The most destructive habit......................Worry
The greatest Joy.......................................Giving
The greatest loss......................................Loss of self-respect
The most satisfying work..........................Helping others
The ugliest personality trait......................Selfishness
The most endangered species..................Dedicated leaders
Our greatest natural resource..................Our youth  read more »

A simple alignment of goals among developers and a commitment to green building is all we would need to change the face of building construction during a time when construction is booming.

The World Business Council for Sustainable Development released a survey last week which found that real estate and construction costs of green buildings are overestimated by 300%. The 1400 respondents also understated greenhouse gas emissions from building as 19% of the world's total while the actual number is 40%.  read more »

I’m sure by now you all have noticed the ongoing meltdown in the mortgage industry. The cause of this whole mess is a little bit complicated, rooted in both the structure of the mortgage industry, and human nature. I’ll try to explain both factors here in layman’s terms.

How does the mortgage industry work?

Most of you have seen the ever present ads for mortgages, promising low payments, and low interest rates and no income checks required. Seems a little fishy and too good to be true, right? Well, for the most part it is. Let’s go through the whole loan process, from start to finish. In a perfect world, this is how it works.  read more »

Pregnant mothers-to-be and those breastfeeding who eat junk food may also be passing a craving for junk foods and a tendency towards obesity to their children. Researchers at the Royal Veterinary College in London published the findings in the British Journal of Nutrition showing the rats given access to junk foods when pregnant, and/or while breastfeeding had offspring that overate and favored junk foods such as donuts and potato chips.  read more »

The Forest Department of India's most populous state Uttar Pradesh, along with the help of farmers and students, planted 10.5 million trees in a single day.

"In fact, we have overshot the target," said state forestry chief V.N. Garg. "The sites can also be seen on Google Earth and the detailed reports (on plantation figures) are being sent to the office of the Guinness book of world records."  read more »

PCWorld.com released its list of the top ten greenest tech products today. The list included laptops, a solar powered charger for cell phones, cameras, IPods and other tech gadgets, and even a green web hosting company.

Nokia made the list with its N95 cell phone which handles WiFi, GPS, email, text-messaging, web browsing, plays video and music, has a 5 megapixel camera that also takes video. The company will even recycle the phone for free. Nokia recently topped Greenpeace's June 2007 Guide to Greener Electronics.  read more »

There is a blame game being perpetrated all around us - it goes like this:

•“It’s all Bush’s fault.”
•“It’s those liberal Democrats with no values.”
•“It’s those fundamentalists (of any denomination) threatening our liberties and lives.”
•“It’s those corporations who are polluting the earth and stealing from the disenfranchised for their own selfish gains.”
•“It’s the United Nations’ fault for not helping the people in Darfur.”
•“It’s those greedy HMO’s who are maiming and killing people by refusing to provide health care to individuals in need.”
•“It’s the sensational and superficial media coverage which is keeping people ignorant and anesthetized.”
•“It’s the traffic that caused my lateness.”
•“It’s my boss’ fault that I didn’t get the job done.”
•"It’s my parents’ fault that I have low self-esteem.”
•“It’s my wife’s frigidity that caused me to cheat on her.”
•“It’s my husband’s obsession with his work and ignoring my needs which led to my depression.”
•“It’s my son’s ADHD which is causing his poor performance in school.”
•“It's my busy life which prevents me from taking time for myself, read with my child, have dinner with my family, volunteer for a cause, help a stranger on the street… ”

From global to personal issues, the constant choir of blame is endless.  read more »

Dear Mrs. Black,

It was January 1967 when this 11 year-old, frightened, little Israeli girl walked into your classroom for the first time. I had only arrived in the country two weeks before. Not knowing a word of English, I was placed in your class with other non-English speaking students.

I cannot describe the terror and confusion I was feeling that day. These feelings had been with me throughout the past few weeks. They began when the reality that I was leaving my country, my home, my extended family, my school, my friends, and all that was familiar to me. My father had told us that we were leaving Israel and moving to America.  read more »

Yesterday, the Democrats caved again. I don’t need to specify which issue, since I’m sure that phrase will apply whenever you are reading this. I can’t even begin to explain how frustrating these last few years have been, and not just because of the predictable self serving Bush administration. This country was founded on the principal of checks and balances, and it hasn’t been just the White House that has screwed it up so badly.  read more »

My own earthly impermanence motivates my authentic expression, and this is the essence of my contribution to humanity. I am not the first to feel this way, but this is the pattern I have observed so far and need to express it so that the fruits of my existence are felt and I have no resistance to entering the formless state and leaving my body peacefully, when the time comes…  read more »