ReThinking Afghanistan Where You Live

Time to start rethinking Afghanistan and our involvement? Yes, here's a good way to start!

clipped from rethinkafghanistan.com The most important part of our nationwide campaign to end this pointless and counterproductive war is your involvement. It's easy to get involved in your community: just organize a grassroots screening of Rethink Afghanistan. During the month of August, members of Congress will be back at home in their districts. People all over the country will be organizing Rethink Afghanistan screenings and inviting their Congressional Representatives to attend. By organizing your screening this month, you can show your Congress Member that voters in your district care about this issue.

The Cow Pie BioGas and Flu Connection

When you take cow pies from dairy farms and from feed lots around the world and dump them into an anaerobic digester as well as manure fro pig farms and from chicken and utrkey farms - you get methane gas that can be bottled, piped and will burn more cleanly than carbon based gas. AND, and, and since during the digester process, the manure is raisde to over 104 degrees F for more than three hours, the viruses that carry influenza to ppigs and people are killed, do not mutate into new forms and other nasty viruses that kill animals and humans are also zapped.

Fill up on cow, pig and chicken plop for a healthier planet!

clipped from www.tierramerica.info To obtain biogas, the biological degradation of the organic material - the manure - must be the result of anaerobic bacteria, microorganisms that live and reproduce without oxygen. This controlled process can capture a biological fuel rich in methane that when burned releases much less carbon dioxide than a coal or oil fueled power plant. Even better, biogas production is an efficient solution for handling animal waste. The manure from livestock on dairy farms, feedlots, meat-packing plants and other sites, like García's farm, can be turned into the raw material for fuel, as can waste from the production of cane alcohol, processed fruits and vegetables, and even sawdust.

We are Connected - It's Blowing in the Wind

Some doubt how connected we are and how regional or local events can have an impact half way around the globe. Here's a photo of dust from North Africa wending or rather winding up over Great Britain. So if 20,000 Libyans or Tunisians sneeze at the same time: France, Belgium, Nhe Netherlands, England and Sweden can catch cold? If half the trees in the Amazon or the Congo are cut down - there is less humidity rising up in the air and the shifting of the winds and rains back and forth - north and south is changed.

clipped from earthobservatory.nasa.gov Mixed with white streaks of clouds, a huge plume of African dust is blowing over the United Kingdom (left) in this Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) image from the Terra satellite on April 15, 2003. In the waters of the North Sea between the UK and Denmark (to the east), the water is swirling with color that could indicate a mixture of sediment and marine plant life.

When Mother Nature Strikes Back in Self-Defense - It's Not Easy or Pretty

Why the strange header? Because producing transgenetic fish is even dumber than trying to screw things up on land.

I suppose we do these dumb things for two reason - money and because we can. Neither of these reasons are very good and will do us more harm than not.

Can you imagine the "Oops, we're sorry. We did not anticipate the results of a spill from our GM fish lab into the Atlantic Current. It seems that all fish have been infected with a newly formed virus and that it may take years for the ocean to produce new life on its own. And, well - we have no idea on what impact this will have on other forms of life on the planet, including us. But the Mechanical Engineering Soceity said they will study making mechanical fish to compliment their failed idea about artificial trees to reduce CO in the atmosphere.

clipped from persianoad.wordpress.com Risks Involved With Transgenic Fish Fast growing transgenic fish can revolutionise commercial fish farming and relieve the pressure on overexploited fish stocks. But what happens in the natural environment if transgenic fish escape? Researchers at the University of Gothenburg have studied transgenic fish on behalf of the EU and are urging caution: “Until further notice transgenic fish should be bred in closed systems on land,” says Fredrik Sundström at the Department of Zoology, University of Gothenburg, Sweden.

Dolphin Murdered by thousands

Animal cruelty is animal cruelty, just as cruelty to people is cruelty to people. Some would exclude banning or protesting certain human practices out of respect to cultural difference. My answer is although some sub-cultures still believe it is ok to enslave others, or that forcing sex on women and children or permissible - the global culture will no longer tolerate such practices.

Killing, slaughtering dolphins just because you can and have done so is no longer acceptable global behavior!

clipped from www.independent.co.uk Captured on film: dolphin bloodbath Japan tries to hide Documentary 'The Cove' shows dolphins driven to death or captivity by the fishermen of Taiji On Wednesday, the same gruesome sequence of events will unfold. And so it will continue for six months, until the dolphin hunting season concludes. Around Japan, about 20,000 of the gentle, intelligent mammals are killed every year, more than 2,000 of them in Taiji, which – according to a new film, The Cove – is the site of the world's largest dolphin slaughter. Although dolphins belong to the same family as whales, they are not protected by the international ban on commercial whaling.

Something Completely Different: Good News for Madagascar

We can breath a little easier in hte next 10 years or so because why? Reforestation has begun in Madagascar. Didn't know they needed it? Well, they are not in the news so much - that's one of the reasons I clipped the story. Many of the worst cases of environmental damage - we never hear of - until it's too late.

Did you know China wanted to lease hundreds of thousands of acres of land in Madagascar to farm and import food for themselves - a revolution ensued and the dust has not yet settled. Well to do countries all over the world are still messing up land elsewhere in ways they could not get away with at home - but it all comes home eventually - vial a flu pandemic, if no other way.

clipped from www.foko-madagascar.org Reforestation Project In Madagascar With Zebu Nation Underway A joint project between Zebu Nation and Foko focusing on reforestation in Madagascar had its first two outings in Antananarivo (Ambohitrarahaba) and Mahajanga (Vohitsoa). Zebu Nation is a group led by NY-based Malagasy singer Razia Said that dedicate a portion of each sale from their album entitled “Zebu Nation” to regrowing the vanishing forest of Madagascar.

Tweet Ideas 2 Help LA/California - Go4It!

Gotta hand it to Governor Terminator - twittering ideas to help get California out of debt. Most democratic idea, I've heard of in a long time - or at least until President Obama started talking to supporters and then never stopped.

clipped from www.myidea4ca.com Tweet Your Idea to MyIdea4CA.com Categorizing your tweet is important so that people can better find and vote on it when viewing the "Most Recent" and "Most Popular" sections for the different category areas.

Human Trafficking: It's not just about sex slavery

Like that relatively inexpensive Asian fruit you can get at your local Safeway, Ralphs, Krogers? Was it picked by forced labor in Hawaii? What about those great, cheap tomatoes you get in the winter? Were they slave labor picked or by United Farm Workers?

clipped from www.honoluluadvertiser.com Aloun Farms owners indicted in forced labor of Thai workers The owners of a Kapolei farm known for supplying a rich variety of Asian vegetables, melons and other produce to the state's largest wholesalers and grocers have been indicted on charges alleging the forced labor of 44 Thai nationals brought to Hawai'i under a federal agricultural guest-worker program.

300 or 27,000 US prisoners overseas?

If true that US has control over 27,000 prisoners related to people turning in "who knows who" is a "terrorist."

I'll check out but is this another case of what are we fighting for - people who want to use us to settle scores by turning in their competitor or personal enemy as a terrorist?

clipped from www.youtube.com US holding 27 thousand in secret prisons-2/2

US holding 27 thousand in secret prisons-2/2

I am going to have to look and see if this is accurate. If yes, then many more of us need to know this and demand change.

How Big is your "trash" footprint on the Earth Today?

If this were you just hanging out, how much trash would you have generated today?

Linnea's work is mind blowing in detail.

clipped from www.flickr.com Generation trash Linnea Strid's photostream

Muslims Watch Our Feet, Not Our Lips

Muslims are no different than any of us - they have been lied to enough to kknow that it is people's actions that count; not what they say.

The General hits ot right when he says that each time we diverge from our central American values - we get in trouble with everyone, not just muslims.

clipped from www.nytimes.com Message to Muslim World Gets a Critique WASHINGTON — The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has written a searing critique of government efforts at “strategic communication” with the Muslim world, saying that no amount of public relations will establish credibility if American behavior overseas is perceived as arrogant, uncaring or insulting. “To put it simply, we need to worry a lot less about how to communicate our actions and much more about what our actions communicate,” Admiral Mullen wrote in the critique, an essay to be published Friday by Joint Force Quarterly, an official military journal. “I would argue that most strategic communication problems are not communication problems at all,” he wrote. “They are policy and execution problems. Each time we fail to live up to our values or don’t follow up on a promise, we look more and more like the arrogant Americans the enemy claims we are.”

Teddy and Obama - Yes We Can!

Hold the vision, pass the torch, focus on what we can do together by working together.

clipped from www.flickr.com President Barack Obama talks alone with Sen. Edward Kennedy in the Green Room of the White House March 5, 2009. (Offical White House Photo by Pete Souza)

Doubt We Are Changing Climate? Check This Out

Just look at the photo and the outline superimposed that shows the old shoreline of the Aral Sea. Remember that weather flows around the globe like a river or series of rivers. Now think about all the local eco-disasters humans have created and start adding them together - duh!

clipped from blogs.nature.com Aral Sea shrinking continues - August 27, 2009 A newly released satellite image from NASA shows that nearly nothing remains of one part of the once proud Aral Sea. Irrigation projects started by the Soviet Union in the 1960s led to the sea shrinking hugely, eventually splitting into northern and southern halves. The latter later split again into an eastern and a western body of water.

I Love LA But a Dodger Blue Casket?

For those of you that always thought LA was weird - here's further proof - grin. I grew up there but always thought the death industry was a bit strange. Someone is even auctioning a spot near Marilyn Monroe and will move her dead husband to another spot - she needs th emoney to forestall foreclosure on her home.

clipped from www.sgvtribune.com Rose Hills offers baseball caskets WHITTIER - This is for Dodgers fans who pledge lifelong loyalty to the ballclub and wish they could offer a little more. Finally - pardon the expression - a chance to demonstrate your devotion to the Dodgers for all eternity.

Rats Small Out TB Better, Faster Than Human Labs

Boy that smells bad! Your nose, a dog's nose and now a rat's nose can smell out disease maybe faster and better than mechanical or lab tests.

clipped from www.herorat.org Fighting Tuberculosis 2,529,000 new case of Tuberculosis were reported in Africa in 2005. This accounted for 29% of new TB cases reported globally. The concept is very simple: rats sniff a series of holes, under which human sputum samples are lined up for evaluation. They pinpoint the samples which contain TB bacteria. Their correct indications are rewarded with a food treat. Currently HeroRATS serve a population of 500,000 people in deprived communities in Dar Es Salaam and Morogoro, and weekly find 5 to 10 patients that have been missed by mircoscopes.

Support Positive Action on Climate Change

It is too late for some changes but not for those that may help humans to survive to 2110. The time is now, you are one of the people who can make a difference - let's work together now.

clipped from www.sealthedeal2009.org Global Climate Week 21 – 25 September 2009 Global Climate Week is planned to coincide with the United Nations Secretary-General's High Level Summit on Climate Change on 22 September 2009. Organize public events or online activities to encourage as many people as possible in every corner of the world to sign the Climate Petition. We need millions to show their support in favour of a definitive agreement on climate change by signing the Climate Petition, which calls on leaders to sign a definitive and equitable agreement on climate change this December. Day 2 - Sunday, 20th Climate Petition Day

Viva Baja California y Musica Mexicana!

What can I say - grin. I've always loved this music as well as blues and rock and roll. You don't need a cerveza cornoa to listen, just an ear for music that lights up you vida!

clipped from myradio.batanga.com Simpre Baja California About the Station: I half grew up in Ensenada, Baja California and Mexicana in Hussong's Cantina was the music that was ever present along with my 1950's rock and roll. Mexicana

Slavery Today Ugly - Look at it!

Another take on the varieties of modern slavery being practiced all over the world.

clipped from forpeace.net Slavery Now More Than Ever By Mark Svensson, with Tarik Abdelqader The term "modern-day slavery" refers to the status or condition of a person who is under the control of another person, where that control is enforced by violence or psychological coercion. Here in the 21st century, the main forms of modern-day slavery are chattel slavery, debt bondage, and child labor. Human trafficking, another major dilemma, serves as a pipeline for many forms of slavery today. And while some of these forms of modern slavery occur in other parts of the world, our own country is deeply implicated in this abhorrent practice. Debt bondage, or bonded labor, is the most widely practiced form of modern slavery around the world. In Southeast Asia, where it is most prevalent, Anti-Slavery International estimates that debt bondage claims an estimated 15 to 20 million victims.

Stealing & Selling Kids - Here!

Child trafficking is a problem in Eastern Europe, in South Asia and USA. It's not just for sex that children are trafficked but that's the big ticket item here in USA. Disgusting - yep. Who's buying and who gets jailed when police departments stop denying there is a problem in their community. In Cincinnati, they think it's not a problem but it's not just weed and coke that travels I-74, I-75 and I-74 interstates!

clipped from globalvoicesonline.org Human trafficking in the United States is an often undetected problem because the victims are usually hidden from the public view. The victims are enslaved into illegal jobs often in the sweatshop labor or clandestine sex services. Frequently the victims are minors brought into the United States by organized crime cartels. clipped from globalvoicesonline.org USA: Activism to Stop Human Trafficking clipped from globalvoicesonline.org Across America, about 800,000 children are reported missing each year, 33% of which are African-American. In New York City last year, half of reported missing children were black and 60% were female. And these aren't 17-and-a-half-year-olds; most of the girls were between 13 and 15. Other urban areas like Atlanta, Washington DC, Chicago, and Los Angeles with large African-American populations also have high instances of young black girls being kidnapped or “running away”. But what's happening to these girls? Surely they don't vanish into thin air?

Water - Use It Wisely - Painting

Linnea Strid has a number of paintings that feature water. Try not to waste is great.

clipped from www.flickr.com Try not to waste Oil on plywood, 30 x 28,5 cm. linneastrid@yahoo.se