devin|Rychetnik

Black History Month Background
The observance was established as Negro History Week in 1926. That's when Carter G. Woodson, the man called the father of Black History Month, picked February and chose the week of Feb. 12 and 14th – the birthdates of President Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass, the freed slave and abolitionist – to honor the accomplishments of African-Americans. In the 1970s, the week was expanded to a month.

Black History Web Resources

• http://blackvoices.aol.com/blackhistory2007/?sem=1&ncid=AOLBKV00170000000006
• http://www.infoplease.com/spot/bhm1.html
• http://www.blackhistory.com/
• http://www.biography.com/blackhistory/index.jsp

Seattle’s Black History

• Videos that highlight and celebrate local African Americans and their culture: http://www.seattlechannel.org/videos/watchVideos.asp?program=blackHistory
• Seattle Black History Timeline: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/specials/blackhistory/

Black History Month Posters

• A New Theme for 2007 Black History Month: From Slavery to Freedom - www.diversitystore.net/ds/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&Product_ID=767
• Bringing Black History into Focus - www.diversitystore.net/ds/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&Product_ID=77
• Martin Luther King, Jr. – I Have a Dream - www.diversitystore.net/ds/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&Product_ID=602
  

I'm not really a tea drinker myself although I do enjoy the derivative of it usually referred to as chai, short for masala chai. Oddly enough, I find it interesting to know the difference between the different types of teas out there such as white tea, black tea, green tea, and oolong tea. I came across this interesting brochure from a tea store named Teavana that explains the process for making each of these types so I thought I would share it here in case anyone else finds it as informative as I do. They are actually all made from the same type of tea leaves.

I'm not sure whether this guy really traveled to all these places and did this, but nevertheless I think the videos are interesting to watch. If someone out there has enough video editing skills to tell whether they were fabricated or not, please let me know.

Dancing around the world

Dancing around the world 2

Soccer (a.k.a. football in many other countries) is the only sport I kept up with while I was away in Haifa. However, it has been many years since I played in a league and played for a team so I decided to get back into it this year. I've landed myself a spot on a really great team called Africans United. Luckily, for me, they didn't limit my qualification based on land of birth, family origin, or nationality.

We had our first official game of the season last Friday, played well, and won. We also sported our fresh new jerseys and socks. Have a look below. (Our team is so nice we even let the person taking the photo be in the picture.)

Commercial space stations are appearing all over the planet these days. This is something else I read in Wired Magazine and find really cool:

• Mojave Spaceport - Virgin Galactic's $200,000 two-hour suborbital space flights will begin launching from Mojave in 2009.
• Spaceport Washington - Several aerospace companies are testing spacecraft at Moses Lake. Tourists could blast off from here in the next five years.
• Oklahoma Spaceport - Rocketplane hopes by 2008 to take passengers on 45-minute flights that include three to four minutes of weightlessness.
• Esrange - Swedish officials are in talks to make their spaceport a launch site for Virgin Galactic. Trips are planned for 2013.
• Baikonur Cosmodrome - From the birthplace of space tourism, Space Adventures hopes to send passengers around the moon in 2009.
• Ras Al-Khaimah - Space Adventures will take tourists on 90-minute, $100,000 suborbital flights from the UAE to the edge of space.
• Spaceport Singapore - A Singapore-based consortium has partnered with Space Adventures to build the first private spaceport in Asia. 

By the way, if you haven't heard already... Pluto is no longer a planet: http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/space/08/24/pluto.ap/...

Now this might not be such a pleasant topic for some people, but I find it interesting for some reason. I just recently read an article in Wired Magazine that discussed the ten most poisonous substances in the world and their affects:

1. Botulinum (ingested)
   It's hard to rank the lethality of toxins, but experts agree that botulinum - several orders of magnitude deadlier than sarin - is the gold standard. Your nervous system fails and you die in extreme pain. Works miracles on wrinkles, though.
2. Ricin (ingested or inhaled)
   Made from the lowly castor bean, ricin causes respiratory and organ failure, followed by death within hours. Even chewing a few beans can kill you.
3. Anthrax (inhaled)
   Cutaneous exposure can kill, but the most deadly, panic-inspiring form of anthrax is inhaled. It starts with flu that doesn't get better - then your respiratory system collapses.
4. Sarin (inhaled)
   Sarin is one of the deadliest nerve gases, hundreds of times more toxic than cyanide. Just one whiff and you'll foam at the mouth, fall into a coma, and die. Originally synthesized for use as a pesticide, it was outlawed as a warfare agent in 1997.
5. Tetrodotoxin (ingested)
   Found in the organs of puffer fish (the famous Japanese delicacy fugu), tetrodotoxin persists even after the fish is cooked. If the toxin is consumed, paralysis and death can strike within six hours. Up to five Japanese die from badly prepared fugu every year.
6. Cyanide (ingested or inhaled)
   Cyanide exists in a number of lethal forms that are present in nature or easily manufactured. Exposure leads to seizures, cardiac arrest, and death within minutes.
7. Mercury (inhaled)
   Low levels of mercury are not especially toxic to adults. However, inhaled mercury vapor (the metal starts turning to a gas at room temp) attacks the brain and lungs, shutting down the central nervous system.
8. Strychnine (ingested or inhaled)
   A common pesticide, strychnine isn't as  toxic as other poisons on our list, but it gets style points for causing one of the most horrific deaths of all: Every muscle in your body spasms violently until you die from exhaustion.
9. Amatoxin (ingested)
   Derived from the death cap family of mushrooms, amatoxin destroys your liver and kidneys over several days. You remain conscious - and in excruciating pain - until you slip into a coma and expire.
10. Compound 1080 (ingested or inhaled)
    As an animal poison, compound 1080 proved a little too effective: The bodies of creatures killed with 1080 remain poisonous for up to a year. Odorless, tasteless, water soluble, and without antidote, 1080 blocks cellular metabolism, leading to a quick yet painful death.

-Christopher Null

Argentina
Australia
Austria
Belgium
Brazil
Bulgaria
Chile
Croatia
Czech Republic
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
French Antilles
Germany
Gibraltar
Greece
Guadeloupe
Hungary
Iceland
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Japan
Liechtenstein
Luxembourg
Monaco
Netherlands
New Zealand
Norway
Panama
Peru
Poland
Portugal
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Taiwan
Turkey
United Kingdom
Venezuela
Zambia

The only real caveat is that the mobile or landline number you are calling needs to be attached to a registered Gizmo user account. If you ask me, that is a small price to pay for free phone calls.

Skype is not sitting completely idle though. They have offered a series of free phone-call weekends throughout July to the UK, Mexico, and this weekend Japan. However, these offers are only available to people calling within the US or Canada.