Ophrys sphegodes - Orchidaceae

Just something to brag and boast about. And to make you drool - one of my photos (the better ones) I took on the Mljet 2008 "spring biology camp" on ... well, Mljet. (The Croatian island. Link.)

So - post your comments or not, use the photo (or not:) link it to this blog or tell whose is it (that would be nice).
Have a great one (night, sex, party, pissing out with mates, weekend, whatever)!

Xkcd comics

Right;) This is something new I found on the net¹ (not that I was explicitly looking for it, but I just wanted to find the link to one of the comics I saw the other day and - voilla! Found the Source. Neo of the Matrix would've been proud;)



and then one other is also really nice: This one is for all of the gents and gals, madly in love with life or each other or both;)


For MZP from TDF***

1. From a blog of a guy called Dwight Silverman, I am copying this bit:
   /.../ recently discovered xkcd, which features crude stick figures and razor-sharp geek wit.
   They're drawn and written by Randall Munroe, who has a degree in physics and used to work on robots for NASA, which certainly qualifies him to do a geek comic. Among other topics he's tackled: love and software deadlines, love's illusions shattered and sleazy uses of Facebook. It reminds me of one of the first regularly updated comics on the Web, Stafford Huyler's NetBoy.
   [↩]
   

You don't have to be a superhero to save the world

Ne stekam cist, ampak ok;) Je pa definitivno sporočilno. In razloženo tule.

Kind of goes with the song from Eurythmics: I saved the world today, doesn't it?

Save the RAINFOREST?

SLAP! I love ads like this one on the World Wildlife Fund page. Wicked. Thanks, Lara.

Then again - every decent (morbid/resignated) biologist will tell you that evolution just has its own path and that - THUNK - every minute a couple of species die and every day a couple -THUNK- new are discovered. The problem is - how many incredible and wonderful species have already diminished, without us even knowing?

A question of debate or morale? See, If people want to conserve the species just because of the gain (in medicine, myriads of plant species from the rainforests are used and new drugs obtained, ...), than we are, to say, a sorry lot indeed. THIS IS and should not be the question, but for some it is. But think: WE ARE MAKING STATEMENTS, every day, every minute. By what clothes we wear (who made them, how FAR they were transported, which materials used), what we eat, who we buy electricity from (from more "greener" companies or not?), what we go to work, school, cinema, ..., with.

Here's one unverified source, saying:

Experts estimates that we are losing 137 plant, animal and insect species every single day due to rainforest deforestation. That equates to 50,000 species a year. As the rainforest species disappear, so do many possible cures for life-threatening diseases. Currently, 121 prescription drugs sold worldwide come from plant-derived sources. While 25% of Western pharmaceuticals are derived from rainforest ingredients, less that 1% of these tropical trees and plants have been tested by scientists.

See the page.

So, biologists and conservational biologists and ecologists (if we deem the term appropriate) have decided: "Huh, right. Save the wales by saying yachts are in danger of being sunk? A bit of a far stretch, but OK, I'll buy it!"


And for the last moral: Most medicine men and shamans remaining in the Rainforests today are 70 years old or more. Each time a rainforest medicine man dies, it is as if a library has burned down.
When a medicine man dies without passing his arts on to the next generation, the tribe and the world loses thousands of years of irreplaceable knowledge about medicinal plants.

Vote ONE '08

Bono has something to say (the link on TED talks).
Bellow the One Vote from and for the One campaign promo video. Worth seeing.

BTW, the Bono TED prize wish (the link above on the top) is really great. Not great and Great, if you catch my drift.

ONE heart, ONE soul, ONE campaign

Dear ONE Member,

To me, a promise is a fairly simple thing. I promise to do something, then I do it. For European leaders, it seems that is not the case.

In 2005, thanks to pressure from people like you, the EU leaders promised to increase their collective spending on poverty-focused development assistance to a total of 0.56% of Gross National Income by 2010 and 0.7% by 2015. But right now, they are dangerously behind where they need to be in order to keep this promise.

We haven't forgotten their commitment, and—as ONE—we're working to get them back on track by asking European Commission President Jose Barroso to start taking the steps necessary to make sure that promise is kept.

Click the link below to add your name to the petition to President Barroso urging him to help Europe keep its promise to the world's poorest people.
http://www.one.org/international/barroso/o.pl?id=354-3921378-30G6JA&t=2

Petition text:

President Barroso,

We urge you to do all you can to ensure Europe keeps its promise and establishes concrete timetables to collectively deliver 0.56% of Gross National Income (GNI) towards development assistance by 2010 and 0.70% by 2015.

We'll deliver your message to Barroso just ahead of the summit of EU leaders in Brussels next week, where he will have an excellent chance to spur progress for fighting extreme poverty and global disease.

And we're not the only ones calling for our leaders to take action next week. In late May, the General Affairs and External Relations Council (GAERC), comprised of the European Union's Development Ministers, called for comprehensive plans for meeting poverty-fighting commitments.

Joining our voices with those coming from within the European Union is one of our best chances to pressure officials into taking action, so this is our moment. Please sign the petition to President Barroso:
http://www.one.org/international/barroso/o.pl?id=354-3921378-30G6JA&t=3
This extra reminder to leaders like President Sarkozy and Chancellor Merkel will show them that we haven't given up on their promises and nor should they. We want to encourage them to get back on track to delivering the assistance that can make such a big difference to the lives of so many—in the last few years alone this assistance has helped to give 29 million more children in Africa an education. But with 72 million children around the world still missing out on a basic education, this is no time to give up on their promises.
Thank you for helping out,
Roxane Philson, ONE.org
ONE.ORG | BLOG | PRIVACY | SUBSCRIBE | UNSUBSCRIBE | CONTACT US | ABOUT

To illuminate things: BONO from U2 on TED talks (a great site ... amazing - check it out.)

Le Parkour 2

Sebastien Foucan and David Belle: Le Parkour.

To sta dva fanta, ki sta najboljša, sta že več kot 10 let povezana z gibanjem tako ali drugače in ki sta začela novotarijo, ki ima več imen in obrazov. Več o tem pa: ob priliki.

Regina Spektor in "glista"

Za spremembo to ne bo nekaj striktno ekološko-biološkega ali kaj podobnega, ampak čist prijetna zadeva: muzika in prijateljica.
For, my ex-class mate from High-school has given me a really nice gift: by not telling who she was, and since I couldn't make it out from her nick name, the investigation began.
Went to her blog and there, trying to figure out who the mysterious girl was - got to know her. It is wonderful. See and listen for yourself - Summer in the city, a wonderfully chillout song. And another - Fidelity - bellow. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you: Regina Spektor.
Hvala, Anja!

Indy!

Oh, well ... v četrto gre rado, pravijo? Ja, če bi šel Rado v četrto ali pa v mestno četrt, bi še šlo, ampak tokrat ga je po mojem mnenju Spielberg malce mimo udaril. Saj film ni slab in dobro nadaljuje tradicijo sage (?) dr. Jonesa, ampak - nekajkrat pa je le pretiraval.

Predvsem so mi kot nekomu, ki mu je malce bližje narava, šle na živce nerealistično prikazane živali - zopet s podcenjevalnim odnosom. (Ok, roko na srce - ostalih kraljestev oz. phyla oz. carstev itak niso upoštevali - ampak zakaj bi jih? Saj so bila prisotna povsod;) V totalni številčni premoči ...