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Traveling to Italy: Friuli-Venezia Giulia or Tuscany?
January 27, 2012 by Sandi Scaunich
Friuli could be the next Tuscany. It has everything any holidaymaker to Italy would want: rolling hills, forests, mountains, skiing, vineyards, castles, history, medieval towns, beaches, hot springs, delicious foods like prosciutto and fabulous cheeses … and the list goes on. It’s got everything going for it – well, apart from maybe one or two or several hundred glitches…
… Monstrous, ugly, dirty, ageing eyesores dappled endlessly across the region. Can you guess? I’ll give you a clue… The remains of industry.
In a bid to overcome the economic and social devastation wrought by World Wars I and II, the Italian government propelled Friulan industries and built hundreds of factories. They sprung up like autumn mushrooms in the nearby mountain forests. When asked about this time, the older generations will say it was a glorious period – a boom and a total success.
Flash forward fifty years… Factories abandoned, dilapidated, sitting in prime positions, situated behind or in front of historical and scenic sites. Cohesive and planned development wasn’t exactly a priority!
Friuli’s location doesn’t really help matters either. Tourists from the north typically head further south to Venice or they head east to Trieste where they can explore Croatia…
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Posted in Europe, Italy, Photos
The Hawaiian Hamburglar
January 27, 2012 by Adam
“A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds.”
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
Here’s a story in the Huffington Post I think many of you will relate to in one way or another (Emerson certainly did). Recently, in Honolulu, a former Air Force sergeant, her husband and their two year-old daughter stop at the local supermarket, a national chain, to pick up some groceries. The mom, who happens to be 30 weeks pregnant, is famished and feeling faint. She quickly eats a $5 chicken salad sandwich. She pockets the sandwich wrapper with every intention of paying for it, finishes shopping, heads to the register with her husband and daughter and pays for her $50 worth of groceries.
The family exists the store and is immediately confronted by a security guard who informs her that she has just shoplifted. Surprised and embarrassed, the mom apologizes profusely and offers to immediately return inside to pay for the $5 sandwich. The security guard refuses her request, EVEN THOUGH SHE JUST BOUGHT $50 WORTH OF GROCERIES, and brings her, her husband and daughter to the store manager.
Now, here’s where the tale gets truly Orwellian. The supermarket manager, while sympathetic to the woman’s…
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Posted in Featured, Hawaii, North America, Photos, USA
Exhibitors From 50 Countries at The Winter Fancy Food Show
January 27, 2012 by Renee Blodgett
Recently I attended the Winter Fancy Food Show in San Francisco, however it hosted a number of vendors well beyond the world of food in the BayArea. Global in attendance, vendors showed up to tout their latest and greatest from Asia, South America, Mexico, Europe, Canada, Australia and others. I saw and tasted so many things, my head was spinning by the end of day, as was my stomach. Try mixing garlic, yoghurt, tomato sauces, cheese, tea, wine, whiskey, tequila, coffee, sushi, noodle dishes, sweet sauces and chocolate all within a few hour period. The number of extra virgin olive oil producers was astonishing, so large that it made you think that it was the most economically viable product to sell, but above and beyond the 500% mark-up for pizza?
The show touts 80,000 products and 1,300 exhibitors from 50 countries. Since it covers so much ground, it obviously takes quite awhile to get to all the exhibitors and you can’t possibly take them all in and attempt to have any quality ‘tasting’ time along the way. Below are the call outs of some of my favorites as I meandered my way through aisle after aisle. Given the nature…
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Posted in Africa, Asia, California, Canada, Central Asia, China, Europe, Featured, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mallorca/Ibiza, Mexico, Midwest, New Jersey, New York, North America, Orange County, Photos, San Francisco/Bay Area, Sicily, Southeast Asia, Spain, Tuscany/Umbria, USA, Vancouver, Wisconsin
9 Reasons You Should Travel NOW
January 27, 2012 by Robert Schrader
When I ask friends, family members and even fellow travelers when they’re going to take that trip they’ve always dreamed of, I get a varied spate of responses. For many, it’s “When I get the money.” Some others say “I’m too busy at work to travel” or “I want to see if Mr./Ms. Right Now becomes Mr./Mrs. Right.” The vaguest among them always respond with a simple “Someday.”
Now, I’m not under any illusions. I realize that the vast majority of us can’t hop on a plane tomorrow, as much as we’d really like to. By vowing to travel at the nearest possible point in the future, however, you dramatically increase the chances of your dream trip becoming a variety. Still aren’t ready to set your departure date? This list will motivate you to stop procrastinating and hit the road.
1. Life is short
As the old cliché says, you could walk out onto the street today and be hit by a car. Wouldn’t you rather meet your end on the crazy streets of Marrakech or in a sleazy Bangkok back alley?
2. The world is huge
I’ve managed to rack up 36 countries in my seven years of travel, yet I’ve still seen only…
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Posted in Africa, All Countries, Antarctica, Asia, Caribbean, Central America, Europe, Featured, Middle East, North America, Pacific, Photos, South America, USA
Australia Day: Australian PM Julia Gillard Loses Shoe in Angry Mob Attack
January 27, 2012 by Kathy Drasky
Australia’s top two politicians were whisked away from an angry mob in Canberra during Australia Day festivities this week. Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Opposition Leader Tony Abbott were celebrating the national holiday in a swanky restaurant, sipping champagne when a group of some 200 people from the nearby Aboriginal tent embassy surrounded the premises and began chanting ”Shame”, ”Racist” and ”Always was, will be, Aboriginal land” while banging on the restaurant’s the glass walls.
It’s believed the protests were sparked by comments made by Abbott about ”moving on” the Aboriginal tent embassy, which celebrated its 40th anniversary yesterday.
In the scramble by security to whisk the Prime Minister and Abbott to safety, Ms. Gillard lost a shoe. The protesters are now alternating between using it as a trophy (as shown in the video above) and/or hostage (as shown in this video) to get Gillard to meet with the new Aboriginal parliament.
Australia’s relations with its Aboriginal citizens has been contentious, to say the least, since European settlers began arriving on the continent in the 1600s.
Posted in Australia, Pacific, Videos
More File Sharing Sites Go Down
January 27, 2012 by Hoover and Voyno
Recently we wrote about how SOPA or no SOPA many file sharing sites were either being taken down or blocking US residents. The list was getting pretty long and unfortunately we can add a few more to the list.
This from our man in the field:
Now Filesonic won’t let you download links unless you share a personal password with downloaders. Here, look at this example link: http://www.filesonic.com/file/u2Wa0Br. This is getting ridiculous. Pretty much the only one left is mediafire now. I hope to god they don’t cave…..
Annnndddddd now FileServe is over…. http://www.fileserve.com/file/EbZCTpB/. I was expecting as much since they are owned by the same company. Also, this site croaked yesterday as well: http://uploadbox.com/
So the official list is:
MegaUpload – Closed.
FileServe - Deleting multiple files. Closed affiliate program. Closed
FileJungle – (Owned by FileServe) Deleting multiple files. Testing out blocking some USA IP addresses.
UploadStation – (Owned by FileServe) Deleting multiple files. Testing out blocking some USA IP addresses. Closed
FileSonic – (Owned by Fileserve) No concrete news yet. Password only
VideoBB – Closed affiliate program.
Uploaded – Banned USA IP addresses.
FilePost – Started suspending accounts with infringing…
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Posted in Africa, Asia, Australia, Canada, Caribbean, Central America, Europe, Mexico, New Zealand, North America, Pacific, South America, USA, Videos
How To Change The Way We Eat
January 27, 2012 by Danielle Nierenberg
Tomorrow, TEDxManhattan will be hosting a panel discussion on steps needed to change the way we eat.
The panel will feature president of the board of Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture and former director of Iowa State University’s Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, Fred Kirschenmann and Senior Advisor at the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, David Wallinga, among other experts.
Although the event is already sold out, you can view the livestream here. Click here for more program details.
Posted in New York, New York City, North America, Photos, USA
Cañihua: Quinoa’s Little Cousin Packs a Nutritional Punch
January 27, 2012 by Danielle Nierenberg
Many areas in the Andean highlands of Peru and Bolivia are above 3800 meters in elevation. These highlands regularly experience extreme fluctuations in temperature—around 30°C (86°F)—and often drop well below freezing at night. The area is also prone to drought, due to erratic mountain weather patterns and a winter dry season. It takes a special range of crops to feed the inhabitants of such an environment.
Cañihua plants near ripeness. Only partially domesticated, its genetic diversity is apparent from the wide range of colors. (Photo Credit: ccbolgroup.com)
The Chenopodium genus is known as the “goosefoots,” and is comprised of some 150 species. Two of these species are Quinoa and its lesser-known cousin, Cañihua. Specialized to grow at high elevations, Cañihua has been a staple crop in the Andean highlands for thousands of years.
Farmers in Peru and Bolivia produce almost all of the Cañihua grown in the world, but exports are minimal. At one time, much of South America, especially along the Andes Mountains, thrived on Quinoa and Cañihua, but the introduction of barley and wheat by Europeans caused a shift in agricultural production.
Still, these new cereal…
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Posted in Bolivia, Peru, South America
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