Unhappy tree logs

So, I won't talk about deforestation, much like . I won't really delve into how discoveries like this newfound "gecko-bat" species wouldn't be possible anymore, if forests disappear. Also, I won't say anything more about cultural significance and indigenous people, nor relevance for medicine (Mark Plotkin's (wiki) quote "every time a shaman dies, it is as if a library burned down", see also (2), (3)).

I actually just thought it would be nice to store this photo somewhere.
So here you go.

(1): Source of pic: Got it from Carla, on FB: link here.

(2): Shamanism, By: Mark Andrew Ritchie. I use it as a source of the quote. Found by google.

(3): This book seems interesting: Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice: An Ethnobotanist Searches for New Medicines in the Amazon Rain Forest; Mark Plotkin (Amazon).

(4): This one is also actually pretty scary/cool: face on the side of the tree trunk.

Enough is enough, Sir David Attenborough!

Sometimes, even the most steadfast intellectuals "lose" it.

This is David Attenborough, the face of modern naturalist documentaries, such as Life on Earth series, Planet Earth and Life (you could consider watching the Secret Life of Plants, it's really fascinating) saying that he's had it with denial in US:

[it is] extraordinary that one of the wealthiest, materially advanced societies in the world can support irrational myths in that way,” he said. “That they should do it privately is up to them but since what they do effects that whole world it’s pretty serious that they should not accept that humanity has been responsible for these changes that are absolutely evident to everyone else.”

From: Sir David Attenborough: Enough With the Creationists and Climate Change Deniers! | The Daily Beast, 11.2.2014, link here.

Now, I'll just quote the same source: 'Attenborough has made a career of resisting controversy, often describing himself as “a reporter” with no views of his own.'

Though to be honest, one thing is for sure: changes can be seen (or is part of it also the Baader-Meinhof effect as we talk about them more?), but the causes and the extent of those drivers is still debated. And debate is generally good.
  But if the debate is potentially artificially generated by those who stand to lose the most, or when the "debate" and the controversies encourage the stalemate, then well, you do need a change.

Because, you see, it's not about the butterflies anymore. It's about us. All of sentient and non-sentient (?) beings on this planet that were "raised" in a certain climate, with certain food sources and certain living environments. When all of these what used to be certainties change ... you've got yourselves a problem humanity.
  And I am saying humanity, as 'life [on Earth] will find a way'. It just may be that the Earth of tomorrow will be w/o the human species.
Meh. I'll just go eat my sandwich, pray excuse me.

[Addendum] {funny}
Sir David Attenborough's describes Olympic curling, in his signature voice & approach. This is golden.

Read more at http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=777_1392789840#OwKmCtFhm93oPcPl.99

'Right2Water' campaign: first ever European Citizens' Initiative hearing

This I copy directly from the EU website announcement, here.

I find it cool and weird at the same time. Oh, and to the prestigious list of words I don't quite like (because of their confunding potential and fancy sound), I *provisionally* add liberalisation. (I refer to the second sentence in the second paragraph, here.)

Parliament is to hold a public hearing next Monday on the universal right to clean water, the first EP hearing under the European Citizens' Initiative allowing the public to ask the EU authorities for new legislation.
The "Right2Water" campaign group has gathered almost two million signatures to its initiative calling on the Commission to draw up legislation to ensure universal access to adequate supplies of clean drinking water and sanitation throughout the EU. It will present its demands at the first ever European Citizens' Initiative hearing.


The campaigners point out that universal access to water is a human right enshrined by the UN. They will present their three key goals at the hearing, which are: “guaranteed water and sanitation for all in the EU”, “global access to water and sanitation for all” and “no liberalisation of water services”. They promote the provision of water and sanitation as essential public services for all and believe that these services should not be subject to EU internal market rules.


The public hearing, organised by Parliament's environment committee in association with the petitions, internal market and consumer protection and development committees and starting at 15.00 on Monday, 17 February, follows up the registration of the initiative by the Commission on 20 December 2013. It will provide a platform for debate with MEPs, the leaders of the ‘Right2Water’ initiative and representatives of the European Commission.


Citizens' Initiative


The Citizens' Initiative was introduced by the Lisbon Treaty and gives EU citizens who are eligible to vote in the European elections an opportunity to help shape the EU agenda. To qualify, a Citizens' Initiative must be signed by at least one million EU citizens, from at least seven of the 28 member states, within 12 months of the registration date. It must also fall within the Commission's remit.

REF. : 20140210IPR35552

Updated: ( 11-02-2014 - 09:01)

Again, this was copied in its entirety from here.

Africa going it's own way and counteracting against global economic recession

(Well, that's how I'd put it, anyway;)

IPS EXCLUSIVE: Interview with Archbishop Desmond Tutu
==============================

In an exclusive interview to IPS Correspondent, Bankole Thompson, South Africa’s Archbishop, Desmond Tutu, talks about the current global financial crisis and how he thinks something is wrong with the "free market" system. He called for a review of the fundamentals of capitalism. He said African governments should form cartels to protect their institutions if Western nations are protecting their own financial companies. He lamented that Africa's political and religious leadership failed Zimbabweans. And he hailed the prospect of a Barack Obama presidency in the U.S.

You can read the full interview with Desmond Tutu here:
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=44517
==============================
Review how IPS covers the fascinating continent of Africa –
http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/

And read in depth coverage of U.S. Presidential Elections 2008:
http://www.ipsnews.net/new_focus/us_elections2008/index.asp
==============================
Inter Press Service News Agency (IPS), the world's leading provider of information on global issues, is backed by a network of journalists in more than 150 countries. Its clients include more than 3,000 media organisations and tens of thousands of civil society groups, academics, and other users.

IPS focuses its news coverage on the events and global processes affecting the economic, social and political development of peoples and nations.

================

Visit Inter Press Service at http://www.ipsnews.net

// IPS NEWSLETTER I recieve (since oct.), dated 31st of October, 2008.//

Turles! (Tortoises)

Tagging
© WWF-EARPO/Kimunya Mugo
Tagging Turtles in Kenya

The Lamu Archipelago is one of the most important marine turtle nesting grounds in Kenya. Five of the seven sea turtle species that range in the Western Indian Ocean are found within the Lamu Seascape.

Three among these species - Green turtle (Chelonia mydas), Hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata) and Olive ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea) nest and the other two - Loggerhead (Caretta caretta) and Leatherback (Dermochelys choriacea) have been reported to feed within the Lamu Archipelago.

Over the years, WWF has mobilized the communities to protect the marine turtles both at sea and on the beaches. This August marked the official launch of the sea turtle satellite radio telemetry program in Kiunga Marine National Reserve. Learn more about this turtle tagging program and how the strategic use of scientific monitoring is helping to improve management and conservation of natural resources along the Kenyan Coast.

WWF, in partnership with the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) has been running a successful conservation and development project in Kiunga Marine National Reserve (KMNR). Among the key components of the project is species protection, under which the green turtle is a flagship species. The main threats endangering turtles in the Lamu Archipelago are:

1. By-catch by local fishermen as well as semi¬-industrial fisheries
2. Poaching of turtle meat and eggs
3. Marine pollution
4. Disturbance from new tourism developments
5. Targeted catching (turtling culture) by coastal communities
6. International trade in turtle products
7. Alteration and destruction of nesting beaches and habitats
8. Naturally slow rate of recovery of various populations under different levels of exploitation and stress.

vir: WWF na: http://www.worldwildlife.org/what/wherewework/coastaleastafrica/seaturtle-tagging-update.html?enews=enews0809t

Ike & Josephine Turner? Get it? ;)

Hullo!

Yeah. The title itself is rather meaningful already, but for those less experienced in subtle messages detection, I'll be straight (I am, anyway. Not that I don't support them;), I LOVE them ... as friends and acquaintances, for sure).


I said, not from geometeorological data but merely from ... a hunch. The name Ike has "historical" written all-over it. And If Ike will be anything like Ike, then ... we .. whooops - they're in for an awful lot of "inconveniance".

I'd like to comment also on the oil prices: the gist being - (also see my previous posts) - how can they still do this and people buy it? It means that the political will of the so-called free nation(s) and their willingness to open up their minds .. has just gone down the drain. Probably sometime when Valentine's day was promoted madly (see wikipedia and delve into the history a bit, back to the days of joyful celebration (and whatnot), lupercalia, in Roman Empire's times.).
Anyways - this is just the begining ... of a beautiful friendship: on the news today: America has interest in keeping the Kavkaz region safe. Thus giving a coupple of a million dollars to Georgia, Gruzija, for ... restoration and peace ... keeping. Of course, not oil-and-Europe-in-the-CLAAAAWWWs-of-the-world's-deadliest-nation type of thingy. Not, not as such. Not really. For sure.
... ? ...

Lets eat seasoned fruit!

Yeaaaa! People are finally getting it (see bellow): and I would gladly cut down on pineapple usage if this sort of law was put into debate. Gladly. I don't NEED to eat cherries in the mid-january. It's nice, especially the romantic/erotic potential it holds, but hey(!) I would give it all up for mummy (Earth;).

Gordon Ramsay has reportedly ordered that chefs should be fined if they serve fruit and vegetables which aren't in season at the time.
Ramsay claims he has already spoken with Prime Minister Gordon Brown about the food issue, and believes it would cut carbon emissions because less food would be imported.
source: http://www.media-mentor.co.uk/news/media-training-news/ramsay-dictates-what-we-eat-in-restaurants

Kloniranje ljubljenckov

Očitno ljubezen do ljubljenčkov ne pozna niti smrti več. Berite priložene povezave oz. google it.
Zanimivo pa je, kako različni viri predstavljajo neko novico: npr. ameriški timesONline se je odločil z nami prijazno deliti CELOTNO zgodbo (vsaj tako zgleda, nisem bral) O Napadu in Rešitvi, tele tete Ms McKinney, ki je bila očitno nekoč tudi lepotna zmagovalka ... em, pardon - zmagovalka lepotnega tekmovanja.

Tale vir, na BBC-jevi strani od RSS feeda uspe biti bolj nevtralen in tudi pove enega ključnih stavkov in misli, ki pa jo je - vsaj dozdevno - veliki The Times "kar" spregledal:

the best way Dr Lee explained it is we can give him his body, you are going to give him the love and environment to recreate the original Booger's personality."
Professor Lee Byeong-chun, who was part of the team that created the world's first cloned dog - Snuppy the Afghan hound - in 2005. (google search)

No, tale dohtar se mi je ravnokar odkupil.

In v razmislek (ipak je že pozna ura, jutri pa delam): izraz segregacija in diskriminacija bo postal očitno še očitnejši (I just love me;) - a najprej ljubljenčki, then the world, Binky! Ne, a resno: naročite si otroka, z genskim inženiringom, z toliko in toliko IQ-ja, lasmi, "tan-om", muskulturo, itd. Super. Vzgojite ga. Kul (ja, valda). In čez 10, 5 let imate spet keš za novega. Ampak ... trg je "napredoval": zdaj lahko za isti dnar dobite dvakrat pametnejšega, dvakrat bolj atletskega, lepšega, super-otroka. Kul? In če bi bili vi tisti prvi otrok, sedaj vedoč, da ste bili kupljeni in da je vaš brat nova verzija windowsev oz. Linuxa?!!! Halooo? Am I the only one who's bothered by this?! (Stvar je nekako povzeta po dokumentarnem filmu Life running out of control, o GSO-jih. Glejte.) (Mind you, there's a Slovenian version as well.)

Za tiste, ki vas živi svet dejansko zanima, pa še tale, morda zanimiva, a morda tudi spregledana novička:
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) -- A U.S. scientist said Sunday he has discovered the globe's tiniest species of snake in the easternmost Caribbean island of Barbados, with full-grown adults typically stretching less than 4 inches (10 centimeters) long. Vir.

You don't have to be a superhero to save the world

Ne stekam cist, ampak ok;) Je pa definitivno sporočilno. In razloženo tule.

Kind of goes with the song from Eurythmics: I saved the world today, doesn't it?

Save the RAINFOREST?

SLAP! I love ads like this one on the World Wildlife Fund page. Wicked. Thanks, Lara.

Then again - every decent (morbid/resignated) biologist will tell you that evolution just has its own path and that - THUNK - every minute a couple of species die and every day a couple -THUNK- new are discovered. The problem is - how many incredible and wonderful species have already diminished, without us even knowing?

A question of debate or morale? See, If people want to conserve the species just because of the gain (in medicine, myriads of plant species from the rainforests are used and new drugs obtained, ...), than we are, to say, a sorry lot indeed. THIS IS and should not be the question, but for some it is. But think: WE ARE MAKING STATEMENTS, every day, every minute. By what clothes we wear (who made them, how FAR they were transported, which materials used), what we eat, who we buy electricity from (from more "greener" companies or not?), what we go to work, school, cinema, ..., with.

Here's one unverified source, saying:

Experts estimates that we are losing 137 plant, animal and insect species every single day due to rainforest deforestation. That equates to 50,000 species a year. As the rainforest species disappear, so do many possible cures for life-threatening diseases. Currently, 121 prescription drugs sold worldwide come from plant-derived sources. While 25% of Western pharmaceuticals are derived from rainforest ingredients, less that 1% of these tropical trees and plants have been tested by scientists.

See the page.

So, biologists and conservational biologists and ecologists (if we deem the term appropriate) have decided: "Huh, right. Save the wales by saying yachts are in danger of being sunk? A bit of a far stretch, but OK, I'll buy it!"


And for the last moral: Most medicine men and shamans remaining in the Rainforests today are 70 years old or more. Each time a rainforest medicine man dies, it is as if a library has burned down.
When a medicine man dies without passing his arts on to the next generation, the tribe and the world loses thousands of years of irreplaceable knowledge about medicinal plants.

Vote ONE '08

Bono has something to say (the link on TED talks).
Bellow the One Vote from and for the One campaign promo video. Worth seeing.

BTW, the Bono TED prize wish (the link above on the top) is really great. Not great and Great, if you catch my drift.

ONE heart, ONE soul, ONE campaign

Dear ONE Member,

To me, a promise is a fairly simple thing. I promise to do something, then I do it. For European leaders, it seems that is not the case.

In 2005, thanks to pressure from people like you, the EU leaders promised to increase their collective spending on poverty-focused development assistance to a total of 0.56% of Gross National Income by 2010 and 0.7% by 2015. But right now, they are dangerously behind where they need to be in order to keep this promise.

We haven't forgotten their commitment, and—as ONE—we're working to get them back on track by asking European Commission President Jose Barroso to start taking the steps necessary to make sure that promise is kept.

Click the link below to add your name to the petition to President Barroso urging him to help Europe keep its promise to the world's poorest people.
http://www.one.org/international/barroso/o.pl?id=354-3921378-30G6JA&t=2

Petition text:

President Barroso,

We urge you to do all you can to ensure Europe keeps its promise and establishes concrete timetables to collectively deliver 0.56% of Gross National Income (GNI) towards development assistance by 2010 and 0.70% by 2015.

We'll deliver your message to Barroso just ahead of the summit of EU leaders in Brussels next week, where he will have an excellent chance to spur progress for fighting extreme poverty and global disease.

And we're not the only ones calling for our leaders to take action next week. In late May, the General Affairs and External Relations Council (GAERC), comprised of the European Union's Development Ministers, called for comprehensive plans for meeting poverty-fighting commitments.

Joining our voices with those coming from within the European Union is one of our best chances to pressure officials into taking action, so this is our moment. Please sign the petition to President Barroso:
http://www.one.org/international/barroso/o.pl?id=354-3921378-30G6JA&t=3
This extra reminder to leaders like President Sarkozy and Chancellor Merkel will show them that we haven't given up on their promises and nor should they. We want to encourage them to get back on track to delivering the assistance that can make such a big difference to the lives of so many—in the last few years alone this assistance has helped to give 29 million more children in Africa an education. But with 72 million children around the world still missing out on a basic education, this is no time to give up on their promises.
Thank you for helping out,
Roxane Philson, ONE.org
ONE.ORG | BLOG | PRIVACY | SUBSCRIBE | UNSUBSCRIBE | CONTACT US | ABOUT

To illuminate things: BONO from U2 on TED talks (a great site ... amazing - check it out.)

The Animal planet (animals save the planet)

One link I gt these days you simply got to see: nice - humorous and witty videos of animals made of play-doh, doing stuff they shouldn't be doing, stuff we're doing ... and should.
So to go to the videos page: click here.

turn on the speakers!

To figure out what you can do, straight away, is what green people and orgs are sounding for years now: reduce electricity and water consumption, drive a bicycle or walk, use renewable resources, recycle, energy-saving light bulbs, new insulation, ya-di-ya-di-ya.
Check out the bear and the penguin and the hippopotamus! The eels are quite wicked as well;)
I'll finish almost like in that song: "Save you, save me, save us together, ... naturally!"

Ohranjanje planeta ... in samih sebe

Vsake toliko naletis na netu na kaj res fletnega. No, definicija "vsake toliko" je seveda odvisna od tega, kako pogosto in kako dolgo si na netu. Sploh pa v dobi interneta in kabla je to postal (na žalost?) relativen pojem.
Funny, though: ko smo bili mi otroci (no, niti tako star nisem!) smo dejansko imeli domače številke od nekaterih svojih sošolcev, se kdaj poklicali in kar je še več, šli do njega ali nje domov, fizično pozvonili na zvonec ... in .. ta-daa, počeli nekaj skupaj. (Ok, saj smo bili tudi mi povsem navdušeni nad računalniki in smo viseli pri sošolcih, ki so jih ravno takrat dobili (486-ke ali celo prve pentiume), a starši so vsaj imeli toliko moči (/nadzora/volje/želje), da so nas po nekem času spodili dol s kompjutra.)

No, pa da ne bom utrujal in moraliziral: spodaj slika in povezava do tega, kar sem dejansko želel objaviti in napisati oz. deliti s svetom.

Gifts for a LIVING planet

WWF ali World Wildlife Fund je mnoge (vsaj mene) navduševal že kot otroka. Se še spomnite tistih zelenih albumov, v katere smo lepili sličice z redkimi in ogroženimi vrstami? For me, one of the first steps to conservational biology (and sadly, still one of the only ones I made thus far. (Have to pass my first year, first;)

Well, the reason for this post is quite obvious: something quite coolishly conservational and eco-doh-logical: Gifts for a living planet
The point is - you can give someone say, a "Give a goat to-a-localfarmerinorderforthemtostophuntingthesnowleopard and save a snow leopard".
Quite a cool gift, If you ask me (someone who got it, actually;) "I" sent a turtle to rehab. Aaww, don't you just love your girlfriend? Over and out.

Dvoživke na Večni poti

Pozdravljeno, občestvo!

Danes smo postavljali ograjico za dvoživke na Večni poti - tam, pri ljubljanskem živalskem vrtu, saj veste.
Na spodnjem blogu, imenovanem DVOŽIVKE NA VEČNI POTI, lahko najdete dodatne povezave in informacije. Za vse, ki si želijo sami doma postavljati ograjo, pa naj si pozorno ogledajo fotogalerijo;)

go wild ... literally;)

Yup - everybody's doing ... it, so why not you?

"Biti zelen, je postala pomembna tržna niša oz. dodana vrednost podjetja. Dejansko, če sledite spodnjemu linku, sem naredil BANKI HSBC reklamo --- zakaj? Ker so bolj zeleni in ker sem tudi jaz bolj "zelen" in je meni to npr. pomembno + še en razlog več, da ostanem pri njih.

To be green has become a major market niche, ie, added value in the sense that if a company can offer me, as their customer, a viable option of "being green" thorugh them, to me, they have gone up a scale. Take a look at the bank HSBC's Go green option.

Funny, though, how things coincide - hm... "you're green - wau! So are we! Come and spend money with us!!!":))) So do not be hoodwinked by these .. modernday-dirtycapitalism-hipocrisy. The bigger wave has yet to come. Unfortunately.

But still: this week's special: GO WILD with BBC, which is supporting BTVC and the Wildlife Trusts across the lands.

Have fun, kids:)

for short .. for sure ... for real ... for us/me:)

mja - na kratko.
Skotska je bila d best. Anglija in Skotska sta bili napacna odlocitev .. po svoje. Ampak ... Osebna legenda (P. Coelho) je pač svojeglava zadeva in jaz živim svojo ... zato se vseeno ne sekiram - sedaj, ko sem spet sprejet med Študenstko srenjo.
Is-land - dia best... Objavim fotko, ko bo vreme - ah, zdej:

Vec pa naslednjic:)

vir:http://homepage.mac.com/pbize1/Menu1.html

Live Aid/ EARTH concerts

... I signed and I belive ... did you? DO you?

I PLEDGE: ...

Več na: www.avaaz.org
SIGN the damned thing!;)) Else we perrish soon ... -er ... :) :( :)))

Se ponavljam, ampak: Ko bi vsaj vsi na svetu razmišljali indijansko. Wikipedia: Cree prophecy. oz:

"Sólo después que el último árbol haya sido cortado,
Sólo después que el último río haya sido envenenado,
Sólo después que el último pez haya sido pescado,
Sólo entonces descurbirás que el dinero no se puede comer."

The whole world's a stage ... eee ... boiling pot

Kot sicer ITAQ vemo vsi (do we/they really?), se naša ljuba mala neugledna modra pega prahu vedno bolj očitno pregreva.

Kot bi rekel Douglas Adams: /.../ an utterly insignificant little blue-green planet whose ape-descended life forms are so amazingly primitive that they still think digital watches are a pretty neat idea.

One Thursday lunchtime the Earth is unexpectedly demolished to make way for a new hyperspace bypass. For Arthur Dent, who has only just had his house demolished that morning, this seems already to be more than he can cope with. Sadly, however, the weekend has only just begun, and ...

S tem nenako nisem povedal nič novega, bom pa izpostavil en problem, ki sva ga danes/včeraj skupaj z dechvo ugotavljala v Pe~nasu: mediji in politiki in vsi, problematizirajo neke teme (pustimo to, da delajo to seveda zaradi gledanosti=denarja od oglaševanja oz. podpore volilnega telesa, ob strani) ampak najhuje je to, k so privzeli neko morbidno držo, s katero naj bi kao pokazali svoj/naš prav in intelekt.
In zakaj je to problem? Because after the statement, they simply dismiss the PROBLEM in the lines of:'Well, it's all going down the drain, anyway/what can there be done? / it's here.' Ja, iiiiinnnn? What, we gonna just sit here and wait for the effects of our past deeds to affect us and everything else as well?
Ja, NE, ane! We fight. We die. We die proudly. ;)
A little big man statement:Today is a good day to die.

Old Lodge Skins: Come out and fight! It is a good day to die! Thank You for making me a Human Being! Thank You for helpin' me to become a warrior! Thank You for my victories, and for my defeats! Thank You for my vision, and the blindness in which I saw further! You make all things and direct them in their ways, O Grandfather. And now You have decided the Human Beings will soon walk a road that leads nowhere. I am gonna die now, unless death wants to fight. And I ask You for the last time to grant me my old power to make things happen.

Problem bo samo en ... ko bo RES vroče, si bomo vsak dan želeli, da bi bil "lep dan za smrt".

(pa brez zamere, Niet-i:)

Ko bi vsaj vsi na svetu razmišljali indijansko. Wikipedia: Cree prophecy.

From Big Chief to ... apples?