Archive for January 30, 2016

That’s Garbage!

January 30, 2016 Comments Off on That’s Garbage!

Use the garbage disposal less often. Between faucets washing scraps down the drain and huge amounts of water used at the sewage treatment plant, 500,000 gallons of water are wasted daily.  Choose and cook foods which produce little waste, be creative with leftovers, and turn what remains into compost  to nourish your plants without a trip to the nursery for plant food.

Leaf 6

[For more easy, money-saving, earth-friendly tips, download a FREE copy of Green Riches: Help the Earth & Your Budget. Go to www.Smashwords.com/books/view/7000 or your favorite e-book seller and download to your computer or e-book device. Totally free, with no strings attached.]

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What’s Hiding in Your Toothpaste?

January 29, 2016 Comments Off on What’s Hiding in Your Toothpaste?

I was surprised at the stuff in my favorite brand of toothpaste–and others–that is NOT healthy for me or for the Earth.  I’ve known about (and have been avoiding) microbeads, which are being phased out.  But what the Tooth Fairy are Triclosan and Sulfates, and how are they harmful?  

Before you brush your teeth again, read “What’s Hiding in Your Toothpaste?”  Then you may just want to make your own (the article tells you how to go about it).

 

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Challenge and the Challenger Astronauts

January 28, 2016 Comments Off on Challenge and the Challenger Astronauts

President Ronald Reagan mourned the loss of our Challenger brothers and sister, then told us how to honor them:

“Our nation is indeed fortunate that we can still draw on an immense reservoir of courage, character, and fortitude, that we are still blessed with heroes like those of the Space Shuttle Challenger. Man will continue his conquest of space. To reach out for new goals and ever-greater achievements, that is the way we shall commemorate our seven Challenger heroes.”

…A Thursday Thought for today, on the 30th anniversary of the disastrous loss of the Space Shuttle’s crew.

 

 

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Let Us Never Forget

January 27, 2016 Comments Off on Let Us Never Forget

Some claim it never happened.  Others hear stories about it from relatives and friends.  Still others lived through it.  It affects all of us, because it was one of the most heinous crimes that humans have perpetrated against fellow humans.  The Holocaust.

Today is International Holocaust Remembrance Day.  We remember it so that we can prevent it from happening again, even as we see shades of it developing in our world today.

Take a few minutes to view this video, “Rescue,”  of people who refused to accept the inhumanity and fought it–and are still fighting it–by taking action.

 

 

 

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Will ISIS Fighters Quit over Wages?

January 25, 2016 Comments Off on Will ISIS Fighters Quit over Wages?

I just heard that ISIS fighters earn $4200 a month, and more if they have a wife and children.  But now that American bombers have been blowing up their stashes of money, they’re cutting that salary in half.

This made me wonder how many of their fighters are motivated less by ideology and pleasing Allah and more by a wage they likely couldn’t earn in another job.  Will the cut in salary and benefits lead hoards of fighters to quit and–if they aren’t executed–go home?  Maybe, too, devoted ISIS volunteers living in other countries (like the U.S.) will demand that they be paid and refuse to blow themselves up if they aren’t.

Here’s a thought: will capitalism do what nations and peoples have been unable to do, namely, spell death to ISIS?

 

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DVR and Cable Costs

January 23, 2016 Comments Off on DVR and Cable Costs

There are two energy-gobblers you stare at daily yet don’t think much about.  One is your DVR. If you seldom use it, unplug it until you actually do want to use it.  The other is your cable box.  While away on vacation, unplug it, too.  These items draw a lot of power, even when not in use but while still plugged in.

Leaf 6

[For more easy, money-saving, earth-friendly tips, download a FREE copy of Green Riches: Help the Earth & Your Budget. Go to www.Smashwords.com/books/view/7000 or your favorite e-book seller and download to your computer or e-book device. Totally free, with no strings attached.]

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365 Lives Changed

January 22, 2016 Comments Off on 365 Lives Changed

This Thursday Thought quote says it all:

“Do one act of kindness each day of the year and change 365 lives.”  —  Anthony Douglas Williams

 

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Why Celebrate National Hug Day?

January 21, 2016 Comments Off on Why Celebrate National Hug Day?

It may seem like a silly “National Day” to have, but it makes sense.  Hugs have many benefits: 1) They improve our relationships.  2) They are good for our physical heart.  3) They help keep us from getting sick and help us recover.  4) They produce oxytocin, which reduces stress and increases a feeling of well being.  5) They may relieve existential anxiety.  6) They can reduce pain–even if you just give yourself a hug.

If you don’t believe any of this, read the explanations at “7 Reasons to Celebrate National Hug Day.”

Okay, so you noticed that I listed only 6 of the 7.  I saved the best for last: the benefits come from being the hug-ee OR the hug-er.

So, what are you waiting for?

 

 

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What are the Children Guilty of?

January 19, 2016 Comments Off on What are the Children Guilty of?

More ISIS and Taliban bombings in the news, killing more children.  My question for those groups is this: What have the children done to offend your god?  I ask, too, Is your concept of Allah that of a supreme being who wants you to cause suffering and death to children who have no power or say over who they are, where they live, or what the adults around them do?

My Muslim friends are as horrified as I am.

 

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Mining the Grand Canyon?!

January 16, 2016 Comments Off on Mining the Grand Canyon?!

I’m really concerned by possible uranium mining in our precious Grand Canyon.  It was threatened before.  Then a coalition of conservationists, Native American tribes, and activists banded together to get the Grand Canyon protected via a moratorium on mining there.  However, as power shifts and special interests put on pressure (uranium mining is very lucrative), that could change.  This is, after all, an election year.

There’s a movement to protect the Canyon forever by having it declared a Heritage National Monument.  If you’d like to learn more and/or sign a petition to President Obama, go to Support the Greater Grand Canyon Heritage National Monument.  (If the link doesn’t work, go to http://grandcanyontrust.nonprofitsoapbox.com/grandcanyonnationalmonument.)

 

 

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