How to be a responsible steward of Democracy, Human Rights Capitalism and Planet Earth.



HOW TO BE A RESPONSIBLE STEWARD OF PLANET EARTH


Creating a better world for all through social media activism

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Positive Emotions: Barbara Fredrickson


Purpose



You have -- within you -- the fuel to thrive and to flourish,

and to leave this world in better shape than you found it.
Sometimes you tap into this fuel – other times you don’t.
But the sad fact is that most people have no idea
how to tap into this fuel or even recognize it when they do.
Where is this fuel within you?

You tap into it whenever you feel energized and excited by new ideas.

You tap into it whenever you feel at one with your surroundings, at peace.
You tap into it whenever you feel playful, creative, or silly.
You tap into it whenever you feel your soul stirred by the sheer beauty of existence.
You tap into it whenever you feel connected to others and loved.
In short, you tap into it whenever positive emotions resonate within you.



















Source: http://www.unc.edu/peplab/purpose.html





Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Practice Patience

   

The key to everything is patience.  You get the chicken by hatching
the egg, not by smashing it.
- Arnold H. Glasgow


Talent is long patience.
- Gustavew Flaubert


The patience for waiting is possibly the greatest wisdom of all: the wisdom to plant the seed and let the tree bear fruit.
-John MacEnulty


A handful of patience is worth more than a bushel of brains.
Dutch Proverb



Patience is the art of hoping.
- Lucky Luciano


Patience helps us live longer and with less Stress.
- David March


With time and patience the mulberry leaf becomes a silk gown.
-- Chinese proverb


Patience is the ability to idle your motor when you feel like stripping your gears.
- Michael Le Fan


Patience [is one of those] "feminine qualities which have their origin in our oppression but should be preserved after our liberation.
- Simone de Beauvoir


Patience furthers.
- Lama Surya Das


We could never learn to be brave and patient, if there were only joy in the world.
- Helen Keller


Awareness releases reality to change you.
- Anthony de Mello


If we love and cherish each other as much as we can, I am sure love and compassion will triumph in the end.
- Aung San Su Kyi


Long is not forever.
- German poverb


We can do no great things; only small things with great love.
- Mother Teresa


Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labour and to wait.
- Henry W. Longfellow


I think and think for months and years, ninety-nine times, the conclusion is false.
The hundredth time I am right.
- Albert Einstein



The thing with the rat race is that even if you win, you're still a rat.
- Lily Tomlin



When people are bored it is primarily with their own selves that they are bored.
- Eric Hoffer


Keep cool: it will all be one a hundred years hence.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson


Waiting sharpens desire.  In fact it helps us recognize where our real desires lie.  It separates our passing enthusiasms from our true longings.
- David Runcorn



Faith is the belief in the unseen, the quietly held conviction that even though you can't imagine how, at some time, in some place, in the right way, the thing you desire will indeed come to pass.
- Daphne Rose Kingma




Patience is something you admire in the driver behind you, but not in the one ahead.
- David March



To practice patience, you need a real rascal to help you. It's no use practicing on gentle and kind creatures, for they require no patience.
- from "The Magic of Patience" a Jataka
tale written around 300 B.C.



If there is a defining characteristic of a man as opposed to a boy, maybe it is patience.
- Lance Armstrong




Folks differs, dearie.  They differs a lot.  Some can stand things that others can't.  There's never no way of knowin' how much they can stand.
- Ann Petry



Every moment a beginning.
Every moment an end.
- Mark Salzman



The shortest and the surest way to live with honor in the world is to be in reality what we would appear to be; all human virtues increase and strengthen themselves by the practice and experience of them.
-- Socrates





Something happens when we don't resist, when we don't hate ourselves for what we are experiencing.  Our hearts open...
Sharon Salzberg



It's taken time and practice ... to appreciate that how [we] start the day sets the pace for
everything that comes next.
- David March



You must first have a lot of patience to learn to have patience.
- Bruce Lee


Patience... is cultivated through the rational process of analysis...
It is essential that we begin our training in patience calmly, not while experiencing anger.
-the Dali Lama



Problems are only opportunities in work clothes.
- Henry J. Kaiser


Nothing is more effective than a deep, slow inhale and release for surrendering what you can't control and focusing again on what is right in front of you.
- Oprah



When the crowded refugee boats met with storms or pirates, if everyone panicked, all would be lost.  But if even one person remained calm and centered, it was enough.  They showed the way for everyone to survive.
- Thich Nhat Hanh




He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty.
And he who rules his spirit, than he who takes a city.
Proverbs 1 6:32



You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. What
you'll discover will be wonderful.  What you discover will be yourself.
- Alan Alda


Our nervous system isn't just a fiction, it's part of our physical body, and our soul exists in space and inside us, like teeth in our mouth.
- Boris Pasternak


You will be pleased to know that the heat in Lucknow has been really hot!... It is good to burn with the heat of God outside since we don't burn with the heat of God in our hearts.
- Mother Teresa



A great preservative against angry and mutinous thoughts, and all impatience and quarreling, is to have some great business and interest in your mind, which, like a sponge shall suck up your attention and keep you from brooding over what displeases you.
- Joseph Rickard



How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant of the weak and the strong - because one day you will have been all of these.
-George Washington Carver




When some misfortune threatens, consider seriously and deliberately what is the very worst that could possibly happen.  Having looked this possible misfortune in the face, give yourself sound reasons for thinking that after all it would be no such terrible disaster.
- Bertrand Russell



I am extraordinarily patient, provided I get my own way in the end.
Margret Thatcher



We are all dangling in mid-process between what already happened (which is just a memory) and what might happen (which is only an idea).  Now is the only time anything happens.  When we are awake in our lives we know what's happening.
- Sylvia Boorstein






Life is so short, we should all move more slowly.
-Thich Nhat Hanh





Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Public Service Announcement: Don't be a Dick!


 



If none are spayed or neutered, a female dog, her mate, and their offspring can produce 67,000  dogs in 6 years.


Ban Backyard Breeders along with Puppy Mills.  It is downright depressing to know how many puppies and kittens are abandoned and unwanted everyday in North America. 


Responsible people do their best to adopt from shelters but there is no
 way to keep up with the steady supply of newly orphaned animals.


The statistics can be found on the web.  I don't want to make anyone feel sick reading about it.  Take my word for it that too many animals die
because humans no longer want the responsibility of caring for a pet.




Study: We knew Bees everywhere are Dying. We didn't know why. Now we do—and it's obvious. | elephant journal

Pesticides put bee colonies at risk: study. Pesticides used in farming are also killing worker bees and damaging their ability to gather food, meaning colonies that are vital for plant pollination are more likely to fail when they are used, according to a new study. (abc.net.au) 

Colony Collapse Disorder

Australian bee expert Professor Boris Baer says the new research.

“[The study] provides clear evidence for what has been widely suspected to be a major factor contributing towards bee decline: the action of pesticides commonly used intensively in modern agriculture,” says Baer, from the Centre for Integrative Bee Research at the University of Western Australia.

“This research consolidates a further dimension to the acute bee and pollinator problem, and could well be an important milestone to understand the dramatic decline events we have observed over recent years, that are often referred to as Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD).”

…click here for the rest.
…for more.



Study: We knew Bees everywhere are Dying. We didn't know why. Now we do—and it's obvious. | elephant journal

Sunday, October 21, 2012

My Sustainability Mantra

A Vegetarian Diet is good for your and good for the Planet.

Nothing will benefit human health and increase the chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet. - Albert Einstein

Small acts, when multiplied by millions of people, can transform the world. - Howard Zinn

“Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s need, but not every man’s greed.”
- Mahatma Gandhi

WHEN SPIDERS UNITE, THEY CAN TIE DOWN A LION.
-Ethiopian proverb




Saturday, October 20, 2012

Dalai Lama calls for 'century of compassion'


The Dalai Lama 
Jessica Rinaldi / Reuters
The Dalai Lama during a lecture in Boston on Oct. 14, 2012


PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — The Dalai Lama has called for a century of compassion and peace in which the gap between the rich and poor narrows and environmental stewardship is a priority.
The exiled Tibetan leader told a crowd of about 5,600 at the Rhode Island Convention Center on Wednesday that peace stems from happiness and that happiness stems from looking beyond yourself.
‘‘We are part of humanity,’’ he said, adding of fellow global citizens: ‘‘Their problem is my problem. Their happiness is my happiness. We have to look to the interests of others.’’
He called for more global dialogue and for young people to open their minds to new ways of thinking. He said that people must look beyond their families, their community, their city and even their nation.
  
He referred to closing the gap between the rich and poor as a moral issue, and said that taking care of the planet is important. If he ever joined a political party, he joked, it would be the Green Party.




 Picture from:

Dalai Lama calls for 'century of compassion' - News - Boston.com



John Wooden: the difference between winning and succeeding - YouTube


Uploaded by on Mar 26, 2009
 
http://www.ted.com With profound simplicity, Coach John Wooden redefines success and urges us all to pursue the best in ourselves. In this inspiring talk he shares the advice he gave his players at UCLA, quotes poetry and remembers his father's wisdom.

John Wooden: the difference between winning and succeeding - YouTube

link:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MM-psvqiG8&feature=relmfu





Sunday, October 14, 2012

Environmental Philosophy



The Big Old Oak Tree


Derrick Jensen book called What We Leave Behind, is about what we leave behind.  It is a devastating critique of our culture's treatment of the natural world, on which all of life depends.  

What We Leave Behind focuses on our culture's waste products. Until fairly recently in the history of the planet, the waste of one living thing became the food of another living thing; a tree drops its leaves and the dead leaves are broken down by various processes and living creatures to become the nutrient-rich forest floor, a lion kills a gazelle and the scraps are eaten by hyenas ---  a human dies and the body is returned to the earth's natural processes, and all life is better off for it - "healthier, stronger, more resilient, more diverse."

However, we started producing waste products that no living thing can break down, which means they are essentially poisonous. Sea creatures starve to death with their bellies full of plastic.

Jensen writes, "This culture is killing the planet. This culture is killing the planet. This culture is killing the planet."

Jensen is not negative; the culture that he is criticizing is negative. Jensen is angry...

The Big Old Oak Tree quotes the Powhatan-Renape-Lenape man Jack Forbes:


The life of Native American peoples revolves around the concept of sacredness, beauty, power, and relatedness of all forms of existence. In short the "ethics" or moral values of Native people are part and parcel of their cosmology or total world view.
Most Native languages have no word for "religion" and it may be true that a word for religion is never needed until a people no longer have "religion."
As Ohiyesa (Charles Eastman) said,
"Every act of his [the Indian's] life is, in a very real sense, a religious act."... "Religion," is, in reality, "living." Our "religion" is not what we profess, or what we say, or what we proclaim; our "religion" is what we do, what we desire, what we seek, what we dream about, what we fantasize, what we think - all of these things - twenty-four hours a day."
One's religion, then, is one's life, not merely the ideal life but the life as it is actually lived.... Religion is not a prayer, it is not a church, it is not "theistic," it is not "atheistic," it has little to do with what white people call "religion"
It is our every act. If we tromp on a bug, that is our religion. If we experiment on living animal, that is our religion: if we cheat at cards, that is our religion; if we dream of being famous, that is our religion; if we gossip maliciously, that is our religion; if we are rude and aggressive, that is our religion. All that we do, and are, is our religion. (pg. 154)

What would it look like if I did my best to make everything I do an expression of the "sacredness, beauty, power, and relatedness of all forms of existence"?




Update, 3/9/11: Jensen shares authorship with Aric McBay, creator of In the Wake: A Collective Manual-in-progress for Outliving Civilization




Monday, October 8, 2012

LifeStraw Personal Water Filter


Uploaded by on Sep 19, 2011

The LifeStraw personal water filter, the "Best Invention of 2005" (Time magazine), enables users to drink water safely from water sources which may be contaminated. LifeStraw is ideal for homeowners during emergencies such as local flooding which may contaminate drinking water supplies. LifeStraw is also useful for campers and hikers who may be drinking from rivers or lakes and unsure of the water safety. Because LifeStraw is lightweight and compact, it is also great for travelers who do not want to rely on the quality of local water.

LifeStraw surpasses EPA guidelines for Escherichia coli and Cryptosporidium oocysts, rigorous standards for water purification.

Eartheasy is an official launch partner for LifeStraw, which is now available for US and Canadian customers to purchase. Since 2005, LifeStraw has been used in developing countries to assist in achieving the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals for clean drinking water. We're excited to help launch this useful product in North America.

 20 BUCKS FOR A FILTER THAT LASTS 5 YEARS AND FILTERS 264 GALLONS!!! Damn. This is not only the best invention of 2005, it's the best ever. (Next to whiskey of course.)



LifeStraw Personal Water Filter


October 6th, 2012 | Tech |




Innovative drinking straw designed by Vestergaard Frandsen will give you easy access to safe and clean water.





LifeStraw with integrated water filter does not use chemicals, does not require batteries, and has no moving parts.

It effectively removes 99.9% of waterborne parasites and bacteria.

Place LifeStraw in water and drink through the mouthpiece. 






















Wednesday, October 3, 2012

The £10 cardboard bicycle you CAN ride in the rain | Mail Online

The £10 cardboard bicycle that could revolutionise third world transport. It is coated with a waterproof resin to protect it in the rain.
The £10 cardboard bicycle that could revolutionise third world transport. It is coated with a waterproof resin to protect it in the rain.

  It is covered with a waterproof resin then painted.

That means it could become a cheap form of transport in rural Third World regions as well as being the ultimate green machine.

Israeli-based engineer Izhar Gafni now has financial backing from a company called ERB which is an active partner in managing all the business and financial aspects of this project.

Izhar got the idea after he heard about a man who had built a cardboard canoe.

He said thinking about a canoe which was waterproof and could hold a man, made him imagine a bike.

He made a prototype able to support a rider’s weight and able to be pedaled and steered just like a normal machine,

But he admitted: 'It looked like a packing case on wheels. 

'Not a bicycle.'

He want back to the drawing board and came up with his finished model.

He said: 'Like Henry Ford who made the car available to anybody, this bike is going to be cheap and available to any child in the world, including children in Africa who walk dozens of miles to school every day.'



A special coating means the bicycle can be ridden in the rain without the water reaching the cardboard core of the design.
A special coating means the bicycle can be ridden in the rain without the water reaching the cardboard core of the design.








Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2204449/The-10-cardboard-bicycle-CAN-ride-rain.html#ixzz28IalfTbX

The £10 cardboard bicycle you CAN ride in the rain | Mail Online

Link: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2204449/The-10-cardboard-bicycle-CAN-ride-rain.html



Izhar cardboard bike project on Vimeo






Izhar cardboard bike project on Vimeo







ERB provides a full-spectrum of customized financial services for start-up, high-tech, financial, commercial and multi-national clients. For close to two decades our more than 60 strong multi-disciplinary team of management and finance consultants has been providing financial guidance and support to over 300 companies operating in Israel.

The firm has a proven track record for working with and supporting start-up companies and helping them grow. Over the years, ERB has accompanied their clients in raising hundreds of millions of dollars. ERB has also been involved in its clients’ M&A transactions amounting to over one billion dollars. Known for being astute, quick to respond, transparent and professional, clients trust the ERB team to effectively manage the financial aspects of their operations. The advantages are clear: 1) Reducing expenditures by outsourcing financial services; 2) More time for the client to focus on what they do best; and, 3) The peace of mind of knowing that the company’s finances are in good hands.


 

Izhar cardboard bike project

Film-maker & producer: Giora Kariv. gigicom77@gmail.com Photography: Uri Ackerman
Contact for the bike: danit@erb.co.il
For more information and content about this project:
erb.co.il/en/aboutus.asp?p=yxdn-vrjd-ufzg-ukyv
ERB in Facebook:
facebook.com/pages/ERB-Financial-Group/108159489328980
ERB in Twitter:
google.com/url?q=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Fdanit92958022&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNETdWvfItdtB1yvRqTSVlER14BQ_Q