I am currently working with a group of eight teachers to work through a teacher inquiry process where they identify a curriculum need for their students and then match this to an ICT tool that can help them address this need.  Teachers have been sharing the curriculum focus with me over the last week and I have been helping them to identify possible ways of working with ICT that they will implement in Term Three. I deliberately set out to work with teachers who might be a little lacking in confidence and I am finding it interesting to see what they are deciding to focus on.

One teacher wants to concentrate on improving the students’ general knowledge. I found this to be a little challenging to my own beliefs about teaching and learning in a digital age. Should we still be trying to build up ‘general knowledge’ at a time when students can find out almost any fact they want by doing a Google search? How could I approach this subject in order to make the teacher feel her ideas were valued while still keeping the focus on effective pedagogy? Was I right to think that general knowledge was now not as important? Do my own feelings partly stem from the fact I can never remember names, dates or locations so I am truly terrible in a quiz night team?

So I did what I normally do – I started to search around the net using Google. In this way, I stumbled across an article titled ‘Is Google killing general knowledge’ I enjoyed the article and thought that it did a pretty good job arguing the point that we do still need to have a basic level of knowledge to be effective learners. Here is a quote from that article:

Why Mumbai? And why so often? Who hates us that much? And WHY?



Are we an easy target? Is that because we are peaceful and don't interfere with others? Is someone trying to get cash for another major hate filled project? After all one of the three simultaneous blasts was in the gold market - Zaveri Bazaar.



And another thought that comes to mind - Will we ever come to know answers to any of the above? Or not? Will we ever know the truth?



On a personal level, everyone must hope family living in Mumbai is okay. 21 lives gone for no fault of their own. What a needless loss. Whose God allows such a crime? Some terrorists say they don't care if they die - life is expendable. Then why do they ensure their families are well looked after when they are gone? Why do the ones who preach them that life is expendable, reassure them thus? Is their family the exception to that concocted-for-convenience belief? Why don't they let their family join them in heaven? Why ensure their well being on earth? I think suicide bombers are as trapped by their circumstances as we are by the desire of those who want (and wish for) a different world order where they are in power and who enlist these bombers.



Before this becomes a rant, I know it isn't suicide bombers this time. This time the bombs were planted. Three in all. Simultaneous explosions as in the 1993 Mumbai blasts. As usual, the public rallied around to help the injured. Handcarts, trucks, motorcycles, whatever was at hand was used to transport the injured to hospitals.



Is there anything the public can do before such an event? Some say it was a tiffin box lying about that concealed the bomb; others say it was in a car. Mumbai is chaotic. Too easy to leave something somewhere with no one paying attention. Terrorists love chaos and thrive in it.



Perhaps only if we wring order from chaos will we be able to see things clearer. What can we do to prevent packages from being left about?  Be trained through television to be more vigilant? Perhaps drop written complaints or suspicions into boxes? A direct phone line? I think it all sounds like a logistical nightmare with millions of real or imagined suspicions and sightings daily.



What should we do about vendors or the homeless - arriving into Mumbai in their droves everyday because there is no infrastructure in their towns and villages - clogging our footpaths. Do we turn them away? Mumbai never has. We feel helpless. Perhaps the government should stop collecting tax payer money for their individual Swiss accounts and start on infrastructure for our towns and villages.



Somethimes I wonder if Swiss accounts were stopped, poverty would be wiped out. But that is another thought for another day.



How else can we make our beautiful, coastal city less chaotic? How else do we make it difficult for terrorists to stop hurting us? Hope, for starters, the ones who set off these bombs are caught and severely punished. Hope their leaders are exposed and swiftly brought to justice. Hope we can do something to ensure there are no more bombs in Mumbai. Hope we know what that "something" is.



India Today's link to today's (yesterday's) blasts: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/story/mumbai-blast-three-blasts-in-mumbai/1/144704.html







.

Jorge Fernandez, a 24 year old from Mexico spent 8 weeks volunteering in GVN's India Children's Program.  Volunteers in this program have the opportunity to work with street children and children from slums in daycare centres and schools which have been purposely set-up to help alleviate poverty. There are opportunities to teach English, provide care and basic education for children.





Jorge wrote a very moving final journal piece about his experience volunteering in India, excerpts of which we're proud to share with you today:



"The first of my conclusions is that if you are either a person eager to see and learn about the world and the people living in it or one of those idealists who believes the world can be changed for the better, then you should definitely consider volunteering in India.

And so you might ask: Why India?  Well this might just be my very own, tremendously biased opinion, but I can hardly think of a country in which you will find such impressive cultural vastness, mad/fun craziness, overwhelming contrasts, functional chaos and unbelievable diversity, cultural clash, all in the same place. “India is a land you learn to love as much as you hate sometimes” as my friend Tamara says, is the best way of defining it I heard, and it’s absolutely true, so why not experience such a country?

Secondly, and most important: WHY volunteering? Well…

My most definite answer would be a very Indian “Why not?”. Why not go on about a trip aimed to cultivating our minds and hearts in ways different to what the regular, tourist trips do? Why not help people anywhere in the world? After all, we are all human beings, trying to achieve the happiness and peace we’re all entitled to have. I know for me this is what India taught me and I can’t be any more grateful for finding a home in Jai Jawan Colony 129, a family in my fellow volunteers and a bunch of great, wise teachers in the people I got to come across during my 12 revealing weeks in which, in exchange for a piece of my heart left at Jaipur, I took so much more that will define me and my future.
 

Every single day was an adventure because we let ourselves enjoy and work with every moment as it came, even the ugly ones. It’s a good reminder of how we can improve our regular, daily lives.

So… Why not?"



If you'd like to find out more about volunteering in India, or to apply online visit http://www.globalvolunteernetwork.org/india/

I have mentioned before that countries that come up with innovations to mop up poisonous, polluting gases from our atmosphere, our waters and soil, will be wealthy. Very wealthy.



Well, what do you know? New Zealand's  Lanzatech has come up with affordable technology to mop up carbon monoxide from the atmosphere and produce ethanol. Who wants this technology? India, China and the US of A for starters! They have already signed deals with the company.



Why are such huge volumes of carbon monoxide (and carbon dioxide) spewed into our atmosphere in the first place? They are the end product of human activities like transportation, oil refining, chemical production and manufacturing industries. Our mountains of garbage also release these gases. (links to why these gases are poisonous for our health are at the end of this article.)  That is why mopping them up from the atmosphere is of the utmost importance. 

Morning Glory

Countries the world over have strict regualtions about the quantities of carbon monoxide allowed into the atmosphere. They are aware of how poisonous it is to anything living (like human beings or this beautiful flower, Morning Glory by Netalloy downloaded from open clipart) and of the need for these regulations. Companies have had to take that one extra step of converting carbon monoxide their factories spew out into something less harmful. Yet others, although environmental laws are in place, have simply continued spewing carbon monoxide into the atmosphere as the enforcement of these laws in their countries have been lax.



Many companies convert carbon monoxide into ethanol. Ethanol is a reusable and clean end product that doesn't poison our atmosphere. It has many uses. If used as fuel in transportation, for example, it wouldn't release carbon monoxide as its end product. The Americans already sell cars that use either petrol or a mix of 85% ethanol and 15% petrol   



The technology for converting these poisonous gases into ethanol has been available for years. Put simply, this is what happens.



Carbon monoxide with the formula CO has no hydrogen (H) in it.

Ethanol (C2H5OH) has a total of 6H



Hydrogen would have to be added to carbon monoxide to form ethanol.



In many industries the unwanted end products are hydrogen, carbon monoxide and other gases. In steel mills the end product is carbon monoxide but no hydrogen. Many steel companies to date have converted carbon monoxide from steel mills to ethanol by adding hydrogen. Lanzatech has developed a microbe that can circumvent this step of introducing hydrogen altogether. Its microbe can actually produce the hydrogen required by using the carbon from carbon monoxide and the hydrogen from water. The process is so efficient that a lot of the water they use is returned to the reactor for reuse. Whatever the industry, whatever the proportion of carbon monoxide and hydrogen, the Lanzatech microbe can convert it to ethanol. Also, the process is tolerant to any number of contaminents present in the reactor.



The production of ethanol thanks to the L-microbe (whatever Lanzatech decides to call it) will now be commercially viable, extremely affordable, socially and environmentally sound. 



There's an American company, Qteros, that even uses a microbe to convert animal and human waste in our sewage to ethanol. It has joined forces with an Israeli company, Applied Clean Tech (ACT), that converts waste water solids to "recycllose". Recycllose is then converted by the microbe to ethanol. The company found this microbe after years of scouting countries like Brazil, Hawaii, France. They finally discovered it in Massachusetts. I only hope if this or any similar microbe is introduced to various parts of the world, it doesn't start attacking live humans!



But where Lanzatech promises to be different is that its microbe is as harmless as brewers yeast. I have no doubts that the three countries that have signed up with Lanzatech - India, USA and China - would have done their due diligence because not only are they all astute and business savvy, they have scientists equal to the best in the world.





To conclude I'd have to say - 

Thumbs up by Balex, open clipart

Go Lanzatech!

















See how carbon monoxide poisons our health here. 

How do we reduce garbage? http://www.nevermindyaar.com/reduce-garbage/ 

The seven secrets of good composting are a must read if you don't want a goey mess when you compost: http://www.nevermindyaar.com/7-secrets-of-good-composting/







. 

Today we had some people over who had to bring their dog along because he had nowhere else to go. I anticipated all kinds of trouble because their dog is the size of a pony and ours can just about pull rank over a chihuahua. I was distinctly nervous.



"Worse comes to worse," I informed our friends by email, "we'll put one dog in the front yard and one in the back. "Don't worry" said the hubby, "It will be alright" - his idea of a solution. "If our dog gives your dog trouble," said our guest, "we'll put him in the car." That sounds like a solution, thought I, relaxing. "I'm sure it will be fine," I wrote back graciously with hubby looking over my shoulder, distinctly amused.



When I received a call from my daughter - she has started calling pretty regularly much to my delight. The first time she called I squeaked out my delight and she, dry as ever, said with a little laugh, you sound surprised - well, when she called this time, I told her a little boy (as our guests have a 2 year old son) was coming to play with our dog.



"Oh that's lovely", said my daughter, thrilled for our dog.



"..and," I continued, "our friends are bringing their big dog as well."



"Oh, I hope A... will be alright with that," said my daughter. "She is scared of big dogs."



"Not to worry," I reassured her, "we have plans if the two dogs don't get along."



Soon our friends were outside our gate. It was lovely to see them. Their dog on a leash they walked in. A... saw the giant and started barking. But I noticed she took two steps back. The giant ambled in and jumped on to a comfortable looking place. A's favourite seat. She went wild, jumping off all fours as she barked her protest.



She barked when he was offered a toy to chew on, her toy. She barked when we fed him in her bowl and when he drank from her water bowl; She protested when he was allowed indoors for a little while and when we stroked him for being such a gentle giant. When she momentarily forgot the big dog invading her territory, our little vixen in disguise adored the cuddles that came her way too . I think, given time, the two could be good friends!



The little boy was a darling. Ate mince and potato cutlets and roti dipped in gravy like a seasoned Indian, played with the hose, with the dogs, with half a dozen balls and then at the park kept his mum and my hubby on their toes as he discovered the swing, the adventure gym, the slides. His dad looked after their dog and I looked after ours. The adults had lots of opportunity to chat in between minding all our kids - human and canine.



It is really good to have company from time to time.









.

This was sent to me by my sister. I normally try and post my own original content. But couldn't resist this. I tried looking for the original author so I could acknowledge him or her. But all 985,000 results - well at least the first two pages said the author was unknown. If anyone knows do let me know.



And now the poem











The computer swallowed grandma.

Yes, honestly its  true!

She pressed 'control' and 'enter'

And disappeared from view.

 



It  devoured her completely,

The thought just makes me squirm.

She must have  caught a virus

Or been eaten by a worm.

I've  searched through the  recycle bin

And  files of every kind;

I've even used the  Internet,

But nothing did I find.

In desperation, I asked Google

My  searches to refine.

The reply from him was negative,

Not a thing was  found 'online.'  

 

So, if inside your 'Inbox,'

My  Grandma you should see,

Please 'Copy,''Scan' and 'Paste' her

And send  her back to me.









.

This is a very important article by Al Gore who brought the issue of climate change to the fore. It describes how people who deny climate change is happening, are indirectly helped by the media; how, natural events like, droughts, melting glaciers, heatwaves, storms of stronger ferocity and floods have increased in the past ten years. For example the floods in Australia and Pakistan and the fact that the last ten years have been the hottest on record.

Environmental/Eco Globe and leaf Icon by Kendraschaefer, openclipart

In his own words, Here is the core of it: we are destroying the climate balance that is essential to the survival of our civilization. This is not a distant or abstract threat; it is happening now. The United States is the only nation that can rally a global effort to save our future. And the president is the only person who can rally the United States.



More important, it outlines what we, the ordinary people could do. Here's the link: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/climate-of-denial-20110622?print=true





A strange twist to Al Gore's article is the one I read before it at the following link:

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/06/al-gore-president-obama-has-failed-on-climate-chnage.php#comment-233376582



To me it seemed like nothing Al Gore said. After reading it I felt that most of Al Gore's article was a rave and a rant against Barrack. And Maggie519, one of the commentators after the article seems to agree. Part of her comment is here:



They (the media) gave equal time/credence to the climate deniers:false equivalency.  It's not hard to imagine how this was hijacked into an Obama hit piece by the MSM.   He actually PRAISED the Presidents efforts on this front in spite of all the odds.  The only criticism (one sentence by the way) was that Obama didn't use the "bully pulpit" to push back against the deniers harder.  



Made me wonder about the intentions of the author of that article, Benjy something or the other. Never mind, the important issues are

• how rapidly some of our life-giving activities like cooking, keeping warm, travelling, transportation, our very way of life, are threatening the air we breathe, the water we drink and the soil we grow our plants in, 


• how we could make changes so that we can continue making life easy for ourselves without polluting the atmosphere


• how innovations for this is where our research efforts should be; not only will it help the environment, it is what will make the nation from where these innovations originate, the nation that invests in this kind of research, very wealthy.


• how educating everyone about these issues is essential so that we have ordinary people's buy in

and Al Gore, as usual, has pointed out only too well, the reasons why this isn't happening in the States. He has also pointed out what we, the ordinary people who believe climate is changing because of human activity can do.



Here's the link again:





http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/climate-of-denial-20110622?print=true







.

Architetto Botiglia di vino, open clipart by Anonymous

Have you heard?



NZ and India are talking about a free trade deal. The NZ Prime Minister, John Key and the Trade Minister, Tim Groser are both in India.



Here's to a fruitful outcome.



When NZ signed a free trade agreement with China - the first western country to do so, it was an outright coup. Their exports to China went up from 2 billion NZ dollars to more than twice that.



Re the quantities of import and export between NZ and India I haven't a clue. But having lived here on and off for over twenty years I consider myself an authority on what I love about things Kiwi and what I miss about things Indian, with the accent on "things" and in no particular order. It is as well to let India and NZ know my opinion in advance  for whenever they are ready to deal with each other.



Dairy products - I wonder how that will pan out. NZ has cow's milk, India buffalo; (For a comparision of the two try http://www.indiadairy.com/info_buffalo_milk_vs.html) India is the world's largest producer of milk and NZ is famous for its dairy products. Do I see an oppotunity to trade in dairy?



The Indians have already captured that market here. The banya shops in Mumbai are known as dairies here and the majority of dairy owners in NZ are Indians :-) But I digress. Going back to dairy products, to give New Zealanders a taste of the Indian mawa, khoya, shrikhand and barfi, to have NZ export its really fine varieties of cheeses and chocolates - a perfect win-win.






NZ apples - There are many varieties. They are delicious as also crunchy, juicy, sweet and free of critters.  The green ones are slightly tart and some people use them for cooking.  I love the red  "granny-smiths".





One of our NZ fruit exporters who already exports apples and pears to India complains that the tax on his fruit is as much as 50% making the fruit prohibitively expensive for ordinary folks. Obviously he's looking forward to the free trade agreement. It made me laugh to hear Radio NZ quoting him as saying that if every Indian ate one NZ apple a day, his orchards would run out of apples in just three days.



As for the Alphonso - haven't eaten it for years. After migrating to NZ I haven't ever been in India during the hapus season and it is way too expensive in NZ. Am I looking forward to a hapus! And the biggest baatli keri. Or a chikoo for that matter.

Goat by ArtFavor, open	clipart

NZ lamb versus Indian goat - One is tender, the other tough; one is extremely fatty and the other lean. If I cook red meats in NZ I make sure I drain off the fatty oils. They smell - my personal opinion. If we cook goat, we use the pressure cooker to ensure tenderness.



And how could I forget - the NZ kiwi fruit. Don't know how much it costs in India but with an FTA, it could be much cheaper. The kiwi is full of vitamin C and I not only love it by itself but also a slice on sweet pastry with a dollop of custard cream or as a topping for cheescake. That would take care of not only vitamin C but our quota of fat!



But we could work it all out. Recently I have seen Indians enjoying and training for gymnastics and other sports as never before. NZ is a country of less than 4.5 million people. But they have always been outdoors people. Their activities (apart from going to the pub, watching TV or firing up the good old barbie or barbeque in summer) also include a variety of sports since a very young age. Playing in the school band, having access to a variety of musical instruments is another So many Indians I've spoken to believe these extra curricular activities (except cricket - are for later - pehle padhai bete, studies first. Or the other option is expensive private tutions. NZ, aware of this trend and showcasing its good track record in sports would like to open up a few sports training facilities for paying Indians. Perhaps for every 50 paying Indians if they throw in one scholarship, it would be good publicity for these facilities. Or they could open up sports and gymnastics training in India itself. Are you listening Susan of 5*gym whose classes my son loved as a kid?



And we Indians could provide textiles to make uniforms for these schools. Perhaps the All-Black T-shirts too? But for that we would face tough competition from the Chinese. Their textiles have all but captured the world market.





Indians already export technology, leather jackets, accessories, handbags and footwear, bling and diamonds to NZ. Obviously, with free trade agreements, the tax on these would decrease considerably, making things more readily available and affordable to locals here.





Bollywood comes here quite often too and with an FTA, the frequency could be increased.





But before we count our kiwis - there are a few crimps to iron out. Apparently there are strong lobbies and a need to set up up a yearly business forum between India and NZ for better understanding. http://www.asianz.org.nz/our-work/action-asia-business/action-asia-insights/india-fta talks of the various difficulties to overcome.





I'm hopeful. There's nothing like firsthand meetings to overcome preconceived notions or prejudices so, having a foot in each of these countries I'm obviously happy.





.

Architetto Botiglia di vino, open clipart by Anonymous

Have you heard?



NZ and India are talking about a free trade deal. The NZ Prime Minister, John Key and the Trade Minister, Tim Groser are both in India.



Here's to a fruitful outcome.



When NZ signed a free trade agreement with China - the first western country to do so, it was an outright coup. Their exports to China went up from 2 billion NZ dollars to more than twice that.



Re the quantities of import and export between NZ and India I haven't a clue. But having lived here on and off for over twenty years I consider myself an authority on what I love about things Kiwi and what I miss about things Indian, with the accent on "things" and in no particular order. It is as well to let India and NZ know my opinion in advance  for whenever they are ready to deal with each other.



When I first started travelling long before settling in NZ, I used to love going into DIY shops. At that time in India, we had no concept of DIY. I remember taking home a magnetic tape for a DIY fan - a family member and he LOVED it. The kids used to love blue-tac. I don't know how things are now but I think many Indians would take to DIY even if some wouldn't. Recently I read a blog post by an Aussie woman married to an Indian man. In that post she said she enjoyed living and working in India but really missed the Aussie bathrooms and kitchens.



To me it is obvious. A NZ Mitre10 in India! Remember it would be in competition with Chinese imports. Still, I think there would be many takers. The young woman from Australia would, I am sure, be a regular customer. As would so many Indians and other expats. But easier to import would be DIY courses - perhaps taught on TV or perhaps in real life.





Dairy products - I wonder how that will pan out.

• NZ has cow's milk, India buffalo. (For a comparison of the two try http://www.indiadairy.com/info_buffalo_milk_vs.html. 


• India is the world's largest producer of milk and NZ is famous for its dairy products. 

Do I see an oppotunity to trade in dairy?

(The Indians have already captured that market here. What we call our banya shops in Mumbai are known as dairies here and the majority of dairy owners in NZ are Indians :-)) But I digress.



Going back to dairy products, to give New Zealanders a taste of the Indian mawa, khoya, shrikhand and barfi, to have NZ export its really fine varieties of cheeses and chocolates - a perfect win-win.






NZ apples - There are many varieties. They are delicious as also crunchy, juicy, sweet and free of critters.  The green ones are slightly tart and some people use them for cooking.  I love the red  "granny-smiths".





One of our NZ fruit exporters who already exports apples and pears to India complains that the tax on his fruit is as much as 50% making the fruit prohibitively expensive for ordinary folks. Obviously he's looking forward to the free trade agreement. It made me laugh to hear Radio NZ quote him as saying, if every Indian ate one NZ apple a day, his orchards would run out of apples in just three days.



As for the Alphonso - haven't eaten it for years. After migrating to NZ I haven't ever been in India during the hapus season and it is way too expensive in NZ. Am I looking forward to a hapus! And the biggest baatli keri. Or a chikoo for that matter.

Goat by ArtFavor, open	clipart

NZ lamb versus Indian goat - one is tender, the other tough; one is extremely fatty and the other lean. If I cook red meats in NZ I make sure I drain off the fatty oils. They smell - my personal opinion. If we cook goat, we use the pressure cooker to ensure tenderness.



And how could I forget - the NZ kiwi fruit. Don't know how much it costs in India but with an FTA, it could be much cheaper. The kiwi is full of vitamin C and I not only love it by itself but also a slice on sweet pastry with a dollop of custard cream or as a topping for cheescake. That would take care of not only vitamin C but our quota of fat!



But we could work it all out. Recently I have seen Indians enjoying and training for gymnastics and other sports as never before. NZ is a country of less than 4.5 million people. But they have always been outdoors people. Their activities (apart from going to the pub, watching TV or firing up the good old barbie or barbeque in summer) also include a variety of sports from a very young age. Playing in the school band, having access to a variety of musical instruments is another. So many Indians I've spoken to believe these extra curricular activities (except cricket - are for later - pehle padhai bete, studies first. Or the other option is expensive private tutions. NZ, aware of this trend and showcasing its good track record in sports would like to open up a few sports training facilities for paying Indians. Perhaps for every 50 paying Indians if they throw in one scholarship, it would be good publicity for these facilities. Or they could open up sports and gymnastics training in India itself. Are you listening Susan of 5*gym whose classes my son loved as a kid?



And we Indians could provide textiles to make uniforms for these schools. Perhaps the All-Black T-shirts too? But for that we would face tough competition from the Chinese. Their textiles have all but captured the world market.



Indians already export technology, leather jackets, accessories, handbags and footwear, bling and diamonds to NZ. Obviously, with free trade agreements, the tax on these would decrease considerably, making things more readily available and affordable to locals here.



Bollywood comes here quite often too and with an FTA, the frequency could be increased.



But before we count our kiwis - there are a few crimps to iron out. Apparently there are strong lobbies and a need to set up up a yearly business forum between India and NZ for better understanding. There's nothing like regular firsthand meetings to overcome preconceived notions or prejudices although I am not sure about lobbies!



http://www.asianz.org.nz/our-work/action-asia-business/action-asia-insights/india-fta talks of the various difficulties to overcome.



Having a foot in each of these countries I'm obviously happy both our current PMs, John Key - astute, amiable and from an accounting and business background, Manmohan Singh - knowledgeable, experienced and the person who opened up the Indian economy as Finance Minister in 1991, have taken that first step towards an FTA.







.

John Key has just been to Australia. He is being touted as the first NZ PM to go there and address their parliament. The Aussies, on the other hand, are quick to point out the largesse with which they see New Zealand and its PMs. Good guy, one of them said, but our real issues took a back seat. Julia Gillard, our PM would've been relieved there was no question time. She would have him speak for a week if she had her way.



Julia Gillard, from what I gathered, has taken a nose dive in the popularity polls. Australia is a coal mining country and she wants to introduce a carbon tax. John Key, in his address spoke about the carbon tax that NZ has already introduced bolstering her argument.



Which brings me to my topic - the carbon tax. If I understand correctly, this tax is imposed so that businesses hesitate to release carbon dioxide into our atmosphere. Coal and other fossil fuels like petroleum release many polutants when they are burnt. These are very dangerous for human health and the health of anything living. Some of these are carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide in huge quantities, nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide, ground level ozone, smog... What exactly they do to us, to plant life, to animals, fish, the plankton in the sea, which industries are responsible - these issues are addressed here on my blog.

Air pollution by netalloy, open clipart

To reduce carbon dioxide emissions into our atmosphere the government has come up with the carbon tax. Businesses have to pay a tax for every tonne of carbon dioxide emitted due to their activities. People always toe the line if it hurts their pockets. Weighing the bottom line against high faluting ideas like saving the atmosphere, saving future generations from ill health like asthma or heart disease, breathing clean air, not having eyes water, guess what win? More's the pity but that is why a carbon emissions tax is considered a good idea.



What I'd like clarified is what the government will do with all that money. What will they use it for? To clean up the atmosphere? Plant more trees? Educate people to have their buy in? Show them the benefits of recycling? Composting? Terraced gardening? Alternatives to fossil fuels? Where exactly will every penny of the carbon emissions tax be spent? Do let us know.



It somehow reminds me of speeding and drunk driving fines in NZ. The New Zealand police department have always fined people for drunk driving or speeding. Of late, to my mind, collecting that fine became a very prominent activity. If that fine went towards helping to educate these people or towards Alcoholics Anonymous or anything to do with people buy-in to improve speeding and drunk driving, I would feel better about it.



I am not arguing the police department don't need funds - I hope they have enough funds so they don't need what they collect from speeding and drunk driving fines.



And similarly, the carbon tax could be used to educate people about the dangers of using fossil fuels, research in alternative energies, new technologies and anything that would reduce carbon emissions into the only atmosphere we humans have to sustain life.







.

The northern hemisphere summer months are among our busiest at Global Volunteer Network.  In this blog post we’re taking a look at the top 7 reasons so many people spend their precious summer months volunteering abroad, and what they really gain from it!



1) Spend your summer doing something meaningful – it will look great on your resume/CV and shows a commitment to social change and willingness to work hard.



2) Give yourself a well-deserved break from the classroom. Volunteer in an exotic location and experience the world whilst gaining experience you won’t get in your classroom!





3) Gain career direction or clarification; gain experience working in your field of interest; or try out new areas of interest to see if you want to pursue them further.



4) Get ahead of other recent graduates in the job market and make yourself stand out from other applicants.



5) If you’re studying, chances are you’ve got the time.  When you eventually enter the workforce you’ll be restricted to much shorter periods of annual leave.  With flexible placements from 1 week up to 3 months there’s no better time for you to volunteer abroad.







6) Step out of your comfort zone and discover what you’re capable of! You might be surprised!



7) Meet people from around the world and build on your communication and relationship making skills, your cultural understanding and best of all....make new friends!



As you can see, spending your summer volunteering abroad offers so much more than your average summer vacation.  Make your summer count by spending 1 to 12 weeks exploring a new country and culture, whilst at the same time sharing your time, talents, and passion with communities in developing countries who really need you.



It’s not too late to get involved this summer 2011!  If you’d like to learn more about summer programs available to you, or to apply online visit www.globalvolunteernetwork.org/programs/