From Natural Resources Conservation Service

Upon request from some of our local teachers, I thought I would run this article again. This is an excellent classroom activity for any age.

There are times that I am called upon to give teachings of conservation to schools throughout Grant County. I learned this simple but profound lesson from our soil scientist.

First, slice an apple into four one-quarter pieces. You have successfully cut the world into four pieces. Three of these slices represent the oceans of the world. You may eat or share these pieces with a friend.

The remaining section represents land. Take this section and cut in half length wise. One section represents deserts, swamps, Antarctic, arctic and mountain regions. You may eat or share this piece. The other half section represents where man lives, but not all of this land grows food.

Take this slice and cut it crosswise into four equal parts. Three of these small sections represent land that is too rocky, wet or too hot to grow foods. Eat these three small pieces.

This leaves you with one small piece of apple. Take this last piece and peel it. Save the peel and eat the meat of the apple (you have just eaten the urban areas of the world). Now you have an extremely small piece of apple left on your napkin. This represents the soil of our earth on which we depend for food production.

Comparing the apple to earth is a simple concept. The visual of a small peel of apple as it correlates to the earth’s productive soil is quite profound. To think that we can grow food for millions of people with such a minute resource amazes me. We need to keep it in place and not let it wash away to the Mississippi River.

From scientific and human standpoints, cephalopods mesmerize me. Hands down (no pun intended), they are the coolest creatures ever. All the way from extinct ammonoids and the graceful spiral that consitutes their fossilized exteriors to modern squids and octopi with their watching eyes and ever-ready tentacles.

The revelation that the octopus is the smartest creature after primates was no surprise to me. But that they are truly devious? Today’s science news shows a video of an octopus going bipedal, to disguise itself as something else and to scurry away from potential captors. What an incredible vignette from the pages of evolution!

From CNN:

President Bush on Tuesday expressed the hope that Hezbollah – which the U.S. State Department has long regarded as a terrorist group – could enter the political mainstream in Lebanon. ‘We view Hezbollah as a terrorist organization,’ Bush said at a news conference with Jordan’s King Abdullah II… ‘First things first,’ the senior Bush administration official said. ‘Syria must get out, and Lebanon must have unfettered elections, then Hezbollah must disarm … There is no place for an armed militia in a democratic society.’

Has this guy ever read the Bill of Rights, much less the Constitution, of the country he represents?

Jay says, “So, according to Bush, there is no place for an armed militia in a democratic society … unless you’re White and vote Republican.”