A Dangerous Competition

People in countries experiencing a famine, especially those in the third world, have to compete not only with other people, but with resources for fuel. Because of the 2005 government policy requiring a more widespread use of corn- and soy-based fuels to "curtail" global warming, the use of corn and soy beans has been diverted from food to fuel, causing food prices to raise even more and at the same time lessening the available food resources for many.

Story: The New York Times.

Everything Comes in Three's

Picture: bbc News

I'm terrified to find out what the third disaster will be. As we all know, China was just hit with a terrible, terrible disaster of an earthquake, which measured at a 7.8 magnitude. The death toll is up to 10,000 people so far, but I think we can all assume it will be higher. The quake took place in the Sichuan province, and many school buildings and businesses were destroyed. Disaster relief workers are having a difficult time getting through due to the rainstorms and blocked streets. At least their government will accept and provide aid, unlike the Burmese Junta. This disaster is just as horrendous as the cyclone, and it's scary to think of how little we can do to help them.

Source: bbc News, NY Times, Washington Post.

Rand Abdel-Qader

2 weeks ago a young Basra student, Rand Abdel-Qader, was beaten to death by her father and brothers for speaking to a young British man named "Paul" in public (and in front of her family and relatives, I gather), thus embarrassing her father. While the worst thing about this is the uncalled for death of a young woman, there are several other horrible aspects to this tale:

1) Mr. Abdel-Qader was initially arrested but was not only immediately released, but his actions were approved of by the police, and referred to as an "honor killing", going as far as to say they would do the same thing.

2) Mr. Abdel-Qader shows absolutely no remorse for his actions, and has essentially erased any memories of his daughter and basically denies she ever existed. He claims he would have killed her at birth if he knew what trouble she would cause him in the future (trouble being talking to an unrelated male in public).

3) His wife not only left him (hooray!) but she had to go into hiding so as not to put herself in danger.

Rand was only 17, and she did not deserve this. There is no such thing as an "honor killing", and this is absolute bullshit.

Source: bbc Radio 4, The Guardian.

Victory!

New York is the first state to ban the practice of electrocuting animals in order to harvest fur; this practice is very brutal, grotesque and cruel. Hopefully California will be close to follow suite.

Original Article: MSNBC.com.

Demise of the Asian Vulture

Good God, the population of the Oriental White Backed Vulture has declined 99.9%, that is a staggering amount. The cause of this decline seems to be Diclofenac, an non-steroidal anti-inflammatory, used for livestock. The drug (at least the veterinary version) has been banned in India, but the medicinal version is apparently still in wide use. It seems that the White Backed Vulture, along with the Long Billed and Slender Billed Vultures, are being poisoned by trace amounts of the drug that they find in the animal carcasses that they devour.

Even though measures have been taken to stop the poisoning, people are not only still using this drug in their animals, but are still receiving fresh imports, assuring it's constant use for at least the near future.

Conservationist centers, BNHS, RSPB and ZSL have had recent victories in rehabilitating the species, albeit small. They are raising two healthy chicks, and expect them to grow.

The biggest worry is how other vultures in the rest of the world are fairing; if these vultures are having problems with poisoned carcases, then vultures in other countries must be having similar problems.

Original Article: BBC.com.

May 15th or Bust

Image from: National Geographic.

Thank goodness, something is finally happening. The Bush administration, who has been stalling forever, were finally ordered to make a decision as to whether or not Polar Bears should be listed as an endangered species. According to an article on bbc.com, the reason the Bush administration had been pushing a delay on the decision is that if the Polar Bears are listed oil companies would be forced to restrict exploration of the Polar Bears natural habitats. They will finally be given the protection they have been needing for who knows how long. Not only has the Bush administration been denied an extension, they aren't even allowed to have the 30-day grace period that usually sits between a decision and the start of action. The US Fish and Wildlife Service are under quite a bit of pressure from Conservationists to list Polar Bears on the endangered species list. This decision will also cause a drastic revision on green house emissions limits.

Homemade Toothpaste

The other day I came across this recipe for toothpaste that I am going to try this weekend. It seems pretty simple, and I'd love to stop using Colgate and all those other brands. I also like having the ability to control the flavor myself.




Ingredients:
6 teaspoons baking soda*
1/3 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons glycerin
15 drops peppermint or wintergreen extract

Directions:
-*Do not use Arm and Hammer please, they test on animals.
-Mix all ingredients together into a paste.
-Store in a container you can get a toothbrush into.
-The only concern I have is the lack of fluoride, but we get that through our regular tap water, so as long as you don't buy bottled water, you should be fine.

Original post from Flckr.
Benefits of Homemade Toothpaste.

Shirley, She'll Break Your Heart

This is an emotional meeting between long lost friends Shirley and Jenny, at the Elephant Sanctuary, in Hohenwald, Tennessee.

Check out the Elephant Sanctuary here.

Bam

Scheck it out.