Lessons from long-neck critters

Whenever I click on a newspaper website, or switch on the TV news, I see someone cradling an AK47 or some similar killing machine.

Another click takes me to news of more shootings in the Ant Hill – the place most people call Toronto. There have been 248 shootings and firearms discharges in that city so far this year resulting in 125 injuries of deaths.

Globally, 560,000 people died in interpersonal and collective violence in 2016, says the Small Arms Survey produced by a Swiss study group. About 385,000 of them were the victims of intentional homicides, 99,000 were casualties of war and the rest a variety of causes.

Ours is a violent world. So much so that I wonder if we humans actually are more violent than the wild animals, most of which kill for food. Some don’t kill at all, restricting their diets to plants.

Take for instance giraffes. They eat leaves, vines and fruits, although in desperate times have been known to grab something meaty.

Giraffes set a good example for we humans, not just for eating healthier but for living peacefully. Those long-neck critters live in loose, open herds, doing their own thing, or just going with the flow.

 
They get along without leaders to tell them where to go, and what to do. And, they are not territorial, a trait that gets humans in a lot of trouble.

Besides being gentle and graceful, giraffes are quiet, never causing noisy uproars. They are not known to roar, growl or howl. The most any researchers have ever heard from a giraffe is a grunt, which could be translated as: “Whatever, eh?”

Because giraffes have little to say some people assume they must be stupid. They are not dumb; they communicate not with their voices, but by touching and eye signalling each other. They identify each other by their spots, which are different in each giraffe.

They often hang around villages in southern Africa where folks consider them gentle giants who seldom do any damage and don’t cause anyone to be afraid.

Giraffes fooled the early Romans, who first became acquainted with them when Julius Caesar brought one back from Alexandra, Egypt. The Romans thought that the strange beasts, which they called camelopards because of their brownish flagstone-like patches, would make vicious opponents for the gladiators.

Imagine the spectacle! A short, muscular gladiator with shield in one hand, battle axe in the other, staring up at a 16-foot-tall beast that could sit on him and crush him into the sand.

However, giraffes are lovers, not fighters, and any brought into the killing ring likely just stared at the odd little men standing beneath them. The Colosseum crowds no doubt were disappointed.

Staring is what giraffes do today when confronted by lions that want to eat them. A herd of giraffes will stand and stare patiently at lions that come looking for a meal.  The giraffes have learned that lions will not attack when they are being watched.

So, there is much we can learn from these peaceful beasts. Diet is obvious. A mature male giraffe weighs roughly 2,500 pounds. He has grown all that muscle, bone and sinew without ever tasting a Big Mac, fries, or pepperoni pizza. Acacia leaves, and other greenery, suit him just fine.

Getting along with each other is another lesson. Males might get into a serious neck wrestling match over a female but these encounters are not usually overly violent.

Yes, there is much to learn from watching and listening to animals. As A. A. Milne, the author who created Winnie-the-Pooh, is reported to have said: “Some people talk to animals. Not many listen though. That’s the problem.” 

One of the problems for giraffes is trophy hunting. Between 2006 and 2015, trophy hunters legally imported into the United States 3,744 giraffe hunting trophies, and thousands of giraffe parts such as skins, bones and bone carvings.

There are an estimated 117,000 giraffes remaining in Africa, according to the Giraffe Conservation Foundation. They are considered endangered because populations have decreased by roughly 30 per cent in recent times.

We need to keep them around. They are good teachers, and we humans have much to learn.

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How many kids will die?

From Shaman’s Rock

By Jim Poling Sr.

There are days this summer when my mind spins like a roulette wheel about to fly off its spindle and crash into a wall.

I sometimes think it is this summer’s hot and unsettled weather that is making me feel that way. It’s not. It’s all the unsettling crisis-like events swirling around us all.

Some of the events are far away, but still threatening to us, and others are on our doorsteps. It hurts to think that much of what threatens us is preventable or solvable. It hurts even more thinking about how little progress we are making in eliminating, or at least reducing, these threats.

The menacing threat on our doorsteps, of course, is the Covid-19 Delta variant. It is starting to sicken and kill unvaccinated children. It’s not so bad yet in Canada, but Canadian institutions always lag behind the U.S. in collecting and distributing data important to its citizens.

Covid-19 infecting children is a developing nightmare. In the United States almost 4.5 million children have tested positive for Covid since the pandemic began. More shocking, 94,000 children tested positive in the first week of August, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.

The U.S. Centres for Disease Control reported a 27.3-per-cent increase in the seven-day average for Covid hospital admissions among children zero to 17 years old. That increase was seen in just 14 days in late July and early August.

Vaccines have made Covid-19 controllable. If everyone got the shot, infections, hospitalizations and deaths would be minimal.

The fact that there are hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people who refuse vaccination and are willing to let children get sick and perhaps die is beyond shocking. 

Also on our doorsteps and threatening our futures is climate change. Western North America is on fire, other parts have dried to dust and still others are flooding under a summer of violent storms.

We have been warned about global warming and climate change for more than 100 years. Amateur scientist and women’s right activist Eunice Foote experimented with carbon dioxide in the 1850s and concluded: “An atmosphere of that gas [CO2] would give to our Earth a high temperature.”

Despite even more conclusive evidence, more warnings, a lot of political talk and some weak-kneed action, the fires and the floods grow worse. So do CO2 emissions.

Meanwhile far abroad, the mentally-deranged Taliban, who treat women as sex slaves and stop children from reading books, have taken over Afghanistan. No big deal for us in North America? 

No big deal - until they get their hands on a nuclear bomb from neighbouring Pakistan, North Korea or China. The Taliban goal is to eliminate all ‘infidels’.

The biggest threat, however, is ourselves. We allow ourselves to be governed by weak leaders who worry that firm stands and strong actions needed for solutions to the threats will threaten their re-election. Making masks and vaccinations mandatory would end Covid but would make some voters unhappy.

While all of this swirls around us, our federal politicians are stomping through our neighbourhoods sucking up to us for votes.

We are told we need a federal election - in the midst of the most serious health crisis in modern history and an unprecedented developing climate crisis - despite one being held only 22 months ago. The need is simply a wish in the mind of the current minority government. 

A minority Parliament is probably better for finding solutions to our problems. With a minority the government has to listen to and work with the other political parties. Majority governments think they know it all, don’t listen to anyone else and carry on doing what they want.

Covid, climate change, and international upheavals are major threats that require bipartisan solutions. Also, solutions require money.

Elections Canada estimates that the Sept. 20 federal election will cost us an estimated $610 million, roughly $100 million more than the one 22 months ago. That will be the most expensive election in Canadian history.

The cost could be higher depending on how the fourth wave of Covid-19 develops.

Six hundred million plus seems like a ton of money that could be used to help fix current problems and threats.

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 A good friend who lived at the top of the hill behind my place passed away this summer. Her name was Fagus, a Latin name I believe. 

I’m guessing that Fagus was close to 100 years old. I can’t be certain because I never counted her growth rings.

Yes, my friend Fagus was a tree. Fagus Grandifolia is the official name for North American beech, those heavily crowned forest sentinels with smooth bluish-grey bark and saw-tooth leaves.

I don’t know what killed her. It was likely beech bark disease, which has become a grim reaper in Ontario’s beech stands. The disease is caused by the combination of a canker fungus and the beech bark beetle, an invasive bug from Europe.

Fagus had a short life, considering beeches can live for 200 or more years. But hers was a happy and productive life, spent giving and helping others.

It might seem odd to be writing an obituary about a tree. However, trees have lives similar to humans. Like us they are born from seed, grow through life stages of childhood, young adulthood, maturity and old age. Like us they have to fight off diseases and try to protect themselves from natural disasters.

They are a vital part of overall life on this planet, probably more so than we humans, and deserve recognition and respect. 

Fagus stood on the edge of a trail I use regularly. Whenever I walked up the hill I stopped and leaned against her trunk to catch my breath.

I often thought it would be nice to talk to Fagus, to hear her story and what changes she has seen over the last century. Some indigenous cultures believe that trees have spirits that talk and people can speak with them if they listen deeply and learn their language.

There is no solid evidence of that but scientists tell us that trees do communicate with each other through underground fungal networks. There is a growing pile of research that shows trees send water and nutrients to each other through underground networks that also carry warning signals about dangers such as disease and insect attacks.

I know little about talking to trees, but I have learned much about Fagus’ life just by observing her and her surroundings.

Fagus believed that even as a lone individual she had a critical role in sustaining the world around her. She gave of herself fully and her generosity was evident everywhere.

She regularly dropped high-protein nuts that gave bears, deer and some smaller critters the energy and strength they need to live in their harsh environments. 

She sheltered many birds in her dense foliage, protecting them from predators and killer storms. Birds, squirrels and chipmunks gave birth to their young in nests she allowed them to build in cavities created where branches were torn from her trunk by strong winds and heavy snows.

During her life Fagus took in about 48 pounds of carbon dioxide a year, or more than two tons over her 100 years. She released enough oxygen into the air for 10 people to inhale each year. 

It was all part of that miracle process called photosynthesis in which trees take in and store harmful carbons and give off helpful oxygen. Without photosynthesis there would be no plant life on earth, and therefore no human life.

Fagus dropped her leaves every autumn, fertilizing and protecting the soil around her. Her massive crown of leaves provided shade that helped to regulate temperature extremes.

Along with all her good work, Fagus also raised children who are the promise of a strong, healthy forest future. 

Even in death Fagus is not finished giving. Her wood could be used for plywood, pallets or even railroad ties. However, I’ll cut her wood into rounds, and split them for the woodstove because beech burns hot and slowly and is rated among the top firewoods.

I’m sad to see Fagus gone, but happy for the generosity of her life. Like humans she provided much good, but unlike humans she never did anything bad.

Thank you, Fagus. You were kind and generous, and beautiful to look at.

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Have the feeling that someone is listening and watching?

I have that feeling more often these days. It’s more than a feeling. It has become a belief.

The other night the television went wonky, as televisions do in these times of mystifying electronics, spy satellites and other stuff beyond the reach of average human comprehension.

I called the TV service provider. A distant and unconcerned voice answered and said things were being checked but nothing appeared to be wrong. 

“You might try changing your TV remote battery,” advised the voice. “It’s down to 30 per cent.”

I stared at the remote in my left hand, then the telephone in my right.

“How do you know that?” I asked. No answer.

I changed the battery, but the TV remained wonky. Occasional cutting in and out and flashing like there was a thunderstorm overhead, but that night there wasn’t a cloud for hundreds of miles around.

“Monitor it for the next 24 hours and if there’s still a problem, call us back.”

The next day the TV was normal and I assumed the voice had fiddled a switch or jiggled a button and the problem disappeared. However, I was left with that uncomfortable feeling that the voice on the phone also was a set of eyes inside my home.

How did it know the battery level in the TV remote sitting on my coffee table? And, why didn’t it say how it knew when I asked?

It’s creepy how little of our lives is private anymore. 

For instance, I’d like to know where they get those questions you must answer to get into your bank account web site. Who was your first manager? Where did you go on your honeymoon? Who was your Grade 12 math teacher? On what day did you clip your toenails last month?

I don’t remember giving anyone those questions, or the answers. 

I suppose I should be thankful they are questions I can guess at. If they asked me really difficult stuff like: Where did you leave your car keys? I would never get into my bank account or any password-protected site.

Governments and big businesses know more about every one of us than they will ever admit. They have it stored in brightly lit rooms that buzz, whir and crackle with digital sounds. 

By one estimate, more than 98 percent of the world’s information now is stored digitally, and the volume of that data has quadrupled since 2007. Much of it is data taken from home and work electronics that we use to send and receive emails, chat on social media and work on crowd-sourced projects.

Many of us were shocked reading George Orwell’s novel 1984. The book’s Big Brother with his telescreens in every home and office was small potatoes compared with today’s Big Data.

Stroll into a shopping mall store and covert lenses track you to record your shopping experience. Show an interest in Big Bill blue jeans and the Big Bill company knows about it.

Big Data has tens of thousands of unambiguous algorithms sniffing through our Web histories like beagles looking for puppy snacks. What they find is stored forever, unlike paper which loses what it has stored when you accidentally spill your coffee on it.

Big Data has other sneaky tools – like facial recognition, which you thought was really cool when you got it on your new smartphone. So did governments and big corporations, who now know more about you than your mother.

Those selfies that many folks are so fond of placing on social media apps? They likely are ending up somewhere you didn’t want them to be.

Surveillance of citizens minding their own business has been growing dramatically during the Covid pandemic. Hundreds of millions of Chinese have installed mandatory ‘health code’ smartphone apps that determine whether they can leave home.

Some European governments are collecting Telcom data, employing drones and copying contact-tracing apps invented in Asia as part of Covid surveillance.

Governments and corporate giants constantly tell us that privacy is important and surveillance is used only to prevent crime, improve efficiency, or whatever. 

Yeah, maybe. But just to be safe I am going to start showering in my undershorts.

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