You’ve heard it over and over from your Chinese Medicine doctor: “don’t eat or drink anything cold. Especially with ice!” What’s the rationale behind this? First, we’ll start with Chinese Medical theory and then conclude with Western Medical theory on why you shouldn’t consume cold food and drinks. And we’ll also see how the two medicines see eye-to-eye on this issue.

In Chinese Medical physiology, the stomach is the first organ to receive food and drink and has been compared to a cauldron in which foods are “cooked” by the stomach fire. Because foods are “cooked” by the stomach fire, anything cold hinders this process. After it has been cooked, it then becomes “the pit where rotting and ripening occurs”. I know, it sounds pretty gruesome. We’ll see later how this process has a western explanation.   Read more...

Dear EarthTalk: The 2008 Summer Olympics in China are drawing a lot of attention right now for political reasons. I’ve heard, though, that one ray of light is China’s effort to make the event as green as possible. What’s going on in that regard? -- Josh Rogers, Concord, NH

It’s true that China is using the upcoming Beijing Olympics as a sustainability showcase, going so far as to dub the event the “Green Olympics.” Through a partnership with the U.S. government and the Maryland-based International Center for Sustainable Development, China is giving Beijing a green makeover to make the city a model for net zero pollution, green building and sustainable community development.   Read more...

I remember my times at the NCC (National Cadet Corp.) at school, when we girls used to be full of pride wearing that prestigious uniform. When doing ‘One Good Deed a Day’ was the essential way of life for us, and we used to leave our beds every morning, full of an extraordinary verve and courage to meet the daily target of Selfless Service.

The cadets at NCC are trained to acquire qualities of character, discipline, comradeship, secular outlook and apart from sportsmanship and spirit of adventure, the NCC also focused on Community service, Selflessness and Concern for fellow beings.   Read more...

Sometimes life can take strange ways. One year you are living on the streets and earning a living singing songs for people who walk by and the next year you win an international photography competition!

This is exactly what happened to FairMail teenager Juan Carlos Cabellos last week when he heard that he had won an international photography competition organized by the BID Challenge. In total there where 177 photos submitted for this competition with as theme ¨entrepreneurs that work on sustainable economical development in developing countries¨. Juan Carlos´ picture of a Peruvia market salesman selling fish on the market of Celendin was the best according to the jury who gave him the first prize of 200 euros.   Read more...

But who knows what happens behind these determined illusions of life? Slowly and quite unknowingly we are carving our path that takes us to that elusive valley where our dreams shine fulfilled. Gently wandering in the ethers are our thoughts about to become. Hidden around the corner of a little time is that quietly meandering river and our rendezvous with destiny. The skies are wide open with our hopes of a sunny day, waiting for only a smile of acknowledgement, a trustful surrender to some playful wind. An abandonment, to allow our miracles to take place.

“We have come a long, long way. It has been an arduous journey. And suddenly we have come to have a glimpse of the dawn, heard the songs of the birds, and smelled the fragrance of the flowers. First we cannot believe it can be true

Social Edge (www.socialedge.org) is a site "by social entrepreneurs, for social entrepreneurs." The site is a venue and platform where social entrepreneurs and other practitioners of the social benefit sector connect to network, learn, inspire and share resources. Active social entrepreneurs blog for the site, sharing the wonder and woe of what they're doing. Alyson Zureick, for example, blogs on her experiences in Sierra Leone; Mathias Craig blogs on bringing clean energy to Nicaragua. The site also sports interviews with everyone from Jimmy Carter to Muhammad Yunus. It's all sponsored by the Skoll Foundation. [www.skollfoundation.org) Check it out if you want to find out how hard, and inspirational, it can be to be a social entrepreneur.   Read more...

I admit that on days when I am coping with jagged nerves, bad hair day, premenstrual symptoms and mood swings, I hate being a woman. And when I think of harassment, leering and molestation perpetrated by a man, I hate him being a man.

But on most of my good days I love being a woman, and I don’t hate men in general too. However sometime ago I happened to bump into a group of few radically opinionated women in Calcutta, who hated men vehemently and apart from their monthly periods perhaps, have nothing about them that reminds you of a woman.   Read more...

Harrison Ford waxes his chest for a PSA about deforestation, the Th!nk electric car is coming back to America, scientists found the oldest living tree, and we look at some Green Gadgets from the cool folks at ShinyShiny.   Read more...

Basil "Mulla" Sumner, an elder and leader in the Ngarrindjeri community in South Australia, tells us that oneness starts from the individual. By starting from the self and spreading from there, individuals can consciously shape what kind of oneness they inhabit.   Read more...

• Would you like to be free of old restraints that make you unhappy?

• Would you like to align your beliefs with the goals you want to accomplish?   Read more...