Pistachio Tree

Pistachio fruit is a drupe, it contains elongated seed, which is edible thing. The seed commonly known as nut. The seed has a mauvish skin and light green flesh, with a distinctive flavor.

Pistachio nuts in and out of the shell

The pistachio shell is a beige color, it is dyed red and green in color. Roasted pistachio nuts can be artificially turned red if they are marinated prior to roasting in a salt and strawberry marinade, or salt and citrus salts.

It demonstrated over a 10% reduction in LDL (bad) cholesterol in those who consumed up to 126 grams of salted pistachio nuts a day, which was about 20% of their total energy intake. It remains to be seen if trials in which the participants eat pistachios but control their own diets, result in reductions in heart disease or stroke.

Latest study reveals that pistachio nuts are bring down levels of bad cholesterol in the blood. But Nutritionists warn that eating too many pistachios may lead to excess weight, which is not good for the heart.

That's right, over the last 15 - 20 years; man has managed to kill off more than 90% of all sharks. Everyday, thousands of sharks are caught and have their fins cut off only to be thrown back into to drown or bleed to death. Why? Because all over Asia, shark fins are a delicacy. They believe that shark fins have curative properties. One pound of shark fin meat will sell for thousands of dollars there. Even though finning is illegal in some countries, it still happens. The finning industry rakes in billions of dollars at the expense of killing off sharks completely. Everyday, the number of sharks left in the ocean diminishes at an alarming speed.

At this rate, sharks will be extinct. What happens when the animal at the top of the food chain ceases to exist? The number of fish that they eat, the fish that only eat plankton, will start to grow dramatically. Then these fish will consume all this plankton and we will find ourselves deprived of oxygen. Plankton in the ocean generates more than 70% of the air that we breathe.

I think people need to be more educated on this subject as it is an extremely important issue. Personally, it makes me sick to my stomach when I hear about the thousands of sharks being caught everyday just to be stripped of their fins and be thrown back into the ocean and be left to die. Sharks could easily be wiped out within a few years due to human greed.

If what you read here interests you, there is a new movie out there that deals with this exact issue called “Sharkwater”. Great movie, I advise you to go rent it.

Two major disasters have happened in the last two years one of them is hurricane Katrina which happened in the United States, Louisiana, Mississippi on the year 2005, this disaster took more than 1836 people.

Another disaster that has occurred in the past two years is the Kashmir earthquake which occurred in the Pakistan administered Kashmir on the year 2005, the disaster killed 85350, left over a hundred and six thousand people injured and left more than many homeless.

Hurricane Katrina formed on august 23rd during the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season, it reached over 175m/ph winds and the terrifying thing destroyed anything in its path as it broke the flood defenses in over 50 places. The hurricane was one of the costliest and the deadliest hurricanes in the history of the United States. The disaster killed more than 1836 people, left many more injured, millions peoples houses flooded and a whopping bill of 86 billion us dollars.

Over 70 countries gave donations. Kuwait made the largest single donation, $500 million; other large donations were made by Qatar ($100 million), South Korea ($30 million), Australia ($10 million), India, China (both $5 million), Pakistan ($1.5 million), and Bangladesh ($1 million).

People were affected psycholigacialy too after seeing family relatives being frown about and not being treated with respect and it all happened because of the hurricane.

The death per thousand toll has raised too.There are to date approximately 1897 deaths caused by Hurricane Katrina or the flooding aftermath.

Displacement - Because high amount of refugees (500,000), homeless people (80% city underwater) people are accommodated in a number of things, trailer parks are for the poorest people who cannot afford to move elsewhere and those who could not afford insurance. These trailer parks are located across neighbouring states containing evacuees or IDP's Internally Displaced People. There is short term displacement for those whose houses in the higher parts of New Orleans i.e. places above sea level. For those in H.S.E.G's (higher social economic groups) or for those people who had insurance, they can move to neighbouring states. During the hurricane and immediately after, the Superdome was the biggest structure and evacuees or IDP's had to go to this "safehouse". Between 15,000 and 25,000 people came to the Superdome expecting to be helped however when they arrived they found little supplies of food water and electricity, these people also had to contend with reports of a rapist in the dome. 6 people died.

Disruption - The main airport was closed during the storm but opened up soon after, although it only allowed relief and rescue flights. Disruption to tourists, commercial flights didn't reconvene until September 13th. Bridges and other destruction to roads or freeways caused massive disruption to travel networks. People couldn't get to work and so the whole infrastructure collapsed as no-one could travel anywhere.

Looting - Because people thought they had been abandoned they took to looting shops for food and resources. On August 21st New Orleans 1,500 strong police force abandoned search and rescue missions to turn their attention towards controlling the widespread looting. The city also ordered a mandatory curfew. The mayor (Ray Nagin) ordered for federal assistance. Governor Blanco announced the arrival of the military and suggested in the state of emergency that the military knew how to shoot and he expected they would. There were reported armed attacks on relief helicopters, bus convoys and police officers. On Sep 1st 6,500 National Guard Troops had arrived in New Orleans to help the looting and seize control of the city.

The American Red Cross, Southern Baptist Convention, Salvation Army, Oxfam, Common Ground Collective, Emergency Communities, Habitat for Humanity, Service International, "A River of Hope" and many other charitable organizations provided help to the victims of the storm. They were not allowed into New Orleans proper by the National Guard for several days after the storm because of safety concerns. These organizations raised $4.25 billion (USD) in donations by the public, with the Red Cross receiving over half of the donations.

Volunteers from amateur radio's emergency service wing, the Amateur Radio Emergency Service, provided communications in areas where the communications infrastructure had been damaged or totally destroyed, relaying everything from 911 traffic to messages home. In Hancock County, Mississippi, ham radio operators provided the only communications into or out of the area, and even served as 911 dispatchers.

Many corporations also contributed to relief efforts. On September 13, 2005, it was reported that corporate donations to the relief effort were $409 million, and were expected to exceed $1 billion.

During and after the Hurricanes Katrina, Wilma and Rita, the American Red Cross had opened 1,470 different shelters across and registered 3.8 million overnight stays. A total of 244,000 Red Cross workers (95% of which were non-paid volunteers) were utilized throughout these three hurricanes. In addition, 346,980 comfort kits (such as toothpaste, soap, washcloths and toys for children) and 205,360 clean up kits (containing brooms, mops and bleach) were distributed. For mass care, the organization served 68 million snacks and meals to victims of the disasters and to rescue workers. The Red Cross also had their Disaster Health services meet 596,810 contacts, and Disaster Mental Health services met 826,590 contacts. Red Cross emergency financial assistance was provided to 1.4 million families. Hurricane Katrina was the first natural disaster in the United States that the American Red Cross utilized their "Safe and Well" family location website.

In the year following Katrina's strike on the Gulf Coast, The Salvation Army allocated donations of more than $365 million to serve more than 1.7 million people in nearly every state. The organization's immediate response to Hurricane Katrina included more than 5.7 million hot meals, 8.3 million sandwiches, snacks & drinks. Its SATERN network of amateur radio operators picked up where modern communications left off to help locate more than 25,000 survivors. Salvation Army pastoral care counselors were on hand to comfort the emotional and spiritual needs of 277,000 individuals. As part of the overall effort, Salvation Army officers, employees and volunteers contributed more than 900,000 hours of service.

The earthquake' (also known as the South Asian earthquake or the Great Pakistan earthquake) of 2005, was a major earthquake, of which the epicentre was the Pakistan-administered Kashmir. The earthquake occurred at 08:50:38 Pakistan Standard Time (03:50:38 UTC) on 8 October 2005. It registered a debatable 7.7 or 7.6 on the richter scale making it a major earthquake similar in intensity to the 1935 Quetta earthquake, the 2001 Gujarat earthquake, and the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. As of 8 November, the Pakistani government's official death toll was 73,276, while officials say nearly 1,400 people died in Jammu and Kashmir and fourteen people in Afghanistan.

Most of the affected people lived in mountainous regions with access impeded by landslides that blocked the roads, leaving an estimated 3.3 million homeless in Pakistan. The UN reported that 4 million people were directly affected, prior to the commencement of winter snowfall in the Himalayan region. It is estimated that damages incurred are well over US$ 5 billion (300 billion Pakistani rupees) Five crossing points were opened on the Line of Control (LoC) between India and Pakistan to facilitate the flow of humanitarian and medical aid to the affected region, and international aid teams from around the world came to the region to assist in relief.

Map depicting tectonic plates shows Indian subcontinent and Eurasian landplate divide through Pakistan and Kashmir where earthquake activity is common.

Kashmir lies in the area of collision of the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates. The geological activity born out of this collision, also responsible for the birth of the Himalayan mountain range, is the cause of unstable seismicity in the region. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) measured its magnitude as a minimum of 7.6 on the moment magnitude scale, with its epicenter at about 19 km (11.8 miles) northeast of Muzaffarabad, Pakistan, and 100 km (65 miles) north-northeast of the national capital Islamabad. The earthquake is classified as "major" by the USGS. The hypocenter was located at a depth of 26 km (16.2 miles) below the surface . The Japan Meteorological Agency estimated its magnitude at a minimum of 7.8. By comparison, the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake had a magnitude of 9.15. The earthquake caused widespread destruction in northern Pakistan, as well as damage in Afghanistan and northern India. The worst hit areas were Pakistan-administered Kashmir, Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), western and southern parts of the Kashmir valley in the Indian Kashmir. It also affected some parts of the Pakistani province of Punjab, the capital city of Islamabad, and the city of Karachi experienced a minor aftershock of magnitude 4.6. There have been many secondary earthquakes in the region, mainly to the northwest of the original epicenter. A total of 147 aftershocks were registered in the first day after the initial quake, of which one had a magnitude of 6.2 Twenty-eight of these aftershocks occurred with magnitudes greater. On October 19, a series of strong aftershocks, one with a magnitude of 5.8, occurred about 65 km (40.5 miles) north-northwest of Muzaffarabad. There have been more than 978 aftershocks with a magnitude of 4.0 and above, as of 27 October 2005 that continue to occur daily.

Most of the casualties resulting from the earthquake were in Palistan where the official confirmed death toll is 74,698, putting it higher than the massive scale of destruction of the Quetta earthquake of May 31, 1935. Nearly 1,400 people died in Indian-administered Kashmir, according to officials. International donors have estimated that about 86,000 died but this has not been confirmed or endorsed by Pakistani authorities.

As Saturday is a normal school day in the region, most students were at schools when the earthquake struck. Many were buried under collapsed school buildings. Many people were also trapped in their homes and, because it was the month of Ramadan, most people were taking a nap after their pre-dawn meal and did not have time to escape during the earthquake. Reports indicate that entire towns and villages were completely wiped out in Northern Pakistan with other surrounding areas also suffering severe damage.

"...a second, massive wave of death will happen if we do not step up our efforts now", Kofi Annan said on 20 October with reference to the thousand remote villages in which people are in need of medical attention, food, clean water and shelter and the 120,000 survivors that have not yet been reached."

According to Pakistan's Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz

"made the appeal to survivors" on 26 October to come down to valleys and cities for relief, because bad weather, mountainous terrain, landslides and blocked roads are making it difficult for relief workers to reach each house and the winter snows are imminent."

Humanitarian aid reaches the devastated far flung areas of Northern Pakistan.

Pakistani Soldiers carry tents away from a U.S. Army CH-47 Chinook helicopter here October 19. The United States took part in the multinational effort to provide humanitarian assistance and support to Pakistan and Afghanistan following the devastating October 8 earthquake.

Polish military engineers at work. 140 Polish soldiers were a part of the 1000 troops sent by NATO from ISAF in Afganistan.

Heavy snowfall in the region around the epicenter, shown here in a January 6, 2006 NASA satellite image, hampered relief efforts since beginning shortly after the earthquake struck.

Relief efforts in many remote villages were hampered, as roads were buried in rubble and many affected areas remained inaccessible. Heavy equipment was needed to clear the roads and to rescue survivors buried under the earthquake wreckage, as many rescuers were picking the rubble with pickaxes and their bare hands, looking for survivors.

Rescue effort were also affected by the numerous aftershocks that continued to rattle the region and put rescue workers in danger as they searched through the wreckage for survivors. Five crossing points were opened on the Line of Control (LoC) between India and Pakistan in the province of Kashmir. The first was opened at Chakan Da Bagh in Poonch, the second at Kaman Post in Uri (on the road between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad) and the third across the Neelum river between Chiliana in Pakistan and Tithwal in India. These facilitated the flow of relief goods and allowed people to meet relatives across the Line of Control.

In many areas there was no power, or adequate food or water; there was also the danger of disease spreading , including measles. Distributing relief supplies to the victims was especially urgent as the victims face the risk of exposure to cold weather due to the region's high altitude and the approaching winter. Food, medicine supplies, tents and blankets were been identified by relief workers as essential items. On October 10, the United Nations warned that the earthquake left 2.5 million people homeless and they were in need of shelter. The UN made an appeal to raise US$272 million to help victims.

On October 13, snow started to fall on the Indian side of Kashmir. Many regions are facing an increasing threat of being cut off from help as snow forces closures of even more roads in the mountainous region.

Many countries, international organizations and non-governmental organizations have offered relief aid to the region, in the form of donation as well as relief supplies including food, medical supplies, tents and blankets.

Rescue and relief workers were sent to the region from different parts of the world and they brought along rescue equipment, including helicopters and rescue dogs.

The United Nations has appealed for donations to raise at least US$272 million to help victims of the quake.

Houses Constructed by Lions Clubs International

The International Association of Lions Clubs (LCI) & Lions Clubs International Foundation (LCIF) donated an amount of US$ 892,000/- for the reconstruction of 150 houses along with supporting infrastructure and a water supply system at Village Anwar Sharif, Muzaffarabad, Azad Kashmir.

International Director Lion Malik Khuda Baksh and Past International Presdient Lions Ashok Mehta

The project was completed in July 2007 and the houses were handed over to their occupants by the International Director of Lions Clubs International, Lion Malik Khuda Baksh on July 26, 2007. Mr. Raja Zulqarnain Khan, President of the Azad Kashmir was the Chief Guest of the Ceremony.

A team of volunteer New York City paramedics traveled to the remote villages of Kashmir two weeks after the earthquake and treated over 200 patients a day in a two week relief effort.

Many international relief organizations remain, particularly in the hard hit areas of NWFP and rural Kashmir .

In my opinion these disasters were equally bad in certain factors of their own. The amount of aid given though wasn't because it is a fact that the people in Kashmir received more aid. The reason for that is because not that many people actually knew that an earthquake in Kashmir occurred which makes some of the charities useless as they are not able to help. We also don't get so much news from Asia so it would be hard for reporters form the u.k or the us to get there. Or the reason that we sometimes don't see some of the disasters is because the government may think that its not important for people knowing what has happened.

I think that its weird how a poorer country gets even poorer after a natural disaster and doesn't receive so much help but if a rich country is damaged by a natural disaster it gets poorer but much more aid is given than in a poor country

Scientists have learnt how to clone plants and animals, this creates a bigger amount of products and money. They have always helped lower costs by producing new versions of a living organism, which function differently. They have created living organisms that have better defences against pests and disease, live longer reproduce more, contain more vitamins and minerals, and much more. If we continue to discover more in this part of science, we would be able to improve the quality of food and help save much more money.

Why Do We Need It?

Evolution is an important part to every living thing on planet earth. Without it everything would cease to exist as the world changes. There are two ways we can choose to make our big step in evolution. These are becoming cyborgs, or bringing genetic engineering into our everyday lives. Becoming cyborgs would destroy our connections to nature as we would become completely unnatural. It does mean we don't have any human needs like we do today, like eating, waste and so on, and we won't have to use genetic engineering. But that is a hard and extreme step.

Using genetic engineering means we can stay the same as we are, but make us healthier and richer instead. This is a much more safe, reliable and smaller step. If we were to pick neither of there steps, life would deteriorate for humans, and we would destroy the earth and ourselves.

The Ugly

Through the media we learn about what's new on planet earth. One big section of the news that is always improving is science and technology. There are always articles and advertisements for cell phones, computers and other new products. But we also learn about the break-troughs in science. Scientists have learnt to manipulate genes and cells, and are doing it all the time to improve the products on the market. They have learnt to change plant and animal cells, and have also discovered how to clone plants and animals. They love their science, and they're over there to tell you all about it.

Yet, there are those in this world who don't like the idea of genetic engineering and other major science break-through. This could be to do with distrust in the new products, believing against the new products because they are unnatural, or even because it's against their religion. If you want to learn more, they're over there to explain their issues.

Because there are two sides to the issue, there is going to be conflict. There are many different solutions to this conflict, I will provide you with a couple to think about.

The Bad: What Is Bad About Genetic Engineering?

Some people in this world believe that as we our discovering so much in the field of science, that we are in fact playing god. They believe that this will be our downfall, and will destroy the human race. One big idea that is often referred to is robots. One day we will make smart robots, and they will kill us all. But another big problem is what if we become too reliant on genetically modified products, and cause a global problem. Some say that if we trust to much in genetic engineering, we wouldn't be able to do anything if it causes some terrible disease of if it doesn't work than many people would starve to death.

What Would Happen If We Continued to Use It?

Some people in this world expect that messing with Gods creations will destroy the earth and every living thing on it. They say that if genetic engineering goes on for to long then we will lose what we have today. They animals might stop reproducing, and plants might stop growing, and then what will we do? It's like the saying goes, once every tree is chopped, and every river poisoned, will we realize we can not eat money.

Technology, a word with Greek origins, is defined as, “the practical application of knowledge especially in a particular area” by Merriam-Webster's dictionary. Despite this definition, it is an abstract term lacking a concrete meaning. Technology is a word used to collectively describe or portray the advancements, abilities, creations, undertakings, views, and knowledge of a singular group of persons: we as human-kind.

The history of technology is undoubtedly as old as humanity itself. Primitive forms of technology have been found with almost every archaeological find of ancient human remains. Technology has such far progressed from the mastery of fire by man in times before 1,000,000 BC, to the supercomputers, space stations, rockets, electronics, weapons, and huge metropolises that are the defining aspect of the 21st century AD.

The question that persists however, is, “Is technology in fact harming our society as a whole?” Albeit the fact that this is a remarkably intricate question of sorts, it can be answered with a simple answer. The actuality of this situation remains that technology is by no means detrimental to our society here in the United States, civilization throughout the world, or to the greater humanity of the human race; instead, it is vital to its survival.

Nuclear Technology

To illustrate this point, let us first examine an exceedingly significant technological advance of our time, nuclear technology. Nuclear technology is research that involves the reactions of atomic nuclei. It has many vital applications in modern society, the most prominent of which are nuclear weapons, nuclear medicine, and nuclear power. The most controversial of these is, without a doubt, nuclear weapons.

First created by the United States in 1945 during World War II, they were developed out of the fear that Nazi Germany would first develop them. A weapon of incredible power, a single nuclear weapon has to potential to decimate, level, and destroy an entire city. The first and only times a nuclear weapon has been used are in World War II, when the United States bombed the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki with the “Little Boy” and “Fat Man” bombs, respectively.

The usage of these bombs allowed for the near instantaneous end to the destructive World War II. Although two cities were leveled and many lives were lost, the situation involving the usage of these nuclear weapons is not nearly as negative as one may perceive. Had the bombs not been dropped, Japan would not have surrendered, and it would have without a doubt prolonged the war for months or even years. This would have forced an Allied Forces ground invasion of Japan in an effort to end the war, which would have resulted in the loss of many more people than caused by the deployment of the two nuclear weapons.

When you look at the usage of nuclear technology, you must look at the situation from the viewpoint of human society as a whole, and not from a standpoint of an individual. While the nuclear bombs destroyed two cities and killed many, they ended a horrific World War II and prevented the loss of many other lives. Today, in more modern terms, nuclear weapons play a huge role in our lives. As citizens of the United States, it is common knowledge that we are guaranteed many degrees of freedoms and rights, but have you ever considered who enforces our right to these freedoms in the world?

The military might of the United States is the key to us retaining our democratic freedoms. Being in possession of nuclear weapons is not only a positive thing, it allows for us to be free. By holding an arsenal of nuclear weapons, we have a nuclear deterrent. In this sense, we prevent wars and conflicts from escalating into another World War by instituting world order. By having nuclear technology, we are ensuring the well-being, longevity, and freedoms of the human race.

Internet Technology

Another prominent technological innovation that well represents our society today is the Internet. The Internet is the worldwide, publicly accessible network of interconnected computer networks that transmit data between themselves. It is an extremely large network that consists of countless smaller networks. The World Wide Web is accessible only through this Internet infrastructure which allows us our access to websites, email, file sharing, downloads, and media.

As well as being an important provider for us common citizens who wish to access the World Wide Web, the internet serves a much greater purpose. It allows for the sharing of information almost instantaneously between scholars, researchers, and others. It allows for information to be shared from the United States to China in less than a second. Before the times of the internet, the other alternatives to transmit information were not nearly as efficient or effective. The Internet allows for us to, in some ways make the world smaller.

In the days of today's stock markets, financial infrastructure, global news organizations, powerful militarizes, strong governments and big corporations, instantaneous communication is an asset we can not afford to lose. The Internet allows for our society in modern day times to interconnect and promote globalization and information sharing.

Medical Technology

Perhaps one of the most vital technological advances in our society today is in the field of human medicine and health sciences. This field deals with the maintenance, prolongment, and restoration of human health through the study, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease and injury. Medicine is an area where knowledge is obtained, then applied to treatment. It has been around at least as far as the beginning of recorded history, perhaps even farther.

Today, modern medicine is practiced within a well-developed framework of health-care infrastructure. Research in the field of medicine has allowed for the development of many new treatments, drugs, medicines, and solutions that have allowed for the dramatic prolongment of the human lifespan. Today, with the influence of medicine, the lifespan of the average human is only increasing. Medicine in today's world provides the most vital of all services; it ensures the survival of the human race as a whole.

Review

Now, let us review the implications of technology on our civilization here on Earth as a whole. Could the notion of technology possibly have any basis? Simply put, it does not have any credibility of any sort. Technology itself does not signify any concrete object or thing; instead it collectively portrays human kind's achievements as a whole. Any advancements, abilities, creations, undertakings, views, or knowledge of us as humans are in essence technology.

This definition alone refutes the argument that technology is detrimental. Take for instance the three significant technological advances of the human race covered in this article: nuclear technology, the internet, and medicine. Nuclear technology, an important advancement for our society, creates a world order, protects the inhabitants of the world, and ensures the longevity, freedoms, and well-being of the entire human race.

Also, the internet allows for our society to inter-connect and progress further into enlightenment. Perhaps most important of all, medicine, allows for us to ensure our own survival on this planet. These three technologies well represent technology as a whole, and clearly show that technology is extremely beneficial to our society. Only by advocating and advancing technology, can we as humans, and as humanity, succeed.