The Earth's resources are not unlimited and we have only this one planet to live on. As a society we must begin to move away from environmentally damaging attitudes and practises. This includes changing our North American consumer based economy. We have all heard this before, but instead of throwing up our hands and giving up we must find some solutions. Terra Guardian is here to help develop solutions to our environment degradation through its membership.
It can seem like an impossible task, saving the environment, but as a Terra Guardian it is your responsibility to make positive change in this area. Where do we start? How about with the 4 R's, that's right; Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Report. Reducing means being more aware of how many resources we are using. Reuse all those containers you get. Try to bring your own container and buying bulk instead of pre-packaged goods. Also before you throw something away see if anyone else has a use for it. Recycling means taking the time to sort out the paper plastics and metal used in everyday living and returning them to the proper recycling depot where they can be made into new products. Report all environmental damage and questionable practises so that we at Terra Guardian can put the information on the Internet for the world to see.
One huge way we can help our planet rejuvenate is by reducing the amount of deforestation which occurs. Most of our forests are used for pulp in paper. By switching to electronic data, and going to, tree-free, paper where a hard copy is needed we can reduce the demand currently placed on our tree's. Hemp paper blended with straw and kenaf is a renewable sustainable crop. Hemp over a 20 year period can produce 4 times as much pulp for paper then tree's. Hemp paper is stronger than tree paper due to longer fibres and has a shelf life of 1500 yrs vs 80 for tree paper. By mixing Hemp with other materials such as straw and kenaf we can reduce the cost of producing tree free paper and also use excess agricultural products. Next time you buy paper try to purchase tree free paper and help save our forests!
Ari Sundstrom, zradicad@tcel.com
OUT OF SIGHT - OUT OF MIND
by David Zradicka: wuta@tcel.com
One of the great strengths of the Terra-Guardian Association is the ability of our members to monitor their local environmental space.
Many times we've all witnessed the destruction of some personal habitat and said to ourselves; "I wish I could make more people become aware of this situation' if more people knew what was going on here, possibly we could do something to correct this condition!"
The Terra Guardian Internet Web Site was conceived to accommodate this request. If our members see a damaging situation, it is their responsibility to report the environmental abuse and we will document it, placing it on the Terra Guardian web site. Our goal is to have Terra Guardian chapters across the land and with the eyes of our members, we'll hold accountable individuals or organizations destroying our locale.
So, - "You, - Terra Guardian Member," if you witness anything environmentally not ethical, and people think; out of sight out of mind, you can respond; "NOT ON YOUR LIFE!"
David Zradicka, wuta@tcel.com
Senators breathing life into pot debate
Jim Morris
the Canadian Press
Ottawa
The Chamber of Sober Second thought is not without its surprises.
Some members of the senate legal and constitutional affairs committee say possession of a small amount of marijuana or hashish should not be illegal. But other wonder what the senators -Canada's most aged politicians- have been smoking.
"I'm trying to imagine what's going on inside the minds of the senators on this issue." Richard Garlick, spokesman for the Canadian Center on Substance Abuse, said Friday.
The committee is studying Bill C-8, Federal legislation that would retain as a criminal offence the possession of a small amount of marijuana. The bill has been approved by the House of Commons. In its current form, the penalty is a $1000 fine or six months in jail.
Senator Rose-Marie Losier-Cool, 57, said the current punitive approach to dealing with dope smoking hasn't worked.
"I'm in favor of decriminalizing marijuana," she said. "Maybe it's a health approach we should be taking a serious look at."
Garlick was even more surprised that senators Philippe Gigantes, 72, Richard Doyle, 73, and Duncan Jessiman, 73, supported changing the law.
"Support for decriminalization doesn't generally come from the more mature part of the population," he said.
Senators are appointed by the prime minister and hold their seats until they are 75, meaning they don't have to fear voter backlash.
Canadian Marijuana Reform Debate Yields Few Results
(exert from NORML weekly news http://www.norml.org)
June 24, 1996, Ottawa, Canada: Ongoing debates regarding the possibility of marijuana decriminalization in Canada yielded few tangible results as the Standing Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs recommended no significant changes be made to the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (bill C-8). This legislation is intended to replace the Narcotic Control Act and , according to many Canadian activists, will greatly expand the reach of Canada's illicit drug laws. Bill c-8 will become law when an Order in Council is passed later this year.
The Senate Committee's recommendation shocked many who noted that several of its members had publicly stated that they supported the decriminalization of marijuana. In attempt to explain the Senate's last minute flip-flop, Committee Chair Senator Sharon Carstairs told the Montreal Gazette that the committee member were serious about decriminalization, but felt that such a recommendation would be politically futile at this point. "The Majority of the Senators-- and I was with them -- felt all the evidence indicated decriminalization for simple possession [of marijuana] is the way we should be going," she reaffirmed. However, Carstairs said that many committee members believed such a proposal would violate several international treaties that Canada has signed and would have been struck down by the House of Commons.
If there is to be any relief for the cannabis community after the latest round of political debate, it may come by way of an approved amendment by Liberal Senator Lorna Milne that exempts "mature hemp stock" from the definition of marijuana. Although hemp industry proponents note that the passage of the amendment does little to open the door to allow for the widespread cultivation of hemp for commercial purposes, it does remove some of the regulatory restraints(e.g. licensing) that are currently in place regarding hemp fibre and products. "For Canada to develop hemp as an agricultural crop, the mature hemp stalk and the valuable fibre (sic) acquired from it must be free from over-regulation," Milne explained. "Without the amendment, the stalks, fibre (sic) and fibre (sic) products derived from them such as paper, would continue to be treated as though they were narcotic substances, simply due to the definition of the bill."
A staff member for Senator Milne informed NORML that he believes the Canadian government intends to draft a proposal to allow farmers to grow hemp for commercial purposes, but many Canadian activists feel that such legislation is still a long way off. Currently, tests plots of industrial hemp are grown in Canada under strict regulation for research purposes.
For more information on bill c-8, please contact Dana Larsen of Cannabis Canada @ (800) 330-HEMP or visit the website of the Canadian Foundation for Drug Policy @ http://www.fox.nstn.ca/~eoscapel/cfdp/cfdp.html for more info regarding the status of Industrial hemp in Canada please contact the office of Senator Lorna Milne @ (613) 947-7695.
NORML CANADA
Umberto Iorfida of NORML Canada was arrested for violation of section 462.2 of the Criminal Code, because he was handing out legalization literature to North Toronto high school students. Police trashed his office, confiscating photocopiers, fax machines, and even mailing lists.
Charges against Umberto were dropped two months later, but Umberto filed a writ claiming that section 462.2 was unconstitutional.
WHAT IS SECTION 462.2?
Section 462.2 of the Criminal Code provides a $100,000 fine and/or up to 6 months in jail for any printed or video promotion of the use of prohibited substances. The law makes no exceptions for journalistic, educational, scientific, scholarly, or political ends.
The law includes hemp clothing, Cannabis Canada magazine, T-shirts with cannabis leaves on them, grow guides, and even this flyer. It prevented legalization groups from buying newspaper or TV ads, and prohibited High Times from entering the country. Simply put, it is a law against political dissent.
Landscaping firm must stop leaks of pesticides
A Calgary landscaping firm has been ordered to stop leaking pesticides from its place of business on to an adjacent public park.
Alberta Environmental Protection has issued an enforcement order to APX Landscaping and Nurseries Ltd. after it was alleged that pesticide solutions from the business damaged vegetation at a city park.
The order directs the company to prevent any further movement of pesticide residue off the site and submit a written action plan and progress reports every two weeks.
Rising from the expanse of the Webyss, Greetings from the cyber side, Terra-Gaurdian is incubating a Website, envisioning the development of a major hub on the info-Hiway, We welcome any comments and creative perspectives our readers , members and Web visitors have to offer.
Were under construction at:
http://www.tcel.com/~wuta/tga/
This space has been graciously donated by Telnet Canada and "WUTA" The Western Unix Trade Association INC., and special thanks go to all the donated hours of the people that helped us get this far, . As we wait for the Paper work and the internet processes to come to a completion, soon we will have our own ".com " which will be
"http://www.terra-guardian.com".
We are sure to make the best of this as we gather the input from our members, sort through the webyss of information, that is already available , to provide a site that will Educate, and offer you answers in your quest in a more balanced and eco-sustainable environment, our possibilities seem to be endless.
Being a nonprofit society, we welcome any Journalism, Pictures, News, Reports, about our world and it's processes, what you may consider to be important information or events, any thing from recycling to social and personal transformational research or observations, neglected horrors, yes we will use shockmedia, if we have to...Sleepers Awaken, Just separating your garbage won't cut it !
Mark Bais
Mark Bais, marc@tcel.com
Social Committee Review by Denise Clancy: wuta@tcel.com
And on a closing note, our social committee is planning:
* The September Corn Bash
* October Halloween Fest
Keep an Eye on our site for Happening Details http://www.tcel.com/~wuta/tga/news/newslttr.html
Denise Clancy, wuta@tcel.com
Tasty Morsels from the Web
by Nils Sundstrom: nils@enernet.com
If Dr. Seuss were a Technical Writer
Here's an easy game to play.
Here's an easy thing to say.
If a packet hits a pocket on a socket on a port,.
And the bus is interrupted as a very last resort..
And the address of the memory makes your floppy disk abort,.
Then the socket packet pocket has an error to report!
If your cursor finds a menu item followed by a dash,.
And the double-clicking icon puts your window in the trash,.
And your data is corrupted 'cause the index doesn't hash..
Then your situation’s hopeless and your system's gonna crash!
You can't say this?.
What a shame, sir!.
We'll find you.
another game, sir!
If the label on the cable on the table at your house.
Says the network is connected to the button on the mouse,.
But your packets want to tunnel on another protocol,.
That's repeatedly rejected by the printer down the hall,.
And your screen is all distorted by the side affects of Gauss,.
So your icons in the windows are so wavy as a souse,.
Then you may as well reboot and go out with a bang,.
'Cause as sure as I'm a poet, the sucker's gonna hang!.
When the copy of your floppy's getting sloppy on the disk,.
And the microcode instructions cause unnecessary RISC..
Then you have to flash your memory and you'll want to RAM your ROM..
Quickly turn off the computer and be sure to tell your mom! |
Author Unknown.
Web Design by:
Quantum Creations Aug29/96 © TGA 1996
