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The place where the world comes together in honesty and mirth.
Windmills Tilted, Scared Cows Butchered, Lies Skewered on the Lance of Reality ... or something to that effect.


Wednesday, March 24, 2010

As The World Turns

As The World Turns
Kids take high-altitude zipline to school
Kids in a remote village in Colombia travel to school via a precarious, high-altitude zipline, carrying their younger sibs in hemp sacks and slowing their descent with a wooden fork:
Despite her youth, Daisy is expected to travel down the flying fox at speeds of up to 62km/h with her younger brother attached beside her in a sack. It's a high pressure journey, with a 400m drop into the Rio Negro river facing her if the pulley system gives way.





From Treehugger:
new zealand 
national park isengard photo
Will New Zealand allow the Coromandel Peninsula (left) to go the way of Isengard?
Image credit: Sandy Austin/Flickr and New Line Cinema
In a move that could have been cribbed from Tolkien's Lord of the Rings series, the New Zealand government has introduced a proposal that would open 27 square miles of currently-protected conservation land to mining. The discussion paper, authored by Energy & Resources Minister Gerry Brownlee and Conservation Minister Kate Wilkinson, claims to offer measures to ensure the "environmentally responsible development" of New Zealand's mineral resources.
Conservationists have voiced strong opposition to the plan, citing the damage such a proposal would do to the fragile ecosystems in question and New Zealand's clean, green, image around the world.
Article continues: New Zealand Considers Proposal to Turn National Parks into Mordor
World's hottest chili to be weaponized
'The chili grenade has been found fit for use'
The Indian military has a new weapon against terrorism: the world's hottest chili.

Houses a key part of dispute over east Jerusalem
Houses _ for Israelis and Palestinians _ play a key role in the dispute over the fate of east Jerusalem.
Pakistan police: Plot foiled on hotels, diplomats
Two highly experienced Taliban militants were arrested while planning to attack top hotels and kidnap diplomats in Pakistan, and one of the men claimed to have helped plan previous strikes.

Man Stabs, Kills 8 Students At China School
A former doctor armed with a large knife killed eight children and injured five others Tuesday at an elementary school in eastern China, a local official said.

Man saves 2million babies in half a century of donating rare type of blood

An Australian man who has been donating his extremely rare kind of blood for 56 years has saved the lives of more than two million babies.

James Harrison, 74, has an antibody in his plasma that stops babies dying from Rhesus disease, a form of severe anaemia.

He has enabled countless mothers to give birth to healthy babies, including his own daughter, Tracey, who had a healthy son thanks to her father's blood.


Mr Harrison has been giving blood every few weeks since he was 18 years old and has now racked up a total of 984 donations.

When he started donating, his blood was deemed so special his life was insured for one million Australian dollars.

He was also nicknamed the 'man with the golden arm' or the 'man in two million'. His blood has since led to the development of a vaccine called Anti-D.
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If you ever wanted to know what a real hero is you just read about one in the story above.

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