Health & Lifestyle

(quote)

Amanda Henderson's husband Patrick worked as a recruiter at the army's recruitment station in Longview, Texas. A veteran of the Iraq war, Sgt. 1st Class Henderson struggled with the pressures placed on recruiters, who until recently were ordered to enlist at least two new soldiers each month. Forced to work long hours at a task he didn't want, Henderson hanged himself in a shed behind his house in September, 2008.

Sgt. Henderson's situation was not atypical. The Hendersons met at recruiting school and were married in January 2008. She worked at a recruiting station in Nagadoches, Texas, 70 miles away from the station in Longview where Patrick was assigned. Henderson was forced into a second recruiting assignment he didn't want after he returned from a combat tour in Iraq.

 read more »

(quote)

The Wilkins Ice Shelf has been cracking in new places recently and images released by the European Space Agency show that it will probably very soon break off entirely. A 62 square mile piece broke off in May 2008.

Angelika Humbert of Muenster University stated, “During the last year the ice shelf has lost about 1800 square kilometers (694 square miles), or about 14 percent of its size.” The Wilkins Ice Shelf is currently about the size of Jamaica, though it has already been diminished by about 30 percent.

 read more »

(quote)

Canada, Denmark, Norway, Russia and the United States are all laying claim to a piece of the Arctic circle, hoping to be able to cash in on the vast natural energy resources believed to lie beneath. Each season the ice gets thinner, and the prospects of riches grows. Russia goes one step further - plans for dedicated Arctic military presence intensifies dispute with Canada.

(unquote)

Original Source: Globe and Mail

Photos courtesy of TreeHugger and Keetsa

Read articles: TreeHugger - Seeking Oil, Russia Claims North Pole and Keetsa - Russians dispatching a Submarine

Window to the World, calling for Wind of Wisdom,
as common sense is a gift to each soul,
as common environment is the inseparable planet,
as common desire is to live in a better world.

(quote)

Earth Hour 2009 has garnered support from global corporations, nonprofit groups, schools, scientists and celebrities — including Oscar-winning actress Cate Blanchett and retired Cape Town Archbishop Desmond Tutu. From an Antarctic research base to the Great Pyramids of Egypt and beyond, the world switched off the lights on Saturday for Earth Hour, dimming skyscrapers, city streets and some of the world's most recognizable monuments for 60 minutes to highlight the threat of climate change. Time zone by time zone, nearly 4,000 cities and towns in 88 countries joined the event sponsored by the World Wildlife Fund to dim nonessential lights from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

 read more »

(quote)

A parachute dropped by a small aircraft is observed by the U.S. Navy as it drops over the MV Sirius Star during an apparent payment via a parachuted container to pirates holding the Sirius Star off the coast of Somalia, January 9, 2009. Somali pirates then freed the Saudi supertanker seized in the world's biggest ship hijacking for a $3 million ransom - but five drowned when their boat capsized as they were making off with their share.

The crew of the hijacked Ukrainian merchant vessel MV Faina stand on the deck, under the watch of armed Somali pirates on November 9 after a US Navy request to check on their health and welfare, at sea off the coast of Somalia.

In this photo provided by the U.S. Navy, ransom money is dropped near the Ukrainian cargo ship MV Faina while under observation by a U.S. Navy ship February 4, 2009 off the coast of Somalia near Hobyo. Pirates did not leave the ship until February 5.  read more »

(quote)

Carlos F. Gutierrez, a Patagonia Press for Diario La Tercera photographer based in Chile, has won the first prize of the Nature Singles category of the World Press Photo Contest with this photo of Chaiten volcano eruption, Chile, taken May 2, 2008. A cloud of debris soared as high as 20 miles (32 km) into the air and was kept aloft by the pressure of constant eruptions for weeks, covering towns in neighboring Argentina with volcanic ash.

It again spewed a vast cloud of ash in February in what appeared to be a partial collapse of its cone. Television footage showed a could of ash billowing into the sky over the town of Chaiten, which lies about six miles (10 km) from the crater. Authorities evacuated about 160 people from the area. Most of the town’s 4,500 residents were evacuated last year after the volcano, dormant for thousands of years, erupted.

(unquote)

Photos courtesy of Reuters

Original Source: Vancouver Sun