New MIT study validates hurricane prediction

Provides confirmation that climate change intensifies storms

Hurricanes in some areas, including the North Atlantic, are likely to become more intense as a result of global warming even though the number of such storms worldwide may decline, according to a new study by MIT researchers.

Kerry Emanuel, the lead author of the new study, wrote a paper in 2005 reporting an apparent link between a warming climate and an increase in hurricane intensity. That paper attracted worldwide attention because it was published in Nature just three weeks before Hurricane Katrina slammed into New Orleans.

Emanuel, a professor of atmospheric science in MIT's Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, says the new research provides an independent validation of the earlier results, using a completely different approach. The paper was co-authored by postdoctoral fellow Ragoth Sundararajan and graduate student John Williams and appeared last week in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society.

While the earlier study was based entirely on historical records of past hurricanes, showing nearly a doubling in the intensity of Atlantic storms over the last 30 years, the new work is purely theoretical. It made use of a new technique to add finer-scale detail to computer simulations called Global Circulation Models, which are the basis for most projections of future climate change.

"It strongly confirms, independently, the results in the Nature paper," Emanuel said. "This is a completely independent analysis and comes up with very consistent results."

Worldwide, both methods show an increase in the intensity and duration of tropical cyclones, the generic name for what are known as hurricanes in the North Atlantic. But the new work shows no clear change in the overall numbers of such storms when run on future climates predicted using global climate models.

However, Emanuel says, the new work also raises some questions that remain to be understood. When projected into the future, the model shows a continuing increase in power, "but a lot less than the factor of two that we've already seen" he says. "So we have a paradox that remains to be explained."

There are several possibilities, Emanuel says. "The last 25 years' increase may have little to do with global warming, or the models may have missed something about how nature responds to the increase in carbon dioxide."

Another possibility is that the recent hurricane increase is related to the fast pace of increase in temperature. The computer models in this study, he explains, show what happens after the atmosphere has stabilized at new, much higher CO2 concentrations. "That's very different from the process now, when it's rapidly changing," he says.

In the many different computer runs with different models and different conditions, "the fact is, the results are all over the place," Emanuel says. But that doesn't mean that one can't learn from them. And there is one conclusion that's clearly not consistent with these results, he said: "The idea that there is no connection between hurricanes and global warming, that's not supported," he says.

The work was partly funded by the National Science Foundation.

5 hottest lifestyle stocks

Economic liberalisation has transformed the landscape of India beyond recognition. The Indian economy has grown at an average 6% since 1991 with growth accelerating to 8% in the last three years, transforming it into the second-fastest growing economy of the world, next only to China.
Prosperity has percolated through many layers, especially to the huge middle-class population, which has been growing by 10%-12% a year to touch 300 million.
A recent white paper released by American Express Bank puts the estimated number of individuals in India with liquid cash of over $100,000 (approximately Rs 45 lakh) at 711,000. This number, it says, is likely to rise annually by 11.6% to touch 1.1 million by 2009.
Their changing preferences and cultural shifts are changing the demand pattern from restricted traditional products in favour of a variety of new products and services, across the country -- not just in large cities. What they are buying and where they are buying has undergone a tectonic shift.
From multiplexes to shopping malls, from expensive jewellery to high-end cars, all are targetted at capturing this young and rich Indian generation. The global real-estate consulting group, Knight Frank, has ranked India 5th in the list of 30 emerging retail markets and predicts a 20% growth rate for the organised retail segment by 2010.
A survey by KSA Technopak indicates that there are 1.6 million households in India earning around Rs 45 lakh (about $100,000) per year, who spend about Rs 4 lakh ($9,000) per year on "luxury/very premium" goods and services.
This number is likely to cross 3 million by 2010, growing at 14% per year. They spend money on housing, travel, education, high-end automobiles, entertainment electronics and home improvement products. The report forecasts that that in two-three years, the market for luxury goods will boom -- men's clothing, women's jewellery, women's accessories (including handbags and footwear), watches and gourmet food and wines.

This is already happening. Sample this cross section of news and events, culled from media reports of only 2006 to get a sense of how widespread the growth is, in both geographical and product terms:

Mercedes-Benz cars have sold faster in smaller cities than in the metros and Benz launched its next-generation E-class car in Kochi before Delhi, its main market. It is rolling out dealerships in unlikely places such as Bhubaneshwar, Calicut, Madurai, Jaipur, Kolhapur, etc. The luxury car company has discovered more individual buyers in smaller cities, compared to the metros. Earlier, people had to wait until their late 40s or early 50s to get a Merc. Now, Merc buyers are getting younger and coming from the ranks of entrepreneurs, doctors, lawyers and software professionals.

In just April to June this year, 219,000 Notebooks were sold thanks to a 438% growth in consumer Notebook sales and 102% growth among the small and medium business segments.
The premium paint segment accounts for 5% of the total paints market in India; it is growing at 25%-30% annually. Berger Paints claims that its premium umbrella brand, Lewis Berger, is doing flourishing business in cities like Lucknow, Coimbatore, Guntur, Durgapur and Silvassa.
According to Business 2.0, a magazine from the Time Warner group, import of fine wine to India has emerged as one of the 12 best new business opportunities in the world.

Tommy Hilfiger, retailer of apparels, expects to open one store each in Delhi, Ahmedabad, Lucknow and Bangalore over the next four months. Adidas plans to open around 60 outlets this fiscal to take the number of its outlets in the country to 170. Its growth in India in calendar year 2005? Over 97%.
India has become a hot market for luxury goods too. It may sell just a dozen cars a year for now, but heart-stopping Lamborghini is here. It is offering Rs 1.7-crore (Rs 17 million) Gallardo SE as well as Rs 1.5 crore (Rs 15 million) Gallardo and the Rs 2.5 crore (Rs 25 million) Murcielago. Lamborghini produces just 2,000 Gallardos a year.

Following Lamborghini, expect Bugatti, Ferrari and Maserati to drive in too. LVMH of France, the world's largest luxury goods retailer, Lladro Commercial of Spain, a top retailer in porcelain figures and Chanel, the French owner of high-end perfumes and accessories, have applied to the government to set up retail trade.
Swiss watch company, Swatch, has launched one of its most expensive watches in India. Each Breguet is handmade and a masterpiece in its own right, with "simple design and complex artwork." Only 15,000 pieces of this "most complicated watch in the world," are produced every year.

Austrian luxury goods major, Swarovski operates around 12 exclusive stores in India. It now plans to open another 16 exclusive outlets by 2008 in 12 to 15 Indian cities, like Mysore, Mangalore, Coimbatore, Ludhiana and Chandigarh, among others. Its current growth rate is a scorching 50%-55% per year.
According to a study by consulting firm McKinsey, the branded jewellery market in India would touch Rs 10,000-crore mark ($ 2.28 billion) by 2010.
When they want to go on an exotic holiday, international travellers come to India. The domestic traveller too now has enough money to join in. Among the choices? A cruise to Indian tourist destinations.

Last year, the number of international cruise vessels that call at Indian ports, jumped by 50%. Traffic on cruise liners, which operate only within Indian ports catering mostly to domestic tourists, rose by 28%. Mumbai Port handled 66,681 domestic tourists last season (October to March) and expects this number to cross 100,000 this season.

Country Club India, a Rs 250-crore (Rs 2.5 billion) leisure company, plans to invest Rs 600 crore (Rs 6 billion) in the construction of service apartments in Hyderabad and Bangalore apart from investment in its existing projects. The company recently launched five golf village properties across India with an investment of Rs 500 crore (Rs 5 billion) attracted by the growing demand for such services in the country.

All this signals the emergence of a significant lifestyle and leisure sector on the Indian corporate scene, one that we have been watching closely for its immense growth potential.

Which companies will capture this exploding consumerism and rising prosperity of a relatively young Indian population? Unfortunately, a large part of the business is happening in the unlisted and that too regional space. Kesari Tours of Mumbai may be growing at 50% -- far higher than Thomas Cook -- but remains unlisted.
Lifestyle stocks
Among the 1,122 companies spread across 49 sectors that we track at MoneyLIFE, the lifestyle and leisure sector accounts for 48 companies spread across various sub-segments.

Most of these are too small. Using our proprietary methodology, we have ranked all these companies, first, based on their operational performance, which includes growth in operational income and profitability as also their margins at the operating level. To further refine our findings, we have added the five-quarter price performance of these companies and arrived at a composite score.
This is, however, for the 39 companies which have a record of at least nine quarters of published data of their performance. The others are new, having been listed only recently.

The total market size of this segment is pegged at around Rs 8,000 crore (Rs 80 billion), with 100-110 million cases sold a year and growing at 10%-12%. Its market spans almost half the Indian population and is likely to grow further by 56% by 2011 adding an additional 115 million people.
These are the dynamics of the alcohol market in India where drinking as a consumer habit has undergone a sea change. From a social taboo, it has emerged to become an acceptable component of the lifestyle statement for the young (and rising) Indian population.

It is no surprise that companies in this segment are among the best performing in our universe of lifestyle and leisure stocks. Champagne Indage, with an overall score of 89, managed the top slot among 39 companies with a sturdy operational performance over the last five quarters.
Set up as a 100% export-oriented unit in technical collaboration with Champagne Technologies of France to make wines, the company restructured itself to become a dedicated wine company, manufacturing and selling wines in the domestic as well as the international market. Champagne Indage operates two wineries in Maharashtra and controls over 700 acres of land for plantations along with its associates; it has also tied up contract farming arrange arrangement for another 6,000 acres of land.
CIL's sales have been growing at an average 81% over the last five quarters while operating profit grew by a solid 54% thanks to rising demand from a culturally changing young and rich population. It has a healthy operating margin of 24%. The company expects to grow at 100% in FY07 and cross a turnover of Rs 300 crore (Rs 3 billion) by 2008. This is likely to come from the maturing wine in cellars, procured through contract farming.
Demand for wine in India is almost twice the supply with the current size of the domestic market at 4.5million-5 million litres. CIL is expanding its capacity from 6 million litres last year to 14 million litres this year, controlling almost 85% of the capacity including the new ones that are coming up.
One interesting aspect of its future plans is the retail thrust that it has for its products by setting up 2000-plus dedicated outlets to dispense its wines and also expanding its restaurant business. It currently has one restaurant -- the upscale Athena in south Mumbai.
United Breweries Ltd commands over 50% of the beer market with its flagship brand Kingfisher almost synonymous with beer. Every third beer sold in India is a Kingfisher. It also has a host of other brands which include UB Export, London Pilsner, Premium Ice and Kalyani Black Label. UB's Kingfisher is the only beer brand available in 52 countries and on international flights. UB was carved out of the de-merger of the beer business from the erstwhile United Breweries Limited to become the main brewing company of the UB Group.
The flagship brand sells almost 19 million cases in the mild variety while the stronger one sells close to 10 million cases and has become one of the fastest growing brands within five years of its launch. The company's sales grew at an average 48% over the last five quarters while operating profit was up by a massive 195%. UB has an average operating margin of 16%. The stock has run up 300% over the last five quarters.
United Spirits is the third largest spirits marketer in the world with around 15 brands selling more than a million cases a year; it has the largest-selling brandy and the fastest-growing whiskey brands in the world with sales of more than 6 million cases a year. United Spirits (earlier McDowell & Co), a part of the UB Group after the acquisition of Shaw Wallace, offers more than 140 brands at various price points attracting consumers of every preference.
The company ranked second on our list with a composite score of 84. Its sales have been growing an average 53% over the last five quarters while the operating profit zoomed an average 181% over the same period. USL has a surprisingly low operating margin of 14%.
The stock has seen a smart movement, especially after the restructuring of the spirits business of the UB group. After having captured a sizeable part of the domestic market and establishing its foothold in USA and Europe, USL is now looking to enter the Russian and Chinese markets. USL has been actively pursuing the inorganic expansion route having acquired the France-based wine manufacturing company, Bouvet Ladubay, which gave it a strong distribution network to sell its products in the European and the US markets while helping tap the rapidly growing market for wines in India.
With a 55% market share in the Indian Made Foreign Liquor category, this is one company that is well poised to play the growing lifestyle & leisure market. Keep an eye on this stock, though it has run up considerably in the last five quarters in line with its fundamental performance.
Favourable demographics and better economics are driving growth in the entertainment and media sector. From single-screen theatres to poly-screen multiplexes and from weekly family dramas to daily soap operas, film and television entertainment companies are riding the wave of changing Indian viewership patterns.
Media sector to grow
A recent research by Crisil has projected the media and entertainment sector to grow on an average 15.6% every year by 2010. Revenues are expected to double from the present Rs 36,100 crore to Rs 74,400 crore by 2010. The industry is estimated to grow at a CAGR of over 19% and, within that, the film industry will grow at compounded annual rate of 18%.
The domestic exhibition segment, which accounts for two-thirds of the overall industry, is likely to grow at a CAGR of 14%. Multiplexes, which are fast gaining share from single-screen cinema houses, are likely to benefit from this, especially because they are growing from a very small base. With just around 12,900 active screens in the country, it works out to only 12 screens per million of population -- compared to 117 per million in USA and more than 40 screens per million in Europe.
Estimates suggest that aggressive expansion by companies to set up multiplexes is likely to drive revenue growth at a CAGR of around 80% with the number of multiplexes likely to rise three times from the current level to more than 250 by the end of FY08 taking the total number of screens to 1,035 from the present 328. Rationalisation of the tax structure is likely to drive up volumes further and, in turn, improve profitability and margins.
One company that has been a fast mover in the film exhibition space is Adlabs Films, now controlled by Anil Ambani. Adlabs used to be a film processing company, which got into production, distribution and exhibition in a measured way.

In fact, it is the pioneer of the multiplex culture in the country and also for providing a corporate backing to movie making. It is attempting to take a major leap forward after Ambani gained control. Its sales grew at an average 70% over the last five quarters while operating profit was up 38% over the same period. Adlabs operates at a healthy margin of 35%. Not just on the domestic scene, the company has been actively pursuing foreign shores too. It has recently set up wholly-owned subsidiaries in the UK and USA for its overseas distribution of Indian films, film co-production and post-production business.

This company transformed the small screen completely and created a brand with the highest recall among Indian television viewers for itself.

Balaji Telefilms has a presence on almost every satellite channel that is being aired today -- whether mainstream or regional -- and this is reflected in its performance as well. Its net income from operations rose an average 33% over the last five quarters while the operating profit was up 36% over the same period. Balaji has been operating at an average margin of 34%.
The last of our picks from this sector is Titan Industries, part of the Tata Group, India's leading manufacturer of watches and jewellery and the world's sixth largest watch manufacturer. Titan manufactures over 7 million watches per annum and has a customer base of over 65 million. The company's sales have been growing at an average 37% over the last five quarters while its operating profit grew at 43%.

The problem is that its two businesses suffer from two kinds of problems. The margins from its watches are low and Indians still haven't got around to cutting their ties from their jewellers and embracing the more reliable, hallmarked jewellery of Titan. So, while it keeps investing on its brands to make its presence felt, operating margin is 9%.
Some companies are also benefiting from being a supplier of lifestyle products to the world. Crew BOS Products manufactures and exports fashion accessories and home decoration products such as belts, bags, portfolios, business cases, footwear, wallets, boxes, furniture and home furnishings.

It sells to reputed international brands like Next Plc, Espirit, Zara, Massimodutti, Armani Exchange, Tesco, H&M in Europe and Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy, Chico's and Fossil in USA. Its sales have been growing at an average 49% over the last five quarters while operating profit grew by a solid 63% over the same period. Crew BOS enjoys an operating margin of 19%.

The stocks we have discussed above have been around for a while and their recent track record gives investors an idea about the consistency of operations, management quality and capability to execute expansions. There are two other kinds of companies in the lifestyle sector.

Those that have been around for a while but are not able to take advantage of the leisure boom. In this category are companies like Saregama, Nicco Parks and Mukta Arts.

The other category of stocks are new entrants -- Inox, PVR and Shringar. We have excluded them because they do not as yet have a track record of performance. But that is not to say that they are not worth looking at. These companies may turn out to be big beneficiaries of the booming lifestyle sector over time and are worth watching.

5 Ideas To Save You Money

Very Cheap Wedding Invitations - 5 Ideas To Save You Money
Very cheap wedding invitations can be a way to trim your wedding planning costs. There are a lot of different types of wedding invitations to choose from, many of which that are inexpensive.

The first step in choosing your invitations is to set your budget. Try to be realistic while keeping your expenses low. It may not be realistic to expect to spend only two cents per invitation.

One thing to keep in mind is that there is a difference between cheap and inexpensive. Many weddings can get away with having cheap invitations, but if you are planning on having an elegant affair you may want set the tone with a more expensive invitation.

Here are 5 ideas when selecting very cheap wedding invitations:

Do It Yourself

Creating your invitations yourself is a great way to save a lot of money. For the creative among us, there are many specialty paper stores that carry different types of paper that can be used for invitations. Craft stores are great resources for ribbons and other invitation supplies as well.

Printable invitation kits are a big time saver as well as a money saver. Simply choose your invitation online and print them with your home computer.

Buy On Sale

Buying off season may also help slash your wedding invitation bill. Look for clearance or sale sections on websites as well as in stores. It might take a little extra effort to locate the sales, but it will pay off in the end.

You may also be able to find bargains at websites like EBay. Items like invitation kits can sometimes be snatched up for a fraction of their true price.

Shop Early

Starting early is a great way to find very cheap wedding invitations. If you wait until the last minute you may end up having to choose a more expensive invitation or one that you really don't like.

You will be able to shop around and locate the best deals possible. It also means that your invitations will go out on time giving your guests ample time to respond.

Check Discount Stores

Possibly the most overlooked option, stores like Target and Wal Mart offer good selections of invitation kits. Visit them on sale days for the best prices, but make sure you get there early to get the best selection.

Want to get your invitations for free? Ask for gift cards to these stores as holiday and birthday presents.

Go For The Package Deal

Going with invitation kits gives you a good chance of saving money. Kits typically include invitations, thank you cards and sometimes save the dates.

There are varying types and prices to choose from, so be sure to shop around for one that fits your style and your budget.

For more ideas visit Wedding Invitations.

Chemical in Plastic Bottles Raises Safety Questions in Government Report

A chemical used to make baby bottles and other shatterproof plastic containers could be linked to a range of hormonal problems, a preliminary government report has found.

The report was greeted by some environmental groups as confirmation of their concerns, while chemical makers latched on to the report's preliminary nature and its authors' warning against drawing overly worrisome conclusions.

The federal National Toxicology Program said Tuesday that experiments on rats found precancerous tumors, urinary tract problems and early puberty when the animals were fed or injected with low doses of the plastics chemical bisphenol A.

While such animal studies only provide "limited evidence" of bisphenol's developmental risks, the group's draft report stresses the possible effects on humans "cannot be dismissed." The group is made up of scientists from the Centers for Disease Control, the Food and Drug Administration and the Institutes of Health.

More than 90 percent of Americans are exposed to trace amounts of bisphenol, according to the CDC. The chemical leaches out of water bottles, the lining of cans and other items made with it.

The American Chemistry Council, which represents manufacturers, said the report "affirms that there are no serious or high level concerns for adverse effects of bisphenol on human reproduction and development." Among the manufacturers of bisphenol are Dow Chemical Co. and BASF Group.

The group said it supports additional research to determine whether adverse effects seen in animals "are of any significance to human health."

Environmentalists, meanwhile, hailed the report as the first step toward reassessing a chemical they believe could contribute to cancer and other health problems.

"We're hoping this decision will force FDA to recognize the toxicity of this chemical and make manufacturers set a safety standard that's protective of the most vulnerable populations," said Dr. Anila Jacob of the Environmental Working Group.

The toxicology group's findings echo those of researchers assembled by the National Institutes of Health, who last August called for more research on bisphenol in humans.

The FDA in November said there is "no reason at this time to ban or otherwise restrict its use." The agency on Tuesday did not immediately have any comment about the new report.

But growing concern about the chemical has pushed many consumers toward glass alternatives, and triggered investigations by state and federal lawmakers.

Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., called on FDA Tuesday to reconsider the safety of bisphenol, saying the toxicology report's findings "fly in the face of the FDA's determination."

Dingell, who chairs the House Energy and Commerce Committee, issued letters to seven companies that make baby formulations earlier this year, questioning whether they use bisphenol in the lining of their cans and bottles.

The companies included Hain Celestial Group, Nestle USA and Abbott Laboratories.

A spokeswoman for the International Formula Council, which represents baby food makers, said Tuesday "the overwhelming scientific evidence supports the safety" of bisphenol, adding that no foreign governments have restricted or banned its use.

The National Toxicology Program will take public comments on its initial report through May. A final version will be issued this summer.

Earlier this month state lawmakers in New Jersey passed a bill that would ban the sale of all products containing bisphenol.

Canada's health agency is also examining the health risks of bisphenol is expected to issue its findings in coming days.

Fashion with passion:

Fashion with passion: Central Catholic to host show to benefit Breast Cancer Foundation .


You've probably heard of Marc Jacobs and Tim Gunn. But have you heard of Phill Picardi?

If not, you may soon. The junior at Central Catholic loves fashion — and he's using that love to do good.

Picardi is spearheading a group of students and teachers organizing the Catwalk4Cancer. The fashion show featuring several local boutiques will raise money for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.

"(Breast cancer) has directly affected so many people in the area," the North Andover 16-year-old said. "We felt this cause would bring so many people together."

The vibrant colors of spring and summer will be highlighted in the show, which will feature trends from Casa di Stile in Boston; Native Sun, GiGi's of Andover, Cristina's, First Date, Dresscode, Stitch Boutique, Izzy's Emporium, Kaps Menswear, and Black Tie at Kaps, all from Andover; and Young Men's Fashions from TJX Co., with TJMaxx locations all over the Merrimack Valley. Hair and make-up will be done by Indra Salon & City Spa in Andover.

Fashions range from sportswear to formalwear.

"We tried to highlight cool trends," said Picardi, who worked with teachers Lisa Cenca and Carmen Lonero over the last year to organize the show.

Students and teachers from the school will model. Catwalker Marissa Miller of Windham, N.H., said the whole experience has been enlightening.

"Central has certainly never done anything like this," the 18-year-old senior said.

Students from Nancy Chippendale's Dance Studios will open the show. And breast cancer survivor Cathy DeLorenzo will speak about her battle with the disease.

The $10 ticket price includes a chance to win door prizes, including gifts from Elizabeth Grady, Night & Day, Daher's Shoes, Beauty and Main, the Strawberry Tree, Carina & Co. and Quiet Pleasures.

"If we can help one person, one family, it makes all the stress and all the time we are putting into organizing this worth it," said 16-year-old Nicole St. Germain of Haverhill.


If you go

What: Catwalk4Cancer.

When: Saturday, April 5, 7 to 9 p.m.

Where: Central Catholic High School, 300 Hampshire St., Lawrence .

How: Tickets are $10. Available at the door.

WILD PRIDE:Thrilling Safari in the South African Bush

During the evening game drive on day two of my African safari, Jonas, our tracker, leads us to a magnificent pride of lions making their way through the bush. We stop to observe and, to my surprise and delight, the lions approach us. But my excitement soon turns to apprehension when Kevin, our ranger, slowly turns around and, with a very concerned expression on his face, cautions us, "No sudden moves… this pride is very wild." The lion is known as the "King of African Carnivores," and will claim prey at any time, whether hungry or not, if presented with an easy opportunity. And I suddenly feel like very easy prey, sitting in an open air Land Rover with no roof or sides. The wild animals in this South African nature reserve are familiar with the safari vehicles and most likely will not show aggression toward them. However, they are not used to people, and, while they generally do not see humans as prey, may perceive sudden moves or loud noises as a threat warranting an attack.



As the pride proceeds closer and closer still, I recall one of Kevin's comments on a previous and more distant lion encounter the day before, "If you get out [of the Land Rover] right now, you're as good as dead. They'll be all over you." I freeze as one lioness, her glowing eyes steadily fixed upon us in an intimidating stare, prowls to within 3 feet of our Land Rover and then continues on around the back of the vehicle, momentarily out of sight. A silent stillness takes hold of our small group. Excited and alarmed, I hold my breath. My heart's hard and hurried pulse resonates throughout my body. In the next moment the lioness reappears on the other side of our Land Rover and, to my great relief, continues on her way. I am left to watch in speechless awe as the pride trails off into the evening's gathering darkness.


This was truly one of the most amazing experiences of my life. But it was only one of the countless thrilling moments during my safari in Thornybush Nature Preserve . adjacent to South Africa's world famous Kruger National Park People from around the globe travel to this region of the South African bushveld to experience the "Big Five", lion, leopard, elephant, rhino, and buffalo, roaming the open savanna - not to mention creatures such as giraffe, zebra, wildebeest, hyena, baboons, impala, and hundreds bird species.

After a flight from Cape Town to Hoedspruit's Eastgate Airport and a short twenty-minute taxi ride, I arrived at Thornybush in the mid-afternoon with plenty of time to get settled and rest up for the evening safari. The deck of my very private thatched-roof cabin suite overlooked the Monwana River bed, which was bone dry at the time. "Monwana" means to dig for water - an appropriate name for this non-perennial river that flows only when good rains occur. For some time I relaxed on the deck, basking in the sun, observing four or five Steenbok antelope, several birds, and a group of Vervet monkeys in a nearby tree. I was later entertained when, after returning inside to prepare for the evening safari, these same monkeys had come down from their tree and were sitting on my deck observing me!



Evening Safari, Four of the Big Five

At 4:30, well rested and excited for my first safari drive, I met up with the other guests sharing my Land Rover, as well as Jonas, our tracker, and Kevin, our ranger. After brief introductions we were off! Jonas sat in a small seat attached to the hood of the vehicle and tracked animals by looking for recent footprints and other evidence that animals leave behind. Speaking in Fanagalo, a Zulu-based pidgin with English and Afrikaans components, Jonas and Kevin continually conferred with each other, sharing observations, opinions and hunches.

With Jonas and Kevin to guide the way, we were off to an excellent start. Only a couple of minutes into our drive we encountered two giraffe mingling in the trees, heads high in the upper branches. And this was just the beginning of an eventful evening. Driving on, we came upon Steenbok antelope, kudu, two herds of impala, and then three elephants roaming through the bush. These were followed by two white rhinos, a pride of lions, and a solitary male leopard. In all, we encountered four of the Big Five during our very first safari drive! Upon our return to the main lodge, Kevin told us that we were quite lucky to see four of the Big Five in our first drive. But I think Jonas and Kevin's animal tracking experience and skill had something to do with our "luck."

Kevin studied nature conservation at Pretoria Technical College, and both Kevin and Jonas are certified by the Field Guides Association of Southern Africa (FGASA). FGASA is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting "professional guiding based on a strong ethical well-informed, safety-conscious approach." There are four levels of FGASA certification for trackers and rangers with corresponding experience requirements and exams. These exams are very difficult, and many fail on their first try. Each tracker certification level requires a certain amount of tracking experience and a passing evaluation on the corresponding practical exam, which covers the knowledge and skills considered essential to track animals and identify the spoor of animals. Jonas has completed his level 2 certification. Each ranger certification level also requires a certain amount of experience and a passing evaluation on a practical exam as well as a written exam. Kevin has also completed his level 2 certification and is going for level 3 certification.

After our evening safari, and a spot of sherry at the main lodge, Kevin, with his Musgrave .375 in hand, provided each of us with an armed escort back to our suites. The Thornybush camp is not game fenced. As such, wild animals wander through the lodge grounds from time to time, particularly at night. Once darkness falls on the camp, guests are not allowed to roam the grounds without an armed ranger by their side. For our safety, Kevin also escorted us from our suites to dinner, and then back to our suites after dinner.

Leopard Tracking in the Bush



Only five minutes into the following morning's safari Jonas spotted three leopards, a mother and her two offspring. Finding the leopard is perhaps one of the more exciting events on a Thornybush safari, as they are so elusive and difficult to track. So, it was very exciting to come upon this mother and her cubs. We slowly pursued them down a dry riverbed, following at some distance so as not to disturb them or scare them off. The cubs, one female one male, were about 13 months old. Their mother would soon lose her maternal instinct and stop hunting for them, forcing the cubs to go out on their own. Leopards travel alone, not in a pride like lions, which makes them all the more difficult to track. These leopards leapt off into the bush after only a few moments. But what an exciting few moments it was!



We spent the better part of the morning unsuccessfully tracking these leopards, which involved some rather adventurous off-road driving through the bush, and several stops for Jonas and Kevin to get out of the Land Rover and examine the leopards' spoor. Finally, Kevin convinced a grudging Jonas to give up the search and move on.

Much of my next two days at Thornybush were filled with such Big Five excitement and suspense, tracking and then finally coming within five feet of the elusive leopard, sitting amidst a herd of 10 elephants that were too close for my telephoto lens to capture, watching a herd of 100 Cape buffalo wallow in the mud, observing a mother and baby white rhino quenching their thirst at a small water hole, and, of course, intimate encounters with lions! I experienced all of this and observed zebra, giraffe, wildebeest, and so many more - too many to name.

Safari Vehicles and the Bush

Safaris take place at dawn and dusk, sometimes on foot but most often in open Land Rovers. These specifically modified four-wheel drive vehicles have no roof or sides so as to allow for maximum visibility, and are able to traverse the rough terrain of the bush - and Kevin certainly did traverse through some rough terrain! At first, I was a little surprised and concerned with the manner and frequency with which rangers drive these vehicles off the established dirt roads and into grassy areas, plowing over bushes and small trees. However, after some questioning I learned that the rangers are educated in the various types of flora, the fagility of such flora, and whether they are endangered. With this knowledge, rangers are careful to avoid traversing ecologically sensitive areas, particularly after a rain.

Thornybush Habitat and Mission

Thornybush covers over 100 square kilometers of pristine African bushveld. Its habitat is best described as predominantly savannah grassland areas with both deciduous and evergreen trees. One of the oldest game lodges in South Africa, Thornybush has operated commercially since the late 1960's. The nature preserve's mission is not only to provide an unrivalled safari experience, but to do so by adhering to principles of sustainable conservation, wildlife education, and the empowerment of employees and neighboring communities.

When to Go



I visited Thornybush in September, springtime in the Southern Hemisphere. Winters in Southern Africa (May through July) mean very little rain. The bush is still dry and thin in September, which makes for a fairly sparse and colorless landscape, but good visibility for wildlife viewing. Limited water resources during the winter and spring also means much wildlife activity is centered around water holes, making the Big Five easier to track. The September climate is mild and comfortable, with temperatures ranging from approximately 50º to 80º Fahrenheit. In all, if you are coming to South Africa to see the Big Five, September is an excellent time to visit Thornybush. However, if you are a birder looking for the best chance to see the over 250 species of birds to be found in this area, you might prefer to visit during the summer months (October through March), the optimal time to view various migrant species. The rainy season is during summer, which is generally humid and hot. The winter months are cooler.

No matter what time of year they visit, guests at South Africa's Thornybush Nature Preserve are certain to see some of the most amazing wildlife on the face of the earth and enjoy an experience of a lifetime.


more............

Undiscovered Ecotourism Paradise

Ah, yes - snorkeling in crystal clear Caribbean waters, catching glimpses of toucans and howler monkeys while hiking through luxuriant tropical rainforest, immersing yourself in Latin American cultures - an ecotourist's dream. Think I'm talking about Costa Rica? Think again. Think Venezuela.



From its Caribbean coastline, to the tropical Amazon rainforest, to the vast savannas of Los Llanos, to the great Andes mountains, Venezuela is one of the world's most ecologically rich and diverse ecotourism destinations. The beauty of Venezuela's nine biogeographical regions and more than 25 different ecosystems is accented by its warm and hospitable people. Christopher Columbus described this land as "Paradise on Earth," and modern day ecotourists and adventure travelers who explore Venezuela agree. But Venezuela is, as of yet, largely undiscovered as an ecotourism destination. So, while those ecotourists who do visit Venezuela marvel at its natural wonders such as Angel Falls, the world's tallest, they are equally amazed by how few of their fellow nature lovers have discovered this natural paradise.

Venezuela boasts over 40 national parks and natural monuments. Approximately 15% of its national territory is protected land. Its awe-inspiring beauty, varied ecology and diverse wildlife make Venezuela a natural destination for a multitude of ecotourism activities such birding, hiking, scuba diving, and nature and wildlife viewing, just to name a few. The ecotourism opportunities rival, if not exceed, popular ecotourism destinations such as Costa Rica. But unlike Costa Rica, until very recently the Venezuelan government has not actively promoted Venezuela as an ecotourism destination. As such, Venezuela has remained a largely unexplored ecotourism paradise. But Venezuelan ecotourism pioneers, such as Paul Stanley, co-founder and President of Angel-Eco Tours, Inc., hope this is about to change.


Stanley and Angel-Eco Tours have allied with fellow Venezuelan ecotourism companies Hékura Consultores, C.A. and MarkCom Eventos, C.A. to organize EXPOECOTURISMO 2002 , the very first ecotourism exhibition and trade show to be held in Venezuela. The two-day event, to be held in Caracas September 10 - 11, 2002, will showcase the country's major states with lectures, presentations, cultural shows and video presentations. EXPOECOTURISMO 2002, aimed at national and international audiences, will highlight ecotourism businesses and products that are currently available throughout Venezuela.

More than 40 businesses, NGO's, foundations, and government agencies will participate in the conference. Dignitaries and featured presenters include the Commercial Attache to the US Embassy in Caracas, the Director of Bolivar Tourism, and representatives from the World Tourism Organization.

"We are extremely pleased that thus far, the conference has been so well received - in fact it is a breath of fresh air," says Stanley. "After all, this is the International Year of Ecotourism and Venezuela has such incredible biodiversity in its 43 national parks and some of the most beautiful, natural surroundings seen anywhere in the world."

Stanley and the EXPOECOTURISMO 2002 organizers hope that the event "will create an international awareness of the importance of ecotourism and other conservation initiatives currently being conducted in Venezuela."

Stanley and his co-founder and Director of Operations, Antonio Pestana, founded Angel-Eco Tours in May 2000 with a mission to promote tourism to Venezuela that would help preserve Venezuela's natural wonders, many of which are threatened by the pressures of population and economic growth. Rather than follow the formula of other countries that have promoted mass tourism that often threatens or destroys the environment, Stanley and Pestana set out to develop and promote sustainable ecotourism that would benefit the people of Venezuela as well as preserve Venezuela's flora and fauna. Since its founding, Angel-Eco Tours has been a leader in promoting ecotourism in Venezuela.

Angel-Eco Tours offers several planned itineraries and can customize just about any kind of ecotour in Venezuela. Current offerings include sailing, scuba diving, snorkeling, wind surfing and visits to lobster farms and a turtle preservation project in Los Roques, Venezuela's Caribbean national park; a wildlife adventure trip in the Andes and Los Llanos; a river cruise and birdwatching trip in the exotic jungle of the Orinoco Delta; and, their most touted trip, hiking through Canaima National Park to the majestic Angel Falls.

Angel-Eco Tours travelers stay in local communities, enjoy indigenous cuisine, and intimately interact with the native tribes of Venezuela such as the Pemon and Warao Indians. Members of these tribes serve as guides and share with ecotourists their deep knowledge of the plants, flowers, birds and other wildlife of Venezuela, as well as their native myths and legends. The quality and friendliness of these guides are consistently acclaimed in client testimonials.

Clients also rave about the natural wonders of Venezuela, echoing Christopher Columbus' declaration that this land truly is paradise on earth. Stanley and Pestana's clients are among the few ecotourists to have discovered this paradise. As one recent Angel-Eco Tours client remarked, "Is this Venezuela? Yes, the world's best kept secret! For now!" But Stanley, Pestana and their fellow EXPECOTURISMO 2002 organizers hope not for long.

After War, Love Can Be a Battlefield

IN a measured voice, Maj. Levi Dunton explained to the small circle of Army officers and their spouses what had gone wrong in his marriage since he returned home from Iraq in 2005. He had trouble being involved with his family, he said. He didn’t find joy in being a parent to his two boys, 3 and 5 months. Little things made him angry.
Major Dunton said he was not sure whether his year in Iraq, where he was an Apache pilot and commander of 150 soldiers, was responsible for his numb state. Others, he wanted to make clear, had it a lot worse. To the other soldiers, this was a familiar litany of guilt, emotional distance and marital discombobulation; they were silent or simply nodded their heads.
Like Major Dunton, they seemed uneasy with all this talk, all this sharing, all this connecting to the wife in front of strangers.
Even as he spoke, Major Dunton, who fidgeted and played with his wedding ring, rarely made eye contact with Heather, his wife of 10 years and a former helicopter pilot herself.
Ms. Dunton, however, seemed relieved, liberated even, to be given a chance to reach out to her husband. She put her hand around his knee and said she was convinced that the war had wormed its way into their marriage.
“He used to tell jokes and funny stories and now he doesn’t do that anymore,” she said later. “I could tell he was different right away, but I thought it would pass.”
Not long ago, the Army, too, might have waited for it to pass — particularly for someone as seemingly steady and committed to his wife as Major Dunton. But that was before this war, with its 15-month deployments, before 2004 when divorce rates spiked among the officer corps and before recruitment and retention became a military preoccupation.
These days the Army is fighting a problem as complex and unpredictable as any war: disintegrating marriages. And so, the Duntons, like 18 other couples, gathered for a weekend retreat in late March, part of an Army pilot program to address marital stress after soldiers return from long tours in Iraq. The retreat is part of a new front in the Army’s “Strong Bonds” programs, which are for families and couples and run by its chaplains. Many of the earlier programs dealt with fundamentals such as “how not to marry a jerk” and how to have open communication.
What was missing, said Col. Glen Bloomstrom, the command chaplain at Fort Leavenworth who championed the retreat, was a way to address the stress that war places on marriages — where stress often first manifests itself and where it can take the greatest toll.
Most couples at the retreat — in all but one, the men were the soldiers — had been married 10 years or more, which means they had tied the knot in peacetime. Back then, the worst thing that could happen, many wives explained, was a posting to South Korea, where spouses are not included. Now, these couples must handle the separation that comes not only from long periods away, but also from spouses trying to connect with their partners’ combat experiences — something the men do not easily know how to share. Or want to share.
To build the bridge from love to war and back, Chaplain Bloomstrom turned to Sue Johnson, director of the Ottawa Couple and Family Institute and a developer of Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy, one of the few marriage therapies with empirical data showing that it helps. Ms. Johnson, the daughter of a British Navy commando, teaches couples to address the emotions that underpin their fights, which is usually the need for more love and reassurance of love.
In her new book, “Hold Me Tight” (Little, Brown), Ms. Johnson writes of the work Israeli researchers have done with soldiers who were prisoners of war and experienced torture and solitary confinement. Those fastest to recover were in secure, happy marriages. The men told of coping by writing letters in their minds to their partners about returning home.

To develop those kinds of bonds, she counsels “nonjudgmental” conversations in which spouses can frankly discuss fears and needs. She even reads a few sample dialogues out loud where men say things like “I am afraid.”

It can be a mushy message for a group of seen-it-all veterans. When Kathryn Rheem, a therapist assisting Ms. Johnson, talked about the “echoes of war” — the pain and isolation of returning from war, afraid to tell partners what really happened for fear of losing love — a soldier interrupted to say, “Ma’am, aren’t you overhyping this thing?”

But the wives protested. Amy, the wife of a Special Forces veteran who asked that her last named be withheld to protect the privacy of her marriage, was weeping. “I am listening and thinking there is five years of my marriage I need to catch up on,” she said.

With her blond hair cut into a stylish chin-length bob, and wide blue eyes, she looked too young to be war weary, and she admitted that military culture had been a shock. She had asked her husband about Iraq but he protested that she should know he could not give details.

“They are very private,” she said of her husband and his Special Forces buddies, adding that the wives “only know what’s going on if they get together and have a couple of beers, and we eavesdrop.”

THE soldier, Ms. Rheem said, is trained to endure extremes. When it comes to problems in the marriage, “He is saying, ‘We are not really at the worst-case scenario,’ ” Ms. Rheem said. “For the spouse, it is like: ‘Yes, we are. To you, it is a small thing, because it is not life, or death, or bleeding. But if we don’t talk about these things now, it may feel like we are bleeding. I’m bleeding.’ ”

This split perspective within marriages — and soldiers’ understandable wariness of being labeled as troubled — makes this retreat a delicate effort. To entice volunteers, the Army called the sessions not counseling or therapy, but “marriage education.” The retreat was held at the nearby Great Wolf Lodge, which had family luxuries like an indoor water park. The Army also paid for baby-sitting for most of the two days and part of Saturday night as well. Some couples joked that they had signed up just for that.

The soldiers also know the retreat has the blessing of Fort Leavenworth’s commanding officer, Lt. Gen. William B. Caldwell IV, just back from Iraq to his own wife and three small children. A decade ago, the three-star general went through a divorce, and thereafter, he said, he gave soldiers in his command planning marriage the book “The Five Love Languages,” a best seller on discovering the way to give your mate what he or she needs. A kind of precautionary measure, like the retreat.

The soldiers at this retreat are much more stable than any newlywed. They are career military; they have been promoted to officer training at Fort Leavenworth, a prestigious midcareer posting, and none are in the category of soldier likely to commit suicide, disappear or beat their wife. Or even to divorce, for that matter.

But these days, the Army is covering all its bases. Divorce rates for its personnel have been on the rise since 2003, the first year of war, when they were 2.9 percent. In 2004, divorce rates in the Army soared to 3.9 percent, propelled by a sharp rise in divorce among the usually much more stable officers corps. That rate has dropped, according to Army demographics, to 1.9 percent for officers and 3.5 percent for the entire Army in fiscal year 2007 — which represents roughly 8,700 divorces in total. Female soldiers are the exception; they divorce at a rate of about 9 percent.

YET even with divorce rates stabilizing, the Army says it remains worried about the effects of combat on its core soldiers, the ones who are supposed to be lifers. Internal studies show that couples are deeply stressed by the war and contemplating divorce at a much higher rate.

After the first day of the retreat, a group of wives gathered in the hotel hallway, sitting on the carpet, pouring red wine into plastic glasses, and children wandered back and forth smelling of chlorine. They discussed other echoes of war that stress their marriages: civilian friends and family who cannot understand their husbands’ choice to re-enlist and shower them with unwanted pity; husbands who leave when children are born and show up a year later only to disappear again; and watching other military couples divorce at what seems like an astonishing clip. The men, they noted, almost all remarry right away — usually to someone younger.

It is why, they said, this retreat was needed. This stuff doesn’t get aired enough with the men.

During the retreat, it was easy to see why. While some soldiers seemed truly engaged in the process, others seemed only to endure it. For a few others, it seemed like the Army had finally asked too much. Not only must they go to war, but now, after everything, they are expected to emote.

Maj. Guy Wetzel returned home last November from a 15-month deployment in Baghdad as a brigade intelligence officer, and things at home have not been going smoothly, they said.

“He always wants to raise his voice and thinks I will listen more,” said Melissa Wetzel, his wife. “And for me, I don’t. I am like: ‘Speak to me like a human, not like you are telling your soldier what to do. I am your spouse, not someone working under you.’ ”

“And my question is,” Maj. Wetzel said, visibly bristling, “Why do I have to lower my type of understanding down to where you are? Why can’t you come to my type of understanding?”

As the sessions continued, the couple painfully confessed that the war had intruded on their bedroom as well. He cannot sleep without noise, so at night they separate, they later elaborated. She stays in the bedroom and he lulls himself to sleep in front of the television in another room.

Ms. Johnson said couples can change their behavior. She told a story of a man at a party who saw his wife flirting with someone else and blew up. Instead, she suggested, the man could have told his wife what he was really thinking, which is that he wished she would relate to him that way. Major Wetzel was indignant.

“Why is it the soldier who always has to give?” he asked.

“Oh, no,” Ms. Johnson assured him, “Everyone should have to give.”

Afterward, the Wetzels said the retreat had helped, because it created time for them to talk. But when asked what was next, the soldier did not talk about counseling.

“What we need is a way to get this out to the troops,” Major Wetzel said. “In terms of combat stress, they are the ones who really need it.”

Find Your Passion now

Have you recently gone through some dramatic and transformative changes in your life? Whether these changes are related to your job, relationships, or spirituality, the shift has taken some getting used to and you need something positive to focus on. You enjoy a lot of different pastimes, but you really want to devote yourself to something you simply love doing. How do you find your passion? Perhaps just as important, how do you turn that passion into something meaningful and substantial in your life? Find out now…

“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” –Eleanor Roosevelt
A passion in life isn’t something you’re born with. It’s cultivated by your interests, what stimulates you and what you are genuinely excited about. But what if you want to pursue many avenues and just don’t know which one you’d be the most successful at or want to invest the most time in? Or what if nothing particularly lights the proverbial fire under your bottom, but you have a lot of energy that you could devote to something? Or maybe you’re stuck in a job you despise, but don’t know what other route to take that would truly be fulfilling.
Don’t fear. We have plenty of ideas to get your creative juices flowing to find your passion and make something worthwhile of it.

Answer these QuestionsAnswering :the following questions is a great exercise in deciding where your passion may lie and what direction to go in. Write down your answers and look for a common theme. Your passion might be so obvious that it jumps right off of the page.
1What do you love about yourself?

What did you want to be when you were a child?

If money were no object, what would you want to do?

What do you daydream about or think about during downtime?

How do others perceive you?

List five things you really enjoy doing and five things you’re really good at.

Name one thing you’ve always dreamed about doing but never told anyone about.

Look AroundYour passion could be right under your nose, but you just might not be in tune with it. Watch out for signs or for moments that inspire you or move you.

It might come in the form of a movie, a human interest story from a newspaper or neighbor, or a great ending to a great book. Go through your closet or look through old photo albums.

You may have simply “stored” away memories of any passions or inspirations you had as a child or before you were married, had children or started in the work force.

Once you’re aware of everything around you, finding your passion might be easier than you originally thought.

NetworkYou know networking is a great tool to use in job hunting, but it’s also ideal to use to help find your passion and turn that passion into a productive endeavor.

Let people in on your passion and dreams: They’ll become more of a reality the more you talk about them, and when an opportunity pops up that relates to that passion, they’ll let you know!

If the passion you’ve discovered has to do with a dream job, keeping the lines of communication open with all sorts of people will only increase your chances of pursuing your passion and achieving a goal.

Get InvolvedGetting involved in volunteer projects is a fantastic way to test the passion waters. Start out by volunteering with one group.

It can be at a soup kitchen, animal rescue group or reading to children at the library for an hour.
Really begin to feel what it means to do something positive for someone else – many people associate their passion with service.

They feel it’s their purpose and their calling. Volunteer where you are drawn to, and then volunteer with something at the opposite end of your passion spectrum.

The more projects you’re able to experience, the more your imagination will be sparked.
Reach for the StarsNobody can live your life for you - your destiny is in your hands.

If you’ve found your passion, you’re already on your way. If you’ve found a passion that seems a little more intangible than others, give it some serious thought, but don’t be afraid to go for it.

Too many people don’t follow their passion because they let the possibility of failure stop them before they even try.

How will you know if things are possible if you don’t put yourself out there? Be proactive, reach for the stars and turn your passion into something productive and meaningful that will enrich your life and the lives of others.

Personal goal setting and success in your life

Personal goal setting and success
When I think about the impact of personal goal setting on our lives and success, I like very much the ideas of Brian Tracy and his invaluable book Focal Point. Based on extensive studies and success stories, he points at one interesting difference between successful and unsuccessful people.
The difference is in the way they think.

Successful people clearly know what they want and they think about how to get it.

In contrast, "unsuccessful people tend to think and talk about what they don't want most of the time. They think about who they are mad at and who is to blame for their problems."

So, know what you want and be clear about it, and you will make a difference and achieve success. The personal goal setting techniques help you to reach that clarity.

Let your mind make you unstoppable The secret keys that allow you to reprogram your mind and body to achieve more success automatically.

Success driving motivational posters Keep your vision of success in your sight with specially selected motivational posters and artworks.

Personal goal setting main page A solid personal goal setting system is the key to effective time management and life planning. Setting personal goals wisely, you get a sense of achievement, sustain motivation, and reduce stress.

Personal time management and goal setting guide main page Practical information and advice on various personal time management and goal setting topics.

Designing a Livelihood;Do What You Love & Love What You Do

If you’re a typical North American, work fills more of your waking hours, consumes more of your energy and contributes more to your self-image than ever before. At the same time, an uncertain world and a changing workplace are leaving millions of workers feeling more anxious than ever before. For an increasing number of people, this anxiety parallels a realization that their work has ceased to be – if it ever was – fulfilling.

For many people, there is a lack of connection between the values of private life and the values of the workplace. Community and cooperation may be important values at home, but in most workplaces, rewards result from independence, competition and acquisition. Work provides a livelihood, but it can be life-draining if it asks us to leave ourselves at the door when we come to work.

But change is in the wind. An increasing number of people from all walks of life are trying to make their time at work more meaningful. They are designing their work lives so they are not only personally satisfying but contribute to the world. They are finding their true passion and integrating it into their lives – and integrating their lives and their work.

Sound impossibly utopian? Not really. These people are merely discovering an ancient concept that Buddhists call "Right Livelihood". This term reflects a belief that each person should follow an occupation consistent with the principles of honest living, treating with respect other people and the natural world. It means being responsible for the consequences of one’s actions, living lightly on the earth and taking no more than a fair share of its resources.

Most people settle for making a living rather than making a life. We make excuses for this, such as family responsibilities or our debt load. Many of us chose our careers based on what was expected of us, what we had been exposed to, or what somebody else thought we should do. We bought into the belief that if we worked at our dream job, it would not pay well enough to support us and our families, so we put our dream on hold. Unfortunately, the schools most of us attended crushed our creativity and prepared us to fit the mold of what is expected of us.

Conscious design of your livelihood doesn’t necessarily mean forgoing financial security or even wealth. A study of business school graduates tracked the careers of 1,500 people from 1960 to 1980. From the beginning, the graduates were grouped into two categories. Category A consisted of people who said they wanted to make money first so that they could do what they really wanted to do later – after they had taken care of their financial concerns. Those in category B pursued their true interests first, sure that money eventually would follow. Of the 1,500 graduates in the survey, 83 percent (1,245 people) were in category A. The category B risk takers made up 17 percent, or 255 graduates. After twenty years there were 101 millionaires in the group. One came from category A, 100 from category B.

The study’s author, Srully Blotnick, concluded that “the overwhelming majority of people who have become wealthy have become so thanks to work they found profoundly absorbing...Their ‘luck’ arose from the accidental dedication they had to an area they enjoyed.”

Another ancient spiritual concept, “soul-making” is making a comeback in both spiritual and psychological circles. Thomas Moore, author of the popular book Care of the Soul, suggests that the spiritual and psychological belong together, that an inquiry into each is a part of soul-making. If the soul lies at the intersection of our spiritual, emotional, intellectual, social and physical selves, then soul-making is about becoming all of who we are. Since for most of us, our work is an important part of who we are, soul-making requires us to look at the people we are at work, at the communities we form there, and at the nature of our work itself.

At the forefront of this movement are dozens of books and workshops on the subject, as well as a flourishing of organizations of business professionals committed to transforming work and the workplace into arenas where life is nourished. The movement, which runs the gamut from Bible groups to New Age chant sessions and covers a lot of ground in the middle, serves a broad range of interests. Some employee groups focus on attaining personal fulfillment on the job. Others concentrate on refurbishing corporate values.

There are conferences on the subject and this year marked the first Spirit at
Work Awards, named after the late movement guru and futurist Willis Harman. The awards are designed to acknowledge organizations that have implemented specific policies, programs, or practices that nurture spirituality in their organizations.

A leading advocate of this viewpoint is Tom Chappell, founder and CEO of health and beauty-aid manufacturer Tom's of Maine. Chappell built his $20 million company from scratch in little over a decade. He’d been persuaded to make some business decisions that went against his grain and became progressively disenchanted with the ideas and ideals put forth by a crop of young MBAs the company had hired. By the mid-1980s, he was disillusioned with the goal of success for success’s sake. In 1986, he took a rather drastic step, enrolling as a theology student at Harvard Divinity School. Since then, he’s been committed to the idea of making his company a more spiritual, ethical and “soul-friendly” place, a strategy he calls “managing for both profit and the common good”. He tells the story in his book The Soul of a Business.

Among his innovations, some are fairly dramatic. All employees devote five percent of their work hours to community groups they believe in, from Mothers Against Drunk Driving to local arts councils. The company as a whole gives 10 percent of pretax profits to philanthropic groups, primarily environmental ones.

A diverse group of spiritual leaders, from divinity school professors to Native American tribal elders, are invited to speak to employees regularly. Some of these people serve on the company’s board of directors.

Taking a step like Chappell did is not easy. Often, discovering your passion comes as a result of a crisis – a work crisis like being laid off, a health crisis or accident, or an incident like September 11 that creates a spiritual crisis.

In their book True Work: The Sacred Dimension of Earning a Living, Justine and Michael Toms, remind us that creativity often results from chaos. These visionary and hard working cofounders of New Dimensions Radio say that what is needed is “radical trust”. “When the hardest lessons and most difficult experiences are in front of us, that’s where the gold is, that’s where the real nitty-gritty of your own authenticity lies.”

Living a life that includes passion about your occupation starts with awareness about what really brings you joy. And figuring that out is not always easy. Psychotherapists, life skills coaches, career counselors, outplacement services, and a variety of seminars on the subject may help.

One of the main pieces of advice on which the experts seem to agree is to slow down. Take the time to be quiet and observe yourself. Your own childhood is a great place to search for clues to your grown-up work passion. Make a list of all the things that attracted you as a kid. Did you love to build forts? Organize lemonade stands with the neighborhood kids? For each activity, ask yourself what you liked about it and why.

The best way to expand your thinking is by stepping outside the confines of your day-to-day life. Sign up for a class devoted to something new to you. Read publications outside your typical areas of interest or expertise. You may discover a new interest or idea that would never have occurred to you otherwise.

Interview others you admire. Talk to people you have considered as role models and to those who are doing what you’d love to do if you had the courage (or money).

Michael Phillips in his book The Seven Laws of Money, states that “money will come when you are doing the right thing”. Using the forward motion of a steam engine as an analogy, he explains that, “Money is like steam; it comes from the interaction of fire (passion) and water (persistence) brought together in the right circumstance, the engine”. So explore how you could you get paid to create a product or provide a service related to your passion?

Taking action is the next step toward manifesting your right livelihood. Write down your new mission, take a class, hire a coach, set goals, do anything positive that will keep you on track with your dreams.

Once you’ve started the process of change, create a support group. Stay in touch with your coach. Work with a mentor. Make a commitment with a close friend to make the changes you’ve decided on.

This movement does not have to be about disrupting life changes. If you’re still not sure that the change you’re planning is the right one for you and/or your family, consider embarking on a trial lifestyle sabbatical. Take a few months or a year away from your regular work, and try out your new plan.

Resources for Creating Right Livelihood

True Work: Doing What You Love and Loving What You Do by Michael and Justine Toms (Bell Tower, 1998)

Making a Life, Making a Living: Reclaiming Your Purpose and Passion in Business and in Life by Mark Albion (Warner Books, 2000)

Making a Living While Making a Difference by Melissa Everett (New Society Publishers, 1999)

Bring Your Soul To Work: An Everyday Practice by Cheryl Peppers and Alan Briskin (Berrett-Koehler, 2000)

The Soul of a Business – Managing for Profit and the Common Good by Tom Chappell (Bantam Books, 1993)

Mindfulness and Meaningful Work: Explorations in Right Livelihood edited by Claude Whitmyer, (Parallax Press, 1994)

Do What You Love, The Money Will Follow – Discovering Your Right Livelihood by Marsha Sinetar (DTP, 1989)

To Build the Life You Want, Create the Work You Love: The Spiritual Dimension of Entrepreneuring Marsha Sinetar (St. Martin’s Press, 1996)

Finding Your Perfect Work by Paul and Sarah Edwards (Putnam Publishing Group, 2002)

Bringing It Home - A Home Business Start-Up Guide for You and Your Family by Wendy Priesnitz (The Alternate Press, 1996)

Spirituality at Work
Episcopal Diocese of CA
www.spiritualityatwork.com

Summer vacation is our chance to do all those things we have put on hold during the routines of the rest of the year.

Have a Healthy, Sustainable Summer
Ah, summer. The chance to lie on the dock listening to the murmur of water, or on the grass watching the clouds float across the sky. Summer vacation is our chance to do all those things we have put on hold during the routines of the rest of the year. No matter what our age or life stage, summer is full of expectations. We might dream of doing nothing, of having a grand adventure – even some romance – or just communing with nature.

Unfortunately, those lazy, hazy days of summer can prove to be more complicated than we’d like…and even downright harmful. That dock may be off-limits as the beach is closed due to bacterial pollution. Smog often blocks out any glimpse of the clouds. Hiking may be abandoned because mosquito bites can bring much more than the odd itchy bump or due to fear of forest fires. Gardening is frustrating because drought conditions make you feel guilty if you water but the plants dry up if you don’t. You think twice about embarking on that family car trip because of the high cost of gasoline and the amount of air pollution it will generate. And the older you get, the hotter and stickier summer seems. Besides, once you have everybody slathered up with sun screen (and that’s after you tried to figure out which brand is most effective and still safe), outfitted with their bug suits, sunhats and sunglasses, you’re too tired to go anywhere anyway! Maybe you should just stay home and pick the dandelions that seem to be multiplying by the minute now that everybody in town has stopped using herbicides.

But wait! It doesn’t have to be like that. Summertime can be simple and fun without exploiting nature, damaging the environment, worrying about your family’s health and stressing you out. Whether you’re staying home this summer, hiking in the wild, visiting the lake or a big city, we’ve provided eight pages of ideas and inspiration for having a healthy, energy-efficient, environmentally-friendly summer. So pull up the hammock, pour yourself a glass of iced tea, settle back and explore the possibilities.

Part 1 - A Sustainable Summer

Traveling Green
The U. S. Travel Data Center claims that 43 million American travelers are “ecologically concerned”. There are many ways to make your summer vacation reflect that concern. A quick internet search will turn up dozens of sustainable organizations and companies. Start your trip planning by defining your own goals and needs, as well as your definition of “green”. Then ask lots of questions because there is a fair bit of questionable marketing being done in the name of “eco travel”. In addition to traditional types of vacations, consider internships, working on an organic farm or volunteering in a developing country.

The Green Hotels Association encourages us all to green up our travel. Aside from using their website www.greenhotels.com or phoning them at (713) 789-8889 to locate hotels with environmental practices, they suggest voicing your concerns or approval directly to the service provider. “You can write a note to the general manager of the hotel, to the captain of the airplane and to the manager of a tour company or cruise line with compliments or comments regarding their green program. Thank them for their green program if they have one. Or, ask why they don’t have one. As a paying customer, it is important that you let them know that you want them to lower water and energy usage and reduce solid waste,” advises president Patricia Griffin.

In hotels, turn off lights and air conditioning when you leave the room. Take your own shampoo, leaving those wasteful little bottles unopened. The exception is soap; keep bar soap wrappers and take partially used bars of soap home. If the hotel has an electronic check- out program, use it and save trees.

No matter where you go, adhere to the ecotourism pledge to leave only footprints. Take everything out that you brought with you. If you don’t have a digital camera, buy rolls of film with 36 shots rather than 12. Packaging waste is reduced, and it’s cheaper.

Air travel contributes to the increase of carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere. Some green travel companies are finding ways to offset that effect, by purchasing green power certificates or planting trees. If you’re flying, book with airlines that recycle the waste created when serving food and beverages to passengers. British Airways, for instance, has a very strong environmental agenda. Southwest Airlines recycles all cabin waste, and was the first to offer electronic ticketing, which is now common.

When you reach your destination, take walking tours or public transportation rather than renting a car. In many cities you can rent bicycles as a healthy, fun and environmentally sound method of seeing the sites. Or consider making a bike tour the focus of your holiday. Some locales – such as parts of Quebec, PEI, the Adirondacks in New York State, and in Europe, the Netherlands and Denmark – are specializing in being bike-tour friendly.

Perhaps the most eco-friendly vacation is the one you take by staying right at home! If you live in or near a major city, you might have access to a “green map” to help you explore earth-friendly destinations. The first green map was published in 1992 as a Green Apple Map for New York City. There are now about 200 green maps in 45 countries around the world. In Canada, green maps available online include Yarmouth and Halifax, Eco Montreal, the Calgary Green Map and the OTHER Map of Toronto. Contact your local tourist information bureau for details.

Golf, Naturally
Golf is one of the most popular summer pursuits. However, golf courses use up precious farmland and/or natural areas, and require regular watering and pesticides to keep the greens green and weed-free. Fortunately, many golfing, environmental and conservation organizations are working to change the manicured, pesticide-laden image to one of responsible stewardship of nature.

Thousands of courses across North America are pursuing certification as wildlife sanctuaries under a program organized by the Audubon Society, with around 100 having completed the program, including 15 in Canada. The Environmental Institute for Golf is a project of the Golf Course Superintendents Association and has task forces working on water management; integrated plant management; wildlife and habitat management; golf course siting, design and construction; and energy conservation and waste management. They have also helped create and endorsed a widely used set of principles for making golf courses more green.

So before you head out to tee off this summer, check with course management to see what they are doing to protect the health of the environment and of players. Plus, consider how green your own golfing behavior is. For instance, walk the course instead of using a golf cart. If you do use a cart, keep to the pathways and urge your course to use electric-powered carts. Use biodegradable golf tees and replace all divots. Be willing to accept less than pristine conditions, such as brown grass during drought periods. Respect environmentally sensitive areas of the course and support maintenance practices that protect natural habitat.

Keeping Your Cool at Home
Air conditioning can be noisy and is a big energy user (and thus polluter). For those who are sensitive to molds or chemicals, the closed environment required by air conditioning can contribute to discomfort or illness.

Fortunately, there are many alternative strategies for keeping you and your home cool. Install window awnings or exterior shutters to block the heat before it moves inside. Keep windows and curtains closed when the sun is shining in their direction. The tighter the curtain is against the wall around the window, the better it will prevent heat gain. Bamboo shades are an inexpensive and environmentally-friendly window treatment, and can be used inside or out, and to screen porches, patio and balconies. Reflective sun-control window films are also available, but are not adjustable. Homeowners can also grow vines on trellises to shade vulnerable windows. Plantings not only block sun but can reduce the temperature by as much as nine degrees F in the surrounding area.

If you are building or renovating a home, there are a number of things you can do to keep your cool. These include proper site situation, a light-colored roof, coating an existing roof with reflective white latex, increasing attic ventilation, deciduous tree plantings on the sunny side, extra insulation or the use of highly insulative construction methods like straw-bale, and a ground- or water-source heat pump.

A simple and time-honored way to cool yourself down is with a fan. Fans run the gamut from a piece of folded up paper through tabletop electric models and more permanent ceiling installations. Fans don’t actually lower the temperature of a room, but can make a room feel eight degrees F cooler – and save up to 40 percent on air conditioning – by creating a “wind chill effect” that evaporates perspiration. Since your fan is not cooling the air but providing a breeze, remember to turn it off when you leave the room. Otherwise, you are wasting energy, not saving it. When using a ceiling fan, rotate the blades counterclockwise in the summer, so they push cold air down. For optimum air circulation, locate the fan blades eight to nine feet above the floor and no closer to the ceiling than 10 inches. Look for a high-efficiency Energy Star certified ceiling fan, which should move 15 percent more air for the same amount of energy.

Catch the Rain
“Rain” is a four-letter word to summer sun seekers. But it’s gold to gardeners. Channeled from your downspout, less than half an inch of rainfall can easily fill a 50-gallon barrel. To collect more water, you can connect several barrels with a pipe or hose, or you can put barrels under more than one gutter downspout. Once your rain barrel is full, you can hook a hose up to it to directly water your garden (rain barrels are perfect to use with soaker hoses), or you can simply dip a watering can into the barrel. As a bonus, rainwater is naturally soft and free of minerals, chlorine, fluoride and other chemicals.

Make sure your barrel is child- and animal-proof, with a grid at the top or tight fitting lid to prevent them from falling in. A lid also keeps leaves and other debris from accumulating, and more importantly, prevents mosquitoes from breeding in the barrel. A fine mesh screen where the downspout connects to the barrel will also keep out silt and leaves. Some cities have started programs to give residents easy access to affordable rain barrel systems. You may be able to find a limited selection of rain barrels at your local garden supply store. Or, if you have access to an empty barrel, it’s a simple process to make your own. Drill three or four holes, thread on a spigot (protect from leakage with washers and/or “plumbers’ goop”), place the barrel on a concrete pad or blocks, and fit the downspout to the lid.

Vacations, bug bites, poison ivy and sunburn: Summer just wouldn’t be summer without them all! Use these herbal remedies to combat summer ailments.

Simmering in the Sun
We’ve all been warned to minimize our exposure to the sun, and to wear sun-screen. However, human beings need at least a half hour of sunlight every day to produce Vitamin D and stay healthy. Try to get your exposure in off-peak hours. Some raw food experts believe that eating foods high in chlorophyll (green vegetables, sprouts, spirulina, etc.) reduces one’s propensity for sunburn. Apply neem oil (cooked or diluted in sesame oil) to the skin as a natural sun-block.

If you do stay out too long (or get burned by a campfire or barbeque) – and the burn isn’t too severe – cool the area as rapidly as possible with cool running water or cold compresses. Once the burn is completely cooled, apply aloe vera gel to alleviate pain and promote healing. To get instant relief from the aloe vera plant, simply break open a leaf and apply the mucilage to the affected area. Pure aloe is also available in stores in gel or liquid form and should be refrigerated or kept in your picnic cooler; as an ingredient in creams, it is much less potent.

An alternative method is to apply crushed lettuce pulp to the sunburn. Coconut oil may also be applied to soothe the skin while indoors. A distillation of the leaves, bark and twigs of witch hazel is an effective remedy for sun and wind burn, as well as a disinfectant for minor cuts and abrasions. Applied directly to the affected skin, witch hazel is available at drug stores. Creams containing St. John’s wort, calendula, comfrey, slippery elm, tea tree oil and chamomile will soothe pain and inflammation.

The analgesic properties of peppermint and lavender oils make them excellent pain relievers. They are also antiseptic and antibacterial. Mix one teaspoon of the oil with one tablespoon of vegetable oil, and apply to the affected area. The homeopathic remedy Urtica Urens is not only great for hives but also reduces the pain of first-degree burns and promotes healing.

Oh yes, and ignore that old wives’ tale about rubbing butter or oils on burned skin. Doctors now say that doing so keeps the heat within the skin tissue, causing even more pain and discomfort. And don’t forget to drink plenty of liquids to replace fluids lost through the burn.

Bug Off!
For many people, one of the biggest dangers of the summer season is bugs. Bites and stings from common insects will cause swelling and stinging, but are usually not serious. On the other hand, mosquitoes used to be mere annoyances, but in many areas, they now carry the threat of West Nile Virus. Some spider bites, tick bites and snake bites require immediate medical attention. So do stings that cause allergic reactions and any bite or sting that induces wheezing or labored breathing.

If you spend a great deal of time outdoors, eat lots of garlic, either raw or in the less smelly form of capsules, to help keep insects at bay. And leave the perfume and scented creams at home, because they tend to attract biting insects. Extra B vitamins will help too. Neem is an excellent repellent. It is well known in India and becoming better available in the West. Its oil can be applied to the body and infused into the room.

There are a number of effective insect repellents that you can grow in your garden. Citronella and lavender contain volatile oils that make them great natural pest repellents. Pennyroyal should also be in your garden. Rub the leaves of this plant on your skin to repel insects. Even though it has a pleasant, mint-like fragrance, it’s effective at keeping flies, mosquitoes, gnats, ticks and chiggers away. If you or any of your children have ever had an allergic reaction to a bite or sting, you probably carry a prescription epinephrine kit; if you’re going to spend time in the wild, you might also want to invest in a snakebite kit with a venom extractor.

If stung by a bee, wasp or hornet, look for the stinger and carefully scrape it out with a clean, sterilized knife or other sharp-edged sterilized instrument. Try to avoid pulling out the stinger, because you may squeeze it and release even more toxin into your body. If you find a tick on yourself or a child, act quickly. By removing the tick as soon as possible, you diminish the likelihood of contracting any disease it might be carrying, such as Lyme disease or Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Never yank the tick out with your fingers; that may cause you to pull out the body only, leaving the head lodged in your skin. Using tweezers, grasp the head first. Try to get the tweezers as close as possible to where the tick embedded itself, and pull back slowly, but firmly, until you’ve removed it. As for chiggers, which are a type of mite, try applying cooling peppermint oil. Dried chickweed or pennyroyal leaves crushed and rubbed onto the skin will also help, as will a poultice of cooked and cooled oatmeal or odorless castor oil rubbed on affected areas.

Always wash any bite or sting with soap and water and then apply rubbing alcohol or vinegar to disinfect the wound. Ice or a cold compress will numb the area and reduce pain. To soothe irritation and relieve itching, apply witch hazel, aloe vera gel or calendula cream. Neem oil also has antiseptic and antihistamine properties and can effectively be applied to bites or stings. Dilute the neem oil in a sesame oil base, or mix neem powder with water and apply it to the problem area. Cilantro leaf is another natural antihistamine that may be applied to swellings resulting from bites or stings. Crush a handful of cilantro leaves into pulp and apply to the swollen area.

Calcium and magnesium soothe the nervous system. Supplement with 250 mg of calcium and 125 mg of magnesium three times a day for two to three days after a bite or sting. Vitamin C has anti-inflammatory properties, so take 1,000 mg three times a day for two to three days after a bite. You can also use vitamin C topically to reduce inflammation. Crush a tablet into a powder and mix with just enough water to form a paste, then apply to the sting or bite area.

Many homeopathic remedies can also relieve the pain and swelling associated with insect bites and stings. Select the remedy that most closely matches the symptoms. Stick to lower potency doses and follow the instructions on the label. Many homeopaths suggest taking one dose and waiting for a response. If you have nothing else at hand, grab a handful of tea leaves from the kitchen cupboard. The tannin released by wet tea leaves neutralizes the discomfort produced by many types of insect venom. (If you don’t have loose tea leaves on hand, an ordinary tea bag works almost as well.)

Stop That Itch
The best treatment for poison ivy or oak is prevention. But if you do come in contact with it, there is a common plant called Jewelweed, which is a natural remedy for poison ivy, oak and many other skin disorders. Jewelweed grows wild in abundance in the eastern United States and parts of Canada. Results of a clinical study showed dramatic results in 95 percent of people who used a jewelweed extract for poison ivy rash. Tea tree oil is another natural remedy that can ease the itching of a rash. There is also a homeopathic remedy called Rhus-Tox that is promoted specifically for poison ivy rash. Regardless of whether or not you plan to seek further treatment for poison ivy, try to wash the exposed area with running water right away to dilute the toxin. If possible, apply rubbing alcohol to the infected area within 15 minutes of contact. Then rinse with water.

Settle Your Tummy
Did you spend too long on the rollercoaster and end up with a tummy ache? Is your child prone to motion sickness after riding in the back seat of the car all day? Well, send raspberry to the rescue. The freshly dried leaves of the raspberry plant can be brewed into a tea (which is delicious cold), and are available crushed in capsules or made into a tincture. Both adults and children can drink up to six cups a day, or ingest two capsules two to three times daily at mealtimes. However, experts disagree on the safety of use during pregnancy, so it’s best to avoid raspberry if you’re pregnant.