ISRAELI DISCOVERY WILL REDUCE RADIOACTIVE WASTE

This March 25th article comes from the news and opinion weblog The Energy Blog.

EER, an Israeli environmental company, further refining Russian techniques, has developed a process that turns low-level radioactive waste into both clean energy and inert byproducts. The process turns the waste, whether radioactive or municipal, into black, lava-like rock that can be used for road construction. The gas made from the process can be used to generate electricity.

Distributism believes in cleaning up the environment, but not going to the extremes of pro-globalists and pro-abortion “green” groups like Greenpeace and the World Wildlife Fund. Efforts like this one that both Russia and Israel developed can only help to both clean up the problem with both landfills and radioactive waste. According to the Energy Blog’s report, this has already been going on in the Ukraine since 2004 and with excellent results.

Congratulations to EER on it’s efforts. May they be replicated as widely as possible.

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INDONESIAN CATHOLICS URGED TO BUILD CO-OPS

This article, dated March 27th, comes from the news website Indian Catholic.

The Catholic archdiocese of Kupang in Indonesia is encouraging it’s priests to learn about micro-financing, so as to help their parishioners to climb out of poverty.

The priests went through a training session in Kupang from March 12-17. As noted in the article, the priests and lay workers were taught about “microcredit and livelihood, problems of microfinance institutions, poverty as a common problem, steps to build organizations for saving and making loans, and financial matters as pastoral service.”

On March 16th, Archbishop Petrus Turang spoke to the participants. He praised the work and training his pastors were receiving, and urged every parish in the archdiocese to have their own cooperative.

This is an excellent application of the Holy Gospels’ command to aid the poor in their distress. This is also putting Distributism in action. As what happened with Frs. Coady and Tompkins in founding the Antigonish Movement, as well as Fr. J. M. Arizmendiarrieta and the Mondragon Movement, the priests of the Faith will educate the poor to help themselves and their neighbors through the co-operative principle.

Congratulations to both Archbishop Turang and the priests and laymen under him for helping the poor, as well as aiding their fellow Indonesians of all backgrounds towards a future Distributist society. God grant it a mighty increase.

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ESSAY ON THE POLITICS OF SCALE

Originally posted on February 7th in the Blog of the American Chesterton Society, this is a long post by Sam Smith, editor of the Progressive Review magazine. It touches on local control of public schools and so-called “smart growth” developers in local communities. There is much food for thought in his essay, as well as some things we can agree to disagree on.

Distributism believes in subsidiarity, taking care of economic and political matters at the local level first. It is a core tenet of Distributist Thought, something that is non-negotiable. Preserving it, protecting it and expanding it are vital to creating a Distributist State and society wherever we find ourselves. Much of what Smith writes fits in well with what we hold true. It deserves serious thought and discussion, followed by concrete action in our neighborhoods.

Kudos to you, Mr. Smith.

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"GLOBAL WARMING" GOING HYSTERICAL?

Posted yesterday on March 19th, St. Joseph's Day, this commentary by Paul Joseph Watson of Prison Planet.com tells on how those promoting the theory of "global warming" sound increasingly shrill and inane. Citing reports that show that changes in our solar system may be the actual cause of rising temperatures worldwide, Watson sees darker purposes behind the fixation on this theory.

Watson is sure this will go the way of the "global cooling" scare back in the 1970's. We at the Review think so also. Those in power opposed to Distributism from whatever direction will stop at nothing from imposing a Global State on humanity. Including theories like "global warming".

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THE NEGLECTED TRADITION

Thanks to our colleague at The ChesterBelloc Mandate, here is a article by Damian Wyld that looks at Distributism’s origins and how it can still help us today. Enjoy.

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VEGGIE OIL “ENERGY PATRIOTS” LEAD THE WAY

While checking the statistics for daily readership of the Review, the stats for March 12th were astonishing. We received over 100 hits, the majority of them American. And the majority of those were for yesterday’s report about the Wetzels of Illinois and their car run on used vegetable oil. The only time we had this many was for the controversial interview with John Sharpe, head of IHS Press.

On the heels of yesterday’s article, this March 12th report comes in from Jon Hurdle of Reuters News Service for Yahoo News. The report was originally noted on the weblog of the left-wing environmentalist website Ecotoolbox.com.

There is a Philadelphia-based company called Fry-O-Diesel that turns brown grease from restaurant sink traps into usable, clean-burning biodiesel fuel. The company and a competitor in Long Island, NY - North American BioFuels - are the only American-based companies doing this work.

It is true that biodiesel made from used vegetable oil will not take a major chunk out of current fuel usage, it is nonetheless making a contribution to cutting American dependence on foreign oil. It further aids the decentralization of energy production out of the hands of the few, whether of Big Government or Big Business. Such decentralization fits in very well with Distributist Thought.

There is also a company in western Massachusetts - Greasecar - that makes conversion kits for diesel cars to run on vegetable oil. According to Hurdle’s report, sales of the kits have double every year for the last few years.

This is also good news, for it is bringing back - in a small way - small-scale manufacturing to the Bay State. That is another step in the right direction, that is towards a Distributist economy and society.

Congratulations to all three companies. Our Lord willing, may others follow in your wake with equal success. And if you decide to contact these comapnies, please let them know you heard about them from The Distributist Review. And thank you.

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ILLINOIS COUPLE FRIED OVER VEGGIE OIL CAR

This article, dated March 1st, is written by Huey Freeman, for the Illinois-based Decatur Herald & Review. This article has made it’s rounds throughout much of the American “alternative media” since then.

An elderly Decatur couple, the Wetzels, converted their 1986 Volkswagen Golf car to run on a special alternative fuel -- recycled vegetable oil. They’ve run it for five years and have no trouble with anyone over it. Now the state’s taxmen are demanding this couple pay back retroactive fuel taxes for driving this alternative fuel car. State regulations on use and storage of any fuel other than crude oil are complex and contradictory at times. And with this couple on fixed income, they don’t have the money to pay these taxes.

They’ve even been threatened with felony arrest if they don’t comply.

In response, an Illinois state congressman has filed a bill stopping state persecution of people using alternative fuels. Frank Watson, the state senator filing the bill, notes that the couple’s car gets 46 miles to the gallon on used vegetable oil.

President Bush has said that America was addicted to foreign oil and that it had to stop. We at the Review agree with him. But we also know that both Federal and state governments have been micro-managing and squashing independent projects designed to reduce foreign oil consumption. Such idiocy as the persecution of this elderly couple and their car is inexcusable.

Decentralizing energy production is something Distributism believes in and supports. Energy conservation is something else we hold to. The Wetzels are doing both by not using crude oil, freeing up local supplies for those in need. They also are promoting innovation in using used vegetable oil in other ways. It is the “romance of thrift”, as G. K. Chesterton put in another context.

We encourage our Illinois readers to support Senator Watson bill as well as the Wetzels. Also, we challenge our readers in the other American states to get similar bills filed in your own legislatures. Such “energy patriots” as the Wetzels should be rewarded for their actions, not tried as criminals.

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GOOD ARTICLE FROM “CHESTERBELLOC”

The is a short article from Gen Ferrer of our collegue blog “The ChesterBelloc Mandate”, called “Ramblings About Distributism”. It is a short but good read. We encourage you to visit it and read many of the good resources on it.

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BREAKTHROUGH IN MICRO-MANUFACTURING

This article from Cornell University comes via the science news website Physorg.com.

There has been experiments in micro-fabrication, creating products using small table-top machines with advanced features. With the invention of a “fabber” by Cornell University professor Hod Lipson, the potential for a literal revolution in “micro-production” seems limitless.

Distributism believes in small businesses and co-operatives over big business. Such advances in small scale manufacturing can held to rebuild manufacturing in areas devastated by “free trade” policies of national governments. America’s industrial base, taken apart and shipped overseas on purpose, can come back to life via efforts like this. Third World countries seeking freedom from dependence on Western or Sino-Russian industrialism can look to projects like this to build an industrial backbone.

This is heavenly news. Distributists should be thankful for this and spread the good news.

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GERMANY PERSECUTES HOME SCHOOLERS

As reported in the neo-conservative WorldNetDaily and the Washington Times, the German government has hounded the nation’s handful of home schooling families. Under a 1938 provision passed during the Hitler dictatorship, the State is proclaimed the primary educator of children - not the parents. And this has been written into modern Germany’s constitution, the “Basic Law”, under Article Seven.

Historically, Distributism holds that the parents are the primary educators, not the State. It is also against compulsory education. After two World Wars and suffering under the Satanic regime of the Nazis, Germany still hasn’t learned about the evil of micro-managing lives.

The Review calls for a long-term effort to permanently repeal Article Seven of Germany’s Basic Law. It calls for ending persecution of home schooling families as well as alternative schools. On the alternative news website Rense.com, there are calls for a boycott of German goods until Berlin leaves the home schoolers alone. We encourage such action.

We also call upon any German readers of the Review to begin working to repeal Article Seven, no matter how long it takes.

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