The Portal to Boomeranger World

Mountain Gorillas and Polar Bears Endangered: Human Energy Needs to Blame

OK, you say, now I'm supposed to feel guilty about polar bears AND gorillas?

What has that to do with me? Nothing directly...if you are in the developed West, you didn't pull the trigger that brutally murdered--some execution style--10 of a family of 12 Mountain Gorillas in Virunga National Park in Central Africa last summer. Moms and dads, teens and kids--leaving the babies to starve to death. A warning to all to back off from investigating illegalities in the park.  http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/07/virunga/jenkins-text.

You are not part of the $30, 000,000 illegal trade in charcoal that is decimating this most stunning national park--a park that for its environmental and ecological diversity and sheer beauty many scientists and environmentalists call the jewel of THE PLANET.

You are not one of the many 1,000s of families that have been displaced due to the wars in Rwanda. Due to the decades-old (several century-old) conflicts between The Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, all that border the park. You are not a Tutsi or a Hutu. You are not desperate for the life-giving charcoal that will heat the water to cook your mealie meal to feed your hungry kids.

Nor are you purposely running your car on oil, wearing oil based clothing, heating, cooling with oil, drinking water out of oil-based bottles, walking on oil-based carpeting, sitting on oil-based furniture, bringing home food packaged in oil-based wrappings and bags, right?   That's just all there is to choose from, right?

You are not directly responsible for the carbon emissions that are melting the ice floes at the North Pole and shrinking the ice pack that normally sits about 50 miles off the northern coast of Canada to more than 200 miles? SO...you are not responsible for the loss of PLANKTON that is locked up in the ice and feeds all the subspecies that feed the Polar bears and larger polar creatures, are you?

Humans have an insatiable NEED for energy--whether it is charcoal the production of which is descimating the old growth hardwood trees in Virunga Park: No trees=no habitat. No habitat=no gorillas.Or whether it is oil to power our "modern" comfortable life.

And yes, I do believe we are all responsible--not in a guilty way--guilt paralyzes and causes us to turn away. But in a way that is a Global Wide Call to Action and on our own selfish behalf. We are selfish creatures--well, really we have a basic driving inner force to LIVE. Each of us has this need, this drive--all creatures do. But now we must realize that unless we are selfish together and take selfish action together for our own benefit, we will all go the way of the dodo. And our beautiful Blue Marble will be a smoking empty desert hulk.

DO the Change you want to BE. SOmeone out there invent a little portable and cheap solar cooker that can be GIVEN to all the displaced families around Virunga Park. And SURELY we are not that lazy, worthless or stupid to not be able to invent cheap and easy wind turbines and solar or human powered and CHEAP means to power our needs.

I recently received a sampler from the Sundance Channel about a new environmental program called "big ideas for  a Small Planet." As I view that sampler, I' ll share with you.

So think about what you can do today--one action taken in millions can really change things.

Boomer Brain Power: What Are You Doing to Keep Your Brain Growing?

All the latest research shows that brains are plastic--NOOOOOO we are not internal Barbie Dolls, but that brains  grow and change daily, even moment to moment.

Now as a social scientist, I find this a fascinating concept, having studied social change in China in the 1990s. I was boggeled at how fast seemingly "carved in stone" beliefs and practices changed. This new brain research helps explain that social phenomena, by thinking through the lens of how individuals changed so rapidly. For a researcher, it helps to explain social change in an exciting new way. As an individual, it is SOOOOOOO exciting and intriguing.
Below are just a few of the thousands of resources out there.

http://www.sfn.org/index.cfm?pagename=brainBriefings_brainPlasticityLanguageProcessingAndReading

http://www.abc.net.au/rn/talks/8.30/helthrpt/stories/s10302.htm

http://bfc.positscience.com/about/neurogenesis.php

http://www.lumosity.com/landing/cc_brain_games?refer=6816&og=true&OVRAW=brain%20plasticity&OVKEY=brain%20fitness%20program&OVMTC=advanced&OVADID=18896765512&OVKWID=72759005512

Also treat yourself and read Dr. Norman Doidge's 2007 book, "The Brain that Changes Itself." Fascinating and so inspiring. For one such as I who is dyslexic--that's why you sometimes see typos and spelling errors--I can't see them, even with spell check some slip through!!--the notion that there are techniques that might erase  those brain glitches and at my age!! is just fantastic.

Another really inspiring real life story is the memoir written by vaboomer, Madonna Siles called "Brain Heal Thyself: A Caregiver's Approach to Recovery from Stroke, Aneurysm, and Traumatic Brain Injuries." (Hampton Books 2006). Siles writes from the caregivers point of view and with some concrete methods she developed to help her roommate heal from a devastating stroke that was supposed to leave her little more than a vegetable.

And see http://kanosboomernews.blogspot.com/ for a list of healthful and helpful tips to keep Alzheimer's and dementia at bay--or at least slow their onset. Read Dr. Daniel Amen's book, "Change Your Brain Change Your Life." also excellent. .

All reFIREMENT activities challenge your brain and keep it growing and changing. Think of it as a muscle--not a machine. SO it is use it or lose it. Learn a new language, take up a musical instrument, play Brain Age with your kids or grandkids on their DS's. I'm planning all three. I learned Mandarin starting at 46. And now I think I will be gin Spanish and learn the guitar, something I have wanted to do for years.

What will you learn today? 

Why Polar Bears Matter: Facts and Fallacies

I received a comment on my May 14th post about polar bears and their threatened status. I want to reply to that comment, which I invite you all to read. This is an important discussion and I want to take the writer seriously, rather than just dismissing these comments. The writer basically said worrying about polar bear extinction was a commie plot to undermine capitalism. Why worry when the total population had increased over the past 30 years?

That last comment may be true. I don't know what the total population was 30 years ago and to what degree it has increased. The current population stands at about 20,000-25,000 bears. Look at the  www.WorldWildlifeFederation.org site  for their most recent polar bear population numbers. But what is worrying is not the increase in the bear population, but the dramatric DECREASE in the bear's habitat. Sea ice is melting and at an increasing rate. Now is the melting sea ice a non-governmental Marxist plot to undermine capiatalism? I think not.

Polar bears and ice go together. Bears need ice for fishing, feeding and breeding. And the ice is melting. On 12/12/07 NASA climate scientist Jay Zwal suggested that as soon as 2012 summer sea ice could be completely melted. Other reputable scientists suggest that by mid-century all the ice summer and winter might be gone.

Such a climatological event not only affects the bear population--making it more difficult for bears to feed well and gain the fat they need to breed and nourish young--but also creates more and more dark water surfaces. These huge areas of open water absorb heat from the sun rather than reflecting it back as do the frozen polar seas. Open water becomes like a huge heat sink and contributes to more warming.

In addition to the issues of potential bear population collapse or even extinction, and overall warming of the climate, there is just the sheer fact that the loss of ice and polar bears is an unbearable thought. They are so beautiful. So beautiful. How can we stand to live in a world in which we deliberately destroy its beauty?

Placing polar bears on the threatened species list does give Congress some ability to make treaties with other countries and enact laws and regulations that work to protect bear habitat--ice.

 

There's an Alligator in my Kitchen! Boomers, Don't fight Back--Embrace Your Alligator Energy

Sandra Frosti got a real wakeup call when she was visited by an 8 foot alligator in her Florida home on Tuesday. No one but the alligator was hurt. It got a cut from a broken plate.

I'm wondering what was the real message that this Lord of the Swamps or the spirit of Chief Tamaka, soul of the Seminoles, brought to Ms. Frosti?

Alligator energy is dangerous, there is no doubt of that. But it is god-like as the ancient Egyptians believed. Go to:  Alligator Energy to find out more about alligator totem energy in your life.

Alligators are creatures of water and air. They glide soundlessly looking above the waterline (emotion) seeing all around (air/spirit) to find logical answers. They are creatures of ready stillness and great wisdom. But we would be well-warned to take care not to be swallowed whole by their powerful wisdom.

Boomers as they are boomeranging to new paths in their lives need the ready stillness of alligator energy.

And they need the powerful insights it can bring them as they are looking over the waters of old emotions -- lost marriages, old careers, children on their own life paths, in order to see which new waters to swim.

Have a plate handy as well to bop an alligator over the head if it gets too too pushy!

For Fun:

Bbum's Weblog-o-mat:  Gator Photos
Rattler Gator Blog:        Gator Safety Tips
Families.com:                Gator Antibiotics??
Allthetests.com:            What Totem are You?