Veronika Wild

 By  OUR scientists, I mean all those scientists working in the public interest who have been hobbled, nobbled, smeared, dismissed, discredited, had their funding cut or been otherwise silenced, for telling the truth. They have asked that we support them on February 29th.  It may be a bit late now for Aussies and others on this side of Greenwhich, but do it anyway.  This type of behaviour was going on at least as far back as 1953 when Rachael Carson published her expose about DDT called "Silent Spring" and it has resurfaced most recently  in the villification of Peter Gleick after he exposed the machinations of the Heartland Institute. The  A-Z list on the Union of Concerned Scientists website has plenty of  examples of suppression and intimidation. See also The Union of Concerned Scientist's report, Heads They Win, Tails We Lose   which outlines the some of the more common methods: " Corrupting the Science   Corporations suppress research...

There aren't too many places like this anymore! Too much running around today so just a little bit of news, mostly Australian, and two pleasant surprises. I'll tell you about those in a moment, but first a couple of updates... This is the link for the  truthful County of Origin Labelling Petition mentioned on yesterday's blog. There is also another one about truthful Eco - labelling . There is even one about dissatisfaction with banks (do l hear you all nodding?), Most of these issues have been raised by CHOICE * The People's Consumer Watchdog. As well as lobbying government and industry about issues of concern to consumers –  check out their marvellous Wall of Shame ,  Choice also does independent research to rate all kinds of products. I always find this  particularly useful when buying major appliances that I will have to live with for years. Last year for example, when I was looking at TV’s and was completely baffled by what was on offer, I loo...

Way of the future Declare war on packaging I just signed a petition about plastic bags in Maine. Since we have pretty much done away with these I was very shocked that the USA was so far behind on this, especially given the size of its population and that the neighbouring state, New Hampshire already had very effective drink deposit legislation way back in 1999. (There wasn’t a can or plastic bottle to be seen anywhere). Except for occasional lapses, the transition here has been relatively painless and you just wouldn’t think of going out now without taking your cloth bag. These are usually cheaply available in the big supermarkets with proceeds going to charity. I am surprised that more shops haven't seized on the idea of giving them as loyalty gifts, since they would not only save on bags, but with appropriate printing, they would have walking billboards. Anyone who has read Donovan Hohns’ Moby Duck , in which he traces the fate of 28, 800 plastic bathtoys that had ...

It’s really hot and sticky so I am sitting here in my beautifully stitched second-hand Japanese kimono and wondering if it too was made by slave labour. Did it help to pay for a child's education, help a daughter take care of a parent, or just enable someone to live for another day? No, not a picture of my kimono. This is Watcher. a friend's fractal  design. See more at Schlaraffenland  They are even more spectacular with light and sound. Listen to one on You Tube It makes me think that perhaps consumer boycotts are not always the way to go. Though they are one of the most effective tools in our armoury against abuses of various kinds, don’t  they always hurt the little people at the bottom of the food chain most? I am thinking of a small and beautiful French restaurant here which folded when all things French were condemned during the era of French nuclear testing in the Pacific. I also think of the millions labouring in sweatshops when we say let’s not...

Just a quick update tonight. It's been 37oC all day. The neighbours are having a party and I have just finished a glass of wine. At least there are a few things to celebrate this week. The chickens are doing well, Amazon has withdrawn it's whale meat offerings from its Japanese website and there have been a couple of wins for gay people. It would be nice if we could now extend a little of that sympathy to sharks and stop shark finning . Sharks are not cuddly and not a few people wish they would stay away from our beaches, but sea life is under threat everywhere and not even they deserve to be treated like this.Watch the video and you will see what I mean.   Eating shark fin strikes me as another frivolous food fetish which causes unnecessary suffering, in much the same way as pate fois production does, not to mention the criminal waste involved. That is, it would not be so bad if the sharks were being used for food, but the fins are just cut off living creatures which ar...

Slim Pickings Such a lovely day. I went out blackberrying this morning. Great walk. Not many blackberries. This means that Landcare of which I have been a member from time to time, has done an excellent job in this area of eradicating invasive species, a big problem in Australia and, as I have just found out, even in the UK. Nevertheless, come autumn, I really miss them. I was looking forward to some apple and blackberry crumble and making a bit of jam, not to mention just hoofing some down with a bit of yoghurt and muesli. Maybe the time has come to consider them endangered and set aside a little plot somewhere - strictly fenced and controlled of course, where it's still possible to find a bit of wild fruit occasionally. Natives are nice. But you can't eat them. If we take this to its logical conclusion we should remove all the introduced humans as well. [By the way, does anyone know what that plant is on the left? It's a tree really, rather like an elm, but I have nev...

For Marie Colvin and Remi Ochlik Today's page is dedicated to the two journalists killed in Syria yesterday - Sunday Times correspondent Marie Colvin and French photographer Remi Ochlik and all the others who have fallen in the line of duty while "trying to shine a light into the darkest corners of their societies."  According to Reporters without Borders there have been five such deaths this year. A further 153 reporters have been imprisoned as have 120 internet activists. A report by the Brussels - based International News Safety Institute, quoted in Newswatch.in  says that the situation has steadily worsened since 2000, with over 1000 journalists being killed in the last decade. While there is no consistent information gathering and recording, the hall of shame currently looks like this: "Iraq (138), Russia (88), Colombia (72), Philippines (55), Iran (54), India (45), Algeria (32), the former republic of Yugoslavia (32), Mexico (31), Pakistan (29), Bra...

Don't worry only one of them works at any one time. Nomophobia according to an article by Deborah Netburn in the Sydney Morning Herald , is that profound anxiety you feel when you are without your mobile phone. It seems that polls in the UK show that it is rising, particularly among the young, but surprise, surprise, seniors are the next group affected. I suppose it could work as an excuse for a 'sickie' so long as your boss hasn' t read the article as well. Treatment is available. If I had nomophobia last week, I certainly don't have it now. Since I posted that very graphic picture of a dog in Spain, the trickle of news about animals has turned into a torrent. There are also many dedicated people and organisations taking action, mostly far more qualified to respond than I am, so that my main job now seems to be directing the traffic - local issues here, national issues there, international ones elsewhere. That's excellent, so long it gets the word o...

Oops! Just found out that just because something says, 'free stock photos,' you can't actually use them for free, so you have to look at my old pic of hazelnut pancakes again till I take some new ones. Today in celebration of Pancake Day I am experimenting with a variation on Lebanese pancakes which involves walnuts (haven't got any pistachios), rosewater and honey. There can't possibly be another food as versatile, cheap, ubiquitous or delicious as pancakes. You can have them with pineapple or banana in Bali; with smetana (sour cream) and berries or with ham and mushrooms in Russia; with stewed apple and cinnamon in Germany; as delicate crepes Suzette in France or with maple syrup in Canada and many variations in between. Although the form  - usually some combination of flour, eggs and too much fat, varies from place to place, Pancake Day is celebrated in many countries too. While the familiar flat, round pancakes are the norm in most of the English speaki...

A win for UK chickens Twenty four million chickens in the UK will be grateful. Although caged egg farming has not been phased out, the new types of cages which give the chickens more room, straw to scratch in, a nest box, a perch and a higher roof, should certainly allow them to lead more normal lives. The UK was among fourteen other countries which refused to follow a UN directive. The UN is now pursuing the other 13-Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Hungary, Latvia, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania and Spain. Read more... There's good news from the US too, where other big chains such as Subway (we have them in Oz too) are starting to follow the example set by Mc Donald's Related Stories Krispy Kreme Switching To Cage-Free Eggs Subway To Phase In Cage-Free Eggs: Victory For Hens Everywhere According to a recent Australian article in The Age , caged hens produce 20% less carbon  because hens allowed to wander freely require more fee...

It is Tibetan New Year on Wednesday, the 22nd. but will it be a happy one for Tibetans? At present it looks doubtful. Another monk burned himself two days ago, the third in the last few days and and the 22nd. in the past year. So far this has only resulted in further repression from Chinese authorities. It is a shame that Tibetan Buddhists are so peace - loving and killing themselves to try to save their beliefs and unique culture.They should take a leaf out of the books of their Korean counterparts who, despite being Buddhist, are allowed take up arms for a just cause. This has been going on for over fifty years, but has reached new levels of intensity since 2008 when many monks seeking to return to their homeland were brutally killed. Currently Avaaz.org has an enormous international petition going which will be sent to world leaders and the UN. Please sign this now and pass it it on to your friends, colleagues and anyone else you know. It is one of the few things we can d...

LOL It would be funny if it wasn't so sad. In the lead article in yesterday's Age , Mike Smith CEO of  ANZ, one of the four big banks in Australia, called for an end to "bank bashing" while announcing a $1.48 billion profit, the last of the four banks to do so, even though they have all shed thousands of jobs and raised interest rates. He also lashed out at tough new bank regulations being introduced around the world, predicting tough times ahead. Well they certainly will be. Especially for those who have lost their jobs and homes or are facing higher interest payments. We already have the highest interest rates in the world. Naturally the comments in response to this article were scathing, especially in the light of the enormous salaries paid to Mike Smith and his colleagues.A couple of typical ones follow: "Give me a break! The sooner consumers/customers can get rid of overpaid pratters (try $10 million per year) like one M Smith the better off we wil...

Adele at the 2012 Grammy Awards where she took out the awards in six categories I really, really wanted to send a Valentine to Adele, not just for her fabulous singing or for winning all those awards, but also for taking on Karl Largerfeld and his ilk. When criticised by Lagerfeld about her weight she responded by saying that she was " proud of her body because she represents the everywoman." "I've never wanted to look like models on the cover of magazines. I represent the majority of women and I'm very proud of that," she told People magazine . Real women, curvy women everywhere should be eternally grateful for that. Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/lifestyle/celebrity/dazzling-adele-silences-critics-20120216-1tae3.html#ixzz1malioRoO And, while I am doing a bit of Fashion bashing, I also applaud the article in this week's National Times Sexed up tween advertising shows fashion needs to grow up ...

Yes, I know it's shocking, but perhaps shock and outrage are necessary to hasten change This is one of the dogs a friend tried to save last year. She had gone to Spain to work on her doctoral thesis but found herself totally traumatised and caught  up with rescue work. She asked me afterwards if I knew anyone who could do something about it. Although I contacted a few organisations at the time, nothing much came of it. Yesterday when I was looking for her email address to send her a Valentine's card, I came across this picture that I hadn't noticed before. As I have since had contact with other concerned people and organisations who really are doing something about it, I will pass these on as a matter of urgency. Perhaps one of the most eloquent and active is Beryl Brennan who worked for BBC regional radio in Manchester and for local radio in Suffolk before retiring to rural France in 2002.  Having acquired her first stray greyhound while still in Suffolk, she has...