Lenn Sisson

Does anyone know if a rocket steam engine is feasible?  Has anyone ever tried it?  I was thinking that if it is feasible, then it might offer an alternative way to power a small locomotive in a sustainable way, when paired with wood coppiced from something like blackthorn.  Does anyone know or have thoughts/opinions about this?

Thanks!

The Order of Bards Ovates and Druids recently held a panel discussion that talked about fracking, how to combat fracking, and how the entire premise of western civilization is built on an unsustainable model. The discussion featured noted pagan author John Michael Greer and I was very interested in his opinion that (overall) fracking is a speculative bubble that will collapse much like the housing bubble and tech bubble before it.

The discussion is featured on the organization's Druidcast podcast number 88, and is available here: http://www.druidcast.libsyn.com/.

The whole podcast was interesting to listen to. Personally, I think any podcast that starts with Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" must be interesting.

Interestingly, it also mentions the book, "The Limits of Growth," and how it is dead on target more than 40 years after its publication, while all the predictions of its critics have failed to come true.

I also think that it is important that permies start cross pollenating with other groups.

I'd like to know what others think of the information and if you think fracking is a bubble that is destined to fail.

Thanks for the kind words!

Hi All,

Apparently the business world is pulling out all the stops to squash a European study that claims there is a significant connection between a type of GMO corn engineered to be roundup tolerant and tumors in rats. One journal (Food and Chemical Toxicology) that had published the study retracted it. The authors have now published it in Environmental Sciences Europe. The question is whether the paper was retracted for legitimate reasons or because pressure was brought by the corporate world. The Web site "Retraction Watch" has an interesting piece about it here: http://retractionwatch.com/2014/06/24/retracted-seralini-gmo-rat-study-republished/, and the open source article itself is available here: http://www.enveurope.com/content/26/1/14.

Basically, Monsanto did a 90-day study in rats of their genetically modified corn that was tolerant to roundup and (apparently) very few rats died, so they and the FDA declared it safe. The European scientists then came along and did a very similar study in rats for two years and found that a good many rats died and a number of them got tumors. Also, there is apparently a lot of controversy in the industry about how the study was conducted and the fact that the scientists were also publishing a book with some of the results and stood to make some money if they sold a lot of books. Though, one has to wonder how much money they'd really make off of really scientific books. Those don't exactly sell like hot cakes.

Anyway, I wanted to bring it to everyone's attention so they would know what was going on and would have a chance to see the article and the Retraction Watch piece. Also, check out the reaction to the original retraction, also on Retraction Watch, here: http://retractionwatch.com/2014/01/16/journal-editor-defends-retraction-of-gmo-rats-study-while-authors-reveal-some-of-papers-history/, there was a lot of reaction, I might point out.

Sam Barber wrote:

Lenn Sisson wrote:I'm having a senior moment, so I need reminding, at the $75 level, I know we get the DVDs and the Pods, but does that include the streaming? I'm thinking not, but I wanted to make sure that's why I can't access it and not a glitch or something. Thanks!

Hi Lenn,
The 75 dollar level only gets the pods and the physical DVDS.
-Sam

That's what I thought. Thanks for the response.

I'm having a senior moment, so I need reminding, at the $75 level, I know we get the DVDs and the Pods, but does that include the streaming? I'm thinking not, but I wanted to make sure that's why I can't access it and not a glitch or something. Thanks!

The new trailer looks great! I'm most impressed.

CNN is reporting that a slaughterhouse in Petaluma, Calif., is recalling 9 million pounds of beef as being unfit for human consumption. Apparently, when inspectors weren't there, plant employees were processing diseased cows, including ones with cancer.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that when you have massive corporate interests trying to eek out every last dime from the system, you end up with massive screw-ups, poor quality, toxin rich products, and owners who seem only to care about money in their pockets and not about their customers. If you have locally raised and processed meats, even when there are screw-ups, the damage is limited to the local area, not to tens of thousands of people over large segments of the country.

Anyway, enough of me on my soap box, here is the link to the CNN piece: http://eatocracy.cnn.com/2014/05/02/bad-meat-investigation/?hpt=hp_t1

john giroux wrote:Drat..I wish montana was closer to Georgia. Sounds like a great experience.

Yes, I feel exactly the same. I'd love to come, but there's no way I can get there from Georgia this weekend. Good luck guys and have lots of fun. Also, I probably will buy the DVDs when they become available.

John Polk wrote:Yeah. That's been posted here several times before.
The one thing I take away from it, besides that they are pleased with their results, but their neighbors are asking them how they did it. Their neighbors are seeing positive results, and want to follow suit. As more and more farmers begin seeing improvements, the more they will listen to some of those other 'crazy ideas' out there. You cannot tell a farmer to change, but you can certainly show him the advantages of changing.

Hi John,

Thanks for that information. I had looked to see if this had already been posted, but I guess I just missed it.

I think you're absolutely right, you can't "tell" people to do anything, but if we can show how successful it is, then over time people will start adopting it. Then, of course, they'll say that they had the idea themselves all along. :)