Bush Okays Blowing Up Mountains for Mining Companies

I'm not even going to comment . . . just a traveler

George Bush is set to release a regulation tomorrow that will allow mining companies to blast the tops off mountains and dump the resulting waste in nearby streams and valleys.


Currently the practice, called mountaintop mining, exists in a hazy legal status but has been used regularly for the past two decades.

The new rule will loosen a 1983 law which prohibits disturbing soils within 100 feet of streams (in the past, companies have been sued under the Clean Water Act for dumping mining waste into streams), essentially giving coal companies the go-ahead.

Read full article at Mother Jones
or just go to Google, and type in "Mountaintop Mining"

Deaf Ninja - Blogging with Sign Language

Video Blogger Austin Andrews makes sign language videos. He made this YouTube video with inspiration from his deaf brother and parents.

After you view the video, click on this link where Austin is interviewed by the Wall Street Journal about video story telling for the deaf:
http://freetraffictip.com/video-of-blogging-in-sign-language.php
just a traveler

Too Stupid: Putting Your New Shoes in Your Own Mouth (and later deciding they aren't very tasty)

Ran across the blog - T.T. Thomas at OPINIONHEAD - and he says the notion of murder and madness as entertainment, and in the name of religious furor is nothing new . . .
just a traveler

He says . . . Americans spend billions to watch millionaire sports figures pursue their fame and infamy on and off the courts, the fields, the tracks and the high seas. We watch them maim and kill one another, and some of them watch dogs maul each other to death.

Does seeing horrific injuries and death as a sport depend on where one is, or thinks one is, on the food chain? This is not a new problem in the history of man.

The Romans threw Christians to the lions, and thousands cheered. Was it sport or religion or both? A masked man in Iraq poured gasoline on a child, and created this in the name of religion.

Dog fighting in this country has been taking place "behind closed doors."
The Taliban was terrorizing women behind closed doors, too.
Our political leadership in this country has made some huge decisions, on our behalf, behind closed doors.

It's not the closed doors that make something intrinsically good or evil, right or wrong; it is, in fact, the act itself that is taking place behind closed doors.

Killing dogs, maiming children, dying from so-called friendly fire or perishing when your helicopter falls out of the sky from either enemy fire or electro-mechanical malfunctioning all have something in common: dead is dead and maiming is maiming. All are happening in the name of sport, entertainment, religion, power and money.

Read entire posting at Blog

More Global Epidemics

Now here's a thought to consider - Infectious diseases are now spreading geographically much faster than at any time in history.

A new killer disease on a par with HIV/Aids or ebola is likely to emerge in the next few years and threaten the lives of millions of people worldwide, the World Health Organization (WHO) said today.

Potentially deadly new diseases are being identified at an "unprecedented rate", with global epidemics spreading more rapidly than ever, the United Nations agency warned in its annual world health report.

At least one new disease has been identified every year since the 1970s. Today, there are 39 that were unknown just over a generation ago.

With more than 2 billion people traveling by air every year, the WHO said "an outbreak or epidemic in one part of the world is only a few hours away from becoming an imminent threat somewhere else".

See full story at The Guardian

Will the Levees Break?

Will the New Orleans Levees Break?


See why experts say there are weak spots in the New Orleans levee system. Then take a tour of the rebuilt levees.

Natural Geographic Interactive New Orleans Map

Also read A City's Faulty Armor

Hotel Galactic Space Hotel

HOUSTON - WE HAVE A HOTEL!

The Galactic Suite - the first ever space hotel is due to open in 2012.

Rather than rooms, the space hotel will have 22 "pods" that are 23 feet long by 13 feet wide - and no furniture.

The hotel will also have a zero gravity lounge where you can spin around the world every 80 minutes, and enjoy the 15 sunrises every day.

Of course you can be a little bored just floating around, and to calm things down space travelers can use their Velcro suits to stick themselves to padded walls so they can eat, sleep or just gaze out into space.

The "pods" will have to fit inside the US space shuttle which will ferry them into place three at a time. The project director says there is a fear associated with going into space, and the fact that the shuttle rocket will remain fixed to the space hotel is reassuring to guests so they know they can get home again - hopefully.

What happens when you need to go to the bathroom? Not much detail, but the designers say that designing bathrooms for zero gravity is a challenge - no word yet how they have or plan to work that out.

When most people travel the body gets out of its normal bathroom schedule, but perhaps being weightless and bloated in space could be a different experience. However another company has a new space toilet on the drawing board that boasts urine can be recycled into drinkable water - how's that for technology? However they have solved the issue of taking a shower in weightlessness - guests will enter a spa room where bubbles of water will float around.

Sounds like great fun - let's see you take a rocket to a space hotel, float around your in your little pod or the zero gravity lounge, velcro yourselves to the walls when you tire of floating, sleep (if you can) stuck to the wall, eat some yummy space food, drink your clean urine - no mention of doing number 2 though, and shower in floating water bubbles.

But, I bet those 15 sunrises each day makes the whole trip worth while.

And after reading all this, if you think you might want to take a rocket to the space hotel, hold on just a minute - the price is a little over $4 million dollars for a 3 day stay! The project director says that only 40,000 people in the world who could afford to stay at the hotel.

Damn, why do the rich always get to have all the fun?!?

More pics of space hotel here

And speaking of that new space toilet, and drinking your own urine - Read this

Seattle Guide and Zoo President Defends Maasai

What's the problem with hiring the Maasai as tour guides? - It is the African Savannah zoo exhibit - just a traveler

There's been a lot of public debate over the Seattle Woodland Park Zoo's hiring of Kenyan tour guides for one of its exhibits and educational programs.

Recently a forum was held at the Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center to discuss issues from race relations to the history of zoos.

The forum was in response to the zoo's Maasai Journey, an educational program launched to accompany its African Savannah exhibit.

This year the zoo brought in four men from the Maasai tribe, a nomadic ethnic group that lives in southern Kenya and Tanzania, to lead educational classes and talk about their culture in connection with environmental conservation.

Seattle Times Article

White House Manual Details How to Deal With Protesters

Wasn't it Thomas Jefferson who said that “Dissent is the highest form of patriotism.” oh well, that was a long time ago, and what does history matter - this is the America of today - just a traveler

A West Virginia couple were arrested for wearing anti-Bush t-shirts at a rally in Charleston several years ago.

Members of the White House event staff told them to cover their shirts or leave. They refused and were arrested, handcuffed and briefly jailed before local authorities dropped the charges and apologized. The federal government finally settled the First Amendment case last week for $80,000, but with no admission of wrongdoing.

The Washington Post ran this article after getting a copy of a White House manual . . .

Not that they’re worried or anything. But the White House evidently leaves little to chance when it comes to protests within eyesight of the president. As in, it doesn’t want any.

A White House manual that came to light recently gives presidential advance staffers extensive instructions in the art of “deterring potential protestors” from President Bush’s public appearances around the country.

The manual offers advance staffers and volunteers who help set up presidential events guidelines for assembling crowds. Those invited into a VIP section on or near the stage, for instance, must be "extremely supportive of the Administration," it says. While the Secret Service screens audiences only for possible threats, the manual says, volunteers should examine people before they reach security checkpoints and look out for signs. Make sure to look for "folded cloth signs," it advises.

To counter any demonstrators who do get in, advance teams are told to create "rally squads" of volunteers with large hand-held signs, placards or banners with "favorable messages."

Squads should be placed in strategic locations and "at least one squad should be 'roaming' throughout the perimeter of the event to look for potential problems," the manual says.

"These squads should be instructed always to look for demonstrators," it says. "The rally squad's task is to use their signs and banners as shields between the demonstrators and the main press platform. If the demonstrators are yelling, rally squads can begin and lead supportive chants to drown out the protestors (USA!, USA!, USA!). As a last resort, security should remove the demonstrators from the event site."

Advance teams are advised not to worry if protesters are not visible to the president or cameras: "If it is determined that the media will not see or hear them and that they pose no potential disruption to the event, they can be ignored. On the other hand, if the group is carrying signs, trying to shout down the President, or has the potential to cause some greater disruption to the event, action needs to be taken immediately to minimize the demonstrator's effect."

The manual adds in bold type: "Remember -- avoid physical contact with demonstrators! Most often, the demonstrators want a physical confrontation. Do not fall into their trap!" And it suggests that advance staff should "decide if the solution would cause more negative publicity than if the demonstrators were simply left alone."

American "squads" preventing other Americans from exercising their First Amendment rights - Jefferson and the Founding Fathers must be spinning in their graves - just a traveler

Full article at Washington Post

Martin Luther King Made In China - Oh No!

The momument to honor civil rights leader Dr Martin Luther King Jr has been awarded to an artist in China.

Having a monument shipped to Washington DC from China with a sticker that says, "Made in China" makes no sense whatsoever.

Don't we have any talented African American artists in this country that can produce a monument to King? Of course we do!

However, there is not ONE national monument to a leader of any country anywhere on this planet with the name of an African American artist on its base.

Why should China be given the honor of erecting a sculture to an African American civil rights leader when they don't even recognize the civil rights of their own people?

This will be the first national monument to an African American, and it's time for us to demand the right to choose an artist who can represent the history and legacy of the civil rights leader and the movement.

There is a time to talk and a time to take action - I have just signed an online petition: "King is Ours!" - and I'm asking you to do the same.

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/131480161

Million Dollar Wiki

Stopped by Retired at 21 blog, and picked up this article - just a traveler

Every year there is one novelty website idea that becomes a media sensation and makes the young entrepreneur in question very rich.

Graham Langdon, 21 year old senior from the University of Connecticut has taken it one step further and created the “Million Dollar Wiki“.

The concept is simple: A wikipedia style site, but instead of letting everyone edit it, each person can buy a term e.g “Internet marketing” and that becomes their page.

Graham hopes to sell 10,000 pages at $100 each. Thus far he has sold over 200, and made well over $16.000 so far.

Retired at 21 says "why didn't I think of that?"
Just a travelers says ditto!!!

http://retiredat21.com/

Gipsy Hip Hop

Gypsy/Roma music is cool again, and more younger bands are taking it up, blending it with hip hop and other styles all over the planet.

Yes, Gypsy's are known for being just about everywhere in the world. Check out these two Gypsy artists -

I'm kinda of liking Ferus vibes . . . just a traveler

FERUS MUSTAFOV (pictured)

Ferus Mustafov is known for gypsy wedding music in Macedonia, a style of music which features electric bass and guitar, drums, keyboards and accordion, all combined to play at a very fast speed.

A saxophonist and clarinettist, Mustafov, based in Sutka, the gypsy suburb of Macedonian capital Skopje comes from a traditional gypsy music family. His father, Ilimi Jasarov, was the first to introduce saxophone to the wedding music format.

Mustafov built his own six-track studio in his bedroom as a teenager, and also works as the musical editor for the gypsy programming at TV Macedonia.

Listen to Orient Cocek featuring Ferus - sounds a little middle eastern, indian, jazz, cuban, along with a little funk . . . http://www.b92.net/muzika/ferus_mustafov_orient_cocek.mp3

RAPPER RADOSLAV BANGA - aka GIPSY

Rapper Radoslav Banga, aka Gipsy, and his ensemble Gipsy.cz blends traditional music and instruments with pumped-up beats and rapid-fire rapping mixed with English, Czech and Roma languages.

Romano Hip Hop has already won a a number of awards and spent months in the World Music Charts in Europe. The group includes Gipsy, violinist Vojta Lavicka, accordionist Petr Surmaj and his bassist brother Jan Surmaj. Gipsy's music comes with the extra appeal of tradition-rooted melodies made modern.

After generations of oppression, the Roma community is expressing their cultural pride - and they have joined the global Hip Hop community.

You can listen to Rapper Radoslav Banga's tracks on this site
http://soundroots.org/2007/08/mondays-mp3-romano-hip-hop-in-house.html

Paris Airport One of World's Worst

France may be the world's top tourist destination, but the 23 million passengers arriving in Paris this summer have one hurdle to cross before they can get to all that wonderful food and wine - THE AIRPORT.

The International Air Transport Association says the service offered by Aeroports de Paris, which runs Charles de Gaulle and other airports around Paris, is one of the worst in the world.

"Airports range from very good - Singapore for example - to the very bad and Paris unfortunately comes in at the bottom end of the spectrum," said IATA director Anthony Concil.

He faults the "public service mentality" of ADP for a nonchalant attitude toward customers -- both passengers and airlines.

The airport operator is 68% state-owned, and its charges make Charles de Gaulle the seventh-most expensive airport in the world.

Source: Post Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07231/810086-37.stm

Immigration, Inc. Underground Economy

Immigration, Inc. fuels global underground economy - Around the world, millions of immigrants are sending billions of dollars back home.

One sweaty wad of bills or $200 Western Union moneygram at a time, they form what could be called Immigration, Inc. — one of the biggest businesses on the planet.

Experts tracking the phenomenon told The Associated Press they have gotten a much clearer picture since the 9/11 attacks, when authorities trying to cut the flow of cash to jihadists began taking a harder look at how immigrants move their money around.

Mass migration, they say, has spawned an underground economy of staggering proportions.

Globally, remittances — the cash that immigrants send home — totaled nearly $276 billion in 2006, the World Bank says. Remittances have more than doubled since 2000, and with globalization increasing the numbers of people on the move, there's no end in sight.

If these guest workers incorporated as a company, their migrant multinational would rank No. 3 on the Fortune 500 list, trailing only Wal-Mart and ExxonMobil in annual revenue.

Read full story at USA Today

Tibetan Activist Speaks Out Against China

Beijing Wide Open A Tibetan Activist Speaks Out One Year Before the Olympics

Lhadon Tethong, a Tibetan woman born and raised in Canada (pictured here) has traveled the world, working to build a powerful youth movement for Tibetan independence.

On August 7th, six people risked their lives raising a 450-square foot banner that was dropped over the Great Wall of China in support of a free Tibet.

News of this action has already spread around the world, inserting the message “One World One Dream Free Tibet” into every news story being filed about the one-year countdown to the 2008 Olympic Games being held in China.

Visit her blog to learn more
http://beijingwideopen.org/

Cool Globes Chicago Project

The City of Chicago is hosting CoolGlobes: Hot Ideas for a Cooler Planet, an innovative public art project of 124 extraordinary globes designed to create awareness and inspire practical solutions to global warming.

Solutions that we can put into practice every day...at home, on the job and in school.

The globes, 5 feet in diameter, will be on display along Chicago's lakefront - from The Field Museum north and at Navy Pier through September.

Artists from around the world, including Jim Dine, Yair Engel, Tom Van Sant and Juame Plensa, designed the globes, using a variety of materials to transform their plain white sphere to create awareness and provoke discussion about potential solutions to global warming.

Artist Ginny Sykes' globe (shown above) is called "Water Efficiency: World on Fire."

Visit the website to view more globes and information on the project.
http://www.coolglobes.com/aboutcg.htm

Help Hurricane Victims

Happiness consists in giving, and in serving others...... When you dig another out of their troubles, you find a place to bury your own
God is Love - Reverend Run

Haven't blogged in awhile. Went to the Bahamas for a brief visit before school starts again - a very nice, and unexpected gift from my mom.

I was amazed that we were able to enjoy the sun, surf and fun while the rest of the Caribbean was in turmoil due to Hurricane Dean.

Now that I am back, it's time to fully appreicate all that my life offers and assist those in need, particularly on the islands of Haiti (pictured at left) and the island of Jamaica.

More South Florida-based organizations have launched into action to assist victims of Hurricane Dean.
To make a tax-deductible contribution for use in the Caribbean countries impacted by Dean, go to http://www.crossinternational.org/ or call 954-657-9000 to make a credit-card donation.

Donors may also send checks to Cross International - Hurricane Relief, 600 SW Third St., Suite 2201, Pompano Beach, FL 33060.

Food for the Poor also is accepting donations for relief in Jamaica, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Dominica and St. Lucia. Drop off donations or write checks to Food for the Poor, 6401 Lyons Road, Coconut Creek, FL 33073.

Call the group at 954-427-2222 or visit online.

Work and Personal Life – the Online Connection

I stopped by the Caribbean Public Relations blog today, and ran across an article, Work and Personal Life - the Online Connection, and it really struck a cord with me.

Millions of people around the world have joined social media networks like MySpace, Facebook, etc. Most of these users think nothing of what they post, along with the images they project of themselves. Yes, it's all fun and games for now, but what about later?

I suspect many young woman who have posted less than flattering pictures of themselves may one day be quite surprised that these images are still floating around the Internet. Do they ever wonder what an employer may run across if their name is "googled"? What about future love relationships? And what about their family members or neighbors viewing these images?

I suspect many of these "social media types" know very little of how sites, names, subjects, etc. are indexed by major search engines. What goes on the Internet stays - filed in cyberspace for future reference. .

We all love broadcasting ourselves to the world via communities, forums, podcasts, blogs and other social media - but we should ask ourselves if the online trail we have left behind will be one to be proud of - or NOT.

Read Caribbean Public Relations article

AddThis Widget

AddThis is a great service to coordinate all the social media services for your blog or website including Del.icio.us, Digg, Technorati, StumbleUpon, Reddit, Facebook, etc.

I was having a problem getting buttons for my blog - lots of formatting errors on Blogger. And I did not want a button for each media service.

AddThis was definitely the answer - see the button at the end of this posting! I love technology - especially when it works!!

AddThis has been around for quite awhile, and I can't believe I didn't find this sooner - Just A Traveler

P.S. You can also get stats

I got my code here

Whonu - Be Amazed at What You Discover

Who nu? Now you do!

I love to research on the Net, and Whonu is one of the best new search engines that not only searches, but offers a combination of results not found in the "usual" seach results.

I've always been a "Google" user, but Whonu takes search to another level offering much more intergration and access tools (web content, articles, forums, images, audio, video, news, reference content, blogs, rss feeds and more) - and of course "Google" search results too.

Check out: Whonu

Getting Your E-mail Box to Zero

43 Folders is one of Merlin Mann’s family of websites about stuff like personal productivity, life hacks, and simple ways to make your life a little better.

I stopped by and read "How's Your Inbox" today. I read through a brief series on getting your e-mail down to zero.

We all have those e-mail messages that we don't respond to right away, and just keep around - for whatever reason - and never get around to answering.

After reading the series I decided to make a decision about the number of e-mails just sitting in my inbox - some from last year. I had even forgotten about some of the e-mails I saved. Some I did not plan to answer, but felt I needed to keep . . . just in case. Looking at this from a new perspective today, I can't honestly say why I continually kept at least 25 e-mails in my inbox.

Right now I'm sitting on zero, and it feels real good. It's like cleaning all the un-used clothes out of your closet, and then seeing exactly what you really have to wear. No more clutter!

Stop by and check it out, the Inbox Zero series is something everybody needs to read.
http://www.43folders.com/izero/