Leanest, Meanest Rocket Stove
Very little fat on this baby!
Bob Kalk
DIY Seed Starting Kits
Learn how to make biodegradable seed starting kits out of newspaper. Consider the Source Consider the First Source! In the beginning was the Word, and the Word choreographed an assembly of amino acids into an exquisite array of specific proteins. Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole … Read more
Positive Qualities – Vibrant & Blissful
Should a person perform a meritorious action, he should do it again and again; he should find pleasure therein: blissful is the accumulation of merit. — Buddhism, Dharmmapada 18 It is a tall order to ask someone to spontaneously manufacture Vibrant Blissfulness. We do not go around in a state of energetic vitality all of … Read more
Positive Qualities – Endearing & Cordial
The secret of life is enjoying the passage of time. — James Vernon Taylor (1948-) Composer A sweet little baby is Endearing. Each of us comes into this world with a set of values gifted to us simply by the generosity of grace. As we grow, it is our responsibility to expand these elemental qualities … Read more
Positive Qualities – Sapient & Metaphysical
The ancient question is still awaiting an answer: What features in our brain account for our humanity, our musical creativity, infinitely varied artifacts, subtlety of humor, sophisticated projection (in chess, politics, and business), our poetry, ecstasy, fervor, contorted morality, and elaborate rationalization? — Theodore H. Bullock (1915-2005) Neurobiologist Sapient and Metaphysical are not words we … Read more
Food Fraud – 101
On the issue of pink slime, it’s not as if the food industry saw the light, they just felt the heat! The main supplier of ammoniated pink slime, Beef Products, Inc., has been spiraling down. But now there’s a good chance you are eating some of the other unappetizing ingredients that simply don’t belong in … Read more
Positive Qualities – Helpful & Forgiving
‘To be is to do’ — Socrates ‘To do is to be’ — Jean‑Paul Sartre ‘Do‑be‑do‑be‑do’ — Frank Sinatra — Kurt Vonnegut (1922-2007) Author This week’s Positive Qualities are Helpful and Forgiving. These are a couple of the big qualities. That is to say, so much is riding on them. Also, I had a lot … Read more
Obesity
Obesity and diabetes are epidemic, and yet the only relevant fact on which relatively unambiguous data exist to support a consensus is that most of us are surely eating too much of something. In 1960, fewer than 13 percent of Americans were obese, and diabetes had been diagnosed in 1 percent. Today, the percentage of … Read more
Net-Neutrality = Press Freedom
Net-Neutrality is the principle that data packets on the Internet should be moved impartially, without regard to content, destination or source. Throughout the history of the United States “Freedom of the Press” has been touted as a fundamental right when, in fact, such freedom has truly existed only for the one who owns the press. … Read more
Three Models of Microfinancing
The Disruptive Influence of Microfinancing Ten percent of the world has access to traditional banking. And traditional banks often refuse to finance low-income or unemployed entrepreneurs, no matter how viable their ideas are. Now, enabled by the spread of mobile technology and wireless internet access, microfinancing organizations are attempting to eradicate this problem through small … Read more