View allAll Photos Tagged Humankindness
THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE OF TATARSTAN
20 December, 2008
The Tatar people have already spent 456 years in slavery to Russian colonialism, which was as brutal as ever was known in the history of humankind. During this time many rulers of Russia came to power, as czars, emperors, first secretaries and presidents. Also, the social structure of this country changed: feudalism, capitalism, socialism, etc. Only one thing remained unchanged during all this time: a policy of forced conversion to Christianity, Russification, inhuman exploitation and physical elimination of the Tatar through permanent and goal-oriented genocide. At the beginning of the 18th century, according to a Census taken by Peter the Great, there were 5.5 million Russians and 5.5 million Tatars, and yet by the end of the 20th century there are 120 million Russians and the same 5.5 million Tatars.
At the end of the 1990s, Tatars in their final despair rose up to struggle with Russian colonialism and adopted a Declaration of Tatar State Sovereignty. They organized a referendum with supervision of foreign observers, including some form the USA, during which 61.4% of Tatarstan's population approved a claim for independence from Russia. Moreover, Tatarstan refused to participate in the referendum on the modern Constitution of Russia and to sign the Federative Agreement on the creation of the Russian Federation, confirming by this its illegitimacy. There are not any legal treaties whatsoever on the joining of the later to the Russian Federation.
The first president of Russia B. Yeltsin agreed to give to the Tatars as much liberty as they could handle. Unfortunately, this was the same kind of deceit as before, aimed only at pacifying Tatars and buying time. Whereas Russia was forced to agree to the escape of 14 colonies from their domination, it categorically refused to recognize the independence of Tatarstan, and it made its rule over this colony more severe, by the destruction of elementary rights of its people, including the right to have local legislative bodies and to select the president of Tatarstan. Right now, the Kremlin is appointing its Vice Roy from Moscow. Moreover, the Kremlin has deprived Tatars of the right to use the Latin alphabet as their own and has forced them to use the Cyrillic alphabet which is entirely unsuitable for the Tatar language. Recently it has deprived the Tatars of the opportunity to teach their children in Tatar.
Muslim Tatars are subject to severe prosecution, torture and many years of prison for refusal to worship in the mosques that are under the supervision of mullahs appointed by the Vice Roy administration, and for having Muslim books written in Arabic in their homes. At the same time the merciless robbery of the national resources of Tatarstan is continuing. The Kremlin is taking 85% of all the revenues from the sale of Tatarstan's oil for itself, and by this way depriving Tatarstan of their vital means for survival.
All of this is happening at the same time that the Russian Federation cynically and hypocritically recognized the independence of the Georgian republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. One can only ask what is the difference between the rights of the aforementioned republics and Tatarstan - a Russian colony? It is absolutely clear - there is no difference. The truth is that Russia practically enslaved the people of these republics by converting them into their citizens. Consequently, for Tatars there is no hope any more for the good will of the Russian colonizers to accomplish any kind of decolonization whatsoever.
Expressing the will of the Tatar People and in order to save them from entire elimination the Milli Mejlis (Parliament) of the Tatar People is:
1. Declaring support for the Declaration of State Sovereignty of August 30, 1990 and confirming the illegitimacy of including the Republic of Tatarstan into the Russian Federation without its consent.
2. Asking all governments and the United Nations to recognize the Independence of Tatarstan.
3. Creating the Government of Tatarstan in Exile for the protection of the interests of the Tatar People.
4. Calling all Tatars around the world to organize a permanent mass campaign in support of the Independence of Tatarstan before their governments and societies.
Adopted at a Special Meeting of the Milli Mejlis of the Tatar People on December 20, 2008.
Geologists called for the Sterkfontein Caves to be protected in the 1890s. David Draper, a respected geologist of the time, persuaded the miners to preserve the main cave because of its stalactites, stalagmites and pristine underground lake, but mining continued in the area. Signs of the lime workers’ activities can still be seen.
2012-04-09师父开示
Messages from Osifu
Master Deeply Loves the Earth
April 9th, 2012
师父一直在争分夺秒！
Master is always making full use of every second.
师父一直在和时间赛跑！
Master is always racing against time.
师父一直在和灾劫赛跑！
Master is always racing against disasters.
太多的众生需要救度，而师父在地球上为人类奉献的有效时间越来越少。
Too many sentient beings need to be saved while less and less time can be available to devote to humankind on the earth.
师父来时便知归期。
Master had known the return date when coming here.
来时便知归期
Return date is clear when coming.你们可懂得？
Can you understand?
师父的每一句话都是遗言。
Master’s every word is last word.
师父的每一句话都是心血。
Master’s every word is the heart blood.
师父的每一句话都是生命。
Master’s every word is life.
师父的每一句话都是能量。
Master’s every word is energy.
师父的每一句话都是信息。
Master’s every word is message.
师父的每一句话都是密码。
Master’s every word is cosmic code.
师父的每一句话都是光爱。
Master’s every word is light and love.
师父在地球上住留的时间只有短短的几十年，犹如流星划过漫漫长夜。
The time when Master remains on the earth is only short decades, just like a shooting star streaking the endless night.
短短的几十年，已经过去了三十多年。
In the short decades, more than thirty years have passed by.
大救度是宇宙中最大的公益事业。
Great Salvation is the biggest cause of public good in the universe.
师父为救度众生而来，师父为救度众生而归。
Master comes for rescuing all sentient beings, returning for rescuing all sentient beings.
救度众生这是师父住留地球的唯一的意义，这是师父的全部。
Rescuing all sentient beings is the only significance why Master lives on the earth. It is Master’s entireness.
地球是一个可爱的星球。
The earth is a lovely planet.
地球是宇宙的宠儿。
The earth is the favorite of the universe.
地球是宇宙的杰作。
The earth is the masterpiece of the universe.
地球是宇宙的奇葩。
The earth is the miracle of the universe.
师父爱地球，因为师父和地球的缘太深太深。
Master loves the earth because the predestination of Master and the earth is too deep.
师父爱地球，因为师父和地球人的缘太深太深。
Master loves the earth because the predestination of Master and people on the earth is too deep.
师父爱地球，因为师父和地球所有生灵的缘太深太深。
Master loves the earth because the predestination of Master and all sentient beings on the earth is too deep.
师父深爱着这颗星球。
Master loves the planet deeply.
师父深爱着这颗星球的生灵。
Master loves all sentient beings on the planet deeply.
师父深爱着这颗星球的一草一木一沙一石一水一尘。
Master loves a grass、a wood、a sand、a stone、a water and a dust on the planet deeply.
师父时刻祝福这颗星球。
Master blesses the planet at any time.
师父致力于这颗星球的平衡运行。
Master devotes himself to balanced operation of this planet.
师父致力于这颗星球的和谐和睦。
Master devotes himself to harmony and concord of this planet.
师父致力于这颗星球的和平和顺。
Master devotes himself to the peace and well-off of this planet.
师父致力于这颗星球的祥和圆满。
Master devotes himself to the auspicious and perfect of this planet.
师父致力于这颗星球的科学发展。
Master devotes himself to scientific development of this planet.
师父致力于这颗星球的持续运转。
Master devotes himself to continuous running of this planet.
师父致力于这颗星球的净化升华。
Master devotes himself to purification and sublimation of this planet.
师父致力于这颗星球的优化提升。
Master devotes himself to optimization and promotion of this planet.
宇宙需要这颗星球平衡运行下去。
The universe needs the planet to run evenly.
宇宙不忍心也不允许这颗星球毁灭。
The universe doesn’t bear and doesn’t allow this planet to be destroyed.
师父不忍心也不允许这颗星球毁灭。
Master doesn’t have the heart to allow this planet to be ruined.
师父会为此全力以赴。
Master will spare no effect.
生命不止，奉献不息。
Life doesn’t cease and dedication will not cease.
到了该离开的时候，师父就会离开这个可爱的星球。
When Master was due to leave, Master will leave the lovely planet.
在离开之前师父会把该说的话说完。
Before leaving, Master will finish the words which should be said.
所以，每一句都是遗言。
So, every word is last word.
殷切咐嘱，和盘托出。
Tell eagerly and reveal everything on my mind.
弟子们，你们要懂得爱彼此，帮助彼此。而不是互相伤害，陷入是非。因为你们是宇宙的孩子，你们是一家亲。
Disciples, you should love each other and help each other, instead of hurting each other and falling into right or wrong quarrel because you are the children of the universe and you are one family.
你们可以伤害师父，师父会原谅你所有的过失和罪过。但不要彼此伤害。
You may hurt Master and I will forgive all of your faults and sin, but you don’t hurt each other.
你们可以攻击师父，师父会原谅你所有的过失和罪过。但不要彼此攻击。
You may attack Master and I will forgive all of your faults and sin, but you don’t attack each other.
你们可以诽谤师父，师父会原谅你所有的过失和罪过。但不要彼此诽谤。
You may slander Master and I will forgive all of your faults and sin, but you don’t slander each other.
太多的魔子魔孙邪恶势力想尽一切办法瓦解我们。
Too many demons’ descendants and the evil forces try every way to disintegrate us.
太多的魔子魔孙邪恶势力想尽一切办法动摇我们。
Too many demons’ descendants and the evil forces try every way to shake us.
太多的魔子魔孙邪恶势力想尽一切办法干扰我们。
Too many demons’ descendants and the evil forces try every way to disturb us.
你们每一个人都是魔子魔孙邪恶力量瓦解的对象。
Each of you is the target which demons’ descendants and the evil forces try to disintegrate.
你们每一个人都是魔子魔孙邪恶力量干扰的对象。
Each of you is the target which demons’ descendants and the evil forces try to disturb.
你们每一个人都是魔子魔孙邪恶力量动摇的对象。
Each of you is the target which demons’ descendants and the evil forces try to shake.
堡垒最容易从内部攻破。
The easiest way to capture a fortress is from within.
师父无条件的信任你们，你们也要相互信任。
Master trusts you unconditionally and you should trust each other.
师父无条件的包容你们，你们也要相互包容。
Master tolerates you unconditionally and mutual tolerance among you is also needed.
师父无条件的关爱你们，你们也要相互关爱。
Master loves and cares about you unconditionally and you should love and care each other.
师父无条件的加持你们，你们也要相互支持。
Master blesses you unconditionally and you should support each other.
弟子们，你们要停止相互之间的不信任。
Disciples do stop distrusting each other.
弟子们，你们要停止相互之间的不包容。
Disciples do stop not tolerating each other.
弟子们，你们要停止相互之间的不支持。
Disciples do stop not supporting each other.
弟子们，你们要停止相互之间的不偕同。
Disciples do stop not disaccording with each other.
否则，师父离开你们的时候，你们又会陷入漫漫长夜。
Otherwise, when Master leaves, you will fall into the endless night.
否则，师父离开你们的时候，你们犹如孤儿无依无靠。
Otherwise, when Master leaves, you are just like helpless orphans.
每一个弟子在师父心中眼中都是平等的。
Every disciple in Master’s heart and eyes is equal.
每一个弟子在师父心中眼中都是一样的。
Every disciple in Master’s heart and eyes is the same.
每一个弟子在师父心中眼中都是亲人家人。
Every disciple in Master’s heart and eyes is relative and family.
每一个弟子在师父心中眼中都是掌上明珠。
Every disciple in Master’s heart and eyes is a pearl in the palm.
每一个弟子在师父心中眼中都是万分珍贵。
Every disciple in Master’s heart and eyes is extremely precious.
每一个弟子在师父心中眼中都是师父生命的一部分。
Every disciple in Master’s heart and eyes is a part of my life.
每一个弟子在师父心中眼中都是师父身体的一部分。
Every disciple in Master’s heart and eyes is a part of my body.
是的师父和你们是平等的。
Yes, you and Master are equal.
是的师父和你们是一体的。
Yes, you and Master are one body.
是的师父和你们是不二的。
Yes, you and Master are non-dual.
师父深爱你们，因为你们和师父都是宇宙总体的一部分。
Master loves you deeply because you and Master are a part of the whole universe.
你们应该深爱彼此，因为你们彼此都是宇宙总体的一部分。
You should love each other deeply because each of you is a part of the whole universe.
心相连 手相牵 爱彼此 亲无间 同回归 极乐天
Heart to heart
Hand in hand
Love each other
Be closely intimate toward each other
Returning together to the ultimate bliss heaven
师父时刻祝福你们！
Master blesses you at any time!
Do you want to know that 2012 is the end of the world? Maybe it can help you```
1.http://ocindy-lydia.blogspot.com/
Do you want open your third eye? Look this cosmic paintings .it can help you```
2.http://ocindy.blogspot.com/
Chinese look this blog，Maybe it can help you```
3.http://nora-wwwmyblog.blogspot.com/
SAN FRANCISCO, CA - May 18 - Brice Arlington and Joretta Arlington attend CommonSpirit's Humankindness Gala 2023 on May 18th 2023 at San Francisco in San Francisco, CA (Photo - Drew Altizer Photography)
SAN FRANCISCO, CA - May 18 - Amy Blayney and Ron Collins attend CommonSpirit's Humankindness Gala 2023 on May 18th 2023 at San Francisco in San Francisco, CA (Photo - Devlin Shand for Drew Altizer Photography)
Kazan, Tatarstan
THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE OF TATARSTAN
20 December, 2008
The Tatar people have already spent 456 years in slavery to Russian colonialism, which was as brutal as ever was known in the history of humankind. During this time many rulers of Russia came to power, as czars, emperors, first secretaries and presidents. Also, the social structure of this country changed: feudalism, capitalism, socialism, etc. Only one thing remained unchanged during all this time: a policy of forced conversion to Christianity, Russification, inhuman exploitation and physical elimination of the Tatar through permanent and goal-oriented genocide. At the beginning of the 18th century, according to a Census taken by Peter the Great, there were 5.5 million Russians and 5.5 million Tatars, and yet by the end of the 20th century there are 120 million Russians and the same 5.5 million Tatars.
At the end of the 1990s, Tatars in their final despair rose up to struggle with Russian colonialism and adopted a Declaration of Tatar State Sovereignty. They organized a referendum with supervision of foreign observers, including some form the USA, during which 61.4% of Tatarstan's population approved a claim for independence from Russia. Moreover, Tatarstan refused to participate in the referendum on the modern Constitution of Russia and to sign the Federative Agreement on the creation of the Russian Federation, confirming by this its illegitimacy. There are not any legal treaties whatsoever on the joining of the later to the Russian Federation.
The first president of Russia B. Yeltsin agreed to give to the Tatars as much liberty as they could handle. Unfortunately, this was the same kind of deceit as before, aimed only at pacifying Tatars and buying time. Whereas Russia was forced to agree to the escape of 14 colonies from their domination, it categorically refused to recognize the independence of Tatarstan, and it made its rule over this colony more severe, by the destruction of elementary rights of its people, including the right to have local legislative bodies and to select the president of Tatarstan. Right now, the Kremlin is appointing its Vice Roy from Moscow. Moreover, the Kremlin has deprived Tatars of the right to use the Latin alphabet as their own and has forced them to use the Cyrillic alphabet which is entirely unsuitable for the Tatar language. Recently it has deprived the Tatars of the opportunity to teach their children in Tatar.
Muslim Tatars are subject to severe prosecution, torture and many years of prison for refusal to worship in the mosques that are under the supervision of mullahs appointed by the Vice Roy administration, and for having Muslim books written in Arabic in their homes. At the same time the merciless robbery of the national resources of Tatarstan is continuing. The Kremlin is taking 85% of all the revenues from the sale of Tatarstan's oil for itself, and by this way depriving Tatarstan of their vital means for survival.
All of this is happening at the same time that the Russian Federation cynically and hypocritically recognized the independence of the Georgian republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. One can only ask what is the difference between the rights of the aforementioned republics and Tatarstan - a Russian colony? It is absolutely clear - there is no difference. The truth is that Russia practically enslaved the people of these republics by converting them into their citizens. Consequently, for Tatars there is no hope any more for the good will of the Russian colonizers to accomplish any kind of decolonization whatsoever.
Expressing the will of the Tatar People and in order to save them from entire elimination the Milli Mejlis (Parliament) of the Tatar People is:
1. Declaring support for the Declaration of State Sovereignty of August 30, 1990 and confirming the illegitimacy of including the Republic of Tatarstan into the Russian Federation without its consent.
2. Asking all governments and the United Nations to recognize the Independence of Tatarstan.
3. Creating the Government of Tatarstan in Exile for the protection of the interests of the Tatar People.
4. Calling all Tatars around the world to organize a permanent mass campaign in support of the Independence of Tatarstan before their governments and societies.
Adopted at a Special Meeting of the Milli Mejlis of the Tatar People on December 20, 2008.
shot at the entrance to an exhibit
"Our Universes: Traditional Knowledge Shapes Our World"
National Museum Of The American Indian -
NMAI on the National Mall, Washington, DC
Our Universes focuses on indigenous cosmologies—
worldviews and philosophies related to the creation
and order of the universe—and the spiritual relationship
between humankind and the natural world.
There are myths about how the light came to be ... this is one of them :sun:
Raven Steals The Sun
In the beginning, Raven was born out of the darkness. There was no moon or stars at night. Raven was the most powerful being. He made all of the animals, fish, trees, and men. He had made all living creatures. But they were all living in darkness making it very difficult for anyone to hunt or fish or gather berries for food.
One day Raven learned that there was a chief living on the banks of the river who had a very wonderful daughter who possessed the sun, the moon, and the stars in carved cedar boxes. The chief guarded her and the treasure well.
Raven knew that he must trick the villagers to steal their treasure, so he decided to turn himself into a grandchild of the great chief. Raven flew up on a tall tree over their house and turned himself into a hemlock needle. Then, as the needle, he fell into the daughter's drinking cup and when she filled it with water, she drank the needle. Inside the chief's daughter, Raven became a baby and the young woman bore a son who was dearly loved by the chief and was given whatever he asked for.
Both father and daughter were delighted with their new addition and played with him for hours on end. As the child explored his new surroundings he soon determined that the light must be kept in the big box in the corner. When he first tried to open the box, his grandfather scolded him profusely which in turn started a crying and squawking fit the likes of which the old man had never seen. As grandfathers have done since the beginning of time he caved in and gave the child the biggest box to play with. This brought peace to the hut for a brief time but it wasn't long until the child pulled his scam again, and again, and again until finally only one box remained.
After much coaxing and wailing the old man at last agreed to let the child play with the light for only a moment. As he tossed the ball of light the child transformed into the Raven and snatching the light in his beak, flew through the smokehole and up into the sky.
Raven was so caught up in all the excitement of the newly revealed world that he nearly didn't see the Eagle bearing down on him. Swerving sharply to escape the outstretched talons, he dropped nearly half of the ball of light which fell to the earth. Shattering into one large and many small pieces on the rocky ground the bits of light bounced back up into the heavens where they remain to this day as the moon and the stars.
Once he was far away from the village, he heard people speaking in the darkness and approached them.
"Who are you and would you like to have light?" he asked them. They said that he was a liar and that no one could give light. To show them that he was telling the truth, Raven opened the ornately carved box and let sunlight into the world. The people were so frightened by it that they fled to every corner of the world. This is why there is Raven's people everywhere.
The world was instantly changed forever. Mountains sprang into the bright sky and reflections danced on the rivers and oceans. Far away, the Eagle was awakened and launched skyward - his target now clearly in sight. And so was the Raven changed – his snow-white feathers never became white again after they were blackened by the smoke from the fire of holding the sun in his mouth.
Now there are stars, the moon and daylight, and it is no longer dark all of the time.
DAVOS/SWITZERLAND, 22JAN16 - Andrew Moore, Dean, School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University, USA, gestures during the open forum session 'Life in 2030: Humankind and the Machine' at the Annual Meeting 2016 of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, January 22, 2016.
WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM/swiss-image.ch/Photo Michele Limina
SAN FRANCISCO, CA - May 16 - Lloyd Dean and San Francisco Mayor London Breed attend Dignity Health Foundation's Humankindness Gala at City Hall in San Francisco, CA. (Photo - Andrew Caulfield for Drew Altizer Photography)
Mosquitoes... Writing my earlier description of the Aedes albopictus photo, I wondered whether mosquitoes can be called 'carnivorous'. They do love to feast on humankind's largest organ: Blood.
Walking to the little but very pretty Japanese Garden on Jalan Raja Di Hilir (formerly Tambun Road) in Ipoh this morning, I saw this pastel-beauty in a ditchy, shady stretch. It's a so-called Fetid Passionflower, reeking rather badly of septic tank if the foliage is damaged or broken. In fact, this is the fetid or putrid smell exuded, too, by the breeding places of those clean-looking and quite beautiful Tiger Mosquitoes. Moreover, this particular Passionflower is known to be 'proto-carnivorous'. You can just see the green bracts on this photo. They are sticky and trap small insects. What the exact funtion of this is, is - as far as I know - as yet unclear. It had rained hard in the night and the petals are shot through with moisture...
The Tambun Road leads to caves near Ipoh in which some forty years ago rock paintings were discovered which date back to neolithic people perhaps 4000 years ago. Apparently carnivorous hunters, they depicted their prey on the limestone walls, e.g. deer.
Such a morning of coincidence... Maybe I should have put T.S. Eliot's description into practice: on Sunday mornings we stay at home and read the newspapers... But I'd already been through mine. No, even in this context I won't refer to the background of the name 'Passionflower'.
For the first few hundred thousand years humankind knew exactly where food came from. There was a close relationship between hunter and prey, gatherer and bounty, farmer and harvest. But somehow, in the last few decades, humankind just lost it. Beyond the fact that milk may contain more growth hormones than certain baseball players (looking at you big headed Barry Bonds) and genetically modified veggies may be insect-lettuce hybrids, it is simply difficult to fall in love with food when you don’t know its origin.
Mixed media installation. Androgynous mutant creatures colonize cities,
rendering humankind obsolete.
Credit: Florian Voggeneder
As the world heats up and water grows scarce, threatening the productivity of humankind’s preferred crops, breeder Marcela Carvalho Andrade and her colleagues at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) are working to toughen maize, drawing resilience traits from landraces, the forerunners of modern maize.
For decades, scientists have sought to utilize the hardiness of maize landraces, which evolved over millennia of farmer selection for adaptation to diverse and sometimes harsh local settings in Mexico, Central and South America.
But crossing elite varieties with landraces brings along wild traits that are difficult and costly to purge, including lower grain yields, excessive tallness or a tendency to fall over in strong winds. For this and for their genetic complexity, landraces are seldom used directly in breeding programs, according to Andrade.
To continue reading this story, click below:
"All humankind are as children in a school,
and the Dawning-Points of Light,
the Sources of divine revelation,
are the teachers,
wondrous and without peer."
Selections from the Writings of
Abdu'l-Baha, p. 128
SAN FRANCISCO, CA - May 18 - Barbara Pelletreau and Mary Tyren attend CommonSpirit's Humankindness Gala 2023 on May 18th 2023 at San Francisco in San Francisco, CA (Photo - Devlin Shand for Drew Altizer Photography)
Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
— T.S. Eliot
5200 x 5200 pixel image designed to work as wallpaper on most iOS devices.
Typeface: Filosofia
Merchandise available: www.redbubble.com/shop/ap/38667533
"New Views of Humankind" is the title of the main exhibition in the new Ars Electronica Center. Here you can see the "BioLab" where you can clone flowers or test microscopes.
credit: rubra
The butterfly has a message for humankind: "You really should have stopped decades ago. The future is now out of humankind's hands. The human species hasn't had any direct experience of precisely how dangerous a planet the Earth is but the species will learn this lesson soon. This civilization which humankind has built with such pride won't survive and humankind will soon follow its global technological civilization to nonexistence. But this isn't the end. The Universe will continue along without humankind for trillions of years."
SAN FRANCISCO, CA - May 18 - Debbie Melfi, Mitch Melfi, Myra Ruttenberg and Monetta White attend CommonSpirit's Humankindness Gala 2023 on May 18th 2023 at San Francisco in San Francisco, CA (Photo - Natalie Shrik for Drew Altizer Photography)
DAVOS/SWITZERLAND, 22JAN16 - Nita A. Farahany, Professor, Law and Philosophy, Duke University, USA, speaks during the open forum session 'Life in 2030: Humankind and the Machine' at the Annual Meeting 2016 of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, January 22, 2016.
WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM/swiss-image.ch/Photo Michele Limina
SAN FRANCISCO, CA - May 18 - Atmosphere at CommonSpirit's Humankindness Gala 2023 on May 18th 2023 at San Francisco in San Francisco, CA (Photo - Devlin Shand for Drew Altizer Photography)
SAN FRANCISCO, CA - May 18 - Brenda Wright attends CommonSpirit's Humankindness Gala 2023 on May 18th 2023 at San Francisco in San Francisco, CA (Photo - Drew Altizer)
I took the photos in this series for Birth for Humankind, an organisation that provides free birth support and education for pregnant women in Melbourne who are experiencing financial and social hardship.
You can read the story behind these photos here: medium.com/@Birth_for_HumanKIND/the-beautiful-bond-betwee...
For the first few hundred thousand years humankind knew exactly where food came from. There was a close relationship between hunter and prey, gatherer and bounty, farmer and harvest. But somehow, in the last few decades, humankind just lost it. Beyond the fact that milk may contain more growth hormones than certain baseball players (looking at you big headed Barry Bonds) and genetically modified veggies may be insect-lettuce hybrids, it is simply difficult to fall in love with food when you don’t know its origin.
Rock Formations & Flora (Xerophyta retinervis) at the "Cradle of Humankind" (a World Heritage Site in Kromdraai, Gauteng, South Africa). Spotted Aloes (Aloe greatheadii var. davyana) and Proteas (Sugar Bush) are scattered throughout the grasslands.
"Mrs. Ples" (Australopithecus africanus) was found in this area in 1947, and is currently the oldest human fossil found to date. This gave rise to the idea that Africa is the "Cradle of Humankind".
In 2008 two fossilised skeletons of a new species of early human "Australopithecus sediba" were discovered.
Winter, June 2007.
Best viewed LARGE.
Martin
-
Administrator of:
All things beautiful in Nature Group
Brandon 3 October 2013: At the Lignacite Lecture 2013 Professor Doug King spoke about Building on Evolution, and called for the need to change the construction paradigm to ensure high performance, low impact buildings, which are essential to the future of humankind.
The Lecture, which was this year held at The Royal Society in London, was attended by architects, specifiers, designers, environmentalists and representatives from construction and local authorities, who came to hear Professor Doug King speak about the need to learn from the evolved wisdom of historic builders.
He said: “In the next 40 years, to accommodate the rapid growth in urban population, humankind will likely have to build as much new urban fabric as already exists today. We will not have time to correct mistakes. We need to ensure that the buildings we put up are genuinely sustainable: appropriate for their cultural and climatic locations, as well as minimising use of resources.
“Everywhere I look, I find evidence of underlying physical properties that have influenced the choices of generations of builders. From structure to roof tiles to paint, the properties of certain materials and methods have brought benefits to buildings, despite these rarely being overtly recognised. We need to examine these with a view to identifying new opportunities for creating high performance, low impact buildings that have not yet even been imagined.”
Chairman of leading masonry products manufacturer, Lignacite, Giles de Lotbiniere, was delighted Professor King accepted his invitation to address this year’s Lecture: “He is a building physicist and one of the most influential figures on sustainable construction in the world. He raised some important points, and at Lignacite we are already working to address his challenge of developing high performance, low impact buildings and conserving resources by using up to 50% of recycled materials in our products.
“Recently we also launched The Carbon Buster, which is the world’s first carbon negative building block, and incorporates recycled materials and carbonated aggregates, which are derived from by-products from waste to energy plants. We believe this block has an important role to play in helping to meet the UK’s zero carbon homes targets and build a more sustainable future,” he said.
The Lignacite Lecture is an annual event, which dates back to year 2000. Since then, a variety of topics ranging from The Relationship between Art & Architecture to Biomimicry and the Ecological Age have been covered by high profile speakers, including Sir Terry Farrell, Anthony Gormley OBE, Ken Shuttleworth and Professor David Mach.
ENDS
More information:
An edited version of Professor King’s Lignacite Lecture is available here: www.dougking.co.uk/building-on-evolution/
For more information, please contact marit@meyerbell.co.uk
Lignacite:
Lignacite is a leading UK manufacturer of masonry products designed for internal or external use. Founded in 1947, it remains a family owned company managed by Allan Eastwood. The Lignacite masonry range incorporates a range of recycled and waste materials, including glass, wood particles, Furnace Ash, Recycled concrete, china clay and shells. The company also provides products to encourage biodiversity in construction. The company uses aggregates from its own local quarry in Brandon, and has supplied many high profile buildings in the UK, including the Shard, the Gherkin, Olympic Village, Heathrow Airport, Stanstead Airport, Canary Warf and the Olympic Stadium. For more information, visit www.lignacite.co.uk
Professor Doug King:
Doug King FREng CEng CPhys CEnv FInstP FEI FCIBSE HonFRIBA is, according to Building Design, one of the most influential figures in UK sustainable construction. He has been the environmental engineer behind numerous ground-breaking, critically acclaimed, buildings including; the Stirling Prize shortlisted Weald & Downland Gridshell, The Innovate Office Leeds, which triggered the introduction of BREEAM Outstanding, The Genzyme Centre in Cambridge Massachusetts, at the time the largest LEED Platinum building in the world, and Sainsbury’s original Eco-Superstore at Greenwich. Doug King now works as a freelance consultant, helping construction clients, designers and supply chains to realise genuinely high performance, low impact buildings. He teaches environmental design widely, to both engineers and architects and is a visiting professor at universities in the UK, China and Russia.
For more information please visit: www.dougking.co.uk
For video highlights of the lecture please see: www.dougking.co.uk/building-on-evolution
SAN FRANCISCO, CA - May 10 - Lloyd Dean, Suzanne Dean, Sabrina Shannon, Carol Keehan and Kevin Lofton attend Humankindness Gala 2018 on May 10th 2018 at San Francisco City Hall in San Francisco, CA (Photo - Alexandra Malek for Drew Altizer Photography)
SAN FRANCISCO, CA - May 18 - Nicole Dean, Lindsey Dean, Nathan Dean and Suzanne Dean attend Dignity Health Foundation’s Humankindness Gala 2017 on May 18th 2017 at City Hall in San Francisco, CA (Photo - Jana Asenbrennerova for Drew Altizer Photography)
For the first few hundred thousand years humankind knew exactly where food came from. There was a close relationship between hunter and prey, gatherer and bounty, farmer and harvest. But somehow, in the last few decades, humankind just lost it. Beyond the fact that milk may contain more growth hormones than certain baseball players (looking at you big headed Barry Bonds) and genetically modified veggies may be insect-lettuce hybrids, it is simply difficult to fall in love with food when you don’t know its origin.