Tag Archives: Congress

Science.Howstuffworks.com – reminder 2010


A repost – it’s interesting and informative
10 Sustainable Buildings

10 Sustainable Buildings

Green building is no longer a thing of the future. Find out how architects and builders use solar panels, plastic bottles and straw bale insulation for ten environmentally friendly structures.

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10 Things You Can Do to Help Save the Earth

10 Things You Can Do to Help Save the Earth

It’s a lot easier than you think to “go green” — many of these suggestions require little effort, yet can make a big difference for the environmental. Watch a video and read more about saving the earth.

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5 Amazing Green Cities

5 Amazing Green Cities

Sure, the Emerald City looked green, but you won’t need green-tinted glasses to see how environmentally friendly the cities on this list are. What makes a city amazingly green?

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5 Green Cities of the Future

5 Green Cities of the Future

Sustainable urbanism is no longer a futuristic dream. Welcome to five cities around the world that will be turning a radical shade of green in the coming decades.

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5 Myths About Renewable Energy

5 Myths About Renewable Energy

We’re currently suspended between two ages: a time dependent on fossil fuels and a future dominated by renewable energy sources. Yet not everyone is sold on this vision, so a number of myths about renewable energy persist.

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5 Wacky Forms of Alternative Energy

5 Wacky Forms of Alternative Energy

For those who reduce, reuse and recycle to the beat of their own drum, here are some of the wackier ways to help better the environment and lessen your carbon footprint.

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5 Walkable Cities

5 Walkable Cities

What makes a city walkable? It’s not just sidewalks. You have to be able to access jobs, stores and places of entertainment while feeling comfortable and safe. What are five cities in the United States that have risen to the challenge?

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Are climate skeptics right?

Are climate skeptics right?

It’s evident the debate over climate change is a heated one. Are skeptics clouding the public judgment for money? Are climate-change believers merely alarmists who risk the present for the future?

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Are my bath habits destroying marine ecology?

Are my bath habits destroying marine ecology?

After sloughing off your dead skin, what happens to those plastic microbeads that wash down the drain? Some make it all the way to the ocean and linger until they become a very unhealthy supper.

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Are personal watercraft destroying the planet?

Are personal watercraft destroying the planet?

They may seem like a fun water sport or a noisy nuisance, but whatever your stance on personal watercraft, there’s no denying they pollute. So how bad are they?

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Can air pollution affect heart health?

Can air pollution affect heart health?

Everyone knows air pollution isn’t good for your lungs, but it turns out that it’s not doing your heart any favors either. Why do the particulates in the air we breathe interfere with our heart’s basic job: to keep things ticking?

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Can baking soda save the environment?

Can baking soda save the environment?

One company’s SkyMine technology aims to capture industrial carbon dioxide emissions and turn them into an endlessly useful product: Baking soda. But how do pollutants become a household staple?

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Can house music solve the energy crisis?

Can house music solve the energy crisis?

Electrifying dance moves might impress your friends, but they usually don’t help power the club you’re dancing in. What’s piezoelectricity, and how could it help twist the future of energy generation?

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Can humans start an earthquake?

Can humans start an earthquake?

Earthquakes are “natural” disasters, right? Yes, but that doesn’t mean the shifting plates that cause them can’t be aggravated by human industry.

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Can I travel without expanding my carbon footprint?

Can I travel without expanding my carbon footprint?

You’ve booked a safari with the environment in mind. There’s just one problem: Trans-Atlantic flights aren’t very green. Can green tags make your gas-guzzling trip carbon neutral?

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Can my body generate power after I die?

Can my body generate power after I die?

Haunted by ideas of your body polluting the Earth after you’re gone? Microbial fuel cell technology could allow you to harness the energy of your own decomposition to power batteries.

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Can we bury our CO2 problem in the ocean?

Can we bury our CO2 problem in the ocean?

Carbon dioxide released from burning fossil fuels is a prime suspect in global warming. Could we mitigate the problem by burying the CO2 deep within the ocean?

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Can we harness energy from outer space?

Can we harness energy from outer space?

As alternative energy sources sputter to take off on Earth, scientists are turning an eye toward space. What are the most promising celestial options, and when could they be in use?

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Can we plug the hole in the ozone layer?

Can we plug the hole in the ozone layer?

The ozone layer prevents much of the sun’s ultraviolet light from reaching the Earth. But there’s a problem: a gaping hole the size of Antarctica. What can we do about it?

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Help Keep Trash Out of Our Oceans … repost


 

Each year, countless marine animals and sea birds are endangered by the flow of trash into our oceans. The fact is, Sea turtles are entangled and choked by plastic and discarded nets. Whales mistake trash bags for food and perish. And, let’s not forget the harmful impact contaminated marine environments have on human beings. Plastic also attracts and concentrates other pollutants from surrounding seawater, posing a contamination risk to those species that then eat it. Scientists are studying the impacts of that contamination on fish and shellfish.

From plankton to whales, animals across ocean ecosystems have been contaminated by plastic. Plastic has been found in 59% of sea birds like albatross and pelicans, in 100% of sea turtle species, and more than 25% of fish sampled from seafood markets around the world.

Marine debris isn’t an ocean problem—it’s a people problem. That means people are the solution. Ocean Conservancy is committed to keeping our beaches and ocean trash free. For more than 30 years we have organized the International Coastal Cleanup, where nearly 12 million volunteers from 153 countries have worked together to collect more than 220 million pounds of trash. And we’re not the only ones who care about ocean trash: Every day, all over the world, concerned people take the problem into their own hands by cleaning up their local waterways.

Tackling the problem of plastic in the ocean begins on land. Reduction in plastics use, especially of single-use disposable products, and the collection and recycling of plastics in developing countries can help to reduce the amount of plastic waste that enters the ocean.

At our International Coastal Cleanups, volunteers have picked up more than half a million straws and stirrers, making straws one of the top ten items on our annual list. Straws pose a real danger to animals like sea turtles, albatross and fish who can eat them. Take action today: #SKIPtheSTRAW !

Add your voice to the sea of people taking a stand for the ocean. Sign the pledge now and when offered a straw, simply say ‘no thanks.’

We can’t afford to trash our planet – so let’s do something about it.

Trash Travels – even if you do not live near the ocean, you can take action in your community to make sure litter does not end up in our waters.

Please Teach your kids to recycle properly … Save our Planet

resource: Earth Day Network, Ocean Conservancy

Caring for Someone with Cancer: Food Safety Tips


Food Safety for People with Cancer

Cancer patients are at a greater risk of suffering from a foodborne illness because of their weakened immune systems. Cancer treatments, such as radiation and chemotherapy, weaken the body’s immune system by affecting the blood cells that protect against disease and germs. This condition is known as neutropenia.

As a result, their body cannot fight infection, foreign substances, and disease, as well as a healthy person’s body can. Because of this higher risk, people with cancer or those preparing food for them must practice proper food-handling techniques to kill pathogens and avoid cross-contamination. Foodborne illness, which is caused by eating food that contains harmful bacteria, parasites, or viruses, can be severe and sometimes deadly. For example, cancer patients are 53% more likely to die from an adenovirus infection, whereas those with healthy immune systems rarely succumb to the virus.

What You Can Do
Learn about safety tips for those at increased risk of foodborne illness. Those living with cancer should always follow the four steps:

Clean: Wash hands and surfaces often

Separate: Separate raw meat and poultry from ready-to-eat foods

Cook: Cook food to the right temperatures

Chill: Chill raw meat and poultry as well as cooked leftovers promptly (within 2 hours)

If you or someone you care for receives prepared meals, visit our home-delivered meals page for information on how to keep these safe.

Download our FoodKeeper application to make sure you are storing food and beverages properly, and using them within recommended storage guidelines.
More Information
Food Safety for People with Cancer (FDA)
A need-to-know guide for people who have been diagnosed with cancer.

 

 

 

 

Statewide ban on disposable plastic bags is signed into law by Brown ~ 2018 reminder


Observation …. word of the day


Word of the day is all about the act of observation …and a rant

I have to ask everyone who is taking the time to read this —at what point will the various cable and main stream stations do the right thing and stick to the truth instead of skewing it to make the current government look sane -stop trying to sway voters and report the news…This stuff is NOT normal

After days and weeks of offensive down right discriminatory comments coming from Politicians already in office, folks running for office, even some pundits are riding on the edge of truth but the reality is – this kind of rhetoric,  this fear mongering could quite possibly put our democracy at risk.

The only solution is to End the #trumpTrifecta yes, midterm2018matters

Compare and Contrast all the things that the Obama2010admin as well as Congress managed to achieve despite the Republican Tea Party.

Observe and analyze who what when and why things have not improved as some out there on the left want and then remind them  what people said … that a President that goes too far left of center is not representing all Americans. The truth is most people “most” used to be moderate and expect the President to be not just moderate but bipartisan; until Obama! And while folks on the right said one thing and did another on the floor of congress and btw this is standard republican behavior no matter who is in office, it makes you wonder if taking a hard left is the only way to solve and get the People’s Business done and back on track.

Then reality comes back and we have to remember the Democratic Party is made up of a huge tent with various degrees of democratic ideology and going or taking that hard left was not only a mission impossible but possibly no one was or is ready for.  The 2010-2013 Republican Tea Party were united no matter what their colleagues said or did,  the Democratic party on the other hand seem to fight to get good legislation on the floor of the Senate ,debate it to make progress in the move toward the 21st Century living. We all know our ability to move forward is being held hostage by the Republican Party having turned full out trumpNation until they can ruin our recovering economy of all “it’s Obama” stamp. I hope my worry is your worry, that we will have no place to go or anyone to help if in fact we fall into a deep recession … again!

I have to say my Observation of “the Media” … is not just giving Republicans more airtime but seemingly those folks know who is buttering their paychecks so the fair and balanced slogan when describing the news is just a joke now.

We must remember what happened in 2008! Yes, Congress goes through change, but the era of trump is at hand. Now, more than ever we need main stream media to provide on a daily basis information on the failure of the house of bush, the deficit he left and finding out that Wall Street, Oil and the Banks as well as AIG made bets not only with the people’s money but against us – you would think some would understand that after years of corruption it might take years to make all the corrections given the fact that some parts needed to make the fix are being held hostage by Republicans.  I am no expert but people need to compare their own budgets to what happened in 2008 then estimate your recovery time…  and realize any correction will take a long time especially since folks on the right were able to downsize/block or stall most of the financial fixes in the Senate.  So, voters need to take a real look at the spending that team trump is engaged in and call him out.

The Democratic Party needs to get our arses out to vote.

Mitdterm2018 is a pivotal moment and if we really want change; Not Autocratic change, we need to urge all protected classes to make sure they vote. It has become apparent that some folks do not understand why the process of change cannot and should NOT be done by only the POTUS but Congress in both Chambers as separate branches of our government needs to do the work of the people.  While it is obvious, the House is definitely representing $$$$ the Senate faces obstacles and the only solution is getting truer Dems on the floor of the Senate. We must make sure our Nation is NOT sliding into an autocratic nation to which some of trump supporters have expressed as a good change? Come on!?

President Obama did the best he could with what the last admin left him and again it took a long time to get to an improved 2017 but it seems team trump has not only stripped away the Obama legacy it has hurt Americans in ways that probably won’t be fully felt until 2019.  We are witnessing those on the right who choose to provoke trump fear; lately that has turned into action by those feeling certain TV or radio personalities were giving them subliminal instructions to act against those who support the Democratic Party ,Muslims, Black and Brown folks and Jews. That has got to stop; it would be even better if “the Media” would stop giving folks on the right passes when they make outrageous, racist, xenophobic exclusionary comments…we hear it from Fox News but now cable stations, depending on the day or hour seem to take a hard right and has this viewer wondering where the money is coming from, supporting the more extreme view on our airwaves? But then again Sinclair Broadcasting is another animal doing its best to alter the facts and reality of our daily lives.  What we are seeing by some reporters, pundits, and talking heads  are of engaging in the dance of “News manipulation” which is a sad representation of what real journalists, reporters and commentators used to be … What hashtag #FreePress means and meant to our founding fathers …lol

If you are trying to figure out exactly how we got into this mess?  Remember that once fabulous video “House of Cards” by David Faber…on CNBC… but I don’t believe it’s still available

What have you Observed?

 

~Nativegrl77