Plastic Fantastic

Plastic. It really is everywhere. Possibly one of man's most important inventions. It has undoubtably been a huge part of our development in the 100 or so years that it has been around, allowing us to move forward in leaps and bounds, in terms of technology and the goods that we use in our day-to-day lives.
       As incredibly useful this stuff is, it has it's downsides. Huge downsides really. Considering that no organisms on Earth have the capacity to break the stuff down, a simple plastic bottle is estimated to have a life span of around 450 years. Even cigarette butts can take up to 20 years to decompose, given the fact that they are largely created from plastic. According to some, styrofoam apparently lasts as good as forever, and glass bottles up to a million years. In essence, just about every single piece of plastic that has ever been made, except for stuff that has been burned, still exists today. Most of it makes it's way over the course of it's lifetime to the place that is downhill from everywhere, the ocean. The UN released some statistics a couple of years ago that blew me away more than a little. They estimate that for every square mile of ocean in the world, there are around 46,000 peices of plastic in it on average. Either floating or on the sea bed. Nasty stuff dudes.
       Only around 46 percent of the plastic we dispose of actually gets recycled here in Australia. While this is indeed a pretty good figure in contrast with most of the world, especially in comparison to the US's shocking 5 percent, a lot of what we actually throw away makes it's way to landfill or the sea.
      It's all pretty bad and fucked up for the planet, but it's actually not all doom and gloom. There are several new sciences devoted to the relatively new technology of biodegradable plastics, which are being created with all kinds of materials, from orange peels to chook feathers, marking a separation from the current methods, with which plastic is created using fossil fuels, most notably crude oil and natural gas. Finite resources with a limited lifespan. Even Sony, one of the technlogogical superstars of our world, who pruduce plastic goods on a tremendous scale, have begun to get on board and are utilising the new degradable plastics in the creation of their TV's and Playstation 3's. One of the world's leading innovators in renewable plastics is actually an Australian company, named Plantic. The dude who makes it even eats it to show that it is non toxic and completely biodegradable. This is great news!
        But there is a long way to go, and the battle is not yet won. There is still alot of near indestructible plastic being pumped out, still a lot of waste. Truth be told, it will get a lot worse before it get's better. All that we can do as consumers is to be watchful and clever about it. Always try to recycle, take your reusable bags shopping, chuck your butts in the bin, etcetera etcetera. You know the drill. It's imporant though. The old adage still stands. Don't shit where you eat. So let's all try not make a mark as long as we can help it.
        Good ol' Clean Up Australia have put together a little fact sheet with a bit of extra information and some tips to cut down on your waste. You should look into it! Riiiiiight here,
http://www.cleanup.org.au/PDF/au/cua_plastic_recycling_fact_sheet.pdf      
       And guess what? Another supersweet doco for you freaks! Bonus Bonanza! Huzzah! This one is actually pretty good. A Canadian bloke goes all over the world finding out the story of plastic and the effects of it. He also uncovers some of ways that it is being reused and recycled, and spends some time on the new technologies and stuff. Recommended.
 


Here's a few more video's for those interested, courtesy of my friend Danica, specifically to do with the giant garbage patch floating out there in the middle of the Pacific.
http://www.tedxgreatpacificgarbagepatch.com/category/watch-our-videos/
.... And thanks to Frazzy for this Awesome VBS special
http://www.vbs.tv/en-gb/watch/toxic/toxic-garbage-island-1-of-3

Peace.

Reasons for Ranting

I tend to rant pretty heavily about Governments and Corporations and the Banks. Between these guys and market economists they have deivised and incorporated the current system of "growth" and money that dictates every single facet of the way our society works, hidden behind a web of lies and trick and decietful language and flat out social engineering. It's no help that the own the Law, too. It's ugly stuff. And unless we wake up and realise it and do something about it, its going to end badly. I don't know what is to be done, but it has to be soon and it has to be done by the numbers. Otherwise our kids will beat the shit out of us for being so fucking useless probably just before the whole world goes straight to hell. Anyway, I just want everybody to know all this stuff and be aware of it and be angry about it. It's serious shit we're talking about here. Life seems pretty good here in Australia, but it will get worse and worse and worse if it keeps going the way it is. It cannot get better unless we change the whole fucking system. Do yourself a favour and watch this video. It's important. it pretty much covers EVERYTHING. Gotta fight for our right to party yo. Sooner or later we're going to have to hit the streets. Fuck these clowns, let's take it back!

The Gap

We've all heard about poverty in various parts of the world, seen the images of the starving kids and felt terrible about it. It usually comes to us in the ad-breaks and is soon forgotten when the mainshow comes back on. Just about anybody in possession of a soul feels terrible when confronted with it. Because it is fucking terrible. More than half of the population of our Earth is in real poverty. This number is on the increase, and steadily and still the rich get richer.
How did all this mess come about?
In short it is the long-lasting legacy of colonialism and the enforcement of the bogus worldwide monetary system which cripples the world. Governments around the world are kept in line through their ever-growing debts to the World Bank and the IMF. It may seem like Bank-Bashing is a recurring theme around here, and I'm on some sort of moral crusade to tear it all down. The fact that they can be held accountable for most of the worlds problems might have something to do with this. The System is the whole reason why the whole world's up to shit and I'm sure as buggery not just going to sit on my hands and shut up about it or ignore it because we're all suffering for it while they stuff their pockets and laugh as they treat the whole world as a giant concentration camp. Slavery still exists, it is worldwide and is going on under our very noses.
We are lucky here in Australia that we possess a wealth of resources and an exceptional infrastructure. Also we are lucky that we too are a colonial power. The Aborigines, not so lucky. Indeed, great numbers of them fall into the same position of those in the poorer, "less developed" countries in Asia, South America and especially Africa where poverty is rife and damn near inescapable. Places where governments are easily bought and sold and the people pay the price. They have lost their ancient far superior ways of life to work too hard for scarce peanuts and are forced to rape their lands (or have them stolen from them) of all available resources to meet the needs of the greedy consumers in the Capitalist West and line the pockets of corporations and bankers. It is a well oiled machine of debt, bribes, threats, starvation and death that will continue to worsen as long as the current system remains in place.
You may have noticed that it is getting tougher for a lot of people in your country also. Does it look like improving or worsening? But anyways. This here below is a really good documentary, and Martin Sheen tells the story much better than I do, so cook up some popcorn and take an hour and a half break from the TV and Facebook and check it out...



"And yes I'll recognise the irony,
the system I oppose
affords me the luxury
of biting the hand that feeds.

That's exactly why
privileged fucks like me
should feel obliged to whine and kick and scream,
'til everyone has everything they need".

-propagandhi. 

Food, Glorious Food!

Ah food. Without it we die. And since we are largely restricted from practising the hunter-gathering traditions of our ancestors by our modern-day surrounds and society, we rely on other people to do all that groundwork for us. And that's all cool, it's easier and smoother and saves us our spare time and everybody wins. Provided, of course, that the food we are given access to is legit and good for you and the world we live in. Not too crazy a request, surely. That the food we eat be natural and Good in general. I mean, it's important. Eat well, feel well, live well. It's pretty interesting to see where all our supermarket tucker comes from, not to mention downright scary.

The food industry is a massive business, and believe me their main intersts are sure as hell not always with the health of the consumer or the welfare of the animals it processes. Crops and animals are loaded with all kinds of crazy additives and hormones and chemicals and God-knows-what that appear on the "Ingredients" column on the side of the packet as a list of strange unknown-things. I mean, what the fuck are "maltodextrin" and "dextrose", and why are they in my Fully Loaded can? Everything is geared towards efficiency and profit to the head corporations above all else.

It is important to know what you are eating and where it comes from. There is a really good documentary about all this that has come out recently, called Food, Inc. It's a bit crazier in America than it is here in Australia obviously, but the story still rings true, and we need to make the right choices to ensure that the same doesn't happen here. It's as easy as buying organic and natural goods. Vote with your dollar at the supermarket or wherever it is that you do your shopping. Too easy. Anyways, I highly recommend watching it here, it paints the full picture and tells it how it is. No bullshit.

All these years of work by the World Health Organisation, in the supposed aims of making our food safe and healthy for us, and for what? We are fat,depressed and sick. New diseases seem to be popping up all the time. Good job, WHO

More good news! The WHO is currently pressing new guidelines to "Better" our health. Does the term Codex Alimentarius mean anything to you? No? In essence it is a group of delegates in Europe, sponsored by the WHO and the UN, who are in the business of making regulations in terms of the vitamins, nutrients and supplements we are provided with. In Europe in the last few weeks, a mass ban is being implemented on a huge range of natural remedies, vitamins and dietary supplements. Er.... What? You can't tell me that Echinacea is more harmful than prescribed antidepressants. Get out of my house with your bullshit. It's base is in the Pharmaceutical Industry, and it has some pretty serious implications. Please read and watch This Video, it explains it in proper detail. To get an idea of how this may affect us here in Oz, read a full report Here. Pretty fucking grim, dudes. Brave New World kida shit. This is our HEALTH at stake.

You are what you eat, yo.