LICHENS AND AIR POLLUTION

WELCOME! BEM-VINDOS! TO ECOLOGICAL DAY!

1. Sonia - Leaves of Grass2. Eduardo P.L.3. lizete vicari4. expresso da linha5. Pietro Brosio6. Elma - Caliandra do Cerrado7. Louise8. Louise9. noVÍ tá10. Paz's New York Minute11. Luci Lacey12. Adelino13. mischiefmari
14. Gepetto15. Maria Augusta16. JU Gioli17. Elizabeth schmid18. Luma Rosa19. Elizabeth20. Leandro Neres21. Denise BC22. Luiz Ramos23. Luiz Ramos24. ADRIANA MACEDO25. Rachel26. Long Island Daily Photo
27. Marcos Santos28. Miriam Salles29. Lídia - Silêncio Culpado30. Paula Martha31. Francine Esqueda32. vz33. Lucia Helena34. Astrid Annabelle35. tumbleweed36. Words about Water37.
You're next!

Do you see "this" in your garden or neighborhood? If your answer is YES, luck you! There is no air pollution around you!

Você vê "isto" em seu jardim ou redondezas? Se sua resposta for SIM, sorte sua! O ar está limpo e não há poluição!

Lichens are a successful alliance between a fungus and an alga. Each doing what it does best, and thriving as a result of a natural cooperation. They live as one organism, both inhabiting the same body. ""Many lichens are very sensitive to pollution in the air. When there are too many harmful things in the air, lichens die. If you live where there are many lichens it probably means the air is clean. But, if there are only a few lichens in your neighborhood, the air you are breathing is probably clogged with automobile fumes or industrial wastes.

Lichens are capable of inhabiting several ecosystems, due to their versatility, despite of the environmental conditions. They can live on rocks, ground, rind of trees, trunks and wood. Lichens are very good bio-indicators to survey the air pollution.

So, Lichens are important in many ways: Lichens are sensitive to pollution in the air and can tell us if the air is clear and clean; Drug companies make antibiotics from lichen substances; Some lichens make nitrogen in the air usable to plants; Lichens are homes for spiders, mites, lice and other insects; Lichens can be used as a natural dye to color wool; People eat lichens (careful - a few are poisonous, so don't experiment without adult help).

Os Líquens são seres vivos muito simples que se desenvolvem como lâminas ou placas de várias cores na superfície de árvores ou de pedras, expostas à umidade e ao sol. São geralmente estudados pelos botânicos, apesar de não serem verdadeiras plantas. Os líquens são uma simbiose – um organismo formado por um fungo (o micobionte) e uma alga ou cianobactéria (o fotobionte). Os líquens são muito sensíveis à poluição do ar. Quando há muitos poluentes no ar os líquens morrem. Se você mora num ambiente onde há muitos líquens, isso significa que o ar está limpo e não há poluição. Os líquens são indicadores biológicos importantes que permitem uma avaliação da qualidade do ambiente.

Os Líquens proliferam nos substractos mais variados: sobre rochas, solo, casca das árvores e madeira. Vivem em ambientes onde nem fungos nem as algas se desenvolveriam. Assim, toleram condições climáticas extremas. Os líquens, apesar de suportarem os rigores ambientais, são extremamente sensíveis aos agentes poluentes, podendo indicar a qualidade do ar e até a quantidade de metais pesados em áreas industriais, o que explica a não ocorrência destes seres vivos nas grandes cidades.

Outra utilidade dos líquens: eles são comestíveis, mas cuidado porque alguns são venenosos, assim não os experimente sem a ajuda de um expert no assunto. As indústrias farmacêuticas usam os líquens na fabricação de remédios e os líquens também podem ser usados para colorir lãs e tecidos.


Photos taken by myself in my garden
Click on photos to enlarge and to see better!

some more pictures of future cars

Citigroup Buys Bank Operations of Wachovia

Citigroup reached an agreement early Monday morning to acquire the banking operations of the Wachovia Corporation after making a daring bid that pulled the deeply troubled company from the brink of collapse.

Citigroup will pay $1 a share, or about $2.2 billion, according to people briefed on the deal.

Federal regulators worked around the clock this weekend to orchestrate the sale, finally reaching an agreement at 4 a.m. on Monday morning. In the end, the government agreed to provide Citigroup with a financial guarantee on Wachovia’s most risky assets. It is similar to the deal that the Federal Reserve established with JPMorgan Chase’s emergency takeover of Bear Stearns.

Citigroup will assume the first $42 billion on losses tied to Wachovia’s riskiest mortgages and will pay the Federal Insurance Deposit Corporation $12 billion in preferred stock and warrants. In exchange, the F.D.I.C. will absorb all losses above that amount.

Federal regulators said the move was necessary to stave off what could have been the second big bank failure in less than a week. On Thursday, the government seized Washington Mutual and sold the bulk of its operations to JPMorgan Chase.

“This morning’s decision was made under extraordinary circumstances with significant consultation among the regulators and Treasury,” said Sheila C. Bair, the chairwoman of the F.D.IC in a statement. “This action was necessary to maintain confidence in the banking industry given current financial market conditions.”

Wachovia customers should not notice any changes. “There will be no interruption in services and bank customers should expect business as usual,” Ms. Bair added.

The deal further concentrates Americans’ bank deposits in the hands of three banks: Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup will control more than 30 percent of the industry’s deposits.

Together, they will have unrivaled power to set prices for their loans and services. The institutions would probably come under greater scrutiny from federal regulators, given their size and reach. And some small and midsize banks, already under pressure, might have little choice but to seek suitors in order to compete.

The deal highlights just how bad the banking industry’s problems have gotten as well as the progress that Citigroup after being one of the first to suffer huge losses. Citigroup’s chief executive, Vikram S. Pandit, has recently been making the case to employees and investors that Citigroup is a “pillar of strength” in turbulent times. If he is successful, this transaction could be an important milestone.

Under the deal, Citigroup will buy all of Wachovia’s assets and liabilities — a move that should protect Wachovia’s bondholders. It will also acquire Wachovia’s big retail operations as well as its corporate and private banking. It will also takeover Wachovia’s relatively small investment banking operations, which have catered to real estate and medium-size corporations. Citigroup is leaving behind the A.G. Edwards retail brokerage operations and Evergreen Investments, Wachovia’s money management arm. Senior management decision have not been worked out, according to people involved in the talks.

With Wachovia’s branch network, Citigroup will now have one of the biggest retail banking franchises in the country after years of false starts. That should give Citigroup a larger platform to sell home loans and credit cards, and would give it access to more than $400 billion in more stable customer deposits. The bank has been aggressively trying to reduce its dependence on outside investors for funds.

The risk is that Citigroup could be saddled with tens of billions of dollars in losses tied to Wachovia’s giant loan portfolio. Wachovia has been hurt badly by its 2006 purchase of Golden West Financial, a California lender specializing in so-called pay-option mortgages. And the bank also faced mounting losses on loans made to home builders and commercial real estate developers.

To pay for the deal, Citigroup expects to raise more than $10 billion by issuing new shares of its common stock. It will also slash its dividend to 16 cents a share, the second time in the last year.

Another risk is that Citigroup has had a poor track record of putting together mergers, although it now has a new management team. Citigroup shares were essentially flat in late morning trading on Monday.

Last week, Wachovia held discussions with Citigroup, Wells Fargo and Banco Santander of Spain, before the foreign bank’s interest cooled. But the talks intensified this weekend as lawmakers worked in Washington to hammer out the details of a $700 billion bailout plan. Wachovia executives, meanwhile, huddled in the Seagram Building offices of Sullivan & Cromwell on Park Avenue.

Robert K. Steel, a former top lieutenant of Henry M. Paulson Jr. at both Goldman Sachs and then the Treasury Department, who took over as Wachovia’s chief executive in July, arrived in New York to handle the negotiations in person, along with David M. Carroll, the bank’s chief deal maker. At 8:15 am. on Saturday, Citigroup and Wells Fargo took their first peek at Wachovia’s books.

Regulators pressed the parties to move quickly. Senior officials at the Federal Reserve in Washington, and its branches in New York, Richmond and San Francisco held weekend discussions with all the banks involved. Top officials at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Treasury were also in the loop.

Timothy F. Geithner, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, personally reached out to executives involved in the process to assess the situation and spur it along. Citigroup and Wells Fargo pressed regulators to seize Wachovia and let them buy its assets and deposits, as JPMorgan did with WaMu, or provide some sort of financial guarantee, as regulators did with JPMorgan’s acquisition of Bear Stearns, according to people briefed on and involved with the process.

Both Citigroup and Wells Fargo were deeply concerned about absorbing Wachovia’s giant loan portfolio, which is littered with bad mortgages, these people said. Bankers had little time to assess the risk.

Citigroup executives considered Wachovia a make-or-break deal for their consumer banking ambitions. With Wachovia, Citigroup would gain one of the pre-eminent retail bank operations after struggling to build one for years. It would also give Citigroup access to more stable customer deposits, allowing it to rely less heavily on outside investors for funds. If it failed to clinch a deal, Citigroup’s domestic retail operations would be far behind Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase. Mr. Pandit, the Citigroup’s chief executive, was personally overseeing the talks

Now, the challenge for Mr. Pandit will be making the deal work. Citigroup said on Monday it expected the deal to add to earnings in the first year, excluding a $3.7 billion restructuring charge. It also expects to reap about $3 billion in annual cost savings, though it did not disclose possible layoffs. If Citigroup can pull it off, it would be a symbolic victory of sorts. For Citigroup, the deal is the largest acquisition since the merger of Citicorp and Travelers Group forged the company a decade ago.

Although Citigroup has racked up nearly $50 billion in losses since the crisis began last summer and has watched the value of its shares sharply decline, the bank was also among the first to raise large amounts of capital. Mr. Pandit may point to the Wachovia deal as a sign of progress and an indication that the worst for the bank is behind it.

The deal will also be seen as a stamp of approval from regulators. Only a few years ago, the Federal Reserve took the unusual step of banning Citigroup from making "significant acquisitions." Gaining their approval to do a big deal on such short notice will probably be viewed as a big vote of confidence in Mr. Pandit’s management team.

Citigroup Buys Bank Operations of Wachovia

Citigroup reached an agreement early Monday morning to acquire the banking operations of the Wachovia Corporation after making a daring bid that pulled the deeply troubled company from the brink of collapse.

Citigroup will pay $1 a share, or about $2.2 billion, according to people briefed on the deal.

Federal regulators worked around the clock this weekend to orchestrate the sale, finally reaching an agreement at 4 a.m. on Monday morning. In the end, the government agreed to provide Citigroup with a financial guarantee on Wachovia’s most risky assets. It is similar to the deal that the Federal Reserve established with JPMorgan Chase’s emergency takeover of Bear Stearns.

Citigroup will assume the first $42 billion on losses tied to Wachovia’s riskiest mortgages and will pay the Federal Insurance Deposit Corporation $12 billion in preferred stock and warrants. In exchange, the F.D.I.C. will absorb all losses above that amount.

Federal regulators said the move was necessary to stave off what could have been the second big bank failure in less than a week. On Thursday, the government seized Washington Mutual and sold the bulk of its operations to JPMorgan Chase.

“This morning’s decision was made under extraordinary circumstances with significant consultation among the regulators and Treasury,” said Sheila C. Bair, the chairwoman of the F.D.IC in a statement. “This action was necessary to maintain confidence in the banking industry given current financial market conditions.”

Wachovia customers should not notice any changes. “There will be no interruption in services and bank customers should expect business as usual,” Ms. Bair added.

The deal further concentrates Americans’ bank deposits in the hands of three banks: Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup will control more than 30 percent of the industry’s deposits.

Together, they will have unrivaled power to set prices for their loans and services. The institutions would probably come under greater scrutiny from federal regulators, given their size and reach. And some small and midsize banks, already under pressure, might have little choice but to seek suitors in order to compete.

The deal highlights just how bad the banking industry’s problems have gotten as well as the progress that Citigroup after being one of the first to suffer huge losses. Citigroup’s chief executive, Vikram S. Pandit, has recently been making the case to employees and investors that Citigroup is a “pillar of strength” in turbulent times. If he is successful, this transaction could be an important milestone.

Under the deal, Citigroup will buy all of Wachovia’s assets and liabilities — a move that should protect Wachovia’s bondholders. It will also acquire Wachovia’s big retail operations as well as its corporate and private banking. It will also takeover Wachovia’s relatively small investment banking operations, which have catered to real estate and medium-size corporations. Citigroup is leaving behind the A.G. Edwards retail brokerage operations and Evergreen Investments, Wachovia’s money management arm. Senior management decision have not been worked out, according to people involved in the talks.

With Wachovia’s branch network, Citigroup will now have one of the biggest retail banking franchises in the country after years of false starts. That should give Citigroup a larger platform to sell home loans and credit cards, and would give it access to more than $400 billion in more stable customer deposits. The bank has been aggressively trying to reduce its dependence on outside investors for funds.

The risk is that Citigroup could be saddled with tens of billions of dollars in losses tied to Wachovia’s giant loan portfolio. Wachovia has been hurt badly by its 2006 purchase of Golden West Financial, a California lender specializing in so-called pay-option mortgages. And the bank also faced mounting losses on loans made to home builders and commercial real estate developers.

To pay for the deal, Citigroup expects to raise more than $10 billion by issuing new shares of its common stock. It will also slash its dividend to 16 cents a share, the second time in the last year.

Another risk is that Citigroup has had a poor track record of putting together mergers, although it now has a new management team. Citigroup shares were essentially flat in late morning trading on Monday.

Last week, Wachovia held discussions with Citigroup, Wells Fargo and Banco Santander of Spain, before the foreign bank’s interest cooled. But the talks intensified this weekend as lawmakers worked in Washington to hammer out the details of a $700 billion bailout plan. Wachovia executives, meanwhile, huddled in the Seagram Building offices of Sullivan & Cromwell on Park Avenue.

Robert K. Steel, a former top lieutenant of Henry M. Paulson Jr. at both Goldman Sachs and then the Treasury Department, who took over as Wachovia’s chief executive in July, arrived in New York to handle the negotiations in person, along with David M. Carroll, the bank’s chief deal maker. At 8:15 am. on Saturday, Citigroup and Wells Fargo took their first peek at Wachovia’s books.

Regulators pressed the parties to move quickly. Senior officials at the Federal Reserve in Washington, and its branches in New York, Richmond and San Francisco held weekend discussions with all the banks involved. Top officials at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Treasury were also in the loop.

Timothy F. Geithner, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, personally reached out to executives involved in the process to assess the situation and spur it along. Citigroup and Wells Fargo pressed regulators to seize Wachovia and let them buy its assets and deposits, as JPMorgan did with WaMu, or provide some sort of financial guarantee, as regulators did with JPMorgan’s acquisition of Bear Stearns, according to people briefed on and involved with the process.

Both Citigroup and Wells Fargo were deeply concerned about absorbing Wachovia’s giant loan portfolio, which is littered with bad mortgages, these people said. Bankers had little time to assess the risk.

Citigroup executives considered Wachovia a make-or-break deal for their consumer banking ambitions. With Wachovia, Citigroup would gain one of the pre-eminent retail bank operations after struggling to build one for years. It would also give Citigroup access to more stable customer deposits, allowing it to rely less heavily on outside investors for funds. If it failed to clinch a deal, Citigroup’s domestic retail operations would be far behind Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase. Mr. Pandit, the Citigroup’s chief executive, was personally overseeing the talks

Now, the challenge for Mr. Pandit will be making the deal work. Citigroup said on Monday it expected the deal to add to earnings in the first year, excluding a $3.7 billion restructuring charge. It also expects to reap about $3 billion in annual cost savings, though it did not disclose possible layoffs. If Citigroup can pull it off, it would be a symbolic victory of sorts. For Citigroup, the deal is the largest acquisition since the merger of Citicorp and Travelers Group forged the company a decade ago.

Although Citigroup has racked up nearly $50 billion in losses since the crisis began last summer and has watched the value of its shares sharply decline, the bank was also among the first to raise large amounts of capital. Mr. Pandit may point to the Wachovia deal as a sign of progress and an indication that the worst for the bank is behind it.

The deal will also be seen as a stamp of approval from regulators. Only a few years ago, the Federal Reserve took the unusual step of banning Citigroup from making "significant acquisitions." Gaining their approval to do a big deal on such short notice will probably be viewed as a big vote of confidence in Mr. Pandit’s management team.

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BLOG ANNIVERSARY THIRD

In September 29, I will celebrate the Third Anniversary of Leaves of Grass. I must to say that through blogging I've met a lot of nice, intelligent and funny people all around the world and it has been a great experience to me! I am having a wonderful and great time here!

To homage all my blogs friends I made this collage. My criterium was to pick up them from my links seeing on "Blogs I like to visit". This list is a work in progress, so I truly hope I did not forgot any person here.



About the photos, my criterium was to add a personal photo or a page's PrintScreen, when I could not find personal pictures to post. All pictures comes from friend's blogs and I sort them by alphabetic order. These photos has different sizes and I haven't the specific tool to make all them with the same sizes. So, the resulting image looks like a mosaic. I hope you like it.



Finally, I would like to thank you all my blog's friends who has been visiting, commenting and giving your lovely feedback.



No próximo dia 29 irei comemorar o Terceiro Aniversário do Leaves of Grass. Através do meu blog encontrei pessoas agradáveis, inteligentes, criativas e fiz reais amigos no mundo todo. Blogar tem sido uma experiência fantástica!



Para homenagear os meus amigos eu tive a idéia de fazer uma colagem. Meu critério foi buscá-los nos meus links, que estão no ítem “Blogs I like to visit”. Esta lista de links está sempre em movimento, assim, espero que eu não tenha esquecido de ninguém.



Quanto às fotos, meu critério foi adicionar à colagem fotos pessoais ou o PrintScreen da página, quando não encontrei uma foto adequada para postar. Elas foram copiadas dos blogs e estão dispostas em ordem alfabética. As fotos têm diferentes tamanhos e como eu não disponho de um programa específico para padronizá-las, o resultado foi um mosaico de fotos em diferentes dimensões. Espero que vocês gostem.



Finalmente, gostaria de agradecer a todos vocês meus amigos, que têm me visitado e feito generosos comentários.





Click on the pictures to enlarge and see better!

Abraham Lincoln, Adelino, A-Expression, Alcarwen, Alice, Alice, Amy, Andrea, Andrea, Ângela Ursa, Anna, Anny, Becca, Belinha, Britt-Arnhild, Carraol, Carrie, Cathy, Christine, Claude, Claudia, Claudia, Coca Cutie, Connie, Connie, Cris, Cris, Cuidado Rural, David, Deana, Debby, Denise.

Dot, Eduardo, Elaine, Elma, Ery Roberto, Fabrizio, Faye, Fénix, Fernanda, Fernando Zanforlin, Ferreira-Pinto, Fran, Francine, Francis, Francisco Coelho, Gattina, Gená, Gerald, Geraldine, Geraldo, Gina, Gisela, Gislene, Googs, Henrique, Herhimnbryn, Isabella, Isadora, Jake, Jan.



Janice, Jeanette, Jeanne, Jennie, Jilly, Jim&Peg, John, Jonas, Jorge, JU Gioli, Judith, Kenju, Julie, June, Jussara, Karen, Kate, Kay, Ken Mac, Kerri, Kitty, Kris, Laerte, Lara Berch, Lara, Laura, Leena, Leslee, Letitia, Lica.

Lídia, Liz, Lizete, Lloyd, Louise, Lucy, Lúcia Helena, Luísa, Luiz, Luma, LV2SCPBK, Lynette, Lynne, M.Kate, Madeleine, Marc, Marcos, Mari, Maria Augusta, Marie, Maristela, Mary, Mary Jo, Mary Osborn, Maurício, Max, Meow, Merisi, Ming the Merciless, Mischiefmari, Mrsnesbitt.

Nancy Bea, Naomi, Neva, Pam, Pat, Patricia, Paula, Paulo, Paz, Peri, Peter, Photo Cache, Pietro, Rachel, Rain, Rauf, Ricardo Filho, Robin Andrea, Ronnie, Rurality, São, Sara Louise, Scotty, Shammickite, Sonia Nascimento, Sonia Novaes, Sue, Susie, Suzann, Tabor, Tom, Trish, Vaggelis, Val, Valter, Vi Leardi, Walter Jeffries, Wendy, Wiley Luke, Your EG Tour Guide.





These friends haven't updating or closed their blogs and I miss them very much. Estes amigos não estão mais atualizando ou fecharam os seus blogs. Eu tenho saudade deles.

Heloise, JG and Jude.

Paula Hagar just updated her blog Apprentice of Wonder.

Minha amiga Heloise tem agora um novo blog: Rio em Disco .

My friend Heloise has now a new blog: Rio em Disco .

UPDATE 1

Estou muito grata ao Luiz Ramos, do Natural Shot Photos por esta carinhosa homenagem ao meu blog!

Thank you Luiz Ramos, from Natural Shot Photos for this nice homage to my blog!

UPDATE 2

Muito obrigada Ery Roberto, do Infinito Positivo, por ter criado esta linda e muito original imagem para comemorar o aniversário do blog!

Thank you so much Ery Roberto, from Infinito Positivo, for this gorgeous and very original image created by him to homage my blog's anniversary!

Muito obrigada Lucy, do Hippos, por ter feito um Post muito especial dedicado ao meu blog e também pela divulgação do Ecological Day no próximo dia 2 de Outubro.

Thank you so much Lucy, from Hippos, for the homage on a special Post and also for divulge Ecological Day, next October 2.

Muito obrigada Paz, do Paz's New York Minute, que publicou uma nota em sua página, elogiando o meu blog e convidando os seus leitores para uma visita.

Thank you so much Paz, from Paz's New York Minute, for the compliment to my blog and for the note inviting her friends to make me a visit.

UPDATE 3

Muito obrigada Eduardo, do Varal de Idéias por ter feito um Post muito especial homenageando os três anos do Leaves of Grass.

Thank you so much Eduardo, from Varal de Idéias, for the homage on a special Post about the three years of Leaves of Grass.

Muito obrigada JU Gioli, do Só Poesias e outros ítens... por ter criado esta linda colagem para homenagear o aniversário do meu blog.

Thank you so much JU Gioli, from, Só Poesias e outros ítens... for this gorgeous collage created by her to homage my blog anniversary.

UPDATE 4

Muito obrigada, Luma, do blog "Luz de Luma, yes party!" que postou uma carinhosa nota em seu blog a respeito do nome do Leaves of Grass. Ela supõe que eu deva ter me inspirado no livro de Walt Whitman. Ela acertou! No post Leaves of Grass and the poet Walt Whitman eu explico a origem do nome do meu blog.



Thank you so much Luma, from "Luz de Luma, yes party!" for your nice note on her blog about the name of Leaves of Grass. She guess if I was inspired by the book of Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass. She is right! On the post Leaves of Grass and the poet Walt Whitman I explain the origin of my Blog's name.



Muito obrigada, Anny, do Blog Linha por ter feito um post muito especial homenageando o Leaves of Grass e falando também do livro de Walt Whitman, que ela gosta muito.



Thank you so much, Anny, from Blog Linha for the homage on a special Post to Leaves of Grass. She also talks about the book of Walt Whitman that she loves so much.