He is vital to my existence

When life has knocked us down, the Breath of the Almighty renews our life and refreshes our strength. He is vital to our existence! Thx, aactv for the reminder.
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"Langkah adaptasi perubahan iklim di Indonesia masih setengah hati kalau tak bisa dibilang ‘lip service", Zadrach said.

 Pakar iklim ITB, Zadrach L Dupe, menyatakan curah hujan luar biasa itu harus disadari bersama sebagai eksistensi dari perubahan iklim global yang terjadi. Kondisi itu tak bisa dilihat terpisah dari kerusakan lingkungan yang menyebabkan perubahan iklim lokal. Karena perubahan iklim lokal yang tersebar di berbagai wilayah menambah banyak titik panas sebagai pemicu peningkatan global warming. "Beradaptasi dengan perubahan iklim yang terjadi itu yang paling penting. Seringkali kita hanya mau ributnya mengkampanyekan, tapi kita tak mau melakukan adaptasi dengan sebenarnya," ujar Zadrach.Secara sederhana, Zadrach mengungkapkan sebenarnya tak ada yang berubah dari pola musim di Indonesia yang dikenal sejak dulu konsisten memiliki dua musim, yakni musim hujan dan kemarau. Dalam setahun, iklim Indonesia terbagi empat blok yakni musim kemarau pada Juni-Juli-Agustus, pancaroba kemarau ke hujan bulan September-Oktober-November. Kemudian dilanjut dengan musim hujan Desember-Januari-Februari dan pancaroba hujan ke kemarau pada Maret-April-Mei. "Perubahan iklim ini yang bisa menyebabkan apakah akan terjadi kemarau basah atau kemarau panjang. Karena faktor perubahan global tak bisa dihindari, adaptasi menjadi sangat penting," tuturnya. Zadrach melihat langkah adaptasi perubahan iklim di Indonesia masih setengah hati kalau tak bisa dibilang 'lip service'. Dia mengkritik banyaknya perusahaan atau instansi yang menjual kampanye penanaman pohon untuk menyatakan diri sebagai pahlawan ekologi. Sebuah perusahaan mobil misalnya mempublikasikan akan menanam satu pohon jika menjual satu mobil. Padahal kalkulasi emisi CO2 dari sebuah mobil rata-rata mencapai 6 ton per tahun yang harus diserap setidaknya 90-100 batang pohon berusia dewasa setiap tahun. "Rata-rata satu pohon hanya menyerap 70 kilogram CO2 per tahun, tapi sangat mudah dia bisa mengklaim sebagai pahlawan ekologi dengan hanya menanam satu pohon setiap menjual satu mobil," ujar Zadrach. Dia berharap semua orang jangan terpaku pada kampanye besar, tetapi memulai usaha menata lingkungan sendiri dengan menanam lebih banyak pohon di rumah dan lingkungan mereka untuk meredusir dampak perubahan iklim. (A-132)***
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The ABCs of Tea Aficionados explain how to buy it, brew it, and slurp it

By Heather Eng, March 2008 issue (budgettravel.com) 1. Shopping "Look at the leaves. If they're tippy (younger leaves from the tops of tea plants), they'll have a silver, gold, or light brown color. These are the better-quality leaves." Gary Shinner, CEO and founder, Mighty Leaf Tea 2. Cultivating a taste "Start with Earl Grey or a flavored tea you know you'll like. As time goes on, you'll be ready to try different kinds. It's like the first time you tried whiskey or coffee and thought, Why did I drink this stuff? By the fourth time, you'll probably think that it tastes pretty good." John Harney, founder, Harney & Sons Tea Company A Harney & Sons gift bag (Morgan & Owens) [enlarge photo] 3. Etiquette "If you're doing a tea tasting in Asia, it's normal to slurp your tea. Slurping mixes the tea with oxygen, bringing out more flavor. But don't slurp if you're not in a teahouse; people may not understand what you're doing and think you're rude." Dan Robertson, owner, The Tea House, an importer 4. Pairing with food "Stronger infusions go with stronger foods. Oolong stands up to spicier cuisines. Assam, a strong black tea from India, partners well with cream dishes. On the milder side, Japanese green tea complements seafood well." Sebastian Beckwith, cofounder, In Pursuit of Tea, an importer 5. Culinary uses "In Japan, tea goes into things like gum and ice cream. I've also had tea butters, Earl Grey chocolate mousse, and tea-based soups. If you find a tea you like while traveling, bring it home and use it in your cooking." Susan McKeen, editor in chief, Tea Experience Digest 6. Keeping tea fresh "When I travel, I put tea in a Ziploc bag and make sure it stays out of the sun, because light will fade the leaves and leach out the flavor. I also have an immersion heater so I can heat up water in my hotel room." Mary Lou Heiss, coauthor, The Story of Tea: A Cultural History and Drinking Guide 7. Brewing "Bring the water to a boil for black teas, but only heat the water to around 180 degrees (just before it boils) for green and white teas. Pour the water over the tea rather than dropping in a tea bag, so the leaves get hot enough to open fully." Bill Hall, partner, Charleston Tea Plantation 8. Cooling off "When you cool hot tea by adding ice cubes, it gets watery. Instead, fill a Ziploc bag with ice and put it in the tea. Or make ice cubes out of tea." Nicky Perry, owner, Tea & Sympathy, a New York City teahouse Fancy a spot of tea? On March 7, we're giving away a Harney & Sons gift bag (filled with tea, preserves, and nuts) via our blog. Keep an eye on our homepage!

Five myths about prostitution

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/10/AR2010091002670.html?wpisrc=nl_pmopinions
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The student's quest for the ideal CV

 | Carl Andrew | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

 

A degree is not enough. These days, students have to do much more than study in order to make themselves employable once they graduate. They are forced into a balancing act as they juggle their time between their degree, extracurricular activities and that golden nugget of CV enhancement: work experience or internship.

 

From the moment they begin their degree, students now must look for the best ways to make themselves marketable. Leaving it late (I started building my CV in the second year) has made me realise just how much this put me at a disadvantage.

 

Joining student societies is not necessarily just a matter of personal interest or enjoyment. Serving as president of the Fifa Appreciation Society, the Free Hugs Society (does pretty much what it says on the tin) or the Comic Books Society is not going to look very impressive on your CV. Employers are far more likely to look for students who have instead been president of their university's politics, history or debating society.

 

This can also be harmful for the societies when students join them, or seek positions within them, purely to boost their employability. Last year, I turned away a student from the Just Vote campaign I was organising (to encourage voting in the general election) when he mentioned that his CV was the only reason he was planning to come on board. Hypocritical though this may seem, it made me realise he would not put in the full effort this position needed and was purely applying for personal ambition.

 

The same can be said of the unpaid work experience that I and many of my friends undertook during the summer. This was not wholly for my CV, but also partly to help me decide which career I wanted to follow.

 

It is true that the bigger the name of the company where you do work experience the better it looks on your CV. But that does not necessarily mean you will gain any useful experience with a big-name organisation.

 

A friend of mine dropped out of a placement with a well-known NGO after one week due to the lack of experience she was getting, and the way she was treated as the office slave. She argued that making coffee, photocopying articles and filing offered no real benefit for her – though her friends thought she was foolish to give up this opportunity.

 

At a recent careers event, I listened to other students talk of how they spent every available week during the university holidays in placements at different companies, constantly attempting to enhance their CV and chasing that improbable goal of getting a job guaranteed before finishing their degree.

 

It disheartened me, and scared me, as I realised that I would never be able to replicate the number of work experience placements they had managed.

 

The pressures on students to make themselves the perfect job candidates are huge, and they are forced to look for new and creative ways to make themselves stand out from the crowd. Interning in another country is one such example, such as the intern scheme for UK students at the US Congress. The scheme is unpaid and a very costly; and students have to fund their own time there, so, as with many similar opportunities, it is purely for those who have the money. But for those who can afford it, the career benefits probably outweigh the costs.

 

University is becoming less a time for lazing around and more about building up experiences and creating connections. With more applicants to university each year, and fewer jobs, it looks as if the task is getting even more difficult for students as the expectations become higher.