"The Earth Path" by Starhawk

"Phantom Parks: The Struggle to Save Canada's National Parks" by Rick Searle

Interesting Links:
Utne Reader
David Suzuki Foundation
New Scientist
Discover Magazine
The Medical Post Online
Ad Busters!
New Internationalist
Mother Jones.com
Salon.com
NOVA On-line
The Book of Zines
Killing the Buddha
London Review of Books
American Council on Exercise
Runner's World
The Great Illusion


Recent reads:
"A Deepness in the Sky" by Vernor Vinge

"Celtic Folklore Cooking" by Joanne Asala

"Power Spellcraft for Life" by Arin Murphy-Hiscock

"Reinventing Medicine" by Larry Dossey

"Wicca: A Year and a Day" by Timothy Roderick

"The Science of the Craft" by William H Keith

"50 Years of Wicca" by Frederic Lamond

"The Magical Life" by Vivianne Crowley

"Which Witch is Which?" by Patricia Telesco

"Perdido Street Station" by China Mieville

"Cyberhenge: Modern Pagans on the Internet" by Douglas E. Cowan

"An Ye Harm None: Magical Morality and Modern Ethics" by Shelley Rabinovitch

"Crystal Ball" by Sibyll Fergusen, revised and expanded by Witch Bree

"Gaia Eros: Reconnecting to the Magic and Sprit of Nature" by Jesse Wolf Hardin

"A Century of Spells" by Draja Mickaharic

"Evolutionary Witchcraft" by T. Thorn Coyle

"Witching Culture: Folklore and Neo-Paganism in America" by Sabina Magliocco

"Kundalini for Beginners" by Ravindra Kumar

"Ka: Stories of the Mind and Gods of India" by Roberto Calasso

"Magical Tattwa Cards" by Dr. John Mumford

"WitchCraft Today (Expanded edition)" by Gerald B. Gardner

"Self-Initiation for the Solitary Witch" by Shanddaramon

"The Second Circle: Tools for the Advancing Pagan" by Vanecia Rauls

"Grimoire for the Apprentice Wizard" by Oberon Zell-Ravenheart

"Black Magick Woman: The Sinister Side of the Song of Solomon" by Janet Tyson

"Everyday Moon Magic" by Dorothy Morrisson

"Advanced Witchcraft" by Edain McCoy"

"Handfasting and Wedding Rituals" by Raven Kaldera and Tannin Schwartzstein

"Joing Hearts and Hands: Interfaith, Intercultural Wedding Celebrations" by Rev Susanna Stefanachi Macomb

"Handfasted and Heartjoined" by Lady Maeve Rhea

"Handfasting: A practical Guide" bu Mary Neasham

" Goddess in the Grass: Sperpentine Mythology and the great Goddess" by Linda Fourbister

"Theories of the Chakras: Bridges to Higher Conciousness" by Hiroshi Motoyama

"The Knife Thrower" by Steven Millhauser

"Schizophrenia: A Very Short Introduction" by Christopher Finn and Eve Johnstone

"Schizophrenia: The Facts" by Ming T. Tsuang and Stephen V. Faraone

"A Community of Witches" by Helen Berger and Colleagues

"American Gods" by Neil Gaiman"

"Scherzo" by Jim Williams"

"Goddess in the Grass: Serpentine Mythology and the Great Goddess" by Linda Fourbister

"The Forest of Souls" by Rachel Pollack

"Wiccan Roots" by Philip Heselton

"A User's Guide to the Brain" by John J Ratey, MD

"A Goddess Arrives" by Gerald Gardner

"A Community of Witches" by Helen Berger

"Nature Spirits" Selected lectures by Rudolf Steiner

"Fatal Majesty" by Reay Tannahill

"Myths to Live By" by Joseph Campbell

"The Secret Life of Germs" by Philip M Tierno Jr, PhD

"Adam, Eve, and the Serpent" by Elaine Pagels

"Whiteout: Melt" by Greg Rucka illustrated by Steve Lieber

"Whiteout" by Greg Rucka illustrated by Steve Lieber

"Queen and Country-Operation: Crystal Ball" by Greg Rucka illustrated by Leandro Fernandez

"Tunnel in the Sky" by Robert Heinlein

"The Sex Chronicles" by Zane

"The Black Man's Guide to Good Health" by Reed, Schulman and Shucker

"The Withdrawing Room" by Charlotte MacLoed

"Queen and Country-Operation: Morningstar" by Greg Rucka illustrated by Brian Hurtt

"The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2000" edited by David Quammen

"The Bourne Identity" by Robert Ludlum

"Gerald Gardner: Witch" by J.L. Bracelin

"Queen and Country-Operation: Broken Ground" by Greg Rucka illustrated by Steve Rolston

"The Ferryman Will Be There" by Rosemary Aubert

"Philosophy of Wicca" by Amber Laine Fisher

"Wilderness Tips" by Margaret Atwood

"Origins of Modern Witchcraft" by Anne Moura

Thursday, February 10, 2005

Endangered Fish Alliance

Concerns about environmental pollutants aside, fish is generally believed to be good for you. Fatty or cold-water fish are often good sources of omega-3 fatty acids that are believed to help lower the risk of heart disease and improve mental function. But it is hard not to notice media and science reports that our ocean's are being over-fished, trawlers are destroying the ocean floors, and fish farms destry maritime life beneath them. So what is a health- and socially-conscious person to do?

Quite a while back I'd heard about a group of Canadian Chefs who had banded together and agreed not to serve endangered fish in their restaurants. Together they created the not-for-profit Endangered Fish Alliance. Visit their website and you can learn a bit about the "four fish you should never serve," which includes chilean sea bass, swordfish, orange roughie, and some types of caviar. According to the website, these fish have been "The following fish have been overfished, oversold and overeaten. Now they are almost extinct."

Click on over to the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch web site and you will find an even more exhaustive list of fish and seafood to avoid for ecological reasons. Some fish on their list include atlantic cod, farmed salmon, imported king crab, atlantic sole, red snapper and bluefin tuna. However, the aquarium also offers an alternative choices section for these fish, as well as a common fish list colour-coded to indicate best choices and those to avoid. Both of thee lists are available in handy wallet-sized cards to help you make ecologically-sound choice while shopping or dining out.

The Sierra Club of Canada also puts out a publication called the Citizen's Guide to Seafood It is available online, as a wallet-sized card, or in a large-format version. If you click on any entry in the online version, a pop-up window appears giving you a little bit more information on the fish or seafood and why it is okay or not okay to eat.

So which fish are safe to eat? Well both the Monterey Bay Aquarium and the Sierra Club of Canada more-or-less agree that the following fish have healthy fish stocks or are being farmed sustainably: farmed catfish, clams, dogfish, Dungeness crab, Pacific halibut, pacific herring, mackerel, some farmed mussels and oysters, pacific octopus, pacific black cod(sablefish), trap-caught pacific prawns, Australian rock Lobster, US spiny lobster, sardines, pacific squid, farmed tilapia, albacore tuna, uni (sea urchin), and striped bass (farmed).

The Monterey Bay Seafood Guide was updated in 2005 and the Sierra Club of Canada Guide was updated in 2004. Audobon also puts out a wallet-sized seafood lover's guide.

For folks wanting more information, the Blue Ocean Institute has an on-line guide that lists provides environemental scorecards for dozens of varieties of fish and seafood. As well the Ovean's Alice section of the Environmental Defense Fund offers up its ouwn stats and sound seafood choiceschoice. For a quick summary of whose recommending what, as well as an indepth look at about two dozen different fish and seafood, visit the online Seafood Choices Guide at Sea Sense.

Amanda 1:33 PM
E-mail your comments to: ramblingraven@cosmic-muse.com