Demonstrations

I didn't attend this lecture, but it brings up some very provocative ideas... Here a summary from the Maclaurin Institute.

Europe Better Demonstrates the Christian Ideal, Says Middelmann
Udo Middelmann Lecture Summary November 1, 2006

“In many ways, Europe is closer to what a Christian reality should produce,"” said Udo Middelmann, the Francis A. Schaeffer Fellow of the MacLaurin Institute in a lecture sponsored by the Institute and its affiliated student group, Wednesday evening, November 1. Audience members included long-time students of his father-in-law, the late Francis Schaeffer, and University students in various fields of study.

In a wide-ranging and provocative lecture titled What America Can Learn from Secular Europe: Reflections of a Transatlantic Christian Thinker, Middelmann argued that while the USA is much more religious and robustly evangelical, Americans have always been more devoted to an ideal rather than giving thoughtful attention to the details of living. Whether they came to escape religious persecution or for economic opportunity, for Americans there has always been the hope of an ideal and better future. Philosophically,
this idea goes back to the Greek notion of the soul residing apart from the body.

“But, we are persons, both soul and spirit," said Middelmann, and, thus, we must also pay attention to the actual historical conditions of life. Europeans are “caught” in that history, not a future ideal. Their history is one of Enlightenment rebellion against ecclesiastical authority. They replaced the universalism of Christianity with that of nationalism, one fruit of which was the development of racism, an idea developed by Voltaire. As nationalism gave way to terrible wars, particularly those of the 20th century, Europeans
descended into a kind of nihilism, a loss of hope in any possibility of meaning.

Middelmann is impressed by much of American life, including its sense of the possible as well as its relative openness to Christian claims. But, because the American evangelical message has been so privatized to "“Jesus and me,"” it has failed to address larger systemic issues, such as poverty. Europeans, by contrast, even in the midst of their nihilism, have had to deal with the real rather than the ideal. They have had to develop social structures and systems that genuinely ameliorate pain and suffering while also fostering conditions where one’s neighbor can thrive.

How we think about ourselves is part of our worldview, and I see the "Jesus and me" thinking in my own life. My eternal destiny is secure by faith in his atonement, a safety which pacifies some of the urgency to share this good news, to sacrifice, to press for NEEDED change in our systems. Since growing in my faith I've been disenfranchised with the governmental system and less interested in working in it. I don't know if that is good or bad, maturity or apathy. That said, America does need to create structures that GENUINELY ameliorate pain and suffering, rather than just in name. But of course, the question is, should the structures come from public or private monies and groups... It seems in Europe it has been the government, and I’ve heard lecturers comment on the bureaucracy of the environmental regulations of the EU. Regulations are good, but layers are not.

Pressed during the question and answer period about what seemed like his incipient socialism, Middelmann insisted that he is not a socialist, but that he thought that European attendance to social conditions (including government support for various services, such as government-funded concerts) deserved consideration by Americans who are so focused on the individual and individual development.

Udo’s reflections "are finely tuned," said Bob Osburn, the Institute’s executive director. "We American Christians must give attention to them, especially because they are carried by someone who is deeply faithful to a Christian worldview informed by biblical ideas."

And this is what we must all be-- INFORMED, not CONFORMED to the world, RENEWED in mind by the WORD... and then taking ACTION to LIVE a renewed life. How easy it is to talk, to think, for rhetoric to subdue and comfort us. And who is sufficient for these things-- for genuine, renewed living? With man it is impossible, but IN CHRIST all things ARE possible.

Definitions

Well I just googled 'inasmuch' for fun, and it turns out there are some interesting sites...
one of them being a single christian dating service. Hmm...

Don't let the man...

...Get ya down. Kinda hard when Captain U.P. is banned from school, though.

Well, at least we're up to date on critical issues in education.

What the world needs now....

Is NOT another $tarbucks...

To sum up the article:
Guess there's still money to be had in the market place--
the ratio of 1 store to 11,000 people is a sure indicator of the opportunity!
And talk about international prospects, consider the 5 letter word= CHINA.

Man. It makes me pretty sick...
but rest assured, soon I'll be able to get a frappichino anodyne within walking distance.

Feeling thirsty

Reading Doyle's article below, I bolded some of the topics I thought were important, but not expanded upon. Like who has done research on water consumption and biofuels? And who has thought through the uncertainties: "economic growth in China and climate change," as "the key drivers of changes in water and food." It leaves me wondering how will these factors effect our lives in the coming months and years... and who will feel the pinch the most?

World Water Demand Surging Due to Rising Population

September 18, 2006 - By Alister Doyle, Reuters

STOCKHOLM - Surging demand for irrigation to grow crops for food and
biofuels will add to pressure on water supplies in a world where one in
three people already suffer from shortages.

Following is an interview with Frank Rijsberman, the Dutch director
general of the U.N.-backed International Water Management Institute,
which issued an assessment of world water resources in late August based
on the work of 700 researchers.

Q. What are your main findings?

A. Our results show that a third of the world population is facing water
scarcity. There's two types of problem: about a quarter of the world's
population lives in areas with physical water scarcity -- in places like
the United States, Australia -- and more than a billion people live in
areas where water is available but not fully exploited. In sub-Saharan
Africa the water is in the rivers but there are no dams or pumps to use
it.

Q. Can the problems be solved?

A. The positive message is that we can increase what we call the
productivity of water. We will simply have to make do with less, get
more out of the water we do have. That can mean growing
drought-resistant varieties of crops, having better policies in
government. While it currently takes about 2,000 litres of water to
produce a kilo of rice it's possible to drive it down to about 500
litres a kilo. That's the challenge.

Q. Will biofuels make it harder to feed the world by taking land
previously sown for food crops?

A. About 800 million people do not have enough to eat and now on top of
that, because there are currently high oil prices, people come up with
this marvellous idea to grow biofuels. Yes, we can grow biofuels instead
of using oil but we should then take into account that that will use a
massive amount of water that is not in our calculations. That, economic
growth in China, climate change, those are the key drivers of changes in
water and food.

Q. What will it cost to sort out the world's water problems?

A. It will take more human ingenuity and creativity, some courageous
politicians, some investments in research, different types of
investments. It doesn't even have to cost that much more -- it's just
doing the smart thing.

Q. Do you think that wars will be fought over water in the 21st century?


A. I don't really expect wars over water because ... the benefits of
collaboration are so great. We see a lot more countries that come up
with good agreements (over water). At the same time there are many
places where there are tensions over water.

Source: Reuters

Advocating Rest

Thoughts about the frantic pace of life have filtered through my head recently. Why am I so busy, when I don’t have mound of homework and papers hanging over my head? I’m just as tense as when I was in school, just as prone to anxiety about (relatively) lesser things… why? Why am I living like this?
I thought Offner’s article was honest about busyness. Both affirming and piercing, getting to the root of the problem… the suggestions at the end are helpful…

Why Are We So Busy?
by Kevin Offner

….We bow to the "Idol of the Full Schedule" because it gives a superficial, temporary legitimacy to our lives.

When we accomplish a lot we feel important, needed and necessary. We set ourselves dozens of daily goals, and if we meet most of them we feel successful. We long for a daily reassurance that we are loved - and we turn to a kind of "activism" to meet this need. We say we believe in grace, we say we believe that God's love is unconditional and that our justification in him is not based on our works, and yet in practice we live as though we've been abandoned or orphaned. We're convinced we must work in order to be approved.

Of course the point is not to exchange busyness for inactivity. Work is a good thing: God gave Adam and Eve work to do in the Garden even before they sinned. Also, we are told in the "Parable of the Talents" that it's the wise investor of one's abilities who will one day be rewarded. Our Lord Jesus himself was hard at work from sunrise to sunset. No, we don't need to stop working; but we may be pursuing the wrong work. We are to be busy or not busy because of obedience to God's call, not because of a nervous striving for self-worth. Knowing in our heart of hearts that we are fully accepted and loved by God in Christ, we do whatever work God calls us to do out of joy, peace and gratitude. Part of growing in grace, then, is to know what one's work is, when to work and when to rest. And we'll know this more surely as we grow to know God better.

We want to work voluntarily and enthusiastically, in response to God's initiative, not our restlessness. And we want to learn how to rest. Here are a few practical steps to take:

• Guard time alone with God. The Lord Jesus was as busy as anyone and yet it was his habit to arise "a great while before dawn" to pray.
• Guard the Sabbath. Let's be ruthless in keeping at least a day a week free, a different day from the other six. No scheduling of meetings, no homework and no agendas. A day to focus on God in a special way. A day to slow down, take inventory and be spontaneous.
• Always schedule large gaps between activities when possible. Get to places and appointments early and use that extra time to become quiet inside.
• Be as "fully present" as possible at each activity or with each person. Avoid turning to past conversations or future concerns, but rather give undivided attention to the immediate present.
• Spend more time in deliberate reflection. After conversations with people, at night before going to sleep and on your Sabbath day (Sundays are great for this!), ask deeper questions: what was the significance of that person's remark? That movie's main theme? or That class assignment's bigger issues? Write in a journal, write letters to others, reflect with close friends and meditate under God's eye. Always be open to what you might learn from God's providence by being a careful observer of life's experiences and people.

Let's be honest with ourselves and face the real reasons why we feel so compelled to busyness. And then, by God's grace, let's resolve to make better choices with how we use our time.

More goat news

Goat cheese factory creates opportunities

by Maria Sadoyan - World Vision Armenia Communications

A deserted canteen transformed into a goat cheese factory began operations recently, holding out the promise of wide-ranging community transformation for 600 villagers in remote southern Armenia.

The families of Halidzor village in Sisian Area Development Programme (ADP) will sell goat milk to the factory, which will in turn sell cheese in the Armenian capital of Yerevan, 220 kilometres to the north.

The provision of goat milk is possible as a result of a World Vision breeding project launched in December 2005. Goat cheese is highly rated in the market and is sold for US$7 per kilogram.

“The income from selling cheese in external markets will be invested in renovation of the village kindergarten and other community projects, which the villagers will prioritise,” said Emma Kajoyan, Sisian ADP Manager.

Villagers are proud of the factory, which is the only real technology and means of sophisticated production in the village. Most of the village residents are subsistence farmers.

The goat breeding project was introduced by community volunteers in the village and supported by Sisian ADP with 100 purebred she-goats distributed among ten families. Preference was given to families with many children.

The families signed an agreement with World Vision to return five goat kids and 100 kilograms of goat cheese to the community after one year. “Our project is a development and cooperation programme,” explained Ashot Babayan, Sisian ADP Project Coordinator.

Mher Parsyan, 55, the head of a family of seven adults and six children, has bred seven kids from ten goats. “My grandchildren now have excellent milk and cheese to eat. I'll be glad to see other families in the village who also benefit from this project.”

Homemade cheese produced in villages typically does not meet sanitation standards for sale in commercial markets.

Vanik Simonyan, a community volunteer, had the idea to build a small cheese factory. He knew an experienced cheese-maker, Albert Gevorgyan, from a nearby village who gave several weeks of time training another Halidzor volunteer, Armen Harutunyan.

Now Armen runs the factory equipped with World Vision’s support and repaired by the communal efforts of Halidzor villagers. They believe the factory may provide a good example for establishing similar productions in Halidzor.

Food for thought

This was an innovative ecological solution worth sharing...

Weeds got your goat?
Itasca State Park uses goats to get their weeds.

Ryan Bakken,Herald Staff Writer

BAGLEY, Minn. - When Itasca State Park was invaded by a noxious weed, experts examined the latest science and came up with a solution:

Goats.

Yes, goats. To these homely, hoofed creatures, spotted knapweed is the equivalent of a chocolate eclair. It was the diet of choice for 31 goats that ate through six acres of the weed over six days. They have unconventional taste buds among grazers.

"Goats don't want grass, like sheep, cows and horses," said Peggy Fultz, the Bagley goat rancher who supplied the four-legged weed control agents. "They want brush and weeds. They made a beeline for that spotted knapweed."

They were a much better choice than herbicides. Remember, the mouth of the Mississippi River is in the park. It would be bad public relations to pollute it.

"It's a highly sensitive area here," said Becky Marty, a Minnesota Department of Natural Resources officer at Itasca. "The spotted knapweed is right along the Mississippi, plus we have a lot of wetlands and a high water table in the park."

Marty worked with Clearwater County extension agent Jim Stordahl on the project. They recruited Brooke Fultz, Peggy's 16-year-old daughter, to be a goat herder for two different stretches this summer. Multiple munching is required to kill the weeds.

"Spotted knapweed is like leafy spurge in North Dakota - there are wanted posters out on both of them," Stordahl said. "They're in the same cast of evil characters. They tend to choke out existing vegetation, which is bad for a variety of reasons."

Natural grasses were planted during these grazing periods. The goats' hooves helped to plant the seeds, and their waste provided nutrients.

"So we're weeding, planting, fertilizing and watering at the same time," Peggy said with a laugh. "So, it's a pretty unique project."

The Fultz family has 500 goats, among an estimated 1,200 within 10 miles of their home.

Goat meat is the most-consumed red meat in the world and is the fastest-growing consumed meat in Minnesota, Stordahl said. The reason is that Minnesota's new immigrants come from countries where it's the preferred meat.

The goat is the beast of choice in Third World countries because it can survive in the mountains, the brush and the desert. A goat is not a finicky eater, and it produces milk and meat.

"The meat is low in fat, low in cholesterol, tender, moist and able to absorb flavors," Peggy said.

Goat is also a proven weed-eater elsewhere, having been employed to destroy leafy spurge and poison ivy, among other vegetation villains.

"We went back to a tool used hundreds of years ago," Marty said. "We have so many tools to control our problems, but often it's best just to go back to the basics and use what's the healthiest for the ecosystem."

The Itasca project was a test. The scope may broaden, as goats may be used next year in gravel pits, where the spotted knapweed flourishes. The gravel and sand then is spread onto roads, broadening its reach.

"What's so exciting is that the goats are eating our problem," Marty said. "There are no chemical additives and no ground disturbances. There are lots of pluses and a huge potential."

Everyone's happy.

The DNR people are happy to get rid of a weed without a chemical spill floating down the Mighty Mississippi.

The Fultz family is happy to see their goats fattened.

And the goats are licking their lips over scrumptious spotted knapweed.

The LOVING Dispute

I began this train of thought before I attended Pristine Harmony this weekend, (September 23, 2006) which was encouraging and inspiring.. it brought a renewed passion for USING the knowledge I have. It needs to be shared... or what use does it have? So here are some thoughts on the Loving dispute of caring for creation...

"There are some people who think: 'It's our duty to destroy the earth so that we can be saved. We are instruments of God's will when we go through the drive-through, to make the world uninhabitable so that He will return.'" Hearing himself say this, Roberts shakes his head, as if to dispute it."

I dispute it also. But Mr. Roberts, founder of Legacy chocolates and profiled in this delicious article, is getting those ideas from somewhere. I am realizing I am beginning to have an apathy for this argument and becoming more impassioned with the core issue-- the gospel. God reconciling humanity to himself through His son IS the hope for the earth. God created the earth and everything in it, and cares so deeply about the wayward hostile people (or, as in the Hebrew, the COSMOS.. think about that) on it that He sent Jesus Christ as flesh to die for our sins, that we may now have right standing before God and live to glorify Him.

Some ideas on why the gospel is at stake in caring for creation:

1. Loving your neighbor
The tangible effects of selfishness on the land are seen in a country like Kenya. Say a wealthy landowner cuts down 20,000 acres of trees that once shaded a creek that feed the village well. Now there is serious erosion entering the stream, fish deaths due to temperature change, air pollution due to increased carbon dioxide, etc. etc. Taking Jesus' words seriously means asking "who is not my neighbor?" umm.. silence. Well, is no one, or conversely, is it everyone? Might loving my neighbor in China mean buying products and clothes that I know have been manufactured under safe conditions and with fair wages? It might mean buying less and giving more, and it might mean asking the Holy Spirit to guide and convict you in these issues...

2. Praying for those who persecute you
I have seen the anger from liberals and conservatives over environmental and social issues. There is a difference, in my mind, between politics and truth. There is a distinction between loving a brother and sister in Christ regardless of their identification with elephants, donkeys or greens. There is a difference between essential and non-essential issues. May the faithful take serious heed to ways in which their speech and actions demonstrate so clearly how they are not loving their "enemies." Christ commanded this.

3. Loving mercy
Micah 6:8 says: and what does the Lord your God require of you, but to seek justice and love mercy and walk humbly with your God. Justice, mercy, and walking humbly reek of going against the world order.

4. Love is patient
This is one of the most annoying misconceptions for me personally: the Christian's duty to speed up Jesus' coming. (the only way I know is through Matthew 9:27!! Amen). It's not our duty to destroy the earth anymore than it is our duty to destroy our bodies so we die and go to heaven! If your child is sick you bring them to the doctor to treat their illness-- you don't deny it so the end comes quicker! Jesus taught us to pray "Your Kingdom come, Your will be done." Perhaps our emphasis could be less on Maranatha and more on ushering in HIS kingdom.

Oh, let the church and its members wake up to the light of the glorious gospel-- how it leads us to care for our neighbors and his creation. After all, if God created it, how can't we care about it?

The surrender

This article was encouraging-- I especially identified with the themes in bold. The point Collins mentions-- it's like a point of surrendering. I truly know that my moment of surrendering, of conversion, was the work of the Holy Spirit. It was not done through arguments or books, it was through His Word. What a beautiful thing.

The Sunday Times - Britain
June 11, 2006
I’ve found God, says man who cracked the genome
By Steven Swinford

THE scientist who led the team that cracked the human genome is to publish a book explaining why he now believes in the existence of God and is convinced that miracles are real.
Francis Collins, the director of the US National Human Genome Research Institute, claims there is a rational basis for a creator and that scientific discoveries bring man “closer to God”.

His book, The Language of God, to be published in September, will reopen the age-old debate about the relationship between science and faith. “One of the great tragedies of our time is this impression that has been created that science and religion have to be at war,” said Collins, 56.

“I don’t see that as necessary at all and I think it is deeply disappointing that the shrill voices that occupy the extremes of this spectrum have dominated the stage for the past 20 years.”
For Collins, unravelling the human genome did not create a conflict in his mind. Instead, it allowed him to “glimpse at the workings of God”.

“When you make a breakthrough it is a moment of scientific exhilaration because you have been on this search and seem to have found it,” he said. “But it is also a moment where I at least feel closeness to the creator in the sense of having now perceived something that no human knew before but God knew all along.

“When you have for the first time in front of you this 3.1 billion-letter instruction book that conveys all kinds of information and all kinds of mystery about humankind, you can’t survey that going through page after page without a sense of awe. I can’t help but look at those pages and have a vague sense that this is giving me a glimpse of God’s mind.”
Collins joins a line of scientists whose research deepened their belief in God. Isaac Newton, whose discovery of the laws of gravity reshaped our understanding of the universe, said: “This most beautiful system could only proceed from the dominion of an intelligent and powerful being.”

Although Einstein revolutionised our thinking about time, gravity and the conversion of matter to energy, he believed the universe had a creator. “I want to know His thoughts; the rest are details,” he said. However Galileo was famously questioned by the inquisition and put on trial in 1633 for the “heresy” of claiming that the earth moved around the sun.
Among Collins’s most controversial beliefs is that of “theistic evolution”, which claims natural selection is the tool that God chose to create man. In his version of the theory, he argues that man will not evolve further.

“I see God’s hand at work through the mechanism of evolution. If God chose to create human beings in his image and decided that the mechanism of evolution was an elegant way to accomplish that goal, who are we to say that is not the way,” he says.
“Scientifically, the forces of evolution by natural selection have been profoundly affected for humankind by the changes in culture and environment and the expansion of the human species to 6 billion members. So what you see is pretty much what you get.”
Collins was an atheist until the age of 27, when as a young doctor he was impressed by the strength that faith gave to some of his most critical patients.

“They had terrible diseases from which they were probably not going to escape, and yet instead of railing at God they seemed to lean on their faith as a source of great comfort and reassurance,” he said. “That was interesting, puzzling and unsettling.”

He decided to visit a Methodist minister and was given a copy of C S Lewis’s Mere Christianity, which argues that God is a rational possibility. The book transformed his life. “It was an argument I was not prepared to hear,” he said. “I was very happy with the idea that God didn’t exist, and had no interest in me. And yet at the same time, I could not turn away.”

His epiphany came when he went hiking through the Cascade Mountains in Washington state. He said: “It was a beautiful afternoon and suddenly the remarkable beauty of creation around me was so overwhelming, I felt, ‘I cannot resist this another moment’.”

Collins believes that science cannot be used to refute the existence of God because it is confined to the “natural” world. In this light he believes miracles are a real possibility. “If one is willing to accept the existence of God or some supernatural force outside nature then it is not a logical problem to admit that, occasionally, a supernatural force might stage an invasion,” he says.

The Dig

Did you ever boast that if you dug through the back yard and end up in China? That's not quite right. More like the Inidan Ocean :) Now you know.
This useful peace of information brought to us by Google Maps and my GPS class.

All of my days

The moon's an arrant thief,
And her pale fire she snatches from the sun.
Shakespeare, Timon of Athens

Inspiration from the word-of-the-day ... arrant: notorious, downright, confirmed.

In this twenty-second year, may I be an arrant lover of Christ, and following's Bill's imagery, a bold witness and reflector of His glory.

The Trip

"By 1907, there were 55 students in the freshman class alone--most of whom, in the words of Professor E.G. Cheyney, arrived "without any idea of what forestry was, and laboring under the false impression that they were headed for an everlasting camping trip."
FromUmn News April 28, 2006

This made me smile. So long, CNR.

The Arrival

Just a little encouragement... Two weeks left before the end of undergrad life, found in E.B White's Once More to the Lake.

"Summertime, oh, summertime, pattern of life indelible, the fade-proof lake, the woods
unshatterable, the pasture with the sweetfern and the juniper forever and ever, summer without end; this was the background, and the life along the shore was the design, the cottages with their innocent and tranquil design, their tiny docks with the flagpole and the American flag floating against the white clouds in the blue sky, the little paths over the roots of the trees leading from camp to camp and the paths leading back to the outhouse and the can of lime for sprinkling, and at the souvenir counters at the store the miniature birch-bark canoes and the postcards that showed things looking a little better than they looked....It seemed to me, as I kept remembering all this, that those times and those summers had been infinitely precious and worth saving. There had been jollity and peace and goodness. The arriving (at the beginning of August) had been so big a business in itself...(Arriving was less exciting nowadays, when you sneaked up in your car and parked it under a tree near the camp and took out the bags and in five minutes it was all over, no fuss, no loud wonderful fuss about trunks.)"

The CNR years surely include experiences and memories that are precious and worth saving. And there is an odd juxtaposition of anticipation and dread, of relief and nostalgia, that accompanies this transition. I remember feeling this prophetic as I finished high school, so I realize I am continuing a melodramatic flair, but in my eyes of this is worthy of making a wonderful fuss. cy :)

Bee Mine

Awww... Happy Valentine’s Day!

Photo: Jason Lee

In the spirit of the holiday, Goodgifts.org is a great place to shop for that special someone… From meeting urgent needs like vaccinations, wells, seeds, and goats- to an innovative gun recycling campaign, love overflowing from a joy in God can meet the needs of others.

Thoughts on the Faithful Disregarding Climate Change

The article "Evangelicals Will Not Take a Stand on Global Warming" (By Alan Cooperman, Washington Post Staff Writer, Thursday, February 2, 2006) basically says that the leadership within the National Association of Evangelical rejected taking a stance on climate change. Their reasons are summed up in the last paragraph of the article, included here:

"to assume as true certain things that we think are still debatable, such as that global warming is not only real but also almost certainly going to be catastrophically harmful; second, that it is being driven to a significant extent by human activity; and third, that some regime, some international treaty for mandatory reductions in CO2 emissions, could make a significant enough drop in global emissions to justify the costs to the human economy."

So, to clarify the uncertainties:
1. The occurrence of global warming
2. The extent of damage plausible
3. If it is a human induced change
4. How it should be handled

1. I'm uncomfortable that the occurrence of global warming is still an uncertainty. I'll have to ask my scientist friend for the graph of CO2 levels that so clearly relates this.

2. I'm comfortable with the uncertainty about the extent of damage. Different models show different results, and all are estimations. But it would be naive to think that because there is uncertainty, nothing should be done. We should not be paralyzed because we don not know, but mobilized to action- some action!

3. I'm less comfortable with the uncertainty that it is a human induced change. By God's grace I can squarely place the blame of my sin on my own shoulders- not on someone else’s, not on circumstances. I feel like the uncertainty here is wishful thinking.

4. Now, this is a good question! There should be uncertainty about this, but again, uncertainty should not leave us inactive. Pitting the environment against the economy is not necessary, especially for a Christian!! "You cannot serve two masters," Jesus said... "What you lack is that you should sell all of your possessions, give them to the poor, and follow me." We should not value our money and our lifestyle over the future generations, over the poorest of the poor, over loving our neighbor in a radically, cross-exalting way. Who is it that will be most affected if there are global consequences to global warming? Not most of North America and Europe, but the poorest of the poor. What do we see in Kenya, Somalia, and Ethiopia as drought continues? I see the toll of human sin which locally abused the land AS WELL AS an area globally affected by changing climate.

I hope that the NAE leadership will search their heart and heed God's words in Genesis 2:15, "that you are to work the earth and KEEP it." Let's move forward in our stewardship of their earth based on our self-abasing love of Christ. No other reason is more sustaining or satisfying.

(Fruit from the Sorely's Creation Care Work in Kenya)

When I in awesome wonder
Consider all the worlds Thy hands have made
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder
Thy power throughout the universe displayed.

When through the woods and forest glades I wander
I hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees
When I look down from lofty mountain grandeur
And hear the brook and feel the gentle breeze.

Then sings my soul my savior God to Thee
How great Thou art, how great Thou are
Then sings my soul my savior God to Thee
How great Thou art, how great Thou art.

For the bees

My ears have been perked regarding bee-related information for awhile now. I'd love to learn how to keep bees. I think it has to do with my preference for the 'do-it-yourself' ethic in baking, home-brewing, etc.
I've begun to do some research and found this article about honey laundering!

"I would not be suprised if there were one or two people involved in the whole operation,"
one source said. "A sort of honey mafia."

A honey mafia! I can name a few journalists who are grinning from ear to ear right now!

Honey Laundering reported from China through Austrailia into the U.S. by Alan Harman
China

Death threats and a mystery car brake failure followed after a senior figure in the Australian honey industry attempted to expose a racket involving Chinese honey being relabeled and shipped to the United States.

"My wife and chldren were in the car when the brakes mysteriously failed within days of the death threats," the man said.

The threats came after he warned that the relabeling "had the potential to destroy our industry, not just give it a dent."

The man now is so concerned he refused to allow his name to be published. "My wife is terrified," he said.

Told of the threats, another big player said he was not surprised. "There's a lot of dollars inviolved in this."

The drama came to light during a Bee Culture investigation into the scale of the Australian honey relabeling operations.

This found that up to 2,228 tonnes (nearly 4.5 million pounds) of Chinese honey was shipped to Australia and then re-exported to the United States in the 2001-02 financial year at a time when the U.S. had banned Chinese honey.

The figures were published in a survey of the Australian honeybee industry released by the Australian Rural research and Development Corp.

The report said:
"Australia normally imports a relatively small quantity of honey. However, in 2001-02 Australian honey production dropped markedly due to widespread drought, particularly in the eastern states. Australian honey imports increased with most of these imports subsequently being re-exported by processors to fill export contracts.

"Honey imported from Singapore in 2001-02, was most likely sourced from China and, along with other direct imports from China, was mostly re-exported to the United States."

This was at a time when the U.S. - along with Canada and the European Union - had banned Chinese honey because of health safety concerns over the levels of the antibiotic chloramphenicol which has been linked to aplastic anaemia, a serious disease with symptoms similar to some cancers.

A table in the report outlined the dramatic changes in Australian imports and exports.

It showed imports from Singapore in 1999-2000 and 2000-2001 were exactly zero - not surpising considering Singapore has no bees.

But in 2001-02 the Singapore figure skyrocketed to 1,447 tonnes (2.9 million pounds) as Singapore became the world's fourth biggest honey exporter.

In the same period imports from China rose from six tonnes (12,000 pounds) three years ago and two tonnes (4,000 pounds) two years ago to 751 tonnes in 2001-02 (1.5 million pounds).

At the same time, exports to the United States rose from 108 tonnes in 1999-00 and 168 tonnes in 2000-01 to 2,344 tonnes in 2001-02 - a year when Australian honey production was decimated by the worst drought since European settlement in 1788.

A spokesman for the Australian Customs Department said there was not a lot the department could say because a report had been sent to the Department of Public Prosecutions.

Other sources said two Chinese residents living in Sydney were to be prosecuted over the relabeling of Chinese honey as Australian product.

Government and industry spokesmen argued the honey never officially entered Australia but was simply transhipped. But they agreed that if this was the case the volumes would not have been included in the Australian import and export statistics.

Australian Honey Bee Industry Council (AHBIC) chairman Ray Phillips said in his annual report that the import of honey from China and other places continued to be a sore point with many producers.

"Regrettably, at a time when supply is so low it has become necessary for some packers to import honey," he wrote. "It is to be hoped that we return to regular seasons and the need for imports will dry up.

"In respect of imports, AHBIC has been successful in ensuring that all imported honey is now tested for chloramphenacol. We are also working with the government to draw up new procedures for the import of honey and its testing. It is time there was a level playing field between imports and exports and your peak body continues to work to achieve this end."

Federal Opposition agriculture spokesman Kerry O'Brien said in a statement that the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service
(AQIS) has admitted knowledge that Chinese honey has been imported into Australia, relabeled as Australian product and reshipped to the U.S.

"Under intense Labor Party questioning at a Senate Estimates hearing, AQIS has revealed that Chinese honey shipped in drums has been transited through Australia for the purpose of relabeling the product," he said.

"The honey may have been contaminated with chloramphenicol (CAP), which AQIS says causes the disease aplastic anaemia in some susceptible individuals. AQIS could not confirm the number of shipments that have been transited through Australia.

"The Senate Estimates hearing also heard that some international honey has been labeled `Product of Australia' and shipped to third countries without even landing on our shores. This honey laundering is occurring on an unknown scale.

"According to an AQIS official, Agriculture Minister Warren Truss has known about the problem for up to 12 months. It is clear the minister has failed to act because the committee heard that Australia has no arrangements in place with customers of genuine Australian honey to identify the real product.

"The department says it's a problem for importing countries, but Labor disagrees. This scam has the potential to do serious damage to the reputation of Australian honey producers. Mr Truss must stop ignoring the problem and act to protect the integrity of Australia's honey trade."

But Truss said O'Brien's claims were unsubstantiated.

"Hollow, unsubstantiated claims of an `ongoing' and clandestine `honey laundering' trade are not only damaging to the Australian honey industry, but also to our international trading reputation," he said. "I urge the Senator to retract his scare mongering comments immediately.

"Senator O'Brien makes a habit of issuing media releases which pay scant attention to the facts and, in this case, he could seriously undermine the export efforts of a group of primary producers already battling the effects of drought and fire.

"AQIS carries out surveillance testing of all imported honey for chloramphenicol and pesticide contamination and any product failing the testing is not allowed to enter Australia. Chloramphenicol is not registered for use in food production in Australia, including in honey production."

Truss said "Product of Australia" labeling must comply with the requirements of the Australian Trade Practices Act (TPA). The TPA is administered by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

"Australian authorities last year became aware of a shipment of Chinese honey transhipped via Australia to the United States that was illegally labeled `Product of Australia', apparently in an attempt to evade U.S. anti-dumping penalties on Chinese honey," Truss said.

"AQIS and the Australian Customs Service worked closely with the U.S. Customs Service in uncovering the incident, which was publicly exposed in August.

"Claims by Senator O'Brien that the government failed to act on the issue are completely false. The government responded decisively and has kept the honey industry and Parliament informed.

"Penalties exist under the Customs Act and the Commerce Trade Descriptions Act, and the government is determined that the full force of the law is brought to bear on offenders," Mr Truss said.

"If Senator O'Brien has any evidence to substantiate his claims that such `honey laundering on an unknown scale' is `ongoing' he should provide it immediately to AQIS so that investigations can commence."

But Mark Higgins, a board member of Beequal, an AHBIC honey quality assurance operation, said the situation was so serious it risked Australia's premium honey markets throughout Europe, Asia and North America.

"This stuff (Chinese honey) is banned in England, in France, in Italy, in Japan, in Canada, but you can get it here in Australia," he said. "As soon as those bans came in, we got drowned in Chinese honey because they can't sell it anywhere else."

Higgins said if the Chinese product was mixed with local honey and re-exported it could pose enormous problems.

"It would only take 24 hours for Europe or Canada or Japan to ban our honey," he said. "Our product is recognized around the world because we don't suffer from the same diseases as overseas and we don't use chemicals."

Industry players said Australia was not the only country involved in relabeling Chinese honey so it could enter banned markets. They named India, Thailand, Vietnam, Pakistan, Turkey and Malaysia as all using Chinese honey for their export markets.

"I would not be surprised if there were only one or two people involved in the whole operation," one source said. "A sort of honey mafia."

AHBIC executive director Stephen Ware said the council had alerted honey packers in the U.S. about the Australian problem.

"We have written to all major honey buyers warning them of the danger," he said.

Asked if he was concerned the relabeling could destroy Australia's export market, he said: "What you are saying is absolutely correct.

"We are worried about the effect on the U.S. market. We have urged the Customs Department to do something. When we hear of suspect shipments we alert the Customs Department."

Ware said a lot of the honey was transhipped - put into bond in Austraia and then put onto another ship.

"We have highlighted the whole issue," he said. "It is in our long-term interest to address this. We are testing everything we can. We're terribly worried. We know we have a quality product. We don't want our brand name destroyed by illegal blending with Australian honey and called Australian honey. Chinese honey is terible tasting stuff.

""There will be elements that try to shortcut the system and use countries like Australia that have a good reputation," Ware said. "Ninety five percent in our industry are honest but with prices way they are there's a small element trying to cut corners."

LATE NEWS; Australian beekeepers said they are getting reports that Royal Jelly with an Australian ceritificate of origin has tested positive in Europe for chloramphenicol. The drug is not used in Australia, indicating Chinese relabeled product now has reached Europe.

http://www.beesource.com/news/article/laundering.htm

A small reflection on the purpose of research in the academic world…

A presentation by a graduate student really caught my attention concerning this issue. He said something to the effect that: “the original purpose of research was asking questions because we DON’T know. Why has science become something different?” And it seems like it has. It appears that scientists only research with defined parameters and hypotheses.

His research was all about asking question- because he doesn’t know! His committee had a hard time with this! It’s frowned upon! This idea was reinforced as I look through journal articles for chloride references, and the search hits on the narrowest of topics, such as the chloride and the effects of salinity on the survival of citrus saplings in Tonga, or chloride and aquatic insects outside of Liechtenstein… and so on.

It just seems like a culture has been created where you must so narrowly look at one subject, create one very narrowly defined experiment, and race to publish it. And the more essays published, the more funding and job offers, the more success. Which begs the question, "what is the purpose of research in the academic world today?" Is it to gain funding? Fame? A position?

Furthermore, what is the greater good in creating this narrow niche of work that can’t be applied to problems facing our world today?

I’m just feeling a bit disgruntled about the career and research options for scientists. (Not that I claim to be a scientist. A great pal at work said “I’m not a scientist, I do science for my job.” I respected that his life was not defined by his job, if that is what he meant. But there is also the lurking question of “who really is a scientist?” “who merits that title, what is accomplishment is necessary?” Certainly a Bachelor’s of Science is not enough!

So what is enough, then? I don’t know. As for me, it doesn’t matter. Science, or pseudo-science, is what I do right now. I am thankful for the opportunity and the enjoyment I receive from it, while remaining mindful of what truly matters.

Say my name

Oh dear. I've been in the midst of a busy life lately,
but i felt it necessary to report that the decided name is
Gus Muirwood-- to be known as Muiry. He is curious,
a good mouser, snuggly and sweet. : )

Freebird!

Grist.org is one of my favorite sources for environmental news,
most likely because they understand how I think. Or how I used to think.
As a young environmentalist I used to live under this weight
of guilt and fear over the future state of the environment.
From the evaporation of the Colorado River, the melting of the arctic,
to the saturating of the landfills with recyclable goods- 
it all felt urgent and dire, and I would just groan!

There was so much work to be done, so much saving to accomplish.
How could I do it? So reading this brief announcement made me grin
at my former self- and grimace at the many today who are in bondage
(Romans 1:25, Because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie
and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator.) 

SHOW US THE MONEY 

Throw a little cash toward Grist and absolve your eco-sins Grist readers
are a guilt-ridden bunch. Your environmental peccadilloes Are many,
and you feel awfully bad about them. "I use bleach, thus Transferring stains
from my clothes to my soul," confesses one angst-ridden person. 
"I suck at ironing so I take some of my clothes to the dry cleaners,"
Another admits sheepishly.  "In my heart, I covet the new Ford Mustang,"
divulges a third. But this trio can now sleep soundly at night --
they've each bought a Grist Indulgence by making a tax-deductible donation
to their favorite environmental magazine. Have you done the same?
Lift that cumbrous weight from your chest: give today! 

Give to Grist: Buy a Grist Indulgence (http://grist.org/support/?source=weekly)

 
What is so stunning about this is that it is so true.
 
Not only are people in bondage, but their conscious’ accuse
them of their sins. And they seek forgiveness through works-
works of giving or biking to work or buying organically…
(I’m being a bit dramatic here, but I think the “dirty” conscious
is a large motivating factor in the “green” world)

Yet through works no man can be justified (Galatians 2:16).  
The suffocated conscious grows silent. It is only through
the confession of sins and the turning to Christ-
whose yoke is easy and burden is light- that I could
access freedom. And this freedom (insert freely floating manta ray picture)
while it didn't come instantly- It's growing. And it is good. 

New

New Year, new cat, That's what I say. This is breaking and newsworthy, folks.
Now.. for a name.