April Fool's - How Google helped me feel better

You know, today sorta sucked.. getting up.. not feeling too hot, my wife is visiting her family.... blah blah blah.. I know.. in the grand scheme of things not that much to complain about, however, I still felt el poopy this morning.. However, Google helped me get out of that funk.. I think I might go visit Google, Kansas this weekend!

Google Kansas

Natural Dam in Pakistan

Interesting article about Hunza river in Pakistan which was recently completely blocked by a landslide. This created a natural dam and a lake which is still growing in size.
Check it out and some good pics at this NPR Site

Throwing Abu Muqawama on the Ground (its a good thing in this context)

Great Blog which give information that the big news orgs wont, or dont care to, or are too stupid to realize because there is some dork in a runaway prius which might not be a runaway after all.. he may just really be (gasp) trying to garner attention.. .but I digress.. check it out!!!
http://www.cnas.org/blogs/abumuqawama

O Google Reader - I love thee

Check out this post from my google reader bloginator. Blood Waterfall

The Big Picture

I love this semi daily blog by the Boston Globe http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/03/vancouver_2010_part_2_of_2.html

Kirkuk - Iraqi Faultline?

Al Jazeera report on Kirkuk and the societal/cultural fault lines. Definetly a good view.

Fault Lines

Marketplace - Out of Date Buildings

Short program on Marketplace on NPR which highlights office buildings built in the 80s which are now out of date. Many lie dormant with their future up in the air. Are they completely out of date, is it worth trying to "green" up these buildings?
http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2010/02/25/am-elm-place/

Carbon Trading

A good look at cap and trade in the Indonesian Rain Forests. Check it out. There is a slant on this that the investors have a strong environmental leaning. I'm a little jaded on that, if it is the case then bonus cookies for all! Good back and forth talk on the benefits of carbon trading. Ties into the next post on outdated buildings and green issues.
http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/101east/2010/02/2010217153623942340.html

Meedan

New website I learned about from Al Jazeera. Not sure who is behind it, but it brings blogs and news services together on the same page and translates it. Good tool to keep an eye on how the cultural lens changes views on similar topics. Remember, we are not the only people out there!

http://news.meedan.net/

Sustainability - Old roads into new meadows

Good sustainability study underway as told here on a Marketplace story I heard this morning.
http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2010/02/23/am-green-ski/ and another source http://www.skihomewood.com/docs/pdf/HwoodNewsFeb.pdf and some evidence that it might be working. http://www.tahoedailytribune.com/article/20091023/NEWS/910239999/1003&parentprofile=1056

Nepal China Relations

As it turns out I have a good friend in CGSC who is from Nepal, so I keep my ear out for news concerning his homeland. First, he is probably the most experienced officer in our class. What an interesting place to be. Nepal, sandwhiched between the two most populous nations in the world. A free nation, in a very complex area. And we think we have it hard here in America. Here is a good story from, yep, you guessed it, Al Jazeera.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-pacific/2010/02/2010222181545670147.html

Mud Volcano

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-pacific/2010/02/201022261348982682.html
Interesting Environmental issue in Indonesia.

Surprising!

So, there I was watching the best show on TV, M*A*S*H. One of the nurses voices caught my ear as a recurring character on another great show I watch, Spongebob! Yep, before she was a boating school instructor, she was a nurse on MASH.

NBC Olympic Coverage

I know that I'm pretty down on the US mass media.. but really, NBC screwed the coverage of the games up. The USA v. Canada game tonight.. on MSNBC.. seriously? What was on the HD NBC channel? Ice Dancing. really ice dancing. NBC.. you suck. Even the people of twitter agree.. http://techcrunch.com/2010/02/18/twitter-nbc-olympics-sucks/

Throwing it on the Ground - Jolo Island Style

Just saw this on Al Jazeera.net (btw.. a great news site for a good view on worldwide news). Looks like our friends in the Philippines got themselves another bad dude. Just a few years ago I was probably about 2 miles from where this happened on Jolo Island. http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-pacific/2010/02/20102217219857969.html

Crotchety Old Men

Yep.. I'm pretty sure I'm going to be one.. Actually just last night after I finished one of my rants about a dumb news story, my wife shook her head and said she could already see it happening. I figure if I turn out like these two then maybe my crotchetyness could do some good!

Seriously

So, there I was, as I often do when I get home from work, watching the only good thing on tv during news hour.. yep.. you got it.. Phineas and Ferb... Have you watched that show? the evil genious, doofenshmirtz, cracks me up. If he were just a little more cynical, he could be a history professor at CGSC. Leads me to what I wanted to throw on the ground.. News programs, nuff said.