Category Archives: Around the world

I’d never heard of this before, but it’s very cool. t was probably the most ingenious student prank of all time. In June 1958, Cambridge awoke to see a car perched at the apex of an inaccessible rooftop, looking as … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Behold the dark side of prosperity. As recently as the 1980s, young people had to leave Ireland to find work and millionaires were as rare as hen’s teeth, as the Irish say. But by 2005, according to the Bank of … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Dith Pran, the Cambodian journalist on whose life the movie “The Killing Fields” was based, has died of cancer at the age of 65. Dith was working as an interpreter and assistant for [New York Times reporter Sydney] Schanberg in … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Is it just me, or does anyone else get a wee bit edgy when sci-fi plotlines become news? A doomsday seed vault on a remote Norwegian island in the Arctic Ocean opened Tuesday, creating a bank of more than 100 … Continue reading → Continue reading →

We’ve talked about recycling and voluntary reduction as a way of dealing with the plastic bag problem. Here’s another approach, taken by Ireland, which has been very successful. There is something missing from this otherwise typical bustling cityscape. There are … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Now that’s what I call a backlash. The owner of a small German computer company has fired three non-smoking workers because they were threatening to disturb the peace after they requested a smoke-free environment. The manager of the 10-person IT … Continue reading → Continue reading →

As you may know, I’m a tournament bridge player, though not as frequent a player as I once was, thanks to other obligations. I can honestly say that in nearly 20 years of playing at tournaments, I have very little … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The Humane Society is applying pressure to the Justice Department in an effort to get them to prosecute Dan Duncan. Duncan testified before a grand jury in Houston last week about the hunting trip in which he killed a moose … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I’m not a hunter. Compared to me, even Mitt Romney looks like Daniel Boone. I have nothing against hunting, it’s just not my idea of a good time. But I can at least understand the allure, on some level, of … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Add the city of Paris to the municipal Wi-Fi revolution. If Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe has his way, free wireless Internet soon will be in public places throughout the city – including the cafe haunts on the Left Bank where … Continue reading → Continue reading →

So am I a big ol’ sap for admitting that reading this choked me up, or do I get a pass for being the father of a little girl? Help me out here. Continue reading →

Steve Irwin, the famed Crocodile Hunter, died with his boots on over the weekend. Irwin died doing what he loved best, getting too close to one of the dangerous animals he dedicated his life to protecting with an irrepressible, effervescent … Continue reading → Continue reading →

However you feel about the current situation in Iraq, I believe this proposal by Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson is something we can all support. This May we are returning to Iraq with the intention of dedicating a twenty-four station “Internet … Continue reading → Continue reading →