tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14819126998015493152024-03-06T00:23:20.169-08:00Artificial ProductivityA blog created during the often prophetic eight hour work day...Amelie Lillithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05020980478430414601noreply@blogger.comBlogger85125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1481912699801549315.post-45470252560106117242010-08-20T15:06:00.000-07:002010-08-20T15:08:05.102-07:00Pocahontas Meets Spoken WordI haven't had time at all to write lately, but check out this video...<br /><br />Amazing!<br /><br /><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/gy08vi8bGSE?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/gy08vi8bGSE?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>Amelie Lillithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05020980478430414601noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1481912699801549315.post-79517374661899280502010-07-25T10:18:00.000-07:002010-07-25T10:38:41.199-07:00Another Far too Short Trip North: Night One<span style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;color:white;" >Well, it has taken me a couple of weeks to start typing up my account of being up north, but then again it normally does take me that long. It is hard being away from that place, and sharing with you what I experience up there makes me miss it anew. The following </span><span style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;color:white;" >is the account of my first night of my much too short up north adventure. The rest of the weekend’s accounts will follow in the next few days. I took all of the pictures within the posts while I was there.</span><span style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;color:transparent;" > </span><br /><div style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204);" id=":15h" class="ii gt"><br /><span style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; font-weight: bold;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >7-9-10 Night one of my much too short up north adventure</span><span style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" > </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtTMu2op1jPhJi0TLPpc1BORl2HEu7VVGH9GdOTAg_7GEQCBiEggWvS3KwOragH0C3wjjxTl9LEJClUt5lKb_QLuSo2WVQbUqbNzE3UM2Glqapoz_Dn5Z1cXEWSMTtXhyKdbIQB_jiW1g/s1600/firepit.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 296px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtTMu2op1jPhJi0TLPpc1BORl2HEu7VVGH9GdOTAg_7GEQCBiEggWvS3KwOragH0C3wjjxTl9LEJClUt5lKb_QLuSo2WVQbUqbNzE3UM2Glqapoz_Dn5Z1cXEWSMTtXhyKdbIQB_jiW1g/s400/firepit.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497897699300909234" border="0" /></a></span></span><span style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >It’s strange to me how normal it was pulling up here after three months absent…strange because of how normal it was. Yes I’ve been coming here for twenty years, but only regularly for the last two, and even that is four times a year max. But none-the-less when I p</span><span style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >ulled up here today I felt like I was HOME, home in a way that I never felt in the house I was raised in, home like I’ve never felt anywhere. This place is where my heart resides (if only my body could catch up to it more often). Isn’t that really what we are all trying to do anyhow? Catch our hearts wherever they have run to? Who holds yours? Is it a woman? A man? A memory of a person that no longer exists due to death—or the changes of life that catch us all off guard sometimes? Is it a city? A pet? A smell—perhaps of lilacs—or of opine brushing between your fingers? For me it is the north—the lakes dark with musky and mysteries they refuse to revea</span><span style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >l. The thick snow that keeps ev</span><span style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >en capitalism at bay, the haunting cry of the loon (the north’s very own penguin) mating for life and in peril just the same as their southern counterparts. It’s the white birch, the Indian paintbrush, the otter, the deer, they hold my heart hostage and I must be reunited every few months or I start to slip away—often in very measurable ways. For what is a body without its heart? Heart in the love sense, not the physical. I start to show actual signs of depression, I stop running, sleep during the day and rarely t night, my diet goe</span><span style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >s to hell, and I STOP WRITING.</span><br /><span style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" > </span><br /><span style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >It is good that I got back here in time—I was slipping so far and fast I </span><span style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >might have totally forgotten that this is what I needed.</span><br /><span style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" > </span><span style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >~~~~~~~~</span><br /><span style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >Later: I just started a fire to keep the mosquitoes away! I’m so glad I got my parents a fire ring for Christmas. I walked down to the pier to grab my book and notebook and saw a loon, the first one of the year for me up here, not twenty feet from me. He or she was stretching its leg behind it, looking right at me. It felt like I was being waved at. I wonder if it could remember me. I have always felt a strange affinity with loons, and they return to the same lakes each year, so perhaps it was a greeting, from one old friend to another.</span><span style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" > </span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >I just saw a family of young mergansers and their mother. I got some great picture</span><span style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >s. </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmddFI8AqaLS1Ctg3RgszBs6BntpA7QYNFpAjfo8rudGq5WdsAsY7M4A2sLPeHFSRaKO9TQ21nz5J5-6hx_aDJpTVwiF6DcJgj3oF8jKIQTPMkm97EkWAn4ynYqRmNpHkOyFzZGZt7n5g/s1600/merganserfamily.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 156px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmddFI8AqaLS1Ctg3RgszBs6BntpA7QYNFpAjfo8rudGq5WdsAsY7M4A2sLPeHFSRaKO9TQ21nz5J5-6hx_aDJpTVwiF6DcJgj3oF8jKIQTPMkm97EkWAn4ynYqRmNpHkOyFzZGZt7n5g/s400/merganserfamily.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497896384732227442" border="0" /></a></span></span><span style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >I might have to go inside soon, even the smoke from the fire isn’t keeping the mosquitoes at bay. My constant runs to grab more wood probably aren’t helping either!</span><br /><span style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" > </span><br /><span style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >~~~~~~</span><br /><span style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >I just witnessed one of the most serene things of my life: a pair of loons came into the bay and proceeded to preen themselves—stretching their wings, cleaning their stomachs, etc and then one of them tucked its head into its feathers and fell asleep! Then the other followed and I watched for over half an hour as they both sat low in the water sleeping! Finally one w</span><span style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" >oke up, yawned and then the other did too. I got video of them sleeping that I’ll try to upload one of these days. Now they are still swimming in front of the pier.<span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; font-weight: bold;font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6ySSqSAlko06WHuqLE7gRV0P3qtVE4OPihnPdq8pfbDHDmyUxq96v8e6HWM4Gc4AJh17UMyTa9aZ7VHnUu0Ltzb5vscnuN9jpikd0I-Dpou4aOQv3UJVkBJajl9_ZAC-7G_MoNxpj_K0/s1600/loons.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 298px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6ySSqSAlko06WHuqLE7gRV0P3qtVE4OPihnPdq8pfbDHDmyUxq96v8e6HWM4Gc4AJh17UMyTa9aZ7VHnUu0Ltzb5vscnuN9jpikd0I-Dpou4aOQv3UJVkBJajl9_ZAC-7G_MoNxpj_K0/s400/loons.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497898684823809042" border="0" /></a></span></span></span></span></span></span> </div>Amelie Lillithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05020980478430414601noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1481912699801549315.post-68346896336148728422010-07-16T04:37:00.000-07:002010-07-16T06:46:03.645-07:00Gobby Goo By: Amelie LillithAfter nearly three months of oil gushing into the gulf I have finally gotten a poem written about it. Feel free to pass this on if you feel the need.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Gobby Goo<br />By: Amelie Lillith</span><br /><br />4/20 means different things to different people<br />to me, it is a black day...or it was this year<br />a day followed by day after day...and yes, even today<br />of death slowly creeping near<br />4/20 was a horrid day<br />a day where men working just to pay their way<br />lost their lives and their families<br />lost the only way they had to be free<br />the beaches and the wetlands tooslowly clogged with that gobby goo<br />and what did the corporation do?<br />they did everything they could to hide the very truth.<br /><br />And so now it's been three long months<br />and all those families have is more thick black gunk<br />and air tainted with a poisoned tinge<br />even angels can't fly with oil soaked wingsand so what is it that we can do<br />to stop the lies and find the fucking truth<br />we can clog that gusher with the best thing we've got<br />the CEOs themselves, the only true junk shot<br />it will take dozens, hundreds, possibly more<br />because they are mostly filled with lies and lore<br />but to stop the creeping death blackening the shores<br />is something they'll never do with stockholders on board<br />we can't rely on our government<br />we're all seeing the difference between what they saidand what they meant<br />It's time to activate<br />to tell them all that we'll no longer wait<br />to take control of the way things are run<br />I'll bring my voice, you bring your gun<br />and we'll show those in charge that we are done playing their game<br />that black beaches in the gulf just are not the same<br />and tell their EPA that the poisons sprayed<br />need to stop, because it could already be too late<br /><br />the dolphins are swimming up onto our shores<br />hoping for a fast death escaping the oil, but just find even morethe corporations and the government, are just two branches<br />of the same old camp<br />and the people are starting to see this truth<br />tell your friends and your family too<br />it's time to do more than congregate<br />time to do more than just relate<br />it's time for all of us to fight this fight<br />to show them the difference between wrong and right<br />and if that lesson comes with guns or marches<br />I don't care, and neither do the coated marshesthe waterbirds don't care which way we choose<br />peace or violence or a combination of the two<br />their legs and wings are still coated with sticky death<br />and they'll wonder why we aren't fighting with their dying breaths<br />so grab your weapons be they sword or pen<br />it's about time that we all begin<br /><br />it's been three long months since this all started<br />and all that's changed is the beaches have darkened<br />the poor and the southern are being ignoredit's time to reclaim our shores<br />The air is tainted with a poisoned tinge<br />even angels can't fly with oil soaked wings<br /><br />You can pray to whatever god you've got<br />under the current system we'll need the lot<br />say your prayers and meditate<br />but your loving kindness will just have to wait<br />the corporations and their CEOs<br />and the government and their two party dronesdon't want us to activate<br />they keep preaching that we should just wait<br />but even most gods weren't afraid to activate their people<br />let's part the seas of lies and demand we be equal<br />to those very corporations and the government<br />the ones raising our taxes and hiking up rent<br />we'll yell from oil slick to sandy shore<br />WE CAN'T TRUST YOU ANYMORE<br />we can't rely on our government<br />we're all seeing the difference between what you saidand what you meant.<br />We see that it's time to activate<br />And no, we will no longer sit around and wait<br />we'll take control of the way things are run<br />We'll bring our voices...they'll bring their guns<br />and we'll show those in charge that we are done playing their game<br />that black beaches in the gulf just are not the same<br />and tell their EPA that the poisons sprayed<br />need to stop, because it could already be too late.<br /><br />These three months have been three months too longso I'm going to stop talking and let's get things done.<br />Tell your friends and neighbors to demand the truth<br />Let's take the power back, and start to revolute.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzrFIZWE11NImvOcUfEL8P7id6eQbLiiVRTrbiaKWH2BOKbUHTjiWdtNW_2ab8OkA-LjaR7M4zDniOc-Ww-sqPBjMgtbQbhvgaFcuNDXBm28dwHwxVJ2S7TQZMTSQ-e_WrF3FTTZT-H1o/s1600/sad-angel-wings-fairy.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzrFIZWE11NImvOcUfEL8P7id6eQbLiiVRTrbiaKWH2BOKbUHTjiWdtNW_2ab8OkA-LjaR7M4zDniOc-Ww-sqPBjMgtbQbhvgaFcuNDXBm28dwHwxVJ2S7TQZMTSQ-e_WrF3FTTZT-H1o/s400/sad-angel-wings-fairy.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5494499760789008690" border="0" /></a>Amelie Lillithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05020980478430414601noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1481912699801549315.post-28866730819754247962010-06-28T08:04:00.001-07:002010-06-28T08:05:37.872-07:00A Good VideoI haven't posted in two weeks...I promise I will soon. But until then, here's a video you should watch:<br /><br /><object width="565" height="340" ><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Q4itfAVq19U" ></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src ="http://www.youtube.com/v/Q4itfAVq19U" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="565" height="340"></embed></object>Amelie Lillithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05020980478430414601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1481912699801549315.post-52691067767631526042010-06-14T11:39:00.001-07:002010-06-14T11:42:48.623-07:00Liar, Liar, The Ocean's on Fire<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb-QYAAFP3Gs9awl3ebzqRV0-t_sNjtHpoaclq5kvdzvldyUMxjuYDLQYoLAncsuvYt44NudbmE-8SpFXbrwFy9omuTbumQaUaxqb3wixS9btIPQY9SQMmNYXmNxOFU0VqCrZFgy0tayU/s1600/theyarelying.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 398px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb-QYAAFP3Gs9awl3ebzqRV0-t_sNjtHpoaclq5kvdzvldyUMxjuYDLQYoLAncsuvYt44NudbmE-8SpFXbrwFy9omuTbumQaUaxqb3wixS9btIPQY9SQMmNYXmNxOFU0VqCrZFgy0tayU/s400/theyarelying.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5482701302597675618" border="0" /></a><br /><div id=":tq" class="ii gt"> <p class="MsoNormal">Ever since the blow out occurred in the Gulf of Mexico on the 20th of April I have adopted a mantra that I repeat over and over again to anyone who will listen. It's quite simple: "They are lying". Easy to remember, obviously true, proven time and again, but people still deny it. "Why would BP lie about how much oil is gushing?" Yes, those of you reading this blog probably wonder how someone could ask such an ignorant question, but I get it all of the time.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Why?! Really…okay let's just assume for a second that a question as ignorant as that even deserves an answer. Here are a few: when penalties and fines are assessed after this disaster is no longer getting worse (assuming the flow is ever stopped) the amount of oil leaked is directly proportional to the amount of money BP will owe. This makes the use of dispersants come into clear view: they are using them to hide how bad it is. This should be obvious to most as well, but apparently it is not. BP is a corporation, their obligation is not to the American people, the Gulf of Mexico, the wildlife, or even to their employees (11 of which died when this disaster began). No. Their responsibility is to their share holders. They will do everything possible to make this the smallest FINANCIAL loss to themselves. If anyone still has any illusion that BP cares they should give it up now. They do care, but not for you and not for me, unless you own enough stocks to be on the board…and I have a feeling that if you do own that many stocks you aren't reading this blog.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">It isn't just BP that is lying. The government? Oh yes, they are lying too, but so is the media in the indirect way they have of doing so. Mainstream media is ignoring the fact that Obama got more campaign contributions from BP than any other candidate. It is ignoring the fact the BP has spent millions on newly hired lobbyists that it sent out to DC to sway the opinions of politicians. They ignore all of this…and what does CNN have to say about the inaction of the government in this crisis? Obama, apparently, is afraid to take action because angry black men scare people. No joke here. The article can be found here: <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/06/08/rage.obama/index.html" target="_blank">http://www.cnn.com/2010/<wbr>POLITICS/06/08/rage.obama/<wbr>index.html</a> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">The smoke and mirrors do not fool me and you shouldn't be fooled either. This is a pretty simple case of not betraying the hand that feeds you. From a political standpoint it makes sense for Obama to not scold BP too heavily…they give him money. It makes sense for BP to cover their asses as a corporation in the current system. What doesn't make sense, and what everyone is afraid to say (or so it seems) is that the system that makes these atrocious acts acceptable is inherently flawed. Capitalism…the extraction of resources (be they human, plant, animal, or fossil fuels) for profit results in the destruction of habitats. It makes people look at living beings as resources, not as communities of life that are dependent upon each other for survival. Capitalism creates a dog-eat-dog system that makes it acceptable (and rewarded) to care not for your neighbor (be your neighbor human or otherwise). It is a system based on exploitation and it is broken. People see this brokenness now. They see the flaw of a system made to reward the elite and sentence the poor to a working class existence at best. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">So let's rise up and fight. It's time to take the broken system down friends. It's time to demand that the land, the animals, the humans and all life forms are respected in their own rights. It's time for real change, and one that someone who gets money from an oil giant will not facilitate. Take a step back from your microscope and look at the entire system. That is what is broken. Capping the leak is important, obviously, but there will always be more leaks, more death, more corruption if the current way things are run is not changed. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">And finally some articles about the leak you should check out:</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <h1><span style="font-size:60%;">Are Big Green Groups Protesting Too Little Amid Oil Disaster? <a href="http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/06/13-0" target="_blank">http://www.commondreams.org/<wbr>headline/2010/06/13-0</a></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:60%;">BP oil leak aftermath: Slow-motion tragedy unfolds for marine life <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jun/10/bp-oil-leak-marine-life-wildlife" target="_blank">http://www.guardian.co.uk/<wbr>environment/2010/jun/10/bp-<wbr>oil-leak-marine-life-wildlife</a></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:60%;">Defenders of Wildlife blog: <a href="http://www.defendersblog.org/" target="_blank">http://www.defendersblog.org/</a></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:60%;">BP Censoring Media, Destroying Evidence <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/riki-ott/from-the-ground-bp-censor_b_608724.html" target="_blank">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/<wbr>riki-ott/from-the-ground-bp-<wbr>censor_b_608724.html</a></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:60%;">Gulf Needs Concrete Actions that Respect Residents' Rights <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kerry-kennedy/gulf-needs-concrete-actions_b_609827.html" target="_blank">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/<wbr>kerry-kennedy/gulf-needs-<wbr>concrete-actions_b_609827.html</a></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:60%;">Cheney's Push of Deregulators led to BP Disaster <a href="http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=5163" target="_blank">http://therealnews.com/t2/<wbr>index.php?option=com_content&<wbr>task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&<wbr>jumival=5163</a></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:60%;">Oiled Birds Everywhere, but Little Rescue Crews can do <a href="http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Oiled_birds_everywhere_but_little_rescue_crews_can_do_999.html" target="_blank">http://www.terradaily.com/<wbr>reports/Oiled_birds_<wbr>everywhere_but_little_rescue_<wbr>crews_can_do_999.html</a></span></h1> </div>Amelie Lillithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05020980478430414601noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1481912699801549315.post-27377147046197147692010-06-01T12:01:00.000-07:002010-06-01T12:03:00.479-07:00Oil Leak CounterBP has announced that the top kill procedure failed...and they seem to not want to try anything else until the relief wells are done being drilled in AUGUST. So...here's a nice little counter to help you visualize the horrible destruction being done to the oceans by BP each second. I'd go with the high estimates if I were you (we know BP lies).<br /><br /><iframe src="http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/oil-ticker/" height="300" style="align:center;" width="310px" marginheight="5" marginwidth="5" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe>Amelie Lillithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05020980478430414601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1481912699801549315.post-10154793924908568742010-05-27T06:43:00.000-07:002010-05-27T14:54:01.449-07:00Let's Find the Spark and Fight Back: Gulf Oil Leak<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY89weqSPw5oHW_UCkputiVBOQ2A7_8GTtbvLW06DS2TfltrpoaqxJmgLr3JWnzapHewyPcwG6STqlBJeXbYr9VXfvEG3pH9jQkDgmjhQltSQQ03NjmlJxT-TUp2Ey5Wp4Y2-L1qI0kFc/s1600/beyondprosecution.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 153px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY89weqSPw5oHW_UCkputiVBOQ2A7_8GTtbvLW06DS2TfltrpoaqxJmgLr3JWnzapHewyPcwG6STqlBJeXbYr9VXfvEG3pH9jQkDgmjhQltSQQ03NjmlJxT-TUp2Ey5Wp4Y2-L1qI0kFc/s400/beyondprosecution.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5475948787764284418" border="0" /></a>“War is when the government tells you who the bad guy is. Revolution is when you decide that for yourself.”<div class="gt ii" id="yvft"><p> </p><p>As is apparent from my recent blog posts, I have been thinking a lot about the oil geyser in the Gulf of Mexico lately. Over the last week or so I've been so appalled with all that I've read that I couldn't find the heart to write a post about it. I do know, however, that even though there is decent media coverage of the disaster it is mostly local media and the vast majority of people are getting a watered down version of the crisis that is unfolding. </p><p>So, I'd like to begin by providing a few links to stories as well as to news sources where you can find information on the disaster.</p> <p><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p> <h1 style="margin: 0pt 0pt 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-weight: normal;font-size:60%;" ><span style="font-family:garamond;"><span style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204);">Articles:</span></span></span></h1> <ul><li> <h1 style="margin: 0pt 0pt 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-weight: normal;font-size:60%;" ><span style="font-family:garamond;">Yes, Mr. President, It Was Your Katrina - Three Weeks Ago. Now it May Be Your Chernobyl By: Robert Redick <a href="http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/05/24-5" target="_blank">http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/05/24-5</a></span></span></h1> </li><li> <h1 style="margin: 0pt 0pt 0.0001pt;"><span style=";font-family:garamond;font-size:60%;" >Oil Oozing Up On Shore Despite Best Efforts Of BP, Coast Guard To Contain (PR) Fallout: <a href="http://news.firedoglake.com/2010/05/19/oil-oozing-up-on-shore-despite-best-efforts-of-bp-coast-guard-to-contain-pr-fallout/" target="_blank">http://news.firedoglake.com/2010/05/19/oil-oozing-up-on-shore-despite-best-efforts-of-bp-coast-guard-to-contain-pr-fallout/</a></span></h1> </li><li> <h1 style="margin: 0pt 0pt 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-weight: normal;font-size:60%;" ><span style="font-family:garamond;">BP Witholds Oil Spill Facts--And Government Lets It: <a href="http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/05/18/94415/bps-secrecy-keep-facts-on-gulf.html" target="_blank">http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/05/18/94415/bps-secrecy-keep-facts-on-gulf.html</a></span></span></h1> </li><li> <h1 style="margin: 0pt 0pt 0.0001pt;"><span style=";font-family:garamond;font-size:60%;" >Norman</span><span style=";font-family:garamond;font-size:60%;" > engineer has own idea about how to stop Gulf oil leak <a href="http://www.newsok.com/norman-engineer-has-own-idea-about-how-to-stop-gulf-oil-leak/article/3462317?custom_click=pod_headline_national-finance-news" target="_blank">http://www.newsok.com/norman-engineer-has-own-idea-about-how-to-stop-gulf-oil-leak/article/3462317?custom_click=pod_headline_national-finance-news</a></span></h1> </li><li> <h1 style="margin: 0pt 0pt 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-weight: normal;font-size:60%;" ><span style="font-family:garamond;">CT inventor proposes solution to Gulf oil leak: <a href="http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/news13241.html" target="_blank">http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/news13241.html</a></span></span></h1> </li></ul><span style="font-size:60%;"><br /></span><h1 style="margin: 0pt 0pt 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-weight: normal;font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family:garamond;"><span style="color: rgb(192, 192, 192);">Links:</span></span></span></h1> <ul><li> <h1 style="margin: 0pt 0pt 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-weight: normal;font-size:60%;" ><span style="font-family:garamond;">A livestream of the oil geyser: </span></span><span style=";font-family:garamond;font-size:60%;" ><a href="http://www.livestream.com/wkrg_oil_spill" target="_blank">http://www.livestream.com/wkrg_oil_spill</a></span></h1> </li><li> <h1 style="margin: 0pt 0pt 0.0001pt;"><span style=";font-family:garamond;font-size:60%;" >Coast Guard says "It's BP's Rules, Not Ours" <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eb4JWgUuSEE&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fuser%2Fgreenman3610%23p&feature=player_profilepage" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eb4JWgUuSEE&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fuser%2Fgreenman3610%23p&feature=player_profilepage</a></span></h1> </li><li> <h1 style="margin: 0pt 0pt 0.0001pt;"><span style=";font-family:garamond;font-size:60%;" >Radio out of New Orleans talking about the spill and what is REALLY going on down there: <a href="http://www.wwl.com/pages/1050632.php" target="_blank">http://www.wwl.com/pages/1050632.php</a></span></h1> </li></ul><span style="font-size:60%;"><br /></span><h1 style="margin: 0pt 0pt 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-weight: normal;font-size:60%;" ><span style="font-family:garamond;">One thing that really strikes me about this whole disaster is that it seems most people are assuming that BP is corrupt and the government is in on it. Citizens who identify themselves as right wing, left wing, or just trying to survive know that the current system (call it capitalism, call it Western Civilization, call it anything you want) takes care of corporations more than it takes care of individuals. This is a given. The author Derrick Jensen asks this very question at many of his talks "How many of you think the American government takes care of people over corporations?" (Approximate quote.) No one ever raises their hand. </span></span></h1><span style="font-size:60%;"><br /></span><h1 style="margin: 0pt 0pt 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-weight: normal;font-size:60%;" ><span style="font-family:garamond;">So, we are living in a system that doesn't take care of people. This system is quickly filling the gulf with oil, but this isn’t the first time the oceans have been killed by oil. There have been the obvious oil spills, but there are also the indirect effects oil has on the oceans. The pollution, the plastic, the wars, the global warming. Fossil fuels have been killing the oceans for a long time. </span></span></h1><p> </p><h1 style="margin: 0pt 0pt 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-weight: normal;font-size:60%;" ><span style="font-family:garamond;">Citizens of the United States know that corporations are killing their land and their livelihoods (and even the people themselves in many cases like the cleanup workers in Louisiana getting sick:</span></span><span style=";font-family:garamond;font-size:60%;" > <a href="http://trueslant.com/allisonkilkenny/2010/05/26/oil-spill-clean-up-workers-report-feeling-drugged-disoriented/" target="_blank">http://trueslant.com/allisonkilkenny/2010/05/26/oil-spill-clean-up-workers-report-feeling-drugged-disoriented/</a></span><span style="font-weight: normal;font-size:60%;" ><span style="font-family:garamond;"> )</span></span></h1><span style="font-size:60%;"><br /></span><h1 style="margin: 0pt 0pt 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-weight: normal;font-size:60%;" ><span style="font-family:garamond;">So what are we going to do? Are we just going to sit back and take the abuse and watch as the planet and we are slowly killed off by profit-hungry criminals? Or are we going to fight? Fight for the land, for our rights, for the rights of non humans? How much sludge will it take on the shore before we not only admit that corporations are taken care of better than individuals but rise up and fight against that fact?</span></span></h1><p> </p><h1 style="margin: 0pt 0pt 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-weight: normal;font-size:60%;" ><span style="font-family:garamond;">BP can kill an entire coastline and get no punishment, yet an "eco terrorist" can be sent to prison for 20 years for setting an empty SUV on fire. This is insanity. It's time to rise up and fight. Sure, boycott BP, boycott all oil. Demand that no drilling is opened up that isn't already open and that a plan be put in place for shutting down all offshore drilling practices.</span></span></h1><span style="font-size:60%;"><br /></span><h1 style="margin: 0pt 0pt 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-weight: normal;font-size:60%;" ><span style="font-family:garamond;">But most of all end the system that is destroying the planet. </span></span></h1><p><span style="font-size:100%;"><br />"A great revolution is never the fault of the people, but of the government" -Johann Wolfgang von Goethe </span></p></div>Amelie Lillithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05020980478430414601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1481912699801549315.post-19632094344149602802010-05-20T05:40:00.000-07:002010-05-20T05:41:45.512-07:00The Real Eco-Terrorists<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjiUjvPc5yYsAgCuBWrf3-pit2KGQ613gzu3Tfua5rDGlKMDkoq04B-YGxAx5BF4gKMGEZgBv1ZNfzJcBp4vFH0T1TU5Ixs1-7-CQHgnSmzDOOszTJpfvutxJpMEHfLOEO5k8Slwd5lSM/s1600/therealecoterrorists.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjiUjvPc5yYsAgCuBWrf3-pit2KGQ613gzu3Tfua5rDGlKMDkoq04B-YGxAx5BF4gKMGEZgBv1ZNfzJcBp4vFH0T1TU5Ixs1-7-CQHgnSmzDOOszTJpfvutxJpMEHfLOEO5k8Slwd5lSM/s400/therealecoterrorists.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5473331434067511490" border="0" /></a>Amelie Lillithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05020980478430414601noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1481912699801549315.post-37667039056096683292010-05-12T09:14:00.000-07:002010-05-12T09:23:42.979-07:00Time to Take Action: The Gulf of Mexico Oil Leak<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbNOCMHgP5aeRECHltguVPq4ZJP_C-StKOWw8LS2sQG0jeQO2jeaGj1a7mnvI476x2M4kSASV9z_poBeiFnIRhEUe1FI1bbUqe9vu8hkysJIf0ZnehfpFK5i3oEc20EGrD2fSiSshOJ3Y/s1600/oilblogmain.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 243px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbNOCMHgP5aeRECHltguVPq4ZJP_C-StKOWw8LS2sQG0jeQO2jeaGj1a7mnvI476x2M4kSASV9z_poBeiFnIRhEUe1FI1bbUqe9vu8hkysJIf0ZnehfpFK5i3oEc20EGrD2fSiSshOJ3Y/s400/oilblogmain.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5470419173546000722" border="0" /></a><br /><div id=":10l" class="ii gt"> <p class="MsoNormal">I know that when it comes to people who typically read this blog I will be preaching to the choir on this issue, but even the choir needs guidance sometimes.</p> <p style="font-weight: bold;" class="MsoNormal">The Gulf of Mexico is dying.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">There, I said it. No, I am not exaggerating. It won't be long before everything in the Gulf of Mexico is dead. That is the future we are looking at right now, and a grim future it is.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">So, what can you do? The answer, in a nutshell, is do SOMETHING. It seems to me that people on a national scale are doing relatively little to help with this unfolding disaster and to prevent future drilling that will inevitably lead to more disasters of this sort.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">It isn't just citizens that are handling this poorly however; the powers that be are failing pretty miserably as well. I am including BP in the 'powers that be' category because, lets face it: the pockets of the power are oily with campaign contributions from BP and other oil giants. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">So, as citizens of this dying planet we MUST stand up and fight for it. Protest, boycott, do whatever you have to. Offshore drilling needs to stop now. It is not the only horrible thing that the western way of life results in for the environment, but hey, if you are going to stop one thing at a time, it's a great place to start. Sign all the petitions you want, but until the people take to the streets nothing will change. Why isn't anyone furious enough to start marching? Let's march. I'll join. Will you?</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Here's a website about actions taking place across the country on Friday, May 14: <a href="http://www.risingtidenorthamerica.org/wordpress/category/front-page/" target="_blank">http://www.<wbr>risingtidenorthamerica.org/<wbr>wordpress/category/front-page/</a></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Okay, so you aren't the marching and candle light vigil type…I get it, but you can do your part too. And no, I don't mean sending your hair down to the gulf to help absorb oil (although it can't hurt, I guess). I mean that we can use our brains to help the situation.</p><p class="MsoNormal">BP and the US Coast Guard need to release to the public EVERYTHING they know about the current situation. The psi of the oil geyser (it isn’t a spill or a leak, a geyser is much more accurate) and all of the technical aspects they know about it. They need to let the public know everything so that the intelligent and educated public can work to come up with solutions. When this accident occurred BP had no plan A. When they came up with their impressive looking (but ultimately ineffective) funnel/containment vessel plan I thought it might work: it didn't. Now the plan is to shoot golf balls and torn up tires into the leaking area. I am no engineer but I'm going to go ahead and say that that probably will not work. I have yet to hear a plan C (except Russia's recommendation to use nuclear weapons). So, why not do more than just open a tip line for the public, how about actually providing them with information to come up with USABLE solutions?</p> <p class="MsoNormal">I will end my written rant there, but below I've put pictures of the endangered species BP themselves listed in their Exploration Plan for this location (you can view it in its entirety here: <a href="http://www.gomr.mms.gov/PI/PDFImages/PLANS/29/29977.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.gomr.mms.gov/PI/<wbr>PDFImages/PLANS/29/29977.pdf</a>)<br /></p>"4.7 Threatened or endangered species, critical habitat, and marine mammal information<br />Twenty-nine species of marine mammals occur in the GOM. There are 28 species of cetaceans (7 mysticete and 21 odontocete species) and 1 sirenian species, the manatee.<br />Five baleen whales, one toothed whale, and one sirenian occur in the GOM and are listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA):<br />-The Northern Right Whale<br />-The Blue Whale<br />-The Fin Whale<br />-The Sei Whale<br />-The Humpback Whale<br />-The Sperm Whale<br />-The West Indian Manatee<br /><br />The sperm whale is common in oceanic waters of the northern GOM and appears to be a resident species, while the baleen whales are considered rare or extralimital in the Gulf. The West Indian Manatee typically inhabits only coastal marine, brackish, and freshwater areas.<br /><br />Five sea turtles inhabit the waters of GOM and are listed as endangered: the Leatherback, Green, Hawksbill, Kemp's Ridley, and Loggerhead turtle. These five species are all highly migratory, and no individual members of any of the species are likely to be year-round residents of the proposed area of interest.<br /><br />There are no critical habitats designated within the Gulf of Mexico for the threatened and endangered species above."</div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifrEDOEmaQUsSTFckDxtXcRfU7Mqwmix5F54HlSLtz8JSdB0eJS3aUrKsiiQqeIpgQkUrgx5ud-4t9cNmFYxs9pG99HoWzqLEAs5zFz7RYSjSgNVu4Zm7UKtynCGyUjqXRixO_i9XHHUY/s1600/oilblog1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 218px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifrEDOEmaQUsSTFckDxtXcRfU7Mqwmix5F54HlSLtz8JSdB0eJS3aUrKsiiQqeIpgQkUrgx5ud-4t9cNmFYxs9pG99HoWzqLEAs5zFz7RYSjSgNVu4Zm7UKtynCGyUjqXRixO_i9XHHUY/s320/oilblog1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5470419094718370850" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIFcDN1WmamDVELxpDDTnMpcL7VhvR5YS3pEhjJ4HGEYMQWg5eQj8nz-jia-aClkm3LmJLy8LquSh9wJZy2ex6e5NavYEJRBCTx-PUqR2U_HcjKxBp_9TiBaFX7NNLspBNX-G07CnlfyM/s1600/oilblog2.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 218px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIFcDN1WmamDVELxpDDTnMpcL7VhvR5YS3pEhjJ4HGEYMQWg5eQj8nz-jia-aClkm3LmJLy8LquSh9wJZy2ex6e5NavYEJRBCTx-PUqR2U_HcjKxBp_9TiBaFX7NNLspBNX-G07CnlfyM/s320/oilblog2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5470419027492935106" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK_VgsFGAzXePFWeQQmx_DYjlTLyQFIkiYrGsvf3UZejTEPed7FKvcQEWdFFBZWzNkMtFw8ZlPnHBQeSTJrL_duOsqWdB4IJOsCitPDFVCQnpT4NmIPc2H8HB88Csta7sp7sQ1vQXAiiU/s1600/oilblog3.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 192px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK_VgsFGAzXePFWeQQmx_DYjlTLyQFIkiYrGsvf3UZejTEPed7FKvcQEWdFFBZWzNkMtFw8ZlPnHBQeSTJrL_duOsqWdB4IJOsCitPDFVCQnpT4NmIPc2H8HB88Csta7sp7sQ1vQXAiiU/s320/oilblog3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5470418966500176210" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5vzFc1w1Vs4ahXFUzrnXPLeE9Ga9YJveh5GYEsntdFq7zRdGBFHxAY3mPDIW4OufEzqhuZtbHakp-n1iQ0Ybh0X7E0iTCTp4NF0Q1jUmP4dgnLhUDLur6UtR67uOvsicSZGly4nhVvQI/s1600/oilblog4.jpg"><img style="display: block; 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margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 292px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR1ovaZ6pBnK8VPLDHujWreVx2BHq0CSRq4L63Koxr64WPgsX2lCR4ANGrUXIvESuBrQsMMALXxm1IjW4SzzAyFi56Egezn1826wkgHrXvnsBzVOx3tkPMWRBtFNIk2SMu_-UvxSM6zwY/s320/oilblog12.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5470418376776242642" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggYTPrrux5bbuf_FQbHo5AUYj3TYi67sLIK1f26Oz3ErsxhJ5zbPhyphenhyphen0NYmzD-q3K8FX9WVxPqo9xeECHIJS4dJwJqfl-uCCkwRev65UIT67WVJ53E6th1LkGEz7CAxqJkHFB7g3NyPq40/s1600/oilblog2.jpg"><br /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzOT92VQlb1b9w8QqDCZUEtF1kOVYAtpoZIrdCjzkj8NS4eLa1I6W4lTzjie4pqrLYXc5S28Nq7lzXI24k1gnObn0g6DzMd_f34ww3DZVbRDv0iudZjlVMt-4EgpvYL_YIXRhdcCXKRKs/s1600/oilblog1.jpg"><br /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzOT92VQlb1b9w8QqDCZUEtF1kOVYAtpoZIrdCjzkj8NS4eLa1I6W4lTzjie4pqrLYXc5S28Nq7lzXI24k1gnObn0g6DzMd_f34ww3DZVbRDv0iudZjlVMt-4EgpvYL_YIXRhdcCXKRKs/s1600/oilblog1.jpg"><br /></a>Amelie Lillithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05020980478430414601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1481912699801549315.post-41723205730996374572010-05-07T09:14:00.001-07:002010-05-07T09:20:04.547-07:00Obama: Breaking One Promise at a Time<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR0CG50rv4ByeU5FHVYUfFM_VUE7HwYLpzN5WLbYCSANFt2V8tUkQsS4vE-SeRGo3Y8nnlXqedPYphtHHbWig0oKHIuRo1y-VwPgLlaJD0HnKcMkpgUBJ0_qzll7IEFC6sMJD43_E5Ey8/s1600/CHANGEWECANTBELIEVEINANYMORE.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR0CG50rv4ByeU5FHVYUfFM_VUE7HwYLpzN5WLbYCSANFt2V8tUkQsS4vE-SeRGo3Y8nnlXqedPYphtHHbWig0oKHIuRo1y-VwPgLlaJD0HnKcMkpgUBJ0_qzll7IEFC6sMJD43_E5Ey8/s400/CHANGEWECANTBELIEVEINANYMORE.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5468563315588530018" border="0" /></a><br /><div id=":3da" class="ii gt" style="font-family:georgia;"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">We have all heard the mantra "save the whales", seen the grotesque images that are the results of whaling, and cheered on the fictional "Willy" as he was saved from whalers time and time again in the sequels to Free Willy…I have never met a person that has actually been FOR whaling. I think there are really not many people that are.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">Obama said in 2008, when campaigning on a GreenPeace Candidate Questionaire:<br /></span></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">As president, I will ensure that the U.S. provides leadership in enforcing international wildlife protection agreements, including strengthening the international moratorium on commercial whaling. Allowing Japan to continue commercial whaling is unacceptable.”</span></p><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">— Barack Obama, March 16, 2008 </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">Here is an excerpt from GreenPeace's response flier that explains the issue with whaling and Obama (the flier can be found here <a href="http://us.greenpeace.org/site/DocServer/Photos_to_Save_the_Whales_Toolkit.pdf?docID=521" target="_blank">http://us.greenpeace.org/site/<wbr>DocServer/Photos_to_Save_the_<wbr>Whales_Toolkit.pdf?docID=521</a>) </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">"<span style="font-size:10pt;">Back in 1975, Greenpeace launched the world’s first-ever Save the Whales campaign. The images we brought back from our maiden anti-whaling voyage sparked an international outcry and moved a generation of environmentalists into action. Eventually, after a decade of intense activism, the International Whaling Commission (IWC) agreed to ban commercial whaling. That was 1986 and it was one of our greatest moments as an organization— it was also one of the greatest moments for activists like you.</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:14pt;">We could lose it all this June.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:10pt;">In an altogether shocking move, President Obama’s delegation to the IWC has decided to back a plan that would legitimize commercial whaling for the first time since the ban was passed over 20 years ago. We simply can’t let that happen. President Obama needs to hear from Americans everywhere that we oppose this bad deal and demand that he lives up to his campaign promise to work to end all commercial whaling.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:10pt;">That’s why we’re asking everyone who cares about whales to take action and send a message to the President that supporting any deal that would legitimize commercial whaling is, as he himself said, 'unacceptable.'”</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:10pt;">So, wait, you are probably thinking I must be kidding. Someone FOR whaling? That's unheard of…well no, I'm not kidding and GreenPeace isn't crazy. Here's another article on it. </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:10pt;">Here is a statement from Edward Dorson (</span>Edward Dorson is Director of Conservation Strategies for the Shark Research Institute) taken from the Huffington Post article here: <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/carol-muskedukes/a-sea-of-deceit-and-capit_b_551858.html" target="_blank">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/<wbr>carol-muskedukes/a-sea-of-<wbr>deceit-and-capit_b_551858.html</a><span></span></span> Bold has been added by me.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:10pt;"> </span></span></p> <p style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><strong>A Sea of Deceit and Capitulation</strong><br />by Edward Dorson<br />April 25, 2010</span></p> <p style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:100%;">The trajectory of the International Whaling Commission (IWC), meeting in Morocco this June, is on a disastrous course for the world's whales. A new proposal to resume commercial whaling will be presented at the IWC summit. Simply put, it's an awful deal. In order to foresee the fate of the whales with this proposal on the table, look no further than how all the marine species fared at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) last month, where each and every proposed aquatic species was denied protection. This was a Japanese orchestrated "victory," and the same bullying, vote swapping and "influencing" that Japan deployed at CITES to prevent marine protection is also entrenched to dictate the fate of the whales at the IWC.</span></p> <p style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">The IWC proposal would actually reward the whaling abuses of Japan, Norway, and Iceland. This "compromise" deal allows whaling countries to continue killing for at least the next 10 years, with an unachievable requirement for reduced kill quotas. </span>It offers no true enforcement, it can't hold the whalers to any promises, and it obviously undoes all conservation measures made since the 1986 declaration of a whaling moratorium. Furthermore, it would legitimize Japan's slaughter in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary and promote a Japanese generated ploy wherein "Indigenous" whaling would apply to Japan's coastal whalers, allowing more killing of whales in the North Pacific. </span></p> <p style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Japan has unfailingly undermined every marine regulatory convention that may affect its ability to plunder the world's oceans -- systematically rolling back years of international conventions and marine protections. Removing the moratorium on commercial whaling would also remove the most recognizable boundary to Japan's hubris and greed, and would assist in the unrestrained taking of the less "cuddly" species such as the highly lucrative tunas and other fish species.</span></p> <p style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Japan wants a resumption of commercial whaling to divert the focus away from its unsustainable pillage of the seas. Whales are highly sentient beings, and, despite what Japan projects, they aren't universally perceived as a "product." From elaborate scientific study to casual observation, they've proven to be extremely social, communicative, highly intelligent, and able to feel intense emotion and pain. Japan realizes that if the killing of such iconic species is sanctioned, the remainder of what's left of aquatic life will be theirs for the taking.</span></p> <p style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:100%;">A recent document by Professor Shohei Yonemoto, titled "<a href="http://www.asahi.com/english/TKY201001220363.html" target="_blank">Useless Research Whaling Should Be Abolished</a>," gives his pragmatic perspective on Japan's ambitions of dominance of the dwindling life in the oceans. He speaks of trading off "research" whaling only to go unhampered in the whaling closer to Japan. In the last two paragraphs, Dr. Yonemoto reveals Japan's ultimate objective in relentlessly exploiting the more valuable tunas, sharks and other fish:</span></p> <p style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:100%;">"It is said that eating whales is Japan's traditional culture. But this is a myth that was started through a PR company during the mid-1970s. Actually, whale meat does not sell well and there is surplus stock. If Japan proposes to the IWC to allow it to engage in coastal whaling in exchange for giving up research whaling, I expect the long-standing opposition to be immediately settled.<br /></span> </p> <p style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Currently, there is a growing trend for strengthening control over marine resources such as tuna on a global scale. Also in order not to raise questions over Japan's scientific data in international forums to discuss regulations on fishing of tuna and other fish, Japan should abolish research whaling as a government project."</span></p> <p style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Japan now has a formidable ally in its quest to lift the ban on commercial whaling: President Barack Obama. In the March intersessional IWC meeting, the Obama Administration was the chief proponent in advancing the plan to resume commercial whaling and is currently urging other nations to follow. This is clearly based on geopolitical maneuvering and Japan's leverage with our debt obligation; devoid of scientific or ethical consideration.</span></p> <p style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:100%;">The U.S. position is a drastic departure from then-Senator Obama's campaign promise made on March 16, 2008, when he stated: "As president, I will ensure that the U.S. provides leadership in enforcing international wildlife protection agreements, including strengthening the international moratorium on commercial whaling. Allowing Japan to continue commercial whaling is unacceptable."</span></p> <p style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:100%;">As the current proposal is written, pro-whaling countries will directly benefit with a return to what was described by the president as "unacceptable" commercial whaling. Nearly 25 years of conservation efforts may be swept aside if former staunch allies of the whales, the U.S. and other nations following our lead, capitulate to Japan as they have indicated. </span></p> <p style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:100%;">The president's unfulfilled pledge to "ensure that the US provides leadership in enforcing international wildlife protection agreements" could be achieved by compelling Japan to honor all the agreements it has broken with impunity. Japan has violated the Law of the Sea Convention, the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling, the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, the Convention on Biological Diversity, and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).</span></p> <p style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:100%;">If the president truly wanted to see these agreements upheld, he could seek redress from the rogue whaling nations by using the sanctioning powers available under the Pelly Amendment against Japan, Norway, and Iceland until they stop whaling completely.</span></p> <p style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:100%;">The president should be urged to be true to his word and protect the whales -- and not to insure their demise. Over 75% of Americans oppose the barbaric practice of whaling, and the U.S. government should mirror their demands. In order to fulfill his promise of "strengthening the international moratorium on commercial whaling," President Obama should be lending his full support towards the rapid passage of the International Whale Conservation and Protection Act of 2010, sponsored by Senator John Kerry.</span></p> <p style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Of critical importance: there's absolutely no method to kill a whale "humanely." An explosive harpoon is shot into them, they're then electrocuted through an attached cable, repeatedly shot by high caliber rifles, and drowned by being dragged through the water. Even with this torture, which wouldn't be tolerated in the most hellish slaughterhouse, it's not unusual for a whale to take over an hour to finally die. With a fiendish abuse of language, this atrocity has been labeled by pro-whaling states as "harvest" or "culling," and any dissent is dismissed as "emotional."</span></p> <p style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:100%;">It's high time to make all whale species off-limits to slaughter and to acknowledge them as unique beings that are fully deserving of inherent rights. It's now been empirically shown that the cetaceans (whales and dolphins) possess such a high order of sentience that they can't rationally be designated as some "product" to be butchered, bartered, or compromised. </span></p> <p style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:100%;">If mankind is going to continue in benefiting from the gifts that the ocean offers, we must recognize that no nation or cartel of nations should be allowed to dominate the seas and deplete its bounty at the expense of the future. Experience and knowledge are there to reveal the boundaries of not only sustainability, but of sentience and sanity as well. We must now realize that this threshold has been breached by Japan with its continuing assault upon the world's whales and its accompanying lust to eliminate what's left of the oceans. This must be stopped, not revived.</span></p> </div>Amelie Lillithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05020980478430414601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1481912699801549315.post-65132885345987404622010-04-29T06:18:00.000-07:002010-04-29T06:46:35.395-07:00It's Time to Connect the (Oily) Dots<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigbHPS_M_Vqisy-9COFbwoDvjDwcfVv8G3JSzgPzHQMhXcnYVyGXuVUb6Rc3o7wwRFnwfDeoRcyx6clqs-EPMyItlVfY0cJ_mlQ25I2ehaYJ7QBuLAZxSebOQEh6XWuRuohmtipJr3ZUY/s1600/oilleak1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigbHPS_M_Vqisy-9COFbwoDvjDwcfVv8G3JSzgPzHQMhXcnYVyGXuVUb6Rc3o7wwRFnwfDeoRcyx6clqs-EPMyItlVfY0cJ_mlQ25I2ehaYJ7QBuLAZxSebOQEh6XWuRuohmtipJr3ZUY/s400/oilleak1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5465548616208043906" border="0" /></a><br /><p class="MsoNormal">A huge oil rig off Loisiana explodes and sinks causing a gigantic (and growing) oil leak. Wasn't it just a month <span> </span>ago that Obama talked about opening up more locations for off shore drilling (<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/31/science/earth/31energy.html" target="_blank">http://www.nytimes.com/2010/<wbr>03/31/science/earth/31energy.<wbr></a><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/31/science/earth/31energy.html" target="_blank">html</a>)? This went in direct opposition of what he said in 2008: "When I’m president, I intend to keep in place the moratorium here in Florida and around the country that prevents oil companies from drilling off Florida’s coasts. That’s how we can protect our coastline and still make the investments that will reduce our dependence on foreign oil and bring down gas prices for good.”</p><p class="MsoNormal">Well, any sort of illusion that the Obama administration in conjunction with big oil (because let's face it, everyone KNOWS by now that big oil has their fingers deep into the governmental body of America) wanted to pull over Americans' eyes isn't going to be very easy now. Offshore drilling is not only barely regulated, unsafe for workers, and contributing to global warming, it is also HORRIBLY UNSAFE for the environment as a whole. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">So, let's connect the dots and see the disastrous effects of off shore drilling once and for all…</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Here are some pictures to illustrate the outcomes of an industry not regulated nearly enough…<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibX_yXqHW6_rIub-Z4-i2VVub8Ou1I1CnYtjVDhmuBiEcQjQkCu_JyORKNDtFn3f82iaa94qb4OPWm1nBmLyHfk6gQxGleKV-LOADUaWgcg4FM3F7_DlLn1P-kFAzxjd5NKI9g20ovFPs/s1600/oilleak4AP.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 245px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibX_yXqHW6_rIub-Z4-i2VVub8Ou1I1CnYtjVDhmuBiEcQjQkCu_JyORKNDtFn3f82iaa94qb4OPWm1nBmLyHfk6gQxGleKV-LOADUaWgcg4FM3F7_DlLn1P-kFAzxjd5NKI9g20ovFPs/s400/oilleak4AP.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5465549182712628018" border="0" /></a></p><span style="font-size:78%;">In this aerial photo (above) taken in the Gulf of Mexico off Louisiana's tip, oil is seen near the site last week's collapse and spill of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig Wednesday, April 28, 2010. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)</span><p class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHj4MfRolaVNVVrPSoqxM3HS9a2jJS4QXLmW7VBYwNZk_gGqVP6MFpWr1Xvc4bB8fLj6WUGSCZpNfjhBVWdgyhJBhXZKwxtj8s-fvSSuzkknOefFVnruwbfxRUoN0iUU3aF4Em-10hlCU/s1600/oilleak4.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 265px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHj4MfRolaVNVVrPSoqxM3HS9a2jJS4QXLmW7VBYwNZk_gGqVP6MFpWr1Xvc4bB8fLj6WUGSCZpNfjhBVWdgyhJBhXZKwxtj8s-fvSSuzkknOefFVnruwbfxRUoN0iUU3aF4Em-10hlCU/s400/oilleak4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5465548927307961362" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHLuEfvbMgnp_ZCkCZ_2rykl-clumwDW0Zf05eZAp8VbVLrjbLNOgVULDD97U0kqEme539WesfNqoqMjvMfKdBDQjXqtgBHeDdsv-MF5iB_aaaesHxyOe3IzuetbVogDcicPjSsqcXCyc/s1600/oilleak6.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHLuEfvbMgnp_ZCkCZ_2rykl-clumwDW0Zf05eZAp8VbVLrjbLNOgVULDD97U0kqEme539WesfNqoqMjvMfKdBDQjXqtgBHeDdsv-MF5iB_aaaesHxyOe3IzuetbVogDcicPjSsqcXCyc/s400/oilleak6.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5465555366216595170" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnMWwu7TBo3A1HMchCzTK00OE_K_U_YqTnqw8YmpCNS_BydV5TbtJwiMhAPG4PdTSUjgwB7AJtGEzarQndgB9j5x3zzfDPgalqrmYlm0ta8O80o3k_1SEbMWfbFTU-BBTeEWMAbXgBBDM/s1600/oilleak5.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 167px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnMWwu7TBo3A1HMchCzTK00OE_K_U_YqTnqw8YmpCNS_BydV5TbtJwiMhAPG4PdTSUjgwB7AJtGEzarQndgB9j5x3zzfDPgalqrmYlm0ta8O80o3k_1SEbMWfbFTU-BBTeEWMAbXgBBDM/s400/oilleak5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5465549814863805842" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsmXJr5klrwjeBMGJ1Ldc1DPkT0qxipr1E0ehhcrpf0sj1QUkmYBH5GGQZL_yQ5TsPEG4YPZfNIV1N4NNzfJ4127bap6dNOjaY9P6fD3RuwYA1IW06q6pq4mwuZlQxPr6_6P-AOxceCkQ/s1600/oilleak3.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 370px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsmXJr5klrwjeBMGJ1Ldc1DPkT0qxipr1E0ehhcrpf0sj1QUkmYBH5GGQZL_yQ5TsPEG4YPZfNIV1N4NNzfJ4127bap6dNOjaY9P6fD3RuwYA1IW06q6pq4mwuZlQxPr6_6P-AOxceCkQ/s400/oilleak3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5465548822121036354" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi44sPcid53kNCMp8VRBdh_GmDMU4WGJ7ezy7F4J9qjNPNJdsVlqk7mi3cTzdO0f_H1XjI731GU9O66N0rWRY6qDg2jLAizRKLdUQKfZ8sm0suUctsTHK6H4Ep1TyY-286ShY8-IcDKDW0/s1600/oilleak2.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 250px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi44sPcid53kNCMp8VRBdh_GmDMU4WGJ7ezy7F4J9qjNPNJdsVlqk7mi3cTzdO0f_H1XjI731GU9O66N0rWRY6qDg2jLAizRKLdUQKfZ8sm0suUctsTHK6H4Ep1TyY-286ShY8-IcDKDW0/s400/oilleak2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5465548715384834594" border="0" /></a></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/slideshow/ALeqM5g5gnWbqZ9SqBHvSYqJeE2AT5KebwD9FCN2100?index=2" target="_blank"><br /></a></p> <p class="MsoNormal">One thing that mainstream media is doing is saying that this could result in a "possible environmental disaster" if the oil reaches shore. They fail to realize that the ocean is itself an ecosystem and that all of this oil is killing living creatures RIGHT NOW. They should be saying that the oil leak could cause "possible economic disaster"; these are two different and sometimes linked issues. A large portion of the ocean environment is going to be destroyed regardless of what happens in the coming days. Whether or not 'viable fishing industries' will be hurt is yet to be determined. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">So make your voice heard. Talk about this issue and let's DEMAND that offshore drilling no longer happens and that opening NEW SITES for it is NOT the answer. Obama has shown Americans that he cannot be trusted at his word on the oil issue and it is incredibly obvious where his interests lie (with oil giants) and where they don't (with the environment and people of the world). </p>Amelie Lillithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05020980478430414601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1481912699801549315.post-50927323418329399522010-04-25T19:45:00.000-07:002010-04-25T20:25:16.066-07:00Be the Green Fire<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWzhuhTyP53AIOhsNDVwpRKQKDbvD2nXJmHeUT3tZFLZ6mQsV6t5nxFNXuT9dn-dXiiMk5MmyZt-ENuOdGc4cHiuMLhLK4ebL8H7Fjyj6OMlEsve95icI7i0omWtfYD5_w4TlCCMRp5B8/s1600/socialismblogimage1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 281px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWzhuhTyP53AIOhsNDVwpRKQKDbvD2nXJmHeUT3tZFLZ6mQsV6t5nxFNXuT9dn-dXiiMk5MmyZt-ENuOdGc4cHiuMLhLK4ebL8H7Fjyj6OMlEsve95icI7i0omWtfYD5_w4TlCCMRp5B8/s320/socialismblogimage1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5464279984775079202" border="0" /></a><p class="MsoNormal">Alliances have changed the course of history, they have both won and lost battles of the political and the personal. Alliances are key to every victory, and this is no different when it comes to the battle to save the planet. The environment is being destroyed by the current way the planet is run and the people who run it. Saving the ecosystems of this planet can only be done if the current system of power falls. As long as nature is seen in terms of profit and resources it can never be preserved. The capitalist pocketbook is too intricately tied to the system that controls all things, nature included.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">So, what am I saying? A radical environmentalist, often referring to herself in the anti-civilization group talking about alliances? I speak of other radicals, with minds much the same as those who cherish the environment. People who care not only for the social aspects of things (workers’ rights, LGBT rights, women’s rights etc.) but also for the natural world. Their causes are causes that most, if not all, environmentalists I have met agree with. Our cause is one that most, if not all of this group I have ever met, agree with as well. The end goal for the environmentalist? A sustainable way of living upon this planet that preserves as much life as possible in both the human and non-human fronts. The end goal of the other group of which I speak is a way of life that could, and should result in attaining the goal of the environmentalists as well. The goals are intricately intertwined and thus, so should our movements be.<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">What is this other movement I speak of? Socialism. Two months ago I knew what socialism was, but not in an active way. I didn't know much about the modern socialist movement or what their views relating to a modern world were. My beliefs and actions crossed paths with socialists, their movements, and members on occasion but for whatever reason I never delved into a conversation with someone who considered themselves a socialist. That all changed a month or so ago when I bumped into an old friend that through conversation has opened my eyes to not only socialism as a modern practice and future goal for government but has forced me to look at my environmental beliefs through a new lens. On Earth Day I went to a panel hosted by ISO (International Socialist Organization) on the college campus in the city where I live.<br /></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"> </p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">That panel resulted in me realizing that the goals of the environmental and socialist movements are quite similar in practice. Numbers are a problem for both movements and the more people involved in either helps the cause. Below I give you excerpts from both socialist-leaning literature and environmental literature. These excerpts help to not only inspire action but also to show the similarities between movements. They help to alleviate the fear that I held (and feel many environmentalists hold) about the lack of ecological focus in the Socialist movement. </p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"> </p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">First are three excerpts from books that lean toward the Socialist Perspective:</p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"> </p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Excerpt from: </span><i style="font-weight: bold;">The Enemy of Nature, The End of Capitalism or The E</i><i style="font-weight: bold;">nd of the World?</i><span style="font-weight: bold;"> By Joel Kovel</span>:</p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">“Ecological thinking concerns relationships, and the structures and flows between them. At one level, this is mere common sense; at another, it turns the world upside down and commits us to a world-view and philosophy of nature very much at odds with the dominant system. Nature as such vastly exceeds the phenomena of life, yet life may be justly regarded as being at the same time both a special case of nature, and, in a way we only dimly perceive, as a potential of nature—something that nature generates under specific circumstances. Life is unitary, in the sense that the basic molecular architectures of humans, redwoods and slime moulds all indicate a common ancestor. Yet life is also inconceivably—to our dim awareness—multiform, in a profusion that has arisen over 3.5 billion years through ceaseless interactions between living creatures, and with their non-living surround. It follows that all ecosystems that contain living beings also relate to the rest of nature, whether this be other creatures, the immediate surround of molecular, atomic or sub-atomic realms, or the extension of nature into the cosmos.” (91)</p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"> </p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-weight: bold;"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Here, an excerpt from John Bellamy Foster’s </span><i style="font-weight: bold;">The Ecological Revolution</i>: “It is a sign of the growing influence of environmental issues that in recent years numerous thinkers, from Plato to Gandhi, have had their work reevaluated in relation to ecological analysis. Yet, it is in relation to Marx’s work that the largest and most controversial body of literature can be found, far overshadowing the debate over all other thinkers. This literature (insofar as it takes environmental issues seriously) has fallen into four camps: (1) those who contend that Marx’s thought was anti-ecological from beginning to end and indistinguishable from Soviet practice; (2) those who claim that Marx provided illuminating insights into ecology but ultimately succumbed to “Prometheanism” (pro-technological, anti-ecological views)—a corollary being that he believed that environmental problems should be eliminated as a result of the “abundance” that would characterize postcapitalist society; (3) those who argue that Marx provided an analysis of ecological degradation within agriculture, which remained, however, segregated off from his core social analysis; and (4) those who insist that Marx developed a systematic approach to nature and to environmental degradation (particularly in relation to the fertility of the soil) that was intricately bound to the rest of his thought and raised the question of ecological sustainability.” (167)</p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"> </p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Another excerpt from Foster’s book</span>: “The goal of ecological revolution, as I shall present it here, has as its initial premise that we are in the midst of a global environmental crisis of such enormity that the web of life of the entire planet is threatened and with it the future of civilization. This is no longer a very controversial proposition. To be sure, there are different perceptions about the extent of the challenge that this raises. At one extreme, there are those who believe that since these are human problems arising from human causes they are easily solvable. All we need is ingenuity and the will to act. At the other extreme, there are those who believe that the world ecology is deteriorating on a scale and with a rapidity beyond our means to control, giving rise to the gloomiest of forebodings. Although often seen as polar opposites, these views nonetheless share a common basis. As Paul Sweezy observed, they each reflect ‘the belief that if present trends continue to operate, it is only a matter of time until the human species irredeemably fouls its own nest.’” (253)</p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"> </p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">As you can see from the above examples not only is the environment something that is thought of quite extensively by those that are a part of the socialist movement (and people that are against capitalism in general), but the end views are really not that different from those who consider themselves environmentalists. See the excerpts below for environmentalist perspectives.</p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"> </p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">An excerpt from Derrick Jensen and George Draffan’s book </span><i style="font-weight: bold;">Strangely Like War</i>: “Nineteen ninety-five was the year I finally understood how the U.S. political system works, and at the same time realized how irredeemable are that system and the culture at large. That was also the year many indigenous friends said to me, ‘What took you so long to figure that out?’ They’d had plenty of experience opposing this system—five hundred and some years of resistance to this culture and its environmental and cultural degradation—and had long since apprehended the truth in Red Cloud’s words: ‘They made us many promises, more than I can remember. But they never kept but one. They promised to take our land and they took it.’…But as is always the case when attempting to stop our culture from destroying some part of wild nature, all losses are permanent, and all factories temporary. Winning a timber-sale appeal doesn’t mean stopping a timber sale. It doesn’t mean protecting a piece of ground. It means protecting a piece of ground for the year or two it takes the Forest Service to write up another EA, this time trying harder to bamboozle us. The score today is less than 5 percent of the ancient forest in the United States remains.”</p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"> </p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Here is part of an interview between Derrick Jensen and Dave Foreman (“For more than twenty years Dave Foreman has been at the forefront of the conservation movement, working where political activism intersects with ecological philosophy. In the 1970s, believing that the best way to preserve wilderness was to work within the system, he became the Southwest regional representative of The Wilderness Society. In 1980, disillusioned by the inability of mainstream conservation organizations to halt the destructive forces within our culture, he confounded Earth First! The goal of Earth First! Was to help develop a biocentric worldview and to translate that philosophy into action by fighting with uncompromising passion for the earth”) that appears in the book </span><i style="font-weight: bold;">Listening to the Land </i><span style="font-weight: bold;">By: Derrick Jensen. </span>“Derrick Jensen: What will it take for us to survive? Dave Foreman: Courage. In my speeches I talk about what Aldo Leopold called green fire. When Aldo Leopold was young he used to shoot any Wolf he saw, and years later, in <i>A Sand County Almanac, </i>he wrote how the death of one of those Wolves changed his life. He said, ‘We reached the old wolf in time to watch a fierce green fire dying in her eyes. I realized then, and have known ever since, that there was something new to me in those eyes—something known only to her and to the mountain. I was young then, and full of trigger-itch; I thought that because fewer wolves meant more deer, that no wolves would mean hunters’ paradise. But after seeing that green fire die, I sensed that neither the wolf nor the mountain agreed with such a view.’ We need that green fire in our eyes. Somehow we’ve got to remember how to think like a mountain, and somehow to speak for the Wolf. Each of us is an animal, and a child of this earth. Each of us has responsibility to all other animals and plants and to the process of evolution that created us. All of us alive now are members of the most important generation of human beings who have ever lived, because we’re determining the future, not just for a hundred years, but for a billion years.<span> </span>When we cut a huge limb off the tree of natural diversity, we’re forever halting the evolutionary potential of that branch of life. That’s what it fundamentally comes down to. Nobody has ever lived who is more important.”<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJZqTXEfeTUlzivtfoMbls156GD0cL5Vy8SPW-u8FQkhXQO9Pm9LgpyQ8LHrCl10k89a3V3lK1WDF8fxHoXEgAqc124ihidnxrdBoo2qliEdq2x6Yrt_GN9Kbn-QuTYjp4unj1fkumWbQ/s1600/socialismblogimage2.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 285px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJZqTXEfeTUlzivtfoMbls156GD0cL5Vy8SPW-u8FQkhXQO9Pm9LgpyQ8LHrCl10k89a3V3lK1WDF8fxHoXEgAqc124ihidnxrdBoo2qliEdq2x6Yrt_GN9Kbn-QuTYjp4unj1fkumWbQ/s320/socialismblogimage2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5464280284283562626" border="0" /></a></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"> </p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">So, what’s my point? Don’t write off people because they don’t identify themselves in the same ‘ism’ as you do. Socialism, anarchism, environmentalism…the list goes on and on. Many of these movements have similar goals that include bringing down the destructive and dominant system that is killing personal integrity, freedom, the environment, and many other things. Where would the harm be in aligning ourselves with groups that have similar goals and an overall care for life (be it human animals, plants, or other life forms)? Agreeing on every topic is hardly the point. Hasn’t conserving the environment always been the goal? I’ve heard so many environmentalists say “by whatever means necessary”. Well, here is a means. Here, in the socialists is a group of caring individuals with goals that intertwine in many instances with those of the environmental movement. Why not join ranks, work together, share knowledge and ideas…and bring this fucked up system down once and for all?<br /></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"> </p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">Let’s find the green fire that Aldo Leopold spoke of. Let’s be the fire. Revolution is near; the line in the sand is drawn. Capitalism, destructors of the environment, and violators of all things natural and good on one side, we on the other. Let’s grasp hands with our brothers and sisters and fight together. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR6cqtcjPg_Dj4OMgTemta8pD0EjBX1R9Jm0GVxg2GZzMYYDXizf_3DlrJtUz_q-o320yqexkkrZ8Vp9XpsTYaBNIavJB567HNg3u6NBA3APkZxjbY8clupM8k6bUe6wIiWLUUG0jOW-E/s1600/socialistblogimage3.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 210px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR6cqtcjPg_Dj4OMgTemta8pD0EjBX1R9Jm0GVxg2GZzMYYDXizf_3DlrJtUz_q-o320yqexkkrZ8Vp9XpsTYaBNIavJB567HNg3u6NBA3APkZxjbY8clupM8k6bUe6wIiWLUUG0jOW-E/s320/socialistblogimage3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5464280530084696082" border="0" /></a></p>Amelie Lillithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05020980478430414601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1481912699801549315.post-1765739408677695992010-04-14T20:57:00.000-07:002010-04-27T05:29:02.568-07:00My Second Up North Adventure, Day 3 of 3<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ46SYEQ6vIobj6uJp1QjxeVGSKv7N1fkW01uZYiislVuGyfLwOiw3glHXesBhvOFk6-pbHoA0jpdK0fJYBUEaLLZxfr9whmUzMN-O5uLn6VYX8DuP92DPEFfuvgxCUAQLYDqWgS-gBLA/s1600/blog3.a.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 326px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ46SYEQ6vIobj6uJp1QjxeVGSKv7N1fkW01uZYiislVuGyfLwOiw3glHXesBhvOFk6-pbHoA0jpdK0fJYBUEaLLZxfr9whmUzMN-O5uLn6VYX8DuP92DPEFfuvgxCUAQLYDqWgS-gBLA/s400/blog3.a.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5460209273054481778" border="0" /></a><br />I’ve only been here two and a half days but it feels like I’ve already lost myself—no, that phrasing is almost entirely wrong—perhaps I have already FOUND myself again. Me—the person who laughs as the quirky chipmunk outside cleans off his tail after stepping through some unsightly matter or another—me—that strains my ears for the haunting call of the loon. Me, who sprints from the house with my binoculars as dusk sets in hard because I see water birds of some sort far out on the bay. Me that spends hours staring intently at deer tracks wondering how old they are…me that is disgusted with myself for loving this place, this land, so much—yet only spending (at most) three weeks a year here. I feel like my soul knows this place but my mind does not—and I’m disgusted with that fact.<p class="MsoNormal">I have to leave today in order to be at my childhood home tomorrow for Easter—a holiday I don’t believe in but a family that I do. A family that doesn’t question me when I head to this house up north alone…a family that may silently worry about my perpetual loner status but does not say a word (well, they don’t say MANY words. There are of course the occasional hookup attempts by my mother and the mentions of future nieces and nephews by my father). They put up with me, and sure they only selectively listen when I go on spiels about the environment, but at least they listen at all. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifkfdJlMfN7qZP8-P3n71ojx4IwQX_EdWKxi-Hr8ZVmMRgwXPhAG2SDRK2MsGzGk3lGiOxQ-4e9R1KbhRys_-FULEsBUUsogW1s9PekqxAAYRWN5nopyfHKEYEiXApXmuBfPPwa5mV2vA/s1600/blog3.b.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 268px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifkfdJlMfN7qZP8-P3n71ojx4IwQX_EdWKxi-Hr8ZVmMRgwXPhAG2SDRK2MsGzGk3lGiOxQ-4e9R1KbhRys_-FULEsBUUsogW1s9PekqxAAYRWN5nopyfHKEYEiXApXmuBfPPwa5mV2vA/s320/blog3.b.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5460209360897361682" border="0" /></a></p> <p class="MsoNormal">I hate the city for all of the obvious reasons and love this place for all of the obvious reasons as well, but there’s more to it than that (as is always the case with love and hate). I have many great friends in the city, but none of them truly grasp my beliefs (and, well, the facts) about the environment and civilization. SOME will humor me and half listen as I explain my passions, but most won’t even do that.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Here in the woods with no human companionship I find many who agree and understand. Here, be it the chipmunk , the merganser, the birch or the eagle, they all not only understand, but agree. Here the wind wraps me in hugs of understanding. Here my muse is not smothered beneath concrete and light pollution.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">I don’t want to go “home” when I know deep down that I am actually leaving it. </p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc-oLsqJKNreDHEAIzwQa6-D_jP57uDY0eR0xYj2E5wGsZhpL2znpmQfyhZVQwspLjKsRDS5EG5pXTJroP_ASD7oWdSHF7JHpSwZXORdEcmHwzBl50naaGnQSHrC37bPpzMwIDa3LYhyphenhyphenk/s1600/blog3.c.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 248px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc-oLsqJKNreDHEAIzwQa6-D_jP57uDY0eR0xYj2E5wGsZhpL2znpmQfyhZVQwspLjKsRDS5EG5pXTJroP_ASD7oWdSHF7JHpSwZXORdEcmHwzBl50naaGnQSHrC37bPpzMwIDa3LYhyphenhyphenk/s320/blog3.c.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5460210222691882002" border="0" /></a><p class="MsoNormal">I took all of the pictures in this post and added frames using Adobe InDesign.<br /></p>Amelie Lillithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05020980478430414601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1481912699801549315.post-46038371713923026772010-04-09T18:09:00.000-07:002010-04-27T05:24:44.113-07:00My Second Up North Adventure, Day 2 of 3<span style="font-weight: bold;">Second day…morning.</span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju_OXLPw32iTemtjWuGr25-_ToKvXdEjrRGb0pBxZiLDyfoyv-BZd_tWSs9q6XRlk0xkFw94wJhlKHoq3LzW2Gu8c9Te7ptzGBgEE2GBoLW7ygtmKTvAeaatoZ_crYzEctlW6qI039wYw/s1600/blog2image1.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 306px; height: 211px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju_OXLPw32iTemtjWuGr25-_ToKvXdEjrRGb0pBxZiLDyfoyv-BZd_tWSs9q6XRlk0xkFw94wJhlKHoq3LzW2Gu8c9Te7ptzGBgEE2GBoLW7ygtmKTvAeaatoZ_crYzEctlW6qI039wYw/s320/blog2image1.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458310913062414274" border="0" /></a><div id=":3z5" class="ii gt"> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">You’d think that small rodents in the forest (squirrels, chipmonks, etc.) would be stealthy to avoid predation, but perhaps in these times they lack predation. (Not perhaps, I guess, they DO lack predation). I can hear them jumping around in last fall’s dried leaves from quite a distance.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">People always muse “why didn’t you just stay there?” when talking to a friend about a vacation they took to one paradise or another—I’ve wondered that myself—even planned (preliminarily) to move to some of those places. Well, today I got to thinking—I’m IN one of those places now—Northern Wisconsin, land of more than ten thousand lakes (take THAT Minnesota).</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Why is it that people are obviously aware that the places they live in are not “paradises” but instead of trying to make them back into the beautiful places they once were they travel to other places, not yet entirely destroyed?</p> <p class="MsoNormal">-----</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Sound travels like magic on a northern lake. I hear a common merganser (not common at all on this lake) calling—in a lonely way from a point I can barely make out with binoculars. Perhaps he or she landed on the wrong lake, and cannot find the mate they assumed would be waiting. Perhaps it’s the right lake and they were separated and the other will not make it this year, or ever again.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLlcMNksVXM2d-3Fyn704ObhUOqsakGX2vEGs0ewqtT-LVDFQwwpVURfuX6F_QElVCrMEuRwM0hkmJ8kfGtx6yUsmmJC6AvEAFIGCjiIkUPHlBOnF3EzVTpUxNZSCvfcXD4n3WvvqdlcE/s1600/blog2image2.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 248px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLlcMNksVXM2d-3Fyn704ObhUOqsakGX2vEGs0ewqtT-LVDFQwwpVURfuX6F_QElVCrMEuRwM0hkmJ8kfGtx6yUsmmJC6AvEAFIGCjiIkUPHlBOnF3EzVTpUxNZSCvfcXD4n3WvvqdlcE/s320/blog2image2.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458311052534048178" border="0" /></a></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">This is definitely not a bad way to spend a morning—I am sitting a foot away from the lake watching wood ducks and what has now become a pair of common mergansers (no more lonely calls!) I have a water bottle, binoculars, notebook, camera, and two books (Rewild or Die By: Urban Scout and Behind the Dolphin Smile By: Richard O’Barry). The sun is shining warm on me in a tshirt in Northern Wisconsin on April 2<sup>nd</sup>. Global warming, a myth you say?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbCMHb0Z6PnhWHJnUGhCYZvo-JSQnDCRs-pHa5ivJiPPmWaIIoE4WyyYXLYaPNYudbBStatU6l6P9yJ_CkiTyHDOiOkj0j2dzvFsD8UDmGUAq6_koyjGL_oahT8ucm6x4UtOl5plme2os/s1600/blog2image3.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 395px; height: 466px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbCMHb0Z6PnhWHJnUGhCYZvo-JSQnDCRs-pHa5ivJiPPmWaIIoE4WyyYXLYaPNYudbBStatU6l6P9yJ_CkiTyHDOiOkj0j2dzvFsD8UDmGUAq6_koyjGL_oahT8ucm6x4UtOl5plme2os/s320/blog2image3.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458311321482609426" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal">All of the images are pictures I took myself and then added frames to using InDesign:)<br /></p> </div>Amelie Lillithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05020980478430414601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1481912699801549315.post-57560860532394413912010-04-06T17:28:00.000-07:002010-04-06T17:59:15.387-07:00My Second (and short) Up North Adventure, Day 1 of 3<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitw_G_-3iSjP3HFwJasZsI4aF0g_YzH8LzKNfuhiozsIt1WR_U7z1bRPer6e4NQR2mM9CPASe4IJbLk8Xs-aX6yNovcQ_T9rpCTP0iFonnVueJB8tRfZUWgm-zOa9erUyffOZs3yyhR1A/s1600/blog1.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitw_G_-3iSjP3HFwJasZsI4aF0g_YzH8LzKNfuhiozsIt1WR_U7z1bRPer6e4NQR2mM9CPASe4IJbLk8Xs-aX6yNovcQ_T9rpCTP0iFonnVueJB8tRfZUWgm-zOa9erUyffOZs3yyhR1A/s320/blog1.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5457187649479998818" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div id=":xg" class="ii gt"> <p style="font-weight: bold;" class="MsoNormal">Thursday Afternoon—I arrive in Northern Wisconsin</p> <p style="font-style: italic; text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">There’s something magical about the north woods</p><p style="font-style: italic; text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">In early spring.</p><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><p style="font-style: italic; text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">The snow has wandered slowly away</p><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><p style="font-style: italic; text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">But the buds on the trees still lack the courage</p><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><p style="font-style: italic; text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">To make an appearance.</p><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><p style="font-style: italic; text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">Wind blows through bare birch limbs mimicking</p><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><p style="font-style: italic; text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">The sound of traffic.</p><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><p style="font-style: italic; text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">Or, perhaps, reminding all that</p><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><p style="font-style: italic; text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">Will listen about the evils cars bring.</p><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><p style="font-style: italic; text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">The birds are back, singing</p><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><p style="font-style: italic; text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">To one another tales of migration’s perils.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw5dDFCRiMABiqgurKrewG68BPGkYVrbcBm4DbKRLSnADs-S2ogumTck11KLB5YFtFY8M_hEYEvNvUKXPGpHykemeVgN7TD8iJCT9RG0S8e99qinKAwQBxJsXBYjPwZkP-M4ck2qvz4hw/s1600/blog1.1.1.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw5dDFCRiMABiqgurKrewG68BPGkYVrbcBm4DbKRLSnADs-S2ogumTck11KLB5YFtFY8M_hEYEvNvUKXPGpHykemeVgN7TD8iJCT9RG0S8e99qinKAwQBxJsXBYjPwZkP-M4ck2qvz4hw/s400/blog1.1.1.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5457187959649821570" border="0" /></a></p><p style="font-style: italic; text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="font-style: italic; text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGn0gN7X-N9GqODoDTmhKl5KtpHek15wC-R7cFJYIcK7Fr8txrtuzD1tK_JD0by2IZBjJmA-DmoNVFcqRY5z4PVRA1QXqMWaOJ50C-IHOF-quTlcu7YEyL-ab5nu5_qAN_9ERMc8G0Ztk/s1600/blog.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGn0gN7X-N9GqODoDTmhKl5KtpHek15wC-R7cFJYIcK7Fr8txrtuzD1tK_JD0by2IZBjJmA-DmoNVFcqRY5z4PVRA1QXqMWaOJ50C-IHOF-quTlcu7YEyL-ab5nu5_qAN_9ERMc8G0Ztk/s400/blog.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5457187364273588754" border="0" /></a></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p style="font-weight: bold;" class="MsoNormal">Night:</p> <p class="MsoNormal">I am in Northern Wisconsin tonight (a girl can only take so much city). The amount of wildlife (namely birds) here right now is insane. I typically don’t see this many birds in a week—and I’ve seen them in a day. My hypothesis is that this is as far north as the migrating populations have gotten so far. I am no expert at recognizing birds (but I do take an interest and have a bird book next to me right now) and I’m even worse at identifying bird song—but here are the birds I have RECOGNIZED thus far. There are far more than on this list, I have been hearing bird song today like nothing I have ever heard before—</p> <ul><li>Hooded merganser</li><li>Common merganser</li><li>Mallard</li><li>Wood Duck</li><li>Robin</li><li>Blue Jay</li><li>Crow</li><li>Vulture</li><li>Mourning Dove</li></ul> <p class="MsoNormal">I so wish that I was better with bird song, that’s something I’ll have to find a way to work on when I get back home. I have heard no loons yet, but they were in Madison WI last week,and the mergansers are here—so I assume they will be back soon.<br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal">There are all sorts of impossibly small birds flitting about—smaller than sparrows. I wonder what they are called.<br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal">I was actually just standing on the deck a few minutes ago with the bird book trying to figure out what was what when a wood duck almost flew right into me. I think we were both just as startled when we realized the close call.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">This gets me wondering if this is how things used to be—did birds used to be this plentiful here year round? Are the constant bird songs I’m hearing the conversations between lasts of some species? Now I wish I had brought bird seed along to help them on their journeys.<br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal">It’s now time for coffee, a post-run shower and poetry memorization for the poetry slam on April 17 I am competing in! I am so happy for this vacation, even if it is short.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Oh! Before I go, did I mention I saw a BUTTERFLY while I was running today?!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRH7n-39boGzMnm05edngE4TyugA3mkUcuJz29CIrsr60xSTWkOPlXyJ0gX4FWryAK5vDkR850KNTLgCs-gomJw7DI5eqH_0OKZndCX8BJX7G7aj9a2idGSwFVfF_kw_k6FKikQDH0QsU/s1600/blog1.2MAIN.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRH7n-39boGzMnm05edngE4TyugA3mkUcuJz29CIrsr60xSTWkOPlXyJ0gX4FWryAK5vDkR850KNTLgCs-gomJw7DI5eqH_0OKZndCX8BJX7G7aj9a2idGSwFVfF_kw_k6FKikQDH0QsU/s320/blog1.2MAIN.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5457190158739236754" border="0" /></a></p> </div>Amelie Lillithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05020980478430414601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1481912699801549315.post-24294423653660698992010-03-31T05:18:00.001-07:002010-03-31T05:58:28.828-07:00Response from Sea World<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyTdsnIJ73_hfOpTCqcVqW8YhtASjzOmcU431bEzb65YuiJPeGoqoQ89HZvAGmP2vxOD9pUIexskJ6rnb0fheyH5W68SNRQWfVkzmNFBtANY7rYl83dKu9X0ggkVIQFUJGWXHfUvOaafI/s1600/tillikum.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 303px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyTdsnIJ73_hfOpTCqcVqW8YhtASjzOmcU431bEzb65YuiJPeGoqoQ89HZvAGmP2vxOD9pUIexskJ6rnb0fheyH5W68SNRQWfVkzmNFBtANY7rYl83dKu9X0ggkVIQFUJGWXHfUvOaafI/s400/tillikum.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5454775444861045746" border="0" /></a><br />I am sure many of you remember my post on Sea World and their enslavement of animals back in February: <a href="http://artificialproductivity.blogspot.com/2010/02/long-past-time-to-free-every-willy-open.html">http://artificialproductivity.blogspot.com/2010/02/long-past-time-to-free-every-willy-open.html</a><br /><br />Well, I sent a copy of it to Sea World. I finally got a response:<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Dear Amelie Lillith,</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br />You state your position in blunt terms, so I will not insult you by trying to change your mind. I’ll simply note that the following are irrefutable facts that demonstrate our commitment to animals.</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">SeaWorld has been caring for marine animals for 46 years. Our husbandry, veterinary and training standards are the highest in the world. There is no organization in the world today more committed to the animals in its care than SeaWorld. Nearly 13 million people each year visit a SeaWorld park and every one of those visits includes educational experiences intended to inspire a deeper respect for the natural world we share and the desire to conserve and protect all animals.</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">Our commitment to animals goes far beyond our parks. In addition to direct support of hundreds of environmental, research and conservation groups, we provide millions of dollars in cash, materiel support and human resources to the SeaWorld and Busch Gardens Conservation Fund, a registered non-profit conservation foundation.</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">No organization in the world today rescues, rehabilitates and returns to the wild more marine animals than SeaWorld. This year alone, more than 1,000 mammals, birds, fish and reptiles have been treated by our animal rescue teams and most have already been returned to the wild.</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br />Thank you, again, for your note. </span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br />Respectfully,</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"> </span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br />Rusty Harman</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br />Senior Director</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br />Customer Relations</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br />SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment</span><br /><br /><br />Okay, well let's take a look at Mr. Rusty Harman's work history to see if MAYBE he's POTENTIALLY a little slanted by his paychecks for the last 21 years....<br /><br />Care of LinkedIn:<br /><h2>Rusty Harman’s Experience</h2> <ul class="vcalendar"><li class="experience vevent vcard"> <h3 class="title"> Sr. Director </h3> <h4 class="org summary">Busch Entertainment Corporation</h4> <p class="organization-details">(Hospitality industry)</p> <p class="period"> Currently holds this position </p> </li><li class="experience vevent vcard"> <h3 class="title"> Sr.Director </h3> <h4 class="org summary"><a href="http://www.linkedin.com/companies/seaworld?trk=ppro_cprof&lnk=vw_cprofile">Sea World of Florida</a></h4> <p class="organization-details">(Public Company; Hospitality industry)</p> <p class="period"> <abbr class="dtstart" title="2002">2002</abbr> — <abbr class="dtstamp" title="2010-03-31">Present</abbr> <abbr class="duration" title="P8Y">(8 years )</abbr> </p> </li><li class="experience vevent vcard"> <h3 class="title"> Marketing for BEC </h3> <h4 class="org summary"><a href="http://www.linkedin.com/companies/anheuser-busch?trk=ppro_cprof&lnk=vw_cprofile">Anheuser-Busch</a></h4> <p class="organization-details">(Public Company; Hospitality industry)</p> <p class="period"> <abbr class="dtstart" title="1989">1989</abbr> — <abbr class="dtstamp" title="2010-03-31">Present</abbr> <abbr class="duration" title="P21Y">(21 years )</abbr> </p> </li><li class="experience vevent vcard"> <h3 class="title"> Strategic Marketing Director </h3> <h4 class="org summary"><a href="http://www.linkedin.com/companies/seaworld-orlando?trk=ppro_cprof&lnk=vw_cprofile">SeaWorld Orlando</a></h4> <p class="organization-details">(Hospitality industry)</p> <p class="period"> <abbr class="dtstart" title="2003">2003</abbr> — <abbr class="dtend" title="2007">2007</abbr> <abbr class="duration" title="P4Y">(4 years )</abbr> </p> </li><li class="experience vevent vcard"> <h3 class="title"> VP Marketing </h3> <h4 class="org summary">SeaWorld Cleveland</h4> <p class="organization-details">(Hospitality industry)</p> <p class="period"> <abbr class="dtstart" title="2000">2000</abbr> — <abbr class="dtend" title="2002">2002</abbr> <abbr class="duration" title="P2Y">(2 years )</abbr> </p> </li><li class="experience vevent vcard"> <h3 class="title"> VP Marketing </h3> <h4 class="org summary">SeaWorld Texas</h4> <p class="organization-details">(Hospitality industry)</p> <p class="period"> <abbr class="dtstart" title="2000">2000</abbr> — <abbr class="dtend" title="2002">2002</abbr> <abbr class="duration" title="P2Y">(2 years )</abbr> </p></li></ul>Amelie Lillithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05020980478430414601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1481912699801549315.post-46029397314534746002010-03-29T05:16:00.000-07:002010-03-29T05:44:37.482-07:00Microwaves: Not Intended as Flotation Devices<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS2ocLgmBwukuJAlACJwrXWBu6CDEwJ8nbP61vT1Sko_3PM0Gg7AhhcQaO1_zjvtotx8dWcH7GPLmOyrMaa493ahG3TvpQlC4HjYDALFr4diAxxabBmKco3QtcG4g8oHy6qEKuU2Ss558/s1600/Microwave101-main_Full.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 237px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS2ocLgmBwukuJAlACJwrXWBu6CDEwJ8nbP61vT1Sko_3PM0Gg7AhhcQaO1_zjvtotx8dWcH7GPLmOyrMaa493ahG3TvpQlC4HjYDALFr4diAxxabBmKco3QtcG4g8oHy6qEKuU2Ss558/s320/Microwave101-main_Full.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5454029618000729554" border="0" /></a><br /><div id=":2qe" class="ii gt"> <p class="MsoNormal">I seem to keep having the same conversation with people. It goes something like this:</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <ul><li>I complain about work.</li></ul> <ul><li>They complain about work.</li></ul> <ul><li>I say that western civilization is evil.</li></ul> <ul><li>They ignore me and say "I wish there was some other way to survive".</li></ul> <ul><li>I tell them that people used to live in a way where they could survive without paying rent, going to the grocery store, and working a wage-slave job.</li></ul> <ul><li>They look at me for a second and then say "you are saying you want to live like a Native American?"</li></ul> <ul><li>I say: "essentially yes"</li></ul> <ul><li>They look aghast and say something like: "You would give up all of the modern conveniences just to avoid a 40 hour a week job?"</li></ul> <ul><li>I nod, and say "To avoid the job, yes, and because it might actually save life on the planet if we all did it."</li></ul> <ul><li>This is when they look worried, about me. They start rambling on and on about modern conveniences, microwaves, air conditioning, etc. etc. </li></ul> <ul><li>I tend to walk away at that point.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNJXjBd-D2qgoQ_uobezDISMIjNEJjxs4P5nYtN1VcrBadAyGMRzVEoK8iHT_zgXVnxsCKjbqaF_5KGRINrfuh4f3wM_fFNt1umDFnwCyc3692dwUi_qFG-bUItFxVyR94FidIeLMVCPg/s1600/microwave.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNJXjBd-D2qgoQ_uobezDISMIjNEJjxs4P5nYtN1VcrBadAyGMRzVEoK8iHT_zgXVnxsCKjbqaF_5KGRINrfuh4f3wM_fFNt1umDFnwCyc3692dwUi_qFG-bUItFxVyR94FidIeLMVCPg/s320/microwave.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5454030034177054514" border="0" /></a></li></ul> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">People need to stop holding onto their microwaves as if they were flotation devices. It is amazing to me how worried people get when I mention getting rid of aspects of the typical American lifestyle that are neither necessary nor healthy to use. I have linked a few friends to my other blog, <a href="http://theplasticproject.blogspot.com/">The Plastics Project</a>, to show them how I am working to eliminate plastics from my daily life. When they ask why on earth I would do such a thing I mention the environmental impact as well as the horrible (and often cancerous) effects plastics can have on humans (I mention humans separately from the environment because typically the person I am talking to considers things this way). I have only had one friend that actually wants to know more about the horrible things plastics do. The rest of them told me not to tell them, that "everything causes cancer".</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Okay, let's tackle that one for a minute. "Everything causes cancer".</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Well--No. Obviously everything does not cause cancer. The fact that this statement has become cliché in Western Society should be a clue as to what the society breeds--acceptance of avoidable diseases. Everything does not cause cancer, outputs of CIVILIZATION cause cancer. <span> </span>Let me repeat that a different way: CIVILIZATION CAUSES CANCER. While living in civilization having a river-side home could result in leukemia, lymphoma, and any number of other horrible health problems. Civilization has made the simple act of eating a piece of fruit risky. "Be sure to wash your fruit with soap and water in order to get the pesticides and waxes off". Umm, why does no one worry about these things? Plants aren't waterproof, external additives (pesticides, etc) leech into them…and we think soap and water will solve the problem? </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Everything does not cause cancer. EVERYDAY ITEMS IN WESTERN SOCIETY CAUSE CANCER. Plastic wrap anyone? These cancer causing items are so normalized in our society that it seems that everything causes cancer. Somehow I think there are many things around (or used to be) that didn't cause cancer. Examples? </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Well things western society has made disposable (or made profits from) work as good examples:</p> <p class="MsoNormal">-I'm sure coral reefs never caused cancer before they had to start trying to survive in a polluted ocean. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">-Mercury poisoning from fish never used to be an issue before western civilization took hold.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">-Did you know that the chances of miscarriage go up by a large percentage when a woman watches 15 hours or more of television a week? I'm pretty sure that that wasn't the case if she were to watch a camp fire each night, or her community members as they broke into song and dance.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">-WATER BOTTLES…everyone was horrified when the neon colored Nalgenes turned out to have BPA in them. I'm pretty sure animal hide canteens didn't have the same effects; gourds were probably pretty safe too.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">I recently read a report that said not to be in the same ROOM as a microwave oven while it is running. Why do we fill our homes with such dangers? So many people do not want to hear it when I tell them these things. Why wouldn't you want to know of a danger so close to home? Is happiness so closely tied to Easy Mac that you are willing to risk cancer for it? …Apparently it is.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">Everything doesn't cause cancer. However, soon enough if civilization keeps going the way it has been, everything THAT IS LEFT will.<br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <span style=";font-family:";font-size:12pt;" >Let go of the flotation devices this society tells you that you need and watch the cancer rates plummet. </span> </div>Amelie Lillithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05020980478430414601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1481912699801549315.post-19542979295084941402010-03-17T10:04:00.000-07:002010-03-17T10:09:27.137-07:00Songs of Escape, of Soul, and TruthHave you ever had a song or a grouping of songs that you can't listen to too much? Not because they are bad songs, or "just good to dance to" songs. No, a group of songs or a song you can't listen to too much because if you did you might just drop everything that society tells you "matters" and seek out something that really does. A song or songs that speak so directly to your soul that you are afraid it will burst forth and demand that you stop ignoring it. A song you can't listen to too often or you will quit your job, abandon your lease and drive off, only ever to be heard of in passing comments at roadside cafes and wavering memories of those who meet too many and know too few. Have you ever heard a song like that? I have several, and I've put links so you can listen to them below. Enjoy, and if you do run off...let me know first...perhaps I'll come along.<br /><br />Both songs are from the Into the Wild soundtrack.<br /><br /><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/zNKvrxVgfns&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/zNKvrxVgfns&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br /><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/GXVpjjpwNss&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/GXVpjjpwNss&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>Amelie Lillithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05020980478430414601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1481912699801549315.post-5088869445849689552010-03-08T12:20:00.000-08:002010-03-08T12:26:11.512-08:00Jack Hanna Needs a Smaller Cage<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuj1wLI5kIoopu1Mjdn0j4lH64qHDBD6PwvvlKbstjaaxMC3vjllRq6mSNnRBpMwhxX_cGs03u-xx86VUlcIwMSUWTwCyd_iFhHBzl9ZZgCvc9a-R4OMUNPrlwWzsuYAnAEq4BOSaugGc/s1600-h/Jack-Hanna-CagesByDesign-Jack-Hanna-bird-cages-Jack-Hanna-reptile-cages.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 264px; height: 248px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuj1wLI5kIoopu1Mjdn0j4lH64qHDBD6PwvvlKbstjaaxMC3vjllRq6mSNnRBpMwhxX_cGs03u-xx86VUlcIwMSUWTwCyd_iFhHBzl9ZZgCvc9a-R4OMUNPrlwWzsuYAnAEq4BOSaugGc/s320/Jack-Hanna-CagesByDesign-Jack-Hanna-bird-cages-Jack-Hanna-reptile-cages.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5446361905280298178" border="0" /></a><br /><p class="MsoNormal">I am sick and tired of Jack Hanna's PR laden attempt to justify the enslavement of animals at zoos and, most recently, at Sea World. If he reaches for the numbers of visitors to Sea World per year one more time in his misguided attempt to justify the caged animals existing there I might just scream. I may not know Jack, but neither does he. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Justifying the existence of anything based upon the fact that people visit it is flawed at its very core. People went to see gladiators fight lions and tigers in ancient Rome, but it wasn't right. Huge crowds gathered (and still gather in some places) to watch public hangings. Does that make it right? I don't think so. Jack has also taken to mentioning that people, upon exiting Sea World, say they feel educated about marine life. Of course this survey was most likely performed by Sea World, and I wouldn't doubt if the questions weren't a bit leading. Also, even if people WERE educated about marine life in captivity, that still does not prove that captivity is right. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Someone could but Jack Hanna in a cage and sell tickets to see him. People would likely learn a lot about Public Relations and the Zoo industry by going to visit him. Would that make it right to lock him up? No. Would people be claiming that it was justified to enslave Jack Hanna because he can now be a spokesman for zoology? I doubt it. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">I challenge Jack Hanna to come up with a compelling reason to keep animals in captivity that actually makes sense. I challenge him to get some actual scientific data to back his theory of captive animals being more educational than those in the wild (I do not mean attendance records for the theme parks with him on their pay roll either). I challenge him to go and try to preserve the natural homes of the animals he is so happy to enslave. Perhaps spend some time seeing them in the wild and not behind bars. Perhaps he should spend less time on talk shows with enslaved animals and more time in their natural habitats stopping poachers and others encroaching on natural habitats. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Using the fact that most people might not be able to afford to see these animals in the wild is not going to fly with me either. I may never be able to afford to travel to Australia, but that does not mean putting someone from Australia in a cage so I can learn from them is permissible. I can pick up a book, or watch a documentary to learn. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Interview with Jack Hanna:</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sD3Mqjp0KLw" target="_blank"><object height="385" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/sD3Mqjp0KLw&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/sD3Mqjp0KLw&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="385" width="480"></embed></object></a></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Excerpt:</p> <p style="font-style: italic;" class="MsoNormal">Hanna: Why do we have Tilly and why do we have whales as well as elephants, other animals in our zoological parts. We have it to educate folks, it's the last chance we have to save these animals…"</p> <p style="font-style: italic;" class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p style="font-style: italic;" class="MsoNormal">Newscaster: Are you doing something unnatural and is it worth the risk?</p> <p style="font-style: italic;" class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p style="font-style: italic;" class="MsoNormal">Hanna "Let's say 20-30 years from now, there's 200 killer whales left in the wild. Let me tell ya where we're going to go. We're going to go to Sea World to see what we're going to do to save this magnificent creature."</p> <p style="font-style: italic;" class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p style="font-style: italic;" class="MsoNormal">Newscaster: But at what point does a whale get too big to be in captivity?</p> <p style="font-style: italic;" class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p style="font-style: italic;" class="MsoNormal">Hanna: I don't know. Some people say they know what the whale is thinking. That's impossible. I don't know what the whale is thinking, I don't know what stress is to the whale. All I know is that we, that Sea World provides the best possible care. I've been going to those parks for 30 something years. I've always seen nothing but animals that seem to be very very happy.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">I find it quite funny that he accidentally said "we" when referring to Sea World…</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Also, perhaps people should spend some more time learning about their own land and the animals upon it. Perhaps people in the Midwestern United States need to start caring about the whooping cranes they SHOULD see out their back doors but no longer do. Perhaps those on the west coast of America need to start campaigning to save the salmon that no longer swim up streams. Those in Florida need to start campaigning for the preservation of the everglade ecosystem. Are there orcas living naturally in everyone's backyard? No. Does that mean some should be put them in cages? No. There are amazing animals all over the world that live in the wild that need people's help. Covering a giant expanse of land with concrete and dropping whales into swimming pools doesn't solve anything. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Bob Barker meets Jack Hanna on the Issue:</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xGsrjTZp14" target="_blank"><object style="height: 344px; width: 425px;"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/5xGsrjTZp14"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/5xGsrjTZp14" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" height="344" width="425"></embed></object></a></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Excerpt:</p> <p style="font-style: italic;" class="MsoNormal">Hanna: Over 12million people visited Sea World parks last year, and over 90% of those folks say that it's the most incredible experience of their lives…If it wasn't for Sea World, animals like the manatee in Florida might not be in existence right now…180million people last year went to our zoos and aquariums. 180million people. Ingrid has about 2 million members, we have tens of millions of members. The education that we do for folks in the Sea World parks is something that has to be done. As you well know in the wild, what's happening in the wild right now, the creatures out there are suffering from pollution, because of all man made things that we have done…Bob keeps referring to these as tanks, these are artificial habitats. By the way, the whale, has already bred at Sea World and produced many needed killer whales in our parks…</p> <p style="font-style: italic;" class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p style="font-style: italic;" class="MsoNormal">Larry King: but how about that point that that whale killed before, why keep him in the tank.</p> <p style="font-style: italic;" class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p style="font-style: italic;" class="MsoNormal">Hanna: Larry, it has killed before. Larry, didn't our astronauts go up in a space shuttle and we lost them when they came back. It was a terrible thing wasn’t it? They went right back up into space didn't they? Because they want to learn from space want to learn how to help mankind. That's what Sea World does and what we all do. Our business Larry, it's killer whales, these are dangerous animals yes we know that…</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Sea World is a business, plain and simple. It is created to make money. If conservation or education were the true goals of the company there wouldn't be choreographed shows to ENTERTAIN. There also would not be a roller coaster in the park. The park would not keep animals that rely on sonar to navigate in concrete pools. They would not chlorinate those pools. Sea World is a business that uses conservation and education as a fall back to justify their bottom line. </p>Amelie Lillithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05020980478430414601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1481912699801549315.post-23283544992994989412010-02-26T05:34:00.000-08:002010-02-26T08:13:58.222-08:00Long Past Time to Free Every Willy, an open letter to Sea World<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYZe4Fc460iVF231FvXHZOvEo1zrTlIMe8By57VmFA0L5-n8hYv37d_C77SIxytGRvrcD11PMYxwCAs88n3SLDA6qKFlJjG6vcByg6wZcKFrZ4oWesUv8exa-S-m0278rfzHFHiScA8Ko/s1600-h/orca.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYZe4Fc460iVF231FvXHZOvEo1zrTlIMe8By57VmFA0L5-n8hYv37d_C77SIxytGRvrcD11PMYxwCAs88n3SLDA6qKFlJjG6vcByg6wZcKFrZ4oWesUv8exa-S-m0278rfzHFHiScA8Ko/s320/orca.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5442547135154177234" border="0" /></a><br /><p class="MsoNormal">I write on behalf of every animal you keep in a cage, a pool, or any sort of an enclosure. I write on behalf of the ones that have died, are still alive, and with a force thousands strong for those that have not yet been captured. This letter is for every soul of every animal that was extinguished, coated over, and destroyed by your theme parks. It is also for every animal currently walking or swimming in circles, wondering why they cannot hear or see their families anymore. This letter is for them, but it is from me. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Who am I to write such a letter and declaration to you? I am your ideal customer. I, like the trainer who died at your Orlando park on Wednesday, February 24, used to dream of being a whale trainer at one of your parks. My eyes lit up with wonder when I first saw a killer whale up close, and I wanted to know these creatures, love them, learn from them. For many years I planned to be a marine biologist, but with each of those passing years and studies I realized I could not with a good conscience be a whale trainer.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">I learned, for instance, of the complicated family and migration rituals of the killer whale. I heard the songs of a family communicating. I watched documentary after documentary and read study after study about the beautiful black and white creatures. I saw them leap into the air with glee, play with each other, teach their young, love. I saw it all in these wild animals. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Then I returned to Sea World with my family. Instead of beauty surrounding the animals I saw there, I witnessed chains. No, not literal chains, but when you surround an animal with dry land that needs water to survive, you strap them into a small cell as a result. I looked into the eyes of one of your Orcas on your viewing deck, and I saw nothing there but pain, and loss. Could that same whale have been the one that killed the trainer at the same park? Possibly. Whether or not it was, however, is not what matters here. What matters here is the overwhelming sadness present in a place like Sea World. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">The entire park is based upon the exploitation of wild animals for human amusement. The animals do not live long happy lives in captivity as is so cleverly marketed to the general public. They become lonely, and often die. They miss their families, their friends, and their homes. Even the children they give birth to in the pools and cages rarely survive. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Whales are amazing creatures. They have highly complicated family groups with communication and cooperation humans are just beginning to understand. When one whale (or dolphin) is removed from their family it is in essence kidnapping. Each whale and dolphin is an individual in their respective family, not just another random living creature. The whales and dolphins recognize each other and thus react differently depending which individual it is. This is not unlike humans. From this thriving community of cooperation and love whales and dolphins are ripped away and placed in small tanks (and any tank is small compared to the ocean) and made to perform for a live audience of humans. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Is it tragic that trainer Dawn Brancheau had to lose her life? Of course it is. It must be remembered, however, that the whales she so loved were trapped against their will and forced to perform for people they did not know. These whales (and dolphins) have many among them that probably still remember life in the wild, with no pavement pools or screaming humans. Many still remember the glimmer on the surface of the water at sunrise and sunset. Many still remember the feeling of freedom beneath their fins. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Sea World takes away the freedom of many of the most intelligent and majestic of all living creatures. Not only do they take away this freedom, but they do it to turn a profit. This is unacceptable, cruel, and wrong. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">The public relations specialists for Sea World will probably start promoting all of the "good" the company has done and will do in the coming weeks. They will show the public pictures of their veterinarians going to help wild animals affected by pollution, illness, oil spills. Sea World will do all of this while openly ignoring the fact that they are enslaving animals with their very existence. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">What do I propose Sea World should do? They should get their animals ready to live in the wild again. Teach them to fish for themselves, yet again. Do all that is possible to prepare them and then set them free. Will all of them survive? No. Will some? Most definitely. The fact that some will die is one that will happen if they are left in their pools that are chains as well. Sea World also needs to stop paying for animals captured from the wild. They need to halt all activities that hold animals against their will and exploit their natural abilities for profit. Sea World needs to close its gates for good or reinvent for itself an image not based on animal exploitation. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">I hope that trainer Dawn Brancheau rests in peace and that the whale Tilikum along with all of the similarly enslaved animals at Sea World will one day see the sunrise and set on the ocean again. I demand that they be set loose to the wild to yet again choose their own fates, and never again perform for a screaming audience for nothing but profit.</p><br /><p class="MsoNormal">UPDATE: I was contacted from James Brown from the BBC Radio show World Have Your Say. They are running a live show this afternoon at 12pm Central Daylight Time (1800gmt) and they might call me to discuss this issue. Please listen in! Here's the link: <a href="http://worldhaveyoursay.wordpress.com/2010/02/26/should-animals-be-kept-for-our-entertainment/">http://worldhaveyoursay.wordpress.com/2010/02/26/should-animals-be-kept-for-our-entertainment/</a><br /></p>Amelie Lillithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05020980478430414601noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1481912699801549315.post-76281447525942969332010-02-24T07:06:00.000-08:002010-02-24T07:15:58.297-08:00Off Target<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHZzAaIrefT_9tMFU6iQ_06sUzd7B35twq30P-kpISVvzyI4oQyh-AfyVAIqeUTaO-xCV1dNGw9rg2-OFYTjkb6FZqb2Br-pak_rPINLVucbWnouWH5qqIh7_yPYUGiBmNqq9_K2Rdgkc/s1600-h/target.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHZzAaIrefT_9tMFU6iQ_06sUzd7B35twq30P-kpISVvzyI4oQyh-AfyVAIqeUTaO-xCV1dNGw9rg2-OFYTjkb6FZqb2Br-pak_rPINLVucbWnouWH5qqIh7_yPYUGiBmNqq9_K2Rdgkc/s400/target.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5441828502170953522" border="0" /></a><div id=":1iw" class="ii gt"> <p class="MsoNormal">I'm going to come right out and say it: <span style="font-weight: bold;">Just because you shop at Target doesn't mean you aren't to blame for anything</span>.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">I am so sick and tired of people feeling all high and mighty because they spite Wal-Mart's sweat shop items and buy instead the sweat shop items sold at Target. I understand that Target is better to their employees (the employees we see at the stores at least), but does that really mean much? They still sell goods from all over the world to the all consuming hands of westerners. Target is guilty too, and I hate that people think they are not. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Why do people so blindly believe that Target is a better alternative? I think that some people just dislike Wal-Mart, so any alternative is nice. I think that for a lot of others, however, it comes down to some brilliant marketing ploys by Target over the years. Their ads appeal to a young and hip audience, who then feel young and hip shopping at the store. They throw in a couple green washing tactics here and there, and end up with a dedicated consumer base.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Here are some examples of Target commercials and Ads:</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">2006: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2B_cOIP9Qog&feature=PlayList&p=64B6CCEB1A6AF751&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=34" target="_blank"><object style="height: 344px; width: 425px;"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/2B_cOIP9Qog"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/2B_cOIP9Qog" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" height="344" width="425"></embed></object></a></p> <p class="MsoNormal">2007:<br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYFdd6mkySc&feature=PlayList&p=A88D7CD8A8A54AEA&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=7" target="_blank"><object style="height: 344px; width: 425px;"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/PYFdd6mkySc"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/PYFdd6mkySc" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" height="344" width="425"></embed></object></a></p> <p class="MsoNormal">2008:<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfqEG7ZPO1k" target="_blank"><object style="height: 344px; width: 425px;"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/WfqEG7ZPO1k"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/WfqEG7ZPO1k" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" height="344" width="425"></embed></object></a></p> <p class="MsoNormal">2009:<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ye12OI2uro" target="_blank"><object style="height: 344px; width: 425px;"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/7Ye12OI2uro"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/7Ye12OI2uro" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" height="344" width="425"></embed></object></a></p> <p class="MsoNormal">2010:<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDzUY2f-6I8" target="_blank"><object style="height: 344px; width: 425px;"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/xDzUY2f-6I8"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/xDzUY2f-6I8" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" height="344" width="425"></embed></object></a></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Greenwashing:<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgClfEClFarm3XVQo0D1a1MAeY8Yvu4wX9W7Pzgd1v2_W5lp2vFnE1MloMaEg0iqRTToWRn0clmuJqN5F_i5XgygJmh9mrDDmT_wirSgkk1HXzBFZhrbc-53AYqEfkSuXfGSIWL5aXmiY8/s1600-h/targetgreenwash1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 268px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgClfEClFarm3XVQo0D1a1MAeY8Yvu4wX9W7Pzgd1v2_W5lp2vFnE1MloMaEg0iqRTToWRn0clmuJqN5F_i5XgygJmh9mrDDmT_wirSgkk1HXzBFZhrbc-53AYqEfkSuXfGSIWL5aXmiY8/s320/targetgreenwash1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5441828617323786610" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0GSSkAg3_JH0uiEPrqlOX3tFpF4BMFmNfEtYpDysBKKLg3ikzhsiknVx_G4lL_1wWyYD4jmsKxPjbFgcBP5-Ol77s48DFuZ-1bbvaBF7usespvExg_qJ9TUdBZzgzebcQPrUDHfB0b9I/s1600-h/targetgreenwash2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0GSSkAg3_JH0uiEPrqlOX3tFpF4BMFmNfEtYpDysBKKLg3ikzhsiknVx_G4lL_1wWyYD4jmsKxPjbFgcBP5-Ol77s48DFuZ-1bbvaBF7usespvExg_qJ9TUdBZzgzebcQPrUDHfB0b9I/s320/targetgreenwash2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5441828774817378594" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqaoyVcY5-fXsRRaUpz9t_GwZp_8SYT7efhvfkv-xZGAji63HMEIBiXr0cTKgMhzjJDp6ggcLVdBW649lMKNlE0Xmks3nIe3RRmLOT4OxgKa-DGlVpXHn23-bxFgdBU6HLn1YehWESwJo/s1600-h/targetgreenwash3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 285px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqaoyVcY5-fXsRRaUpz9t_GwZp_8SYT7efhvfkv-xZGAji63HMEIBiXr0cTKgMhzjJDp6ggcLVdBW649lMKNlE0Xmks3nIe3RRmLOT4OxgKa-DGlVpXHn23-bxFgdBU6HLn1YehWESwJo/s320/targetgreenwash3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5441828884957348674" border="0" /></a></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Article Illustrating the fact that Target isn't as "green" as they pretend to be:</p> <ul><li><a href="http://ohsonline.com/articles/2007/07/company-fined-120000-for-horrible-spooky-effects-on-health-environment.aspx" target="_blank">http://ohsonline.com/articles/<wbr>2007/07/company-fined-120000-<wbr>for-horrible-spooky-effects-<wbr>on-health-environment.aspx</a> <span></span><a href="http://ohsonline.com/articles/2007/07/company-fined-120000-for-horrible-spooky-effects-on-health-environment.aspx"><span style="font-family:Wingdings;"><span><span style=";font-family:";font-size:7;" ><br /></span></span></span></a></li></ul> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt;">Excerpt: Target Corp. will pay a civil penalty of $120,000 for distributing and selling Horrible Spooky String, a children's product that is harmful to the environment. EPA had previously ordered five national retail chains to pull cans of illegally imported confetti string products from their shelves. The products contain banned hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) which deplete the earth's protective stratospheric ozone layer and increase the risk of skin cancer.</p> </div>Amelie Lillithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05020980478430414601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1481912699801549315.post-70925954899738380472010-02-17T07:34:00.001-08:002010-02-17T07:36:02.320-08:00PoetryI have been writing a lot of poetry lately that is meant to be read aloud. So, in place of posting poetry here in written form I've uploaded myself reading them.<br /><br />They can be found here: <a href="http://www.soundclick.com/amelielillith" class="bbc_link new_win" target="_blank">http://www.soundclick.com/amelielillith</a><br /><br />I hope you enjoy them.<br /><br />-AmelieAmelie Lillithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05020980478430414601noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1481912699801549315.post-90995049246025578002010-02-11T05:54:00.000-08:002010-02-11T10:23:16.417-08:00Pandora is Right Here<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7oBwmzlOlWrv5_5ZDzvlaBqH-vW_QCESWZ33RDaucRQo-g67nM-UEKJI0Rh8Q446ovdykdSKEAiXtOB1eX6TXhnP7t2ZCsUoAbVbzxjSJLRNmfqm9lTCeBRnlyM4hF7NAaun8obO2Sxc/s1600-h/avatar1.jpeg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 212px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7oBwmzlOlWrv5_5ZDzvlaBqH-vW_QCESWZ33RDaucRQo-g67nM-UEKJI0Rh8Q446ovdykdSKEAiXtOB1eX6TXhnP7t2ZCsUoAbVbzxjSJLRNmfqm9lTCeBRnlyM4hF7NAaun8obO2Sxc/s320/avatar1.jpeg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5436988098827604770" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">For those of you who have seen the film Avatar, perhaps you are wishing you lived in such a beautiful place. Some people are even experiencing what is being dubbed "Avatar Depression" because they don't have a place like Pandora. Well, I have news for you. Our planet is beautiful, and believe it or not, in need of defense just as Pandora was in the movie. Don't believe me? How about these pictures and facts to convince you. </span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Have you ever seen the northern lights? They are truly a sight to behold (but one hard to spot when drowned out by city lights).<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW1P-er4Ta8WOnJlsnUZHcs6udlP7UVLmhiuhgDgsW0j_oTeB1ZWu-kuNJIEeRy3jvJHqkl1HDQvGRFD1e1Lku6hpAO3bGYEmZFv7oWJkVbiSFUO2hnjWiRFlEgNbSvA64mSRaYZQuQNE/s1600-h/Ourpandora1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 222px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW1P-er4Ta8WOnJlsnUZHcs6udlP7UVLmhiuhgDgsW0j_oTeB1ZWu-kuNJIEeRy3jvJHqkl1HDQvGRFD1e1Lku6hpAO3bGYEmZFv7oWJkVbiSFUO2hnjWiRFlEgNbSvA64mSRaYZQuQNE/s320/Ourpandora1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5436984129370106754" border="0" /></a></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Did you feel sorrow when home tree fell in Avatar?</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> What about the giant redwoods and hemlocks that are falling today? Or the trees of the rainforests of earth?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMASt5xYZLGWTgJg8z-xbm0NeruCaDIVgdAAMYAw7u3rlBJUWG96xY23dfvZLNIKNeSMy9yDIRps0QraJyho9vcOevcyT__h4yQMSrLXxwILSfBwtbbgrjuA3oAd4Dtb_2IwUbHjAri7Q/s1600-h/Ourpandora3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMASt5xYZLGWTgJg8z-xbm0NeruCaDIVgdAAMYAw7u3rlBJUWG96xY23dfvZLNIKNeSMy9yDIRps0QraJyho9vcOevcyT__h4yQMSrLXxwILSfBwtbbgrjuA3oAd4Dtb_2IwUbHjAri7Q/s320/Ourpandora3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5436984241356423842" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicadq-InJkhaafIfWeqSzObylwPkSKgj45gsjidggXh3LCWry0EU6PVfxVr2Ch_YR558AMKQC5j_tIhEo9cEJJN1OQHGaVQOyBCY7FIco797MM3fT5QzTCWUHRgQcItwG_8nsFnAnObPw/s1600-h/Ourpandora4.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicadq-InJkhaafIfWeqSzObylwPkSKgj45gsjidggXh3LCWry0EU6PVfxVr2Ch_YR558AMKQC5j_tIhEo9cEJJN1OQHGaVQOyBCY7FIco797MM3fT5QzTCWUHRgQcItwG_8nsFnAnObPw/s320/Ourpandora4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5436984359644685842" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCAwkOC-l47W2fGRgXCbAOcyj9DskLl7et05l6eWfNZ6NSQkrd7453K-Ag4H2Wvvt3ul9zj7gEi5sD6E2errnhEHw9UTbDdRDSAKh5P1-fznIKu-_Xkuqp5UX-HALIe68jaU_-0zV8-WI/s1600-h/Ourpandora5.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 227px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCAwkOC-l47W2fGRgXCbAOcyj9DskLl7et05l6eWfNZ6NSQkrd7453K-Ag4H2Wvvt3ul9zj7gEi5sD6E2errnhEHw9UTbDdRDSAKh5P1-fznIKu-_Xkuqp5UX-HALIe68jaU_-0zV8-WI/s320/Ourpandora5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5436984471663721506" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQZB3GqZA_iUa13Z3ojulb2D6zO1Kq7KWaeXqKtjUUdfvXnGDYvhpYurGSxHjQvXy9iTqT7ShGxEg5OSpTaVHoSVhjefD3oI8qygum5OOJz8wUPmeqI6bhSpebGgqHk6Z60N66LlQPaig/s1600-h/OurPandora7.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 198px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQZB3GqZA_iUa13Z3ojulb2D6zO1Kq7KWaeXqKtjUUdfvXnGDYvhpYurGSxHjQvXy9iTqT7ShGxEg5OSpTaVHoSVhjefD3oI8qygum5OOJz8wUPmeqI6bhSpebGgqHk6Z60N66LlQPaig/s320/OurPandora7.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5436984734288320274" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2twmcvksvJm6cPeyDByp74uytff-q7TUhrTbSbiOKoCT0DXL3LgNQeSkPvb9Pr2z3RbhOAvSbJ8RyaFHluebI4hEHEw-yRdOf11JKwvzsNN1LYLxpyhpkbg2KmjANhKDA7JtCKgU4Ycs/s1600-h/Ourpandora6.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 250px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2twmcvksvJm6cPeyDByp74uytff-q7TUhrTbSbiOKoCT0DXL3LgNQeSkPvb9Pr2z3RbhOAvSbJ8RyaFHluebI4hEHEw-yRdOf11JKwvzsNN1LYLxpyhpkbg2KmjANhKDA7JtCKgU4Ycs/s320/Ourpandora6.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5436984605610094754" border="0" /></a></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" face="georgia"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal" face="georgia"><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" >The Sky People have sent us a message... That they can take whatever they want. That no one can stop them. Well we will send them a message. You ride out as fast as the wind can carry you... You tell the other clans to come. Tell them Toruk Makto calls to them! You fly now, with me! My brothers! Sisters! And we will show the Sky People... That they can not take whatever they want! And that this... this is our land! </span><span style="font-size:100%;">(From Avatar) </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" face="georgia"><span style="font-size:100%;">You say there are unique animals in Pandora, more amazing than any here on earth. With that you are also mistaken, there are many beautiful and amazing creatures on Earth that are in trouble and need your help. Below are a couple of examples. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: georgia;"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7e4_2aja0HQIWbqVmIMLu9frkt4lx_RioksCOPT8NUMG2lc5i6ZAdZk4qaCwy-nk8YJi2ZLW6vMs9WRpwMQxfEBSlJpElFnSPq1z7mJrqCNTNZmU6AS4Q_EHttLrCpumIJcS9c4ybkLY/s1600-h/Ourpandora10.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 304px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7e4_2aja0HQIWbqVmIMLu9frkt4lx_RioksCOPT8NUMG2lc5i6ZAdZk4qaCwy-nk8YJi2ZLW6vMs9WRpwMQxfEBSlJpElFnSPq1z7mJrqCNTNZmU6AS4Q_EHttLrCpumIJcS9c4ybkLY/s320/Ourpandora10.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5436985275271364242" border="0" /></a>The mountain lion, cougar or puma: Due to excessive <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunting" title="Hunting" target="_blank">hunting</a> following the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_colonization_of_the_Americas" title="European colonization of the Americas" target="_blank">European colonization of the Americas</a>, and continuing human development of cougar habitat, populations have dropped in most parts of its historical range. With its vast range, the cougar has dozens of names and various references in the mythology of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigenous_peoples_of_the_Americas" title="Indigenous peoples of the Americas" target="_blank">indigenous Americans</a> and in contemporary culture. <strong>Typical Length:</strong> males, about eight to as much as nine feet from the nose to the tip of its tail, and females, about six to seven feet.</span></p> <p style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigj1AR2Lejc0CzzMafYXp91nqnqh6RorYcV6dy1Jizy38obRUo0XuWQeRF0Feqyz3Ojn6oVZ4TvprqlDXwlJsCW2wmMcyvTZA0hsA46y41VhpVyEZloOBnpDQyucAhJNmBad55wzCbu9U/s1600-h/Ourpandora9.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 207px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigj1AR2Lejc0CzzMafYXp91nqnqh6RorYcV6dy1Jizy38obRUo0XuWQeRF0Feqyz3Ojn6oVZ4TvprqlDXwlJsCW2wmMcyvTZA0hsA46y41VhpVyEZloOBnpDQyucAhJNmBad55wzCbu9U/s320/Ourpandora9.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5436985094308631858" border="0" /></a>The Whooping Crane: Endangered North American Bird. This is one of only two species of crane in the N. America. They can live 22-24 years when healthy and free. There are only 250 left in the wild (at most).They stand up to 5 feet tall with a 7.5 foot wing span.</span></p> <p style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiLQWCydKdhvfeSHjnN6vsudJYYgQSd6c3u2YMbiEC6vSWU1sGUxK6mLdIlFg5vUTsfCjC3qj5_ilKH7-bb517spL3XrVtfGxq6iXntjwVZnKRSCGUqVJY1EL1CzE6IvgT_X1_KNFdoCI/s1600-h/Ourpandora8.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 211px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiLQWCydKdhvfeSHjnN6vsudJYYgQSd6c3u2YMbiEC6vSWU1sGUxK6mLdIlFg5vUTsfCjC3qj5_ilKH7-bb517spL3XrVtfGxq6iXntjwVZnKRSCGUqVJY1EL1CzE6IvgT_X1_KNFdoCI/s320/Ourpandora8.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5436984871537902306" border="0" /></a>Salmon: Salmon journeys can be hundreds, even thousands of miles long. The longest known trip was made by a Chinook salmon that went 2,400 miles Inland just to spawn! Salmon are in trouble, though. Pollution, overfishing, and dams are killing them off. The dams need to come down and the pollution needs to stop.</span></p><p style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiBdw5XXSKHfaOqEsABw-_BBwMV4bKTOFFxBU8JFnrSV5GpammCiigGwfAS8tyWcXxYCc76yhpnO0LI8niUXw5EJcNgy2i2LtNojYGouLR2DA4rt452qYzI-z99kYeVmx7hzfj2bHqRns/s1600-h/Ourpandora11.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiBdw5XXSKHfaOqEsABw-_BBwMV4bKTOFFxBU8JFnrSV5GpammCiigGwfAS8tyWcXxYCc76yhpnO0LI8niUXw5EJcNgy2i2LtNojYGouLR2DA4rt452qYzI-z99kYeVmx7hzfj2bHqRns/s320/Ourpandora11.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5436986170204005986" border="0" /></a>Whales and dolphins: Did you know that some nations are still whaling? Japan continues the practice and thinly veils it as scientific research. There are also hundreds of dolphins killed each year in Japan. With each year the oceans become more and more polluted. They also grow warmer with each passing year. This all leads to the death of these amazing creatures. This must stop now.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5kManJmfztbwdkzCWawiYDtLO9lnxWWJt6sqBS3n5BaYj3KMfQ7xUscO7jTSL3xYqhhhdPH3nBXBjI_5gowJIvWM7iYsKSVtLXNGMlKAiNmTOjuHUq3VoRNUP9lUTR64CbYVurEh9K44/s1600-h/Ourpandora12.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 250px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5kManJmfztbwdkzCWawiYDtLO9lnxWWJt6sqBS3n5BaYj3KMfQ7xUscO7jTSL3xYqhhhdPH3nBXBjI_5gowJIvWM7iYsKSVtLXNGMlKAiNmTOjuHUq3VoRNUP9lUTR64CbYVurEh9K44/s320/Ourpandora12.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5436986502602155410" border="0" /></a></span></p><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >Toruk Makto was mighty. He brought the clans together in a time of great sorrow. All Navi people know this story. </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">(From Avatar) </span></span><p style="font-family: georgia;"> </p> <p style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Will you defend the Pandora that's right outside your window?</span></p>Amelie Lillithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05020980478430414601noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1481912699801549315.post-5536642393267179682010-02-10T09:08:00.000-08:002010-02-10T09:16:58.790-08:00When Stripes Become Bars<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;">The Plight of the Tiger</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2_KusG0G4DBUpRQXSLpeVJWlvNn45r-bdKojNDh-haaG9hrUmgseqVrf34j_vJyQcBipwbQl0MKJOU2jsBjr3AIK5e3QKTdcsNPKIxqI8xQjGkYUC3XVEmAbB7_Y4U9V8cR9YfsRGggY/s1600-h/tiger1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 208px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2_KusG0G4DBUpRQXSLpeVJWlvNn45r-bdKojNDh-haaG9hrUmgseqVrf34j_vJyQcBipwbQl0MKJOU2jsBjr3AIK5e3QKTdcsNPKIxqI8xQjGkYUC3XVEmAbB7_Y4U9V8cR9YfsRGggY/s320/tiger1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5436663171985549698" border="0" /></a><br /><br />The tiger is in trouble, but you already knew that. It is a predominate civilized practice to systematically wipe out that which scares, mystifies, or avoids man. This practice has been applied to wolves, lions, elephants, mountain lions (pumas) and pretty much every non-human species on the planet.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSLJd-5j8cqbuxq_yQENi6EU3WVlg3NGzwEnvYLWearuPopiUQ8Q8s0j54Jrk1ZPBsA0reM30HxwCpikqE1D0NZ7OPSKgZKHzIj13wF3pukXOXT0fxLreXQIjkNuVAt30fHuwIrPYYaXA/s1600-h/tiger2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 114px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSLJd-5j8cqbuxq_yQENi6EU3WVlg3NGzwEnvYLWearuPopiUQ8Q8s0j54Jrk1ZPBsA0reM30HxwCpikqE1D0NZ7OPSKgZKHzIj13wF3pukXOXT0fxLreXQIjkNuVAt30fHuwIrPYYaXA/s200/tiger2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5436663269437735026" border="0" /></a><br /><br />America, you might quibble, is guilt free, at least, in the plight of the orange and black feline—not so. Did you know that there are more tigers behind bars in the United States than there are living wild in the entire world? And these are barely tigers at all. How can an animal kept in a cage of concrete, steel, and artificial stimulation even come close to mirroring their wild relatives? Tigers in zoos are not tigers at all; they are depressed animals that know nothing but boundaries and limits.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9hPdYKgDZB95vBXMBWeG1bSKDWSLmhyphenhyphenHbWzl7JAjtkEpSCKcXSO2aaYQQiYlT8RxZY_ElFH-B4iWiNoz2YLmRZw_K3DQymYveMtN1UczhBgwbzJABWukQuultYgqhPU6yCoMVGrIa0QI/s1600-h/tiger3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 159px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9hPdYKgDZB95vBXMBWeG1bSKDWSLmhyphenhyphenHbWzl7JAjtkEpSCKcXSO2aaYQQiYlT8RxZY_ElFH-B4iWiNoz2YLmRZw_K3DQymYveMtN1UczhBgwbzJABWukQuultYgqhPU6yCoMVGrIa0QI/s200/tiger3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5436663397223198274" border="0" /></a><br /><br />WWF (World Wildlife Fund) has taken this year of the tiger to launch a campaign to try to save them. <a href="http://www.worldwildlife.org/who/media/press/2010/WWFPresitem15288.html?intcmp=259">Link</a> From the website: “The issues highlighted in the trouble spots map (<a href="http://www.blogger.com/www.worldwildlife.org/troublespots">www.worldwildlife.org/troublespots</a>) include:<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyQXgi_NpGjFztNrQksrzaFISURqO-v_03qhxIsyV58hyphenhyphenjPqiTo_7d4M0Q5Q-kV9gAxaLUdhnXLWtSvwk9uzXUfYPeQEdnF8K3tmJPNLY9_xc_bS1l8WjStQEZ_Yj6BZY_VZ9gxCTOI7w/s1600-h/tiger5.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 100px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyQXgi_NpGjFztNrQksrzaFISURqO-v_03qhxIsyV58hyphenhyphenjPqiTo_7d4M0Q5Q-kV9gAxaLUdhnXLWtSvwk9uzXUfYPeQEdnF8K3tmJPNLY9_xc_bS1l8WjStQEZ_Yj6BZY_VZ9gxCTOI7w/s200/tiger5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5436663748794311746" border="0" /></a><br />* Pulp, paper, palm oil and rubber companies are devastating the forests of Indonesia and Malaysia, home to two endangered tiger sub-species;<br />* Hundreds of new or proposed dams and roads in the Mekong region will fragment tiger habitat;<br />* Illegal trafficking in tiger bones, skins and meat feeds a continued demand in East and Southeast Asia;<br />* More tigers are kept in captivity in the U.S. than are left in the wild -- and there are few regulations to keep these tigers from ending up on the black market. The largest numbers of captive tigers are in Texas (an estimated 3,000+), but they are also kept in other states;<br />* Poaching of tigers and their prey, along with a major increase in logging is taking a heavy toll on Amur, or Siberian, tigers;<br />* Tigers and humans are increasingly coming into conflict in India as tiger habitats shrink;<br />* Climate change could reduce tiger habitat in Bangladesh’s Sundarbans mangroves by 96 percent.<br /><br />Three tiger sub-species have gone extinct since the 1940s and a fourth one, the South China tiger, has not been seen in the wild in 25 years. Tigers occupy just seven percent of their historic range. But they can thrive if they have strong protection from poaching and habitat loss and enough prey to eat.”<br /><br />Map: Below are two maps of where tigers lived in 1900 and where they live now. Before 1900 I’d assume the territories were much larger.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWuhxVQuV09ecF_574J3FFGps0BbJoQEWXt5wqZRdGhn8Ck6UuEkrFMRih0sGNGJTStwLs9yHmEN9ALJPiOzSgeOkmTv1ShhZa5_Yjd5znKWI_sGzw-xa5R-GUawNMxz8ncyypR_G4k3o/s1600-h/tiger-terrirory-map-pc.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 250px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWuhxVQuV09ecF_574J3FFGps0BbJoQEWXt5wqZRdGhn8Ck6UuEkrFMRih0sGNGJTStwLs9yHmEN9ALJPiOzSgeOkmTv1ShhZa5_Yjd5znKWI_sGzw-xa5R-GUawNMxz8ncyypR_G4k3o/s320/tiger-terrirory-map-pc.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5436663951377480818" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWjXyHkvwosPHWX2ewNJcFKd9le0e7S6sp0do_n_09wi3fAwitLQoHmvKVbirGF-EUjlIu_BvGIWuxJ1NHW7_SSNfs-v4bI18kR_LCW0EuuOAd9VitK0MFULdqyoTQeyrr9HguaC8jJ4U/s1600-h/tigermap2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 246px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWjXyHkvwosPHWX2ewNJcFKd9le0e7S6sp0do_n_09wi3fAwitLQoHmvKVbirGF-EUjlIu_BvGIWuxJ1NHW7_SSNfs-v4bI18kR_LCW0EuuOAd9VitK0MFULdqyoTQeyrr9HguaC8jJ4U/s320/tigermap2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5436664167609068850" border="0" /></a><br />So what can you do? Well that depends where you live and what you are willing to risk. These animals do not need our help to live; on the contrary, they need our help to avoid their death. Their habitat needs to be preserved and restored. They need to be respected and not put behind bars. Breeding programs in captivity need to result in cups that are rehabilitated and released into the wild, not shipped to another zoo. You can write to your zoo and tell them that. You can write to companies that use products containing palm oil. You can go stand on the front lines of the issue and stop poachers and clear cutters. You can spread the word. You can donate money.<br /><br />What can’t you do? Ignore the issue.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtsvVbUp_VB20Z3um-PuMqHzo8SDqOkcvq1uBdVjXuKpVZPrK-bJirIr0l2bGffBh9xo8C1nV20TECCAr4xkTC25EcMrGUzkiYEQX3hygggmsWRe_HlddRPB5-tth3h9kyQ1lNVwHwV5U/s1600-h/tiger4.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 142px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtsvVbUp_VB20Z3um-PuMqHzo8SDqOkcvq1uBdVjXuKpVZPrK-bJirIr0l2bGffBh9xo8C1nV20TECCAr4xkTC25EcMrGUzkiYEQX3hygggmsWRe_HlddRPB5-tth3h9kyQ1lNVwHwV5U/s200/tiger4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5436663533640454178" border="0" /></a>Amelie Lillithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05020980478430414601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1481912699801549315.post-25318009833651291842010-01-29T07:39:00.000-08:002010-01-29T07:46:45.104-08:00Iceland: Not Pure, Not Natural, Totally SpoiledDid you know that Iceland kills any polar bear that manages to make it onto the island?<br /><br />Check out this article: <a href="http://www.icelandreview.com/icelandreview/daily_news/?cat_id=16567&ew_0_a_id=357093" class="bbc_link new_win" target="_blank">http://www.icelandreview.com/icelandreview/daily_news/?cat_id=16567&ew_0_a_id=357093</a><br /><br />Some excerpts from it:<br /><strong style="font-style: italic;">The task force’s conclusion was to kill all polar bears spotted in Iceland for three reasons: they are dangerous, they are not at risk of extinction and it is too costly to save them, as Hjalti Gudmundsson from the Environment Agency of Iceland, who was a member of the task force, explained on RÚV’s news magazine Kastljós last night.<br /><br /></strong><strong style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">The slain polar bear was such a young animal that police fear another bear, an adult, might be on the loose in the area.</strong><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"> The Coast Guard will start se</span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">arching the country's northeastern coastline from air today as soon as there is sufficient daylight. People in the region are asked to be careful.<br /><br /></span>So, I made a variation of the cover of Iceland's tourist brochure to illustrate the wonderful love for nature the country has.<br /><br />Here it is (Click to view larger):<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkPSkqaBkQ6Lw-14k78q9jBgZduFOcp_PdzZll_K5ex-2nnhT77zccru4MMQkmo4XC3KqTsaGf7rsWH9Sc7ftm9BpggL4AXcXxnC2riBz5Ad_oROFsrxpleBRfRV0cbPy3Iwc6OmJfElY/s1600-h/iceland.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 410px; height: 260px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkPSkqaBkQ6Lw-14k78q9jBgZduFOcp_PdzZll_K5ex-2nnhT77zccru4MMQkmo4XC3KqTsaGf7rsWH9Sc7ftm9BpggL4AXcXxnC2riBz5Ad_oROFsrxpleBRfRV0cbPy3Iwc6OmJfElY/s400/iceland.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5432188301957050754" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"></span>Amelie Lillithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05020980478430414601noreply@blogger.com0