Here’s one way to take it with you, your achievements I mean. The NY Daily News reports that the Cincinnati chemist who invented the iconic (that word again!) Pringles potato chip can was buried in one.

Mr. Fredric Baur, organic chemist, food storage technician and inventor died May 4, 2008 in Ohio and, per his last wish, part of his cremated remains were buried in a Pringles chip can. Read the rest of this entry »

Yesterday, which passed largely unnoticed, was the 19th anniversary of the massacre of peaceful protestors in Tiananmen Square, the symbolic heart, politically speaking, of the People’s Republic of China. Tiananmen means Gate of Heavenly Peace.

Located at the center of Beijing, it was the scene of the violent dispersal of pro-democracy demonstrators, composed of students, workers, academics, intellectuals and ordinary folk, who had gathered in a spontaneous series of protests starting in April of 1989 against the authoritarianism and economic policies of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC). It has often been claimed, with much pride on our part, that the protests were inspired by the People Power revolt which toppled Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos in 1986.

The call for reform was met with tanks and bullets on June 4, resulting in the deaths of hundreds, possibly thousands, of protesters. The most enduring image of the Tiananmen massacre is the now iconic picture of a lone protester, casually holding what appear to be shopping bags, standing in the path of, and facing down, a column of monstrous tanks. Read the rest of this entry »

Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois claimed the Democratic presidential nomination Tuesday night (Wednesday morning in Manila) to become the first black candidate ever nominated by a major political party for the highest political office of the United States. As the final polls closed on Tuesday night in Montana and North Dakota, Sen. Obama announced in a speech in St. Paul, Minnesota, the venue of the Republican National Convention later this year:

You chose to listen not to your doubts or your fears, but to your greatest hopes and highest aspirations. Tonight, we mark the end of one historic journey with the beginning of another — a journey that will bring a new and better day to America. Because of you, tonight, I can stand before you and say that I will be the Democratic nominee for president of the United States.

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Jared Diamond, professor at U.C.L.A., asks: What’s your consumption factor ?

His question is relevant as the world reels from the oil and food crises, which will get worse before it gets better. The Philippines will surely be one of the hardest hit, as crushing poverty combined with the continually rising prices of basic commodities will result in a potentially explosive social cocktail. President Arroyo, an economist herself, understands this all too well. This must keep her up nights, as it does many of us.

Diamond tells us to consider the number “32”. Read the rest of this entry »

Websites of Interest: Oil Condition Monitoring by Hydac Australia

Former House Speaker Jose De Venecia in radio interviews during the weekend, and quoted in radio stations DZBB and DZRH, said that, after some reflection, he is now ready and more than willing to spill his guts on the Senate floor about what he knows on the ZTE NBN corruption scandal and other shenanigans committed by the Palace. But he stressed the need for “proper timing” . He was quoted as saying:

I will definitely testify. I can’t wait to explain these deals. I have nothing to hide. For I believe that when I testify it will be the beginning of a protracted and long drawn-out conflict and I must stay the course.

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