The Great Turtle Race is underway!

The Great Turtle Race is underway!Last Thursday, Conservation International and National Geographic’s “Great Turtle Race” hit the open ocean. This year, eleven leather back sea turtles are racing from Canada’s Atlantic coast to the beaches of the Caribbean.


It’s not too late to sign-up for daily race updates — full of fun turtle facts and play-by-play race highlights straight from the waves.Our work protecting sea turtles in Brazil The Great Turtle Race is much more than just a race — it’s about protecting sea turtles and the oceans they call home.


Unfortunately, sea turtles are highly threatened, and their numbers are rapidly diminishing.In Brazil, we are unleashing the power of conservation by helping people understand nature’s economic value. Today, CI’s partner Projeto TAMAR works hand-in-hand with local communities to protect sea turtles nesting on Brazil’s beaches. Learn more about how we are creating a strong and sustainable local economy by combining conservation and turtle-friendly economic activities.

Dozens of endangered species and the last remnants of untouched tropical forest in Southeast Asia are at risk of disappearing in the Cardamom Mountains of Cambodia.In response, CI introduced the Conservation Stewards Program (CSP) to six communities which earned income by selling threatened animal species to the Chinese medicinal market and farmed by burning and clearing forests.In return for commitments to conserve endangered animals and forests, CI provides buffaloes to help restore old rice fields, and training, equipment and pay for forest patrols.To date, 150,000 hectares of forest have been protected, including the nests of the Siamese Crocodile — the most endangered crocodile in the world.Beyond Brazil, CI is working on the ground with people to both protect nature and improve community life in countries including Madagascar, China, South Africa and beyond.















New and Noteworthy This Earth Day, we celebrate the beauty, magic, and wonder of the planet we call home. We also keep in mind the essential services nature provides — fresh air, clean water, healthy soil — which each one of us relies on for our survival.Feel the spectacular force of our planet by watching a preview of Disney nature’s EARTH, a breathtaking film that uses stunning images and storytelling to inspire us all to come together to protect our home.Also, visit CI’s Earth Day site for four moving features that honor the dramatic beauty of our planet and the need to conserve it. Check out an awe-inspiring photo essay that celebrates the people and places of Madagascar, and read about indigenous peoples from diverse and distinct cultures who are helping combat climate change using their vast and enduring relationship with nature.










Header Photos:Tiger: © CI/Photo by Frank Hawkins, Forest: © Frans Lanting, Girl: © CI/Photo by Haroldo Castro

© 2009 Conservation International Conservation Internationals mission is to conserve the Earth's living heritage, our global biodiversity, and to demonstrate that human societies are able to live harmoniously with nature. Please visit http://getinvolved.conservation.org/site/R?i=sCRAEQLzMtvPsKnM2_qBsA.. to learn more.

2011 Crystal Drive, Suite 500Arlington, VA 22202 Telephone: (703) 341-2400Toll-free (within the US): 1(800) 406-2306 inquiry@conservation.org Update Profile Change Password

I am obsessed with LISTS . . .lists of favorites, lists of preferences, chores . . .everything! Here is a favorite list I found online . . .

Opinion:
I am so proud that rebel cities of SF and Seattle made the list and of course, everyone's city NYC. I feel a deep affection for those crazy Pacific Northwesters sticking to their predictable values something about that predictability is both heartwarming and charming, while also maintaining a rebel nature and still after all this Chic Greeness going on and the corruption of environmentalism thru mass market media as well as the remaking of images of huge corporations who are still owned by the same people and run exactly the same way using toxic chemicals which are destroying us, our world and our children it is nice to see certain areas of our country trying to rage against the machine. Rage on!!!!!!!!!

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LARGEST U.S. CITIES TO HAVE NO WALMART

Despite Walmart being the biggest department store in the U.S., its presence in the big cities is rather limited (including the largest city in the United States). Perhaps Walmart can't build its super-sized parking lots inside the dense urban cores (or is unwilling to pay for that privilege).

All of these Walmarts have stores in nearby suburbs, however (but not within city limits of these cities, as of July 15, 2006).

1. New York, New York

2. Chicago, Illinois

3. Detroit, Michigan

4. San Francisco, California

5. Boston, Massachusetts

6. Washington, D.C.

7. Seattle, Washington

8. Cleveland, Ohio

9. Minneapolis, Minnesota

10. St. Louis, Missouri**There are Walmarts in St. Louis County but not St. Louis City.

Recommended Viewing:

WALMART THE HIGH COST OF LOW PRICE



Filmmaker Robert Greenwald takes aim at the corporate giant that's come to symbolize big business in America -- Wal-Mart -- blasting the box-store Goliath for allegedly paying substandard wages, skimping on employee benefits and gutting communities. This hard-hitting, emotional documentary profiles the struggle of everyday folks from around the country who've committed themselves to fighting the mega-retailer.







(List obtained from http://www.geographylists.com/list19p.html)

Friends: Mirrors into Ourselves

I am such a blessed person. I have wonderful friends, i really do they are quite glorious. Even when my friends screw up: they do it ROYALLY!

I have had all kinds of friends in my life, guys and girls and in between or some have changed from one sex to the other while we were friends. it has been an experience i must say. i am also a person who stays friends with her ex's. so i have some long time friends whom i once loved, slept with or both. some of my best friends i have had crazy nites with where we fooled around, i cannot imagine that ever happening again with most but some it was habitual for awhile.

I also coined the term friend crush because i believe in this. nowadays there is that lame term "bromance" but it doesn't really fill the same space as "friend crush" and it does not imply the same meaning. i think it is perfectly natural to fall for our friends, to see all the amazing qualities in them, to think they are wonderful, fabulous, delightful creatures we just can't get enough of - why not, are we not seeking this in a relationship as well.

I always thought of my friends as trial runs - would i like to date that goth guy whose lingering looks at the coffee shop un-nerve me in a seductive, scary kinda way. maybe i will try on some goth friends first, feel out the scene, the music, the social circle before i jump into a world i am completely unfamiliar with and for me this worked!!

As many, many years have passed i have friends who have known me thru thick and thin and many who have left my life for a long time and then returned. this allows perspective. a unique view of yourself thru a mirror. say your favorite mirror, that takes ten pounds off and adds 2 inches in height! thru this mirror you can see your memories clearly but from another point of view, you can re-examine where you were at that time, why you made the choices you did and where you have ended up.

i was privileged enough to spend super quality time with a wonderful ex boyfriend recently who said some things to me that i had said to him when we were dating. these statements really expressed just how closed i was to love at the time without even really being aware of just how hard i was pushing others away. now, since i am in such a more open space i could not imagine saying those things to someone i loved. how silly we are in our youth and how wonderful it is that our true friends love us thru it all!

i love all my mirrors and i want to thank each and every one of you for serving as a reflection of myself so that i amy grow, change and live to my full potential!

A Little About Me

About Me: Hip-E! MaMa'

Life before Riley, my four year old son, was a good life, a fun life, a naughty, sensational & somewhat exciting life. Now, I’m Mom. What is a Mom?

I think I may know some days but most days I just feel like I suck at it. I was a rebel, never listened, & pushed the envelope as much as possible hoping, for many years, to push it too far & just drop off. No lie, there were days that the pain was too much & I would rather take a big dirt nap than deal.

My brother's death, when I was a teenager was the worst thing to ever happen to me. I died w/ him in many ways & shut my heart off to others completely. I felt that not wanting love or a family was the easiest way to avoid future pain. Thank gawd for unanswered prayers!!

Riley came into my life & brought w/ him my cancer & my new self! It’s a constant battle, no lie, my gypsy nature just wants to run from responsibility most days. I mean who the hell am I to be raising a kid? I raved, expanded my mind, protested my country’s wars, laws, & ideals all while perfecting the art of the party. But here I am with an amazing little human being who loves me, is brilliant and is the reason I draw each and every breath.

CHARLENE NO MORE!!! she is evil and alive in this indie film! luv it!

I caught Guinevere (1999) on the IFC Channel. Now, I will come right out and say it was predictable and a bit boring but for 3am on a Tuesday it wasn't too painful. And there is this shining moment of Charlene from Designing Women embodying this evil upper east side mom (though I don't think it's set in NY,i missed a bit of the beginning).

Jean Smart - Charlene NO MORE!!! and luvin' it. She is disconnected and plays the most amazing ice princess. She is ruthless, devoid of any true ability to connect with others, most of all her own family.

The rest of the movie is hardly worth a $1 rental fee but the dinner scene when she tries to make the family say "sex" after the fortunes and then the scene where she rips into the 45+yr old photographer who is with her 20yr old daughter is FABULOUS**She is the only star in the film even the old indie standbys of Gina Gershon & Sandra O don't save this storyline.

She asks him why he doesn't like women his own age and then not allowing him to answer, she neatly slices him bit by bit. She leaves him in a pile of insecurity and bloated self delusion. It is hard to believe that this convincing, evil, cut to the quick senation is the same woman who once played Charlene just as convincingly.

Ja'dore!

GREAT QUOTES BY GREAT LADIES

Nobody can make you feel inferior without your permission.

-Eleanor Roosevelt

Inside me lives a skinny woman crying to get out. But I can usually shut her up with cookies.

- unknown

The hardest years in life are those between ten and seventy.
-Helen Hayes (at 73)

I refuse to think of them as chin hairs. I think of them as stray eyebrows.

-Janette Barber

Things are going to get a lot worse before they get worse.

-Lily Tomlin

A male gynecologist is like an auto mechanic who never owned a car.

-Carrie Snow

Laugh and the world laughs with you. Cry and you cry with your girlfriends.

-Laurie Kuslansky

My second favorite household chore is ironing. My first is hitting my head on the top bunk bed until I faint.

-Erma Bombeck

Old age ain't no place for sissies.

-Bette Davis

A man's got to do what a man's got to do. A woman must do what he can't.

-Rhonda Hansome

The phrase "working mother" is redundant.

-Jane Sellman

Every time I close the door on reality, it comes in through the windows.

-Jennifer Unlimited

Thirty-five is when you finally get your head together and your body starts falling apart.

-Caryn Leschen

I try to take one day at a time----but sometimes several days attack me at once.

-Jennifer Unlimited

If you can't be a good example -- then you'll just have to be a horrible warning.

-Catherine

When I was young, I was put in a school for retarded kids for two years before they realized I actually had a hearing loss. And they called ME slow!

-Kathy Buckley

I'm not offended by all the dumb blonde jokes because I know I'm not dumb -- and I'm also not blonde.

-Dolly Parton

If high heels were so wonderful, men would still be wearing them.

-Sue Grafton

I'm not going to vacuum 'til Sears makes one you can ride on.

-Roseanne Barr

When women are depressed they either eat or go shopping. Men invade another country.

-Elayne Boosler

In politics, if you want anything said, ask a man. If you want anything done, ask a woman.

-Margaret Thatcher

I am a marvelous housekeeper. Every time I leave a man, I keep his house.

-Zsa Zsa Gabor

Conservation International

the reason i love this charity is because it is the opposite of our idea of charity as a world. this is successful because it is an exchange of knowledge and needs. this is the future of charity and volunteering worldwide. we cannot just dump money or resources into places without giving the knowledge to allow these people to eventually be successful for them selves without our assistance.

“Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime”—Author unknown

Too often humankind sacrifices the natural world for short-term gain.

But in my work with Conservation International in the field in Cambodia — I’ve found that communities will embrace conservation when they can understand its importance to human health and benefit from its economic value.

Until people can experience these benefits, the incredible species, habitats, and landscapes we are working so hard to protect will remain under threat.

Today I’d like to give you an inside look into my work and encourage you to make a gift of support to Conservation International.

To help make conservation a community-based choice, I work with community members to set up Conservation Agreements — which provide concrete benefits to the community in exchange for effective commitments to protect their local resources.

Our Work in Cambodia

The Cardamom Mountains in southwest Cambodia are part of the largest intact forest stretch in Southeast Asia, and support many threatened and endangered species including the critically endangered Siamese Crocodile and endangered Asian Arowana (dragon fish).

Communities living in and on the edges of the Central Cardamom Protected Forest (CCPF) have relied on slash and burn agriculture, which destroys habitat. They have also supplemented their income and food sources by hunting and trading animals including tigers and sun bears.

One of their main sources of protein is fish but their fishing nets result in by-catch of the Siamese crocodile, the most threatened crocodilian in the world - there are only 200 left.

In 2006, CI reached out to the Chumnoab and Thmar Dan Pov communities — in an effort to protect the rich biodiversity there. So far, we have achieved amazing results. These two communities told us they needed more rice for food, additional income opportunities, and teachers who stay in their school year-round to educate their children.

In exchange for specific conservation commitments such as stopping deforestation and controlling hunting, we provide per diem, equipment and training for patrolling their forests, crocodile sanctuary and dragon fish pools. In our first agreement in 2006, we supplied 10 buffalos and plowed 25 hectares with a tractor to restore old paddy rice fields. We also provided a salary for 3 teachers.

Two years later, the Chumnoab and Thmar Dan Pov communities are engaged and supportive of conservation. They have increased rice production four-fold. They have teachers in the school year-round. In return, they have helped to protect 40,000 hectares of forest and have earned income for their work patrolling these areas. They no longer fish around crocodile nesting and dragon fish pool areas, which has contributed to a significant increase in the number of Siamese Crocodiles hatched and boosted dragon fish population.

Even more significantly, CI has built on the successes of these agreements and expanded conservation agreements to 4 other communities in and around the CCPF, so that we are now effectively protecting 150,000 hectares of tropical forest, and improving the lives of people who live in these communities.

Your support today will help CI pioneer conservation programs like these agreements that help benefit people and protect the natural world.

I’ve seen the tangible conservation successes we can achieve when communities benefit from conservation first hand. It is inspiring to be a part of a new era of conservation one where it is every person’s responsibility to protect the Earth’s services for the good of generations to come and benefits are equitably distributed.

I hope we can count on your continued support.

Sincerely,

Bunra Seng
Cambodia Country Director





Bunra Seng
Our Faces of Conservation series shows CI working on the ground to achieve breakthroughs in conservation for the benefit of people, everywhere.

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© 2009 Conservation International Conservation International's mission is to conserve the Earth's living heritage, our global biodiversity, and to demonstrate that human societies are able to live harmoniously with nature. Please visit http://www.conservation.org/ to learn more.

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Arlington, VA 22202 Telephone: (703) 341-2400
Toll-free (within the US): 1(800) 406-2306