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We predict the winners and definitively name a “new” sub-genre.
Mayonnaise is best when you don’t realize you’re eating it.
The Steam Games Festival gave us a welcome glimpse into a remake that once seemed doomed.
A strange bug allows some people who get added to a “private” list to know they are on that list.
Prosecutors are trying to prove Sean Urbanski’s mind had been poisoned by racist memes.
This is starting to get very awkward.
Let’s try cooking with computers.
Read time: 8 mins
Dark Waters, the new film starring Mark Ruffalo as attorney Rob Bilott, is set in the Ohio River Valley city of Parkersburg, West Virginia — a place about 150 miles downstream from where Shell is currently building a sprawling plastics manufacturing plant, known as an “ethane cracker,” in Beaver, Pennsylvania.
Ruffalo’s film, directed by Todd Haynes, debuted to critical acclaim, earning a Rotten Tomatoes critics’ rating of 91 percent, with The Atlantic calling it a “chilling true story of corporate indifference.”
While much of Dark Waters, as the title suggests, centers on contaminated water, the story of perflouroctanic acid (PFOA), the Teflon-linked chemical at the heart of the film, is also a story about air pollution. And as much as the film looks back to history, DuPont’s pollution — and the company’s decades-long cover-up — may gain new relevance as the chemical industry plans a multi-billion dollar expansion, fed by fracked fossil fuels, along the banks of the Ohio.
Security formed a “human chain” to kick activists out, and Qatar was handing out dates, individually wrapped in plastic.
Read time: 3 mins
Gulf states have sent at least 42 current or former employees of the fossil fuel industry to the UN climate summit in Madrid as part of their official delegations, DeSmog analysis shows.
More than half of the delegation from Kuwait and almost a third of Saudi Arabia’s representatives attending the Madrid meeting, known as COP25, are associated with the oil and gas industry. The United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Oman and Qatar collectively sent at least 16 delegates associated with the fossil fuel industry.
Many of these affiliations were not declared on the official preliminary delegate list, provided by the UN.
Read time: 5 mins
Climate activists have found plenty to be angry about at this year’s UN climate talks, which are scheduled to conclude in Madrid tonight. From youth groups to indigenous people, civil society has been more riled than in previous years, as the disconnect grows between momentum on the streets and the slow progress of the negotiations.
“It’s like two parallel worlds,” says Sara Shaw, part of the Friends of the Earth International delegation at the meeting, known as COP25. “It’s so stark, the contrast between climate breakdown, the potential of massive expansion of fossil fuels, using markets to game the system, the access polluters have to these talks when civil society is really marginalised. I think it’s just coming together in a huge amount of frustration at the injustice of it all.”
What do cellophane-wrapped mugs of mini candy canes, Season 3 of Mr. Belvedere on DVD, and framed photos of someone else’s dog have in common? They’re just what we never wanted. But that’s okay, that’s okay — because someone else might! Yes, now it’s time for some Regifting Magic, people. It’s time to regift like […]
The post #352 Successfully regifting a present to someone who actually wants it appeared first on 1000 Awesome Things.
Don’t get too excited though, there’s a giant loophole that could keep you from ever seeing any money.
Read time: 13 mins
Argentina’s President Alberto Fernandez takes office in the midst of an economic crisis. Like his predecessor, he has made fracking a centerpiece of the country’s economic revival.
Argentina has some of the largest natural gas and oil reserves in the world and “possibly the most prospective outside of North America,” according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. If some other country is going to successfully replicate the U.S. shale revolution, most experts put Argentina pretty high on that list. While the U.S. shale industry is showing its age, Argentina’s Vaca Muerta shale is in its early stages, with only 4 percent of the acreage developed thus far.
The country feels a sense of urgency. Declining conventional production from older oil and gas fields has meant that Argentina has become a net importer of fuels over the past decade. Meanwhile, Argentina’s economy has deteriorated badly due to a toxic cocktail of debt, austerity, inflation, and an unstable currency.
For these reasons — a growing energy deficit, a worsening economic situation, and large oil and gas reserves trapped underground — there is enormous political support for kick-starting an American-style fracking boom in Argentina.
AWESOME! Photos from: here, here, here, here, here, and here — Check out my podcast 3 Books —
The post #353 Seeing Christmas trees through front windows appeared first on 1000 Awesome Things.
Read time: 4 mins
A US thinktank with close ties to Donald Trump has obtained accreditation for a delegation of climate science deniers to the UN summit currently underway in Madrid.
Organisations accredited to attend on behalf of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, which has received significant funding from oil giant ExxonMobil and the Koch family, include the UK’s Centre for Policy Studies, the Chicago-based Heartland Institute and the European Institute for Climate and Energy.
Read time: 4 mins
Big polluters are to blame for slow progress in the annual UN climate negotiations in Madrid, Spain, according to activists — with several companies sponsoring the talks in exchange for tax breaks.
Sponsors of the talks, known as COP25, include the electrical utilities company Iberdrola, which produced 24.6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions in 2018, and Endesa, which through its operations produced 61.9 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, according to analysis.
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Sidewalks bring us together. Fences split yards, lawns divide homes, and invisible property lines are scribbled on dusty blueprints in city archives. But somehow those little strips of concrete tie us all together and connect the dots between our lives. It’s a beautiful moment when a friendly neighbor shovels the snow off of your walk […]
The post #354 When the neighbor shovels your tiny little patch of the sidewalk appeared first on 1000 Awesome Things.
I don’t really follow Alberta news, but the constant “cut, cut, cut” and “whine, whine, whine” I am hearing from there recently is getting chaotic.
Jason Kenney is happy to stoke the flames of Wexit because he thinks it will help him win political points. But there are real economic consequences to Kenney promoting and indulging Alberta separatism – like a thousand jobs in downtown Calgary. #ableg pic.twitter.com/Ewu5WNAECp— Progress Alberta (@ProgressAlberta) December 9, 2019
our premier just subtweeted the CEO of @WestJet over his comments on #wexitalberta in case you needed any more proof @Alberta_UCP has the same level of maturity and leadership skills as band of schoolyard bullies #cdnpoli #ableg #abpoli https://t.co/l0GM24Mos1— Bridget Casey (@BridgieCasey) December 10, 2019
Public advised of aggressive panhandler from Alberta who will probably just spend money on corporate tax cuts #ableg #cdnpoli https://t.co/NLZ9YbyQz8— The Beaverton (@TheBeaverton) December 10, 2019
Whatever is going on in Alberta, I sure hope its not catching.
Read time: 3 mins
BlackRock, Vanguard, Citigroup, and JPMorgan Chase are among the top global financers of new coal development, according to new research presented during the United Nations climate summit in Madrid.
That research, published by the German NGO Urgewald along with BankTrack and 30 partner organizations, reveals and ranks the financial institutions sinking money into the dirtiest form of fossil fuels in the three years since the Paris Agreement was signed. The research shows hundreds of billions of dollars have flowed to 258 coal plant developers between January 2017 and September 2019 in the form of loans, investments, and underwriting. These groups clarify underwriting as the process of banks raising “investment capital for companies by issuing bonds or shares on their behalf and selling them to investors.”
Read time: 7 mins
Last month, 11,258 scientists from virtually every country in the world published a study on climate change, writing that they collectively declared “clearly and unequivocally that planet Earth is facing a climate emergency.”
That comes six years after a widely cited 2013 study reported 97 percent agreement among publishing climate scientists that human activity causes climate change — a consensus that has grown stronger in the years since. John Cook, lead author of that study, described this summer a 99 percent scientific consensus that humans cause global warming.
Despite this widespread scientific agreement, shale pipeline executives attending this year’s Marcellus Utica Midstream conference last week in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, siteheard a very different message on the climate.
Image: Hefty Brands
People in some parts of London, Ont., will soon be able to put hard-to-recycle single-use materials out with their regular recycling instead of throwing them in the trash.
The city is testing the Hefty EnergyBag program in nine…
Steam curls out of a fissure in New Zealand’s White Island volcano. The volcano suddenly erupted on Dec. 9, 2019, killing several tourists. (Photo: George Kourounis)
Earlier this week shocking news reports started to come out of New Zealand about a sudden, unexpected eruption of White Island volcano. As I write this at least six people have died, eight more are missing, and 31 are still in hospital suffering from extensive burns to their bodies, and some to the insides of their lungs, the result of inhaling hot gases and ash from the eruption. Search and rescue teams are still looking for survivors, but officials have little hope of finding anyone alive on the island.
They’re not selling anything. Nope, Christmas lights on construction cranes just smile down on the city and cover us all in a warm and festive light. Flickering in the sky, flashing way up high, they hug us all together in a friendly yellow glow. On top of that, it’s sort of fun thinking about how […]
The post #355 Construction cranes with Christmas lights on them appeared first on 1000 Awesome Things.
Hmmm — I’ve been saying for years that SOMEBODY in Trump’s inner circle is a Russian asset. I am convinced that someone very close to him has been feeding him all the pro-Putin and pro-Russian stuff he has been parroting since 2016, convincing him that the Russian world-view is correct, leading him to say things like how unfair it is that Russia is out of the G7, etc.
Reaching out to someone like Steele and trying to develop/maintain a relationship w him is the kind of thing one might do if you were a Russian asset. https://t.co/IrKOQ60KwM— Dana Houle (@DanaHoule) December 9, 2019
NEW via @thamburger @PostRoz: Ivanka Trump was personal friends with former British spy Christopher Steele, according to person familiar with the situation https://t.co/h21YbomZO3— Matea Gold (@mateagold) December 9, 2019
Read time: 5 mins
By Isabella Kaminski, Climate Liability News. Originally published on Climate Liability News.
The world’s biggest polluters could be held legally liable for their contributions to climate change, a major national inquiry into the links between climate and human rights has concluded.
As I’ve noted before (usually in the context of soda and junk food) if you serve it, we will eat it, even if the ‘we’ are a bunch of medical or dietetic professionals.
But what happens if you serve healthier fare? And what happens if you give people a little nudge towards it?
A recent study sought to explore that and prior to 3 conferences, randomized attendees into receiving one of the following two options to consider for their lunch choices
Group 1 (this was the non-vegetarian default ask): At the conference a non-vegetarian buffet will be served for lunch. Please state here if you would like to have a vegetarian dish prepared for you: __________________________________.
Group 2 (this was the vegetarian default ask): At the conference a vegetarian buffet will be served for lunch. Please state here if you would like to have a non-vegetarian dish prepared for you:__________________________________.
You know what happened next.
At all 3 conferences, whatever was highlighted as the default lunch option was chosen by the vast majority for lunch.
At the first conference, the vegetarian choice increased from 2% to 87%. At the second conference it increased from 6% to 86%. And at the third conference it increased from 12.5% to 89%.
You know what would have certainly led to even higher numbers? No non-vegetarian options. And to be clear, I’m not suggesting vegetarian diets are a panacea, there are plenty of unhealthy vegetarian foods, but this simple study illustrates the power afforded to conference organizers in terms of what’s being served and how it’s being presented to attendees. The same of course would be true of any venue where meals and/or snacks are presented.
Given we eat what we’re served, it seems to me to be a straightforward expectation, at least for medical and dietetic conferences, that we’re served healthy options.
[Thanks to my friend and colleague David Nunan for sharing this study with me, and you should follow him on Twitter if you don’t already]
Ripped sleeves, tattered collars, and faded prints tossed in crumpled piles on the bedroom floor hold meaningful memories of tender touches. Twisting on the couch for a movie, stirring over the stove at dinner, or napping together in the park … all come together to fan the flames of your heart. Tossing on your boyfriend’s […]
The post #356 Wearing your boyfriend’s sweatshirt and it smells like them appeared first on 1000 Awesome Things.
Joshua Hammer, in GQ, writing on chaos at the top of the world.
Bari Weiss (and whether you loathe her or not everyone should read this harrowing article), in the New York Times, on how the global surge in Jew hatred should not be written off as isolated incidents of bigotry.
Rachel Laudan, in The Hedgehog Review, on the establishment of a modern culinary ethos.
(photo source)
Read time: 4 mins
By Jordan Davidson, EcoWatch. Reposted with permission from EcoWatch.
The Trump administration pushed through an exemption to clean air rules, effectively freeing heavy polluting, super-cargo trucks from following clean air rules. It rushed the rule without conducting a federally mandated study on how it would impact public health, especially children, said the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Inspector General Charles J. Sheehan in a report released yesterday, as the AP reported.
Royal Canadian Geographical Society CEO John Geiger and Society board Vice-President Wendy Cecil flank Lord Martin Rees as he accepts the role of Vice-Patron. (Photo: Can Geo)
As it celebrates its 90th anniversary, The Royal Canadian Geographical Society is ramping up the “royal.”
On Dec. 5, 2019, Lord Martin Rees, the renowned cosmologist, astrophysicist and British Astronomer Royal since 1995, accepted the honorary position of Vice-Patron with the Society from its Chief Executive Officer John Geiger and board Vice-President Wendy Cecil in London, U.K. Rees also becomes an honorary RCGS Fellow.
Look, I love babies. Sure, we laugh, high five, sing songs, and play cars. We talk, read books, dream dreams, and stare at stars. But one thing we agree to disagree on is proper behavior on overnight transatlantic flights. Me, I like sleeping. Them, they like screaming for hours on the lap beside me. Generally […]
The post #357 When that baby screaming on your flight finally stops appeared first on 1000 Awesome Things.
Sheri Bastien paddles off Hoddevika on the west coast of Norway. (Photo courtesy Sheri Bastien)
Sheri Bastien is a Canadian public health researcher at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences in Ås. Soon she’ll be setting sail as part of eXXpedition, an all-female around-the-world sailing expedition that aims to study and raise awareness of plastic pollution and toxins in the oceans. She spoke to Canadian Geographic about what she hopes to accomplish on her leg of the trip.
What is eXXpedition all about?
It’s like getting away with something illegal. AWESOME! Photo from: here — Check out my new book You Are Awesome —
The post #358 When you sneeze and fart at the same time so nobody notices the fart appeared first on 1000 Awesome Things.
Read time: 4 mins
Environmental lawyers have made a formal complaint against oil giant BP, claiming its latest advertising campaign is misleading consumers about its commitment to tackling climate change.
The challenge, filed today by legal campaign group ClientEarth, is the first time a complaint has been made about a fossil fuel company’s alleged greenwashing under international corporate rules.
ClientEarth has also launched a petition calling for a ban on all fossil fuel advertising unless it comes with a tobacco-style health warning.
“I wisely started with a map, and made the story fit.” So once famously said author J.R.R. Tolkien of Lord of the Rings fame. I was reminded of his position on the importance of cartography in storytelling while I was doing research for “Map quest,” a feature exploring the amazing mapping connections in video games that I wrote for the July/August 2019 issue of Canadian Geographic.
I’m very glad to see that Canadian authorities are taking these scams seriously: A Burnaby, B.C., man has been identified as a suspect in an RCMP investigation into organized crime groups;accused of scamming Canadians by posing as Canada Revenue Agency…
I’m listening to the wind, to the wind at my soul. Where it comes from, where it goes, well … who really knows. All I know is that the wind is a great part of life for a few big reasons: 1. Helps plants make love. Roots twist and tie bushes and trees into forest […]
The post #359 The wind appeared first on 1000 Awesome Things.
Relics from past eras, such as this fishing boat on the shore of Spitsbergen, are common reminders of Svalbard’s long history. (Photo: Tanya Kirnishni/Canadian Geographic)
The ice-covered archipelago of Svalbard, located high above the Arctic Circle, is home to thousands of polar bears—in fact, there are more polar bears than people! But beyond the splendour of Svalbard’s wilderness, the archipelago also has a rich history of exploration, hunting, scientific research, and industrial development that has shaped its people and landscape.
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