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For the Global Thinker

Thursday, November 26, 2009

How did we get here? Evolution Vs. Intelligent Design


The famous "pillars of creation" as seen by the Hubble Space Telescope. Photo: National Geographic.



On the 150th anniversary of On the Origin of Species, an intelligent design advocate and an evolutionist weigh in on six natural wonders often cited as evidence against Darwin's theory.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/11/photogalleries/091123-origin-species-darwin-150-intelligent-design/index.html

Shattering Canada's collective myths


Peacekeepers give way to warriors in Afghanistan, and a nation open to immigration becomes one that bans permanent residents.


http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/canada/091124/goodbye-peacekeepers-and-permanent-residents

Friday, November 20, 2009

"Human Fat" Killers arrested in Peru




Four people have been arrested in Peru on suspicion of killing dozens of people in order to sell their fat and tissue for cosmetic uses in Europe.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8369674.stm

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Is Asia Racist?


When the biracial U.S. President Barack Obama visits South Korea tomorrow, he will be visiting a country grappling with its prejudices about race.

South Korea:

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2009/11/17/the_president_the_professor_and_the_wide_receiver

Japan:
An independent investigator for the UN says racism in Japan is deep and profound, and the government does not recognise the depth of the problem.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4671687.stm

China:
''Chinese students do not like most African students,'' a young Chinese man, an electronics student at Beijing University, said with typical bluntness. ''The Africans usually are not high quality people. They have a bad attitude, and they do bad things.''

http://www.nytimes.com/1988/12/30/world/black-africa-leaves-china-in-quandary.html?sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all

Thailand:
Don't think you could ever play this commercial in most countries..anyway..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ua2EE6Uil40





Saturday, November 14, 2009

EDWARD BURTYNSKY: OIL



Edward Burtynsky has traveled internationally to chronicle the production, distribution, and use of the most critical fuel of our time. In addition to revealing the rarely-seen mechanics of its manufacture, Burtynsky captures the effects of oil on our lives, depicting landscapes altered by its extraction from the earth, and by the cities and suburban sprawl generated around its use. He also addresses the coming "end of oil," as we confront its rising cost and dwindling availability.

Edward Burtynsky: Oil is the definitive photographic documentation of this hotly debated subject.”
- Paul Roth, Senior Curator of Photography, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington DC.

SEE THE GALLERY BELOW:

http://www.corcoran.org/exhibitions/press_burtynsky/

Sunday, November 8, 2009

You are being lied to about Somali Pirates


In 1991, the government of Somalia - in the Horn of Africa - collapsed. Its nine million people have been teetering on starvation ever since - and many of the ugliest forces in the Western world have seen this as a great opportunity to steal the country's food supply and dump our nuclear waste in their seas.

Yes: nuclear waste. As soon as the government was gone, mysterious European ships started appearing off the coast of Somalia, dumping vast barrels into the ocean. The coastal population began to sicken. At first they suffered strange rashes, nausea and malformed babies. Then, after the 2005 tsunami, hundreds of the dumped and leaking barrels washed up on shore. People began to suffer from radiation sickness, and more than 300 died. Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, the UN envoy to Somalia, tells me: "Somebody is dumping nuclear material here. There is also lead, and heavy metals such as cadmium and mercury - you name it." Much of it can be traced back to European hospitals and factories, who seem to be passing it on to the Italian mafia to "dispose" of cheaply. When I asked Ould-Abdallah what European governments were doing about it, he said with a sigh: "Nothing. There has been no clean-up, no compensation, and no prevention."

At the same time, other European ships have been looting Somalia's seas of their greatest resource: seafood.

Friday, November 6, 2009

Photographs of the Afghan War



For the past seven years, David Guttenfelder has witnessed and documented the changing landscape of Afghanistan. Although mostly embedded with coalition troops, he has also covered the presidential elections, bodybuilders in Kabul, the state of Afghan prisons and daily life in the country. Guttenfelder is the chief Asia photographer for The Associated Press and over the past seven years has offered the general public a close-up, intimate look at the lives of troops fighting in the mountains and remote regions of Afghanistan.
http://blogs.denverpost.com/captured/2009/10/30/photographer-collection-david-guttenfelder-in-afghanistan/