Multimedia, Humor, Music, Computers, Photograpy, Internet, Friends, Love, Plants/Nature, Food, Rainforests, Potty Humor, Saving the World, and Goofing Off
Nick is the love of my life :)
This is Dingo. Hear her roar.
"Sentiment Without Action is the Ruin of the Soul."
-Edward Abbey
Now some better news (finally)...
Amazon deforestation lowest since 1991
SAO PAULO, Brazil - Deforestation in the Amazon rain forest has declined to its lowest level since 1991 due to strict enforcement of environmental regulations, the Brazilian government said Thursday.
Preliminary figures released by the environmental ministry showed 5,057 square miles of the rain forest were destroyed this year — the lowest level since 4,258 square miles were lost in 1991.
"We aggressively increased enforcement of environmental laws in the past years and it has worked," said Joao Paulo Capobianco, the ministry's secretary of biodiversity and forests.
The Amazon rain forest is the world's largest remaining tropical wilderness, covering 60 percent of Brazil, an area larger than Western Europe. Scientists estimate about 20 percent of the forest has been destroyed by development, logging and farming.
The government last month announced the forest lost 6,450 square miles this year but the result was revised after
additional data was analyzed.
The numbers released Thursday are estimates based on satellite images. The final results are expected before the end of the year.
Last year, the rain forest lost 7,250 square miles.
"It's the second year in a row there's a decline, so it's good news and we must applaud the government," said Paulo Adario, director of Greenpeace's Amazon campaign. "But our preoccupation is that the average of annual destruction remains high. More needs to be done."
The highest rate of destruction in the Amazon was in 1995, when 11,200 square miles of forest were lost.
"We are trying to repair, in a short period of time, the carelessness that existed for so long," President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said at a news conference. "For a long time we believed the Amazon was endless ... but if we don't take care of what we have, it's going to end."
Article at: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061027/ap_on_sc/brazil_amazon_d
eforestation
check out pictures (this makes me very, very sad):
http://news.yahoo.com/photos/ss/events/sc/051905amazonrainfr
st/im:/050519/ids_photos_wl/r31477544.jpg
"Our task must be to free ourselves by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty."
- Albert Einstein
What we can do to start making a difference:
http://www.ran.org/give/paa/
More information about the Amazon Rainforest:
http://www.amazon-rainforest.org/
America seems hopelessly addicted to oil as many of our
leading companies continue to ignore mounting scientific
evidence that should compel them to immediate action. Our
flagship automaker produces a fleet of cars today that get
fewer miles per gallon on average that its Model T did over
80 years ago. Since the oil crisis of the 1970s, Ford cars and
trucks have remained well below the industry average for
overall fuel efficiency. Worse still, the EPA has ranked Ford as
having the worst overall fuel efficiency of any major
automaker every year since 2000. Despite a recent multi-billion
dollar effort to green its image, the fact remains that
Ford is driving America’s oil addiction.
According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, increasing fuel economy standards to 40 mpg in the next decade can cut annual greenhouse gas emissions by 106 million tons in 2015. Reaching 45 mpg would save more than 3 million barrels of oil per day, enough to end imports from the Middle East and prevent drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The National Academy of Sciences has concluded that current technology could significantly boost Ford’s fuel efficiency, suggesting that a jump to 40 mpg is possible immediately with another leap to 60 mpg achievable through a full fleet of hybrid engines. In early 2003, as Ford announced that it would not keep its 2000 promise to improve the fuel efficiency of its SUVs 25 percent by 2005,momentum was building for a full-scale grassroots market campaign to get the gas-guzzling automaker into rehab.
Information taken from the Rainforest Action Network Annual Report at:
http://www.ran.org/about_ran/ran_annual_2003.pdf
For more information on JumpStart Ford:
http://www.jumpstartford.com/home/
"Brazil busts major Amazon logging gang, arrests 89"
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050602/wl_nm/crime_brazil_amazo
n_dc
ChevronTexaco's Devastation
Between 1964 and 1992, Texaco, now Chevron Corp., explored and drilled in the Ecuadorian Amazon. They also dumped 18 billion gallons of toxic wastewater into unlined waste-pits, streams and rivers, and nearly 17 million barrels of oil were spilled from the pipeline Texaco built. This is 30 times more than the devastating Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska, according to Amazon Watch, a San Francisco based non-profit organization dedicated to protecting the Amazon rainforest and supporting the indigenous and forest peoples who live there.
Amazonian leaders, shareholders and representatives from the various organizations that entered the shareholder meeting came outside to report to the rally on what happened inside. Following ChevronTexaco’s presentation on record profits and new developments, the shareholders presented and defended their resolutions.
Unfortunately, however, Carmen Perez, the community health worker and mother of six who traveled three days from the Ecuadorian Amazon, was not able to speak. ChevronTexaco CEO David O’Reilly shut off her microphone.
“O’Reilly’s attempt to censor shareholder comments today is a clear sign that the company is attempting to keep shareholders in the dark about the serious liabilities they face in Ecuador,†said Soltani.
Community residents and activists vowed to complain to the company and continue protesting ChevronTexaco every month until the company begins to respond.
Excerpts taken from an article at:
http://www.sfbayview.com/060105/ecuadorian060105.shtml
U2, Kenna, Led Zeppelin, A Perfect Circle, Coldplay, The Doors, Third Eye Blind, Incubus, Korn, Audioslave, Dave Matthews Band, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Rolling Stones, Nine Inch Nails, Oasis, Rusted Root, Simon and Garfunkal, Bush, Collective Soul, Lifehouse, Smashing Pumpkins, Steve Miller Band, Disturbed, Eric Clapton, Blue Man Group, Santana, Jars of Clay, Live, Fleetwood Mac, Heart, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Our Lady Peace, 311, The Eagles, Puddle of Mudd, The Beatles, Rob Zombie, Goo Goo Dolls, Linkin Park, Jethro Tull, The Wallflowers, Nirvana, System of a Down, Foo Fighters, Tool, Jimi Hendrix, Fuel, Maroon 5, The Raconteurs
Monty Python and the Holy Grail, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, Fern Gully, Dumb & Dumber, Office Space, Shrek (1&2), Forrest Gump, Toy Story(1&2), Amelie, Cast Away, Joe Dirt, Lord of the Rings, Cool Runnings, Saving Silverman, Butterfly Effect, Rat Race, Signs, Anchorman, Wedding Crashers, Weekend at Bernie's (1&2), War of the Worlds, Men in Black (1&2), Catch Me If You Can, Minority Report, Groundhog Day
The Office, CSI, Simpsons, Friends, The Cosby Show, Scrubs, X-Files, Mr. Bean, Family Guy, SouthPark, Animaniacs, The PJ's, Coupling, Trigger Happy
Catcher in the Rye, Borgel
My little brother, Ross. He was taken from us too soon, but I look forward to the day I can see him again and tell him just how proud I am of what he did. We all miss you, Ross...
http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/ramcginnis.htm
There is a time for everything,
a season for every activity under heaven.
A time to be born and a time to die.
A time to plant and a time to harvest.
A time to kill and a time to heal.
A time to tear down and a time to rebuild.
A time to cry and a time to laugh.
A time to grieve and a time to dance.
A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones.
A time to embrace and a time to turn away.
A time to search and a time to lose.
A time to keep and a time to throw away.
A time to tear and a time to mend.
A time to be quiet and a time to speak up.
A time to love and a time to hate.
A time for war and a time for peace.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8