Efforts in the last decade to re-link urine with agriculture have been backed by sounder science, and particular attention to hygiene. Urine poses negligible health risks. By replacing mineral fertilizer with urine, farmers also can slightly offset their carbon footprint, and reduce the need for phosphorous found in reserves that are being depleted.Scientific American: Farmers in Nepal Use Urine to Boost Crop Yields
Dhan Bahadur Basnet, SDS social mobilizer and the first to test claims of the profitability of urine in Sotang, started with spinach. The spinach grew faster and greener, and when cooked, tasted softer and more flavorful. Then he tried it on tomatoes, an uncommon fruit in the village, selling up to $460 U.S. dollars worth, or double the average annual income in Sotang – in one season alone.
Monday, December 17, 2012
Natural Fertilizer
Sunnification of Pakistan
A recent Pew Research Centre study showed that 50 per cent of Pakistanis do not accept Shias as Muslims. Pakistan’s Shias are so regularly killed in targeted attacks that counting the numbers who were thus killed in 2012 is an uphill task.The Hindu: At the receiving end of fanaticism
Stratfor's Kaplan on The Rise of Asia
Robert Kaplan comments for Stratfor on the coming Rise of Asia and the implications for its regional stability:
Note that his description of Japan's LDP could also similarly describe the Congress Party. At least Japan has never stooped to having a foreign-born PM, nor have any of their PMs built themselves into a dynasty or Personality Cult. The Imperial Palace has always stayed out of domestic partisan political fights. Despite having different regional lobbies, Japan at least doesn't have any large 5th-columnist demographic constituency in their country. That's why despite LDP's corrupt track record, they can still come together to support nationalist causes, even while India's Congress Party is terrified of hanging Afzal Guru.
India will need a more nationalist Japan to help distract China away from India, thus giving us more leverage and latitude in our relations with the Dragon.
Note that his description of Japan's LDP could also similarly describe the Congress Party. At least Japan has never stooped to having a foreign-born PM, nor have any of their PMs built themselves into a dynasty or Personality Cult. The Imperial Palace has always stayed out of domestic partisan political fights. Despite having different regional lobbies, Japan at least doesn't have any large 5th-columnist demographic constituency in their country. That's why despite LDP's corrupt track record, they can still come together to support nationalist causes, even while India's Congress Party is terrified of hanging Afzal Guru.
India will need a more nationalist Japan to help distract China away from India, thus giving us more leverage and latitude in our relations with the Dragon.
Sunday, December 16, 2012
Use Earbuds With Caution
The problem with all headphones, simply, is that sound creates pressure. And the very design of earbuds, which fit into your ear canal to block out all other sounds, makes the situation only worse. When the ear is completely sealed off, that sound pressure has nowhere to go except straight to the tympanic membrane (the eardrum). The pressure causes unnatural motion of the membrane that, over a long period of exposure, leads to ear fatigue and hearing loss.
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