A Freudian Slip...

A Magnificent African Elephant Is Killed Every Fifteen Minutes...

Every fifteen minutes a magnificent African elephant is killed by poachers for its ivory.
About thirty six thousand of these beautiful creatures were killed in Africa last year despite a ban on ivory.
Elephants have thrived for fifty million years in the forests and grasslands of Africa but says conservationist Dr Dame Daphene Sheldrick of The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, in as little as twelve years time, there may be no elephants left in Africa.
There's more about this terrible situation here.
Imagine, no elephants left in Africa because of man's greed.
Greed. It's destroying our world...  

Norway's Prime Minister Takes A Second Job As A Taxi Driver...

Norwegian Prime Minister didn't have to take a second job as a cab driver for financial reasons.
Jens Stoltenberg just knows as politicians the world over know that the people who actually know what's happening and how their country should be run are its hairdressers and cabbies.
So donning a cab driver's uniform and dark glasses he got behind the wheel of an Oslo cab.
The comments and the passengers reactions on realising who the driver was were captured on a camera. Some naturally enough took advantage of the situation to tell the Prime Minister how they saw things and how he should be running the country. As you would.
Mistaking the brake pedal for the clutch at one time, the passenger advised the Mr Stoltenberg not to give up his day job.
But with him and his party lagging behind in the polls prior to the September elections, perhaps he'll keep his job options open... 

To Bee Or Not To Bee...

To bee or not to bee may well be the question but for me the answer is absolutely and positively No.
Be that as it may, Marenda Schipper on the left and Patrick Boelsterli were taking part in the annual Clovermead Adventure Farm's Bee Beard Competition held in Aylmer, Ontario.
Brazilian born Marenda, aged twenty won the contest with a beard weighing 2.2 kilograms, nearly five pounds.
Her winning beard contained around twenty thousand seemingly passive bees.
In the bottom photo you can just see her cute nose poking out of the swarm.
A fashion statement or just the bees knees...

Zhang Yue, Chairman Of China's Sky City Promises Significant Environmental Benefits From The World's Tallest Prefabricated Building...

A few weeks ago you saw posted here the story of China's proposed two hundred and twenty stories high, Sky City.
It was written perhaps with a fair or unfair amount of cynicism and implied criticisms.
In the interests of a balanced story, here is Mr Jhang Yue, Chairman of the Broad Group constructing the Broad Sustainable Building, justifying the City in the Sky and promising significant environmental and other benefits from the world's tallest prefabricated building.
His opinions are worth reading...

For Sale. Britain's Most Expensive Car Park. Only Three Hundred Thousand Pounds...

Here we go again.
Consumerism getting crazier.
Back in June you saw here the two carparks in Boston that Lisa Blumenthal purchased for an obscene five hundred and sixty thousand dollars.
Now, for the price of two averaged priced houses in Britain you can buy a carpark in the ultra-exclusive Hyde Park Gardens of London for three hundred thousand pounds. And of course you get a ninety one year lease with that.
Should you want to...

The Remarkable Old Wooden Churches Of Northern Russia...

For over a thousand years, wood has  been the vital component of Russian architecture.
Up to the eighteenth century, houses, barns, palaces and churches were all made of wood and without using hammers and nails.
Some of these wonderful old structures have survived time, the harsh weather conditions, vandalism and the abandonment during the era of Communism.
Richard Davies, inspired by an earlier photographer and lover of these spectacular structures, Ivan Yakovlevich Bilbin, has produced some wonderful images of these beautiful old churches.
There's more to see here and here...