USA & beyond: Obama Ignores Huge Dangers in Approving Arctic Drilling Permit for Shell

The President has just thrown open the doors to Arctic drilling
Please see press release from Center for Biological Diversity
Click here:

Obama Ignores Huge Dangers in Approving Arctic Drilling Permit for Shell Kierán Suckling Executive Director Center for Biological Diversity

Please Subscribe to this blog by Email, View in your Reader or NetworkedBlogs, Like my Page www.Facebook.com/lizardmarsh, or Follow twitter.com/lizardmarsh

World: Fireworks - Cheap Thrills with Toxic Consequences

The following link is to a page at BackCountryAttitude - Outdoor Recreation Resources for Hikers a fantastic educational site provided by Chris Conway. There is no reason for modern society to continue with fireworks traditions when the hazards are so well known and substitutes such as laser shows are available.

Fireworks - Cheap Thrills with Toxic Consequences

credit: backcountryattitude.com

Please Subscribe to this blog by Email, View in your Reader or NetworkedBlogs, Like my Page www.Facebook.com/lizardmarsh, or Follow twitter.com/lizardmarsh

Yellville, Arkansas: Stop Dropping Live Turkeys from Airplanes

Every day there are human stupidities and cruelties surfacing in every part of the world. This one sure is right up there with the worst of them :-(

I signed the petition "Stop Dropping Live Turkeys from Airplanes." Please sign and share with others. The goal is now 9,000 signatures and nearly reached. Last year the same Mayor Shawn Lane was petitioned (see article), and even though "By Arkansas law this activity is completely illegal." the sadism will continue for some unfathomable reason. 

The link to this petition is: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/931/495/922/stop-dropping-live-turkeys-from-airplanes/

Indonesia & World: Kentucky Fried Chicken and Rainforest Destruction

From: Rolf Skar, Greenpeace <webmaster@greenpeaceusa.org>

Date: Wed, Aug 22, 2012 at 6:00 AM
Subject: A Shameful Silence

	Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser
Liz- For the price of a loaf of bread, help us save the last remaining Sumatran tigers and stop KFC from destroying rainforests by making a donation of $5 today. Last week, over 40,000 online activists sent a message to KFC CEO David Novak asking him to end his company's relationship with rainforest destruction. With only 400 Sumatran tigers left in the wild, time is running out to save their forest homes from destruction for fast food packaging. KFC is definitely feeling the heat. KFC restaurants in Indonesia have already cut business ties with notorious rainforest destroyer, Asia Pulp & Paper (APP). But there's been nothing but a shameful silence from the company's headquarters in Kentucky. That has to change. It's only going to happen if we keep up the pressure. And that's exactly what we intend to do with your support. Please make a donation of $5 so that we can continue to put pressure on KFC and save the Sumatran tiger from extinction. With so few tigers left in the wild, and their habitat disappearing fast, it is important that we act now to protect them. Greenpeace is funded by people, not corporations, and the success of this campaign depends on activists like you uniting to stand up to corporate greed. With your support, we'll fight back with our expert staff on the ground, international market pressure from customers, and worldwide media exposure — but we need to do it now. The Indonesian rainforest, where the only wild Sumatran tigers left on the planet live, is being destroyed every day at an alarming rate. For the price of a loaf of bread, please donate $5 today to help save the Sumatran tigers by getting KFC to end its relationship with rainforest destruction. For the forests, Rolf Skar Greenpeace Forest Campaign Director
Click here to forward this message.
Greenpeace 702 H Street, NW, Suite 300, Washington, DC 20001 | 1-800-722-6995

Oceanside CA: Box turtle taped to balloons is rescued.

Perpetrator(s) could face animal abuse charges if apprehended

Photo from 10News.com - The box turtle was photographed shortly after the rescue

---------- Forwarded message ----------

From: linda.furness1
Date: Wed, Aug 22, 2012 at 10:10 AM
Subject: CA....turtle taped to balloons

Fire department called to help rescue turtle after it was taped to BALLOONS and sent flying over neighbourhood

Residents in Oceanside, California, were stunned to find the turtle dangling from nearly two dozen balloons after the reptile had become stuck in a eucalyptus tree.

Full Story:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2192018/Turtle-rescued-taped-balloons-sent-flying-neighbourhood.html

22 August 2012

www.dailymail.co.uk

Puerto Rico USA: Wall Street Journal reports re capture, kill, and export of IGUANAS

To me, it is heartless to kill the green iguanas (Iguana iguana or Iguana verdes) for any reason. They are now an "invasive species" (like humans) which is indeed problematic. The survival of other plants and animals that have become forage, habitat and prey for an invasive species is critical. But violent practices, just as with geese in NYC or starlings and goats in WA state, or pigs in HI, TX, or MI are unacceptable. Collecting iguana eggs before harvest is one example of good conservation practices. Fining people who release pet iguanas is another. Amateur hunters traipsing through neighborhoods and jungles to seek and capture iguanas are as invasive and damaging to native flora and fauna as are the lizards.

"Native to Central and South America, iguanas arrived in Puerto Rico in the 1970s as part of the pet trade, says Rafael Joglar, a biology professor at the University of Puerto Rico who has studied the animals. Over time, he says, some escaped and others were set loose, and they slowly began to multiply." (citation)

Green iguanas were introduced by "humankind" to Puerto Rico as part of the pet trade and they multiplied. Lots of children and adults release their pet iguanas after they tire of them, much like people release bunnies and puppies. They also escape using their own intelligence. I know of an iguana who escaped in Bellingham WA. Because of iguanas free roaming in Puerto Rico, some members of humankind are now calling them "The Green Plague."

Herpestes javanicus photo from WikiMedia commons

Habitat destruction and loose predators such as dogs and cats (and mongooses - specifically Herpestes javanicus - which are another species introduced by humans) endanger the Iguana verdes as well as other species in the Iguanidae family such as Iguana delicatissima. Hybridization with native iguanas is a problem. Moreover, the destructive pet trade is still going on. 

The Wall Street Journal article:

To Battle Iguanas, Puerto Rico Has New Plan: Put Them on Menu

RE: José Luis Monge, founder of Best Iguana Puerto Rico Meat: "In an industrial park east of San Juan, he is setting up a slaughterhouse he hopes will one day ship out 2,000 pounds of iguana meat a week."

From Amazon.com: "This beloved, bestselling guide has become a classic reference for anyone wishing to forge a spiritual connection with the majesty and mystery of the animal world." 
From this article at the blog Repeating Islands, one can find many sources of information about the green iguanas of Puerto Rico.

Please Subscribe to this blog by Email, View in your Reader or NetworkedBlogs, Like my Page www.Facebook.com/lizardmarsh, or Follow twitter.com/lizardmarsh

THE SERENGETI

----- Original Message -----

From: Sharon Hopkins

Sent: Monday, August 13, 2012 6:15 PM

Subject: FW: They're kicking them off their land for big-game hunting !!!! - STOP THE SELL-OFF OF THE SERENGETI! PLEASE SIGN!

PLEASE SIGN AND CIRCULATE AS WIDELY AS POSSIBLE

  

Subject: They're kicking them off their land for big-game hunting !!!! - STOP THE SELL-OFF OF THE SERENGETI! PLEASE SIGN!  

-------- Origineel bericht --------

Onderwerp:	They're kicking them off their land
Datum:	Sun, 12 Aug 2012 14:36:41 -0400
Van:	Sam Barratt - Avaaz.org <avaaz@avaaz.org>

Dear friends,

Middle Eastern kings and princes are about to force up to 48,000 people in Tanzania from their land to make way for corporate-sponsored big game hunting. But Tanzanian President Kikwete has shown before that he will stop deals like this when they generate negative press coverage. Click to deliver a media blitz that will push President Kikwete to stop the landgrab and save these Maasai.

At any moment, a big-game hunting corporation could sign a deal which would force up to 48,000 members of Africa's famous Maasai tribe from their land to make way for wealthy Middle Eastern kings and princes to hunt lions and leopards. Experts say the Tanzanian President's approval of the deal may be imminent, but if we act now, we can stop this sell-off of the Serengeti.

The last time this same corporation pushed the Maasai off their land to make way for rich hunters, people were beaten by the police, their homes were burnt to a cinder and their livestock died of starvation. But when a press controversy followed, Tanzanian President Kikwete reversed course and returned the Maasai to their land. This time, there hasn't been a big press controversy yet, but we can change that and force Kikwete to stop the deal if we join our voices now.

If 150,000 of us sign, media outlets in Tanzania and around the world will be blitzed so President Kikwete gets the message to rethink this deadly deal. Sign the petition now and send to everyone:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/save_the_maasai/?bkLlsab&v=17086

The Maasai are semi-nomadic herders who have lived in Tanzania and Kenya for centuries, playing a critical role in preserving the delicate ecosystem. But to royal families from the United Arab Emirates, they're an obstacle to luxurious animal shooting sprees. A deal to evict the Maasai to make way for rich foreign hunters is as bad for wildlife as it is for the communities it would destroy. While President Kikwete is talking to favoured local elites to sell them on the deal as good for development, the vast majority of people just want to keep the land that they know the President can take by decree.

President Kikwete knows that this deal would be controversial with Tanzania's tourists -- a critical source of national income -- and is therefore trying to keep it from the public eye. In 2009, a similar royal landgrab in the area executed by the same corporation that is swooping in this time generated global media coverage that helped to roll it back. If we can generate the same level of attention, we know the pressure can work.  

A petition signed by thousands can force all the major global media bureaus in East Africa and Tanzania to blow up this controversial deal. Sign now to call on Kikwete to kill the deal:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/save_the_maasai/?bkLlsab&v=17086

Representatives from the Maasai community today urgently appealed to Avaaz to raise the global alarm call and save their land. Time and again, the incredible response from this amazing community turns seemingly lost causes into legacies that last a lifetime. Lets protect the Maasai and save the animals for tourists that want to shoot them with camera lenses, rather than lethal weapons!

With hope and determination,

Sam, Meredith, Luis, Aldine, Diego, Ricken and the rest of the Avaaz team


For More Information:

The Guardian: "Tourism is a curse to us"
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/sep/06/masai-tribesman-tanzania-tourism

News Internationalist Magazine: "Hunted down"
http://www.newint.org/columns/currents/2009/12/01/tanzania/

Society for Threatened People: Briefing on the eviction of the Loliondo Maasai
http://lib.ohchr.org/HRBodies/UPR/Documents/session12/TZ/STP-SocietyThreatenedPeople-eng.pdf

FEMACT: Report by 16 human rights investigators & media on violence in Loliondo
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/advocacy/58956/print

Voices of Loliondo: Short film from Loliondo on impact of eviction on Maasai
http://vimeo.com/35311385

Support the Avaaz Community!
We're entirely funded by donations and receive no money from governments or corporations. Our dedicated team ensures even the smallest contributions go a long way.

---

Avaaz.org is a 15-million-person global campaign network that works to ensure that the views and values of the world's people shape global decision-making. ("Avaaz" means "voice" or "song" in many languages.) Avaaz members live in every nation of the world; our team is spread across 19 countries on 6 continents and operates in 14 languages. Learn about some of Avaaz's biggest campaigns here, or follow us on Facebook or Twitter.
To contact Avaaz, please do not reply to this email. Instead, write to us at www.avaaz.org/en/contact or call us at +1-888-922-8229 (US).

Slaughter of pigs - ''humane death"?

From: Meriem

Sent: Wednesday, August 15, 2012 2:44 AM

Subject: Slaughter of pigs (''humane death''... China does NOT have the monopoly of animal cruelty!!!!)

Stony Brook NY to New Iberia LA: Carter the Chimpanzee was shipped by doctors for experimentation

Don't these physicians have sensible ways to make a living?

Urgent update on Carter the Stony Brook University Chimp -- Tell Stony Brook University that Carter should have gone to a Sanctuary --http://www.facebook.com/events/186963891436038/

Please Subscribe to this Blog by Email, View in your Reader or NetworkedBlogs, Like my Page www.Facebook.com/lizardmarsh, and/or Follow twitter.com/lizardmarsh

Omak WA: 23rd Horse Dies in 'Suicide Race'

Photo credit: snjr22

From: Rita Fazio

To: "voicesforRahkim"

Sent: Saturday, August 11, 2012 2:36 PM

Subject: 23rd Horse Dies in 'Suicide Race'

HUMANS...the cruelest species on earth!

http://www.care2.com/causes/23rd-horse-dies-in-suicide-race.html

"Reflected in our dog's eyes is a world that is far better, always loving, free of judgment, 

and endlessly forgiving.

Through our love of them....we live there, too."

I have developed a deep respect for animals. I consider them fellow living creatures with certain rights that should not be violated any more than those of humans. ~Jimmy Stewart

Funny Stephen Colbert

I saw this in vegansaurus!
"Video of the week: This week’s video is seriously so funny I literally cried while watching it. It’s Colbert’s segment on the dispute between HSUS and Iowa Rep. Steve King over his pro-cruelty stances. It’ll make your day—guaranteed."

The Colbert Report
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,Video Archive

Vietnam: Soldiers Arrested for Torturing, Killing Endangered Langurs

From: Meriem

photo of a langur: http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/39826/0 

Sent: Friday, August 03, 2012 8:48 PM

Subject: Vietnam: Soldiers Arrested for Torturing, Killing Endangered Langurs - UPDATE 08/01/2012

Update 08/01/2012: According to the news portal Viet Nam News, Quang has been "discharged from the army for causing the death of two endangered langurs" and his accomplices have "received disciplinary warnings". Although Vietnamese law states that an offender can be jailed for up to three years for killing an endangered species such as the grey-shanked douc langur, there was no mention of further punishment for Quang.

http://annamiticus.com/2012/07/26/vietnam-soldiers-arrested-for-torturing-killing-endangered-langurs/