Dedicated to Gaia

In Memoriam

2012-01-06T15:11:00.000-08:00

Tal día como hoy del año 2000, mientras celebrábamos nuestras fiestas con una opípara comida y nos repartíamos los regalos, moría en el más absoluto de los anonimatos el último ejemplar de la cabra montés pirenaica: el bucardo. El óbito se producía en el Parque Nacional de Ordesa, Huesca. Un abeto seco y podrido cayó sobre el último ejemplar, la hembra "Laña", segándole la vida.

Pero como la vida es así... continúa... Algunos se preguntarán ¿Que llevó al bucardo a la extinción? Dicen los entendidos que la caza indiscriminada, menos mal que los cazadores son los más ecologistas, ya me quedo más tranquilo... Durante milenios el bucardo correteó arriba y abajo el Pirineo, hasta que topó con el homo, supuesto "sapiens", y su escopeta. Más de uno se pasó con la maldita arma, lo que produjo tal merma de la población que inevitablemente la condujo a lo que se conoce como "torbellino de extinción". El azar hizo el resto.

Una lección más de nuestra "superioridad", que lamentablemente ha caído en saco roto, una especie más que abandona la nave y que de poco nos ha servido, pues hemos multiplicado por al menos 1000 la velocidad de extinción de las especies. Descansa en paz Laña.

See You Later

2011-11-23T01:12:00.000-08:00

This blog is closed up to a new order. I'm sorry for the inconvenience.

Mails To The Director

2011-10-28T04:57:00.000-07:00

The articles I usually post come from my thoughts or different pieces of news I read from time to time. And as in any job, there are more productive days than others or worse: there are days which are not productive at all. So I take advantage of that more productives days in order to write the posts and let them in a pile for when necessary (it is, days without any idea or nothing to say).

With respect to an article I posted some time ago, Ardorín, a friend of mine, made a comment who brought to my mind a piece of news which I had piled. So my friend, here you have a mail which was written to the persone in charge of the newspaper El País. The mail was edited in May 27th, 2007. the author is Nicolás Fabelo González, Galápagos, Madrid, who makes a reflection which I think is very interesting and which should be in the thoughts of everybody.

OUR FAULTS ARE OURS NEVER

Traffic accidents have increased: it's roads fault, missing signposting, weather conditions... but never to blame for people who aggresively or madly drive, never to blame for those who show off driving at 180 km/h; perhaps is better to criticize those who drive according to the law...

Junk TV consolidate its leadership on TV media but it's not our fault. We have to claim on TV chains as there is no room for cultural programs, maybe we also have to claim on politiciens for not giving a proper answer to this issue, maybe it will be the inherent cultural poverty of the capitalism but... has anybody thought that TV chains behave as markets? It is, they only sell what it is bought... has anybody thought about the gossiping and coarsing spirit of many individuals of our society who being idle in their sofa practise an absolute power on their remote control?

Climate change is worsening: We should claim on transnational companies, on predator capitalism, the EEUU government, etc, etc... but never claim on those who overuse their SUVs just for a box of Cokes, those who set their heating system at 26ºC or the air conditioning at 17ºC, those who never will understand that winter has been created for being "cold" and summer for being "hot".

Many shameless individuals who have got loaded thanks to the destruction of the environment and spreading around the urbanistic chaos... so we should claim on the world of politics, on the defects in politics which rule the use of the land, on the capitalism rapacity... but never we should claim on those who are far more interested on the last signing of their football team than in the management of their comunity or municipality.

Summarizing: Our fault is never our fault, devil seems to come from politiciens, business people, journalists or from that dark abstraction called "the System".

Moral of the day: we see the mote in others eyes but not the beam in ours own.

Men's Things

2011-09-07T15:04:00.000-07:00

Independently some people could think that organic food is something for spoilt guys, there also some other people who state that pesticides and insecticides affect the brain, the liver and the reproductive system. Respect to the latter, there was in 2007 a research carried out by the Copenhaguen Rishospital that stated that the organic food achives men have a 43% more sperm than a normal block. I perfectly know that somebody will think that this is a strange post and with no much message, for not saying nothing at all, but as the article spoke about organic food and I felt like speaking about that... what you see is what you get.

I got the information from a spanish newspaper in 2007, now here you have a simmilar piece of news but in English: Organic Food In Relation To Nutrition.

That's all for now.

This Is War

2011-08-10T13:00:00.000-07:00

Some weeks ago I remember being working as a volunteer in a project for the conservation of cetaceans somewhere in the North Sea. I also remember having conversation with the people of the team about the consequences of depleting the oceans. The leader of the project made some comments about the increasing number of jellyfish (basically the consequence of tuna overfishing). But this point was not something new to me, in fact, I belong to one of the main countries that the more overfish the oceans: Spain. It's not something new in this country to have in summer news about jellyfish invading our beaches. The point is the way people understand the reality because no many are really aware of what's happening with the tuna population around the world. Things continue happening as some weeks and years ago... the war continues... and the worse is that the problem is getting worse.

Has something changed since 2007 when I wrote the following lines?...

July 3rd, 2007. I could recently read in the newspapers that authorities had declared war to jellyfish... Oh mine!... I continued reading and it seemed that the only real politicians and civil servants worried about the subject were those from the environment agency, in fact they were the only ones who put the finger in the wound: the lack of natural predators has boosted the presence of the jellyfish in our seas (and thanks God we have recently had a reasonable rainy season).

I'm really sure that more than one will have wondered about who is naturally supposed to be pillaging the jellyfish population.The answer is Mr. Tuna and Ms. Turtle. And now the cornerstone is... Where the hell are the tunas and the turtles? Why are their populations so low? Basically there are two answers:

We're fishing tuna four times over the sustainable level.
Turtles are being jeopardised troughout really questionable methods of fishing.

Although you can see the shelves of the supermarket plenty of tuna tins, it would be really suitable for you to reduce the consumption of this fish (in fact I left it some years ago). I would like to think that consumers and politicians are going to do their bit but let me doubt about it... Above all because the problem is developing faster than reactions being carried out to fix it.

If only the history didn't repeat as it happened to cod, but I'm afraid that there won't be a happy end, man is the only animal to stumble over the same stone twice.

Good night.

There's Something Wrong

2011-06-20T14:23:00.000-07:00

Before consuming some wood or paper... Think twice please...

A surface equivalent to a football stadium disappears every two seconds.
Non Stop. Every day a surface equivalent to 43,200 football stadiums disappears. Every year a surface equivalent to 15,500,000 football stadiums a year disappears. It would be something similar to the surface of Spain and Portugal together.
In the last 80 years we have lost so much forests as in the last 10.000 years and what is worst... the pace is accelarating: in the last 30 years we have lost so much forests as in the last 5,000 years. And last but not least, the loss of biodiversity goes in parallel with the loss of forests.
Many forests finishes their lives transformed into toilette paper, packing, wrapping and office paper.

It's up to you.

42€ Million To Support Torture

2011-05-23T15:43:00.000-07:00

Sadly many people still associate bullfighting with spaniards but that's not the reality of a country. Bullfighting defenders can say that's culture, tradition, art... But culture? Is it a good idea to promote the culture of the violence among our teenagers? Tradition? Does it make any sense to continue torturing an animal which has not threatened the life of anybody? And what's up if bulls for bullfighting dissapear? Absolutely nothing as they are hybrids and have never existed in nature. Art? What do defenders pretend with saying that bullfighting represents the cruelty of life? Why not those who stand for bullfighting as an art go to places where children are dying because of draughts and faemines? That's the cruelest face of life and it has absolutely nothing to do with going to the square with a cigar and the stomach plenty of food and perhaps a bit of alcohol.

What the hell happens in the mind of somebody who enjoys with the suffering of an animal? Perhaps, to be born in an environment where the unnormal becomes the rule is the key.

The lion is not as bad as he is made out to be

Things that not everybody knows

Some more information about the second video: Stop The Subsidies

Thanks honey for the first video :)

To Somebody Who Is Bored

2011-05-09T16:09:00.000-07:00

Is being somebody potentially bored next weekend? In such case, I leave for them a reflecition made by Hegel about History; what we were, what we are and what we will be according to our nowadays acts.

"History is like a rivercourse. Every small movement of the water in a certain point of the course is really determined by the fall of the water and its swirls at the top. But it is also determined by the rocks and the meanders just at the point in which we are looking at".

Are We Humans More Animals Than Animals Themselves?

2011-04-20T14:56:00.000-07:00

Following the thread of one of my posts and thinking once more about the girls and boys who will be the men and the women of the future, I think it's worth watching the video that my friend Leo sent me some time ago. Now every reader should get his/her own conclusions.

90% Hypocrisy

2011-04-06T15:50:00.000-07:00

Once upon a night in which I spent my time having a look at a magazined specialized on fruits and vegetables. Although there are some people who don’t believe it, there are magazines for people from all walks of life. Among all the many different sections there was one dedicated to ecology and I could observe that it was a survey about the degree of concern of Spanish people respect to climate change. Although it could seem unbelievable, 90% of the Spaniards show to be very concerned (I am speaking about the month of June 2007). Should I begin to laugh or to cry? Is anybody pulling my leg? Who on earth has been in charge of carrying such survey and where? Were they collecting the data in an ecologist demonstration? Sincerely, I couldn’t believe it.

With such level of concern things would be very different. Firstly, the use of bicycles would be far greater. Secondly, the fact of driving a car would be far smaller. I wonder if traffic jams would continue being traffic jams. I wonder if so many people would continue doing an irresponsible use of paper, if so many people would continue carrying out an irresponsible use of air conditioning and if many of they would continue travelling and consuming in an irresponsible way. This late on in life I can’t accept people telling they don’t have enough information. We are to be lazy and fat, there’s no way.

Bad Gases

2011-03-07T16:10:00.000-08:00

So that's what we get with cows and their poohs. They are so polluting that New Zeland won't be able to catch up with the Kioto Protocal because of its livestock. The question is: why such poohs are so polluting? Among other things, they are because they release a greenhouse gas called methane. The point is that this is not new. It is known that some "special rucksacks" are carried by sheep. Such rucksacks inject a substance into the blood which neutralizes the methane, a gas which is twenty-two times more powerful than CO2 with respect to the capacity of warming the planet.

So far everything seems to be bad but as many things in life there are heads and tails. The good thing of the methane is that if well managed we could be able of making a car work. Let me explain it. If we could manage to collect all the gasses of ten cows during a year, we could make a car work for 9,000 kms, maybe you laugh at what I'm saying but it is bussines, really business. If we take into account that a typical gasoline car goes over 10,000 - 12,000 kms, the propose is really interesting which also would allow us to get rid of such a gas and to cut down CO2 emissions by 50%.

Last but not least, this is one of the arguments that people like the writer of this post have used to justify their rejection to eat meat.Here I leave you an interesting reading: Livestock's Long Shadow.

Beauty Is In The Eye Of The Beholder

2011-02-20T05:53:00.000-08:00

In May 25th 2007, there was a comment in a newspaper respect to thedraughts forecast which had been voiced by our environment state minister. Such comments accused the minister because such a draught hadn't been as severe as it had been said.

When we speak about climate we have to face stacks and stacks of opinions and as many things in life "beauty is in the eye of the beholder". I mean, depending on your position respect a man-made climate change or a natural climate change, your points of view will difer from others. Man-made climate change is the official theory accepted nowadays but to fail some predictions doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Climate change is a reality which was forseen for some people more than 60 years ago, I would dare to say more, but whose effects, without taking into account how fast they develop, they won't be in the twinkling of an eye. We should be more accurate when speak in terms of time. It is not the same to speak in geological terms than in human life length terms. In fact, climate change is developping so fast, as never seen or at least recorded, that we could speak of important changes during a human life. If we compare human life lenght and geological changes lenght we are speaking about an enormous difference. Such faster changes are already having some visible impacts on fauna and Earth ecosystems which are not having enough time to readapt to the new circumtances. For better for worse, we humans have the ability to adapt as faster as the environment changes (and that's bad because people is not enough concerned to begin to make a change). The question is how long we will be able to keep the rate of change (maybe when we realize is too late).

I think our minister was right accepting the predictions from the IPCC so there is only room for three possibilities: she didn't expain accurately or she wasn't properly understood or people didn't want to understand her message. I think she would try to say thay periods of draught will be longer with periods of rain shorter than nowadays and maybe more intense. Now, more than ever, we should take profit of the smallest drop of water. Waste is not synonim of well-being.

A Message From Music

2011-01-30T10:47:00.000-08:00

Juan Carlos Císcar

2011-01-23T09:51:00.000-08:00

That's the name of a graduate who works at the Sevilla's Insitute for Prospective Technological Studies. In January 14th 2007 the newspaper called Levante published an interview to Juan Carlos with regard to climate change. Among other questions.... Campaigns in order to create awareness on climate change appeal to the role that citizens play at this issue. Do you think they can do something in order to prevent pernicious effects on agriculture and marine coasts? Something in particular?

Juan Carlos' answer was... Undoubtedly. The problem of climate change is in short a problem generated by we citizens who ask for products which are polluting as a last resort, from using cars to something so common as switching on a bulb.

He commented as well that citizens should be persuaded from polluting activities, e.g. flying, through taxes..... Fortunatelly in that moment I was not the only one asking people for reducing domestic flights as a first measure... And some good news, in that moment 35% of the companies all over the world were planning to reduce their flights or at least it was in their plans in the short-medium term. How is it possible to find flights at a european level at 30€? Maybe my petitions could be too demanding but I am one of those who think that low-cost flights = a free terrorist attack against the environment. I agree that everybody has the right to flight but in a reasonable way. As we humans sometimes don't have clear ideas about what is wrong or right, a first approximation could be attacking our budgets. He who pollutes must pay.

"Share" Is The Key

2011-01-12T17:15:00.000-08:00

Some days ago I read an article about the otters resurgence in some parts of England. However, such resurgence has shown once more the concept of property that we have respect to the planet. And maybe here we have the key to resolve the problem of cohabitation that we have with the rest of forms of life with which we share the planet. I repeat the keyword: share. We are not only unaware of the point that we human species alone are consuming more than 50% of the resources of the planet. We are so cheeky that have even claimed for the recovery of some species like the one of the otters.

I could understand that someone claims because a certain species is destroying their way of making a living but having someone claiming because on holidays are not going to fish as much as expected is outrageous. This is the case of the otters in England. Maybe the selfishness and blindness of those claimers prevent them from understanding that planet Earth is shared. The otters have the same rights than humans to enjoy the rivers and make of them their way of living. It seems that everybody is wrong except us. I think it's high time to understand that our overpopulation and comsumption of resources should be the first thing on this planet to be under a strict control.

Thanks Rafa for your videos, they show the shameful way of how we deal with Life all over this planet.

Bloody Party

2010-12-31T07:07:00.000-08:00

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.

Xmas Time Is Coming: Keep This In Mind

2010-12-17T06:38:00.000-08:00

Oceans Empty Of Life And Plenty Of Noise And Rubbish

The Revenge

2010-12-08T16:35:00.000-08:00

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

Quotes

2010-12-06T16:44:00.000-08:00

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.

Orange or Lemon?

2010-11-24T04:16:00.000-08:00

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?

Have Things Changed Something In 6 Years?

2010-10-27T14:37:00.000-07:00

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.

The Footprint Of Your Bottled Water

2010-10-18T00:00:00.000-07:00

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.

I Want To Be Optimistic...

2010-10-14T12:25:00.000-07:00

...but every day it is more difficult.

Not Another Nature Film from WWF on Vimeo.

WWF's Living Planet Report 2010

The Profecy - Part II

2010-09-29T04:13:00.000-07:00

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

Spain Destroys 7.7 Hectares of Coastline Daily.
Friends of Escalona Mountain Range.

A Very Interesting Idea: Rerverse Combustion

2010-09-23T12:45:00.000-07:00

Have a look at here.

Something Simple and Efficient: A Bicycle

2010-09-13T14:32:00.000-07:00

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:

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?

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?

Children See. Children do.

2010-07-28T01:56:00.000-07:00

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.

Some Good News

2010-07-21T01:48:00.000-07:00

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

Click here to get some more information.

Respect

2010-07-14T08:29:00.000-07:00

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.

The Party Of The Crime

2010-06-30T12:34:00.000-07:00

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.

Here the link to the picture and the comments by Rod Usher.

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...

Something Typical in a Typical Spain

2010-06-21T02:01:00.000-07:00

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.

Money Is The Root of All Evil

2010-06-11T14:17:00.000-07:00

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.

An Image Is Worth Than A Thousand Words

2010-05-31T05:22:00.000-07:00

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.

Mr. Javier Nart

2010-05-25T01:47:00.000-07:00

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.

If I Pug Can Do It So You Can Do It

2010-04-27T10:00:00.000-07:00

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

Thanks Charles for the link.

I Want

2010-04-25T07:22:00.000-07:00

Much wisdom often goes with brevity of speech. Sophocles

Mr. José Quereda Sala

2010-04-24T16:04:00.000-07:00

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.

Brave, Crazy or a Sixth Sense

2010-04-13T14:33:00.000-07:00

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.

On Freedom, Licentiousness and Dictatorship

2010-04-06T17:05:00.000-07:00

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.

P.S. Place where I found the picture.

emcg - Part II

2010-03-11T17:13:00.000-08:00

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?

Terrible Beginning... Happy End

2010-03-02T22:30:00.000-08:00

Please, By Friday

2010-02-25T03:18:00.001-08:00

Polar bears are threatened with extinction and adding them to Appendix I would ensure that commercial trade does not compound the dangers already posed by loss of habitat. Please write to your Environment Minister today and ask them to support the United States’ proposal to uplist the polar bear to Appendix I.

P.S. The place where I got the picture.

My Pals And Arquimedes

2010-02-24T07:30:00.000-08:00

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.

Take The Attention To Other Place

2010-02-21T13:54:00.000-08:00

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.

Knowledge For Defending

2010-02-13T05:12:00.000-08:00

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.

J. Crew

2010-01-30T06:39:00.000-08:00

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.

A Gift That Is Worth

2010-01-25T07:40:00.000-08:00

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.

emcg - Part I

2010-01-17T09:15:00.000-08:00

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.

Shame On You For Wearing Fur!

2010-01-10T07:30:00.000-08:00

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.

End of 2009: Year of the Gorilla

2010-01-03T10:49:00.000-08:00

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:

Search of wood for furniture for rich people (WE).

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

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.

Mery Xmas!!

2009-12-24T08:50:00.000-08:00

I know there are people, although not many, who are not for these days of consumerism, thought which I understand and share. Nevertheless both today and tomorrow and the rest of the days of the year... I wish you the best.

As I say, in these days of execesses, although the culture in which we have been raised has made us to think the consumerist way we do, only for respect to those who don't have or almost don't have anythigng to eat, for a sustainable life and for respect to the planet and the other forms of life, I leave you some pieces of advice which I found revising some Greenpeace's information.

Eat less meat: Besides being good for your health, according to the FAO, livestock is responsible of 18% of the total emissions of greenhouse gases due to the enormous quantity of energy consumed along the production of fertilizers, logging of rainforests for grazing and soya harvesting, and last but not least, the enormous quantities of methane produced by the animals. In this point I would like to say that a recent research points out that the livestock contributes more than was expected to warm the planet. When I have thoroughly revised the document I will post a summary as always.

Opt for organic food: It's farmed without pesticides and fertilizers. It doesn't need foreigner feed and the cyclical methods of production for both livesotck and agriculture suppose less emissions of greenhouse gases.

Buy local and seasonal products: You will reduce them movement of goods and the heating of greenhouses.

What I have said: be happy today, tomorrow and always.

Copenhagen... Whe Have A Problem: Last Chance Lost

2009-12-21T11:32:00.000-08:00

Someone told me before the Copenhagen event that it had many possibilities of failure and... finally he was right. The event is finished with a weak agreement (for not saying shameful). That's life and things are in the way they are. Who knows what the future is preparing to us! Let's cross our fingers and wait for Gaia's response.

I would like to thank from here the people who have been in the danish capital fighting for the cause. Thanks once more.

FIgures For Thinking

2009-12-19T10:41:00.001-08:00

Here you are some figures from 2007. I don't have any more information at the moment, but according with the little informaton I have, things haven't got better, as much they have slowed down. If somebody has an updated information I would appreciate to let it know here as a commment.

44 - The percentage of threatend species of birds in the planet.

62 - The percentage of aquatic birds, in the Asian continent, which are in decline or facing extinction.

80 - The percentage of ancient forests destroyed. You shouldn't be very brilliant to know that only 20% are left.

1000 - Number of times which rate of species extinction has been multiplied by. It is also the number of years to recover thoroughly from climate change (figure very important for future generations).

2.000.000.000 - Number of rubish tonnes that are dumped into the rivers daily. Yes, you have read correctly.

The Copenhaguen Fossil of The Day

2009-12-09T01:48:00.000-08:00

More information here and here.

Five Minutes In The Darkness

2009-12-05T09:26:00.000-08:00

I got envolved in a voluntary black out in my city in February 2007. It was at 19:55. I was leaned on my window just to check how many people were getting envolved. I lost conciousnees of time for a while and began to go through my thoughts. Had I to summerise my brain storming I could do it with two words: Bush and Exxon.

Both terms go hand in hand or at list this is my thought. Let say that Bush would be the host and Exxon the parasite, or is it the opposite? I don't like speaking about politics in this blog, but when they affect the environment I can't help it. Mr. Bush, I haven't known, fortunate or disgracefully, many U.S. presidents, but I think you've been one of the worst. You've been the key for Exxon to roam freely, not only collaborating with the environmental disaster we are going to face but with the supposed manipulation of the climate change reports. It's incredible what people are for with the intention of being loaded, a benefit for a few and a big mortgage for millions (no humans included).

You'll be remembered for ages but not for being good people. Now your duty is to finish convincing people that climate change is a one more cycle of nature and not the result of eating up the resources of the planet thanks to you and your mates.

You are so poor that the only thing you have is money, and money, is not eatable.

Mr. Bush, have a good day.

P.S. Here you are two links with further information: Royal Society & Exxon, Exxon Cuts Fundings.

Dying in the name of Science or Dying in the name of God?

2009-11-20T08:05:00.000-08:00

Click here to find more information about the issue.

We're Not Alone

2009-11-20T08:00:00.000-08:00

One weekend of January 2007 was one of those weekends which we enjoyed in good company. The Non-Profit Organization I belong celebrated the workgroups annual meeting and I think it was worth.

It was one of those occasions which suppose a lifeline for the moral. The fact to know that there are more people which share the same interests than you, makes you feel more supported, less alone, you know there are more people like you trying to do their bit and make of this world a better place.

Nobody knows but thanks to the... destiny? at random?... We got on well with people from Navarra, Alicante and Huelva, how cool!! Xabier, we laugh a lot with you, it was unforgottable but the most peculiar man was Pepe Cantó who with his hat reminded me of Indiana Jones. Pepe, we were left open-mouthed, astonished by the quantity of stories you spoke about, what's more, we couldn't believe at first what you were saying besides we were and are not used to people like you, with your courage. You remind us of the story of David and Goliath. In no one moment we had thought in the quantity of rubish and polution you are suffering in Huelva (I would light to highlight this point for general information). Thanks for the details of Aznalcóllar has it been an accident or not... Below you have some links to your work. Cheer up and good luck.

Atlantic Copper, Bomba de Relojería (both in Spanish).

A Warm Autumn

2009-11-06T09:54:00.000-08:00

Last week I went to visit my parents. From time to time they have some new newspapers at home and what I do is to check them looking for something of environmental interest. The picture that you have above is what I found. It reminded me the words of a meteorologist at the end of a stifling summer: Next autumn will be warmer than normal... and it is.

I know here there are different readers from different countries and I don't know how weather has behaved in their respective places. I've got some comments from people living in places in which snow has arrived much before than normal but here hot stayed up to some days ago. In this part of Spain I could listen to the cicades in the middle of october (thing unusual at this late on in the year), even I saw some insects which should be already "sleeping". Respect to trees, most of the leaves are still green and with the first fresh air they have begun to change colour. Is the autumn definitely here? We hope so.

Here you are the link related to the picture.

A New Order

2009-10-20T12:22:00.000-07:00

At one time in 2004, I decided to put into practice a philosophy of life in which neither meat nor fish was alowed to be eaten or at least in its minimal quantity whenever necessary. There are several reasons, but a piece of news like Spain fleet catching underweight fish supports and supported my decission. And what's more, this post was written in 2007. The link I have just posted is dated in April this year so it seems that things haven't changed at all. I have more things to show but in Spanish, however, you can check Greenpeace's fish red list. I think politiciens and citizens have to be aware of the finite planet in which we live and that not everybody can go everywhere doing whatever they want not matter the price: money is not comestible.

Politiciens and society shouldn't think in an infinite growth when our planet and resources are completely finite. We are many, so many, that we shouldn't have overcome the figure of 3 billion people, that's the issue of exponential growth... To this problem is added a new one: uncontrolled exploitation of resources which will degenerate into something I don't want to think about if we don't put into movement just now. Maybe some people think this is an utopia, but the economic and technological market should be adapted to a new order different from a one which is based on young labor hand, which doesn't stop coming many new births with the aim to guarantee pensions and the living standard. I know to carry out this idea will suppose deep changes in our society, perhaps so deep as they were in the industrial revolution which has degenerated into a fierce and savage capitalism.

I think there is not another way. If things don't change we will devour ourselves, and what is worst, we will destroy the rest of forms of life we find in our path and which share with us this ship Mother Earth, forms of life which don't have nothing to do with our disagreements.

People We Love :: Peter Marshall

2009-10-06T09:23:00.001-07:00

From time to time I like speaking about anonymous (or at least not very famous) people who are making a difference and are not as frequently as we would like in the news. Here you have and example that I found in the magazine Yes!

People We Love :: Peter Marshall by Madeline Ostrander

Shared via AddThis

Delay

2009-09-28T06:48:00.000-07:00

As usual, I don't have enough time to post all the information I receive and from time to time it gets lost among among hundreds of emails. This time the information is about dolphins in captivity and something else... At the very beginning I didn't understand why some people were against zoos and things like. Now, I've been for several years without visiting a place in which any kind of animal is captive and more if it is for making money.

I titled this post Delay because the issue I mentione was released with a film wich now is not in the theatres but in december we'll have the opportunity to buy the DVD and help the cause at the same time. Here you have the piece of news I received and the Amazon link to pre-order the film. Now I leave you a video for you to have an idea about what I'm speaking about.

What's Up With Wind Mills?

2009-09-08T23:20:00.000-07:00

Some times people wonder if so many windmill is something good. It seems that some of them don't like that some trees are cut down to put into place those machines or once working kill some birds hitting them with their sails.

Of course, that's not my cup of tea but now I bring up a question: People who think that about wind mills have ever thought about how the oil is extracted from the bottom of the sea? Has any one of them thought about all the dangerous situations from the point of extraction to the point of manufacturing? Oil is a big deal in relation with all the aspects in its handling. Here you are three examples: One, Two and Three. One more thing: How to find oil. I think nobody will think that oil is looked for like water diviners (people with a stick and so on). Nothing to have with that. You have to produce detonations in the bottom of the sea to find oil and... What supposes that? Everybody knows that the sound wave travels in the air at 340 m/s but in the water ir travels at 1400m/s, I think you get it... It becomes a killing wave because several hundred meters around it many animals can be seriously injured even killed (try to speak about that to divers...) . You have one example with cetaceans. Many of them are beached because the wave destroys either their ears or their entrails. And speaking on cetaceans that's not the only problem, they also have to face the sonar of the submarines but this seems to have a near solution. Any way, the ocenas are so big that... Out of sight, out of mind.

Swedish people, as nordic and good observers they are, say that birds become adopted to the wind mills. It seems that there are some reliable studies that confirm the question, thing that very, very probably won't happen with marine fauna and oil related explosions. There's no perfect system to produce energy, at least at the moment, but in general, wind power has more good thigs to offer than bad.

My point of view is that we are living in an age of transition and at the same time of destruction. I think things are not changing at the speed needed and maybe destrucition is ahead. Meanwhile, we have to deal with a mix of sources of energy and wait for what should be the solution: fusion power and hydrogen batteries.

P.S. Take into account that this post was written in January 2007. Some time later, I read that the idea of getting all the energy we need from the sun of the desert could be real but this is staff for another post, don't you think so?. Maybe nanotechnology has the key ;)

A Wolf In Sheep's Clothing

2009-08-15T14:54:00.000-07:00

We are used to the nice puppy which appears on TV advertising Scottex, one of the products of one of the biggest destroyers of ancient forests in the world: Kimberly-Clark. Greenpeace have been fighting the policy of the company since at least 2004 and, finally, both have got an agreement thanks to which by the end of 2011, Kimberly will begin to carry out a greener policy which takes into account the FSC policy (100% FSC? Who knows!).

I leave you a Greenpeace's video against the company which squatters this post and some more related links.

The links:

Despite what I have said, I have my own compromise with the forests:

Fisrt, I ask myself if it is completely necessary to use paper.
Second, in case I finally needed paper, I'd use recycled for everything and in case it wasn't possible because of circumstancies, I would try to find some made from other sustanaible sources like FSC (the most restrictive) or PFEC among others.

That's all for today friends.

A Stop On The Trail

2009-08-11T16:59:00.000-07:00

This late on in the summer, I don't know if there will be somebody going for a round by here and as I like having readers updated, I would like to tell them that is very probable not to have the blog updated on a regular basis up to middle of September. Circumstancies at present don't allow me to access to the Net on a regular basis given that I am in the middle of nowhere involved in an environmental issue. In any case, I will try to do my best to post something from time to time.

Greetings to everybody and have a nice summer.

Building a Wind Farm Out at Sea

2009-07-18T13:04:00.000-07:00

More information here.

7

2009-07-16T14:11:00.001-07:00

Our planet is large, more or less large if compared with the rest of the planets of the Solar System. It is large but we only have seven species of sea turtles and all of them are threatend. Since Finding Nemo turtles have become more famous, what's more, we have given to them charisma and that's good for conservation.

Many are the dangers that turtles have to face: drift fishing, plastic bags, trawling, nets, etc. Some people could think that turtles are silly animals that are usuless for the ecosystems but nothing more wrong:

They are little ecosystems in movement.
They are pollution bioindicators.
They control another species as jellyfish or sponges which can threaten other species even whole ecosystems like corals.

So we already have some reasons to increase our care for sea turtles. In case you find some of them in the seashore because you could think they are ill, the easiest way to help them is to dial the emergency number. Maybe in some places you have another ways but this is the general one. Here you have some clues to give the accuratest information about the animal:

If she or he is completely quiet, taking a lot of care, touch their eye. Until the last breath of life they respond to your finger in their eyes.
Problem number one with flotation: they float more in one side (left or right). They have breathing problems, maybe an infection in their lungs or something so.
Problem number two with flotation: they float more in the rear part or viceversa. Maybe they are having problems with their digestive system.

I have given you several reasons to preserve sea turtles and a few clues about how to react in case of emergency. Ups! Another thing, if possible, up to the moment in which the emergency service arrive to the place, you can soak your towel and keep wet the legs of the turtle. Remember they normally live in the oceans and their skin needs humidity.

To come to an end, here you are a video to make awareness of the problem that we and they are facing.

Have a nice weekend.

This Is Serious - Part III

2009-07-02T10:34:00.000-07:00

In January 2007, some news were about a mild-winter in Russia. That happened some weeks after I came back to Spain from my holidays in Finland.

It seemed that in Russia, like in Finland, some people were also surprised of those mild temperatures. The fact that event happened at a hemisphere scale, made us to understand it as not anything exceptional. It is true that, at a local scale, there have been, there are and there will be colder and warmer winters, but when something happens at a much bigger scale... It should make us to think.

Just now, in the summer 2009 in the North hemisphere, I pray Gaia for polar bears which could be fighting for survival given the lack of ice that every summer is bigger. You rich countries, shame on you for a free ice Artic Ocean in the coming years.

P.S. The picture is set in the Moscu's Read Square, without snow, in January 2007. I got it from a spanish piece of news.

Why On Earth?

2009-06-22T05:16:00.001-07:00

Maybe this is the first time I speak on this blog about poisoning and the tragedy it supposes when liberated in the environment. Here in Spain we still have some problems but not as many as some years ago.

If you kill an animal by poisoning, at least, the following four animals that eat its meat or the animals that eat the animals that have eaten such a meat, are going to die. Poisoning doesn't know about boundaries and imagine what a horrible death.... Here you have some interesting links about this issue:

And now I leave you the video that made me to create this post. Remember this is not sci-fi, that's happening in many parts of the world.

Do you want to stop poisoning? In that case, please, sign here.

Take Tuna Off Your Menu

2009-06-18T01:05:00.000-07:00

I don't know if it has happened in this blog or in the spanish one, but it's not the first time I speak about the awkward situation in which the tuna is. I also know that spaniards and japanese are the most tuna meat demanding countries but everybody has to be aware of what is happening. Regrettably, at this stage of the tuna's situation, the only way politicians and tuna's hunterers will get the message will be by not buying any more. So think twice before buying a product derived from tuna, I'm not pulling your leg, bringing to extinction such important predators we are destabilizing entire ecosystimes and being selfish, putting our food resources in danger and out of control.

I leave you a video in which not only you can see the problem with the tuna but also with another species, because the most of our fishing methods are not selective, they kill everything they find in their path.

Here you have the latest news about the problem: click here and an Oceana's report.

Destruction At Your Feet

2009-06-09T02:05:00.000-07:00

I can and I must accept that an indian or a native wear shoes made of leather as a consequence of their hunter-gathering life. What I shouldn't accept is that we, supposed civilized people, make an abuse of that, not only because in the way we keep and kill animals but moreover we are destroying rain forests. As I have said many times, to be many people is not a question of space but resources.

In any case, if you continue wearing shoes made of leather, at least try them to last as much as possible and sign the petition I link below the video. Sign the petition to ask shoes makers to be more careful whith their methods of production. It's a good idea to have a business to earn money, but not at any price, it is also important to be res-pon-si-ble. And by the way, have you ever thought how many shoes makers produce in the poorest countries and sell their products in the richest? Are they pulling our leg?

That's all for today.

Sign The Petition

Earth is NOT Ours...

2009-05-31T17:43:00.000-07:00

... it is not our parent's heritage, it is our children's loan.

Nothing Ventured Nothing Gained

2009-05-31T16:13:00.000-07:00

I decided to make a change in 2005. All my life I've had worries about the environment but, when registered to university in 2001, a new vision of life was opened to me. Thanks to another people I realized you only need two things: information and movement.

Today things have changed a lot. I joined a group of people to put into movement the Critical Mass in our city and, not only we have got that, but have created an NPO to promote the use of bicycles. I've participated in several protests against bullfighting and circuses and, with other people, are carrying on a study on roadkill. That's only some of the things I do. From here I tell you: Don't wait for others to make a change. Look at yourself and make things in the way you'd like the world to be.

Politiciens VS Planes

2009-05-13T09:13:00.000-07:00

In 2007, the british minister Ian Person attacked the air companies' environmental irresponsibility. Two links here: the first and the second. It seemed that British, not only for this case but others, had taken more seriously the issue of climate change than others.

Up to that moment, I did know no politicien who had told so many crystal clear things in public respect to the air traffic polution. Respect to CO2 emissions, the percentage of air traffic is smaller if compared with emissions from roads, but it is expected to have it rising faster than any other mean of transport in the coming years. Some years ago I joined the cause: who pollutes pays. I can't agree with tickets to fly costing 5, 10, 15, 20 or 25 euros or even less than 5 as I've seen some times. How is it possible to travel cheaper by plane than by train (at least in Spain)? How is it possible to be cheaper to distil a litre of gasoline than a litre of water? How is it possible so much permissiviness at the time of polluting?

In my opinion, the price of the ticket should start from a price figured from the number of trees that are needed to be planted in order to catch all the CO2 emitted during the journey. Obviously, the number of trees should be enough to catch all the CO2 in a number of reasonable years. From here, every company is free to establish its policy of prices. The term "low cost flights" shouldn't have never existed.

Something You Should

2009-04-30T10:00:00.000-07:00

Something I usually do when I go abroad, is to buy an English book about any subject related with climate change or the state of the planet. In this way, I found in Paris the book whose cover you can see on the left.

And what special thing has this book that many others don't? The first thing is the content. The second is that you can downloaded it for free. I think you can't lose such a opportunity to read a book with points of view that not everybody has. Give yourself the opportunity to see in another direction.

I will let you here some quotes from the Preface to have an idea of what you are going to read, if you do, of course.

Our world is changing fast.When Plan B 2.0 went to press two years ago, the data on ice melting were worrying. Now they are scary....

By 2030, when China's income per person is projected to match that in the United States today, China will be consuming twice as much paper as the world currently produces. If in 2030 the country's 1.46 billion people have three cars for every four people, U.S. style, China will have 1.1 billion cars. And it will consuming 98 million barrels of oil per day, well above current world production...

The challenge for our generation is to build a new economy, one that is powered largely by renewable sources of energy, that has a highly diversified transpor system, and that reuses and recycles everything. And to do it with unprecented speed...

In the following paragraph you have four of the mainstay of my religion... There are four overriding goals in Plan B 3.0: stabilizing climate, stabilizing population, erradicating poverty and restoring earth's ecosystems....

I don't want this post to be longer, so I'm going to finish with the following quote of the book: We have the technologies to restructure the world energy economy and stabilize climate. The challenge now is to build the political will to do so. Saving civilization is not a spectator sport. Each of us has a leading role to play.

Here's the link to download the book and here some more useful information.

Have a nice weekend.

P.S. If you decide to print the book, please, do it using recycled paper and if impossible, buy the book, it is printed that way. Save trees. Respect the Planet.

The Prophecy

2009-04-10T01:47:00.000-07:00

I know the picture is a bit gloomy, but I think it takes your attention... Just as some scientists intend respect to climate change. In December 4th, 2007, I wrote a post in which I commented how bad lucky we were in our last travel to Finland, given that the weather played a dirty trick on us and there was neither ice nor snow. In that post I also commented that if winters were going to be every time warmer in the North, I didn't want to think how hot summers were going to be in the South (of Europe of course). Here you have two links I have just found: the first and the second (the old link I have is in Spanish and sometimes the website fails, that's why I have looked for something similar in English).

Don't Look Away

2009-03-23T18:53:00.000-07:00

Problems are not cleared up without facing them. The solution is in our hands. I know you'd rather prefer being happy but humanity has been living a party for two hundred years. Now it's the moment to make up our mind and make a change, a deep change. What are you waiting for? Regrettably, what you see below is, once more, not sci-fi.

Click Here To Try To Save The Polar Bear

Never's too Late to Mend

2009-03-17T09:09:00.000-07:00

From time to time I surf the web looking for information which I think is worth spreading it. One example of it is the trailer I leave here. I roughly bought the film a year ago from amazon.co.uk. Sadly, stuff like this arrives to Spain late, very late or never, the reasons? Who knows! Anyway, if you decide to buy it on line, take into account your DVD zone, to Europe I think is 2, otherwise you won't be able to watch the DVD.

If you want to know my opinion, I liked it more than "An uncofortable truth".

The Ten Commitments

2009-03-10T16:54:00.001-07:00

... to stop climate change ...

First. Change your bulbs. A fluorescent bulb cuts down emissions about 400 kilos of CO2 a year.

Second. Drive less your car. Walk, pedal, share your car or use the bus. You'll save 1.5 kilos of CO2 per 5 kms without driving.

Third. Recycle more. You'll cut down 1000 kilos of CO2 recycling half of your rabbish.

Fourth. You'll check your tires. A good pressure cuts down the fuel consumption. Keep in mind that every litre of fuel releases 2.5 kilos of CO2.

Fifth. You'll cut down the consumption of warm water. If you have a low pressure shower, you'll avoid to release 3 tons of CO2 per year and to do the washing with cold water 225 kilos.

Sixth. You'll avoid to buy things with a lot of wrapping. Reducing 10% your rabbish will avoid the emission of 545 kilos of CO2 per year.

Seventh. You'll regulate the thermostat. 2ºC less in winter, 2ºC more in summer and you'll save 900 kilos of CO2 per year.

Eigth. You'll plant a tree. You'll get captured 1000 kilos of CO2.

Nineth. You'll switch off all your electric appliances which are not in use. TV, PC, DVD and Hi-Fi devices suppose the emission of several thousands of kilos of CO2 per year.

Tenth. You'll become part of the solution setting an example.

P.S. Thanks Paqui.

Reasons for not Visiting the Circus

2009-02-27T06:41:00.000-08:00

Ten days ago, the following issue broke out in the spanish press: A Circus was sent to Court because of animal abuse at the USA. Here you have the comments I posted.

"For quite a while, I duly get involved into protests to close circus which use animals in their spectacles. Many of you could think what a bad thing may be a circus. The Circus itself has nothing bad, but I think is not a place for an animal and much less to do what it is obliged to do. Circus without any animals are completely possible, in fact, I've been twice in that type of spectacles, so experience supports what I'm saying. I think we should change our way of thinking: things are in the way they are because it's custom and customs shouldn't be changed...

I let you a video related to the piece of news. I don't know if it is the first time that something like this happens at the USA but, anyway, it's an important step to defend animal rights. When will spaniards have a judge to take the country to Court for our National Party?"

2050 minus 2040 equal to 10

2009-02-15T17:13:00.000-08:00

Masters say that, if something is difficult to have under control, that is an exponential increment of something. Here you two examples: the incresase of population and climate change. Like in many aspects of life, in terms of climate change you can find two different groups: the group of optimistic people (mid-full bottle) and the group of pessimistic people (mid-empty bottle).

The ones of the second group estimate that "the triggers" of the climate are already working. To say it in another words: problems will worse in a linear way and suddenly... maybe some day... will happen lots of "bad things" faster than saying Jack and Robinson, no matter the consequences it brings...

Some time ago it was told that by 2100 the North Pole would be navigable in summer (to happiness of that ones that only have and want piles of money). Later, it was told that it would happened by 2080, afterwards 2050 then 2040. Things seem to go faster than some scientists thought, so allow me to include here that group of people who always say "we won't see it". I've been collecting for a time pieces of news about environmental issues and, in the moment I wrote this post, maybe one year and a half or more, I found two interesting things but they were written in Spanish. In spite of it, I post you two simmilar pieces of news but in English: one and two. Think about it and act in consequence. You are what you do and not what you say.

Good evening.

Things Looking Up For Polar Bear

2009-01-31T15:58:00.000-08:00

It's never too late to mend. In that way I would also have titled this post because at first sight, what Mr. Bush some time agreed with his colleagues, today is mended by Mr. Obama. Here you have a piece of information sometime ago. I've got the information below from an e-newsletter of the Center for Biological Diversity.

"In the days since the inauguration of President Obama, the outlook for polar bears and the global climate has dramatically improved. For one thing, nine states -- including California, Oregon, New York, and Massachusetts -- have joined a Center for Biological Diversity lawsuit to overturn the Bush administration's order prohibiting federal agencies from protecting polar bears from global warming through the Endangered Species Act. In addition, the Obama administration has ordered all federal agencies to consider settling lawsuits filed against Bush policies (many of which, ahem, were brought by the Center) instead of defending the bad actions in court. Hopefully our new president -- who's already pushing for enforcement of fuel-efficiency standards and a stimulus package that would help green energy -- will decide to reverse Bush's polar bear-killing policies."

And to add some more information, here you have two links: the first and the second.

Sever Suzuki - You Are What You Do and Not What You Say

2009-01-20T14:18:00.000-08:00

One of the aims of this blog, is giving knowledge of the people who are able of doing something for this blue ball, lost somewhere in Universe, and make of it a more worthy place to live. In this way, today is the turn to Sever Suzuki, who in spite of being a teenager in the video, more than one who was in the room was uncomfortable, or at least something inside them began to move before such an amazing speech. I'm not going to give you more explanations because when you listen to her, you will get the message, it is, the point. In another words: the message is excellent.

The same thing that happened in such room, I hope to be happened at least with one of you when watching the video.

Something Happened in Las Vegas

2009-01-13T09:17:00.000-08:00

CES is the world's largest consumer technology tradeshow. With the digital conversion deadline approaching next month, these undead TV Zombies and their toxins are lurking around Las Vegas hoping to get a hold of some of the shiny new electronics on display.

Thanks to the impending zombie invasion, it seems that Panasonic, Sharp and Toshiba have finally stepped up to the plate by announcing, last January 9th, that they will launch a 50-state recycling program by the end of the month.

Get more information by clicking here

Happy New Year 2009

2008-12-31T09:15:00.000-08:00

One in five mammal species on the planet are facing extinction. I ask 2009 for letting recover the number of Lynx individuals, our Iberian Lynx, the most threatened feline in the world, and that tigers don't arrive to the same situation because they are on the way.

We, like them, are a miracle of Life. Lets not allow that a miracle leaves us forever, at least, because of our fault.

Iberian Lynx

Tiger - Link 1 and 2

The Dog Meat Trade

2008-12-29T02:32:00.000-08:00

Have your say by clicking here. Lots of Tanks.

Merry Xmas to Everybody

2008-12-22T14:21:00.001-08:00

Berta, great lover of animals, sent to me an e-mail yesterday to wish me Xmas. I "recycle" it given that recycling is something usual in my life and take profit of it to send you her message, my message. Thanks to everybody for devoting part of your prized time on my blog.

As they teach us, I WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS and that PEACE, HARMONY AND TOLERANCE invade ALL BEINGS and ALL CORNERS ALL OVER THE PLANET in 2009.

A very big hugh to everybody.

I leave you a video which Berta sent to me. It is not a Xmas video, but it is charming or at least I think so. Have a very good time in company of your people and consume responsibly.

Take Care With Your Xmas Gifts

2008-12-17T13:03:00.000-08:00

Now it's time to buy many things as a gift to our mates and folks. And now more than before, we have to take into account things on the background of the things we get. Remember you have many things to say with your buy. You can decide the politics of many companies getting some products instead of others. And of course, think twice before getting something. Think that doubling the time you use something you are reducing twice the quantity of waste. And of course, if you are getting electronic devices, take also into account the word coltan.

I leave you a video to think about my words.

Your Voice in December 11th

2008-12-05T12:16:00.001-08:00

Click here to make your voice to be listened. If the web is loaded in Spanish, in the upper left corner you have a link to load the web in different languages.

A Good Christmas Bonus

2008-12-02T17:34:00.000-08:00

As usual! It was December 23rd 2006. I was reading the newspaper Levante and I could check that from public coffers, four million euros were going to be destinated to fund the repairs of Xativa's bullfighting square (Xativa is a little city in the south of the province of Valencia). I'd rather prefer investing the money in culture, sport or science because there's a lot of need of those subjects. These four million euros will be for: one.- to benefit builders (who have the support of our politicians to destroy our environment) and two.- to support a "party" to which no words exist.

Once more the famous quote is repeated: we can get by without school but not without bulls. And of course, the bullfighting square has to be finished before elections... Why on Earth have my taxes to have this fate? Because nobody has got four million euros from nowhere. If you want to have party, at the moment pay it yourself, because really it should be forbidden, I don't understand a party in which a living being is tortured.

Of course, some people are able to do any thing in order to not to lose the chair...

Buy Nothing Day

2008-11-25T15:48:00.000-08:00

Imagine that suddenly, we run out of money and, to prevent collapses, more fast than say Jack and Robinson somebody is pumping liquidity once more in our banking system. But in the background of this financial crisis, a crisis much more important is showing: we are working out of nature limits... fish, forests, fresh water, minerals, ground. What are we going to do when these resources are completely exhausted?

There's only one path to prevent the collapse of this human experiment on Earth: we have to consume less.

Click on the picture to get more information.

This Is Not Sci-Fi

2008-11-18T16:24:00.001-08:00

Wretch II

2008-11-15T22:30:00.000-08:00

Once more I've been able to check that a daily use of the bicycle is a question of culture and education. Despite winters are harsh in Finland, it exists a daily use of the bicycles as a mean of transport. Obviously, bicycles are more used in summer (or at least I think so).

Here where I live, potential bicycle users put forward any thing: there is a lot of traffic and it is dangerous, it is very hot, it is very hard, I sweat, it is cold... ¡Cold!¡Cold! It makes me laugh at them. Last time I was in Finland we got -17ºC... The best thing was that I saw people cycling ¡Even elderly people!

Maybe in Spain somebody can think that who uses the bycicle in Finland is because they don't have any other resource. Maybe there's somebody, but from my point of view, if something characterizes Finland, is its way of life, a low index of political corruption (at least if we compare with Spain) and above all, if I haven't been misinformed, ostentation is not well regarded. What do we find here (in general)? Cyclists are sadly a minority. The car has become the totem of our society, in the reference of what you are or you try to be... ¡Get out of my road wretch!

A Week for a Rest

2008-11-02T11:30:00.000-08:00

Some posts ago I wrote about my journey to Lapland in 2006. This post was written when I was there. I only would like to show you the things and situtatuons I lived there. Get your own conclusions.

I have decided to leave, only a bit, my blog during this week. This my holiday week and I need a piece of rest... Getting back to this land is excellent, I think at the moment... I wouldn't get back to my country...

I'm getting a lot of knowledge about my favourite subject, and, little by little, I've had the oppportunity to speak to people of the place about the behaviour of the climate. I have spoken to taxi drivers, tour guides and dogs breeders. Tomorrow we will visit once more the ice braker Sampo, it won't be like last time, but we will try to have fun as much as we can, thing which is not in doubt and I will take profit to try to exchange ideas with somebody of the crew.

I already have more things in mind for new posts, so from next week I will go back to write (meanwhile I will go updating some link). Just now we are in Kemi. It is -4 ºC in the street and no much time it will take me to go to bed. Good night.

First Is Oil and Money To Him

2008-10-28T03:05:00.000-07:00

Thanks to a university teacher of mine :)

Bush´s Neuron- Boobs from Darren Gigs on Vimeo

Homeless Dogs

2008-10-21T05:09:00.000-07:00

Contact me if you are interested in him.

It's not for Me, It's for Them - Part II

2008-10-14T11:30:00.000-07:00

Break the Addiction By Clicking Here

It's not for Me, It's for Them

2008-10-12T06:34:00.000-07:00

Once again, President Bush has called for drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge by 2010 in his new budget proposal.

The Arctic Refuge is the most important onshore denning habitat for America's vanishing polar bears.

Urge Congress to permanently protect the Arctic Refuge now!

Click here to sign the petition

Nice Picture, No Actions

2008-09-30T11:28:00.001-07:00

In December 2007 I visited some friends that my wife and I have in Singapore. One of the places we visited was the zoo. To be sincere the Singapore zoo has been one of the best zoos I have ever visited so far but, in general, zoos are not my cup of tea.

One of the attractions was the polar bear, that giant of the ice whose pictures move us. How nice! What a beautiful picture! What a pity he faces the threat of extinction in short! But what do we do when we arrive at home? What actions do we take every day? What's the percentage of people who do something to prevent, better said, to stop the melting of the ice caps? Only hot air... Nothing else... Things are getting worse... Methane is escaping from the ice: Have a look. Take it easy, it's better blaming on others. Keep sleeping.

Artic Ice, May 2008

2008-09-20T13:45:00.001-07:00

For more information click here.

Everything Has Been Stolen to Us

2008-09-14T14:55:00.001-07:00

At the end of 2006, in my spanish blog I wrote some lines that, Ana Pérez Sanjuán from Greenpeace, sent to the magazine of such NPO. I thought it was worthy of being posted in my blog. Some notes before beginning.: Galicia is something like a "state" in Spain, not exactly, but for giving you an idea. The document was written as a consequence of the wood fires that year.

"Galicia's Prometeos, far away from stealing the Fire to the Gods looking for the Light and Life, they vile and cowardly steal such fire to the men to put out not only their inheritance but also their sons, grandsons' laugh and hopes.

Those killers of the Life have taken away the colour with all his blends, the smell with all its frangances, the smell of the dew in the morning and night dew soft shiver. They have taken away the orange-coloured moonrise among the twisted branches of the carballo (a vegetable), at the same time that the red-coloured sunsets among the green cloak of the mountains.

They have stolen the beautiful sing of the birds, the sound of the crikets at night, the sound of the cicada in the morning. Where's the walking of the frightened wall lizard, the wild boar's footprint, the astonished eyes of the fox, the wolf's howling or the light crack of the deer and roe deer with their elegant gallop among multicolored ferns?

They have stolen to us all the life beings on the Earth, the jubilation, the laugh, the summer and all the seasons during long, long time... Some of us have almost fallen silent, anothers won't come back to feel and see the freshing beat of the forest heart. But, in that fight which lasted more than ten moons and hurt suns, the Nobles and Knights of this odd age will leave us alone once more in the battlefield.

Take care Lords and Knights of that which is ours and that which belongs to itself, because never it will have an owner, so it is known that, when de jubilation comes back to the forests and specters lie in wait for, they feed on the life itself because you don't wipe out them, the inhabitants of this region, all over the Kingdom and the Empire let forests and wounded animals to die. But, the Moon and the Sun which see this, some day, they will took revenge on this, on the specters evil and on the Lords and Knights of this odd age who didn't know to carry out their oath".

After these lines the only thing I can do is to add this quote by Great Chief Seattle: the white man will swallow all the Earth and nothing will be left, only a desert.

Happy week to everybody.