We made an audio book, in fact we made two audio books, but one still needs a bit of work on it. It's quite a fun thing to do, but incredibly time consuming if you are using a cheap voice recorder, because if you have one like mine, you can't just correct any mistakes immediately. This means that someone has to spend hours listening to the recordings and editing it, ... From now on, I'm going to use a microphone and watch the waveforms!
Anyway, that's why my website is still a mess... and it is! For some reason, the colours won't upload anymore, and I'm running out of space, which means that I have to make links to new pages. Happily, the paypal buttons still function properly, which is a relief, and it has Norton protection, so it is going strong at a basic level. It just needs three days to rebuild the whole thing, which is why this has to be a New Year's Resolution.
Meanwhile, the blog is becoming the basket for an an increasing number of projects, and the audio books and ebooks are the latest projects to be dumped in it.
The Eco Novel, "Everyone Can be a herO" is still being sold, and the Ebook has been out for a while and as soon as the audio book is finished, I'll put some clips out. There is an honest review you can find using Yahoo as search engine.
"Where The Fox Goes" is still about society and people caring, but it's quite a different sort of book, it is about people, who meet up because they are kind, either to each other or to a small cat, or both, and it's set in the last recession. Things happen because they are kind and they do care, and I'm not going to tell you the story, because what's the point of reading it or listening to it otherwise? The only thing I would add is that there are positive references to Australia and America and some history about the Enclosures.
It has a Christian background, but it isn't dogmatic. I don't really know how to classify it, because it isn't like the usual Christian family fiction which is on the web.
The only thing I would say about the audiobook is that this is like having someone you know reading to you, it isn't perfect or professional, but sometimes it is a bit better because of the way they do it.... and it comes free with the ebook.
The Ebook is currently in the simplest format possible and is emailed to you as a pdf for £1.00 (around $1.50 U.S dollars). You are given a link to download the Audio book.
You can order a copy from my website, Inside Outsider Publications, www.insideoutsider.co.uk
Everyone Can be a herO is on sale at the same price for the Ebook and £10 for the book.
.... And I shall be sorting out my website... honest
Thursday, 30 December 2010
Wednesday, 29 December 2010
Catching up.
Somehow, I seem to be missing some of the best things in the news, so I am really glad when someone else brings them to my attention. For example, before Christmas, I discovered a gem in London Glossy Magazine, which I was given as a freebie, that... to quote from the online account in the Irish Independent News in Ireland "
An even more important report came from part of a letter to the Western Morning News, which I have no hesitation in bring to your attention.
Dear WMNews,
At a recent Division in the House of Commons, our 600 or so MPs were lobbied to vote in favour of building more nuclear power stations. So they did - 570 in favour, less than 30 against, completely without any discussion in the House about the issues involved (and a week of discussions on this issue would hardly be enough). Also, this is without either of the proposed designs having been given a licence to proceed with construction, owing to still unresolved safety issues. Like lambs to the slaughter, you could say.
.........." perhaps I can quote a few facts from a recent report titled "Health Risks of Nuclear Power", written by Professor Jan Willem Storm van Leeuwen in Eindhoven, Holland. This was published on 22nd November and is available on-line, all 76 pages of it"..........
1) There are 440 nuclear power stations running in the world, plus 250 research reactors and 180 in ships and submarines.
2) Each one of them generates as much radioactivity, every single year, as is contained in 1,000 exploded nuclear bombs of 15 kilotonnes, which was the size dropped on Hiroshima.
3) All of this radioactivity is lethal to man. Radioactivity cannot be de-activated except by the passage of time. Lots of time. So it needs to be kept away from any contact with man for at least a thousand and possibly more like a million years.
4) To keep it away from contact with man, it must be contained in a secure depository, buried in a supposedly "geologically safe" underground area. No such depository has yet been completed anywhere in the world. Meanwhile, it is being stored in hundreds of "pools" and "ponds" all over the world, supposedly protected and guarded but easily subject to terrorist attack or environmental disruption by earthquake or tsunami or volcano.
5) The cost of a depository for the waste from just one power station for one year is estimated to be over £1 billion and rising. This will be an ongoing annual cost, for as long as each power station is running.
6) The cost of a depository for the results of dismantling just one power station is estimated to be at least £4-5 billion. This is a one-off cost, but a cost for each power station.
7) So when all the current power stations have been closed down - and their life is no more than about 60 years each, remember - disposing of the waste will cost the world at least £2,000 billion, and the cost for treating 60 years of radioactive waste considerably more than that again.
8) Considering the total estimated cost of all these safety-measures, it is evident that the world will be struggling to generate enough capital to finance costs on this scale. Capital, I should point out, that will have absolutely NO return whatever on the investment. Added to which our supplies of energy for building these underground warehouses are based predominantly on machinery driven by oil and gas, supplies of which are certainly not guaranteed for 1,000 years, or even 100 years. Then what? Can we build these depositories, and maintain their integrity, with picks and shovels?
Even if we closed down every nuclear power station tomorrow, these costs will be burdening the world for generations to come. Just closing down the Sellafield plant in the UK has been estimated will cost £60-120 billion, which is more than the entire cost, from start to finish, of the American Apollo project.
But who cares as long as there's a football match on Saturday and the pubs are still open tonight? It is quite evident that our MPs don't give it a single thought.
Sincerely, peter russell, earlswood, plymouth.
Monday November 22 2010:
"US nuclear weapons convoy drivers have been arrested for being drunk and getting involved in bar brawls during their overnight stops, a report has revealed.". You can look up the whole report under Warning on nuclear drivers arrests on the internet. I couldn't find it in any of the main English newspapers online, which probably shows how inept I am. Thank you to London Glossy for this.. and to the Irish Independent News.An even more important report came from part of a letter to the Western Morning News, which I have no hesitation in bring to your attention.
Dear WMNews,
At a recent Division in the House of Commons, our 600 or so MPs were lobbied to vote in favour of building more nuclear power stations. So they did - 570 in favour, less than 30 against, completely without any discussion in the House about the issues involved (and a week of discussions on this issue would hardly be enough). Also, this is without either of the proposed designs having been given a licence to proceed with construction, owing to still unresolved safety issues. Like lambs to the slaughter, you could say.
.........." perhaps I can quote a few facts from a recent report titled "Health Risks of Nuclear Power", written by Professor Jan Willem Storm van Leeuwen in Eindhoven, Holland. This was published on 22nd November and is available on-line, all 76 pages of it"..........
1) There are 440 nuclear power stations running in the world, plus 250 research reactors and 180 in ships and submarines.
2) Each one of them generates as much radioactivity, every single year, as is contained in 1,000 exploded nuclear bombs of 15 kilotonnes, which was the size dropped on Hiroshima.
3) All of this radioactivity is lethal to man. Radioactivity cannot be de-activated except by the passage of time. Lots of time. So it needs to be kept away from any contact with man for at least a thousand and possibly more like a million years.
4) To keep it away from contact with man, it must be contained in a secure depository, buried in a supposedly "geologically safe" underground area. No such depository has yet been completed anywhere in the world. Meanwhile, it is being stored in hundreds of "pools" and "ponds" all over the world, supposedly protected and guarded but easily subject to terrorist attack or environmental disruption by earthquake or tsunami or volcano.
5) The cost of a depository for the waste from just one power station for one year is estimated to be over £1 billion and rising. This will be an ongoing annual cost, for as long as each power station is running.
6) The cost of a depository for the results of dismantling just one power station is estimated to be at least £4-5 billion. This is a one-off cost, but a cost for each power station.
7) So when all the current power stations have been closed down - and their life is no more than about 60 years each, remember - disposing of the waste will cost the world at least £2,000 billion, and the cost for treating 60 years of radioactive waste considerably more than that again.
8) Considering the total estimated cost of all these safety-measures, it is evident that the world will be struggling to generate enough capital to finance costs on this scale. Capital, I should point out, that will have absolutely NO return whatever on the investment. Added to which our supplies of energy for building these underground warehouses are based predominantly on machinery driven by oil and gas, supplies of which are certainly not guaranteed for 1,000 years, or even 100 years. Then what? Can we build these depositories, and maintain their integrity, with picks and shovels?
Even if we closed down every nuclear power station tomorrow, these costs will be burdening the world for generations to come. Just closing down the Sellafield plant in the UK has been estimated will cost £60-120 billion, which is more than the entire cost, from start to finish, of the American Apollo project.
But who cares as long as there's a football match on Saturday and the pubs are still open tonight? It is quite evident that our MPs don't give it a single thought.
Sincerely, peter russell, earlswood, plymouth.
To be honest, I am more concerned with the human face of this, the sickness, the water and land contamination and possible mutations which future generations will be faced with for thousands of years... see my earlier blog.. Oct. 1st. 2010/
So Why Would Twenty Quebec Doctors resign en mass?
However, if you really think that the fiscal cost of all this nuclear power won't fall in part, on you in your lifetime, who else do you think is going to pay for it? The energy producers and suppliers have a ready made means of recouping their costs, yes.. and if you have an electricity bill and haven't switched to green energy.it's probably you.
Thank you Peter Russell and to the professor.
Sunday, 26 December 2010
Audio books
My website is solar powered with Californian Sun, which is a cheerful thought at the moment. However, at present I need to do a major overhaul of the pages and I haven't got time, so I'm using the blog to keep everyone up to date..
In view of the current financial situation, we have produced both Everyone Can be a herO and Where the Fox Goes as pdf ebooks which can be bought for one English pound each. Where the Fox Goes is a basic text only production and so is a light download at around 600kb and we have just finished an audio book of this, which anyone one who buys the ebook can get free by emailing me for the link. It's around six and a half hours long and is read by a man and is avaiable as an MP3 file.
Even if the website looks a mess, the paypal buttons are working and we have Norton security. The audiobook for Everyone Can be a herO should be out soon too.
My email address isinoutpublic@aol.co.uk and the website is www.insidoutsider.co.uk (Inside Outsider Publications).
In view of the current financial situation, we have produced both Everyone Can be a herO and Where the Fox Goes as pdf ebooks which can be bought for one English pound each. Where the Fox Goes is a basic text only production and so is a light download at around 600kb and we have just finished an audio book of this, which anyone one who buys the ebook can get free by emailing me for the link. It's around six and a half hours long and is read by a man and is avaiable as an MP3 file.
Even if the website looks a mess, the paypal buttons are working and we have Norton security. The audiobook for Everyone Can be a herO should be out soon too.
My email address isinoutpublic@aol.co.uk and the website is www.insidoutsider.co.uk (Inside Outsider Publications).
Monday, 13 December 2010
So how much is the compound interest on a student loan after you haven't paid for five years?
I don't know but I guess it's an awful lot and just when you think things are looking up and you get a reasonable bonus for all that extra hard work, will the loan computer decide that your income has suddenly gone up and take most of it off you? My guess is "Yes" but I suggest you ask an M.P. since they were so keen to inflict this on you.
If the universities are so determined to have this kind of fee system, they should be more flexible and allow students to opt in and out on a yearly basis, paying off their degree before it mounts up. I think it is tragic that after years of a fairly egalitarian system, suddenly the most expensive courses to run are only easily available to the kids of rich parents and a handful of the token poor.
If the government wants students to pay, why can't they fund an interest free loan, even if it costs a bit more? At least you would know where you are. I am not kidding about interest.. You need some hard figures before you look at any deferred payments and no one I know had seen a chart telling you how much you will owe if you haven't reached £21,000 annual salary after five, ten, or fifteen years, or if you take a break or do part time work to fit in with looking after a family.
I'd love an answer and I am really sorry that this is happening to you.
If the universities are so determined to have this kind of fee system, they should be more flexible and allow students to opt in and out on a yearly basis, paying off their degree before it mounts up. I think it is tragic that after years of a fairly egalitarian system, suddenly the most expensive courses to run are only easily available to the kids of rich parents and a handful of the token poor.
If the government wants students to pay, why can't they fund an interest free loan, even if it costs a bit more? At least you would know where you are. I am not kidding about interest.. You need some hard figures before you look at any deferred payments and no one I know had seen a chart telling you how much you will owe if you haven't reached £21,000 annual salary after five, ten, or fifteen years, or if you take a break or do part time work to fit in with looking after a family.
I'd love an answer and I am really sorry that this is happening to you.
Sunday, 10 October 2010
So why would twenty Quebec doctors resign en mass?
It's not usual for one doctor to resign on principle but when twenty Canadian doctors walk together, there has to be a pretty powerful reason. The cause for this extreme move was the concern they had about the proposed mining of uranium in their province. Two other provinces had already refused to allow it. This happened in December of last year and I only recently came across it. You can read the details in the Spring Edition of Nukewatch Quarterly.. under: twenty doctors resign (!) These guys aren't stupid, nor are the members of the Australian trades union, who refuse to work in uranium mines.
....Last year twenty doctors, including specialists, resigned en mass from their hospital in Sept Isles, Canada in protest at the Quebec government's decision not to ban uranium mining in their province, unlike British Columbia and Nova Scotia, who already have. There were plans for Uranium mining on the North Shore of Quebec. The doctors wrote about the historical contamination of drinking water,environmental destruction and, irreversible health hazards. You can read the full report at http://www.nukewatchinfo.org/Quarterly/2010spring/page1%5B1%5D.pdf (It's at the bottom of the page on the right hand side.)These are professional people, and they resigned as a group in an advanced nation. Canada has around 20% of the world's uranium supplies.
Cross to Australia and you will find that the electricians in a trades union.the ETU Queensland and Northern Territories Branch are opposed to uranium mining....The branch refuses to let any of its members work in uranium mining projects "When the Dust Settles" is a DVD production to explain to Members and the people of Australia the dangers and effects that Uranium mining creates.
Now come back to America, and an indigenous people. I read that the Navajo Nation has banned Uranium mining on their land.
According to Wikipedia,
"For a people that historically had almost no cases, currently several types of cancer are in evidence at rates higher than the national average on the Four Corners Navajo Reservation. (Raloff, 2004) Especially high are the rates of reproductive-organ cancers in teenage Navajo girls, averaging seventeen times higher than the average of girls in the United States.
It has been suspected that uranium mines, both active and abandoned, have released dust into the surrounding air and the water supply. Studies done on mice, exposing them to a soluble form of uranium similar to what might enter groundwater from the mines, showed heavy increases in oestrogen levels which might explain the increased cancer levels among Navajo girls. The amount of uranium given to the mice was half the level permitted by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, and one-tenth the level found in some wells on the Navajo reservation."
Water contamination for many thousands of years is one of the problems that people fear in the areas surrounding uranium mining.
You will see that this is one reason why they don't want it, apart from a history of exploitation, sickness and deaths,from mining..
Now, ask yourself where the uranium mining exploration and granting of licenses is going on at full speed, and one of the places is Africa, and the people who will be affected are some of the poorest and least formally educated in the world. Do you think that their voice will be heard? It's a struggle for people in developed nations with a history of sickness and deaths from uranium mining.
High burn up fuel is not the answer. The waste has to be kept on site for a minimum of 50 to 160 years before it can be safely moved. This is hardly a fair legacy to leave a generation in this country as yet unborn, facing we know not what problems and who will get no benefit from it? I have read that it is too hot to bury safely.
We have brilliant people working on renewables. In this country we have enough wind and wave and tidal energy to keep us supplied and have spare to export. In Australia, in the desert, Dr. Karl states that an area 50km by 50km of solar voltaic would provide enough electrical energy for the whole of Australia and an area 500km by 500km would supply enough electrical energy to supply the whole world. Come on guys, we can do it. Think what a future you could be leaving your grandchildren. Think happy.
....Last year twenty doctors, including specialists, resigned en mass from their hospital in Sept Isles, Canada in protest at the Quebec government's decision not to ban uranium mining in their province, unlike British Columbia and Nova Scotia, who already have. There were plans for Uranium mining on the North Shore of Quebec. The doctors wrote about the historical contamination of drinking water,environmental destruction and, irreversible health hazards. You can read the full report at http://www.nukewatchinfo.org/Quarterly/2010spring/page1%5B1%5D.pdf (It's at the bottom of the page on the right hand side.)These are professional people, and they resigned as a group in an advanced nation. Canada has around 20% of the world's uranium supplies.
Cross to Australia and you will find that the electricians in a trades union.the ETU Queensland and Northern Territories Branch are opposed to uranium mining....The branch refuses to let any of its members work in uranium mining projects "When the Dust Settles" is a DVD production to explain to Members and the people of Australia the dangers and effects that Uranium mining creates.
Now come back to America, and an indigenous people. I read that the Navajo Nation has banned Uranium mining on their land.
According to Wikipedia,
"For a people that historically had almost no cases, currently several types of cancer are in evidence at rates higher than the national average on the Four Corners Navajo Reservation. (Raloff, 2004) Especially high are the rates of reproductive-organ cancers in teenage Navajo girls, averaging seventeen times higher than the average of girls in the United States.
It has been suspected that uranium mines, both active and abandoned, have released dust into the surrounding air and the water supply. Studies done on mice, exposing them to a soluble form of uranium similar to what might enter groundwater from the mines, showed heavy increases in oestrogen levels which might explain the increased cancer levels among Navajo girls. The amount of uranium given to the mice was half the level permitted by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, and one-tenth the level found in some wells on the Navajo reservation."
Water contamination for many thousands of years is one of the problems that people fear in the areas surrounding uranium mining.
You will see that this is one reason why they don't want it, apart from a history of exploitation, sickness and deaths,from mining..
Now, ask yourself where the uranium mining exploration and granting of licenses is going on at full speed, and one of the places is Africa, and the people who will be affected are some of the poorest and least formally educated in the world. Do you think that their voice will be heard? It's a struggle for people in developed nations with a history of sickness and deaths from uranium mining.
High burn up fuel is not the answer. The waste has to be kept on site for a minimum of 50 to 160 years before it can be safely moved. This is hardly a fair legacy to leave a generation in this country as yet unborn, facing we know not what problems and who will get no benefit from it? I have read that it is too hot to bury safely.
We have brilliant people working on renewables. In this country we have enough wind and wave and tidal energy to keep us supplied and have spare to export. In Australia, in the desert, Dr. Karl states that an area 50km by 50km of solar voltaic would provide enough electrical energy for the whole of Australia and an area 500km by 500km would supply enough electrical energy to supply the whole world. Come on guys, we can do it. Think what a future you could be leaving your grandchildren. Think happy.
Sunday, 15 August 2010
Extract from "Where The Fox Goes,"
All he could do was press on. He would get to the Nativity play. Perhaps someone he knew would spot him walking and offer him a lift. In an unusually gritty voice, he started to sing one of his favourite hymns as he trudged back up the hill.
"Who would true valour see
Let him come hither:
One here will constant be,
Come wind, come weather."
The mist was closing in now and it swirled around in the wind. Sometimes he could see a fair distance, before it rolled in towards him again.
Ahead of him, he heard a voice. He was certain that he heard a voice.
He stopped singing, but the voice of a young woman carried on.
"There's no discouragement
Shall make him once relent
His first avowed intent
To be a pilgrim."
Alan caught sight of her, now. His fellow chorister was wearing a red head scarf, a blue rain coat and gum boots and she was walking down the hill towards him. She waved to him, a joyful, friendly wave and turned abruptly into the hedge and disappeared from sight.
He could still hear her singing and he hurried up the hill, joining in.
"Who so beset him round
With dismal stories,"
Where was she? There was a small gap in the hedge and the singing came from the other side.
"Do but themselves confound:
His strength the more is."
Alan walked through the thick hedge and came out onto a wide expanse of grass leading into the mist from which he could still hear the singing, exultant and floating further away as the singer hurried on.
He raised his voice to carry with hers. He didn't care what he sounded like, he just wanted to join in.
"No lion can him fright,
He'll with a giant fight."
The words of the hymn rose through the mist, bravely,
"But he will have the right
To be a pilgrim."
Alan knew where he was now. He was walking on Beatrice's Way, a raised swathe of land, which ran directly across the wasteland to the almshouses and the road in which St. Mary's Hall stood. It was an old green lane used by the drovers, but he was amazed that it was still clear.
The girl's voice, sweet and soft in the damp air led him forward in the right direction even when he couldn't see more than a few yards ahead.
He sang now, without fear and with a sense of inner peace that he hadn't known since Mary was alive.....
Later in the story,
Alan made contact with his friends and feverish activity went on for several days. Documents were found and copied, advice was taken, opinions sought until he knew the case was complete.
They decided to hold a public meeting in the church hall and invited their M.P., the developers, the council planning committee members and the general public.
On the night, Alan was surprised by how many people he knew had turned up. There were numbers of grandparents whose battles he had fought when they were young, with their children and even grandchildren. The local vet was there and a couple of architects he had approached, when he had needed to provide alternative schemes.
The history society was well represented and to everyone's surprise, the owner of two of the empty factories was there. The general public was considerable: people from throughout the town who had played in the wastelands as children, walkers' groups, the chairman of the allotment holders' association. Teachers, who used the wastelands for educating the children about the environment, people who went there from the town when they needed space to think, bird watchers, bat watchers, the list was impressive. The natural history society was there in force.
People were standing at the back of the hall, because there were no more seats left. Both sides spoke....
(copyright. J.R.Birch 2004)
"Who would true valour see
Let him come hither:
One here will constant be,
Come wind, come weather."
The mist was closing in now and it swirled around in the wind. Sometimes he could see a fair distance, before it rolled in towards him again.
Ahead of him, he heard a voice. He was certain that he heard a voice.
He stopped singing, but the voice of a young woman carried on.
"There's no discouragement
Shall make him once relent
His first avowed intent
To be a pilgrim."
Alan caught sight of her, now. His fellow chorister was wearing a red head scarf, a blue rain coat and gum boots and she was walking down the hill towards him. She waved to him, a joyful, friendly wave and turned abruptly into the hedge and disappeared from sight.
He could still hear her singing and he hurried up the hill, joining in.
"Who so beset him round
With dismal stories,"
Where was she? There was a small gap in the hedge and the singing came from the other side.
"Do but themselves confound:
His strength the more is."
Alan walked through the thick hedge and came out onto a wide expanse of grass leading into the mist from which he could still hear the singing, exultant and floating further away as the singer hurried on.
He raised his voice to carry with hers. He didn't care what he sounded like, he just wanted to join in.
"No lion can him fright,
He'll with a giant fight."
The words of the hymn rose through the mist, bravely,
"But he will have the right
To be a pilgrim."
Alan knew where he was now. He was walking on Beatrice's Way, a raised swathe of land, which ran directly across the wasteland to the almshouses and the road in which St. Mary's Hall stood. It was an old green lane used by the drovers, but he was amazed that it was still clear.
The girl's voice, sweet and soft in the damp air led him forward in the right direction even when he couldn't see more than a few yards ahead.
He sang now, without fear and with a sense of inner peace that he hadn't known since Mary was alive.....
Later in the story,
Alan made contact with his friends and feverish activity went on for several days. Documents were found and copied, advice was taken, opinions sought until he knew the case was complete.
They decided to hold a public meeting in the church hall and invited their M.P., the developers, the council planning committee members and the general public.
On the night, Alan was surprised by how many people he knew had turned up. There were numbers of grandparents whose battles he had fought when they were young, with their children and even grandchildren. The local vet was there and a couple of architects he had approached, when he had needed to provide alternative schemes.
The history society was well represented and to everyone's surprise, the owner of two of the empty factories was there. The general public was considerable: people from throughout the town who had played in the wastelands as children, walkers' groups, the chairman of the allotment holders' association. Teachers, who used the wastelands for educating the children about the environment, people who went there from the town when they needed space to think, bird watchers, bat watchers, the list was impressive. The natural history society was there in force.
People were standing at the back of the hall, because there were no more seats left. Both sides spoke....
(copyright. J.R.Birch 2004)
Saturday, 14 August 2010
Where The Fox Goes.
This post is in addition to my usual ones. As well as Everyone Can be a herO, I have recently put onto PDF the first novel I ever wrote, updated and rephrased in places, but nevertheless, a book of the early nineties, which were surprisingly relevant to our current situation.
This was the time just before nearly everyone had a mobile 'phone and most people weren't conversant with computers, unless it was for work. It was also one of the last times I remember when kid had more freedom and used to play outside. It was another time of factory closures as trade was moved to places where they paid less and made more profit.
I first wrote it as a television series and sent an outline to Alan Yentob, in 2003. This series never happened (!) but it actually makes a better book anyway. We are flogging it for a pound a pdf on my website, www.insideoutsider.co.uk when I can get the Home Page on line.
A fox makes it's way through a town and the surrounding countryside, the path it takes leads it through the gardens,allotments and landscape of the families in the book. They have cut backs and job losses and the allotments and wastelands are under threat from a developer. This is a book in which Christians are not afraid to sing hymns as they walk down a country lane. These same paths were trodden by Christians in the times of the enclosures and it is their commitment to the people around both in the eighteen nineties and in the nineteen nineties which counts in the plot. It is a family book and it also contains the story of a lost cat, who, like the fox, touches on people's lives, arousing compassion and affecting their lives for the better.
This was the time just before nearly everyone had a mobile 'phone and most people weren't conversant with computers, unless it was for work. It was also one of the last times I remember when kid had more freedom and used to play outside. It was another time of factory closures as trade was moved to places where they paid less and made more profit.
I first wrote it as a television series and sent an outline to Alan Yentob, in 2003. This series never happened (!) but it actually makes a better book anyway. We are flogging it for a pound a pdf on my website, www.insideoutsider.co.uk when I can get the Home Page on line.
A fox makes it's way through a town and the surrounding countryside, the path it takes leads it through the gardens,allotments and landscape of the families in the book. They have cut backs and job losses and the allotments and wastelands are under threat from a developer. This is a book in which Christians are not afraid to sing hymns as they walk down a country lane. These same paths were trodden by Christians in the times of the enclosures and it is their commitment to the people around both in the eighteen nineties and in the nineteen nineties which counts in the plot. It is a family book and it also contains the story of a lost cat, who, like the fox, touches on people's lives, arousing compassion and affecting their lives for the better.
Monday, 2 August 2010
Raising the temperature... Whose water is it anyway?
A week or so ago I reported the good news that all we have to do is to eat organic and bring back the world to an organic system of food growing, as well reforesting, to not only stop global warming but reverse it. This came in the form of an article and alert in organic byte #227 from the Organic Consumers Association via a tweet.
Never in the history of mankind , surely, has such an important piece of news been delivered in such a singular way!.... but there it is... you don't need to do anything more fancy than going back to growing food the way our great grandparents did, to save the world.
This cannot come soon enough. This week, I had a news update from The Ecologist, the ecological early warning e magazine, reporting on a paper by a Canadian researchers, headed by Daniel Boyce, a PhD student at Dalhousie University, published in Nature.
It appears that while the beneficial mycorrhizal fungi in the soil can seqester back all the CO2 we produce and more, given half a chance; the phytoplankton in the surface layers of the sea have not been doing so well.. In fact their numbers have been going down worldwide each year by 1% since 1950. The Northern hemisphere has lost 40%. This seems to be due to the temperature of the water going up.
The Phytoplankton produce half the world's oxygen and remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, according to Boris Worm, another member of the team.
You can find mention of it on the internet.. CBS has a short report, for one, which is where these figures came from, and which the link is to, but there are others.
It raises the question, do the billions and billions of gallons of water, sucked in by the nuclear power plants every day around the world, which also suck in and kill billions of small marine animals, have a crucial role in this?
From some figures I obtained from Beyond Nuclear, by going to " Licensed to Kill" (or go to 'Animals' and choose it from the drop down menu, or key it in their search box), "Once Through" systems can raise the temperature of the water taken in by up to 25 degrees Fahrenheit when it is returned to the sea. These temperature changes and the huge volumes of water being returned to the surface layers of the seas makes me wonder if the very air we breath depends on their being closed down? It may depend on no new ones being even considered..
If these "once through" plants were all forced to close down until they had been retro fitted with cooling towers, it would reduce this problem..but before you think that's the answer, just look at the problems with cooling towers and tritium leaks and ask yourselves whether that is an especially good answer.
In this country, Sellafield can take 4 million gallons of water a day from Wastwater, a beauty spot in the Lake District, to keep the high level liquid wastes from boiling, that's a lot in a year, but unlike the nuclear power plants, you can't shut down the cooling to the tanks, because the radioactivity in them causes the liquids to get hotter and hotter, and the wastes have to be kept cool for years and years. Meanwhile, local people are complaining about a hosepipe ban!
There are alternatives and you are entitled to a secure future... all of you. But don't worry about global warming, you can still munch your way out of it. Will there be enough for everyone... well, if you read "Don't Panic, Go Organic", also in the OCA., of course there will.
Never in the history of mankind , surely, has such an important piece of news been delivered in such a singular way!.... but there it is... you don't need to do anything more fancy than going back to growing food the way our great grandparents did, to save the world.
This cannot come soon enough. This week, I had a news update from The Ecologist, the ecological early warning e magazine, reporting on a paper by a Canadian researchers, headed by Daniel Boyce, a PhD student at Dalhousie University, published in Nature.
It appears that while the beneficial mycorrhizal fungi in the soil can seqester back all the CO2 we produce and more, given half a chance; the phytoplankton in the surface layers of the sea have not been doing so well.. In fact their numbers have been going down worldwide each year by 1% since 1950. The Northern hemisphere has lost 40%. This seems to be due to the temperature of the water going up.
The Phytoplankton produce half the world's oxygen and remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, according to Boris Worm, another member of the team.
You can find mention of it on the internet.. CBS has a short report, for one, which is where these figures came from, and which the link is to, but there are others.
It raises the question, do the billions and billions of gallons of water, sucked in by the nuclear power plants every day around the world, which also suck in and kill billions of small marine animals, have a crucial role in this?
From some figures I obtained from Beyond Nuclear, by going to " Licensed to Kill" (or go to 'Animals' and choose it from the drop down menu, or key it in their search box), "Once Through" systems can raise the temperature of the water taken in by up to 25 degrees Fahrenheit when it is returned to the sea. These temperature changes and the huge volumes of water being returned to the surface layers of the seas makes me wonder if the very air we breath depends on their being closed down? It may depend on no new ones being even considered..
If these "once through" plants were all forced to close down until they had been retro fitted with cooling towers, it would reduce this problem..but before you think that's the answer, just look at the problems with cooling towers and tritium leaks and ask yourselves whether that is an especially good answer.
In this country, Sellafield can take 4 million gallons of water a day from Wastwater, a beauty spot in the Lake District, to keep the high level liquid wastes from boiling, that's a lot in a year, but unlike the nuclear power plants, you can't shut down the cooling to the tanks, because the radioactivity in them causes the liquids to get hotter and hotter, and the wastes have to be kept cool for years and years. Meanwhile, local people are complaining about a hosepipe ban!
There are alternatives and you are entitled to a secure future... all of you. But don't worry about global warming, you can still munch your way out of it. Will there be enough for everyone... well, if you read "Don't Panic, Go Organic", also in the OCA., of course there will.
Saturday, 24 July 2010
The End of Oil
A lot of speculation is happening about how and when. Personally, I very much hope that Renewables will cut in before it gets too bad. Anyone who thinks that mining Uranium and the whole process of building, running, cooling, protecting and decomissioning nuclear power plants, let alone trying to deal with the waste, has less carbon footprint than all the other forms of energy, will do well to look at the recent figures..The further you go into the future, the move damage you are doing to people, the environment , and the higher the carbon footprint becomes.
The end of oil, as we have known it, is coming. There are a a lot of lovely transition people out there, planning a better future and I was amazed at just how many groups there are in the U.K.
One person who lives sustainably as well as writing about it, and not just from the countryside homesteader point of view, is Micheal Smith (Veshengro) of The Green (Living) Review.
He has recently written a short book, called The End of Oil. It is one man's view of the future and a genuine, not overly theoretical, summary of some of the ways to live in this new society. It is honest, forthright and original and comes with years of experience of dealing with things as they are, rather than as consumersville would have us live.
I have benefited from Michael's genuine warmth for anyone writing whose work he thinks is of value and have read his attacks on greenwash. I read his blog regularly because it has its own voice, I learn from it and I am never bored by it. I love passages in his book which come with the sense of humour I now expect from him,.viz : the American approach to writing upside down in space and the Russian one. The former was thousands of dollars of research into a pen which would do this...which to be fair, they achieved... and the Russians? Used a pencil.
In his advertisement for the book, there is a whole chapter for you to read, to find out more. The End Of Oil by Michael Smith ( Veshengro)
The end of oil, as we have known it, is coming. There are a a lot of lovely transition people out there, planning a better future and I was amazed at just how many groups there are in the U.K.
One person who lives sustainably as well as writing about it, and not just from the countryside homesteader point of view, is Micheal Smith (Veshengro) of The Green (Living) Review.
He has recently written a short book, called The End of Oil. It is one man's view of the future and a genuine, not overly theoretical, summary of some of the ways to live in this new society. It is honest, forthright and original and comes with years of experience of dealing with things as they are, rather than as consumersville would have us live.
I have benefited from Michael's genuine warmth for anyone writing whose work he thinks is of value and have read his attacks on greenwash. I read his blog regularly because it has its own voice, I learn from it and I am never bored by it. I love passages in his book which come with the sense of humour I now expect from him,.viz : the American approach to writing upside down in space and the Russian one. The former was thousands of dollars of research into a pen which would do this...which to be fair, they achieved... and the Russians? Used a pencil.
In his advertisement for the book, there is a whole chapter for you to read, to find out more. The End Of Oil by Michael Smith ( Veshengro)
Saturday, 3 July 2010
This one, you can eat your way out of!
Does any of you ever have a sneaky suspicion that the scientists may be missing something when it comes to global warming? We know that it's real and we know that it's happening and apparently it didn't happen before man stood up, but doesn't it ever occur to you that there must have been a lot of dust and ash and stuff being shoved into the earth's atmosphere in its turbulent history, so have they really got it right?
Well yes and no! The answer is so stunningly obvious that I don't know why we didn't all get it straight away.
It took The Organic Consumer to produce the answer to it all in one of their "organic bytes" on Twitter. Funny isn't it, how one of the most important pieces of information this century comes as a tweet. http://bit.ly/cAp1JV on June 3rd 2010. " Go organic change the world, not the climate". If you don't like using links, just search with organic bytes 227 and the page will come up on the Organic Consumers' Association website. The two extracts below are from the first two articles, which I really recommend.
Change the World Go Organic
"If you do just one thing to change the world, go organic"
"going organic is the single most critical (and most DOABLE) action we can take right now to stop our climate crisis. Every acre of of ground that's farmed organically has the potential to pull thousands of pounds of warming greenhouse gases out of the air."...
"Organic living can stop the climate crisis. When you combine the impact of protecting the beneficial mycorrhizal fungi in the soil (which absorb and neutralize carbon) and eliminating all the toxic chemicals (and their packaging and the energy spent producing them), the carbon problem in our atmosphere is practically solved. We will still need more renewable energy, but restoring the earth's ability to sequester carbon is a good place to start. And you'll do it while eating."
- Maria Rochdale, Organic Manefesto: How Organic Farming Can Heal Our Planet, Feed the World and Keep us Safe.
Alert of the Week: Demand Organic in Climate Change Bill
"A shift to local and organic food and crop production would eliminate most fossil fuel use and greenhouse gas emissions, including deadly methane and nitrous oxide emissions, while saving the world's forests and turning our farm and ranch lands back into carbon sinks or storage areas, instead of emitters. Transitioning just the world's 3.5 billion acres of cropland to organic would sequester 40% annual emissions! Transitioning all range and pasture lands as well, along with global reforestation, would enable us to remove enough excess greenhouse gases to reverse global warming and stabilize the climate."
If we just went back to growing food the way our great grandparents did, we wouldn't have a problem any more. ...and, it tastes a whole lot better.
Well yes and no! The answer is so stunningly obvious that I don't know why we didn't all get it straight away.
It took The Organic Consumer to produce the answer to it all in one of their "organic bytes" on Twitter. Funny isn't it, how one of the most important pieces of information this century comes as a tweet. http://bit.ly/cAp1JV on June 3rd 2010. " Go organic change the world, not the climate". If you don't like using links, just search with organic bytes 227 and the page will come up on the Organic Consumers' Association website. The two extracts below are from the first two articles, which I really recommend.
Change the World Go Organic
"If you do just one thing to change the world, go organic"
"going organic is the single most critical (and most DOABLE) action we can take right now to stop our climate crisis. Every acre of of ground that's farmed organically has the potential to pull thousands of pounds of warming greenhouse gases out of the air."...
"Organic living can stop the climate crisis. When you combine the impact of protecting the beneficial mycorrhizal fungi in the soil (which absorb and neutralize carbon) and eliminating all the toxic chemicals (and their packaging and the energy spent producing them), the carbon problem in our atmosphere is practically solved. We will still need more renewable energy, but restoring the earth's ability to sequester carbon is a good place to start. And you'll do it while eating."
- Maria Rochdale, Organic Manefesto: How Organic Farming Can Heal Our Planet, Feed the World and Keep us Safe.
Alert of the Week: Demand Organic in Climate Change Bill
"A shift to local and organic food and crop production would eliminate most fossil fuel use and greenhouse gas emissions, including deadly methane and nitrous oxide emissions, while saving the world's forests and turning our farm and ranch lands back into carbon sinks or storage areas, instead of emitters. Transitioning just the world's 3.5 billion acres of cropland to organic would sequester 40% annual emissions! Transitioning all range and pasture lands as well, along with global reforestation, would enable us to remove enough excess greenhouse gases to reverse global warming and stabilize the climate."
If we just went back to growing food the way our great grandparents did, we wouldn't have a problem any more. ...and, it tastes a whole lot better.
Peak oil and transition....It's not so bad!
About Peak Oil....It wasn't so bad ...Kirk and Maria discussed this early on in the book...
Just for the record, I wrote to the effect that the oil had nearly run out some time before the nuclear accident. It was so expensive that most people couldn't afford it. Local communities started up again, traffic accidents went down, the air was cleaner...The only problem was nuclear fuel... as Maria says wistfully, "without that we'd have had a good future."
The nuclear accident happened afterwards. It did not take out the old fashioned cars, but leave the computers and televisions working. No, the petrol driven cars had already stopped working. The computers, as is mentioned in the book, were solar powered, and the television service was limited. The fact that I already have a marvelously sun powered website, genuinely powered by Californian sun, and very cheaply to boot, makes me think that it is just possible that this might still be happening in the future. Furthermore, as I read that certain computer giants were already looking at Scottish wind and wave power for energy to power the internet, maybe the internet would be functioning.
Also, if you were a government in a post nuclear country, where an accident had taken out some of the counties, but not all of them, and the prevailing wind at the time meant that there was still a population which was not yet drastically affected, although everyone knew the cancers would come, and come sooner rather than later, which which was one reason why no one talked about it...... Maybe you would think that the internet was a good way of communicating with people.
I didn't explain about the cancers, or the risks of their children having mutations in the story, but the way the reality hits Maria, just when life is full of promise, was more than enough. I have blogged about the resulting problems as a guest author on another website.
The teenagers in this story want to have fun, they like being with their friends and life is for living.
Anyway, it's your future, it can be great, so be positive, take a look at the next post because life CAN be brilliant. Absolutely, utterly, amazingly, brilliant.
Just for the record, I wrote to the effect that the oil had nearly run out some time before the nuclear accident. It was so expensive that most people couldn't afford it. Local communities started up again, traffic accidents went down, the air was cleaner...The only problem was nuclear fuel... as Maria says wistfully, "without that we'd have had a good future."
The nuclear accident happened afterwards. It did not take out the old fashioned cars, but leave the computers and televisions working. No, the petrol driven cars had already stopped working. The computers, as is mentioned in the book, were solar powered, and the television service was limited. The fact that I already have a marvelously sun powered website, genuinely powered by Californian sun, and very cheaply to boot, makes me think that it is just possible that this might still be happening in the future. Furthermore, as I read that certain computer giants were already looking at Scottish wind and wave power for energy to power the internet, maybe the internet would be functioning.
Also, if you were a government in a post nuclear country, where an accident had taken out some of the counties, but not all of them, and the prevailing wind at the time meant that there was still a population which was not yet drastically affected, although everyone knew the cancers would come, and come sooner rather than later, which which was one reason why no one talked about it...... Maybe you would think that the internet was a good way of communicating with people.
I didn't explain about the cancers, or the risks of their children having mutations in the story, but the way the reality hits Maria, just when life is full of promise, was more than enough. I have blogged about the resulting problems as a guest author on another website.
The teenagers in this story want to have fun, they like being with their friends and life is for living.
Anyway, it's your future, it can be great, so be positive, take a look at the next post because life CAN be brilliant. Absolutely, utterly, amazingly, brilliant.
Tuesday, 29 June 2010
An Ebook you don't need a reader for.
If you haven't already been to our website, the e book is emailed to you as a pdf and it doesn't need a reader, just download it. How much does it cost? £2.00 and if you give us the email addresses of a friend when you order, we'll send them a pdf free. Go to www.insideoutsider.co.uk ...to order. And yes, we'd love some feedback from you.
Did anyone else see the Homer Simpson tweet about the oil spill and nuclear waste... Very astute and it had been re-tweeted masses of times when I caught up with it.
Tuesday, 27 April 2010
The Green(Living)Review
A huge thank you to Michael Smith for the really great review..It's so good when someone sees what you are trying to do. If you haven't visited the blog, I'd recommend it, and I personally found the obituary of Dug Out Dick, a cave dweller who died recently at the age of 94, very interesting and out of the usual.
Wednesday, 21 April 2010
Leaks from nuclear power plants, birth defects from Chornobyl. Go to Beyond Nuclear for the latest news
Have just read some of a fifty page report from Beyond Nuclear, mainly about tritium, and page after page of recorded leaks in the USA of radioactive waste. Just because tritium isn't a large atom, it doesn't mean it can't do you any harm. It replaces hydrogen in the body. Do you know how much of your body is made up of hydrogen atoms? Have a guess. Research it...It's in their report and it might surprise you!
Beyond Nuclear is written to inform the public, so there isn't anything I have come across which hadn't been explained so that I couldn't understand it easily. Tritium doesn't just leak from underground USA waste pipes.
The other recent report is about birth defects in babies being born in the Ukraine, around Chornobyl. This is an up to date report and is different from the previous U.N report.These babies weren't born when the accident happened.
Beyond Nuclear is written to inform the public, so there isn't anything I have come across which hadn't been explained so that I couldn't understand it easily. Tritium doesn't just leak from underground USA waste pipes.
The other recent report is about birth defects in babies being born in the Ukraine, around Chornobyl. This is an up to date report and is different from the previous U.N report.These babies weren't born when the accident happened.
UKAWARE2010
On Friday and Saturday of last week was at Olympia, at their green exhibition. It's one of the best places I know to meet friendly helpful people and network in the most positive way. I land up winging that I can't sell stuff like other people, because I am rubbish at selling to anyone! I prefer giving stuff away..and I am so impressed by people who can sell and they do there! I love talking to people though, and unfortunately mostly about nuclear power.
Someone who makes an immediate impression is Michael Smith, Editor of GREEN (LIVING) REVIEW, bursting with ideas and information. I really enjoyed talking to him and he was so helpful.
You know when you get that lovely feeling when you are on the same side as the people you are talking to? It happened a lot there, with visitors and other stall holders, who wander round and chat to each other.
There were a lot of young people there too, especially taking part. It was great.
More of the other exhibitors later .. Meantime..ukaware.com is the place to see a variety of green ways of getting around and all sorts of bright ideas.
Someone who makes an immediate impression is Michael Smith, Editor of GREEN (LIVING) REVIEW, bursting with ideas and information. I really enjoyed talking to him and he was so helpful.
You know when you get that lovely feeling when you are on the same side as the people you are talking to? It happened a lot there, with visitors and other stall holders, who wander round and chat to each other.
There were a lot of young people there too, especially taking part. It was great.
More of the other exhibitors later .. Meantime..ukaware.com is the place to see a variety of green ways of getting around and all sorts of bright ideas.
Sunday, 11 April 2010
Tenner Films
Hi, Have just been in contact with Tenner films. Check them out! They have a new approach to the issue. A number of films about nuclear issues. They have completed some, I watched number one and looking forward to the rest.. This is reaching new people instead of the same people! www.tennerfilms.com If you are into films, these are different!
Saturday, 13 March 2010
Thanks for coming to this blog!
Hi, thanks for making it this far!. Just to update. If you are thinking of buying a book, don't forget that we care about your security as well. We only sell online using PayPal button or PayPal invoices. If it isn't authentic, don't go with it.. You can pay with a cheque or postal order or even cash if you live near enough! If you are overseas, we use PalPal invoices once we know how you would like your order sent.. Please email us for the extra postal charges. It isn't the full amount, because the U.K. price for the books has postage included, so it's the extra. If you prefer to use surface mail, and it is greener and cheaper, we can send this way. I also think that all direct sales from me to you are greener, rather than going via a distributor, because it cuts out at least one journey. It also should mean that you get your books faster and we can let you know as soon as they are in the post.
http://www.insideoutsider.co.uk/
If you aren't thinking of buying, "Hi" thanks for visiting and please come back - This blog exists because I think that there are far better and safer options than having more nuclear power and nuclear waste. I would far rather be writing fiction without this content.
If you don't think there are any risks, well, there was some pretty scary news from France this week. And thank you to the person who made this public. We can say "This needs looking into!" but someone did it.
What was the scary news?
Go to Sortir du Nucléaire to find out. It's in French, but there is a translation button in the top right hand corner! This may just take you to some general information, so go back and click on the first item with EDF by it and then look for the blue outlined box on the right hand side which gives the English press release. www.sortirdunucleaire.org/
http://www.insideoutsider.co.uk/
If you aren't thinking of buying, "Hi" thanks for visiting and please come back - This blog exists because I think that there are far better and safer options than having more nuclear power and nuclear waste. I would far rather be writing fiction without this content.
If you don't think there are any risks, well, there was some pretty scary news from France this week. And thank you to the person who made this public. We can say "This needs looking into!" but someone did it.
What was the scary news?
Go to Sortir du Nucléaire to find out. It's in French, but there is a translation button in the top right hand corner! This may just take you to some general information, so go back and click on the first item with EDF by it and then look for the blue outlined box on the right hand side which gives the English press release. www.sortirdunucleaire.org/
It's still online!
I am so grateful. Twilight Earth still have the article "Whose Future is it?" up. It's been a week and I thought it would just be a day or so. , but wow...and you can still find past posts on their home page. I really love this site...and I'm telling people.."Whose future is it?" is about the book and the future of kids to come...it's up to us.
Tuesday, 9 March 2010
Twilight Earth
Twilight Earth has a guest article called "Whose future is it?" about the book and about the future. It's one of my favourite sites. (obviously)...but it really is!
If anyone goes to my website to buy a copy of the book and you live abroad, please be aware that we take your security very seriously. We only use PayPal buttons or send you an official PayPal invoice when we know how you want the book/s delivered. If you are in doubt...don't buy! You can always write to me! The address is there, or contact me on Facebook.... June Rosemary Birch. I tweet as "notedthat", but not that often!
The main online bookshops will also currently mostly sell you a book, but I have no control over when their orders come to me! If you email me and tell me if you have a problem, I can contact them..
My website is www.insideoutsider.co.uk
If anyone goes to my website to buy a copy of the book and you live abroad, please be aware that we take your security very seriously. We only use PayPal buttons or send you an official PayPal invoice when we know how you want the book/s delivered. If you are in doubt...don't buy! You can always write to me! The address is there, or contact me on Facebook.... June Rosemary Birch. I tweet as "notedthat", but not that often!
The main online bookshops will also currently mostly sell you a book, but I have no control over when their orders come to me! If you email me and tell me if you have a problem, I can contact them..
My website is www.insideoutsider.co.uk
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