Cat Stevens fans await their hero's return

An all times favorite!

By Peter Wilkinson, CNN

November 13, 2009 -- Updated 1402 GMT (2202 HKT)

London, England (CNN) -- The artist once called Cat Stevens is warming up his vocal cords ahead of his comeback tour following a 33-year break in which he retired from the music scene to embrace Islam and support charitable causes.
The singer, now known as Yusuf, is playing four dates in Britain and the Republic of Ireland from Sunday, but said he hoped to take his unusual concerts to other countries if it's "within my energetic abilities."
"I'm glad to say my voice is still there, for the majority of songs," Yusuf tells CNN. "Certain songs I can't hit that note up there again, but the majority of them I find very easy to sing."
The 61-year-old Londoner certainly seems spry and excited as his band rehearses at a cavernous movie studio in north London in advance of the first date in Dublin on Sunday. He even catches one-handed a television light that falls towards him while he conducts a series of media interviews, threatening to call time on the tour before it even starts.

Video: Yusuf Islam back in the mix

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• Cat Stevens

The gigs feature Yusuf playing acoustic guitar accompanied by a band in the first half, followed by a preview of the new musical, "Moonshadow," that the London-born singer has written loosely based on his own early life.
The 61-year-old singer described how he was looking forward to playing the old Cat Stevens hits, such as "Wild World," "Father & Son" and "First Cut is the Deepest," and still related to those he wrote before his conversion to Islam at the height of his fame in 1977. Born Steven Demetre Georgiou, he later adopted the Muslim name Yusuf Islam before auctioning off all his guitars for charity and sensationally abandoning his pop career.
In recent years, Yusuf has appeared more comfortable with life in the spotlight, and released two albums, but there was an air of expectation among fans as they counted off the days until the first concerts. "I had my first twinge of real emotion yesterday when I realized I was going to be seeing you perform for the second time this year after waiting 33 years," one devotee, Jane, told the singer's official Web site. "I can't wait to see you and everyone else next month in London! I just know it will be majik!"
The following is an edited version of Yusuf's interview with CNN:
CNN: Why are you going on tour again after all these years?
Yusuf: It's not a matter of needing the money because I'm gonna give most of the money away to charity, that's an important project that I'm trying to support. It's more to do with connecting again with my audience. Having come back and made two records after having been away for many years there's still a disconnection. The best way to get close to them and for them to get close to me a live gig. It's a valuable experience.

I'm glad to say my voice is still there. Certain songs I can't hit that note up there again, but the majority of them I find very easy to sing.
--Yusuf

CNN: Will you be touring in other countries?
Yusuf: We'll see how well this goes. If it goes well and it's within my energetic ability ... we do want to travel it.
CNN: Can you tell us about the musical?
Yusuf: It's not quite a mirror of my life. I've taken the liberty of extending it into a fable-like, spiritual story about a boy, who like many boys -- like me -- had a dream of wanting to find something he didn't have. In this world that we've created, it's permanent night time, there's only a moon and there's no days. This boy has dreamed of finding a world where there's sunshine, light and heat. It's kind of like paradise. I've integrated that kind of story in with my songs. A lot of songs are about seeking that place ... an intangible place, which usually are about finding, not the outer world, but the inner world.
CNN: What's it like playing the older songs again?
Yusuf: I'm glad to say my voice is still there. Certain songs I can't hit that note up there again, but the majority of them I find very easy to sing.
CNN: Are your early songs still relevant to your current thinking?
Yusuf: I still relate to them: a lot of them talk of about experiences that I still feel and I believe. A lot of songs are directly related. Today we're talking about ecology. "Where do the children play?" is an iconic song about we build our cities and how we maintain the balance of nature to allow our children to play, to enjoy life. I grew up the city so I never enjoyed that particular aspect. We had parks but we had to walk a long way to get there on concrete. And "Wild World" ... it's even wilder now than when I wrote it. So I still relate ..."
CNN: Does the persona of Cat Stevens feel like a different person to you now.
Yusuf: No, you go through phases. As a child you remember being in shorts but you don't wear those things any more. But you're still you ... you've developed and evolved. I happen to have done a lot of it in public view. I've also taken some gigantic steps which a lot of people haven't also done. So that makes me a little bit of a focus for someone who's lived and who's changed, has adapted and has learnt a lot.
CNN: Why did you abandon your pop career in the 1970s?
Yusuf: I tried any times to get out of it. I was hit by a bout of tuberculosis which took me away from the music world that I'd just entered and then things got bigger and more successful. I tried to find out where I really wanted to go at certain points in my life: I studied different spiritual paths; I was a vegetarian and I studied meditation. At certain points I tried to get out of the machine but I didn't really know where I wanted to go. But when I got finally to learn a few things about Islam, to me it was a missing piece of the puzzle. A lot of people overlook it. Perhaps they're looking at the wrong kind of picture of Islam, but they don't see what I see, which is an amazing conversion of what I believed as a Christian, what I read in the Bible, and what I understood about Transcendental Meditation. It all came together in a religion which wasn't really a religion as such, more a spiritual path -- so that made a big impact on me.
CNN: How do you keep fresh as a performer?

Yusuf: I keep on doing something different and don't stay in the same place. Right now we're introducing a musical in the middle of my concert and that hasn't been done before. It's exciting and it's great to see.

Women flock to see first female football game in West Bank

I am always interested in women issues, what we may take for granted and consider part of our lives, may be more than a significant episode for thousands of women from around the world, specially those belonging to Muslim countries.

Al Ram, West Bank (CNN) -- The Faisal al Husseini football stadium was packed, two hours before kick off, with a noisy sea of Palestinian flags and white hijabs.

Football matches are always a big deal in the West Bank, but this game was more significant than most. 10,000 women had flocked to the stadium, on the outskirts of East Jerusalem and a mere few meters from the separation barrier that snakes around the West Bank, to watch a historic football match few would have believed possible just a few years ago: the Palestinian women's national team were to play Jordan in their first ever home international.
Both teams gave laps of honor before the start of the game to mark an occasion that is rare in the Middle East. Football is hugely popular amongst women in the region but the development of the game has largely been held back by a social conservatism that disapproves of women playing what are deemed 'men's' sports.
In Kuwait, attempts to set up a women's national team was met with outrage in the country's parliament. The move was halted after Waleed al Tabtabae, a hard line Islamist MP who chairs a committee charged with weeding out 'phenomena strange to society' decided that a women's football team was 'un-Islamic'.
"Committee members expressed their indignation...and total rejection of the idea of the women's football team on the grounds that football is not suitable for women," Tabtabae told the Kuwait Times.
The UAE has only this year launched its own national team. A handful of teams exist in Saudi Arabia, although they are confined to the more liberal university campuses and have to be played in front of small, women-only crowds. In Iran women are banned from attending football matches and have to wear the hijab when they play, even in tournaments abroad.
The Palestinian team has had its own, unique problems to deal with. Set up in 2003 at Bethlehem University, Israeli movement restrictions meant it was impossible to practice on the West Bank's sole grass pitch in Jericho. Instead, they had to train on a concrete handball court and play against local boy's teams.

"At first it seemed weird, women playing football in our society because it has a male mentality. Some families had problems sending their daughters to play football, some still face problems.
--Honey Thaljieh

The only way the national team could play was to travel to nearby Jordan, but that created its own problems as it was difficult for players from Gaza to get permission to leave. Since the 2007 Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip, it became even harder for women to take part.
But the hardest part was convincing the families, both Christian and Muslim, in conservative strongholds like Nablus and Jenin to allow their daughters to play football.
"At first it seemed weird, women playing football in our society because it has a male mentality," said Honey Thaljieh, the team's 25-year-old captain when I interviewed her in 2007. "Some families had problems sending their daughters to play football, some still face problems."
Yet two years on they have a Futsal league (an indoor version of the game), a national stadium to play in and a string of international tournaments to attend. The team even attempted to qualify for the 2011 World Cup, but narrowly missed out on reaching the second round.
"We go to the villages now and tell them [the parents] that it is not forbidden to play. Most of the team is now Muslim," explained Rouqaya Takrouri, the 45-year-old national team manager, who hoped the Jordan match would spur a new recruitment drive, inspiring some of the thousands of female spectators to believe they could play football too. "We are talking to every woman now. We send out letters that say: 'Now is your time.' Last year we had six clubs, now we have 14."
For Thaljieh the match was particularly poignant. Since captaining the team she has fought for recognition within her own community, dedicating her life to the women's game by vowing not to get married or start a family until she retires, a controversial move in Palestinian society.
As the game has grown, Thaljieh has become something of a symbol for women's rights in the region and has been feted by everyone from Cristiano Ronaldo to FIFA president Sepp Blatter who presented Thaljieh with FIFA's inaugural development award at the FIFA World Player Gala earlier this year.
Standing pitch side, she couldn't hide her smile when asked just how far she thought the game had come in two years.

"It is still difficult sometimes," she admitted. "But this has broken all the rules for women here. This was a big event to get both women and men together in Palestinian society. In a way, today was like a marriage between the Palestinians."
To put the match in context, as many as 16,000 people crammed in to watch Palestine and Jordan play. When the US women's team last played at home, a 1-0 victory over Canada in New York last July, just 8,433 fans turned up.
But not everyone in attendance was there for football. Outside several thousand men who couldn't get in clambered on to surrounding rooftops, others scrambled up nearby wire fences, whilst some even crowded on top of a parked bus. Although a different type of union was on their minds. "All these men are here to see the women and I'm here to see the chicks too," admitted Abdullah Alawad, a 20 year old architecture student. "Maybe the girls are here to see the guys too," he added rather hopefully.

The game itself was a surprisingly tetchy affair, with two players stretchered off after being on the receiving end of several crunching tackles, much to the anger of the Jordanian team's (male) coach. His mood wasn't helped when Palestine won two dubious penalties.
A late Jordanian equalizer secured the 2-2 draw they deserved. But for the women watching, the result was less important than the game itself. After the final whistle both sets of players hugged and embarked on another lap of honor in front of an ecstatic crowd.
"We want to prove that we are better than the men at football," explained Asala el Wazeer, an 18 year old student who stood with her friends in the crowd. "It has taken us years to get to this point. We are very proud of the [Palestinian] team."
In a way, she was right. Palestine had played Jordan in the first ever men's international exactly one year previously. They only managed to score once. But for Thaljieh, held aloft on the shoulders of her team mates in front of a crowd that included the Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Dr. Salam Fayyad, the match sent a powerful message to the outside world.

"This is important and shows the world that we don't care about the barriers and the checkpoints," Thaljieh shouted over the noise. "We have shown the world that we can fight, but that when we fight, we fight through peaceful play."

Los arrepentidos de Facebook · ELPAÍS.com

Un artículo sumamente interesante publicado por mi amiga Rosy Escoto en su blog.
Creo que el uso del internet y sus redes sociales es un arma de doble filo, simplemente hay que utilizar el sentido común.


Los arrepentidos de Facebook · ELPAÍS.com

Copyright 2008 TS Production LLC. All rights reserved.

Ask, Believe, Receive - just three simple steps to create what you want. However, very often the second step, believe, can be the most difficult one. And yet it is the greatest step you will ever take. When you master believing, you have mastered your life.
To master believing, all you have to do is tip the balance of your thoughts, words, and actions, from 'not believing' to believing. The ONLY thing that can ever get in the way of manifesting what you want, is having more thoughts of 'not believing', speaking more words of 'not believing', and taking more actions of 'not believing', than you are of believing. Base the majority of your thoughts, words, and actions in believing, and the law of attraction must obey you.
Believing contains no doubt. Believing does not waiver. Believing is absolute faith. Believing remains steadfast despite what is happening in the outside world.
Here is a story of believing that will speak to you and inspire you......... to believe.

-

The Secret

The earth turns on its orbit for You. The oceans ebb and flow for You. The birds sing for You. The sun rises and it sets for You. The stars come out for You. Every beautiful thing you see, every wondrous thing you experience, is all there, for You. Take a look around. none of it can exist, without You. No matter who you thought you were, now you know the Truth of Who you Really Are... You are the perfection of Life.

Curiosport - Cuando el béisbol salva vidas

¡Qué maravillosa sensación, todavía queda mucha gente buena!

Al mismo tiempo tengo que expresar la gran pena de aceptar el hecho de que todo lo contrario hubiese pasado en mi país, donde las víctimas de accidentes de tránsito son asaltadas aún estando vivas o muertas.

Eurosport - vie 06 nov 18:41:00 2009

No sólo es campeón de las Series Mundiales de béisbol con los New York Yankees. El mejor trofeo que va a recibir Joe Girardi es el de ser uno de esos héroes americanos por salvar la vida de una mujer en plena noche de celebraciones.

 

 

El entrenador de los Yankees abandonó el estadio neoyorquino después de que su equipo venciera en la final a los Philadelphia Phillis en dirección a su domicilio. Todavía con la miel del triunfo en los labios y ataviado con la camiseta conmemorativa de campeón de las Grandes Ligas de Beisbol, no dudó en parar en plena autopista para ejercer de héroe.
Según relata el diario 'Westchester County Journal News', Joe Girardi bajó de su deportivo para socorrer a una víctima de un accidente de tráfico. Ésta era una mujer, Marie Henry de 27 años, y el manager no dudó en apearse de su vehículo y jugarse el tipo en una concurrida autopista y prácticamente sin visibilidad. Una vez allí no dudó en llamar a la policía tras cerciorarse de esa mujer no sufría heridas graves.
Pero la historia no acaba aquí, ya que según relata el policía Kathleen Cristiano, el propio agente había felicitado a Girardi por el triunfo antes de pasar un control de alcoholemia al salir del estadio. Pero la sorpresa definitiva llegó cuando el propio policía fue el primero en personarse en el lugar del siniestro y ver de nuevo al famoso jugador.
Esta fue su reacción. el agente Cristiano no dudó en relatar esta hazaña así: "Este hombre acababa de ganar el título de la Serie Mundial y lo siguiente que hace es pararse en una autopista para ayudar a una persona accidentada, sencillamente algo surrealista".
A.G. / EFE / Eurosport

Chichi Peralta | Cutucupla Cupla

Chichi Peralta | Cutucupla Cupla

Bahías de Samaná y Rincón entre más bellas del mundo

Domingo 8 de Noviembre del 2009, actualizado 12:12 PM

SE CONVIERTEN EN LAS PRIMERAS DE LA REGIÓN DEL CARIBE EN OBTENER ESTE RECONOCIMIENTO QUE LAS IGUALA A BAHÍAS DE LOS EEUU Y DE FRANCIA

Elección.- Se procura la preservación y el desarrollo responsable y sostenible de estos lugares tan peculiares que son las bahías.





Santander, España.- Las bahías de Samaná y Rincón fueron aceptadas en el Club de las Bahías más Bellas del Mundo, siendo las primeras de la región del Caribe en obtener este reconocimiento.
La información fue dada a conocer ayer durante una reunión del comité directivo del club en esta ciudad.
Las bahías de Samaná y Rincón entran ofi cialmente a este club y son las primeras de la zona Caribe, después del Golfo de Saintes (Guadalupe), en ser reconocidas como unas de las más bellas del mundo y así formar parte de ese club.
Reuniendo unas 30 bahías en el mundo en más de 20 países y apadrinado por la UNESCO, el Club de las Bahías Más Bellas del Mundo, creado en el año 1997 y que tiene sede en Francia, persigue unos objetivos de preservación, valorización y promoción de las riquezas naturales, culturales y económicas que poseen las bahías, con la participación de las Comunidades.
Junto a bahías tan famosas como la bahía de San Francisco (Estados Unidos), la bahía de Ha Long (Vietnam), la bahía des Chaleurs (Quebec–Canadá), el Golfo de Morbihan y la bahía del Mont Saint-Michel (Francia), la bahía de Santander (España), la bahía de Bodrum (Turquía) y otras de todos los continentes, las bahías de Samaná y Rincón entran a formar una misma red de reconocimiento internacional, de intercambios y de refl exión sobre la preservación y el desarrollo responsable y sostenible de esos lugares tan peculiares que son las bahías.
El Club de las Bahías Más Bellas del Mundo tiene entre sus objetivos el de “incitar la refl exión sobre los problemas ligados al fl ujo turístico, la preservación, la valorización del paisaje y el desarro llo económico local”.
La integración al Club de las Bahías de Samaná y Rincón representa una gran oportunidad para un mayor reconocimiento a nivel internacional y para que este su inclusión en el club tenga un impacto a nivel local, entre todos los actores de estas comunidades.
Este reconocimiento implica un compromiso de todas las instituciones de preservar los recursos naturales, culturales y paisajístico que se encuentran en la zona.
También permitirá reforzar la promoción turística del destino Samaná, poder usar un logo “Las más bellas bahías del mundo”, estar representado en ferias internacionales de turismo a través de la presencia del Club, poder participar en los congresos mundiales y compartir experiencias, disponer de una red mundial de relaciones privilegiadas a nivel turístico y económico, y en fi n tratar de convertirse en una referencia mundial de turismo sostenible y responsable.
(+)
INICIATIVA Y LOS PASOS DE LA CANDIDATURA
El proyecto de candidatura de Samaná y Rincón fue iniciado en el mes de febrero de este año 2009 en Samaná y recibió rápidamente el apoyo del Gobierno, de las autoridades locales, de la Comunidad de Samaná, del sector empresarial y de varias ONG.
Coordinado por Luc Litzler (consultor y voluntario en CEBSE), el proyecto tuvo desde su inicio un respaldo fuerte de la Secretaría de Estado de Turismo, del Cluster Turístico de Samaná (USAID–DSTA) y de ASODEGA (Asociación para el Desarrollo de Las Galeras).
Otras entidades como el Centro Cuesta Nacional aportaron un apoyo decisivo para la preparación y presentación de la candidatura, con el aporte del material promocional “Orgullo de mi Tierra”.
La candidatura fue preparada durante los meses de marzo y abril de este año en Samaná, con varias reuniones públicas y numerosas consultas con las autoridades, el sector privado y las organizaciones de la sociedad civil, así como con la visita de dos representantes del Club, el Vice Presidente Galip Gur y el Tesorero Hervé Laigo, (Directivos y miembros fundadores del club).

'Little Berlin,' the tiny German village divided by a Wall (page 1) News Focus | Expatica Germany

It is really quite a pity to acknowledge how cruel mankind can be.
I am sure that all those who engaged in such acts against humanity, have to hate themselves in order to behave so inhumanly.

'Little Berlin,' the tiny German village divided by a Wall (page 1) News Focus | Expatica Germany

Kierkegaard on the Couch (by Gordon Marino)

I love Paulo Coelho, I found this article in his blog and wanted to share, I think it is great and may be of great help to anyone pursuing happiness. 

Paulo Coelho’s Blog

Published

by

Paulo Coelho

on November 1, 2009

in interesting things

 

(this article was originally published in New York Times on Oct 28, 2009)
All progress paves over some bit of knowledge or washes away some valuable practice. Within a few years, e-mail and Twitter moved the art of letter writing to the trash bin. And in an age when all psychic life is being understood in terms of neurotransmitters, the art of introspection has become passé. Galileos of the inner world, such as Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855), have been packed off to the museum of antiquated ideas. Yet I think that the great and highly quirky Dane could help us to retrieve a distinction that has been effaced.
These days, confide to someone that you are in despair and he or she will likely suggest that you seek out professional help for your depression. While despair used to be classified as one of the seven deadly sins, it has now been medicalized and folded into the concept of clinical depression. If Kierkegaard were on Facebook or could post a You Tube video, he would certainly complain that we, who have listened to Prozac, have become deaf to the ancient distinction between psychological and spiritual disorders, between depression and despair.
There is abundant chatter today about “being spiritual” but scarcely anyone believes that a person can be of troubled mind and healthy spirit. Nor can we fathom the idea that the happy wanderer, who is all smiles and has accomplished everything on his or her self-fulfillment list, is, in fact, a case of despair. But while Kierkegaard would have agreed that happiness and melancholy are mutually exclusive, he warns, “Happiness is the greatest hiding place for despair.”
Despair is marked by a desire to get rid of the self, an unwillingness to become who you fundamentally are.
Kierkegaard was called “the Fork” as a child because of his uncanny ability to find people’s weaknesses and stick it to them. His lapidary “Sickness Unto Death” is a study of despair, which in the Danish derives from the notion of intensified doubt. Almost as a challenge to keep out the less than earnest reader, Kierkegaard begins “Sickness” with this famous albeit slightly ironic bit of word play:
A human being is a spirit. But what is spirit? Spirit is the self. But what is the self? The self is a relation that relates itself to itself or is the relation relating itself to itself in the relation.
For those who do not immediately pitch the book across the room, the magister continues, “A human being is a synthesis of the infinite and the finite, of the temporal and the eternal, of freedom and necessity.” Despair occurs when there is an imbalance in this synthesis. From there Kierkegaard goes on to present a veritable portrait gallery of the forms that despair can take. Too much of the expansive factor, of infinitude, and you have the dreamer who cannot make anything concrete. Too much of the limiting element, and you have the narrow minded individual who cannot imagine anything more serious in life than bottom lines and spread sheets.
Though it will make the Bill Mahers of the world wince, despair according to Kierkegaard is a lack of awareness of being a self or spirit. A Freud with religious categories up his sleeves, the lyrical philosopher emphasized that the self is a slice of eternity. While depression involves heavy burdensome feelings, despair is not correlated with any particular set of emotions but is instead marked by a desire to get rid of the self, or put another way, by an unwillingness to become who you fundamentally are. This unwillingness often takes the form of flat out wanting to be someone else. Kierkegaard writes:
An individual in despair despairs over something. So it seems for a moment, but only for a moment; in the same moment the true despair or despair in its true form shows itself. In despairing over something, he really despaired over himself, and now he wants to be rid of himself. For example, when the ambitious man whose slogan is “Either Caesar or nothing” does not get to be Caesar, he despairs over it … precisely because he did not get to be Caesar, he cannot bear to be himself.
In America, there is endless talk of the importance of having a dream — that is, a dreamed-up self that you will to become: a millionaire, a surgeon, or maybe the next Dylan or George Clooney. But master of suspicion that Kierkegaard was, he goes on to note that while the man who has failed to become Caesar would have been in seventh heaven if he had realized his dream, that state would have been just as despairing in another way — because in that giddy self-satisfied condition, he would never have come to grasp his true self.
On the issue of depression of which Kierkegaard and his entire family were very well acquainted, Kierkegaard could have been a reductionist. He seems to have recognized that we could be born into the blues. In 1846, he sighed:
I am in the profoundest sense an unhappy individuality, riveted from the beginning to one or another suffering bordering on madness, a suffering which must have its basis in a mis-relation between my mind and body, for (and this is the remarkable thing as well as my infinite encouragement) it has no relation to my spirit, which on the contrary, because of the tension between my mind and body, has gained an uncommon resiliency.
The spirit is one thing, the psyche another: The blues one thing, despair another.
How might Kierkegaard have parsed the distinction for the Doubting Thomas who will only believe what he can glean on an M.R.I.? Perhaps he would describe it this way.
Each of us is subject to the weather of our own moods. Clearly, Kierkegaard thought that the darkling sky of his inner life was very much due to his father’s morbidity. But the issue of spiritual health looms up with regard to the way that we relate to our emotional lives. Again, for Kierkegaard, despair is not a feeling, but an attitude, a posture towards ourselves. The man who did not become Caesar, the applicant refused by medical school, all experience profound disappointment. But the spiritual travails only begin when that chagrin consumes the awareness that we are something more than our emotions and projects. Does the depressive identify himself completely with his melancholy? Has the never ending blizzard of inexplicable sad thoughts caused him to give up on himself, and to see his suffering as a kind of fever without significance?
If so, Kierkegaard would bid him to consider a spiritual consultation on his despair, to go along with his trip to the mental health clinic.

Can cloud ships and space sun shades fix the planet? - CNN.com

Can cloud ships and space sun shades fix the planet? - CNN.com

Stolen 1965 Volkswagen van recovered after 35 years - CNN.com

Stolen 1965 Volkswagen van recovered after 35 years - CNN.com

El propósito de un perro

Me encantó ésta historia enviada por una gran amiga, amante de los perros como yo. 

Quiero compartirla con ustedes, pues creo fervientemente que podemos aprender tanto del reino animal.

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

¿El propósito de un perro?

Siendo veterinario, fui llamado para examinar a un Sabueso Irlandes de 10 años de edad llamado Belker. Los dueños del perro: Ron, su esposa Lisa y su pequeño Shane, estaban muy apegados a Belker, y estaban esperando un milagro.
Examiné a Belker y descubrí que estaba muriendo de cáncer. Dije a su familia que no podíamos hacer ya nada por Belker, y me ofrecí para llevar cabo el procedimiento de eutanasia en su casa.
 

Hicimos los arreglos necesarios, Ron y Lisa dijeron que sería buena idea que el niño de 6 años, Shane, observara el suceso. Ellos sintieron que Shane podría aprender algo de la experiencia.
 

Al día siguiente, sentí la familiar sensación en mi garganta cuando Belker fue rodeado por la familia. Shane se veía tranquilo, acariciaba al perro por última vez, y yo me preguntaba si él comprendía lo que estaba pasando. En unos cuantos minutos  Belker se quedó dormido pacíficamente para ya no despertar.
 

El pequeño niño pareció aceptar la transición de Belker sin ninguna dificultad o confusión. Nos sentamos todos por un momento preguntándonos el porqué del lamentable hecho de que la vida de las mascotas sea mas corta que la de los humanos.
 

Shane, que había estado escuchando atentamente, dijo: ''Yo se porqué.''
 

Sorprendidos, todos volteamos a mirarlo. Lo que dijo a continuación me maravilló, nunca he escuchado una explicación más reconfortante que ésta. En ese momento, cambió mi forma de ver la vida.
 

Dijo: ''La gente viene al mundo para aprender cómo vivir una buena vida --¿como amar a los demás todo el tiempo y ser buenas personas, verdad?'' El niño de 6 años continuó:
''Bueno, como los perros ya saben como hacer todo eso , pues no tienen que quedarse por tanto tiempo como nosotros.''
 

- Vive sencillamente.
 

- Ama generosamente.
 

- Quiere profundamente.
 

- Habla amablemente.
 

 
 

Recuerda, si un perro fuera tu maestro, aprenderías cosas como:

-Cuando tus seres queridos llegan a casa, siempre corre a saludarlos.
- Nunca dejes pasar una oportunidad para ir a pasear.
 

- Deja que la experiencia del aire fresco y del viento en tu cara sea de puro éxtasis.
 

- Toma siestas.
 

- Estírate antes de levantarte.
 

- Corre, brinca y juega a diario.
 

- Mejora tu atención y deja que la gente te toque.
 

- Evita morder cuando un simple gruñido seria suficiente.

- En días cálidos, recuéstate sobre tu espalda en el pasto.

- Cuando estés feliz, baila alrededor, y mueve todo tu cuerpo.
- Deléitate en la alegría simple de una larga caminata.
- Se leal.
 

- Nunca pretendas ser algo que no eres.
 

- Si lo que quieres esta enterrado, escarba hasta que lo encuentres.
-  Cuando alguien tenga un mal día, quédate en silencio, siéntate cerca y suavemente hazles sentir que estas ahí.
 

¡DISFRUTA CADA MOMENTO DE  CADA DIA!

  

What is the purpose of a dog?
 

Being a veterinarian, I was called to examine a10-year-old  Hound Irish  named Belker. Dog owners Ron, his wife Lisa and their little Shane, were very attached to Belker, and they were hoping for a miracle.
I examined Belker and found he was dying of cancer. I told his family and could not do anything for Belker, and offered to carry out the euthanasia procedure at home.
 
We made arrangements, Ron and Lisa told it would be good if the child of 6 years, Shane, to observe the event. They felt Shane could learn something from the experience.
 
The next day, I felt the familiar feeling in my throat as Belker was surrounded by family. Shane looked calm, petting the dog one last time, and I wondered if he understood what was happening. In a few minutes Belker went to sleep peacefully for longer awakening.
 
The little boy seemed to accept Belker's transition without any difficulty or confusion. We sat for a moment wondering why the unfortunate fact that the lives of pets is shorter than that of humans.
 

Shane, who had been listening intently, said:''I know why.''
 

Surprised, everyone turned around to face him. What amazed me then said, I have never heard a more comforting explanation than this. At that time, changed my outlook on life.
 
He said:''People come into the world to learn how to live a good life - like loving others all the time and be good people, right?''The child age 6 continued:
''Well, dogs already know how to do all that they do not have to stay as long as we do.''
 
- Live simply.
 
- Love generously.
 
- Want deeply.
 
- Speak kindly.
 
 
 
Remember, if a dog were your teacher, learn things like:

"When loved ones come home, always run to greet them.
- Never miss an opportunity to go for a walk.
 
- Allow the experience of fresh air and wind in your face is pure ecstasy.
 
- Take naps.
 
- Stretch before leaving.
 
- Run, jump and play daily.
 
- Improve your attention and let people touch you.
 
- Avoid biting when a simple growl would be enough.
- On warm days, lie on your back on the grass.
- When you're happy, dance around and moving your whole body.
- Delight in the simple joy of a long walk.
- Be loyal.
 
- Never pretend to be something you're not.
 
- If what you want is buried, dig until you find it.
- When someone has a bad day, just remain silent, sit close and gently make them feel you're there.
 

ENJOY EVERY MOMENT OF EVERY DAY!

Dancing Dog Can Salsa Way Better Than You Can (VIDEO)

Dancing Dog Can Salsa Way Better Than You Can (VIDEO)

Surviving the Talkative Airplane Seatmate

By A. Pawlowski, CNN

October 27, 2009 -- Updated 1336 GMT (2136 HKT)

When dealing with the Talkative Airplane Seatmate, experts say you should be polite but firm.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Most air travelers have been seated next to someone who won't stop chatting
• About one-fourth of business travelers like talking to people on planes, survey finds
• You have no obligation to talk with the stranger next to you, etiquette expert says
• Expert advises against telling the person directly that you don't want to talk

RELATED TOPICS

• Air Travel
• Etiquette and Manners

(CNN) -- All I wanted to do was to fall asleep in my tiny seat on the last leg of a grueling day of air travel, when I was cornered by the Talkative Airplane Seatmate -- a species oblivious to yawns and one-word answers.
My chatty neighbor was a forklift accident expert -- a job he described in great detail as my eyelids grew heavier and heavier.
I mentioned that I was barely functioning after an 11-hour flight from China to California, followed by a six-hour layover at San Francisco International Airport.
Still, he recounted his life story, showed pictures of his family and listed his hobbies. I finally fell asleep, but when I opened my eyes, he opened his mouth again.
Most travelers have crossed paths with the Talkative Airplane Seatmate at some point, discovering that even lackluster responses and chilly body language can't stop the stories or personal questions from coming.
"As soon as the guy beside me sat down in the aisle, I knew he was itching to strike up a conversation. I avoided eye contact like the plague, but he wasn't a master of social cues," wrote an air traveler this month in a post on Flightsfromhell.com, a Web site where passengers vent about their horrible flight experiences.
"I grabbed my book and made the mistake of turning my light on, an action that inspired him to break the ice. Immediately, he was completely facing me, leaning into my seat and asking me questions."
Twenty-four percent of business travelers like talking to people on planes, according to a survey by the corporate travel management company Egencia. When trying to signal they want to be left alone, half said they start reading, 38 percent listen to music and 15 percent pretend they are sleeping.
Gregg Rottler, founder of Flightsfromhell.com, said he tries to stop talkers in their tracks by bringing a bag full of newspapers and reading throughout the flight.
Randy Petersen, editor and publisher of Inside Flyer magazine, flies up to 70 times a year on business. He said his favorite defensive strategy is to put on headphones immediately.
"I never want to be a curmudgeon," Petersen said. "[But] there are plenty of people out there who find 11 o'clock at night on the red-eye from LAX to JFK to be a perfect time to be talking. I take the red-eye because I need to get some rest before I go immediately to a meeting."
Nervous, nosy or networking
Why do these overly aggressive talkers do it?
"I think most of them are clueless, to be honest," said etiquette expert and author Anna Post, who is also a spokeswoman for the Emily Post Institute.
"They're not thinking about how their chatting could be affecting someone else. They're just thinking that they want to talk, so they're talking."
Some also may be trying to network -- especially during tough economic times.
If you're not sure how much to talk with your neighbor or are faced with a Talkative Airplane Seatmate, Post offers the following tips:
To chat or not to chat? There is no obligation to talk with the stranger seated next to you, but some eye contact, a smile or a nod can serve as basic acknowledgment of that person. If you'd like to start a conversation, remember that some people may be shy or exhausted.
Stick to basic subjects. "Avoid things that are overly personal," Post advised. "Avoid hot button things like politics. ... You're in a small space, you don't want to set off any fuses." Good topics? Your destination, the movie that just played or the book the person is reading.
Early clues that your neighbor has had enough. When people begin answering questions with a question or respond with "uh huh, sure, mmm hmm," it's time to back off, Post said.
Signaling you've had enough. "I like to do the long, slow unwinding of my iPod ear buds," Post said. "It gives them plenty of time to recognize where I'm going without just cutting them off short. Then when they take a break, I say it's been great chatting, I'm going to turn on the movie for a bit or I'm going to go back to my book now."
Be polite but firm. Post advises against telling the person directly that you don't want to talk. Instead, turn your attention to another task such as reading or doing work.
Networking in the air. Looking for business contacts is fine, as long as you're not pushy. Being overly aggressive can damage a potential business relationship.

Talking with a colleague. When sitting next to a co-worker, a boss or someone you supervise, chat at least a little, Post said. "If they're senior to you, follow their lead. Let them set the tone for how much to chat. If you're on more equal footing, it's going to be a bit more give and take."

Keep Your Thoughts Healthy

Know your inner messengers.

By Louise L. Hay

Published: October 27, 2009

Every time we think or speak, we produce chemicals that travel all through our bodies.

There’s really no point in living longer if we don’t learn to accept that we’re responsible for our health or lack of it. The foods we eat, the exercises we do, and most important, the thoughts we think—our mental atmosphere—all contribute to our state of health.
I’d like us all to bring the word neuropeptides into our vocabulary. This is the word that describes the different chemical messengers that travel throughout our bodies every time we think a thought or say a word. Every time we think or speak, we produce chemicals that travel all through our bodies, touching every cell and depositing a bit of that chemical in it. (Dr. Candace Pert is the scientist who discovered this. For more information on her research, pick up a copy of her book Everything You Need to Feel Go(o)d. Fascinating reading!)
If our thoughts are fearful, angry, or in any way negative, then the chemicals that these messengers deposit depress our immune systems. If our thoughts are loving, optimistic, and positive, then the different chemicals that these messengers—or neuropeptides—deposit will enhance our immune system.
Moment by moment, we’re consciously or unconsciously choosing healthy thoughts or unhealthy thoughts. These thoughts affect our bodies. One thought by itself doesn’t have much influence over us. However, we all think more than 60,000 thoughts a day, and the effect on our thoughts is cumulative. Poisonous thoughts poison our bodies. Science is now confirming that we can’t allow ourselves to indulge in negative thinking. It’s making us sick and it’s killing us.
So, what kind of neuropeptides are traveling through your body right now?

Louise L. Hay, the author of the international bestseller You Can Heal Your Life, is a metaphysical lecturer and teacher with more than 40 million books sold worldwide. For more than 25 years, she has helped people throughout the world discover and implement the full potential of their own creative powers for personal growth and self-healing. Visit: www.LouiseHay.com.

The Secret

Your mind thinks thoughts, and those thoughts are broadcast back to you as your life experience. You not only create your life with your thoughts, but your thoughts add powerfully to the creation of the world. If you thought that you were insignificant and had no power in this world, think again. Your mind is actually shaping the world around you. (The Secret Daily Teachings for iPhone)

Plight of the albatrosses: Choking on plastic waste

Eco Solutions

November 4, 2009 -- Updated 0426 GMT (1226 HKT)

 

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Artist Chris Jordan photographed albatross remains on Midway Atoll in Pacific
• Remains show that albatross chicks choke or are poisoned by being fed plastic
• Plastic waste found across thousands of miles in North Pacific gyre

(CNN) -- Midway Atoll, a small stretch of sand and coral in the middle of the north Pacific, is home to one of the world's largest populations of Laysan albatrosses.
Until 1993, U.S. Navy aircraft thundered down the runway of the military base on the island, but now ocean going birds nest and embark on their own epic cross-ocean journeys from the overgrown landing strip.
Yet the impact of humans and increasing consumer waste from thousands of miles away continues to have a direct effect on the island's wildlife, as photographic artist Chris Jordan discovered when he traveled there in September.
The American photographed the remains of albatross chicks that had died from consuming plastic waste found in the surrounding oceans. According to the artist, not a single piece of plastic in any of the photographs was moved, placed or altered in any way.
The nesting babies had been fed the plastic by their parents, who collected what looked to them like food to bring back to their young.
From cigarette lighters to bottle caps, the plastic is found in what is now known as the great Pacific garbage patch that stretches across thousands of miles of the Pacific Ocean.
Fed a diet of human trash, it is thought that every year tens of thousands of albatross chicks die on Midway from starvation, toxicity and choking.

Jordan has examined the environmental effects of consumer society in his previous work. Pieces in his "Running the Numbers" exhibition, use digitally manipulated drinks cans and plastic waste from the Pacific gyre, respectively, to create copies of Hokusai's "Behind the Great Wave off Kanagawa" and Seurat's "Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte".

Pine nut

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Stone Pine cone with pine nuts - note two nuts under each cone scale

Pine nuts are the edible seeds of pines (family Pinaceae, genus Pinus). About 20 species of pine produce seeds large enough to be worth harvesting; in other pines the seeds are also edible, but are too small to be of great value as a human food.^[1][2][3]

Species and geographic spread

In Europe, pine nuts come from the Stone Pine (Pinus pinea), which has been cultivated for its nuts for over 6,000 years, and harvested from wild trees for far longer. The Swiss Pine (Pinus cembra) is also used to a very small extent.
In Asia, two species are widely harvested, Korean Pine (Pinus koraiensis) in northeast Asia (the most important species in international trade), and Chilgoza Pine (Pinus gerardiana) in the western Himalaya. Four other species, Siberian Pine (Pinus sibirica), Siberian Dwarf Pine (Pinus pumila), Chinese White Pine (Pinus armandii) and Lacebark Pine (Pinus bungeana), are also used to a lesser extent.
In North America, the main species are three of the pinyon pines, Colorado Pinyon (Pinus edulis), Single-leaf Pinyon (Pinus monophylla), and Mexican Pinyon (Pinus cembroides). The other eight pinyon species are used to a small extent, as are Gray Pine (Pinus sabineana), Torrey Pine (Pinus torreyana) and Sugar Pine (Pinus lambertiana). In the United States, pine nuts are mainly harvested by Native American tribes.^{[citation needed]}

Ecology and status

In the United States, millions of hectares of productive pinyon pine woods have been destroyed due to conversion of lands, and in China, destructive harvesting techniques (such as breaking off whole branches to harvest the cones) and the removal of trees for timber have led to losses in production capacity.^[2]

Physical characteristics

European Stone Pine nuts (Pinus pinea) to be compared with the picture below

Pine nuts contain, depending on species, between 10–34% protein, with Stone Pine having the highest content.^[2] They are also a source of dietary fiber. When first extracted from the pine cone, they are covered with a hard shell (seed coat), thin in some species, thick in others. The nutrition is stored in the large female gametophytic tissue that supports the developing embryo (sporophyte) in the centre. Although a nut in the culinary sense, in the botanical sense pine nuts are seeds; being a gymnosperm, they lack a carpel (fruit) outside.
The shell must be removed before the pine nut can be eaten. Unshelled pine nuts have a long shelf life if kept dry and refrigerated (at –5 to +2 °C); shelled nuts (and unshelled nuts in warm conditions) deteriorate rapidly, becoming rancid within a few weeks or even days in warm humid conditions. Pine nuts are commercially available in shelled form, but due to poor storage, can have poor flavour and may be already rancid at the time of purchase.
European pine nuts may be distinguished from Asian ones by their greater length in comparison to girth; Asian pine nuts are stubbier, shaped somewhat like long kernels of corn. The American Pinyon nuts are known for their large size and ease of shelling. In the United States, P.Edulis, the hard shell or New Mexico and Colorado became a sought after pine nut species due to the Trading Post System and the Navajo people who used the nuts as a means of commerce. The Italian pine nut, (P. Pinena) was brought to the United States by immigrants and became a favored treat in along the East Coast until the early 1930's when bumper crops of American Pine nuts were readily available at low prices.

Korean Pine (Pinus koraiensis) pine nuts - unshelled, and shell, above; shelled, below

Culinary uses

Pine nuts have been eaten in Europe and Asia since the Paleolithic period. They are frequently added to meat, fish, and vegetable dishes. In Italian they are called pinoli or pignoli^[4] and are an essential component of Italian pesto sauce. The pignoli cookie, an Italian specialty confection, is made of almond flour formed into a dough similar to that of a macaroon and then topped with pine nuts. Pine nuts are also featured in the salade landaise of southwestern France. Pine nut coffee, known as piñón (Spanish for pine nut), is a speciality found in the southwest United States, especially New Mexico, and is typically a dark roast coffee having a deep, nutty flavour; roasted and lightly salted pine nuts can often be found sold on the side of the road in cities across New Mexico to be used for this purpose. The Nevada Pine Nut, or Great Basin pine nut has a sweet fruity flavor and is relished for its large size, sweet flavor and ease of peeling. Pine nuts are also used in chocolates and desserts such as baklava. It is also a widely used ingredient in Middle Eastern cuisine, reflected in a diverse range of dishes such as kibbeh, sambusek, ladies' fingers and many others.
Throughout Europe and Middle East the pine nuts used are from Pinus pinea (Stone Pine). They are easily distinguished from the Asian pine nuts by their more slender shape and more homogeneous flesh. Due to the lower price, Asian pine nuts are also often used, especially in cheaper preparations.Pine nuts contain thiamine, vitamin B1 and protein. Many dieters eat pine nuts because of their proven ability to suppress hunger.^[5]

Risks of eating pine nuts

A small minority of pine nuts can cause taste disturbances, developing 1–3 days after consumption and lasting for days or weeks. A bitter, metallic taste is described. Though very unpleasant, there are no lasting effects. This phenomenon was first described in a scientific paper in 2001.^[6] Some publications have made reference to this phenomenon as "pine mouth".^[7]

 Pine nut oil

Main article: Pine nut oil

Pine nuts can be pressed to extract pine nut oil, which is valued both for its mild, nutty flavour and its health benefits such as anti-inflammatory and antioxidant action.^{[citation needed]}

Other similar seeds

The large edible seeds of species of the Southern Hemisphere conifer genus Araucaria, notably Araucaria araucana (Pehuén) of Chile, Araucaria bidwillii (Bunya) of Australia and Araucaria angustifolia (Parana pine) of Brazil, are also often called, although improperly, pine nuts, though, in its original countries are called more appropriately as piñas, pinhas or pinhões. The Juniper's seeds are edible too; they are used to make gin.

"El Secreto" - La Ley de Atracción:

"Cada vez que piensas, estás en proceso de creación. Algo se va a manifestar como consecuencia de ese pensamiento."