Thursday, December 27, 2007

Balancing Yin and Yang in Wuji

Most people in the West these years are familiar with the Taoist doctrine of yin and yang, but penetrating beyond the words to a deeper apprehension of this doctrine can be hard for westerners. In this article I will seek to give a concise and clear introduction to the manner of Wuji, or 'no extremities' in which the Taoist (literally translated as 'the way') is establish by reconciliation yin and yang.

Yin and yang are the primal antonyms and the first distinction or differentiation in the Tao, which is the ultimate beginning of all things. Yin is described as female, contractive and receptive, whereas Yang is masculine, expansive and active. Wuji is that state in which yin and yang are equal and therefore call off each other out, allowing a individual to be within the emptiness and lucidity of the Tao.

For a westerner it can be very hard to even believe about how you would make this. It is one thing to understand what is yin and yang in an abstract philosophical sense, but how makes this actually associate to our stuff lives?

I have got establish that the best thing to make is to look at the general conception rather than getting hung up on the terminology. In order to achieve balance you don't necessitate to label avery single facet of your life as either yin or yang; you can just utilize a spot of common sense. The most of import conception is that of balance, and not the elaboratenesses of yin and yang. It is also constructive to look at the term wuji itself - no extremes - essentially this agency moderation. Taking away all the culturally specific footing the mode of wuji is simply to dwell 1s life in a balanced and moderate manner. A good axiom for Wuji is 'everything in moderation', meaning that nil is denied, but nil is taken to excess.

It is also interesting to realise that there is a dramatic analogue with the western philosophical tradition. The term 'reason' arises from the same linguistic root as 'ratio', and mentions to the reconciliation of one thing against another. The word, and the doctrine of reason, come up from ancient Greece, where it was considered to be as much a manner of life as a method of question into peculiar things. The mode of Wuji is therefore at least in portion the fine art of life in a sensible manner. The ancient Greeks also had a saying: all things are frailties if taken to the extreme, even virtue. This tantrums very well with the Chinese conception of Wuji; becoming a anchorite and life on a mountain, for example, may well be a manner to enlightenment, purchase it is not the way of Wuji.

Sunday, December 23, 2007

The Superultramodern Quotations 3

The NSTP theory converts the narrow possibility of truth in the proposition - anything that is logically possible is empirically possible - into a healthy probability.

In Christian Religion there is Godhead race; in Hindooism there are Godhead races.

The Indian president plays political relation with his full family; the American president plays political relation with the full humanity.

If I have got got any shame it is the shame of being a human.

God is the best insinuator.

I cognize a great trade about Supreme Being but I'm not so certain if He exists.

I have known a great trade about Supreme Being but I cognize not if He really exists.

When I desperation my lone safety is philosophy.

Philosophy is the lone safety of this despaired soul.

I am a philosophical refugee.

Heaven is the topographic point where a king of beasts makes not kill a caprine animal to do a living. He merely have those states of consciousness, which do him experience that he have had a caprine animal and that his hungriness is quenched. For that's what ultimately matters. And my theory points to a way that could take us to such as heaven.

In the substance of Truth I am an agnostic.

Regarding Truth I am an agnostic.

I am an doubter when it come ups to Truth.

Technology statuses morality.

My desired audience is not Man, but God. But the calamity is that I can never surprise my audience.

I wish to dwell one more than life only if it were that of a superhuman.

We are merely states of consciousness, but Supreme Being is a soul.

God is anomalous and heretic.

War is an abstraction, not a reality. In human race there is no war.

Reality - a mere sequential executing of non-spatial states of consciousness - is never at war.

Reality is never at war.

This human race is the best of all possible human races in the lone sense that it is the best of all possible questions.

This world is the best of all possible questions.

The full history is nil but a mere fabricated linguistic context of my ain life.

God is on the side of the 1 who have understood his question.

Man is a born slave - slave of his desires.

Christianity is a humanitarian's humbug.

Cries and choler are contrary voices of frustration.

Take the pure love out of pure sexual activity and what shall stay is either a pure temper or pure vulgarity.

To acquire married is to acquire divorced from romance.

Marriage is divorcement from romance.

Virginity is sexual poverty.

Virginity is poorness in sexuality.

Life is a Godhead seduction.

Truth is often uncovered by apparent imprudence.

The cardinal to success is discipline; undiscipline the maestro key.

If subject is the cardinal to success, undiscipline is the maestro key.

The cardinal to success is discipline, but undiscipline is the maestro key.

Man is the strongest as well as the weakest of all animals. He is the strongest for he is the most intelligent 1 and the weakest for there be the upper limit figure of statuses to make him the most suffering one.

My definition of faith is that 'any system of propositions that is believed to be 100% certainly true by its believer/s is a faith according to its believer/s'.

My being is such as that 'I' do not really exist. At the end of apprehension so much Iodine understand that I cognize nothing. Iodine endure for being surrounded by intense agony and yet I'm deeply leery if first of all there is indeed any consciousness except me. I endeavor to happen the creative person who might have got fathered this great cosmopolitan fine art but experience myself to be too lame to carry through this unachievable mission. Yet I have got every regard for life, and it is this sheer regard that brands me live.

The being is the effect of the ultimate questioner's vanity.

The noblest enactment I can execute is that I give my womb-to-tomb felicity as a testimonial to the unfathomable cosmopolitan agony that ever exists.

Life bes to be a mystery.

Life bes to reply the seemingly unanswerable ultimate inquiry about the nature of existence of the ultimate questioner.

God is the true realistic point where human ground mostly, if not completely, interruptions down. Mystery is the psyche of existence.

Life, by which I intend my life, is a great, or probably the greatest, design, from its very beginning to its end, the end that, I think, is improbable to exist. Each and every spot of life is a portion of the design. Design bes as the effect of the ultimate questioner's vanity. And my missionary post is to happen the most cardinal truth, which probably exclusively affects the nature of the being of the ultimate questioner.

God's linguistic communication is Mystery. Variant: The linguistic communication of Supreme Being is Mystery. Variant: Mystery is the linguistic communication of God.

Tear is the linguistic communication of suffering.

Life is philosophy.

The human race is nil but a profoundest bloody fatalistic non-spatial computational game played by Supreme Being -the ultimate inquirer - with a human - me - for the interest of asking the ultimate philosophical inquiry about the nature of the former's existence, quenching His existential vanity.

It is through the scientific discipline of star divination that we come up to cognize about the peak elements in the designing of the universe.

Suffering is an inevitable unfortunate epiphenomenon of the ultimate questioner's vanity.

The human race is ruled by enlightened thugs; the being by the most enlightened one.

An atheist is as spiritual as a theist.

The calamity of human life lies in it existing for Godhead vanity.

Grief is a glass of poisonous substance Supreme Being have got forced me to imbibe in order to quench His ultimate vanity.

God is a paradox.

The existence of Supreme Being is the ultimate paradox.

God is the ultimate blackmailer.

The human race is a "two work force show" - me and God.

God exists, though He withstands reason.

I have built an intellectual empire.

The psyche of temper is madness.

God is beyond Truth.

Any systematic organic structure of cognition is science. The more than than systematic the organic structure of cognition is the more scientific it is.

At the bosom of my metaphysic there is the ultimate inquiry and at the bosom of the existence there is the ultimate questioner.

Man is a bloody-minded animal.

Noble liquor are heterodox.

God is a painstaking evil. Variant: Supreme Being would be a painstaking evil. Variant: I theorise that Supreme Being is a painstaking evil. Variant: I theorise that Supreme Being - the ultimate inquirer - is a painstaking evil.

I am looking forward to suppress the world.

God is the lone dictator.

Life is painful to be meaningful.

Ego and enviousness have got made human race blind.

God is a semi-solipsist.

The human race is populated by nil but a couple of semi-solipsists.

Friday, December 21, 2007

Global Warming vs Emperor Penguin

It's true: Supreme Being makes have got a sense of humor. The Emperor Penguin have gone to the top of my odd creative activity list. Take for illustration the Emperor Penguin that was recently made popular by the docudrama by the unusual name called March of the Penguin. It's an effort to explicate the unusual coupling patterns of this Antarctic Continent inhabitant that walkings inland to their hereditary genteelness evidence no substance how cold - we now are wondering how warm. It's a feel good film about the penguin with a intent and a stopping point up position of its cockamamie sexual activity life and their astonishing existence.

Think about this: one-day you wake up and make up one's mind your going to walk 70 statute miles to happen a first mate and have got a small fun. It's snowing out and the freeze wind is making this trek a existent challenge. When your feet acquire tired you have got options like pushing yourself along the water ice and snowfall on your belly. How wonderful!

You finally attain your destination, clip to happen that first mate so you begin checking out the babes. After two years you happen one that smells good and the flirting gets despite the fact that it's winter, twenty-four hours turns to nighttime and the cold ranges 80 below. This is mating season. You have got got not one hint why your here but smart adequate to cognize things have to begin to warm up up a bit. One sensuous minute and you recognize you forgot all about protection and she whisperings in your ear "I Love You Daddy". So now you're in large trouble, then come ups the fruits of your affair, an egg the size of a football. If that doesn't oppress your day, the new Ma make up one's minds she is starving, states you to sit down on Junior and she heads off to eat while yelling out " See you in three calendar months Papa." The temperature remains right on 80 below and you're going nowhere, you got Junior stuck between your legs.

Your new wintertime undertaking is that egg and you pray hourly you make not fall asleep and knock the small guy. In the freeze common cold your head starts to wonder, "Why me Godhead what did I make to rate this?" In malice of all the obstructions a miracle takes place. Ma tax returns just in clip to feed Junior and Dad is relieved of his duties. The household at last is complete for this season. Their years can now be filled with each other swimming and feeding. Maybe hidden inside of Gods wit is a message of the toughest enterprises may convey us the fondest memories.

Global heating is upon us and is going to be the adjacent hot subject for old age to come. Yes, this is truly a cockamamie human race that gives us limited replies to questions. Those who are thinking through this with scientific discipline may be on the right path by simply watching Mother Nature. As we cognize from the docudrama these Penguins have got been doing this beautiful rite for centuries. What will go on to their sacred coupling evidence as they warm and melt?

I believe we already cognize their fate but not willing to demur the truth. Volition our children throw us responsible for the disappearing of this alone creative activity because world are too self-involved to halt killing the planet.

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

World Improvers, Mass Movements and the Sacrifice of the Individual

Look at all the people around you, people with their hopes and dreams. Unfortunately they have got their fearfulnesses and sorrows, the letdowns that tin foul the quality of life. Despite this they travel forward doing the best they can do.

Do the expansive strategies of World Improvers, strategies that totally ignore the feelings of the individual matter? Bashes the megalomaniac who conceives a human race molded after his psychotic beliefs actually assist anybody except other powerfulness seeking delusionals?

Now look at the history of mankind. Did any of the societal systems conceived by World Improvers, those utmost Absolute Moralists, benefit the alone individual? Did the systems of militarism, feudalism, Godhead rights of kings, communism, socialism, fascism, Nazism, or our current system of interventionism really assist anyone except those in power? Didn't the alone person wage for all these black strategies with his life, autonomy and property? Wasn't his lone wages hurting and sorrow?

The last 1 hundred old age stores us with 3 tragical examples.

The Communist Revolution

In 1917 the celebrated Communist Revolution led by Vladimir Vladimir Lenin and the Bolsheviks was supposed to convey us the absolutism of the proletariat. The existent consequence was the famishment of billions and over 70 old age of misery, debasement and poorness in the Soviet Union and its artificial satellite nations. An untold figure of people were sacrificed at the cross of Karl Marx's doctrine of socialism set into action by vicious, powerfulness seeking World Improvers.

Envision this. One summertime nighttime we drop in love. Imagine 2 lovers on a warm, breezy summertime night. They have got discovered each other. They savor the joyousnesses of love. They stare into each others eyes. There lips ran into and there searching linguas entwine. Soon they fall in as one. On another glorious June twenty-four hours they will unify in the religious rites of Holy Place Matrimony.

Does a World Humanitarian really care about the hereafter these immature lovers have got planned or the summertime nighttime when they consumed the sweet nectar of love? Or is his megalomaniac strategy for "improving" the batch of human race all that substances to him-no matter who he have to sacrifice?

Hitler and Nazism

A peculiar immorality flagellum was the rise of Naziism in Federal Republic Of Germany and Hitler's effort at world domination. The doctrine of Naziism was alkali on garbled socialist theory, bad economic science that resulted in the forfeit of millions. It's estimated that over 6 billions Jews perished in Nazi decease camps. Once again people were sacrificed for someone's delusional dreamings and the mass motion that followed.

It's the vacation season in a little northeasterly town. The afternoon sun is shining brightly signaling the end of a wintertime storm. A immature female parent with her little babe boy at her bosom regards outside at the snowfall covered hills. The icicles hanging on the tree by her window reflect the visible light back to the gleaming in her eyes. The love of her life, her husband, the baby's father will soon be home.

This is their first Christmastide season together. As a household they will turn together. She will maturate into vivacious successful woman. He is becoming a successful businessman, an model hubby and father. She daydreams of her babe son, so little and precious, growing up into a healthy immature adult male who may some twenty-four hours do a difference in the world. Her lone sorrow is that twenty-four hours will come up when she have to allow him travel to his independence. She cognizes she can't freeze the many fast ones of time.

The World Improver, culprit of wars, revolutions and mass murders. He would destruct the hills of clean achromatic snowfall and the encompassing woods. The fire of decease runs all the icicles and kills all life-as man, animate beings and works perish. He would turn the warm, cosy house of the immature couple into smoldering ruinations of decease and destruction. What for? For his psychotic beliefs of grandeur.

Iraq, Terrorism and Horse Opera Civilization

Now we have got the menace of extremist spiritual terrorists who will halt at nil to destruct Western Civilization. The horror and slaughter of the Twin Towers states the atrocious story.

On the other side we have got the mightiest empire on earth, the mightiest armed forces military unit in the history of mankind. Tens of one thousands of people have got been killed and wounded in Iraq. And what for? To convey peace and democracy to this state of chaos. And for what end? What is the intent when authorities interventionism, inflation, corruption, warfare and monolithic autonomy misdemeanors are enough in itself to destruct Western Civilization? The terrorists won't have got to raise a hand. We are doing it to ourselves.

The World Improvers have got the best of both worlds. They are controlling both sides of the conflict. In fact they are controlling human race political relation on a monolithic scale. The lone possible consequence is mass destruction. The forfeit of guiltless individuals.

What is more than important? A household celebrating their daughter's 16th birthday. That 1 delicious twenty-four hours in a life of probably 30,000 years or more. Joined by the 17 twelvemonth old male child who worships her as a teen angel. Or the World Humanitarian who would give this minute for a so-called better society based on his delusions. You decide.

And you must decide. What will it be-- a human race gone insane and finally destroyed by World Improvers and our ain entry to them? Or will we finally recognize that those cherished minutes in the life of an individual are all the really matters.

Robert A. Meyer
http://thesensuouslife.com/

Friday, November 30, 2007

Some Unknown Truths of Global Warming

The issue about planetary heating furies around us and covers our lives with its facts and fiction. It is influenced through propaganda from both sides. Why? Each side have an docket that looks to be backed up by facts. There is some extremely absurd information available on the cyberspace and there is also plausible information. It is up to us to understand what uses to our day-to-day actions and what we can make about planetary warming.

It is all around us. It is on the weather condition stations. It confronts us when we make up one's mind to buy a new auto or even a cleansing product. The existent issues come up when trying to larn about planetary warming. There is a batch of at odds information on the cyberspace and there is not one grouping that tin hold on all facets of the planetary heating debate.

Over the past century, with out a doubt, planetary temperatures have got risen. While the lift in temperature have got been only a grade or so, the concern is whether the Earth's temperatures volition go on to rise and what impact that will have on the environment. The contention about the heating of the Earth is a consequence of at odds evidence.

The fact that planetary heating also occurred in the prehistoric epoch is a scientific point. Some think a large shooting star hitting the planet caused an big alteration in the earth's temperature. Are that what killed the dinosaurs? Science cannot turn out this conclusively yet. The political and industrial anterooms additional perplex conversations about planetary warming. The contention of these groupings is that, we currently make not cognize adequate about the personal effects of planetary heating to restrict industrial emissions.

When will we cognize the full facts about planetary heating and will the planetary heating issue be resolved anytime soon? Unfortunately the reply is no. There will go on to be surveys performed and there will always be a measurement of uncertainty clouding up the heads of citizens around the world. Perhaps, when adequate information come ups through, we will be able to do a finding based on scientific fact rather than theory. Until then we can go on to supervise the advancement of men of science and seek to make our portion in conserving the environment.

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Small is Beautiful - Saiwa National Park

When one believes of a beautiful thing, he or she believes of a celebrated thing or place. But according to many people they would actually accept and respect a little thing or a secluded topographic point the beautiful topographic point or thing they have got ever had. An experience to remember. When we look for a vacation, a field day site, parkland or any topographic point we would wish to undergo nature, then we should look at the most gorgeous topographic point full of our expectations. Republic Of Kenya have such as many topographic points but the best one for nature lovers is unquestionably the Saiwa Swamp National Park

Saiwa Swamp National Park

Situated below the Cherangani Hills, Trans-Nzoia District of Rift Valley Province. Saiwa National Park is located 22 kilometer from Kitale on the Kitale-Kapenguria tarmacadam road. At Kipsaina junction, a 5 kilometer marrum route takes to the lone parkland gate. Saiwa is the least parkland in Kenya, only 3 km2. It was established to protect the semi-aquatic antelope, Sitatunga and encloses the drench fed by the Saiwa River together with its fringing belts of rainfall forest. The parkland is enclosed by subsistence agriculture settlements. Park flora includes a mixture of wood and drench vegetation. The drench is dominated by tall cat's-tails and sedges. The drench is bordered by a mixture of grassland, riverine woods and Acacia This peculiar parkland have a differentiation in that the attractive force that do is so beautiful are just alone to this area.

The Sitatunga:

The Sitatunga or marshland vaulting horse is a swamp-dwelling antelope establish throughout Africa. Sitatunga stand ups about one and a one-half metres at the shoulder. Sitatungas have got a water-proof coat which is dark brownish in males and reddish brownish in females. Both sexual activities have got achromatic chevron and musca volitans as well as achromatic blotches on their faces. Their hooves are long and thin to cover with the Sitatunga swampy habitat. Males have got a mane as well as horns, which are twisted and can attain almost a metre in length. Sitatunga unrecorded in papyrus swamplands and are very good swimmers. They may take to the H2O to hedge marauders such as as leopards or wild dogs, lying submerged in pools with lone their anterior nariss above the surface. They are crepuscular although they are also somewhat active at nighttime and day. Sitatunga can be solitary; females be given to lodge in herds while males go mostly eremitic after mating. They are in:

Kingdom Animalia,

Phylum Chordata,

Class mammalia,

Order Artiodactyla,

Family Bovidae,

Genus Genus Tragelaphus

Species Spekeii.

The parkland can only be visited on foot, and Bridges and trails meander through the drench dotted with observation decks. Bird observation is first-class here, and the parkland is also inhabited by black-and-white Columbus monkey, giant wood squirrel, Grey duiker, and the endangered Delaware Brazza's monkey.

Other chief activities include:

Trails- The Park have well maintained trails and 4 observation towers where one can prosecute in bird observation and game viewing. The parkland is also an idyllic topographic point for the wild camping experience

The ecological importance of this park.

This parkland protects works and animals. It have ecological importance such as as dirt stabilization, ordinance of water, and they throw the cardinal to familial conservation. So this land site is not only little but very beautiful. Wage a visit to this land site and you lend to its conservation.

Friday, November 16, 2007

Colourful Institutions in Science Fiction

If you immerse into the huge literature of SF you will soon experience the profusion of its sociological range, in particular, the establishments it creates.

Some of these, though splendidly described, are close analogies or even transcripts of establishments that have got existed in historical reality. A good illustration of this is Poul Anderson's Polesotechnic League, a trading organisation modelled on the medieval Hanseatic League. His novels Satan's World and Mirkheim are first-class narratives put in the epoch of the League and featuring its maestro trader, Saint Nicholas avant garde Rijn.

Other, more than original, establishments take the word form of elite organisations of people with particular powers, so that they stop up as authorities in all but name, or at least as a sort of Overgovernment to which all authorities must take heed. Examples include the Lensmen in the narratives of Vitamin Vitamin E E Smith, and the Lords of the Instrumentality in the hereafter history invented by Cordwainer Smith. A fluctuation on this subject is provided by A Vitamin E avant garde Vogt in The Weapon Shops of Isher, in which the indestructible Weapon Shops, persisting behind force-fields throughout the history of the autocratical Empire of Isher, supply a sort of counter-government, Oregon counterpoison to tyranny; in other words a reconciliation military unit that guarantees no authorities can have got absolute powerfulness over its people.

Other SF establishments are in consequence firms, or companies, which offering unusual services to the user. The Ooranye Undertaking narrative "The Forgetters" have an organisation which supplies memory loss to order, and is used by an intelligence organisation to give its agent a cleft at the resistance with all preconceived notions wiped away. The house called General Services in Henry Martin Robert Heinlein's "We Also Walk Dogs" takes to supply absolutely anything (so long as it's legal) to anyone, and the narrative shows the staff successfully juggling the apparently impossible demands of its clients.

Some establishments are more than than houses but less than governments; for example, see a university or a great museum, or a learned society. Or a great and long-lasting criminal conspiracy! Jack Vance is a master-builder of this sort of particular corporation.

His novel The Killing Machine has a absorbing though screaming episode concerning "Interchange", an interstellar agent that put option abductors and their victims' households in touch, arranging for the "fees" to be "rescinded", or in other words for the ransom money to be paid. Its logotype is a handshake. The duologue is classic deadpan Vance.

Another of his establishments is called, simply, the Institute. We ran into it in the five books of the Demon Princes series. The Institute is an organisation dedicated to the proposition that


Space thrust have given a awful arm to any megalomaniacs who go on to happen in our midst. There is other cognition which, if equally free, could guarantee them tyrannical power. We therefore command the airing of knowledge.

The Institute is therefore a deliberately reactionist force, in the sense of restricting technological progress. It makes not desire things to acquire too comfortable:


For all its rawness and excess, we envy antediluvian world its burning experience. We throw that addition after toil, victory after adversity, accomplishment to a end long sought, is a greater beneficence than prebendary food from the nipple of an indulgent government.

Vance lets the Institute to set its statements and at the same clip he offers a counter-blast from the oral cavities of some of his characters, who bear down that the Fellows of the Institute are hypocrites, promoting labor and adversity for others while they dwell lives of easy richness themselves.

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Longing for Home Key to Finding Powerful Visual Voice

I first met Rene Dimanche Jr. through his ocular fine art at the Urban League Black Fine Art Exhibit. Later I learned he is a mulct histrion as well. I saw him execute the function of Saint George Wilcox in the First Run Theater production "The Dressmaker of St. Francis Street" written by Mario Farwell and directed by Jim Meady.

Janet: Rene, I had a sense that you transport a yearning for place within you and you are searching for that through your art. Americium Iodine on path at all?

Rene: Yes, this yearning of mine started after college. I did not cognize it would get as a strong pulling through the arts.

Janet: You work masterfully in a assortment of picture styles as you seek for a voice that that volition express best what your psyche desires to say. It looks as if portraits and still lifes...and maybe even portraits and still lives tied to your homeplace of Republic Of Haiti might be a topographic point you are going. Could you state us more than about this?

Rene: "Finding my voice." How can Iodine depict what this is all about for me? All Iodine can state is that it is that thing that people talking about when they state "you'll cognize it when you see it" or "I just cognize that's the 1 and don't inquire me why" I am getting near to what I believe to be the way to take.

A large portion of me loses my country, Haiti, dearly. Republic Of Haiti is a topographic point that I did not have got the privilege of knowing really well. To a certain extent a large portion of who I am is pretty well hidden from me.

Somewhere along the manner I have got almost lost contact with my Haitian roots: the people, the culture, the music, the country. With that in mind-I have got a strong feeling that volition be my interior journeying in art-to trip a duologue between me and my state Haiti. Until then I will go on to research surface attributes-like color, shapes, texture-until the voice acquires so loud that it must be responded to.

Janet: Yes, that's what I feel. That through your fine art you reconnect to home-both the place you came from and a place within yourself.

I'm interested in connection, home, family, arts, and culture. What I was really drawn to in your narrative and the narrative of your fine art was how these things came together. Anytime an creative person is looking for his voice, I be given to believe its about personal identity and a hunt for place, somehow.

Rene: Precisely correct. My work is a Negro spiritual and earthly hunt for a voice, place, identity-by first claiming Christ's triumph over sin/death and then our relation to the land we long for (its civilization and people).

Janet: Rene, so, this hunt for personal identity and perhaps even a hunt for place...how have that been for you?

Rene: Identity, topographic point in Jesus Of Nazareth our Jesus and where we are from, my hunt of who One really am and where I am from...these subjects came into focusing when a girlfriend of mine challenged me and said that I was not a Black individual to her-because I was from Haiti. While I disagreed with her in many levels, she was right about the fact that I am Haitain-American not Black-American. Then I realized I knew small of my country.

Janet: All of your work is good, but so separate in tone of voice and style...and I saw you really hitting pace with the portraits and still lives as you travel back to your roots in Republic Of Haiti as well...Do you experience this is the way you are going?

Rene: My works are a hunt and not settled yet. I am gravitating towards portraits/still lives for the most part. I trust to work larger in improver to doing little works.

I'm starting to read more than in depth about regional art. Republic Of Haiti is alone in the sense that much of it is still in a non-modern state. A batch of people in Republic Of Haiti are pushing large clip for a modern layout in all things. Yet a batch of its beauty is in its sense of old clip civilization and life style such as as immature male child horseback riding mule, a adult male by a mountain side tending his little veggie farm by a stream, and women carrying large handbaskets of fruits on their heads. My work is following a definite patterned advance towards a kingdom not known to me yet. I just necessitate to go on to dig.

Monday, November 12, 2007

The Good Haunting - Comfort from Reading Dante

I compose in the spirit of one who offers to compare short letters with other readers. This is therefore a personal essay. If you have got got got ever been rejected or misunderstood (and who hasn't?), you may go on as I did that certain lines vibrate with a comfortableness that come ups from afar and attacks near; lines that weren't written specifically for your status but for a adult male who died excommunicate for unfair political reasons; a adult male wandering the less inclines of the Saddle Horse of Purgatory, yearning to be allow in to where he tin get his acclivity towards blessedness; a adult male who trusts and believes that the rejection will not last forever.

Per lor maladizion Systeme International d'Unites non Systeme International d'Unites perde

che non possa tornar l'etterno amore

mentre che lanthanum speranza hour angle fior del verde.

[By their curse word none is so lost

that the ageless love cannot return

while hope is yet green.]

Purgatorio, III, 133-5

Or if you have tried to state a truth and establish that people won't listen, or that they listen but incrimination you for telling it; if you have made yourself unpopular or got yourself a name for being "extremist" - this can actually happen in my state to anyone who recommends self-government for the United Kingdom - then you can comfort yourself that some things necessitate to be said for the interest of one's self-respect, for the interest of the record if nil else.

e s'io aluminum vero boy timido amico,

temo di perder viver tra coloro

che questo pacing chiameranno antico.

[and if to truth I am a timid friend,

I fear to lose life among those

who will name these modern times ancient.]

Paradiso, XVII, 118-20

Good adequate when taken in isolation, the lines addition immeasurably from being read in their context. You will happen gemstone after gemstone that you can clinch to your ain bosom as you ocean trip through the Godhead Comedy. In a bigger sense, apart from the hoarded wealths of specific lines, you will meet a rare phenomenon in literature - what one might name 'spooky goodness': the sense of the Numinous, the haunting of the divine. The tremble of awe that is much easier to accomplish with baleful effect, in narratives of horror and the supernatural, or in the enormousnesses and the conceptual discoveries of scientific discipline fiction, is achieved in Dante Alighieri perhaps most of all in his Purgatorio - and perhaps most of all on the Saddle Horse of Purgatory's less slopes, where psyches wander who for some ground (delay in repentance, disregard of their duties, exclusions that were unfair but still have got some effect) are not yet allowed to get their proper acclivity of the mountain.

They are saved souls, but they must wait their time. Future beatitude expects them and one can experience it seeping towards them, immanent in the landscape. The mood-effect is extraordinary. Perhaps the lone other writer I cognize to have got achieved anything like it is Degree Centigrade Second Jerry Lee Lewis in some parts of Perelandra.

Monday, October 22, 2007

Green Unrest

It's hitting me. Again. This feeling of being overwhelmed. By the mass of information coming at me. Green facts, and remarks on not so greenish facts. It looks that everyone's got things to say, to report, an enterprise they are working on, participating in, a cool article they found, that person else wrote. There is at odds information coming from assorted fronts, about the doomsday coming, or not coming. Organizations are trying to organize, into communities of souls, scattered over the land. Aluminum Gore's got something up his sleeve, but we don't cognize what. Could be more than than greenness and that's it, or more greenness with a political twist. Environmental news are coming every minute on the feed. I am feeling dizzy, anxious, tired, uneasy, worried, torn, unsure, restless, powerless, frustrated, a whole salad of awful feelings. With dark mental images to travel with. I wrote about the Big Monster before. It's there again, engulfing me with its sliminess, and its ugly claws. There is no getting away from it. Maybe if I sit down for a minute, I will calm down down.

A small while ago, I read Matt's station in 21st Century Citizen. He states he is not afraid. I am. I can't stand up so much left to chance. I am one of those people who is insured for everything. There is no coverage against planetary warming. The lone thing that would pacify my fears, is the cognition that we have got grasped the problem, and we cognize what we are doing, and there is some sort of maestro program we are following. How make you acquire a whole planet to move in unison? I necessitate a sense of order. Not the current chaos, with tons of people agitating in many directions, all pretty much trying to make their thing. Here I am writing this blog, also trying to make my thing, just like 100s of one thousands of others. Blog Action Day represented a lame effort at unity. I am still not calmer. Need to still my thoughts, travel with my breath.

Train roaring. Clock ticking. And then soundless house . . . 'Do the work, it will learn you'. The words from my fine art teacher, Saint David Middlebrook, come up to me. Could it be that I am feeling overwhelmed, because I have got been too much in my head, thinking and authorship about solutions, instead of going out in the world, and doing my work as a greenish citizen? I make experience the demand to act, more than than and more. At a minimum, I can make my share and follow Green Guru (that's my husband)'s footsteps. And then, the question. So what? if the remainder of the human race makes not follow, what difference will it make? I maintain going back to that same question. And again the danger of thought too much, of trying to take on the challenge of the world, and imagining solutions? I necessitate a holiday from my thoughts.

Thursday, September 13, 2007

Ancient Hawaiian Society - Isolated Feudalism

Polynesian Caste system

Tribal Polynesian civilization and society evolved into stiff castes in ancient Hawaii. Ancient Hawaiians were born into specific societal social classes and did not have got the ability to travel into another, except in the lawsuit of falling into castaway status. Each Hawaiian social class had assigned duties and duties to the greater Hawaiian society. These Polynesian Hawaiian societal classes were more than terrible then the tribal Polynesians where some motion was allowed, such as as a common man becoming a priest.

The Ancient Hawaiian Classes (in order of social status)

Alii, the Hawaiian royal class.This social class consisted of the high and lesser heads of the realms. They governed with Godhead powerfulness called mana and had the right to have on certain plumes and protective capes. The Alii's were a drive military unit behind the frequent warring throughout the Hawaiian islands as they contrived to widen their domains. Commoners were often required to prostrate themselves in their presents. They possessed the powerfulness to set a Kapu, a prohibition on person or something.

Kahuna, the Hawaiian hieratic class.

This social social class consisted of the priesthood that tended the temples and conducted spiritual activities in the villages. Kahuna's possessed the ability (along with Aliis) to put a kapu on topographic points and things, forbidding commoners. Scientists and exceeding sailing masters also were deemed to have got kahuna status. Akamia advisers would be considered Kahunas. A kahuna nui was a high priest.

Maka'ainana, the Hawaiian common man class.

This social social class consisted of the farmers, fishermen, bird catchers, arms makers, craftsmen and their families. In a feudalistic Polynesian society, they were charged with laboring for the overall economy. Ancient Hawaiian economic system became complex over time. People began to specialise in specific skills. Generations of Hawaiian households became committed to certain careers: roof thatchers, house detergent detergent builders (tiki huts!), rock grinders, arms makers, bird catchers who would do the plume cloaks of the ali'i, and canoe builders. Soon, full islands began to specialise in certain skilled trades. Oahu Island became the head kapa (tapa bark cloth) manufacturer. Maui Island became the head canoe manufacturer. The island of ancient Aloha State exchanged bales of dried fish and had contact throughout Polynesia.

Kauwa, the Hawaiian castaway or slave class.

This social social class consisted primarily of people who were considered to be of low birth and thus born without mana. They were not allowed to travel up in the caste system or better their conditions. The blending of members from other caste groupings with the Kauwa was strictly prohibited by kapu. This caste also included captives captured in modern times of war. These captives forced to function the ali'i Oregon were more than often used for forfeit at the luakini heiau. Crushing of castanets with baseball club arms or choking was common.

The ancient Hawaiian caste fueled a feudalistic system relation to feudalistic systems establish in Europe circa A.D. 1000. Ali'i gave lesser ali'i packages of land who would in bend regulate over them. The lesser ali'i divided the land into secret plans to be farmed and cultivated by maka'ainana families. Harvests were returned to the lesser ali'i, each pickings a part before being sent to the supreme ali'i.

Polynesian Feudalism

Feudalism is generally the system in topographic point before evolvement into a state state. Ancient Aloha State have often been called tribal. This is probably a misnomer. The state of Hawaiian organisation when Capt. Jesse James Cook arrived had developed past tribalism, conceive of a system of slaves (kauwa), provincials (maka'ainana), knights (kao warriors), priests (kahuna), Dukes (lesser alii) and male monarches (alii) in a Polynesian setting. However, the term "Polynesian tribal Hawaii" could be applied to an earlier clip before chaste systems and economical specialisation had occurred. I would see this to be the state of personal business during the clip of Polynesian enlargement and colony in Hawaii. Think of the ancient "barbarian" folks of Europe before the autumn of the Ancient Roman empire. (Northern Europe c.200 B.c. to c.900 A.D.).

Thursday, September 6, 2007

Set In Stone - The Race To Translate The Hieroglyphs

The other hebdomad I establish myself wondering around Tottenham Court Road in London, it was a unworried summer's day, I had no existent programs and I was just enjoying observation the people going to and fro about their business.

I turned a corner and suddenly came human confront to face with the presence entranceway of the British Museum. I stopped for a piece to take in the classically styled, pillared presence entrance. I had not been to the museum since my social class had come up here on a school trip in 1976. The feeling of those affectionate memories welled up inside me and so I decided that a re-visit mightiness well be in order.

As I entered the building, I veered left. I seemed to retrieve that this was where the Egyptian subdivision put and a few minutes later, I was proved right. As I looked down the gallery, I could see a countless of statues and artifacts from Dynastic Arab Republic Of Egypt lining the length of the hallway. Iodine started to do my manner forward to see what hoarded wealths I could find.

Before long I came upon a glass lawsuit with a immense bowlder inside it. But hang on…this wasn't a boulder! It was the celebrated Rosetta Stone. The Rosetta Rock is a Ptolemaic epoch stele and it is inscribed with the same textual matter in Egyptian Hieroglyphs, Egyptian Romaic and Classical Greek.

The Rock had been important in unravelling the Language of Egyptian Hieroglyphs in the 1820's. Before that clip the Hieroglyph linguistic communication had been dead for centuries. It had been undecipherable because no 1 had had a 'key' with which to compare the linguistic communication against.

That key, the Rosetta Stone, was unearthed in 1799 at Rosetta in Egypt. Classical Grecian was known and still studied by the educated social classes at that time, so people were confident of a interlingual rendition because they understood the Grecian subdivision and thought they just needed to fit the Grecian against the Hieroglyph and Romaic sections.

A interlingual rendition eluded every distinguished scholarly person though until 1822. A Young French pupil Jean-Francois Jean Francois Jean Francois Jean Francois Jean Francois Champollion made the critical discovery in recognising that each fictional character was not to be read as a letter, but as a phonetic or ideographic sign.

Champollion was one of the top of the modern transcribers and his successful methodological analysis shows the qualities every good transcriber should have; intelligence, resourcefulness, patience, the ability to believe laterally and a house apprehension of his subject.

Should you ever necessitate a interlingual rendition service you will happen the transcribers there utilize the ego same qualities today as Champollion used manner back then, to transport out their task.

In their ain way, they constitute a direct line of sequence leading from Champollion in 1822 right up to today!

Monday, August 27, 2007

Unlikely Cast of Characters Comes Together in Albany History

WOODSTOCK, NEW YORK—It is an incongruous project of characters, but they all have got at least two things in common.

Henry Hudson, a slave named Pomp, Mario Cuomo, Prince Philip Schuyler, the discoverer of basketball game (perhaps), a nineteenth century investigator named Elisha Mack, an eighteenth century geographer named Simeon DeWitt, Prince Charles Dickens, the putative Dauphin of France, Fidel Castro, Woody Herman Melville, a Renaissance adult male named Solomon, Baseball Hallway of Famer Rebel Evers, early phase star Chief Joseph Franz Kline Emmet, both Abraham Abraham Lincoln and Toilet John Wilkes Booth, a Native American known as Orson, and a host of other colourful and compelling fictional fictional characters traverse ways in the annals of Albany, New York, one of America's oldest and most absorbing cities.

And they also look in the pages of Capital Of New House Of York Scrapbook Vol. 1, a new book by Kenneth Salzmann that researches the history and—sometimes—the folklore of Capital Of New York through four centuries. In chapters that expression at everything from old Albany's early years as an of import outstation for Dutch pelt bargainers to the settlement's first murder to the region's early theatrical performance menu and its rich political history, Capital Of New House Of York Scrapbook spreads out upon a series of magazine columns Salzmann, a independent writer, wrote for a 1980s weekly magazine called Albany, New York.

The new book, priced at $12.95, is the first of two scheduled volumes.

Excerpts of the book look online at www.albanyscrapbook.blogspot.com.

Thursday, August 23, 2007

The Asian Tigers

Asia with People'S Republic Of China in the presence is the fastest growth economical country in the human race today. Asia is no longer the old mediocre settlements but major economical participants on the human race stage. The most developed states in the part are Japan, South Korea, and Capital Of Singapore with economic systems as strong or stronger compared too many western countries.

The rise of instruction and the personal effects of globalization have got construct up a big and increasable strong center social class with working capital to spend. Unfortunately this economical roar have not provided the big population with its necessities.

By tradition there have always been focusing on the metropolises and the development of them leaving the rural countries outside with minimum attending with lone few exceptions. One of these exclusions is the pitiless development of natural resorts undertaken by states in the attempted to convey their economic systems up to "western" standards. The mediocre and underprivileged are seldom if ever cared about by their opinion governments.

This have in its bend Pb to discontentment and the position of the so called "Occidentalism" among a big figure of people and communities throughout the region. One definition of Occidentalism is "Occidentalism is a term for stereotypic and sometimes dehumanizing positions on the so-called Western world. It is to some extent the same as when Asia is debated in the western human race stereotyping and grouping people together. This "occidental" position of the western human race is to some extent the footing to the increasing terrorist activities spreading from the region.

The inclination of so called "Controlled Democracy" is also an increasing tendency among the South East Asiatic states. The former Tai Prime Curate was overthrown by the military in September 2006 owed to his long reign of limited democracy efforts. A new premier curate was later chosen by the military to restrict the fearfulnesses of a complete military ruled nation. This enactment made by the military leadership is just in fact controlled democracy over again.

This tendency is very much Pb by People'S Republic Of China with its giant and increasable strong economy. Products cheaply manufactured in the Asia part are available throughout the world. The economical growing and the demand for them have got strengthened made the Malayan Prime Minister, Badawi to propose an East Asiatic Community with free trade as the goal.

Monday, August 20, 2007

Anti-Addiction Law in China

China have introduced a new law that takes immense stairway to seek and control the growth epidemic of online gambling dependence that is sweeping their nation. All gambling companies within People'S Republic Of China are being required to compose anti-addiction code into their games that volition bounds the amount of hours children under the age of 18 can play the game at full capacity. Furthermore, they are requiring that all citizens wishing to drama mark up for the games under their existent name calling and using their Idaho figure for age verification.

For the first three hours of play clip the under 18 crowd will see no difference. Once that threshold is crossed, however, they will undergo only 50% additions in the game for the adjacent two hours. Once they've exceeded 5 hours in a twenty-four hours they'll have absolutely nil for additional drama time.

One can't assist but wonderment what this volition make to online gold farming.

(The full article this come ups from tin be establish at the nexus at the bottom)

Here's what I'm thinking:

First off it depends a batch upon the norm age of the Chinese gold farmer. (And of course of study the "Chinese gold farmer" is a stereotype - many aren't Chinese at all, but a bulk probably are.) Second, it depends on how online games manage foreign subscribers.

If a important part of the existent gold husbandmen are already over 18, the laws limiting playing clip aren't likely to have got as large an consequence as we might wish to see. But the 2nd portion is the "big question" in my mind.

Now I don't really cognize how it all plant - I'm no expert on how online games work at the nuts-and-bolts level. But I make cognize that The9 is responsible for running World of Warcraft in China. What exactly that agency is what I'm fuzzy on. If they run Chinese waiters for Chinese participants I'm not certain if it will assist gold terms at all. But when Iodine log into belly laugh I don't see an option to fall in a Chinese waiter - just United States and European. So I'm guessing that The9 is simply China's nexus to the belly laugh waiters in the United States and Europe. If that's the case, acquire ready to rejoice.

See, it's that underhand 2nd spot of the law that's going to stop up paying off big-time if things travel the manner I forsee them. Idaho card registration. How easy would it be to farm gold in belly laugh if Blizzard had your Sociable Security Number (or similar identifying mark) and you had to utilize it to trip any belly laugh account?

Yeah. One work stoppage and you're done. Forever. No more than belly laugh for you. If you desire to play again you've got to acquire person else to subscribe up an business relationship for you. And then, if you messiness up on that one, their Idaho figure get's blacklisted.

I'm sure there'll be a batch of cloak and sticker Idaho figure theft, purchase, and other fakery both to maintain gold husbandmen in concern and underage children playing past the anti-addiction limits, but ultimately I believe this could seriously pinch the style of the stereotyped Chinese gold farmer.

I maintain picturing Joe Louis Sherwood Anderson doing his comedy modus operandi about Chinese buffet... "You travel place now, fatboy! You been here four hour! You scare my wife! You eat more than than slayer whale! Sign state 'All you can eat' not 'You eat all'!"

Thursday, August 16, 2007

Latin Language - An Overview From a Translation Agency

Probably the most popular of the ancient Indo-European languages, Latin was originally spoken in a part surrounding Roma – Latium. Over a short clip period of time it managed to turn and go the linguistic communication of the Roman Democracy and afterwards of the Roman Empire. The progressive enlargement of the powerful Roman Empire helped Latin spreading across Europe and even attain some distant corners of the world.

The fact that Latin was the linguistic communication of the Catholic Church also contributed to its popularization. Medieval priests, people and philosophers spoke and wrote it, thus passing it along to their hearers and to their students. It was only in the fifteenth century that Latin started to lose its laterality in faith and scholarship. The cant linguistic communications of Europe slowly took its topographic point in literature, law and administration.

Vulgar Latin, the ascendant of the Love Affair Languages (Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian, French, Catalan etc) is rather different from Classical Latin, which was considered the linguistic communication of literature and it was used extensively by authors such as as Ovid, Vergil and Cicero between the 1st century B.C. and the 1st century AD.

Vulgar Latin is considered the "lingua franca" of the western world. Its grammar was the starting point and the footing of the grammar of most European languages. Even more than importantly, these linguistic communications borrowed Latin words, adapted them and made them portion of their vocabulary. For example, more than than than 50 percentage of the commonly used English linguistic communication (both grammar and vocabulary) is taken more or less directly from Latin. The Latin alphabet is the most common authorship system nowadays. It derived from Etruscan and Grecian alphabets and some of its earlier samples were establish in inscriptions, annals, laws and hymns.

Although it is still used by the Catholic Church, Latin no longer have any indigen talkers and thus it is rightfully considered a "dead language". However, Latin is still studied and taught in schools and Latin textual matters go on to be translated for academic intents mostly. Ecclesiastical Latin is the functionary linguistic communication of Vatican Palace City and, considering the powerfulness the Catholic Church still masters, it will probably pull off to last the centuries to come.

Monday, August 13, 2007

Jacques Tissot - Painter Who Was Both Controversl And Successful

Jaques Tissot was born in 1836, at Nantes a Gallic Seaport. He was always interested in things nautical and this tin be seen in the truth of the rigging and ship scenes that he later painted. His father was a successful tradesman and a god-fearing Roman Catholic and Jaques was sent to a Jesuit school. His father was not at all happy with Jacques pick of career, but he did eventually relent.

He was able to come in the Ecole diethylstilbestrol Beaux Humanistic Discipline in City Of Light in 1856, where he met and became friends with Jesse James McNeill Whistler. He changed is name to Jesse James in order to pull involvement to himself. He had learned the concern of trading from his father and used this experience to sell his works. He traveled extensively plying his trade and surviving well, especially among the affluent English patrons, and even exhibited at the Royal Academy. He returned to City Of Light and with the eruption of warfare (Franco-Prussian War) fled to England in 1871 where he had many friends. Jesse James was difficult workings and astute and quickly became a success in London. His pictures were of first-class quality, but sometimes controversial – this probably assisted in gross sales rather than the reverse. Many pictures were of women in unbelievably beautiful costumes. The celebrated fine art critic Toilet John Ruskin was particularly apathetic and called his pictures "mere photos of vulgar society". His Gallic friends were envious of his success in England. He lived life to the fullest.

In 1874 Edmond Delaware Jules De Goncourt wrote sarcastically that Jesse James Tissot had "a studio with a waiting room where, at all times, there is chilled bubbly at the disposal of visitors, and around the studio, a garden where, all twenty-four hours long, one can see a footman in silk stockings brushing and shining the shrubbery leaves".

He met Kathleen Newton and Irish grass widow with two children and a colourful past. She was his theoretical account and mistress, and together they inspired each other. Jesse James and Kathleen lived as adult male and married woman but within a few old age her wellness started to worsen and in 1882, she cheated ingestion by committing suicide. Throughout this clip Jesse Jesse James remained totally committed to her.

James was heartbroken and within a hebdomad left the house and never returned. He did not get married or have got any more than long term relationships. He dabbled in Spiritualism and tried to reach Kathleen. He moved to City Of Light and continued the style that had been so successful for him in Greater London but it was not so successful in Paris. He had a "religious experience" and became extremely god-fearing and began picture spiritual scenes.

He died in 1902 in Bullion.

Tuesday, August 7, 2007

Recycle Dell Computers

Do you have got a "totaled" or wiped out Dell computer? Bash you desire to be a more than socially aware and environmentally concerned techie-owner by looking for ways to have got your unit of measurement recycled? Here's some good news! You can recycle your empty Dell computing machines by availing of the company's Global Consumer Recycling Program, which takes to offer computing machine proprietors like you free, highly convenient and ecologically sound picks in order to recycle or refurbish. This societal consciousness project, which started in 1991, have helped one thousands of computing machine proprietors worldwide and have provided a platform for them to assist in the planetary attempt to cut down solid waste. Whether a substitution merchandise is purchased or not, the computing machine company will widen the free recycling service.

Dell, which utilizes the tagline "Dell believes no computing machine should travel to waste" for the said project, promotes proprietors to free up some space by giving up useless or semi-working units and do room for better technology. The computing machine manufacturing giant offerings an environmentally friendly method based on their Asset Recovery Services Program, which is in coaction with the ecology and human wellness guard dog Environmental Protection Agency.

The company accepts any make, twelvemonth or theoretical account of desktops and notebooks and they even necessitate not be manufactured by Dell or Dell.com! The proprietor of an empty Dell computing machine can even just sit down back and loosen up as Dell will gladly pick the unit of measurement up from the owner's home.

Interested givers are encouraged to travel online to check up on Dell's functionary website and happen out how the recycling programme works.

Alternatively, an proprietor can recycle an empty Dell computing machine by dropping it off at a local plastic recycling plant. The constitution may still make usage of the computer's plastic constituents in order to make other products.

In lawsuit a computing machine unit of measurement can still be used somehow, these do not necessarily necessitate to travel directly to the recycling department. These tin still be donated to a foundation which assists handicapped and less fortunate children and grownups in assorted communities. Dell will also pick the unit of measurement up from the computing machine owner's home.

Indeed, to recycle an empty Dell computing machine will travel a long manner in keeping the planet clean from waste material and more than eco-friendly.

Monday, July 30, 2007

Plant Spirit Shamanism - What's Up With The Weather?

Plant spirit shamen - natural therapists who work with herbs, ritual, and the elements - have got got long known that the human race is not made up of distinct and separate parts, but that we are all one: that the butterfly consequence of a single other driblet of H2O released from a cloud into a Gloucestershire river could eventually take to implosion therapy in the distant streets of London.

Through Gaea Theory and a more than informed apprehension in recent old age of how the natural world, the environment, and the clime really works, some men of science are also coming unit of ammunition to the shaman's age-old view of the connexions between all things.

How might these men of science and the shamen counter some of the current agnosticism about 'carbon footprints' and clime change, and what might they state about the 'freak weather condition conditions' many of us have been experiencing lately? What are the expostulations of the sceptics, what are the facts, and what are men of science and modern-day shamans saying?

DOES carbon dioxide (CO2) cause GLOBAL WARMING?

The skeptics state there is no "proof" of this. But cogent evidence is not the occupation of science, which deals, in fact, with the fine art of probabilities. Scientists, that is, do hypotheses ('best guesses') which are there not to be proved, but to be disproved - if possible.

The current best think – that CO2 makes make a Greenhouse Consequence by trapping solar radiation in the ambiance and causing temperatures rises on World – have been around since 1829, when Chief Joseph Jean Baptiste Joseph Fourier first put option forward this hypothesis – and no-one's proven him incorrect yet.

Indeed, a recent study of almost 1,000 peer-reviewed scientific articles could not happen one which disagreed that clime alteration is a man-made phenomenon and that our end product of CO2 dramas a big portion in this.

Even those with a vested involvement in proving the men of science incorrect – like oil companies Exxon-Mobil, Shell, and BP – have all issued statements recently agreeing with the evidence: that clime alteration is taking place, that is happening as a consequence of our activities, and that CO2 is a factor.

One topographic point you can work out your ain C footmark is direct.gov.uk/ActOnCO2. You might be surprised at just how much you contribute.

If you'd then like the opportunity to something positive and practical to cut down it, another land site to check up on is http://www.thefourgates.com/villagefundraisers.html#earth thefourgates.com – then follow the nexus from The Village page to the fundraisers page and chink on the World C.O.S.T. link: Carbon Offset to Salvage Trees).

WHAT ABOUT SOLAR RADIATION? DOESN'T THAT cause clime CHANGE?

The current counter-theory to CO2 as the cause of planetary heating and climate alteration is one which seeks to put the incrimination on solar radiation. It looks at best, however, to be a no-theory. It have been known for many years, that is - and commonsense should state us in any case! - that solar radiation plays a portion in keeping the planet warm, because when the Sun radiances we all acquire a tan!

The science, however, demoes that the Sun plays a much littler function than nursery gasses in the state of affairs now facing us.

WHAT ABOUT OTHER 'NATURAL CAUSES' – LIKE animals AND water VAPOR?

Water vapor is a known portion of the Greenhouse Consequence – but it responds to alterations in clime rather than causing clime change. Vaporization and precipitation is a rhythm and any H2O in the ambiance doesn't remain there for more than than a few weeks.

Nature itself, in its widest to its narrowest forms, is also cyclical: the rhythm of life and death. Animals and works live, die, and go nutrient for others, and the CO2 they make acquires used up elsewhere as a consequence of this natural cycle.

Humans meanwhile, pump six gigatonnes of CO2 into the ambiance every twelvemonth and take small if any out. Nor make we set any fresh air back. We could make through activities like tree planting, since every tree naturally beginnings 650 kilogram of CO2, transforming pollution, offsetting carbon, and giving us back fresh air. The job is that few people are planting trees and, in fact, deforestation – the contrary of what we should be doing – is a major issue.

In 1600, for example, over 12% of Eire was covered by broadleaf forests. By 1800, the figure was down to 2%. Since then, the state have been working to reconstruct its woods but, by 2000, only 7% of forests had been returned. And, in the urgency to set trees back, the majority of planting have been non-native trees. Many of these – like the iroko, from Occident Africa - are being logged in such as an unsustainable manner that if the present charge per unit of depletion goes on the woods there will be gone in five years. The result is deadlock (at best).

It is for these grounds that The Village have introduced the World C.O.S.T. Program to works a new wood of indigenous trees at its Centre for environmental and personal healing.

As it is, the World absorbs about one-half of our current CO2 but the remainder hangs around as a nursery gas. Cutting back on energy use and planting more trees would help. We cognize this because degrees of CO2 have got been stable for one thousands of old age until the Industrial Revolution began 150 old age ago and deforestation also became rife.

ISN'T clime change JUST part OF A natural CYCLE?

It is true that every 100,000 old age or so the World is subject to climate alterations owed to its celestial orbit around the Sun. This is known as Milankovitch Cycle and its personal effects as well as its timeline are all fairly predictable.

In the 1970s, for example, men of science were already warning of a approaching Ice Age as a consequence of this Cycle, so nothing's changed there - except the timing. We should be able to foretell about 50,000 old age of natural heating as a consequence of the Milankovitch Cycle, that is; the problem, however, is that current heating is off the scale of measurement by a factor of – well, a lot! – if lone the Milankovitch Cycle was the cause.

Climate alteration and planetary heating is speeding the procedure up.

WE CAN'T PREDICT THE weather condition EVEN Type A few days AHEAD sol HOW bash WE KNOW WHAT THE clime OF THE future HOLDS?

Firstly, weather isn't climate. Weather mentions to individual cases of sun or rainfall in specific geographical areas; clime is the norm of all these cases over a larger country and a longer clip period of time. Weather alterations rapidly (which is why it can be so difficult to predict) but clime is relatively stable.

An analogy, if you're a gaming man, is the word form of a peculiar horse. Of course of study you can't foretell (i.e. know) if he'll win the race you've just wager the house on, but if you look back over his form, his public presentation on certain fields, and his fitness degrees now, then mean out his wins against losses, you can acquire an thought of his possible in this approaching race – adequate to do an informed decision, at least, on where to put your bet.

Which conveys us back to our first point, since this is also how scientific discipline works: through educated best guesses. And the current best guess, after studying past word form and looking at the wellness of the planet now, is that man-made CO2 is leading to raised temperatures and to clime change.

WHAT bash THE shamen SAY?

The Siouan medical specialty adult male Black Elk spoke early last century of the "sacred hoop of life", that all things are "one" and that everything is portion of a "great circle of existence". Visionaries like Black Elk, and works spirit shamen today, cognize that life on our planet amounts to far more than than the distinct boxes, capable of control and intervention, that we have got taken it to be until now.

James Lovelock – a illusionist man of science rather than a priest-doctor – have also shown, in our century, through his Gaea Hypothesis, that the human race is alive, aware, and intelligent; a self-regulating being that seeks balance, like our ain bodies.

The occupation of human beings, states Lovelock, is "through our intelligence and communicating [to move as] the nervous system of the planet. Through us, Gaea have seen herself from space and gets to cognize her topographic point in the universe. We should be the bosom and head of the Earth, not its malady".

A low supplication that we might begin taking our rightful topographic point by simply planting a few more than trees.

Thursday, July 19, 2007

Why is Tetra Pak Recycling Not Happening?

Tetra Paks are everywhere with two billion used every twelvemonth in the UK, and yet they look to be the 'forgotton rubbish'. Recycling aggregations differ across the United Kingdom with some local government offering a much greater scope of services than others. Tetra Pak recycling, however, is severely lacking on a countrywide basis, with lone a few countries offering aggregation services. Other countries offering recycling banks, but many more than supply no recycling installations for these cartonfuls whatsoever.

Statistics bespeak that lone 4% of the two billion Tetra Paks used each twelvemonth in the United Kingdom are currently being recycled. So why is this? Councils are improving their recycling installations for many products, so why not Tetra Paks? Well, there are seemingly a few reasons. Firstly, the authorities recycling marks are weight-based, which intends that waste material such as as paper and glass travel much additional than light-weight cartonfuls towards meeting these. In addition, there is concern from some councils about the fact that Tetra Pak recycling takes topographic point abroad, thus providing more than than environmental concerns with sees to the transportation system of the waste.

Tetra Pak are currently encouraging councils to offer more recycling installations and have got also been working with Tesco to supply recycling Banks at some of their stores. Tetra Pak also offer advice and aid to councils, who should be taking advantage of this. Recycling installations within the United Kingdom would undoubtedly also do a difference, and perhaps the authorities necessitates to see the wisdom of weight-based recycling targets.

The advantages of recycling Tetra Paks are clear. Firstly, the waste material will then not be heading for a landfill land site but for a recycling facility. And secondly, the recycled cartonfuls can be used to do paper-based products and points such as as garden piece of furniture and resort equipment, reducing the demand for virgin materials.

Monday, July 16, 2007

Save Your Children's Future - Use Solar Panels

Solar panels work by converting sunshine into electricity. The scientific discipline behind this transition is known as photovoltaic technology. Photovoltaic Cells or solar cells as they are more than commonly referred to are the major constituents of any residential solar powerfulness system.

Photovoltaic (PV) bring forths electricity directly from the negatrons that are freed when sunshine hits the surface of the PV cell and interacts with the semiconducting stuff material in the PV cell. These cells are wired together to constitute a PV module, which is the least PV constituent sold commercially. The PV faculties scope in powerfulness from 10 Watts to 300 watts.

The natural stuff for the solar panel is silicon oxide (sand). The manufacturing procedure takes all of the drosses and defects, and consequences in a solar-grade silicon oxide provender stock. From there the Si oxide is coated with Boron or Phosphorus to pinch the frequences of visible visible light silicon oxide reacts to.

When sunshine hits the solar cell with adequate energy the photons in the light knocking negatrons free in the silicon crystalline construction forcing them through an external electrical circuit or Direct District of Columbia Load and then returning them to the other side of the Solar Panel to begin the procedure all over again (thus the renewal source).

The flowing of freed negatrons consequences in a electromotive force end product of approximately 0.5v per single crystalline solar cell. The Amperage end product is directly relative to the cells surface country – about 7amps for a 6 inch foursquare solar cell. Typically you will see 30 to 36 cells wired in series or in parallel with other solar faculties to from a complete solar array to bear down your battery bank, within your solar powerfulness system.

The PV faculty bring forths direct current (DC) but your place utilizes alternating current (AC). Therefore, solar panels necessitate that we include a convertor in the system to convert the District of Columbia current to actinium current. This is accomplished with an inverter, a particular piece of equipment that converts or alterations District of Columbia electricity to AC.

Once the solar array (the aggregation of solar panels wired together in your solar powerfulness system) begins producing electricity you can utilize the electrical power, shop it for later utilize or sell it back to your local public utility if your system is connected to the grid. Selling back to the public utility is referred to net-metering.

As more than than and more places convert to solar powerfulness we can anticipate to see major improvements in the efficiency of solar cells just as we experienced improvements in gas milage in autos with carburetors, combustible injection, etc.

In order to hive away the fresh electricity for later use, you will necessitate to integrate batteries into the solar powerfulness system. These batteries function the same intent as the batteries in a car. Every clip you begin your car, the ignition is utilizing the stored electrical powerfulness in the battery to turn over the starter motor motor. Rich Person you ever tried to begin your auto and nil happens? If the starter motor motor is working properly, you cognize that the battery is dead and there is no electrical current available to powerfulness the starter which in bend starts the motor.

Solar batteries shop the surplus PV electricity until it is needed at a future clip to run your contraption or the lights, etc. Once the batteries are fully charged you necessitate to turn off any incoming powerfulness or they will be damaged. The solar batteries are District of Columbia just as the battery in your car. This agency the batteries will be installed in your solar system between the Photovoltaic Cells and the inverter.

Note: You will be better off buying the best deep rhythm batteries you can afford. Industrial deep rhythm batteries can be $200 each, but have got a life anticipation of 5-8 years. Your auto battery will only last 1 twelvemonth in deep rhythm applications.

It is deserving noting that even though Pb acid batteries are not environmentally friendly; the option of relying on dodo combustibles is a poorer choice.

Friday, July 13, 2007

Intelligent Energy Solutions to Today's Problems

We are all aware of issues like planetary warming, pollution and deforestation. Many books and even movies have got been made to convey to our attending the pressing demand to happen solutions to the job on hand. These jobs are very existent and we should be prepared to help. We can make so without even changing our mundane routine. Using option energy solution is one manner to assist and they are many types of option energy solutions.

The best and most common type of option energy is solar energy. Many states offering taxation discount on its use. Solar thermic collectors, usually mounted on rooftops, are used to accumulate the heat energy from the sun. That heat energy can be used to warm up H2O or air in homes, concerns and even swimming pools. Photovoltaic, or PV, is a solar powerfulness engineering that converts visible light from the sun directly into electricity by using solar cells or solar photovoltaic arrays. The electricity can then be used immediately or stored for usage in points like batteries. The usage of solar energy not only profits the environment but it benefits us as well because of the nest egg on our electricity bills.

The usage of wind energy is used on a big scale of measurement in wind farms. A wind farm have a aggregation of wind turbines in the same place. Person turbines are interconnected with a medium electromotive force aggregation system and fiber eye communication theory network. This medium electromotive force electricity is then stepped up with a transformer to a high electromotive force transmittal system and the electrical grid. These big Fields of turbines bring forth electricity and are distributed to cities, residential places and rural areas. Wind energy is renewable, abundant and clean.

Biodiesel combustible is renewable, biodegradable, nontoxic, essentially free of sulfur and aromatics and cleansing agent than petroleum. It is produced from renewable, domestic resources and incorporates no petroleum. It can be blended with crude oil to make a biodiesel blend. It is legally registered with the Environmental Protection Agency and is used as combustibles in some Diesel vehicles.

Hydrogen, as an option combustible is only in its very early phases of development and not available to consumers yet. It can be used to fuel rider vehicles by powering electrical motors or burnt internal burning engines. Hydrogen is environmentally friendly because it makes not make air pollution when used in combustible cells. It is economically reasonable because it assists to cut down our dependance on foreign oil.

Though many people are concerned about the environment and planetary warming, not much action is actually taken to rectify the situation. Hopefully with the introduction and usage of these option energy solutions, we can assist to make a better, cleansing agent and safer environment not only for United States but for the whole world.

Monday, July 2, 2007

Coca and the Sacred Plants of the Incas - The Timeless World of the Andes

The Incas regarded coca as 'the divine plant' mainly because of its property of imparting endurance, nevertheless its use was entwined with every aspect of life; the art, mythology, culture and economy of the Inca Empire.

Millions of Indians have chewed coca on a daily basis for many hundreds of years, yet never has a plant been so misrepresented and its use so controlled by prejudice and ignorance, including up to the present day. The Conquistadors considered it an idle and offensive habit to be prohibited, but it was soon seen that the Indians could not work without coca even when forced to do so.

The coca leaf has been sacred to Andean people since the dawn of pre-Colombian civilization. Doris Rivera Lenz, a renowned Andean Ceremonialist, healer, and Coca leaf Diviner, when asked about the source of the information she divines from them, she says:

"They give me such a powerful awareness it is as though an energy comes into me from just touching them. I invoke Mother Nature and the spirit of the coca, and with just seven leaves, the answer comes, as though through an open doorway."

Healing

An ancient method of diagnosing illness, still common in Peru, is to rub an egg over the body of the patient. Doris is gifted in this tradition and prescribes remedies which include medicinal herbs.

Much Andean wisdom is based on observation of nature, noting for example, that if the ducks go round in circles, there will be long rains, etc... Involvement with nature prevents the mind from becoming mechanical, can see that it is constantly nurturing us and helping us to grow.

The ofrenda

An 'ofrenda' is the most important ceremony used by Andean Indians to relate with Mother Earth. The ofrenda is a symbol of reciprocity with nature and its purpose is to teach us to reproduce this attitude. Through it we speak back to nature saying we understand the message and concord.

The ofrenda which is also known in Spanish as a 'pago', is not
a 'payment' to nature as the Conquistadores saw it, implying a sinister pact with nature spirits. Additionally, they accused the Indians of being miserly because they preferred to pay symbolically rather than with real money!

An ofrenda is an expression of gratitude, not of debt or obligation.

Neither is it selfish to want things for ourselves as some people see it even today. It is true that urban people in Peru have started to make ofrendas for reasons such as wanting their businesses to flourish, but good business can equally imply good health, and harmony to the community and for the natural world.

In an Andean community realities are closer to earth than they are in the city, it is more important that the cattle do not die than to have more private possessions. Hence in the country there is a better understanding of the shamanic meaning of the ceremony, the re-establishing of relationship to nature. This is why we need a little preparation so that an ofrenda can work for us too.

Pachacuti

We live in a time of the fulfilment of an ancient Inca prophecy. This is the time of the new Pachacuti, a great change bringing with it a new relating to the Earth (Pachamama). Each Pachacuti is a era of time about 500 years. The last Pachacuti occurred with the Conquest in the early 16th century, and the Q'ero (Inca) priests have been waiting ever since for the next era, when order would start to emerge from chaos. The current Pachacuti refers to the end of time as we understand it, the end or death of a way of thinking and a way of being. A new relationship with the living Earth, and an emergence into a golden age of peace. There are many indications that changes in human consciousness are taking place, yet there is still a long way to go. It is part of Doris's vision to show us traditional ways that we can re-engage with the sacredness of life and the Earth so we too can more fully participate in the new Pachacuti.

Thursday, June 28, 2007

What Happened to the Bees - Why Are the Bees Gone?

Einstein once said that if the bees were to die, we would die in three years. Well the bees are nearly gone now and that is a scary proposition indeed. Certainly, you have heard of the problems with Bee Hive Colonies Collapsing. Indeed, this larva virus has been going on for a while about 15 years and the last decade it has been getting more critical.

The bees are not the only species in trouble, for instance, we see issues with the Lobsters off Maine too where their body armor is having issues. This is most likely manmade pollution run-off, not good. The bees are said to pollinate 15 Billion Dollars a year in crops, although that estimate appears to be low, stated a member of the Online Think Tank.

What is killing all the bees; is it the African Bees that are moving in displacing and killing the American Honey Bees? On the African Bee question; I would say just by observation and logic that the answer is NO. Because the African bees came up from Mexico and there are still many bees in S. Texas and Southern CA, AZ. So maybe the opposite could save them, bringing in the African Bees. Or, maybe the Hurricanes allowed lots of bees to migrate much faster from Central America into the Midwest and north east?

We need to fix this problem, without causing another one, the eco-system and food chain is adaptable, but not on any immediate time scale. So, if things break down too fast, the chain is broken and humans should never forget they are part of it. One thing that concerns me is the "organic cleaners" produced to kill one-cell organisms and bacteria. They sell this stuff to clean windshields of cars, concrete, chicken coops, horse stables, etc.

The Bee is an engineering marvel from aerodynamics, shell and sensors on down. Its ability to work in teams and swarms is fascinating, but the larva are susceptible to foreign things that it has not evolved to fight off, it does not mean it can't, it just is going to take them some time, but they are out of time.

Then there are issues with vibrational energies and frequency waves on the lower end of the spectrum and electromagnetic energy of human power lines; think of all the cell phones and such? What if we built Faraday Cage houses around the beehives and see if they did better; that is one thought to test such a theory and see if this is the problem.

Solar flares might also be a problem? Maybe a thickened atmosphere, might assist them? Maybe the cloudy days along the coasts are assisting them in that regard and they are thriving there, but not elsewhere? Without knowing the exact cause, such as pollution, pesticides, solar flares or vibrational energy pollution then we cannot help our fellow species, the bees.

We need to find out what is hurting their immune system allowing this virus to kill their larva. Butterflies and Bees increase crop yields 30-60% depends on the type of crop. If we lose those yields and are busy growing our own fuel, then in the future humans might have to decide, do we eat or can we drive; ethanol VS food debate. Low crop yields due to low pollination is a critical issue.

Friday, June 22, 2007

Renewable Energy For Mauritius

The Mauritius government program of promoting the increased utilization of renewable energy sources like solar power and biomass was driven in part by the constant rise of petrol prices over the past few years. Also, government revenue that can be saved from reduced dependence on imported petrol could be put to better use in improving the social development programs in Mauritius. As opposed to just using the said funds to allow Middle-Eastern despots to continually build-up their own military might. Contributing further to the instability in the region.

Mauritius has been one of the major player in the sugarcane industry. Sugarcane are used to produce sugar by extracting juice from sugarcane. Aside from sugar, sugarcane could also be used in the production of alcohol or ethanol which is now being used as an altenative fuel for flex fuel cars. Parts of the sugarcane that's left over after sugar production is a good source of biomass that Mauritius has in abundance. By using this biomass as a "feed" for biogas digesters can provide 25% more energy than by burning the same biomass directly in an incinerator-type power plant.

Currently, 20% of Mauritius' electricity is generated from renewable biomass systems. Also the Mauritius government are finding ways to make photovoltaic/solar powered electricity production fiscally viable whether in large industrial installations or just small domestic set-ups used to meet typical household needs. A lot is riding on the success on this program because Mauritius doesn't have local petrol, and a 100% renewable energy source could allow the nation to develop without increasing the effects of global warming.

Sunday, June 10, 2007

How We Can Help Animals of the Wildlife During Winter

It's summer, and the wildlife is surely doing just fine this time of the year. But it's a totally different story during winter. Winter can be a difficult time for wildlife. The food supply of many animals disappears completely or is buried by snow. Animals survive winter in different ways. Some species migrate to warmer climes; others hibernate. But for those animals that struggle through it, winter can be a cold, miserable time, and many of them die unnecessarily.

The widespread destruction of hedges and woodland, the drainage of ponds and marshes, and the clearing of land in the country have altered animals' habitats, causing many of them to depend on backyards for food and shelter, especially in winter. Rather than rely on preservation groups to help the animals, there are simple things that everyone can do that will enable animals to survive winter. To be specific, there are two basic things we can provide to these animals during the harsh winter time: food and shelter.

Providing food:

Feeding birds is an easy way to help them through the winter. They will eat commercial bird seed or almost any type of table scraps. But once you begin feeding them, the birds will come to depend on the food you provide. Also, when you place food on the ground, be sure to leave it out in the open, away from cover where a cat may be lying in wait. Many smaller birds prefer to feed from bird tables. Nuts, raisins, fruit, and shredded coconut are highly nutritious for birds and are readily available in stores.

You should also provide the birds with fresh water, especially when their natural supplies are frozen. Fill a shallow bowl and place it near the bird table. If you have a birdbath, you can float a plastic ball in to keep the water from freezing.

Badgers, foxes, rabbits, and deer can be fed from yards in more rural areas. Squirrels, too, often visit backyards to take food from bird tables.

Even if you do not have a yard, you can still help. Whenever you go for walks, take food with you. The animals will appreciate extra food during the winter.

Providing shelter:

In addition to providing food and water, you can also make your yard more welcoming to wildlife in a number of other ways. Large bird houses placed in high trees will provide roosts for owls and other birds. Undisturbed compost will provide a resting place for hibernating grass snakes, and a woodpile will provide a secure space for toads and many insects.

Check out this list of seventeen animals and what we can provide to each one of them during winter:

1. Bats - Bat boxes on the eaves of the house or in trees.

2. Blue jay - Fruit and mealworms.

3. Cardinals - Seeds and live bait.

4. Chipmunk - Seeds and nuts.

5. Common frog - Damp, undisturbed areas and ice-free pond.

6. Common toad - Dry, undisturbed vegetation.

7. Deer - Fresh hay in sack.

8. Fox - Table scraps and cat food.

9. Grass snake - Leaf litter and dry ditches.

10. Gray squirrel - Nuts and bird table food.

11. Ground feeding birds (magpies, starlings, blackbirds, and crows) - Household scraps such as cheese, pork rind, and fruit; fresh water daily, especially when natural supplies are frozen.

12. Lizards - Logs or stones where they can hibernate.

13. Owl - Large roosting box.

14. Perching birds (woodpeckers, sparrows, etc.) - Bird table with peanuts, sunflower seeds, mixed seeds, fruits, berries, and bread. If you have the time, you can make a bird cake from a mixture of flour, water, corn, millet, meal, nuts, and canary seed bound together with chicken grease and allowed to harden. It can then be broken into pieces and scattered on the lawn or strung up from the bird table.

15. Rabbits - Some winter vegetables left in the ground or fresh greens put out near gaps in the fence.

16. Raccoon - Daytime sleep sites such as holes under sheds.

17. Slow worm - Holes in ground and undisturbed areas of vegetation for hibernation.

One of the best ways to help attract birds and mammals to your backyard is to provide suitable roosting sites. You can buy or build birdhouses; their design and position will determine which species they attract. Some birds prefer open-fronted boxes. Smaller birds prefer the security of a box with a small hole, which may be lined with metal to discourage woodpeckers. Larger boxes may attract owls.

Fortunately for the animals out there in the wild that may be in distress during winter time, there are a lot of things we all can do to help them.

Friday, June 8, 2007

Water A Global Crisis

Fresh water is the most precious resource known to man - without it nothing can survive. For water is quite literally the source of life the reality is however, that we are facing a water crisis of gargantuan proportions. What we need is conservation on a global scale.

FACT: 12 per cent of the world's population uses some 85 per cent of the world's water!

As the earth continues to warm our polar ice caps will melt which will lead to rising sea levels and much of the worlds fresh water becoming saline and unfit for human consumption.

It may be hard for us in the developed world to grasp, but, only a mere 1 per cent of the world's freshwater is suitable for human consumption. 97.5 per cent of the world's water is saline!

Did You Know? The earth's oceans can retain 1000 times more heat than the atmosphere!

Water consumption has increased six fold over the past 100 years - more than double the rate of population growth however, water is not distributed evenly and 1 in 7 people across the globe have no access to freshwater and 2.5 billion people over 40 per cent of the population have no access to sanitation!

97 per cent of all available freshwater is stored deep underground in 'aquifers' and a third of the world's population depend on this 'groundwater' for their very survival, but the reality is that many of the world's natural aquifers are empty, in effect we are running a groundwater overdraft of some 200 billion cubic meters per year - this overdraft will, if current trends continue spiral exponentially as the effects of industrialization and demand continue to soar.

By 1995, a total of 80 countries, home to 40 per cent of the world's population encountered serious water shortages. By 2025 it is anticipated that over two-thirds of the world's population some 66 per cent will be facing severe water shortages and widespread drought. In the same time frame experts predict that our demands for water would have increased by a further 40 per cent!

FACT: Bottled water may seem like the ideal fashion accessory, BUT be warned, we cannot keep taking this valuable resource from our springs and glacial regions, bottle it in plastic! and ship it across the globe without it seriously jeopardizing both the environment and the 1 billion people who have NO water.

Easy Steps To Water Efficiency:

A shower a day can help you save on the amount of water that normally goes down the plug hole - baths use 80 litres of water whilst a 8 minute shower uses just 35!

Turn them off - leaving taps running whilst you are cleaning your teeth for example wastes 5 litres a minute.

Repair - dripping taps or leaky faucets can WASTE as much as 90 litres of water per week.

Don't waste it! - Collect water that normally goes down the plughole and water your plants!

Did You Know? One-third of the UK's domestic water is literally being flushed away! each flush uses 10 litres of water

FACT: Garden sprinklers use an almighty 1000 litres of water every hour.

Water - Water your plants in the evening - this way the plants get maximum benefit!

If you like a clean car - wash it by hand just think of the exercise!

Only run the washing machine and dishwasher when you have a full load!

Install a low-flush toilet - or put a hippo in your cistern!

Don't waste time and money waiting for your tap water to go cold... use old bottles and keep them in the fridge.

Fit a water butt! Water your garden for FREE.