Watch WWE Royal Rumble 2009 Stream live online free video here. World Wrestling Entertainment has plans to explode the Year 2009 with its major pay per view event, The Royal Rumble 2009. Just as WrestleMania, SummerSlam and Survivor Series, Royal Rumble is one of the four annual big events of WWE series.
Courtesy: WWE Royal Rumble [...]
Three posts by people working in the humanitarian field caught my eye today.Kanae got ripped off in the immigration office in Cambodia, and asks the question: "Why? I am here to help. So why are you doing this to me?" (More)Phil in Afghanistan is struggling with the arch-question of any aidworker with a conscience: "Why do I have it better than those I am trying to help?" More)Alana in the US: "I
One beautiful December evening Juan and his girlfriend Mary were sitting by the side of the ocean. It was a romantic full moon, when Juan said "Hey baby, how about playing Weeweechu.""Oh no, not now, lets look at the moon" said Mary."Oh, c'mon baby, let's you and I play Weeweechu. I love you and it's the perfect time," Juan begged."But I rather just hold your hand and watch the moon.""Please Mary,
This post is updated with loads of ideas from readers. So I am reposting it.Thanksgiving and the Xmas season is upon us. This is a time where often we hand out presents. How about if this year, you hand out a "present with a difference"?Here are some ideas:The Wall Against Hunger let's you put up a picture of those you love for a donation used to feed a child.Kiva is no stranger for those who read
After the storms and rains that flooded half of Rome, all debris carried out to the sea by the rivers, washed on the beach. It looked like a battle field.Many dinghies got picked up and dropped, or buried under the sand.This river estuary is normally three meters wide.More on The Road about where I live, Rome and Italy.
Just got a mail from Kiva... The people we have allocated loans to through our blog's social project have started repaying. We received a total of $55.11:Quirudis Altagracia Ortiz Cordonis's Group in Dominican Republic (Activity: Grocery Store)Our Loan:$50.00Newly Repaid:$8.33 (16.66% of our loan) Maria España Ugaz Castillo in Peru (Activity: Food Production/Sales)Our Loan:$50.00Newly Repaid:$12
You can vote what the next US President should tackle On Day OneChange.org also has a mass initiative where thousands are voting for "Ideas for Change in America". The "Top 10 Ideas for America" will be presented to the Obama Administration on Inauguration Day.
I live close to Rome's Fiumicino airport, about one mile from the planes' landing path.As I write this, we have a storm passing by. Lightning and thunder galore as if there was no tomorrow. The windows tremble with every "kaboom".And still I hear planes landing and remember the terrible landing we made a few weeks ago in a storm like this. I am thinking of the people in the plane I hear approachin
Fact: Oil prices have crashed from about $150 to $50 a barrel in the past months. (Source)Fact: The price of crude accounts for about 58% of the price of fuel at the pump (Source)Question: As crude fell to 30% of its peak price, and the price of crude makes 58% of the price of fuel at the pump, then how much should the price of fuel at the pump be today, compared to the "peak crude price" times?Qu
Using the collaborative features of Web 2.0 technology, NetSquared features voting system allowing you to determing which project USAid (the US foreign aid agency) should support.Tomorrow, December 11, is the last day of voting, so hurry!
There was a time we lived in Kampala, Uganda. When we had a rain storm, everyone was late coming to the office, as roads would be flooded knee high.I was reminded of that today. The only difference is, I now live in Rome, Italy.I woke up at 6:30 am. There was some distant rumble of thunder, but I did not think much of it. When I got outside, it rained. I drove off, curbing a corner and followed a
Crewe ABC stage their final show of the year at Crewe Alexandra's Gresty Road stadium this Thursday (27 November) and it looks set to be an explosive night. As well as the town's local fighters taking to the ring, Crewe favourite Joey Singleton will meet up with the man who beat him back in 1976. Indeed, photo and autograph hunters will be delighted to see Dave 'Boy' Green meeting up with old 'fri
A report released by the UN last month documented 490 attacks on UN offices, convoys, and premises between July 2007 and June this year, resulting in the deaths of 26 staff.At least 63 NGO (non-governmental organizations) aid workers were murdered during the same period. (Full)WFP released this video showing the security challenges aid workers face:More on The Road about aid workers
Here is a summary of The Road's sixth social project:A micro-financing loan to Ganna Shkirta in Ukraine.Ganna successfully runs her own fruit and vegetable sales business in downtown Korolyovo, Ukraine. She started her business 7 years ago.One of the main secrets of her success is its favorable location in a busy neighborhood. Many customers have become loyal clients.Ganna loves her work. She mana
There are days where I, as an aid worker, think: "Am I really making a difference?". There are other days where I reflect: "Maybe in the grand scheme of things, I don't, but I surely have the power invested in me, my position, to change the lives of those around me."And that is important. Even before I became a manager, I took "the influence I could have on those around me" seriously. But in a mor
The use of technology in rural development has always been a hot debate amongst "those who mean well". Some say it is better to use and encourage traditional methods. Others are convinced technology has no frontier and needs to be brought to those that can benefit the most.Web 2.0, the collaborative Web, is one of those technologies. This video illustrates how data communications together with col
Here is a summary of The Road's fifth social project:A micro-financing loan to the Sopheap Chun Village Group in Cambodia.Sopheap Chun is 22 mother of two children. She is married to Chhit Ka, who is a palm juice collector.Sopheap is the village bank president of a bank loan which consists of fifteen people, in Andoung Russey (Kampong Chhnang Province in Cambodia). She is also a pot maker in the l
Here is a summary of The Road's fourth social project:A micro-financing loan to the Teresa Mamani Women's Group in Bolivia.Ms Teresa presides The "Mujeres Vencedoras" (or "Winning Women") Community Bank in El Alto (Bolivia).The members, all women, primarily earn a living from dress-making, and from selling food and vegetables. Some own neighbourhood stores, while others own independent micro-busin
We have become used to life being a series of arrivals or departures, of triumphs and failures, with nothing noteworthy in between…There is not much to say about most aeroplane journeys. Anything remarkable must be disastrous, so you define a good flight by negatives: you didn’t get hijacked, you didn’t crash, you didn’t throw up, you weren’t late, you weren’t nauseated by the food. S
Here is a summary of The Road's third social project:A micro-financing loan to the Fatuma Jumbe Women's Group in Tanzania .Fatuma Jumbe, 51, is married with 6 children. She has a tailoring business which she began 15 years ago. Working from 8 to 5 daily, she is able to make a monthly profit of about US$80.She has taken out three previous loans, all since repaid, to buy vitenge (traditional Swahili
Earlier this week a Ryanair Boeing 737-800, did an emergency landing here in Rome.On its approach to Ciampino airport, the airplane hit a large flock of birds about 50ft off the ground. It experienced multiple bird strikes to both engines, most probably loosing its main power.The pilot performed an emergency landing, by slamming onto the airstrip. Through the force, the plane veered back in the ai
I wrote this last year, but never posted it. Here we go.Look at this. I am now the proud owner of a Fastweb ADSL modem with a WiFi interface in my Italian home. It only took me about four months to get connected.Back in September, I picked up a Fastweb flyer from a booth at one of the shopping centers. Fastweb is one of Italy's main Internet Providers. The salesman checked online if my area could
Through The Road, I met Becks Hill, a nurse from England who was enthusiastic about a development and awareness project she did in Madagascar.I decided to interview her to know more on what got her into development work, what drove her.Please meet Becks. Nurse and development worker (Full interview)
As an add-on for yesterday's post. "There are moments you just have to trust the pilot"... because "lack of better"?For the sake of clarity: this is a vintage picture. I think they have now upgraded from Fiat Cinquecenti to Fiat Panda's :-)Picture courtesy adr.it
The new batch of I’m A Celebrity… contestants flooded into Australia’s Brisbane airport today as they prepare to battle it out in the Australian jungle.
The ten contestants are said to be the most ‘combustible’ mix yet and while food and shelter may be scarce but there will certainly be a surplus of opinions around the [...]
I was involved in scuffle last night. I say it was a scuffle, not a fight because the opposing party didn't really make any effort to fight back after the initial contact.so, what happened, you ask?..there we were hanging out at this mcdonalds shooting the breeze, basically having a great time while chomping down on burgers and fries. when all of a sudden, this crazy caucasian guy approached err
Alex, a colleague, just came back from a emergency relief mission in Haiti, which was hit hard by Hurricanes Ike and Hanna a couple of weeks ago.He gave me some astonishing pictures by Logan Abassi, a photographer working for MINUSTAH, the UN peacekeeping forces in Haiti.The misery these pictures show is devastating. I can't show them all on The Road, but created this slide show. Have a look.More
It was a gorgeous day here in Rome yesterday. We just can not get enough from enjoying the city. Every time we discover new places and new treasures. More posts on The Road about Italy and living in Italy.Most pictures were taken by my oldest daughter, Lana.
This week, we took a day off and visited Hadrian's villa ("Villa Adriana" in Italian). The villa was created at Tibur (modern-day Tivoli) as a retreat from Rome for Roman Emperor Hadrian (or "Adrian")in the early 2nd century. Hadrian was said to dislike the palace on the Palatine Hill in Rome, leading to the construction of the retreat. During the later years of his reign, he actually governed the
In between renegade violence and mass displacement of refugees in DRC, escalating problems in Darfur, increased signs of massive famine in East Africa, new violence in Somaliland and the aid-isolation of the earthquake victims in Pakistan, comes this press release:"Delegates at UN telecom forum agree to reduce emissions from ICT use"Close to 800 information and communication technology (ICT) exper
You know in the past months I have been working on increasing the download speed of The Road to the Horizon. It seems the choice of your browser is as important as me optimising the site.Look at these... The Javascript speed of Chrome -the new Google freeware browser- and Firefox beating up Internet Explorer.Knowing also the problems Internet Explorer has in seemingly "hanging" for seconds when do
Paypal: "Payments made difficult"? After my adventures with the PayPal support desk a few months ago, I am in trouble again.Because I made more than US$1,300 worth of transactions in the past year, I need to give PayPal:- a copy of my Photo ID- a proof of address- a voided check (who uses them anymore in EU?) or bankstatement- proof of tax exempt- 'organistation and payment' information- and 'busi
"Darfur Now" is not just a factual movie. It is an in-your-face call to action for people everywhere to help end the crisis in Darfur. For the first time in history, the US Government has declared a genocide while it is ongoing, and that is a bad sign.The movie shows the struggles and achievements of six very different individuals who bring to light the situation in Darfur and the need to get invo
Dear Employees:It has been brought to management's attention that some individuals throughout the company have been using foul language during the course of normal conversation with their co workers. Due to complaints received from some employees who may be easily offended, this type of language will no longer be tolerated. We do, however, realize the critical importance of being able to accuratel
Rails Rumble 2008 got together some extremely talented developers and web designers, and gave them 48 hours to build something great. Some of the applications developed are really cool.
The 48hr window to develop the applications are done. But Voting is still open. If you haven’t voted it, go ahead and vote for your favourite application. [...]
My Friend E went sailing just off the coast of Italy two weekends ago. On the Saturday afternoon she sent these pictures from her iPhone:I don't get jealous easily, but I can assure you I was at that moment!More posts on The Road about sailing
I have been SPAMmed by Cisco.com, a company I would gather should be reputable company. Today I got tired of their mails, and decided to click on the link at the bottom of the mail to "unsubscribe".The link brought me to this page: Go figure why I need to fill in my address and phone number to unsubscribe. Maybe they want to make sure I really really really want to unsubscribe from cisco.com's spa
A few weeks ago, the Zimbabwe National Bank dropped 10 zero's from the Zimbabwe Dollar (ZWD).Blogger "This is Zimbabwe" is in despair and describes some of the confusion between old and new currency.Yesterday I had a balance in my account of ZWD$2,000 (that is ZWD$20 trillion in the old value). This account is dormant, untouched for months.This morning I find I owe the bank ZWD$500,000 in service
Summer came late this year, in Italy. As I live two blocks from the sea, I saw the beaches gradually getting more crowded.This is all over now. Three weeks ago, I left Rome for a weekend in Belgium. I left on the friday evening, and it was 37°C. When I came back on the Sunday evening, it was 16°C.Last week, I had to switch the heating on, and a walk on beach yesterday required a sweater and rain
The Thrustmaster 4160528 T-Wireless 3-In-1 Rumble Force For PS3? And PS2? 1 wireless controller for all 3 systems: PS3?, PS2?, & PC. 2 handgrips featuring a genuine rubber non-slip textured surface. The rubber texture covers the entire surface of the grip. The mini-sticks feature a textured rubber surface, for comfortable and [...]
Half the world's poor live in coastal areas. These areas are often already under threat due to poorly planned development but challenges are made worse with natural disasters and climate change causing more floods and extreme weather events such as hurricanes and cyclones.The "first wave" emergency aid efforts after a disaster often gets most of the media attention. However, after the first recove
Washington DC, October 4th 2008.Dear,This email may come as a surprise to you, but I need the assistance of someone with trust and discretion and I know that I can rely on you. I need to ask you to support an urgent secret business relationship with a transfer of funds of great magnitude.I am the head of the Treasury Department of the Republic of America. Due to a crisis in my country, I have the
On November 10th over 10,000 bloggers from around the world will unite to raise their voices on behalf of more than 40 million voiceless refugees. We will ask the world to face the atrocities so many human beings must endure and to join hearts and minds to help bring forward information, understanding and action.Join us on November 10th to tell your story, share your thoughts and be part of the gl
The arguments for a bailout to avoid systemic collapse are of course genuine and persuasive, but so are the arguments for aid and against standing by and allowing a child to die every 3 seconds, or a woman to die in childbirth every minute. To put the proposed Wall Street bailout into perspective. $700bn: · Would clear the accumulated debt of the 49 poorest countries in the world ($375bn) twice o
In a thought provoking article, Peter Hitchens describes his first hand experiences of the unsavoury practices of Chinese businesses in Africa. BUT at the same time, he asks the question if all the aid and good intensions in the world have not helped in the past forty decades, maybe the "Chinese" approach might... China offers both rulers and the ruled in Africa the simple, squalid advantages of s
In the 12th century, Sri Lanka’s king Parakramabahu said: "not a single drop of water received from rain should be allowed to escape into the sea without being utilized for human benefit."Thanks largely to unsafe drinking water, more than 2 million children die of diarrhea each year. Six hundred million subsistence farmers lack irrigation water and are mired in poverty. Wetlands have been decima
As the sliding doors of Rome's Fiumicino airport opened this morning, the smell of coffee and croissants welcomed me. Above the background noise of hundreds of people talking, the clickclacking of hand luggage and an occasional burst of laughter, sounded the high pitched noise of cups and spoons being put on saucers. The sound of Italian breakfast: cornetto and cappuccino. Feels like coming home.
When flying back from Ethiopia last Friday, we crossed paths with two airplanes, in a span of a minute. I have never seen planes cross that close. We must have flown over the other planes by just a few hundred meters. One was that close, I could almost see the pilots in the cockpit of the other plane. It made me think about the amount of planes in the air at any given minute. Well, I looked it up:
Nachdem es die letzten Tage eher ruhig gewesen war, sind wir diese Woche mit Force Recons unterwegs. Einen kurzen Zwischenstopp hatten wir am Dienstagabend in Amamake eingelegt und konnten uns direkt mit einigen Leuten im Belt kebbeln. Beim Abfliegen der Belts fanden wir herumliegende Tech 2 Drohnen und es war nur eine Frage der Zeit, [...]
In many posts on The Road, you will see I am an addicted traveller. I love travelling, even for the sake of travelling. But there are things I hate about travelling. Last night's flight (leaving 01:00 AM) from Rome to Addis on Ethiopian Airlines reminded me of them.Ten things I hate about travelling:1. Have to check in two hours before departure, only to have to wait and wait.2. Red-eye flights: l
EAST HAMPTONS, NEW YORK- A drop in the Dow Jones Industrials index this week of more than 800 points as well as the failures of half a dozen major financial institutions have left tens of thousands of Wall Street brokers and high powered investment bankers bereft of liquid assets and without hope. We've all seen the incredibly moving footage on the evening news, the throng of gaunt, lifeless figur
I come from no country, from no city, from no tribe.I am the son of the road,my country is the caravan,my life is the most unexpected of voyages.From Leo the African, by Amin Maalouf
After my issues with Internet Explorer, I am starting to discover "The World Beyond Microsoft"!Test of the day: Downloading the home page of "The Road":Microsoft Exporer 8: 20 to 31 seconds (and seems to hang halfway)Google Chrome 0.2: 10 to 15 secondsMozilla Firefox 3: 12 secondsThe latter two come for free. Go figure.Check here for a more indepth comparison of the different Internet browsers.Gra
I left Rome on Friday evening. It was 37°C. I came back last night and it was 16°C. People tell me it rained cats and dogs over the weekend. Would summer be over?Two weeks ago, on Sunday August 31, I wrote a piece about the first signs of fall. Now would be a good time to post it.The First Signs of Fall.I made up my mind this morning: I am going to the beach. I live 200 metres from the edge of t
I was home, in Belgium, this weekend. Taking the train back to Brussels airport, I was surprised how green everything still was. And how beautiful it looked.The fields were much smaller and looked more cramped next to the other, compared to what I am used to in my second home, in Italy. But its beauty still amazed me. And it took me by surprise that I was amazed. After all, I have seen this scener
Chris Jordan is a photographer/artist with a strong social message. His work visualizes statistics we read almost every day. Through the medium of intricately detailed prints, assembled from thousands of smaller photographs, he makes political statements. (Full)Here are two million plastic beverage bottles, used in the US every five minutes:partial zoom:actual size:60,000 plastic bags used in the
Take the case of Haiti:Rice is the staple food of Haiti and up until the 1980s Haiti was self-sufficient in its production. In the mid-1980s Haiti's domestic rice production decreased rapidly. By the 1990s rice imports outpaced domestic rice production. This displaced many Haitian farmers, traders, and millers whose employment opportunities are extremely limited.Import tariff reduction is a critic
Rumble in Texas showcase
April 10-12, 2009
Fort Worth, Texas
Contact: Cynthia F. Guillory - 817/845-1579
Tournament:
Rumble in Texas showcase
Dates:
April 10-12, 2009
Location:
University of Texas-Arlington and gyms in the Fort Worth area.
Cost:
$ 275.00
Age Groups:
8U to Open high School Boys and Girls
Host Club :
NR Sports
Games (Min):
3 games
Contact:
Cynthia
"People elsewhere said how distant I was, and off the map, but no - they were far away, still groping onward. I was at last where I wanted to be. I had proved what I had always suspected, that even the crookedest journey is the way home."From "Hotel Honolulu", by Paul Theroux
Time for something more positive! Time to start a meme!"meme" n [mëm]: A unit of cultural information, such as a cultural practice or idea, that is transmitted verbally or by repeated action from one mind to another. From the Greek mimëma, something imitated, from mimeisthai, to imitate.In "Blogspeak", a meme is an idea that is shared and passed from blog to blog, like a question posted in one b
You live your daily life, and sometimes forget how unusual those things you see every day can be.It is only recently I started to notice the streets around the neighbourhood where I live, have trees in the middle of them...More posts on The Road about Italy.
Blackwater Worldwide has played a substantial role during the Iraq War as a contractor for the United States government. In 2003, Blackwater attained its first high-profile contract when it received a $21 million no-bid contract for guarding the head of the Coalition Provisional Authority, L. Paul Bremer. Since June 2004, Blackwater has been paid more than $320 million out of a $1 billion, five-ye
One of the blogs I read, Dave Pollard's "How to save the world" pointed me to Wordl, an online tool to create a random tag cloud from a website, RSS feed or just a series of words. Call it an artistic impression of the subject's at matter...This is how The Road to the Horizon content's cloud looks like. Easy to pick out those areas which are tackled the most on this blog (click to enlarge):
The Seychelles feature a lush vegetation with a large variety of different plants, flowers and trees, some unique to these islands. Everywhere we went during our trip, we were presented with colours and scents. No wonder earlier settlers described the Seychelles as 'the true Garden of Eden'A view at the Vallee de Maie on Praslin.Lusher than this, it does not get.In the Vallee de Maie on Praslin.Gi
As soon as we landed in the Seychelles, we saw displays of one of their national symbols: the unique Seychellois coconut: the "Cocofesse" or "Coco de Mer".For centuries these unique coconuts washed ashore on the beaches of India, Maldives and Sri Lanka. The suggestive shape of the world's largest plant seed - about 40-50 cm diameter, weighing up to 20 kg - made it famous, and they were sold the wo
• Today, more than 600 million girls live in the developing world.• More than one-quarter of the population in Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, and sub-Saharan Africa are girls and young women ages 10 to 24.• The total global population of girls ages 10 to 24—already the largest in history—is expected to peak in the next decade.• Approximately one-quarter of girls in developing coun
Blog Action Day is an annual nonprofit event that aims to unite the world’s bloggers, podcasters and videocasters, to post about the same issue on the same day.Their aim is to raise awareness and trigger a global discussion. The day is October 15th.This year's topic is "Poverty", a subject taken at heart on The Road to the Horizon. So stay tuned, more to come.Meanwhile, if you are a blogger,
I am at Brussels airport, waiting for my flight back to Rome. After six weeks with the family, we are off on our own again. The kids go off to sports camp, Tine starts working in Belgium and I am off to Italy, back to saving the hungry in the world.Hey, they have new roadsigns at the airport, saying "Kiss and Drive", meant to guide people to a passenger drop off zone.I am not sure if the combinati
The Seychelles is one of the most beautiful countries we ever visited. Here is a picture impression of the beaches and coastlines:Anse aux Courbes on MaheAnse d'Argent on La Digue, said to be the most beautiful beach in the world.Union Reserve on La DigueGranite rocks on the North of La DigueSt.Pierre Islet near PaslinAnse aux Courbes on MaheAnse Takamaka on MahePort Glaud on MaheBoats in the lagu
I guess before we post more about the Seychelles, we should start from the beginning: Where the ^$$££! are the Seychelles?Look at the red dot on the map below. That's where. In Indian Ocean, just South of the equator. About 1,000 miles East from Africa. It is far away from anything.Although the Seychelles cover an immense area, most of it is water. 1.4 million km2 of water, with only 455 km2 of
