Deforestation
Drones
crash (all the time), Como Zoo Escapees, and
other news and reviews
Deforestation &
Apollo 11 Anniversary
Earth Imitates Moon
July 21, 2014
On this 45th
anniversary of men landing on the moon, mankind
continues
to take steps to make the Earth look more like the Moon through
deforestation.
Around the world, rainforests are logged for wood and paper.
The
(usually) thin soil is then used for mono-crops like soy or
palm oil. Or the land is stripped for mining gold or copper.
Deforestation is responsible for up to 20% of global
greenhouse gas
emissions.
The Players
The World
Wildlife Fund (WWF), the Brazilian Biodiversity Fund, and
Brazil are protecting
150 million acres of the Brazilian Amazon rainforest. That's
almost the size of Texas. Let's see... 2,124,000 square miles
(Amazon rainforest) divided by 234,375
square miles (this protected area) equals only 11%. That's
something, but that's not much. WWF
has been accused of corporate greenwashing -- providing
sustainability certifications in exchange for donations from Monsanto
and Wilmar
International.
Cargill
has
long been criticized
for deforestation of the Amazon for soy farming. Last April,
Cargill sent
a letter to the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO)
promising a zero-deforestation commitment. Environmental
groups are wary.
Greenpeace
is asking
people to contact Herackles
Farms (Herackles
Capital) alias Sithe Global Sustainable Oils
Cameroon (SG-SOC), to try to get them to stop
their plans to bulldoze
282 acres of African rainforest in Cameroon for palm oil.
Herackles Farms may sell
off their three year land deal that endangers
Elliot chimpanzees.
• Nature
Conservancy -- Osa
Peninsula rainforest
protection in Costa Rica at $50
an acre & 140
million acres in Brazil
• Rainforest
Alliance -- international food product labeling (Balance
bar, Dove
dark chocolate, Lipton
tea, Naked
juices ...)
• Forest Stewardship Council
-- international forest certification and labeling system
that was established to offer a single, easily recognizable label for
wood and forest products (Greenpeace FSC
page).
More information: Ecologist - Don't Be Fooled By Zero
Deforestation Promises
Greenpeace - Solutions To Deforestation
Huffington Post - Deforestation: The Over-Looked
Climate Driver and What You Can Do About It
Music Association: Pink Floyd -
Dark Side of the Moon
Como
Zoo Escapees
July 17, 2014
Three western lowland gorillas
escaped their enclosure a week ago at the Como Zoo in St.
Paul.
Virgil
(450 pounds),
Jabir (420 pounds),
and Sampson (390
pounds) pushed through an unlatched door into the hallway behind the
gorilla and orangutan exhibits last Thursday before the Como Zoo
opened. The escaped animals (code 99) alert was announced at
9:50am. Zoo staff found Virgil and Jabir in the hallway and coaxed them
back into their exhibit after only 20 minutes. Sampson found the
enrichment closet and was playing with the boomer balls and throwing
things around. It took a while longer to coax him back into the Gorilla
Forest exhibit. He had been out for 50 minutes.
No tranquilizers were used. The public was never endangered.
The
gorillas were never harmed. If anything, the gorillas had some fun.
Compare that to the 8 year old male endangered Mexican gray
wolf that
escaped Minnesota Zoo
in Apple Valley three years ago. The wolf
trotted by people on a bridge who snapped this
picture before the wolf was shot by zookeepers. Not shot as
in can-I-take-your-picture?
or shot as in tranquilized, shot as in killed.
During six years (2006-2012) of the Minnesota Zoo dolphin
exhibit, they
managed to kill
six dolphins. Oops.
The Minnesota Zoo could learn some things about keeping
animals alive
from the Como Zoo.
Instead they seemed to have taken their lessons from China's Chendu
Zoo, which tested their emergency preparedness in 2011 by
shooting
a guy in a Tigger costume.
Music Association: Scorpions -
Zoo
Movie Association: Dawn of the Planet of the
Apes (opened
Friday, July 11th)
Hopes and
Dreams 2011
coverage of zoo escapes
When Drones Crash
July 14, 2014
More than 400 drones have crashed over the past 12 years. The
Washington
Post
studied the 194 upscale $2 million+ drone crashes and concluded that
most were Air Force MQ-1 Predator drones crashing in Afghanistan (67
crashes), United States (47 crashes), and Iraq (41crashes).
Crashes are on the rise :)
and plenty occur in the United States, as if the United States is
attacking the United States.
Last November, a BQM-74
drone crashed into the USS Chancellorsville at port in San
Diego, injuring two sailors. Also in November, a MQ-9
Reaper drone crashed into Lake Ontario. In October 2013, a MQ-1
Predator ($4.5 million) drone crashed in New Mexico. It was
the 9th drone crash there. Are we at war with New Mexico?!?
Pilots remotely control the drone while watching video-feed
on TV. When
a MQ-1 Predator crashed in Nevada in May 2013, the pilot was saying,
“This
thing’s kind of
climbing like a pig. Climb, you pig... Boy, this is going to
be
tight... Okay, interesting. We are falling out of the sky.”
When a MQ-9 Reaper crashed in Nevada in December 2012, the pilot was
saying, “We’re
in the soup here... Dude, uh, we’re not sure what the
aircraft is doing... Yeah, we crashed.”
Right before takeoff at Jalalabad
air base
in eastern Afghanistan in July 2012, the MQ-1
Predator camera operator tells the pilot, “Stop
saying ‘uh-oh’ while you’re flying.
It’s never
good. Like going to the dentist or a doctor... ‘Oops?’
What the f--- you mean ‘Oops?’ ”
Moments later after crashing the MQ-1
Predator, the pilot
said, “Whoa... I
don’t know what the hell just happened.”
[source]
Music Association: Peter
Schilling - Major Tom (Coming Home)