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Travel (General/Chat)

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  • Burma's bizarre capital: a super-sized slice of post-apocalypse suburbia

    03/19/2015 7:56:10 PM PDT · by Tolerance Sucks Rocks · 4 replies
    The Guardian ^ | March 19, 2015 | Matt Kennard and Claire Provost
    Driving through Naypyidaw, the purpose-built capital of Burma, it could be easy to forget that you’re in the middle of one of south-east Asia’s poorest countries. On either side of the street, a seemingly endless series of giant detached buildings, villa-style hotels and shopping malls look like they have fallen from the sky, all painted in soft pastel colours: light pink, baby blue, beige. The roads are newly paved and lined with flowers and carefully pruned shrubbery. Meticulously landscaped roundabouts boast large sculptures of flowers. The scale of this surreal city is difficult to describe: it extends an estimated 4,800...
  • Thai woman flips out over rude Chinese tourists (video)(Not actual title - See first comment)

    03/19/2015 7:10:53 PM PDT · by servo1969 · 29 replies
    YouTube,com ^ | 3-16-2015 | Thaivideo Today
    Author- I don't own the video. I just added subs. See video origins below: 片源看下面: Chinese only . . . 12/3/58 CREDIT: www.facebook.com/jhaky.pijitumphon ขอบคุณคลิปแนะนำจาก @Nan Paweena Morasu [Language Warning]
  • Infidel tourists targeted in Tunisia.

    03/19/2015 1:30:05 PM PDT · by Capt. Tom · 6 replies
    self (Vanity) ^ | March 19, 2015 | self
    19.03.2015 06.00PM Statement by Neil Palomba – President Costa Crociere: “With great sadness we regret to report that 5 guests (4 Italians and 1 Russian) of the Costa Fascinosa are amongst the victims of the horrific attack yesterday in Tunis, and 8 guests (7 Italians and 1 Russian) are injured and currently hospitalized. What happened yesterday in Tunis represent an attempt to the values of friendship between cultures in which we have always believed. Our deepest sympathy and our condolences go to the victims and their families. We share their sorrow.” Snip
  • Gem Engraved with Goddess' Image Found Near King Herod's Mausoleum

    03/18/2015 4:18:02 PM PDT · by SunkenCiv · 19 replies
    LiveScience ^ | March 17, 2015 | Owen Jarus
    A translucent orange gem engraved with an image of a goddess of hunting has been found near a mausoleum built by Herod the Great, the king of Judea who ruled not long before the time of Jesus. The carnelian gem shows the goddess Diana (or her Greek equivalent, Artemis) with a sumptuously detailed hairstyle and wearing a sleeveless dress, with a quiver behind her left shoulder and the end of a bow protruding from her right shoulder. Both Diana and Artemis were goddesses of hunting and childbirth. An iron ring that may have held the gem was found nearby. Researchers...
  • Burgeo Woman Recounts 21-Hour Ordeal With Kids in Snowbound Truck

    03/18/2015 12:14:32 PM PDT · by nickcarraway · 23 replies
    CBC ^ | Mar 18, 2015 | Sue Bailey
    A Newfoundland woman and her two children who spent 21 hours in their truck stranded in a fierce blizzard are thanking rescuers who reached them on snowmobiles north of Burgeo on Monday evening. Drivers and passengers rescued on Burgeo Highway Donna Warren said they huddled inside the vehicle as wind gusts reached up to 100 kilometres an hour. "We kept the truck going every 15 minutes because, although we had lots of clothes and a few blankets, we were still cold," she said Tuesday in an email. Burgeo, on Newfoundland's south coast, is reachable by land through a single road....
  • Where's My Suitcase of Frozen Moose Meat?

    03/18/2015 11:04:15 AM PDT · by nickcarraway · 17 replies
    CBC ^ | Mar 18, 2015
    Newfoundlander on the hunt for game-laden luggage that went AWOL in Toronto Losing luggage during a flight is always an inconvenience, but a man flying from Newfoundland to Ontario didn't just lose personal belongings when his suitcase disappeared. Liam English hasn't seen his suitcase full of moose meat in over three days, after it was lost during a flight from Newfoundland to Ontario on Sunday. (Liam English) Liam English lost some moose meat, and quite a bit of it. English, who was home in St. John's last week for a family funeral, decided to stock up on about 11 kilograms...
  • Chihuahuas from San Francisco to New York for Adoption

    03/17/2015 10:21:28 PM PDT · by nickcarraway · 28 replies
    Virgin America threw a St. Patrick's Day send-off this morning for a dozen Chihuahuas at San Francisco International Airport before airlifting the dogs to Newark Liberty International Airport, where they'll be put up for adoption in the New York area. Volunteers escorted the dogs onto the plane for its 8 a.m. departure and were posting live in-flight updates to the airline's Instagram and Twitter feeds until their anticipated arrival at 4:30 p.m. EDT. Dubbed #OperationChihuahua, the event is Virgin America's sixth such "airlift" in partnership with the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals since 2010. So far,...
  • Ryanair to offer transatlantic flights for as low as $15

    03/17/2015 11:10:12 AM PDT · by Citizen Zed · 28 replies
    The Drum ^ | 3-17-2015 | NESH PILLAY
    Ryanair plans to offer flights between the US and Europe, for as low as $15 each way. The low-cost European airline said that flights would be available between 14 European cities and 14 American cities. “European consumers want lower-cost travel to the USA and the same for Americans coming to Europe. We see it as a logical development in the European market,” the airline said in a statement. If the plan succeeds, if would secure Ryanair's reputation of the lowest-cost international airline. However, it could take as long as half a decade for the first transatlantic flight to lift-off. First,...
  • South West Trains Apologises after Announcer Tells Fat Passengers Not to Sit Down

    03/16/2015 4:53:36 PM PDT · by Tolerance Sucks Rocks · 20 replies
    Breitbart London ^ | March 14, 2015 | A.B. Sanderson
    Passengers on the South West Train service from Basingstoke to London Waterloo were left in shock after an announcer took to the tannoy to say that fat people should remain standing because of lack of space, the Daily Mail reports. On the packed commuter service, a member of staff reportedly said: “We are going to be like sardines on this train, so can I ask that only slim people sit on the three-seaters. If you are fat then it is simply not going to work.” One passenger was left furious by the announcement, saying: “I am not necessarily a big...
  • Shake, rattle and roll: Potholes causing annual headache in Delco

    03/16/2015 9:39:09 AM PDT · by Doogle · 20 replies
    mainline media news ^ | 03/16/15 | Cindy Scharr
    Those ubiquitous black holes that bend wheel rims, flatten tires and cause vehicle alignments to go out of whack seem to be appearing out of nowhere. “Potholes are indiscriminate,” said Charles Metzger, PennDOT’s community relations coordinator. “They pop up wherever they feel like.” Late winter into early spring is prime pothole season. The days are getting warmer, causing any accumulated snow to melt and water to run into cracks in the roadway. At night, when the temperature drops, the water freezes and pushes up and out, creating a depression in the asphalt. “Traffic drives over it and that’s how a...
  • Pictured: The 2,000-year-old gladiator's helmet discovered in Pompeii's ruins

    03/15/2015 1:25:12 PM PDT · by SunkenCiv · 55 replies
    Daily Mail ^ | 4 June 2009 | Daily Mail Reporter
    A gladiator's helmet left behind in the ruins of Pompeii is the centrepiece of an exhibition to be unveiled in Melbourne today. The 2,000-year-old bronze helmet is one of 250 items brought together at the Melbourne Museum to illustrate life in the ancient city. Museum manager Brett Dunlop says the helmet survived the eruption of Mount Vesuvius and was recovered 200 years ago. 'A large number of gladiators' helmets and shin guards and shoulder guards were found in what was most likely a storeroom in the gymnasium area,' he said. 'Most definitely the gladiators who were able to would have...
  • Mystery of our 145 'alien' genes: Scientists discover some DNA is NOT from our ancestors -- and...

    03/15/2015 12:54:43 PM PDT · by SunkenCiv · 44 replies
    Daily Mail (brother's working there) ^ | March 14 ,2015 | Mark Prigg
    Humans contain 'alien' genes not passed on from our ancestors, researchers have discovered. The say we acquired essential 'foreign' genes from microorganisms co-habiting their environment in ancient times. The study challenges conventional views that animal evolution relies solely on genes passed down through ancestral lines -- and says the process could still be going on. Cambridge researchers say we acquired essential 'foreign' genes from microorganisms co-habiting their environment in ancient times. Horizontal Gene Transfer The transfer of genes between organisms living in the same environment is known as horizontal gene transfer (HGT). It is well known in single-celled organisms and...
  • Study finds significant facial variation in pre-Columbian South America

    03/15/2015 8:06:15 AM PDT · by SunkenCiv · 16 replies
    EurekAlert! ^ | March 5, 2013 | North Carolina State University
    A team of anthropology researchers has found significant differences in facial features between all seven pre-Columbian peoples they evaluated from what is now Peru -- disproving a longstanding perception that these groups were physically homogenous. The finding may lead scholars to revisit any hypotheses about human migration patterns that rested on the idea that there was little skeletal variation in pre-Columbian South America. Skeletal variation is a prominent area of research in New World bioarchaeology, because it can help us understand the origins and migration patterns of various pre-Columbian groups through the Americas... The recently-published findings may affect a lot...
  • Egypt seeks to build confidence with second Suez Canal

    03/15/2015 2:47:53 AM PDT · by moose07 · 15 replies
    BBC ^ | 22 January 2015 | Orla Guerin
    "Officials say the new waterway will be a symbol of the new Egypt" Few things in Egypt are more iconic, revered and profitable than the Suez Canal. So in a bid to refloat the country's ailing economy, President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi is building another one. He broke ground on the second Suez Canal last August, at a ceremony full of pomp and patriotism. With fighter jets conducting aerial displays overhead, Egypt's new strongman promised it would be "a channel of prosperity". Tight deadline It was not plain sailing at the start. There was some flooding at the drilling site...
  • Harris Ranch Lassos A New Breed -- Tesla Owner -- With Charging Station

    03/14/2015 7:35:59 PM PDT · by Steelfish · 45 replies
    LATimes ^ | March 14, 2015 | DIANA MARCUM
    Harris Ranch Lassos A New Breed -- Tesla Owner -- With Charging Station By DIANA MARCUM Harris Ranch draws a herd of Tesla owners with a perfectly placed battery-charging station Along this stretch of Interstate 5, about halfway between San Francisco and Los Angeles, pickup trucks outnumber cars, radios usually pick up only Spanish-language and country music stations, and the state's largest beef-cattle feed lot is within sniffing distance. Then there are the Teslas. Harris Ranch Inn and Restaurant, a landmark at this Central Valley crossroads, is drawing the pricey electric cars like cows to a salt lick. About half...
  • Bronze Age palace discovered in southern Spain

    03/14/2015 10:16:41 AM PDT · by SunkenCiv · 6 replies
    Past Horizons ^ | October 10, 2014 | Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona
    During August 2014, researchers from the Department of Prehistory, at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, made some spectacular discoveries at the Spanish site of La Almoloya, located in Pliego, Murcia. The site represents the cradle of the Bronze Age "El Argar" civilisation, who dominated the south-eastern part of the Iberian Peninsula. La Almoloya, discovered in 1944 by Emeterio Cuadrado and Juan de la Cierva, is located on a steep sided plateau and dominated an extensive region for over six centuries (from 2,200 to 1,550 BC)... The stone walls of the buildings were covered with layers of mortar, and some areas...
  • A Carpet of Stone Tools in the Sahara

    03/14/2015 4:01:07 AM PDT · by SunkenCiv · 34 replies
    Past Horizons ^ | March 11, 2015 | editors
    A new intensive survey of the Messak Settafet escarpment, a massive outcrop of sandstone in the middle of the Saharan desert, has shown that stone tools occur "ubiquitously" across the entire landscape: averaging 75 artefacts per square metre, or 75 million per square kilometre. Researchers say the vast 'carpet' of stone-age tools -- extracted from and discarded onto the escarpment over hundreds of thousands of years -- is the earliest known example of an entire landscape being modified by hominins: the group of creatures that include us and our ancestral species. The Messak Settafet runs a total length of 350...
  • Britain from above: 12 glorious views from the sky

    03/13/2015 12:59:01 PM PDT · by beaversmom · 22 replies
    The Telegraph ^ | March 13, 2015
    The following images form part of a new free outdoor exhibition, Britain from the Air, which opens at Victoria Gardens in Leeds today. Nicholas Crane, the television presenter, explains what makes the locations so special.
  • Photographer aims to prove Peak District is home to Britain's most majestic landscapes [tr]

    03/13/2015 8:38:26 AM PDT · by C19fan · 7 replies
    UK Daily Mail ^ | March 13, 2015 | Michael Gadd
    Whether at sunrise, sunset or the heart of the day, in the height of summer or engulfed by snow, photographer James Grant is convinced that the Peak District offers some of the most spectacular landscapes Great Britain has to offer. The parochial landscape photographer has a passion for hills and mountains, in particular those surrounding his home town of Matlock on the south eastern edge of the Peak District, although he also has a soft spot for the Lake District, Snowdonia and Scotland. These images of rolling hills bathed in light and mist show the breadth of an already formidable...
  • 2 American tourists charged over names carved into Colosseum, in latest act of vandalism

    03/12/2015 9:50:14 PM PDT · by BenLurkin · 29 replies
    Carabinieri Captain Lorenzo Iacobone said Monday two tourists from California, ages 21 and 25, were picked up Saturday for carving their names eight centimeters (three inches) high into an upper level of the Colosseum. They were freed later but will face trial for aggravated damage to a monument. Iacobone said the young women apologized for the vandalism, but he said such acts "are extremely serious, and no one considers the damage they are creating."