Damage caused by a fire at Breezy Point is shown in New York, Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2012. (AP / Frank Franklin

 







Sandy Hits the U.S. | CTV News

Sandy Hits the U.S. | CTV News

 

43 / 350

© 2012 All rights reserved.

United States Postal Service carrier Tony Talamini, of Bethlehem, delivers mail to a house after a large tree fell down in front of it on West Union Boulevard in Bethlehem, Pa., Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2012. (AP /The Express-Times, Matt Smith)

Sandy Hits the U.S. | CTV News

Sandy Hits the U.S. 39 / 350

 hkkk























A front end loader clears debris caught in floods and washed onto the beach near the Seaview community in the aftermath of superstorm Sandy in Coney Island, N.Y., on Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2012. (AP /Bebeto Matthews)



Source:  http://www.ctvnews.ca/photo-galleries/sandy-hits-the-u-s-1.1010834

CTV News | News Video - Top National News Headlines - News Videos

 Go here to see funny occurrences with news crews and people dancing through the news story


http://www.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=795603&playlistId=1.1017219&binId=1.810401



CTV News | News Video - Top National News Headlines - News Videos

South Africa rhino poaching hits record high

More rhinoceros have been killed this year than any year before as Asian demand for horns fuels illicit trade.

Anita Powell Last Modified: 29 Oct 2012 11:14





Rhino horns, which are reputed to have medicinal benefits, cost more per ounce than gold [Reuters]


South Africa rhino poaching hits record high


JOHANNESBURG - Elise Daffue will never forget coming upon the young male rhinoceros dying in agony in the South African bush.

The young bull was struggling to breathe as it lay in the tall grass. It had been shot in the head. Maggots swarmed across its bloody snout where poachers had crudely hacked off its horn.

The animal's top lip was paralysed; it had tried to chew on grass but couldn't summon the strength.

The rescue team determined that the animal had been laying there for a week.

"It broke my heart and it broke my soul," said Daffue, the founder of stoprhinopoaching.com, who said that the plight of the animal inspired her to continue her mission. "Seeing that animal and seeing what he's been through and knowing we were helpless to help him. … Not a day goes by when his life doesn't touch my life."

The rescue team tried to rouse the bull, but it was too weak to get up.

Veterinarian Louis Greeff tried to wash out its infected horn.

Finally, Greeff took out his rifle and aimed one shot through the animal's forehead.

"For the rhino's sake I was actually reasonably okay until he was shot," Daffue said. "But the moment he was shot, there are no words to describe the sadness and the devastation. I had never seen a live rhino like that."

The 2,000-kilogram animal died for its five-kilogram horn.

Rise in killings

That animal, which died in February in the nation's northwest Borakalalo National Park, was among the 455 rhinos slaughtered so far for their horns in 2012, a record year for rhino killings in South Africa.

That number eclipses the 448 rhinos that were killed by poachers in 2011. And the death toll has been rising: in 2010, 333 rhinos were poached. Before 2005, however, poachers in South Africa killed an average of 14 rhinos a year.

The simple explanation is that the rise in demand from the growing Asian middle class is driving the rise in poaching.



"Most of the blame falls on the shadowy, sophisticated crime networks, many of them based in Vietnam. Some of those networks have also been linked to the drug trade and to human trafficking "

- Jo Shaw - WWF South Africa



That horn, which is made of keratin and is reputed to have medicinal benefits in Asian traditional medicine, costs more per ounce than gold.

Those alleged benefits - including that its an aphrodisiac, can end hangovers and can even cure cancer - have been largely dispelled by scientific research.

But that hasn't stopped Asian consumers from snapping up the rare product at the whopping price of $65,000 a kilogram.

The drivers of the illicit trade are more complex, says Jo Shaw, rhino co-ordinator for WWF South Africa.

"It seems almost to be a three-legged stool: the complicity of some within the wildlife industry connected with initially a lack of government response and then finally the existing Asian crime networks," Shaw told Al Jazeera.

A report issued by wildlife group TRAFFIC in August noted that a growing number of rhinos are killed "with weapons characteristically used by wildlife industry professionals."

But, Shaw says, most of the blame falls on shadowy, sophisticated crime networks, many of them based in Vietnam. She said some of those networks have also been linked to the drug trade and to human trafficking.

South African journalist Julian Rademeyer is writing a book into the trade.

He's spent two years researching the book, and found that the rhino trade is complex and has deep roots. Syndicate recruiters, he says, prey on poverty endemic in the rural areas near Kruger National Park, where most of the 455 rhinos were killed.

"It's an incredibly complex situation," he said. "You have villages along the border with Kruger (National Park) on the Mozambique side that are incredibly impoverished. And they pretty much have two choices: they can cross the border to Johannesburg and try to find menial work, or they can cross into Kruger and kill a rhino and make more money that they can make in a year. That's a pretty stark choice."

He says another local group involved with the syndicates are white game farm owners. One such owner, Marnus Steyl, is on trial for allegedly exploiting legal loopholes to cover his illegal trade in rhino horn.

Danger of extinction

Conservationists have noted with increasing alarm that if the current trend continues, rhinos could be extinct in a matter of years.

Last year, the WWF announced the extinction of rhinos in Vietnam.




Rhinos attacked for their horns in South Africa


Authorities and wildlife officials have tried hard to stay ahead. Shaw noted a rise in arrests, legislative and regulatory changes, and the establishment of a national wildlife crime reaction unit. WWF, she said, was also researching the market in Vietnam in order to learn how to educate consumers against buying rhino horn.

"One of the first things we realised is that we don't know who's using it and why, to understand the drivers, so we can combat it," she said. "The worst thing you can do is have it backfire and increase demand."

Rademeyer said he was surprised during a visit to Vietnam to hear that consumers had no idea how endangered rhinos are.

"A lot of the people I spoke to didn't quite understand the fuss," he said.

He said people told him: " ‘There's a horn of this animal that we don't have in Vietnam, and you have thousands of them running around in South Africa.' It's this belief that there's almost an unlimited supply. It's a bit of a disconnect. There's this stereotype being sold in South Africa of these evil, Fu Manchu Asians trying to kill our wildlife. It's more that people there just don't understand the fuss."

In South Africa, officials have also tried more innovative solutions, including de-horning live rhinos to make them less attractive to poachers and opening a rhino orphanage in a secret location.

"It needs to be a multi-pronged response," Shaw said. "Simply having more men and more guns, obviously that's very important, but that's not going to solve the problem."

But, Rademeyer says, "the syndicates are so adept at manipulating regulations and laws that by the time the government has tightened up, the syndicates are already five steps ahead of them."

Meanwhile, Daffue has had her heart and resolve hardened by the dying rhino.

"I can honestly say that now I have zero sympathy," she said. "I went from wanting to give people benefit of the doubt because of poverty and their circumstances. But those are not the people killing rhinos, it's organised crime syndicates and gangsters killing rhinos."


Source: South Africa rhino poaching hits record high - Features - Al Jazeera English Link: http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2012/10/2012102992814639989.html

Hurricane Sandy on CTV News | Full Sandy Weather Coverage

 

Hurricane Sandy on CTV News | Full Sandy Weather Coverage

How to be Happy in 12 Simple Steps

By SONJA LYUBOMIRSKY






STEP 1 - Show gratitude 

(* There's a lot more to gratitude than saying "thank you." Emerging research shows that people who are consistently grateful are happier, more energetic and hopeful, more forgiving and less materialistic. Gratitude needs to be practised daily because it doesn't necessarily come naturally.)


STEP 2 - Cultivate Optimism


STEP 3 - Avoid overthinking and social comparison

(* Many of us believe that when we feel down we should try to focus inwardly to attain self-insight and find solutions to our problems. But numerous studies have shown that overthinking sustains or worsens sadness.)


STEP 4 - Practice kindnessChewbaaka and Koya



STEP 5 - Nurture social relationships


STEP 6 - Develop coping skills


STEP 7 - Learn to forgive 

(* Forgiveness is not the same thing as reconciliation, pardoning or condoning. Nor is it a denial of your own hurt. Forgiveness is a shift in thinking and something that you do for yourself and not for the person who has harmed you. Research confirms that clinging to bitterness or hate harms you more than the object of your hatred. Forgiving people are less likely to be hostile, depressed, anxious or neurotic.


* Forgive yourself for past wrongs. Recognising that you too can be a transgressor will make you more empathetic to others. )


STEP 8 - Find more flow

(* "Flow" was a phrase coined by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in the 1960s. It means you are totally immersed in what you are doing and unaware of yourself. Happy people have the capacity to enjoy their lives even when their material conditions are lacking and even when many of their goals have not been reached.)


STEP 9 - Savour the day



STEP 10 - Commit to your goals 

(* People who strive for something personally significant, whether it's learning a new craft or changing careers, are far happier than those who don't have strong dreams or aspirations. Working towards a goal is more important to wellbeing than its attainment.)


STEP 11 - Take care of your soul

 (* A growing body of psychological research suggests that religious people are happier, healthier and recover better after traumas than nonreligious people. ...

* Find the sacred in ordinary life ...)

STEP 12 - Take care of your body

"The How of Happiness" Sonja Lyubomirsky - TalkRational



Sonja Lyubomirsky

link: http://lyubomirsky.socialpsychology.org/




 

Positive Emotions: Barbara Fredrickson

Purpose


You have -- within you -- the fuel to thrive and to flourish,
and to leave this world in better shape than you found it.
Sometimes you tap into this fuel – other times you don’t.
But the sad fact is that most people have no idea
how to tap into this fuel or even recognize it when they do.
Where is this fuel within you?

You tap into it whenever you feel energized and excited by new ideas.
You tap into it whenever you feel at one with your surroundings, at peace.
You tap into it whenever you feel playful, creative, or silly.
You tap into it whenever you feel your soul stirred by the sheer beauty of existence.
You tap into it whenever you feel connected to others and loved.
In short, you tap into it whenever positive emotions resonate within you.


















Source: http://www.unc.edu/peplab/purpose.html

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: Renewable Energy Is Key to U.S. Growth | Daily Ticker - Yahoo! Finance

Renewable Energy Is Key to U.S. Growth

By Henry Blodget 




One of the most important issues in this year's election is energy.

Our ongoing addiction to Mideast oil leaves us dependent on countries that are often unstable and hostile. 

Developing our own domestic energy resources and investing in renewable energy lessens this dependence. 

It also has the potential to create jobs and improve our trade deficit.

The two presidential candidates have laid out energy plans that sound similar: both President Obama and Governor Romney want to continue to develop domestic energy resources, including renewable energy, with the aim of making the U.S. less dependent on foreign oil.

But according to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the president of environmental group Waterkeeper Alliance, the plans are different in several important ways. 

And President Obama's plan, Kennedy says, is much better for the country.

"We need to be energy independent but we can't look into the future by looking in a rearview mirror and say that we're going to do that through carbon," Kennedy says in an exclusive interview with The Daily Ticker. 

The idea that there's not a future for wind and solar energies in the U.S. "is just a hoax."

Kennedy gives the example of a solar plant being built in the Mojave Desert. 

The plant will be one of the largest power plants in the U.S. and will be completed in three years. 

Coal plants take 10 years to build, Kennedy points out, and nuclear power plants can take as many 30 years.

The solar plant costs $3 billion a gigawatt versus $15 billion for a nuke plant, one-fifth of the cost. 

Alternative energy sources like solar and wind are not only environmentally-friendly policies, but they're also smarter economic choices too, Kennedy says.

"We can do it cheaper, we can do it more efficiently, but we need a national commitment to do that," he says.

"You've got China, you've got Germany, you've got the rest of the world who are looking forward, who are building these new technologies and we have the lead. 

We ought to be continuing that lead and selling them these new technologies not just lagging behind sitting on our hands and letting the Koch brothers dictate our national energy policy."


According to Kennedy, Gov. Romney is merely paying lip-service to the importance of renewable energy. 

Romney's primary focus, Kennedy says, is helping his friends in the traditional energy industry: oil companies, coal companies, and nuclear companies. 

These companies already benefit from massive and largely ignored government subsidies, and they create pollution that makes the cost of the energy they produce much higher than it initially seems.

Kennedy says he believes strongly in free-market capitalism. 

But he also observes that new industries often need government help, especially when they're competing with unfathomably rich and powerful incumbents.

"Government has picked the winners," he notes. (not the competitors that can win on their own with no public assistance...)

"We give to the oil industry; we give $55 billion in direct subsidies each year. 

That's more than all the renewables put together have ever gotten in history. 

If we stripped away the subsidies:

- coal could not compete in the marketplace. 

- Oil could not compete in the marketplace and

- nuclear  could not compete in the marketplace.

You know, you can burn prime rib to make energy,


why are we going with the most expensive stuff?"

The environment is not the sole beneficiary of an alternative energy policy. 

Jobs in the wind and solar industries are high paying, plentiful and are restoring the U.S. manufacturing sector, Kennedy says.

"We're employing more people in the wind industry than there are coal miners in America," he points out.

"Today there's less than 14,000 miners in West Virginia and less than half of them are unionized. They have very little if any job security or pensions. 

- mountains of that state are being liquidated for cash,

- the communities are being destroyed and 

- it's the second poorest state in our country. 

There are two different models for industry and you have to ask yourself: 

How do we want to measure the American economy?

1. - by how many millionaires it produces or 
 do we want to measure the economy by how, and this is how we ought to be measuring it,

2. - by how it produces jobs and the dignity of jobs over the long term for every American?"


America should invest in renewables because it will:

- reduce our dependence on Mid-East oil.

- build a major new industry that 

- will create thousands of jobs,

- bolster American manufacturing, and 

- help build a much more sustainable and healthy economy.









Source:http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/robert-f-kennedy-jr-must-done-bolster-economy-141540811.html 

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: Renewable Energy Is Key to U.S. Growth | Daily Ticker - Yahoo! Finance








Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: Renewable Energy Is Key to U.S. Growth | Daily Ticker - Yahoo! Finance

Practice being patient

  

The key to everything is patience.  You get the chicken by hatching
the egg, not by smashing it.
- Arnold H. Glasgow


Talent is long patience.
- Gustavew Flaubert


The patience for waiting is possibly the greatest wisdom of all: the wisdom to plant the seed and let the tree bear fruit.
-John MacEnulty


A handful of patience is worth more than a bushel of brains.
Dutch Proverb



Patience is the art of hoping.
- Lucky Luciano


Patience helps us live longer and with less Stress.
- David March


With time and patience the mulberry leaf becomes a silk gown.
-- Chinese proverb


Patience is the ability to idle your motor when you feel like stripping your gears.
- Michael Le Fan


Patience [is one of those] "feminine qualities which have their origin in our oppression but should be preserved after our liberation.
- Simone de Beauvoir


Patience furthers.
- Lama Surya Das


We could never learn to be brave and patient, if there were only joy in the world.
- Helen Keller


Awareness releases reality to change you.
- Anthony de Mello


If we love and cherish each other as much as we can, I am sure love and compassion will triumph in the end.
- Aung San Su Kyi


Long is not forever.
- German poverb


We can do no great things; only small things with great love.
- Mother Teresa


Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labour and to wait.
- Henry W. Longfellow


I think and think for months and years, ninety-nine times, the conclusion is false.
The hundredth time I am right.
- Albert Einstein



The thing with the rat race is that even if you win, you're still a rat.
- Lily Tomlin



When people are bored it is primarily with their own selves that they are bored.
- Eric Hoffer


Keep cool: it will all be one a hundred years hence.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson


Waiting sharpens desire.  In fact it helps us recognize where our real desires lie.  It separates our passing enthusiasms from our true longings.
- David Runcorn



Faith is the belief in the unseen, the quietly held conviction that even though you can't imagine how, at some time, in some place, in the right way, the thing you desire will indeed come to pass.
- Daphne Rose Kingma




Patience is something you admire in the driver behind you, but not in the one ahead.
- David March



To practice patience, you need a real rascal to help you. It's no use practicing on gentle and kind creatures, for they require no patience.
- from "The Magic of Patience" a Jataka
tale written around 300 B.C.



If there is a defining characteristic of a man as opposed to a boy, maybe it is patience.
- Lance Armstrong




Folks differs, dearie.  They differs a lot.  Some can stand things that others can't.  There's never no way of knowin' how much they can stand.
- Ann Petry



Every moment a beginning.
Every moment an end.
- Mark Salzman



The shortest and the surest way to live with honor in the world is to be in reality what we would appear to be; all human virtues increase and strengthen themselves by the practice and experience of them.
-- Socrates





Something happens when we don't resist, when we don't hate ourselves for what we are experiencing.  Our hearts open...
Sharon Salzberg



It's taken time and practice ... to appreciate that how [we] start the day sets the pace for
everything that comes next.
- David March



You must first have a lot of patience to learn to have patience.
- Bruce Lee


Patience... is cultivated through the rational process of analysis...
It is essential that we begin our training in patience calmly, not while experiencing anger.
-the Dali Lama



Problems are only opportunities in work clothes.
- Henry J. Kaiser


Nothing is more effective than a deep, slow inhale and release for surrendering what you can't control and focusing again on what is right in front of you.
- Oprah



When the crowded refugee boats met with storms or pirates, if everyone panicked, all would be lost.  But if even one person remained calm and centered, it was enough.  They showed the way for everyone to survive.
- Thich Nhat Hanh




He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty.
And he who rules his spirit, than he who takes a city.
Proverbs 1 6:32



You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. What
you'll discover will be wonderful.  What you discover will be yourself.
- Alan Alda


Our nervous system isn't just a fiction, it's part of our physical body, and our soul exists in space and inside us, like teeth in our mouth.
- Boris Pasternak


You will be pleased to know that the heat in Lucknow has been really hot!... It is good to burn with the heat of God outside since we don't burn with the heat of God in our hearts.
- Mother Teresa



A great preservative against angry and mutinous thoughts, and all impatience and quarreling, is to have some great business and interest in your mind, which, like a sponge shall suck up your attention and keep you from brooding over what displeases you.
- Joseph Rickard



How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant of the weak and the strong - because one day you will have been all of these.
-George Washington Carver




When some misfortune threatens, consider seriously and deliberately what is the very worst that could possibly happen.  Having looked this possible misfortune in the face, give yourself sound reasons for thinking that after all it would be no such terrible disaster.
- Bertrand Russell



I am extraordinarily patient, provided I get my own way in the end.
Margret Thatcher



We are all dangling in mid-process between what already happened (which is just a memory) and what might happen (which is only an idea).  Now is the only time anything happens.  When we are awake in our lives we know what's happening.
- Sylvia Boorstein






Life is so short, we should all move more slowly.
-Thich Nhat Hanh

Practice Patience

  

The key to everything is patience.  You get the chicken by hatching
the egg, not by smashing it.
- Arnold H. Glasgow


Talent is long patience.
- Gustavew Flaubert


The patience for waiting is possibly the greatest wisdom of all: the wisdom to plant the seed and let the tree bear fruit.
-John MacEnulty


A handful of patience is worth more than a bushel of brains.
Dutch Proverb



Patience is the art of hoping.
- Lucky Luciano


Patience helps us live longer and with less Stress.
- David March


With time and patience the mulberry leaf becomes a silk gown.
-- Chinese proverb


Patience is the ability to idle your motor when you feel like stripping your gears.
- Michael Le Fan


Patience [is one of those] "feminine qualities which have their origin in our oppression but should be preserved after our liberation.
- Simone de Beauvoir


Patience furthers.
- Lama Surya Das


We could never learn to be brave and patient, if there were only joy in the world.
- Helen Keller


Awareness releases reality to change you.
- Anthony de Mello


If we love and cherish each other as much as we can, I am sure love and compassion will triumph in the end.
- Aung San Su Kyi


Long is not forever.
- German poverb


We can do no great things; only small things with great love.
- Mother Teresa


Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labour and to wait.
- Henry W. Longfellow


I think and think for months and years, ninety-nine times, the conclusion is false.
The hundredth time I am right.
- Albert Einstein



The thing with the rat race is that even if you win, you're still a rat.
- Lily Tomlin



When people are bored it is primarily with their own selves that they are bored.
- Eric Hoffer


Keep cool: it will all be one a hundred years hence.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson


Waiting sharpens desire.  In fact it helps us recognize where our real desires lie.  It separates our passing enthusiasms from our true longings.
- David Runcorn



Faith is the belief in the unseen, the quietly held conviction that even though you can't imagine how, at some time, in some place, in the right way, the thing you desire will indeed come to pass.
- Daphne Rose Kingma




Patience is something you admire in the driver behind you, but not in the one ahead.
- David March



To practice patience, you need a real rascal to help you. It's no use practicing on gentle and kind creatures, for they require no patience.
- from "The Magic of Patience" a Jataka
tale written around 300 B.C.



If there is a defining characteristic of a man as opposed to a boy, maybe it is patience.
- Lance Armstrong




Folks differs, dearie.  They differs a lot.  Some can stand things that others can't.  There's never no way of knowin' how much they can stand.
- Ann Petry



Every moment a beginning.
Every moment an end.
- Mark Salzman



The shortest and the surest way to live with honor in the world is to be in reality what we would appear to be; all human virtues increase and strengthen themselves by the practice and experience of them.
-- Socrates





Something happens when we don't resist, when we don't hate ourselves for what we are experiencing.  Our hearts open...
Sharon Salzberg



It's taken time and practice ... to appreciate that how [we] start the day sets the pace for
everything that comes next.
- David March



You must first have a lot of patience to learn to have patience.
- Bruce Lee


Patience... is cultivated through the rational process of analysis...
It is essential that we begin our training in patience calmly, not while experiencing anger.
-the Dali Lama



Problems are only opportunities in work clothes.
- Henry J. Kaiser


Nothing is more effective than a deep, slow inhale and release for surrendering what you can't control and focusing again on what is right in front of you.
- Oprah



When the crowded refugee boats met with storms or pirates, if everyone panicked, all would be lost.  But if even one person remained calm and centered, it was enough.  They showed the way for everyone to survive.
- Thich Nhat Hanh




He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty.
And he who rules his spirit, than he who takes a city.
Proverbs 1 6:32



You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. What
you'll discover will be wonderful.  What you discover will be yourself.
- Alan Alda


Our nervous system isn't just a fiction, it's part of our physical body, and our soul exists in space and inside us, like teeth in our mouth.
- Boris Pasternak


You will be pleased to know that the heat in Lucknow has been really hot!... It is good to burn with the heat of God outside since we don't burn with the heat of God in our hearts.
- Mother Teresa



A great preservative against angry and mutinous thoughts, and all impatience and quarreling, is to have some great business and interest in your mind, which, like a sponge shall suck up your attention and keep you from brooding over what displeases you.
- Joseph Rickard



How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant of the weak and the strong - because one day you will have been all of these.
-George Washington Carver




When some misfortune threatens, consider seriously and deliberately what is the very worst that could possibly happen.  Having looked this possible misfortune in the face, give yourself sound reasons for thinking that after all it would be no such terrible disaster.
- Bertrand Russell



I am extraordinarily patient, provided I get my own way in the end.
Margret Thatcher



We are all dangling in mid-process between what already happened (which is just a memory) and what might happen (which is only an idea).  Now is the only time anything happens.  When we are awake in our lives we know what's happening.
- Sylvia Boorstein






Life is so short, we should all move more slowly.
-Thich Nhat Hanh

Shoot Coyotes in NM, Win Assault Rifle as Prize

This is the craziest thing ...... especially when the Presidential debate specifically talked about assault weapon bans...   

In Canada we have very strict gun laws.  But guns of this type arrive here through criminal enterprises, just the same...

 

Getty Images

A coyote prowls near Los Angeles, Calif.

(ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.) — Coyote hunters in New Mexico will have the chance to compete for a couple of high-caliber grand prizes just in time for the holidays — a pair of Bushmaster AR-15 assault rifles.

A shooting range and gun store in Albuquerque is hosting a two-day contest to see who can kill the most coyotes, despite protests from environmentalists.

KOB-TV reports that Calibers Shooting Sports Center is holding the challenge for two-member teams beginning Dec. 1.

Susan Weiss, an advocate for the “Coexist with Coyotes” group, calls the competition “immoral and disgusting.”

Caliber’s owner, Ryan Burt, says he came up with the idea after he was approached by several ranchers from around the state who have been dealing with coyotes harming livestock.

Coyotes have no protection under New Mexico law.

PHOTOS: The Timeless, Ubiquitous AK-47

Read more: http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/10/20/shoot-coyotes-in-nm-win-assault-rifle-as-prize/#ixzz29vB3AD9a

Shoot Coyotes in NM, Win Assault Rifle as Prize | NewsFeed | TIME.com

http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/10/20/shoot-coyotes-in-nm-win-assault-rifle-as-prize/?iid=nf-article-latest

 

 Zagros Mountains, Northern Iraq, 1979

Kalashnikov's design won a state competition in 1947 (thus the name AK-47) and went into mass production two years later. 
During the deep freeze of the Cold War, the Soviet Union began pouring the guns and its manufacturing know-how into almost 20 spheres of influence, including Iraq. Here, a Kurdish girl in northern Iraq uses the gun to protect her family from an attack by the Iraqi military.

The Timeless, Ubiquitous AK-47

Josef Koudelka / Magnum

Prague, 1968

Designed by a young Russian tank commander named Mikhail Kalashnikov, the AK-47 assault rifle has attained iconic martial status all over the world. In the photo above, Soviet-led forces, armed with the rifle, crush a reform movement in Czechoslovakia.

Bettmann / Corbis

Wounded Knee, South Dakota, U.S., 1973

Known for their high quality, the guns have functioned perfectly even after being dug out of mud. 

As word spread, more than 10 other countries began making unauthorized clones, and the guns started to appear all over the world. 

This man, a member of the American Indian Movement, waves his AK-47 during the siege of Wounded Knee.

Larry Towell / Magnum

Solentiname Islands, Nicaragua, 1984

A woman and child in socialist Nicaragua train with a local defense militia to fight against the invading contras, the U.S.-backed counterrevolutionaries who sought to remove the left-wing government.

 

 

 

Oleg Nikishin / Getty

Izhevsk, Russia, 2002

Although the manufacturers of the AK-47 are proud that America likes the gun enough to support its piracy, they are outraged at the loss of profit. 

 The flood of knockoffs, some selling at a quarter of the price of the real thing, makes it next to impossible to do business. 


The gun lines in Izhevsk, shown above, employed some 12,000 people in 1991 but support only 7,000 now. 

Analysts estimate total world output of these guns at between 70 million and 105 million.

 

Michael Hanson / Aurora / Corbis

Hamer Village, Ethiopia, 2009

 

 

 

Lynsey Addario / VII Network

Bar Kambar Khel, Pakistan, 2008
Pakistani Taliban fighters jump out of a truck in the tribal area near the border of Afghanistan. The leader of the Taliban, Mullah Mohammad Omar, once challenged U.S. President Bush and U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair to a duel with AK-47s. The U.S. government has again made bulk shipments of faux Kalashnikovs to Afghan forces, this time to combat al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

 

 

 This picture juxtaposes the Playboy Bunny with the Koran and of course, the gun...

 

Michael Kamber / Polaris

Dhushamareb, Somalia, 2009
A Sufi Muslim fighter attends an outdoor religion class. Traditionally nonviolent and tolerant, Sufis in Somalia have only recently picked up guns in response to attacks from al-Shabab, a hard-line Islamist group that has subjected the country's south to a reign of terror. So far, these moderates control an area in the center of the country, enjoy popular support and have fended off incursions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1964810,00.html#ixzz29vFHfKuh

 

 

http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1964810_2066252,00.html 

Vegetarian Diet is good for your and good for the Planet.

Nothing will benefit human health and increase the chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet. - Albert Einstein

Small acts, when multiplied by millions of people, can transform the world. - Howard Zinn

“Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s need, but not every man’s greed.”
- Mahatma Gandhi

WHEN SPIDERS UNITE, THEY CAN TIE DOWN A LION.
-Ethiopian proverb

Dalai Lama calls for 'century of compassion'

 

Jessica Rinaldi / Reuters

The Dalai Lama during a lecture in Boston on Oct. 14, 2012

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — The Dalai Lama has called for a century of compassion and peace in which the gap between the rich and poor narrows and environmental stewardship is a priority.

The exiled Tibetan leader told a crowd of about 5,600 at the Rhode Island Convention Center on Wednesday that peace stems from happiness and that happiness stems from looking beyond yourself.

‘‘We are part of humanity,’’ he said, adding of fellow global citizens: ‘‘Their problem is my problem. Their happiness is my happiness. We have to look to the interests of others.’’

He called for more global dialogue and for young people to open their minds to new ways of thinking. He said that people must look beyond their families, their community, their city and even their nation.
  

He referred to closing the gap between the rich and poor as a moral issue, and said that taking care of the planet is important. If he ever joined a political party, he joked, it would be the Green Party.

 Source: http://www.boston.com/news/local/rhode-island/2012/10/17/dalai-lama-calls-for-century-compassion/Djko1BqzDIPT5fem1HjYTM/story.html

 Picture from:

Read more: http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/10/19/the-dalai-lama-said-what-transcription-error-puts-f-bomb-in-his-holiness-mouth/#ixzz29ts7GqSy

Dalai Lama calls for 'century of compassion' - News - Boston.com

TELUS - Pink Out Loud | Facebook

 

Show your support. Pink Out™ your profile picture and cover photo
to help TELUS give $2 to Rethink Breast Cancer.


TELUS - Pink Out Loud | Facebook

Every download helps us give $2 to Rethink Breast Cancer

It’s just a pink box but with you it becomes so much more. Because when you show your support by adding it as your profile and cover photo, you’re helping TELUS give $2 to Rethink Breast Cancer. So this pink box becomes the support that gives women dealing with breast cancer a shoulder to lean on, a reason to wake up in the morning and the strength to keep going.

That’s why this is the most important pink box online.

Connecting Young Women with Breast Cancer

Getting breast cancer in your 20s, 30s, and early 40s is a very different experience from
being diagnosed later in life. Diagnosis during pregnancy, effects of chemotherapy on
fertility, risk of early onset menopause or osteoporosis, feelings of isolation, questions
about sexuality, childcare, employment and financial stability are some of the biggest
issues experienced by women facing a breast cancer diagnosis. This is why
Rethink Breast Cancer created the Rethink Connect: Peer Support Program,
so that all women diagnosed with breast cancer in Canada can connect
with another woman who has been there. Thanks to TELUS, Rethink
will be able to grow our national program and provide more one-to-one
support by phone or email when a woman is diagnosed with this life
changing disease. Our peer support volunteers are ready to listen, offer
skilled emotional support and share their experiences and understanding.

This October, Pink Out™ for Rethink Breast Cancer and help us
provide critical support to the women that need it.




 Link:  http://www.facebook.com/telus?sk=app_350967814991915&app_data=BACbn1

Jardin Majorelle in Marrakesh, Morocco.

Image above: Bergé and Saint Laurent’s Jardin Majorelle in Marrakesh, Morocco.
Image via Chris Park, license by Creative Commons.

 

 

Wild Love: Yves Saint Laurent & Pierre Bergé | Design*Sponge

Link: http://www.designsponge.com/2012/10/wild-love-yves-saint-laurent-pierre-berge.html

Understand Failure to Master Success

Book:

Why People Fail

By Siimon Reynolds

(Jossey-Bass, 236 pages, $29.95)

***

We seek success. But it’s often through failure that we can learn best.

“After all, success is often just a moment – a goal fulfilled, soon to be replaced with new goals. But failure is the ambitious person’s constant companion, often dogging us for months, years, or even decades before we finally reach our aim.”

- Australian leadership coach Siimon Reynolds writes in Why People Fail.

“We need to understand and conquer failure if we are ever to master success.”



Believing that failure leads to success – and having failed many times himself in the early years of his career – he has brought together this list.

 

16 reasons why people stumble:

1. Unclear purpose: The average person has no clear purpose, and that’s why Mr. Reynolds figures they end up being average. To succeed, you need to be clear about your life purpose, job purpose, and weekly purpose, in the latter case figuring out the one or two most important tasks for the next seven days.

2. Destructive thinking: If you constantly seize upon the negative and smother your new ideas and those of people around you, then you won’t get very far. You’ll probably damage your health and give in too easily when confronted by challenges.

3. Low productivity: Too many people are disorganized, without the discipline to plan and create blocks of time to accomplish the tasks before them, and also unaware of the benefits of focusing on the few activities that generate the greatest impact.

4. Fixed mindset: Studies by American psychologist Carol Dweck have shown advantages flow to those who don’t feel their qualities and abilities are set in stone, but instead believe they can stretch their capabilities through dedicated and consistent effort.

5. Weak energy: You need lots of energy to work long hours, think clearly, and remain positive. That means keeping your energy powerful with a variety of aids – sleep, diet, exercise, sunlight, music, and positive self-talk.

6. Asking the wrong questions: Mr. Reynolds argues the most important force sculpting your life is the quality of questions you ask yourself. He suggests: What are my values? What would I do if I knew I couldn’t fail? How could I make 10 times more money? Should I even be involved in what I am currently doing? Another biggie, when facing a major decision: What could go wrong?

7. Poor presentation skills: Great presenters get ahead because their smooth presentations make them look smarter than they may actually be. “The packaging becomes the reality,” he notes.

8. Mistaking IQ for EQ: If you think high IQ is the sole determinant of success, you’re misguided. As American author Daniel Goleman has explained in his works, emotional intelligence is twice as likely as IQ to indicate success later in life.

9 Poor self-image: You need a healthy self-image because it determines which actions you will take and how you will feel every day. Both will help to determine your success.

10. Not enough thinking: An obsession with doing, doing, doing will ultimately do you in. Instead, you must think, think, think. Ideas, Mr. Reynolds says, are golden, but as a society we are suffering from a shortage of thinking time.

11. No daily rituals: Build time into your day for important habits, such as reading about your industry, fitness, improving your social life, and visualizing your goals. Try his happiness ritual as well: Take time to list all the good things in your life.

12. Stress: Stress kills your dreams, your happiness, your performance, and shortens your lifespan. Try some stress relievers, from deep breathing to getting into the sunshine. Write lists of what you need to do and what your values are, because those flush some of the uncertainty (and some of the stress) out of your life.

13. Few relationships: You need help to get where you want to be. Build friendships, including an inner circle of about 10 professional and personal contacts who can give you needed support.

14. Lack of persistence: One of the most crucial reasons people fail is that they give up too soon.

15. Money obsession: Building your life around the accumulation of money will lead to misery rather than happiness. Build your life around relationships, community, and serving others.

16. Not focusing on strengths: Spend your day exercising your strengths rather than worrying about shoring up your weaknesses.



This is a lot to take in, and the book is jammed with practical tips for dealing with each of the barriers to success. And acting on all this advice would leave very little time to actually get your work done.


Still, Mr. Reynolds has identified some danger points in our careers, and offers solid ideas to increase your chances of success, in a clear, engaging way.

 
Source:
Sixteen reasons why people fail in their careers - The Globe and Mail

 LINK:  http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/careers/management/morningmanager/sixteen-reasons-why-people-fail-in-their-careers/article2313473/%C2%A9%202012/

Binders Full Of Women

 

 

 

 

 

 

Binders Full Of Women

 Link: http://bindersfullofwomen.tumblr.com/

Environmental Philosophy

The Big Old Oak Tree


Derrick Jensen book called What We Leave Behind, is about what we leave behind.  It is a devastating critique of our culture's treatment of the natural world, on which all of life depends.  

What We Leave Behind focuses on our culture's waste products. Until fairly recently in the history of the planet, the waste of one living thing became the food of another living thing; a tree drops its leaves and the dead leaves are broken down by various processes and living creatures to become the nutrient-rich forest floor, a lion kills a gazelle and the scraps are eaten by hyenas ---  a human dies and the body is returned to the earth's natural processes, and all life is better off for it - "healthier, stronger, more resilient, more diverse."

However, we started producing waste products that no living thing can break down, which means they are essentially poisonous. Sea creatures starve to death with their bellies full of plastic.

Jensen writes, "This culture is killing the planet. This culture is killing the planet. This culture is killing the planet."

Jensen is not negative; the culture that he is criticizing is negative. Jensen is angry...

The Big Old Oak Tree quotes the Powhatan-Renape-Lenape man Jack Forbes:

The life of Native American peoples revolves around the concept of sacredness, beauty, power, and relatedness of all forms of existence. In short the "ethics" or moral values of Native people are part and parcel of their cosmology or total world view.

Most Native languages have no word for "religion" and it may be true that a word for religion is never needed until a people no longer have "religion."

As Ohiyesa (Charles Eastman) said,

"Every act of his [the Indian's] life is, in a very real sense, a religious act."... "Religion," is, in reality, "living." Our "religion" is not what we profess, or what we say, or what we proclaim; our "religion" is what we do, what we desire, what we seek, what we dream about, what we fantasize, what we think - all of these things - twenty-four hours a day."

One's religion, then, is one's life, not merely the ideal life but the life as it is actually lived.... Religion is not a prayer, it is not a church, it is not "theistic," it is not "atheistic," it has little to do with what white people call "religion"

It is our every act. If we tromp on a bug, that is our religion. If we experiment on living animal, that is our religion: if we cheat at cards, that is our religion; if we dream of being famous, that is our religion; if we gossip maliciously, that is our religion; if we are rude and aggressive, that is our religion. All that we do, and are, is our religion. (pg. 154)

What would it look like if I did my best to make everything I do an expression of the "sacredness, beauty, power, and relatedness of all forms of existence"?




Update, 3/9/11: Jensen shares authorship with Aric McBay, creator of In the Wake: A Collective Manual-in-progress for Outliving Civilization. 

Mindfulness with Jon Kabat-Zinn - YouTube

by UCtelevision on Feb 15, 2008

Renowned mindfulness meditation teacher and best-selling author Jon Kabat-Zinn speaks at UCSD Medical Center on the topic of "Coming to Our Senses", which is also the name of his new book, subtitled "Healing Ourselves and the World Through Mindfulness". A pioneer in the application of ancient Buddhist practices to healing in modern medical settings, Kabat-Zinn expounds upon the value of "resting in awareness" not only to facilitate clarity in ourselves, but also as a means of relating to and healing the "dis-ease" in politics, society and the world. Series: "Health Sciences Journal" [11/1999] [Health and Medicine] [Show ID: 9375]
Category:

Education
License:

Standard YouTube License



Jon Kabat-Zinn: Coming to Our Senses - YouTube

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nwwKbM_vJc&feature=watch-vrec

Audrey Tautou Interview - YouTube

uploaded by BackStageCasting on Sep 23, 2009
 

Actress Audrey Tautou talks with Back Stage about playing famous fashion designer Coco Chanel in her new film, 'Coco Before Chanel.' With writer/director Anne Fontaine.

www.backstage.com

Category:

Entertainment

License:

Standard YouTube License

Audrey Tautou Interview - YouTube

What is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?

The Summer Day – Mary Oliver – 1992



Who made the world?

Who made the swan, and the black bear?

Who made the grasshopper?

This grasshopper, I mean—

the one who has flung herself out of the grass,

the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,

who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down—

who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.

Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.

Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.

I don’t know exactly what a prayer is.

I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down

into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,

how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,

which is what I have been doing all day.

Tell me, what else should I have done?

Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon?

Tell me, what is it you plan to do

with your one wild and precious life?

Lawsuit: "Narconon operates a dangerous, unsafe and unsupervised drug and alcohol rehabilitation program.” » Breaking News » McAlester News-Capital, McAlester, OK

 Something bothered me about the wording of the article - the patients are called 'students' and the Hubbard philosophy is called a 'technology'... 

it was tempting to change the wording, which was done in a few places, and not the rest because it occurred to me that it must have been the wording of Narconon Rehab when discussing people under their care.  

Maybe it is a strategy not calling them patients; an attempt to avoid responsibility for the same level of care required of a medical facility?

.......

 

"Narconon alcohol rehabilitation program.”

By Jeanne LeFlore Staff Writer

 

McALESTER — The parents of a patient  found dead at Narconon Arrowhead this summer have  filed a lawsuit against the facility and its medical director alleging  “Narconon’s actions were grossly negligent, willful, wanton and reckless resulting in the suffering and death of Stacy Murphy, the plaintiff’s daughter.

”The suit also alleges Narconon and ABLE acted together in concert to “tortuously operate a dangerous, unsafe an unsupervised drug and alcohol rehabilitation program".

Narconon Arrowhead is a nonprofit drug and alcohol rehabilitation center at Canadian which has been the center of an ongoing investigation after the deaths of four patients. Three of the deaths occurred at the facility in the last year.

Robert Murphy and Tonya White, parents of 20-year-old Stacy Dawn Murphy of Owasso, seek damages in excess of $75,000 from Narconon Arrowhead, Narconon International, the Association for Better Living and Education International and Dr. Gerald Wootan.

The lawsuit alleges that “Narconon’s actions were grossly negligent, willful, wanton and reckless resulting in the suffering and death of Stacy Murphy, the plaintiff’s daughter.”

The suit also alleges Narconon and ABLE acted together in concert to “tortuously operate a dangerous, unsafe an unsupervised drug and alcohol rehabilitation program.”

On Friday, Stacy’s father said he’s relieved to have the suit filed.

“I’m glad it’s done. Now we can get to the truth,” said Stacy’s father.

Officials at the facility have declined comment. An attorney for Narconon, M. David Riggs, states in a letter to the McAlester News-Capital that federal law prohibits the disclosure of information about participants in drug and alcohol addiction treatment programs, and that family members have not consented to release information about Murphy and others who have died in connection with Narconon.

Robert Murphy said the suit had to be filed.

 “Obviously now you have to file a suit to the evidence to get to the truth.”

Filed by trial lawyers Gary L. Richardson and Charles L.  Richardson who represent the plaintiffs, the lawsuit alleges wrongful death, negligence, and violation of the Oklahoma Consumer Protection Act. 

“The death of Stacy Murphy is a real tragedy,” the attorneys said in a press release.

 “She was addicted to drugs and she and her parents were introduced to Narconon when they sought treatment for Stacy, the press release states. 

“They were provided misleading information on the Narconon website and by Narconon representatives, which led them to believe that Narconon Arrowhead would be a safe and effective treatment facility.”

On Thursday, attnorney Gary Richardson said litigation against Narconon Arrowhead was pending for the family of Gabriel Graves, who was also found dead at the facility.

According to police reports,  from October 2011 until July of 2012 three people were found dead at the facility.

In Oct. the body of Gabriel Graves, 32, was found dead in his bed facing a wall in his room at the facility then in April, Hillary Holten, 21,  was found dead face down in her bed also in her room at the facility and in July, Murphy was also found dead at Narconon facility.

 Officials are also looking into the 2009 death of Kaysie Dianne Werninck, 28, who also died while admitted as a Narconon patient. 

The attorneys also allege that Narconon Arrowhead fraudulently tells potential students that a physician is on staff 24 hours a day. “Instead, a physician is present only once a week.”

In August  another lawsuit was filed by Matthew and Suzan Holten, the parents of Hillary Holten.

According to court records, a civil lawsuit filed in Pittsburg County Court on August 23, alleges that Narconon did not provide adequate medical care for Hillary Holten and that she died as a result of Narconon’s negligence.

In the case filed Friday for the Murphy family, the attorneys allege that “Narconon ... and ABLE an umbrella group that oversees the drug rehabilitation, education and criminal justice activities of the Church of Scientology... all rely exclusively on the written 'technology' of L. Ron Hubbard, founder of the Church of Scientology, to address the drug and alcohol rehabilitation needs of students enrolled in Narconon programs.

This despite the fact that  Hubbard had no known training or education in the field of drug and alcohol rehabilitation. 

However, instead of providing drug rehabilitation, the defendants have concealed, and continue to conceal, the Narconon program's true relationship with ABLE by teaching the Hubbard technology.”

The suit also alleges that patients of Narconon receive no counseling or education in drug or alcohol rehabilitation ... and  discussion of drugs and their effects among patients and staff is actually discouraged. Instead (Narconon) believing that strict adherence to the Hubbard philosophy addresses the rehabilitation needs of it’s patients.

The lawsuit states that “Narconon staff is mostly composed of former students of the program and they lack training and education in fields of both drug and alcohol rehabilitation and were not sufficiently trained to evaluate and understand the serious nature of Stacy Murphy’s condition.”

Her parents were introduced to Narconon when they sought treatment for Stacy.

According to the lawsuit, “Stacy Murphy became addicted to prescription drugs, and when her addiction escalated to the use of heroin, her parents searched the Internet for safe and effective rehabilitation facilities. 

After reviewing misleading and fraudulent information provided by the Narconon website, Stacy's parents believed that Narconon Arrowhead would be a safe and effective treatment facility for her, and Stacy agreed to seek treatment there.

 After several weeks of treatment, Stacy requested and was granted a leave of absence to visit her family outside the facility, even though she did not meet any of the criteria for a leave of absence. 

On July 17, 2012, Stacy left the facility with the permission of Narconon Arrowhead, which violated the facility's own Patient Visitors and Leave Rules.

Stacy returned to the facility the next day and sometime later that evening, Narconon Arrowhead staff allegedly observed Stacy and believed she was under the influence of drugs and she was sent to the facility's Withdrawal Unit.”

According the lawsuit, while Stacy was in the Withdrawal Unit, there was no nurse or physician on staff within the facility and, for at least two hours following a shift change, there were no staff members present within the facility to supervise Stacy. 

“This was in complete contradiction to the statements and assurances made to Stacy's parents about Narconon Arrowhead's staff, specifically, assurances that a physician would be present 24 hours a day,” the lawsuit states.

Stacy was found dead in the Withdrawal Unit on Thursday, July 19, 2012, at approximately 9:20 a.m., the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit further states that the defendants had a duty to Stacy Murphy to exercise the required national standards of care to ensure that she was provided a safe, scientifically and medically based, reasonably supervised rehabilitation treatment services.

..................................

 

This article needs to be viewed with great seriousness.  It has been rumored that Scientology is operating rehabilitation facilities in our area of Canada and they keep quiet about their affiliation with their church of L. Ron Hubbard.

The Canadian magazine Maclean's on October 8, 2012 published an investigative report called "Scientology's plan for Canada" that implies they have become unpopular in California but are making a massive expansion into Canada. 

They say, "Due to its history of aggressive litigation, news reports on the church, especially in Canada, have been sporadic."  

If you witnessed Tom Cruise ranting and raving about his wonderful church, you know how obsessed these people can get.... . 

This is just one facility being sued....  How many places do these maniacs operate???. 

..................................................................



Read More:

Contact Jeanne LeFlore at jleflore@mcalesternews.com.

 Source:
Lawsuit: "Narconon operates a dangerous, unsafe and unsupervised drug and alcohol rehabilitation program.” » Breaking News » McAlester News-Capital, McAlester, OK

Link: http://mcalesternews.com/breakingnews/x1939586385/Lawsuit-Narconon-operate-s-a-dangerous-unsafe-an-unsupervised-drug-and-alcohol-rehabilitation-program