Murphy's Blog

April 30, 2008

Hi everyone, it's me Murphy, ready to strut and shout!! You would not believe what has happened to me since Christmas. My mom accidentally caught me with my toes on the keyboard, and my beak on the case, and she didn't give a fellow time to explain that I really was not sharpening my beak, but was actually holding on while I typed. Boy, was that a big mistake! I lost my freedom to roam, until two days ago, and now I have to be crafty, if I want to talk with all of you! To top it all off, we missed Earth Day, because of computer problems. I was so upset, cause I had a lot of things I wanted to say, by way of celebration, and I didn't get to say them, until now!

I just got a bunch of information from RAN , Rainforest Action Network, and they want everybody to get the word out about Agrofuels. All the politicians have been talking about how the increase in Agrofuels is going to save the planet, well, let me tell you, NOT!

(The following information is from the RAN Organization, and after you read it, please go to www.ran.org, and get involved to help save our planet.)

Agrofuels are suppose to reduce GHG, Green House Gas, emissions. Agribusiness, oil, energy and auto companies are rapidly consolidating control over the entire agrofuel sector. The power of these corporations is huge! ADM, Archer Daniels Midland lobbied th US government for three decades to promote adding ethanol to gasoline, resulting in $2 Billion of government subsidies, most of which has gone to ADM.

Agribusiness companies are rapidly expanding fuel crop plantations into the Amazon Rainforest and biodiverse tropical ecosystems throughout South America, Southeast Aisa, the Pacific and Africa. Palm oil expansion is te primary cause of deforestation in Indonesia, where the forests are disappearing at a rate of more than 2.8 million hectaes a year, an area half the size of Belgium. In North America, logging companies like Weyerhaeuser are teaming up with oil companies like Chevron to convert forests into fuels.

Agrofuels are linked to human rights abuses. In order to make way for fuel crop plantations, the land rights of traditional and Indigenous communities are often violated. This encroachment of industrial plantations forces small family farmers to shift from subsistence to export-driven commodity farming, if they are not pushed off their land entirely. Plantation workers face abuse, exploitation and exposure to toxic pesticides. In Brazil, slave labor is still used on many soy and sugar cane plantations.

Agrofuels pits food against fuel. Industrial agrofuel production requires dedicating huge swaths of land to fuel production and drives up the price of basic food crops as food production competes against fuel production for land, water and market resources. The further we go down the industrial agrofuels path, th more we are setting up competition between the US's oversized thirst for fuel and billions of people's basic right to food.

Do the Math

Even if all cropland in the US were used to grow corn and all the corn were used to make ethanol , we would not produce enough ethanol to replace our over-consumption of of gasoline.

Every ton of palm oil produced results in 33 tons of carbon dioxide emissions - 10 times more per ton than petroleum.

The corn required to make enough ethanol to fill up a 25-gallon SUV tank could feed one person for a year.

Hi, it's me Murphy again, and I, for one, am angry about how big business forgets us little guys. How are we suppose to find our food? Bird seed, nuts, fresh fruit and veggies are vital for us birds, and come to think about it, you are also going to be left out in the cold, without food sources. If all the big farms are growing corn, and none of us are getting to eat it, where will we get our food????

Hi everyone,

My name is Murphy and I am the spokesbird for the rainforest. I want to tell you about where I come from, and a little about my other brother and sister parrots in other areas of the world's rainforests, because we need your help.Every day, humans are destroying our homes, at an alarming rate. We, Congo African Grey parrots, live in the tree canopy, up in the very top. I really hate to admit this, but we are not great flyers, we tend to land on our chests, and you have no idea how much that hurts! We need the tree canopy because we can easily find our food and visit with our friends, plus, we are out of danger. In all the rainforests of the world, our trees are disappearing and soon, we may not have homes, then, (gasp!), we would be gone too! Now just think about this, where would you be without your bird children or Oxygen? Oops, my Mom just walked in and told me to get off the computer, so I have to go for now. I promise to be back soon with more news about the rainforests, and what you can do to help.

November 19, 2007

Hello every body, it's me, Murphy, again. Boy do I have news for you! My mom finally left the computer, so I hopped on, because I gotta tell you about what I read in one of her emails. She belongs to some group called RAN, which stands for Rainforest Action Network. They sent a bunch of people to different rainforest areas of the world, to find out how things were going. Well, I can answer that, NOT GOOD! I want you to just read about what they found.

The expansion of palm oil plantations is the leading cause of deforestation in Indonesia, Malaysia and Papua New Guinea, while the expansion of soybean plantations is one of the principle causes of deforestation in the Amazon and the surrounding wooded savannah.
To clear the land for monocultural crops, rainforests are clear-cut and set on fire. The clear-cutting and burning of forests and peat bogs account for 20-25 percent of all global warming causing greenhouse gases.
The human rights of Indigenous people and small farmers are routinely violated simply to make room for palm oil and soy plantations. Plantation workers face abuse, harsh working conditions, and exposure to toxic pesticides.
According to the United Nations Environment Program, 98 percent of the orangutan's last remaining habitat in Borneo and Sumatra could be destroyed by 2022.

I know, this is terrible isn't it, and we gotta do something to stop it. I feel like "Chicken Little" must have felt, when she was running around crying, "the sky is falling, the sky is falling", but this is true. My fellow Parrot brothers and sisters are going to be doomed! Our homes are being destroyed, and our other wildlife friends and foes are in for trouble too! If that's not bad enough, I heard my mom telling my dad something about a UN Global Warming Report. I don't know what a UN is, but I have heard about Global Warming. Even though I like warm weather, I don't think this is the kind I like. I haven't read this report, but maybe you should. I know my mom had been sending emails to everybody in Washington, telling them to get busy and do something, but maybe every one should do it too! Oh no, I hear her coming this way again, so I have to run, besides, my toes are really tired from all this typing. Until next time, and maybe then I can show you some pictures of these places. Definitely have to run,
Bye Bye
Oh, I forgot to tell you, that's my picture at the top of this page, don't I look handsome?

November 24, 2007

Hello again, yep, its me, Murphy, and I just wanted to say I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. I have to tell you that I do get little upset when I hear people call it as "Turkey Day". After all, the turkey just might be one of my distant relatives.

I promised to show you all a picture of the rainforest, in Indonesia, where my papa is from, but I could not get it to fit in here, so I guess I'll have to get help with it. Oops, that would mean that my mom would know what I've been doing, you know, using her computer, and she is really gets upset about that. I have to remember to hide my snacks from her, peanut shells on the keyboard are a giveaway.

I am going to put a button for you to click on, (under my Blog picture), and it will save 11.5 feet of rainforest every day it is clicked, and it's free. There are a bunch of sponsors, whatever those are, that pay for the clicks, to save the rainforests.

I was being nosy, but I found some more news about the rainforest, from

that RAN group, and I want you to read it.

Why Preserve Rainforest Habitat?

Rainforests are some of the world's most ancient and complex ecosystems. They cover a mere 2% of the Earth, yet more than half of all plant and animal species live there. The rainforest is home to creatures as famous as the jaguar and poison dart frog, as well as lesser-known and even unidentified species.

These ecosystems are an amazing resource that is quickly slipping away. The rainforest is where many modern food staples originated, including tomatoes, corn, and chocolate, but we use a mere fraction of the edible plants available there. In addition, one quarter of modern medicines come from plant species that were first used as traditional remedies. Western science has analyzed less than one percent of rainforest plants for medicinal compounds, and the indigenous tribes that use these plants are rapidly disappearing.

To complicate matters more, the rate of species extinction in the rainforest is undeniably high. As the forests are burned for short-term farming, grazed, and harvested for wood and other compounds at an unsustainable rate, we are swiftly losing the very species that may someday provide needed cures or disease-resistant crops. With them, we lose an extraordinary number of unique creatures found nowhere else in the world.

Help us save the rainforests by clicking every day. The benefits to humankind and to the world are incalculable, and it costs you nothing more than a moment of your time. A click a day can save the world!*

*Facts and figures from: The Rainforest Alliance, World Health Organization, and the Rainforest Foundation.

That's it for today, my mom has been resting all day, from all the cooking yesterday, and I had a chance to jump back on here and bring you some news. I know she will be back here tomorrow, and I'll be "locked up" again, while she works. Poor me, all I have to do then is watch my other little bird brothers and sisters play in their cage, and maybe catch some TV, or listen to the radio, if she remembers to turn it on. I do like to sing when there is a song I like on th radio. Uh oh, I hear her moving this way, so I have to go. I'll tell you more later, promise, parrot's honor!

December 24, 2007

Hello Everyone!

Yep, It's me, Murphy, and I just wanted to say Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone.

I am sorry I haven't been able to tell you all about the news from the Rainforest, but my Mom has been "hogging" this computer all month! I want to lodge a protest! It is UNFAIR to this Spoke's Bird, when I don't get equal time to use the computer. How am I suppose to do my job, when I cannot get a foot on the keyboard? I know I must have some fans out there in cyberspace, that would be willing to stand up for my right to use this computer. Hello, anybody out there? Can I get any support? OOPS, I just remembered, tomorrow is Christmas, and I did see some funny shaped packages under the tree, with my name on the tags. I wonder if there is a computer for me? I better wait to stage my protest, until after the holidays. Yes, that is definitely a better plan.

Well, I don't want to get caught, and have to go to time out again. I hope you have a Wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Oh, and please come back again, I may need your help with a protest!

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