Nous avons apprécié les petits gestes écologiques que l'on ne trouve pas encore en France. Par exemple, dans les lieux publics, les lumières s'allument et s'éteignent automatiquement et les poubelles sont divisées de manière à permettre le tri.

Nous avons découvert l'enseigne EXKI, créée en 2000 par trois copains de classe, dont la particularité est de proposer une restauration rapide bio et saine « Natural, Fresh & Ready ».
Le 1e restaurant a été ouvert à Bruxelles et maintenant EXKI se trouve dans différentes villes de Belgique, Luxembourg, Italie et depuis peu même en France.

Le décors est épuré, soigné et convivial et le mobilier est réalisé avec du bois labellisé FSC (Forest Steward Council). Nous sommes allés dans celui qui est situé rue Marché aux Herbes, près de la Grand Place, et nous nous sommes attablé sur une très grande table basse entourée de petits fauteuils, ce qui nous donnait l'impression d'être à la maison!

L'esprit de l'enseigne est de refuser tout additif et de préparer les sandwichs et salades au fur et à mesure de la consommation.

Certains produits sont labellisés BIO comme le pain, cuit artisanalement sur pierre, le lait, le yaourt, les légumes, les tartelettes, les biscuits, les confitures,...
Le café est issu du commerce équitable (MAX HAVELAAR), l'électricité est 100% verte issue principalement de l'énergie solaire, les produits d'entretien sont écologiques (ECOVERT), les clients ainsi que les salariés sont invités à trier leur déchets, les emballages sont biodégradables ou même biocompostables, les assiettes et les bols à soupe sont en pulpe de canne à sucre, matériaux d'origine 100% naturelle.

Tous les jours, les invendus sont distribués à des asbl chargées de les redistribuer aux personnes dans le besoin.

EXKI s'est associé au WWF afin de calculer l'empreinte écologique de ses restaurants et mesurer ainsi leur impact sur l'environnement. C'est la première entreprise commerciale privée en Belgique à entreprendre cette démarche. L'organisation ECOLIFE a été chargée de développer un calculateur adapté au secteur de la restauration pour calculer l'empreinte écologique des restaurants belges et français.

Nous avons gouté au sandwich de pain aux raisons et noix garnis de fromage de chèvre frais et tomates séchées, une salade de linguini , roquette jambon, parmesan (dé-li-cieuse!) et un cheesecake aux spéculos.

On peut retrouver 3 EXKI en France:
2 restaurants à l'aéroport Charles de Gaulle
1 boulevards des Italiens, Paris 2e
D'ici Aout il est prévu d'ouvrir avenue de France à côté de la Bibliothèque François Mitterand et un autre Bd Montparnasse.

Consulter la carte
http://www.exki.fr/default/fr-fr/carteproduits/carte/Files/MainBloc/Carte%20NR08%20-%20PARIS_b21d60cc-e554-4108-9eed-0ffa3bbc076b.pdf

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HIA is a highly experienced, client-centric Internet Strategy and Technology Services agency. We specialize in quality, custom solutions designed to take clients to the next level, maximize their performance and achieve key business initiatives.

Our wealth of expertise enables us to develop top-quality, exclusive marketing and technology solutions that will create a measurable difference in your company’s performance and profitability. Our highly customized solutions are not just created to work, they are created to work specifically for you. Our success is a direct reflection of your success and we pride ourselves on being a consultative partner that helps you achieve your unique business objectives at the right price.

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Our mission is simple - to provide intelligent, reliable, and cost-effective custom solutions that help our clients streamline operations, increase revenue, and maximize performance. We want to partner with you for the long term because we are driven by your complete satisfaction and ongoing success.

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The County's role in this petition process was that of an assistant to Redwood City, aiding in the verification of petition signatures. In order for a petition to be deemed valid, the number of valid signatures on the petition must meet or exceed the required number as set by the Secretary of State. For this petition, the required number of valid signatures was just about 5,300.

The Daily Journal posted an article regarding this Open Space Initiative petition.  To read more about it, visit http://www.smdailyjournal.com/article_preview.php?id=93939.

Verifying petition signatures is similar to the process of verifying Vote by Mail and provisional ballot signatures.  An image of the signature is first digitally captured. Then, batches of signatures then pop up alongside their associated voter registration files. (Each voter registration file at the Elections Office contains a digital image of the signature made on a voter registration card.) Four sets of signatures at a time populate a screen, making it super-fast for election folk to compare signatures, make sure all the other required information - such as the signer's address - is there, and click an ”Accept” or ”Reject” button.

However, for this petition, the County doesn't play a role in the determination of the validity of the petition.  We only verified signatures and reported the results back to Redwood City.  Because this is a local petition, the City is responsible for determining the validity of the petition and filing the petition with the Secretary of State.

If you’d like to take a look at the full list of state petitions (qualified, disqualified, and circulating) and the issues that each address for the Nov. 4 Presidential General Election, visit the California Secretary of State website at http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/elections_j.htm.

Connaissez-vous la quiche aux orties, la confiture de Potimarron ou la compotée de nèfles aux coings? A quelques kilomètres de Bordeaux, Bernard Lafon propose depuis 1977 de redécouvrir les légumes oubliés sur son exploitation de 18 hectares.

Après les conserves d'ortie et d'oseille au naturel, puis les condiments au vinaigre, Bernard Lafon nous mitonne des soupes, puis des gaspachos de légumes d'été. Il propose aussi des confits d'oignon, de piment, des moutardes aromatisées aux herbes et aux légumes, en petits conditionnements. Sans oublier les confitures originales, de nèfles, de physalis, de fleurs de sureau, etc.

Entre les soupes, les condiments et les jus, la ferme conjugue près de 70 recettes différentes. Ces produits sont vendus dans des magasins de produits alimentaires bios, des épiceries fines, comme Hédiard, ou auprès des restaurateurs. Aujourd'hui, plus de 30 % des conserves partent à l'exportation, notamment vers le Japon.

L'exploitation combine trois activités. À la culture de légumes et fruits en bio et aux  produits transformés s'ajoutent l'agrotourisme (la ferme reçoit plus de 20 000 visiteurs chaque année, dont 10 000 enfants). Le public visite la ferme individuellement ou en groupe, avec un guide qui leur présente les variétés anciennes. Un petit jardin d'herbes permet de découvrir les parfums et les saveurs. Le tarif de la visite, 7,50 € pour les adultes, comprend un goûter-dégustation, où l'on s'attable devant une quinzaine de spécialités salées ou sucrées.

Pour en savoir plus : Oh légumes oubliés.com

This post is to introduce a magazine called ‘Simple Thoughts’ started by few IT engineers in last month. The objective is to materialize various creative solutions for the problems in the society.

Most of us have so many ideas in our mind to solve the problems in society and most of those ideas stop at that point itself. We wait for the chance to do it. Even if we get that chance by chance we don’t have time to do it in our hectic IT Career. With this thought in mind , ‘Simple thoughts team’ came up with a magazine to make platform for those ideas and give a form to the ideas and implement them with the volunteers team.

Why IT:

Most of the Intellectual capital in india lies in IT and it's enabled services serving MNCs.  Can't we provide solutions for day to day problems we are witnessing in our life which impact us and our future generations. Most of us must be feeling that we are not part of the decision makers of the policies impacting us. We should start investing our time towards betterment of society and have a watch on what direction we are moving?

Plans are lied on to involve Professional colleges in a great sclae to tap the potential of youth.

Three ways to support this initiative.

(1)   Write articles/ Provide Ideas to Simple thoughts Magazine. (Ideas are more important than Presentation).

(2)   Join Simple thoughts volunteers team and be a part of Solutions.

(3)   Subscribe to Simple thoughts magazine.

I am looking for your support more in providing Ideas as you all are basically bloggers. I am eagerly looking for a positive reply. Let us know if you would like to have a demo copy. Thank you

Looks like it is going to get a bit more difficult for those who are illegal in this country. With the announcement of Homeland Security's Michael Chertoff that the federal government will now require ALL sub contractors working for them to use e-verify to make sure no illegals are working for that company, we've just eliminated one more set of jobs for those who don't belong in this country. I'm happy to see it, but once again, it is 5 years too little, too late.

Of course, if they would just secure that damn border! And once again, the Illegal Immigrant Civil Liberties Union is opposing this system. Go figure... They can't be bothered to help MOST Americans but they want to make sure illegals have jobs and can get into this country. Something definitely stinks in that direction...

DISCLAIMER: All hack jobs in this document are MINE and MINE alone and are not to be viewed as having been done by the original composer of the articles.

CNN's Lou Dobbs ran this story last night:

LOU DOBBS CNN ANCHOR: As the campaign intensified, president bush began a farewell tour of Europe, and the White House announced president bush has quietly signed an order, an executive order, to crack down on the employment of illegal aliens by government contractors. As we have reported here before, government contractors frequently employ illegal aliens and other illegal workers who have no right to be working in this country, let alone working for the federal government. Lisa Sylvester has our report.

LISA SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It looks like companies that want a piece of a federal contract in the future will have to make sure they have no illegal aliens on their payroll. bush signed an executive order that would require all federal contractors and subcontractors to check new hires in the employment verification system known as E-Verify. The program checks an applicant's Social Security number against government data bases. In the past illegal aliens have been caught working on federal projects including airports, even military bases like Fort Bragg.

MICHAEL CHERTOFF, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: It's always embarrassing, frankly, when we have these periodic operations in which we discover illegal workers working on federal projects paid for by federal money that's ultimately paid for by the taxpayer.

SYLVESTER: Chertoff estimates hundreds of thousands, perhaps even millions of employees would be impacted. DHS says E-Verify has been a huge success. Currently, more than 69,000 employers have voluntarily registered for the program.

The state of Arizona now requires all employers check their workers' eligibility status. But E-Verify has its critics and is scheduled to expire this November. Business groups and the American Civil Liberties Union say the program will disqualify legal residents and citizens from working.

I don't know how they figure this is going to impact LEGAL Citizens of this country, after all, from the moment you are born you get your SSN and a birth certificate. So unless there has been identity theft from the start, which is easily cleared up, I fail to see just how this will impact American Citizens. Illegals for sure, you are going to find it a lot harder to get a job in this country. Seems the tide has turned on this issue and the People's voice HAS been heard!

TIMOTHY SPARAPANI, ACLU: Every time somebody gets married and changes their name, they get divorced, they change it back, every time there's a key punch error when information is entered from the paper form into an electronic data base, we see errors creeping into government data.

Whine, whine, whine, we should get some cheese to go along with the whine from this guy! This is nothing that we Citizens haven't had to deal with from the very beginning. And if the federal government is worried about making a mistake, they should have the work double and triple checked to make sure no errors are recorded. DUH! This is not a complicated issue for us to deal with in order to assure that only Citizens and LEGAL IMMIGRANTS get jobs in this country!

SYLVESTER: According to the Department of Homeland Security, 99.5 percent of legal workers whose names are run through the system are confirmed instantaneously and that the other .5 percent are able to resolve their issues within two days.

SYLVESTER: The ACLU is looking at whether the president has the authority to change a voluntary program to make it mandatory without Congressional approval. Now, there is a 60-day public comment period that begins today. Then barring any legal challenges DHS will issue a final rule and the change will then take effect in the fall. Lou?

DOBBS: The ACLU is simply -- they're no longer a civil rights watchdog group or activist group. I mean, they basically are involved in advocacy. They are pro illegal immigration, pro open borders, and they are fighting at every quarter to stop enforcement of U.S. immigration law. It's really a remarkable situation, isn't it?

SYLVESTER: Yeah, the ACLU in this case, what they're saying is that it's essentially a privacy issue and they're saying that legal citizens, for instance, could get wrapped up in this, and that's why they say that they're involved. But their record on this is they have been fairly open borders minded in the past, Lou.

Oh PALEEZE! Your privacy is not going to be impacted when it comes to how much you make or your tax information or anything else, only that you are LEGAL to work in this country! I, for one, welcome that! To hell with the Illegal Immigration Civil Liberties Union! Maybe they will figure out that they should take on the issues of Citizens of this country instead of Illegals from other countries!

DOBBS: Absolutely and without any facts to support their position. At least DHS is laying it out there that it's 99.5 percent accurate and effective, the program. I can't think of anything in government that would exceed that. And I can't think of much in private industry that would exceed that.

It's a remarkable situation. Any word on why president bush at this late hour in his presidency has decided to enforce U.S. immigration law?

SYLVESTER: You know that's a very good question. It's essentially six months out before the election. And that's what many of the critics of this program are saying, you know, why now, why the timing of this now? We know that DHS Secretary Chertoff said with comprehensive immigration reform failing they are now trying this so- called piecemeal approach and that this is one of their initiatives.

DOBBS: So let me see if I've got this right. Comprehensive immigration reform doesn't succeed in Congress, which the Congressional Budget Office stated in a bipartisan fashion and objective fashion it was not a very smart plan, they're now going to enforce U.S. immigration laws seven and a half years into eight years into this presidency.

SYLVESTER: It is pretty late indeed, Lou.

DOBBS: You've got to love Washington. You've got to -- I don't know if love is the right word for this administration. Thank you very much, Lisa Sylvester.

So, I decided to go to the Illegal Immigration Civil Liberties Union and see what they had to say about this. Here is what I found:

PHOENIX - The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) joined the Illegal Immigrant Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Arizona, the law firm of Altshuler Berzon and the National Immigration Law Center (NILC) in filing a lawsuit in federal court today on behalf of Chicanos Por La Causa, (Mexican Americans By the Cause), and Somos America,(We are America), challenging Arizona's new law that threatens employers with permanent loss of business licenses based on invalid new state requirements.

The lawsuit alleges that the new law conflicts with federal immigration law and the U.S. Constitution. The "Legal Arizona Workers Act" requires that employers verify the employment eligibility of an employee through a flawed federal verification database (the Basic Pilot Program) that was intended by Congress to be voluntary and imposes sanctions beyond what the federal government allows.

Ya gotta laugh when they are claiming that it conflicts with the Constitution when you realize they are fighting for ILLEGALS! Someone please inform these screwed up bastards that American Citizens are NOT going to be impacted by this, only ILLEGALS which is why they are fighting it. In applying for ANY job in the USA we have to use our SSN and other forms of Identification. Please explain to me how this will in any way impact us? Notice how many Hispanic groups are involved? I don't see the Minute Men here or any other White American Groups, nor even any BLACK American Groups. Does that tell you something???

"Under federal law, participation in the Basic Pilot Program is voluntary. By requiring Arizona employers to use this program, the Legal Arizona Workers Act runs afoul of the Constitution and will subject all Arizona employees regardless of legal status - Latinos in particular - to potential discrimination based on their race, ethnicity, or national origin," said Kristina Campbell, Acting Los Angeles Regional Counsel and lead MALDEF attorney on the case.

Now, if this requires that ALL potential employees be verified, how can this be targeting Hispanics??? These people are beyond belief in what they will use as excuses for trying to get a good system thrown out. They are SOOOOO PATHETIC! You just want to slap these stupid lawyers with common sense! Get a grip guys and pick something ELSE to make a name for yourselves. American Citizens DON'T want you wasting our tax money on frivolous law suits! The only Latinos targeted will be illegals and we don't want them able to work here now do we???

"Arizona's statute attempts to override national law and policy on the employment of immigrants," said Omar Jadwat, a staff attorney at the ACLU Immigrants' Rights Project. "If states like Arizona could pass their own immigration laws, workers and employers alike would face a patchwork of conflicting and incompatible requirements based on local politics and conditions, and it would be impossible to have a meaningful national policy."

The only immigration rights they are worried about is those of illegal origin. I have ZERO sympathy here. Screw that and them!

The state law also violates the Constitution's 14th Amendment because it deprives workers of due process, according to the groups filing the lawsuit.

This is a total farce and a major joke! See below for the 14th Amendment! There is NO WAY this law impacts this Amendment. Not unless they are going to stop requiring all potential employees from having to use their SSN numbers and other forms of verification when job hunting. In which case, we might as well throw open all the borders and not be a country!

"It becomes easier and safer for Arizona business owners to discriminate against anyone they suspect of being foreign rather than risk the fines and penalties associated with a failure to comply with this law," said Alessandra Soler Meetze, Executive Director of the ACLU of Arizona. "That's not the way this country works. We make laws to prohibit discrimination. We don't create laws that require people to discriminate."

~snipped~

The 14th Amendment to the Constitution reads as follows:

Fourteenth Amendment - Rights Guaranteed Privileges and Immunities of Citizenship, Due Process and Equal Protection

Amendment Text | Annotations

Section. 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

Section. 2. Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the Executive and Judicial officers of a State, or the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State.

Section. 3. No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.

Section. 4. The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void.

Section. 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.

Someone point out to me WHERE in the above any rights to due process will be circumvented by E-Verify? A little about E-Verify...

E-Verify

E-Verify is an Internet-based system operated by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) in partnership with the Social Security Administration (SSA). E-Verify is currently free to employers and is available in all 50 states. E-Verify provides an automated link to federal databases to help employers determine employment eligibility of new hires and the validity of their Social Security numbers.

Employment Authorization

U.S. employers must check to make sure all employees, regardless of citizenship or national origin, are allowed to work in the United States. If you are not a citizen or a lawful permanent resident, you may need to apply for an Employment Authorization Document (EAD) to prove you may work in the United States.

USCIS issues Employment Authorization Documents (EAD) in the following categories:

• • Renewal EAD: You cannot file for a renewal EAD more than 120 days before your original EAD expires.
  • Replacement EAD: This document replaces a lost, stolen, or mutilated EAD. A replacement EAD also replaces an EAD that was issued with incorrect information, such as a misspelled name.

EAD: This document proves you are allowed to work in the United States.

There is no discrimination here, just the desire for those wishing to work to be legal citizens or non-citizens to have the required paperwork to work in the United States. Nothing more. You can find the answers to many questions about E-Verify for yourself simply by going to their website at the link above. In perusing the information I found nothing which would indicate that this was even a trap for illegal aliens since it doesn't verify their immigration status. All in all these groups are just making noise for no reason except to get themselves out there. DISINFORMATION and PROPAGANDA! Makes me just want to smack them!

Unfortunately with the dumbing down of the American population more and more of this crap is going to be bought into. It is up to those of us who still know how to think to INFORM those who don't what is really going on here. And this is nothing but a sales pitch for these organizations... Ya can't trust anyone these days unless you do the research for yourself!

Toutefois, dans le détail, il faudra regarder les modalités associées à ce type de mesure: faudra-t-il justifier la performance énergétique avec une expertise ou faudra-t-il recourir à une entreprise de construction certifiée HQE, ou faudra-t-il présenter une labelisation (HQE, PassivHaus, etc.) ?

Suivant le parti pris, cette mesure pourrait rapidement se faire cannibaliser par les intermédiaires de tout poil (cf articles précédents sur les subventions et leurs travers). A priori, je préfère la première formule qui a le mérite d'être indépendante et factuelle. Reste à déterminer les critères admissibles.

Au passage, il est bon de rappeler que la TVA sert au financement de la Communauté Européenne. Si j'ai bien compris, cette mesure doit donc être approuvée à l'unanimité par tous les membres. Or les plus grands bénéficiaires des subventions sont les nouveaux entrants qui n'ont pas forcément une vocation prioritaire à l'écologie mais plutôt à se développer et se moderniser. Dans le même temps, les premiers entrants, les plus modernes, ont clairement identifié le green power comme un relais de croissance pour ces prochaines années. Le match s'annonce serré, mais je reste positif sur son issue, dans un contexte où l'énergie fossile atteint des niveaux de prix inconfortables pour tous.

Par contre, je ressents une impression diffuse d'une certaine cacophonie vis-à-vis du Grenelle de l'Environnement où un certain nombre de mesures ont été annoncées, comme l'obligation de performance énergétique d'ici 2012 par exemple. Ainsi,  d'un côté, la TVA serait incitative, mais d'ici 2012, une certaine forme de contrainte risque d'apparaitre... (bonus/malus, etc). D'un autre côté, la TVA est peut-être la seule mesure dépendant d'une unanimité à la Commission Européenne. Dans ce cas, il est interessant de la médiatiser seule pour interpeller nos pays voisins (la pression exercée est ainsi plus forte car concentrée sur un point).

Enfin, tout ceci bouleverse un peu mon projet de construction de maison à haute performance energétique car j'ai l'impression qu'avec un peu de patience, je peux gagner plus de 40000 €, de quoi s'offrir quelques vacances de rêve ;-)

La chaîne de restaurants Mc Donalds servira du café éthique dès l'année prochaine en Australie...

En 2009, tous les cafés vendus dans les restaurants McDo en Australie seront certifiés "Rainforest Alliance". Les 484 restaurants de la chaîne dans le pays vendent quelques 5000 cafés quotidiennement. La Rainforest Alliance certifie les producteurs réduisant leur utilisation de pesticides dans les plantations et traitant leurs employés décemment.
Un des responsables de McDo en Australie indique que les clients auront, en plus du café, une bonne conscience et qu'il s'agit d'un progrès pour l'entreprise dans sa politique de développement durable.

A quand donc chez McDo la totalité des produits bio et équitable et ce dans le monde entier ?

Source : The Grist

Autres articles sur McDo

Bishop Taban calls the MT4 project "one of the most successful projects ever done in Southern Sudan."

Bishop Taban wants MT4 devices on the ground in all 10 states in Southern Sudan. It would take about 20,000 devices to provide that kind of coverage and they would reach around 6 million Sudanese. We got our work cut out for us, but from the sound of his interview, we have a strategy that is working!

So...I am...drum roll please....an ISFJ. No one on the team could believe that I am an introvert. Most would assume by my usual bubbly-ness and talkativeness that I am an extreme extrovert. But I am in reality an extreme introvert. I would choose a night in curled up with a good book over a night out on the town hands-down. I prefer small, intimate chats over large gatherings and faceless crowds. When appropriate, I can usually flap my social butterfly wings, but it is quite taxing.

I am also an extreme feeler. I am incredibly sensitive to the feelings of others, and often do not say things for fear of hurting other people's feelings. When it comes to my own feelings being hurt, I would say that I am not incredibly, overly sensitive. My feelings do not get hurt easily at all, except for when someone makes a joke and it points to something that I really dislike about myself. That's when I feel sort of uneasy.

Early on in the week we also did initiatives, which were team-building challenges. Personalities really came out, and the way we work as a team clearly manifested. Once again, my personality flaws became starkly apparent to me. I was incredibly passive and timid. I didn't want to voice any ideas or initiate any actions...I felt like I had nothing to contribute. It's funny how the way we work in leading and planning for the chapter manifested in those physical activities. Because that is totally how I was in the planning meetings - I was pretty quiet and felt like I didn't really have anything to contribute. I felt really inadequate. About halfway through the week I talked to our staffworker about it, and she helped me realize that I was being deceived by the Enemy...and that the way I was feeling was rather unwarranted.

I love how we really bonded and got to know each other for real. Each of us shared a testimony, and we were all very open and vulnerable with each other. I shared a lot of painful things that I had never shared before...and it made me feel kind of uneasy afterward. I'm glad that I was transparent, but even now when I think about it, I wonder if perhaps I had shared too much. But...voicing some of the things that I have kept buried deep in my heart made me realize how much healing I still need...I was starting to think that I had for the most part gotten over my past...but I now realize I am clearly not.

I am tired of my past dictating my present and my future. I don't want to be enslaved by my past anymore...especially since all the really messed up stuff is from B. C. 2 Corinthians 5:17, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." (Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations on this blog will be from the English Standard Version). A lot of times I don't feel like a new creation at all! In so many ways I do not feel like I have been set free. But He is bestowing upon me beauty for ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. Slowly but surely, He is making me whole.

As far as planning for the 2008-2009 school year...IT WAS AWESOME! I am soo sooo sooo excited, words CANNOT express! We're adding daily prayer meetings as well as a weekly large group. We're going to have a weekly guys and girls small group, which will both be studying prayer. I'm leading the girls group!! I am so excited! When Julie asked if anyone really felt led to lead this group, my usually passivity and timidity totally went out the window.

I am so excited for the coming year! Peace :)

On y apprend que "les Bri­tanniques sont obsédés par la bouffe éthique", et qu' "ils se soucient de la route que doivent parcourir les aliments avant d'arriver dans leur assiette et demandent de ne manger que des produits de saison, biologiques et écologiques."

"À Londres, une nouvelle vague de restaurants qui satisfont les exigences des Britanniques est arrivée, celle de la gastronomie sans culpabilité! Des établissements qui prouvent qu'on ne doit pas nécessairement manger de la luzerne dans un habit grano pour être éthique."

Cet article est consultable sur journalmetro.com

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The electorate hold his fate in his hands, not least the electorate of Crewe and Nantwich.  Labour faithful are hopeful.  Well maybe.  But it does not matter about the hard core labour rump (many of whom will be distinctly miffed by the 10p tax shambles), if the middle classes and long suffering pensioners rise up as a mass they can destroy Brown for good.  It could happen.

Now it may be that if Brown goes it will create a whole load of new problems for Labour but it seems realistic that if Labour are truly to confront the problems they face they need to remove the man responsible for most of them.  

Of course whoever leads Labour they will have to persuade us they are worth voiting for.  The curent attempt seems to be based on improved social care.  Small problem.  It will cost billions  - so where is the money to come from?  Hey presto!  Up steps Yvette Cooper (possibly the most odious woman on the planet, which given the rest of the rivals in the Cabinet is a tough poll to top) to say that Labour plan (yet again) to save £7 billion in 'waste'.  A likely story.  Labour need to tell us some good news, so make a spending pledge and invent future savings to pay for it.

Step forward anyone gullible enough to believe it.  It may be just as well that the great policy announcement is in fact only a pledge to 'consult'.   Is this what the next two years are going to be?  An endless series of initiatives and consultations all to be paid for by regurgitating the same savings in waste?

• Environmental action driving global economy
• Breakthrough environmental initiatives
• Reforms Needed

"Continued human progress now depends on an economic transformation that is more profound than any seen in the last century. We should be practicing a sustainable approach to economics that takes advantage of the ability of markets to allocate scarce resources while explicitly recognizing that our economy is dependent on the broader ecosystems that contain it" says WorldWatch Institute's president, Mr Christopher Flavin.

World Watch Institute

- (in line with MAFC's social awareness) -

En effet, ils viennent de mettre à disposition du public un simulateur de performance énergétique pour votre maison dont le plus grand mérite, à mon sens, revient au respect de l'anonymat de l'utilisateur (trop souvent, les sociétés cherchent à connaître votre identité pour vous extorquer un rendez-vous, ou encore à revendre vos coordonnées aux plus offrants).

En outre, ce simulateur est très bien fait car très simple d'utilisation et présente des résultats synthétiques et compréhensibles.

Enfin, il est possible de simuler la mise en oeuvre de travaux et de constater leur impact sur la performance énergétique.

Bien entendu, la fin de la simulation vous invite à contacter leurs services mais cela me semble très bien dosé puisqu'il vous appartient de décider d'aller plus loin avec eux ou non. Vous pouvez aussi décider de consulter d'autres sociétés...

Bravo !

The publication appears to lend weight to Wiltshire County Council's decision to remove centre markings from 12 village roads where 30mph limits apply. It says that there is no Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions (TSRGD) requirement to introduce centre lines, and 'little research to indicate there are any safety benefits on local roads'.

Blind spots are the stuff of ever-rising insurance premiums. So Ford are bringing out a Blind Spot Mirror which features a secondary convex spotter in the top out corner, which is aimed exclusively at the driver's blind spot.

Unlike similar after-market products, it uses a single glass surface. The technology will become standard equipment on certain models beginning in 2009, though Ford has not announced which cars will get them.

En revanche, il ne faut pas beaucoup de temps pour se rendre compte de l'absence totale de panneaux solaires, photovoltaique ou à production d'eau chaude... quel gâchi !

Dans le même temps, j'ai été frappé d'apprendre les projets de constructions de centrales nucléaires dans certains pays du Maghreb où Areva serait bien heureux d'y décrocher des contrats myrifiques...

Pourtant, il semble facile d'imaginer un cadre juridique et fiscal incitatif pour les investisseurs qui pourraient booster la production d'énergie solaire, la création d'une industrie de fabrication, de Recherche et Développement, etc. dans une région extrêmement propice, bénéficiant d'une main d'oeuvre abondante, qualifiée, peu chère et d'un climat favorable.

Mes amis, il n'est pas trop tard pour exploiter des atouts considérables pour devenir la Silicon Valley du Solaire...

• - l'agriculture de terroir, les Appelations d'Origine Contrôlées (AOC) ainsi que l'agriculture biologique sont fortement menacées,
• - la biodiversité (faune et flore) sera directement mise en danger
• - et surtout vous n'aurez plus la liberté de pouvoir consommer sans OGM!

La filière agricole française constitue actuellement une activité exportatrice reconnue, garante et créatrice d'emploi : il est donc plus que jamais nécessaire de se mobiliser pour que nos parlementaires fassent le bon choix en protégeant notre agriculture, et ceci afin d'assurer un avenir dans lequel le choix de consommer des produits sans OGM est encore possible.
Sans cette liberté de choix, c'est notre propre liberté de consommateur et d'être humain qui est remise en cause!

WWF appelle à la mobilisation en faisant connaitre votre position auprés de vos députés.

Photo : Flickr.com