Happy New Year 2008

Feed the World with your Words!

John Breen, a computer programmer, developed the Internet game FreeRice to teach vocabulary and help fight hunger.

FreeRice.com is quickly becoming all the rage for school children as well as immigrants learning English.

Breen said the idea came to him one day in his kitchen in Indiana. He was sitting with his two teenage sons, preparing the older for the SAT.

"The younger one made a mockery of the situation. He kept saying, 'he doesn't know this word, he doesn't know that word,'" Breen said. "So I decided to do something on the computer to help my son learn vocabulary words."

What Breen came up with was a word game that he thought others might like to play on the Internet. He was already operating the Web site Poverty to inform people about hunger. So, he merged the two, and FreeRice.com was born.

Here's how it works: Contestants are offered four definitions for a word; by clicking on the right definition, a donation of 20 grains of rice is made to the U.N. World Food Programme. The U.N. distributes the rice worldwide.

English teacher Michael Hughes puts the Web site up on a large interactive screen and uses the game to warm up his classes at Alice Deal Middle School in Washington, D.C.

Hughes' class raised 280 grains of Rice during a short session.

While that's hardly enough for a daily ration for a starving child abroad, it still adds up, said World Food Programme spokeswoman Jennifer Parmelee.

"FreeRice.com is up to more than 8.2 billion grains of rice, which is one heck of a lot of rice and more than enough to feed 325,000 people for the day," Parmelee said.

The Web site earns money from advertising and gives cash to the Word Food Programme. Some $100,000 has already gone to buy rice to feed survivors of a recent cyclone in Bangladesh.

Parmelee said the Web site offers a greater gift – the gift of awareness about world hunger. In just two months, FreeRice.com has driven the most Internet traffic to the World Food Programme site.

"We are all kind of dazzled by the power of a great idea — an idea that seemed to have come completely out of left field," she said.

Breen said he has hired a dictionary company to put some more words in the game, which adjusts as you are playing to different levels from zero to 50.

"I myself can't get much above level 45, and it is rare to get above level 48. But there are some people who cruise right up to level 50. So for them we are going to add some super, really ultra, tough words," Breen said.

And, he said, his son's vocabulary "has improved markedly."

Breen said e-mails are coming in from around the world from people trying to learn English to teachers and college students. He wants them to take away something more than just a few new words.

Please help me with the Intuit/Jump Start contest!

Please click HERE to vote.

Here's my story:

On April 17, 2002, in a meeting at the Texas Commission on the Arts was asked what was missing in the Austin cultural arts landscape. I promptly answered, "an architectural artisan school." And from that simple exchange a 5-1/2 year mission was born. My concept, the Texas Legacy Arts Incubator (TLAI), is an architectural artisan-based economic development model designed to incubate micro-enterprise in Texas (to start!). It is a far-reaching enterprise that will increase the kind and number of people who participate in the economic development of the larger community while improving the educational opportunities overall. In addition to the economic value TLAI will provide to the community, we will bring a wide variety of educational opportunities with the architectural artisan tradecrafts education and apprenticeship programs, which will be taught by well-known masters. The programs are primarily targeted at at-risk youth and historically disadvantaged populations. The TLAI will provide opportunities for cultural preservation, micro-business growth and development and workforce training. The first level of the TLAI architectural artisan tradecrafts training and apprenticeships will include: Stonework, metalwork, glassmaking, mosaic tile and food arts. These disciplines will teach critical path thinking & prepare participants for a sustainable life. Fast forward to now. The research is done, the land is secured, the relationships have been built & the support is in place to make this dream real. The monetary prize from this contest would allow me to more deeply focus on my role in taking this project from idea to reality.

A message from Keith Hogan

I am writing to ask you for your help to bring Tariq Baig to justice.

My name is Keith Hogan and I'm a 42 year-old man, with a physical disability. I was born with a form of Muscular Dystrophy known as Spinal Muscular Atrophy, Type II, which makes it difficult for me to move on my own. The fact of the matter is that I cannot use my hands, arms or legs, so I need assistance to do everything. To accomplish this, I employ Personal Care Attendants (PCAs) to assist me in all of my daily activities. Late last year, I hired Tariq Baig as a Personal Care Attendant.

Due to my inability to use my hands and write, I have a stamp of my signature, which I use as my legal signature. Recently, I learned that Tariq Baig had taken several checks and stamped my signature to them without my knowledge or consent. He also attempted to commit identity theft. I reported him to the Austin Police Department and he was arrested & released on bail. Afterwards another warrant was issued and in fact there are now three outstanding warrants for his arrest: a felony in Austin, a felony in El Paso and a misdemeanor in El Paso.

I cannot stand the thought of Tariq Baig taking advantage of other people living with circumstances similar to mine. Any help you can offer will be greatly appreciated. Please spread the word, he must be caught!

Thank you.

Keith

New Charges Against Tariq Baig!

We just got word that a felony charge against Tariq Baig has been issued in El Paso! He must be found before he commits these crimes again. You can learn more about the charges here, just enter "Baig, Tariq" into the Name box.

Save the world...and still have fun!

Razoo is a community united around making a positive difference in the world. Where passion leads to action, and a whole lot of collective good comes from individual contributions.

Miniature World

21 Days of Gratitude

Dear Friends,

We all know that "Gratitude" is a powerful accelerant for all "law of attraction" processes.

When the teachers from The Secret came together to speak with Oprah, Dr. Michael Beckwith explained that "nothing new can come into your life until you are grateful for what you have."

In November, the month in which Americans traditionally reserve a day to focus on "gratitude," the founders of "Prosperity from the Inside-Out" would like to invite you to take the experience of "gratitude" further by participating in our free 21 Days of Gratitude project (officially beginning 11/19/07 - so that we can have our gratitude vibration in high gear by Thanksgiving!)

If you've participated in any of our previous free online "experiments" you know that powerful shifts always take place. (Follow any of the above hyperlinks to learn more participants' responses.)

Here is what you can expect from this experience:

You'll be encouraged to focus on gratitude for five minutes a day over the course of 21-days.

You'll be introduced to online assessments that you can use to: measure your gratitude vibration at the beginning (and at the end) of the experience; measure changes in your "happiness" levels and track things that you are grateful for (plus you'll be able to access all of these web-based programs - for free - at any time in the future.)

You'll be immersed in a community of people who are choosing to focus on gratitude via daily blog posts for the 21-days.

Plus, we will also offer enhanced opportunities: weekly live 30-minute "energy attunements" and hour-long group prosperity coaching accessible by phone and web simulcast (which will also be free for all interested participants.)

At ChoosingProsperity we have faith in the power of gratitude so we have created this free program to give you a rich experience of how valuable it is to bring the energy of gratitude to life.

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity.... It turns problems into gifts, failures into success, the unexpected into perfect timing, and mistakes into important events. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow." -- author Melodie Beattie

Find Tariq Baig!

On July 23, 2007 my boyfriend, Keith Hogan, discovered that his personal care attendant TARIQ BAIG had taken several checks and stamped his signature to them without Keith's knowledge or consent.

Keith was born with a form of Muscular Dystrophy known as Spinal Muscular Atrophy, Type II, which makes it difficult for him to move on HIS own. The fact of the matter is that he cannot use his hands, arms or legs, therefore needs assistance to do everything. Needless to say Tariq's crime has had serious repercussions throughout Keith's life.

The Austin Police Department arrested Tariq in September for the first charge and he made bail so he was released. The APD filed a second charge and they have not yet arrested him again. Since that charge was filed Tariq left the country to go to the Phillipines. He returned to the United States via his hometown of El Paso and we have been informed that he is planning to move to California, thereby attempting to escape justice for the crimes that he has committed against Keith. WE CANNOT LET THIS HAPPEN!

Please keep your eyes open for TARIQ IQBAL BAIG and, if you see him, contact the Austin Police Department Warrant Office between the hours of 7:30am – 5:30pm at (512)974-5299.

Another great reason to live in Austin...

Greenling Organic Delivery was founded by organic-loving folks who know a flavorful, pesticide-free apple when they taste one. They also know the importance of buying local, healing the environment, and creating a sustainable society.

Alan Barber Presents "Sixman, Texas"

Alan Barber has been working on this film as long as I've know him...it's truly a labor of love.

Across Texas, small communities are struggling to keep their schools and towns alive. For one, the bell has tolled as they graduate their last class, ending generations of local pride and continuity. For another, a Cinderella football season promises to keep hope alive...

Sand and Stone

A story tells of two friends who were walking through the desert. During some point of the journey, they had an argument, and one friend slapped the other one in the face. The one who got slapped was hurt, but without saying anything, she wrote in the sand:

"TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SLAPPED ME IN THE FACE"

They kept on walking, until they found an oasis, where they decided to take a bath. The one who had been slapped got stuck in the mire and started drowning, but her friend saved her. After she recovered from the near drowning, she wrote on a stone:

"TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SAVED MY LIFE"

The friend, who had slapped and saved her best friend, asked her, "After I hurt you, you wrote in the sand, and now, you write on a stone, why?"
The other friend replied: "When someone hurts us, we should write it down in sand, where the winds of forgiveness can erase it, but when someone does something good for us, we must engrave it in stone, so no wind can ever erase it."

LEARN TO WRITE YOUR HURTS IN THE SAND AND

TO CARVE YOUR BLESSINGS IN STONE.

Author Unknown

The Astonishing Power of Emotions

The Astonishing Power of Emotions

My hardest day

My hardest day here is better than most people's best day.

I'm not working in a mine in the dark underground.

I get to create a world I want to live in.

I am loved and, finally, I am in love.

My work is all about engaging people in their own light and making it okay to fail.

Or succeed.

I do have moments when I wonder if it is all worth the effort.

And then I realize that my life is effortless.

Like the flowers on remote landscapes that bloom with nobody watching, I continue to do my worlk merely because it is my work.

It is effortless to be me.

It is only work when I try to be less than myself.

I am the most fortunate person in the world even on my hardest day here

The Butterflication of Great Britain Boulevard

As some of you may know, we have had an unusually wet summer this year. The rain has created a bit of a 'Garden of Eden' effect in that anything you plant seems to grow overnight.

For example, we recently planted a couple of passion flower vines on the fence in front of our house. Within a month, the vines had already sent out tendrils that reached halfway across the fence...it was almost like you could see them grow. We chose these vines for a couple of reasons: they are Central Texas native and known for attracting butterflies.

As the rainy summer progressed, we saw many varieties of butterflies flitting about the vine and through the yard. We also saw many fat orange caterpillars lazily chewing the green leaves. Now, I know that caterpillars are the yin to the yang of the butterflies but they certainly didn't inspire in the same way, lol. Until one late afternoon.

One Friday I was coming home from an appointment and, as usual, had stopped to admire the butterflies playing around the vines. However, this time I noticed a caterpillar had hung itself upside down from one of the fence crossposts and was spinning itself into a cocoon. I watched for a few minutes and went inside to tell Keith. I felt like a 7 year old as I excitedly told him about the event.

Over the next week or so, the cocooned caterpillar twisted and turned each day as it grew wings and began the transformation to a butterfly. Early in the morning of day 10, I went outside to get the paper and noticed a fresh butterfly where the chyrsalis had been. The wings were dark and still wet. The butterfly seemed a little unsure of what the heck to do with them, but then a 'coach' flew by and I guess the secret of flight was shared.

Over the last month, a number of other chrysalis have appeared along the fence and we saw the process in many stages. I also learned that not all the caterpillars make the transition to butterfly. When the process is going right, the cocoon stays whitish and you see movement. When it goes wrong, the cocoon turns black and hangs heavy. It's always a little sad to see that.

It's a perfect example of what faith & fear is all about. The caterpillars enter the cocooning stage of their lifecycle out of pure instinct, they seek a way to leave the ground and fly closer to Source. However, once in their cocoons, they need faith that it will happen. Those who lose faith in the process and allow the fear of change to overtake them become stuck there. They cannot go back to being caterpillars and will never be butterflies.

How's that for a metaphor?

A thousand words....

This photo was taken over Kansas City....pretty cool huh?