Neuroanatomist Jill Bolte Taylor had an opportunity few brain scientists would wish for: One morning, she realized she was having a massive stroke. As it happened -- as she felt her brain functions slip away one by one, speech, movement, understanding -- she studied and remembered every moment. This is a powerful story about how our brains define us and connect us to the world and to one another.
http://www.thoughtware.tv/videos/show/1613
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Monday, May 26, 2008
We Are The World
This video plugging Avaaz.org exposes the myth of a fundamental clash between Islam and the West as a problem of politics—not cultures. It received over 1.4 million views and 37,000 comments on Youtube (right up there with Star Wars Kid), and helped secure Avaaz.org as the place for international online activism.
In just one year's time, Avaaz has amassed over 3.2 million members from 192 different countries, partly by leveraging video campaigns such as this along side online actions (mostly on human rights issues) that appeal to anyone with a soul and warm blood running through their veins. Check out their website... in 13 different languages!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWyJJQbFago&eurl=http://www.alternet.org/blogs/video/86401/
With thanks to: http://www.alternet.org/blogs/video/86401/
In just one year's time, Avaaz has amassed over 3.2 million members from 192 different countries, partly by leveraging video campaigns such as this along side online actions (mostly on human rights issues) that appeal to anyone with a soul and warm blood running through their veins. Check out their website... in 13 different languages!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWyJJQbFago&eurl=http://www.alternet.org/blogs/video/86401/
With thanks to: http://www.alternet.org/blogs/video/86401/
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Starbucks Sets New Goals for Renewables, Green Building
by Greenbiz Staff
SEATTLE, Wash. -- Starbucks wants to slash energy consumption in its stores by 25 percent and buy enough renewable energy certificates to satisfy half of its stores’ energy needs, all by 2010, the company said Wednesday.
Starbucks released its fiscal 2007 corporate responsibility report in which the company laid out new goals and detailed progress on previously announced initiatives.
By 2010, all new construction will incorporate green building principles. Starbucks said it would build four test stores in various regions of the world to examine cutting edge energy and water reduction technologies. On average, Starbucks’ 15,011 company-operated stores in 43 countries use roughly 25 gallons of water and 6.78 kilowatt-hours of electricity per square foot each.
The company is working with the U.S. Green Building Council on both its LEED Retail program and a LEED Portfolio Pilot Program that could certify a building prototype, which would allow companies such as Starbucks to integrate LEED standards across an entire portfolio.
The company also plans to build a LEED-Silver rated office building in Seattle, as well as another roasting plant in Columbia, South Carolina, which also will meet LEED-Silver standards.
Starbucks plans to reintroduce ceramic serveware in its stores by 2010, as well as increase customer use of reusable commuter mugs tenfold.
The company conducted extensive energy audits of 19 representative stores in the U.S. to identify ways of reducing energy, the results of which will be unveiled this spring.
In fiscal 2007, the company upped store thermostats to 75 degrees from 72 degrees on warm days, as well as installed emissions control equipment at a Washington state roasting plant to reduce natural gas consumption.
Sixty-five percent of the company’s coffee purchases in fiscal 2007 were made through its Coffee and Farmer Equity Practices program for sustainable coffee.
The report also included some initiatives that didn't go as well as the company had hoped. For instance, the company attempted to green its supply chain by encouraging its 387 largest suppliers to buy the renewable energy certificates at a preferred rate but only 11 signed up.
And the percentage of Starbucks company-operated stores that recycled garbage actually declined between fiscal 2006 and 2007. Starbucks also canceled or suspended in certain markets its Grounds for Your Garden program -- which offers free bags of used coffee grounds for use as a soil nutrient -- because of some regional environmental policies.
http://greenerbuildings.com/news/2008/05/15/starbucks-sets-new-goals-renewables-green-building
SEATTLE, Wash. -- Starbucks wants to slash energy consumption in its stores by 25 percent and buy enough renewable energy certificates to satisfy half of its stores’ energy needs, all by 2010, the company said Wednesday.
Starbucks released its fiscal 2007 corporate responsibility report in which the company laid out new goals and detailed progress on previously announced initiatives.
By 2010, all new construction will incorporate green building principles. Starbucks said it would build four test stores in various regions of the world to examine cutting edge energy and water reduction technologies. On average, Starbucks’ 15,011 company-operated stores in 43 countries use roughly 25 gallons of water and 6.78 kilowatt-hours of electricity per square foot each.
The company is working with the U.S. Green Building Council on both its LEED Retail program and a LEED Portfolio Pilot Program that could certify a building prototype, which would allow companies such as Starbucks to integrate LEED standards across an entire portfolio.
The company also plans to build a LEED-Silver rated office building in Seattle, as well as another roasting plant in Columbia, South Carolina, which also will meet LEED-Silver standards.
Starbucks plans to reintroduce ceramic serveware in its stores by 2010, as well as increase customer use of reusable commuter mugs tenfold.
The company conducted extensive energy audits of 19 representative stores in the U.S. to identify ways of reducing energy, the results of which will be unveiled this spring.
In fiscal 2007, the company upped store thermostats to 75 degrees from 72 degrees on warm days, as well as installed emissions control equipment at a Washington state roasting plant to reduce natural gas consumption.
Sixty-five percent of the company’s coffee purchases in fiscal 2007 were made through its Coffee and Farmer Equity Practices program for sustainable coffee.
The report also included some initiatives that didn't go as well as the company had hoped. For instance, the company attempted to green its supply chain by encouraging its 387 largest suppliers to buy the renewable energy certificates at a preferred rate but only 11 signed up.
And the percentage of Starbucks company-operated stores that recycled garbage actually declined between fiscal 2006 and 2007. Starbucks also canceled or suspended in certain markets its Grounds for Your Garden program -- which offers free bags of used coffee grounds for use as a soil nutrient -- because of some regional environmental policies.
http://greenerbuildings.com/news/2008/05/15/starbucks-sets-new-goals-renewables-green-building
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Home Improvement Done Right
According to studies conducted for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, residential construction and demolition projects accounted for 58 million tons of waste in 1996, and as much as 90 percent of this waste is recyclable. To help address this problem, the American Society of Interior Designers’ Foundation and the U.S. Green Building Council recently released a set of guidelines for best practices in sustainable home improvement projects (see the related links).
With a little reading and advance planning, you can reduce the environmental impact of your next project—whether big or small—by adopting these strategies:
Reduce. Begin by thinking about the most efficient use of the available space and daylight, what materials or systems you can reuse, and how you can minimize the scope (and cost) of your project. You might even consider taking advantage of renewable resources such as solar energy (for electricity or water heating), wind power, geothermal energy (via a heat pump), or a combined heat-and-power system.
If you’ll be working with a contractor, choose one who is willing to recycle and work with recycled/reused or “green” products. The EPA recommends that a contractor’s bid be accompanied by a plan for reducing, reusing, or recycling construction waste as well as a description of the contractor’s experience with similar projects and references from those projects. The best possible option is a contractor or architect who has LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification—but be sure to ask for proof.
Deconstruct. When renovating an existing space, think “deconstruction” rather than demolition. Most things can be reused or donated, including flooring, siding, windows, doors, bricks, plumbing and lighting fixtures, ceiling tiles, unused roofing materials, leftover paints and varnishes, hardware such as nails and screws, and structural components.
Reuse. Before heading to the lumber yard or hardware store, look for a materials exchange such as Habitat for Humanity’s ReStores, which may offer both new (surplus/overstock) and used materials and building components.
Recycle. Take whatever items you cannot reuse to a local recycling facility or materials exchange (see the related links). The EPA identified more than 1,000 asphalt and concrete recycling facilities nationwide as of June 2004, as well as 700 wood-waste recycling facilities and 300 “mixed-waste” recycling facilities that accept demolition debris.
http://www.ucsusa.org/publications/greentips/
NGOs Pressure AsDB to Strengthen Safeguards
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
IPS News May 15, 2008
MADRID, May 6 (IPS) - Behind-the-scenes lobbying by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) paid off by the end of the annual meeting of the Asian Development Bank (AsDB) concluding here Tuesday. Leading financial officials from a host of European countries came out in favour of the strong "safeguard policies" that activists are championing.
The polices call for protection of the environment, respecting the rights of indigenous people and a stop to the involuntary resettlement of people when a development project is implemented in a country by the AsDB, Asia’s premier lender for development.
In the lead up to the AsDB’s 41st meeting of its board of governors, held in the Spanish capital from May 3 to 6, activists expressed concern over possible new language in the safeguard policies that the bank was considering. Consequently, since the opening sessions of the meeting here activists ‘turned up the heat’ on senior bank officials to commit to viable safeguards.
"Belgium is concerned by the weakening of the social and environmental standards in the review of safeguard policies initiated recently," said Franciscus Godst, head of his country’s delegation during the formal business sessions, where central bank governors of the AsDB’s 67 members made statements. "Belgium considers that one of the values that a development bank can add is strengthening such standards and enabling the executing agencies to make them current practice."
"There are a number of non-negotiable principles that need to be applied to the environment, indigenous peoples and involuntary resettlement policies," added Jorg Al. Reding, Switzerland’s central bank governor. "A broad range of views from governments, non-governmental organisations and the private sector needs to be heard and considered in the process of reviewing these safeguard policies."
Getting such language into the record of the formal sessions reflected the lobbying prowess of Asian, European and U.S. activists, who had laid the foundation for their campaign weeks before the Madrid meeting began. "Two weeks ago, we had meetings with the officials from the ministry of finance in Belgium," said Pol Vandevoort, a policy officer at 11.11.11, a coalition of development NGOs in Belgium. "We talked about safeguards and our concerns."
After the small contingents of activists arrived here, they sat down with financial officials from countries sympathetic to their cause to drive the message home. The activists from regions such as Central Asia, South Asia and South-east Asia also met with delegations from Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, and the U.S., among others.
"Now that the management at the bank has heard the signals from some of the countries, it will push them to go for a better version," added Vandevoort in an interview with IPS. "It is positive the way attention is being paid to this issue."
In its defence, Haruhito Kuroda, president of the AsDB, said that the Manila- based financial institution "has no intention to dilute the safeguard policies on environment, indigenous people and resettlement."
"The intention is to combine the three safeguard policies into one to make our operations in developing countries more effective," he added during the final press conference of the annual meeting. "The second-round draft of the safeguard policies will soon be put up on our website. And we will have consultations about it in Manila."
This contentious issue between activists and the bank goes back nearly three years, at which time the AsDB’s board informed stakeholders of the bank that it was planning to "update" the prevailing safeguard policies. Soon, bank watchdogs like the NGO Forum on ADB -- an umbrella group that has its headquarters in Manila -- began to engage with officials out of concern that the update could lead to "weakening the existing safeguard policies."
The bank in the mid-1990s embraced the initial safeguard policies. They marked concern over the social and environmental consequences of development projects in the poorer regions across Asia. In 1995, the AsDB introduced its Involuntary Resettlement Policy, followed by the Indigenous Peoples Policy in 1998 and the Environmental Policy in 2002.
Discussions between the activists and bank officials over the update steadily began to turn sour over a two-year period. Yet, the AsDB pressed on -- they hosted a series of meetings to discuss the new safeguard policies at consultations across Asia. Civil society groups stuck to the theme, "NO to Weakened Standards, YES to accountability," states the NGO Forum on ADB.
Subsequently, disillusioned activists declared a boycott of the bank’s consultations, shattering its veneer of legitimacy and inclusiveness. South Asian NGOs fired the first such volley during a consultation in December 2007. Other groups soon followed.
The outcome of civil society pressure was the bank being compelled to withdraw its first draft and announce plans to work on a second draft. It is the proposed new text that gained the spotlight during the annual meeting here, which attracted over 3,000 participants, among whom were finance ministers, central bank governors, company executives, academics and activists.
"The bank cannot ignore the issue of safeguards, despite its previous efforts to sidestep it," Renato Redentor Constantino, executive director of the NGO Forum on ADB, said in an interview. "The bank’s previous approach was not just mediocre but bordering on the dangerous for local communities."
"We are glad that the bank caved into NGO pressure and is now working on a second draft," he added. "We want strong safeguards to be at the front and centre of all the bank’s development programmes."
IPS News May 15, 2008
MADRID, May 6 (IPS) - Behind-the-scenes lobbying by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) paid off by the end of the annual meeting of the Asian Development Bank (AsDB) concluding here Tuesday. Leading financial officials from a host of European countries came out in favour of the strong "safeguard policies" that activists are championing.
The polices call for protection of the environment, respecting the rights of indigenous people and a stop to the involuntary resettlement of people when a development project is implemented in a country by the AsDB, Asia’s premier lender for development.
In the lead up to the AsDB’s 41st meeting of its board of governors, held in the Spanish capital from May 3 to 6, activists expressed concern over possible new language in the safeguard policies that the bank was considering. Consequently, since the opening sessions of the meeting here activists ‘turned up the heat’ on senior bank officials to commit to viable safeguards.
"Belgium is concerned by the weakening of the social and environmental standards in the review of safeguard policies initiated recently," said Franciscus Godst, head of his country’s delegation during the formal business sessions, where central bank governors of the AsDB’s 67 members made statements. "Belgium considers that one of the values that a development bank can add is strengthening such standards and enabling the executing agencies to make them current practice."
"There are a number of non-negotiable principles that need to be applied to the environment, indigenous peoples and involuntary resettlement policies," added Jorg Al. Reding, Switzerland’s central bank governor. "A broad range of views from governments, non-governmental organisations and the private sector needs to be heard and considered in the process of reviewing these safeguard policies."
Getting such language into the record of the formal sessions reflected the lobbying prowess of Asian, European and U.S. activists, who had laid the foundation for their campaign weeks before the Madrid meeting began. "Two weeks ago, we had meetings with the officials from the ministry of finance in Belgium," said Pol Vandevoort, a policy officer at 11.11.11, a coalition of development NGOs in Belgium. "We talked about safeguards and our concerns."
After the small contingents of activists arrived here, they sat down with financial officials from countries sympathetic to their cause to drive the message home. The activists from regions such as Central Asia, South Asia and South-east Asia also met with delegations from Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, and the U.S., among others.
"Now that the management at the bank has heard the signals from some of the countries, it will push them to go for a better version," added Vandevoort in an interview with IPS. "It is positive the way attention is being paid to this issue."
In its defence, Haruhito Kuroda, president of the AsDB, said that the Manila- based financial institution "has no intention to dilute the safeguard policies on environment, indigenous people and resettlement."
"The intention is to combine the three safeguard policies into one to make our operations in developing countries more effective," he added during the final press conference of the annual meeting. "The second-round draft of the safeguard policies will soon be put up on our website. And we will have consultations about it in Manila."
This contentious issue between activists and the bank goes back nearly three years, at which time the AsDB’s board informed stakeholders of the bank that it was planning to "update" the prevailing safeguard policies. Soon, bank watchdogs like the NGO Forum on ADB -- an umbrella group that has its headquarters in Manila -- began to engage with officials out of concern that the update could lead to "weakening the existing safeguard policies."
The bank in the mid-1990s embraced the initial safeguard policies. They marked concern over the social and environmental consequences of development projects in the poorer regions across Asia. In 1995, the AsDB introduced its Involuntary Resettlement Policy, followed by the Indigenous Peoples Policy in 1998 and the Environmental Policy in 2002.
Discussions between the activists and bank officials over the update steadily began to turn sour over a two-year period. Yet, the AsDB pressed on -- they hosted a series of meetings to discuss the new safeguard policies at consultations across Asia. Civil society groups stuck to the theme, "NO to Weakened Standards, YES to accountability," states the NGO Forum on ADB.
Subsequently, disillusioned activists declared a boycott of the bank’s consultations, shattering its veneer of legitimacy and inclusiveness. South Asian NGOs fired the first such volley during a consultation in December 2007. Other groups soon followed.
The outcome of civil society pressure was the bank being compelled to withdraw its first draft and announce plans to work on a second draft. It is the proposed new text that gained the spotlight during the annual meeting here, which attracted over 3,000 participants, among whom were finance ministers, central bank governors, company executives, academics and activists.
"The bank cannot ignore the issue of safeguards, despite its previous efforts to sidestep it," Renato Redentor Constantino, executive director of the NGO Forum on ADB, said in an interview. "The bank’s previous approach was not just mediocre but bordering on the dangerous for local communities."
"We are glad that the bank caved into NGO pressure and is now working on a second draft," he added. "We want strong safeguards to be at the front and centre of all the bank’s development programmes."
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Journey of Man
National Geographic Documentary on DNA trail of Human Migration
