Category Archives: World

Yuri Gagarin first space orbit real time 50 years ago

Video recreates the first earth orbit of humans by Russian Yuri Gagarin April 11 1961 50 years ago

Yuri Gagarin, first man in space (picture www.aerospaceguide.net )

Put this on your monitor – turn on the sound and relax for the next hour and 39 minutes as the first earth orbit is recreated.

“It’s been exactly 50 years to the day — in some places, anyway — that cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin’s maiden voyage set off an international space race that defined an era, and while only Gagarin knew exactly what it was like to be the first man in space.

Documentarian Christopher Riley is giving us a glimpse of what the world might have looked like from the porthole of Vostok 1.

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First Orbit is a mashup of sorts that features original audio recordings from Gagarin’s flight, coupled with footage taken by Italian astronaut Paolo Nespoli from aboard the International Space Station.

The result is nothing short of stunning, but you don’t have to take our word for it — in fact, go ahead and grab yourself some popcorn, hit the play button, and prepare to be amazed.” firstorbit.org

Video follows the story break. Continue reading →

We Didn’t Start The Fire – Billy Joel

Start the day with jolt as another war starts

We Didn't Start The Fire

Boomers will win Jeopardy on Billy Joel’s recitation of news headlines as song lyrics in the 1989 hit We Didn’t Start the Fire.

The headlines cover 1949 (the year Joel was born) to 1989. It’s a list song like Bob Dylan’s Everything is Broken.

Sometimes songwriter’s create list songs when they are bored. Millions of people found Bill Joel resonated with them in We Didn’t Start The Fire which hit the top ten charts around the world.

The video depicts a post war family going through the 50′s, 60s, 70s and 80s with kitchen decor changes as clues. She looks amazingly like Lucille Ball from I Love Lucy.

We may not have started the war but we sure like to keep them going.

Wikipedia

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFTLKWw542g']

Disability cuts will hurt deeply

My daughter is brain damaged. Cuts to disability funding will devastate families like ours and cost society more in the long run

Cuts to social programs including those for the disabled by Conservative UK Prime Minister Cameron are sending shock waves through the disability community and their caregivers.

Stacie Lewis

By Stacey Lewis, Guardian.co.uk – A year and a half ago, my daughter, May, was born severely brain damaged. After a healthy pregnancy, her injuries sent me into a paralysis of fear.

Staff at the hospital reassured us. When we left the special care ward, there would be a team of professionals, equipment, funding and respite care. We would not be alone. Continue reading →

UN International Day of Persons with Disabilities and all is not well in Canada

Two decades of neglect by government leaves many living with disabilities further behind and living in poverty

The UN International Day of Persons with Disabilities may be a publicity stunt or a grim reminder to many of the 4 million Canadians living with disabilities that they are locked in last place in the Canadian experience.

The UN press release says “The Day aims to promote a better understanding of disability issues with a focus on the rights of persons with disabilities and gains to be derived from the integration of persons with disabilities in every aspect of the political, social, economic and cultural life of their communities. The goal of full and effective participation of persons with disabilities in society and development was established by the World Programme of Action concerning Disabled Persons, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1982.” UN Enable

How good is life for people with disabilities in Canada? Continue reading →

Favourite Dylan song from 1960s – It’s Alright Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)

Dylan’s grim masterpiece from 5th album hits the right note for fan

It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding) from Bringing it All Back Home

Dylan fan Dylanblues from Birmingham, UK enters contest with this pic.

Choosing your favourite 60′s Dylan song is a bit like trying to choose your all time favourite pint of beer or bacon sandwich, it’s just not possible.

However, the purposes of this comp I will suggest the above. The song stands out in my memory from first listen and I never tire of the insights and imagery it conjures.

No one has ever produced such a tapestry of existential angst in song form and I can only imagine the effect it would have had on me had I heard it as a contemporary. I think of it as the moment that heralds the complete disintegration of the line between song writing and poetry; though I appreciate there are other contenders, for me, many years after hearing it for the first time, I still chew over lines and marvel at the insight and brutal summation of mid 60′s society.

With it’s ‘sister’ songs Gates of Eden and Not Dark Yet, it’s the tune I always keep in my saddlebag when riding into a town of ‘non-believers’.

By Dylanblues

To enter our contest for a free copy of Bob Dylan’s Concert at Brandeis University enter here before November 30, 2010. Continue reading →

Favourite Dylan song from 1960s Like a Rolling Stone

My favourite Dylan song from the 60s is ‘Like a Rolling Stone’ – enter to win free Dylan CD

Bob Dylan recording at Columbia Studio A

From the opening snare hit to closing bars, it is the best and most revolutionary pop song of all time.

The lyrics speak with an intensity unknown to pop music at the time.

The music is ethereal, moving like an oceanic force of nature.

Added to this is Dylan’s supreme vocal performance which batters the listeners senses with yet more intensity.

Many songs have been influenced by ‘Like a Rolling Stone’ since, some have even copied the song, yet none have come anywhere close to topping this masterpiece.

Angus Gibson, Glasgow Scotland

To win a free copy of Bob Dylan at Brandeis University 1963, enter here.

Video follows the story break. Continue reading →

Mumbai The Plot Unfolds Lashkar Strikes and Investigators Scramble

Part Two of in-depth report on the attack on Mumbai, India

Mumbai attack on Taj Mahal Hotel image, Israpundit

by Sebastian Rotella, ProPublica

This is the second part of ProPublica’s investigation into the plot behind the 2008 Mumbai attacks. Read the first part . Both were co-published with the Washington Post.

David Coleman Headley seemed like a gregarious, high-rolling American businessman when he set up shop in Mumbai in September 2006.

He opened the office of an immigration consulting firm. He partied at swank locales such as the ornate Taj Mahal Hotel, a 1903 landmark favored by Westerners and the Indian elite. He joined an upscale gym, where he befriended a Bollywood actor. He roamed the booming, squalid city taking photos and shooting video.

But it was all a front. The tall, fast-talking Pakistani American with the slicked-back hair was a fierce extremist, a former drug dealer, a onetime Drug Enforcement Administration informant who became a double agent. He had spent three years refining his clandestine skills in the terrorist training camps of the Lashkar-i-Taiba militant group. As Headley confessed in a guilty plea in U.S. federal court this year, he was in Mumbai to begin undercover reconnaissance for a sophisticated attack that would take two years to plan. Continue reading →

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