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Here is the fascinating story of St Kilda, a small rocky island in the Outer Hebrides, which had to be abandoned after centuries of habitation, mostly because of the deteriorating living conditions and extreme isolation from the rest of Scotland. It is a unique case where the local population voluntarily requested relocation from the mainland authorities. Now the island is a protected natural area.

Extraordinary artist Alexandra Putrya (1977-1989) became notable through painting thousands of artworks, before dying at the age of 11 from leukemia.

Wow this is impressing. I wasn't aware of this girl's story. Somehow reminds me of that other girl, Akiane.

From a 2003 Eric Alterman article:

The current historical moment in journalism is hardly a happy one. Journalists trying to do honest work find themselves under siege from several sides simultaneously. Corporate conglomerates increasingly view journalism as "software," valuable only insofar as it contributes to the bottom line. In the mad pursuit for audience and advertisers, the quality of the news itself becomes degraded, leading journalists to alternating fits of self-loathing and self-pity. Meanwhile, they face an Administration with a commitment to secrecy unmatched in modern US history. And to top it all off, conservative organizations and media outlets lie in wait, eager to pounce on any journalist who tries to give voice to almost any uncomfortable truth about influential American institutions--in other words, to behave as an honest reporter--throwing up the discredited but nevertheless effective accusation of "liberal bias" in order to protect the powerful from scrutiny.

Courtesy: peristaltor.

I have often come across absurdities on the children's books market, and this is the most recent one. I suppose it was a book which was meant to teach kids about the concept of polarities. Just one thing I couldn't understand... What sins have the poor critters done in order to have themselves mocked like that?... =)

( See pictures )

As far as I can see, what separates smart from stupid is the size of the tail. Which hardly bothers elephants, but how about people... I think people are particularly concerned about their tails, mmm yes I think so! They even often compare and check whose tail is longer! =)

Maybe I should take the notebook and the pencils and draw one of those bedtime tales myself, huh? =)

Kol, in a recent conversation: "Personally I like the mystery of sometimes, just sometimes not knowing where a person I care about is and what they are doing. There is a certain charm in it."

I couldn't agree more.

The controversy around Amy Chua's book is still raging on... Well, sure, it is just a book, but it did cause a huge debate in the American society... And I think this debate is universal.

The case: Are Chinese mothers superior to American ones, and in what way?

And still more and more opinions on the matter.

Despite her attempts to defend herself and explain that she is in fact not preaching to the American parents how they should raise their kids, and arguing that she only shared her personal experience, and especially the way she initially thought she should maintain a strict discipline with her kids as it was the way she was raised by her parents (first-generation Chinese immigrants), but was then humbled by her daughters' rebellion, the debate continues with increasing intensity.

So what are your thoughts on all that? Are her methods viable, do they work, and how applicable are they in society?

( Some different points of view )

So which of these, or some other point of view on the matter, is the closest to you?

Cross posted: talk_politics .

The new Icelandic national food is called Skuldasúpa.

Skuldasúpa translates like Soup of Debt. So you cannot throw in any healthy ingredients. It does not look like Icelandic Kronas on a bed of salad either. The krona tastes too bad but it can be used as toilet paper, it is actually a very good idea. Selling kronas as toilet paper would give me more € than if I would try to change them into € at the money exchange!

Our Krona is worth more as toilet paper than as a currency! :S

What you can put in the soup is our worthless currency, our bankers and businessmen that reach as far as they can because of vague or non-existent legislation... the parliament that did not make any viable rules (even they had several years) and encouraged the bankers and businessmen in continuing their "good job"... the institutes that were supposed to monitor the banks and make sure there was enough backup foreign currencies but did not... and last and not least our central bank managers plus all the politicians, both local and foreign that with their thoughtless comments and actions killed the last big bank in Iceland and our best chance of getting decently out of the crisis.

The government had just started to try to save the bank when our head bank manager (of the central bank) said "we (don't know who those "we" are) will not pay foreign debts for disorderly people". On the next day politicians in UK said "Believe it or not they are not going to pay", then took action against all Icelandic banks in England, not only the one that was already doomed. This caused panic and after a few hours the bank had collapsed even if the future looked rather good for it the day before.

So now I have explained the ingredients and you know how this soup looks like. Feel free to throw in some ingredients of your own choice but be warned that this soup is foul tasting and can never fill you up. In fact the soup is constantly hungry for your money so the best advice I can give you all is never to collect debt and don't let your politicians and "clever" businessmen do that to your countries.

By the way the strongest indication about how serious things are is that the Polish people that have been working in Iceland and sending money home have been forced to move back home because of the weak krona. If you come from abroad it is the other way around: you have serious spending power if you exchange $, € or any strong currency into kronas and spend the money there.

Things will first get worse before they become better. I hope our politicians and bankers will finally draw a lesson from all of this... but also the Icelandic people who have become too lazy, arrogant and self-sufficient and thus neglected their citizen's duties and did not supervise their rulers.