February 27th, 2008 Frank
Yeah…it’s pretty bad there.
I used to watch 60 minutes all the time when I was a kid, and it’s, I guess ‘comforting’ would be the right word, to see they still have the same style and similar tough issues that they cover. I still prefer it over the other ‘weekly news magazines’ like 20/20, which are way more sensationalistic.
Anyway, give this 60 minutes report a watch (small video window, but a written article accompanies it) - so many people know nothing about what’s going on in the Congo and in the past few months there’s been loads in the media about Burma (actually Myanmar), and before that Iraq (one million Iraqis killed so far), but more people have died in the Congo than in all these places combined.
The 60 Minutes report goes into the terrifying way that rape is used as a method of war and destruction of the victims’ identities.
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February 26th, 2008 Frank
It’s been a couple of weeks, sorry for no updates for a while, I’ve just been taking a break after being at a very long trade show for my regular job.
Anyway, today’s post is about a German tourist who was caught on camera tagging (spraying graffiti) on a glacier in New Zealand. Really, folks…spray-painting a damn glacier? That’s pretty lame.
Here’s the idiot in living color, as caught by tourists:
I dunno…all I can say would be something about ‘instant karma’, to borrow something from Lennon 
Let me just finish by pointing out that I can appreciate proper graffiti ART (stuff like this), but to me taggers (folks who just splatter a short name on street signs or overpasses or abandoned buildings) just like to diminish or destroy things for the sake of putting their initials or ‘tag’ on something that would otherwise be simply normal.
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February 14th, 2008 Frank
I subscribe to a few different news feeds, from geeky techy stuff to what might have been called ’self-help’ in the past. Life Hacker is one of the sites that I find is pretty helpful in helping clarify things I already know, or find out about things that I want to know more about.
This post, ‘How to Be Happier with What You Have‘, is one of those that helped me out by encouraging me to focus more on the things that help me, and focus less on things that I don’t need to worry about. Give it a try! It goes hand in hand with one of my previous posts about ‘Deciding to be happier‘.
Oh, and Happy Valentine’s day, for everyone celebrating it
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February 13th, 2008 Frank
You know that whale hunt that the Japanese are doing in the name of science? The Australian Customs has released a video taken during one of the whale hunts, where a whale mother and calf are harpooned and dragged on board a whaling vessel.
Sorry, but how is this science? I know others have gone on about it far more than I have, but basically I’m just posting about this because the video is now available online, like all controversial and shocking videos these days. It doesn’t make for easy viewing but it’s important to get the word out regardless.
The irony of seeing whale hunters tying a line to a whale calf’s tail while standing in front of the massive ‘RESEARCH’ name on the ship is…just distressing, really.
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February 11th, 2008 Frank
Over the past year or so I’ve slowly removed many of the plastic food containers that I used to use for keeping leftovers and other food in, and I don’t reheat food in plastic containers any more.
Why?
Partly because of the plasticky taste you get from some food containers, partly because it’s a pain to clean stains from plastic containers, but mostly because of articles about the chemicals in plastics that attach themselves to food as the containers and foods are reheated.
This is why I’m really happy I recently found these great glass storage containers from IKEA. (the picture shows a clear container but these are also available in white with a clear lid)
Okay, I know many people hate IKEA (the maze layout, the crowds, the goofy names, etc.) but I really like many of the products, even if most of them are made in China. These containers are made of glass, so they don’t give your food any odors. They’re also safe to eat from and heat your food in, and of course storage is not a problem. They’re fine in the freezer, fridge or microwave. The tops have a silicone seal to keep odors in and anything else out. Finally, the indentations in the top and bottom make them easy to stack. Ace!
I picked up two of the 6cm deep containers for individual portions and two of the 12cm deep containers for foods I prepare in advance. I also picked up a couple of 1 liter canning jars with silicone lids to keep rice, pasta and other dry goods in. I’ll be testing these out and if I like them a lot (I’m sure I will), I’ll pick up a couple more of the square containers and some smaller canning jars.
These containers aren’t available on the US IKEA site yet but I’m sure it’s just a matter of time before they are released in the US. See, the UK does get stuff before the US sometimes!
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February 8th, 2008 Frank
FYI: this is not a photo for the squeamish, but it makes a very graphic point that poachers must be stopped.
Click here for the picture from the BBC website
The female rhino in the picture, at Kazrianga National Park in India, was shot twice and had her horn sawn off while still alive. Somehow she managed to survive for 35 hours…it couldn’t have been a nice final day and a half of her life.
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February 6th, 2008 Frank
Excuse the logging pun, but when the worst-rated president in living memory is heading out of office, you’d think that he would want to try to salvage his image by doing something that could generally be considered ‘good’ or ‘kind’. Like sending money for teaching to Africa, improving the quality of life for homeless veterans or helping stop environmental disasters. Even Clinton blocked many acres of woodland from loggers (and if I remember correctly, the Republican congress opened up much of that woodland again after Bush was in office), so there is definitely recent precedent for some ecological face-saving before one heads out of one of the most powerful offices in the world.
But I geuss this wasn’t good for Bush. He’s signed over more than 3,000,000 acres of Alaskan woodland to logging interests, with claims it will help the state’s economy (only 1% of Alaska’s economy is from logging). Most of this is pristine, untouched forest, which will eventually be crisscrossed with logging roads and other disruptions to the native wildlife. I can only hope they won’t simply be clearcutting areas of forest.
Oh, and the woodland that Clinton had protected about 8 years ago? This is some of that same forest that is now open to logging companies.
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February 4th, 2008 Frank
Ireland passed a law in 2002 that taxed plastic bags 33 cents (US) per bag used at the till, and within weeks shoppers had almost universally switched to cloth or otherwise reuseable shopping bags.
Granted, Ireland has a history of forward-thinking laws (like being the first country in the world to have a country-wide smoking ban) and a highly networked sales system made it easy to add a tax charge, but what is stopping other countries from doing the same thing?
The owner of one of the larger Irish supermarket chains also heads up a European retailer group but has been unsuccessful so far in getting a similar initiative passed in other EU countries, but there’s plenty of hope. Unfortunately in the UK a tax wasn’t politically viable but something will be worked out eventually, I’m sure. Even China is getting in on the eco-friendly merry-go-round, banning plastic bags in the run-up to the Beijing Olympics, even if enforcement will be tough to follow up.
So what is stopping other countries from doing the same or a similar thing? Size? Political clout? Other things to worry about?
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