Saturday, November 12, 2011

barfalicious word dictionary meaning

Interesting Word
barfalicious
Meaning  > Something that induces vomiting like food that is not cooked properly or object that is just plain disgusting.

Friday, November 11, 2011

Great act of kindness

Yes, recently a lady knocked on the door saying she had found one of my neighbours, who has learning difficulties, wondering the streets in a confused and distressed state.

The lady managed to calm my neighbour down, find out where she lived and brought her home.

She could have left this situation to the police or some social agency but she took it upon herself to help another human being in distress.

We all know that at times life can be hard and very difficult but there are many people out there who shine a light through the darkness without any thought of return for themselves to help others in need.

A great act of kindness that so often goes unreported that is now reported. :-)

If you know of a great act of kindness let us know in the comment box below.

Wednesday, November 09, 2011

Video : Panama Canal : Time Lapse : Facts



Before the Panama was finally constructed in 1914 sailors and ships had to make a very long perilous journey around the Cape Horn thousands of miles away around the bottom of South America. Here you can make the journey with a time lapse video in just a couple of minutes.
Facts about the Panama Canal

1. The Panama Canal has been named one of the seven modern wonders of the world.

2. Building the canal took 10 years from 1904 to 1914

3. The Panama Canal is a major shortcut from the Atlantic to Pacific oceans. Before the canal shipping had to make a perilous sailing all the way down to Cape Horn at the tip of South America and back again.

4. There was an previous attempt in 1880 to build the canal under the French. It was abandoned after nearly 23000 workers died through disease, accidents and it seems just plain incompetence. The present canal cost over 5000 deaths under American leadership, better, but poor comfort for the souls lost. In other words the human cost was terrible.

5. The Canal is 77 kilometres long or 48 miles and runs through the state of Panama in Central America.

6. What is a Panamax ? Its the maximum size of a ship that is allowed through the canal without getting stuck or scrapping the bottom. 65000 to 80000 tonnes with a maximum cargo of 56000 tonnes at present. In 2006 the Third lock lane project was begun to increase the size of locks, making everything bigger, wider and deeper. This would grant larger ships access. Ships capable of getting through then will have the label of the "New Panamax" attached to them.

7. Typical journey time on a ship through the canal is 10 hours which is an amazing time saved for the weeks to navigate around Cape Horn.

8. Ships going through the canal have to pay a toll to contribute to its upkeep and the average toll apparently is $54000.

9. After many protests from the Panamanians the Americans ceded control of the canal to Panama in 1999 so long as it remained a neutral entity.

10. In 1934 the capacity of the canal was estimated to take about 80 million tons per year, in 2009 there was nearly 300 million tons of shipping.