Obviously I'm new here. I live a few miles from New Orleans and yes my house survived the hurricane. I'm 17 and I'm a vegetarian and animal activist. Right now my main interest artistically is sewing but I also like almost everything else visually artistic and I enjoy experimenting w/ new meduims. I'll actually start posting on other threads later when I get the time. PS- Not that I don't like the avatars, but how do you upload your own avatar?
Hi there Artist.In.A.Bubble, I’m happy to hear that your home was spared the wreckage, so many others weren't. I’m so glad that you found us. You’ll find most of us are pretty laid-back or at least I am, lol. Anyway, Let me extend the welcome mat. I recently found "The Hip Forums" myself and I know what it’s like to be a newcomer. You don’t really know what to say or how to act. Read some of the threads so you can get the gist of what topics are being discussed. When you feel comfortable jump right in and get your feet wet. Nobody here is going to "Flame" you, that just isn’t tolerated here (unless it’s necessary) lol. We get some assholes here who just want to stir up bad vibes... From what I’ve found so far is that we are one big family with many brothers and sisters. Once again the doors open come on in, open up your heart and mind, put on some groovy tunes, kick back and stay awhile. Peace, Love & Great Big Hugs, DDR In case the darkness overtakes you down life’s highway, here's a candle to help find your way back into the light. Quote: Frank Zappa "Music is the most physically inspiring of all the arts."
You may use my research paper for your personal use, but I really must insist that you give credit where credit is due. I hope that you understand. It's my paper and it has been published! English: Composition 5 November 1998 The Silent Killer The bald eagle collapsed on a warm spring morning, its body trembling and eyes twitching. Accustomed to admiring the majestic bird soaring among the craggy cliffs, workers at a nearby quarry encircled its quivering body. They had seen the eagle, with its steel-like talons, and wings spanning eight feet, strike down prey. But now the giant bird was too weak to struggle as the men swaddled it in a blanket and placed it in the back of a pickup truck. Wildlife experts found no wounds to heal, no diseases to treat, mystified; they injected the eagle with nourishing fluids and drugs. The next morning the eagle was dead (Cone). This tragic story and others like it are true and happen all too often. Many of the animals we see and admire in our daily lives have succumbed to fates equally as unfortunate as that of the eagle. Pesticides are chemicals that affect the nervous system. They are designed to kill. In order to do their job they must be toxic (Ego). The uses of chemical pesticides cause great harm to the environment. The employment of DDT and other chlorinated pesticides are highly mobile in the environment (Matt 63). Several persistent pesticides have undoubtedly caused serious environmental problems through their ability to move through food chains and bioaccumulate in top carnivores (Wilkinson). Highly chlorinated pesticides such as DDT were developed and widely used, and later were found to be toxic to humans and other animal species (Freudenthal). Many of these halogenated chemicals collect and persist in the environment for many years after their intended use. Though most organochlorines are no longer used in the U.S. the long range environmental consequences are very serious (Matt 63). The environmental damages caused by the indiscriminate placement of chemical pesticides are a focus of widespread concern (Cooper 79). In the 1962 publication of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring, Carsonlinked DDT to an alarming decline in the number of wild eagles and other raptors, which ingested the pesticide in the flesh of fish and small mammals (Cooper 79). It was found that pesticides disrupt the avian reproductive process and cause the laying of infertile or deformed eggs (Zimmerman). DDT, Carson wrote, "caused eggshell thinning, resulting in many eggs that never hatched" (qtd in Cooper 79). It was also found that DDT caused a dramatic decline in the numbers of species of birds, mammals and amphibians. Carson’s words prompted further research that led to the 1972 ban on DDT and similar pesticides (Cooper 79). The direct application of chemical pesticides are the largest single cause of surface and groundwater pollution in North America (Ego). Most people feel that their use of pesticides is trivial, and that it makes little difference to the environment. They tell themselves that pesticides would not be available if they were not safe. They are wrong, pesticides are poison, and they will kill (Duplisea). Dr. David Primentel, a specialist at Cornell University, says: "each year pesticides kill at least 220,000 people and make another three million sick world wide" (qtd. In Boukhari). He adds: "over and carelessly used pesticides not only kill people, they also endanger our future as well" (qtd. in Boukhari). Primentel says, "their indiscriminate use cause eight billion dollars worth of damage to the environment every year in the U.S. alone and over one hundred billion dollars world wide" (qtd. inBoukhari). Because synthetic farm chemicals have only been in use since the 1940s, assessment of the long term health risk of drinking contaminated water is constantly being modified as new evidence about the chemicals are discovered (Olenick). "Groundwater contamination by synthetic chemicals didn’t exist until farmers began using these chemicals to increase their harvest and yield," said Dianne Jensen, co director of the Clean Water Action Project (qtd. in Olenick). Research suggests that the movement of pesticides in the environment is complex; however all pesticides are mobile and threaten groundwater (Waldron). "Any contamination of groundwater is a serious problem and the sooner we start working to fix it the better," said Judy Bellairs, legislative director of the North Star Chapter of the Sierra Club (qtd. in Olenick). The Pollution Control Agency named deformed frogs as one of the top environmental issues of 1997 (Dalnodar). Emerging research about deformed frogs are providing hints that pesticides are the major cause of this problem (Meersman). Frogs are considered to be sensitive indicator of environmental quality because of their unique position in nature: 1. They have permeable skin; 2. They live in water and on land; and 3. they have a complex life cycle in which a large percentage of their body tissue changes. If frogs are having trouble because of environmental pollution, it may be an early sign of potential problems for humans as well (Meersman). Dr.Valarie Beasley, amphibian specialist and toxicology professor at the University of Illinois, said, "frog abnormalities are only the latest ominous signal that agricultural practices and rural development are running amok and disrupting the balance of nature. We push everything to its limits and in use today are mutagens and effect the genetic structure of the cell (Lubchuk). Pesticides produce changes in the (RNA) and genetic mutations are passed on to the next generation (Matt 63.) Some frogs have missing or extra eyes, other deformities included, extra, missing or partially developed legs, limbs that divided and branch, and unusual spikes or protrusions at their tail end (Meersman). Researchers say that pesticides are perhaps the greatest factors that are contributing to these deformities (Meersman). "It scares me," said Judy Helgen, a research scientist with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. "I’m at all sorts of different levels of getting chills up-and-down my spine" (qtd. in Hedland). The environment has suffered a multitude of sins through the indiscriminate use of chemical pesticides. "The current vogue for poisons has failed utterly to take into account the most fundamental of considerations. As crude a weapon as the caveman club, the chemical barrage has been hurled against the fabric of life, a fabric on the one hand delicate and destructible, on the other miraculously tough and resilient, and capable of striking back in unexpected ways. These extraordinary capacities of life have been ignored by the practitioners of chemical control who have brought to their task no high-minded orientation, and no humility before the vast forces with which they tamper. It is our alarming misfortune that so primitive a science has armed itself with the most modern and terrible weapons and turned them against the earth" (Carson 297). Work Cited Boukhari, Sophie. "Poison of the Earth." Unesco Courier 15-16 July 1998. Periodical Abstracts. 22 Oct. 1998 < http://library.dcccd.edu/wm/TSPersAbs/Ovidweb/ovidweb.cgi> . Carson, Rachel. Silent Spring. Boston: Houghton, 1962. Cone, Marla. "DDT Ills Still Haunt the Coast." Los Angles Times 9 Aug.1995: A1+. Rpt. in Pollution. Ed. Trudy Collins. Vol. 6. Boca Raton: SIRS, 1995. Art. 17. Cooper, Mary H. "Regulating Pesticides." CQ Researcher 28 Jan.1994 73-96 Dalnadar, Emily, and Colleen Winters. "Funds Sought for Deformed Frog Research." The Minnesota Daily 22 Jan. 1998: News sec. 22 Oct. 1998 < http://www.daily.umn.edu/daily/1996/10/10/news/ap10na.ap/index.html> . Duplisea, Bradford. "Weeds or Wildlife: To Spray or Not To Spray?" The Prince Edward Island Propaganda Journal 1997. Island Residents against Toxic Environment. 22 Oct. 1998 < http://www.tao.ca/~irate/weeds.html> . Ego, Justin, and Ericka Ego. "Pesticides, DDT and Birds." Humans in Their Environment 29 Feb. 1998. 22 Oct.1998 < http://131.230.195.64/301Ichat/_disc1/0000000f.htm> . Freudenthal, Ralph I. "Chemical Industry." Encyclopedia of the Environment. Eds. Ruth A. Eblen and William R. Eblen. Boston: Houghton, 1994. Hedland, Jill K. "Deformed Frogs Popping Up All Over the State." The Minnesota Daily 10 Oct. 1996: News sec. 22 Oct. 1998 Lubchuk, Sharon. "Frogs and Pesticides: The Future Is Now." The Prince Edward IslandPropaganda Journal 1997. Island Residents Against Toxic Environment. 22 Oct. 1998 < http://www.tao.ca/~irate/frogs.html> . Matt, Lawrie, and Karan Snyder. Pesticide Alert: A Guide to Pesticides in Fruits and Vegetables. 1987 Rpt. in Environment. Vol. 1 Opposing Viewpoints Sources. San Diego: Greenhaven, 1990. 61-66. Meersman, Tom. "New Research Points to Deeper Questions About Frog Deformities." Star Tribune 31 July 1997: Metro sec. 22 Oct. 1998 < http://webserv1.startribune.com/cgi-bin/> . Olenick, Micheal. "Pesticides Threaten State Groundwater." The Minnesota Daily 28 Feb. 1989: News sec. 22 Oct 1998 < http://www.daily.umn.edu/gopher-archives/> . Waldron, Acie C. "Pesticides and Groundwater Contamination." The Ohio State University Bulletin, 1992. Ohio State University Extension. 22 Oct. 1998 < http://www.ag.Ohio-State/~ohioline/b820/> . Wilkerson, Chris F. "Pesticides." Encyclopedia of the Environment. Eds. Ruth A. Eblen and William R. Eblen. Boston: Houghton, 1994. Zimmerman, Rae. "Government Management of Chemical Risk." Grolier MultiMedia Encyclopedia Online 1998. Grolier Interactive. 22 Oct. 1998 < http://go.grolier.com/> .
