Author Archives: Vanessa King

About Vanessa King

Vanessa is a co-founder and the in-house artist of ThingsAreGood.com. She is a fundraising administrator working on behalf of various charities and dreams of being the sole person who, through synchronistic and somewhat accidental circumstance, ends up saving the World. After her 13 year stint as a professional actress in film and television, Vanessa is now pursuing her musical ambitions as a singer as she also hopes to save the World through music.

‘Carbon Neutral’ Initiatives Gaining Popularity

Several major companies and organizations, such as HSBC and the FIFA World Cup are now taking initiatives to counteract the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere they are contributing to through their businesses. For example, HSBC has become the world’s first carbon neutral bank by investing in clean energy projects such as a wind farm in New Zealand to offset emissions from its core operations.

FIFA is planning to offset 100,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide linked to travel by World Cup spectators. Under one project, it and the German tournament organisers will invest in replacing coal-fired boilers at a South African factory with boilers run on sawdust.
Myclimate.org is an organization out of Germany that is supporting and promoting such carbon offset projects.

Mind Powered Computers for REAL!

According to a recent article by physorg.com, scientists have actually invented a computer that can read brain waves! The “brain computer interface (BCI)” was recently demonstrated at a four-day European Research and Innovation Exhibition in Paris and works by reading a signal in the mind when focusing on a certain letter. This technology could allow people with various dissabilities a way to write and communicate. It is anticipated that there will be nearly 100 million potential users of BCI technology worldwide, including 16 million sufferers of cerebral palsy, a degenerative brain disease, and at least five million victims of spinal cord injury.

Canadas Courts Challenge Use of Security Certificates

The Supreme Court of Canada is now facing a constitutional challenge regarding the federal government’s controversial security certificate process. The certificates have been issued by the Canadian Government since 2001 as means of detaining immigrants considered ‘security risks’ to Canada. However, the process offers no justice to detainees as many face imprisonment for years without charges and no access to a fair trial or evidence against them. In some cases there is risk of the person being deported back to their home country, where they face possible torture or even death. The issue has been followed closely by human rights groups such as Amnesty International, but has only recently made breaking news.

The hearings before the Supreme Court began on Tuesday and are expected to last three days. Along with much media attention ,Jim Loney ,an activist recently held hostage in Iraq, has joined a campaign called ‘Freedom Caravan’ which recently made a trek across eastern Ontario to protest the detention of 4 men currently held in Canada.

Gas Station Looks to Gas Free Future

A gas station in San Diego California is one of the first of it’s kind to begin to sell clean burning fuels at the pump. The Pearson Ford Fuel Depot offers a wide range of gas including one called Bio Willie, a brand of bio diesel made of soybeans which is being promoted by Willie Nelson. This station is attracting many customers who are into the concepts of keeping their money in the country, helping the environment and who are curious how their cars will run on the new ‘alternative’ fuels. San Diego typically has some of the highest gas prices in America, and although the pumps aren’t incredibly popular yet, owner Mike Lewis is hopeful that their are enough people out there looking to change to their traditional polluting ways that he will eventually become very successful. And to encourage this he has found other new ways to turn a profit from his station including adding a market and giving tours to students.

“If you could make it profitable, you could do a whole lot more to preserve the environment than all the mandates in the world,” Lewis said.

Smoking Cannabis Does Not Increase Lung Cancer Risk

Cannabis LeafAccording to an article on Fox News, cannabis does not increase the risk of lung cancer in smokers. Even frequent users who have smoked tens of thousands of joints over their lifetime are at no greater risk than infrequent users or non-users.

The researchers are not sure exactly why this is, but think it may have something to do with the active ingredient in cannabis, THC.