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POPS13 Doctors Demand Inquest Into Dr David Kelly's Death Mr Halpin said that he lost more than 6,000 pieces of correspondence - many relating to Dr Kelly - during his investigation, explaining that the mystery began when the 'firewall' on his computer, which all similar machines are fitted with as a security measure, became inactive without warning. His emails started disappearing as though they were being sifted remotely. 'I believe this will have been done by a state-sponsored agency and not by an amateur acting singly,' he said. Dr Kelly's death may have been linked to the secret world of germ warfare research. Until his death Dr Kelly was privy to some of the state's most sensitive information and worked closely with the intelligence services of all the major industrialised countries.
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POPSBuilding an Anti-Economy "Collectively, I call these projects “Nowtopia.” Rarely do the individual participants conceive of them in political terms; day-to-day issues about how we live, what we do, how we define and meet our needs tend to be understood as outside politics. But all Nowtopian activities are profoundly political."
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POPSAllotments: Grow Your Own "Allotment gardens are characterised by a concentration in one place of a few or up to several hundreds of land parcels that are assigned to individuals or families. In allotment gardens, the parcels are cultivated individually, contrary to other community garden types where the entire area is tended collectively by a group of people. The individual size of a parcel ranges between 200 and 400 square meters, and often the plots include a shed for tools and shelter. The individual gardeners are organised in an allotment association which leases the land from the owner who may be a public, private or ecclesiastical entity, provided that it is only used for gardening (i.e. growing vegetables, fruits and flowers), but not for residential purposes. The gardeners have to pay a small membership fee to the association, and have to abide by the corresponding constitution and by-laws. However, the membership entitles them to certain democratic rights. "
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POPSPrefab Green Homes continues: The result was the Clayton I-House (view Clayton’s online tour of it here), an innovative prefab home that can be powered for a dollar a day, thanks to Low-E windows, solar augmentation, high-efficiency appliances and superior insulation. The solar panels on the roof don't supply all the home's needs, but they do cut electricity consumption in half. There's also a tankless water heater and a cistern that collects rainwater from the roof for use in gardening, car washing or other outdoor uses. Floors are made of fast-growing bamboo, and paint and insulation are low- or zero-emission.
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POPSHow to Be Frugal About EVERYTHING I love this site. Been using it for years. Lots of great tips. You name it, you can find a way to cheap it out on this site. These types of sites are the backbone of eco-living.
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POPSAt Least 3 Good Reasons to Plant Butterfly Plants 1. You will help the butterflies find food vital for their existence. 2. You will get to enjoy the monarchs in your yard or other waystation. 3. You will get to enjoy new plants. Also, "Anyone who plants at least two species of milkweed and at least four nectar plants that bloom at different times of year will earn the right to post a certified “Monarch Waystation” sign and be listed on the International Monarch Waystation Registry maintained by the nonprofit group Monarch Watch at the University of Kansas."
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POPSThe lesson of Amazon.com: start simple and evolve. Though it's taken me a number of years to actually practice this discipline, i have always believed that simple, narrowly defined user experiences are prerequisites for building something big. Google, twitter and amazon are great examples of that.
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POPSPros and Cons of 20 different types of exercise Helps to find an exercise you like, with some of the exercises as fun as they are healthy. Being an Australian clip, the exercises have an Australian slant, but most of them seem like a lit more fun than going to the gym
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POPSUrban Gardener Thinks Higher: A Rooftop Garden for Room to Grow Why should you consider a rooftop garden? * Increase access to private outdoor green space within the urban environment * Support urban food production * Promote individual, community, and cultural diversity * Improve air quality and reduce CO2 missions * Delay stormwater runoff * Increase habitat for birds * Insulate buildings * Increase the value of buildings for owners and tenants alike * Create job opportunities in the field of research, design, construction, Iandscaping, gardening, health, and food production
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POPSDo you know where your seeds come from?
Americans dislike corporate monopolies. Monsanto has stealthily become just such a monopoly. But they are carrying their game of ‘world domination’ to another level. They are genetically modifying our food stuffs in such a way that will guarantee their position in the food and home gardening industry. They currently control 85%-90% of the U.S. nursery market. Their ‘close relationship’ with government has made it almost impossible to save seeds from plants you grow on your own land. And just to ensure their position at the top of the heap they are genetically modifying every plant they control so that any seed produced is infertile. If your crops experience some sort of disease, Monsanto will sell you the chemical that will turn on the disease fighting gene in that plant. The only way, for now, that we can fight this Franken-monster company is to buy heirloom seeds. Heirloom seeds do not have patents but I imagine Monsanto is working to ‘correct’ this condition.