Friday 31 December 2010

Bloody Party

For different questions, one of the things that get on my nerves is everything related to bullfighting. I don't know if it is the experience of Life or whateverthing related with the pass of the years but fortunately little by little I'm getting over the subject and I am able to cope with it when somebody says they are for the "party".

Some time ago, when for circumstances of life I spoke more to my friend Vicente about this issue, one of my statements was to say "I don't know what's up in the mind of those people who enjoy such insulting spectacle. How do people can enjoy  such slaughter and call it "art"?

From my mind "art" it's creation. How can people call art something which suposes the jibe and destruction of a life just for fun? Can we call art the fact of pierce with a sword  sombody's lungs and heart? Does it justify the diversion of a minority the violation of the most important right that any thing on Earth has (it's the right to live)? To make matters worse, there are some people who attend bloody events like bullfighting and later are saying they're against war and abortion... I can't absolutely understand  how somebody can call art the fact of stucking harpoons (normally called banderillas) to an animal without any reason and last but not least,  to go through its lungs, causing a flood of blood which culminates in death by suffocation.

It's not something punctual to see how the animal ends its days among vomits of blood, I can't think in such fast death as someone tries convince us... have we gone crazy? Has somebody heard the word "puntilla", that's the typical knife used just in case the animal is a bit "rebel" to die. No comments, there are no justification to  keep this bloody business on.

Here you can appreciate the bullfighter sticking something on the upper part of the bull's neck (the "puntilla").


After seeing all this we have still people for bullfighting saying, you eat pollo and beef, don't you? In my case difficult it is besides I'm a vegetarian, but in a slaguhterhouse, if the animal is treated as it is supposed ,it should not suffer a hell as it happens in the square, what some of us call the circle of the unliterates. Everybody deceives a decent death.

If you come to Spain you will be able to listen quotes as "if bullfighting didn't exist bulls would become extinct" but as romans did, e.g. threw christians to lions, today we can continue enjoying the lions in the wild fortunately. What's more, we have some animals like donkeys which became obselete but which are protected and subsidized nowadays. So what's the problem? 

Others say that bullfighters put into risk their "boles", yes, as you listen but... let me tell you that there are other "machos" like workers cleaning windows in skycrapers, divers working in the very deep in oil rigs at sea, people working at height in windpower farms, electric pylons, police officers, fire men, military, etc, etc... And of course, it is unacceptable to say that the bull can defend itself cause if it is not killed by the first bullfighter will be the second or the third and so on. Bullfighting is not hunting, I'm not for hunting but in general the animal has the possibility of escaping. The story of the bull is crystal clear: once in the square, what we call "ruedo", its days are numbered, the story is finished (except in a very, very few number of occasions in which it's reprieved).

Last but not least, I leave you a video to show everybody round the world a little sample of what happens in our "national party". This is not Spain and not all spaniards are for bullfighting, for goodness' sake!! Thanks Stefano for the links.


Happy new year 2011 to everybody and I hope the new year comes with stronger acts to prohibit bullfighting once for all.



Wednesday 8 December 2010

The Revenge

Some shameless people should be in the situation of the video.He who lives by the sword, dies by the sword.

Monday 6 December 2010

Quotes


The magician made a gesture
and famine disappeared,
the magician made a gesture
and poverty disappeared.
The politicien made a gesture...
and the magician disappeared.

Wednesday 24 November 2010

Orange or Lemon?









The Orange

In April 2007 the news related to climate were about if we warm the planet more than two celsius degrees, as an average, the damage will be irreparable and maybe events will be out of control. Global temperature had increased 0.7 ºC by that moment. It was also told that we were on time to reduce our emissions but this seems not to have changed so much. There have been some steps but, have they really been enough? Some comments from the NASA.

The Lemon

Between the end of this century and the beggining of the following, the millions of us who already live, or have survived, we'll have to do it at the Poles where climate will be comfortable enough. James Lovelock. Scientist and inventor.


Which flavour do you prefer?

Wednesday 27 October 2010

Have Things Changed Something In 6 Years?


I posted in April 2007 some comments about de main headlines related to the environment. In that moment after 3 years, things hadn't changed a lot. Now, 3 years later, the question is reaised once again. Maybe people are more concerned, there are some steps being taken but there's a new question: can these measures catch up with the level of destruction? I'm in doubt. Three examples to think about: Europe's seas face 'bleak future', €1.1 trillion and 2010 living planet report. And now some headlines from 2004 to 2007:
  • Climate change threatens beaches in the Mediterranean Sea.
  • Patagonia's glaciars could disappear in twenty years time.
  • Global warming could come great famines and the melting of the Himalaya.
  • Climate change will leave 200 million refugees in 2050.
  • Ten important natural reservas under threat.
  • Global warming threatens 30% of flora and fauna.
  • Equator declares the Galapago Islands at risk.
  • Scientists declare the collapse of marine ecosystems.
Amen.

Monday 18 October 2010

The Footprint Of Your Bottled Water

First of all here you are a report about the footprint of bottled water consumption: click here. Second, when we buy something I think we should take into account the point of departure of the product so that way the thought would become part of what is called "responsible consumption".

Among the products with an important footprint is not only the bottled water but also off-season fruit. We could say that eating the off-season fruit has become second nature but if we take into account that such fruit has been brought from Equator to Spain for example, that could be something bad as it has surely been brought by plane (a really important machine for generating CO2 emissions). If we speak in general terms, a ship emits 0.002 Kg of CO2 per kilometre and ton transported. The same distance and weight for a train is 0.069, 0.11 for a truck and 2 for the plane. It is, for the same distance a plane pollutes 1000 times more than a ship, I don't know if you get the idea... Because of this I raise, the spanish government plans are focused on promoting the railway network and sea routes. Time will tell.

And speaking about bottled water another question would be: why not using glass bottles as we did some years ago? I don't know if in other countries has happened but here in Spain, a twenty years ago, it was something usual to get a discount for returning an empty glass bottle when you bought a new one (filled up with the product of course). It is true that the majority of the bottled water which is sold is bottled in plastic and because of that we should get in contact with the company which makes the product asking for a change  respect to the bottling. The glass bottles are 100% recyclable, in other words, we could use the same material for ever in practical terms (the quantity of missing material is trivial compared to plastic) and the quantity of energy and material necessary in the process is far less than making plastic bottles. The moral today would be: The more glass-bottled water you use the tinier your footprint will be.

And finally, please, keep in mind this is not an apology for consuming bottled water, keep in mind we should drink tap water but just in case we need to buy bottled water for any reason, be responsible and opt for glass bottles as far as possible of course.

And now a nice story to summarise the impact of plastic bottles on our environment and pockets.

Wednesday 29 September 2010

The Profecy - Part II

The years before 2007 were years where politicians in our Valencian Community took profit for selling around the idea of creating natural parks. They not only spread the idea but also passed the corresponding laws to carry it out. At the same time there were voices saying that everything answered to a perfectly or almost perfectly arranged plan: natural parks were to be used as a call for potential buyers of houses. In other words, these plans of setting natural parks around were spearheading the settlement of builders and unscrupulous people around such mentioned places. And words like "benefit for a few and disgrace for many" would become a profecy some years later. Where is now the money? Who is now to pay for our destroyed environmental heritage? Nobody thought about that our economy couldn't be based only on bricks for ever?

We tried and continue trying to domesticate nature. We try to transform forests into gardens which is equal to dead forests because there will be left only trees. Maybe there will be left some birds, but what about mammals and reptiles if they are only seen as bugs? Where will be the necessary space for medium and big size species? I don't know if you reader will understand spanish but the point is that every time I read an advertisement like the one below, I can't help to think about the idea of "once upon a time Europe was a forest spotted of small clearings, today, Europe is a bit clearing spotted of small forests".




We people who buy a house have the last word as before buying it we should be aware of the "things" that previously were in such a place. Such an action is for free, you don't have to pay any tax or fee, just inform you. The change is inside you. What are you waiting for?



Additional Information


Monday 13 September 2010

Something Simple and Efficient: A Bicycle

Sometimes I become angry because of the prices of the energy, not because it is expensive but cause I think there many interests into play. However, every time I ride the bicycle along the city and see the way in which we use our cars and air conditioning in homes and shops I said to myself: We don't pay enough for energy, it is cheap till...

Now the thing is: How to make people to understand that our life style of excess and waste should be over? Every day I'm more convinced that many people don't really care about environment and the state of the planet. They just think about themselves or simply, as a human way of scape, they assume that environmental problems are not such a big deal. In other words: human resistance to accept CHANGE.

I don't know what readers will think about what I'm going to say. It's obvious that an environmental education is necessary at schools and centres of education but, most important, for all those ones who "don't care", controlling their expenditure is the key. High prices for energy is the way to understand that we humans can't continue wasting around and eating up natural resources. I could give two examples of how people would behave in front of increasing prices of fuel:
  1. There are surveys which point out that 20% of the mileage is unnecessary. Have you realized how many energy could be saved at a planetary scale?

  2. More than one would stop speeding. They would keep tyres pumped up (so they would last longer and would also save more money), they wouldn't accelerate hard and driving would be a bit slower (which would save human and wildlife lifes on the roads).
Once more the key is: Everyone should accept that CHANGE is necessary. Fuel efficient cars (including hybrid and electric) are not the solution but part of it. And now, as always, speaking about cars... Who speaks about something or reminds that there is something really efficient and cheap as a bicycle? Mssers. Politiciens... Who bears the cars in the cities? Mssers. Politiciens... Who bells the cat?

Wednesday 28 July 2010

Children See. Children do.

Long time ago I read the following quote: there's no better education than the example. This quote is a glaring truth. That spanish quote about "Do what I say but don't do what I do" should be something out, something not to be said to children as they are literally parrots and copy exactly what they see at home. It's not worth for a teacher telling a pupil "use your seat belt when in a car" when his father never uses it. I don't know if I transmit you the idea.

I think other world is possible but a better future is only possible making kids to do right things by giving them example. Kant said something like "Act that your principle of action might safely be made a law for the whole world".

Long time ago I also was sent from different people the video which is below, a video which was the spark to begin this post. Thanks guys.



Wednesday 21 July 2010

Some Good News

Not everything has to be bad. From time to time something good for being optimistic.




Click here to get some more information.

Wednesday 14 July 2010

Respect

There are some people who frequently use the word, which titles this post, in a way pretending to be cool and gentle. The question is how far can we tune up the meaning of the word. And why do I say all this? Because there are many people who make a great song and dance about how respectful they are and, when the moment of being in control of the steering wheel arrives, they go from Dr. Jekyll to Mr. Hide. It is in that moment when they speed, when they don't adapt their driving to the circumstances of the road, and it is here where the expression "I control" puts and end to the word which titles the post and begins to increment the possibilities of death for any species who cuts in front of such a cool and pleasant driver.

Our roads have become so big in size and number that have invaded and fragmentated almost all known ecosystems and last but not least, the designers didn't take into account that in those ecosystems there were other forms of life which also need mobility like humans. So the point is that thanks to that design and those cool guys in the driver seat, the possibilities of death notably increase because there is no alternative to cross the roads and move along them.

Only the fact that "the others" were before we arrived is enough reason to decive a respect besides we are "the lowest of the low". The others also have the same right to share this planet. An accident is something unpredictable and outside to driving in a careless way, which would be an imprudence and so something you would have to pay for it.

Millions of animals are dying in roads around the world every day and many of them would save their lives with better designed infrastructures and of course, with a more level-headed way of driving. So keep in mind these words whenever you are at the driver seat, keep in mind that you are driving along different ecosystems with other forms of live moving around as you would do. And of course, keep in mind that only 1% of the money necessary to construct the infrastructure is enough to save millions of lifes. Other question would be how that money is managed...

Here you are two interesting and related links: Carnage on the carriageway & Driving animals to their graves.

Wednesday 30 June 2010

The Party Of The Crime

This is my country or better said, the place I was born because with such terrible activities happening I'd better say I am ashamed of this land. I came across in Facebook the link and picture you have below.

Fortunately, the barbarism begins to be known around the world.

And now a video made by spaniards who are fed up with bullfighting and show you the real side of what is wrongly known as "fiesta". Some comments are subtitled in English but the point are the images. Have you ever been told about a bull throwing up blood? Haven't you? So that's your opportunity. Enjoy it! If you can...


Monday 21 June 2010

Something Typical in a Typical Spain

If there's something that continues being typical in this sunny country of the 21st century, this is debris. It has become part of the environment and in fact, it is strange to go for a walk to the countryside without seeing somewhere a pile of debris, cans, pastic bags or things alike. I remember traveling by train along five states and it didn't pass much time between "sightings".

You or I could think this is not happening in such a civilized country like Spain, but it seems that changes in our way of thinking will take a long time despite it offers a sad image of us spaniards.

Here you are some videos with two examples. The first in Madrid and the second in Avilés. Perhaps some of you don't understand spanish but I think an image is worth a thousand words.


Some more information about in English.


Friday 11 June 2010

Money Is The Root of All Evil

You could read on Sunday 18th, 2007, in a well-known spanish magazine the following article:

MAGIC FORMULA FOR OIL SPILLS

Do you want to see how I finish up with the Prestige's oil spill?, question. The magician gets a glass, fills it up with water and adds a bit of oil. Over the oil layer some magic dust is poured and we wait for 30 minutes. Bit by bit the oil becomes hardened and the final mix gets the bottom of the glass."When any kind of oil is floating on the surface, before getting the coast, we poured over it the magic dust, which by the way is very cheap and in 15 seconds time, it sinks up to the bottom and becomes a rock. Neither stains nor dirties". The solution was offered to the Government... but no answer was given. The solution was also offered to some galician majors but, do you know what was the answer? If only we had a Prestige every five years! With the subsidies fishermen prefer continuing playing dominoes.

I think the answer is truthful enough even we put it into practice in different scenerarios of oil spills. My question is now, will the politiciens who give the subsidies have read this text? Something to say about? The invent of the magic dust is not new at all but older are the irresponsability and the carelessness.

Monday 31 May 2010

An Image Is Worth Than A Thousand Words

What you see in the video is happening now. The worst of all is that a lot of us are indirectly collaborating in some way or other. Think about it.

Here you are a story of bastards and cowards. Below the video that justifies such outrageous behaviour.


Tuesday 25 May 2010

Mr. Javier Nart

It could not be in other way, when the talk finished I closed up and congratulated him. Later I made some comments about Mr. Quereda's talk the previous day. Could they both be living in the same world? I liked Javier's talk, surely because our way of thinking was simmilar.

Respecto to the talk, it was started speaking about human rights and, as a universal right we have to enjoy and defend the environment... the line of the contents was changing through environmental issues. It's from here where I will make some coments.

An interesting sentence: when we defend what is not ours we are defending what is ours. The talk raised the social changes that a global climate change would suppose. Conflicts for water that flows through the rivers Eufrates, Jordan and Tigris in the Middle East. Conflicts between China and India because of the river Bramaputra. Respect to China a note for thinking: to produce the same than we western countries, they eat up to 10 times more energy.

There were also some references to population migrations as a consequence of a more agressive climate. Problems could start in Morocco, Algiers, Libya and Egypt. The question is, who is next to these countries? There's no much work in thinking that we spanish are. There were some referencies to the deforestation and the impossibility of living in certain places besides temperatures will get near 60ºC. As you can see, the way of presenting the issue is somehow different to the Mr. Quereda's.

When the talk finished a question-and-answer season was opened. Two people asked how they could do their bit. Coming up next I propose some personal actions I was carrying out in that moment ;)

I would like to finish with quote that Javier raised to finish the talk: We can't complain for anything we don't do to avoid it. And I add up: let's get things clear!

P.S. Maybe someone will think that he can see what I'm up to but in the moment I wrote this post I was a bit fervent with the talk, but it is not a question of somebody seen things in the same way as mine mine, even sometimes I've been told to be a radical... it is a question of showing things, what's more, I have my own smell, I saw things in Mr. Quereda's talk that I didn't like, just personal nuances. Maybe some questions remained unsaid intentional or unintentionally. I think a point of view was given which wasn't related with what was and is happening and maybe neither with what we'll have to face in a no distant future.

Tuesday 27 April 2010

If I Pug Can Do It So You Can Do It

Don't wait for the change, you are the change. The change will come when everyone of us changes.

Thanks Charles for the link.

Sunday 25 April 2010

I Want

Much wisdom often goes with brevity of speech. Sophocles

Saturday 24 April 2010

Mr. José Quereda Sala

I attended a talk in February 2007 which was given by Mr. José Quereda Sala, a teacher who belonged and belongs to the Jaime I university's climate department and it was the first time that I listened to somebody who was not centered on the energy production when speaking about climate change. And I say that because until then (and now), the emissions of CO2 because of burning fossil fuels were the main cause of global warming.

The teacher raised overpopulation as the main cause of global warming. He said that only by existing a person, he or she is affecting the climate in terms of CO2, methane and nitrate oxides emissions (someway he was right).

As I said, until then, the energy production sector was over the last but not least overpopulation effects besides overpopulation is it itself a big deal. The theory of climate problems because of the energy production sector had been, in the recent meeting celebrated in Madrid, the main point to readdress the fight against climate change. Well, for Mr. José was not a theory but a hypothesis which is not the same...

Taking advantage of the round of questions I asked: Why don't you have into account all the carbon coming from the burning of fossil fuels which didn't existed in the atmosphere and has been incorporated? In other words: We have created a problem where there wasn't any one. One more question: Why your figures on CO2 in the atmosphere along the history don't coincide whith the rest of speakings I have attended and all the documentation I have consulted? Summarising the answer: According to Mr. José everything was pending of revision. Then I thought that all those things he was saying were business, don't you think so? Why not to give this issue the importance it supposedly deceives? But as I think the worst of people I think behind the CO2 there are many oil companies in the shadow... so we're speaking about a lot of money... but a lot of money and interests... Would this man belong to that little group which didn't accept the outlook? Their motives he would have and I had to accept them but not to share. By the way, this man also dropped a comment about oil made from oranges, but as I said in other post, other people has figured and it seems not to be so environmentally efficient. And of course, one of the best quotes during the speaking: Wind-Powered Turbines kill birds... How great! Does anybody know, at this moment on in life, a kind of energy without any impact in the environment? What I think is that we should ask ourselves if before installing the turbines have been a serious study because don't pull the leg ourselves, there are interests even for producing green energy at any price: money is the root of all evil.

Mr. Quereda also commented spaniards can go getting ready if forecasts about increase of temperatures become true: less water because of a decrase in rainfall, less water because of higher temperatures. In other words: it never rains but pours. To get an idea of what could be coming: and increase of 0.5ºC in the mean temperature supposes an evaporation increase of 10% in the place in which we live. And if we want to add fuel to the fire: optimistic forecasts are around an increase of 2-4ºC. So imagine!!

I'd like to finish with a comment Mr. Quereda did and which according to his words, it seemed to be a typical comment in his circle of friends: to make people aware of something the only thing you have to do is to terrorize them. Mr. Quereda, are you aware of the damage you can cause with such a comment? It's not a question of going to the street an begin to cry, commit suicide or rest with our arms crossed regretting ourselves. It's a question of working hard to try to fix as much as possible the problem we have generated. It's a question of working hand in hand, of pulling one's weight. It's a question of changing our way of doing things and establishing a new order. If people are difficult of making aware by nature, your comments are not helping anything at all. Thanks once more.

Tuesday 13 April 2010

Brave, Crazy or a Sixth Sense

Sometimes one doesn't know why some things happen. Sometimes some people are able to do things that are unreachable for the rest of mortals. Maybe is not a question of not being able but something built-in.

Today I'm speaking about Kevin Richardson, a man who has the ability to connect with those animals known as dangerous. Is he a brave man? Has he gone crazy? Is there anything tricky? Or is it that he just has "something" different to connect with such animals? I'm not a ethologist nor a biologist and I can't give an objective explanation. Will animals be something more than animals? Will there be anything which we don't want to see?

Maybe, as one day an elderly woman told me speaking about slaughterhouses, maybe is better not to know some things about if animals have something we call feelings.


Here you are some pictures.

Tuesday 6 April 2010

On Freedom, Licentiousness and Dictatorship

I am 35 and I don't have to make an effort to remember some elderly people speaking about the times when cars were less numerous or even an exception in the streets. Above all, having a car in a village in those times was an expression of being wealthy. cars began to become something more normal about the end of the 60s and the beginning of the 70s. Up to that moment, a car was something accepted by the rest of the means of transport: pedestrians, bicycles, buses, trolleybuses, trams, coaches, etc, etc. And I say it was accepted because the car just was one more element in the streets.

Times have changed and, for better or for worse, the car has become a model or symbol of progress (badly understood from my point of view), and what's more, I would dare to say it has become a plague. Such an incredible drive was given to the car by population and political circles that it converted democratic mobility into a tyrannical one. We passed from sharing the streets with our bicycles and the rest of vehicles to be expelled in straightforward terms in favor of a mobility based on four wheels and an inefficient engine which poisons the air we breathe.

Today, organizations of city bikers and in favour of a sustainable mobility, feel, or at least I feel, like being in a crusade. But I would like to point out that I do not want the car to die out, I want an affable crusade, I do not want to do with it what it did with us. The only thing I want is to recover the space that once belonged to our ancestors and makepeople understand that we, “the no cars”, are not a nuisanc,e but one more part of “the urban ecosystem”, where all of us, in one or other way, had and have our place. One of the problems we face is how to make addicted car drivers understand this point. It is necessary they understand their cars eat up a great quantity of natural resources which are compromising the recycling capacity of our planet. It is necessary they understand their selfish and comfortable position, we even could add that driving a car is something inactive in cultural and antinatural terms. Obviously, a great quantity of excuses are spread everywhere. Excuses like “everybody does it”, “if I do not do it others will”, etc, etc. The point is tthat we shouldn’t deceive ourselves, change has to come from inside each one of us; we do not have to wait for others, politicians included, to change things, because nobody will do it. Don't be so passive because that way we will not get to any worthy place.

So I think there are reasons to wonder about the title of this writing. I am not telling anybody not to buy a car, for the love of God, but I think that with a consumist eagerness or without it, the vehicle of four wheels has always been sold as a symbol of freedom. Can we understand freedom being slaves of a monthly bill to pay the vehicle, fuel, breakdowns and maintenance ? Thanks to the spread and imposition of the car, we have been deprived of good buses and trains networks, which are far more efficient than cars and which would also allow us to get to many places. Are we to understand progress as a highway arriving at every village in our country? Regarding buses, some people can plead that there have been some attempts that have failed, at least in our province, such as the case in Onda. But humans are conservative and creatures of habit, we do only understand of physical barriers, there is no way and time is out. A lot of money has been spent on campaigns making people aware of the wrong use of the car, so the moment of making people fed up with their cars has arrived: speed limits strictly controlled, obstacles such as level changes in the asphalt, reducing suddenly the width of the road with little gardens, shared lines for buses and bicycles s which would reduce the space to private cars, etc, etc... So taking measures like these, the private car would stop being the main character in our streets.

It is nice, really nice to be free and feel the freedom, being free to get everywhere by one's car but, when that one makes of the use an abuse, freedom becomes licentiousness and that should not be allowed, or at least I understand that this is the way.


Thursday 11 March 2010

emcg - Part II

Following one of the posts I wrote in January 2007, here you have some more comments. Inside the rhetoric of politiciens, let's say that some of the guests of the meeting hardly saved the situation. Let's see some of them.

José Manuel Entrecanales, chairman of Acciona. He promised his company would collaborate to reduce greenhouse houses by 1% in 2030. Obviously, in that moment 99 companies like his were missing...

Cristina Narbona, minister of environment (in that moment). She promised Spain was not going to promote nuclear power. She simply said we were going to keep what we had in that moment and divert investments to clean energies. Should we trust her?

Graham Smith, deputy chairman of Toyota in Europe. He tried to convince us that his cars were the cleanest or the most eco-friendly in the world. The question now and then is: Can everybody afford a car costing 24.000 euros? Politiciens know that "green" sells but, is not there any kind of subsidy? At this point, give us the devil his own due: if in that moment I wasn't misinformed, Toyota was the car maker which invisted the most in environmental questions. For this reason, I think the people who could afford a hybrid should bet for Toyota's. But now the most important question: Who speaks about a so cheap vehicle like a bycicle? I think nobody at all. Crass error. The charity PEDALIBRE from Madrid was given only three minutes. Does anybody know a vehicle more efficient than a bycicle? Does anyboy know that a bycicle takes profit of 90% of the energy used to move it?

Esteban González Pons, minister of territory in the Valencian Community. He tried to convince us with something called as "juice-oil", that was the panacea... But there have been some people figuring and all that glitters is not gold. We appreciated his try of selling us a "beautiful world", but things are not easy come.

Juan Eduardo Santón, Valencia's innovation city councillor. One of the few that contribute with real solutions: 25% of the buses of the city were working with biodiesel that allowed recycling 800,000 litres of cooking oil a year. 90% of the water for washing the buses was being recovered and maybe in the mean term a project related with hydrogen, obtained from solar energy, would be carried out at the natural park of the Albufera.

And to not go on and on, I finish with the last paper which next to the last one, seemed to make the audience mad. There were some missing hints among some speakers but I thought there was no place to happen that, for those things there were better places. But then came the best. It seemed that Mrs. Cristina Serrano, secretary of territory at the valencian government, was against the prospectings for looking for oil in the coast of Valencia just as the installation of desalination plants, all of it in clear reference to her politic adversaries. I thought such a behaviour was a complete act of hypocresy, independently I was in favour of such mesures, besides at that time on she and her "coleagues", in some way or other, had and were allowing the destruction of our coasts. And if that wasn't true, any one could go to Brussels and ask for all the reports about the destruction of the valencian coast. Mrs. Cristina, I think is good of you to have eagle eyes on alien issues but be careful because your faults are not precisely small. Mrs. Serrano, keep in mind that you have to practice what you preach and, if you don't agree with me, you can ask lots of citizen platforms that were being created to fight the destruction I speak about. Mrs. Serrano rememeber: Where there's smoke, there's fire.

And now, almost three years later and after being submerged into the crisis for some time, where's all the money generated during "the brick bonanza"? How many times was your government warned we couldn't keep such a pace of growing and destruction?

Thursday 25 February 2010

Wednesday 24 February 2010

My Pals And Arquimedes

One evening of February 2007 I spend my time having lunch with my biker friends. As it couldn't be in other way, it was part of our comments the issue about climate change and finally we got to an Arquimede's quote we liked much: Give me a place to stand on, and I will move the Earth. We readapted such a quote an agreed to say: change your habits and you'll change the world. A habit! Something as cheap as a habit and at the same time so expensive. As cheap because it does cost no money, only your will, and that's the expensive question because it is hard work to carry out with it when we have so many acquired vices or just don't want to look beyond we're interested in.


Sunday 21 February 2010

Take The Attention To Other Place

Some time ago I posted a video in which Greenpeace reported the scandal of whale meat contraband among the staff of the whale fleet: Here you have the link. It seems that once reported to the japanese authorities the issue, it is not important what has been reported but the way it has been investigated. Here below you have another video to get your own conclusions.


If you find it right, you can do your bit here: click here.


P.S: By the way, here you are other interesting link about hunting mink whales.

Saturday 13 February 2010

Knowledge For Defending

Some days ago I found the video below from the story of Esmeralda. This way you can also find people who are taking care of big cats and giving them a new oportunity: Big Cat Rescue.

Saturday 30 January 2010

J. Crew

Recently I read a magazine report about how Heather Mills was fighting Jennifer López. As a result of this reading I have found that the battle seems to be finished: have a look at this. I also found more interesting information from here. The information shows you how humans treat and relate with other different forms of life. We really should be ashamed. A long way away has still to be done. You have the evidence in the video just below.

Monday 25 January 2010

A Gift That Is Worth


Like father, like son. And it's a truth that children behave like parrots and do what they see. In other words: They follow suit. Last Xmas we gifted our niece and nephew a very special gift: a gift to adopt an animal in danger. So far I knew that the most threataned cat in the world was the iberian lynx, but thanks to the gift I've mentioned, what I didn't know was that there are also other cats facing extinction, at least, in a very situation alike. This is the case of the Amur Leopard. I think I won't be the only one who didn't know about this marvellous animal so I take advantage of this situation to spread the word out.

Here you have a link to the gift, another link to the people who are in the background and another to the WWF who have a report about the situation of this animal.

Sunday 17 January 2010

emcg - Part I

It was 2007. I had been in a forum for two days in Madrid. It was the first forum about energy,municipality and climate change and there were several things I wanted to speak about and which I did in my spanish blog.

The event was fastly spread all over the country: Al Gore was on TV! He really was an attraction, the attraction of the day. The room was completely crowded, cameras and people everywhere and of course, among them, there were some to take only a picture next to the celebrity, what was really into play was something secondary. As a scientist said the following day: that seemed a circus.

The following day, during the speeching given by the abovementioned scientist, maybe we were a fourth part of the people during the previous day (during the evening we were a third). The scientist was right: there that day only stayed the people who really were interested in the issue. I felt a bit of rage in my deep down because surely there were some people who were really interested in attending the event and many of the tickets surely had been given to people not so much concerned, even nothing at all: as I said before, they only wanted the photo.

The good thing of this subject was that it contributed with new ideas and points of view to my knowledge, specifically things related with biofuels. The bad thing was that most of the event, in some way, was politized a lot, at least in my opinion. Here you are some figures:
  • Charity spokepersons: 2
  • Scientists: 3
  • Business men: 5
  • Politiciens or simmilar: 14
Now is the moment in which everyone has to get their conclusions... It's not a question of thinking it was politizied because there were a lot of politiciens , but because, except some of them, they did as many times do: they kept its retoric line, many intentions and no actions. Words that were carried by the wind and a shameful Copenhaguen submit, almost three years later, that has folowed suit.

Sunday 10 January 2010

Shame On You For Wearing Fur!

I can understand that people living in the wild have to get by both for wearing and clothing. What I can't understand is people living in this supposed civilized western world and wearing fur only for showing off. And I say showing off because we have another materials not made with fur to fight the cold. We don't need those shameful farms in which animals are kept and suffer in unhuman circumstancies, something that falls into the obscurity for the majority of the population.

Here you are a video to know what happens in the farms I mention. Buying fur in our world is unhuman, wretch and despicable. An image is worth than a thousand words. I send to the evidence.

Have a good day, others can't and suffer a hell in the silence.

Sunday 3 January 2010

End of 2009: Year of the Gorilla

I know I arrive a bit late but what matters is the thought. Some days after having begun 2010 I would like to wish it to you.

Year after year, one that comes another that goes, that's life: someone comes, someone goes. I have taken advantage of the last post of the year to dedicate some words to the animal of the year 2009: The Gorilla.

This is not the first time I make a reference to this animal but sadly, this species like many other big mammals are on the brink of extinction and I think it is a moral obligation to me to remind my readers the nowadays situation of one of our nearer relatives in the Line of Evolution.

I always insist in the same words: The Change has to come out from everyone of us and this is usuful for different aspects of life. We don't have to wait for the Messiah, just live in the way we would like things to be. And of course I'm not the author of this quote, it is the philosopher Kant and it is something that I try to put into practice every day:

Act that your principle of action might safely be made a law for the whole world.

If continue reading, below you'll see I have left several links to information about the gorilla although we could reduce its problems to deforestation and it has three main causes:
  1. Search of wood for furniture for rich people (WE).

  2. Search of wood for cooking and meat for the ones who are very poor (THE OTHERS).

  3. Coltan minery for the posh people who want to change their mobile at a good clip (and I say mobiles for not saying more electronic devices).
So if you consider yourself a responsible person:
  • Buy wood when really necessary and take into account its origin. Look for FSC certificates or at least ask the shop assistant about any other warranties: Get the word out.
  • Reuse, try to buy second hand furniture. You can find some good oportunities with a bit of patience.
  • Calm down with your mobile and don't be so flashy, take profit of it for at least two years if possible and ask your mobile provider any kind of certification which shows that the coltan in your mobile has been taken out under environmental and social responsibility policies because not only elephants and gorillas are killed but also children and farmers are made slaves.
I also want to pay tribute to Dian Fossey who gave her life for defending these incredible animals and without her sacrifice gorillas would've been wiped out. Here you are some links: Wikipedia, the charity which takes her name and another where I've got the picture below.


We also have to pay tribute to Jane Goodall: link 1, link 2 and link 3. You are her foto below and one of her books made me think twice about the way I was conntected to the world and also made me give the first steps to become vegetarian.


Finally, as I paid tribute to the bucardo (link in English), I'd like to do the same with Digit because I think is not fair they fall into obscurity because of a world plenty of "noise", vanity, shallowness and greed. To those who don't know it, gorillas almost don't fight for food, their territory or mating, but leaders put into risk their lifes for trying to stand the group together. Digit was a leader whose loyalty to her family brought her to death when in 1977 she kept a tight rein on six pouchers and their dogs. Her death highlighted the inexorable human interference into the mountain gorillas habit in Central Africa. I hope Gaia has Digit in its glory and from this moment in our hearts.



In the name of gorillas (maybe they can't understand this lines but sign languaje) and mine, we would like to appreciate this time of reading and I sincerelly wish you a very happy 2010.

P.S. Here you are the link to the picture of Digit's tomb: click here.