Category Archives: ecology

The sea turtle

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So, the calendar has changed to April (what happened to March?) and this month’s sea creature is the sea turtle. 

I was not aware that they couldn’t retract their outer limbs nor that it could take 50 years for some species to reproduce.

Here’s a story on a rescue-and-release of the turtles.  Again, their navigation is off and they end up in colder waters than they are accustomed to.

National Geographic has a nice photo gallery of the sea turtle.  More amazing facts–the Green Sea turtle is so ancient that it saw the dinosaur emerge and then watched them grow extinct.  Amazing.

On a visit with relatives, we were walking along a beach and saw the tracks made by turtles as they paddle in the sand.  My aunt explained what made the unusual design.  It was during this trip that I also saw whales in the distance spout water sky high.  Very cool.

Toxins and their effects on the sea turtles.  Not a surprise, but wish it was…

More from Sea Turtle Conservancy on pollution and its affects. Can we outlaw plastic bags, balloons, bottles, food wrappers, etc….? Nah…that would mean a little...inconvenience…to us…

A story here on a turtle being run over by an all terrain vehicle…this is a big problem with the North Carolina coast–environmentalists have been threatened by the off-roaders who for some reason feel the need to drive these vehicles on the beaches. And this on politicians with nothing better to do than interfere with efforts to stop it.  <sigh>

More here on beach roadkill from Ted Williams at Audobon–including birds.  Outer Banks Preservation Association.…pshaw.

Another fiasco by BP— their *cough* controlled burns probably burned turtles alive.

 

More on the Arkansas spill

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You know, there are days when I wish that I was wrong, and this is one of them.

So…my first inclination was right–that they were trying to control the message and access to the area by the press….it would appear that the press corps are going to have to start having body guards.

At least there is one aerial photo of the mess here.

Monsanto, the Godfather…

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…of destruction to human beings and the environment…

And President Obama signs the Monsanto Protection Act.  WTH?

From the Union of Concerned Scientists link:

In 2008—the last year a federal Farm Bill was completed—the company reported a whopping $8.8 million in lobbying expenditures (see table below) intended to influence decisions in Congress, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and other federal agencies.

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$8 million. Just for lobbying, folks….that’s not counting the money spent on persecuting farmers. It was common for farmers to keep seeds to plant crops with–nothing was wrong with that….until Monsanto made it illegal…and one has to ask why?  Why are they allowed to persecute farmers for saving seed?  In some cases, such as Percy Schmeiser, a farmer doesn’t even have to have purchased the poisonous seeds….

Don’t forget the Hoosier farmer fighting this Goliath in the Supreme Court.

One of the articles I passed over with my search made a statement that Monsanto’s seeds are popular with farmers…perhaps that is what the problem is…and where the solution lies…NOT purchasing seeds from Monsanto.  I think it is going to take a helluva boycott on the part of the farmers to bring this giant to its knees.  It’s obvious by now that the gov’t is not going to do the right thing and regulate this poisonous agriculture or the corporation responsible for it.  And Monsanto is doing its best to destroy the family farm.

What a fight on our hands….

Exxon interfering with coverage of the Arkansas spill

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Exxon is interfering with our right to know and the First Amendment–the right of the news crews to fly over the spill to document it. And my guess that the reason I haven’t heard of it on the news is becoming obvious–trying to shut down the news of it so that the Canadian XL pipeline can go through without protest… (note again the Hillary Clinton connection to XL…)

…and as I said, the real reason they don’t want *outsiders* taking the ducks and other wildlife to rescue centers is to thwart attempts to document the damage with photos of the dead and suffering wildlife….

(I say outsiders with just a little sarcasm…as if the American public were outsiders in their own country….but increasingly made to feel that way, eh? )

Arkansas oil spill

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Gah, there is so much I miss…

I did not know that there had been an oil pipeline spill. 

(I’m sure that the push for the new pipeline has nothing to do with it)  /snark

Be sure to click on the links—the poor ducks….

…and I strongly suspect the reason that Exxon officials are discouraging people from handling the ducks are not concern for the person’s safety as they are at keeping people away from the scene to thwart pictures of the ducks circulating, a la BP thwarting efforts to document the deaths of the dolphins during the oil spill.  And the government is not helping, but also part of the see-no-evil plan…

Here’s an update to the gulf. Not good news…not that I  expected any. More here.

Here’s a photographic diary of the devastation.  Warning: the worst photo I have ever seen of a poisoned dolphin  is in this group, along with the pelicans, turtles, and other sea life covered in oil….it makes you just want to suck in air, doesn’t it?  Good God.

 

 

 

Earthships in Haiti

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I have been meaning to get back to this–earthships has a presence in Haiti.  Absolutely wonderful the work that they’re doing….it’s sustainable, and helps them to help themselves…I’m  in awe of the ingenuity of the design, as always.

I have questions, however, of the tires being used as a collection of the sewage water.  As the solids break down, which takes some time, won’t that bring the toxic chemicals of the tires with it as it leaches back into the soil and the plants?

Parts I love–the hand crank rock crusher (using something without electricity) and  the artsy design (of course).

I’m uncertain from reading this page whether they’re still in Haiti…I hope so.    Also, there is a donate button on the right of the page for Malawi, Africa.

 

More on hazardous conditions

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Common dreams has this up on fracking and all the hazards it entails.  Hey, just as long as Dick Cheney gets his cut, all is well…

More here.

And here.

And the best Congress money can buy….

Let’s not forget the other consequences of fracking– earthquakes.

Hazards to furniture workers

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Common dreams has this up on the hazards of furniture workers.  Be sure to click on the link to the NY Times.  This relates to my post on verbal abuse–she’s not bleeding and bruised–it’s much harder, I think, for the public to see the injuries, even though she now walks with a cane.  It’s amazing that she lasted five years….I wouldn’t last five minutes, being  so hypersensitive now…and I am met with the same disinterest and disbelief when I talk about being hypersensitive to chemicals….you can’t show someone how these chemicals affect you until you’re so bad that you’re bedridden.

I don’t know why they can’t design furniture that doesn’t require gluing.  What is wrong with just thread and needle?  Is glue really required or can a more creative mind come up with a solution that doesn’t require it?

And if it is affecting the workers this way, what does it do to the person who purchases it?  It’s much harder for someone to prove that their furniture is making them ill.  I meet with such resistance from folks who should know better—or at least folks who should make it their business to know this stuff….but alas…

Lastly, as the article explores, what happens if the workers protest too much?  The company will pack up and move overseas…or just find another worker…

From the article:

“There are people lined up out there for jobs,” said John Lyles, a vice president at Franklin, according to testimony by a plant manager in a successful lawsuit in Mississippi brought by four cushion workers who suffered severe nerve damage from the glue. “If they start dropping like flies, or something in that order, we can replace them today.”

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God, if that isn’t chilling to read.  In other words, human life is so cheap, we can poison them and there will be more to take their place.  Unbelievable.

Incredibly, OSHA has been inspecting this plant and filing reports of dangerous levels since 1996….and they keep repeating the same story with no results.  Clearly, reading this article, OSHA does not exert its power to shut down these plants.  The article states that it’s a matter of limited resources.  I suspect that it is also unwilling to shut down plants because it would send so many people to the unemployment office.  In this economy, the workers are even more vulnerable and need even greater protection. There are no mentions of unions in this article…so one can assume there are none?

 

 

 

 

Hansen leaving NASA

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Common Dreams has this up on NASA scientist James Hansen leaving the agency to work actively against climate change.

What’s really depressing about this article is that Hansen has been telling Congress since 1988 that climate change was real and a growing problem.

1988….twenty-five freaking years ago….and we’re still dragging our feet?  It is so depressing at all that has happened since then and how much better off we would be now if action had been taken at that time!