Home » Culture & Society

The Good News Cafe

9 Comments
- Svalbard Seed Bank
- The Good News Cafe G…

9 Like

Like 9

Pin It

Ranked #17,980 in Culture & Society, #365,161 overall

Accentuating the Positive

Ever find yourself depressed or overwhelmed by world and national problems that seem insurmountable? You're not alone. The serious issues confronting us today are unprecedented.

This lens will focus on creative solutions, compassionate people, unusual ideas and programs from the USA and around the globe.

Contents at a Glance

He Won!
Polio `in Retreat' in India's Uttar Pra...
Good News in Books
Great Spiritual Reading from Amazon
Zipcar -- A Car Rental with a Green Twis...
Blogging: the New Democracy?

He Won!

Congratulations President Obama!

Polio `in Retreat' in India's Uttar Pradesh

Today's good news comes from the U.N.Wire, which I receive by e-mail on a regular basis:
Polio has been diagnosed in 1,173 people in 16 countries so far this year, according to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, a group comprising the WHO, Rotary International, Unicef and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Before the partnership was established two decades ago, polio paralyzed more than 350,000 children in more than 125 countries annually.

Polio Statistics: I thank God for all the hard working and dedicated people around the world who have taken on the task of eradicating polio. The above statistics are particularly heartening to me since I was myself, a polio statistic at the age of six.

Good News in Books

Spiritual books to revive your soul and inspire your life

Negativity. Depression. Fear. Despair.

How do we rise above the headlines in a society bent on force-feeding us violence, scandal and vulgarity? One of the best ways I know is to read truly inspirational books. I'm not talking about sugar coated, feel-good novels you read in one hurried afternoon and then immediately forget. I mean books to fill your soul with hope and give you the desire to live a more meaningful life. I mean spiritual books written by great minds.

I'm a committed Christian, but my tradition is not the only wisdom in the world. Bringing peace to the world needs to start with peace in our hearts, and learning the beauty of other sacred literature is a blessing and privilege. Here are my current favorites.

Great Spiritual Reading from Amazon

My current favorites

Loved The Compassionate Universe . Eknath Easwaran is a Hindu who uses (and teaches) using the Prayer of St. Francis in meditation. There are anecdotes about growing up in India with his grandmother, memories of Gandhi, and thoughts on ecology. His writing is personal and friendly, his thinking compassionate and spiritual. A wonderful author.

God Makes the Rivers to Flow is a compendium of sacred literature from the world's major religions chosen by Eknath Easwaran. The chapters on how to use the book, his 8-point spiritual program and the short bios of the various authors are excellent. "Slow, sustained concentration on these passages," says, Easwaran, drives them deep into our minds. And whatever we drive deep into consciousness, that we become."

Gandhi the Man, by Easwaran is purchased, but not yet read. I was so taken with his Compassionate Universe and his references to Gandhi, that I had to get this. Looking forward to reading it soon.

A Deepening Love Affair is written for older people searching to deepen their love for God. I've sent an excerpt to my prayer group and another will go to them this week. What a source of joy and hope. Profound, and so inspiring--I plan to reread it again as soon as it's finished.

Pema Chodran, an American Buddhist nun writes and teaches in such a down to earth manner. In Start Where You Are, she explains lojongs, the sayings Buddhists use to train their minds. These are quite foreign to our Western ways of thinking, but I don't find anything incompatible with my Christian beliefs. One warning, if you buy Chodran's books, don't loan them out, they'll never come back. Wish I owned them all.

Zipcar -- A Car Rental with a Green Twist!

Car "sharing," an idea whose time has come?

Pick up a rental right in your neighborhood--park it where you found it.

Zipcar: Here's a rental car company that's showing great creativity by placing cars in neighborhoods. It's a wonderful idea for people who want to keep their independence but don't want the expense or upkeep of buying and owning. Add the environmental benefits of having fewer cars on the road and easing the parking problem and you've got a winner!

I e-mailed them to ask if they were interested in my town and they replied the same day saying they'd need 25 inquiries to consider expanding into a new neighborhood.

What a franchise this would make!

Don't forget to see their excellent video, which can be found after you click "how does zipcar work?"

Blogging: the New Democracy?

Does One Voice Count?

I've been interested in ecology and sustainability for some time. I sign on-line petitions and write my representatives, I try to vote the most ecological candidate, but I never realized how many blogs and Squidoos were dedicated to the subject until recently.

Over the last few years, organizations devoted to the environment have had to struggle to hold onto battles they thought they'd won 20/30 years ago. I'm hoping that with the next elections we may fare better but we need big business on our side. So a letter went out today to Verizon after I received, what I think, is a very wasteful piece of advertising.

Perhaps I'm spinning my wheels, but I'm beginning to think that if the ecological movement has any chance at all, it's going to get that chance through the Internet and Web 2 and the active participation of millions of people worldwide.

Hope is a good thing.

Hangin' Out the Wash

Green Peace Has the Scoop on Green Washing

What is green washing? It's when big companies try to convince us they're doing wonderful things for the environment but it's nothing but useless hype. How to tell if you're being conned? Check out these links by Green Peace. I've linked you directly to three--for more information continue to explore the site.

Playing Let's Pretend: The home page with their criteria for green washing at the bottom.
Green Washing News: Links to green washing blogs and stories in the news.
Success Stories: Got good news and bad news, folks.

The good news is that there are some terrific success stories.

The bad news is it's not happening here. Europe's way ahead of us.

New Igo GREEN Tip of the Day

In the Green Zone

Quality of life for the present and future

Native Americans say we should think about the next seven generations. So, what's being done and what might we do to make the planet a safe and hospitable place for our descendants? Here are some ideas.

Green Roofs: Here's a neat site discussing green roofs. It's got some great pictures. Wish my building had one.
Freecycle: I've used this group to scale down from a 7 room house to an apartment. Their blurb: Freecycle is made up of 4,338 groups with 4,887,000 members across the globe. It's a grassroots, nonprofit movement of people giving & getting stuff for free in their own towns. It's about reuse and keeping good stuff out of landfills. Membership is free.
FlyLady: Start thinking about your "stuff" in a new way.
She'll help you declutter your home and your mind!
Sustainable Communities: Let's go international. Here's a page about sustainable cities in Sweden. Scandanavia is way ahead of the US on this kind of stuff. Different situations and lifestyles, of course, but that doesn't mean we can't learn from them.
City Mayors: Home page for the above Scandinavian story. An interesting browse site, very extensive. Click site search to see how cities from Addis Ababa to Zimbabwe are coping with growth!
Green Cleaning Products: A blog featuring a new product line of green cleaning products manufactured by Clorox. Haven't seen or tried them yet.
Sustainability City: Always intriguing, readable content with a companion blog to boot. This is one Squidoo you'll love!
Catalog Choice: I'm opting out of unwanted catalogs that destroy trees just to be thrown in the trash. Very satisfying--try it. The former tenant in my apartment got every catalog printed. Takes about 6 weeks before they get you off the lists, so be patient
Environmentastic: Environmentastic! was born of the idea that there is much to be proud of in the environmental community - that the "gloom and doom" of environmentalism is unnecessary. It reviews green products & services, discusses environmental issues, & recognizes the good (without ignoring the bad) happening in Earth friendly products & services. A one-stop-shop for environmental information, products, action, and good news!
The Fort Knox of Food: Great article about Svalbard Seed Bank. Kudos to the Times for giving it such a glowing name.
The Doomsday Vault: Here's a link to National Geographic's photo gallery of the Svalbard Seed Vault. As usual, great pictures, but they went along with most of the media in calling it the "Doomsday" Vault.
Better World CLub: Seems the company we all use for roadside assistance has a habit of lobbying against the environment. You can read about it here and see what you think.
The Seventh Generation: Here's a well respected line of green cleaning, etc. products that's been around for twenty years. Good looking site, good philosophy, and good information.
Green Portal: Home page for a green blog "portal". A growing network of environmentally-focused and professionally written blogs combining news, guidance and community features for a wide audience. Both treehuggers and the "green curious" will find information they can use and people with whom they can share their journeys towards a more sustainable lifestyle.
Refridgerators plus: Here's an example of the "green washing" we told you about earlier. A personal aside:it's hard for me to read how far behind the U.S. is compared to Europe and yet, here it is again. This time with two of our major companies simply paying lip service to the green movement, while Germany produces an excellent product.
Purses and Belts: Here's a surprisingly attractive alternative to leather: purses and belts made from truck inner tubes. That's forward thinking--bypass the landfill, use creativity and design a good looking product! One more benefit: wearing it opens the door to discussing the "green" lifestyle.
Planet Green : Sustainable Living, Energy Conservation, Earth Day: Planet Green helps you go green with sustainable living ideas, energy conservation tips, freecycle info, homemade beauty recipes, & more to make earth day every day.
(Type your zip code into their search box to find the green cable station in your area)
Union of Concerned Scientists: If you're interested in leaving political "spin" behind and reading the truth about scientific issues, you'll appreciate The Union of Concerned Scientists ethical and readable site.

Green's the Theme for "No Impact Man"

A great blog--informative well-written and positive!

No Impact Man lived a year long project to see if and how a family could survive in Manhattan without having a negative impact on the planet. Sounds crazy. Sounds impossible. Sounds courageous. The project is over but whether you read the archives or the current feed, you'll learn something positive every day.

Svalbard Seed Bank

Which name do you prefer?

The Svalbard Seed Vault recently opened. I hope you saw or read about it in the news, if not you can follow the two links above. Most of the media dubbed it the Doomsday Vault. A New York Times article called it The Fort Knox of Food.

Loading poll. Please Wait...

Share this poll
- Stumbleupon
- Facebook
- MySpace
- Twitter
- Digg
- Delicious
- Email

Faith, Hope and Charity

And Charity Equals Love

The next time someone tells you the world is going to pot and people just don't care, remind them of the thousands of people around the globe engaged in charitable work and all the people who donate. Besides asking you to give, charitable sites are eager to tell you all about their successes. If you do decide to give, remember to check online to make sure their fund raising won't eat up your donations. Here are a few that get high marks for their dedication plus have great web sites.

World Wildlife Fund: Everyone knows the panda logo. WWF is constantly working for the safety and survival of animals.
GreenPeace: The guardians of the oceans, manning small boats and bravely shaking their fists at giant ships that threaten the extinction of whales and other marine life. They recently brought a case to trial in Japan and won! Can you imagine? Three cheers for Green Peace!
Plan USA: One of several equally deserving child "fostering" organizations. My particular choice only because I started with them many years ago.
Smile Train: A charity for children with cleft palates. A nurse friend told me some infants die because they can't suckle. The site says every cent goes for the operations; their board of directors covers overhead. Wow, I am impressed!
Free Rice: Just for fun--a word game that donates free rice with each click. With food shortages rampant right now, why not take a little break to improve your vocabulary and donate some free rice. It's really fun!

Money, Money, Money

Take time to learn more about money matters.

When it comes to money, get rich quick schemes and lottery tickets are definitely not the way to go. Here are some interesting and practical Web sites that may help you get, keep or increase your money. Give a look and learn more about what makes the world go round.

The Dolans: You may have heard Ken and Daria Dolan on WOR radio, but have you seen their website? There's a lot to be learned about money and these folks have a fine reputation. Lots of practical free advice.
Crown Financial Ministries: If you're Christian, browse through the pages of Crown Financial Ministries. Their purpose is to teach the biblical principles of money. If you like the site you might enjoy one of their volunteer run church programs that teach how to set up a budgets, etc. I've been and it's very helpful.
SRI: Don't want to invest in companies that pollute the earth or enslave their employees? Here's a short, simple introduction to the concept of SRI, socially responsible investing. Part two (follow their link "investing") gives backgrounds of companies involved in choosing and selling SRI stocks. Definitely worth knowing.

Try a Different Slant on World News

Not your same old, same old sources

Do you always get your news from the same TV station, newspaper or magazine? Here's your chance to browse a few different and unusual sources. We perceive the world according to the information we take in and if that's always the same, beliefs and opinions may become one-sided or biased.

United Nations: Whether your opinion of the UN is positive or negative, reading a few issues of the UN Wire will give you an entirely different perspective on our world plus help you understand the scope of the organization and appreciate their amazing educational and humanitarian efforts.
The Globalist: Here's an online magazine about globalization. I've listed the photography archive to get you started. Fascinating. After that dig into the stories. Don't forget the left sidebar for wonderful menu choices.
Religion and Ethics: Religion and Ethics is a little gem of a magazine on Public TV featuring news of different faiths in the USA and around the globe. The PBS website is as interesting as the program.