Beautiful underwater photography of seals in La Jolla Children’s Pool – save the seals!

Camera in tow, Jana Morgan and a few friends dove in and looked around. Her images expose a mesmerizing world of green sea grass and a community of marine mammals that seem blissfully ignorant of the debate that rages on land about how to split the cove’s sand between people and animals. – UT San Diego

 

Photos by Jana Morgan, see more.

 

A great move by the photographer, but I don’t need the photos. I am a full supporter of the seals on this one. By my reckoning, every inch of the coast is owned by humans, so why not give them this small section?

The debate rages around the famous La Jolla Children’s Pool, originally created for the kids of La Jolla then taken over by the seals. That happened many decades ago and ever since a fight has been raging among the local community.

The creator of the man-made cove built the cement walls to shield children from harsh waves. She then willed it to the children of future (hence the name Children’s Pool).

Then the seals came in, 100s of them, and it became an instant tourist attraction. This places environmentalists and nature lovers on one side, open-access for children on the other side. An unfortunate split.

The debate still rages every morning as both sides trek out to the beach and mark their territory. The open-access folks plant a flag in the sand that says “open” and shoo away the seals from that part of the beach. During which the pro-seal activists film this to ensure no harmful shoo-ing occurs, and, lately, document any problems the pregnant seals and baby seals encounter with all this conflict.

If you’re interested, join the pro-seal cause – Facebook – Save La Jolla Seals

 

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Could Mexico grow bigger than Brazil in the next few decades?

What if Mexico were to become a bigger economy than Brazil?

In recent years Brazil has outplayed Mexico, growing at 6% or more as Mexico bumped along in the slow lane. But lately that has changed. Last year Mexico grew by 4% and Brazil by 2.7%. This year Mexico is expected to get close to 4% again, whereas some economists reckon that Brazil’s rate could dip below 2%. A recent report by Nomura predicted that Mexico’s economy, currently half the size of Brazil’s, could end up the bigger of the two within the next decade. – The Economist

To get into some detail, in 2011 Mexico had a GDP of $1.15 trillion and Brazil with $2.48 trillion. It seems like a tall order for Mexico to more than double its economy.

 

Google Public Data

 

But, if you look at certain sectors, like automobiles, Brazil is starting to face some growth problems. Originally, the country grew by exploiting is size, natural resources, and population. In order to keep up growth they will need to expand internationally with products and services.

Last year, Brazilians created 3.4 million cars and exported only 540,000. That is worth $372 million.  Mexico, on the other hand, created 2.6 million cars and exported 2.1 million of them. That is worth $2 billion and reflects a growth of 40%. (The Economist)

Mexico may be more ideally situated for growth in the next few decades than Brazil is.

Sunday surf film – a short video about Italian surfer David Pecchi

 

“I based everything on that part of the ocean called the beach – the border between common civilization and dreams…I chose the dreams and it’s like living in Wonderland.”

 

Block10 productions is proud to present David Pecchi, eclectic and talented surfer of the Onde Nostre Crew, shot in Italy, California, Indonesia.

Ritratti Di Surf is a series of short videos about surfers, shapers, artists and other characters somehow connected to Onde Nostre and the Italian surf culture.

 

“Us Italians we don’t have waves but we have a heart, big like this, more. Even bigger than the brain. We have passion. We suffer, we wait for waves for months, and after a month of flat spell when we get a 2 foot wind swell. If you really like surfing, you paddle out and give it all you got.”

***

Directed by Luca Merli
Edited by Giovanni “Sbrokked” Barberis and Luca Merli
Photography by Luca Merli, Matteo Ferrari and Giovanni “Sbrokked” Barberis.
Additional Photography by Alessandro Ponzanelli, Daniele Testi
Lettering by Luca Barcellona
Music Consultant & Marketing by Gabriele “Gabro” Minelli
Songs: VOICES OF JAMAICA A Mixtape by Blundetto, Joya Landis (Blundedit) ‘When The Lights Are Low’, Ken Boothe ‘Mr Wind’, Gregory Isaacs ‘Reform Institute’, Blundetto dubplate with Don Camilo ‘Rocky Road’.
Starring: David Pecchi, Alessandro Ponzanelli, Oliver Parker, Ricky Brotini.

 

 

I love sharing surf films on 1X57 – check out the nearly 50 videos.

London 2012: women earn more medals, compete in more events, and represent more countries

Clearly, the U.S. has the best women in the world.

As the London Olympics near their end, one of the biggest, most significant storylines is the dominance of America’s female athletes. There’s no other word for it. It’s because of the women — not the men — that the United States stands atop the medal table. – The Modesto Bee

Our ladies have also pulled in twice as many gold medals as the men.

And that’s despite the fact that 10 percent fewer women’s medals have been awarded so far. – Seattle PI

 

Altogether, women represent 44% of the Olympic athletes, up from 26% at the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games. Thirty-four countries sent more women than men to compete.

Finally, a nice article from USA Today exploring this historic shift:

Something historic and even a little strange is happening in the 2012 London Games. A nation that has been known for wielding a strong male chauvinistic sports streak has fallen in love with its female athletes. And it’s not just the Brits. American female athletes, outnumbering their male counterparts for the first time in an Olympics, are having their finest Games so far, outpacing the men in gold medals 18-10. Overall, they’ve won 53% of all U.S. medals, up considerably from 31% in the 1988 Olympics in Seoul.

The Museum of Endangered Sounds – Nintendo, VCR, payphone, cassette tape

This site is archiving the electronic sounds of the past, and it’s awesome

The site archives a few sounds that might have you nostalgically playing them over and over again. There’s everything from the sound of dialing a rotary telephone to the sound of a floppy drive chugging away. If nothing else, listening to the sound of a screeching modem kicking into high gear will make you eternally grateful for your 24 hour broadband connection.

I love this idea!

The Museum of Endangered Sounds

 

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National Geographic: thousands fish (and eat) from the extremely toxic Anacostia River

In case you thought no one fished (and ate the fish) in the Anacostia River, here is an article from National Geographic:

Fishermen were casting their lines into the urban waters of Washington, D.C., into a river notorious as one of the dirtiest in the nation. What’s more, according to a recent study, they represented a small fraction of the 17,000 or more residents of this metropolitan area who are consuming fish from a river that has all the markings of a Superfund site.

Sometimes you just can’t believe it, the article even says that a sewer line directly dumps a billion gallons of human waste every year.

Yeah, the river really needs help.

 

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History of the Steel Pan – musical instrument from industrial waste – beloved in Trinidad

BBC wrote an interesting piece on the history of the steel pan:

Amid the electronica of 20th Century music one new instrument stands out for its simplicity. The steel pan, possibly the only instrument made out of industrial waste, has become an icon of Trinidadian culture.

“There is something about the steel pan and Caribbean music in general that resonates with the rest of the world,” says Professor Tim Wall.

The music has been keenly adopted by the pop world. The Hollies used the sound of the steel pan in their song Carrie Anne, Prince used it in his song New Position.

 

Go ahead and read the full story, but make sure to compare these two steel pans. They will get you in the right frame of mind.

Here is one you can buy new for $150:

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NBC hits ratings gold, best ever – despite extensive online features, streaming events

NBC’s London Olympics ratings defy expectations

NBC’s ratings are on track to outdistance numbers from the 2008 Beijing Olympics, which many TV industry executives had figured would be a high-water mark. The last Summer Olympics to consistently attract such large crowds were the Montreal Games in 1976 — long before cable TV networks began splintering the audience.

Wow, NBC had 32 million people watching every night!

 

 

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When it arrives in Los Angeles, Space Shuttle Endeavour, will slowly ‘commute’ through the city

Another epic journey for the retirement of a space shuttle. This one is Endeavour and it is destined for Los Angeles. It will arrive at the airport, LAX, on September 20, where it will be moved through heart of the city to the California Science Center.

This will be the first time a spacecraft has been moved through a city and it should be quite a spectacle.

Moving the shuttle — which measures 57 feet tall at the tip of the tail and has a wingspan of 78 feet — will be no easy task. Trees will be pruned back or taken out. Power lines will be raised. Traffic signals will be removed.

At its top speed, the transporters carrying the shuttle will travel about 2 mph along the city streets.

full story – Space shuttle Endeavour to make 12-mile trek on L.A. streets

 

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