A Town Called Bastard: Game Review: Limbo

A Town Called Bastard: Game Review: Limbo: "Format Played: X-Box Live Arcade There was a bit of a fuss amongst sweaty online forum-goers recently concerning renowned film critic Roger..."

You Have Made a Difference - Jaana Nyström

Jaana, a diver from Finland, instantly fell in love with sharks after encountering them on a dive this year in Palau.  Jaana says: “Though I was afraid at first, they weren't a bit aggressive; a few of them seemed to be just curious.  The more I saw them the calmer I was - and they lost interest!”

It was then, that she started to look into the creatures, and the roles they play in today’s world.

“I didn't realize before my studies, what major part sharks play in our ecosystem!  When that dawned on me, I decided to do something to help save the sharks, and as I'm in remote Finland, the best way to do it is via social medias.  I've taken up Causes, signed petitions and taken pledges, sent various emails to corporations who exploit their position somehow or don't just plain understand what harm they are causing...”

One of these emails, was to Citibank in Singapore, who recently ran a promotion involving shark fin soup.  Shark-finning is a practise that involves the sharks fins all being cut off while the animal is still alive, and then throwing the animal back into the sea, unable to move adequately and in a lot of pain where they inevitably die after a couple of days. 

The email, displayed here with the kind permission of Jaana, show just how simple it is to make these companies take note.

Dear Ms Yip at Citibank

I am writing to express my disappointment that your company has chosen to exploit a threatened species in the interests of promoting your credit card services.  100 million sharks are killed every year, but they are an essential part of our ecosystem helping to balance the oceans and especially reefs.

By promoting shark fin consumption and the unsustainable practice of shark finning, Citibank is directly contravening its own publically stated environmental policy which states that “working to promote environmental sustainability is good business practice”.

We have created a Facebook group about your promotion and Citibank advocating this ecologically terrible act and we plan to send this onto even more people.

Accordingly, I call upon Citibank to show itself to be a responsible corporate citizen by stopping this promotion immediately and by making a commitment both not to run such promotions in future and not to serve sharks fin soup at any corporate or client entertainment functions.

Yours in hope

Ms Jaana Nystrom, Finland

Within a week, Citibank had replied stating that as of the 24^th, their promotions have been stopped as they “are committed to conducting our business in line with our corporate social responsibilities.”  They even go on to say that they will continue to take responsibility for the impact their operations have on the environment. 

Jaana’s email made them listen.  Even if others had emailed too, every email counted.  She has also sent messages to the restaurant involved in the promotion, and so fingers crossed, they will listen too. 

Either way, well done Jaana, you made a difference!

New Petitions and Facebooks

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I've just spent a couple of hours, updating the Petitions and Facebook pages.

While I will continue to add to them every chance I get, if you know of any petitions, facebook, twitters, events, or anything else of interest, please, please, please get in touch so I can link to them.

Thanks guys!

Featured Facebook - Support Our Sharks

A dear friend of mine, Ryan Kempster, who is also a shark biologist is the brains behind Support Our Sharks, a website dedicated to protecting and educating about sharks.  In my (totally unbiased) opinion, this website is fantastic and needs as much support as possible.  As well as being informative and fun, it carries a strong message.   That if something isn't done now there won't be another opportunity to save these magnificent creatures.  Please, check it out and join the facebook group.  Ryan is always happy for interaction on the page, and will be grateful for the support.

Support Our Sharks

Facebook | Support Our Sharks

For more groups on facebook please visit: Follow on Facebook

Petition - Shark Finning

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Shark finning, is the process of cutting off a sharks fins and discarding the body at sea, usually for use in shark fin soup. Experts believe that between 38 and 100 MILLION sharks are killed every year for their fins. If this wasn't bad enough, when bearing in mind that some species of shark are among the most endangered animals on Earth, but more often than not, these sharks are ALIVE while this occurs. Since shark meat is not valuable, they are thrown back into the sea alive, where they are usually eaten or suffocate due to being unable to move naturally.

This is a barbaric trade and needs to be addressed. To help pledge your support please sign this petition:

Stop the eating, selling and importation of shark fins in Canada - The Petition Site

For more petitions, please visit:  Petitions

Event - Walk For Whales 2010

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The Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS) in association with Sea Life have organised a series of walks to help stop commercial whaling. These walks are 5 miles long and start at your local Sea Life Centre. Unfortunately, some of these walks have already taken place. The walks still to take place are this Sunday (25th July 2010) from the following centres:

National Sea Life Centre - Birmingham - 11am.

Sea Life - Blackpool - 2pm

Hunstanton Sea Life Sanctuary - 1pm

Loch Lomond Aquarium Sea Life - 11am

And as an added bonus (and a thank you for taking part) Sea Life are offering FREE entry on the day to participants.  So if you live near any of the above centres and can spare approximately two hours for the walk, why not join in and show your support for stopping commercial whaling?

For more information, and registration form please visit:

WDCS - How you can help - Walk for Whales - About the walks

Welcome to ICMAD!

Welcome to I Can Make A Difference!  


Although this blog is new, the concept has been a while in the making.


The concept of ICMAD, is to provide people with information on how they can make a difference based on their circumstances. Most people (and charities for that matter) are under the impression that the only way they can help is by donating money.  Not only do you then have to worry about having the money to give, but also how to decide what cause needs it more, when the harsh truth is that they all do.


At ICMAD, you will find things to spend any spare cash you may have on, but more importantly, you will find ways to help that won't cost you a penny.  These range from signing online petitions, to supporting facebook groups, to events in your local area that can help raise funds.  There are so many ways that we as normal people can make a difference and this blog lets you know how.  Every post, saying what you can do will have an etc rating.  This stands for Effort, Time and Cost and each will be rated out of 5. 

There will always be opposition, those people who say that we can't change anything, that cause A is more important than cause B.  I say we can make a difference.  Whether that difference comes in the form of new laws and policies or in the form of a neglected dogs affection, or an abused child's smile. As the saying goes, one person can't change the world, but they can change the world for one person.  If enough of us get involved, then we can make the world a better place.

On the other hand, there will always be extremists.  These people give us a bad name, and damage the very thing they are fighting to save.  This blog will NEVER condone extremism.  Your heart is in the right place, and though I may know that, you need to ensure the rest of the world does too.


Eventually we will have a weekly newsletter keeping you up to date with anything you may have missed; pages with twitter and facebook pages worth following; a calendar with every event you can take part in and much more. 


Please show your support any way you can, and leave occasional comments so we know we're being heard! Any constructive feedback is welcomed, and if you know of a cause ( - this doesn't have to be a charity, just a cause) please drop me a message.


I hope that you will bookmark us, and don't forget to tell your friends!


If you believe you can make a difference, you CAN make a difference.