Les enfants

 

Experts

Another bane of my life is the profound ignorance of experts! They learn so much in one small field, lose perspective and then say that without their know;edge you cannot comment on the subject or understand such affairs.

I read an opinion yesterday which extends this, as the argument is used by third parties, who side with the "expert", unquestioningly taking on board totally the view that without official training one cannot contribute to that subject. In a discussion on the practice of infant vaccination an ordinary American suggested that those who refuse vaccines for their children and talk with others about their reasons should be
" charged with the criminal behavior of practising medicine without a license and gagged and/or removed from the community."

Now I know that to study and to learn are laudable practices, I do it constantly myself, but the age of the internet emphasises that it's the ability to comprehend and to sift through ideas that is the most crucial ability. Craft skills such as spray painting a car are defined but if a new methodology turns up the old skill in largely useless, except in assesssing the end product. Look at newspaper printsetters in the 80s. Then look at bankers in the last few years - they sold a host of bogus products for years and conned whole countries or anyway persuaded them to overexpand and expend and too fast.

Now medics sell/use the products of "Big Pharma" and because they always have it is not a practice they dare question or even feel the need to. It requires informed and objective observation from outside the expertise to describe the problems and bring forward solutions. You cannot imagine that such a huge industry would voluntarily shut itself down, can you?

[On that latter point, I feel that there would be a lot of work as "Big Health Promoter" for the phrmaceutical industry to move on to and medics could carry out real medicine on any intense cases of infection rather than acting as "fitters" for the pharmacists and trusting in the ideas of a 19th century quack (Jenner)who lifted his ideas from Turkish peasants - who probably did a better job than he did!]

Biomedicalecology

Just out trawling for interesting blogs etc and had to comment on a gut bacteria discussion. With the Organic folk at the Soil Association publishing on the subject these days there is maybe a revival of interest in these matters. As always it still seems rather "fringe" though. Until we can realise that the antibiotic is a double edged sword and leaves one's symbio-ants as dead as any dangerous colonisers we will continue to have events of chronic infection and antibiotics will continue to be eclipsed as useful medicines.
So Biomedicalecology can describe the full nature of these symbiotic relationships. It pains me to hear the crusades against "Ecoli 0157:H7" or whatever they term it. Escherichia coli is found normally as a major constituent of our gut flora. Biomedicalecology should look at how the normal relationship breaks down and what subtle changes we could make to restore balance. More crucially, though, an understanding of where the relationship fails can help avoiding the problem in the future. This understanding could slash medical costs and improve human fitness profoundly.
Trouble is there's a vast set of industries based on illness, not health, and they rather like the status quo.

That'll do for now.
I'm still fundraising for the Centre. I'm maybe going to change the name to Greencentre but it'll always be Second Foundation, too. I owe that to Isaac!

If

Posts one and two are tied to three through my projected "Second Foundation". Not a totally original concept but lifted from/alluding to Asimov's epic exploration of inevitable decline of any society and the rebirthing of something new and better from its ashes.
I want a focus of thought and an exemplar of ideas. I know now you only need a website but real people and real talk suit most folk so much better so "Hafod Gwyrdd" will be a focus of "2F" as I could call it in a modern vein.
2F is to be if I can tie some last details in the next couple of weeks. Six months of glorious toil will bring the buildings into play allowing everything else to progress.
WTS

OK

Second Foundation.

The solution within.

A report today suggests that we've all been spending too much time on ourselves, chasing each other to arrive first at all the reward stations that we've all lost sight of the bigger social pictures. Don't we all know that already? Ex ministers of the crown profit from the positions they've been honoured with - well, Tony gave them the tacit example, of course. He just upped and left to feather his nest as much as possible.

Me, I've never been very clear of whether there was a where we were going and, if so, whether we should be going there at all! Certainly, I'm not too good at "follow my leader" as I need to see actions make sense in the broader perspective. Thus the "put your head down and just get on with something" also became hard to swallow. Remember"Not in my name"? I didn't see that a war against the Iraqis was justified, I didn't believe Blair and, ten years earlier, had marched against the first offensive. Then, afterwards, seeing and hearing it all being carried out "in my name", as if I approved of it, always felt wrong. Such a lack of accountability or of democracy of any sort.

So it all cruises on. Copenhagen and East Anglia showed the World was not ready, able or mature enough to deal with the consequences of the dash for development, growth and industry. The interesting irony in the juxtapositioning of the two locations is that, prior to the last major climate change event, you could have walked from one to the other. An increase in global temperature and greenhouse gas concentration had led to the melting of a colossal amount of the ice sheet and an increase in sea levels of the sixty metres or so needed to drown a vast area of rich lowlands, inhabited by probably substantial populations of humans and other species. Auroch, maybe mammoth, bison and the like as well as species common today. I'm talking of a mere 8000 years ago, maybe ten at most when Doggerland was submerged beneath the returning North Sea. Returning after maybe a thirty thousand year absence!

There are two factors here. One is the inevitability and the dramatic effect of climate change and the other is that it is not hasty in its action. It was some eight to ten thousand years after the glacial retreat began that Doggerland was lost. Yes "after the end of the ice age". Greenhouse gas concentrations - carbon dioxide and water vapour - had increased substantially (CO2 up from 180ppm to 280ppm, roughly) and still sixty metres of sea level rise took ten thousand years.

Eventually another fifty metres worth of ice rejoined the oceans, roughly by the time the Romans invaded Britain, to bring about something like our current sea levels.

I digressed a bit, but with purpose, as I feel the Doggerland saga shines a lot of light on our present day discussions.

1. It was a natural event and demonstrated how sea levels can change substantially and that vast landscapes can be lost (or gained, as the Earth subsequently cools!)
2. Over the whole timespan the annual increase in sea level was 6 mm per annum.
3. It appears that CO2 levels and temperature rose very early as the glacial period turned to retreat, although not wholly uniformly or conjointly - temperature preceded CO2 increase. I have not seen evidence on water vapour.
4. During the first ten thousand years of glacial retreat (from 18000 bp) there was a prolonged increase in vegetative growth, with global forestation reaching a level of twice the present. As sea levels rose there was also loss of forested land but the upper figure stands.
5. There was thus a larger capacity in that era for the global ecosystems to absorb atmospheric carbon dioxide than we have at present.
6. Our present rate of sea level rise is generally measured to be 2mm to 6mm per annum or even less so seems to present no immediate threat.
7. Comparing now and the era of Doggerland's flooding then CO2 was in balance, now it is rising and already 100ppm higher. The only sink that's diminished now is the forest - oceans and (mostly northern) mosses being unchanged and presumably working at full pelt.
8. As CO2 levels continue to climb so the existing sinks are not coping. We should, thus, replant the missing woodland, or a good portion of it.
9. Now, in the post glacial period CO2 levels must have risen more than is apparent to the measurers (ice cores etc) as much was immediately sunk into re-emerging forests (and moss). Thus the actual release of CO2 must have been such that it allowed 280ppm to be maintained and at the same time allowed, over 10000 years carbon equivalent to 150 ppm to be stored as woodland.
10. Remember that carbon was also being laid down as moss during this time and the balance between release from and solution into is very unclear.

Was that clear? As far as I can see, it is blindingly obvious that although climate change is a slow process sea levels will rise henceforth. In the post glacial era there was probably an equivalent amount of atmospheric carbon to current levels, only it was being taken into the terrestrial ecosystem so didn't stay in the atmosphere as it does now - with nowhere else to go! Way back then CO2 went to the new woodlands and we still got sea level rise, albeit over a few thousand years. If we don't recreate our forests could it be that sea levels will carry on rising until all the ice is gone. so what if that's going to be in 5000 years. We really should act responsibly and try to turn things round. It's a bit of a faith thing, I guess. Hmm, not that easy to sell.

I'll come back to this!

Gates to Paradise.

Which is just to say that the site now has a pair of wooden gates at its NW approach, put up by me yesterday. I'm not quite there yet but feel that it may get afloat again in the next few days. I painted the blue box Sherwood green and started to clear a space in the woods for an Earthship. We like the idea of building an Earthship, possibly before anything else as

1. The marterials are free or already on site.
2. Might even be paid to take 500 used tyres away from the National Tyres depot in town - they have to pay £5 a tyre, they say, to have them removed from their premises.
3. It could make a snug sleeping den for site visitors and useful day house, too in its chosen location.
4. A local charity wants to build an Earthship in Eiras Park as a youth centre. They may well be persuaded to come and help with the construction.
5. It'll also give me a reason to fell and plank some/all of the Scot's Pine on site. Thet're good timber but not really appropriate species - all the rest is native deciduous and holly. OK and sweet chestnut and horse chestnut and Christmas Trees but they're "exceptions" to prove my rule. OK, just I really want to harvest those 80 year old pines, and there's a few plankers around to bring their kit to the site to do the work.

So, an Earthship. Should I ask the Planners? No, I didn't think so , either! Trouble is I already want to ask them about

1. Making the renovation twelve inches higher, to get the crogs in comfortably.
2. Wind turbines - either on the top of our hill or just accross the road to that point as a small wind farm or both options.
3. Oh yes and ........ One has so many plans!

The Celtic Longhouse I'd like to be quite early, too. Plans will be drawn up!

I also uncovered the well again (from brambles) so must now devise a pumping scheme to draw the water out and to points of use. Solar or a small turbine?

Back to the future and all that!

Greystone longhouse

OK, this is just to establish the brief, the web site and, indeed, the physical site. Three acres, a caravan, a steel container box and, oh yes, "little more than a pile of stones". Yes, you guessed, a building plot. To renovate my dream home. Set in paradise, near to the Irish Sea coast of North Gwynedd. Even got plans passed by the local council to build the dwelling.

It's an old location with lots of history. Romans were in the area and there's a raised roadway of glacial stones (grey, of course!) retained between well laid and large edging stones. It is five metres wide and runs a long way through two of the fields. I call it the Roman road - it's certainly atypical of the standard local approach which is two parallel deep ruts cut out of ever deepening mud. Tractor roads. A local girl. Helen, married a Centurion based at Segontium, the regional headquarters of the Romans - in fact their North West frontier. Her name is celebrated to this day, and the local area is called "Penfforddhelen" - the top of Helen's road.

There is a well in one of the fields and the road leads towards it. Some say the road from Segontium down to the South of Wales passed along this route and the well was a useful stopping off point. Certainly, more recently, it fed pipes to several local houses, used until very recently for household water supplies.

There's fabulous views - over the sea to Ireland on a clear day - but also lots of trees on the holding. Of these a good number are fruit trees, especially apples. Also a few thousand native deciduous and a few Scots Pine. These latter should cut to useful timber as they're some eighty years old.
Otherwise most stems are twelve years old and will provide useful coppice material. If you find this space and are interested then I'll be back soon. Watch this blog!

Longhouse. These are found a lot locally and I'd like to build the predating structure, as built by the pre-Roman Celts. Up in the hills there are ruins of such dwellings as well as the more described roundhouses. So, using the masses of stone held in the neat-ish 19th century dry stone walls and the alder, ash, birch and aspen stems, I'm determined to build a serviceable bronze age Celtic Longhouse. The main house will be the subsequent project, I'll start here.

If I can sort a few details then this could become a "please come and join in" type project. There's loads to do. Such as the Amphitheatre. There will be camping, for sure, and potential for more but I've got to get some services sorted.