Welcome! "The Evening Blues - Weekend Edition" is a casual community diary (published Saturday & Sunday, 8:00 PM Eastern) where we hang out, share and talk about news, music, photography and other things of interest to the community.
Just about anything goes, but attacks and pie fights are not welcome here. This is a community diary and a friendly, peaceful, supportive place for people to interact.
Everyone who wants to join in peaceful interaction is very welcome here.
|
Hey! Good Evening!
This evening's music is brought to you by guest VJ NCTim and features country music singer/songwriter and guitar player Dale Watson. If you're a lover of country music that has that sound so familiar to country fans from the 40s through the 70s and you thought that "real" country music is no longer produced, well then, here you go. Dale Watson is the real deal. I double-dog dare you to listen to this and not pop a beer. One of my favorites, thanks Tim. Enjoy!
Dale Watson - Country My Ass
The first peace, which is the most important, is that which comes within the souls of people when they realize their relationship, their oneness with the universe and all its powers, and when they realize that at the center of the universe dwells the Great Spirit, and that this center is really everywhere, it is within each of us.
Black Elk
News and Opinion
Ukraine ceasefire kicks in after heavy day of fighting
After intense fighting between pro-Russia separatists and the Ukrainian military, many unsure if truce will hold.
A ceasefire agreed between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russia separatists has come into force, the first step in a fragile peace plan aimed at ending 10 months of conflict in eastern Ukraine.
The truce officially started at 2200 GMT on Saturday night, but a surge in fighting in the run-up to the ceasefire has cast doubt on whether it will be respected.
Under the terms of the deal, approved on Thursday during talks between the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France in Minks, Belarus, the two warring sides have two days from the start of the truce to start pulling back heavy weapons from the frontline.
The peace plan is seen as the best hope of ending the violence that has claimed at least 5,480 lives since April, but scepticism remains high after the collapse of a similar previous deal.
Ukraine crisis: President Poroshenko orders ceasefire
Ukraine's president ordered his country's troops to stop fighting as a ceasefire agreed with pro-Russian rebels was due to come into force.
Petro Poroshenko also warned rebels against continuing their attacks on the besieged town of Debaltseve
Rebel leaders in the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions earlier ordered their forces to cease fire from midnight local time (22:00 GMT).
Fighting raged near Debaltseve just hours before the truce kicked in.
Islamic State: Key Iraqi town near US training base falls to jihadists
Islamic State (IS) has captured an Iraqi town about 8km (5 miles) from an air base housing hundreds of US troops, the Pentagon says.
US officials downplayed the fall of al-Baghdadi, which is within striking distance of the Ain al-Asad air base.
Ain al-Asad was itself attacked by IS on Friday though the militants were repelled, officials say.
Until its fall, al-Baghdadi was one of the few towns in the western Anbar province still held by the Iraqi army.
Rear Adm John Kirby, a Pentagon spokesman, said the development had to be put into perspective.
AP Exclusive: Israeli house strikes killed mostly civilians
Submitted by: enhydra lutris
RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — The youngest to die was a 4-day-old girl, the oldest a 92-year-old man.
They were among at least 844 Palestinians killed as a result of airstrikes on Gaza homes during Israel's summer war with the Islamic militant group, Hamas.
Under the rules of war, homes are protected civilian sites unless used for military purposes. Israel says it attacked only legitimate targets, alleging militants used the houses to hide weapons, fighters and command centers. Palestinians say Israel's warplanes often struck without regard for civilians.
The Associated Press examined 247 airstrikes, interviewing witnesses, visiting attack sites and compiling a detailed casualty count.
The review found that 508 of the dead — just over 60 percent — were children, women and older men, all presumed to be civilians. Hamas says it did not use women as fighters in the war, and an Israel-based research group, the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, which tracks militants among the war dead, said it has no evidence women participated in combat.
Clashes between Shi'ite Houthis and Sunnis in Yemen leave 26 dead
(Reuters) - Tens of thousands of Yemenis demonstrated in several cities on Saturday against the rule of the Shi'ite Muslim Houthi movement as clashes between Houthis and Sunnis in a southern mountainous region left 26 dead.
It was the second day of nationwide demonstrations against the Iranian-backed Houthis in less than a week after their dissolution of parliament this month unraveled security and sent Western and Arab embassies packing.
Houthi gunmen fired on protesters in the central town of Ibb and wounded four, medics said.
Activists said they were enraged by the death on Saturday of Saleh al-Bashiri, who they say was detained by gunmen as they broke up an anti-Houthi protest in Sanaa two weeks ago and was released to a hospital with signs of torture on his body on Thursday. There was no immediate comment from the Houthis.
Venezuela officials say ex-general, 13 others in coup plot
Submitted by: enhydra lutris
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuelan officials on Friday cheered the thwarting of what they said was a planned coup that involved a plot to blow up the presidential palace.
President Nicolas Maduro announced Thursday night that a retired air force general had been arrested and 13 other people were implicated in a plot to overthrow the South American country's 15 year-old socialist revolution.
"We have foiled a coup attempt against democracy and the stability of our homeland," Maduro said, speaking on the anniversary of the start of street protests that wracked the nation last year.
Venezuela's government has frequently alleged coup plots, often without providing much evidence or follow up.
Congress president Diosdado Cabello said in a television broadcast that 11 soldiers were among those implicated, including a retired general, and that several had been arrested. He also named two opposition politicians and a businessman as plotters and charged that the U.S had tried to buy the loyalty of air force officers.
Case against Argentine president moves forward
Submitted by: enhydra lutris
BUENOS AIRES — The prosecutor who inherited a high-profile case against Argentine President Cristina Fernandez on Friday reaffirmed the accusations, formally renewing the investigation into whether the president helped Iranian officials cover up their alleged role in the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center.
Prosecutor Gerardo Pollicita’s decision to go forward with the case was significant because it sets the stage for a close examination of the investigation that prosecutor Alberto Nisman was building before he was found dead Jan. 18. The next day, Nisman was scheduled to elaborate his accusations to Congress.
Nisman accused Fernandez, Foreign Minister Hector Timerman and others in her administration of brokering the cover-up in exchange for favorable deals on oil and other goods from Iran. Fernandez and Timerman have strongly denied the accusations, and Iran has repeatedly denied involvement in the bombing, which killed 85 people.
A federal magistrate will ultimately decide whether to dismiss the findings or send it on to trial.
Deadly shooting at blasphemy debate in Copenhagen featuring cartoonist Lars Vilks
One civilian was killed and three police officers injured after shots were fired at a cafe in Copenhagen during a free speech discussion attended by controversial artist Lars Vilks and the French ambassador to Denmark, according to Danish police.
The assailant is still at large. Following interviews with witnesses, Danish police have said that evidence points to a single gunman and not two as previously reported. The suspect's photograph has been released.
The meeting, “Art, Blasphemy and Freedom of Expression” was being held in the Krudttonden cultural center in northern Copenhagen.
The French ambassador François Zimeray had just finished speaking at the event as the shots were fired at around 14:30 GMT. Later he confirmed in a tweet he was unharmed.
Copenhagen shooting: Danish police hunt killer
Photograph of suspect issued after Charlie Hebdo-style attack on cafe that has put all of Denmark on high alert
Danish police were hunting a suspected lone gunman after a 40-year-old man was killed and three officers injured when shots were fired at a Copenhagen cafe hosting a freedom of speech debate. The event had been organised by the controversial Swedish artist Lars Vilks, who has faced repeated threats for caricaturing the prophet Muhammad and believed he was the intended target.
Witnesses described scores of bullets ripping through the window of the Krudttønden cafe in Østerbro, near the centre of the city, shortly after 3.30pm, with a suspect fleeing by car after what was said to be an attempt to assassinate Vilks.
Police released a photograph of the suspect they were hunting as the Danish prime minister, Helle Thorning-Schmidt, called the shooting a terrorist attack and said the whole country was on high alert.
She said: “We feel certain now that it’s a politically motivated attack, and thereby it is a terrorist attack. Our main priority at this stage is to catch the perpetrators and make sure that we find them as soon as possible.”
Canadian man and American woman charged over foiled mass shooting plot
Group planned to open fire in public before turning guns on themselves
One suspect dead, Illinois woman charged with conspiracy to commit murder
A Canadian man and an American woman have been charged in connection with a foiled plot to carry out a mass shooting attack at a shopping mall on Valentine’s Day in Halifax, Nova Scotia, police said on Saturday.
Lindsay Kantha Souvannarath, 23, of Geneva, Illinois, and Randall Steven Shepherd, 20, of Nova Scotia, were charged with conspiracy to commit murder. They are due to appear in court in Canada on Tuesday. It was not immediately clear if Souvannarath will be extradited to the US.
A third suspect, a 17-year-old boy from Cole Harbour who police initially considered a “person of interest”, has been released from custody after it was determined there was not “enough information or evidence” to charge him in this case, said Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) commanding officer Brian Brennan.
A fourth suspect, a 19-year-old male, killed himself on Friday after police surrounded a residence in Timberlea, a suburb of Halifax. Brennan said police seized three long-barrel rifles from the house.
Prison Dispatches from the War on Terror: Confessed Plotter Gives Insight into Radicalization
In 2006, 21-year-old Fahim Ahmad was arrested and charged with leading a group of young men who planned to bomb power stations, take hostages and “behead politicians” in order to compel the Canadian government to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan. Ahmad was also accused of planning to travel abroad to join Islamist insurgents fighting in foreign conflicts.
While the group he led was described by authorities as “Al-Qaeda inspired,” it was not believed to have direct links to the group or any other designated terrorist organizations.
Born in Afghanistan, Ahmad moved with his family to Canada at the age of 10, and became a naturalized citizen. He lived in the working-class inner suburbs of Toronto, where he married and had two children. At the time of his arrest in 2006, he was unemployed.
After serving several years in pre-trial custody, Ahmad pleaded guilty to terror charges in 2010 and was sentenced to 16 years imprisonment, minus credit for time served. He is currently incarcerated at a facility outside Toronto, and is scheduled to be released in 2018.
Government wonders: What’s in your old emails?
WASHINGTON — If you’ve been remiss in cleaning out your email in-box, here’s some incentive: The federal government can read any emails that are more than six months old without a warrant.
Little known to most Americans, ambiguous language in a communications law passed in 1986 extends Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable search and seizure only to electronic communications sent or received fewer than 180 days ago.
The language, known as the “180-day rule,” allows government officials to treat any emails, text messages or documents stored on remote servers – popularly known as the cloud – as “abandoned” and therefore accessible using administrative subpoena power, a tactic that critics say circumvents due process.
As you rush to purge your Gmail and Dropbox accounts, however, be forewarned that even deleted files still could be fair game as long as copies exist on a third-party server somewhere.
Oscars Make History, So Hollywood’s War Stories Need To Be True
I’m not referring to the Oscars that particular films might win, but our embrace of their narratives of history. If “American Sniper” gathers a fistful of statues, even more people will see a film that presents a skewed view of the Iraq war. If the “Imitation Game” gets lucky, a lot more people will watch a movie that erroneously portrays Alan Turing as a social idiot. If “Selma” catches some of the limelight, more people may believe that Lyndon Johnson wasn’t entirely supportive of Martin Luther King.
This year’s controversy over films and history has led to a dismissive shrug from cultural critics who wearily tell us that movies are just movies, you shouldn’t take their versions of truth to heart, just enjoy the show. “Going to a Hollywood movie for a history lesson is like going to a brothel for a lecture in philosophy,” wrote Esquire’s Stephen Marche. “You’re in the wrong place.” A.O. Scott, the New York Times film critic, tweeted for the hard of understanding, “FEATURE FILMS ARE NOT HISTORY. THEY ARE HISTORICAL FICTION.”
They are right — Hollywood is not a classroom. The problem, however, is that movies, despite the bonfires of distortion in many of them, can shape our understanding of political events just as much as think tank reports or Pulitzer-winning books. For instance, a lot of major movies are taught in schools. It is disingenuous for the screening room cognoscenti to pretend that films are of no political consequence and shouldn’t be critiqued for historical accuracy — and that’s particularly true for war films.
As Don Gomez, a soldier and blogger, wrote about “Zero Dark Thirty,” which portrayed torture as playing a crucial role in finding Osama bin Laden, “Filmmakers can always deflect criticism by saying ‘It’s a movie, not a documentary,’ which is true. But that ignores the reality of how it will be consumed — how they know it will be marketed and consumed.” And guess what — opinion polls show a majority of Americans think torture worked, just as ZDT said it did, even though an exhaustive Senate report concluded it did not.
NASA: Get Ready for Terrifying Megadroughts, America
California is in its fourth year of drought, which has left its water reserves dry and cost its economy billions of dollars. Imagine these conditions across southern and central U.S. for another 30 years. There's an 80 percent chance that 30-year droughts will be the new normal for the region after 2050, if we continue to burn through fossil fuels at the current rate, according to a NASA study published Thursday in the journal Science Advances. They expect higher temperatures will dry out the soil, increasing droughts.
A megadrought of that length is like nothing the U.S. has experienced before. But there's still something we can do about it. NASA scientists note that the sooner we take action on greenhouse gas emissions, the better the chances are to avert a megadrought: NASA looked at what happens if greenhouse gas emissions start to come down worldwide by mid-century, and the risk of a megadrought drops to 60 percent.
Tom Brokaw warned for a year that Brian Williams’ Iraq story was a big fib
NPR reports that Brokaw raised concerns well before Williams' exaggerations came to light
Long before “NBC Nightly News” anchor Brian Williams conceded last week that he had exaggerated a harrowing tale of coming under fire while aboard an Army helicopter during the 2003 Iraq invasion, his predecessor Tom Brokaw was warning colleagues that Williams’ version of events didn’t dovetail with the facts, NPR’s David Folkenflik reports.
For “at least a year,” Folkenfilk says, Brokaw has been intimating that Williams’ gripping account — one that has repeatedly evolved over the years — raises significant red flags. Brokaw reportedly looked into the incident himself and concluded that “the facts simply didn’t match.” In the final analysis, Brokaw, who anchored the broadcast from 1982 to 2004, sees Williams as “more of a performer than an anchor,” Folkenfilk reports.
Insiders have variously described Brokaw and Williams’ relationship as wary, awkward and cool, despite a public front of conviviality. Following last week’s revelation that Williams’ aircraft had not, in fact, been fired upon, Brokaw was forced topublicly deny a New York Post report that he was pushing for Williams’ ouster, although his terse statement hardly constituted a vote of confidence. ”I have neither demanded nor suggested Brian be fired,” Brokaw emailed the Huffington Post. “His future is up to Brian and NBC News executives.”
'Not One Step Back': Moral Marchers Converge in North Carolina
Demonstrators rise up against attacks on voting and women's rights, economic justice, public education, equal protection under the law, and more
Rallying around a 14-point "People's Agenda," thousands gathered in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina on Saturday for the annual Moral March calling for livable wages, environmental justice, healthcare for all, an end to racism and inequality, and more.
The movement stands in opposition to "the extreme and regressive agenda being pushed in North Carolina"—an agenda it says is "a reflection of what is happening across the United States."
Organized bythe state NAACP and more than 100 advocacy groups, the march is an extension of the Moral Monday actions that have been taking place in North Carolina since 2013. Participants will challenge recent attacks on voting and reproductive rights, economic justice, public education, equal protection under the law, and more, under the banner "Forward Together, Not One Step Back!"
"This is our Selma," Rev. Dr. William Barber, president of the North Carolina NAACP, told journalists in a press call earlier this month, invoking the 1965 civil rights marches in Alabama that led to passage of the Voting Rights Act and were recently represented on the big screen. "Selma can’t merely be a movie, it must be a movement we engage in now. Everything they won in Selma is now being attacked and North Carolina is the clearest example of that."
Big Oil's pipeline to Congress
Submitted by: enhydra lutris
NEW YORK - With battle lines sharpening over the stalled Keystone XL pipeline, a new analysis details the intense industry lobbying of both houses of the US Congress since 2013 - to the tune of US$58.8 million by five refinery companies alone.
According to MapLight, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization that reveals money's influence on politics, the oil and gas industry gave, on average, 13 times more money to members of the House of Representatives who voted "yes" (US$43,375) on the bill called H.R. 3 than those who voted against it ($3,610). The bill would allow TransCanada to build the highly controversial Keystone XL pipeline without a presidential permit or additional environmental review. It passed the House on Wednesday with a vote of 270-152.
The US Senate approved a virtually identical measure last month.
"How can we truly trust legislators to vote in the public interest when they are dependent on industry campaign funding to get elected?" Pamela Behrsin of MapLight told IPS. "Our broken money and politics system forces lawmakers into a conflict of interest between lawmakers' voters and their donors."
She noted that Rep. Kevin Cramer, a Republican from North Dakota and the sponsor of the legislation, received $222,400 from the oil and gas industry, the ninth most among members of the House voting on H.R. 3.
Alecia Pennington can't prove she's an American – or even exists. What would you do?
To the government, Alecia Pennington doesn't exist. She has been unable to get a driver’s license, get a job, go to college, get on a plane, get a bank account, or vote. What can she do?
Submitted by: enhydra lutris
On Sep. 24, 2014, 18-year-old Alecia Faith Pennington left her family and childhood home with the help of her grandparents. Having been raised in a staunchly Christian, homeschooled family in Texas, she was ready to set off and pursue a new life.
But she quickly realized that would not be possible. While she claims that she was born on Nov. 26, 1995, there is no actual proof of her age or identity, when it comes to the United States government.
Ms. Pennington, who says she's now 19, has launched a campaign via YouTube and Facebook called “Help Me Prove It.” In the video, she explains her strange circumstance: she was born at home, after which her parents neglected to file for a birth certificate or a social security number; she was homeschooled and therefore has no school records; she has never been to a hospital and is without medical records. Furthermore, she says that her parents have been refusing to help her.
She appears caught in a Kafkaesque bureaucratic web – one that's been dubbed "identification abuse," which a small percentage of homeschooled children and adults sometimes experience, often due to the unconventional views held by their parents.
Thousands March Across Canada Demanding Justice for Indigenous Women
On National Day of Action for Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women, protests take place across Canada and in U.S.
Marches took place across Canada on Saturday, with participants demanding justice for the country's missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.
"Increasing deaths of many vulnerable women...still leaves family, friends, loved ones, and community members with an overwhelming sense of grief and loss," according to the Women's Memorial March Committee, organizer of the 25th annual event in Vancouver. "Indigenous women disproportionately continue to go missing or be murdered with minimal to no action to address these tragedies or the systemic nature of gendered violence, poverty, racism, or colonialism."
Last month, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, an autonomous arm of the Organization of American States, pinpointed colonization, long-standing inequality, and discrimination as root causes of disproportionate violence against Indigenous women.
Marlene George, Memorial March Committee organizer, added: "We are here to honor and remember the women, and we are here because we are failing to protect women from the degradation of poverty and systemic exploitation, abuse and violence. We are here in sorrow and in anger because the violence continues each and every day and the list of missing and murdered women gets longer every year."
Pennsylvania governor imposes moratorium on death penalty
Submitted by: enhydra lutris
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Newly elected Gov. Tom Wolf imposed a moratorium on the death penalty in the state on Friday, calling the current system of capital punishment "error prone, expensive and anything but infallible."
The Democrat said the moratorium will remain in effect at least until he receives a report from a legislative commission that has been studying the topic for about four years.
Wolf announced the policy less than a month after taking office, fulfilling a campaign promise.
"I want to give this joint bipartisan commission on the death penalty the ability to come up with their report," Wolf told reporters at a public appearance in Harrisburg on Friday evening. "Is it cost effective? Are we doing the right thing? Is it fair? Is it effective as a deterrent?"
Pennsylvania has executed only three people since the U.S. Supreme Court restored the death penalty in 1976. All three had voluntarily given up their appeals.
Hellraiser Preview
Sherman, set the time machine for tomorrow's Hellraisers Journal, which will feature a report on Frank P Walsh and his stand in solidarity with the telephone girls.
Tune in at 2pm!
|
CDC: Nasty flu season has peaked, is retreating
Submitted by: enhydra lutris
NEW YORK (AP) — This winter's nasty flu season has peaked and is clearly retreating, a new government report shows.
"There's a lot of flu season left, but it's clear we're decreasing and that flu season has peaked," said Dr. Michael Jhung of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Flu illnesses were at their highest levels around New Year's Day, Jhung said. The CDC released the new flu numbers Friday.
The flu bug spreading across the nation this winter is a type that tends to hit the elderly especially hard. Worse, the flu vaccine isn't working very well against the strain that is making most people sick.
Health officials have said since last fall that this season would be unusually severe. They proved correct, by at least one measure: Flu-related hospitalizations of the elderly are the highest since the government started tracking them nine years ago.
About 217 out of every 100,000 people 65 and older have been hospitalized with flu-related illness. The previous record was 183 per 100,000 two years ago.
Record high temps in Seattle, Olympia, Wash.
Submitted by: enhydra lutris
SEATTLE (AP) — The National Weather Service says both Seattle and Olympia, Washington, set high temperature records on Friday while the Portland, Oregon, suburb of Troutdale tied the record high for the date.
Olympia's high was 63 degrees, breaking the old record for Feb. 13 of 58 degrees, set in 1996. In Seattle, the temperature at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport hit 60, breaking the old record of 59, also set in 1996. Sea-Tac records have been kept since the mid 1940s.
Weather Service meteorologist Jay Albrecht says Seattle should see lots of sunshine in the next few days, possibly extending into the middle of the coming week.
Troutdale tied the previous high of 61 degrees, set in 1976. Records there have been kept since 1948.
Google camera helps capture bay’s rising sea levels
Submitted by: enhydra lutris
Recent visitors to San Francisco Bay might have spotted something strange: a small unmanned vessel zipping through the water with a mysterious sphere mounted atop its two parallel hulls.
“What is that?” one bystander asked recently, as the watercraft hugged the shoreline off of Fort Mason.
“Is it a water drone?” asked another.
For the past few months, the nonprofit San Francisco Baykeeper has been remotely piloting the craft — a catamaran topped with a loaner Google Street View camera.
In a teaming of tech and environmental advocacy, Baykeeper is using the camera’s 360-degree imagery to capture the shoreline’s rising sea levels, mapping a meandering 400 miles of the bay’s coast. The idea is to give people a close-up view of the shore, the kind of view typically available only from a boat.
This, Baykeeper hopes, will rile them up.
Keeping Food Security on the Table at UN Climate Talks
GENEVA, Feb 13 2015 (IPS) - Food security has become a key issue of the U.N. climate negotiations this week in Geneva as a number of countries and observers raised concerns that recent advances in Lima are in jeopardy.
While food security is a core objective of the U.N. climate convention, it has traditionally been discussed in relation to adaptation.
“Ask any African country what’s adaptation about – they’re going to say agriculture,” said Teresa Anderson of the international charity ActionAid. She added that 90 percent of countries who developed national adaptation plans identified agriculture as the key element.
Food security is referenced throughout the latest draft of the new climate agreement, which was released Feb. 12. One proposal for adaptation recognises the need “to build resilience of the most vulnerable linked to pockets of poverty, livelihoods and food security in developing countries.”
Beijing now drinking from vast water project environmentalists decry
BEIJING — Drinking water is flowing to Beijing from China’s controversial south-north water project – enough to fill 20,000 Olympic-size swimming pools in the first six weeks, the city reported Friday.
But concerns continue to swirl about the project’s environmental and human costseven as Beijing taps into a new water source nearly 800 miles away.
The central route of the south-north water project is China’s largest public works undertaking since the Three Gorges Dam, and it’s similarly contentious. It consists of a 400-foot-wide canal, aqueducts and other water works that stretch 798 miles to Beijing, starting at the Danjiangkou Reservoir in Henan province.
Environmentalists say the water diversions are sure to damage the ecology of the Han and lower Yangtze rivers. Construction of the canal also prompted the forced relocation of 100,000 people.
The Evening Greens
The Evening Greens Weekend Editor: enhydra lutris
'Megadroughts’ predicted to ravage the Southwest
The driving force behind the devastating droughts? Human-induced global warming, the team reported.
The new forecast is based on models of continued climate change that consider the slow pace of many nations to curb their output of greenhouse gases. The scientists contend there is at least a 20 percent chance that coming droughts will last 35 years or more, and a 50 percent chance that they will last 10 years or more.
“When you stack these model projections against the reconstruction of past climates, the results are so sobering that they have me ready to go out for a drink,” said Ken Caldeira, a climate scientist at the Carnegie Institution for Science and Stanford University, in an e-mail.
Caldeira, who was not connected with the study, said the scientists’ forecasts are based on “the most reliable model results available in the world today.”
'It's a Good One': Second Baby Orca Spotted in Endangered Pod
A scientist who tracks a group of endangered killer whales that frequent Puget Sound says he's spotted a second baby born to the pod in the past two months.
Ken Balcomb of the Center for Whale Research confirmed the newborn orca in J-pod after it was spotted Thursday. He said the week-old calf, whose gender isn't yet known, appears healthy and is dubbed J51. "It's a good one," Balcomb told the Kitsap Sun.
The presumed mother is 36-year-old J19. Balcomb said two whales were seen swimming protectively alongside the baby. The addition joins J50, a baby spotted in late December. The two bring Puget Sound's southern resident orca population to 79, which is still dangerously low. A 19-year-old female from J-pod died in early December.
The southern resident orcas spend a lot of time in Washington state's Puget Sound and off the coast of British Columbia. They depend on salmon for food, while the ocean-roaming transient orcas hunt marine mammals such as seals. Scientists say the southern resident orcas suffer from malnutrition and chemical contamination from polluted waters.
Negotiators agree on early draft of UN climate deal
In Geneva this week, negotiators from more than 190 countries are working on an early draft of a deal that’s supposed to be adopted in Paris in December.
So instead of shrinking to a more manageable size, the 38-page text from a previous climate change meeting swelled to 86 pages during the weeklong negotiating session in Geneva.
"We were hoping to see a more concise text," said Ilze Pruse, a delegate from the European Union.
Others said the key thing was to ensure that all countries felt their views were reflected — something many developing countries have insisted on since a 2009 attempt to forge a global deal crashed in Copenhagen.
"After years of false starts and broken promises, restoring ownership and trust in the process is no small achievement. And I think we have come a long way toward doing that," said Ahmed Sareer, a Maldives delegate who represents an alliance of island nations.
New Science paper calculates magnitude of plastic waste going into the ocean
8 million metric tons of plastic enter the oceans per year
Athens, Ga. - A plastic grocery bag cartwheels down the beach until a gust of wind spins it into the ocean. In 192 coastal countries, this scenario plays out over and over again as discarded beverage bottles, food wrappers, toys and other bits of plastic make their way from estuaries, seashores and uncontrolled landfills to settle in the world's seas.
How much mismanaged plastic waste is making its way from land to ocean has been a decades-long guessing game. Now, the University of Georgia's Jenna Jambeck and her colleagues in the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis working group have put a number on the global problem.
Their study, reported in the Feb. 13 edition of the journal Science, found between 4.8 and 12.7 million metric tons of plastic entered the ocean in 2010 from people living within 50 kilometers of the coastline. That year, a total of 275 million metric tons of plastic waste was generated in those 192 coastal countries.
Jambeck, an assistant professor of environmental engineering in the UGA College of Engineering and the study's lead author, explains the amount of plastic moving from land to ocean each year using 8 million metric tons as the midpoint: "Eight million metric tons is the equivalent to finding five grocery bags full of plastic on every foot of coastline in the 192 countries we examined."
Blog Posts of Interest
Here are diaries and selected blog posts of interest on DailyKos and other blogs.
What's Happenin' Is On Hiatus
Which Is Propaganda, Which Is News-Reporting?
We Live In An Era Of Dangerous Imbalances
How Stupid Do They Think We Are?
Loretta Lynch is Condoleeza Rice With A Law Degree
Noam Chomsky: “The World That We’re Creating For Our Grandchildren Is Grim”
Has the IMF Annexed Ukraine?
Let Us No Longer Keep Silent About Torture
How Activists Are Responding to the NYPD's Attempts to Thwart Black Lives Matter
4,000 U.S. Troops to Kuwait
Hellraisers Journal: Government fails where private corporations can take up arms & police citizens.
Dave Brat's genius observations in Congress about education
Words
A Little Night Music
Dale Watson - Carryin' On This Way
Dale Watson - I Lie When I Drink
Dale Watson - Tequila and Teardrops
Dale Watson - Nashville Rash
Dale Watson -Tell 'Em I Ain't Here
Dale Watson - Honkiest Tonkiest Beer Joint
Dale Watson - Jukebox Charlie
Dale Watson - A Real Country Song
Dale Watson - I Hate To Drink Alone
Dale Watson - Poor Baby
Dale Watson - My Baby Makes Me Gravy
Dale Watson - Hey Brown Bottle
Dale Watson - A Couple of Beers Ago
Dale Watson - Thanks to Tequila