Madagascar

I overheard part of a conversation the other day. The person said,

"penguins of madagascar......."

I said, "what did you just say?"

She said, "the penguins of madagascar"

"There ain't no PENGUINS in Madagascar"

"Oh, no, it's a show on TV"

These movies, toys and videogames are warping our childrens minds, but how would WE know any better? We grew up with it too. My mother used to feed me hamburgers, candy, and all sorts of things. I didn't know any better.

Mommy is feeding it to me, so it must be OK............

So, now there's a show, Penguins of Madagascar...............

What about the REALITY of Madagascar?

Does anyone know where it is?

Does anyone really know what's going on there?

Here's a little reality update, if you're interested in the REAL Madagascar:

Madagascar is a large island off the southeastern coast of Africa.

Origionally, it was a rainforest island.

Madagascar has only 10% of its forests left.

There is currently a "transitional" government "in charge". The president, Andry Rajoelina, and his government are allowing CMA-CMG Delmas, a French shipping company to support the cutting of rosewoods and other hardwood trees. They are reportedly shipping the logs to China. French President Nicolas Sarkozy claims to be fighting deforestation, but at the same time, his government approves the shipment of illegally logged rosewoods from Madagascar.

The animals not only have to deal with the destruction of their land and home, but poaching and wildlife trade as well.

As always, it is the business owners, bankers and governments that are perpetrating and allowing these crimes against our world. All the while, we sit in front of our TVs, eating so called food that is laced with chemicals, drinking our floride water, or better yet, beer. We sit around and let the wealthy owners/abusers of OUR planet completely warp our childrens' sense of reality. They will do this as long as they can get away with it.

The logging crisis began in March of 2009 when destabilization following a government coup allowed loggers to enter several of Madagascar's world-renowned parks and illegally log rosewood and other valuable trees. Tens of thousands of hectares were logged in Madagascar's most biodiverse rainforests, which also sparked a rise in bushmeat trafficking of lemurs. Since the coup, donor nations have drastically cut their aid to Madagascar. The transitional government has turned to the illegal trade in rosewood from its national parks to retain its grip on power. The shipment is expected to leave the port of Vohemar in Madagascar on March 16-17th. Schuurman says that the ship is likely bound for China, which does not have regulations like Europe and the US against trading in illegally logged woods.

From Dr. Glen Barry, President of Ecological Internet:

"Madagascar is down to its last biodiverse rainforest remnants amongst a sea of poverty. There will be no chance of national advancement if final logging of rare rosewood continues. Papua, New Guinea contains Earth’s third largest remaining rainforest tracts, yet the country is mid-boom with huge areas being logged without landowner prior and informed consent. In both cases corruption endemic to the tropical timber trade – and conservationists unwillingness to take a stand against old forest logging – are dooming these millions of year old primeval ecosystems to be lost forever. It is questionable whether the Earth System will function and whether the Earth will remain habitable without these ecosystems."