The World Map of Happiness – University of Leicester
This is an interactive map – double click on a country to view in more detail.
Month: July 2006
Zarqawi’s Virgins
The Fortunate 50
SI.com – The Fortunate 50
Why is this man smiling? When it comes to the money game, no one even comes close to Tiger Woods, who has a jaw-dropping $97.6 million in earnings.
But the average wealth of the 50 actually fell by $500,000 since last year’s list. The reason? Endorsers are taking fewer chances on athletes and increasingly turning to Hollywood celebrities (No. 2 Phil Mickelson and No. 4 Kobe Bryant are the only others on this list to have a noticeable increase in corporate income). For a list of the top 20-earning foreign athletes, click here.
Shamu-Mania
Amy Sutherland has been on the “Today Show” and the most e-mailed N.Y. Times article for a long time now. This Salon article covers this cultural fad.
She said she’s been surprised by the article’s success: “I thought people would get a kick out of it, because it provides actual information they can use. But honestly I’ve been floored by the epic response it created. It’s kind of funny — who knew that people want marital advice mixed in with an animal-behavior story?”
On the other hand, she reflected, maybe it isn’t so surprising. “It hit on two universals. People love animals, and everyone wants marital advice.” And the training approach may especially appeal, she says, because everyone wants easy marital advice: “People don’t want to go to a counselor for every single thing, and not every little thing warrants going to a counselor,” she said. “People are hungry for really simple techniques.” I don’t know what that says about us — that we’re a bunch of slackers? that a lot of people are married to jerks? — but if the piece’s popularity is any indication, she’s probably right.
What’s That Bug?
What’s That Bug?Great photo collection; for when you want to know “just what that critter crawling about really is”.
BODIES…The Exhibition
The intro here will give you a glimpse of the incredible dissected detail of actual human bodies in this controversial exhibit, currently touring the US. Chris Yates just saw the Atlanta exhibit and his rave encouraged this post. There is a video on their web-site.
Rapture Ready
Here is a site dedicated to the Christian equivalent of the Shia apocalyptic, 2nd coming, wishful thinking – Nostradamus not with-standing.
No Ordinary Counterfeit
No Ordinary Counterfeit – New York Times
We had an earlier post on this in March
In Oct. 2, 2004, the container ship Ever Unique, sailing under a Panamanian flag from Yantai, China, berthed in the Port of Newark. Beneath cardboard boxes containing plastic toys, they found counterfeit $100 bills worth more than $300,000, secreted in false-bottomed compartments.
The counterfeits were nearly flawless. They featured the same high-tech color-shifting ink as genuine American bills and were printed on paper with the same precise composition of fibers. The engraved images were, if anything, finer than those produced by the United States Bureau of Engraving and Printing. Only when subjected to sophisticated forensic analysis could the bills be confirmed as imitations. Continue reading “No Ordinary Counterfeit”
Jihadists split on Islam’s true enemy
Jihadists split on Islam’s true enemy – Africa & Middle East – International Herald Tribune
The discussions reflect the widening divide between Shiite and Sunni Arabs in parts of the Middle East, and Sunni fears of the ascendance of Shiite-dominated Iran. The Internet volleys, some of them full of fury and venom, also offer a window into the startling diversity of opinion among jihadist groups.
Suspicions among Sunnis over growing Shiite power – and a vindictive backlash by Shiites – have come to the fore during the Iraq war and the conflict in Lebanon. Animosity is especially virulent among those Sunni militants who adhere to a conservative strain of Islam that views Shiites as infidels.
Fisherman speared by blue marlin off Bermuda
CNN.com – Fisherman speared by blue marlin off Bermuda
HAMILTON, Bermuda (AP) — A fisherman was recovering from surgery after he was speared in the chest and knocked into the Atlantic Ocean by a blue marlin during a fishing competition off Bermuda’s coast.