Published on Jan 30, 2013
A song I wrote when I visited the site after 9/11; always thought a little heavy, but it is time to get it out there. All photos taken from the web, if there is any infringement, please contact me, I will include credits. Included on my CD “Renegade of the Light Brigade” during the remix and urging of the late, great Steve Burgh.
A noble undertaking to be sure. Were it not for the simple fact that Science has not , for the most part, respected the right of creatures to exist in an environment that is suitable for their rightful existence. Science and mankind alike have, for the most part, considered only it’s pleasure and curiosity where animals are concerned. They have neither respected their lives nor their habitats. Always putting their selfish needs before anything else.
Which leads one to wonder as to the why of this undertaking? I would venture to say it is all for the greater glory of their Scientific careers. They nether care nor are concerned with the well being or happiness of any of these creatures. The proof is in the lack of impetus where pollution, experimental animal research and deforestation are concerned. Just look at the palm oil plantations flourishing at the expense of the Orangutang , the bees and pollinators dying off due to GMO’s. The Whale, porpoise and a long list of sea life. The endless list of animals that are endangered, being poached and savaged on a daily basis, and then there is always the commercialization of the creatures. Aquariums for profit, Zoos that confine these poor animals to cages or concrete pens in many cases in environments that are completely alien and detrimental to the species. Exotic animals captured and sold for the highest dollar to people who think they are pretty and since they have the money why not ? Of course if they can afford it they want what no one else has, regardless of the morality of such a desire. Avarice and social standing know no limits to satiating these desires
A lesser bird of paradise flaunts his flank plumes to entice females.
Who cares what these poor creatures had to endure to make it to that pet shop or dealer. The only thing that matters is they got what they wanted , the animal be damned. After all it is just an animal isn’t it ?
Let’s not forget the Circus, animals taken from their mothers at a young age that are savagely beaten and traumatized to conform for the amusement of those willing to pay for the entertainment and for the profit of those unethical beasts that mistreat and terrorize them on a daily basis. Their suffering is of no consequence and trivial to those who want to possess them.
In light of the cruelty and callousness with which humanity has treated the creatures of this planet, I would venture to say they are better off as a part of history than part of the next series of experiments for the glory of greedy and soulless enterprises.
~Desert Rose~
On Friday at a National Geographic sponsored TEDx conference, scientists met in Washington, D.C. to discuss which animals we should bring back from extinction. They also discussed the how, why, and ethics of doing so.They called it “de-extinction.”
There are a few guidelines for which ancient species are considered, and sadly, dinosaurs are so long dead they aren’t in the picture. Their DNA has long ago degraded, so researchers are fairly sure that Jurassic Park will never happen.
But there are plenty of other animals on the table. The list of candidates is actually pretty long, considering.
Here are the 24 animals they are hoping to one day resurrect.
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Tasmania Tigers were hunted by humans to extinction
Na Son Nguyen/AP
The intimate animal portraits, which feature everything from a featherless chicken to a pair of affectionate chimpanzees, are meant to illuminate the similarities between animal poses, gestures, and gazes, and our own.
Photographing animals on a set, as opposed to in their natural habitat comes with a unique set of challenges.
“You can never predict an animal’s mood,” Flach says on his website. “So you have to plan beforehand to get what you want.” To make the animals feel as comfortable as possible, Flach may adjust the temperature of the studio or play music.
You can purchase a hardcover copy of Flach’s animal portraits here or visit his website to see more of the award-winning photographer’s work.
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The decline in the Monarch population now marks a statistical long-term trend and can no longer be seen as a combination of yearly or seasonal events, experts say.The number of Monarch butterflies making it to their winter refuge in Mexico dropped 59 per cent this year, falling to the lowest level since comparable record-keeping began 20 years ago, scientists reported Wednesday.
It was the third straight year of declines for the orange-and-black butterflies that migrate from the United States and Canada to spend the winter sheltering in mountaintop fir forests in central Mexico. Six of the last seven years have shown drops, and there are now only one-fifteenth as many butterflies as there were in 1997.
In the Hamilton region, Monarchs have been faced with a loss of habitat for many years said Jen Baker, Head-of-the-Lake Land Trust Program co-ordinator for the Hamilton Naturalists’ Club. Milkweed, the Monarchs’ main food source as well as where they lay their eggs, has been decreasing in the region.
“Milkweed can’t necessarily grow in fields that are sprayed for weeds. It might be good for crops, but it’s bad for milkweed,” she said, adding that invasive species also pose a risk.
“Dog Strangling Vine is an invasive plant that is a cousin of the milkweed. We’ve found some females will lay their eggs on the vine and the babies die because that’s not their food.”
Both planting milkweed and trying to control the Dog Strangling Vine population are both efforts the Naturalists’ Club encourages, Baker added.
The decline in the Monarch population now marks a statistical long-term trend and can no longer be seen as a combination of yearly or seasonal events, the experts said.
But they differed on the possible causes.
There are issues facing Monarchs south of the border, too, according to experts. Illegal logging in the reserve established in the Monarch wintering grounds was long thought to contribute, but such logging has been vastly reduced by increased protection, enforcement and alternative development programs in Mexico.
The World Wildlife Fund, one of the groups that sponsored the butterfly census, blamed climate conditions and agricultural practices, especially the use of pesticides that kill off the Monarchs’ main food source, milkweed. The butterflies breed and live in the north in the summer, and migrate to Mexico in the winter.
“The decrease of Monarch butterflies … probably is due to the negative effects of reduction in milkweed and extreme variation in the United States and Canada,” the fund and its partner organizations said in a statement.
Monarchs ‘a shared responsibility’ Omar Vidal, the World Wildlife Fund director in Mexico, said: “The conservation of the Monarch butterfly is a shared responsibility between Mexico, the United States and Canada. By protecting the reserves and having practically eliminated large-scale illegal logging, Mexico has done its part.”
“It is now necessary for the United States and Canada to do their part and protect the butterflies’ habitat in their territories,” Vidal said.
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Sample Photos of Monarch Caterpillars, Butterflied and different varieties of Milkweed to assist in identifying for a butterfly garden
by Staff Writers
Moffett Field CA (SPX) Mar 04, 2013
 Trends in forest canopy green cover over the eastern United States from 2000 to 2010 derived from NASA MODIS satellite sensor data. Green shades indicate a positive trend of increasing growing season green cover, whereas brown shades indicate a negative trend of decreasing growing season green cover. Four forest sub-regions of interest are outlined in red, north to south as: Great Lakes, Southern Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic, and southeastern Coastal Plain. Image credit: NASA. For a larger version of this image please go here. |
NASA scientists report that warmer temperatures and changes in precipitation locally and regionally have altered the growth of large forest areas in the eastern United States over the past 10 years.
Using NASA’s Terra satellite, scientists examined the relationship between natural plant growth trends, as monitored by NASA satellite images, and variations in climate over the eastern United States from 2000 to 2010.
Monthly satellite images from the MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) showed declining density of the green forest cover during summer in four sub-regions, the Upper Great Lakes, southern Appalachian, mid-Atlantic, and southeastern Coastal Plain.
More than 20 percent of the non-agricultural area in the four sub-regions that showed decline during the growing season, were covered by forests. Nearly 40 percent of the forested area within the mid-Atlantic sub-region alone showed a significant decline in forest canopy cover.
Published on Mar 16, 2012
Every day, we use materials from the earth without thinking, for free. But what if we had to pay for their true value: would it make us more careful about what we use and what we waste? Think of Pavan Sukhdev as nature’s banker — assessing the value of the Earth’s assets. Eye-opening charts will make you think differently about the cost of air, water, trees. teebweb.org
TED Talk at TED Global 2011 – Filmed July 2011
Mother Earth supports all life not just human beings. We are all tied to her. Our responsibility is to keep her healthy and her creatures safe. Man has trashed her in the name of money. Will money bring back the animals that have been wiped off the face of Mother Earth? Will money reverse the damage done by greedy companies that have cared nothing for the animals or the earth in their avarice for riches? Our duty is to protect Mother Earth and her creatures for she is unique and cannot be replaced. Those who are destroying her in the name of money must understand that we will have no where to go once they have destroyed her. Their money will not bring her back , nor her precious creatures.
It is time Governments understood that we will not allow this to happen. The time of the greedy corporations trashing our Mother Earth is coming to an end. It must stop as we will all perish with her and money will not bring her back.
Where do they think they will go when the air is no longer fit to breathe and the water no longer fit to drink? Money cannot replace t he beauty and splendor that they are destroying and it MUST STOP NOW!
~Desert Rose~
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 Ecuador’s Sani Isla Kichwa people have asked for our help to stop the government turning their forest home into an oil field. A massive scandal in the global media challenging President Correa to act on his environmental principles could persuade him to pull back and stop the Amazon oil rush. Sign the petition now:
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The local indigenous people have been resisting, but they are afraid that oil companies will break up the community with bribes. When they heard that people across the world might stand with them and make a stink to save their land, they were thrilled. The president of Ecuador claims to stand for indigenous rights and the environment, but he has just come up with a new plan to bring oil speculators in to 4 million hectares of jungle. If we can say ‘wait a minute, you’re supposed to be the green president who says no one can buy Ecuador’, we could expose him for turning his back on his commitments just as he is fighting for re-election.
He doesn’t want a PR nightmare right now. If we get a million of us to help this one community defend their ancestral land and challenge the president openly to keep to his word, we could start a media storm that would make him reconsider the whole plan. Sign the petition now and tell everyone — let’s help save this beautiful forest:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/oil_in_the_amazon_8/?bxiPJdb&v=21569
After Texaco and other oil companies polluted Ecuadorian waters and irreversibly devastated precious ecosystems, Correa led his country to be the world’s first nation to recognize the rights of “Mother Earth” in its constitution. He announced Ecuador was not for sale, and in Yasuni National Park promoted an innovative initiative where other governments pay Ecuador to keep oil in the ground to protect the rainforest rather than destroy it. But now he’s on the verge of selling out.
Shockingly, the Sani Isla Kichwa land is partly in Yasuni National Park. But even more shocking is Correa’s bigger plan — in days government officials begin a world tour to offer foreign investors the right to drill across 4 million hectares of forest (an area larger than the Netherlands!) Ecuador, as any country, may argue it has the right to profit from its natural resources, but the constitution itself says it must respect indigenous rights and its amazing forests, which bring millions in tourist dollars every year.
Right now, Correa is in a tough fight to be re-elected as president. It’s the perfect time to make him honour his environmental promises and make this green constitution come to life. Sign now to stand with the Kichwa people and save their forest:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/oil_in_the_amazon_8/?bxiPJdb&v=21569
Our community has fought year after year to protect the Amazon in Brazil and Bolivia, and won many victories standing in solidarity with indigenous communities. Now it’s Ecuador’s turn — let’s respond to this urgent call for action and save their forest.
With hope and determination,
Alex, Pedro, Alice, Laura, Marie, Ricken, Taylor, Morgan and all the Avaaz team
More Information:
Ecuadorian tribe gets reprieve from oil intrusion (The Guardian)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/jan/17/indigenous-ecuadorian-tribe-oil-intrusion
How oil extraction impacts the rainforest (Amazon Watch)
http://amazonwatch.org/news/2013/0107-oil-extraction-how-oil-production-impacts-the-rainforest
Drilling for oil in Eden: initiative to save Amazon rainforest in Ecuador is uncertain (Scientific American)
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/2012/03/17/drilling-for-oil-in-eden-initiative-to-save-amazon-rainforest-in-ecuador-is-uncertain/
Ecuador’s indigenous leaders oppose new oil exploration plans in Amazon region (Earth Island Journal)
http://www.earthisland.org/journal/index.php/elist/eListRead/ecuadors_indigenous_leaders_oppose_new_oil_exploration/
by Staff Writers
Pararawen, Indonesia (AFP)
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The roar of chainsaws has replaced birdsong, the once-lush, green jungle scorched to a barren grey. The equivalent of six football pitches of forest is lost every minute in Indonesia.
The disappearance of the trees has pushed thousands of animals — from the birds they harbour and sustain to orangutans, gibbons and black panthers — out of their natural homes and habitats.
They have been replaced by plantations that are too nutrient-poor to support such wildlife, instead dedicated solely to producing fruit that is pulped to make oil used globally in products ranging from food to fuel.
A palm oil tree can yield useable fruit in three years and continue doing so for the next 25 years. But such wealth creation has meant environmental destruction.
“We don’t see too many orangutans any more”, said a worker with a weather-beaten face, taking a break in the shade of a hut built on a path gouged out of the forest floor.
Experts believe there are about 50,000 to 60,000 orangutans left in the wild, 80 percent of them in Indonesia’s Borneo and the rest in Malaysia. Exact data on their decline is hard to come by, say primatologists.
“What we see now is a contest between orangutans and palm oil for a home,” said Sri Suci Utami Atmoko from National University in Jakarta.
“You can judge that the population is depleting from the loss of orangutan habitats.”
Gibbons, often recognisable by the rings of white fur that frame their faces, are among the hardest-hit species.
“There are 100,000 gibbons in Borneo. But in 15-20 years, there will be more viable populations,” said Aurelien Brule, a French national based in Borneo for 15 years who runs an animal sanctuary.
Gibbons rescued from the destruction of their forest homes cannot be returned alone into new wild habitats. “Other pairs protecting their own territory would kill them,” said Brule, adding that rampant deforestation has wiped out sites suitable for single animals.
There is also a human cost, with the permits for plantations resulting in the eviction of indigenous people.
Abdon Nababan, the secretary general of AMAN, an Indonesian indigenous peoples alliance, said there is no exact data but recorded cases of land conflict are in the hundreds, with thousands of people possibly affected.
Dylan Charles, Editor
Waking Times
In the small Latin American country of Costa Rica, where agriculture is king and enormous corporate plantations have dotted the country-side, a subsidiary of Monsanto is making a push to plant several hectares of genetically modified transgenic corn in the Northwestern province of Guanacaste.
However, this month, a group of about 100 concerned citizens from several environmental organizations, students and farmers, mounted a spirited protest outside of the National Commission for Bio-security in Costa Rica, the board tasked with permitting this most recent attempt to infest Costa Rica with GMOs.
During a Nov. 6 protest organized by the environmental collectives Bloque Verde and the Central American Alliance for the Protection of Biodiversity, more than 100 demonstrators in front of the Agriculture and Livestock Ministry in western San José demanded the prohibition of genetically modified corn in Costa Rica. (Tico Times)
It appears that the citizens of this small country, which was recently “dubbed the happiest in the world according to the New Economics Foundation’s Happy Planet Index“, are also educated about the perils of allowing Monsanto GM seeds to get a foothold in this beautiful nation:
Farmer Juan Arriaga, a member of the environmental and agricultural organization Sol y Vida in Santa Cruz, the historic city in the northwestern province of Guanacaste, said that introducing GM corn seed in Costa Rica “means shame, hunger, dependence and illness for human beings, and for the nature and biodiversity that we constantly sell [to tourists] in Costa Rica.” (Tico Times)
He goes on to point out the nation’s discrepancy between its public relations image as a healthy and ‘natural’ place, wherein reality, Cost Rica is already heavily polluted with herbicides, pesticides and chemical fertilizers:
“The ICT [Costa Rican Tourism Board] sells the image abroad that Costa Rica is 100 percent natural, with no artificial ingredients, yet we’re one of the countries that most uses poisonous agricultural chemicals,” Arriaga said. “It’s going to be worse if they permit genetically modified corn.” (Tico Times)
The spokesperson for Delta and Pine Land (D&PL), one of the subsidiaries of multinational Monsanto vying for approval of GM corn, Eva Barbosa, maintains that the GMO crops, if introduced, would, of course, be safe amongst an enclave of non-gmo farms, that the health risks of GMO are undocumented, and that the crops would not be used for public consumption:
Barbosa said the varieties of corn the company plans on using in Costa Rica, if approved by the commission, are genetically modified to resist certain insects and to tolerate the application of pesticides. She said the seed is not for human consumption, but rather to generate more seed for export. She added that no scientifically rigorous studies exist showing that GM seeds are unsafe. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization and EFSA, Barbosa said, GMOs are just as safe as their conventional equivalents, which she said is supported by internationally accepted scientific research.
She added that although corn is openly pollinated, studies show that nearly 100 percent of pollen remains within 50 meters of the plant that emits it. Existing regulations of corn-seed certification establish 50 meters of separation with other corn crops to guarantee purity of the seed produced. (Tico Times)
One of the specific strategies employed to block this intrusion by Monsanto has been to appeal to the Ministry of Culture to have local corn varieties declared a national heritage:
According to a press release from the Culture Ministry, a group of citizens asked Culture Minister Manuel Obregón to declare local corn a national heritage, therefore affording local varieties official government protection. The request is based on the idea that a culture of corn generates different cultural products associated with many traditions that are represented in gastronomy, music, literature and indigenous culture, said Adrián Vindas, director of the Center for Research and Conservation of Cultural Patrimony. (Tico Times)
The people of Costa Rica are world renowned for their peaceful, friendly nature, but they clearly also possess a fighting spirit and unwillingness to be kowtowed by Monsanto. In 2004, Costa Rica made headlines after Monsanto quietly terminated its efforts to introduce transgenic corn to Costa Rica:
In 2004, Monsanto unceremoniously withdrew from the country after succumbing to pressure from ecological and social organizations over the company’s Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) business. Monsanto unsuccessfully courted the Abel Pacheco administration and the then-ruling Christian Social Unity, as well as the powerful National Liberation Party (PLN) to allow their GMO business to develop in Costa Rica; particularly its line of transgenic corn products like the YieldGard (MON 810) and the controversial MON 863 strain. (Costa Rica Star)
Let’s hope the National Commission for Bio-security in Costa Rica listens to the righteous concerns of these humble people and declines this attempt to use this nation as another international GMO seed farm, as it has done to the formerly pristine islands of Hawaii. The commission will vote on the company’s request Dec. 3.
In case you are uncertain of the importance of stopping GMO’s world-wide, here are 10 excellent reasons why we do not need GMO foods.
Dylan Charles is a long time student and teacher of Shaolin Kung Fu, Tai Chi and Qi Gong. He is the editor of WakingTimes.com, a grateful father and a person who seeks to enlighten others with the power of inspiring information.
This article is offered under Creative Commons license. It’s okay to republish it anywhere as long as attribution bio is included and all links remain intact.
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Many areas of South America, for instance, are experiencing great losses in rainforest acreage as corporate agriculture giants move in to replace them with soy and corn fields (http://www.greenpeace.org). Native forests throughout Asia are also being greatly damaged by the palm oil industry, which happens to produce one of the only relatively healthy cash crops being cultivated on a larger scale. (http://environment.yale.edu)
Whether it is the soybean oil and refined wheat flour added to processed cookies and crackers, or the corn syrup and soy lecithin added to processed chocolate bars and candies, the processed food industry as a whole is directly fueling demand for the very same crop plantations that are destroying the natural world at a devastatingly alarming pace. Even the fuel we put in our cars, a percentage of which comes in the form of “biofuel,” is promoting rapid deforestation and the ruination of natural habitats worldwide.
“You may not consume large quantities of soy directly, but the animals you eat do,” adds WWF Global about how conventional meat production also fuels environmental destruction. “80 percent of the world’s soybean crop is fed to livestock, especially chickens. So if you eat meat, cheese or eggs, or drink milk, chances are you’re indirectly consuming soybeans grown in biodiverse ecosystems that have been greatly reduced and fragmented to make space for soy plantations.” (http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/footprint/agriculture/soy/)
Since the Standard American Diet (SAD) consists largely of processed, factory-farmed foods that are loaded with various derivatives of soy, corn, canola, cottonseed, and wheat, Americans as a whole are also contributing, albeit indirectly, to the devastating consequences of cash crop plantations. These consequences including things like soil erosion, water contamination, deforestation, and poverty. (http://www.naturalnews.com/030390_GMO_soy_poverty.html)
Avoiding conventional meat and dairy products, and instead choosing local and organic alternatives, is one way to help fight deforestation. Steering clear of foods that contain ingredients derived from conventional soy, corn, cotton, canola, and wheat is another way to “vote with your wallet” against environmental mismanagement and destruction.
Sources for this article include:
http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/footprint/agriculture/soy/
