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Tag Archives: stimulus
World’s Oldest Shoe Discovered, Dates Back 5,500 Years
You won’t find this style on Zappos! The world’s oldest shoe dates back 5,500 years. Photo: AP Photo/Department of Archaeology University College CorkLooks like our ancestors had a little trouble watching their step.
Researchers excavating an Armenian cave have discovered the world’s oldest shoe — a cowhide lace-up encased in a pile of sheep dung, The New York Times reports.
(Ew. We suspect even Imelda Marcos might give this one a pass.)
Tanned in oils from a plant or vegetable and bearing leather eyelets for its laces, the right shoe reportedly pre-dates Stonehenge, the Egyptian pyramids and Joan Rivers.
“These were probably quite expensive shoes, made of leather, very high quality,” Gregory Areshian of the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at the University of California, a lead scientist on the project, told the paper.
The shoe is estimated to date back to the Copper Age, around 3653 to 3627 B.C., and would fit a woman (or petite man) with a size 7 foot, according to The New York Times.
Scientists told the source that the shoe appears to have been deliberately preserved, with grass stuffing and yellow clay lining keeping its shape intact. (Nice to know ancient gals were as shoe-obsessed as we are.)
“You can see the imprints of the big toe,” another team leader, Ron Pinhasi of Ireland’s University College Cork, told the paper.
“As the person was wearing and lacing it, some of the eyelets had been torn and repaired.”
The discovery was reportedly made after the National Geographic Society-funded researchers found other artifacts, including horns, pottery, and something doctoral student Diana Zardaryan thought felt like “an ear of a cow.”
“But when I took it out, I thought, ‘Oh my God, it’s a shoe,'” she told the paper. “To find a shoe has always been my dream.”
Ah — a woman after our own hearts!
So who was this Copper Age Carrie Bradshaw? We may never know… but it makes for one heck of a good, old-school Cinderella story.
In other shoe news, read about this government-funded “Sexy Heels in the City” college course.
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A better tomorrow means less Tea in Congress
In March of 2010, a Gallup Poll report stated that if a vote from We the People for Congress were taken right now it would result in 47% voting for Democrats and 44% Republicans. My response, if this is true, organizers definitely need to get prepared for November 2010. That the numbers were this close because the Democrats have not gone big bold and progressive as most of us want. Well, we all know what happened and granted the process of changing policy and or making better laws are not easy or pleasant but it should not be the reason for changing your attitude or your vote solely for hating the process. The bills that are being considered or waiting in the Senate, could improve the lives of the many rather than a select few and we need to get beyond the status quo Republicans seem to have claimed as the best way to gain back Congress. I don’t know about you but what I hear and see just makes it clear that Republicans like Speaker Boehner and Senator Mitch McConnell do not represent America… period. We need Senator Reid to find the will not only be tough but remember this is not just a historic moment for everyone it is the opportunity to move America into the 21st Century. The people spoke in 2008 and again in 2012 with 53% voting for Barack Obama for a 2nd term. Now, it’s time for Congress to stop acting out earn their pay and do the right thing.
The fact is while Congress ignores passing legislation the Sequester is moving into the living rooms of families all over the country … invisible to those on tv from commentary reporters or journos offering entertainment judgments advice as well as conservative politicians who we call public servants seemingly acting extreme … are bad actors
The Media continues to speculate or re-enforce the negative and mocking President Obama’s so-called improbable agenda of climate change, immigration overhaul as well as stating that Democrats are wavering on a vote that could quite possibly bring all that is Democratic down. It is at this moment that the Democratic Party should be willing to create change that has been needed for quite some time and like the President has stated…
My question for you voters is … if not now when, because we may never get this chance for a long time if ever.
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Must see Vids ~~~ YouTube
People Power vs Big Oil
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 In days, Nigeria’s Parliament could approve a $5 billion fine against giant oil polluter Shell and set in motion a law that would hold oil companies to account for the first time ever. The President endorses the penalty, but Big Oil are lobbying MPs like crazy to vote against reform. Our voices can drown them out to win justice for Nigeria’s people. Join the urgent call now!
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In days, Nigeria’s Parliament could approve a $5 billion fine against giant oil polluter Shell for a spill that devastated the lives of millions of people, and pass a law to hold all oil companies to account for polluting and plundering. This is a watershed moment, but unless we all speak out, oil giants will crush it.
Finally, Big Oil is having to pay for the wasteland and violence that they’ve created. President Jonathan supports the Shell fine, and progressive Senators are pushing for strong regulations, but oil companies are slick, and without huge international support MPs could buckle under the pressure.
Politicians are deciding their positions right now — sign the urgent petition for the Nigerian Parliament to fine Shell and support the bill, and then forward this to everyone — when we hit a million signers we’ll bring our unprecedented global call to the steps of Nigeria’s Parliament:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/make_shell_pay_b/?biEWLbb&v=19059
Experts say that every year Big Oil spills as much crude into the Niger Delta as an Exxon Valdez, but as it is Africa, it gets little media play. After a leak occurred at Shell’s Bonga oil facility last December, millions of gallons poured into the ocean and washed up on the densely populated coast — resulting in one of the largest African oil spills ever. The fine and bill on the table are a once in a lifetime chance to stand up to Big Oil.
Oil companies have made $600 billion in the last 50 years in Nigeria, but locals don’t see the benefits. Their land, drinking water and fishing grounds are ruined. And Shell has spent hundreds of millions of dollars a year on security forces, repressing protest against its harmful practices.
The oil industry is crucial to the economy, but companies have never been held to account for the devastation of drilling. Now, the Nigerian President and a few brave MPs are speaking out and they could finally slam the oil giants with tough fines and give fair pay outs to the victims. If we show MPs that the world supports these crucial steps, we can literally change the lives of millions. Click below to sign the urgent petition:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/make_shell_pay_b/?biEWLbb&v=19059
Avaazers have stood up to Big Oil all over the world, from Chevron in Ecuador, to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, to ending fossil fuel subsidies at the Rio Summit. Now let’s do it for Nigeria too. Make sure the politicians send a message to Big Oil: your days of impunity are over.
With hope and determination,
Pascal, Patricia, Alex, Ricken, David, Rewan, and the Avaaz team
Shell Faces $5 Billion Nigeria Fine (Wall Street Journal)
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303933704577532723563488122.html
Shell urged to pay Nigeria $5bn over Bonga oil spill (BBC)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-18875731
Shell’s grip on Nigerian state revealed (The Guardian)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/dec/08/wikileaks-cables-shell-nigeria-spying
U.N. slams Shell as Nigeria needs biggest ever oil clean-up (Reuters)
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/04/us-nigeria-ogoniland-idUSTRE7734MQ20110804
Nigeria: Oil spill investigations ‘a fiasco’ in the Niger Delta (Amnesty International)
http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/nigeria-oil-spill-investigations-fiasco-niger-delta-2012-08-02
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