My wife recently vowed not to give another dime to any politician regardless of their affiliation, position or stated angelic mission. Frankly, she’s just fed up with the lot of them and believes she can do more good supporting ideas like the Life Straw, a simply amazing approach to water purification which could help a billion or so people avoid water-borne diseases. Here’s a couple of quotes from their website:
Recognizing the importance of safe water in our daily lives and the billions of people who are still without access to these basic human rights, LifeStraw® was developed as a practical response to the urgency, and confirms our commitment to achieving the MDGs.
Mobilising LifeStraw® offers relief from waterborne diseases of major public concern such as typhoid, cholera, dysentery and diarrhea. As a personal and mobile water purification tool, LifeStraw® is designed to turn most of the surface water into drinking water, thus providing access to safe water wherever you are.
Happened to see inventor Dean Kamen (also founded F.I.R.S.T. robotic competition) on Colbert Report last week demonstrating his amazing water purifier (a far more expensive & robust system than the LifeStraw) and was reminded about it by this email from fellow a Renegade (thanks Phil!):
Dean Kamen, best known for inventing the Segway, unveiled his latest invention on the Colbert Report— a filtration system that will turn any liquid into pure water without the use of any filters or chemicals. The necessity for the invention arose from the fact that 50% of human disease can be attributed to pathogens in drinking water, a number he hopes his invention will erase. Kamen’s inventions have always inspired me because they are intended to sustain or improve human life rather than pursue wealth through consumer products like most inventors.
The necessity of this invention far surpasses that of any alternative fuel source we may be in the process of developing. If you think about all of the blood that has been shed for oil, just imagine what chaos would unfold around the world if there was no longer fresh water to drink. To put it simply— this is huge.
VERY DIFFERENT SUBJECT–AFTER ALL THIS IS THE MUSINGS SECTION
To water things down a bit, I thought I’d spout about Arcade Fire’s latest web video which is as cool and interactive as their last one. This time you get to manipulate six music tracks via your #1 through #6 keys as the “Melville-like” video progresses. The song is called Black Mirror and the URL for the video is oh so cleverly… rorrimkcalb.com/arcadefire.html (read about this in Creativity.) One word of warning, you will have some time to look in the mirror as you wait for this site to load…