Fatah and Hamas talk truce; Abbas, King Abdullah, want Arab League role

JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia (AFP) — Saudi King Abdullah and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas on Sunday agreed that the Arab League should oversee truce talks between Fatah and Hamas, a Palestinian diplomat said.

"The two sides agreed that all inter-Palestinian dialogue should take place under the supervision of the Arab League," Palestinian representative to Riyadh Jamal Shobaki told AFP.

King Abdullah and Fatah leader Abbas also discussed the status of US-backed peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians during Sunday's meeting in the Red Sea city of Jeddah, Shobaki added.

Abbas last week called for dialogue with Hamas, which ousted his loyalists from Gaza in June last year, breaking with his previous policy of rejecting any opening until the Islamists cede control of the territory.

Hamas responded favourably to Abbas's overture, raising hopes of reconciliation between the two sides although prospects of a peace deal with Israel before the end of the year look increasingly unlikely.

Saudi Arabia brokered an agreement between Fatah and Hamas in early 2007 that led to the formation of a Palestinian unity government but unbridled tensions between the two sides led to fierce fighting which resulted in the Gaza takeover only months later.

Abbas was late Sunday to travel to Cairo for talks on Monday with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Shobaki said.


Arab leage role in Fatah-Hamas reconciliation talks



Fatah, Hamas: Senegal reconciliation talks reignite 'mutual respect'
By Reuters

Talks between Fatah and Hamas in the Senegalese capital Dakar this weekend had restored "an atmosphere of trust and mutual respect" between the Palestinian factions, a statement signed by both sides said on Sunday.

Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade, chairman of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, offered his services in March as a mediator between the two parties, which clashed a year ago when Islamist Hamas militants ousted power from Fatah in the Gaza Strip in bloody coup.

A statement following the talks, which began on Friday, said Senegal would resume contact with both sides to organise future meetings with the aim of "reconciling the Palestinian family".
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"The Palestinian representatives ... thank the mediator for managing to restore an atmosphere of trust and mutual respect, which allowed them to discuss the fundamental interests of the Palestinian people," said the communique signed by Hikmat Zeid for Fatah, Emad Khalid Alamy for Hamas and Senegal's Foreign Minister Cheikh Tidiane Gadio.

Senegal's state news agency APS reported on Saturday that Wade had met individually with the Palestinian delegations. "The mediation would take place in seven stages," a presidential spokesman said.

Hamas ended more than 40 years of the more secular Fatah's ascendancy with a victory in parliamentary elections in 2006. Hamas fighters went on to rout Fatah forces and take over the Gaza Strip in June 2007.

Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman based in the Gaza Strip, said the daily arrest and torture of its members in the West Bank by security forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah "did not prepare the atmosphere for dialogue."

"Hamas has taken steps (towards dialogue) and the president of the authority and Fatah movement in the West Bank are demanded to take similar steps to prove seriousness and concern and good intentions," he told Reuters.

Full article at: Hamas - Fatah talks restore trust and respect


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Israel in the post-Bush era; PM Livni then and now

If the current Israeli PM falls any further in the public eye, it is likely that Tzipi Livni will be the interim PM, and it could happen as early as this summer. She will be in a position to transition the Israel-USA relationship from President Bush to President Obama. As her thoughtful, balanced approach to security and peace are likely to mesh nicely with Obama's "diplomacy first" attitude, even a lame duck Bush administration could cause her some problems in the latter half of the year. Let's hope and pray that Cheney and others decide that the remaining months should be devoted to promoting peace and stability, as a way to foreshadow the success of the next administration and thus include the Bush legacy in the process. If they resist her efforts to promote dialogue and peace with all regional partners, it will make it more difficult for her politically, but any friction will be perceived as temporary, with the Democrat's poll numbers indicating that a positive Livni-Obama relationship could secure the American - Israeli friendship for another 4 to 8 years.

These are progressive leaders who can bring meaningful truces and longterm peace agreements to the region, thus making the entire world more peaceful and prosperous.

Links worth checking:

Domain of Man


Renewable Power Stocks, Wind Energy Investing


Geothermal Energy Stocks, Geothermal Power companies


Archive.org Wayback Time Machine


Solar Power Stocks, Alternative Energy Investing

Is Oil getting toppy in 2008? Yes, it would seem so ...

If Oil Drops, many Solar, Wind, Biofuel and Geothermal energy stocks will take hits

As the fool who ten years ago told a roomful of analysts and portfolio managers that though our fiduciary and legal duties were being met by our diligence in assessing Y2K risks, a much more crucial factor to the success of the companies we followed was the savviness of their web strategies, I feel historically qualified (like the racehorse with "back class") to prognosticate on the peak price of oil.

Yes, we're talking peak oil, but perhaps not in the crisis way many imagine. I am suggesting that it is probable that the oil price in this cycle will peak in spring / summer 2008. If there are any further spikes, related to perceived shortages or Middle Eastern violence, start selling a few days later and begin the process of underweighting the sector.



Events could cause things to reverse sooner, but if the upward spike trend continues, anything in the 140 to 150 range is poison-tipped and seemingly unsustainable. If oil falls to $60 and then rebounds to 90 before settling in to a trading range around 70 to 80, alternative energy stocks will also take it on the chin and begin one of the wildest rides in the history of stock trading. The leading solar companies already foreshadowed this in 2008, when some names that had been hit hard rallied back a few weeks later, rising 30% to 40% in one day. Still, even if oil were to drop from 125-130 down to 80 or 90, many solar, wind, biofuel and geothermal energy stocks will take hits of 20 to 60%, creating short to medium term pricing and liquidity problems, but clear longer-term opportunity.

It is likely that some renewable power stocks will continue to fall even after oil has corrected,but the names with better fundamentals will likely recover based on their internal, fundamental growth prospects. For a medium risk investor, one may want to start dollar cost averaging investments into alternative energy funds after any oil correction, and if a severe one ensues, increase the amount being invested as the fund values decline. The vast majority of quality clean energy investments are actually more directly related to preventing global warming than they are to the price of oil, yet near term trading will be highly affected by crude oil pricing.

Why do I feel oil is topping? It comes down to a gut feeling that either China, the USA and many more world economies all collapse, or the price of oil goes down. I'd bet on the latter. This means that those heavily overweighted in any type of energy investments may be in for a wild ride, and as the coming weeks are offering profit-taking options, the autumn and winter may bring some value back into play.

Bob Marley and DOA; Reggae Legend remembered, Punk Icons Drive On

Rebel Music means a Punky Reggae Party





Photo by Daniel X





Today marks the 27th anniversary of the passing of the world acclaimed reggae legend, Robert Nester Marley, popularly known as Bob Marley and known to his Rasta Brethren as Berhane Sellassie, or Light of the Trinity. Praise be to Jah, Give Thanks for Bob and all the musical saints and prophets for our lifetime. Peace and Blessings to the family, friends and fans of Bob globally.

Last night I had the pure pleasure of seeing DOA on their 30th Anniversary Tour, at the Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto, with opening acts The 3-Tards and The Glass Assassins. Both opening acts blew the roof off the place, setting it up perfectly for the Vancouver punk pioneers.

With Randy Rampage back in the fold, DOA thrashes and crashes out their power rock as forcefully and as fast as they did in the late 70s and early 80s, and their influence on music and the world goes far beyond their sales numbers. Considered here to be with The Ramones, The Sex Pistols and The Clash among the four pillars of punk, DOA have always been the flavour of choice among underground hard core punk fans.

Long before bands like Green Day, Blink 182, Rage Against The Machine and Linkin Park popularized the modern punk style, DOA were driving across the globe playing concerts including social and environmental protests. They were the first punk band to play behind the Iron Curtain, Nirvana's first gig was opening for DOA and Kurt and Courtney even met at a DOA show!



DOA hit the stage with their usual wall-of-sound blast and mixed new tracks with time-proven anthems such as The Enemy, Disco Sucks and Fuck You to present an hour of the heaviest, most-fun music you will ever hear. 28 years ago I remember someone at the Cabana Room telling DOA's manager Ken Lester that they were having a "religious experience" watching DOA, and I am positive there were DOA newbies at the Show last night that now feel things deeper and understand music in a more powerful and profound way. Long live Joe Keithley and DOA, legends of rock!!!



Check them out:


Yuya Joe songs at MySpace


Solar Energy Investing


Rastafari Faith

2008 Presidential Race, Obama versus McCain; the fat lady is humming the intro

Peeps,

Unless thee are among inumerati, it has been clear that the heavy gal has been clearing her throat for weeks and the audience, though anticipating the answer, was still becoming anxious for resolution and clarity and the commencement of the real battle.

The band is flowing like a river, and the beautiful blessed Lady Diva is humming the melody of a song we dearly love.

Peace 2 All,

Yuya Joe

Wold Water Day raises awareness of crucial lifeline

New Democratic Party of Canada NDP Statement on World Water Day

“The access to clean water is not a privilege but a human right for all Canadians.

“The United Nations estimates that in 2007 1.4 billion people lack access to drinking water and another 2.6 billion lack the basic sanitation. This impacts individuals, families, communities and nations from health, education, poverty, social development and gender equality.

“With more and more Canadian municipalities issuing “boiling water” advisories to protect its residents from contaminated water, why has Canada not implemented a national clean drinking water standard?

“The NDP is calling on the federal government to prioritize water safety and accessibility. A National Water Policy would be one step to address urgent water issues. Canada must act now to preserve and protect our water for future generations.”



World Water Week Marked by Shift Away From Bottled Water

Organizations call on U.N. to oppose corporate control of water

From: www.commondreams.org

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS - March 21 - This year’s World Water Day will be marked by city, state and regional efforts to choose tap over bottled water. In recent weeks, the city of Seattle, the state of Connecticut and more than 60 campuses have moved to reduce, or eliminate altogether, spending on bottled water.

Now, more and more cities are joining the trend, spurred by the national campaign to Think Outside the Bottle (for a full map of city actions click www.stopcorporateabuse.org/cms/page1640.cfm). In the coming weeks, city officials will join with restaurants from coast to coast to announce plans to cancel bottled water contracts.

This shift by restaurants aims to expose the environmental impact of water bottling and the dangers associated with the commodification of this most essential resource. The United Nations estimates that soon two in three people will not have access to enough water.

“The question is not about whether there is enough water to meet the basic needs of every person on earth – it’s about who controls water and to what end,” says Think Outside the Bottle Campaign Director Gigi Kellett. “When Coke, Nestlé and Suez control water, instead of the communities that rely on it for their basic needs – it threatens universal access to water.”

In North America, Think Outside the Bottle asks people and communities to make a commitment to opt for tap over bottled water as a show of support for public water systems. Misleading bottled water marketing has diminished confidence in tap water – though the tap is more highly regulated. At the same time, cities face a significant funding gap between what resources they have and what they need to maintain water infrastructure.

Think Outside the bottle has worked with cities like Minneapolis and Salt Lake to build the political will to reinvest in public water systems.

“Elected officials and communities are focused on a solution here in the states that protects water as a common resource,” says Kellett. “Today, on the United Nation’s own World Water Day, it is time that the U.N. made the same commitment.”

To mark World Water Day, Corporate Accountability International, and 125 of its allies from across the globe, are calling on Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon to withdraw his support from the CEO Water Mandate. In a letter to the Secretary General, organizational leaders criticize the voluntary initiative for providing green cover for corporate efforts to control water supplies worldwide.

The letter will be delivered to U.N. Headquarters in New York City today.

Corporate Accountability International, formerly Infact, is a membership organization that protects people by waging and winning campaigns challenging irresponsible and dangerous corporate actions around the world. For over 25 years, we've forced corporations -- like Nestlé, General Electric and Philip Morris/Altria -- to stop abusive actions. For more information visit www.stopcorporateabuse.org.



World Water Day events in California

from: www.chinaview.cn

LOS ANGELES, March 22 (Xinhua) -- World Water Day was observed in parts of California on Saturday with walks, plays and other reminders that more than 1 billion people do not have clean drinking water.

In Santa Monica, Los Angeles, a 4-kilomter walk was held to represent the distance some women and children walk every day to collect water.

"At the turn of a tap, every home in Pasadena has clean, drinkable water, but millions of people on the planet still walk up to six miles to reach a water source," said Nancy Long, water conservation programs manager for Pasadena Water and Power, which is hosting the event.

"The United Nations calls this a crisis that is highly treatable and, if addressed immediately, can transform a third-world community's health and economy," she said.

Diseases caused by unsafe water and poor sanitary conditions kill more than 2.2 million every year, according to the World Health Organization.

"A global lack of safe water is the biggest public health crisis in the world," said Steven M. Hilton, president and chief executive officer of the Hilton Foundation, which funds programs that provide clean, sustainable sources of water to people in Africa and southern Mexico.

"Eighty percent of all illness in the developing world stems from contaminated water and poor sanitation," Hilton said.

Events will also be held later Saturday, including a show of "The Water Pirates of Neverland" in Pasadena, Los Angeles. School-aged children will also receive free activity books and goodie bags with water conservation information.


ARCHIVES 2005:

World Water Day marks launch of new Decade of Action – Water for Life

World Water Day - 22 March 2005 - marks the start of a new UN International Decade for Action on water. The Water for Life Decade 2005-2015 will give a high profile to implementing water-related programmes and the participation of women. The UN hopes that the Decade will boost the chances of achieving international water-related goals and the United Nations Millennium Declaration.

Water, gender and poverty
Within Water for Life IRC will focus on water, gender and poverty alleviation. Water and sanitation are critical factors to alleviate poverty and hunger, for sustainable development, for environmental integrity, and for human health.

Communities have complex priorities for the use of water for economic activity and for household use. Men and women often have different priorities and responsibilities. A gender focus is not simply about ‘involving women’. It is about recognising the roles of men and women, and ensuring that the voices of women, who are mainly responsible for household water but who also want economic activity, are acted on.

The first water decade – from 1981 to 1990 – brought water to over a billion people and sanitation to almost 77 million. But the job was only half done. There are still almost 1.1 billion people without adequate access to water and 2.4 billion without adequate sanitation.


This woman from the Sironko District of Uganda is a true citizen of the 21st century – a multi-tasking manager with daily performance targets. She wakes early to fetch water, store it, distribute it and manage sanitation facilities in the home. She goes to bed long after dark, when the cooking, cleaning, laundering and other chores are done. She probably has more work than her mother, being also responsible today for domestic animals. The 21st century woman participates in community development work, and uses her ‘spare’ time for income generating activities. She lives a high-pressure executive lifestyle, lacking only the income, the status, the holidays, the help in the home, a lifestyle consultant, a retirement date and a pension. Will the action decade - Water for Life - make a real difference to her life?

Picture from Allen Wekoye, Uganda.

Progress on MDGs too slow
A UN Summit in September 2005 will review progress towards the Millennium Development Goals. These include reducing by half the number of people without access to clean water and to safe sanitation by the year 2015. The report will say that progress is too slow, and more needs to be done – but more of what?

While creative technological solutions are certainly needed, the biggest challenges will be to ensure that the poorest people have access to clean water and safe sanitation, to help communities find sustainable ways to manage and pay for water and to develop acceptable ways of introducing safe latrines and of encouraging good hygiene practice.

The lesson of the first water decade is that pipes, cement and infrastructure could not do the job without engaging with people and communities. This remains a challenge for the Water for Life decade.

The UN-Water website for the ‘Water for Life’ decade will open in February 2005. Background about the decade can be found at the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs. Ask for details and materials from Division for Sustainable Development, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Two United Nations Plaza, Room DC2-2220, New York, NY 10017, USA, fax: + 1-212-963-4260. Please post details of World Water Day events at the website maintained by IRC.

South Africa energy crisis sparks renewable power push

SA’s energy efficiency drive, alternative-fuels push, auto-sector challenges

By: Terence Creamer, www.engineeringnews.co.za

Published: 21 Mar 08

Amory Lovins, an American scientist and author of books on renewable energy and energy efficiency, apparently coined the term ‘negawatt’ back in 1989. The idea then, as it is now, was to use consumption efficiency – in South African parlance, demand-side management (DSM) – to increase available market supply without increasing generation capacity – in other words, ‘virtual’ generation.

Now, given South Africa’s prevailing energy crisis, it can be argued that the term ‘negawatt’ is truly coming into its own, with Eskom, government, large industrial users, and even households, beginning to rally to the efficiency cause.

Our cover story this week takes an in-depth look at South Africa’s DSM campaign, which is targeting mandatory and voluntary savings of 3 000 MW between now and 2013.

The article makes it clear that Eskom is all too aware that load- shedding cannot be permanent, given that such draconian pressure generally entrenches rather than changes behaviour. Therefore, real effort has to go into finding ways to incentivise and disincentivise consumers in a way that encourages greater efficiency.

For my part, I would also like to see greater effort from Eskom in boosting the supply side over the short term, particularly given the importance of stable electricity in ensuring much-needed economic growth.

Energy is also a key theme in a host of other articles in this week’s offering, including an update on Sasol’s alternative-energy technology deployment, in Qatar, as well as its plans for a new coal-to-liquids refinery in South Africa. In addition, we provide continuing insight into the ongoing biofuels debate, and publish an analysis of the critical success factors for independent power producers.

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Television doc illustrates Black Pharaohs from Kush in Ancient Egypt

The Black Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt

27 December 2007

The Black Pharaohs documentary on the Australian Broadcasting Corp.

article from: TV Documentary on Black Egyptian Pharaohs

Dr Vivian Davies claims that a recently discovered set of hieroglyphs proves that, in 800 BC, Egypt was under the rule of black Pharaohs from neighbouring Nubia.

This film examines the impact of these sensational discoveries. “Listen to me you who are upon earth…For I warn of the coming of Kush.”

This inscription details an Egyptian tomb owner’s role in saving Egypt from death and destruction in a war fought with the Kingdom of Kush (modern-day Sudan) in 1600 BC.

Historians have long known about Kush, but relegated its importance to a vassal state of Egypt, significant only for its gold reserves. Early excavations in the Kush capital at Kerma suffered from the innate racism of the archaeologists.

Fabulous grave goods, discovered in the 20th century, were thought to have belonged to Kush’s Egyptian overlords. They didn’t consider that a black African culture could have challenged Egypt’s supremacy.

The inscription exposed the truth. Although it won battles, Kush eventually lost the war, and for the next 1000 years, Egypt had the upper hand. But the inscription served as a warning prophecy to Egypt that it might pay a high price.

The enslaved Kushites would have their revenge. Allowed, and even encouraged, to rebuild their own kingdom along the lines of Egypt, in 747 BC, Kush attacked the Pharaoh’s power in a daring land grab.

The Kushite king, Piye, overthrew the yoke, conquered mighty Egypt and established a 100-year rule of black Pharaohs. Even after being ousted from the Egyptian throne, Kushite kings continued to rule an empire as mighty as any, until the arrival of Alexander the Great.

For a number of years, British Museum archaeologists have been making find after find in the Upper Nile Valley to substantiate this story - huge lost pyramids, burial chambers of 200 workers, and stores of gold.

Conscious readers, check also:


The Wind Energy Investing Blog

Bees Trees Frogs Elephants: Environment and Ecology Blog

Guide to Best Geothermal Energy Websites and Blogs

Rasta Prayer and Blessing

Livicated to the Honourable Robert Nesta Marley

Berhane Selassie I

May He Grace You

May Jah grace ye with the Holy Spirit
With all His rewards may He delight you
May he grace you with overseeing
With the holy spirit and loving-kindness

With an eternal covenant may He grace you,
Causing you to greatly rejoice
As He graced you with righteous judgement
That you not stumble

May He look graciously upon all your works
May He grace you with eternal truth
May He look graciously upon all your youth
May He guide and protect Rasta people

I have heard the words of this people
They are right in all they have spoken
Heed the words of Jah Prophet
Speaking of goodness in My name

Jah Ras Tafari sees clearly
Hears utterances of the Word
Knows the knowledge of the Most High
Still today with one eye open

Jahn Hoy observed Your word,
And kept Your covenant
His people burn incense before You
and sing songs of joyful praise

They will praise Him for His grace
Saying Arise, Jah Ras Tafari
Your name is my deliverance
My rock, my fortress, my deliverer

Jah, You renew my heart
Turn to me and be gracious to me
Give of Your strength to Your servant
Show me a good omen

I, Your anointed one, have understanding,
and I will tell others about You,
For You have given me knowledge
You have endowed me with great insight

Amen

Solar stocks in the news; renewable power investing

In February Tyler Hamilton over at Clean Break focused on the links between high-purity cadmium telluride supplier 5N Plus and their world-leading customer First Solar in an article that also discusses a potential cadmium shortage.


Sharp Solar aims to raise its annual thin-film solar cell production capacity by completing new plants in Japan and building new facilities abroad. Q-Cells Solar said earlier this month that it had overtaken Sharp as the world’s No. 1 maker of solar cells in terms of volume in 2007.


Spire (SPIR) will provide Dongyang in Korea with a 12 MegaWatt crystalline cell module manufacturing line.

Evergreen Solar and Renewable Energy Corp prepare EverQ Initial Public Offering.

More alternative energy investing info:

Geothermal Power Stocks

Wind Energy Investing

Emissions harm the poor while the rich get tax breaks

Emissions for the poor, tax breaks for the wealthy TheStar.com - comment - Emissions for the poor, tax breaks for the wealthy
February 23, 2008
Albert Koehl

The Harper government is sometimes accused of favouring the rich while ignoring the poor – even cozying up to wealthy oil barons at the expense of regular Canadians.

It would be nice if Harper could say it wasn't so. Unfortunately, there's enough evidence in the climate change file alone to make the case.

Soon after coming to office, the Harper government abruptly eliminated a $500 million program, the Energuide for Low Income Households, designed to help poor families do home retrofits to reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. In stark contrast, the government's last budget effectively assured wealthy oil and gas corporations that all of the federal tax breaks they currently enjoy, amounting to about $1.4 billion each year, would remain in place until at least 2010.

There is no doubt that low-income households (and many middle-income ones for that matter) need help to reduce energy use, not only because energy bills are on the rise. The poorest Canadian households already spend 13 per cent of their income on energy bills, compared to about 4 per cent of income for other households. The inability to pay energy bills is the second leading cause of evictions in cities like Toronto.

The cancelled EnerGuide program would have helped 130,000 low-income households reduce energy bills and achieve potential greenhouse gas reductions of 3.4 tonnes annually per home. Green Communities Canada, a group that delivers energy efficiency programs, estimated that the $500 million government investment would have produced $1 billion in energy savings, retrofit jobs, and other benefits – not to mention the obvious environmental payback.

Although the EnerGuide program was introduced by the previous Liberal government, partisan politics alone cannot explain its elimination. The Harper government also scrapped another conservation program directed at higher income households, but quickly reintroduced it under a different name.

The irony was that the low-income fund was likely to pay the biggest greenhouse gas reduction dividends since poorer families often live in leaky homes and can't afford energy efficiency improvements without outside help.

Oil and gas corporations don't need federal handouts. In 2006, the industry made $31 billion in profits. The price of a barrel of oil today hovers near $100. And while the industry gorges itself on record profits, its out-of-control oil-sands projects disgorge massive amounts of greenhouse gases and also poison the water, land and air.

At first glance, the 2007 federal budget finally seemed to acknowledge the absurdity of spending taxpayer money to promote oil and gas projects and associated greenhouse gas emissions.

The budget actually included the phase-out of the Accelerated Capital Cost Allowance (ACCA), a generous subsidy for oil-sands projects, noting that "this preferential treatment is no longer needed." These words suggested a new direction; the fine print largely confirmed business as usual.

Oil-sands projects that were started before March 2007 would continue to benefit from the ACCA while the slow phase-out for other projects would not even begin until 2011, and stretch to 2015. (By that time, government subsidies that the industry has begun demanding for carbon capture and storage projects might well dwarf current handouts.) The Pembina Institute, an Alberta-based think-tank, calculates that 90 per cent of oil-sands projects currently on the books will therefore receive substantial federal subsidies.

Finance Minister James Flaherty devoted numerous pages of his budget to comforting oil and gas CEOs about the eventual phase-out of the ACCA. In fact, the budget – perhaps borrowing from Depression-era programs – called the phase-out conditions "transitional relief."

If the inequality in the government's treatment of rich polluters and poor households indicates government priorities, then the future is bleak for Canada's most vulnerable because global warming will affect them first, and most dramatically.

Hurricane Katrina made this clear. As the chair of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recently commented: "It is the poorest of the poor in the world, and this includes poor people even in prosperous societies, who are going to be the worst hit."

Full article continued at: Emissions for poor, tax breaks for wealthy

Eco Lifestyle for Longer Life, Healthier Planet

article from Yahoo.com

Go Green for a Long Life

by Dr. Maoshing Ni

There are places in the world where a concentrated number of people routinely live to 100.

From the lush valleys of Ecuador to the peaceful island of Okinawa to the pristine hills of the Himalayas, these centenarian clusters all have something in common: an environment conducive to a healthy, long life-clean air, pure water, and nature unspoiled by the modern world.

In our Western world, we have to contend with the toxic by-products of our technological advances. Not only have we made our environment cancerous for ourselves, but we have also made it harder for other organisms in nature to thrive. By living in harmony with nature, we bring health to ourselves and to the planet.

Make Our World Less Plastic
Plastic, lightweight, durable, and versatile is everywhere in our modern world - bad news for the environment and our health. Many plastics release vinyl chloride and other harmful gases or contain phthalates that can lead to cancer, birth defects, and lung and liver disease.

Some plastics are right out in the open, like the ones found in our TVs, computers, telephones, coffeemakers, water bottles, and food containers. But some plastics show up in places where you might least suspect them, in carpeting, chewing gum, cosmetics, mattresses, sanitary napkins, polyester clothing, tissues, toilet paper, and upholstery.

Minimize plastic usage to cut your health risks. Use glass water bottles, wooden toys, personal care products and cosmetics made with natural ingredients, and natural fiber clothing, bedding, and mattresses.

Unbleached Paper for the Planet
Paper products do not come naturally white. All white paper is bleached with chemicals that leave behind harmful residues of dioxin, which is a known carcinogen.

These residues are found in coffee filters, diapers, lunch bags, napkins, paper towels, tissues, and toilet paper. When dioxin enters the landfill as waste, it leaches into the soil, contaminating groundwater. Using unbleached paper products is good for both you and the earth.

Green your Clean Routine
Seeking longevity means protecting ourselves from products that are dangerous to our health. Household cleansers containing bleach or chemicals are harmful to inhale. Instead of these, choose natural cleaning products that have recently come onto the market, which are safe and will not pollute the environment. You can use natural brands sold in your local health food stores.

Look no further than your own kitchen for these simple, homemade cleaners:

• Stovetop: sprinkle baking soda on, let it sit five minutes, then scour with steel wool or scrubber. For stubborn spots, mix dishwashing liquid, borax, and warm water, spray the mixture on, and let it sit for 20 minutes before scouring.

• Diluted vinegar is an effective cleanser in the kitchen and bathroom, and will work for tiles, windows, toilet bowls, mirrors, and even carpets. The acetate acid in vinegar also helps inhibit bacteria and mildew.

Try this formula: mix one cup of distilled white vinegar with one cup of water and use it just like you would use any other cleaning product. For those jobs requiring elbow grease, avoid chlorinated powder and scour with baking soda instead.

Eat with Environmental Edge
Commercially grown produce is filled with pesticides, herbicides and toxic chemical residues. Conventional meat, poultry, and dairy products contain high amounts of pesticides, hormones, and antibiotic drugs that are harmful to your health.

These toxins show up in a variety of places, including the water supply, breast milk, and urine. They cause degenerative changes, hormonal problems, immune system disorders, and cancer in both people and animals.

For your own wellbeing and the health of the planet, search out organic foods; whenever possible, buy only organic and free-range poultry and meat.

I hope you find ways to be in harmony with nature! I invite you to visit often and share your own personal health and longevity tips with me.

May you stay healthy, live long, and live happy!

-Dr. Mao



Please view also:

Bees Trees Frogs Elephants Ecology Blog

Earth Hour; Toronto among World Wildlife Fund project leaders

Earth Hour Information; Sydney, Australia idea goes global

It started with a question: How can we inspire people to take action on climate change?

The answer: Ask the people of Sydney to turn off their lights for one hour.

On 31 March 2007, 2.2 million people and 2100 Sydney businesses turned off their lights for one hour - Earth Hour. This massive collective effort reduced Sydney's energy consumption by 10.2% for one hour, which is the equivalent effect of taking 48,000 cars off the road for one hour.

With Sydney icons like the Harbour Bridge and Opera House turning their lights off, and unique events such as weddings by candlelight, the world took notice. Inspired by the collective effort of millions of Sydneysiders, many major global cities are joining Earth Hour in 2008, turning a symbolic event into a global movement.

Turning the lights off for Earth Hour is a great first step, but if you really want to see a difference, then make Earth Hour part of your everyday life.

Simple things like turning off appliances while not in use and switching your light globes to energy efficient bulbs, will all help us reach our goal of reducing our annual emissions by 5%. Even something as simple as turning out lights when you’re not in a room and switching to cleaner sources of electricity like “green power”, make a big difference.

Originating in Sydney in 2007, the Earth Hour campaign has now gained global attention. As a result, on 8pm March 29, 2008 millions of people in some of the world’s major capital cities will unite and switch off for Earth Hour. See what is happening in your city and how you can get involved.

Major cities participating include:

* Adelaide »
* Canberra »
* Brisbane »
* Chicago »
* Christchurch »
* Copenhagen »
* Melbourne »
* Sydney »
* Tel Aviv »
* Toronto »



WWF.ca is helping organize Canadian participation in the event. On March 29, 2008, cities across Canada, and around the world will turn off their lights for Earth Hour, a WWF event to raise awareness about climate change and symbolize that, working together the people of the world can make a difference in the fight against climate change.

Earth Hour has grown from a single event in Sydney, Australia in 2007 to a global phenomenon that will occur across six continents and in as many as 20 cities in 2008.

Toronto was the flagship Canadian city to commemorate Earth Hour 2008 but dozens of others including Ottawa and Montreal have already joined!

Our goal is to get thousands of businesses and individuals to participate in this historic event, so we can show the nation and the world that Canadians are leaders in addressing climate change, one of the most critical issues facing our world today.

Don't stop at Earth Hour - live The Good Life everyday! The Good Life is WWF-Canada’s new campaign that helps Canadians track the actions they are taking for the planet so you can actually see how your actions add up to help fight climate change.

Are you a business or community planning an event? Tell us what you are doing for Earth Hour at earthhour@wwfcanada.org and we will let others know what else is happening that night around Canada.


More suggested reading:

Clean Energy Investing Info

Fuel Cell Today - Informing the fuel cell industry; news, images and investing info

FuelCellToday.com provides market based intelligence on the fuel cell industry, including surveys, news, images and investment information.

Fuel Cell Today is the leading organisation for market based intelligence on the fuel cell industry. Covering key trends and developments in industry and government, Fuel Cell Today has provided relevant, unbiased and objective information allowing decision makers to take advantage of the opportunities that our new industry offers.

Fuel Cell Today offers a suite of services comprising:

* Daily news
* Market surveys
* Technology surveys
* Regional surveys
* Financial and investment information
* Medium and long-range market forecasting
* Policy analysis
* Bespoke consulting

The services provided are a mix of free-to-view and paid for activities.

Can Birtukan Mideska unite Ethiopian opposition?

Ethiopia is a crucial emerging democracy that has suffered from a fractious political opposition, with dozens of parties competing in the 2005 election, aligned into two main opposition groups. They attempted some unity AFTER the election, but by then the damage had been done. Refusing to enter parliament after attaining almost 160 seats (up from 12), was a bizarre sign of immaturity that robbed Ethiopia of the powerful democratic opposition it badly needed.



With national elections just over two years away and the political opposition still divided among two or more camps, perhaps the beautiful and intelligent Birtukan Mideska can become a unifying force and provide her nation with a credible and worthy alternative to the PM and the EPRDF. It may not be her who emerges, but it will be good for the nation if the opposition leader is prepared to run in 2010, 2015 and 2020, because it may require 5 years as Official Leader of the Opposition before a new leader gains enough popularity to lead a new party or coalition to government. And even if the opposition did win in 2010, Meles Zenawi would still be young enough to engage in powerful campaigns in 2015 and 2020.

Following article from Nazret.com:

Ethiopia - Former CUD elects supreme council members

By Kirubel Tadesse

Source: Capital

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia - Losing the party’s name to Ayele Chamiso’s group and its election emblem to Lidetu Ayalew’s (MP) party, the former Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD), an opposition party in Ethiopia, which is now operating as two separate groups; one led by Engineer Hailu Shawl and the other by first vice president Birtukan Medeksa, has elected sixteen new members for its supreme council in the presence of nine out of fifteen executive committee members.

Sources told Capital that the sixteen new members of the supreme council include Professor Mesfin Woldemariam, who did not want to be part of any leadership and twelve Members of Parliament including Temesgen Zewidie (MP). According to the source, the four members, including Prof. Mesfin and Aserat Tase were elected out of twelve nominees presented from the Birtukan’s group and the MPs were nominated from the Temesgen Zewidie (MP) group, which is now participating in the House of People’s Representatives as parliament group after Ayele Chamiso won the legal battle for the name ‘CUD’.

The election of the supreme council members came after the meeting of the supreme council members which were originally elected in the May 2005 national elections, ordered the executive committee to elect new members.

Even if some members of the executive committee are too missing, sources explain that nine out of an original fifteen attended the appointment of the sixteen new members of the supreme council. According to the sources, the final appointment of the members was decided in a meeting held on Friday, February 1, 2008.

The sixteen elected members are to replace the council’s members which have spent more than six months abroad, and those who informed their decision of retiring from the party. They are also to replace the members of the council which withdrew from the coalition along side Lidetu Ayalew (MP) to continue in their won original party.

Even if sixteen new members are elected and eighteen to twenty others are working with the Birtukan group and some with Engineer Hailu, many are still missing but the source explains that Birtukan’s group want first to finalize any possible reconciliation or talks of a split before replacing the remaining members. The executive and supreme council members who are working under Engineer Hailu didn’t participate in the nomination or election of the sixteen members of the council.

Sources also explain that Birtukan Medikisa and Temesgen Zewidie (MP) are expected to give the first joint press conference stating the appointment of the supreme council members and the possible process of forming a new party.

Nazret.com - Best Ethiopian News Website

Green Synagogue is solar-powered and eco friendly

story from The Toronto Star


Worship; Where greenliness is next to . . .

From solar panels to windows and paint, synagogue keeps the faith with eco-efficiency

Catherine Porter, Environment Reporter, TheStar.com

Think of it as the Darchei Noam's new green yarmulke – a row of solar panels and a reflective, white membrane covering the synagogue's new roof.

But here, it's a symbol of the congregation's commitment to the environment, as well as God.

"It's a Jewish value – to heal the world and take care of the planet," says Tamara Zielony, looking out at the newly-arrived burgundy chairs lining the sanctuary.

When worshippers fill them for the first time today to watch as the synagogue's Torah scrolls are delivered into the sanctuary's ark, marking the official opening of the building, it will be as the greenest Jews in the country.

Rows of energy-efficient compact fluorescent and ceramic metal halide lights dangle from the ceiling. The beige carpet is 100 per cent recycled. The walls were coloured a rich mahogany with natural paint that emits no asthma-inducing volatile organic compounds. And the window curtain that lines the whole north side is double-paned with thermal insulation and built to ensure that no joints would leak air.

"Anything we bought was energy efficient," says Alan Levine, the enthusiastic chair of the congregation's construction committee. "We designed the building with environmentally sustainable principles."

Darchei Noam's members are leaders in an emerging green religious movement. Just down Sheppard Ave., the new home for St. Gabriel's Catholic Church was built with a green roof and solar wall – garnering it the country's first and only gold-standard certificate for a religious building by the reputable LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building Rating System.

The non-profit organization "Faith in the Common Good" now includes more than 100 faith groups, many actively working to reduce their carbon footprint in the face of global warming.

"Eco-spirituality is a common denominator among all faiths. All have instruction in their holy texts to revere the natural world, to keep it holy," says Rory O'Brien, a co-ordinator with the multi-faith group. And despite dwindling congregations, religious sanctuaries have the potential to make a big impact.

"There are 30,000 faith buildings across the country, 7,000 in Ontario. If we green them all and prevent all the energy losses, we'll save a lot of money and tonnes of greenhouse gases from going into the atmosphere," O'Brien says.

If there's one place that people can be truly motivated by the greater good – rather than the bottom line – it's here, in a place of worship.

Darchei Noam is a reconstructionist congregation – a progressive branch of Judaism that holds democracy and social justice among its tenets. After 30 years of worshipping in rented space, the congregation bought an old synagogue on Sheppard Ave. near Allen Rd. five years ago, and set out to raise money – and ideas – for its renovation.

The $6.5 million result is breathtaking in beauty and eco-consciousness. The original brick walls were insulated and then stuccoed. The old boiler was ripped out and a high-efficiency heating system installed, which allows different parts of the building to be heated at different levels and draws cool air from outside instead of motoring up the air conditioning.

"To have enough hot water for 300 people one day and six the next would have been very wasteful," says Levine, opening a closet to reveal a gas-fired water heater that heats water on demand. He opens the door to the women's washroom and jumps inside, triggering the lights above. "Most spaces have motion sensors, so the room's only lit when it's in use," he says.

Led by a member-architect and the volunteer "Shomrei Adamah" committee (Hebrew for "guardians of the Earth"), the congregation examined every element, right down to the glass dishes in the kitchen – replacing paper – and the bike rack in the basement, which come spring will move outside.

Their next step is buying green office and cleaning products, says Zielony, who, inspired by the project, built a green roof on her North Toronto home.

Instead of applying for expensive LEED certification, the congregation decided to install 22 solar panels along the roof, which will generate around 5,000 kilowatt-hours over the year – enough to power half a home.

He doesn't know how long it will take to pay off the expensive retrofits in energy savings.

"We never needed to justify the investment from a payout point of view. We justified it from an environmental point of view," he says.



WHAT'S GREEN AT DARCHEI NOAM

• Programmable thermostats in most rooms

• Carbon dioxide sensors, ensuring air is brought in from outside only as needed

• Tinted, double-glazed windows with low heat-transmission that in many places open, so Mother Nature can do some of the cooling in spring and fall

• Motion-activated sinks and low flush toilets and urinals

• Waste diversion of all recyclable and organic materials

• White roof, which reflects hot summer sun and reduces air conditioning

• 100 per cent recyclable carpet made out of reclaimed materials

• Solvent-free paints

• Compact fluorescent light fixtures and lamps


More suggested browsing:

SolarIntell.com - Investing in Renewable Energy

Bees Trees Frogs Elephants - Nature and Ecology Blog

A Green Realtor Blog

Best of January 2008; Clean Power Funds, Renewable Energy Stocks

January 2008 was a roller coaster ride for alternitve energy stocks investors, as many renewable power stocks saw declines for 30% to 60% from the eall-time highs reached during the year's first week.

Buying opportunities for longer term investors may have arisen in renewable energy sector leaders such as top geothermal power company Ormat Technologies (ORA) and investors looking for more diversified positions should consider entering into dollar cost averaging programs as a way of acquiring equity in clean energy investment funds.

* Sunpower (SPWR) surprises with 4th Quarter profit


* Electricity shortage; State of Emergency in South Africa



* Best Renewable Power Websites


* Wind Energy conference in Houston Texas, June 2008


* Global Wind energy companies list, windpower company websites


* Top 2007 Alternative Energy Stories


* Australia encourages Geothermal power development


* Geothermal Energy in Australia


* USA and Canada Geothermal Power websites and links


* United Kingdom Geothermal Power news and blogs


* Scientific American, solar energy in USA


* Renewable Energy Stocks performance in January 2008


* New windpower stocks investing website WindIntell.com


* Treasue Island in San Francisco Bay to be Green City

Sunpower (SPWR) surprises with profit on strength of EverQ unit

LOS ANGELES, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Solar power company Evergreen Solar Inc (ESLR.O: Quote, Profile, Research) on Wednesday reported an unexpected quarterly profit thanks to strength at its EverQ joint venture with Q-Cells AG (QCEG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research) and Renewable Energy Corp ASA (REC.OL: Quote, Profile, Research).

The company's shares rose 2.7 percent following the announcement.

Fourth-quarter net income was $788,000, or a penny per share, compared with a loss of $3.7 million, or 4 cents per share, a year ago.

Wall Street analysts, on average, had been expecting a net loss of 4 cents per share, according to Reuters Estimates.

Evergreen Solar is a maker of so-called thin-film solar products, which require less of the costly silicon that is traditionally used to make solar cells and panels. EverQ manufactures solar wafers, cells and panels using Evergreen's "String Ribbon" technology.

Revenue in the fourth quarter was $22.2 million, above Wall Street's average estimate of $20.2 million, according to Reuters Estimates. EverQ accounted for $5.3 million of the company's revenue. In the same period last year, Evergreen recorded revenue of $18.2 million.

For the first quarter, Evergreen forecast revenue of $21.5 million to $22 million, including $5 million of fees and royalty payments from EverQ.

Analysts are expecting revenue of $20.2 million, according to Reuters Estimates.

Full article continued at: SPWR Sunpower turns a profit

State of Emergency in South Africa over electricity shortages

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) - South Africa said it would ration electricity, increase prices and encourage the switch to solar, all part of emergency measures in the face of power outages causing chaos and misery across the country and threatening economic growth.

Neighbors like Botswana and Namibia, which rely heavily on South African energy
exports, have also been badly hit by the disruptions in the region's economic and political powerhouse. The outages have undermined confidence in South Africa, with news of incidents like the stranding of hundreds of people on tourism icon Table Mountain spreading around the world.

«The unprecedented unplanned power outages must now be treated as a national electricity emergency situation that has to be addressed with urgent, vigorous and coordinated actions,» Public Enterprise Minister Alec Erwin told journalists after a Cabinet meeting.

«We are viewing the next two years as being critical,» he said. In two years, South Africa will be hosting the World Cup finals, the premier international soccer event, expected to draw more than 300,000 visitors.

South African businesses have been crippled by the outages, which usually occur without warning. In an indication of the severity of the crisis, major mining companies including AngloGold, Harmony and Goldfields suspended work at some of their mines Friday for fear power cuts would trap workers underground.

Goldfields said it stopped all its South African operations, including in the world's biggest gold mine, which produce 7,000 ounces per day. The trade union Solidarity said nearly 30,000 miners on the morning shift were affected. The company said that Eskom had warned that the disruption could last up to four weeks.

The South African Tourism Services Association said earlier this week that the crisis jeopardized the World Cup.

«Stadia may have all the most wonderful generators in the world to broadcast the games, but will people come to SA to see them if they know they will be going back to hotels and guest houses with no power? That means no hot meals, no clean laundry, no lights. And for those who do come, will we be able to get then to the games on time?» said the tourism association's Michael Tatalias. Erwin said measures over the next two years would help ease pressure on supply ahead of the World Cup.

«There is no threat to the successful holding of the event as plans to ensure electricity supply in that period are well advanced,» he said.

The government and Eskom say that demand for electricity in the buoyant economy has simply grown too fast to cope and now needs to be cut by 10-15 percent. But _ for the first time _ the government acknowledged it should share in the blame by ignoring a 1998 Eskom report warning of a serious energy crisis within 10 years. The government only gave the go-ahead to a new power station building program in 2004.

«The president has accepted that this government got its timing wrong,» Erwin said.
But he said that the government was not considering freezing planned electricity-gobbling industrial projects, like a big new aluminum smelter, as had been suggested by Eskom.

Minerals and Energy Minister Buyelwa Sonjica said South Africa, which has until now relied heavily on its cheap and abundant coal for electricity, would put more effort into developing renewable energy.

The government was also considering emergency measures to compel South African mines to supply the state utility Eskom with more and better coal rather than exporting it.

Full article continues at: South Africa declares Electricity Emergency


Renewable Power and Solar Energy Stocks News:

Many solar stocks have traded 25% to 50% below their 52 week highs in recent days, and some would argue these represent bargains in renewable energy stock sector.

Bloomberg's David Wilson shares his views the decline in alternative energy stocks:

"Makers of solar-power equipment have followed the lead of ethanol producers, another segment of the alternative-energy industry, by going through a boom-and-bust cycle in stock markets worldwide.

The World Solar Energy Index, consisting of 10 of the industry's biggest members, has declined 37 percent this year after soaring almost 21-fold in the last four years. Renewable Energy Corp., the worst performer among the index's five most- heavily weighed components, has tumbled 48 percent.

Rising costs have contributed to the retreat. Renewable Energy, based in Hovik, Norway, said this month that research and development spending will climb fourfold through 2010. The company also wants to build three new solar-cell factories and add a plant for making polysilicon, a type of purified silicon used in cells.

The index peaked in December, about 18 months after a surge in ethanol makers ended. Pacific Ethanol Inc., for one, has lost 87 percent since setting an all-time high in May 2006."


MSN Moneycentral reports Piper Jaffray has upgraded Sunpower Corp (SPWR) to Buy from Neutral and raised their target to $105 from $94 on future earnings strength, saying shares of SPWR have lost most of its valuation premium relative to competitors. The firm says:

1) the ASP outlook is clearly better than they had anticipated a year ago

2) their thesis for SPWR poly supply risks have played out as anticipated with two disappointing quarters of module supply constraint. The firm says they have evidence that M. Setek is ramping on track and schedule for a substantial ramp after an upcoming plant closure for government inspection.


Martin Asset Management, of Tarzana, California, has announced it is launching the Ilios Alternative Energy Fund.

The Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency (DSIRE) is a great resource for alternative energy planning in the USA. DSIRE is a comprehensive source of information on state, local, utility, and federal incentives that promote renewable energy and energy efficiency.


The International Energy Agency has a program for renewable power testing called the Solar Heating and Cooling Programme. It was established in 1977, as one of the first programmes of the International Energy Agency. The Programme�s work is unique in that it is accomplished through the international collaborative effort of experts from Member countries and the European Commission.

Ari Loves Sal; A short story based on Jesus and Mary Magdalene

Ari Loves Sal

A glimpse into the lives of Jesus and Mary Magdelene

Excerpted from The First Messiah


By Yuya Joseph


The First Part

Not long after arrival at the home and gardens of Antonia, the Agrippa family palace, Herod Joseph noticed that young Aristobulus was not to be seen among his extended kin. He enquired around the house, as there were several apartments where kids and their families were playing, in addition to the main quarters, and at first nobody knew of his son’s whereabouts, and deep concern began to show on Joe’s face. His wife Mariamne and others also noticed that their son Ari Jesh was not among the revelers, and different people had begun enquiring about his presence.

A disappointed and upset though still radiantly beautiful young Salome turned to a family member at the gathering and enquired, “I thought that cousin Aristobulus was going to be here; he is the only reason I wanted to come to this place today. Where is he?”

She was the daughter of Herodias and had just turned fourteen years of age, and cousin Ari no longer seemed like a young boy to her, he was now sophisticated and insightful. Her uncle, Herod Joseph of Chalcis, had been raising him since he was a toddler, and loving him and teaching him as if he were his very soul. He wasn’t even a teenager yet, but he was already her best friend ever, and it bothered her that he was not here where she expected him to be.

Salome was to remember this day for all of her life, and though Jesh thought of it fondly, Sal considered it the beginning of a downward trend that kept her away from Ari Jesh for long periods of time. She felt it marked the beginning of something she would have to heal from and overcome, that feeling of being so freaking alone that you imagine that everything you have ever done has been wrong. Her heart told her things would be okay, but her mind raced with despair at all the news of the troubles.

During her unhappy first marriage, she thought of this day and how she would someday marry the boy prophet, for very few had ever said Jahn Philip was the Messiah or the Anointed One, and even those were mostly unreliable, excepting the Mandeans whose devotion has in time been proven farsighted, essentially solidifying the role of Baptism in the emerging faith. James also had his followers but when people referred to Jeshua as the Messiah or the Anointed, nobody ever seemed to say a word against him, and everyone proclaimed his goodness and worthiness. Was She also not the Holy Princess of Judea, deserving of a Righteous King and all of Israel? Surely her destiny was not to be designated a half portion and an old man that only extremists still openly supported. Her mother Herodias would soon marry Herod Antipas, changing the course of history, but all this would come later.

Mariamne believed, as did many others, that her son Ari Jeshu’s purpose on earth was to be a Saviour of the Judaic People, the long-awaited Anointed One. When he grew into the premier Teacher in the country and people told her that he could even bring peace to all nations, that he was a Messiah to many Greeks, and Egyptians and Syrians also, she was not the type to limit his aspirations and range. Their reported later disputes in Galilee only reflected her concerns for his safety.

Although there was one particularly rough patch during Ari’s late teens, Mariamne IV was not the first queen (nor the last) to have major problems with the royal men in her life. The sometimes heartless, sometimes shoddy treatment of his mother, the Woman by the Well, was likely a factor in Ari Jesh’s own fervent commitment to the sanctity of marriage, and also to his overwhelming devotion to Salome and their children. He knew of the sacrifices women had to make in their lives, and his mom and his wife were each examples, for Salome had been forced to marry while still young, for the “good of the people,” and his mom had been divorced against her wishes, more than once. He believed deeply in the equality of all human beings, and the strong men and women who formed him in his childhood and adolescence became the builders of a great and growing nation.

Salome was also exceedingly popular, for everyone who knew her loved her, and when some called her Salome Mariamne, it wasn’t always just a reference to her own heritage, for the holy mantle came from her mother-in-law also. They were both ladies of the highest stature, Carriers of the Covenant, and the Virgin Mother Maryam role was later for Salome of the Tower to shoulder almost entirely on her own, and the Beloved One would prove to do a miraculous job.

These were the most difficult years in Jeshua’s life. In his early to mid-teens, the separation from his mother and younger siblings was excruciatingly painful, while in his later teens the expectations of some in Galilee and Jerusalem were hugely unreachable. People were anticipating Jesh would unite all Jews and overthrow the Romans, but he was more concerned with uniting Jews and Romans, and indeed all humanity. Purists questioned his pedigree, radicals challenged his passion, his family was concerned about some of the company he was keeping, and authorities were always quick to enquire what the large gatherings were about. Couple this social pressure with his deep disappointment in Salome’s betrothal to Philip Jahn, and you can see how the emotions would build.

One time when Sal was nineteen and Jesh was seventeen, the Roman soldiers were parading torch-lit images of the Emperor through the streets of Jerusalem, and Salome and Ari Jesh were among a group of youthful leaders who organized a non-violent sit-down in the street. Everyone proceeded to lay down, blocking the path of Procurator Pontius Pilate and other officials, who eventually agreed to have the processions stopped permanently.

At eighteen Jesh still led prayer and study groups in Jerusalem, and contributed to the Temple in many ways, but was increasingly drawn to the universalist teachings of the Way, and before his twentieth birthday his thinking and philosophy were already international in scope.

Hashmonein, Levantine, Persian, Ethiopian and other strains of Judaic royalty and divinity were prevalent in the highly learned city of Alexandria along the Egyptian coast, and when it came time for more advanced schooling, Ari Jesh was able to stay with family while attending University there. Recent years had seen personal disappointments, including being separated from his mother, and then seeing her be hurt again, and also witnessing his sweetheart and future wife enduring a marriage of scriptural convenience.

One year when she was able to stay with Jesh for a longer period, Mariamne even traveled up the Nile with him, to visit and worship at the ancient temples. At Thebes they met with some of the Ethiopian royal family, including two sons of the Queen that were each on a pilgrimage to the same festival. A local scholar translated some artworks on the wall in one of the older temples, relating stories of Queens Hatshepsut and Amenirdis, and Ari Jesh found it to be a particularly illuminating moment, though in the depths of his heart, it just made him ache all the more for Salome.

The Ethiopians fascinated their hosts and the other guests with vivid recollections of Sol-Amen’s achievements and Musa’s great life, for they each had Ethiopian wives and their tremendous human legacies were known in the hills and the valleys from Napata and Meroe to Axum, as they would continue to be for centuries and unto this day in Mekele, Lalibela, and Addis Ababa.

Mariamne and Aristobulus were treated as a Queen and a Prince of God’s Own Court, and all as true cousins in Jah Light embraced them heartily. Mother Mari and Her Son were astounded at the reception they received, and at the Ethiopians profound knowledge of Jerusalem, Her wisdom and Her blessings.

It was only a brief encounter, but those hours would stay with Jesh forever. He had read much of Ethiopia and had met Ethiopians at school, and was deeply honored to have spent time with distant cousins of the Southern Temple. These Holy Brethren were also sons and daughters of Musa and Sol-Amen and David and Abraham. Ari Jesh was himself becoming the Lamb of Israel, and here he had spoken and dined with the veritable Lions of Judah by the Nile. He had a vision that the world would one day be united again, not through power or force, but rather through spirit and goodwill. He knew that He was living in the early days, but was also confident that the hour of the teachings would arrive unexpectedly.

It was a most satisfying journey, and Ari’s deep love and profound respect for all of humanity became more rooted, and for all of his life he was to treasure these inspiring moments. Floating along the big river, coming home from this trip, conversing on a smooth sailing boat during a clear star-lit night, Mariamne had some news that would liven up Jeshua’s heart. “Salome sent a message for you, and you will be happy to hear it,” smiled Mom Mariamne.

“You waited all these hours to tell me this?” asked an inquisitive looking, partly shocked Ari.

“Yes my son, I didn’t want you thinking of her all the time, though you know I love her like a daughter.” Mariamne continued with the good news. “She will be here in eleven days, and she will be able to spend some time with you. Salome said to meet her just south of Giza, where the roads intersect below the pyramids, at noon the day after Sabbath next. You can see that junction from the Strangler statue … I am telling you both to wear Egyptian clothing, and be certain you are not being followed.”

“I can’t believe what you are telling me, I have been receiving her letters but I haven’t seen Salome in over two years.” Jesh continued, “Thanks, mom, this has been the best week ever.”

« Well, don’t think I can’t see the aching hurt in your eyes and hear the longing in your voice when you speak of her, » spoke Mary softly, and at that the two of them watched the shores of Hermopolis and Akhetaten flow by.

Ari studied under and broke bread with Philo and other masters, and often conversed with the well-regarded (at the time) Tiberius Julius Alexander when he was home visiting family. It was a milieu of learning, respect and culture, and most believed that it was here that Aristobulus grew from being a sometimes-awkward adolescent into a powerful, vibrant young man. Vespasian also stayed at the country palace, and after he married Jesh’s sister Polla, the two of them would laugh over some good times they had there as young men.

On an occasion less than a year after returning from Alexandria, more than a few thousand had followed Jeshua and his disciples out into the desert, for a period of fasting and prayer. A Roman garrison had seen the men gathering on the edge of Jerusalem before their journey into the desert, and a bystander had been heard referring to them as God’s Army. The story was retold within the garrison and soon there was speculation that an attack on the Holy City, or on Roman strongholds, was being planned.

After a day, the Roman soldiers went into the desert and slew scores of followers, injuring hundreds more and scattering all to their own homes and hiding places. Jesh and his closest brethren all got away on horseback, but were devastated at the loss of precious life, and the brutal reaction of the soldiers to their gathering. When local officials got word that their military camp had attacked a prayer session led by a Herodian prince, they were fearful of Rome’s reaction and so they sent word that they had put down a revolt provoked by an Egyptian false prophet, and nothing more was heard of the matter.

At the Mount Gerizim festival in Samaria, everything had gone more smoothly for Ari and the core followers of the Way. The final third of the teachings were being relayed, one line at a time, from the front to the back of the crowd by a chorus of seven, which would repeat each line of Ari Jesh’s in unison. They were standing about thirty meters deep into the natural amphitheatre, which elevated slightly after an initial drop-off.

Blessed are those who come in peace

Blessed are those who believe in the great knower of unseen things

Blessed are those who do unto others as they wish upon themselves

Blessed are they that mourn this troubled world, for they shall be comforted

Blessed are the Children, for they speak the truth before God and before man

Blessed are the meek and the humble, for they shall inherit the earth

Blessed are the Women, for they give life and nurture souls

Blessed are the Chosen, for they stay close to the Way


The Sermon finished with a chorus of Hallelujah’s and the crowd began slowly and peacefully disbursing, though many stayed behind for healing and counsel. Ari Jeshua was serene, content, and finally feeling that there were many who were taking his message to heart. Seven double lines formed, and the fourteen leaders and elders of the Way were asked for healing and forgiveness and guidance and Light, in fourteen orderly streams.

Jesh had taught his close followers a range of healing techniques, such as relieving depression with vigorous massage beneath and around the shoulder blades, or gentle relaxing of the sinus and temple regions to alleviate forehead pain, or the neck and upper shoulders for general pain relief and release of Chi, plus many other restorative methods, and families far and wide were able to benefit from the brothers and sisters of the Way. When a caregiver was present with the sick or injured, the healing and guidance was provided for both, so spirit and methodology carried on and spread out. A lot can be accomplished with human touch, pure water and sunlight. Throw in a few berries and some pomegranate kernels and it’s a magic moment.

Prince Ari was busy with teaching and healing, and Princess Sal was beginning to attend Way meetings in Jerusalem, so messages were passed through friends and relatives. Salome’s husband was quite busy with business and royal matters, and her mind was often on the wider community she was symbolic of. Salome’s mother Herodias and Ari’s mom Mariamne could both see the advantages of their children uniting, fully believing the entire nation would benefit from such a pairing. Though Salome was still married to Philip Jahn the Baptist, their wishes would require mere months to reach fulfillment.

Princess Salome remained in her marriage to the wild yet holy man Jahn Philip, but corresponded with Jesh while he was in Egypt. Her letters were by far his favorites, for she wrote deeply layered missives, and positioned herself firmly as his eternal, equal partner. It was like Ethiopian qene poetry, just peel through some layers of wax and there shone gold and pearls of wisdom. At first it seemed like they would never be together, whereas now it appeared that it may be only three or five or seven years at the most, maybe sooner by her calculations, yet nobody could really be sure. She had contemplated divorce, but it could only work if it didn’t result in embarrassment for herself and Jeshua, yet finally patience would work in her favour. At a point of desperation in his own quest for kingship, hubby Jahn Philip reached for power that he thought was there but it disappeared before his eyes and he was called off to Rome and dethroned. The unexpected early death of Herod Jahn Philip meant that in less time than expected, Ari and Sal would indeed be united.

When first told of Herod Philip’s request to marry Salome, Herodias was said to have commented that she would “rather have his head on a platter than let him marry her” daughter. Whether or not she actually said the words, the supposed remark would live on to haunt her in life and in memory.

As per prophecy, Aristobulus was the new Joshua, with a minor of Elisha, and his life was to be patterned primarily after the main two previous Holy Joshua’s, or Saviours The trail was blazed as early as the twelfth and eighteenth dynasties, and the legend of the mesach had a new urgency and an incredibly worldly resonance. In time He would grow comfortably into the role, and became the Crown Prince of Israel, then the King of the Jews, even taking on the role of Joseph as dad to Jeshua Justus Aristobulus and the other youth, and finally leaving His mark as the Messiah of the new Way, a true prophet of peace and equality.

Our royal daughter, Princess Salome, herself of the highest Maccabeean and Herodian strains, was two years older than Ari, and was raised primarily in Jerusalem. Her regal heritage was unassailable, with her father being Herod Philip the Tetrarch, and her mother the internationally known Herodias, daughter of Aristobulus IV and matriarch Berenice. She was destined to be married two times; first to Prince Jahn Herod, Philip II, whom history and scripture remember as the Baptist, an arranged marriage designed as fulfillment of prophecy, then later unifying all of Israel by marrying Jesus Aristobulus and bringing forth sons to carry on the Covenant.

Full story continues at: Historical Jesus and Mary Magdelene

Barack Obama endorsed by Caroline Kennedy in Sunday New York Times

Seeing in him the visionary force that people so loved in her father, and even in Bill Clinton, President John F. Kennedy's daughter Caroline Kennedy has endorsed Barack Obama for President of the United States.

In an article to be published tomorrow in the Sunday New York Times, Caroline Kennedy writes "OVER the years, I’ve been deeply moved by the people who’ve told me they wished they could feel inspired and hopeful about America the way people did when my father was president. This sense is even more profound today. That is why I am supporting a presidential candidate in the Democratic primaries, Barack Obama.

My reasons are patriotic, political and personal, and the three are intertwined. All my life, people have told me that my father changed their lives, that they got involved in public service or politics because he asked them to. And the generation he inspired has passed that spirit on to its children. I meet young people who were born long after John F. Kennedy was president, yet who ask me how to live out his ideals.

Sometimes it takes a while to recognize that someone has a special ability to get us to believe in ourselves, to tie that belief to our highest ideals and imagine that together we can do great things. In those rare moments, when such a person comes along, we need to put aside our plans and reach for what we know is possible.

We have that kind of opportunity with Senator Obama. It isn’t that the other candidates are not experienced or knowledgeable. But this year, that may not be enough. We need a change in the leadership of this country — just as we did in 1960.

Most of us would prefer to base our voting decision on policy differences. However, the candidates’ goals are similar. They have all laid out detailed plans on everything from strengthening our middle class to investing in early childhood education. So qualities of leadership, character and judgment play a larger role than usual.

Senator Obama has demonstrated these qualities throughout his more than two decades of public service, not just in the United States Senate but in Illinois, where he helped turn around struggling communities, taught constitutional law and was an elected state official for eight years. And Senator Obama is showing the same qualities today. He has built a movement that is changing the face of politics in this country, and he has demonstrated a special gift for inspiring young people — known for a willingness to volunteer, but an aversion to politics — to become engaged in the political process.

I have spent the past five years working in the New York City public schools and have three teenage children of my own. There is a generation coming of age that is hopeful, hard-working, innovative and imaginative. But too many of them are also hopeless, defeated and disengaged. As parents, we have a responsibility to help our children to believe in themselves and in their power to shape their future. Senator Obama is inspiring my children, my parents’ grandchildren, with that sense of possibility.

Senator Obama is running a dignified and honest campaign. He has spoken eloquently about the role of faith in his life, and opened a window into his character in two compelling books. And when it comes to judgment, Barack Obama made the right call on the most important issue of our time by opposing the war in Iraq from the beginning.

I want a president who understands that his responsibility is to articulate a vision and encourage others to achieve it; who holds himself, and those around him, to the highest ethical standards; who appeals to the hopes of those who still believe in the American Dream, and those around the world who still believe in the American ideal; and who can lift our spirits, and make us believe again that our country needs every one of us to get involved.

I have never had a president who inspired me the way people tell me that my father inspired them. But for the first time, I believe I have found the man who could be that president — not just for me, but for a new generation of Americans."

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/27/opinion/27kennedy.html?_r=1&hp=&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print

Renewable Energy Stocks hit hard; buying opportunity for longer-term investors?

Are publicly-traded Renewable Power Stocks in BUY territory?

Some of the best alternative energy companies on the planet have been walloped by the recent correction in stock prices, so investors who have been on the sidelines during the bull run in solar energy, windpower and geothermal energy shares may want to consider initiating a dollar-cost averaging program to begin buying in over the coming months.

Another strategy would be to research which open ended mutual funds, closed end funds, ETFs and alternative energy index funds include these renewable power stocks as core holdings, and begin accumulating fund positions.

Renewable Power Stocks that are down 50% or more from 52-week highs as of 24JAN08: SPWR, SOLF, FSLR, REC, WFR

SPWR: SunPower (NASDAQ:SPWR) said revenue tripled to $224 million from $75 million in the year-ago quarter, but due to charges, net profit was down.

Alternative Energy companies down at least 25% from 52-week highs as of 24JAN08: ORA, QCLSF, SUZL, STP

There will be some major capital gains made by shareholders of some of these leading renewable energy companies ... BUT, the ridw will be wild and it is suggested that only longer-term, higher risk investors consider individual shares, while medium risk folk should utilize a blend of managed and index funds, as part of the growth element of a more widely diversified investment portfolio.

Suggested browsing:

Geotherma.info: Geothermal Energy Stocks Investing

WindIntell.com: Windpower Company Info and Links

SolarIntell.com: Renewable Power Stocks Investments

Geotherma Energy heating and cooling offices and residences in Ramallah

Update from Ramallah.

IGSHPA instructor and consultant Don MacIntyre shown here with students of the first IGSHPA installers course conducted in the Middle East. The class, all engineers, include two participants from the Palestine Energy & Environmental Research Centre whose goal is to explore areas in the West Bank where energy can be saved and identify technologies that can achieve the savings. Fifteen of these 8 unit high end condos are currently being constructed by UCI in north Ramallah overlooking a deep ravine. Olive groves dot the mountain slope opposite the development which will include a swimming pool, spa, and other amenities found in such five star accommodations. With polyurethane panels for insulation the heating and cooling loads for these units came in almost equal. The experiment will compare energy data from two identical buildings, one equipped with conventional heating and cooling, the other with earth energy from 12 vertical boreholes 70 meters deep into the solid limestone formation. Thermal conductivity tests are being conducted immediately to confirm the design parameters. The second project for Go Geothermal, a five storey office complex, is already up and UCI will commence drilling near the end of December.

"The largest obstacle developers face is sourcing out the many components necessary for earth energy projects of this scope. In many Middle Eastern nations "green" technologies such as GSHP and WSHP are brand new concepts. But with more developments scheduled for 2008 and 2009 in three other middle eastern nations it won't be long before we see wide spread deployment in this part of the world too.", stated MacIntyre.




Suggested browsing:



Alternative Energy Stocks, Renewable Power Investing




Geothermal Energy investing website





Windpower Investing website, wind energy stocks info

New wind energy site WindIntell.com a directory of windpower resources online

Just launched in January 2008,the new windpower investing website www.WindIntell.com offers info on Windpower Stocks, Renewable Power Investing websites, links to wind energy companies, windpower association websites, wind energy stocks, alternative energy websites and renewable power blogs. Publicly-listed wind power companies are the focus of this new windpower stock investing site.


Conscious browsers, suggested reading:


Guide to Alternative Energy Investing


Geothermal Power Stocks Investing website


Bees Trees Frogs Elephants

Green City of the Future proposed for Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay

article from PopularMechanics.com




By Logan Ward
Photographs by Ofer Wolberger

KEYWORDS

* infrastructure
* energy
* Green Design
* waste
* water

Every day, a few hundred thousand vehicles cross the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, their drivers barely aware of the small, rectangular land mass lying just to the north. From where I am standing, on rocky Yerba Buena Island, I can both hear the traffic thundering overhead and look across a narrow isthmus to the long-forgotten patch of real estate in the middle of the bay: Treasure Island. Home to an abandoned Navy base and a small population of low- to middle-income residents, the 400-acre property hardly lives up to its prosperous name. Defunct military buildings, rusty oil tanks and electrical transformers litter the landscape. Crumbling asphalt caps chemical dumps.

Treasure Island is an unlikely place to look for the city of the future, but that's what I'm here to find. My guide is Jean Rogers, an environmental engineer with the global design and consulting firm Arup. Surrounded by a panorama of postcard views—San Francisco, Golden Gate, Berkeley Hills—and buffeted by winds that whip in from the Pacific, Rogers seems somewhat unlikely, too: Petite, stylish, with an impressive string of degrees and a down-to-business manner, she speaks with easygoing "likes" and "you knows" sprinkled among phrases such as "tertiary water treatment" and "optimal solar exposure." Rogers jabs at the ground with the heel of her shoe, reminding me what an engineering feat we stand on: Completely man-made, Treasure Island consists of 20 million cubic yards of sea bottom that has been dredged up, dumped into walls made of 287,000 tons of quarried rock and topped with 50,000 cubic yards of loam.

Built for the Golden Gate International Exposition in 1939, Treasure Island was claimed as a Naval base during World War II. When the base was finally decommissioned 11 years ago, San Francisco began studying how to redevelop it. From nearly 300 meetings among city officials, engineers, architects and the public emerged a plan for the most ambitious new community in the United States—a 13,500-person "urban oasis" that will rise from the soil of reclaimed Superfund sites, combining cutting-edge technology with restored natural systems to leave a light footprint on the Earth. After ground is broken in 2009, Treas­ure Island will become a testbed for the newest ideas in energy efficiency, water conservation, waste management and low-impact living. Says Rogers, with idealism undaunted by the task ahead: "We want it to be the most ecological city in the world."

At no time in history has a model metropolis been more sorely needed. More than half of the people on Earth now live in cities, where they consume 75 percent of the natural resources and are responsible for the majority of greenhouse gases. But while cities can be a liability to the planet—their aging infrastructure ripping through raw materials and compounding the effects of global warming—they can also represent an important opportunity. Typically, food and water enter a city as raw material and exit it as sewage and garbage in what might be called a linear flow. By producing its own energy and recycling its waste, a city can operate less like a factory and more like an ecosystem—supporting a larger number of people with far fewer resources.

Treasure Island represents a rare chance to wipe the slate clean—to tear down old infrastructure and lay new foundations using only the smartest ideas for the future.

Full article continues at: San Francisco Treasure Island Future City proposal in Popular Mechanics article



Check Also:

SolarIntell.com Alternative Energy Investing Websites

Guide to Green Realtor Websites and Blogs


PBS TV Show Building Green TV