Well, the far right should have a field day with this one.
Norway's Socialist Left Party is proposing to ban the sale of cars that run (only) on gasoline by 2015. Its legislation wouldn't ban all cars that use gasoline, but it would require that all new cars run partly or fully on alternative fuels, including electricity, ethanol, bio-diesel, and hydrogen.
Any new hybrid would be permitted, including such well-known models as the 2010 Toyota Prius. Flex-fuel models, including some Volvo and Saab entries made solely for Scandinavian markets, would also be fine--as would all-electric vehicles. In North America, GM has promised that half its vehicles will be flex-fuel-capable by 2012; all of those would make the cut.
The proposal isn't new; it was first suggested in May 2007. But it got a flurry of attention on Saturday, when Norway's finance minister Kristin Halvorsen--a member of the Socialist Left Party--suggested that the plan was "much more realistic than people think" when they first hear about it.
"We are often a party that puts forward new proposals first," she told Reuters, in a story that spread quickly around the world. Halvorsen stressed her plan does not go after existing cars, applying only to new cars from 2015. (The Norwegian public may not have understood this; reaction was apparently loud and angry.)
Reality check: The proposal isn't likely to go far. A three-way coalition holds power in Norway, and various cabinet members are opposed--although green advocacy organizations favor it.
To the best of our knowledge, no nation on earth has legislated against a specific form of motive power for automobiles.
Reuters notes that Halvorsen spoke with journalists during a green car event at which she raced a Mitsubishi i-MiEV electric car around a track against several other politicians. "She finished among the slower times," noted the news service.
For the record, Norway's socialist finance minister is no relation to our own Bengt Halvorson. Well ... they're probably related somehow, but way back. Way, way back. Long enough, anyway, for the spelling to be changed at Ellis Island or some other port of entry (cf. "Voelcker"). We just wanted to clear that up.
http://www.greencarreports.com/blog/1020294_socialism-at-work-lets-just-ban-all-gasoline-cars
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Telepresence T3 Tandberg
TANDBERG Technology Breakthrough Shatters the Barrier of Proprietary Telepresence
Today TANDBERG (OSLO: TAA) announced its Telepresence T3 is the first and only immersive telepresence solution that maintains the multi-screen, high-definition telepresence experience when calling out to a third-party telepresence system. This new functionality is meeting the growing demands of organizations that require all video systems to fully interoperate, putting an end to siloed communication.
"Organizations are turning to telepresence solutions now more than ever for the fast return on investment from reduced travel and increased productivity. However, as unified communications become more and more important, enterprises can't afford to invest in solutions that cannot work together," said Dominic Dodd, Global Program Director, Unified Communications & Collaboration, Frost & Sullivan. "By enabling telepresence systems to interoperate, TANDBERG has upped the ante by creating a standard that all telepresence providers will have to live up to if they want to be included in future purchasing decisions."
Recognized for outstanding design, the TANDBERG Telepresence T3 provides the best telepresence experience in the industry. It is interoperable with the TANDBERG product portfolio, Microsoft Office Communications Server, and other standards-based video endpoints and telepresence systems. Today's announcement extends that interoperability to provide the full telepresence experience when connecting with users of Polycom telepresence. This advanced telepresence interoperability, enabled through a TANDBERG Telepresence Server software upgrade, allows organizations to get the most out of their existing and future telepresence investments by enabling them to connect to a wider audience.
"Organizations shouldn't be locked in by technology. Our vision is to enable open communities where people can collaborate naturally no matter how they are connecting," said Fredrik Halvorsen, CEO, TANDBERG. "TANDBERG Telepresence systems are already interoperable with a broad range of third-party solutions. With high-definition multi-screen interoperability, TANDBERG delivers the best possible experience for customers connecting to their existing, or their partners' telepresence systems."
To read more:
http://ajax.sys-con.com/node/936739
Today TANDBERG (OSLO: TAA) announced its Telepresence T3 is the first and only immersive telepresence solution that maintains the multi-screen, high-definition telepresence experience when calling out to a third-party telepresence system. This new functionality is meeting the growing demands of organizations that require all video systems to fully interoperate, putting an end to siloed communication.
"Organizations are turning to telepresence solutions now more than ever for the fast return on investment from reduced travel and increased productivity. However, as unified communications become more and more important, enterprises can't afford to invest in solutions that cannot work together," said Dominic Dodd, Global Program Director, Unified Communications & Collaboration, Frost & Sullivan. "By enabling telepresence systems to interoperate, TANDBERG has upped the ante by creating a standard that all telepresence providers will have to live up to if they want to be included in future purchasing decisions."
Recognized for outstanding design, the TANDBERG Telepresence T3 provides the best telepresence experience in the industry. It is interoperable with the TANDBERG product portfolio, Microsoft Office Communications Server, and other standards-based video endpoints and telepresence systems. Today's announcement extends that interoperability to provide the full telepresence experience when connecting with users of Polycom telepresence. This advanced telepresence interoperability, enabled through a TANDBERG Telepresence Server software upgrade, allows organizations to get the most out of their existing and future telepresence investments by enabling them to connect to a wider audience.
"Organizations shouldn't be locked in by technology. Our vision is to enable open communities where people can collaborate naturally no matter how they are connecting," said Fredrik Halvorsen, CEO, TANDBERG. "TANDBERG Telepresence systems are already interoperable with a broad range of third-party solutions. With high-definition multi-screen interoperability, TANDBERG delivers the best possible experience for customers connecting to their existing, or their partners' telepresence systems."
To read more:
http://ajax.sys-con.com/node/936739
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Young People's Wellbeing
A table of young people's wellbeing in 29 European states - the EU plus Norway and Iceland - has ranked the UK 24th.
The Netherlands was top while only Romania, Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania and Malta came lower than the UK.
The table, about youngsters aged up to 19, was compiled by York University researchers for the Child Poverty Action Group using mostly 2006 data.
The government commented that its policies were lifting more than a million children out of poverty.
The researchers assessed the countries on 43 separate measures, ranging from infant mortality and obesity to material resources - like poverty and housing.
Table: Youth wellbeing rankings
Also included were how children felt about their lives, schools and relationships.
CATEGORIES
health
subjective wellbeing
relationships
material resources
behaviour and risk
education
housing and environment
Feeling pressured by schoolwork, for example, fed into the measurement of "subjective wellbeing".
The study suggests little improvement since a similar report by Unicef two years ago, BBC correspondent James Westhead said.
The Netherlands led overall and was also in the upper third of the table in each area. Scandinavian countries dominated.
The UK's rank of 24th was well below the position which might be expected given its affluence, the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) report said.
Workless
Britain's best score, 15th, was in children's relationships - including how easy they say they find it to talk to their parents and get on with their classmates.
On material resources, the UK was 24th out of the 26 countries for which data was available.
"The UK position is particularly influenced by the high number of children living in families where no parent works. Only Lithuania and Poland do worse," said the report.
CPAG is not arguing against government policy focusing on income growth for the poorest families and the impact of public services.
But it says the current recession means many families are threatened with rapid income falls.
"There is nothing inevitable about the UK doing badly on child wellbeing," it says.
"The challenge should be to reverse this situation and put children front and centre of policy making."
Looking beyond 2010, the charity has a series of recommendations:
* Protect jobs, remove barriers to work such as unsuitable and expensive childcare.
* Mend the "safety net" which it says leaves many families struggling well below the official poverty line.
* Drop means tests in favour of universal benefits such as child benefit.
* Stop in-work poverty from low wages.
* End the "classroom divide" in which children growing up in poverty have lower attainment.
* Provide fair public services for those who need them most.
* End "poverty premiums" which mean poor families pay more for basic goods, utilities and services and more of their income in taxes.
* Ensure a decent home for every family.
CPAG says that as most of the data in the report is from three years ago - which is not unusual in international comparisons - many recent government policy initiatives are not fully reflected.
"The figures should therefore be read as a criticism of UK society, but not necessarily of recent social policy," it stresses.
England's children's minister, Beverley Hughes, added that the fact that a government department had been created to focus on children, schools and families showed the increased importance being given to children.
"Our Children's Plan is our long term vision and it puts children and families at the centre of everything government does," she said.
"Our policies have lifted 600,000 children out of poverty and halved absolute poverty. Policies announced in the last two years will lift around a further 500,000 children out of poverty.
"We are very proud that the majority of our children are happy and do well but in those cases where children and their families face problems, we will continue to invest in high quality services which provide the vital help and support that they need."
The CPAG report follows a BBC Newsround survey of 1,000 children around the UK.
Many were worried about money, bullying and knife crime - but most nevertheless said they were happy.
Overall ranking
1 Netherlands
2 Sweden
3 Norway
4 Iceland
5 Finland
6 Denmark
7 Slovenia
8 Germany
9 Ireland
10 Luxembourg
11 Austria
12 Cyprus
13 Spain
14 Belgium
15 France
16 Czech Republic
17 Slovakia
18 Estonia
19 Italy
20 Poland
21 Portugal
22 Hungary
23 Greece
24 United Kingdom
25 Romania
26 Bulgaria
27 Latvia
28 Lithuania
29 Malta
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/8008926.stm
The Netherlands was top while only Romania, Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania and Malta came lower than the UK.
The table, about youngsters aged up to 19, was compiled by York University researchers for the Child Poverty Action Group using mostly 2006 data.
The government commented that its policies were lifting more than a million children out of poverty.
The researchers assessed the countries on 43 separate measures, ranging from infant mortality and obesity to material resources - like poverty and housing.
Table: Youth wellbeing rankings
Also included were how children felt about their lives, schools and relationships.
CATEGORIES
health
subjective wellbeing
relationships
material resources
behaviour and risk
education
housing and environment
Feeling pressured by schoolwork, for example, fed into the measurement of "subjective wellbeing".
The study suggests little improvement since a similar report by Unicef two years ago, BBC correspondent James Westhead said.
The Netherlands led overall and was also in the upper third of the table in each area. Scandinavian countries dominated.
The UK's rank of 24th was well below the position which might be expected given its affluence, the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) report said.
Workless
Britain's best score, 15th, was in children's relationships - including how easy they say they find it to talk to their parents and get on with their classmates.
On material resources, the UK was 24th out of the 26 countries for which data was available.
"The UK position is particularly influenced by the high number of children living in families where no parent works. Only Lithuania and Poland do worse," said the report.
CPAG is not arguing against government policy focusing on income growth for the poorest families and the impact of public services.
But it says the current recession means many families are threatened with rapid income falls.
"There is nothing inevitable about the UK doing badly on child wellbeing," it says.
"The challenge should be to reverse this situation and put children front and centre of policy making."
Looking beyond 2010, the charity has a series of recommendations:
* Protect jobs, remove barriers to work such as unsuitable and expensive childcare.
* Mend the "safety net" which it says leaves many families struggling well below the official poverty line.
* Drop means tests in favour of universal benefits such as child benefit.
* Stop in-work poverty from low wages.
* End the "classroom divide" in which children growing up in poverty have lower attainment.
* Provide fair public services for those who need them most.
* End "poverty premiums" which mean poor families pay more for basic goods, utilities and services and more of their income in taxes.
* Ensure a decent home for every family.
CPAG says that as most of the data in the report is from three years ago - which is not unusual in international comparisons - many recent government policy initiatives are not fully reflected.
"The figures should therefore be read as a criticism of UK society, but not necessarily of recent social policy," it stresses.
England's children's minister, Beverley Hughes, added that the fact that a government department had been created to focus on children, schools and families showed the increased importance being given to children.
"Our Children's Plan is our long term vision and it puts children and families at the centre of everything government does," she said.
"Our policies have lifted 600,000 children out of poverty and halved absolute poverty. Policies announced in the last two years will lift around a further 500,000 children out of poverty.
"We are very proud that the majority of our children are happy and do well but in those cases where children and their families face problems, we will continue to invest in high quality services which provide the vital help and support that they need."
The CPAG report follows a BBC Newsround survey of 1,000 children around the UK.
Many were worried about money, bullying and knife crime - but most nevertheless said they were happy.
Overall ranking
1 Netherlands
2 Sweden
3 Norway
4 Iceland
5 Finland
6 Denmark
7 Slovenia
8 Germany
9 Ireland
10 Luxembourg
11 Austria
12 Cyprus
13 Spain
14 Belgium
15 France
16 Czech Republic
17 Slovakia
18 Estonia
19 Italy
20 Poland
21 Portugal
22 Hungary
23 Greece
24 United Kingdom
25 Romania
26 Bulgaria
27 Latvia
28 Lithuania
29 Malta
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/8008926.stm
Monday, April 20, 2009
Tons of released drugs taint US water
- U.S. manufacturers, including major drugmakers, have legally released at least 271 million pounds of pharmaceuticals into waterways that often provide drinking water — contamination the federal government has consistently overlooked, according to an Associated Press investigation.
Hundreds of active pharmaceutical ingredients are used in a variety of manufacturing, including drugmaking: For example, lithium is used to make ceramics and treat bipolar disorder; nitroglycerin is a heart drug and also used in explosives; copper shows up in everything from pipes to contraceptives.
Federal and industry officials say they don't know the extent to which pharmaceuticals are released by U.S. manufacturers because no one tracks them — as drugs. But a close analysis of 20 years of federal records found that, in fact, the government unintentionally keeps data on a few, allowing a glimpse of the pharmaceuticals coming from factories.
As part of its ongoing PharmaWater investigation about trace concentrations of pharmaceuticals in drinking water, AP identified 22 compounds that show up on two lists: the EPA monitors them as industrial chemicals that are released into rivers, lakes and other bodies of water under federal pollution laws, while the Food and Drug Administration classifies them as active pharmaceutical ingredients.
The data don't show precisely how much of the 271 million pounds comes from drugmakers versus other manufacturers; also, the figure is a massive undercount because of the limited federal government tracking.
To date, drugmakers have dismissed the suggestion that their manufacturing contributes significantly to what's being found in water. Federal drug and water regulators agree.
But some researchers say the lack of required testing amounts to a 'don't ask, don't tell' policy about whether drugmakers are contributing to water pollution.
"It doesn't pass the straight-face test to say pharmaceutical manufacturers are not emitting any of the compounds they're creating," said Kyla Bennett, who spent 10 years as an EPA enforcement officer before becoming an ecologist and environmental attorney.
Pilot studies in the U.S. and abroad are now confirming those doubts.
Last year, the AP reported that trace amounts of a wide range of pharmaceuticals — including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones — have been found in American drinking water supplies. Including recent findings in Dallas, Cleveland and Maryland's Prince George's and Montgomery counties, pharmaceuticals have been detected in the drinking water of at least 51 million Americans.
Most cities and water providers still do not test. Some scientists say that wherever researchers look, they will find pharma-tainted water.
Consumers are considered the biggest contributors to the contamination. We consume drugs, then excrete what our bodies don't absorb. Other times, we flush unused drugs down toilets. The AP also found that an estimated 250 million pounds of pharmaceuticals and contaminated packaging are thrown away each year by hospitals and long-term care facilities.
Researchers have found that even extremely diluted concentrations of drugs harm fish, frogs and other aquatic species. Also, researchers report that human cells fail to grow normally in the laboratory when exposed to trace concentrations of certain drugs. Some scientists say they are increasingly concerned that the consumption of combinations of many drugs, even in small amounts, could harm humans over decades.
Utilities say the water is safe. Scientists, doctors and the EPA say there are no confirmed human risks associated with consuming minute concentrations of drugs. But those experts also agree that dangers cannot be ruled out, especially given the emerging research.
___
Two common industrial chemicals that are also pharmaceuticals — the antiseptics phenol and hydrogen peroxide — account for 92 percent of the 271 million pounds identified as coming from drugmakers and other manufacturers. Both can be toxic and both are considered to be ubiquitous in the environment.
However, the list of 22 includes other troubling releases of chemicals that can be used to make drugs and other products: 8 million pounds of the skin bleaching cream hydroquinone, 3 million pounds of nicotine compounds that can be used in quit-smoking patches, 10,000 pounds of the antibiotic tetracycline hydrochloride. Others include treatments for head lice and worms.
Residues are often released into the environment when manufacturing equipment is cleaned.
A small fraction of pharmaceuticals also leach out of landfills where they are dumped. Pharmaceuticals released onto land include the chemo agent fluorouracil, the epilepsy medicine phenytoin and the sedative pentobarbital sodium. The overall amount may be considerable, given the volume of what has been buried — 572 million pounds of the 22 monitored drugs since 1988.
In one case, government data shows that in Columbus, Ohio, pharmaceutical maker Boehringer Ingelheim Roxane Inc. discharged an estimated 2,285 pounds of lithium carbonate — which is considered slightly toxic to aquatic invertebrates and freshwater fish — to a local wastewater treatment plant between 1995 and 2006. Company spokeswoman Marybeth C. McGuire said the pharmaceutical plant, which uses lithium to make drugs for bipolar disorder, has violated no laws or regulations. McGuire said all the lithium discharged, an annual average of 190 pounds, was lost when residues stuck to mixing equipment were washed down the drain.
___
Pharmaceutical company officials point out that active ingredients represent profits, so there's a huge incentive not to let any escape. They also say extremely strict manufacturing regulations — albeit aimed at other chemicals — help prevent leakage, and that whatever traces may get away are handled by onsite wastewater treatment.
"Manufacturers have to be in compliance with all relevant environmental laws," said Alan Goldhammer, a scientist and vice president at the industry trade group Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America.
Goldhammer conceded some drug residues could be released in wastewater, but stressed "it would not cause any environmental issues because it was not a toxic substance at the level that it was being released at."
Several big drugmakers were asked this simple question: Have you tested wastewater from your plants to find out whether any active pharmaceuticals are escaping, and if so what have you found?
No drugmaker answered directly.
"Based on research that we have reviewed from the past 20 years, pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities are not a significant source of pharmaceuticals that contribute to environmental risk," GlaxoSmithKline said in a statement.
AstraZeneca spokeswoman Kate Klemas said the company's manufacturing processes "are designed to avoid, or otherwise minimize the loss of product to the environment" and thus "ensure that any residual losses of pharmaceuticals to the environment that do occur are at levels that would be unlikely to pose a threat to human health or the environment."
One major manufacturer, Pfizer Inc., acknowledged that it tested some of its wastewater — but outside the United States.
The company's director of hazard communication and environmental toxicology, Frank Mastrocco, said Pfizer has sampled effluent from some of its foreign drug factories. Without disclosing details, he said the results left Pfizer "confident that the current controls and processes in place at these facilities are adequately protective of human health and the environment."
It's not just the industry that isn't testing.
FDA spokesman Christopher Kelly noted that his agency is not responsible for what comes out on the waste end of drug factories. At the EPA, acting assistant administrator for water Mike Shapiro — whose agency's Web site says pharmaceutical releases from manufacturing are "well defined and controlled" — did not mention factories as a source of pharmaceutical pollution when asked by the AP how drugs get into drinking water.
"Pharmaceuticals get into water in many ways," he said in a written statement. "It's commonly believed the majority come from human and animal excretion. A portion also comes from flushing unused drugs down the toilet or drain; a practice EPA generally discourages."
His position echoes that of a line of federal drug and water regulators as well as drugmakers, who concluded in the 1990s — before highly sensitive tests now used had been developed — that manufacturing is not a meaningful source of pharmaceuticals in the environment.
Pharmaceutical makers typically are excused from having to submit an environmental review for new products, and the FDA has never rejected a drug application based on potential environmental impact. Also at play are pressures not to delay potentially lifesaving drugs. What's more, because the EPA hasn't concluded at what level, if any, pharmaceuticals are bad for the environment or harmful to people, drugmakers almost never have to report the release of pharmaceuticals they produce.
"The government could get a national snapshot of the water if they chose to," said Jennifer Sass, a senior scientist for the Natural Resources Defense Council, "and it seems logical that we would want to find out what's coming out of these plants."
Ajit Ghorpade, an environmental engineer who worked for several major pharmaceutical companies before his current job helping run a wastewater treatment plant, said drugmakers have no impetus to take measurements that the government doesn't require.
"Obviously nobody wants to spend the time or their dime to prove this," he said. "It's like asking me why I don't drive a hybrid car? Why should I? It's not required."
___
After contacting the nation's leading drugmakers and filing public records requests, the AP found two federal agencies that have tested.
Both the EPA and the U.S. Geological Survey have studies under way comparing sewage at treatment plants that receive wastewater from drugmaking factories against sewage at treatment plants that do not.
Preliminary USGS results, slated for publication later this year, show that treated wastewater from sewage plants serving drug factories had significantly more medicine residues. Data from the EPA study show a disproportionate concentration in wastewater of an antibiotic that a major Michigan factory was producing at the time the samples were taken.
Meanwhile, other researchers recorded concentrations of codeine in the southern reaches of the Delaware River that were at least 10 times higher than the rest of the river.
The scientists from the Delaware River Basin Commission won't have to look far when they try to track down potential sources later this year. One mile from the sampling site, just off shore of Pennsville, N.J., there's a pipe that spits out treated wastewater from a municipal plant. The plant accepts sewage from a pharmaceutical factory owned by Siegfried Ltd. The factory makes codeine.
"We have implemented programs to not only reduce the volume of waste materials generated but to minimize the amount of pharmaceutical ingredients in the water," said Siegfried spokeswoman Rita van Eck.
Another codeine plant, run by Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Noramco Inc., is about seven miles away. A Noramco spokesman acknowledged that the Wilmington, Del., factory had voluntarily tested its wastewater and found codeine in trace concentrations thousands of times greater than what was found in the Delaware River. "The amounts of codeine we measured in the wastewater, prior to releasing it to the City of Wilmington, are not considered to be hazardous to the environment," said a company spokesman.
In another instance, equipment-cleaning water sent down the drain of an Upsher-Smith Laboratories, Inc. factory in Denver consistently contains traces of warfarin, a blood thinner, according to results obtained under a public records act request. Officials at the company and the Denver Metro Wastewater Reclamation District said they believe the concentrations are safe.
Warfarin, which also is a common rat poison and pesticide, is so effective at inhibiting growth of aquatic plants and animals it's actually deliberately introduced to clean plants and tiny aquatic animals from ballast water of ships.
"With regard to wastewater management we are subject to a variety of federal, state and local regulation and oversight," said Joel Green, Upsher-Smith's vice president and general counsel. "And we work hard to maintain systems to promote compliance."
Baylor University professor Bryan Brooks, who has published more than a dozen studies related to pharmaceuticals in the environment, said assurances that drugmakers run clean shops are not enough.
"I have no reason to believe them or not believe them," he said. "We don't have peer-reviewed studies to support or not support their claims."
http://health.yahoo.com/news/ap/pharmawater_factories.html
Hundreds of active pharmaceutical ingredients are used in a variety of manufacturing, including drugmaking: For example, lithium is used to make ceramics and treat bipolar disorder; nitroglycerin is a heart drug and also used in explosives; copper shows up in everything from pipes to contraceptives.
Federal and industry officials say they don't know the extent to which pharmaceuticals are released by U.S. manufacturers because no one tracks them — as drugs. But a close analysis of 20 years of federal records found that, in fact, the government unintentionally keeps data on a few, allowing a glimpse of the pharmaceuticals coming from factories.
As part of its ongoing PharmaWater investigation about trace concentrations of pharmaceuticals in drinking water, AP identified 22 compounds that show up on two lists: the EPA monitors them as industrial chemicals that are released into rivers, lakes and other bodies of water under federal pollution laws, while the Food and Drug Administration classifies them as active pharmaceutical ingredients.
The data don't show precisely how much of the 271 million pounds comes from drugmakers versus other manufacturers; also, the figure is a massive undercount because of the limited federal government tracking.
To date, drugmakers have dismissed the suggestion that their manufacturing contributes significantly to what's being found in water. Federal drug and water regulators agree.
But some researchers say the lack of required testing amounts to a 'don't ask, don't tell' policy about whether drugmakers are contributing to water pollution.
"It doesn't pass the straight-face test to say pharmaceutical manufacturers are not emitting any of the compounds they're creating," said Kyla Bennett, who spent 10 years as an EPA enforcement officer before becoming an ecologist and environmental attorney.
Pilot studies in the U.S. and abroad are now confirming those doubts.
Last year, the AP reported that trace amounts of a wide range of pharmaceuticals — including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones — have been found in American drinking water supplies. Including recent findings in Dallas, Cleveland and Maryland's Prince George's and Montgomery counties, pharmaceuticals have been detected in the drinking water of at least 51 million Americans.
Most cities and water providers still do not test. Some scientists say that wherever researchers look, they will find pharma-tainted water.
Consumers are considered the biggest contributors to the contamination. We consume drugs, then excrete what our bodies don't absorb. Other times, we flush unused drugs down toilets. The AP also found that an estimated 250 million pounds of pharmaceuticals and contaminated packaging are thrown away each year by hospitals and long-term care facilities.
Researchers have found that even extremely diluted concentrations of drugs harm fish, frogs and other aquatic species. Also, researchers report that human cells fail to grow normally in the laboratory when exposed to trace concentrations of certain drugs. Some scientists say they are increasingly concerned that the consumption of combinations of many drugs, even in small amounts, could harm humans over decades.
Utilities say the water is safe. Scientists, doctors and the EPA say there are no confirmed human risks associated with consuming minute concentrations of drugs. But those experts also agree that dangers cannot be ruled out, especially given the emerging research.
___
Two common industrial chemicals that are also pharmaceuticals — the antiseptics phenol and hydrogen peroxide — account for 92 percent of the 271 million pounds identified as coming from drugmakers and other manufacturers. Both can be toxic and both are considered to be ubiquitous in the environment.
However, the list of 22 includes other troubling releases of chemicals that can be used to make drugs and other products: 8 million pounds of the skin bleaching cream hydroquinone, 3 million pounds of nicotine compounds that can be used in quit-smoking patches, 10,000 pounds of the antibiotic tetracycline hydrochloride. Others include treatments for head lice and worms.
Residues are often released into the environment when manufacturing equipment is cleaned.
A small fraction of pharmaceuticals also leach out of landfills where they are dumped. Pharmaceuticals released onto land include the chemo agent fluorouracil, the epilepsy medicine phenytoin and the sedative pentobarbital sodium. The overall amount may be considerable, given the volume of what has been buried — 572 million pounds of the 22 monitored drugs since 1988.
In one case, government data shows that in Columbus, Ohio, pharmaceutical maker Boehringer Ingelheim Roxane Inc. discharged an estimated 2,285 pounds of lithium carbonate — which is considered slightly toxic to aquatic invertebrates and freshwater fish — to a local wastewater treatment plant between 1995 and 2006. Company spokeswoman Marybeth C. McGuire said the pharmaceutical plant, which uses lithium to make drugs for bipolar disorder, has violated no laws or regulations. McGuire said all the lithium discharged, an annual average of 190 pounds, was lost when residues stuck to mixing equipment were washed down the drain.
___
Pharmaceutical company officials point out that active ingredients represent profits, so there's a huge incentive not to let any escape. They also say extremely strict manufacturing regulations — albeit aimed at other chemicals — help prevent leakage, and that whatever traces may get away are handled by onsite wastewater treatment.
"Manufacturers have to be in compliance with all relevant environmental laws," said Alan Goldhammer, a scientist and vice president at the industry trade group Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America.
Goldhammer conceded some drug residues could be released in wastewater, but stressed "it would not cause any environmental issues because it was not a toxic substance at the level that it was being released at."
Several big drugmakers were asked this simple question: Have you tested wastewater from your plants to find out whether any active pharmaceuticals are escaping, and if so what have you found?
No drugmaker answered directly.
"Based on research that we have reviewed from the past 20 years, pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities are not a significant source of pharmaceuticals that contribute to environmental risk," GlaxoSmithKline said in a statement.
AstraZeneca spokeswoman Kate Klemas said the company's manufacturing processes "are designed to avoid, or otherwise minimize the loss of product to the environment" and thus "ensure that any residual losses of pharmaceuticals to the environment that do occur are at levels that would be unlikely to pose a threat to human health or the environment."
One major manufacturer, Pfizer Inc., acknowledged that it tested some of its wastewater — but outside the United States.
The company's director of hazard communication and environmental toxicology, Frank Mastrocco, said Pfizer has sampled effluent from some of its foreign drug factories. Without disclosing details, he said the results left Pfizer "confident that the current controls and processes in place at these facilities are adequately protective of human health and the environment."
It's not just the industry that isn't testing.
FDA spokesman Christopher Kelly noted that his agency is not responsible for what comes out on the waste end of drug factories. At the EPA, acting assistant administrator for water Mike Shapiro — whose agency's Web site says pharmaceutical releases from manufacturing are "well defined and controlled" — did not mention factories as a source of pharmaceutical pollution when asked by the AP how drugs get into drinking water.
"Pharmaceuticals get into water in many ways," he said in a written statement. "It's commonly believed the majority come from human and animal excretion. A portion also comes from flushing unused drugs down the toilet or drain; a practice EPA generally discourages."
His position echoes that of a line of federal drug and water regulators as well as drugmakers, who concluded in the 1990s — before highly sensitive tests now used had been developed — that manufacturing is not a meaningful source of pharmaceuticals in the environment.
Pharmaceutical makers typically are excused from having to submit an environmental review for new products, and the FDA has never rejected a drug application based on potential environmental impact. Also at play are pressures not to delay potentially lifesaving drugs. What's more, because the EPA hasn't concluded at what level, if any, pharmaceuticals are bad for the environment or harmful to people, drugmakers almost never have to report the release of pharmaceuticals they produce.
"The government could get a national snapshot of the water if they chose to," said Jennifer Sass, a senior scientist for the Natural Resources Defense Council, "and it seems logical that we would want to find out what's coming out of these plants."
Ajit Ghorpade, an environmental engineer who worked for several major pharmaceutical companies before his current job helping run a wastewater treatment plant, said drugmakers have no impetus to take measurements that the government doesn't require.
"Obviously nobody wants to spend the time or their dime to prove this," he said. "It's like asking me why I don't drive a hybrid car? Why should I? It's not required."
___
After contacting the nation's leading drugmakers and filing public records requests, the AP found two federal agencies that have tested.
Both the EPA and the U.S. Geological Survey have studies under way comparing sewage at treatment plants that receive wastewater from drugmaking factories against sewage at treatment plants that do not.
Preliminary USGS results, slated for publication later this year, show that treated wastewater from sewage plants serving drug factories had significantly more medicine residues. Data from the EPA study show a disproportionate concentration in wastewater of an antibiotic that a major Michigan factory was producing at the time the samples were taken.
Meanwhile, other researchers recorded concentrations of codeine in the southern reaches of the Delaware River that were at least 10 times higher than the rest of the river.
The scientists from the Delaware River Basin Commission won't have to look far when they try to track down potential sources later this year. One mile from the sampling site, just off shore of Pennsville, N.J., there's a pipe that spits out treated wastewater from a municipal plant. The plant accepts sewage from a pharmaceutical factory owned by Siegfried Ltd. The factory makes codeine.
"We have implemented programs to not only reduce the volume of waste materials generated but to minimize the amount of pharmaceutical ingredients in the water," said Siegfried spokeswoman Rita van Eck.
Another codeine plant, run by Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Noramco Inc., is about seven miles away. A Noramco spokesman acknowledged that the Wilmington, Del., factory had voluntarily tested its wastewater and found codeine in trace concentrations thousands of times greater than what was found in the Delaware River. "The amounts of codeine we measured in the wastewater, prior to releasing it to the City of Wilmington, are not considered to be hazardous to the environment," said a company spokesman.
In another instance, equipment-cleaning water sent down the drain of an Upsher-Smith Laboratories, Inc. factory in Denver consistently contains traces of warfarin, a blood thinner, according to results obtained under a public records act request. Officials at the company and the Denver Metro Wastewater Reclamation District said they believe the concentrations are safe.
Warfarin, which also is a common rat poison and pesticide, is so effective at inhibiting growth of aquatic plants and animals it's actually deliberately introduced to clean plants and tiny aquatic animals from ballast water of ships.
"With regard to wastewater management we are subject to a variety of federal, state and local regulation and oversight," said Joel Green, Upsher-Smith's vice president and general counsel. "And we work hard to maintain systems to promote compliance."
Baylor University professor Bryan Brooks, who has published more than a dozen studies related to pharmaceuticals in the environment, said assurances that drugmakers run clean shops are not enough.
"I have no reason to believe them or not believe them," he said. "We don't have peer-reviewed studies to support or not support their claims."
http://health.yahoo.com/news/ap/pharmawater_factories.html
Pulitzer Prize
Stories of race and gender prevailed at this year's Pulitzer Prizes, with "Ruined," Lynn Nottage's harrowing tale of survival set against the backdrop of an African civil war, winning for drama Monday and books about slavery, civil rights and Andrew Jackson also receiving awards.
In a rare victory for the short story, Elizabeth Strout's "Olive Kitteridge," a collection set in New England and linked by the forthright title character, a math teacher and general scold with an understanding heart. It was the first book of short stories to win since 2000 (Jhumpa Lahiri's "Interpreter of Maladies").
Three prize winners centered on racial history, from colonial times to the 20th century.
The general nonfiction award went to "Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II" by Douglas A. Blackmon, Atlanta bureau chief for The Wall Street Journal. Newsweek editor Jon Meacham won the biography prize for "American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House," a best-seller about the populist president whose sympathy for the less fortunate never extended to slaves.
"Jackson represents the best and the worst of us," Meacham said.
"It's a huge honor for me," Blackmon said of his Pulitzer, "but more importantly I hope it really validates the idea that this is a part of American history that we have ignored and neglected, and it's time for a really dramatic reinterpretation of what happened to African-Americans during that period of time."
Annette Gordon-Reed's "The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family," which received the National Book Award last fall, won for history. Gordon-Reed's book documents the life and family of Sally Hemings, the slave girl who many believe had an intimate relationship with Thomas Jefferson.
"Race is something that people are quite focused upon," said Gordon-Reed, currently in Sydney, Australia for a conference of Thomas Jefferson scholars and scheduled to give a talk on President Obama. "It's an internationally interesting subject. People here are fascinated by our history."
Minimalist Steve Reich took the music prize for "Double Sextet," while poet W.S. Merwin received his second Pulitzer for poetry, for "The Shadow of Sirius." In 1971, he won for "The Carrier of Ladders" and refused to accept the prize money in protest of the Vietnam War. This time, he'll mark the day more quietly, celebrating with his dog while his wife is out of town.
"I think it's wonderful when it happens, and if it doesn't, I think of all the great people who didn't get honored. And that's a pretty good tradition too," Merwin said.
Nottage's play, inspired by Bertolt Brecht's "Mother Courage and Her Children," focuses on the suffering of women, particularly the inhabitants of a Congolese brothel owned by an earth mother named Mama Nadi.
While the political is never far from the surface, it is the personal that mostly concerns "Ruined," particularly in its depictions of the resourceful Mama Nadi and the young women who work for her.
"I wanted to tell the story of these women and the war in the Congo and I couldn't find anything about them in the newspapers or in the library, so I felt I had to get on a plane and go to Africa and find the story myself," Nottage said in a telephone interview. "I felt there was a complete absence in the media of their narrative. It's very different now, but when I went in 2004 that was definitely the case."
She said "Ruined" was a difficult play to write because of the nature of the material, "because the characters go through (things) so raw and brutal, it was not easy to spend time with them on a day-to-day basis."
"I think of Mama Nadi as being the ultimate businesswoman. She's a survivor," the 44-year-old playwright said. "She is a negotiator. She uses her wit and her wiles to survive a very difficult conflict."
The drama currently is on view at off-Broadway's Manhattan Theatre Club and is a co-production with Chicago's Goodman Theatre where the play had its world premiere late last year.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5idO6antAykNkXQ0nat1qlzqlq1gQD97MEJ901
In a rare victory for the short story, Elizabeth Strout's "Olive Kitteridge," a collection set in New England and linked by the forthright title character, a math teacher and general scold with an understanding heart. It was the first book of short stories to win since 2000 (Jhumpa Lahiri's "Interpreter of Maladies").
Three prize winners centered on racial history, from colonial times to the 20th century.
The general nonfiction award went to "Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II" by Douglas A. Blackmon, Atlanta bureau chief for The Wall Street Journal. Newsweek editor Jon Meacham won the biography prize for "American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House," a best-seller about the populist president whose sympathy for the less fortunate never extended to slaves.
"Jackson represents the best and the worst of us," Meacham said.
"It's a huge honor for me," Blackmon said of his Pulitzer, "but more importantly I hope it really validates the idea that this is a part of American history that we have ignored and neglected, and it's time for a really dramatic reinterpretation of what happened to African-Americans during that period of time."
Annette Gordon-Reed's "The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family," which received the National Book Award last fall, won for history. Gordon-Reed's book documents the life and family of Sally Hemings, the slave girl who many believe had an intimate relationship with Thomas Jefferson.
"Race is something that people are quite focused upon," said Gordon-Reed, currently in Sydney, Australia for a conference of Thomas Jefferson scholars and scheduled to give a talk on President Obama. "It's an internationally interesting subject. People here are fascinated by our history."
Minimalist Steve Reich took the music prize for "Double Sextet," while poet W.S. Merwin received his second Pulitzer for poetry, for "The Shadow of Sirius." In 1971, he won for "The Carrier of Ladders" and refused to accept the prize money in protest of the Vietnam War. This time, he'll mark the day more quietly, celebrating with his dog while his wife is out of town.
"I think it's wonderful when it happens, and if it doesn't, I think of all the great people who didn't get honored. And that's a pretty good tradition too," Merwin said.
Nottage's play, inspired by Bertolt Brecht's "Mother Courage and Her Children," focuses on the suffering of women, particularly the inhabitants of a Congolese brothel owned by an earth mother named Mama Nadi.
While the political is never far from the surface, it is the personal that mostly concerns "Ruined," particularly in its depictions of the resourceful Mama Nadi and the young women who work for her.
"I wanted to tell the story of these women and the war in the Congo and I couldn't find anything about them in the newspapers or in the library, so I felt I had to get on a plane and go to Africa and find the story myself," Nottage said in a telephone interview. "I felt there was a complete absence in the media of their narrative. It's very different now, but when I went in 2004 that was definitely the case."
She said "Ruined" was a difficult play to write because of the nature of the material, "because the characters go through (things) so raw and brutal, it was not easy to spend time with them on a day-to-day basis."
"I think of Mama Nadi as being the ultimate businesswoman. She's a survivor," the 44-year-old playwright said. "She is a negotiator. She uses her wit and her wiles to survive a very difficult conflict."
The drama currently is on view at off-Broadway's Manhattan Theatre Club and is a co-production with Chicago's Goodman Theatre where the play had its world premiere late last year.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5idO6antAykNkXQ0nat1qlzqlq1gQD97MEJ901
Scoot Coupe
Get behind the wheel of a Scoot coupe
If Market Motors is successful, brightly colored three-wheeled vehicles soon will be tooling around the Mid-Ohio Valley this summer.
Market Motors is set to unveil Scoot coupes to potential customers in Ohio and West Virginia.
Bill Waldeck, owner of Market Motors, described the vehicles as a cross between a motorcycle and a Volkswagen.
"There is really nothing else like them." he said.
The three-wheeled, two-passenger coupes are similar to a motorcycle, with a set of handlebars instead of a steering wheel. Helmets must be worn and drivers must have a required motorcycle license.
Unlike scooters and motorcycles, the coupes are more stable and allow passengers to ride beside the driver. The coupe's features include seat belts, a locking trunk and glove box and a roll bar. Models can also be accessorized to accommodate an iPod.
The Scoot coupes can reach a top speed of 55 mph and gets up to 75 miles per gallon. Waldeck said a Scoot coupe will go about 110 miles on a tank of gas.
The vehicles are certainly eye-catching, manufactured in vived blue, green, yellow and red colors.
Market Motors has been stocked with the coupes since January and is ready to open its doors. Waldeck said they are still waiting on approval from the state.
"If we had our license, we would have sold about 36 of these by now," he said. "The hold up with the state getting the license has been a major headache."
Waldeck said Market Motors has been getting calls from all over, Cincinnati, Columbus and Cleveland, from buyers interested in purchasing the coupes.
"We want them to come to Parkersburg," he said.
In addition to fielding calls from prospective buyers, curious onlookers stop by daily, peering inside their 925 Market St. location.
Waldeck said they clean the glass daily, but nose prints from people seeking a better look at the coupes quickly reappear.
"We get notes shoved inside the door from prospective customers," he said. "Most people that see it just can't believe it."
The Scoot coupe was created in 2004 by Panther Motors, a Florida company. Waldeck became friends with the company's CEO and was interested in carrying the line in the Mid-Ohio Valley.
Waldeck said Market Motors will serve West Virginia and Ohio. He's optimistic the vehicles will eventually be assembled in the Mid-Ohio Valley.
"Maybe a lot of jobs," he said.
The Scoot coupes come with 50cc or 150cc engines and a Fiberglas body. Coupes have a one-year, 12,000 mile warranty. Models, which have a pricetag of about $6,000, are available in four bright colors and a limited edition black, all of which are on display.
Waldeck said the vibrant colors make the coupe standout.
"You can recognize them on the street and see them coming down the road," he said.
One of the drawbacks is the lack of a top, making it less than ideal for rainy days or cold weather.
"It is a late March to October vehicle," Waldeck said.
In addition to selling the vehicles, Market Motors has a parts department, including a mechanic and garage that can work on the vehicles. Market Motors also offers custom accessories, floor mats, covers, chrome package, shirts and hats.
"We are doing all the after market stuff," he said.
Once Market Motors receives its license Waldeck said it will be open Monday through Friday from 9 to 3 and on weekends by appointment. Once the operation begins running the company will add a second salesman and open seven days a week.
http://newsandsentinel.com/page/content.detail/id/516349.html?nav=5054
If Market Motors is successful, brightly colored three-wheeled vehicles soon will be tooling around the Mid-Ohio Valley this summer.
Market Motors is set to unveil Scoot coupes to potential customers in Ohio and West Virginia.
Bill Waldeck, owner of Market Motors, described the vehicles as a cross between a motorcycle and a Volkswagen.
"There is really nothing else like them." he said.
The three-wheeled, two-passenger coupes are similar to a motorcycle, with a set of handlebars instead of a steering wheel. Helmets must be worn and drivers must have a required motorcycle license.
Unlike scooters and motorcycles, the coupes are more stable and allow passengers to ride beside the driver. The coupe's features include seat belts, a locking trunk and glove box and a roll bar. Models can also be accessorized to accommodate an iPod.
The Scoot coupes can reach a top speed of 55 mph and gets up to 75 miles per gallon. Waldeck said a Scoot coupe will go about 110 miles on a tank of gas.
The vehicles are certainly eye-catching, manufactured in vived blue, green, yellow and red colors.
Market Motors has been stocked with the coupes since January and is ready to open its doors. Waldeck said they are still waiting on approval from the state.
"If we had our license, we would have sold about 36 of these by now," he said. "The hold up with the state getting the license has been a major headache."
Waldeck said Market Motors has been getting calls from all over, Cincinnati, Columbus and Cleveland, from buyers interested in purchasing the coupes.
"We want them to come to Parkersburg," he said.
In addition to fielding calls from prospective buyers, curious onlookers stop by daily, peering inside their 925 Market St. location.
Waldeck said they clean the glass daily, but nose prints from people seeking a better look at the coupes quickly reappear.
"We get notes shoved inside the door from prospective customers," he said. "Most people that see it just can't believe it."
The Scoot coupe was created in 2004 by Panther Motors, a Florida company. Waldeck became friends with the company's CEO and was interested in carrying the line in the Mid-Ohio Valley.
Waldeck said Market Motors will serve West Virginia and Ohio. He's optimistic the vehicles will eventually be assembled in the Mid-Ohio Valley.
"Maybe a lot of jobs," he said.
The Scoot coupes come with 50cc or 150cc engines and a Fiberglas body. Coupes have a one-year, 12,000 mile warranty. Models, which have a pricetag of about $6,000, are available in four bright colors and a limited edition black, all of which are on display.
Waldeck said the vibrant colors make the coupe standout.
"You can recognize them on the street and see them coming down the road," he said.
One of the drawbacks is the lack of a top, making it less than ideal for rainy days or cold weather.
"It is a late March to October vehicle," Waldeck said.
In addition to selling the vehicles, Market Motors has a parts department, including a mechanic and garage that can work on the vehicles. Market Motors also offers custom accessories, floor mats, covers, chrome package, shirts and hats.
"We are doing all the after market stuff," he said.
Once Market Motors receives its license Waldeck said it will be open Monday through Friday from 9 to 3 and on weekends by appointment. Once the operation begins running the company will add a second salesman and open seven days a week.
http://newsandsentinel.com/page/content.detail/id/516349.html?nav=5054
Boston Marathon: Deriba Merga, Salina Kosgei win
Ethiopia's Deriba Merga overcame the disappointment of his Olympic fade to win the Boston Marathon on Monday, and Kenya's Salina Kosgei won the closest women's race in the 113-year history of the event while Americans took third in both races for the best U.S. finish since 1985.
Merga, who was passed in the last quarter-mile and finished fourth in Beijing, pulled away before Heartbreak Hill and won in 2 hours, 8 minutes, 42 seconds — almost a full minute ahead of Kenya's Daniel Rono and American Ryan Hall.
Kosgei won a sprint with defending champion Dire Tune, trading the lead several times in the final blocks of Boylston Street before hitting the tape less than a stride ahead of the Ethiopian in 2:32:16. American Kara Goucher led the three as they crossed the MassPike into Kenmore Square with one mile to go, but she was outkicked down the stretch and finished 9 seconds back.
The winners will take home $150,000, but Merga had to wait for his traditional laurel wreath: The women's pace was so slow and the men finished so fast that he crossed the finish line before Kosgei had a chance to climb the champion's podium.
Kosgei said the weather conditions made for a difficult finish.
"The wind was a bit stronger. ... So, it was very hard," Kosgei said. "I decided I must try. So, I tried."
No American has won in Boston since Lisa Larsen-Weidenbach in 1985, when the U.S. women swept the top three and the men came in second and third. The 2009 race was the slowest since then, a pace that had the men's leaders passing the female stragglers and approaching the final mile as the women were hitting the tape.
Goucher burst into tears and was consoled by her husband, and Tune fell to the pavement for several minutes after the final sprint. Race spokesman Jack Fleming said Tune would not be available because she was receiving medical attention; he did not elaborate.
Goucher's voice cracked repeatedly in the postrace news conference.
"I just wanted it for everybody that wanted it for me," she said. "I'm proud of how I did. I just wanted to be the one that won for everybody."
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hDQ4UyM4PTYJNfyTk0OaCEUYBRTQD97MAFGO0
Merga, who was passed in the last quarter-mile and finished fourth in Beijing, pulled away before Heartbreak Hill and won in 2 hours, 8 minutes, 42 seconds — almost a full minute ahead of Kenya's Daniel Rono and American Ryan Hall.
Kosgei won a sprint with defending champion Dire Tune, trading the lead several times in the final blocks of Boylston Street before hitting the tape less than a stride ahead of the Ethiopian in 2:32:16. American Kara Goucher led the three as they crossed the MassPike into Kenmore Square with one mile to go, but she was outkicked down the stretch and finished 9 seconds back.
The winners will take home $150,000, but Merga had to wait for his traditional laurel wreath: The women's pace was so slow and the men finished so fast that he crossed the finish line before Kosgei had a chance to climb the champion's podium.
Kosgei said the weather conditions made for a difficult finish.
"The wind was a bit stronger. ... So, it was very hard," Kosgei said. "I decided I must try. So, I tried."
No American has won in Boston since Lisa Larsen-Weidenbach in 1985, when the U.S. women swept the top three and the men came in second and third. The 2009 race was the slowest since then, a pace that had the men's leaders passing the female stragglers and approaching the final mile as the women were hitting the tape.
Goucher burst into tears and was consoled by her husband, and Tune fell to the pavement for several minutes after the final sprint. Race spokesman Jack Fleming said Tune would not be available because she was receiving medical attention; he did not elaborate.
Goucher's voice cracked repeatedly in the postrace news conference.
"I just wanted it for everybody that wanted it for me," she said. "I'm proud of how I did. I just wanted to be the one that won for everybody."
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hDQ4UyM4PTYJNfyTk0OaCEUYBRTQD97MAFGO0
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Delicious Revolution
A column in the New York Times of today, April 19, 2009, reminded me of the importance of real unadulterated quality organic foods. And we quote Alice Waters:
"There is a profound disconnection between the kind of human experience that our society values, and the way we actually live our lives. Most people submit unthinkingly to dehumanizing experiences of food-in workplace cafeterias, food courts, and fast food chains. How can one marvel at the world and then feed oneself in a completely unmarvelous way? I think it's because we don't learn the vital relationship of food to agriculture and of food to culture, and how food affects the quality of our everyday lives.
To me, food is the one central thing about human experience which can open up both our senses and our consciences to our place in the world. Consider this: Eating is something we all have in common. It's something we all have to do every day and it's something we can all share. Food and nourishment are right at the point where human rights and the environment intersect. Everyone should have the right to wholesome, affordable food.
What could be a more delicious revolution than to start committing our best resources to teaching this to children?-by feeding them and giving them pleasure; by teaching them how to grow food responsibly; and by teaching them how to cook it and eat it, together, around the table? When you start to open up a child's senses-when you invite children to engage, physically, with gardening and food-there is a set of values that is instilled effortlessly, that just washes over them, as part of the process of offering good food to other people. Children become so rapt-so enraptured, even-by being engaged in learning in a sensual, kinesthetic way. And food seduces you by its very nature-the smell of baking, for example: It makes you hungry! Who could resist the aroma of fresh bread?
There is nothing else as universal. When you understand where your food comes from, you look at the world in an entirely different way. I think that if you really start caring about the world in this way, you see opportunities everywhere.
In order for there to be a future to the environmental movement, we must teach the children that taking care of the land and learning to feed yourself is just as important as reading, writing, and arithmetic. For the most part, our families and institutions are not doing this. Therefore, I believe that it's up to the public education system to teach our kids these important values. There should be gardens in every school, and school lunch programs that serve the things the children grow themselves, supplemented by local, organically grown products. This Delicious Revolution could transform education and agriculture.
http://www.chezpanisse.com/pgdrevolution.html
"There is a profound disconnection between the kind of human experience that our society values, and the way we actually live our lives. Most people submit unthinkingly to dehumanizing experiences of food-in workplace cafeterias, food courts, and fast food chains. How can one marvel at the world and then feed oneself in a completely unmarvelous way? I think it's because we don't learn the vital relationship of food to agriculture and of food to culture, and how food affects the quality of our everyday lives.
To me, food is the one central thing about human experience which can open up both our senses and our consciences to our place in the world. Consider this: Eating is something we all have in common. It's something we all have to do every day and it's something we can all share. Food and nourishment are right at the point where human rights and the environment intersect. Everyone should have the right to wholesome, affordable food.
What could be a more delicious revolution than to start committing our best resources to teaching this to children?-by feeding them and giving them pleasure; by teaching them how to grow food responsibly; and by teaching them how to cook it and eat it, together, around the table? When you start to open up a child's senses-when you invite children to engage, physically, with gardening and food-there is a set of values that is instilled effortlessly, that just washes over them, as part of the process of offering good food to other people. Children become so rapt-so enraptured, even-by being engaged in learning in a sensual, kinesthetic way. And food seduces you by its very nature-the smell of baking, for example: It makes you hungry! Who could resist the aroma of fresh bread?
There is nothing else as universal. When you understand where your food comes from, you look at the world in an entirely different way. I think that if you really start caring about the world in this way, you see opportunities everywhere.
In order for there to be a future to the environmental movement, we must teach the children that taking care of the land and learning to feed yourself is just as important as reading, writing, and arithmetic. For the most part, our families and institutions are not doing this. Therefore, I believe that it's up to the public education system to teach our kids these important values. There should be gardens in every school, and school lunch programs that serve the things the children grow themselves, supplemented by local, organically grown products. This Delicious Revolution could transform education and agriculture.
http://www.chezpanisse.com/pgdrevolution.html
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Sneg: Caching in
Treasure hunting has gone high-tech.
Today's "pirates" don't go on their searches with swords and maps where "X" marks the spot. Rather, they do it with hand-held Global Positioning System devices and a boatload of knowledge downloaded from the Internet.
It's called "geocaching," where adventure seekers go outdoors to locate hidden containers called geocaches, or just caches, then share their experiences online. And it's all the rage.
"There are more than 765,000 active caches worldwide," said Jeff Zesch, a manager at Bass Pro Shops at Patriot Place who leads geocaching courses at the store. "And it's still growing. It's getting bigger and bigger."
Zesch said that while it may have started out as more of an adult activity, more and more families are getting involved.
"It's a great way to spend time with your family outdoors," said the married father of two. "I remember trying to get my daughters to go on a hike and they really weren't that interested. When I told them we were going to be going on a treasure hunt, they were all for it."
The "treasure" that is found are little trinkets and log files placed in containers that range in size from a film canister to a shoe box, with the average size somewhere in between. Some people use Tupperware-like plastic containers and others, including Zesch, camouflage duct tape to protect the container and make it more difficult for "muggles" - those who are not geocaching - to find.
Things found in a cache range from specially-made "geocoins" to small toys and other gifts. "It's not so much about what's in the cache as finding the cache," Zesch said. "The rule though is that if you take something out, you leave something of equal or greater value in its place."
Also, the people who find the caches must sign in the logbook and then, when they get back home or to the office, write about their experiences on the geocaching.com Web site to show that they have found them. There are also geocaching forums where people can ask questions and share their stories and photos online.
"For some, it's definitely a social thing," Zesch said. "There are all kinds of groups, like the SNEG (Southern New England Geocachers) who get together for potlucks and things."
There were nearly 200 fellow geocaching enthusiasts at the last gathering he attended.
Once a person has hidden a cache, he or she uses a GPS receiver to chart the location's coordinates. That information is then posted at geocaching.com for others to see.
Most people will enter their zip code and then a certain radius in which they're willing to search. Once that is done, a list of area caches - and their location coordinates - will appear. That information is then plugged into a GPS device and the hunt begins.
GPS receivers can tap into a satellite network from anywhere in the world to accurately pinpoint specific geographic locations, which are identified by measuring their distance from at least three satellites by a process called trilateration. The GPS units need to be outside so they can read the satellites.
Some GPS devices are more sensitive than others and can pinpoint the specific area where a cache is located. Others, which are less sensitive (and generally less expensive) are not as accurate. GPS units generally range from $100 to $400.
There are several different types of caches. With a "traditional" cache, the coordinates are listed on a cache page that describes its exact location. A "multi" cache involves two or more locations. Hints are found in the initial cache that lead to the final cache.
With a "puzzle" cache, puzzles must be solved to determine the coordinates of the cache. "Event" caches are events organized by local geocachers and geocaching organizations. Listings contain coordinates, dates and times to meet.
"We like being outdoors and we care about the environment," Zesch said. "That's why we have a 'cache in, trash out' policy. When you find a cache, look around to see if there's any trash that can be removed from the area."
Donna Siegel, 56, a second-grade teacher from Easton, was among those taking the geocaching class last weekend at Bass Pro Shops. She said she has always liked going for walks in Borderland State Park in North Easton and, a couple of years ago, came across a cache placed just off one of the trails in the park.
"I thought it was interesting, but I didn't really do anything about it then. I just kind of put it on the back burner," she said.
When she saw a class on geocaching advertised in the Bass Pro Shops circular, she decided to check it out.
"I love being outside and this gives you a direction and something to do while you're out walking," Siegel said. "It's not so much about what you find, but doing it for the fun of it."
Wally Guertin, 50, a computer programmer from Barre, who also attended last weekend's class, said he had heard friends and colleagues talking about geocaching for a while and his curiosity got the better of him.
"I do a lot of walking around the Quabbin Reservoir," Guertin said. "I'm looking forward to trying this out."
Guertin said that he doesn't have a hand-held GPS device, but plans on buying one. "We also do a lot of snowmobiling," he said. "It will be nice to have one for that, too."
Zesch said it's important that people heading out on a geocaching adventure remember to mark their starting point as a "waypoint" to ensure they find their way back.
"Especially for those who are not experienced ... you'd be surprised how easy it is to get lost," he said. "And I'm not saying this just for geocaching, but for hikers, ATV (All Terrain Vehicle) riders and other outdoor enthusiasts, too."
Since it began in 2000, geocaching's popularity has grown considerably, Zesch said.
"I think as it continues to become more recognized as an outdoor activity, it will continue to grow in numbers. It's a great activity for families, individuals, the young and the old," he said. "And you don't have to do a great deal of physical activity if you don't want to. There are a lot of caches in urban areas - a lot of 'park and grab' caches which are within a couple hundred feet of where you park your car."
For most people though, being outdoors in more remote areas is one of the draws of geocaching.
"I'm so happy the weather is getting better and I can start doing this," said Siegel. "It will make my walks more interesting and add a spark to them."
So what is geocaching?
Geocaching is a worldwide high-tech game of hiding and seeking treasure.
A geocacher places a cache (small container with trinkets inside) somewhere, registers its location using Global Positioning System technology, then posts that location online. Those with GPS devices can then locate the geocache.
http://www.thesunchronicle.com/articles/2009/04/08/go/4734851.txt
Today's "pirates" don't go on their searches with swords and maps where "X" marks the spot. Rather, they do it with hand-held Global Positioning System devices and a boatload of knowledge downloaded from the Internet.
It's called "geocaching," where adventure seekers go outdoors to locate hidden containers called geocaches, or just caches, then share their experiences online. And it's all the rage.
"There are more than 765,000 active caches worldwide," said Jeff Zesch, a manager at Bass Pro Shops at Patriot Place who leads geocaching courses at the store. "And it's still growing. It's getting bigger and bigger."
Zesch said that while it may have started out as more of an adult activity, more and more families are getting involved.
"It's a great way to spend time with your family outdoors," said the married father of two. "I remember trying to get my daughters to go on a hike and they really weren't that interested. When I told them we were going to be going on a treasure hunt, they were all for it."
The "treasure" that is found are little trinkets and log files placed in containers that range in size from a film canister to a shoe box, with the average size somewhere in between. Some people use Tupperware-like plastic containers and others, including Zesch, camouflage duct tape to protect the container and make it more difficult for "muggles" - those who are not geocaching - to find.
Things found in a cache range from specially-made "geocoins" to small toys and other gifts. "It's not so much about what's in the cache as finding the cache," Zesch said. "The rule though is that if you take something out, you leave something of equal or greater value in its place."
Also, the people who find the caches must sign in the logbook and then, when they get back home or to the office, write about their experiences on the geocaching.com Web site to show that they have found them. There are also geocaching forums where people can ask questions and share their stories and photos online.
"For some, it's definitely a social thing," Zesch said. "There are all kinds of groups, like the SNEG (Southern New England Geocachers) who get together for potlucks and things."
There were nearly 200 fellow geocaching enthusiasts at the last gathering he attended.
Once a person has hidden a cache, he or she uses a GPS receiver to chart the location's coordinates. That information is then posted at geocaching.com for others to see.
Most people will enter their zip code and then a certain radius in which they're willing to search. Once that is done, a list of area caches - and their location coordinates - will appear. That information is then plugged into a GPS device and the hunt begins.
GPS receivers can tap into a satellite network from anywhere in the world to accurately pinpoint specific geographic locations, which are identified by measuring their distance from at least three satellites by a process called trilateration. The GPS units need to be outside so they can read the satellites.
Some GPS devices are more sensitive than others and can pinpoint the specific area where a cache is located. Others, which are less sensitive (and generally less expensive) are not as accurate. GPS units generally range from $100 to $400.
There are several different types of caches. With a "traditional" cache, the coordinates are listed on a cache page that describes its exact location. A "multi" cache involves two or more locations. Hints are found in the initial cache that lead to the final cache.
With a "puzzle" cache, puzzles must be solved to determine the coordinates of the cache. "Event" caches are events organized by local geocachers and geocaching organizations. Listings contain coordinates, dates and times to meet.
"We like being outdoors and we care about the environment," Zesch said. "That's why we have a 'cache in, trash out' policy. When you find a cache, look around to see if there's any trash that can be removed from the area."
Donna Siegel, 56, a second-grade teacher from Easton, was among those taking the geocaching class last weekend at Bass Pro Shops. She said she has always liked going for walks in Borderland State Park in North Easton and, a couple of years ago, came across a cache placed just off one of the trails in the park.
"I thought it was interesting, but I didn't really do anything about it then. I just kind of put it on the back burner," she said.
When she saw a class on geocaching advertised in the Bass Pro Shops circular, she decided to check it out.
"I love being outside and this gives you a direction and something to do while you're out walking," Siegel said. "It's not so much about what you find, but doing it for the fun of it."
Wally Guertin, 50, a computer programmer from Barre, who also attended last weekend's class, said he had heard friends and colleagues talking about geocaching for a while and his curiosity got the better of him.
"I do a lot of walking around the Quabbin Reservoir," Guertin said. "I'm looking forward to trying this out."
Guertin said that he doesn't have a hand-held GPS device, but plans on buying one. "We also do a lot of snowmobiling," he said. "It will be nice to have one for that, too."
Zesch said it's important that people heading out on a geocaching adventure remember to mark their starting point as a "waypoint" to ensure they find their way back.
"Especially for those who are not experienced ... you'd be surprised how easy it is to get lost," he said. "And I'm not saying this just for geocaching, but for hikers, ATV (All Terrain Vehicle) riders and other outdoor enthusiasts, too."
Since it began in 2000, geocaching's popularity has grown considerably, Zesch said.
"I think as it continues to become more recognized as an outdoor activity, it will continue to grow in numbers. It's a great activity for families, individuals, the young and the old," he said. "And you don't have to do a great deal of physical activity if you don't want to. There are a lot of caches in urban areas - a lot of 'park and grab' caches which are within a couple hundred feet of where you park your car."
For most people though, being outdoors in more remote areas is one of the draws of geocaching.
"I'm so happy the weather is getting better and I can start doing this," said Siegel. "It will make my walks more interesting and add a spark to them."
So what is geocaching?
Geocaching is a worldwide high-tech game of hiding and seeking treasure.
A geocacher places a cache (small container with trinkets inside) somewhere, registers its location using Global Positioning System technology, then posts that location online. Those with GPS devices can then locate the geocache.
http://www.thesunchronicle.com/articles/2009/04/08/go/4734851.txt
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
PC sales 'bottomed out'
Intel Corp. CEO Paul Otellini said PC sales have “bottomed out” and the company is forecasting revenue for the second quarter to be flat when compared to the first.
The announcement comes as Santa Clara-based Intel’s (NASDAQ: INTC) earnings dropped 55 percent year-over-year on lower sales. The company reported first-quarter revenue of $7.1 billion, compared to the year-ago quarter's $9.7 billion. It also had operating income of $670 million, net income of $647 million and earnings per share of 11 cents.
Analysts expected, on average, earnings of 3 cents a share on revenue of $6.98 billion, with some even expecting a loss.
But it was Otellini's comments indicating a possible recovery in PC sales that was most highlighted by industry observers.
“We believe PC sales bottomed out during the first quarter and that the industry is returning to normal seasonal patterns," said Otellini, in a statement. “Intel has adapted well to the current economic environment and we’re benefiting from disciplined execution and agility. We’re delivering a product portfolio that meets the needs of the changing market, spanning affordable computing to high-performance, energy-efficient computing."
However, the company deviated from past practices and did not issue a revenue projection, saying in a statement, "Due to continued economic uncertainty and limited visibility, Intel is not providing a revenue outlook at this time. For internal purposes, the company is currently planning for revenue approximately flat to the first quarter."
Restructuring and asset impairment charges were $74 million, lower than the expectation of $160 million; the company's quarterly net loss from equity investments and interest and other was $18 million, lower than the expectation of a $130-million loss.
Looking ahead, Intel said it expects R&D spending in 2009 to reach $10.4 billion to $10.6 billion.
http://www.bizjournals.com/dayton/stories/2009/04/13/daily40.html
The announcement comes as Santa Clara-based Intel’s (NASDAQ: INTC) earnings dropped 55 percent year-over-year on lower sales. The company reported first-quarter revenue of $7.1 billion, compared to the year-ago quarter's $9.7 billion. It also had operating income of $670 million, net income of $647 million and earnings per share of 11 cents.
Analysts expected, on average, earnings of 3 cents a share on revenue of $6.98 billion, with some even expecting a loss.
But it was Otellini's comments indicating a possible recovery in PC sales that was most highlighted by industry observers.
“We believe PC sales bottomed out during the first quarter and that the industry is returning to normal seasonal patterns," said Otellini, in a statement. “Intel has adapted well to the current economic environment and we’re benefiting from disciplined execution and agility. We’re delivering a product portfolio that meets the needs of the changing market, spanning affordable computing to high-performance, energy-efficient computing."
However, the company deviated from past practices and did not issue a revenue projection, saying in a statement, "Due to continued economic uncertainty and limited visibility, Intel is not providing a revenue outlook at this time. For internal purposes, the company is currently planning for revenue approximately flat to the first quarter."
Restructuring and asset impairment charges were $74 million, lower than the expectation of $160 million; the company's quarterly net loss from equity investments and interest and other was $18 million, lower than the expectation of a $130-million loss.
Looking ahead, Intel said it expects R&D spending in 2009 to reach $10.4 billion to $10.6 billion.
http://www.bizjournals.com/dayton/stories/2009/04/13/daily40.html
World’s most beautiful voyage
Hurtigruten Announces Partnership With Travelocity; Offering Travelers Another Source For Booking Once-In-A-Lifetime Voyages
Hurtigruten, an industry leader in expedition cruising to some of the world’s most remote destinations, has announced its partnership with Travelocity, one of the largest and most successful online travel agencies operating today, making it even easier for travelers to book one of their many luxury cruises. The two companies will be collaborating on a Travelocity page dedicated to Hurtigruten, which will include an introduction to the brand and its onboard experiences, descriptions and prices for the numerous sailings available - with port visits ranging from rural fishing villages to bustling cities and arctic tundra filled with exotic animals - as well as directions on how to book a cruise. Also included will be a link to the Hurtigruten website so that interested travelers can get more details and book a cruise directly.
Hurtigruten, known for more than 100 years as the cruise line whose fleet sails the spectacular fjord-filled west coast of Norway every day, year-round, between Bergen to Kirkenes - a route referred to as “the world’s most beautiful voyage” by Lonely Planet - also caters to the soft-adventure traveler. From October to March, the world’s newest expedition ship MS Fram sails 13-, 17-day itineraries to Chile and Antarctica, and longer 22-day sailings to Antarctica, South Georgia and the Falklands, taking in the diverse landscapes and wildlife.
http://www.travelvideo.tv/news/uncategorized/04-13-2009/hurtigruten-announces-partnership-with-travelocity-offering-travelers-another-source-for-booking-once-in-a-lifetime-voyages
Hurtigruten, an industry leader in expedition cruising to some of the world’s most remote destinations, has announced its partnership with Travelocity, one of the largest and most successful online travel agencies operating today, making it even easier for travelers to book one of their many luxury cruises. The two companies will be collaborating on a Travelocity page dedicated to Hurtigruten, which will include an introduction to the brand and its onboard experiences, descriptions and prices for the numerous sailings available - with port visits ranging from rural fishing villages to bustling cities and arctic tundra filled with exotic animals - as well as directions on how to book a cruise. Also included will be a link to the Hurtigruten website so that interested travelers can get more details and book a cruise directly.
Hurtigruten, known for more than 100 years as the cruise line whose fleet sails the spectacular fjord-filled west coast of Norway every day, year-round, between Bergen to Kirkenes - a route referred to as “the world’s most beautiful voyage” by Lonely Planet - also caters to the soft-adventure traveler. From October to March, the world’s newest expedition ship MS Fram sails 13-, 17-day itineraries to Chile and Antarctica, and longer 22-day sailings to Antarctica, South Georgia and the Falklands, taking in the diverse landscapes and wildlife.
http://www.travelvideo.tv/news/uncategorized/04-13-2009/hurtigruten-announces-partnership-with-travelocity-offering-travelers-another-source-for-booking-once-in-a-lifetime-voyages
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Portuguese water dog
Bo_obama_water_dog Usually leaks are bad things when the subject is puppies, or the White House, but yesterday a cute leak squirted out from 1600 Pennsylvania, the news that its newest resident is a Portuguese water dog that the Obama girls have named Bo.
The Washington Post, who has been hot on the trail of this all-important story got the poop on the pup:
The little guy is a 6-month-old Portuguese water dog given to the Obama girls as a gift by that Portuguese water dog-lovin' senator himself, Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts. The girls named it Bo — and let it be noted that you learned that here first. Malia and Sasha chose the name, because their cousins have a cat named Bo and because first lady Michelle Obama's father was nicknamed Diddley, a source said. (Get it? Bo . . . Diddley?)
Bo's a handsome little guy. Well suited for formal occasions at the White House, he's got tuxedo-black fur, with a white chest, white paws and a rakish white goatee.
President Barack Obama and the first Lady have been barraged with questions about the pooch ever since it became known that the girls were promised a dog if Mr. Obama won the election.
More, including a photo of the Obama's with Bo at the White House, after the jump.
Bo_obama_first_dog Although having a pet is a first for the first family, the Obamas are Bo's second family. When the puppy's original family couldn't take care of him, none other than Senator Ted Kennedy (who owns two Water dogs) found a new home for the pup with the Obamas.
Despite the fact that this news came out a few days before it was scheduled to be formally announced, when Michelle Obama spoke to People in February, she said that April would be the month that her daughters would get their pet.
Here's a sample of a typical family conversation on the matter: "So Sasha says, 'April 1st.' I said, 'April.' She says, 'April 1st.' It's, like, April!," Mrs. Obama recalls. "Got to do it after spring break. You can't get a new dog and then go away for a week."
In January Mr. Obama said on a Sunday morning talk show that the family had narrowed down their choice between a Labradoodle and a Portugese water dog. Most assumed that the Obamas were attempting to find a hypoallergenic breed to appease Malia's allergies, but the president of the Portugese Water Dog Association told USA Today that such a dog doesn't exist. "There really is no hypoallergenic dog. We tell people to spend time around the dogs to make sure they're going to be OK. The hair might not bother them, but the saliva might."
Looks like that Water dog's saliva was fine. Sorry, Labradoodles.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/unleashed/2009/04/bo-portuguese-water-dog-obama-first-dog.html
The Washington Post, who has been hot on the trail of this all-important story got the poop on the pup:
The little guy is a 6-month-old Portuguese water dog given to the Obama girls as a gift by that Portuguese water dog-lovin' senator himself, Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts. The girls named it Bo — and let it be noted that you learned that here first. Malia and Sasha chose the name, because their cousins have a cat named Bo and because first lady Michelle Obama's father was nicknamed Diddley, a source said. (Get it? Bo . . . Diddley?)
Bo's a handsome little guy. Well suited for formal occasions at the White House, he's got tuxedo-black fur, with a white chest, white paws and a rakish white goatee.
President Barack Obama and the first Lady have been barraged with questions about the pooch ever since it became known that the girls were promised a dog if Mr. Obama won the election.
More, including a photo of the Obama's with Bo at the White House, after the jump.
Bo_obama_first_dog Although having a pet is a first for the first family, the Obamas are Bo's second family. When the puppy's original family couldn't take care of him, none other than Senator Ted Kennedy (who owns two Water dogs) found a new home for the pup with the Obamas.
Despite the fact that this news came out a few days before it was scheduled to be formally announced, when Michelle Obama spoke to People in February, she said that April would be the month that her daughters would get their pet.
Here's a sample of a typical family conversation on the matter: "So Sasha says, 'April 1st.' I said, 'April.' She says, 'April 1st.' It's, like, April!," Mrs. Obama recalls. "Got to do it after spring break. You can't get a new dog and then go away for a week."
In January Mr. Obama said on a Sunday morning talk show that the family had narrowed down their choice between a Labradoodle and a Portugese water dog. Most assumed that the Obamas were attempting to find a hypoallergenic breed to appease Malia's allergies, but the president of the Portugese Water Dog Association told USA Today that such a dog doesn't exist. "There really is no hypoallergenic dog. We tell people to spend time around the dogs to make sure they're going to be OK. The hair might not bother them, but the saliva might."
Looks like that Water dog's saliva was fine. Sorry, Labradoodles.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/unleashed/2009/04/bo-portuguese-water-dog-obama-first-dog.html
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Norwegian Fjords
From Oslo in the east to Bergen in the west, the daily trans-Norwegian train service skims through the country along one of the most spectacular railways in the world.
During our trip across the south of the country we took trams, ferries and a swish coastal catamaran as well as the train: the public transport is shockingly good. But I am no trainspotter; what makes Norway so compelling is its landscape and people: a fine combination of grandeur and grit.
Oslo – the start of our train journey – is a modest capital with a colourful past. Founded by Vikings, ruled by Danes, throttled by Nazis and liberated after years of resistance, the city’s substance may be greater than its style. But the streets of Ibsen and Munch are enjoying a cultural revival. Sliding into the Oslofjord, we find the latest sign of change: the new Norwegian state opera house stands against the waves like a designer iceberg.
In the old town, families picnic beside lilac bushes in the gardens of the royal palace. After three centuries of Danish and Swedish rule, Norwegians won back their independence only in 1905 when, in a forgiving mood, they promptly invited a Danish prince to become their king.
Catching a ferry across the harbour, we see a party of schoolchildren skipping into the Museum of the Resistance. Wartime heroes may be gone or going now but their memory survives. Later I meet Ronald, an elderly visitor from the west coast. He describes how his father’s hands were broken, punished for sheltering a Jewish man; how neighbours escaped to Scotland in small boats; and how his teachers were sent to Arctic labour camps for refusing to teach Nazi propaganda.
Early next morning we catch the west-bound train. If you go direct to Bergen, it is a six-hour trip but we decide to branch off and explore more remote and beautiful terrain.
Leaving Oslo, we slice through fields of naked, silvery old farmhouses and quaint smokehouses. Everywhere the fresh colours of spruce, larch and birch feather into the sky and float on lakes: a painterly vision of Scandinavian spring.
Norwegians seem obsessed with heights, and at every halt there are signs marking how many metres we are above sea level. At Hønefoss, we have climbed just 96m. But finally we are in the mountains, approaching the vast Hardanger plateau. A lone crane contemplates a chilly marsh; lost, or resting, during some epic migration. The highest point on the line is at Finse, 1,222m above sea level.
As we change trains, waterfalls spatter the windows and we plunge down the mountains. The Flåm branch line, dating from 1923, is one of the steepest railways in the world; a testament to Norwegian bravado, engineering and shovelfuls of endurance.
Crossing a valley creamy with apple blossom, we arrive at the head of the Aurlandsfjord, just two metres above sea level. Most passengers continue from here to Bergen but, after six hours on the train, I am glad to be staying overnight – and to be changing my mode of transport to a ferry.
Next morning, as we sail away, the tiny village of Flåm vanishes against the massive backdrop of its setting. It seems impossible – absurd – that a train could burrow through those peaks.
Now we are sailing in the majestic Sognefjord, the longest fjord in Norway, and one that reaches deep into the mountains. Everyone is thoughtful in the face of such serenity, and our boat runs like an ant along the narrow, snow-capped branch of the Nærøyfjord.
After this, Bergen bursts upon us like a firework. Its people are known as the chatterboxes of Norway, and on this mild, spring evening the streets are certainly livelier than they had been in Oslo.
Unwittingly, we arrive on the eve of a great festival: Norway’s national day. Every May 17, almost the entire population rises early to lace and button itself into colourful national costume. Pointing out the lakeside home of the composer Edvard Grieg, Kristina, a guide at the residence, wails: “Tonight all the mothers will be ironing those maddening, intricate shirts!”
Indeed, the next morning the hotel lobby is packed with what looks like folk dancers – regular citizens transformed by swinging skirts and belts clinking with silver; little boys in knee breeches and young women in embroidered bodices. In parks and squares, families wait eagerly for the parades, and Bergen is a-flutter with flags. There are fireworks, boat races and dances too, but the town is dominated by children marching and banging drums.
We end the day eating fish soup in a cosy, lop-sided restaurant. Bryggen, Bergen’s medieval harbour district, is a miraculous survivor of the days when fortunes were made in timber, tar and cod. Here, sailors from the far north would trade their stockfish for treasures such as wooden coffins filled with bread, for the tree-less, wheat-less folk back home.
Watching the prosperous families in holiday mode reminded me that Norway itself is a great survivor. As the second world war advanced, Hitler turned the entire coastline into a fortress: his policy of “Festung Norwegen” convinced the allies that Germany would fight its last, apocalyptic stand on Norwegian soil. But the Nazis finally capitulated in May 1945, a date that still lends poignancy to the national day.
In some countries patriotism can be alarming or embarrassing but in Bergen I feel like waving a flag myself. In Norway, celebrating freedom is infectious.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/be3ba65e-24ac-11de-9a01-00144feabdc0.html
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Pomme Fondant or Pommes Fondant
There has been a recent buzz about pomme fondant.
Here are the ingredients for pomme fondant or fondant potatoes:
FONDANT POTATOES
4 large Waxy potatoes
125 g Butter
250 ml Chicken stock
Instructions Make fondant potatoes with the listed ingredients and serve.
Here are the ingredients for pomme fondant or fondant potatoes:
FONDANT POTATOES
4 large Waxy potatoes
125 g Butter
250 ml Chicken stock
Instructions Make fondant potatoes with the listed ingredients and serve.
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