My Notes from Obama's 100 day address: N America is moving forward towards greener, sustainable and global economy

There is no doubt in the fact that Barak Obama is an awesome speaker and his oratory skills have an effect which calms you down, demands that you pay attention and absorb what is being said.

I have not been able to find the full script of his speech+Q&A anywhere online. If any of the readers have an idea, please comment as I would love to attach my references with the full sentences as said by Mr. Obama.

His ease to start off and deliver facts is very refreshing to see and experience.

The first sentence which caught my attention, was the recognition that Kurds are an integral part of Iraqi demographic and referred to Sunnis as "Sons Of Iraq". This is a reality which was never recognized by the previous administration but is spoken by "the man" in office.

On current situation in Pakistan, he firmly expressed that he has complete faith in Pakistani army being fully capable of controlling the security situation and the nuclear arsenal. However, he did mention, ISI (Pakistani Intel Agency) has this age old misconception that India is their "mortal enemy". Good to hear the reality again from "the man" in office. Here is a nice write up on Pakistan's taliban situation with hidden sarcastic remarks of jihadi ideologies clashing with each other.

His superior statesman skills were in full force, when addressing major domestic issues:

• the fact that he faces resistance on both sides of the party lines with his proposals
• his position on abortion; "his a moral and ethical issue"
• recognizing that abortion is a very hard issue for women personally and that teen pregnancies are on a rise
• he wants US govt. to get out of auto/banking business ASAP (mentions high level milestones)
• his financial plan includes relief for common Americans to refinance their properties
• addressing the issue of 50% unemployment rate among the black community in New York

He did mention that green energy is part of a "new era", which will be remembered by future generations to come. Here is a quick list of all green energy programs in united states and Canada.

In middle of all the serious talk, he has the ability to bring in some smart humour.
Just check out this piece of Q&A session:
Overall, he is "surprised by the positive development in last 1 year but is troubled by the bickering that happens during big crisis".

Mr. Obama has tough tough issues in front of him, but in my opinion he has taken all the right steps in the first 100 days. Hopefully, the public and private community will allow him to fully execute this plan to bring US back as the world leader, innovator and power!

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Total Health Show 09

Finally got the chance to sit down and complete the blog around the health show last weekend. I was pleasantly surprised to discover all the choices available to torontonians around eating organic "real" food.

There were few cool ideas and few that require more research e.g. magnetico sleep pads; healing by magnets :). The best part was to learn about organic and naturally grown foods!

Harmony Organic Milk
This milk actually tastes fresh and not the watered down/chemically altered version which you get at supermarkets.

Spoke to Robert Kuenzlen from the Harmony about the natural milking process they follow and the taste definitely proves that it comes from happy cows!

Interestingly, Robert mentioned how lactose intolerance could be connected with the in-organic chemicals, multi-farm milk mixing that we find in commercially distributed milk supply.

Went to St Lawrence market and multiple organic grocers carry their milk in glass bottles - skim, whole, chocolate are just some varieties available.

Hopefully, I can connect with them and get more background info around why harmony's milk is so much better than the 4L plastic bag milk we buy everyday!

Canadian Organic Growers - Toronto Chapter
Met with Vlad and had a great chat about how they are trying to organize "organic food" producers locally by spreading market awareness, hosting special events and hosting special screenings of documentaries.

Found out about some of the organic food markets around downtown Toronto area like dufferin grove park, friends of riverdale and trinity bellwoods park. The current issue is that these markets either are open on specific days or are seasonal. Of course, St Lawrence market has organic foods available throughout the year.

One of the inspirations I took away from the chat was that all of us should cultivate a home vegetable garden, where we can use organic seeds and enjoy our harvests. Having limited space, I will start with planting a herb garden. The nice smell of rosemary, thyme and mint will definitely help naturalize the ultra dry eco-system in my condo.

Live Restaurant
Live presents itself as an organic food bar, a sit down restaurant, where you can get some tasty organic delights; dips which have goodies like avocado and flax seeds (good fat apparently). They did mention something, which a lot more Toronto based restauranters are doing; they buy all their food supplies from local farmers directly.

I am looking forward to visiting them soon, for a nice afternoon salad lunch. Maybe, I will try to score few minutes of convoso with their visionary chef!

Hearty Catering

Are you thinking of getting your next get-together catered, with vegan/organic food?

These guys specialize doing just that. I was too full to try anything from their booth, but the veg mini wraps looked very yummy!!

Now about something that did disappoint me. Vandana Shiva could not make it to event and the reason was that Canadian Govt. did not issue her a visitor's Visa from India. I am still trying to find the official reason, but if anyone knows please comment :)!

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Monsanto's experiments with natural food supply - Part 2

So yesterday, I posted about some of the failed and negative results of Monsanto's policies and business practices. But, it does not have to be negative. In the end, a higher crop yield is good for the farmer and good for our planet.

What if Monsanto:

1. Instead of forcing farmers to buy new seeds each season, charge a licensing fee, which is a % of their crop yield each season. A very sustainable process, which will give Monsanto a yearly guaranteed income.
2. With all their resources, they can research and modify seeds to use less water, natural fertilizers, have better endurance and generate higher yields; instead of taking the chemical fertilizer route.

Those are two most relevant thoughts that I have, but I am sure that Monsanto can come up with even more ways to build a sustainable business process.
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Monsanto's experiments with natural food supply - Part 1

My Monsanto awareness thought thread started after watching a very cool documentary "The Corporation". This film shows the kind of greed that has caused the financial crisis and global sufferation for millions of citizens of earth.

I just want to clarify that I don't think that Monsanto is solely responsible for the issues among farmers, but they are part of the problem and have been part of the problem for a long time.

Monsanto's Sterile Seed Program Of 90s:
India has been the leader in agricultural innovations since ancient times. Grown up in Punjab (bread basket of India) myself and having experienced the deep roots of green revolution, it is confusing to read that Indian farmers are committing suicides because of bad crop yields.

Just review this open letter from Monsanto's CEO, where they basically admit to marketing sterile seeds. The promise was of higher yields which persuaded farmers to ditch the natural, tested-tried traditional seeds. The bigger issue was that these sterile seeds would last just one season and these farmers were used to storing a portion of the harvest for the next season.

Vandana Shiva has been fighting this practice of giving up natural seeds, pesticides and using chemical pesticides with engineered seeds. Having a PhD and a Nobel laureate, I'm pretty confident that she knows what she is talking about. Check out what she has to say about the Monsanto patents here:


She will be present at the at the Health show this weekend!

Monsanto's Bovine Growth Hormone:
Shiv Chopra is famous for being the whistleblower about the negative effects of this growth hormone, while acting as the manager of Human Safety Division at the Canadian Bureau of Veterinary Drugs in 1988. His story about exposing these effects are very elaborately documented on his website. Definite read for everyone who likes to drink milk!

Check out his interview in montreal:


I can't wait to hear the panel debate at the Health show this weekend, Shiv Chopra will be there as well!

A recent article about Monsanto's GM corn, which is approved in Canada, Australia, EU, Japan, US and numerous other countries was found to increase toxicity during animal tests.

We have to demand better judgment from Health Canada and our regulatory organizations.

Empirical results are facts and should be honored. After all these magic seeds were created after empirical research, which has allowed Monsanto to patent seeds and build the un-sustainable business process.

Something that I have noticed about western nations, as compared to eastern and "backward" countries is the high level of cancer in western countries. It has to do with what we ingest on a daily basis. The engineered food is definitely one of those things!!



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Eco-Friendly, Easy Ride and Sharp Looks ... Gocycle

It is a beautiful day here in toronto, so decided to pick up my tax papers.

Although I love to walk, I kept thinking of riding a hybrid bike, which catered to both "want to get in shape Vibhu" and "lazy vibhu". Not wasting another minute, I started looking for what is out there, that is green, low maintenance and fun to use ....



This sweet thing caught my attention instantly and i love the fact:

• it has been designed by a someone who comes from LeMans racing background, Mr. Richard Thorpe
• it has a turbo button for those lazy moments
• it has side pit stop style wheels :)
  

So far all reviews are good, and people love the product.
Now need to figure out if I want to spend over 3K, on a veerrryyy cool bike ... hmmm


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Story Of Stuff - An entertaining view of our consumption habits

Ivan, who I usually refer to as "Yogi Master" at my previous professional engagement, introduced me to this excellent video.

Video explains how "stuff", which we consume daily is:

• Manufactured
• Impacts on our environment
• Who benefits
• Who Loses

Please tell all and everyone to watch at least once, to be aware :)!


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