- Heath Ledger Remembered | vanityfair.com
 4:33pm  (1 review) celebrities, movies, photography, australia, heathledger http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/featur...
Australian actor Heath Ledger
who died in January 200,
is the subject of a 15 pic Bruce Weber photoshoot
and a tribute article in Vanity Fair.
- The Great American Bubble Machine : Rolling Stone
- 4:23pm (2 reviews) economics, capitalism, politics, banking http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/sto...
The first thing you need to know about Goldman Sachs is that it's everywhere.
The world's most powerful investment bank is a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity,
relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money.
great article, plus vid of matt T discussing.
- erics blog - StumbleUpon
- Jul 1, 2:51am (103 reviews) stumblers http://eric.stumbleupon.com/
eric and Klassy are married!
Hooray!
Two great people, great stumblers, amazing guys.
May they live long and prosper!
"Klassy is a 26 year old married woman from San Francisco, California, USA." ~ from Klassy's page.
"Eric is a 28 year old married guy from San Francisco, California, USA." ~ from Eric's page.
and thanks to xineann for sharing the news!
- una-anus blog - StumbleUpon
- Jun 30, 2:00am (19 reviews) stumblers http://una-anu.stumbleupon.com/
- quirky blog with some interesting posts.
here are a few I liked. Thank una.
- It's Now Legal to Catch a Raindrop in Colorado - NYTimes.com
- Jun 29, 8:07pm (3 reviews) environment, news, water, green http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/29/us/29r...
it's now legal to catch raindrops in colorado
I find this mind boggling.
Here in Australia we've always had rainwater tanks and been encouraged to use them.
But then, I'm also amazed that most Americans do not use outdoor clothes lines to dry their laundry in the sun.
"Who owns the sky, anyway? In most of the country, that is a question for philosophy class or bad poetry. In the West, lawyers parse it with straight faces and serious intent. The result, especially stark here in the Four Corners area of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah, is a crazy quilt of rules and regulations -- and an entire subculture of people like Mr. Bartels who have been using the rain nature provided but laws forbade.
The two Colorado laws allow perhaps a quarter-million residents with private wells to begin rainwater harvesting, as well as the setting up of a pilot program for larger scale rain-catching."
- Andy Freeberg Photography
- Jun 29, 6:53pm
 (3 reviews) anthropology, fine-arts, russia, museums, arts http://andyfreebergphotoart.com/guardian...
Andy Freeberg created a fantastic series of photographs of the female "Guardians of Russian Art Museums."
From his artist statement:
"I found the guards as intriguing to observe as the pieces they watch over. In conversation they told me how much they like being among Russia's great art. A woman in Moscow's State Tretyakov Gallery Museum said she often returns there on her day off to sit in front of a painting that reminds her of her childhood home. Another guard travels three hours each way to work, since at home she would just sit on her porch and complain about her illnesses, "as old women do.""
via bb with thanks.
- Gaza: 1.5 million people trapped in despair
- Jun 29, 2:33am (5 reviews) middle-east, israel, palestine http://www.icrc.org/web/eng/siteeng0.nsf...
Gaza: 1.5 million people trapped in despair
Six months after Israel launched its three-week military operation in Gaza
on 27 December 2008, Gazans still cannot rebuild their lives, the Red Cross sez.
Thanks to Israel closing off the area completely, most are trapped without help or hope.
Seriously ill patients face difficulty obtaining the treatment they need.
Many children suffer from deep psychological problems.
Civilians whose homes and belongings were destroyed during the conflict
are unable to recover.
story via the great railmeat with thanx.
urgent alert
The Israeli Navy are even as I type menacing an unarmed, civilian mercy ship
bound for Gaza with medical supplies and a token load of cement for the reconstruction.
The navy are shining bright lights at the vessel, named the Spirit,
to blind its pilot and intimidate the crew - which includes a former US congresswoman and a Nobel Laureate.
They have threatened to open fire.
Please spread the word and contact the Israelis,
asking them to stop this illegal act which is taking place in international waters.
Thank you.
via the great wavehunter with thanks.
by the great mr fish with thanx.
- Chathams First Village succumbs to nature - Boston.com
- Jun 28, 6:51pm (3 reviews) nature, climate-change, meterology http://www.boston.com/news/local/massach...
Global Warming Comes to New England
Global Warming Comes to East Coast Australia
Global Warming Comes to The Polar Bears
- The Happiness Hypothesis - Jonathan Haidt
- Jun 28, 12:45am (3 reviews) buddhism, happiness, psychology, books, haidt http://www.happinesshypothesis.com/beyon...
So I saw this book called The Happiness Hypothesis
in my local bookstore and thought I'd look it up online to find out more.
What stopped me in my tracks was the following heading:
Step 2: Improve Your Mental Hygiene
Mental Hygiene??? Excuse me?
Have we suddenly time travelled back to the 1950s?
Mental hygiene? Eeeeeuuuuuuwwwww. No thank you.
I'm passing on this book. Give me a bit of mental grubbiness any day, thanks.
images by christina wilsonwith thanx.
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Meanwhile, a small Buddhist offering.
The Five Hindrances
Sunday 6/28/09
Difficulties
The Buddhist teachings are fabulous at simply working with what's happening as your path of awakening, rather than treating your life experiences as some kind of deviation from what is supposed to be happening. The more difficulties you have, in fact, the greater opportunity there is to let them transform you. The difficult things provoke all your irritations and bring your habitual patterns to the surface. And that becomes the moment of truth. You have the choice to launch into the lousy habitual patterns you already have, or to stay with the rawness and discomfort of the situation and let it transform you, on the spot.
~ Pema Chodren ~
images by christina wilsonwith thanx.
- Torre Argentina - Roman Cat Sanctuary | Atlas Obscura
- Jun 27, 6:43pm (1 review) cats, italy, museums http://atlasobscura.com/places/torre-arg...
In Rome the cats have an ancient temple all to themselves. The site is known as Torre Argentina and was excavated under Mussolini's re-building efforts in 1929, revealing extensive multi-level temple grounds about 20 feet below modern street level. The site is actually composed of several temples as well as part of the famous Pompey's theatre, where in 44 BC Caesar was betrayed and killed on the theatre steps.
Today volunteers care for approximately 250 cats. After the site was excavated, Rome's feral cats moved in immediately, as they do all over the city. The gattare, or cat ladies began feeding and caring for them. Since the mid 1990s the population has grown from about 90 to the current nearly 250, and the organization has ramped up with care for sick or wounded cats, and an extensive spay & neuter program to try to keep the feral population in check. Most of the permanent residents have special needs - they are blind or missing legs or came from abusive homes.
On any given afternoon a small crowd gathers to watch the cats sunbathe on ancient pillars and steps.
Whether the cats rule themselves via Republic or recognize a cat Emperor is, as of yet, undetermined.
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here's one from thegipples with thanx.
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