FUTURE PERFECT

Issue #3: Apr '12

send comments to futureperfect.editor@gmail.com Suggested music: j.mp/tt_lonelyplanet j.mp/dc_herecomestheood
Introduction by the Editor Mark Dallas Reduce, Re-use, Recycle! Caio Saviolo The End is Nigh (Again) Vanessa Lacroce ELF: Terrorists or Heroes? Mariana Pedrosa End-of-Days Movie Review Mariana Pedrosa Conscious Consumerism or Greedy Greenwashing? Aritta Valiense Put the Fun between your Legs! Nontapat Ruanin Darwin: Adapt or Die? Fuyu Hsieh How it all Ends Fernanda Da Costa Social Communities Saving Society Tamires Criscio Credits Where your money went and where its going 2 5 7 9 11

14 16 18 20 22 24 25

Introduction
BY THE EDITOR
ts no accident that zombie movies, zombie TV series and zombie walks are so popular these days. The undead citizen has long been used as a symbol of consumerism, and its no accident that so many lms in this genre are set in shopping malls! They represent ourselves mindlessly consuming whatever we can get our hands on and, by doing so, eating away at ourselves in the process. As you might have noticed (unless youve been shuf"ing around like a mindless zombie), ILSC Toronto has been celebrating Earth Month. Students and teachers have been scribbling their promises and sticking them onto the promise tree, taking the stairs and drinking from reusable water bottles, all in supercial acknowledgement that something has to change if were here to stay as a species. But sooner or later, we all come to realize that nothing lasts forever. This months issue of Future Perfect deals with peoples obsession with the end of the world (also known as Armageddon or the Apocalypse). Ill start this issue with an excerpt from one of my favourite books of all time: Work: Capitalism. Economics. Resistance. I have slightly modied the vocabulary for

our target readership, but I feel it says pretty much what needs to be said about pollution and its root causes. You can read the original text at j.mp/wakeuptime. If people took the scientic reports about global warming seriously, the engines of every re department would sound their sirens and race to the nearest factory to put out the re in its burners. Every high school student would run to the thermostat, turn it on, and pull it off the classroom wall, then go to the parking lot to cut car tires. Every responsible suburban parent would put on safety gloves and walk around breaking the electrical meters behind houses and apartment buildings. Every gas station attendant would press the emergency button to stop the pumps, cut the pipes, and glue the locks on the doors; every coal and petroleum corporation would immediately start digging with shovels to put back their unused product where it came from-using only their own arms, of course. But those who learn about global warming from the news are too disconnected to react. The destruction of the natural world has been happening for hundreds of years now; you have to be really isolated to drive past trees that have been cut down, smoking factory chimneys, and large areas of asphalt

every day without noticing anything until it appears in a headline. People who draw conclusions from news articles rather than the world they see, hear and smell are certain to destroy everything they touch. That alienation is the cause of the problem; the devastation of the

view; it is the familiar setting of our everday lives. Deforestation isnt just happening in national forests or foreign jungles; it is as real at every mall downtown as it is in the heart of the Amazon. Wild animals used to live right where you are now standing. Our detachment from the

environment simply follows from it. When prot margins are more real than living things, when weather patterns are more real than refugees running away from tornadoes, when emissions cap agreements are more real than new local construction projects, the world has already been given up for destruction. The climate crisis isnt an event that might happen, waiting to come into

land is catastrophic whether or not the sea level is rising, whether or not the deserts and famine spreading over other continents have reached us yet. This detachment didnt come out of nowhere; its a result of the separation imposed between production and consumption. When we can only see the world as something to be bought and sold, it

becomes abstract, expendable. Some environmentalists would reduce the causes of global warming to too much technological development, but the problem is that capitalism imposes relationships that promote a certain kind of technological development. In the US, the major oil producers bought all the rights to make fuel-efcient automobile engines and stopped them from being built, while automobile and oil companies successfully obstructed the development of public transportation. Los Angeles used to have had a good public transit system, but it was taken apart because of pressure from the car industry, making way for the commuter nightmare that exists today. As usual, the class that caused the crisis would have us believe that theyre the best qualied to solve it. But theres no reason to believe that their motives or methods have changed. Everyone knows smoking causes cancer, but theyre still selling cigarettes. Pollution and environmental destruction are yet another case ofcapitalists passing the real costs on to the poor. Garbage dumps are never built in rich neighborhoods; neither are holes put there to suck out oil. Mines collapse on miners, and laborers die of exposure to toxic chemicals-and employers dare to argue that environmental

protections are bad for workers because they endanger their jobs! If it werent for economic pressures, no one would take such jobs in the rst place, nor cause such destruction of the environment. And the workers who must take them are treated no better than the ecosystems theyre paid to destroy; mountaintop removal and other destructive practices let corporations eliminate tens of thousands of jobs. Capitalism is not supportable. It demands constant expansion; it can reward nothing else. Beware of supposed environmentalists whose rst priority is to sustain the economy. Nuclear power, solar power, clean coal, and wind turbines wont lead to a pollutionfree utopia. Neither are carbon trading, biofuels, recycling programs, or organic superfoods. So long as our society is driven by the logic of prot and competition, these are all just attempts to keep things the way they are. But it cant go on forever. Work: Capitalism. Economics. Resistance is available from Crimethinc.com for $10.

Where your money went...

The January 2012 Journalism Class managed to raise a total of $178 by selling Issue 2 of Future Perfect (105 copies of which were sold on the day of publication). In fact, we had to make a second print run to keep up with demand! The entire proceeds were donated to Amnesty International Canada. If you have any ideas for content or charities for future issues of Future Perfect, contact us at futureperfect.editor@gmail.com

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Left to right: Future Perfect Editor/Journalism teacher Mark Dallas, Journalism student Mary Urrutia, Amnesty International Canada Toronto Regional Development Coordinator Elena Dumitru, and teacher Vanessa Delzingaro

...and where its going...

For information about where the money for this issue is going, turn to the back cover.

english through journalism 04-12 authors Caio Saviolo Vanessa Lacroce Mariana Pedrosa Aritta Valiense Nontapat Ruanin Fuyu Hsieh Fernanda Da Costa Tamires Criscio 24 cover concept, photography, post production & design Mark Dallas content layout & design Tamires Criscio editor Mark Dallas send feedback to futureperfect.editor@gmail.com

Reduce, Re-use, Recycle!

Caio Saviolo
rest of the cigarette on the street. Compounding the situation is, the lter cigarette takes about one to two years to be fully decomposed. This is just one of our small attitudes that help create a bit of almost 4.7 billion pounds produced daily by a human being. Another major problem is paper. About 40% of the trash produce in the world is paper. Every day we use absurd amounts of paper which often go straight to the trash. Let's think about the classroom. Here at ILSC, have are about 40 classrooms, each teacher to use 10 papers per class, with three different schedules

ou came to Toronto to learn English. What differences did you notice since you arrived here? Do you think the city is dirty or your city is worse? There are many dirty habits which make a city into a garbageLet's take a look at some habits that can transform them. 1.25 billion people smoke cigarettes in the world, with an average of ve cigarettes per individual, totaling 6.25 billion cigarettes smoked per day. But where lter go? Since most people have the habit of throw away the

TED - Ideas worth spread

It started out in 1984 as a conference bringing together people from three industries: technology, entertainment and design. The conferences are about ideas that can change attitudes, lives and, ultimately, the world. TED was grown to support those world-changing ideas with multiple initiatives. How this thinks about the world: TED is an amazing initiative to connect and to spread ideas around the world. The way these conferences educate and inspire is wonderful. Intellectuals from all around the world show their ideas to create a better society. The "rst step to think and to collaborate is to know what people are doing and how they are thinking.

in total 400 sheets of paper are used. Imagine other businesses and schools. That's scary! Especially knowing that the cost for recycling of paper is not so expensive and this should be a common practice these days. Thinking once more into the habits that we see every day in our daily lives. There are about 3000 Tim Hortons in Canada. Now imagine if each store sells about 1000 coffees a day. Will be a total of 3 million cups around the country just in one day. And even with so much disposable cup being used per day, no one has won this promised car. I'm not sure, but I think most of the cups (except the winners) go straight to the big trash. A lot of exchange students go to the mall to shop and often return with several plastic bags for your home. Sometimes, when you will go to the supermarket to buy anything in the street the same thing happens. Paper takes six months to decompose, plastic has 100 years of life and the only way is recycling.

Therefore, some strategies are being developed. Are the best, at least here, is you bring your own bag to the super market. At least in what I saw in Toronto, you can buy them for a small price. Finally, I bet many students here are fond of going to parties, whether in an apartment, or in a club, and most of the time, for some or all, beer is never lacking. The problem is the cans what to do with them afterwards? The best thing to do is keep everything in a large plastic bag and take them to recycling later. Well, I do not know if you agree with me, but you can see cans in rivers, streets or anywhere. It is very ugly, especially when you're not in your city. Does your city recycle?

Project Wild!re
This project is based in Toronto, and its main goal to "nd, to spark and to support youth business ideas that serve the greater good. The creators of the project feel that in order to change the world, we need to change the way world does business. How this thinks about the world: To change, to educate.

Information is the way we can save our lives and the world. To think, to question, to do in your own way, to spot and rethink: why things are the way they are. This project wants to integrate capitalism and community: business with greater good, how to rethink and to change the way we do business. After reading about all those initiatives some thoughts can be concluded: all of them were started in North America, responsible for most of the destruction of the planet. This shows us that at least a part of their society is really worried about what their country is doing to the whole world. For decades, it's been talked about: peoples attitudes can change 23 society; every little individual step leads to a massive change. To change the world, "rst change yourself. So following all these messages we need to try to think more about our reality, and get together, because, if one person can change a lot, two will change much more. The Internet has changed the way we communicate. The world is smaller and environmental problems dont belong anymore to one country, so the idea of community has changed and gotten bigger. What is your community? Your family, neighbourhood, your friends on Facebook? Its easy to spread ideas today, so more than just read about them. We need to transform that part of our DNA, and habits. Its time to spot and change today.

Social Communities
Saving Society
always wonder: how can I help the world? I know that I dont give my best when it's to help the earth. I try to live a good life and that is it. But this question doesnt leave my mind, and I like to discover how people around the world are trying to help their planet and thinking more about the community than themselves. This 22 prompted me to do research on some really interesting projects:

The End is Nigh (Again)

Vanessa Lacroce

Tamires Criscio

values in modern society and, most importantly, how to truly share.

Creative Mornings
A monthly breakfast lecture series for creative types. This project happens in cities around the world and started in September 2009 with Tina Roth Eisenberg. She believes that meeting people in person, is more important than ever, and to make people meet, talk and be inspired to act is fundamental to making change in the world. How this thinks about the world: Once a month, a group of people in different parts of the world get together to see a workshop, or to talk about a subject. They stop their

Kinfolk Magazine
More than a magazine, its a manifesto. Every element of Kinfolk leads the reader to appreciate the small gatherings in life. It encourages people to live a more simple, uncomplicated and less contrived life. Its a collaborative magazine with more than 50 artist's shared work. How this thinks about the world: Kinfolk unites the work of people from different parts of the world. All those people are truly worried about the ways of American life, and they want to suggest their own way of living: that its possible to live a better life simply, without having to live away from the city. This magazine shows us how to rescue some old

daily lives to think and talk about the world over coffee, and ideas for a better life are born. This project shows the power of union can really change something more than boring meetings.

o you remember 31 December 1999, when everybody feared that all the computer systems would crash after midnight? A problem in the coding of computerized systems started to alert people about the Y2K bug, Year 2000 bug or Millennium bug. Experts believed that the Y2K coding was projected to cause all the computer networks around the world to collapse, and this havoc would start at 12:00am on January 1, 2000. People took the Y2K Bug too seriously. Companies made employees work all night long just to make sure that someone would be there if something happened, and the result wasnothing! Some people really believed that the world was going to end on that day, but all those theories failed. Now the story starts again. Is the end nigh? Is that true? Will it happen? According to all the hype about December 21, 2012, the world is going to end based on the Mayan calendar. Doomsayers claim that, on that day, the earth will be ravaged

by a smorgasbord of cataclysmic astronomical events. As far as they are concerned, we will have a bad day. Located in southern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador and some of Honduras, the Mayan civilization existed from 250-900 C.E.. They have three separate corresponding calendars: the Long Count, the Tzolkin (divine calendar) and the Haab (civil calendar), according to Discovery News.com. The Tzolkin and the Haab identify and name the days, but

Cancun - Tulum

Cancun - Tulum

not the years. The Long Count date comes rst, then the Tzolkin date and last the Haab date. A typical Mayan date would read: 13.0.0.0.0 4 Ahau 8 Kumku, where 13.0.0.0.0 is the Long Count date, 4 Ahau is the Tzolkin date and 8 Kumku is the Haab date. The calendars are used at the same time, according to the website Time and Date.com. Time and Date illustrated that the Mayan calendar ends Great Cycle of the Long Count on the 13th baktun, on 13.0.0.0.0. Using to our modern calendar the end of the Great Cycle corresponds to 11:11 Universal Time (UTC), December 21, 2012, and hence the doomsday prophecies surrounding this date. Actually, the Mayans have never predicted doomsday or the apocalypse. People projected that because the Mayan calendar moves in cycles, and the last cycle (Great Cycle) will end in December 2012. ABC News showed an interview with Yeanet Zald, a tourism spokeswoman for the Caribbean state of Quintana Roo. The world will not end, she insisted. It is an

era. For us, it is a message of hope. On the other hand, some predictions indicate that on December 21, 2012 the world will end and a new world will begin. However, we are not sure about that because nobody can predict the future. Nobody knows what exactly is going to happen. Some people are using the information about the Mayan calendar to project new information related to what they want to convince other because they are interested in earning money. They can manipulate and control people, and also in!uence them to believe in what they want, but the truth is really all about the money. However, the chances of anything happening are slim, but if you are not sure about that, you should spend that day with people you love and hope for the best"

of new birth and purication. It was a myth of perfection from the beginning. Catholic: The !ood continued forty days on the earth. The waters increased and the ship built by Noah rose high above the earth. The waters prevailed and increased greatly on the earth, and the ship !oated on the face of the waters. All !esh died that moved on the earth, birds, livestock, beasts, all swarming creatures that swarm on the earth, and all mankind.

The end of the world today is not so much associated with the wrath of Heaven: now, the Earth will be destroyed because of bad human behavior. In modern times the scientists play the role of prophets of doom. The degradation of humanity continues with the wrath of one culture against another or against nature. The end is pessimistic, with the destruction of civilization and all life forms on earth, without a glimpse of a new beginning. According to some scientists, some predictions will occur; its a just a matter of when. For example, creation of a lethal virus, water contamination, the crisis of oxygen( pollution), global warming, manipulation of the atom and atomic energy, food contamination, overpopulation, pandemics and chemical weapons are the subjects of our modern-day mythology. The theory of doomsday has evolved in mans unconscious and conscious mind and his complexity. The conception of natural disaster, religion and scientic prophecy has shaped modern man and his beliefs. We dont know what will happen in the future, but we know we are destroying the world and consequently, we are destroying ourselves. Who knows? Maybe theres still time.

Indian: The sh told Manu to

build a large boat, as it missing a few months for the Flood. (...) The waters rose so much that the whole earth was covered.

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Aztec: During the era of the fourth

Sun, people were very wicked and ignored the worship of the gods. The gods were very angry and Tlatloc, the God of rain, said it would destroy the world with a !ood.

Bibliography
http://www.y2ktimebomb.com/ h t t p : / / w w w. b r i t a n n i c a . c o m / EBchecked/topic/382740/Y2K-bug h t t p : / / w w w. t i m e a n d d a t e . c o m / calendar/mayan.html http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ abc-blogs/2012-end-worldcountdown-based-mayan-calendarstarts-101657134.html http://news.discovery.com/space/the2012-mayan-calendar-doomsday-datemight-be-wrong.html

The Native American Choctaw: There was total

darkness for a long time over all the earth. Wizards attempt to nd daylight for a long time until he nally gave up and the whole nation was very sad. Finally, a light was discovered to the north, and there was great celebration, until it was discovered that the great mountains of water were coming, and destroyed all but a few families who have waited for this and had built a large boat, if theyre to save themselves.

How it all ENDS

Fernanda Da Costa retells some old disaster stories
an is the most complex and ambiguous animal that inhabits the Earth; He is master of his choices and consequences. Since mans emergence man is driven by two logics, unconscious and 20 conscious. The rst is instinctive and passionate, being inuenced by conscience and reason. But this reason hasnt to determine the totality of his acts yet. That is, the effect of which irrational acts are the passages still dominates much of human existence. According to the Semiotics the sequences of shocks to which man is submitted like trauma of birth, puberty, effect of aging and the trauma of death are the unconscious acts and feelings. The other side of man's mind worked with imaginative, creative, cultural that the guarantor survival of man in front of the difculties of his complexity. In the history of humanity we have been unsuccessful as to setting a date for the end of the world. Although we have a 0% success

ELF: terrorists

or heroes?
Mariana Pedrosa

rate for each prediction, we still continue to try to set a date for the end of humanity, a date that resists time, reason and science. What is the reason for this? It is because our brain is basically is a machine programmed to extract the meaning of the world. We seek to give order and meaning to everything. So when the brain nds no natural reasons and explanations for an event, it turns to the supernatural. The presence of myths about the end of times has been part of all cultures in the past and will continue to be in the future. In the past the theories created by people about the end of the world were based on mythological beliefs and religions. People believed that the bad behavior of human beings arouses the wrath of the gods and, these gods in turn devastate the earth and destroy man with the power of water. The symbolism of water can be reduced to three dominant themes: source of life, purication and regeneration. Its associated with birth, fertility and relief. Therefore, our ancestors believed optimistic in a world

arth Liberation Front (ELF) is the name of a movement that uses guerilla and direct actions to stop destruction and exploitation of the environment. ELF was founded in 1992 in the United Kingdom, but now a days it is an international movement with known actions in 17 countries. ELF is related with ALF (Animal Liberation Front), which also uses direct action but to save animals from exploitation. ELF has no chain of command, which means that there is no leader. Anyone that takes direct actions against those who exploit the environment can call himself a member of ELF. Normally, these actions are taken by small groups known as cells and are completely autonomous. Members of ELF are known as eco-warriors or eco-terrorists because of economical and property damage caused to businesses by their actions. Mainly, the target companies are the ones involved in genetic engineering, GMO (Genetic Modied Organisms)

crops, deforestation and other activities that could endanger Earth in exchange for bigger prots. One of the famous actions of ELF was to burn down a sky resort in Vail, Colorado causing damage of USD$12 million to the company because it was ruining the habitat of wildlife animals. In another action, members of ELF set re to Michigan State University because of a program to give GMO seeds to African farmers. The program was sponsored in part by Monsanto, one of the biggest agricultural biotechnology corporations. On May 2001, ELF started a re at the University of Washington, destroying ofces, laboratories and archives that contained 20

10

years of research and plant and book collections. The action was based on an incorrect belief that the university was involved in genetic engineering. Due to these and other actions promoted by ELF cells in the United States, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) started Operation Back!re in 2006 to stop radical environmentalist movements. Many eco-warriors were arrested. Although nobody was ever hurt on ELF actions, authorities claim that arson is very likely to get out of control and hurt innocent people. The intention of ELF is to attack businesses to defend Earth. It was created because some people think that peaceful protests are not effective anymore. You have to hit them where it hurts: their pockets. But is destroying private property really making any difference in the world? They have raised an enormous amount of awareness about the environmental issue, but many people lost their own freedom for the cause and companies always rebuild or !nd new ways of getting the money theyve lost. Maybe its time for ELF to change its philosophy, but how to make people really care about the environment? Thats a question that probably wont be answered so soon. The truth is that in the current economic system in which we are living (capitalism) people only really care about pro!t. Although there are already many negative

Is this saving nature?

The majority of people believe that evolution is true, and some of them even developed Darwin Awards which was created and named in honor of Charles Darwin. They acknowledge the stupidest ways that people cause their own accidental deaths. The rules of this award are:

effects from the exploitation of Earth, we still have available natural resources for most of the people living on the planet. People will only care about nature when there is not enough water or food. Well, its going to be too late then.

1. You must not have had any children. 2. You must have killed yourself by accident rather than others. 3.The story must be documented by reliable sources. 4.Your foolishness must be unique and sensational, likely because the award is intended to be funny. 5. You must be over legal driving age and have no mental problems.

As you can see, rule number two is quite relative to the idea of extreme human behavior. Childless people who die accidentally avoid passing on their genes. On the other hand, we should thank them for taking themselves out of the equation and voluntarily reducing the expanding population. Therefore, you still have time to think about winning Darwin Award, and hopefully you will win it before the apocalypse comes"

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Bibliography
Earth Liberation Front (website). Available at: http://earth-liberationfront.org/ Accessed on April 15, 2012

Earth Liberation Front. Available at:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_

Liberation_Front Accessed on April 15, 2012

If a Tree Falls (movie). Available at: http://thepiratebay.se/orrent/6903569/

If.a.Tree.Falls-A.Story.of.the.Earth. Liberation.Front.2011.DVDRi

AIF: Behind the masks. Available a t : h t t p : / / w w w. y o u t u b e . c o m / watch?v=we1-NROdQs8

Darwin:
Charles Darwin, the father of the Theory of Evolution, wrote in the fourth chapter of On the Origin of the Species, organisms try to t into a new environment, they evolve and become more suitable to it. However, if the species arent used to any changes, such as climate change and the spread of 18 disease, the only way out is death. For this reason, it is called Natural Selection. Darwin believed that evolution is happening, slowly but surely. According to the Mayan calendar, 2012 is the year of the end of the world, and it seems to be quite true. Do you really think December 22nd, 2012 will be Doomsday? Well, even if it is not

End-of-Days
Fuyu Hsieh

Adapt or Die?
the last day, people started to have different reaction just in order to adapt to a post-apocalyptic world. 2012 might be the year which is going to affect peoples minds and everything become extremes, and if it is, the theory of Darwin: adapt or die. Human behavior has changed these past few years. If you look for extreme human behavior on the internet, you will nd that sex is on the top of the list. The population in this world has been exponentially increasing since 20th century. Having more sex will increase chances of passing down the genes, and that is the best (the most efcient?) way to conquer a new environment.

Movie Review
Mariana Pedrosa
earthquakes, meteor showers, "oods of biblical proportions, volcanoes, epidemic diseases, alien attacks, massive weather changes and a bunch more to chose from. You dont remember seeing all of these in the movies? Well, let me show you. Sit back, relax and enjoy the preview of the devastation of life as we know it. When talking about end-ofdays movies, obviously the rst movie that comes to mind is End of Days (1999), starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Gabriel Byrne. At the end of the century, Satan visits New York in search of a bride. It's up to an ex-cop who

ou are walking down the street to get your morning newspaper, when you see a man with a two-foot-long beard and no shoes, claiming that the world is coming to an end (and you dont have much time to atone for your sins!). The difference between this guy and famous movie directors is that they are usually more creative when it comes to imagining how the judgment will arrive. The rst movie ever made was played in France by the Lumire brothers in 1895, and it only showed a train moving towards the audience. Later on, movies became more complex, and their stories began to show not only common day-to-day events but also magic, horror, seduction and stories, real or not, coming from the imaginations of people. The apocalypse became a very popular subject. Maybe you dont know how its all going to end (neither do I!), but Ive seen a lot of movies and Im sure one of them got it right. You can pick whatever you want. We have twisters,

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Independence Day (1996)

The Day after Tomorrow (2004)

12

now runs an elite security outt to stop him. This Peter Hyams movie didnt make a very good impression, but if you like to see good vs. evil trying to conquer our souls on the screen, try watching Constantine (2005) or Devils Advocate (1997), both starring Keanu Reeves as the worlds savior. Another kind of human mass extinction is presented in The Day after Tomorrow (2004). This movie shows extreme effects caused by global warming, leading to a new ice age and natural disasters, like tsunamis. Hey, that is what happens when you mistreat Mother Nature! Another movie about nature ghting back is The Happening (2008), with Mark Walberg as the leading performer. In this movie, people commit suicide, in"uenced by a poison spread through the air by plants, a kind of protective mechanism against parasites

(in this case, we humans are the pestilence!). In Children of Men (2006), starring Clive Owen, humanity is destined to an ending, since women can no longer give birth to children. Another trick of nature to get rid of its most dangerous predator? Watch it and see for yourself. What kind of end-of-days movie review would forget the natural disaster ones? Volcano with Tommy Lee Jones and Dantes Peak with Pierce Brosnan, both released in 1997, show that Earth can be hotter than hell when a volcano erupts. Lets not forget about meteor showers! Armageddon (1998) starring Bruce Willis and Deep Impact (1998) with Robert Duvall and Ta Leoni both tell the story of a huge massive rock coming towards Earth, which would have brought mankind to extinction if it werent for some very brave men. And what about aliens? Do you think aliens could wipe us out? Signs (2002), War of the Worlds (2005) and Independence Day (1996) show how it might be possible for humans to win a battle against extraterrestrials. But in Knowing (2009), starring Nicolas Cage, the alien extinction seems unavoidable. In my humble opinion, what will really lead us to extinction are epidemic diseases. The movie The Last Man on Earth (1961) is a great adaptation from the book I am Legend, which was later used as inspiration for the 2007 movie

There are more than a billion bicycles in the world. twice as many as automobiles. In recent years, bike production had climbed to over 100 million per year. Bicycles were introduced in the 19th century and since then have been and still are employed for many uses such as recreation, work and sport etc. In China, 60% of local cyclists in Shanghai ride bike work every day because they want to save money and its easy to get around. In Belgium 8% of all trips are made by bike. They are very serious about their bikes. They keep expensive , quality bikes to use and usually wear a helmets and bright yellow vests to make themselves visible. In Japan, 15% of trips to work are made by bicycle. They are taking up bicycling to work for health reason and to avoid trafc jams and crowding. In The Netherlands 27% of all trips to work are made by bike. Amsterdam is one of the most bicycle-friendly large cities in the world. They ride bicycles to work, and you can see everyone in Amsterdam uses bicycles.

In Germany, 9% of all trips are made by bike. Vansessa form Brazil said she has never ridden a bicycle to school or work in Sao Paulo because it is dangerous and isnt safe to ride a bicycle on the street. It is easy to have an accident. Some places have bicycle lanes but just on Sundays and theyre not safe. Fuyu form Taiwan said 70% of students ride a bicycle to school. They feel safe to ride because there are a lot of cyclists and there is a bicycle trail around whole island. Yumi form korea said it is not popular in korea because for most people work is too far from home to ride a bicycle. They dont have bicycle trails, and bicycles are very expensive. This is just one way to save the world the air we breathe So many countries on courage use of bikes to save energy and protect the environment. We have many ways to go green. Bicycles are more than worthy of consideration besides helping with saving money What is left of our healthy earth? We create more great health perks and benets by adding cycling to our routines to look more appealing.

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Put the fun between your legs!

Nontapat Ruanin
limate change is a global problem More greenhouse gas is released this is the shocking truth into the atmosphere as a result of industrial 16 transportation and other human activities that affect the planet from the Arctic sea to the Amazon rain forest, sparing no region. In 1960. There were carbon dioxide 310-320 parts per million of carbon dioxide but in 2010 we had over 390 parts per million. Should be shocking. How can we cope with global warming and the challenges it poses? The intergovernmental

panel on climate change has just completed its fourth assessment of the science of climate change, its impacts and possible solutions. The panel of 2500 scientists and other experts declared manmade global unequivocal and wrote that it could lead to climate changes that are abrupt and irreversible. The bicycle is poised to become an integral part of urban transportation systems for the 21st century. The World Watch Institute in a new report. Said that too often the bicycle is relegated to weekend jaunts use bicycles is emerging as a solution to some of todays most intractable urban problems.

of the same name with Will Smith. Chimps appear as disease carriers in Outbreak (1995), starring Dustin Hoffman, leading a whole town into serious illness that could spread and kill all Americans. Actually, one of the best movies about epidemic diseases is 12 Monkeys (1995), in which Bruce Willis is a volunteer in a post-apocalyptic future. He agrees to travel back in time to stop the release of a deadly virus by a radical group named the Army of the Twelve Monkeys. A contagious disease quickly spreads through the human populace, killing thousands of people in the recently released movie Contagion (2011). Now you are prepared to watch the Doomsday from your own living room, sitting in your most comfortable chair, watching your !at screen TV. Dont forget the popcorn"

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Independence Day (1996)

Conscious Consumerism
or

Greedy Greenwashing?
Aritta Valiense
enowed brands that lead the market in cosmetics, clothing, shoes and industry are slowly waking up to the reality that they need to focus their marketing strategy on the conscious/informed consumer. The old marketing strategy 14 wich focused only in seeling the product, now have a new identity. The main idea is to show that the brands care about sustainability. This new way to advertise has emerged because society, as a whole, is becoming more conscious about what it should be consuming. As advertising agencies notice this change, they try to encourage consumer to implement green ads in the market.

What consumers dont know is that sometimes these intelligent strategies/campaigns are nothing more than a misconception and the only objective remains to increase the companys prot or to gain political support. This strategy, known as Greenwashing is used to manipulate the publics opinion, since an increasing or major part of the population has show preference to eco-friendly brands. This expression is used by environmentalists to refer to corporate advertisements that try to mask a poor environmental performance by the company.

Not all companies that show concern for the environment and its sustainability is greedy. According to the website Network for Business Sustainability, Patagonia, a clothing manufacturer whose annual prot is US$257 million, has introduced solutions to lower the environmental impacts caused by large scale production. Besides donating 1% of its sales to environmental groups of different countries since 1985, as of October 2011, all of their clothing line is recyclable. This company also helps its clients to sell or donate clothes that are no longer needed, provides free repairs on their merchandise to increase its shelf life, and offers its employees a two month paid internship with different environmental groups. This is a good example of how a big company can contribute to the environment while encouraging conscious spending. One of the rst instances of greenwashing happened is a hotel. They avoided washing the towels every day because they were ostensibly concerned about

the planet, but actually, the main goal was to save money. Some car corporations, including Ford, Mitsubishi and General Motors, are examples spend a lot of money with marketing, because they want to prove that cars can be less aggressive for the global warming. But environmentalists defend that It is impossible for a car to do some good for the environment, but to destroy it less than others. There are no cars 'green' or 'environmentally friendly'. Is difcult to know whether a company really cares about the environment, or if this just practicing the greedy greenwashing. What you can do before buying something, is remember to ask yourself the following questions: Where was it made? What is it made off? How much did they pay to person who made this? Maybe you can nd the answers, and after this will make the right choice.

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