future perfect issue 3 (original booklet layout)
TRANSCRIPT
FUTURE PERFECTIssue #3: Apr '12
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Suggested music:
j.mp/tt_lonelyplanet
j.mp/dc_herecomesthefl ood
Introduction by the EditorMark Dallas
Reduce, Re-use, Recycle!Caio Saviolo
The End is Nigh (Again)Vanessa Lacroce
ELF: Terrorists or Heroes?Mariana Pedrosa
End-of-Days Movie ReviewMariana Pedrosa
Conscious Consumerism orGreedy Greenwashing?Aritta Valiense
Put the Fun between your Legs!Nontapat Ruanin
Darwin: Adapt or Die?Fuyu Hsieh
How it all EndsFernanda Da Costa
Social Communities Saving SocietyTamires Criscio
Credits
Where your money wentand where it’s going
2
5
7
9
11
14
16
18
20
22
24
25
2
It’s 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
it’s no accident that so many fi 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 you’ve been shuffl 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
superfi cial acknowledgement that
something has to change if we’re
here to stay as a species. But sooner
or later, we all come to realize that
nothing lasts forever.
This month’s issue of Future
Perfect deals with people’s
obsession with the end of the world
(also known as Armageddon or the
Apocalypse). I’ll start this issue with
an excerpt from one of my favourite
books of all time: Work: Capitalism.
Economics. Resistance. I have
slightly modifi ed 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 scientific
reports about global warming
seriously, the engines of every fire
department would sound their sirens
and race to the nearest factory
to put out the fi 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
Introduction BY THE EDITOR
3
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
environment simply follows from it.
When profit 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 isn’t an event that
might happen, waiting to come into
view; it is the familiar setting of our
everday lives. Deforestation isn’t
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
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 didn’t come
out of nowhere; it’s 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
4
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-effi cient 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
they’re the best qualified to solve
it. But there’s no reason to believe
that their motives or methods have
changed. Everyone knows smoking
causes cancer, but they’re 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 weren’t for economic pressures, no
one would take such jobs in the first
place, nor cause such destruction of
the environment. And the workers
who must take them are treated no
better than the ecosystems they’re
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 first priority is to sustain
the economy. Nuclear power, solar
power, “clean” coal, and wind
turbines won’t lead to a pollution-
free utopia.
Neither are carbon trading,
biofuels, recycling programs, or
organic superfoods. So long as
our society is driven by the logic of
profit and competition, these are all
just attempts to keep things the way
they are.
But it can’t go on forever.”
Work: Capitalism. Economics.
Resistance is available from
Crimethinc.com for $10.
25
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 [email protected]
...and where it’s going...For information about where the money for this issue is going, turn to the
back cover.
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
24
english through journalism 04-12
authors
Caio Saviolo
Vanessa Lacroce
Mariana Pedrosa
Aritta Valiense
Nontapat Ruanin
Fuyu Hsieh
Fernanda Da Costa
Tamires Criscio
cover concept, photography,
post production & design
Mark Dallas
content layout & design
Tamires Criscio
editor
Mark Dallas
send feedback to
5
Reduce, Re-use, Recycle! Caio Saviolo
You 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 fi ve cigarettes per
individual, totaling 6.25 billion
cigarettes smoked per day. But
where fi lter go? Since most people
have the habit of throw away the
rest of the cigarette on the street.
Compounding the situation is, the
fi 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
6
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 Horton’s 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?
23
TED - Ideas worth spreadIt 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 fi rst
step to think and to collaborate is
to know what people are doing and
how they are thinking.
Project Wildfi reThis project is based in Toronto,
and its main goal to fi 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: people’s attitudes can change
society; every little individual
step leads to a massive change.
To change the world, fi 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? It’s 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.
22
I always wonder: how can I help
the world? I know that I don’t
give my best when it's to help
the earth. I try to live a good
life and that is it. But this question
doesn’t 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
prompted me to do research on
some really interesting projects:
Kinfolk Magazine More than a magazine, it’s 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. It’s 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 it’s possible to live a better
life simply, without having to live
away from the city. This magazine
shows us how to rescue some old
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
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.
Tamires Criscio
Social CommunitiesSaving Society
7
Do 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 was…nothing! 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
The End is Nigh (Again)
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
Vanessa Lacroce
Cancun - Tulum
8
not the years. The Long Count date
comes fi 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
Bibliographyhttp://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
h t t p : / / n e w s . y a h o o . c o m / b l o g s /
a b c - b l o g s / 2 0 1 2 - e n d - w o r l d -
countdown-based-mayan-calendar-
starts-101657134.html
http://news.discovery.com/space/the-
2012-mayan-calendar-doomsday-date-
might-be-wrong.html
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 infl 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!
Cancun - Tulum
21
of new birth and purifi cation. It was a
myth of perfection from the beginning.
Catholic: The fl 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
fl oated on the face of the waters.
All fl esh died that moved on the
earth, birds, livestock, beasts, all
swarming creatures that swarm
on the earth, and all mankind.
Indian: The fi 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.
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 fl ood.
The Native American Choctaw: There was total
darkness for a long time over all the
earth. Wizards attempt to fi nd daylight
for a long time until he fi 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 they’re to save themselves.
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; it’s 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 man’s unconscious and
conscious mind and his complexity.
The conception of natural disaster,
religion and scientifi c prophecy
has shaped modern man and his
beliefs. We don’t know what will
happen in the future, but we know
we are destroying the world and
consequently, we are destroying
ourselves. Who knows?
Maybe there’s still time.
20
Man is the most
complex and
ambiguous animal
that inhabits the
Earth; He is master of his choices
and consequences. Since man’s
emergence man is driven by
two logics, unconscious and
conscious. The fi rst is instinctive
and passionate, being infl uenced by
conscience and reason.
But this reason hasn’t 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 diffi culties 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
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 fi 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, purifi cation and
regeneration. It’s associated with birth,
fertility and relief. Therefore, our
ancestors believed optimistic in a world
How it all
ENDSFernanda Da Costa retells some old disaster stories
9
ELF: terrorists
or heroes?Mariana Pedrosa
Earth 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 Modifi ed Organisms)
crops, deforestation and other
activities that could endanger Earth
in exchange for bigger profi ts.
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 fi 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 fi re
at the University of Washington,
destroying offi ces, laboratories
and archives that contained 20
10
BibliographyEarth Liberation Front (website).
Available at: http://earth-liberation-
front.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 tp : / /www.youtube .com/
watch?v=we1-NROdQs8
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 Backfi 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 fi nd new ways of getting
the money they’ve lost.
Maybe it’s time for ELF to
change its philosophy, but how to
make people really care about the
environment? That’s a question
that probably won’t be answered so
soon. The truth is that in the current
economic system in which we are
living (capitalism) people only
really care about profi t. Although
there are already many negative
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, it’s going to be too late then.
Is this saving nature?
19
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:
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!
18
Charles Darwin, the ‘father’ of
the Theory of Evolution, wrote in
the fourth chapter of On the Origin
of the Species, organisms try to
fi t into a new environment, they
evolve and become more suitable
to it. However, if the species
aren’t used to any changes, such as
climate change and the spread of
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
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 people’s 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
fi 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 effi cient?) way to conquer a
new environment.
Fuyu Hsieh
Darwin: Adapt or Die?
11
You 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 don’t
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 fi rst movie ever made was
played in France by the Lumière
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 don’t
know how it’s all going to end
(neither do I!), but I’ve seen a lot
of movies and I’m sure one of them
got it right. You can pick whatever
you want. We have twisters,
End-of-Days Movie Review
earthquakes, meteor showers,
fl oods of biblical proportions,
volcanoes, epidemic diseases, alien
attacks, massive weather changes
and a bunch more to chose from.
You don’t 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-of-
days movies, obviously the fi 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
Mariana Pedrosa
Independence Day (1996)
12
now runs an elite security outfi t to
stop him. This Peter Hyams movie
didn’t 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 Devil’s Advocate (1997),
both starring Keanu Reeves as the
world’s 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
fi ghting back is The Happening
(2008), with Mark Walberg as the
leading performer. In this movie,
people commit suicide, infl 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 Dante’s Peak with
Pierce Brosnan, both released in
1997, show that Earth can be hotter
than hell when a volcano erupts.
Let’s not forget about meteor
showers! Armageddon (1998)
starring Bruce Willis and Deep
Impact (1998) with Robert Duvall
and Téa Leoni both tell the story
of a huge massive rock coming
towards Earth, which would have
brought mankind to extinction if it
weren’t 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
The Day after Tomorrow (2004)
17
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 it’s 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 traffi c
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 isn’t 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 they’re 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 don’t 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 benefi ts
by adding cycling to our routines to
look more appealing.
16
Climate change is
a global problem
More greenhouse
gas is released this
is the shocking truth into the
atmosphere as a result of industrial
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
Put the funbetween your
legs!
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.
Nontapat Ruanin
13
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
fl at screen TV. Don’t forget the
popcorn!
Independence Day (1996)
14
What consumers don’t know
is that sometimes these intelligent
strategies/campaigns are nothing
more than a misconception and
the only objective remains to
increase the company’s profi t or
to gain political support. This
strategy, known as Greenwashing
is used to manipulate the public’s
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.
Conscious Consumerism or
Greedy Greenwashing?Aritta Valiense
Renowed 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
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.
15
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 profi t 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 fi 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 diffi cult 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 fi nd the answers,
and after this will make the right
choice.