Thursday July 3, 2008, 7:55 pm
Only 2.5 percent of the total water on earth is freshwater. Of that, less than one percent is available for human use. Three-quarters of all freshwater is trapped in the ice caps and in groundwater, not available for life-sustaining consumption. Population and pollution effectively reduce that minuscule amount. The problem is that our planetary water supply is a closed-system. The option to desalinate water is too energy-consumptive for the near future. Therefore, any serious long-term drought in the next decade would devastate life, as we know it.

Abnormally dry weather has brought drought conditions north and south of the Potomac Highlands in the recent past. I remember from several years ago when Dan Williams and his gallant crew hauled water into Mount Savage during a severe drought. The water company's motto then, was, "If it's brown, flush it down, if it's yellow, let it mellow." Lately, nearly 98 percent of Maryland has been abnormally dry during the pre-summer months of this year. Western Maryland, which equals 20 percent of the state, has not improved much. As reported by the Times-News, on July 22 and August 1, we've seen only half of normal rainfall in the region. Our last prolonged drought in 2002 lasted for 13 months, pushing most of Maryland into a state of emergency. If this drought lasts through this coming winter we had better learn how to capture our "mellow" urine to recycle it into drinkable water the way NASA is developing a urine purification system for our space stations.

Sadly, the real horror of any drought is not in human terms only. Every living plant and animal species on this planet depend on the same freshwater supply we use. Yet, humans consume 30 percent of all renewable terrestrial precipitation evaporated from our atmosphere. And still, there are over a billion people without safe drinking water. Logging, grazing and cropland industries ravages our planet with overuse and contaminated water runoff. While the rationale that farming is essential to our well-being is self-evident, the prolongation of forest logging is not.

For more than a decade there exists in Maryland and West Virginia advocacy groups for industrial hemp-tree forestry and production. Within five years worldwide hemp-tree farms harvested annually (not marijuana plants) could reduce demand for forest lumber and paper products by 80 percent or more. And that's just the beginning. Keeping the hemp-tree illegal in our 50 states because of unfounded marijuana fears and government-corporate collusion is tantamount to suicide.

Thursday July 3, 2008, 8:06 pm
1-40% of the worlds derives at least half of their drinking water from snowmelt from mountain glaciers.
2-Agriculture uses 70% of the Earths/Global water supply.
3-One out of three people on this planet suffer from scarcity of water.
4-GO HEMP!!!!!!

Thx for the Read Scott!

Friday July 4, 2008, 10:24 am
I think the 2 main reasons that industrial hemp is illegal to grow are: 1. Growing hemp could "reduce demand for forest lumber and paper products by 80 percent or more" And 2. People associate hemp with marijuana, which if legalized could reduce the demand for alcoholic beverages. So it really comes down the a question of who benefits from keeping hemp illegal and how much money to they donate to politicians who protect their interests. How many pot-smoking, hemp-using hippies give big checks to their local representatives in congress?

Sunday July 6, 2008, 5:03 am
Dupont, oil and the forestry interest have bigger checkbooks than those hemp-using hippies. Beside the issue of water, hemp also sequesters CO2 better and faster than any plant in the world. It grows well on marginal land, in all temperant climates. The bottom line is that hemp could help usher in a period where real wealth distribution could happen for all people of the globe. Heaven forbid, the status quo would not like that.

In 1998, the top 1 percent of Americans owned 47 percent of household financial assets, more than the entire bottom 95 percent. From 1989 to 1999 the number of U.S. billionaires rose from 66 to 268. The number of Americans living below the poverty line of 13,000 went from 31.5 to 34.5 million. In 1995 the ratio of CEO pay to worker pay was 141 to one, by 2003 it was 301 to one.

According to Thomas Dye’s list, Who’s Running America, in 2001 the number of individuals controlling America was 7,314. Their range of influence included three-quarters of the nation’s industrial assets, two-thirds of all banking assets, three-quarters of all insurance assets, and they held directorships over the largest investment firms. We can add to this over half of all private foundations and universities, television networks, national press, and the major newspaper chains. These individuals control the key positions in our nation’s law firms, civic and cultural associations, and key federal government and military commands. They’re the legacies of the Hamilton Federalist plutocrats who ran our nation, the corporate shills of America’s past.

Some early leaders went the extra mile to safeguard free enterprise for the people. Corporate charters were limited in their duration with fixed periods of existence and operative procedures. Limits on borrowing, ownership of land, and profits were set. Corporations were not allowed to buy into each other and they could have their charters revoked at will. Since the Civil War corporations have come a long way, to the point where transnational corporations now basically run all the world’s governments.

A couple of current examples from corporate rule, which are hurting us all, are commodity markets and the housing bubble. Notice how ads are begging us, the average citizen to save money, always a good idea. But why, after they have reaped all the profits are they turning to us to bail out the nation? If you want real change, how about telling Washington that we want restrictions on corporations, starting with freeing the Media monopolies. Then we can move on to limiting their ability to own stock in each other, perhaps limiting their charters, an applying time clauses to restrict their growth and profit margins. After all it should be about we the people making a living, not 7,314 people living large and in charge.

By the way, to see how we the people handled this in early American life, research the Bacon, Shays and Whiskey rebellions, when federal troops killed: we the people to safeguard elitist privilege.

Sunday July 6, 2008, 8:51 am
Thank you so much for posting this article and you comments! I quite agree with you... Go hemp!

Sunday July 6, 2008, 10:30 am
And not only does Hemp save our Earth,Hemp makes excellent T Shirts,like the Wake Up!Save Our Earth T Shirts.More to come..............you'll see

Monday July 7, 2008, 2:40 pm
THANKS SCOTT I HAVE A WONDERFUL HAD CREAM MADE OF IT SMELLS GREAT

Tuesday July 8, 2008, 1:59 am
A valuable article - worth noting by all

Tuesday July 8, 2008, 6:52 pm
Noted , thank Scott !!