Helping others through Micro Loans
This is really cool. I read about it today in the NYTimes.
Think you can spare $25 or so to lend to someone so they can start a business?
Kiva is an organization that organizes small business loans to people in very poor areas in the world -- and they are using the internet to do it !! And when I say small loan, I mean tiny -- as little as $500 can be enough to start a business. These small loans help these people grow their businesses so they can take care of their families, and it encourages entrepreneurship and independance.
So if there is a baker in Somalia who needs $75 to buy a new oven, Kiva puts his story up on their website and anyone can contribute to raising the $75 for him. You dont have to put up the whole $75 -- you can lend as little as $25. When the money is raised, the money is sent to a local organizer and then given directly to the baker. No fees,no interest, no middleman. You get your $25 loan back in about a year, at which time you can choose to keep your money or re-invest in another business.
Go read about it at their website : http://www.kiva.org/about
I love this stuff.
If you like what you read about on this blog, please introduce your friends to my blog !
Yogis take over the world !!
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Saturday, March 24, 2007
New Hatha Yoga class
Thurs 3/29 7pm - 8.30pm $10.00
Location : 477-Broadway (between Broome and Grand Streets) 4th floor / Soho area
cell is 718-926-0704 (Dawn)
I think this is a monthly thing for me --- I am helping Dawn try to get this class up and running for Thurs nights == maybe different teachers will rotate each week which is cool and it is only $10 per class -- and part of that is donated to Leukemia research. This class was actually started by Dawn as a Yoga Project because she wants to make yoga affordable and available to everybody. So if you are a starving artist, or you're unemployed, just talk to us since we really want you to attend.
The class is in Soho, the space is huge and I get to teach by candlelight --- what could be better?
Please bring your own mats -- I dont think they have very many there. and bring a tee shirt to wear during yoga nidra.
So please come downtown this Thurs evening ! Class will be open level and it will be a really good thing. Hope to see you there .
Thanks so much.
Lee
Thurs 3/29 7pm - 8.30pm $10.00
Location : 477-Broadway (between Broome and Grand Streets) 4th floor / Soho area
cell is 718-926-0704 (Dawn)
I think this is a monthly thing for me --- I am helping Dawn try to get this class up and running for Thurs nights == maybe different teachers will rotate each week which is cool and it is only $10 per class -- and part of that is donated to Leukemia research. This class was actually started by Dawn as a Yoga Project because she wants to make yoga affordable and available to everybody. So if you are a starving artist, or you're unemployed, just talk to us since we really want you to attend.
The class is in Soho, the space is huge and I get to teach by candlelight --- what could be better?
Please bring your own mats -- I dont think they have very many there. and bring a tee shirt to wear during yoga nidra.
So please come downtown this Thurs evening ! Class will be open level and it will be a really good thing. Hope to see you there .
Thanks so much.
Lee
Monday, March 19, 2007
Hands on Healing
Feeling like a little healing energy?
Stop by the Johrei Fellowship on Lexington and 26th Street for a 20 minute healing session. They are mostly open 6-8pm but call them to check their schedule. Closed Monday. By Donation
Johrei Fellowship - NY Center
116 Lexington Ave, 2nd Fl (Above La Petite Auberge Restaurant)
212 684-0009
Feeling like a little healing energy?
Stop by the Johrei Fellowship on Lexington and 26th Street for a 20 minute healing session. They are mostly open 6-8pm but call them to check their schedule. Closed Monday. By Donation
Johrei Fellowship - NY Center
116 Lexington Ave, 2nd Fl (Above La Petite Auberge Restaurant)
212 684-0009
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Remember ahimsa ? "Do no harm" or "non-violence" as a philosophy of life and the basis of a vegetarian lifestyle ?
Well, here is a reprint of an article in today's NY Times, and it talks about how live stock is treated by the food industry. It happens to be about pigs, but it applies to chickens, cows, goats and any other living creature that is unlucky enough to be bred for consumption.
Vegans refuse to eat or use anything that comes from an animal (no wool, no dairy products) for the very reasons that you will see put forth in this article.
Jonathon Rosen / New York Times 3/15/07
WITH some fanfare, the world’s largest pork producer, Smithfield Foods, recently announced that it intended to phase out certain cages for its breeding females. Called gestation crates, the cages virtually immobilize pigs during their pregnancies in metal stalls so narrow they are unable to turn around.
Numerous studies have documented crated sows exhibiting behavior characteristic of humans with severe depression and mental illness. Getting rid of gestation crates (already on their way out in the European Union) is welcome and long overdue, but more action is needed to end inhumane conditions at America’s hog farms.
Of the 60 million pigs in the United States, over 95 percent are continuously confined in metal buildings, including the almost five million sows in crates. In such setups, feed is automatically delivered to animals who are forced to urinate and defecate where they eat and sleep. Their waste festers in large pits a few feet below their hooves. Intense ammonia and hydrogen sulfide fumes from these pits fill pigs’ lungs and sensitive nostrils. No straw is provided to the animals because that would gum up the works (as it would if you tossed straw into your toilet).
In my work as an environmental lawyer, I’ve toured a dozen hog confinement operations and seen hundreds from the outside. My task was to evaluate their polluting potential, which was considerable. But what haunted me was the miserable creatures inside.
They were crowded into pens and cages, never allowed outdoors, and never even provided a soft place to lie down. Their tails had been cut off without anesthetic. Regardless of how well the operations are managed, the pigs subsist in inherently hostile settings. (Disclosure: my husband founded a network of farms that raise pigs using traditional, non-confinement methods.)
The stress, crowding and contamination inside confinement buildings foster disease, especially respiratory illnesses. In addition to toxic fumes, bacteria, yeast and molds have been recorded in swine buildings at a level more than 1,000 times higher than in normal air. To prevent disease outbreaks (and to stimulate faster growth), the hog industry adds more than 10 million pounds of antibiotics to its feed, the Union of Concerned Scientists estimates. This mountain of drugs — a staggering three times more than all antibiotics used to treat human illnesses — is a grim yardstick of the wretchedness of these facilities.
There are other reasons that merely phasing out gestation crates does not go nearly far enough. Keeping animals in such barren environments is a serious deprivation. Pigs in nature are active, curious creatures that typically spend 10 hours a day foraging, rooting and roaming.
Veterinarians consider pigs as smart as dogs. Imagine keeping a dog in a tight cage or crowded pen day after day with absolutely nothing to chew on, play with or otherwise occupy its mind. Americans would universally denounce that as inhumane. Extreme boredom is considered the main reason pigs in confinement are prone to biting one another’s tails and engaging in other aggressive behavior.
Finally, even if the gestation crate is abandoned, pork producers will still keep a sow in a narrow metal cage once she gives birth to her piglets. This slightly larger cage, called a farrowing crate, severely restricts a sow’s movements and makes normal interactions between mother and piglets impossible.
Because confinement buildings are far from cities and lack windows, all of this is shielded from public view. But such treatment of pigs contrasts sharply with what people say they want for farm animals. Surveys consistently find that Americans believe all animals, including those raised for food, deserve humane treatment. A 2004 survey by Ohio State University found that 81 percent of respondents felt that the well-being of livestock is as important as that of pets.
Such sentiment was behind the widely supported Humane Slaughter Act of 1958, which sought to improve treatment of cattle and hogs at slaughterhouses. But it’s clear that Americans expect more — they want animals to be humanely treated throughout their lives, not just at slaughter. To ensure this, Congress should ban gestation crates altogether and mandate that animal anti-cruelty laws be applied to farm animals.
As a cattle rancher, I am comfortable raising animals for human consumption, but they should not be made to suffer. Because we ask the ultimate sacrifice of these creatures, it is incumbent on us to ensure that they have decent lives. Let us view the elimination of gestation crates as just a small first step in the right direction.
Nicolette Hahn Niman, a lawyer and cattle rancher, is writing a book about the meat industry.
Well, here is a reprint of an article in today's NY Times, and it talks about how live stock is treated by the food industry. It happens to be about pigs, but it applies to chickens, cows, goats and any other living creature that is unlucky enough to be bred for consumption.
Vegans refuse to eat or use anything that comes from an animal (no wool, no dairy products) for the very reasons that you will see put forth in this article.
Jonathon Rosen / New York Times 3/15/07
WITH some fanfare, the world’s largest pork producer, Smithfield Foods, recently announced that it intended to phase out certain cages for its breeding females. Called gestation crates, the cages virtually immobilize pigs during their pregnancies in metal stalls so narrow they are unable to turn around.
Numerous studies have documented crated sows exhibiting behavior characteristic of humans with severe depression and mental illness. Getting rid of gestation crates (already on their way out in the European Union) is welcome and long overdue, but more action is needed to end inhumane conditions at America’s hog farms.
Of the 60 million pigs in the United States, over 95 percent are continuously confined in metal buildings, including the almost five million sows in crates. In such setups, feed is automatically delivered to animals who are forced to urinate and defecate where they eat and sleep. Their waste festers in large pits a few feet below their hooves. Intense ammonia and hydrogen sulfide fumes from these pits fill pigs’ lungs and sensitive nostrils. No straw is provided to the animals because that would gum up the works (as it would if you tossed straw into your toilet).
In my work as an environmental lawyer, I’ve toured a dozen hog confinement operations and seen hundreds from the outside. My task was to evaluate their polluting potential, which was considerable. But what haunted me was the miserable creatures inside.
They were crowded into pens and cages, never allowed outdoors, and never even provided a soft place to lie down. Their tails had been cut off without anesthetic. Regardless of how well the operations are managed, the pigs subsist in inherently hostile settings. (Disclosure: my husband founded a network of farms that raise pigs using traditional, non-confinement methods.)
The stress, crowding and contamination inside confinement buildings foster disease, especially respiratory illnesses. In addition to toxic fumes, bacteria, yeast and molds have been recorded in swine buildings at a level more than 1,000 times higher than in normal air. To prevent disease outbreaks (and to stimulate faster growth), the hog industry adds more than 10 million pounds of antibiotics to its feed, the Union of Concerned Scientists estimates. This mountain of drugs — a staggering three times more than all antibiotics used to treat human illnesses — is a grim yardstick of the wretchedness of these facilities.
There are other reasons that merely phasing out gestation crates does not go nearly far enough. Keeping animals in such barren environments is a serious deprivation. Pigs in nature are active, curious creatures that typically spend 10 hours a day foraging, rooting and roaming.
Veterinarians consider pigs as smart as dogs. Imagine keeping a dog in a tight cage or crowded pen day after day with absolutely nothing to chew on, play with or otherwise occupy its mind. Americans would universally denounce that as inhumane. Extreme boredom is considered the main reason pigs in confinement are prone to biting one another’s tails and engaging in other aggressive behavior.
Finally, even if the gestation crate is abandoned, pork producers will still keep a sow in a narrow metal cage once she gives birth to her piglets. This slightly larger cage, called a farrowing crate, severely restricts a sow’s movements and makes normal interactions between mother and piglets impossible.
Because confinement buildings are far from cities and lack windows, all of this is shielded from public view. But such treatment of pigs contrasts sharply with what people say they want for farm animals. Surveys consistently find that Americans believe all animals, including those raised for food, deserve humane treatment. A 2004 survey by Ohio State University found that 81 percent of respondents felt that the well-being of livestock is as important as that of pets.
Such sentiment was behind the widely supported Humane Slaughter Act of 1958, which sought to improve treatment of cattle and hogs at slaughterhouses. But it’s clear that Americans expect more — they want animals to be humanely treated throughout their lives, not just at slaughter. To ensure this, Congress should ban gestation crates altogether and mandate that animal anti-cruelty laws be applied to farm animals.
As a cattle rancher, I am comfortable raising animals for human consumption, but they should not be made to suffer. Because we ask the ultimate sacrifice of these creatures, it is incumbent on us to ensure that they have decent lives. Let us view the elimination of gestation crates as just a small first step in the right direction.
Nicolette Hahn Niman, a lawyer and cattle rancher, is writing a book about the meat industry.
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Ever sent off an email and instantly regretted it ?
Ever accidentally clicked on the wrong name (like your ex-boy/girl friend) in your address book and didnt realize it until after you sent the email ? YIKES !!
Well, I just found out this very useful bit of info from NY Magazine :
What to do: As long as the message hasn’t been opened, you can retrieve it !!
PC Outlook users can go into the Sent Items folder, open the offending e-mail, and select “Recall This Message” from the Actions pull-down. Just remember: He could see the recall alert, which might pique his curiosity further.
If this actually works, you can thank me later ! : )
Ever accidentally clicked on the wrong name (like your ex-boy/girl friend) in your address book and didnt realize it until after you sent the email ? YIKES !!
Well, I just found out this very useful bit of info from NY Magazine :
What to do: As long as the message hasn’t been opened, you can retrieve it !!
PC Outlook users can go into the Sent Items folder, open the offending e-mail, and select “Recall This Message” from the Actions pull-down. Just remember: He could see the recall alert, which might pique his curiosity further.
If this actually works, you can thank me later ! : )
Fasting and Detoxification Workshop
Here's a workshop to learn about the benefits of fasting and fasting methods, using water, juices and specific foods and herbs to detoxify your system.
The workshop is led by Manu Dawson, manager of the IYI Natural Apothocary -- and he is awesome !! Really, he is a fountain of information on all things regarding your health !
When : Sat March 17 1.15PM - 3.15PM
Where : Integral Yoga Institute - 227 W 13th St NYC
Price: $24.00
Here's a workshop to learn about the benefits of fasting and fasting methods, using water, juices and specific foods and herbs to detoxify your system.
The workshop is led by Manu Dawson, manager of the IYI Natural Apothocary -- and he is awesome !! Really, he is a fountain of information on all things regarding your health !
When : Sat March 17 1.15PM - 3.15PM
Where : Integral Yoga Institute - 227 W 13th St NYC
Price: $24.00
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Jivamukti Yoga
has a 4 week beginner course -- 4 classes for $50 ! (drop in class is $19)
Their new yoga center is by Union Square. And while you're there, check out the vegetarian/vegan cafe they have there -- the lentil soup is delicious !
Downtown Center: 841 Broadway, 2nd Floor , New York , NY 10003
Phone: (212) 353-0214
has a 4 week beginner course -- 4 classes for $50 ! (drop in class is $19)
Their new yoga center is by Union Square. And while you're there, check out the vegetarian/vegan cafe they have there -- the lentil soup is delicious !
Downtown Center: 841 Broadway, 2nd Floor , New York , NY 10003
Phone: (212) 353-0214
Sunday, March 04, 2007
Chakra Meditation with Diksha
Every Wednesday evening, Diksha leads a sound (chant) meditation which I LOVE !
The Meditation Den
415 West 44th Street NYC (Please buzz #8 ) $15.00 by donation
212-581-5200
www.yogavanimission.org
The sound of chanting is very healing and vibrational and opens up your chakras. Diksha leads you through each chakra with their specific "bija" (seed) sounds , clearing and opening your chakras and nadi system. It is a fabulous practice.
Diksha is a professional musician and teacher. So she is very attuned to the finer points of sound. She also studied music with Indian musicians and Masters for several years in India.
Diksha also made her own meditation CD to lead you through the chakras and you can use it at home to supplement your practice. I own this CD and I think it is really, really good. Definately worth having.
Every Wednesday evening, Diksha leads a sound (chant) meditation which I LOVE !
The Meditation Den
415 West 44th Street NYC (Please buzz #8 ) $15.00 by donation
212-581-5200
www.yogavanimission.org
The sound of chanting is very healing and vibrational and opens up your chakras. Diksha leads you through each chakra with their specific "bija" (seed) sounds , clearing and opening your chakras and nadi system. It is a fabulous practice.
Diksha is a professional musician and teacher. So she is very attuned to the finer points of sound. She also studied music with Indian musicians and Masters for several years in India.
Diksha also made her own meditation CD to lead you through the chakras and you can use it at home to supplement your practice. I own this CD and I think it is really, really good. Definately worth having.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)