Recent news reports show that many law school graduates are now taking on low paid temporary work, usually for short term contracts. This somewhat shatters the vision of high powered lucrative jobs as offered by the marketing departments of costly law schools. As revealed by these reports and The Best Colleges, many students are taking on life long debts, only to find that no jobs are available once they graduate.
More and more species are becoming endangered as the years go by. It probably would not be a surprise if one day, we hear news about the human race being in danger of disappearing because of what we are doing to the environment. Sometimes, though, we make the most interesting connections.
Take polar bears and data centers, for example. They have been the focus of some discussion lately.
How so?
Apparently, the extent of global data center service has reached such proportions that this industry is one of the leading contributors to global warming. Believe it or not, the Information Age has a negative impact on the environment, and polar bears are being used as a focal figure in the awareness campaign.
Obviously, if global temperatures continue to increase, the polar ice caps will melt, leaving those adorable fuzzy white creatures without a home. If this happens, of course, the bears just might disappear from the face of the earth.
Data centers are not solely to be held responsible for this issue, though. While it may be tempting to point fingers at a single industry, everyone has his role to play in the matter. Emissions from vehicles – both private and public alike – are as much to blame. Daily activities that may seem benign also contribute to the amount of emissions. Governments must do their part, and so must individuals.
The bottom line is that more is at stake than the polar bear. Everyone is responsible for saving the earth. We need to act now or probably suffer negative consequences in the very near future.
Pilots flying in Scotland last week were treated to a novel warning from air controllers: watch out for a high flying vulture (high flying being a literal description). Gandalf, a Ruppell’s Vulture “escaped” during an airshow called World of Wings. The show was being held in Cumbernauld, which is near Glasgow, when Gandalf supposedly caught a warm thermal. This propelled her high up into the skies, and she was not seen again – for a while.
The “loss” of Gandalf, who has been with World of Wings for six years, prompted civil aviation authorities to warn pilots. Gandalf is originally from the African continent and has a wingspan of three meters. This gives the bird lots of flying power. Believe it or not, this kind of bird can actually fly up to 30,000 feet! Indeed, this capacity makes the bird a potential threat to airplanes in flight.
There have been many incidents in the past of aircraft colliding with birds. In many cases, these collisions have caused pilots to opt for an emergency landing. Remember the commercial airplane that had to land on the Hudson River?
To make things worse, Gandalf’s kind can fly for very long distances, making it difficult to predict where he would end up. The good news is that the bird has finally been found – at a Falkirk brickworks, interestingly enough. Experts were worried that the bird might reach as far as the European continent, but their fears were alleviated when Gandalf was spotted.
So if you’re flying anywhere near the area – you’re safe from show vultures now. 
Photo credit: Birdfinders
What did he expect anyway? The guy was drunk, however, so I guess he was not thinking at all. AP reports that an Australian man was thrown out of a pub in the northwestern part of the country. The 36-year-old guy then proceeded to scale the barbed wire fence protecting the Broome Crocodile Park.
He wanted to give Fatso, the name of the 16-foot saltwater crocodile, a pat; but he ended up getting more than he bargained for. Why he had to sit on the back of the croc, one can only surmise, but Fatso didn’t like it one bit. He responded quickly by swinging his head back and biting the man on the right leg.
Surprisingly, the crocodile let go of the man’s leg so he was able to escape and managed to scale the fence once again – this time to get the heck out of there. He was quite fortunate to have received only lacerations on his leg (nasty as they are) as saltwater crocodiles are not known for letting go of limbs (or anything for that matter) once they get hold of them.
As for the man, no other information was released about him except that he is a tourist from eastern Australia.
Here’s a tip for you: the next time you see a saltwater crocodile, try to refrain from giving it a pat and sitting on its back, will you?
Time does take its toll, and in the recent years, we’ve seen a lot of good people go. Yesterday, it was Jimmy Dean’s turn. The country singer cum sausage king passed away on Sunday at the age of 81.
In his early years, he grew up in Plainview, Texas. His childhood years were not kind to him, but he got his break in the 1950s as a country singer. He is best known for his song Big Bad John, which became a hit in 1961. Now considered a classic, the song is about a coal miner who acted heroically by saving his fellow miners during a mining accident. The song got so big that Jimmy Dean got a Grammy for it.
Later on, the country singer expanded his horizons and founded Jimmy Dean Meat Co., which earned him a different kind of reputation. The sausages produced by the company basically became a household fixture for countless Americans. Aside from these activities, Jimmy Dean was also involved in other projects, one of which was as a host of The Morning Show (a CBS program).
The iconic entertainer and businessman had been suffering a variety of health problems, according to his wife. However, they were not that grave for them to think that the end was near for Jimmy. On Sunday, though, as he was sitting down in front of the television while eating, he quietly passed away.
He may have left this world, but let us not forget Jimmy Dean, one of the greatest entertainers of our time.
