Vegans in Space (NASA)

Rose Y.Colón (finedininglovers.com, July 24, 2012); Seven, Wisdom Quarterly

Worlds in space/sky (Sanskrit, akasha) are best visited by vegans (wallpapervortex.com). Below Mars image from Shutterstock engineers at NASA’s Synthetic Biology Initiative using life to create building blocks of life instead of shipping them (via inhabitat.com).

Mars is really more hospitable than trip there

We have Buddhists in space, Buddhists from space, Buddhists sending messages from space, so why not smart, compassionate, green (environmentally-conscious) vegans? 
 
The next time NASA sends astronauts to Mars in the 2030s, they will not be eating synthetic capsules, freeze-dried food, or liquid meals. That's so last millenium.
  
On their mission to Mars, NASA astronauts will eat 100% vegan meals complete with fresh fruits and vegetables grown on the spaceship.

  

How is this possible? [A better question is, Why? Could it be that even mainstream scientists know full well that a vegan diet is the healthiest for humans particularly those under the strains and stresses of space travel, while the fiction is maintained that here on Earth we need junk food and flesh?]

It is all thanks to the research being done by NASA's Advanced Food Technology (AFT) project. 

V is for Vegan tees (OnOurSleeve.com)

Since Mars has some gravity, the AFT researchers believe astronauts will be able to chop and cook vegetables and even grow their own plants with hydroponics using recycled water.

 

The six to eight astronauts who will participate in the Mars mission will require enough food for three years. Mars is so far away that NASA will not be able to send food every six months like they do for the International Space Station. Neither will they be able to preserve meat or dairy for such a long period, according to senior research scientist Maya Cooper. 

 

That is why Cooper and her team have come up with a menu of 100 vegan recipes. According to this video, NASA is still working to ensure the astronauts have healthy and varied meals.It is not clear how talented a chef will be onboard to prepare these recipes, but if this animated 3D short film is any indication, the astronauts are in for years of treats. AP/FDL VIDEO

(GoVeg.com)

 
Inhabitat:

• NASA harnessing the power of microbes to create building bricks on Mars
• How "soft infrastructure," like wetlands and green roofs, could save NYC
• Our World: giant pixelated LEGO map built from 1 million bricks!
• London’s Earth creature is super adobe dome by city’s smallest architects
• INTERVIEW: Architecture for Humanity’s Co-Founder Kate Stohr 
• "World’s Most Sustainable Gas Station" in the Netherlands
• UK scientists developing autonomous flying honey bee robots!

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McDonald's goes vegetarian for India (video)

Tiffany Hsu (LATimes.com, Sept. 4, 2012) UPDATED
(NextVictim09) The evil Ronald McDimmu HamBorgir does something good for a change. (Norwegian black metal by Dimmu Borgir).

 

McDonald’s, that carnivore’s haven of beefy Big Macs and chicken McNuggets, is going vegetarian.

The fast food giant will open its first non-meat restaurant next year in India, in the Sikh holy city of Amritsar. The branch, to be located by the much-visited Golden Temple, will serve herbivore options tailored to the country’s cultural tastes, according to AFP.

 

Much of the Indian population avoids certain types of meat. Hindus consider cows sacred and don’t eat beef, while Muslims avoid pork. Indian McDonald’s restaurants already feature much less meat than the chain’s locations in other countries.
 

The company’s bestseller in India is the McAloo Tikki burger, which features a fried potato patty and is responsible for a quarter of sales. The chain has fewer than 300 branches in India -- a growing market for fast food that has already attracted competitors such as Subway, KFC and more.

  

Research in recent years suggest that Indians spend a quarter of their income on food, compared to the 1.5% they shell out for health issues.

  

Next up: Another vegetarian McDonald’s planned for Katra, a town near the Hindu pilgrimage site of Vaishno Devi.

The company has long customized menus to its host country. There are kosher McDonald’s in Israel and Buenos Aires, McBaguettes in France, McArabia pita-style sandwiches in the Middle East and more. More

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Buddha Boy eats, drinks, speaks (video)

Team Palden Dorje; PaldenDorje.com; Seven, Dorrian, Wells, Wisdom Quarterly

On April 11th, 2012, at 1:32 pm local time [Wisdom Quarterly's spiritual hero] Buddha Boy (aka Ram Bahadur Bomjon, now Maha Sambodhi Dharmasangha guru-jii, formerly Tapaswi Palden Dorje) took wholesome food and water offered by his assistant monk named Buddha.

   

Why do we revere a guru?

Martilmb (LandOfMedicineBuddha.org); Amber Dorrian, Wisdom Quarterly

Buddha Boy takes offered food (TeamPaldenDorje)

According to many Buddhists, particularly Mahayanists, the purpose of this life is to help others. This is more pronounced in a subdivision of Mahayana known as Vajrayana. Bodhisattvas and Vajrasattvas help free all sentient beings from the suffering they experience and to lead them all to peerless enlightenment, a state beyond sorrow. But in order help sentient beings, first we ourselves must reach enlightenment (becoming at least stream enterers). In order to do that, we need the twin tools of compassion and wisdom. the best teachers are those accomplished in these qualities. There is an ancient Indian devotional practice called guru puja ("worship" or devotedness) to connect with such the guru (teacher) and thank him/her for teachings given. Northern California's LOMB performs such rituals. And at the end of June 2012, the "Relics Tour" comes to LOMB.

2012 Dharma Speech

English translation edited by Wisdom Quarterly

Buddha Boy's Maitreya Puja (paldenjorje.com)

(March 21) Having followed the path of the true Dharma in search of purest path, I am giving the timeless message at the world Peace Maitri Puja (Loving-Kindness Devotional). It lovingly benefits all Dharma-loving followers striving for the liberation of all sentient beings from suffering and pain. This takes the form of the Guru-Marga (Path of following a Teacher). The Bodhi Shravan Dharma Sangha (Enlightened Wanderer Liberating-Truth Community), which was established having arrived on Earth 35,000 years ago according to the Maitri Calender. Just as a flower without obstruction freely offers its beauty and fragrance to the entire universe, so should humans eliminate from their lives attachment (clinging), anger, greediness, craving for sensual desires, pride, wrath, violence, killing (motivated by aversion or fear), and other defilements. For unless one cultivates the true Dharma's precepts, the fragrant flower cannot blossom. These things are obstructions, obstacles, hindrances.
   

Buddha Boy addresses followers June 4th, 2011

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Beauty: Sun protection without toxic Sunscreen

Amber Dorrian, Yogi Seven, Ashley Wells, Wisdom Quarterly

Diet, water, yoga, mood, and melanin all protect the skin (Yoga Coop/Wisdom Quarterly).

Lauren Gott writes in response to Sunscreen is toxic! Protect skin with food: What do you recommend for redheads? I am practically a raw foodist (uber healthy), and I just cannot get away without using sunscreen, as well as, covering up with clothing, hats, etc. I use Devita sunscreen from Whole Foods.     The reason the skin burns is not because of the Sun. It burns as a result of an interaction between the Sun and bodily acidity. This used to be true, but the Sun we have today is not the Sun we once knew.     It used to be enough to alkalize the body; that would keep us from burning. NOTE: alkalizing the stomach is not the same as alkalizing the body.    Use PH test strips in the morning on saliva and urine to check how alkaline the body is. The stomach needs to be acidic when eating. It is a lack of stomach acidity that leads to poor digestion. Poor digestion is very acidifying.    Sun worshiping ages skin (shareitfitness) What is mistakenly called "acid stomach" is remedied by proper food combining (the opposite of Food Complementing), taking digestive enzymes not alkalizing agents (mineral tablets like Alka-Seltzer or Tums).    The protective ozone layer we once enjoyed between us and the Sun has been attenuated and in some spots completely destroyed. Many more harmful rays are coming through. So it takes more to protect ourselves from the harmful rays of the skin. SUNSCREENS BIOHAZARD.com Treat sunscreens as hazardous waste VIDEO: Chemical sunscreens cause skin cancer CDC: Toxic chemical ingredients in sunscreens Why use dangerous chemicals for beauty? Hormone disruptors, toxins in sunscreen 4 out of 5 sunscreens may be hazardous (helpfulhealthtips.com) Everything the sunscreen industry warns about why we need protection is true. But sunscreen does NOT offer the protection we are led to assume. It harms via endocrine disruption, xenoestrogen exposure, and toxic load. Used as directed, one cannot go stand in the Sun. That is not even the claim it makes; yet, that is how we treat it. The ingredients are extremely toxic, carcinogenic, free radical producing, prematurely aging, misleading, and best avoided.     For example, nano particle size minerals seep through the skin and do unknown harm. Other ingredients react to sunlight and age us prematurely. Titanium dioxide, a major ingredient in "screens" and "blocks," reacts to sunlight creating destructive free radicals. These astonishing facts are no longer secret. The SPF number is not regulated or overseen by any agency. It is more of a ballpark figure. What to do instead? Want flawless beauty? Learn photo retouching. 1. FEED THE SKIN. Make your own sunscreen creams. Use fresh aloe, organic cucumber, hemp oil, genuine Vitamin E, chia seeds. Blend. Keep in glass. Refrigerate. It is super cooling and healthy for the skin. Add color with beta carotene (e.g., carrot juice). Or try prickly pear and raw nopal gel. Real cocoa butter (preferably raw and available at health food stores), shea butter, or unrefined avocado oil are also good to keep moisture in and the skin smooth. Melt cocoa and shea before blending by holding them close to the body. Avoid chlorine, which is aging and drying; use a shower filter. 2. COVER UP. Stay out of direct sunlight, particularly at midday when rays are striking directly. This means wearing simple protection: wide brimmed hats, light colors which are more reflective (and even when sheer tend to provide more "SPF" than toxic ointments). 3. CHILL. Stay relaxed. Even a great diet will have a tough time countering the effects of anger, envy, resentment, distress, worry, and other acidifying conditions. Drink cooling drinks, which means NO added sugar. Sweeten with green stevia or real fruit. There is as much sugar in a glass of processed orange juice as a soda. Eat oranges instead. Eat whole berries of all kinds, fresh or frozen. Drink a gallon of water a day, preferably distilled, to stay hydrated and cleanse toxins. Dr. Leonard Coldwell recommends adding a teaspoon of pink Himalayan salt to remineralize it. Avoid plastic and aluminum containers. Glass and metal are safe. 4. UNTAN. Do not tan. There is generally enough Sun damage occurring to ever go seek it out  in a machine or on the beach. This has become true even in northern climes. The East Coast of the United States gets plenty of Sun earlier in spring and throughout the summer. Due to climate chaos warming is moving up, and plants and animals are slowly migrating north. Ethnic beauty Barbie (kattisdolls.net) 5. GO GREEN. Eat as many greens as possible. Eat sea vegetables. Every meal should have something green. Food Combining is eating the right foods together. What makes them "right" is that they are able to be digested in the presence of each other. (Food Complementing is completely different and should NOT be practiced. It is the mistaken notion that to make a complete protein one has to eat beans and rice, or nuts and grains, together. These foods cannot be digested together, and one ends up with poor digestion. Eat these foods separately or with greens. Eat fruits alone. Allow at least an hour between foods. Do not drink water or anything alkalizing when eating food. The stomach needs to be strongly acidic. Take digestive enzymes. Make sure the digestive tract has healthy flora (probiotics). Get tested for heavy metal toxins, and chelate them out. Green leafy vegetables can be eaten with everything without disrupting digestion. Avoid acidifying foods, which as a rule of thumb refers to anything white or processed. Real food in its unprocessed state has colors. Although hard and inconvenient for Americans, avoid all animal products (dairy, chemically treated innards such as hot dogs and baloney, eggs, and bloodied carcasses). Take Vitamin D supplements, a hormone we need that could become deficient. Lauren, Wisdom Quarterly reader Lauren Gott You're on the right track. Make sure you make the most of your raw food diet. (Avoid flax seed!) We start craving acidic and fermented foods and overdo protein, which becomes ammonia in the body and leaches out minerals like calcium and potassium and magnesium. Most raw foodists eat too many "processed" foods. Eat close to the Earth, actual raw food not just conveniently packaged chips and what not. There are three things that destroy enzymes, which are the main benefit of raw foods: heat, air, and light. Most raw foodists only concern themselves with heat. And the biggest piece of advice? Use sunscreen that you make yourself. The unbelievable truth is, you shouldn't put anything on your skin that you wouldn't put in your mouth. The skin absorbs straight into the bloodstream better than the digestive tract. Devita is a great company, but would you eat it? Alcohols, nano particles, stearates, stearic acids, PABA, propyl parabens, and other preservatives do greater harm than we are aware. It's radical advice. But redheads are usually radical, fashion forward types who need to do more to retain that delicate and dazzling beauty. (TheTrutherGirls) Sunscreen's toxins cause skin cancer.

• Suncreen does not protect, may contribute to cancer 
• More than SPF 30 is pointless and extra toxic
• Skin cancer rising: Risk triples over 30 years
• Skin cancer risk increasing for people born in 1990s 
• Environmental Working Group report on sunscreen
• Breaking News: 2012 sunscreen facts 
• Sunscreens do not provide adequate protection 
• Information on sunscreen ingredients

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Food Review: Boca Original Meatless Chicken Nuggets.

If you're the kind of vegetarian, like myself, then you aren't a purist; preferring only the taste of vegetables. Even after 9 years of being vegetarian; I miss the taste of meat--yes, I know, a lot of vegetarians think that is blasphemy but it's purely about flavor. I don't want to kill or be complicit in the killing of animals for my food but I never hated the taste of meat. However, I do dislike the smell of cooking meat but I think that's from the animal fat burning.

Anyway, so, I eat faux meat products--in other words, fake meat products, to get my meat taste fix. These products are usually made from soy bean protein and wheat protein. A lot of the synthetic meat products on the market today are surprisingly close in taste--unlike in decades past.

The product I am reviewing today is Boca brand's meatless chicken nuggets; the actual name is, "Boca Original Meatless Chik'n Nuggets." I like to use them to make meatless buffalo wing chicken nuggets by marinating them in buffalo wing sauce. I usually eat the Morning Star brand of meatless nuggets, which are good but the Boca meatless chicken nuggets are better and much more scrumptious. They not only have have that real, sweet, chicken flavor but the texture isn't just a clump of soy meat. It's consistency is stringy, soft and tender like real chicken meat. It's not dry, tough, chewy or mushy like some soy protein products. I think they even taste better than McDonald's chicken nuggets--and without all the "mystery meat" questions that come-up with fast-food chicken nuggets.

Overall, they are delicious and I can't stop eating them!! Try them with barbecue sauce, buffalo wing sauce, soy sauce or cut them up into chunks to add to your salad. I give them 4 and 1/2, yummy stars out of 5--a must have for vegetarians who still like the taste of meat now and then. Please support them with your shopping dollars because we need to show these companies that we appreciate their products.

~Peace to all Beings~

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Sarah Palin and the Slaughtered Turkey.

Alaska Governor Sara Palin sitting with a dead bear carcass. Killing an animal to use the dead body for decoration is disrespecting life in you want my opinion.

On Thursday, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin appeared in Wasilla in order to pardon a local turkey in anticipation of Thanksgiving. This proved to be a slightly absurd but ultimately unremarkable event. But what came next was positively surreal. After the pardon Palin proceeded to do an interview with a local TV station while the turkeys were being SLAUGHTERED in the background!! Seemingly oblivious to the gruesomeness going on over her shoulder, she carries on talking for over three minutes. Watch the video below to see for yourself. Be warned, it's kind of gruesome.James: Yes it's gruesome but it should be gruesome because we're talking about slaughtering another living being. People should be able to stand watching the animal that they are about to eat on Thanksgiving be killed. If you want to eat meat then I think you should be prepared to kill the animal yourself because someone has to do that for you for every scrap of meat that you eat. If you don't think that you can do it like I didn't then you might want to become a vegetarian.

This ironically occurred while yesterday a hidden video caught workers at a turkey farm throwing the animals against the floor, kicking them and abusing them in other ways. I hardly even remember what Palin said during this video with the brutality occuring in the background.

A reporter asked Palin if she was okay with the backdrop. The Alaskan Governor answered, "no worries." As the bird's head was removed, the man looked over his shoulder at the governor and reporters and flashed a toothy grin.

I understand people having to eat meat because their survival depends upon it but now many of us can survive and live well without meat. In closing, I leave you with the words of the great Mahatma Gandhi: The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.

---End of Transmission---

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Reflections on Meat by a Buddhist Vegetarian

As some of you know, I am a vegetarian and have been for 3 years this past August. It has been interesting to watch my perceptions about meat change over this period of time. At first and for the first two years I didn't really feel sickened when I smelled cooking meat but now I do from time to time. I also sometimes have a hard time looking at raw meat or cooking meat without feeling horrified as if I was looking at human flesh.

The main reason that I decided to become vegetarian was from an immense love of animals and compassion for their suffering. I feel a very deep connection and bond to all sentient beings and feel that eating them is no different then eating my mother.

That being said, I do not, however, look down on those who wish to eat meat nor do I have a problem eating meals with meat eaters. True, I do not like the smell or the idea but I would rather try to focus on the joy of being able to come together and rejoice in the pure presence of others then focus on our differences. Yes, I could turn up my nose and walk out on dinners that serve meat but that is not the middle way. Besides I am sure that I wouldn't (and don't) live up to someone else's standards and we all have to walk our own path and make decisions that seem the most logical to us in adherence to the famous Kalama Sutra. To criticize others for eating meat is less skillful and not conducive to creating and maintaining the environment of peace for all sentient beings including my meat eating friends and family whom I love dearly just as much as any other creature.

I'm not always skillful in my life but then who amongst us is? Which reminds me of something one of my mother's fellow Christian friends said when the subject of perfection came up in a conversation. She said, "You know what they do with perfect people don't you? They crucify them."

Anyway, It has just been interesting to watch my reactions to seeing and smelling meat being cooked. It has been (and continues to be) a fascinating and worthwhile practice in mindfulness. I am still amazed at what a powerful teacher just mindfully watching our lives unfold is to us all.

~Peace to all beings~

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