Multi-Faith Q & A

What happens when you put a Muslim Imam, a Jewish Rabbi, and an Evangelical Pastor on a stage? There is no punchline as this event really happened. Live questions were taken from the audience which was composed of followers of all three faiths. Rabbi Jeremy Schneider, Imam Sheik, and Pastor Bob Roberts answered these questions revealing distinctions in core beliefs about God but a common respect for one another despite those differences.

Click the link above to watch the video.

(The actual sermon that came prior to the Q&A can be seen by clicking this link.)

It Happened in Italy: Goodness in a Time of Evil

I am a WWII history buff and I had never heard that there were concentration camps in Italy.

In 2005, the United Nations designated January 27 as an annual day of commemoration for the victims of the Nazi regime. They chose the 27th because on this day in 1945, the Soviet army liberated Auschwitz. Most know the grim tales of what happened in Nazi death camps only too well—six million Jews killed, the gas chambers, the crematoriums, forced labor.

But while the horrors of concentration camps in Nazi Germany may be familiar, what happened to Jews in concentration camps at the same time in Mussolini’s Italy is not.

Click the image above to read the blog post.

Big Picture: At work, part II

Although the global economic downturn no longer appears to be heading off a cliff, signs of stability or recovery are still sporadic and tenuous. As news stories look for signs of of the direction of economic indicators, photographs fill the wires of people working from all over. Once more, I've collected some of these disparate photos over the past couple of months, composing another global portrait we humans at work around the world. (45 photos total)

Click the image to see the full collection.

40 Gut-Busting Restaurant Challenges for Free Food

In the ancient battle of Man vs. Food, e-sportbooks and restaurants are betting on the man. For example, BetED.com recently posted odds for the epic "Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest," held every 4th of July.

Of course, Nathan's isn't the only place to find gourmands gorging themselves for fame, glory and free food. Amateur gluttons and the restaurants that serve them are found across the country. We researched 40 gut-busting restaurant challenges for those seeking free food and entertainment. A couple words of advice: Don't fill up on bread and remember foods dunked in liquids slide down easier.

And if you scope out any ringers, let us know so we can call our bookie

Thanks To FrugalInFortWorth

Time Lapse Video: Salvaging US Airways Flight 1549

A little more than a year after one of the most impressive landings in the history of aviation, N106US, formerly known as Flight 1549, will be on the auction block. Word on the street is that there are some very interested buyers out there with some very creative plans for this Airbus A320. David Martin, who lives just above the site of the water landing, spent 72 hours filming time lapse video of the recovery effort to remove the submerged aircraft from the Hudson River. The result is more than a little bit impressive. Also, word to the wise, check the carfax history on this plane before making any bids, I hear that it might have some water damage.

Posted on Kontain.com - [Flight 1549] from David Martin on Vimeo.

Thanks To Keith at BagOfNothing

Big Picture: At Work

When the economy makes big news, many photographs of people at work come across the wires, usually to help illustrate a particular story or event. By collecting these disparate photos over the past few months, I found that a global portrait emerged of we humans producing things. People assembling, generating, and building items small and large, mundane and expensive, trivial and important. I hope you enjoy this look into some people's work lives around the world. (45 photos total)

Click the image to see the full collection.

Need First Aid? There's An App For That

Alone in the darkness beneath layers of rubble, Dan Woolley felt blood streaming from his head and leg.

Then he remembered -- he had an app for that.

Woolley, an aid worker, husband, and father of two boys, followed instructions on his cell phone to survive the January 12 earthquake in Haiti.

"I had an app that had pre-downloaded all this information about treating wounds. So I looked up excessive bleeding and I looked up compound fracture," Woolley told CNN.

Click the image above to read the CNN article.

Big Picture: Faces of Haiti

Ten days after the massive earthquake in Haiti, some 80,000 of the estimated 200,000 dead have been buried, two million residents now find themselves homeless, and hundreds of thousands of them are now trying to flee the capital city. Rescue crews are beginning to abandon hope of finding any further survivors in the rubble - the last person to be pulled out alive was on was rescued on Wednesday, the 20th. Aid agencies are still ramping up their efforts - the Red Cross alone has deployed what it calls its greatest deployment of emergency responders in its 91-year history. Collected here are some closer looks into recent events in Haiti, seen through the faces of the survivors and the recently-arrived security, rescue and care workers. (46 photos total)

Click the image to see the full collection. Warning: Some images are graphic.