Windows to the World

One Big Shortcut
Posted by: Ylee, 10:16 PM GMT on September 21, 2012 +2
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Since the early 16th century, man has looked for a way to cross the Isthmus of Panama in an efficient manner, in order to shave thousands of miles off the trip between Eastern Asia and the western U.S. coast on one side, and Europe and the eastern U.S. coast on the other. To travel by boat, one had to go around South America, past Cape Horn.

A railway across the isthmus in 1855 helped a little, but a canal was deemed the best way across. Starting in 1881, the French undertook the task of digging a sea level canal. But after losing 22,000 men to disease and accidents, and running out of money due to constantly redigging the canal when heavy rains caused landslides from the mountainous terrain to fill the channel back up, the French abandoned work in 1893.

In 1903, the U.S. decided to give it a go. After failing to obtain a treaty with the Colombians(who owned the land at the time), U.S. warships blocked Colombian troop movements being dispatched to quell the Panamanian rebels who were trying to gain indepndence. Panama declared independece on November 3, 1903, and within three days, the U.S. had its' treaty!

In 1904, U.S. work began. Instead of cutting a sea level canal, a dam was built to create a large passable lake, and a series of locks were used to raise and lower the boats as needed along the passage.



The work was completed in 1914, at a cost of $375 million(in 1914 dollars). Through inproved sanitation and mosquito reduction practices, U.S. deaths occuring the project were only 5,600. 200 miilion cubic yards of earth were moved during the project. Due to the orientation of the isthmus and the direction the canal, the Atlantic side is actually west of the Pacific side.


Thanks to Panama Canal Authority, the Miraflores Locks cam!
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From Denali National Park, the Sled Dog Puppies cam!
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From weather.ee, the Tallinn, Estonia cam!
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Courtesy on New Zealands' Horizons Regional Council, the Whanganui River Mouth cam!
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From Aloisia27, the Blick von Lajen cam!
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Courtesy of TroyLeslie, the feeder cam!
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Thanks to Midvag, the Midvagur cam!
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From Castletonite, the Castleton Valley cam!
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Thanks to Hotel Kep Lodge, the Kep Lodge pool cam!
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From Milos, Greece, the Pollonia cam!
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Updated: 4:27 PM GMT on September 24, 2012   Permalink | A A A
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Be Nosy
Posted by: Ylee, 11:45 AM GMT on September 04, 2012 +3
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Although we as a species are a curious lot, being nosy is generally an unwelcome trait! Be it the little old lady across the street that reports the style or size of the underwear that's hanging on your clothesline to all her friends, or the IRS agent that calls and asks to bring the past seven years' of returns to his office, nosiness is almost universally scorned.

An exception is the world of webcams. Just who are those people feeding the deer and squirrels? What are they doing on the beach at Akitio? It's near freezing at Denali, and that woman's wearing shorts! Is she nuts? The cams tempt us all to become nosy. This is acceptable, because (1)the spied-upon people are unaware or don't care about us, and because (2)we don't come in contact with them.

This go-around, we can be nosy at the beaches of Nosy Be, a small island off the NW coast of Madagascar!


From the Andilana Beach Hotel, the Nosy Be cam!
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From Elk Springs Resort, the Mt. Leconte cam!
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From Adelaide, Australia, the Outer Harbor cam!
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From blackwhite, the Caffe Vittoria cam!
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Thanks to Chapman's Mille Lacs Resort, the Isle Bay cam!
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From Jigokudani Yaenkoen, the Snow Monkey cam!
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From Milos, Greece, the Pollonia cam!
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Thanks to Cascades Guppy, the Lucas Ranch cam!
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From Opatija, Croatia, the Slatina Beach cam!
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Courtesy of TroyLeslie, the feeder cam!
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Updated: 1:29 PM GMT on September 13, 2012   Permalink | A A A
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About Ylee
I live and work in metropolitan Lewisport, KY. I like webcams, through which I can see the whole world!

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