I want to share my favorite summer recipe for lunches or picnics: Oriental Peanut Chicken Salad.
In this dish, chicken, red peppers, asparagus and scallions are caressed by a peanut dressing with terrific Asian ginger zing, a much simplified version of the Ina Garten recipe, Chinese Chicken Salad, featured in the book, Barefoot Contessa Parties.
Ingredients for 12 servings (party size)
– 8 split chicken breasts (bone-in, skin-on) **or substitute boneless chicken, boiled until just cooked, then, cooled – 1 pound asparagus, ends removed, and cut in 2 1/2 ” diagonals – 2 red bell peppers seeded and thinly sliced in 3″ strips – 4 to 6 scallions (white and green parts), sliced diagonally (save some for the top)
Walter Cronkite, once called the “most trusted man in America” has died at the age of 92.
As a journalist he covered all the major events of his lifetime; landing with the Allied troops on the beaches at Normandy on D Day; speechless with amazement, like every American, when a man first landed on the moon; telling the nation the news that President John F. Kennedy had been shot dead.
He called himself a liberal, saying, “I define liberal as a person who is not doctrinaire. That is a dictionary definition of liberal…open to change, constantly, not committed to any particular creed or doctrine, or whatnot, and in that respect I think that news people should be liberal.”
The famed CBS news anchor died at his home in New York after a long illness with his family by his side.
These videos look back at his career, and also feature thoughts from his admirers as well as his own thoughts about the news business and his life…
The largest onion processor in the nation began this week to convert 100 percent of its onion waste — 300,000 pounds per day — into ultra-clean electrical energy to power its entire factory, reducing its greenhouse-gas emissions by up to 30,000 tons per year.
By extracting the juice out of onion waste and letting it ferment, Gills Onions creates biogas — enough to completely power its factory, the equivalent of 460 homes — saving the company $700,000 in annual electricity costs. It saves another $400,000 in shipping costs which used to be used to carry away the onion waste.
The company’s onion juice-fueled Advanced Energy Recovery System debuted Thursday at its Oxnard, Calif., headquarters. After extracting the juice from onion waste, it is allowed to ferment in a special processing system. The methane gas produced is sent to fuel cells which create heat and water and a tiny amount of CO2. The little bit of pulp left over is trucked out to California’s central valley and fed to cows, completing the virtual zero-waste process.
Great Lakes water levels are rebounding after a decade-long slump that hammered the maritime industry.
The three biggest lakes — Superior, Huron and Michigan — have risen steadily since fall 2007, when for a couple of months Superior’s levels were lowest on record and the others nearly so. Erie, shallowest of the lakes, actually exceeded its long-term average in June... (Continue reading in Detroit Free Press)
And, though chemical toxins remain in the Great Lakes, Lake Huron fish are less contaminated, says a new report. In 36 categories of fish for Lake Huron, 11 became safer to eat over the last four-years.
Finally, king salmon seem to be back on the rise in Lake Michigan. The anecdotal evidence from Lake Michigan’s charter captains, according to a Detroit Free-Press column, seems to support a recovery of the king salmon (also known as chinook salmon) over the past several years, likely due to a rebound of their forage base, or food supply.
Thanks to GNN supporter Gisele up in Canada for submitting the link!
Katherine Cornthwaite’s Grade 10 class went silent when she read aloud a small story about a garbage collector’s kindness, from the newspaper.
Her class’s focus on the story prompted a 20-minute discussion about acts of kindness. “I thought,`I can’t leave this,'” she says.
She passed out red, yellow and green blank sticky notes and asked them to jot down their own kindnesses. “I told them if they filled my bulletin board, I’d give them a pizza party.”
Last month, she anted up six pizzas and a student in the class provided the soft drinks.
More people have gone into space than have sailed solo around the world. But the obvious maritime dangers didn’t stop 16 year-old Zac Sunderland from reaching for his dream. He set off from California 13 months ago in his 36-foot sloop, Intrepid, before he even had a license to drive.
He met storms, maybe pirates, and barely slept, but today the homeschooler has achieved his goal – one that can never be taken away. He became the first person under the age of 18 to sail solo-circumnavigating around the globe.
Flowers help clean the sewage at Europe’s first organic waster water installation in Findhorn, a Scottish community with the lowest ecological footprint on record in the industrialized world.
The spiriually centered village even has its own environmentally-conscious currency, the Eko.
The White House proposed a massive effort to retrain workers on Tuesday by strengthening our nation’s community colleges and creating five million additional college graduates by 2020.
Speaking at Macomb Community College in Michigan, President Obama stressed the importance of education to America’s prosperity, and announced the American Graduation Initiative which seeks to help an additional 5 million Americans earn degrees and certificates in the next decade by increasing Pell Grant scholarships and funneling $12 billion into the aging 2-year college system.
Time magazine said graduates of 2-year programs earn 30% more compared to high school grads and give “a 16% return on every dollar state and local governments invest, making them one of the best tools we have to pull ourselves out of the recession”.
Indiana waste water treatment plants along the Blue River are choosing to use UV light instead of chlorine to treat their sewage, producing clean water while saving plants and animals from toxic chemical exposure. The Nature Conservancy spearheaded the use of the UV lights and is paying for the additional cost of this process.
South Africa’s anti-apartheid hero, Nelson Mandela, spent 67 years making the world a better place, starting with nothing more than a prison uniform and his own two hands. Now a day has been set aside for inspiring the rest of the world to “Make an Imprint”, creating a new humanity using their own two hands.
Mandela Day, Saturday, July 18, marks the former president’s 91st birthday, a day to bring together people around the world to fight poverty and promote peace and reconciliation. Mandela Day celebrates the idea that each individual has the power to transform the world and the ability to make an imprint. It asks everyone to take 67 minutes to serve someone else, representing the 67 years Mandela spent as an activist.
Celebrities and movie stars have contributed “their two hands” to an inspiring music video made by the Mandela Foundation. (Watch the video below.) The Mandela Day website even offers the ability to cut yourself and your friends into the film, choosing your favorite celebs to make your own unique version.
Mandela Day was launched by the 46664 campaign, named after the prison ID number Mandela wore for 27 years, to raise awareness about Mandela’s broader humanitarian work. All funds raised from Mandela Day activities, like the Gala Dinner and Auction hosted for dignitaries last night by Bill Clinton, will support the ongoing work of 46664 and the Nelson Mandela charitable organizations, raising funds for children and AIDS causes.
At the dinner auction Wednesday, Clinton was joined by actor Morgan Freeman, who portrays Mandela in an upcoming film directed by Clint Eastwood; US actors Forest Whitaker and Matt Damon; and singers Harry Belafonte, Beyonce and Jay-Z.
Auction items included handwritten messages by Mr Mandela and a framed print featuring a collection of photos showing celebrities holding up their hands honoring the logo of Mandela Day.
Mandela Day 2009 will conclude with a special evening concert in New York City’s Radio City Music Hall hosted by Whoopi Goldberg. Performers will include Stevie Wonder, Wyclef Jean, Aretha Franklin, Josh Groban, Will.I.Am and the Soweto Gospel Choir. Livestream will offer free or premium (for $4.99) online streaming that lets viewers anywhere in the world take part in the concert. Tickets are priced from 40 dollars and are still available.
“New York City was busy with other Mandela-related projects this week, including volunteer park clean-ups, used book drives, a free performance of a play about HIV/AIDS prevention, and a free exhibit dedicated to Mandela’s life and values inside Grand Central terminal,” reported the Earth Times.
(Read more in Earth Times)
School’s out and young job seekers across the country have less than a 30 percent chance of finding work. For disadvantaged youth and high school dropouts the odds are worse.
Since the recession many of the low-wage jobs have been snatched up, leaving even fewer summer opportunities for young people.
But thanks to a $1.2 billion federal stimulus fund, states are revitalizing summer youth programs that have languished over the past decade because of declining federal funding. Allocated to states over a two-year period and then distributed through local workforce agencies, the stimulus program allows states to subsidize jobs and create training programs for 14-to-24-year-olds who come from low-income families and have one or more risk factors, such as foster care, homelessness or teen pregnancy.
Starting this month, states are using the new money to hire young people for jobs as varied as cleaning state parks, scrubbing the decks of docked battleships, assisting in underwater environmental studies and working in offices and hospitals. In addition, most programs squeeze in time for academic assistance, particularly for kids struggling to finish high school.
A British teenager lost for 12 days while hiking in Australia’s Blue Mountains was found alive and well yesterday, just hours before his father – who had all but given up hope of seeing him again – planned to fly back to England.
An innovative new anti-pollution ship has hit the high seas off western France. The ‘Catamar’ can collect debris and more importantly help clean up oil slicks, straining several hundred cubic meters of oil per hour from the water.
More than 40 smaller boats have already been purchased to help clean up lakes. The company hopes larger boats will soon be mopping up the open seas.
China and the United States, the world’s two largest emitters of greenhouse gases blamed for global warming, launched a joint research effort today to produce more fuel-efficient vehicles and energy efficient buildings.
“I know we can accomplish more by working together than we can by working alone,” U.S. Energy Secretary Stephen Chu said at a press briefing with Chinese officials.
“Making buildings more efficient represents one of the greatest, and most immediate opportunities we have to create jobs, save money, save energy and reduce carbon pollution,” said Secretary Chu. “Our goal should be buildings that are 80 percent more efficient. Doing so will save families money and create millions of jobs in both countries.”
Committing an initial $15 million to the project, they will also focus on new technology to reduce and sequester carbon dioxide emissions from burning coal.
The U.S.-China Clean Energy Research Center will facilitate joint research and development on clean energy by teams of scientists and engineers from the U.S. and China, as well as serve as a clearinghouse to help researchers in each country. Priority topics to be addressed will initially include building energy efficiency, clean coal including carbon capture and storage, and clean vehicles. The U.S. and China together pledged $15 million to support initial activities.
The Center will have one headquarters in each country, at locations to be determined. U.S. and Chinese officials will discuss elements of the Center in the months ahead, with the objective of launching initial operations by year end.
Zach Bonner, who walked to Washington D.C. for the homeless, is just a kid. At 11, he’s one of cadre of child philanthropists who seem to be growing in number and visibility as corporations and colleges reward their efforts to help others.
Children’s faces have long been used to promote fundraising campaigns for March of Dimes, muscular dystrophy and other causes.
But now they aren’t just poster children anymore; some have become high-profile CEOs of their own nonprofit groups.
America should attack global warming by … painting rooftops and road surfaces white. Seriously. No kidding.
Among those promoting the idea is Energy Secretary Steven Chu, a big-thinking physicist who has a bully pulpit and influence over billions in research and stimulus funds.
Whitening the world’s roofs and roads would have the same effect on global warming as removing all the world’s cars for 11 years, he said.
So for new buildings, highways and retrofits, choose white!
A 3-year-old boy was unhurt and apparently unfazed after he floated 12 kilometres down a powerful British Columbia river riding atop his plastic 4-wheeler truck. His family had taken him camping.
President Barack Obama nominated for U.S. Surgeon General a rural Alabama family physician, Dr. Regina Benjamin, who is known along the impoverished Gulf Coast as a country doctor who makes house calls and doesn’t turn away patients who can’t pay, reported the AP.
She received the Nelson Mandela Award for Health and Human Rights in 1998, and it was her work on behalf of the poor that President Obama praised in his nomination speech.
“Even though she could have left the state to make more money as a specialist or as a doctor in a wealthier community, Regina Benjamin returned to Alabama and opened a small clinic in Bayou La Batre.”
I want to share my favorite summer recipe for lunches or picnics: Oriental Peanut Chicken Salad. 
Mandela charitable organizations, raising funds for children and AIDS causes.
