July 2009
Inhabitat » The Citadel: Europe’s First Floating... →
Olthuis is responsible for a number of floating residences around the world and he thinks that we should stop trying to contain water and learn to live with it. The New Water and the Citadel projects are an attempt to embrace water in the Netherlands, which is almost completely composed of wetlands. The project will be built on a polder, a recessed area below sea level where flood waters settle...
Op-Ed Columnist - Crisis in the Operating Room -... →
That’s incorrect. If men had uteruses, “paternity wards” would get resources, ambulances would transport pregnant men to hospitals free of charge, deliveries would be free, and the Group of 8 industrialized nations would make paternal mortality a top priority. One of the most lethal forms of sex discrimination is this systematic inattention to reproductive health care, from family planning to...
Ortiz and Ramirez Are Said to Be on 2003 Doping... →
ugh - not classy, red sox. boston fans are already such insufferable douchebags about their team that if the victories were achieved on the back of steroid use, i am going to be even more irritated about all you loud, belligerent, putrid, beer-sweating assholes pouring forth from fenway like cockroaches from the mouth of hell.
Obama, Biden, professor, officer sit down over... →
Earlier Thursday, Obama said the chat was prompted by an exchange he had with Crowley, who said in a phone call with Obama, “Maybe I’ll have a beer in the White House someday.”
The president replied that that could be arranged.
AWESOME (except, honestly. you’re on the phone with the president of america, and that is the best thing you can think of to say with your face?...
MollaSpace →
Finally, a refreshing change for tissue paper cases, from Japan! With its cute shape, bright colors (except for black, which is matte finished), and useful functions, this revolutionary Paper Pot can surely add a new twist to your room decors.
all right, i love this, but why does it have to cost thirty-eight american dollars when that shit is plastic? waiting for it to pop up at china...
Inhabitat » Top 5 Silliest Eco-Inventions →
and where on this list is that awful shower curtain with the stupid plastic spikes you were hawking a few months back, inhabitat? a sin of omission, to be sure.
Inhabitat » IS IT GREEN?: The Compact Fluorescent... →
First, the case for CFLs: Compact fluorescent light bulbs use around 75% less energy and last 10 times as long as incandescent bulbs. The fact that CFLs can last up to ten times longer is a huge leap in the reduction of packaging and shipping. These benefits have led plenty of countries including Australia and Ireland to ban incandescents altogether. Retailers around the world have jumped on...
Inhabitat » Clever Lids Convert Tin Cans Into... →
Not since the advent of the tin can telephone have we seen such an ingenious use for cast-off cans! Designer and recent graduate of Northumbria University Jack Bresnahan has created a set of nine lids that will turn any ordinary can into an industrial-chic container that looks like it came from a museum store. Made from biodegradable plastic, the sterile-looking white lids will transform a can...
Editorial - Vote for Safer Food - NYTimes.com →
Under the current system, the F.D.A. can only try to coax a food production facility to voluntarily recall its product after people have grown sick or even died. The legislation, the best in years, would give the agency a great deal more power and responsibility to prevent such outbreaks.
ew!! i do not want to be afraid that what i’m eating has had no controls and could kill me (come to...
'Jungle monkey' e-mail jeopardizes Boston... →
In his e-mail, which was posted on a local Boston television station’s Web site, Barrett declared that if he had “been the officer he verbally assaulted like a banana-eating jungle monkey, I would have sprayed him in the face with OC [oleoresin capsicum, or pepper spray] deserving of his belligerent noncompliance.”
Barrett used the “jungle monkey” phrase four times,...
Comics find something to laugh about with Gates -... →
Comedy Central also flew in Larry Wilmore from California, identified as the show’s “senior black correspondent,” for the most direct jokes at Gates’ expense on late-night TV.
oh man - i can just see comedy central program execs all like “YES: there’s no way can they call us racist if a black guy says it!” cue touchdown dancing! and sure enough:
He...
Inhabitat » Truck Farm is a Roving Veggiemobile →
omg addicted to the truck farm! i love this episode. the lyrical thing is a bit hipstery - actually, the whole thing is a bit hipstery. but it’s lovable rather than pretentious. as for inhabitat:
Okay, we know what you’re thinking - a truck with a farm in its backseat still guzzles gas. This is one aspect of the Truck Farm that was plaguing us too.
ACTUALLY, i was only thinking about...
Mom of decapitated baby: 'I didn't mean to do it'... →
Sanchez, 33, is charged with capital murder in the slaying of Scott Wesley Buchholz-Sanchez, who authorities found decapitated and grossly mutilated in a bedroom of her sister’s house early Sunday. Police say Sanchez chewed off three of her infant’s toes and ate parts of the brain. She used a knife and two swords in the attack, according to police.
this is a shitshow of things that...
Sister's Generosity Is Tainted By Way She Earns... →
DEAR ABBY: Two years ago my younger sister, “Cilla,” generously set up college funds for my three children. Each of the accounts has more than $25,000. My husband and I were stunned, but Cilla insisted she is making good money in the film industry and wanted to do this for my family.
you already knew how this one was going to end, didn’t you? also, today’s theme: desperate...
From below : This underwater image shows... →
From below : This underwater image shows Russia’s Natalia Ishchenko competing during the synchronised solo free final at the FINA World Swimming Championships in Rome.
the. synchronized swimming. solo. free final.
can someone please explain to me what i’ve been doing with my life, and why i wasted it going to college when i could have been flailing underwater by myself for...
Mosquitoes deliver malaria 'vaccine' through bites... →
In a daring experiment in Europe, scientists used mosquitoes as flying needles to deliver a “vaccine” of live malaria parasites through their bites. The results were astounding: Everyone in the vaccine group acquired immunity to malaria; everyone in a non-vaccinated comparison group did not, and developed malaria when exposed to the parasites later.
oh snap oh snap - but then why get...
Netflix Competitors Learn the Power of Teamwork -... →
“The contest was almost a race to agglomerate as many teams as possible,” said David Weiss, a Ph.D. candidate in computer science at the University of Pennsylvania and a member of the Ensemble. “The surprise was that the collaborative approach works so well, that trying all the algorithms, coding them up and putting them together far exceeded our expectations.”
duh - if you were studying at...
Cinematic Cuisine That Would Make Even Julia Child... →
(dejection - i can’t borrow the image i want for you. my favorite is the one where she is frosting the reine de saba cake. investigate; it’s worth opening the interactive multimedia feature.)
this movie, though, sounds lovely. the book went viral WAY too fast (my rule is that if something hits oprah’s book club, i won’t read it for at least a year to let the hype die...
Tournaments for Girls Pack Economic Punch -... →
But last year, when Kirsten’s older brother, Erik, played on a traveling baseball team, the experience could not have been more different. Parents rarely accompanied the team, he said, and the coach frowned on anything that distracted from the game. “No leisure activity,” said Erik, 19. “It was eat, sleep and drink baseball.”
As the popularity of youth tournaments has intensified over the past...
Op-Ed Contributor - First, Make No Mistakes -... →
What makes the problem all the more frustrating is that we could address it with little cost to the American taxpayer. Because American medicine accepts error as an inevitable consequence of treatment, our hospitals, insurers and government do little to respond to unnecessary deaths. If we are to address the problem in a serious manner, we must first change this culture.
As a former chairman of...
Big City - Plans for Co-op in Brooklyn Falter on... →
They would find two or three dozen like-minded individuals and families who craved a supportive community, so much so that they would be willing to give up some small measure of their own apartment size in favor of larger communal indoor and outdoor spaces. Residents might frequently take meals together in a dining hall, or gather after work in the flowering courtyard.
They would make...
Too Gay in Amsterdam? - In Transit Blog -... →
But a closer look reveals that not everyone in Amsterdam is, in fact, gay. A photograph of a seemingly happy straight couple biking along a canal? The Van Gogh Museum? A “gay locator” that doesn’t turns the entire city into an orange dot?
Turns out, “gay” doesn’t just refer to sexual orientation, but “the attitude of the people in this grand European city,” according to the VisualMerc, a New...
Biking the Iron Curtain Trail, Where the Cold War... →
From 1953 until 1989, these watchtowers straddled the most dangerous border in the world. American troops from the 14th and 11th Armored Cavalry Regiments stared down East German soldiers just across the divide from their base, Point Alpha, waiting for the ground attack that would usher in World War III.
years of europe being painted as idyllic and non-threatening are making it hard for me to...
Globalist - The General Motors Diet - Op-Ed -... →
daniel sent this to me in an outraged email this morning, so i am going to let him comment. i think he sums it up best.
Subject: ok, so i’m usually cool with cohen…
…but really, wtf? http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/30/opinion/30iht-edcohen.html
his article is about hating on fat people, wasting people’s time, and giving ludicrous diet tips…this belongs in us...
Tent City - Child’s Urban Adventure in the New... →
In the thought bubble of this parent upon learning about the program, there was a note to self: opportunity to make an outdoorsman of 4-year-old son despite own (intermittent but overweening) tendency toward supreme indoorsiness, no organizational work required.
These are things that have suggested to me that our son, Alec, is soft: He’s afraid of spiders. He likes air-conditioning. It was his...
Can You Protect Your Image While on Facebook? -... →
You can’t do anything to stop unscrupulous apps, or the ad networks many of them use to make money, other than to avoid using third-party apps or remove the ones you have from your profile. Certainly, you ought to consider staying away from apps with a spammy patina -– and there are a few –- as they simply may not be worthy of your trust. Facebook shares quite a bit of data about you and your...
Suspect In Abortion Doctor's Death Pleads Not... →
An anti-abortion activist pleaded not guilty Tuesday to opening fire on late-term abortion provider George Tiller after a witness gave chilling testimony that he saw the alleged shooter point a gun at the Kansas doctor’s head before pulling the trigger.
what i hate most of all (and there are a lot of contenders) is that they’re closing the clinic. that is letting the terrorists win.
New York gives homeless people a one-way ticket to... →
New York has found a novel, if expensive, way of dealing with its overcrowded shelters – buying one-way tickets for homeless families to leave the city.
Under the initiative, by the administration of the mayor, Michael Bloomberg, hundreds of families have been given plane, rail, and bus tickets and even petrol vouchers to leave the city. One homeless family of five was given $6,332 (nearly...
Ricky Berens Splits Swimsuit, Bares Butt At World... →
THIS POOR GUY - he has a lovely behind, but i would be so embarrassed! and the caption to this next picture pretty much sums up the way his name will be remembered for a while:
Ricky in Beijing (neither AP nor Getty took a photo of his face in Rome on Sunday)
and… that’s the way it is.
Inhabitat » TRANSPORTATION TUESDAY: The Electric... →
By far the most interesting feature of this concept design has been the thinking process behind it. Rather than thinking of how to make the car better looking, more powerful, or even greener, the duo looked at why we drive. We do it to get from point A to point B, and everything else is essentially a waste of time. So why not use that time for something useful? Drinking. Just kidding.
amazing,...
Op-Ed Columnist - Sarah Grabs the Grievance Grab... →
Sarah once criticized Hillary for being a whiny presidential contender, arguing that women who want “to progress this country” should not complain about being under a “sharper microscope,” but instead should just work harder to prove themselves capable. Now Sarah is a whiny presidential contender, complaining about the sharper microscope that women wanting to progress this country are under and...
Online dating makes NY top city for singles |... →
But it was online dating that pushed it to the No. 1 position because it has more people with active online dating accounts than any other city in the country.
what are people thinking? the fact that there are more people with active online dating accounts (ignoring the fact, which should be obvious, that new york also has more PEOPLE than any city in the country) should be a red flag.
please...
Front Row Washington » Blog Archive » Obama to... →
“I would not construe this as formal discussions. This is about having a beer and de-escalate,” Gibbs told reporters.
“I think the president wants to continue to take the temperature down a bit, look more for constructive things that can come out,” he said.
i think the president will get a secret kick out of having a beer with the bros on his official white house schedule. i sure would, if i...
Sunbeds join cigarettes, arsenic as top cancer... →
SYDNEY (Reuters Life!) - Tanning beds have been ranked alongside cigarettes, arsenic and asbestos as posing the greatest threat of cancer to humans by an international cancer research group.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has moved ultra-violet emitting tanning beds to its highest cancer risk category and labeled them as “carcinogenic to humans” after ruling...
Madoff: Can't believe fraud lasted so long | U.S.... →
“There were several times that I met with the SEC and thought ‘they got me,’” Madoff told Cotchett and Fineman, according to abc news.com.
what a hot tranny mess (which is frankly not the way i want to think about a government agency. get it together, SEC!) also, i feel really bad for ruth madoff right now.
Accused man in NJ probe dies; cause not yet known... →
One of the 44 people arrested last week in a sweeping federal probe of political corruption and money laundering in New Jersey that netted several city mayors and rabbis has been found dead in suspicious circumstances, authorities said.
uh ohhhh
‘Gone Fishing’ Is Millionaire Lottery Winner’s... →
oh god, the comments here are the best. a smattering:
Hey, Aubrey is my 14th cousin. I want my share. I am entitled.
Aubrey winning the lottery is about ME!
Just kidding….but those types will appear.
Good Luck !
PS: I am glad to hear he resigned his job at the MTA without saying nonsense about trying to keep life normal and going back to work on broom-patrol.
— Long Lost Relative
...
Complaint Box | Tweet Nothings - City Room Blog -... →
Maybe the secret is that no one actually wants to see anybody anymore. It’s too much work. You have to dress nicely. And make actual conversation. And there’s a recession. It’s cheaper to stay home — and e-mail old friends about how “it’s been so long it’s criminal,” and “we really have to get together.”
Except we never do anymore. Which is kind of sad when you start to think about it. It’s hard...
Meet John Doe. No, Really! - City Room Blog -... →
After he came to America from Korea more than three decades ago, Jang Do wanted what many immigrants have always wanted: to fit in. So he decided to Americanize his name.
But at age 11, still fuzzy on the vernacular, he took an interesting tack.
First he turned “Jang” into “John.” Then, he talked his family into adding an “e” to their last name. He was concerned, he said, about razzing and...
Op-Ed Contributor - Hurrying Into the Next Panic?... →
ON vacation in Turkey, I am picked up at the airport by a minibus. It’s past midnight, pitch-black, the driver is speeding around corners. Only one headlight is working. And I have my doubts about the brakes. In my head I’m planning the letter of complaint to the tour company. And then the driver’s cellphone rings, he picks it up and answers it, he has only one hand on the steering wheel. Now I’m...
Op-Ed Columnist - 59 Is the New 30 - NYTimes.com →
Last April I took a break to caddy for the former U.S. Open champion Andy North when he teamed up with Tom Watson to defend their title in the two-man Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf tournament in Savannah, Ga. So it was with more than a casual spectator’s interest that I watched in awe on Armed Forces television from Afghanistan as Watson made his amazing run at winning the British Open at age 59....
Has Wikipedia Created a Rorschach Cheat Sheet?... →
To illustrate his point, Dr. Heilman used the Snellen eye chart, which begins with a big letter E and is readily available on the Wikipedia site.
“If someone had previous knowledge of the eye chart,” he said, “you can go to the car people, and you could recount the chart from memory. You could get into an accident. Should we take it down from Wikipedia?”
And, Dr. Heilman added, “My dad fooled...
Inhabitat » MIT Developing Electric Vehicle that... →
Students at MIT recently announced that they are developing an extended range electric vehicle capable of achieving the same performance as its gasoline-powered counterparts. Dubbed the elEVen, the electric dream ride is capable of achieving a top speed of over 100 mph, a range of 320km (200 miles) and can completely charge in 10 minutes flat!
awesome things about working here:
1) a lot of cool...
Frequent Flier - Upgraded to First Class, but... →
Once we were set for landing, the attendant did come up to me to chat. I thought she was going to apologize or try to make nice. Instead, she said she wanted to know why the airline was trying to be so nice to us by upgrading our seating arrangements. Apparently, the airline never gives upgrades, so it must have done something really horrible to us if it gave us an upgrade.
I was no longer going...
Inhabitat » BMW’s Stunning Energy-Efficient... →
In a perfect world we’d all be getting back to our zero energy, prefabricated homes by foot, bike or public transport, but on a planet where cars won’t be disappearing anytime soon, it’s nice to know that some car companies are trying to reduce their carbon footprint when producing new vehicles. In 2003 BMW set out a design competition for a new building and distribution center located in...
Slug - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia →
so i saw two huge slugs yesterday engaged in what appeared to be a battle to the death. i was curious, so i asked a coworker this morning what was going on - and then i looked it up on wikipedia. FATEFUL DAY.
A commonly seen practice among many slugs is apophallation. The penis of these species is curled like a cork-screw and often becomes entangled in their mate’s genitalia in the process...
A Food Critic Comes to Terms With His Appetite -... →
there is so much here to explore. male! gay! bulimia! food critic! (al roker and that show where he travels the south eating fatty foods comes to mind - why did he do such a thing to himself after gastric bypass surgery?) but i found myself truly moving inside this piece. i love that he was brave enough to write it.
The extra weight was the confirmation: once a fat kid, always a fat kid, never...
Japan's herbivore men shun corporate life, sex |... →
Almost half of 1,000 men aged 20-34 surveyed by market research firm M1 F1 Soken identified themselves as “herbivorous,” defined literally as grass-eating but in this context as not being interested in flesh or passive about pursuing women.
OH. MY. GOD. is herbivorous the new metrosexual, or delicate?
The media hype has sent marketing experts scurrying to see if there is money to be...
American love lives worst hit by economic woes:... →
this is an utterly lame presentation of the facts. for example:
Americans and Britons share the same love of cars. When asked to name the last three things they would sacrifice to save money 30 percent of both nationalities said cars, compared to 14 percent of Italians and 18 percent of Spaniards.
let’s say you live in tampa or the cotswolds vs living in madrid or genova. you don’t...
