Why This Earth Hour Di

The question of why this earth hour aroused in my mind and then i searched the net and found this article by Mike Holmes and i think it is very useful.

It’s Earth Hour tomorrow, starting at 8:30 p.m., and I want to know how many people are planning to switch off.

Not to be confused with Earth Day — which I’m also a huge fan of — Earth Hour asks us to turn off our lights for an hour.

You might be thinking, “Can an hour really make a difference?” The answer is, yes, it definitely can. How? Because it sends a message loud and clear to our government on the issue of sustainability.

Last year, we saw more than 5,000 cities and towns in 135 countries turn off their lights. The result? Earth Hour 2011 became the biggest climate campaign ever. When more than 70 per cent of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions come from cities, turning off the lights — even for just one hour — is a huge statement. It shows we are taking personal accountability for the impact we have on our planet and that we’re willing to make the changes we need to achieve a sustainable lifestyle. That’s huge.

Read more: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/Earth+Hour+deal/6385730/story.html#ixzz1qc7IEnnW

An American take on the Quran

Los Angeles artist Sandow Birk has spent a good chunk of the last six years hand-writing an English translation of the Quran and illustrating it with scenes of modern American life.

He is not Muslim. He is not even very religious.

He’s a surfer.

His search for good waves took him to the coasts of Morocco, India, Indonesia and the southern Philippines — all places with sizable Muslim populations — and he wanted to learn more, especially when Islam became such a hot topic in the early 2000s. So he started reading its sacred text.

“Given the global situation right now, the Quran may be the most important book on earth, but few Americans know anything about it,” he told the New York Times in 2009. “I’m attempting to create visual metaphors that go along with the text and hopefully make it more accessible to Americans, more relevant to American life.”

More than half of his results — 61 chapters of the Quran’s 114, neatly painted on paper — are on display through March 18 at the Faulconer Gallery at Grinnell College.

More Here

Courtesy- 3 Quarks Daily