3/3/2006
NZ: Sorting Out Some Basics
Just a couple of words to let you guys know that I'm doing fine... Becky and I have been busy with getting some essentials together. We don't have a refrigerator yet, so we're keeping perishables in an ice chest. HA Driving on the left side of the road is pretty easy for me. What's not easy is keeping my eyes on the road. The natural beauty of this area is beyond description. (There's going to be a website dedicated to our farmlet operations. Lots of pictures, I promise.) Bex took me to the Bush Fairy Dairy yesterday. We bought lots of organic dry goods; millet, lentils, flour, etc. We also visited the Kaitaia farmers market. We bumped into two of our new neighbors, Terry and his wife, Kristen, who happened to be selling some of their excess vegetables. We bought a bag of garlic from them. Terry and Kristen are the local organic farming experts. Nice neighbors to have, I'd say! Becky's Mom (Mummy) and Dad have been very kind to me, and have welcomed me into the family. They have been very supportive. I hope to get dialup access activated soon so I'll be able to do regular updates again. Thanks to all of you who have sent emails and contributions over the last couple of days. I'm looking forward to being able to write back to all of you.
posted by Kevin at 11:33 PM
3/1/2006
I'm In New Zealand
I made it here fine. I've been out to our property with my wife and my mother and father in law. This area is far more impressive than even I thought it would be. I'll update when I can.
posted by Kevin at 11:25 PM
2/28/2006
Packing to Leave
UPDATE: Real update not possible. Driving to the airport now. See ya on the other side! Please excuse low volume of posts. I'm packing for my move to NZ. I'll probably do one decent update before I head to the airport.
posted by Kevin at 5:49 PM
2/27/2006
UAE Gave $1 Million to Bush Library
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I'd still pay attention to the guns and drugs, but this is a nice touch: A sheik from the United Arab Emirates contributed at least $1 million to the Bush Library Foundation, which established the George Bush Presidential Library at Texas A&M University in College Station.
The UAE owns Dubai Port Co., which is taking operations from London-based Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co., which operates six U.S. ports. A political uproar has ensued over the deal, which the White House approved without congressional oversight.
The donations were made in the early 1990s for the library, which houses the papers of former President George Bush, the current president's father.
posted by Kevin at 4:52 AM
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:. Reading
Fatal
Harvest: The Tragedy of Industrial Agriculture by Andrew Kimbrell
Readers will come to see
that industrial food production is indeed a "fatal harvest"
- fatal to consumers, as pesticide residues and new disease vectors
such as E. coli and "mad cow disease" find their way
into our food supply; fatal to our landscapes, as chemical runoff
from factory farms poison our rivers and groundwater; fatal to
genetic diversity, as farmers rely increasingly on high-yield
monocultures and genetically engineered crops; and fatal to our
farm communities, which are wiped out by huge corporate
farms.
Friendly
Fascism: The New Face of Power in America by Bertram Myron Gross
This is a relatively
short but extremely cogent and well-argued treatise on the rise
of a form of fascistic thought and social politics in late 20th
century America. Author Bertram Gross' thesis is quite straightforward;
the power elite that comprises the corporate, governmental and
military superstructure of the country is increasingly inclined
to employ every element in their formidable arsenal of 'friendly
persuasion' to win the hearts and minds of ordinary Americans
through what Gross refers to as friendly fascism.
The
Good Life
by Scott and Helen Nearing Helen
and Scott Nearing are the great-grandparents of the back-to-the-land
movement, having abandoned the city in 1932 for a rural life based
on self-reliance, good health, and a minimum of cash...Fascinating,
timely, and wholly useful, a mix of the Nearings' challenging
philosophy and expert counsel on practical skills.
Silent
Theft: The Private Plunder of Our Common Wealth by David Bollierd
In Silent Theft, David Bollier
argues that a great untold story of our time is the staggering
privatization and abuse of our common wealth. Corporations are
engaged in a relentless plunder of dozens of resources that we
collectively own—publicly funded medical breakthroughs,
software innovation, the airwaves, the public domain of creative
works, and even the DNA of plants, animals and humans. Too often,
however, our government turns a blind eye—or sometimes helps
give away our assets. Amazingly,
the silent theft of our shared wealth has gone largely unnoticed
because we have lost our ability to see the commons.
The
Self-Sufficient Life and How to Live It: The Complete Back-To-Basics
Guide by John Seymour The
Self Sufficient Life and How to Live It is the only book that
teaches all the skills needed to live independently in harmony
with the land harnessing natural forms of energy, raising crops
and keeping livestock, preserving foodstuffs, making beer and
wine, basketry, carpentry, weaving, and much more.
When
Corporations Rule the World by David C. Korten
When Corporations
Rule the World explains how economic globalization has concentrated
the power to govern in global corporations and financial markets
and detached them from accountability to the human interest. It
documents the devastating human and environmental consequences
of the successful efforts of these corporations to reconstruct
values and institutions everywhere on the planet to serve their
own narrow ends.
The
New Organic Grower: A Master's Manual of Tools and Techniques
for the Home and Market Gardener
This expansion
of a now-classic guide originally published in 1989 is intended
for the serious gardener or small-scale market farmer. It describes
practical and sustainable ways of growing superb organic vegetables,
with detailed coverage of scale and capital, marketing, livestock,
the winter garden, soil fertility, weeds, and many other
topics.
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