5/27/2009
5/25/2009
The astonishing 3D murals painted on the sides of buildings by a trompe l'oeil artist
At first glance, it looks as if some natural disaster has shaken away the walls of these buildings to reveal architecture hidden for thousands of years.
And at second and third glance, it looks like that too.
But these spectacular images are not the unexpected result of an earthquake.
5/20/2009
5/18/2009
Decca Aitkenhead meets Green party leader Caroline Lucas
The Story of Stuff with Annie Leonard
5/15/2009
Liberals ordered to stop election ad tweets
Liberals ordered to stop election ad tweets
The BC Liberal Party got its nose tweaked for tweeting Tuesday when it got caught using Twitter to break the BC Election Act ban on election-day advertising.
In a social media snafu, the party was ordered to stop its election ad tweets mid-morning Tuesday by Elections BC, but not before it had broadcast out several tweets to its 887 followers, some of whom them re-tweeted them to their Twitter followers.
“They were in contravention of the act,” said Kenn Faris, manager event communications for Elections BC of the tweets put out on the party’s Twitter profile Tuesday morning. “When it was brought to our attention at 10:30 we called them and asked them to stop and they did.
“What happens with a Twitter post is once they are out there you can’t recall them, but the fact is they stopped and we are not going to pursue this any further. It’s unfortunate that it happened and it’s out there but there is not much we can do now."
While the 140-character Twitter missives can’t be recalled once they are posted, they can be removed from the Twitterer’s home page, but the offending ad tweets remained up Tuesday afternoon. Faris said Elections BC was unaware that posted tweets could be removed from a profile page.
“Using the new-found information you gave us we called the Liberals and asked them to trash the tweets they posted this morning,” he called back to say. The tweets were then removed.
Among the offending tweets:
“The BC Liberals are the best choice to build B.C.: http://tinyurl.com/dmy3mq #bcelection,” with a link to the Liberal Party's platform on the Web.
“The NDP's irresponsible policies will put an additional 2,000 loggers out of work: http://tinyurl.com/ckqp4m #bcelection,” also with a link to the Liberal Party platform.
The illegal ads drew a flurry of criticism on Twitter and in the blogosphere. It was first highlighted by Adele Kirwer, who tweets as @BlissfulGirl. Not long after, Vancouver’s Pete Quily posted about it on his blog, http://adultaddstrengths.com.
A search of Twitter indicated The BC Green Party may also have contravened the Election Act with a number of election-day tweets including: “Go Green — Be Green — Vote Green #bcelection.” The tweets were later removed from the Green Party Twitter page.
The BC Election Act prohibits individuals or organizations from publishing, broadcasting or transmitting advertising on election day before the close of voting stations.
“This is the first election where it has been an issue,” Faris said of the election mistweets. “If it is trying to promote an advertising message then it’s a form of advertising.
“If it is to support or oppose directly or indirectly a political party or candidate then it is considered advertising.”
5/11/2009
This Organized Chaos: Let me have this
Let me have this
"its about time
I've been thinking while you've been talking
I've been waiting while you've been wandering
I've been conforming while you've been creating
I've been reluctant while you've been ready
I've been crying while you've been capable
I've been ignored while you've been imperative
I've been deterred while you've been determined
I've been regretting while you've been rejoicing
I've been critical while you've been convincing
I've been doubting while you've been decided
I've been senseless while you've been sane
I've been limited while you've been liberated
I've been criticized while you've been complimented
I've been abused while you've been applauded
I've been trapped while you've been travelling
I've been pessimistic while you've been positive
I've been planning while you've been playing
I've been saving while you've been spending
I've been fighting while you've been flaunting
I've been beaten while you've been boasting
I've been coughing while you've been cured
I've been longing while you've been loving
I've been burdened while you've been blessed
I've been worthy while you have not
let me have this
for once."- by me
5/10/2009
Karma Tycoon: Games for Change
Karma Tycoon is an online strategy game in which players solve community problems, such as homelessness, in cities across the US. Players learn the ins and outs of the not-for-profit world as they apply for grants, receive donations and have to manage their budget efficiently. It is available free of charge at KarmaTycoo
5/08/2009
5/07/2009
5/06/2009
5/04/2009
5/03/2009
The Canadian Press: LSU-bound pitcher Rachele Fisco keeps piling up perfect games
MONROE, Conn. — Rachele Fico's 23rd perfect game for Masuk High School wasn't her best.
The LSU-bound senior only struck out 20 of the 21 batters she faced Wednesday, giving up a soft grounder to second base for the game's penultimate out.
The other team erupted into applause over one of their players just putting the ball in play.
"For four years they've been cheering for foul tips," said Masuk coach Jacqui Sheftz. "To the other teams' credit, they are coming out here and taking their cuts ... but Rachel right now is at the top of her game."
The 11-0 victory was Fico's 43rd no-hitter, fourth consecutive perfect game, and seventh this season. She has a career ERA of .006.
Fico (90-2 career) pitched another no-hitter on Thursday as Masuk won 10-0, but her streak of perfect games ended when she walked a batter. Through 11 games this year, she has given up just two hits and two walks.
"She's throwing in Connecticut, which isn't exactly known as the national hotbed of softball," said LSU coach Yvette Girouard. "But I don't care what level you're participating in, the mark she's setting - you just kind of shake your head and scratch it.
"It's just an unbelievable feat what she's doing right now."
It's also unprecedented.
Marissa Marzan held the previous record for perfect games, pitching 20 for Bullard High School in Fresno, Calif., between 1998-2001, according to the National Federation of State High School Associations.
Fico, who goes by Ray, said she's been working at her game since she was 5 years old, playing coed T-ball in her hometown of Oxford.
"I remember crying," she said. "I didn't want to play."
But she discovered she was good at it, and when she was 9, she switched to softball.
"I would just go outside and pitch in my backyard," she said. "When I was younger, I practiced like six or seven days a week."
Her father, Ralph, said Fico would constantly ask him to play catch. He eventually put a batting cage and a pitching machine in the yard. By the time she was in middle school, she was throwing the ball 57 mph. She also threw about 30,000 pitches a year.
"I'm not kidding," he said. "We counted them. It was 100 pitches a day."
Ralph Fico decided to get his daughter some professional help, and eventually found Jen Hapanowicz, a former University of Rhode Island pitcher who runs a training centre in Durham, Conn.
Since then, Fico has played for a variety of elite national teams, helping the Gold Coast Hurricanes of Florida to an 18-and-under Amateur Softball Association national championship last summer.
"She has a fire inside and a drive," said Ralph Fico. "This record thing, I don't want to say it bothers me, but it's not something she was looking to set. She just wants to win."
Rachele said she actually likes hitting more than pitching.
On Wednesday, she was 4 for 4, including a double and a home run. But she pitches right-handed and bats left, exposing her throwing arm to the mound when she bats. So in college, she's likely to stick to the pitching circle.
She throws a curve ball, a change-up, a drop-curve, a screwball, a riser and something called a screw-rise, often topping 70 mph.
Sheftz, who was a catcher in college, said she's never seen anyone with Fico's combination of control, power and movement. What's it like to catch her?
"It hurts," she said.
Playing for her summer league teams, Fico has pitched against competition from Japan, Venezuela and Taipei. She even threw an inning against the U.S. Olympic team, giving up five earned runs on four hits, with a walk.
Fico is quick to credit her teammates for her perfect games, noting that they sometimes have to wait several games to get a single chance at a ball in the field, but are always ready.
She said she "dreams big" about the future, but wants to concentrate now on helping Masuk to a third consecutive state title. In college, she plans to study special education and just enjoy being a part of the LSU softball team.
Girouard said the feeling is mutual.
"We don't want to put any undo expectations on her," she said. "But let's just say everyone in Baton Rouge is salivating for her arrival."
5/02/2009
Not So Frequently Asked Questions About The Swine Flu
Raging Moderate,
Q. What is swine flu?
A. A respiratory disease caused by a type-A influenza virus that has mutated into H1N1, and is currently terrorizing the globe. Don’t you read the papers?
Q. What are these papers you speak of? Poor President Obama. Everything happens on his watch. Does he have the worst job in the world right now?
A. Perhaps a close second to Mexico’s Minister of Tourism. That you wouldn’t wish on the CEO of AIG.
Q. Just because of the swine flu?
A. Well, yes, and the earthquakes and the drug wars. Earlier this year, school administrators warned college kids not to spring break south of the border because of the beheadings.
Q. That’s a problem for college students?
A. Nothing chills a tropical surf buzz like a beach full of headless corpses.
Q. Kids today are soft.
A. Let’s move on.
Q. Can I contract the swine flu from eating pork?
A. No, you cannot get swine flu from eating pork. It’s an airborne, not a food-borne disease.
Q. What about bacon?
A. No. You can’t get swine flu from eating pork. Or bacon. Or pork chops. Or honey-glazed pork tenderloin. Or Corky’s Memphis-style baby back ribs. Or pork lips and linoleum. Or grilled ham and gouda on sun-dried tomato focaccia. Or pickled pigs’ feet.
Q. How about pork rinds?
A. (Deep sigh) Yes. You can get it from pork rinds. Stay away from those.
Q. Should I keep my children out of school?
A. Please, no. Your kids are going to need all the help they can get.
Q. Didn’t we just go through this a couple years ago?
A. That was the H5N1 virus. The bird flu. This is H1N1, swine flu. Birds, swine: different.
Q. What ever happened with that whole bird flu thing?
A. Not much. A few folks got the urge to go to the bathroom standing on a statue.
Q. Shouldn’t that experience have given us a head start with response to this outbreak?
A. Well, it certainly primed the panic pump.
Q. What’s the difference between a pandemic and an epidemic?
A. A pandemic is a bunch of little epidemics. Think bouquet and flowers.
Q. Many governors have declared a state of emergency but caution people not to be alarmed. Isn’t that sending mixed messages?
A. Yes. And no.
Q. What’s the best way to avoid getting the swine flu?
A. Wash your hands.
Q. What are you, my mom?
A. Can I help it if your mother was right? By the way, Mother’s Day… Sunday the 10th.
Q. What about those masks I see people wearing? Can they help?
A. Can’t hurt. Just take them off when you sneeze.
Q. Can I get swine flu from petting pigs on a farm?
A. No U.S. pig has been found with the disease. Who pets pigs?
Q. Can my pot-bellied pig contract the swine flu virus and give it to me?
A. No, you can’t get it from domestic pigs, I just told you that. Are you listening?
Q. Why do they call it the swine flu then?
A. They don’t. It is now officially SOIV.
Q. What’s that?
A. Swine Originated Influenza Virus. This way, we keep from defaming our proud, American factory pig farms.
Q. Any other brilliant advice?
A. Don’t drink the ice water you’re cooling your Coronas in.
Will Durst is a San Francisco-based political comic who writes sometimes. This is one of them.
The Cagle Post -- Print Column
Raging Moderate,
Q. What is swine flu?
A. A respiratory disease caused by a type-A influenza virus that has mutated into H1N1, and is currently terrorizing the globe. Don’t you read the papers?
Q. What are these papers you speak of? Poor President Obama. Everything happens on his watch. Does he have the worst job in the world right now?
A. Perhaps a close second to Mexico’s Minister of Tourism. That you wouldn’t wish on the CEO of AIG.
Q. Just because of the swine flu?
A. Well, yes, and the earthquakes and the drug wars. Earlier this year, school administrators warned college kids not to spring break south of the border because of the beheadings.
Q. That’s a problem for college students?
A. Nothing chills a tropical surf buzz like a beach full of headless corpses.
Q. Kids today are soft.
A. Let’s move on.
Q. Can I contract the swine flu from eating pork?
A. No, you cannot get swine flu from eating pork. It’s an airborne, not a food-borne disease.
Q. What about bacon?
A. No. You can’t get swine flu from eating pork. Or bacon. Or pork chops. Or honey-glazed pork tenderloin. Or Corky’s Memphis-style baby back ribs. Or pork lips and linoleum. Or grilled ham and gouda on sun-dried tomato focaccia. Or pickled pigs’ feet.
Q. How about pork rinds?
A. (Deep sigh) Yes. You can get it from pork rinds. Stay away from those.
Q. Should I keep my children out of school?
A. Please, no. Your kids are going to need all the help they can get.
Q. Didn’t we just go through this a couple years ago?
A. That was the H5N1 virus. The bird flu. This is H1N1, swine flu. Birds, swine: different.
Q. What ever happened with that whole bird flu thing?
A. Not much. A few folks got the urge to go to the bathroom standing on a statue.
Q. Shouldn’t that experience have given us a head start with response to this outbreak?
A. Well, it certainly primed the panic pump.
Q. What’s the difference between a pandemic and an epidemic?
A. A pandemic is a bunch of little epidemics. Think bouquet and flowers.
Q. Many governors have declared a state of emergency but caution people not to be alarmed. Isn’t that sending mixed messages?
A. Yes. And no.
Q. What’s the best way to avoid getting the swine flu?
A. Wash your hands.
Q. What are you, my mom?
A. Can I help it if your mother was right? By the way, Mother’s Day… Sunday the 10th.
Q. What about those masks I see people wearing? Can they help?
A. Can’t hurt. Just take them off when you sneeze.
Q. Can I get swine flu from petting pigs on a farm?
A. No U.S. pig has been found with the disease. Who pets pigs?
Q. Can my pot-bellied pig contract the swine flu virus and give it to me?
A. No, you can’t get it from domestic pigs, I just told you that. Are you listening?
Q. Why do they call it the swine flu then?
A. They don’t. It is now officially SOIV.
Q. What’s that?
A. Swine Originated Influenza Virus. This way, we keep from defaming our proud, American factory pig farms.
Q. Any other brilliant advice?
A. Don’t drink the ice water you’re cooling your Coronas in.
Will Durst is a San Francisco-based political comic who writes sometimes. This is one of them.
5/01/2009
1976 'Swine Flu' Public Service Announcements
Looking at the headlines, you’d think that swine flu is a sign of the coming apocalypse. But having watched this pair of PSAs — which aired during the swine-flu panic of 1976 — we’re beginning to think that the end times aren’t so nigh after all.
The first spot uses simple scare tactics to drive its message home (Swine flu bad! Flu shots good!). The second spot is longer and more satisfying: It traces the flu’s progress from family to community to the public at large — and has the same narrative arc as most of the zombie movies you’ll see. So take a moment this weekend to remind yourself that the ’76 epidemic didn’t amount to much.
33 years later, scientists accept the fact problems with the government's shots actually killed more people than the swine flu did.
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