Obama was elected as the first anti-war president since Dwight D. Eisenhower promised to end the Korean Conflict. War is big money to the US, and this country is the world’s top military spender!  Obama has given this country hope for change, but the biggest change we need is to stop war mongering. Since Pearl Harbor 67 years ago, the US has been on the nonstop warpath, whether covertly or overtly.

War is bad for the environment, bad for society, bad for culture, bad for our health; however, it is good for the economy. As Deepak Chopra wisely said, “Unless it can make as much money as war, peace doesn’t stand a chance.”

Last year, the US overtook Russia as the leading arms supplier to the developing world. The US made $24.8 billion in global arms agreements selling conventional weapons that included: tanks, self-propelled guns, artillery, armored personnel carriers, armored cars, major surface combatants, minor surface combatants, submarines, guided missile patrol boats, supersonic combat aircraft, subsonic combat aircraft, other aircraft, helicopters, surface to air missiles, surface to surface missiles, and anti-ship missiles.  The US dominated 41.5 percent of the global arms market, with Russia coming in second place with 17.3 percent. 70.5 percent of these arms sales went to developing countries.

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The iJET technique is so easy and cheap to carry out that it could revolutionize access to solar technology in the developing world.

In a recent radio interview (audio), Nicole Kuepper, a 23 year-old PhD student at the University of New South Wales, explained the process.

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Winner of the Innovate or Die Pedal-Powered Machine Contest.

For more details:

Innovate or Die

Original Promo for Competition

As described by SolarCooking.org and its sponsor, SolarCookers.org (a much more visually appealing site, by the way), solar cooking is the "simplest, safest, most convenient way to cook food without consuming fuels or heating up the kitchen." But while it might be a convenience for those of us in the developed world, solar cooking is, as the site says, a blessing to millions of people around the world who don’t have the luxury of fresh, clean running water, a safe gas- or electric-powered stove, or money to throw away for precious cooking fuels.

That’s what makes SolarCooking.org and SolarCookers.org such rewarding resources: here you’ll find more information than you could possibly imagine about the history of solar cooking, how to make a solar cooker (with some instructions available not only in English but in languages like Arabic, Portuguese, Persian, Urdu, French, Spanish, Vietnamese, Catalan, Kikongo and Tshiluba), solar cookbooks, a solar cooking wiki, an RSS news feed, a PowerPoint presentation, and, well, pretty much all things related to how to cook food or purify water using the power of the sun.

All of this knowledge comes courtesy of Solar Cookers International (SCI), a 10-year-old non-profit based in California. Since its start, SCI has worked to help thousands of people in refugee camps in places like Chad, Ethiopia and Kenya build simple, often portable, solar cookers that help their lives in many ways. It’s a beautiful concept that not only eliminates the ecological damage caused by traditional wood or dung cooking fuels (which contribute to deforestation, pollution and climate change), but helps free some of the world’s most disadvantaged people from the time, costs and risks often associated with the simple act of acquiring fuel to cook a meal.

Among the benefits of solar cooking: it’s a free power source for families who might otherwise spend 25 percent or more of their income on cooking fuel; it’s a method that doesn’t burn food, so people can spend their time doing other tasks rather than just watching a cooking pot; it can sanitize dishes and kill insects in grains; and it can pasteurize milk and water, which is a huge plus in the developing world, where waterborne diseases are blamed for 80 percent of illnesses and deaths. If all that sounds too good to be true, SolarCooking.org and SolarCookers.org make it abundantly clear that’s not the case.

Also on GO:

Solar Ovens Provide Alternative to Cooking with Wood in Rural China

Image source: SolarCookers.org

Symi Symposium Closing Ceremony. From left to right: Gerd Leipold, Executive Director of Greenpeace International; Misha Glenny, writer and editor (formerly of the BBC); George Papandreou, president of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement and the Socialist International, and former foreign minister of Greece. Photo courtesy of http://www.papandreou.gr

While my title is not exactly accurate, as I’m back home in St. Louis now, I wanted to get in one more post wrapping up my coverage of last week’s Symi Symposium in Paros, Greece. I also want to thank the folks at the Andreas G. Papandreou Foundation for inviting me to attend the symposium — it was a great time, and a week full of learning.

The final symposium session I attended (on Friday) addressed the important issue of climate change in the developing world. Moderated by Kumi Naidoo of South Africa-based NGO CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation, the speakers at the session focused on the challenges climate change presents to the world’s poorer nations: namely, that while these countries historically have had the lowest levels of greenhouse gas emissions, they will likely be hit the hardest and fastest by the effects of global warming. Speakers addressed the issues of inequality tied up in the climate change debate, the notion of environmental justice, and specific problems, such as deforestation, that will increase the level of suffering endured by the world’s poorest citizens.

Friday evening, all of us gathered in the village of Naoussa for a closing ceremony. It was quite an event, as media crews were on hand to hear concluding comments by a number of symposium participants, and our gracious host, George Papandreou. We concluded with a wonderful Greek dinner (and real Greek food is incredible).

Yes, this is a bit lighter than some of the previous posts from the symposium — I’m blaming it on jet lag! If you have questions or comments on any of these issues, fire away!