NEW NEWS IS OLD NEWS

Image left is a copy of a magazine from 1937, the year the Marihuana Tax Act came into effect which ultimately led to the suppression of hemp in the US. A quite recent article in the New Republic picks up on arguments by Fred Pearce in the New Scientist that cotton is bad news. Well, duh. Maybe he was reading this blog. It does not take a rocket scientist to realise that any plant that uses up our water is bad news - but facts are ignored by the lefty do-gooders; that is why they put Mugabe in power. If we perish our blood is on their hands. Food riots are going on in many countries, and this is a function of land use - too many organic cotton farms taking up water. Time to make a noise, and it is good to hear some from Pearce and Suzy Khimm, who writes in the New Republic.

Khimm points out that the cotton industry is a Goliath business, with $3billion a year in subsidies in the US alone. However, ignorance is her next step. Not a word from her about hemp, jute, ramie, flax, bamboo, nettles or other alternatives, maybe she thinks we can all just go naked. Khimm talks about cutting down on demand for cotton by-products, as if this would get to the root of it. And worse, she makes some curt remark about not leaping to trade in her cotton shirts for hemp. She tells us there is a big problem and she has no idea whatsoever about a solution. Journalists these days do not take much time for research, but there are people out there who do use their brains, and the best part about this article is the comment posted on the net by Aaron B Brown, who takes her to task. Brown asks: "...do you own any hemp clothing? Have you done the comparison? He then gives the reader what Khimm misses - some facts about hemp. Well done mate.

The issue is starting to be heard, the Scotsman on Sunday ran a similar article in February of this year and did mention hemp. But as Khimm noted, cotton is a Goliath industry, so we need to work harder if we are going to succeed.