Experts say Province of Alberta's plan to protect provincial rivers won't work

                  Image:This image shows the existing river system in the Province of Alberta
                     Source:


To read an article entitled, "Provincial rivers plan slammed", which was written by Karen Kleiss and published in the Wednesday, August 31st,2011 edition of the Edmonton Journal newspaper please click on the following link: http://www.edmontonjournal.com/life/taste/Provincial+rivers+plan+slammed/5330685/story.html

As stated in the  Journal news article whose title I quoted above: "Federal officials and independent experts say Alberta’s plan to protect provincial rivers won’t work, and could even accelerate environmental damage", "new documents show  (The new document is this one: http://www.pialberta.org/sites/default/files/Documents/SSRB-WMP-Documents.pdf  (Note:You need a program on your computer which can read PDF Files to access the document). Note in yellow the option the Government of Alberta chose to follow!)

 "A March 2006 report by independent environment consulting firm Gartner Lee states: "The plan fails to propose any meaningful measures or strategies which would fulfil the government's commitment to protect the aquatic environment".

Once again we see that the Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta could care less about another aspect of Albertas' environment, this time the health of  our river system has been placed in jeopardy by this party's  lack of willingness to engage in actions which would ensure that these rivers and the life within them be conserved! Isn't it ironic that experts feel this way regarding a Party's environmental platform when the party has the word "conservative" as one word in its official legal name?

And how do the ruling Progressive Conservative party respond to these accusations? In this fashion:
"Alberta Environment spokesman Chris Boudreau said the government consulted a wide variety of experts and had to make tough decisions."  This plan is so badly created that the Federal Government of Canada's  Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DF)..."is now disassociating from the plan due to the concerns that the water conservation objectives are insufficient to protect the aquatic environment.". Alberta Environment spokesman Chris Boudreau when asked why the former environment minister told Albertans the plan would protect the environment when several reports said it wouldn't, stated, "We've done as much as we can to create water conservation objectives that allow as much water as possible to remain in the river."

Mr. Boudreau, it seems the experts disagree with you, and if the Government says it has done as much as it can, then it  is time for you to resign your position, so that someone else can do more for the rivers of this  Province!  In addition, it is time for Environmental Minister Rob Renner to resign, as well as Deputy Minister of Jim Ellis, and all of your Assistant Deputy Ministers and all other politically appointed members of your staff! (see document: http://environment.alberta.ca/documents/dep_org.pdf
because Albertans deserve to have politicians in place who are not willing to quit on something as important as the health of Alberta's rivers!!

 Mr. Renner, the people of the Province of Alberta deserve to know how much taxpayer's money was spent on these  experts you consulted with, and  who these experts are, experts which in reality the Federal Government of Canada is calling  incompetent" because  the plan was so badly created?

To read a letter to the editor I wrote to the Edmonton Journal newspaper about this situation please click on the following link:

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/technology/enough+being+done/5344426/story.html

Wolves found to be beneficial for the survival of the Canadian lynx!!

In an article entitled, "Wolves May Aid Recovery of Canada Lynx, a Threatened Species" which was published to the ScienceDaily.com website, it is stated:


"As wolf populations grow in parts of the West, most of the focus has been on their value in aiding broader ecosystem recovery -- but a new study from Oregon State University also points out that they could play an important role in helping to save other threatened species."

"In research published in Wildlife Society Bulletin, scientists suggest that a key factor in the Canada lynx being listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act is the major decline of snowshoe hares. The loss of hares, the primary food of the lynx, in turn may be caused by coyote populations that have surged in the absence of wolves. Scientists call this a "trophic cascade" of impacts."

This new research certainly indicates how important wolves are to the ecoystems which they live in, and it shows that we humans have no business engaging in culls of animals such as wolves, when we think their populations are too high.It also shows that people such as ranchers who are demanding in some states in the USA, and some other places in the World,  that wolf culls occur, have no right to suggest these wolves need to be killed because they are a menance to  livestock, when wolves are playing such an important role in the ecosystem! If these ranchers find some way to get the Governments in these states to sanction wolf kills, all this is going to do is faciliate a surge in the coyote populations in these states, and consequently this fact will result in the loss of hares and a decline in the lynx populations in these states! In other words, if humans interfere in the natural order of things in nature, we invariably cause harm to other species on this planet, harm which may not ever be undone!

When  are humans going to accept the fact that all life on this planet is interconnected and interrelated in a deep way, and that we have no right as a species to deliberately reduce the population of a species of life on this planet, because it is acting in a natural way (in the case of wolves  they are acting as predators in their interaction with rancher's cattle?) Instead of culling wolves, other solutions to these Cattlemen's problems relating to wolves acting naturally need to be found! Culls will solve nothing, in fact the research I mentioned above shows that wolf culls will have a deterimental effect on the Canadian lynx species!

To read the entire arcticle please click on the following link:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/08/110830144530.htm

Soure of image of Timber wolf: http://www.copyright-free-photos.org.uk/wolves/index.htm

Source of image of Canadian lynx:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Canadian_lynx_by_Keith_Williams.jpg

Source of image of coyote: http://www.weforanimals.com/free-pictures/wild-animals/coyotes/1/coyote-3.htm Photographer: Brian Harry

The animal's voices are silent

Revised northern land plan under fire

To read an article entitled, "Revised northern land plan under fire", written by Provincial Affairs Writer Keith Gerein of the Edmonton Journal, please click on the following link:http://www.edmontonjournal.com/technology/Revised+northern+land+plan+under+fire/5326418/story.html

From the article: "The Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta, "lacks strategies to reduce tailings ponds (thus putting all kinds of wildlife at risk for death), limit land use (so that land exists for the wildlife and the plants of this province), and manage biodiversity, including the province's threatened population of woodland caribou..."


The people of this province want to know Mr. Ed Stelmach when your government is going to focus on other things besides "Big Oil" and  issues relating to your own retirement as leader of this Province? Mr. Stelmach in an article entitled,"Stelmach Government Fails to Plan for a Sustainable Future" (from the year 2007)  which you can read by clicking on the following link: http://www.toxwatch.ca/node/49 it is stated, "The Stelmach Government’s first budget does little to acknowledge the accelerating environmental impacts of an overheating energy sector, let alone begin to address them, three leading environmental organisations said today.
“The environment was a complete no-show in this budget,” said Amy Taylor, Senior Economist at the Pembina Institute. “Premier Stelmach’s government doesn’t seem to understand that the environment is a priority for Albertans, and that Albertans’ priorities need to be reflected in the budget."

In 2009, "To add to the long list of international publications that have focused on the environmental costs of the oilsands, National Geographic chose its March edition to splash images of the development - with at least four pictures depicting unsightly tailings ponds - across its pages alongside an article." At that time, Simon Dyer, oilsands program director for the Pembina Institute, an environmental think-tank, said, `industry and government need to take responsibility for the environmental performance of the oilsands.'' In this same year,  the government (of Alberta)  released a long-awaited, 20-year blueprint for Alberta's oilsands that aims ``to reduce the environmental footprint, optimize economic growth and increase the quality of life in Alberta's oilsands regions.'' However, according to experts,  "the report was immediately criticized for being light on details."   Mr. Stelmach, the people of this province want to know when you and your ministers are going to star to take responsibility for the environmental performance of the Oilsands?  Premier, you have been quoted in public as stating, "“the environment trumps the economy”  (source:http://ken-chapman.blogspot.com/2008/03/stelmach-is-right-environment-does.html) , however you have failed to back up these words with concrete policy and plans to protect the  physical environment and the plants and animals of this Province! The people of this province want to know why we should trust you or any Progressive Conservative leader of the province in the future, regarding anything you say or anything this future PC leader of the province says, when you have failed to  show the people of this Province and the World through your actions and policy , that the "environment trumps the economy"!

Mr. Stelmach what do experts think of you? This is what they think:

Pembina reacts to revised draft of Lower Athabasca Regional Plan

Released: Aug. 29, 2011
Media contact: Jennifer Grant, Julia Kilpatrick

CALGARY — "Jennifer Grant, director of the Pembina Institute's oilsands program,made the following statement in response to the release today of arevised draft of the Government of Alberta's Lower Athabasca Regional Plan:
"The government's effortsto accommodate industry interests are apparent in this version of the LowerAthabasca Regional Plan, with the adjustment of some protected areas, and newloopholes introduced last week that allow further exemptions to environmentalstandards.
"With the federalgovernment signaling last week that writing off 95 per cent of caribou habitatis an acceptable approach as long as thousands of wolves are killed to limitpredation, we are not confident that Alberta's delayed caribou and biodiversitystrategies will protect the province's ecosystems.
"In this latest draft ofthe plan, the Alberta government has missed the opportunity to improve on theweaknesses we identified in the previous version, including adequate protectionfor caribou habitat, allowing logging in some conservation areas, and the lackof limits on water withdrawals from the Athabasca during low-flow periods.
"The Pembina Institute hasrecommended that the draft regional plan should be reviewed by an independentgroup of scientists and overhauled to ensure the protection of the regionalenvironment. It now appears these recommendations have been ignored." (source:http://www.pembina.org/media-release/2258 )

Mr. Stelmach at a time when the school children of this province are returning to school to learn and achieve in the classroom, the people of the Province of Alberta have to give you a big-fat "F" in your performance  for your failure to protect the environment of this province, and a second big-fat "F" for failing to act and create policy to prove that you really meant that the "environment trumps the economy". These failures have began occurring when the Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta took power 40 years ago and have been repeated over and over again by the Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta, in its 40 years of ruling this Province!! Consequently the Progressive Conservative Party deserves a big fat "F" for its performance relating  to the environment and the plants and animals of this province over this 40 year span! And is is the people and the other life in this Province which have been suffering because of this failure to protect the environment, as our  health is being threatened by your failures!! Even though you and your so-called experts do not agree with this contention!

Source of image: http://www.desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/blogimages/01_tarsands_emissions.jpg

Foxes jumping on a trampoline

I found this video on Youtube and had to share it with you it is so amazing and wonderful! That one fox seems to know that that she or he can bounce on the  trampoline! How could it know this? You can say that maybe it has been on the trampoline before or seen some human on the trampoline, however, maybe the fox hasn't either! This shows how intelligent foxes are! Thanks to Jessica for posting this video at Youtube!

Preserving 4 Percent of the Ocean Could Protect Most Marine Mammal Species, Study Finds

To read an article at the ScienceDaily.com  website entitled,

Preserving 4 Percent of the Ocean Could Protect Most Marine Mammal Species, Study Finds please click on the following link:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/08/110829115431.htm

From the article: "Of the 129 species of marine mammals on Earth, including seals, dolphins and polar bears, approximately one-quarter are facing extinction, the study said."

"It's important to protect marine mammals if you want to keep the ocean's ecosystems functional," said study co-author Paul Ehrlich, professor of biology and senior fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment at Stanford. "Many of them are top predators and have impacts all the way through the ecosystem. And they're also beautiful and interesting."

To read an abstract of  the scientific research study which is mentioned in the ScienceDaily.com article,  please click on the following link:http://www.pnas.org/content/108/33/13600.abstract

Then let all humans on this planet demand that all of the Governments of this planet come together and agree to  do this! No rationalizations or excuses from any countries  and their governments will be permitted! If the people in the Governments of this World cannot agree to engage in this initiative collectively, then there is something very wrong with our species and we do not deserve to live on this Planet!

Source of image:http://www.scenicreflections.com/download/501671/ocean_life_Wallpaper/

A Quest to Clean Up Canada's Oil Sands Carbon

To read an article entitled, "A Quest to Clean Up Canada's Oil Sands Carbon" which is at the National Geographic.com website please click on the following link:


 http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy/2011/08/110818-quest-carbon-capture-canada-oil-sands/

Source of image:http://unews.ca/incontext/item/oil-sands-toxic-runoff-not-monitored/

Why Irene Was More Dangerous Than It Should Have Been

To read an article at the National Geographic website, which is also the title of this blog post please click on the following link:


http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/08/1109829-hurricane-irene-damage-science-weather-nation-path-tracker-storm/

 

 

Hurricane Irene: time lapse animation

Here is a time-lapse animation of Hurricane Irene which was posted to Youtube by NASA. This video was taken  This animation of visible and infrared imagery  was taken every 30 minutes by the GOES-13 satellite:

At peak intensity, Irene reached Category 3 hurricane status with sustained winds of 125 mph.

NASA Catches view of Hurricane Irene

An Expedition 28 crew member aboard the International Space Station captured this video of Tropical Storm Irene on August 28 at 4:09 p.m. EDT as it moved over the east coast of the United States. My best wishes go to all of you who have been affected in one way or another by Irene! Source of video: http://youtu.be/vFY7gfHh4s0

We humans can learn a great deal from watching this video!

Why can't Humans get along like these two?

Alberta’s woodland caribou now endangered, scientists say

Once again the members of the  Progressive Conservative Party of the Province of Alberta have indicated that they could care less about a species of life in this Province. I am referring to what is said in the article, "Alberta’s woodland caribou now endangered, scientists say

 which you can read by clicking on the highlighted words above this line

. From the article:

 "It seems to us that the sectors who have caused the decline of caribou populations in the first place are the ones who create bottlenecks on government advisory committees and recovery teams and work hard to make sure that nothing changes.The caribou are always the losers in these processes."

 How disgusting it is to live in a province where the people in power have such little regard for a species of life here! Why aren't fund being allocated to make accurate estimates of the population density of the caribou in this Province? Instead of arguing about whether the caribou is or isn't endangered, spend some money and use scientific methods to find out if it is! And if it is endangered then spend some more money to do whatever it takes to save the caribou from extinction!!

And what do associations who have people interested in helping preserve the Population of Woodland Caribou in this province have to say about the situation: In the article, "2011-08-17 AWA-EcoJustice News Release: Alberta Caribou Protection Lost in Secret Forestry Deal"         

which you can read by clicking on the following link: 

http://albertawilderness.ca/news/2011/2011-08-17-awa-ecojustice-news-release-alberta-caribou-protection-lost-in-secret-forestry-deal , it is stated:

"Witha long overdue federal recovery strategy for Alberta’s critically threatenedwoodland caribou anticipated to be only weeks away, the Government ofAlberta has quietly signed a new 20 year Forest Management Agreement (FMA) withAlberta-Pacific Forest Industries (Al-Pac) that closes the door on protectingcaribou habitat in northeastern Alberta. The agreement seems to ignore theprotection scientists say is critical for woodland caribou and other wildlife affected by forestry and oil sands industries in the FMA’s 58,000 km²swath of north central and northeastern Alberta."

“Losingthis one-in-20-year opportunity is one more nail in the coffin for Alberta’swoodland caribou which are now rapidly dwindling to oblivion,” says CliffWallis of Alberta Wilderness Association. “Alberta seems to squander every conservation opportunity in order tofast-track and sew up deals with private interests. Such irresponsible behavioris counter to what Albertans have told government that they want—more forestprotection, not less.”

The facts concerning the Premier of this province and his administration are now clearer than ever! Premier Stelmach and his ministers and staff could care less about the non-human life in this province! All Premier Stelmach and his ministers and staff care about are giving into Big Oil and the Foresty Industry time after time!!All Stelamach and his crew of self-righteous baffoons  are interested in is giving  Big Oil and the Foresty Industry as much of your and my money as they can give them to destroy this Province, its wildlife and nature areas!

  I say enough of this Tory mentality! I say teach them we are not going to tolerate this kind of behavior from them anymore! Write the Premier and your member of the legislature, phone them, and indicate your disgust with their behavior.Join the provincial Conservative, Liberal and NDP parties and vote for candidates who are interested in all of the life in this Province, not just  those Candidates who are willing to help these industries destroy the non-human life in this Province!  If you do not do this, then you can expect many other species of plant and animal life in this Province to disappear due to extinction, and destruction at the hands of Big Oil and this Provincial Premier and his cabinet!  Listen to the Minister in the discourse below: Whose interests do he really care about? Isn't it obvious from what he says? Why doesn't he have the same information which Laurie Blakeman had?

Coral Sea a biodiversity hotspot for sharks

To those of you who eat Shark-fin soup and  shark parts all the time! The sharks are going to get the last laugh!  Please Read on:

To read a new article entitled, "Coral Sea a biodiversity hotspot for sharks " please click on the following link: http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/journal/coral-sea-a-biodiversity-hotspot.htm

From the article:
"THE CORAL SEA, OFF Australia's northeast coast is one of the last remaining places brimming with large predatory fish such as sharks and tuna, a study released on Saturday found." How it disturbs me when I see the phrase, "one of the last" used in reference to another form of life on this planet! What does this say about our species???  How much longer is it going to take some people on this planet to get it??? If the sharks on this planet disappear there is a very good chance that many forms of life on this planet (including our species) is going to disappear permanently!

Are those of you who live in countries where shark fishing is out of control, not listening to the experts of science because you are so arrogant and selfish and greedy that you will not stop what you are doing to save all life on this planet, just so you can have a bowl of tasteless shark-fin soup at your tables?  You may think you can do anything you want in this World, however the joke is going to be on all of you who eat shark-fin-soup and other parts of sharks! Shark fin soup, has been found to be toxic to the human body as has eating shark parts!

"There is no accepted scientific evidence that shark fin provides any medicinal or health benefit!! In contrast, studies show that shark is among the highest levels of toxic mercury that is found in fish. And, that mercury can be very hazardous to our health."  This last statement comes from experts at:

http://www.sharksavers.org/en/learn-more/shark-fin-soup-is-not-healthy.html

So before you eat that next bowl of shark-fin soup or next piece of shark meet, think about what you are doing! Think of the grief and pain and suffering not only you have caused the sharks of this World, but also the grief and suffering you are going to cause your family and loved ones when they are at your funeral,because you have  selfishly refused to listen to scientific experts concerning the toxicity of shark-fin soup and shark meat!  This is what is going to happen to your body because of the  mercury poisoning it is going to experience, because you refuse to stop eating shark-fin soup and shark parts: Can you live with these? 

Symptoms of Chronic Mercury Poisoning

CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM

• anxiety/nervousness, often with difficulty in breathing
• fearfulness
• emotional instability
  -lack of self control
  -fits of anger, with violent, irrational behavior
• loss of self confidence
• indecision
• shyness or timidity, being easily embarrassed
• loss of memory
• inability to concentrate
• insomnia
• mental depression, despondency
• 
  
• suicidal tendencies
• manic depression,Multiple Sclerosis

muscle weakness progressing to paralysis

HEAD, NECK, ORAL CAVITY DISORDERS

• bleeding gums
• alveolar bone loss
• ulceration of gingiva, palate, tongue
• dizziness/acute, chronic vertigo
• hearing difficulties
• speech and visual impairment
  -glaucoma
  -restricted, dim vision 
• 
  
• CARDIOVASCULAR EFFECTS
  • abnormal heart rhythm
  • characteristic findings on EKG
    -abnormal changes in the S-T segment and/or
    -lower broadened P wave
  • unexplained elevated serum triglyceride
  • unexplained elevated cholesterol
  • abnormal blood pressure, either high or low,heart attack
  
  IMMUNOLOGIC
  • repeated infections
    -viral and fungal
    -mycobacteria
    -candida and other yeast infections
  • cancer
  • autoimmune disorder
    -arthritis
    -lupus erythematosus (LE)
    -multiple sclerosis (MS)
    -scleroderma
    -amyolateral sclerosis (ALS)
    -hypothyroidism
  
  SYSTEMIC EFFECTS
  • chronic headaches,allergies,
  •  thyroid disturbance
  • subnormal body temperature,unexplained anemia,Chronic kidney disease,kidney infection  
  • 
    
  • Source:http://www.mercurypoisoned.com/symptoms.html
  • 
    
  • Do you really want to risk eating shark-fin soup and shark parts now?
  • 
    

  • Still not convinced then watch this video:This is what is going to happen to you if you continue to  eat Shark-fin soup and shark parts:

    
    

Rhinos threatened with extinction to meet demand for bogus cancer cure

To read an article entitled, "Rhinos threatened with extinction to meet demand for bogus cancer cure" please click on the following link:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/aug/20/rhinos-threatened-extinction-cancer-cure

If you live in the Far East then please read this recent article which  was published on the Asian Scientist website:

http://www.asianscientist.com/topnews/wwf-traditional-chinese-medicine-rhino-horn-cancer-cure-cites-meeting/

rhino horn cannot cure cancer!


Please do not waste your money and endanger the population of Rhinos in the World by purchasing Rhino horn.Please watch these videos:

Be warned poarchers and those of you who think rhino horn can help you medically, those rhino horns you have may contain a dangerous poison which could kill you! If you do not believe me then watch the video at this website:http://tv.breitbart.com/plan-to-poison-rhino-horns-to-curb-poachers/

It is time for the USA and Gabon to stop using Chimpanzees for medical research

According to an article I just read entitled, "Chimpanzee Research and Endangered Species as experts debate usefulness,ethics," which was written by Brian Vastag of the Washington Post,

 "the highest scientific body in the land (USA) put the issue on trial as a committee of the Institute of Medicine, part of the congressionally chartered National Academy of Sciences, met to deliberate the fate of nearly all of the world’s remaining medical research chimps". source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/chimpanzee-research-an-endangered-species-as-experts-debate-usefulness-ethics/2011/08/12/gIQAGt0xDJ_story.html


As stated by Roscoe D. Bartlett in his article in the New York times entitled, " Stop Using Chimps as Guinea Pigs" , "chimpanzees experience pain, stress and social isolation in ways strikingly similar to the way humans do.James Marsh’s recent documentary, “Project Nim,” chronicles the 27-year life of Nim Chimpsky, a chimpanzee who was the subject of a controversial research project that involved raising him as though he were a human. Nim was taught sign language — and he used those signs to tell his human interlocutors that he was traumatized by his living conditions."  source: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/11/opinion/stop-using-chimps-as-guinea-pigs.html

Chimpanzees are extremely intelligent and exhibit extremely complex social behavior and we humans have no right to imprison them for grisly scientific research experiments or for any other reason!!

    In the article: "Animal rights: Chimpanzee research on trial: it is stated:

  
"In the United States, public pressure to shut down the research intensified after the television exposé. The show contained video footage obtained surreptitiously by an HSUS investigator who infiltrated the NIRC and worked there for nine months."
"In one scene from the resulting documentary, aired by the ABC news show Nightline, a sedated chimp fell several feet from a bench to the cement floor of a cage. In another scene, a sedated chimp is carried by its arms and legs, not on a stretcher."

"Footage of some of the centre's monkeys was equally damaging. A technician hit a baby on the head after it bit her, and another employee rapped a monkey's teeth with a metal pole. In a different scene, an anaesthetized monkey was allowed to fall from a chest-level counter to the floor of a lab room.
The show drew strong reactions. Jane Goodall issued a statement saying: "In no lab I have visited have I seen so many chimpanzees exhibit such intense fear."  source: http://www.nature.com.  (Note you have to get an account at www.nature.com to read the article)

It is time to stop using Chimpanzees for human purposes and ends! These facts about Chimpanzees justify my statement:

1."Chimpanzees are our closest living relatives, sharing more than 98 percent of our genetic blueprint. Humans and chimps are also thought to share a common ancestor who lived some four to eight million years ago.Chimpanzees are highly-intelligent animals"

2."Chimpanzees are one of the few animal species that employ tools."Chimpanzees use more tools for more purposes than any other creatures except humans.  These statements show how intelligent they are as a species and as individuals!

3."Chimpanzees communicate much like humans do -- by kissing, embracing, patting on the back, touching hands, tickling."

4."Historically, chimpanzees have been used in all manner of invasive experiments, from head injury experiments to space research in which they were spun giant centrifuges and placed in decompression chambers to induce unconsciousness. Today, chimpanzees are used predominantly in infectious disease experiments, most commonly hepatitis and AIDS. Once infected, these chimpanzees often remain isolated from other chimpanzees and confined indoors for life.
The AIDS epidemic was the driving force behind the government’s chimp breeding program. But the chimpanzee model for AIDS has been a failure. Although chimps are the only known animal other than humans that can get infected with HIV, the infections seldom develop into full-blown AIDS, because the virus replicates differently in chimp cells than in human cells." This is so cold and callous of scientists to use chimpanzees in this awful manner!

sources :http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/chimpanzee/ ,
http://www.olpejetaconservancy.org/chimpanzee_sanctuary/facts , http://www.janegoodall.org/chimpanzee-facts
http://www.idausa.org/facts/chimpresearch.html

What can you do as an individual to help Chimpanzees?

Please visit the following websites and find out:

http://www.savethechimps.org/

http://www.chimphaven.org/donate-make.cfm

http://www.janegoodall.org/action

http://www.redjellyfish.com/wildlifeconservation.html

http://www.adopt-a-chimp.com/about.html

A hundred years from now....

100,000 visitors to my Blog!!!

I just noticed that my blog counter indicates that I have had 100,000 visitors to my blog since I started it! I would like to thank each and every one of you who has visited my blog! I hope you have found what I have posted interesting, educational and sometimes even humorous. I tend to be a serious-type of person, who is trying to use this blog (now more than ever) to indicate issues which I feel are important to all of us on the planet,especially those related to the environment and the life on this planet! Thanks to all of you who have taken the time to leave comments relating to my blog posts,and a big thank you to those of you who have come back to my blog more than once and  big big thank you to those who follow my blog on a regular basis!!

Sharks, polar bears and otters are not simpler versions of ourselves

To read an article entitled, "Sharks, polar bears and otters are not simpler versions of ourselves " which was written by Libby Brooks of the Guardian.uk.com website please click on the following link:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/aug/19/sharks-polar-bears-otters-animal-behaviour Libby Brooks makes a very important statement in her article, that being:


"When animals accidentally act like humans they are redefined as cute, or sympathetic, or good learners. It is only when humans exhibit their basest nature that they are accused of acting like animals. It turns out that it is not animals themselves that are unsophisticated, but our own all-too human expectations of them.".

"And humans who complain about how animals act seem to forget how some humans act towards other life on this planet, for instance in Ohio County, Indiana, "a cruel event is scheduled where snapping turtles will be SLAMMED TO THE GROUND, swung around repeatedly, and have their heads yanked from their shells."


"Ohio County, Indiana, is home to an extraordinarily cruel event called "Snapperfest"—next scheduled for this Saturday, August 20! Every year at the Campshore Campground, wild-caught snapping turtles endure terrible violence at the hands of participants. The frightened animals are grabbed by their tails and repeatedly slammed to the ground. Their heads are yanked from their shells, and they are then swung around until "contestants" are able to wrap their fists around the animals' necks."

There can be no justification which can allow such an event to happen in this World! Not only is this "event" causing an innocent form of life, these turtles to be maimed and killed but it is also against local laws relating to animal cruelty (I checked this online!). Please send  the people of this County a message by signing the petition at the following link:

http://www.change.org/petitions/stop-snapperfest?utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=share_petition&utm_term=autopublish

The fact that children in this area of Indiana may watch such brutality because they are brought to the area where the brutality is taking place by their parents is extremely troubling to me!. As stated in the petition:

"A history of animal cruelty during childhood was significantly associated with APD, antisocial personality traits, and polysubstance abuse. Mental handicap, psychotic disorders, and alcohol abuse showed no such association.," J Am Acad Psychiatry Law 30:257–65, 2002"

Would you want your children or your friend's children exposed to such a disturbing circumstance?


Source of images:Sharks:http://imagecache2.allposters.com/images/ARTPUB/CRB002620_36_24.jpg
Polar bears: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2b/Cub_polar_bear_is_nursing_2.OGG/mid-Cub_polar_bear_is_nursing_2.OGG.jpg

Otter:http://www.sudburyaviation.on.ca/mushroom-picking-forest.php

It's Time To Get Out of Bed: 5 Ways to Increase Your Motivation

My friend, Allen Loomis  has written some new posts on his Self-Improvement Blog. Here are the topics with links to each blog post:

(1.) Three Ways to increase your daily energy:
 http://www.successdemandsaction.net/2010/11/3-ways-to-increase-your-daily-energy.html

(2)39 ways to simplify your life:
http://www.successdemandsaction.net/2011/02/39-ways-to-simplify-your-life.html

(3)The Little Guide to Inspiration:
 http://www.successdemandsaction.net/2010/10/little-guide-to-inspiration.html

(4) Its time to  get out of bed: 5 ways to increase your motivation: http://www.successdemandsaction.net/2010/11/5-ways-to-increase-your-motivation.html

(5)Richard Carlsen quotes:Stop sweating the small stuff:
http://www.successdemandsaction.net/2011/06/richard-carlson-quotes-stop-sweating.html

(6) A real practical approach to making things happen:

http://www.successdemandsaction.net/2010/11/practical-approach-on-how-to-make.html

(7) The secret of your success is defined by your daily agenda:
http://www.successdemandsaction.net/2010/09/secret-of-your-success-is-defined-by.html

I hope you find the information in these posts as useful and helpful as I have!

Biodiversity: Top predators critical to ecoystem health

“The loss of apex consumers is arguably humankind’s most pervasive influence on the natural world,” and has disrupted ecosystems across the researchers concluded in their study, published last week in the journal Science."  This quote is taken from an article entitled, "Biodiversity: Top predators critical to ecoystem health which I found at Summit County Citizen's Voice website. To read the entire article pleas click on the highlighted words in the previous sentensce.

This new study and its conclusions certainly are troubling news!  As stated in the article:

"Plummeting numbers of apex consumers are most pronounced among the big predators."..."There also are dramatic declines in populations of many large herbivores"...

If apex predators are removed from an ecosystem, many very bad consequences can occur, as pointed out in the article.However, other scientists consider another consequence to be even more severe from such a situation,that being, "a huge increase in smaller "mesopredators" that are causing major economic and ecological disruptions." "Mesopredators are middle trophic level predators such as raccoons, skunks, snakes, cownose rays, and small sharks."

 This consequence was first pointed out in the article "Loss of Top Predators Causing Ecosystems to Collapse" which was published at the LiveScience.com website and which can be accessed by clicking on the following link:

http://www.livescience.com/9716-loss-top-predators-causing-ecosystems-collapse.html 

As stated in the livescience.com article:

"Primary or apex predators can actually benefit prey populations by suppressing smaller predators, and failure to consider this mechanism has triggered collapses of entire ecosystems."

So once again our species has been shown to adversely affect the other life on this planet and the ecosystems within which this life exists! Humans need to stop killing apex predators, because of fear, ignorance or selfishness, if all of the  in the ecosystems on our planet are to avoid collapse! 

Here are some other articles which are directly related to these new scientific findings:

1. Effects of Shark Decline:http://www.coml.org/discoveries/trends/shark_decline_effects

2.Why Healthy Oceans need sharks: http://na.oceana.org/sites/default/files/o/fileadmin/oceana/uploads/Sharks/Predators_as_Prey_FINAL_FINAL.pdf  (You need a program that can read PDF Files to read the article).

3.The Rise of the Mesopredator: 

http://www.cof.orst.edu/leopold/papers/mesopredators.pdf  (Again this article is in PDF format).

Source of definition of mesopredators: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesopredator_release_hypothesis

I thought Canada was a democracy and a Sovereignty!

I thought I lived in a democracy and I thought that Canada was a sovereignty  ! After turning on the news at 6 pm today I guess I am wrong on both accounts! This blog post deals with the fact that  "Government of Canada Defence Minister Peter MacKay said Tuesday his government has corrected a historic mistake by restoring the "royal" designation to the air force and navy, a move he says will come at a minimal cost."   (source:http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2011/08/16/pol-military-renaming.html )

Historic mistake? Minimal cost? Canada is an independent country, and it should not have any  political ties with Great Britain and its so-called "royal family" any longer, which suggest that Great Britain and its royal party have  any influence over us! However, to me, this decision by  Peter MacKay once again will have the people in other countries thinking that our armed forces (and country for that matter!), do have a link which is one in which the Royal Family and Great Britain have a great deal of influence on what goes on in Canada!  If Defense Minister Peter Mackay wanted to have such a designation re-applied in Canada, then he should have asked the people of Canada if we wanted it rather than pushing through his views and beliefs on Canadians!

In addition, the people of Canada want Defense Minister Peter Mackay to come clean and publically state to us exactly how much restoring the "royal designation" to Canada's armed forces is going to cost the taxpayers of this country!

As stated  in the above-mentioned CBC news article, "former Government of Canada defense minister,  Paul Hellyer,  however, the man responsible for removing "royal" from the air force and navy titles and introducing the unified command structure in 1968, said that MacKay is the one making a mistake.
"I'm very disappointed, actually very sad … I think it's really moving backward," Hellyer told CBC News, adding that the name changes are returning Canada — and the Forces — to a "semi-colonial status."

Mr. Mackay you have no right to force your views on the people of this country in this matter! I for one do not want our armed forces to return to having the "royal" designation!  And Mr. Mackay the fact that you would consider restoring the "royal" designation to Canadas' armed forces, let along force this decison down our throats shows how out of touch you are with Canadians, and it also once again shows how arrrogant  and self-righteous the  members of the ruling Progressive Canadian party of Canada are!

Mr. Mackay not only have you alienated yourself from Canadians with this decision, you also suggest by thinking of and implementing your decision, that those men and women who risked their lives, and lost their lives  in the World's  World Wars, and who did so to  defend and preserve Canada's sovereignty, did so for nothing, because now Canada has returned to "semi-colonial" status in the eyes of the World!

Elephant poaching fuelled by China boom

To read an article entitled, Elephant poaching fuelled by China boom  which is at the www.nzherald.com website please click on the following link:

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10745148&ref=rss  This article states:


"Elephant poaching in Africa and Asia is being fuelled by China's economic boom, says a study of the ivory trade.Authors of the report say the number of ivory items on sale in centres in southern China has more than doubled since 2004, with most traded illegally."
"Based on the results of their survey, the ivory researchers are calling for China to tighten its enforcement of ivory trading regulations, saying that such a move is vital to reduce the number of elephants that are killed illegally."

Esmond Martin, a Kenya-based expert on the ivory and rhino-horn trade is quoted in the article as stating: " It is shocking that the retail ivory trade is not better controlled in southern China. China continues to be the largest importer of illegal ivory in the world, mostly from Africa, but also from endangered Asian elephants. "Inspections of shops would not take much money nor manpower ..."
"There has also been a dramatic surge in rhino poaching across Africa. The price of rhino horn has soared in the Far East where it is used in alternative medicine."

These findings are awful! How dare some Chinese kill elephants because they  believe parts of the elephant have medicinal value! Why is this revelation only coming to our knowledge now?

"Kenya's president set fire to more than 5 tons of elephant ivory worth $16 million on Wednesday (July 20th,2011) ", in an act meant to focus attention on a rising tide of poaching deaths."Elephant numbers are much healthier today, but elephant advocates say a second elephant crisis is coming, as China's middle class seeks to satisfy its ivory appetite." (source:http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Kenya-torches-5-tons-of-ivory-apf-3720013944.html?x=0&.v=1 )

I have stated this before on my blog, however I am stating it again in order to help save the Elephant species on this planet! Please stop buying goods and services from the Chinese! And if you have the opportunity to do so, tell the Chinese why you are doing so, because of their disgusting record relating to the killing of animals on this planet for their own selfish pleasure!

Here is a news report about the poaching which is occurring to Elephants in this World:This news report is from 2010:

Conservation group buys land for grizzly migration

To read an article entitled, "Conservation group buys land for grizzly migration" which was posted to the CDApress.com website please click on the following link: http://www.cdapress.com/news/local_news/article_012db528-c394-11e0-a41e-001cc4c002e0.html

From the article: "MISSOULA, Mont. (AP) — A conservation group has bought 71 acresin the Yaak Mountains in northwestern Montana near Troy with thegoal of improving migration corridors for grizzly bears and otherwildlife in the region.
The Missoula-based Vital Ground Foundation bought the land thisweek from a private landowner." To learn more about Vital Ground Foundation please visit their website at: http://www.vitalground.org/ .

This is wonderful news for the Grizzly Bear species! Thank you Vital Ground Foundation for caring so much about Grizzly bears! It is too bad that the people of Alberta or a conservation group in Alberta would not do the same here to help our Grizzly Bear population have a better chance of surviving extinction in this province  
due to our uncaring Provincial Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta!!

Source of image:http://animacenter.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/grizzly-bear-family.jpg

Today's zoos are becoming modern day arks

To read an article entitled, "Today's zoos are becoming modern day arks " please click on the following link: : http://timestranscript.canadaeast.com/lifetimes/article/1429315 .   The reason I am mentioning this
article is because of the question which is posed in the last line of the article:

"While saving the endangered species by making this ark is a great idea, is it really that great if those animals will be exclusive to captivity?"

Why should animals be forced to live in captivity simply because we humans have totally overrun the natural habitats of these animals? What does it say about our species if animals can only expect to live in zoos as a means of  ensuring their survival on this planet? It says we are selfish, that we are irresponsible for overpopulating this planet and  that we could care less about the fact that many of  these animal species were here before we were on this planet and have established ways of living (including migration) that humans are destroying forever!

All animals (like these zebras below deserve to live in their natural habitats (such as Kruger National Park in South Africa):

and not like this!!: in a zoo:

Source of  photos: top: http://joelabs05.blogspot.com/2011/01/zebras-in-kruger-park.html
bottom:http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/01/f0/c2/5c/sierra-safari-zoo-zebras.jpg

Environment Canada to slash 776 jobs

To read an article entitled, "Environment Canada to slash 776 jobs" please click on the following link:

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/technology/Environment+Canada+slash+jobs/5208933/story.html 

Why is the Government of Canada reducing the number of scientists  who are involved in researching climate change, weather forecasting and protecting nature? Apparently,according to this article  people who are losing their jobs in weather forecasting  are losing them as  a result of the fact that the government of Canada would rather have automated weather stations gathering weather information than humans!!! How can the Government rationalize this?

According to the article, "Automatic Weather Stations for Agricultural and Other Applications" which you can read at:http://www.bom.gov.au/inside/services_policy/pub_ag/aws/aws.shtml ,:


 AWS suffer a number of disadvantages. These are:

• Some elements are difficult to automate (e.g. cloud cover)
• AWS require a large capital investment
• AWS are less flexible than human observers

Why is the Government of Canada choosing to spend  so much tax-payer money on AWS when this 

money could be used for more important things? In addition why is the Government of Canada choosing

to employ technology which is not perfected for forecasting weather? I say this because at the website:

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automated_airport_weather_station, it is stated:

"At present, automated airport weather stations are unable to report a variety of meteorological conditions. These include: 

• shallow or patchy fog
• blowing dust
• smoke
• falling ash
• volcanic eruptions
• tornadoes
• precipitation that is not in the form of rain or snow, such as hail, ice pellets and snow grains
• multiple forms of precipitation falling at the same time
• depth of new snowfall
• total snow depth
• in-cloud and cloud-to-cloud lightning
• clouds that are not directly above the station
• clouds that are more than twelve thousand feet above ground level
• cloud type

"Because many of these (conditions)  can pose dangers to aircraft and all of these are of interest to the meteorological community, most of the busier airports also have part-time or full-time human observers which augment, or provide additional information to, the automated airport weather station's observations. Research is on-going to allow the automated stations to detect many of these phenomena.
Automated stations can also suffer from mechanical breakdown, requiring repair or replacement. This can be either due to physical damage (either natural or human caused), mechanical wear, or severe icing during winter weather. During system outages, human observers are often required to supplement missing or non-representative observations from the automated station."

So now we must ask the question: Is the Government of Canada placing Canadians who use aircraft flight, at risk by using these automated  weather stations instead of humans? Is the Government placing all of us in more danger (in terns of possibly creating circumstances in which more aircraft may crash and kill passengers,crew members and innocent people on the ground,) by forcing Environment Canada to use AWS instead  of humans, when these  devices may not be suitable for use in certain kinds of weather conditions? I wonder!!

source of image:http://threemilesfinal.com/?tag=transport-canada

Red wolf comeback in N.C. helps other animals thrive

There is a great deal of controversy in our World at the present time concerning a species of animal we all have come to know, that being wolves. In certain states in the United States, wolves have been protected, because their populations had been troubled. Sadly because of the lobbying of ranchers and farmers in the United States, wolves are not going to have their populations reduced. Many wildlife experts see this as plain and simply wrong, because they say wolves are part of the natural ecosystem which exists in these states, and my culling wolves, damage is going  to be done to the natural balance of nature,which existed before humans came on this planet and before we interfered with this balance with our behaviors.  Why am I telling you this? Because I have come upon a new article which is written by  Helen Chappel, who is  Staff Writer for the NewsObserver.com  website. In her article entitled, "Red wolf comeback in N.C. helps other animals thrive", Helen Chappell states: "


"Research from around the globe, compiled in an article in the journal Science last month, shows just how deeply large predators like wolves and cougars are connected to the ecosystems where they live.If predators vanish or reappear, even plants and soil might feel the effects. Predators play a crucial role in shaping the landscape."

This article shows how important wolves (in this case, the Red Wolf species) are to the proper functioning of an ecosystem. The roles and behaviors which wolves assume and engage in during their daily lives are crucial to these ecosystems. This is why we have to sigh and shake our heads in disdain when we hear that certain states in the United States are making the Wolf species the villain for loss of cattle and other animals in their states! These culls of  wolves in these states seem to have more to do  with the selfish interests of some people in these states, and the lack of understanding on the part of politicians in these states as to the damage they are going to cause to the ecosystem in these states, rather than due to the fact that wolves are causing "problems" in these states!

To read the entire article by Helen Chappell please click on the following link:

http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/08/13/1409507/red-wolf-comeback-in-nc-helps.html


To watch a two part video entitled, "Recovering a Species - The Red Wolf " please click on the following links:
Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WMQOD6pe1Q

Part 2:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pd7NzHkaiL0&feature=related

To read some scientific articles which prove how important wolves are to the ecosystem please click on the following links:

 "Wolves are rebalancing Yellowstone ecoystem:". Link:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/10/031029064909.htm

"The Ecology of Fear:Wolves Gone:Western Ecosytems suffer" Link:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/12/041208224943.htm

"Protecting Wolves in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem" Link:http://wyoming.sierraclub.org/issues/wolves/index.html

"Wolves helped to save ecosystem" Link: 

http://www.canada.com/Wolves+helped+save+ecosystem/5112026/story.html?id=5112026 

"Why restore wolves In North America?" Link:http://www.defenders.org/programs_and_policy/wildlife_conservation/imperiled_species/wolves/wolf_facts/why_restore_wolves.php

"Wolves and Coyotes:Their Place In The Ecosystem is Recognized" Link: http://www.all-creatures.org/cash/cc2010-sp-1.html 

To learn more about Red Wolves please visit these websites:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Wolf

http://www.defenders.org/wildlife_and_habitat/wildlife/red_wolf.php

http://www.cosmosmith.com/red_wolves.asp

http://redwolves.com/rwc/index.html

Source of image:http://nywolf.blogspot.com/2009/07/with-help-from-species-survival-plan.html

Roving the Red Planet

To see photos from seven years of the Mars Rover please click on the following link:http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1869259_1820314,00.htmlTo learn more about the Mars Rover and its mission please visit the official NASA website for the project by clicking on the following link:http://marsrover.nasa.gov/home/index.html

Source of image:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d8/NASA_Mars_Rover.jpg/300px-NASA_Mars_Rover.jpg

Tigers could be extinct in 12 years!!

To read an article entitled, Tiger Extinction: Tigers Could Be Extinct In 12 Years If Unprotected , which  
was written by  Irina Titova of the Huffington Press, please click on the following link:


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/22/tiger-extinction-tigers-c_n_786659.html


We humans are responsible for the dilemma we have placed this important Apex predators in!. What can we now do to save the Tiger species from extinction?


Solutions exist which will save the Tiger species from extinction. Please click on the following link to see how you can help our Tiger friends survive!:




http://www.savetigersnow.org/solutions




Please watch this video and share it with your friends! We have to save our Tiger friends!

DNA in Space?

Image:A star supernovaes spreading DNA into space


According to an article entitled, "DNA in Space? Biological Building Blocks Found in Meteorites" which was written by  Michael D. Lemonick of Time Magazine, scientists have discovered that meteorites which have come to the Earth contain amino acids. This indicates that life on the plant might have come from somewhere else other than this planet. To read more about this finding please click on the following link:

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2087758,00.html#ixzz1UkfRtoVO

To watch a video at the Space.com website concerning this topic please click on the following link:

http://www.space.com/12578-evidence-space-created-dna.html

To read an article at the NASA website entitled, "NASA Researchers: DNA Building Blocks Can Be Made in Space" please click on the following link:

http://www.nasa.gov/topics/solarsystem/features/dna-meteorites.html

As some people suggest maybe life does exist on other planets or in other galaxies. They suggest it may have tried to contact us until it saw the mess that we humans are making of the planet for ourselves and other life here. Maybe if we change how we treat our home and other life on this planet, these visitors will return?

Here is a NASA video which discusses this new finding: