A fantastic one-year effort by wall-painting artist, Blu, resulted in this unique stop-motion film entitled, Big, Bang, Boom.
The video is directed and animated by BLU, produced and distributed by ARTSH.it (send you enquiries there), with a soundtrack by ANDREA MARTIGNONI.
Visit Blublu.org for more… Watch a larger screen shot of this video at Vimeo, here.
The financial sector in Australia has become highly consolidated, said Sir Richard Branson this week, eliminating choice and producing higher costs for the average Aussie.
That’s why he unveiled Virgin Money, a range of new products starting with two credit cards and an online savings account — all of which are best in class — with the intention of putting more money back in Australians’ pockets.
“Australia steered itself superbly through the global financial crisis, but unfortunately this came at a price: the elimination of genuine choice.”
How does Branson plan to shake up financial services in Australia?
Virgin Money is out to make a fair profit – not the most they can get away with.
With her gentle compassionate talk, a South Florida mobile phone sales clerk talks a would-be robber out of committing a robbery.
At many points during the long conversation she tells him, “Jesus can help you.”
He leaves the store apologizing, telling her it was not a real gun.
WATCH the video below, or at Clip Syndicate…
The Commerce Department report released Friday did offer some encouraging economic news.
Businesses invested the most in 13 years on equipment and software during the second quarter. For the first time in two years, builders boosted spending on commercial projects. And home builders spent the most in 27 years, although many expect that to fade now that government homebuying tax credits have expired.
The report also showed that the economy grew at a 3.7 percent pace in the first three months of this year. That was much better than the 2.7 percent pace estimated just a month ago.
(From today’s AP Finance report in RealClearMarkets)
The Galapagos Islands have been removed from the UNESCO list of legacy sites around the globe under threat by environmental or human assault.
After meeting on Wednesday, the UNESCO committee said proactive measures by Ecuador’s government to limit dangers to the nearby island chain have left the Galapagos Islands safer now.
The Galapagos Islands, which have been called a unique “living museum and showcase of evolution” were inscribed on the Danger List in 2007 because of threats posed by invasive species, unbridled tourism and over-fishing.
The Committee found that significant progress had been made by Ecuador in addressing these problems. It welcomed the Government’s continuing efforts to strengthen conservation measures, especially in dealing with introduced species.
The Galapagos Islands have been removed from the UNESCO list of legacy sites around the globe under threat by environmental or human assault.
After meeting on Wednesday, the UNESCO committee said proactive measures by Ecuador’s government to limit dangers to the nearby island chain have left the Galapagos Islands safer now.
The Galapagos Islands, which have been called a unique “living museum and showcase of evolution” were inscribed on the Danger List in 2007 because of threats posed by invasive species, unbridled tourism and over-fishing.
The Committee found that significant progress had been made by Ecuador in addressing these problems. It welcomed the Government’s continuing efforts to strengthen conservation measures, especially in dealing with introduced species.
A recent Coast Guard flight over the site of the exploded BP oil well shows that the thick black swaths of oil have dissipated in the Gulf of Mexico.
“Two months ago, I took a boat ride to this exact spot and it was thick with black oil,” said one NPR reporter. “The flight this week revealed a dramatic difference.”
“Between the skimming, the surface burns and chemical dispersants and the more than 4,000 vessels working to stop it from spreading, the oil is dissipating.”
(READ the full story at NPR.org)
Facing pressure from universities and student groups, the apparel maker Nike announced on Monday that it would pay $1.54 million to help 1,800 workers in Honduras who lost their jobs when two subcontractors closed their factory doors and failed to fulfill severance contracts.
Nike agreed to the payment after several universities and a nationwide group, United Students Against Sweatshops, pressed it to pay some $2 million in employee payments that the two subcontractors had failed to release.
The University of Wisconsin, Madison terminated its licensing agreement with Nike over the Honduran dispute, and Cornell warned that it would do the same unless Nike resolved the matter.
The Students announced their victory, saying, “Nike Just Pays It.”
(READ the story in the NY Times)
Having good social relationships — friends, marriage or children — may be every bit as important to a healthy lifespan as quitting smoking, losing weight or taking certain medications, U.S. researchers reported on Tuesday.
People with strong social relationships were 50 percent less likely to die early than people without such support, which correlated to smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day, said the team at Brigham Young University in Utah.
They suggest that policymakers look at ways to help people maintain social relationships as a way of keeping the population healthy.
(READ the full story at Reuters)
It seems like we’re all searching for that “magic bullet” to help us lose weight but here’s an idea that might really help: Logging on. Yes — to your computer.
Sitting in front of your computer is unquestionably a sedentary activity, and one many of us do way too much.
But researchers at Kaiser Permanente say when patients regularly logged on to an Internet weight loss support group, they increased their chances of staying active and managing their weight.
(READ the full story at NPR)
To help thousands of endangered sea turtles survive the oiled Gulf waters, wildlife experts have begun lifting turtle eggs out of the sand and packing them in Styrofoam nest boxes that will be transported for free by FedEx across the state of Florida to the eastern beaches.
FedEx drivers in special cooling trucks will be working over the next four months on what may be their most important delivery yet — saving a species.
Hatchlings from one nest were released in mid-July. Most are still incubating and will be released on Atlantic beaches as they hatch.
WATCH the videos below, part 1 and part 2, or visit MSNBC…
To help thousands of endangered sea turtles survive the oiled Gulf waters, wildlife experts have begun lifting turtle eggs out of the sand and packing them in Styrofoam nest boxes that will be transported for free by FedEx across the state of Florida to the eastern beaches.
FedEx drivers in special cooling trucks will be working over the next four months on what may be their most important delivery yet — saving a species.
Hatchlings from one nest were released in mid-July. Most are still incubating and will be released on Atlantic beaches as they hatch.
WATCH the videos below, part 1 and part 2, or visit MSNBC…
After 130 days and 8000 nautical miles, a boat crafted from thousands of plastic bottles sailed into Sydney Harbor on Monday, completing an epic trans-Pacific voyage to highlight the benefits of recycling.
The “Plastiki” catamaran, made from 12,500 bottles and the brainchild of an heir to Britain’s Rothschild banking fortune, was greeted by hundreds of well-wishers as it ended its 15,000-kilometre (9,000-mile) journey.
The Plastiki’s bottles are lashed to pontoons and held together with recyclable plastic and glue made from cashew nut husks and sugarcane, while its sails are also made from recycled plastic.
The catamaran has been home to 10 members of crew over the 4 month journey, all of whom witnessed the polluted waters of the Pacific while highlighting solutions to protect our oceans and beat waste.
Watch their videos and explore their boat (and mission) and take the pledge at: www.theplastiki.com.
(READ the full story in the Sydney Morning-Herald)
After 130 days and 8000 nautical miles, a boat crafted from thousands of plastic bottles sailed into Sydney Harbor on Monday, completing an epic trans-Pacific voyage to highlight the benefits of recycling.
The “Plastiki” catamaran, made from 12,500 bottles and the brainchild of an heir to Britain’s Rothschild banking fortune, was greeted by hundreds of well-wishers as it ended its 15,000-kilometre (9,000-mile) journey.
The Plastiki’s bottles are lashed to pontoons and held together with recyclable plastic and glue made from cashew nut husks and sugarcane, while its sails are also made from recycled plastic.
The catamaran has been home to 10 members of crew over the 4 month journey, all of whom witnessed the polluted waters of the Pacific while highlighting solutions to protect our oceans and beat waste.
Watch their videos and explore their boat (and mission) and take the pledge at: www.theplastiki.com.
(READ the full story in the Sydney Morning-Herald)
A San Francisco hairstylist developed a passion for older dogs: those last to be adopted, and first to be euthanized, so she founded the non-profit Muttville in 2007.
“What I wanted to do was rescue senior dogs, so I started taking them home one at a time and cleaning them up and finding them homes,” says Sherri Franklin.
(READ the story or WATCH the video at CBS 5, San Francisco)
See the dogs up for adoption at Muttville.
Hundreds of families facing hardship in the Gulf were forced to give up their pets to a local shelter. After an NBC News report last week, thousands of pet lovers in all 50 states called the shelter and are in the midst of adopting pets to give them new homes.
Now, dogs like Lucky, pictured here on his way to Kentucky, are wagging their tails once again, making fast friends with loving families.
WATCH the video below, or at MSNBC…
Hundreds of families facing hardship in the Gulf were forced to give up their pets to a local shelter. After an NBC News report last week, thousands of pet lovers in all 50 states called the shelter and are in the midst of adopting pets to give them new homes.
Now, dogs like Lucky, pictured here on his way to Kentucky, are wagging their tails once again, making fast friends with loving families.
WATCH the video below, or at MSNBC…
An anonymous woman that has been practicing random acts of kindness around Pittsburgh has revealed her identity, saying that she can now “organize in a bigger way.”
Laura Miller gave herself the name Secret Agent “L” on her blog and in the note cards, gifts and flowers she gave out to strangers around the city. Now, she can be known as Laura Miller.
“I want to get out there in the community as a real person and see what I can do to spread kindness and make this world better, because we have a lot of hurt out there and I want to help that,” she said.
Her blog shows that she has been brightening people’s days by leaving small gifts behind at random places to make perfect strangers smile.
(READ more at her blog)
Veterinarians and rehabbers give their time to a baby raccoon, orphaned and paralyzed shortly after birth. One brain scan and spinal operation later, and this once injured animal is running around with a friend, preparing to be returned to the wild.
WATCH the video below, or at ABC local…
Global efforts to fight the illegal logging trade are paying off, according to a report that found production of illegal timber declining by 22 percent overall since 2002, but with dramatic drops of more than 50% in the Amazon rainforest.
The report, by London’s Chatham House, an independent policy research group, states that the illegal log trade in the last decade has plummeted by 50 percent in Cameroon, by 75 percent in Indonesia, and between 50 and 75 percent in the Brazilian Amazon.
The reduction, documented in three of the five tropical regions studied, has prevented the degradation of up to 65,600 square miles of forest, an area larger than England and Wales combined (17mil. hectare).
