Champaign brings images of bubbles, good times, laughter, and grand celebration.  But did you know, that champaign industry emits 200,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide every year during transport? 

Ugh.  What a downer right?  All these happy thoughts that champaign brings to the forefront of our minds and then this news.

But as usual, the good ol' bubbly is finding a way to make us smile again.  It turns out, it's goal is to reduce it's carbon %25 of it's carbon footprint by 2020, and %75 by 2050.

They are already on their endeavor, as they have already come accross a way to make the bottles more slender while still being able to handle the pressure They  must hold.

Currently, quite a few champaign companies have switched over to the new vessel.  Within a years time, most will most likely have switched over to the more slender and eco friendly bottles.

Has the new vessel made a diffference so far?  It sure has!  By 7%!!  Way to go to all those champaign producers out there.  We look forwad to the difference you'll be making!

PLEASE CLICK THE FB BUTTON AND/OR TWITTER BUTTONS TO SHARE:
Share

Tweet

Via NY Times and Inhabitat

I don't know about you, but I am so excited about plastic bags being banned in California!  Congrats to those Californians that are standing by this new law.  It was long over due.  Not for only for them, but for the rest of us as well.  I hope many more states follow in the banning of plastic bags, and that one day all 50 states will have them banned. 

Inhabitat posted these pictures. I love them!  Great job to all those people from Cali that are inspired to share with us through their photography and themes, what this means to them and what it means for us!  Thank you!!

Related articles by Zemanta

• Bag Monster: San Francsico Activism (geteconow.com)
• Plastic Bag Monsters Invade San Francisco to Support Bag Ban! (inhabitat.com)

CREATIVE DON'T YOU THINK?

Today, on Re-Nest, I was left with a smile on my face.  I am just fascinated at the thought of more and more people going green.  Of them becoming aware and educating themselves on the marvelous world of caring for our planet!

Growing our own food is so important.  This person who is growing their own food, is not only aware of the importance of growing their our own food, but they are quite creative as well. Look at the beauty of this truck loaded with garden greens?  I absolutely LOVE IT! 

Cap and Trade Scheme

 

 

On Friday, the US House of Representatives approved the “Cap and Trade” carbon emissions trading scheme. It didn’t pass with flying colors. Actually it passed through a very narrow hallway; It was 219 votes for and 214 against. But let’s not focus on numbers. Lets focus on the fact it DID pass and it is a start to something that could grow into greater collaboration for our environment. As Obama put it, “An extraordinary first step!”

I believe a big shout out is well deserved for the intensive lobbying, to our lawmakers, to president Obama, Hillary Clinton, former vice president Al Gore and Nancy Pelosi. You guys are doing right by finally putting our environment as a priority.

   

Technorati Tags: Obama,President Obama,Law,Environmenal Laws,Cap and Trade,2009,Obama's Presidency

So what happens now? Now the legislation must be passed by the Senate. Where to be perfectly honest, the chance of it passing aren’t looking all that bright. (But let’s stay positive. With some hard work from all of us, it just might turn around). Once the senate passes it, it can be signed into law by President Obama. So please everyone, encourage those you know about the importance of a great start for our environment. It matters and we need to get the word out.

Okay, okay, so how can you get excited about this if you aren’t even sure what the “Cap and Trade,” is? And how can you pass the word around? You probably can’t. First you need to know what the Cap and Trade is.

So here it is, a quick and simple explanation of the “Cap and Trade:”

In a nutshell, It means we make carbon dioxide pollution a tradable commodity. Carbon trading represents an attempt to fashion a “free market” solution to the global warming crisis.

Is that it? YES.

You want some details? I listed them below:

The cap has a goal. That goal is to cut our countries emissions by 17% by the year 2020. And then cut it up to 83% by 2050. In the “Cap and Trade” scheme, those that are major corporate polluters will be allocated a share of the total of carbon credits, or allowances. If they lower their emissions than they can take those carbon credits they saved due to lowering their emissions and sell them as surplus carbon credits for a profit to those who need them.

This scheme is not an Obama first. President Regan believed in them. So did the Clinton administration. It is big in Europe. Unfortunately, carbon trading has not yet met the levels of emission reduction that scientists say are necessary to truly make a difference. The keyword there is YET. It doesn’t mean it cant’ be done, and why not start with us? We are an amazing country with grand possibilities.

What is the government doing to try and get this “Cap and Trade” scheme to pass the senate? Simple, senior Democrats have added concessions, incentives and special provisions to accommodate many businesses. According to one report, due to this, 880 business and interest groups registered to lobby on this legislation. Let’s hope many more jump on the bandwagon.

You know who else is looking forward to this “Cap and Trade?” Wall street. They want this bad because in Europe, it has developed into a multi-billion-dollar commodity. So much so that entire divisions of major banks and hedge funds in London, Paris and Frankfurt are involved in the investment of these pollution credits. Cha Ching!

Now on to the part we, the average every day folks may not be looking forward to in regards to the “Cap and Trade” scheme. You knew this was coming right? I mean what pro doesn’t have a con or con have a pro? According to the Congressional Budget Office research, the average US household will pay an additional $175 a year in energy costs by 2020 with the “Cap and Trade” scheme.

RELAX. Don’t nod your head no, don’t begin saying how the government wants all your money or how they are stealing form you or how now you don’t want this “Cap and Trade.” Remember WE got ourselves here by being irresponsible with our Earth. Cliché? Maybe so, but so very true. If we don’t do something now about these issues, the impact will likely be FAR WORSE. And this is as good a place to start as any.

Under the “Cap and Trade,” the price of carbon is UNCAPPED and dictated by the market. Ordinary people’s ability to afford to fuel their car and heat their homes is therefore at the mercy of the activities of the carbon market speculators.

This is new so it still has a lot of developing to go through. A lot of picking, dissecting, adding and removing to be done to it before it’s perfected. As a matter a fact, it most likely will never be perfect. After all nothing is perfect. But an improvement on it would be great.

You may agree with the Cap and Trade, or you may not. I myself applaud this start on our behalf and look forward to seeing where the “Cap and Trade” will take us.

New, Highly Toxic Pesticide Is Greenhouse Gas 4,780 Times More Potent Than CO2

From: Center for Biological Diversity
Published July 13, 2009 10:27 ऍम

San Francisco- Public health and environmental advocates Friday asked the U।S। Environmental Protection Agency to deny a request from Dow AgroSciences for a permit allowing it to release large amounts of sulfuryl fluoride onto farm fields in four states। The chemical is a toxic pesticide whose global warming effects are thousands of times stronger than carbon dioxide

"The hazards of using sulfuryl fluoride in agriculture have not been evaluated. It is also 4,780 times as potent a greenhouse gas as carbon dioxide," said Dr. Brian Hill, a staff scientist at the Pesticide Action Network. "Either one of those facts makes permitting these tests a major mistake."

Dow AgroSciences proposes using sulfuryl fluoride to sterilize soil in farm fields. The permit would allow the release of 32,435 pounds of sulfuryl fluoride on 65 acres of test plots in Florida, Georgia, Texas, and California. Releasing just 10 percent of that amount into the air would be equivalent to releasing 15.5 million pounds of carbon dioxide. "A car that gets 30 miles per gallon would have to be driven 23 million miles — the distance of a trip circling the world over 930 times — to cause that much global warming," said Hill.

"Dow would like to sell this toxic chemical to farmers across the country — and will apply to do so if this test goes well," said Craig Segall of the Sierra Club. "We don’t need more global warming pollution, so we’re asking EPA to nip this problem in the bud."

"Other offices within EPA are currently working diligently to control climate change, which the EPA recognizes as the most pressing environmental challenge of our times," said Justin Augustine of the Center for Biological Diversity. "It makes no sense for EPA’s Office of Pesticide Programs to work at cross purposes with the rest of the agency by allowing the use of such a harmful substance."

Not only is sulfuryl fluoride a potent greenhouse gas, its high toxicity likewise poses significant human health and ecological risks. Thus far, EPA has not carefully reviewed the health risks for those exposed to the chemical or considered the impacts of the releases on endangered species and other wildlife. The groups’ letter asks EPA to take a hard look at these questions, including by consulting with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The letter was signed by Alaska Community Action on Toxics, the Center for Environmental Health, the Center for Biological Diversity, Defenders of Wildlife, the Pesticide Action Network, and the Sierra Club.

Contact Info: Brian R Hill, Ph.D.
Staff Scientist
Pesticide Action Network North America
49 Powell Street # 500
San Francisco, CA 94102
(510)289-4329

Craig Segall
Environmental Law Fellow
Sierra Club Environmental Law Program
85 Second St., 2nd Floor
San Francisco, CA 94105
(415) 977-5610

Justin Augustine
Staff Attorney
Center for Biological Diversity
351 California Street, Suite 600
San Francisco, CA 94104
(415) 436-9682 x 302
(415) 436-9683
jaugustine@biologicaldiversity.org

Website : Center for Biological दिवेर्सिटी

Will YOU Be the One to Take a Stand?

In order for our relationships to work we must nurture them, there must be growth, change and mutual respect. We seem to see our relationships only as far as human interaction. Some of us include our pets. But our relationships go beyond this. We also have a relationship with our environment. And our environment requires the same things as our personal relationships, in order to remain healthy and safe for all us.

As we all know, our world is going through much turmoil. We can't afford to sit back and watch as we twiddle our thumbs and hope things get better on there own, or that some hero comes to fix it all for us. We may have seen it as our 'option' to take a stand before, but those days are long gone. We don't have the time to waste any longer. It's time to take a stand and roll up our sleeves up. There is work to be done. We have the power to change our country and it is our duty.

Congress is about to vote on the American Clean Energy and Security Act. This is the BIGGEST Global warming bill congress will ever vote on. SO EVERYONE, PLEASE,DO YOUR PART! Take a stand. It will take less than 3 minutes of your day to make a difference in your lives, your children's lives and everyone around you.

Will you please join me in signing this petition to urge congress to make a change and tell them there are better ways? To tell them to get rid of the old and bring in the new? Because doing what hasn't worked again and again is not going to give us different results. Didn't someone say that doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results is the sheer definition of insanity? Well, we are not an insane nation. And we want a CHANGE!!

Please watch this very short video by Amy Smart and then sign the petition at

http://tinyurl.com/l4vwxe



Here again, is the link to sign the petition: http://tinyurl.com/l4vwxe

Now there is only one more thing I ask of you. If you can, will you please post this link and info to your facebook, Twitter, Friendfeed, Blogs, etc? Wherever you deem it possible would be great! We have to make a difference and we need to see change. But we won't get that without everyone standing. The way to do that is to pass this around. (If you don't want to blog about it, you can simply copy and paste this entry in my blog to your own blog. I don't mind, as long as it gets out.)

CONGRATULATIONS my friend, for taking stand!

DO YOU SEE THE DIFFERENCE!

Image via Wikipedia

Image via Wikipedia

Why Do We Need Health Care Reform? Here Is Your Answer

Health insurance companies make me queasy to my stomach. Their sneakiness. They way they try to bypass the laws and find ways not to help people under such distress. We won't pay this, we won't do that. We won't help you here, we won't help you there.

Look at these men in this video. Even the government is disgusted with them. They will not budge in their ways no matter who they hurt or how much wrong they are doing.

Something MUST BE DONE!

What? Govt. Passing Acts to Protect Us From Smoking?

Image via Wikipedia

Today president Obama signed 'The Family Smoking Prevention and Tabacco Control Act. Now the FDA's regulation of tobacco is now a reality!

It's important to not only ask for what we need from our government, but also to thank them for their hard work and dedication to our people and our causes. We may not always be in accordance with their actions, or in some cases even with their lack of actions, but when credit is due it must be given.

Will you please take a moment of your time today to thank the President and Members of Congress who made this historic public health victory possible?

The thank you letter has already been written out for you and there is nothing left to do other than click on the link below and add your name in thanks.


http://www.heartprescription.org/


If you are interested in reading the letter that has been prewritten for you, please read below:

Here is a copy of you what you will be sending:


Dear Legislator:

Thank you for voting YEA on final passage of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act! As your constituent and an American Heart Association You're the Cure advocate, I'm delighted you joined many of your colleagues to ultimately pass this life-saving legislation.

By finally enabling the Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco products and marketing, this bill will help tackle the increased risk of heart disease and stroke that millions of Americans face as a result of tobacco addiction.

Over 400,000 Americans lose their lives every year because of diseases caused by tobacco use. Of these, 150,000 die from cardiovascular diseases alone. Tobacco regulation is long overdue, and I applaud Congress for passing this bill.

This legislation is a Prescription for a Healthy Heart that will save countless lives. It will prohibit the marketing of tobacco to children, ban candy-flavored cigarettes, and impose restrictions on advertising aimed at kids. It will require the tobacco industry to disclose the dangerous cocktails of chemicals they add to cigarettes to make them more addictive, and give the FDA the authority to regulate these manufacturing practices.

This is a historic moment in our country, and I thank you for voting in support of America's health.


Sincerely,

Adriana Contreras
(Your Name Here)

What? Fresh Veggies at the White House?

Technorati Tags: Gardens,Gardening,Home,White House,Obama

I am sooo excited about this!  The White House is going to have a veggie garden on their South lawn!  What an excellent example for everyone!  It is quite sad when we see how little awareness the country as a whole has regarding environmental issues.  How miserable it is to hear people say things such as, "Nah...its all bluff!  There is NOTHING wrong with our environment." 

The truth is we have many issues to cover and going green is the best way for us to make an impact as individuals.  We expect others to come up with the solutions, implement them and make the changes we need four ourselves, our families and our future grandchildren and great grandchildren.  We don't get our hands dirty and do anything ourselves.  Well its time everyone took as stand, and this is precisely what the White house has decided to do.  And one way they are doing it is starting their own vegetable garden. 

As I was twittering today, (I LOVE Twitter!)  Someone twittered this link.  I was so excited about it I had to post it to my blog.  Hope you all are as happy about it as well.  Here is the post. (I'll also post the link)

 

White House Vegetable Garden Coming This Summer

Posted by: Peter Smith, March 7, 2009 at 9:00 am

Roger Doiron lives on less than half an acre in Scarborough, a suburb of Portland, Maine, that’s known less for its farms than its big-box stores. Last year, his front-yard kitchen garden was not just a source of inspiration and an estimated $2,400 in vegetables for his family; it was also a symbol of self-sufficiency and a greener suburbia. Doiron has also been petitioning the new president to put a Victory Garden on the White House. “If we were to have a first family to take this on and lead by example, we would see a ripple effect across the country and across the world,” he told the Washington Post.

Now, the Obama Administration appears to be heeding calls from Doiron and other gardening activists. This summer, they’re planning to plant a vegetable garden on the White House’s South Lawn , one adviser told CBS’s Political Hotsheet.

The effort has also led to questions about the broader implications of a Presidential kitchen garden. Warren Belasco, a food historian and author of Appetite for Change, said the action would be more of a symbolic boost for affluent activists rather than the people in need of healthy and inexpensive food, who were unlikely to have the time or space to benefit from the model garden on the White House lawn.

“Considering how far the community and organic gardening movement has come in the forty years since People’s Park put it on the map, do we still need symbolic stunts? I don’t think so,” he wrote. “Dig your own potatoes, people!”

Belasco and others have pointed to the efforts to reshape the USDA, such as its “People’s Garden,” a community garden project on the National Mall, especially given the agency’s resistance to such projects in the past. Now, if only Obama were to do something really radical in Washington D.C., it would be to reinstate the Center Market, the public market demolished to make way for the National Archives building, or to resume cattle grazing on the Ellipse.

Zira Island is Zero Energy

Sort of a Masdar with mountains, Zira Island is a zero energy resort and entertainment city designed by Bjarke Ingels Group, on an island in the Caspian Sea off Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. It is designed to mimic "the seven peaks of Azerbaijan."


The architect writes:

The Seven Peaks fo Azerbaijan is a master plan for a Zero Energy resort and entertainment city on Zira Island situated in the Caspian Sea. Located within the crescent shaped bay of Azerbaijan's capital Baku, Zira Island is designed to be a sustainable model for urban development and an iconographic skyline recognizable from the city's coastline. As a young post-soviet democracy, Azerbaijan is rediscovering its national identity, the Seven Peaks of Azerbijan propose an architectural landscape derived from its natural landscape. The mountains are conceived not only as metaphors, but engineered as entire eco-systems, a model for future sustainable urban development.

Preston at Jetson Green tells us:

Zira Island is intended to be entirely independent of external resources – to provide “high-end living with low end resource usage.” Here’s how they plan to do so:

* Heating/cooling by heat pumps connected to Caspian Sea
* Photovoltaics strategically placed on facades and rooftops
* Solar thermal panels integrated into architecture
* Energy efficient architecture
* An offshore wind farm for island power
* Waste and storm water collection, treatment, and reuse in landscaping


MY PERSONAL NOTE:
Unbelievable don't you think? Great concept! Very cold but great concept.

Ancient Soil Replenishment Technique Helps In Battle Against Global Warming

ScienceDaily (Dec. 20, 2008) — Former inhabitants of the Amazon Basin enriched their fields with charred organic materials-biochar-and transformed one of the earth's most infertile soils into one of the most productive. These early conservationists disappeared 500 years ago, but centuries later, their soil is still rich in organic matter and nutrients.

Now, scientists, environmental groups and policymakers forging the next world climate agreement see biochar not only as an important tool for replenishing soils, but as a powerful tool for combating global warming.

Christoph Steiner, a University of Georgia research scientist in the Faculty of Engineering, was a major contributor to the biochar proposal that was submitted by the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification last week at the United Nations Climate Change Conference meeting in Poland. The new climate change agreement will replace the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012.

"The potential of biochar lies in its ability to sequester-capture and store-huge amounts of carbon while also displacing fossil fuel energy, effectively doubling its carbon impact," said Steiner, a soil scientist whose research in the Amazon Basin originally focused on the use of biochar as a soil amendment. At UGA's Biorefinery and Carbon Cycling Program, he now investigates the global potential of biochar to sequester carbon. He also serves as a consultant to the UNCCD, a sister program to the climate change convention.

Steiner explained that almost any kind of organic material-peanut shells, pine chips and even poultry litter-can be burned in air-tight conditions, a process called pyrolysis. The byproducts are biochar, a highly porous charcoal that helps soil retain nutrients and water, and gases and heat that can be used as energy.

But because the carbon in biochar so effectively resists degradation, it also can sequester carbon in soils for hundreds to thousands of years, effectively making it a permanent "sink"-a natural system that soaks up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Soils containing biochar made by ancient Amazon people still contain up to 70 times more carbon than surrounding soils and have a higher nutrient content. Steiner said scientists estimate biochar from agriculture and forestry residues can potentially sequester billions of tons of carbon in the world's soils.

Biochar also avoids the disadvantages of other bioenergy technologies that deplete soil organic matter, said Steiner.

"Removing crop residues for bioenergy production reduces the organic matter accumulating on agricultural fields and thus the soil organic carbon pool, which depends on constant input of decomposing plant material. In contrast, pyrolysis with biochar carbon sequestration produces renewable energy, sequesters CO₂ and cycles nutrients back into agricultural fields."

This unique system ideally utilizes waste biomass, and thus does not compete with food production," said Steiner. Currently most waste biomass decomposes or is burned in the field. Both processes release carbon dioxide stored in the plant biomass-for no other use than getting rid of it. Biochar can capture up to 50 percent of the carbon stored in biomass and establishes a significant carbon sink, as long as renewable resources are used and biochar is used as a soil amendment.

To address our world's climate change dilemma, said Steiner, "We need a carbon sink in addition to greater energy efficiency and renewable energy. Acceptance of the UNCCD proposal in Poland is a first step to make carbon trading based on biochar a reality.

"This has not only consequences for mitigating climate change, but also for agricultural sustainability, and could provide a strong incentive to reduce deforestation, especially in the tropics."

Owners of obese dogs and fat cats could face jail under controversial new rules

Owners of fat cats and obese dogs could be fined or jailed under controversial Government rules. New beefed-up codes of practice for UK pet owners published today state that overfeeding pets is a 'serious welfare concern' that can lead to unnecessary suffering. People who refuse to put seriously fat pets on a diet could be prosecuted under the Animal Welfare Act--and face a fine of up to $40,000 or even 12 months' jail.

Environment Minster Hilary Benn said the toughened codes of practice were designed to remind pet owners of their responsibilities under the law and would protect animals from cruelty.

But Tories branded the guidance 'absurd' and warned that much of the advice was patronising.


PERSONAL NOTE: I am all for owners of dogs or even children for this matter, being fined for not protecting their diets knowing good and well the detrimental outcome of their health due to obesity. I do however, also believe this fine is going a little too far. I mean come on now...12 months or $40,000! Wow, talk about steep.

Too pitiful to title

In life there are things that mold us. That fulfill us. That touch our souls so deeply we cannot run away from them. They make us who we are. To me what touches me most are children, animals and our environment. But mostly…animals.

Does this mean I don’t care for children? No of course not. Children are our future. It sounds cliché but it is the truth. They are innocence. They are love. How could I not love them? But animals are often overlooked. They offer us the deepest love and I’m not talking about the kind we receive from humans, but rather the unconditional kind that only they know how to provide. They can tell us we are sick before we know it. They put their lives before their very own to defend us. They cause us no harm and mean no pain yet we are torturous to them in many ways and aren’t even aware of it.

It is torturous when we buy lets say dogs, from pet stores, for those very animals come from puppy mills where they are kept in tiny cages in their own excrement and urine. Where they are tattooed with a date that expires them and they get killed. Where they have such little space they can barely stretch or turn around in their cages. These poor puppies often times if they don’t get adopted stay there for years without ever seeing the sunshine or playing in the grass. The have to urinate on themselves because they don’t let them go to the bathroom anywhere else. They don’t have their cages cleaned. There are too many of them to feed or care for and they never get human contact.

Other things we do without thinking of the consequences of the poor animal, is eat them. Many people are lovers of frois gras and consider it one of the most delectable of foods. When they go out to celebrate it is often something they order. But the grueling pain the ducks were put through to get you your frois gras on the table is disgusting and inhumane. Some of the things they do is stick a thick and long tube into their little mouths and force feed them. They aren’t careful they just shove them in there regardless of pain, discomfort, infection, cuttings, etc. They force feed them 10 times the amount of food their tummys can normally hold so that their livers will expand 10 times their size. And only then will they be released of such pain because they are murdered and then put on our tables, for our “celebration.”

And that delicious steak? Oh yes, major torture. Everything from getting beat up, to electrocuted, to having their throats slashed in front of each other. Can you imagine the horror of watching your friends and family being murdered and knowing you are next? YES animals have feelings. Or the pigs and chickens…well I’ll stop here I don’t want to give you more details. You get the point.

Why do we do this? Why don’t we care? If someone did this to our loved ones we would be in an uproar. However since these animals have no voice we turn our heads and pretend we don’t know what is going on. In many cases people truly aren’t aware. Others think animal advocates are just being ridiculous and exaggerating.

Right now I am reading a book titled, “A Rare Breed of Love,” by Jana Kohl. If you haven’t read it and you are an animal lover I highly recommend it. It has made me smile and laugh and yes cry. Both happy and sad tears. Tears of thankfulness and tears of anger. It has also taught me a lot. Ignorance is no excuse to do wrong so reading it has enlightened me and made me respect and honor animals more than I even did before.

The story behind this book is of Baby, a poodle that was rescued from a puppy mill and her life traveling with her owner (or mommy) to teach people about puppy mills and how harmful they are. The photographs in the book are beautiful and inspiring. You can see the joy in Baby’s eyes that now she has a forever home. You can see that she no longer starves as she did in the puppy mill, and there are photos of her running in a field and she looks like she is in heaven. Literally. But Baby only has 3 legs. Since she wasn’t allowed to move in the cage she was in for 9 years and never steped out of it, her bones became brittle and one day she stepped of her adoptive mom’s home and lost her leg.

The book shows baby (in more photos than I can count) with celebrities and politicians. She is a famous little poodle now and she looks proud to be doing such justice for her friends she left behind in the puppy mills. Baby can’t bark because the owner of the puppy mills stuck scissors down her throat and cut her vocal cords so that they didn’t have to hear Baby’s barking cry’s for help when she was in pain and agony from starvation, diseases neglect. But even though she can’t bark, you can see the joy of freedom in her face. (this procedure of cutting the vocal cords is a common one amongst puppy mills).

One of the many celebrities that Baby met was Paul Harvey, the radio personality. There is a picture of her with him in the book and she looks like she is purring like a kitten she is so happy. I wish I could share the photo with you. I bet she loves all that loving after not having received any contact for the first 9 years of her life. She is so grateful to have a forever home.

When Baby and her owner (mommy), met Paul Harvey, he gave them something he had written a while back. I find it so true. Here it is:



PRIORITIES
By Paul Harvey

This is partly personal…

If your heart is burdened most by the starving babies of Sub-Saharan Africa, I will respect that.

If you lose sleep worrying about brutality within our prisons, I will respect that and do what I can to help.

If you are most anguished by the world’s ceaseless wars or by
The prospect of a nuclear war, your preoccupying priority defends itself.

Will you lend me mine?

My nightmares relate all of man’s inhumanity to man—
To our willing acceptance of cruelty to the other animals.

Somebody once sent to my attention a “humane mouse trap.”
The label promised that the “mouse dies in his sleep
Without pain or suffering.”

Before recommending it, I researched it.

I learned that the mouse smells peanut butter inside,
Enters the plastic box, and is trapped inside.

A spokesperson for the product said that 2 ½ years of testing
Had proven the mouse panics and dies of fright.

Or—because the area is so tiny, the mouse from hyperactivity
Works up a sweat and dies of heat prostration.

This, the label describes as “without pain or suffering.”
So much for the trugh in advertising.

I am going to try and be as dispassionate as possible about this.

I do not mean to suggest that it is but one step from
Suffocating animals to putting people in ovens.

It’s not.

It is several steps.

The first step is tolerating any pain which we cannot
Ourselves feel.

Anguish is anguish. It known no gender, no race, no species.

Pain is pain.

If it is your own child who is suffering,
You relate especially to his or her hurt
Any hurts to others---yours included
Are comparatively insignificant.

It is not that your child is suffering any more…
Perhaps your child is suffering less…

Than a mouse suffocating in its dark cramped coffin.

Your child is tortured. “That is hideous—a high crime!”
A mouse dies in agony. That is pest control.
And there are options.

So somebody allowed it to happen. Confronted with the options of allowing
The mouse to die in peace or pain, somebody had to say, “What’s the difference?”

There are equally effective options.
And civilization should have reached the point which we should care
which is which.

When it comes to suffering, the only thing which separates the smartest of us
From the dumbest is our vocal cords.

If we allow them to hurt only because they cannot speak,
May God have mercy on them—and us.

Caribbean Monk Seal Becomes Extinct

This is sad. The extinction of anything is, well...sad. But what makes the extinction of this particular seal so sad is that it wasn't due to "life" or "natural causes." It was do to US, the HUMAN RACE. We seem to be the coldest blooded-killers that have no respect for anything that does not benefit us. We kill innocent animals for our own profit. The forests for our own gain and even harm our own race due to envy, jealousy and too many other reasons to count.

We seem to be so proud of being "human." Walking around with out heads held high. Believing that we are the ultimate creatures on Earth. And yes, in reality we are superior to other animals in the sense that we have reason. That we have intellect and many attributes that they don't have. But with more power, more brains, more beauty, more of anything, comes more responsibility too. Did we forget that part? Responsibility not only to our own race, but to our 4 legged friends as well. To any living thing really. Why did we allow ourselves to forget this?

If I had one wish, it would be for Humans to start realizing the harm and destruction they cause and STOP. But who am I kidding? We've been the same...since the beginning of time.

This morning I read an AOL article about the extinction of the Caribbean Monk Seal and it broke my heart.

You can read the AOL article below:


CARIBBEAN MONK SEAL BECOMES EXTINCT
By James Song, AP
Posted: 2008-06-07 12:37:04
Filed Under: Science News
HONOLULU (June 7) - Federal officials have confirmed what biologists have long thought: The Caribbean monk seal has gone the way of the dodo.

Humans hunting the docile creatures for research, food and blubber left the population unsustainable, say biologists who warn that Hawaiian and Mediterranean monk seals could be the next to go.

The last confirmed sighting of a Caribbean monk seal was in 1952 between Jamaica and Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. The National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration's Fisheries Service confirmed Friday that the species is extinct.

Kyle Baker, a biologist for NOAA's Fisheries Service southeast region, said the species is the only seal to become extinct from human causes.

The seals were first classified as endangered in 1967, and wildlife experts investigated several reported sightings over the past few decades. But officials determined they were other seal types.

The federal agency says there are fewer than 1,200 Hawaiian and 500 Mediterranean monk seals remaining, and their populations are declining.

"We hope we've learned from the extinction of Caribbean monk seals, and can provide stronger protection for their Hawaiian and Mediterranean relatives," Baker said.

The Hawaiian monk seal population, protected by NOAA, is declining at a rate of about 4 percent annually, according to NOAA. The agency predicts the population could fall below 1,000 in the next three to four years, placing the mammal among the world's most endangered marine species.

"When populations get very small, they become very unstable," Baker said. "They become more vulnerable to threats like disease and predation by sharks."

Vicki Cornish, a wildlife expert at the Ocean Conservancy, said the fate of the Caribbean monk seal is a "wake-up call" to protect the remaining seal populations.

"We must act now to reduce threats to existing monk seal populations before it's too late," she said. "These animals are important to the balance and health of the ocean. We can't afford to wait."

Monk seals are particularly sensitive to human disturbance. And the sea creatures have been losing their food supply and beaches, officials say.

"Once Hawaii, the Caribbean and the Mediterranean were teeming with fish, but these are areas under severe fishing pressure," Cornish said. "They'll eat almost anything - shellfish or finned fish - but their food supply is waning and they're in competition with man."

The Caribbean monk seal, first discovered during Christopher Columbus' second voyage in 1494, once had a population of more than 250,000. But they became easy game for hunters because they often rested, gave birth or nursed their pups on beaches.

From the 1700s to 1900s, the seals were killed mainly for their blubber, which was processed into oils, used for lubrication and coating the bottom of boats. Their skins were used for trunk linings, clothing, straps and bags.

The endangered Hawaiian monk seals face different types of challenges, including entanglement in marine debris, climate change and coastal development.

About 80 to 100 live in the main Hawaiian Islands and 1,100 in the largely uninhabited Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, a marine national monument.

Biologist Bud Antonelis said NOAA's Fisheries Service has developed a monk seal recovery plan for the Hawaiian monk seals.

"But we need continued support from organizations and the public if we are to have a chance at saving it from extinction," he said. "Time is running out."

As for the Caribbean monk seal, NOAA said it is working to have them removed from the endangered species list. Species are removed from the list when their populations are no longer threatened or endangered, or when they are declared extinct.

Ever Wonder What to do with Your Plastic Bags?

Lets help out the environment a bit. I found this article in WikiHow (I just LOVE taht website). Someone apparently wrote up an article on how to Recycle Plastic bags. Something we probably don't give much thought to but should because it is one of the simplest of things we can all do to help the environment. With wiki, you can edit articles. I am going to see if I can edit this one in some way to add my own ideas. If you have any you should look the article up and edit it as well. The more more ideas and options of what to do with these plastic bags, the better.

1)Take them with you to the grocery store to be reused when bagging your groceries, instead of taking new ones.

2)Return your bags back to the grocery store for recycling. Most stores have a container to take these bags back and recycle them for you.

3)Keep plastic bags around the house to replace trash can liners in the bathrooms, office and bedrooms... anywhere you have a small trashcan.

4) Keep some in the laundry room to throw out pocket trash found in clothes and empty the lint filter in the dryer.

5) Use plastic bags in the kitchen to store perishable trash in the refrigerator. This is especially good to do in the summer. If you have a long wait between trash pick-ups, it will keep flies out of your trash can.

6)Keep a stash of bags in each vehicle to help keep the car tidy. Hang one over a seat, arm rest, or simply keep it under a seat.

7)If you have pets, use plastic bags to clean out the litter box or scoop the poop in the yard. When you take your dog for a walk, tie a couple of bags to the leash handle so you will always have a bag available to scoop the poop.

8)Donate them to animal shelters who often need plastic bags for cleaning and to use when walking dogs, they'll appreciate having a few extra around.

9)Donate the bags to your local charity shop or thrift store library, so that people who borrow books can use them to bring the books home.

10)Plastic bags can be used for packing material for packages to be mailed or stored. Wad them up and stuff around the items.

11)When removing old vacuum cleaner bags put the bag in a plastic bag and tie. If the pets or kids get into the trash (or you press down instead of taking out) you won't end up with a fine dust cloud.

12)Shove them inside of shoes to help keep their shape while air drying.

13)Cut into strips and knit/crochet into a stronger reusable shopping bag. You can find a crochet pattern here. These work well because strips of plastic bag have a lot of tensile strength and the knit/crochet stitch makes this even stronger. For instructions go to this site: Take them with you to the grocery store to be reused when bagging your groceries, instead of taking new ones. (I think these were put together by a woman by the name of Marla.)

14)You can store them in fabric bag tubes at local craft or kitchen stores. These tubes have small elastic holes at the top and bottom and a loop for hanging it on the back of a door or on a hook. You may be able to find one in a color scheme for your decor. You could also use an empty baby wipe container or empty tissue box - this keeps them tidy and you'll always know where to find them.

15)The best strategy is to avoid getting plastic bags in the first place. Get a couple of canvas bags and take them with you to the store. They're stronger and hold more than the flimsy plastic bags that most stores use -- this means fewer trips from the car once you're home, and no risk of a bag breaking and spilling your groceries all over the ground.

16)Some stores give a small discount for bringing your own bags, but the real benefit is not consuming or accumulating plastic bags.

17)Use one of the bags to stuff the rest in just for storage. Hang the bag in the garage, pantry, under the kitchen sink or in the laundry room. Alternatively, wad up the first bag, and put it into the next. Wad this up, and put it into the next, and so on. This way, you can always just remove the outermost bag-layer.

18)Find a specific place to keep your extra bags. Once this area is full of bags you should take them to the store for recycling and not try to find more places
If you do art paint or ceramic painting on top of the kitchen table, spread out a bag on top of the table to keep the paint off the table. When you are finished, toss in any mess you made and toss the bags away.

19)Don't reuse plastic bags that were used to transport meat or poultry. They may contain bacteria that can be harmful.

Massive Ice Chunk Collapses in Anartica

A huge portion of Antarctic ice -- said to be about seven times the size of Manhattan -- can been seen breaking off from an even larger portion of glacial ice Tuesday. Scientists said the chunk broke off from the Wilkins Ice Shelf in western Antarctica, and had been there for anywhere between hundreds to 1,500 years.

Massive Ice Chunk Collapses in Antarctica
By SETH BORENSTEIN,AP
Posted: 2008-03-25 21:44:32
Filed Under: Science News

WASHINGTON (March 25) - A chunk of Antarctic ice about seven times the size of Manhattan suddenly collapsed, putting an even greater portion of glacial ice at risk, scientists said Tuesday.

Satellite images show the runaway disintegration of a 160-square-mile chunk in western Antarctica, which started Feb. 28. It was the edge of the Wilkins ice shelf and has been there for hundreds, maybe 1,500 years.

This is the result of global warming, said British Antarctic Survey scientist David Vaughan.

Because scientists noticed satellite images within hours, they diverted satellite cameras and even flew an airplane over the ongoing collapse for rare pictures and video.

"It's an event we don't get to see very often," said Ted Scambos, lead scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colo. "The cracks fill with water and slice off and topple... That gets to be a runaway situation."

While icebergs naturally break away from the mainland, collapses like this are unusual but are happening more frequently in recent decades, Vaughan said. The collapse is similar to what happens to hardened glass when it is smashed with a hammer, he said.

The rest of the Wilkins ice shelf, which is about the size of Connecticut, is holding on by a narrow beam of thin ice. Scientists worry that it too may collapse. Larger, more dramatic ice collapses occurred in 2002 and 1995.

Vaughan had predicted the Wilkins shelf would collapse about 15 years from now. The part that recently gave way makes up about 4 percent of the overall shelf, but it's an important part that can trigger further collapse.

There's still a chance the rest of the ice shelf will survive until next year because this is the end of the Antarctic summer and colder weather is setting in, Vaughan said.

Scientists said they are not concerned about a rise in sea level from the latest event, but say it's a sign of worsening global warming.

Such occurrences are "more indicative of a tipping point or trigger in the climate system," said Sarah Das, a scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute.

"These are things that are not re-forming," Das said. "So once they're gone, they're gone."

Climate in Antarctica is complicated and more isolated from the rest of the world.

Much of the continent is not warming and some parts are even cooling, Vaughan said. However, the western peninsula, which includes the Wilkins ice shelf, juts out into the ocean and is warming. This is the part of the continent where scientists are most concern about ice-melt triggering sea level rise.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
2008-03-25 15:04:23

NOTE: Who are the IDIOTS in our government that have the NERVE to say that "Global warming" does not exist and is "just" "hype?" What do they think we are? Stupid? Just look at what our "made up" global warming is doing to our world!!

Tap vs. Bottled Water

Posted Mon, Jan 07, 2008, 1:10 pm PST

Glug, glug, glug--that’s the sound a ginormous number of us make as we sip bottled water in our cars, at the gym, behind our desks.

The sound you DON’T hear is the thwack of 60 million bottles a day being tossed into U.S. landfills, where they can take up to 1,000 years to biodegrade.

If that’s not enough to turn your conscience a brighter shade of green, add this: Producing those bottles burns through 1.5 million barrels of crude oil annually--enough fuel to keep 100,000 cars running for a year. Recycling helps but reusing is even better. Invest in a couple of portable, dishwasher-safe, stainless steel bottles like Klean Kanteens that won’t leach nasty chemicals into your water. (Don’t get into the habit of refilling the water bottle you just emptied; the polyethylene terephthalate it’s made of breaks down with multiple usings.)

4 REASONS TO TURN ON THE TAP

1. Tap water is tested daily
Under the Safe Drinking Water Act, water suppliers are required to provide an annual report on the quality of your local water and to test tap water daily. By comparison, the FDA examines bottled water only weekly, and consumers can’t get the agency’s results. You can easily get the lowdown on your state’s drinking water quality at http://www.epa.gov/safewater/dwinfo/index.html

2. Tap water is a bargain
Bottled water costs about 500 times more than tap. If you’re into really fancy labels, up to 1,000 times more.

3. Tap water is a tooth saver
It has more fluoride than bottled water, which helps prevent tooth decay. (Yes, you never outgrow your need for fluoride.)

4. Tap water is often tasty
Some places (New York City for one) have delicious water, but if you don’t love the flavor of yours, the solution is simple: Run your tap water through a Brita or Pur filter to remove most tastes and odors. The average home filter goes for $8.99 and produces the equivalent of 300 large (16.9 ounce) bottles of water. That’s about $0.03 cents a bottle, versus the $1.25 or so you’d pay in a market.

One last thing: Don't just think about making this switch; actually do it. Today. It does the world and you good. Plus, allowing nagging, unfinished tasks (known as NUTs) to go undone can make your RealAge 8 years older!

Take Action to Support Transportation Solutions

You can earn "transformation points" for your state while helping decrease your pollution and carbon emissions by taking our Transportation Solutions and Personal Action Pledges, and telling your friends.

1. Enhance public health, safety and quality of life
2. Provide better and more equitable mobility and access
3. Minimize global warming pollution emissions
4. Enhance economic competitiveness and efficiency
5. Make changes in your daily life – 2 points each

I pledge to take action and support innovative transportation solutions that help reduce traffic congestion, cut pollution and protect public health. Check as many as you can!

1. Consider the best way to take fewer trips and avoid rush hour when planning errands

2. Share car trips/carpool with neighbors or co-workers

3. Walk or bike for short trips and take public transit whenever possible

4. Choose the most fuel-efficient vehicle that meets your travel needs

5. Encourage your employer to become a Best Workplace for Commuters

6. Teach a child to ride a bike and/or take a child for a walk

7. Get involved with or help initiate a local bicycle or transit advocacy group

8. Reduce the number of cars in your household and/or pledge to cut the average annual number of miles your household drives by 25%

9. Contact elected officials at the local, state and national levels to support smart transportation and land use planning

10. Give priority to your commuting options when choosing where to live
Make a gift to support Environmental Defense's work

100 Ways to Save the Environment

IN YOUR HOME - CONSERVE ENERGY

1. Clean or replace air filters on your air conditioning unit at least once a month.

2. If you have central air conditioning, do not close vents in unused rooms.

3. Lower the thermostat on your water heater to 120.

4. Wrap your water heater in an insulated blanket.

5. Turn down or shut off your water heater when you will be away for extended periods.

6. Turn off unneeded lights even when leaving a room for a short time.

7. Set your refrigerator temperature at 36 to 38 and your freezer at 0 to 5

8. When using an oven, minimize door opening while it is in use; it reduces oven temperature by 25 to 30 every time you open the door.

9. Clean the lint filter in your dryer after every load so that it uses less energy.

10. Unplug seldom used appliances.

11. Use a microwave when- ever you can instead of a conventional oven or stove.

12. Wash clothes with warm or cold water instead of hot.

13. Reverse your indoor ceiling fans for summer and winter operations as recommended.

14. Turn off lights, computers and other appliances when not in use.

15. Purchase appliances and office equipment with the Energy Star Label; old refridgerators, for example, use up to 50 more electricity than newer models.

16. Only use electric appliances when you need them.

17. Use compact fluorescent light bulbs to save money and energy.

18. Keep your thermostat at 68 in winter and 78 in summer.

19. Keep your thermostat higher in summer and lower in winter when you are away
Insulate your home as best as you can.

20. Install weather stripping around all doors and windows.

21. Shut off electrical equipment in the evening when you leave work.

22. Plant trees to shade your home.

23. Shade outside air conditioning units by trees or other means.

24. Replace old windows with energy efficient ones.

25. Use cold water instead of warm or hot water when possible.

26. Connect your outdoor lights to a timer.

27. Buy green electricity - electricity produced by low - or even zero-pollution facilities (NC Greenpower for North Carolina - www.ncgreenpower.org). In your home-reduce toxicity.




IN YOUR HOME - REDUCE TOXICITY


28. Eliminate mercury from your home by purchasing items without mercury, and dispose of items containing mercury at an appropriate drop-off facility when necessary (e.g. old thermometers).

29. Learn about alternatives to household cleaning items that do not use hazardous chemicals.

30. Buy the right amount of paint for the job.

31. Review labels of household cleaners you use. Consider alternatives like baking soda, scouring pads, water or a little more elbow grease.

32. When no good alternatives exist to a toxic item, find the least amount required for an effective, sanitary result.

33. If you have an older home, have paint in your home tested for lead. If you have lead-based paint, cover it with wall paper or other material instead of sanding it or burning it off.

34. Use traps instead of rat and mouse poisons and insect killers.

35. Have your home tested for radon.

36. Use cedar chips or aromatic herbs instead of mothballs.


IN YOUR YARD


37. Avoid using leaf blowers and other dust-producing equipment.

38. Use an electric lawn- mower instead of a gas-powered one.

39. Leave grass clippings on the yard-they decompose and return nutrients to the soil.

40. Use recycled wood chips as mulch to keep weeds down, retain moisture and prevent erosion.

41. Use only the required amount of fertilizer.

42. Minimize pesticide use.

43. Create a wildlife habitat in your yard.

44. Water grass early in the morning.

45. Rent or borrow items like ladders, chain saws, party decorations and others that are seldom used.

46. Take actions that use non hazardous components (e.g., to ward off pests, plant marigolds in a garden instead of using pesticide).

47. Put leaves in a compost heap instead of burning them or throwing them away. Yard debris too large for your compost bin should be taken to a yard-debris recycler.


IN YOUR OFFICE


48. Copy and print on both sides of paper.

49. Reuse items like envelopes, folders and paper clips.

50. Use mailer sheets for interoffice mail instead of an envelope.Use mailer sheets for interoffice mail instead of an envelope.

51. Set up a bulletin board for memos instead of sending a copy to each employee.

52. Use e-mail instead of paper correspondence.

53. Use recycled paper.

54. Use discarded paper for scrap paper.

55. Encourage your school and/or company to print documents with soy-based inks, which are less toxic.

56. Use a ceramic coffee mug instead of a disposable cup.


WAYS TO PROTECT OUR AIR


57. Ask your employer to consider flexible work schedules or telecommuting.

58. Recycle printer cartridges.

59. Shut off electrical equipment in the evening when you leave work.

60. Report smoking vehicles to your local air agency.

61. Don't use your wood stove or fireplace when air quality is poor.

62. Avoid slow-burning, smoldering fires. They produce the largest amount of pollution.

63. Burn seasoned wood - it burns cleaner than green wood.

64. Use solar power for home and water heating.

65. Use low-VOC or water-based paints, stains, finishes and paint strippers.

66. Purchase radial tires and keep them properly inflated for your vehicle.

67. Paint with brushes or rollers instead of using spray paints to minimize harmful emissions.

68. Ignite charcoal barbecues with an electric probe or other alternative to lighter fluid.

69. If you use a wood stove, use one sold after 1990. They are required to meet federal emissions standards and are more efficient and cleaner burning.

70. Walk or ride your bike instead of driving, whenever possible.

71. Join a carpool or vanpool to get to work.


WAYS TO USE LESS WATER


72. Check and fix any water leaks.

73. Install water-saving devices on your faucets and toilets.

74. Don't wash dishes with the water running continuously.

75. Wash and dry only full loads of laundry and dishes.

76. Follow your community's water use restrictions or guidelines.

77. Install a low-flow shower head.

78. Replace old toilets with new ones that use a lot less water.

79. Turn off washing machine's water supply to prevent leaks.


WAYS TO PROTECT OUR WATER


80. Revegetate or mulch disturbed soil as soon as possible.

81. Never dump anything down a storm drain.

82. Have your septic tank pumped and system inspected regularly.

83. Check your car for oil or other leaks, and recycle motor oil.

84. Take your car to a car wash instead of washing it in the driveway.

85. Learn about your watershed.


CREATE LESS TRASH


86. Buy items in bulk from loose bins when possible to reduce the packaging wasted.

87. Avoid products with several layers of packaging when only one is sufficient. About 33 of what we throw away is packaging.

88. Buy products that you can reuse.

89. Maintain and repair durable products instead of buying new ones.

90. Check reports for products that are easily repaired and have low breakdown rates.

91. Reuse items like bags and containers when possible.

92. Use cloth napkins instead of paper ones.

93. Use reusable plates and utensils instead of disposable ones.

94. Use reusable containers to store food instead of aluminum foil and cling wrap.

95. Shop with a canvas bag instead of using paper and plastic bags.

96. Buy rechargeable batteries for devices used frequently.

97. Reuse packaging cartons and shipping materials. Old newspapers make great packaging material.

98. Compost your vegetable scraps.

99. Buy used furniture - there is a surplus of it, and it is much cheaper than new furniture.

Where Have All the Dolphins Gone?

PARIS (AFP) - Sightings by marine scientists of dolphins in the north Atlantic's Bay of Biscay have dropped off by 80 percent compared to the same period in 2006, a wildlife conservation group said Wednesday.

The alarming drop in numbers of the Bay's three most common species of dolphin -- the striped, bottlenose and common -- can be attributed to one or both of two causes, Clive Martin, senior wildlife officer for the Biscay Dolphin Research Programme, told AFP.

"We know for a fact that by-catch is killing thousands of dolphins every year," he said, referring to commercial fishing operations in the bay, which is formed by the northern coast of Spain and the eastern French seaboard up to the tip of Brittany.

Martin singled out French "pair trawlers" that sweep the ocean with huge nets twice the size of a football pitch strung out between them as being especially lethal to the marine mammals.

"Dolphins are sometimes trapped hundreds at a time, and are asphyxiated" when they cannot come up for air, he said. Most dolphins typically replenish their lungs with fresh air every five minutes or so, he explained.

The second -- and probably more important -- reason that dolphins have disappeared is that there is simply very little left for them to eat.

"Anchovy fishing in the Bay of Biscay has progressively failed, and this year there is a complete ban by Spain, France and the United Kingdom on the fishing of anchovies," a principal food source for dolphins, Clive said.

He speculated that the roving sea mammals -- which swim in pods numbering in the dozens for bottlenose dolphins, and sometimes in the thousands for the common dolphin -- had moved west toward the mid-Atlantic looking for food.




A sharp decrease in the presence of many seabirds that also feed on fish -- such as auks, shearwaters and gannets -- lends support to this explanation.

The Bay of Biscay Research Programme has been systematically recording dolphin sightings along the same route from Bilbao, Spain to Portsmouth, England for 13 years.

Compared to the comparable period in 2004 and 2005, dolphin sightings in 2007 have decreased by 50 percent, he said.

The Bay of Biscay hosts a greater variety of dolphin populations than any other part of the world's oceans. Clive suggested that policy makers should consider transforming the area into a sanctuary for marine life.