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The following is an article from the newest volume of the Bathroom Reader series, Uncle John’s 24-Karat Bathroom Reader.
Sending a sick person a thousand paper cranes, each one folded from a single square of paper, is a tradition that originated in Japan and has spread all over the world. Here’s the story of a little girl who helped turn it into an international phenomenon.
CHILDHOOD, INTERRUPTED
In the fall of 1954, an 11-year-old Japanese girl named Sadako Sasaki came down with what her family thought was a cold …until they found large lumps on her neck and behind her ears. That was enough to terrify any parent, but Sadako’s family had a special reason to worry: They lived in Hiroshima, and and were just a mile from ground zero on August 6, 1945, when the U.S. dropped an atomic bomb on the city in the closing days of World War II.
Sadako, two years old at the time of the bombing, had escaped the blast with only minor injuries. But she and her family were caught in the shower of “black rain” -radioactive fallout- as they fled the city. Now, nearly a decade later, as Sadako’s condition worsened her parent’s thoughts turned to “A-bomb disease,” the catchall name that many Japanese gave to radiation-induced illnesses. In early 1955, doctors confirmed the Sasaki’s worst fears: Sadako had leukemia, most likely caused by exposure to radiation. She had less than a year to live and needed to be hospitalized right away.
THE GIFT
Sadako’s parents could not bring themselves to tell her what was wrong or what her prognosis was. They just told her that she would have to stay in the hospital until her lumps went away.
more …
Two art professors and a recent art graduate at Carnegie Mellon University have begun a year-long restaurant project in Pittsburgh called Conflict Kitchen, in which only foods from countries in conflict with the U.S. will be served. The idea is "to raise awareness of the issues between the countries and to gain a better understanding of the highlighted countries’ social and cultural life."
The project is funded by the Sprout Fund, the Waffle Shop, and the Center for Arts in Society.
The first version of the project is an Iranian take-out restaurant called Kubideh Kitchen in the East Liberty neighborhood, which the professors opened on May 4. The food looks mighty appetizing.
Conflict Kitchen will be hosting a free event on June 5 that will
feature Persian foods and a live Skype chat with Iranian diners in Tehran.
Graphic design by Brett Yasko. Architectural design by Pablo Garcia/POiNT.
From the Upcoming 
ueue, submitted by 
Back on December 24, 1968 the crew of the Apollo 8 space mission were to make history for two things. They were the first human beings to circle another celestial body in space and they were also to take one of the most iconic pictures of the Earth rising behind the Moon on Christmas Eve which can be seen here on the post Alex had put up: The First Earthrise. Here you’ll hear them wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and Peace to everyone.
Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and any other holidays out there! Have a Happy New Year! 
via – Wired
The Peace Sign, one of the most widely known symbols in the world, was first designed and drawn on home-made banners and badges in London, England on February 21, 1958, when CND (Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament ) was launched at a public meeting but has since been apropriated by scores of different protest movements, from hippies in 1960s America and to the rest of the world, it is known more broadly as the peace symbol.
