Who is historicly always left to clean up our messes?

As Rivers Run Black in Peru, Indigenous Tribes Left Cleaning Big Oil's Disaster

Published on Tuesday, February 23, 2016 by Common Dreams

Indigenous people are struggling to clean up 3,000 barrels oil that have poured into the Chiriaco and Morona tributaries of the Amazon River. (Photo: Alessandro Currarino / El Comercio")

A disastrous spate of oil spills in the Peruvian Amazon have gone from bad to worse in recent days, leaving Indigenous tribes frantically trying to clean up the mess left by the nation's state-owned oil company.

The catastrophic ruptures in Petroperu's Northern Peruvian Pipeline occurred on January 25th and February 3rd and have threatened the water supply of nearly 10,000 indigenous people, says Amazon Watch.

How to put together a business plan

Business Planning 101

To begin, if you are a Christian, I suggest you pray and ask for guidance.  If you are from a background where God's only communication is the bible then this part may prove difficult.  The Bible in my opinion is the source of our discernment and litmus test for heavens communication, but it does not replace first person relationship with its author.  The role of the Holy Spirit is critical to your understanding the nature of God from the inside out.  A lot of what is done "in the name of Christ" sometimes has little if in come cases anything to do with God.  We like to feel religious and hope that others see us that way.  It makes us feel good about ourselves but it can be destructive to having a relationship with Christ.  All to say you need to make sure this is God's vision not your own fantasy.  There is a very big difference. 

A business plan is a methodology of organizing your thoughts into a format that will allow you to turn your ideas into a realistic picture.  It is a step by step process that can utilize the services of various professionals including, graphic designers, accountants, architects, and contractors.  It is not something that happens over night.  A well thought out business plan is a thing of beauty that often takes months of analysis.

Local resources

There are numerous blogs, internet sources, and software packages available.  you will need a working knowledge of Word and Excel to put together your narratives and spread sheets.  Make sure you are comfortable with what ever format you choose to use.

If you are fortunate to live near a local university with a business department, they often hold seminars or business fairs to help upstart entrepreneurs flesh out their ideas.  If they are available then make sure you compensate them well for helping you.  If you have God beside you, he will want to bless those who help put together His program.  Don't use people.  God pays his own way.

The Human and Environmental cost of our electronic addictions

E-waste:  Where does it go and how is it processed?

Despite long-standing restrictions on the export and import of electronic waste ("e-waste"), the industry is huge.

One town in particular, Guiyu, in South Eastern China, rose to fame after the non-profit organisation Basel Action Network exposed the huge amount of e-waste being dumped there. Sporadic coverage in the media has continued ever since, and in 2013 the town was recognised as the largest e-waste site in the world, although that undesirable title may now belong to Agbogbloshie, a suburb of Ghana's capital. Thousands of tonnes of e-waste makes its way to the dump from western countries after being illegally smuggled into the country.

Tesla's new power storage system for Home use.

Tesla's new battery could take your home off the grid

Tesla Motors invented this highly useful battery, that is the dream of everyone who would like to
switch to an off-the-grid living.  The battery is called PowerWall and was designed in order to entirely power one's home, without ever having to use the power grid again.  The system of the battery is based on the same one sued in the Tesla electric cars and it comes in two units:  7kWh or 10kWh.  The energy the PowerWall battery will store, has to come from solar or wind generators and the battery will keep running even if the grid does down.  You can order these batteries, starting in the summer of 2016.



Energy Storage for a Sustainable Home

PowerWall is a home battery that charges using electricity generated from solar panels or when utility rates are low, and powers your home in the evening.  It also fortifies your home against power outages by providing a backup electrical supply.  Automated, compact and simple to install, PowerWall offers independence from the utility grid and the security of an emergency backup.

Slave labor in the Chocolate Industry

Beware of These 7 Popular Chocolate Brands that Exploit Child Slaves

Nathan Wellman | October 31, 2015

Americans spend over a billion dollars every Halloween on chocolate, accounting for 10% of most chocolate company’s annual revenue. And the average American citizen eats over 11 pounds of chocolate a year. So this Halloween, use your money to let them know that child slavery will not be tolerated by American consumers.

Last September, a lawsuit was filed against eight companies – including Hershey, Mars, and Nestle – alleging that the companies were duping consumers into “unwittingly” funding the child slave labor trade in West Africa, home to two-thirds of the world’s cacao beans.

Worker ages range from 11-16 (sometimes younger). They are trapped in isolated farms, where they work 80 to 100 hours a week. The film Slavery: A Global Investigation spoke with freed children who reported that they were often beaten with fists and belts and whips.

“The beatings were a part of my life,” Aly Diabate, a freed slave, told reporters. “Anytime they loaded you with bags (of cocoa beans) and you fell while carrying them, nobody helped you. Instead they beat you and beat you until you picked it up again.”
To help you avoid supporting slavery this Halloween, Here are seven chocolate companies that benefit from child slave labor:

Hershey
Mars
Nestle
ADM Cocoa
Godiva
Fowler’s Chocolate
Kraft