The Associated Press
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil - Amazon deforestation jumped 69 percent in the past 12 months — the first such increase in three years — as rising demand for soy and cattle pushes farmers and ranchers to raze trees, officials said Saturday.
Some 3,088 square miles of forest were destroyed between August 2007 and August 2008 — a 69 percent increase over the 1,861 square miles felled in the previous 12 months, according to the National Institute for Space Research, or INPE, which monitors destruction of the Amazon.
"We're not content," Environment Minister Carlos Minc said. "Deforestation has to fall more and the conditions for sustainable development have to improve.
"Brazil's government has increased cash payments to fight illegal Amazon logging this year, and it eliminated government bank loans to farmers who illegally clear forest to plant crops.
The country lost 2.7 percent of its Amazon rain forest in 2007, or 4,250 square miles. Environmental officials fear even more land will be razed this year — but they have not forecast how much.
Minc says monthly deforestation rates have slowed since May, but environmental groups say seasonal shifts in tree cutting make the annual number a more accurate gauge.
Most deforestation happens in March and April, the start of Brazil's dry season, and routinely tapers off in May, June and July: Last month, 125 square miles of trees were felled, 61 percent less than the area razed in June.
Environmentalists also argue that INPE's deforestation report wasn't designed to give accurate monthly figures, but to alert and direct the government to deforestation hot spots in time to save the land.
The Amazon region covers about 1.6 million square miles of Brazil, nearly 60 percent of the country. About 20 percent of that land has already been deforested.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Sunday, August 31, 2008
Webkinz Surgery
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My Mom & Dad
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Labor-less Day Weekend & My Life Roles
I can't remember when we've had a Labor Day weekend THIS beautiful. What a way to say farewell to summer than a weekend like this .
On Saturday we had both sets of grandparents over to celebrate Andrew & Savannah's birthdays (a little belated, but worked out much better than trying to plan it around the 19 &20 with school starting and all). We met at a park. here in Bloomington and did the picnic thing - Laurie makes an awesome chicken salad that I've been hungry for :) The kids played in the spray park that we sat nearby and we all just talked and relaxed. Soooo nice.
Today (Sunday) and tomorrow we have no plans except relax, relax and relax. Oh, and relax some more.
Although, I feel somewhat guilty about relaxing too much today and tomorrow - with business being so slow right now, I feel like I'm relaxing too much of the time.
Ah, my business - lately it's been ALL I think (worry) about, which in turn leads to worrying about money - which is never a good thing to worry about. Also, I've been thinking a lot the last few days about some adjustments I'm having to make in my involvement at church. I'll be in somewhat of a different role now than I've been in the last few years. This isn't a bad thing - but just a change, an adjustment, which I always have a hard time with; especially when it's something I'm passionate about and thoroughly enjoy.
ROLE - that's the word I'm keying in on right now personally, with everything going on in my life - or NOT going on:
•what are ALL of the roles I have
•what roles are MOST important to ME
•what roles are MOST important to GOD
•what roles are unnecessary and should be eliminated
•what role do I get the most enjoyment from
•what role am I most passionate about
•what role is my least favorite
•what role am I least dependable
•what role is MOST necessary for me personally
•what role is MOST necessary for those around me
•what role(s) do I not have that I should be desiring
•what new role(s) is God wanting me to take on for my church
•what role(s) am I clinging to that is selfish
Hmmm - some things to think about, huh? Maybe this won't be too lazy of a Labor Day weekend after all.
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Saturday, August 30, 2008
Black & White Fun
A few fun B&W pictures from this afternoon.. I even included myself in a couple (sort of). Laurie was keeping Tumnus at bay, so she wasn’t able to jump into any of the pictures.
We’re going to have a lot of fun and relaxation over the next couple of days so I’m sure I’ll get some pictures of her one way or another.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
You Know You're Getting Old When...
1) Professional athletes your age and younger are retiring
2) The President (or possible President) is your age or younger
3) Your friends become elders at church
Webkinz
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And One More
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Oh Yeah - Sooo Rough
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Oh, the Life of a Dog
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Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Color Problems With Photos
Grrrrrrrrrrrr... I'm so frustrated right now. I picked up some pictures today that I had "test printed" at Walgreen. WOW is my monitor coloring B-A-D!!! I thought for sure that I had corrected my "red" problem in my pictures by just being more careful using "saturation" and "shadows/highlights," but... as I went through the pictures that I had used in Photoshop Elements there were severe red and green issues. It was usually skin-tone related, but also flowers that should have been more of a pink or light red ended up RED RED RED. A few of these pictures I thought were ready to be printed through a professional photo lab, but... NOPE. GRRRRRRRR!!! Back to the drawing board.
I had just been talking with a friend about software/hardware to calibrate my monitor coloring and now I'm definitely convinced that I need it. So, I've been searching and reading all evening online trying to decide on an affordable but accurate calibration tool. I think I've found it, but... it's more than I wanted to spend (I'm finding that it's ALWAYS that way with photography).
Other happenings lately...
Work has slowed to a record pace. And, with my current customer-load, it's not going to improve any time soon. In fact, my fall planting/maintenance schedule slowed before it even started due to some news in the last couple of days. I'm hoping for some "new" business soon to make up for some lost hours. Looks like it's back to "Gardener For Hire" (my original business name) rather than "Tropical Touch." If you're a praying person, please keep me and my business in your prayers.
I had just been talking with a friend about software/hardware to calibrate my monitor coloring and now I'm definitely convinced that I need it. So, I've been searching and reading all evening online trying to decide on an affordable but accurate calibration tool. I think I've found it, but... it's more than I wanted to spend (I'm finding that it's ALWAYS that way with photography).
Other happenings lately...
Work has slowed to a record pace. And, with my current customer-load, it's not going to improve any time soon. In fact, my fall planting/maintenance schedule slowed before it even started due to some news in the last couple of days. I'm hoping for some "new" business soon to make up for some lost hours. Looks like it's back to "Gardener For Hire" (my original business name) rather than "Tropical Touch." If you're a praying person, please keep me and my business in your prayers.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Twitter Updates Removed
Ok, I just figured out today that my Twitter Updates widget was causing some problems for people on my blog. Not sure what was going on with that, but I removed it. Sorry about that everyone.
New Pic of Savannah
Snapped a few pictures of Savannah today after a nice cooling rain. She's always so willing to help me out by being my little model so I can practice my ever-learning hobby of photography :)
Return of the Skinny Ties
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Isabel Bloom Statue
One of many Isabel Bloom statues that a customer of mine has throughout her
gardens. She has been collecting them for many years and has some original
ones that were her mother's. She got me hooked on them and I began
collecting them about 4-years ago. I keep an ongoing wish list for
Christmas, birthday and Father's Day. Sadly, many are being retired and will
be harder for me (or others) to find.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Our "Little Birdie" Turns 8
I'm watching Andrew play on the Wii... can he really be eight??? Our "Little Birdie" isn't so little anymore...
I'm amazed that God blessed me with a son such as Andrew... He's as close to perfect as you can get. We knew immediately upon his birth that we had something special... Although, being our first, it was a rather interesting 12-hour journey to his birth.
Laurie had gone to bed but I was still wide awake (that isn't out of the ordinary, we're still that way). I was watching TV and playing games on the computer... I just couldn't get tired and go to bed. Laurie is usually a pretty sound sleeper and once she goes to bed she's usually out. But, I remember hearing her stir a lot and get up a few times. I think she even came downstairs a couple of times. I just felt soemthing stirring in me and I couldn't settle down. But, by 3 in the morning I finally decided I should go upstairs.
However, I was only in bed for 15-minutes when Laurie roused up and said... "My water broke! No, I'm peeing. No, my water broke!" "Are you sure???" I jumped up and started getting things ready...
We hit the emergency room by 3:30... up to a room by 3:45. Then... we waited. Honestly... I thought it would move along more quickly than what it did. But, things moved very slowly. Finally about 7:30 the contractions started... then by 10:30, she was asking for an epidural. This is where all our plans for the birth went out the window. The WHOLE nine months Laurie had planned on doing the birth naturally... i.e. no epidural. Just a couple of days before we headed into the hospital I suggested to Laurie to keep an open mind about having an epidural. :') I guess she listened to me.
The eight years have gone by so quickly... and my "Little Birdie" will soon be an eagle. Andrew is an amazing son and I feel so blessed each and every day by having him. He's very loving, has a servant's heart, enjoys giving more than receiving, is extremely sensitive, and is well ahead of his years in understanding God's plan. I am so excited to see where God will be taking Andrew over the next few years.
I'm amazed that God blessed me with a son such as Andrew... He's as close to perfect as you can get. We knew immediately upon his birth that we had something special... Although, being our first, it was a rather interesting 12-hour journey to his birth.Laurie had gone to bed but I was still wide awake (that isn't out of the ordinary, we're still that way). I was watching TV and playing games on the computer... I just couldn't get tired and go to bed. Laurie is usually a pretty sound sleeper and once she goes to bed she's usually out. But, I remember hearing her stir a lot and get up a few times. I think she even came downstairs a couple of times. I just felt soemthing stirring in me and I couldn't settle down. But, by 3 in the morning I finally decided I should go upstairs.
However, I was only in bed for 15-minutes when Laurie roused up and said... "My water broke! No, I'm peeing. No, my water broke!" "Are you sure???" I jumped up and started getting things ready...
We hit the emergency room by 3:30... up to a room by 3:45. Then... we waited. Honestly... I thought it would move along more quickly than what it did. But, things moved very slowly. Finally about 7:30 the contractions started... then by 10:30, she was asking for an epidural. This is where all our plans for the birth went out the window. The WHOLE nine months Laurie had planned on doing the birth naturally... i.e. no epidural. Just a couple of days before we headed into the hospital I suggested to Laurie to keep an open mind about having an epidural. :') I guess she listened to me.
So after the epidural... we both slept for a couple of hours. Then... the contractions began getting getting stronger... and stronger... and stronger... I'm not sure who was more thankful that Laurie kept an "open mind" about the epidural.
Dr. Jacob kept a close eye on Laurie and about 2:30 he finally thought she should start pushing. So... Laurie pushed, and pushed, and pushed, and pushed, and pushed. Dr. Jacob was in and out a couple of times talking with nurses. He came in one last time, leaned over the end of the bed smiling at Laurie and said, "I'll give you five more minutes." Of course, he already knew that baby wasn't coming out... he had already asked the nurses to prep the surgical delivery room for a c-section.
The five-minutes came and went and they wheeled her into the surgical room... I got dressed in my surgical clothes and headed in. By about 3:15, we had a beautiful baby boy.
The eight years have gone by so quickly... and my "Little Birdie" will soon be an eagle. Andrew is an amazing son and I feel so blessed each and every day by having him. He's very loving, has a servant's heart, enjoys giving more than receiving, is extremely sensitive, and is well ahead of his years in understanding God's plan. I am so excited to see where God will be taking Andrew over the next few years.
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