Tag: Planet Earth

How Earth Made Us …

... and the way we treat it!

Once again the British Broadcasting Company, BBC, has put together a spectacular television production; the epic story of how geology, geography and climate have influenced mankind.  It is remarkable and fabulous viewing as you can sample in these opening minutes from the first episode on Deep Earth.

The four programmes, Deep Earth; Water; Wind; Fire, are testament to both the incredible symbiosis between mankind and the elements and how that relationship is critically balanced in a way that allows us to survive.  Some of the images are truly outstanding, for example, the section on Prof. Iain Stewart exploring the Naica Cave system in Mexico.

Naica Cave system, Mexico

This theme of the balance of geological circumstances that allows, just, mankind to survive comes across time and time again in these films.  For example, our relationship with fresh water which we all take completely for granted.

Have any of us really pondered how long we would survive if there was insufficient clean, safe drinking water to go around?

The programmes also reveal something of the technological prowess that mankind has achieved to allow the way these films have been produced.

So why, oh why, are we also such a stupid, stupid species – so stupid that we foul our own nest to an incredible degree.

Continue reading “How Earth Made Us …” →

Organic milk in the USA

The unacceptable face of the big agricultural businesses

Another wonderful link from Naked Capitalism.  This one refers to the way that the definition of ‘organic’ as in organic milk is being twisted and distorted to favour the huge indoor milking herds, up to 10,000 cattle, that in any sensible mind could never be regarded as the organic production of milk.

This to me is a picture of organic production of milk:

An English meadow

This to me is NOT! Yet the milk from these cows is defined as organic!

Organic milk?

This last picture is courtesy of The Cornucopia Institute, another web site worth a visit whether or not you take an interest in farming – after all, one presumes that you do eat!

The article is on the Politics of the Plate website, worth your visit whether or not you are an American, and is, to me, so important that I am taking the liberty of publishing the article in full.
Here it is:
Read this very important article

Moscow’s dogs

Another example of the very tight bonds between man and dogs.

A couple of weeks ago Learning from Dogs published a series of videos originally broadcast by the BBC Horizon programme called The Secret Life of the Dog.  It revealed a hitherto unknown depth of understanding of dogs by man and man by dogs.  Part One of those six parts is linked to here.

Now it turns out that Russian Muscovites are fascinated by stray dogs and it is estimated that there are 35,000 stray dogs in the Russian capital city.

Interestingly, because we tend to associate the newspaper with financial matters, the British Financial Times had a fascinating article a couple of weeks ago, from which is quoted:

Where did these animals come from? It’s a question Andrei Poyarkov, 56, a biologist specialising in wolves, has dedicated himself to answering. His research focuses on how different environments affect dogs’ behaviour and social organisation. About 30 years ago, he began studying Moscow’s stray dogs. Poyarkov contends that their appearance and behaviour have changed over the decades as they have continuously adapted to the changing face of Russia’s capital. Virtually all the city’s strays were born that way: dumping a pet dog on the streets of Moscow amounts to a near-certain death sentence. Poyarkov reckons fewer than 3 per cent survive.

Do read the article as it is a revealing piece about our interest in dogs in all corners of the world.  Indeed it mentions a web site devoted to stray dogs on Moscow’s Metro railway.

Russian stray

By Paul Handover

Track – the puppy

Yet another lovely dog rescue story

Once again, we are indebted to Naked Capitalism for bringing this lovely story to our attention.  It was originally published in the Birmingham (Alabama) News.

Track inspector for CSX railroad Gary McLean found this puppy frozen to the tracks in last weekend's cold snap. The puppy, now named Track, has found a home with a dog lover in Bessemer.

One near victim of the cold is now happy and warm and residing in Bessemer.

Last Saturday, Gary McLean, a track inspector for CSX Railroad, found and rescued a tiny shivering puppy who’d become frozen to the train tracks.

It was 7:30 a.m. and the temperature was about 14 degrees. McClean, a resident of the Trussville-Argo area, was riding in a rail mounted truck near Caro lina Avenue looking for any obstacles in advance of a train that would be headed down that track about an hour later. He heard something go bump on the track, stopped and looked back, but saw nothing. He turned forward and, ahead of him, he saw a tiny ball of fur on the tracks.

McLean is accustomed to encountering dead dogs along the tracks, but as he got closer, he saw the little ball of fur moving.”It was big timeshivering,” he said. “I felt so sorry for him.”

Apparently, the 5-inch-tall mutt had gotten wet in a nearby ditch. When he tried to jump the 7-inch-tall rail, he got stuck and his icy fur froze to the track. McLean tried applying warm water and lifting him off. That didn’t work. So he took a knife and carefully cut him off the track.

If the train had come, the dog would never have been able to set himself free, McLean said. McLean took pictures of the puppy and sent them to his wife, Lois.
The McLean’s already have three dogs and couldn’t adopt another. So they turned to the Internet to find the dog a home.

She posted the picture on Facebook and the story found its way to the blog of ABC 33/40 meteorologist James Spann. The e-mails started pouring in.

Sorting through the of fers, the McLeans decided to give the dog to Terry Walls of Bessemer.

“He is doing great,” Walls said as the puppy she’s named Track chewed on her slipper.

“Track had a manly ring to it,” she said.

Walls estimated the puppy is 7 or 8 weeks old. It has a full set of sharp teeth and has German Shepherd and possibly some husky in his ancestry.

'Track' the lucky puppy

By Paul Handover

Lucky sea dog!

Another wonderful story about a dog rescue

Having recently published a couple of posts about Los Angeles firemen rescuing a dog from a swollen river it was wonderful to catch a short story on the BBC about another dog rescue, this time a dog that had floated miles away from land on an ice floe!

Baltic the lucky dog

Anyway, the BBC have a nice video clip that will put a smile on your face.

By Paul Handover

And a P.S. to the Thanks, Guys.

The Los Angeles Times update on this wonderful story.

The Los Angeles Fire Department firefighter who rescued a panicked dog from the brown, rushing waters of the Los Angeles River this afternoon said that unless firefighters acted, someone else was likely to have ventured into the concrete wash and wound up a casualty.

Joe St. Georges, 50, the firefighter who captivated much of  Los Angeles as he was lowered by a tether into the churning waters to rescue the hound, told reporters late Friday that he suffered a bite to his thumb but was otherwise OK.

“I didn’t have time to establish a rapport with the dog,” St. Georges said, in a classic understatement, as he held his heavily bandaged hand in the air. “He did what dogs do.”

Joe St. Georges and 'Vernon' the dog!

The dog was taken by [human] ambulance to a Downey shelter run by the Southeast Area Animal Control Authority, which serves 14 cities, including Vernon.

Animal Control Officer Justin Guzman said the 6-year-old German shepherd mix was cold and wet, but otherwise unhurt. He showed no further aggression, and shelter staff named him Vernon.

“He’s really lovable,” Guzman said. “He’s appreciating all the attention he’s getting here.“
Guzman said there were a “million” ways and reasons Vernon could have gotten into the river channel.

“Whether he got scared by the thunderstorm and jumped the fence, we don’t know,” he said.
The dog was never really swept away, but managed for the most part to maintain his footing on a slender ledge in the middle of the river, the officer said.

The dog will be quarantined and watched for signs of rabies.

Marcia Mayeda, director of the Los Angeles County Department of Animal Care and Control, said the disease is extremely rare in domestic animals. Untagged and loose, the dog was technically in violation of city codes, but the owners will face no repercussions if they step forward and take him home, Guzman said.

If they don’t, the shelter by early evening already had a list of 20 people who want to adopt Vernon.

Mayeda said she was very impressed by St. Georges’ actions.

It’s a great and lovely story.

By Paul Handover

Thank you, guys!

Fire-fighters rescue dog from flooded Los Angeles river.

Tomorrow on Learning from Dogs there is part one of a six-part Post about The Secret Life of the Dog.  It includes the amazing proposition that our relationship with dogs was instrumental in early man becoming civilised.  (Assuming, of course, that you believe mankind is civilised!)

Thus it is with great pride that today’s Post presents the courageous and successful efforts of LA Fire Fighters rescuing a German Shepherd dog, scared out of its wits, from drowning in a river.

Here’s an extract from the Los Angeles Times:

We don’t know about you, but we were glued to our TV screen earlier this afternoon as the effort to rescue a large dog trapped in the flooded Los Angeles River was broadcast live.  The rainstorms that have been pummeling L.A. over the past few days have caused the river to swell.  It’s unclear who, if anyone, owns the dog, or how it managed to fall into the fast-moving river in Vernon.

The full article and a video of the rescue may be seen here. The article goes on to say:

Firefighters first attempted to rescue it by dangling flotation devices from a bridge overhead, to no avail.  The dog then evaded firefighters who tried to approach it, sloshing further down the river.  Around 12:30 p.m., it managed to reach the edge of the river and attempted to climb up a steep concrete wall to safety, but several times fell back into the river.

Finally, a firefighter dangling beneath a helicopter managed to grab hold of the terrified dog, who responded (rather predictably) by biting its rescuer and thrashing about.  Despite the inherent difficulty of rescuing an animal that doesn’t want to be rescued, the firefighter managed to lift the dog to safety; both were deposited on a nearby bridge.  The dog was transferred to an ambulance for veterinary care and its rescuer was taken to a hospital for treatment of bite wounds, KTLA reported.

The BBC also has a nice video clip here

And a great set of pictures here. Such as this one …

Well done, all involved.

Fantastic effort.

By Paul Handover

Quiet time

That precious start-of-the-day time.

Most mornings I surface between 6 and 7 am and like to take the dogs out for an early walk. I cut across the green and into the forest, following a short route which takes me back round past the cricket pitch, which at this time of the year has some protective poles round the wicket area.

Every day is different and the colour in the trees that fringe the common is always changing. Each tree is a different type and it is the shape on the horizon that I like to watch, picked out in silhouette form as the sun comes up from behind.

As I walk round at this quiet time my mind seems to have a clarity which enables me to focus on what I should be doing during the day.

Occasionally there will be a squirrel or bird high in the tress.


Common English buzzard

But for the last five years I have normally seen a buzzard, England’s largest bird. The colour of this bird make it hard to pick out against the background but it seems that his habit at this time of the day is to fly from post to post round the cricket pitch, and when I finally come near he will fly off into the trees.

Perhaps illogically but I have been somewhat concerned that this bird should always be on its own.  Recently, though, I have heard it calling, a noise I never heard before.  So you can imagine how pleased I was yesterday actually to see two birds. My buzzard has finally found a mate.

Then for me it is back home, shower, make a tray of tea for the family who are now with Mum in bed for ten minutes before they too get dressed and get ready for school.

What are we? Lucky people!

By Bob Derham

Faith!

Learning from Dogs big time!

This Blog came about because of a conversation with fellow Blog founder, Jon Lavin. Jon was talking about integrity and how it applies to us in the sense of Truth and Falsehood: that leading truthful and integrous lives is much more than the rather warm and patronising way that the phrase might come over.

Pharaoh

Indeed, understanding the power that comes from leading truthful lives and how an individual’s power and level of consciousness can be enhanced through greater integrity, understanding, and compassion could be the most remarkable discovery that any one person could make.  Dr David Hawkins, who has written extensively on this subject, has said;

A science of consciousness developed which revealed that degrees of truth reflect concordant calibratable levels of consciousness on a scale of 1 to 1,000. When this verifiable test of truth was applied to multiple aspects of society (movies, art, politics, music, sociology, religion, scientific theories, spirituality, philosophy, everyday Americana, and all the countries of the world), the results were startling.

Returning to that conversation with Jon, it was pointed out that dogs have been calibrated as having a level of consciousness of 210. As a score of 200 is the boundary between truth and falsehood, according to Hawkins, this made dogs integrous, hence the inspiration for starting this Blog.  My German Shepherd, Pharaoh, sleeping on the floor close to Jon and me, made the point.  Despite being a difficult dog at times, he had always demonstrated a consistency of integrity that was impressive.

Anyway, to the point of this Post – a dog called Faith.

Read more about Faith

Don’t lean the wrong way!

“…Skiing is the best way in the world to waste time.” ~ Glen Plake

Against my better judgement, my wife talked me into going skiing in the French Alps just before Christmas. It was a good opportunity to take our 3 teenage sons on holiday because they wouldn’t have come otherwise! They put some of their money in as well so it felt like a good call.

My wife and I have done a lot of cross-country skiing in Finland where I used to live, so we planned to do the same in France, while our boys went off down-hill skiing.

Unfortunately, the resort we picked didn’t cater for cross-country skiing so we ended up learning down-hill skiing. After a lot of falling over, laughter and tips from our sons, we started to get the hang of it and decided to sign-up for a half-day skiing lesson the next day.

After some initial runs on the nursery slopes, we agreed to have a go on a Green run. Although we part fell down the

"Feel the fear"

steep bits and included me nearly falling off of the ski lift as we left the station, it was an amazing experience.

What struck me was that it was a mixture of fear and exhilaration. I realised that the secret was leaning in the opposite direction to your natural instinct and trusting that that would work.

The skiing instructor was a student at a local business school and we got talking about trusting and having faith in things turning out well. Also, that in order to progress, it is usually necessary to take a risk or two and feel uncomfortable.

I realise that I have a tendency to play it safe and pull back from the new or unpredictable. In order to progress, it is necessary to do things that push back our comfort zones and put ourselves into situations which are not always pleasant. “Do something every-day that scares you.”

By Jon Lavin