Often with these economic downturns, we often forget the untold stories of the wounded that are among us that still continue to inspire us to live and go on and this is one of the stories that I like to see more often on main news.
Some of the headlines from news sites-
Globe and Mail- No safe melamine level found for baby formula
Reuters- Eating a tiny bit of melamine, the chemical responsible for a global food safety scare, is not harmful except when it’s in baby formula, U.S. food safety officials said Friday.
My jaws dropped when I read the headlines from above- FDA stated that low amounts of melamine is not harmful to adults. I am sorry, even the WHO does not recommend melamine as not harmful to adults and should be regulated to all ages. I am aware I am using double negative here. Melamine is harmful to the kidneys. It can cause kidney stones as the body tries to eliminate it, and in extreme cases, life-threatening kidney failure. There are at least over 18 food products being recalled ranging from dairy to candies. Therefore, melamine is no good for all ages.
Sources: AFP- http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gYWTr1uigoGZVg0OL7SMP494ukdQ
thewest.com.au
http://www.thewest.com.au/default.aspx?MenuId=2&ContentID=101088
More about melamine-
http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-XkmswskydqNgJZHeOSw-?tag=melamine
Picture above: 20 dollar note: © 1995 - 2008, Bank of Canada. http://www.bankofcanada.ca/en/banknotes/general/character/1969-79_20.html
There would be some thinking of the following until the past couple of months 2008 a year of financial turbulence. Would you be concerned when your bank had/have its power off, although not on their own fault, does not have a power generator to back up in case of outage? Would you be questioning if your financial data’s are safely backup already in the first place prior to any outage? Would you be wondering how banks or financial institutions would keep your information safe in the case of natural disasters?
Suggestion(s)
1. Back up generator(s)
2. Back up data
3. Banks emergency response systems
4. Any more suggestions?
One Third of the Nation- National Archives and Records Administration, Records of the Work Projects Administration
Are you eating out less frequently? Purchasing less food? Purchasing less gasoline? Purchasing less essentials? Skipping your meals and feeding your children first? Paying the bills on-time. Walking or biking everywhere? Hyper-miling? Turning your lights off and renting less videos?
Can we blame the government for the economic downturn? The Wall Street? The rich? Or the dreams of the people who would like more? Please do not get me into the socialistic system, because no systems runs like an assembly lines.
All these questions sound so sad, are they? Are we heading to the point that we are going to go back to the 1930s? Or when the days that our forefathers went through? I do not say I have solutions to global economic problems. I only see that no one policy(s) will fit all our increasingly integrated global economy that is also increasingly more complex. Our economic downtown can only be solved with groups of folks that are willing to get together. We should understand that getting together does not necessary harm our local way economies or jobs or well being.
In past history, trades from ships and horse-back were the only ways to get us to get some of the products we needed and we seems to forget that growth is part of progress and change to perhaps better change.
“The poverty of our century is unlike that of any other. It is not, as poverty was before, the result of natural scarcity, but of a set of priorities imposed upon the rest of the world by the rich. Consequently, the modern poor are not pitied… but written off as trash. The twentieth-century consumer economy has produced the first culture for which a beggar is a reminder of nothing.” ~John Berger
This past week, I passed through more than a few websites and pages that I read daily. I would say by each day, they get rather cheesier and more standout to get our attention, the audience, the customer to purchase something at the time of economic crunch time. While extras are now a luxury, and necessity are even difficult to come by, companies are for your buck-a-roos and further getting you into debt. Quite frankly, not many of us are not in debt in some way or the other. You are working to get your basic needs in tact. You do not really need most of the stuff that are being buzz all around the streetcars, poster-boards, magazines and television and Internet. We do not need to eat super size meals, while people are going hungry in the next street corner. We do need to make good choices to create good future for our next generation(s). We do need to respect the elderly that have been contributing to our society for many years and get them better care and whatever they need as they live longer.
Question: Is this the time for companies to think about the economic downturns and other social situations as they target their customers or audiences?
Article- Microsoft does not quite WOW me
Why are you loyal to certain brands/stores? What keeps you coming back?
My love and hate relationship with Starbucks. Why? Because they came out with loyalty card that one really hardly could resist due to the economic downturn. Since I am lactose intolerant and also not too many local joints do not NOT change extra for your soy or lactose free product, Starbucks does some service to reduce my prices of my caffeine and lattes. You can surf online free for a few hours with the registered card as a bonus. it depends at where you are and how well your coverage areas are.
I do not care for their bitter house coffee from Latin America. I do not care for their one block next to a Starbucks store idea. I do not care for their logos and their waste diversions, which is at best, dismal. In downtown Toronto, the garbages are not sorted out???
I really enjoy SNL, this is fun. Seeing Michael Phelps poking fun of his own 12,000 calories a day diet. He knows that no one would even can consume that kind of diet and willing to let people know that obesity is a chronic issue with or without him being aware of it. The clip video can be seen if you are in US via Hulu 
or by this website.
Anderson Cooper and Sesame Street- GNN=CNN
Walter Cranky= Walter Cronkite, Dan Rather-Not=Dan Rather
What are these at the Sesame Street, a kids show? My kids show becomes an adult poke a fun show, expect in disguise in a kids show? Is Sesame Street trying to fit into 21st century and fit into the realm of popular opinion? Recall when we made a deal about Ernie and Bert being gay? Huh, thought they were just being picked on as a kids show, but now I am not certain anymore. Are kids in need to expose popular or unpopular opinions of the day? Please, Sesame Street, bring some more musicians to learn our alphabet letters, but Anderson Cooper, please leave him to be invited somewhere else.
On average, almost 3000 people commit suicide daily. For every person who completes a suicide, 20 or more may attempt to end their lives.The theme this year is "Think globally, plan nationally, act locally." At the global level, awareness needs to be raised that suicide is a major preventable cause of premature death. Governments need to develop policy frameworks for national suicide prevention strategies. At the local level, policy statements and research outcomes need to be translated into prevention programmes and activities in communities.Statement from WHO for 2008:Statement 2008 WHO
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