talesin

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Posts by talesin

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  14

  Are you an agronomist or a farmer? If so, I need your help. Related to Miracle Wheat

  by ILoveTTATT2 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i am doing some investigation on the miracle wheat episode, and i have a question that i don't know the answer to, and i can't find the answer online.. it seems that, from what i have learnt online, that wheat is a self-pollinating, "perfect flower".

  this means that once there is a strain that has a quality that's desirable, all you have to do is plant it, and that feature will remain "forever".

  essentially the new plants are all clones.given that information, this statement by penton does not make sense:.

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  talesin

  ILoveTTATT2

  I agree that the Miracle Wheat may have been nothing special. Was it even a hybrid?

  Hmm, just reading an article from 2000, and wondering if you are researching GMO vs hybrid? Check out this article in the NYT in 2000 (before the great GMO controversy began). Here's a quote that kinda explains what I mean. [bold is mine]

  Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2000/04/25/science/looking-for-crops-that-clone-themselves.html?pagewanted=all
  
  

  But the world's major food grains do not reproduce asexually. If they could, some scientists say, it would greatly simplify crop breeding. A high-yielding corn, wheat or rice plant could reproduce itself unchanged for generations.
  ''Once this occurs, the ramifications could well dwarf the green revolution in terms of its impact,'' said Dr. David M. Stelly, a professor of soil and crop sciences at Texas A&M University, who has dubbed this the ''asexual revolution.''
  But apomixis could also represent a threat to the seed companies, changing the balance of power between the companies and farmers. It is thus being swept up in the worldwide controversy over agricultural biotechnology.
  Right now high yields are obtained using hybrids, which are crosses between two different varieties. But hybrids, which display a somewhat mysterious ''hybrid vigor,'' take years of painstaking, costly breeding to develop.
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  14

  Are you an agronomist or a farmer? If so, I need your help. Related to Miracle Wheat

  by ILoveTTATT2 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i am doing some investigation on the miracle wheat episode, and i have a question that i don't know the answer to, and i can't find the answer online.. it seems that, from what i have learnt online, that wheat is a self-pollinating, "perfect flower".

  this means that once there is a strain that has a quality that's desirable, all you have to do is plant it, and that feature will remain "forever".

  essentially the new plants are all clones.given that information, this statement by penton does not make sense:.

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  talesin

  If you asked google this: "do farmers make their own wheat seed"; you would find this answer. : ))
  
  .(EDIT: VI, just saw your comment - :-) Twice for emphasis? )

  https://gmoanswers.com/ask/isnt-it-better-farmers-harvest-and-reuse-their-own-seeds
  

  Isn't it better for farmers to harvest and reuse their own seeds?
  Expert Answer
  By: Bart Schott , Farmer and Past President, Corn Board of the National Corn Growers Association on Thursday, 9/26/2013 4:12 pm
  Most farmers do not choose to save seed because they can be assured that newly purchased seed is free of disease and pathogens, and in the case of hybrids, demonstrates hybrid vigor, with consistent, uniform characteristics.
  
  “Seed saving” is not really an option with hybrid corn if a farmer wants consistency in his or her crops because saved the seed from hybrid crops (the offspring) does not “breed true” in successive generations, i.e., it does not deliver the quality and uniformity that farmers need. In soybeans, studies have shown that farmers get better yields when they buy new, “certified” seed rather than saved or “bin-run” seed. As Successful Farming magazine pointed out:
  
  “Shawn Conley, a University of Wisconsin Extension agronomist, analyzed data that North Carolina State University researchers published in 1991 comparing bin-run to professionally grown seed. The researchers analyzed 204 comparisons across 6 years in 16 locations with 35 varieties. They found a 1.9 bushel per acre advantage to certified seed over bin-run seed. In some cases, they were higher. Conley notes Wisconsin data showed a 2.2 bushel per acre advantage for certified over bin-run seed. Today, this difference would likely be magnified due to improvements in seed technology, he adds.”
  
  ("Why it doesn't pay to plant bin-run soybean seed," Successful Farming, February 12, 2013)
  
  Hybrids can be explained easily by revisiting high school Mendelian genetics 101:
  
  When you cross two "true-breeding" parental varieties you create a hybrid. To be "true breeding,” the plants’ genes would have to be homozygous for whatever traits are desired. That means both alleles of a given gene would be either dominant (AA for example) or recessive (aa for example). For example, in looking at three genes, A, B and C, the genes in true breeding parent 1 could be AAbbCC and parent 2 could be aaBBcc. Each parent would be genetically different.
  
  The hybrid offspring of these parents (crossing AAbbCC x aaBBcc) would be AaBbCc: one allele from each gene comes from parent 1 and the other allele from each gene comes from parent 2. The ears of corn (the offspring), which are genetically different from their parents, are harvested.
  
  If you purchase new hybrid seed the next year that was produced again from the true breeding parents above, you will continue to produce corn plants that are genetically the same as the previous year’s crop (AbBbCc).
  
  If on the other hand, you save the kernels from this offspring corn (AaBbCc) and plant them next year, the growing corn plants will fertilize themselves and each other. (Corn is wind-pollinated.)
  
  The offspring of this cross (AaBbCc x AaBbCc) can produce a variety of 16 possible genetic combinations: AABBCC, AABBCc, AABbCC, AABbCc, AaBBCC, AaBBCc, AaBbCC, AaBbCc, AABBcc, AAbbCC, AAbbcc, aaBBCC, aabbCC, or aabbcc, half of which would not look like the parents.
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  46

  My cat died suddenly!

  by Fisherman in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i did not realize that they were symptoms that something was wrong with my cat -but i did notice that my cat was breathing a little differently for a period of about a few days.

  i also noticed prior and after to that, that on occasion, my cat would cry at the litter box, but that was a very seldom event.. anyway, about a week ago i noticed the symptom that my very loved cat was breathing heavy.

  so i called a taxi and i was going to rush him to emergency room for cats.

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  talesin

  Hi, (((fisherman))). I am so sorry for your loss of your feline friend. My gurl died just 2 years ago last month, and I still catch myself thinking she will run into the room. She was my family. It sounds like perhaps FUS (Feline Urinary Syndrome), which a lot of cats get because of the kibble. They will cry at the litter, and sometimes have incontinence.

  It's so hard to lose that one, who loves you unconditionally, in a way that no person every will. RIP dear kitty, you are no longer in pain. My heart is with you, fisherman. xo tal
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  15

  Tommy Robinson found unconscious after attack

  by barry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  another attack on free speech.

  love him of hate him i don't believe he is a raciest as so many claim.. tommy had been working for quilliam with other muslims to reform islam.

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  talesin

  http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/tommy-robinson-ex-edl-leader-hospitalised-after-attack-outside-essex-nightclub-1543925

  http://www.infowars.com/tommy-robinson-attacked-hospitalised-one-week-after-revealing-islamists-are-out-to-kill-him/
  
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  13

  any Near death experiences any one can relate

  by baker in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbkgj5j91he.

  this is as close as it gets to the other side....

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  talesin

  I've read about this guy and watched a vid (not sure if it's this one). I do think he's sincere in what he felt / experienced. But he's a neuro-surgeon, and should be aware of the brain's capability to imagine all sorts of things, based on what's in our subconscious thoughts.

  A big deal has been made of the fact that he's a neuro-surgeon, but still no proof of anything.

  I had an experience, bleeding (lol, can't spell hemmoraghing - see?) , and a friend who actually died from anaphylaxis and they brought him back. There's no light, nothing - just gone, then back.

  If you're interested in the subject, this is one more anecdotal account of one man's near-death experience. Just ignore his profession (ie, it doesn't validate his personal 'reality' any more than the widow in Poughkeepsie). xx tal
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  12

  Life is good...

  by Theburstbubble in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  evening all, a few of you may remember my turmoil in leaving the wt well i'm happy to say i've finally moved on.

  we celebrated our daughters birthday for the first time ever with a few close friends and it was magical.

  our daughter loved it!

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  talesin

  That's a birthday that will always hold treasured memories. How lovely!

  And your best friends as well? So great for you all. This will be so much better, starting out with an intimate circle of friends.

  Thanks for sharing such great news. Enjoy. : ) xx
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  17

  If JWs are a religion why haven't they got a word?

  by slimboyfat in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  what is the word for jw religion?

  is there any other religion that doesn't have a word?

  catholics => catholicism.

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  talesin

  You just made me think ... we know it. It's just so wrong.
  
  It's not Catholicism, it's 'the Truth'.

  (now going to wash my hands, they feel dirty for typing that : P
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  18

  Incredible documentary about the exclusive brethren and their extreme shunning policy

  by Truthexplorer in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  just watched this remarkable documentary about the exclusive brethren here in the uk.

  their shunning policy is remarkably like watchtowers policy except even more extreme.

  its heartbreaking how families are torn apart by such man made policies based on their interpretation of scriptures.

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  talesin

  The Northeast Kingdom cult was driven out of Nova Scotia by publicity. A father was keeping the children from seeing their mother, who had left the cult and moved back to the USA (their original country of origin). There was a lot of publicity about the issue, and the locals took a serious interest. Law enforcement would have been involved, of course. I do not know if she won her custody case, and 'then' they left, or if they left while issues were undecided.
  

  It does seem that with the JWS, a worldwide expose is needed.

  As for sharing the OP video, I think it's a good documentary, and very informative. These cults need to be exposed. There are forums. both online and in real life, for such discussions (hello, here we are). I'm interested in learning about any and all extreme Xtian cults. It's useful for me.

  Even more important is the value of sharing real information, such as this documentary. There's no BS here, and very little spin by the documentary's makers.

  If one person is offered help, and is able to survive outside the "Brethren" (creepy), because this video was shared in this forum, well, that would be amazing, no? Maybe their boss/neighbour/schoolmate is reading this, or will read it tomorrow when a forum member shares it in a facebook group.

  But, I digress. About the JWS.

  Forget not, that we have the Force. Let not, the Dark Side, take your power.
  
  Think positive, take actions, however small. Remember the hundredth monkey. There's a Buddhist saying, paraphrased 'one step begins the longest journey'. Information is power - let's keep spreading it around. If not in 'our day', it will happen; the Tower will fall. Let's adopt long-term outlooks, as we do in financial planning. (yes, I read your thread, Simon, good stuff ; )
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  17

  If JWs are a religion why haven't they got a word?

  by slimboyfat in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  what is the word for jw religion?

  is there any other religion that doesn't have a word?

  catholics => catholicism.

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  talesin

  Ah, fond school memories ... JoHo's and Jovies, sometimes Jehovahs. ; )

  Oh, and we used to call ourselves "Witnesses". eg, Did you see any of the Witness kids at school today? or, A Witness girl would never wear a mini skirt! or, You can go to the movies, as long as it's only with other Witnesses.
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  6

  feeling blue about loss of faith?Grimly holding on in the face of your mortality?Dust that sings

  by Diogenesister in

  1. forum
  2. links

  as i am aware a lot of posters are feeling down or grieving the certainties lost when their faith is revealed as nothing but the stories of mortal men...i am posting one of my favourite youtubers, philhellenes who, like the ancients you studied, contemplates that sense of awe that he is indeed fearfully and wonderfully made...and when faced with the inevitability of mortality he imagines the plight of the mayfly...and wonders" would it be cruel to tell an adult mayfly that it only has that afternoon to live...would it still fly as far and as high as it could?might it fly further and higher than usual?or would it forget about it's wings and sit on the water, head bowed, sufficiently traumatised to invent religion?".

  we are privileged that after millennia we are some of the first life forms to know exactly how we came to be..and what we are made of ...and if that isnt miraculously awe inspiring,i don't know what is.

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  talesin

  Cold Steel

  I would say that they refuse to call themselves a church in order to make themselves appear to be different. It's one of the few things the R&F have to hold onto - the fact that they are different from 'Christendom'. For example, their clergy? Is not clergy. But they *are* clergy when they want to claim privilege (eg, child rape cases).

  So it's not a church, it's a Kingdom Hall. They have no clergy, everyone is a minister. Some ministers just have more control and authority than others.

  Yup, it's crazy time! : P