GREEN LIVING, GREEN TRAVELING
Posted in Human behavior on Mar 29th, 2011
Female tears affect men’s desire. Photo: wikimedia commons An old friend told me once that she intentionally cries in conversations with her husband when she’s not getting her way. She might want to consider a different tactic. New evidence suggests that a pheromone in women’s tears turns men off rather decidedly. Two researchers at the [...]
Posted in Cancer, Contamination in milk, Dairy, earthquake, Food, Health, Japan, Nuclear energy, Radiation in food, Safety, stricken reactors, Tsumani on Mar 20th, 2011
Tests performed Saturday food supply found radiation in spinach from farms six 60-75 miles south of Japan’s stricken reactors. Radioactive iodine in the spinach exceeded government safety levels three to seven times, reported food-safety officials. High levels of radioactive iodine are linked to thyroid cancer. Milk at a dairy 20 miles from the leaking reactors [...]
Posted in Human behavior, Wildlife on Jan 14th, 2011
Young chimps. Photo: Delphine Bruyere My husband and I raised one girl and one boy, close together in age. We tried hard to avoid gender-stereotyping our young kids in any way. They had the same toys, many of them gender neutral, for some time. Our son clung to the baseball fence, drooling As it happened, [...]
Posted in Depression, Health, Stress on Jan 6th, 2011
A serene Buddha in Ubud, Bali. Photo: Sally Kneidel My long-time friend Therese Fitzgerald is an ordained Zen priest who works as a spiritual mentor and meditation teacher. She’s also director of Dharma Friends; her husband Arnold Kotler is publisher of Koa Books. Through my friendship with Therese and other Zen friends, I’ve learned the [...]
Cocaine. Photo: DEA Are recreational drugs more enjoyable for women than for men? A recent study on that topic caught caught my eye this morning. Women are more sensitive to cocaine “Human studies of cocaine dependence indicate that women enter drug treatment faster than men and report shorter cocaine-free periods,” said scientist Kerry Kerstetter of [...]
Posted in Depression, Health, Stress on Dec 20th, 2010
Confrontive dad arrives for the holidays A friend told me yesterday about his parents arriving at his home for the holidays. His wife was taking a shower when the parents arrived. His father said, “Where’s your wife? She should be downstairs to greet us. I think that shows a lack of respect.” My friend, stressed [...]
Posted in Africa, Animal welfare / animal rights, Borneo, Bushmeat, Deforestation, Endangered species, Human behavior, Indonesia, Jakarta, Malaysia, Primates, Southeast Asia, Sumatra, Wildlife, Wildlife survival on Dec 3rd, 2010
Most people are surprised to learn that unlawful traffic in wildlife and wildlife parts is the third biggest criminal activity in the world, after drugs and arms. The illegal hunting of great apes is so pervasive that it may threaten their survival even more than habitat loss does. Habitat loss is rampant these days, due [...]
My kind and beloved mom. I miss her every day. Photo: Sally Kneidel My mother was a chain smoker; she died of pancreatic cancer, which is linked to smoking. My dad didn’t smoke at all, but he died of lung cancer. Secondhand smokes kills 603,000 per year So I wasn’t too surprised to see in [...]
Posted in Dairy, Farming, Food, Food, Going Green (co-authored with Sadie Kneidel), Health, Livestock, Sustainable Living, Veggie Revolution (co-authored with Sadie Kneidel) on Nov 27th, 2010
Dairy cow. Photo: Sally Kneidel A couple of years ago, one of my co-workers brought a Pizza Hut pizza into our workplace for lunch. I remember it because I was surprised at how much cheese was on the pizza. Way too much! Biting it was like sinking my teeth into a greasy gob of congealed [...]
Posted in Animal welfare / animal rights, Cancer, Film review, Food, Going Green (co-authored with Sadie Kneidel), Going Green: A Wise Consumer's Guide to a Shrinking Planet, Health, Health effects of eating meat, Japan, Marine mammals, Southeast Asia, Wildlife, Wildlife survival on Nov 23rd, 2010
Ric O’Barry, star of “The Cove” Crazy I heard Bruce Springsteen say once that the people we remember are the people who care enough to be crazy. I thought about that when I saw the Oscar-winning documentary “The Cove.” It’s the story of one man’s passionate commitment to protecting dolphins, his willingness to sacrifice even [...]
