Letters of Commendation

No praise could possibly be higher ~ or more highly valued ~ than that from one extraordinary writer regarding the work of another: http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2013/03/i-cant-help-envying-you-famous-authors-fan-letters-to-other-authors/274158/

Survival of the Fittest

humvees at Camp Liberty, Sept. 2011   Reuters/Mohammed Ameen

A look at how U.S. military equipment changed in answer to the new kinds of threats posed by insurgents and by moving from the cities into the desert in the war in Iraq (video): http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-21849494
   For the 10th anniversary of the war, photos of Iraq since the withdrawal (slideshow): http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2013/03/iraq-wars-10th-anniversary-after-the-war/100477/

Break On Through to the Other Side UPDATE

The spacecraft Voyager-1 has exited our solar system!: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21866532
   UPDATE: Well, the above has been superseded by a note from NASA saying that, while Voyager has reached what is called the magnetic highway, it has not yet left the solar system: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2013-107&cid=release_2013-107&msource=2013107

Political Writing As Art

Britain's Orwell Prize is given out each year to honor excellence in political writing. Three prizes are awarded: one for books, one for journalism, and one for blogging (this is the books page; to access the journalism and blogging lists, use the options under "View by prize," upper right side of page): http://theorwellprize.co.uk/longlists/
   A judge discusses the process and thinking behind the selection of this year's contenders for the Prize for books. "The range of writing, the passion of the research and the variety of manners in this marvellous set of books show a confident important writing culture," according to Prize director Jean Seaton. "Go out and read them”: http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/marie-colvins-on-the-front-longlisted-for-orwell-prize-8542203.html

Culture Shock

Would you try on a burka if a stranger asked you? Most, it seems, wouldn't. Those who have, exhibit the biggest reaction not when they're standing around in the traditional head-to-toe covering for women in Muslim countries, but when they look in a mirror: http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/culture/la-et-cm-burka-art-20130320,0,3510281.story

A Tree's 15 Minutes

Mark Hirsch and his oak    Mark Hirsch                       

For almost a year now, photographer Mark Hirsch has been taking a picture a day of one particular tree, a bur oak that stands proud and alone in a Wisconsin field. His last picture of the year will be taken March 23, when the tree will be surrounded by all the people who have accepted his Facebook invitation to be there ~ and so far, that's 163 (story and slideshow): http://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/201303/year-life-lonely-oak/slide1.aspx

Hola, Bonjour, Hello, Cześć, 电话

"Even by birth," says cognitive scientist Barbara Conboy, "the infant brain can separate languages, just based on the sound structure of those languages, so it can tell the difference between French and English, [which] have very different melodies." More American children are being exposed to a second language. In fact, there are now five times as many foreign-language immersion schools in California as there were in 1994. This is a good thing. Studies are showing what many have intuited for a long time: Learning a second language stimulates the brain (story and video): http://projects.scpr.org/bilinguallearning/

The Art of Aging Well

By 2030, according to this story, seniors (65 or over) will outnumber young children for the first time in history. Fortunately, for the first time as well, studies are showing the way to a healthy old age. "Just 20 years ago, the field of physical activity and aging was in its infancy, and now everyone recognizes the potential impact on chronic conditions, prevention, primary prevention, cognitive status, on and on," says Thomas Prohaska, dean of George Mason University. "Well, it turns out, the arts could have a beneficial impact, too" (video): http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21806196

Wire Why Not?

Rhode Islander CW Roelle creates amazingly complex "drawings" with wire (slideshow): http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2013/03/intricate-wire-drawings-by-cw-roelle/

Earth Hour 2013!

The countdown has begun to Earth Hour 2013, which is at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 23. Started in Sydney, Australia, in 2007, the event has since grown to 6,950 cities and towns in 152 countries and territories last year. Even the astronauts in the International Space Station took part!: http://www.earthhour.org/

Another Way To Look at History

screen shot

This website focuses on the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, and World War II (European, North African, and Pacific theaters), showing the chronology of each through animation that includes some original sound recordings: http://www.historyanimated.com/newhistoryanimated/

Back to School

Malala walking to her first day of school with her father      screen shot

Malala Yousafzai, that brave and mature little girl who was shot by assailants in her native Pakistan for daring to suggest that all girls deserve an education (see "Malala vs. the Taliban" and "We Are All Malala," Oct. 2012), now 15, is well enough to attend school herself: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/03/19/174749963/malala-pakistani-teen-shot-for-demanding-an-education-attends-school-in-u-k
   (video): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rS0KAA_DHT0&feature=player_embedded#!

The Good Drone

Whenever we hear about drones, it's almost always in connection with death and destruction. Paola Santana thinks drones can be used to do good, too, and she's so sure of it that she's started a new company, Matternet. Santana's drones will be used to deliver small items, thus taking pressure off crowded streets and highways and speeding up the process for things like medications in countries with little to no infrastructure: http://www.technewsdaily.com/17376-matternet-drone-delivery.html

What Happens in Vegas, 1955 Edition

 construction in 1955 Loomis Dean—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images

Photos of Las Vegas in the 1950s, when everyone there was still gambling on its future (story and slideshow): http://life.time.com/culture/las-vegas-photos-from-the-gambling-capital-of-the-world-in-1955/#1

Diamond Mountain Death

Michael Roach and Christie McNally in 2005  Lyn Sims Photography

It reads like a great, weird novel, but it really happened. In the mountains of Arizona, a couple was found in a cave, the woman delirious, her husband dead. The cause was overexposure. A little earlier, the pair had been expelled from a silent retreat at a Buddhist-like center led by a man named Michael Roach, with whom the woman had previously been a "spiritual partner": http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/07/10/buddhist-retreat-s-death-saga.html

Ever Green

When you're building with lumber and you want to make sure that what you're buying is environmentally friendly, according to an article about Sierra Pacific Industries in SFGate (http://www.sfgate.com/green/article/Getting-clear-with-Sierra-Pacific-Industries-3292840.php):

"LOOK FOR LABELS

"Labels on lumber can tell you a lot about what you're buying. Here are some tips:
"-- Lumber from Sierra Pacific Industries (www.spi-ind.com) often has its logo on the wood and the logo of the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (www.sfiprogram.org), a group directed by the timber and paper industry.
"-- Lumber sold by companies certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (www.fscus.org), an independent oversight group that ensures forest wood is harvested using safe environmental practices, also comes with a logo.
"-- ForestEthics (www.forestethics.org), a San Francisco environmental group, recommends that people buy lumber and wood products certified by the Forest Stewardship Council."

Purple Reign

Prince is back, by all accounts giving one hell of a performance at SXSW. He's also the subject of a new book, I Would Die 4 U: Why Prince Became an Icon. It describes the musician's very determined, strategic, and systematic rise to mega-super-stardom (giving some tips along the way about how u, 2, can become an icon): http://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2013/03/9-principles-4-becoming-a-musical-icon-from-new-book-about-prince-i-would-die-4-u.html

'White Guys With Guitars'

from couchbycouchwest.com

You know about SXSW (South by Southwest), and if you thought about it long enough, you'd have to know there'd be an alt version. And so there is. It's Couch by Couchwest, started by one Amy Holdorf, in Boston ~ and it's good, too (interview and videos): http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/1552407/couch-by-couchwest-an-alternative-to-sxsw-where-the-beer-is-cheap-and-the-only

Winging It

Have cliff swallows, many of which now build their nests under overpasses, evolved shorter wings to allow them to dodge speeding cars more easily?: http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/349028/description/Shorter-winged_swallows_evolve_around_highways

Ugly Cars

The Isuzu VehiCROSS is on the list.

The ugliest cars of all time ~ at least according to this one guy. What I want to know is, Where's that one that looked like a bubble? (slideshow): http://www.cnbc.com/id/100558769/page/1