The Green Bus Tour

For more and to help out, click here for the Green Bus Tour website

This summer a group of visionary musicians & artists, social entrepreneurs, yogis & healers, and health & sustainability educators will set off on a tour to inspire and empower the nation.

Traveling in two school buses converted to run on recycled waste vegetable oil and solar panels, the tour will reach millions of people through concerts & festivals, community projects and workshops, theater, daily video blogs and a reality series.

At each stop, the Green Bus Tour will collaborate with local visionaries, leading thinkers, artists, students and special guests to create live events and community-building projects.

"Today's challenges are simply opportunities to create a healthier way of life. By re-envisioning our relationships with each other and the environment, we can work together to create a culture of abundance, motivated by love instead of fear." - Charlie Gonzalez, co-founder of Green Bus Tour

Together, Green Bus Tour and local communities will embrace new ways to lead active, integrated, thriving lives: through conscious music and art, ecology & energy savings, healthy economics, and beneficial technologies & ancient wellness practices.

From Mrs. Obama's Garden

Published: March 24, 2010 in the New York Times editorial section

A year ago, Michelle Obama and pupils from a Washington elementary school dug up a patch of the South Lawn to plant a White House vegetable garden. Mrs. Obama’s stated goal — apart from providing food for her family’s meals and for formal dinners — was to promote healthful, locally grown fruit and vegetables and healthier eating by kids at a time of rising rates of childhood obesity and diabetes.

Mrs. Obama has translated that into a serious national initiative to improve childhood nutrition and health. In appearances around the country, she has been talking about childhood obesity and engaging parents, schools, pediatricians, celebrities, and public officials, including members of her husband’s cabinet, with the goal of solving the problem within a generation.

Last month, Mrs. Obama began her “Let’s Move” campaign. Beyond encouraging greater physical activity by children, the Food and Drug Administration is trying to help parents make healthy food choices by making food labels more customer-friendly. The campaign includes $400 million to bring grocery stores offering fresh produce and other healthy food to underserved, often poor areas, and a planned nutritional upgrade of school lunches when Congress reauthorizes the Child Nutrition Act.

Recently, appearing before the Grocery Manufacturers Association, Mrs. Obama spoke with humor about her own experience as a mother trying to encourage healthy eating habits in her children, and praised food companies for some positive steps. But she also chided the industry for not going fast or far enough.

“We need you not just to tweak around the edges, but to entirely rethink the products that you’re offering, the information that you provide about these products, and how you market those products to our children,” Mrs. Obama said. “That starts with revamping, or ramping up, your efforts to reformulate your products, particularly those aimed at kids, so that they have less fat, salt, and sugar, and more of the nutrients that kids need.”

Mrs. Obama’s campaign is just beginning, but she has already started a national conversation on obesity.

A Base For War Training, And Species Preservation

Click here to read the full article from the New York Times

"Under crystalline winter skies, a light infantry unit headed for Iraq was practicing precision long-range shooting through a pall of smoke. But the fire generating the haze had nothing to do with the training exercise.

Staff members at the Army post had set the blaze on behalf of the red-cockaded woodpecker, an imperiled eight-inch-long bird that requires frequent conflagrations to preserve its pine habitat.

Even as it conducts round-the-clock exercises to support two wars, Fort Stewart spends as much as $3 million a year on wildlife management, diligently grooming its 279,000 acres to accommodate five endangered species that live here. Last year, the wildlife staff even built about 100 artificial cavities and installed them 25 feet high in large pines so the woodpeckers did not have to toil for six months carving the nests themselves.

The military has not always been so enthusiastic about saving endangered plants and animals, arguing that doing so would hinder its battle preparedness.

But post commanders have gradually realized that working to help species rebound is in their best interest, if only because the more the endangered plants and animals thrive, the fewer restrictions are put on training exercises to avoid destroying habitat."

Energy Diversification: A National Security Imperative

From our friend Madhava Ghosh...

Source

by T.J. Buonomo, Former U.S. Military Intelligence Officer

According to the Energy Information Administration, the U.S. imports about 60% of its oil, with more than two-thirds of it used for transportation. Oil is essential to the basic functioning of the global economy, from the production of goods in factories overseas and across the country to their delivery to local markets. Without oil our military would not be able to defend the country from external threats. In short, we are critically dependent on this non-renewable resource.

The vital importance of oil and the corresponding impulse to control or safeguard its supply and price has led to repeated Western interventions in the Middle East and other parts of the world, sparking militant nationalist and revolutionary movements and causing deep and lasting resentments. In the case of the Middle East, outside intervention against secular nationalist movements has led to the rise of Islamist terrorism as an alternative solution for a relatively small but very determined minority.

Though limited military action may be necessary in the short term to respond to this threat, America’s long-term security ultimately requires intelligent public policy in support of a vibrant domestic market for renewable energy. Our dependence on foreign sources of energy has made America vulnerable to militant religious fundamentalists spawned by repressive regimes — elites whom our government has in some cases covertly placed in power and whom it is pressured to continue to support, either due to lack of friendly, viable alternatives or fear of the unpredictable outcomes of successful popular movements.

To minimize such vulnerabilities and the moral and security dilemmas they create, we must put an end to the mad pursuit of fossil fuels across these war-torn and politically volatile parts of the world.

As a matter of civic responsibility and obligation to the men and women who keep us secure, the American people should press their elected representatives to accelerate the transition to a clean energy economy. The longer our elected officials remain beholden to powerful private interests, the more our families and communities will suffer. Supporting our troops means not only taking care of them when they get home but also working to minimize the likelihood of them being sent into harm’s way in the first place.

This effort will not be without formidable political obstacles. Supposed conservative media figures have in recent months frequently insinuated that subsidies to the renewable energy industry are socialistic — a damning term among true conservatives — while conspicuously neglecting to point out that the much more well-established fossil fuel industry received over $72 billion in federal subsidies from 2002-2008.

Federal subsidies to the wind and solar industries amounted to about one-sixth of this figure in the same time period based on the Environmental Law Institute’s figures.

Since America was founded, our government has always provided limited support for innovation in emerging markets that further the national interest. Clean energy should be no exception.

Alexander Hamilton, Founding Father and first Secretary of the Treasury, was a strong advocate for government support of industrialization as a matter of national security. The case for government support to the renewable energy industry is no less urgent but will require sustained public pressure from across the political spectrum against entrenched private interests conflicting with the national interest.

T.J. Buonomo is a former Military Intelligence Officer. He holds a B.S. in Political Science and Middle East Studies from the U.S. Air Force Academy and has spent the past 5 years researching the nexus between multinational corporations, markets, U.S. covert operations and political instability in developing countries, with a primary emphasis on the Middle East and Latin America.

Solar Industry Learns Lesson In Spanish Sun

Lourdes Segade for The New York Times

Eusebio Sáez Mozos, a farmer from El Villar, Spain, near Puertollano, sold a piece of land that was used for a solar installation during Spain’s solar industry boom. More Photos »

From The Green Inc blog on the New York Times

PUERTOLLANO, Spain — Two years ago, this gritty mining city hosted a brief 21st-century gold rush. Long famous for coal, Puertollano discovered another energy source it had overlooked: the relentless, scorching sun

Armed with generous incentives from the Spanish government to jump-start a national solar energy industry, the city set out to replace its failing coal economy by attracting solar companies, with a campaign slogan: “The Sun Moves Us.”

Soon, Puertollano, home to the Museum of the Mining Industry, had two enormous solar power plants, factories making solar panels and silicon wafers, and clean energy research institutes. Half the solar power installed globally in 2008 was installed in Spain.

Farmers sold land for solar plants. Boutiques opened. And people from all over the world, seeing business opportunities, moved to the city, which had suffered from 20 percent unemployment and a population exodus.

But as low-quality, poorly designed solar plants sprang up on Spain’s plateaus, Spanish officials came to realize that they would have to subsidize many of them indefinitely, and that the industry they had created might never produce efficient green energy on its own.

In September the government abruptly changed course, cutting payments and capping solar construction. Puertollano’s brief boom turned bust. Factories and stores shut, thousands of workers lost jobs, foreign companies and banks abandoned contracts that had already been negotiated.

“We lost the opportunity to be at the vanguard of renewables — we were not only generating electricity, but also a strong economy,” said Joaquín Carlos Hermoso Murillo, Puertollano’s mayor since 2004. “Why are they limiting solar power, when the sun is unlimited?”

Puertollano’s wrenching fall points to the delicate policy calculations needed to stimulate nascent solar industries and create green jobs, and might serve as a cautionary tale for the United States, where a similar exercise is now under way.

For now, electricity generation from the sun’s rays needs to be subsidized because it requires the purchase of new equipment and investment in evolving technologies. But costs are rapidly dropping. And regulators are still learning how to structure stimulus payments so that they yield a stable green industry that supports itself, rather than just costly energy and an economic flash in the pan like Spain’s.

“The industry as a whole learned a lot from what happened in Spain,” said Cassidy DeLine, who analyzes the European solar market for Emerging Energy Research, a firm based in Cambridge, Mass. She noted that other countries had since set subsidies lower and issued stricter standards for solar plants.

Yet, despite the pain that Spain’s incentives ended up causing, in many ways they fulfilled their promise, Ms. DeLine said.

“Even though incentives can create bubbles and bursts, without them this industry won’t take off,” she said. “The U.S. is really behind Europe on this, and if we wait until solar is cost-competitive on its own, we may miss the boat and an opportunity to shape the market.”

The most robust Spanish solar companies survived the downturn, have restructured and are re-emerging as global players.

For example, when the government changed course, Siliken Renewable Energy, originally a producer of solar panels, shut its factories for five months and cut its staff to 600 from 1,200. But after shifting its focus to external markets like Italy, France and the United States, and diversifying into solar support services, the company now turns a profit.

“We were a company that banks trusted, so we could make the shift,” said Antonio Navarro, a company spokesman. “But a lot of little companies disappeared.”

The period was particularly difficult because it coincided with the global economic crisis, he said.

To encourage development of solar power and reduce dependence on fossil fuels, Europe has generally relied on so-called feed-in tariffs, through which governments pay a hefty premium for electricity from renewable resources. Regulators in the United States have favored less direct incentives like requiring municipalities to buy a percentage of their electricity from companies making renewable energy, although a few cities and states, most notably Vermont, are experimenting with the feed-in concept.

When it was announced in the summer of 2007, Spain’s premium payment for solar power was the most generous anywhere — 58 cents per kilowatt-hour — with few strings attached.

In retrospect it was far too high. “Everyone from all over the world was installing in Spain as fast as they could, and every biologist who could add was working in solar,” said Pedro Banda, director general of the Institute of Concentration Photovoltaic Systems, one of the research institutes in Puertollano.

Even inefficient, poorly designed plants could make a profit, and speculation in solar building permits was common.

Although Spain’s long-term goal had been to produce 400 megawatts of electricity from solar panels by 2010, it reached that milestone by the end of 2007.

In 2008 the nation connected 2.5 gigawatts of solar power into its grid, more than quintupling its previous capacity and making it second to Germany, the world leader. But many of the hastily opened plants offered no hope of being cost-competitive with conventional power, being poorly designed or located where sunshine was inadequate, for example.

Designs for solar power plants vary. The most common type uses photovoltaic panels to generate electricity. Others, called thermal solar plants, use mirrors to focus the sun’s energy on a liquid that, when heated, drives a steam turbine.

In its haste to create a solar industry, Spain made some miscalculations: solar plants can be set up so quickly and easily that the rush into the industry was much faster than anticipated. And the lavish subsidies inflated Spanish solar installation costs at a time when they were rapidly decreasing elsewhere — in part because of increasing competition from panel makers in China, but also because higher volumes produced economies of scale.

In Spain, the tariff, now adjusted quarterly, is about 39 cents per kilowatt-hour for electricity from freestanding solar power plants, and slightly higher for panels on rooftops.

Germany’s tariff, 53 cents per kilowatt-hour, is expected to fall at least 15 percent this summer, and there are proposals before Parliament to eliminate subsidies for solar plants on farmland.

The bonus payments required to make solar energy financially viable vary, depending on local sunshine and the cost of conventional energy. Experts predict that, possibly by next year, Italy will be the first place where solar-generated electricity will not need subsidies to compete with electricity from fossil fuel. Italy has abundant sun and sky-high energy rates, given that it imports most of its fossil fuel.

Even with the reduced incentives and local economic downturn, the solar industry gave Puertollano something of a face-lift and, potentially, a new economic future. Research institutes there are developing cutting-edge technologies. Unemployment, though now up around 10 percent, has not returned to the 20 percent figure. The city is home to a number of solar businesses: a new 50-megawatt thermal-solar plant owned by the Spanish energy giant Iberdrola created hundreds of jobs.

Although coal mines still dot the landscape and a petrochemical factory remains one of Puertollano’s largest employers, that new solar plant sits just next door, with more than 100,000 parabolic mirrors in neat rows on about 400 acres of former farmland. Clean and white as a hospital ward, it silently turns sunshine into Spanish electricity.

A Theoretical Approach To Understanding The Origins Of The Sacred Cow In India

From our friend Ali Krishna...

By Alysia Radder (Ali Krishna dd), University of Florida

Amidst rush-hour traffic, in a city boosting over 19 million people, a large cow and her companion cross the street with reckless abandon. Brakes squealing, horns honking, heads and clenched fists asserting themselves out of car windows in protest- thousands of cars are forced to maneuver and heed the right of way to that divine couple who have now decided to take their morning nap in the middle of Mumbai’s busiest highway intersection. Thus, the phenomenon of the “sacred cow” within India is directly observed.

An impassioned controversy has been stirring for over 50 years in the great struggle to uncover the origin of the cow’s rise to sacred status in India. The debate has been led by the arguments of Marvin Harris, a renowned cultural materialist, who reduces the Hindu ban on cow slaughter as a factor of ecological pressures. He argues that religious sanctity has been mistakenly given to a phenomenon that can best be explained by socio-political factors. However, Harris’s theory has met with great criticism. Frederick Simoons, a cultural geographer and contemporary of Harris, suggests that beef was not simply tabooed on environmental grounds but on religious factors as well. In this paper, I will prove that Harris’s functionalist approach is incomplete having not sufficiently addressed religious claims. While Simoons suggests a broader “positive” and “negative-functioned” theory, I will present how Geertz’s method of thick description reveals many discrepancies in Simoons observations. Thus, in compliance with Geertz’s interpretive model, I will conclude that in order to further determine the origins of the sacred cow in India, we must understand basic philosophical points of Hinduism concerning the nature of the soul, the laws of karma, and reincarnation.

To read more of this essay, access the .pdf file here.

Remember When Organic Used To Mean Green?

From our friend Madhava Ghosh

Back in the day the organic pioneers had several motivations for promoting organic — better for the future of the soil because of closed systems of returning organic wastes to the soil, less pesticides in the environment so better balance in the ecology, and last but not least healthier better tasting food. Organic was green.

Now organic isn’t green and most consumers motivation is more self centered — I want healthier food for me. While many genuine organic growers still exist, corporations and agribusiness has gotten involved and the new standards for what is organic has dispensed with the closed system concept.

Buying organic today could mean stuff from Chile, California wherever. Organic is no longer synonymous with locally grown. So more aware consumers have now started to focus on ideally locally grown organic produce, but if the choice is locally grown or imported organic, they choose local. Which has lots of benefits, not least is economics of the local community as the money stays and recycles locally.

Here are some thoughts on benefits of locally grown:

The 100-Mile Index

The 100-Mile Index provides a statistical snapshot of our world’s globalized food system. The numbers are fascinating, troubling, funny and sometimes, just plain strange. Have a read and send them to a friend. Help grow this movement.

• Minimum distance that North American produce typically travels from farm to plate, in miles: 1,500
• Number of Planet Earths’ worth of resources that would be needed if every person worldwide lived like the average North American: 8
• Planets saved if all of those people ate locally: 1
• Ratio of minutes spent preparing food by English consumers who buy ready-made foods versus traditional home-cooking: 1:1
• Estimated number of plant species worldwide with edible parts: 30,000
• Number of species that currently provide 90 percent of the world’s food: 20
• Share of each U.S. consumer food dollar that returned to the farmer in 1910, in cents: 40
• Share that returned to the farmer in 1997, in cents: 7
• Ratio of prisoners to farmers in the U.S. population: 5:2
• Percentage of fresh vegetables eaten in Hanoi, Vietnam, that are grown in the city: 80
• Percentage of all tomatoes in U.S. that are harvested while green : 80
• Major river dams constructed to irrigate California, now the world’s number five agricultural producer: 1,200
• Number of years that Alisa Smith and James MacKinnon of Vancouver, Canada, ate only foods produced from within 100 miles of their home: 1
• Amount of potatoes, in pounds, that they bought for the winter: 100
• Days that that 100 pounds of potatoes would have fed a person in Ireland, on average, before the potato famine of 1845: 18
• Combined weight in pounds that Alisa and James lost on their 100-Mile Diet: 12

REFERENCES:

Rich Pirog et al., “Food, Fuel and Freeways,” Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture (Ames, Iowa: Iowa State University, 2001), p. 1.
Standard data estimate input into ecological footprint calculator, www.myfootprint.org
As above, with change only to food estimate
Brian Halweil, Eat Here: Reclaiming Homegrown Pleasures in a Global Supermarket (New York: W.W. Norton, 2004), p. 164
Edward O. Wilson, The Diversity of Life (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1992), p. 287.
Edward O. Wilson, The Diversity of Life (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1992), p. 287.
Halweil, p. 45.
Halweil, p. 45.
US Census 2000, factfinder.census.gov
Halweil, p. 94.
Halweil, p. 161.
Marc Reisner, Cadillac Desert: The American West and Its Disappearing Water (New York: Penguin, 1987), p. 3.
California Department of Food and Agriculture, California Agriculture: Highlights 2005.
Larry Zuckerman, The Potato: How the Humble Spud Rescued the Western World (Boston: Faber & Faber, 1998), p. 30.

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Learning To Climb New York City's Trees

Click here to read the full article from the New York Times

“Too many kids growing up in the city are disconnected not just from employment and education, but also nature, and this combines all three,” said Adrian Benepe, the parks commissioner.

On the day of Mr. Chisholm’s lesson, the trainees stepped into harnesses and looped up their ropes to try to incorporate the new moves. Arborists from Asplundh Tree Expert and Bartlett Tree Experts, two of the companies sponsoring the program, coached the climbers up the tree.

Mr. Linares, wearing Coco Chanel sunglasses, hoisted his sturdy frame off the ground as if he were raising an overfilled bucket from a well. He stopped at the first branch and made it to his feet as his classmates on the ground shouted “Let’s go, Manny!” and “Trust your ropes!” Mr. Linares hugged the tree trunk and looked toward the sky.

The tree climbers drew puzzled looks from people walking through Bronx Park. Every few minutes, a Metro-North railroad train traveling north on the New Haven line screamed past, a reminder of the sprawling city that lay just beyond the park.

But until lunchtime, the only thing that mattered was climbing the oak tree. Maurice Samuels, 22, who grew up in Harlem’s St. Nicholas housing projects, sailed up it faster than many others had. He made his way along a narrow branch, nimble as a tightrope walker. A plane passed above, causing a few heads to turn, but Mr. Samuels, 50 feet in the air, never noticed.

Gardens Gardens Anywhere

From our friend Madhava Ghosh's blog

Hopefully by the end of today I will have some lettuce planted in cold frames. I usually plant some radishes between the rows because they are up and gone before the lettuce will need the space.

Possibly by day’s end or tomorrow latest I will be able to get some tilling down to prepare beds for other veggies like spinach, peas, and potatoes. I also need beds for berries that I have received shipping notices on and more that will start arriving April 1st, including strawberries.

I am a step ahead of last spring in that last year was the first year I had gardened for quite a few years and the garden itself was a flat space. This year it is in raised beds I threw up last fall so they are drying out quicker.

There is rain starting Sunday, even a little snow forecast for Monday, and then several wet days, so I need to take advantage of the opportunity to prepare the ground. This time of year so those chances can’t be squandered as it could get wet for weeks again before being able to work the soil.

The soils here are clay based and working them when wet results in making your garden into a brick. I have dramatically improved the tilth (structural workability) of the soil over the years by amending with organic matter, but I still need to respect soil moisture levels and conditions.

So this morning it is finalizing my planting plan and then out into the garden.

Don’t think you are not able to garden, even with a small space you can do it. Here is a tiered planter you need little space to utilize.

Found here:

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/la/gardening/look-small-space-tiered-planter-080906

You can also find those hanging planters everywhere, including one for tomatoes where they grow out of the bottom of the planter. We tried one of those last summer, not because we needed the space, just to try it. I learned you need to continuously feed them. We watered it with a compost tea but I saw someone else who had one and it started out lush and green but by midsummer it had faded. It was one I drove by and observed, so my assumption was they just watered it, but to keep growth happening in containers, they need regular feedings.

Another tip someone gave me about those tomato upside down planters was that you take a piece of leaky hose (like used for irrigation) or perforated pipe and put that in the center and then fill in your mix around it. Then put the water in the top of it and it distributes it better. I also noticed in ours when I took it down that the constant watering (and it does need it almost daily) had made a hole in the top of the planting mixture from the impact of the water. That exposed roots to drying. Watering through a piece in the middle would eliminate that.

So good gardening wherever you are.

Cities Prepare For Life With The Electric Car

Click here to read the full article from the New York Times

In nearby Silicon Valley, companies are ordering workplace charging stations in the belief that their employees will be first in line when electric cars begin arriving in showrooms. And at the headquarters of Pacific Gas and Electric, utility executives are preparing “heat maps” of neighborhoods that they fear may overload the power grid in their exuberance for electric cars.

“There is a huge momentum here,” said Andrew Tang, an executive at P.G.& E.

As automakers prepare to introduce the first mass-market electric cars late this year, it is increasingly evident that the cars will get their most serious tryout in just a handful of places. In cities like San Francisco, Portland, Ore., and San Diego, a combination of green consciousness and enthusiasm for new technology seems to be stirring public interest in the cars.

Finally, A Replacement For Big Oil?

From our friend Madhava Ghosh's blog "View From A New Vrindaban Ridge"

Posted Dec 22nd 2009 5:00PM by Joseph Lazzaro

Can any fuel form make a serious run at oil use in the U.S. in the decade ahead? Natural gas might — largely as a result of natural gas’ abundant domestic supply, if new drilling techniques are deemed environmentally safe.

Briefly, the new techniques — including one called ‘hydraulic fracturing’ — enables natural gas suppliers to profitably access more gas than before. As a result, the Potential Gas Committee says the United States now has a more than a 100-year supply of natural gas.

However, issues regarding possible well water and ground water contamination at sites that used the new drilling techniques are currently under investigation by several U.S. environmental regulatory bodies, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, The New York Times reported. If proven to be unsafe, that would, most likely, decrease the U.S.’s natural gas reserves from current estimates.

But assuming most of the high tech-accessed new natural gas is safe and added to the nation’s supply, could natural gas play a larger role in the nation’s energy picture? At first review, it appears it can.

Up Ahead: Big Natural Gas?

Utilities who operator electric power generation plants are already turning to natural gas as a cleaner fuel than coal. Coal, remarkably cheap but also enormously damaging to the environment, has an uncertain future. If natural gas’ price remains low — and bountiful supplies would help achieve that goal — natural gas can continue to make major gains in electric power generation and in industrial use — substantially reducing the air-polluting particulates that coal-fired plants spew in to the atmosphere daily.

Likewise with home/commercial heating: assuming natural gas remains cheap, the energy form will likely see increased use in the decade ahead for heating. Natural gas already is the dominant form of home heat in the Midwest; in the Northeast, oil heat has been pervasive, but has seen its market share fall since the first oil shock in 1973-74.

However, use as a fuel for vehicle transportation may present the biggest hurdle for natural gas. The ease of use and wide availability of gasoline give it a decided edge over natural gas in the U.S. Further, although fleets of buses and vans have converted to natural gas, an entirely new infrastructure of natural gas filling stations would have to be built to enable universal use of natural gas for civilian vehicles. Still, natural gas does have one trump card in this struggle: price. If oil, which closed Tuesday up 21 cents to $73.93 per barrel, again trends toward the $100 level and beyond, natural gas’ price advantage over oil will widen: at some point — perhaps at $5 per gallon or $6 per gallon for gasoline, a major auto manufacturer will begin large-scale production of a natural gas vehicle, and those Americans concerned about fuel prices will be drawn to it.

Energy Analysis: The view from here argues that the energy form is not as important as the fact the American drivers need a domestic-based auto fuel competitor to gasoline. I don’t count the problematic ethanol from corn. And so far, no other alternative fuels (biodiesel, 100% electric cars etc.) present affordable, universal options. But natural gas, if the new supplies can be accessed without contaminating wells and ground water, could offer a serious challenge to gasoline in the next decade.

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Warning, Your Cell Phone May Be Hazardous To Your Health

Click here to read the full article from GQ

Earlier this winter, I met an investment banker who was diagnosed with a brain tumor five years ago. He's a managing director at a top Wall Street firm, and I was put in touch with him through a colleague who knew I was writing a story about the potential dangers of cell-phone radiation. He agreed to talk with me only if his name wasn't used, so I'll call him Jim. He explained that the tumor was located just behind his right ear and was not immediately fatal—the five-year survival rate is about 70 percent. He was 35 years old at the time of his diagnosis and immediately suspected it was the result of his intense cell-phone usage. "Not for nothing," he said, "but in investment banking we've been using cell phones since 1992, back when they were the Gordon-Gekko-on-the-beach kind of phone." When Jim asked his neurosurgeon, who was on the staff of a major medical center in Manhattan, about the possibility of a cell-phone-induced tumor, the doctor responded that in fact he was seeing more and more of such cases—young, relatively healthy businessmen who had long used their phones obsessively. He said he believed the industry had discredited studies showing there is a risk from cell phones. "I got a sense that he was pissed off," Jim told me. A handful of Jim's colleagues had already died from brain cancer; the more reports he encountered of young finance guys developing tumors, the more certain he felt that it wasn't a coincidence. "I knew four or five people just at my firm who got tumors," Jim says. "Each time, people ask the question. I hear it in the hallways."

It's hard to talk about the dangers of cell-phone radiation without sounding like a conspiracy theorist. This is especially true in the United States, where non-industry-funded studies are rare, where legislation protecting the wireless industry from legal challenges has long been in place, and where our lives have been so thoroughly integrated with wireless technology that to suggest it might be a problem—maybe, eventually, a very big public-health problem—is like saying our shoes might be killing us.

National "Best Books" Finalist Defies Darwin

By Madhava Smullen on 27 Feb 2010
from ISKCON News

Image: natureiq.com

The Egyptian vulture breaks eggs using rocks as a tool.

A book by two Hungarian ISKCON devotees, Isvara Krishna Dasa and Bhagavat Priya Dasa, has been chosen as a Finalist in 2009’s National “Best Books” Awards, sponsored by USABookNews.com.

Nature’s IQ: Extraordinary Animal Behaviors that Defy Evolution finished as one of two finalists in the Science category, just missing out on the top spot to winner Robert L. Piccioni, with his book Everyone’s Guide to Atoms, Einstein, and the Universe.

Released in the US in April 2009 by Torchlight Publishing, Nature’s IQ was among 500 winners and finalists in over 140 categories.

The nomination, announced on October 20th, 2009, was an honor and boost of recognition for Nature’s IQ, as the “Best Books” Awards is one of the largest mainstream book award competitions in the United States.

However, Isvara Krishna and Bhagavat Priya are no strangers to appreciation for their book. Since it was released in the US last year, Nature’s IQ has garnered many glowing reviews from scientists, authors, professors, and newspaper reporters. And upon its Hungarian release back in 2002, it attracted plenty of media attention, both positive and negative, including a write-up in Hungarian Science, one of the country’s leading scientific journals.

Featuring 200 vivid color photographs, Nature’s IQ presents one hundred of the most amazing instinctive behaviors in the animal kingdom. Often highly complex, these behaviors are successful only if all elements in the chain are simultaneously present—any go missing, and the behavior is useless. The authors thus logically conclude that such animal conducts probably did not evolve over a long period of time, but appeared as a whole. This is their distinctly anti-Darwin take on life’s origin, backed up by the ancient Vaishnava perspective.

The examples in Nature’s IQ also point to a higher intelligence guiding every living being. In fact, the authors say that their research has strengthened their own conviction in this intelligence, known in Vaishnava philosophy as Paramatma, or the Supersoul.

Nature’s IQ, explains Torchlight Publishing’s Dharmasetu Dasa, invites us to investigate an alternative explanation, and the possibility that a supernatural intelligence has applied its own infinite genius to create living beings and the world around us.

“Darwinism will probably always remain on the stage,” admits author Isvara Krishna Dasa. “We cannot control that. But we will continue to inform others about its weaknesses, and about the other choices they can make.”



For more information, please visit www.naturesiq.com or www.torchlight.com, or pick up the November/December issue of Back to Godhead magazine.

Indian Village May Hold Key To Beating Dementia

From BBC News

By Jane Hughes Health correspondent, BBC News

Ballabgarh in northern India has unusually low levels of Alzheimer's disease. More than 820,000 people in the UK are living with dementia, a number that is expected to double by 2051. Is there anything that can be learnt from this region to slow the trend?

Enjoying a chat, the elders are still on the ball

As the sun breaks through the morning mist in Ballabgarh, the elders of the village make their way to their regular meeting spot to exchange stories and share a traditional hookah pipe.

These men are in their sixties and seventies, while their faces bear the evidence of years of hard work in the fields, their minds are still sharp.

In other parts of the world, people of their age would be at some risk of developing dementia. But here, Alzheimer's disease is rare. In fact, scientists believe recorded rates of the condition in this small community are lower than anywhere else in the world.

76-year-old Parshadi Lal says: "I feel good, I feel healthy, I have a walk every morning, even though my knees do now give me a bit of trouble." His friends nod in agreement.

Record low rates

Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh spent several years studying over-55s in this area.

They tested more than 5,000 people for Alzheimer's disease, using screening processes designed to fit in with local culture, and relevant for people who could not read or write.

They wanted to be sure they did not miss any cases of the condition.

It is an area where people do not tend to live as long as they do in wealthier, more developed areas, so you would expect rates of Alzheimer's disease to be lower.

But even after the scientists factored in the lower life expectancy of people in this area, the rate of Alzheimer's disease was significantly below those in the UK - and less than a third of those in parts of the US.

"We had a hunch that rates here would be lower," says Dr Vijay Chandra, one of the study authors. In fact, they found what appeared to be among the lowest rates of the condition ever recorded by scientists.

So what is it about the people of Ballabgarh that is protecting them from a condition that affects about 36 million people worldwide?

Gene search

Dr Chandra told me they tested people to see whether fewer of them carried the APO4E gene, which predisposes people to Alzheimer's disease. They did not.

A farming community means everyone is physically active

When compared to people living in a community in Pennsylvania, US, they found almost exactly the same proportion carried the gene.

But in contrast with lives in Pennsylvania and other parts of the world, the people of Ballabgarh are unusually healthy. It is a farming community, so most of them are very physically active and most eat a low-fat, vegetarian diet. Obesity is virtually unheard of.

Life in this fertile farming community is also low in stress, and family support is still strong, unlike in other, more urban parts of India.

"It all leads to a happy body, and a happy mind and hopefully a happy brain," says Dr Chandra.

"Cholesterol levels here are much lower. We believe that is what is protecting the community."

Life in Ballabgarh could not be more different from the complicated, stressful existence many of us lead in the rest of the world. But perhaps this community has something to teach us.

Food For Life Still Needs Your Help In Haiti

By Priya Vrata Dasa (Paul Turner) on 10 Mar 2010
From ISKCON News

Food for Life Global is currently serving 3500 meals in camps in Haiti. We have plans to expand to schools and increase the distribution to 10,000 meals a day. But we urgently need cash and volunteers.

Our emergency relief fund is itself on life support. Sadly, it appears that people are beginning to
forget Haiti and now that we are in the middle of establishing a very wonderful service in cooperation with the World Food Programme, our funds are at their lowest.

Responsible and experienced kitchen hands are also invited to help with this food relief project. Volunteers will need to commit to staying for at least 1 month and make their own way to Haiti. Food for Life Global will provide accommodation, meals and and other personal support. If you have cooking skills and can speak French and/or Creole, that is a big plus.

To apply, click: here

Watch this short video from the eyes of one of the volunteers:

Also, here is our photo album

All the latest news can
be gotten from http://haiti.ffl.org/

Regards
----------------------------
Paul R. Turner
International Director
Food for Life
(Priya V)
FFL Global: http://www.ffl.org
Haiti Relief: http://haiti.ffl.org
Toll Free: 1-(888)-816-6977
Fax Number: 208 906 8689
FOOD FOR LIFE GLOBAL
PO BOX 471
RIVERDALE, NY
10471
Download our latest flyer and post at your favorite cafe. Click here

Read more: http://iskcon.org/node/2589/2010-03-10/food_for_life_still_needs_your_help_in_haiti#ixzz0hoxsWthH

Country Getaway: New Vrindaban Looking For Landscape Assistance

Due to a forceful winter, there is a lot of "getting ready" needed before the opening of New Vrindaban's Pilgrimage Season, which kicks off with Festival of Inspiration (May 7,8,9th).

Our wonderful landscaper, Matreiya das, is an aging trooper who could use the help of a couple younger folks.

Time frame is as soon as possible. Depending on the duration of your commitment, you will receive room, board, basic needs plus free attendance to Festival of Inspiration.

Experience in landscaping is nice but not a requirement. A valid driver's license would be helpful, but not a "must." What is a "must" is that you are willing to follow the regulative principals and go shoulder to shoulder alongside Maitreya. You can count on learning a few things and pleasing Their Lordships, Radha Vrindaban Chandra as well as seeing the results of your seva unfold.

References required. Depending on location, travel assistance may be available.

Contact: servingkrishna@aol.com or 304-845-9591 and ask for Malati dasi or Bhaktin Rita.

Read more: http://iskcon.org/node/2590/2010-03-10/country_get_away_new_vrindaban_looking_for_temporary_landscape_assistance#ixzz0howkvpnG

Blessed Are "The Peacemakers"

A message from our friend Adiraja (author of the world famous Hare Krishna Book Of Vegetarian Cooking) about his recent project:

Presently I'm trying to secure a beautiful 106-acre farm here in Michigan. Besides being a Vedic Village Educational Farm project, it will also serve to provide produce for a restaurant we plan to start next year. I'm looking for an "Angel Investor' who may be a financial partner.

Srila Prabhuapda said people must eat prasada in order to understand the philosophy, so it makes senses that we ought to emphasize pradasa distribution, which this eventual worldwide chain of restaurants will do.

Anyone can email me (tommilano108@yahoo.com) or reach me on my cell 313 434-5121.

Vision and Mission

Peacemakers embraces the vision of making the healthiest food easily affordable and accessible to the general public. The company’s mission is to develop a worldwide chain of vegan fast food restaurants, each supplied by its own farm.

Opportunity

One fifth of Americans eat fast food every day, generating over 110 billion dollars this year alone. With more people eating fast food, and restaurant franchises popping up everywhere, this industry is booming and shows no signs of slowing down. However, because most fast food is commonly recognized to have poor nutritional quality, many say we’re a fast food nation slowly eating ourselves to death.

At the same time, there’s an upwelling of interest in the public to eat more healthy food. Most people say they would eat healthier, but only if it didn’t cost more.

Market Strategy

Peacemakers will be the nation’s first chain of healthy fast food restaurants, selling delicious locally grown organic food close to current fast food prices. The restaurants will offer vegan (plant-based) burgers, sandwiches, soups, salads, fresh juices, smoothies, desserts, freshly baked goods, and ethnic meals, including raw/living-food options. Both the restaurants and farms will be beautifully designed, use as much green technology as possible, attract plenty of volunteer help, and be educational centers that teach about restoring our physical health and the health of the planet.

Business Strategy

This business model of restaurants and farms working together to minimize production costs, while educating and empowering people to make smart food choices, will enable Peacemakers to provide healthy meals at very reasonable prices. Franchising this restaurant/farm concept will be a great service to the public and a very lucrative business. The combination of effective marketing, expert management, along with efficient food production and preparation, will enable this company to quickly achieve significant market share.

Financial Goals

In implementing this business model, Peacemakers anticipates generating $10 million in revenues by 2015, with $5 million of net profit. Annual revenue growth during the 2011-2015 timeframe is projected to average at least 25% per year.

Funds Sought and Uses

To establish its first farm in 2010 and its first restaurant in 2011, Peacemakers is currently seeking investment financing of 1.1 million dollars, $150,000 to be completed by June 1 and $950,000 to be completed by Dec 1.

Towers In Manhattan Gather Heat From Power Generators

From our friend Madhava Ghosh's blog "View From A New Vrindaban Ridge"

By ALEC APPELBAUM

Published: February 24, 2009

Later this year, a double-rigged crane will hoist a giant power turbine part way up One Penn Plaza, a black monolithic skyscraper next to Madison Square Garden. When the natural gas-powered generator on the 12th floor starts, it will not only produce some 6.2 megawatts of electricity — enough to power up to half the 57-floor building on a busy day — but it will also siphon off wasted heat and use it to help heat and cool the 37-year-old skyscraper.

Enlarge This Image

Gruzen Samton Architects

A rendering of the room that will house a cogeneration plant on top of Cooper Union’s landmark Foundation Building.

With tenants defaulting and lenders withholding credit, this might not seem the opportune time for landlords to be getting into energy recycling. But Vornado Realty Trust, which owns One Penn Plaza and 27 other office buildings in New York City, is among the small but growing number of commercial landlords in the area that are installing the energy-efficient power stations known as cogeneration plants, or cogens for short.

Unlike conventional power stations, which let excess heat dissipate into the air as exhaust, cogens reuse that cast-off energy for heating and cooling. Given the improved efficiency, combined with government incentives and rising electricity costs, some landlords are now finding it cost-effective to install cogens and generate their own power.

The Related Companies, a large residential developer, recently installed a cogen at Manhattan Plaza, a huge 1970s housing complex in Midtown. Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art is constructing one at its new academic building, a futuristic structure designed by Thom Mayne. And the Durst Organization has installed a cogen plant at One Bryant Park, a new office tower near Times Square.

The appeal is simple: cogens help landlords lower energy costs. “You start to see savings on monthly bills right away,” said Clark Wieman, Cooper Union’s planning director. He said that the new generator would cost eight cents a kilowatt-hour, roughly half the cost of buying electricity from Con Ed.

For landlords, the assurance of on-site power also provides added comfort. “Backup power is another amenity we offer to our tenants,” said David R. Greenbaum, president of Vornado’s New York office division.

Cogens are also considered greener, because they lighten the demand on Con Ed’s older, dirtier plants and generate as-needed energy on location. Indeed, only 40 percent of each watt that Con Ed generates reaches the customer, according to Thomas W. Smith, the chief executive at Endurant Energy, the consulting firm managing the One Penn Plaza installation, mainly because much of it is lost when the electricity is generated.

By contrast, the cogen at One Penn Plaza is expected to attain efficiency levels as high as 80 percent, according to Mr. Smith. That translates roughly into 2,800 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions that are offset each year. And the captured steam will replace a fifth of the centralized steam that now controls the temperature of the building.

“This is changing how buildings generate power, and helping the city alleviate a huge problem in getting power to buildings,” Mr. Smith said.

The technology behind cogenerators is straightforward. According to the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, a federal research center affiliated with the Department of Energy, power generators that recycle excess heat have been around since the early 20th century, mostly in giant factories. But in recent years, as high-tech Internet hubs and other power-hungry industries have strained the aging electricity grid, the demand for smaller, fuel-efficient cogens have grown.

Office buildings in Manhattan, which sit over gas lines, were a natural market. In fact, cogens were cited by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg in 2007 as a key component of his ambitious blueprint to reduce the city’s greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent by 2030.

The Durst Organization, a prominent landlord in Midtown, leapt first. Its cogenerator at One Bryant Park, a glassy 54-story skyscraper rising at the corner of 42nd Street and the Avenue of the Americas, is scheduled to come online this summer. Durst expects the 4.6-megawatt cogen to power as much as 35 percent of the building during peak hours.

Last year, Related Companies removed nine parking spaces at Manhattan Plaza, a 1,689-unit complex on West 43rd Street, and installed two 350-kilowatt cogens, which it plans to turn on next month. Related, which pays for tenants’ utilities, expects to save $350,000 a year, and recoup its costs by 2012. “There should be no impact to the tenants,” said Nick Lanzillotto, an operations manager. “They won’t even know it’s happening.”

Related also installed cogens with microturbines, smaller versions of the conventional engine, at Tribeca Green, an apartment complex in Lower Manhattan.

While New York State offers a range of incentives through its Energy Research and Development Authority (Vornado, for example received a $2.5 million package for One Penn Plaza), the upfront cost can turn many landlords pale. Vornado’s plant at One Penn Plaza cost $18 million.

The steep price can make even well-endowed, green-minded places like Cooper Union hesitant. Instead of footing the bill for the cogen at its new academic building in the East Village, Cooper Union hired an outside company, Office Power, to build, own and operate the generator.

Cooper Union now wants a cogen in its landmark Foundation Building. “Earlier, the board did not want to spend on something that had not been proven,” Mr. Wieman said. “But we learned that the payback made sense.”

An Illustrated Guide To The Latest Climate Science

"The anti-science crowd use smoke and mirrors to distract as many people as possible, but the rest of us need to listen to the science and keep our eyes on the prize — reversing greenhouse gas emissions trends as quickly and rapidly as possible."

Click here to read, learn, and decide
From Climate Progress

Farmers Are The Founders Of Civilization

From our friend Madhava Ghosh's blog "View From A New Vrindaban Ridge"

From an email I received:

“When tillage begins, other arts follow. The farmers, therefore, are the founders of human civilization.” Daniel Webster

Which echoes Prabhupada when he says:

“Without protection of cows, brahminical culture cannot be maintained; and without brahminical culture, the aim of life cannot be fulfilled.”

Srimad Bhagavatam 8.24.5

Cow protection includes agriculture because the dung is used for fertilizer and the bull used for traction. Not slaughtering animals is a specific feature of true Vaisnava agriculture.

A follow up email I received:

I found the original quoted extract in the last paragraph of a speech Daniel Webster delivered to the Massachusetts Legislature (Boston, 13 January 1840):

“Let us never forget that the cultivation of the earth is the most important labor of man. Man may be civilized, in some degree, without great progress in manufactures and with little commerce with his distant neighbors. But without the cultivation of the earth, he is, in all countries, a savage. Until he gives up the chase, and fixes himself in some place and seeks a living from the earth, he is a roaming barbarian. When tillage begins, other arts follow. The farmers, therefore, are the founders of human civilization.”

The speech is printed in its entirety in The Works of Daniel Webster, Vol. 1, 7th ed. (Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1853), pp. 443-457 . (See enclosed attachment.) This lawyer and politician had a great interest in and knowledge of agriculture. He discoursed confidently on crop rotation and fallowing, the importance of manure, winter feeding of livestock, the best breeds of sheep and cows, etc.

Of course, his perspective was not that of a Vaishnava; he viewed as normal the raising of animals for slaughter, for example, but the bulk of what he said seems quite intelligent. His stamina and productivity were amazing; at one time he was employed for a dollar a day as the principal of an academy while working as a recorder of land deeds and also studying law in his spare time!

ISCOWP Update-February 2010

This has been a harsh winter. Due to heavy snow fall we did not have electricity for one week and the road to our farm has been snowed in 3 times for a few days each time. Just walking to the barns through the snow in the cold temperatures tests one's energy levels and fitness. We bought a generator to pump the well that feeds the cow's barn since we needed the water for the cows. This made us think of revisiting the idea of windmills as we have the hills to catch the wind. But we also have to revisit the idea of replacing the barn roof for the old barn. Most of its tin roof is 45 years old and leaks due to holes. And the way it was constructed creates a dip in the center of the roof where heavy snow can collect. When we priced the roof in 2008 its cost was $9000. Balabhadra suspects it will be a bit more now but will research it when he gets back and we will let you know. Speaking of harsh, cold weather, Balabhadra visited some even colder locations where cows are being protected. Read about Belarus and Ukraine in this e-newsletter or our facebook page. Haribol! Chayadevi (Irene M. Dove) ISCOWP Co-Managing Director		In This Issue February 2010 ISCOWP Cows In the Winter Belarus/New Vraja Mandala Ukraine, Bezvodnoe Village 20 years later Quick Links Contact Us Find us on Facebook www.iscowp.org How you can help ISCOWP Cause on Facebook
ISCOWP Cows In the Winter We have had a few sunny, visibly beautiful winter days. The cows have been patient and calm. As long as they have enough to eat they can tolerate the harsh winter. Just the other day, Balaram broke out expecting to find something better to eat on the other side of the fence. But he quickly realized that there was only snow, snow, snow. No other cows even bothered to break out with him. In this photo, Kalki is enjoying the winter sun along with some of her herd mates. There is expected another snow storm by the end of the week. When all this snow begins to melt we will have a more than usual muddy farm in spring. At least the water table will be sufficient for the garden as in some years back there was not enough snow in the winter to create sufficient water table levels and not enough rain in spring and summer, a near drought condition. The cow barns with the old barn in the middle. It is connected to the new barn on the left. Yamuna received some special treats of jaggery and black sesame seeds sponsored by Dipesh Sidapara. Actually the whole herd received the same treats. They were the most popular treats yet. Even Rudra wanted one. The cows eat only hay in the winter and it is not as tasty as the clover, herbs and fresh green grass of spring and summer. So to get treats breaks the monotony for their tongues's taste buds. They also love their water, and as we have excellent water they are quite happy to drink. T The road out of the farm after it was plowed. Rudra loves the snow. Belarus/New Vraja Mandala Farm Written by Balabhadra das Walking the 800 meters (1/2 mile) to the farm in -30 celsius temperatures (-22 degree fahrenheit) From the old village we had to walk the last 800 meters to the New Vraja Mandala farm as the snow was too deep and the devotees didn't have a 4 wheel drive vehicle. It is beautiful country, but very cold.....-30 C. Despite the harsh conditions the 56 cows are in good health and cared for nicely They are very friendly due to being taken care of with lots of love. I spent some time with Ananda dasi to give her some more hands-on tips on working with oxen. Since my last visit in 2008, I have been working very closely with the devotees in Belarus to encourage them to become more and more involved in their cow program. Several festivals have been held at the farm and now the devotees own 3 homes in the village close to the farm with other devotees negotiating to buy more of the old village homes. Repair work is ongoing in the barn as well as added shelter being built for the cows. The electricity is now back on and water is now available for the cows on site. Without electricity to run the pump the cows were just left to fend for themselves while out grazing. The devotees have started an Adopt-A-Cow program with close to ½ of their cows being adopted. The men meet on a regular basis and are laying plans for 2010 development at the farm. I am very pleased with the progress. Its so nice to work with young oxen who are well behaved. They are very loving and receptive. After a cold morning with the cows and oxen we returned to Radharani house in the village for lunch. About 20 devotees came for dinner after a cold day of serving the cows. During dinner we talked about setting up a Facebook page for the farm. That evening Vishwambhar Prabhu set up a page under his wife's name....Prabhavati devi dasi. Check it out. The herd keeping warm while getting plenty to eat Ukraine, Bezvodnoe village Written by Balabhadra das Bezvodnoe is a small village close to Nicoliev. On good roads it takes a little over 3 hours from Odessa. The weather was very cold and the roads were basically a sheet of ice and snow with many pot holes. It took us 6 hours to reach Nicoliev safely but very tired. The cows are of of a local breed and friendly. There are 2 small barns and one big barn. When the big barn is completely finished all 22 cows will move into the big barn Nina(Balabhadra's secreatry in Belarus)receiving a kiss. Mostly we talked about developing rural Krsna Conscious communities and devotional cow care and working the oxen. Bhakta Oleg and his wife Bhaktin Tanya and daughter Godavari are the driving force behind the development of their village. They have 26 cows and oxen. I think there are 16 devotees there and they are trying to fix up old village houses and build some new ones. They have one green house which produced a huge amount of vegetables last year, plus many fruit trees and berry bushes which are well established from days of yore. They are slowly buying up properties in the village and eventually plan to have a school. Bhakta Oleg is a business man and is the one financing everything....he is also a cow man and has a heart of gold. Dhanesvara das had invited me to come to speak to the devotees about cow protection and training oxen. If you are interested in knowing more about the development of Varnashrama (development of village life based on Vedic principles) in Ukraine or wish to attend the Varnashrama Festival March 26-28 you may contact Dhanesvara. The enthusiastic Ukraine devotees. The big barn. One of the milking cows. 20 years later Twenty years ago this coming March, ISCOWP incorporated for the purpose of spreading the knowledge of cow protection and related agricultural practices. During this year, we will have a random picture from the past with a description in every monthly update. This picture is one our most published photos. It was taken in 1996. We were invited to come to New Vrindavan to give a demonstration of ox power and to speak about cow protection. We were excited as we were also checking out the possibility of joining forces with the NV cow program. It was Memorial Day weekend which traditionally attracts many guests to NV. We arrived in our school bus towing Vraja and Gita in a trailer behind us. I remember the hilly winding road specifically from Moundsville to the temple which can be a bit scary when you are hauling 2000 pounds behind you with an old school bus. It was always a gargantuan effort to bring the oxen to different events but in those days Balabhadra had the strength of an ox and Baladeva and Lakshmi (our teenage children) traveled with us giving more experienced strong hands to handle the huge oxen. The picture shows Balabhadra giving a hands-on seminar with our first and most famous team Vraja and Gita on the grounds of the NV temple.
© 2010 The International Society for Cow Protection, Inc. (ISCOWP) All Rights Reserved. This is an authorized email of the official International Society for Cow Protection, Inc. (ISCOWP) incorporated in 1990 as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, tax-exempt charitable organization, located only in Moundsville, WV, USA. ISCOWP and the Lotus/Cow symbol are registered service marks of the International Society for Cow Protection, Inc