Is the Age of Oil coming to a close?

Image via Tumblr (Flickr)

Two very different stories about oil production in Canada…

Story 1 – http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_vehicles/why-clean-cars/oil-use/what-are-tar-sands.html

Story 2 – http://www.oilsandstoday.ca/whatareoilsands/Pages/QuickFacts.aspx

Original image credit: kris krüg http://bit.ly/1niNBQO

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Does Your Home Have A Radon Problem?

radon (Photo credit: oparvez)

The following comes from a Canadian source, but it seems the Radon threat is just as bad in the US. Scientists generally agree that Radon is the second mostly likely cause of lung cancer, after smoking. The real horror, however, is that Radon occurs naturally in the soil, beneath unsuspecting homeowners. — MC

By News Canada

All homes contain some radon gas. The question is whether your home’s radon level presents a danger that can be avoided. The amount of radon gas present in your home will depend on various factors such as soil characteristics, geographic location, a home’s construction type, foundation condition, and weather.

It’s almost impossible to predict your home’s radon level based on these factors, but the good news is that a simple test can tell you if you’re in the safe zone or not. There are a number or testing kits available to the Canadian public. Health Canada recommends that the radon test performed in a home or public building be a long-term measurement for a minimum of 3 months.

Alpha Track

These detectors use a small piece of special plastic or film inside a container with a filter-covered opening. Air being tested diffuses (passive detector) or is pumped (active detector) through a filter covering a hole in the container. At the end of the test period the container is sealed and returned to a laboratory for analysis. The testing period of an alpha track detector is usually 1 to 12 months.

Electret Ion Chamber

Two versions of this detector exist: one for short-term tests of a few days or weeks and another for tests of several weeks or months. The detector is exposed during the measurement period, allowing radon to diffuse through a filter-covered opening into the chamber. Results can be read in the home using a special analysis device, or mailed for laboratory analysis. This type of detector can be deployed for 1 to 12 months.

Continuous Monitors

This detector plugs into a standard wall outlet much like a consumer carbon monoxide detector, and continuously monitors for radon. It allows the homeowner to make radon measurements in different areas of the home. After being plugged in for an initial period of 48 hours, the device displays the average radon concentration continuously. This convenience comes at a price though: continuous monitors are generally more expensive than other radon-testing devices.

Charcoal Detectors

Like most testing kits, charcoal detectors need to be exposed to home air for a specified time period. Charcoal detectors consisting of a charcoal-filled container covered with a screen and filter are exposed to a home’s air for two to seven days. They are then sealed and sent to a lab for analysis.

You can find Canadian radon testing service providers listed in the yellow pages, on the Canadian Radiation Protection Association (CRPA) website at: http://www.crpa-acrp.com/biz_directory/radon/ or on the National Environmental Health Association (NEHA) website at: http://www.neha-nrpp.org/Canada_Measurement.html. You can also find out more about radon at Health Canada’s website, http://www.healthcanada.gc.ca/radon, where you can order the free booklet Radon – A Guide for Canadian Homeowners.

All homes contain some radon gas. The question is whether your home’s radon level presents a danger that can be avoided? The amount of radon gas present in your home will depend on various factors such as soil characteristics, geographic location, a home’s construction type, foundation condition, and weather.

It’s almost impossible to predict your home’s radon level based on these factors, but the good news is that a simple test can tell you if you’re in the safe zone or not. There are a number or testing kits available to the Canadian public. Health Canada recommends that the radon test performed in a home or public building be a long-term measurement for a minimum of 3 months.

Alpha Track

These detectors use a small piece of special plastic or film inside a container with a filter-covered opening. Air being tested diffuses (passive detector) or is pumped (active detector) through a filter covering a hole in the container. At the end of the test period the container is sealed and returned to a laboratory for analysis. The testing period of an alpha track detector is usually 1 to 12 months.

Electret Ion Chamber

Two versions of this detector exist: one for short-term tests of a few days or weeks and another for tests of several weeks or months. The detector is exposed during the measurement period, allowing radon to diffuse through a filter-covered opening into the chamber. Results can be read in the home using a special analysis device, or mailed for laboratory analysis. This type of detector can be deployed for 1 to 12 months.

Continuous Monitors

This detector plugs into a standard wall outlet much like a consumer carbon monoxide detector, and continuously monitors for radon. It allows the homeowner to make radon measurements in different areas of the home. After being plugged in for an initial period of 48 hours, the device displays the average radon concentration continuously. This convenience comes at a price though: continuous monitors are generally more expensive than other radon-testing devices.

Charcoal Detectors

Like most testing kits, charcoal detectors need to be exposed to home air for a specified time period. Charcoal detectors consisting of a charcoal-filled container covered with a screen and filter are exposed to a home’s air for two to seven days. They are then sealed and sent to a lab for analysis.

You can find Canadian radon testing service providers listed in the yellow pages, on the Canadian Radiation Protection Association (CRPA) website at: http://www.crpa-acrp.com/biz_directory/radon/ or on the National Environmental Health Association (NEHA) website at: www.neha-nrpp.org/Canada_Measurement.html. You can also find out more about radon at Health Canada’s website, www.healthcanada.gc.ca/radon, where you can order the free booklet Radon – A Guide for Canadian Homeowners.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/wellness-articles/does-your-home-have-a-radon-problem-1961379.html

About the Author

For over 25 years, News Canada has been providing the media with ready-to-use, timely, credible and copyright-free news content. Editors, broadcasters, web and video content providers rely on News Canada for newsworthy content to effectively enhance their websites, newspapers and broadcasts. Content is made available to you, the media, in the format you need, when you need it.

www.newscanada.com

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Poll shows India worst place to be a woman

Young woman from Tamil Nadu near Mahabalipuram, India Français : Jeune femme du Tamil Nadu près de Mahâballipuram, Inde (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Special to Earthpages.org

India is the worst place to be a woman among the world’s biggest economies and ranks even lower than Saudi Arabia, according to a global poll of experts released by Trust Law, a Thomson Reuters Foundation service, on Wednesday.

It declared Canada the best place to be a woman, while even Indonesia, South Africa, Mexico and Turkey fared better than India. “Infanticide, child marriage and slavery make India the worst”, the poll concluded.

“In India, women and girls continue to be sold as chattels, married off as young as 10, burned alive as a result of dowry-related disputes and young girls exploited and abused as domestic slave labour,” one of those polled was quoted as saying.

The Gender Inequality Index has also reportedly ranked India among the worst places for women.

India ranked at 141 among 165 countries analyzed by Newsweek magazine in the treatment of women, which was published in September.

Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, argued that although India was on track to become a global power, but her new power and prosperity had remained evasive for many, especially women. Despite economic miracle, women in India continued to face inequalities in opportunities which blocked them from fully participating in the growth process. It was blight on a country, which prided herself on having joined the league of hottest growth economies.

Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, stressed: We needed to empower our women in India; provide them better treatment under the law, better access to health-education-politics, and more opportunities for workplace participation; and open up more economic potentials for them.

Quoting scriptures, Rajan Zed pointed out that ancient Manusmriti said: “Where women are revered, there the gods are pleased; where they are not, no rite will yield any fruit.” Number of Rig-Veda (oldest existing scripture of Hinduism) hymns were said to be composed by women, and Aditi, who was sometimes referred as “mother of the gods”, found mention in Rig-Veda as a goddess.

TrustLaw reportedly asked aid professionals, academics, health workers, policymakers, journalists and development specialists with expertise in gender issues to rank the 19 countries of the G20 in terms of the overall best and worst to be a woman.

TrustLaw is a core program of Thomson Reuters Foundation, a registered charity in the United States and United Kingdom established in 1982. David W. Binet and Monique Villa are Trustees Chairman and CEO respectively of the London headquartered Foundation.

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Opinion – Olympic opening speaks volumes

Vancouver 2010 Inukshuk: janusz l / Janusz Leszczynski

Last night’s Olympic opening ceremony wasn’t my top priority. I wasn’t going to bother watching it but realized I should see what my country was up to.

After all, I graduated in sociology and should know how the Canadian Olympic officials chose to represent this country to the world.

I suppose considering the budget they did a pretty good job. But what I found sort of bush-league was how the emphasis fell on Canada’s greatness instead of the greatness of Olympic Sport.

When doing graduate work in India in the late 1980s I saw a similar phenomenon. Anything of merit in India was pumped up to emphasize how “world class” that country was.

Canada is much the same.

This might be a sign of some kind of grand national insecurity. I mean, if you’re really the best you don’t have to talk about it. You just do it… and most everyone gets that you’re number one.

Having said that, I am proud of some of the claims made about my country last night. I believe we are miles (oops kilometers) ahead of many other lands in terms of forging a working and peaceful cultural mosaic.

It’s easy to talk about the wonders of multiculturalism when you’re banning religious groups from your country or beating up on minorities. It’s quite another thing to actually live peacefully with many different kinds of peoples (and their divergent beliefs) in close proximity.

That’s probably what I’m most proud of. And it’s probably the future of not only Canada but hopefully the world.

So why the lingering social insecurity? Is it because the US media tends to ignore and sometimes mock us? And if so, who cares?

From my experience the Americans worth interacting with see past all that, just as the Canadians worth interacting with don’t construct an identity by saying “we’re not the US.”

How boring!

Defining oneself as Canadian by saying “we’re not America” is also a bit thin and hypocritical. Canadian media anchors, for example, often jump at the chance to appear ‘cool and hip’ by being on Twitter and Facebook.

Uh… what country developed those social media? Or WordPress, for that matter?

So let’s get real. Canada does get a lot of things right but also depends on the USA and many other countries to stay afloat.

It’s an international world. So why don’t we all start thinking that way?

–MC

Happy Thanksgiving, Canada!

Canadians have much to be thankful for... We enjoy freedom of religion, progressive multiculturalism and human rights, national health care, uncrowded natural landscapes and we're in the top 10 economic countries with a banking system rated #1 worldwide for stability. Let's keep it that way, Canada! Photo: MC, at flickr.com

Hindus ask Canada to urgently organize nationwide interfaith dialogue

Toronto at Night by Benson Kua

Special to Earthpages.org

Concerned at the recent religion poll, Hindus have called Canada to organize a nationwide interfaith dialogue as a high-priority.

In view of Maclean’s magazine’s recent poll “What Canadians think of Sikhs, Jews, Christians, Muslims . . .”, which Maclean’s itself calls “disturbing”, acclaimed Hindu statesman Rajan Zed today urged Canada government to form a nationwide council for interreligious dialogue, including the leaders of major religions and non-believers. Similar councils should be formed in all the ten provinces, three territories, and ten major cities.

Zed, who is president of Universal Society of Hinduism, in a statement today in Nevada (USA), said that Canada should introduce study of comparative religion in all public and private schools so that “we could understand each other better, see interrelations and inter-reliance among religions and even resemblance in doctrines.”

Rajan Zed argues that religion is a complex element of our lives and religion comprises much more than one’s own individual experience or specific tradition. God, as a sign of God’s munificence and benevolence, constructively wished presence of different faiths.

Zed pointed out, “We are all looking for the truth and we are all gravitated towards the same direction. In our shared exploration for truth, we can learn from one another and thus come closer to the truth. Dialogue will bring us reciprocal enrichment.  Dialogue helps us triumph over the biases, typecasting, and caricatures, handed down to us from previous generations.”

Rajan Zed listed cities where councils for interreligious dialogue should be formed initially as: Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Vancouver, London, Ottawa, Hamilton, and Quebec City. Later on these councils may be extended to other cities as well.

Canada, besides various Christian denominations, is home to considerable number of Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, Sikhs, aboriginal spirituality, etc., and about 16 percent with no religious affiliation. A 2006 Ipsos Reid Survey of Christian religious attitudes indicates that approximately 17 percent of the population attends a Christian church on a weekly basis. The Government observes Good Friday, Easter Monday, and Christmas Day as national holidays. Ontario funds Catholic religious education, while providing no funding for other religious schools.

Maclean’s, founded in 1905 and based in Toronto, claims to be Canada’s only national weekly current affairs magazine, which enlightens, engages and entertains 2.8 million readers. Kenneth Whyte is Editor-in-Chief. Canada, with Stephen Harper as Prime Minister, is second largest country of the world. Hinduism, oldest and third largest religion of the world, has about one billion adherents and moksha (liberation) is its ultimate goal.

Ottawa mayor forwarding request to its Street Committee for naming a major street after Gandhi

ottawa

Originally uploaded by wvs

Special to Earthpages.org

Mayor of Canada’s capital Ottawa is forwarding to City’s Street Naming Committee the request of Gandhi Monument Council to name one of Ottawa’s major streets after peace icon Mahatma Gandhi.

Right Reverend Gene Savoy Jr. and Rajan Zed, coordinators of Gandhi Monument Council (GMC) headquartered in USA, who made this request in a communiqué to the City of Ottawa, said that they would prefer the name of this proposed street to be “Mahatma Gandhi Marg” (marg means path). While Savoy is Head Bishop of International Community of Christ, Zed is the president of Universal Society of Hinduism.

Mayor Larry O’Brien, in his reply to GMC’s request, also informed that Ottawa City Council just passed a resolution that he fully supported, to raise a statue of Gandhi in a downtown park near Ottawa River. Zed and Savoy have applauded Mayor O’Brien, Ottawa City Council and citizens of Ottawa for honoring the Mahatma.

The Gandhi Monument Council is formed of Christian (various denominations), Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Jewish, Baha’i, Native American, etc., clergy.  According to Zed and Savoy, the purpose of this Council is to commemorate Gandhi’s philosophy of non-violence, his commitment to world peace, and his work for the upliftment of the downtrodden.

Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948) was one of the few men in history to fight simultaneously on moral, religious, political, social, economic, and cultural fronts. His life and thought had an enormous impact on the world, and he continues to be widely revered as one of the greatest moral, political, and peace leaders of the twentieth century.

Vibrant city of Ottawa, dominated by neo-Gothic Parliament Buildings, is one of the world’s top five sites for R&D and is home to Rideau Canal, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.