Mr.Tim

I've been going through a lot of "things" lately because we're moving.. and something I came across was a box of old National Geographic magazines.. about 50 of them!
Apart from being quite heavy.. my goal at this stage is to reduce the amount of clutter and junk I hang onto.. and so with some reluctance decided it was time to part with these "treasures".
(I don't know about you.. but these magazines have always been one of my favorites)

So.. I'm bundling them into packs of 10 and taping them together to be put into recycling pickup.. and I note one of them is silver instead of the familiar yellow bordered edition.
December 1988 titled National Geographic – "Can we save this fragile Earth?" (They were celebrating the 100th anniversary of National Geographic 1888 – 1988)

I started to flip through the index and to the editorial, and from what I read decided I had to keep this copy and write to all of you about it.
___________________________________________________________

Perhaps it comes as no surprise to some that even back in 1988 there were growing concerns regarding this planet and our activities, concerns over population growth, poverty, hunger, and environmental degradation.

What really stands out to me is that concerns over what humans are doing to this planet aren't something new. We are active and knowing participants and witnesses to our own destruction.

We allow distractions like some fool politician (paid by the likes of Monsanto or Cargil or BP) arguing that global warming is a lie, but Global Warming is accepted as fact by the brightest scientific minds and clearly backed up by all the available data.

We ARE changing this planet. Worldwide pollution of the air adds millions of tons of carbon to the atmosphere every day. Besides being a major "heat sink" to the energy of the sun and warming our atmosphere.. this CO2 is being absorbed by the oceans.

*Current rates of ocean acidification have been compared with the greenhouse event at the Paleocene-Eocene boundary (about 55 million years ago) when surface ocean temperatures rose by 5–6 degrees Celsius. No catastrophe was seen in surface ecosystems, yet bottom-dwelling organisms in the deep ocean experienced a major extinction. The current acidification is on a path to reach levels higher than any seen in the last 65 million years, and the rate of increase is about ten times the rate that preceded Paleocene-Eocene mass extinction.

**Although no single country comes close to the 2.8 billion tons of CO2 produced annually by the U.S. power sector, other countries collectively account for three-quarters of the power-related CO2 burden. China comes second after the U.S. with 2.7 billion tons; followed by Russia — 661 million tons; India — 583 million tons; Japan — 400 million tons; Germany — 356 million tons; Australia — 226 million tons; South Africa — 222 million tons; the United Kingdom — 212 million tons; and South Korea — 185 million tons.

This is only POWER production.. and doesn't include transportation, deforestation, home heating, other forms of CO2 pollution, and as one link below indicates.. Earth's own CO2 production from volcano's etc..

Have you read this far? Have you checked out the links below?

What strikes me the most.. is that we have known about the effects of our activities on Earth for decades.. and we still doubt and argue in the face of science.. yet we believe everything else that our science teaches us.
Perhaps the greatest obstacle to humanity developing the will to effectively deal with this looming disaster is money.
We worry about what it's going to cost to clean up our "act".. rather than worrying about what it's going to cost if we don't.

This is very much like a delinquent mortgage situation. Sooner than later I believe planet earth is going to hit us hard with an "eviction notice".

* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean_acidification
** http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/071114163448.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Carbon_Dioxide_400kyr.png
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming
#environment #globalwarming #CO2

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National Geographic – Inspiring People to Care About the Planet Since 1888
National Geographic provides free maps, photos, videos and daily news stories, as well as articles and features about animals, the environment, cultures, history, world music, and travel.

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Oh sure.. in their recent incarnations.. these bills have lost broad support and have been withdrawn.. but don't expect the originators or the big money backing those bills have given up entirely.

They are off.. regrouping.. licking their wounds.. and planning for their eventual return.

In the meantime.. we have another worldwide "treaty" between numerous nations – #ACTA – The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Counterfeiting_Trade_Agreement

Much of the negotiating on this agreement seems to have been held in secret.. and the US Government has kept the American people in the dark on a point of "National Security".

What is clear.. is that this attack on the Internet is occurring on multiple levels and from many directions.. and if we sit back complacent in our "victories" we WILL lose the war!

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The Internet Wins: SOPA Is Dead
Texas Rep. Lamar Smith shelved his terrible internet-destroying Stop Online Piracy Act today after the internet's week-long anti-SOPA freakout.
"I have heard from the critics and I take seriously the…

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This is completely MAD! Forcing retailers to handle E-waste!
Not only does this place an unfair burden on the small business owners.. it's also wasteful because the user has to handle the equipment to the stores and then the stores have to get the waste to recyclers.
With this suggestion NOBODY has any incentive to manage the equipment. Not the users and certainly not the shops!
No wonder the EU is in such dire straits!

Here's some free advice from first hand experience of a system that works to the benefit of everyone AND the environment.

First point. Everything has a "Disposal Cost". The user who purchases any equipment should recognize that there is a cost to the item beyond its useful lifetime. Once unwanted/not working/worn out, the item still has to be disposed of.
Second point. There's no way in hell that most people will want to pay a recycling fee after the fact. Any recycling fees if to be paid by the user (and rightly so) would have to be collected at time of purchase!
Third point. Shop owners/retailers/manufacturers should also play a role and carry at least some of the cost or facilitate the process of recycling the equipment.
Fourth point. To make any system work there must be an incentive to all parties.

The system here in Alberta is exactly what the EU should be looking at!
Alberta Recycling Management Authority started a system of dealing with electronic waste using seed money from the tire recycling program that was created a good number of years ago. We all pay an extra recycling fee for each new tire we buy. These funds are then collected by the Authority and pooed to pay the tire recycling companies for the cost of pickups and processing of the tires.

The consumers in Alberta now also pay a recycling fee for specific electronics at point of sale. At present the reduced fees are as follows:

1. Desktop Computers (CPU) & Server – $4.40
2. Monitor – $6.00
3. Laptop, Tablet PC & Notebook Computer – $1.20
4. Printer – $4.80
5. Television
a) Less than 19 inch screen – $4.00
b) 19 inch to less than 30 inch screen – $10.80
c) 30 inch to less than 46 inch screen – $18.80
d) 46 inch and larger screen – $24.00

Close monitoring and auditing of the approved recyclers is conducted to ensure that they aren't scamming the system, and the added incentive to being paid for collecting the electronics is that they can also earn more cash by selling the component materials of the recycled equipment.

It's a system that works and puts the onus for recycling electronics where it belongs.
To paraphrase… "if one makes a mess.. one should clean it up".

Here's a link to Alberta's Recycling Management Authority.. .and some impressive stats..

http://www.albertarecycling.ca/BasicContent.aspx?id=66

#recycling #ewaste #ARMA

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European Union retailers to be required to accept e-waste without charge, says Parliament
Not sure what to do with your old, outdated electronics? If you live within the European Union, getting rid of your e-waste may soon

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What has happened to America?

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Most of you reading this will have seen my previous opposition to the Lobbying of Government by Corporate interests, but this is one form of Lobbying I would support!

Social Lobbying allows for the people to have a very real voice and carries a profound effect on directing government policy. Surveys canvas public opinion and online social causes are very much like a survey.. but in a visible and tangible way. The reactions are real and immediate.. not condensed and massaged by some researcher.. Social commentary is powerful in building momentum and spreading because of the connections between the people involved.

Social Lobbying also holds the potential for abuse.. where one person with a very large following could be "paid" to promote any particular agenda.. but it's more difficult to hide such actions.. and the reaction would be swift and devastating to the reputation of that individual or entity.

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TechCrunch | The Dawn of Social Lobbying
The word “lobbyist” surely doesn’t have the best connotation in the world. Depending on your reading of the definition, it generally signifies an attempt to influence government decisions, traditional…

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The recent closure and arrest of some of #MegaUpload 's ownership clearly points out to everyone that SOPA and PIPA aren't required for Federal officials to move against any online entity.. in this case with speed, secrecy, and totality. Those fated bills would only "legitimize" and facilitate these kinds of seizures.

If you owned any files on the MegaUpload site.. they are effectively gone until the Feds or the Court allow the site to re-open if ever..
The sad fact is that while there's no doubt some illegal sharing of copyrighted materials occurred on the site.. there were many more people using the site for legitimate and lawful purposes.

This clearly points out the dangers that these bills ( #SOPA and #PIPA ) would make quicker and easier (and likely more frequent) and points out that MANY more legitimate users will be harmed than the few criminals who will be affected.

The company itself.. with some of the ownership apparently out of the reach of US officials.. has for the time being been completely Nuked. It's operations shut down and it's clients shut out.
For any established business owner.. I don't have to spell out the next things that will likely occur.
Account cancellations will start pouring in. People won't be paying for data and services they can't access. While the income will stop.. the bills never do, and I shudder to think about the legal costs now of trying to get the site back up and running.

Add to this the fact that now people are going to seriously consider how safe online storage of data really is.. and this will affect other companies and websites throughout the industry.

MegaUpload may actually be in a position to ride this storm out.. having a good deal of time to establish solid earnings on its services… but what about a start-up? This kind of action would likely wipe out any company in a new and fragile condition.

Just how many files on the site were actually in violation of copyright laws? One? Ten? One Hundred?
It seems that all the Feds required was evidence of just one example of copyright infringement to get the site shut down.. and owners arrested.
Out of millions of files and users..?
One might think that the burden of proof should be a LOT higher before such drastic actions would be allowed.

What's possibly worse is that there were no proceedings that would have allowed the Owners to offer any evidence in their own defense. The indictments and warrants were all issued in secrecy.

I'm not arguing that copyright infringement is a problem.. and with the laws as they are.. we've all been guilty of it at one time or another when we copied that cassette tape, CD, or video tape. Have you ever photocopied a recipe or interesting photo from a book or magazine? Have you ever posted an image online that you weren't totally certain was public domain?

Of course that is small potatoes compared to what the Industry calls copyright infringement. Companies abroad copy movies and music wholesale.. and that is the damage the Industry is seeking to put an end to.

Good luck! We have no control over the laws and law enforcement of other countries.
This is really a diplomatic issue between the US Government and those countries who are harboring the criminals, and should NOT be dealt with by enacting restrictive legislation that will only hurt Americans and many others in the process.

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There are several downsides to all of this.
1. As is stated.. the government doesn't even really need SOPA or PIPA, and people need to understand this.
2. The anti-SOPA/PIPA movement had a lot of steam behind it.. but if the public (and in particular the politicians) link Anonymous's actions to the anti-SOPA/PIPA movement.. there WILL be backlash.
3. I don't entirely support Anonymous and their outlaw activities when they go this far. We don't want rogue groups on the internet or in Government!
4. Guaranteed.. all those groups.. sites.. people who were recently attacked by Anonymous will be even more vehement and aggressive in their attempts to "rein" in and control the internet.

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Anonymous – Google+ – The Internet Strikes Back #OpMegaupload

The Department of…
The Internet Strikes Back #OpMegaupload

The Department of Justice announced Thursday that it has conducted a major action to shut down MegaUpload, a…

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If your time is short.. so is this video (under 5 minutes) and it will open your eyes. Share this far and wide!

Reshared post from +Rahul Juneja

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Everything about SOPA and Protect IP in 5 minutes Video
Home · About Us · Subscribe · Contact Us · Privacy Policy · Request Review · Write for Buzzingup · Apple · Social Media · Twitter · Facebook · LinkedIn · Mobile · Verizon · Samsung · T-mobile · HTC · …

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FBI Takes download site "Megauploads" "down". Anonymous takes down DOJ website, RIAA and MPAA sites, and Universal Music website.

Make no mistake people… this is clearly an all out war for freedom of the internet.. and freedom of speech.
Or is it just a bunch of "heavyweights" pushing all us hapless internet users all over the place.

The stakes are extremely high.. and if there ever was a doubt.. just consider the millions that MPAA and RIAA have spent lobbying politicians to propose these bills.

Do I trust Obama to VETO these bills? Not for a nano-byte.. which is why we have to maintain the pressure on Congress and businesses supporting these bills.
Our greatest power lies in our vote.. and in our wallets.
Let them know you'll be withholding both!

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SOPA: Anonymous Lists Their Demands
The Internet is angry at SOPA and Anonymous is at, or at least near, the front of it all. On Wednesday, the official Anonymous twitter feed linked to the

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This is the most user friendly, non-technical definition of what #SOPA and #PIPA are all about!
If your parents or your boss or your spouse don't get what these bills mean to the Internet.. then show them this TED talk!
Thanks +Daniel Ely Rankin

Reshared post from +Daniel Ely Rankin

YOU NEED TO WATCH THIS.

You need to share this.

Found by +helen sotiriadis.

#sopa #pipa #blackout #sopaBlackout #pipaBlackout #TED #tedtalk

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Defend our freedom to share (or why SOPA is a bad idea) | Video on TED.com
TED Talks What does a bill like PIPA/SOPA mean to our shareable world? At the TED offices, Clay Shirky delivers a proper manifesto — a call to defend our freedom to create, discuss, link and share, r…

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