Felling a Coconut Palm.

These are a set of photos originally published as a slide show on my Jux blog, of which there is a link above ↑ under 'The Jux Blog'.

The comments below the pictures are from the originals.

This tree was about 20 meters high or about 65 feet. To put this into perspective: the usual height of a single story in a building is 15 to 20 feet; so this tree was about 4 stories high.

About three Stories Up:  No rope, except the one tied to the crown to make sure the first cut section falls correctly.

Chop That Trunk! Holding on with one hand, still about 15 meters up. And note that's not an axe just an ordinary machete.

A Long Way Down: Actually he's checking to see if his assistant has re-tightened the guide rope.

Going...

And Going....

Gone!

Look No Hands! The next, middle section, still about 15 meters up.

Pakistan by KAL

from KAL The Economist's weekly cartoon

Must be a fun place to live in....

Reserve Bank of Australia Commodity Index - Long Way Down

The RBA - The Reserve Bank of Australia -  released Index of Commodity Prices for December 2010.

From it's statement "Preliminary estimates for December indicate that the index rose by 3.2 per cent (on a monthly average basis) in SDR terms, after rising by 1.2 per cent in November"

SDR's are "Special Drawing Rights" essentially a basket of major currencies - see SDR Valuation from the IMF