Re: Mind's Eye Re: Green Issues (might make some 'green')

I am Allan, though it does mostly wash over me. It feels a bit like
those occasions in sport where all you can do is give up or fight the
lost cause. I once dropped a goal just before half-time in game we
were being slaughtered in - it made the score 20 - 1. There was much
derision from my own side. We won 21 - 20. Days like that don't come
often and I feel much like James with the ironic hope 'Superman will
come'!

I have no problem with proper investing but management is only one
aspect of a wider problem I suspect is to do with our lack of
understanding of money. We have tended to see it as separate from a
real economy of goods and services and 'neutral' (even Marx did). The
story below gives most of the reasons why we need new understanding.

AS FRENCH troops battled with jihadists in Mali at the start of the
year, some people had reason to be thankful for the chaos. Two million
fishers, farmers and herders live on the inner delta of the River
Niger, a huge wetland on the fringe of the Sahara. They hoped the
fighting would end foreign investors' plans for irrigation projects
that would suck water out of the river and destroy their livelihoods.

Even before fighting broke out, rumours of impending insurrection had
encouraged the food giant Associated British Foods to abandon a
massive sugar cane project. Since then, "land-grabbers" from the US,
Libya, China and elsewhere have departed. The Mali government's hope
of using the river to irrigate up to a million hectares of desert
looks doomed. The wetland – and the people who prosper from it – are
saved. For now.

But the same is not true elsewhere. Wetlands and the people who rely
on them are under pressure across Africa. I have interviewed Kenyans
angry at a US property tycoon draining their swamp on the shores of
Lake Victoria and fencing off their wet pastures for a rice farm. I
have also heard the concerns of tribal people in a remote corner of
western Ethiopia, where Indian and Saudi agribusinesses are taking
their forests and capturing the headwaters of the Nile.

Usually this is called land-grabbing, but it is as much about water.
In a world of drying rivers and plummeting water tables – and where a
quarter of farm production is limited by water shortages – water is
valuable stuff.

As Willem Buiter, chief economist at Citygroup, has argued: "Water
will become eventually the single most important commodity asset
class, dwarfing oil, copper, agricultural commodities and precious
metals."

Yet governments rarely recognise this. In a study of land-grab
contracts, Lorenzo Cotula of the London-based International Institute
for Environment and Development found that land-grabbers typically
demand water rights, and usually get them. But governments rarely put
a price on the water or limit how much can be taken, even in water-
stressed countries. If your dam or borehole is big enough, you can
have every last drop – regardless of the impact on locals.

We urgently need to know more about the scale of this capture, not
least because some of the land-grabbers' favoured crops are among the
thirstiest, such as sugar and rice. But if information on land grabs
is poor, then that on water grabs is far worse.

Most of what we know about land grabs comes from press reports
collated by GRAIN, an NGO based in Barcelona, Spain, that campaigns
for peasant farmers. This leads to some over-reporting. For instance,
many Saudi schemes in other Islamic nations have never got beyond
grand ministerial declarations.

Under-reporting is a problem, too. I have flown over hundreds of
kilometres of tribal lands in northern Paraguay acquired by Brazilian
ranchers but absent from land-grabbing databases. Similarly missing
are grabs by domestic companies in partnership with foreign ones, such
as the sugar plantations that have obliterated Cambodian family rice
farms to supply the Tate & Lyle sugar factory in the UK.

For what it's worth, Oxfam puts the total amount of land promised to
foreign companies at more than 200 million hectares. A network of
researchers known as the Land Matrix, coordinated by Ward Anseeuw of
the University of Pretoria in South Africa, estimates that perhaps a
third of these deals have been completed, with most of those now only
in the early stages of cultivation.

The first attempt to turn this land data into estimates of water grabs
was made in January by Maria Cristina Rulli of the Polytechnic
University of Milan in Italy and colleagues (PNAS, vol 110, p 892).
The headline stat was that up to 450 cubic kilometres of water are
"appropriated" globally by land-grabbers each year. At least two-
thirds of this is rain falling onto the grabbed land, but the rest is
extracted from rivers or aquifers for irrigation – around 5 per cent
of total global extractions for irrigation. That's a lot.

But there are two problems with this analysis. The first concerns the
land grabs that were included. Rather than using the Land Matrix data,
the researchers used miscellaneous grabs listed by GRAIN and other
sources. Their inclusion criteria are unclear, but this skews the
data, turning the UK from a middle-ranking land-grabber to the biggest
of them all, for instance.

The second, bigger, problem is their conversion of land grabs into
water grabs. Land contracts merely allow access to water, albeit often
unlimited access. So the authors assessed how much water would be
needed to grow the intended crop on all of the grabbed land.

The trouble with this is that few if any land-grabbers have come close
to achieving that so far. And many projects, including those listed
from Mali, may never happen. Rulli told me that she didn't consider
the actual extent of cultivation in her calculations. But that makes
the claim that 450 cubic kilometres of water have already been grabbed
extremely misleading. The figure may represent a theoretical maximum,
but right now it could be orders of magnitude too high.

The findings would be best ignored, except they are the only peer-
reviewed global water grab assessment in existence and are already
being quoted.

The authors are right to highlight that there are a huge number of
water grabs, many of them in hungry and water-stressed countries. But
the fact is we are no closer to quantifying how much water is being
taken. We must do better.

That's from this weeks New Scientist. I can think of thousands of
examples in which 'investment' is largely about stealing and making
what others own an 'externality' that doesn't appear on the balance
sheet or profit and loss - other examples are the Walmart practices
that dump health care onto the State and decent wages having to be
made up through tax credits. The real welfare queens have turned out
to be the banks and I suspect we have only half the story of the
extent of that. This may be particularly grim for the UK - most of
our debt is in the financial institutions and we have no idea if this
is a positive trading position (with the banks making profits from the
loans that are their debt) or actually a huge pile of bad debt. I
suspect the latter because the evidence we need to decide is hidden in
mark to model accounting rather than true price discovery.

The suggested ways forward include abolishing the central banks to
prevent the moral hazard of governments printing money but I don't
fancy leaving the system in the hands of the shysters running our
banks! I have a very autobiographical memory and when I dream about
that drop goal these days someone has removed the goalposts. What we
need is investment in projects worth doing that expand capacity to do
the right things, I think this means stopping money making money -
and that entails understanding money instead of worshiping it. The
current practice of letting those with first access to the stuff
created use it to establish their own hoards of it has to stop. In
respect of this we need a dynamic of its redistribution that isn't a
charter for Soviet Paradise or the scrounger. Having managed people I
tend not to be a full democrat but I also know monkeys 'down tools'
when they see another group being rewarded with grapes when they are
paid in cucumber.

On 2 Mar, 18:19, Allan H <allanh1...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Neil you sound frustrated old friend..
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> On Sat, Mar 2, 2013 at 12:15 PM, archytas <nwte...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > I've taken time out to finish my certificate in assessing.  I held the
> > thing years back but didn't keep up the CPD.  I'm half-way through and
> > my assignments are being lauded as excellent.  Dreadful cut and paste
> > jobs really.  I'd forgotten what it's like to have work assessed and
> > just how boring and naff teacher-training is.  I will soon be
> > unleashed and fall upon my victims.  The awards are called nation
> > vocational qualifications (NVQ) and were dubbed 'not very qualified'
> > 30 years back.  Level one equates to sweeping stairs from top to
> > bottom and nine would be a PhD.
> > Education and training have  long been vaunted as 'the way forward'.
> > I'm more inclined to the notion of stringing up a few royals,
> > banksters and politicians.  Looking at the content of business school
> > programmes I see very little relevance to the workplace or social
> > development.  I have rarely found work motivating and yet am currently
> > marking (as an external) wads of undergraduate stuff on the Hawthorne
> > experiments to Maslow and Herzberg taught be someone without a clue
> > who presented them in positive glow.  The two students I've found so
> > far who did research the critique have been severely marked down!  One
> > of them concludes the work is so poor it shouldn't be taught and
> > argues with satirical bite and substantial referencing.  I've found
> > the same student in the economics pile advancing a complex argument on
> > ethics in the subject only being possible if students went on strike
> > insisting realistic material being taught.  Her reward there was t be
> > failed - and though this might be good preparation for what happens to
> > the dissenting voice in the workplace, I thought education was
> > supposed to encourage the kind of sensitive critical thinking the
> > young woman demonstrates.  I've given her a first and am going through
> > all papers.  Payment is a flat fee, though I took the job to help an
> > old friend (at her wit's end).  Neither of us holds much hope in
> > dealing with the mediocrity but we will ensure fair play - though this
> > comes at substantial costs on our time.  I don't understand how we
> > adopted Soviet performance management techniques and corruption across
> > our society, but management by objectives, appraisal and strategy do
> > resemble the '5 year plan'.  Even our hospitals are killing people!
>
> > On Mar 2, 5:27 am, James <ashkas...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >> Listening to politics is revolting but I do catch a clip of the pres on
> >> NPR occasionally, the programs are very interesting, but he sounded a
> >> little tired.. I have a policy of keeping low but should at least write
> >> the local postmaster general and ask what can be done about the
> >> ridiculous 2006 mandate for prefunding retirement.
>
> >> My fiancee's father is an interesting one, I shouldn't talk about it. I
> >> am hoping a purchase order will be on my desk Monday for ten pieces (a
> >> minimum limit for something we make), it would help to get paid during
> >> the last quarter this year. Form 990 is due soon, then 1120s, and 1040-
> >> time to get my head in the game and some serious reading. No backup
> >> plan. What I really want to do is make a difference. I cannot imagine
> >> how heavy it can be for a president. We are broke because instead of
> >> settling on violations of public trust and ethics our willing and
> >> capable have been exhausted under an unrelenting stream of cash from big
> >> business. So many people have called for help and so many SLAPP suits,
> >> people who lose everything, phone calls to attorneys who collect little
> >> better than blood money. It is a cold, hard, brutal world full of
> >> predators, and poor Obama has had the privilege of watching some nasty
> >> things get stamped. It seems almost impossible to identify the sellout,
> >> or merely overwhelmed. We need Iron Man, Rocky, AND Chuck Norris!
>
> >> Best wishes all
>
> >> On 3/1/2013 7:39 AM, rigs wrote:
>
> >> > Oh those scrappy Brits- such elites who managed to hold onto their
> >> > royals! Never one to admit its negative impact on the Continent and
> >> > its empire. Tra-la, tra-la, old chap. It is easier to trade with a
> >> > block of partners, isn't it?
>
> >> > On Mar 1, 1:21 am, archytas <nwte...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >> >> UKIP (sadly not a party advocating falling asleep at work) came a
> >> >> close second in yesterday's by-election here.  This will put the wind
> >> >> up our GOP equivalent.  UKIP are non-events who just want the UK out
> >> >> of the EU ( as probably 65% of the UK does) and are now recipients of
> >> >> the protest vote.  I regard it much more important to deal with our
> >> >> toilet offerings properly than bother whether we are chums with the
> >> >> French and Germans.  We should all be in the EU and abolish it at the
> >> >> same time - a more possible solution than it might appear - we could
> >> >> simply create an electronic parliament after abolishing the farces of
> >> >> Brussels and Strasbourg.
>
> >> >> On Feb 28, 7:45 am, Allan H <allanh1...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> >> >>> Farming practices have greatly improved..the soil loss i was seeing is
> >> >>> not the result of erosion.  flowing artisan wells are very rare and I
> >> >>> know of only one area in the US where they are common;
> >> >>> Now Neil there is a way you could join the super rich in the states..
> >> >>> step one.  get your degree in US Tax law passing the bar..  specialize
> >> >>> in national tax law and learn all of it ..  required reading will
> >> >>> include all of the tax law will be required, skimming will not be good
> >> >>> enough..  then you need to become a CPA (certified Public Accountant..
> >> >>> then what you do is you offer the rich the service tax evasion..if
> >> >>> interested I will explain it to you..  it will require the US not
> >> >>> getting the budget in place..
> >> >>> was looking at that..  the republicans need to remember that if they
> >> >>> don't get a new budget in place  they will lose all of the tax breaks
> >> >>> they are trying to protect..  lol  tough it will effect me,,  maybe it
> >> >>> is the best thing as it will force the rich to pay the taxes they have
> >> >>> been avoiding..  they will never get such a good deal again  as the
> >> >>> tax laws were passed by republicans for rich republicans during the
> >> >>> time when both the senate and house along with the president were all
> >> >>> republican..    that sweet heart deal no longer exist.
> >> >>> On Thu, Feb 28, 2013 at 5:06 AM, archytas <nwte...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >> >>>> There's so much we could and should be doing.  I fancy a long-term
> >> >>>> plan bolted on to current economics, perhaps replacing derivatives and
> >> >>>> the like.
> >> >>>> On Feb 28, 2:43 am, rigs <rigs...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >> >>>>> It could also be called Facelift!
> >> >>>>> On Feb 27, 4:59 pm, archytas <nwte...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >> >>>>>> It's just not fair Al - I always wanted to cry all the way to the
> >> >>>>>> bank!  Maybe we should petition the young jerk running Faceflop and
> >> >>>>>> impress him with out credentials - turning silk purses into sows'
> >> >>>>>> ears, the negative Kelvin temperature of our customer service and
> >> >>>>>> other assets we bring to maximising tax loses whilst simultaneously
> >> >>>>>> stacking piles of hard currency offshore?  Given the job we could hire
> >> >>>>>> Gabby's friend to do the books on double time (she'd do the bird for
> >> >>>>>> both of us later) ...
> >> >>>>>> On Feb 27, 8:51 pm, Allan H <allanh1...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >> >>>>>>> Sorry Neil those tax breaks are for the super rich..  poor people like
> >> >>>>>>> you and me have to pay our taxes..
> >> >>>>>>> On Wed, Feb 27, 2013 at 9:16 PM, archytas <nwte...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >> >>>>>>>> I never settle in long enough to be under-paid Gabs - I move on before
> >> >>>>>>>> I could be barely competent to whoever is dumb enough to pay more for
> >> >>>>>>>> my next period of incompetence.  Your friend has made the mistake of
> >> >>>>>>>> learning how to competently do the job.  Does she not know the
> >> >>>>>>>> relationship between productivity and wages is inverse - ergo one
> >> >>>>>>>> should not be productive and spend one's time looking for the next
> >> >>>>>>>> employer not to be productive with.  That the employers bring this on
> >> >>>>>>>> themselves is apparent in your friend's sad tale.  Self-employed these
> >> >>>>>>>> days, I no longer fear the sack should I spend enough time in one
> >> >>>>>>>> place to be discovered inept (as I am a tolerant employer who realises
> >> >>>>>>>> any deficiencies I have are down to a lack of training) and dare to
> >> >>>>>>>> visit the same work place twice after reasonable gaps in which they
> >> >>>>>>>> have forgotten I was there before.  Does your friend do freelance -
> >> >>>>>>>> I'm looking for someone good and cheap!  I'd even pay time and a third
> >> >>>>>>>> if she gets me Faceflop's tax concession ($450 million rebate).
> >> >>>>>>>> On 27 Feb, 16:08, Allan H <allanh1...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >> >>>>>>>>> I am sure Gabby your friend is highly accurate at her job or employment..
> >> >>>>>>>>> I never realized the soil loss until I was driving truck across mid
> >> >>>>>>>>> west in the US..   there you can see a 16 cm difference between the
> >> >>>>>>>>> fence line and the crop surface,,  thus difference is from the crops
> >> >>>>>>>>> removing soil matter from the land.  This loss needs to be replaced.
> >> >>>>>>>>> and that can be very difficult to do..  if your friend is saying the
> >> >>>>>>>>> soil does not need supplements  she can be right ass it can be quite
> >> >>>>>>>>> rich..  believe me if you are farming you have soil loss due to plants
> >> >>>>>>>>> using up the resources.  the long you wait the more difficult it
> >> >>>>>>>>> becomes..  even in my flower garden I
>
> ...
>
> read more »

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