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In this photo essay, End of the Line, on the Foreign Policy website photographer Brendan Corr captures scenes of thousands of Bangladeshi men women and children working on dismantling a 240,000 pound supertanker.
It is difficult – no impossible - to imagine what life must be like for these ultimate recyclers. They work all day with no shoes or gloves. If they are injured (which is a common occurrence), there is no insurance or healthcare. Injured workers are often reduced to begging for subsistence.
Yet with all of these impediments, this industry employs 200,000 Bangladeshis and, according to the site, supplies 80% of the country’s steel.

Posted by Edd at 5:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The theme for this year’s competition, sponsored by the Universal Postal Union and UNESCO, focuses on environmental issues. These two organizations have been championing this competition since 1971. Its purpose is to encourage international communication between and among young people all over the world. Deadline for entries is April 30, 2007.

The theme this year is:

"Imagine you are a wild animal whose habitat is threatened by environmental or climate change. Write a letter to the people of the world, explaining to them what they can do to help you survive."

The competition is open to all young persons under the age of 15. There are no language restrictions. You can find all the rules, regulations and such at the UPU’s website here.

Letter-writing is a skill that seems to be in rapid decline, yet it may be an important one for developing greater intentionality in our everyday lives. Letter-writing involve a vastly different frame of mind to compose than e-mails. A well-written letter takes into consideration the elapsed time from writing to reading. So such letters are the ones we save in shoeboxes, sometimes for our entire lives.

Posted by Edd at 2:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

According to some reliable sources, there are about 2,000 islands “of significance” on the planet (although that is certainly a tricky phrase – significant to whom?) According to other sources, Finland is the country with the greatest number of islands (179,584), but it doesn’t seem that they are all “significant”.

India, however, seems to be the first country to lose an inhabited island to global warming. This is according to an article in The Independent:

Rising seas, caused by global warming, have for the first time washed an inhabited island off the face of the Earth. The obliteration of Lohachara island, in India's part of the Sundarbans where the Ganges and the Brahmaputra rivers empty into the Bay of Bengal, marks the moment when one of the most apocalyptic predictions of environmentalists and climate scientists has started coming true.

As the seas continue to swell, they will swallow whole island nations, from the Maldives to the Marshall Islands, inundate vast areas of countries from Bangladesh to Egypt, and submerge parts of scores of coastal cities.

Is this a tipping point? Must be to those who used to inhabit Lohachara Island.

Posted by Edd at 1:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In Buddhist tradition Kuan Yin is the bodhisattva of compassion. She is said to share many of the same attributes as The Virgin Mary in Christianity, including boundless compassion and mercy.

Here is Kuan Yin’s prayer. Good thoughts and intentions for the new year…

Kuan Yin's Prayer for the Abuser

To those who withhold refuge,
I cradle you in safety at the core of my Being.
To those that cause a child to cry out,
I grant you the freedom to express your own choked agony.
To those that inflict terror,
I remind you that you shine with the purity of a thousand suns.
To those who would confine, suppress, or deny,
I offer the limitless expanse of the sky.
To those who need to cut, slash, or burn,
I remind you of the invincibility of Spring.
To those who cling and grasp,
I promise more abundance than you could ever hold onto.
To those who vent their rage on small children,
I return to you your deepest innocence.
To those who must frighten into submission,
I hold you in the bosom of your original mother.
To those who cause agony to others,
I give the gift of free flowing tears.
To those that deny another's right to be,
I remind you that the angels sang in celebration of you on the day of your
birth.
To those who see only division and separateness,
I remind you that a part is born only by bisecting a whole.
For those who have forgotten the tender mercy of a mother's embrace,
I send a gentle breeze to caress your brow.
To those who still feel somehow incomplete,
I offer the perfect sanctity of this very moment.

Posted by Edd at 12:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As some may recall from their bible studies, today is the Feast of St Stephen, the first martyr according to Catholic tradition.
Thinking of this brought to mind the secular martyr, John Lennon, and his song, Happy Christmas (War Is Over). He wrote that song during another war - the one in Vietnam. That year was 1971 and it felt as if the war would never end. John and Yoko bought space on billboards that said ‘The War Is Over! If You Want It”. Later he wrote a Christmas song asserting those same sentiments.
Perhaps it's time to resurrect those billboards.

And so Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
Let’s hope it’s a good one without any fear

You can hear the song with photos and videos from the recording session here.

Posted by Edd at 11:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here is a collection of some wonderful photos taken at just hte right angle. Great fun.

Posted by Edd at 1:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Some of you have not been paying attention to the RFID passport controversy that is currently clogging some of the tubes on the Internets. Just what do you do with all that time you have on your hands?!
Well, in a nutshell the EU has been adding an RFID chip (like they use in stores to track inventory and such) into their passports. The US has just begun using this technology with all new passports they send out. The controversy centers on the fact that other people with the right technology can also read the digitized information embedded n that chip.

There is a solution, though. A new wallet is now on the market that will shield your passport and any other cards with that chip in them. A good stocking stuffer.

Posted by Edd at 1:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This updated item on the TSA website:

Snow globes regardless of size or amount of liquid inside, even with documentation, are prohibited in your carry-on. Please ship these items or pack them in your checked baggage.

Feel safer?

Oh, and the TSA has about a half dozen rules about handling monkeys. Among them:

TSOs have been trained to not touch the monkey during the screening process.

Posted by Edd at 6:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It had to happen eventually. The chattering class has finally broken through the altitude barrier. Emerites Airlines will soon allow cell phones to be used on the long haul flights. And Qantas may soon follow in this trend. Soon, noise-canceling headphones wile b as essential as a seat belt to survive the road wars.
Here is the skinny.

Posted by Edd at 5:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Some conservative pundits, most notably Bill Bennett on his Morning in America radio program, continually assert that Muslim leaders have not spoken up about injustice in the world. This is an ill-informed assertion that a quick google search could remedy (775,000 hits for the keywords “Muslims fighting intolerance”).

The latest example of Islamic leaders speaking out is this WaPo video of a group of Muslim leaders touring the Holocaust Museum in Washington.

Posted by Edd at 11:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Missed the anniversary of Pearl Harbor, but here is a link to some heart wrenchingly clear photos of the attack. There is no indication about who the photographer is. That is too bad. He or she should be acknowledged for capturing these scenes for history.

PS If anyone does know the origin of these photos, let us know.

Posted by Edd at 10:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Reuters reports from Jakarta that, according to material released by the WWF, scientists have discovered more than 50 new plant and animal species in Borneo. These appear to be some of the most wonderfully strange and exotic creatures found in recent memory. One is the second smallest vertebrate measuring 0.4 inches. It also has the ability to live in the acidic black water of a peat swamp. Others have strange coloring, and one fish even has an adhesive substance on its belly enabling it to stick to rocks.

All this reinforces the need to retain and restore these vital tropical habitats that are being encroached upon by industrial development.

Once again (as mentioned in a previous post) discoveries like these point to the importance of paying attention not only to the planting of trees, but also to where those trees are planted.

Read the WWF report, Heart of Borneo, here.

Posted by Edd at 8:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Of the many arguments for our timely exit from Iraq, one that is rarely (or insufficiently) mentioned is the degree of moral degradation that occurs to an occupying force over time. Members of the Israeli army are well aware of this. We Americans seem slower to master this learning curve. We still see Abu Ghraib and other atrocities through the lens of the “bad apples” metaphor.
Here is a clip of some American soldiers amusing themselves by leading Iraqi children in a chant saying “Fuck Iraq”.

Just another sign of how much we have lost our way.

Posted by Edd at 11:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Thanks to Liz Robinson from the Energy Coordinating Agency in Philadelphia (via a listserv) this article from the BBC about planting trees to offset carbon emissions. Turns out that it is not the number of trees; it is where those trees are planted. In general planting in the more northern latitudes is less effective than in the tropics.

This distinction seems crucial to the environmental restorative conversation.

Posted by Edd at 11:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Not long after his stroke Ram Dass of Be Here Now and Fierce Grace fame was asked about how his life was going, and what it was like to get old. He said, “First procedures, then operations.” I thought of that quote when I read about a “procedure” that occurred recently in Florida.
In a written statement, Governor Bush said, "A preexisting medical condition … was the reason tonight's procedure took longer than recent procedures carried out this year.”

Sure sounds medical, “preexisting medical conditions”, “recent procedures”. As sterile as an operating room.

The big difference in this case of course was that the patient was Angel Nieves Diaz, 55, convicted of murdering a Miami topless bar manager 27 years ago, and sentenced to death for the crime.

The unusually long procedure Bush involved the fact that it took the inmate 34 minutes to die, and that he was seen grimacing before he died after receiving a second round of “medicine”.

According to the report,

Moments before his execution, Diaz again denied killing Joseph Nagy during a robbery at the Velvet Swing Lounge. There were no eyewitnesses to Nagy's Dec. 29, 1979, murder. Most of the club's employees and patrons were locked in a restroom, but Diaz's girlfriend later told police he was involved.

Our society seems to have succeeded in the Orwellian task of making an execution sound like a round of chemotherapy. Not easily done that.

Here's the article.

Update: Jeb Bush has suspended executions after the latest botched procedure.

Posted by Edd at 12:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

2 ounces

The question? After the jump…

The question is: What is the weight of cyberspace?
Here is the reference, Weighing the Web.

Posted by Edd at 10:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In this morning’s WaPo, Richard Cohen weighed in on the now near infamous Bush-Webb interaction at the post election White House reception. He almost got it right, but it just seems that Washington pundits still have a blind spot about this president.

My response to him is after the jump.

Nice try, Mr. Cohen, but your take on the Bush-Webb interaction last months is also off the mark. Not as much as George Will’s disingenuous distortions to be sure, but nonetheless misses the central arc of the moment in question.

Context is important here. George Bush’s policies and decisions about the war were repudiated by the electorate a week or so before. At the White House reception Bush sought Webb out. When Webb responded to Bush’s pseudo personal question on a policy level, rather than as small talk, the Decider-in-Chief had a decision to make. He could have raised the level of conversation to match Webb’s, and might have said something mildly conciliatory like, “I would like to get them out as soon as possible. I’d like to hear more about any ideas you have. Let’s talk soon…” Un-Bushlike to be sure, but it was a choice.

Instead, Bush went confrontational. He wanted a bended knee on his turf. He wanted to send a message to the new senator – I am in charge. I get to ask the questions. I have the home court advantage. Given the fact that Webb’s son is in harm’s way in Iraq, Mr. Bush’s second question appears to indicate a certain habit of mind, a posture of petulance.

Given the context, Mr. Bush was demonstrably rude and insensitive. Webb continually referred to him respectfully as “Mr. President”. He refrained from asking in response “How’s your girls?” or something equally nasty.

No, Mr. Cohen, this wasn’t about politeness. Rather it was about power. We have a president who believes that aggression is the only way to articulate power. The bully in the playground received a long overdue punch in the nose.

Posted by Edd at 9:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Remember when you were a kid and wondered what it would be like to dig a hole to China/? Or the other side of the world? Well now you can. Virtually anyway. As the site says – “Another stupid application for Google Maps…”
Dig it here.

Posted by Edd at 8:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If ever we needed validation of the findings in the Milgram Experiments, which tested the willingness of average Americans to “just follow orders”, we have it here.
It is important that you listen to the complete audio file to understand just how serious the situation is, just how far average Americans would go to “feel safe”.
Yes, in fact it can happen here.

Posted by Edd at 10:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Antikythera Mechanism is an ancient geared device (with more than 30 geared wheels) found in a shipwreck off the coast of Greece about a hundred years ago. It may be a much more intricate computer-like instrument than previously thought. In fact some call it the “first computer”.
According to an article in the NYT the researchers said, “their findings showed that the inscriptions related to lunar-solar motions, and the gears were a representation of the irregularities of the Moon’s orbital course, as theorized by the astronomer Hipparchos. They established the date of the mechanism at 150-100 B.C.”
The technology was somehow lost, and it was not for another thousand years that an instrument matching that level of sophistication was “invented” again in Baghdad.
Here is the article in Nature.

Posted by Edd at 4:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Does a preference for George Bush as president make you crazy, or do you have to be crazy to prefer this man to be in office?
Not sure which is the chicken and which the egg here, but there is a study that seems to indicate that the crazier you are, the more likely you are to prefer W to be president. Why? Well, here is one possibility according to the study's author:

“Our study shows that psychotic patients prefer an authoritative leader,” Lohse says. “If your world is very mixed up, there’s something very comforting about someone telling you, ‘This is how it’s going to be.’”

Update: The research was performed at Southern Connecticut State University. The mental patients live in Connecticut. George W was born in Connecticut. Correlation? Causality? Go figure.

Posted by Edd at 3:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)