Thursday, May 6, 2010
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Commentary: On Making Every Day Earth Day
Creativity + Social Change, University of Connecticut
Media Reviewed:
NASA Climate Report on Global Warming, including interview with Professor Gerald Dickens (associate Professor of Earth Sciences, Rice University, USA) on carbon dioxide being released from oceans. Highlights the latest findings that the Arctic ice could almost be all melted by 2012. Includes teleconference with Supreme Master Ching Hai.
Excerpt from Supreme Master Ching Hai’s lecture "Save the Planet at All Cost International Gathering August 8, 2009
Commentary:
Let’s make EARTH DAY ... every day!
The 40th anniversary of Earth Day was this past Tuesday, April 22, 2010! By now, it’s no secret that we should all take action to help our planet. It is often overwhelming to think about how we can change our lifestyles to better our environment. However, we can all take steps (even small ones) to participate toward making every day Earth day.
According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the following are the top environmental issues to be concerned with:
- Water
- Air
- Climate
- Wastes and Pollution
- Green Living
- Human Health
Polluted water can harm our ability to use water in our homes, for recreation, and in business/trade. It also harms other kinds of life. We need to work to protect water in all its forms: on the ground, underground, and coming out of the tap.
Polluted air comes from a variety of places and has many disastrous effects. It hurts the earth and other living things. We need to improve the air to breathe!
Our Earth's climate has changed many times during the planet's history according to the EPA. From ice ages to lengthy periods of warmth. Volcanic eruptions, the Earth's orbit, and energy from the Sun have all impacted our planet’s climate. However, the Industrial Revolution has extrememly changed the atmosphere!
Waste needs to be reduced. Waste destroys our water, air and land! We spend tons of money trying to clean up pollution. Let’s work harder to prevent too much waste! Preventing pollution is better. Reduce, reuse, recycle!
Green living is the way to start loving our selves and our planet!
Human health is a product of “going green.”
Visiting Web sites like the EPA’s can often contribute to overwhelming feelings. There is so much that needs to be done and so quickly. Although it’s extremely important to continue to recycle, it is just a start. Not only do Earthlings need to worry about waste materials such as plastics, we also need to take a closer look at other types of waste and what we are producing. Other important areas to investigate are chemicals and our daily diet. If we can narrow in on what personal actions can make the biggest impact, we can achieve greater success!
By “going green” we can become aware of the harmful, processed food we often digest. We can take the extra step to shop for healthy produce and utilize farmers markets. Most importantly, Americans need to reduce the amount of meat we eat on a weekly basis.
Scientists have determined that eating less meat may help save our planet and our health! Not only does consuming less meat reduce the chance of a heart attack, but if we can reduce the amount of meat we eat by 30% the industry could “slash its emissions!”
Happy Earth Day!
Monday, April 5, 2010
Commentary: On FRESH the Movie
Creativity + Social Change, University of Connecticut
Media Reviewed:
FRESH the Movie
FRESH celebrates the farmers, thinkers and business people across America who are re-inventing our food system. Each has witnessed the rapid transformation of our agriculture into an industrial model, and confronted the consequences: food contamination, environmental pollution, depletion of natural resources, and morbid obesity. Forging healthier, sustainable alternatives, they offer a practical vision for a future of our food and our planet. Among several main characters, FRESH features urban farmer and activist, Will Allen, the recipient of MacArthur’s 2008 Genius Award; sustainable farmer and entrepreneur, Joel Salatin, made famous by Michael Pollan’s book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma; and supermarket owner, David Ball, challenging our Wal-Mart dominated economy.
Commentary:
I chose to write about this movie because it really struck me how the general public doesn’t know exactly what they are eating. Most of our fruits and vegetables are covered with chemicals and animals are being given so many antibiotics that they don’t need, it’s like we are poisoning ourselves. This movie shows us alternatives we can take to eat healthier and we can do this in our backyards. Also, it was a creative idea to share this movie with others and when I saw this, I saw it with my classmates and other people in the community. The point of this movie was to help people to think creatively to shift their lifestyles and to eat healthier.
I recall that in the movie someone said that there are people who want to eat healthy but there isn’t a place nearby where they can get fruits and vegetables. Will Allen, who used to be a professional basketball player, has his own farm and has many people come to visit to learn more about growing crops. He is involved in a program called Growing Power which brings the community together. This way he can show people how to grow crops in their own backyards, even in urban areas like where Will lives. I like the idea of how he uses waste as compost. The worms that are mixed in it turn it into compost. The point of this is to make sure people have access to fresh, healthy food. I also believe that it’s important for people to be able to obtain healthy food. We need to eat healthier and prevent obesity. It doesn’t appear that Will Allen uses pesticides on his crops. We don’t need that on the crops; if anything it is more harmful to us the more we ingest it.
Who ever thought how much antibiotics animals are given. I think it’s unbelievable how much they are given. This movie presents a long list of antibiotics that animals are injected with, which supposedly makes them grow faster and wards off low-grade infections. So, if we are eating meat with all these antibiotics in it and if we could get really sick, even if we try to take whatever medications to fight off the sickness it may not do anything because of how much antibiotics were given to the animals. This can cause some microorganisms that cause illnesses in humans to become immune to certain antibiotics. Overall, it’s dangerous for us to be eating many of the meats we buy in the grocery stores because of what the animals are given.
Watching this movie really made me think so much about what is in our food and what we are really eating. What can we do about this? I don’t think pesticides and other chemicals are needed in the things we grow. The animals we would be eating don’t need antibiotics at all. I found this movie to be inspiring. I want to learn more about where I can get food that won’t put my health in danger. This is a movie that I recommend to everyone to watch. I think this will put a shock to their system once they find out the truth behind food we buy. This is a movie that helps spread the word to others.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Commentary: On "New Biography Focuses on Einstein's Creativity"
Creativity + Social Change, University of Connecticut
Media Reviewed:
Talk of the Nation: Science Friday - July 6, 2007Related Readings:
LISTEN TO AUDIO: “New Biography Focuses on Einstein's Creativity”
In his new biography of Albert Einstein, author Walter Isaacson argues that it was Einstein's creativity, not his mathematical genius, that led him to his great discoveries.
- Ira Flatow, Host and Executive Producer
- Walter Isaacson, author, Einstein: His Life and Universe; president and CEO, The Aspen Institute; former managing editor, Time magazine; former chairman and CEO, CNN
Excerpt: 'Einstein' by Walter Isaacson, From Chapter 1: The Light-Beam RiderCommentary:
The Einstein Factor: Proven Techniques to Boost Your Brain's Performance!
NOVEMBER 1995 SUCCESS Pages 55-62 [reprint]
In his narrative biography on the life of Albert Einstein, the two words that Walter Isaacson uses to describe the true success and ability for Einstein to develop his amazing theories comes down to freedom and creativity. He argues that it was not dependently the fact of Einstein’s great mind about science and mathematics that gave me such great insight into solving his greatest theories but it was the very way he perceives the universe that made him so different. But in a work of study that came several years before Isaacson’s biography, the question is begged if the traits found in Einstein were specific to his genius or if anyone could develop his or her own brain into being so wise and intuitive.
According to Isaacson, Benjamin Franklin and Einstein shared a trait of creativity. However, where Franklin excelled as an experimentalist, Einstein came up short. Isaacson explains that during a series of mental exercises Einstein was “driven by an imagination that broke from the confines of conventional wisdom” and that Einstein could “picture the underlying reality behind a mathematical equation.” These “thought experiments” were close to what the common layman might consider daydreams and delved Einstein’s mind into abstract curiosities. Einstein’s rise to fame came at a time when society was encouraging the breakage of classical bonds of conformity and celebrating figures like Picasso, Freud, and Joyce. His departure from conventional scientific methods was a welcomed jump from the stiff experiment-based science.
It wasn’t always that Einstein did not care for traditional science but that he was not very good at the typical learning methods. He thought more in visualizations than through “normal” written studies, which combined with his rebelliousness and creativity, allowed him to think of the universe as a puzzle more than a series of mathematical equations. His rebellious nature was against authority of many sorts and current limitations in scientific knowledge were no exception. His theories were so extreme and vast in topic for the time (relativity, energy, and space) it’s no wonder they captured the imagination of society.
An earlier work by Dr. Win Wenger (The Einstein Factor) suggests that Einstein was not born as a genius but trained his mind in a sense that allowed him to tap into these greater thoughts. When Einstein’s brain was autopsied there was no obvious difference between his own and a layman, but under further research it was discovered the true less obvious difference was the sheer number of neurological connections his brain encased. The higher the number of connections that your brain develops the greater an individual’s ability is to think. Through specific and not so specific types of interactions, Dr. Wenger suggests that anyone is capable of having such a genius mind if they, no pun intended, put their mind to it.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
A Tour of 'Creativity and Social Change' in Society ... Creativity, Food and Science
- Creativity Networking - Willimantic, Connecticut - Creativity, Food and Science resources on "molecular gastronomy"
- Spanish chef Ferran Adriá at El Bulli - "A day at El Bulli" video -Adriá at documenta
