Archive for the 'General' Category

Rough waters

“It was a somewhat frightening scene to see hard ice growlers the size of houses being tossed about like confetti in massive swells driven by gale force winds,” reported Captain Paul Watson. “I had to thread the ship between those bucking chunks of lethal ice knowing that if just one of them was tossed against our hull, we would be holed and sunk very quickly. I was not completely confident that we would make it, a thought that I did not share with the crew at the time.”
(Source)

Our friend, Eric, is on that boat.

Stay classy, America

By a vote of 180 in favour to 1 against (United States) and no abstentions, the Committee also approved a resolution on the right to food, by which the Assembly would “consider it intolerable” that more than 6 million children still died every year from hunger-related illness before their fifth birthday, and that the number of undernourished people had grown to about 923 million worldwide, at the same time that the planet could produce enough food to feed 12 billion people, or twice the world’s present population.
(Source)

Health care umbrella

Health care umbrella
(30 reasons, via Bleep Blop)

Galapagos photo gallery

Our trip to the Galapagos Islands was truly amazing and photographically quite rewarding. Indeed, the Galapagos are probably the most amazing place I’ve ever been, and I highly recommend that others go — though out of interest for preserving this world treasure, I hope the Ecuadorian government will continue to strictly regulate the impact of the tourism industry on the islands.

Enter the Galapagos gallery

Peru photo gallery

Photographically, much of our trip to Peru was somewhat a loss due to densely overcast skies and the resulting flat lighting. Nevertheless, it did clear up a little bit here and there. Most importantly, while we were at Machu Picchu (definitely the highlight of the week) we were treated with a smidgeon of blue skies, so overall I’m happy with what I have to show for it.

Enter the Peru gallery

When you need to add that special je ne sei qua to your meals…


This can’t possibly taste good, can it?

The origin of money

Understanding why the economy is so messed up is definitely worth 45 minutes of your life.

Lewis Black on America

The amazing thing is that there are people who have never left this country, who talk about the fact that we are the greatest country on Earth.
How fuckin’ dumb is that?
‘Cause you don’t know. If you haven’t left here you don’t know.
There are countries that may be giving shit away everyday!
Canada’s one of those countries.
You know what they give away?
HEALTH INSURANCE!

20%

http://download.journals.elsevierhealth.com/pdfs/journals/1875-9122/PIIS1875912208701159.pdf
(Source)

#6 is presumably (hopefully!) due to #1. If I had a vulva, it wouldn’t like those odds.

The lines blur

Reuters, May 16, 2004:

Sen. Joseph Biden, a senior Democrat, on Sunday urged Republican Sen. John McCain to run for vice president with the Democratic hopeful, Sen. John Kerry, in order to heal the “vicious rift” dividing America.

McCain, of Arizona, “categorically” ruled out standing with Kerry, but Biden, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said he had no second choice.

“I’m sticking with McCain,” Biden said.

“I think John McCain would be a great candidate for vice president,” Biden, from Delaware, said on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” where the two senators appeared together to take questions on Iraq and other subjects.
(Source)

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