Deforestation in the Amazon and How You can Help

Covering over six million square kilometers of land, the Amazon rainforest is a refuge to an estimated 50% of all species on Earth including 170,000 of the world’s 250,000 known plant species, 2.5 million insect species, one fifth of the world’s bird population, as well as an estimated 250,000 indigenous Amazonian natives. It is said that 90% of Amazonian plants used by natives have not been studied by modern science. The Amazon’s unparalleled biodiversity all but guarantees cures to many of the world’s most deadly diseases such as cancer, malaria, and AIDS. So why are we throwing this vital resource by the wayside? Why have we destroyed over 600,000 square kilometers of rainforest since 1970? And is anything being done to stop this monstrosity? The answer to the latter is yes. The Rainforest Foundation US is a non-for-profit organization supporting indigenous and traditional people of the world’s rainforests, protecting the Amazon from further deforestation and degradation, restoring previously destroyed land, influencing related laws and policies, and building strong community leadership.

http://www.worldculturepictorial.com

Founded in 1989, by the request of an Indian leader in Brazil seeking protection from the threats from deforestation, the Rainforest Foundation US realized the important part protecting indigenous natives’ rights plays in the protection of rainforests. Deforestation rates have been shown to plummet in areas occupied by natives. This is because the natives do not possess the skills required to get their land acknowledged by governmental agencies. Some of their 2011 initiatives include projects in the following countries: Belize, Brazil, Guyana, Panama, and Peru. These projects are benefiting several endangered tribes such as the Mayans (Belize), the Wounaans (Panama), the Kandozis (Brazil), and the Shapras (Brazil).

Rainforest Foundation US suggests several of the most effective ways to help their cause.

Volunteering: If you are interested in volunteering, you can visit their website, sign up for their newsletter, and email rffny@rffny.org to express your ideas on how you could help.

Internships: Rainforest Foundation US offers several internship positions throughout the year including research, writing, media outreach, web updates, special events coordination, translation, and general administration help.

Fundraising: Fundraising of all types provides Rainforest Foundation US with the funds required to fund such a heroic effort to save the Amazon Rainforest. They encourage fundraising of all types. If you are interested, you can contact them at 212-431-9098.

Donation: There are several ways to simply donate money to Rainforest Foundation US which can be found here.

All of this concern over rainforest deforestation begs the question, “Why is it happening in the first place?” There are several causes of rainforest deforestation. The main cause in recent history has been the clearing of rainforest to serve as pastureland for cattle which has been the estimated cause of over 50 percent of deforestation. As the Brazilian Real grew weaker, the low, competitive price of beef caused farmers to increase the size of their pasturelands, to the detriment of rainforest habitat. The Brazilian government has passed several laws and policies raising the real value of pastureland over the real value of forestland. The Brazilian government grants land to anyone who clears a small portion of rainforest and uses it minimally (farmers use this law to speculate land for the future).

http://www.forestjustice.org/our-issues/deforestation/cattle/

The next highest percentage of deforestation is simply the result of small, subsistence farms. Poor farmers encouraged to settle land due to the government policy mentioned above clear land in order to grow food to support his/her family. Due to the relative infertility of Amazonian land, farmers are forced to constantly move their farms. Most of them practice the slash and burn technique in which they cut down all of the trees and brush on their old farms and burn it. After they have given that land a few years they will come back and farm there again. This has been attributed to a large portion of global greenhouse gas emissions. Some other causes of deforestation include infrastructure improvements (roads, highways, etc.), commercial agriculture (mostly large soybean farms), logging, and fires. You can learn more about the causes of Amazonian deforestation here.

Saving the Amazon Rainforest should be of the utmost importance to humans everywhere, and if we do not do something soon, we will find that we had thrown away an obvious solution to many of our problems. Each human must do their part to ensure the prosperity of one of the last unbroken tracts of land uncorrupted by human imperfection.

A list of ways you can help save the rainforest (and become more green in the process) can be found here.

Photography of My Pets

Upon trifling through the photographs we have taken of our pets over the years, we realized how few we actually had. To fix this problem, we decided to have a small little “Doggy photo shoot” outside (it only lasted 15 minutes). Here are our favorite ones. Enjoy!

Sami preparing for takeoff

bliss

Photagraphy During Heavy Snow

After the massive blizzard, plaguing much of the United States, passed over us, we had approximately 14 inches of snow on the ground. Naturally, a couple inches of that snow supplemated, and compressed under its own weight. 14 inches seems like enough snow for a while, right? Wrong! Yesterday we were forecasted to recieve 1-2 additional inches of the white stuff. Before we knew it, we were under a winter weather advisory. As the storm approached, the forecasted accumulation was upped to 3-5 inches, of course! Once it finally arrived, it dumped snow on us for over six hours. Fortunately, I took the oppurtunity to take pictures during the snow. Here are some of my favorite pictures I took yesterday. Enjoy!

My dog Sami hunting for moles

Sami swimming through the snow

My dog scotty

another shot of scotty

my personal favorite

How a Modest Street Vendor Incited a Revolutionary Chain Reaction in the Arab World

The modest fruit cart. It has provided humans with Earth’s spoils for hundreds of years. In many ways it is the end of the line for the fruit it bears. In early December, 2010, this seemingly innocuous hunk of wood served as more than just a container to hold fruit. It along with a desperate street vendor, a policewoman, a governor’s stupidity, and some flammable liquid incited a revolution.

http://www.travelblog.org/Photos/176476

A modest man, Mohamed Bouazizi (Tarek al-Tayyib Muhammad ibn Bouazizi) was a poor street vendor making a living selling produce in Sidi Bouzid, a Tunisian city handicapped by a 30% unemployment rate. Hardship was nothing new to Bouazizi, as he had been forced to adapt to it from an early age. At the age of 3, his father, a construction worker, passed away from a heart attack. 7 years later, his uncle fell ill, and at the age of ten he began working odd jobs to help provide sustenance for his family. In his late teens, he dropped out of school so that he could work full-time. Despite his adversity, Bouazizi managed to retain his passion for education. He devoured literature, and excelled at math. Unfortunately, his dream of going to college was crushed upon his dropping out of high school to support his family.

A picture of Mohamed Bouazizi

Due to Sidi Bouzid’s horrendous unemployment rate, Bouazizi had applied for several jobs with the same hope shared by thousands of fellow Tunisians: the hope of a reliable source of income to feed his family. Is that too much to ask for? Out of options, Bouazizi was reduced to selling produce at the market (without a permit). The money earned from this paid for his entire family’s needs, including his siblings’ education.

On December 17, 2010, Bouazizi’s life was turned upside down. At first, all was normal. Bouazizi manned his fruit cart, on the lookout for potential customers. Then, a female municipal official approached Bouazizi, demanding a permit. When he tried to pay her off, she allegedly slapped him in the face after confiscating his cart and produce.

With no source of income to put food on the table, Bouazizi went to the governor’s office to remonstrate the previous event. Despite Bouazizi’s desperate plea, the governor refused to hear or see him. Shortly after his rejection, Bouazizi obtained a flammable liquid (either gasoline or paint thinner) and returned to the governor’s office. As he doused himself in the fluid, a small crowd gathered. Many laughed, encouraging him to do it. Full of grief and agony, Bouazizi ignited himself. Imagine the pain it would take to cause an easy going man to want to burn himself alive. Although he survived the initial attempt, Mohamed Bouazizi would later die from his wounds on January 4, 2011 at 5:30 P.M.

Rioting quickly enveloped Tunisia, beginning December 19, 2010, when several hundred youths protested in Sidi Bouzid (in front of the governor’s office), with anger over high unemployment rates and the Bouazizi incident. Riots quickly intensified throughout Tunisia, some turning violent. On January 14, 2011, Ben Ali , Tunisia’s president of 23 years, was exiled to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, under the agreement he would resign from office. On January 15, he did just that, ending the oppression that had plagued Tunisia for decades.

Ben Ali

The Tunisia Revolution has inspired people throughout the Middle East to challenge their oppressive governments as well, sparking riots throughout the Arab world. It seems that the anger and malice towards oppression have been building up over the years and has recently reached its breaking point. The Tunisia Revolution has served as the initial domino in a much larger system; as more and more riots occur, the likelihood of further riots increases. If the uprising in Cairo proves successful we can expect several more riots in the future. Amongst all of this chaos, we must ensure that these new governments learn from the mistakes of their predecessors and form new, stable governments.

In the end, the potent mix of anger, oppression, and frustration, along with a spark in the form of a desperate street vendor, ignited a wildfire of malice and frustration that is sweeping across the Arab world. How will these countries react to new-found freedom? Will they destabilize and fall into a state of nature? Will Tunisia’s reformed government stand the test of time? Only time will tell. One this is for sure though. Tunisia will never be the same. Thanks to the sacrifice of an affable albeit poor street vendor who couldn’t afford a vendor’s license.

http://ti.org/antiplanner/?p=65

A Focused Blog? Heck no! More like Structured Chaos

 Upon joining WordPress and creating this blog, on Wednesday, I read through some of “Zero to Hero”, a ten step guide aimed at equipping aspiring bloggers with the necessary tools to write a successful blog. Right of the bat (step 3 to be exact), they advise novice bloggers to “get focused”. In this section, it is recommended that blogs be focused on narrow topics such as photography, news, technology, etc.

 In reading this, I couldn’t help but recall the reasons that I created a blog in the first place. First, I was simply curious about the possibility of writing a blog. I wished to create a vault to deposit memories and ideas to look back on in the future. I am not going to lie, one of the main reasons I created this blog was pure greed. I had and still have the naïve hope of making some discernable profit from “my little experiment”

http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=809

Anyways, blogs are castles waiting to be built. Telling me to write on a narrow topic is like making me build my castle exclusively out of granite, or exclusively out of brick. What if I want to use both granite and brick? Writing about a variety of things gives readers a little bit of everything. I know my brain wouldn’t be satisfied from information on a single topic. Blogs about one thing lack personality. Readers should not shy away from blogs due to topic ambiguity.

Ambiguity is good! I know my metaphors are cheesy, but here I go again. Blogs should be four course meals. By the time you’ve finished eating, your taste buds have been satisfied. Why not do the same thing with your brain? How would you feel eating the same thing every day?  Now I know I am being dogmatic about this topic, this is just my personal albeit ignorant view.

 

http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=1841

 

For those of you who do enjoy variety, when reading my blog, do not be surprised if I go from one thing to another  completely different topic time and time again. I just don’t like feeling tied down to one specific subject. I enjoy the freedom to write about whatever I want, whenever I want. I will do my best to structure my chaos, but I cannot make any promises.

Just a warning: In the future, I will not post nearly as much as I have in the past two days. I am just excited due to the fact that I joined recently. It seems whenever you join something new, you get into it for a little while, and slowly but surely lose focus. School has been cancelled for three days in a row now so I have had time to write more frequently. In the future, I do not expect to write every day, nor am I compelled to do so.

So next time you find yourself writing a blog post, ask yourself this: Why am I writing this and who am I writing it for?

Please leave criticism in the comment section below. I know my writing ability is lacking, but hopefully it will improve as I write more and more.

Just a Bunch of Awsome Pictures of Deer, Squirrels, and a Domesticated Dog

For Christmas I was fortunate enough to recieve a motion sensor/infared camera for the woods near our home. At first all I got were a few dissapointing pictures of squirrels and get this… blowing grass! More recently, I was able to get some good pictures and videos of a herd of deer roaming through the woods. I am going to be honest with you. This post is more of an excuse to try to post pictures and videos on the blog, but some of them are actually pretty good considering the camera is fixed to a tree in one position. So here you go, I have picked the best of the squirrel pictures and virtually all of the deer pictures to share with you guys. I am not exactly sure how to do this gallery or slideshow thing so I’ll give it my best shot. I have just learned that I cannot show my awsome deer videos without upgrading (what a shame).

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

In other news, today so far,  my blog has gotten a whopping 6 views! Maybe I will throw a party at 10…

A Brief Description of the Red Panda, Red Panda Network, and how you can Help Save the Red Panda!

So to kick off this blog I am going to introduce a category, called “Charities”, where I elaborate on different charities that make a difference in the lives of many. I have decided to focus on a relatively new non-for-profit organization called the Red Panda Network. If you cannot already tell from the title, the Red Panda Network (a.k.a. the RPN) is striving to end the plight of the Red Panda.

At first glance, the Red Panda appears to be an orange raccoon about the size of a housecat. Although it has once been classified in the raccoon and bear family, currently, it is classified under its own family (Ailuridae). The Red Panda’s diet mainly consists of tender bamboo shoots, it also eats eggs, birds, insects, and small mammals. The Red Panda is largely sedentary during the day, but is active from dust to dawn. On average, they live 8-10 years, but some have lived longer. Red Pandas are native to the Eastern Himalayas and Southwestern China.

Just look into his eyes...

Red Pandas are severely threatened by poaching, habitat degradation, and deforestation. The Red Panda Network is taking several steps to help save the Red Panda. According to their website, the RPN has broken up their work into three major categories.

Research: The RPN is conducting baseline research to determine the number of Red Panda in specific areas as well as the effectiveness of their organization. They train locals in Red Panda habitats to survey, monitor, and raise awareness about Red Pandas. They call these men and women “Forest Guardians”.

Conservation: The RPN uses their baseline research to determine which unprotected locations they should focus on protecting. Again, they use “Forest Guardians” to raise awareness among locals and continue researching Red Panda populations. The RPN is currently attempting to create the Panchthar-Ilam-Taplejung Red Panda Protected Forest which would be the largest protected forest in Nepal.

Education: The RPN realizes the importance of educating people about the issue in order for them to fix it and holds regular workshops with villages in Red Panda habitat. They also offer programs for kids where kids can learn about Red Panda protection and earn the title “Red Panda Ranger”.

How you can Help: The Red Panda Network relies largely on donations to fund its efforts. There are several ways you can donate including a straight up cash donation, the donation of equipment asked for in their “in-kind wish list”, adopting a panda (for 40$ you receive information on your panda, desktop wallpaper featuring your panda, a personalized adoption certificate, an e-card of your panda, and subscription to the semi-annual Red Panda newsletter), and simply buying Red Panda themed merchandise at their store.

Aside from donations you could organize a Red Panda Fundraiser, raise awareness in your community, and whatever ideas you can come up with.

Donate and learn more at http://redpandanetwork.org/

Because this was my first attempt at reviewing a charity (really anything for that matter), please feel free to leave criticism In the comment section below.

Anything BUT “Hello World!”

Well… I couldn’t figure out how to delete that darn startup post, so I guess I will just have to edit it. This is my first post on WordPress. I do not know if I intend to actually pursue this blog or not. For now this is just my little experiment. To all three people (if that many) who will read this post, hello! Since writing this just came up, and I have absolutely nothing to say, I will just rant about whatever random stuff comes to mind.

The weather has not been all that great. We had a blizzard warning yesterday and a winter weather advisory today. Most of the people I know are real excited about the 14 inches of snow on the ground, but I have to say that I am pretty underwhelmed. Sure, this was my first blizzard in memory, but 14 inches? Really? Chicago was forecasted to get 24+ inches of additional accumulation. South Bend was forecasted to get 12-18. I have NEVER gotten the full force of a storm in my life (if you discount the ice storm two years ago). At first AccuWeather forecasted 22 inches of snow for us, but sadly, the number kept dropping and dropping until it was a measly 10. Its funny, whenever the weatherman says we are getting a lot of snow, we get little snow, and whenever the forecast says there is a zero percent chance of snow we get 3 inches.

I know this post has been really lousy, I just needed to replace that pitiful “Hello World!” post that they initially put on blogs. Now what to do about the comment…