“In the 1920s O G S Crawford invented aerial archaeology, one of many services this eccentric Marxist misanthrope performed for the study of antiquity.”
- Jonathan Meades: Link

Bloody Old Britain: O G S Crawford and the Archaeology of Modern Life

By Kitty Hauser

Granta Books, 286pp

Amazon: Link

“Future archaeologists will perhaps excavate the ruined factories of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries when the radiation effects of Atom bombs have died away.”
- O. G. S. Crawford, from Archaeology in the Field (1953)

O. G. S. Crawford @ Wikipedia: Link.

~ Karl Jones

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Rome: It’s beautiful and it’s not. Kinda like everything else in life.

“La prossima fermata è Roma Termini.”

I moved to Italy to live at the end of September last year. I lived in Brescia (a medium-sized city in Northern Italy) until March 1, when I moved to Siena.

(I am once again back in Brescia, but that’s a story I’m going to save for another day.)

I picked up some vocabulary during those first five months in Italy, but it wasn’t until I started attending an Italian class for immigrants in Siena that I really started learning the language.

Now, finally!, I understand much of what is being said either to me or around me. The language no longer sounds foreign or like pretty sounds flowing forth from people’s mouths. Although I’m more motivated to learn the language–because it finally seems like an achievable goal to converse fluently–the glossy veneer of the nonsensical musical sounds has dulled. I don’t know, there’s something about understanding when somebody complains about the weather (or conversely, the ease in which I can complain about it) that makes any language sound less romantic.

Shiny glossy veneers are so overrated. Don’t you think? I mean, a veneer is just a thin expensive sheet of wood (or metal) with layers upon layers of unusually toxic clear varnish. If it wasn’t for the common cheap material beneath (like pine or regular mild steel), the veneer would have nothing to attach itself to.

And I’ve always preferred the look of a dull, used or aged finish anyway…and now that I’ve exhausted my analogy I’m finished with this post.

But one more thing before I go to bed on this hot summer night: it is nice to know that you can simply listen to the conductor to know when your next stop is and not have the nervous wondering of whether you’ve missed it or have yet to arrive.

Arrivederci a dopo.

~Janelle Renée

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Natural Touch is a Non Governmental Organisation based in Calabar the Eastern part of Nigeria.The inspiration come from a point of observation of handicapped people and Children roaming the streets of some citites in Nigeria mostly in Calabar begging for alms.
Most of them at the end of the day retired to uncompleted buildings to pass the night,It was a very gory site when a reported case of ritual dehumanising killing of two of such people in a street close to my residence.These two were killed and some part of them remove for rituals activities or some other things not quite known to us.

So touched by such inhuman treament to people because of their inability to defend themselves or provide proper accomodation for themselves,and even a source of livelihood was traumatic,hence,my decision to get the NGO (NATURAL TOUCH) started,with the aim to provide food and shelter for the hanicapped.Make sure there is a future for them and security of life for them.

Upon our inception,we had limited our intention to mostly the young ones and average aged.Although we could not provide accomodation for them but we  provide the basic needs which is food for them atleast once a day.

It is our aim to increase the feeding arrangement to twice a day and also build a home for them.It is our aim to accomodate at least 2000-5000 handicapped people of difiers ages in the home,and Animals too.
With support from other Organisations/Individauls that are touched just as we are.We will establish a school or a handicraft centre for them to study and become independent of their own in future.
Suffice to say here that most of them roam the street with torn cloths and look unkept,We also provide clothing where necessary and affordable to them.
Based on our inability to sustain the financial burden,we are looking forward to Groups or Individuals with similar passion as we have towards uplifting the living standard of these hadicapped and also thinking of ensuring their future.

We are planning of building a home for them in Calabar to accomodate the handicapped and also recruit personnels to take care of their cooking and tranining.
We look forward to support  from passionate groups and individuals.
Thanks,
Dennis

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Technology for human needs:

• The Outquisition
• Engineers Without Borders
• MIT International Design Summit
• Free/Open Appropriate Technology
• Transition Towns
• Technology for Humanity

(...)
Read the rest of Technology for Humanity (735 words)

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Is Your Silence Costing You Your Life? By Cookie Tuminello

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”- Martin Luther King

Martin Luther King was right on when he said, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” It is the beginning of the end.

A major source of stress is caused by unspoken feelings, not getting what we want, and not asking for what we want. This stress can cause headaches, insomnia, emotional eating, avoidance, depression, and laryngitis just to name a few. I, myself, have experienced all of the tell tale signs at one time or another in my life.

So, back to the question, is your silence causing you stress? A good question to ask yourself is your life working or not working for you? A good place to start looking for answers is to take a good long look at your relationship with yourself and others.

• How many times do you say YES when you want to say NO? For fear that they may not like you. You valued the other person more than you valued yourself.
• How many times have you kept quiet because you were afraid to speak up? For fear of what might happen or not sure of yourself. So, you just sucked it up and paid for it on the inside.
• How many times have you spoke your feelings, but did not ask for what you wanted? For fear that you didn’t know how to ask or felt you weren’t worthy enough. So, you came away unfulfilled and sometimes even resentful for not having spoken up and stated what you really wanted.
• How many times have you let others dictate the course of your life because you didn’t think you knew enough? So, you lived the life they wanted, not yours, simply because you wanted to please them.
• How many times have you settled for less when you could have had more? What do you think doing this did to your sense of self worth?

Think about it. When you become silent, don’t express your feelings, and don’t speak up, you give away your power and your soul. Now, if this only happened one time it may not be a problem. You learn from the experience and you take care of better care of yourself next time. However, keeping silent time after time causes a slow demise of the quality of your life, not to mention your integrity, dignity, joy, passion, and prosperity in your life. How long are you going to keep saying ‘Ow!’ before you stop!’

So how do you reclaim your power?

The first step is to be accountable. You are where you are because of the choices you have made in your life. Now don’t go south on me and start beating yourself up more. It’s not bad or wrong, it’s just where you were at the time. Now is the time to make better choices for yourself – stand up for yourself.

The second step is to take a look at the areas of your life where you’ve sabotaged yourself. Determine what it is that you want and start putting in corrections. In other words, start taking different actions than the ones you took before. And every time you take a new empowered action, you begin to reclaim your power little by little.

Being silent does have its place in everyone’s life, but staying silent when you really need to be standing up and showing up for yourself serves nobody well, least of all you.

If you’re really having problems stating what you want, just remember the old saying, ‘How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.’ In short, open your mouth and clearly state what you want - one word at a time.

as requested by cemplon and svya :p

“I’m slightly afraid that fewer and fewer people will want to devote their whole life to one experiment. This may be a problem.”

- Michal Tomášek

One experiment, one life

The scale and complexity of the LHC [Large Hadron Collider] can only be rivaled by some of the greatest scientific efforts ever made, such as the race to the moon or the development of the atomic bomb. More so than those efforts, the LHC is truly international, which is made clear on a visit to its outdoor cafeteria, where, in the shadow of Mont Blanc, a multitude of languages can be heard.

The duration of the experiment — about two decades on, it is only about to begin, and it could likely operate for 20 years — means that some physicists will spend their whole careers devoted solely to the LHC. This concerns Michal Tomášek, a Czech physicist who works on Atlas.

“Back when I was a student,” he says, “there were 20 to 40 experiments that lasted five to six years, and you had an opportunity to go from one to another. … [Now] it’s really one experiment for one life.

“I’m slightly afraid that fewer and fewer people will want to devote their whole life to one experiment. This may be a problem.”

- Paul Voosen @ The Prague Post - September 3rd, 2008.

Large Hadron Collider @ Wikipedia

~ Karl Jones

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I was wondering if there were actually people out there who have changed their lifestyles to be more eco-friendly. I searched the internet to see who was doing what. Are people Makin’ it Green? The answer is a resounding… Yes!!!

One man moved to the New Mexico wilderness to live without oil. Another family in California changes their urban yard into a farm complete with animals. And a Canadian couple goes off the grid but keeps their middle class lifestyle. And there are a lot more. All wonderful stories which inspired me. 

Inspirational stories of folks ‘Makin’ it Green’…

Farewell my Subaru - a greener life in New Mexico, USA

Doug Fine is the   author of ‘Farewell my Subaru’ a book about  his life without oil. Doug moved to New Mexico, USA with his girl friend. They built a green sustainable home, are raising goats, chickens, ducks and growing much of their own food. You can read the continuing story of his new greener life at his blog. He is funny, charming and actually doing it… well. Amazing!!!

 

 

Path to Freedom - urban homesteaders in California, USA

An eco-pioneering lifestyle in Pasadena, CA. This is a story of a family who turned their lot into a 1/10th acre  farm which, produces 6,000 lbs. of organic food annually. On a path to self-sufficiency the Dervaes grow and preserve 99% of their own food, recycle, make bio-diesel, utilize solar power and more. You can read their blog or watch more videos at Dervaes’ channel on youtube.com. Awesome!!!

 

 Off Grid Living - with renewable resources in Canada

Bill and Lorraine Kemp live a normal middle class lifestyle in an average home with all the things you’d expect like a big screen TV, home office filled with computers and other equipment, washer / dryer, and even a cappuccino machine. But the thing that makes them unique is that they live completely off the grid. They have wood heat, solar/wind power for electricity, a well and waste water reclamation system. You can read their blog or watch more videos at aztextpress channel on youtube.com.

We can make it green living well and inexpensively. So exciting and inspirational!

Some wonderful sustainable resources…

Peak Moment TV - A network dedicated to sustainability and issues of our changing world. There are 23 interesting 28-minute episodes hosted by Janaia Donaldson (photo left) you can watch at Global Media. You can also read Janaia’s blog about the latest goings on at Peak Moment too.

Natural Life Magazine - A paper and online magazine that is about how to create a greener, healthier and more sustainable lifestyle.

Your Backyard Farmer Located in Portland, OR. A great concept people who love to farm, do it for you and it’s all organic.

~Bonnee Klein Gilligan

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MORE here: http://ABC4All.net/itinerary.htm