"Dolphin desperate to escape captivity leaps out of its own tank during marine show"?

by Ellinorianne

Sure, you know, it seems strange and funny but ultimately it's sad and it shows how much these animals don't belong in captivity.

A false killer whale, a species in the dolphin family lept from its tank in front of a crowd of people at a show in Japan and into concrete.

It was one of the saddest things I've read as we struggle to save dolphins in the gulf, swimming in oil, sperm whales, basted in crude and this intelligent animal basically leaps to what would be it's own death.

continued at Daily Kos....

Tell Discovery Channel to Stop Airing BP's Self-Congratulatory Commercial

by Black Max

Ten minutes ago, I was eased back on the couch, cat snuggled against my leg, watching the Discovery Channel's "Dirty Jobs." I like that show; even though Mike Rowe is shilling for Ford Motor Company, he's a genial guy who seems to have a genuine respect for the worker.

I hadn't seen the BP commercial until now. It froze me in my seat. Watching their corporate whore Keith Seilhan tell us how he has a "personal stake" in the shore cleanup, how BP is taking "full responsibility" for the oil catastrophe and is working "24/7" to "make it right," shocked me into silence. Until it was done; then I leapt up, screaming "You sons of bitches!" sending the cat scrambling for safety and prompting a worried, "Honey, what's wrong?" from my wife. I was almost incoherent for a moment, before I was able to splutter disjointed profanities and, eventually, string together a coherent sentence expressing just how much I wanted to ram Keith Seilhan's head into that broken pipe along with the heads of every other corporate thug on BP's board of directors, until they finally plugged the breach.

Of course, I can't do that. But I can, and have, sent off an e-mail to Discovery demanding (politely, but very firmly) that they yank that ad immediately. You should, too.

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Population and the Economy

by penguinsong

All animal species are hard wired to increase their populations at a maximum rate.  This gives each species a maximal chance for survival.  Humans are also animals and have very similar instints.  When animals have too much population for their resources they have hard times.  In nature this forces a die off and a return to equilibrium.  When people have too much population for their resources we have recessions, depressions and wars.  WW II was particularly effective in reducing the population and giving the survivors better lives.

In 1950 the USA had approximately 150 million people.  In 2010 we have well over 300 million.  Since 1950 we have had an explosion in technological and economic development.  We should all be having much better lives than those primitive Americans had in 1950.  We are suffering economic malaise because our population is growing faster than our economy.  

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Community Quilt Project – Coffee Cozies!

by Sara R

Last completed signature quilt, "All My Relations"

My sister and I are very grateful that the Community Quilt Project has been so warmly embraced here at Daily Kos.  We’ve met some wonderful people on line and have produced thirty-two quilts so far (with more on the way).  The project has made our hearts sing – and so many of you have written to us to say it has touched you deeply, as well.  We look forward to meeting many of you in person in Las Vegas!  We will have a table in the exhibit hall, close to the book store, where you will be able to sign a signature quilt to benefit Feeding America and view the signature quilts from past conferences.  

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Mojo' Hikin' / A California Photo Journal

by delmardougster

California is a land of superlatives - highest peak in the lower 48, lowest point in the lower 48, hottest recorded temperature, largest living trees, tallest living trees, oldest living trees, most designated Wilderness in the lower 48, and the list goes on. Even with more people living in California than in many of the western states combined, California is still rich with natural beauty and wide open places. This was not by accident. In the land of John Muir's greatest work it is no accident that California has a long and enduring conservation ethic. I love California and with no disrespect intended, I couldn't live anywhere else in America. I will post many more diaries about California so let's just start in one small sliver of the Golden State.

Question - What is the highest waterfall on the continent?

More down the trail...

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Passionate Gardening -- The Sweet Spots

by Emmet

 There are zillions of smells in a garden and few of them are shy.  Steer manure, potting soil, cocoa mulch, the dog shit you just stepped in.  Alaska fish fertilizer, especially if the bottle was sitting in the sun before you opened it.  Herbs, which I'll write about next week.  Bone meal, if you're a dog anyway.  The mint that you thought you'd ripped out.  The compost heap.  Water.  Earth.  Mud.  The weeds and grass you yanked out an hour ago.  After a morning in the garden my nose has to take the rest of the day off in a darkened room with a cool towel over it.  I look funny without it, but what can you do?

 

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Chalchiutlicue's Wrath

by davidseth

About 500 years ago, Cortez landed in Mexico. He told the people who were already living there that they had to become subjects of the King of Spain. But, they told him, they were already subjects of Montezuma, the Emperor who was in Tenochtitlan. Cortez told them that Montezuma had to become a subject of the King of Spain, too, and he took Montezuma prisoner. As if that weren’t enough, he told the People that they had to give up their Old Gods and accept his God. Cortez’s God, he told them, was far more powerful than their Gods, and if they didn’t accept his God and abandon their own Gods and abandon their practice of having idols and human sacrifices and ceremonies and dances to their Gods, they would be killed. Also, Cortez told them, they had to deliver to Cortez all of their gold and silver. So it was that the Spanish foothold came to what is now Mexico in 1517.

Please join me in Tenochtitlan.

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Benzene levels around Pensacola are well above EPA limits. (UPDATE)

by 8ackgr0und N015e

Yesterday, I examined some of the EPA TAGA data showing a recent dramatic increase in toluene and xylene levels around Pensacola, FL., specifically the area covered by the shaded triangle:

I focused on the dramatic increase in toluene and xylene because the benzene levels were relatively constant.  

However, that doesn't mean the benzene levels are irrelevant. If anything, the benzene levels are the most disturbing of the three.  The AVERAGE benzene concentration is now 3 times the EPA levels, even higher than previously measured. (warning:PDF)

The 20 microgram/cubic meter limit set by the EPA is equivalent to 6.26 ppb in air.  As you can see from the chart, Pensacola's AVERAGE measurable benzene levels are between 15 and 19 ppb.  In some places it is much higher.

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A sad state of affairs.

by icebergslim

BP is the gift that will continue to screw the Gulf Coast region by poisoning them while continuing to cover up the oil spill.

The EPA is the gift that continues to look LAME, against the power house foreign company called BP.

The government continues to be quasi in charge, while attempting to look NOT IN CHARGE.

Put these three together the gifts that keep screwing the Gulf Coast Region.

continued at Daily Kos....

We Are Screwed

by Jill Richardson

I am frustrated. And depressed. First of all, the oil spill is just overwhelming. Everything about it. The amount of marine life killed, the wetlands destroyed, and then all of the extra disaster on top of the original disaster. As if all of the oil spilling into the Gulf wasn't bad enough, then they had to go dump in a bunch of toxic dispersants. And when the EPA told them to stop using Corexit, BP basically gave the EPA a middle finger and kept on doing it. Then there's the endangered sea turtles burned, the clean-up workers denied the ability to wear protective gear, and the media kept away from the clean-up, the wimpy six-month moratorium that should have been longer in the first place, and then even THAT getting turned over by a judge who gets his bread buttered by the oil industry.

But that is just the start.

Oh and my actual title is We Are Fucked but the Swearing Police made me change it.

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BP Catastrophe Liveblog Mothership: 46

by Gulf Watchers

Please rec the new Mothership #47 here. This one has expired
The current ROV DIARY: Daily Kos Gulf Watchers ROV #192 - BP's Gulf Catastrophe

Rules of the Road

• We take volunteers for subsequent diaries in the sub diaries or ROV's as we have playfully coined them.
• Please rec this mothership diary, not the ROVs.
• Please be kind to fellow kossacks who may have limited bandwidth and refrain from posting images or videos.

PLEASE visit Crashing Vor and Pam LaPier's diaries to find out how you can help the Gulf now and in the future. We don't have to be idle! And thanks to Crashing Vor and Pam LaPier for working on this!

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Gulf Coast

by Knucklehead

Here I am once again & as promised  I will only post images of life that is not visible from the surface.
  Many people tend to think that life in our oceans consists mostly of fish, crabs, shrimp, & shellfish, like oysters, scallops clams & snails, plus mammals like dolphins, whales, & I have to also mention turtles, the darlings of the  gulf.
  What many don`t realize is that the above mentioned  species make up a small fraction of the biodiversity of the oceans.

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