Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/501315
XVI maltatoday, Sunday, 26 april 2015 This Week You can hardly go out in the countryside at this time of year without seeing red. Luckily though, this has nothing to do with rage or wrath, and everything to do with that extrovert Ferrari-red flower that habitually turns ordinary fields into impressionist paintings: meet the humble Common Poppy (M: Peprin Ahmar). Poppies don't like stable, undisturbed ground, they need soft, crumbly earth for their delicate stalks to be able to break through the ground. This is why they grow so readily on farmland that is conveniently tilled and made perfect for the minute seed to germinate. Poppies live life in the fast lane, growing rapidly from seed to maturity in the space of a few weeks, the quintessential opportunistic weed. Well they have to if they are to survive on land that is regularly ploughed clean. But by the time this seasonal armageddon comes to pass, the poppy will have run its course and produced my favourite part of the plant: the seed capsules. They are exquisite natural pepper pots, with holes placed around the edge to shed seed by the thousand when swayed by a breeze, yet cunningly recessed so that rain will not penetrate and rot the seed. Genius. 451. COMMON POPPY Green Idea Of the week 354: : Keep tHe spring in your onions - Coffee Filter Tricks – Soil saver: Keep soil where it belongs, and place a coffee filter at the bottom of pots. it keeps soil from leaking out with the water. Chicken, turkey, pork and other meats are regularly washed or sprayed with disinfectants in the uSa. These so-called 'pathogen reduction treatments', such as hyper chlorinated water and acid washes, are supposed to reduce harmful bacteria. But this could allow poor hygiene standards along the food chain to be hidden, with meat being disinfected only at the end before going on sale. The Eu has banned most of these practices since 1997 (only water rinsing is allowed). The Eu prefers a preventative approach by ensuring high levels of hygiene at all stages of food production 'from farm to fork'. The Eu says it will not bow to uS pressure in the trade talks to change its food safety standards on disinfectant rinses. But the European Commission has pushed for the authorisation of disinfectant rinses several times (only to be over-ruled by national governments), and it's advancing on approving Europe's first disinfectant wash for chicken, peroxyacetic acid. 'pathogen reduction treatments' are bad for people. instead of relying on disinfectants at the end of the production chain, good on-farm hygiene practices are a more effective way of protecting the public and farm workers from food bugs such as salmonella or campylobacter. Visit Friends of the Earth's website for more information about our work, as well as for information about how to join us www.foemalta.org. You can also support us by sending a blank SMS donation on 50618070 (€4.66) or 50619223 (€11.65). Text and photo Victor Falzon Served by TTIP - Disinfectant meat washes 'Who owns the internet, and who should control it?' 'Who owns the internet, and who should control it?' international Conference to discuss the preservation of a functional and safe internet as a global public resource to be held at St James Cavalier at the end of the month The Internet's significance in modern society and what considerations are to be taken during policy-making about the Internet worldwide are the topics of discussion during next week's multi-national conference organised by DiploFoundation, the Government of Malta and the World Economic Forum, with the participation of numerous major international entities. Louis Pouzin, known as one of the fathers of the Internet, will deliver a keynote address where he will compare his path-break- ing design from the 1970s with the challenges that the Internet faces today. The conference will also be addressed by Prime Min- ister Joseph Muscat, while the Conference will be inaugurated by Foreign Minister George Vella. Speaking about the conference as its promoter, Dr Alex Sceber- ras Trigona, Special Envoy of the Prime Minister of Malta said that, "This conference is a direct result of our multiple diplomatic initiatives and representations for proper Internet Governance. This includes my own appeal last month at UNESCO for the Inter- net to be characterised, quite am- bitiously, as part of the Common Heritage of Mankind, by analogy with the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. We have therefore invited delegates to open this dis- cussion here in Malta for the first time – through debate, we are seeking to move towards a greater understanding of the nature and role of the Internet in our society, while taking this opportunity to lay down a stepping stone for future research and policy dia- logue." Louis Pouzin has already hailed this initiative, saying, that "the Malta conference will give us a chance to discuss this crucial is- sue in global governance". Considering the Internet also as a Global Public Resource, leads to a large number of significant policy questions, not least 'Who owns the Internet? Who should control it? Would we be interpret- ing freedom of expression more widely if the Common Heritage paradigm applied? Would this give us a more liberal inter- pretation of privacy?' The core objectives of the conference are therefore to explore the techni- cal, organisational, commer- cial, and societal aspects of the Internet that could be considered global public resources or related concepts while identifying the roles of different actors in both promoting and protecting global public resources. The common concern of preserving a func- tional and safe internet will come under discussion, with focus on learning from other policy areas and applying lessons learnt and an ethical approach to policy measures on the Internet as a global public resource. Throughout the two-day seminar, in-depth research and proposals will be presented by numerous international delegates. All speakers during the confer- ence are experts in fields related to computer and digital commu- nication, information policy, and socio-economic development. For a full programme, registra- tion and further details, including speakers' bios, visit: http://www. diplomacy.edu/maltaconfer- ence2015 Vint Cerf (centre), another father of the Internet, at a DiploFoundation class at the Internet Governance Forum in 2006