Category: Uncategorized

My friend Eldon took Rob Ford’s “I’ve got more than enough to eat at home” gaffe and turned it into this call for action for Toronto area food banks. It’s a good joke for a good cause, and hey, maybe the HoHoTO people should run with it!

A little while back, before the finale of the Breaking Bad series, this joke made the rounds on the internet:

Bryan Cranston seems to have run with an idea on those lines in this alternate version of the Breaking Bad finale:

Older readers who watched TV in the 1980s will recognize the reference to the May 1990 finale of the Newhart TV series, when the central character, hotel owner Dick Loudon (played by Bob Newhart) is hit in the head by a golf ball. In the next scene, he wakes up with a start in his previous TV series, The Bob Newhart Show, as psychiatrist Bob Hartley in bed with his wife Emily, where we discover that the entire Newhart series was just a dream:

From the Philippine Star:

In a very touching expression of support, the Empire State Building donned the blue, red and yellow colors of the Philippine flag on Friday night (Saturday morning in Manila). The Empire State Building tweeted the amazing display, which will be repeated on Saturday night (Sunday in Manila).

2nite & tmrw night, our lights shine in the color of the #Philippines flag 2 raise awareness of the #Haiyan tragedy. pic.twitter.com/L9FcKtvx9Y

— Empire State Bldg (@EmpireStateBldg) November 16, 2013

Thanks, guys! You’re amazing.

Want to help? One good organization to give to is the Philippine Red Cross.

From TIME magazine’s article, Stop Catastrophizing Relief Efforts in the Philippines:

When television crews race large cargo ships with airplanes and helicopters, the cameras will always win. Journalists will report on the gap between supply and demand. They will show the faces of people in need of Western largesse. They will turn isolated incidents of foraging and removal of goods from a truck or warehouse into a report on rampant looting.

Here is where the reports go very wrong. According to a friend who has worked in Haiti and the Philippines:

“What happens when media talk up security issues is that aid agencies get worried about security of distributions, so they hold off until they have adequate security support. The velocity of distribution is dramatically slowed down. Scaremongering undermines the relief effort.”

This dynamic happened in Haiti, and it’s happening here.

…

The people of the Philippines are at risk of a multitude of disasters every year: earthquakes, tsunami, cyclones, floods, landslides and volcanic eruptions. The whole nation — government ministries, private-sector companies, the diaspora and civil-society organizations — has learned a great deal about how to respond to a typhoon.

…

What is different with Supertyphoon Haiyan (called Yolanda in the Philippines) is the unexpected level of storm surge and flooding, combined with sustained winds that exceeded 196 m.p.h. (315 km/h) with gusts far higher. The government is struggling to reach communities hit by one of the strongest storms ever to make landfall. Like the families I met in Staten Island after Superstorm Sandy, it seems that the water came in so fast that there was not time to flee, and the surge swelled well beyond what any city could survive. Six Filipino broadcasters risked their lives to keep Aksyon Radyo Tacloban DYVL running in Tacloban so that their listeners would know what was happening with the storm. Water filled the radio station in 10 seconds. Only one of their bodies has been found.

When journalists focus on looting and slow aid delivery, they miss the point. Information is aid. Their reports are part of weaving the fabric of a global Filipino community back together after a typhoon tore through their hometowns. By showing communities coming together, journalists can amplify the dynamics that save lives.

Be sure to read the whole article.

Want to help? One good organization to give to is the Philippine Red Cross.

Thanks to “Dr. D” for the link!

EnoughToEat.com is a site that does only one thing: mash up Miley Cyrus’ “Wrecking Ball” and Rob Ford’s now-classic facial expression in a single mesmerizing anitmation. Go there now.

(On the off chance you don’t get the “enough to eat” reference, see this article.)

Looks like I’m not the only one posing with cute lil’ animals…

My reaction:

Thanks to Lauren O’Neill/Nizzle for the photo!

Posted simply because I find this photo amusing.