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Can You Go to Canada If You Have a DUI?
Almost 7 years ago, while going through some personal issues, I made a terrible mistake and ended up being convicted of driving under the influence (DUI) in the State of California. It was a dark period in my life, but I have moved on and learned my lesson. This spring, however, my intoxicated driving conviction […]
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You Should Probably Quit Your Job and Join The Weed Industry Now
Posted December 10, 2018 by Manisha Krishnan
New numbers from Statistics Canada shows cannabis workers are making more than the average Canadian.
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This Dog Guarded His Family’s Burned House for Weeks After the Camp Fire
Posted December 10, 2018 by Anonymous
A truly good boy.
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Roger, the Ripped-as-all-Hell Kangaroo, Has Died
Posted December 10, 2018 by Anonymous
Roger, a kangaroo who rose to global fame due to his incredible physicality, has died. He was 12.
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Some Licensed Producers Are Selling Weed Oils That Are Placebos: Researchers
Posted December 10, 2018 by Manisha Krishnan
Scientus Pharma claims its technology will ensure Canadians are getting what they pay for.
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‘Shame on You’: Campaigners Disrupt US Fossil Fuel Event Attended by Climate Science Deniers
Posted December 10, 2018 by Anonymous
Read time: 6 mins
Campaigners disrupted a US event promoting “greener and cleaner” fossil fuel energy at the UN climate talks, calling it “a farce” that had no place within the global climate negotiations process.
Minutes after the start of the event on the fringe of the climate conference in Katowice, Poland, dozens of youth activists, indigenous campaigners and community leaders burst out laughing and stood up in front of the panel chanting “keep it in the ground”.
A large banner with the “keep it in the ground” was deployed in a way to hide the panel from the audience.
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Question of the Day: What’s Your Biggest Regret?
Posted December 10, 2018 by Anonymous
“I regret the tattoo on my arm that I just got lasered off about 10 minutes ago.”
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Thieves Spent Hours Harvesting $15,000 of Garlic in Weird Farm Heist
Posted December 10, 2018 by Anonymous
This has never happened in Australia before.
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A 16-Year-Old Has Died After Being Electrocuted By His Headphones
Posted December 10, 2018 by Anonymous
The teenager in Malaysia was found dead with blood coming out of his ears.
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Five Questions About… Andy Serkis Doing That Theresa May/Gollum Impression
Posted December 10, 2018 by Anonymous
The things the internet has produced.
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This Jail Is Accused of Favoring Christians Who Agree to Live in ‘God Pod’
Posted December 10, 2018 by Anonymous
Muslim prisoners, meanwhile, say they were starved during Ramadan and deprived of religious texts.
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10 Easy Ways to Save Your Money and Improve Your Health in 2019
Posted December 10, 2018 by Yoni Freedhoff
As has been my tradition, in December I repost old favourites from years gone by. This year am looking back to 2015.
Who wouldn’t want to both save money and improve their health? If you’re looking for some ways to do so, here are some quick thoughts:
- Unless you have a medically proven reason or need, stop buying vitamins and supplements that at best provide only the most marginal of benefits to your health (estimated savings $100-$1,000/yr).
- Reduce your dinners out (including sit down, fast food, take-out, and supermarket take-out) by 50% across the board (estimated savings $1,000-$5,000/yr depending on family size and meal out frequency).
- Never eat lunch out unless someone else is buying or unless you have a business obligation to do so (estimated savings $500-$3,000/yr).
- Cancel cable or satellite TV, buy an HDTV antenna (so you can still watch your local sports, news and some TV), and use Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Prime or some other comparable service (estimated savings even after expenditures $250-$1,000/yr).
- Buy a thermos or a travel mug and a great coffee maker and kick your fancy coffee habit (estimated savings even post purchases $100-$500/yr)
Now of course there will be readers who spend more and less on various aspects of those points, but if there are readers where all 5 apply, making these changes might save them between $1,950 and $10,500 dollars.
As far as what to do with that windfall?
- Join a CSA farm share to increase your consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables (estimated average annual cost $400-$1,000 depending on size of share)
- Join a great local community centre or gym (estimated annual cost of $200-$600)
- Buy some used recreational fitness equipment (bikes, skis, snowshoes, etc.) from your local buy and sell (estimated one time cost of $200-$400)
- Take a cooking class at your local Community College (estimated cost of $100-$300)
- Save it all and use it for a stress relieving active vacation, or stress relieving debt relief.
(And sure, some of your own personal numbers and mileages will vary.)
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#626 Riding home with a steaming box of pizza on your lap
Posted December 10, 2018 by Anonymous
Pepperoni fumes fill the air as you swerve and curve your way home. Yes, that hot bulky square of cardboard filled with zesty sauce and bubbling mozzarella heats your legs and gets your stomach rumbling for a delicious dinner that nobody needs to cook. AWESOME! Photo from: here — Subscribe to my Youtube channel —
The post #626 Riding home with a steaming box of pizza on your lap appeared first on 1000 Awesome Things.
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‘Widows’ Isn’t the Feminist Triumph You Think It Is
Posted December 9, 2018 by Anonymous
Mainstream media still struggles to accurately portray the impacts of racial and economic oppression in the lives of women.
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Warning of Solar Geoengineering’s Dangers, Group Recommends a Global Ban
Posted December 9, 2018 by Anonymous
Read time: 7 mins
A Harvard research team recently announced plans to perform early tests to shoot sunlight-reflecting particles into the high atmosphere to slow or reverse global warming.
These research efforts, which could take shape as soon as the first half of 2019, fall under the banner of a geoengineering technology known as solar radiation management, which is sometimes called “sun dimming.”
However, less than two weeks after the announcement, the climate science and policy institute Climate Analytics took aim at these ambitions in a new briefing titled ”Why geoengineering is not a solution to the climate problem,” which goes as far as recommending a global ban on solar geoengineering.
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#627 When your friends working in fast food restaurants give you a little something extra
Posted December 9, 2018 by Anonymous
Sure, sure, we’re all honest people here. You and me, we’re driving the speed limit, crossing at crosswalks, and never double parking. But that doesn’t mean we don’t like bonus fries, extra-scoopy ice cream, or double cheese on our subs, people. Yes, when the gal behind the smooth orange counter wearing the paper hat and […]
The post #627 When your friends working in fast food restaurants give you a little something extra appeared first on 1000 Awesome Things.
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‘Conceivably the Worst’: Groups, Lawmakers Blast Confirmation of Climate Denier to FERC
Posted December 8, 2018 by guest
Read time: 4 mins
By Lorraine Chow, EcoWatch. Reposted with permission from EcoWatch.
Bernard McNamee, a climate change denier who helped write the Trump administration’s failed coal and nuclear bailout plan, was confirmed Thursday as a commissioner on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).
The Senate approved the nominee on a straight party-line vote of 50-49 after Sen. Joe Manchin, the pro-coal Democrat of West Virginia, withdrew his support due to his concerns about McNamee’s stance on climate change.
President Trump’s nomination of the fossil fuel lawyer as one of the FERC‘s five commissioners was strongly opposed by environmentalists, public health groups and elected leaders.
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‘We Cannot Accept an Unjust Energy Transition’: Future of Coal Communities Becomes Crucial Issue at Climate Talks
Posted December 8, 2018 by Anonymous
Read time: 8 mins
For the first time, the future of coal workers and communities across the world has become one of the most pressing issues of the global climate negotiations — infusing a sense of social reality within what is otherwise a very technical and political process.
“We have been waiting for this for 30 years,” said Brian Kohler sustainability director for IndustriALL, a union representing 50 million workers across 140 countries.
In the corridors of the UN climate talks in Katowice, Poland, Kohler is “delighted” that the topic has found its way high on this year’s agenda. It couldn’t have come soon enough.
One of the first to have coined the term “just transition” in the 1990s, Kohler is well aware of challenges facing workers and communities relying on fossil fuels extraction for their livelihoods and the necessity to ensure the energy transition will leave no-one behind.
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Heavy Police Presence Accompanies March for Climate at Katowice UN Talks
Posted December 8, 2018 by Anonymous
Read time: 5 mins
More than a thousand people marched amidst heavy police presence to demand negotiators and ministers attending the UN climate talks in the southern Polish city of Katowice take more ambitious action on climate change.
Campaigners and activists from around the world took part in the March for Climate, which marked the end of the first of two weeks of global climate negotiations in Katowice.
Protesters chanted “keep the coal in the hole”, urged negotiators to “wake-up”, and demanded “climate justice now” while waving colourful banners and flags. Some were also wearing pollution masks to highlight Katowice’s heavily polluted air due to local coal mining.
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Saturday Stories: Personalized Medicine’s Pitfalls, Tribes Over Truths, And Lakewood’s Trouble
Posted December 8, 2018 by Yoni Freedhoff
Stephen Senn, in Nature, on the statistical pitfalls of personalized medicine
Dan M. Kahan, in Scientific American, on why smart people are vulnerable to putting tribe before truth.
Joan Didion, in The New Yorker (back in 1993), with the trouble in Lakewood
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#628 Peeling your sweaty socks off under the sheets
Posted December 8, 2018 by Anonymous
Skip the shock. People, we’ve chatted before about how bad your feet have it. Face it, they’ve been through a lot today so there’s no need to nail them with a blast of cold air before bed. Instead, just tuck them in tightly, tuck them in rightly, and peel off your socks using only your […]
The post #628 Peeling your sweaty socks off under the sheets appeared first on 1000 Awesome Things.
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Bayou Bridge Charged $450 for Trespassing and Building Oil Pipeline Without Permission on Louisiana Parcel
Posted December 7, 2018 by Julie Dermansky
Read time: 7 mins
After three landowners filed a legal challenge against Bayou Bridge Pipeline, LLC’s right to build a pipeline on their land — which it did without their permission — the case concluded this week with a very small fine for the company.
On December 6, Louisiana State Judge Keith Comeaux fined the pipeline company $450 for trespassing during construction before properly obtaining permission. The judge also granted the company the permission it sought to expropriate the land it had already built on.
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What a New Governor Means for Renewable Energy in Maine
Posted December 7, 2018 by Anonymous
Read time: 6 mins
Short days and frequent snows can make Maine winters seem gloomy. But for renewable energy companies and supporters, the gloom has persisted for the last eight years under a governor openly hostile to solar and wind energy. With the 2018 election, a pro-environment Democratic governor and Democratic majorities in both chambers of the state legislature were swept into power.
“One of the more frustrating things over the last eight years has been the inability to have a conversation around a shared goal that is based in reality,” said Jeremy Payne, executive director of the Maine Renewable Energy Association (MREA). He said they’re now looking forward to having “a positive, fact-based discourse around energy policy.”
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Drug users aren’t choosing dangerous fentanyl – they don’t know what’s in their drugs
Posted December 7, 2018 by Anonymous
Users have no choice when it comes to lethal fentanyl in street drugs
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Selfies for health – a smartphone app can detect anemia
Posted December 7, 2018 by Anonymous
Take a photo of your nails to find out if you’re anemic
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Making it on the Moon – 3D printing useful stuff with moon dust
Posted December 7, 2018 by Anonymous
3D printing moon dust could be the way to colonize the moon
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The octopus might have traded its shell for intelligence
Posted December 7, 2018 by Anonymous
How the octopus got their intelligence
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Have researchers been wrong about Alzheimer’s? A new theory challenges the old story
Posted December 7, 2018 by Anonymous
Why the prevailing theory for the cause of Alzheimer’s may be wrong
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What would happen to Earth if there were no volcanoes?
Posted December 7, 2018 by Anonymous
Impossible, but the heat would build up and possibly separate continents
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Finding a new way into Canada’s deepest cave
Posted December 7, 2018 by Anonymous
Cavers on the Bisaro Plateau near Fernie, B.C. (Photo: Jérôme Genairon)
A group of cavers from across the country ventured once again to the Bisaro Plateau near Fernie, B.C. in August 2018. This time, the 22 members of The Royal Canadian Geographical Society’s 2018 Expedition of the Year weren’t focused on explorations inside the Bisaro Anima Cave, the deepest in Canada as of January 2018. Instead, they set their sights on the surface, hoping to find new entrances that connect to the known cave system.
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Behind the covers: My journey as a published wildlife photographer
Posted December 7, 2018 by Anonymous
Wildlife photographer John E. Marriott at work in B.C.’s Great Bear Rainforest. (Photo: Pat Roque)
Inset: The cover of the December 2011 issue of Canadian Geographic magazine, featuring Marriott’s image of a grizzly bear and cub.
When I was 26, I said goodbye to a nine-to-five job with Parks Canada in Banff National Park and began to slowly transition into a career in photography. That fall, a phone call came out of the blue from the photo editor of Canadian Geographic magazine. I had been busy taking photographs for two and a half years, but I still hadn’t considered trying to sell my images, let alone to Canada’s most well-known nature magazine. I was a deer-in-the-headlights rookie navigating uncharted waters.
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#629 When it feels like the lyrics to the song you’re listening to were written perfectly for you
Posted December 7, 2018 by Anonymous
Maybe a quiet haze drifts in your dorm as you worry about upcoming exams and patchy friendships. Maybe your heart just got flattened by a runaway relationship and the knots in your stomach are twisting and burning. Or maybe you’re trekking cross-country with a backpack and a dream and are suddenly sucker-punched with a jabby […]
The post #629 When it feels like the lyrics to the song you’re listening to were written perfectly for you appeared first on 1000 Awesome Things.
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Kochs Fund Study to Kill Electric Vehicle Tax Credit Via Same Group That Defended Tobacco Industry
Posted December 6, 2018 by Ben Jervey
Read time: 4 mins
When Koch Industries needs a study to cast doubt on the benefits of electric vehicles (EVs), where does it turn?
Unsurprisingly, to an industry-funded study mill that infamously produced a key report defending the tobacco industry that was deployed by Philip Morris in the 1990s, and which has since published studies commissioned by the liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry, the coal industry, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
As Congress debates whether to extend, end, or leave alone the federal EV tax credit, a study critical of the incentive has been making the rounds in conservative media outlets and Koch-affiliated free market advocacy groups.
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Polish Trade Union And Climate Science Denial Group Issue Statement Rejecting Scientific Consensus on Climate Change At COP24
Posted December 6, 2018 by Anonymous
Read time: 3 mins
A Polish trade union has issued a joint statement with a notorious American climate science denial group rejecting the scientific consensus on climate change.
The statement, signed by the Chicago-based Heartland Institute and the trade union Solidarity was released as UN climate talks took place in Katowice, the centre of Poland’s coal heartland region of Silesia.
The talks, known as COP24, are widely considered to be the most important climate meeting since the 2015 summit in Paris and will aim to finalise the rulebook to implement the Paris Agreement.
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‘Green is Great’: Coal, Oil, and Greenwash at the UN Climate Talks
Posted December 6, 2018 by Anonymous
Read time: 5 mins
We were told to meet by the glowing jellyfish. Pascoe Sabido was holding it aloft, its plastic tentacles tangling, as journalists and campaigners closed in around him. A campaigner for Corporate Europe Observatory, he had promised us a “Toxic Tour” of COP24, a chance to see the influence of energy companies lurking behind the green veneer of the countries gathered here to tackle climate change.
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#630 That moment you wake up from a nightmare and realize it was all just a dream
Posted December 6, 2018 by Anonymous
With a dropped jaw, buggy eyes, and sweaty palms your hot, salty head pops up from your warm pillow in a heart-pounding state of emergency. After a second of massively intense panic where you zoom into brain-rushing, adrenaline-gushing overdrive, it just suddenly just dawns on you … It was all just a dream. It was […]
The post #630 That moment you wake up from a nightmare and realize it was all just a dream appeared first on 1000 Awesome Things.
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Why I Resigned My Membership In The Obesity Society
Posted December 5, 2018 by Yoni Freedhoff
As has been my tradition, in December I repost old favourites from years gone by. This year am looking back to 2015.
For those of you who don’t know, The Obesity Society (TOS) is, according to them,
“North America’s premier scientific organization devoted to understanding obesity“
And I wholeheartedly agree, they really are, which is why I’m anything but happy to be resigning my membership.
I’ve been a member for the past decade, and I do my utmost to attend their annual meeting (now known as Obesity Week).
Paying to be a member of a professional organization, to me at least, means that you believe the organization’s mission and methods to be congruent with your own, and sadly, that’s no longer the case with me and TOS.
My concerns began in early 2013. That was when TOS published their, “Guidelines for Accepting Funds from External Sources” position paper. In it TOS,
“expressly eliminates all forms of evaluation or judgment of the funding source“
and instead,
“TOS chooses to focus its ethical mission on transparency in disclosing the sources of funding, clear stipulations outlining our commitment to the ethical use of funds, and a commitment to non-influence of the funding sources over the scientific aspects of funded projects and TOS as a whole.“
Lastly they stipulated,
“TOS should seek funding from as wide a variety of donors as possible.“
Many, myself included, felt that without explicitly saying so, these guidelines were designed as a means to open the door for TOS to seek and take money from the food industry.
Shortly thereafter TOS struck their, “Food Industry Outreach Task Force“, which seems to have morphed into their “Food Industry Engagement Council“, the most recent meeting of which included representatives from Kellogg’s, PepsiCo, Nestlé, Dr. Pepper and Ocean Spray. There appears to be no doubt that TOS meant what they said back in early 2013.
To be clear, I’m all for dialogue, debate, and discussion with the food industry, but I just can’t support taking their money, formally working with them on joint projects, or giving them votes at tables. To be sure, in these difficult fiscal times, for public health organizations, the benefit of food industry partnerships is funding. But partnerships of course need to benefit both parties, and for the food industry, partnering with health organizations has much to offer. Public health partnerships provide the food industry with high gloss brand polish, they may lead to direct or indirect co-branded sales, they may confer undeserved positive emotional brand associations, they may silence or soften industry or product criticism, they may provide industry with ammunition to fight industry unfriendly legislative efforts, and they necessitate that the partnered public health group water down public health messaging that may conflict with their partnered private industries’ bottom lines.
Put plainly, a public company cannot invest in a group, program, or intervention that in turn would ultimately serve to decrease sales more than not being involved in that same group, program, or intervention. Doing so would not only be an affront to their shareholders, it’d be grounds for their lawsuits.
Let’s hope I’m wrong in thinking history won’t look kindly on these partnerships, that public-health efforts won’t be hindered by them, and that instead I’ll look back one day and think I made much ado about nothing, but until then, while I’ll still likely see you at Obesity Week, this is why I’ll no longer be sporting a “TOS Member” ribbon on my badge.
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COP24: Climate Science Denial, Disinformation and Fake News at the UN Climate Talks
Posted December 5, 2018 by Anonymous
Read time: 8 mins
In an age of “fake news” and disinformation, in which climate science deniers have been elected to the head of some of the world’s largest governments, the UN climate talks continue to act as a stage for those who wish to cast doubt on the climate crisis.
And in Katowice, Poland, where the UN climate talks — known as COP24 — are underway, it was no different. A small group of climate science deniers tried to grab attention by hosting an event on the fringe of the conference, claiming to “present the science that debunks UN alarmism”.
But this year, very few were paying attention.
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#631 Coming back to your own bed after a long trip away
Posted December 5, 2018 by Anonymous
Do you remember your Worst Sleep Ever? Man, I sure do. I tell you, it was back when I was in college and a few friends and I drove a skiddy van across a snowy highway in the middle of a blizzard to crash with my friend Chad. It was a cold weekend full of […]
The post #631 Coming back to your own bed after a long trip away appeared first on 1000 Awesome Things.
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Paris Agreement Fight Could Push US Out Permanently, Warn Top Obama Officials
Posted December 4, 2018 by guest
Read time: 6 mins
By Karl Mathiesen, Climate Home News.
A deal in Poland that draws a hard line between developed and developing countries may be unacceptable to future administrations — Democratic or Republican.
UN climate talks this fortnight could determine whether a post-Trump U.S. president would rejoin the Paris Agreement, according to two former top Obama officials.
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#632 Slowing back down
Posted December 4, 2018 by Anonymous
Time is an illusion. Baby, we’re all just spinning, gninnips, spinning. Electrons spinning in our tall, fleshy bodies, spinning on our big, wet rock, spinning in our bright, white solar system, spinning in our deep, dark galaxy, spinning in our brain-bustingly big universe. Listen, this never ending swirly-twirly headtrip can be a bit much sometimes, […]
The post #632 Slowing back down appeared first on 1000 Awesome Things.
