Who is a dog's best friend?

To be honest, I have not been reading the daily updates from the newspapers nor have I been watching the news on TV for some months now. First of all, I really have too little time left for this activity, which, at one point in my life... was a 'luxury' and of which I could never do without. But that was a long time ago. When I noticed that there was really nothing much one would miss out in the news reports (if you know what I mean)... I decided not to while away precious time reading up on matters that don't concern me. I was wrong.... there are things that are happening out there we care about... and they are people out there who feel as strongly about issues as we do...

During the past week or so, reports on atrocities at the animal pound in Setapak had caused hackles to rise and animal lovers have come out loud and clear with their protests on the brutal killing of stray animals rounded up by DBKL. TV3 aired some really scary scenes yesterday night and anyone who had watched the program would be as moved as NOROZ KHAN who posted this letter with a heart-touching message from the Holy Koran.

Here's the letter as it appeared in the STAR (dated 11th Feb, 2009):

"What a shame that barbarism is secretly dwelling in the dark corners of our society. People now seem to enjoy taking the lives of dogs by breaking their skulls and necks and brutally beating them to death.

Constantly we hear the same old saying that we are forbidden to touch dogs and that this animal is filthy and indecent.

If so, why would God have planted such loyalty and love in this particular animal?

To all my fellow Muslims, I shall quote from Surah Al-Kahf in the Holy Quran verse number 18: “And you would have thought them awake, while they were asleep. And We turned them on their right and on their left sides, and their dog stretching forth his two forelegs at the entrance [of the Cave or in the space near to the entrance of the Cave (as a guard at the gate)]. Had you looked at them, you would certainly have turned back from them in flight, and would certainly have been filled with awe of them.”

If our very own Holy book shows us how loyal and protective these dogs were to those who did not do wrong, where did we learn to hate and despise this animal?"

NOROZ Khan,
Kuala Lumpur.
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/2/11/focus/3241664&sec=focus

Thank you, Noroz... for your compassion and understanding that animals too, like man, deserve to live and die with dignity.

Perhaps, we would never understand why such things are happening and are allowed to happen....has man himself come to a crossroad where such actions are justified by his superiority over the defenceless and the weak? Would it be ethical to say that, in time, we will dispose off our own kind as we are doing now to these poor animals? I shudder to think of the possibility..... the hearts of men are so hardened as to forget how to feel and love anymore.....what a way to go!!!

Here are more news reports on the issue:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=268ZThWBoMA&feature=channel_page
http://thestar.com.my/metro/story.asp?file=/2009/2/9/central/3224186&sec=central
http://thestar.com.my/metro/story.asp?file=/2009/2/6/central/3204204&sec=central

TIMELY FINANCIAL ADVICE FROM A BILLIONAIRE

On top of everything else, the financial scenario is not getting any better. Many more are been laid off from their only source of income and the time to tighten one's belt is, perhaps, the only way to survive ...and although 77-year old Warren Edward Buffet will never need to heed his own advice, we appreciate what he has to share with us all during these hard times. So, spare a minute or more for this self-made billionaire, ranked as the world's No: 1 richest man, and to what he has to say:


We begin this New Year with dampened enthusiasm and dented optimism. Our happiness is diluted and our peace is threatened by the financial illness that has infected our families, organizations and nations. Everyone is desperate to find a remedy that will cure their financial illness and help them recover their financial health.

They expect the financial experts to provide them with remedies, forgetting
the fact that it is these experts who created this financial mess. Every new year, I adopt a couple of old maxims as my beacons to guide my future. This self-prescribed therapy has ensured that with each passing year, I grow wiser and not older. This year, I invite you to tap into the financial wisdom of our elders along with me, and become financially wiser.

**HARD WORK : All hard work bring a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.

**LAZINESS : A sleeping lobster is carried away by the water current.

**EARNINGS : Never depend on a single source of income. (At least make your
investments get you second earnings)

**SPENDING : If you buy things you don't need, you'll soon sell things you need.

**SAVINGS : Don't save what is left after spending; spend what is left after
saving.

**BORROWINGS : The borrower becomes the lender's slave.

**ACCOUNTING : It's no use carrying an umbrella, if your shoes are leaking.

**AUDITING : Beware of little expenses; A small leak can sink a large ship.

**RISK TAKING : Never test the depth of the river with both feet. [Have an
alternate plan ready)

**INVESTMENT : Don't put all your eggs in one basket.

I'm certain that those who have already been practicing these principles remain financially healthy. I'm equally confident that those who resolve to start practicing these principles will quickly regain their financial health.

Let us become wiser and lead a happy,
healthy, prosperous and peaceful life.

- WARREN EDWARD BUFFET -

(Check out the following link for his biography: http://www.forbes.com/lists/2008/10/billionaires08_Warren-Buffett_C0R3.html)

Muslim Vegetarians

"There is no doubt that a vegetarian diet is healthier and beneficial to health in lowering weight, blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar. Our Prophet was mostly vegetarian..."
Dr. Shahid Athar, M.D., FACP, FACE Clinical Associate Professor, Indiana University School of Medicine Chair of Medical Ethics, Islamic Medical Association of North America http://www.islam-usa.com

"Islam, a religion of compassion and moderation, acknowledges animals` rights and emphasizes humans` responsibility for their welfare. A vegan vegetarian diet is healthful, promotes mental and physical well- being, and is cruelty-free. It does not include animal parts or products such as eggs and dairy products. I urge every Moslem and nonMoslem to become a vegan vegetarian."
Moneim A. Fadali, M.D., M. Ch., FACS, FRCS (C), FACC, FACCP Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgeon Author, Animal Experimentation: A Harvest of Shame

"God is Rahman and Rahim, the most compassionate and merciful. The one with true Islam draws close to God by inculcating God`s qualities of compassion and mercy, thus a true Muslim is one who honors, sustains, and protects the lives of creatures of God and does not kill them for her own food."
Ghazala Anwar, Ph.D., Professor of Islamic Studies

"Just wanted to let you know that there are other Muslims out there who support such causes. As a matter of fact, there are many Muslims out here that are vegan."
Shahid `Ali Muttaqi, publisher and music producer

Pls visit: http://www.islamveg.com/

Dr. James Hansen:'We have only four years left to act on climate change

Time is running out. World-renowned climatologist Dr. James Hansen of the US-based National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), is now urging the United States to lead in the efforts to counter climate change. He stated, "We cannot now afford to put off change any longer. We have to get on a new path within this new administration. We have only four years left … to set an example to the rest of the world."

Dr. Hansen emphasized the importance of implementing measures like a carbon tax, which would raise the price of fuels to deter use, and to totally phase out the mining and use of coal. Dr. Hansen: Now if we want to phase out the fossil fuels, which we're going to have to do if we want to maintain a planet that looks like the one that we inherited from our parents, then we're going to have to apply a price to the carbon emissions. And the way that that would work, if you wanted the public to accept it, I think you have to give up 100% of that tax back to the public.

VOICE: In an interview with Supreme Master Television, Dr. Hansen had also highlighted the vegetarian solution in reducing global greenhouse gas emissions.

Dr. Hansen: If you eat further down on the food chain rather than animals, which have produced many greenhouse gases, and used much energy in the process of growing that meat, you can actually make a bigger contribution in that way than just about anything. So that, in terms of individual action, is perhaps the best thing you can do. But you also have to do things that influence the decisions of policy makers.

VOICE: We express our gratitude, Dr. James Hansen, for your courageous noble voice in alerting the public about the importance of acting now to save our planet. May we immediately adopt lifestyles that help sustain our precious Earth and her inhabitants.

Supreme Master Ching Hai explained via videoconference to our Association members in Seattle, Washington, USA how a switch to the animal-free diet is necessary for our planetary survival.

Supreme Master Ching Hai : The more vegetarian people, the less killing of the animals, the more time we have to rescue the planet and the lives on the planet. Stop the killing, stop the harm to other people and the animals and save energies every way possible and go green wherever possible. Then we still can save the planet.

Global warming 'irreversible' for next 1000 years: study

Jan 27, 2009

WASHINGTON (AFP) — Climate change is "largely irreversible" for the next 1,000 years even if carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions could be abruptly halted, according to a new study led by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The study's authors said there was "no going back" after the report showed that changes in surface temperature, rainfall and sea level are "largely irreversible for more than 1,000 years after CO2 emissions are completely stopped."

NOAA senior scientist Susan Solomon said the study, published in this week's Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal, showed that current human choices on carbon dioxide emissions are set to "irreversibly change the planet."

Researchers examined the consequences of CO2 building up beyond present-day concentrations of 385 parts per million, and then completely stopping emissions after the peak. Before the industrial age CO2 in Earth's atmosphere amounted to only 280 parts per million.

The study found that CO2 levels are irreversibly impacting climate change, which will contribute to global sea level rise and rainfall changes in certain regions.

The authors emphasized that increases in CO2 that occur from 2000 to 2100 are set to "lock in" a sea level rise over the next 1,000 years.

Rising sea levels would cause "irreversible commitments to future changes in the geography of the Earth, since many coastal and island features would ultimately become submerged," the study said.

Decreases in rainfall that last for centuries can be expected to have a range of impacts, said the authors. Regional impacts include -- but are not limited to -- decreased human water supplies, increased fire frequency, ecosystem change and expanded deserts.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5ghGvjbYscejTKon1TkD_K4E3t_lw

全球糧食危機

吃肉不止剝奪動物的生命，
同時也剝奪窮人的生命！　

全球糧食危機
<資料來源：中國時報 2008/04/28>
　　
　台灣陶醉在馬蕭劉「鐵三角」組閣成功，即將正式執政的氣氛裏，不知世界上還有30幾個國家正面臨空前未有的糧價高漲，大部分人民生活難以維持的危機。
　　
　從海地到辛巴威，北韓到阿富汗，摩多瓦到車臣，數以千萬計的貧苦人民已經買不起維持活命最低需要的玉米粉、糙米、或雜糧，正在飢餓邊緣掙紮。原物料與石油價格飛漲導致的糧食危機，比發生戰爭、全球暖化或環保失控的危機更加嚴重。
　　
　這並非危言聳聽，本月上旬，世界銀行和國際貨幣基金在華盛頓聯合發出警訊，呼籲工業化國家和各國的主權財富基金（sovereign wealth funds）要出錢出力，支持曾任美國副國務卿的世銀總裁佐立克提議的「全球糧食政策新政」（New Deal on Global Food Policy）。
　　
　佐立克要這些主權財富基金捐出它們總資產的1％，亦即300億美元，在最窮困的非洲國家投資並協助開發。他說， 今年以來飛漲的糧價，等於全球救助貧窮的戰爭「倒退了7年」！聯合國援助貧窮國家的糧食計畫署（UN Food Program）現在還短缺5億美元，則希望已開發國家盡速捐輸，補足這個缺口。
　　
　世界銀行估計，各國貧苦家庭有75％的開支都花費於基本的糧食需求。僅最近2個月裏，全球米價就漲了75％。1年來，世界市場的小麥價格漲了120％。如將所有糧食價格合併統計，過去3年平均上漲率也有83％。
　　
　台灣在加勒比海最大的邦交國海地，月初就因糧價飛漲，窮人上街焚燒搶掠暴動，持續1星期之久，而總統浦雷華為挽救局勢，立即撤換總理，強迫壓壓抑米價。現在連美國人也在囤積食物，超市的米價駭人聽聞。南美有4國更由左傾的委內瑞拉總統查維茲倡議，設立1億美元的糧食安全基金，幫助玻利維亞、尼加拉瓜、和古巴渡過面前的難關，可見問題嚴重。
　　
　依照世界糧食暨農業組織（Food and Agriculture Organization，簡稱FAO）調查，面臨糧食危機，急需援助者：
非洲有21國，亞洲9國，拉丁美洲4國，歐洲2國，外加俄羅斯聯邦成員之一的車臣共和國，共計達 36國之多。
　　
　FAO按缺糧原因再把它們分類為：一、嚴重缺糧者，非洲有賴索托、索馬利亞、史瓦濟蘭、辛巴威；亞洲有伊拉克；歐洲則有摩多瓦。
　　
　二、大部分地區買不到糧食者，非洲有厄立垂亞、賴比瑞亞、茅利塔尼亞、獅子山；亞洲則有阿富汗和北韓。
　　
　三、地區性糧食供應極不安定者，非洲有蒲隆地、中非共和國、查德、兩個剛果、象牙海岸、衣索比亞、迦納、幾內亞、幾內亞比索、肯亞、蘇丹和烏幹達。
亞洲有孟加拉、印尼、尼泊爾、巴基斯坦、斯裏蘭卡和東帝汶。中南美則有玻利維亞、多明尼加、海地、和尼加拉瓜。
　　
　《紐約時報》在社論裏指出，美國即使低收入的家庭，食物只占所得的16％；與奈及利亞家庭把73％的收入都花在食物上，簡直不成比例。該報統計，糧食倚賴進口各國的外匯支出去年比前年多負擔了25％，玉米在國際市場的價格2年來漲了1倍，小麥價格更打破了28年的紀錄。
　　
　平心而論，有些促使糧價飛漲的原因無人能加控制。中國大陸與印度人口仍在增加，生活大幅改善，對糧食的需求自然節節上升。另一項因素，是拿玉米來製造稱為乙醇（corn based ethanol）的汽油替代燃料。
　　
　根據國際貨幣基金調查，3年來使玉米價格高漲的原因，至少有一半應歸咎於對乙醇的熱衷。已有學者指出，這種乙醇沒有像樂觀者預估可減少二氧化炭排放量達五分之一，反而使它增加幾乎2倍，對全球溫室效有害無益。現今因能源短缺，許多國家鼓勵本國廠商自製乙醇，對進口品則課以每加侖7角美元的關稅，也造成玉米缺貨。
　　
　由此可見，糧食供應與全球人口總數、農業生產技術乃至環保危機環環相扣，牽一髮而動全身。地球只有這麼大，170年前，馬爾薩斯（Thomas Malthus, 1766-1834）已經提出人口論，預言糧食生產永遠趕不上人口增加率。
　
　今年6月3至5日，聯合國將在羅馬召開「研討世界糧食安全與氣候變化和生質能源的高階層會議」，恐怕又將是空談一場，於實際無補。
　　
　我上網查的結果，信不信由你，《時代》週刊早在1974年就曾以〈世界糧食危機〉作為封面故事。真應了英語裏一句俗諺「太陽下沒有新鮮的事物」。人類雖已進入21世紀，糧食不足的老問題，依然揮之不去。
　　
聯合國28日開會緩解世界糧荒
亞洲時報在線 - Hong Kong 2008/04/28, 週一

聯合國秘書長潘基文和27個聯合國主要機構，將於28日在瑞士首都舉行會議，謀求對策化解全球糧食價格暴漲引發的危機。
聯合國28日起一連兩天在伯恩研擬緊急措施的計劃，以及探討其他長期措施解決世界糧食危機，還裁決保護主義與開放市場的主張、生物燃料的支持者與反對者。
人口增加、開發中國家需求強勁、以玉米等為生物燃料作物的栽培日增及水旱災頻生等，造成近年全球糧食價格暴漲。聯合國糧食及農業組織曾警告國際糧價暴漲，使37個貧窮國家陷入緊急情況而引發暴亂。潘基文日前在維也納估計 之前沒有要求協助，現在卻買不起食物的人口，全球共一億左右。

The impact of meat production & consumption on climate change III

WATER SHORTAGE AND POLLUTION

We are seeing severe drought with cracking lands, followed by massive flooding and destruction of agricultural products and other properties in an unprecedented scale.and every day, 30,000 children in the world die from diseases linked to water. (1)

70% of all water goes to producing food(3) and livestock is among the largest sectoral source of water pollution and responsible for 64% of ammonia emissions, which contribute to acid rain.
One factory farm creates more water pollution than the city of Houston, Texas.(4)

4664 liters of water to produce 1serving of beef but entire vegan meal need only 371 liters water.(5) Scientists have calculated that we would actually save more water by forgoing one pound of beef, or four hamburgers, than by not showering for at least six months (6)

"Yes. And a vegetarian diet will stop 80% of global warming, stop all the cruelty, beginning on our plate. Generating loving, kind energy around the world, stop water shortage and water pollution, stop food shortages, stop world hunger and war, prevent deadly diseases, save enormous tax and medical bills to build a better world, and support new useful inventions and good people's organizations."
- An Interview with Supreme Master Ching Hai by James Bean of Spiritual Awakening Radio -July 29, 2008 - USA (7)