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Monday, February 8, 2010

JK Rowling: The fringe benefits of failure | Video on TED.com

JK Rowling: The fringe benefits of failure Video on TED.com


49 REASONS TO BE A VEGGIE!!!

1. The Environment :Conservation of Fossil fuel. It takes 78 calories of fossil fuel to produce 1 calorie of beef protein; 35 calories for 1 calorie of pork; 22 calories for 1 of poultry; but just 1 calorie of fossil fuel for 1 calorie of soybeans. By eating plant foods instead of animal foods, I help conserve our non-renewable sources of energy.
2. Water Conservation. It takes 3 to 15 times as much water to produce animal protein as it does plant protein. As a vegetarian I contribute to water conservation.
3. Efficient use of grains. It takes up to 16 pounds of soybeans and grains to produce 1 lb. of beef and 3 to 6 lbs. to produce 1 lb of turkey & egg. By eating grain foods directly, I make the food supply more efficient & that contributes to the environment.
4. Soil conservation. When grains & legumes are used more efficiently, our precious topsoil is automatically made more efficient in its use. We use less agricultural resources to provide for the same number of people.
5. Saving our forests. Tropical forests in Brazil and other tropic regions are destroyed daily, in part, to create more acreage to raise livestock. By not supporting the meat industry, I directly reduce the demand to pillage these irreplaceable treasures of nature. Since the forest land "filters" our air supply and contains botanical sources for new medicines, this destruction is irreversable.
6. Asthetics. Decaying animal parts, whether in a freezer case or served in restaurants, can never be as asthetically pleasing to the senses as the same foods made from wholesome vegetable sources. Only habit can allow one not to perceive this: a change in diet makes this self evident. Personal Health
7. No deficiencies. There is no nutrient necessary for optimal human functioning which cannot be obtained from plant food.
8. High fat plus cholesterol. Animal foods are higher in fat than most plant foods, particularly saturated fats. Plants do not contain cholesterol.
9. "Carb" deficient. Meat is deficient in carbohydrates, particularly the starches which are so essential to proper health.
10. Vitamin deficient. Except for the b-complex, meat is largely deficient in vitamins.
11. Agricultural Chemicals. Being higher on the food chain, animal foods contain far higher concentrations of agricultural chemicals than plant foods, including pesticides, herbicides, etc.
12. Exposure to livestock drugs. There are over 20,000 different drugs, including sterols, antibiotics, growth hormones and other veterinary drugs that are given to livestock animals. These drugs are consumed when animal foods are consumed. The dangers herein, in secondary consumption of antibiotics, are well documented.
13. Pathogenic Microorganisms. There are a host of bacteria and viruses, some quite dangerous, that are common to animals. When I eat meat, I eat the organisms in the meat. Micro-organisms are present in plant foods too, but their number and danger to human health is by no means comparable to that of those in meat.
14. Worms and other Parasites. Ditto on # 13!
15. Shelf life differential. Plant foods last longer than animal foods. Try this experiment: Leave out a head of lettuce and a pound of hamburger for 1 day, which will make you sick?
16. Organoleptic Indications of Pathenogens. Plant foods give tell-tale signs of "going bad". Ever hear of someone getting sick from "bad broccoli"?
17. Heart Disease. Meat eating increases the risk of heart disease, this country's #1 killer. The correlation is an epidemiological fact.
18. Cancer prevention. Of all the natural cancer prevention substances found: vitamin C, B-17, hydroquionenes, beta carotene, NDGA, - none has been found to be animal derived. Yet most meats, when cooked, produce an array of benzenes and other carcinogenic compounds. Cancer is infinitely easier to prevent than cure. Soybeans contain protease inhibitor, a powerful anticancer compound. You won't find it in useful quantities in animal based food.
19. Disease Inducing. The correlation between meat consumption and a wide range of degenerative diseases is well founded and includes.....
20. Osteoporosis
21. Kidney Stones and Gallstones
22. Diabetes
23. Multiple Sclerosis
24. Arthritis
25. Gum disease
26. Acne. Aggravated by animal food.
27. Obesity. Studies confirm that vegetarians tend to be thinner than meat eaters. Obesity is considered by doctors to be a disease within itself. 28. Intestinal Toxemia. The condition of the intestinal flora is critical to overall health. Animal products putrefy the colon.
29. Transit time. Wholesome food travels quickly through the "G.I" tract, leaving little time to spoil and incite disease within the body.
30. Fiber deficient. Fiber absorbs unwanted, excess fats; cleans the intestines; provides bulk and aids in peristalsis. Plant food is high in fiber content; meat, poultry and dairy products have none.
31. Body wastes. Food from animals contain their waste, including adrenaline, uric and lactic acid, etc., Before adding ketchup, the biggest contributors to the "flavor profile" of a hamburger are the leftover blood and urine.
32. Excess protein. The average American eats 400% of the RDA for protein. This causes excess nitrogen in the blood that creates a host of long-term health problems.
33. Longevity. To increase ones risk of getting degenerative disease means decreasing ones chance to live a naturally long healthy life. Huzas and other peoples with large centenarian populations maintain lifestyles that are relatively meat free.
34. Well Being. I just feel better since "giving up" meat and becoming vegetarian. Personal Finances

35. Health care costs. Being healthier on a vegetarian diet means spending less on health care.
36. Food costs. Vegetarian foods tend to cost less than meat based items. Ethics
37. Love of animals. I love animals as I love myself. I have no desire to kill them or cause them harm.
38. Stance against Factory Farming.. I cannot make a statement against factory farming if I myself eat animals.

39. Respect for Sentient Life. I show gratitude to my Creator(s?) by eating as low on the food chain as possible.
40. "Economic Vote". I show support of the meat industry and the way they operate when I purchase and use their products.
41. Small sacrifice The sacrifice I make is nothing compared to the animals, its life.
42. Natural diet. Our hands, teeth, feet, intestinal tract...even our body chemistry is that of an herbivore.
43. Reciprocity. If I partake in the slaughter of animals, I will have to repay my contribution to that act.
44. "Protecting the Temple". "Whatever affects the body has a corresponding effect on the mind and soul" (E.G. White)
45. I believe in nonviolence. Slaughter isn't.
46. World Peace. There can never be peace among men while men are declaring war on other highly developed life forms.
47. Clear conscience. I know what I'm doing is right. I feel good inside about my decision to remain "meatless"
48. Example. To live this way is to protect the underlying values of those around me.
49. Easy substitutes. There are vegetable based substitutes for every meat product imaginable We believe that we should not go & spend to the hotel or restaurants serving Non-Veg food. We, vegetarians, are Bread & Butter for those hotels. So, go to "Only-Veg" restaurants.

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

"Forgiveness is giving up my right to hate you for hurting me." Dr. Arun Gandhi

Transcript from Arun Gandhi's Lecture.. worth a read..
Dr. Arun Gandhi, grandson of Mahatma Gandhi and founder of the M.K. Gandhi Institute for Non-violence, in his June 9 lecture at the University of Puerto Rico, shared the following story as an example of "non-violence in parenting":
"I was 16 years old and living with my parents at the institute my grandfather had founded 18 miles outside of Durban, South Africa, in the middle of the sugar plantations. We were deep in the country and had no neighbors, so my two sisters and I would always look forward to going to town to visit friends or go to the movies.
One day, my father asked me to drive him to town for an all-day conference, and I jumped at the chance. Since I was going to town, my mother gave me a list of groceries she needed and, since I had all day in town, my father ask me to take care of several pending chores, such as getting the car serviced. When I dropped my father off that morning, he said, 'I will meet you here at 5:00 p.m., and we will go home together.' After hurriedly completing my chores, I went straight to the nearest movie theatre. I got so engrossed in a John Wayne double-feature that I forgot the time. It was 5:30 before I remembered. By the time I ran to the garage and got the car and hurried to where my father was waiting for me, it was almost 6:00.
He anxiously asked me, 'Why were you late?' I was so ashamed of telling him I was watching a John Wayne western movie that I said, 'The car wasn't ready, so I had to wait,' not realizing that he had already called the garage. When he caught me in the lie, he said: 'There's something wrong in the way I brought you up that didn't give you the confidence to tell me the truth. In order to figure out where I went wrong with you, I'm going to walk home 18 miles and think about it. '
So, dressed in his suit and dress shoes, he began to walk home in the dark on mostly unpaved, unlit roads. I couldn't leave him, so for five-and-a-half hours I drove behind him, watching my father go through this agony for a stupid lie that I uttered. I decided then and there that I was never going to lie again.
I often think about that episode and wonder, if he had punished me the way we punish our children, whether I would have learned a lesson at all. I don't think so. I would have suffered the punishment and gone on doing the same thing. But this single non-violent action was so powerful that it is still as if it happened yesterday. That is the power of non-violence."

"Forgiveness is giving up my right to hate you for hurting me."

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Marrying a Chartered Accountant (Humorous One)

When I told my mom that I wanted a professional woman as my wife, she got me one; a Chartered Accountant. She uses LIFO method while taking out the refrigerated food. Fine with me, for now she handles the budget of the house. Initially she used to send me a bill at the month end, but when I told her that I am not her client but her husband, she asks for the money in advance. The expenses had been rising steadily over the months, so one day I snooped into the papers maintained in a current file. No wonder! She was charging conveyance and overtime to the house budget. She is crazy, I tell her but she corrects me. "No my darling, I am the auditor." I fail to see the light. Every scrap of the paper in our house is filed. She tells me as per some Ordinance she must keep a copy of every thing for at least ten years before destroying it. I am worried. The other day we had an hour-long fight. Later, I got to know that she had charged that hour to a client of hers, in the time sheet. My time was put down as unoccupied. She says that she loves me and I tell her that I love her too. However, she never believes me. She says that there is susceptibility of it being a misstatement. Duh! She wants my representation on this & Expert opinion of some Expert! Not a long time back my brother's wedding was to be solemnized. Wedding cards had been sent. After some time I started receiving a steady trickle of letters. I was puzzled until my wife explained that external evidence was more reliable. She had called for confirmations from all those to whom cards were sent. When she cooks, my wife at times does not go by recipe. Where the recipe says add half-teaspoon vinegar, one tsp black salt or one teacup of water, she ignores them. She says that they are not material when taken in context of whole meal being prepared. She is crazy, I tell you. Surprisingly everybody calls her an auditor, instead. I checked the dictionary and it did not state that auditor is a synonym for crazy. The dictionary must be outdated. When we got married, she had given me an Engagement Letter and I Had said how cute-how sweet.Now she gives it to me every year saying that her standards state that it must be sent anew if there is any indication that I have misunderstood the objective and scope of engagement.. Huh! Apart from sending me the engagement letter once again she says I can't get rid off her just like that. She says that she has the right of being heard before I appoint some one else. It seems I must keep reading one local and another English newspaper published and circulated in the vicinity of our house for more details. Phew! For a minute, I thought that we had jeopardized our going concern status. Duh! Dare I say so?? I am told by one of my female colleagues who is married to a CA that the scenario is even worse when the guy is a CA. Apparently he capitalised the wedding expenses as preliminary expenses and is writing it off every year. Also the time he spent dating his wife before marrying her is still under consideration for valuation under AS-26...valuation of intangible assets. Should u really marry a CA? And yes please discount it by the appropriate rate to arrive at the present value of the risk of doing so !!!

THOUGH I AM AN ACA U SHOULD THINK THAT THE TIME U READ THIS, IS A VALUE ADDITION TO YOUR THINKING AND AND THE SAME SHOULD BE TAXED UNDER VAT

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