Daryl's Journal

What Happened Today? Feather Sound walk. Drove to the Tampa office. Sales in October set new record.. $986,000. Eye appointment with Dr. Johnson. Dr. says I have scar tissue in my left eye. He wants me to see a retina specialist. Duane is still the same.

GAIA- Planetary Management:

476. The ability to feed ourselves: there is no doubt that we produce enough food to send everyone to bed with a full stomach.

477. Yet tens of millions starve, and millions more are malnourished.

478. The problem is that the Earth is less than “fair’ in allocating its land resources.

479. Some sectors are much better endowed with fertile soils than others; some sectors are much more vulnerable to natural injury; and some respond much better to constructive human manipulation.

480. At the same time, we must recognize that we have been less than fair to our Earth.

What Happened Today? Jenn, Jenny and I went to Zephyrhills to see Chris. We played Jewish Gin all day. Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Minnesota Vikings and are now 7-2 and leading the division. Watched an episode of the Sopranos. Duane’s status is the same.

GAIA- Planetary Management: 

471. Livestock eats not only grass, foliage, and other cellular plant material indigestible by human: certain types, notably pigs, chicken, and fish, consume all material such as farmyard garbage and kitchen refuse. 

472. Low-grade grazers: Marginal land grazers, browsers, and foragers efficiently convert otherwise unusable energy.

473. Intermediate grazers: Pasture-fed animals also convert plant matter such as crop residues and stubble.

474. High-grade grain feeders: Intensive rearing of pigs, chicekns, and cattle is a very inefficient means of producing protein.

475. One calorie of grain-fed beef requires 10 or more  calories of grain, one calorie of battery chicken, 12 calories of grain.

What Happened Today? We went to the casino for coffee and lost $20. We walked the coatings show for an hour. We returned to the casino and lost another $20. We checked out of the Fairmont Hotel. Taxi to the airport. Flight left at 2:35 PM. We arrived in Tampa around 5:00 PM. Kay called Sandy to check on Duane. He’s on a breathing device. It’s not looking good. He could go at any time.

GAIA- Planetary Management:

461. There are more than 3 billion creatures known as ruminants, mainly cattle, sheep, goats, and buffalo, also camels and llamas.

462. There are also more than 850 million pigs.

463. China is home to two out of every five pigs in the world, while India boasts the most cattle– 15% of the global total.

464. Efficiency or wastefulness: Most domesticated animals forage off plants that offer no sustenance to humans, thus they are not competing with humans.

465. When we count in remote rangelands, forests, and other little-recognized stock-supporting territories, domestic  animals make use of 6 billion ha of land, or almost half the planet’s ice-free surface.