|
BIPED ON THE BLUE BALL [The supposed-Sapiens who laughed at the Dodo...]
THIRD EDITION, 2010 By Ed Aurelio C. Reyes April 2010 All Rights Reserved .
|
|
x |
. |
|
Notes on the Third Edition Author’s Notes on the 3rd Edition THIS is the third edition of BIPED On the Blue Ball, published in time for the commemoration of Earth Day 2010, on the 20th anniversary of the first edition published as "A Filipino’s contribution to the commemoration of Earth Day on April 22, 1990." Copies of the first edition were distributed to representatives of about 50 countries at the 1992 Earth Summit at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, through the kindness of Jim Paredes, the author’s close friend, and Green Earth Movement (Philippines) founder and president. The second edition carries updated information in its footnotes, culled from the very informative issues of the Daily Grist magazine of the Earth Day international network and from research done for the author by his dearly beloved friend, the former Prof. Anna Ma. S. Torres, then head of the Environment Planning and Management department of Miriam College in Quezon City, Philippines. She was the one who inspired the author to add to the ending of the original two very important elements: first, the framework of Deep Ecology including love and respect for all elements of our living habitat; and second, a touch of optimism, especially at the ending part. The present edition focuses on the current planetwide environmental crisis: "global warming" caused by human activities that have increased the volume of such "greenhouse gases" as carbon dioxide, and raising likewise the temperatures of the Earth’s atmosphere and oceans, all enough to melt large sections of what was for millennia simply undisturbed solid ice, and enough to threaten all coastal areas with permanent inundation, with the expected record rise in the sea levels relative to coastal areas around the islands in various continents. Top scientists of the world have documented precise measurements of greenhouse gas emissions and indicated maximum tolerable levels of further increase to avoid the perilous approach to the point of globally fatal irreversibility. Communities and governments across the world have come, or have at least been going through the motions of coming, to a consensus on what Humankind as a whole has to do to avert a final disaster. But although not at all lacking in the protocols of proper formal discourse among countries, there has been the conspicuous absence of the Spirit of Earnest Dialogue, with many poor and "developing" countries finding good reason to be frantic for a real search for solutions in terms of mitigation and adaptation, while the few but extremely powerful others either want to completely escape responsibility for the critical state of affairs or are even looking for logical excuses for their "business-as-usual" positions. The recent debacle at Copenhagen, with the United States pulling from its star-spangled magical tophat a "Copenhagen Accord" that was merely noted but not approved by the countries’ delegations. Still seeking to keep away a pessimistic total darkness view of the future, the author adds a message from the "Prophets of Profits," that throws a bolt of realization on our Major Tom character, with the implied imminent consequence of spreading to enlighten more and more people for a shining shaft of optimism. --Ed Aurelio C. Reyes, April 2010 THE AUTHOR-ARTIST TEAM-UP for the Third Edition of BIPED on the Blue Ball: Ed Aurelio C. Reyes, “Ed” to colleagues and associates and “Ding” to family and close friends, describes himself as an educator via classroom work, seminars, conversations, books, articles, blogs, etc. about Human Synergetics, the Oneness of Humanity. He says: “The humanity of all is one; each human, as well as the entire Humankind, is ONE SYNERGY." Reyes is a 57-year-old professor at the International Academy of Management and Economics (IAME) in Makati, and formerly of the Asian Social Institute (ASI) in Manila; author of more than 27 books and major pamphlets published; cyber-journalist (webmaster and lead writer of at least seven active websites and two blogsites); and leader of big and small advocacy organizations, such as the World Environment Day-Philippines Network, a.k.a. Green Families and Communities Network; Pamayanang SanibLakas ng Pilipinas; Kaisahan sa Kamalayan sa Kasaysayan (Kamalaysayan), and others. . Ding Reyes Amerey Teñoso Bird sketch by Teñoso . Amerey Divinaflor Teñoso, R.N., works as a full-time company nurse in one of the firms operating in Lipa City, Batangas province, where she also resides. Ms Teñoso has had no formal training in visual arts, but she obviously has the talent to make it as a professional illustrator if she decides to pursue that sort of career. Ding adds: "now she treats it as a hobby, with many fans among friends and strangers alike who have seen her sketches in a special album in her Facebook account. That’s where i saw them, too. And I was impressed." Notes
on the Second Edition This
is the second edition of BIPED
On the Blue Ball, published in time for the commemoration of Earth
Day 2000, on the 10th anniversary of the first edition which was
published as "A Filipino's contribution to the commemoration of
Earth Day on April 22, 1990." Complimentary copies of the first
edition were distributed to representatives of about 50 countries during
the Earth Summit at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1992,
through the kindness of the author's "adopted brother," Green
Earth Movement founder and president Jim Paredes.
This
second edition carries updated information in its footnotes, culled from
the very informative issues of the Daily Grist magazine of the Earth Day
2000 international network and from research done for the author by his
dearly beloved friend, Prof. Anna Ma. S. Torres, head of the Environment
Planning and Management Department of Miriam College in Quezon City,
Philippines.
Ms. Torres inspired and helped the author to add to the ending of
the original two very important elements: first, the framework of Deep
Ecology including love and respect for all elements of our living
habitat; and second, a touch of optimism especially at the ending part. This
edition also carries information on Earth Day 2000 and on a "simple
worldwide project" initiated by the author in the name of the
SanibLakas ng Taongbayan (People's Synergy) Foundation, titled,
"Handshakes and Hugs (Around the World) for Earth Synergy
2000", including the poem in English that has been translated into
more than a dozen languages.
[The author recommends too that the readers keep themselves updated
with environmental facts by subscribing to Grist Magazine, which has
been aptly described as "a beacon in the smog." Applications
for free subscription to daily e-mailed summaries may be coursed through
"http://www.earthday.net".]
|