I came across an e-mail from Ecological Internet about the scandalous use of Palm oil by the EU.  The point being that it is cheaper to cut down and burn rainforest to make a quick buck on palm oil and to Hell with the people or animals whose homes they destroy.  The link below gives the full article.

http://www.rainforestportal.org/shared/alerts/send.aspx?id=png_ramu_rh

A couple on nights a consumer program that names and shames poor practise in the food industry particularly in the UK.  One excellent expose was concerned with Galaxy Chocolate.  The wrappers have a Rain Forest Alliance friendly label on them.  This is despite the fact that they used NON environmentally palm oil in their creamy! chocolate.  In fact it is the cocoa beans that have the seal of aproval NOT the palm oil. Is someone in a hurry going to check the wrapper? I think not. Someone is more likely to grab galaxy rather than another bar when they see the logo and feel good about eating chocolate – again!

Now to the hair dye, that one’s easier. In haste I had bougth a different brand of hair dye.  The brown bits of my hair look fine, but the gray hair Iwas trying to colour looks like it belongs to orang-outang! Vanity Oh Vanity

 President Obama is going to the Copenhagen Climate Conference and better still,

China has announced that she is ‘on the case’ as well.

Yes, this is Thanksgiving Day.  Give thanks for the fact that both of the World’s

 worst polluters have seen the light!  Or maybe it is just all politics. Time will tell.

I learned about osmosis the hard way.  When I was a child we went for a countyside picnic.  Thisbright spark thought it would be a good idea to put salt in the sandwiches before we left.  This, I thought would save the lettuce in them getting squashed.  WRONG! the lettuce was soggy and disgusting.  That is how I learned about osmosis.  The salt dissolved in the moisture of the surface of the lettuce and drew out the purer water from inside the lettuce leaf. Result – that soggy mess. The strong solution (salt) had passed through the semi-permeable membrane *(Leaf surface) into the weak solution inside the leaf.  * for semi-permeable, think of a cheap raincoat that lets through half the rain water!

That’s the lesson finished for today.  Norway has come up with a way to use the ’soggy lettuce’ method, osmosis to generate free electricity.  Early days, but at least they aren’ sitting on their backsides doing nothing like some ‘developed ‘nations.  Want to read more?

Unlike most of the Western World, Scandinavia has always looked forward and planned.  Maybe because of their more austere climate.  here is a link to the Reuters report that I’ve been reading.

Many teens have and always will have unenviable and often ‘nuisance’ life styles.
Lets look at what teenagers like to do.

 Belong to a tribe or team eg. Join a gang, support a sports team, follow a particular music group.

 Try new things eg. The way they dress, dallying with substance abuse.

 Try to shock their elders eg. Dress, alcohol use, smoke, think they invented sex.

 Teens get bored – very easily e.g Hang out on street corners,  use childrens’ play areas that are too small for them. Also heard to say
“I’m bored”

 “They don’t give us anything to do”.  Who are they?  – blank look.

Many teenagers lack confidence, lack imagination, don’t know what goal setting means, have had to grow up with inadequate role models from a young age.

So, What to do?  Throwing money at problems rarely works – the Country is broke anyway.  If it’s not the bankers it’s a war somewhere that drains our cash away.

We need to find something that will –

  Give them an established team to belong to for support and loyalty.

 Allow them to “Be themselves”  during leisure time. Dress as they please and behave as they please within the law.

 Provide social facilities where possible.

 Provide any teaching that may be needed and teach them a trade.

 Feed them a balanced diet.

This seems like paradise.  But, while there is a war somewhere and politicians know they could run that country better, paradise it is not.

I should add here that I am not and never have been a member of a Political Party. I was a secondary school teacher. I have seen substance abuse, poverty, deprivation, violence, homelessness – Mother let his room while he was at school, trauma – child coming into school because there was nowhere else to go after she had seen her father strangle her mother to death. The child blamed herself because she couldn’t remember the number to call.  All this was in the affluent S.E. of the UK in the 1980’s.

Then we wonder why many of our teenagers are a mess!

You will have guessed my answer by now – CONSCRIPTION

Conscription provides the five needs set out above.  So where will the money come from when the Territorials are having their training budget slashed?

Lets make a list of the savings.
 Reduced law and order problems at night due to alchol and   accompanying violence.
 Reduced Social Security Payments
 Reduced National Health time and resources.
 Less damage to others’ property
 Less Local Council costs
 Reduced obesity – comfort eating and lack of cooking skills.
 Reduced pregnancy – The need to be loved without reserve

This my personal opinion and mine only.  It is built from a life time of involvement with and observation of teenagers and their needs in our society.

You are welcome to comment , but any inappropriate posts will be removed.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

You will see that some people do not spare others comments with their opinions.

ecoanne

Not happy with this, we are likely to have to face this in our own neighbourhoods.  I can envisage  ’Shower Police’ knock ing at my door instead of Mormons.  Shower Police would inspect home to check if the bath had been used when you have traded X Litres of water. Well now, before the police knock on my door,  I’m signing off -  for good.

When I started this blog people  didn’t believe that Climate Change was happening.  That has changed so I shall find a happy topic to blog about.  So it’s good bye and good luck to the thousands of you who have visited my blog.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/videos/2006/1004-cars_of_tomorrow.htm#