Monday, June 7. 2010
Ever wonder what happens to all those little bars of soap in hotels (the ones that aren't taken home by guests, that is)? Former Ugandan Derreck Kayonga also wondered, so he asked. What he found out led him to start a nonprofit that helps stave off diseases in Africa.
In the great American tradition of disposable items, hotels throw out all used bars of soap. To be fair, most Americans wouldn't consider using a pre-used bar of soap, from health or aesthetic concerns. Kayonga felt this was an appalling waste of a much-needed resource in Africa. He contacted his father in Uganda (a soapmaker businessman) about recycling the soap for use for people there.
"We thought it was wasteful," Kayonga said. "For those of us who come from countries that don't have much, it's unbelievable. At home people are dying from diseases." Soap and clean water, he reasoned, could go a long way to stopping the spread of germs and certain illnesses.
Hand washing has been "one of the fundamentals of public health for a long time," said Dr. Christine Moe, the Eugene J Gangarosa Professor of Safe Water and Sanitation and director of The Center for Global Safe Water at Emory University. Moe said she always advises students working overseas to make sure they frequently follow the practice. Recent studies show that hand washing is probably the most cost effective way to reduce disease -- particularly diarrheal and respiratory diseases. Those diseases "are the two main causes of childhood morbidity and mortality in developing countries," she said. The Atlanta Journal Constitution
Thus began The Global Soap Project, in which humanitarians and businesses get together and help each other out for the good of people in desperate situations. Already the countries of Uganda and Swaziland have benefited, and they hope to expand to Kenya and Haiti. Your mother would be happy to think of all those people practicing good basic hygiene.
Tuesday, May 25. 2010
Anything that has fud in it can't be stoopid, after all. I meen, dey must be makin' it for a lot of peeple or dey got a really BIG human to et it.
From ABC News:
Swiss volunteers have whipped up the world's biggest tiramisu weighing 2.31 tonnes, regaining the record they lost to a group of French bakers last year.
Around 155 volunteers from the Italian community of Porrentruy in western Switzerland spent 14 hours making the enormous dessert at the town's ice-skating rink, restaurateur Nicola Maurizio said.
Measuring eight centimetres high and 50 square metres in area, the giant dessert was made with 799 kilograms of mascarpone cheese, 6,400 eggs, 350 litres of cream, 189 kilos of sugar, 300 litres of coffee, 35 kilos of cocoa, 66 kilos of liqueur and 64,000 biscuits.
Boy, da Swiss must really like their tiramesoo too! or dey don't like da French beatin' em. But da really important question is, wot did dey DO with dat??!
Monday, May 24. 2010
Ever felt like you had to do something? Bob Votruba, a 54-yr old father of 3 college students, felt that way as he watched the Virginia Tech shootings on TV 2 years ago. So much so, that he did this:
from Cleveland.com
He was driven to "do something," he said, so he drove to Roanoke, Va., and stood quietly on the campus passing out blue and white "One million acts of kindness" stickers. He was struck by the warm reception he received and the hugs he got from strangers.
"I got hugs from some of the parents whose children had died," he said.
"We have to do something. We have to turn our society around."
"Fifty acts of kindness per day for 55 years equals one million acts of kindness. It can be a smile, holding a door for a stranger, letting a driver proceed ahead of you.
Votruba, a former owner of North American Homes, left Chagrin Falls, OH in August with his faithful Boston terrier, Bogart, planning to travel the country for 10 years urging Americans to perform acts of kindness. He's traveling in a bus the Partridge Family would have loved, and documenting what he finds in his journey on his blog, A Milllion Acts of Kindness. He feels even the little acts of kindness add up, and believes such efforts will help in changing the direction of the country, and make the world a safer, more caring place, ultimately.
Monday, May 17. 2010
In a story that heartens many a maid or servant, butler Indra B. Tamang inherited more than $8 million from a grateful employer. Tamang, a Nepalese gentleman, had served as a butler, cook and caretaker to Ruth Ford, an stage and screen actress, and her husband Zachary Scott, a Hollywood star (his most famous work was Mildred Pierce) for more than three decades. He apparently did a VERY good job because Mrs. Ford thought so highly of him, that she cut out her daughter and grandchildren (who did end up getting a settlement).
Mr. Tamang had other good fortune to celebrate. Last year with the late Mrs. Ford's help, he became a US citizen after applying 20 years ago. The wait was long but worth it.
Tuesday, May 11. 2010
Sumtimes I forgit where I put a bone, but not as bad as dis lady.
Cinncinati.com >Police charged a Northside woman with endangering children after she left her 3-year-old in a Walmart store Thursday night and didn’t realize the girl was missing until Friday morning, when a relative told her she had seen the child on the news, according to the official complaint filed Friday in Hamilton County court.
The little girl, who told authorities her name is Binah, apparently followed several shoppers around the store on Ferguson Road in Westwood after being left there. At one point she followed a man, woman and two boys to the checkout area. Walmart security got involved when the group left the store without her, according to a sworn statement by a social worker.
How cud she forgit her puppy??
Binah’s mother, who authorities say has 15 children, is 43-year-old Moriyyah Israel.
Oooooooo...DAT'S how she cud forgit!
Monday, May 10. 2010
Well, good news for beavers anyway. The marmot kingdom can be proud of their major accomplishment in Alberta, Canada - an almost 2800 ft. long dam (twice the size of Hoover Dam). This sucker was spotted by satellite and popularized by Google Earth, the internet equivalent of Magellan.
Park rangers estimate the dam was started in the 1970's - which means it must be a generational project. It's been speculated that several beaver families joined forces, rather like marmot mob families. Talk about going into the family business! One wonders if the beavers have a stopping point planned, if this is an on-going project, or part of a plot to take over Canada. In any case, civil engineers throughout the world are impressed.
Thursday, May 6. 2010
One podcast that I regularly like to listen to is Stash and Burn with Nicole and Jenny, two ladies on Ravelry who love to knit. Listening to their podcast is like sitting down with friends who share your strange obsession and appreciation for yarn. One of their topics of discussion has been the concept of "cold sheeping". Cold sheeping is a yarn diet, a commitment for a specified amount of time that you will not buy any yarn. Trust me, for knitters, this idea is very challenging, especially if you are faced with a really good opportunity for really good yarn.
Of course, people can set their own parameters: they won't begin cold sheeping until after a big event, they will make exceptions for gifts, tie it in with another goal like losing weight,they must finish certain projects, they will do it for a certain amount of time... you get the gist. One thing I really ought to do though if I ever want to jump in is work up my Ravelry page (i.e. post all my stash, post all my projects, figure out how to figure out all the yardage of all the yarn.) My work is cut out for me!
Wednesday, May 5. 2010
In the early seasons of Doctor Who, the female companions were noted for skills in screaming and getting into trouble. There were exceptions: Barbara from Hartnell's era was a no-nonsense, intelligent teacher, and Troughton's Zoe had the smarts to out-Kirk many a megacomputer. It took a lava flow and the end of the parallel world to get Cambridge scientist Liz Shaw to scream. Still, feminine charm and screaming were the order of the day. Jo Grant was a transitional companion in bridging that era to the more enlightened view on women companions.
The Third Doctor initially didn't want Jo as an assistant, being in a bit of a sulk over Liz Shaw's departure and his own continuing exile on earth. The Brigadier also wasn't too keen, as she had been foisted on him via nepotism. Despite this, Jo overcame them through the force of her cheery personality and good heart. Her upbeat personality, innate kindness, and klutziness accented her humanity and endeared her to the audience and The Doctor- to the point that the crusty, apparently sexless Doctor was heartbroken over her departure to get married.
Now comes the news via a BBC press release, that Jo Grant (Katy Manning) will be appearing on an episode of The Sarah Jane Adventures.
Executive producer Nikki Wilson says: "We are absolutely thrilled to be introducing Sarah Jane and the gang to both The Eleventh Doctor and Jo Grant, and to have a script penned by Russell T Davies is the icing on the cake!
"Viewers are in for a real treat, with an action-packed story full of Russell's usual wit and warmth, which takes the gang inside a secret base beneath Snowdon and introduces brand-new vulture aliens, the mysterious Shansheeth. All this, plus a trip to an alien planet – a first for The Sarah Jane Adventures."
I dearly hope the action and adventure do not overwhelm the story possiblities - I mean, you've got one of The Doctor's old companions meeting her immediate successor, not to mention a new and much younger Doctor! What will Sarah Jane think about the new model? No word as to whether the Doctor's current companion will also be along for the ride.
Tuesday, May 4. 2010
I tell ya, will ya look at dis! Either a giant kid, or a reelly reelly small hors! Dat thing is smaller than me, it's smaller than da pug! Da pug could EAT him! What do hoomins have wit shrinking things?? Look what dey did to us dawgs (tho I guess it's not as bad as wot dey did to the hors). The little guy's name is Einstein, and dey want to enter him in da Guinness book or sumptum. Ain't dat da silliest thing ya ever saw? Wit dos teeny tiny hooves, and itty bitty body....awwww...he's CUTE!!
Monday, May 3. 2010
Observing the Gulf oil spill is like watching a sequel to the Exxon Valdez, but now is not the time to throw up one's hands. Now is the time to do anything to mitigate the problem. Capping the oil would be a GREAT start, but until then, a nonprofit called A Matter of Trust has come up with an offbeat, but viable solution: hair mats.
from tonic.com
Looking to the Philippines, we found our answer: human hair. In 2006, the country's worst-ever oil spill prompted an unusual program in the country's prisons. Thousands of Philippine inmates had their heads and chests harvested foir hair to be used in the clean-up effort. The hair was combined with feathers to create a spongy material that would soak up the more than 50,000 gallons of industrial fuel that had leaked from a sunken tanker off the central island of Guimaras.
The method was also used in San Francisco, when hair mats were employed to clean up the Cosco Busan spill of 2007, which resulted when a cargo ship hit the base of the Bay Bridge and let loose some 58,000 gallons of oil. Lisa Gautier, director of a nonprofit called Matter of Trust, donated 1,000 "oil spill hair mats" she had made for the San Francisco Department of the Environment to absorb motor oil spills.
Once the hair mats, which are size of doormats and feel like Brillo pads, had absorbed all the oil they could, oyster mushrooms were cultivated on the mats to absorb the oil and turn the oily hair into nontoxic compost within 12 weeks, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Mycologist and author Paul Stamets donated $10,000 worth of oyster mushrooms to the cause.
So get thee to a barber shop/hairdresser! The Gulf needs your hair!
Sunday, May 2. 2010
Last Saturday, Jubal the Shephound led a small but enthusiastic team in the Triad MS Walk. The Triad Walk was always been popular with the doggy set, to the point that the Society hosts contests for the canine participants. Dogs of every size and shape were there, from two tiny Yorkies to a shaved St. Bernard.
Multiple sclerosis and yours truly have had a relationship for years. When I first heard the diagnosis, I thought for some reason of cerebral palsy and Jerry's kids, then of wheelchairs. Thankfully I soon educated myself ("Knowledge is Power"!), and then tried to ignore it and get on with my life. However, MS has a way of tapping you on the shoulder (or knocking you to the ground, as the case may be) and reminding you it's still there. Falling is not fun.
The medicines to treat the symptoms and slow the progression of the disease are expensive marvels of science, but they are not cure-alls. The uncertain nature of it, and how it effects different people in different ways motivate the people who have it to constantly work towards a golden goal of eventually curing or preventing it.
Which is why people walk 3-5 miles, bike 45-odd miles, and host luncheons like the irrepressible Rena Norcross to raise money for research and treatment. It is also why I decorated a birdcage for said luncheon and Jubal the dog of indeterminate origin captained a team (dogs are cute and beguiling fundraisers). An adorable gangly Laberdoodle won Miss Congeniality, Birdie the Pug won best costume, and Jubal didn't win anything - but he was a good dog!
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