Essay of the Week 7: Ostrich and Sheep

The inspiration for this essay is the testimony from Colorado State University Professor Richard L. Knight and California rancher Mike Byrne. It's actually true: some species are still around today only because they were put on ranches as livestock. However, in most cases, overhunting is what threatened them in the first place. A few remaining Florida Pelicans and American Bison were raised on ranches for feathers or meat and that's the only reason they're still around today. There is a story out there claiming that in the 1940s Sidi Mohammed, a boy in North Africa, was raised by ostriches for a decade.

4th Anniversary of USA PATRIOT Act

How many references to the USA PATRIOT Act in this week's show? Tell us how many by email and we'll write a small part for you into an upcoming Digby episode. That's right, the dastardly PATRIOT Act was passed 4 years ago this week. Idaho has had its share of successes in passing resolutions expressing our distaste: -West Bonner Library District passed a resolution on Monday, February 10, 2002 -Idaho County passed an ordinance on Monday, September 22, 2003 -Boise City Council passed a resolution 5-1 on Tuesday, September 30, 2003 -Moscow City Council passed a resolution 5-1 on Monday, June 7, 2004 -the Idaho Legislature unanimously passed a Joint Memorial encouraging passage of the federal SAFE Act (which would rescind some of the most egregious sections of the Patriot Act) on March 25, 2005 Idaho is one of the 7 states to have expressed statewide opposition to the Act. The others are VT, AK, HI, ME, CO, and MT. We're encouraging people to write letters to the editor about the Patriot Act and how much it sucks, before Congress reauthorizes the sunset provisions (any day now). For writing points, visit the Bill of Rights Defense Committee's information-packed web site.

I'm a Believer

This week we deviated from our tradition of writing original musical material and did a much-altered cover of I'm a Believer (by Neil Diamond/the Monkees). Rather than go for a traditional sound, we made it as different as possible: tenor sax, steel-string guitar, nordic fiddle, and no drums. I thought it was just a liberal fairy tale But now conservatives feel the same The Feds were out to get me Cos of the books I read I guess the Patriot Act isn't what is claims Then I saw that badge Now I'm a believer Not a chance I'll get a fair trial I've been detained now I'm a believer I couldn't leave here if I tried I thought the Bill of Rights would be my guarantee After all, I had nothing to hide It's un-American to fight it Something must be done About the terrorists--and baby, I'm not one Then I saw that badge Now I'm a believer Not a chance I'll get a fair trial I've been detained now I'm a believer I couldn't leave here if I tried What's the point of justice? All you get is framed when I needed defense, I got is blame Then I saw that badge Now I'm a believer Not a chance I'll get a fair trial I've been detained now I'm a believer I couldn't leave here if I tried

Interview with Diane Jones

Diane says that fall is the perfect time to kill your lawn! Here's how: smother your lawn with autumn leaves. Get them from your neighbors if you don't have enough, because you'll want a layer 6-8 inches deep. Wet them down to keep them from blowing away, and by spring, not only will your lawn will be good and dead, it will be nicely mulched with the decaying leaves. You can plant native perennials directly into it. Seed germination methodology for penstemons (if you want to try growing your own - now is the time!) Idaho Rivers United water conservation pages explains why it's important to reduce water use and gives you advice on how to achieve just that. Diane Jones runs Draggin' Wing Farm, which specializes in hardy, drought-tolerant perennials. You can still find her plants at the Boise Co-Op, and again in the spring at the Annual Idaho Native Plant Society Plant Sale. She's also at the downtown Boise's Farmers Market Saturday mornings. You can also visit her nursery Tuesdays 9am to noon, and 5pm-8pm through October. She is in the process of establishing demonstration beds to showcase the many varieties of xeric alternatives to lawns. and roses. Draggin' Wing Farm is located on Stinger St off Castle Drive in NW Boise. You can call her at 345-4199, or hardyplants@cableone.net.

Conscious Consumer: Getting Enough Protein

Many vegetarians and vegans have heard the all too familiar question, “You don’t eat meat!? How do you get enough protein?” The truth is, many Americans are getting too much protein in their diets. The average daily protein requirement is 20-40 grams—about the weight of 10 pennies. The average American eats 90-120 grams of protein each day. This can cause health problems including damage to the kidneys, calcium loss, and osteoporosis. A varied vegetarian diet easily provides all the necessary amino acids. You don’t have to worry about combining proteins. A variety of foods through out the day will suffice. Some excellent vegetable protein sources include grains such as brown rice, oats, millet, and wheat, legumes such as green peas, lentils, alfalfa sprouts, beans, tofu, textured soy protein, soymilk, and peanuts. Nuts and seeds such as almonds, cashews, walnuts, sunflower, sesame, and pumpkin seeds are also good sources of protein as well as greens such as broccoli, collards, and spinach. Although it's not necessary, combining vegetable protein rich ingredients in one sitting can increase protein absorption by about 30%. Some examples that average 15-35 grams of high-quality protein are: corn tacos with pinto beans, soy yogurt with walnuts, whole grain bread with peanut butter and jelly, noodles with sesame seeds, and hummus made with tahini spread on pita bread. For more information visit: www.vegweb.com www.gentlebirth.org/nwnm.org/Diet_Prevents_Osteoprosis.htm www.vegsoc.org/info/protein.html www.vegansociety.com/html/food/nutrition/protein.php

Jeremy Sinkinson's Rant

Rainforest Action Network pages on Boise's promise to stop logging growth forests. This includes links to Boise's policy statement. Related news and links: Federal government's Healthy Forests Restoration Act Chris Maser, 1996. Salvage Logging: The Loss of Ecological Reason and Moral Restraint, International Journal of Ecoforestry, 12(1):176-178. Timothy Ingalsbee, Salvaging timber; scuttling forests: The ecological effects of post-fire salvage logging. Four-year study in Amazonia shows that selective logging is more damaging thatn clearcutting. Scientific American: Selective Logging Fails to Sustain Rainforest

Episode Guides

Episode guides to the show segments will be posted to the August Archive page from the navigation to the left.

Podcasts

All old shows are now available for download at 64 mbps bitrate quality. Just click on the green heart for podcasts or manual downloads. RadioBoise's web server has just been updated and soon all the material will be available on their site.

Ukiah Digby for Coroner #8 summary

Episode 8: Travis takes Ukiah to an emergency dentist when his tooth starts hurting during their dinner date. The dentist turns out to be a non-secular one, asking very personal questions about sex and drugs on the medical forms. The next day, Marteline gives Ukiah a hard time about dating Travis, and they share their information about Umatilla’s black-market dealings.

Have-It-All Habitat: Rapidus aquaeous

Rapidus aquaeous: Dr. Bachauser takes a motorboat ride with Larry Swearengin, who enjoys displaying his high-speed watercraft to all others in its midst in the lacustrine environment.

Essay of the Week: Bicycle Commuting

Marlene Raznick's secret formula for avoiding flats:

1. Armadillo tires are expensive but well worth it.
2. Mr Tuffy tire liners - buy them in a width that allows you to line the sides of the tire as well at the bottom for maximum coverage.
3. Invest in a decent tire pump with a built-in pressure gauge. Keep your tires properly inflated - check them every day before riding. Some flats are caused by not having enough air in your tires.
4. If you see any goathead patches, stop and pull a few up. The plant is an annual, meaning that if you pull it out by its root, it won't grow back. Do pick up any of the dangerous seeds, though, and pack them away. 5 minutes a day on your way home will clear a moderate patch in a week.

Slime, shlime. It's disgusting, messy, and may cause diarrhea (don't believe me? check the label). It has never helped me deal with any leaks or punctures, but more importantly, it contains propylene glycol. This chemical, being toxic to at least some mammals, has no justification being leaked and squirted all over the place by bicyclists.

Essay of The Week Supplemental

Gas prices push U.S. bike sales to near-historic peak Glory be: More bicycles than cars have been sold in the U.S. in the past 12 months. That's about 19 million bicycles -- nearing the 20 million sales peak during the early 1970s oil embargo -- and roughly $5 billion to $6 billion in business, according to the trade organization Bikes Belong. Though concern for the environment may factor into the two-wheeler surge, one bike-shop owner pins the new jones for cycling primarily on spiking gas prices. Sales of some auto brands, however, are holding high despite rising fuel costs: Hummers are on track for a year of record sales, thanks in part to the introduction of the H3, barely more mileage-conscious than the H2. The military-inspired vehicles project power, freedom, "and being able to go where I damn please," says auto industry researcher Wes Brown. "It's not just 'Let me by.' It's 'Get out of my way!'" If you're on one of those new bikes, watch out for Hummer-driving halfwits with a baseless sense of entitlement. from grist.org

Conscious Consumer: Homemade Seasoning Mixes

For all the budding culinary independents out there who would like to cook more but don't have the flavoring part of it quite down yet. Following are spice and herb combinations you can keep in an airtight jar. Add salt separately to each meal.

• Italian: basil, oregano, black pepper, paprika, and garlic powder.
• Cajun: cayenne, oregano, garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, thyme, and paprika.
• Indian: cumin, coriander, garlic, ginger, turmeric, and whole black mustard seeds.
• Jamaican: thyme, cayenne, onion powder, dried chives, black pepper, cinnamon, and a little sugar.
• Yemenite: for a blend that works especially well with tomato dishes, use fenugreek, coriander, cinnamon, black pepper, and garlic.
• Spanish: paprika, saffron, fennel seed, oregano, onion powder, and garlic powder
• Mexican: cumin, onion powder, cayenne, and one or more of any kind of ground chile powder. Not the chile powder you get in a jar - try getting the inexpensive bags of various ground chile varieties in the Mexican section in the supermarket or from bulk bins (New Mexico, Pasilla, California Chile, etc.).
• Moroccan: combine orange peel, cumin, coriander, ginger, oregano, turmeric, cinnamon, black pepper, and cayenne.
• Ethiopian (doro wat): mix ginger, cardamom, cinnamon, coriander, fenugreek, and cayenne.

You can also use these seasonings to marinate tofu by mixing them with a little oil, vinegar, wine, or soy sauce (you can also add honey or sugar). You can make delicious baked tofu by baking marinated slices on a cooking sheet in the oven at 375 degrees for 45 minutes, basting the tofu with the marinade, turning occasionally, until browned and most of the marinade has evaporated. Just make sure you use firm tofu. You can marinate anything and bake it.

After you've exhausted our podcasts...

and are still hungry for more vegan/lgbt/culturally diverse/politically radical-friendly entertainment, there are some other very cool transmissions out there. For instance, vegan freak radio, a podcast by a couple who describe themselves as "30-ish vegans, authors of Vegan Freak: Being Vegan in a Non-Vegan World, and proprietors of VeganFreaks.org, where we blog about living life as the ethical vegan freaks that we are." Or there's post punk kitchen, the companion website to a vegetarian cooking show on public access television out of New York City. See clips from their vegan cooking show and read through the many text-based delights.

Ukiah's Recipes

In episode 7 of Ukiah Digby for Coroner, Ukiah cooks a vegan meal for his significant other, Travis. By popular demand, here are the recipes for the dishes mentioned. Buen provecho! Portobello Wellington Herbed Roasted Vegetables Apple and Beet Salad 8-10 red beets 6 McIntosh-type apples 8 large heads Belgian endive 3 med heads radicchio 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar 1/4 cup olive oil lemon juice Wash and trim the beets and 3 apples and roast in oven at 350 degrees F until tender (about 25 minutes for the beets, less for the apples). When done, remove from oven and allow to cool. Peel and dice the other three apples and sprinkle with lemon juice to prevent browning in a large bowl. Peel and dice the roasted beets and add to the diced apple until well coated. Reserve remaining dressing for drizzling on individual servings, as needed. Peel and core the baked apples and combine with balsamic vinegar and olive oil in food processor. Blend until creamy. Pour dressing over the apple and beet cubes and mix. Wash, trim, and dry the endive and radicchio. Tear the radicchio into large but manageable pieces, and separate the endive leaves but leave them whole. Arrange them on a serving platter. Place the apple-beet mix on top.

Conscious Consumer: Processed Foods

This week's Conscious Consumer discusses the increasing prevalence of nasty stuff in processed foods: trans fats, whey, GMOs, not to mention artificial (and "natural") flavorings, dyes, and preservatives. This is a huge topic but you can begin your research at the following links. The Campaign to Ban Partially Hydrogenated Oils Organic Consumers Association RedDye40.org - food dyes "NATURAL" AND "ARTIFICIAL" - Excerpt from Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser I'd like to point out that "natural flavor" is synthetic, i.e., made from chemicals in a lab. They may have started out as "natural" sources but in the end the flavors come from a beaker. Some of the original sources are animals or plants, but the majority of flavors and artificial colorings are made from petroleum products and can include other health offenders, such as MSG. Each year 29,000 people in the United States are hospitalized--and 150 die--from food allergies, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a food-safety group. Estimates vary, but 1 in 25 to as much as 1 in 6 Americans experience some kind of food allergy.

Ukiah Digby for Coroner #7 summary

Ukiah and his image consultant, Travis, have a dinner date that turns into an emergency trip to the dentist. Marteline uncovers some of Umatilla Kennewick's darkest secrets (which Travis had casually revealed to Ukiah) at the election clerk's office. Linden convinces Marteline to meet with him and exchange campaign secrets.

Today is National Coming Out Day

The Sagebrush Players are coming out in support of everyone in the LGBT community. This week's show highlights LGBT diversity: Curtis Pullin interviews Raven Usher, an LGBT activist here in Boise. She is also the editor of Diversity magazine. Raven talks about her transexual experience and gives advice for those who want to come out of the closet. Ukiah Digby has a scene where we meet his significant other, Travis, for the first time, and discuss homophobia and coming out of the closet. Meanwhile, the villains of the story plot against our gay hero by attacking his sexual orientation. If you live in the Boise area and are thinking about coming out, consider attending a Next Step meeting, a Coming Out discussion group that meets each Thursday at 7pm at The Community Center.

Smoke Signals

Rohn Webb presents his first Smoke Signals report this week. Farm Aid for Native American disaster relief and learn how to help Coastal Tribes Wallowa Band Nez Perce Interpretive Center Wallowa County government (for updates on any land-use decisions

Speaking of PCBs

General Electric Co. has finally agreed to dredge the PCBs it long ago dumped in the upper Hudson River of New York state, nearly 30 years after the contamination was discovered. With 43 miles of tainted river bottom to tend and total costs estimated at $700 million, it will be one of the biggest and most expensive industrial cleanups in history -- although it's still unclear how much GE will do. The company has committed to Phase One -- removing the worst-contaminated deposits, about 10 percent of all PCB-laced sediments -- but won't make a decision about Phase Two's dredging of less-contaminated mud until Phase One is complete. Some eco-advocates fear GE may yet weasel out of cleaning up the bulk of its mess. "It looks like there's a loophole big enough to drive dredging barges through," says the Sierra Club's Chris Ballantyne. But federal officials insist they've reserved the right to force GE to do the entire job -- or bill the company millions for cleaning it up themselves. straight to the source: Times Union, Elizabeth Benjamin, 07 Oct 2005

Ukiah Digby for Coroner summary, week 6

The Digby campaign's road sign crew, led by Hans, has a run-in with the law while putting up signs. As a result, a rumor is generated that the Digby campaign is run by Germans and Kennewick's campaign manager, Linden Cuttown, launches a smear campaign after enlisting the questionable assistance of Lodi Tundep (who was the one responsible for the unfortunate water-slide incident at the Flag & Family Picnic in episode 3).

Owyhee Initiative

This week's Essay of the Week discusses the Owyhee Initiative. For information on why this is not a good plan, go to this website. If you consider yourself an environmentalist, outdoors enthusiast, sustainable hunter, ecologist, anti-corporatist, socialist, populist, progressive, you should not support this bogus scheme. As the essay suggests, just because the word "wilderness" is in there doesn't mean you'll end up with any wilderness. Here are links to two environmental organizations you can trust: Western Watersheds Project and Committee for the High Desert. This week's essay is dedicated to the memory of Lee Mercer.

Poison Perfume - Supplemental

The Chemical Injury Information Network (CIIN) is a support and advocacy organization dealing with Multiple Chemical Sensitivities (MCS) Linda Chae, founder of the ToxicFree Foundation owned a small cosmetic company and discovered that some of her products were making her customers sick Synthetic Perfumes, Colognes and Scents Are Turning Up Noses by Damon Franz and Holly Prall E magazine (sorry you have to pay to get the complete online copy but it’s in the Boise Library!) Lynn Lawson has written one of the definitive books on the subject, Staying Well in a Toxic World: Understanding Environmental Illness, Multiple Chemical Sensitivities, Chemical Injuries, and Sick Building Syndrome

Commercial Eggs Less Nutritious More Bad than Backyard Eggs

See the test results showing that true free-range chickens lay eggs that are more nutritious and less cholesterol-laden than factory eggs at Mother Earth News See the abstract (or pay for the full article) of one study showing the transfer of factory farm drugs from hen to egg at Ingenta.com the online research service

Turning Up Noses article

Smelling Good but Feeling Bad published in E: The Environmental Magazine, Jan, 2000 by Damon Franz & Holly Prall Synthetic Perfumes, Colognes and Scents Are Turning up Noses Have you ever wondered which personal fragrance or perfume will make you the most attractive? If the person you're trying to attract happens to be a member of the Sierra Club, then the answer is probably none. In California last year, the club's San Francisco and Loma Prieta chapters resolved to "take action to discourage the use of fragrance products in all public places," and advocate that this position become a regional and national policy. Why does the Sierra Club care about how you scent your body or which fabric softener you use? Well, quite literally, these products are making people sick. For many, the use of fragrances like perfume, cologne, after-shave or scented lotion is a personal choice affecting only the user. But the phrase "personal fragrance" can be seen as a contradiction in terms. Fragrances are, by definition, volatile: that is, they quickly become airborne. Once they're aloft, they're easily inhaled by others, and this can create a health problem akin to second-hand cigarette smoke. Breathing Hard Exposure to fragrance chemicals may result in dangerous and painful asthma attacks in which muscle spasms, fluid and excess mucous obstruct the airways. Such attacks afflict about 14.6 million Americans and kill an estimated 5,000 each year, according to the American Lung Association. The Louisiana State Medical Center found that one out of every five of these asthmatics experiences an attack as a result of exposure to perfume. Even those with no asthmatic history may begin to have attacks after becoming "sensitized" to the chemicals in fragranced products. Betty Bridges, a registered nurse and founder of the Fragranced Products Information Network, was a healthy working mother who had never had an asthma attack before 1988, when her employer switched to a cleaning product with added fragrance. "Almost as soon as I sprayed the solution I couldn't breathe," she says. "After I ran outside to get some fresh air I could breathe again, but I was wheezing badly." Shortly after the initial attack, Betty began to have reactions to perfumes and other scented products. People afflicted with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) suffer a host of crippling symptoms upon exposure to low-level chemicals that most people can tolerate. Like Betty Bridges' asthma, MCS can begin at any point in an otherwise healthy person's life. The air freshener that smells great today can make you nauseous tomorrow. And the perfume that makes you feel sexy may be giving the person next to you a migraine headache. Sound unlikely? The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) doesn't think so. In 1991, it sponsored a study to identify the compounds found in many fragrance products, in part because "chemical sensitivity may be widespread enough to have significant effects on the country's productivity and health care costs." Asthmatics and MCS sufferers aren't the only ones feeling bad about the chemicals in fragrance products. In 1986, The French journal Ann Dermatol Venereol reported that "perfumes are the most common cause of skin allergy to cosmetic products." The same year, the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) listed fragrances as a category of chemicals that should be given high priority for neurotoxic testing. Although the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not yet taken NAS' suggestion, Anderson Laboratories has. Anderson is an independent testing lab that specializes in biological effects of polluted indoor air. The lab's president, Dr. Rosalind Anderson, reported in the Archives of Environmental Health that mice experience neurotoxic effects--as well as sensory and pulmonary irritation and airflow limitation--in response to fragrance exposure. Anderson says that her findings, in addition to human reports of adverse effects, are significant enough for her to advocate that people stop using fragrances. "We think that, even if you don't find yourself to be sensitive to fragrances now, you may be later on," says Anderson. "We also don't know if there is such a thing as silent lung damage." If you like scents so much that you're willing to risk your health and the health of those around you to wear them, you probably shouldn't move to Halifax, Nova Scotia. The city recently established fragrance-free policies in most of its public offices and many private businesses. And Halifax isn't the only city to make a public issue out of such second-hand health hazards. In Marin County, California, restaurant patrons are able to choose fragrance-free seating, thanks to the efforts of Citizens for a Toxic-Free Marin. Chemical Soup Since people have been using perfumes for hundreds of years, it's reasonable to wonder why the problem has surfaced only recently. But until the 20th century, perfumes were made from natural ingredients derived directly from plants and animals. As fragrances became cheaper and more widespread, they also became more synthetic. The National Academy of Sciences reports that 95 percent of chemicals used in fragrances today are synthetic compounds derived from petroleum, including known toxins capable of causing cancer, birth defects, central nervous system disorders and allergic reactions. But surely, you might say, if there really was a significant health risk created by perfumes and other scented products, the federal government would protect people by attempting to regulate them, right? Guess again. Since the cosmetics industry is self-regulated, it isn't required to register its formulations, test results or consumer complaints with the FDA. "The cosmetics manufacturers aren't required to submit safety data, so we don't really know what sorts of tests they run" says Wayne Stevenson of the FDA Cosmetics Registration Section. "When they run tests, they keep the results in their own files. They don't share the information with the FDA." Human health risks aren't the only problem. Fragrances that are washed down the drain from laundry, shower and household cleaning activities may not be removed in waste treatment plants, and so they can stick around to contaminate animals and ecosystems. Synthetic musk chemicals in particular may be ecologically harmful "due to their high bio-accumulation potential in animals and in the aquatic environment, their general persistence, dermal permeability and insufficiently assessed toxicity" says Dr. Gerhard Rimkus of the Food and Veterinary Institute in Neumunster, Germany.Next time you reach for that bottle of perfume or cologne, remember that you're using powerful chemicals regulated solely by the industry that sells them. Remember that just because they don't affect you now doesn't mean they won't affect someone in line next to you, or that you'll always be immune to their effects. Think about where they might end up once they've disappeared down the drain. If you do have a reaction to scented products, take action. Complain not only to the producer of the product, but also to the FDA (for cosmetics) and the Consumer Product Safety Commission (for other fragranced products). CONTACT: Consumer Product Safety Commission, (800)638-2772; Human Ecology Action League, PO Box 29629, Atlanta, GA 30359-0629/(404)248-1898; Office of Cosmetics and Colors, Cosmetic Adverse Reactions Monitoring Program, 200 C Street SW, Washington, DC 20204/(202) 205-4706.