Donor aversion to 'unsexy' water projects threatens development goal

http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/poverty-matters/2011/jun/27/donor-aversion-water-projects

"More than 1 billion people will not get the basic sanitation and the clean water promised as such projects shrink sharply as a proportion of global aid budgets"

Becoming a Teacher in Washington State

http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/12129463/becoming-a-teacher-in-washington-state

This is a funny video, but it's also pretty disturbing.

25 Common Items that Will Baffle Future Archeologists

http://www.cracked.com/photoplasty_216_25-common-items-that-will-baffle-future-archeologists/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=fanpage&utm_campaign=new+article&wa_ibsrc=fanpage

This reminds me of an imagined dig report I did for a class years ago. In 5000 years, what will archaeologists think about the Fremont Troll?

Göbekli Tepe

"We used to think agriculture gave rise to cities and later to writing, art, and religion. Now the world’s oldest temple suggests the urge to worship sparked civilization."

http://www.gobeklitepe.info/index.html

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/06/gobekli-tepe/mann-text

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/gobekli-tepe.html?device=iphone&c=y

The Bronze Age burnt mounds of Ireland are enigmatic; many theories have been proposed for their purpose, from cooking sites to prehistoric saunas. But were these monuments actually microbreweries for Bronze Age beer?

http://www.diggingthedirt.com/2011/06/04/past-orders-the-archaeology-of-beer-part-1/

http://www.diggingthedirt.com/2011/06/09/past-orders-part-2-the-great-beer-experiment/

http://www.diggingthedirt.com/2011/06/17/past-orders-part-3-a-hiccup-with-the-evidence/

Iron-Age brewing evidence found in southeastern France

"Archaeologists have uncovered evidence that the occupants of southeastern France were brewing beer during the Iron Age, some 2,500 years ago.
A paper in Human Ecology outlines the discovery of barley grains that had been sprouted in a process known as malting; an oven found nearby may have been used to regulate the process."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-13776499

Hedge funds 'grabbing land' in Africa

Foreign hedge funds are behind "land grabs" in Africa to boost their profits in the food and biofuel sectors, according to a US think-tank.
"The same financial firms that drove us into a global recession by inflating the real estate bubble through risky financial manoeuvres are now doing the same with the world's food supply," the report said.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13688683

http://media.oaklandinstitute.org/press-release-understanding-land-investment-deals-africa

Uruguay is trying to give a laptop, with internet, to every student in the country.

http://blogs.worldbank.org/edutech/node/633?cid=EXT_FBWB_D_EXT

Momentum Mounts to Again Embrace Two-Spirits

http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2011/06/momentum-mounts-to-again-embrace-two-spirits/

"A growing body of scholarly work shows that many American Indian tribes had a place for gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender (GLBT) members in their culture and ceremonies. Like many Native traditions, this acceptance was lost when the dominant society drummed traditional tribal beliefs out of a generation of Indians and replaced them..."

"Lake sediments in western Greenland confirm that abrupt climate change brought cold conditions to the region just before the collapse of the Norse settlements."
"Now, new research by U.S. and British scientists led by geologist William D'Andrea at Brown University, Providence, RI, reconstructs 5,600 years of climate history buried in lake sediments of West Greenland that links temperatures and three human migrations in the region, including the Norse. Their study was just published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences."

http://news.discovery.com/earth/shifting-climes-in-greenland-110601.html