Once you take that first step, it's a huge relief

Todd witnessed his friends' death while they were deployed together. When he finally came home, he was a different person. It seemed he had less in common with his new wife than either of them remembered, and he was often impatient with everyone and everything. Getting help at VA was the first step toward reclaiming his life.
LINK: Youtube

RIP Florence Green, the Very Last World War I Veteran

In the past year, we brought you the obituaries of Frank Buckles, the last U.S. veteran of World War I and Claude Choules, the last surviving combat veteran of that war. Yesterday, the very last member of the military from the War to End All Wars passed away. Florence Green was only 17 years old when she signed up for the Women’s Royal Air Force in 1918. She worked at the military airfields in Norfolk. Mrs Green spent her war days working ”all hours” serving officers breakfast, lunch and dinner and would often spend time wandering the base simply ”admiring the pilots”. Before her death she said: ”I enjoyed my time in the WRAF. There were plenty of people at the airfields where I worked and they were all very good company. ”I would work every hour God sent but I had dozens of friends on the base and we had a great deal of fun in our spare time. In many ways I had the time of my life. ”I met dozens of pilots and would go on dates. I had the opportunity to go up in one of the planes but I was scared of flying. ”It was a lovely experience and I’m very proud.” Mrs. Green was a couple weeks short of 111 years old. Link, Via: reddit | Via: Neatorama

Free Pre-Paid Cremation!

How could anyone pass up such a thoughtful offer from the Neptune Society? LINK: Boingboing

Wikileaks releases nearly 400,000 new secret Iraq docs, with help from news orgs

IMAGE: Each death noted in the Iraq war logs released today by Wikileaks is mapped with Google Maps, by the Guardian.


Wikileaks has just published The Iraq War Logs, described as "the largest classified military leak in history."

The 391,832 reports document the war and occupation in Iraq, from 1st January 2004 to 31st December 2009 (except for the months of May 2004 and March 2009) as told by soldiers in the United States Army. Each is a 'SIGACT' or Significant Action in the war. They detail events as seen and heard by the US military troops on the ground in Iraq and are the first real glimpse into the secret history of the war that the United States government has been privy to throughout. The reports detail 109,032 deaths in Iraq, comprised of 66,081 'civilians'; 23,984 'enemy' (those labeled as insurgents); 15,196 'host nation' (Iraqi government forces) and 3,771 'friendly' (coalition forces). The majority of the deaths (66,000, over 60%) of these are civilian deaths.That is 31 civilians dying every day during the six year period.

The Guardian is among the first news orgs to publish analysis, and leads with the statement that the files show how the US turned a blind eye to torture in Iraq, and "expose serial abuse of detainees, 15,000 previously unknown deaths, and a full toll of Iraq's five years of carnage." LINK: Boingboing

Also more on this at the link above.

How A Skier Froze to Death and Lived

How Skier Froze to Death and Lived - Horizon: Back From The Dead.

Kevin Fong follows the incredible survival story of Anna Bagenholm. LINK: Youtube

George Carlin on Death - RIP

This bit the first time it was performed live; it might give a bit of insight on how to treat his death. LINK: Youtube

Press Your Ashes Into Your Favourite Vinyl Record

British Company, And Vinyly, will press your charred remains into your very own hyper-personalized spinning analog musical platter. The starter kit comes with your own generic gravestone-style cover art, 24 minutes of audio of your choosing, and 30 copies of your final release.

The company was founded by Jason Leach, who co-founded the techno group and record label Subhead in the 1990s. I’d like to have my ashes pressed into Psycho Killer. I can just picture the mourners at my funeral getting their groove on to the beat of The Talking Heads.

Link – Via: Engadget, Via: Neatorama

Inside Death Row

“Death Row talks to inmates approaching execution in Huntsville, TX, as well as loved ones and players in the act of execution.” LINK, Via: Youtube

Death Star Melons

People do some strange things when they have time to kill. Making the Death Star out of a cantaloupe or watermelon is one of the cooler (but still ever so slightly strange) things.

You were told as a child to never play with your food but, to be frank, sometimes when a cool idea suddenly hits, the temptation is just too strong. So, you take a watermelon. You just can’t help noticing that it already kinda looks like the Death Star. It doesn’t look quite right on a plate, though. Time to experiment.

Link, Via: Neatorama

(image credit: Windell Oskay

Biking Through the Trail of Death

I would be scared to death *walking* this mountain trail (supposedly in the Italian Alps), much less riding a motorcycle on it. Link [embedded YouTube clip, thought he'd fall off at 3:00 and 5:00]

Previously on Neatorama: Caminito del Rey

This limestone gorge in the south of Spain, through which passes the Guadalhorce river, sits the Desfiladero de los Gaitanes pass that is 700m (2296 feet) high. Famous its very dangerous path, the Caminito del Rey is not what I would call a tourrist attraction. In 2000, the paths was remove because a tourist died trying to cross it.

Haiti: Photos from the ground, by AIDG's Catherine Lainé

Catherine Lainé of the sustainable tech non-profit AIDG, who was featured in this Boing Boing Video interview on Friday, is in Haiti and has begun uploading photos of what she's witnessing there, as connectivity permits.



House are FLATTENED. Coming in to Port Au Prince, about 1 in 20 had collapsed, then 1 in 10. In Delmas 33 where we were earlier, it's 1:5. People are sleeping outside in makeshift settlements b/c either 1) their house was destroyed 2) their house had significant damage and is visibly unsafe or 3) they are not sure of their home's structural integrity and with all the aftershocks, they are taking no changes. Everyone has lost someone close to them or someone they knew... you can hear gunshots at night though. Daytime seems really safe.

She's uploading images to the AIDG Flickr stream. Unlike the Associated Press, hers are all licensed as Creative Commons images and may be freely re-blogged. Some images may not be properly tagged yet (her access to internet and electricity is sporadic in Haiti), but she's told us that is her intent. LINK: Boingboing, Via: Youtube

Roger Williamson and the Dutch Grand Prix Tragedy of 1973

Roger Williamson (February 2, 1948 - July 29, 1973) was a talented racing driver from England who was killed during the 1973 Dutch Grand Prix.

Williamson won the 1971 and 1972 British Formula Three Championship titles. In 1973, Formula One returned to the Zandvoort for the Dutch Grand Prix, after an absence of a year due to extensive safety upgrades to the race track which amongst others included new asphalt, installation of barriers and building a new race control tower. This race was only the second Formula One start for the March team and the second Grand Prix race for the promising Williamson.

During the race, Williamson suffered a sudden tire deflation, which pitched him into the barriers at high speed and catapulted his car 300 yards (275 metres) across the track against the barriers on the other side. Williamson’s car came to a rest upside down and the driver was unable to extricate himself from the burning car. Fellow driver David Purley came to Williamson’s aid but he was unable to overturn the car. Initially some people, like the commentators on Dutch tv, race control and some of the other drivers participating in the race, thought that Purley was the driver that belonged to the burning car, and thus thought that the driver had gotten away safely. LINK, Via: Youtube

Moments

Radiolab presents: Moments by Will Hoffman. This films is a celebration of life that was inspired by David Eagleman's book, Sum. LINK, Via: Youtube

Crocodile hunter - Steve Irwin

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From steve's most dangerous adventures,he feeds a crocodile and gets hand bitten.

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Tribute to Bindi and Steve Irwin. Song - My Little Girl by Tim McGraw.

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The music clip Bindi Irwin sang during the special show "My Daddy The Crocodile Hunter"

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Steve Irwin Stingray Death Video, EXCLUSIVE. Footage taken from a Police Storage Facility in Queensland, Austrailia.

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A Tribute to Steve Irwin The Crocodile Hunter from the loyal fans at crizazy.com. You will be missed.

Oklahoma Tornadoes Cause Death, Destruction

At least three people were killed and many more injured when a tornado ripped through a southern Oklahoma town. The state was also hit by two other tornadoes Tuesday. (Feb. 10 ) LINK: Youtube

"Nine Killed as Tornado Rakes Oklahoma"


Rescuers dug there way through remains of houses and businesses on Wednesday after a rare and deadly February Tornado ripped through a small Oklahoma town on Tuesday night. Nine people were dead, and 46 were injured, Authorities said: LINK

These People Should’ve Died …

Forgive the background music of Sinatra’s I’m Going to Live Till I Die, but take a look at this video clip of near (VERY near) misses. Sort of makes you believe that there were guardian angels watching these, um, hapless individuals. LINK, Via: Youtube