| Thursday, March 23, 2006 |  |
| China Imposes Consumption Tax on Chopsticks | 0 comments |
 23 Mar 2006 @ 03:53 The January - February print issue of WorldWatch Magazine intimated that China was considering a nationwide 5% tax on disposable chopsticks. It would seem they were on the money, as the chopstick tax is now due to implemented next month, according to a news report. The news story notes the Chinese government as saying “it is a terrible waste of timber that is depleting the country's forests.” The WorldWatch piece would agree with this, indicating that China produces some 450 billion pairs a year — just for domestic use alone, downing the equivalent of 25 million trees. This new tax is part of round of consumption taxes to help China cut “energy use by a fifth over the next five years and improve the environment.” Should we now look to the West to impose a consumption tax on ice cream sticks and coffee stirrers? Now, there’s thought |
| Berlin Seeks Young Landscape Designers | 1 comment |
 23 Mar 2006 @ 03:49 Mairi Beautyman, Berlin, Germany Since 1965, as part of an international design competition, the city of Berlin has awarded the Peter Joseph Lenné Prize in three categories: garden and landscape architecture, urban green space planning, and landscape planning incorporating nature conservation. The hunt is on for 2006, and a committee of experts from Berlin's universities and colleges, the Academy of the Arts, the Karl Foerster Foundation, and the municipal administration for green space planning are seeking entries, due June 26, from individuals—or groups of individuals—under 35 years old. Named after the man behind several of Germany's green landmarks, including the parks at Sanssouci in Potsdam and the Tiergarten in Berlin, the competition is a an example of what a proactive endeavor can do to local, and international plots of green. Submissions must be received by June 26. For more information, visit the city’s Senate Department of Urban Development online More > |
| DNA separates hemp from marijuana plants | 0 comments |
| 23 Mar 2006 @ 00:54 My dear friend John Roulac, founder of Nutiva hemp foods and HempShake sent me this study. It forbodes well for the hemp foods industry. DNA separates hemp from marijuana plants MINNEAPOLIS, March 22 (UPI) -- Two University of Minnesota scientists have become the first to unequivocally separate hemp plants from marijuana plants by using genetic markers. Hemp, a crop grown for fiber and seed, and marijuana, the most popular illegal drug in the United States, both belong to the species Cannabis sativa. They differ in levels of the psychoactive drug tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, but are otherwise difficult to tell apart. The study's authors -- George Weiblen, a Minnesota professor of plant biology, and Shannon Datwyler a postdoctoral associate who is on the faculty of California State University-Sacramento -- say the new DNA "fingerprinting" technique holds promise for distinguishing different domesticated plant lines in U.S. criminal cases. It may also prove useful in nations where the cultivation of hemp is permitted, but marijuana is illegal, as in Canada and Europe. The study appears in the March issue of the Journal of Forensic Science. Copyright © 2006 United Press International, Inc. In Health, John W Roulac Founder and CEO Author of four books on Hemp & Composting Nutiva — Delicious Hemp & Coconut Superfoods 800-993-4367 ext 701 [link] |