At a White House press conference last [July], President Obama conceded that we may never achieve 100 percent health-insurance coverage without a single-payer system, “because there’s always going to be somebody out there who thinks they’re indestructible and doesn’t want to get health care … and then, unfortunately … they get hit by a bus, end up in the emergency room, and the rest of us have to pay for it.”

How did “getting hit by a bus” come to mean “unexpected tragedy”?. Juliet Lapidos explains.

(via)

Craig Mod:

The GF1 is a near perfect travel camera.

For 16 days I lived with it strapped to me as I climbed through the valleys of central Nepal up to Annapurna Base Camp at 4,200 meters.

I covered the camera in sweat. I hit it against rocks (unintentionally). The air was often dusty and this dust, by the end of the trip, had worked its way into every nook of the GF1. And yet it performed flawlessly. Never once did it stutter or complain or fail to take an image when I asked it to. And only rarely did it take the wrong image.

The compact combination of Panasonic’s GF1 body and the 20mm f1.7 Lumix pancake lens works with you as a traveler. It’s a light, sturdy, capable, exceptionally well conceived photography kit that demands to be taken on adventures.

(via)

Fliers nostalgic for the golden era of air travel might want to book a trip to to the garage of Anthony Toth’s Redondo Beach, Calif., condo, where he has built a precise replica of a first-class cabin from a Pan Am World Airways 747.

This is really, really neat. Don’t miss the slideshow accompanying the article.

(via daringfireball)

In Saratoga Springs, New York, reports The Saratogian, controversy has erupted over the Marino family’s desire to let son Adam ride his bike to Maple Avenue Middle School.

Before the first day of classes last week, officials actually placed calls telling parents not to permit kids to bike or walk. The Marinos, regular bike riders, defied the “rule” — school officials can’t dictate how kids get to school any more than they can tell parents which make of car to drive. They were greeted outside by school personnel and a New York state trooper.

World Changing continues with more ridiculousness.

The Marinos aren’t alone. A recent New York Times back-to-school piece profiles similar cases in which parents who permit their kids to walk and bike are met with raised eyebrows, or worse. One mother in Mississippi was threatened with a child endangerment charge for letting her 10-year-old walk a mile to soccer practice after passersby saw the boy and called 911. Another in Vancouver, British Columbia, was left waiting and worrying for her first grader after school officials prevented him from walking himself home — a distance of six houses.

I vividly remember walking to and from school each day from first to sixth grade with my younger brother, and loved every minute of it. Perhaps my mother was worried about the two of us being abducted. I know I’ll worry about Benjamin when it’s his turn. Looking back, it felt like a five mile walk. Google Maps tells me the route is only 0.6 miles — 12 quick minutes! The fresh New Hampshire air early in the morning was energizing as a little guy, and nothing felt better at the end of the day than breaking free from the nuns that taught us social studies and geometry.

It is sad to see schools feel the need to put these types of rules in place. These days, it’s more important than ever to get kids outside away from the dreaded television, video games, and Internet… walking, riding or chasing each other down the street. The trick, of course, is moving to a house that leads to school up-hill both ways.

(via kottke)

Three savvy women started 3B bags locally here in Denver. They saw a real need to try and eliminate the use of plastic produce bags – and they were subsequently featured on the local evening news. Just weeks before the bags appeared in the store, I remember thinking to myself that it would be so nice to have an alternative to plastic produce bags.

Order ‘em!

Author Colin Beavan, in research for his new book, began the No Impact Project in November 2006. A newly self-proclaimed environmentalist who could no longer avoid pointing the finger at himself, Colin leaves behind his liberal complacency for a vow to make as little environmental impact as possible for one year. No more automated transportation, no more electricity, no more non-local food, no more material consumption… no problem. That is, until his espresso-guzzling, retail-worshipping wife Michelle and their two year-old daughter are dragged into the fray. Laura Gabbert and Justin Schein’s film provides a front row seat into the familial strains and strengthened bonds that result from Colin’s and Michelle’s struggle with this radical lifestyle change.

It’s history in real time. It’s a glimpse into one of the most open and most private homes in the world. And best of all: the photographs are made by official White House photographer Pete Souza who also shot the president during Regan’s years. He knows where to be, how to be there, and knows history when he sees it.

Great signature, too.

The World Health Organization raised its pandemic alert to 5, its second-highest level Wednesday, indicating the outbreak of swine flu that originated in Mexico is nearing widespread human infection.

Any the NY Times has an infographic tracking what might possibly turn out to be “The Big One”.

[A Holocaust survivor's son] told the story of a college freshman in Southern California who stood up during a presentation his mother was giving and said she’d never heard of the Holocaust.

What are they teaching in history classes nowadays?

United Airlines is requiring extremely obese passengers who can’t fit in their seats to pay for a second seat when there is no other way to accommodate their girth.

United said Wednesday that it will charge obese, coach-class passengers for a second coach seat or for upgrading to a larger seat in business or first class, if necessary. The policy applies to United and United Express flights. United published its new policy on its website under “Passengers requiring extra space.”

So maybe instead of getting your company on twitter, paying marketers to mention you are on twitter, and paying people to blog about your company, forget all that and just make awesome stuff that gets people excited about your products, hire people that represent the company well, and when your stuff is so awesome that friends share it with other friends, you may not even need “social media marketing” after all.

(via DF)

A pet dog that fell overboard in rough seas off Australia has been reunited with its owners after surviving alone on an island for four months, reports said.

The dog was believed to have drowned and Griffith said the family was devastated.

But out of sight of the family, Sophie Tucker was swimming doggedly and finally made it to St. Bees Island, five nautical miles away, and began the sort of life popularized by the TV reality show “Survivor.”

And then on the other side of the bridge is Congo. The instant you cross, you’re hit by a riot of dazzling colors, loud music, drunken border policemen, and women hoisting just about every imaginable kind of fruit and vegetable onto their heads. The soil here is some of the most fertile on the planet. And then there are the minerals, Congo’s seemingly limitless supply of them — gold, diamonds, zinc, nickel, cassiterite, copper, cobalt and coltan, old-school and modern gems. But somehow, for the past 12 years and counting, Congo has been the theater of one of the worst civil wars in modern history, a truly continental disaster that has sucked in many of its neighbors and killed millions of people, a festering wound in the green heart of Africa.

Via The Times on a new book, “Africa’s World War” by Gérard Prunier.

As winter begins to wind down, we are still in the middle of sled dog racing season. The Iditarod in Alaska had its ceremonial start in Anchorage last Saturday (the 7th), the Yukon Quest race from Canada’s Yukon Territory to Alaska took place back in mid-February, and the Can-Am Crown races were held in Maine only a couple of weeks ago. The most well-known of the races, the Iditarod Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, covers 1,868 km (1,161 mi), and takes anywhere from 8 to 12 days for mushers and their teams of 16 dogs to complete. Collected here are several photos from recent sled dog races and training sessions around the Northern Hemisphere. (28 photos total)

• Cholera: 2,755 died since August
• Anthrax: Eight deaths since November
• HIV/Aids: Estimated 400 deaths a day
• Maternal mortality: Risen from 168 per 100,000 in 1990 to 1,100 in 2005

What Frank Sinatra taught me about art, innocence and experience.

In March 2009, Chris Waddell will attempt to summit Kilimanjaro. Sounds like a basic goal, until you consider that this star athlete and paralympian will conquer the 19,340 foot high mountain without the use of his legs. If successful, Waddell will become the first paraplegic to summit Kilimanjaro unassisted, the tallest freestanding mountain in the world.

I’ve been planning to climb Kili for 2 years. This is inspiring stuff.

According to a very well-written article featured on the front page the New York Times’ website today, inflation in Zimbabwe is currently 8,000,000,000,000,000,000%.

President Mugabe has declared the cholera epidemic to have ended, while thousands more are infected every hour and the number dying increases by the day. One family lost five children in two days. And the story of this girl’s tragic end brought even more tears to my eyes:

The death toll mounts each day. Chipo and Tecla Murape rushed their orphaned 5-year old niece, Moisha, to the clinic in Chitungwiza, a city just south of Harare, last week. Nurses told the family the veins in the girl’s arms had collapsed because she had lost so much fluid. No doctor ever saw her, her relatives said, and the nurses never hit a vein. Moisha, a shy, but friendly girl, instead drank rehydration fluids.

Throughout the day, she complained of a terrible thirst and a painful stomach ache. On the advice of clinic workers, her aunts did not even hold her hand as she lay dying, fearing infection. After night fell, the nurses said there was nothing more they could do and suggested Moisha’s relatives take her to the city’s hospital, some two and a half miles away.

But there was no ambulance. Tecla Murape, 42, swaddled Moisha to her back and set off hurriedly for the hour-long walk, her heart pounding with worry. Under a dark, moonless sky, she took a shortcut through a maize field, leaping across yet another putrid sewage spill. By the time they arrived, Mrs. Murape’s clothes were soaked with Moisha’s watery diarrhea. Hours later, Moisha passed away.

A. Yeah [little laugh]. Yeah. There are directors of French teams who have encouraged people to take to the streets [long, meaningful pause] … elbow to elbow. It’s very emotional out there, you know, very tense. I get emotional about certain things but you know not this one. If I could sit across this table where we’re sitting and talk to this French director, or your cycling friends, you know what I would say? Just fucking relax. Just relax. We’re talking about bike racing here. We’re not talking about your mother. We’re not talking about God. We’re not talking about war. We’re not talking about you losing every dime that you ever had in your life. We’re talking about bike-racing. So get some perspective. I understand you’ve got your feelings but we’ve got to move forward here. And we will. But I have to face that reality. And it’s a shame because I have such fond memories of the Tour. You know you look around this room and you see all these cups. There’s only space for six of them up here – but the seventh one is over there. I have a lot of fond memories and I just don’t want to deal with drama.

(via The Guardian)

Obama with two campaign constants: his BlackBerry and his chief strategist, David Axelrod (via NYTimes.com)

Last week, I wondered what Obama used his Blackberry for. The man has dozens of aides and more than enough to think about. The NY Times printed an article this morning suggesting that Obama, as the 44th president, might have to turn over his Blackberry by law. G.W. Bush had to cease using his AOL.com email account 8 years ago because of those out to embarrass.

Perhaps no one knows that kind of thing more than a man’s barber. Mr. Obama’s barber, Zariff, 44, who goes by one name, went over to Mr. Signator’s apartment on Tuesday to give Mr. Obama his usual $21 cut and said his longtime client still seemed the same. As he walked in, Zariff remembered, he called him “Mr. President,” and Mr. Obama laughed.

“He’s looking a lot more presidential now; he walks a little different,” said Zariff, who himself has become a local celebrity and is thinking about opening a shop in Washington. Mr. Obama is no longer the guy strolling around the neighborhood.

“I think he misses that a lot,” Zariff said. “But that’s the price of fame.”

Update from Down Under: Apparently this is commonly known as a “rain huntsman spider” and they don’t bite. Still scary as shit though.

Anthony “Tony” Tarracino, a former mayor of Key West and legendary bar owner of “Captain Tony’s Saloon” whose life was memorialized in a Jimmy Buffett song, has died, according to his wife. He was 92.

He came to Key West from New Jersey in 1948 with $18 in his pocket. Ten years later he purchased a bar on Greene Street and changed its name to Captain Tony’s Saloon.

[Jimmy] Buffett, a longtime friend, sang about Tarracino’s exploits in the song “Last Mango in Paris,” from the 1985 album of the same name.

(via BuffettNews)

The Digital PhotoJournalist:

Four years ago Time photographer Callie Shell met Barack Obama backstage when she was covering presidential candidate John Kerry. She sent her editor more photographs of Obama than Kerry. When asked why, she said, “I do not know. I just have a feeling about him. I think he will be important down the road.” Her first photo essay on Obama was two and half years ago. She has stuck with him ever since. 

(via Kottke)

Some physicists have worked out what Usain Bolt’s time in the 100 meters in Beijing would have been if he hadn’t started celebrating before the finish line: 9.55 seconds. The original paper is here. I tried doing this the day after the race but even the HD footage wasn’t good enough to see the tick marks on the track and I didn’t want to mess around with all the angles. (via justin blanton)

(via Kottke)