Feliz Natal Stela

Friends, family,... esteemed colleagues, great nations, random internet predators and... esteemed colleagues, behold: one of lost wonders of the internet. I bring forth to you today, a video of a dance of such calliber that only the eyes of the seven riches kings of Brasil are worthy of it; a dance that could only be created by the finest Business Intelligence team at Instituto Stela; it has no real name so the dramatic tension kind of fizzles out here.

This is the story of a dance that we all worked very hard on last year for Christmas. Admittedly, it took much hard work, practice and sacrifice as well as plenty of blood, sweat and tears (the tears were mostly Dhiogo who at first didn't care much for the music). But in the end, a tasteful dance blossomed and the fruits of our labors nourished the hungry stomachs of our empty souls. We had found our calling. The dance consumed us.

It was at this point that we decided that this dance was special and that it should never be preformed or even spoken of again. We all took a solemn oath that day that from that point on, we would all act as if the dance had never even existed, Fernando also insisted that we mention that the dance might be haunted. We all enthusiastically agreed with poor Fernando knowing full well that he just wanted attention. That was to be the end of the dance.

However, moments after swearing the most sacred oath to forever deny the dance's existence (and that maybe it was haunted), Marcio quietly mentioned that maybe it would be better to tour the land preforming our dance for all to see. This novel yet simple idea filled us with joy and hope. Marcos was so rapturous that squealed with glee so high pitched that it shattered the martini glasses that we were eating our Multigrain Cheerios out of. The Cheerios being part of our complete breakfasts. The sound also caused all the fire hydrants withing a kilometer to explode and 2 doves fell from the sky. We took this as a friendly omen that you should never break an oath; no matter how hastily you took it, or how many orphan children would be deprived of the most beautiful display of artistic effort ever to be preformed by a business intelligence unit.

Then and there, we took a second even more "most sacred" oath to never take nor break an oath again. Moments later just as Marcio was about to comment, Fernando and Dhiogo silenced him with a magical dance move they had been practicing with the EKP team during lunch hour. Then, as Marcos finished helping me bandage my bleeding nose (another casualty of the high-pitched expression of delight), we all returned to our cubicals to play Solitaire and Hearts and never was the dance preformed again.

Today my friends and foes, one year later, I bring to you long lost footage the forbidden dance which I probably never mention again due to certain "blood oaths" I allegedly made.

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

This dance was brought to you by JibJab, Office Max and the great tasted of Multigrain Cheerios: Theeeeeeeeeeere Great!

Understanding Climate Change

Here is some software that Adriano, a friend of mine from Brazil, is working on. It can help evaluate the theoretical outcomes of various global CO2 policies. This would allow policy makers at United Nations Climat Change Conference - Copenhagen 2009 to quickly get an idea if their proposed policies are actually sustainable, or at least viable.

From the ISee website:

In this web seminar, instructor Chris Soderquist uses simple STELLA/iThink model to help you understand the basic concepts and systems principles driving climate change dynamics. Learn about the challenges we face, the changes we must adapt to and those we need to mitigate or avoid. Explore simulations developed by Climate Interactive that will be used at the upcoming Copehagen summit and see the future impact of worldwide policy decisions.

This webinar is the first session of a four-part web seminar series titled Modeling for Environmental Sustainability. All materials from this session are "open source" and available to share with as many people as you can!

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

What do you think the intentions of these companies are? Take the survey at the top left of this page!

Goodbye Stela (will we ever meet again?)

It may be a couple of months late, but here is the official "goodbye for now" to my co-workers at Instituto Stela. I tried to include pictures of as many people as I could but I obviously couldn't get everyone in. The "Goodbye Stranger" music is provided by Supertramp and is appropriate. This is non-negotiable.


PS this video is awesome so I don't want to hear any complaints, unless they're hilarious!

So you're Canadian, eh?

Here is a presentation I gave at Stela in my first few weeks to bust Brazilian Stereotypes about Canada and Canadians. To break the belief that Canadians are nice and culturally tolerant people, I filled the presentation with racism, cultural bias, secular overtones, prejudice, bigotry and aimless discrimination directed specifically at non-Canadians who do not identify with.

I hope that you find the presentation oppressive and morally bankrupt. :P