Stuff to check out: JustineBateman.com, "Z" Film Short, SECTION 5, WAKE UP AND GET REAL, VIOLENCE AND FEATHERS, PROJECT:RANT, EASY TO ASSEMBLE.
Science Picture of the Day: The Mars Horizon
NASA’s Mars Rover Opportunity captured this image looking eastward over the Endeavour Crater late in the afternoon of Opportunity’s 2,888th Martian sol (day) which corresponded with March 9, 2012 here on Earth. In the foreground, Opportunity’s own shadow appears, in a sort of one-step-removed self-portrait. […] The image is a mosaic of about a dozen images and presented in false color to draw out certain features of the topography.
[Image: NASA]
Stream of conciousness:
She didn’t know I was coming, so, to see first the surprise on her face and then the joy that overcame every bit of her being as her teacher explained I was there to volunteer, well, that I’ll never forget. She was really proud that I was there, and it was pure and honest…
Re: the Butterfly Portion of this post,
My kids also once watched catepillars develop into butterflies in a little net cage at home. The day after the butterflies emerged, the kids and I went outside to release them. I, too, was convinced that it would be a “magical” experience.
I unzipped the cage and the butterflies flew into the sky and as we marvelled, a bird caught one of them in its beak, landed on a near by branch, crunched it up, and ate it while the kids watched in horror.
- 33 years in prison for running a fake vaccination program in an attempt to find Osama bin Laden using DNA
- $3,500 fine for his actions, which led to the U.S. finding and killing the al-Qaeda leader a year ago source
» And no, the U.S. isn’t happy: Previously, Secretary of State…
Can’t SEAL Team Six break this guy out?
Hawaii to become first U.S. state to ban plastic bags at checkout in every county
Hawaii is slated to become the first state in the nation to ban plastic bags at checkouts in every county.
“This is groundbreaking,” said Honolulu Mayor Peter Carlisle, according to msnbc.com.
Carlisle signed off on the ban last week, joining Honolulu County with the state’s three other counties, which had already passed the ban.
“By signing this environmentally friendly bill, Honolulu joined our neighbor island countries. Hawaii has become the only state in the United States where every county has plastic bag legislation.” Carlisle said.
The change goes into effect on July 15, 2015, giving retailers “plenty of time to get ready,” he told msnbc.com.
“Retailers will be able to use up their inventory of bags and make arrangements to educate the public on the importance of bringing their own bag,” Carlisle said.
Bans are already enforced in Kauai and Maui counties, and Hawaii County’s takes effect on Jan. 16, 2013.
The news comes on the heels of a report from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography documenting a shocking increase in plastic waste floating in the northeast Pacific Ocean.
Particularly in a region dubbed the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch,” marine life is changing as creatures ingest plastic at alarming rates.
The bans passed after a two-year campaign directed by the Sierra Club, an environmental group.
“Passing the bans did take an effort — change always does — but people seemed to understand the need for such an effort,” Robert Harris, director of the Sierra Club’s Hawaii chapter, told msnbc.com.
“Being a marine state, perhaps, we are exposed more directly to the impacts of plastic pollution and the damage it does to our environment,” he said.
“People in Hawaii are more likely to be in the water or in the outdoors and see the modern-day tumbleweed — plastic bags — in the environment.”
Looks like the state of Hawaii is going to be in sore need of some reusable bags. Never before will the tote-bags public radio stations give away during pledge drive season seem like such an enticing incentive!
Tote bags are great for picking up dog poo and for holding dirty diapers.
The Nicolas Cage In Everything Project: Photoshopping Nic Cage In All The Movies And Television
The guy doing this is my new hero.