Quotes & Philosophy

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*update*
Moon trees are trees grown from 500 seeds taken into orbit around the Moon by Stuart Roosa, the Command Module Pilot on the Apollo 14 mission in 1971.

July 20, 1969 saw the first human footsteps on the moon. John F. Kennedy remarked, "we choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not only because they are easy, but because they are hard." Apollo 8 astronaut Bill Anders, after he snapped the historic Earthrise photo on December 1968, said, "we came all this way to explore the moon and the most important thing is that we discovered the Earth." Apollo 14 astronaut Stuart Roosa, a former U.S. Forest Service smoke jumper, took with him tree seeds from a Loblolly Pine, Sycamore, Sweet Gum, Redwood, and Douglas Fir. After Roosa's return to Earth, the original seeds were germinated by the U.S. Forest Service and the result was "moon trees." Moon trees now grow in many places. A Moon Sycamore also shades Roosa's grave at Arlington National Cemetery.  read more »

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Journey of Walter Cronkite (1916-2009) covered Allied invasion of Normandy, WWII... He wept as he announced John F Kennedy's assassination, shouted encouragement when the Apollo astronauts lifted off for the moon and was the nightly conduit of information on America's Vietnam War nightmare for families across the nation. 30 years ago, news anchorman Walter Cronkite would finish up his hourly news broadcast to the nation of America by saying, "...and that's the way it is."

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WWF has awarded Pakistan’s Environment Minister Leaders of the Planet title, an award to recognize individuals making a significant personal contribution to the global fight against climate change. Without mechanical equipment, covered in mud, and sweating in temperatures up to 37° Celsius, Pakistan set the Guinness World Record for tree planting, beating India in a most healthy & productive international competition contributing to endangered forests. 541,176 young mangroves trees were planted by 300 volunteers in just one day, breaking the previous 447,874 record held by India.

Pakistan set the Guinness World Record for tree planting, beating India in a healthy and productive international competition contributing to preserving fragile and endangered forests. With 541,176 young mangroves trees planted by 300 volunteers from the local fishermen communities just in one day, the country broke the previous 447,874 record held by historical rival India.

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Racing star. Cancer survivor. U.S. cycling legend & 7-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong returns to competition primarily to promote his foundation against cancer. He has survived testicular cancer and retired from racing on July 24, 2005, but returned to competitive cycling in January 2009. Tour de France rider Sebastien Joly has thanked fellow cancer survivor Lance Armstrong for his support when he was diagnosed with the disease two years ago. Sébastien Joly (born June 25, 1979 in Tournon) is a French professional road racing cyclist. He was diagnosed with testicular cancer on June 25, 2007, the day of his 28th birthday. Now, both are courageously cycling in the on-going 96th Tour de France cycling race (July 4-26) over 196.5 kilometers (122 miles) with start in Marseille and finish in La Grande-Motte, southern France. Among the 21 stages, there are 7 mountain stages, ridiculously difficult, which make the legend of the Tour.

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Roger Federer (born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss professional tennis player. He is currently ranked world No. 1, having previously held the number one position for a record 237 consecutive weeks. Many sports analysts, tennis critics, former and current players consider Federer to be the greatest tennis player of all time. Federer holds numerous male singles records, the most notable of which is winning an all-time record 15 Grand Slam titles, including a career Grand Slam. Federer has played an unprecedented 20 career Grand Slam finals, and as of July 2009 Federer has reached the semi-finals (or better) of the last 21 consecutive Grand Slam tournaments, a streak spanning over five years. As a result of his successes in tennis, Federer was named the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year for four consecutive years (2005–2008).

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"Earth Song" - written & composed by Michael Jackson, released on November 27, 1995. It centered around the destruction and rebirth of Earth and went on to receive a Grammy nomination in 1997. The song was a top five hit in most European countries. In the UK, it remains Jackson's best-selling single. "Earth Song" was not released as a single in the United States.

Lyric excerpts:

What about sunrise
What about rain
What about all the things
That you said we were to gain...
What about killing fields
Is there a time
What about all the things
That you said was yours and mine...
Did you ever stop to notice
All the blood we've shed before
Did you ever stop to notice
The crying Earth the weeping shores?
Aaaaaaaaaah Aaaaaaaaaah

What have we done to the world
Look what we've done
What about all the peace
That you pledge your only son...
What about flowering fields
Is there a time
What about all the dreams
That you said was yours and mine...
Did you ever stop to notice
All the children dead from war
Did you ever stop to notice
The crying Earth the weeping shores? …Aaaaaaaaaah…
I used to dream
I used to glance beyond the stars
Now I don't know where we are
Although I know we've drifted far…Aaaaaaaaaah…

Hey, what about yesterday (What about us)
What about the seas (What about us)
The heavens are falling down (What about us)
I can't even breathe (What about us)
What about the bleeding Earth (What about us)
Can't we feel its wounds (What about us)
What about nature's worth (ooo,ooo)
It's our planet's womb (What about us)
What about animals (What about it)
We've turned kingdoms to dust (What about us)
What about elephants (What about us)
Have we lost their trust (What about us)
What about crying whales (What about us)
We're ravaging the seas (What about us)  read more »