The Activist Diaries

Send your stories to : yourstory@writeme.com

Sat, 19 May 2012 19:01:25 +0100

Your invitation to send a story about what got you interested in human rights, animal rights and/or environmentalism; or about successes and challenges you’ve experienced; your opinions on important issues of our times; people who have inspired you and why or anything you wish to share with the activist community. Your story will not be edited but published word for word, remaining true to your voice. First in, first published. Interested in writing but have trouble with English? Our Co-Administrators may be able to help. Photo’s welcome.

"Remove stray dogs from cruelty" by @OlgaPhilipova

Sun, 01 Apr 2012 23:08:24 +0100

No matter where we live. I know this is not just problem of our country. This is a problem of humanity as a whole. And this problem is cruelty. Mankind must think about it.

Ukraine – the country in the heart of the Europe. It is really charming. In its pristine beauty. We have a steppe, magical forests. And the mountain: rocky Crimean Mountains and Forest Carpathians. Many rivers, lakes, ponds… And sometimes it seems that everything was fine, until people are not spoiled everything. Because I live in a country where there are “dead zones” and ruthlessly polluted sea. Where wealth of Carpathian Mountains forests are destroyed. I live in the city - heavy industry giant. Scary plants located in the heart of the city. They reward people deadly cocktail of emissions. Every day. Nobody cares about the environment. All care only about money. So no wonder that noone here does not matter about homeless animals. But that’s what worries me. I am used to this terrible air, I inhale it from childhood. But I never get used to innocently offended animals! It is hopeless. And it is so sad.

I have a pets: the incomparable spaniel Barry and the funny bunny Bogdan. But there are so many homeless, lonely and unhappy in his loneliness creatures. Hundreds of stray dogs wander through our streets. And here is one such poor dog dwells far from our house, next to the school, last winter. Soon she gave birth to five puppies. I first met the little fluffy creatures, when walking with my Barry. They were plump and happy to know this world. Since then, I wore them food every day. There were other caring people. Someone even built something like a booth. Children from the school came to play with them. Soon the four of them were taken - in villages and private homes. So there were only two – dog-mother and her daughter – Baghira. Winter has come to an end. Dog grew, and appeared those, who were annoyed by the presence of dogs near the school. The booth was moved to the a vacant lot in the yards. As it turned out, that in these yards lived real nonhumans. Several times they destroyed the booth and even set fire to it. But dogs have become accustomed to this place. Baghira grew here all spring. Soon, she was already the same size as her mother. And they were so similar, so happy together. When we go out for a walk, they ran to meet us…

And then… Shots began to be heard at night. Someone began to consistently kill animals. Calls to the police and writing applications were unsuccessful. And once children in another yard found mutilated puppies of another dog. Someone tied them to trees and shot at them as if it was a target. It was awful! Every day we are more feared by Baghira and her mother. And once it happened. On the morning walk I saw her - she came to meet us. But its side and rear paws were in the wounds. These were shot with shotgun. In our city there are several organizations and even newly created shelter. And we managed to hold it there. But only for big money. We also paid for all veterinary services. We spent all the money collected on summer vacation. But it did not matter. The main thing that we have rescued Baghira. Eventually we arrived at the shelter and her mother.

So I met with shelters residents. Actually shelter - a fenced area. There are open-air cages with animals. In each cage live from ten to fifty animals. There live not only healthy dogs, but mostly maimed animals. Without eye, without the paw… It made people. And these creatures still living, they happy that they have a common home. Here they have food and they feel that they are cared for. I was impressed. Amazing creatures. So much heat in them. Blind dog came to me. Two black holes instead of eyes. He jumped on me, but could not reach. Tears were like mist before the eyes, when I played with him. It was so cute. Despite all the animals look happy. Because eventually they were lucky to be saved. From cruelty. They were not poisoned, not shot. Here they are safe. And Baghira and her mother still live there… Every resident of the shelter has experienced its own tragedy. But they are open to people. They were offended, but they still believe. They are waiting for the owner. And if you open for them your heart, they will give you their. Forever. This is an incredible feeling – to be there, among them. And there are people who bullied over these creatures. They commit relentlessly. People forget that they are responsible for those they tamed… Hundreds of homeless dogs wandering the streets. No one involved in this issue. Organizations are inefficient. Drive a senseless competition. Meanwhile, animals continue to suffer from undue cruelty.

Our country is preparing for Euro-2012. Do you know how the problem of stray animals solves? With poison. Cats also suffer. There is shooting also. Nobody wants to think about creating real shelters, for

I do not know what to do. Yes. I can arrange to shelter a dozen animals. Maybe 20-30. But it is so little! All that remains - hope that everyone will do the same. If everyone wanted to help… When I think that everything can be good, that people could be kinder, I want to be happy. I want fall in love in this beautiful world.

Olga Philipova. Ukraine. Zaporozhye.

P.S. Here you can see the story, made by journalists of one of the central TV-channels – story about dogs in this shelter. In 01:18 minutes you can see Baghira and her mother.

http://vikna.stb.ua/ru/news/2011/10/5/77061/

Posted 00:10am GMT on Sunday, April 1st, 2012

Send your stories to : yourstory@writeme.com

Tue, 06 Mar 2012 15:19:32 +0000

"Awakening to activism" by @ISF_Chicagoland

Sat, 03 Mar 2012 14:11:53 +0000

Hi ! I’m Angie and my twitter is @ISF_Chicagoland. I’ve got to be honest here, I didn’t start recycling or being conscious of our environment until about 6years ago. Not that I didn’t have any knowledge about it. I just didn’t really think about it, I guess. Growing up, we were always taught to be charitable and help others and we donated anything that was usable but unwanted. What I didn’t realize that even though I donated used items, I always added more. I’ve never owned pets, but I don’t condone animal abuse. It’s not right to hurt or abuse those with no voice.

As for Vampire Diaries, I actually discovered the book series first. I was injured, bored and my niece lent me the books she had. My friend Mark convinced me to watch the show with him. My first episode was the season 3 opener. Since then, I’ve watched them all. Im Team Salvatore and want the boys to be happy with whomever.

How I discovered #ISF was through Mark and his girlfriend Laura. I thought it was a fan club at first and wanted no part of it. Then he gave me the website, which is isfoundation.com and I checked it out. I loved its mission. “The IS Foundation aims to empower, educate and collaborate with people and projects to positively impact the planet and its creatures.” What I liked is the fact that it covered all bases and didn’t just center on one issue. And another plus for me was the kids section. I have a 5yr old and I don’t want her growing up viewing the world the way I did.

ISF_Chicagoland was NOT started by me. It was started by my friend Mark and his girlfriend Laura a week before Thanksgiving. He enjoyed it so much that he would go on about various projects going on. He convinced me to donate to Ian’s birthday project. So, I did. We had decided that we were going to donate the 8th of every month so we would remember. How I came to take over the account was when he passed away on December 30, 2011. His girlfriend was so devastated that she didn’t want to do it anymore. I didn’t intend to take it over but his enthusiasm inspired me so much and the fact that I liked what #ISF stood for convinced me to try.

You won’t believe how much I’ve learned just by taking over. I learn, to this day, something new. Every single day. I’ve learned to care about issues/causes that normally would not have received a second thought. I like to pass on knowledge and I like to learn. I like to help others with their causes because overall, our Earth needs lots of help and one person can’t do it alone. And I’m so happy to discover that there are people who care and want to make a difference. Actions speak louder than words, after all.

Thanks for reading !

Posted 3:10pm GMT on Saturday, March 3rd, 2012

"My Story" by @ThinkinginMiss

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 13:34:00 +0000

My story begins on a small farm in a very rural part of Mississippi, USA. My family had cattle, horses, pigs, chickens, dogs, and cats. Because I was an only child, these animals were my only friends and playmates except occasionally when a cousin visited. I had a very active imagination, believing that I could communicate not only with my animal friends on the farm, but also the giant oak trees that surrounded my home, migrating birds, and perhaps even the spirits of the Chickasaw who once lived on the land. I remember discovering new things every day—finding arrowheads or reptile eggs in an eroding bank, seeing a new kind of plant or animal in the fields, hearing a story from my mother about how the woods were when she was little like me and the old growth forest had not yet been cut down. Every day contained magic for me. I learned my first moral lesson from a orange kitten I decided to drop in a puddle—five burning claw marks down my hand. I realized I had no right to put him in the water against his will; it was his right to defend himself. From then on I tried to see things from others’ points -of-view. Things continued like this until I was six and a half.

Going to school—what a life changing experience. So many rules and people. I quickly learned that most of the other children were living a different lifestyle from me. They all had telephones at their homes, ate out, and attended church 2 to 3 times per week. On top of this my public school did not recognize the separation of church and state. Teachers led children in prayer and did a devotional from the Bible each morning. Once a week a Baptist missionary came to teach us. I learned that there was much more to being good than honesty, kindness, and doing your best as my mother had taught me. You must confess your sins every day or risk going to Hell. I struggled every day to think of enough sins to confess. This was bad enough, but then I had my first spiritual crisis about age 7. The missionary had taught us how special we were that God let us be born in the US where we had enough food and had religious freedom. I lay in bed at night wondering what was so much better about me than all the little children that God had let be born in China, who not only were hungry, but ,because they had no freedom, could not hear of Jesus and by extension would then burn in everlasting Hell fire. I did not mention these things to my mother as school was my problem. My mother had told me that God loved me and that Jesus was a very good person, so I decided those at school must have it wrong—-God and Jesus must not control where people are born. This is when I began feeling like an outsider looking in.

Real thought was not much encouraged at my school because thinking might cause one to question, so I usually kept my thoughts to myself and watched. It amazed me how mean the other children could be to one another. I tried to be a kind encourager to others. I loved the school library, reading many books that no one else had ever checked out. I was a top student. I discovered William Faulkner, who had lived a few miles away—another outsider looking in and empathizing with those he saw. Two of my favorite subjects to read about were world history and religion. I loved National Geographic Magazine, especially the pictures. At sixteen I had my second spiritual crisis—how could God condemn all those people I saw in the National Geographic to Hell just because they were not Christians? I decided a loving creator could not, that Jesus was a great moral teacher whose teachings were misunderstood, and that we create our own heaven or hell based on choices. Around this same time I was exposed to the ideas of Joseph Campbell on PBS. Through reading various texts, I began to see the similarities in the teachings of Jesus, the Buddha, and others. Spiritual truth exists and different people find it in different ways, but it must involve questioning and deeply thinking about the human situation past and present.

I studied history and literature in college and have been a teacher ever since. My activism has mostly been through voting, attending meetings in my community, making lifestyle choices, talking one-on-one with others, and giving to charity. I try to find common ground and then introduce the bridge from another’s belief to my own. I am not confrontational, but I have twice been likened to the AntiChrist by friends.

I was first interested in Ian Somerhalder because I read that his mother was from a pig farm in Mississippi. I found that he had ideas that revealed an understanding of the overall situation facing us. The parts that impressed me most were about young people being the most underappreciated group and that if made aware they would soon be able to vote for change, the idea that love of pets can be a common denominator, and the importance of agriculture. I donated money. I looked at all the different ISF accounts he followed on twitter from places that I wouldn’t even think could view his show The Vampire Diaries. I was particularly impressed with ISF Qld ‏ @BastetAsshurISF and wanted to be part of the community she had created. I was so honored that she followed me. I thank everyone for making me welcome. I do feel part of a community.

Posted 1:35pm GMT on Friday, March 2nd, 2012

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Fri, 24 Feb 2012 22:17:22 +0000

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Fri, 24 Feb 2012 22:16:33 +0000

"Activist since childhood" by @VampireBrigade

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 01:10:00 +0000

My story starts as a young child…
My mother is originally from Alexandria, Egypt and my father is from Greece.
Every year I would travel between both countries and have experienced not only culture but extreme poverty and cruelty.
Egypt is known for its beautiful artifacts, history, culture, the famous Pyramids and the Sphinx in Giza.
No-one talks about the poor starving people or the animal sacrifices which occur in the streets that people line up for miles in the name of entertainment, not to mention animal cruelty in general.
As you are growing up you don’t realize how bad people or the world can be, you don’t understand that animal cruelty is wrong if that’s all you have ever seen or been taught.
You don’t realize that the earth is warming and that the ozone layer is depleting because of human ignorance and greed.
I grew up loving animals and saving all the starving, thirsty and sick animals in the streets of Egypt that were left to die. I looked after them, nursed them back to health and then placed them with loving families. Much to the disapproval of the Egyptian community who don’t hold animals with any regard whatsoever, I continued doing what I knew was right!
I went through life doing exactly what I believed in and didn’t care what anyone said.
Years later just when I thought I couldn’t do anymore I discovered the Ian Somerhalder Foundation who are doing so many things to save wild life, ocean life, protect animals in general as well as all the environmental & global issues that must be addressed soon so that we have a chance to leave this world knowing that our children are safe and can enjoy all the hard work that many hundreds of thousands of people put into this world to make it a beautiful place to live in once again.
We are striving to do just that! Spread awareness and unity and we ask the world to donate http://www.crowdrise.com/ISFWorldwideDonations/fundraiser/VampireBrigade so that we can achieve many things to make the world a beautiful and safer place to live in.

We want to fight for the animals and global consciousness and make people realize that without the world there are no more people and we must share the world we live in with God’s creatures it doesn’t just belong to us.
Cruelty must be abolished, humanity must take over and pave the way. Kindness doesn’t cost us anything and to live peacefully with one another would make life so wonderful and harmonious.
Please help us achieve our goals and help make this world a beautiful place to live in.

http://www.crowdrise.com/VampireBrigade

Thank you, @VampireBrigade

Posted 01:10am GMT on Sunday, February 12th, 2012

"Lift up the heart of the evil, help the weak" by @katekuden_ISF

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 23:05:45 +0000

My story??? Here it is, I hope that they will not get bored reading it;)))

In my family home I always hear: lift up the heart of the evil, help the weak. These words have done their lodestar. Since I can remember I wanted to become an owner of a dog. For 6-year olds, there were no race and the division of these animals. I wanted to have a barking muzzle-and so much!;) When I was 8 years visited the family home in the thresholds of 4 - week mongrel, found by my dad. Then was fulfilled my dream. “Funia” - because such a name he got from me. The female was accompanied by my family for 5 years. As a little girl I had no idea about training dogs, Funia was so diluted my dogs, who patiently endured playing together with dolls ;-). Unfortunately due to illness, we had to part with a dog … After graduating from high school with good academic results we got from a gift of a new dog. I felt happy again! My joy did not last long - pet deadly drunk driver hit the car. Since then, I decided not to have more dog not to get attached to any creatures and then complain after her loss. Threw himself into teaching, I finished university and now I am a young lawyer. Came new responsibilities, I was more and more busy, but something was missing.

When I read how much could be done ISF I felt like my life sneaks into a new priority. Volunteers are involved in individual projects have learned to combine forces, to listen to each other and help each other. Volunteers work together as equals regardless of their age and abilities (foundation also has projects for kids), jointly solve problems and share ideas. How nice to enjoy the effects of their hard work. The Foundation encouraged me to keep track of their activities, and so too do. Furthermore, I decided to act and help where your opportunities. Due to the fact that I was a young lawyer, I decided to use their profession to serve with the legal owners of the nearby resorts in the writing of judicial and not only in my country. Still interested in my help comes, and I’m happy that I can help four-legged creatures. At first, people ask me why got into helping for free. I’ve heard from people all over the world that after all not save, and I could earn a lot. Then I thought to myself - Well, of course, that does not fix the whole world. But who said that I could not repair it under his own nose ?????

Footsteps ISF I started to live more consciously, to pay attention to the environment, nature. Not merely just to help pets. I started with simple things: save water, segregate waste, saving energy. Going shopping with my mother has forbidden her to take plastic bags;))

Thanks to the activities of the Foundation, the vision of a better future is becoming increasingly clear. ISF still has unwavering faith in what he does, by the foundation shows how to protect the beauty of mother earth, shows how much depends on ourselves, and as individuals we are.

What’s next? We’ll see. But one thing is certain: it was worth the chance to fall, a year ago on this page ISF, read about the wonderful people acting on its behalf, we can learn from their experiences and make the verification of your life. Maybe someday, and for me to find a place in the ranks of the foundation, but until then I will keep track of new successes and activities of the foundation;))))

Kate

Posted 00:05am GMT on Friday, 3rd February, 2012

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Tue, 31 Jan 2012 13:43:59 +0000

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Tue, 31 Jan 2012 13:42:46 +0000

"Why I am an Activist" by @ISFMiddletownCT

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 14:20:00 +0000

Hello everyone,I’m not really good at writing stories (true or not, so bear with me) I am a RABID activist, I have been an activist on and off for a long time as I thought like many others do that it didn’t pertain to me or what difference does it make, nothing is going to make things change, but you know what? Things can’t change unless people change,the issues that we need to fight (animal cruelty, environmental) will only get worse if WE don’t stand up and say We’re not going to take this anymore! if enough of us stand together we WILL be heard and whether it changes the issue or not, we at least can feel good knowing we did everything we could and we did it TOGETHER. Now, the thing that brought me back to my Rabid activism was the BP oil spill, the deaths of the workers on the rig and the horrible consequences of it pertaining to all of the dead animals,fish…the whole food chain basically, people lost jobs, had to leave their homes and give away their loyal family pets because they could not care for them without income. I went ballistic and I let BP, THE Government, President, everyone know what I thought about it. Everyday I see things that just make me sick to my stomach, animals being skinned alive, legally shot in other countries, Wolves being shot by helicopters, the horse round-ups, animal testing, more drilling, more oil spills ARGHHHH! it’s just too much for this girl to handle and so I write to MY SENATORS who work for me (or are supposed to anyways) and I sign every petition that I come across,they DO work but only if people sign them. I don’t buy from companies that test on animals or go to Zoos, aquariums or circuses which all promote captivity and abuse , I’m NOT having any part of that, if you go to these places basically you’re saying it’s ok but NO, it’s not! all of these animals have their own homes that they were taken from and they now sadly would not survive in their own habitat because humans never let them develop the skills they need to survive. I will leave you with a quote by Dr. Phil “You can’t change what you don’t acknowledge” Let’s start working together to make that change. Thanks for taking a minute to read this, I hope it inspires somebody to join in the fight.

@ISFMiddletownCT

Posted 3:20 GMT on Friday, 27th January, 2012

"Why I became an activist and what it means to me" by @actionforearth

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 22:13:00 +0000

Let me answer a couple of simple questions for you. Why did I become an

activist, and what does it mean to me now to be an activist?

As to why, simple. Because the human race, whilst apparently believing

itself to be some sort of quasi divine and supremely intelligent being,

has unleashed a holocaust of such appalling proportions on all the other

life this planet generates and sustains, that I could not in all

conscience sit back and acquiesce with it. In other words I had to do

something, and this is where the first and second questions get a bit

blurred.

When I came to this realisation, the first thing I knew I had to do was to

look to my own behaviour as it impacted the earth, and do something about

it. So I stopped eating meat and then all other animal products, stopped

living the so called high life, because I used to earn quite a lot of

money, and it was apparent that the making and spending of this money was

catastrophic for the earth and all other life. The car went, no more

flying, no buying all that stuff I didn’t really need. Quite easy as I

didn’t have the money to buy it any more anyway, and I can assure you, you

don’t miss what you no longer want.

I also got involved in animal rights as these people, the best I had ever

met, cared genuinely about non human animals. But soon I was saying to

them that you can not have real animal rights without associated eco

action, you can not separate the animals from the earth, nor indeed from

the air they breathe, or the water they drink. For me, animal rights was

the right to free will and self determination of non human animals still

possessed of their natural integrity. Pets and farmed animals no longer

have this as they are mutant human creations, and this we should not have

done, there should not have been any farmed animals or pets, no indentured

slave animals which is what we have made them. This must stop.

What was needed was a new sort of activism, one based on the wish to

respect and if possible protect, the earth and all the other life it

generates and sustains, not <em>for</em> humans but <em>from</em> humans.

And though I now see a growing movement of people who say that they wish

to protect the earth and other animals, still I see the tendency to

identify more with the perceived needs of humans than of the earth. This

is the change that is needed, the one I would ask you to make, to properly

earth centric activism. That is what it should mean to be an activist, it

is certainly what it means to me to be an activist. Thank you. Matt

@actionforearth http://actionfortheearth.wordpress.com/

Posted 10:15pm GMT on Friday, 13th January, 2012

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Fri, 13 Jan 2012 21:57:47 +0000

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Fri, 13 Jan 2012 21:55:42 +0000

“Activist since childhood” by @ISF_LK

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 21:58:00 +0000

Hi I’m Tatziana AKA @ISF_LK

My story starts since my childhood days. I loved animals, nature and even kids though I was a kid myself. I rescued a kitten when i was 5 and i was afraid my mom won’t let me bring him inside since she never liked cats, my bro is 12 years older than me and he helped me to get her permission as he loves animals too :-).. I was very happy and I gave him a name (Fluffy) he looked so much like Garfield. From then on I had a puppy, fish, 2 more dogs, a cat from UAE, 2 squirrels and 3 moskovi ducks :-) something like a mini zoo. I took care of them all, I loved animals so much that I couldn’t bare to see them get hurt, but I was too small at that time to voice my opinion and also for grown ups to take me seriously. I’m so glad Ian has made a difference and Devon been that proof to all kids has made me realize that even if I didn’t have that chance my 3 kids can shout out to the world and make all adults hear them and for once listen to what they are saying, Thank you Ian from the bottom of my heart <3.

I love Vampire Diaries and so does my hubby Gavin. We watch it together and we never miss it, we both love Ian the most and this is how I came across his foundation and I just couldn’t believe I finally had a chance to be part of something that could save animals and kids together. This is how I became @ISF_LK and I’m honored to be a part of this amazing #ISF family <3 I love to sing and I’m a Early years school teacher in Dubai, I teach 2-3 year olds and I’m so in love with them :-) I know with the help of ISF I can make a change with all the talents I have got. Ian you inspire me and I’m so glad I’m a part of your family, thank you for giving all of us this amazing opportunity to make this world a better place. Luv u Ian <3

I’m an activist and I’m proud of it, love is louder<3

Tatziana

@ISF_LK

Posted 10:00pm GMT on Friday, January 6th, 2012

Happy New Year !

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 19:35:00 +0000

Last night, while we were fast asleep,
The old year went away.
It’s gone for good, but don’t be sad
A new one’s come to stay.

A time for celebration of love,
of life, and friendship too,
It’s the time to thank for wonderful friends,
and bring to their lives much magic too.

Congratulations to all #ISF and all non-ISF supporters and friends. Congratulations Ian on your wonderful gift to us all of the Ian Somerhalder Foundation. Not only have you provided avenues to heal this world of ours but many friendships have developed resulting in an international community of like-minded souls.

This year, 2012, is the year of the Dragon whose tail is said to bring luck, success and happiness! So, to luck success and happiness for all life on earth.

Best wishes for the holidays and for
prosperity throughout the coming year;
The Activist Diaries Team.

Posted 11:34 AM GMT on Thursday, January 5th 2012

"Letter to Ian: How I became an ISF member" by @ISF_Latvia

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 11:04:00 +0000

Hello #ISF_Family at begining this was meant to see only by @iansomerhalder eyes, but because my friend didn’t have the chance to give my letter to Ian at #ISF event, I finally decided to share it with you all amazing @IS_Foundation members. Hope you all will donate a little bit of your time and read my story. So hear it goes….

Hey there Ian :)
I bet you receive so much fan mail, that I could be lucky if you would read this. But well I’m not like a fan , I’m more like a ISF family member, to be more pacific from @ISF_Latvia . At start , my name is Renate and I’m 18 years old girl from a small city in Latvia.

All my childhood I always wanted to help animals and growing up and learning in school such subjects as biology and chemistry was my favorites. So to be more closer to animals and nature itself, I participated in one special organization that do projects that’s friendly to nature. We had the chance to plant trees, adopt animals and just visit factories that uses nature resources to create energy and not so good stuff using trees for paper. I was in that organization for 3 years and then I changed schools. For a long time I lost my interest in doing more than just collecting garbage or taking care of my pets. I hated that my new school didn’t have that one special organization , where I was. I tried to change things in my new school but me and some other scholars where not much to make a change. I was weak.

Deep inside I knew I could do more, but I didn’t have a „ISF family” in that time and now I do. Old things now seem to return and thanks to ISF my life has changed again. Watching how you can do so much and just saying one sentence can inspire so much people. Wow, if I could have that kind of power , definitely I would have that organization in my school. You maybe hear that a lot, still ISF has made a difference in my life. And creating a ISF Latvian family is even bigger target for me in Latvia. Because this is my last year of high school and going to college seems even better. I could study biologic even more and be closer to people who better understands me. Tell them about ISF and I know they will help me plant trees, clean forests and rivers, save animals and raise money for this amazing foundation.

Well with all this I wanted to say , Ian you rock and thank you for inspiration.

Take cares,

Renate
( @ISF_Latvia )

Posted Wednesday January 4th 2012 12:05 AM GMT

"Jellyfish, a real danger" by @ISF_missire

Mon, 02 Jan 2012 13:37:45 +0000

During the last summer I got to spend a period in the Italian region of Puglia, located South East of the Adriatic Sea.

This place is devoted to agriculture, especially olive trees and vines with green hills; not built up and industrial settlements.

The beach below has small stones of golden tones. A fantastic assumption…. I imagined a turquoise sea, crystalline & transparent water full of little fish. I like to observe, in behaviour and for their beauty. Rather big disappointment … the water was turbid, turquoise/yellow, greased and inhabited by countless jellyfish the size of soccer balls! Why ….? Because they have become proliferate, which is interesting, because the alteration of the balance, the fragile marine ecosystem?!

The answer, I learned, from a lap to the other side of the promontory. Behind there was a fish farm. I talked with people in the place. They told me that since this had been activated, gone are the typical fish, octopus, sea-fruits and in their place came giant jellyfish!

It had become rather dangerous for bathing because of stinging!

Back at home I have documented on this topic and I got the confirmation.

Jellyfish feed on plankton, fish eggs, newborn fish and especially scraps from fish farms! The jellyfish increase of recent years is also related to pollution, climate warming of the waters: a higher rainfall which has the consequences of a flow of fresh water into the sea, coupled with lack of predators, it alters a link in the food chain.

The explosion in the number of jellyfish is also due to intensive fishing that has eliminated sharks and tuna, to flow into the sea of agricultural fertilizers.

Global warming also seems to be responsible for the emergence and proliferation of over 2000 different species of jellyfish every year.

Dangerous to life, jellyfish in great numbers become pollutants causing death. They, in fact, turn into a biomass with high amount of carbon that bacteria are unable to digest and excrete as CO2 that enters the atmosphere. This phenomenon, is partially, responsible for the progressive acidification of oceans and this is worrying. Add other CO2 to water means making them even more acidic due to this phenomenon, it is estimated that within the next 50 years will disappear, due to corrosion, are mollusks without shells.

Jellyfish are also devouring huge quantities of plankton thus subtracting food to smaller fish.

There is great risk to the entire marine food chain: jellyfish, having virtually no predators, simply consume resources without becoming a source of energy for which no other creature share the habitat.

The fish-farms have begun around 1970, to meet the considerable demand for fish and seafood. Aquaculture is the sector of food production that boasts the fastest growing at global level. The aquaculture often are not sustainable for the environment. They use fishmeal, polluting the waters with antibiotics and chemicals, and high percentage of oil. Fish meal in feed are just some of the problems of this sector. In fact these flours are made from the remains of fish, and this contributes to plunder the seas. Fish-farms could become much more sustainable from an environmental point of view if they turned to feed discarded from fish farms themselves.

To protect the environment, fish farming plants should not be made in areas where they could constitute a threat to native species. And of course the surrounding waters would be necessary to avoid excessive quantities to be dumped of nutrients, chemicals and medicines.

In addition to being places of compulsion, the fish farms are:

• highly polluting and favour the proliferation of algae often harmful to the same fish

• dangerous to biodiversity due to the introduction of non-native species

• source of depopulation (and not safeguarded).

Organic farms are already breeding specimens which meet the criteria of sustainability. You can then safely consume all fish from organic farms. Buying organic fish you are guaranteed that the feed used is obtained from scraps of food from the fishing industry, which is made very limited use of medicinal products.

ISF_missire

Posted Monday January 2nd 2012 1:42 AM GMT

"The Politics of Earth Activism" by @actionforearth

Sat, 31 Dec 2011 10:40:00 +0000

The authority of the modern democratic state is supposedly grounded in the

fact that it has been fairly elected by the people. Not necessarily,

however, by a majority of the people, nor by a majority of those entitled

to vote, or even of those who choose to vote. In fact, no matter what the

voting system, power is simply assumed by the group which gains a working

majority. For the rest of us participation in the democratic process is

meant to be restricted to putting a cross in a box once every so often.

Power over each of us as individuals is then vested in the elite cabal

which happens to run whatever grouping has won the election, most of it

residing in the hands of the leader of that cabal. Whatever promises have

been made to attain power put aside as the real agenda becomes apparent.

This revolves around paying craven homage to the economic interests of

global big business in whose pockets they well and truly reside. How

often, after leaving office, do they accept well paid positions with the

same companies whose interests they have been seeking to protect?

This is the system which we are supposed to trust to take the necessary

measures to avert climate catastrophe, but whose policies of permanent

economic growth are the cause of it. This is the system which is supposed

to protect the natural world, even if only for human benefit, but which is

responsible for its wholesale destruction. This is the system which we are

supposed to support and respect. Furthermore, those of us who see through

this charade and decide not to participate are told that we can not expect

to have any influence over events. Well that is where they are wrong,

because, as people who care about the earth, we advocate a full rejection

of this enforced political authority, an acceptance of personal

empowerment, and a responsibility to respect and, if possible, protect all

the other life it generates and sustains.

It is a deceit perpetrated and perpetuated by successive governments in

many places, that individual actions should be confined by the decisions

of parliament as backed up by their cronies in law enforcement and the

judiciary. On behalf of the global greed machine the politicians make the

law, the police and judiciary enforce it, whilst the media tidy up round

the edges, while pretending to some sort of concern. Meanwhile the earth

and all other life suffers. Most people seem either too ignorant to worry,

or too greedy to care. Those of us who are neither ignorant nor greedy and

who do care, are simply told that it is our fault if we choose not to

participate. Yet if we do take part we are, of course, validating the

decisions they make, with which we so utterly disagree.

As earth activists, we must see through this sham by choosing to change

the way in which we live our lives, in accordance with our own decisions,

and in this way assume to personal power. Unlike them we do not wish to

kill or to destroy, we do not wish to poison or pollute. What we do want

is to respect and protect the earth and, when they tell us that is a

crime, we shall have them exactly where we want them.

Matt Clowes

Posted Saturday 31st December 10:40 AM GMT