Sunday, October 23, 2005

Friday, October 21, 2005

Freshwater conservation news

Amazon Basin experiencing extreme drought

19 Oct 2005
Rio Branco, Brazil – The government of Brazil has declared a state of emergency in the Amazon as a result of unusual drought conditions, which some believe are being caused by unusually high temperatures in the Atlantic Ocean.

Studies by the Amazon Environmental Research Institute, a WWF-partner organization, suggest that the warming of the Atlantic near the Africa coast and the Gulf of Mexico may have altered the circulation pattern of the air currents and displaced the dry air masses to the Amazon Region.

“Freshwater, forest, species and local people are being heavily impacted by this drought,” said Urbano Lopes da Silva Junior, WWF-Brazil’s conservation officer based in Rio Branco.

“For the Amazonian population, especially the poor, the main problems are the shortage and even lack of potable water for their own consumption.”

The state of emergency extends over 61 municipalities of Brazil’s Amazonas State, affecting many towns and cities downstream of the Amazon River.

One of the main threats of the drought is reduced freshwater habitat for many non-migratory fish species, such as the pirarucu, the largest freshwater fish in the world and already a threatened species due to overfishing and predatory fishing practices. With the significant decrease in the water level in the Amazon River and its 1,000 tributaries, other aquatic species are also becoming more vulnerable.

The Brazilian Amazon is home to one-third of all the species in the world. Thousands of plant species, over one million insect species, more than 700 fish species, 1,000 bird species and over 300 mammal species — not including those unknown to science — are found within the Amazon rainforest.

In the dryer, upland forest, the main environmental concern regarding the drought is the threat of fire.

“Without water in the soil, the forest becomes a powder barrel,” added Lopes da Silva.

The threats of logging, land clearing and water pollution may also have an impact on the drought situation.

Although the Brazilian government launched the Amazon Protected Areas Programme (ARPA) in 2002, which sets aside almost 16 million hectares of land for conservation and sustainable use, WWF believes that much more needs to be done to save the world's most important rainforest.

Recent satellite data released by Brazil’s National Space Sciences Institute (INPE) revealed that deforestation in the Amazon from August 2003 to August 2004 significantly increased from the year before, when more than 23,000 square kilometres of Amazon forest disappeared. According to government estimates, by 2020 the Amazon forest will have lost 25 per cent of its original area.

Saturday, October 15, 2005

QuanticMovE

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QuanticMovE

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Lamb

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Wonder

"wonder"

lately i find myself
amazed at all around me
everything i see
like all of life's ablaze with light
that suddenly i see, only now i see
the wonder, the wonder of it all
wonder everywhere, more than we know
heaven's not up there, but on earth below
don't know if god exists
but there's some magic out there
so much we're not aware
and then sometimes suddenly i hear
a harmony sing, of each and everything
the wonder, the wonder of it all wonder everywhere, more than we know heaven's not up there, but on earth below

written by barlow / robinson

Lamb

THE PRAYER















THE PRAYER
The little boy
he crawls to his knees
crosses his hands so that God can see hush
- quiet - what?
the little boy who says his prayers
Good God don't go away from mommy
she undresses me and bathes and stays with me
then she dresses me in warm nightgown
God bless daddy
'cause I forgot When I think of what happened today
a little song comes to mind
I must not stop saying my prayer
forgive me God,
I ask you kindly
My nightgown has a hood inside the hood I
hide my head it covers my eyes and my forehead
aswell nobody knows that I am there
Thank you God for a good day
did I forget something, what was it?
I prayed for daddy and thought of you yes now I remember
- God bless me
The little boy sleeps well now the day is over,
the night has come hush
- quiet - what?
the little boy who said his prayers

Björk Posted by Picasa

Friday, October 14, 2005

mce2











Quantos dias faltam para…?
Para…...
Para.........
Quantos dias....?
Quantos faltam...?
Faltam quantos para...?

Quantos para...................................?

Parar...______!

.

I have to...........................................
I have to............................................................

How much time do I have...?
How many times do I have to….?
Do I have…?
Do I have dias…?
how many days...?
Faltam many days to,,,,

I have to….....................................................I have to…...................................................

Do I have…?
do I…?
do...?
may I speak...?

what...???????????????????????????why…??????????????????????

what do I do…?
Why do I…?

Do I do...............?

I....!

Why...?
What...?

May I ask...?
May I cry…?
May I…?
why may I do…?

Quantos faltam para…?

Para…!

To the end…................................................................
Quantos faltam...?

ponto!

Now, there is no more questions...............................................................

now.................................

more and more.....................

and now.................?

more....

do you have any question…?

Do you…?

May I ask…?


You may ask a question…!

You own your questions…........................................

Now...................?

More and more..................
nothng more................

Questions????????????????????????????

May I…?
May…?

Now!?

What were we talking about…?

Are you asking…?
what are you asking…?
Why are you asking…?

No more questions now….!!!!
now and ever........................

This is my floor.................

This is my air........................

This is my body.......................................

This is mine...

This is to me!

And this.................
this is is also mine!

I am mine..................
am I........................?

This is my mind.............
It is in your mind.........
In your mind...???

Your mind is mine...!

Do you mind....?

Ich möchte mich in dir vernichten...............................
Ich möchte du sein..................................................

O corpo morre????????
The body dies..................
You die???????
I die...........!

do I....?

My death

Plastic love...
My love....
The love is mine....

This is my love...
This is reincarnation....
kakakakakakakakaka

This is....................

This is…..?
What is this….?
That’s mine…

Du möchtest nicht sein...............
du möchtest nicht…
Aber du bist.....

Sei du...!!!!!!

Sei......!

Ich bin...
Ich bin dabei...
Ich bin bei mir...
Wo bist du...?

Who are you...?
come closer......
do I know you..?

Hallo….

Are you there…?

Hallo…!!!!

Can you listen to me….?

Wednesday, October 05, 2005

Ammachi

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In Difficult Times, Kindle the Strength of Love.

Excerpts from Amma's satsang on the occasion of her 52nd Birthday


27 September 2005

"Amma is very happy to see so many of her children gathered together here today. Children who have the attitude of service are the pride of their mother and the beauty of society. In Amma's world, there is no such thing as birth or death. So for her how can there be a birthday? Amma sees this event simply as an opportunity to love and serve her children. Amma isn't looking at the number of her children who have come together, but at the unity of their hearts.

"When Amma looks back upon the last year, so many tragedies come to her mind: the countless lives and belongings that were destroyed by the tsunami, the recent hurricanes that effected parts of the United States, the floods in Mumbai, the terrorist attacks that took place in different parts of the world. When Amma thinks about all these events, she feels that the whole world has fallen into the grip of an octopus of fear.

"When such difficult circumstances arise in life, there are two ways to respond. We can either run away in fear or kindle the love within and try to overcome them. If we choose the first option, all of our strength will be drained, and we will be blown about like dry leaves in the wind. It's impossible to escape one's own shadow. One who tries to run away from it will simply collapse due to exhaustion. This shadow of fear will only disappear with the dawning of the light of love. Love is our strength. Love is our refuge.

"When such harrowing situations arise, we should try to use them to gather mental strength, so that we can grow, rise up and move to action. We have been given this human birth in order to face challenges and overcome them—not to run away from them. When a ship is in the sea, it has to weather storms, rough seas and may even encounter whales or sharks, while the ship anchored in the harbour doesn't face any such challenges. However, who would make a ship just to moor it in the harbour? When obstacles appear in life, we need to kindle our inner strength and spread the fragrance of selflessness and love. We should be able to lift up others who are drowning in grief.

"Life may not always bring us good experiences. In fact, it may be that we have more bad experiences in store for us than good. Good and bad experiences are the nature of the world. However, we should learn to convert such challenging experiences into steppingstones towards success. For this we need a discriminating intellect rooted in the spiritual principles.

"When disasters take place, there is no point in blaming someone or the situation or Nature. We should try to go to the root cause. It is very easy to blame the government or a political party or even God. But we shouldn't forget that we also played a role in creating the problem.

"For example, when Weil's disease—or “rat fever”—breaks out in India , we typically blame the government. But if the people in each house keep their surroundings clean and regularly burn their waste, these epidemics can be avoided. Instead of pointing our finger at others, we should try to look to our own weaknesses. If we do so, we can avoid most problems in life altogether. Instead of using a magnifying glass to look at the faults of others, let us use a mirror to look at our own. Our efforts to remove hatred and indifference from the world should begin with trying to remove them from our own mind. If we can make our own mind clear and bright, the world will soon follow suit.

"If a nuclear war were to break out, we all know the amount of destruction that could come to pass. But right now there is a disaster taking place in the world that is much more destructive than any world war or tsunami or volcanic eruption—however, we are either unaware or are apathetic towards it. This is the decline of dharma [righteousness]. If we fail to restore dharma, all of our efforts to establish world peace will be in vain.

"Why are we not aware of this disaster? Because it is happening very gradually. If a pot falls down in our room while we are sleeping, we will definitely get up. However, someone who lives near the train tracks won't even wake up when a train blows past him. If you put a frog in a pot boiling water, it will immediately jump out. But if you put a frog into tepid water and slowly heat it, the frog will not make any effort to escape. It will simply die. In the same way, we are not able to feel the heat of adharma [unrighteousness] that is steadily on the rise. In order for us to realize the seriousness of this situation, we need to imbibe the principles of dharma right from childhood . Only when our educational system starts imparting values along with academic knowledge will we begin nurturing individuals to have enthusiastic and awakened minds. Only then will society attain real success.

"Skill alone is not enough for success. In addition to skill, we also need proper understanding and knowledge of the task at hand. We also need patience. If we sow a seed and then regularly dig it up to see if it has germinated, it will never grow. Initially, there may seem to be no hope, but if we are patient and persevere, then in the end the flower of life will blossom.

"Due to our impatience, most of the time, we aren't even aware of what we are doing or saying. Rather than feeling depressed about the opinions others may have about us, we should transcend our own limitations and try to do what we must with an optimistic attitude. Thus, patience, constant enthusiasm and firm determination to reach the goal are all necessary factors for success.

"We often consider our achievements to be the crowning moments of our life—for example, passing our college exams or receiving recognition in our field of expertise. Although these are significant, there are still greater accomplishments to be made in life. These are found in all the little things we do.

"Consoling a miserable soul, wiping the tears of a crying person, feeding the hungry, helping someone up who has fallen down—such seemingly trivial things are actually greater than mere worldly achievements.

"True service is the power that sustains the entire universe. When humanity serves Nature, Nature serves humanity. When we serve animals and plants, they too serve us in return. This attitude of mutual understanding and respect is what must be incorporated into society and into our family lives. Only when we serve others with the right understanding and with love and faith will we be happy and peaceful in life.

"When two lips come together, they emit one sound. Even though we have two eyes, our vision is one. Even when there are two lamps, light is one. Similarly, even though a husband and wife are two, they should live as one. The unity of hearts is the beauty of their house and the stability and foundation of the entire family. As neither the wife nor the husband has realized their completeness, their marriage should be a relationship wherein each partner compensates for the other's shortcomings—not one where they point them out and blame each other. Where there is true love, the attitude of sacrifice will automatically be there. True sacrifice is relinquishing one's likes and dislikes for another person. This should be the spirit behind each marriage.

"Praying that my children's hearts are filled with Divine Love, Amma offers herself to the Paramatman."