Stop offshore drilling!
March 30, 2009
Stop Offshore Drilling Plans Today! We have until Monday to send in letters against offshore drilling in the Arctic! Then join us on April 14 or April 16 to tell the Interior Secretary in person that we don’t want offshore drilling!
On his way out of Washington, former President Bush proposed a plan that would give away virtually the entire Arctic Ocean to Big Oil – threatening traditional Alaska Native communities and Arctic wildlife. We have until Monday to submit official comments against these plans. Visit www.pacificenvironment.org/arctic to send a letter today! Help us urge Ken Salazar, the new Secretary of Interior, and the Minerals Management Service to stop Arctic oil and gas projects and keep the new administration’s commitment to reversing climate change, protecting important ecological areas, and respecting the rights of indigenous cultures. The same plan puts California coasts at risk, too, by threatening to lease 130 million acres to Big Oil. We have the opportunity to tell Secretary Salazar in person that we don’t want drilling in the Arctic or California.
To find out more information about the public hearings in Anchorage on April 14 and San Francisco on April 16, visit www.pacificenvironment.org/nodrilling.
Send a letter today to speak out against offshore drilling in the Arctic at www.pacificenvironment.org/arctic and attend a public hearing in April!
Thanks,
The Pacific Environment Team
Por favor, actuemos juntos en contra del abuso de sonido que sufren las criaturas marinas
March 26, 2009
Por favor, actuemos juntos en contra del abuso de sonido que sufren las criaturas marinas
4 de marzo de 2009
Como ustedes saben, he estado estudiando acerca de los sonidos y su relacion con el estado de salud. Mi experiencia utilizando distintas frecuencias sonoras para ayudar a sanar el cuerpo es bastante amplia. De la misma manera, se que el sonido puede ser utilizado para torturar, y es algo que esta ocurriendo con las criaturas marinas. Por favor apoyanos solicitando de manera urgente al presidente Obama que retire los entrenamientos militares en el oceano en los cuales se utiliza el sonar, ya que éste aparato emite ondas que estan matando la fauna marina de manera lenta y dolorosa.
Querido amigo:
El presidente Bush permitió que la marina tomara el control sobre mas de 10 millones de mamiferos marinos en los últimos 5 años - acosando, hiriendo, matando – para realizar pruebas de sonar.
Por favor escribe una carta en calidad de urgente dirigida a la oficina admisnistrativa del presidente Obama para que retiren los entrenamientos militares con los que se atacan a los animales a www.pacificenvironment.org/sonar.
Si la armada de los Estados Unidos sigue con su plan pronto serán millones de kilometros cuadrados los que se contaminen con sus frecuencias de sonar – sin las precaciones debidas para operar – lo que causará desorientación y pérdida del sentido del oido en las ballenas y mamíferos marinos haciendo que encayen y mueran.
No es algo nuevo, la armada de los Estados Unidos no tiene por qué alterar el hábitat de las criaturas marinas bajo el pretexto de salvaguardar la integridad de los estadounidenses. El simple hecho de tomar precauciones tales como evitar llevar a cabo ejercicios militares en rutas de migración, lugares de alumbramiento y zonas de concentración de ballenas podría ayudar a salvaguardar la integridad de los mamíferos marinos sin la necesidad de comprometer la seguridad nacional. Con la reciente toma de poder y una nueva administración del gobierno podemos hacer que la armada de los Estados Unidos cambie sus lugares de entrenamiento y los canalice hacia otras entidades en las cuales no comprometa la vida de la fauna marina.
Ayudanos haciendo un llamado a la administración del presidente Obama para que la marina canalice sus ejercicios militares hacia otros espacios, recuerda la dirección de correo electrónico es www.pacificenvironment.org/sonar.
Sinceramente
Jackie Dragon
Campaña en pro de los Santuarios Marinos
del oceano pacífico.
Translated by Omar G of Toulca, Mexico
Feliz Cumpleanos Omar!
March 12, 2009
Por mi amigo de Pueblo (unless you’ve moved again)
I am wishing you and your wonderful dreamy Pisces self a life full of the joy and beauty you have brought to mine. Till we meet again… Feliz Cumpleanos Omar.
Comfort Zone
March 5, 2009
As you know, I have been studying sound and healing. My personal experience of using sound to help heal the body on many levels is profound. Also understand that sound can and is used for abuse and torture, in this case our friends in our vast oceans. Please sign this simple petition urging President Obama to reverse sonar training that slowly and painfully are killing our marine life.
Dear Friend,
President Bush left behind three dangerous rules that would allow the Navy “to take” — to harass, injure, or kill — marine mammals more than 10 million times over the next five years of sonar training.
If the Navy gets its way, its ships will flood millions of square miles of our oceans with mid-frequency active sonar — without essential safeguards — that is known to cause disorientation, hearing loss, stranding, and death in whales.
Make no mistake: the Navy does NOT need to put marine mammals at risk in order to protect the American people. Simple precautions, such as avoiding whale calving grounds, migration corridors, and critical habitat, would safeguard whales without compromising the nation’s military readiness. With a new administration taking office, we have an unprecedented opportunity right now to make sure that the Navy conducts its sonar training in an environmentally responsible manner.
Sincerely,
Jackie Dragon
Marine Sanctuaries Campaign
Seaflow/Pacific Environment
Quote for the day
February 20, 2009
Quote from Heartmath Institute
Ben Lomond, CA
February 20, 2009
Funny, I was just looking at old photos of my house in Ben Lomond and the Jeep Wrangler I used to own when I came across this video of a 90 year old Ben Lomond resident who lost 700k in investments with Madoff. The following video is of him working at the Ben Lomond Market, what I used to call “the super”, for $10 an hour.
This is truly an inspiration, to not waste time blaming others but instead making the best of it.
The last time the Super made the news was shocking. Micheal McClish was convicted of murdering a young woman, Aisha Veil, and her unborn child. He was also accused of rape and sodomy of her with a deadly weapon. It rocked the community though I was no longer living in the area when this came to light. He was finally convicted in May 2008 though I am unable to find the Santa Cruz Sentinel article to refer to.
I recall Micheal being a little too smug, either with his good looks or his guilty conscious, but I didn’t have any bad run-ins with him. If I did still live there, I don’t know that I would support the Super any longer. There is a part of me that knows the owners and other store managers knew something about Micheal’s abusive behavior (a string of other victims came forward dating back more than 10 years) and did nothing to stop it. Then again, I don’t know that we have a system in place that would support him in getting help BEFORE getting caught.
Like James Clement. Though I don’t know if he ever was caught molesting young girls. May never know.
In any case, you never really know someone or what lurks behind their facade. But that doesn’t mean anything because the only person any of us need to be concerned with is “KNOW THYSELF”. If we all did this, there would be a lot less theatrical and tragic stories like these to report and instead, maybe we would be hear more stories like this one. Of people transcending petty competition (ie ego) to honor the sacredness of life. And death.
This is the story of what the human spirit is capable of. I admit, it’s a whole lot easier, for me, to call these folks my human family than some other characters in the news lately. But in truth, we are going to see, hear, experience a lot more of our “shadow self” because it’s time to shed light where there has been none. The whole seperation between heroes and villans will get murky but we’ve had plenty of movies “The Dark Knight” for example, giving us all the clues.
I diverge, read:
http://highschool.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=914609
Peace out People.
Plan for the worst, expect the best
February 18, 2009
I recall that this year is either an 11 or a 2 and everyone has the free will to choose. A 2 is someone who will turn to violence, theft, projecting their darkest selves onto others and ultimately hurt themselves through alienation. An 11 will find compassion, look inward to claim their responsibility to their current situation, be a joyful member in community, and plan for the worst while expecting the best.
As the current picks up speed, I watch as the dead and outgrown parts of myself are washed downstream to live out a different life. And I rejoice at the parts of myself intact, stronger than ever.
So many choices I have made and I don’t regret one of them. As I know the path that has lead me to who I am today.
Hopi Elders Speak
You have been telling the people that this is the Eleventh Hour.
Now you must go back and tell the people that this is The Hour.
There are things to be considered.
Where are you living?
What are you doing?
What are your relationships?
Where is your water?
Know your garden.
It is time to speak your Truth.
Create your community.
Be good to each other.
And do not look outside yourself for the leader.
This could be a good time!
There is a river flowing now very fast.
It is so great and swift that there are those who will be afraid.
They will hold onto the shore.
They will feel that they are being torn apart, and they will suffer greatly.
Know the river has its destination.
The elders say we must let go of the shore, push off into the middle of the river,
keep our eyes open, and our heads above the water.
See who is in there with you and celebrate.
At this time in history, we are to take nothing personally.
Least of all, ourselves.
For the moment we do, our spiritual growth and journey comes to a halt.
The time of the lone wolf is over.
Gather yourselves!
Banish the world struggle from your attitude and vocabulary.
All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration.
We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.
Franco
January 6, 2009
While I was reading a few of my favorite blogs about life in Argentina from different perspectives (an online poker player and a woman from canada that moved there, fell in love and had a baby though not in that order) I found a new blog called “A hundred faces of Argentina”. It’s a very human and real glimpse at people’s lives, where they came from and who they are today and I love it.
You can imagine my surprise when I came across the picture of Franco, this is the guy who I bought flowers from every week off Florida St. I picked his little shop on the corner because I liked his face and he was gracious and helpful. The last time I saw him he said “I’ll see you next week” but I knew that I wouldn’t because I was leaving for Patagonia. I still think of him every time I buy flowers.
Marion is the woman who started this great blog. I love the candidness, the telling of ones story, and for showing the tender side of humanity:
http://www.hundredfaces.com.ar/2008/12/franco.html
Happiness study
January 3, 2009
Happiness Can Spread Among People Like a Contagion, Study Indicates
By Rob Stein
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, December 5, 2008; A08
Happiness is contagious, spreading among friends, neighbors, siblings and spouses like the flu, according to a large study that for the first time shows how emotion can ripple through clusters of people who may not even know each other.
The study of more than 4,700 people who were followed over 20 years found that people who are happy or become happy boost the chances that someone they know will be happy. The power of happiness, moreover, can span another degree of separation, elevating the mood of that person’s husband, wife, brother, sister, friend or next-door neighbor.
“You would think that your emotional state would depend on your own choices and actions and experience,” said Nicholas A. Christakis, a medical sociologist at Harvard University who helped conduct the study published online today by BMJ, a British medical journal. “But it also depends on the choices and actions and experiences of other people, including people to whom you are not directly connected. Happiness is contagious.”
One person’s happiness can affect another’s for as much as a year, the researchers found, and while unhappiness can also spread from person to person, the “infectiousness” of that emotion appears to be far weaker.
Previous studies have documented the common experience that one person’s emotions can influence another’s — laughter can trigger guffaws in others; seeing someone smile can momentarily lift one’s spirits. But the new study is the first to find that happiness can spread across groups for an extended period.
When one person in the network became happy, the chances that a friend, sibling, spouse or next-door neighbor would become happy increased between 8 percent and 34 percent, the researchers found. The effect continued through three degrees of separation, although it dropped progressively from about 15 percent to 10 percent to about 6 percent before disappearing.
The research follows previous work by Christakis and co-author James H. Fowler that found that obesity also appears to spread from person to person, as does the likelihood of quitting smoking. The researchers have been using detailed records originally collected by the Framingham Heart Study, a long-running project that has explored a host of health issues, to construct and analyze detailed maps of social networks.
The findings, Christakis and others said, provide striking new evidence of the power of social networks, which could have implications for public policy. Happy people tend to be better off in myriad ways, being more creative, productive and healthier.
“For a long time, we measured the health of a country by looking at its gross domestic product,” said Fowler, a political scientist at the University of California at San Diego who co-authored the study. “But our work shows that whether a friend’s friend is happy has more influence than a $5,000 raise. So at a time when we’re facing such economic difficulties, the message could be, ‘Hang in there. You still have your friends and family, and these are the people to rely on to be happy.’ “
Other experts praised the study as a landmark in the growing body of evidence documenting the influence of personal connections and the importance of positive emotions.
“It’s a pathfinding article,” said Martin E.P. Seligman, a University of Pennsylvania psychologist. “It’s totally original, and the findings are striking.”
Stanley Wasserman, who studies social networks at Indiana University, said: “We’ve known that one’s network ties are important, but we’ve never looked at anything on this scale. The implications are you can’t look at individuals as little entities devoid of their social context.”
Others, however, questioned the findings, noting that it is difficult to account for every variable that might affect the outcomes of such studies.
“Researchers should be cautious in attributing correlations in health outcomes of close friends in social network effects,” wrote Ethan Cohen-Cole of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and Jason M. Fletcher of Yale University in an accompanying study. Their research used data from a large federal survey to show that acne, headaches and even height could appear to spread through social networks if not analyzed properly. “The methods of detecting ’social network effects’ of health outcomes commonly found in the recent medical literature might produce effects where none exists.”
But Christakis said his analysis took other possible explanations into consideration.
Ed Diener, a psychologist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, said the findings could explain why people in some countries tend to be happier than others. “This is an extremely exciting study — interesting, provocative and important,” Diener said.
While obesity appeared to spread even among people who lived far apart, happiness appears to be transmitted only among people who live within a mile of one another. The influence was also greatest among people who considered themselves mutual friends.
Because the researchers did not find the effect for people living on the same block beyond a next-door neighbor, they were confident that the positive mood was not the result of living in the same good neighborhood. Because people tended to get happier if someone they knew became happy, the researchers could rule out the alternative explanation that happy people tend to be drawn to each other.
“We know it’s not a ‘birds of a feather flock together’ effect,” Christakis said.
Surprisingly, happiness had no such effect at work. The researchers speculated that work relationships may have different dynamics. One worker might become happy because he or she got a raise or a promotion at the expense of another, for example.
Unhappiness also appeared to be catching, but not as strongly: An unhappy connection increased the chances of being unhappy by about 7 percent on average, while a happy connection increased the chances of being happy by about 9 percent. While having more friends is important for a person’s happiness, the benefit of having more friends appears to be canceled out if they are unhappy, the researchers found.
The researchers and others speculated that the emotion may be important on an evolutionary level by helping people cooperate. Seligman likened happiness to an orchestra tuning up.
“Laughter and singing and smiling tune the group emotionally,” Seligman said. “They get them on the same wavelength so they can work together more effectively as group.”
