...Now I am going to be obsessed with watching reruns of your Daily Show for some sanity. But really, thank you many times over for what you have done. Your brilliant, funny, smug and smart articulations has left me much to be grateful for. I now know that politicians the world over are a great source of entertainment because they love hypocrisy and cannot help themselves but to say dumb things on TV.
I am a fan of Trevor Noah too, but he's a kid with a big shoe to fill, all the best to him and I hope the Daily Show keeps it promise to continue to deliver the 'real fake' news that has been endeared by millions of us. Enjoy your family and pets and if you get a chance put in a plug for the Daily Show to interview David Attenborough–most likely the person who has witnessed more of Earth's splendour than anyone else alive.
This year a record breaking solar flare hit earth. On May 5th a mega blast of an X-class (most powerful) solar flare or sun storm hit the sparsely populated Pacific ocean nations. Apart from causing a temporary 'no-biggee' blackouts here and there it will be most remembered for the amazing Aurora Borealis and Aurora Australis it caused. Just google Aurora Borealis 2015 and enjoy the amazing images. What a sight.
Our Sun provides the energy that drives our life. From the free daylight light and heat to food production we have much to be grateful for our unique place in the solar system. The balance of energy to sustain our relatively comfortable lives depends as much on Earth receiving energy from the sun as it is earth radiating the sun's energy back into space, thus cooling the planet. Global Warming is a consequence of earth not radiating out enough of the sun's energy it receives, instead collecting it like how a blanket helps us stay warm, hence the phenomenon of earth getting hotter. So we can expect that this last mega solar flare is going to contribute somehow to our experience of weather this year. The last I heard in Malaysia was the meteorological department warning of a super hot and dry July and August. Yes its been hot, not like the recent Indian heatwave but uncomfortably searing heat nonetheless. However it is far from dry, when it rains it pours a sea-load, with big heavy drops of water causing flash floods here and there. There is some relief though, because we usually brace ourselves for the annual Southeast Asian horrid open-burning haze pollution in August.
There is no established connection between solar flares and rain in Malaysia or anywhere else but what we know for sure is that we can use slightly less energy from the sun–though whose to tell the sun when to have a storm and when not to. Without a doubt our planet is a hotter place than it used to be three decades ago, scientific data show animals and plants from warmer zones slowly creeping northward and there is less ice on the poles than ever since scientific recording of polar ice volumes began. And this year we all have a chance to experience earth's most intense and far reaching weather phenomenon–the hottest El Niño since the 70's–nothing to look forward to. 1997 was the most intense El Niño on record. I am going to use this post to collect a record of intense weather events this year and next that are blamed on El Niño 2015.
El Niños strength prediction for 2015
Our future may come to depend heavily on how we read the effects of El Niño since this phenomenon is key to earth dissipating pent-up energy from the sun. If Global Warming continues unabated it will only be natural to expect more ferocious El Niños more often. This could change livelihood and living conditions in established cities in ways we cannot write of as minor inconveniences; more importantly for the next generation in planning where to live.
November 2015 El Nino 2015-2016 is confirmed to be the strongest on record after upping the 1997-1998 by 0.2 degrees Celsius.
South India has been raining and flooding for weeks. Monsoon precipitation that should be heading toward the ganges delta and Himalayas remain in the South causing havoc. The change in the monsoon's movement is blamed on El Nino.
After a very dry and incredibly hazy October in Malaysia strong rains and wind bring relief from the haze but cause flash floods and landslides all over Malaysia. The excessive precipitation early in the wet season could spell a drought stricken 2016 if El Nino 1997 based predictions are come thru.
March 2016 Heat waves strike South East Asia however sporadic rains quell fear of drought blanketing the region.
California, USA gets the precipitation it badly needs but not as intensely as they had hoped, still it is likely to lift the state out of its drought crisis.
Did not want to lose this nice story that had been floating in email cyberspace. Not an unusual story but I liked the plug at the end which is the title of this post.
I am a mother of three (ages 14, 12, 3) and have recently completed my college degree. The last class I had to take was Sociology. The teacher was absolutely inspiring with the qualities that I wish every human being had been graced with. Her last project of the term was called, 'Smile.'
The class was asked to go out and smile at three people and document their reactions. I am a very friendly person and always smile at everyone and say hello anyway. So, I thought this would be a piece of cake, literally.
Soon after we were assigned the project, my husband, youngest son, and I went out to McDonald's one crisp March morning. It was just our way of sharing special playtime with our son. We were standing in line, waiting to be served, when all of a sudden everyone around us began to back away, and then even my husband did.
I did not move an inch... an overwhelming feeling of panic welled up inside of me as I turned to see why they had moved. As I turned around I smelled a horrible 'dirty body' smell, and there standing behind me were two poor homeless men. As I looked down at the short gentleman, close to me, he was 'smiling'
His beautiful sky blue eyes were full of God's Light as he searched for acceptance he said, 'Good day' as he counted the few coins he had been clutching. The second man fumbled with his hands as he stood behind his friend. I realized the second man was mentally challenged and the blue-eyed gentleman was his salvation. I held my tears as I stood there with them.
The young lady at the counter asked him what they wanted. He said, 'Coffee is all Miss' because that was all they could afford. (If they wanted to sit in the restaurant and warm up, they had to buy something. He just wanted to be warm).
Then I really felt it - the compulsion was so great I almost reached out and embraced the little man with the blue eyes. That is when I noticed all eyes in the restaurant were set on me, judging my every action.
I smiled and asked the young lady behind the counter to give me two more breakfast meals on a separate tray. I then walked around the corner to the table that the men had chosen as a resting spot I put the tray on the table and laid my hand on the blue-eyed gentleman's cold hand.
He looked up at me, with tears in his eyes, and said, 'Thank you.'
I leaned over, began to pat his hand and said, 'I did not do this for you. God is here working through me to give you hope'
I started to cry as I walked away to join my husband and son. When I sat down my husband smiled at me and said, 'That is why God gave you to me, Honey, to give me hope..'
We held hands for a moment and at that time, we knew that only because of the Grace that we had been given were we able to give.
We are not church goers, but we are believers. That day showed me the pure Light of God's sweet love. I returned to college, on the last evening of class, with this story in hand. I turned in 'my project' and the instructor read it. Then she looked up at me and said, 'Can I share this?'
I slowly nodded as she got the attention of the class. She began to read and that is when I knew that we as human beings and being part of God share this need to heal people and to be healed.
In my own way I had touched the people at McDonald's, my son,the instructor, and every soul that shared the classroom on the last night I spent as a college student.
I graduated with one of the biggest lessons I would ever learn:
UNCONDITIONAL ACCEPTANCE.
Much love and compassion is sent to each and every person who may read this and learn how to
I was really pleased after buying Economix, which reveals the complex relations between history, politics and the cost of the stuff we buy. If the book was not in comic form I don't think I would have been very interested. Maybe I would have gone thorough the first few chapters before I dropped the book. But representing intricate ideas and terms with comic illustrations done just right makes a dull subject fun. The best learning is always done amidst entertainment. Likewise this book How To Master The Art of Selling by Tom Hopkins, illustrated by Bob Byrne.
I usually get bored by marketing and self-help books after the first few pages. They usually parrot the same simple principles over and over again and spice it up the odd story of how Joe or Jane made it big using some magic mind technique. All well and good if you need a pickup but if you are looking for a concrete DIY guide to help with core problem of modern life–getting rich EFFICIENTLY, I don't want magic, I want science.
Tom Hopkin's book grips you from the very first comic, "I learnt a long time ago that selling is the highest paid hard work–and the lowest paid easy work–there is. And I found out another exciting thing about selling–The choice was mine. All mine." The premise of these few sentence was fresh perspective to me and it kept me to the end of the book. It also starts straight off without a table of content or numbered pages, so when you start this 83 page book it is better to finish it in one sitting. Its inspiring and fun and when you are done you will have enough information to know whether sales is your cup of tea. Whether you are doing internet marketing (virtual marketing) or real world marketing, I believe the principles are the same–the key is self-representation. It is the art of gaining trust any which way you look at it.
Space is big in my mind when I ponder about the future. We humans have been obsessed about space from the earliest of times. We drew myths from stars, imagining them as celestial beings that somehow control our lives, we imagined heavenly worlds out of the star studded night sky and more recently we have come to obsess about alien life, so it is only natural as technology enables us we will colonise space and even other planets, starting with Mars. What more with all the buzz about the earth-like planets that Kepler is discovering we will obsess to find ways to get to these places. Such is the indomitable human spirit.
Lets face it though, the biggest hurdle to a future in space right now is not technology but money. NASA and all other government space agencies around the world are cash strapped when it comes to spending on space stuff; its not cheap and it is difficult to convince the masses that their tax dollars are worth indulging space geeks with their hobby. Enter Elon Musk, the Man for our Future.
The pioneer with the vision who understands that the key to unlocking the next space frontier is to find a way to cut cost chain saw style. If you want to see what tenacity looks like, this video that was recorded after the failure of Falcon 9 puts a face to it. Space X has already published its report on what caused the explosion of Falcon 9 in record time and they continue their focus on creating the technology to retrieve the launch vehicle intact–the key to cutting the cost for all space launches.
The interview really gets interesting after the 15th minute when Elon explains his inspiration for pushing industries towards green tech and from about 26th minute the Q & A from the audience. We look forward to the successful launch and perhaps retrieval of the next Falcon.
We wake up, do all the things we do in a day, sleep and repeat. Once in a while drama pops up in our life or in news. Once in a while we ponder about the meaning of our life. Once in a while we give ourselves a treat–go on a vacation or go shopping! All through these we usually take our body for granted. How often do you just take a deep breath of fresh air and think, I am healthy and I feel fine and simply enjoy feeling ok? Perhaps it is too trivial an exercise until illness comes along. I always become impatient to feel healthy again when I get the occasional flu or cold; at time a horrid hangover. Anyway the point I want to make is we usually take for granted our health when we are healthy, and life is usually too busy or complex that it makes the art of enjoying feeling fine (or not sick) too trivial. If you want to enjoy the 'art of feeling fine', start by understanding just how amazing our bodies are in maintaining the status quo.
The Human Body–Everything You Need To Know About The Human Body, by the HOW IT WORKS series is a very well illustrated and friendly book to learn about the most intimate element of our being. From the functioning of a single cell, our skin colour to physiological process such as digestion, reproduction to illness such as arthritis, cramps, heart attacks, even medical procedures like angioplasty this is an amazing book to help understand the wonder or health. The high quality illustrations make this book friendly to readers of all ages and the information can even help budding doctors with basic knowledge and understanding of how our body works.
The illustrations make the book attractive to children to open and look. Perhaps not the best choice for a coffee table book, but a book that is best kept lying around here and there for that occasional pickup and read to help us learn about silent and unseen parts of us that keep us going and experiencing life.
That's what Jack Canfield, coauthor of Chicken Soup for the Soul says about this book Don't Give Me That Attitude! 24 Rude, Selfish, Insensitive Things Kids Do and How To Stop Them by Michele Borba.
Parenting is one of the most exciting and challenging aspects of life. I have always enjoyed the opportunity to groom a future generation, especially during these times of intense change in the way we do things. So far I have taken care of children in from age 6 up to 16 as part of my social service life. I noticed how every child no matter at what age or upbringing are naturally attuned to listening to directions and advice if we give them sincere attention. I have not been a parent yet, its something I am going to become soon, so I thought I get prepared for times to come. Parenting and guiding kids as a teacher I believe is the same, except that teachers usually have a more objective approach to the matter. Parents have to contend with their personal expectations of their children and their hopes and fears of what might yet to come. That’s why parenting guides can come in handy, because they provide objective understanding of challenging situations and solutions that are equally objective that we might find insightful and even very helpful.
The books starts out with categorising various attitude problems that children may have such as–The Little Princess, Poor Little Me, The Drama Queen and so forth. After explaining a host of attitude problems it goes on to identify possible causes and also solutions that don’t work and parts that are often omitted such as “not cultivating a replacement attitude.” After that it tackles the bull by its horns, and gets down to the Twenty-Four Attitude Makeovers.
The solutions are very well thought out and provides step by step actions that can be implemented and monitored. They are not one-liners, or one-paragrapher generic advice.Each solution runs about 15 pages, there is so much here, that is not only helpful for parenting but also to introspect of on our own personal issues. Here are the 24 attitudes problems with solutions: Arrogant, Bad-Mannered, Bad-Tempered, Cheats, Cruel, Demanding, Domineering, Fresh, Greedy, Impatient, Insensitive, Irresponsible, Jealous, Judgmental, Lazy, Manipulative, Narrow-Minded, Noncompliant, Pessimistic, Poor Loser, Selfish, Uncooperative, Ungrateful, Unhelpful.
