Posts by Stewart
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Field Theory: The Force will be with…, in reply to DexterX,
Jeez, mate - I want your breakfast recipe...
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Hard News: Fact and fantasy, in reply to Matthew Poole,
Just came across as a bit snide.
No worries. He's a top bloke. -
Hard News: Fact and fantasy, in reply to Matthew Poole,
Yes, Matthew, he would, regardless of legal compunction; and his interest in bio-organic practices and 'alternate' solutions to problems is testament to his feeling for (love of) the land.
Why do you feel the need to question the commitment and motives of someone you have never met but has been lauded by a friend as an environmentally 'right-on dude'?
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Heh heh, that Farmer Green argument-generator is a wonder to behold!
I've got a feeling his views are just slightly mis-aligned from those of a whole bunch of folks on here, but some of his 'open-mindedness' on the like of AGW is setting people against him who would otherwise basically agree with, say, 80% of what he is saying.
Myself, I try to keep my emissions down but certain constraints that have developed over the years (where I live & where I have ended up working, that sort of thing) ensure that I will always be on the higher side of what I'd like. And there is a natural human irritation at depriving oneself in the midst of others who are obviously and evidently not holding back. In our family, my sister got the martyr-gene, not me.
But I am getting old and the way politicians fuck-around it's likely I'll be dead & my caracss ground down & fed to the fishes (no point wasting them nutrients, eh?) long before any significant progress is made on this. Age brings a wearying cynicism that I try not to prevent me from making what efforts I can. (Not too many negatives in that last sentence to make it unreadable, I hope.)
"The answers will come from a multiplicity of sources" - Einstein
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Hard News: Fact and fantasy, in reply to Farmer Green,
A science education will suffice but is not as necessary as an openness to science and the scientific method. So probably early childhood education is where the emphasis should be. It's hard to beat literacy. Farmer Green did not study agriculture as such during his kindy years , rather Botany, Chemistry and Mathematics.
You have inferred, perhaps, that I meant tertiary education. I meant education throughout life, not the latter part of school education.
Thanks for your info re swimming in the Manawatu. Whats the riperian environment like between Palmerston North and the estuary? Is that stretch filtering out a lot of the contaminants?
BTW Your syntax & sentence structure are unusual.
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Hard News: Fact and fantasy, in reply to Farmer Green,
Definitely not an average farmer : well below average stocking rate ; almost no fertiliser use for 25 years ; well above average profitability; possibly educationally advantaged ; anything but a collectivist.
But still working (playing) 12 hour days , 7 days a week , 52 weeks a year.For this sir (if I am not assuming too much) I salute you! would that we had a greater percentage of farmers with a similar mindset.
As someone esle commented, a number of the younger more educated farmers are far more aware of environmental and conservation matters. However, given that a lot of farms continue to be inherited down the family, shouldn't we be insisting that all farmers' children be educated in such subjects? (Fascist, much?)
A mate of mine in Sth Canty farms and is constantly railing about the environmental constraints on farming, the compliance costs, etc but he knows it is the right thiing to do and he complies fully because he believes he is a custodian of the land he farms. He's also into some of the alternative bio-organic concepts which he claims have some veracity.
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Hard News: Fact and fantasy, in reply to Farmer Green,
How far up the Manawatu river are you swimming, Farmer?
Before the slips the water coming through the gorge would have been fine for swimming and quite a few kms of the river downstream of the gorge would have likewise been OK, but it sure gets pretty toxic once it gets closer to the sea.It is silly (for any of us) to assume a river is homogeous along its length.
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Hard News: Fact and fantasy, in reply to Sacha,
For the same reason many of our businesses have just hired more bodies rather than investing in infrastructure or smartness - lack of confidence and a slanted playing field towards more of the same. The very opposite of the 'ambition' the current mob promised.
Oh, sorry - is 'the current mob' the euphemism we're using now?
Very much 'my bad'.
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Hard News: Fact and fantasy, in reply to Mike McGinnis,
True leadership and political will is needed today in central government to move in a more sustainable direction with respect to how the country uses and protects its precious coastal marine ecosystems. Dr. Michael V. McGinnis, PhD
In which case we're sunk! The glib, self-serving short-termist twats currently running the show resemble this description as much as I resemble delicate dew on a spider's web in an early morning.
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Hard News: Triangulated by Fools, in reply to Paul Williams,
Ooops, sorry Paul, failing the 'constructive' criterion.