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6:00 am, December 30th, 2025 - 33 comments
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Open mike is your post.
For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose.
The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy).
Step up to the mike …
I knew comfrey was good, I didn't know it was so good it was treated like hemp.
Banned because it poses a real threat to agriculture fertiliser companies and natural gas suppliers.
Here in the 'Tu, on a big clay pan the long tap roots help to break up the clay and bring the minerals to the nutrient dense leaves. I've got it around the orchard and the bees love it.
20 tons an acre per harvest and 4-5 harvests a year for 20 years. Can't have that now can we?
We have a good crop in the garden. Harvest it for liquid fertilitizer.
Aye.
Brewed as a tea in 150ltr barrels after 6 weeks it's G2G. An unpleasant odour is the only downside, amazing stuff direct from mother nature.
yeah, nah, it hasn't actually been banned. A quick google shows me it for sale in multiple places in the US.
The question is why Nature Lost Vault is lying (and who are they)?
How did they lie?
Sure they made a few claims, some might be regarded as conspiratorial with respect to the reason for banning comfrey products for consumption. But they did acknowledge the reason for the consumption ban was sound, just questioned the management of the resulting fallout.
Also there's an argument about the efficiencies of comfrey production for fertiliser vs the energy heavy and environmentally (nitrate leeching) and physically (nitrates in drinking water) damaging synthesis process.
But there's no lie, which is what you claimed.
Gsays said,
I couldn't find any evidence that it had been banned. If you have some evidence, please provide it.
Gsays said that but Nature Lost Vault didn't. They suggested the ban on marketing and restrictions of oral and topic products ended up deterring commercial operation for any use.
Yeah, maybe, maybe not but it's still not a lie. It's a held opinion on a particular topic which they feel passionate about. It’s what activists do.
But you claimed they are liars, and further discredit them by inferring they are opaque and secretive which seems to be fairly lazy and clumsy commenting.
I didn't watch the video, as you know the onus is people making claims to back them up not for everyone else to have to go and read/watch something to check.
The video displays with the question: infinite fertiliser, why did they ban it?
On the YT pages it says "This Plant Replaces All Fertilizer FOREVER. Why Did the FDA Ban It?"
In the transcript,
"The FDA banned supplements for internal use, pills, teas, and capsules"
There is no ban on comfrey supplements. Here's a random online seller,
https://www.herbstoponline.com/products/comfrey-root-capsules
And it's not an infinite fertiliser. If you harvest a plant and use it somewhere else, that's a net export of fertility.
It calls calcium and magnesium a trace mineral (they're not)
It claims comfrey decomposes in 48 hours, that's absolute nonsense.
Unsubstantiated claims include "Vanished from mainstream gardening within 5 years despite no ban on garden use"
Comfrey is an amazing plant, has lots of uses, and fertility is one of them, it doesn't deserve to be misrepresented like this.
Does it matter? Well the YT comments are like this,
"IT is clear their criminal intensions against the Global population"
If someone wants to produce some actual evidence that the FDA placing restrictions on medicinal claims on comfrey products is related to the fossil fuel industry, that I would be interested in hearing about. But NLV are just throwing out speculation and imo chasing likes by running fast and loose with the truth.
Welcome to Nature Lost Vault, a channel on You Tube dedicated to rediscovering the forgotten powers of the natural world. We explore ancient growing methods.
https://www.youtube.com/@NatureLostVault
yeah but who are they really? The domain name registration is protected, there's nothing on their website. It has all the hallmarks of the many natural health companies who use information about the natural to make money.
Given the information provided on the videos, I doubt ulterior motives.
My late Grandmother (who was a sucker for every food fad going) grew comfrey in the late 1950's. For some weird reason she thought it was edible. The sheep would eat a bit of it but it was certainly not fit of human consumption.
Hope you all had a good xmas, but some didn't get what they wanted.
All Donald wanted was a Peace Prize.
All Vlad wanted was Ukraine
All Aussie Cricket wanted was a 5 day test.
Donald did get a peace prize, a Clayton's peace prize. The sort you get when you're not getting a prize.
Vlad has undermined the peace plan by fabricating a silly story about his house being bombed by Zelensky and Co. Why would they do something so stupid when they are/were was on the brink of coming to an agreement?
I wasn't counting that one…
It's so obvious a load of bullshit – and no evidence to back up his bullshit. But Donnie believes it so it must be true.! Welcome to the alternative universe.
@ weka @ 1.2
Growing comfrey clearly doesn't prevent gullibility 🥴
It was banned for human consumption.
more likely it was banned for sale listed as consumption. Plenty of medicinal comfrey still for sale in the US in various forms.
I'm seeing plenty of capsules and extracts for sale, they're just saying not for internal use lol.
The FDA requested voluntary removal of oral products.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) took enforcement action against companies making false safety claims about internal comfrey use.
This explains the historic and continuing topical use.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3491633/
thanks, that doesn't sound like a ban. It sounds like a very sensible restriction on health claims for a plant that has some theoretical safety concerns.
Preparing New Zealand for the 30th year anniversary of the first AB's test series win in South Africa 1996 – but this time facing a 1949 result.
And the adjustment to being just another World Cup play off team (top 4 but might lose a quarter-final. Compared to West Indies cricket and Italy football as past their glory days.
Partly because of the "South Africa/European time zone" professional game era.
The irony, lest we forget, being Ireland (won) France (deserved to win) and the AB's (but for that card and a TMO blocked try) all had the better of South Africa at the 2023 World Cup (Ireland later drew a series 1-1 in Bok land).
If one was to compare National's Enzed governance to the AB's it has been all downhill since AB's won the first and then the only World Cup.
The managed declines of 1990-1999 (end of estate tax and stamp duty, Birch's nyet to investment – even R and D tax credits) and 2008-2017 (no money into the Cullen Fund, end of gift duty) and even worse since 2023 (following Trump away from the international market rules based order – Paris Accords/Earth habitat, making capital boss of the economic and political society)
https://www.thepost.co.nz/sport/360896667/new-zealand-rugby-will-have-adjust-all-blacks-defeats-world-order-changes
https://archive.li/3BCml
https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/360915252/nz-rugbys-teams-black-have-problems-how-can-they-be-fixed
https://www.kiwipolitico.com/2025/12/the-hollow-hegemon/
Heavy going from Pablo, putting an academic’s view of Trumps foreign policy.
”In that sense, Trump foreign policy 2.0 is that of a hollow hegemon, devoid of the moral, ethical, analytic and ultimately physical ability to fully cash in the checks that the mouths of Trump and his sycophantic minions are writing. They can certainly deliver on some short-term promises (say, impeding drug trafficking) and achieve short-term goals (e.g., influencing foreign elections) while doing harm to others and the US reputation, but over the long term the self-appointed role of the US as global hegemon will be hollowed out to the point that all that will remain is a paper tiger growling in a cage of its own making.”
Thanks, a very useful read for me who is not very knowledgeable about the history of international power dynamics.
It makes it sound like the Trump regime is living in the past and their shallow analysis fails to grasp the realities of current international power plays.
So they may have short term victories in smaller states like Venezuela. However, their subscription to the outdated, imperialistic geopolitical regional sphere desires of the Monroe Doctrine, fails to grasp the realities of interests and influence of other govts in South America such as China, Russia & European govts.
Also, it sounds like the Trump regime doesn't grasp that many factions within Sth American countries are not just going to roll over and accept US bullying tactics.
What about what's happening in the Middle East, Israel & the US's rejection of international law & the organisations supposed to uphold them; and as some have claimed, the aim for Israel to remove the remaining Palestinian population in Gaza to Somaliland?
I support recognition of Somaliland (British Somaliland until 1960 and independently governed since 1991) and South Yemen (failed merger with North Yemen in 1990)-
They are are the only stable areas of two failed states Somalia and Yemen (that both these areas were merged with).
Israel's purpose appears to be as a counter to the Houthi in North Yemen (and tacit support for the UAE recognition of South Yemen governance by the STC – for the same reason, to place the non Houthi area on a sounder footing than being the realm of Riyadh's puppet government)(and to build a relationship with Ethiopia, its government and Somaliland want to develop a port).
Apparently the Israel recognition of Somaliland has prompted China to offer Somalia a free naval base in return for a defense pact along the lines of NATO. And I think China also is cosying up to Egypt.
The Chinese and a few other navies (USA and France) all have use of the port in Djibouti.
Somalia has limited resources (a very unstable security circumstance) and won't be able to pay back any loans, so little wonder the Chinese would build their own port there from the get go.
The GOP is giving up on international law/rules based order for imperial power dynamic. America first.
It is transferring containment of Russia to Europe (and maximising MIC profits on the increased defence spending) – they would be wise to develop a fully sovereign capability. Because GOP USA and Russia now have more in common.
It is trying to doing the same in East Asia – but SK and Japan will build much of their own capacity.
Trump has given up Biden's policy on China because the oligarchs in the US are dependent on China's rare earth minerals and tech (batteries etc).
It sells weapons to Taiwan and has Oz with a ridiculous AUKUS program, with a knowing nod to Beijing that the US policy is to later manage Taiwan into China via a deal.
The USA is running an imperial mercantile policy (protecting its international monopoly businesses – computer/online/social media/data clouds/AI etc).
Orwellian nations* and their spheres
Russia* vs EU
India and partners in the east vs China*
Judeo-Christian USA* alone dominating its own sphere and hosting the UN.
The GOP's Judeo-Christian new world empire nation aspect informs their nationalism (in part a white race people heritage) and their alliances.
More to Russia than the (secular liberal) democratic nation EU.
More to religious identity Israel and pro capitalist religious conservative in the ME than anything secular left, social democratic (egalitarian).
There is no longer a bi-partisan consensus on US foreign policy.
But whether the Democratic Party can win elections there any more (open and extreme gerrymandering and what comes after that) and if so then change this direction is as yet unknown (after Obama they abandoned free trade and Biden let the WTO die) – they have major domestic issues to deal with in terms of having a fair society.
Thanks Stephen D and Karolyn_IS, for taking the time to read the post. My point was to show how flawed the Trump 2.0 foreign policy is from its inception in a shallow and erroneous read of basic international relations concepts.
What I did not mention but which I and others have written about before is that because Trump is an empty vessel devoid of deep analytic capabilities and prone to following the last piece of flattery or self-interested suggestion that is whispered in his ears, he is quick to jump on conceptual bandwagons that appeal to his bullying instincts and prejudiced views. That allows the likes of Stephen Miller and other cabinet officers to feed him shallow and half-baked foreign policy "concepts" about the sources and uses of national power. They compete for his attention by offering foreign policy initiatives that appeal to his ignorance and most craven traits. what you then get is what you see unfolding in the Western Hemisphere.
I refrained from discussing other regions and more flawed international relations concepts in the Trump 2.0 foreign policy approach because the KP post was already fairly long. Depending on circumstances perhaps I shall return to them next year.
Happy New Year to you and again, thanks for reading the essay.
QFT.
And the corollary of that is: it will eventually collapse in a relatively sudden heap due to the weight of its own chicanery, stupidity and corrupt political practices – just like the Soviet Union did in the early 1990s.
The above has been excruciatingly illustrated by US policy re Putin's war against Ukraine during this year. I can only imagine what it's been like for Ukrainians witnessing it.