www.empathy-research.com

We feed the growing world

Isabelle — Fri, 18 May 2012 12:38:32 +0000

The world’s population is growing day by day. Because of its exponential growth, it has multiplied faster than ever before during the last fifty years. Nowadays the population has reached the 7 billion mark and is expected to hit more than nine billion by the year 2050. Personally, I am very concerned about this development. The main reason for my concern is the fact that there are not enough resources to feed everyone on this planet. Millions people face a hunger crisis day by day. Especially in the developing countries people see their children suffering from hunger and thirst and cannot help them because they suffer themselves. I don’t even want to imagine what will happen in the future if we do not find the solution to solve this world hunger problem. The increasing population, the increasing food demand and climate change are the issues which should be not only discussed, but also converted into action and impact. Agricultural Biotechnology is indeed a very helpful tool to enhance food supply without damaging the environment. This sustainable method of farming is meant to reduce environmental and human impact by using naturally occurring genes. Due to avoiding the use of artificial hormones, pesticides or antibiotic treatments this way of farming significantly advances the production of soybeans and other crops. Simultaneously it allows to double current food production.

Unfortunately this may be only one small part of the solution for the hunger crisis. It is necessary to shift the non-food uses of crops, such as animal feed and biofuel production, away from prime cropland because it reduces human food supply. In addition, it is essential to strategicllay relocate the use of water and other limited resources. Above all, we need to reduce waste. Approximately one-third of food ends up being spoiled or eaten by pests. I am sure that any of us has already thrown away some food at least once in his or her life. Please remember that the elimination of hunger should be a concern of everyone of us. It is definitely not an easy issue to feed billions of people but we have to rethink what we can do. Each of us defintely able to contribute in order to solve the growing hunger crisis.

Image note: Pladuk/ wikmedia/ cc

Peace, not war !

Isabelle — Tue, 15 May 2012 15:00:59 +0000

BBC recently added in its employee’s manual that journalists are to be restricted on the contents that it can post online. BBC clearly states that the journalists and its presentators should not add anything that wouldn’t be aired. I have been working at the BBC for 6 years now. My successful career as a journalist kind of went smoothly until one fine morning my boss called me into his office and said that he is senting me on a mission to Israel to the war front. The UN has given war journalist the right to safety. I was wondering whether female journalists would be given extra consideration. Well I wouldn’t be here if the war against Hamas were ended. The UNO has requested Israel to stop the war against Hamas. I wonder why Israel is not agreeing to the UNO and also not resorting to many international appeals to stop the war. The main reason behind this is that Israel has some policies and targets with the west bank and the Gaza region. The tensions between Israel and Palestine would date back to 1967. Israel took control of a population that is religiously, economically, culturally and politically hostile. And also when the other ideologies such as jihadism, extremism and warlordism prevailed in this region, this also resulted in high tensions in the area. Gaza was actually a part of Egypt and was controlled by Egypt. Gaza is a very over crowded and aid dependant land with a population of 1.5 million people. Since 2006 Gaza was subject to restrictions and several raids from Israel. Many organizations from all around the world have asked Israel to lift its restrictions against Gaza, but Israel has failed to do so. This is the reason why Hamas declared the destruction of Israel.

For more information: www.friendsofpeace.org.uk

Image Note: this image is released under the creative commons license (source: Luca Xino/ Flickr)

I will vote if you help me

Isabelle — Tue, 15 May 2012 14:59:04 +0000

My uncle is a politician. The word politician always gives me a negative thought. I feel the magic words such as lying, being corrupt and thieving do always associate with politicians. My uncle is a very honest and hard working person though. I do respect him a lot because he has brought on many reforms to our neighborhood with aims to protect women. The different changes he brought were street lighting, surveillance cameras, neighborhood watchmen etc. Whenever an election comes people take good care in choosing their politicians. They mostly seek the politicians who have the experience, knowledge, ideas and insight. The main demands that politicians face are to improve our lives and create a lot of jobs for us. The government can expand to a certain extend and create jobs. If the jobs created by the government are not profitable enough and doesn’t bring in much revenue then more resources would have to be used and this would destroy wealth. Most governments do subsidize unprofitable jobs. We pay a lot of tax and the governments use this money for the production of goods and services and force us to buy these products and services at a higher price. Governments throughout the world do build space stations, they also fund many projects and do engage in many wealth destroying activities. But in the end they do not actually create or build anything. Unemployment would always be high in an unbalanced economy. The imbalance in the economy is mainly due to large spending, major subsidies, printing of a lot more of money etc which hardly get pumped into the economy.

For more information: mises.org

Image Note: this image is released under the creative commons license (source: DrabikPany/ Flickr)

Women, underestimated today but deadly centuries ago!

Isabelle — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 14:20:30 +0000

I love the phrase “male chauvinist”. The main reason is because if you ask any men what they think about women, almost 70 percent of them do say that a woman is just a female human. Many men do think of us as just being beauty objects for them to seek pleasure. We have being crying out loud for many issues that have affected us for decades now (gender discrimination, gender wage gap, gender equality, women rights etc). How often have our voice been heard? Is it a very sad fact that women are written off because without women the world wouldn’t exist and cannot survive. Women have actually made marks of their own in this world and most of the times have rewritten history. Women have emerged to become the most powerful in many countries and have influenced the lives of many. Certain prehistoric studies have shown that in prehistoric times women were more deadly and smarter. Mankind for actually centuries now have worshipped the Goddess, not God of wisdom. In the old testament of the Bible wisdom has taken female form in the Book of Proverbs and Song of Songs. Islam is considered to be a very conservative religion especially for women. Even from ages ago Islam believed that it was God’s instruction that women seek knowledge. Female Muslim scholars were in plenty and during the 12^th century women did preach in the great mosques of Medina, Cairo, Jerusalem and Damascus. Wu Zetian, was a female power who lived in the 7^th century. She actually used the power of words to conquer. She invadedKorea,Tibet and reformed the Chinese empire.

For more information: www.guardian.co.uk

Image Note: this image is released under the creative commons license (source: paukrus/ Flickr)

Making business capable of fighting poverty

Isabelle — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 14:17:38 +0000

The idea occurred to me when I came across certain blogs and articles published over the internet. In the modern day and the 24/7 life style that we follow I don’t think that any one will get time for giving charity or helping the poor. But what if we could help the poor alongside a business that we do? Sounds great, right? I also found a number of such businesses on the internet. Apparently a restaurant in Leschi known as St. Clouds conducts a cooking project every month for the purpose of feeding the homeless. As far as I understood the restaurant is currently providing meals to about 200 people every month at five shelters.

To me this truly is an act depicting the word ‘kindness’. I strongly believe that you as a sponsor should not stand backstage after providing a contribution. If possible engage yourself in the activities, do smoothing and start the cause, be an encouragement for others and at the same time enjoy to the fullest. If you are running a company you can even ask your employees to donate for the purpose of the charity works. Always encourage the poor by providing decent wages and giving positive feedbacks under all favorable occasions. Provide training for them so that they can have the confidence of an experienced professional within no time.

In my perspective you can even form a club with your employees being the member. Hold conversations about the topics in the club and encourage others to fight poverty. Try to bring the topic at home, school etc. and create awareness step by step.

For more information: responsiblemarketing.com

Image Note: this image is released under the creative commons license (source: sidashi/ Flickr)

Is money only important for men and they pay high car insurance

Isabelle — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 14:13:51 +0000

For over two hundred years the most powerful person in the world lived here and it stood to be the most omnipotent symbol which represented the most powerful nation of the world. I am talking about the white house which symbolizes the presidency of theUnited States of America. I was in a spa with my friends when she told me that the female staff of the White House does earn $60000 a year when men earns $71000. We were talking about the gender pay discrimination when I started wondering that White House is also a hostile work place. Most of the families in theUSdoes depend on women’s wages and the paycheck discrimination does hurt the American economy as a whole. President Obama has been widely criticized for supporting the gender pay gap. The gender pay doesn’t just apply to salaries as I suppose. Women do tend to be more traditional and work in the fields of social service and education. These remain to be the fields which do offer much less pay and have not yet bounced back from the recession. Post recession did show a trend in where employers did re hire more men than women. The fact behind this was that they believed that men needed jobs more than women. Women all around the world are considered to be emotional, weak, dependant and poor at math. Women also do perform poorly on analytical tests. Women are very less willing to make risky business decisions. They wouldn’t like to ask their boss for a raise because this would cause a dislike.

For more information: psychologytoday.com

Image Note: this image is released under the creative commons license (source: kristin_a (Meringue Bake Shop)/ Flickr)

Do women shout, “Help, I am raising my child alone?”

Isabelle — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 14:10:36 +0000

I have always said to the world that the most beautiful thing in this world is to be a single mother. I have three children, two boys and a girl. I had to raise all of them by myself. Most single moms of today are going back to school and trying to improve their careers. This can help them to support their families. Recent researches conducted have stated that the numbers of single mothers who are taking college degrees are growing by number. The going back to school aspect can bring the single and working mothers more difficult challenges. The mothers who seek higher education are doing this with the goal of getting a stable job and this would ensure their children to get a bright future. To attain the most important thing that a mother should have is the emotional strength that would be needed to balance school, work and parenting. Shelby Fetting, parent and community manager works mainly towards giving support to the single mothers. She says that, “couples aren’t staying together anymore.” There are a lot of people who just live together and have no commitment for each other. New studies in theUShave revealed how women like to become a parent without being married. More and more women of the age groups between 30 and 40 are choosing nowadays to become single mothers. Well, now I think that marriage is the most ideal choice and that too should happen before you get 30 years old.

For more information: www.uwec.edu

Image Note: this image is released under the creative commons license (source: elviskennedy/ Flickr)

Merchant Loans: Helping to Start Your Business

Isabelle — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 11:48:48 +0000

Merchant Loans helps your business take off. This is how they describe their business: “Our small business loan experts team up with the most active and aggressive lenders to get you the best loan terms for your growing enterprise”.

Letter Fonts That Make a Difference for the Dyslexic!

Isabelle — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 13:18:59 +0000

My seven-year-old son suffers from dyslexia. But I might not be the only mother who worries about it. Dyslexia is a very complex problem which hurts not only the individual but the whole family. Let’s face it; dyslexia is a very complex problem. It affects the person’s brain. This kind of injury prevents the child from processing and receiving information properly. There are a lot of conventional treatments such as therapies for the affected. The therapy does help in stimulating the mid-brain section, which results in a gradual development of new pathways which would enable the brain for a higher receiving of information. Dyslexic children do often misinterpret sounds, which very often leads to the confusions they have and influences their ability of language decoding. Addressing the basic neurological issues is very important. Even more important is to create a very specific reading program which would suit different needs. Dyslexics get letters mixed up while trying to interpret them. The letters also tend to get rotated as well. A Dutch design firm called StudioStudio has created a font for the dyslexic which would enable them to read more easily with very few errors. The letters developed by the company would look heavier in the bottom through thicker lines, which enables easy recognition. The letter differences such as openings, slants etc are also exaggerated and help making them easily distinguishable. The capital letters and the punctuations are in a bold font to make the sentence beginning and endings more clear.

Find more information on http://www.studiostudio.nl

Planet Friendly- The Website to Bring Together People with Ideas

Isabelle — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 13:14:08 +0000

Planet Friendly is a great website about environment, conservation and sustainability in Canada and other countries. You can find the largest green events calendar on this website, as well as recent green job and volunteer listings. It is the best place to bring people together over environmental themes and sustainability in Canada. This website has thousands of subscribers and visitors. There are over 1500 eco-events listed, conferences and courses being posted every year. I would really recommend you to experience such events. You can search by various themes, locations for events on the website. The most interesting part is that you can promote your own event and also plan the date for the event without any clashes – it’s all possible. If you are going to post it on the website as early as possible, then you can expect a big crowd for your event! No need to worry about any subscription charges for the calendar service as it is absolutely free and is built for the Canadians’ benefit. Want to be a volunteer in working for a sustainable world? Well, there are both volunteer and paid jobs available on this website. If you are in need of volunteers for your events or other programs, you can easily post a request on the website seeking volunteers and I am sure you will get a lot of responses. There are other services too that are available on the website. The EcoProperty webpage gives the information about the ecological and organic property across Canada. You will surely get inspired as this website is for green-minded people and environmental organizations in Canada.

Find more information on http://www.planetfriendly.net/

Image Note: this image is released under the creative commons license (source: Donkey Hotey/ Flickr)