Miniature Earth

I saw this amazing video in class a couple of weeks ago and thought I'd share:

Sad but profound

Do you read Nicholas Kristof's column in the New York Times? If not, you should. The man travels around the world to report on a wide variety of issues that usually don't get a lot of press. Things like rates of women dying in childbirth in Africa, modern-day slavery, family planning in developing countries. Not only does he report on such things, but he often investigates what can be done about them, what is being done about them. It's not all doom and gloom. The man does important work. (Seriously, read the man's bio here. Downright inspirational. He could be living on Easy Street but chooses to write about the "least of the least".)

But what I want to share with you right now is not something Kristof wrote, but a comment that was left after one of his posts (the subject was the 2+ million people who die each year of pneumonia). I will quote it in its entirety because it's worth it, and I don't think the commenter would object:

I’m an American professor of critical care medicine and infectious diseases in Bangladesh, where my team and I care for the sickest children from Dhaka’s squalid slums.

We lose several babies a week due to lack of ventilators, a toll we feel personally and constantly. It saddens me to think that our country is willing to spend $500 million a day on war, but not $100,000 to save thousands of poor children’s lives.

Working as I do in an impoverished Muslim country, I’m very certain that modest investments in health and education would do more to mend fences and deter terrorism than eloquent speeches, intrusive intelligence agencies, and violent military forces; our current tactics are counterproductive, in addition to being inhumane and immoral.

— Dr Brian

Time-Lapse Across China

Absolutely incredible video - thanks to my brother Joe for posting it on FB!

Time-Lapse Across China

Time-lapse Man Vs. Cat

Time-lapse Man Vs. Cat

Women saved by Roe v. Wade

Just one person's account of how the Roe v. Wade decision saved hundreds of women's lives.

I understand that you the reader may think that abortion should be made illegal, but I ask you: what about the women??? This is not a false choice, not for everyone.

And for those of you who agree that abortion should be available, this is the reason why we can never take it for granted.

I really want one of these!!!

An Engineer's Guide to Cat Yodeling

Remember the Engineer's Guide to Cats?

I'm not sure that a sequel was necessary, but it's good for a laugh:

"I Remember Andrea Better"

This is AWESOME. Many thanks to Lillian for sharing it on FB.

New BGT video - Diversity

They tortured to get an Iraq-El Quaida connection

... because there just wasn't one to be found any other way:



How unacceptable is this? Ask Shep Smith from FOX News:

We should have this in Ontario!

Bicycles, Rolling Stops, and the Idaho Stop from Spencer Boomhower on Vimeo.

"Chaval" Spanish Coca-Cola Ad (English subtitles)

Campy fun.

Coca Cola Spanish TV commercial "Meeting 90 seconds" (with subtitles)

Great commercial

Winning the lottery

A few days ago, I woke up with this intriguing phrase in my head: “… and that’s how I won the lottery.”

Interesting, especially since I am generally against spending money on lottery tickets. (“Tax on idiots” is a pretty good phrase, although I do understand the whole escapism thing, and it’s probably a lot cheaper than booze on a weekly basis, and more legal than drugs. LOL.)

Anyway, I decided to buy a ticket, just this once – just in case.

And then, for the first time in many years, I thought about what it would be like to have 12 million dollars. The first thing I would do is hire a cleaning service for my apartment, I think. Then pay off my brother’s mortgage. (My parents’ too, if they haven’t already done so.) I’d send my mom on an Alaskan cruise with her best friend. And I could finally travel to Europe and visit my dear friend Wendy in New Zealand. Maybe I would buy a house of my own, too – a house with windows in the kitchen! (Yes, I’ve been living in apartments a bit too long …) And DEFINITELY with a garden. And trees. I’d want to do something for Alan (one of my dearest, truest friends) and his wife, Jennifer. I even fantasized about bribing one of my favourite profs to stop smoking in return for a large wad of cash for his kids’ education fund. :)

But mostly I wanted to make the money work for people in need. The food banks are hard-hit these days, and I’d want to make a generous donation there. Then I thought about how patrons of food banks might need holistic health care, and how I could underwrite a health clinic for them that would give them access to naturopaths and practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine. And then I wondered if there was a way I could get another such clinic in Toronto’s Sick Kids’ Hospital. I thought how fantastic and life-changing it would be for these people and families in need to get that kind of care.

I also thought about how much I would like to encourage organic gardening and farming in and around Toronto – and wondered how I could do so (perhaps by funding more community gardens?).

And then I thought about how much work it would take to organize and administer such things. Definitely something I’d want to hire someone else to do, and I know the person I’d want running these things (she’s my financial adviser, and someone I have the utmost respect for). But still, I’d want to be in there, trying to outline my vision and ensure that it was being met.

And then I’d need an accountant to audit everything. I wouldn’t want to waste a single opportunity.

I’d definitely quit my part-time job, but even as a millionaire, I’d want to stay in the program I’m in. Which would mean the trips to Europe and New Zealand would have to wait another 3 – 5 years anyway.

The money would be handy to pay for my education, and the first year or two of starting my practice after graduation. With the extra cash, I could order take-out food or have a cleaning service come in when I was studying, without worrying about my budget.

I might be able to afford tickets to the symphony, but I really wouldn’t have time to attend one until after I graduate.

And then I thought of the mail I’d get from strangers pleading for money, or the friends/relatives who might expect handouts. I thought of how I might wonder if people liked me for me, or for my money.

All this to say that I’d come to the conclusion that I would really be trading one set of problems/challenges for another.

And maybe THAT is how I came to “win” the lottery.

Paine-ful

A Brit's view of American media, especially FOX

Must-see video

A reminder that it's never too late to follow your dreams.

The Last Snow Squall

The Last Snow Squall
Originally uploaded by Chris Seufert.

From a recent interview with Bob Dylan

BF: Are you a mystical person?

BD: Absolutely.

BF: Any thoughts about why?

BD: I think it’s the land. The streams, the forests, the vast emptiness. The land created me. I’m wild and lonesome. Even as I travel the cities, I‘m more at home in the vacant lots. But I have a love for humankind, a love of truth, and a love of justice. I think I have a dualistic nature. I’m more of an adventurous type than a relationship type.

The whole interview is interesting.

Elusive

Do you ever feel that you want to listen to some music, and then realize you already are?

Like there's a song, ever so elusive, that is haunting your subconscious, voiding the music that is actually being played, making it totally unsatisfactory?

And you just want to say, "Wait, wait ... it's in there somewhere, but I don't know what it is ..."

And I have to wonder if it actually is about playing this song or that song. Or if it's something more. It's not bad, just ... elusive. :)

Can anyone else relate? :)