My Country Right or Wrong?

Here's a conundrum: At what point can an area's indigenous cultural values be called abusive and unacceptable? Where is the line between imperialism and moral obligation? A list of the worst countries in the world for women: http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/galleries/2011/09/18/the-worst-places-to-be-a-woman-photos.html

A Handy Species

Fourteen species of fish—handfish—some old, some new, use their fins to help them walk, not swim, along the ocean floor. While they are currently found only around Australia, there is evidence that they once lived around the world (slideshow): http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/05/photogalleries/100524-new-species-handfish-walk-science-pictures/#/new-handfish-species-pink_20881_600x450.jpg

A Lot Over the King's Head

I know it's beginning to look like this, but I am not obsessed with British royalty ~ honestly! It's just that, of late, I've been finding interesting stories having to do with them, like this one, about the unearthing of what seems to be the remains of King Richard III, from under a parking lot (which led one of the commenters to make what I feel can be rightly called the best pun of the new year ~ "looks like he was a sub-par king"!): http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/12/28-king-richard-may-lie-under-parking-lot/
   Back in August, Richard Buckley, co-director of University of Leicester Archaeological Services, explained the project (video): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpkzuIj7BMk&feature=player_embedded#!

Prince Albert in a Can

Yikes! In yet another happy myth exploded, that picture of marital bliss, Queen Victoria and her Prince Albert (also the name of a popular pipe tobacco, hence "in a can"), kind of were and kind of weren't. She, apparently, had a horrible temper and was without a doubt one of the least loving and least likable mothers in history: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20782442

Lose Weight Now ~ Ask Me How!

Book published in 1968

 And you thought the gastric bypass was extreme! Here are several .. ummm ... intriguing diet fads dating back to Victorian times (friendly suggestion: Don't try these at home!): http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20695743
   Diet or Die (right) is out of print, but its subject, Celesta Geyer, made it to the Guinness Book of World Records for her huge weight loss, achieved by keeping her calorie intake to 800 per day and exercising. Her diet plan, while not as colorful as those listed in the above article, was effective, and according to the book description, she maintained her new weight for the rest of her life.

Hook, Pain, and Sinker

Why is this man smiling?

The other day, a friend told me she and her husband had gone fishing for the first time. They apparently had not fished for food but for the "sport" of it, throwing their catch back. In this way, she thought, she wasn't really causing any harm. A lot of people agree, but I'm not one of them. So I looked it up and found this article based on the book Do Fish Feel Pain? by a professor at Penn State. There is undeniable, scientific evidence that they do. CAUTION: While I don't know for sure, as I will not watch it, I suspect that the video below the story could be very disturbing (story and video): http://news.discovery.com/animals/fish-feel-pain-too.html

The Year in Science

From the first "mixed embryo" animals to seven more-than-13-billion-year-old galaxies, a review of the year's inventions, discoveries, and general scientific achievements (graphic): http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20121228-2012-distilled

Short Stature, Big Impact

This excerpt from Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China, by Ezra F. Vogel, focuses on the leader's formidable mission to transform his country from chaotic, insular state to competitive market economy: http://delanceyplace.com/index.php
   A borader overview of Deng and his legacy: http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/1999/china.50/inside.china/profiles/deng.xiaoping/

I'll Drink to That!

A few international alternatives to champagne for toasting each other and the new year: http://www.bbc.com/travel/blog/20121212-liquid-traditions-around-the-world

The Birth of a Movie

On Dec. 28, 1895, the Lumière brothers of France (whose last name, fittingly, means "light") screened the world's first commercial film. And if you think violence in the movies is a comparatively new phenom, think again (video): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OaOCN3pHDQ

Just Because: 'The Gulag Archipelago'

This exceptional, iconic three-volume book by Russian writer Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn (full title: The Gulag Archipelago, 1918-1956, An Experiment in Literary Investigation) was published in the West in December 1973 and circulated underground in the Soviet Union until its publication there in 1989. It is based on eyewitness accounts and Solzhenitsyn's own experiences as a prisoner in a labor camp.

Chapter 1: Arrest

    How do people get to this clandestine Archipelago? Hour by hour planes fly there, ships steer their course there, and trains thunder off to it—but all with nary a mark on them to tell of their destination. And at ticket windows or at travel bureaus for Soviet or foreign tourists the employees would be astounded if you were to ask for a ticket to go there. They know nothing and they've never heard of the Archipelago as a whole or of any one of its innumerable islands.
    Those who go to the Archipelago to administer it get there via the training schools of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
    Those who go there to be guards are conscripted via the military conscription centers.
    And those who, like you and me, dear reader, go there to die, must get there solely and compulsorily via arrest.

Cars at the Speed of Science

In which Dr. Diandra Leslie-Pelecky, a nanomaterials researcher and teacher, writes ~ very entertainingly ~ about things like friction, grip, the power curve, and NASCAR: http://www.buildingspeed.org/blog/

Malala, the Militants, & the Media

via poynter.org

 "We needed a doll, didn’t we? We needed this story that will fill the belly and we needed Malala to say these things. Everyone else is scared to say things." What role, if any, did the media (and, by extension, the public's hunger for this kind of story) play in the attempted murder of Malala Yousafzai? An interview with the journalist who made the documentary that brought her into the spotlight: http://www.psmag.com/politics/new-york-times-on-malala-yousafzai-pakistan-49715/
   Malala is the runner-up to Time magazine's Person of the Year, according to Poynter.org, and in a recent story hitting the Internet, has been named Teenager of the Year by "The Times," though which "Times" the sources are referring to is unknown right now! Her very real influence as an inspiration is exemplified in this story from the International Business Times: http://www.ibtimes.com/2012-year-review-malala-yousafzai-real-person-year-959588

Photo Memo

Wake up to coffee beans harvested from elephant dung!  © Getty Images

Photographs of some of the lesser-known interesting moments in the year just past (slideshow): http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20121219-2012-weird-and-wonderful

Rosie the Executor

In the wild and wacky world of North Korea, women are having to step in to support the family while their husbands pay to be out of work at the jobs they are required to hold (print and audio versions): http://www.npr.org/2012/12/28/168193827/out-of-desperation-north-korean-women-become-breadwinners

Rediscovering Rye

In the midst of the holiday season as we are, perhaps now is a good time to learn about whiskey vs. bourbon, the Prohibition, rye vs. corn, and Templeton, Iowa (print and audio versions): http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2012/12/26/167615838/the-rebirth-of-rye-whiskey-and-nostalgia-for-the-good-stuff

Take Care

From the remains of diseased and otherwise debilitated individuals who nonetheless lived into their teens or beyond, archaeologists are deducing that ancient peoples took care of their own: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/18/science/ancient-bones-that-tell-a-story-of-compassion.html?hp&_r=1&pagewanted=all&

(Glazed) Nuts to You

On my third batch

I just tested this recipe, and I and my family can all vouch for it! ~ quick and easy Glazed Walnuts. FYI, I followed the suggestion in one of the comments and used a splash of bourbon. It turns out that is a good idea (and D.C., if you're reading this, I will be bringing some to the party!): http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ellie-krieger/maple-glazed-walnuts-recipe/index.html

Things Fall Apart

Exposing the history and individual components of iFixit, the start-up that helps the rest of us repair our own electronic gadgets ~ if we dare: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-ifixit-20121225,0,6361335.story

A Brick House

The first window                    from www.lbc.co.uk

Could this be the best job in the world? Duncan Titmarsh, a father of two, was hired to build a huge Advent calendar out of Legos for London's Covent Garden. It took more than 600,000 bricks (story and video): http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20798476