Good news of the day-September 25, 2009

Technorati Tags: Ozone,Environment,Ozone layer closing up,Good News

I am tired of the news channels. They have breaking news all through the day every single day. I remember a time when the term Breaking News was reserved for something very important and had a national significance. What bothers me more is the increasing pessimism in the news channels. Rarely do we see something that celebrates the spirit of life being served as part of our daily news consumption.  Here is an attempt to bring out the good side of life

The Ozone layer achieved celebrity status in the late eighties and early nineties due to its depletion. Prior to that it was only studied about in Science and Geography classes and was never a topic of debate and world change that it turned out to be. It was reported then that a certain type of chemical compound called ‘Chloroflouro Carbons’ (CFC) were responsible for the depletion of a layer of the Earth’s atmosphere called the Ozone layer. The Ozone layer protects the Earth from the harmful radiation spectrum of the Sun. Scientists observed a hole in the Ozone layer on the Polar regions. They further attributed this to the CFCs. There were emitted in abundance by many industrial plants and was a common product in the manufacturing of Refrigerators, Aerosol cans etc.. The problem with CFC compounds is that they cannot be decomposed or broken up easily by the Earth’s atmospheric gases. A single molecule of this compound can exist for almost 100 years before it can be broken down! The discovery of the hole in the Ozone layer lead to a near mass hysteria.  Governments and world bodies swung into action and a blanket ban on CFCs was announced. This what we got right. We had a group of leaders and a generation of people who were ready to correct the wrongs of the past for a better future. It required an impending world wide catastrophe to bring out the tendency for a greater common good in the people of the world. Anyway, corrective action was taken in time and last week scientists have reported that the hole in the Ozone layer is starting to close up and it should be completely closed by 2050. Kudos!

You can read a scientific article about this here:

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2006/26may_ozone.htm

The professor and the two cups of coffee

I got this as an email forward today. I want to blog it so I remember to read it often… If you happen upon this entry and enjoy it too, then that’s nice too!

When things in your life seem,  Almost too much to handle, When 24 Hours in a day is not enough, remember the story of the empty jar and 2 cups of coffee.

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some  items in  front of him.When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls.
He then asked the students, If the jar was full. They agreed that it was.The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open Areas between the golf balls.
He then asked  The students again If the jar was full.They agreed it was.The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar.  Of course, the sand filled up everything else.He asked once more if the jar was full.

The students responded with an unanimous ‘yes.’
The professor then produced  two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents  into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand.The students laughed.

‘Now,’ said the professor,   As the laughter subsided, ‘I want you to recognize that  This jar represents your life.

The golf balls are the important things – God, family, children, health, friends, and favorite passions – things that if everything else was lost
and only they remained, Your life would still be full.
The pebbles are the other things that matter Like your job, house, and  car.

The sand is everything else — The small stuff.’If you put the sand into the jar first,’  He continued, ‘there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls.The same goes for life.If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you.So…

Pay attention to the things  that are critical to your happiness.
Play With your children.
Take time to get medical checkups.
Take your partner out to dinner.
There will always be time
To clean the house and fix the disposal.
‘Take care of the golf balls first — The things that really matter.
Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.’

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented.
The professor smiled.
‘I’m glad you asked’.
It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life  may seem, there’s always room for a cup of coffee with a friend.’