TRUMP INAUGURATION_THE LINCOLN BIBLE

MacPherson Mukuka *In Lusaka*

The Lincoln Bible is the bible owned by U.S. President Abraham Lincoln. The Lincoln family donated the bible to the Library of Congress, which includes it in their collection.

When Donald J. Trump takes the oath of office on Friday, he will do so with his hand on two Bibles: his own, and one used by Abraham Lincoln in 1861. Only one other president has used that Bible for the oath: Mr. Trump’s predecessor.

Thomas Barrack Jr., the chairman of Mr. Trump’s inaugural committee, said in a statement earlier this week that the president-elect “is humbled to place his hand on Bibles that hold special meaning both to his family and to our country.”

Mr. Trump’s personal Bible was given to him by his mother in 1955, two days before his ninth birthday, according to a statement from the inaugural committee. He had just completed the Sunday Church Primary School at the First Presbyterian Church in Queens, where he grew up.
‘A Certain Kind of Electricity’

To use the Lincoln Bible, the inaugural committee has to borrow it from its permanent home at the Library of Congress.

Lincoln swore the oath on it at his first inaugural in 1861, as the United States stood on the cusp of the Civil War. It was not used again at an inauguration until the election of Barack Obama, who was sworn in on it in 2009 and again in 2013.

Conservationists at the Library of Congress said the book was ready for another big day, though they have wary eyes turned toward a weather forecast that hints at the possibility of rain.

“We always have it in the back of our mind that this might be happening,” said Elmer Eusman, who is the head of conservation. “So we’re prepared.”

“We already had made a protective box for it for Obama’s inauguration,” he said, adding that the library is creating a Mylar wraparound for the cover to protect it from rain.

Mr. Eusman said the library would also have someone on standby who will be notified immediately if the Bible has been damaged and will whisk it back to a conservation lab for immediate repair.

The steps are mostly precautionary. The Lincoln Bible is in good shape, and “it can certainly sustain this kind of activity,” said Mark Dimunation, the head of rare books and special collections.

The Bible was given to the library by Mary Lincoln, the widow of Robert Todd Lincoln, the president’s son, Mr. Dimunation said. The collection also included the contents of President Lincoln’s pocket from the night he was killed.

Source: New York Times

Emirates introduces sustainable blankets made from 100% recycled plastic bottles

By MacPherson Mukuka

Emirates has introduced new sustainable blankets made from 100% recycled plastic bottles. The soft and warm blankets are made using ecoTHREAD™ patented technology and is now available in Economy Class on all long-haul Emirates flights.

Each Emirates ecoTHREAD™ blanket is made from 28 recycled plastic bottles. With the latest innovation, the bottles are recycled into plastic chips before being turned into yarn, creating a polar fleece material. The fine thread is then woven into soft blankets.

The environmentally-friendly blankets were designed in partnership with Buzz, the world’s leading inflight product specialists, and are part of Emirates’ continued commitment to product innovation and sustainability.

Emirates already runs a green programme on board recycling aluminum cans, plastic and glass bottles, and clean paper products such as newspapers, magazines and cardboard cartons where possible.

By the end of 2019, Emirates ecoTHREAD™ blankets would have rescued 88 million plastic bottles from landfills– equivalent to the weight of 44 A380 aircraft. This initiative makes it the largest sustainable blanket programme on board in the airline industry. In addition, the manufacturing process of using recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET) reduces energy emissions by 70%.

ecoTHREAD™ is certified with the Intertek Green Leaf Mark by third party testing and certification body Intertek, independently verified to use 100% recycled materials.

The Emirates ecoTHREAD™ blanket for Economy Class completes the recent comforter overhaul across all three classes. The airline introduced a plush, faux sheep-skin blanket in First Class and soft duvets in Business Class.

In the last year, Emirates has added several new products for customers travelling in Economy including the world’s first interactive amenity kits. The amenity kits - filled with necessities such as an eye mask, earplugs, toothbrush and toothpaste, and socks – uses augmented reality technology to unlock entertainment on customers’ mobile devices using the Blippar app.

The content was refreshed last month to feature a new interactive game called The Emirates Destination Dash to keep customers’ busy on long-haul flights or on the ground.


Source: Langmead and Baker

Rainwater Harvesting, a technology to embrace.

 MacPherson MUKUKA in Lusaka

Water is undoubtedly the world’s most used natural resource.

The mineral remains the most critical component of human’s day to day activities.

Over Centuries, the water has played a role of the backbone of all living things, humans, animals and plants, its role cannot replaced by any other natural resource, as it is at the center of life.

However, with the passage of time, and due to some human activities, the resource is slowly been sacked into the ground. Other factors leading to the depletion of the mineral include little or no rainfall and high temperatures resulting into the drying off of major water bodies.

Zambia has not been an exception to this development.

For the last few years, most parts of the country have recorded poor rainfall, leading to shortages of the resource for use at both household and commercial levels.

For urban areas, tap water becomes scarce due to various reasons, and low water table levels, is among them.

Arguably, in the long term, the development has caused the water utility companies to fail to pump expected amount of water to supply to customers.

Lusaka water and sewerage company Public relations and Marketing Manager Topsy Sikalinda discloses that low water tables  have a negative bearing on the operations of the utility.

He says, his organisation faces a number of challenges when the water table level is low as demand cannot be met.

This is coupled with effects of Climate Change which to a larger extent, are human made. Most scholars have argued on whether the whole phenomena is a hoax or not.

But a Climate Change Participatory Adaptation Specialist CCPAS, Martin Sishekanu believes climate change is true and that its effects are felt.

He says human activities such as agriculture and timber processing at commercial level have contributed to the poor rainfall recorded in the country in the previous years.

"Humans have caused all these problems for themselves, the flora that once controlled the movement of the winds has been cut." He said.

Mr. Sishekanu further adds that deforestation alone has caused most parts of the country to stop experiencing torrential rains.

"The movement of the wind has been disturbed, this is why you find, a kilometer from where we are (Maina Soko area) it is raining, meanwhile here it is dry." said Mr. Sishekanu.

The CCPAS told me that the best way to have all the challenges of water overcome in Zambia is to utilise the little resource the country holds to the best ability.

He says Government must commit resources towards setting up rainwater harvesting facilities, and most of all to avoid deforestation.

With only about 40 percent of the entire water resource in the southern region, the need to devise strategies aimed at conserving the water is essential. I had a chance to interviewing Water Resources Management Authority WARMA Director General Dr.Paul Kapotwe who disclosed that authority has formulated guidelines in a quest to safeguard the water resource in the country.

According to Dr. Kapotwe, the guidelines will serve as a deterrent to abusers of the resource.

"The guidelines will come with penalties, and stiffer penalties as a matter of fact." He said.

Disclosed that the Authority has also been mandated to regulate and license all water drilling companies for the purpose of effective management of the water.

The other good news is that Government has in the last few years been to trying to find means of how to store rain water for future use at both household and commercial levels.

And rainwater harvesting has emerged as a solution. The practice involves direct collection of rainwater.

The rainwater collected can be stored for direct use or can be recharged into the ground.
Early in 2016, Government announced and embarked on rainwater harvesting project in selected provinces.

The project includes construction of new dams and rehabilitating existing ones. So far, over 10 news dams have been rehabilitated and 5 new ones constructed.

Government has put its foot forward to ensure all rainwater is channeled towards the right reservoirs in each catchment area.

it must be noted therein that Community based rainwater harvesting in rural areas of Zambia has become more common today than it was before.

It is, in fact, only with the common undeveloped technology that people are able to survive in water scarce areas.

Appropriate systems should ideally evolve from the experience of traditional techniques where these exist.
Above all it is necessary that the systems are appreciated by the communities where they are introduced. Without popular participation and support, projects are unlikely to succeed.

Water harvesting technology is especially relevant to the semi-dry and dry areas where the problems of environmental degradation, drought and population pressures are most evident.

It is an important component of the list of solutions for these problem zones, and there is no doubt that implementation of Water Harvesting techniques will expand in Zambia.