THANKS Thanks Thanks to everyone pitching in to clean up and rebuild Calgary.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Category: good news
climate change – SOLVED
I’m a “global warming” skeptic.
The climate is changing as it always has. Ice ages come and go.
I’m skeptical that the Earth is warming mainly due to fossil fuels. And I hope I’m right. Because there is almost NO chance that the world is going to reduce the use of fossil fuels anytime soon.
Here’s the best solution I’ve yet heard. Allan Savory’s explains how we can improve the world’s climate in a cost efficient way. AND feed millions of the poorest of the poor at the same time.
Click PLAY or watch it on TED.
“Desertification is a fancy word for land that is turning to desert,” begins Allan Savory in this quietly powerful talk. And it’s happening to about two-thirds of the world’s grasslands, accelerating climate change and causing traditional grazing societies to descend into social chaos. Savory has devoted his life to stopping it.
He now believes — and his work so far shows — that a surprising factor can protect grasslands and even reclaim degraded land that was once desert.
Allan Savory: Grassland ecosystem pioneer
Thanks for the link, Ron.
Bill Gates – reinventing the toilet
My personal priorities include anti-smoking, education of girls & women, and clean water.
Bill Gates:
This week in Seattle, the foundation is holding a Reinvent the Toilet Fair.
Today I awarded prizes to three universities who responded to our challenge a year ago to come up with solutions for capturing and processing human waste and transforming it into useful resources. The winners included: first place to California Institute of Technology in the United States for designing a solar-powered toilet that generates hydrogen and electricity, second place to Loughborough University in the United Kingdom for a toilet that produces biological charcoal, minerals, and clean water, and third place to University of Toronto in Canada for a toilet that sanitizes feces and urine and recovers resources and clean water.
A special recognition was awarded to Eawag (Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology) and EOOS for their outstanding design of a toilet user-interface.
And the Winners of the Reinvent the Toilet Challenge Awards are…?
Click PLAY or watch the winning design on YouTube.
(source)
Obviously, that’s too complicated for the developing world. A simple, foolproof design is needed.
But kudos to Bill Gates for pushing this forward.
I first got interested in this topic when visiting Gandhi’s toilet museum in India.
restore your faith in humanity
read this – Buzzfeed – 21 Pictures That Will Restore Your Faith In Humanity
… Chicago Christians who showed up at a gay pride parade to apologize for homophobia in the Church.
US airlines must advertise TRUE fares
Good news — under the Obama administration:
A series of new airfare rules put forth by the Department of Transportation (DOT) will go into effect Jan. 26 and offer travelers better “passenger protections.”
The most visible of the new rules is a law that requires airlines to include mandatory government taxes and fees in all advertised fares. Other rules pertaining to ticket cancellation policies and baggage fees went into effect on Jan. 24. …
Luggage fees are still not included. And code-share flights not necessarily disclosed. When you buy a flight on Alaska, for example, you might find yourself on Horizon.
What happens in the States often ends up happening worldwide, the aviation industry so international.
about time – electronic textbook rentals
… Students can already save a few bucks by opting for a digital version of a textbook over a hardcover, and they can now save even more courtesy of Amazon if they aren’t too intent on hanging onto the book after they’re done with it. The company has just announced textbook rentals for Kindle, which promises to let students save “up to 80 percent” off the list price of those often pricey textbooks. That discount varies depending on the rental period — which can be anywhere from 30 to 360 days —
… The National Association of College Stores estimates that U.S. college stores posted $10.25 billion in sales for the 2009-2010 fiscal year with each student spending $745 on average.
read more on Mashable
This is only the beginning of the end for the many ripoffs associated with the textbook industry, but at least it is a start.
welcome Bella Mckinley Mosier
Congratulations to Jeremy and Sheena.
more photos on Facebook
decline of religion in richer nations
In general, the more affluent the country, the fewer citizens report that they are ‘religious’.
Note that Kuwait and the USA are outliers, exceptions to that general rule.
James A. Haught wrote about this trend:
Since World War II, worship has dwindled starkly in Europe, Canada, Australia, Japan and other advanced democracies. In those busy places, only 5 or 10 percent of adults now attend church. Secular society scurries along heedlessly. …
… males outnumber females among the churchless. “The ratio of 60 males to 40 females is a remarkable result …
Is this trend good or bad?
Good, I’d say, overall.
Religion works for some. I respect their right to freedom of religions so long as it doesn’t impose on others.
And any trend for less religiosity should diminish the fervency of religious extremists. We would hope.
Thanks Warren.
related – What atheists are really concerned about
may you be ‘untangled’
Snopes confirms:
This time of year an email gets circulated about the 2005 rescue of a humpback whale tangled in the nylon ropes that link crab pots. It was off San Francisco.
Here’s one of the divers quoted, James Moskito:
… “When I was cutting the line going through the mouth, its eye was there winking at me, watching me,” Moskito said. “It was an epic moment of my life.”
… When the whale realized it was free, it began swimming around in circles, according to the rescuers. Moskito said it swam to each diver, nuzzled him and then swam to the next one.
“It seemed kind of affectionate, like a dog that’s happy to see you,” Moskito said. “I never felt threatened. It was an amazing, unbelievable experience.” …
“You hate to anthropomorphize too much, but the whale was doing little dives and the guys were rubbing shoulders with it,” Menigoz said. “I don’t know for sure what it was thinking, but it’s something that I will always remember. It was just too cool. …”
read the original article
This photo is of a humpback whale. But it was taken about 4yrs later in the South Pacific.
Thanks Dana.
Rick McCharles 
