Rain Forests - Emotions - Activists - Truth

[Guest guest]

Hey y'all,

 

Been kinda quiet on list as far as heavy discussions are concerned and

its my opinion that we learn more when we can have such discussions

and hear from folks who have different opinions on controversial

subjects that impact this industry. We don't learn much from

emotional argument but we do learn when the opposing opinion comes

from one who has looked at both sides of an issue and is capable of

being convinced that maybe the other person might be right .. or ..

who is capable of showing the other person why they are not right by

presenting information that has enough credibility to change opinions.

 

So .. feel free to fire away at my opinion but please do so in a

manner that has a possibility of convincing me I am wrong. ;-)

 

This post is kinda long .. and it might bore some folks .. but I feel

a need to make it and them that read it are welcome to comment.

 

Never have I had much tolerance for extremists .. matters not which

side of an issue they are on. I have always tried to stay pretty

close to the middle of the road so I could examine both sides at the

same time.

 

One of the many things I dislike about extremists is that the majority

of them are not willing to hear the ideas of those who disagree with

them .. some even insult or threaten .. sometimes kill .. those who do

not think as they do. That pisses me off .. so I guess its fair to

say that I am pissed off at most of the extremists. I know folks who

are hard core Democrats or hard core Republicans .. many of them think

that those who don't vote as they do are idiots .. considering that

most of the American elections are pretty much 50-50, if they are

right then we have a population that contains at least 50% idiots.

 

There are some extremists who are smart enough to not go around peeing

in everyone else's mess kit. Those I can tolerate because they don't

interfere with my personal life, liberty or mental processes.

 

Then we have those who .. like a well known figure in this industry ..

wrote me once and said they were amazed that I was still selling

Mysore Sandalwood and Rosewood .. that they had previously been under

the impression that I was an intelligent person .. and that I should

be ashamed of what I was doing. I did not respond to this person ..

but I did respond to one of their counterparts who is smart enough to

not say such things to me. Such folks piss me off .. and they drive

me to work even harder to prove their position is not a solid one.

 

Them that's been around a while know that I have always tried to tell

the other side of the story regarding Mysore Sandalwood and Rosewood.

I have many, many articles discussing this in the List Archive.

 

Long have I heard from certain circles that there is no Mysore now as

its been banned from export for years .. hawg warsh this is fer'shur.

 

On the other side .. are the activists screaming out that the world is

gonna come to an end if we don't embargo sales of this Mysore that the

other cats say don't exist in the first place. ;-)

 

Then we have some who scream that we gotta embargo sales of Rosewood

cause that is one of the reasons the Rain Forests in Brazil are being

decimated. That too is hawg warsh .. there is not a single stretch of

Rain Forest in Brazil that has been destroyed for the purpose of going

in after a Rosewood Tree(s). And even some of the extremists who are

calling for a ban on sale of Rosewood oil .. admit themselves that

such a ban would not stop the destruction of the Rain Forests .. but

they are of the opinion that if we all hold hands on top of the hill

and sing " We Are The World " , then all the misguided politicians and

greedy loggers will suddenly realize that they need to stop cutting

trees in Brazil.

 

Recognize also .. that only a very small amount of the Rosewood trees

cut down are turned into Rosewood Essential Oil .. normally the wood

shavings are used. The reason Rosewood is valuable is it is great for

making expensive furniture and classy coffins for the wealthy. Maybe

we should embargo the wealthy! Wait a minute .. that ain't too cool

cause its them folks that are paying the salaries for most of us

normal folks.

 

The number one reason for loss of Rain Forest is commercial logging.

But its not just Rosewood trees that they are after .. they are not

the main variety of tropical hardwood in the forest .. so we can say

that the Rosewood tree is primarily a victim of collateral damage.

 

Logging operations are a major source of employment for the locals and

export of these trees is the main source of revenue for the government

of Brazil.

 

The second largest reason for loss of Rain Forest is clearing land for

grazing animals and subsistence farming. Brazilian peasants are poor

folks .. generally. The amount of arable land in Brazil is 6.93% ..

permanent crops are grown on 0.89% of the land. Problems farmers face

are recurring droughts and floods .. they get it from both ends. They

need and want more farmland. The law on forests in Brazil is similar

to the law in Turkey .. if it burns down then it can be used as farm

land by squatters .. and satellite photos show that there is no

shortage of fires in Brazil. Difference is that Turkey has long had

an outstanding program of reforestation .. even Martin Watt had nice

things to say about that program when he visited here. ;-)

 

The scientific community agrees that even after these logging

companies move through an area .. that area can revitalize itself in

20 years or so. Mama Nature is good about such things. But .. the

peasants follow the loggers .. they slash and burn any timber left

standing .. and they gain a bit of free land for the purpose of

subsistence farming.

 

The trees the loggers are after are mostly the tropical hardwoods ..

they are one of Brazil's largest exports .. and the country that buys

the lion's share of these trees is Japan. If we were to kick off a

campaign to embargo Japanese goods maybe we could slow the reduction

of the Rain Forests .. but then, we would need to find alternative

sources for employment of the peasants .. and increase foreign aid to

the Brazilian government because now 50% of their GDP goes to pay debt.

 

Subsistence farming in Brazil is more than just feeding the family,

its often politically driven .. so to increase the number of

subsistence farmers .. the government often turns a blind eye to

destruction of Rain Forests. The political aspects of this is a not

so secret desire to Brazilianiz Brazil .. that is, to replace the

Amazon Indians with " real Brazilians " .. this idea of colonization and

displacement of " inferior " indigenous tribes is not different than

what has gone down in many other countries (to include the USA) ..

embargo of Rosewood oil will NOT stop this movement .. but it will

place an even larger economic burden on these indigenous tribes

because many of them make money from selling felled Rosewood trees or

parts thereof.

 

What will stop the destruction of the Rain Forests is similar to what

will stop Magabe's shameful treatment of people in Zimbabwe .. and the

rape and murder of displaced people in Darfur .. and the many

incidents of man's inhumanity to man in literally hundreds of other

places in the world today .. that is .. foreign assistance for

economic prosperity and to improve human rights .. but sometimes it

is necessary to intervene in order to do that .. and its not socially

acceptable to forcibly dictate policy to foreign governments .. even

if they do have their heads where the sun don't shine. So .. its back

to the idealistic drawing board.

 

Most of those who chose to be full time or part time environmental

activists tend to disregard information contrary to their position ..

" don't confuse me with facts .. I have my mind made up. " We can see

this every day .. even now the US Gummit has decided that the Bald

Eagle and the Grey Wolf and the Grizzly Bear in Yellowstone .. are no

longer in danger. So they wanna take them off the list because

keeping them on the list has ramifications that go far beyond simple

protection of the critters .. however, the environmentalists (at least

those who are not scientists) are screaming about taking them off ..

and the reason is .. they need a cause to protest .. its about

emotionalism and pride of accomplishment even if the accomplishment is

useless, wasted effort.

 

True it is that there are rational and serious and sincere activists

out and about .. but all of them are NOT! When one chooses a position

... be it liberal vs conservative .. pro or anti abortion .. pro or

anti war .. or pro or anti-Jihad .. or any other stance that

(generally) is emotionally motivated, they often disregard information

contrary to their position.

 

When it comes to examining the realities of destruction of Sandalwood

trees .. and more importantly (for this discussion) of Rosewood trees,

its not just the activists who live in Dream Land .. the majority of

folks in this industry also do not get high grades. The reason is

that they are reluctant to upset the activists and kick their sacred

cows .. and they avoid disagreement because they might appear to be

unconcerned about the environment .. that would be sacrilege!

 

Those who disagree with my position are OK folks if they know why they

disagree and can verbalize their disagreement without using

politically correct garbage arguments and insulting my intelligence.

Those who disagree with me but can't intelligently explain why they

disagree .. well, they can kiss my grits. ;-)

 

I have always been concerned about the environment but I don't have

the time or the desire to chase after whirl winds or plan assaults on

wind mills. I read every credible article I can find in whatever

scientific journal I can find .. searching for truth .. because truth

is something we can rarely get from reading the words of those who

stray too far left or right of the centerline. I'm now and have been

for many years a dues paying active member of two conservation

organizations .. and I do care about seeing mankind not do dumb things

when acting smart will get the same results. I also sell Mysore

Sandalwood and Rosewood .. my motives for doing so are not greed or

ignorance.

 

When cops come upon a body that is still in death throes and see a big

knife sticking out of the chest .. they know they got a death on their

hands .. but they can't claim to know the CAUSE of DEATH - that will

be determined by appropriate SCIENTIFIC .. not EMOTIONAL authorities.

 

Same holds true for destruction of the Brazilian Rain Forest .. for

sure if the rate of logging and slash-burn activities continues for

many more years there will be a negative impact on the environment ..

for a period of time .. but embargoing the sale of Rosewood Oil will

have about as much impact on this as will embargoing milkshakes from

McDonalds!!

 

What I am saying is .. whether or not one purchases Rosewood oil there

will be no change in the rate of destruction of the Rain Forest. If

one feels that by not buying Rosewood oil they are doing something

positive and making a statement that gives them warm, fuzzy feelings

then I am 100% in support of their actions because feeling good is

what we all strive for .. but I hope that while they deny them self

this Rosewood oil they are at least knowledgeable enough to recognize

why they are doing it, and kind enough to not criticize those of us

who don't feel a need to make such a statement .. and are continuing

to sell Rosewood Oil.

 

Enough of that I reckon .. unless someone wants to banter about how

misinformed I am because I don't agree with their position regarding

Sandalwood/Rosewood. I kinda hope they do that. ;-)

 

Any way .. the below article is (I reckon) a step in the right

direction to pacify those who are concerned about destruction of the

Brazilian Rain Forest. Those who have paid much attention to economic

conditions in Brazil will read other things into this article .. but

then those who are more concerned about people than they are about the

possibility .. not certainty .. that man creates global warming ..

will read a lot into the conversion to fuels produced from corn, etc.

Like .. the fact that corn has gone from $2 to $4 a bushel in one

year .. and the Mexican peasants are up in arms cause their main diet

is corn tortillas. ;-)

 

Them that are truly concerned about the delicate balance between the

needs of man and the environment will welcome the information in the

below article .. them that don't really want to see a solution because

it might take away a reason for them to feel good about what they are

doing for mankind (protesting) will try to pick the article apart and

will say that its white wash .. it won't work .. like all political

agreements. To them I ask .. is it your desire to go through life

identifying problems or do you think that your efforts would be more

useful to mankind if you also came up with credible recommendations

for a remedy to those problems?

 

The news below may well be white wash .. just another attempt by the

Brazilian government to patronize the Western world and the activists

but if this turns out to be the truth .. believing that an embargo of

Rosewood oil is going to do any more than white wash to correct a bad

situation is also an exercise in futility.

 

The actions in the article below are not THE solution to the problem

of diminishing Rain Forest in Brazil .. the actions necessary to stop

the harvest of trees in Brazil are too numerous to mention even if

this list was named " Oils & Herbs Rain Forest List " .. but its a step

in the right direction .. and though its not THE solution .. every bit

helps said the old boy who peed in the ocean.

 

If I was bored enough to be an activist .. from both an idealistic and

realistic standpoint I reckon I'd choose more worthwhile fantasies to

promote. Idealistically, I would demand that all the crime in the

world stop and prove that if that could be realized .. we could save

this and that much money by getting rid of police and courts and

prisons. But then .. I oughta also recommend what we do to save all

those folks from bankruptcy when we took away their jobs. From a more

realistic point of view .. I'd start training for positive action by

sitting down and again viewing my videos of the Great Charles Bronson

and his courageous and loving actions in the movies " Death Wish. "

Wait a minute .. I can't do that .. it would make me appear to be an

extremist. ;-)

 

I don't process orders much on Saturday .. I write and think and play

with my son on Saturday .. so tomorrow I will process those orders

that came in last night .. ain't forgot about y'all I ain't.

 

It is now after 8:00 at night here .. I am gonna post this and then ..

cause my sweet wife gave me a kitchen pass .. I'm gonna mosey on down

to the Papsi Pub, have a few Rakis with my friends. We gonna examine

and criticize political events of the world today .. then we gonna

argue about what we oughta do to fix those problems. ;-)

 

Y'all keep smiling. :-) Butch http://www.AV-AT.com

 

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Brazil Forestry Rules Win Mixed Praise

 

POSTED: 1503 GMT (2303 HKT), March 23, 2007

 

Story Highlights

• Brazil law opens national forests to use by private companies and

citizens

• Officials are to create a registry of all public lands in the Amazon

region

• Forestry service then will decide which areas can be opened up for

concessions

• Environmentalists and loggers agree move a good one if policy enforced

properly

 

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AP) -- New rules that allow sustainable

logging of national forests in the threatened Amazon drew guarded

praise from both environmentalists and loggers.

 

President Luiz Inacio da Silva this week issued rules to carry out the

law, passed last year by Congress, that opens national forests to use

by private companies and citizens.

 

Officials are supposed to create a registry of all public lands in the

Amazon region, and the National Forestry Service then will determine

which areas can be opened up for concessions.

 

Loggers will have to present a plan for sustainable management that

preserves the forest while allowing commercial profit from it.

 

" We see more positive points than negative points in the decree, "

Marcelo Marquesini, a senior campaigner for Greenpeace, said Thursday.

" Success or failure of this public policy will depend on monitoring

and enforcement. If there is no enforcement, it will not work. "

 

At least some loggers agreed.

 

" It's a good move if everybody follows the law, but if some people are

logging responsibly and others aren't, it won't work, " said Marcelo

Sobral, a logger from the southern state of Curitiba with holdings in

the Amazon rain forest.

 

Brazil is home to the vast bulk of the Amazon rain forest, and in

recent years the country has struggled with how to balance the

region's development with preservation.

 

Farmers and ranchers are increasingly making inroads into the world's

largest remaining tropical wilderness, threatening the environment but

also creating jobs for the millions of poor people who live in the region.

 

So far about 20 percent of the Amazon's 1.6 million square miles of

rain forest has been cut down, mostly to make way for pasture and

grain fields.

 

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

[Guest guest]

Butch said: " Recognize also .. that only a very small amount of the

Rosewood trees

cut down are turned into Rosewood Essential Oil .. normally the wood

shavings are used. The reason Rosewood is valuable is it is great for

making expensive furniture and classy coffins for the wealthy. "

 

Hi Butch,

They also use rosewood to make acoustic guitars and they sound so

beautiful...you can include that in your list. Here is how naive I

was...I use to think rosewood was for aromatherapy...until I saw my first

rosewood acoustic guitar. I agree that the rosewood trees will continue to

be cut down despite our best efforts otherwise...there are so many other

factors involved.

You take care,

Paula

[Guest guest]

Hi Butch,

They also use rosewood to make acoustic guitars and they sound so

beautiful...- I agree that the rosewood trees will continue to

be cut down despite our best efforts otherwise...-

 

[Dave:] Rosewood is used extensively throughout SE Asia for high-end

furniture, too. There are several species of tree that are referred to as

rosewood in the lumber industry, and I am not sure if the wood used for

guitars is the same as that used for aromatherapy or not. On the plus side,

there is very little solid-wood furniture being built of quality woods any

more. Most everything is veneered particle board. Modern veneers are

literally paper-thin, as opposed to 100 years ago when veneers were around

1/8” thick, and 200 years ago when they were twice that thick. This allows

maximum yield from each log. For instance, the concert hall in Dallas TX

designed by I. M. Pei is paneled in perfectly-matched cherry veneer. The

entire hall is veneered in the wood from only two trees.

 

 

 

 

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