Jack,
I’m curious about your thoughts concerning composting. For those of us who need to build up our soil, who are possibly using table scraps from “commercial” or non-organic food stores.

Do you think that there is a problem using non-organic food “scraps” in a compost for your “organic” garden? Is this a “no-no” or do you think the chemical content is so small that it won’t be a problem.

Now, I know that this might seem overly picky, but it just struck my brain that way.

Thanks for your time.

Start saving for a one-year food supply minimum and even more food and water if you live in California.

Nancy pelosi on Arlen Specter switching parties:

“Very exciting, very exciting for the American people, because now we can get things done without explaining process,” Pelosi told CNN’s Candy Crowley.

Kinda scary stuff.

heres the full article

http://briefingroom.thehill.com/2009/04/28/pelosi-now-we-dont-have-to-explain-process/

jack is right grow your own food. get some rabbits and a few chickens. these animals give you high quality compost and food. brazilian rabbits will live perfectly on garden scraps and lawn clippings. if you can produce 80% of your food and buy whole grains to fill out your pantry. you will be better off for the exercise of gardening, money savings on groceries, and cut your dependanse on global food production.

Jack, you might want to do some research on birth rates. The US is actually above (2.1335 births per woman) replacement rate (2.1 BpW), which makes it the exception in the industrialized world.

Japan, Europe, Russia – they’re all dying out. For example, Russia’s population by the end of this century will be a third of its 1990 number. China’s one child policy coupled with the heavy skew of males has kneecapped their growth, though starting at 1b people means it’s going to be a while before they’re tiny. Even India’s fertility rate has crashed down to around 3.3 BpW in recent years.

In addition, these nations’ population’s mean and median ages are getting higher by the day. Couple fewer children with generous welfare states and you’ve got a demographic bomb.

Europe’s tried to solve this with mass immigration. After all, most of the growth still taking place is in third world countries, especially Islamic ones. It’s not exactly working out for them as they planned, though.

There are several books on demography and its impacts that make good reading. Mark Steyn’s “America Alone” is probably the most readable.

Good show. One additional point regarding biofuels – I don’t know of any that are not net energy loosers. If you do an energy balance on fuel expended in the planting, tending, harvesting, and processing required to convert the biomass into useable fuel you have already used more fuel than you’re getting out of whatever volume of biofuel you’re producing.

So, not only does it make no sense from a food production standpoint, but there is no economic justification either. The only reason we (USA) is producing the volume of biofuel we are today is due to the government-backed incentives and subsidies to do so. There are some algae-based systems that folks claim are not net energy loosers, but those folks usually don’t take the volume of palatable, often specially treated, water required into account.

Hey Jack, Great show. You got me wondering though. If the “fossil Aquifers” are dropping, and they are what supply the water to the Hot Springs. When they fall too low, will that extra heat they drain off the Magma hot points re-ignite those old volcanoes?