Hopes and Dreams
click map
Hopes and Dreams homeHopes and Dreams Stuck on AutoDriveTwin Cities CalendarCreativityPicture Perfectabout Hopes and DreamsAutoDrive


Deforestation
Drones crash (all the time), Como Zoo Escapees, and other news and reviews







Hopes and Dreams

Deforestation &
Apollo 11 Anniversary
Earth Imitates Moon
July 21, 2014

deforestation in Borneo

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









Hopes and Dreams

Como Zoo Escapees
July 17, 2014

Three western lowland gorillas escaped their enclosure a week ago at the Como Zoo in St. Paul.
Como Zoo, St. Paul, Minnesota
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.

Tiger watches wounded Tigger

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







Hopes and Dreams

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.

R
ight 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]


when bees crash


Music Association: Peter Schilling - Major Tom (Coming Home)







        newer posts      |     Hopes and Dreams      |     older posts           


© Copyright 2014 Hopes and Dreams. All rights reserved.  Minneapolis - St. Paul, Minnesota - Contact  Privacy
Read the novel -- Hopes and Dreams: Stuck on AutoDrive