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Showing posts from 2016

We're polluting the depth of the ocean

Sadly, human pollution is shaping regions of the earth no human can inhabit. "There appears to be no environment on Earth that has escaped plastic pollution. Indeed, despite the distance from land, plastics are ubiquitous in remote marine environments, including polar regions. These plastics are known to cause impacts to terrestrial and marine ecosystems both at the macro- and micro-scale." More at this scientific report published here by Nature.com  There are alternatives to our widespread use of plastic. I am not one who fears global catastrophe, though I do worry about how future generations (and how we) will reap what we have sown with overuse, misuse, and abuse. We can do better and survive.  Perhaps we can do better and thrive! Toward eupan ~ ~ marty alan michelson, ph.d.

Your Blue Jeans may be 6000 years old Peruvian Cloth!

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"Many people, however, remain mostly unaware of the important technological contributions made by Native Americans . . ." A single line in an article about your most recent pair of Levi's ! :) We tend to take our current technology for granted.  It was constructed by others - many indigenous or "foreign to us" people. Just weeks ago I learned that vanilla, which I love as Ice Cream or as a flavoring spice in many cooked goods, comes to us as the result of an Indian Ocean Island boy named Edmond Albius . These are reminders to me today of our need to value Peruvians and natives of the Islands of the Indian Ocean.   And, our need to value indigenous persons and people from all regions of the world. Toward eupan ~ marty alan michelson, ph.d.

The Principle of Compassion - Charterforcompassion.org

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The principle of compassion lies at the heart of all religious, ethical and spiritual traditions, calling us always to treat all others as we wish to be treated ourselves. Compassion impels us to work tirelessly to alleviate the suffering of our fellow creatures, to dethrone ourselves from the centre of our world and put another there, and to honour the inviolable sanctity of every single human being, treating everybody, without exception, with absolute justice, equity and respect.  It is also necessary in both public and private life to refrain consistently and empathically from inflicting pain. To act or speak violently out of spite, chauvinism, or self-interest, to impoverish, exploit or deny basic rights to anybody, and to incite hatred by denigrating others—even our enemies—is a denial of our common humanity. We acknowledge that we have failed to live compassionately and that some have even increased the sum of human misery in the name of religion.  We therefore call upon

Genocide in Iraq & Syria.

CNN reports: Secretary of State John Kerry said Thursday that the United States has determined that ISIS' action against the Yazidis and other minority groups in Iraq and Syria constitutes genocide.  "My purpose here today is to assert in my judgment, (ISIS) is responsible for genocide against groups in areas under its control including Yazidis, Christians and Shiite Muslims," he said, during a news conference at the State Department.  Kerry said in 2014, ISIS trapped Yazidis killed them, enslaved thousands of Yazidi women and girls "selling them at auction, raping them at will and destroying the communities in which they had lived for countless generations," executed Christians "solely for their faith" and also "forced Christian women and girls into slavery."  "Without our intervention, it is clear that those people would have been slaughtered," he said.  This is the first time that the United States has declared a gen

Putting an End to Bullying - and Increasing Self-Esteem!

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We can do more to intervene to help others! Be an upstander by not standing-by as a bystander to hurt and harm. " Our findings are the first to show that the most tormented children -- those facing bullying several times a week -- can be helped by teaching bystanders to be more supportive . . . "   Many K-12 school efforts to reduce bullying have proven not very effective, leading educators to wonder what bullying prevention approach works best. A new study finds one anti-bullying program works extremely well. The study of more than 7,000 students in 77 elementary schools in Finland found that one program greatly benefited the mental health of sixth graders who were bullied the most, significantly improving their self-esteem and reducing their depression. Read more at Science Daily . Toward eupan ~ ~ marty alan michelson, ph.D.

Eradicating Human Dis-ease! It can be done.

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Viruses, bacteria, and organisms are complex! Many that are "poisonous" to one species are in the food chain of another species. The Guinea Worm that has plagued millions of humans may never harm another human. Congratulations to the tireless efforts of many, and the leadership of President Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter. More news at this link and this excerpt: IT LOOKS like something out of a Gothic movie: a metre-long monster that emerges slowly through blistered human skin, its victim writhing in agony. No one is spared. It can creep out from between the toes of a child or from the belly of a pregnant woman. In the mid-1980s Dracunculus medinensis, the Guinea worm, as this horror is called, afflicted 3.5m people a year in 20 countries in Africa and Asia. But last year that number was down to just 22, all of them in Chad, Ethiopia, Mali and South Sudan. Dracunculiasis is thus poised to become the second human disease to be eradicated, after smallpox.  This bles

86 Burned to Death - over 20,000 Killed in past 6 Years

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"A survivor hidden in a tree says he watched Boko Haram extremists firebomb huts and heard the screams of children burning to death, among 86 people officials say died in the latest attack by Nigeria's homegrown Islamic extremists." I have no answers to this complex situation. I simply know the violence of our world and the displacement of persons pains me to my core. There is enough food and there are enough resources for vibrant living, if only we can find the means to be different in our world. Full NY Times link . Toward eupan ~ ~ marty alan michelson, ph.d.

Shared Humanity & Stewardship of Creation

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If all humans could see themselves as part of the larger family of human-persons in the world, on this planet as shared stewards in our generation preparing for the next generation, life would be much better for everyone. I was encouraged to read Pope Francis' admonition that Jews are the "elder brothers" of Christians , as Francis denounced violence done in God's name. Recently, a Christian professor, Larycia Hawkins has been under fire for her solidarity with Muslim women.  For my part, I do believe the separate belief systems of Jews, Muslims, Christians are different in ways that can never truncate them to the same belief.  And I do believe Buddhism and Hinduism, Sikhism, Jainism, and Zoroastrianism are all unique in quite different ways, too. And yet, I do not believe that we who are human are different in ways that should permit violent exclusion and intolerant hatred. All humans have red and white blood cells, neurons and synapses, spleens and spines