Category Archives: News to use

Useful news for all to advance knowledge of the world and how it works

– International Women’s Day, 2021 – To Lead is to Serve — A Pacific Woman’s Perspective

By Leituala Kuiniselani Toelupe Tago-Elisara
SUVA, Fiji, Mar 1 2021 (IPS)

An often quoted indigenous reference in the Samoan language is, O le ala i le pule o le tautua, literally translated, “the pathway to leadership is through service” because to be able to lead is to be willing to serve.

Since world leaders endorsed the blueprint for gender equality in Beijing 1995, women in leadership has dominated in numerous conversations and forums in terms of the need to increase women in leadership as a critical factor to achieve gender equality. Many of the perspectives shared, are about facilitating opportunities for women, advancing women in fields dominated by men, particularly in the sciences, and achieving equality in decision-making. Women in leadership has become a popular discourse from development, to academia, to politics, to science and innovation; and organisations across all sectors are recognizing the importance of inclusivity and equity for achieving sustainable development.

The 2020 Pacific review of the Beijing Platform for Action, 25 years after Beijing, highlighted that Pacific states still have a long way to go in achieving balanced representation of women in national parliaments. With the exception of the French Territories where equitable representation of women in their legislative assemblies is ensured by the French ‘parity law’, women’s representation in national parliaments across the region is shockingly low and temporary special measures (TSMs) are only used in a few states. At all levels, and across all nations, gender power dynamics disadvantage women as decision makers; and socio-cultural norms in the Pacific see men as the ‘natural’ spokespeople for families, communities and governments. That said, the report also noted an increase in women’s participation in all levels of decision-making at community levels, in public service and in civil society organisations. This raises a number of challenging questions.

Leituala Kuiniselani Toelupe Tago-Elisara

Where does this lead us in a pandemic environment? COVID-19 has exacerbated existing and ongoing inequalities in the Pacific, hindering what is already very slow progress for achieving gender equality. The evidence is quite clear as to where these inequalities are found and policy dialogues and talanoa sessions held within the region over the last two and a half decades, have generated a multitude of recommendations on what can be done by governments and as a region. What then is the problem, we ask ourselves? It’s the resourcing, the response, the lack of political will and commitment, and the list goes on, that women leaders and women engaging in the gender space, know all too well.

So, what can we do and what does this mean for Women in Leadership? The answer lies in our ongoing concerted efforts to have women at the table with an equal voice to speak for the 50% of our population. We will keep pushing to have women leaders at the table who understand women’s lived experiences and needs, and that these are translated into decision-making on resource allocation and prioritisation. We need women who lead, knowing that they have families and communities to attend to after work, and appreciate the value of unpaid care work. More importantly, we need the same women leaders at the table to share those perspectives with their men counterparts, to affect change that will transform societies and enable positive and inclusive change for gender equality at all levels in society and across all locations – urban, rural and remote.

Our unprecedented experience with COVID-19 has changed the way we live, the way we work and certainly the way we exercise leadership and deliver service. It has reminded us that with border closures and travel restrictions, we need to be searching within our own borders and within our own societies for solutions. One of these solutions is for us to utilize and capitalize on the often-untapped skills, knowledge and expertise of women, to generate solutions for our development challenges. The role of women, as we are seeing in recovery efforts across the Pacific, is a testament to the service they continue to provide for our families and our communities. It is evidenced in women’s resilience and their significant capabilities in managing our communities and societies through multiple disasters and climatic events over the years, and through the multitude of cultural and customary obligations that we have all lived through, and will continue to live through. It is a reflection of women’s knowledge of our Pacific ways of knowing and ways of being, gathered and passed down from generation to generation.

The impacts of COVID-19 are huge and as a region and as a people, it will take some time to navigate our way through these impacts towards full recovery. However, if there is one learning that I take away from this crisis, it is our ability to remain resilient and to continue to serve each other and our people, with our women holding the fort in all our societies and communities across the Pacific Ocean, through their ongoing service. It is a manifestation and a living example of leadership through service, because to be able to lead is to be willing to serve, and being able to serve is being able to lead, and such is the spirit of Pacific women in leadership.

Leituala Kuiniselani Toelupe Tago-Elisara is Acting Regional Director, Polynesia Regional Office Pacific Community (SPC)

 

The post – International Women’s Day, 2021 –
To Lead is to Serve — A Pacific Woman’s Perspective
appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

The following opinion piece is part of series to mark International Women’s Day March 8.

The post – International Women’s Day, 2021 –
To Lead is to Serve — A Pacific Woman’s Perspective
appeared first on Inter Press Service.

FOCUS: 1 month on, anti-coup protests continue in Myanmar despite violence

cropped_image_m.jpg

One month after a military coup that ousted the elected government of de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar has seen no abatement of popular protests as Sunday marked its deadliest day since the power grab.

Violent responses by Myanmar’s security forces, who have killed at least 21 protesters since the coup, 18 of them on Sunday alone, have drawn condemnation from the international community, with the United States and the European Union leading calls for greater sanctions against the military.



Read full story here

Bitcoin’s Achilles Heel

We are approaching 8 billion people on this planet, and so anything that a lot of people do is likely to have a significant impact. This includes things that we previously considered to be essentially resource free, or at least insignificant, including digital activity. This may be a bit of a generational thing – those of us who lived through the explosion of computer use, the adoption of the web and social media, and the general shift from analog to digital technology grew up with the idea that doing things digitally was resource efficient.

For example, there was a huge push to transform to a “paperless office” because that would save trees. It is much better to shuffle electrons around than pieces of paper. This transition took a lot longer than anyone thought, and in fact – it hasn’t really happened yet. Here we are, 40 years later, and office paper use is still increasing. No one would have predicted that.

Because of the pandemic meetings and many services shifted from in-person to online, over Zoom, for example. This is much more efficient than people traveling to the same physical location for the meeting. But this does not mean we can ignore the electricity use, and therefore carbon footprint, of the digital meeting. A recent study, for example, found that simply turning off the video when not needed can reduce that footprint by 96%. This is small individually, but huge in the aggregate:

Turning off a camera for 15 hour-long meetings every week would reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 9.4 kilograms (20.7 pounds) per month. If one million Zoom users did this, they would save 9,000 tons of CO2, the equivalent of coal-powered energy used by a city of 36,000 in that same month.

We are now streaming movies instead of driving to a Blockbuster. Again, this is good, but streaming increasingly high resolution movies has a significant carbon footprint too. Further, people tend to increase their resource use when that resource becomes cheaper and more efficient, making up for the higher efficiency. Lighting is a great example of this – as lights become more energy efficient, we simply are using more lighting. This is called the “energy efficiency paradox” – we are actually using more electricity for lighting as it becomes more efficient. (There is a completely tangential side problem of light pollution and observing the night-time sky, but that is a separate post for another day.)

This brings me to Bitcoin, the most famous cryptocurrency. This is a purely electronic version of money, and so again we are just crunching numbers in a computer rather than moving around anything physical. The difference between cryptocurrency and your electronic bank statement is that the former has not physical existence anywhere. Cryptocurrency only exists as a software phenomenon. Further, the computer code that manages cryptocurrency, called blockchain, is designed for security and anonymity. It is designed not to be hackable – since Bitcoin emerged in 2009 the system has not been hacked. However, individual electronic wallets have been hacked.

The main problem with Bitcoin is likely that it is massively resource intensive. It takes a lot of computing power to mine Bitcoin and to mange the distributed system. How much? Recently The University of Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF) studies estimated the energy use of Bitcoin:

It calculates that Bitcoin’s total energy consumption is somewhere between 40 and 445 annualised terawatt hours (TWh), with a central estimate of about 130 terawatt hours.

For comparison, all datacenters around the world use 199 TWh. The UK uses about 300 TWh per year – not just for computing, for everything. Bitcoin uses more energy than entire countries. Further, the CCAF team estimated that two-thirds of that energy comes from burning fossil fuel.

Further, Bitcoin is designed not to be scalable. The quick version is that new Bitcoin are created by miners, who use computer power to guess random numbers and winners are rewarded with Bitcoin. They also independently verify Bitcoin transactions, so they are core to its operation. This is extremely resource intensive. But worse – as more people use Bitcoin and as the price goes up, the incentive for mining goes up. The more miners there are, the more difficult the random number puzzles become to compensate, and therefore the more computing power each miner needs to compete. By one estimate, if Bitcoin became the world’s sole currency, we would need to double our worldwide energy production. This doesn’t include building and maintaining all that computing power.

I think it’s safe to say that cryptocurrency, as currently managed, will not become the de-facto currency anytime soon. I don’t know if there is a solution to this inherent problem, or if it means blockchain is inherently an unscalable application. For now, Bitcoin will remain niche. But even then, it is consuming the energy of a medium-sized country.

As we are now fully in the digital age, we need to consider the efficiency of the most common digital applications. This has to include the “efficiency paradox” about how convenience and low cost drives increased use. We cannot assume that the energy use of our computers is negligible. They are an increasing portion of our total energy use.

The post Bitcoin’s Achilles Heel first appeared on NeuroLogica Blog.

Bullies Actually Fear Losing Power and Control over Their Targets

I look back now and realize that my bullies were in constant fear of losing control and dominance over anyone they deemed inferior. I say this because I remember that anytime I or any other target at Oakley High, countered their insults, or had our own opinion about anything, the bullies and their followers would be quick to shout us down.

They would demand that we “shut up,” or “sit down and be quiet.” They would also threaten bodily harm or instigate violent arguments to intimidate and shut down anyone who dared to exercise their rights to speak freely, therefore, asserting their dominance.

Targets were highly discouraged from having their own thoughts, opinions, or views. I also remember during a class discussion, when a teacher asked me what my thoughts were on the subject we were discussing, I only had time to get the words, “I think…” out of my mouth when another girl shouted, “You think nothing! Shut up!”

Naturally, the teacher reamed her out for the outburst. However, the others only laughed at the teacher, the teacher went silent, then continued on with the discussion and allowed me to finish my answer.

There was nothing a target could speak about that one of the bullies wouldn’t shout down and attack them with. For example:

Target: “I don’t feel so good. I think I need to call home.”

Bullies and classmates: “You ‘ain’t’ sick! You’re just trying to get out of coming to school when your dumb ass needs to learn something useful!”

Target: “I’m afraid that…”

Bullies and classmates: “Shut up! You don’t have nothin’ to be afraid of! You’re just a big chicken!”

Target to target: “I need the hall pass to go use the restroom.”

Bullies and classmates: “You ‘ain’t’ goin’ nowhere! Shut up and sit down!”

Or…

If a target put up their hand and walked away from a confrontation, one of the bullies would either physically step in front of him/her and block them from leaving, grab the target by the back of his shirt and pull him back, or follow close behind them while shoving them forward while screaming, “Don’t turn your back and walk away from me, (expletive),” or “Turn around and look at me when I talk to you!” And If a target ignored a group of bullies, those bullies would then want to fight him.

It was as if the bullies had grown desperate and were panicking. And now that I know better, I realize that that’s exactly what they were doing- feeling desperate and panicking. And they were doing it out of fear.

So, anytime bullies yell and scream at you because you spoke or because you showed any form of opposition to their abuse, realize that it’s because they fear losing their dominance. Bullies instinctively know that if they lose control over a target, they lose face and look weak in front of the others around them. They also realize that if their target has the guts to challenge their power, then it just might encourage others to follow suit and bullies can’t have that.

Bullies must have their targets, not only to get sick pleasure and entertainment from, or to wield dominance over. They must also have them as examples to show everyone else that there will be brutal consequences if they show any form of dissent. Targets are used to keep everyone else in line too.

So, always remember this, and look for a way to use the bullies’ fear to your advantage. You have more power than you know.

Assista a “Enya – The Humming (Lyric Video)” no YouTube

✨✨✨O Sussurrar

E toda a luz será, será
E toda futura profecia
E todas as ondas do mar, o mar
E na estrada está você e eu

Mmmhmmm, mmmhmmm
Mmmhmmm, mmmhmmm

E todos os ventos são um como um beijo
E todos os anos são nêmesis
E todos os momentos caem na névoa
E tudo é poeira, lembre-se disto

Mmmhmmm, mmmhmmm
Mmmhmmm, mmmhmmm
Mmmhmmm, mmmhmmm
Mmmhmmm, mmmhmmm

E toda a luz será, será
E todas as ondas do mar
E todas as ondas do mar, o mar
E toda a luz será

E toda a poeira vai se desfazer
E todas as noites e todos os dias
E todos os céus seguem seu caminho
E só a mudança está aqui para ficar

Mmmhmmm, mmmhmmm
Mmmhmmm, mmmhmmm
Mmmhmmm, mmmhmmm
Mmmhmmm, mmmhmmm

E toda a luz será, será
E todas as ondas do mar
E todas as ondas do mar, o mar
E toda a luz será

E todas as estrelas sem um nome
E todos os céus que parecem os mesmos
E todas as nuvens que se desvanecem e então
Então tudo isso começa novamente

Mmmhmmm, mmmhmmm
Mmmhmmm, mmmmmmmmmmmm

✨✨✨
✨✨✨Composição: Enya / Roma Ryan

Beyond Covid-19: RNA tech brings treatments for other diseases

In this edition, we look at how the global has accelerated research around #RNAtechnology, giving way to two vaccines against Covid-19 but also opening up new possibilities for cancer treatments.

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Ulei de Babassu

Acest ulei de Babassu se obtine prin metoda presarii la rece a nucilor ce cresc in palmierul cu acelasi nume (si care poate fi intalnit in Brazilia).

Uleiul are mai multe intrebuintari: poate fi folosit si pentru gatit, ca si combustibil sau ca baza pentru diverse produse cosmetice. De asemenea, este foarte util si ca hrana pentru animale.

Astazi insa, am ales sa vorbesc despre utilizarile sale in cosmetica pentru ca da, uleiul de Babassu este cu adevarat o minune pentru piele si par.

Ce este uleiul de Babassu?

Fiind cunoscut si sub numele de Attalea Speciosa, acest ulei este foarte cautat datorita compozitiei chimice, continand 70% grasimi.

Ca si proprietati, uleiul de Babassu se aseamana cu uleiul de cocos. Totusi, acest ulei este insa superior celui de cocos. Asta datorita absorbtiei mai rapide si aromei mai putin pronuntate. Cele mai multe beneficii ale acestui ulei de Babassu sunt datorate, in principal, continutului de grasimi.

Este un ulei de culoare galbuie si poate fi cumparat din magazinele cu produse naturiste sau farmacii.

Palmierul de Babassu este specific zonei amazoniene si poate creste pana la o inaltime de aproximativ 20 de metri. Din fructele acestuia (nuci) se obtine uleiul cu acelasi nume.

Procesul de fabricare al uleiului de Babassu a ramas rudimentar. In sensul ca nucile se usuca la soare, iar mai apoi acestea sunt sparte cu ajutorul unor unelte din lemn.

De fapt, se spune ca doar femeile bastinase participa la producerea acestui ulei. Mai apoi, acestea fiind inscrise in anumite asociatii, alimenteaza procesul de livrare.

Ce contine?

Proprietatile si beneficiile acestui ulei sunt date de compozitia acestuia.

In uleiul de Babassu gasim o cantitate mare de acid lauric, prin urmare poate fi folosit in loc de uleiul de cocos.

De asemenea, mai contine si acid stearic, palmitic, miristic si oleic. Acest ulei reprezinta totodata si o bogata sursa de vitamina E si antioxidanti, atat de necesari pentru sanatate.

Este un ulei emolient superior altor uleiuri, fiind benefic atat pentru tenul uscat, cat si pentru cel gras. Hidrateaza pielea bland, fara sa lase acea pelicula de grasime.

Desi nu este un ulei foarte cunoscut, persoanele care isi prepara acasa produsele cosmetice, il folosesc destul de des. Este util atat pentru corp si ten, dar si pentru par si chiar in prepararea sapunurilor de casa.

Beneficii:

Foarte bun emolient pentru piele:

Acest ulei de Babassu este foarte bun pentru toate tipurile de ten. Nu este un ulei gras, nu incarca porii, hidrateaza pielea, mentinand-o neteda si catifelata.

Totodata, acest ulei echilibreaza uleiurile produse in mod natural de piele.

De ajutor la regenerarea pielii:

Studiile efectuate in acest sens au aratat ca uleiul de Babassu este de ajutor in vindecarea leziunilor superficiale de mici dimensiuni.

De asemenea, este util si in refacerea rapida a pielii afectate in urma arsurilor minore, de gradul I si II.

Excelente proprietati antiinflamatorii:

Datorita proprietatilor sale antiinflamatorii, uleiul de babassu ajuta la calmarea iritatiilor pielii, precum si la combaterea eczemelor si inflamatiilor acesteia.

Combate imbatranirea prematura a pielii:

Indiferent daca utilizezi uleiul de Babassu intern sau extern, acesta ajuta la incetinirea procesului de imbatranire a pielii.

Atentie, a se folosi intern doar daca este mentionat pe produs.

Balsam pentru buze:

Acest ulei reprezinta un excelent remediu in special pentru buzele uscate, crapate. Uleiul de Babassu, datorita continutului de grasime, ajuta la refacerea buzelor, redandu-le sanatatea si un aspect placut.

Tratament pentru par:

Mai ales pentru parul ars, cu varfurile despicate si pentru cel fragil. Un par frumos nu este doar un par lung, ci mai ales unul sanatos.

Asadar foloseste acest ulei de Babassu ca baza pentru tratamentele naturale, facute in casa, iar rezultatele nu vor intarzia sa apara.

Desigur, poti opta si pentru mastile din comert care au in compozitie ulei de Babassu. Daca insa alegi sa-ti prepari chiar tu masca de par, atunci mai poti adauga si un galbenus de ou (sau doua, in functie de lungimea parului).

Reda elasticitatea firului de par:

De asemenea, chiar daca nu ai par fragil si cu varfuri despicate, acest ulei te ajuta sa obtii un aspect mai frumos si mai sanatos al podoabei tale capilare. Ajuta la imbunatatirea elasticitatii firelor de par, confera volum si stralucire.

Combate matreata:

Uleiul de Babassu este foarte util si pentru a mentine si reda sanatatea scalpului. De asemenea, ajuta la combaterea matretii (daca aceasta nu este de natura bacteriana).

Un excelent ulei de corp:

Acest ulei poate inlocui cu succes cremele si uleiurile de corp din comert.

Pe langa faptul ca hidrateaza si catifeleaza pielea, fara sa incarce insa porii, acest ulei are un parfum natural foarte usor si placut.