GlobeNews 2/2000 | Chinese New Year Special | Vol.2, No.2 Global citizen! Keep on top of events worldwide: politics, travel, society, environment, technology. Not your nine o'clock news. GlobeNews by Kahl Consultants. STOP!! Please add a friend to the mailing list: subglobenews-@-kahl.net C O N T E N T S : FOREST PLANTATIONS SPROUT HOPE REAL PURE JUNK FOOD GORP IS A TASTY TREAT PRESIDENTIAL SCORE CAN I GET A HIT OFF YOUR PATCH? YEAR OF THE DRAGON INDONESIA IN THE NUDE GLOBAL RADIO WAVES ============== THE GOOD NEWS ============== FOREST PLANTATIONS SPROUT HOPE ------------------------------------------------- The emergence and spread of forest plantations in South East Asia may have long-term and far reaching consequences for wood production and consumption. In the Philippines the establishment of small mangrove plantations by local fisherfolk emerged indigenously, Initially this happened in response to declining availability of natural mangrove forests due to forest clearing for fish ponds and commercial firewood concessions. Such micro-plantations are highly productive sources of wood for constructing fish traps. Few households harvest significant firewood from these plantations, seeing their value for construction wood and (in many cases) storm protection as of greater priority. So where do they get their firewood? Some still gather from natural mangrove forests, although it's increasingly difficult with stronger mangrove protection laws. And farmers in the uplands have been devoting space to growing Ipil-ipil (Luecaena). Large numbers of people are switching from firewood harvesting in natural mangroves to buying relatively inexpensive ipil-ipil from local markets. There exists virtually no natural forest in the region. It has all been logged and converted to agricultural production. Being a legume, Ipil ipil grows on poor soils and enriches those soils. It also grows quickly and its wood is good for firewood and small-scale construction, and its leaves can be fed as supplement to livestock. Small-scale farmers (and some fisherfolk) now plant trees around the world and their contribution to (micro-) plantation establishment and wood production may increase in the future. [Mangrove Action Project] REAL PURE JUNK FOOD ------------------------------- Frito-Lay, the big American junk food purveyor, is telling suppliers not to use genetically modified (GM) corn, a change of course that is angering some farmers and pleasing enviros. The company said it is responding to customer worries. Opponents of genetically manipulated "FRANKENFOODS" have staged at least 18 attacks on university and corporate research sites in the U.S. since July 1999. Such acts of anti-biotech crop vandalism are common in Europe, where resistance to genetic engineering is high, but are relatively new to American soil. Greenpeace had lobbied Frito-Lay's parent company, PepsiCo., to stop using biotech crops in its products. Frito-Lay's action follows last summer's announcement by Gerber and Heinz that they would stop using GM ingredients in baby food. [San Francisco Chronicle/Examiner] ========== GLOBESITES ========== GORP IS A TASTY TREAT -------------------------------- GORP - it's another word for trail mix but now it stands for one of the best OUTDOORS WEBSITES: Great Outdoor Recreation Pages. If you want to travel, either in person or in your armchair, you need to stop by GORP for some great food for thought. Destinations worldwide, all kinds of fun activities, plenty of gear and lots of adventure at GORP: http://www.gorp.com AMAZING AMAZON ------------------------- By now everyone knows that Amazon.com is one of the big net success stories. In cooperation with amazon we offer you discount BOOKS, MUSIC and more. Grab some GREAT GIFTS online! PLEASE SUPPORT GLOBENEWS by only using this link: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect-home/kahlconsultants ========== GLOBENEWS ========== PRESIDENTIAL SCORE ----------------------------- REQUIREMENTS to be US PRESIDENT are less than what it takes to attend Cal State. - George W. Bush's SAT SCORE is 566. - Bill Bradley's SAT SCORE is 486 (he went to Princeton and Oxford) CAN I GET A HIT OFF YOUR PATCH? ---------------------------------------------- NICOTINE PATCHES are used to help cigarette smokers kick the habit. Now scientists will try to see if a medical marijuana patch can be developed to help cancer patients cope with pain, nausea, and vomiting. The American Cancer Society has announced a three-year, $361,000 research grant to develop a body patch for delivering the active ingredient in marijuana. A handful of states have approved the medical use of marijuana, but the drug is banned by federal law and the Justice Department is challenging some of those voter-approved laws. Opposition to smoking the drug remains strong. The patch could help address that problem; it would provide a constant level dose through the skin. Listen as Morning Edition host Bob Edwards talks to Dr. Audra Stinchcomb, Assistant Professor at the Albany College of Pharmacy, about her research on medications transmitted through the skin. COSMIC ADVERTISEMENT: If you are also interested in space, astronomy and extraterrestrial news, subscribe to ASTRONEWS, another free newsletter from Kahl Consultants. Beam your request to: astronews-@-kahl.net ============= FUTURE IS NOW ============= YEAR OF THE DRAGON ------------------------------- As Chinese communities throughout the world celebrate the Year of the Dragon, China’s true dragon -- the Chinese alligator -- teeters on the brink of extinction. It may become the first species of crocodilian to become extinct in the wild within historical times. Some 5,000 Chinese alligators currently exist in captivity in China. One of just two alligator species in the world, Chinese alligators are believed to have diverged from their American counterparts over 20 million years ago. Celebrated every 12 years, the Year of the Dragon is considered to be particularly prosperous since dragons symbolize authority, courage and good fortune. The year 2000 is even more auspicious because it is also a "golden dragon" year, which occurs once every 60 years. [explorezone.com] ============ !!GLOBALERT!! ============ INDONESIA IN THE NUDE --------------------------------- With new maps and data on forest cover (or the lack of it) in Indonesia, the Jakarta government is having to face up to the rapid deforestation rate. International donors are pressing Wahid's government to take action now to stop illegal logging and to draw up a coherent medium-term national forestry programme. The World Bank threatened it would not fund any further efforts to protect Indonesia's forests unless the government takes firm action against illegal loggers and implemented forest policy reforms within the year. New forest cover maps for the islands of Kalimantan, Sulawesi and Sumatra complied from satellite images confirm that 17 million hectares of Indonesian forests have disappeared in the last 12 years: a quarter of the forest present in 1985. The annual deforestation rate is at least 1.5 million hectares, nearly twice the World Bank's 1994 estimate. Lowland forest is disappearing fastest. At these rates, Sumatra has under 5 years of commercial timber production from natural forests left and Kalimantan only ten years. [Down To Earth News Feb.2000] ============= SAVE ON CALLS ============= Long Distance Tips --------------------- If you live in the USA you should get VoiceNet! You'll have 4.9 cents intrastate and 7.9 cent per minute interstate calls. And their calling card makes any domestic call from any phone for 13.9 cents/min! No more expensive calls! It's the best deal we could find! Check out this offer AND MANY MORE! Visit your agent Alex Kahl at GlobalCom: http://www.kahl.net/global ======== NET TIPS ======== GLOBAL RADIO WAVES ------------------------------ Someone at the MIT campus radio station WMBR has compiled a list with links to over 9000 RADIO STATIONS all over the world. And many of them broadcast over the internet. Go check out your favorite radio station from that vacation last year... The MIT List of Radio Stations on the Internet http://wmbr.mit.edu/stations Thanks to all who wrote in! Send questions to: globenews-@-kahl.net Add an email to the mailing list: subjokeflash-@-kahl.net Unsubscribe: unsubjokeflash-@-kahl.net ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ GlobeNews by Kahl Consultants Visit us: http://www.kahl.net Email: globenews-@-kahl.net ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ THE PLUG ======== How has your small business or organization been performing lately? Are you happy with your work? Let Kahl Consultants help you. Technology. Use it appropriately. Put it in our hands. If you got this far you obviously enjoyed GlobeNews. Pass it on! Please forward it to a handful of your friends. Remember, the best things in life are free. THE PUNCH LINE ============== 3 QUOTES TO PONDER ---------------------------- "It isn't pollution that's harming the environment. It's the impurities in our air and water that are doing it." Presidential Candidate George W. Bush "Instead of putting computers in our elementary school classrooms we should take the children out into nature, away from those virtual worlds in which they spend unconscionable hours, and let them see a heron rise from the marsh, hear the guttural call, feel the lightning thrust of the beak. Let them stand near a morning marsh and shiver in the thrall of cold and beauty....Let the children know. Let them know that nothing, nothing they will find in the virtual worlds of GameBoy or the Internet matters half so much as the step into the air of a great blue heron, rising into morning mists on Gabriel wings, conferring on the marsh, the morning, the watcher, a dignity, a blessedness that confounds the dull humdrum of the commonplace and opens a window to infinity. " Chet Raymo, science author and Stonehill College physics professor "A rich person is not the one who has the most, but is one who needs the least."