In a fitting 50th written post this month, I wish to celebrate the Fiftieth anniversary of the publication of what has to be the MOST important book ever published about environmentalism – Silent Spring – by the iconic FIRST champion of everything green, Rachel Carson.

Rachel Louise Carson was born in the river town of Springdale, Pennsylvania in 1907, youngest of three children. Inheriting her abiding love of nature from intelligent and forceful mother, Maria, Rachel studied at the Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory and later Johns Hopkins University, in Baltimore, biology and the environment her undying passion.

Proving to be both a first-rate scientist and a gifted writer, Rachel began writing for the Baltimore Sun - 1936 becoming editor-in-chief for the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Throughout her scientific career, Rachel had concerns about human impact on the environment, writing the hard-hitting, award-winning bestseller The Sea Around Us in 1951, roundly condemning many practices.

In that same year, she resigned from the Fish and Wildlife Service to devote herself to her writing, becoming increasingly worried about indiscriminate use of DDT and other synthetic chemical pesticides. The end result was that, locked away in her Colesville, Maryland cottage, she wrote her book Silent Spring.

This astonishing volume provided unequivocal proof that powerful synthetic insecticides were poisoning food chains, from insects upwards. Published in September 1962, Silent Spring remains one of the most effective denunciations of industrial malpractice ever written. This iconic work is widely credited with being the initial trigger of popular ecological awareness, both in the USA and Europe.

Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace trace their origins directly to this incredibly revealing text, which had, incredibly, by the time of her death in 1964 sold well over a million copies. Despite a savage mauling from critics, Carson never wavered in her stance, her courage in sounding the alarm – her ecological vision of the oneness of all life and her fierce determination helped to indelibly shape the environmental movement, fully anticipating the 21st century global crisis.

Even the US Environmental Protection Agency can trace its existence to Carson’s work, and the extended shadow cast by Silent Spring, Carson in 1980 posthumously awarded the highest US civilian honour of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, by President Jimmy Carter.

Rachel Carson was blessed with a rare combination of gifts, in that she was both a brilliant marine biologist and a superb writer – her prose exquisite in its precision and lyricism – We have much to thank her for, in that today we are acutely aware of the fragility of nature’s food chain. 50 Fifty years publication, as the world warms, sea levels rise and coral reefs crumble, these questions asked in Silent Spring have acquired a new and urgent relevance, but do we have the will to properly address them? That still remains to be seen.

Humanity is made in the image of God, therefore, turning the human body into an object of lust is just plain wrong.

I encourage people to respect themselves enough NOT to exploit themselves. We are designed for higher things, we are the Crown of God’s creation, and in all things should honor Him.

If you are an artist, I encourage you to use your art in a holy,wholesome, and productive way, not to indulge the lustful cravings of the flesh.

Abri Castanet, in southern France, close by the Chauvet site, where the oldest known cave paintings were thought to exist, is the place where multiple images, both engraved and painted – featuring geometric figures, female sexual organs and animals have been found – and are now believed to be the earliest known wall art ever discovered.

National Academy of Sciences radiocarbon dating of the engravings show clearly that these artistic images were created 37,000 years ago, rendering them slightly older than the Chauvet art works, artists in both cases almost certainly from what is known as the 28,000 year old Aurignacian culture.

The Abri Castanet site has apparently been recognized for some time as one of the oldest Eurasian sites to feature evidence of human symbolism such as pierced animal teeth and shells, beads of both ivory and soapstone, as well as limestone slabs holding engravings and paintings.

These artworks have been traced to being the work of some of the first modern humans to have left Africa, the engravings – made on a 3,307-pound limestone block with ochre – and found in a rock shelter thought once occupied by Aurignacian reindeer hunters. Included among those engravings are images of the female vulva, along with other so-called zoomorphic and geometric images.

These images differ widely from the Chauvet examples – located deep underground, well away from living areas – Castanet art works all close to the objects used in everyday life.  In some ways, these finds lead to more questions than answers, considering that the dominant motif appears represent female sexual organs, though other interpretations are possible, of course.

Other artwork found at the site clearly does represent female sexual organs, which is something shared with other European sites – The Venus of Hohle Fels being an ivory figurine found in a south-western Germany cave, depicting large projecting breasts and a pronounced vulva between the  open legs – at least 35,000 to 40,000 years old.

There may well have been a shared cultural tradition at those times, in which an emphasis was placed on sexual attributes, though it remains unclear whether it was men or women who actually created the depictions, or even if they were used for ritualistic occasions. The significance of such graphic representation, and the role it played human society of the time, is a mystery still to be solved. 

Some Notable Quotations on Charity

Charity is one of the virtues that are essential for human co – existence and harmony. It should begin at home as a saying goes. It was one of the moral virtues that Peter admonished us to develop (2 Peter 1:7 – KJV). Virtually all the religions lay emphasis on charity. Charity is provision of help. Literarily, Charity is love. I can add that charity is love in practical terms.  It involves giving money or material things to assist someone. These can be done as an individual or a group. Today we have charitable organizations that help people in need in various areas.

Charity is kindness, humanity, compassion, goodwill, benevolence, sympathy, consideration, etc. It is very important that we should always extend charity to people when we are privileged because it could be you or me. Here are some sayings on charity.      

1. Charity is a virtue of the heart and not of the hands. -Addison

2. Charity is a virtue of the heart; not of the hands. -Anonymous

3. The living need charity more than the dead. -Arnold

4. Every charitable act is a stepping stone toward heaven. -Beecher

5. No sound out to be heard in the church but the healing voice of Christian charity. -Burke

6. Better to expose ourselves to ingratitude than fail in assisting the unfortunate. -Du Coeur

7. There is much truth in the observation that charity eases the conscience of the rich more often than it eases the condition of the poor. -Flamm

8. Charity sees the need not the cause. -German Proverb

9. Charity gives itself rich; covetousness hoards itself poor. -German Proverb

10. Charity is the spice of riches. -Hebrew Proverb

11. There can be no greater argument to a man of his own power than to find himself able not only to accomplish his own desires, but also to assist other men in theirs; and this is that conception wherein consisteth charity. -Hobbes

12. As the purse is emptied the heart is filled. -Hugo

13. The charity that hastens to proclaim its good deeds, ceases to be charity, and is only pride and ostentation. -Hutton

14. We have made the slogan “Charity begins at home” a part of our religion-although it . . . is directly contrary to the story of the Good Samaritan.  Charity begins where the need is greatest and the crisis is most dangerous. -Laubach

15. Justice forbids us to use slander or libel.  Charity goes still further: it orders us to defend absent persons against slander or libel. -L’Etoile

16. Charity is never lost: it may meet with ingratitude, or be of no service to those on whom it was bestowed, yet it ever does a work of beauty and grace upon the heart of the giver. -Middleton

 17. Charity is a naked child, giving honey to a bee without wings. -Quarles

 18. The charitable give out at the door, and God puts in at the window. -Ray

 19. True charity is the desire to be useful to others without thought of recompense. -Swedenborg

 20. He who has never denied himself for the sake of giving, has but glanced at the joys of charity. – Swetchine

 21. I hate nobody; I am in charity with the world. -Swift

 22. Loving-kindness is greater than laws; and the charities of life are more than all ceremonies. – The Talmud

 23. I rather think there is an immense shortage of Christian charity among so-called Christians. –Truman

 24. I do not give lectures or a little charity, when I give I give myself. –Whitman

Philosophically stating, living is a well-sculpted vicious circle towards acquiring knowledge of finding true happiness for oneself and everyone around us, too. It is a much wider concept than meets the eye. It is an art, the real art. 

A mere thought of achieving a great livelihood does not suffice unless backed by a keen desire to have a certain specific purpose of life. For a meaningful existence, focus on happiness beyond oneself as you can partner with the society you live in. Try hard to develop a deeper sense of understanding about the true concept of living.
True happiness comes as we shun our selfish desires and begin to attain a goodwill by aiding the helpless, needy, economically dependent people around us. Imagine how content you would be when you have helped someone with all your heart. No other feeling would ever replace it.

Every individual has a certain outlook of the purpose of their existence and thus, work within the framework which seems feasible. Challenge yourself to take the  different route and see how you really influence the world as you think beyond personal achievement. 
Life is not about wading past, but growing through it. The true art of living is not confined to a few predetermined standards of an individual, but to uplift the spirits of the socially and financially deprived people. It is about standing undeterred for the rights of people who cannot voice themselves. Enlighten the human race to make the world a better place to live in.
“Lives of great men all remind us,                                          We can make our lives sublime,                                                                                                                                       And, departing, leave behind us,                                          Footprints on the sands of time…”
Follow the major aspects of life viz., self-belief, self-confidence, constant readjustment with the changing circumstances. Be your own student, teacher,mentor, critic and an idealist in your own eye. Believe yourself to be following the right path, with a clear vision for the future and the world will follow. 
Conquer the fear of failure so as to attain a great livelihood. Prepare to learn the changing ideology and adapt accordingly with the challenges of life, there upon act without destroying your values. 
The true “ART OF LIVING” is to carve a niche for ourselves by erasing any sense of doubt of facing criticism. Going through the roller coaster ride of life, we prefer to avoid confrontations and stay calm when we are supposed to speak. In the present society, it is important to overcome the so-called stylized version of living and make an attempt to make others around us, happy. Only then can we begin to live and perfect the art of living as we may be then referred to as the saviors of Humanity. 
A sensible conclusion thus comes through the words of Carl Sandburg, “Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful, lest you let other people spend it for you.”

Lets say that a Mexican was driving a Cadillac with rims and chrome. Would you instantly think that they were apart of a gang? Many would think that way. Do you think that stereotyping is right? Whether its right or not many of us have been guilty of it. The police stereotype because of their experiences. They have been in neighborhoods where most of the calls were burglary’s,  auto thefts, or shootings. Stereotyping could be perceived as a form of discrimination. 

The media helps buid this up. They may use words like a black man robbed a corner store or a street thug was shooting in an inner city neighborhood. We must look at people as human beings and not judge them because of where they live or what they wear. Stereotyping hurts people’s feelings and may not be the best tactic to use in any situation. Just remember that everybody is not the same. When one person or a group of people are guilty, they all are not guilty.

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I breath the air and I can’t sense the happiness.

I feel as if we are not satisfied!

We are not satisfied with what we have!

We can’t just have happiness! We cant just have love!

We cant just have joy!

We have to have war! We have to have violence!

We have to have greed! and yet we look each other

and say that we love one another.

You say that but that’s a lie!

If we loved each other there

wouldn’t be the need for war, there wouldn’t be a need to die.

There wouldn’t be a need for greed…… or a need to cry.

I look to the sky and i see the hatred.

And all the love that we say we have for each other is just wasted.

Wasted away like a wealthy family’s food.

Wasted like the fruit of our soul.

Wasted like our lives in war.

I look to the sky and i see the violence,

I smell the burning of peoples skin

I hear the screams of men and women of war

And what for? To say that we are going to win.

One day we will all be able to soar.

Soar through the high heights  of happiness.

Soar through the problems in our lives.

Soar through the lives we want to live.

But to get there… We must all,

Look to the sky!

World,The world over, the vices, honor, peace, friendship, became luxury items difficult to buy.The defects were imposed ruining the good life. Money is everything and more to lack entirely perverted.

The monotony of living, wide borders of absurdity, I just opened horizons and values ​​that we never imagined, giving validity to things that were once taboo, validated in the present, not future projections.
The companies opened their eyes but venial and macabre things are worth every action reprehensible and just cut and invented other values ​​always show the degeneration that occurs.
Lying as a vehicle for any purpose to achieve the valid one who wants to be true and for whom it was a lie if he accepts and does not realize the deception.
The social damage is already done, is like going back to reestablish the priority facilities and teaching ethics and morals, hard in this globalized world that revolves around possessions and money.
The easy way he taught and minds stopped flowing, another think for me and I obeyed the commandment is universal for a side who like sheep without a sense, all are at your side without knowing where to go.
No single course and thoughts are a tragedy, complicated live always looking for material goods regardless of people, identity, relegating families and social support were now destroyed, hence the social vacuum.
As we have consumer goods, including consumer goods we consume and we drown increasingly losing all social support and becoming more distant beings communal work and retiring to a false independence, which is more detrimental to survival.
More advanced machines that human thought that decline in the greed that is destroying us. Poor humanity, just the way and no horizons to continue. Original

Eminent 95-year-old Autralian scientist Professor Frank Fenner believes that the clock of doom is ticking for humanity. This was the man who, in the 1950s infected rabbit populations with myxomatosis virus,  control their numbers, and he thinks he is NOT scare-mongering.

Fenner announced, in 1980  to the World Health Assembly that smallpox had finally been eradicted totally, seen by many as the crowning achievement of the World Health Organization, so his credentials are good, and this well-respected microbiologist has given a very pessimistic view of the future.

He is certain that the human race will die out, whatever humanity does to try making amends for the terrible swathe of destruction our species has inflicted on our home planet, fearing that whatever we do now is too late. Global warming is too far gone, and the earth is in the middle of the sixth great mass extinction event, a situation the professor sees as irreversible.

He believes such efforts to be futile, despite major efforts being made to deal with an ever-increasing world and the very real threats of both food and water shortages. Our fate is sealed, he thinks, with world population forecast to hit 7 billion next year,squeezing limited resources ever more tightly.

There is little doubt that the basic survival instinct will force, in due course, warlike humans to do savage battle over both food and water, wars in the coming decades an absolute certainty, as nations fight over ever more scarce supplies. With global droughts continuing to ravage farmland, malnutrition and poverty are becoming more common, and at some point, the breaking point will be reached.

In his opinion, humanity has already passed the point of no return where climate change is concerned, and despite having the scientific ability to tackle global problems, lack the political will to take meaningful affirmative action. There is no doubt whatever that something will have to give, in a major way, but the complete extinction of the human race seems a far-fetched notion, to say the least

These warnings, all the same, do have merit, and a century from now this world will have changed a great deal, but technological advances will always keep humanity one step ahead.  It does seem quite likely that we might see something akin to a collapse of civilization, due possibly to rapid population decline caused by some as yet unknown pandemic, but the loss of every last human on earth is such an unlikely possibility that it hardly bears considering. Whatever the catastrophe that befell our species, evolution would dictate that  a small number of survivors would still be able to eke out an existence in sheltered areas.

 That a so-called perfect storm of catastrophes could occur, leading to a world-wide mass extinction is not impossible, but humans would adapt quickly, using technology to support life in a hostile new world, if it turned out to be so, but this is as speculative as the gloomy forecast of the professor.

Living on a planet that is getting hotter, with an expanding population and resources running out is the stark reality of the present, the future still obviously a great unknown. We cannot continue to abuse resources at the current rate without being aware of the fact that optimism about the future of the human race may indeed be misplaced.