The girl who silenced the world

It's very rare for me to be moved by a Youtube video. This one made me cry...

The Universe: A terrestrial perspective

Elections, mortgage payments, war and earthquakes, even celebrity gossip and the new fad diet.. they all keep us focused on the our lives and a very limited and small section of this great whole we belong to. But then, once in a while, human ingenuity comes up with a tool that reminds us of just how small we are in relation to the big picture and how even smaller our little bickerings seem from a different perspective.

This time, the tool came from big, old Microsoft, and it came to make a statement. I am a long time Google fan, and was excited to try Google Sky when they launched it, but the usages of the tool are limited and clunky. In a beautiful competitive move, Microsoft came up with World Wide Telescope ( yes, terrible title. They still need a lot of help with marketing), which happens to be one of the most user friendly and interactive tools around, sure to please kids curious about the universe and scientists alike. The software, which can be downloaded for free from:
http://www.worldwidetelescope.org/
not only allows for the exploration of the universe from different satellite collections and perspectives, but also has a library of guided tours where professors, cosmologists and even curious amateurs can post their "tours" so you can learn about the universe from different minds all over the world.

Microsoft research, this humble geek with a penchant for quantum physics and cosmology thanks you... Let's see if Google can up the ante.

Our brothers and sisters in Myanmar (Burma) and China

It has been a difficult month for millions across the world. Besides all of the issues already happening, there have been 2 major natural disasters.
First, Cyclone Nargis hits Myanmar and death tolls can reach as many as 100 000 and as many as 2 million people could be homeless. Not much later China suffers it's largest earthquake in 30 years and as many as 10000 people were killed in a province of just over 160000. it is believed that at least 900 of them were students buried when their schools collapsed.Our thoughts, prayers and wishes for some peace are with the victims and their families.
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Help Children in Myanmar (Burma)

Another stupid video worth sharing. Two Chinese Boys at their best.

For those who don't know, "2 Chinese Boys" have a series of internet stupid videos that have become a sensation in China. They even do live performances now. Below is one of their videos.

Why are the Tibetans protesting? And what you can do to help.

Over 1.2 million Tibetans have been killed by the Chinese government.

6000 monasteries were destroyed. And the tortures, killings and human rights violations continue. After 50 years, and watching their monks being beaten and arrested for a peaceful protest people revolted.

Learn more at: http://www.wearetibet.org/

Sign our petition at: http://www.petitiononline.com/003/petition.html

Because there are times when we all need to laugh...

I received the text below from a mass mailing, and usually I just delete them, but I was actually tempted to pass this one along, and decided I should post it here instead:

Spread the Stupidity

Only in America ......do drugstores make the sick walk all the way to the back of the store to get their prescriptions while healthy people can buy cigarettes at the front.

Only in America ......do people order double cheeseburgers, large fries, and a diet coke.

Only in America ......do banks leave both doors open and then chain the pens to the counters.

Only in America ......do we leave cars worth thousands of dollars in the driveway and put our useless junk in the garage.

Only in America ......do we buy hot dogs in packages of ten and buns in packages of eight.

Only in America ......do we use the word 'politics' to describe the process so well: 'Poli' in Latin meaning 'many' and 'tics' meaning 'bloodsucking creatures'.

Only in America ... ...do they have drive-up ATM machines with Braille lettering.

EVER WONDER .... Why the sun lightens our hair, but darkens our skin ?

Why women can't put on mascara with their mouth closed?

Why don't you ever see the headline 'Psychic Wins Lottery'?

Why is 'abbreviated' such a long word?

Why is it that doctors call what they do 'practice'?

Why is lemon juice made with artificial flavor, and dishwashing liquid made with real lemons?

Why is the man who invests all your money called a broker?

Why is the time of day with the slowest traffic called rush hour?

Why isn't there mouse-flavored cat food?

Why didn't Noah swat those two mosquitoes?

Why do they sterilize the needle for lethal injections?

You know that indestructible black box that is used on airplanes?

Why don't they make the whole plane out of that stuff?!

Why don't sheep shrink when it rains?

Why are they called apartments when they are all stuck together?

If con is the opposite of pro, is Congress the opposite of progress?

If flying is so safe, why do they call the airport the terminal?

Now that you've smiled at least once, it's your turn to spread the stupidity and send this to someone you want to bring a smile to (maybe even a chuckle)...in other words, send it to everyone. We all need to smile every once in a while.

Steven Spielberg pulls out of Olympics in protest at China’s policy on Darfur

Recent news show that at least some of the entertainment heavyweights still put values ahead of profit. The Chinese communist regime is responsible for the murder of 1.2 million Tibetans, the destruction of 6000 monasteries of for on-going torture and imprisonment of Tibetans who are trying to retain their freedoms. They are now prohibited from having a religion, from saying the name of or carrying images of the Dalai Lama. Most of their cultural and societal traditions have been banned and those who try to escape into India, where they can ask for exile, get shot by Chinese guards.
China has also been trying to destroy any signs of the Tibetan culture in an attempt to eradicate their identities so that any claims to freedom can disappear forever. it is currently almost impossible to find Tibetan speakers in Lhasa (the capital of Tibet) and polution and overpopulation are dripping from China into Tibet.

It is no surprise that there would be reluctance from the Chinese regime to interfere in other human rights issues. But it is important to maintain international pressure for a needed change in their policies. .

Below is an excerpt of an article on Spielberg's decision written by Philip Stephens.:


SMALL tremors sometimes foreshadow bigger shocks. Few people will have known before last week that Steven Spielberg — he of Jaws, Jurassic Park, ET and other Hollywood epics — was to lend his creative talents to the Beijing Olympics.
Of itself, his withdrawal on grounds of conscience scarcely registers on the Richter scale. Spielberg’s protest, though, is not without significance. It maps out uncomfortable terrain for China that reaches well beyond the choreography of this summer’s Olympic ceremonies.
Spielberg concluded that Beijing had not deployed sufficient influence to help bring a halt to the killing in the Sudanese province of Darfur. China is Sudan’s most important economic partner. It has invested heavily in its energy industry and buys most of its oil. In Spielberg’s view — one shared, incidentally, at the United Nations (UN) — it could apply much more pressure on Khartoum.
The Sudanese regime has obstructed all efforts by the international community to bring an end to the terror wrought in Darfur by the so-called Janjaweed militias. Only last week fighting spilled over into neighbouring Chad. Sudan has blocked the deployment of a UN peacekeeping force. China is the only big power with real leverage.
Spielberg is far from alone in his disquiet. The actress Mia Farrow has led a celebrity campaign labelling this summer’s event the “genocide Olympics”.
A clutch of Nobel peace laureates have added their voices to the protest, writing to Hu Jintao, the Chinese president.
These gestures are keenly felt. The Olympics have been planned meticulously to showcase China’s rise. Beijing expects the games to confer the prestige and respect it considers its due as a fast-emerging global power. Boycotts and protests over Darfur — alongside separate calls for China to loosen its grip on Tibet — provoke a mixture of anger and angst.