This Fifth Day of Summer Could Have Brought Better News...

There are currently three low-pathogenic H7 avian flu outbreaks at commercial farms in Mexico.  So far, 587,160 birds are sick, 211,242 are dead, and more than 600,000 have been culled to try to stop the contagion.  This outbreak is the first known occurrence of avian flu of this strain in Mexico. 

http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidrap/content/influenza/avianflu/news/jun2512newsscan.html

http://web.oie.int/wahis/public.php?page=single_report&pop=1&reportid=12067

Keep 'em Growing in Your Kitchen Window... Just in Case

I started a little experiment this spring that appears to be going well, so I thought I’d share it with you.

In addition to planting heirloom seed that produces viable seed that can be harvested for the following year’s garden, I decided to try my hand at potatoes purchased at the local health food store.  I selected several organic red potatoes and organic sweet potatoes and started them in water in my kitchen window.  One of each actually rooted and grew, which surprised me somewhat because of the growth retardant put on potatoes.  It did take a couple of months to see the first roots, but they did indeed start.  

Shake, Rattle and Roll... Earthquakes

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/se032512a.php

6/25/12

25 earthquakes in Alaska
2 earthquakes in Arizona
33 earthquakes in California
1 earthquake in Washington State
1 earthquake in Nevada
2 earthquakes in Montana
1 earthquake in Texas

Avian Flu Updates

Even though I try to post daily updates for the spread of H5N1 on the "Animal Death and Disease Log for 2012," I want to provide this link so that you can check the progression of the disease yourself.  H5N1 and all its variants are horribly insidious.  (Click on the title for the link.) 

The Next Bump in the Bumpy Plateau

I have never believed that a sudden, all encompassing, and acute “collapse” would occur on a global basis after the world reached global peak oil.  I do believe, however, in the inevitable decline of functioning economies that present in fits and starts in reaction to having passed peak oil.  What looks like credit, housing, unemployment, hunger, and governing crises, are in reality the world’s attempts to reset to the restrictions placed upon it by the continuous reduction of cheap energy.     

White Nose Syndrome

Just a quick update... 

White nose syndrome, responsible for the death of over over 5.5 million bats has been found and confirmed in Maryland. 

The two biological desasters that will absolutely permanently reduce food production in this country are the loss of our bee population and the lost of our bat population.  White nose syndrome is forcing the slow extinction of the latter with cutting-edge precision. 

Watch this one closely.

Life WILL Find a Way… Stowaway Seeds Making their Way to the Antarctic

I have often wondered how a world grappling with Global Warming could survive the death of species that have lived in various climates that are changing so rapidly, they don’t have the opportunity to adapt or “migrate” to warmer or cooler climates suited to their survival. 

Well, now I know. 

This is the Way the Oil World Ends…

This is the Way the Oil World Ends…

This is the Way the Oil World Ends…

Not with a Bang…

…but with the European Union, the UN Security Council and the United States freezing the assets of Iran’s Central Bank.  The continued attempt to starve Ahmadinejad into submission has moved this war of words, posturing and saber rattling into the realized realm of calculated high stakes with definable and measurable features.  136.3 billion barrels of proven oil reserves is deliriously mouth watering to a world dying of thirst for black gold.  Iran’s got it, we want it and we’ll take it.

Welcome Aboard...

2012

2011 In Review

Let's start the New Year with an ironic chuckle, shall we?  Exactly one year ago today headlines around the world read:

“Thousands of Dead Blackbirds Fall from the Sky in Beebe, Arkansas”

Ironically, January 1, 2012 starts off with the exact same headline, but with an added twist:

“Thousands of Dead Blackbirds Fall From the Sky in Beebe Arkansas, While Tens of Thousands of Dead Drum Fish Wash Ashore Along the Arkansas River”

And we’re off…

A Brief Recap of 2011

Events That Took Our Attention Away From What Really Mattered

January

News:

Mohamad Bouazizi dies after setting himself ablaze in protest triggering anti-government protests in Tunisia 

Suicide bomber attacks Moscow airport kills 37, injures 180

Protestors in Tunisia oust Ben Ali from power

Estonia adopts the Euro

7.1 magnitude earthquake his Chile

Parts of Brazil get a month’s worth of rain in 24 hours, causing mudslides and killing over 900

Tunisian president flees, Prime Minister takes over

Animal deaths and diseases of note:

Thousands of blackbirds fell dead over a 1-mile span in Beebe, Arkansas; Fish die off in Colorado, North Carolina, Texas, Maryland, Florida, Arkansas, California; 55 buffalo die in New York due to mysterious illness; Bird die off in South Dakota, California, Louisiana, Texas, Kentucky; 200 cows found dead in Wisconsin.

February

News:

6.2 magnitute earthquake his New Zealand

Libyan rebels call for Gadhafi’s resignation

Wildfires in Australia

Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi accused of paying 17 year old for sex and using his influence to cover it up

More than 200 killed in Benghazi massacre in Libya

Mubarak steps down

Police move in on Bahrain protesters

Animal deaths and disease of note:

Dolphins found dead in Louisiana; Bird die off in Ohio not due to the avian flu; Invasion of at least 50,000 blackbirds and crows in Indiana; White Nose Syndrome found in Virginia; Fish die off in Florida, Arkansas.