Can Nike and Wal-Mart save the Amazon?

Here is an interesting topic of conversation for my friend Meg who is working in sustainability with organizations in the Brazilian Amazon:

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An ambitious commitment by some of the world's largest companies not to buy beef or leather products from the Brazilian Amazon may falter if a strong monitoring system isn't put in place.
By Andrew Downie | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor

Sao Paulo, Brazil - A recent decision by a group of multinational companies that include Nike, Adidas, and Timberland to boycott beef and leather products from the Brazilian Amazon -- the largest cattle-ranching area in the world -- might sound like a good way to reduce deforestation.

"These companies are ... telling their suppliers they expect to see zero deforestation or they will stop buying from them," says Tatiana Carvalho, an Amazon campaigner at Greenpeace, one of the moratorium's main coordinators. "That is a big step forward."

The shoemakers and the Brazilian subsidiaries of supermarkets Wal-Mart and Carrefour agreed that as of June 22, they would not purchase beef or leather from suppliers who cut down rainforest trees to open up new cattle pasture.

But without a strict monitoring and labeling system, the moratorium on beef products from the Brazilian Amazon could amount to little more than a publicity stunt, environmentalists warn. Brazil's beef producers' association has dismissed the moratorium as "meaningless."

A tracking system that clarifies where beef or leather has been produced is not yet in place, making it difficult for producers to know whether a steak or a piece of shoe leather came from deep in the Amazon or from grazing lands in the south of the country. When the European Union looked at farms' traceability procedures last year, it approved beef exports from only 1,376 of the country's estimated 5,000,000 cattle farms.

Leather is more problematic, since it is sold on the open commodities market and is even harder to trace.

Reassuring consumers

"[The moratorium] shows the industry is concerned and wants to assure the consumer that it is doing its part. But the criteria are difficult to implement, and, in the end, may be shown to have been ineffective," says Peter May, an assistant director at Friends of the Earth Brazil. "But for the time being, it may reassure consumers."

Some of the companies that have signed on acknowledge that they don't yet have enough information to guarantee they're not using products from the Amazon. Shoemakers Nike and Clarks both said they would give suppliers until 2010 to put full traceability procedures in place.

Many of the companies were prompted by a June report from Greenpeace that named and shamed supermarkets, shoe manufacturers, automakers, and other blue-chip companies whose "blind consumption of raw materials fuels deforestation and climate change."

They were also encouraged by a similar, albeit more limited, moratorium on soybeans that stopped traders from buying beans from recently deforested areas in the Amazon. The moratorium was judged a success and was extended for a fourth consecutive year in July.

Rainforest stampede

But beef is where real environmental gains can be made, since very little soy is grown in the Amazon. For years, cattle farmers have been selling their most productive pastures in the south to soybean and sugar-cane producers and using the cash to buy cheaper land in the Amazon, which is deforested and populated with cattle.

That practice, spurred by surging global demand for beef as incomes in countries such as India and China have risen, has led to a stampede into the rainforest.

Three of every 4 new additions to Brazil's cattle herd between 2003 and 2008 came in the Amazon, according to a 2008 Friends of the Earth report. The beef industry is one of the main drivers of deforestation and one of the world's main sources of greenhouse gases. Brazil boasts around 200 million cattle and is the world's biggest beef exporter.

Under Brazilian law, Amazonian farmers may clear just 20 percent of their land and must keep the rest as natural forest. But the law is rarely enforced. Today, around 17 percent of the Brazilian Amazon's original tree cover is gone.

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The original post can be found here

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Symbol Quest: Online Game from Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol (Spoiler Alert)

This is what you get for reaching the 33rd degree of Symbol Quest . I'll post some help later for those "it's about the journey" people, but if you are strictly after the prize, this is your shortest path.

Here is word for word what Dan says. You never know what clues may be hidden in them:

"This is Dan Brown,
Congratulations on playing Symbol Quest and reaching the 33rd degree with a perfect score. I’ve just finished signing 33 first editions of the lost symbol which are locked in the vault, waiting to be sent out to the 33 different winners. The 33 first winning code breakers who call the secret phone numbers, encrypted on the book jacket, will receive this reward.
Good luck"

Tribute to San Jose!

Today I pay tribute to Ottawa's brother from another mother: San Jose.
Ottawa and San Jose have a lot in common. We are both high-tech towns, we both have NHL teams that were born within a year of each other and there is a general consensus in both populations that opposes municipal funding of jukebox terrorism (i.e.: Queing up the same ridiculous song over and over on a jukebox.)
Recently the San Jose Sharks acquired Ottawa Senators star trigger man Dany Heatley. Dany had asked to leave at the end of 2008-2009 season stating that his game didn't fit with the new coach's system, but there has been speculation that there are other reasons which I will not get into because I propagate facts only! as you may have noticed with my Jukebox declaration. Dany; you will be missed but you really need to start prospecting for a new exit strategist.

One other honorable mention regarding Ottawa's Twin-Town is that this site has been getting lots of hits and tomfoolery from San Jose. This is good! I encourage city level incest. Actually I would encourage all readers from Jose-town to leave a comment after this post as a sign of brotherly-sisterly love. Also I would like to welcome Jonathan Cheechoo and Michalek, so long as they score lots of goals and are key player in the Sens lifelong ambition of publicly destroying and humiliating the Sharks at every possible opportunity. Peace and Love.

Facebook Update!

Harley's case is now on the CBC as well.

Be mystified by his legal prowess!

Facebook attacked by fellow Fresh Founder

That's right! Ottawa entrepreneurial powerhouse Fresh Founders (previously Young Entrepreneur's Club) member has made a big splash on the international social networking site scene. Fellow Fresh Founder member Harley Finkelstein has found some legal issues between Canadian privacy law, and Facebook policies. Privacy commissioner of Canada Jennifer Stoddart agrees and is ready to take action. Michael Geist commented on it too it gives that extra "this isn't just the government doing their this-technology-scares-us thing" boost.

Watch the video here: Harley on Global

You can also behold of this stunning visual:


Harley does lots of work to help answer the questions that young entrepreneurs have today when thinking about a digital media business.

Read more: AskHarley

Lead To Win in the press

So the Lead To Win program is getting more and more press as time goes along. I'm lucky I got in through the first round because things are only gonna get tougher as more people know about it. I would have to say I recommend it, if you have the means (said in smug high society voice). The Ottawa Citizen did a piece called

Tough times, tough class

Led by a 'cranky professor,' the Lead to Win program gives would-be tech entrepreneurs the tools they need. Bert Hill reports.

You can read all about it yourself, cause I'm not about to baby-step you through it like Richard Dreyfuss would for Bill Murray. "He's sailing, he's sailing!"... That wasn't sailing. He was doing nothing and nobody even called him on it. Anyway here's the article:

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/business/Tough+times+tough+class/1791568/story.html

BTW for anyone from Stela reading this, who also went to one of my Content Management Interoperability Services "Show and Tells", one of the guys constantly quoted in the article is doing something that may involve this CMIS stuff.

Lead To Win

Well, it's been an interesting journey. But it's only about to begin. I participated in the Lead To Win program. Here is their pitch:

If you are serious about starting a profitable tech-based business in Canada's Capital Region during the current economic situation, we invite you to apply to Lead to Win (LTW). Ontario’s Talent First Network is pleased to announce the launch of the Lead To Win program for laid-off or under-employed tech workers. The program is based upon a program of the same name that was delivered during the last economic downturn in 2002. Over half of the participants in the 2002 Lead to Win program created a new business in Canada’s Capital Region. These new businesses collectively created over 300 jobs and attracted over $90M in investment.

The program is no cakewalk! As a matter of fact, despite all the FREE great food and cake that they fed us during the program, not once were any of us invited to walk or even take a quick stroll across cake of any shape or form (no African dancing either... do your research).

After at least 3 Phases of filtering and improvements, I am proud to announce that my idea has come out on top. Of God-knows how many application 50 some opportunities made it into phase 1, 40 some make it to phase 2 and 30 some made it to phase 3. Of phase 3 participants 19 are rated Green (ready to go) and of them 7 opportunities have been rated Green by all it's assessors. My opportunity is one of those 7, which is cool I guess. I mean if your into that whole "being the cream of the crop" scene.

Anyway thought I'd just put that out there. That's one of the things I've been up to now that I'm back in the hemisphere. I did some other stuff but I can't remember it right now.

To learn more about the program, or to apply for it, visit their website: www.leadtowin.ca
Tell them I sent you. Unless your idea sucks, in which case I never heard of you and you never heard of me. No, like seriously who are you?

But in all honesty, this program is not made to filter people. The idea is to make better entrepreneurs out of us all and to make jobs. You will improve yourself or your idea drastically during the process guaranteed! I highly recommend the program and especially those who voluntarily put it together in true entrepreneurial style. I owe a lot to them and will be even further indebted as Phase III progresses. Actually I will take this moment to thank them and thank them in advance.

Here are some shots of the graduation: I am receiving my diplomat here from David Hudson:


Here I am celebrating with Tony Bailetti:


For those of you who know me best and know how I like to celebrate graduations: Yes, I did pull a Timon (from the Lion King) style celebration just before getting the diploma.

I'll probably write more about this soon but feel free to ask questions... My press secretary will be happy to address them.