“history is full of surprises.”
-arthur m. schlesinger, jr.
during this time of year, when we are so lucky for our bounty, why not help to feed someone else
and maybe learn something along the way?
freericetrivia by the U.N.’s World Food Programme
Want to test your knowledge while helping end world hunger? freerice can make it happen. For every question you answer correctly in the trivia quiz, 10 grains of rice are donated to those in need. Since 2010, freerice has raised more than 214 billion grains of rice (equivalent to $1.5 million) for people around the world.
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“poverty’s child – he starts to grind the rice, and gazes at the moon.”
-matuso basho
The longest road in the world to walk is from Cape Town (South Africa) to Magadan (Russia).
No need for planes or boats, there are bridges.
It’s 22,387 km and it takes 4,492 hours to run it.
It would be 187 days walking non-stop, or 561 days walking 8 hours a day.
The route passes through 17 countries, six time zones and all seasons of the year.
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“all walking is discovery, on foot we take the time to see things whole.”
*-hal borland
*Harold “Hal” Glen Borland was an American author, journalist and naturalist. In addition to writing many non-fiction and fiction books about the outdoors, he was a staff writer and editorialist for The New Yorker.
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credits: united humanists
i have exactly one blog follower
in the micro country of liectenstein
with so many interesting things about this amazing tiny place
here are just a couple of examples:
in 1886 liectenstein had an army of 80 men who fought during the austro-prussian war
they suffered no injuries or deaths
and returned with 81 men because they made a new italian friend from the opposition army.
the army was disbanded soon after and they haven’t had an army since.
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and then there was the accidental invasion which didn’t cause much of a stir:
i really love their approach to life
and i’m guessing my one reader is a pretty laid-back person
and with such a tiny country
perhaps a descendent of that new italian friend they brought back from the war?
here’s to liectenstien!
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“be so good they can’t ignore you.”
-steve martin
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image credit: expat.com
World Science Day for Peace and Development
Celebrated every November 10th, World Science Day for Peace and Development highlights the important role of science in society and the need to engage the wider public in debates on emerging scientific issues. It also underlines the importance and relevance of science in our daily lives.
By linking science more closely with society, World Science Day for Peace and Development aims to ensure that citizens are kept informed of developments in science. It also underscores the role scientists play in broadening our understanding of the remarkable, fragile planet we call home and in making our societies more sustainable.
In 2020, the Day will be devoted to the theme of Science for and with society.
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“ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge:
it is those who know little, and not those who know much,
who so positively assert that this or that problem will never be solved by science.”
-charles darwin
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Building peace in the minds of men and women
World Food Day is celebrated every year around the world on October 16th in honor of the date of the founding of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in 1945. The day is celebrated widely by many other organizations concerned with food security, including the World Food Programme and the International Fund for Agricultural Development
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Some 795 million people in the world do not have enough food to lead a healthy active life. That’s about one in nine people on earth.
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“we know that a peaceful world cannot long exist,
one-third rich and two-thirds hungry.”
-jimmy carter
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credits:www.wfp.org/hunger/stats,eagle.bchigh.edu, united nations