Summer Reading II
Submitted by lmcshane on Sat, 07/19/2008 - 09:03.
Last night's Bill Moyers Journal discussed the mortgage meltdown and the role of Wall Street and the Federal Reserve Bank with author William Greider--order the book from a local library on line* and educate yourself on how we got ourselves into this mess. In a word--GREED.
*(Note that PBS can't be sure on the spelling of Grieder/Greider either. The link leads you to Ohio State University, which is testing the beta version of a local worldcat application. Cataloguers correct the problem of identity with an authority control record. Look at the example of this bibliographic record. It has been FRBRized. Click on the tabs for Libraries, Details etc. If your local library does not have a copy, the record will prompt you to see other locations and offer the option of an interlibrary loan. One door).
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FRBRized
For anyone else who thought "FRBRized" referred to something to do with the Federal Reserve Bank, and subsequently searched the bibliography for some acts of conspiracy ...
FRBR stands for Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records.
I should of consulted Which Door for the reference, but I'm not sure it was cited properly. ;)
Acronym Anon
Thanks, Jeff (I think). I had no clue before, and - having looked at the definition - I still feel wickedly impeded in understanding it now.
Bill Moyers Journal was outstanding, as usual. Quiet but relentless. We always seems to make the national media with bad news stories - burning rivers, Lakewood's eminent domain (residents actually won) and now Slavic Village as poster neighborhood for the mortgage maelstrom, sucking everything down.
Touché
Touché--Jeff Schuler :)
B-A-N-K is a four-letter word
And now in America, BANK is becoming a bad word. What happened to the community investment part of the Community Reinvestment Act? I know "my bank" Third Federal is divesting itself of city properties. The Tremont and downtown branches closed last year and the only new bank location planned in northeast Ohio is in Avon. The rest of the new locations proposed are in Florida. If this information (provided by my bank) is wrong, please let me know.
Book Review: Flight of the Hummingbird
by Kristin Underwood, San Diego, CA on 09. 4.08
Image source: Getty Files
Feeling overwhelmed about the state of the planet? Read this book. Feeling like you could be doing more but don't know what to do? Read this book. Feeling like everyone is pointing and laughing because you're an eco-geek who is into recycling, composting and reusing plastic silverware? Read this book.
Flight of the Hummingbird: A Parable for the Environment, is the tale of a forest that is on fire and how the different forest animals respond to the challenge. It is often the smallest and least likely in the crowd who can make the biggest difference. The subtitle of this book should have been, 'Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.' Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas is the illustrator and each of the drawings are so appropriate and fit in beautifully with the story.
This book is something that you can buy for your child that they will come back to time and again, the older they get. The parable of the hummingbird has been passed down among the Quechan people of South America and the Haida of the North Pacific, but similar stories also exist through cultures around the world.
The book also includes commentary by two individuals who are hummingbirds in their own right - Wangari Maathai and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Maathai inspires readers by reminding them about how she started with a project planting seven trees and ended up inspiring people across Kenya to plant over 30 million trees through the Green Belt Movement. She also tells the tale of how she was introduced to the Buddhist word mottainai, which means to treat all resources with respect and gratitude, and how she now focuses on the 4 R's "reduce, reuse, recycle and repair."
The book also includes several other passages such as an essay by His Holiness the Dalai Lama praising the parable of the hummingbird. He says that its important to remember that we should have compassion for each other and for nature, which is both peaceful and gentle, but which can also be powerfully transforming. We might never know how our actions towards the plant affect each other, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try to do what is right.
There is also a note from the illustrator examining about the collective power of individual actions, as well as a note about how hummingbirds, though tiny have been used throughout cultures across the world to symbolize committed determination as well as a bringer of relief.
There is talk nowadays of environmental fatigue and environmentalism being a fad. We can't afford for this to be a fad. When you get discouraged and feel like protecting the planet is a fad, read this book. A similar parable is told about dancing with a bear, 'When you're dancing with a bear, you can't get tired and sit down. You have to wait for the bear to get tired.'
Greystone Books, the publisher, has avoided almost 1 million pounds of CO2 emissions, saved 500,000 pounds of solid waste and 14,000 liters of water by using 100% post consumer recycled paper in its books.
Flight of the Hummingbird can be found on Greystone Books as well as on Amazon.com
From: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/09/book-review-flight-of-the-hummingbird.php