Bleak life in a dark Bolivian mine

"If you are a miner in Bolivia, you're lucky if all you come down with is tuberculosis."

Photo: Reuters

"Jorge, 13, runs the risk of his lungs being incurably destroyed, 
for seven dollars and 23 cents he earns a day."

Hot on the heels of the South African Lonmin Marikana mine clashes, during which 34 miners were shot dead last month, here is a sobering Al Jazeera article about life in a Bolivian mine:

Deep inside a pitch black narrow underground cavern underground, Jorge is dripping in sweat, sitting on a wheelbarrow.

Jorge is a miner.

He's taking a minute to catch his breath.

Jorge says he sometimes starts work at 3am.

The air is thin. The mine is about 15,000 feet - or 5,000 metres - above sea level.

Jorge's teeth are badly stained.

He's sucking on a wad of coca leafs which form a bulge in his cheek. It kills the hunger and headaches.

Jorge is digging for silver and zinc.

It's hazardous stuff here.

Jorge is working in an alleyway of the mine so narrow only one wheelbarrow can pass at a time. On the side, open mine shafts that drop down into blackness.

It's dark. The only light here is a beam coming from a headlamp on his hard hat.

Jorge makes about 50 Bolivianos a day. That's about seven dollars - seven dollars and 23 cents, to be exact.

Jorge's not much for words. But it's clear this is a life of necessity, not choice.

"I use the money to buy clothes for me and my family," he says.

There is something else you should know about Jorge.

He's 13 years old.

And he's been working as a miner since he was 11.

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2012/09/201292775351464532.html

Striking miners celebrate after securing a 22 percent
pay hike from London-listed Lonmin platinum mine
(AFP/File, Alexander Joe)

The world needs wolves

New York Times‎ : Wolves and other predators have a powerful effect on the well-being of the ecosystems around them, according to some wildlife biologists.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/29/opinion/the-world-needs-wolves.html?_r=0

Tonight's Harvest Moon

The moon officially turns full when it reaches that spot in the sky exactly opposite the sun, and this moment will occur tonight (Sept. 29) at 11:19 p.m. EDT. When you gaze at the full moon tonight, think of farmers working late into the evening to gather their crops, because that's how the Harvest Moon got its name. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/29/full-harvest-moon-2012-saturday-autumnal-equinox_n_1925196.html

The Harvest Moon allows farmers at the peak of the current harvest season to stay in the fields longer than usual, working by the moon's light. It rises around sunset, but also -- and more importantly -- the moon seems to appear at nearly the same time each successive night.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvest_moon

Hindu God Ganesha Festival

Some amazing photos at following Telegraph link of the recent Hindu festival celebrated on the birthday (re-birth) of Lord Ganesha in India, who is widely revered as the Remover of Obstacles and Lord of Beginnings.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/picturegalleries/9571572/Idols-of-Hindu-elephant-headed-god-Lord-Ganesh-are-immersed-in-the-sea.html

Elephant-headed God Lord Ganesha

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganesh_Chaturthi

Buddha carved from a meteorite

(AP photo/University of Stuttgart, Elmar Buchner)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/sep/28/nazi-buddha-statue-carved-from-meteorite?newsfeed=true

This undated photo provided by University of Stuttgart shows an ancient Buddhist statue that a Nazi expedition brought back from Tibet shortly before World War II. The statue was carved from a meteorite which crashed on Earth thousands of years ago. What sounds like an Indiana Jones movie plot appears to have actually taken place, according to European researchers publishing in the journal Meteoritics and Planetary Science this month. Elmar Buchner of the University of Stuttgart, said Thursday Sept 27 2012 that the statue was brought to Germany by the Schaefer expedition. The Nazi-backed venture set out for Tibet in 1938 in part to trace the origins of the Aryan race - a cornerstone of the Nazis' racist ideology. The existence of the statue - known as "iron man" - was revealed in 2007 when its owner died and it came up for auction, Buchner told The Associated Press.

Fighting over God's image

New York Times: 

"THE murders of four Americans over an amateurish online video about Muhammad, like the attempted murder of a Danish cartoonist who in 2005 had depicted the prophet with a bomb in his turban, have left many Americans confused, angry and fearful about the rage that some Muslims feel about visual representations of their sacred figures. The confusion stems, in part, from the ubiquity of sacred images in American culture. God, Jesus, Moses, Buddha and other holy figures are displayed in movies, cartoons and churches and on living room walls. We place them on T-shirts and bumper stickers — and even tattoo them on our skin. But Americans have had their own history of conflict, some of it deadly, over displays of the sacred. The path toward civil debate over such representation is neither short nor easy."

[More @ New York Times Opinion Page]

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/27/opinion/fighting-over-gods-image.html?_r=0

"Moon River" singer dies at age 84

Andy Williams died last night at his home in Branson, Missouri, following a year long battle with bladder cancer. He was 84. He became a major star the same year as Elvis Presley in 1956 with the Sinatra-like "Canadian Sunset". The Johnny Mercer-Henry Mancini ballad (Moon River) was his most famous song, even though he never released it as a single because his record company feared such lines as "my huckleberry friend" were too confusing and old-fashioned for teens. The song was first performed by Audrey Hepburn in the 1961 film "Breakfast at Tiffany's" but Mancini thought "Moon River" ideal for Williams, who recorded it in "pretty much one take" and sang it at the 1962 Academy Awards. Although "Moon River" was covered by countless artists, Williams made it his personal brand. 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Williams 

Ed Sheeran on Windy City Live

I watched British singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran on this morning's Windy City Live. He discussed his road to success and performed his hit song "The A-Team."  The YouTube video of this (below) has had over 43 million hits. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Sheeran

Buy her a diamond, get a free hunting rifle

From Field and Stream:

Here you go, guys. She wants a ring. You want a new gun. Buy her the ring. Get the gun. Everyone lives happily ever after...

From USA Today:
A Georgia jewelry store owner has come up with a new way to sell diamonds, WSB-TV reports. Give away free guns with each purchase. "A lot of our customers are hunters, and it just seemed like a great thing to do," Mike Geller, who owns two D. Geller and Son Jewelers, told the station. "It's unbelievable! There's websites that got a million hits about it." Customers who purchase diamonds worth $2,499 or more from the Cobb County stores get free hunting rifles.

Imelda Marcos' shoe collection is ruined

Imelda Marcos' shoe stash, left behind after she and her dictator husband were driven out of the Philippines, has been badly damaged by termites, floods and general neglect, officials said today. During her time as First Lady, Imelda traveled the world to buy new shoes at a time when millions of her own people were living in extreme poverty.  She was reported to have left behind:

15 mink coats

508 gowns

1000 handbags

3000 pairs of shoes

 
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2207353/Imelda-Marcos-legendary-3-000-plus-shoe-collection-destroyed-termites-floods-neglect.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

King Richard III - remains found under car park

The medieval King Richard III "may" have been found 527 years after his death. Archaeologists have announced they have unearthed what appear to be the remains of Richard III under a social services department car park in Leicester.  It was thought he was buried in a local friary after being killed during the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485.

"There has been a lot of debate on almost every aspect of Richard III's life, appearance, personality and death" said historian John Ashdown Hill, whose book "The Last Days of Richard III" explores the final 150 days of the king's life before he was killed in battle. "The remains won't clarify everything, but they will be part of the process of getting back to original, authentic, documentary evidence rather than being misled by the propaganda that spread after his death" he said.

The propaganda he refers to was propagated by Shakespeare in his 16th century play "Richard III". He portrayed the monarch as a power-hungry scoundrel, who murdered anyone (including his two nephews) who stood in the way of his thirst for power.  Richard, who ruled for two years until his death, is cast as Shakespeare's anti-hero, "deformed and unfinished," with a hunchback and withered arm -- attributes synonymous with witchery in medieval England. He described Richard as small and dark, taking inspiration from Sir Thomas More's damning 1513 account "The History of King Richard III." That image may be shattered by these new found remains...

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/archaeology/news/richard-iiis-remains-found-under-car-park-in-leicester-8126149.html

More info. on Richard III @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_III_of_England

Winds of change and the struggle for the soul of Pakistan

Pakistan’s officially declared “Day of Love for the Prophet Muhammad” devolved into deadly violence in major cities on Friday as tens of thousands of Pakistanis angrily demonstrated against an Islam-mocking YouTube video. At least 20 people died and more than 150 were injured in the protests in Pakistan, authorities said — the highest one-day death toll since protests began over the video on September 11. Pakistan is facing a myriad of domestic problems, including a plummeting economy, power shortages and cities beset with dysfunction. Since independence in 1947, the country has swung violently between military rulers and civilian governments criticized for cronyism and mismanagement.
http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/101east/2012/09/201291911596965552.html

The following article in National Geographic talks about the ongoing "struggle for the soul of Pakistan":
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2007/09/pakistan/don-belt-text 

"This is also where two conflicting forms of Islam meet: the relatively relaxed and tolerant Islam of India, versus the rigid fundamentalism of the Afghan frontier. Beneath the surface of Pakistan, these opposing forces grind against each other like two vast geologic plates, rattling teacups from Lahore to London, Karachi to New York. The clash between moderates and extremists in Pakistan today reflects this rift, and can be seen as a microcosm for a larger struggle among Muslims everywhere. So when the earth trembles in Pakistan, the world pays attention"

Chicago embraces global warming

Forecasters say the climate in the US city of Chicago will soon resemble that of New Orleans, hundreds of kilometres to the south.  But few places in the world are taking climate change as seriously as the Windy City. Al Jazeera's John Hendren reports from Chicago.

http://www.aljazeera.com/video/americas/2012/09/2012921213748944253.html

Season of Mists

http://www.almanac.com/

Today is the Autumn Equinox - the official first day of Autumn.

John Keats (1795-1821) TO AUTUMN. 

 1. SEASON of mists and mellow fruitfulness, 

 Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun; 

 Conspiring with him how to load and bless 

 With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run; 

 To bend with apples the moss’d cottage-trees, 

 And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core; 

 To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells 

 With a sweet kernel; to set budding more, 

 And still more, later flowers for the bees, 

 Until they think warm days will never cease, 

 For Summer has o’er-brimm’d their clammy cells. 

 2. Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store? 

 Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find 

 Thee sitting careless on a granary floor, 

 Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind; 

 Or on a half-reap’d furrow sound asleep, 

 Drows’d with the fume of poppies, while thy hook 

 Spares the next swath and all its twined flowers: 

 And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keep 

 Steady thy laden head across a brook; 

 Or by a cyder-press, with patient look, 

 Thou watchest the last oozings hours by hours. 

 3. Where are the songs of Spring? Ay, where are they? 

 Think not of them, thou hast thy music too,— 

 While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day, 

 And touch the stubble plains with rosy hue; 

 Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn 

 Among the river sallows, borne aloft 

 Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies; 

 And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn; 

 Hedge-crickets sing; and now with treble soft 

 The red-breast whistles from a garden-croft; 

 And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.

Germany's post-growth movement

Many Germans now value the protection of the environment over material prosperity. "A recent survey commissioned by Bertelsmann Stiftung found that eight out of ten Germans crave a new economic order. The number of Germans who see growth as very important was down 14% compared with two years ago. The proportion of Germans who highly value money and possessions also dropped. Nearly two-thirds disagreed with the idea that a higher income could increase their quality of life." 
More at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/sep/19/germany-post-growth-movement

Adam Berry/Getty Images/Earth Hour 2012@Brandenburg Gate

And here's a Guardian interview with one of Germany's senior Green Party politicians, Cem Ozdemir:
"We've only borrowed the Earth from our children...that single sentence still sums up the philosophy of my party for me. We need responsible lifestyles: we need to make sure that we don't use up the resources that belong to other generations, but also that we don't use up the resources of other countries. Fairness shouldn't end on Germany's doorstep."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/sep/20/cem-ozdemir-green-politician-germany?intcmp=122

We need a small farming renaissance

Photo: Charles O'Rear/Corbis

Great article in today's Guardian about the emerging trend for local shops and farmers' markets. Half of the species on Earth could be extinct by the end of this century, mainly thanks to unsustainable, large-scale industrial farming. "We need to turn things round and fast. And we means us, all of us – ordinary Joes, because the governments and corporates who run the world, and their attendant experts and intellectuals, are not going to. The standard ways to bring about change are by reform or revolution – but reform is too slow and today's politicians and the big business they are beholden to cannot change course. Revolution is too chancy and too dangerous.  So we need the third route – renaissance: build something better in situ. In effect, a people's takeover. All over the world individuals and communities are starting small mixed farms of the kind the world really needs, while others are starting small shops and farmers' markets and delivery services to serve those new farms. Thousands of organisations worldwide are seeking to promote and co-ordinate these efforts."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/sep/18/small-farming-renaissance-greed-agriculture

Did Jesus have a wife and was she Mary Magdalene?

ROME — Is a scrap of ancient and faded papyrus (above) suggesting that Jesus had a wife authentic?

Scholars yesterday questioned the much-publicized discovery by a Harvard scholar that a 4th century fragment of papyrus provided the first evidence that some early Christians believed Jesus was married. The Coptic script reads: “Jesus said to them, My wife she will be able to be my disciple.”  The woman mentioned, called Mary, is thought to be Mary Magdalene.

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Latest-News-Wires/2012/0919/Jesus-had-a-wife-Bible-scholars-question-Harvard-finding-video

Edward Burne-Jones portrait of Mary Magdalene

Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene in the garden

Something fishy going on? Mysterious disappearance of Alaska's king salmon

Where are all the king salmon? Some of Alaska's largest and best rivers are closed to king fishing because state and federal fisheries managers have determined that the largest of the salmon species, also called Chinook, aren't showing up in enough numbers to ensure sustainable future runs.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-19349265

Fire tornado

An Australian man has captured what he calls a "fire tornado" on video. Chris Tangey of Alice Springs Film and Television saw the rare, fiery phenomenon in the Australian Outback. A small fire was burning in nearby bush, so Tangey decided to start filming.  As he was filming, a small twister touched down on the fire, causing it to build into a spinning flame.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2012/sep/19/fire-tornado-australia-video

The Silence of the Bees

Despite serious evidence of great harm being caused to bees by sub-lethal doses of neonicitinoid pesticides - published in the world's most prestigious journals - the British government has decided that no changes to regulation whatsoever are required....read more at link below.

Photo: PBS Nature

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/damian-carrington-blog/2012/sep/18/bees-pesticides-neonicitinoids

The Longest Way Home

This new book (The Longest Way Home) by actor/director/travel writer Andrew McCarthy discusses the struggles he faced in balancing his need for adventure with settling down — and the travel journalist and editor-at-large for National Geographic Traveler subtitled his book “One Man’s Quest For The Courage To Settle Down.”  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_McCarthy

McCarthy ponders some of the biggest and most frightening questions surrounding intimacy: How does a loner connect? How does a traveler settle down? How do we merge into families without losing ourselves? The answer seems to be that all these things are impossible...and yet somehow we do it anyway. There is much to be learned, and much to be admired, in this elegant, thoughtful story."

-- Elizabeth Gilbert, bestselling author of Eat, Pray, Love

"Brave and moving...McCarthy’s keen sense of scene and storytelling ignites his accounts...[t]hreaded with an exemplary vulnerability and propelled by a candid exploration of his own life’s frailties."

-- National Geographic

Being chased by grizzly bears

According to Rex Huppke in the Chicago Tribune, being chased by grizzly bears would help us be less dramatic and gain some much-needed perspective. 
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-huppke-column-drama-20120917,0,4927914.story

(Dani Pozo, AFP/Getty Images)

Meanwhile, here is a youtube video of the cutest grizzly bear attack ever (in Russia):

Obese and sacred elephants put on a diet

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19566023

"...veterinary surgeons point out that obesity and captivity go hand in hand.  Elephants eat up to 200 different varieties of food in the jungle, including fruits, flowers, roots and branches, but in captivity their diets often lack variety. The experts also point out that the elephants in the wilderness are never exposed to foods such as rice, millets, salt and jaggery (an unrefined sugar set into blocks).

Uphill trek

Wild elephants wander, trek uphill, cross streams and walk on a variety of terrain. They also compete with other wild animals for resources. A senior forest veterinary officer in the state observed: "In captivity, elephants eat constantly, and that coupled with lack of exercise makes the animals obese."

But temple officials say the elephants are taken for walks of at least 5km each day based on vet advice. But research has shown that in the wilderness an elephant has to walk at least 20 sq km (eight sq miles) to find its daily food intake of about 250kg of plant matter.

'Grave sin'

Dr AJT John Singh, former director the Wildlife Institute of India, called the practice a "grave sin". "It's like confining a solitary person in... the middle of the forest," he said. "Elephants are social animals and have amazing social bonds with one another. Breaking that, and keeping the animal alone, is like solitary confinement, the greatest form of punishment to a human being."..."

Young Americans ditch the car

Younger Americans have been shunning cars over the last five years according to this article on CNN Money ....bad news for the Auto industry but good news for the environment.
http://money.cnn.com/2012/09/17/news/economy/young-buying-cars/

"This is particularly true for the youngest, most digitally-connected members of Generation Y. Forty-six percent of 18-24 year-olds would choose Internet access over owning a car, according to a recent Deloitte study."

Noncognitive Skills and Life Success

Noncognitive skills, such as perseverance or grit, says Paul Tough in the essay "Opting Out of the 'Rug Rat Race'" (Review, Sept. 8) may actually be what matter in much of long-term success. But that hypothesis fails to take account of factors outside of a person's control, such as economic and social class. If perseverance and grit were significant factors in successful outcomes, more people who start life disadvantaged would succeed more often.

The reason that GED recipients do not enter postsecondary education as often as high-school graduates is because GED recipients are often people facing a number of life challenges that may flow from poverty and poor quality schools.

Hard work and toughness are invaluable, but strong parental support and early economic advantages are what work to get children ahead. The bootstrap-tugging, adversity-overcoming, modern-day Horatio Alger, though much-admired, is exceedingly rare and growing more rare by the day.

Lolita Buckner Inniss

Shaker Heights, Ohio

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444023704577649681287960356.html?KEYWORDS=Lolita

Birds and Bamboo Exhibit

http://www.speronewestwater.com/cgi-bin/iowa/exhibits/index.html

New York: The Sperone Westwater gallery presents Bamboo Bamboo Broadway, a solo exhibition of new paintings by Liu Ye. For his third solo show at the gallery, the artist continues to engage the history of modernism, while referencing the tradition of abstraction in historical Chinese painting. Liu Ye introduces new genres such as landscape and still-life painting and the centerpiece of the show is a nine-part painting of abstracted and simplified details of a bamboo plant which spans the gallery's double-height wall. 

Liu Ye was born in 1964 in China. He graduated from the Beijing Central Academy of Fine Arts, Mural Painting Department, and after that he moved to Germany where he became a Master of Fine Arts. Today he lives and works in Beijing. Ye’s portraits are slightly strange, showing unreal characters living, acting and being a part of reality. His own thoughts are revealed in the world he creates. Melancholy is reflected in his paintings.

Full Article at Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444100404577643910732003218.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

An artistic explosion

  Getty Villa, Malibu, California, through January 7, 2013

A work by Andy Warhol (pictured here) joins pieces by Salvador Dalí, Mark Rothko and others in a show of pieces inspired by "The Last Days of Pompeii" and the eruption that destroyed the city. The show moves to Cleveland Feb. 24.

Rare Chinese tree flowers after a 30-year wait

A tree described as "rare in cultivation and extremely shy to flower" has bloomed for the first time in its 30-year history in Cambridge. More at link below:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-19597233

The Crocodile Feeder of Ivory Coast

Fascinating article on today's BBC website about a crocodile keeper who dedicated his life to the sacred crocodiles of Yamassoukrou Lake before being consumed by one of them.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-19576296

"The ritual takes place in the afternoon, in bright light. There are the cars, the tourists in bright clothes, the cameras. But the crocodiles are sacred. A live offering - a chicken - has to be made to them; it is part of the ritual.

This element of sacrifice, this protracted display of power and cruelty, is as unsettling as it is meant to be, and it seems to bring night and the forest close again to the dream of Yamoussoukro."

V S Naipaul, The Crocodiles of Yamoussoukro, New Yorker (1984)