ken atchity door to door: November 2013

Red Panda Cubs Bring Debilitating Cuteness To Bronx, Prospect Park Zoos [via Nina Reznick]

(Julie Larsen Maher © WCS)

Two sets of red panda cubs, nature's most heartwarming product yet, today make their debut at the Bronx Zoo and Prospect Park Zoo, increasing the "Awww" capital of both locations by roughly 700 percent.

The critters and their staggeringly adorable doll faces were born over the summer, with each pair consisting of a male and female. They can be found gallivanting around the Himalayan Highlands portion of the Bronx Zoo, and along the Discovery Trail at Prospect Park. Red pandas are native to the eastern Himalayas and southwestern China, but are considered a vulnerable species thanks to damage to their habitats from deforestation.

(Julie Larsen Maher © WCS)

Unlike most babies, the cuteness of red pandas does not decrease with age, as their fur remains robust and fluffy, and their faces the stuff of Wes Anderson fever dreams, until the day they depart this fragile earth.

Reposted from Gothamist

The first Stealth fighter goes to the Boneyard !!!!! [via Tom Cacciatore]

Plastic into oil [via Tom Cacciatore]

Now this is just amazing and almost so unbelievable that I just hope it’s true……When an invention like this is already up and working why don't our governments have them installed everywhere

Japanese Ingenuity -- Save your plastic ~~~

This is one of the most amazing emails and break-through in Technology I have ever seen!!!

Why aren't we doing this now?

I think we should all do what we can to save what we are destroying! Not surprised at this at all, just a case of Japanese ingenuity and perseverance.

What is more important would be the marketing and very low cost to make it mandatory to have one of these in every home.

The sound is all in Japanese. Just read the subtitles and watch.

Masculine Moments [via David Angsten]

SQUIRRELY LOVE [via Nina Reznick]

A Dying Squirrel Gets Help From a Kind Warrant Officer

You know a man is kind hearted when he shows those creatures below him utmost respect. They often say to judge a man by how he treats his inferiors, not his equals. When one warrant officer came across a dying squirrel, he not only saved its life. He became its best friend.

If this doesn’t melt your heart, we don’t know what will.

When two soldiers brought in a dying squirrel, this warrant officer decided to help the little guy out.

When two soldiers brought in a dying squirrel, this warrant officer decided to help the little guy out.

Three months after saving the squirrel, he left the army and now works as a taxi driver. He takes his squirrel with him everywhere he goes!

He even made the squirrel a bed.

Being a faithful sidekick is hard work.

Thankfully, the squirrel was completely healthy soon after being taken in.

Life is just better with friends.

Period.

SEX, DOGGY STYLE [via David Adashek]

How to tell if your dog is involved in a sex scandal

Slippery Sliders: WATCH OUT!

Slippery sliders are being caught on camera all across the country. Sometimes the perpetrator is caught red-handed, but most of the time the victim has no idea until it's too late.

KANT CAN’T CANT [via David Adashek]

MOSCOW (AP) — An argument in southern Russia over philosopher Immanuel Kant, the author of "Critique of Pure Reason," devolved into pure mayhem when one debater shot the other.

A police spokeswoman in Rostov-on Don, Viktoria Safarova, said two men in their 20s were discussing Kant as they stood in line to buy beer at a small store on Sunday. The discussion deteriorated into a fistfight and one participant pulled out a small nonlethal pistol and fired repeatedly.

The victim was hospitalized with injuries that were not life-threatening. Neither person was identified.

It was not clear which of Kant's ideas may have triggered the violence.

Killer Whale Luna Mimics Boat Sounds [via Nina Reznick]

Meet Luna, a remarkable whale. Separated from his family when he was just two years old, this orca whale lived alone off the coast of Vancouver Island, Canada. There, in 2001, Luna became known for interacting with local boaters. The amazing video above captures Luna swimming right next to a boat and mimicking boat noises. Luna's sounds are almost indistinguishable from those of the boat's engine.

Video ABOVE courtesy of TheWhaleMovie.com

Animals Like You’ve Never Seen Them Before [via Nina Reznick]

by Maria Popova

From armadillos to zebras, or what championship chickens have to do with a giant octopus.

It’s easy to take this amazing planet we inhabit for granted. While National Geographic‘s school of nature photography may have its place, there’s something remarkable and whimsical that happens when a fine art photographer takes her lens to Earth’s creatures — they become poetry. Today, we turn to five such photographers, whose portraits of animals — unusual, otherworldly, kooky, tender, charismatic — make the eye swoon and the heart sing.

ANDREW ZUCKERMAN: CREATURE

Andrew Zuckerman is one of my absolute favorite photographers working today, his Wisdom and Music projects priceless time-capsules of contemporary culture and his thoughts on curiosity and rigor as the key to creativity a beautiful articulation of my own credo. In Creature, Zuckerman brings his exquisite signature style, crisp yet tender, to Earth’s beings. With equal parts detail and delight, he captures the spirt of these diverse creatures, from panthers to fruit bats to bald eagles, in a way makes them seem familiar and fresh at once, and altogether breathtaking.

Asian Elephant
Image courtesy of Andrew Zuckerman

Six banded armadillo
Image courtesy of Andrew Zuckerman

Mandrill Monkey
Image courtesy of Andrew Zuckerman

Grant's Zebra
Image courtesy of Andrew Zuckerman

Common Dove
Image courtesy of Andrew Zuckerman

Canary
Image courtesy of Andrew Zuckerman

African Crested Porcupine
Image courtesy of Andrew Zuckerman

Blue and Yellow Macaw
Image courtesy of Andrew Zuckerman

Reticulated Giraffe
Image courtesy of Andrew Zuckerman

Reposted From Brain Picking.org

YOGA GIVES BACK November 2013 Newsletter

E-Newsletter - November 2013

For the cost of one yoga class, you can change a life.

Support 3rd annual global "Thank You Mother India" 2013!!!

The impact of your Donation!!

Through your support, YGB's direct funding program supports 240 mothers and children in India with micro loans and education funds. Among these, we support 10 groups of mothers and children in West Bengal. We received the latest updates from our local partner. Read about how each mother is starting her own income generating activity against all odds, in one of the groups. Read more here.

We are proud to introduce YGB's first corporate sponsor Pure International, headquartered in Hong Kong. As part of its Corporate Responsibility Program (CSR) initiative, the company will fund higher education for ten rural girls in West Bengal over the next five years, lending its support to "Sister Aid's" new initiative, the "SHE-Scholarship for Higher Education". Read more here.

"Pure Yoga Hong Kong is hosting its 3rd fundraiser to support "Thank You Mother India" in December, check details here.

Exciting News:

3rd Annual Global "Thank You Mother India" needs YOUR support!!

50 events in 9 countries are already scheduled before the end of the year!! See exciting global events already registered here. Join our efforts with the global yoga community to give back together.
Host just ONE event before December 31st, donate or become a sponsor. Register today here.
Your event will be promoted at YGB's website and social media. Your event photos will be included in the upcoming PR video.

Malibu Fundraiser

Thank you everyone who supported this year's annual flagship fundraiser. Generously hosted once again by Dr Armajit Marwah, which was attended by over 150 people, raising $16,000, 50% more than last year!! Thank you to all its sponsors. See event details here and check out event photos here.

UK's Om Padma is donating 100 beautiful yoga bags for YGB at the occasion of "Thank You Mother India". We are looking for US yoga studios or stores to sell them for YGB.

New Ambassadors & Representatives

YGB is thrilled to present new Ambassadors and Representatives who have joined its growing global family!!
Ambassadors

Magnolia Zuniga,
San Francisco, CA
Mysore San Francisco

Chama,
Tokyo, Japan
Tokyo Yoga

Gary Goldman,
Los Angeles, CA
Jamie's Rock

David Kim,
Los Angeles, CA
David Kim Yoga

Representatives

Chiara Condi,
Paris, France

Meng XU,
New York

New Partners

Morgan Stanley will now match 100% of donation made to YGB by its employees!!! Please spread the word to your friends at Morgan Stanley about YGB.

Baja Retreat, is offering 30% savings to YGB network affiliates, partners, clients, members etc. that will be based off a retail price of $2,499.00 for a retreat. An additional 20% of the purchase price will be donated to YGB. Enter Code-YGBBAJARETREAT13-14 has to be presented at the time of booking. Any inquiries: mailto:info@bajaretreats.com.

Holiday Gift Ideas

YGB's new fall collection also includes cool men's T-shirts, too, 100% of sales are donated by Jala Clothing. Purchase yours here.

"The Imagine Project" opens your heart and soul to the ordinary people who surround you every day-neighbors, teachers, co-workers, the clerk behind the deli counter, strangers you pass by on the street, even the homeless. YGB founder Kayoko Mitsumatsu was featured in this beautiful project. Read more at http://theimagineproject.com/. Use "Kayoko" as your coupon code when ordering and $10 will be donated to YGB!!

Use "Kayoko" as your coupon code when ordering and $10 will be donated to YGB!!

PRESS

"Changing Lives for the Cost of One Yoga Class"

Read the story here.

Anjula of "Levitating Monkey" interviews YGB President Kayoko Mitsumatsu.

"How I Grew a Grassroots Non-Profit From Los Angeles to the World"

Read the story here.

YGB Founder/President Kayoko Mitsumatsu shares how a grassroots organization became a global campaign in six years..."If you go to Yoga Gives Back’s brand-new website (www.yogagivesback.org), you would probably think that YGB is a million dollar company. The truth is, we’re an entirely grass roots organization, that started from scratch and to this day pays nobody a salary. Yet, YGB now provides over 240 mothers and children in India with micro loans and education funds with minimum five-year commitment to each person. “
Follow our new YGB Blog for updated news from around the world!!

Events
Check upcoming exciting global events for the "Thank You Mother India" campaign.

Ashtanga Yoga Confluence 2014 choose YGB as Charity Beneficiary!! Register now, space if limited.

Explore the Ashtanga Yoga tradition based on the teachings of Sri K. Pattabhi Jois. Start your day with a Mysore or Guided class followed by daily panel discussions and afternoon workshops with master Ashtanga Yoga teachers; Richard Freeman, Manju Jois, Dena Kingsberg, Tim Miller and David Swenson.

Thank you for all the past and future events,
and for making a real difference one event at a time!!

Yoga Gives Back is a 501(c)(3) Non-Profit Organization.

Question, comment, want to learn more?
Email info@yogagivesback.org.

www.yogagivesback.org

How the Government Tracks You: NSA Surveillance [via Nina Reznick]

Are Humans Inadvertently Helping Make Animals Smarter? [via Nina Reznick]

A new study shows that changes in the environment caused by people are helping animals to evolve bigger brains.

Well, chalk one up for homo-sapiens, sort of. While we've known for some time that humans have been affecting the enviroment on a global scale, one aspect of our evolutionary impact on other species might not be all bad.

In a recent study, University of Minnesota biologist Emilie C. Snell-Rood found evidence suggesting that our direct changes to the natural habitats of animals (through technologies advances, antibiotics and revised food pyramids) have caused some animals to evolve with bigger brains.

Dr. Snell-Rood studied dozens of individual animal skulls, some as old as a century, from ten different species including bats, gophers and mice. In two of the species, the white-footed mouse and the meadow role, the brains of the animals plucked from metropolitan areas or suburbs were about 6% bigger than those of the animals taken from farms or other rural areas. Dr. Snell-Rood's hypothesis after assessing the first wave of results was that brains become significantly bigger when they move to cities or bustling towns, where the animals must learn to find food in places that they're not biologically trained to encounter or expect.

An increase in brain size was also detected in two species of shrews and bats, both found in rural Minnesota, which at first seems to conflict with Dr. Snell-Rood's theory about the impact of stimulating city environments and brain growth. This leads to her second proposition, which is that this increase occurred due to radical changes in the environment brought on by the people. As farms replaced forests, the disruption in the environment caused animals to evolve, and those who survived were better at adapting and more likely to breed.

Similarly, researchers at the Uppsala University in Sweden conducted experiments in which they bred guppies for larger brain sizes, and essentially proved that animals with bigger brains tend to learn tests quicker, meaning they generally learn better.

Jason Munshi-South, an evolutionary biologist at Fordham University calls the results "exciting and deserving of much follow-up work." Such secondary research may include the breeding of small-brained rural mammals with big-brained mammals, in an effort to collect information on the genes involved in producing different brain sizes.

So, at least there is one upside to humans' impact on the environment.

Tree-Climbing Goats

In Morocco, the native Tamri goats are so enticed by the berries of Argan trees that they have become adept at climbing the branches to reach their food. Even stranger still, the goats' droppings contain seed kernels which local farmers then grind into an oil that is used in cooking and cosmetics

A Great White tagged in Florida shows up in Canada.

Yoga Gives Back

Written by Kayoko Mitsumatsu

From Posture To Power: Microcredit Changes Lives On Both Sides of the Ocean

We can talk about making change. But affecting real change in the world comes from impacting the lives of individuals. It comes from empowering people to be independent and able to make a living on their own while at the same time being fully integrated in our interdependent global community. Sometimes it takes something that seems to be radical to make this change, but these shifts can be deceptively small. They can be even as small (or as large) as the cost of a Los Angeles Yoga class.

How could this be? In the practice of microcredit, lending seemingly small amounts of money to small-scale entrepreneurs allows them to succeed and change their circumstances. This is the fundamental basis of microcredit’s transformative power; it’s a revolutionary concept in finance. This practice shifts the emphasis from financial transactions being focused only about large loans and large scale businesses, which are out of reach of many one-person operations, institutions and organizations – to lending practices that actually make a positive difference in a person’s life. Microcredit practices based on social justice and empowerment operate through a combination of small-scale loans based on trust and community support, with structured repayment plans and programs that encourage savings. In these situations, people actually have the opportunity to solidify long-term change in their lives.

Dr. Muhammad Yunus and the Yoga Gives Back Team: Joel Bender, Leslie Hendry, Dr. Muhammad Yunus and Kayoko Mitsumatsu (left-right)

In 2006, economist Dr. Muhammad Yunus and the institution he founded, the Grameen Bank, were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. This award was in recognition of their revolutionary efforts to create this micro-credit model, support sustainable economic practices, and provide an alternative to what were exploitive norms. When a person is caught in a cycle of poverty, they may become trapped in the system, particularly since large banking institutions have historically ignored people without assets or credit histories, who are just starting out and who may not have already proven themselves. Most banks prefer to lend large sums of money that represent a greater profit margin and are set up only for large loans in order to make a profit themselves. And even making it more challenging, people at the bottom of the economic scale worldwide have had to rely on moneylenders charging usurious terms and interest rates to obtain funds to plant the next crop, buy inventory of new equipment, or upgrade a business in any way. Institutions such as the Grameen Bank and their affiliates are offering another approach. It’s one that has significantly impacted millions of people.

As Dr. Yunus described in an exclusive interview with Yoga Gives Back in May, 2009, “We started in 1976, and today within Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, eight million people borrow micro loans, ninety-seven percent of them women.” This represents an enormous potential for change and empowerment that just did not exist on a large scale in this form prior to 1976.

There is a social cycle in economics, and Dr. Yunus explained this: “Poverty is not inside the person. Poverty is forced from outside. Poor people are as capable [a] human being as anybody else. They have the same power and energy, same potential. But they are denied such facilities. They cannot express themselves. Money is one of the most important items missing in their lives. You need a dollar to catch a dollar. You cannot catch a dollar with an empty hand. So, that first dollar, nobody has given to her. So she remains dependent on someone else. She has to be hired, to slave; she has to work to make food available on the table. What we have done, we have put that first dollar into her hands as a banking proposition. Conventional banks never come to the poor people. They go to rich people to make more money. The person who does not have a dollar – she cannot get it. So we did it. We did it in a way that is affordable to her. Because we do not insist on collateral. There is no collateral.”

While that may seem like a radical concept, the Grameen Bank has proven that their success is much more than ideological. Dr Yunus cited statistics for us, “The repayment rate is almost 100%, without collateral or anything. This is the strength of microcredit which is now spread all over the world. There are by now at least 150 million borrowers in the world today. Bu it is still very small comparing to the need. We need more microcredit organizations in the world so that more people can be reached.”

Yoga Gives Back is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization begun in LA, with the goal to provide a way for Western Yoga practitioners to give back to India, the birthplace of Yoga, which has given us so much. We’re heeding Dr. Yunus’ call to reach more people through expanded opportunities for and awareness of microcredit and have targeted India and Indian families, women, and would-be entrepreneurs, who would be otherwise stuck in the cycle of poverty that Dr. Yunus described. Yoga Gives Back supports microfinancing operations in India, through the Grameen Foundation, headquartered in Washington, DC. Donations go directly to Grameen Koota, Bangalore, South India and our YGB awareness campaign focuses on the real stories of how poor women are changing their lives with small loans from Grameen Koota.

Ms. Vinatha M Reddy

Grameen Koota was started by visionary teacher and philanthropist, Ms. Vinatha M Reddy (pictured, above) in 1999, who learned about Nobel Peace Recipient Dr Muhammad Yunus’ microfinancing and immediately began exploring ways of replicating his work in her hometown. In 2000, she started providing small microcredit loans, averaging $25.00 a month, to fifty local women. Today, Grameen Koota’s work is reaching out to over 280,000 women in Bangalore, Mysore and many areas of Karnataka state, in South India, making real impact on these women’s lives as well as on the local economy.

Yoga Gives Back

The Los Angeles-based Yoga Gives Back has a worldwide reach and began out of the inspiration and dedication of my Yoga mentor Joel Bender and me. Our group has suddenly started growing almost daily and our mission is shared by a quickly expanding and loving Yoga community.

When I was growing up in Japan, which is a very middle-class society, I had never experienced or seen any real poverty, especially growing up in Tokyo in 1960s and 1970s, when Japan's post-war economic miracle was taking place. Then, I had a chance to live in Brazil in the late 1970s for two years, where as a teenager, I saw the divide between poverty and wealth, the reality of the real slums, kids on the streets begging every time you stopped the car at the traffic light, all very much like India. Social injustice hit me hard.

Once I started Yoga practice and feeling my life being so enriched by it , I felt a need to use my resources to help others. I was producing a documentary on Social Entrepreneurship and learned about microfinancing. I shared this information with Joel [featured in the teacher profile in this month’s issue of LA YOGA] who had been looking for the way he could give back to India since his first visit there – so we teamed up.

When I think about the growth of Yoga Gives Back thus far, I give a lot of credit to the entrepreneurship and volunteer spirit of Americans, willing to embrace and support a new grass roots campaign like ours.

Kayoko Mitsumatsu, co-founder of Yoga Gives Back, is a documentary filmmaker whose films deal with social justice issues, including First They Killed My Father a memoir of a Cambodia’s Killing Fields’ survivor.

A Life Changing Story of Microcredit: Jayashree

Jayashree

Jayashree lives in the suburbs of Bangalore and is married and the mother of two children. We visited her at her humble dirt floor one room home for the first time in 2007. We were touched by her warm smile and most generous hospitality, serving us hot tea and cookies.

Jayashree was born into a very poor family in Bangalore. When she was a child, her family’s financial situation became so severe that she had to drop out of school and work at a garment factory. She toiled throughout her childhood and after she got married at fifteen, her meager earnings had to support her ailing in-laws. She had two children. Her husband’s rickshaw business was not enough to pay her sons’ education or secure food for the family.

In 2007, Jayashree learned from her neighbors about Grameen Koota’s microcredit program and applied for her first loan. She was granted a first loan of 7,000 rupees ($175), and immediately bought her husband’s auto rickshaw. Owning their own rickshaw business increased their income significantly.

Jayashree was able to pay back her entire loan in one year and became eligible for her second loan in 2008. Having proven her diligence, her second loan amount doubled to 15,000 rupees ($375). This time, she bought a sewing machine and started stitching bags. The family’s earnings have now tripled and she is earning 150 rupees ($3.75) a day. In addition, she opened a small shop next to her house to sell her products which is earning her an additional 100 rupees ($2.50) a day.

She is sending her elder son to a medical school. Her son dreams of becoming a doctor and thanks his mother’s business for providing his education, their own home and daily food.

To participate in a Yoga practice where the proceeds support Yoga Gives Back and directly impact the transformation of not only your own life, but that of someone in India, start your Thanksgiving week at Yogaglo, Sunday, November 22, 10:00 A.M. - 12 noon. Some of the teachers include John Sahakian, Felicia Tomasko, Alexandra Aiken and Ally Hamilton; more to be announced. Yogaglo.com; yogagivesback.com.

For more information on Yoga Gives Back or to host a Yoga Gives Back class at your own studio or location, visit: yogagivesback.org or contact yogagivesback@earthlink.net.