Beef's Contribution to Global Warming

Facts

1. 18% of greenhouse gas emissions come from livestock.
With rising production of beef and therefore rising numbers of livestock on the planet, this percentage is predicted to increase drastically over the next decade.

2. The crop fertilizers used to feed the livestock are equally hazardous

The fertilizers (which are developed from fossil fuels) that are used in producing feed for livestock emit 41,000,000 tonnes of CO2 a year. At the same time, on-farm fossil fuels may contribute an added 90,000,000 tonnes of CO2 a year.

3. The land cleared to make way for new livestock is environmentally dangerous

To continue, the land which is cleared to make new room for the ever expanding "global-farm" is resulting in the added production of 2,400,000 tonnes of CO2 annually.

4. Farm animals fart, shit, and burp methane

An estimated 2,200,000 tonnes of methane (stronger and worse than CO2) is released by these delicious critters annually.

5. Nitrogen Oxide adds CO2 too

The nitrogen fertilizers used on land produce dangerous greenhouse gases that produce 2,200,000 tonnes of CO2 annually.

http://www.virtualcentre.org/en/library/key_pub/longshad/A0701E00.htm

Fox News

This is the funniest video I've seen in a long time. The ending is perfect.

Comic
Uploaded by luvnews

Brown Ends Tuition for Lower-Income Students

By BLOOMBERG NEWS

Published: February 25, 2008

Brown University is eliminating tuition for students whose parents earn less than $60,000, after decisions by fellow Ivy League universities to bolster financial aid as their endowments grow.

The university, in Providence, R.I., said on Saturday that it also planned to substitute grants for student loans in the financial aid packages of students whose families earned less than $100,000 a year. The new program cuts reliance on loans for all students regardless of family income, the university said in a statement posted on its Web site.

Brown also announced plans to increase tuition by 3.9 percent for the 2008-9 academic year to $36,928. With room and board, the costs are $47,740 for one year.

“Since 2001, Brown has made financial aid for our students one of our highest priorities,” Brown’s president, Ruth J. Simmons, said in the statement. “Today, we take another major step forward to ensure that our nation’s best students from lower- and middle-income families can attend Brown and graduate without the enormous burden of college debt.”

Brown’s action follows similar moves by Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth and Stanford

~ nytimes.com


Good to see the Ivy league Universities taking such a firm stance on student debt. As a former student leader as well as recent graduate (avec crushing debt), I always delight in large successes like this in the world of PSE. Essentially what this means is greater freedom for graduates to pursue further life or educational goals. Most middle/low income students are forced to find work immediately after receiving their degrees in order to pay off their massive loans. This can cause a lot of problems in one's career path. In my own province of Nova Scotia, the combination of rising tuition and record amounts of student debt adds up to a massive out-migration of the students from their homes.

My own University, StFX has been trying to establish itself a Canadian Ivy league school. It would be nice to see them take a page from Brown on this one and start developing policies related to post-graduate debt...the new generation of alumnus demand it.

Any Questions?

Actual Letter to the Canadian Passport Office

This is funny....

Dear Mr. Minister,

I'm in the process of renewing my passport, and still cannot believe this.

How is it that Radio Shack has my address and telephone number and knows that I bought a t.v. cable from them back in 1997, and yet, the Federal Government is still asking me where I was born and on what date.

For Christ sakes, do you guys do this by hand?

My birth date you have on my social insurance card, and it is on all the income tax forms I've filed for the past 30 years. It is on my health insurance card, my driver's license, on the last eight goddamn passports I've had, on all those stupid customs declaration forms I've had to fill out before being allowed off the planes over the last 30 years, and all those insufferable census forms that are done at election times.

Would somebody please take note, once and for all, that my mother's name is Maryanne, my father's name is Robert and I'd be absolutely astounded if that ever changed between now and when I die!

SHIT!

I apologize, Mr. Minister. I'm really pissed off this morning. Between you an' me, I've had enough of this bullshit! You send the application to my house, then you ask me for my fuckin' address. What is going on? You have a gang of Neanderthals assholes workin' there?

Look at my damn picture. Do I look like Bin Laden? I don't want to dig up Yasser Arafat, for shit sakes. I just want to go and park my ass on a sandy beach.

And would someone please tell me, why would you give a shit whether I plan on visiting a farm in the next 15 days? If I ever got the urge to do something weird to a chicken or a goat, believe you me, I'd sure as hell not want to tell anyone!

Well, I have to go now, 'cause I have to go to the other end of the city and get another fuckin' copy of my birth certificate, to the tune of $60 !!!

Would it be so complicated to have all the services in the same spot to assist in the issuance of a new passport the same day??

Nooooo, that'd be too damn easy and maybe make sense. You'd rather have us running all over the fuckin' place like chickens with our heads cut off, then find some asshole to confirm that it's really me on the goddamn picture - you know, the one where we're not allowed to smile?!

(fuckin' morons)

Hey, you know why we can't smile? We're totally pissed off!

Signed - An Irate fucking Canadian Citizen.

P.S. Remember what I said above about the picture and getting someone to confirm that it's me? Well, my family has been in this country since 1776 when one of my forefathers took up arms against the Americans. I have served in the military for something over 30 years and have had security clearances up the yingyang.

I was aide de camp to the lieutenant governor of our province for ten years and I have been doing volunteer work for the RCMP for about five years.

However, I have to get someone 'important' to verify who I am - you know, someone like my doctor WHO WAS BORN AND RAISED IN COMMUNIST fucking CHINA!!!

Hamilton, Ontario Canada

Submitted by John Hutchinson

Funeral Soundtrack Part 1- Procession

Being a millenial, I often sit around and find myself consumed with planning the glorification of my own death. It is thus important for me to have a funeral that is not only a tribute to my non-existent fear of death but also a personal OST.

I have designed a funeral soundtrack which aims at the ample resonance of my life.

Procession- Numb/Encore by Jay-Z & Linkin Park


Let me preface this by saying that I hate both rap and metal music.

Ok, so I have been known to bash Jay-Z at length in the past at perhaps every mention of his name. I mean, who could respect a guy with a track titled "Lobster & Scrimp"? However, ever since I saw the preview for the monumental piece of shit movie that was "Miami Vice", I have been hooked on this song.

I also don't agree with the level of anger in this nu metal groove by Linkin Park (what kind of band is obsessed with anime movies?)

Yet, my hatred of both metal and rap somehow cancel each other out in this well produced tune. This is only possible when I pretend the song is being played as the doors are opened after a sizable lineup has manifested itself out the doors of my funeral.

I'll let the lyrics speak for themselves.

Boring Life

Listening to....
- Apples in Stereo, New Majestic Wonder
- There Will be Blood Soundtrack
- Ween, Quebec
- Animal Collective, Strawberry Jam

Reading....
- Flann O'brien, At Swim Two Birds
- Stephen Colbert, I am America and So Can You
- Eats, Shoots & Leaves, Lynn Truss

Researching....
- Tombstoning
- Eco-dating
- Non-Dualism

Writing....
- The Paper Shop
- King of the Jungle

Planning....
- Trip to Japan
- A Hamster play for my class

Ajussis (Old Korean Men)

Old men....
probably my favorite kind of human beings on Earth. I was raised by my grandfather, and have a very special place in my heart for the soul of any old man. I have found throughout my life I have had a great many friendships with old men.

However, this week it would seem that I am having an old man problem. Korean old men are...different. I have to keep reminding myself I am in a society where the old people not only think they are the rulers of humanity, but that they are entitled to be the tyrannical rulers of all humanity.

On Saturday I was walking my dog at the park, we were minding our own business, running through the trails when an old man wearing a dust mask kicked the dog. This was for no apparent reason, he just grumbled. I started yelling at him and he just grumbled more and gave another kick to the dog.








VS.







Two days later I was walking the dog and she took a dump on the street. Now, I normally pick it up but I forgot a bag so I went into a store to get a bag. As I came out, this old man runs up to me yelling and grabs my arm viciously and spins me around. This of course is where I lost my temper and went bat-shit on the old man. Despite my stature and minimal training in Jeet Kun Do, I was able to escape the confrontation with a limited amount of saliva on my person.

My counterstrike is planned for tomorrow.

Shin Chan

This is my new favorite television show. It is kind of like the South Park/ Family guy of Japan. The Koreans are obsessed with a dumbed down version of it over here. The English translation is hilarious...very witty stuff.

Beautiful

I just want to show something on here, this is our (Jessica and I) new sponsored child in Cambodia.

Her name is Keo Thida (tie-dah), and she is 2 years old and lives at the Sunrise Orphanage in Siam Reap. She is very cute. Sadly, her parents abandoned her and she is now forced to live at the orphanage. To make things more complicated, she has been diagnosed with AIDS. We hope to be able to visit her and get more information as soon as it is available.

Why I am voting for Pat and Scott in the U election (If I could vote)

When you live in South Korea, there is only so much you can do- rice, work, drink, and play on your computer. I think my sanity has been saved over in the far East by the US Election. But there is another election going on back in my alma mater of StFX in the student union. I have a particular interest in this election as I worked as an executive for 3 years, and as president for 1 year. Naturally, the idea of succession (in an organization that has nearly 100% turnover each year) is not only important to me, but something which I feel I have a lot of authority to speak on.

So I've reviewed the candidates this year, and my hands down support goes to:
Patt Connors and Scott Matheson.

Ok, so their colors are not my beloved U orange, in fact they are tory colors and I can only stand tory colors when Bill Casey wears them, but anyway. Once you get past that, what I have found is a very moving and brilliant campaign.

They are going with a unique approach this year in an attempt to bring students closer to the center of Union decision making than ever before. It appears they have really gone to great lengths to speak to the students and assess the ground level concerns. This reminds me of Panama's Omar Torrijos in how he connected with the people to form his power base. They even want a weekly TV show like Hugo Chavez, which I think would also be cool (I wish I had thought of that).

So, here are my reasons for voting for them, even though I don't have a vote:

1- They know how to run a website and understand the need for professional web communication. They have a really beautiful and well updated wordpress blog. Whoever is doing this should apply for VP Comm. I love it (not as much as the U.ca) but there are features on the site which lead me to believe that should they win, the U.ca will enter its 2.0 phase.

They also understand the importance of facebook and online guerilla marketing. They want to exploit the internet to gather student voice and connect with students unlike before. Again, if they can pull this off then the U could very well become the most electronically-representative student government in eastern canada.

2- They have enough experience. A lot of people seem to be attacking the slate on terms of experience. For 10 years, every president had formerly been a VP exec. Then Sean Fraser won and became the first 100% fresh leader of the U. That year worked (despite a large deficit) and good things came of it. Then this year the President Adam Harris had only sat on BoG. Pat is an advocate and Scott is an ex-house president. That is enough experience in itself.

Side note- I wanted Matheson to be my little up-and-commer, but for reasons beyond my control that didn't happen. He is VP material, that kid knows how to get things done. I don't know Pat as well, but I think I hired him for student advocate which means he already has the right stuff.

3- They will deal with administration the way administration needs to be dealt with. Now, I was kind of a hot button with admin, and that wasn't always the best stance. They have a plan for how to deal with admin and I like it. I've never seen a slate even tackle the admin issue before. I know from experience that Matheson can work with them as well as oppose them based on the interests of students, the proof is right there.

4- They are doers. They are meeting with the right people. They might not have all the pieces in place yet, but they are starting to put together the puzzle of how to run the Union. They are hitting all the groups, they are showing they can meet with friends and critics professionally. They keep updating their blog, they respond to students. They are working pretty hard, and usually a slate's campaign work is indicative of the types of leaders they would be.

5- They want to run the U how I like to run the U. They are very in my line of thinking in terms of philosophy of student governance. They understand all of the issues. While their platform isn't 100% filled with unique ideas, if they get to office they will know how to make real change. This year hasn't been a massive year for change in the U, it has been a "keep the ball rolling forward" year, my prediction is that if Pat and Scott are elected it will be another year for progressive change and evolution in the StFX Student Union.