Landfill Harmonic - Children creating music

 Humans adapt in some highly creative ways....

The Recycled Orchestra: Slum Children Create Music out of Garbage

A video of slum children creating music with instruments made of trash has been reposted
 nearly 345,000 times on Facebook in the past week. Some viewers said
they wept when they heard the rich, deep notes from a cello made of
rusty oil can.



These young musicians hail from a village in Paraguay called Cateura,
 a town perched on top of a mountain of garbage. Every day 1,500 tons of
 solid waste is dumped in a landfill in Cateura, where 2,500 families
live. These families, with the help of their children, survive by
recycling whatever they can find in the landfill, according to UNICEF.



One day Favio Chávez, an ecological technician, had a wild idea of
giving these children something that would have been beyond their reach:
 playing music in an orchestra. Although he was trained as a musician
and had experience in forming ensembles, he knew few if any families
could afford musical instruments in Cateura, where a violin, Chávez says
 in the video, is worth more than a house.



To his delight he discovered
the solution was literally within his grasp: The dump site was
overflowed with material capable of making music.



“One day it occurred to me to teach music to the children of the recyclers and use my personal instruments,” Chávez, 36, told
 Fox News Latino.



“But it got to the point that there were too many
students and not enough supply. So that’s when I decided to experiment
and try to actually create a few.”



(MORE: OK Go to Release Music Video Featuring 1,000 Handmade Instruments)



That was when Chávez had an epiphany:  “The world sends us garbage,
we send back music,” as a quote from Chávez reads in the video’s
introduction.

Thus The Recycled Orchestra was formed. Its fame has taken the
30-member ensemble traveling around the world, performing in Argentina,
Brazil and Germany.

Being able to play an instrument has profoundly changed some members’
 lives. “My life would be… worthless without music,” one girl said in
the video.



The orchestra has attracted the attention of Graham Townsley, an
Emmy-nominated filmmaker. Townsley and his crew have been making a
documentary called Landfill Harmonic based on the orchestra. They released a trailer in November, with the hope of finishing the documentary by 2013.



“I made this orchestra to educate the world and raise awareness,” Chávez told
 Fox News Latino. ”But it’s also a social message to let people know
that even though these students are in extreme poverty, they can also
contribute to society. They deserve an opportunity.”

Read more:



http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/12/11/watch-the-recycled-orchestra-slum-children-create-music-out-of-garbage/#ixzz2G0hzaLDn



Dec 11 2012

License:  Standard YouTube license





  



Humans adapt in some highly creative ways....



 http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=O6rgkCUstaE&feature=endscreen

Value Your Health

‎

"Health is the greatest possession.
Contentment is the greatest treasure.
Confidence is the greatest friend.
Non-being is the greatest joy."

                                                                          - Lao Tzu

Happy Dancing Fool

 

 

Nature Quotes

Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace
will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will
blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy,
while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of Autumn.
- John Muir



An early morning walk is a blessing for the whole day.
- Henry David Thoreau



I go to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses
put in order.
- John Burroughs



Nature never hurries. Atom by atom, little by little she
achieves her work.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
 


April has put a spirit of youth in everything!
- William Shakespeare



If spring came but once a century instead of once a year, or
burst forth with the sound of an earthquake and not in
silence, what wonder and expectation there would be
in all the hearts to behold the miraculous change.
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

 
In summer, the song sings itself.
- William Carlos Williams
 


I will be the gladdest thing under the sun. I will touch a hundred
flowers and not pick one.
- Edna St. Vincent Millay



My profession is to always find God in nature.
- Henry David Thoreau 



You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and
the stars; you have a right to be here.
- Desiderata



Keep your sense of proportion by regularly, preferably daily,
visiting the natural world.
- Catlin Matthews

 

To sit in the shade on a fine day and look upon the verdant green
hills is the most perfect refreshment.
- Jane Austin

 


All seasons are beautiful for the person who carries happiness
within.
- Horace Friess


People from a planet without flowers would think we must be mad
with joy the whole time to have such things about us.
- Iris Murdoch

 


Love comes fortth like sunshine after rain.
- Shakespeare



Summer afternoon . . . summer afternoon - the two most beautiful
words in the English language.
- Henry James




Lie down and listen to the crabgrass grow.
- Marya Mannes



The morning of life is like the dawn of a day, full of purity, visions,
and harmony.
- Chateubriand 



I myself am quite absorbed by the delicate yellow, delicate soft
green, delicate violet of a ploughed and weeded piece of soil.
- Vincent van Gogh
 


Whoever loves and understands a garden will find contentment
within.
- Chinese Proverb

 


Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under
trees on a summer's day, listening to the murmur of the water,
or watching the clouds float across the sky is by no means
a waste of time.
- J. Lubbuck



Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.
- Lao Tzu



In my garden, after a rainfall, you can faintly, yes, hear the
breaking of new blooms.
- Truman Capote




The day, water, sun, moon, night - I do not have to purchase
these things with money.
- Plautis


I am in love with the green earth.
- Charles Lamb



I think it annoys God if you walk by the color purple in a field
and don't notice.
- Alice Walker
From "The Color Purple"


Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and
that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple
beauty of nature. I firmly believe that nature brings solace
in all troubles.
- Anne Frank


Some of nature's most exquisite handiwork is on a miniature
scale, as anyone knows who has applied a magnifying glass
to a snowflake.
- Rachel Carson




There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains
of nature - the assurance that dawn comes after night, and
spring after the winter.
- Rachel Carson
The Sense of Wonder





Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must
carry it with us or we find it not.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

The world will never starve for wonder, but only for want of
wonder.
- G.K. Chesterson




The rich fire of the orange sunset gloriously announces the
coming night.
- Susan S. Florence


Flowers are heaven's masterpiece.
- Dorothy Parker




When I bought my farm, I did not know what a bargain I had in the
bluebirds, daffodils and thrushes; as little did I know what
sublime mornings and sunsets I was buying.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson



Sounds of the wind or sounds of the sea
Make me happy just to be.
- June Polis
 


The sun does not shine for a few trees and flowers, but for the
wide world's joy.
- Henry Ward Beecher



Nature is the art of God.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson



The fog comes on little cat feet. It sits looking over the harbor
and city on silent haunches and then moves on.
- Carl Sandburg



Is it so small a thing to have enjoyed the sun, to have lived light
in the sky, to have loved, to have thought, to have done?
- Mathew Arnold


The landscape belongs to the person who looks at it.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
 


God is the friend of silence. Trees, flowers, grass grow in
silence. See the stars, moon, and sun, how they move
in silence.
- Mother Teresa



The best thing about animals is that they don't talk much.
- Thornton Wilder

 

Never lose an opportunity to see anything that is beautiful.
It is God's handwriting - a wayside sacrament. Welcome
it in every fair face, every fair sky, every fair flower.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson






Be like the bird, who halting in his flight on limb too slight,
feels it give way beneath him, yet sings knowing he
hath wings.
- Victor Hugo



The silence of nature is very real. It surrounds you . . . you
can feel it.
- Ted Trueblood

 


Each moment of the year has its own beauty . . . a picture
which was never before and shall never be seen again.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

 



Flowers are like human beings . . . they thrive on a little
kindness.
- Fred Streeter



After a thundershower, the weather takes a pledge and signs
it with a rainbow.
- Thomas Bailey Aldric
 




Meandering in a shady stream,
it can make a home for green growing things.
- Peggy Wayburn

 


If one daffodil is worth a thousand pleasures, then one is
too few.
- William Wordsworth

 


We do not see nature with our eyes, but with our
understandings and our hearts.
- William Hazlett

 


The ocean . . . cold and wild the surf, rushing in to overwhelm
the beach, the wind, stinging my cheeks, enveloping me
in total freedom.
- Scott Holman

 


The meadow: green in spring, gold in summer, brown in fall,
white in winter, everlasting, ever-changing...

 

How easy and simple it is to live enjoyably when the simple interminable blue of the sky, with its long wisps of white
clouds, become a pleasant thing to behold, a thing of
beauty that thrills you every time you care to look skyward.
- John Schindler

 


 

Values and Vision

“The value of your company is driven by your company’s values.”
~Howard Shultz, CEO Starbucks



“Vision without action is merely a dream. Action without vision just passes the time. Vision with action can change the world!”
 – Joel Arthur Barker

Values

Sustainability: Looking beyond our current environment and planning ahead for the benefit of future generations.

Integrity: To be driven by a strong sense of values and principles that benefit the greater good.

Philanthropy: To give back to the community; whether it’s a monetary donation, volunteer hours or education; the organizations we partner with are paying it forward to the global community.

Sustainability, Integrity, Philanthropy (Sip)

“The value of your company is driven by your company’s values.”
~Howard Shultz, CEO Starbucks

“Vision without action is merely a dream. Action without vision just passes the time. Vision with action can change the world!” – Joel Arthur Barker


Sustainability. Integrity. Philanthropy. It’s what we at Sip stand for. The demand for companies to behave responsibly is global – and it’s growing. We believe every organization has an opportunity to create positive change; collectively these small shifts can greatly impact people and the planet. As public relations experts, it’s our mission to ensure your efforts get noticed.

Sip – we’re thirsty for change.

Communicating for good, not evil. Ignorance is not bliss and no organization has a perfect footprint, but we should strive to tread lighter. Creative, progressive, and effective, our world-class creative team has more than 30 years of collective journalism and public relations experience. We use our expertise to strategically brag about the positive movements your company is making to the audiences you want to reach. It’s time to think globally; It’s time to change.

Source:
Sip Publicity

http://sippublicity.com/

Blog:  http://sippublicity.com/blog-3/

American bison are on the rebound

Zeke Tapia
American Bison

Bison near Ratón.

Posted: Wednesday, October 31, 2012 1:00 pm | Updated: 2:26 pm, Thu Oct 25, 2012.

by Steve Tapia |

American bison, also known as the American buffalo, is comprised of two subspecies, the plains bison and the wood bison. Plains bison is the one we are most familiar with.

Both species were hunted close to extinction during the 19th and 20th centuries, but have since rebounded. The American plains bison is no longer listed as endangered, but the wood bison is on the Endangered Species list in Canada.

In “American Bison; A Natural History” by Dale F. Lott (2003), we learn bison are nomadic grazers and travel in herds. The bulls leave the herds of females at 2 or 3 years of age, and join a male herd which is generally smaller than the female herds.

Mature bulls rarely travel alone. Both sexes reunite for the mating season toward the end of summer.

American bison tend to graze more and browse less, they favor head-butting as opposed to locking horns, and the American bison breed with domestic cattle more readily than wood bison.

The number of bison remaining alive in North America declined to as low as 541 animals!

The U.S. National Bison Association has adopted a code of ethics which prohibits its members from deliberately crossbreeding bison with any other species. That’s not to say that crossbreeding has not occurred in the past.

During the time that they were on the brink of extinction, a handful of ranchers gathered remnants of the existing herds to save the species. These ranchers bred some of the bison with cattle and produced “cattleo” and “beefalo.”

Accidental crossings were also known to occur over the years.

Generally, male domestic bulls were crossed with buffalo cows, producing offspring of which only the females were fertile. The crossbred animals did not demonstrate any form of hybrid vigor so the practice was abandoned.

Wallowing is a common behavior of bison. A bison wallow is a shallow depression in the soil, either wet or dry, that bison roll in and cover themselves with mud or dust to groom themselves, get relief from skin irritation due to biting insects, and good all-around play or fun.

The bison’s temperament is often unpredictable. They usually appear peaceful, unconcerned, even lazy … yet they may attack anything often without warning or apparent reason — kind of like the State Farm TV commercial.

At the time bison ran wild, they were rated second only to the Alaska brown bear as a potential killer, more dangerous than a grizzly bear. In the words of early naturalists, “they were a dangerous, savage animal that feared no other animal, and in prime condition could best any foe … except for maybe wolves and brown bears.”

Knowing how many bison there were goes beyond casual curiosity. We can’t understand the ecosystem of primitive North America, or the magnitude of the human rearrangement of that ecosystem, without a good estimate of the primitive North American bison population.

Still, I have not found a “definitive” number in the literature, and believe me, I have looked. I have read anywhere from 30 million bison to 60 million bison in primitive North America.

It’s almost as though most authors fear taking a formal stance on the “original number of bison in North America,” or that we are just too embarrassed by the number.

Nevertheless, the book “Buffalo Nation; History and Legend of the North American Bison” (1982) chronicles with great detail the plight of the American Bison in America. We should not be embarrassed, but we should learn from our mistakes.

Steve Tapia is a retired wildlife biologist who worked 23 years with the U.S. Forest Service and four years with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.







© 2012 The Taos News. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.




De La Tierra: American bison are on the rebound - The Taos News: Lifestyle

Link: http://www.taosnews.com/lifestyle/article_c414157e-1ee1-11e2-8705-001a4bcf887a.html

"We will need a new recipe to feed the world in the future" -Vegetarianism

Food shortages could force world into vegetarianism, warn scientists


Water scarcity's effect on food production means radical steps will be needed to feed population expected to reach 9bn by 2050
 
 

John Vidal, environment editor
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 26 August 2012 19.00 BST

A bull grazes on dry wheat husks in Logan, Kansas, one of the regions hit by the record drought that has affected more than half of the US and is expected to drive up food prices. Photograph: John Moore/Getty Images


Leading water scientists have issued one of the sternest warnings yet about global food supplies, saying that the world's population may have to switch almost completely to a vegetarian diet over the next 40 years to avoid catastrophic shortages.

Humans derive about 20% of their protein from animal-based products now, but this may need to drop to just 5% to feed the extra 2 billion people expected to be alive by 2050, according to research by some of the world's leading water scientists.

"There will not be enough water available on current croplands to produce food for the expected 9 billion population in 2050 if we follow current trends and changes towards diets common in western nations," the report by Malik Falkenmark and colleagues at the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) said.
"There will be just enough water if the proportion of animal-based foods is limited to 5% of total calories and considerable regional water deficits can be met by a … reliable system of food trade."

Dire warnings of water scarcity limiting food production come as Oxfam and the UN prepare for a possible second global food crisis in five years. 

Prices for staples such as corn and wheat have risen nearly 50% on international markets since June, triggered by severe droughts in the US and Russia, and weak monsoon rains in Asia.

 More than 18 million people are already facing serious food shortages across the Sahel.

Oxfam has forecast that the price spike will have a devastating impact in developing countries that rely heavily on food imports, including parts of Latin America, North Africa and the Middle East.

 Food shortages in 2008 led to civil unrest in 28 countries.

Adopting a vegetarian diet is one option to increase the amount of water available to grow more food in an increasingly climate-erratic world, the scientists said. 

Animal protein-rich food consumes five to 10 times more water than a vegetarian diet. 

One third of the world's arable land is used to grow crops to feed animals. Other options to feed people include eliminating waste and increasing trade between countries in food surplus and those in deficit.

"Nine hundred million people already go hungry and 2 billion people are malnourished in spite of the fact that per capita food production continues to increase," they said. 

"With 70% of all available water being in agriculture, growing more food to feed an additional 2 billion people by 2050 will place greater pressure on available water and land."

The report is being released at the start of the annual world water conference in Stockholm, Sweden, where 2,500 politicians, UN bodies, non-governmental groups and researchers from 120 countries meet to address global water supply problems.

Competition for water between food production and other uses will intensify pressure on essential resources, the scientists said. 

"The UN predicts that we must increase food production by 70% by mid-century.  

This will place additional pressure on our already stressed water resources, at a time when we also need to allocate more water to satisfy global energy demand – which is expected to rise 60% over the coming 30 years – and to generate electricity for the 1.3 billion people currently without it," said the report.

Overeating, undernourishment and waste are all on the rise and increased food production may face future constraints from water scarcity.

"We will need a new recipe to feed the world in the future," said the report's editor, Anders Jägerskog.
...........................................................................

Global development
Food security ·
Access to water
Environment
Food ·
Water ·
Drought ·
Farming
Society
Life and style
Vegetarianism
World news
Population 





Source:
Food shortages could force world into vegetarianism, warn scientists | Global development | The Guardian


link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/2012/aug/26/food-shortages-world-vegetarianism

Circus

Although the circus reputation for exploiting animals is well earned, the posters are always fun to view.... this picture comes off a site dedicated to the history of the circus.  

Our blog attempts to point to the dignity of many of the same animals the circuses use in their shows.  That the animals are kept in deplorable conditions is just one of the many complaints against this kind  of animal based entertainment that we cannot agree with.  

Enjoy the poster as a time capsule picture of days one by....

Gentry Bros. flyer #1 (From Buckles)

Floyd and Howard King used this and other titles on their shows in the 1920's.
In this case they inexplicably mistook a few Ringling photos.


         Source:  Buckles Blog: Gentry Bros. flyer #1 (From Buckles)

 Link:  http://bucklesw.blogspot.ca/2012/11/gentry-bros-flyer-1-from-buckles.html

One of the holy grails of solar cell technology may have been found, with researchers at UCLA announcing they have created a new organic polymer that produces electricity, is nearly transparent and is more durable and malleable than silicon.

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2012-08-ucla-transparent-solar-game-changer.html#jCp

Transparent solar film

UCLA's new transparent solar film could be game-changer

August 21, 2012 by Dean Kuipers


As reported at PhysOrg:

One of the holy grails of solar cell technology may have been found, with researchers at UCLA announcing they have created a new organic polymer that produces electricity, is nearly transparent and is more durable and malleable than silicon. The applications are mind-boggling. Windows that produce electricity. Buildings wrapped in transparent solar cells... "

(A solar film) harvests light and turns it into electricity. In our case, we harvest only the infrared part," says Professor Yang Yang at UCLA's California Nanosystems Institute, who has headed up the research on the new photovoltaic polymer. Absorbing only the infrared light, he explains, means the material doesn't have to be dark or black or blue, like most silicon photovoltaic panels. It can be clear. "We have developed a material that absorbs infrared and is all transparent to the visible light."

"And then we also invented a new electrode, a metal, that is also transparent. So we created a new solar cell," Yang adds. Well, the metal is actually not transparent, Yang points out; it's just so small that you can't see it. The new polymer incorporates silver nanowires about 0.1 microns thick... 

Someday the strangle hold of oil will be broken... 

The applications are mind-boggling. Windows that produce electricity. Buildings wrapped in transparent solar cells. Laptops and phones ?- or even cars or planes ?- whose outer coverings act as chargers. It might even be sprayed on as a liquid. The promise of cheap and easy-to-apply site-generated solar electricity might now be a lot closer to reality. Of course, the idea of solar films and solar plastics is not new. The breakthrough to making a transparent film, however, came with isolating only one band of light in the spectrum. "(A solar film) harvests light and turns it into electricity. In our case, we harvest only the infrared part," says Professor Yang Yang at UCLA's California Nanosystems Institute, who has headed up the research on the new photovoltaic polymer. Absorbing only the infrared light, he explains, means the material doesn't have to be dark or black or blue, like most silicon photovoltaic panels. It can be clear. "We have developed a material that absorbs infrared and is all transparent to the visible light." "And then we also invented a new electrode, a metal, that is also transparent. So we created a new solar cell," Yang adds. Well, the metal is actually not transparent, Yang points out; it's just so small that you can't see it. The new polymer incorporates silver nanowires about 0.1 microns thick, about one-thousandth the width of a human hair, and titanium dioxide nanoparticles as an electrode. When in liquid form, it is as clear as a glass of water, and when applied to a hard, flat surface as a film it is meant to be invisible to the eye.

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2012-08-ucla-transparent-solar-game-changer.html#jCp

game-changer August 21, 2012 by Dean Kuipers One of the holy grails of solar cell technology may have been found, with researchers at UCLA announcing they have created a new organic polymer that produces electricity, is nearly transparent and is more durable and malleable than silicon. Ads by Google Hotels in New York City - Reviews & Discounts at TripAdvisor - TripAdvisor.com/newyorkcity The applications are mind-boggling. Windows that produce electricity. Buildings wrapped in transparent solar cells. Laptops and phones ?- or even cars or planes ?- whose outer coverings act as chargers. It might even be sprayed on as a liquid. The promise of cheap and easy-to-apply site-generated solar electricity might now be a lot closer to reality. Of course, the idea of solar films and solar plastics is not new. The breakthrough to making a transparent film, however, came with isolating only one band of light in the spectrum. "(A solar film) harvests light and turns it into electricity. In our case, we harvest only the infrared part," says Professor Yang Yang at UCLA's California Nanosystems Institute, who has headed up the research on the new photovoltaic polymer. Absorbing only the infrared light, he explains, means the material doesn't have to be dark or black or blue, like most silicon photovoltaic panels. It can be clear. "We have developed a material that absorbs infrared and is all transparent to the visible light." "And then we also invented a new electrode, a metal, that is also transparent. So we created a new solar cell," Yang adds. Well, the metal is actually not transparent, Yang points out; it's just so small that you can't see it. The new polymer incorporates silver nanowires about 0.1 microns thick, about one-thousandth the width of a human hair, and titanium dioxide nanoparticles as an electrode. When in liquid form, it is as clear as a glass of water, and when applied to a hard, flat surface as a film it is meant to be invisible to the eye.

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2012-08-ucla-transparent-solar-game-changer.html#jCp

The applications are mind-boggling. Windows that produce electricity. Buildings wrapped in transparent solar cells. Laptops and phones ?- or even cars or planes ?- whose outer coverings act as chargers. It might even be sprayed on as a liquid. The promise of cheap and easy-to-apply site-generated solar electricity might now be a lot closer to reality. Of course, the idea of solar films and solar plastics is not new. The breakthrough to making a transparent film, however, came with isolating only one band of light in the spectrum. "(A solar film) harvests light and turns it into electricity. In our case, we harvest only the infrared part," says Professor Yang Yang at UCLA's California Nanosystems Institute, who has headed up the research on the new photovoltaic polymer. Absorbing only the infrared light, he explains, means the material doesn't have to be dark or black or blue, like most silicon photovoltaic panels. It can be clear. "We have developed a material that absorbs infrared and is all transparent to the visible light." "And then we also invented a new electrode, a metal, that is also transparent. So we created a new solar cell," Yang adds. Well, the metal is actually not transparent, Yang points out; it's just so small that you can't see it. The new polymer incorporates silver nanowires about 0.1 microns thick, about one-thousandth the width of a human hair, and titanium dioxide nanoparticles as an electrode. When in liquid form, it is as clear as a glass of water, and when applied to a hard, flat surface as a film it is meant to be invisible to the eye.

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2012-08-ucla-transparent-solar-game-changer.html#jCp

The applications are mind-boggling. Windows that produce electricity. Buildings wrapped in transparent solar cells. Laptops and phones ?- or even cars or planes ?- whose outer coverings act as chargers. It might even be sprayed on as a liquid. The promise of cheap and easy-to-apply site-generated solar electricity might now be a lot closer to reality. Of course, the idea of solar films and solar plastics is not new. The breakthrough to making a transparent film, however, came with isolating only one band of light in the spectrum. "(A solar film) harvests light and turns it into electricity. In our case, we harvest only the infrared part," says Professor Yang Yang at UCLA's California Nanosystems Institute, who has headed up the research on the new photovoltaic polymer. Absorbing only the infrared light, he explains, means the material doesn't have to be dark or black or blue, like most silicon photovoltaic panels. It can be clear. "We have developed a material that absorbs infrared and is all transparent to the visible light." "And then we also invented a new electrode, a metal, that is also transparent. So we created a new solar cell," Yang adds. Well, the metal is actually not transparent, Yang points out; it's just so small that you can't see it. The new polymer incorporates silver nanowires about 0.1 microns thick, about one-thousandth the width of a human hair, and titanium dioxide nanoparticles as an electrode. When in liquid form, it is as clear as a glass of water, and when applied to a hard, flat surface as a film it is meant to be invisible to the eye. Ads by Google Trusted Cloud Web Hosting - Free 14 day trial & up in minutes 100 MBps Free to Use & Low Fees - us.gmocloud.com/cloud-web-hosting Thin-film PV currently exists that can be applied to windows, but only on windows that can be tinted. Many buildings use tinted windows as a way to cut down infrared radiation and thus keep out excess heat. Because this new transparent fil

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2012-08-ucla-transparent-solar-game-changer.html#jCp

 Source:
UCLA's new transparent solar film could be game-changer

 Link: http://phys.org/news/2012-08-ucla-transparent-solar-game-changer.html

John Francis walks the Earth

For almost three decades, John Francis has been a planetwalker, traveling the globe by foot and sail with a message of environmental respect and responsibility (for 17 of those years without speaking). A funny, thoughtful talk with occasional banjo.

John Francis walks the Earth, carrying a message of careful, truly sustainable development and respect for our planet

One day in 1983, John Francis stepped out on a walk. For the next 22 years, he trekked and sailed around North and South America, carrying a message of respect for the Earth -- for 17 of those years, without speaking. During his monumental, silent trek, he earned
an MA in environmental studies and a PhD in land resources.
Today his Planetwalk foundation consults on sustainable development and works with educational groups to teach kids about the environment.

"Part of the mystery of walking is that the destination is inside us and we really don't know when we arrive until we arrive."

John Francis


 

John Francis on the Web

• Homepage: Planetwalk

John Francis walks the Earth | Video on TED.com

 Link: http://www.ted.com/talks/john_francis_walks_the_earth.html

Annie Leonard on her book "The Story of Stuff" full show - YouTube

                                 uploaded by AllanGregg on Sep 13, 2010

 

Activist turned filmmaker, Annie Leonard talks about "The Story of Stuff", her book based on her travels around the globe, tracking what happens to the stuff we produce, consume and throw away.

Category:

Education

License: Standard YouTube License

Source:
Annie Leonard on her book "The Story of Stuff" full show - YouTube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaIhOhk0RV0&feature=related

What's the Economy for Anyway? (9/21/09) - YouTube

Uploaded by commonwealthclub on Oct 7, 2009

What Is "the Economy" for Anyway?

Annie Leonard, Documentarian, The Story of Stuff
Colin Beavan, Author, No Impact Man
David Batker, Executive Director, Earth Economics
Chip Giller, Founder and President, Grist - Moderator

While the economy hums away in an uncertain environment, some people question the basic purpose of the capitalist market: to provide iPhones to the masses, or to provide food to the needy? What is the role of the government as trust in the free market falters? "No impact man" Beavan opts out of the system completely, Leonard tells us the true "story of stuff," and Batker applies economic theory toward protecting the environment. Giller, Grists "beacon in the smog," will help us unpack these perspectives and navigate the global economy what its really for and who needs it.

Category:

People & Blogs

License: Standard YouTube License

Source:
What's the Economy for Anyway? (9/21/09) - YouTube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lwaqVvodvw&feature=related

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

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

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

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

Dalai Lama calls for 'century of compassion'

 

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.

 Source: http://www.boston.com/news/local/rhode-island/2012/10/17/dalai-lama-calls-for-century-compassion/Djko1BqzDIPT5fem1HjYTM/story.html

 Picture from:

Read more: http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/10/19/the-dalai-lama-said-what-transcription-error-puts-f-bomb-in-his-holiness-mouth/#ixzz29ts7GqSy

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

John Wooden: the difference between winning and succeeding - YouTube

Uploaded by TEDtalksDirector 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

Rick George - The Morning Show - Videos | Global Toronto

The Morning Show -

Rick George

Tue, Oct 16: Rick George visits The Morning Show to talk about his new book Sun Rise: Suncor, the Oil Sands and the Future of Energy.

Read it on Global News: Rick George - The Morning Show - Videos | Global Toronto

Link: http://www.globaltoronto.com/video/index.html?v=YKcqeUl_KWpXie2RWU0pJpxwOHWISsiq#interviews/video

Rick George - The Morning Show - Videos | Global Toronto

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. 

LifeStraw Personal Water Filter

Uploaded by EartheasyTV on Sep 19, 2011

http://eartheasy.com/lifestraw

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.)

Category:

Science & Technology

License:

Creative Commons Attribution license (reuse allowed)

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. 

For more inventions, check out: 10 Cool Beverage Drinking Gadgets





























LifeStraw Personal Water Filter

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.

  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.

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

by Giora Kariv 7 months ago

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