Rest in Peace Sir Edmund

Ray Lilley, AP

WELLINGTON, New Zealand - Sir Edmund Hillary, the unassuming beekeeper who conquered Mount Everest to win renown as one of the 20th century's greatest adventurers, has died, New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark announced Friday. He was 88.

The gangling New Zealander devoted much of his life to aiding the mountain people of Nepal and took his fame in stride, preferring to be called "Ed" and considering himself just an ordinary beekeeper.

"Sir Ed described himself as an average New Zealander with modest abilities. In reality, he was a colossus. He was an heroic figure who not only 'knocked off' Everest but lived a life of determination, humility, and generosity," Clark said in a statement.

"The legendary mountaineer, adventurer, and philanthropist is the best-known New Zealander ever to have lived," she said.

Hillary's life was marked by grand achievements, high adventure, discovery, excitement — and by his personal humility. Humble to the point that he only admitted being the first man atop Everest long after the death of climbing companion Tenzing Norgay.

He had pride in his feats. Returning to base camp as the man who took the first step onto the top of the world's highest peak, he declared: "We knocked the bastard off."

The rest of the article here:  Edmund Hillary, first atop Everest, dies

 

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Peace On Earth

I'm listening to the U2 All That You Can't Leave Behind album this morning.  Peace On Earth played on my iPod.  Good song; good heart.  Check out the lyrics:

Heaven on earth We need it now
I'm sick of all of this Hanging around
Sick of sorrow I'm sick of the pain
I'm sick of hearing Again and again
That there's gonna be
Peace on earth
Where I grew up There weren't many trees
Where there was we'd tear them down And use them on our enemies
They say that what you mark Will surely overtake you
And you become a monster So the monster will not break you
And its already gone too far You said that if you go in hard You wont get hurt
Jesus can you take the time To throw a drowning man a line
Peace on earth
Tell the ones who hear no sound Whose sons are living in the ground
Peace on earth
No who's or whys No one cries like a mother cries
For peace on earth
She never got to say goodbye To see the color in his eyes Now hes in the dirt
Peace on earth
They're reading names out Over the radio
All the folks the rest of us Wont get to know
Sean and Julia, Gareth, Anne and peter
Their lives are bigger than Any big idea
Jesus can you take the time To throw a drowning man a line
Peace on earth
To tell the ones who hear no sound Whose sons are living in the ground
Peace on earth
Jesus in the song you wrote The words are sticking in my throat
Peace on earth
Hear it every Christmas time But hope and history wont rhyme
So what's it worth
This peace on earth
Peace on earth
Peace on earth
Peace on earth

Technorati Tags: U2,Peace on earth

Merry Christmas! I hope you have a wonderful day with family and friends!

Cereal Dust

Early one morning a few days ago I chose Cheerios for my healthy and nutritious breakfast. I grabbed the first box I saw in the cabinet . Shook it. About 75 Os in the box. You know. 75 Os in the bottom of box covered in that highly toxic and undesirable cereal dust. The challenge was on. I am DAD and I am SO above worrying about cereal dust in my bowl. I carefully and artfully poured those lonely, left for the trash O's into my bowl with only a small trace of dust.

Lucky for me we were well stocked. A full, fresh box was waiting for me in the cabinet. Grab and shake....another 75 O's smothered in their own crumb dust. Ugh! Emptied that box in my bowl with the same artful pouring skill. Best to be careful. That dust can really kill you if you eat it, right?

A slight bit of panic as I returned to the cabinet desperate to fill my bowl. I found a THIRD box already open and waiting for me. Grab and shake...half full. Good deal. A full bowl of Cheerios. No cereal dust to turn a tasty bowl of cereal to ruin. Someone tried to poison me with the dust but I escaped the horror of that nasty stuff in MY bowl of Cheerios!

Three boxes = One bowl

Success!

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It's Personal. part 1

A four minute, unique story told from the perspective of Chris Ames, a guy who became an atheist after believing God didn’t exist.

Technorati Tags: north point ministries,atheist,Jesus

Africa Pays Homage To U2

 

CMJ

2007-12-05 10:42:24.310,
Story by: Jennifer Miller

Under the auspices of producers Shawn Amos and Paul Heck, Grammy Award-winning and up-and-coming African artists have come together for a tribute album to U2. In The Name Of Love: Africa Celebrates U2 (Shout! Factory) will be out April 1 and feature 12 covers of the Irish quartet's favorites and rarities from the likes of Angelique Kidjo, Les Nubians and Soweto Gospel Choir.
The project was inspired by Amos' work in South Africa with the Quincy Jones Listen Up Foundation, in addition to being an avid fan of both U2's music and Bono's philanthropic efforts with the ONE campaign and(RED), which have addressed the financial crises across the continent.
Tracklist For In The Name Of Love: Africa Celebrates U2:
01. Angelique Kidjo - Mysterious Ways
02. Vieux Farka Touré - Bullet The Blue Sky
03. Ba Cissoko - Sunday Bloody Sunday
04. Vusi Mahlasela - Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own
05. Tony Allen - Where The Streets Have No Name
06. Cheikh Lô - I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
07. Keziah Jones - One
08. Les Nubians - With Or Without You
09. Soweto Gospel Choir - Pride (In The Name Of Love)
10. Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars - Seconds
11. African Underground All-Stars - Desire
12. Waldemar Bastos - Love Is Blindness

Technorati Tags: U2,Africa,RED

World Aids Day: the battle has only just begun - U2

Last year, a special issue of The Independent, edited by Bono, introduced a new way of raising money to fight HIV/Aids. Since then, the (Red) initiative has raised more than $50m and helped more than one million people. In an exclusive interview, Bono tells Paul Vallely why people in rich nations can make a difference to the Aids disaster

Published: 01 December 2007

In a world of calibrated cynicism here's something unabashedly positive to celebrate today to mark what is the 20th occasion that people across the globe have commemorated – if that's the right word – World Aids Day. The words come from the man who is now as honoured as a campaigner against extreme poverty as he is as front man for the world's biggest-selling rock band.

"Three years ago," says Bono, the lead singer of U2, "there was virtually no one in Africa on antiretroviral drugs. Now you'll have two million by the end of this year."

Two million is, of course, only a fraction of those affected by the disease which has to date killed more than 25 million people – making it one of the most destructive epidemics in human history. Another estimated 40 million people are now living with HIV. But the international community is, for the first time, showing real signs of progress in combating the disease on a significant scale.

That fact is, in no small measure, down to the campaigning of the impassioned Irish vocalist, who has lobbied governments for action and corralled some of the world's biggest businesses into playing their part – which is why this newspaper, for the fourth time, turns itself (Red) today.

Since it was founded 20 months ago, (Red) has donated an extraordinary $50,005,410 (£24,324,379) to the Global Fund to fights Aids, TB and Malaria. "Do the maths," says Bono. "It costs about $5 a week to pay for the two pills a day it takes to keep someone with HIV alive."

Aids is no longer a death sentence. Antiretroviral medication will bring someone who is at death's door back to virtually full health. Doctors call itthe Lazarus effect.

More than 20 per cent of all funding to fight Aids now comes from the Global Fund. An extra $50m in its coffers means that a million people who would previously have died have are being kept alive, day in day out, seven days a week, 52 weeks of the year. That is in addition to the extra anti-Aids drugs being provided by governments under the Gleneagles promises. It is nearly double the numbers treated by the Global Fund the year before. "That's what readers of The Independent helped kick off and there's a lot more where that came from."

Finish the article in The Independent

Technorati Tags: U2,World AIDS Day,antiretroviral,Lazarus effect