Archive for the ‘Vital’ Category
May 8, 2010
Dear Friends,
We, 22 members of parliament and 200 citizens of Albania, concerned about the fate of democracy in our country have decided to engage in the ultimate form of peaceful resistance by going on a hunger strike in the name of the cornerstone of any democracy: free and fair elections.
Our demand is simple: a full and thorough parliamentary inquiry into the elections of June 28th 2009, including the opening of the ballot boxes and the examination of the electoral material contained therein. Our demand is not motivated by a yearning for power, but by the aspiration that the next elections are guaranteed against falling prey to the same machinations and manipulations.
For the last nine months we asked for our constitutional right to transparency only to be denied in all our efforts through the arrogance of a government that is no longer constrained by the Constitution in its actions.
In April 30th, 200,000 Albanians protested in Tirana in the name of the transparency of their votes. The same day, we 222 citizens of Albania decided to start a hunger strike.
It is not a decision lightly taken, nor are we ignorant of the gravity of our course of action. Yet we are no more prepared to give up on free and fair elections and democracy in Albania than you would be in any of your countries.
We ask only for what you take for granted in your countries: elections that are free and fair. No more. No less.
The Hunger Strike Committee
Letter to the members of International Community and Media«, Tirana, May 04, 2010 by The Hunger Strike Committee.
http://www.opentheboxes.com/
Sensory Wristwatch
April 28, 2010
Plastic chips monitor body functions. (Credit: Image copyright. Fraunhofer IZM)
“Each year, about 80,000 people in Germany become seriously ill from occlusions of veins caused by blood clots. Such thromboses can cause pulmonary embolism or even heart attacks. Even airline passengers at long distance flights can be affected by deep vein thrombosis. But with the new system, a fast and easy test of a risk of travel-related thrombosis will soon be possible.
The sensory wristband is a combination of polymer and conventional electronics. Lighting elements, sensors and polymer resistances printed on the foils are connected into one system with integrated circuits made of silicon. A three micrometer-thin resonance circuit with an etched coil — a kind of minute antenna — records the electric smog. An interdigital capacitor attached to a foil and only 30 micrometers thick detects skin moisture. Comb-shaped, narrowly interlaced meanders made of copper bands of a mere 0.5 micrometer thickness, measure the body temperature.” More HERE.
Cactus Gum Purifies Water
April 28, 2010
“Many water purification methods introduced into the developing world are quickly abandoned as people don’t know how to use and maintain them, says Norma Alcantar at the University of South Florida in Tampa. So she and her colleagues decided to investigate the prickly pear cactus, Opuntia ficus-indica, which 19th-century Mexican communities used as a water purifier. The cactus is found across the globe.” Continue reading HERE.
“The process of using cactus mucilage is quite old, something Alcantar learned from her grandmother. But now the process has been validated by, and improved by, science.
Here’s how it works:
‘Mucilage,’ a thick, gum-like substance in the cactus pads, helps the cactus retain water in the dry climate and can be extracted by boiling the pads. When mucilage is added to dirty water it binds to the dirt and the larger dirt particles settle out of the water due to the high molecular weight of the gum-like mucilage when it swells in water.
Alcantar’s research has shown that the mucilage can bind to and starve bacteria as well as form a complex with arsenic, a known carcinogen that occurs naturally in the soil or comes from industrial or agricultural pollution. Arsenic is removed when it binds to the natural sugars in the mucilage and the combination is drawn through a sand or membrane filter. The amount of arsenic removed depends on several variables, such as the source and pH values of the water to be treated.
Even trace amounts of arsenic can cause serious health problems when consumed over long periods of time. Alcantar and her team are also assessing whether the cactus mucilage can be as effective in removing other dangerous heavy metals, such as selenium, chromium and cadmium, from water. ” Text from USF NEWS.
Positive Visual Cortex…SEE MORE!
June 5, 2009
A University of Toronto study provides the first direct evidence that our mood literally changes the way our visual system filters our perceptual experience suggesting that seeing the world through rose-colored glasses is more biological reality than metaphor.
“Good and bad moods literally change the way our visual cortex operates and how we see,” says Adam Anderson, a U of T professor of psychology. “Specifically our study shows that when in a positive mood, our visual cortex takes in more information, while negative moods result in tunnel vision. The study appears tomorrow in the Journal of Neuroscience.
The U of T team used functional magnetic resonance imaging to examine how our visual cortex processes sensory information when in good, bad, and neutral moods. They found that donning the rose-colored glasses of a good mood is less about the color and more about the expansiveness of the view.
The researchers first showed subjects a series images designed to generate a good, bad or neutral mood. Subjects were then shown a composite image, featuring a face in the center, surrounded by “place” images, such as a house. To focus their attention on the central image, subjects were asked to identify the gender of the person’s face. When in a bad mood, the subjects did not process the images of places in the surrounding background.
However, when viewing the same images in a good mood, they actually took in more information — they saw the central image of the face as well as the surrounding pictures of houses. The discovery came from looking at specific parts of the brain — the parahippocampal “place area” — that are known to process places and how this area relates to primary visual cortical responses, the first part of the cortex related to vision.
“Under positive moods, people may process a greater number of objects in their environment, which sounds like a good thing, but it also can result in distraction,” says Taylor Schmitz, a graduate student of Anderson’s and lead author of the study. “Good moods enhance the literal size of the window through which we see the world. The upside of this is that we can see things from a more global, or integrative perspective. The downside is that this can lead to distraction on critical tasks that require narrow focus, such as operating dangerous machinery or airport screening of passenger baggage. Bad moods, on the other hand, may keep us more narrowly focused, preventing us from integrating information outside of our direct attentional focus.”
Info and details by SCIENCE DAILY.
One Square Inch of Silence
April 17, 2009
One Square Inch of Silence is the quietest place in the United States. Located in the Hoh Rain Forest at Olympic National Park, it is 3.2 miles from the Visitor’s Center above Mt. Tom Creek Meadows on the Hoh River Trail. Hiking time from the parking lot at the Visitor’s Center to the site is approximately two hours along a gentle path lined by ancient trees and ferns. The exact location is marked by a small red-colored stone placed on top of a moss-covered log at 47° 51.959N, 123° 52.221W, 678 feet above sea level. Directions to the site can be found on the links page.
One Square Inch of Silence was designated on Earth Day 2005 (April 22, 2005) to protect and manage the natural soundscape in Olympic Park’s backcountry wilderness. The logic is simple; if a loud noise, such as the passing of an aircraft, can impact many square miles, then a natural place, if maintained in a 100% noise-free condition, will also impact many square miles around it. It is predicted that protecting a single square inch of land from noise pollution will benefit large areas of the park.
One Square Inch of Silence
Thanks to Noe.
Shilajit
March 7, 2009
Ayurvedic Shilajit, ‘conqueror of mountains and destroyer of weakness’ contains humates (humic & fulvic acids).
Fulvic Acid is fragments of DNA from past generations of living organisms, giving life, energy, health, immunity, and renewal to Earth and all of its life forms. It has innate intelligence accumulated in its complex structure (above drawing) to protect and support life and is one of the key factors of enzyme reactions within all living cells supporting longevity, optimum health and all life as we know it. As a natural electrolyte it balances and energizes biological properties inside you (or you can also use it on open pores). This electrical potential enables cell balance, replication and construction which is the main factor for life, health and well being.
Humic Acid increases energy with improvement in morale .. decreased appetite, deeper & higher-quality sleep, less pain from physical injuries.
Humates are over-all healing, allowing more oxygen into the body and blocking the production of stress-causing hormones … (thanx to elenakulikova)
PEACE FOR PALESTINE
January 5, 2009
Boycott Israel
Campaign for boycott divestment and sanctions to end the occupation of Palestinian Territories.
Campaign Against Arms Trade
Lots of background information on the UK arms industry, government policy and the arms trade generally.
Electronic Intifada
News and analysis about the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict from a Palestinian perspective. See also Electronic Lebanon.
Palestine Solidarity Campaign
Information on the Israel/Palestine conflict, plus campaign actions and related events.
War on Want
Radical anti-poverty charity running a major campaign against the occupation.
Foundation for Middle East Peace
A nonprofit US-based organisation that promotes a peace based on two states, bringing security for Israel and freedom for Palestinians.
Al-Haq
Al-Haq is an independent Palestinian non-governmental human rights organisation that works in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) to uphold the rule of law and respect for human rights.
Free Gaza
The Free Gaza Movement. 40 Palestinians, Israelis and Internationals sail to Gaza to deliver urgently needed medical equipment in August 2008.
Civitas Project
Foundations for Participation:Civic Structures for the Palestinian Refugee Camps and Exile Communities.
Based at University of Oxford. Works on representation for refugee communities in exile.
Gush Shalom
Promotes peace and conciliation with the Palestinian people.
Coalition for Palestine Australia
Committee Against Israeli Apartheid Canada
Association France Palestine Solidarite (AFPS) France
ACSUR Las Segovias, Group of NGOs for Palestine Spain
Palestine Solidarity Committee South Africa
End the Occupation USA
....................................
