Colony Collapse Disorder

In case you haven't been in the loop about this problem, it's still getting worse. Bees are dying in LARGE numbers and for unknown reasons. They have theories about what may be going on but essentially all they know is that Honey bees are dying by the colony in matters of days, one day they're all where there supposed to be and the next they're gone, workers, larvae and queen all dead and missing. The bees that have been found are apparently riddled with disease which is why they are assuming some sort of immune deficiency, allowing the bees to become infected with pretty well all known Bee diseases, at once.

I bring this up today because I came across another article about the 'Colony Collapse Disorder', however this one is from Europe, where they are experiencing the same thing, link to that article here.

In case you don't bother to read the article, one thing that struck me was a quote by Albert Einstein that reads “If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe then man would only have four years of life left. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man.”

In other articles they have mentioned that 1 of every 3 bites of food we take is dependant upon a Bees pollination.

Although I don't claim to understand Stocks, I think it a fair assumption that certain foods that are almost 100% pollinated by Bees are gonna change in price pretty dramatically, Almonds for one and apples another that I know of. However if we have no bees, Lets just say it would be the least of our worries.

other recent articles of interest on 'Colony Collapse Disorder', of course a google search would turn up 1000's more

Also from Celsias
KSL News
http://www.strausnews.com/articles/2007/03/29/sparta_independent/news/26.txt

5 Things I want and Can't afford

1. Land - Specifically though close to the mountains, south-ish facing hillside, Stream or more preferably river running through my property, Lots of Trees, also lots of open space as well, 10 Acre Minimum, absolutely no Drilled wells (Oil, H2S, etc.) even close to my land or potentially affecting the water table or Earth under foot, other then that I won't be too picky.
2. An Earthship Home - 3 Level Split, 2 levels partially exposed, 1 buried into the hillside. And all the goodies that go with a house like this. At least that's my vision of it right now.
3. All the Alternative energy Equipment I can get my hands onto, ie. Wind, Hydro, PV, Batteries, Inverters, etc.
4. Electric Car - Right now it would be the Tesla Roadster, but if I was on my Land I would get me a SUT from Phoenix Motorcars
5. Lot's of money ( don't really care how I get it ) so I Can afford all this stuff.

5 things I want (and could afford)

1. The 3 Part Series on Earthships, the first book would also be just fine for now and the rest later on. seen here at chapters
2. The Kill-A-Watt seen here
3. Clothing made from sustainable materials like, Hemp, Organic Cotton and Bamboo. More and more places are starting to carry this stuff, Gap started carrying some organic cotton in Khaki as to avoid dye's
4. Items for Disaster Scenarios, ie Flashlights, radio, Water purification, First aid Kit,
5. Books/Magazines on Building Sustainable housing, or Alternative energy no specifics here, just looking for knowledge.

Work

**update in comments**

I didn't know how fast to work on my project as they were unable to give me a time line.... at all. so I had to just assume they would be ready when I was done, some days I went slower, then some days faster, being unsure as to when they would be ready for me to work on the next part of the project.... turns out I went to fast... way to fast, and they aren't even sure what to do with me, I offered some suggestions and now I am also done with that. Tomorrow should be interesting as I have some garbage to deal with and then there's pretty well nothing to do.

Other then that Gore was at the white house today trying to get congress to listen to him about global warming and its imminent importance, from what I've read it went over like a gong show.. what else should we expect from those clowns. Should be more news on this tomorrow as to what happened.

Corruption

Just in case you needed a reason to doubt the current US Administration's True Agenda, take a look at this...

http://www.blog.thesietch.org/2007/03/20/bush-administration-systematically-lied-about-climate-change/

Yes, Politics will always be dirty, and have Scandals, but why when a certain Administration can so clearly be against the people and for Big Oil, do we allow them to stay there. Let's hope that change is not just on the horizon but a whole lot closer.

The Other Side

Here is a Video that does a decent job of, presenting the other side. I'll post the link now so you can watch it first, and come back after, or do whatever you want.

Global Warming Swindle

I would then read this article that I found about the film.

http://www.carbon-clear.com/development/comment.php?bid=95



Inconvenient truth or Global Warming Swindle, you decide, I find both movies to be pretty extreme on both sides of the coin, however I believe that the argument itself will be enough to distract many from improving there way of life, the way that we know we should, and an Inconvenient truth caused people to change for the better, this movie is seemingly trying to make us revert to old technology and just keep living the way we have always been living because its not our fault, its the Sun's.... now why would someone want us not to progress.... both sides should be taken into account as with any debate, however I don't see that either film has changed the need for improving the methodology of today's world, Why do we recycle? not because it causes global warming but because its wasteful of our current and diminishing resources. Why should we use Energy Efficient appliances? not because it causes global warming but because again its wasteful. Coal fired plants can be clean/er, so can many other methods of electrical production but a simple fact remains that the more we need the more we use, and no matter the method of production, less is better. No matter the reason behind this change we will be better for it. Less garbage, less air pollution, less water pollution, improved technology, so what is it about the debate on human produced climate change that makes people so upset, is it because things are improving.... doubt it, so why then create a movie to debunk 'the myth', maybe they just can't stand back and allow the public to be deceived????? YEAH RIGHT?

Does that mean that 'Africa' shouldn't Develop, of course not, however, is it not also unethical to develop Africa using Medieval Technology? I think it would be wrong of us not to influence Africa and other developing countries to use cleaner methods of generating electricity. Maybe I am wrong? Imagine when more of the world is using inefficient Automobiles, Planes, Trains, Appliances, Homes, Buildings, etc. then won't we be glad we improved. If China alone doesn't do more and more ( they are doing a lot ) to change then imagine the effects of 1.3 Billion people, and India 1.1 Billion ( taken from here, you can see births and deaths in active time). Also take a look at some interesting maps that show the world from a different point of view.

We need to improve, Period.

Recycling

*** Updates in comments**

I am being tested..... As part of my job I have to unpack 110 of 4 different items = lots and lots of cardboard some plastic and a bunch of paper. The paper I can deal with pretty easily as almost every business has a blue recycling bin for paper. However unless I can figure out something pretty quick a very large amount of cardboard will end up in the trash..... they must have a cardboard bin right.... its a law isn't it? I guess we'll find out tomorrow. I'm very tempted to just take it to the recycling bins myself wherever they are. I know what I should do, so why am I so crippled by the thought of asking my supervisor about it... arrgghhh.

Does anyone else feel this bad when something so obviously recyclable gets tossed out in the trash?