Wang Yiming, 21, is a self-confessed internet addict, one of a growing number in China. He used to spend hours online each day, often going without food or sleep. His face is drawn and sallow. He said addiction changed his whole life: “A month or two after I started surfing the internet, I failed some…
Countdown to Liberian elections
(Jimmy Carter and his Carter Center in Atlanta have become a potent force for good across the globe. Bill Clinton could do worse things than to aspire to follow in Carter’s footsteps. Now, if we can just get the Carter Center to monitor the next US election…. kg) Peacekeepers, election officials and international observers in…
Reuters AlertNet – Post-tsunami chaos wastes aid
(The first rule in disaster relief is to ASK what people want and need. It is amazing how rarely this rule is followed. People do things like send their fuzzy sweaters to sweltering southern India, and then sit back feeling smugly self-satisfied while someone in southern India has to haul their fuzzy sweaters away to…
Chris of the Day: Chris Columbus
Today is Discoverers Day, formerly known as Columbus Day. It was on October 12th 1492 that Christopher Columbus set foot in the Caribbean and started the process that would destroy the Taino people and most of the other cultures of the Americas. It was on that day that the people he described as the most…
Bernestcast: Pussy Power
Bernestcast: Pussy Power
Mistake Leads to 29-Cent Gas Price – Yahoo! News
(I like that there is absolutely no mention of personal ethics in this…this story is painted in tones of ‘what good luck!’ and yet the gas station owner has just lost hundreds of dollars on what isn’t really nearly so profitable a business as you might expect…it’s usually not shell or chevron that own/operate these…
Moment of literary wonder….Haruki Murakami: On seeing the 100% perfect girl one beautiful April morning
(My friend Leon introduced me to Murakami a while back…….click on the link and read the whole story…cd) One beautiful April morning, on a narrow side street in Tokyo’s fashionable Harujuku neighborhood, I walked past the 100% perfect girl. Tell you the truth, she’s not that good-looking. She doesn’t stand out in any way. Her…
Major World Earthquakes
Major earthquakes around the world in last 50 years: • Oct. 8, 2005: Pakistani Kashmir; magnitude 7.6; more than 18,000 killed. • March 28, 2005: Sumatra, Indonesia; magnitude 8.7; up to 1,000 killed. • Dec. 26, 2004: Sumatra, Indonesia; magnitude 9.0; more than 176,000 people killed in 11 countries from earthquake and subsequent tsunami. •…
Quake toll rises to 18,000 –Fuck!
(this is fucking terrible…much worse than Katrina…Jesus Christ on a fukn crutch…does anyone know how to help? cd) Quake toll rises to 18,000 in worst-hit Pakistan – Yahoo! News MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan (Reuters) – The death toll from a huge south Asia earthquake rose to 18,000 in worst-hit Pakistan alone on Sunday, as rescuers dug out…
Paintings, Drawings, Etc. by Sam Vaughan
I attended the First Friday Gallery Walk in Chinatown last night. As usual, it was fun. A lot of people out drinking, looking at art, and in general having fun. The group of people I was with were mostly Starbucks barristas. Anyway, we started out at 39 Hotel Street where the paintings of Sam Vaughan…