Disclaimer: If you are at all squeamish, do not go any further with this post.

After my last post, I received some interesting posts on Facebook and some live discussion around ethics of eating live animals. I do not condone eating live animals for one minute, and the Sannakji I posted previously was an example of a lingering electrochemical reaction that causes the tentacles to wiggle across the plate. They were not alive – anymore.

The footage below takes the cake for the abhorrent treatment of animals.

This video of a deep-fried, yet still breathing gasping fish at a restaurant. The footage is understood to be of Chinese origin, and this is one of the most disturbing things I have seen. Whether you’re a carnivore or not, the indifference to the suffering of this animal shown is unfathomable.

In some locations, shoe tossing is a sport. In Iraq, it’s the greatest insult a person can bestow on another.

Brilliant collection of photos of Obama on the campaign trail through to the election night rally after being declared the winner of the 2008 U.S. Presidential Campaign.

The world sighs with relief.

I posted this video when John Howard lost office in Australia last year. It’s just as appropriate now as it was then. However, it might be that the 43rd President of the U.S. was ever only a court jester.

The King Is Dead by The Herd

I pity the fool. Actually, I don’t.

Media reports that a group of several hundred Napoli supporters launched firecrackers, broke windows, slashed seats open and committed US$730,000 worth of damage to a train in Rome on Sunday.

In addition, 20 buses set aside to transport Napoli fans from the Rome station to Stadio Olimpico were hit with US$88,000 worth of damage, Rome’s transport agency announced, adding that it was considering a lawsuit against the fans.

It is reported that the supporters trashed the train as it was thirty minutes late, and caused them to miss half the game.

Imagine if Sydneysiders responded to late trains in the same fashion.

There are some moments in history that you will never forget where you were you when you found out. What were you doing?

More lists! This time we turn to Google for their annual zeitgeist. From top search terms in general to the significant and seemingly frivolous events of 2005, here’s their view on what we Googled.

What I did find interesting was the traffic levels for BBC, CNN and Al Jazeera at the times of the London bombings and Hurricane Katrina. It’s not suprising that there was a massive traffic spike for the BBC when the London bombings occured, but what struck me was that there is a significant delta in the mean traffic between BBC and CNN. Considering the sheer population of the United States, I thought it would be enough to outweigh that of its peer. Perhaps it gives one an insight into which news source is more respected. I know I use BBC as my first point of call for international news.

A story of how people are helping each other in the aftermath of Hurrican Katrina. Photographer Clayton James Cubitt’s Mum was hit hard in Slidell, Louisiana, losing everything but her life and her son – suffering in the same way that many have, yet escaping some of the horrors that we have heard in gratuitous detail on the various news networks.

I told my mom to roll. No more motel-living in Vegas. No more quasi-homelessness. She rolled.

In the meantime, Kenny had taken to calling the beautiful little trailer they had for my mom East of Eden, and that’s an indication of how sensitive they were to my mom’s perceptions and needs. This was not charity, this was giving and relief in it’s purest form. Selfless, empathic. They had furnished the place sparingly but tastefully, knowing my mom would want to pad her own nest. The attention to detail was astounding. Pots, pans, dishes, bedding, silverware, glasses, appliances, bathroom items, household items, all left in its packaging, so my mom could put it where she wanted it. A local business had donated a computer. There was a ginormous TV, cable, high-speed internet. [more...]

President George W. Bush signs S.3, the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003., at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, D.C., Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2003.

I can’t quite put my finger on it.