They are all different.

From a blog I recently read due to its environmental outset, I re-post a part that I've found holds time and time and time again. I just say: human. We're all human. (And the bunch of stuff that comes with it.)

"Trying to determine the impact on the indigenous people reminded me of when I lived in Germany, and people would ask “What are Germans like?” That’s sort of like asking “What’s an American like?” Well, are we talking about someone living in Texas, New York, or Minnesota? Is the person rich or poor? Are they religious? What is their political affiliation? It turns out that Germans, Australians, South Africans – and every nation in the world – has people that shouldn’t be stereotyped. So I would say “Germans are like everyone else. They are all different.”"

I tell that story because that’s the impression I developed after trying to determine the impact of oil sands development on First Nations groups. Some hate it. Some love it. Many work for the companies we visited. Development has brought wealth to some. On the other hand, some don’t like the infringement on their historical lands, and they don’t like the environmental implications. Certain tribes would favor development, and certain tribes wouldn’t. And within those tribes will be individuals who feel differently about it. Some of that will come down to whether there is a sufficient financial benefit relative to the downside. It is not that different from other energy projects. There are always people on both sides of the issue. And if you are being impacted negatively but not compensated financially, you are going to be against.

My point is that it isn’t a black and white issue.

From: Energy Trends Insider

Wind farms and Birds - EU study and Slovenia's Volovja reber

  Whoo-ey!
EU document available here.

Newest EC document provides a thorough overview on Wind farms and birds.

Via Tomaz J. from email message to a news-list.

EU document available here.

Have you hugged an "introvert" today?

Watch out, they might hiss.

But, leave them a bit, make them feel comfortable, and they'll be in a state of bliss.

Read more here, on a post titled How to interact with the introverted.

Obviously, the need creates a design. What if your clothing could keep your personal space?

"Spike Away vest" keeps people out of your personal space. A designer's spiky vest makes your personal space an unwelcome zone for other people.: http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-57614531-1/spike-away-vest-keeps-people-out-of-your-personal-space/

Confessions - Whatever Happens in Vegas ...

This is an image from an art exhibition and a very interesting project that I recently got via Facebook (via Nina A.).

Check out the project here: Confessions.

Nevednost

Zadevo je najbolje razložil John Steinbeck, ki je dejal, da se socializem v Ameriki ni uveljavil, ker reveži ne pojmujejo sebe kot izkorišcani proletariat, marvec kot milijonarje v zacasnih težavah.

Vir: http://www.siol.net/priloge/kolumne/miha_mazzini/2013/11/slozni_v_nevednosti.aspx
[Miha Mazzini v prilogi Siol.neta, 08.11.2013]

In pa:
Preživitvena strategija gledanja proc je dosegla velik konsenz in postala del mentalitete, zato je treba logiko, matematiko in pismenost znati le v šoli in jih v vsakdanjem življenju cim prej pozabiti.

Volovja reber - Pokrajina, ki bi lahko postala narodni park

"Elektrarna Senožeška brda, če bo zgrajena, kot je načrtovana, bo v petnajstih letih dobila okoli 150 milijonov evrov subvencij, kar pomeni, da bo morala vsaka družina v Sloveniji prispevati 200 evrov.
Pogovarjamo se o res velikih številkah, nekdo pa bo obogatel, ker so subvencije nerazumno visoke."

In pred tem:
"Velik del tega zneska pa prispevamo davkoplacevalci. Ocenjujemo, da so spodbude previsoke in bi lahko z denarjem, ki gre za subvencioniranje vetrnih elektrarn, naredili v tem trenutku več koristi za zmanjševanje CO2, če bi ga vlagali drugam. Na primer v energetsko sanacijo stavb, izolacije, zamenjavo oken. Ko bo to narejeno, pridejo na vrsto tudi vetrnice. Ta trenutek pa ta denar ni gospodarno porabljen."

Vir: Petrovec (2013). Pokrajina, ki bi lahko postala narodni park. Tomaz Jancar o boju za Volovjo reber in njenih lepotah. Nedeljski Dnevnik, 23. 10. 2013, Str. 10.

'Ne vem, zakaj Hrvatje znajo prodajati nacionalne parke, Slovenci pa ne.' 

 Kaj vse ponuja Volovja reber
"Ce pridete na Volovjo reber ali Gure, kot se ji reče po domače, vam seže pogled na kvarnerske otoke vse do Paga. Ljubitelji ptic bodo videli tam pestrost živalskih vrst, ki je med največjimi v državi. Na Volovji rebri živijo vse velike zveri, ki jih imamo v Sloveniji, in to najbolj zdrave populacije. Risi volkovi, medvedi. Velika je tudi raznolikost rastlinskih vrst."

NEW! Organic and fairtrade Tibetan Salt, straight from the Himalayas!

NEW! Organic and fairtrade Tibetan Salt, straight from the Himalayas!

It was piled and carried by organic life forms, so it's partly organic.
The salt-miners were paid the fair value for the local circumstances, so .50 € per day.
Comes from Tibet. Really. Has a stamp and all. So it must be true.
Did make its way across the globe, to your local store, so It didn't actually come straight from Himalayas, but it was more like a curvy-road.
And to be honest, the environmental impact of the transport far outweighs any fair-, eco- and "organic" components of its production.
May contain actual grains of salt (Sodium Chloride).And traces of other elements and impurities.

Get it at your local organic shop ThrivaViva now and buy some yummy bioekoorganicfairtrade chocolate as well! For only 10 € per 100 g.

We let you pay, because you care.

 

 

 

Just a rant, nothing to worry about. Pointing to sense-less-ness often seen in the shops (yes, even organic ones). And complaining about the costs. Both the costs in the market (too high compared to everything else (which is, in turn actually too low, compared to the environmental impact it has)), as well as the environmental externalities. Oh, and also pointing to silly stuff people - due to past lawsuits - need to put on packaging. You buy a pack of nuts and it may contain nuts, that's nuts.

Cuspidate, Word of the day

cus·pi·date

adjective \ˈkəs-pə-ˌdāt\   (Medical Dictionary)

:  having a cusp :  terminating in a point <a cuspidate leaf> <cuspidate molars>
Latin cuspidatus, past participle of cuspidare to make pointed, from cuspid-, cuspis point

First Known Use: 1692

From: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cuspidate

Social media and teens

Below, excerpts from the article, titled Teenagers and social networking – it might actually be good for them. Got it via: #Bloom.

 

Let's go back to that girl who texts 250 times a day. The truth is, she was an extreme case I cherry-picked to startle you – because when I interviewed her, she was in a group of friends with a much wider range of experiences. Two others said they text only 10 times a day. One was a Facebook refusenik /.../

 

Amanda Lenhart of the Pew Research Centre, a US thinktank, found that the most avid texters are also the kids most likely to spend time with friends in person. One form of socialising doesn't replace the other. It augments it.

 

But surely all this short-form writing is eroding literacy? Certainly, teachers worry. Pew Centre surveys /.../

Stanford University scholar Andrea Lunsford gathered data on the rates of errors in "freshman composition" papers going back to 1917, she found that they were virtually identical to today. 

 

This type of interaction online with strangers can make kids more community-minded. Joseph Kahne, a professor of education at Mills College in California, studied 400 teenagers over three years. Kahne found that teens who participated in fan or hobby sites were more likely than other kids to do real-world volunteering. Interestingly, this wasn't true of being on Facebook.

 

Just last week, California passed a law allowing minors to demand that internet firms erase their digital past and the EU has contemplated similar legislation.

 

Distraction is also a serious issue. When kids flip from chat to music to homework, they are indeed likely to have trouble doing each task well. And studies show that pupils don't check the veracity of information online – "smart searching" is a skill schools need to teach urgently.

It's also true, Lenhart points out, that too much social networking and game playing can cut into schoolwork and sleep. This is precisely why parents still need to set firm boundaries around it, as with any other distraction.

 

Nice:

So what's the best way to cope? The same boring old advice that applies to everything in parenting. "Moderation," Lenhart says. Rebecca Eynon argues that it's key to model good behaviour. Parents who stare non-stop at their phones and don't read books are likely to breed kids who will do the same. As ever, we ought to scrutinise our own behaviour.

 

 

Above excerpts from the article, titled Teenagers and social networking – it might actually be good for them.