environment

Crazy Things Happening in China Now !!!! Part 1….

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Firefighters are on hand to prevent self-immolations.

Immolations are a very popular form of protest. Before and during the leadership transition in 2012, Beijing positioned firefighters in Tiananmen Square to prevent self-immolations.


Government officials have spent thousands of dollars on gold and silver mooncakes.

Chinese government officials reportedly spent thousands of dollars on gold and silver mooncakes. This raised concerns of corruption according to Xinhua.

 

Couples divorce to avoid property taxes.

The Chinese government announced a 20 percent tax on profits from home sales. But couples with more than one home have been getting divorced, taking one property each, and then selling one of the homes tax free, to take advantage of loopholes.

Rapid industrialization has caused pollution problems across China. Recently the smog got so bad NASA said it obscured the view from space.
source: businessinsider.com
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Message For The Day…. Pilgrimage Should Strengthen Your Spiritual Inclination….

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When on a pilgrimage, without adequate mental preparation, you may not be able to receive the Grace of God! During pilgrimage, do not act like a postal parcel, which moves from place to place, collecting impressions on the outer wrapper, but not on the core being. Your purpose for a pilgrimage is to strengthen your spiritual inclinations and let the holiness of the place settle in your mind. As a result, your habits must change for the better and your outlook must widen. Your inward vision must become deeper and steadier. You must realize the Omnipresence of God and the oneness of Humanity. You must learn tolerance, patience, charity and service. After the pilgrimage is over, sitting in your own home and ruminating over your experiences you must determine to seek. Aspire to get higher, richer and more real experience of God realization.

Swami Sathya Sai in one of HIS discourses…

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Success is A State of Mind !!!!!

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An Incredible poem about success…..

This has been taken from a book that was originally published in 1926…YES 1926!!!!

“If you think you are beaten, you are;

If you think you dare not, you don’t;

If you’d like to win, but you think you can’t;

It’s almost a cinch you won’t;

If you think you’ll lose, you’ve lost,

For out in the world you’ll find,

Success begins with a fellow’s will,

It’s all in the state of mind.

Full many a race is lost,

Before even a race is run,

And many a cowards fail,

Before even his work’s begun.

Think big, and your deeds will grow,

Think small and you fall behind,

Think that you can, and you will,

It’s all in the state of mind.

If you think you are outclassed, you are,

You’ve got to think high to rise,

You’ve got to be sure of yourself before,

You can ever win a prize.

Life’s battle doesn’t always go,

To the stronger or faster man,

But sooner or later, the man who wins,

Is the fellow who thinks he can.”

Now if you can image that this kind of positive mind mentality was around in the late 1920’s, Just imagine what is possible for you Now!

source:::: siliconindianet

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Air Koryo….North Korea”s One Star Airline !!!

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Not many Westerners get to visit North Korea, and it’s a good bet most don’t realize the secluded country has its own airline.

 

The airline, Air Koryo, is the only airline in the world deemed bad enough to earn a 1-star rating from leading airline reviewer SkyTrax.

Why? Customers cited the strange experience on the flights, which include cordial but distant attendants, propaganda newspapers and state-approved music. There’s also the food, which looks nearly inedible.

Nonetheless, the airline hasn’t had any safety problems in years, and it functions quite well. While it is banned from flying in European Union air space, Air Koryo has regular international flights to Moscow, Vladivostok, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, and even Kuwait, according to the International Business Times.

And for tourists heading into the country to see it with their own eyes, Air Koryo is one of the few airlines that actually goes to Pyongyang. Its fleet of Russian-made planes fly out of Sunan International Airport in Pyongyang.

Mark F., a biomedical engineer from Australia, flew to Pyongyang on the notorious airline in August 2011 and put up some pictures on Flickr. Here’s what he, and a few others who decided to whip out their cameras while on other flights into the closed nation, saw on their trips.

 

This is an Air Koryo Ilyushin Il-62 P-885, a version of the Il-62 that was originally designed in the 1960s.

This is an Air Koryo Ilyushin Il-62 P-885, a version of the Il-62 that was originally designed in the 1960s.
Air Koryo also flies two Ukrainian-Russian An-148s; the first arrived in its fleet last month.

Air Koryo also flies two Ukrainian-Russian An-148s; the first arrived in its fleet last month.

source::::businessinsider.com

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Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/go-inside-north-koreas-1-star-air-koryo-2013-3?op=1#ixzz2NPhrAPXW

” That is What I am Doing Now ” !!!

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Short story with Great Morals 
One day a rich Westerner who had made sqillions from speculating on the stock market was strolling along the beach and saw the fisherman pulling in his boat with his meager catch.
The rich Westerner stopped and remarked “not much of a catch today”. The fisherman replied “yes not much” but explained that his small catch was enough for him and his family.
The rich Westerner asked, “But what do you do with the rest of your time?”
“I sleep late, play with my children and have an afternoon’s rest under a coconut tree. In the evenings, I go to the local pub to see my friends, play some music, and sing a few songs….. I have a full and happy life.” replied the fisherman.
The rich Westerner ventured, “I have an MBA from Harvard and I can help you…… You should start by fishing longer every day. You can then sell the extra fish you catch. With the extra revenue, you can buy a bigger boat.
With the extra money the larger boat will bring, you can buy a second one and a third one and so on until you have a large fleet. Instead of selling your fish to a middleman, you can negotiate directly with the processing plants and maybe even open your own plant. You can then leave this little village and move to a city from where you can direct your huge enterprise.”
“And after that?” asked the fisherman.
“After that? That’s when it gets really interesting,” answered the rich Westerner, laughing, “When your business gets really big, you can start selling stock in your company and make millions!”
“Millions? Really? And after that?” pressed the fisherman.
“After that you’ll be able to retire, move out to a small village by the sea, sleep in late every day, spend time with your family, go fishing, take afternoon naps under a coconut tree, and spend relaxing evenings with friends…”
At this the fisherman exclaimed  “that is what I am doing now.”.!!!!!!
If you ever get a chance, think about the moral of the story..Dont get so engrossed in making profits that you lose the people who matter the most to you.. Dont get so busy in making your future so bright that your present becomes dark..Dont run so fast that your not able to breathe the fresh air and enjoy the beautiful nature around you. Dont ever make the mistake of thinking that money can buy everything because money still does not have the power to buy love or true friendship..Counting money might seem great but counting your blessings is even greater . And living a life with happiness, love, peace of mind and God’s devotion in your heart is the greatest of all..Think about it , you might not agree with me today but may be someday- this story will definetly make sense..
source:::::: input from a Sai Devotee…
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Cooking Oil Powers TransAtlantic Flights !!!!!

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KLM cooking oil commercial flights Dutch airline KLM has begun powering some commercial flights on an eco-friendly fuel mix that includes 25% cooking oil and 75% jet fuel.

The same oil that fried up your lunch might be powering your next flight to Europe.

Dutch airline KLM has begun powering some commercial flights on an eco-friendly fuel mix that includes 25% cooking oil and 75% jet fuel. The cooking oil-fuelled Boeing 777 flights will be tested on 25 roundtrip transatlantic flights between New York’s JFK and Amsterdam’s Schiphol every Thursday for the next six months.

The leftover waste oil comes from restaurants in the southern US state of Louisiana, where it’s used to fry up cracklins, catfish and other Cajun treats before being refined at a plant near Baton Rouge and trucked to New York to fuel the flights.

Though some say the fuel smells like fast food, the cooking oil is safe for powering jumbo jets and provides exactly the same flying experience. Even better, it reduces carbon emissions by up to 80%.

It’s indistinguishable on a molecular level from regular kerosene jet fuel, Captain Rick Shouten, who piloted the maiden flight last week, told the New York Post. “For pilots, it’s totally transparent. It’s as if you’re flying a normal aircraft.”

KLM has been offering biofuel-powered flights for years, with its first demonstration flight fuelled by a mix of 50% biofuel made from camelina (an oily member of the mustard family) in November 2009. And while the Dutch airline started regularly using recycled cooking oil on some commercial flights between Amsterdam and Paris in June 2011, this latest usage represents the first time biofuels will be used on a regular weekly schedule on transatlantic flights.

What’s the future of cooking oil-fuelled flights?

In the near term, it’s more likely cooking oil will by frying up your French fries and falafels rather than fuelling your flight. That’s because biofuels made from recycled cooking oil are expensive – about $10 per gallon, or roughly three times the price of regular jet fuel – largely due to the costs of refining and preparing the oil for use on jumbo jets.

Most recycled cooking oil today is used to power diesel trucks or mixed with home heating fuel, a simpler conversion process. One innovative company,Grease Lightning, based in New York City, has been purchasing used cooking oil from local restaurants to convert into biodiesel fuel since 2011. And several Boston hotels, including the Saunders Hotel, Lenox Hotel, and Ramada Inn Boston, are using recycled vegetable oil to fuel their laundry trucks and hotel shuttle buses.

Although the sustainability of these alternative biofuels makes it an environmentally friendly option for progressive airlines, widespread adoption of recycled cooking oil requires that usage spreads, making the fuel more affordable for budget-strapped airlines.

The air travel community is hoping for financial support from the governments where major airlines are based in the form of subsidies, research grants and tax benefits.

“A lot still has to happen before biofuel will be available on a large scale and for it to be economically competitive in relation to fossil-fuel kerosene,” KLM said in a statement. “We cannot achieve this alone. We absolutely need the commitment and support of all the relevant parties: business, government and society.”

source:::::bbc.com.travel

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Message For The Day….Get Guided By God Within You !!!!

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The mariner uses his compass to guide him aright amidst the dark storm clouds and raging waves. When a person is overwhelmed by the dark clouds of despair and the raging confusion of irrepressible desires, he too, has a compass which will point to him the direction he has to take. That compass is a society that is dedicated to the propagation of spiritual discipline. So long as man is attracted by outer nature, he cannot escape the blows of joy and grief, of profit and loss, of happiness and misery. But, if he is attracted by the Glory of God within him as well as within Nature, he can be above and beyond these dualities and in perfect peace.

Swami Sathya Sai in one of HIS discourses…

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