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ALV announces 30 day Vegan Easy Challenge.
Here’s your chance to win $1,000!
This Spring, Animal Lib Victoria is launching Australia’s first 30 Day Vegan Easy Challenge! What a great way to discover just how easy it is to go vegan. Their challenge will set you on track to eating healthier, saving animals, saving money, saving water and saving the planet all at the same time!
ALV chefs will provide you with a fantastic range of recipes that are not only healthy and easy to prepare but mouth watering delicious. Every participant will save the lives of numerous animals during the 30 days. So there are lots of winners! You’ll get a full 30 day menu which includes varieties from Mushroom Risotto and Tofu Turkey through to Vegan Trifle and Lemon Cheesecake. ALV’s VeganEasy Challenge website will also let you know great places to shop, how to spot what’s vegan and links to good nutrition.
By joining up for ALV’s 30 Day Vegan Easy Challenge you will be in the running to WIN $1000 plus other fabulous prizes! Don’t miss out on this great chance to make a difference. All participants receive a free info pack, recipes and a Vegan – You Can’t Get Greener keyring.
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World Congress on Animal Testing Alternatives
We are seeking a better way
I just started following the Humane Society on Twitter + stumbled across the fact they’ve just wrapped up this conference [yay them!]:
“From August 30 through September 3, 2009, scientists and others committed to the advancement of alternatives to animal testing and experimentation—including senior staff from Humane Society International and our sister organizations—will gather in Rome, Italy for the Seventh World Congress on Alternatives and Animal Use in the Life Sciences.
The motto for this Congress is “Calling on Science,” a title that emphasizes the fact that scientific advances are the foundation of progress towards the ultimate replacement of animals in safety testing and other types of laboratory experiments. This year marks a number of key milestones and setbacks along the road to replacement, including the 50th anniversary of the book that launched the modern alternatives movement, the second phase of the European Union marketing ban on animal-tested cosmetics, and first wave of testing under the EU’s “REACH” chemicals regulation, which is projected to spell suffering and death for up to 20 million animals.”
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Eco-Lego: Building Material for Geeks
There’s definitely something all-things-Lego in the air>water>element of your choosing. Yesterday I blurbed about an entire house made from Lego. Today’s Lego fetishists will enjoy the news that’s a’coming from HIB-Systems about their lego-like assembly of wood based building materials:
I must admit I am a tad worried about the logging side of the operation + whether it’s as eco-friendly as the company suggests:
Ahem.
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Mercy Corps: Healthy Food Carts For Kids
“Food carts seem to line nearly every street in Jakarta. Indonesia’s capital is home to 13 million people, many of whom rely on these ready-to-eat foods sold in neighborhood streets and alleys. The low cost and convenience make them an attractive option for families who are often too busy to prepare food or lack facilities, fuel or transportation to purchase and prepare raw foods…many [children] get a food allowance from their parents, which they usually spend on the vending carts lining the school property, hoping to get a cut.
The options are pretty unhealthy….
…Mercy Corps is working with five entrepreneurs to build food carts that serve nutritious snacks using recipes designed by our health team. The carts are being designed…according to criteria that should make them attractive to small children. For instance, the carts will be colorful, clean and showcase their offerings at a child’s eye level.”
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Cow Genome Decoded
The humble cow has now had its entire genome sequenced, a new study says. Six years in the making, the feat could lead to healthier, cheaper beef and milk, according to scientists.
A genome is the full set of genes that gives rise to a particular species. Genes are combinations of chemical “letters” that determine animals’ and plants’ physical traits, from hair color to body shape.
Using the newly decoded cow genome, “you are going to be able to predict an animal’s performance on the basis of its [genetic makeup],” biologist Harris Lewin said.
Cow breeders should be able to identify genes responsible for desirable traits and match cows to produce calves with those traits.
This “genomic selection” should enable breeders to raise cows that require less feed and produce lean meat, for example.
Less feed means lower costs for farmers—savings that presumably would be passed on to the consumer.
More from National Geographic
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The real meaning of “To Earn is To Win”
“Honorable poverty” is a Japanese expression for poor people who are poor through rightful acts and not seeking wealth.
So, it’s been written that “There is nothing you can’t buy with money” [Horie said] and he can praise honorable poverty extravagantly because he is so far from it,” and it looks like this was quote from the heading on the first item of my book “To Earn Is To Win” but actually, this is the wrong interpretation and if you read it, you will understand. [What I meant is] that as a way of building self-confidence, without relying on the advantages you were born with and riding on your parent’s coattails, how about gaining confidence through earning money? That was the proposal, and I wasn’t trying to say that if you rely on money then the world will be this or that. Somehow it seems that some sections have been misinterpreted…
I do not think that honorable poverty is bad, but I do think that if everyone started thinking along those lines, then no doubt the world would become a boring place. Well, I guess it’s about balance. We need people that earn a lot and spend a lot, and I don’t think it’s very good to ridicule that. Oh, by the way I am not a money-worshiper. Although I am sure many will object.
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HOLAGIF 09 – Through the Looking Glass film-making competition
HOLAGIF 09 is a new-for-Melbourne film event and student media and filmmaking competition on the theme of the Holocaust and Genocide.
HOLAGIF 09 is being launched in Melbourne, as part of the Jewish Holocaust Centre’s 25 year celebrations calendar of events, from July 18 – 23. It will include a comprehensive screening of films related to the events of the WW2 Holocaust and world genocides. There is also a filmmaking competition ‘Through the Looking Glass’ which is particularly relevant for secondary & tertiary film and media students exploring history, civics, ethics, politics, humanity & related topics.
The competition is open to all students aged 13 years+ with prizes awarded in three categories: Yrs 8 – 10, Yrs. 11 – 12 and Tertiary level. Registrations will be open from the commencement of Term 2 with submissions due at the end of the term. If you have any questions or queries regarding the competition, submission process or registration,
please contact Frankie Pinch at the Jewish Holocaust Centre on 03 9528 1985 /
FrankieP@jhc.org.auVisit the website for detailed information regarding entry and submission.
http://www.jhc.org.au
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Robot Code of Ethics to Prevent Android Abuse, Protect Humans
The government of South Korea is drawing up a code of ethics to prevent human abuse of robots—and vice versa.
The so-called Robot Ethics Charter will cover standards for robotics users and manufacturers, as well as guidelines on ethical standards to be programmed into robots, South Korea’s Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy announced last week.
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