Eat a steak, warm the planet

Meat is murder on the environment, Japanese study finds

AFP, 18 July 2007 - A kilogram (2.2 pounds) of beef causes more greenhouse-gas and other pollution than driving for three hours while leaving all the lights on back home, according to a Japanese study.

A team led by Akifumi Ogino of the National Institute of Livestock and Grassland Science in Tsukuba, calculated the environmental cost of raising cattle through conventional farming, slaughtering the animal and distributing the meat, New Scientist reports in next Saturday's issue.

Producing a kilo (2.2 pounds) of beef causes the equivalent of 36.4 kilos (80.08 pounds) in carbon dioxide (CO2), the principal greenhouse gas, Ogino found.
Most of these greenhouse-gas emissions take the form of methane, released from the cow's digestive system.

That one kilo (2.2 pounds) of beef also requires energy equivalent to lighting a 100-watt bulb for nearly 20 days. The energy is needed to produce and transport the animals' feed.
A Swedish study in 2003 suggested that organic beef emits 40 percent less greenhouse gases and consumes 85 percent less energy because the animal is raised on grass rather than concentrated feed.

The study appears in full in a specialist publication, Animal Science Journal.
This article is reproduced with kind permission of Agence France-Presse (AFP) For more news and articles visit the AFP website.

* The calculations don't include the cost of transporting the meat to market either, so the impact is actually even higher, for both conventionally and organic practices...

D & Ns Summer 2004

A Bean Salad Recipe with a Twist

Cannellini Beans with Tomatoes & Herbs
This light, fresh salad is perfect for a picnic or BBQ. The lemon zest is an especially nice addition and adds beautiful color to this delicious, healthful dish. Makes 4-6 servings

INGREDIENTS

2 cans of Cannellini beans (or other white beans, such as Great Northern or Navy), drained and rinsed
3 or 4 tomatoes (cherry, heirloom, or any tomatoes in season)
½ medium size red onion, diced
1 cup fresh, frozen (thawed), or canned corn kernels
2 red, yellow, orange, or green bell pepper, finely diced
1 ripe avocado, diced
Assortment of fresh herbs: marjoram, basil, thyme, sage, minced
3 tablespoons vinegar, your choice (red, white wine vinegar, seasoned rice vinegar)
Juice from 1 lemon
Zest of 2 lemons
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
Salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS

In a large bowl, combine all of the ingredients and set aside for 15 minutes or more to allow the flavors to develop. Add salt and serve at room temperature.

Serving Suggestions and Variations:
*You can use any bean you like for this salad. White beans are just one suggestion. You can use kidney, chick peas, black, pinto – or a combination of all them!
*You may add a tablespoon or two of extra virgin olive oil.
*Fresh tomatoes are best, and keep in mind that tomatoes don’t do well refrigerated. So, if you wanted to make this salad in advance, just eliminate the tomatoes, store in the fridge, and add the tomatoes just before serving.

Copyright © 2006 Compassionate Cooks, LLC – All rights reserved

Thanks Uncle Terry ...

Satchel Paige's Guide to Longevity

To a world that marveled at his stamina as a 59-year-old pitcher, Satchel Paige often offered these ''master's maxims'' as his guide to longevity:

1. Avoid fried meats, which angry up the blood.

2. If your stomach disputes you, lie down and pacify it with cool thoughts.

3. Keep the juices flowing by jangling around gently as you move.

4. Go very light on the vices, such as carrying on in society. The social rumble ain't restful.

5. Avoid running at all times.

6. Don't look back. Something might be gaining on you.

Canada Rocks! Now with our own Billboard!

Billboard launches Canadian chart

GUY DIXON

From Thursday's Globe and Mail

June 7, 2007 at 5:50 AM EDT

Billboard, the music trade weekly, is launching a new singles chart known as the Canadian Hot 100 today measuring the top songs in Canada.

The chart will be a compilation of the Canada Digital Songs chart, which ranks the top-selling downloads in Canada as measured by Nielsen SoundScan, and the Canada All-Format Airplay chart, ranking the songs most played on Canadian radio as measured by Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems.

The Canadian Hot 100 will be included in Billboard magazine, as well as on its billboard.com and billboard.biz websites.

How to Whistle using Your fingers ...

The following are step-by-step instructions on how to whistle using your fingers:


How to whistle loudly using two fingers

"I find the easiest two-fingered loud whistle to do is to use my index
finger and thumb of my right hand. Here's how to do it:

Loosely touch the tip of your bent index finger to the tip of your thumb.

Rest the bottom of your joined fingers (if you're using your right
hand, the thumb is to the right) on your lower teeth with the tips of
your loosely joined fingers pushing against the bottom part of your
tongue (which pushes back).

Your lips should be pressed down against your fingers. The joined
fingers make the "V" into which you blow (you should blow slightly
down).

It definitely makes a shrill sound that gets louder as you blow
harder. Of course, this method works best if your nails are short."

Whistling Lessons
http://members.rogers.com/l.hamilton/lessons.html

Fingered Whistle

"Tuck away your lips
First, your upper and lower lips must reach over to cover your teeth
and be tucked into your mouth. Only the outer edges of your lips are
visible, if at all.

Choose your finger combination
The role of fingers is to keep the lips in place over the teeth.
Experiment with the following combinations to discover which works
best for you, depending on the size of your fingers and mouth.
Regardless of your choice of fingers, their placement is the same:
each are placed roughly halfway between the corners and center of
lips, inserted to the first knuckle. (Again, this will vary depending
on the size of your fingers and mouth.)

Your options are:

a U-shape created with thumb and middle finger, or thumb and index
finger, of either hand.
right and left index fingers.
right and left middle fingers.
right and left pinkie fingers.

Now that your fingers are in place, be very clear on these two matters of form:

1.) Your fingernails should be angled inwards, towards the center of
the tongue, and not pointed straight in and towards the back of your
mouth; and 2.) your fingers should pull the lower lip fairly taut.

Draw back the tongue
Now comes the crucial part of the whistle.

The tongue must be drawn back so that its front tip almost touches the
bottom of the mouth a short distance behind the lower gums (about 1/2
inch/1 cm). This action also broadens and flattens the front edge of
the tongue, allowing it to cover a wider portion of the lower back
teeth.

The sound is produced by air flowing over a bevel, or a sharply angled
edge. In this case, the sound is created by the upper teeth and tongue
directing air onto the lower lip and teeth.

Blow
Steps 3 and 4 follow each other very closely, if not simultaneously.
Inhale deeply, and exhale over the top side of the tongue and lower
lip, and out of your mouth. Some extra downward and outward pressure
by the fingers onto the lips and teeth may be helpful. Experiment with
the position of the fingers, the draw of the tongue, the angle of the
jaw, and the strength of your exhalation. Adjusting with these will
bring success.

Start off with a fairly gentle blow. You'll produce a whistle of lower
volume at first, but you'll also have more breath to practice with if
you don't spend it all in the first three seconds. As you blow, adjust
your fingers, tongue and jaws to find the bevel's sweet spot. This is
the area of maximum efficiency, where the air is blown directly over
the sharpest part of the bevel. Once you locate the sweet spot, your
whistle will have a strong, clear tone, as opposed to a breathy,
low-volume sound.

Listen for these sounds: as you practice, your mouth will learn to
focus the air onto the bevel's sweet spot with increasing accuracy.
You'll probably hear the following: a breathy, low-volume tone that
suddenly, as you adjust your fingers, mouth, or jaw, will switch to a
clear, full, high-volume tone. Success! You're on the right
track--your task now is to reproduce the mouth and hand position that
led to the better whistle."

How To Whistle Loudly
http://www.natwilson.com/stuff/whistle.html#intro
http://bluebones.net/whistle/

====================================

This site teaches you how to whistle using your hands:

Two-Handed Whistling
http://dolphin.upenn.edu/~thompson/whistle.html

(originally posted by Google Answers)

8 Things About Me Meme

I was tagged in this meme from a library group ...

1. I love staying up until 2 or 3 in the morning on the weekend watching old movies.

2. When I was in high school I wanted to be a journalist, followed by a person who designs sets for movies or theatre.

3. Since I was a teenager I have loved jazz music. My mom brought me to a club once when I was playing clarinet in the school band and I was hooked.

4. I often wish I had gone on to university. I wanted to be an Environmental Technician at one time -- imagine the salary I could command now if I had followed that path!

5. I don't like straws. And I often forget to tell restaurants or bartenders not to put one in my drink. But then I get to complain about the fact for like, a good ten minutes anyway ...

6. I love the taste of green tea. Straight up, no sweetener, no milk.

7. I have a pink sweater (that still fits me @@) that my Dad bought me when I was 16. It is the only piece of clothing that I've kept that long.

8. In high school I was in love with the music of Patsy Cline and The Doors. And then the whole jazz thing, my taste was (still is) pretty weird LOL