Ideology has taken a bad rap in the shallows these days. And yet, ideals elevate the public discourse. They are the driving force behind even the most material aspects of a society’s achievements. While the mechanism of civilization may be intelligently controlled, occasionally directed by wisdom, it is Spiritual Idealism that advances us from one level of attainment to the next.
In 1934-1954, Arnold Joseph Toynbee’s ten-volume A Study of History came out in three separate installments. Of the 21 civilizations Toynbee identified, sixteen were dead by 1940 and four of the remaining five were under severe pressure from the one named Western Christendom – or simply The West.
Toynbee explained breakdowns of civilizations as a failure of creative power in the creative minority leading to a consequent loss of social unity in the society as a whole. Toynbee further characterized this decline as a “moral failure.” He presented history in terms of challenge-and-response. Civilizations arose in response to some set of challenges of extreme difficulty, when “creative minorities” devised solutions that reoriented their entire society.
Toynbee was severely criticized by other historians due to his use of myths and metaphors “as though they are of comparable value to factual data.”
The novelist Ray Bradbury seized upon this very criticism to underscore the value of fiction, or perhaps “the vision thing,” in relation to the self-fulfilling prophesy. His short story, The Toynbee Convector conveys lessons for the one-eyed materialist as well as the child within us.

Knowing your way around fats can help you beat the Reaper

 

Trans Fat
These fats are created during food processing when liquid oils are converted into semi-solid fats — a process called hydrogenation. This creates partially-hydrogenated oils that tend to keep food fresh longer while on grocery shelves. The problem is that these partially-hydrogenated oils contain trans fats which can also increase low-density lipoprotein LDL-cholesterol and decrease high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol — risk factors for heart disease.
 
Saturated Fat
Saturated fats are the “solid” fats in your diet. For example, if you open a container of meat stew, you will probably find some fat floating on top. This fat is saturated fat. But other saturated fats can be more difficult to see in your diet. In general, saturated fat can be found in the following foods:

• High-fat cheeses
• High-fat cuts of meat
• Whole-fat milk
• Cream Butter
• Ice cream and ice cream products
• Palm and coconut oils

As you look at this list, notice two things. First, animal fats are a primary source of saturated fat. Secondly, certain plant oils are another source of saturated fats. You may think you don’t use palm or coconut oils, but they are often added to commercially-prepared foods, such as cookies, cakes, doughnuts, and pies. Solid vegetable shortening often contains palm oils and some whipped dessert toppings contain coconut oil.
Diets high in saturated fat have been linked to chronic disease, especially heart disease.
 
Dietary Cholesterol
Cholesterol is a fatty substance that’s found in animal-based foods such as meats, poultry, egg yolks, and whole milks. When you follow the tips to reduce your saturated fat intake, in most cases, you will be reducing your dietary cholesterol intake at the same time. For example, if you switch to low-fat and fat-free dairy products, you will reduce your intake of both saturated fat and cholesterol.
Total Cholesterol is the total measured cholesterol in your blood. This number includes all types of cholesterol such as HDL and LDL. HDL stands for high-density lipoprotein. The HDL cholesterol is often called “good” cholesterol because it helps carry cholesterol away from your body’s organs and to your liver where it can be removed. LDL stands for low-density lipoprotein. The LDL cholesterol is sometimes called “bad” cholesterol because it’s the type of cholesterol that is linked with a higher chance of heart disease.
 
Polyunsaturated Fats and Monounsaturated Fats
Most of the fat that you eat should come from unsaturated sources: polyunsaturated fats and monounsaturated fats. In general, nuts, vegetable oils, and fish are sources of unsaturated fats that can help improve blood cholesterol levels. Polyunsaturated fats can also be broken down into two types:

• Omega-6 polyunsaturated fats — these fats provide an essential fatty acid that our bodies need, but can’t make.
• Omega-3 polyunsaturated fats — these fats also provide an essential fatty acid that our bodies need. Omega-3 fatty acids, particularly from fish sources, may have additional health benefits.

Monounsaturated fats may benefit insulin levels and blood sugar control, which can be especially helpful if you have type 2 diabetes.
Knowledge that certain fats can promote health, while others can destroy it, is the first step. Knowing what to look for in nutrition labels will help you chart a healthy course. But, when all else is said and done, any fat that is solid at room temperature should be avoided.
Aevia — Learn about the Cardiovascular System

Ordinary intuitions about integrity tend to allow that integrity is both a formal relation to the self and that it has something to do with acting morally. How these two intuitions can be incorporated into a consistent theory of integrity is not obvious, and most accounts of integrity tend to focus on one of these intuitions to the detriment of the other. A number of accounts have been advanced, the most important of them being: (i) integrity as the integration of self; (ii) integrity as maintenance of identity; (iii) integrity as standing for something; (iv) integrity as moral purpose; and (v) integrity as a virtue.
On the self-integration view of integrity, integrity is a matter of persons integrating various parts of their personality into a harmonious, intact whole. Understood in this way, the integrity of persons is analogous to the integrity of things: integrity is primarily a matter of keeping the self intact and uncorrupted. We might say that a display of strength of will is a particular relation between a person’s intention and corresponding action: it is a matter of acting on an intention given serious obstacles to the action. This is a formal relation to the self in the sense we are after because we don’t need to evaluate the appropriateness, value, justice, practical wisdom, and so on, either of the intention or corresponding action in order to identify the whole thing as a case of strength of will.
A conception of integrity as a virtue is compatible with the existence of constraints. Profound moral failure may be an independent defeater of integrity, just as hypocrisy, fanaticism and the like are defeaters of integrity. One might judge as internal to our conception of the virtue the idea that integrity is incompatible with major failures of moral imagination or moral courage, or with the maintenance of wholly unreasonable moral principles or opinions. On such a view, the Nazi could not, all things considered, be regarded as a person of integrity. The Nazi may be a self-deceiver and a liar (which is highly probable), but even if he is not, his principles and his actions are not rationally defensible under any coherent moral view. And this latter fact may by itself justify the judgment that the Nazi lacks the virtue of integrity.
Because integrity involves managing various commitments and values, one might conjecture that such types of integrity are simply manifestations of a person’s overall integrity, or of their personal integrity. If there is a radical disjunction between the type of integrity which is demanded in one sphere of life and another, integrity overall, or personal integrity, may be undermined, or at least profoundly challenged.
Theories of morally correct action generally aspire to develop criteria by which to categorize actions as morally obligatory, morally permissible, or morally impermissible. Some theories of morally correct action also introduce the category of the supererogatory: an action is supererogatory if and only if it is morally praiseworthy, but not obligatory.
If social educational structures fail to facilitate the life of integrity, other structures may be positively hostile to it. Arguably, and despite what might seem like overwhelming choice, job markets are structured by financial and other incentives, restricted opportunities and economic rents. The result is that many people choose careers they do not really want and for which they are barely suited. There are other perhaps more straightforward ways in which social and cultural structures may be inimical to the pursuit of integrity.
Any attempt to strive for integrity has to take account of the effect of social and political context. The kind of society which is likely to be more conducive to integrity is one which enables people to develop and make use of their capacity for critical reflection, one which does not force people to take up particular roles because of their sex or race or any other reason, and one which does not encourage individuals to betray each other, either to escape prison or to advance their career. Societies and political structures can be both inimical and favorable to the development of integrity, sometimes both at once.
. . . There’s much more at the source!
Aevia — Consider the Source

Scientists aiming their gene sequencers at commercial seafood are discovering rampant labeling fraud in supermarket coolers and restaurant tables: cheap fish is often substituted for expensive fillets, and overfished species are passed off as fish whose numbers are plentiful.
Recent studies by researchers in North America and Europe harnessing the new techniques have consistently found that 20 to 25 percent of the seafood products they check are fraudulently identified, fish geneticists say.
Aevia — Consider the Source

Dr. William Carey, Auburn University Professor, outlines a ten point system to help improve forest tree seedling survival. At a meeting, sponsored by International Forest Company, Dr. Carey explains his planting techniques and insists you give seedlings “tender loving care” from the time they leave the nursery until planted in the field.
Commandment Number One –
Do not allow seedlings to dry out. – Ample moisture is the key factor in seedling survival; seedlings must never be allowed to dry out from the nursery to planting. Plant immediately in the field. Remember “if they dry, they die”.
Commandment Number Two –
Transport seedlings carefully. – Rough handling can damage root systems and predispose seedlings to stress.
Commandment Number Three –
Avoid temperature extremes. – Fluctuations in temperature, especially excessive heat, during storage and transport can result in seedling trauma during outplanting.
Commandment Number Four. –
Plant promptly. – Once seedlings are lifted, minimize storage time, especially early in the season and avoid extended transport time.
Commandment Numbr Five. –
Do not trim or prune seedling roots. – Seedlings need every single tiny root to absorb moisture and nutrients from the ground. The more root surface, the better the growth.
Commandment Number Six. –
Do not wash or shake gel from seedling roots. – Gel applied to roots at the nursery prevents drying out during transport, decreases planting shock, and improves acclimation to the planting site.
Commandment Number Seven. –
Plant bareroot seedlings after October, preferably after December 15 and before April. – Cooler temperatures are more conducive to seedling survival and healthy growth.
Commandment Number Eight. –
Plant seedlings deeply. – Greater exposure to the soil and its water content – even one-half inch of added depth of planting – significantly improves survival rates.
Commandment Number Nine. –
Use mechanical planting, if possible. – Although slightly more expensive, planting mechanically yields better results and is an investment that pays off.
Commandment Number Ten –
Do not attempt to plant seedlings that have frozen in the pack. – Freezing irreversibly damages the root system, leading to seedling death.
Aevia — Consider the Source

Architect Gary Chang in Hong Kong, where apartments are small and expensive due to lack of space, has turned his 330-square-foot apartment into 24 ‘rooms’ via a unique sliding wall system. Through the tracks on the ceiling and the wheels at the bottom, a wall can be moved to reveal a linen closet, which in turn can be moved to reveal a bath tub and a pull down guest bed from above. “The house transforms, and I am always here,” explains Chang. “I don’t move. The house moves for me.”
The sliding panels and walls can create different combinations – 24 in all, where one room can quickly be transformed into another. There is a two-meter wide kitchen found right behind the television and a screening room with a hammock.
The house also has several green features including the three floor-to-ceiling tinted windows which bring the sunlight in, keeping the house bright without having to use any extra lighting source. A mirror that Chang has installed on the ceiling not only makes the tracks less noticeable, but also helps reflect the light throughout the apartment.

Aevia — Consider the Source

While some baby boomers are acquiring second homes, others seem to have resurrected a hippie fantasy of living with the bare minimum of possessions and going where the spirit moves us. To do extreme downsizing, you’ve got to emulate Mother Hubbard. Your cupboards have to be virtually bare.
This is not mere de-cluttering. Extreme downsizing is, like old age, not for sissies. You start by realizing that if you lived in an apartment, you wouldn’t need all that lawn and garden equipment. Then it occurs to you that in a warm climate you wouldn’t need seasonal wardrobes.
Next, you become aware that you never actually look at the pictures on the walls or the collectibles set out so artfully on the tops of the cupboards. You have proof of this when you realize that the collectibles, which require climbing a ladder to be viewed properly, have grown furry edges. How could you not have noticed?
Research can be done so quickly and efficiently online that you no longer even need a dictionary, or for that matter, a phone book. Those wall-to-wall bookshelves can be replaced by a single hand-held electronic reader. There comes a day when things you used to treasure seem less important than the time it takes to look after them.
Aevia — Consider the Source

A private firm announced a $70 million plan Friday to build Maryland’s largest solar energy project on the grounds of a state prison near Hagerstown to generate electricity for the wholesale market.
Maryland Solar LLC of Easton said it is seeking speedy approval by state utility regulators and a long-term lease on 250 state-owned acres surrounding the medium-security Maryland Correctional Institution. The company said it hopes to use inmate labor to tend the grounds and keep the thousands of solar panels clean.
If the 20-megawatt project is built, Maryland would join California in using open space around correctional institutions to commercially generate electricity from the sun. California’s prison agency said May 6 that more than 83,000 solar panels will be installed at five prisons there, with the state and contractor SunEdison splitting profits from electricity sales.
Aevia — Consider the Source

Around 100 students are expected to enroll this year in EDGE (Educating and Developing Workers for the Green Economy), a public-private partnership that offers industrial and technical certificate programs in biofuels and biotech production, analysis and processing.
EDGE’s first certificate course began in March at MiraCosta community college in northern San Diego County, and a second set of students will start classes this summer. Tuition will be waved the first two years as the program is tweaked, and course materials will later be packaged for nationwide distribution. A Masters of Advanced Science will be offered next year through the University of California, San Diego for biotech entrepreneurs.
The one-year-old EcoTech Institute near Denver, which earlier this month unveiled a new $10 million flagship campus that will host up to 1,200 students. Some 250 students have been enrolled since last July in two-year associate’s degree programs for wind and solar energy technology, electrical engineering technology, energy efficiency, environmental technology and general renewable energy training.
Where California and Colorado are readying employees for whole new professions, Nevada is looking to recruit new talent and update skills of mature workers for its decades-old geothermal industry. This summer, the National Geothermal Academy will offer its first set of eight weeklong courses on geothermal energy development and utilization at the University of Nevada, Reno.
Aevia — Consider the Source