapurna mountains, that fueled many before it`s destruction from those that supported tourism to then shatter its sustainable means.
aloka is a community shared tool shed, where the food that comes from it is abundant + never ends, food for thought foo to eat, food to refuel the global biospheres with our ability to restore genetic biodiversity for our evolutionary processes, to co_evolve with. where we don`t support those as Bill Gates states at last G20 that vaccines are profitable, when yet no small farmed infrastructure in place to even feed.
 
        created by project osic, we can invite you to brief the forum below, that we recently opened + then went on to the grant application which i am presently trying to hit mid jan deadline from USAID/Div + Bill Gates Foundation, where Barack wants to know the market/governing wrong to make it right + they target the poorest 6 countries + invite all.
       
           where we propose to start in the US + thread with all thru a web based software that is transparent, showing our suffering, our lack of local infrastructure. so again as chief Seattle said;
keep the air clean so we can taste the meadow flowers as the wind carries them.. the gest of this thought, i may of said it wrong.

the point is US Ed dept has given me access as well you to the data bank for all schools so i can efficiently do a mail out simultaneously to all. i will also try to get one for the international community. where we all stay on same page in a focus directed energy efficient understanding. making 1 good universal science we all can you to again regain our sovereignty + decentralize.
where if we gather with sharp sensors we will have mental clarity to rid that which has dulled in this struggle that all share.

if you look within yourself + those that still are dependent on these ecological businesses that are whores or as in the false green movement from Al Gore, you will see sheep that are ill + we must have compassion for them. so we invite our students to create with us a walkabout in a hands on buddy systems so all degree/community undeveloped students within can now self-develop. as we harness this disassociated energy that even you folks are trapped in as you ask for goods, due to not being clear to ground with those we need to support that work our land to gain the tools so as to stop land grabbing/injures/death.

            rather with agro-ecology we can plot our land use review + together each can reflect with the small sound indigenous traditional holistic perspective as we gain insight to come to the moment, rid our baggage + now as we invite those that do leave negative effect, that even our selves once supported or those still making them self ill, can no gain as we funnel their support as a human. to rethink with your/our perceptions + now allow a whole being to transform + make it right.

where now we have a focus that supports all to reflect with able, supporting unable, while we locally plug in + work for freedom for all to share this planet + become aware to live within the natural limits, as these early signs guide us + those that we are fortunate to still have can speak what these limits are, as we locally support all to become a local, global + beyond participant.

where now part time as we live local we come together + target these ares with clear agenda, as we reflect with like biome(s), ecosystem/subject, review schematics that we hope for you all to share + take part of. as well use what we offer for now. for these tallies will truly tell the who/what is part of the solution as we share with those that are part of the problem + all find their space.

so no longer students are sheep, rather they reflect with their local community 1st, then adjacent systems that fuel ecological sustainable plans, then supported to go beyond as each explore gaining credit/incentive to continue part time aiding those until able to self-sustain.

for we can show how we create these poorest countries + our own misuse/abuse. + together our tallies our focus will be shared every question along the way. as we come together + focus with energy efficiency.
i just told the Emirates that why should we a grass roots people not be supported to partner with one that has many resources to self reflect/rid dysfunction + then all can be supported to recreate so as to stop this delusional accelerated decline + waste of our genetic species. not to mention the fog many are in.

well we invite you to do this review + at the Iowa event, ask people to clearly address these issues + see who stands in the way from each having the ability to build their own path as we each walk it into our opening.

we don`t want to remain unaware, nor do we need one to guide that says we can use any light bulb we want. rather as i told Barack + senators to share with congress. they need to take their non-related human/earth subject matter as they play poker + either listen to us + allow us to help reprogram + show them a `way or they need to step down + separate them self from true governing democracy, where we set cloth/table platforms for us each able to interrelate + build our local communities with common sense, network + continue on exploring this unique earth as we pool to rid their paranoia/madness + end the military of all weaponry.

end the nuclear power high risk plants, while each community pool resources + obtain parts to build/train/maintain energy efficiency where alternative energy is a supplement to sound power stations dependent on where raw materials are best to choose + transmit only electricity as we live local. until as i ask + all should, to please give us Tesla/+ before free schematic that they use for military, that we can develop low to free energy as we use the earth to transmit, vs. wires.

the US ED Dept has informed us that the federal government does not control the state education department. this gives us rights to communicate with each state as we invite them to join in.
we do not address religion, that is a story for each to choose, rather we deal with the nuts + bolts to regain a tame secure peaceful land to sustain our small communities. that we have called wild. yet the native American Indians knew of no such name until the eastern waters brought white man that made them the wild west untamed, as they continued to destroy them.

folks please be clear in your responsible role you each have now to our obligation to follow thru with what you perceive, but please self-observe + reflect + in this time of gathering, funnel a role that leads. so all can be interchangeble as you each take turn logging in that which supersedes the ongoing paralleled acts from the governing dysfunctions. + take advantage of this time to create clarity for people to come together + create alokas. where each have an obligation to interrelate + create a sustainable community that sustains us to be whole.

don`t get over powered by this, rather grip the moment + try to interact with it. but if can`t then create with this fuel + redirect as people come together with alokas + now together we can aid their programming, as tallies define people. + local community then directly communicates on a local level holding them accountable to rethink as a whole human.

giving compassion + support as we efficiently move on + prioritize the many left in ER issues. that a few missiles along if stopped production could aid us to give the parts for fresh water, bio-waste recycling along with food, as we set up modes of implementation as we say no to aid, only take set up fees when know can pay back so we set markets of soundness, as our alokas become values that can`t be bought or altered for tourism/profit. rather sound protection for us to survive, to restore balance of microbes to control so no pests. + as we gain awareness that their is no pests. only we allow space to support their growth.

good luck, be in tune with your self, + share so as to funnel this time for constructing `ways that work. enjoy, life is a celebration + be thankful we have a medium to exchange + make harmony for all.

our brain function comes from the balance of our heart, liver + kidney. don`t get lost in those of dysfunctional science/political/religion/judicial/medical western ways alone/global warming that prevent you from maintaining discipline over your self sensory observation vs this delusional belief that many take as normal. as behaviors have been passed down from the many struggling still, trying to survive.

we have the tools now, please use them wisely.

peace is a solution if we share what works now.

happy new year from our combined` effect,
 love kara + maurice

-- patches pockets talk when we all do a walkabout...
thanks Google for threading.

http://i-come-to-talk-story-net.3220728.n2.nabble.com/
thank you all for still having patience, the WASH For Life
application has consumed us + trying to hit deadline.
meanwhile come aboard + help make this a good tool!
peace is an option if we share..

i look forward to your letters of intent, + grant will notify us within 7 months + specify partnering for grant or for people. together we can start ASAP + refine our forum listed above as we make tools that work + share them. please mail to patchespocketstalk@icometotalkstory.net + post Occupy can wash out dysfunction as we all combine resources.

end, from our combined` effect.

Lets load the shit.
   + hit the road....   + hit the road....

         it`s 12.12.2011 less than 40 degrees, horse tails the day before brings what seas, full moon bright + beautiful, as skipper limps, climbing to the higher deck, engine smokes, birds talking, sea lions squawking, as the waters vibrate with the many boats filled with crab boats, pulling away from their slip.  

          2.35 is the price, as the guys take off for the pacific west coast crabbing season.

This is the reality as many I see with my own eyes that which developed from our word`s as we continued on, when so many pissed. Yet we continued on working for change. As we still continue on with those that resist. As young bright minds sadly see the ingrained programming from those trying to teach, as we feel the pain from those that where trying to simply work, while yet others had no clue their was even a problem.

                  Lets load this shit  + dump it at sea + let it load no more.
                                     + hit the road.....    + hit the road....

         If we don`t take part + cooperatively connect, we will always be struggling on your own. Learn from these lessons from the past + leave them in the past, + now together stay together + invite those that left to come share story, for never will the young students see a better `way to build 1 science language that we all can co_evolve with.

                 This is our commons + it is up to us to maintain it`s sustainability. Never again will we leave such disarray, allow folks to be injured/folks to be killed, because another was looking out for themselves. just because we didn`t want to take that extra effort to talk to our community, they got away with it.

             No more land grabbing, preventing us from getting to the sea..

             No more land grabbing, building boats that rob our sea..

             No more letting another tally without expressing what we see..

             No more taking from our raw materials, when yet mother earth is giving early signs, that we have taken enough.. No more no mores – we keep it simple to see clear..

                                      our commons is for us all to maintain.
          Even if we have to dot the i`s + cross the t`s, making sure everyone agrees..

                                    thank you all, for making this happen..
                   
                     Lets load the shit, for this is our fuel for us to sustain, now this time lets open to our human family + share this planet + beyond, so we all can, so we all can...
                                    + hit the road....   + hit the road....

La Via Campesina <viacampesina@viacampesina.org>,

NOAA Fisheries Service published an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) to revise the National Standard 10 guidelines on April 21, 2011, with a comment period that ended on July 20, 2011.  Public comments on the National Standard 10 ANPR can be viewed on the Federal e-rulemaking portal:  www.regulations.gov.  To view the comments that we received, enter "NOAA-NMFS-2011-0068" in the box that reads "Enter keyword or ID" on the website www.regulations.gov.

We are reviewing all of the comments that we received and plan to propose draft revisions to the National Standard 10 guidelines and will hold another public comment period.  I will let you know when we publish the proposed revisions to the guidelines.

Thank you for your interest in National Standard 10.
Deb Lambert

Debra M. Lambert
NOAA Fisheries Service
Office of Sustainable Fisheries
1315 East-West Highway
SSMC3 Room 13403
Silver Spring, MD 20910
301-427-8560 ** New Number **

if we get accepted for the WASH For Life Grant we have ideals to cooperative pool our biomes` + put those that work at in charge as we create sound sustainable investments for locals. then when in need of more we put it out to the markets only if they come aboard in our tapering transition + rethink, aloong with our solutions + make it right or step down.

peace is an option we have now with your support to restore phases in modes as people can see the light of the tunnel. with nice clear realities of what can be.

                        our combined`effect makes a difference..


LA VIA CAMPESINA DURBAN DECLARATION

Assembly of the Oppressed, 5th December 2011, Durban, South Africa

Articles pictures and videos from Durban on www.viacampesina.org


As the Assembly of the Oppressed we are gathered here to demand the transformation of the entire neo liberal capitalist system.  The fight against climate change is a fight against neo liberal capitalism, landlessness, dispossession, hunger, poverty and the re-colonization of the territories of the people’s of Africa and the global South. We are here to declare that direct action is the only weapon of the oppressed people of the world to end all forms of oppression in the world.


We are here in Durban, South Africa where the 17th United Nations Conference of Parties is taking place and are discussing false solutions to the climate crisis. And we can see that the future of Mother Earth and of humanity is in peril as those responsible for nature’s destruction are attempting to escape their responsibility and erase history.


We, La Via Campesina, the global movement of peasants, small-scale and agricultural family farmers, is severely dismayed at the attempts of the developed countries to further escape their historic responsibility to make real emission cuts and push for more false and market based solutions to the climate crisis.


Here in Durban, they are discussing a “new mandate” as an outcome of the COP 17, one which contains market mechanisms and a voluntary pledge system in order to move away from the mandated program of working towards legally binding commitments to cut emissions. Also, developed countries are working hard to escape their historical responsibility and not pay their climate debt by pushing for a green climate fund that involves private capital and the World Bank. Finally, there is a push to include agriculture in the negotiations, treating agriculture as a carbon sink rather than a source of food and livelihood. For La Via Campesina, with this trend of negotiations, it is better to have no deal than a bad deal that condemns humanity and our planet to a future of climate catastrophe.


We are now at the worst moment for agriculture and small farmers and for nature. The impacts of climate change are steadily worsening, leading to harvest failures, destruction of habitats and homes, hunger and famine and loss of lives. The future of humanity and the planet is in critical danger and if these false solutions push through, it will be a catastrophe for nature, future generations and the whole planet.


We therefore demand to all governments in the negotiations:

-       For all countries from the global South to stand up for their people and to defend the people and the planet with dignity and conviction. The government of South Africa has already sold out its people in this regard.

-       For all the developed countries to live up to their historical responsibility of causing this climate crisis and to pay their climate debt and commit themselves to at least 50% domestic emission reductions based on 1990 levels, without conditions and excluding carbon markets or other offset mechanisms.

-       Stop industrial farming that promotes pollution and climate change through high levels of use of petroleum based chemicals

-       Governments must support agro-ecology

-       For all countries to listen and work for their people and not be under the control of transnational corporations.

-       For all countries to stop trying to save capitalism and making the people, including small farmers, pay for their economic and financial crisis.


We as La Via Campesina, demand the implementation of the people’s global agreement on climate agreed on in Cochabamba. And here in Durban and in a thousand Durbans, we strongly reiterate our solutions to the climate crisis.  

 -       Further global warming must be limited to a rise of 1 degree Celsius only.

-       Developed countries must make domestic emission reductions of at least 50% based on 1990 levels, without conditions and excluding carbon markets or other offset mechanisms.  

-       Developed countries must commit to payment of their climate debt and give funding from at least 6% of their GDP. All funds for this climate finance must be public and be free from the control of the World Bank and private corporations.

-       All market mechanisms must be stopped, including REDD, REDD++ and the proposed carbon markets for agriculture.


We reiterate that there will be no solution to climate change and the predatory neo-liberal system that causes it, without the liberation of women, and rural women in particular, from age old patriarchy and sexist discrimination. We therefore demand as part of comprehensive action against patriarchy and sexism:

•The promotion of women’s land access and rights through targeted redistribution
•Laws and policies must be made responsive to the particular needs of women
We as La Via Campesina, demand an end to the commodification of our Mother Earth reject the mechanisms of the carbon market. Furthermore, we reject the proposed inclusion of a work program on agriculture in the negotiations and reject all proposals of market mechanisms surrounding agriculture.


We as La Via Campesina and the people of the world have the real solutions to the climate crisis and we call on all governments to heed them before it is too late.  At this assembly of the oppressed we declare to the people of the world that the solutions are in their hands. Through building social movements and mobilizing popular struggles for social change the world’s people will overcome the close alliance between governments and multinational corporations that is strangling the world. In Africa at the moment this alliance is perpetrating one of the biggest land grabs in history, which would mean more chemical-industrial farming, more poverty and exploitation, and more climate change. The only serious counter to this is the land occupations initiated by the landless themselves. From the perspective of food sovereignty, agrarian reform and climate justice, these land occupations deserve the fullest support.


 Sustainable peasant’s agriculture and agroecology cool down the planet.

Food Sovereignty is the solution!

Peasant agriculture is not for sale!

Globalize the struggle, Globalize the hope!



Media contacts: email: boa.monjane@viacampesina.org
                            local number: +27(0)736509229
--
La Via Campesina
Via Campesina is an international movement of peasants, small- and medium-sized producers, landless, rural women, indigenous people, rural youth and agricultural workers. We are an autonomous, pluralist and multicultural movement, independent of any political, economic, or other type of affiliation. Born in 1993, La Via Campesina now gathers about 150 organisations in 70 countries in Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas.

International Operational Secretariat:
Jln. Mampang Prapatan XIV no 5 Jakarta Selatan 12790, Indonesia
Tel/fax: +62-21-7991890/+62-21-7993426
Email: viacampesina@viacampesina.org

please respond to: our combined` effect <patchespocketstalk@icometotalkstory.net>,

we invite you to partner with us as we pursue the WASH For Life Grant from the US AID/Div, application.

if we are not applicable, please come together with your offerings. so we may resolve the ongoing issues of good energy wasted, as the world is allowing negative abuse to continue as business people fincancially gain + you legislators appear to be preoccupied in dysfunctional outdated policy, rather then to see our natural local/global food issue in crises, + needs action now. to support those we are fortunate to have, that are the small farm producers that are being abused globally from your lack of responsible action.

it is wrong for any of you to support legislative policy to allow Monsanto + others to continue to control the market, prevent small farmers from saving their own seed, as well continue to destroy our micro biomes with monocultures/toxic pesticides + any of the wrong doing, accept the good policy we have now of agro-ecology.

what do you folks eat, or even think as you eat, does it not matter what destructuon you are participating in. we welcome you to become aware + make changes now, with our solutions.

the US Farm Bill is a good example how it is uncomprehensible even from the US legislators. not to mention the US unavailable natural grown products produced locally.

we ask you now to come together + utilize this application in Durban for responsible action. if we see that this entity is not holding all accountable, then we will calmly come together as people + define a `way that works, without the waste of energy trying to work with you, which has been very exhausting. as we watch how wastefully consumptive you are to continue to allow many to be abused, in yet the responsible position you are in. shame on yous that do this. please redirect your focus ASAP.

we want to include you, please respond to us now for partnering, as well to Durban.

PRESS ADVISORY
DURBAN: INTERNATIONAL FOOD SOVEREIGNTY DAY TO COOL DOWN THE EARTH

RALLY, ACTION AND ASSEMBLY OF THE OPPRESSED

MONDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2011 - sarting 8:30AM


La Via Campesina has called for mobilizations in Durban and around the world to demand a change of the entire capitalist system. The fight against climate change is a fight against neoliberal capitalism, landlessness, dispossession, hunger, poverty and inequality. The crisis of the planet requires that we take direct action. Today December 5, during the agro-ecology and food sovereignty day we will hold public protest marches to the conference of the polluters, actions against multinational corporations like Monsanto undermining our seed sovereignty, which will culminate in a massive Assembly of the Oppressed to discuss ways of ending this unjust system.
Meeting point for the march: 8:30am at Botha’s park, Durban

Venue for Assembly of the Oppressed: University of Kwazulu Natal

LA VIA CAMPESINA PRESS CONFERENCE
MONDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2011- 2:30PM

KOSI PALM PRESS CONFERENCE ROOM, ICC (DURBAN)
La Via Campesina, the international movement of peasants, small- and medium-sized producers, landless, rural women, indigenous people, rural youth and agricultural workers is calling for real solutions to the climate crisis.

A whole week has passed at the COP 17 talks and La Via Campesina is severely dismayed at the attempts of the developed countries to further escape their historic responsibility to make real emission cuts and push for more false and market based solutions to the climate crisis.

La Via Campesina has called for mobilizations in Durban and around the world on December 5 to demand an end to false solutions, to call for real solutions to the climate crisis and to defend and uphold food sovereignty.

Speakers will include La Via Campesina leaders from Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Mexico.

Translation will be available

Contact person: Boaventura Monjane: +27 736509229, boa.monjane@viacampesina.org
More on www.viacampesina.org

 

please take a review of your personal footprint + redirect as you include support for these folks to be heard as they represent the many that ecologically protect our biosphere + give us our food, meanwhile they are abused/killed/lnad grabbed. while yet many legislators/governing bodies are preoccupied in nonhuman related local natural community living.

this is wrong! come together with what sustains you, starting with your local small farm natural grown food + you will see how inefficent the US alone is. especially to not even have a sound 2012 Farm Bill in place to support our communites to house small natural farms as they only can conform with our wild to remain wild, so as to sustain them, along with preventing pests.

it is a short sighted decision to give vaccines, when yet people are not supported to stop misuse/abuse + allowed to produce their local small farmed natural grown food, from saving their own seed. investors can come together in this tapering transition as you reach out + inform them we have solutions for long term sustainable growth, that gives them more then funds, rather gives all life rights.

please share with these folks your/our solutions as your voice is heard in Durban along with giving support to our local communites, as you prioritize the 2012 Farm Bill in US..

thank you, our combined` effect makes a difference for peace to be had by all ASAP.

               Climate talks: La Via Campesina press spokespersons in Durban

The international peasant's movement La Via Campesina and its South African member, the Landless Peoples Movement, are in Durban to make the voice of small-scale farmers and rural people heard, during the 17th Conference of the Parties (COP 17) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that is taking place in Durban, from 28 November to 9 December 2011.

Bellow is the list of keys spokespersons for press in Durban (see contact number below)


1.
Name: Alberto Gomez Flores ( UNORCA, Mexico)
Description of work: Alberto Gomez, of the National Union of Regaional Autonomas Peasant Organizations (UNORCA) is the co-coordinator of Via Campesina North America. He played a key role or organizing WTO protests in Cancún, in the historic mobilization “El Campo No Aguanta Mas” and most recently at the COP-16 in Cancún, in December 2010. He is involved in current campaigns to protect native seeds in Mexico, and promote food sovereignty as an alternative. He also coordinates the International Working Comission on Biodiversity of La Via Campesina.

Expertise: Climate justice, COP climate negotiations from peasant perspective, REDD++, GMOs and corn, seeds, biodiversity, free trade agreements, NAFTA, Transnational Corporations

Language: Spanish (Interpretation available)

2.
Name: Renaldo Chingore João (UNAC, Mozambique)
Description of work: Renaldo Chingore João is one of the prominent leaders of the Mozambican Union of Farmers. He led this movement for more than 10 years. He is member of the International Coordination Committee of La Via Campesina, representing Southern, Eastern and Central Africa.
Expertise: Land reform, land grabbing, peasant agriculture, agroecology, GMOs, AGRA
Language: Portuguese (Interpretation available)

3.
Name: Chavannes JEAN-BAPTISTE ( Peasant Movement of Papaye, MPP - Haiti)

Description of work: Chavannes Jean-Baptiste is one of the historic leaders of the Peasant Movement of Papaye and co-coordinator of La Via Campesina in the Carribean. He is an expert in peasant agriculture methods. Recently, he is a key leader in the Hatian food sovereignty movement and against military occupation of Haiti. The food sovereignty campaign in Haiti mobilized thousands of peasants to oppose the Monsanto donation of hybrid seeds to Haiti in response to the disaster.

Expertise: COP climate negotiations, climate justice, peasant agriculture, agroecology, seeds, soils, forests, militarization/ occupation
Languages: French, Spanish, English

4.
Name: Elizabeth Mpofu (ZIMSOFF, ZImbabwe)
Description of work: Elizabeth Mpofu, has a strong expression on the arena of Women leaders in Zimbabwe. She is the lady chair of the Eastern and Southern Small Scale Farmers (ESAFF) coalition.
Expertise: Land Reform, Agroecology, peasant agriculture
Languages: English

5.
Name: Davine Witbooi
Description of work: Davine Witbooi lives in an informal settlement in the rural town Lutzville in the Western Caper. Former activist in the unions for agricultural workers. She is former convenor of the campaign, leading the struggle against Monsanto and Syngenta in the Lutzville area
Expertise: GMO´s, multinational seed companies, Agrarian reform
Languages: English

6.
Name: Marco Fernandes (Agrarian Reform for Food Sovereignty Campaign, South Africa)
Description of work: Marco is member of the Landless Peoples Movement of Brazil (MST).
Expertise: Land Reform, Land Occupation, Monocultures, GMOs, Food Sovereignty
Languages: Portuguese, English, Spanish

7.
Name: Alexander Heubuch ( jABL, German)
Description of work: Alexander Heubuch is a mechanical engineer and dairy farmer from the southern part of Germany. He is member of junge ABL, the youth organization of a German famers Organization of small family famers
Expertise: Farming, renewable energies, combustion related processes of energy productio
Languages: English, German

8.
Name: Johan Jantjies  (Agrarian Reform for Food Sovereignty Campaign, South Africa)
Description of work: Johan Jantjies is currently the convenor of the campaign. Part of Ithemba progressive farmers association who occupied land for agricultural purpose in the City of Cape Town. With his family, Johan Jantjies also backyard dweller. His was an activist during the anti apartheid struggle.
Expertise: Land and Agrarian Reform, Food Sovereignty, Climate Issue
Language: English

9.
Name: Africa Mtombene
Description of work: Africa Mtombeni is the Chairperson of the Landless Peoples Movement, members of LVC in South Africa.
Expertise: Land Reform, Agroecology
Language: English


For interviews, please contact:

Boaventura Monjane
boa.monjane@viacampesina.org
+27(0)736509229 (Local number)

Cassia Bechara
cassia@mst.org.br

--
La Via Campesina
Via Campesina is an international movement of peasants, small- and medium-sized producers, landless, rural women, indigenous people, rural youth and agricultural workers. We are an autonomous, pluralist and multicultural movement, independent of any political, economic, or other type of affiliation. Born in 1993, La Via Campesina now gathers about 150 organisations in 70 countries in Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas.

International Operational Secretariat:
Jln. Mampang Prapatan XIV no 5 Jakarta Selatan 12790, Indonesia
Tel/fax: +62-21-7991890/+62-21-7993426
Email: viacampesina@viacampesina.org

     note we did not get accepted for grant 2 stage, after it passed thru stage 1 having all requirements. but this has been a good work experience as we co_evolved project osic, thinking this was the best we can make of this.

we are awaiting explanation why,   please see our combined` effect  present grant we are working on to trigger your thought now, to act ASAP + come aboard to welcome project osic.

we are presently as of 4.21.2012 starting to reach out for international school bulk email list along with community representitives to speack for those without schools. we ask for people to submit link to this forum subcatagorie for bulk school email list. the US education dept has offered to give us their bulk email list.

we decided to post this any how, for we offer you to gain what you can also from this experience;   

 Cover page/Introduction:
                                               
                                                            USAID/A
                                          Annual Program Statement (APS)
                            FY 11  + FY 12 Development Innovation Ventures
                                          APS #M/OAA/GRO/LMA/11-2000

                                           Full Proposal Application Form

        Name:

                           i come to talk story    % kara j lincoln

 (please note all letters should be small, but it appears some government computers don`t allow it, so they capitalize 1st letters of each word)

       Address:

           Physical to receive mail now:
                   
                   kara j Lincoln    (while in transit)
                  % General Delivery
                  Charleston, Or 97420

           Mail for business when not at above:

                   kara j Lincoln
                   p.o. box 634
                   Port Townsend, Wa 98368

       Type of organization:
                  We have been non-profit with no donations received to applied date, only proposed wages for officers. I presently am awaiting my 501.c3 permanent status response, to my application submitted, for a non-profit unincorporated association.

        Primary point of contact:
           
               kara j Lincoln
               telephone; 360-450-3749 (please leave a detailed message or when best to call back + I will within a few days)
               e-mail; patchespocketstalk@icometotalkstory.net


                            Executive Summary
Thank you, for allowing us to be considered in this Wash grant application, along with utilizing this context for global support with all entities now active.

        We invite your participants already in the field -1 representative from each country to group with a variety of their local students/community for a holistic approach;
                         
                     As 1 community to become aware, parents with newborn experiences, to degreed working in every field to come back into community for extended education, in an exchange of support for young + the undeveloped child within the adult body. To self-develop while cooperatively building local + beyond sustainable community(s).

          We open the school doors, work fields, + mindset, come out + into, including the hands on exchange with the natural world, able + unable. Creating the best classroom ever - tally system with hands on applied application. Starting with the US, we simultaneously thread to all other countries, showing how we all presently take part in creating your target countries, as well each local misuse/abuse. + Together resolve..

          Students create Gantt tallies perfected in 1st phase, as they do walkabouts within their local community, addressing ER triage + network, with hands on exchange by each, accelerated within each person`s capacity. As some in #1 phase move on to completion, as they responsibly completed all phases;

                    For others tallies continue to co_evolve into 2nd phase - which will then network/apply collectively, + define what community needs/offers as partners/investors/whom best for what position. As all are co_evolving, standing a centered ground, as they set their cloth/table stage + represent their local participants, working within their biome`s life limits..

                     To actualize in the 3rd phase - a finish mode of hands on clarity, as focus directed sustainable living is accomplished locally. Reflecting/engaging within community, with others already self-sustaining, locally + afar.

                     In our 4th phase we will assess changes needed, wrongs + rights completed, debate, network + again co_evolve/perfecting 1 universal science language, which we have continually done. But here we bring it to a beginning of each`s independence, with our end with your grant association. As we continue on as a human family member. That remains committed to our local biome/ecosystem. To share optimum efficiency for our human equation for planet earth + beyond;
                 
                             To plug in + prioritize local/beyond ecological/universal balance + carry forward self-reliance, that then - independently becomes an equal in our local responsibility. With support in place, for all to become/maintain cooperative effort, for all to be a local, global + beyond participant.

                  Development Challenge + Expected Outcomes
            This differs from present;

                      no sound human/all life right practices carried forward. As an investor/policy maker/person fragments, without interpersonal plug in of local/life awareness. While interfering in reality needs - dependent on - our sustainable biome`s prioritization of intervention.  
   
           Our focus directed hands on exchange, of proposed student`s virtual tool will prevent fragmentation. As tallies reveal local needs/offerings, understandings with time sensitive reality working within nature`s potential, in real time. as 1 universal science is made good, to be shared on this planet + beyond.
               
           Our solutions/tapering transitions - of earth/water/air/space - co_evolving policy, depicts the socio/economic use. As all rethink their positions, as we become fueled from the understanding of ridding waste/enhancing restoration + regain our natural balance. As natural ways now perceived/applied build sound environments, which are our best medicine. Where folks accept nothing less then what is now experienced/networked, to trigger what we can bring home, that works locally. Creating small simple natural communities, that self-sustain.

           Fueling lives presently unimaginable, unable to know - we can together, rid misuse/abuse. As programmed delusional facts appear/disappear from the many fragmented, supporting waste. Early signs detected, + supported, to define application, as they now become restored fuel, from what once consumed. When folks did not understand how our efficient neural processing works best..

     Tallies tell us the who – what - when + where, as now the threads of those worn, torn, needed to rid, are now rethreaded with now available, peaceful non-aggressive solutions, sharing a breath of fresh air.

                          Innovative Solution within the Competitive Landscape

No longer just a quick review, gain/influence/work without, a license + distribute our offerings, in attempts to rid needs.. Rather now we include local ecological + interpersonal, tapering transition, footprint. As our tallies invite ridding needs, as we include solution, as we edit with sustainable offerings, already acted on as well those waiting;

             As we co_evolve with desired exploration, fueled from self-satisfaction. Obtained once we prioritize our functions, do our homework energy efficiently, within our self + our proposal, without leaving a footprint.

             We can gain inner tools to be used thru out the world + beyond, to do an exchange. As yet many see it as a need to do, as in when given wrong, we only interfere in others ability to self develop, yet result in a feel good mode – which is self-centered. or an enslavement, awaiting another life or unable to get out of way of own misuse/abuse.

              Each country plugs in there shared, focus directed proven subject matter, in like habitat, gaining precision results. Networking triggering one to fine tune + use what works, where needed, not duplicate inefficiently or competitively. Rather get real for support for those suffering. + Now receive the nurturing from engaging `boon with life, to continue, fueling our tapering transition.

                  Now investors/policy makers/people, include these tools as they take part making them, as they join in living local, where ever they choose. Which yet many are free to do. We address a means for all to share + interrelate as an equal, along with our neighbor, when we responsibly participate, which tally shows all..

       Do you realize the energy involved/potential innovations, just to support each to remove own baggage to come to this common sense? When yet many unaware it is even possible. The life force felt, will aid each to harness the disassociated energy that wavers all, yet to understand.

           As in the wave of - US + other so called developed countries/people, presently non-conforming to natures` borders, continue to leave footprints. Some unaware of contributing to so-called undeveloped countries - ill state of health, + local negative issues;  

                           Tallies give solutions now.

                                           Detailed Business Plan    

 For optimum efficiency we utilize resources already in the field locally + internationally from you + ours;

               In applying for the USAID/Div WASH grant, where target is to aid India, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana. + Address with innovations their ability to resolve their ill states of living, etc.

                We feel we can start in the US threading with all - thru the students/community, which also are in need. To share/restore local community, whether home schooled, charter or private;

                               As each school starts tallies on a Gantt chart  (Gantt project – praha is open source, i`m exploring) + funnel into a representative, for each country + thread thru out the world, not just to these 5 countries. Rather with transparency, we show how we all contribute to our/these poorest countries/local misuse/abuse. Making a local tool that is locally helpful.

                               Linking the tallies with the threads as students come out of the classroom, walk into + with the community, as all gather data. Where we prioritize a ER triage of what is, while students/community do a walkabout in an interchangeable, buddy system role, with degreed people in work field. As all expand their own education, walking alongside, as an equal – once restore dull sensors, along with local natural community that sustains each to fulfill there potential.

                               As each inter personally align/co_evolve with credits/incentive, to continue on into own exploration, as they fulfill their local completion, go on to all adjacent neighbors, then free to experience with chosen pen pal, they may have had from start or along their path, as they shared like interest/like ecosystem as they worked solutions. + Now meet, as they gain a personal hands on guide to experience desires, + see their results from networking along the way, as they still continue to tally, as each live as a local, where ever they are now free to choose. As issues are continually worked, guided by those that have done their homework..

              Co_evolving curriculum, can then funnel + edit existing to include hands on application. Leaving no studies fragmented. Leaving no science/ solutions, left in files. Now realizing it is healthiest for our human neuro processing, when we pool our resources + self-develop, vs. the many presently with right/left brains out of synch. As they have difficulty comprehending + following thru, especially when political/educational/medical/ecological/social-economical dysfunction exists everywhere. Simply because laws/unconscious thought, allow them to fragment.

                           ex; a doctor/teacher/school board member/politician/investor/ community member, etc. will do a walkabout in their local community, walking alongside each other, as they exchange roles, in a prioritized focus. Another way to add body language/photo reading/inner tools to work fully, as we add this into our equation. No longer fragmentation from limited perception, from words created from dull sensors judging, or a limited town meeting, a blog, few emails, maybe a form from questions asked, producing more layers of baggage, leaving many threads dangling. As people that have dulled their sensors are having difficulty understanding their misuse/abuse. or even unaware they can make a difference..          

                Rather those maintaining discipline with sharp sensors can reflect, enabling a gauge for others to feel the energy, + learn to respond to early signs.  Along with the tallies that then become understood/supported. As we go beyond + communicate this reality eye-to-eye/teleconference/email, that we all create together. That can be filled in anywhere on this earth + beyond. As we share our common denominator for all life rights to regain a balance that is holistic, not as presently, which many are over emotional/ill or unwilling to contribute with existing dysfunction.

                Once confirmation of grant we will plug in with your resources. To then work with students/locals, where ever we are at the time or within a short time, to then go eye-to-eye. So we, as all, then pursue channels + thread, reach out everywhere + connect. While some continue to work at 1st phase, others will excel in completing tallies.

                 No one will do for another able, thinking they are in need. Rather now with tallies we will fine tune the worn, torn, broken threads + replace them, with short/long term goals, knowing to date sharp/dull in their place with support of least resistance, while healing. As energy/solutions/funds become available. No longer just looking for dollars, rather now looking to self-satisfy, as we cooperatively interrelate + build community locally + afar, leaving no footprint, as we address life rights to harmonize, not just exist in variety of modes, as is.

        We invite you to co_evolve with this review. Considering how many can excel in microseconds, creating connections to support, where as others may take longer to self-develop. Please realize how resources/funds could better perhaps be distributed, if we support all phases to be happening simultaneously, by those that prove themselves to finish their homework, as they complete required tallies for each phase. Do it within their calm ability, as they maintain sharp sensors.

          We need to understand your desires for payback + time/ interest/incentives/shared resources/actual contractual agreement, so as tallies can then speak for themselves. Is this to be updated as you follow us, or are you going to retain rigid ness with your timed phases/requirements now. Even with our own salary disbursement, we would appreciate having our needs met by utilizing all available. Vs. interfering in local`s ability to self-sustain, if we take a draw or unable to give full attention due to focusing elsewhere as we provide for self;

                  Ex; is 1st phase given to include our salary. Same with next phases. Where if we where given our salary/or could draw as needed for total commitment, then we could maintain our debt, while pursuing our quest to network/live via our plans by sailboat + communicate with local schools/community reps eye-to-eye, along with teleconference/email. This way we could support this organizing so people know we can follow thru.+ to do this effectively, all interested parties will see the energy put in from those already struggling to protect their ground, as in small farmers loosing land.

If we are not paid to give full attention, then we plan to co_evolve our own project in the building. Due to not knowing when you tell us we cannot fulfill a phase. When in reality it is not as efficient to comply to your phases as is. For once we make a connection we want to embody all human potential to allow perceptions to be applied consciously, not just act in fragments or to be left in a file then applied later;

                ex; people will be triaged for energy/illness, as we redirect to support/ awareness of those producing resistance to be cooperatively addressed, or fine tune with the prioritization of all tallies, as they can be put on your cloth/table for review as well, as Gantt chart will maintain update. Then perhaps your resources can co_evolve along side.

                 We will see great efficiency in networking like subjects via like biome/ecosystems in already existing channels, that co_evolve becoming more efficient. As energy changes in the equation over time with our ability to succeed in places where your money may not be wanted/or able to be used, rather sensitivities, etc;

                                As we tap into these targeted areas in a ER triage, once infrastructure is student/community created/organized. With a buddy up interchangeable role. Plotting those with like subject, as each self-register + those unable supported. Tallying needs/offerings. As instantly we utilize our resources + plug in without waiting for the grant to go on to another phase. This is what will reach all people on this planet + beyond.

Rather our tallies will now be supported to be open to all/investors that rethink, as we change the stability of offerings with peoples needs met, included in the tallies, along with them participating in the fee for us to create this infrastructure  - including the now biome`s prerequisites for survival, for us to work it + details of how for long term,  increasing rise in sustainable raw materials. Which now locally are being exponentially exploited, with out even the respect of communicating with those that have worked the land, giving us our food. Along with the waste ful consumption of being transported most inefficiently.

We can in our structure dramatically change the waste that is presently created. Not to mention the toxic waste/military weaponry, etc. still left incorrectly disbursed, as it continues to be manufactured.

This is how this project will gain appreciation + respect, threading out exponentially, due to the many now imprisoned in head or in house/without, sheep mode, misusing/abused unable to resolve efficiently, while others land is being grabbed + while standing up – others are killed/injured;
               
                 Now students/community, all will feel life potential, as this person is scheduled with this person when most convenient, to now truly address the needs now. As we self-observe + stop our/others negative interference + work with early signs. Then another picks up tally of log from each getting real. + Continues on as they do the same, get real + aid this person, freeing them of priority issues, into self-sustaining with support until able, or continued support to enable them to develop our solutions, left undone + come back as a community participant as exchanges co_evolve. Creating support networks for any of us, that can become unable, along with the many already unable, yet offer them more comfort then presently doing. From a viable structure that is now funded locally as an equal to any invested package, for it` security.

                 So now all take part in what sustains us.

                               Ex; prioritize land use review, etc. as we focus direct with people for optimum efficiency, to gain self-reliance. As they locally reevaluate their energy, restore efficiency + go beyond recycling, rather rid correctly what never should have been created + create bulk sharing. + Add alternative energy as a supplement only. Restoring raw natural resources, to ecologically sustain biome`s natural enhanced limit. As in agro-ecology curriculum, with innovated schematics for small communities as they prioritize + plan, as in trans-boundary migration for bees to large mammals, including humans;

              Understanding we are living organisms dependent on our balanced natural resources, being our best medicine. Dependent on fresh clean water/air/soil, maintained from our micro biome`s ability to stay wild. As we create living conditions, uncover abundant trapped energy, thru a variety of efficient means, within nature's limits. As we build a cooperative community tool shed. Log in modes of what most efficient until can do more. As tallies define their combined `effect/potential/resistance, so now;

                          Students/community members, take part in what sustains them, starting with their fresh water-sea/food/air/soil, + go direct. Gain the respect + all equally participate in the many roles women have had difficulty do_in, as they still struggle to maintain small farms, prepare food+ work direct with these small farms/small commercial fisher folks direct market/zoning ethics for preserving land-fresh water-estuarys-ocean/saving local seed issue/natural practices replacing present toxic additives/GMO`s/monoculture/land grabbers/escalating prices/wilted organic food by the time it gets to store, etc...

now so much activism can be replaced with a positive exchange, as global entities acknowledge support;

                           Where all welcome them into a `tapering transition. Together those that perceive solution, along with community, now give these folks another way to come back into local/beyond community + rethink, while others support resolving the damage, while innovations with tallies are waiting to be completed, made right from those that did wrong.

                         No more inefficient negative feedback/protests, rather channel positive thought/act + co_evolve with it. Now locals inter personally self-reflect + redirect their exploration into self-satisfaction without leaving a footprint anywhere.  As solutions are applied/waiting for energy/funding, as tallies are transparent. Where community now only accepts sound support, as their energy is paid, not the excessive consumption presently paid to corporate officers, which has to stop, rather sound payment that we all should work to obtain. As we no longer purchase product/service from the extravagant. Where now we will post clearly names/items/services, along with alternative people providing local solution. Making it transparent for all.

This is about plugging in, reflecting with those already do_in. Not about marketing Wall street. Rather sound common sense to once again establish good boundaries for each worker to use the market to endure stability with investments, as seasonal natural disasters are better prepared for.

We can build on the sound good efforts built from the many before us/along with those now do_in good work. Restoring human family principals;

                      Where parents/students at a young age reflect with the nurturing given to those skilled presently, as with home schooling when you live the lessons. Isolating the disassociated reactionary resultants that many are bombarded with, yet no centered socio-economical stability supporting, giving an already undeveloped parent/child/student, to be yet, an added burden on a young child/parent/teacher/community. This will end, as we retain focus directed clarity.
                      There is more to life than the financial incentive for material gain, as many subjected to western/eu ways, that we have experienced out in the world, desire. Yet unaware it is not appropriate for their biome/or left footprint in unfair trade or utilizing other`s raw materials. No one should loose perspective of the earth below their feet as they chase delusion;  
                                     
                                 People in our proposal reroute from this present path + build their future as they walk it responsibly into their own opening, once they reflect with reality of the global innovations, that stay within nature`s limits.. Now knowing how to properly create within a biome`s ability because they will now be taking part with the local community sustainability, to build/maintain the school building/housing for unable/small farms/ coop construction + create power plants locally. As in US ex; to transmit electricity on the grid system we already have in place. As all see clearly the alternative energy as a supplement only, not the false green movements the bio-tech corporations are trying to sell globally with added credit exchanges, etc.

             Now the tallies will show schematics as they co-evolve, supporting what sustains healthy living as efficiency fuels restoration + is acted on cooperatively. Rivers flow into a variety of solutions, brought to house, from cooperative effort;

                                   Well, irrigation, removes a dam, reverse osmosis/desalinization - as parts are compared as they define if should open a plant or where to purchase a part + then put together + maintain themselves, plant food/medicinal small farms/perennial gardens/build a pond + add species that prevent/eat the malaria mosquito larvae, + have them located strategically so as to supply water in natural disasters. As we work with the microbes to control so as to not create environments that support them to multiply + become a pest, etc. lime piles so as to utilize human waste, vs. the present marketing for ER preparedness to carry buckets/plastics/can food, leaving folks fear based as they don`t gain wilderness awareness to give them a calm sense to better prepare as those that now live `boon with the natural world, that wild craft for their food + medicine.

The world will give many solutions + reflection, to US residents that have little soundness living with the natural world. As they continue behaviors that are abnormal taken as normal, as they pass them on to generations. Known statistics of ill health/medical expenditures exceed the undeveloped countries.

People once see tallies that they now have hands on creating, will no longer just accept their own misuse or others abuse, once they have this medium to reflect with balanced people living simple natural lives. Human nature misuses/allow abuse only once they have been subjected to it. It is not natural to just create this out of the sky. Rather we are fortunate to have the children of the world to allow us another chance. Yet they need our focus direction + truth as we walk by their side as an equal.

                I can`t tell you the suffering/misuse I`ve experienced in the US, which far exceeds that of the so called undeveloped places I`ve been in, as we circumnavigated the Pacific Ocean.
         
          Where many are lost in disassociated energy + don`t realize we can harness it + address early signs to prevent it. Meanwhile we can redirect + use this fuel to stop aggressive war mode economies from anyone gaining locally + beyond. Where now aggressive acts from anyone are treated as an ill state.

                    As well their will be no openings for misdoing.

      Students will define what is, via type of ecosystem/subject, what can trigger their solutions as they network. The who/what preventing or interfering or how can make it happen in stages, as in tallies telling us what most efficient to do as they reflect with other communities, already living `boon with their natural world.

Once sharpened + awake, our inner tools perceive from afar, bringing home precision results instantly;

                As we differentiate quality individual self-expression without leaving a footprint, as people become clear + have hands on do_in, not awaiting a business package from 1 or a few. Now it threads thru local community 1st responsibly to actualize, as energy is pooled + redirected. Then extend for natural disasters as we coordinate a plan with our neighbors.

         No longer preoccupied with only gain to be fragmented. Rather incentive to co_evolve a solution + collectively brainstorm for the betterment of all;
.
                   wrong doers will see the tallies – how they inner personally failed to look  within, along with the greedy folks that ride on their wave, all see their misuse. Internationally, people will be supported to sustain locally. Coop naturally + bypass recycling/marketing consumptive waste + say no, + retain simple living. As all build own path as they walk it. Share planet + beyond, together. Self-register/remove barriers. Supporting freedom for all to come together + resolve, become aware + freely migrate this planet + cooperatively beyond as we unite our raw materials + explore locally + beyond the ultimate efficiency.

               Imagine the creative energy boom, from the potential energy awaiting, as we gain support to self-sharpen dull sensors, remove baggage, co_evolve with 1 science, via as in Gantt shared like subject in like ecosystem/micro biome. Where all can be triggered to bring solution home, fine tune + now go beyond.

Please let these ideals trigger your thought to apply now for your locals to unite asap gaining support vs. await 6 months for this grant confirmation, as we give now support to each other when we locally responsibly act, + carry it thru to world governing body to contribute; COP,UN, world leaders/people.

     your feedback/confirmation of plug in, will be appreciated for our forum as well I will add your intent to the grant partnership.
         
                Peace can be obtained if we share what works, kara j lincoln

      these folks are a good example + deserve our support, we are fortunate for their offerings;

Via Campesina at COP17 in Durban: Industrial Agriculture heats up the planet. Farmers are cooling it down!     

MEDIA ADVISORY

   (Maputo, 16th November, 2011) - The International Peasant's Movement La Via Campesina will be at the 17th Conference of Parties, the UN summit on Climate Change, that will take place in Durban, South Africa, from the 28th of November to the 9th of December 2011. More than two hundred peasants, women and men, from Africa, Europe, Latin America and Caribe will represent millions of small-scale producers from around the world, practicing agroecology to cool down the Earth.

In Durban, members of La Via Campesina will denounce the industrial agriculture model as one of the main drivers of climate change. We will also expose agribussiness' aggressive land grabbing tactics globally, causing mass displacement of people for monoculture production.

Peasants globally oppose false solutions to climate change, such as monoculture plantations, REDD mechanisms, soil carbon markets, and the so called “Climate Smart Agriculture”, which instead of solving the climate crisis, are heating up the planet.

In Durban, LVC will participate on the Global Day of Action on the 3rd of December, to demand social and climate justice. On the 5th of December, all African peasants movements will celebrate the Agroecology and Food Sovereignty day to Cool Down the Earth, a symbolic manifestation to demand respect for the cause of peasants globally.
Meeting with the press

3rd December

Global Day of Action, during demonstrations, at starting point of the main march

05th December, 09h30

Inside Press Conference – at ICC (International Convention Center) in Durban, at press room

06th December, 15h

Outside Press conference with Via Campesinas´ Allies (Place to be confirmed)

Contacts for media

Boaventura Monjane, boa.monjane@viacampesina.org

Local number: 0027 - (0)736509229 (from the 28th of November)

Cassia Bechara cassia@mst.org.br

i ask our US president, legislators + entities that reach out locally + afar to come together for all life to regain natural balance, as we put together good solutions we now have.

      as we invite investors to rethink + regain innerpersonal awareness of the negative issues they are presently supporting. i ask the policy makers to support immediate tapering transition so as to aid this awareness + invite solution to be acted ASAP.

we can pool our resources + realize this is a priority issue that sustains our earth, to sustain us in a healthy mode. not to mention give us nurturing energy to take a ride out in the countryside, smell the freshness, + taste the whole food we all deserve.

i can`t tell you how sick it made me to walk into safeway in the US + see the organic food wilted/dead as the store reacked with pathogens as the air quality was bad.

buying organic food is not the solution, rather we must support the sensitivity of marketing local natural grown food that is produced locally, to be marketed locally. it is wrong to transport fresh foods afar, especially without good maintenance.

we are causing our own illness by eating them fresh when they are not cared for. this is the same with the shipd that come into the south pacific islands as folks go thru rotten food to pick out less rotten to eat.

this must be stopped now.

you folks that think you are doing good to create world business or even local, are doing it the wrong way. come talk to the local small farms , we have solutions to retain  the nutrients of fresh natural grown food, best when eaten locally ASAP.

thank you for what you can do now, our combined` effect makes it easier..

peace is an option for us now if we responsibly act now + join in with the synergy that nurtures life, when we stay with it in real time.

               come together + rethink solutions for efficient change local + global policy.

Movements Unite in Mali, Confronting Powerful Interests : “We are decolonizing Africa here”


Nyéléni, Mali – 19 November 2011 —The National Confederation of Peasant Organization’s (CNOP) agroecological training center stands at the crossroads of the West African countryside. Surrounded with rich Malian farmland and dotted with white thatched-roof huts, the Niger River snakes into the horizon on one side, and a dusty road connects the property to the sleepy town of Sélingué. Today, well into the first International Peasant’s Conference, the center was buzzing with activity as peasants from across Africa and around the world worked together to envision communities where land is more than a commodity.


“This is the kind of awareness-raising that has the potential to change policy,” said Ibrahima Coulibaly, CNOP’s president and a Via Campesina leader. “As local and national movements, we need to fight together against the global structures that threaten our communities,” he added.


Over the course of the day, peasants outlined the enormity of their struggle against those international structures—ranging from misguided pension funds to the innermost workings of financial institutions like the World Bank and the World Trade Organization. Following the financial crisis, pension and other investment funds have increasingly put their money toward natural resources and food—commodifying historical rights to land and water.


“It’s the international institutions that deny us access to the common good, and threaten our ability to plant diverse crops that feed world,” offered Rafael Alegria, a Honduran Via Campesina leader. “And the only way that we can work against them and avoid becoming refugees on our lands is as a united movement.”


Via Campesina has already seen victories of the sort. In the mid 90s, representatives of their base organizations demonstrated at World Food Summit. Later, they were allowed inside once-closed doors where they observed decision-making processes, while still mounting pressure from the outside. After years of counter summits, Via Campesina has been given a voice that allows them to be a part of framing the debate and defining a global agenda.


“We hope that by the powerful participation of social movements, we will bring the food sovereignty agenda to the UN,” said Sofia Monsalve, a human rights expert with Food First Information and Action Network (FIAN). Via Campesina—credited with coining the term “food sovereignty”—has been determined to rethink the global notion of food security from its very origin.


But peasant movements concur that in the absence of control over their lands, real food sovereignty is impossible.


The cash-strapped Malian government, for example, has already allocated at least 750,000 hectares to multinational corporations for large-scale agricultural projects—much of which is reserved for export. And more than 40% of those deals involve crops like Jatropha for agrofuels, feeding foreign machines instead of local people. Investors are offered attractive fiscal incentives and in some cases, first access to water from the Niger River. Entire communities are displaced while water resources and food supplies become increasingly vulnerable.


Delegates from dozens of countries shared similar statistics, and personal stories, from their own countries—where their indigenous lands have become magnets for foreign investors. By first shedding light on these David vs. Goliath struggles, their forum provides a space to come up with unified solutions to put an end to the new form of colonization that is land grabbing.


“We are decolonizing Africa here,” said Elizabeth Mpofu, a peasant woman from Zimbabwe. “Our job is to come up with democratic declarations at the grassroots level. It’s up to us to make sure that they reach our governments, and that they can be shared with all stakeholders—including at the international level.” She recognized the enormity of that task, but at the same time felt empowered by her counterparts from five continents.


At CNOP’s open-air training center in Nyéléni, Ibrahim Coulibaly stood in the coarse sand, bright green Via Campesina flags hanging behind him. “Let’s start,” he said, opening yet another session, “We have a lot of hard work to do.” But for a brief moment, he paused, looking out over the diverse crowd of peasant leaders. Then he raised his voice and smiled. “There is so much energy here,” he beamed, “What an atmosphere.”


Via Campesina News

      This is what is happening around the world as people pay no attention to Fair Trade  or the reality of why we have ill folks, as well the loss of our biodiversity. as we continue to not pay attention to legislators, as they allow this kind of global policy that allows sound science to be lived.

please make a difference now, every time you eat your food or when you go shopping, we can think of those lives we interfere in, when we fail to make a conscious effort, knowing we give them our optimum support as we change our 2012 FARM POLICY in the US which is totally incomprehensible, which penalizes farmers for growing anything beyound commudities. we need fruits + vegetables to balance our good health + support good digestion.

             good international policy is to aid these natural sound small farming practices everywhere, to protect our global ecology that sustains healthy life. this is our life right.

people can come together preserving ecological sustanaibility by retaining small farms, so as not to go beyound the biome`s limits, vs. the monocultures that are producing pest issues, lang grabbing. as well ill health from the toxics used, along with a list of negative issues.

Miguel Altieri with his agro-ecology has proven our need for small farms globally to solve our world food crises we presently have. they can give same yields without these negative effects.

i suggest people around the world to come together in support of this + not buy from the monocultured farms. nor the stores that sell anything accept small local natural grown products. + go direct to the natural farmers + buy. hold local folks accountable, to change land use laws/mindsets, to realize how lucky we are to have these small farmers to go direct to. that are saving are sustainable means to survive.

FARMERS UNITE + trade good sound ways as you stay safe + thankyou for what you do..

i ask our US + global legislators to HELP OUR NEIGHBORS + immediately put a halt to those that contribute to these wrong acts + support local communitys to protect their land use + save their local natural grown seeds + do an exchange, thru good policy, no longer allowing any large farming to come in or land grab from local or afar, that over rule, sound  natural cooperative community decisions, that have proven to work around the world.


November 17,2011 – Today, more than 250 participants, mainly representatives of farmers’ organisations, from thirty different countries gathered in Nyéléni Village, a centre for agro-ecology training built in a rural area near Sélingué, in Mali, to participate into the first International farmers’ conference to stop land grabbing. The Nyéléni village is a symbolic place, where the first international conference on Food Sovereignty was held in 2007. For three days, from the 17 to the 20 of November, participants are exchanging their experiences and creating alliances to stop the global land grab.


Land grabbing is happening everywhere, making the daily struggle of rural communities worldwide for survival even more difficult. Rights of family farmers, as well as pastoralists, artisanal fishers and indigenous communities, are violated constantly and their territories are being increasingly militarised. Small scale food production is replaced by large monoculture plantations for export and local farmers are left without land, without jobs, without food. This is why peasant organisations decided to mobilise together against this problem and create a space for exchanging experiences and finding common solutions.


At the opening ceremony Ibrahima Coulibaly, president of the CNOP (National Confederation of Peasant Organisations) of Mali, said: “The land belongs to local communities and it has been like that for generations. Now, governments are pushing farmers off their lands. This is not acceptable. It is a denial of historic rights, rights that exist since hundreds of years, while many states exist only since the 1960s. This shows how politicians are not connected to the people. The situation is very serious, and that is why we are here. We have the possibility in these three days to sit together, find a common understanding and find the solutions.”


Since the global food and financial crises broke out in 2008, governments and private firms have been increas­ingly acquiring large areas of fertile land in foreign countries all around the world. More then 60 countries have been targeted by hundreds of private corporations and dozens of governments. This international “land rush” affects as least 30 million hectares in Africa alone.


During the initial debates, participants shared their experiences and presented a multifaceted image of land-grabbing. On the one hand, they agreed that land grabbing is not a completely new phenomenon, as most countries have suffered it through colonisation and in some places colonial legal systems persist until now. On the other hand, they noted that land grabbing can have different shapes and forms as well. There is state-led land grabbing and there are land grabs by transnational corporations. There are land grabs to produce food for export, to produce agrofuels, land grabs for mining or other large infrastructural projects, periurban land grabs and so on. But even at the local level, leaders and community chiefs grab land. There are also mechanisms within families and communities that result in land grabbing, such as men denying women access to land, the widespread discrimination against young and women farmers, and land grabs by local elites.


In Africa, 80% of the population are small-scale family farmers and even though their means of production may be rudimentary, as many of them do not own even a plough, they are still able to feed the majority of the people. As land grabs push small farmers and pastoralists off their lands, they directly undermine food sovereignty.


“When we lose the land we lose our culture, communities and knowledge. The land for us is everything,” said a farmer from Senegal. Other farmers shared testimonies of local struggles and expropriation of communities across Africa and worldwide. “Farmers are being criminalised. Many of us are thrown into jail, only because we are trying to save our land and our way of life,” added a farmer from Indonesia. “More than fifty compañeros and compañeras have died in the last year while defending their land. Today, our territories are completely militarised,” said a farmer from Honduras, talking about the struggle of local communities in Bajo Aguán.


Here in Mali, around 800,000 hectares of land have been leased or are under negotiation for lease. One farmer from Kolongo, in the Ségou region, where two investors have grabbed peoples’ land, Malibya and Tomota, explained his experience: “We have been living in our villages for hundreds of years, yet nobody came and told us about these projects. Then one day, this machine came and started to dig. They gave us a paper which we could not read. So we had to show it to somebody who could tell us what it said. The paper said that we had to leave our land and our farms. Then they started to build a canal. They dug up a cemetery, they robbed us of our harvest and ruined our land. We organised a forum in Kolongo one year ago and we are still struggling for our rights, but we are really suffering.”


A woman farmer from the Office du Niger, where many different foreign investors have been grabbing lands, stood up and said: “We are really glad to be here today. In our villages, we are in real difficulty. The projects took away our lands, so we cannot produce food anymore. Due to the struggle, some of us are in jail and I myself had a miscarriage after I was beaten. We even had to send our children away, as there is no food. Now, we have no happiness but we are fighting for our future and for the coming generations. We came to this conference as we hope to struggle together.”


Every day, farmer and pastoralist communities are being expelled from their land. At the same time everywhere, resistance and new solutions are being developed to stop this massive land grabbing. In Senegal, since the recent conflict in Fanaye, which led to several deaths, farmers organisations, social movements, NGOs and human rights groups have set up a monitoring and alert committe to warn all civil society actors, journalists and decision makers whenever new land grabbing cases arise on the ground.


Participants agreed that this struggle to stop land grabbing is also a struggle to stop the ongoing commodification of seeds, water and knowledge and to support small-scale family farmers. Paul Nicholson, one of the leaders of La Via Campesina said: “Some people say that land grabbing is modernizing agriculture, and that it is the only solution to alleviating hunger. This is not true, what we need is food sovereignty. We must fight for our agroecological model, and we need policies that support family farmers everywhere. It is urgent to implement an agrarian reform all over the world.”


Via Campesina News

November 1, 2011
tags: budget, Development, diplomacy, foreign affairs, international affairs, senate
by Rebecca Griffin

This week, the Senate is planning to vote on the international affairs budget—money for everything from nuclear nonproliferation to vaccinations to conflict prevention to feeding the poor. Some senators may try to slash the budget, which is already far too low.

Take action now. Tell your senators to vote against amendments to cut the budget for alternatives to war.

For far too long, the military budget has been a massive hammer and every problem from terrorism to human rights abuse is a nail. We can’t change that unless we rein in the bloated military budget and invest in tools like diplomacy and development that can prevent conflicts and make lives better.

Groups around the country are mobilizing people to make sure the Senate doesn’t make a shortsighted mistake on international affairs funding. Will you add your voice to our call?

This year’s budget for diplomacy and development will be setting the standard for the tight budget for years to come. We need to make sure we have as much support as possible for a strong budget.

our comment  given to oregon senators, along with the UN secretariat of the Global Alliance for ICT + Developement, along with more, from our combined` effect;

thank you PAW for this support.

       legislators, i am writing to urge you to vote against any amendments to the “minibus” bill that would do anything accept delete all funding for nuclear/all weapons in the Energy and Water budget.

We already spend billions every year on outdated and unnecessary weapons and this budget increases every single year, even while we are reducing our nuclear arsenals. There is no need to add any more money on the Senate floor, and I don`t want awareness sacrificed for any spending on nuclear weapons and bomb plants.

especially as in the 2012 Farm Bill is a good ex: it is so uncomprehensible. PAW take a look at the weapontry bill please. along with the National Nuclear Security Administration’s defense Bill. showing confusion, to stop them all.

    we can restore creative energy, as our potential for jobs are unlimited as we reassess our natural biomes potential + reconstruct. giving us the soundness so folks can be supported to rid their baggage, vs. be enslaved with it.

  taking parts while creating solutions + stop buying over priced product/service from those w/dull sensors, unable to see for the betterment of the whole

 are you enslaved with this dysfunction of the governing body you choose to stay in. or is it you personally that is unable to redirect.

these ideals are what i'm presently working on as i apply for our USAID/Div WASH Grant for the poorest countries on this earth. i`m showing how we can start in the US + the students developing this focus directed tool will do just this as we show the who, what + where it goes when it should be going to people locally everywhere, simoultaneously as they do the same.

we the people now can thread, supporting those unable until able, here is a few ideals for you to add in your walkabout:
 
       Our objective is to share how special our community can be if we restore it`s ecological soundness for wild biodiversity. Would you like to take part in this + Create a cooperative community tool shed, to restore our natural habitats. Supporting all to regain sharp sensors for mental clarity, inner peace, physical energy, with creative expression. supporting part time those unable until able or a continued support system including the local students to participate. all can equally take part. Producing a natural community that sustains our self-development for harmony. As we create energy efficiency, make a pen pal/buddy system + aid each in a interchangeable role, supporting incentives/credits toward our continued education. Where we support all to rid baggage, self-satisfy, continue exploration, as we gain awareness to leave no footprint.

              We would like to do this with your support, for the local students to - Open the School Doors + Come in to include the Community - for all to self-develop as we network + share what works, gaining hands on experience.

          We invite you to share your needs, offerings, as you engage + log in, if you need more space please add;

Name + best time to interrelate + how - short wave, internet, telephone, mail, fax. Where. how many in house (each explain) -  type  wood/brick - boat, single family
house, camper, hotel, coop housing. Would you relocate if was supported or move your home, if you + your local community defined the land use was best for wild development to be expanded, as in a trans-boundary migration, river flow or rid dam, tree planting, small natural grown farm field. Do you have an extra room/space to donate for a meeting/gathering/student or community member unable + in need of short term stay or homeless, if the community can come together in a shared plan for support for rehab/restoration, etc.

Present ER/or difficulties (or know of another in need), needs + offerings, invest/desired return now/later, $ or energy, sensitivities

       Are you interesting in evaluating your energy consumption, explain your consumption + change you would like. Ex; if use electrical appliances check the back for amps, present use vs. desired equipment that you are soon to acquire or would like to have in community to share such as bulk grain grinding, specific tool, etc... Ventilation system type.

               water use # gallons per day + filter/pump system – Brita or like, reverse osmosis, desalinization, collector, well, city, pond, grey water recycled –
 used for what – garden, field, yard, washer, shower, bath. Do you have a pest problem such as mosquitoes, bugs in house/garden, etc.

      present power source + amount used - propane, fuel oil, diesel/gas generator, solar, wind mill, other. Present bill amount monthly.

do you compost/have garden or interested in a community compost/garden/CSA. Do you have space for a perennial foraged/annual shared community garden. Space for pile of lime + to dig a pond where species could be put in to kill mosquito larvae, clean water for own consumption or offer ex: water + lime for natural disasters to use for drinking/bathing as well lime for building outhouse.

would you like to learn about or coop the buying/selling of whole natural grown/raised local/some from afar, foods for self + animals/soaps/dairy/homeopathy/herbal medicines, bees for honey, goats for cheese/milk, chickens free range + veg fed, where you use own containers. Means to sell/obtain own above or wild caught fish/seaweed/foraged food.

would you like to share your thought in a community conversation/debate to define your community restoration + for your own self-development or supported care.  To define if it is more energy efficient to network + bring in sensitive/skilled in a subject unaware of. or as in defining if an energy grid should plug into a larger grid. Or if a product that the community uses should come from afar vs. be produced locally.  share if you would offer assistance in researching, etc. We invite folks that are leaving/or know of those leaving a negative effect on life, whether a human or animal or our habitat, to come + share this transparency in a `tapering transition support system. (if want to protect your privacy we will allow you to contact us with a name/act without having to leave yours) where the community can help rethink with those that perceive solutions. as the flow of natural healthy balanced energy is restored. Prioritizing those misusing/abusing, along with a reasonable form of hands on action, for folks to recycle + make it right or let another take over, step down from a position or remove/change the position or policy. This can be a dispute between a few people or a community debate or a legislative act that is being irresponsibly, energy consuming, but not a law suit, this we don`t support – rather we try all means to share solutions, etc.
 
Please explain what you would like us to do if we notice you are misusing/abused in a way that you are unaware of. yet you are not open to suggestions or may feel offended + not want us to persist. yet we may be able to share /reflect experiences that could help you stop this negative issue. many communities are without good natural simple support groups to reflect with. so many people take what they do, that perhaps has been carried down from our loved ones attempts to survive, + think it is normal. we believe all can regain sharp sensors with a little support to bring you back into our local community as an equal participant. so together we build our community for all to become aware to be a local, global + beyond participant. responsibly we can end all aggressive acts.

we feel together we can do a tally system that will efficiently fuel us to gain awareness to restore each of us to our potential, along with maintaining discipline of our self-sensory observations vs. belief. to remove the policies/understandings of waste. As government/market is redefined + land use zoning co_evolves with our discoveries. So as new innovative ideals are built upon not to compete, rather to communicate with locals to see what is needed to come in or to be removed/recycled/nurtured. So as to have no military. No more expense do_in for any other, interfering in their ability to do for self. accept to share what works. + come together for those unable in our next` move aiding our neighbor until able. Only good local police as they are supported, along with each of us holding our self + others accountable locally + at the end of our reach. along with restoring our natural community within it`s natural limitations, with skilled to enhance, prioritizing our wild to sustain it along with us + our small farms, preventing pests. such as in agro-ecology, with Ex; Prof Miguel Altieri guiding if no locals have this understanding.

Thank you again. We hope this inspires you to settle for nothing less than self-satisfaction as you continue to explore, leaving no footprint. we have been so thankful to be able to reflect with patches of people that have gathered to build special communities. where music, smells of fresh grown local food fill the air. as community comes together in a `way potluck. laying issues on a cloth/table as they work thru them or network for ideals to trigger that which they can bring home + fine tune for their biome/ecosystem. or simply celebrate along the way with a priority` performance. as all stay in the moment with what simply sustains us as we `rejoin our self + cooperatively `plan our community. please offer what we fail to add here or set us straight if you feel there is yet another way.

             thank you for taking part in change for all to harmonize.

please use our virtual forum for yourself, for another or 1 of you post for your community. + help us make it a good tool as we gather + share what works efficiently. Google has yet to thread so please open a document, then open the ctrl l box + type in url;  http://i-come-to-talk-story-net.3220728.n2.nabble.com/

Please write to let me know what action you will take.

I edit on a comment I heard on the 2012 Farm Bill.

 -Quote `Politics play a role in what is on our dinner plate says The Splendid Table radio announcer, speaking to Prof. Marion Nestle from NYU. She comments + teaches the 2012 Farm Bill, to define the political reality of what must be done to change it. Her  + 45 students, are trying to make sense of the nonsense.

In 2006 the previous Farm Bill was on discussion. It was on internet  + had a table of context 14 pages long, 630 pages totally incomprehensible. So astonishing irrational,  it takes your breath away.

Started in 1930`s + added on  to incrementally.  With No sound rational reasoning, if want to promote rational farm policy  in US, to feed everyone + protect workers + give farmers a living, protect the environment + promote health. This does none of that. Nothing in it to promote consumption + production of fruits + vegetables, rather they discourage their growth, only commodities are supported..

If commodity producer grows vegetables he would loose subsidies. So has to plow under, or freeze or treat with round up + kill, vs. grow + give away. Food assistance programs are linked + held hostage to farm subsidies programs vice versa. Is linked due to senators + house members that have interest in 1 or other aspect, say I will vote for yours if you vote for mine.

Unless you know the 30 previous bills you can`t comprehend. + read like a text. No on can understand, even in congress, it is so vast. It includes details of dozens  + dozens of programs. Range from tiny  for few people to food stamps - Snap Program with several million people + more each day. With the present over weight problem + ill states of health in the US + to not tie nutrition into the Farm Bill is completely unacceptable.

Congress is not aligning the farm policy with health policies. `

nor supporting our biodiversity, with small farmers growing natural organic foods, to build local communities that are ecologically sustainable.

This is wrong when  legislators can`t address our local sustainable issues because they do not live as a local. If they did they would never allow such a Bill as this to exist.

                                         let them know this is not acceptable

People take a look at our ideals to trigger your thought for a walkabout + realize what cooperative communities can do now without the need for governing as is, as new policy is created by living it.

say NGOsReport finds genetically modified crops fail to increase yields let alone solve hunger, soil erosion and chemical-use issues
  reddit this John Vidal, environment editor guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 19 October 2011 11.53 EDT  larger | smaller Article history
GM crops promote superweeds, food insecurity and pesticides, say NGOs Link to this video
Genetic engineering has failed to increase the yield of any food crop but has vastly increased the use of chemicals and the growth of "superweeds", according to a report by 20 Indian, south-east Asian, African and Latin American food and conservation groups representing millions of people.

The so-called miracle crops, which were first sold in the US about 20 years ago and which are now grown in 29 countries on about 1.5bn hectares (3.7bn acres) of land, have been billed as potential solutions to food crises, climate change and soil erosion, but the assessment finds that they have not lived up to their promises.

The report claims that hunger has reached "epic proportions" since the technology was developed. Besides this, only two GM "traits" have been developed on any significant scale, despite investments of tens of billions of dollars, and benefits such as drought resistance and salt tolerance have yet to materialise on any scale.

Most worrisome, say the authors of the Global Citizens' Report on the State of GMOs, is the greatly increased use of synthetic chemicals, used to control pests despite biotech companies' justification that GM-engineered crops would reduce insecticide use.

In China, where insect-resistant Bt cotton is widely planted, populations of pests that previously posed only minor problems have increased 12-fold since 1997. A 2008 study in the International Journal of Biotechnology found that any benefits of planting Bt cotton have been eroded by the increasing use of pesticides needed to combat them.

Additionally, soya growers in Argentina and Brazil have been found to use twice as much herbicide on their GM as they do on conventional crops, and a survey by Navdanya International, in India, showed that pesticide use increased 13-fold since Bt cotton was introduced.

The report, which draws on empirical research and companies' own statements, also says weeds are now developing resistance to the GM firms' herbicides and pesticides that are designed to be used with their crops, and that this has led to growing infestations of "superweeds", especially in the US.

Ten common weeds have now developed resistance in at least 22 US states, with about 6m hectares (15m acres) of soya, cotton and corn now affected.

Consequently, farmers are being forced to use more herbicides to combat the resistant weeds, says the report. GM companies are paying farmers to use other, stronger, chemicals, they say. "The genetic engineering miracle is quite clearly faltering in farmers' fields," add the authors.

The companies have succeeded in marketing their crops to more than 15 million farmers, largely by heavy lobbying of governments, buying up local seed companies, and withdrawing conventional seeds from the market, the report claims. Monsanto, Dupont and Syngenta, the world's three largest GM companies, now control nearly 70% of global seed sales. This allows them to "own" and sell GM seeds through patents and intellectual property rights and to charge farmers extra, claims the report.

The study accuses Monsanto of gaining control of over 95% of the Indian cotton seed market and of massively pushing up prices. High levels of indebtedness among farmers is thought to be behind many of the 250,000 deaths by suicide of Indian farmers over the past 15 years.

The report, which is backed by Friends of the Earth International, the Center for Food Safety in the US, Confédération Paysanne, and the Gaia foundation among others, also questions the safety of GM crops, citing studies and reports which indicate that people and animals have experienced apparent allergic reactions.

But it suggests scientists are loath to question the safety aspects for fear of being attacked by establishment bodies, which often receive large grants from the companies who control the technology.

Monsanto disputes the report's findings: "In our view the safety and benefits of GM are well established. Hundreds of millions of meals containing food from GM crops have been consumed and there has not been a single substantiated instance of illness or harm associated with GM crops."

It added: "Last year the National Research Council, of the US National Academy of Sciences, issued a report, The Impact of Genetically Engineered Crops on Farm Sustainability in the United States, which concludes that US farmers growing biotech crops 'are realising substantial economic and environmental benefits – such as lower production costs, fewer pest problems, reduced use of pesticides, and better yields – compared with conventional crops'."

David King, the former UK chief scientist who is now director of the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment at Oxford University, has blamed food shortages in Africa partly on anti-GM campaigns in rich countries.

But, the report's authors claim, GM crops are adding to food insecurity because most are now being grown for biofuels, which take away land from local food production.

Vandana Shiva, director of the Indian organisation Navdanya International, which co-ordinated the report, said: "The GM model of farming undermines farmers trying to farm ecologically. Co-existence between GM and conventional crops is not possible because genetic pollution and contamination of conventional crops is impossible to control.

"Choice is being undermined as food systems are increasingly controlled by giant corporations and as chemical and genetic pollution spread. GM companies have put a noose round the neck of farmers. They are destroying alternatives in the pursuit of profit."

As announced by Dainik Bhaskar on November 8, 2011, The MOU’s of Monsanto and other Seed Companies with Rajasthan Agricultural Universities have been cancelled

Under pressure of the Prime Minister’s Office (which in turn was under the pressure of the White House because of signing the U.S – India Agriculture Agreement, on the board of which sits Monsanto) the States were signing MOU’s with seed corporations to privatise our rich and diverse genetic heritage. The Government of Rajasthan signed seven MOU’s with Monsanto, Advanta, DCM-Sriram, Kanchan Jyoti Agro Industries, PHI Seeds Pvt. Ltd, Krishidhan Seeds and J.K. Agri Genetics.

While what  was being undertaken was  a great seed robbery under the supervision of the State, it was being called PPP - Private Public Partnership.

The MOU with Monsanto focused on Maize, Cotton, and vegetables (hot pepper, tomato, cabbage, cucumber, cauliflower, water melon). Monsanto bought up Seminis, the world’s largest seed company. Monsanto controls the cotton seed market in India and globally. Monsanto controls 97% of the worldwide Maize market, and 63.5% of the GM cotton market. And Dupont has had to initiate anti-trust investigations in U.S because of Monsanto’s growing seed monopoly. Thus the MOU would have deepened Monsanto’s monopoly over seed supply.

The MOU violated farmers rights by handing over the genetic wealth of farmers to corporations without the consent of farmers.

On the contrary, the MOU’s were one sided and biased in favour of corporate intellectual property rights. The Monsanto MOU stated :

“Monsanto’s proprietary tools, techniques, technology, knowhow and intellectual property rights with respect to the crops shall remain the property of Monsanto although utilized in any of the activities outlined as part of the MOU.”

While public resources would have been freely given away to Monsanto as a subsidy, Monsanto’s IPR monopolies would have been protected. This was an MOU for “Monsanto takes all, the public system gives all”.

It was clearly an MOU for privatization of our seed and genetic wealth, our knowledge and a violation of farmers rights. The seed supplies that the agriculture universities were handing over to Monsanto were not the property of the state, nor of Monsanto. They were the common property of farming communities. That is why Navdanya started the campaign for cancellation of the MOU’s. On 9th August, 2011 “Quit India Day”, the day 13 years ago when we started the Monsanto Quit  India campaign, Dr. Vandana Shiva and Navdanya team undertook a seed sovereignty yatra in Rajasthan saving seeds and meeting with local groups and scientists and government representatives to intensify the call for the cancellation of the MOU’s.

Today’s announcement of the cancellation is yet another success of Navdanya, the seed sovereignty movement, the seed keepers of Rajasthan and NGO’s and independent scientists who work together to roll back the power of Monsanto and the seed MNC’s.

For further information, please contact

Dr. Vandana Shiva

Founder Director

Navdanya Trust

A-60, Hauz Khas

New Delhi – 110 016

Email : vandana@vandanashiva.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Phone : 9810025169
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MONSANTO’S SEED MOU WITH RAJASTHAN AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITIES CANCELLED
Navdanya | A non-chemical green revolution
CAMPAIGN HERO: Vandana Shiva, anti-GM activist and head of Navdanya
GM crops promote superweeds, food insecurity and pesticides, say NGOs
Bhoomi 2011
   

Peasant Seeds: Dignity, Culture and Life. Wednesday, 16 March 2011 09:12  
 
                        LA VIA CAMPESINA - BALI SEED DECLARATION

Farmers throughout the world are the victims of a war for control over seeds. Our agricultural systems are threatened by industries that seek to control our seeds by all available means. The outcome of this war will determine the future of humanity, as all of us depend on seeds for our daily food.

One actor in this war is the seed industry that uses genetic engineering, hybrid technologies and agrochemicals. Its aim is the ownership of seeds as a source of increased profits. They do this by forcing farmers to consume its seeds and become dependent on them. The other actor is peasants and family farmers who preserve and reproduce seeds within living, local, peasant and indigenous seed systems, seeds that are the heritage of our peoples, cared for and reproduced by men and women peasants. They are a treasure that we farmers generously place at the service of humanity.

Industry has invented many ways of stealing our seeds in order to manipulate them, mark them with property titles, and thereby force us, the farming peoples of the world, to buy new seeds from them every year, instead of saving and selecting them from our harvest to plant the following year. The industry’s methods include genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and hybrid seeds, which cannot be reproduced by farmers, as well as industrial property over seeds, including patents and plant variety certificates, all of which are imposed through international treaties and national laws. These are but different forms of theft, as all industrial seeds are the product of thousands of years of selection and breeding by our peoples. It is thanks to us, peasants and farmers, that humanity has at hand the great diversity of crops that, together with animal breeding, feeds the world today.

In their drive to build monopolies and steal our natural wealth, corporations and the governments who serve them place at risk all of humanity’s food and agriculture. A handful of genetically uniform varieties replace thousands of local varieties, eroding the genetic diversity that sustains our food system. Faced with climate change, diversity is a strength, and uniformity a weakness. Commercial seeds drastically reduce the capacity of humanity to face and adapt to climate change. This is why we maintain that peasant agriculture and its peasant seeds contribute to the cooling of the planet.

Our communities know that hybrid and genetically modified seeds require enormous quantities of pesticides, chemical fertilizers and water, driving up production costs and damaging the environment. Such seeds are also more susceptible to droughts, plant diseases and pest attacks, and have already caused hundreds of thousands of cases of crop failures and have left devastated household economies in their wake. The industry has bred seeds that cannot be cultivated without harmful chemicals. They have also been bred to be harvested using large machinery and are kept alive artificially to withstand transport. But the industry has ignored a very important aspect of this breeding: our health. The result is industrial seeds that grow fast have lost nutritional value and are full of chemicals. They cause numerous allergies and chronic illnesses, and contaminate the soil, water and air that we breathe.

In contrast, peasant systems for rediscovering, re-valuing, conserving and exchanging seeds, together with local adaptation due to the local selection and reproduction in farmers’ fields, maintain and increase the genetic biodiversity that underlies our world food systems and gives us the required capacity and flexibility to address diverse environments, a changing climate and hunger in the world.

Our peasant seeds are better adapted to local growing conditions. They also produce more nutritious food, and are highly productive in agroecological farming systems without pesticides or other expensive inputs. But GMOs and hybrids contaminate our seeds and put them in danger of extinction. They replace our seeds in their places of origin and lead to their disappearance. Humanity cannot survive without peasant seeds, yet corporate seeds put their very existence at risk.

Let us not be mistaken. We are faced with a war for control over seeds. And our common future depends on its outcome. It is through this lens that we must analyze the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA), in order to understand what is at stake and what positions we should take.

The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture

First we must situate the Treaty in its historical context of constant attempts to steal our seeds. The industry and most governments are using the Treaty to legitimate the industry’s access to those peasant seeds that are stored in collections around the world. The Treaty recognizes and legitimizes industrial property over seeds, thus creating the required conditions for theft and monopoly control. In the Treaty, the florid language used to describe Farmers’ Rights entrusts individual states with the responsibility for their implementation. However, states do not apply them. Therefore the mentioning of these rights is only an attempt to inoculate the Treaty against our possible protests and denunciations.

The result is a treaty that legitimates the World Trade Organization (WTO) and laws on industrial property rights. It is therefore legally binding with respect to industrial property rights and the rights of plant breeders, while allowing states not to respect Farmers’ Rights. It is a contradictory and ambiguous treaty, which in the final analysis comes down on the side of theft.

This does not mean that all is lost. The Treaty can be amended from the peasant point of view, but the changes would have to be major and immediate. La Via Campesina affirms that:


We cannot conserve biodiversity and feed the world while our rights to save, use, exchange and sell our seeds are criminalized by laws that legalize the privatization and commodification of seeds. The Seed Treaty is the only treaty to date to contemplate farmers’ rights. However states do not respect these rights, in opposition to their respect of industrial property rights. Therefore, the Treaty must give peasant rights the highest priority, and these rights must be legally binding. They must be guaranteed in every one of the 127 countries that have ratified the Treaty.

The Treaty itself contradicts farmers’ rights when it promotes patents and other forms of industrial property over seeds. All forms of patents; plant variety protection and its royalties on farm-reproduced seeds; as well as all other forms of industrial property over life must be banned in the Treaty.
Industry incurred an immense debt by appropriating our seeds and by destroying cultivated biodiversity in order to replace it with a few manipulated varieties. Industry must repay this past debt, but doing so by no means gives it the right to continue appropriating our seeds. Industry must pay and it must also stop with the appropriation of seeds and the destruction of biodiversity.

The Treaty proposes the “sharing of the benefits” of the industrial property rights that it recognizes. These “benefits” result from the very theft of our peasant seeds. We do not want to be offered the proceeds from the theft of our seeds; we do not want benefit sharing because we do not want industrial property rights on seeds.

We demand public policies in favor of living, farmers’ seed systems, systems that are in our communities and under our control. These public policies should promote reproducible local seeds, but not non-reproducible seeds, like hybrids. They should prohibit monopolies, and favour instead agroecology, access to land and good care of the soil. These policies should also facilitate participative research in farmers’ fields and under the control of farmers’ organizations, not the control of the industry. We call on our communities to continue to conserve, care for, develop and share our peasant seeds: this is the best form of resistance against theft and the best way to maintain biodiversity.

Centralized gene banks do not respond to the needs of farmers. They are seed museums for the benefit of biopirate corporations, and offer no real access to peasant peoples. Moreover, our seeds are in danger inside these banks, threatened by genetic contamination and industrial property rights. We cannot trust governments or the Treaty to conserve them. We refuse to turn our seeds over to the gene banks of the multilateral systems and of the industry as long as the following remain in existence: patents on plants, their genes or other plant parts; other industrial property rights systems such as plant variety protection which demand royalties on farm-saved seeds; GMOs.

The commodification of seeds is seriously threatening our peasant seeds in Asia, Latin America and Africa. But in some of our countries, especially in Europe and North America, the commercial monopoly of industrial seeds has already done away with the majority of local varieties. In these countries, we can no longer carry out farmer selection using the varieties that are commercially available, because they are manipulated in such a way that they will not grow well without chemical inputs or industrial processes. They have lost much of their nutritional value and are increasingly modified genetically. We cannot select our new peasant varieties based on the seeds of our parents which are locked up in gene banks. We must have unconditional access to the banks of the multilateral system because it is our seeds that are kept there.

We farmers can keep our seeds first and foremost in our fields, but also in our granaries, seed barns and local community seed saving systems which also constitute small “ex situ collections”. We put these “ex situ collections” as close as possible to our fields so that farmers maintain control over them, responsibility for them and access to them. To paraphrase the Treaty, we farmers construct our own “multilateral system”. This is the basis upon which we can collaborate with the Treaty by reminding it that it is not the only entity carrying out seed conservation. If the Treaty wants to collaborate with us, it must respect our rules and our rights, and forbid Industrial Property Rights and GMOs.

Since the process of the Treaty is carried out within the United Nations, it is national states that have the responsibility to protect peasant seed systems. Yet, the World Trade Organization (WTO) renders the rights of plant breeders legally binding, while the rights of farmers are not respected. We demand that farmers’ rights be mandatory and that the rights of breeders be subordinated to these farmers’ rights. This necessarily entails the repeal of seed laws that privatize and commodify seeds and deny peasant rights. We demand the adoption of national laws that recognize Farmers’ Rights. La Via Campesina calls for the rapid approval and ratification of an international convention on peasant rights in the United Nations. Agriculture and seeds have no place in the WTO and Free Trade Agreements.

This Treaty is but part of a series of challenges that peasant and indigenous peoples are facing today. The Rio + 20 process is a clear confrontation between ‘greenwashed’ capitalism, and peasant agriculture, agroecology and our peasant seeds. La Via Campesina will act to defend agroecology and farmers’ seeds which represent hope and are the future of humanity. As we have shown, sustainable peasant agriculture can both contribute to the cooling of the planet and feed the world.

If governments commit to reforming the Treaty by effectively and actively defending Farmers’ Rights, we are willing to collaborate with the Treaty, including in a parallel committee, modeled on the Committee for Food Security that accompanies the FAO process in Rome. But we do not want to open the door to a collaboration with the Treaty that will thrust us into interminable discussions while GMOs, hybrids and industrial property rights expel us from our fields. Whether or not the Treaty recognizes those of us who are the stewards of biodiversity, we will continue to work within our own peasant seed systems, which have assured genetic diversity and fed the world in the past, and will continue to do so in the future. We are keeping seeds not only for ourselves, but also for our children. Peasant seeds are the heritage of peasant communities and indigenous peoples in the service of humanity.
 

    Declaration of Nyeleni Europe                                  
                                FOOD SOVEREIGNTY IN EUROPE NOW!

Nyeleni Europe 2011: European Forum for Food Sovereignty

Krems, August 21st

Europe’s people are now experiencing the first structural adjustment policies which governments are imposing on their populations that until now have been imposed on peoples in other regions in particular the Global South; this with the sole interest of saving capitalism and those who benefit from it (private banks, investment groups and transnational corporations). All signs are that in the near future these antisocial policies will become more severe and extensive. The first general mobilizations to denounce the economic and governance systems which have brought us to this point have begun and we offer - creatively and energetically – the response of European social movements to confront the model of global agriculture which is the exact reflection of the capitalist system that created it.

Food systems have been reduced to a model of industrialized agriculture controlled by a few transnational food corporations together with a small group of huge retailers. It is a model designed to generate profits, and therefore completely fails to meet its obligations. Instead of being dedicated to the production of food which is healthy, affordable and benefits people, it focuses increasingly on the production of raw materials such as agrofuels, animal feeds or commodity plantations. On the one hand, it has caused the enormous loss of agricultural holdings and the people who make their living from those holdings, while on the other hand it promotes a diet which is harmful to health and which contains insufficient fruit, vegetables and cereals.

This industrial model of production is dependent on finite fossil fuels and chemical inputs; does not recognize the limitations of resources such as land or water; is responsible for drastic losses of biodiversity and soil fertility; contributes to climate change; forces thousands of people into jobs without recognition of their most fundamental rights; and leads to the worsening of working conditions for farmers and workers, in particular migrants. It moves us further away from a respectful and sustainable relationship with nature. Exploiting and treating the earth in this way is the fundamental cause of rural poverty and hunger for more than a billion people in the world (such as now in the Horn of Africa). In addition, it causes forced migration, while creating a surplus of industrial foods, which end up being wasted or dumped in markets both within and outside Europe, destroying local production.

This situation is the result of food, financial, trade and energy policies, which our governments, the EU (especially through its Common Agricultural Policy), multilateral and financial institutions as well as transnational corporations have been imposing. Examples include the policies of deregulation and liberalization of agricultural markets and speculation on food.

Changing the direction of this dysfunctional food system will only be possible through a complete reorientation of food and agricultural policies and practices. It is vital to redesign the food system based on the principles of Food Sovereignty, particularly in Europe, and to do it now.

As a consequence more than 400 people from 34 European countries from the Atlantic to the Urals and Caucasus, from the Arctic to the Mediterranean, as well as international representatives from diverse social movements and civil society organisations, met from the 16th to 21st of August in Krems, Austria to take a step forward in the development of a European movement for Food Sovereignty. We are building on the foundations of the Declaration of the Nyéléni 2007: Forum for Food Sovereignty, which reaffirmed the international framework for Food Sovereignty - the right of peoples to democratically define their own food and agricultural systems without harming other people or the environment.

Numerous experiences and practices already exist here and now, at local, regional and European levels, which are based on Food Sovereignty and which demonstrate how it can be applied.

We are people who share values based on human rights. We want free movement of people, and not free circulation of capital and merchandise which contributes to the destruction of livelihoods and therefore forces many to migrate. Our aim is cooperation and solidarity as opposed to competition. We commit to reclaiming our democracy: all people should be involved in all issues of public interest and public policy making, deciding collectively how we organize our food systems. This requires the construction of democratic systems and processes, free of violence, corporate influence, and based on equal rights and gender equality, which will also lead to the abolition of patriarchy.

Many of us are young people who represent the future of our society and of our struggles. We will ensure that our energy and creativity make our movement stronger. In order to do so we must be able to participate in providing food and to be integrated in all structures and decisions.

We are convinced that Food Sovereignty is not only a step forward towards a change in our food and agricultural systems, but it is also a first step towards a broader change in our societies. For this we commit to struggle for:

                             Changing how food is produced and consumed

We are working towards resilient food production systems, which provide healthy and safe food for all people in Europe, while also preserving biodiversity and natural resources and ensuring animal welfare. This requires ecological models of production and fishing as well as a multitude of smallholder farmers, gardeners and small-scale fishers who produce local food as the backbone of the food system. We struggle against the use of GMOs and grow and recuperate a wide diversity of non-GM varieties of seeds and livestock breeds in these systems. We promote sustainable and diverse forms of food culture, in particular the consumption of high quality local and seasonal foods and no highly processed food. This includes a lower consumption of meat and animal products, which should only be locally produced using local non-GM feed. We engage in re-embracing and promoting knowledge of cooking and food processing through education and sharing of skills.

                           Changing how food is distributed

We work towards the decentralization of food chains, promoting diversified markets based on solidarity and fair prices, and short supply chains and intensified relations between producers and consumers in local food webs to counter the expansion and power of supermarkets. We want to provide the building blocks for people to develop their own food distribution systems and allow farmers to produce and process food for their communities. This requires supportive food safety rules and local food infrastructure for smallholder farmers. We also work to ensure that the food we produce reaches all people in society, including people with little or no income.

                  Valuing and improving work and social conditions in food and agriculture systems

We struggle against the exploitation and the degradation of working and social conditions and for the rights of all women and men who provide food as well as those of seasonal and migrant workers, workers in the processing, distribution and retail sector and others. We work towards public policies that respect social rights, set high standards and make public funding conditional upon their implementation. Society must give greater value to the role of food producers and workers in our society. For us, this includes decent living wages. We aim to build broad alliances among all people who work in the food system.

                           Reclaiming the right to our Commons

We oppose and struggle against the commodification, financialisation and patenting of our commons, such as: land; farmers’, traditional and reproducible seeds; livestock breeds and fish stocks; trees and forests; water; the atmosphere; and knowledge. Access to these should not be determined by markets and money. In using common resources, we must ensure the realisation of human rights and gender equality, and that society as a whole benefits. We also acknowledge our responsibility to use our Commons sustainably, while respecting the rights of mother earth. Our Commons should be managed through collective, democratic and community control.

                  Changing public policies governing our food and agricultural systems

Our struggle includes changing public policies and governance structures that rule our food systems – from the local to the national, European and global levels – and to delegitimise corporate power. Public policies must be coherent, complementary and promote and protect food systems and food cultures. They must: be based on the right to food; eradicate hunger and poverty; ensure the fulfilment of basic human needs; and contribute to Climate Justice – in Europe and globally. We need legal frameworks that: guarantee stable and fair prices for food producers; promote environmentally-friendly agriculture; internalise external costs into food prices; and implement land reform. These policies would result in more farmers in Europe. Public policies must be designed with the help of publicly accountable research to achieve the objectives outlined above. They must ensure that speculation on food is banned and no harm is done to existing local or regional food systems and food cultures – either by dumping or by landgrabbing in Europe, particularly Eastern Europe, or the Global South. We work towards new agriculture, food, seed, energy and trade policies for Food Sovereignty in Europe which are internationally sound. In particular these must include: a different Common Agriculture and Food Policy; the removal of the EU Biofuels Directive; and global governance of international agricultural trade located in the FAO and not the WTO.

                       We call upon the people and social movements

in Europe to engage, together with us, in all our struggles to take control of our food systems and Build the Movement for Food Sovereignty in Europe NOW!

          our combined` effect states;

                   we can simplify + apply our healthy neuronal process vs. allow or resist the reality of human range that is not healthy, nor do we have to accept anything less than harmony!

                           

Scaling up successful agroecological initiatives in Latin America and the Caribbean

Miguel A. Altieri, Daniel Buckles, Rolando Bunch, Simon Carter, Antonio Casanova, Paul Engel, Ruben Figueroa and Carlos Venegas.

In Latin America and the Caribbean there are many NGOs involved in promoting agroecological initiatives that have demonstrated a positive impact on the livelihoods of small farming communities in various countries ( see for example special issue of Environment, Development and Sustainability Vol 1 No ¾, l999 for a detailed description of various projects). Many of these projects were promoted by organizations associated with the Latin American Consortium on Agroecology and Development (CLADES), in collaboration with the Sustainable Agriculture Networking and Extension (SANE – a UNDP sponsored project) which initiated the establishment of various demonstration farms (lighthouses) where farmers adopting agroecological models achieved significant levels of food security and natural resource conservation. Given the benefits and advantages of such initiatives , two basic questions emerged: (l) why these benefits have not disseminated more widely and (2) how to scale-up these initiatives to enable wider impact? One important factor is that NGOs involved in such initiatives have not analyzed or systematized the principles that determined the level of success of the local initiatives, nor have been able to validate specific strategies for the scaling-up of such initiatives.

For this reason a second phase of SANE was initiated in 2000 under the sponsorship of the International Development Research Center (Canada). The general objective of SANE-LAC-II was to promote the scaling-up of agroecological principles, approaches and techniques from already successful experiences in four countries (Cuba, Peru, Honduras and Chile), through a planned and monitored process, recognizing that areas chosen have contrasting potentials in terms of institutional capacity, social organization and environmental and economic conditions. In the context of this project , scaling up is defined as the dissemination and adoption of agroecological principles over substantial areas by large numbers of farmers and technical staff. In other words, scaling up means achieving a significant increase in the knowledge and management of agroecological principles and technologies between farmers of varied socio-economic and biophysical conditions, and between institutional actors involved in peasant agricultural development.

                         The goals and activities of the scaling up process

The scaling up strategy of SANE-LAC II involves several components and activities, including:

Provision of methodological support to four NGOs (CET, CIED-EDAC,ACTAF and COSECHA) in a process of institutional articulation, coordination and exchange of experiences in Chile, Peru, Cuba and Honduras respectively.
Development and implementation in each country of scaling up strategies appropriate to the national or regional context.
Conduct a comparative analysis of the impact of such strategies on the diffusion and adoption of agroecological principles and techniques in each country
Collective systematization of the lessons learned in each scaling up process in order to derive principles and methods applicable in other zones and wider groups of farmers.
Widely disseminate the results obtained, particularly the principles that underline successful scaling-up at the local and regional levels.
SANE-LAC II members formulated as its principal working hypothesis that the scaling up is possible if the involved NGOs can:

partner more effectively with farmers organizations and other research-extension institutions
strengthen exchanges, training, technology transfer and validation in the context of farmer to farmer activities, as well as enhancing the role of rural promoters
to enhance the participation of small farmers in niche markets
Country approaches

In order to test this hypothesis each NGO developed a scaling up strategy focusing on one of the above approaches, depending on the conditions and challenges faced in each target region. Clearly, in each country there are restraining factors such as lack of markets, and lack of appropriate agricultural policies and technologies which limit scaling up . On the other hand, opportunities for scaling up exist , including the systematization and application of approaches that have met with success at local levels, and the removal of constraining factors. As a result four scaling up strategies are being implemented by SANE in LAC:

EDAC-CIED : the focus of this initiative is to strengthen the role of local promoters in participatory research and technological extension, and the support of producers’ organizations through alternative marketing channels (ferias campesinas organicas) as a way of scaling up agroecological approaches and sustainable development in Cajamarca, Peru . The main idea is to evaluate whether the promotion of alternative farmer-led markets constitute a mechanism to enhance the economic viability of the agroecological approach and thus provide the basis for the scaling-up process.
COSECHA: this project is testing different ways of rescuing/collecting/evaluating promising agreocological technologies generated by experimenting farmers (AE) and making them known to other farmers for wide adoption in various areas. Mechanisms to disseminate the technologies with high potential involve farmer exchange visits, regional-national farmer conferences, and publication of manuals that explain the technologies for the use by technicians involved in agroecological development programs.
CET’s strategy in the southern island Chilean of Chiloe, is to develop collaborative links with the Instituto de Desarrollo Agropecuario (INDAP- the main government agency supporting small farmers) in order for this organization to encourage adoption of agroecological principles in their extension programs. Simultaneously CET has partnered with the Chiloe Model Forest ( Bosque Modelo), a project that convokes national and regional institutions aimed at the sustainable utilization of the native forest by small farmers. It is hypothesized that agroecological farming can be a key component of the livelihood strategies of forest users, and therefore the Model Forest is a key institution with which to partner.
ACTAF: the focus of this project is to develop linkages between the Organic Agriculture Group of the Cuban Association of Agricultural and Forestry Professionals (ACTAF) and the National Association of Small Farmers (ANAP). Such alliance between technicians and farmers is critical for the dissemination of successful agroecological production systems emphasizing biodiversity management and rational use of natural resources. This component of the project looks for ways to replicate the successful Cuban experience with "agroecological lighthouses" established in Havana province during the first phase of SANE I.
                                           
                                            Monitoring the scaling up process

From the beginning of the implementation of phase II of SANE it was clear that the scaling-up of agroecological approaches constituted a major research challenge. The main difficulty lied in the design of a methodology to monitor and evaluate the impacts of the various strategies on:

The increase in the knowledge and management of agroecological principles among farmers in various socioeconomic and environmental contexts, technicians from various organizations and policy makers-development agents.
The enhancement of the social-geographical coverage or "reach" of the application of agroecological principles and technologies in different socioeconomic contexts , of varying land tenure systems and heterogeneous ecological conditions.
 

The first task of each NGO consisted in defining the categories of farmers, professionals and policy makers intended to be reached with its strategy, delineating concrete and measurable goals for posterior evaluation. It was assumed that each target category and goals can be modified according to obtained results and lessons learned during the scaling up process. Each NGO also had to define its goals in terms of social and geographic covertures for the application of agroecological approaches.

As part of a base study, each NGO described and analyzed the actual context and dominant trends in their spaces of operation, considering the following aspects:

Social actors pertinent for agroecological scaling-up , their vision, interest and institutional policies and other relevant issues. Level of organization of farmers organizations and their local-regional influence/ relevance.
Level of interest and role of local-regional governments in promoting ecological agriculture
Existing legislature/policies that may limit or favor expansion of agroecological approaches
Status of the natural resource base including soils, agrobiodiversity and water
Level of technological development at the local level, and degree of dependency on NGOs and government institutions, existence of local networks for the exchange of experiences, etc.
Existence of local and external market niches and availability of supply of agroecological products as well as levels of demand.

In addition to this base study observations, the SANE group defined five dimensions key for the monitoring of the ongoing scaling-up process:1.Techno-productive development: rescue and validation by farmers of generated technologies; adoption of new technologies and integration of technicians’ teams with farmers.

2. Organizational development: establishment and strengthening of farmers organizations; diversification of the membership including micro-entrepreneurs; generation of proposals and development of skills.

3. Inter-institutional articulation: involvement of local universities and agricultural institutions; creation of dialogue spaces; training of technicians, collaborative evaluation of effectiveness of agroecological technologies; creation of services (credit, certification, etc)

4. Commercial development: monitoring of markets for agroecological products; capacity building in commercial matters; diversification of marketing strategies; identification of niche markets; develop products that reflect the essence of peasant agriculture; articulation with commercial chains linked to consumers.

5.Political alliances: Creation and strengthening of linkages with other institutions at local, regional and national levels.

Each dimension is being monitored using a set of criteria and indicators that measure the level of influence that the interventions have over set periods on the various issues within each dimension.

                                            Expected outcomes

The SANE-LAC II process was initiated a year ago. It was conceived as both an action and research project whose main goal is to achieve a significant increase in the knowledge and management of agroecological principles and technologies among farmers of varied socio-economic and biophysical conditions, and between institutional actors involved in peasant agricultural development. The project aims to execute the strategy for scaling-up described here (farmer to farmer networks, niche markets, institutional articulation, etc) and to evaluate the impact of this approach on the broader goal of SANE-LAC II.

The main expectation of the project are that it will expand the geographical coverage of participating institutions and their target agroecological projects while allowing an evaluation of the impact of the strategies employed; and that the methodology used will allow for a comparative analysis of the experiences learned, extracting principles that can be applied in the scaling-up of other existing local initiatives, thus illuminating other development processes.

 

 

 

 

Agroecology in Action
isidoro
revised 07-30-00

Agroecology is a scientific discipline that uses ecological theory to study, design, manage and evaluate agricultural systems that are productive but also resource conserving. Agroecological research considers interactions of all important biophysical, technical and socioeconomic components of farming systems and regards these systems as the fundamental units of study, where mineral cycles, energy transformations, biological processes and socioeconomic relationships are analyzed as a whole in an interdisciplinary fashion.

Agroecology is concerned with the maintenance of a productive agriculture that sustains yields and optimizes the use of local resources while minimizing the negative environmental and socio-economic impacts of modern technologies. In industrial countries, modern agriculture with its yield maximizing high-input technologies generates environmental and health problems that often do not serve the needs of producers and consumers. In developing countries, in addition to promoting environmental degradation, modern agricultural technologies have bypassed the circumstances and socio-economic needs of large numbers of resource-poor farmers.

The contemporary challenges of agriculture have evolved from the merely technical to also include social, cultural, economic and particularly environmental concerns. Agricultural production issues cannot be considered separately from environmental issues. In this light, a new technological and development approach is needed to provide for the agricultural needs of present and future generations without depleting our natural resource base. The agroecological approach does just this because it is more sensitive to the complexities of local agriculture, and has a broad performance criteria which includes properties of ecological sustainability, food security, economic viability, resource conservation and social equity, as well as increased production.

To put agroecological technologies into practice requires technological innovations, agriculture policy changes, socio-economic changes, but mostly a deeper understanding of the complex long-term interactions among resources, people and their environment. To attain this understanding agriculture must be conceived of as an ecological system as well as a human dominated socio-economic system. A new interdisciplinary framework to integrate the biophysical sciences, ecology and other social sciences is indispensable. Agroecology provides a framework by applying ecological theory to the management of agroecosystems according to specific resource and socio-economic realities, and by providing a methodology to make the required interdisciplinary connections.
 
 

isidoro
revised 07-30-00

CLADES: Latin American Consortium on Agroecology and Sustainable Development
- Chile -

Mission: The Latin American Consortium on Agroecology and Sustainable Development (CLADES) is a collaborative effort of Latin American NGOs to prevent the collapse of peasant agriculture by transforming it into a more sustainable and productive enterprise.

The Emergence of CLADES

During the 1980s a number of NGOs in several countries of South America reached the conclusion that the central issue in rural development was the need to improve the technical capacities of small-scale farmers. Each of these NGOs had been working locally to organize the campesinos, but they realized their own staff needed much more training in alternative agriculture methods if their efforts were to become effective. Also, as they considered the growing impoverishment of soils and people throughout the region, they concluded that individual, isolated efforts would not impact the problem on the scale required.

A few of these NGOs already shared local experiences at an informal level, particularly with CET in Chile, one of the first NGOs to combine technological improvements with community organizing. These initial exchanges and mutual staff trainings convinced the NGO directors that if they wanted to succeed, they had to join their forces and work collectively. They had to have more than an information network. Because existing agricultural colleges were only training graduates for high-cost input agro-industry, college staff had to find ways to share what they were learning regarding peasant agriculture, as well as to conduct more research to improve and expand the agroecological techniques they could offer. A new institutional arrangement was needed to encourage and channel cooperation. Thus, in January 1989, twelve NGOs from nine South American countries met in Santiago, Chile to create the Latin American Consortium on Agroecology and Sustainable Development (CLADES).

Activities of CLADES

The broad goal of CLADES is to be accomplished mainly by developing and spreading new agroecological options for peas- ants, and training the staff of their member NGOs in these new methods. Research, training, and information exchange are the heart of CLADES, but their vision extends beyond the first-level meeting point between the peasants themselves and the NGO promoters.

As relatively small institutions in their own right, member NGOs have asked CLADES' Secretariat to assist with institutional development, including topics such as management systems, personnel policies, and evaluation techniques. Without some real organizational strength themselves, these NGOs will be unable to sustain the message they want to deliver.

More recently, CLADES has also been asked to extend its work to preparing and advocating improved macro-policies around national agricultural planning. Because of its growing expertise and international recognition, CLADES has been approached by a number of national and international agencies to make its members' experiences more available to government policy makers, not only in Latin America, but Asia and Africa as well.

These activities are all carried out by CLADES members, supported by a very small secretariat of three persons. By combining the energies of different groups into a more focused and collective effort, CLADES has been very effective. CLADES has overseen three programs over the past five years toward transforming peasant agriculture throughout Latin America. By examining the content of these three core programs, one can better understand how this impact is being achieved.

Training Programs

CLADES designs its training programs from the bottom-up, to ensure that their techniques are not only scientifically valid, but also closely adapted to the different agroecological situations of regions as well as the prevailing cultural and socioeconomic conditions. This approach is typically missing in the conventional university courses. For example, CLADES' training considers the differences between peasants working for subsistence and those linked to markets, and between different climatic conditions in the region (tropical, Andean, temperate). The curriculum is designed to integrate social and physical considerations into an agroecological paradigm, and to train the personnel of member institutions, both through theory and through actual local practice in existing NGO programs.

The training is offered at three levels:

I . Entry-level, which introduces the agroecological concepts that support the various techniques commonly used, such as cornposting, raised beds, crop rotation, integrated pest management, etc.

2. A second-level seminar/workshop, which provides a detailed proposal fitted to the specific peasant conditions in one particular zone.

3. Specialized courses in topics requested by member NGOs, delving deeper into thematic areas, such as soil conservation, rapid rural appraisal, biological pest control, etc.

CLADES also offers a Training at a Distance course, "Human Centered and Agroecological Rural Development," which is currently offered in seven countries: Chile, Peru, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Costa Rica, and Cuba. The course has been attended by over 2,000 students, and will soon be extended to Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, and possibly Mexico.

Research Program

Given the wide diversity of agricultural systems practiced by Latin American peasants, and the variety of constraints to productivity they confront, it is impossible to develop a single method or technological approach that suits the whole range of small farms. Most are on hilly land, with low fertility and high erosion, but others are marginal in other ways, such as rainfall, access to transport/markets, and educational level. Respecting this diversity is the hallmark of NGOs, but they need to establish their own research and demonstration centers where they can try out new and old techniques before sharing them more broadly with the peasants. Very little research has been done in Latin America at this local, applied level with direct relevance to existing peasant practices. This is where CLADES can promote local research for quite different ecological niches and yet also collect and standardize the methodologies and results to share them more broadly.

Research priorities were defined after CLADES conducted a survey of all its members, applying a set of performance- indicators and evaluation methodology that assessed the technical viability and potential impact of the proposals offered by member NGOs. Each member's capabilities, staff skills, and principal weaknesses were inventoried. As a result of this survey, CLADES research support is directed at soil and water conser- vation, plant protection, cropping systems management, conservation of genetic resources, agroforestry, and animal husbandry. For example, after a competitive review in the early 1990s, CLADES selected 30 proposals for research grants to be completed in 1994. These research grants include:

Phytoveterinary strategies for goats in Pernambuco, Brazil. Cropping systems for Andean soils in Pacajes, Bolivia.

Biological control of major crop insect pests in Cajamarca, Peru.

Biological control of cotton pests in Argentina.

Water harvesting in coastal drylands in Chile.

Conversion studies of sugar beets from high-input to low-input management in Chile.

Agriculture and aquaculture based on raised fields and canals in Cauca, Colombia.

Communication and Information Program

Clearly it is important to publicize the experiences, leanings, and research being accumulated by CLADES and its members. The Communication and Information Program makes available to CLADES' members all the relevant technical information generated by the consortium's own research, as well as that from universities and other research groups. The program is also proving to be a key tool in decentralizing important information, bringing the information directly to those who need it in their rural development programs. Four main channels comprise this program:

1. The twice-yearly regional magazine, Agroecology and Development, disseminates the analysis of successful local experiences that promote and enhance food production and resource conservation, as well as information on research advances and training activities. Its issues are sent throughout Latin America and even across the world.

2. Regional newsletters, low-cost booklets, and training materials on specific topics are published to assist members and training of local extension workers and farmers. Publications include a manual on ethnoecology, programs for in situ conservation of crop genetic resources, and rapid rural appraisal.

3. Videotapes and slide programs have been produced to illustrate very practical concepts, tools, and methods of sustain- able agriculture.

4. Readers, containing up-to-date articles on relevant topics, have been compiled and distributed to training course participants.

Working Associations with Universities in the Region

Despite the worldwide explosion in academic activities related to conservation and sustainable development, there are few agricultural colleges in Latin America that have seriously integrated environmental concerns into their curricula. Without a critical mass of trained professionals, there is little hope that the future graduates will be able to redirect teaching and research programs, or orient public policy toward sustainability. For this reason, CLADES has been engaged in a collaborative program to help strengthen the training capabilities of selected Latin American universities in agroecology and sustainable rural development. CLADES has joined with the University of Andalusia, Spain, and the Latin American Association of Agronomy Schools (Asociacion de Escuelas de Agronomia en America Latina, ALEAS), to create the International Faculty of Agroecology and Development (Facultad International de Agroecologia y Desarrollo, FIAD). This university institution facilitates the dialogue between the sustainable development practitioners and scholars. Presently, courses for agronomy students are being designed, as well as a master's program to prepare academics in sustainable rural development.

In September 199 1, CLADES, in collaboration with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), held a conference entitled "Developing an Agroecology Curriculum in the Latin American Agricultural College" in Santiago, Chile. This conference allowed NGO technicians and university professors to discuss the ways the existing agricultural curricula needed to be changed to incorporate environmental and suatainavle delopment concerns. The conference culminated with the signing of an agreement between CLADES and I I Latin American Colleges of Agriculture (Univ. de San Simon-Bolivia, Univ. Nacional de la Plata-Argentina, Univ. of Chile, Univ. Federal de Palotas-Brasil, Univ. Nacional Agraria La Molina-Peru, Univ. de la Republica-Uruguay, Univ. Nacional de Cajamarca-Peru, Universidad Autonoma de Chapingo-Mexico, Univ. Nacional del Nordeste-Argentina, ISCAH-Cuba, Univ. Mayor San Andres-Bolivia). The agreement defines the terms to develop a more integrated program of curriculum development, special professional training and internship programs, interdisciplinary research programs, and the production of training materials to strengthen the universities.

CLADES and the Broader Policy and Socioeconomic Issues

CLADES recognizes that profitability at the household level depends not only on what peasants and NGOs can do, but even more importantly, on the macro-conditions under which the peasant production operates. There are many policy obstacles that prevent peasants from fair competition in the market, thus limiting the chances for any agroecological strategy to be taken up at the household level. A major challenge for CLADES is, there- fore, to create alternative policy scenarios that reduce antipeasant biases in institutional and policy frameworks, and instead provi 'de peasants with access to land, resources, public services, appropriate technologies, credit, etc. CLADES maintains that solutions to major environmental problems in Latin America, such as solion to the problem of rural poverty. Therefore, extensive changes in the structural conditions and the policies that continuously produce widespread poverty are needed.

CLADES increasingly strives to:

* Determine ways Latin American NGOs can influence agricultural and environmental national policy.

* Define strategies so the NGOs can transcend their small-scale

impact, to effectively "socialize" agroecological development strategies.

* Foster research on specific policy changes and assess the impacts of such changes on socioeconomic and environmental parameters.

CLADES seeks to address several key questions:

What economic policies will favor a more equitable and sustainable agriculture in each country?

What set of technologies will minimize adverse environmental effects without significantly compromising benefits?

What would be the comparative economic return of export agriculture and peasant agriculture using alternative farming systems under current or less distorted policy conditions?

What are the production efficiencies of alternative technologies when compared with conventional high-input technologies?

What kind of applied research will be necessary to generate and promote agroecological technologies that enhance economic viability, but reduce ecological costs?

What are the natural resource costs and benefits of the various technologies?

Relations with Northern Institutions

From the beginning, CLADES initiated its relations with northern institutions based on the concept of "partnership." The basis of the partnership has been CLADES' working agenda: the formulation of an agroecological proposal, the creation of professional capacities within NGOs, and the reinforcement of local institutional capabilities to foster rural development.

A significant group of European, American, and Canadian donor agencies have committed their support to CLADES' working plan. The plan has created the conditions for a North-South partnership that has gone beyond providing funds, into sharing the responsibilities and challenges included in CLADES' agenda. Leaving aside confrontational attitudes, CLADES proposes a negotiating table between institutions of the North and South, built upon a working plan that specifies the technological needs of the Latin American peasant production unit. Several participants committed to agroecology in different ways sit at this table: Southern NGOs, university researchers and professors from the South, donor agencies of the North (mostly the US and Canada), and Northern research and advocacy institutions.

The strategy of the common table has increasingly led to a collaborative arrangement whereby the search for agroecological, technological innovation has been a shared task between northern and southern actors. Concrete activities have taken place, all reflecting the spirit of cooperation with which the table was conceived:

Annual or bi-annual meetings between CLADES' Secretariat and the donor agencies and foundations to discuss needs, opportunities, and tasks accomplished.

Collaboration from US scientists/researchers in CLADES' courses and workshops.

Travel by selected CLADES technicians to California to visit research projects and on-farm experiences in organic production.

Cooperation and exchange of information with northern institutions interested in particular issues (i.e. Rodale International, RAFI, IIED, ILEIA, WRI, IFOAM, PAN, etc.).

CLADES' working plan has assigned an important role to northern institutions interested in particular development and conservation issues, such as pesticide regulation, seed conservation, tropical rain forest protection, and agroecological research. In fact, CLADES provides an institutional arrangement to channel their contribution through representative organizations, avoiding a dispersion of efforts through parallel activities and ad hoc organizations.

In summary, the partnership has initiated a much needed South North dialogue on issues of relevance to rural development and conservation of natural resources. An exciting result of North South partnership is the opening of mutual benefits. Because CLADES has access to professional expertise that is available in several member institutions, some northern NGOs can use these resource persons to train their project officers. On the other hand, these contacts with donor agencies and institutions can facilitate the access of Southern NGOs' personnel to research centers and universities in the North.

Source: Based on An Agroecological Working Team Promoting Sustainable Rural Development With Small-Scale Farmers in Latin America, written by Andres Yurjevic and Miguel Altieri, published in Journal of Learning 1, ICFID, Canada, 1995, pp. 39-46. Information also drawn from "Monitor Report: Consorcio LatinoAmericano sobre Agroecologia y Desarrollo (CLADES), " a report for the Inter-American Foundation by Peter Rossett, Center for Latin American Studies at Stanford University.

Contact Person: Andres Yurjevic, Executive Secretary
CLADES (Consorcio Latinoamericano sobre Agroecologia y Desarrollo)
Casilla 97 Correo 9
Santiago, CHILE
 
Phone: 56-2-234-11-41 or 56-2-233-70-92
Fax: 56-2-233-8918
Email: adm@clades.mic.cl
 
From: For All Generations, Making world agriculture more sustainable (p.275-283). A WSAA Publication, Edited by: J.Patrick Madden and Scott G. Chaplowe.

 
 
 

17-19 November, Mali

(Bamako, 28 October 2011) The farmers of the National Coordination of Farming Organizations (CNOP) in Mali and the international farmers’ movement Via Campesina hereby invite the press to cover the first international farmers’ conference whose objective is tostrengthen the fight against the land grabs which are rife in Africa and other parts of the world.


The conference will be held in Sélingué from 17 to 19 November 2011, and will bring together almost 200 farmers affected by land grabs as well as numerous other participants, including researchers, political figures, and NGOs resisting the unprecedented land-grab offensive by large businesses and hedge funds, among others, that compromises the ability of people to feed themselves.


Affected populations from all over the world will have the opportunity to make their voices heard, and strategies will be developed to end the seizure of farmland at the expense of the rural family farming that feeds 80% of the African population.

The conference will conclude on 20 November with a visit by a delegation to the Office du Niger’s land in Kolongo, a year after the first farmers’ meeting about this matter. There, journalists will be able to speak to farmers engaged in the resistance, local authorities, and experts on land issues.


Draft programme:

17 November :

- Food crisis and increase in land grabs

- Seizures of international land and institutions: focus on the World Bank’s voluntary guidelines and its Responsible Agricultural Investment

- Current situation and testimonies from Asia, America, Europe and Africa


18 November :

- International financial institutions’ role in land and water grabs and in agricultural investments in Africa

- AGRA’s role and the second green revolution in relation to land grabs

- Presentation of the case of Zimbabwe, starting from land reform and agro-ecology

- Which resistances? (at a local, national and international level, within various institutions, etc.)


19 November :

- Panel of political and social figures: points of view of the parties involved

- Action plan with the parties involved

- Closing remarks


20 November  (with a small delegation):

Visit to Kolongo, to the lands of the Office du Niger, which have been subject to various conventions on land grabs since 2004 (Malybia, TOMOTA, Modibo Keita, etc.) and where the first farmers’ forumwas held in November 2010.




Contacts : CNOP/VIA CAMPESINA Kalabancoura rue 200 porte 727 BP E 2169 Bamako/Mali

Chantal Jacovetti: chantal.jacovetti@wanadoo.fr Phone : 00223.76.81.87.93/64.86.89.26

Lamine Coulibaly: laminezie@gmail.com Phone: Tel: +223 76 17 09 79/ 66 83 63 14

--


La Via Campesina
Via Campesina is an international movement of peasants, small- and medium-sized producers, landless, rural women, indigenous people, rural youth and agricultural workers. We are an autonomous, pluralist and multicultural movement, independent of any political, economic, or other type of affiliation. Born in 1993, La Via Campesina now gathers about 150 organisations in 70 countries in Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas.

International Operational Secretariat:
Jln. Mampang Prapatan XIV no 5 Jakarta Selatan 12790, Indonesia
Tel/fax: +62-21-7991890/+62-21-7993426
Email: viacampesina@viacampesina.org

 

               International Food Sovereignty Day to Cool Down the Earth 5th December 2011,                   Durban, South Africa

We call on all farmers’ movements and organizations, rural workers, landless people and all the food sovereignty movement to join us for an international day of mass action on the 5th of December 2011, during the COP 17 civil society mobilization in Durban, South Africa.

Humanity is confronted with a food, economic and ecological crisis that is rooted in the neoliberal capitalist system of production, distribution and consumption. These multiple crises highlight the limits of neoliberal capitalist production. Today transnational corporations and governments are presenting false solutions to climate change, hijacking the United Nations Conference of Parties (COP17) also referred to as the Conference of Polluters, to be held in Durban South Africa.

These corporate elites, western governments and the neo liberal capitalist system that is responsible for generating the crisis are presenting us with false solutions. The countries of the South and Africa in particular will be hard hit by climate change. Scientists indicate that the African continent is expected to be drier and would become warmer more quickly than other regions of the planet, despite the fact that Africa has contributed the least to global warming. This will hugely impact on agriculture, which is an important livelihood source across Africa. There will be yield losses of the major staple foods of the continent like maize, sorghum, millet, cassava etc. due to temperature rises.

Industrial agriculture and production is responsible for global warming, hunger, land dispossession, massive displacements of farmers, rural workers and indigenous communities across the continent.

In South Africa the host country after 17 years of democracy, millions of farm workers and dwellers have been evicted from commercial farms, only 5% of agricultural land has been transferred to black people, millions in rural and urban areas suffer from food and nutritional insecurity. Today this country is the most unequal society in the world. Particularly women in South Africa have felt the impact of these unequal relations and exclusion more severely.

The solutions put forward by these corporations and governments are already leading towards a re-colonization of Africa and the countries of the global south with massive land grabs and the imposition of a new green revolution.

Instead of finding real solutions to climate and ecological crisis faced by humanity, the Durban COP17 meeting is a platform for corporations through their governments to accelerate the complete commodification of nature. These criminal schemes presented as solutions include amongst other things the promotion of Genetically Modified Seeds, Agro-fuels, carbon trading, climate smart agriculture, Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD).

                             Why an Agro-ecology and Food Sovereignty Day

As farmers, farm workers, landless women and men we should mobilize through direct action against these false solutions to expose its criminal intent and catastrophic consequences for the continent and the global south. At the World People’s Conference on Climate Change and the Right of Mother Earth (April 2010) held in Bolivia resulted in the People’s Agreement of Cochabamba real solutions to climate change were offered which was totally ignored by governments. Food Sovereignty and agro-ecology are the real solutions of farmers and workers to climate change.

We call on all farmers, workers and the landless and all social movements to join us in Durban and everywhere in the world on the 5th of December 2011 to demand a change of the entire capitalist system. The fight against climate change is a fight against neoliberal capitalism, landlessness, dispossession, hunger, poverty and inequality. The crisis of the planet requires that we take direct action. During the agro-ecology and food sovereignty day we will have public protest marches to the conference of the polluters, actions against multinational corporations like Monsanto undermining our seed sovereignty, which will cuminate in a massive Assembly of the Oppressed to discuss ways of ending this unjust system. This will be a day of continued actions where farmers and workers from the entire African continent with social movements from the whole world will demand:

•Genuine agrarian reform for food sovereignty

•Agro ecological revolution as the solution to climate change

•Restructuring of the entire food system

•Full and equal participation of women in the new food system and in the society as a whole

•Building of a food system based on human needs

•End to multinational control of our genetic resources

•Seed sovereignty where seed can adapt and mitigate climate change

We call on all the movements of farmers and workers to mobilize and have local direct action in every locality in the world on the Agro-ecological and Food Sovereignty Day.

Reclaim Climate Justice!

Our Planet is not for sale!

No to the Conference of Polluters!

Defend Mother Earth!

Africa is not for sale!

No to the re-colonization of Africa!

This call is convened and supported by:
LA VIA CAMPESINA

AGRARIAN REFORM FOR FOOD SOVEREIGNTY CAMPAIGN, SOUTH AFRICA

SURPLUS PEOPLE PROJECT (SPP), SOUTH AFRICA

TRUST FOR COMMUNITY OUTREACH AND EDUCATION (TCOE), SOUTH AFRICA

WOMEN ON FARM PROJECT (SOUTH AFRICA)

EASTERN AND SOUTHERN AFRICA SMALL SCALE FARMERS’ FORUM (ESAFF)

ESAFF ZIMBABWE

ESAFF UGANDA

ROPPA (Network of Farmers and Agricultural Producers’ Organisations of West Africa)

If you want to join us in Durban for December 5th, organize an activity in your community/locality/country and share it with us on that day, sign and support the call, or any other inquiry about that specific action, please write to: lvcatcop17@gmail.com
--
La Via Campesina
Via Campesina is an international movement of peasants, small- and medium-sized producers, landless, rural women, indigenous people, rural youth and agricultural workers. We are an autonomous, pluralist and multicultural movement, independent of any political, economic, or other type of affiliation. Born in 1993, La Via Campesina now gathers about 150 organisations in 70 countries in Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas.

International Operational Secretariat:
Jln. Mampang Prapatan XIV no 5 Jakarta Selatan 12790, Indonesia
Tel/fax: +62-21-7991890/+62-21-7993426
Email: viacampesina@viacampesina.org

        i come to talk story, supports our combined` effect to take part, please see our responce:

Hi folks,

    my idea is:
USAID/Div has a grant called WASH, with Bill Gates foundation. they would
like to support solution for what they call undeveloped in Ethiopia,
Uganda, India, Haiti, Kenya. they want to see market + government failures.
i am going to show that US could start it here, where i citizen, + show how
we contribute to the local + afar negativity as well, have undeveloped
states equal or more, due to the consumptive waste of dependency on
materialism vs natural awareness, that others have that have lived without.

whether we misuse, or abused, we can support students to open the doors (if
even have weather shelter/school) into the community, as all self-develop,
network, + show solutions, as we address our biomes ability to guide +
enhance, as in agro-ecology, bringing sensitive together, skilled to
decipher the lands/fresh water/sea, potential. we state a tapering
transition is for all, due to all, at least in US being greedy have taken
part + or simply unaware of using something, without knowing the unfair
trade, the toxic or controlling marketing effect, etc.

i would like to invite a representitive from each country to teleconference
thru skype with me, + show that we can as people create a virtual tool
expanded on our forum - patches talk - from i come to talk story, where
patches + pockets of people living natural lives can share what works, as
well that which should be on a tapering transition, so as to locally +
beyond network to get solutions. where we hold ourself + others accountable
locally + beyond. building wild crafting, sharing indigenous ways as we
co_evolve together.

in the past i did an assessment of the Bill Gates Foundations work in
Africa, + i did not agree with it. i believe we all have the right to
self-develop. they never answered me. so once they see my proposal for this
grant, they will either accept their wrong doing when we show then in
detail. + support the goodness you all have to offer + stop interfering as
they see the many threads we will discover. as well the self-reflection
will do us all good.

or if not accepted

we continue on with our forum, to network, without the grants
funds/support.

so please if you can share this with folks, for the forum, all can view +
use it as a tool to expand on, set me straight + i will make changes or
make them your self in appropriate subcatagories.

for you folks willing to start with me this teleconference, we will each
gather a community of people that may have several local schools, in 1
country, with 1 contact. for the forum we can do every community. for the
grant i would like to do 1 for each country. only because i knew time
difference with skype teleconference will be time consuming if we have
many. + it would be nice to compare as we post, or discuss, so each
community then takes the time to apply/correct + give solutions, so we
build a structure that can facilitate the same common denominator of living
simple natural lives that harmonize. where we isolate the resistence.
defining ways to work around it. or sharing beyond local for solutions. or
better preparednes for natural disasters.

but if we all choose to do email + post thru forum them we can use it as a
starting base for all to then check in + do your own, or if we choose
together then we just have to start another forum once we go beyond present
limits for posting, which is 1000 posts per subcatagory, until they change
it. but we just want to thread solutions, + i will edit the yada so more
simple.

i only speak english, so those of you interested would need a translator +
a email contact. if don`t have skype then we can do just email. but for
students eye to eye sometimes is best. but many of us can concentrate + we
don't need fancy tools to get our hands in the dirt + we believe once we
post a reality, we go on to define solution + apply.

not waste time being enslaved by ecological whores or trans companies or
even our own misuse unaware, that are leaving negative effects. rather plug
in, network + get solution + apply. gather quantities for those without
solution so as to target from a clear perspective, where no local is
without, rather the human family can come together with it`s already known
awareness + rethink. no longer allowing negativity to enter..

once i get response to those of you interested in representing your area,
as we plug in building a tool, a language of 1 universal good science, so now no matter
where we are, by like subject + like biome/ecosystem, we can plug in what
works, what doesn't + network with others sharing solution. it may be
temporary modes building to permanence over time.

for as we went out in the world, we shared ideals by each unique natural
offering, as in, when some had more wind prodominent we would suggest
recycling what had, from old car parts to make a wind mill, vs. using
batteries, or get a rechargeable unit, but not throw away in ocean as they
did. same with marketing as merchants took advantage of locals with high
prices + locals would buy 1 pamper or 1 box of soap at high price, when yet
we supported buying cooperatively bulk + use own containers that could be
washed + reused, vs. packaging. not to mention make own from
growing/exchanging own seed, etc. furthering dependency on those that want
to control.

some places in US they already don't want you to be off the grid, you
actually get a penalty. where i told Barack Obama, that is wrong for
efficent folks to self-sustain locally then give abundance to those that
consume vs. lessen their volts, usage. + build a national grid with the so
called green movement bio-techs as Al Gore whore mode, exchanging credits.
where as our green mode comes from the earth as we reflect + lessen
consumption + use the earth`s tools protecting their sustainability for we
as a living organism are dependent on them. vs. deplete them.

their are enough people that have lost their humanity + became marketers,
selling out their own means to survive some knowingly + many not. + then
the banks negotiate, which is wrong. I'm statin to legislators it is wrong
for any one to continue to do business doing something like this, without
going on a tapering transition. so good folks upset, knowing it is wrong
are supported to come together with solution + now the community supports
then to rethink as their beusiness is either rid, recycles or reborn into
local only community needs. if they want to do afar, then they live as a
local afar. no more back + forth waste as you all know well!

so folks please lets rethink for what you do is very valuable tools to the
world. + somehow we must keep figuring this out to stop
struggling/destruction, etc. for their are ways that simply can work + if
we are do busy fighting negativity we don't get to self-reflect + produce
all the fine detail that takes to build it.

in our forum we want to build a tool for you to post your local
issue/offering with detail, as in a shematic. then others will come about +
review + suggest solutions. such as pooling use, utilizing exisitng
electrical wires or sub stations vs having to remove all + start over. that
is waste. we can do a total land review of each biome as folks come
together + then do layers as you use what have until more resources come
available. or more clarity. for an ER triage is what the student structure
will do for all life.

ex: in a US ER tsunami preparedness workshop i showed where we could live
more naturally every day in our planning, as in fresh water ponds with
species to cleanse + have this water source thruout community, so when a
natural disaster hits, water is more available. where they sold kits to
carry, plastic bags for fecal matter vs. having lime piles thruout for
compost toilet. this is just example of people that think they help yet
again market non renewable stuff, at a fee. when the community could gain
from using our own waste if managed properly. so it is fine detail that we
want to archive for folks to retrieve, so as to harmonize.

         we don't just want funds in exchange we want our wild to stay wild to
sustain us.

so when i apply for this grant i don't want anypone to be dependent on
thinking i can give results or give funds. but if you log in to the forum
below, we simply state to pay what when can + hope others that can give
more will come about to see us work tools.

so please check us out + share your interest. + if interested in networking
with grant then you could either go directly to USAID/Div + apply yourself
+ start your own application. or as you work with me, you would take
responsibility for your area, if accepted for funding - as i include you in
my application, once your detail was clear. or you plug in for the
experience of what we can do together, without applying to USAID + deal
directly with our forum as we post stages. then you have no commitment to
USAID. rather just yourself + locals you post for.

if interested in building student infrastructure to orchrestrate this
teleconference, then please email me with code in subject line:
                     
                       icttstc wash

if interested in networking building our forum, please review below.

if you folks would post directly to forum below,after registering, then you
could do it thru your email. i created this forum from the same struggling
- to help end it for all. so please use it to trigger what works for you +
help make it a better tool for all. or develop Nabble for your self freely.
when i started their was no advertising, + we have to pay to remove it, so
i yet to do that, right now i'm working at the grant i explain above. thank
you for your work!

looking forward to working with you + some day we will be in traveling mode
again + hope to visit, for now we will start a penpal mode to
teleconference if like for student program as each buddies up in an
interchangeable role as they walk into the community for the best school
yet, as we build local community to restore our natural ability to `boon
with the natural world.

peace is our option now if we share, kara

--
patches pockets talk when we all do a walkabout...

even though Google takes a bit to thread it,

please open document + then open ctrl l box +

put in url:

http://i-come-to-talk-story-net.3220728.n2.nabble.com/ 

thanks for the support!

        anyone interested in teleconferencing as you represent your local students. if so come to talk talk subcatagorie + leave us a comment + we will get in touch.

             we are trying to leverage our combined` effect as we network. as we set up a base in every country, including the USA, not to mention the ones mentioned in the WASH grant - which are Ethiopia, Kenya, Ghana, India, Haiti. i think if we all get real, around the next corner someone is struggling left in need of support. so why not make a filter system to support all, leaving no life left alone to misuse/be abused, etc..
                      rather only to leave alone once aware to truely `boon with our natural right to co_evolve + be 1 with the natural world. gaining input that should not have to be bought. as we simply live naturally.

     we know we are online with our self, when we part time focus on those without. for so many folks have such unbearable living situations without reflecting to rethink or support to redo. we feel we can support the students everywhere to fine tune + create an infrastructure to network to go eye to eye + build local sound common sense community that harmonizes.

            yes that means similar format with different subject matter plugged in as we address misuse:

  from being lost with no grounded center, in layers of misinformation/materialism/never having/toxic surroundings/explosives-weaponry awaiting to be stolen or set off accidently, etc. where we can hold our self + others accountable locally + beyond, as the whos + whats are tallied. along with whom is responsibly shifting in a tapering transition, as folks are supported to gather with those that percieve solutions.

  this is what can happen now + we can start by using our USAID Grants for US folks to start. + then the threads will connect as all network.

please note updates have been made + we are reviewing the Grant information, but can`t do this alone. we need a handful of sensitive skilled folks to come aboard, that will continue thru teleconferencing. i`m thinking while local here their are a few ladies at IN TOUCH _ i unclear yet of correct title for i just heard of them thru bi-coastal news medium, it`s a community project in Coos County. that have done some remarkable work for people in the local community, considering how much work they do. folks help them out + see the joy of taking part.  for they need the support as they have done a lot of the leg work as they aid students + community in a number of ways. as well the Sunset Middle School folks, where teachers are having a hard time teaching when students come to school hungry. single parents out of work, etc.

       we can with students redirected part time can exponentially spark the life in us all, as we regain ourself + rid the baggage that kept us unemployed + be fueled by restoring local natural communities that support each to self-express, satisfy yet leave no footprint.

     it is innovative motivated sensitive people that have their hands in the dirt + in local community + want to see their effort co_evolve with others as we make it better. that we want on our team. to establish a working prototype of our communication to build this proposal. + if not accepted for grant, we will do it for our selves as we cooperatively use patches talk to build local + afar community:

       for starters, such as a computer specialist/logger, naturalist, engineer + this can be from a backyard community shared tool shop - we are not do_in brain surgery here. rather simply using alternative energy starting with a plastic water collector, compost toilet, small fresh natural garden, weather proof building recycled when need, local person `boon with nature with wilderness awareness, one that likes to research comparisons in the market field as you get to know your local community, talk to local policy makers, those that know school administration, + legislatures to expidite the support for school policy curriculum change with our results, land use planners, etc.

         as for local people to come together + rethink as communities are sustainably restored. as all support the students to come into the commmunity for an exchange for all to self-develop. so all harmonize + continue their exploration as a local, global + beyond participant. as we share this planet together, where no one country is the best. rather we network in exchange for all have something special. + as we reflect with those more fortunate to remain on theri center + ground with the natural worlds wisdon, we invite. for it is the energy emitted that all can know is real.

                        no more will dollars rule over the goodness that can be achieved at a low fee or nothing, if we do our homework for i`m not do_in it for you, but i will support all of us to structure for when /those unable, so as to be an equal + come join us with your support needed in place until you cam rid it, or never..

 i share what i submit to Barack + legislators:

  Hello Barack + Assoc.

please note we the people believe we could use your USAID WASH grant to apply to our US issues now.

as i say in my petition if we support students to open the doors of their classroom + come into the community, all can do an exchange.

with open transparency, the whos + what of negativity will be put on a tapering transition to create solutions with those that percieve them. supporting all to rethink.

while we restore natural sound bioms based on their ecological limits + enhanced as in agro-ecology, etc. from Miguel Altieri.

so folks can be supported to rid baggage while self-developing, along with plugging into building communities that harmonize as we focus on what sustains us.

i've wrote to you in OFA on this with no responce. I emailed the grant + error page comes up, for deadline.

i would appreciate your responce for this is a way that works.

peace is an option if we share truth now.

sincerely, kara j lincoln

i'd like to share some info from a friend along with my answer below. see what you can do to support us.

To protect your privacy, remote images are blocked in this message. Display images
PURE EVIL RUNNING OUR COUNTRY.
Truth? Who cares about that when Obama does not, obviously.
These videos of children being murdered are not a pretty sight, yet the terrorist president OBAMA said that this is a SUCCESS, in his own words on David Letterman which is on video for the record.
Obama should be arrested and executed for war crimes, crimes against humanity, after a trial of course. What trial did Obama have for those he murdered in cold blood ??? U. S. citizens don't get a trial anymore, they just are murdered and this is on record. Obama a great humanitarian, I don't think so.


                http://www.infowars.com/google-censors-war-crimes-video/


The Bible says the truth shall set us free, and in that spirit I want you to know.
Watch the videos then tell me how good and righteous we are supporting this with our tax dollars and votes without being angry at this great satanic evil. The Bible says we are to fight against evil, not support it.

kara's answer:

            thanks for your input,

yes some people need to see blood before they can focus, i don't.
you can show it but then bring them back to us to focus harmony so
they don't loose it as many do.

my ideals of students coming into the community is unsensored, so as
to show the whos + what + solution networked local + afar. as well help
+ get help. kids here at Sunset school come hungry, so teacher says it's
hard to teach them.

i find it more productive this route for me, due to all that is needed.

so please find time to support this. for it will take many calm folks
to make change. no need to fear base with reality, especially when
so many are without sound mind to know how to act. for they/we have been
sheep mode + that baggage needs to be supported to leave. many don't
realize
              the power we have to have peace as soon as we share what works.

be safe, love

                     
                      if agree, go online to  http://wh.gov/TJk 

Hi folks,

    we need 24,999 signatures for the Obama Administration to act, this is the petition:

We want the Obama Administration to create the responsible role of
government, rid dysfunction + respect our human family, as we work together +
co_evolve.

We can support students to Open the School Doors into the Community. to  
orchestrate a multi-disciplined medium to network, exponentially.

Where our natural biome determines local restoration + self -  
developement.

Where all degreed come back into the community for extended learning, as  
we walk side by side with young + old. networking locally + afar, in a
focus directed ER triage exchange. as we go beyound pervention, energy
efficiently with creative expression.

We can define all negative acts - misuse redirected into solution.  
self-reflect, hold self  + others accountable, locally + afar.  accepting  
nothing less than harmony. as we support each to become a local, global +  
beyond participant.

no more weapons beyond for hunt, no trans companies, no GMO's...

sincerely, kara j lincoln

The international peasant's voice        
Wednesday, 09 February 2011 14:08  
 Unity among peasants, landless, women farmers and rural youth

La Via Campesina is the international movement which brings together millions of peasants, small and medium-size farmers, landless people, women farmers, indigenous people, migrants and agricultural workers from around the world. It defends small-scale sustainable agriculture as a way to promote social justice and dignity. It strongly opposes corporate driven agriculture and transnational companies that are destroying people and nature.

La Via Campesina comprises about 150 local and national organizations in 70 countries from Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas. Altogether, it represents about 200 million farmers. It is an autonomous, pluralist and multicultural movement, independent from any political, economic or other type of affiliation.

A movement born in 1993

A group of farmers’ representatives – women and men- from the four continents founded La Via Campesina in 1993 in Mons, Belgium. At that time, agricultural policies and the agribusiness were becoming globalized and small farmers needed to develop and struggle for a common vision. Small-scale farmers’ organizations also wanted to have their voice heard and to participate directly in the decisions that were affecting their lives.

La Via Campesina is now recognised as a main actor in the food and agricultural debates. It is heard by institutions such as the FAO and the UN Human Rights Council, and is broadly recognized among other social movements from local to global level.

Golbalizing hope, globalizing the struggle!

La Via Campesina is built on a strong sense of unity and solidarity between small and medium-scale agricultural producers from the North and South. The main goal of the movement is to realize food sovereignty and stop the destructive neoliberal process. It is based on the conviction that small farmers, including peasant fisher-folk, pastoralists and indigenous people, who make up almost half the world's people, are capable of producing food for their communities and feeding the world in a sustainable and healthy way.

Women play a crucial role in the Via Campesina work. According to the FAO, women produce 70% of the food on earth but they are marginalized and oppressed by neoliberalism and patriarchy. The movement defends women rights and gender equality at all levels. It struggles against all forms of violence against women.

Defending Food Sovereignty

Via Campesina launched the idea of “Food Sovereignty” at the World Food Summit in 1996. This idea has now grown into a global people's movement carried by a large diversity of social sectors such as the urban poor, environmental and consumer groups, women associations, fisher-folks, pastoralists and many others. It is also recognized by several institutions and governments.

Food sovereignty is the right of peoples to healthy and culturally appropriate food produced through sustainable methods and their right to define their own food and agriculture systems. It develops a model of small scale sustainable production benefiting communities and their environment. It puts the aspirations, needs and livelihoods of those who produce, distribute and consume food at the heart of food systems and policies rather than the demands of markets and corporations.

Food sovereignty prioritizes local food production and consumption. It gives a country the right to protect its local producers from cheap imports and to control production. It ensures that the rights to use and manage lands, territories, water, seeds, livestock and biodiversity are in the hands of those who produce food and not of the corporate sector. Therefore the implementation of genuine agrarian reform is one of the top priorities of the farmer's movement.

Food sovereignty now appears as one of the most powerful response to the current food, poverty and climate crises.

A decentralized structure

Via Campesina is a grassroots mass movement whose vitality and legitimacy comes from farmers’ organizations at local and national level. The movement is based on the decentralization of power between 9 regions. The coordination among the regions is taken up by the International Coordinating Committee which is composed of one woman and one man for every region, elected by the member organizations in the respective regions.  The international secretariat rotates according to the collective decision made every four years by the International Conference. It was first in Belgium (1993-1996), then in Honduras (1997-2004) and it is currently based in Indonesia until 2013.

The movement is funded by the contributions of its members, by private donations and by the financial support of some NGOs, foundations and local and national authorities.

Join the action!

8 March: International Women Day
La Via Campesina joins women movements and social movements from around the world to demand equal rights for women.
17 April: International Day of Peasant's struggle
Hundreds of direct actions, cultural activities, conferences, film screenings, community debates and rallies are organized by a wide variety of groups, communities or organizations.
10 September: International Struggle Day against the WTO
Commemoration of the sacrifice of Mr. Lee Kun Hae, a Korean farmer who stabbed himself to death during a mass protest against the WTO in Cancun, Mexico in 2003. He was holding a banner saying “WTO Kills Farmers”
Visit our website, subscribe to our news updates, watch our videos and make a donation on www.viacampesina.org
 
   
 


 

 
              these folks have a nice selection to buy/add too, when you save your seeds.
            see their free lessons to save your own seed. activism can work to stop GMO`s.

                       Find people near you through http://permaculture.meetup.com/

                                     http://www.permacultureactivist.net Thanks!

I'm posting for Sarah, she is working at her internet.

           thank you Sarah + Joe Humphries for your season of very nice goods, as they wait at Coos Bay Farmers Market for their last box of the season to be picked up. they are located in Roseburg + delivery to the market here in Coos Bay, we can`t get better then that.. they are very interested in distributing to the educational systems. it can be done if folks come together + work with the nutritional programs thru the school boards. Port Townsend, Wa is do_in it with success.

                     folks, give them a call + support next season`s offerings, sign up now:

                      541-677-7012 or email: growingcrazyfarm@hotmail.com

                                 mail:    Growing Crazy Farm
                                        342 Lower Garden Valley Rd.
                                            Roseburg, Or 97471

I share an email i sent to all legislators, please do the same, for they appear to foolishly work on tallys, vs. common sense, at times, you can copy mine added to what Peace Action West researched.

        email: I am appalled that the Pentagon is planning a $53 million arms sale to a regime in Bahrain that is violently oppressing the free expression of democracy.

  not to mention the US Government negotiates + distributes funds/materials to other governments when they don`t support their local folks to become self-reliant, leaving them misuse, or abused from others, locally + beyound.

we want to review an accounting + hold you folks accountable. please tell us the articles, books, data, of where we can get this tally of accounting. not just to Bahrain, but every country.

   so all information shared can be comprehended by students young + old as we support people to regain human common sense. as we work on the many negative issues of what results from aggression, wars, + still as in the US many going to school hungry as many are without + still unaware, misusing or being abused from another. such as the present dysfunctional US government, educational department, western medical practice, judicial system + many without good local social structure to even produce fresh natural grown local food. when her in US we have unfair trade, pesticides that are toxic, GMO`s proven to leave negative effect, economical collapse, this list goes on.

where is your head at to support weapontry to be sold or made.

Please do everything in your power to stop this sale by speaking out and making your views known to the administration. as well future ones to all. this is 2011, it is no longer the time for weapons, rather good human potential to communicate. the US Government should no longer do this business nor allow any one to.

Specifically, please cosponsor H.J. Res 80 to block the proposed arms sale.

The events of the Arab Spring show that the policy of arming dictatorial regimes for temporary geopolitical leverage is no longer viable. The United States should be unambiguously supporting values of human rights in the region not aiding those who oppress those rights.

thank you Peace Action West for your research +

thank you folks for spreading the word that we hope to help folks become aware for peaceful negotiations, not aggression. this is twilight zone. those of you with this mindset, we invite to a tapering transition to rethink, reprogram, + allow us to share alternative thought for our human potential. for we have solutions now.

please come take a look at our forum, where together we can build a tool that supports harmony.

until Google threads , please open document, then open ctrl l box + put in url:

http://i-come-to-talk-story-net.3220278.n2.nabble.com/

peace is our option now if we share what works.

I share with you our email to Barack, Merkely, DeFazio, Boehner..

             Hello Folks,

please note we have opened our forum to the public.

http://i-come-to-talk-story-net.3220728.n2.nabble.com/

come help make this a good tool;

                 Barack, Jeff, Peter, i do hope you share with us what you are do_in  about

the many important delusional - wasteful consumptive issues, presently which the US government is not responsibly acting on. such as;

       i post a few comments from Peace Action West.

Groundswell Blog, from Peace Action West Grassroots action for a safer, more just world
Home. My life in the decade of war: Zaher Wahab
October 6, 2011
tags: Afghanistan, anniversary, kabul, occupation, war, withdrawal
by Rebecca Griffin
        To mark the 10th anniversary of the war in Afghanistan, we have been collecting photo stories from around the country showing how people’s lives have changed over the decade the US has been at war. This series will feature some of those stories. You can see a slideshow of the stories and share your own here.

 Letter From Kabul

Witness to a ten- year war and occupation

Since early 2002, I have been spending at least a semester annually here in Afghanistan, attempting to (re) build the higher education system in the ravaged country. My adopted country- the US, launched operation Enduring Freedom on October 7/2001 claiming to bring freedom, peace, prosperity, democracy, security, women’s liberation, eradication of drugs, and stability to the war-torn country. There are now some 150,000 troops from 45 countries, that many civilian contractors from around the world, and 340,000 US-trained sectarian Afghan security forces all ostensibly fighting “terrorism.” The US alone spends ten billion dollars per month on the war, a total of about half a trillion dollars in the last ten years. 1,600 Americans (70 of them last August) have been killed and thousands wounded. An estimated 40,000 Afghans have been killed, 971 civilians from June to August this year alone, untold numbers wounded, and half a million displaced. According to a recent UN report, 2011 has been the most unstable, deadliest and most violent year for all sides, since the war started in 2001. All of the country’s neighbors also meddle in Afghan affairs and are waging proxy struggles in the Afghan theater.

Ten years of occupation (and “development”) costing the US $500 billion, Afghanistan still ranks at the bottom of the Human Development Index. Half of the population is hungry and/or food insecure. Per capita income is about $350. The average life span is 45. 90% of the women and 70% of the men are illiterate. Only half of the school age children attend school. More than half the schools have no building. Only 20% of the teachers are considered qualified. The Afghan puppet regime spends just $70 per year per student. Americans spend one million dollars per year per soldier in Afghanistan.  Just 1% of the age group is enrolled in college. UNICEF labeled the country as the worst place for children and women. A woman dies in childbirth every hour. Half of the children die before age five. All marriages are arranged, and the majority of the girls are married (sold) off before age 16.

Ninety seven percent of the country’s $15 billion GDP and 97% of the government’s $4 billion budget are based on the presence of foreigners (armies, aid, NGOs, etc). There is little organized licit formal productive economy. Drugs constitute about a third of the economy and there are close to 2 million addicts. Half the people are (un) underemployed. Anyone who can is leaving the country. People have been divided, demoralized, and exhausted. But since this is mostly a young nation so the prospects for an “Afghan Spring” are a real possibility.

The American installed and protected government has no legitimacy, credibility, authority, ability, will, or efficacy. It is essentially a dysfunctional plutocracy- mafiocracy with various crime syndicates and criminal gangs milking the foreigners and preying on the disempowered, divided and enraged public. The government cannot and will not provide the basic services like education, healthcare, work, security, justice, law and order, water, electricity, sewage systems, garbage collection, clean air, roads or even traffic lights in the capital Kabul. The old and new criminal, treacherous, treasonous and sectarian warlords are empowered, paid, armed, legitimated, used and protected by the occupation forces at the expense of the wretched population. And the country’s very future is in question. Many express nostalgia about the monarchy, the communists, even the Taliban eras.

There has been no serious attempt either by the occupiers or their self- spring and corrupt client regime to build a functioning government, democracy, institutions, civil society, freedom, justice, national unity, long-term peace, real security, or stability.

The insurgents control about 70% of the country, including the outskirts of Kabul. They can hit anyone, any time, any place as demonstrated by the recent assassinations of A.W. Karzai, Daoud Dauod, Jan Mohammad a close adviser to president Karzai, the Kandahar mayor, the Kundoz governor, former warlord, former president and president of the so-called High Peace Council, B.Rabbani, the CIA employee, etc. The insurgent attacked the Intercontinental Hotel, the British Council, The US Embassy and the ISAF headquarters, and petrified and paralyzed Kabul for days. I have experienced four lockdowns, one lasting three days in the last six weeks. Kabul looks and feels like a garrison city under siege, but with no sense of security, legality, justice or normalcy. The people despise, distrust and disdain the government, and the government has little to no concern, responsibility or respect for the people. Most Afghans hate, despise, and distrust all the foreigners and blame them for all the calamities visited upon the country. And the non-Pashtoons fear and dislike the Taliban insurgents. The country is on the brink of a bloody civil war. But the one percent predatory warlords, criminals, and war profiteers love the foreigners, the war, and the “new freedom.” Anything goes, everything is negotiable, nothing matters, and people are disposable. There are governments within the government, cities within cities, and countries within the country. There is the war-related contracting mafia, the land mafia, the timber mafia, the development mafia and the drug mafia, weapons smugglers, and human traffickers . The occupiers work hand-in-glove with the older and new known war criminals, human rights abusers, thieves and gangsters. This has widened the distance between the people and the colonial settler power and its local intermediaries. There is no clear boundary between the government the warlords and various crime syndicates, they are closely intertwined. All this explains the success of the insurgency, the moral-political-military disarray of the US/NATO invaders in the country, and the stalemate if not success of the insurgents in the war. In short, life has become much harder for the vast majority of Afghans. Who still lead primitive lives. Additionally, they endure a brutal occupation with heavy use of storm troops, air power, drones, night raids, and the mercenary Afghan regular and irregular armies. And now there is open talk of resurgent civil war. Mr. Rabbani’s assassination has ruptured the so-called “peace talks.” The US/NATO, while talking about withdrawal is also pressing for a permanent “strategic agreement” with Kabul. There is great confusion, fear, anxiety, and uncertainty in the country. No wonder then, those who can, are leaving, with the rest preparing for the worst. Only a miracle can save the people and the country.

another post from PAW:

    Our message to the deficit “super committee”
October 10, 2011
tags: Afghanistan, deficit, Iraq, military budget, Nuclear Weapons, pentagon, pork, super committee
by Rebecca Griffin
.In the next few weeks, the “super committee” will decide on a plan that could shape the federal budget for the next decade. We are mobilizing our supporters to contact the super committee and counteract the major push from the defense industry.

We sent the letter below to super committee members to clearly outline the balanced security budget Peace Action West’s supporters would like to see. You can tell the super committee that you support these priorities by clicking here.

On behalf of Peace Action West’s 50,000 supporters, I am writing to urge you to produce deficit reduction recommendations that make Americans more secure by balancing our security budget and preserving domestic programs that contribute to security and prosperity at home.

Reduce wasteful military spending

The base Pentagon budget has increased by more than 50% in the last decade. Pentagon spending, including Overseas Contingency Operations, accounted for 58% of the FY2011 discretionary budget. Any serious plan to reduce the deficit must address wasteful military spending, especially when that spending competes with funding for priorities such as healthcare, job creation, and education.

Our safety is not best measured in dollars spent, but rather in the strategy served by our budget. There is room for substantial reductions in military spending without detriment to US national security. This could include:

·      Reducing all DOD contracts by 10% and freezing hiring of civilian DOD employees

·      Bringing troops home from Europe and Asia and reducing ground forces to pre-9/11 levels

·      Eliminating unnecessary weapons systems such as the F-35, the MV-22 Osprey and the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle

·      Curtailing national missile defense

The Sustainable Defense Task Force report offers details on a potential $960 billion in savings over the next ten years.[i]

Military withdrawal from Iraq and Afghanistan

US taxpayers have spent more than $1.2 trillion on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in direct costs.[ii]  The Eisenhower Study Group projects the long-term costs of the wars, including such costs as veterans’ care and interest payments, will reach $3.2-4 trillion.[iii] There have also been opportunity costs, such as lost jobs and lack of public investment in infrastructure. The macroeconomic impacts have also been significant; the average homebuyer paid an additional $600 in mortgage payments last year because of the increase in interest rates due to borrowing money for the wars.[iv]

The administration is reportedly considering keeping 3-10,000 troops in Iraq beyond the agreed-upon withdrawal deadline. The current plan for Afghanistan leaves nearly 70,000 troops on the ground in the fall of 2012, with no clear end date for withdrawal. With fewer than 100 Al Qaeda fighters in Afghanistan, there is no longer a compelling national security rationale for maintaining a massive military presence in Afghanistan. The raid that apprehended Osama bin Laden demonstrates that policing and intelligence are much more effective approaches to protecting Americans from the threat of terrorism.[v] There are several plans available with recommendations for reduced troop levels.[vi] Accelerating withdrawal from Iraq and Afghanistan would save taxpayers tens of billions of dollars over the next decade.

Reducing spending on nuclear weapons

With the Cold War over and a national security strategy that decreases reliance on nuclear weapons, the United States cannot afford to spend $700 billion over the next decade on nuclear weapons programs.[vii] In a 21st century security environment, nuclear weapons are more of a liability than an asset; funding for weapons and delivery systems competes with more effective security priorities such as nonproliferation. Cuts could include:

·      Stopping construction of the Chemistry and Metallurgy Replacement Facility in New Mexico, saving $3-5 billion

·      Delaying the New Long Range Penetrating Bomber, saving $3.7 billion

·      Rightsizing the ballistic missile submarine fleet to eight boats, saving $27 billion over ten years

·      Canceling the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Plant, saving an estimated $4 billion

Avoiding disproportionate cuts to the international affairs budget

The international affairs budget accounts for only 1% of the federal budget, yet it has faced disproportionate cuts in the current budget battle, bearing nearly 20% of all discretionary funding cuts in FY2011. These cuts are even more devastating after years of neglect that have weakened our civilian engagement tools. As former Defense Secretary Robert Gates pointed out, the entire Foreign Service does not include enough people to staff one aircraft carrier.

These programs are essential to preventing costly military intervention, promoting stability and saving lives around the globe. Shortsighted cuts in international affairs funding would further the imbalance in our current security budget and could have detrimental impacts on US engagement and security in the future.

Peace Action West’s supporters strongly urge the super committee to develop a deficit reduction plan that reflects a smart security budget as outlined above. Feel free to contact me for more details on any of these proposals.

Sincerely,

Rebecca Griffin

Political Director

Peace Action West

[i] http://www.comw.org/pda/fulltext/1006SDTFreport.pdf

[ii] http://costofwar.com/en/

[iii] http://costsofwar.org/article/economic-cost-summary

[iv] http://costsofwar.org/article/macroeconomic-impact-military-spending

[v] http://www.rand.org/pubs/research_briefs/RB9351/index1.html

[vi] http://www.democracyarsenal.org/2011/06/the-afghan-troop-number-game.html

[vii] http://ploughshares.org/sites/default/files/resources/What%20We%20Spend%20on%20Nuclear%20Weapons%20092811.pdf

not to mention the present ideals we are working at fro developing 1 universal science, so as to support students to come out of the classroom into the community to do an exchange for some common sense. as all support each other to self-develop + create numerous jobs as folks come together + build natural communities + share what works. as they restore local ways that are interfering in the ability for folks to self-develop as with other pathes of local communities when folks 'boon with + preserve their natural world. so as to sustain natural communities that harmonize.

         Jeff, please note folks that are healthy have a hard time processing the above information. our neuro processing is not designed for these out dated aggressive measures. not to mention those without.

          Jeff, what can you tell me as well post on your site for all, to tell folks that are very distressed over the above awareness.
          as well what support can you tell us/ me to tell the school administrators when i take our ideals to them + the community. with our solutions. so students of all ages can open doors into the community + make an exchange supporting  themself + all to become a local, global + beyond participant, so as to harmonize.

              vs. as presently with the Sunset Middle School here in Empire, near Charleston, Or. as a teacher states my ideals are good, + it is hard for her because the kids come to school hungry.

               not to mention elderly i've had 1st hand experience helping, where they are living alone, misusing, not understanding yet under doctors. suffering, unable to have a day go by without struggling.

  where when the students, if supported to come into the community, + log + communicate. as they build a system that works so as to self-reflect with these real needs. as they do interchangeable roles, meanwhile each person without now gets daily support, as bothe self-develop.

    creating jobs, saving funds from people going to ER continually. not to mention Jeff, it would be nice if the doctors also are required to go back to school + come into community along with the students. not to mention learn alternative medicine to enable them to prescrine behavioral modification along with any medication prescribed. not to mention have the insurance pharmacolgy review, include a pharmacognosy perspective.

     now patients misusing will no longer be expected, by their present doctors, to know how alternative medicine could leave less negative side effects, as they presently do. as well i belief we could come up with a few instructors that could support a manditory program for all doctors to become aware in diagnosing, medicine management,
            along with defining which medicine/herbal formula is best for patient to taper off that which is harmful, leaving negative effects, or going in no positive direction. into a good self-development mode, as each becomes supported with the student community project.

   Jeff, we have solutions that work. please take a look + see what you can do to support this to become a nice tool  created by all that take the time to share what works.

we have a focus direction so as to simplify. but it does take a bit of concentration + weach have to do their homework. but we realize support is needed for many in order to just to get to do that.

thank you Jeff for your format to share.

       Jeff please comment + post your responce as well email it to us + i will post it

patchespocketstalk@icometotalkstory.net

our combined` effect makes a difference, we can address 1 issue at a time.

Hello Folks,

please note we have opened our forum to the public. it is not threaded yet, but can open a document, open ctrl l box + put in link:

http://i-come-to-talk-story-net.3220728.n2.nabble.com/

come help make this a good tool.

please suggest, i'm considering the USAID + Gates Grant - WASH. we could do this with the students in a local area, along with technical data to see that it is reaching every local community to address solutions we have now.

i just wrote them to confirm their closing date. it stated 2 dates.

            Barack, Jeff, Peter, i do hope you share with us what you are do_in  about the many important delusional - wasteful  consumptive issues, presently,  which the US government is not responsibly acting on. such as:

     i post a  few comments from Peace Action West:

Groundswell Blog, from Peace Action WestGrassroots action for a safer, more just world
Home.My life in the decade of war: Zaher Wahab
October 6, 2011
tags: Afghanistan, anniversary, kabul, occupation, war, withdrawal
by Rebecca Griffin
     To mark the 10th anniversary of the war in Afghanistan, we have been collecting photo stories from around the country showing how people’s lives have changed over the decade the US has been at war. This series will feature some of those stories. You can see a slideshow of the stories and share your own here.

 Letter From Kabul

Witness to a ten- year war and occupation

Since early 2002, I have been spending at least a semester annually here in Afghanistan, attempting to (re) build the higher education system in the ravaged country. My adopted country- the US, launched operation Enduring Freedom on October 7/2001 claiming to bring freedom, peace, prosperity, democracy, security, women’s liberation, eradication of drugs, and stability to the war-torn country. There are now some 150,000 troops from 45 countries, that many civilian contractors from around the world, and 340,000 US-trained sectarian Afghan security forces all ostensibly fighting “terrorism.” The US alone spends ten billion dollars per month on the war, a total of about half a trillion dollars in the last ten years. 1,600 Americans (70 of them last August) have been killed and thousands wounded. An estimated 40,000 Afghans have been killed, 971 civilians from June to August this year alone, untold numbers wounded, and half a million displaced. According to a recent UN report, 2011 has been the most unstable, deadliest and most violent year for all sides, since the war started in 2001. All of the country’s neighbors also meddle in Afghan affairs and are waging proxy struggles in the Afghan theater.

Ten years of occupation (and “development”) costing the US $500 billion, Afghanistan still ranks at the bottom of the Human Development Index. Half of the population is hungry and/or food insecure. Per capita income is about $350. The average life span is 45. 90% of the women and 70% of the men are illiterate. Only half of the school age children attend school. More than half the schools have no building. Only 20% of the teachers are considered qualified. The Afghan puppet regime spends just $70 per year per student. Americans spend one million dollars per year per soldier in Afghanistan.  Just 1% of the age group is enrolled in college. UNICEF labeled the country as the worst place for children and women. A woman dies in childbirth every hour. Half of the children die before age five. All marriages are arranged, and the majority of the girls are married (sold) off before age 16.

Ninety seven percent of the country’s $15 billion GDP and 97% of the government’s $4 billion budget are based on the presence of foreigners (armies, aid, NGOs, etc). There is little organized licit formal productive economy. Drugs constitute about a third of the economy and there are close to 2 million addicts. Half the people are (un) underemployed. Anyone who can is leaving the country. People have been divided, demoralized, and exhausted. But since this is mostly a young nation so the prospects for an “Afghan Spring” are a real possibility.

The American installed and protected government has no legitimacy, credibility, authority, ability, will, or efficacy. It is essentially a dysfunctional plutocracy- mafiocracy with various crime syndicates and criminal gangs milking the foreigners and preying on the disempowered, divided and enraged public. The government cannot and will not provide the basic services like education, healthcare, work, security, justice, law and order, water, electricity, sewage systems, garbage collection, clean air, roads or even traffic lights in the capital Kabul. The old and new criminal, treacherous, treasonous and sectarian warlords are empowered, paid, armed, legitimated, used and protected by the occupation forces at the expense of the wretched population. And the country’s very future is in question. Many express nostalgia about the monarchy, the communists, even the Taliban eras.

There has been no serious attempt either by the occupiers or their self- spring and corrupt client regime to build a functioning government, democracy, institutions, civil society, freedom, justice, national unity, long-term peace, real security, or stability.

The insurgents control about 70% of the country, including the outskirts of Kabul. They can hit anyone, any time, any place as demonstrated by the recent assassinations of A.W. Karzai, Daoud Dauod, Jan Mohammad a close adviser to president Karzai, the Kandahar mayor, the Kundoz governor, former warlord, former president and president of the so-called High Peace Council, B.Rabbani, the CIA employee, etc. The insurgent attacked the Intercontinental Hotel, the British Council, The US Embassy and the ISAF headquarters, and petrified and paralyzed Kabul for days. I have experienced four lockdowns, one lasting three days in the last six weeks. Kabul looks and feels like a garrison city under siege, but with no sense of security, legality, justice or normalcy. The people despise, distrust and disdain the government, and the government has little to no concern, responsibility or respect for the people. Most Afghans hate, despise, and distrust all the foreigners and blame them for all the calamities visited upon the country. And the non-Pashtoons fear and dislike the Taliban insurgents. The country is on the brink of a bloody civil war. But the one percent predatory warlords, criminals, and war profiteers love the foreigners, the war, and the “new freedom.” Anything goes, everything is negotiable, nothing matters, and people are disposable. There are governments within the government, cities within cities, and countries within the country. There is the war-related contracting mafia, the land mafia, the timber mafia, the development mafia and the drug mafia, weapons smugglers, and human traffickers . The occupiers work hand-in-glove with the older and new known war criminals, human rights abusers, thieves and gangsters. This has widened the distance between the people and the colonial settler power and its local intermediaries. There is no clear boundary between the government the warlords and various crime syndicates, they are closely intertwined. All this explains the success of the insurgency, the moral-political-military disarray of the US/NATO invaders in the country, and the stalemate if not success of the insurgents in the war. In short, life has become much harder for the vast majority of Afghans. Who still lead primitive lives. Additionally, they endure a brutal occupation with heavy use of storm troops, air power, drones, night raids, and the mercenary Afghan regular and irregular armies. And now there is open talk of resurgent civil war. Mr. Rabbani’s assassination has ruptured the so-called “peace talks.” The US/NATO, while talking about withdrawal is also pressing for a permanent “strategic agreement” with Kabul. There is great confusion, fear, anxiety, and uncertainty in the country. No wonder then, those who can, are leaving, with the rest preparing for the worst. Only a miracle can save the people and the country.

another post from PAW:

    Our message to the deficit “super committee”
October 10, 2011
tags: Afghanistan, deficit, Iraq, military budget, Nuclear Weapons, pentagon, pork, super committee
by Rebecca Griffin
.In the next few weeks, the “super committee” will decide on a plan that could shape the federal budget for the next decade. We are mobilizing our supporters to contact the super committee and counteract the major push from the defense industry.

We sent the letter below to super committee members to clearly outline the balanced security budget Peace Action West’s supporters would like to see. You can tell the super committee that you support these priorities by clicking here.

On behalf of Peace Action West’s 50,000 supporters, I am writing to urge you to produce deficit reduction recommendations that make Americans more secure by balancing our security budget and preserving domestic programs that contribute to security and prosperity at home.

Reduce wasteful military spending

The base Pentagon budget has increased by more than 50% in the last decade. Pentagon spending, including Overseas Contingency Operations, accounted for 58% of the FY2011 discretionary budget. Any serious plan to reduce the deficit must address wasteful military spending, especially when that spending competes with funding for priorities such as healthcare, job creation, and education.

Our safety is not best measured in dollars spent, but rather in the strategy served by our budget. There is room for substantial reductions in military spending without detriment to US national security. This could include:

·      Reducing all DOD contracts by 10% and freezing hiring of civilian DOD employees

·      Bringing troops home from Europe and Asia and reducing ground forces to pre-9/11 levels

·      Eliminating unnecessary weapons systems such as the F-35, the MV-22 Osprey and the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle

·      Curtailing national missile defense

The Sustainable Defense Task Force report offers details on a potential $960 billion in savings over the next ten years.[i]

Military withdrawal from Iraq and Afghanistan

US taxpayers have spent more than $1.2 trillion on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in direct costs.[ii]  The Eisenhower Study Group projects the long-term costs of the wars, including such costs as veterans’ care and interest payments, will reach $3.2-4 trillion.[iii] There have also been opportunity costs, such as lost jobs and lack of public investment in infrastructure. The macroeconomic impacts have also been significant; the average homebuyer paid an additional $600 in mortgage payments last year because of the increase in interest rates due to borrowing money for the wars.[iv]

The administration is reportedly considering keeping 3-10,000 troops in Iraq beyond the agreed-upon withdrawal deadline. The current plan for Afghanistan leaves nearly 70,000 troops on the ground in the fall of 2012, with no clear end date for withdrawal. With fewer than 100 Al Qaeda fighters in Afghanistan, there is no longer a compelling national security rationale for maintaining a massive military presence in Afghanistan. The raid that apprehended Osama bin Laden demonstrates that policing and intelligence are much more effective approaches to protecting Americans from the threat of terrorism.[v] There are several plans available with recommendations for reduced troop levels.[vi] Accelerating withdrawal from Iraq and Afghanistan would save taxpayers tens of billions of dollars over the next decade.

Reducing spending on nuclear weapons

With the Cold War over and a national security strategy that decreases reliance on nuclear weapons, the United States cannot afford to spend $700 billion over the next decade on nuclear weapons programs.[vii] In a 21st century security environment, nuclear weapons are more of a liability than an asset; funding for weapons and delivery systems competes with more effective security priorities such as nonproliferation. Cuts could include:

·      Stopping construction of the Chemistry and Metallurgy Replacement Facility in New Mexico, saving $3-5 billion

·      Delaying the New Long Range Penetrating Bomber, saving $3.7 billion

·      Rightsizing the ballistic missile submarine fleet to eight boats, saving $27 billion over ten years

·      Canceling the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Plant, saving an estimated $4 billion

Avoiding disproportionate cuts to the international affairs budget

The international affairs budget accounts for only 1% of the federal budget, yet it has faced disproportionate cuts in the current budget battle, bearing nearly 20% of all discretionary funding cuts in FY2011. These cuts are even more devastating after years of neglect that have weakened our civilian engagement tools. As former Defense Secretary Robert Gates pointed out, the entire Foreign Service does not include enough people to staff one aircraft carrier.

These programs are essential to preventing costly military intervention, promoting stability and saving lives around the globe. Shortsighted cuts in international affairs funding would further the imbalance in our current security budget and could have detrimental impacts on US engagement and security in the future.

Peace Action West’s supporters strongly urge the super committee to develop a deficit reduction plan that reflects a smart security budget as outlined above. Feel free to contact me for more details on any of these proposals.

Sincerely,

Rebecca Griffin

Political Director

Peace Action West

[i] http://www.comw.org/pda/fulltext/1006SDTFreport.pdf

[ii] http://costofwar.com/en/

[iii] http://costsofwar.org/article/economic-cost-summary

[iv] http://costsofwar.org/article/macroeconomic-impact-military-spending

[v] http://www.rand.org/pubs/research_briefs/RB9351/index1.html

[vi] http://www.democracyarsenal.org/2011/06/the-afghan-troop-number-game.html

[vii] http://ploughshares.org/sites/default/files/resources/What%20We%20Spend%20on%20Nuclear%20Weapons%20092811.pdf

not to mention the present ideals we are working at fro developing 1 universal science, so as to support students to come out of the classroom into the community to do an exchange for some common sense. as all support each other to self-develop + create numerous jobs as folks come together + build natural communities + share what works. as they restore local ways that are interfering in the ability for folks to self-develop as with other pathes of local communities when folks 'boon with + preserve their natural world. so as to sustain natural communities that harmonize.

         Barack, Jeff,Peter, please note folks that are healthy have a hard time processing the above information. our neuro processing is not designed for these out dated aggressive measures. not to mention those without.
              what can you tell me as well post on your site for all, to tell folks that are very distressed over the above awareness.
          as well what support can you tell us/ me to tell the school administrators when i take our ideals to them + the community. with our solutions. so students of all ages can open doors into the community + make an exchange supporting  themself + all to become a local, global + beyond participant, so as to harmonize.

              vs. as presently with the Sunset Middle School here in Empire, near Charleston, Or. as a teacher states my ideals are good, + it is hard for her because the kids come to school hungry.

               not to mention elderly i've had 1st hand experience helping, where they are living alone, misusing, not understanding yet under doctors. suffering, unable to have a day go by without struggling.

  where when the students, if supported to come into the community, + log + communicate. as they build a system that works so as to self-reflect with these real needs. as they do interchangeable roles, meanwhile each person without now gets daily support, as bothe self-develop.

    creating jobs, saving funds from people going to ER continually. not to mention Jeff, it would be nice if the doctors also are required to go back to school + come into community along with the students. not to mention learn alternative medicine to enable them to prescrine behavioral modification along with any medication prescribed. not to mention have the insurance pharmacolgy review, include a pharmacognosy perspective.

     now patients misusing will no longer be expected, by their present doctors, to know how alternative medicine could leave less negative side effects, as they presently do. as well i belief we could come up with a few instructors that could support a manditory program for all doctors to become aware in diagnosing, medicine management,
            along with defining which medicine/herbal formula is best for patient to taper off that which is harmful, leaving negative effects, or going in no positive direction. into a good self-development mode, as each becomes supported with the student community project.

   Barack, Jeff, Peter, we have solutions that work. please take a look + see what you can do to support this to become a nice tool  created by all that take the time to share what works.

we have a focus direction so as to simplify. but it does take a bit of concentration + weach have to do their homework. but we realize support is needed for many in order to just to get to do that.

thank you Barack, Jeff, Peter, for your format to share.

      please comment + post your responce as well email it to us + i will post it:

patchespocketstalk@icometotalkstory.net

          our combined` effect makes a difference,

            we can address 1 issue at a time, with the students help along with many degreeded professionals in responsible roles, including yours. to also come into your local community + join the students,as a student. take part in planning the restoration of your community to become a natural community that becomes sustainable. to get the real picture. for you folks i believe are lost in layers.

    the solution comes from, understanding what sustains us + when we talk simple common sense from 1 universal science,that co_evolves in real time, made transparent + transcribed into a lay persona understanding, then it can become a language that applies solutions as they are researched, networked as folks in patches + pockets on this planet have great offerings from simply living `boon with the natural world.

        each can become aware, once a student(s) gives special attention to their basic needs + help them sort out a better quality life. as community cooperatives are created. many are so much happier when they can get support to stay home vs. go without or go to ER repeatedly/hospital/nursing home/foster home, etc.

thank you, i will appreciate comment, kara

 Dear Folks of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction:

     I thank Rebecca, from Peace Action West. as she has reminded me of much detail that makes me sick, that you folks are presently acting on.

     I am writing to urge you to support a deficit reduction plan that cuts wasteful military and nuclear spending that has interfered in the ability for people to simply live. and creates a more unbalanced delusional mode thinking we need a security budget.
 
       if you are local community participant within the natural world you would easily feel + perceive what is wrong here.

        we feel sharing awareness to restore our self + our community back within nature`s limits, is a life right. to build self-empowerment, supporting interpersonal growth, thru community reflection, creating all kinds of jobs.

     thru a natural community exchanging/spreading awareness thru the educational department, built by students. by Opening the Doors of the classrooms into the Community, into an cooperative exchange. where we share ideals in our recent forum opened to all.

        along with a good police force, that is rehabbed for responsible instruction, for folks to gain awareness of their misuse + to understand how to rid it, as they bring themself to calm. why should one that has survived with misuse, not even aware of it, be then penalized, without rehab. do you realize how many folks carry simple bad behavior passed down, just from prior generations trying to survive this continued stress built from a war mode economy. which is wrong..

  i just reviewed some grants available thru the Terre Vivi international entity, in attempts to not just see you folks help but put our project to the use for all. for we have solutions. so if any of you have suggestions please share how we may be of most help. for UN should be supporting this for all locals, vs. await our low budget, grassroots walkabout to reach out farther. for projects like ours + many have the fine tuning that has been so badly ignored.

 As a serious deficit plan can't ignore the bloated Pentagon budget, as well the legislatures + again the foolishness of presidential lobbying/campaign funding. as real time issues are ignored.

 I don't want things like our human family life rights to be ignored any longer. interpersonal growth to have clarity + energy for job creation and education, has been sacrificed for unnecessary spending. when yet the students of all ages, along with the degreed in the working field can come together in a manditory program, as community is voluntarily supported in an exchange. with degreed professionals as well walking side by side.

          this depicts the reality of what is ignored,that which falls thru the cracks, the fine tuning left without, as nature co_evolves, yet we, you + other folks are unaware + not `booon with it, as it will take a bit to remove all the baggage, etc. leaving all live being negatively effected 1 way or the other. while you folks think you focus on what is real. it is too complex for the struggling folks to comprehend.

Please support a plan that:

* Cuts all spending in the Pentagon budget on weapons beyond awareness for a good police force locally + internationally. along with our educational program we suggest. and now only local students should orchrestrate local community participants.

       private contractors should not be hired. along with all milatary personnel:

          rather we invite them into a tapering transition to reprogram, for them to self-observe with local community members that offer perception + together create local sustainable biomes. to sustain local communities.

now network via ecosystem + like subject what works, as our project triggers thought. + we end all aggressive acts. as communities are built by people to bring them self to calm.

what better way to fuel movement of jobs, so all can start voluntarily as they get clear of what each desires, as we all co_evolve + work together.

* this then Ends the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, + everywhere.
* Cuts all nuclear, chemical, biological, etc. weapons spending in the Department of Energy and Department of Defense
* Avoids disproportionate cuts to the international affairs budget, rather adds some creative engineering..

  we welcome you, to our recently opened to the public, grassroots forum. as many folks have struggled/still are, to rid the baggage created by many, as we build solution: cooperatively building local community to support us all to become a local, global + beyond participant, that harmonizes with the natural world..

     as your combined choices have left many negative effects on other life.

  we support folks to simply live with respect for the natural design.. please join in + i think you will see where their really is no need or room for any of what you folks have done + many continue to think/act on, when you self - observe + take part in your local community defining it`s needs to rid + offerings to exchange. so you each better rethink what your role/position should be responsibly do_in.

        please ask your self, are you living as a local within your natural world,`boon with it. or as a representitive to this dysfunctional government entity, that has interfered as well in perhaps your ability to self-sustain, as it has to many locally + beyond.

 we feel, by joining together with all local members + networking as needed, we can then recycle all to build sound simple natural communities, by living it. so all can self-develop our true human potential. which now many are unable + stuck with information over load, as layers continually number, produced from many, as you folks are on the wrong track. vs. simplifying + removing.

  which we feel our cloth/table platform can build such a support tool, as we share what we sustain. this is a common language all can identify it:
     coming together with our feelings, pooling community tool sheds for our fresh natural local grown food/medicine. as we share creatively ways that work, fueling a plan as we rethink + build upon that which is interfering in the natural way. + celebrating such appreciation. as this is the time to make this happen, with all our good virtual tools to bring us eye to eye.

  or at least in the building, as in due to our threads yet to be out, please open a document + fill in the ctrl l box with link:

     http://i-come-to-talk-story-net.3220728.n2.nabble.com/

I urge you to support this awareness where students orchrestrating this infrastructure, can support our solutions now. no longer leaving local community members without, as students network + create a sustainble building exchange, for them self, so as the many here locally at Sunset school that go to school hungry, due to a single parent, + or the other one unemployed. can now be supported by local community. as together they come together + rethink with your support.. working within nature`s boundaries.

        so in seeing this, please don`t think your position is not important, it is. for the many layers the government has placed upon itself, it will take some time to remove this dysfunction. you people know this language best. we ask you to rid this mess + make a meaningful tool, if it should remain at all? as many before you did in attemtps to support people unable. for no one should do for an able being.

     please rethink your role + your position + make it functional or please remove it or your self. + together lets support our responsible roles, such as our president now.

i cannot tell you enough of how bad it sounds for campaigners to talk the way they do. it is shallow consuming energy, yet offering nothing. + to see all the waste of funds.

      my suggestions to Barack + Mr. Boehner was to stop all campaign funding + redirect to the students project we suggest. + now plug into real issues now + tally what each responsibly does. now when election time comes about, we will know exactly who has done centered grounded work for self + local community vs. lost in dialog, discussing misinformation, etc.

   rather i say come together + support Barack, he is our president + now responscibly open transparency + invite local community support to resolve local community issues. as you experienced folks clean up what should of never been allowed to create.

    which you folks have failed to do as you have disrespected life, as your acts supporting military have been very wasteful + consumptive...

  we hope to do some testing/sharing with the schools, researchers, public, etc. to define a language for 1 universal science. so now perhaps you will have a better understanding of inefficent policys that need to be rid. as you look at life in a natural way. where you take part in repair or decay. perhaps if you see it from a pathogen perspective of how stress is causing illness + disease, as it interferes in folks fuel to work or even figure out a way to get beyond own personal needs, without good community suppport in place, as many are not fortunate. meanwhile others are gaining on their misuse. yet to know their is another way to self-sustain.

   yet the same pressures other communites handle as they pool thought + are able. which is what we feel our project can trigger, as we reflect patches + pockets of goodness to those without. in our patches talk - forum as we suggest, as in students + all to do a walkabout. which we hope you also will do the same, as all folks in responsible roles, need to come along with students into the community, to see the reality of what you perhaps have taken part to create.


thank you for this review,
Please write to me to share your priorities and let me know what action you will take, kara

   i'd like to share my discussion with a Mike On F/V Behmer, whom you folks may already know.
i've told him + others about soon to hear upcoming changes of the Mag Stevens Act along with another open comment period as you stated Deb.

           they resisted iniatially + stated it won't happen + i encouraged them to await the results + be positive that good change could come about.

after our lengthy discussion with many i asked what ould it take for yous to spend your energy giving data to an intity that can make a difference.. they know from past lack of communication, that all above entities where time consuming, wrong on their testing, incomplete + inaccurate testing - not reponding to co_evolving natural realities. + peoplein responsible positions moving up, yet leaving so much reality information out of perspective.

               where if they would of listened to those at sea do_in it, they would of had totally different perspectives. ex; of specific test results isolated in time where the fisher folks spent much more time.

this is not just in 1 location i hear this, it is the pacific entire coast as well southern e coast. + other countrys.

   so the folks are saying their not being acknowledged or engaged in decisions. only told + then further limited by their offerings, not to mention away time from fishing. so they further worn on top of weathers limitations + many have left or leaving. i stated it is like a disfunctional or disabled where dialect needs to be affirmed + acknowledged, so as 1 person states what is, now the other needs to confirm what was perceived until back + forth clarity comes. now solutions are created.

        the resultant is good solutions of our still very important issues that lay in front of those still fishing.
these folks see more species then what are eing tallyied. they have developed unique ways to fish for sustainability.

it appears when the fisheries where managed by the public, figures jive + solutions where had. now the step program they think was a waste.

   the species out of balance need to be dealt with + aren't such as the seal lion + cormoraman, species on columbia river, etc. if the elk can be hunted why are you still allowing emotion to limit them, when environmental perspectives are not natural.
   
                 here in Charleston Marina we observe easily how fisherfolks are feeding the seal lions, Kathy the harbor master has been supporting themto stop, but all have to enforce so folks understand the seriousness of this species results over eating species+ effects of safty while folks fishing. folks that lived in the days of them being in check + then being allowed to react kept them in check, then when policy changed. it has been an interference ever since.

       solutions are abundant yet are not being efficiently worked at, ex: much detail has went into the though of dams in various places, yes they should not of been put in some areas, but know that they are their, taking them out is worse, as in the salmon issue with nitrogen embolism, where Mike feels if dam stayed in place, other measures could be had to cool the water. by restructuring + redirecting the underneath water, etc.

            i cannot relate to you the detail here that these folks have worked. but their needs to be some acknowlegdement of each item being open for review, so as to clarify yes we did wrong, + short sighted testing or what ever for as to not do it again. for this is the best learning. + i promote the students to come out into the field, so when these supposedly high positioned folks are making incomplete testing followed thru with more restrictions, when the fisherfolks clearly know their is an abundance of this + that species, then instantly students can fill in.

                   the person in the responsible position then rethinks + no longer does the testing alone, rather take their goodness that should of gotten them to the top. + now add the students to throughly work with the fisherfolks to assess in an engaged process. where the fisherfolks can reestablish a positive reality of them being a big part in the sustainable workings for our sea.

as i stated before, i look around + our planet is consumed + in need of reality adjustment efficiently so all the good folks working this, makes it happen. so fisherfolks covering their area should be sound. + those do_in wrong accounted for + put into a tapering transition to redo or get away from the industry. this if all from fisherfolks to thos ein marketing to Noaa + all other entities, involved..

the ocean international waters has been abused by all. it was so wrong to kick out russians + bring in china + japan as in the past. + now if everyone would step up + not think that their way is the only way + make space for a review. a very good updated reality could come about so now all go to work, without futher stress.

Noaa folks feel your entity has lost it's goodness. person after person's name from F+W are known for mistesting, etc. + i could go on with detail from these fisherfolks if i recorded it. but i said to them, with your experiences i also will not waste my energy going to layers of files. for more processing.

      working in the natural world does not work with files. it works with responsible people able to focus + concentrate.

so i ask you as well a few others, to come up with 1 universal science verbage so the gauge can co_evolve with real time. with a balanced application of fisherfolks feeling the natural balance as all plug in. not deviate when they in a busy already over restricted season. or not ask for comment period when they all ready over worked, trying to fit into your restrictions:

                                      such as a narrow window for some species yet weather is so bad, + ypou folks don't just leave it open, as well open the corridor. these folks at sea are very good + travel the whole coast with the migrating species. they feel the pulse of them, in order to feed our people, this harmony needs to exist.

        or you end up with more accidents when folks, being a living organism can not pursue their natural predatory response. it is intercepted + flow broke, leaving them broke + many locals without food as food perhaps is sent afar. or out priced.

Dr. Jane, Deb, you folks  have the means. along with Barack's executive powers to make changes. the vastness of student volunteering to reestablish a sound testing workplace, along with community intervention to manage, can then leave those with unnatural hands on, to do policy/legislative works that also should stay in real time. which those students can assist with that.

         not to consume more, + waste leaving footprints, but to coordinate effciency this etak - this polydimensional measurement of time + space resulting in the motion life is in. so now a flow is established, accidents are prevented, technological rehabing within natures' corridors only are permitted, zoning/permits now become aware of changes needed for folks to build communities, for all to self-develop + stay in harmony.

this fuels folks not to just have a job but to responsibly empower their life as they self-develop + students again coming out of classrooms + including the community know engage as they self-develop with reflection.

perhpaps not from their isolated community or family or peer group that is dysfunctional. but by networking locally + beyond + reflecting with the patches of community that do work very well. when people come together, put titles aside + rethink their responsible positions.

  know folksresponsibly shift, step down,k remove position, + recreate what the natural systems are speaking. they listen to those that can hear it talk. they self-reflect + define what they lacking, how they misusing as others offer what works openly.

not as in being over pressured as know, with all dysfunction felt.

this life energy can be clear with verbage that communicates + engages in all community facets, from field science stations  recording it, networking with indigenous living it,  to young + old that have co_evolved ways of working it, as students no longer get mouse mazed with limitations as well, from short sighted controls.

           Barack's educational waiver for no children left behind is a start + if people support wanting to stop their own misuse. they can then awaken to how easy it was to pass this bad behavior on to our children. so if we walk side by side with our children, all as students, focusing to develop the undeveloped in the adult/child body. then we open to something we all can share. our human life right.

      this then fuels all to be clear to better quality living now, as we live now. for it is shortsighted to think we do now for our children's future, that is unreality. the children have had enough already having to be born + merge with natural energy if so lucky to be healthy at birth. + then experience all the distoreted energy from supposedly adult ways, yet left undeveloped, due to their struggling. so now all are fending for self to survive.

          i'll repeat what a teacher here at Sunset Middle school, said when i discussed this opening of school doors into the community. + she said it has been so hard to teach, for the students can't learn when they come to school hungry. many have single parents. or other is working in dysfunctional jobs, stressed unable to give a child the energy they deserve.

             where if we support this open door mode, their are many folks alone in need that could give this exchange with a little support themself, as ex; i do constantly, such as yesterday my posting of Robbie, whom just got gout of a nursing home, wanting his own home + the local restaurant where he eats most of his meals, have good food, but his combinations for diabetes has been leaving him very ill. along with his misunderstandings. he went to his dr. came home with more medicine, few days later i called the ambulance. then he stayed in home for a few weeks, few days out doing same behaviors still not understanding. so i gave restaurant some ideals he is wiling to try. along with my mate fixing a wire here, moveing this here to attempt to make him more comfortable.

               this is math, we either blow funds on waste or we open doors for understanding giving young + old a better good night sleep, place to recoup, eat a nice meal, talk to their farmers/fisherfolks + give them exchange, so we all shift.

        it is our combined'effect that works best.

please note i see the layers people are lost in, the inefficiencies, i offer my suppport as well i have to you folks before. to work on better international sharing of our waters, to address some real issues of where our fish are + how best to manage for sustainability. in result we developed a forum for people to not just be pissed but to seriously take control + start constructing. putting these solutions done that work or being worked or have worked all ready. as folks are able to check in + reflect via like ecosystem/subject. as natures way becomes the fueling force. no longer legislatures dysfunctional policys.

thank you + please link, we crude, grass roots, need to be cleaned up + Google yet to have threads, so have patience, for subject at hand to do a walkabout with is worth taking part in, for we resolve:

                      http://i-come-to-talk-story-net.3220728.n2.nabble.com/

 

                      lucky us to have a community that cares..

         thank you folks that have helped him out! You know who you are..

this is just another example of what community can do when we pool our thought:

      Mike + JD at the fish shacks locally are offering fresh fish along with the commercial fishing folks off the dock.
   +
       Sea Basket restaurant here in the Charleston Marina has agreed to creatively add to our suggested diet to aid those with issues.

Amazing with a lil support we can truly feel better by taking control now of how we eat. + prevent:

            such as indigestion – those farts – burps ya know, constipation, diarrhea, over weight, blood sugars out of whack, dizzy, hyper, can't sleep, emotional instability, aids metabolism, builds energy, mental clarity to help you tune in + change our bad behaviors. + truly enjoy food now, even as we do this.

       Creating having a nice social event over a nice meal that makes us feel better after each one. For daily these all are required if want mental clarity + physical energy to know get out + move + increase that heart rate 65% 6 days out of the week for 30-45 min. + 2 days a week of strengthening exercises, simple as exercise lifting own weight in your bed or best in the fresh air. go play with your honey - ride a bike, ski, tennis, fish, or if have none chase the other to go with ya + enjoy feeling good..

yes best due 3 meals a day + or 6 lil ones.

Fruit: has enzymes to keep us young, cleanse + heal + repair, list goes on. + yes if dry have more concentrated sugars, but fresh in season local grown is best, go pick. Talk to your farmer. best in am on empty stomach + wait a half hour or so. Or wait, eat after meals a few hrs. don't eat dessert or fruit with meals.
can eat lemon or lime with protein + carbo meals.. It is so nice the way it beams with good oils over grilled vegies or salad or fresh vegies sliced. Eating fruit right after a meal will upset a perfectly balanced combination. Eat fruit alone best. Then you decide what next.

Protein heals + repairs as new tissues are built: lein meats, fish, chicken, eggs + if heavy - consider non fat dairy products until feeling better then go to nice whole dairy products. + know your farmer. skinless removing fats + have a variety with vegetables: that aid our digestion of our food, fresh has enzymes so eat a lil fresh 1st to start your meal then have nice steamed or grilled vegies or in soup or stir fry with fish/meats/chicken/lamb/pork in smaller portions for nice flavors. + don't mix with complex carbohydrates or refined processed carbohydrates..  yes mix with oils ( best grapeseed oil which  - cash + carry has nice deal or extra virgin olive oil, which both require low/medium heat + don't fry hard, rather grill, bake or steam. If fry hot + quick use peanut oil. Nice to drizzle good oil over nice grilled vegies such as zuchinni – yellow + green, mexican sweet peppers, broccoli, add spices to liking.  + if you do grilled vegies with a carbo meal, don't add the oil, add spices + juices from vegies, broth, etc.

Now wait 3 hrs roughly if switch to a carbohydrate meal with vegetables. Variety of beans . whole grains: amaranth, quinoa, buckwheat, millet, wheat, brown rice, wild rice, rye, multigrain sprouted or whole grain bread, pasta, crackers, cereals. Can't better then a nice oatmeal with a nice whole grain bagel,  + if get non fat dairy product then you can mix with spices + treat it as a carbohydrate + put on your bagel, etc. due to having no fat. This will replace your butter or oil. Remember oil/fat only with protein meal. Yes this means no protein with carbo meal, no byproducts of animal such as dairy or fats or oils or eggs or chicken, pork or beef or lamb. Remember good whole complex carbohydrates come from the earth. + best if left whole with germ, endosperm + bran – giving us all the energy we need with a variety of vitamins + minerals. Processed refined carbos have been stripped to market so they last longer, no good. Our bodies go wacko if we sensitive + care how we feel. Plus we don't need energy to go to bed, so eat this early in the day + have protein meal at night or nice just to have a fruit platter.

Important to have variety + everyday balanced meals.

When strong now you can feel the difference + if want something be smart about it, then go back + be good.

Feel light + satisfied with less food,  yes eat until comfortably full. Not stuff. with your now finely tuned digestive system + metabolism. No more hormonal chemistry mode swings as yo yos.. yes we can do something to make a difference now.

             we are simply talking about food combinations + few choices better than others to help sort this out. If want more detail talk to your doctors or check out Suzanne Somers book – 'Summersizing, from quite a few years back. she is closest i've found to some good ideals to give more info.
                   
                 Thank you Suzanne.

As well thank Sue, whom works at the port campground for turning us on to the book:
   ' younger next year.. these folks help us understand why heart rates should be gotten up to 65% when exercise.

                            As well thank you port for all you do!

          So lets take a look + say No to these foods that easily convert to sugar after eating.  They provoke a sudden spike in insulin levels. until we regain a balance that feels really good.

    NO FOODS:    
Corn, popcorn, potatoes of all colors such as white, yam, sweet potato, carrots, white or semolina flour, as in unbleached or bleached, ya want the whole grain the way it came up from the earth + take off the outer shaft only + grind fresh as can, buy bulk + share. pumpkin, winter squash, beets, banana, caffeine, cocoa, alcohol, red wine good if a lil. Sugars, brown sugars, molasses, corn syrup, honey, maple syrup, sodas with any of these: sucrose, fructose.

Try stevia for sweetner, it is expensive. Or better use probiotics such as kefir water or kumbucha mushroom + as you feed them sugar, they process so you don't drink it, yet you have a sweet drink. Easy to make.

       + just wait it won't take long + you will be out of very ill state + as you get stronger be creative. A little fresh jam vs butter on toast.  + as you feel good you will only want good. It is what fuels us.

if fall off, don't beat your self up. Be proud of what you did do. + soon it will become old hat.
Exchange recipes + have some potlucks.
What can I eat if this seems restrictive, the sky is the limit vegis grilled with spices, indians eat them to aid digestion: curry's, cumin, corriander, basil, thyme, rosemary, sage, list is endless. Nice vegi soups with animal/fish, can't get better or beans + vegie soup on a cool day warms us right up.  Or whole grain pilafs. Add some nice fresh or frozen if no fresh, collard greens, kales, variety of vegs, spinach fresh is nice. or in spagetti sauces over multigrain pasta. Vegies good roughage for bowls. Fresh sweet onion with lime juice num, sliced tomatoes..
Cantelope, apricots, oranges, easily replace the carrots + yams for colors + the goodness they do. Prunes, peaches, nectarines, berrries, cherries. + remember don't eat them with proteins or carbo meals or snacks.


          They can easily be substituted with fresh fruits + vegetables with a variety of colors to aid the digestion process. Talk to your farmer, join a CSA so they deliver fresh. Make sure bo GMO”S or preservatives + naturally grown.

Yes nice cooperative community effort makes it all happen. Now fresh herb pots, back yard spices + herbs as perennial gardens, small farms abundant.
Spaces permacultured as you bring in from afar what can work locally.

Thanks again folks, we will be leaving soon to the boat yard, + staying a bit longer then planned. Lovee going fishing, so if any one wants to pool some thoughts + gather a few friends that need some more support then give me a hollar. With many all can pay less, you define. we will set up a date. i'm kara on boat tzegunka.
                         i will put myself out to fund raise for our non-profit (working on 501.c3 papers so you can't write it off yet if that is important) project we just recently released. it will take a bit for Google to thread it. As well we are having a few technical issues, but that is good old virtual world. So patience.

Link:
           http://i-come-to-talk-story-net.3220728.n2.nabble.com/

Come take a look + apply to your self + your local community. then if like come post + share helping us make it a good tool for us all to share what works + become a local, global + beyond participant.

         Where we reflect + take a look at our self as we continue to explore the path we build as we each walk it. As well cooperatively part time build our local community to share what works via like subject + like ecosystem, from others that reflect that accept nothing less then a local community that harmonizes ' boon with the natural world.

         The farmers sure could locally use some support. We have been working at supporting the commercial fishing folks, Noah + National Fisheries, F+W, CG, to come together + be more efficient + effectively pool resources. respecting the fishing folks that do their part at sustainability.

            Regarding legislative legalities that produce safety hazards we complained. So they decided a review may be good. comment period was completed + the Maguson Stevens Act will be modified + then comments will be open to public again. Debra Lambert says she will update those interested + invites all to take part.

         If didn't connect + want to + don't know how, leave a note on boat or leave a message + i will email you her address.

                   Leave message in talk talk.




 

 
i believe in gripping the moment with multi functional tasks.

    Barack + Congress, please note:

          will i give Barack $3.00 toward his campaign now, no.

          will i support his responsible position now, yes.

i just yesterday after a lengthy IRS discussion with a very nice lady, realized how i spaced out + now have to redo our application for our 501.c3.

    why, too busy dealing with issues, of many from those around me as well this project.
remember folks have worked in the past + still do_in to bring forth simple living within natures way.

yes to build a 1 universal science where policy is not bought via campaigns/lobbying, rather integrity is maintained for all life.

 so as IRS states for non-profits they shun our political activity, but i won't let anyone or any policy shun my life right.

     yes IRS has to deal with foolishness due to corporate whoring/lobbyists/campaign extravagence, will we no.
          so many good folks are over worked in trying to support people to become self-reliant.

it makes me sick to see what is happening. + Barack you can use your excutive order to stop it + put it all into a good perspective now.

    this is not years ago when as in Mishi, as a young boy sees 3 trucks appearing as folks are throwing tomatoes due to high food price increase.

              1 runs them over, 2 scoops them up + 3 hoses down + back to normal.

no we've had to work hard as many still due globally to survive. as many ecologically still whoring can come into a tapering transition.

   for all to rethink what is needed + how best to restore ecologically sound simple living so communities are cooperatively built, fueling jobs. for all to self- develop + sustain as a local, global + beyond participant.

   we happen to feel Barack you + Putin along with many others have great tools if you use them for all life, as living organisms, with reality that we need our natural wild to sustain us to build sound communities that harmonize...

what does that mean, ex; walmart can fill the planet as long as they hire locals, use local products + sell to locals. get the point. that is what we can do now.

+ all folks can be put to work in their chosen path as we each walk it into our openings.

yes together our combined' effect can make this happen.

     to hear the budget running out + then to see the supposedly green proposals for the military war mode economy, is wrong. the point is to end war, end this foolish communication + work within peoples potential. without layers of baggage.

    you each can know directly what your community needs by taking part in it as a responsible local, where ever you choose.

we have+ many are do_in simple living that works + exchanging as we support all to do the same.

Mishi coming from Russia, immigrating as taught me more of our constitution as well the english language, due to him having to study it, before being accepted.

   well folks democracy can be had but only when we responsibly act. + we realize right now all around we see folks focused but then stop, unable to project this foolishness of campaigning for the future, for now is all we have. + if we don't walk side by side now with our children as we all co_evolve.

             no one will know how to get to the future, when they yet to know how to live in the now.

thank you Barack for gripping this moment + you can stop this foolishness now, look at your bylaws, due your homework, this Constitution was written to stay in real time.

peace is an option now, especially if we combine our effects.

kara j lincoln

folks,
this is so important because communites have an abundant of good
sensitive/skilled folks locally + beyond. pulling own way, etc.

i come to talk story.net

patches talk

a virtual message board to bring us eye to eye..

link - still threading thru Google, just opened recently to the public thru
Nabble:

http://www.i-come-to-talk-story-net.3220728.n2.nabble.com/

support the classrooms to open their doors so as all can
self-develop walking side by side.

we feel a 'way is to support students to develop a network for
cooperative support. to build local community - to build a self that
becomes a responsible local, global + beyond
participant.

utilizing virtual tools + respecting those uninterested/unable. so as to
build a
virtual system to network along with a simple formated tally system.  so as
to aid the many issues - that local students/folks are having difficulty
with.

the many check points of simple natural living are a life right. +
all should settle for nothing less than a community that harmonizes. for
patche's on this planet have great offerings to reflect with, as young +
old
allow it to trigger thought they can apply as they bring it home +
co_evolve.

where 1 universal science can simply mean the same no matter
where we go on this planet. for all to co_evolve with via their
ecosystem/subject, etc. so all on same page, no longer depleting our
natural
resources.

we feel if legislators are responsibly do_in, they will be a local
participant + know their communities needs + offerings, as they are
rebuilt.

do we support you Barack, yes! you are our president. will we hold you +
all responsible, to make a dysfunctional system once again work, yes!

who will we vote for, the tally will tell the story. as
folks right now are seriously putting their effort into their own survival.


we feel with your cooperative support we can find a way to give
relief. supporting folks to rethink, take a breath of fresh air as we all
gain awareness to calm, + reflect with the many good folks that are do_in
what works.

meaning with mental clarity + physical strength folks can part time
cooperatively pool their resources to build a local community. defining an
abundant of jobs to create upon. as function of energy efficiency, is
restored. as people + our natural world that sustains us, regains the
respect lost.

with the clarity of locally from the earth out build common sense
communities. ridding the consumptive wasteful ideals of inefficient green
movements. as in putting wave energy before local earth based projects to
restore what sustains local folks.

such as our wild to remain wild to sustain our microbial
balance, small farms, etc. for local fresh natural food to produce our fuel
to start with.

some simple thought that folks can feel + apply now is what more need.
fresh
local grown meal along with a nice discussion, good night sleep + each day,
energy becomes more abundant. as folks awaken to correct use of their own
inner tools.

no longer awaiting another to do for or allowing anyone to detour them,
as each pursue their own path as they build it. leaving no footprint on any
life, as each become self-satisfied. in local community that harnmonizes as
each continue to explore local + afar.

share with our neighbor what works to rid their needs, now their is
no reason for them not to do the same.

peace in the air, nice!

as far as thinking if Barack is manipulating for his own campaign, i think
we
should give him our support. he is carrrying a heavy load with so much
dysfunction.
i think Barack will be the 1st to look at tally + state if a better person
can fill this postion, when due time comes. then so be it.

thank you folks, kara

i share a letter i wrote to International Peace Day Associates.
(note i made a few corrections since then)

 Hello folks,

what an endeavor with both of your entities.

i've breifly become aware from skype + did an over view.

Jane please note i could not find the rules for entering on your web page,
plus to my understanding it is too late.

i really like the perception of synergy that results from these kinds of
events.

briefly i'd like to share some thought. for aprox; 42 years i've worked to
get clear on some thoughts that i put into Nabbles forum these last 3
years. my ideals was to be a 501.cs non profit, i asked folks to give what
can, when can + hoping those with more would support this to happen so all
could take part.

well here in the USA IRS made few mistakes, so as of date i've yet to open
forum to public, or accept any donations. still editing + reducing yada
yada virtual tool.

+ as of last week i see i'm no longer treated as a non-profit due to a
mistake i made + IRS told me different. so my thought is to see how it goes
+ then rethink if donations come in.

so i cannot offer a tax break.

my point is it has been very hard to take what we did, which was built a
boat + sailed from US over to Australia + back when family had medical
issues + dying. before that we did exchanges + incredible things happened +
we said we have to market this.

little did i know how hard keeping in the moment would be when i made a
virtual tool. but i did it to my satisfaction, i should say almost
finished. few more weeks + ready to open to public.

is it polished-no, can it reach a lot-? i counted on threads from internet
searches + then Nabble that didn't advertise say now they need to make
money, so they are charging.

so my issue is you folks have gathered attention, that is very good. but i
knew unless we could beam an energy, that was real reflection of the
beautiful life acts on this planet, that folks would remain programmed in
their own patches of limited perspective.

you folks reached the UN's attention that should be do_in what i set up in
our forum.

you folks reached the African + every continent that should be do_in what i set up
in our forum.

my letters got no where, my emails get scams, many virus, much resistence
yet i kept going.

my problem is many misusers don't realize the footprint left. ex: i rode on
a bus to Honduras from Costa Rica with a Coke marketer in the next seat. we
drove by women carrying cases of coke in wooden boxes on their head, as
babies where drinking it in bottles, yet she said it would not hurt. we
also became aware of how Coke in places where consuming the local limited
water to make it, limiting locals from fresh water.

i could go on with many stories but gest is, we share a number of
subcatagories, actually it is like a book but it gives folks reflection on
natural sensitivites + skills to rethink with, apply, exchange locally +
afar + experience + then have 1 in community come back + post via their
ecosystem. so others of like subject + like ecosystem can trigger their
thought. so we give details + hope to compile exchange detail of building a
self + part ime cooperative building a local community that builds local,
global + beyond participants.

we share as our combined' effect how patches + pockets of goodness can
reflect with those without, for them to fine tune what is missing. not
become codependent on the ecological whores that have either blindly
invited + due to folks attempt to survive or own greed from own
interpersonal misuse, etc.. but rather reflect with others that have become
aware of products - people + their services, as we invite all to a tapering
transition. where now those upset have a cloth/ table platform  to clear
the air as ideals are created.
           
                   as those that increased their profits
misusing now are supported with these ideals as they rethink, so as to feel
the reality of all as they then regain a local human participant + with
clarity allow it to trigger that which can be not just recycled, but know
fuel comes from self-empowerment as you folks well know.


then in our last subcatagorie called the next' move we invite folks to come
together, for this is now after all other subcatagories gave us
interconnection, reflection as we propose students to come out of classroom
+ with a walkabout, collect local/afar sensitive to what the earth speaks.
now engineer the local biomes potential. as locals link + create a 1
universal science that works.

created upon real greening such as permaculture, agro-ecology with Prof
Miguel Altieri as he rewrites curriculum from indigenous, as he clearly
explians our food crises on the planet + people throwing it back + forth
for profits.

do you see where i'm going. we care why people are misusing + how to make
positive change. we don't support the large pharmaecutical companys that
make people dependent on vaccines + medicine that fills the deep pockets.
rather we support plannning small farms/periennial foraged community
gardens, etc. so as to have food/herbs for true medicine as local folks put
their hand in the dirt making a difference as thy produce fresh natural
local food.

remember we live in US where western medicine is a disgrace. the
dysfunction of the government is a disgrace. the judicial system +
educational system the same + this list goes on.

yet the world locally + beyond has great patches of solutions. + we feel if
we support the teachers to support the students to now open to our local
community as the best classroom. my gosh look at the jobs as folks gain
true self-awareness. we simplify ideals + make folks realize it is their
choice to have virtual tools. but for those that do we network to go eye to
eye + rejoin mindbody to become whole without leaving any footprints.. this
we feel is our life right.

now with detail of building/rehabbing/linking local living as wild is
prioritized to stay wild, so as to 'boon with it, woolah, harmony with
music, self-expression + satisfaction. not just await drops to be picked
up. of support from local government.

rather know folks are empowered realizing we are government if we ever want
to share democracy.

ok any one that nows me, know i yada to much. but that will be reduced when
we open the forum. for if anyone can't go beyond what we have accomplished
with so much resistence then they are unable to truely concentrate +
realize it is not us that makes it happen, it is each truely understanding.
that is all it takes.

so you have gotten their attention + i am just hoping to fill in some fine
detail. for we don't support Bill Gates, or Al Gore's supposedly aid +
green movement mode, this is ecologcial whoring + we feel as ex; with Bill,
in Africa humans have equal rights to become aware, where after my lengthy
review of his detail with his org in Africa, he feels they are unable.

so again my point is thankyou for what you are doin, + i yet to see how i
can see your rules to attempt to apply Jane + it appears due to do_in it
voluntarily all these years + now soon to open to public the virtual tool -
i come to talk story - we may not be applicable.

+ as well Peter, i will review more + attempt to link. for we have no
problem asking folks to come into a tapering transition. as i've stated to
Barack Obama, folks are simply overloaded due to so much layers of
information that is mind boggling to our neuro processing, that many
sensors have becomed dull + unable to percieve locally or afar. so the best
projects can be out their but unless we support local students to do a
walkabout with the locals, aiding + exchanging as each undeveloped in young
+ adult body have the opportunity to understand misuse, it simply
continues.

i've worked hard on this detail + yes it could be cleaned up a lot, but i
have struggled with many suffering around me as we fought for what can be
as fragments of releif came thru too lae for many, due simply to those not
wanting to lose their position interfereing.

yet with numbers of folks the math is real, + as the old folks told me of
long ago, you get the numbers behind you + if they see their profits
changing, they will rethink.

for some i know that is true as well.

but my experience is that humans have a range of neuro processing + we must
manage + understand how good harmony can be when we center.

i personally try continually to be a peace intermediary. i've focused on
trans-boundary migration in an area with several countries coming together
for the elephant issue in Africa without them showing any interest.

my feeling has been either i'm just not packaged for them enough or if they
see people become self-reliant then those controlling may loose their
footing. i won't really know until i get more feedback. for i don't assume.

good luck to you all + thank you again for what you do as well for this
review, I appreciate your feedback.

sincerely, kara j lincoln



--
patches pockets talk when we all do a walkabout...

thanks for the support!

our combined' effort wrote:
Hello,
all this generalization of what is being done is mind boggling to a natural human neuro process. we are a living organism dependent on a ecological sustainable environment.
starting with home schooling it is unfair that all folks + children can't exchange side by side as all develop the child within. as in my attempt to ask your prior discussion from teachers.
how best for us all to support opening the classrooms + allowing the curriculum to include the interchangeable roles for all students to interrelate with local community members. so now all can self-develop as we reflect.
yes some patches + pockets have no creative harmony as others do. that have prioritized function, energy efficiently + not forgot what this fueled which is the creative self expression:
now building exchange so locally + beyond we gain the goodness the earth life offers. by starting with what locally sustains us which is our natural grown food, being able to exchange our grand parents seeds. with fresh water + compost making good earth to grow them.
where in many places others such as (see Navdanya's diary with India farmers regarding Monsanto) + others, prevent that as they attempt to control the seed market with their thought of feeding the world. as well the business whoring of pesticides, monoculturing that have proven to be as efficient as in agro-ecology as Miguel explains, from indigenous.
yet does not leave the health effect to people as well destroy the life in the soil. which ends up depleted with monocultures + pesticides, etc. requiring them to then use more destructive products. + with GMO's the air then carries contaminated our original seed that can be used the next year. vs. having to have to buy from as in monsanto + others that want to control their agenda.
Miguel gets his reality of facts from over 200 as in past studies overruled by another trying to promote their agenda.
this should become 1 universal good science, as Prof Miguel Altieri writes curriculum from working with indigenous in south america, + elsewhere. to share how we can stop our world food crises in place. google him + he explains how foods are being transferred back + forth across the planet. as GMOS + toxic agriculture demands, as well inability to
after networking locally + beyond, we see all share similar misuse. so we decided to make a people exchange forum, called - i come to talk story.
sure some countries have higher math in those suffering but issues are shared world wide that can be stopped as we address common sense. using verbiage starting with our food, water, air + our shelter:
which if we use our technical virtual tools, students can create networks so eye to eye comes about locally + now folks are sharing positive exchange.
we invite ecological whors to rethink as we support all in a tapering transition to be able to come together with those of us that supported them greedily or unknowingly as we tried to survive.
now the agitation of one perceiving a natural way to convert a negative ecological effect, whether the toxic earth, or wild unable to be left wild to control our microorganisms, our disease. to support our small natural farms as wild is supported to stay wild for biological diversity, to pollinate.
to give us space to 'boon with our natural resources as we inter personally self-develop + gain our own center as we rid baggage + reflect. build our life as we walk our path.
we can rejoin our self, our life right, to share this planet together so all can enjoy + freely explore.
no one should think another does it for us or we await you or another in government to do for us, that is for unable only. able beings build networks democratically in a sharing exchange communication process by do_in it. living local, keeping it local + then sharing all all can make it work locally.
so no one should give to one that thinks for them self as in the many govt. or business that ecologically whor, unless they come aboard + listen as we offer the tapering transition.
making food at a price all can afford as well earth that all can be worked into perennial foraged gardens, small farms all can take part in as well converting vacant lots to community gardens. designed with old folks that are sensitive to read what the earth speaks along with permaculture bringing in diversity from afar that grows local, agro+ forestry ecology, where we can build the infrastructure as we rebuild our communities putting all to work.
it is based on exchanging common sense via like ecosystems, to trigger each to check in as a human – to do interpersonal exchange. then as we all take part time cooperatively - to build our community to be a local, global + beyond participant, we then interrelate with our community neighbors.
peace is an option now for all if we share.
i come to talk story is soon to publish thru Nabble, please come visit + do an exchange. this is a way that works. as we support you to reflect, build a self + see good life reflections that we can feel is alive. now share it cooperatively with your local community + then let someone come back + post . now others seeking like thought can fine tune via their ecosystem how this can work.
ex; from adding species to a local pond to kill malaria, or save water, make a compost toilet, have lime piles utilized for sanitation + in preparation for local natural disasters, etc.
amazing how we can rethink with the smell/eat fresh local grown food, a clean bath + a good night sleep.
to see our good earthly offerings of building + managing so all gain discipline over our self-sensory observations vs. belief, gives amazing harmony as all regain life energy to look beyond money, + see how energy within us as in mental clarity + physical strength is worth a million.
yes jobs for all to volunteer, get paid, reflect + then study + work into what really want to be an individual that builds your life as you walk your path you choose.
it is wrong for humans to not have these life rights so take a look at how you misuse + come aboard + gain via reflection how we can self-observe + stop supporting the negative + shift your energy to positive acts. together all then can come back + recycle the damaged areas + rid naturally what never should of been created.
this alone puts a lot of folks to work as we self-empower, creating individuality that truly enjoy self-expression as exploration is abundant.
our human potential beams a nice light for all to see along your path. leaving patches + pockets of freshness to stop into along the way.
especially we we become a human. that means a balanced mindbody as we rejoin our self. not chasing our head as in the virtual world that many get lost in. we can respect all to choose if they choose this tool or not. + those that can respect it can come into community + go eye to eye + do an exchange, making a log book all can self- register + get supported as students come out of classroom + come into the real world, as they then rebuild with their local community our natural ability to now restore/rehab + rebuild to stay with in our natural world as we are best efficiently designed to be.
our balanced environment, putting our hands in the earth or buying from those local do_in, growing our food + herbs as our best medicine, as wild is left wild. building trans-boundary migration so all life has it's path. + each local community provides most efficiently the earth offerings as we link to share with our neighbors locally + beyond. for all life to seasonally migrate - yes even us as a living organism.
enjoy, have a bi'joy experience + share your walkabout, then post as you link with the many movements working for all to gain their center!
i come to talk story - welcomes you, please watch for us.
thank you Kojo!
Mon, 09/19/2011 - 2:28pm

The Dangerous Demographics of West Africa Mark Weston
February 18, 2009 | More on Africa, Conflict and security | No comments
I gave a talk to senior civil servants at the Home Office last week, as part of Demos’s Leadership Masterclass on International Challenges and Counter-Terrorism. My talk was on West Africa, and particularly on how looming demographic changes there are likely to increase instability in a region that is already the world’s poorest and one of its most volatile. I argue that, at least in the long-term, Western security policy-makers would do well to keep an eye on the region. For an edited version of the talk, see after the jump.
The Dangerous Demographics of West Africa
Talk given by Mark Weston at Demos Leadership Masterclass on International Challenges and Counter-Terrorism, Home Office 13 February 2009
Introduction
Good morning, I’m going to talk about West Africa – a region not that well-known to most Britons but which has the potential in the next few decades to force itself into our consciousness.
I’ll be looking at the region primarily through the lens of demography. So I’m going to first discuss the concept of the demographic dividend, and its converse, the demographic disaster. Then I’ll provide a snapshot of the current security situation in West Africa.
Then I’ll look at how demographic trends are transforming the region and potentially heightening the security risks, before outlining some other key drivers of change and instability. Finally I’ll provide some examples of how these drivers of change are already having destabilizing effects in some parts of the region.
The demographic dividend
So before I get on to specifics about West Africa, I’m going to first take a couple of minutes to explain how the demographic dividend is transforming many developing countries.
For two centuries, since Thomas Malthus made his dire prediction that population growth would outpace food production and result in mass starvation, demographers have mostly been worried about the consequences of rapid population growth.
Malthus’s mass extinctions haven’t yet happened, however, mainly because people have had fewer children and because technological developments have enabled more efficient food production, which has more or less kept pace with population growth.
In recent years demographers have turned their attention to population structure. It seems that when a country has a large working age population compared to the population of children and the elderly, it has a chance to develop quite rapidly, as working-age adults swell the labour force without having too many dependents to support. They can therefore use their earnings to save and invest, which can provide a major boost to economies.
This happened in East Asia, where health improvements led people to choose to have fewer children – health improvements benefit children disproportionately, so as more children survived, East Asian parents didn’t need to have so many to ensure their ideal family size.
So as the health improvements kicked in, many more children were surviving to adulthood. Then after a while, fertility fell, leaving a baby boom cohort which when it reached working age was much bigger than its predecessor and successor generations.
Between 1965 and 1990 East Asia’s working age population grew nearly four times faster than the dependent population, and the Harvard economist David Bloom and others have estimated that this demographic dividend accounted for up to a third of East Asia’s economic miracle.
And it is important to emphasise that the demographic dividend is a one-off. Either you collect it or you don’t. Once the baby boomers reach retirement age it’s too late, because the boomers become a drain on resources and the population structure becomes more even and stable after that.
Demographic disaster
The reverse of this demographic dividend is demographic disaster. If the swollen cohort of young people is not well educated, and if there are then no jobs for them as they move into the workplace, countries will find themselves with huge numbers of frustrated, unemployed young people, which can result in serious unrest, possibly with consequences for developed countries, which I will go into in more detail later.
So with the dividend you get jobs and economic growth, and with the disaster you get poverty, unemployment, social unrest and maybe worse.
Many people are rightly worried about this demographic disaster in the Arab world, which has lots of young people but few jobs and has already seen many of those young people turning to terrorism or going off to fight in Afghanistan, Iraq, Chechnya and even New York.
But the Arab world generally has quite strong governments and institutions such as police forces, courts and intelligence networks that can snuff out much of the unrest. Many Arab countries are also relatively wealthy, so they can provide safety nets to the unemployed, such as unemployment benefit or subsidised housing.
A tour of West Africa
West Africa’s governments by comparison are both incredibly weak and incredibly poor. If we look at this map of the region’s 16 countries I’ll take you on a tour of them to show how unstable they are. 

 
Starting in the east of the region, with Nigeria, by far its most populous country. Nigeria suffers from periodic spasms of inter-ethnic or religious violence. The country has 250 ethnic groups, 50% of its people are Muslim (Sharia law is practised in some northern states) and 40% Christian.
Between 1999 and 2003, 800,000 Nigerians were internally displaced because of localised conflicts, and 10,000 died. 350 people died in riots in Jos last November, which is a city on the border between the predominantly Christian and predominantly Muslim parts of Nigeria.
To the north, Niger and Mali have experienced an ongoing Tuareg rebellion since the 1990s. The US has been training the Nigerien and Malian armies in counter-terrorism operations.
Moving back down south, Burkina Faso has been relatively peaceful, partly because it is ruled by a ruthless and powerful dictator who himself came to power in a bloody coup, but the country was rocked by serious riots last year as the price of food rocketed. Benin is peaceful, Ghana’s doing fine too, although it remains to be seen if the recent discovery of offshore oil proves a blessing or a curse. Togo suffered a military coup in 2005.
Further west is where the real trouble is. Cote D’Ivoire, which many had seen as an African success story, had a vicious civil war between 2002 and 2004. Liberia had two civil wars between 1989 and 2003, with over 250,000 deaths out of a population of about 3 million. Sierra Leone was at war between 1991 and 2002, with 75,000 deaths and many more serious maimings – the war was finally ended by a British military intervention. All three countries currently host UN Peace missions.
Moving further west, Guinea hasn’t had any civil wars lately but a military coup two months ago has left many observers extremely worried that one will break out. Guinea-Bissau’s civil war in 1997 and 1998 resulted in 25,000 deaths and over 350,000 being displaced – there is a UN peace mission there too.
The Gambia is at peace, partly because like Burkina Faso it has a strong dictator in charge, Senegal has endured an ongoing rebellion in its southern Casamance region since 1982, with up to 100,000 displaced. Cape Verde is at peace. And finally Mauritania saw a military coup last August, which overthrew the democratically elected president. Overall, West Africa accounts for over 70% of Africa’s coups.
So the governments of the region are pretty weak, with a few exceptions, but without exception they are poor, and therefore unable to educate or provide jobs or safety nets to their young people. Just to take one example, Guinea-Bissau’s police force has no handcuffs, its air force no working aircraft, its navy no ships, and there are no prisons in the whole country.
The government is so poor, in fact, that the Justice Minister has to go to an internet café to recharge her mobile phone as there’s no electricity in the ministry. The internet cafes have generators, of course.
Their countries are desperately poor too. Most of the wars and coups were driven in large part by poverty and the competition for resources. Of the 21 least developed countries in the world, according to the United Nations Human Development Index, 11 are in West Africa. 55% of the population lives on less than $1 a day. The region’s even poor by African standards – the average annual income is $309, compared to the Sub-Saharan average of $470. Ireland, which has a population of 4 million, produced more in 2000 than the whole of West Africa – whose population at that time was 200 million.
The region suffers from a serious dearth of jobs. Unemployment rates range from around 11% in Ghana to over 70% in Guinea-Bissau and Burkina Faso. Quite big countries like Senegal and Cote d’Ivoire have over 40% unemployment.
West African demography
So you have weak and unstable governments, widespread poverty and high unemployment rates.
And then into this already precarious situation you have a massive influx of young people. The overall population size has stands at around 245 million. Nigeria, which accounts for three-fifths of those people, has seen a five-fold rise in its population since 1950. Population growth is now slowing, as fertility has fallen, but the working-age population is beginning to explode as the baby boomers enter their late teens.
At the moment, 60% of the region’s people are below the age of 20, but taking the example of Nigeria again, which is by far the region’s biggest economy and its most important country in terms of its potential global impacts, the UN has forecast that the number of working-age people (that is aged 15-64) will rise from 75 million in 2005 to 125 million in 2025 and almost 200 million by 2050.
And Nigeria already has an unemployment rate of 41% today. So if the job situation doesn’t improve, more people moving into the labour force will mean many more unemployed and poor young adults, and the potential for serious unrest. If it does improve, on the other hand, the boomers could provide the spur needed to raise the region out of poverty, as they did in East Asia.
Unfortunately, a number of other key drivers of change make the former prospect more likely than the latter.
Drivers of change/instability
I’m going to focus on three of these drivers in particular. All of them contribute to the resource scarcity that is colliding with and being made more acute by the growth in Africa’s population.
The global economy
The first is the current global economic situation.
In the short-term, the current crisis is likely to have devastating effects on West Africa. For Nigeria, 90% of whose exports come from oil, the fall in the oil price will provide a severe economic shock. Other countries with fewer natural resources will also suffer from reduced exports, declining foreign investment, a slump in remittances from those living in wealthier countries that have now become impoverished, and a potential decrease in aid as Western countries turn in on themselves.
If recession leads to protectionism and wealthier countries raise tariffs on imports and give employment preference to their own people, all these effects will be exacerbated.
In the medium and long-term, the impact of global economic conditions on West Africa is less certain. If the long-term rise in oil prices resumes, as oil becomes scarcer and newly wealthy countries like India and China want more of it, countries like Nigeria will benefit, if they can at last use oil revenues to reduce poverty and create jobs, which they have failed to do so far.
If the increase in food prices resumes in the medium-term, driven again by the rise of China and India and increased scarcity because of climate change and population growth, West Africa’s farmers could benefit if they can become more productive and if tariffs don’t hinder their exports.
However, huge numbers of West Africans have left the land in recent decades and migrated from rural to urban areas. In Africa as a whole, 45% of the population will be living in urban areas by 2015. In 1950 it was just 15%.
These urban dwellers will suffer rather than benefit from rising food and oil prices. In 2008, the World Bank estimated that higher food prices pushed an additional 130-155 million people into poverty. Food riots broke out across Africa and Asia, including in Senegal, Guinea and Burkina Faso in West Africa. Hundreds died in the riots in Guinea.
Climate change
The second key driver of instability is climate change. West Africa already has a harsh climate, with frequent droughts and floods and unpredictable rainfall, and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has forecast that the Sahel region of Africa will be among the worst hit by climate change. This includes Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, northern Nigeria and Senegal.
These areas are already troubled because of the competition for the scarce resources of land and water, particularly between nomadic herdsmen like the Tuareg and settled arable farmers. This competition regularly breaks out into violence. In a World Bank survey of 400 households in Guinea-Bissau, land and water were identified as the key sources of conflict, along with livestock and family problems.
As the world warms up, the Sahara expands and floods and drought become more frequent – and as the population continues to grow – those precious resources will become scarcer still.
Global crime
The third driver of change is the globalisation of crime. Terrorism, as you know much better than I do, has gone global, and the US is worried enough about its impact in West Africa to set up the Trans-Saharan Counter-Terrorism Partnership, which aims to stop extremists gaining a foothold in the mainly Muslim countries of the region.
There’s some evidence that Islamic terrorism has already made inroads. Charles Taylor, the former Liberian leader, is thought to have had strong contacts with Al Qaeda, including harbouring terrorists, and Al Qaeda was also implicated in the smuggling of blood diamonds in the Liberian and Sierra Leonean civil wars. 
 
Here’s a quick overview of the proportion of Muslims in each country:
Mauritania, Mali, Senegal, Gambia
90%+
Guinea, Niger
80%+
Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Guinea-Bissau
50-60%
Cote d’Ivoire
40%
Benin, Togo, Ghana, Liberia
15-25%
Cape Verde
0%
 
So you have some countries where almost everyone is Muslim and others where Muslims are a small minority. And in the middle you have some quite troubled countries where around half the population is Muslim, although it must be said that religion hasn’t played a major role in most of their conflicts.
West Africans are also increasingly involved in drug smuggling. The UN Office on Drugs and Crime has predicted that Guinea-Bissau will become the world’s first “narco-state,” as Colombian and Venezuelan drug traffickers have begun to use the country as a transit point on the cocaine route to Europe.
Taking advantage of the region’s weak, impoverished and corrupt governments and its huge supply of unemployed young people, the South Americans have appeared in Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Mali, Nigeria, and Ghana.
They land consignments of cocaine in the jungle or sometimes even in major airports – the chief of Sierra Leone’s airport police was arrested last year while allegedly assisting in the delivery of 600 kilos of cocaine to Freetown’s main airport. They then break up the drugs into smaller packages and use mules to ship them north to Europe.
Over 46 tons of cocaine have been seized en route to Europe from West Africa since 2005. The UNODC estimates that 27% of the cocaine consumed each year in Europe transits West Africa. Spain and Britain are the main destinations – half of the cocaine seized on commercial air flights was on its way to those two countries.
Once the cocaine reaches Britain it is usually distributed by members of the West African diaspora here. Nigerians and other West Africans are among the most frequently arrested foreign nationals involved in cocaine trafficking in Europe.
The South Americans and their West African partners are what the military futurist John Robb calls global guerrillas. I spoke to him last month and he told me that Nigerians are also involved in drug trafficking in South America. He made the observation that,
We have a global market system that is subverting the nation state, so gaps where local control is lost are going to spring up all over the place. There will be lapses where non-state groups like global guerrillas take control.
West Africa, as we have seen, is riddled with such gaps.
Robb noted that most of these groups don’t just deal in one commodity. They might start with drugs but also trade in arms, people and get involved in things like money laundering. The UNODC has already noted a massive increase in foreign investment and remittances to West Africa. Even countries with very little to offer like Guinea-Bissau have seen huge rises in remittances and foreign exchange reserves.
The UN thinks a lot of the foreign investment is money laundering. I interviewed Antonio Mazzitelli recently for an article I was writing on the cocaine problem. He’s the UNODC’s representative for West Africa, and he said that the money is coming in and being invested in tourism, property, hotels and the like in order to clean it.
Banks in the region are booming, with Gambia emerging as a financial hub and banks opening up even in dirt-poor Guinea-Bissau. Mazzitelli said that once financial institutions are corrupted by drug money, they can be used for concealing all sorts of criminal proceeds, possibly including terrorist financing.
The UN has warned that West Africa, which is on Europe’s doorstep, might end up like Mexico. It’s worth quoting their warning in full, as it shows how the trade is linked to some of the other key drivers of change such as demographic pressures:
The situation in West Africa could come to resemble that confronting Mexico today, in which some local police forces have been co-opted by trafficking groups, which engage in open warfare with both the state and one another. Except West Africa, as a whole, is both poorer and less stable than Mexico, and so more likely to be subsumed in the conflict. Large numbers of former child soldiers and other brutalised young men have few rival sources of income or alternative plans for their future.
And indeed, there is already violent rivalry between police and army factions over access to the trade. A feud between two police groups in Bissau last year left two counternarcotics officers dead, the body of one of them dumped in the street outside his group’s headquarters, in revenge for his shooting of a rival. And the coup in Guinea and an attempted coup in Guinea-Bissau in November last year may also have been linked to the battle for drug profits.
So you have in West Africa an extremely poor region, where there are already insufficient jobs. And within a very few years the number of young people looking for these jobs will shoot up.
And there are these three great forces – the changing global economy, climate change and international crime – that make it quite unlikely that the region will be able to create more jobs to keep these young people happy, and making it highly likely instead that the competition for scarce resources will become increasingly fierce.
The security risks
So given this bleak outlook, what are the options for West Africa’s burgeoning hordes of young people?
There are several ways they can improve their chances of accessing scarce resources.
One is moving to cities. Lagos, the biggest city in West Africa, already has over 10 million residents and is expected to have over 17 million by 2015.
70 per cent of those living in the city work in the informal sector, and it is already one of the crime capitals of the world even without yet having to deal with the unemployed baby boomers. And these people aren’t governed. They live in shanty towns, they work in the informal sector, they build their own houses.
The government isn’t even there, let alone in control. It doesn’t provide people with jobs, it doesn’t provide housing, it doesn’t provide services – fewer than five per cent of Lagos households have piped water. People are governing themselves.
Accommodating this increase in young adults without serious unrest is going to be a huge challenge for a government like Nigeria’s that has done a poor job of keeping violence down so far.
A second option for the young boomers is emigration. Most migration is within West Africa, but the number of West Africans in Europe has increased in recent years as the wealth gap between the two regions has grown. According to the International Organisation for Migration, there are 800,000 registered West Africans living in Europe. 25-35,000 enter Europe illegally every year. Emigration will become more tempting if demographic disaster unravels.
Britain is among the most popular destinations for West African migrants. In 2001 there were 176,000 West Africans living in the UK, mostly from the former British colonies of Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone and Gambia. The number of annual migrants from the region to the UK tripled between 1991 and 2003.
No doubt most migrants will earn an honest living, but the example of the cocaine trade shows that some are willing to build crime links between West Africa and Europe. These crime links also encompass people trafficking – women from Ghana, Nigeria, Mali and Sierra Leone in particular have begun to be trafficked to Europe as sex slaves. And people from China and South Asia have begun to use West Africa as a transit point on their own illegal route to Europe.
A third option is crime, as the cocaine trade example shows. There have also been reports of heroin transiting the region on its way from Afghanistan to the US. Piracy, money-laundering, smuggling of arms and diamonds are other alternatives, and the Sierra Leone and Liberia civil wars saw huge amounts of diamond and timber smuggling to Europe. As more young people reach working-age, the number of available potential criminals will sharply increase.
If none of these options works, social breakdown is likely, and Burkina Faso and Guinea’s food riots were early skirmishes in what might prove to be much more serious confrontations as the pressure on resources ratchets up. Ongoing strife in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria is a further example of long-term social unrest, which has had very damaging consequences for Nigeria’s economy as well as the European oil companies that invest in the country.
Finally, the last resort is likely to be war. In 2003 65% of West Africans lived in countries the World Bank described as “severely affected by conflict.” Things are a bit quieter this year but few would bet on the peace lasting very long.
War will result in more internal and international migration – Guinea, which has a population of 8 million, has hosted a million refugees in the last decade – a further destabilising influence on a country that has enough to cope with already. Migration to Europe may also increase in the event of war.
Unemployed former child soldiers, meanwhile, may be easy recruitment targets for international criminal gangs or terrorists.
So to summarise, West Africa is about to see a boom in its working age population, but if things don’t change quickly those boomers are going to have no jobs to go to. Some of them, naturally, will turn to illicit activity of some sort, and the effects of this could spill over West Africa’s borders into Europe.
Issues for consideration
So just to conclude with a few questions to consider in the discussion:
-          Firstly, how much should the UK be worried about West Africa?
-          Second, how do we help build institutions in these countries that can govern them effectively and keep a lid on illicit activities?
-          Third, how can we work with governments, civil society and international agencies to reduce the incentives for illicit activity, given that the aid we’ve given to promote development hasn’t really worked so far?
-          Fourth, how can we get development agencies, foreign policy-makers and military agencies to work together effectively in the region, especially given we don’t have any representation in quite a number of West African countries at the moment?
-          And finally, what are we going to do about all these burgeoning cities that are likely to be basically ungoverned?
Thank you. 

 
I share with you a letter emailed to our President + Legislators..
 
      Hello folks,

Barack is our president, whether completely right or not. this dysfuntional
entity can be restored if the respect for positions get regained. + in
order for yours to be also respected, we need to see you working together
with the president + the local community now.

we need to support his bill to bring folks together to better define how to
make it work.

it should not of even had to be put into a Bill, it should of been common
sense from everybody working together.

i don't like the ideals of having to be the best, nor the waste of
transporting local goods afar. unless locals share what works + then locals
around the world become self-reliant. now human family qualities are being
exchanged. to share this planet together.

ending the war mode economy as well living off of others misuse to keep
them in a sheep mode. rather gain by part time supporting self-developement
for all locals to build their community that becomes a local, global +
beyond participant.

with all that legislators do, + believe me they do a lot in the wrong place
at the wrong time. this is not good to not support our human family to try
+ correct this.

sadly it doesn`t reach us, why?
because none of us should allow another to ride on our wave. meaning if any
of these legislators, + i`ve been told many of them since they came into
office have made a lot of money from the government contracts/connections,
etc. so if this is true ask them?

ask them why should you have to tell them what to do if they are truely
doing the job of their position. i do believe the constitution was created
to co_evolve in real times. folks that created this volunteered + where
never paid what folks today are. i believe this is wrong. a legislator
should be a chosen spokesperson in an interchangeable role. this way they
can also be a human local participant co_evolving themself.

the energy that this dysfunctional government has created is beyond human
neural processing for a healthy individual.

more important it is wrong for any of us to go out of our way to tell them
what is needed, or they think they do for us able beings. only unable +
even then if done wrong 1 interferes in their ability to self-develop with
correct tools in place, such as students interchangeable role so they then
experience reality as they choose themself + their studies to be balanced
human beings. or help produces dysfunction when done wrong, etc.

their position as a human being, number 1, is to be a responsable local
community participant. we all know that we do not do any of this alone. yet
when we come together + work so all can be a local, global + beyond
participant, then we find a way that works. with a lot of fine tuning +
sensitivity as we follow thru, complete + go on to next task at hand. other
wise it is simply fragmented + short sighted.

these legislators should be our local community participants. they should
know already as a chosen spokesperson what is going on. did you choose them
or is delusional disassociated energy keeping them in a responcible
position? along with being payed a large fee.

this is what we must view. for i see Barack not responding to my ideals as
i suggested, do you? as well the legislators.

with another election in the horizon we need to start looking local right
now at how our local communities needs are not being fulfilled. with no
creative restoration we are being drained from the process. no good. this
is of our incorrect use, this we can change.

we have a lot of work to do on our self to remain positive with supports in
place, when we fall off. + see reality so as to be self-reliant as we
continue our exploration. not misuse or abuse + leave footprints. but have
our own space to rid baggage, be clear in the now + plug in consciously to
what is real to us as well have that fuel us to rid our baggage of future +
rid the inefficent energy out their. pull it in + use it now to revamp +
restore, so you can see clear + have physical energy also as you gain
understanding in good maintenance. not to mention jazzed by exploring
continually.

we have a lot of work to join in as a local. to reverse the ecological
whoring effect, our wild is interfered in by our communities the way they
where constructed/used + abused. our beings are unable to concentrate +
follow thru. with many chemically altered from misuse from self + medical
irresponsible people that have over medicated + under managed, leaving 1 to
misuse. leaving folks in ill state with unbalanced organs now contributing
to negative thinking. no energy to go figure.

invite folks into a `tapering transition, so as together locally folks can
gather + share true input:
i can do this, i`m ticked off at this,  but i have an answer + exchanges
appear, this needs to be done here, we need to define what is being
uncovered, what capacity was abused, what can be supported by whom until
the 1 that whored defines to make it better or shift gears.
come aboard to recreate a lost thought that went wrong, or realize that
person unable. what ever the reason. change your zoning.

         don't allow it but
still give support in their new direction as long as it fits into the
natural guidelines so as not to destroy what fuels life, etc.
yes reverse this negativity by not just awaiting anothers act responsibly,
rather create your own. into what can fuel you + your neighbors now to act
together to resolve, giving each self-satisfaction fueled by positive
assertion. a movement that builds vs. staying anxious from unknowing, etc.

as well it is easy to loose ourself + become distracted as we our self now
jump on the wave to try to get ahead + not realize the whoring carried
forward. things get cheaper to pull more folks in as we become codependent
or set up payment plans. stop folks + ask questions of the soundness of
fair trade. want to know where + who + don`t support the waste of resources
in packaging when you can simply pool quality + bulk + make it cheaper when
gotten right from local sources. make ways that work local.

                                     build that community tool shed.

let nature be your guide + if not lucky to have wildness around you such as
the beautiful foraging spots of fish + perrenials, etc. then make it. go
take a look at the locations that have it + see how you can recreate what
would work for your local community. i don't mean make a fish farm, i mean
get to root of what happened + reverse it.

                                          take it back into your hands
when as ex; being part of local nursery management worked before F+W took
control. work with them + show them what worked as new ideals merge to
resolve. these folks are unaware of the interpersonal negativity many have
experienced in result of them. talk to them , tell them your feelings +
listen to their side. i think you will find each side pulled apart in own
direction. look at the jobs that present themself + choose selectively as
each in community fulfill themselves, maybe not long term but it can be
worked into.

believe me if you stay real with your self, stop dish-ragging out you will
find a way to interpersonally join in with others do_in the same for
communal self-reliance. sharing sensitivity caring for each other as each
work on self.. as well share your thoughts + believe me work is abundant
when we care about local infrastructure that ecologically has been ruined
due to anothers mishap or financial gain chasing.

especially when now others do_in have triggere thought to now rethink what
we can do now together.

care about maintaining your own stress limits + don't allow deviation to
throw you in the wrong direction. take a stance + make space for you to
regroup your energies. take a look at how pissed you got or lack of calm
for how long + don't allow it. if not calm no clarity comes, just end up
staying confused + anxious, etc.

now all of a sudden with like thought creative energy comes aboard + fuels.
as folks now become aware of energy needs vs. thinking they need quick
cash. + in an exchange tools that are valuable within our self surface. as
we shift ridding our baggage of misuse.

i personally have an ideal for the ecosystem of choice to work toward. in
that our participating in local fresh clean water, fresh natural food grown
with grandmas seeds, not to mention hers, are a true fueling factor for
many.

now get some food in your belly that is whole + woolah we start thinking
over view as in go to the plan subcatagorie. no longer are we detoured with
our own preocccupation of being stuck looking for another to give work.

i stated  the gest of this comment recently in email to Barack Obama +
World Bank.

we don't just want roads rebuilt to go in circles, we want common sense to
be real so now our local life gives us opportunity to interpersonally
develop + explore. not just enslave ourself with a job because we carry
baggage + can`t see beyond it or get out of our own way.

folks, take a breath of fresh air + with the upcoming election, lets take a
look at our self, our needs + our neighbors + how we can not commit long
term, but be real with what we can do, + do it now. those of us seeking to
relocate or in transit, still live as a local + ground. this helps us fuel
our travels.

clarity is very valuble in each of us, so if we all work to keep wild wild,
it always gives us a space to rejuvenate + rethink.

                        i don`t know about you, but i tried to give to legislators + they don`t
have the medium of exchange, they just have added layers that i refuse to
be part of. ex; a town meeting where a few minutes of some peoples
discussion is not what i call communicating. or a web page forum where your
not answered directly about subject at hand + or by the time you are,
another is more important, this is inefficient.

i personally have spent months back + forth to work out issues with folks
local + afar.

we each have a choice to become efficient with our own energy. it pays off
to self-reflect so as not to take it out on another, but truely make time
for self to make these changes. when it is real to you, don't just start +
then drop it because something else came along. this will dish-rag your
whole being. make time to edit yourself + truely know why you are changing
direction + make corrections needed..

take a look at some of the local spots where folks play music while they
build community. eat live local grown natural food that has no toxic
growing aids. see the old ways still being lived along with space for
sensitivity for new. as old ways that don't work are being tapered into
transition with new thought, new policy, new zoning that can't be
manipulated by unethical ecological whoring.

this alone puts many jobs on the table.

not to mention how if, as i proposed if you support school boards to
support students now. to come out of classroom + join in as they
individualize their growth with like, + then be made to be with unlike for
diversity to self-reflect with + the community members, now are like
private tutors both ways. students in all undeveloped are self-educating
with community student support.. giving them the opportunity to fill in
their fine detail to become clear, vice versa.

i can't tell you the wasted energy + community funds from ill folks unable
to get beyound their own misuse. as they suffer, + i have seen many die
alone, lying dead before another found them, + prior they struggled for
quite some time due to medical status incorrectly monitored, no student
community support, under budget where they even ate catfood, etc.

this is not what should be happening to seniors nor diasabled + it is. look
around you + see what you can do. it is dam hard to break this cycle when
they are codependent on a dysfunctional medical system as well government.
giving them just enough to string them along as they continue unable to get
out of their own way.

wow! look at all our energy laying dormant, the good minds of young + old
working together to over ride the old ways that got us where we are. the
many good folks ill or misusing - once gain some community support, can be
supported + now they are interacting some very helpful ways. in patches +
pockets on this planet their is true greatness as well as the pitz. so this
alone can keep us all busy whether we live local long term or whether we
enjoy traveling, exploring, exchanging. while part time the community
effort aids this process of folks in interchangeable roles by students as
they self- develop.

this is filling in the missing links + stopping the abuse that
irresponsibly allowed it.
we all should have the right to live as a simple local with same universal
1 science that allows us to co_evolve with nature. updating all
constitutions so as to respect all those before us do_in the same
goodness for our human potential to continue to unfold.

religion, as any subject. is available to all who want, for their own
personal choice, but should not be made manditory to get in the way of
self-responsibility. folks have you not seen enough of the war economys
built because of 1 wanting to control a story, etc.

i`m a free thinker + i don`t speak a religous verbage, so please folks if
want to talk that way don`t waste your time answering me, when their are
many good folks you can share same talk with.

if we each put nature`s ways as a guide we will not leave a footprint on
any life. + for the environmentalists that have a hard time supporting all
life to live, get a reality check for each local community. i did not
create this world + nor do i truely understand it`s origin, but all you
meat eaters out their can conserve a bit in over consuming. but at the same
time i believe all could resolve by defining root of issue. whether
relocate, stop the irresponsible act or open hunt in a natural way. to
restore a good local environmental science. so those species out of balance
can once again regain with your local help.

as much as i don`t know history, i`ve gained respect observing many old
folks that live it continually. as they don`t interfere yet they
experienced a balance in their life time + know it can work + still live
it. they find a way to be sensitive to show those that think all species
should be protected. this is not reality. for many harm people to do their
job to feed us, good example the sea lions boarding commercial fish boats,
catching their lines, etc. their are ways to go beyond hunt as well in each
location, it is best to define. for it comes back to irresponsible people
feeding them while others are shooting pellets for them to go back into
wild. this can be monitored to resolve.

folks, rethink for a lively local community that you live in or can live in
as you develop. this prioritizing of function, energy efficiently, added
with creative expression offers much growth for all. intellectually as well
naturally fueling non interference. so natural systems with our aid are
restored to better then ever..
with an abundance of life. which all being a living organism, truely are
dependent on.

it is within our control. especially if we share what works or bring in the
many good folks building permacultured communites. or agro-ecology as with
Miguel Altieri.

i don`t think `good money` is the only way of investing, but it is a way
that can work for some. i think natural living is real when we don`t have
to have so many layers of negotiating. this drains good human energy. even
these folks should work to regain simple soundness for all community to go
direct without these financial layers. actual more folks putting hands in
dirt or being part of rezoning land to provide food locally at a rate all
can afford.

folks get together locally + start with a`way + gather some thought as you
do an over view of your natural ecology. see the potential + what can work
where.

believe me their will be so many jobs jumping + grab on to what makes sense
only for short term as a whole community + seriously make space to
interpersonally co_evolve. so as not to commit long term + then in your
growth have to back track, stay open, don`t commit accept to you. become
whole + in control of you. so now you are working into your plan of your
career. your studies, whether volunteer or not. your paid commitments will
then happen as all participate in this live support to build your community
that goes beyond just having good roads. now it has a healthy
infrastructure for life + wild remains wild to fuel us.

thank you for what you can do now.

we will be publishing soon.

--
patches pockets talk when we all do a walkabout...

thanks for the support!

 






 

        a book to give you some nice connections to fill in some missing links by Chris Crowley and Dr. Harry Lodge that focuses on living an active senior lifestyle.

now interact + add simple local living how tos from permaculture, agro-ecology + perennial food forests + look out folks, for life is now, no longer an illusion of struggling on earth + peace coming in next life.

           no we can't accept that when we take responsibility for our own misuse. do a walkabout with

                                            i come to talk story's forum on Nabble

+ get to know yourself + your local community + take part in exchange making it a nice virtual tool for all local communities to become local, global + beyond participants.

                                           have a bi-joy experience reflecting with many good folks we are fortunate to share this earth + beyond with + co_evolve.

these folks work with Dr. Leon Hammer + offer interesting courses as well blog.

            check them out + gain some insight.
 so when you feel out of sorts or before you think you need a doctor, ask yourself how you can better be part of your own healing + simple maintenance for good health.

          permaculture, agro-ecology + perennial natural food forrests..

  are ethical design system's for creating human environments that are ecologically sound & economically viable. It integrates innovative science into the conscious development of cultivated ecosystems that have the diversity, stability, & resilience of natural ecosystems.

we have a broad perspective to relfect with. but never forget to go local
within yourself + your own feelings, edit out the baggage + allow the root of earth's energy to come thru + fuel you to connect with all those sensitive do_in. as with the locals close that simply continue to build on ways that work.

we shouldn't have to collaborate such extensive mechanisms. rather simple folks should have opportunity to take part in growing along with those that have the land. the community should simply rezone land so it has no fee, rather it is food for the community that all can work as plots of land are established according to what land speaks for it's potential. small pieces planted + foraged. as all land contributes.

   the secret is to gather those sensitive to decipher what to do where + build biodiversity.

as much as i respect all that i support, never should so much technicalities have to be put into thought:
             policy, paper work + legistics, layers, etc.. all this good energy each of these folks have can be better directed to help folks understand how to feed ourselves + live local.

join together with your local space + merge the life to define how best to
sustain a balanced harmony that all can obtain.

                      reflect with folks + bring home what is simple common sense.


Permaculture Now!
To learn about the Permaculture Farm Incubator Project outside Portland, Oregon please visit Community By Design's new website: www.communitybydesignllc.org
Next Generation Permaculture
Welcome, and thank you for visiting the Permaculture Now! website.

We hope you enjoy learning about our programs, projects and practices for building thriving and abundant communities. Our team works mostly in the Pacific Northwest, Central America, and Hawai'i, and we collaborate extensively with a dynamic network of permaculturalists throughout the world.

Our mission is to:

•Teach and practice sustainable design
•Promote intergenerational skill-sharing
•Develop and showcase appropriate technologies
•Support local economies and self-sufficiency initiatives
•Create a network of permaculture plant nurseries
•Eat delicious locally grown food with friends and neighbors
•Consume less, share more, and have fun!
Here you'll find information about our design courses, workshops, ongoing design projects, plant nurseries, and more!

"Conscious permaculture design reweaves the web of fertile and sophisticated landscapes where humans, plants, animals, and our collective spirits belong and are welcome."  
Jenny Pell
Former tree planter, helicopter pilot, carpenter, and yurt builder, Jenny manages many of the Permaculture Now! projects. Based out of Seattle, WA Jenny works in Washington State, Central America, Hawaii, and Europe organizing design courses, recruiting students, managing business details, and fundraising for scholarships, curriculum development, and our nursery projects. Her slideshows and presentations inform, inspire, and motivate people to make changes that help move us towards a sustainable future.

Email: jennypell@gmail.com
Web: www.permaculturenow.com
Phone: (206) 949-0496 (USA)
end Jenny.
       
Miguel Altieri
Professor
Ph.D.  Entomology    University of Florida
 

215 Mulford Hall
Berkeley, California 94720
agroeco3@berkeley.edu
office: 510-642-9802   lab: 510-642-9802   fax:  510-643-5438

Web site         Recent publications      People    
 
Biological control agro-ecology
Research Interests
Our research group uses the concepts of agroecology to obtain a deep understanding of the nature of agroecosystems and the principles by which they function. Throughout our research and writings we have aided in the emergence of agroecology as the discipline that provides the basic ecological principles for how to study, design, and manage sustainable agroecosystems that are both productive and natural resource conserving, and that are also culturally-sensitive, socially-just and economically viable. In particular, our research has focused on the ways in which biodiversity can contribute to the design of pest-stable agroecosystems. Several of our studies concentrate on elucidating the effects of intercropping, covercropping, weed management, and crop-field border vegetation manipulation on pest population density and damage and on the mechanisms enhancing biological control in diversified systems.

Our research has also extended into Latin America where the enhancement of biodiversity in agriculture can help the great mass of resource-poor farmers to achieve year-round food self-sufficiency, reduce their reliance on chemical inputs and develop agroecosystems that rebuild the production capacities of their small land holdings. Our approach has consisted of devising integrated farming systems emphasizing soil and water conservation, natural crop protection, and achievement of soil fertility and stable yields through integration of trees, animals, and crops. Much of this work is conducted through inter-institutional partnerships with NGOs, International Research Centers and Universities including networks such as SANE, ANGOC and CLADES, as well as international organizations such as UNDP and the CGIAR.
   
  Understanding the ecological mechanisms underlying the sustainability of traditional vineyards intercropped with olives in Tuscany, Italy
 
The Altieri Lab at UC Berkeley
Advances in Vineyard Agroecology: http://agroecology.berkeley.edu/
     
Current Projects
Our laboratory is involved in several field projects in California where we are testing ideas of landscape ecology applied to agriculture such as the use of biological corridors in pest management. The idea is to explore whether corridors can break the nature of monocultures by serving as a conduit for the dispersion of natural enemies within the field thus enhancing their impact on pest populations. The effects of summer cover crops on insect pest populations (grape leafhoppers, thrips and sharpshooters) and associated natural enemies is also being examined in vineyards. Of special interest is to determine whether timing mowing of   cover crops in alternate rows can force movement of beneficials to adjacent vines to exert greater pest suppression.

Our group is also engaged in collaborative work with a number of Universities, NGOs and research centers in Africa, Asia and Latin America promoting research, training and capacity building in agroecology and sustainable agriculture.
end Miguel.

                      Perennial food forests is what people should be planting along with Jenny + Miguel's insight or one similar for local biome, to lay out the land + listen to what it speaks for it's potential, etc.
             for enough foraging for ecosystem to sustain, people + wildlife. to choose variety + what you like. vs. foraging only what folks used to. plus keeps coming vs. planting new each year.  

This starts with a`way folks coming together, do overview of shared resources to then add what is zoned (meaning good folks locally get together to make a guideline that works)to change, etc. + or clean up with others wasteful inefficiencies, in a `tapering transition.. to truly plug into building ecosystems to support biome, etc. + even if non local, passing by, good to add hands on part time + exchange, then to take with you ideals to fine tune with the next ecosystem.

                    This way we gain local knowledge, ex;
                           urban + residential soils have higher lead in 1 to 2 inches then native soils. unless landscaped or excavated for building. from 1910 to 1950 they sprayed lead-arsenate in fruit + nut orchards. so these sites elevated. or from lead in gasoline or paints.  it can stick to skin + clothing, also in airborne soil dust.

                                      Or when one puts soup on oil + it disappears in seawater, making you believe it is all gone. WRONG! did ya know when we use soap to disburse fuel on sea water, it breaks into tiny balls that go down + pollute marine life, then it ends up back up. so no soap is to be used in sea water here.

                    Make happy play somewhere in the dirt + water for all the little ones, a child gains most by this at a young age??
                          bare soil areas carry highest risk of lead exposure. so no good near roads or even to plant adjacent to house, shed or structure. you can collect soil for lead content, fee? especially houses built before 1960. painted a lot. or when animals dig can bring soil/contaminated dust on them + transfer to those that pet them.
                                    vegs don't absorb but get dust on them so wash in water with vinegar 1 percent or roots if lead in soil. they say take off outer leaf + peel roots if think lead. cover bare ground helps, another reason for ER triaging the environment + quickly add perennials, those that don't require frequent tilling. or in garden - plant transplants then mulch right away. you can manage by testing + add supplements to soil. but if contaminated cannot change - must remove soil, say some. Others have had luck as in after Katrina hurricane in New Orleans,  + New York, US, using mycelium/mushroom tea. can make lead free tested for suitable use.

                    this changed my ideal of planting food in city vacant lots, had to  rethink with locals with sensitivity + how tos..

        this makes sprouting at home all the more fun to appreciate these         nice seeds that where nurtured for sprouting, from good natural small farms. Or until small plots reborn.
                          t`s nice to sprout mung 1 day later then others if mix with variety or separately, unless you know secret to make them big. i`ve tried different ways with no luck getting them big. the small fresh early is very good. the minute they get bigger the root end is tiny + rots.  the other sprouting seeds that germinate late, i put in dirt + they come out really tasty. nice + green, then i rinse off dirt + eat. very healthy plants. may like this better then rinsing + eating earlier, experiment. new mung shoots a few days + soaked sunflower with lime/lemon ASAP are a true treat with the greens grown in dirt.

Fun learning together!
end our combined' effect..


http://www.perennialharvest.org/uploads/3/5/7/2/3572553/usefulplantsforthepacificnorthwest_trifold.pdf.

              Did you know that you can have fresh salad year-round, delicious fruit that is in season through the winter, and popular beverages such as green tea all from your own backyard?
                   There are thousands of plants that are suited to grow in sustainable edible forest gardens in the Pacific Northwest. Increased agro-biodiversity and sustainable cultivation practices can lead to improved human health and security.
                      By increasing food production where you live, especially in the form of an edible forest garden, you can shift your ecological impact from negative towards positive. Forest gardens provide food for people and wildlife. Even the smallest garden can provide surprising amounts of food in addition to the beauty and enjoyment they offer.
                   The following list is a sampling of some of the plants available for Pacific Northwest gardeners. A list of resources is included to encourage further investigation. Do not consume plants until you know which part to eat and how to prepare them. Even common plants such as rhubarb and potatoes have poisonous leaves.

Key:
P=perennial, SSA=self-seeding annual, B=biennial, F=fruit, S=seed, N=nut, NF=nitrogen fixer, Z=hardiness zone
                      *should be steamed, **should be cooked
                      #=needs special conditions
                    Your assistance can help Perennial Harvest reach our goals. For those with more           money than time, donations are essential in making our projects a success. For those with more time than money, volunteers are needed to develop a website, secure grants, raise funds, and help with outreach.

For more information, contact:
Perennial Harvest
      P.O. Box 172
Marblemount, WA 98267
                           360-333-5051
                      www.perennialharvest.org
                       perennialharvest@gmail.com

                  UUsseeffuull PPllaannttss ffoorr
                 PPaacciiffiicc NNoorrtthhwweesstt EEddiibbllee FFoorreesstt GGaarrddeennss
                        Provided by:
                    PPeerreennnniiaall HHaarrvveesstt
.
                Perennial Harvest is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to   researching, developing, and advocating sustainable cultivation systems suited to Western Wa

Salad Greens
Musk Mallow—Malva moschata, (P,Z3)
High Mallow—Malva sylvestris (P,Z5)
Perennial Arugula—Diplotaxis erucoides (P)
Good King Henry*—Chenopodium bonus-henricus (P,Z5)
Kale—Brassica oleracea (B)
Salad Burnett—Sanguisorba minor (P,Z5)
Chicory—Cichorium intybus (B,3)
Earth Chestnut—Bunium bulbocastanum (P,Z5)
Miner’s Lettuce—Claytonia perfoliata (SSA)
Corn Salad—Valerianella locusta (SSA,Z5)
Welsh Onion—Allium fistulosum (P,Z6)
Parsley—Petroselinum crispum (B)
Bellflower—Campanula glomerata (P,Z2)
Fennel—Foeniculum vulgare (P,Z5)
Japanese Forest Parsley—Cryptotaenia japonica (P,Z5)
Dandelion—Taraxacum officinale (P,Z5)
Welsh Onion—Allium fistulosum (P,Z6)

Edible Flowers
Daylily—Hemerocallis fulva (P,Z4)
Dianthus spp.(P,Z4)
Balloon flower—Platycodon(P,Z4)

Edible shoots
Asparagus—Asparagus officinalis (P,Z4)
Aralia—Aralia spinosa* (P,Z5)
Aralia chinensis* (P)
Aralia elata* (P,Z4)
Udo—Aralia cordifolia* (P)

Roots and bulbs
Jerusalem Artichoke—Helianthus tuberosus (P,Z4)
Skirret—Sium Sisarum (P,Z6)
Parsnip--Pastinaca sativa (B,Z5)
Gobo—Arctium Lappa (B,Z3)
Garlic—Allium sativum (P,Z5)
Groundnut—Apios Americana (P,Z3)
Potato—Solanum tuberosum (P)
Ramps—Allium triccocum(P,Z6)

Shrubs
Blueberry—Vaccinium corymbosom (F,Z2)
Goumi—Elaegnus multiflora (F,NF,Z6)
Green tea--Camellia sinensis(P,Z8)
Raspberry—Rubus idaeus (F,Z3)
Siberian Pea Shrub—Caragana arborescens (S,NF,Z3)
Sea Buckthorn—Hippophae rhamnoides (F, NF, Z3)

Herbal Tea
Peppermint—Mentha piperita (P,Z3)
Anise Hyssop—Agastache foeniculum (P)
Korean Mint—Agastache rugosa (P)
Bee Balm—Monarda didyma (P,Z4)
Rose hips—Rosa rogusa (P,Z2)
Green tea—Camella sinensis (P, Z
Perennial Vines
Hardy Kiwi—Actinidia arguta (F,Z4)
Akebia—Akebia quinata (F,Z5)
Mountain Yam—Dioscorea batatas (R,F,Z4)
Schizandra—Schizandra spp. (F,Z4)

Small Trees
Almond—Prunus dulcis (N,Z3) #
American persimmon—Diospyros virginiana (F,Z5)#
Apple—Malus Sylvestris (F,Z5)
Autumn olive—Elaeagnus umbellata (F,NF,Z3)
Apricot—Prunus armeniaca (F,Z4) var. Puget Gold#
Hardy Orange**—Poncirus trifoliata (F,Z5)
Cherry—Prunus avium (F, Z3)
Cornellian Cherry—Cornus mas (F,Z5)
Fig—Ficus carica (F,Z7)#
Hazelnut—Corylus spp. (N,Z4)
Serviceberry—Amelanchier spp. (F,Z4)
Ginkgo—Ginko biloba (N,Z2)
Medlar—Mespilus germanica (F,Z6)
Pawpaw—Asimina trilobata (F,Z6)
Peach—Prunus persica (F,Z6) var. Frost
Persimmon—Diospyros kaki (F,Z7/8)#
Plum—Prunus domestica (F, Z5)

Tall Trees
Chestnut species—Castanea ssp. (N,Z4-5)
Black Locust—Robinia pseudoacacia (N,Z3)
Black Walnut—Juglans nigra (N,Z4)
Walnut—Juglans regia(N,Z5)
Heartnut—Juglans ailanthifolia cordiformis(N,Z4)
Monkey Puzzle—Araucaria araucana(S,Z8)
Korean Pine Nut—Pinus koraiensis (S, Z3)

Books to Read
How to Grow a Forest Garden by Patrick Whitefield
Edible Forest Gardens published by Chelsea Green
Designing and Maintaining Your Edible-
Landscape Naturally by Robert Kourik
Gaia’s Garden by Toby Hemenway
Plants for a Future by Ken Fern

Plant Catalogs
Burnt Ridge—www.Burntridgenursery.com
Raintree—www.Raintreenursery.com
Oikos—www.Oikostreecrops.com
One Green World—www.OneGreenWorld.com
Forest Farm—www.Forestfarm.com

Seed Companies
Wild Garden Seeds—www.Wildgardenseed.com
Horizon Herbs—www.Horizonherbs.com
Nichols—www.Nicholsgardennursery.com
Goodwin Creek—Goodwincreekgardens.com
J.L. Hudson—www.JLHudsonSeeds.net Osborne—www.Osborneseed.com
Fedco—www.fedcoseeds.com

Internet
www.perennialharvest.org
www.mountvernon.wsu.edu--best local info
www.pfaf.org--Plants for a Future database
www.terracommons.org--inspiring local project
End perennial food forests.

             have a bi'joy experience + co_evolve with your work.

       Martin Naylor martinwnaylor at yahoo.com.au
Thu Sep 8 02:51:03 EDT 2005

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seeing the optimum diet for man is fresh fruit and vegetables,
do we need fish and animal products, [for that matter how much grain is necesery for optimum health, i've just started going raw, so don't have much personal proof, although Joel Fuhrman m.d. eat to live presents a lot of scientific evidence and case history's.]as this been explored in p.c.
excelent work lawrence


"Lawrence F. London, Jr." <lfl at intrex.net> wrote:
Anyone interested in exploring possibilities with living machines
add your commens.

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: [SANET-MG] BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Tall grasses set to
power Europe
Date: Wed, 7 Sep 2005 04:11:42 -0400
From: Lawrence F. London, Jr.
To: SANET-MG at LISTS.IFAS.UFL.EDU

Lion Kuntz wrote:
> --- "Lawrence F. London, Jr." wrote:
>>
>>Last Updated: Wednesday, 7 September 2005, 00:49 GMT 01:49 UK
>>E-mail this to a friend Printable version
>>Tall grasses set to power Europe
>>By Jonathan Amos
>>BBC News science reporter, Dublin
>
> How many times do I have to say this. The most energy-efficient
> species of life on planet Earth is Homo Sapiens. I don't care
> how you slice and dice it, photosynthesis is never more than 1%
> to 2% efficient in capture and utilization of solar energy.

> Human beings have achieved 20%, 25%, 30% efficiency using the
> higher cost pure monocrystal photovoltaics, and 13%-14% using
> the low cost Multi-Crystalline PV.

Homo sapiens has not yet learned how to feed himself in a nutritionally
correct way, with food grown under optimal conditions and recycle his
waste byproducts back to the Earth leaving the smallest possible
footprint. He may have produced devices that are more efficient at
converting light energy into electical energy than plants are at
converting light to biomass but he can not do without those plants
as they prouce food, shelter, clothing and much more. All human waste
should be converted to biogas, plantfood and food for soil-dwelling,
soil-building, plant-nourishing lifeforms. Each home could recycle all
its biological waste in a "Living Machine" system that could produce
flammable gas for heating and cooking (and heating the greenhouse in
cold weather), humus to increase soil tilth and compost to feed plants
growing in one component of the "Machine", which could, themselves, be
recycled back through this system or composted externally to feed food
crops and the permaculture landscape surrounding the energy-efficient
dwelling (exterior & interior walls built of heavy concrete block
surrounding a 12-16" core of AAC block [Aercon or Hebel], concrete
floors). Rainwater would be collected off the roof, yard and paved
surfaces and stored for use in the "Machine" and in the landscape.

_That's_ efficiency.

Use sewage to grow biomass crops in a constructed wetland. Harvest and
convert the plant biomass to biogas and feed the compost back to the
system and to food-producing gardens. Harvest aquatic animals and weeds
from the wetland to feed livestock which in turn produce manure to
apply to gardens which produce food for people who produce manure to
feed the wetland and so on ........

Grow Miscanthus in sewage (human, kitchen and garden, and livestock
waste), irrigate with rainwater. Harvest the crop and dry in in a solar
kiln. Get your exercise on a treadmill that generates electricity and
powers a flywheel that turns a biomass compactor to compress the dried,
chopped Miscanthus leaves and stems into bricks to be used as fuel in a
super-efficient, clean burning wood-fired boiler (HS Tarm [Denmark] is
the best) plumbed to a hot water radiator home and greenhouse heating
system. Grow vegetables, fruit, herbs, livestock and fish year-round in
a greenhouse that is connected to your "Living Machine" used for waste
recycling.

Waste not, want not.


> There's no plant nowhere, not on steroids, not GMO, not nothing,
> that can come within one-sixth as good as human beings on its
> best day.

See above.

> We don't need expanded human footprint to waste land in
> inefficient energy production. We don't want net-zero CO2, but a
> drawdown in CO2 by smartening up and forgetting about every kind
> of carbon fuel. Burning carbon in any form whatsoever is not
> smart,

Yes we do and ASAP.

LL


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DRAFT IN PROGRESS
Paper delivered at the panel on Climate Change, 4S Annual Conference
Montreal, Quebec, October 11, 2007


Climate Refugees and Climate Conflict: Who’s Taking the Heat for Global Warming?

Betsy Hartmann
Director, Population and Development Program
Associate Professor, Development Studies
Hampshire College
Amherst, MA USA
bhartmann@hampshire.edu



        The spring and summer of 2007 brought a spate of alarming articles and reports about the security implications of climate change.  Writing in the April issue of the Atlantic Monthly, journalist Stephan Faris attributed the violence in Darfur in large part to global warming-induced environmental degradation and drought. Several months later a report on the Sudan by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) drew similar conclusions, arguing that a combination of demographic pressures, resource scarcity and climate change were at the root of ethnic conflict in the region and increasingly threatened security in other parts of Africa as well (UNEP 2007).
        Along with the Darfur stories came other dire predictions about the threat of so-called “climate refugees.” In May, the U.K.-based NGO Christian Aid (2007a) released a report entitled Human Tide: The Real Migration Crisis that painted an apocalyptic scenario of millions of displaced climate refugees roaming the globe and wreaking havoc, creating “a world of many more Darfurs” (Christian Aid 2007b). Journalists and pundits alike jumped on the bandwagon.  Writing in Scientific American online, Columbia University economist Jeffrey D. Sachs warned that climate change could soon force “hundreds of millions” of people to relocate (Sachs 2007).  In the New York Times Canadian political scientist Thomas Homer-Dixon claimed that “Climate stress may well represent a challenge to international security just as dangerous – and more intractable – than the arms race between the United States and the Soviet Union during the cold war or the proliferation of nuclear weapons among the rogue states today” (Homer-Dixon 2007).
        National security agencies have also entered the arena.  A 2003 Pentagon-sponsored study of the impacts of abrupt climate change paints a grim neo-Malthusian scenario of poor, starving populations overshooting the reduced carrying capacity of their lands, engaging in violent conflict over scarce resources, and storming en masse towards our borders (Schwartz and Randall 2003). More recently, the defense think tank, CNA, gathered a team of 11 retired U.S. general and admirals to produce a report National Security and the Threat of Climate Change which argues that global warming could trigger widespread political instability in poor regions and large refugee movements to the U.S. and Europe (CAN 2007).
I am as worried about climate change as anyone who believes the phenomenon is real and likely to affect disproportionately the poorest and most vulnerable people on the planet. I also accept that in some places environmental changes due to global warming could exacerbate already existing economic and political divisions.  However, whether or not violent conflict and mass migrations result depends on so many other factors that it is far too simplistic to see climate change as a major cause or trigger. Moreover, such threat scenarios ignore the way many poorly resourced communities manage their affairs without recourse to violence. A substantial body of research indicates that violent conflict in the Global South is much more connected to resource abundance (rich oil and mineral reserves, valuable timber, diamonds, etc.) than resource scarcity (e.g., see Fairhead 2001).  Above all, it is institutions and power structures at the local, regional, national and international levels that determine whether conflict over resources turns violent or not.
The images and narratives in the articles and reports cited above have an all too familiar ring, drawing on neo-Malthusian environmental security discourses of the 1980s and 1990s that blamed intrastate conflict in the Global South on environmental degradation, resource scarcity and migration.  Then, as now, this line of reasoning not only naturalizes profoundly political conflicts, but casts poor people as victims-turned-villains, a dark, uncontrollable force whose movement ultimately threatens our borders and way of life.
As Nordas and Gleditsch note, neo-Malthusian climate conflict scenarios are largely based on speculation and questionable politicized sources.  While there is little substantive research to substantiate their claims, they are nevertheless fast making their way into influential policy arenas. In April 2007, for example, the U.K. government was able to convince the U.N. Security Council to establish climate change as a security issue (Nordas and Gleditsch 2007).  
Why are these narratives taking hold when there is little evidence to support them?  To answer that question one needs to look at both their construction – the history of the key assumptions, stereotypes and images upon which they draw – as well their strategic uses by various actors and institutions.  In the process, I argue, one cannot avoid the salience of race.
Western environmental thought has a long tradition of both racism and climatic determinism, with dangerous places and inferior races an especially common motif in the period of European expansionism. As historian David Arnold writes, “While race was often regarded as a self-sufficient and self-evident dynamic, used to explain and justify the superiority of Europeans on a global scale, geographical and climatic determinism was also used to bolster racial arguments” (Arnold 1996: 28) Climatic determinism was also linked to conflict. For example, in the early part of the 19th century, American geographer Ellsworth Huntington argued that drought and famine caused by climate changes rendered Asian societies in particular permanently unstable and uncivilized (Arnold 1996).  It is remarkable how these assumptions, albeit with modifications, survive and thrive in the present day. Their resilience is due in part to how they draw on a reservoir of core racial stereotypes,i such as Africans as savages.
Contemporary literature on policy narratives also helps explain how certain narratives persist because they are useful to powerful interests.  For example, Emery Roe has coined the phrase “crisis narrative” to describe the Malthusian population/scarcity scenarios applied indiscriminately to different African countries which are designed to justify the intervention of Western development agencies (Roe 1995).  Often a part of this narrative is the unproven assertion that vast areas of the continent are experiencing a “soil fertility crisis” (Keeley and Scoones 2003). Racial stereotypes are deeply embedded in these crisis narratives. Their primary association with Africa, moroever, provides a link to negative domestic stereotypes about African-Americans.
        This paper explores the connection between past and present narratives which link migration and conflict to environmental change. Section One focuses on the evolution of climate refugees/conflict discourses. Section Two looks at the role of climate change narratives about Hurricane Katrina in linking racist assumptions about Africans and African-Americans. Section Three considers the intended and unintended consequences of portraying climate change as a national security threat.  Who has the most to gain and who has the most to lose?
I.  From Environmental Refugees to Climate Refugees
The relationship between environment and security has a long and complicated history in the U.S.  It has deep ideological roots in the peculiar qualities of U.S. mainstream environmentalism in which neo-Malthusian fears of overpopulation, ignorance of international development issues, apocalyptic predictions of imminent ecological collapse, romantic beliefs in the wilderness and ‘pure’ nature, and the associated conviction that people are necessarily bad for the environment serve as a dark filter through which to view poor people in the Global South. These perspectives have helped give rise to and reinforce a powerful policy narrative that I call the “degradation narrative” (Hartmann 2003, 2006).
Drawing on old colonial stereotypes of destructive Third World peasants and herders, degradation narratives go something like this: population-pressure induced poverty makes Third World peasants degrade their environments by over-farming or over-grazing marginal lands.  The ensuing soil depletion and desertification then lead them to migrate elsewhere as ‘environmental refugees’, either to other ecologically vulnerable rural areas where the vicious cycle is once again set in motion or to cities where they strain scarce resources and become a primary source of political instability (Hartmann 2003).  Despite salient critiques by international development scholars and practitioners,ii the degradation narrative has proved particularly popular in Western policy circles because it kills a number of birds with one stone: it blames poverty on population pressure, and not, for example, on lack of land reform or off-farm employment opportunities; it blames peasants for land degradation, obscuring the role of commercial agriculture and extractive industries; and it targets migration both as an environmental and security threat.
With the waning of the Cold War, growing interest in sustainable development and alternative visions of security increased the authority of the degradation narrative.  In particular, concern began to mount about the dangers posed by so-called ‘environmental refugees’.  It is not clear who first coined this term; analyzing its origins, Patricia Saunders goes all the way back to Malthus and points to neo-Malthusian environmentalist Lester Brown and the Worldwatch Institute as its contemporary originators. Central to the concept is the assumption that population pressure is one of the main precipitating causes of environmental degradation and resulting migration (Saunders 2000).
In 1995 the Climate Institute in Washington, D.C. published a report Environmental Exodus: An Emergent Crisis in the Global Arena which further popularized and legitimized the concept of environmental refugees. Authored by the neo-Malthusian environmental writer Norman Myers, the report offered a working definition of environmental refugees:
Environmental refugees are persons who can no longer gain a secure livelihood in their traditional homelands because of environmental factors of unusual scope, notably drought, desertification, deforestation, soil erosion, water shortages and climate change [my emphasis], also natural disaster such as cyclones, storm surges and floods.  In face of these environmental threats, people feel they have no alternative but to seek sustenance elsewhere, whether within their own countries or beyond and whether on a semi-permanent or permanent basis. (Myers 1995: 18-19)

The report stressed the role of population pressure as a cause of environmental degradation; in many cases, Myers wrote, environmental refugees are actually “population pressure” refugees (63).
The report made the statistical claim that there were at least 25 million environmental refugees in the world, compared with 22 million refugees of “traditional kind” (1).  Despite the fact that the 25 million figure was arrived at more by conjecture than scientific method,iii it began to circulate widely in the international policy arena.  For example, in 1999 the World Disasters Report of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies cited it as fact (Saunders 2000). It is interesting to note that the Myers report was already making a link between climate change and environmental refugees and was published by a NGO working to heighten policymakers’ interest in global warming.  Myers now makes the claim that there are 250 million environmental refugees, a figure which is presented in the Christian Aid report Human Tide (Nordas and Gleditsch 2007).
In addition to unreliable statistics, the ‘environmental refugee’ concept has a number of shortcomings.  First, it is depoliticizing because it naturalizes the economic and political causes of environmental degradation and masks the role of institutional responses to it. Should people forced to leave their homelands because of the development of a large dam, mine tailings, petroleum pollution, or flooding caused by illegal logging all be categorized together as ‘environmental refugees’?  Shouldn’t the powerful actors primarily responsible for the degradation and displacement – whether they be local bigwigs, government agencies, international financial institutions, or private corporations -- be identified by name?  In the case of extreme natural events such as droughts, storms and floods, whether or not people are forced to migrate permanently from their homes usually depends on pre-existing social relations (who is most vulnerable) and post-disaster responses (what kind of aid/relief is provided and who receives it). Economic, ethnic, age and gender stratification all matter, as well as the political disposition of those who dispense relief (Wisner et al 2004).
Secondly, the concept of environmental refugee is dehistoricizing. To understand why particular populations and landscapes are more vulnerable to the effects of environmental change requires moving beyond the immediate present to explore the past. For example, when Hurricane Mitch struck Honduras and Nicaragua in 1998, the floods and landslides that displaced many communities were mainly due to 50 years of deforestation to clear land for export crops such as beef, coffee, cotton and bananas (Wisner et al 2004). Who set that particular pattern of agricultural and economic development in motion, who has benefited and who has lost from it – these are considerations missing from the over-arching categories of both ‘natural disaster’ and ‘environmental refugee.’
Thirdly, rooted as it is in neo-Malthusian thinking, the concept of ‘environmental refugee’ overemphasizes the role of demographic pressures in migration.  The causes of migration are extremely complex and context-specific, and moreover, there is little evidence to support the view that demographic pressure is at the root of many population movements (Suhrke 1997). In addition, negative neo-Malthusian narratives of migration obscure the positive roles migration can play in improving people’s livelihoods and diminishing vulnerability to environmental change.  Often migration from rural areas is not a linear phenomenon or a rejection of rural livelihoods, but instead a vital part of sustaining them.  Black (1998) notes that in the African Sahel migration is less a response to environmental decline than a strategy of income diversification, with remittances playing a major role in household and regional economics.  
Despite such shortcomings, the environmental refugee concept was deployed by a variety of political actors.  Sustainable development advocates found it useful to focus policy attention on environmental degradation issues (Black 1998) and population agencies to drum up support for international family planning assistance (Hartmann 2003, 2006; Hartmann and Hendrixson 2005).  It also appealed to Western interests in favor of more rigid immigration controls, including limiting the grounds for political asylum. Kibreab argues that the term was invented in part to “depoliticize the causes of displacement, so enabling states to derogate their obligation to provide asylum” (Kibreab 1997:21, cited in Saunders 2000:240).  Interestingly, in 1999 Climate Institute director John Topping told me that there was considerably more media and policy interest in Norman Myers’ report in Europe than in the U.S. because at that time Europeans were more anxious about immigration than Americans (Personal Communication, May 27).  
As the concept gained favor, environmental refugees were increasingly portrayed as a security threat.  As Black notes, whatever the precise number and definition of environmental refugees:
a common feature of the literature is to talk of ‘millions’ of displaced people, and their dramatic impact on host regions, such that regional security is threatened.  The image is one of misuse or overuse of the environment leading to progressive decline in the resource base, and possibly contributing to further dramatic (and unintended) environmental collapse. Environmentalists and conflict specialists see common cause in talk of ‘environmental refugees’; even if the linkages between conflict and refugees remain to be proven (Black 1998:23).

        In the 1990s Canadian political scientist Thomas Homer-Dixon propelled the degradation narrative and its negative depiction of migration into the ‘high politics’ of national security.  Homer-Dixon’s environmental conflict model maintains that scarcities of renewable resources such as cropland, fresh water, and forests, induced in large part by population growth, contribute to migration and violent intrastate conflict in many parts of the developing world.   In his own words:
Population growth and unequal access to good land force huge numbers of people onto marginal lands.  There, they cause environmental damage and become chronically poor. Eventually, they may be the source of persistent upheaval, or they may migrate yet again, helping to stimulate ethnic conflicts or urban unrest elsewhere (Homer-Dixon 1999:155).iv

  This conflict, in turn, can potentially disrupt international security as states fragment or become more authoritarian.v
        Homer-Dixon’s work had a major influence in Washington policy circles particularly in the early years of the Clinton administration when Al Gore championed the environment as a cause.  Also instrumental in the promotion of Homer-Dixon’s ideas was generous financing from private population funders seeking support from the national security establishment for U.S. government involvement in the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo (Hartmann 2003, 2006; Hartmann and Hendrixson 2005). The Woodrow Wilson Center’s Environmental Change and Security Project also gave Homer-Dixon and other academics, policymakers, and military officials involved in environmental security a platform from which to spread their views (Hartmann 2003).  A measure of Homer-Dixon’s success was that  in 1994 and 1995 the Clinton administration’s National Security of Engagement and Enlargement, an important blueprint for foreign and defense policy, stated boldly in the preface that “large-scale environmental degradation, exacerbated by rapid population growth, threatens to undermine political stability in many countries and regions” (White House 1995: 47).  
While the influence of the environmental conflict model waned in the latter days of the Clinton administration and was pushed further backstage after 9/11 and George W. Bush’s “war on terror,” its legacy persists today in the climate change arena where degradation narratives again link environmental change to violent conflict.  UNEP’s report, Sudan: Post-Conflict Environmental Assessment, for example, draws on Homer-Dixon’s model and related research to make claims that overpopulation of both people and livestock, coupled with environmental stresses such as water shortages related to climate change, are at the root of conflict in the region.  According to the report,
        Northern Darfur – where exponential population growth and related environmental stress have created the conditions for conflicts to be triggered and sustained by political, tribal or ethnic differences – can be considered a tragic example of the social breakdown that can result from ecological collapse. (UNEP 2007:95)

Atlantic Monthly journalist Stephan Faris similarly argues that the real fault lines in Darfur are between “settled farmers and nomadic herders fighting over failing lands.”  And he attributes the failure of those lands primarily to climate change-induced reductions in rainfall. “With countries across the region and around the world suffering similar pressures, some see Darfur as a canary in the coal mine, a foretaste of climate-driven political chaos” (Faris 2007)
The Darfur climate confict narrative has spread speedily and widely. Even U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon embraced it in a June 2007 Washington Post op-ed.  In addition to letting the Sudanese government off the hook, the narrative ignores basic elements of Sudanese political economy that helped create and sustain the conflict. These include gross inequalities in wealth and power between the elite in the capital and the rural population; government agricultural policies that favor large mechanized farms and irrigation schemes over rain-fed, small farmer agriculture, causing both political grievances and land degradation; forced migration, such as the 1990s removal of Nuba farmers from their lands into so-called “peace villages” where they became a source of  captive labor for mechanized farms; and what Alex de Waal calls “militarized tribalism” (de Waal 2007). The recent discovery of a vast underground aquifer underneath Northern Darfur is not likely to diffuse the crisis, but rather to heighten it if the government controls the water for its own interests (Polgreen 2007).  
The Darfur narrative draws strength from the continuing uncritical acceptance of the degradation narrative and the associated concept of environmental refugees.  On a more subconscious level, it also draws strength from stereotypes of Africans being more naturally prone to violence and savagery.  Darfur is just the start, commentators warn us, the rest of Africa could soon follow suit.  But the threat is not only without, it also lies within. The next section looks at how narratives about Katrina’s climate refugees link negative images of Africans and African-Americans.
II. “The Coming Anarchy” Meets New Orleans
When Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans in late August 2005, I, like many other Americans, sat glued in front of the TV set, watching with horror the scenes of flooding streets, flattened homes and floating corpses.  If these were intended to pull on my heart strings – which they did – another set of images was designed to have the opposite effect.  These were the pictures of young black men out of control, shattering glass and looting stores, and later running amok at the Superdome.  I remember thinking then how similar these visuals and associated commentary were to American TV coverage of African urban warfare.
Others have noted the same parallel.  Alex de Waal writes how Robert Kaplan’s influential article, “The Coming Anarchy,” which portrays West African young men as postmodern barbarians in a region rendered hopeless by overpopulation and environmental degradation, served along with “the imagery of black youth rampaging through a shattered tropical city” as “rich sources of metaphor for New Orleans” (de Waal 2006:7)  The Army Times newspaper wrote on September 2, 2005  that “combat operations are now underway on the streets…This place is going to look like little Somalia…We’re going to go out and take the city back” (cited in Rodríguez and Dynes 2006:3).
Later, when the waters settled, critiques emerged of the mob and looting stories.  Many people ‘looting’ were actually in a desperate search for necessities like clean water, food, and diapers.  Moreover, there was much less violence at the Superdome than previously reported, and the New Orleans murder rate stayed stable during the week after Katrina.  The disaster and displacement were real enough, but the violent anarchy was a spectacle, an illusion, created by the media.  As Rodríguez and Dynes (2006:6) note, “While it is common for rumors of looting and all kinds of anti-social behavior to emerge in most major disasters, the volume and persistence of such rumors on TV in Katrina was unparalleled.” One particularly effective TV strategy was to show the same footage of looting over and over again, and to begin news segments about Katrina with unproven rumors of violent crime.
Another repeated image of Katrina also stands out: Katrina as a swirling mass of clouds on a weather map with Al Gore or another commentator standing in front, warning us that climate change threatens us with ever more Katrinas (Oprah 2006). While many scientists agree that the rise in sea temperatures could cause more damaging storms, there is of yet no scientific consensus that global warming caused Katrina.  Nevertheless, poor black people displaced from New Orleans are increasingly being depicted as ‘climate refugees.’
In the aftermath of Katrina, environmentalist Lester Brown, now director of the Earth Policy Institute, stated that the estimated 250,000 Katrina evacuees were ‘climate refuges’: “The first massive movement of climate refugees has been that of people away from the Gulf Coast of the United States” (Brown 2006). The progressive magazine In These Times recently carried a story linking Katrina’s exiles with displaced Bangladeshis and Tuvaluans: “Driven from home, history and culture by a warming planet, they also share unofficial status as climate refugees – a category that no international treaties recognize or protect” (Allen 2007).
Even if one could definitively prove that Katrina was caused by climate change, would it make sense to speak of those internally displaced by the hurricane as ‘climate refugees’?  The extent of the human disaster in New Orleans has much more to do with race, class, and government incompetence than with the strength of Katrina’s winds.  It is outside the scope of this paper to describe why Katrina was an unnatural disaster -- others have done that well (e.g., see Pastor et al 2006). Suffice it to say that from an explanatory point of view, ‘climate refugees’ does nothing to illuminate why people were forced to flee in the first place and why many of them have not been able to move back to their homes.  In fact, the term obscures the role of powerful actors like the Army Corps of Engineers, who despite ample warning, did not maintain the levees.  But we are not likely to hear the term ‘Army Corps of Engineers refugees.’
It is worth considering whether the term ‘climate refugees’ would be used for Katrina’s victims if they were majority white.  There is an implicit connection between the racialized images of looting and anarchy seen on our TV screens and Al Gore’s weather map.  We are being taught to fear not so much global warming as the dark people it will set loose, on the move, whether from across the seas or within the borders of our own nation.  This fear helps lay the ground for the militarization of global warming.
III. High Politics—or Low Politics?
The beat is on.  Climate refugees, climate conflict, even climate terrorists – we are likely to witness escalating rhetoric about these dangerous threats in the coming months and years, despite the absence of credible evidence.  The urgent task at hand is to examine why, how and by whom they are being strategically deployed.
It is one of the oldest games in town to dress up issues as security threats in order to garner funding, media attention and political support.  For example, I heard recently from a NGO lobbyist in Washington, D.C. that environmental groups are linking climate change to national security in order to persuade conservative members of Congress to pass legislation limiting carbon emissions.  I would not be surprised if population lobbying organizations start to employ similar tactics to convince conservatives to support international family planning assistance.vi  Those who pursue such strategies often claim they are simply being pragmatic and have the best of intentions.  Whatever their motivations, their appeals to security and use of fear often have negative consequences, intended or not.
 There are a number of stages before a rhetorical appeal to security actually leads to an issue getting “securitized”, that is, becoming an actual object of security agencies and policies (Buzan et al 1998). But rhetorical appeals can perform another vital function by buttressing and expanding already existing security agendas and undermining the role of civilian institutions seeking solutions.  How might ‘climate refugees’ and ‘climate conflict’ do this?   The following suggestions are necessarily speculative, but I believe they warrant close monitoring:
Immigration enforcement.  The threat of climate refugees could be strategically deployed by anti-immigrant groups and government agencies to build public support for further crackdowns on ‘illegal’ immigrants in both the U.S. and Western Europe. In the U.S. anti-immigrant groups already appeal to environmental arguments – e.g. immigrants are the cause of urban sprawl and the destruction of pristine landscapes – to draw liberals into their fold. In January 2007, Kellogg, Brown and Root (KBR), a Halliburton subsidiary, won a contract from the federal government to augment existing ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) detention and removal facilities “in the event of an emergency influx of immigrants into the U.S.” The contract allows for “migrant detention support” to other government agencies during an immigration emergency “as well as the development of a plan to react to a national emergency, such as a natural disaster” (Halliburton 2006).  This contract has generated considerable controversy, including accusations that the government is building concentration camps.  Although the concentration camp theory is (hopefully) far-fetched, there is the potential that these facilities could be used for internally displaced Americans, such as those affected by Hurricane Katrina (Vlahos 2006).
Military Motives: There are a number of ways in which climate refugee/conflict discourses could prove useful to the military.  For one, they could provide a rationale for greater integration of military agencies in both immigration enforcement and the management of natural disasters. Blurring the line between civilian and military institutions, the U.S. Northern Command and the Department of Homeland Security are currently working to develop a Common Operational Picture framework that links information and data systems for a coordinated response to catastrophic events (Kievit and Elliot 2007). The interoperability of data systems has come under fire by civil libertarians. (Hayes and Tassé 2007).
Secondly, these narratives could be used to justify continued funding of expensive military surveillance satellites and naval remote sensing since the data generated by these technologies can purportedly have a dual use, supporting military intelligence and operations as well as civilian work on climate change.  In the 1990s, the Pentagon and CIA deployed concerns about environmental conflict in a similar manner to justify the maintenance of expensive surveillance systems (Hartmann 2003).  The narratives could also justify the development of grandiose and potentially dangerous schemes to regulate the climate. The 2003 Pentagon study, for example, recommends that the DoD “explore geo-engineering options that control the climate” (Schwartz and Randall 2003:22).  There is a long history of the militarization of weather and climate control in the U.S., and some of the current schemes being discussed are frightening indeed (Fleming 2007).
Thirdly, a focus on climate change could facilitate the military’s strengthening of relationships with environmental scientists. In the 1990s, the controversial MEDEA project allowed a select group of environmental scientists to have access to classified intelligence data on the environment, and in addition environmental scientists worked with both U.S. and British intelligence agencies on early warning systems to identify potential areas of environmental conflict (Hartmann 2003). The recent report on National Security and the Threat of Climate Change states in its recommendations that “Critical security-relevant knowledge about climate change has come from the partnership between environmental scientists and the defense and intelligence communities. That partnership, vibrant in the 1990s, should be revived” (CNA 2007:47).  
Fourthly, perceived threats of climate conflict give the U.S. military additional justification for overseas interventions, especially in Africa.  The Bush administration recently established a new regional military command for Africa, AFRICOM, and is increasing military assistance and arms and equipment sales to African nations that are oil-rich and/or strategically important in the “war on terror”. Direct interventions are also not out of the question. In September of this year, a U.S. C-130 military transport plane dropped food aid to Malian soldiers fighting Tuareg rebels (Berrigan 2007).
It is against this background that one must view the escalating rhetoric about climate conflict in Africa.  National Security and the Threat of Climate Change emphasizes how resource scarcity, environmental degradation and climate change are likely to trigger violent conflict on the continent.  According to its recommendations,
Some of the nations predicted to be most affected by climate change are those with the least capacity to adapt or cope.  This is especially true in Africa, which is becoming an increasingly important source of U.S. oil and gas imports.  Already suffering tension and stress resulting from weak governance and thin margins of survival due to food and water shortages, Africa would be yet further challenged by climate change. The proposal by DoD to establish a new Africa Command reflects Africa’s emerging strategic importance to the U.S., and with humanitarian catastrophes already occurring, a worsening of conditions could prompt further U.S. military engagement.  As a result, the U.S. should focus on enhancing the capacity of weak African governments to better cope with societal needs and to resist the overtures of well-funded extremists to provide schools, hospitals, health care and food (CNA 2007:47).

        There is an echo here of the Clinton administration’s doctrine of ‘preventive defense’ developed in response to the disastrous U.S. intervention in Somalia and ongoing problems in countries like Sudan. The aim of preventive defense was to understand the underlying causes of conflict and instability, develop early warning systems to forecast potential crises, and to take action before costly military interventions were required.  Homer-Dixon’s model was incorporated into environmental components of the doctrine, and preventive defense proponents also viewed environment security as a tool to build bridges not only with environmental scientists, but humanitarian and development NGOs (Hartmann 2003).
These ideas are now back in vogue with many of the same actors involved, though the rhetoric has shifted from environmental conflict to climate change. Recently, the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Environmental Change and Security Project sponsored a training workshop for military officials on population, environment and security with support from the U.S. Army War College’s Center for Strategic Leadership (CSL). In a summary of the workshop, CSL’s Kent Butts and Arthur Bradshaw (2007) note that Department of Defense Directive (DoD) 3000.05 supports a return to the preventive defense strategy of the 1990s.  
This directive states that “stability operations” shall be given equal priority to combat operations.  “Stability operations” involve establishing order through “advancing U.S. interests and values.”  
The immediate goal often is to provide the local populace with security, restore essential services, and meet humanitarian needs.  The long-term goal is to help develop indigenous capacity for securing essential services, a viable market economy, rule of law, democratic institutions, and a robust civil society (DoD 2005:2).

To this end, the U.S. military should mainly work through “indigenous, foreign, or U.S. civilian officials” or “military-civilian teams” which shall be open to representatives of International Organizations, NGOs, and the private sector (3).vii  
        The workshop at the Woodrow Wilson Center focused on AFRICOM where stability operations are central to the mission of securing U.S. strategic interests. It highlighted the destabilizing role of climate change in the African region. “Countries essential to U.S. strategic objectives and regional stability are put at risk by resource scarcity and other destabilizing issues that will be exacerbated by changes in climate” (Butts and Bradshaw 2007:3).  Climate change in general was presented as a major threat and there was a briefing on the report National Security and the Threat of Climate Change.  According to Butts and Bradshaw, the relationship between climate change and conflict is also the subject of a forthcoming study by the National Intelligence Council.  
These developments bear further scrutiny especially in regards to increased U.S. military engagement in Africa.  One can imagine a scenario where climate conflict narratives bolster direct military intervention and indirect “stability operations” that effectively involve environmental scientists, NGOs, academics and other civilian actors in counter-insurgency with a humanitarian face.

        It is important to bear these cautions in mind as climate change rightfully becomes a more urgent subject of national and international policy. How we define the threats posed by climate change will help shape how we frame responses. Promoting racialized fears of those who are most vulnerable to global warming strengthens the hands of anti-immigration and national security interests and undermines civilian efforts to find practical and democratic solutions.  
         

         if interested in reflecting with a western doctor that incorporates eastern medicine in his studies, teaching, writings + a history of treating patients, please review Leon's articles. i show you a list of a few here.

                     http://www.dragonrises.org/articles-leonhammer.html

           also his close associate whom he has taught much as they worked together for several years..

                    http://www.acupunctureandherbalmedicine.com/blog.php


                                their ongoing life work is much appreciated.

I share an email with you sent out in regards to Barack wanting campaign contributions to tally up status in comparison with others. folks don't you think we have had enough of this foolishness.

Hello Barack + Jim,

if you where smart you would say ya know what public, we are quitting this mode which should never of happened + say no to donations. use the virtual tools as you taper into a process for all to use teleconferencing. have students log in a walkabout as they aid folks to self register that have no computer or desire. + respect them for that. while simoultaneously students relog into virtual system - community interrelations. look at all these funds saved. now use students to set this process in motion + monitor serious issues that need to be done now to recycle this dysfunctional system by allowing people to also come together + post to work thru these issues by each community + each ecosystem.

yes for all folks to work as a team to regain common sense with transparency.

no thanks guys, we will not take part in any donation, as i stated in prior email.

peace is here now if we stop consuming + share what works with the many good tools + students we have now available in every community..

our combined' effect can make a difference..

 
         i personally attempted to share with the port of Brookings, Oregon. after living on a boat their, part time volunteering supporting the community +welcomed the new director. which when originally 1st met at a meeting, i stated after my review of folks discussing him being voted in, that many folks did not like him due to his association with Waylings getting the port in debt to begin with.

well i said this is wrong, we should go forward + work together. folks got to like him + even though i had feelings that where negative, i tried to define why, + went along with those that had good experiences with him.

          until I had personal experiences with 2 families being the night host at the campground run by the port, that when confronted George + said he did wrong judgment, + George broke their year contract + told them they had to leave. experienced rudeness + possible corruption from George the day manager of the campground, as well another stated one saw George in bathroom shooting up meth. + 1 other family that was bothered from a misunderstanding that they had after relocating their residence + brought their commercial boat to Brookings, later to find out that port stated no room, etc.

                 in both situations, i tried to encourage discussion + ted fitzgerald, the director ended up screaming at me telling me I had no right to discuss port business. + when I refused to allow him to continue this disrespect, after i had done a lot of volunteering, not to mention it is inhumane to communicate as he was attempting + had done to others. when i walked away, he then had a hand delivered notice given to me to leave the port with my boat in 24 hrs. when i refused to leave my man at sea, plus with offshore boat  prep, no one could just go out without watching window. But he had no respect or sensitivity for any of that. I went to the police. ted then gave me 10 days, which we where glad to leave such foolishness.

why do i bring this up here, because i was supported by other good folks + yes it was an interruption of our jobs - our debts to others + did inconvenience us, but we choose to leave + not take ted or port to court. which we where honest in attempting to prevent families from verbal + work abuse, as well 3 possible lawsuits for the port. + it is these kind of continued acts that folks can't handle. leaving them in stress + then as a community unable to come together to concentrate + prioritize the true needs. the 3 small children + parents, along with other 2 familes did not deserve such disrespect when they worked hard for the port, as it was a loss for them + us to have to be disrupted from our longer term plans, or face law suit as ted threatened. In his disgraceful rage. We had this project that was more important to us to finish, then to succumb to his foolishness + waste of energy.

this is a port that should be dealing with the many issues facing good families trying to survive fishing. Not to mention the maintenance of keeping a port going, which this one has had a terrible history left in much debt. When the ecological priorities where never sustained. Putting workload on many. few thanked us for our work. which I will still follow up with a few to try to understand how ted gained this control, when yet they supported us. such as Roy the commissioner.
 
          when all calm, good decisions + policy are made. vs. made from shortsighted folks over pressured attempting to see own agendas come about. as others come + go, without consideration of their losses, + original agreement gets broke. or no good values being created upon because a few locals stand in the way, over working others.

now with an ER issue from tsunami, i felt it was important to share these experiences so those judging true value of losses are accurately done, so that those truly with loss can get support.

this has yet to be resolved due to not letting Ted yell at me, after we choose to leave, experiencing maintenance man talk to him laughing, as he looked up at me with a startled look, after I heard their conversation. him thinking I was also on our boat, as we watched it leave.

i said that was quite childish what Ted did, ya know that don't you.. he humbled himself for he had previously always been a gentlemen in his communication.

to date 3.23.2011 Ted has not made it right + no longer being their have no clue of whom else he has left negative effects on. his boat sunk in the tsuenami, never should of even been in the harbor for it's bad condition it was in as it constantly pumped water as it leaked continually, Ted himself stated to me his priority was to keep it afloat, as we offered to help prior + he did not accept.

we have done much for this issue, + it needs to be dealt with from responcible local folks.

sorry to see the few good folks i did connect with, as you Roy, whom was one of the commissioners, accept his conduct, as well Al a community member, i hope you have reconsidered his position. for he is in a responsible one, yet not being responsible when leaving human disrespect.

thank you, kara

Hi Cristen,                                                 emailed 1.11.2011

Considering each fisher folk i talk to adds to this thought, i thought i would share along the way with you. for you to send on to management/superior folks. i would think OFW would have a data bank of fish permits, etc for each + in their communication processes, perhaps they could come up efficiently with a questioner. + seriously get together with all + resolve. before going on. for your final decisions for marine reserves, etc..

Thanks, kara

the plan` do_in:.
                    sharing the ocean..

what is missing here when as of 1–2010 a blue fin tuna weighing 754 lbs sells in Japan for 396k dollars. 525 US dollars per pound..

          folks..

    i believe  efficiency can best be done when locals come together with good detail + understand. leaving all confident of what is still misunderstood. i`m new here + perhaps my perceptions are off. but i think not. For i`ve met some very good sustainable, subsistence - sport + commercial fishing folks + my man Mishi is also one along with a very good seaman. + although we are here  + gone part time, + once we sell our sailboat will be leaving on to our explorations elsewhere. but while here + wherever we go i`m willing to put in my few cents, if we can help. just contact me, see below.

For the entire west coast of US, we have experienced same thought against F+W regulating commercial fishing.
             `A state advisory panel backs proposals for three new restricted offshore areas By Winston RossThe Register-Guard Published: Wednesday, Dec 8, 2010 05:02AM    
           1 ex; has comments from few folks commenting on why their should be no MR`S. amazing how controversy still fills the air, it is amazing you would have results to make a decision vs. more clarity with all this i state.
wave energy + fish farming in Canada should be supported to stop with all their good data of it’s ill effects on healthy species – local people should be able to stop without the exploitation of MR`S.
is it true already spots have stopped subsistent single hook fishing + breath-hold diving with spear gun, in Lane county..
i`d like to see locals get satisfied. So please review this gest of what i was considering + suggest.
                      i invite J.D. from Charleston, Or US, whom has a family run Charleston Crab Shack - to start this off with his long over due concerns after putting much thought along with others. yet to be supported by the ODFW.
                      along with asking Jeff Reeves, Seth Smith + Behmer folks, Bess Chet guys, Roger Pryce spoke at last meeting in Charleston, he has commercially fished these waters since 1965 + felt no change in abundance. + others you think best. So lets see if we are addressing the right issue with the right folks. + once we get clear answers then we can collectively see our next` move.
                              Cristen Don whom is collecting input for marine reserves has agreed to help us seek these folks out. for he feels ODFW has many advisory boards with commercial fisher folks. as well fisher folks agree there are some very kind F+W folks, but many not.

               i personally know the discouragement i`ve experienced from hard working commercial fisher folks due to struggling with issues not resolved. i must say they have allowed themselves to be quite effected from this inability of ODFW to see it another way. as well my distraction for their support to define this + resolve.

                which i`m not clear still of what these issues are, i just know it is a real interference in the morale of the commercial fisher folks i`ve spoke to. Many have spent a lot of energy in these attempts + are drained. This is wrong. in order for you folks to work on the sea you must get a better perspective so these issues are not wearing you, as i see they are. they really feel ODFW do not care about their issues. these fisher folks are hard working sensitive folks. so i invite a solution, ex; the ODFW to please send a form to each party they work with + ask what is their issue in detail + what is their solution. + give personal detail of those that have been very offensive, rude, etc. to them. + go eye to eye, once you gather some clarity of problem. + have a meet with both sides.
                   
                 lets see how clear we can be in listing the issues so we collectively reach out + together see what we can do. To lessen the burden of many. + for ODFW to get a good perspective of perhaps what is not being equated as in the sea experience that is so difficult to work with along with the regulations set. the biologists don`t have this to endure or i`m missing something. i`m not saying i have good perspective. i just have a desire to help stop what  i see here happening.

i think scientists perhaps can be isolating their detail, which is not good science. we can make 1 universal science by creating  with local folks working the subject. so research is applied in real time in an earthly manor. Where all species are in harmony as those sensitive to work the sea/land/fresh water, etc. truly live for their sustainability. + without life they could not fish, etc. so those that become boon` with the natural world leaving it in harmony, is what is to guide. so folks can reflect + become sensitive to do the same.
 
               Not have to quit fishing while researchers do their job, rather together with respect talk a language that can be applied in real time in local communities. not stored in a file, isolated in conversation, no one misunderstanding/over working in thought, when someone has lived it/living it, or from the abuse from those afar, without the focus of all involved working it for our sustainable resources. where all people are involved in 1 universal science of common sense. To go on for good foreign relations.

              Not make another entity when yet existing is dysfunctional making folks unhappy. Rather resolve, simplify, communicate + co_evolve together a language for each ecosystem/biome etc. that people become familiar with. for i believe everyone has good to exchange.
                        But i also know ecological whores pull strings + make things happen for the wrong reasons.

 ODFW + commercial fish folks please come to peace with a clear understanding. Better you do it amongst yourself + clear the air vs. more distortion as rumors spread. Or serious issues occur.

This year the crab season is not what was predicted + folks are hurting. They don`t need to feel the way they do from ODFW.

i`m building a web site on KompoZer text editor, hosting thru Gaia Web Host Collective, soon to publish – still editing a lot of thought. + embedding a forum from Nabble.
                    i have several do_ins` like workshops with subcategories. 1 is called the plan` where we cover our local communities starting with what sustains us: our wild staying wild, our small natural farms, estuary/ocean + fresh water by a bioregional perspective. each area having  what works via different biome, ecosystems, etc. that sustain the local community. so as to collectively cover our local areas. i saying our, do to we live as a local, where ever we are, even if temporarily. + have discovered this works most efficiently.
          For it is natural systems that we depend on, not people. it is people working together in these systems that can make good science. but it appears scientists/researchers/fisher folks have a different verbiage yet to produce 1 universal science. So we need to come together respecting our fellow humans.
                  we can define a `way to look at these issues in our local communities. for those of you that use the virtual tools, tell me how best i can help you. once published, i will have this subcategory + comments will be posted for us to review, reflect + then act + update others unable to view. + it will be here for issues not addressed. for folks to work local + afar so as to come up with local solutions for each ecosystem, each community, etc. + share what works.

For now i give you this ideal to be worked in a paper print out, due to forum yet to be published. Meanwhile we can clarify this + work it, so as not to let me get in the way with another ideal of reaching out. please share + lets see how it co_evolves. For the ocean is our passion + as we stated to some:
            we built a sailing catamaran in Wi before + trucked it to Wa + sailed it to Costa Rica over to Australia, + back when moms` husband dieing thru Marshals, Hi, Alaska + back to Oregon. we did exchanges, saw a lot of depletion of species + corals, a lot of stories of how it used to be. a lot of ecological whores. + learn`t a lot realizing we need to do a walkabout with it, so we soon to publish a virtual tool, so as to better help us go eye-to-eye + build community that harmonizes. via sharing good story of what works in a variety of subcategories.  So folks can take/post what they create with for their area.
               Which we will welcome folks to pay what when can + hope others will come thru with more if they see the value of making this a good tool to reach out farther. up until now we used all our own funds, did a lot of work + once we publish will invite donations.
                we are leaving for port townsend around 22, few days at brothers where may be without immediate internet/telephone but can leave a message. you can still contact us regarding some issues we can handle from afar.
                we want to collect + share stories that work + feel you folks have done really well to enable us to walk on your beach, enjoy your ocean + eat local fish.

We are not happy if what we heard about no subsistent fishing in Lane county, any more, if that is true.

sadly we never had a good experience off shore on this coast, the several times we sailed. So we have empathy for you working it. but we feel these issues clarified can be more helpful to you.

                  as i got involved these last few years with the marine reserves/wave energy, i knew too many already not being supported correctly, to start another entity that could interfere due to it`s fragmentation. i collected story from old fisher folks on this coast + spoke for them in Brookings, they where so pissed with politicians they would not participate. i felt we had to + gave it to OPAC, they appreciated it. + still do, to clear the air. for you to become whole in harmony with your self + correct the interpersonal negative response to this effect + for your local community.

please add issues + comments to clean up sample issues..
                     
                      issues examples to be confirmed + added to by whom best, give detail or go to them directly + have them post once i publish. Or what ever comes 1st, they can email me; plan@icometotalkstory.net + i will post,
or call me tel; 360-450-3749 lv message + i will call back within few days + i will post...
                + or contact Christen Don – OFW,  (541) 867-7701 x228
cristen.n.don@state.or.us
              for his input, so he sees your side + hopefully will share how in this bigger picture the marine reserves if enacted are added stress. + guides to those making decisions regarding your specifics. or help follow up with your ideals.

              + go direct to each party involved eye-to-eye, which is the best way to deal with these issues. go direct no layers. Then let us help by bringing public attention, if resistance so together we can make a difference. For these issues need to be resolved before restrictions from marine reserve, etc. which many folks state if was enacted would wipe out their crab pots presently their.

So this is just examples of how we need to compile some data + communicate it to appropriate people:

                       1 = the reality that if a marine reserve is needed then what is the purpose of ODFW when it comes to their science that determines the sustainability + regulation for the commercial fish folks.. or is the issues of marine reserve not for regulating fish rather defining other issues as article commenter stated in Why not make this a functional entity that regulates accordingly for ecological sustainability.+ make it a universal science that will co_evolve with the commercial folks input from their life at sea within a local area.
                        Clear up the facts if the science is good enough as commercial fisher folks state then where is all the history that the science should have been created from. vs. ODFW stating they have no good science. so this is a question of curriculum + prerequisites to define the actuality + in comparison with the commercial findings. as they should go hand + hand is it is created. + science is only good when it can be applied in real time as those involved co_evolve utilizing the findings for the application with the commercial folks. for our food. not for files, not for waste + consumption to be transported afar. rather for local consumption.
                         marketed at a fair price directly from a commercial collective. No middle man until they cannot keep up with it. yet it still complies with the species sustainability. then a fair sense of marketing thru out the US so as not to enter into another local`s area. working together. coming to a reality of how the ocean can be regulated. So we no longer have abuse + unfair trade, left not enforced. Or regulated in good foreign relations.
                         When commercial folks could be compensated for this enforcement participation when they are fishing, with notification to appropriate channels or even when unable to fish. They could utilize boats for these functions. + assist the CG.  So community works together. same with maintenance support for ER issues + those unable. working to prevent same folks from needing CG help, funds could better be channeled to comm. folks. as in compensation when unable to fish due to a closure for the sustainability – agreed upon by all. or giving them a means to make it up elsewhere.
                         Ex; as in if unable due to wave energy off limits, etc. which we also agree the local coast should be for locals, not sell to ecological whores that would transport from afar. resources should be 1st efficiently used on land before any thought of sea use. + all entities presently on the sea should comply + be in a `tapering transition if ecologically whoring. + all should support them with direct feedback of perception for options. Supporting them within a time period to rethink + make it right or rid. so as to come back as a local, global + beyond participant.
                         Locals then should bring forth ecological proposals for hybrid energy efficient realities, to be reviewed + agreed upon by local, state + federal interventions. + channel funds to be built by local folks. before any wave energy lease`s are to be considered.
               

                      2 = specific species issues that commercial folks easily have an answer to.        
                         ex; unable to do as they do with Alaska`s nursery..    
                         
                         ex; salmon closure with no follow up dates including our choice of when to go within a window that gives us a chance for do_in it in good weather. yes actually trust the judgment of the commercial fisher folks to choose responsibly. for sustainable effort to fulfill their quota in good safe weather conditions. it is not efficient to have dual functions when resources could be better used elsewhere. if a natural reserve is already respected/limited access due to rocks, etc. then where is the advantage of making it a marine reserve. that is wasteful attention. Science folks may not think that, but a real estate developer will exploit it. look around.
                         1-10-2011 draggers/trawlers unable to go out yet, fulfilled last year quotas + being detained.. again our discussion if they do harm + how, as some say the rocky spikes here at Cape Arego area on the electronics now show rolling, from draggers.. all deserve support to a `tapering transition vs. cold turkey as we co_evolve..
                         the natural world is here for us to work within it`s limitations. where research + fishing should go together for collective results defining regulations. ex; stop all fish farming + see what we can do to support + stop of the Canadian salmon fish farming, etc.

                    3 = boat regulations.. ex; having to have ODFW aboard to monitor when boat is too small, that it interferes in the comfort of the seamen aboard during their rest period. Yes we agree if the biologists gain more awareness of the sea struggles the fisher folks have, they can better trust their judgment. Although they should respectfully go on some, with them as they create science together + in a good exchange where com folks are compensated for this learning curve. For the way biologists perceive science, is not equal to the reality of how a fisher folk lives successfully from sustainable fishing. This needs to be added to the biologists prerequisites prior to any one determining regulations to the commercial fisher folks..
       
                    4 = excess cost from inadequate group/public approval, as in Tom`s from ODFW in Charleston, 300k loss, J.D. shows photos of detail..

                    5 = the trawling factories + others unregulated + not enforced in international waters. Our foreign policy - increasing our limits to ex; 500 miles offshore, preventing close abuse.. institute foreign regulation + enforcement. As well clear up debate of extent of damage with local trawlers/draggers.

 i would like to be part of the ocean communication process. to see good things happen for folks + stop foolishness such as fish farming, the lessons of Canadian salmon farms should be enough, we should help them as well to stop them.  as well the list we hope to compile for solutions to rid with folks going on a `tapering transition where they are respected with support. to make choice + come back into local communities recycling + making it right with ecological soundness. As they once again become whole as they pursue a healthy choice.

the present crabbing issue of very little as of 1.11.2011 gives you a perspective of how lucky you folks are compared to the many countries we have seen without fish, depleted from unaware locals or irresponsible from afar. leaving folks without.

i`m sorry for any of you to go thru this, so lets put our heads together. that is what our human potential is - to communicate + not settle for uneasy feelings when we can make it better. it is a small world + we need to define how best to share the ocean`s  resources with all, yet keep it sustainable..

                   
                  thank you, our combined` effect makes a difference.. kara