Selling off the Farm: Foreign interests including state-owned companies from China and the Middle East are increasingly looking to Australia to secure their food production by purchasing key agricultural assets. In recent years, and especially since the global food shortage in 2008, China, South Korea, Japan, India, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states have all been engaged in massive agricultural purchases around the world inclucing Australia. New South Wales Liberal Senator Bill Heffernan says Australia risks losing control of its wealth-creating agricultural assets. He believes the Federal Government is not paying sufficient attention to the issue of global food security. Read more at:
http://cruxcatalyst.blogspot.com/2010/07/selling-farm.html

Defining an EcoCity: As the consequences of climate change and resource depletion manifest themselves more and more clearly, the way we have built our cities, particularly in the past half-century, has come into question. Building more ecologically sustainable cities has become a necessity - but what sort of city qualifies genuinely for the term “ecocity”?
http://cruxcatalyst.blogspot.com/2010/07/defining-ecocity.html

UK’s first city-wide reuse and repair service: Funding has been announced for creation of the world's largest 'reuse network', helping household items find a new home rather than being chucked away.The London Reuse Network will be made up of 'clusters' of organisations, including local authorities and charities who will work together to deliver an easy-to-access and consistent reuse service to residents and businesses within their area. It will collect, store, refurbish and sell on everything from furniture, books, carpets and bikes through to cookers and fridges. Read more at:
http://cruxcatalyst.blogspot.com/2010/07/uks-first-city-wide-reuse-repair.html

Naming the nameless: The problem is this: that it is hard to persuade people to care about something they can’t pronounce. English species are disappearing at the rate of two a year. But many are vanishing unnoticed and unmourned by almost everyone, partly because we have no cultural connection to them. Scientific names, which are given in Latin or ancient Greek, are essential to proper classification, but to most people they are cold, incomprehensible and offputting. The answer? New names. Read more at:
http://cruxcatalyst.blogspot.com/2010/07/naming-nameless.html

Drinking alcohol can 'reduce severity' of arthritis: Drinking alcohol can not only ease the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis it appears to reduce disease severity too, research suggests. Read more at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-10776758

Smart houses key to keeping the elderly at home: SMART houses equipped with movement sensors and intelligent systems are the key to keeping aged people well and living in their own homes. Elderly-friendly smart homes would use built-in systems for movement detection, fall prevention, home diagnostic equipment, medication management and simple communication devices for linking to family and support networks. Read more at:
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/australian-it/smart-houses-key-to-keeping-the-elderly-at-home/story-e6frgakx-1225897190017

[Thanks to John H and Cruxcatalyst for the links.]

Well, here’s a turn-up! Deb Harding, former resident of one of our Terraces townhouses showing us how to cut grass - the quiet, peaceful, sociable, and sustainable way.



Deb says:

Perhaps people at AAEV may also be interested to hear from me that I have just moved in to my newly bought Herefordshire home - the purchase has been ongoing since mid Feb! Typical uk scenario :-( 

But it is just a mile from my fields, where the hay has just been mown (.... local farmer with a tractor). I've ordered the top fruit trees for the mixed orchard for planting this late autumn in November, and hopefully have shed and polytunnel going up by September. All keeping me very busy.

I went over to west Wales for a day learning to use a scythe, and helped to mow some meadow by hand. See attached photos. I was using an 'Austrian Scythe' as I have, I think, mentioned in a previous email. http://www.thescytheshop.co.uk/  I was surprised at what an enjoyable experience it was.
 
I learned there are 4 points to good scything 1) skilled and regular blade sharpening with a wet stone every 5-10 mins or when the blade is dull, 2) blade sharpening 3) blade sharpening 4) skill.
 
I was taught how to use my body in an unstressed and upright stance to swivel through 180degrees + with the blade. You get into a regular momentum, sweeping the blade round in a semicircle and inching forward repeatedly. The scythe was set up with the adjustable handles suited to my height etc, and the blade fitted specifically for me; I didn't get any aches and pains, though I don't know if I was standing quite as one should. As you'll have seen the weather was wet, but the work was very sociable, and peaceful with no machinery noise and just the swishing of each blade through the grass. Very labour intensive of course ...!
 
I understand people who know Tai Chi or Yoga would be able to apply that knowledge to the correct body movement required.
 
I hope things are going along well at AAEV. I read the newsfeed when it drops into the inbox, so pick up on some of the 'happenings'.
 
Best wishes - Deb H

Here (ATTACHED, thanks to Steve P) is the fourth (and last) instalment of crazy reasons we love our kids:

Why we love kids 4

Hoarding 'an anxiety disorder', expert says: The psychological disorder of "hoarding'' is poorly understood by the expert community, and often not adequately treated. And while it is commonly associated with those extreme cases of homes filled with rubbish, the disorder involves "compulsive shopping'' as well as the "collecting of free objects''. Read more at:
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/breaking-news/hoarding-an-anxiety-disorder-expert-says/story-e6frea73-1225890819367

The “Low-Impact Living Initiative” (LILI) is a non-profit organisation whose mission is to help people reduce their impact on the environment, improve their quality of life, gain new skills, live in a healthier and more satisfying way, have fun and save money. The site also features resources, fact-sheets, books, magazines, and an electronic newsletter. See:
http://www.lowimpact.org/

Germany’s “Mother of all Street Parties”: About three million people recently turned a busy motorway into one of the biggest open-air festivals in Germany's history. A 60 km (36 mile)-long section of the A40 Autobahn between the western German cities of Dortmund and Duisburg was closed to motorists and turned over to pedestrians, cyclists, skaters and picnickers. Some 20,000 tables were set up on the motorway for what organizers called "the longest banquet in the world." Read more at:
http://cruxcatalyst.blogspot.com/2010/07/germans-hold-60-kilometres-long-party.html

Beancounters strike again: The British coalition government is intending to axe its sustainability watchdog in order to meet targets for public sector spending cuts. Perhaps it was just too effective!!! Proponents of the Sustainable Development Commission (SDC) argue that its remit to advise government on reducing its carbon emissions and other resource use saves far more money that it costs. It costs 3 million pounds to run, and its work has helped govt save 70 million pounds!! Cruxcatalyst says, “This is **JUST TYPICAL** of the myopic stupidity of bean counters and razor gangs!!” Read it and weep!
http://cruxcatalyst.blogspot.com/2010/07/bean-counters-strike-again.html

The Great Hunger Lottery: ‘Risky and secretive' gambling on the price of coffee, cocoa and wheat is leading to unstable food prices and exacerbating poverty and malnutrition but creating billions of pounds for the banking sector. Banks such Goldman Sachs are making huge profits by gambling on the prices of key commodity crops such as coffee, cocoa and wheat. By creating funds to allow investors to speculate on the price of food, in the same way they would invest in the shares of a company, banks are able to bet on the price of food. However this is leading to higher and more volatile prices which make it more difficult for farmers to plan and invest and also lead to damaging price rises which hit the poorest families in less industrialised countries hardest. Read more at:
http://cruxcatalyst.blogspot.com/2010/07/great-hunger-lottery.html

BP accused of 'buying academic silence’: Bob Shipp said BP wanted to hire his entire marine science department. The head of the American Association of Professors has accused BP of trying to "buy" the best scientists and academics to help its defence against litigation after the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. "This is really one huge corporation trying to buy faculty silence in a comprehensive way," said Cary Nelson. Read more at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-10731408

Cut down on meat to lose weight: Eating less meat may be the key to keeping a healthy weight, say researchers. A European study of almost 400,000 adults found that eating meat was linked with weight gain, even in people taking in the same number of calories. The strongest association was found with processed meat, such as sausages and ham, the Imperial College London team reported. It suggests that high-protein diets may not help slimmers in the long run. Read more at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-10726414

Bone 'turnover' link to blood sugar and diabetes: The skeleton has a key role in regulating blood sugar and may be the underlying cause of diabetes in some people, say US researchers. A study in mice found that the breakdown of old bone to make way for new bone growth also helps to keep a healthy level of glucose in the blood. A hormone called osteocalcin seems to be the link. Read more at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-10727169

GetUp climate action campaign: GetUp says, “We’re running out of time to solve climate change and reduce our rising carbon pollution - and we can't settle for policies that don't even veer close to the kind of strong action the science demands. Now is the time to step up our climate change ad campaign.” See the ad at: http://www.getup.org.au/campaign/StopRisingPollution

GetUp’s High Court challenge on electoral enrolment: In a recent poll, GetUp canvassed the question: should we pursue legal action to defend Australians' right to vote? An overwhelming 86% of GetUp members voted yes - so GetUp has filed a case for online enrolment in the Federal Court. You can find out more and follow progress at:
https://www.getup.org.au/campaign/DontLetThemStopYouFromVoting&id=1223

[Thanks to John H, Deb Harding, Cruxcatalyst and GetUp for the links.]

Climate Change and the Food System: What is simultaneously one of the greatest contributors to climate change and one of its greatest potential solutions?  Believe it or not, it’s how we farm and eat.  Indeed, food and climate change are inextricably linked.  The same global food system that is making us sick, increasing food insecurity, and polluting the environment is also contributing to climate change.  Climate change, in turn, is contributing to rising rates of hunger and food insecurity.  But the good news is all of us can be part of the solution.  WHY Hunger has released a brand new online film called “The Food and Climate Connection: From Heating the Planet to Healing It,” Check it out:
http://www.whyhunger.org/programs/fslc/topics/climate-change-a-the-food-system.html

Africa looks to its forests for Carbon Credits: Will placing a value on pristine rain forests through carbon trading schemes help the conservation of these vital “lungs-of-the-Earth”? In Africa, it seems there are some hopeful signs of new awareness. Read more at:
http://cruxcatalyst.blogspot.com/2010/07/africa-looks-to-vast-forests-for-carbon.html

Are you suffering from apocalypse fatigue? Aapocalypse fatigue n. Reduced interest in current or potential environmental problems due to frequent dire warnings about those problems. Are you beginning to suffer from it? So are many others. Read more at:
http://cruxcatalyst.blogspot.com/2010/07/word-spy-apocalypse-fatigue.html

New UN Body To Put Value On Planet: The world relies on a range of services nature provides - water filtration by forests, pollination by bees and a supply of wild plant genes for new food crops or medicines. If nature charged for these, how much would it cost? Most such values are excluded from measures of national economies and from prices and markets which would force businesses and governments to recognize them, and the result has been a bias toward development over conservation. UN states have proposed a new body, the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), to advise on valuing nature and conservation targets. Says Cruxcatalyst, “All well and good, but I do wish we could find some way of making decisions and understanding values without having to reduce everything to dollars...! Read more at:
http://cruxcatalyst.blogspot.com/2010/07/new-un-body-to-put-value-on-planet.html

‘Transformer Man’ - the biggest scrap metal statue in the business! Check it out:
http://cruxcatalyst.blogspot.com/2010/07/transformer-man.html

[Thanks to Cruxcatalyst for the links.]

Here (ATTACHED, thanks to Steve P) is the third instalment of crazy reasons we love our kids:

Why we love kids 3

The Crises of Capitalism: Clever animation: This short lecture video is not just a talking head, but a animation showing why capitalism lurches from crisis to crisis. David Harvey, geographer and Professor of Anthropology, looks beyond capitalism towards possibilities for a new social order that would allow us to live within a system that could be responsible, just and humane. See the video at:
http://cruxcatalyst.blogspot.com/2010/07/crises-of-capitalism.html

Dangerous new phone / computer scam: If someone (especially with an Indian accent phones you, quoting your name and address, and says, "I'm calling for Microsoft. We've had a report from your internet service provider of serious virus problems from your computer,” don’t believe it!!! Read more at:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jul/18/phone-scam-india-call-centres

Palestinians put solar-powered cars on the road: Visitors to the West Bank town of Hebron this summer might find a strange-looking white vehicle motoring through its streets – the first Palestinian solar-powered car. The product of an environmentally friendly project for Palestinian engineering students, the car is bedecked with banks of solar panels and doesn't manage to reach a speed much above 19mph (30kph) – but it is being lauded as a feat of creative engineering in the face of limited funds and scant resources. Read more at:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jul/18/palestinian-territories-solar-power-car

We need a new science of physical economics: It's time we put economics into some sort of physical scientific context that makes sense. Economists have drifted off into a disconnected world where, blinded by massive amounts of money and mystery, they see themselves as a kind of high priesthood calling the shots for practically everything. Meantime they are not developing anything like a strategy for a recovery that actually fits the situation on our oh-so physical planet Earth. Read more at:
http://cruxcatalyst.blogspot.com/2010/07/we-need-new-science-of-physical.html

One man’s dream of a perfect city: There’s an old joke that you know you're in heaven if the cooks are Italian and the engineering is German. If it's the other way around you're in hell. In an attempt to conjure up a perfect city, TV frontman David Byrne imagines a place that is a mash-up of the best qualities of a host of cities. Read more at:
http://cruxcatalyst.blogspot.com/2010/07/talking-head-dreams-of-perfect-city.html

Britain trails China in dash to low-carbon economy: Britain and other western countries are in danger of being left behind by China which is investing "furiously" in low carbon technology, aiming to profit from tough climate change targets in the next 20 years. Read more at:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jul/19/britain-trails-china-low-carbon-economy

Update your Electoral Roll details: If you recently moved into the Village, you may need to update your enrolment details before THIS Thursday if you intend to vote in the upcoming election 2010. You can do it at:
http://www.aec.gov.au/Enrolling_to_vote/Update_enrolment.htm

And if you missed it last time - Check out the funny video “BP Spills Coffee”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AAa0gd7ClM&feature=PlayList&
p=7D8AA104E179945B&playnext_from=PL&playnext=1&index=13

[Thanks to John H, Michael V, Steve P and Cruxcatalyst for the links.]

Oh those crazy kids - why do we love them so? Here’s the second instalment of Steve’s funny reasons! (ATTACHED)

Why we love kids 2

Fabulous art - Driftwood horses: Hey neighbours, A great Idea for decorating our hill! When the horses go, we could remember them! See the link below. Bridget O’D
http://www.rense.com/general70/drift.htm

We’ll never see dancing like this again .... just sit back & enjoy: It  seems as if Eleanor Powell was just too good for Fred Astaire, as he never wanted to be paired with her again. He evidently was upstaged by her, but they were both great. Eleanor Powell is fully clothed, with a dress below her knees. Sadly, a bygone era of civility and grace. The year: 1940 (70 years ago) The narrator is Frank Sinatra. It was filmed in ONE unedited camera shot! It is considered by many as one of the best dance scenes ever filmed. See:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toDl2hXt8BM

What would BP’s oil spill look like closer to home? To put the sheer size of the BP oil spill into perspective, these guys have created a program to let you measure it against the land mass surrounding your home town.  Click on the link, then enter your town, state and country in the location box top of page, and 'move' the oil spill:
http://www.ifitwasmyhome.com/

‘Hippo Rollers’ - Women’s lib for the developing world: Hippo rollers, a simple water transport device, have proved to be life-changing in Africa. By using them, poor villagers cut down on the number of trips to their water sources. Most African men think going for water is women's work, so many young girls miss school to help their mothers make multiple trips to rivers or lakes. Read more at:
http://cruxcatalyst.blogspot.com/2010/07/working-to-bring-hippos-to-haiti.html

Eco Voice has just posted its 75th issue - featuring “Say No to junk mail” and many other topics of interest. See:
http://www.ecovoice.com.au

National Waste Policy Implementation Plan Adopted: The National Waste Policy Implementation Plan has been endorsed by the Environment Protection and Heritage Council (EPHC). The National Waste Policy itself aims to avoid the generation of waste; reduce the amount of waste (including hazardous waste) for disposal, manage waste as a resource and ensure that waste treatment, disposal, recovery and re-use is undertaken in a safe, scientific and environmentally-sound manner. Read more at:
http://cruxcatalyst.blogspot.com/2010/07/australias-national-waste-policy.html

The UNEP Green Passport is an initiative of the UNEP International Task Force on Sustainable Tourism Development. The aim of the Green Passport website is to introduce potential travellers to some of the things they can do to help make tourism a sustainable activity, by which we mean an activity that is not only respectful of the environment but that is also good for the economic and social development of the host communities. Read more at:
http://cruxcatalyst.blogspot.com/2010/07/unep-green-passport.html

GetUp dares politicians and the electorate to be credible on climate change. Check out their new spoof ad at: http://www.getup.org.au/campaign/StopPollutionRising

GetUp Election Get-Togethers: On Thursday July 22 from 7pm - 8.30pm, GetUp members will be getting together to discuss major election issues. Click on the link below to find an 'Election Action GetTogether' already organised in your neighbourhood - or host your own: http://www.getup.org.au/community/gettogethers/series.php?id=28

The Greens new campaign ad: Check it out at:
https://greens.org.au/civicrm/contribute/transact?reset=1&id=59

[Thanks to Bridget O’D, Sue E, Steve P, Cruxcatalyst, GetUp and The Greens for the links.]

Why do we love our kids? For a myriad reasons - many hilariously funny!

Thanks to Steve Poole for the ATTACHED first instalment of very good reasons:

Why we love kids 1

Check the toxicity of your cosmetics: Here is a fabulous website database tool where you can enter your cosmetic products and check out any toxic ingredients and their levels: 
http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/

On Thursday 22 July, GetUp will be holding Election Action GetTogethers - short 90 minute gatherings of local GetUp members - to develop local action plans for the 2010 election. Our goal is to have at least one GetTogether in every electorate. That's why we're inviting you to host a GetTogether. It's fun and easy - we'll provide you with everything you need on the night (even the guests!). All we need from you is to pick a venue, whether it's a local cafe, pub or community hall, or your living room. Find out more: http://www.getup.org.au/community/gettogethers/series.php?id=28

GetUp’s funny enrol-to-vote video: Featuring Julia Gillard as James Bond, Tony Abbott as Bruce Willis and a cameo by Bob Brown, our hilarious action-hero enrolment video is going wild online and in the news. But there's a serious message too. Incredibly, there are still 1.4 million Australians - especially young Australians - not enrolled to vote. Hundreds of thousands more may be unable to vote because they've moved house or changed their name since the last election. Know someone who should be enrolled? Send them this link:
http://www.getup.org.au/campaign/Enrol

[Thanks to Kym P and GetUP for the links.]

The Building Development Circle (BDC) advises that changes have been made to the requirements associated with Neighbourhood Consultation.

This has been explained on the Building page of the Village website at:
http://www.aaev.net/management/bdc/index.html
A consultation map is included (accessed via a link in italics in the text).

Feedback on the map can be sent to Adrian O by email.

Note: The BDC meets on the third Thursday of the month. For enquiries regarding submissions, contact Adrian Oakey as above.

WOW - My kind of shopping - check it out! Wouldn't this be great? No climbing in and out of clothes to try them on; no messed up hair. And no one else would have actually tried on your garment! No more makeup smears on your favorite selection either! Great invention! And they already have this tech in Japan.... See:
http://www.flixxy.com/future-shopping.htm

Imagining Ecocities: Uses an “imagining” technique to show how badly we have lost the logic of human activity in today’s vase cities. Interesting - and makes a point well. “Cities are the main things we human beings build: the homes, offices, factories, schools, streets and parks gather there, as do the vast supply lines pumping in water, food, lumber, gasoline - and pumping out waste. And yet, the way cities are built, the logic of their internal functions and their connections with resources and natural environment are virtually ignored - they are not seen as potentially whole, living organisms. We can see houses as homes, and so it should be with cities, but even more so.” Read more at:
http://cruxcatalyst.blogspot.com/2010/07/imagining-ecocities.html

Defining what an ecocity is - and what it is not: “Ecocity” is becoming a buzz word like “green”, but what defines a genuine ecocity? Read more at:
http://cruxcatalyst.blogspot.com/2010/07/ecocities-setting-standards.html

This Side of Paradise: Discovering Why the Human Mind Needs Nature: As awareness of humanity's relationship with the environment has increased - buoyed of late by the larger popular concern about climate change - so has empirical evidence for nature's psychological benefits. Scientists now know that nature has a remarkable ability to restore attention, that it soothes aggression, and that it may even ease mild depression. Read more at:
http://cruxcatalyst.blogspot.com/2010/07/this-side-of-paradise-discovering-why.html

Launch of “Love Food Hate Waste” in Australia: The NSW State Government has launched Love Food Hate Waste - an internationally successful campaign to help thousands of households and businesses reduce growing amounts of food waste (now a massive 40% of the total rubbish in our household bins). Love Food Hate Waste is a partnership programme based on a successful campaign in the United Kingdom which supports households to adopt simple and easy behaviours that work to reduce food waste. Read more at:
http://cruxcatalyst.blogspot.com/2010/07/love-food-hate-waste-launches-in.html

40 Years of Earth Day - The Planet then and now: Heralded as a success, the first Earth Day 40 years ago resulted in the implementation of a number of U.S. environmental policies, and the movement quickly went global. But what have we really achieved in those 40 years? World population has almost doubled, from 3.7 billion to 6.9 billion. The amount of land paved over to build houses, cities and roads has increased 75 percent, from 228 million global hectares to 400 million global hectares. The amount of productive forest land required for fuelwood, paper and timber products, has gone up 53 percent to close to 2 billion global hectares. The productive land and sea area we need for food – for fishing, crops and grazing our livestock – has increased 69 percent, to 5.6 billion global hectares. In spite of Earth Day and similar efforts, we are clearly loosing the sustainability battle. Read more at:
http://cruxcatalyst.blogspot.com/2010/07/40-years-of-earth-day-planet-then-and.html

Tea a 'healthier' drink than water: Drinking three or more cups of tea a day is as good for you as drinking plenty of water and may even have extra health benefits, say researchers. The work in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition dispels the common belief that tea dehydrates. Tea not only rehydrates as well as water does, but it can also protect against heart disease and some cancers, UK nutritionists found. Experts believe flavonoids are the key ingredient in tea that promote health. Read more at:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/5281046.stm

[Thanks to Pat F, John H, and Cruxcatalyst for the links.]

From the Adelaide Advertiser Friday 2 July - See ATTACHED

Since winning the ‘Advertiser & Business SA Contemporary Art Prize’ last year, Village artist Heidi Karo has begun examining her Estonian heritage through her art. She is working on an exhibition at the Prospect Gallery and her SALA offering in 2010 will be on show at O’Malley Studio Gallery in Aldinga.

Heidis art

Ecovillages vs. Big Cities: What’s Better for the Planet? I was surprised when I first entered Earthaven Ecovillage in North Carolina and immediately heard the rumbling sound of a tractor on a barren patch of land that had obviously been forest not long before. How can an “ecovillage” have heavy machinery and clear its forests? And when it came to answering the question of who has a smaller carbon footprint—an Earthaven resident or a New York City resident - the answer is not as clear as you might think. In the end, the most significant role of ecovillages is their contribution “to a radical transformation of values… that may make the transition to sustainability easier and more graceful.” They do this in four ways: “delinking growth from well-being, reconnecting people with the place where they live, affirming indigenous values and practices, and offering a holistic and experiential educational ethic.” read more at:
http://blogs.worldwatch.org/transformingcultures/ecovillages-vs-big-cities-what%E2%80%99s-better-for-the-planet/

Help dump the radioactive waste dump! Imagine for a moment how you would feel if the Government decided to dump radioactive waste in your community without listening to your concerns. Well, this is exactly what it is trying to do at Muckaty, near Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory. Muckaty is being pushed by the Federal Government as the site of a new radioactive waste dump, without the consent of local Indigenous communities. Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) is seeking your help with a petition to “Dump the Dump.” See:
http://www.acfonline.org.au/articles/news.asp?news_id=2917

GetUp’s mental health funding campaign: Public pressure has got the pollies attention, but this is no time to let up. If you wish to help, please visit:
http://www.getup.org.au/campaign/mentalhealth

Using gravity as a cosmic zoom lens! Did you think gravity was just a force that makes things fall down - think again. It has now been used as an astonishing cosmic magnifying lens. Read more at:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science_and_environment/10481197.stm

[Thanks to Jenni M, John H, GetUp and the ACF for the links.]