Jack Burns Lives!

It’s abnormally warm for January, even in the Mississippi Delta. A smiling, puppet-like weatherman on the tee-vee proclaims it’s 64 degrees, and goes on to say that he “hopes it stays this way till spring.” An unhealthy, perpetual spring where bears never know when to sleep or when to rise. Flowers bloom too early, only to be killed or damaged by the frost and snow the weatherman had hoped would never come.

One day, perhaps in the not too distant future, that frost may not arrive and then what will we do?

Overwhelmed by things I couldn’t control, I used to fall into despair and melancholy when I’d think of such things. I felt a strong sense of hopelessness for the environment, the poor and homeless, abused children, abused women and citizens under the boot of ruthless oligarchs around the planet and here at home. To me, these problems and all the others were like a runaway train nothing could stop. Sure, there were small victories here and there, but overall, things didn’t look good for us, and the prospects looked even worse for non-humans.

Today, Martin Luther King Day, my thoughts are on our history, especially the history of our revolutionaries, those that demanded change or that lived the changes they wished to see. My thoughts are drawn to the people that worked hard to make a difference, especially those that silently but profoundly worked behind the scenes doing the important work that you never read about in textbooks or newspapers. The everyday revolutionaries in local communities….

More here

Let your guard down for a minute, and this is what you get.

Thanks to some Republican meddling, closed door meetings and corporate influence (business as usual in the United States), the Organic Trade Association has successfully lobbied for significant changes to the Organic Foods Production Act (OFPA). In doing so, they “retained the allowance for synthetics that previously existed in the regulation, added a potential loophole for non-organic ingredients, added ambiguity on the issue of processing aids, removed authority from the NOSB, and failed to strengthen dairy standards.”

The dispute started after a lawsuit filed by an organic blackberry farmer correctly pointed out that USDA organic regulations were inconsistent with the Organic Foods Production Act (OFPA). But instead of using the apparently stronger USDA requirements as the standard, OTA lobbying has resulted in the adoption of the weaker OFPA standards, including changes that add potentially damaging loopholes. The bottom line is organic foods in the United States, especially those from major producers, may become less “organic” in the near future.

What’s driving this is a “good news, “bad news” story. The good news is that organics are enjoying overall growth of over 25% in sales, by far the fastest growing segment in the food industry, which means more people are demanding good food, not the chemical laden crap we’ve been fed for years. The bad news is this hurts the traditional suppliers.

Their answer is to buy the smaller organic producers, water-down the standards, therefore lower the cost of production and still market the product as if it was the same old product when it’s not.  One example of this is Dean Foods. Dean Foods was getting killed by Horizon in the market, so they bought them. And now Dean Foods is a major lobbyist working for the new standard.
If anything, this shows the need to support locally grown produce and dairy products from known producers, not nationally based, unsustainable producers. Think about this the next time you reach for a Horizon or Tom’s (recently purchased by Colgate) on the store shelf.

While my hometown is busy building roads through designated natural areas, the town of Willits, California is doing something smart: preparing for the inevitability of Peak Oil. The citizens of Willits aren’t sitting around waiting on the guvment to bail ‘em out; they’re taking matters into their own hands in a perfect example of how grass roots democracy is supposed to work.They’re addressing how a peak oil world will affect every facet of their lives, including food, energy, shelter, water, healthcare and social organization.

Read more here.

Fall is without question my favorite time of the year, and one of the reasons is the high visability of my yard bird population. All of the animals are busy getting ready for winter, especially the chipmunks, of which I have several permanent residents. (regular patio visitor) The song birds have an easier time at the feeder since the Grackle have left, and yesterday I was treated to a steady stream of visits from Chickadee’s and Titmice, along with Cardinals, Bluejays, Robin, Carolina Wren, Downy Woodpeckers (Downy 2)and a pair of Northern Flickers doing some sort of dance near the back of the yard. Also recently sighted were Brown Creeper and a Whitebreasted nuthatch, a species I haven’t seen since last fall.

Brown creepers are extremely difficult to catch on film.They have great camouflage, and move from the bottom to the top of tree trunks in search of insects very quickly. The Red-bellied woodpeckers are not hard to spot, and our fall resident is a very boisterous bird, loudly exclaiming its presense each morning.

While the Grackle have moved on, our resident Red-tailed hawk is still around, looking for Mourning Dove in the gardens under pines, oak and elm thoughout the community.

For some reason, the Chickadee’s don’t come to the feeders much during the heat of the summer, preferring to stay high in the trees, heard but not often seen. I think it has more to do with raising their families than the heat, although it could be because of both factors.

Soon, these regular residents will be joined by their wintering cousins and the bird watching season will be in full swing.