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David Suziki: Canada's MVP


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How many of you had an opportunity to see the CBC 's documentary with David Suzuki and our students over the holidays?

In 1930 when Suzuki was a kid the only people who had heard of the word asthma were doctors. In 2004, 25% of all student absences from school are due to asthma. We obese adults driving around in our SUVs are robbing our future generations of their right to a healthy life.

By far the number one issue for our youth, age 18-25, is the environment yet it was not an issue during last year's election campaign. No wonder kids have tuned out of the political process.

The CBC recently did a program on the greatest Canadian. If we had just been dealing with currently living Canadians, Suzuki would have easily won. Canadians are privileged to have both Sukiki and the CBC in our midst.

Time to sweat 'big stuff'

As a new year approaches and brings environmental challenges, some advocates are urging people to think big as they make their 2005 resolutions.

"We want them to sweat the big stuff," said Rich Hayes, spokesman for the Union of Concerned Scientists. 

"While it's good to think about paper or plastic, the car you drive has a much bigger impact on the environment."

An analysis done by members of the Union of Concerned Scientists found that Americans' transportation choices - specifically the widespread reliance on the car - accounted for the biggest environmental impact.

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I doubt very much that the environment is the number one issue for youth 18 to 25. I would bet that secondary education being available and affordable would be much more of a concern.

You can pack your groceries home on the bus if you like Maple; I will certainly be driving my SUV. My SUV does many jobs that a little car does not; including offering a more safe vehicle in case of a minor collision. I have never been in a collision as my SUV gives me better visual affects without the blind spots in most cars. Long live the SUV the most practical vehicle on the market. I can pack home most of my own larger purchases rather than have them delivered in a large delivery van.

If you are worried about your weight MS; diet.

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In 1930 when Suzuki was a kid the only people who had heard of the word asthma were doctors. In 2004, 25% of all student absences from school are due to asthma. We obese adults driving around in our SUVs are robbing our future generations of their right to a healthy life.
MS, do you mean that the air quality in Canadian cities is worse now than in the 1920s and, as a result, more people now suffer from asthma?

I didn't see the CBC show. Did it tie school absences through asthma to air quality?

Did it make the claim that SUVs harm the air, cause asthma and lead to school absences?

Is this what Dr. David Suzuki argued?

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. In 2004, 25% of all student absences from school are due to asthma.

And just where did you get these figures. We used to claim the "flu". Now they claim "allegies" everyone has allergies; we had them when I was young but only those with severe hay fever problems used it as an excuse to stay home. You would find most of these kids feel much better come 3:30. We did; only it didn't always work.

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maplesyrup,

Have you read the latest research showing a good correlation between asthma and hepatitus A exposure?

Or rather, a negative correlation. Before 1970, almost everyone in the world was exposed to Hep A as a child. In the developing world, everyone still is...

But in the developed world, where asthma is most prevalent, Hep A exposure has been nearly eliminated. And in a test of thousands of people in north america, those with asthma tested NEGATIVE for the Hep A antibodies one develops due to childhood exposure. And by and large those people with the Hep A antibodies do NOT have asthma...

Chalk another piece of evidence up for the hygiene hypothesis - we are TOO CLEAN and our immune systems get bored and attack us.

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Christmas complaints miss the point

This world we've created is hard on the planet and it's hard on ourselves. We've tried to isolate the human experience from the rest of nature, but it's an impossible task. Humans are a part of nature. Whether we like it or not, our bodies respond to changes in the natural world. The more we try to deny who we are, the less connected we will feel and the more damage we will do to the planet.

In the absence of God or spirituality, in the absence of a capacity to respond to seasonal patterns and natural rhythms, and in the absence of meaningful social rituals, people are grasping onto whatever they can to help ground them in their communities. If that means spending days at a time in a crowded mall, then that's what we do. That becomes the ritual. That becomes Christmas.

I think people are hungry for change, but feel trapped. We are yearning for meaning, but accepting baubles and trinkets instead. Until we stop denying our biological roots and embrace our humanity, we will never find the meaning we seek. It's just not something you can pick up at the mall.

Too bad more people just don't grasp how they are being manipulated. Kind of sad really.

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Maplesyrup,

If we all listened to that crackpot Suzuki, we would have gone up the arctic back in the 70s and spread SOOT all over the icepack to increase how much heat the earth absorbed? Know why?

BECAUSE Suzuki was one the "global cooling" bandwagon that said the next ice age was imminent. He actually proposed the soot-spreading idea and spent over a year pushing it...

Suzuki was a good geneticist by all accounts. However, his knowledge outside that realm is often little better than a hobbyist who read Scientific American.

And in some case much worse....

You should pick up a copy of the January Popular Science for the article on why Hydrogen is NOT the fuel of the future...

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Of sex, snacks and grapes

On the other hand, women faced with a list of potential male castaway companions selected brains over beauty, athleticism or power. Environmentalist David Suzuki was the top choice at 46 per cent, distantly followed by Ben Mulroney at 12 per cent, then Paul Martin, Peter Mansbridge and Jarome Iginla. "Oh my God, where the hell were all these women when I was a teenager?" says an incredulous Suzuki. "I guess it's a confirmation that women are more interested in ideas than looks or a good body." Suzuki was the choice in every region of the country, scoring highest in conservative, oil-rich Alberta with 55 per cent. It's not clear if those respondents were fantasizing about getting to know him better, or having a secluded location to bury the corpse.

I hate to burst your bubble folks! :lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:

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QUOTE (maplesyrup @ Jan 3 2005, 04:54 PM)

Canadians are extremely privileged to man of Suzuki's stature in our midst.

Take the nature challenge:

The Nature Challenge 

why are we extremly privledge in all honesty of that list of ten things I think I qualify for six of them with out even trying.

Let's see:

1. Reduce home energy use by 10%

Not sure if I've done that, but my BC Hydro bill for November was $20.......I've got a Woodstove and two or three of those super saver lightbulbs.......

2. Choose an energy-efficient home & appliances

I rent.

3. Don't use pesticides

I don't, I buy organic vegitables and fruit 90% of the time.

4. Eat meat-free meals one day a week

I hate to admit, but I eat KD more than 5 times a week

5. Buy locally grown and produced food

I get most of my meat from my aunts ranch, hunting/fishing or from local grocery store on the island, that purchases mostly island grown or raised products.

Unfortanly I haven't seen too many BC grown oranges or Kiwis.......

6. Choose a fuel-efficient vehicle

define fuel-efficient........my 3/4 ton Chev is fuel-efficient next to a Hummer or a Tank :lol:

7. Walk, bike, carpool or take transit

I walk as much as possable down to the local corner store......don't own a bike.........I use to carpool when I had a long commute......and I'll take transit when ever I can or when i go over to Vancouver for the weekend....

8. Choose a home close to work or school

Takes me five minutes to drive to work in the morning B) Won't last forever though :(

9. Support alternative transportation

??? :huh: What like flying saucers, jet packs and hovercraft?

10. Learn more and share with others

What does this have to do with the Enivorment........is Suzuki some sort of commie?

So of the ten, I do 6........I guess Slavik44, we are just a coulpe of granola munching, tree hugging hippies.......

Do I get bonus marks for taking my beer bottles back for a refund?

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Of sex, snacks and grapes
On the other hand, women faced with a list of potential male castaway companions selected brains over beauty, athleticism or power. Environmentalist David Suzuki was the top choice at 46 per cent, distantly followed by Ben Mulroney at 12 per cent, then Paul Martin, Peter Mansbridge and Jarome Iginla. "Oh my God, where the hell were all these women when I was a teenager?" says an incredulous Suzuki. "I guess it's a confirmation that women are more interested in ideas than looks or a good body." Suzuki was the choice in every region of the country, scoring highest in conservative, oil-rich Alberta with 55 per cent. It's not clear if those respondents were fantasizing about getting to know him better, or having a secluded location to bury the corpse.

I hate to burst your bubble folks! :lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:

Wow no wonder they chose David, lets get real If I was to be stuck on an island I would want to be with someone that could tell me what plants are edible. If I was to choose a room mate on the other hand I would not need to know which plants I could eat.

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Gladiatorial Geneticist

The dozens of TV and radio series and specials that Suzuki has hosted strike a layman’s balance between education and entertainment. He is best known as the long-time moderator of the highly successful CBC TV science magazine show, The Nature of Things, which airs in more than 40 nations. His 1985 series, A Planet for the Taking averaged 1.8 million viewers per episode and earned him a United Nations Environment Program Medal (1988).

After geneticist and broadcaster David Suzuki became a noted world authority on the fruit fly, he devoted himself full-time to environmental concerns and, in doing so, popularized science for millions. His latest volume, The Sacred Balance (1997), reinforces this theme. [Photo, courtesy Canadian Broadcasting Corporation]

Described as “one of the world’s most effective popularizers of science, alongside Carl Sagan and Jacques Cousteau,” Suzuki has considerable charm and intelligence. His social consciousness is as sharp as his piercing eyes. Jerry Bruckley observed in International Wildlife, “He’s passionate, driven, irreverent, brilliant, charismatic, and controversial, and usually in the same sentence.”

What do think accounts for Suzuki's popularity amongst Canadians, heck amongst the peoples of our planet?

40 nations, eh! :rolleyes:

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