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Figures & Facts
On NYr's Eve 5000 birds dropped dead fr sky, 100000 fish found dead; Clinton takes vegan pledge; "You need to get off facebook"?
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For Arkansas Blackbirds, the New Year Never Came
Times Square had the ball drop, and Brasstown, N.C., had its descending possum. But no place had a New Year’s Eve as unusual, or freakishly disturbing, as Beebe, Ark.
A worker with U.S. Environmental Services, a private contractor, picked up a dead bird on Saturday.
Around 11 that night, thousands of red-winged blackbirds began falling out of the sky over this small city about 35 miles northeast of Little Rock. They landed on roofs, roads, front lawns and backyards, turning the ground nearly black and terrifying anyone who happened to be outside.
"One of them almost hit my best friend in the head," said Christy Stephens, who was standing outside among the smoking crowd at a party. "We went inside after that." read more »
Celestial Majesty: Sun Storm, Hubble's Mystic Mountain, Big Bear's Sunspot, 1st time since 1638:Solstice+Full Moon+Lunar Eclipse
(quote) The hourglass shape of the supernova remnant SN 1987A isn't as well balanced as thought, according to an August picture of the exploded star... when massive stars explode, some of the ejected material gets shot into space faster than other debris.
A colorful, craggy column of dust and gas dubbed the Mystic Mountain stars in a picture from the Hubble Space Telescope released April 23 as part of celebrations for Hubble's 20th anniversary.
Mars shines like a bright red star over a "moonbow" in fog surrounding Hawaii's Haleakala volcano in January. Mars was about to make its closest pass by Earth for 2010.
“We can save our poles & planet if we act now,” Eric Larsen, 1st & only man to have set foot on N Pole, S Pole & Mt. Everest
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Eric Larsen – New World Record Created. After over 44 days on Mount Everest, Polar explorer Eric Larsen announced on October 15, 2010 that he was able to summit Everest, making him the first-ever human to successfully reach the South Pole, North Pole and summit of Mt. Everest in a continuous 365-day period: “I have been to the ‘front lines’ of Global Warming during my journeys to the North and South Poles,” Larsen says. “We can save the poles and our planet if we act now.” On January 6, 2010, Larsen and his team successfully completed a 750-mile, 48-day ski traverse to the Geographic South Pole. Larsen and a separate team reached the Geographic North Pole on April 22nd, Earth Day, after a 51-day, 500 mile push that included snowshoeing and skiing across shifting sea ice and sometimes even swimming across open water sections of the Arctic Ocean. His purpose for the Save the Poles expedition is to connect people with our last great frozen places and the environmental issues that are impacting them. Larsen uses these expeditions to promote individual action and national legislation on climate change issues. read more »
Cartoon & Humor:"Food for Work" "Just in Canada for a Week" "EU Dominos: Irish bailout" "New Yorker stands up for Granny & kid"
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The long-awaited rescue of Ireland has failed to calm nerves about the unsustainable levels of debt blighting many European countries. Leaders across the continent hope that the crisis that started in Athens will stop in Dublin and that there is no danger of Lisbon, Madrid or even Rome passing round the hat. read more »
Los Angeles bans plastic bags; High tech trash: here today, obsolete tomorrow; REFUSE, REUSE to reduce plastic pollution
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L.A. County passes sweeping ban on plastic bags - "You cannot recycle your way out of the plastic bag problem.. The cost of convenience can no longer be at the expense of the environment."
Enacting one of the nation's most aggressive environmental measures, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to ban plastic grocery bags in unincorporated areas of the county. The vote was 3-1. read more »
