Monday, May 19, 2008
And let us not forget Burma
Burma neighbors in cyclone talks
Foreign ministers meeting in Singapore hope Burma's military junta - which has so far blocked most of the foreign aid - might accept the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) help.
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Glimmer of hope for Burma's dying children as UK minister signals breakthrough on aid
A senior British minister said a breakthrough was within reach yesterday in the standoff between the international community and the Burmese regime over allowing foreign aid for cyclone survivors into the country.
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Diplomats Tour Myanmar (audio)
U.S. Charge D'Affair Shari Villarosa was part of a group of diplomats given a tour Saturday of the cyclone-struck areas of Myanmar by the country's military government. Villarosa tells Liane Hansen she is concerned that there are hundreds of thousands of people who haven't received assistance. She hopes officials there will open up and welcome international assistance.
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Readings 5-19-08
Ireland to hunt nightmare fishing nets in north AtlanticThe Irish Sea Fisheries Board has said that Ireland is to tackle the growing problem of so-called "ghost nets" that are destroying fish stocks in the northeast Atlantic Ocean.
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"Ghost nets" are so called because they drift in the ocean after being abandoned or dumped and some have been found to be still catching fish and ensnaring other marine life for up to three years.
This Mob Is Big in JapanMost Americans think of Japan as a law-abiding and peaceful place, as well as our staunch ally, but reporting on the underworld gave me a different perspective. Mobs are legal entities here. Their fan magazines and comic books are sold in convenience stores, and bosses socialize with prime ministers and politicians. And as far as the United States is concerned, Japan may be refueling U.S. warships at sea, but it's not helping us fight our own battles against organized crime -- a realization that led to my biggest scoop.
Without the equivalents of RICO, plea-bargaining or witness protection, Japanese law enforcement is essentially helpless in battling the Yakuza. Read on to find out why the reporter's scoop has now left him under police protection in Japan and his family by the FBI in the States.
via Marginal Revolution
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No wonder Iceland has the happiest people on earthHighest birth rate in Europe + highest divorce rate + highest percentage of women working outside the home = the best country in the world in which to live. There has to be something wrong with this equation.
Well, they put up with Bobby Fischer, didn't they?
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ends
100 year-old Transatlantic tunnel nears completion
Hardly anyone knows that a secret tunnel runs deep beneath the Atlantic Ocean. In May 2008, more that a century after it was begun, the tunnel will finally be completed. Immediately afterwards, an extraordinary optical device called a Telectroscope will be installed at both ends which will miraculously allow people to see right through the Earth from London to New York and vice versa.
If this is for real, this is astonishing news. The Telectroscope sounds cool enough, but I want to go into the tunnel!
Apparently, Paul St. George, using maps and drawings passed down through his family, is completing the tunnel from London to New York that his great-grandfather, Alexander Stanhope St. George started, but never finished, over a century ago. Once the tunnel is completed they say they will install the Telectroscopes. Mr. St George refuses to disclose the exact locations in London and New York where they will be situated, but rumor has it that they are near the Tower Bridge in London and the Brooklyn Bridge in New York.
You can read their press release here.
There's a weblog covering the story, with quite a bit of detail.
Here's a brief interview with Paul St. George:
and another:
the Telectroscope?
video source
I don't know. I want to believe. We'll have to keep an eye on this story.
via MetaFilter
Links 5-19-08
30 Awesome Websites for Adventurous Urban Explorers
WebUrbanist provides a look into the world of urban exploration. If you read my comment on the post, you'll find that I'm going on an expedition this week.
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Daniel Schorr: Pinching Pennies and Words (audio)
Daniel Schorr, 91 years old and still kicking it! He's one of my inspirations in life. No old folk's home for me. I subscribe to his feed so that I don't miss any of his gems of wisdom. Wherever you stand politically, you'll find that there is a great deal to learn from this man.
Related item: Candidates Need to Clean Up Their Language
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The Extinction Timeline
Looks like we have about 15 more years to get our blog on. Sadly, still 27 more years of spam. Not sure how accurate this is, but it gives one pause.
via The Presurfer
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Evil Disney
Back in 1987, I was at a friend's house and she had a rather large collection of Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck comic books. I remember reading them and realizing just how weird they were. They were nothing like the usual Disney fare. They story lines were harsh and brutal, expounding a philosophy best categorized as Social Darwinism.
I remember reading the Letters to the Editor section in one of the Mickey Mouse comics. I was quite shocked by one of the responses to a reader's question.
The question was, essentially, "Why do you make these comics?"
I'll have to give you the answer from memory as I cannot locate a source at this moment. I can assure you that I'm pretty close to the original here, as I must have read that entry about a hundred times. Every time I went to her place, I read it again, just to assure myself that I wasn't hallucinating.
So here goes:
The reason we make these comics is so that we can make more comics so that we can achieve our ultimate goal of making the entire world one big Disneyland where everyone has to go. That's called a benevolent dictatorship, boys and girls. (emphasis their's)
I swear on all that is swearable upon that this is what they said. I was completely flummoxed by that statement. I always wondered if they were just joking, but in the context it was delivered, it didn't seem to be so. Take what you will from this. I have always been a bit wary about Disney since then.
via Dedroidify
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Sunday, May 18, 2008
Sunday Excursions: Phoning it in
Apple Pie Ridge Road, Slidell, Louisiana. Hundreds of its homes wiped out by Katrina, it’s now reverting to nature, with a shiny new blacktop plunging into its heart.
from The Constant Siege
see also
I miss Louisiana
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Quick Links:
5 Steps to Take When Your Phone Drops Into Water
Emergency Numbers Around the World
via Coudal Partners
Become a Ham Radio Operator
Set Up a Pirate Radio Station
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African golden cat (Profelis aurata)
ARKive: Images of Life on Earth
Images of threatened species with lots of info. Beautiful stuff.
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And now for something completely goofy:
via Blame It On The Voices
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Futureshock - Late at Night
pterodactyls
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Get some sun.
Sex, spam and the old bait-and-switch
This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.
China Earthquake Photos 6
Two residents walk on a damaged bridge at the quake-hit area in Beichuan county, southwest China's Sichuan province, China, Saturday, May 17, 2008. Thousands of Chinese earthquake victims fled areas near the epicenter Saturday, fearful of floods from a river blocked by landslides. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu)
Earthquake survivors carrying their belonging, evacuate to higher ground from the center of earthquake-hit Beichuan County, southwestern of Sichuan province, China, Saturday, May 17, 2008. Thousands of Chinese earthquake victims fled areas near the epicenter Saturday, fearful of floods from a river blocked by landslides. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
A rescuer walks past a giant rock which has flattened a car next to partially damaged buildings in Beichuan county, southwest China's Sichuan province, Saturday, May 17, 2008. Thousands of Chinese earthquake victims fled areas near the epicenter Saturday, fearful of floods from a river blocked by landslides. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
China Earthquake Photos 6
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Oscar Pistorius - "the fastest thing on no legs"
leotto8000:Incredible performance of Oscar Pistorius, also known as "the fastest thing on no legs. He's a double amputee athlete who runs with the aid of carbon fibre transtibial artificial limbs.
I'm not seeing any 'unfair advantage' and scientists agree.
On 13 July 2007, during the Golden Gala in Rome, he was able to compete in a able-bodied event for the first time.
See below
hat tip
Readings 5-17-08
A 30,000-Volume Window on the WorldMy library is not a single beast but a composite of many others, a fantastic animal made up of the several libraries built and then abandoned, over and over again, throughout my life. I can’t remember a time in which I didn’t have a library of some sort.
via Bookninja
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AgenbitesBut what about jab or fluffy or sneer, each of them true in a way that goes beyond logic? Verbose has always struck me as a strangely verbose word. Peppy has that perky, energetic, spry sound it needs. And was there ever a more supercilious word than supercilious? Or one more lethargic than lethargic?
I would also note the euphonious delight of the curse-word.
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Instant messaging 'a linguistic renaissance' for teensNor do teens use abbreviations as much as the stereotype suggests: LOL (laugh out loud), OMG (oh my god), and TTYL (talk to you later) made up just 2.4 per cent of the vocabulary of IM conversations - an "infinitesimally small" proportion, say the researchers. And rumours of the demise of you would appear to have been greatly exaggerated: it was preferred to u a whopping 9 times out of 10.
via KurzweilAI.net
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Obesity contributes to global warming
One more stigma attached to being fat.
And they're eating all the food!
via Laurent Haug
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Pistorius primed for Beijing after overturning ban
Double-amputee Oscar Pistorius won his appeal and can now attempt to qualify for the 2008 Olympics.
hat tip
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Shrimp can see beyond the rainbow Mantis shrimps, dubbed "thumb splitters" by divers because of their vicious claws, have the most complex eyes in the animal kingdom, capable of seeing colors from the ultraviolet to the infrared, as well as detecting other subtle variations in light.
If we could see one more color in the spectrum, what would it look like?
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New Jellyfish Species Discovered In Aquarium
Marine scientists in Australia have discovered a new species of jellyfish, right under their noses.
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143 Simpsons continuity errors
I wish I had that much spare time.
via A Welsh View
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ends
A baseball cap that reads your mind
It looks like an ordinary baseball cap. But when you put it on, the cap detects and analyzes the electroencephalogram (EEG) signals from your brain. It can even tell you if you’re getting too sleepy when driving based on your brain wave patterns. Similar technology could also allow you to control home electronics such as TVs, computers, and air conditioners, all by just thinking about them.
Cool enough, but I think I'll wait for v.2.0.
Some day, there will be performing artists that sit in chairs with hats on, thinking music.
Traffic in Hyderabad
apopthegmata:
Normal daily traffic in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India. I believe it was near Sardar Patel Road.
The Insane Gridlock of Hyderabad
Sex and the City - Because no man should feel the agony of this film
Get out of the Sex and the City movie Absolution Card
John Kass:
"I don't think SATC is just for girls. I am a reasonably well-adjusted bloke and I am looking forward to seeing the film with my girlfriend. I am then looking forward to poking my eyes out with red-hot pokers, burning my skin off, and rolling around in salt for a while."—Phil Mann, Newcastle upon Tyne.
He's not alone. Millions of men are sick about this movie based on a TV show about four terrifying, rich, aging, elitist women who whine about sex and men and purchase $700 pairs of shoes to feel better about themselves. What guy wouldn't love such a movie?
(...)
"She wants to see the movie. Fine. But I'm not going."
Oh yes, you're going.
"I'm not going! I'm not!"
We'll see.
Naked City - Strange Cargo
Take Hasil Adkins, Ennio Morricone, Carl Stalling, Dick Dale, Charles Ives, Ornette Coleman, John Barry and Napalm Death, throw them in a wood chipper and spew it all against a bathroom wall at Lincoln Center and you might have a reasonable metaphor for Naked City. The band did most of its work from 1988 to 1993 and the lineup of John Zorn (Masada), Bill Frissell (Bill Frissell Trio), Wayne Horvitz (Pigpen), Fred Frith (The Residents), Joey Baron (Stan Getz), Yamatsuka Eye (Boredoms) and Mike Patton (Mr. Bungle) is like an avant-garde dream team.
Their music is a deft, high-speed, quick change bulldozer that ranges through about forty different musical genres, is always on the one and is not without moments of swing and melodic beauty. Naked City is easy to appreciate but must qualify as difficult listening.
This tune, from an unspecified live performance, is decidedly and anomalously sedate (and long, many of their tracks come in under one minute):
The next video will give you a better idea of what Naked City is usually about (from a gig in Amsterdam, 1992. Sorry about the crap sound.):
I often find it impossible to listen to Naked City, but at times, it's the perfect soundtrack for my life. They maintain a substantial presence in my "pissed off" playlist.
Friday, May 16, 2008
Iain Banks video interview on CNN.com
iain-banks.net:Iain Banks recently talked to an interviewer from CNN - during the Lincoln Book Festival by the looks of things - about a wide range of topics and subject areas, including the appeal of science fiction, his sf-nal influences, the social impact of post-scarcity economics in The Culture (and whether he's like to live there) as well as his vision for the future of humanity, including the one Culture-based gift he'd give the human race, if he could...
Iain Banks CNN interview
Don't know Iain Banks? Find and read The Wasp Factory, immediately. His science fiction is pretty good, too.
When Nixon Met Elvis
The National Archives presents When Nixon Met Elvis, an extensive online exhibit of documents and photos chronicling the storied 1970 meeting. A tidy little Flash page guides you through from Elvis's first letter to Nixon's thank you note.
via MonkeyFilter
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