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| "i’m" is a new initiative from Windows Live™ Messenger that shares a portion of
the program's advertising revenue with some of the world's most effective social
cause organizations. Learn more It's simple to join the "i’m"™ initiative if you already have version 8.1 of
Windows Live Messenger. Need to download Windows Live Messenger 8.1? Get
it free!
From
the top of your Windows Live Messenger window, click the arrow next to your name
and select "Options".
Next
to your name, type one of the following codes, including the asterisk, for the
cause you'd like to support.
| Text Code |
Cause |
| *red+u |
American Red Cross |
| *bgca |
Boys & Girls Clubs of America |
| *naf |
National AIDS Fund |
| *mssoc |
National Multiple Sclerosis Society |
| *9mil |
ninemillion.org |
| *sierra |
Sierra Club |
| *help |
StopGlobalWarming.org |
| *komen |
Susan G. Komen for the Cure |
| *unicef |
The US fund for UNICEF |
Click
"OK" to complete the sign-up process. | | |
| Have change to give? http://www.modestneeds.org/
Need a little help? http://www.modestneeds.org/
The Modest Needs® Mission
Modest Needs exists
To prevent otherwise financially
self-sufficient individuals and families from entering the cycle of
poverty, when this might be avoided with a small amount of well-timed
financial assistance; To restore
the financial self-sufficiency of individuals who are willing to work
but are temporarily unable to do so because they do not have the means
to remit payment for a work-related expense; and To empower
permanently disadvantaged individuals who otherwise live within their
limited means to continue to live independently, despite a temporary,
unexpected financial set-back.
In keeping with its mission, Modest Needs offers the following three types of grants
- Self-Sufficiency Grants
Modest
Needs makes Self-Sufficiency Grants by remitting payment to a creditor
/ for an expense on behalf of an otherwise self-sufficient individual
or family for a relatively small, emergency expense which the
individual or family could not have anticipated or prepared for. In
making a Self-Sufficiency Grant, our goal is to prevent an otherwise
self-sufficient individual or family from entering the cycle of poverty
as a result of the financial burden posed by a relatively small
emergency expense. For example, we might make a Self-Sufficiency Grant
to cover the cost of an emergency auto repair that must be made if an
individual is to continue working.
- Back-to-Work Grants
Modest
Needs makes Back-to-Work grants by remitting payment for a small
work-related fee or expense on behalf of a temporarily unemployed
individual. In making a Back-to-Work grant, our goal is to provide a
willing but temporarily unemployed individual with the means to return
to work. For example, we might make a Back to Work grant to cover the
cost of a professional license renewal for a temporarily displaced
worker.
- Independent Living Grants
Modest
Needs makes Independent Living Grants by remitting payment to a
creditor / for an expense on behalf of persons who are permanently
unable to work but who nevertheless are living independently on the
limited income to which they are entitled - their retirement income, or
their permanent disability income, for example. In making an
Independent Living Grant, our goal is to empower financially
responsible persons who cannot work to continue to live independently
on their limited incomes, despite an unexpected expense which no
conventional agency is prepared to address. For example, we might make
an Independent Living Grant to cover the cost of maintenance on a piece
of accessibility equipment not covered by Medicaid, to cover an
unexpectedly large prescription medication co-pay, or to assist with a
large summer cooling bill.
| | |
| " Hundreds
of millions of Africans and tens of millions of Latin Americans who now
have water will be short of it in less than 20 years. By 2050, more
than 1 billion people in Asia could face water shortages. By 2080,
water shortages could threaten 1.1 billion to 3.2 billion people,
depending on the level of greenhouse gases that cars and industry spew
into the air."
AP IMPACT: Draft of new international climate report warns of droughts, starvation, disease
By Seth Borenstein ASSOCIATED PRESS 11:23 a.m. March 10, 2007 WASHINGTON
– The harmful effects of global warming on daily life are already
showing up, and within a couple of decades hundreds of millions of
people won't have enough water, top scientists will say next month at a
meeting in Belgium.At the same time, tens of millions of others will
be flooded out of their homes each year as the Earth reels from rising
temperatures and sea levels, according to portions of a draft of an
international scientific report obtained by The Associated Press. Tropical
diseases like malaria will spread. By 2050, polar bears will mostly be
found in zoos, their habitats gone. Pests like fire ants will thrive. For
a time, food will be plentiful because of the longer growing season in
northern regions. But by 2080, hundreds of millions of people could
face starvation, according to the report, which is still being revised. The
draft document by the authoritative Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change focuses on global warming's effects and is the second in a
series of four being issued this year. Written and reviewed by more
than 1,000 scientists from dozens of countries, it still must be edited
by government officials. But some scientists said the overall
message is not likely to change when it's issued in early April in
Brussels, the same city where European Union leaders agreed this past
week to drastically cut greenhouse gas emissions by 2020. Their plan
will be presented to President Bush and other world leaders at a summit
in June. The report offers some hope if nations slow and then
reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, but it notes that what's
happening now isn't encouraging. “Changes in climate are now
affecting physical and biological systems on every continent,” the
report says, in marked contrast to a 2001 report by the same
international group that said the effects of global warming were
coming. But that report only mentioned scattered regional effects. “Things
are happening and happening faster than we expected,” said Patricia
Romero Lankao of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in
Boulder, Colo., one of the many co-authors of the new report. The
draft document says scientists are highly confident that many current
problems – change in species' habits and habitats, more acidified
oceans, loss of wetlands, bleaching of coral reefs, and increases in
allergy-inducing pollen – can be blamed on global warming. For
example, the report says North America “has already experienced
substantial ecosystem, social and cultural disruption from recent
climate extremes,” such as hurricanes and wildfires. But the present is nothing compared to the future. Global warming soon will “affect everyone's life ... it's the poor sectors that will be most affected,” Romero Lankao said. And co-author Terry Root of Stanford University said: “We truly are standing at the edge of mass extinction” of species. The report included these likely results of global warming:  Hundreds
of millions of Africans and tens of millions of Latin Americans who now
have water will be short of it in less than 20 years. By 2050, more
than 1 billion people in Asia could face water shortages. By 2080,
water shortages could threaten 1.1 billion to 3.2 billion people,
depending on the level of greenhouse gases that cars and industry spew
into the air.
Death
rates for the world's poor from global warming-related illnesses, such
as malnutrition and diarrhea, will rise by 2030. Malaria and dengue
fever, as well as illnesses from eating contaminated shellfish, are
likely to grow. Europe's
small glaciers will disappear with many of the continent's large
glaciers shrinking dramatically by 2050. And half of Europe's plant
species could be vulnerable, endangered or extinct by 2100. By 2080, between 200 million and 600 million people could be hungry because of global warming's effects. About 100 million people each year could be flooded by 2080 by rising seas. Smog
in U.S. cities will worsen and “ozone-related deaths from climate
(will) increase by approximately 4.5 percent for the mid-2050s,
compared with 1990s levels,” turning a small health risk into a
substantial one. Polar bears in the wild and other animals will be pushed to extinction. At
first, more food will be grown. For example, soybean and rice yields in
Latin America will increase starting in a couple of years. Areas
outside the tropics, especially the northern latitudes, will see longer
growing seasons and healthier forests. Looking at different
impacts on ecosystems, industry and regions, the report sees the most
positive benefits in forestry and some improved agriculture and
transportation in polar regions. The biggest damage is likely to come
in ocean and coastal ecosystems, water resources and coastal
settlements. The hardest-hit continents are likely to be Africa
and Asia, with major harm also coming to small islands and some aspects
of ecosystems near the poles. North America, Europe and Australia are
predicted to suffer the fewest of the harmful effects. “In most
parts of the world and most segments of populations, lifestyles are
likely to change as a result of climate change,” the draft report said.
“Net valuations of benefits vs. costs will vary, but they are more
likely to be negative if climate change is substantial and rapid,
rather than if it is moderate and gradual.” This report –
considered by some scientists the “emotional heart” of climate change
research – focuses on how global warming alters the planet and life
here, as opposed to the more science-focused report by the same group
last month. “This is the story. This is the whole play. This is
how it's going to affect people. The science is one thing. This is how
it affects me, you and the person next door,” said University of
Victoria climate scientist Andrew Weaver. Many – not all – of
those effects can be prevented, the report says, if within a generation
the world slows down its emissions of carbon dioxide and if the level
of greenhouse gases sticking around in the atmosphere stabilizes. If
that's the case, the report says “most major impacts on human welfare
would be avoided; but some major impacts on ecosystems are likely to
occur.”
On the Net:
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change: www.ipcc-wg2.org/ | | |
| It's because I've completely geeked myself into oblivion... http://www.fantasygrounds.com/ | | |
| http://www7.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0703/feature1/index.html
Google Earth: http://www7.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0703/feature1/google.html
IVORY WARS
By J. Michael Fay
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Photographs by Michael Nichols
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Poachers in Chad are gunning down some of Africa's last great elephant herds whenever they leave Zakouma National Park.
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The
dead elephant, a huge bull, lay on his side, right leg curled as if in
wrenching pain. Dirt covered the exposed eye—magic done by poachers to
hide the carcass from vultures. The smell of musth and urine, of fresh
death, hung over the mound of the corpse. It was a sight I had seen
hundreds of times in central Africa. As I passed my hand over his body
from trunk to tail, tears poured down my cheeks. I lifted the bull's
ear. Lines of bright red blood bubbled and streamed from his lips,
pooling in the dust. His skin was checkered with wrinkles. The base of
his trunk was as thick as a man's torso. Deep fissures ran like rivers
through the soles of his feet; in those lines, I could trace every step
he had taken during his 30 years of life.
This elephant's
ancestors had survived centuries of raiding by the armies of Arab and
African sultans from the north in search of slaves and ivory. He had
lived through civil wars and droughts, only to be killed today for a
few pounds of ivory to satisfy human vanity in some distant land. There
were tender blades of grass in his mouth. He and his friends had been
peacefully roaming in the shaded forest, snapping branches filled with
sweet gum. Then, the first gunshot exploded. He bolted, too late.
Horses overtook him. Again and again, bullets pummeled his body. We
counted eight small holes in his head. Bullets had penetrated the thick
skin and lodged in muscle, bone, and brain before he fell. We heard 48
shots before we found him.
Souleyman Mando, the commander of
our detachment of mounted park rangers, was silent. I sensed a dark
need for revenge. The feeling was mutual.
"Next time, you will get them," I offered.
He feigned a smile. "Inshallah," he said.
In
Zakouma National Park, antipoaching is dangerous business. Officially,
guards are allowed to defend themselves if poachers shoot.
Unofficially, it is shoot-to-kill on both sides, so better to be the
first to pull the trigger. In the past eight years, six guards have
been killed by poachers, and at least six poachers by guards.
I
asked Souleyman how many shots he had fired. Three, he said. The
others—Adoum, Yacoub, Issa, Attim, Brahim, Saleh, and Abdoulaye—had
fired 21 shots. Still, the two poachers, whom Souleyman identified as
Arab nomads, had escaped on horseback with their AK-47 and M14 assault
rifles. There was a second pair of horsemen, too. Adoum had fired at
them before they disappeared. No doubt, there was another wounded
elephant, fleeing in frantic terror.
There is little love lost
between our ragtag fighting force—a mix of sedentary tribesmen from
local villages, some Arab, most Muslim—and the mounted Arab nomads who
are the main culprits in the killing of Zakouma's elephants. Souleyman
contemplated tracking the poachers, but now his men had a new
obsession: ivory. Finding ivory in the bush provokes a fever in most
Africans I have known; the guards, dedicated as they were to protecting
the park, were no different.
By now, other guards had joined
us, and pity for the dead bull gave way to a frenetic chopping of
tusks. Taking a knife, Ndjongo sliced the rough gray armor of the
inch-thick (three centimeters) hide covering the trunk, revealing a
layer of white gristle and dark muscle. As the knife worked deeper, two
tubular nostrils, pure white and smooth as enamel, came into view;
hours before, they had siphoned fresh water from a pool. He threw the
severed trunk aside like a slain serpent. Then, with an ax, he chopped
at the flat plate of face bone. His back bore the sheen of sweat as he
chipped away for nearly an hour. Extracting a deeply embedded conical
tooth—easily marred by a stray blow—was precise, delicate work. Every
so often, he tested to see if the tusk was loose. Finally, he pulled
hard, and with a loud, painful crack, the tusk broke free from tons of
flesh and bone.
Souleyman grabbed the tusk and shook it. The
root slid to the ground like a squid. He stuffed the tusk cavity with
straw to preserve the shape of the hollow base. Ndjongo began to chop
the second tooth from the skull. This ivory was all the men had to show
for four days of hard pursuit to protect the park, and it wasn't even
theirs to keep. It would be locked away at headquarters in a depot
filled with a growing pile of confiscated tusks. Ivory taken by
poachers either follows a path from the bush to regional cities such as
Khartoum and Douala, where it is sold as sculptures and jewelry, or
finds its way to Asia through a network of black market traders.
Souleyman
cut an ear off the elephant, laid it on a donkey's back as a pad, and
strapped the tusks down tightly. The men saddled up, and we headed out
by way of Bahr Béhéda, a desiccated tributary of the Salamat River. To
the south, we saw vultures soaring. By now, that second elephant had
probably stumbled and fallen, but the men lacked the energy to search
it out. It was midday in late May 2006, with the temperature hovering
at 115°F (46ºC), and we still had four hours of hard going to reach
base.
In the dry season, the landscape of Zakouma National
Park in southeastern Chad holds a nomad's treasure—the first permanent
water south of the Sahara, where the Korom, Tinga, and Béhéda Rivers
meet the Salamat. Somehow, despite a tumultuous history of slavery,
colonialism, and civil war, humans have found a place in their hearts
to make a refuge for wildlife here. Even today, as refugees stream into
Chad from Sudan to escape the chaos in Darfur, 200 miles (320
kilometers) to the east, elephants live in Zakouma in relative peace.
The natural world persists in abundance, while thousands of our own are
dying.
But Zakouma is tiny, not even 1,200 square miles (3,100
square kilometers), and every year as the dry season relaxes its grip,
some 3,500 elephants leave the park to find better forage. Danger
awaits them. In a Texas-size region stretching from southern Sudan,
southeastern Chad, and eastern Central African Republic down to the
edge of the Congo forests, humans have been responsible for a
precipitous decline of elephants, from perhaps 300,000 in the early
1970s to some 10,000 today.
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