Archive for October, 2009

First the Moon, Now Antarctica: China Mapping Bottom of the World in Awesome Detail

Chinese scientists have shifted its focus from mapping the moon to completing the world’s first land cover map of the Antarctica at the end of this year. The result will be the most accurate map of the continent ever published.

Using the application of high resolution remote sensing technology, the map will be the first ever to show the distribution of key features on the continent, including sea ice, snow, blue ice, rocks, soil marshes, lakes and ice crevasse. The map is also based on 1,073 images acquired from the U.S. satellite Land sat mainly during the austral summer from 1999 to 2002.

The Ice Man

‘Ice Man’ vs. Global Warming

Over a Barrel

Exactly what Blue Cross Blue Shield is eager to protect!

First, they learned their rates will rise by an average of 11 percent next year.

Next, they opened a slick flier from the insurer urging them to send an enclosed pre-printed, postage-paid note to Sen. Kay Hagan denouncing what the company says is unfair competition that would be imposed by a government-backed insurance plan. The so-called public option is likely to be considered by Congress in the health-care overhaul debate.

“No matter what you call it, if the federal government intervenes in the private health insurance market, it’s a slippery slope to a single-payer system,” the BCBS flier read. “Who wants that?”

Plenty of people, it turns out.

Indignant Blue Cross customers have rebelled against the insurer’s message, complaining that their premium dollars have funded such a campaign.

They’ve hit the Internet in a flurry of e-mails to friends and neighbors throughout the state. They’ve called Hagan’s office to voice support for a public option. They’ve marked through the Blue Cross message on their postcards to instead vouch support, then dropped them in the mail — in at least one case taped to a brick — to be paid on Blue Cross’ dime. Or dimes.

Bring on a strong, robust PUBLIC OPTION!

The One You Feed

Image from The North American Indian by Edward S. Curtis.

Edward S. Curtis Collection

Edward S. Curtis Collection

Tale of Two Wolves

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, “My son, the battle is between two wolves inside us all. One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego. The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.” The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: “Which wolf wins?” The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”

 

Edward Sheriff Curtis - Self-Portrait

Edward Sheriff Curtis - Self-Portrait

Edward Sheriff Curtis

In 1906 J.P. Morgan offered Curtis $75,000 to produce a series on the North American Indian. [6] It was to be in 20 volumes with 1,500 photographs. Morgan was to receive 25 sets and 500 original prints as his method of repayment. 222 complete sets were eventually published. Curtis’ goal was not just to photograph, but to document, as much American Indian (Native American) traditional life as possible before that way of life disappeared.

Australia’s Only Unusualist

Raymond Crowe is an Australian mime artist, magician and cabaret performer. Originally from Adelaide, Raymond Crowe describes himself as Australia’s only Unusualist. His innovative, fresh approach delights audiences. In 2007 he became famous when his hand shadow performance to the Louis Armstrong hit What a Wonderful World was posted on YouTube. (wiki) Please welcome the Secret World of…

Raymond Crowe Unusualist

Bridge to Somewhere

A documentary from American Radioworks Bridge to Somewhere: Lessons from the New Deal

President Barack Obama wants to create jobs by building infrastructure. So did another president. Franklin Delano Roosevelt tried to put people to work by building roads, bridges, dams, sewers, schools, hospitals and even ski jumps. The structures that New Deal agencies built transformed America.

I would like to introduce another TED Talk participant.. Meet Majora Carter, she speaks about Green technology in an urban setting. She’s innovative, active, and inspiring! Green is the new Black!

Greening the GhettoMajora Carter

Nightmare on my StreetDJ Jazzy Jeff w/Fresh Prince

 

Dead HeartsDead Man’s Bones

 

ThrillerMichael Jackson

11 Extinct Animals That Have Been Photographed Alive

Bubal Hartebeest

 

The Bubal Hartebeest was a magnificent, tough beast which was once domesticated by the ancient Egyptians as a food source and for sacrificial purposes. The creature was even mentioned in the Old Testament. Although it once roamed throughout Northern Africa and the Middle East, the deep-rooted mythology which surrounded the animal was not enough to save it from European hunters who began hunting them for recreation and meat. The last Bubal Hartebeest was probably a female which died in the Paris Zoo in 1923.

The Hubble Deep Field: The Most Important Image Ever Taken

In 2003, the Hubble Space Telescope took the image of a millenium, an image that shows our place in the universe. Anyone who understands what this image represents, is forever changed by it.

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