Environmental Blog Roundup

As part of the environmental blog action day in the month of October, the people at Blogger have done a roundup of some of the blogs that are promoting environmental and climate change awareness.

I thought the list was very interesting. Haven't finished going through them completely but I am tackling them one by one.
This particular blog 'These Come From Trees' is promoting something so simple but its actions still contribute.
I also like the wicked/sarcastic style of 'The Conscious Earth'
Also do read her blog and profile 'The Lazy Environmentalist'
For an optimistic take, 'The Future is Green'

The full list: Environmental Blog Roundup
Cleantech Blog - Commentary on technologies, news, and issues relating to next generation energy and the environment.
The Conscious Earth - Earth-centered news for the health of air, water, habitat and the fight against global warming.
Earth Meanders - Earth essays placing environmental sustainability within the context of other contemporary issues.
Environmental Action Blog - Current environmental issues and green energy news.
The Future is Green - Thoughts on the coming of a society that is in balance with nature.
The Green Skeptic - Devoted to challenging assumptions about how we live on the earth and protect our environment.
Haute*Nature - Ecologically based creative ideas, art & green products for your children, home and lifestyle, blending style with sustainability.
The Lazy Environmentalist - Sustainable living made easy.
Lights Out America - A grassroots community group organizing nationwide energy savings events.
The Nature Writers of Texas - The best nature writing from the newspaper, magazine, blog and book authors of the Lone Star State.
Rachel Carson Centennial Book Club - Considering the legacy of Rachel Carson's literary and scientific contributions with a different book each month.
Sustainablog - News, information and personal meanderings related to environmental and economic sustainability, green and sustainable business, and environmental politics.
These Come From Trees - An experiment in environmentalism, viral marketing, and user interface design with the goal of reducing consumer waste paper.

You can ignore this post, just a rambling...

I had run on 19 consecutive days before a sore throat and cold declared their hostile intentions on me and lay siege. In those 19 days I ran for 83.5kms at an average of about 4.4kms a day. Actually not a big deal compared to some other things happening around, like this sports doctor from Manipal Hospital running a half marathon (21.1kms) everyday in the month of October or this other guy trying to become the first Indian to run 100 miles or 160kms in 24 hours...

Oh well! I have recovered and started running again, 9.2kms done in the last 2 days...

Johnny Gaddaar

Cool movie to watch, a total mash of ingredients with all the bollywood masala. But wait it has more, it has good acting, it is really well directed/shot and has good music. The title track is really good. Actually the title track totally sums up the whole movie. It’s brash, loud and nasty but still classy and thought provoking.

The movie is about a criminal gang of five trying to pull off a quick deal in a matter of 4 days. But obviously one of them wants to make away with the whole thing and launches a warped plan. As the plan unfolds it leaves behind a series of betrayals and dead bodies. The plot thickens significantly with infidelity, fake notes and accidents galore. And where will it all end of Johnny Gaddaar is the question that hangs in balance, keeping you at the edge of your seat.

“Heyyyy Johnny, Zindagi jua hai khel yaar” goes the title track…

Warming vs Warring

I read a good article revolving around Global Warming versus Global Warring. The article questioned an environmentalist and Standford professor, Paul Ehrlich, and George Shultz who was US president Regan's secretary of state and the head of Bechtel. They each were asked about solutions and the media's involvement in both these topics. Here are the excerpts, the whole article is at the link below. All I can say is, these damn wily politicians, they are the same everywhere...

AMY GOODMAN: Do you see a connection, Secretary Shultz, between global warring and global warming?

GEORGE SHULTZ: Say that again.

AMY GOODMAN: Between global warring and global warming. And what I mean, specifically, when we talk about global warming, fossil fuels, this whole push for using more and depending on oil, what do you think about the connection between the Iraq war and this issue of global warming at home?

GEORGE SHULTZ: I don't think the Iraq war had anything whatever to do with it. The Iraq war and -- whether you agree or not with the invasion of Iraq, the problem is there is a radical movement that uses the weapon of terror, and we have to confront it...It had nothing to do with oil at all.

PAUL EHRLICH: I disagree totally. If you go back in history, our entire presence in the Middle East has been entirely focused on seeing to it that we can keep some kind of control over the fossil fuel supplies. I think Stanford Professor Gretchen Daily said it very well: if you think we’re invading Iraq -- or would we be planning to invade Iraq if their major export were broccoli? We would just have left it. I’m not saying that this was in George Bush's head. God knows what was in his head.

This is article is well worth reading in full, please do by clicking here...

An Inconvenient Truth

A while back I saw the movie An Inconvenient Truth and would highly recommend it to everyone. The movie is about climate change and the global warming issues facing us. It tries to convey to the world that if you think that the impact of climate change is far into the future or just a theory or surely we'll be prepared for it when it eventually happens, then you need to wake up.
We are going to face the impact of global warming in the next 50 years or so. The dangerous changes are not many generations away but lurking just round the corner. The term 'Greenhouse' which we all heard as kids is now more dangerous than terrorists like Bin Laden.
Anyway, the movie does not go into the depth of the issue but wants people to acknowledge the fact that we are leaving behind a world that even our grandchildren may not be able to enjoy...

The rapid increase in energy needs, the complete dependence on fossil fuels and the forever increase in emissions rates prompted some effort between the various countries to contain this impact. The Kyoto Protocol was the result. This treaty is the United Nations international treaty to address climate change. It aims to assign and implement emission standards around the world to reduce the emissions of carbon dioxide and 5 other greenhouse gases.

Currently in the world the US is responsible for nearly 30% of greenhouse gas emissions. That is more than South America, Africa, Middle East and India, all put together. And to make it worse the US is not part of the Kyoto protocol. Two consecutive administrations Clinton and Bush accounting for 16 years of power have not taken the Kyoto Protocol to the American senate to get it ratified.

We have all seen the labels 'EURO II', 'EURO III', 'Bharat Stage II' etc on the back of the cars in India. These stickers are nothing but the emission standards that are being put in place by the participants of the Kyoto Protocol. The table of these various emission stages is pretty impressive, these greenhouse emissions can really be brought down. But the US still does not participate. Their emission standards are the weakest in the world. They are so weak that US cars, as is, cannot be sold in Japan and most of Europe and Asia. Japan is right at the forefront of these standards. They are high above everyone else leading the race to curb our greenhouse gases emissions. Europe is behind and India is a little behind than Europe. Europe is at EURO IV and India is at Bharat Stage III which is equivalent to EURO III.

Animals are always so cute...

Someone I know, my friend, she had some owls nesting in her building. She tried to save them from the building people and the building society but one of owls just died right in front of her. Just a sad sad thing :(

That reminded me of a pup I had tried to save once many years ago. The pup totally drenched in Bombay rains was shivering away to no end. This was in the building I grew up in where we usually always had a host of stray dogs. I wrapped the pup up in one of those 'gunny' bags and gave it some food but it died in a few hours...
That reminded me of the days when I had an adopted dog, Rocket. Eventually we lost him...

Which brings me to one of the most touching of Calvin and Hobbes sequences, well if you are fond of animals. This is a sequence in which Calvin tries to save a racoon but the racoon dies. Hobbes is there to comfort Calvin and gives Calvin a 'tiger' hug but somewhere in the middle Hobbes observes, and I totally agree with this..."I think Animals are always so cute"...

That's it...WE WON!!!

I can barely define the shape of this moment in time...
-- Pink Floyd

We won't get bullied again... :)

If you saw the India vs Australia match, you'll know what I am trying to say. I have not screamed so much during a cricket match in a long time. The commentator said it right, the big teams like South Africa and the Aussies have tried to bully India off the field but our guys have stood there and took every punch thrown at them. And how we've hurt them back, first sending the hosts SA and now the Aussies packing home with one the most amazing string of victories...

The match against the Aussies was such a hard fought battle. Batting first, India had a slow start but lost two quick wickets. At this point the Indian team of the past with all its so called 'senior' players would have been expected to crumble like a house of cards, but no! Like in the previous matches, the team stood strong. Yuvraj swung back in style and strung two critical partnerships with Uthappa and Dhoni.
Then while India was bowling Australia again tried to intimidate us. Again the young guns of India stood their ground. Time and time again Australia would send one bowler packing for 15 odd runs in an over but instead of losing heart and standing at the boundary, Dhoni made changes and brought the bowlers back with amazing results.
Australia was literally home needing only 30 runs from 3 overs with 6 wickets in hand, that's when we turned the tables on them. We tightened the screws so much that it was Australia, just like South Africa, that crumbled like a house of cards...

Australia has defeated India so many times in world cup matches. They've thrashed us before, but the way this young Indian team gave it back to them, was a sight to see. We gave them back what they deserved...what a victory!!!

T20

I have been sucked into watching cricket all over again. The way India has been playing in this shorter form of cricket, not ODIs, even shorter, Twenty Twenty, has been really invigorating. Except for the match against New Zealand, we have played 3 awesome matches. The players are playing with purpose, grit and determination. Tendulkar, Dravid and Ganguly not coming to this tournament was a great idea, these young bunch of kids are really worth watching. Something I have never ever seen before in Indian cricket...
In the last match Dhoni injured his back so he was fielding at the boundary instead of wicketkeeping. At one point the ball came towards him and it was easily going to beat him to the ropes but he flung himself flat towards the ball, it still was a four but the effort was worth watching. And this has been going all around, they are throwing their bodies everywhere to stop the ball. The catch by Dinesh Karthik to dismiss Graeme Smith was stunning…

Our bowling is weak and strong at the same time. RP Singh and Pathan have been bowling superbly. On the other hand Sreesanth and Agarkar have been horrible. Harbhajan is trying hard, he got hit for 15 runs in the first over but came back real strong in the next two overs, so he doing ok. But that is still leaving us nearly 2 bowlers short and that is a real worry...

We threw the NZ match, with an awesome start chasing 191 to win, we finally lost by 10 runs. In that match I didn't see even 1 wicket earned by NZ, our batsmen gave away all their wickets, terrible performance. But the other three matches, defending 140 against Pakistan, 218 against England and 153 against South Africa have totally worth watching. Maybe defending is the key, should we defend against Australia? Maybe, given that we have won 3 matches defending and lost 1 chasing…

So let's see how we play against Australia today in the semi finals. But for me as long as there is effort on the field like they have been putting in this tournament, cricket is worth watching all over again...

Sucker Train Blues

That's the name of Velvet Revolver song, anyway...New template!!! Used one of my own pictures...

Blue because we live on a blue planet and trees because we need them so badly...

Cheers!

...gone, going, gone...

Greenland's ice cap is melting at a frighteningly fast rate

...The vast ice cap that covers Greenland nearly three miles thick is melting faster than ever before on record, and the pace is speeding year by year...Greenland's ice is melting at a rate three times faster than it was only five years ago...

...If the Greenland ice cap ever melted completely -- a highly unlikely event, at least in the foreseeable future -- the scientists estimate it would raise world's sea level by an average of 6.5 meters, or about 21 feet, more than enough to drown all the world's low-lying islands and even some entire nations, like Holland...

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/08/11/MELTING.TMP&type=science

Not so skrood...We won!!! The batting had to click today and it did! The start by Sachin and Saurav was like old times. And the finish by Robin Uthappa...wow! Heart stopping stuff after a long time and it feels good to come out on top ;-)

Cricket: skrood again!

How do you let an opposition team go from 228 in 43 overs to 316 in 50 overs? Well if you have a bowler like Agarkar it is not too difficult. Dravid also helped, he gave the 50th over to Yuvraj instead of Powar who had 1 over remaining and Yuvraj in the process got hit for 5 consecutive sixes in that over. But what happened before that is key...

India played with 3 specialist bowlers and Agarkar as the 4th specialist, if you can call him that. So what does Agarkar that a-hole do? Read this…
At 228 for 5 in 43 overs Agarkar comes in and gives up 14 runs in the 44th over. Zaheer who had just given only 2 runs in the 43rd over, comes again and bowls another beauty of an over giving up only 3 runs. Then that jhakki Agarkar comes in again and merrily gives up another 13 runs in the 46th over. Again Zaheer comes and gives up only 7 runs in the 47th over. That too because off the 2nd ball the batsman played a cheeky shot for a 4 but Zaheer still managed to come back strong to bowl 2 dot balls. Now Dravid had no option to bring in Yuvraj and Tendulkar to bowl overs 48 and 49. They did whatever they could but then Dravid gave the 50th over to Yuvraj again instead of Powar and so 5 consecutive sixes were hit off Yuvraj. And this magical moment can all be attributed to our so called 4th specialist bowler Agarkar (63 runs in 8 overs), f$#$er...

The commentator said “Agarkar looks like a bowler who doesn’t know where to bowl…he is running in with fear…fear of where the next ball will be hit!” Can someone explain how can that a-hole Agarkar, a mediocre bowler even by domestic cricket standards, have such a long career with our team? He keeps making a comeback into the team, on what basis does he get selected again and again???

Earth's Environment

There is a day coming up next month sometime, when everyone around the world will blog about one topic, the environment. A good move to increase awareness...let me, start now.

First off, to the uninitiated, go see the movie 'An Inconvenient Truth'. A good movie but it is just on the surface of the whole thing. What this movie should do to you is to incite you to dig deeper for yourself. Take the environment issue personally and become aware of what is happening. Because if you don't then all the hard work you are doing, all that you are spending on yourself, saving up for a rainy day trying to ensure your future, your children's future and so on is of no use…in the next 50 years something's got to give. The environment and the Earth cannot keep taking the pressure we put on it. The amount of carbon gases we have already put into our atmosphere is enough to melt everything, remember we live in a greenhouse. It is not enough to just stop the emissions but also there is a serious need to somehow remove these greenhouse gases. In theory the Earth can enter an ice age very easily and the signs are all there. Not early signs...grave signs. Wake up and smell well errr...see the melting of the polar and Greenland ice caps. Also it is not just the melting, when temperatures rise things expand, so even the existing water in our oceans is going to expand and water levels are going to rise.

So do something about the environment, see it as an investment and it is the best one you can make today...

Took this picture from a flight that was just about to land in Jaipur.

The reason I post this is because it is so representative of India. The hundreds of fragmented farms in just maybe 10 square kilometers is so typical and can be found all over. These small farms are the backbone of the country, they probably cover 90% of our country, can you imagine the sheer number of these farms?!?!