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2009-03-08T22:04:00.000-07:00

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Barack Obama's 2004 Democratic Convention Speech

2008-11-06T21:51:00.000-08:00

Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Dick Durbin. You make us all proud.

On behalf of the great state of Illinois, crossroads of a nation, land of Lincoln, let me express my deep gratitude for the privilege of addressing this convention. Tonight is a particular honor for me because, let's face it, my presence on this stage is pretty unlikely. My father was a foreign student, born and raised in a small village in Kenya. He grew up herding goats, went to school in a tin- roof shack. His father, my grandfather, was a cook, a domestic servant to the British. But my grandfather had larger dreams for his son. Through hard work and perseverance my father got a scholarship to study in a magical place, America, that's shown as a beacon of freedom and opportunity to so many who had come before him. While studying here my father met my mother. She was born in a town on the other side of the world, in Kansas. Her father worked on oil rigs and farms through most of the Depression. The day after Pearl Harbor, my grandfather signed up for duty, joined Patton's army, marched across Europe. Back home my grandmother raised a baby and went to work on a bomber assembly line. After the war, they studied on the GI Bill, bought a house through FHA and later moved west, all the way to Hawaii, in search of opportunity. And they too had big dreams for their daughter, a common dream born of two continents. My parents shared not only an improbable love; they shared an abiding faith in the possibilities of this nation. They would give me an African name, Barack, or "blessed," believing that in a tolerant America, your name is no barrier to success. They imagined me going to the best schools in the land, even though they weren't rich, because in a generous America you don't have to be rich to achieve your potential. They're both passed away now. And yet I know that, on this night, they look down on me with great pride. And I stand here today grateful for the diversity of my heritage, aware that my parents' dreams live on in my two precious daughters. I stand here knowing that my story is part of the larger American story, that I owe a debt to all of those who came before me, and that in no other country on Earth is my story even possible. Tonight, we gather to affirm the greatness of our nation not because of the height of our skyscrapers, or the power of our military, or the size of our economy; our pride is based on a very simple premise, summed up in a declaration made over two hundred years ago: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." That is the true genius of America, a faith in simple dreams, an insistence on small miracles; that we can tuck in our children at night and know that they are fed and clothed and safe from harm; that we can say what we think, write what we think, without hearing a sudden knock on the door; that we can have an idea and start our own business without paying a bribe; that we can participate in the political process without fear of retribution; and that our votes will be counted -- or at least, most of the time. This year, in this election, we are called to reaffirm our values and our commitments, to hold them against a hard reality and see how we are measuring up, to the legacy of our forbearers and the promise of future generations. And fellow Americans, Democrats, Republicans, independents, I say to you, tonight, we have more work to do...... more work to do, for the workers I met in Galesburg, Illinois, who are losing their union jobs at the Maytag plant that's moving to Mexico, and now they're having to compete with their own children for jobs that pay 7 bucks an hour; more to do for the father I met who was losing his job and choking back the tears wondering how he would pay $4,500 a month for the drugs his son needs without the health benefits that he counted on; more to do for the young woman in East St. Louis, and thousands more like her who have the grades, have the drive, have the will, but don't have the money to go to college. Now, don't get me wrong, the people I meet in small towns and big cities and diners and office parks, they don't expect government to solve all of their problems. They know they have to work hard to get a head. And they want to. Go into the collar counties around Chicago, and people will tell you: They don't want their tax money wasted by a welfare agency or by the Pentagon. Go into any inner-city neighborhood, and folks will tell you that government alone can't teach kids to learn. They know that parents have to teach, that children can't achieve unless we raise their expectations and turn off the television sets and eradicate the slander that says a black youth with a book is acting white. They know those things. People don't expect -- people don't expect government to solve all their problems. But they sense, deep in their bones, that with just a slight change in priorities, we can make sure that every child in America has a decent shot at life and that the doors of opportunity remain open to all. They know we can do better. And they want that choice. In this election, we offer that choice. Our party has chosen a man to lead us who embodies the best this country has to offer. And that man is John Kerry. John Kerry understands the ideals of community, faith and service because they've defined his life. From his heroic service to Vietnam to his years as prosecutor and lieutenant governor, through two decades in the United States Senate, he has devoted himself to this country. Again and again, we've seen him make tough choices when easier ones were available. His values and his record affirm what is best in us. John Kerry believes in an America where hard work is rewarded. So instead of offering tax breaks to companies shipping jobs overseas, he offers them to companies creating jobs here at home. John Kerry believes in an America where all Americans can afford the same health coverage our politicians in Washington have for themselves. John Kerry believes in energy independence, so we aren't held hostage to the profits of oil companies or the sabotage of foreign oil fields. John Kerry believes in the constitutional freedoms that have made our country the envy of the world, and he will never sacrifice our basic liberties nor use faith as a wedge to divide us. And John Kerry believes that in a dangerous world, war must be an option sometimes, but it should never be the first option. You know, a while back, I met a young man named Seamus in a VFW hall in East Moline, Illinois. He was a good-looking kid, 6'2", 6'3", clear eyed, with an easy smile. He told me he'd joined the Marines and was heading to Iraq the following week. And as I listened to him explain why he had enlisted -- the absolute faith he had in our country and its leaders, his devotion to duty and service -- I thought, this young man was all that any of us might ever hope for in a child. But then I asked myself: Are we serving Seamus as well as he's serving us? I thought of the 900 men and women, sons and daughters, husbands and wives, friends and neighbors who won't be returning to their own hometowns. I thought of the families I had met who were struggling to get by without a loved one's full income or whose loved ones had returned with a limb missing or nerves shattered, but still lacked long-term health benefits because they were Reservists. When we send our young men and women into harm's way, we have a solemn obligation not to fudge the numbers or shade the truth about why they are going, to care for their families while they're gone, to tend to the soldiers upon their return and to never, ever go to war without enough troops to win the war, secure the peace and earn the respect of the world. Now, let me be clear. Let me be clear. We have real enemies in the world. These enemies must be found. They must be pursued. And they must be defeated. John Kerry knows this. And just as Lieutenant Kerry did not hesitate to risk his life to protect the men who served with him in Vietnam, President Kerry will not hesitate one moment to use our military might to keep America safe and secure. John Kerry believes in America. And he knows that it's not enough for just some of us to prosper. For alongside our famous individualism, there's another ingredient in the American saga, a belief that we are all connected as one people. If there's a child on the south side of Chicago who can't read, that matters to me, even if it's not my child. If there's a senior citizen somewhere who can't pay for their prescription and having to choose between medicine and the rent, that makes my life poorer, even if it's not my grandparent. If there's an Arab-American family being rounded up without benefit of an attorney or due process, that threatens my civil liberties. It is that fundamental belief -- it is that fundamental belief -- I am my brother's keeper, I am my sisters' keeper -- that makes this country work. It's what allows us to pursue our individual dreams, yet still come together as a single American family: "E pluribus unum," out of many, one. Now even as we speak, there are those who are preparing to divide us, the spin masters and negative ad peddlers who embrace the politics of anything goes. Well, I say to them tonight, there's not a liberal America and a conservative America; there's the United States of America. There's not a black America and white America and Latino America and Asian America; there's the United States of America. The pundits like to slice and dice our country into red states and blue States: red states for Republicans, blue States for Democrats. But I've got news for them, too. We worship an awesome God in the blue states, and we don't like federal agents poking around our libraries in the red states. We coach little league in the blue states and, yes, we've got some gay friends in the red states. There are patriots who opposed the war in Iraq, and there are patriots who supported the war in Iraq. We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the United States of America. In the end, that's what this election is about. Do we participate in a politics of cynicism, or do we participate in a politics of hope? John Kerry calls on us to hope. John Edwards calls on us to hope. I'm not talking about blind optimism here, the almost willful ignorance that thinks unemployment will go away if we just don't think about it, or health care crisis will solve itself if we just ignore it. That's not what I'm talking. I'm talking about something more substantial. It's the hope of slaves sitting around a fire singing freedom songs; the hope of immigrants setting out for distant shores; the hope of a young naval lieutenant bravely patrolling the Mekong Delta; the hope of a millworker's son who dares to defy the odds; the hope of a skinny kid with a funny name who believes that America has a place for him, too. Hope in the face of difficulty, hope in the face of uncertainty, the audacity of hope: In the end, that is God's greatest gift to us, the bedrock of this nation, a belief in things not seen, a belief that there are better days ahead. I believe that we can give our middle class relief and provide working families with a road to opportunity. I believe we can provide jobs for the jobless, homes to the homeless, and reclaim young people in cities across America from violence and despair. I believe that we have a righteous wind at our backs, and that as we stand on the crossroads of history, we can make the right choices and meet the challenges that face us. America, tonight, if you feel the same energy that I do, if you feel the same urgency that I do, if you feel the same passion that I do, if you feel the same hopefulness that I do, if we do what we must do, then I have no doubt that all across the country, from Florida to Oregon, from Washington to Maine, the people will rise up in November, and John Kerry will be sworn in as president. And John Edwards will be sworn in as vice president. And this country will reclaim its promise. And out of this long political darkness a brighter day will come. Thank you very much, everybody. God bless you. Thank you.

THINGS EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW

2008-10-21T09:07:00.000-07:00

The word "queue" is the only word in the English language that is still pronounced the same way when the last four letters are removed.
Beetles taste like apples, wasps like pine nuts, and worms like fried bacon.
Of all the words in the English language, the word 'set' has the most definitions!
What is called a "French kiss" in the English speaking world is known as an "English kiss" in France.
"Almost" is the longest word in the English language with all the letters in alphabetical order.
"Rhythm" is the longest English word without a vowel.
In 1386, a pig in France was executed by public hanging for the murder of a child
A cockroach can live several weeks with its head cut off!
Human thigh bones are stronger than concrete.
You can't kill yourself by holding your breath
There is a city called Rome on every continent.
Your heart beats over 100,000 times a day!
Horatio Nelson, one of England's most illustrious admirals was throughout his life, never able to find a cure for his sea-sickness.
The skeleton of Jeremy Bentham is present at all important meetings of the University of London
Right handed people live, on average, nine years longer than left-handed people
Your ribs move about 5 million times a year, everytime you breathe!
The elephant is the only mammal that can't jump!
One quarter of the bones in your body, are in your feet!
Like fingerprints, everyone's tongue print is different!
The first known transfusion of blood was performed as early as 1667, when Jean-Baptiste, transfused two pints of blood from a sheep to a young man
Fingernails grow nearly 4 times faster than toenails!
Most dust particles in your house are made from dead skin!
The present population of 5 billion plus people of the world is predicted to become 15 billion by 2080.
Women blink nearly twice as much as men.
Adolf Hitler was a vegetarian, and had only ONE testicle.
Honey is the only food that does not spoil. Honey found in the tombs of Egyptian pharaohs has been tasted by archaeologists and found edible.
Months that begin on a Sunday will always have a "Friday the 13th."
Coca-Cola would be green if colouring weren’t added to it.
On average a hedgehog's heart beats 300 times a minute.
More people are killed each year from bees than from snakes.
The average lead pencil will draw a line 35 miles long or write approximately 50,000 English words.
More people are allergic to cow's milk than any other food.
Camels have three eyelids to protect themselves from blowing sand.
The placement of a donkey's eyes in its' heads enables it to see all four feet at all times!
The six official languages of the United Nations are: English, French, Arabic, Chinese, Russian and Spanish.
Earth is the only planet not named after a god.
It's against the law to burp, or sneeze in a church in Nebraska, USA.
You're born with 300 bones, but by the time you become an adult, you only have 206.
Some worms will eat themselves if they can't find any food!
Dolphins sleep with one eye open!
It is impossible to sneeze with your eyes open
The worlds oldest piece of chewing gum is 9000 years old!
The longest recorded flight of a chicken is 13 seconds
Queen Elizabeth I regarded herself as a paragon of cleanliness. She declared that she bathed once every three months, whether she needed it or not.
Slugs have 4 noses.
Owls are the only birds who can see the colour blue.
A man named Charles Osborne had the hiccups for 69 years!
A giraffe can clean its ears with its 21-inch tongue!
The average person laughs 10 times a day!
An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain.

BELIEVE IT OR NOT, FOLLOWING ARE SOME STRANGE BUT TRUE FACTS :

2008-10-21T07:45:00.000-07:00

In Cleveland, Ohio, it's illegal to catch mice without a hunting license.
It takes 3,000 cows to supply the leather for a year's supply of footballs.
There is an average of 178 sesame seeds on a McDonald's Big Mac bun.
The ratio of termites and human in the world is 10:1.
The Bible has been translated into Klingon.
The summer of 2003 in Europe killed 35,000 people.
Staphylococcus aureus lives harmlessly on human skin.
Average human produces 25,000 quarts of saliva in a lifetime.
Earth is not round but an ellipse.
Pregnant women tend to eat more if they carry a baby boy.
Sirius, a dwarf star, is the brightest star in the night sky.
Babies are born with 300 bones but in adulthood we have 206 bones.
Each square inch of human skin comprises of 19 million cells, 60 hairs, 90 oil glands, 19 feet of blood vessels, 625 sweat glands, 19,000 sensory cells and thousand and millions of bacteria.
Tomatoes are the most popular food world wide with a production of 60 million tons per year.
Mt. Everest, at 8848 meters and 29,028 feet, is the tallest mountain in the world.
Less than 2% of the water is fresh.
A person at rest generates as heat equal to 100 watt light bulb.
Depleted uranium has been used by western military powers as an anti-tank weapon.
About 70% of living organisms are bacteria.
An estimate of 300 million cells dies in human body every minute.
The real name of Albert Brook is Albert Einstein.
Chewing gum while peeling onions will keep you from crying.
One pound fat equals to 4000 calories.
There are about 100,000 to 150,000 hairs on an average person’s head.
The largest organ of a human body is skin, weighing about 4 kg in a normal adult.
The weight of bacteria is one trillionth of a gram.

STRANGE FACTS:

2008-10-21T07:40:00.000-07:00

There are many strange facts that we all may not be aware of. Following are some of the similar facts:

Eskimos use refrigerators to keep food FROM freezing.
The sentence "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog”, uses every letter in the alphabet.
Average life span of a major league baseball is 7 pitches.
A 15 letter word that can be spelled without repeating a letter is uncopyrightable.
The Main Library at Indiana University sinks over an inch every year by the weight of books.
Nutmeg can extremely poisonous if injected intravenously.
The density of neuron star is 1.5 to 3 times of sun’s mass.
Almost 85% of the universe is a form of dark matter.
The first toilet ever seen on television was on "Leave It to Beaver".
Only one person in two billion will live up to 116 of age.
200 companies contributing 29% to the world economy employs only 0.9% of the world’s work force.
98 tons of ore historic buried plant material is used to make one U.S gallon of gasoline.
An estimated 16,000 people worldwide are becoming infected with HIV every day.
Strong negative emotions lead to damage of immune system.
Due to pollution and overfishing, population of American, Asian and Europeans eels have declined up to 99%.
The dot over the letter "i" is called a tittle.
Neutrons have a life of 14 minutes outside the nucleus of an atom.
Only 22% of original forests on earth have remained.
There are no words in the dictionary that rhyme with orange, purple and silver.
Humans are the only primates having pigment in the palms of their hands.
On average, 100 people choke to death on ballpoint pens every year.
Reno, Nevada is west of Los Angeles, California.

INDIA FACTS - FACTS ABOUT INDIA

2008-10-18T08:42:00.000-07:00

The official Sanskrit name for India is Bharat.
INDIA has been called Bharat even in Satya yuga ( Golden Age )

More INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT India
The name `India’ is derived from the River Indus, the valleys around which were the home of the early settlers. The Aryan worshippers referred to the river Indus as the Sindhu.
The Persian invaders converted it into Hindu. The name `Hindustan’ combines Sindhu and Hindu and thus refers to the land of the Hindus.
The number system was invented by India. Aryabhatta was the scientist who invented the digit zero.Sanskrit is considered as the mother of all higher languages. This is because it is the most precise, and therefore suitable language for computer software. ( a report in Forbes magazine, July 1987 ).
Chess was invented in India.
Algebra, Trigonometry and Calculus are studies which originated in India.
The' place value system' and the 'decimal system' were developed in 100 BC in India.
The first six Mogul Emperor's of India ruled in an unbroken succession from father to son for two hundred years, from 1526 to 1707.
The World's First Granite Temple is the Brihadeswara temple at Tanjavur in Tamil Nadu. The shikhara is made from a single ' 80-tonne ' piece of granite. Also, this magnificient temple was built in just five years, (between 1004 AD and 1009 AD) during the reign of Rajaraja Chola
India is.......the Largest democracy in the world, the 6th largest country in the world AND one of the most ancient and living civilizations (at least 10, 000 years old).
The game of snakes & ladders was created by the 13th century poet saint Gyandev. It was originally called 'Mokshapat.' The ladders in the game represented virtues and the snakes indicated vices. The game was played with cowrie shells and dices. Later through time, the game underwent several modifications but the meaning is the same i.e good deeds take us to heaven and evil to a cycle of re-births.
The world's highest cricket ground is in Chail, Himachal Pradesh. Built in 1893 after levelling a hilltop, this cricket pitch is 2444 meters above sea level.
India has the most post offices in the world !
The largest employer in the world is the Indian railway system, employing over a million people !.
The World's first university was established in Takshila in 700 BC. More than 10,500 students from all over the world studied more than 60 subjects. The University of Nalanda built in the 4th century was one of the greatest achievements of ancient India in the field of education.
Ayurveda is the earliest school of medicine known to mankind. The father of medicine, Charaka, consolidated Ayurveda 2500 years ago.
Although modern images & descriptions of India often show poverty, India was one of the richest countries till the time of British in the early 17th Century. Christopher Columbus was attracted by India's wealth and was looking for route to India when he discovered America by mistake.
The art of Navigation & Navigating was born in the river Sindh 6000 over years ago. The very word 'Navigation' is derived from the Sanskrit word NAVGATIH. The word navy is also derived from the Sanskrit word 'Nou'.
Bhaskaracharya rightly calculated the time taken by the earth to orbit the sun hundreds of years before the astronomer Smart. His calculations was - Time taken by earth to orbit the sun: ( 5th century ) 365.258756484 days.
The value of "pi" was first calculated by the Indian Mathematician Budhayana, and he explained the concept of what is known as the Pythagorean Theorem. He discovered this in the 6th century, which was long before the European mathematicians.
Algebra, trigonometry and calculus also orignated from India. Quadratic equations were used by Sridharacharya in the 11th century. The largest numbers the Greeks and the Romans used were 106 whereas Hindus used numbers as big as 10*53 ( i.e 10 to the power of 53 ) with specific names as early as 5000 B.C. during the Vedic period. Even today, the largest used number is Tera: 10*12( 10 to the power of 12 ).
Until 1896, India was the only source for diamonds to the world. ( Source . Gemological Institute of America )
The Baily Bridge is the highest bridge in the world. It is located in the Ladakh valley between the Dras and Suru rivers in the Himalayan mountains. It was built by the Indian Army in August 1982.
Sushruta is regarded as the father of surgery. Over 2600 years ago Sushrata & his team conducted complicated surgeries like cataract, artificial limbs, cesareans, fractures, urinary stones and also plastic surgery and brain surgeries.

Usage of anesthesia was well known in ancient India medicine. Detailed knowledge of anatomy, embryology, digestion, metabolism, physiology, etiology, genetics and immunity is also found in many ancient Indian texts.

Is Big Ben a Clock?

2008-10-18T08:26:00.002-07:00

Almost all Americans would say that the clock atop the tower of the English House of Parliament in London is called Big Ben.
But the clock is actually known as Westminster Clock. Then what is Big Ben? That's the name of the 13- ton bell inside the tower!
Big Ben was named after Sir Benjamin Hall, an English commissioner at the time Big Ben was installed more than a century ago.

Why Is Z the Last Letter in Our Alphabet?

2008-10-18T08:26:00.001-07:00

Our alphabet, called the Roman alphabet, was based on the older Greek alphabet.
In Greek, the letter z is the sixth letter. But when the Romans borrowed the Greek letters to form their own alphabet, they didn't need the z, because they didn't have a z sound in their language.
Later, many Greek words came into use in the Latin language. So the Romans brought back the z in order to write Greek words, and put the z at the end of their alphabet.
The oldest letter in our alphabet is o, which has existed in its present form for more than 3,000 years!

Why Is the White House White?

2008-10-18T08:23:00.000-07:00

George Washington never set foot in the White House as the President of the United States.
Construction of the executive mansion in Washington, D.C., did not begin until 1792, three years after Washington took office. It was finished in 1800, and John Adams, America's second president, moved in towards the end of his term.
The mansion was modeled after an Irish estate, and wasn't white. Then, during the War of 1812, the original building was burned by British soldiers who captured Washington, and only the walls remained.
When the building was restored, the stone walls were painted white to hide the black marks left by the fire. And the building has been known as the White House ever since.
The White House has 132 rooms!

Where did the Statue of Liberty come from?

2008-10-18T08:17:00.000-07:00

The Statue of Liberty was a gift to the people of the United States by the people of France. As a symbol of friendship between the two nations, the statue also commemorated the 100th anniversary of American independence. There are two other Statue of Liberties which reside in Swan Ally Island and the Luxembourg Gardens in Paris.
The architect and designer of the Statue of Liberty was Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi, who was born in Colmar, France, in 1834. The design of the statue's pedestal was designed by Richard Morris Hunt, who was an American architect.
Building of the Statue of Liberty started in 1875, and the cost of the project was shared between France and America as it was soon realized that it would be extremely expensive. Elaborate fund-raising events were held by the Franco-American Union, but they were not very successful.More funds were needed to complete the building of the statue and fund-raising continued to be a problem. In France, a large lottery was held and clay models of the Statue were sold. In America, Joseph Pulitzer, the owner of the newspaper "The World" used the power of the press to bring America together and raised more than $100,000 for the project. If it weren't for these significant contributions, the Statue of Liberty might not have been built.
Construction of the Statue of Liberty was finally complete in 1884 and was dismantled and shipped to Bedloe's Island, New York, where it arrived in 1885 inside 214 wooden packing crates. Reassembly and construction of the pedestal took six months, and the Statue was finally unveiled on October 28, 1886. Those who attended included President Grover Cleveland, the governor of New York, and the French Ambassador.
When the Statue of Liberty was built, it was the tallest structure in New York, at 305 feet. Its green color is actually due to the tarnishing of the copper sheets covering the statue's frame. Today, the Statue of Liberty symbolizes the concept of personal freedom and has become a timeless American icon and visual center of New York Harbor.

History of Soap

2008-10-18T08:14:00.000-07:00

Have you wondered How Soap is Made? The History of Soap is actually quite interesting.
Soap is made from combining fats and oils with an alkali. When mixed with water, soap loosens and attracts dirt, allowing it to be washed away.
The earliest known soap-like material was found in the excavation of ancient Babylon and dates back to 2800 B.C. Fats were boiled with ash according to inscriptions found on clay tablets. There are records that show that the Egyptians bathed regularly. In the 8th century, soap making gained popularity in Italy and Spain and gradually spread throughout Europe.
According to some sources, the word soap is derived from ancient Roman story. Animals were sacrificed at Mount Sapo. When the rain washed the animal fat and ashes down unto the banks of the Tiber river, it was found that the clay enabled washing with less effort. "Sapo", however, is a Latin word which means "soap" and was borrowed from a Celtic or Germanic language.
Modern soap making involves either a hot or cold process. Handmade soap is usually made with the cold process and is still very popular these days.
Most cleaners labeled soap these days are actually detergents. Detergents do not contain any soap and are chemically synthesized from raw material. The demand for detergents grew as ingredients for soap became scarce in World War II.

Why Do We Put Chlorine in Swimming Pools?

2008-10-18T08:08:00.000-07:00

Chlorine is a deadly poison in its pure form, yet we eat it all the time! How can that be?
Chlorine is an element, just like iron or oxygen, but it never occurs in nature by itself. It's most commonly found mixed with the element sodium in a compound called sodium chloride — which is the chemical name for ordinary table salt! So when we eat chlorine, we eat it mixed with sodium, and in that form chlorine is harmless.
Pure chlorine is used as a poison to kill germs in our drinking water or in swimming pool water. Chlorine is so poisonous to bacteria that water can be purified by just one part of chlorine for every 200,000 parts of water!
Most of the chlorine used today is separated from the sodium in salt by means of an electrical current. Chlorine is used not only as a disinfectant, but as a bleach for fabrics and paper.

Who Invented Potato Chips?

2008-10-18T08:06:00.000-07:00

According to a story that may or may not be true, the first potato chips were 'invented around 1865 by a chef in Saratoga, New York.
The chef made a batch of thin-sliced potatoes for the diners at a guest house, but one of the guests kept sending the potatoes back and asking for thinner slices. So the chef cut a potato into the thinnest slices he could, dropped them into oil, and produced America's first potato chips!
The first factory in America built solely to produce potato chips opened in Albany, New York, in 1925.

What Is the Most Valuable Book Ever Printed?

2008-10-18T08:05:00.000-07:00

In 1455, a German named Johann Gutenberg became the first person to print a book on a printing press with movable letters.
He printed 200 copies of the Bible. Of these, only 21 complete copies exist today.
And one of them was sold at auction in 1978 for $2,400,000, making it the most expensive book ever printed!

Why Is a Book of Maps Called an Atlas?

2008-10-18T08:04:00.001-07:00

Atlas was a Greek god who supposedly held up the earth on his shoulders.
The Greeks usually represented him supporting two huge pillars that held up the earth, and these pillars rested in the sea we call the Atlantic Ocean, named after Atlas.
In later centuries, the figure of Atlas holding up the earth was often used at the front of a book of maps. So, a book of maps became known as an atlas!

What Is the Most Common Vegetable in the World?

2008-10-18T08:02:00.000-07:00

The vegetables that are grown in the largest quantities around the world are the tomato and the potato. But the most widely used vegetable is the onion!
The onion appears in more dishes and in more countries than any other vegetable. In some places, the onion is used to flavor dishes, while in other countries it's eaten by itself as a vegetable.
The ancient Egyptians ate onions both ways, for the onion was the most common vegetable in Egypt 5,000 years ago. During the Middle Ages, the onion and a relative of the onion, the leek, were the only common vegetables in Europe.
Today, more than 20 billion pounds of onions are produced around the world each year!
Emperor Nero of Rome ate leeks because he thought they would improve his singing voice!

Why Does Food Spoil?

2008-10-18T08:01:00.000-07:00

Food spoils because of tiny organisms called bacteria that are present in food and in the air.
Bacteria break down substances in food and make them useless or harmful to man. Some bacteria produce acids that spoil the food, and others produce gases that give rotting food its foul odor.
The longer bacteria are allowed to live in food, the more they multiply, and the faster the food rots. If it weren't for these bacteria, food might last forever!
There are a number of ways to kill these bacteria and thereby preserve food. One way is to add salt, which kills bacteria or prevents their growth. Bottled olives are an example of a food item preserved with salt. Another way is drying food, because bacteria can't grow without moisture. Split peas are an example of dried food.
Heating kills almost all bacteria, which is why most food is cooked. And a refrigerator keeps food fresh, because most bacteria can't grow in temperatures below 32 degrees F, the freezing point of water.

Where Is There a Country Without Women?

2008-10-18T07:58:00.000-07:00

Athos is a 40-mile-long piece of land jutting out from Greece into the Aegean Sea. But Athos is really not part of Greece.
It's ruled by a group of monks who represent the 20 monasteries in Athos. Since 1045, the monks have forbidden women to set foot on their land!
It isn't only human women who are not permitted in Athos, but females of all animal species. Only recently have exceptions been made — in the case of hens and female cats!
A monk who lived in Athos was probably the only man in history who never laid eyes on a single female throughout his life. The monk, Mihailo Tolotos, lost his mother the day he was born, and was taken to the monastery the next day.
He spent the rest of his life in Athos, without ever seeing a female of any species!

Where Is Mesopotamia?

2008-10-18T07:52:00.000-07:00

In Greek, Mesopotamia means "between rivers." The land that once had that name is now mostly in the nation of Iraq.
But thousands of years ago, when human civilization was just beginning, Mesopotamia was the most important part of the world. It was here that the ancient Sumerians, Babylonians, Chaldeans, and Assyrians founded their kingdoms.
The two rivers of Mesopotamia are the Tigris and the Euphrates. In ancient times, the waters of these rivers were used to irrigate Mesopotamia. But after thousands of years of irrigation and farming, the land has become very salty and infertile. Today, it is mostly desert.
In some Mesopotamian regions, the population is smaller today than it was 4,000 years ago!

50 INTERESTING FACTS

2008-10-18T07:45:00.000-07:00

1. If you are right handed, you will tend to chew your food on your right side. If you are left handed, you will tend to chew your food on your left side.
2. If you stop getting thirsty, you need to drink more water. For when a human body is dehydrated, its thirst mechanism shuts off.
3. Chewing gum while peeling onions will keep you from crying.
4. Your tongue is germ free only if it is pink. If it is white there is a thin film of bacteria on it.
5. The Mercedes-Benz motto is “Das Beste oder Nichts” meaning “the best or nothing”.
6. The Titanic was the first ship to use the SOS signal.
7. The pupil of the eye expands as much as 45 percent when a person looks at something pleasing.
8. The average person who stops smoking requires one hour less sleep a night.
9. Laughing lowers levels of stress hormones and strengthens the immune system. Six-year-olds laugh an average of 300 times a day. Adults only laugh 15 to 100 times a day.
10. The roar that we hear when we place a seashell next to our ear is not the ocean, but rather the sound of blood surging through the veins in the ear.
11. Dalmatians are born without spots.
12. Bats always turn left when exiting a cave.
13. The ‘v’ in the name of a court case does not stand for ‘versus’, but for ‘and’ (in civil proceedings) or ‘against’ (in criminal proceedings).
14. Men’s shirts have the buttons on the right, but women’s shirts have the buttons on the left.
15. The owl is the only bird to drop its upper eyelid to wink. All other birds raise their lower eyelids.
16. The reason honey is so easy to digest is that it’s already been digested by a bee.
17. Roosters cannot crow if they cannot extend their necks.
18. The color blue has a calming effect. It causes the brain to release calming hormones.
19. Every time you sneeze some of your brain cells die.
20. Your left lung is smaller than your right lung to make room for your heart.
21. The verb “cleave” is the only English word with two synonyms which are antonyms of each other: adhere and separate.
22. When you blush, the lining of your stomach also turns red.
23. When hippos are upset, their sweat turns red.
24. The first Harley Davidson motorcycle was built in 1903, and used a tomato can for a carburetor.
25. The lion that roars in the MGM logo is named Volney.
26. Google is actually the common name for a number with a million zeros.
27. Switching letters is called spoonerism. For example, saying jag of Flapan, instead of flag of Japan.
28. It cost 7 million dollars to build the Titanic and 200 million to make a film about it.
29. The attachment of the human skin to muscles is what causes dimples.
30. There are 1,792 steps to the top of the Eiffel Tower.
31. The sound you hear when you crack your knuckles is actually the sound of nitrogen gas bubbles bursting.
32. Human hair and fingernails continue to grow after death.
33. It takes about 20 seconds for a red blood cell to circle the whole body.
34. The plastic things on the end of shoelaces are called aglets.
35. Most soccer players run 7 miles in a game.
36. The only part of the body that has no blood supply is the cornea in the eye. It takes in oxygen directly from the air.
37. Every day 200 million couples make love, 400,000 babies are born, and 140,000 people die.
38. In most watch advertisements the time displayed on the watch is 10:10 because then the arms frame the brand of the watch (and make it look like itis smiling).
39. Colgate faced big obstacle marketing toothpaste in Spanish speaking countries. Colgate translates into the command “go hang yourself.”
40. The only 2 animals that can see behind itself without turning its head are the rabbit and the parrot.
41. Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair.
42. The average person laughs 13 times a day.
43. Do you know the names of the three wise monkeys? They are:Mizaru(See no evil), Mikazaru(Hear no evil), and Mazaru(Speak no evil)
44. Women blink nearly twice as much as men.
45. German Shepherds bite humans more than any other breed of dog.
46. Large kangaroos cover more than 30 feet with each jump.
47. Whip makes a cracking sound because its tip moves faster than the speed of sound.
48. Two animal rights protesters were protesting at the cruelty of sending pigs to a slaughterhouse in Bonn. Suddenly the pigs, all two thousand of them, escaped through a broken fence and stampeded, trampling the two hapless protesters to death.
49. If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle; if the horse has one front leg in the air, the person died as a result of wounds received in battle; if the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural cause.
50. The human heart creates enough pressure while pumping to squirt blood 30 feet!!

J.K. Rowling: I contemplated suicide

2008-03-23T20:20:00.000-07:00

J.K. Rowling has disclosed that she contemplated suicide as a struggling single mother after the breakdown of her first marriage and had to seek professional help.
Timely counselling helped her pull back from the brink. And the rest, of course, is history.Suffered depression
Ms. Rowling(42) has spoken previously about her struggle with poverty and how she suffered depression after breaking off with her first husband Jorge Arantes, a Portuguese journalist, but this is the first time she has publicly revealed that she toyed with the idea of taking her own life.
Ms. Rowling, who is counted as among the world’s richest persons with an estimated personal wealth of £545 million earned on the back of the phenomenal success of the Potter series, told a Scottish journalist, that she “really plummeted” after the collapse of her marriage and was tormented by “suicidal thoughts.”
But for her little daughter, she may have simply gone under.
“The thing that made me go for help was probably my daughter. She was something that earthed me, grounded me, and I thought this isn’t right, she cannot grow up with me in this state,” she told Adeel Amini, a young journalist who writes for an Edinburgh University magazine.Translations
Ms. Rowling, whose Potter books have been translated into more than 60 languages sold 400 million copies, wrote the first book of the series sitting in a café in Edinburgh because there wasn’t enough room in her cramped flat.
She said she decided to speak out in order to “challenge” the stigma associated with mentally-related problems.
“I have never been remotely ashamed of having been depressed. What’s there to be ashamed of? I went through a really tough time and I am quite proud that I got out of that,” she said.
Her remarks were welcomed by mental health campaigners who said that as a “wonderful role model” it was good that she had decided to talk about the issue.

Wonderful Creations!

2008-03-23T06:50:00.000-07:00

Some innovative inventions

2008-03-23T06:36:00.000-07:00

PLEASE READ IMMEDIATELY.

2008-03-20T08:56:00.001-07:00

Do not charge your mobile phone the whole night and DON'T keep it near youwhile charging. IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ IMMEDIATELY!
I HOPE YOU'RE NOT DOING THIS!!!
Never, ever answer a cell phone while it isbeing RECHARGED!! A few days ago, a person was recharging his cell phone athome. Just at that time, a call came in and he answered it with theinstrument still connected to the outlet. After a few seconds,electricity flowed into the cell phone unrestrained and the young man wasthrown to the ground with a heavy thud. His parents rushed to theroom only to find him unconscious, with a weak heartbeat and burnt fingers.
He was rushed to the nearby hospital, but was pronounced dead on arrival.Cell phones are a very useful modern invention. However, we must be awarethat it can also be an instrument of death. Never use the cell phone whileit is hooked to the electrical outlet!

The Difference B/w Rich N Poor People

2008-03-16T21:05:00.000-07:00

One day, the father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the express purpose of showing him how poor people live.

They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family.

On their return from their trip, the father asked his son, "How was the trip?"

"It was great, Dad."
"Did you see how poor people live?" the father asked.

"Oh yeah," said the son.
"So, tell me, what did you learn from the trip?" asked the father.

The son answered:
"I saw that we have one dog and they had four.

We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end.

We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night.

Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon.

We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight.

We have servants who serve us, but they serve others.
We buy our food, but they grow theirs.

We have walls around our property to protect us, they have friends to protect them."

The boy's father was speechless.

Then his son added, "Thanks Dad for showing me how poor we are."
Isn't perspective a wonderful thing? Makes you wonder what would happen if we all gave thanks for everything we have, instead of worrying about what we don't have.

Appreciate every single thing you have, especially your friends!

2008-03-16T21:00:00.000-07:00

21 Advices_Important

2008-03-16T20:38:00.000-07:00

ONE. Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.

TWO. Marry a man/woman you love to talk to. As you get older, their conversational skills will be as important as any other.

THREE. Don't believe all you hear, spend all you have or sleep all you want.

FOUR. When you say, 'I love you,' mean it.

FIVE. When you say, 'I'm sorry,' look the person in the eye.

SIX. Be engaged at least six months before you get married.

SEVEN. Believe in love at first sight.

EIGHT. Never laugh at anyone's dreams. People who don't have dreams don't have much.

NINE. Love deeply and passionately. You might get hurt but it's the only way to live life completely.

TEN.. In disagreements, fight fairly. No name calling.

ELEVEN. Don't judge people by their relatives.

TWELVE. Talk slowly but think quickly.

THIRTEEN! . When someone asks you a question you don't want to answer, smile and ask, 'Why do you want to know?'

FOURTEEN. Remember that great love and great achievements involve great risk.

FIFTEEN. Say 'bless you' when you hear someone sneeze.

SIXTEEN. When you lose, don't lose the lesson.

SEVENTEEN. Remember the three R's: Respect for self; Respect for others; and Responsibility for all your actions.

EIGHTEEN. Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.

NINETEEN. When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.

TWENTY. Smile when picking up the phone. The caller will hear it in your voice.

TWENTY- ONE. Spend some time alone.

2008-03-16T20:08:00.000-07:00

We are losing Earth's greatest biological treasures just as we are beginning to appreciate their true value. Rainforests once covered 14% of the earth's land surface; now they cover a mere 6% and experts estimate that the last remaining rainforests could be consumed in less than 40 years.

One and one-half acres of rainforest are lost every second with tragic consequences for both developing and industrial countries.

Rainforests are being destroyed because the value of rainforest land is perceived as only the value of its timber by short-sighted governments, multi-national logging companies, and land owners.

Nearly half of the world's species of plants, animals and microorganisms will be destroyed or severely threatened over the next quarter century due to rainforest deforestation.

Experts estimates that we are losing 137 plant, animal and insect species every single day due to rainforest deforestation. That equates to 50,000 species a year. As the rainforest species disappear, so do many possible cures for life-threatening diseases. Currently, 121 prescription drugs sold worldwide come from plant-derived sources. While 25% of Western pharmaceuticals are derived from rainforest ingredients, less that 1% of these tropical trees and plants have been tested by scientists.

Most rainforests are cleared by chainsaws, bulldozers and fires for its timber value and then are followed by farming and ranching operations, even by world giants like Mitsubishi Corporation, Georgia Pacific, Texaco and Unocal.

There were an estimated ten million Indians living in the Amazonian Rainforest five centuries ago. Today there are less than 200,000.

In Brazil alone, European colonists have destroyed more than 90 indigenous tribes since the 1900's. With them have gone centuries of accumulated knowledge of the medicinal value of rainforest species. As their homelands continue to be destroyed by deforestation, rainforest peoples are also disappearing.

Most medicine men and shamans remaining in the Rainforests today are 70 years old or more. Each time a rainforest medicine man dies, it is as if a library has burned down.

When a medicine man dies without passing his arts on to the next generation, the tribe and the world loses thousands of years of irreplaceable knowledge about medicinal plants.

The Wealth of the Rainforests

The Amazon Rainforest covers over a billion acres, encompassing areas in Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia and the Eastern Andean region of Ecuador and Peru. If Amazonia were a country, it would be the ninth largest in the world.

The Amazon Rainforest has been described as the "Lungs of our Planet" because it provides the essential environmental world service of continuously recycling carbon dioxide into oxygen. More than 20 percent of the world oxygen is produced in the Amazon Rainforest.

More than half of the world's estimated 10 million species of plants, animals and insects live in the tropical rainforests. One-fifth of the world's fresh water is in the Amazon Basin.

One hectare (2.47 acres) may contain over 750 types of trees and 1500 species of higher plants.

At least 80% of the developed world's diet originated in the tropical rainforest. Its bountiful gifts to the world include fruits like avocados, coconuts, figs, oranges, lemons, grapefruit, bananas, guavas, pineapples, mangos and tomatoes; vegetables including corn, potatoes, rice, winter squash and yams; spices like black pepper, cayenne, chocolate, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, sugar cane, tumeric, coffee and vanilla and nuts including Brazil nuts and cashews.

At least 3000 fruits are found in the rainforests; of these only 200 are now in use in the Western World. The Indians of the rainforest use over 2,000.

Rainforest plants are rich in secondary metabolites, particularly alkaloids. Biochemists believe alkaloids protect plants from disease and insect attacks. Many alkaloids from higher plants have proven to be of medicinal value and benefit.

Currently, 121 prescription drugs currently sold worldwide come from plant-derived sources. And while 25% of Western pharmaceuticals are derived from rainforest ingredients, less than 1% of these tropical trees and plants have been tested by scientists.

The U.S. National Cancer Institute has identified 3000 plants that are active against cancer cells. 70% of these plants are found in the rainforest. Twenty-five percent of the active ingredients in today's cancer-fighting drugs come from organisms found only in the rainforest.

Vincristine, extracted from the rainforest plant, periwinkle, is one of the world's most powerful anticancer drugs. It has dramatically increased the survival rate for acute childhood leukemia since its discovery.

In 1983, there were no U.S. pharmaceutical manufacturers involved in research programs to discover new drugs or cures from plants. Today, over 100 pharmaceutical companies and several branches of the US government, including giants like Merck and The National Cancer Institute, are engaged in plant research projects for possible drugs and cures for viruses, infections, cancer, and even AIDS.

Rainforest Action

Experts agree that by leaving the rainforests intact and harvesting it's many nuts, fruits, oil-producing plants, and medicinal plants, the rainforest has more economic value than if they were cut down to make grazing land for cattle or for timber.

The latest statistics show that rainforest land converted to cattle operations yields the land owner $60 per acre and if timber is harvested, the land is worth $400 per acre. However, if these renewable and sustainable resources are harvested, the land will yield the land owner $2,400 per acre.

If managed properly, the rainforest can provide the world's need for these natural resources on a perpetual basis.

Promoting the use of these sustainable and renewable sources could stop the destruction of the rainforests. By creating a new source of income harvesting the medicinal plants, fruits nuts, oil and other sustainable resources, the rainforests is be more valuable alive than cut and burned.

Sufficient demand of sustainable and ecologically harvested rainforest products is necessary for preservation efforts to succeed. Purchasing sustainable rainforest products can effect positive change by creating a market for these products while supporting the native people's economy and provides the economic solution and alternative to cutting the forest just for the value of its timber.

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE RAINFOREST

The beauty, majesty, and timelessness of a primary rainforest are indescribable. It is impossible to capture on film, to describe in words, or to explain to those who have never had the awe-inspiring experience of standing in the heart of a primary rainforest.

Rainforests have evolved over millions of years to turn into the incredibly complex environments they are today. Rainforests represent a store of living and breathing renewable natural resources that for eons, by virtue of their richness in both animal and plant species, have contributed a wealth of resources for the survival and well-being of humankind. These resources have included basic food supplies, clothing, shelter, fuel, spices, industrial raw materials, and medicine for all those who have lived in the majesty of the forest. However, the inner dynamics of a tropical rainforest is an intricate and fragile system. Everything is so interdependent that upsetting one part can lead to unknown damage or even destruction of the whole. Sadly, it has taken only a century of human intervention to destroy what nature designed to last forever.

The scale of human pressures on ecosystems everywhere has increased enormously in the last few decades. Since 1980 the global economy has tripled in size and the world population has increased by 30 percent. Consumption of everything on the planet has risen- at a cost to our ecosystems. In 2001, The World Resources Institute estimated that the demand for rice, wheat, and corn is expected to grow by 40% by 2020, increasing irrigation water demands by 50% or more. They further reported that the demand for wood could double by the year 2050; unfortunately, it is still the tropical forests of the world that supply the bulk of the world's demand for wood.

In 1950, about 15 percent of the Earth's land surface was covered by rainforest. Today, more than half has already gone up in smoke. In fewer than fifty years, more than half of the world's tropical rainforests have fallen victim to fire and the chain saw, and the rate of destruction is still accelerating. Unbelievably, more than 200,000 acres of rainforest are burned every day. That is more than 150 acres lost every minute of every day, and 78 million acres lost every year! More than 20 percent of the Amazon rainforest is already gone, and much more is severely threatened as the destruction continues. It is estimated that the Amazon alone is vanishing at a rate of 20,000 square miles a year. If nothing is done to curb this trend, the entire Amazon could well be gone within fifty years.

Massive deforestation brings with it many ugly consequences-air and water pollution, soil erosion, malaria epidemics, the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, the eviction and decimation of indigenous Indian tribes, and the loss of biodiversity through extinction of plants and animals. Fewer rainforests mean less rain, less oxygen for us to breathe, and an increased threat from global warming.

But who is really to blame? Consider what we industrialized Americans have done to our own homeland. We converted 90 percent of North America's virgin forests into firewood, shingles, furniture, railroad ties, and paper. Other industrialized countries have done no better. Malaysia, Indonesia, Brazil, and other tropical countries with rainforests are often branded as "environmental villains" of the world, mainly because of their reported levels of destruction of their rainforests. But despite the levels of deforestation, up to 60 percent of their territory is still covered by natural tropical forests. In fact, today, much of the pressures on their remaining rainforests comes from servicing the ne eds and markets for wood products in industrialized countries that have already depleted their own natural resources. Industrial countries would not be buying rainforest hardwoods and timber had we not cut down our own trees long ago, nor would poachers in the Amazon jungle be slaughtering jaguar, ocelot, caiman, and otter if we did not provide lucrative markets for their skins in Berlin, Paris, and Tokyo.

THE BIODIVERSITY OF THE RAINFOREST

Why should the loss of tropical forests be of any concern to us in light of our own poor management of natural resources? The loss of tropical rainforests has a profound and devastating impact on the world because rainforests are so biologically diverse, more so than other ecosystems (e.g., temperate forests) on Earth.

Consider these facts:

A single pond in Brazil can sustain a greater variety of fish than is found in all of Europe's rivers.

A 25-acre plot of rainforest in Borneo may contain more than 700 species of trees - a number equal to the total tree diversity of North America.

A single rainforest reserve in Peru is home to more species of birds than are found in the entire United States.

One single tree in Peru was found to harbor forty-three different species of ants - a total that approximates the entire number of ant species in the British Isles.

The number of species of fish in the Amazon exceeds the number found in the entire Atlantic Ocean.

The biodiversity of the tropical rainforest is so immense that less than 1 percent of its millions of species have been studied by scientists for their active constituents and their possible uses. When an acre of topical rainforest is lost, the impact on the number of plant and animal species lost and their possible uses is staggering. Scientists estimate that we are losing more than 137 species of plants and animals every single day because of rainforest deforestation.

Surprisingly, scientists have a better understanding of how many stars there are in the galaxy than they have of how many species there are on Earth. Estimates vary from 2 million to 100 million species, with a best estimate of somewhere near 10 million; only 1.4 million of these species have actually been named. Today, rainforests occupy only 2 percent of the entire Earth's surface and 6 percent of the world's land surface, yet these remaining lush rainforests support over half of our planet's wild plants and trees and one-half of the world's wildlife. Hundreds and thousands of these rainforest species are being extinguished before they have even been identified, much less catalogued and studied. The magnitude of this loss to the world was most poignantly described by Harvard's Pulitzer Prize-winning biologist Edward O. Wilson over a decade ago:

"The worst thing that can happen during the 1980s is not energy depletion, economic collapses, limited nuclear war, or conquest by a totalitarian government. As terrible as these catastrophes would be for us, they can be repaired within a few generations. The one process ongoing in the 1980s that will take millions of years to correct is the loss of genetic and species diversity by the destruction of natural habitats. This is the folly that our descendants are least likely to forgive us for."

Yet still the destruction continues. If deforestation continues at current rates, scientists estimate nearly 80 to 90 percent of tropical rainforest ecosystems will be destroyed by the year 2020. This destruction is the main force driving a species extinction rate unmatched in 65 million years.

THE AMAZON RAINFOREST . . . THE LAST FRONTIER ON EARTH

If Amazonia were a cou ntry, it would be the ninth largest in the world. The Amazon rainforest, the world's greatest remaining natural resource, is the most powerful and bioactively diverse natural phenomenon on the planet. It has been described as the "lungs of our planet" because it provides the essential service of continuously recycling carbon dioxide into oxygen. It is estimated that more than 20 percent of Earth's oxygen is produced in this area.

The Amazon covers more than 1.2 billion acres, representing two-fifths of the enormous South American continent, and is found in nine South American countries: Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Guyana, French Guiana, and Suriname. With 2.5 million square miles of rainforest, the Amazon rainforest represents 54 percent of the total rainforests left on Earth.

The Amazon River

The life force of the Amazon rainforest is the mighty Amazon River. It starts as a trickle high in the snow-capped Andes Mountains and flows more than 4,000 miles across the South American continent until it enters the Atlantic Ocean at Belem, Brazil, where it is 200 to 300 miles across, depending on the season. Even 1,000 miles inland it is still 7 miles wide. The river is so deep that ocean liners can travel up its length to 2,300 miles inland. The Amazon River flows through the center of the rainforest and is fed by 1,100 tributaries, 17 of which are more than 1,000 miles long. The Amazo n is by far the largest watershed and largest river system in the world occupying over 6 million square kilometers. Over two-thirds of all the fresh water found on Earth is in the Amazon Basin's rivers, streams, and tributaries.

With so much water it's not unusual that the main mode of transportation throughout the area is by boat. The smallest and most common boats used today are still made out of hollowed tree trunks, whether they are powered by outboard motors or more often by human-powered paddles. Almost 14,000 miles of Amazon waterway are navigable, and several million miles through swamps and forests are penetrable by canoe. The enormous Amazon River carries massive amounts of silt from runoff from the rainforest floor. Massive amounts of silt deposited at the mouth of the Amazon River has created the largest river island in the world-Marajo Island, which is roughly the size of Switzerland. With this massive freshwater system, it is not unusual that life beneath the water is as abundant and diverse as the surrounding rainforest's plant and animal species. More than 2,000 species of fish have been identified in the Amazon Basin - more species than in the entire Atlantic Ocean.

Largest Collectio n of Plant and Animal Species

The Amazon Basin was formed in the Paleozoic period, somewhere between 500 million and 200 million years ago. The extreme age of the region in geologic terms has much to do with the relative infertility of the rainforest soil and the richness and unique diversity of the plant and animal life. There are more fertile areas in the Amazon River's flood plain, where the river deposits richer soil brought from the Andes, which only formed 20 million years ago.

The Amazon rainforest contains the largest collection of living plant and animal species in the world. The diversity of plant species in the Amazon rainforest is the highest on Earth. It is estimated that a single hectare (2.47 acres) of Amazon rainforest contains about 900 tons of living plants, including more than 750 types of trees and 1500 other plants. The Andean mountain range and the Amazon jungle are home to more than half of the world's species of flora and fauna; in fact, one in five of all the birds in the world live in the rainforests of the Amazon. To date, some 438,000 species of plants of economic and social interest have been registered in the region, and many more have yet to be catalogued or even discovered.

Scarring and Loss

of Diversity

Once a vast sea of tropical forest, the Amazon rainforest today is scarred by roads, farms, ranches, and dams. Brazil is gifted with a full third of the world's remaining rainforests; unfortunately, it is also one of the world's great rainforest destroyers, burning or felling more than 2.7 million acres each year. More than 20 percent of rainforest in the Amazon has been razed and is gone forever. This ocean of green, nearly as large as Australia, is the last great rainforest in the known universe and it is being decimated like the others before it. Why? Like other rainforests already lost forever, the land is being cleared for logging timber, large-scale cattle ranching, mining operations, government road building and hydroelectric schemes, military operations, and the subsistence agriculture of peasants and landless settlers. Sadder still, in many places the rainforests are burnt simply to provide charcoal to power industrial plants in the area.

THE DRIVING FORCES OF DESTRUCTION

Commercial logging is the single largest cause of rainforest destruction, both directly and indirectly. Other a

ctivities destroying the rainforest, including clearing land for grazing animals and subsistence farming. The simple fact is that people are destroying the Amazon rainforest and the rest of the rainforests of the world because "they can't see the forest for the trees."

Logging for Tropical Hardwoods

Logging tropical hardwoods like teak, mahogany, rosewood, and other timber for furniture, building materials, charcoal, and other wood products is big business and big profits. Several species of tropical hardwoods are imported by developed counties, including the United States, just to build coffins that are then buried or burned. The demand, extraction, and consumption of tropical hardwoods has been so massive that some countries that have been traditional exporters of tropical hardwoods are now importing them because they have already exhausted their supply by destroying their native rainforests in slash-and-burn operations. It is anticipated that the Philippines, Malaysia, the Ivory Coast, Nigeria, and Thailand will soon follow, as all these countries will run out of rainforest hardwood timber for export within five years. Japan is the largest importer of tropical woods. Despite recent reductions, Japan's average tropical timber import of 11 million cubic meters annually is still gluttonous. The demand for tropical hardwood timber is damaging to the

ecological, biological, and social fabric of tropical lands and is clearly unsustainable for any length of time.

Behind the hardwood logger come others down the same roads built to transport the timber. The cardboard packing and the wood chipboard industries use 15-ton machines that gobble up the rainforest with 8-foot cutting discs that have eight blades revolving 320 times a minute. These machines that cut entire trees into chips half the size of a matchbox can gobble up more than 200 species of trees in mere minutes.

Logging rainforest timber is a large economic source, and in many cases, the main source of revenue for servicing the national debt of these developing countries. Logging profits are real to these countries that must service their debts, but they are fleeting. Governments are selling their assets too cheaply, and once the rainforest is gone, their source of income will also be gone. Sadly, most of the real profits of the timber trade are made not by the developing countries, but by multinational companies and industrialists of the Northern Hemisphere. These huge, profit-driven logging companies pay governments a fraction of the timber's worth for large logging concessions on immense tracts of rainforest land and reap huge profits by harvesting the timber in the most economical manner feasible with little re

gard to the destruction left in their wake.

Logging concessions in the Amazon are sold for as little as $2 per acre, with logging companies felling timber worth thousands of dollars per acre. Governments are selling their natural resources, hawking for pennies resources that soon will be worth billions of dollars. Some of these government concessions and land deals made with industrialists make the sale of Manhattan for $24 worth of trinkets look shrewd. In 1986 a huge industrial timber corporation bought thousands of acres in the Borneo rainforest by giving 2,000 Malaysian dollars to twelve longhouses of local tribes. This sum amounted to the price of two bottles of beer for each member of the community. Since then, this company and others have managed to extract and destroy about a third of the Borneo rainforest - about 6.9 million acres - and the local tribes have been evicted from the area or forced to work for the logging companies at slave wages.

Fuel Wood and the Paper Industry

In addition to being logged for exportation, rainforest wood stays in developing countries for fuel wood and charcoal. One single steel plant in Brazil making steel for Japanese cars needs millions of tons of wood each year to produce charcoal that can be used in the manufacture of steel. Then, there is the paper industry.

One pulpwood project in the Brazilian Amazon consists of a Japanese power plant and pulp mill. To set up this single plant operation, 5,600 square miles of Amazon rainforest were burned to the ground and replanted with pulpwood trees. This single manufacturing plant consumes 2,000 tons of surrounding rainforest wood every day to produce 55 megawatts of electricity to run the plant. The plant, which has been in operation since 1978, produces more than 750 tons of pulp for paper every 24 hours, worth approximately $500,000, and has built 2,800 miles of roads through the Amazon rainforest to be used by its 700 vehicles. In addition to this pulp mill, the world's biggest pulp mill is the Aracruz mill in Brazil. Its two units produce 1 million tons of pulp a year, harvesting the rainforest to keep the plant in business and displacing thousands of indigenous tribes. Where does all this pulp go? Aracruz's biggest customers are the United States, Belgium, Great Britain, and Japan. More and more rainforest is destroyed to meet the demands of the developed world's paper industry, which requires a staggering 200 million tons of wood each year simply to make paper. If the present rate continues, it is estimated that the paper industry alone will consume 4 billion tons of wood annually by the year 2020.

Once an area of rainforest has been logged, even if it is given the rare chance to regrow, it can never become what it once was. The intricate ecosystem nature devised is lost forever. Only 1 to 2 percent of light at the top of a rainforest canopy manages to reach the forest floor below. Most times when timber is harvested, trees and other plants that have evolved over centuries to grow in the dark, humid environment below the canopy simply cannot live out in the open, and as a result, the plants and animals (that depend on the plants) of the original forest become extinct Even if only sections of land throughout an area are destroyed, these remnants change drastically. Birds and other animals cannot cross from one remnant of land to another in the canopy, so plants are not pollinated, seeds are not dispersed by the animals, and the plants around the edges are not surrounded by the high jungle humidity they need to grow properly. As a result, the remnants slowly become degraded and die. Rains come and wash away the thin topsoil that was previously protected by the canopy, and this barren, infertile land is vulnerable to erosion. Sometimes the land is replanted in African grasses for cattle operations; other times more virgin rainforest is destroyed for cattle operations because grass planted on recently burned land has a better chance to grow.

Grazing Land

As the demand in the Western world for cheap meat increases, more and more rainforests are destroyed to provide grazing land for animals. In Brazil alone, there are an estimated 220 million head of cattle, 20 million goats, 60 million pigs, and 700 million chickens. Most of Central and Latin America's tropical and temperate rainforests have been lost to cattle operations to meet the world demand, and still the cattle operations continue to move southward into the heart of the South American rainforests. To graze one steer in Amazonia takes two full acres. Most of the ranchers in the Amazon operate at a loss, yielding only paper profits purely as tax shelters. Ranchers' fortunes are made only when ranching is supported by government giveaways. A banker or rich landowner in Brazil can slash and burn a huge tract of land in the Amazon rainforest, seed it with grass for cattle, and realize millions of dollars worth of government-subsidized loans, tax credits, and write-offs in return for developing the land. These government development schemes rarely make a profit, as they are actually selling cheap beef to industrialized nations. One single cattle operation in Brazil that was co-owned by British Barclays Bank and one of Brazil's wealthiest families was responsible for the destruction of almost 500,000 acres of virgin rainforest. The cattle operation never made a profit, but government write-offs sheltered huge logging profits earned off of logging other land in the Brazilian rainforest owned by the same investors. These generous tax and credit incentives have created more than 29 million acres of large cattle ranches in the Brazilian Amazon, even though the typical ranch could cover less than half its costs without these subsidies. Even these grazing lands don't last forever. Soon the lack of nutrients in the soil and overgrazing degrade them, and they are abandoned for newly cleared land. In Brazil alone, more than 63,000 square miles of land has reportedly been abandoned in this way.

Subsistence Farming

This type of government-driven destruction of rainforest land is promoted by a common attitude among governments in rainforest regions, an attitude that the forest is an economic resource to be harnessed to aid in the development of their countries. The same attitudes that accompanied the colonization of our own frontier are found today in Brazil and other countries with wild and unharnessed rainforest wilderness. These beliefs are exemplified by one Brazilian official's public statement that "not until all Amazonas is colonized by real Brazilians, not Indians, can we truly say we own it." Were we Americans any different with our own colonization, decimating the North American Indian tribes? Like Brazil, we sent out a call to all the world that America had land for the landless in an effort to increase colonization of our country at the expense of our indigenous Indian tribes. And like the first American colonists, colonization in the rainforest really means subsistence farming.

Subsistence farming has for centuries been a driving force in the loss of rainforest land. And as populations explode in Third-World countries in South America and the Far East, the impact has been profound. By tradition, wildlands and unsettled lands in the rainforest are free to those who clear the forest and till the soil. "Squatter's rights" still prevail, and poor, hungry people show little enthusiasm for arguments about the value of biodiversity or the plight of endangered species when they struggle daily to feed their families. These landless peasants and settlers follow the logging companies down the roads they've built to extract timber into untouched rainforest lands, burning off whatever the logging companies left behind.

The present approach to rainforest cultivation produces wealth for a few, but only for a short time, because farming burned-off tracts of Amazon rainforest seldom works for long. Less than 10 percent of Amazonian soils are suitable for sustained conventional agriculture. However lush they look, rainforests often flourish on such nutrient-poor soils that they are essentially "wet deserts," easier to damage and harder to cultivate than any other soil. Most are exhausted by the time they have produced three or four crops. Many of the thousands of homesteaders who migrated from Brazil's cities to the wilds of the rainforest, responding to the government's call of "land without men for men without land," have already had to abandon their depleted farms and move on, leaving behind fields of baked clay dotted with stagnant pools of polluted water. Experts agree that the path to conservation begins with helping these local residents meet their own daily needs. Because of the infertility of the soil, and the lack of knowledge of sustainable cultivation practices, this type of agriculture strips the soil of nutrients within a few harvests, and the farmers continue to move farther into the rainforest in search of new land. They must be helped and educated to break free of the need to continually clear rainforest in search of fresh, fertile land if the rainforest is to be saved.

Leading the Threat: Governments

Directly and indirectly, the leading threats to rainforest ecosystems are governments and their unbridled, unplanned, and uncoordinated development of natural resources. The 2000-2001 World Resources Report put out by the United Nations reported that governments worldwide spend $700 billion dollars a year supporting and subsidizing environmentally unsound practices in the use of water, agriculture, energy, and transportation. In the Amazon, rainforest timber exports and large-scale development projects go a long way in servicing national debt in many developing countries, which is why governments and international aid-lending institutions like the World Bank subsidize them. In the tropics, governments own or control nearly 80 percent of tropical forests, so these forests stand or fall according to government policy; and in many countries, government policies lie behind the wastage of forest resources. Besides the tax incentives and credit subsidies that guarantee large profits to private investors who convert forests to pastures and farms, governments allow private concessionaires to log the national forests on terms that induce uneconomic or wasteful uses of the public domain. Massive public expenditures on highways, dams, plantations, and agricultural settlements, too often supported by multilateral development lending, convert or destroy large areas of forest for projects of questionable economic worth.

Tropical countries are among the poorest countries on Earth. Brazil alone spends 40 percent of its annual income simply servicing its loans, and the per capita income of Brazil's people is less than $2,000 annually. Sadly, these numbers don't even represent an accurate picture in the Amazon because Brazil is one of the richer countries in South America. These struggling Amazonian countries must also manage the most complex, delicate, and valuable forests remaining on the planet, and the economic and technological resources available to them are limited. They must also endure a dramatic social and economic situation, as well as deeply adverse terms of trade and financial relationships with industrial countries. Under such conditions, the possibility of their reaching sustainable models of development alone is virtually nil.

There is a clear need for industrial countries to sincerely and effectively assist the tropics in a quest for sustainable forest management and development if the remaining rainforests are to be saved. The governments of these developing countries need help in learning how to manage and protect their natural resources for long-term profits, while still managing to service their debts, and they must be given the incentives and tools to do so. Programs to redefine the timber concessions so concessionaires have greater incentives to guard the long-term health of the forest and programs to revive and expand community-based forestry schemes, which ensure more rational use of forests and a better life for the people who live near them, must be developed.

First-World capital must seek out opportunities to partner with organizations that have the technical expertise to guide these programs of sustainable economic development. In addition, programs teaching techniques for sustainable harvesting practices and identifying profitable, yet sustainable, forest products can enable developing countries to improve the standard of living for their people, service national debt, and contribute meaningfully to land use planning and conservation of natural resources.

RAINFORESTS, PHARMACY TO THE WORLD

It is estimated that nearly half of the world's estimated 10 million species of plants, animals, and microorganisms will be destroyed or severely threatened over the next quarter-century due to rainforest deforestation. Edward O. Wilson estimates that we are losing 137 plant and animal species every single day. That's 50,000 species a year! Again, why should we in the United States be concerned about the destruction of distant tropical rainforests? Because rainforest plants are complex chemical storehouses that contain many undiscovered biodynamic compounds with unrealized potential for use in modern medicine. We can gain access to these materials only if we study and conserve the species that contain them.

Key to Tomorrow's Cures?

Rainforests currently provide sources for one-fourth of today's medicines, and 70 percent of the plants found to have anticancer properties are found only in the rainforest. The rainforest and its immense undiscovered biodiversity hold the key to unlocking tomorrow's cures for devastating diseases. How many cures for devastating disease have we already lost?

Two drugs obtained from a rainforest plant known as the Madagascar periwinkle, now extinct in the wild due to deforestation of the Madagascar rainforest, have increased the chances of survival for children with leukemia from 20 percent to 80 percent. Think about it: eight out of ten children are now saved, rather than eight of ten children dying from leukemia. How many children have been spared and how many more will continue to be spared because of this single rainforest plant? What if we had failed to discover this one important plant among millions before human activities had led to its extinction? When our remaining rainforests are gone, the rare plants and animals will be lost forever-and so will the possible cures for diseases like cancer they can provide.

No one can challenge the fact that we are still largely dependent on plants for treating our ailments. Almost 90 percent of people in developing countries still rely on traditional medicine, based largely on different species of plants and animals, for their primary health care. In the United States, some 25 percent of prescriptions are filled with drugs whose active ingredients are extracted or derived from plants. By 1980 sales of these plant-based drugs in the United States amounted to some $4.5 billion annually. Worldwide sales of these plant-based drugs were estimated at $40 billion in 1990. Currently 121 prescription drugs sold worldwide come from plant-derived sources from only 90 species of plants. Still more drugs are derived from animals and microorganisms.

More than 25 percent of the active ingredients in today's cancer-fighting drugs come from organisms found only in the rainforest. The U.S. National Cancer Institute has identified more than 3,000 plants that are active against cancer cells, and 70 percent of these plants are found only in the rainforest. In the thousands of species of rainforest plants that have not been analyzed are many more thousands of unknown plant chemicals, many of which have evolved to protect the plants from diseases. These plant chemicals may well help us in our own ongoing struggle with constantly evolving pathogens, including bacteria, viruses, and fungi that are mutating against our mainstream drugs and becoming resistant to them. These pathogens cause serious diseases, including hepatitis, pneumonia, tuberculosis, and HIV, all of which are becoming more difficult to treat. Experts now believe that if there is a cure for cancer and even AIDS, it will probably be found in the rainforest.

Bioprospecting

In 1983, there were no U.S. pharmaceutical manufacturers involved in research programs to discover new drugs or cures from plants. Today, more than 100 pharmaceutical companies, including giants like Merck, Abbott, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly, Monsanto, Smith-Kline Beecham, as well as several branches of the U.S. government, including the National Cancer Institute, are engaged in plant-based research projects trying to find possible drugs to treat infections, cancer, and AIDS. Most of this research is currently taking place in the rainforest in an industry that is now called "bioprospecting." This new pharmacological industry draws together an unlikely confederacy: plant collectors and anthropologists; ecologists and conservationists; natural product companies and nutritional supplement manufacturers; AIDS and cancer researchers; executives in the world's largest drug companies; and native indigenous shamans. They are part of a radical experiment: to preserve the world's rainforests by showing how much more valuable they are standing than cut down. And it is a race against a clock whose every tick means another acre of charred forest. Yet, it is also a race that pits one explorer against another, for those who score the first big hit in chemical bioprospecting will secure wealth and a piece of scientific immortality.

In November 1991, Merck Pharmaceutical Company announced a landmark agreement to obtain samples of wild plants and animals for drug-screening purposes from Costa Rica's National Biodiversity Institute (INBio); the program is still ongoing today. Spurred by this and other biodiversity prospecting ventures, interest in the commercial value of plant genetic and biochemical resources is burgeoning today. While the Merck-INBio agreement provides a fascinating example of a private partnership that contributes to rural economic development, rainforest conservation, and technology transfer, virtually no precedent exists for national policies and legislation to govern and regulate what amounts to a brand new industry.

Since wealth and technology are as concentrated in most of the North as biodiversity and poverty are in much of the South, the question of equity is particularly hard to answer in ways that satisfy everyone with a stake in the outcome. The interests of bioprospecting corporations are not the same as those of people who live in a biodiversity "hot spot," many of them barely eking out a living. As the search for wild species whose genes can yield new medicines and better crops gathers momentum, these rich habitats also sport more and more bioprospectors. Like the nineteenth-century California gold rush or its present-day counterpart in Brazil, this "gene rush" could wreak havoc on ecosystems and the people living in or near them. Done properly, however, bioprospecting can bolster both economic and conservation goals while underpinning the medical and agricultural advances needed to combat disease and sustain growing populations.

The majority of our current plant-derived drugs were discovered by examining the traditional use of plants by the indigenous people who lived where the plants grew and flourished. History has shown that the situation with the rainforest is no different, and bioprospectors now are working side by side with rainforest tribal shamans and herbal healers to learn the wealth of their plant knowledge and about the many uses of indigenous plants.

UNLOCKING THE SECRETS OF THE RAINFOREST

After the Amerindians discovered America, about twenty millennia before Columbus, all their clothing, food, medicine, and shelter were derived from the forests. Those millennia gave the Indians time to discover and learn empirically the virtues and vices of the thousands of edible and medicinal species in the rainforest. More than 80 percent of the developed world's diet originated in the rainforest and from this empirical indigenous knowledge of the wealth of edible fruits, vegetables, and nuts. Of the estimated 3,000 edible fruits found in the rainforest, only 200 are cultivated for use today, despite the fact that the Indians used more than 1,500. Many secrets and untold treasures about the medicinal plants used by shamans, healers, and the indigenous people of the rainforest tribes await discovery. Long regarded as hocus-pocus by science, the empirical plant knowledge of the indigenous peoples is now thought by many to be the Amazon's new gold. Their use of the plants provides the bioprospector with the clues necessary to target specific species to research in the race for time before the species are lost to deforestation. More often, the race is defined as being the first pharmaceutical company to patent a new drug utilizing a newly discovered rainforest phytochemical-and, of course, to garner the profits.

Indigenous People, A Valuable Resource

Laboratory synthesis of new medicines is increasingly costly and not as fruitful as companies would like. In the words of one major drug company executive, "Scientists may be able to make any molecule they can imagine on a computer, but Mother Nature . . . is an infinitely more ingenious and exciting chemist." Scientists have developed new technologies to assess the chemical makeup of plants, and they realize that using medicinal plants identified by Indians makes research more efficient and less expensive. With these new trends, drug development has actually returned to its roots: traditional medicine. It is now understood by bioprospectors that the tribal peoples of the rainforest represent the key to finding new and useful tropical forest plants. The degree to which these indigenous people understand and are able to use this diversity sustainably is astounding. A single Amazonian tribe of Indians may use more than 200 species of plants for medicinal purposes alone.

Of the 121 pharmaceutical drugs that are plant-derived today, 74 percent were discovered through follow-up research to verify the authenticity of information concerning the medical uses of the plant by indigenous peoples. Nevertheless, to this day, very few rainforest tribes have been subjected to a complete ethnobotanical analysis. Robert Goodland of the World Bank wrote, "Indigenous knowledge is essential for the use, identification and cataloguing of the [tropical] biota. As tribal groups disappear, their knowledge vanishes with them. The preservation of these groups is a significant economic opportunity for the [developing] nation, not a luxury."

Since Amazonian Indians are often the only ones who know both the properties of these plants and how they can best be used, their knowledge is now considered an essential component of all efforts to conserve and develop the rainforest. Since failure to document this lore would represent a tremendous economic and scientific loss to the industrialized world, the bioprospectors are now working side by side with the rainforest tribal shamans and herbal healers to learn the wealth of their plant knowledge. But bioprospecting has a dark side. Indian knowledge that has resisted the pressure of "modernization" is being used by bioprospectors who, like oil companies and loggers destroying the forests, threaten to leave no benefits behind them.

But Few Benefits for the Indigenous People

It's a noble idea-the ethnobotanist working with the Indians seeking a cure for cancer or even AIDS, like Sean Connery in the movie Medicine Man. Yet behind this lurks a system that, at its worst, steals the Indian knowledge to benefit CEOs, stockholders, and academic careers and reputations. The real goal of these powerful bioprospectors is to target novel and active phytochemicals for medical applications, synthesize them in a laboratory, and have them patented for subsequent drug manufacture and resulting profits. In this process, many active and beneficial plants have been found in the shaman's medicine chest, only to be discarded when it was found that the active ingredients of the plant numbered too many to be cost effectively synthesized into a patentable drug. It doesn't matter how active or beneficial the plant is or how long the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) process might take to approve the new drug; if the bioprospector can't capitalize on it, the public will rarely hear about a plant's newly discovered benefits. The fact is there is a lot of money at stake. In an article published in Economic Botany, Dr. Robert Mendelsohn, an economist at Yale University, and Dr. Michael J. Balick, director of the Institute of Economic Botany at the New York Botanical Gardens, estimate the minimum number of pharmaceutical drugs potentially remaining to be extracted from the rainforests. It is staggering! They estimate that there are at least 328 new drugs that still await discovery in the rainforest, with a potential value of $3 billion to $4 billion to a private pharmaceutical company and as much as $147 billion to society as a whole.

While the indigenous Indian shamans go about their daily lives caring for the well-being of their tribe, the shaman's rainforest medicines are being tested, synthesized, patented, and submitted for FDA approval in U.S. laboratories thousands of miles away. Soon children with viral infections, adults with herpes, cancer patients, and many others may benefit from new medicines from the Amazon rainforest. But what will the indigenous tribes see of these wonderful new medicines? As corporations rush to patent indigenous medicinal knowledge, the originating indigenous communities receive few, if any, benefits.

LOSING THE KNOWLEDGE

The destruction of the rainforest has followed the pattern of seeing natural land and natural world peoples as resources to be used, and seeing wilderness as idle, empty, and unproductive. Destruction of our rainforests is not only causing the extinction of plant and animal species, it is also wiping out indigenous peoples who live in the rainforest. Obviously, rainforests are not idle land, nor are they uninhabited. Indigenous peoples have developed technologies and resource use systems that have allowed them to live on the land, farming, hunting, and gathering in a complex sustainable relationship with the forest. But when rainforests die, so do the indigenous peoples.

In 1500 there were an estimated 6 million to 9 million indigenous people inhabiting the rainforests in Brazil. When Western and European cultures were drawn to Brazil's Amazon in the hopes of finding riches beyond comprehension and artifacts from civilizations that have long since expired with the passage of time, they left behind decimated cultures in their ravenous wake. By 1900 there were only 1 million indigenous people left in Brazil's Amazon. Although the fabled Fountain of Youth was never discovered, many treasures in gold and gems were spirited away by the more successful invaders of the day, and the indigenous inhabitants of the rainforest bore the brunt of these marauding explorers and conquistadors.

Today there are fewer than 250,000 indigenous people of Brazil surviving this catastrophe, and still the destruction continues. These surviving indigenous people still demonstrate the remarkable diversity of the rainforest because they comprise 215 ethnic groups with 170 different languages. Nationwide, they live in 526 territories, which together compose an area of 190 million acres . . . twice the size of California. About 188 million acres of this land is inside the Brazilian Amazon, in the states of Acre, Amapa, Amazonas, Maranhao, Mato Grosso, Para, Rondonia, Roraima, and Tocantins. There may also be 50 or more indigenous groups still living in the depths of the rainforest that have never had contact with the outside world.

Throughout the rainforest, forest-dwelling peoples whose age-old traditions allow them to live in and off the forest without destroying it are losing out to cattle ranching, logging, hydroelectric projects, large-scale farms, mining, and colonization schemes. About half of the original Amazonian tribes have already been completely destroyed. The greatest threat to Brazil's remaining tribal people, most of whom live in the Amazon rainforest, is the invasion of their territory by ranchers, miners, and land speculators and the conflicts that follow. Thousands of peasants, rubber tappers, and indigenous tribes have been killed in Amazonia in the past decade in violent conflicts over forest resources and land.

As their homelands continue to be invaded and destroyed, rainforest people and their cultures are disappearing. When these indigenous peoples are lost forever, gone too will be their empirical knowledge representing centuries of accumulated knowledge of the medicinal value of plant and animal species in the rainforest. Very few tribes have been subjected to a complete ethnobotanical analysis of their plant knowledge, and most medicine men and shamans remaining in the rainforests today are seventy years old or more. When a medicine man dies without passing his arts on to the next generation, the tribe and the world lose thousands of years of irreplaceable knowledge about medicinal plants. Each time a rainforest medicine man dies, it is as if a library has burned down.

THE SOLUTION: PROFITS WITHOUT PLUNDER

The problem and the solution of the destruction of the rainforest are both economic. Governments need money to service their debts, squatters and settlers need money to feed their families, and companies need to make profits. The simple fact is that the rainforest is being destroyed for the income and profits it yields, however fleeting. Money still makes the world go around . . . even in South America and even in the rainforest. But this also means that if landowners, governments, and those living in the rainforest today were given a viable economic reason not to destroy the rainforest, it could and would be saved. And this viable economic alternative does exist, and it is working today. Many organizations have demonstrated that if the medicinal plants, fruits, nuts, oils, and other resources like rubber, chocolate, and chicle (used to make chewing gums) are harvested sustainably, rainforest land has much more economic value today and more long-term income and profits for the future than if just timber is harvested or burned down for cattle or farming operations. In fact, the latest statistics prove that rainforest land converted to cattle operations yields the landowner $60 per acre; if timber is harvested, the land is worth $400 per acre. However, if medicinal plants, fruits, nuts, rubber, chocolate, and other renewable and sustainable resources are harvested, the land will yield the landowner $2,400 per acre. This value provides an income not only today, but year after year - for generations. These sustainable resources - not the trees - are the true wealth of the rainforest.

This is no longer a theory. It is a fact, and it is being implemented today. Just as important, to wild-harvest the wealth of sustainable rainforest resources effectively, local people and indigenous tribes must be employed. Today entire communities and tribes earn five to ten times more money in wild-harvesting medicinal plants, fruits, nuts, and oils than they can earn by chopping down the forest for subsistence crops. This much-needed income source creates the awareness and economic incentive for this population in the rainforest to protect and preserve the forests for long-term profits for themselves and their children and is an important solution in saving the rainforest from destruction.

When the timber is harvested for short-term gain and profits, the medicinal plants, nuts, oils, and other important sustainable resources that thrive in this delicate ecosystem are destroyed. The real solution to saving the rainforest is to make its inhabitants see the forest and the trees by creating a consumer demand and consumer markets for these sustainable rainforest products . . . markets that are larger and louder than today's tropical timber market . . . markets that will put as much money in their pockets and government coffers as the timber companies do . . . markets that will give them the economic incentive to protect their sustainable resources for long-term profits, rather than short-term gain.

This is the only solution that makes a real impact, and it can make a real difference. Each and every person in the United States can take a part in this solution by helping to create this consumer market and demand for sustainable rainforest products. By purchasing renewable and sustainable rainforest products and resources and demanding sustainable harvesting of these resources using local communities and indigenous tribes of the rainforests, we all can be part of the solution, and the rainforests of the world and their people can be saved.

2008-03-16T09:02:00.000-07:00

The Indian Ocean is the third largest ocean. It is surrounded by southern Asia, the Arabian Peninsula, Africa, the Malay Peninsula, the Sunda Islands, Australia and Antartica. The 20° E meridian divides it from the Atlantic and the 147° E meridian divides it from the Pacific below Australia. The Continental Shelves of the Indian Ocean are narrow compared to those of the other oceans. The Indian Ocean has an area of 73,556,000 sq km. At its widest point, between Southern Africa and Australia, it is nearly 10,000 km wide.
The Indian Ocean is divided into three major sections by the Mid-Oceanic Ridge which runs from Asia to Antarctica in an upside down Y shape. The sections are, the African, the Antardis, and the Australasian. The Mid-Oceanic Ridge rises to an average of 3,000 m, with some of its peaks rising to form islands. Many deep sea basins are enclosed by the Mid-Oceanic Ridge. The deepest among these is the Java Trench which reaches a depth of 7,450 m.
The Indian Ocean has two water circulation systems. The northern system circulates clockwise except during the winter monsoon season when the currents are reversed. Low atmospheric pressure over southwest Asia from hot, rising, summer air results in the southwest monsoon and clockwise winds and currents. High pressure over northern Asia from cold, falling, winter air results in the northeast monsoon and counterclockwise winds and currents. In the southern portion of the Indian Ocean, currents travel in a counterclockwise direction.
The main importance of the Indian Ocean has been as a trade route between Africa and Asia. Petroleum, extracted mainly from the Persian Gulf area is also important. Relatively warm surface temperatures keep the growth of phytoplankton low, which limits ocean life. Fishing is only done at the subsistence level.

2008-03-16T04:46:00.000-07:00

The American bald eagle (Haliaeetus Leucocephalus) was adopted as the official emblem of the United States of America in 1782. The bald eagle was chosen because of it's majestic beauty, great strength, long life, and because it's native to North America. In the wild, an eagle will live 30-35 years (up to 50 years in captivity). A full-grown Bald Eagle has a wingspan of up to 7 foot. They fly up to 30 miles an hour and can dive at 100 miles an hour! Eagles feed primarily on fish, supplemented by small mammals, waterfowl, and carrion

Eagles mate for life, and an established pair will use the same nest for many years. Over the years some nests become enormous - they can reach a diameter of 9 feet and weigh as much as 2 tons! The female lays 2 or 3 eggs and both parents share incubation and guard them diligently against predators such as squirrels, gulls and ravens. While the chicks are small, the parents move about the nest with their talons balled up into fists to avoid harming them.
In 1782 there were between 25,000 and 75,000 birds in the lower 48 states alone. But farmers considered bald eagles vermin and shot them on sight. As people started moving west, much of the nesting territories and food sources of the eagle diminished. By the late 1800's, eagles were becoming very scarce.

In 1940 the Bald Eagle Act was passed and eagle populations began to recover. But pesticides were starting to be used extensively about this same time. Plants sprayed with DDT were eaten by small animals, which in turn were eaten by eagles. Both the adult birds and their eggs were affected. The eggshells were too thin to withstand incubation and were crushed (or simply did not hatch). Large quantities of DDT were found in the fatty tissues of dead eagles, and by 1963 their numbers had fallen to a mere 417 nesting pairs

The Endangered Species Acts of 1966 and 1978 helped to protect the bird, but banning of DDT in 1972 was the most effective in the bald eagle's recovery. By the year 2000 the US Fish and Wildlife Service proposed that the eagle be declared fully recovered, but as no plan to manage the species exists, it is still listed as "Threatened."

2008-03-16T00:53:00.000-07:00

Fruits and flowers... Waterfalls... Gardens hanging from the palace terraces... Exotic animals... This is the picture of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon in most people's minds. It may be surprising to know that they might have never existed except in Greek poets and historians imagination! Location:

On the east bank of the River Euphrates, about 50 km south of Baghdad, Iraq.

History:

The Babylonian kingdom flourished under the rule of the famous King, Hammurabi (1792-1750 BC). It was not until the reign of Naboplashar (625-605 BC) of the Neo-Babylonian dynasty that the Mesopotamian civilization reached its ultimate glory. His son, Nebuchadnezzar II (604-562 BC) is credited for building the legendary Hanging Gardens. It is said that the Gardens were built by Nebuchadnezzar to please his wife or concubine who had been "brought up in Media and had a passion for mountain surroundings".
While the most descriptive accounts of the Gardens come from Greek historians such as Berossus and Diodorus Siculus, Babylonian records stay silent on the matter. Tablets from the time of Nebuchadnezzar do not have a single reference to the Hanging Gardens, although descriptions of his palace, the city of Babylon, and the walls are found. Even the historians who give detailed descriptions of the Hanging Gardens never saw them. Modern historians argue that when Alexander's soldiers reached the fertile land of Mesopotamia and saw Babylon, they were impressed. When they later returned to their rugged homeland, they had stories to tell about the amazing gardens and palm trees at Mesopotamia.. About the palace of Nebuchadnezzar.. About the Tower of Babel and the ziggurats. And it was the imagination of poets and ancient historians that blended all these elements together to produce one of the World Wonders.
It wasn't until the twentieth century that some of the mysteries surrounding the Hanging Gardens were revealed. Archaeologists are still struggling to gather enough evidence before reaching the final conclusions about the location of the Gardens, their irrigation system, and their true appearance.

Description:

Detailed descriptions of the Gardens come from ancient Greek sources, including the writings of Strabo and Philo of Byzantium. Here are some excerpts from their accounts:
"The Garden is quadrangular, and each side is four plethra long. It consists of arched vaults which are located on checkered cube-like foundations.. The ascent of the uppermost terrace-roofs is made by a stairway..."
"The Hanging Garden has plants cultivated above ground level, and the roots of the trees are embedded in an upper terrace rather than in the earth. The whole mass is supported on stone columns... Streams of water emerging from elevated sources flow down sloping channels... These waters irrigate the whole garden saturating the roots of plants and keeping the whole area moist. Hence the grass is permanently green and the leaves of trees grow firmly attached to supple branches... This is a work of art of royal luxury and its most striking feature is that the labor of cultivation is suspended above the heads of the spectators".
More recent archaeological excavations at the ancient city of Babylon in Iraq uncovered the foundation of the palace. Other findings include the Vaulted Building with thick walls and an irrigation well near the southern palace. A group of archaeologists surveyed the area of the southern palace and reconstructed the Vaulted Building as the Hanging Gardens. However, the Greek historian Strabo had stated that the gardens were situated by the River Euphrates. So others argue that the site is too far from the Euphrates to support the theory since the Vaulted Building is several hundreds of meters away. They reconstructed the site of the palace and located the Gardens in the area stretching from the River to the Palace. On the river banks, recently discovered massive walls 25 m thick may have been stepped to form terraces... the ones described in Greek references.

2008-03-16T00:35:00.000-07:00

It is the one and only Wonder which does not require a description by early historians and poets. It is the one and only Wonder that does not need speculations concerning its appearance, size, and shape. It is the oldest, yet it is the only surviving of the Seven Ancient Wonders. It is the Great Pyramid of Giza.

Location:At the city of Giza, a necropolis of ancient Memphis, and today part of Greater Cairo, Egypt.

History:

Contrary to the common belief, only the Great Pyramid of Khufu (Cheops), not all three Great Pyramids, is on top of the list of Wonders. The monument was built by the Egyptian pharaoh Khufu of the Fourth Dynasty around the year 2560 BC to serve as a tomb when he dies. The tradition of pyramid building started in Ancient Egypt as a sophistication of the idea of a mastaba or "platform" covering the royal tomb. Later, several stacked mastabas were used. Early pyramids, such as the Step Pyramid of King Zoser (Djoser) at Saqqara by the famous Egyptian architect, Imhotep, illustrate this connection.

The great pyramid is believed to have been built over a 20 year period. The site was first prepared, and blocks of stone were transported and placed. An outer casing (which disappeared over the years) was then used to smooth the surface. Although it is not known how the blocks were put in place, several theories have been proposed. One theory involves the construction of a straight or spiral ramp that was raised as the construction proceeded. This ramp, coated with mud and water, eased the displacement of the blocks which were pushed (or pulled) into place. A second theory suggests that the blocks were placed using long levers with a short angled foot.
Throughout their history, the pyramids of Giza have stimulated human imagination. They were referred to as "The Granaries of Joseph" and "The Mountains of Pharaoh". When Napoleon invaded Egypt in 1798, his pride was expressed through his famous quote: "Soldats! Du haute de ces Pyramides, 40 siècles nous contemplent". (Soldiers! From the top of these Pyramids, 40 centuries are looking at us)

Today, the Great Pyramid is enclosed, together with the other pyramids and the Sphinx, in the touristic region of the Giza Plateau. Also in the area is the museum housing the mysterious Sun Boat, only discovered in 1954 near the south side of the pyramid. The boat is believed to have been used to carry the body of Khufu in his last journey on earth before being buried inside the pyramid. It may also serve him as a means of transportation in his afterlife journey according to Ancient Egyptian beliefs.

Description:

When it was built, the Great pyramid was 145.75 m (481 ft) high. Over the years, it lost 10 m (30 ft) off its top. It ranked as the tallest structure on Earth for more than 43 centuries, only to be surpassed in height in the nineteenth century AD. It was covered with a casing of stones to smooth its surface (some of the casing can still be seen near the top of Khefre's pyramid). The sloping angle of its sides is 54 degrees 54 minutes. Each side is carefully oriented with one of the cardinal points of the compass, that is, north, south, east, and west. The horizontal cross section of the pyramid is square at any level, with each side measuring 229 m (751 ft) in length. The maximum error between side lengths is astonishingly less than 0.1%.

The structure consists of approximately 2 million blocks of stone, each weighing more than two tons. It has been suggested that there are enough blocks in the three pyramids to build a 3 m (10 ft) high, 0.3 m (1 ft) thick wall around France. The area covered by the Great pyramid can accommodate St Peter's in Rome, the cathedrals of Florence and Milan, and Westminster and St Paul's in London combined.

On the north face, is the pyramid's entrance. A number of corridors, galleries, and escape shafts either lead to the King's burial chamber, or were intended to serve other functions. The King's chamber is located at the heart of the pyramid, only accessible through the Great Gallery and an ascending corridor. The King's sarcophagus is made of red granite, as are the interior walls of the King's Chamber. Most impressive is the sharp-edged stone over the doorway which is over 3 m (10 ft) long, 2.4 m (8 feet) high and 1.3 m (4 ft) thick. All of the interior stones fit so well, a card won't fit between them. The sarcophagus is oriented in accordance with the compass directions, and is only about 1 cm smaller in dimensions than the chamber entrance. It might have been introduced as the structure was progressing.

New theories concerning the origin and purpose of the Pyramids of Giza have been proposed... Astronomic observatories... Places of cult worship... Geometric structures constructed by a long-gone civilization... Even extraterrestrial-related theories have been proposed with little evidence in support... The overwhelming scientific and historic evidence still supports the conclusion that, like many smaller pyramids in the region, the Great Pyramids were built by the great Ancient Egyptian civilization off the West bank of the Nile as tombs for their magnificent Kings... Tombs where Khufu, Khefre, and Menkaure could start their mystic journey to the afterlife.

Interesting facts!

2008-03-16T00:09:00.000-07:00

Dinosaurs
Few subjects in the natural sciences are as fascinating to the public as dinosaurs. Click on the Tyrannosaurus rex to find out answers to some interesting questions about dinosaurs.

Deserts
Approximately 1/3 of the Earth's land surface is desert. This is arid land with meager rainfall that supports only sparse vegetation and a limited population of people and animals. These arid regions are called deserts because they are dry. Some deserts are hot, and some are cold. They may be regions of sand or vast areas of rocks and gravel peppered with occasional plants. But all deserts have very little precipitation.
Mount St. Helens
The catastrophic eruption on May 18, 1980, was preceded by 2 months of intense activity that included more than 10,000 earthquakes, hundreds of small phreatic (steam-blast) explosions, and the outward growth of the volcano's entire north flank by more than 80 meters. A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck beneath the volcano at 8:32 a.m. on May 18, setting in motion the devastating eruption.
Within seconds of the earthquake, the volcano's bulging north flank slid away in the largest landslide in recorded history, triggering a destructive, lethal lateral blast of hot gas, steam, and rock debris that swept across the landscape as fast as 1,100 kilometers per hour (about 683.1 mph). Temperatures within the blast reached as high as 300 degrees Celsius (about 572 degrees Fahrenheit).
Tsunamis
Tsunamis are large, rapidly moving ocean waves triggered by a major disturbance of the ocean floor. They are usually caused by an earthquake but sometimes can be produced by a submarine landslide or a volcanic eruption. Tsunamis are mistakenly called "tidal waves," but they have no relation to tides.
Ships at sea cannot detect a passing tsunami, nor can the waves be seen from aircraft. While passing through deep oceans, a tsunami consists of a series of waves that are only a few feet high and a hundred miles or more apart. These waves typically travel at speeds of about 600 mph. As they reach shallow water, the waves slow down but greatly increase in height, and the distance between them shrinks. When the tsunami finally strikes the coast, the waves may reach the coast at intervals of 5 to 40 minutes; the first wave is frequently not the largest. Tsunamis range from 10 to 60 feet tall.

Quotes of Vivekananda

2008-03-15T07:40:00.000-07:00

“Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life - think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success, that is way great spiritual giants are produced.”

“We are responsible for what we are, and whatever we wish ourselves to be, we have the power to make ourselves. If what we are now has been the result of our own past actions, it certainly follows that whatever we wish to be in future can be produced by our present actions; so we have to know how to act.”

“Never think there is anything impossible for the soul. It is the greatest heresy to think so. If there is sin, this is the only sin ? to say that you are weak, or others are weak.”

“You have to grow from the inside out. None can teach you, none can make you spiritual. There is no other teacher but your own soul.”

“The goal of mankind is knowledge ... Now this knowledge is inherent in man. No knowledge comes from outside: it is all inside. What we say a man 'knows', should, in strict psychological language, be what he 'discovers' or 'unveils'; what man 'learns' is really what he discovers by taking the cover off his own soul, which is a mine of infinite knowledge.”

“If money help a man to do good to others, it is of some value; but if not, it is simply a mass of evil, and the sooner it is got rid of, the better.”

Walt Disney

2008-03-15T07:32:00.000-07:00

Walt Disney was born on December 5, 1901 in Chicago Illinois, to his father Elias Disney, and mother Flora Call Disney. Walt was one of five children, four boys and a girl.
After Walt's birth, the Disney family moved to Marceline Missouri, Walt lived most of his childhood here.
Walt had very early interests in art, he would often sell drawings to neighbors to make extra money. He pursued his art career, by studying art and photography by going to McKinley High School in Chicago.
Walt began to love, and appreciate nature and wildlife, and family and community, which were a large part of agrarian living. Though his father could be quite stern, and often there was little money, Walt was encouraged by his mother, and older brother, Roy to pursue his talents.
During the fall of 1918, Disney attempted to enlist for military service. Rejected because he was under age, only sixteen years old at the time. Instead, Walt joined the Red Cross and was sent overseas to France, where he spent a year driving an ambulance and chauffeuring Red Cross officials. His ambulance was covered from stem to stern, not with stock camouflage, but with Disney cartoons.
Once Walt returned from France, he began to pursue a career in commercial art. He started a small company called Laugh-O-Grams, which eventually fell bankrupt. With his suitcase, and twenty dollars, Walt headed to Hollywood to start anew.
After making a success of his "Alice Comedies," Walt became a recognized Hollywood figure. On July 13, 1925, Walt married one of his first employees, Lillian Bounds, in Lewiston, Idaho. Later on they would be blessed with two daughters, Diane and Sharon .
In 1932, the production entitled Flowers and Trees(the first color cartoon) won Walt the first of his studio's Academy Awards. In 1937, he released The Old Mill, the first short subject to utilize the multi-plane camera technique.
On December 21, 1937, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the first full-length animated musical feature, premiered at the Carthay Theater in Los Angeles. The film produced at the unheard cost of $1,499,000 during the depths of the Depression, the film is still considered one of the great feats and imperishable monuments of the motion picture industry. During the next five years, Walt Disney Studios completed other full-length animated classics such as Pinocchio, Fantasia, Dumbo, and Bambi.
Walt Disney's dream of a clean, and organized amusement park, came true, as Disneyland Park opened in 1955. Walt also became a television pioneer, Disney began television production in 1954, and was among the first to present full-color programming with his Wonderful World of Color in 1961.
Walt Disney is a legend; a folk hero of the 20th century. His worldwide popularity was based upon the ideals which his name represents: imagination, optimism, creation, and self-made success in the American tradition. He brought us closer to the future, while telling us of the past, it is certain, that there will never be such as great a man, as Walt Disney.

FRIENDS ARE LIKE ANGELS!

2008-03-14T20:58:00.000-07:00

Our friends are like angels,

Who brighten our days.
In all kinds of wonderful,
Magical ways.

Their thoughtfulness comes,
As a gift from above.
And we feel we're surrounded,
By warm, caring love.

Like upside-down rainbows,
Their smiles bring the sun.
And they fill ho-hum moments,
With laughter and fun.

Friends are like angels,
Without any wings.
Blessing our lives,
With the most precious things.

Say no to ABORTION

2008-03-14T09:57:00.000-07:00

Mommy

I am only 4 inches long but I have all my organs.

I love the sound of your voice.

The sound of your heart beat is my favorite lullaby.

Month Two

Mommytoday I learned how to suck my thumb.

If you could see me you could definitely tell that I am a baby.

I'm not big enough to survive outside my home though.

It is so nice and warm in here.

Month Three

You know what Mommy

I'm a boy!!

I hope that makes you happy.

I always want you to be happy.

I don't like it when you cry.

You sound so sad.

It makes me sad too and

I cry with you even though you can't hear me.

Month Four

Mommy my hair is starting to grow.

It is very short and finebut I will have a lot of it.

I spend a lot of my time exercising.

I can turn my head and curl my fingers and toes

and stretch my arms and legs.

I am becoming quite good at it too.

Month Five

You went to the doctor today.

Mommy, he lied to you.

He said that I'm not a baby.

I am a baby Mommy, your baby.

I think and feel.Mommy,

what's abortion?

Month Six

I can hear that doctor again.

I don't like him.

He seems cold and heartless.

Something is intruding my home.

The doctor called it a needle.

Mommy what is it?

It burns!Please make him stop!

I can't get away from it!Mommy!

HELP me!

Month Seven

MommyI am okay.

I am in Jesus's arms.

He is holding me.

He told me about abortion.

Why didn't you want me Mommy?

Every Abortion Is Just . . .

One more heart that was stopped.

Two more eyes that will never see.

Two more hands that will never touch.

Two more legs that will never run.

One more mouth that will never speak.

2008-03-12T10:01:00.000-07:00

Winter's Roads

2008-03-11T22:29:00.000-07:00

I cannot speak for all who stem
'Long roads less traveled as their way,
Nor question choices made by them
In days long past or nights long dim
by words they spoke and did not say.

Each road is long, though short it seems,
And credence gives each road a name
Of fantasies sun-drenched in beams
Or choices turned to darkened dreams,
To where each road wends just the same.

From North to South, then back again,
I followed birds like all the rest
Escaping nature's snowy den
On roads I've seen and places been,
Forsaking roads that traveled West.

This journey grows now to its end,
As road reflections lined in chrome
Give way to roads with greater bend
And empty signs that still pretend
They point the way to home sweet home.

But all roads lead to where we go
And where we go is where we've been,
So home is just a word we know,
That space in time most apropos
For where we want to be again.

For even home, it seems to me,
Is still a choice we all must face
From day to day and endlessly,
To choose if home is going to be
Another road - or just a place.

The World's Smallest Countries

2008-03-11T06:46:00.000-07:00

This is a comprehensive listing of the world's seventeen independent smallest countries, from smallest to largest. They each contain less than 200 square miles in area. If we combined the land area of these 17 countries, we would have a country just a bit larger than the state Rhode Island. Even tiny Singapore is too big for this list (it's 246 square miles)!
Vatican City - 0.2 square miles - The world's smallest state, the Vatican has a population of 770, none of whom are permanent residents. The tiny country which surrounds St. Peter's Basilica is the spiritual center for the world's Roman Catholics (over 1 billion strong). Also known as the Holy See, Vatican City is surrounded by Rome, Italy.
Monaco - 0.7 square miles - The tiny state of Monaco lies along the French Riviera on the French Mediterranean coast near Nice. An impressive 32,000 people live in this state known for its Monte Carlo casinos and Princess Grace. It has been independent off-and-on since the 13th century.
Nauru - 8.5 square miles - The 13,000 residents of the Pacific island Nauru rely on diminishing phosphate deposits. The state became independent in 1968 and was formerly known as Pleasant Island.
Tuvalu - 9 square miles - Tuvalu is composed of 9 coral atolls along a 360 mile chain in Polynesia. They gained independence in 1978. The former Ellice Islands are home to 12,000.
San Marino - 24 square miles - Located on Mt. Titano in north central Italy, San Marino has 29,000 residents. The country claims to be the oldest state in Europe, having been founded in the fourth century.
Liechtenstein - 62 square miles - This microstate of 34,000 is located on the Rhine River between Switzerland and Austria in the Alps.
Marshall Islands - 70 square miles - The atolls (including the world's largest, Kwajalein), reefs, and 34 islands (population 58,000) gained independence in 1986; they were formerly part of the Trust Territory of Pacific Islands (and administered by the United States).
Saint Kitts and Nevis - 104 square miles - This Caribbean country of 39,000 gained independence in 1983. Nevis is the smaller island of the two and is guaranteed the right to secede.
Seychelles - 107 square miles - The 81,000 residents of this Indian Ocean island group have been independent of the United Kingdom since 1976.
Maldives - 115 square miles - Only 200 of the 2000 Indian Ocean islands which make up this country are occupied by 340,000 residents. The islands gained independence from the U.K. in 1965.
Malta - 122 square miles - This island is just south of the Italian island of Sicily. It became independent from the United Kingdom in 1964 and the British military were completely gone by 1979. The population is 400,000.
Grenada - 133 square miles - This Caribbean country (population 90,000) became independent of the U.K. in 1974. It's located quite close to Venezuela.
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines - 150 square miles - 117,000 people live on these Windward Caribbean islands which gained independence from Britain in 1979.
Barbados - 166 square miles - About 280,000 people live on this Caribbean island, the farthest east of the Lesser Antilles. Barbados obtained independence from the U.K. in 1966.
Antigua and Barbuda - 171 square miles - This Caribbean nation of 69,000 has been independent from the United Kingdom since 1981. The three islands which compose this country rely on tourism (as do many of the Caribbean countries and territories).
Andorra - 180 square miles - The independent Principality of Andorra is co-governed by the President of France and the Spain's Bishop of Urgel. With just over 70,000 people, this mountainous tourist destination tucked in the Pyrenees between France and Spain has been independent since 1278.
Palau - 191 square miles - Palau (also known as Belau) was a Trust Territory of Pacific Islands. It was formerly known as the Carolines and is composed of more than 200 islands in the Pacific; the population is about 20,000. It became independent in 1994.

All About Tea

2008-03-11T06:37:00.000-07:00

All teas come from the same plant. The differences stem from how they are processed. How the leaves are processed will determine their final classification as black, green, and oolong teas. The main difference between the many tea varieties is how much oxygen the leaves are allowed to absorb during processing. Much oxygen produces dark-colored black teas. Little oxygen results in green tea. Unprocessed leaves are called white tea

Black Tea undergoes a full fermentation process composed of four basic steps - withering, rolling, fermenting, and firing (or drying). First, the plucked leaves are spread out to wither. The withered leaves are then rolled, in order to release the chemicals within the leaf that are essential to its final color and flavor. The rolled leaves are spread out once more to absorb oxygen (oxidize), causing the leaves to turn from green to coppery red. Finally, the oxidized leaves are fired in order to arrest fermentation, turning the leaf black and giving it the recognizable tea scent. We invite you to view photos and descriptions of individual black teas.
Green Tea is often referred to as "unfermented" tea. The freshly picked leaves are allowed to dry, then are heat-treated to stop any fermentation (also referred to as oxidation). In China, traditional hand-making methods are still employed in many places, particularly in the manufacture of the finest green teas you'll find offered here. We invite you to view photos and descriptions of individual green teas.
Oolong Tea is generally referred to as "semi-fermented" tea and is principally manufactured in China and Taiwan (often called Formosa, its old Dutch name). For the manufacture of oolongs, the leaves are wilted in direct sunlight, then shaken in bamboo baskets to lightly bruise the edges. Next, the leaves are spread out to dry until the surface of the leaf turns slightly yellow. Oolongs are always whole leaf teas, never broken by rolling. The least fermented of oolong teas, almost green in appearance, is called Pouchong. We invite you to view photos and descriptions of individual oolong teas.
White Tea is produced on a very limited scale in China and India. It is the least processed of its many varieties. The new tea buds are plucked before they open and simply allowed to dry. The curled-up buds have a silvery appearance and produce a pale and very delicate cup of tea. We invite you to view photos and descriptions of individual white teas.
Scented Tea is created when the additional flavorings are mixed with the leaf as a final stage before the tea is packed. For Jasmine tea, whole jasmine blossoms are added to green or oolong tea. Fruit-flavored teas are generally made by combining a fruit's essential oils with black tea from China or Sri Lanka. We invite you to view photos and descriptions of individual flavored teas.

The man with the helping hands

2008-03-09T08:17:00.000-07:00

The scene is a small, unpretentious office room. The telephone rings and a young man is seen answering the call. He listens patiently to the agitated caller. He asks a few questions: "Where?" "Will you please wait for twenty minutes? It will take me that long to get there." He puts the telephone down, rushes to call his helpers, and is off in his familiar vehicle. Soon he reaches his destination. He finds a good Samaritan holding a wailing baby. He takes a few photographs of the baby and the place where it was found. Then he gathers the baby in his arms - and his face softens. He takes the baby with him to the place where all abandoned babies in Chennai find a happy home - "Udavum Karangal".
"Udavum Karangal" or "Helping Hands" is a place that has grown out of one man's dreams to be able to serve all those in any kind of need. Vidyakar or 'Pappa' as he is known to all those who look to him as their saviour, is a man with a mission. He was orphaned when young in Mysore, and was adopted and brought to Madras when he was thirteen. This change in his life gave the young boy the kind of teenage years that he may otherwise not have had. In his gratitude, Vidyakar remembers the words of his mentor. "Help others as I helped you." Vidyakar has carried this message with him, and lived up to it.
"Udavum Karangal" today is a busy place. The telephone never stops ringing. Calls of distress are many. But there are also calls that bring good news. People call to offer their services to be volunteers and become part of the group. Hotels and marriage halls call to deliver excess food. Charitable organizations call to find out how they can help. More than a thousand people are housed in several centres in Northern Chennai & suburbs, for their families have abandoned them. Vidyakar and his band of cheerful volunteers care for infants and children with all kinds of disabilities, mentally challenged men and women, people who are dying of Aids or other diseases, women who are in distress and almost anyone who needs a helping hand to go through life.
"Shishu Bhavan" is the section that houses little babies. The place is spotlessly clean, and the babies are well cared for. Visitors find that time flies once they begin playing with the children! Once a group of ladies walked into this nursery with some toys, clothes and food for the children. They said they were in a hurry, and could not spare more than ten minutes. But baby Kanya smiled from one cot, and little Divya was crying from the other end of the room. Soon, the ladies were involved in playing with the children, and completely forgot to look at their watches. Before they knew it, they had spent an hour! And they were still reluctant to leave! There are many other specialised units within Udavum Karangal like "Shantivanam" that rescues and shelters the mentally ill. All of them are given medical attention, and many are rehabilitated. There are also units that take care of the terminally ill; those afflicted with Aids, temporarily displaced persons and women in distress. Other divisions being - "Thyagam", "Karunalayam", "Sumai Thangi", "Balamitra", "Adaikalam", etc.
The amazing feature of this huge organization is the man at the top. Vidyakar's personal involvement in each person's problems, and his ability to show concern and care, are unique. He seems to be everywhere at once. The staff members are as fond of him, as those who come to him for help. He can be seen in the kitchen helping at mealtimes; he comforts a crying child; he deals with homework of the school-going children. This enthuses all those who work with him to give of their best too.
The huge campus at Thiruverkkadu runs on oiled wheels. There is ample space for outdoor activity. The different wings are self-sufficient. Each wing is managed on a day-to-day basis by a band of extremely dedicated volunteers. The volunteers work hard to keep the wards clean and everyone seems happy. The wing that caters to the aged and the ailing has a medical facility attached to it. Medical help is always at hand. The kitchen is a buzz of activity. Catering to hundreds of people with different needs is no mean task! But, like everything else at Udavum Karangal, a group of cheerful volunteers runs the kitchen with great efficiency. Huge meals are turned out several times a day for the inmates and staff.
The organization has become well known the world over, and both Vidyakar and his brainchild have received innumerable awards and accolades. The Reader's Digest called them "Hands of Love". Vidyakar has been called "A Messiah for the discarded". Awards have come from near and far - like the international award for best voluntary service in India from Matsustuta, Japan, For the Sake of Honour award from the Rotary Club of Madras, the Indian Health Mission Award, and many others. All these accolades and awards have had a positive effect on Vidyakar and Udavum Karangal. Vidyakar continues to look for more ways and means to serve the community around him. Udavum Karangal continues to grow from strength to strength. Soon they hope to have many more facilities to make the society a better place.
The message sent out by Udavum Karangal is "Help us to help others". People who care have heard this message, and have come forward with generous donations in cash and kind. All this keeps the organisation strong. But the words of Vidyakar should make us all think. He says, "It is not the way I intended to live my life. It's a dangerous, tough, thankless job, but someone's got to do it. It would be nice if society didn't need people like me. But while it does...I'll be there."

2008-03-07T08:14:00.000-08:00

Today's the day of a big test at school, and you feel awful. Your stomach hurts and you have a headache. Maybe your muscles feel tense and you feel shaky or sweaty. You know you haven't been bitten by the flu bug - but you may have a case of the jitters, also known as test anxiety.
Here's how test anxiety works. Let's say you're worried about your math test because you didn't do so well on the last one. Or maybe you're kind of tense because you did great on the last one and you're the kind of kid who likes to get all As. When you're feeling worried and tense, your whole body can be affected.

Performance Anxiety
Test anxiety is actually a type of performance anxiety. Performance anxiety is when a person feels worried about how they will perform (do on something), especially when it's really important. For instance, you might feel performance anxiety when you're trying out for the school band or for the basketball team.
When you're taking a test, you might feel "butterflies," a stomachache, or a tension headache. Some people might feel shaky, sweaty, or feel their heart beating quickly as they wait for the test to be given out. A student with really strong test anxiety may even feel like he or she might pass out or throw up.
Sound familiar? You're not alone. Ask other people and you'll find that just about all people - adults and other - feel some anxiety before a test. In fact, a small dose of anxiety can be helpful, keeping you sharp and focused. But when your symptoms take over so that you can't function or when you're so anxious that you feel sick, you might not be able to do your best.
Of course, if you didn't study for the test, you might be worried - and for good reason. That kind of anxiety isn't as easy to tackle because even if you find a way to calm down, you still might not know what the right answers are. When you are prepared for a test and you get a handle on your anxiety, you'll be able to let your knowledge shine and score a good grade.

No More Tests?
If teachers know that students get stressed out about tests, why do they still give them? Believe it or not, both teachers and students benefit from tests. Tests measure how well students are learning the skills and information their teachers have been teaching them. And tests of all different sorts are a part of life - from the driving test you'll take one day to the test you'll take if you decide you want to be a doctor.

What Makes Anxiety Happen?
Well, because we can't outlaw tests, we might as well figure out how to ease test anxiety. Anxiety is a feeling a person gets when he or she expects something stressful to happen. When you're under stress, your body releases the hormone adrenaline, which prepares it for danger, like when you're running away from your older brother! Adrenaline causes the physical symptoms, such as sweating, a pounding heart, and rapid breathing. These symptoms can be mild or intense.
Focusing on the bad things that could happen can make a kid feel more worried. A kid might think, "What if I forget everything I know?" or "What if the test is too hard?" Too many thoughts like these don't leave much room in your mind to concentrate on remembering the answers to the test questions. People with test anxiety can also feel stressed out by the physical reaction and think things like "What if I throw up?" or "Oh no, my hands are shaking."
These thoughts can get the person even more upset, making the anxiety even stronger. Now, the person feels worse and is even more distracted and unable to concentrate.

Who Gets Test Anxiety?
Anyone can get test anxiety, but someone who really wants to get every answer right might be more prone to feeling this way. This is called being a perfectionist (say: per-fek-shuh-nist). Kids who worry a lot also might feel anxious at test time. Perfectionists and worriers find it hard to accept mistakes they make or to get less than a perfect score. This creates more pressure for them.
As we mentioned before, not being prepared for a test (duh!) can cause test anxiety. Kids who don't get enough sleep also can be more prone to test anxiety.

What Can You Do?
You might be reading this article and saying, "Hey, that sounds just like me!" If so, we're glad you recognize that this happens to you. Now you can start taking steps to lessen your test anxiety.

Here are some ways to do that:
Ask for help.

Talk to your mom or dad, your teacher, or your school guidance counselor. Just talking to someone about test anxiety can make you feel better. Describe what happens to you when you're taking a test and these people can help you figure out some solutions. For instance, learning study skills can boost your test-day confidence.
Be prepared.

Pay attention in class. Do your homework. Study for the test. On test day, you're more likely to feel like you know the material.
Expect the best.

Once you have prepared, think positively. Say to yourself, "I studied and I'm ready to do my best."
Block bad thoughts.

Watch out for any negative messages you might be sending yourself about the test ("I'm no good at taking tests" or "I'm going to freak out if I get a bad grade"). These thoughts can make anxiety worse and make it harder for you to do well on the test.
Accept mistakes.

Everyone makes mistakes. Be more forgiving of your own mistakes, especially if you prepared for the test and are set to do your best.
Take care of yourself.

You'll feel your best if you get enough playtime, sleep, and nutritious food. This is important all the time, but be extra-sure you get all three the day before a test.
Breathe better.

OK, so you already know how to breathe. But did you know that breathing exercises can help calm you down? (Just try not to take in too much air because it might make you feel dizzy.) Here's how to do it: Inhale (breathe in) slowly and deeply through your nose, and then exhale (breathe out) slowly through your mouth. Do this two to four times and you just might breathe easier the next time you're taking a test!

2008-03-01T09:18:00.000-08:00

Ben is in the middle of a wonderful dream. He's riding the ocean waves with his family when - BAM! - along comes a giant sea creature poised for attack. Ben thrashes in bed, trying to fight off the monster. When he calls out, his mom comes in to see what's wrong. "It's all right, Ben," she says, smoothing his sweaty forehead. "You had a bad dream, and now you're awake. You're awake and you're safe."

What Exactly Is a Nightmare?
If you've ever had a nightmare, you're in good company. Almost everyone gets them once in a while - adults, as well as kids. A nightmare is a bad dream. It can may make you feel scared, anxious, or upset, but nightmares are not real and can't harm you.
While you sleep, your brain doesn't just turn off. It goes through several sleep stages, including REM, or Rapid Eye Movement, sleep. Why do they call it that? Because during this stage of sleep, your eyes move back and forth under your closed eyelids. During REM sleep, you have dreams and sometimes those dreams can be scary or upsetting.
About every 90 minutes your brain switches between non-REM sleep and REM sleep. The amount of time spent in REM sleep increases with each sleep cycle through the night. The longest periods of REM sleep occur towards morning. If you wake during this REM stage, it is easier for you to remember what you were dreaming about. That's why your most vivid dreams - and nightmares - occur in the early morning hours.

Why Do I Get Nightmares?
Stressful things that happen during the day can turn dreams into nightmares. Nightmares may be a way to relieve the pressures of the day. This usually means dealing with things most kids have to face at one time or another: problems at home, problems at school, and stress from sports or schoolwork. Sometimes major changes, such as moving or the illness or death of a loved one, can cause stress that leads to nightmares.
Another thing that may cause nightmares is watching scary movies or reading scary books, especially before you go to bed.
Sometimes if you are sick, especially with a high fever, you may have nightmares. Certain medications also can cause nightmares. Let your parents and doctor know if you notice you are having more nightmares around the time you started a new medicine.

How Can I Prevent Nightmares?
Although it is normal to have a nightmare once in a while, there are some techniques you can try to get nightmares under control.
Get into a healthy sleep routine. Try to go to bed about the same time and wake up at the same time every day. Unless you're sick or didn't get enough sleep the night before, avoid naps during the day. Avoid eating or exercising just before bedtime. Avoid scary books or movies before bedtime if you think they might be causing your nightmares.
Sleep with a stuffed toy or favorite blanket. This helps some kids feel more secure.
Use a nightlight. Even if you gave up yours up years ago, you might want to turn it back on. With a nightlight, if you awake from a nightmare, you'll be able to see familiar things and remember where you are.
Keep your door open. This will help you remember that your family is close by. If you are scared, get up and find someone for reassurance. You're never too old for a hug!

What if the Nightmares Don't Go Away?
Most of the time, nightmares are not a big problem. It often helps to tell a trusted adult about your bad dreams. Just talking about what happened might make you feel better. If something has been troubling you during the day, discussing those feelings also may help.
Some kids "rewrite" their nightmares by giving them happier outcomes. For example, Ben could imagine hopping on that sea monster and bringing his family along for a great ride. Another trick to get control of your nightmares is to draw a picture of the bad dream and then rip it up!
Sometimes it helps to keep a dream journal, a notebook in which you describe the dreams you can recall. Tracking your dreams - good and bad - and how you felt before you went to sleep can give you a better sense of how your mind works at night.
If you have frequent nightmares, you and your parent might want to see a counselor or a psychologist to help you deal with your bad dreams. It will give you a chance to talk about some of the things bothering you that may be related to your nightmares.
Rarely, kids with frequent nightmares may need to visit a doctor or a sleep clinic. A doctor can determine whether your nightmares are the result of a physical condition. A sleep clinic can check your brain waves, muscle activity, breathing, and other things that happen with your body while you sleep. If nothing else seems to work, your doctor may prescribe medicine designed to help you sleep through the night.
Remember, nightmares are not real and they cannot hurt you. Dreaming about something scary does not mean it will happen in real life. And it doesn't mean you're a bad person who wants to do mean or scary things. Everyone has nightmares now and then.
You aren't a baby if you feel afraid after a nightmare. If you need to snuggle with a parent or even a sister or brother, that's all right. Sometimes just talking to a parent or grabbing a quick hug may be all you need.
Nightmares may be scary for a little bit, but now you know what to do. Sweet dreams!

Dyslexia

2008-03-01T09:10:00.000-08:00

Dyslexia is a learning problem some kids have with reading and writing. It can make words look jumbled. This makes it difficult for a kid to read and remember what was read.
So what's going on inside the person's brain? Well, it doesn't mean the person is dumb. In fact, some very smart people have had dyslexia. How smart? Well, some people say Albert Einstein was dyslexic.
The problem does occur in the brain, though. Sometimes the messages the brain is sending get jumbled up or confused. A kid who has dyslexia might get frustrated and find it hard to do schoolwork. But the good news is that dyslexia doesn't need to keep a kid down.

What Is Having Dyslexia Like?
A kid who has dyslexia might start out doing fine in school. But gradually, it can become a struggle, especially when reading becomes an important part of schoolwork. A teacher might say that the kid is smart, but doesn't seem to be able to get the hang of reading. If a teacher or parent notices this, the best thing to do is to go to a specialist who can help figure out what's wrong.

A specialist in learning disabilities knows a lot about learning problems that kids have - and what to do about them. During a visit with a specialist, a kid might take some tests. But the idea isn't to get a good grade; it's to spot problems. Discovering a learning disability is the first step toward getting help that will make it easier for the kid to learn.

How Does Reading Happen?
Most kids begin learning to read by learning how each letter of the alphabet looks and sounds. Next, they start figuring out what the letters sound like when they're put together to form words. Reading is a little like riding a bike because you have to do a bunch of things at once. It's hard at first, but once you know how to do it, it feels easy and natural.

Reading means your eyes and brain have to do all these steps:

focus on printed marks (letters and words)

control eye movements across the page

recognize the way letters sound

understand words and grammar (the way words are put together)

build images and ideas

compare new ideas to what is already known

store the ideas in memory

Phew! You may know that certain parts of your brain do certain jobs. For reading, you need your centers of vision, language, and memory. And you also need a network of nerve cells to connect these centers. If a kid has a problem with any of the centers - or the connections between them - reading could be difficult.

What Can a Kid Do?
Kids who have dyslexia can get help from specialists who know how to make reading easier. They might learn new ways for remembering sounds. For example, "p" and "b" are called brother sounds because they are both "lip poppers." You have to press your lips together to make the sound. Thinking about the way the mouth needs to move to make sounds can help dyslexic kids read more easily.
Kids with dyslexia also might use flash cards or tape classroom lessons and homework assignments instead of taking notes about them. At home, kids may need to spend extra time doing homework. They may need parents or tutors to help them stay caught up. There are even special computer programs that help kids learn how to sound out words.

How Do Kids With Dyslexia Feel?
Kids who have dyslexia might get frustrated sometimes and they may not like that they are in a different reading group than their friends. But they can get help to improve their reading skills and go on to do great things in life - just like Einstein, Walt Disney, the actor Tom Cruise, and the long list of others who succeeded despite dyslexia.

Grow a Bonsai

2008-03-01T08:32:00.000-08:00

Plants are a fascination to many. Live with them and you will know the sentiments of a plant lover. Plants offer a wide scope for experimenting. They add a touch of class to your homes and can bring about lot of cheer and joy to its immediate surroundings. Have them in pots or in jugs, have them hanging or have them creeping, they are always a pleasure to look at and be with.Apart from flowering plants, green leafy ones too are quite appealing. How about a pine tree in a pot? Let the eyes not pop out! I' am referring the art of Bonsai. For subsequent weeks now, we will look into the various aspects of mastering Bonsai.It is not a difficult art, but needs ample patience, determination and the know how to do it. Bonsai skills include the knowledge of when and how much to cut the roots, how much fertilizer and water to use and to decide which of the branches need to be pruned to give the plant that aesthetic look.Bonsai is the art of cultivating miniature trees. In Japanese, Bonsai is literally translated as 'tray planting.' But today it has grown into a whole new form. It is the art of dwarfing trees or plants and developing them into an aesthetically appealing shape by growing, pruning and training them in containers according to prescribed techniques. Pine that grows tall in the wild, is the most typical plant used for Bonsai. Others can be used as well. Creating miniature plants doesn't mean that you starve the plants or treat them cruelly. In fact, given an adequate supply of water, air, light and nutrients, a properly maintained Bonsai will mostly outlive a full size tree of the same species.

The best way to achieve miniaturization is to frequently transfer the plant into new pots and when doing so trim the roots a little. It is not enough just to plant a tree in a pot and allow nature to take its course. Every branch and twig of a bonsai needs to be shaped or eliminated until the chosen image of your choice is achieved. From then on, the image needs to be maintained and improved by a constant regime of pruning and trimming. Bonsai can be developed from seeds or cuttings, from young trees or from naturally occurring stunted trees transplanted into containers. Most bonsai range in height from 5 centimetres (2 in) to 1 metre (3.33 ft). Apart from pruning and repotting, their branches and trunk are wired so that they grow into desired shapes.A Bonsai tree should always be positioned off-center in its container, for, not only is asymmetry vital to the visual effect, but the center point is symbolically where heaven and earth meet, and nothing should occupy this place. Another aesthetic principle is the triangular pattern necessary for visual balance and for expression of the relationship shared by a universal principle (life-giving energy or deity), the artist and the tree itself. Japanese tradition holds that three basic virtues are necessary to create a bonsai: shin-zen-bi standing for truth, goodness and beauty.With good care, Bonsais can live for hundreds of years, and mostly plant lovers pass them down from generation to generation. They are admired for their age. Although these Bonsais are extremely beautiful it must not be forgotten that they are meticulously cared for over the years and contains a wealth of knowledge about them.Bonsais are ordinary trees or plants, not special hybrid dwarfs. Small leafed varieties are most suitable, but essentially any plant can be used, regardless of the size it grows to, in the wild. Initially in your Bonsai effort, although things may not go as planned, don't give up. Remember that the Japanese Bonsai masters were once beginners too and they have surely had their share of trials and errors. Overall, bonsai is a great interest, hobby or even profession to undertake.

The mystery of the foam on the sea shore

2008-03-01T08:26:00.000-08:00

For years I have been wondering about the origin of the foam you can often find on the beach during the summer. I already figured out it had nothing to do with soap. It's supposed to be caused by the decaying remains of microscopic organisms in the sea. As a microscopist, I immediately became curious as to what kind of micro-organisms.
Every spring the ocean has sudden bursts of life. In the North Sea, my nearest source for marine plankton, the phytoplankton bloom starts at the end of March. After a couple of weeks tiny algae like diatoms occur in such numbers that the water becomes yellow-brown. Although diatoms are the most obvious part of the phytoplankton, (since they are such spectacular subjects for the microscopist it is impossible to neglect them), there are some other microscopic life forms that add to their numbers. One such creature is Phaeocystis. Most of my microscopy friends find this organism extremely annoying since they form such large colonies that they clog up plankton nets.
This spring a large part of the phytoplankton bloom consisted of Phaeocystis. After the annual plankton catching excursion of our Dutch Microscopy club, I thought it would be nice to make a picture of Phaeocystis and see if I could find more information about it. The only thing I knew was its name since it was mentioned so many times, in combination with a good deal of curses. But a name is always a good start for a search for information.

I thought I might find something in a very useful book called 'Algae, an introduction to phycology'. It contains an enormous amount of information and indeed there was enough information about Phaeocystis. To my surprise, Phaeocystis happened to be the cause of the foam on the sea shore. The species involved is Phaeocystis pouchetti, it belongs to the Haptophyta, a group of small single-celled algae. Despite their small size, Haptophytes play an important part in marine ecology since many species can be found in astronomical numbers. Most Haptophytes are flagellated unicellular creatures between 2 and 20 microns in size. In one of my earlier articles I wrote about how these small creatures were discovered by examining the feeding device of the larvacean Oikopleura.

Phaeocystis starts its life as a small flagellated cell. Later it will form large globular colonies. The cells are held together by a gelatinous mass in which the individual cells are embedded.
The foam on the sea shore is eventually formed by the wind that sweeps up the decaying remains of the colonies. It's a relief that the foam is not some sort accumulation of soap from millions of dishwashers and bath tubs. However, there is evidence that pollution does play a role in the story of the foam on the shore. Too many nutrients in the water may cause much larger blooms than would normally exist. This way, extremely tiny creatures can have a great effect, even to the environment. It is already thought that these blooms of algae form a role in global warming.
Such events are further described in the Micscape article 'The Cell from Hell'.

Footnote:Several months after this article was published I received a very kind e-mail from the Dutch scientist L. Peperzak, who has done research on Phaeocystis. He informed me that the species I had photographed was Phaeocystis globosa. He also wrote there was actually no scientific proof yet that the foam was caused by Phaeocystis! So there is still a lot to be discovered!

Nepal's Hot Water Springs

2008-02-29T23:43:00.000-08:00

Although it is very little known, there are quite a number of natural hot water springs scattered around the Himalayan Kingdom of Nepal. Mineralogists estimate of having at least 50 hot water springs in the land belt stretching between the Himalayan and mountain regions. These hot water springs are locally known as tatopani simply meaning ‘hot water’.

A list of natural hot springs located in various parts of Nepal:

Hotiyana in Sankhuwasabha, Koshi zone, Eastern Nepal.
Syabrubesi and Chilime in Rasuwa, North of Kathmandu.
Bhurung, Do Khola, Singha, Chhumrung and Dhadkharka in Myagdi district.
Jomsom and Dhima in Mustang. Chame and La Ta in Manang district.
Bhulbhule Khar in Tanahu district. Tapoban in Bajhang district.
Dhanachauri (Luma) and Tila river in Jumla.
Srikaar, Sina and Chamlaiya in Darchula.
Riar, Saghu Khola, Sarai Khola in Middle development region of Nepal.

In Srinagar, Bhurung, Sanghu Khola, Syabrubesi and Chilime springs, the water temperature is found to be in the range of 42c to 73c.

In other springs listed above, natural hot water of up to 100c flows out. It is believed that taking a bath in these springs cures paralysis, rheumatism and other diseases relating to bone, joints, skin, etc. Local residents around these springs often celebrate festivals in which they take bath and drink the spring water rich in phosphorus and salt with the hope to cure their ailments and remain healthy.

The most famous hot springs in Nepal are at Tatopani, near the Friendship Bridge across the border of Nepal and China at the end of Kodari (Arniko) Highway and another one on the Annapurna Circuit. The hot water spring of Beni Bazar in Myagdi district which is about 244 miles (390 kilometers) west of Kathmandu is also quite well-known. Almost 60,000 people all over the country visit this spring that can hold up to 100 people at the height of 2,743 meters (9,050 feet).