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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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The Underground Marijuana Doctors of Texas
Posted March 19, 2019 by Anonymous
When patients are desperate for cannabis, they turn to a married couple who have quietly built an illegal business.
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London Remembered Christchurch with Tears and Anger
Posted March 19, 2019 by Simon Childs
A vigil was held last night.
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The Anti-Homeless Law That Scotland Scrapped But England Still Enforces
Posted March 19, 2019 by Anonymous
Why campaigners want to repeal the “Vagrancy Act”.
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Would You Rather Lose Your Sense of Taste or Ability to Orgasm?
Posted March 19, 2019 by Anonymous
“People who say they like food more than sex need to orgasm a bit more.”
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The Horrific Story of a Mob of White Cab Drivers Getting Away with Murder
Posted March 19, 2019 by Anonymous
The tragic 1947 event speaks to America’s enduring history of racism and systemic corruption.
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Inside the Super Positive Community of Competitive YouTube Water Drinkers
Posted March 19, 2019 by Anonymous
Deep in the heart of YouTube exists a wholesome little oasis of highly hydrated young people.
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Why I Don’t Celebrate Marketing Fruit To Children By Way Of Cartoon Characters
Posted March 19, 2019 by Yoni Freedhoff
A few weeks ago I noticed the Center for Science in the Public Interest giving kudos to Disney and to The Lego Movie for their licensing of their cartoon characters to sell pineapples and bananas.
I don’t share their enthusiasm.
In part that’s because neither Disney nor the Lego Movie have any qualms licensing their characters to sell crap to kids. McDonald’s recently announced that Disney’s happily taking many millions of dollars from them (actual dollar cost not announced, last was $100 million) to once again include Disney toys in their Happy Meals, while the Lego Movie, well they’re already in Happy Meals.
But my bigger objection is that we shouldn’t be targeting children with advertising in the first place because why should anything be advertised to a population that has been shown to not be able to discern truth from advertising? And so even if the advertisements happen to fit with your definition of what’s good for kids, it doesn’t change the fact that it’s plainly unethical to allow advertising to target children period.
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#545 Watching a movie on an old couch in the basement with a group of friends
Posted March 19, 2019 by Anonymous
It’s better in the basement. Give us the stained couches demoted from the family room. Give us those plastic walls full of pink insulation. Give us those cold floors and thin carpets. Give us that dark cave hidden from the outside world. Give us a group of friends hanging out. And give us a screwball […]
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Energy and Corporate Trade Associations Spend $1.4 Billion on PR Campaigns
Posted March 18, 2019 by guest
Read time: 3 mins
Originally posted on Climate Investigations Center.
How much money have the fossil fuel industry’s powerful trade association allies spent to convince the American public that its products are beneficial and necessary — and to stymie progress on climate change that could harm its financial interests?
To find out, Climate Investigations Center researchers analyzed the public relations expenditures of these trade associations going back to 2008, using data from publicly-available federal Form 990 tax records. The expenditures provide unique insight into fossil fuel trade association priorities and the willingness of public relations firms to represent socially harmful industries.
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I Tried Three Bougie Hangover Cures
Posted March 18, 2019 by VICE Staff
VICE reporter Manisha Krishnan’s go-to hangover cures have stopped working as she has gotten older.
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India Arrests Players of ‘Addictive’ Online Video Game
Posted March 18, 2019 by Anonymous
Labelled “a demon in every house”, PUBG is facing a crackdown in Gujarat.
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You Can Choose How Bear Grylls Almost Dies in Netflix’s New Interactive Show
Posted March 18, 2019 by Anonymous
Should he risk falling off a mountain or nearly drown in a river? Your call!
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Why It’s Hard for Men to Come Out as Bi
Posted March 18, 2019 by VICE Staff
Bisexual men have to face homophobia and toxic masculinity when they come out.
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What Norway’s Big Divestment Decision Means for Fracking, Tar Sands and Global Oil Exploration
Posted March 18, 2019 by Anonymous
Read time: 7 mins
Norway’s sovereign wealth fund — a state-owned investment fund worth approximately a trillion dollars — recently announced it was divesting from oil and gas exploration companies around the world. Not surprisingly, many oil and gas stocks declined following the announcement.
While this is good news for the climate, this was simply a smart business decision. Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, known as the Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG), primarily exists due to Norwegian oil production. And the fund will continue to be a major investor in companies like Exxon.
It appears it’s just cutting its losses on money-losing endeavors like fracking in America, tar sands oil production in Canada, and frontier exploration by UK companies in Africa and South-East Asia.
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#546 Running to the front door when your mom or dad comes home from work
Posted March 18, 2019 by Anonymous
After playing, playing, playing, you finally hear the car pull into the driveway, the boots clomp up the steps, and the key sliding into the front door. Time to drop what you’re doing and run full throttle down the hallway for a big welcome back celebration. AWESOME! Photo from: here — Follow me on Twitter […]
The post #546 Running to the front door when your mom or dad comes home from work appeared first on 1000 Awesome Things.
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Why We Should Not Be Surprised That Murdoch Tabloid’s Favorite Sydney School Pupil Didn’t Join Climate Strike
Posted March 16, 2019 by Graham Readfearn
Read time: 6 mins
Somewhere in the order of 150,000 students went absent from classes in Australia on Friday afternoon for the global “School Strike 4 Climate” marches.
In what might be seen as an afternoon practical lesson in democracy, free speech, and civic engagement, students from cities and towns across the country and the world marched, chanted, and held placards aloft.
One of the biggest marches in Australia saw 25,000 students on the streets of Sydney, the home of the Rupert Murdoch-owned The Daily Telegraph.
But one student in particular caught eye of The Daily Telegraph — a 17-year-old, Year 12 pupil called Joanne Tran, who wrote an article for the newspaper explaining why she would not be marching.
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Who’s Behind Trump’s Claim the Green New Deal Will Cost $100 Trillion?
Posted March 16, 2019 by guest
Read time: 8 mins
By Dave Anderson, Energy and Policy Institute. Originally posted on Energy and Policy Institute.
President Trump’s claim that the Green New Deal would cost $100 trillion can be traced back to the Manhattan Institute, a think tank backed by fossil fuel investor Paul Singer and companies like ExxonMobil.
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Edward Markey made waves at a press conference in February when they rolled out a Green New Deal resolution that called for the nation to transition to 100 percent clean energy in ten years.
Brian Riedl, a senior fellow at the New York-based Manhattan Institute, attempted to “cost out the Green New Deal” in a Twitter thread the next day. Riedl admitted he had “No idea” how much things like “Installing renewable energy everywhere” would cost.
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Saturday Stories: Feast Burden, Old Hate, And Wellness Cults
Posted March 16, 2019 by Yoni Freedhoff
Bobbie Ann Mason, in The New Yorker, on the burden of the feast.
Isaac Chotiner, in The New Yorker, with a not at all gentle interview of Holocaust historian Deborah E. Lipstadt on the oldest hatred.
Margaret McCartney, in the Globe and Mail, on not falling prey to the cult of wellness.
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US and Saudi Arabia Vote to Block UN Efforts at Climate Geoengineering Governance
Posted March 15, 2019 by guest
Read time: 4 mins
This is a guest post by Linda Schneider of the Heinrich Böll Foundation.
At the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) meeting in Nairobi, Kenya, this week, the U.S. and Saudi Arabia blocked a push to gather information on potentially regulating climate geoengineering technologies. Switzerland, along with 11 other countries, including Micronesia, Senegal, and New Zealand, had submitted a draft resolution mandating a report on the state of research, risks, and possible governance options related to geoengineering efforts.
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New Orleans Student on Global Climate Strike: ‘I Wouldn’t Be Anywhere Else’
Posted March 15, 2019 by Julie Dermansky
Read time: 8 mins
With contributions from Ashley Braun and Mat Hope.
On March 15 droves of students around the world walked out of school to protest politicians’ inaction on climate change, with approximately one million people participating in the strikes, according to organizers. From Sydney to Stockholm, students had planned more than 1,600 school strikes in over 100 countries, inspired by the weekly Friday climate protests of Swedish student Greta Thunberg.
And in New Orleans, Louisiana, a small but resolute group of students and supporters gathered a few blocks from Lusher High School, on St. Charles Avenue, one of the city’s most famous thoroughfares, to confront their state’s heightened urgency to stop climate change or face losing the land they are standing on.
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Actors’ brains have different activity patterns when they’re in character
Posted March 15, 2019 by Anonymous
To get the role, your brain activity needs to play the part too
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Super-powerful solar storms hit Earth in the past – and could recur in the future
Posted March 15, 2019 by Anonymous
Our planet’s been hit with humongous solar storms in the past
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When a butterfly’s disguise fails, its backup plan is poison
Posted March 15, 2019 by Anonymous
A tasty butterfly has an unpalatable backup plan
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‘Skeleton Keys’ – a new book explores the secret life of bones
Posted March 15, 2019 by Anonymous
The story of bones from a man obsessed with them
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Do wind turbine farms have an effect on climate?
Posted March 15, 2019 by Anonymous
Turbines absorb energy from the wind, so is there an effect “downstream” and with regard to climate?
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Inactive ingredients in your meds might not be so inactive after all
Posted March 15, 2019 by Anonymous
Inactive ingredients in medications could be a health concern
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Announcing the winners of the 2018 Canadian Wildlife Photography of the Year Competition
Posted March 15, 2019 by Anonymous
The grand prize winner of the 2018 Canadian Wildlife Photography of the Year competition, by New Brunswick-based photographer Brittany Crossman.
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Hope grows for one of Canada’s most endangered species as greater sage-grouse are released into the wild
Posted March 15, 2019 by Anonymous
A greater sage-grouse, bred in captivity at the Calgary Zoo, is released onto protected land in southern Alberta in fall 2018 as part of an initiative to halt the endangered bird’s decline. (Photo: River Run Photography)
One of Canada’s most endangered species, the greater sage-grouse, may have a chance to evade the threat of extinction thanks to a breeding and reintroduction program that has seen 66 of the birds released onto protected lands.
The birds were released in fall 2018 into Saskatchewan’s Grasslands National Park and a southern Alberta property acquired by the Nature Conservancy of Canada.
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#547 Finding buried treasures in your Spring jacket pocket
Posted March 15, 2019 by Anonymous
Dig deep, baby. When the weather warms up and the snow melts down, it’s time to pull out that thin dusty jacket from the back of the closet and toss it back on. Now, just make sure you stuff your hands deep in those pockets and see if you can’t score some buried treasure that’s […]
The post #547 Finding buried treasures in your Spring jacket pocket appeared first on 1000 Awesome Things.
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Pi π Day!
Posted March 14, 2019 by Anonymous
It’s the perfect day to celebrate 3.14159 billion reasons that I love making Pies. My all time favourite is a combination of Pie Crust by pie crust master Judy Kim and All Recipe’s Apple Pie….
{ This is a content exerpt only.. Please click on the Blog Title to continue reading this post, share your love, browse Just a Smidgen and more.. }
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Despite Risks, Canada’s Tar Sands Industry Is Betting Big on Oil Trains
Posted March 14, 2019 by Anonymous
Read time: 6 mins
Last year, Canada exported a record amount of tar sands oil to the U.S., despite low oil prices leading to major losses once again for the struggling tar sands industry. That achievement required a big bump in hauling oil by rail, with those daily volumes in late 2018 more than double the previous record in 2014 during the first oil-by-rail boom.
Canada’s oil industry essentially has reached its limit for exporting oil into the U.S. through pipelines. That’s why it’s turning to rail to export more and more oil, but as an ever-increasing number of oil trains hit the tracks of North America, expect more accidents and oil spills to follow.
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Climbing duo completes first winter ascent of Yukon’s Mt. Wood
Posted March 14, 2019 by Anonymous
Mountaineering duo Lonnie Dupre, left, and Pascale Marceau pose for a quick selfie on the summit of Yukon’s Mt. Wood on March 11. (Photo: Lonnie Dupre)
Just hours before they summited Mt. Wood on March 11, completing the first winter ascent of the mountain in Yukon’s Kluane National Park and Reserve, Lonnie Dupre and Pascale Marceau had decided to end their expedition and return to their base camp.
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Mild weather forces early end to Canadian ultrarunner’s Trans-Kamchatka Expedition
Posted March 14, 2019 by Anonymous
Ray Zahab and Stefano Gregoretti traversed challenging and dangerous terrain as they attempted to cross Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula west to east. (Photo: Ray Zahab)
Ray Zahab and his expedition partner Stefano Gregoretti breathed a sigh of relief last week as they emerged from avalanche-prone mountains on Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula, where strong winds had threatened to push their sleds off a sheer cliff. They thought the most difficult portion of their journey was behind them, but a different challenge lay ahead: warmer-than-usual temperatures had thinned the river ice on the next leg of their planned route.
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#548 That moment in the shower where you suddenly decide to make it a really long shower
Posted March 14, 2019 by Anonymous
It’s a bad scene. Alarm bells buzz when the clock clicks six and I become a barely blinking lump of groggy stretching noises that sound like Chewbacca after he’s been shot. Honestly, it’s a pathetic scene — me lying there with drool stains on my cheeks, deathbags under my eyes, and some bent and jagged […]
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Massachusetts Hired Energy Industry Execs to ‘Independently’ Review State’s Gas System
Posted March 13, 2019 by Anonymous
Read time: 5 mins
A private contractor employed by the state of Massachusetts to conduct a statewide safety review of its gas distribution companies hired gas industry executives for the project, documents obtained by DeSmog show. They include two former executives of National Grid — one of the companies under review — and Enbridge, a main supplier of gas in the state.
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Trump Budget for Renewables Slashed 70% Under Former Koch Insider’s Leadership
Posted March 13, 2019 by Ben Jervey
Read time: 4 mins
When President Trump nominated long-time Koch network insider and renewable energy antagonist Daniel Simmons to lead the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), the administration’s priorities for federal energy programs were made abundantly clear. Simmons had, after all, been serving at the time of his nomination as Vice President for Policy at a Koch-funded think tank that had, in 2015, called for the outright elimination of the very office he was tapped to lead.
The Trump administration budget proposal released this week, for fiscal year 2020, goes a long way toward delivering this wish to the Koch network, calling for a 70 percent reduction in funding for the EERE and scrapping entirely the Department of Energy’s loan programs. The EERE ultimately received $2.4 billion in the current 2019 budget, and the current Trump proposal would fund it at $696 million.
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Expedition log: Back to the Peel
Posted March 13, 2019 by Anonymous
An aerial view of the Wind River, the headwaters of the Peel River watershed in the Yukon. (Photo: David McGuffin)
In the Yukon, a public consultation just ended in January about the future of the Peel River watershed, one of the most pristine, remote wilderness areas left in North America.
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Coca-Cola’s New Simply Smoothie Strawberry Banana Contains 11.5 Teaspoons Of Sugar Per Cup
Posted March 13, 2019 by Yoni Freedhoff
I should probably be putting “smoothie” in sneer quotes when discussing this new product.
The ingredients in this “smoothie” aren’t simply water, strawberries, and bananas but rather they’re strawberries, bananas, and apple, grape, and lemon juices.
Perhaps that’s why in an 11.5oz serving of it, there’s 44g of sugar (responsible for 85% of its 200 calories). For reference, drop for drop, actual Coca-Cola contains 15% less sugar and 33% fewer calories.
But of course no one confuses Coca-Cola for a healthy beverage.
But Coca-Cola (Simply’s parent company) sure hopes you confuse this “smoothie” with one given they’ve festooned it with front of package shout outs that explicitly suggest it’s good for you.
I’m also confused by its nutrition.
The ingredients report that 11.5oz of banana strawberry “smoothie” provides 1g of fiber, yet that’s less than what would be found in just a 5th of a small banana, and yet to eat 44g of sugar from small bananas, you’d have to consume 18x that amount. And the 35% Vitamin C? You’d get that from just 2 strawberries.
Unless it’s you doing your own blending (and even then, remember it’s not likely to be as filling and you’ll be able to consume a great deal more) eat your fruit, don’t drink it.
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What President Trump, Fox and Breitbart are Not Saying About Climate Science Denier Patrick Moore
Posted March 13, 2019 by Graham Readfearn
Read time: 6 mins
What does it take to become a legitimate spokesperson on climate change science and energy policy in the eyes of President Donald Trump and partisan conservative media like Fox News and Breitbart?
If the current worshipping of non-expert and climate science denier Patrick Moore is anything to go by, the only qualification you need is the ability to call a first term Democratic congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez a “pompous little twit” on Twitter.
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#549 The day your class goes on a field trip
Posted March 13, 2019 by Anonymous
It all starts with the permission slip. Yes, when teachers send them home before the bell rings so parents can rubber stamp the bumpy yellow bus trip to the museum, then it’s on, my friends, it’s on. Soon the days count down and the buzz builds up as the class gets ready for the day […]
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