At first I thought the whole "Green is Universal" campaign was brilliant. But then today I was watching The Today Show, as they televised from a helicopter the truck bringing the 84 foot tree to Rockefeller Center, an annual tradition. In my opinion NBC and Universal blew it. This being the 75th anniversary of the tree, Universal could have made a real statement. They could have said and probably should have said no tree. Or they could have made a huge display of living trees that could show how to celebrate an environmentally aware Christmas. Then after Christmas planted those trees in some of the burned out forests of California or elsewhere.
The reporters said the Rockefeller Center tree was cut down in an environmentally sound way, they used an ax instead of a chainsaw. Also, they planned to use LED lights instead of incandescent lights. So all is environmentally good. Amazing!
Instead of capping off a great week of environmental awareness with a statement, they capped it with a big environmental blunder! Thanks NBC and Universal.
Friday, November 09, 2007
Catch Limits for Sharks
See the full article here.
Ocean Conservancy calls for action on sharks:
Ocean Conservancy has urged the US government to present a shark conservation proposal at the upcoming annual meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) in Turkey. Our requests included an anti-finning requirement that sharks be landed with their fins attached and the establishment of catch limits on North Atlantic mako and porbeagle sharks. "This November, the member countries of ICCAT have an opportunity to
adopt the world's first international catch limits for sharks," said Sonja Fordham, Ocean Conservancy's Shark Conservation Program Director who will serve on the US delegation to the ICCAT meeting. "The porbeagle shark, in particular, as one of the Atlantic's most endangered fish, deserves full and immediate protection." Members can help by contacting their government representatives and requesting a high priority for shark conservation at ICCAT.
For more on sharks, visit: www.oceanconservancy.org/sharks
Ocean Conservancy calls for action on sharks:
Ocean Conservancy has urged the US government to present a shark conservation proposal at the upcoming annual meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) in Turkey. Our requests included an anti-finning requirement that sharks be landed with their fins attached and the establishment of catch limits on North Atlantic mako and porbeagle sharks. "This November, the member countries of ICCAT have an opportunity to
adopt the world's first international catch limits for sharks," said Sonja Fordham, Ocean Conservancy's Shark Conservation Program Director who will serve on the US delegation to the ICCAT meeting. "The porbeagle shark, in particular, as one of the Atlantic's most endangered fish, deserves full and immediate protection." Members can help by contacting their government representatives and requesting a high priority for shark conservation at ICCAT.
For more on sharks, visit: www.oceanconservancy.org/sharks
Thursday, November 08, 2007
Save the Tata's
My wife's aunt sent this to me. Sign the petition here.
From a nurse:
I'll never forget the look in my patients' eyes when I had to tell them they had to go home with the drains, new exercises and no breast. I remember begging the doctors to keep these women in the hospital longer, only to hear that they would, but their hands were tied by the insurance companies. So there I sat with my patients, giving them the instructions they needed to take care of themselves, knowing full well they didn't grasp half of what I was saying, because the glazed, hopeless, frightened look spoke louder than the quiet 'Thank You," they muttered.
A mastectomy is when a woman's breast is removed in order to remove cancerous breast cells/tissue. If you know anyone who has had a Mastectomy, you may know that there is a lot of discomfort and pain afterwards. Insurance companies are trying to make mastectomies an outpatient procedure. Let's give women the chance to recover properly in the hospital for 2 days after surgery.
It takes 2 seconds to do this and is very important. Please take the time and do it quickly! Then please send this to everyone in your address book. If there was ever a time when our voices and choices should be heard, this is one of those times. If you're receiving this, it's because I think you will take the 30 seconds to go to vote on this issue and send it on to others you know who will do the same.
There's a bill called the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act which will require insurance companies to cover a minimum 48-hour hospital stay for patients undergoing a mastectomy. It's about eliminating the 'drive-through mastectomy' where women are forced to go home just a few hours after surgery, against the wishes of their doctor, still groggy from anesthesia and sometimes with drainage tubes still attached.
Lifetime Television has put this bill on their web page with a petition drive to show your support. Last year over half the House signed on.
PLEASE!! Sign the petition by clicking on the web site below. You need not give more than your name and zip code number.
http://www.lifetime tv.com/breastcan cer/petition/signpetition.php
This takes about 2 seconds. PLEASE PASS THIS ON to your friends and family, and on behalf of all women, THANKS.
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter..."
From a nurse:
I'll never forget the look in my patients' eyes when I had to tell them they had to go home with the drains, new exercises and no breast. I remember begging the doctors to keep these women in the hospital longer, only to hear that they would, but their hands were tied by the insurance companies. So there I sat with my patients, giving them the instructions they needed to take care of themselves, knowing full well they didn't grasp half of what I was saying, because the glazed, hopeless, frightened look spoke louder than the quiet 'Thank You," they muttered.
A mastectomy is when a woman's breast is removed in order to remove cancerous breast cells/tissue. If you know anyone who has had a Mastectomy, you may know that there is a lot of discomfort and pain afterwards. Insurance companies are trying to make mastectomies an outpatient procedure. Let's give women the chance to recover properly in the hospital for 2 days after surgery.
It takes 2 seconds to do this and is very important. Please take the time and do it quickly! Then please send this to everyone in your address book. If there was ever a time when our voices and choices should be heard, this is one of those times. If you're receiving this, it's because I think you will take the 30 seconds to go to vote on this issue and send it on to others you know who will do the same.
There's a bill called the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act which will require insurance companies to cover a minimum 48-hour hospital stay for patients undergoing a mastectomy. It's about eliminating the 'drive-through mastectomy' where women are forced to go home just a few hours after surgery, against the wishes of their doctor, still groggy from anesthesia and sometimes with drainage tubes still attached.
Lifetime Television has put this bill on their web page with a petition drive to show your support. Last year over half the House signed on.
PLEASE!! Sign the petition by clicking on the web site below. You need not give more than your name and zip code number.
http://www.lifetime tv.com/breastcan cer/petition/signpetition.php
This takes about 2 seconds. PLEASE PASS THIS ON to your friends and family, and on behalf of all women, THANKS.
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter..."
Protecting Sharks
Oceana.org and WildAid.org have release a report on the factors affecting shark survival. The report can be found here. Some of the background information includes solutions;
"Five Things You Can Do to Help Save Sharks
Sharks are being caught at unsustainable levels due to the high demand for their fins, liver oil, and meat. Shark populations globally are in trouble but there are things you can do to help.
Some may ask, what is sustainably caught seafood and how do I know what I am getting. First download the Seafood Watch Pocket Guide from the Monterey Bay Aquarium. While you are at it join the aquarium, if for no other reason than to help fund the work the marine biologists are doing to better understand sharks. For instance did you know that most larger shark species do not become sexually mature until they 25 years old? We need to know more.
Join the Fight
If you can not make it the Monterey Bay Aquarium, join an aquarium in your area, or join an environmental awareness organization, or do all of the above!
Write Letters
You can also write your politicians. Vote for only environmentally aware politicians. Decisions made today may not affect you. But if you have kids, those decisions will affect them.
Hug a "Tree-Hugger"
This reminds me of a line in the movie "The American President", where the President finally fights back and defends his girl-friend's membership in the ACLU. The line is something along the line of "... this is an organization that defends our civil liberties. The question is not why is she a member? But rather why aren't you!" Why are ALL not Tree-Huggers?
"Tree-huggers" get a lot of flack. But the question is why are we all not tree huggers. Is the planet really not that important to you? Do you know your carbon footprint is? Mine is 22,308. The average person in the US is 19,000 obviously I have some work to do. World wide this number is 4,000. But this is a topic for another post.
"Five Things You Can Do to Help Save Sharks
Sharks are being caught at unsustainable levels due to the high demand for their fins, liver oil, and meat. Shark populations globally are in trouble but there are things you can do to help.
- Do not eat shark fin soup.
- Only eat sustainably caught seafood.
- Do not purchase cosmetic products if they have the ingredient squalene or squalane from sharks.
- Write to your congressman to ask them to help protect sharks.
- Help correct people's misconceptions about sharks-sharks don't hunt humans!
Some may ask, what is sustainably caught seafood and how do I know what I am getting. First download the Seafood Watch Pocket Guide from the Monterey Bay Aquarium. While you are at it join the aquarium, if for no other reason than to help fund the work the marine biologists are doing to better understand sharks. For instance did you know that most larger shark species do not become sexually mature until they 25 years old? We need to know more.
Join the Fight
If you can not make it the Monterey Bay Aquarium, join an aquarium in your area, or join an environmental awareness organization, or do all of the above!
Write Letters
You can also write your politicians. Vote for only environmentally aware politicians. Decisions made today may not affect you. But if you have kids, those decisions will affect them.
Hug a "Tree-Hugger"
This reminds me of a line in the movie "The American President", where the President finally fights back and defends his girl-friend's membership in the ACLU. The line is something along the line of "... this is an organization that defends our civil liberties. The question is not why is she a member? But rather why aren't you!" Why are ALL not Tree-Huggers?
"Tree-huggers" get a lot of flack. But the question is why are we all not tree huggers. Is the planet really not that important to you? Do you know your carbon footprint is? Mine is 22,308. The average person in the US is 19,000 obviously I have some work to do. World wide this number is 4,000. But this is a topic for another post.
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
Sharkwater
I went to see this documentary on the slaughter of one of the oceans top predators. Traveling to Costa Rica's Cocos Island and the Galapagos Islands, the Sharkwater crew show the public disgraceful acts of shark finning, including illegal pooching. Turns out the Taiwanese mafia are behind the finning in Costa Rica.
Shark fin soup is a delicacy in Asia and is said to promote health even cure cancer. The Shark Fin industry is quit large, in the billions of dollars. They even have their own trading or brokerage to promote the sale of shark fins. This simple search on Alibaba.com found numerous suppliers of shark fins.
Sharks are vital to the ecosystem. Did you know that 70% of the worlds oxygen is supplied by phytoplankton? What does this have to do with sharks? If the sharks do not keep the consumers of the phytoplankton in check, the phytoplankton will die off - become extinct. How many trees would we have to plant to replace 70% of the worlds oxygen supply?
Thousands of sharks are being caught, fins cut off (some still alive) and pushed over-board to die. My wife asked me why they have not figured out how to use the entire shark. The sad fact is that the fisherman make more money for the fin than for the shark, so the more fins they collect the more money the collect - the rest of the shark would simply consume vital storage space aboard the boat.
Coconuts kill more people per year than sharks.
Vending Machines Deadlier than Sharks.
Number of human deaths per year due to sharks: 5
Number of people per year killed by a vending machine falling on them: 13
Number of human deaths per year due to choking on a ballpoint pen: 100
Number of people killed because of starvation: 8,000,000
Number of sharks killed: 26-76 Million or as high as 100 million
(numbers are yearly averages)
Shark fin soup is a delicacy in Asia and is said to promote health even cure cancer. The Shark Fin industry is quit large, in the billions of dollars. They even have their own trading or brokerage to promote the sale of shark fins. This simple search on Alibaba.com found numerous suppliers of shark fins.
Sharks are vital to the ecosystem. Did you know that 70% of the worlds oxygen is supplied by phytoplankton? What does this have to do with sharks? If the sharks do not keep the consumers of the phytoplankton in check, the phytoplankton will die off - become extinct. How many trees would we have to plant to replace 70% of the worlds oxygen supply?
Thousands of sharks are being caught, fins cut off (some still alive) and pushed over-board to die. My wife asked me why they have not figured out how to use the entire shark. The sad fact is that the fisherman make more money for the fin than for the shark, so the more fins they collect the more money the collect - the rest of the shark would simply consume vital storage space aboard the boat.
Coconuts kill more people per year than sharks.
Vending Machines Deadlier than Sharks.
Number of human deaths per year due to sharks: 5
Number of people per year killed by a vending machine falling on them: 13
Number of human deaths per year due to choking on a ballpoint pen: 100
Number of people killed because of starvation: 8,000,000
Number of sharks killed: 26-76 Million or as high as 100 million
(numbers are yearly averages)
Shark finning needs to stop. Want to help stop this?
Visit Saving Sharks, Project AWARE, Shark Trust, Sea Shepard
Monday, November 05, 2007
Mackenzie Homecoming 2007
Mackenzie went to Homecoming this past Friday. Homecoming is not what it used to be, she bought her ticket at the dance and went stag. The dance itself was only 2 1/2 hours long.
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