Permaculture Blog

Biology is soooo cool.

I still want a painting of a “Bird-of-Paradise” feathered Triceratops — dancing. ☺

A duck-sized dinosaur found in China had a head and chest covered in shiny feathers similar to those seen on hummingbirds. The creature has been named Caihong juji, meaning “rainbow with the big crest” in Mandarin. When palaeontologists analysed a fossil of the dinosaur, first discovered by a farmer in northeastern China, they found evidence of brightly-coloured plumage.

Source: ‘Rainbow’ dinosaur that had shiny, colourful feathers like a hummingbird discovered

The Rev. Bill Freeman

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Perhaps you think about other homeless people during this holiday season, the homeless people we see in and around Menifee. Some cities, including Menifee, said they have a solution for homelessness. It’s called “Responsible Compassion.”

Proponents of “Responsible Compassion” said people shouldn’t give homeless people food, water, clothing or money; rather they should refer them to the proper agency or let them fend for themselves, and they’ll stop being homeless.

A church in Malibu, which gave out 100 meals a day a couple of days a week to homeless people and others at their soup kitchen, has been asked by the city to stop offering that ministry under the guise of “Responsible Compassion.” The theory being that by feeding homeless people they’re enabling them to remain homeless, and perhaps they’re enabling them to remain in Malibu, rather than moving on to another city. The church is complying with the city’s request.

So what are homeless people supposed to do in Malibu? Or in Menifee? Pick themselves up by their bootstraps? What if they don’t have boots? Is helping homeless people enabling them to remain homeless or enabling them to remain alive?

It seems to me that “Responsible Compassion” is neither responsible nor compassionate. And if the ultimate goal – in the event that homeless people aren’t able to fend for themselves – is to get them to move to another city, rather than remaining in Malibu or Menifee that seems particularly heartless.

We’re told that homeless people cost cities like Malibu and Menifee money in increased police and emergency responses. Granted it would be nice if Malibu and Menifee could be like Mayberry, the 1950s fictional town on the old Andy Griffith show, where the town drunk, Otis, would let himself into the jail each night to sleep it off. But this isn’t the 1950s; this is the 21st century, where cities have to deal with homeless people who face unemployment, addiction and mental health issues.

It reminds me of a sign I saw in a store once. It said, “Customers are not an interruption of our business; they are the purpose of it.” In the same way, helping homeless people is not a burden for cities like Malibu and Menifee; helping homeless people is part of the reason the cities exist.

So my church will continue to give food, water, clothing and money to people in need, including homeless people. If we didn’t, we’d have to stop calling ourselves a church. Because to do any less, I believe, would be neither responsible nor compassionate.

Bill Freeman is the senior minister at Menifee United Church of Christ

Exactly San Diego.

We take homeless animals and give them food, water, a warm dry bed and treat them better then we do homeless humans.

Bob

www.liberationnews.org/indigenous-lead-struggle-to-defend-wetlands-in-long-beach-2/ PuraVidaAquatic.com (310)429-8477

You think??http://www.care2.com/causes/neonicotinoids-may-harm-migratory-songbirds-too.html
The researchers note:

The specific under-lying neuronal mechanisms of long-distance migration are largely unknown but it is possible that neurotoxic insecticides that disrupt acetylcholine transmission could have effects on cognitive and motor functions that play important roles in refueling, orientation and navigation

And if you don’t even care about the songbirds and only care about yourself; regularly new types of human brain cells are identified. How is it possible to understand the effect of these neurotoxic compounds on the human brain cells that haven’t even yet been identified?
PuraVidaAquatic.com

I saw a recent post on Facebook where the poster cried that “they” continue to spray despite the safety concerns, and I responded:

The problem with pesticides in America is there is no one who is not exposed. There is substantial pesticide creep into our national parks.
www.google.com/amp/s/amp.livescience.com/38463-pesticides-frogs-california-national-parks.html
The cigarette companies successfully fought anti-smoking regulations for years– even with the scientific and statistical ability to compare smokers with non-smokers. The chemical pesticide industry doesn’t even have to defend against that kind of scientific analysis.
There is nowhere in the western world where you are not exposed to thousands of different chemical pesticides.
I have been advocating for a while for a pesticide free boundary around our national parks. A 5-mile exclusion Zone say. Where the use of any pesticide or chemical designed to be biologically toxic would be prohibited. People concerned about all these toxins could move into those regions. And additionally, it would generate a buffer around our most valuable resources our national parks.
Best to everyone
PuraVidaAquatic.com

By: Heather Williams
The study analyzed 198 honey samples from different hives across the world. A staggering 75% of all samples tested contained at least one of the five compounds of interest. Acetamiprid, clothianidin, imidacloprid, thiacloprid, and thiamethoxam. Almost half of the honey samples contained two or more of the tested compounds (at 45%). An astounding 10% of the honey samples tested contained four or five of the compounds.

Source: The Unlisted Ingredient in Your Honey: The Impact of Pesticides in Bees and Humans – Unsafe Foods

The combination of four and five pesticides is definitely worrisome. As little as many of these things have actually been tested, combinations of pesticides are unlikely to have been tested at all.
Hang in there my friends.

Answer: The area that was planted with genetically modified organisms (GMOs) world wide in 2014.

You’re not going to stop the planting, production, and development of GMOs. There is just too much money involved already. The horse is already out of the barn. But we can do something about the amount of pesticides and herbicides being sprayed on those crops. Pay attention to reports of residue being found in food, textiles, and water resouces.

Source: Ballona Institute: Environmental Leaders Blast State Plans for Los Angeles Coast’s Ballona Wetlands

My opinon:
The government’s long-term goal for this land is to monetize it in any way possible.

Documents released in a lawsuit against the company raised new questions about its efforts to influence the news media and scientific research.

Source: Monsanto’s Sway Over Research Is Seen in Disclosed Emails

Sorry my friends, but if you believe that a big Chemical Company cares about your health and well-being you are naive. I have a PhD in microbiology. But I am not working in Academia. This happens everywhere. And the more insidious thing is that the chemical companies don’t do (fund) research to prove that “cigarettes don’t cause cancer.” They fund research to show that breathing, and eating, and sleeping, and sex, and drinking all increase the likelihood of cancer so how can you tell the difference. Muddying the waters is far more useful and productive than proving to the best that they can that their product is non-toxic.

Be safe out there.
Bob

A beautifully preserved fossil of a 150-million-year-old megalosaurus called Sciurumimus albersdoerferi has once again transformed our notions of what dinosaurs must have looked like. This newly discovered species shows that the early ancestors of all dinosaurs were feathered — and that’s a strong indication that feathers were a common characteristic of all dinosaurs that followed, including large predators.

Source: Paleontologists now say all dinosaurs probably had feathers

Did I say a while back that I would love to see a Triceratops with feathers like a bird of paradise — dancing :-)