- The polar ice caps aren’t the only valuable part of Earth’s
ecosystem disappearing at an alarming rate. Global warming might be wrecking
the ice in the Arctic, but Australia’s Great Barrier reef isn't faring much
better at the moment. The world's largest coral reef ecosystem is chock-full of diverse
marine life, but new research shows the reef is also shrinking rapidly, with
half of the reef vanishing in the past 27 years. That dose of bad news
comes from Katharina Fabricius, a coral reef ecologist at the Australian
Institute of Marine Science and the study’s co-author. Fabricius has been
diving and working on the reef since 1988 and witnessed the decline firsthand,
so she decided to investigate. "I hear of the changes anecdotally, but
this is the first long-term look at the overall status of the reef. There are
still a lot of fish, and you can see giant clams, but not the same color and
diversity as in the past," Fabricius said. She and her colleagues surveyed
214 different reefs around the Great Barrier Reef, collecting data from 2,258
surveys to determine the rate of decline between 1985 and 2012. They also estimated
the coral cover, or the amount of the seafloor covered with living coral. Over
that period, an estimated 50-percent decline represents a yearly loss of about
3.4 percent of the reef. There was little to no decline in the relatively
pristine northern region, but the overall damage was extensive. The decline was
attributed to several factors, including tropical cyclones, crown-of-thorns
starfish that eat coral and are boosted by nutrient runoff from agriculture and
coral bleaching from high-temperatures, which are rising due to climate change.
Coral bleaching is caused by rising ocean temperatures that cause the corals to
expel their zooxanthellae -- the tiny photosynthetic algae that live in the
coral's tissues. Data from the study matches with previous studies and all of
this information begs the question of what can be done to save the reef. Fabricius
concedes that in the short-term, the climate-change-driven frequency of
cyclones cannot be addressed in a substantial way. However, there are projects
to mitigate the effects of starfish, which can grow up to 3 feet in diameter
and sport long venomous spines and 21 arms. As for climate change, um, yeah………..
- Tolerance is not on the table in the Ukraine. In fact, the
country’s lawmakers are moving as far away from tolerance as they possibly can
and ignoring the outcry from angry activists to give tentative approval to a much-criticized bill that envisions jail time
for people who disseminate positive information about gays. The bill has
lingered in the middle of a sh*t storm of controversy since it was submitted
over the summer and has sparked outrage among Western rights groups and
politicians who have called it a disappointing revival of Soviet-era thinking,
when homosexuality was a criminal offense. While this bill doesn’t take the
issue quite that far, it does provide for prison terms of up to five years for
spreading "propaganda of homosexuality," which is defined as positive
public depiction of gays. Defining propaganda has become an interesting
exercise in and of itself for the bill’s authors and their focus definitely is
not on commercials, advertisements in print or even advocates for gay-rights
groups passing out literature on the street. No, their focus is on a much more
sinister source: movies like "Brokeback Mountain." Yes, two gay
American cowboys from a bygone era are an immense threat to the status quo in
the Ukraine. Thankfully, that threat is about be neutralized because legislators
on Tuesday passed the bill in the first of two required readings. Once the
second reading takes place and the bill is passed, it moves on to President
Viktor Yanukovych, who has refused to say whether he will sign the bill into
law………
- A sort of dream scenario has emerged for those who hate
both twangy country music and hack-tacular reality karaoke shows. One photo
snapped in a dimly lit bar with someone’s smartphone camera has led to veterans
of both genres issuing public apologies and taking plenty of heat. The
offending picture was taken last Wednesday night at The Den in West Hollywood and within minutes,
country musician Jason Aldean and former “American Karaoke” contestant Brittany
Kerr were all over the Internet getting cozy at the bar. The only problem with
that is Aldean has been married to his high school sweetheart Jessica Ussery
since 2001 and has two daughters, Keeley, 9, and Kendyl, 5. While everyone’s
marriage vows are slightly different, the vows that give a husband and father a
green light to mack on a skank who achieved 15 minutes of fame on a lame
reality TV show when he thinks no one is looking in some Hollywood bar have
never been uttered by any husband or wife. Aldean arguably should have been
smart enough to know that in Hollywood, everyone is watching every second for
the off chance they’ll spot a famous person doing, saying or wearing something
hideous that can be posted on YouTube, Facebook or Twitter. Kerr….well, she’s a
former reality karaoke-er and those folks are all about pimping themselves out
in a nonstop attempt to get attention, so she knew what she was doing.
Nonetheless, both members of that bar-side cuddle party have offered up mea
culpas. "The actions I portrayed recently were not a representation of my
true character, but a lapse in judgment on my part," Kerr said. "I
would like to sincerely apologize to everyone that has been affected by this,
including my friends and family.” Umm….the actions you “portrayed” is what
you’re going with? Sorry skank, but actions are something you do, not something
you portray or proejct. As for Aldean, he quickly attempted to duck behind an
combination apology tweet and a request for his family’s privacy after he
dragged his family’s privacy into the media spotlight. “The truth is that I
screwed up," he tweeted. "I really appreciate being able to work
through this privately with my family and for all your continued support."
As long as privately means you’ll be taking a long time off from making country
music to fix your mistake, go for it……….
- Pennsylvania may still be sorting its sh*t out, but New
Hampshire has locked in its new law that calls for voters to provide photo
identification when they go to the polls. Government officials in the state
have received approval from the Justice Department to require the use of
government-issued photos in order to vote. A letter from T. Christian Herren
Jr., head of the Voting Section in the Justice Department's Civil Rights
Division, arrived Tuesday at the offices of attorneys for the state. Small as
it may be, New Hampshire is viewed by many political observers as a
battleground state where the race between President Obama and Republican
nominee Mitt Romney is expected to be close. Given the relatively small
percentage of Americans who actually vote in any election, the law won't have
quite the impact it would exert if, say, 75 percent of eligible voters actually
turned up to cast their ballot. The new law won't go into effect cold turkey.
It will be phased in over a year and during that time, voters who do not have
photo identification at the polls will still be allowed to vote, but only after
executing what the state calls a challenged voter affidavit. Voters who
complete the affidavit will receive a letter requesting confirmation of voting
and if they do not respond within a month, the state MAY investigate to
determine if voting fraud occurred. After Sept. 1, 2013, there is no more
affidavit-completing and voters must have photo identification. The Justice
Department has had a busy year so far, challenging laws requiring photo IDs in
Texas and South Carolina, which have much larger numbers of minority voters.
Apparently New Hampshire is minority-free enough to pass the test………
- Philadelphia
Eagles running back LeSean McCoy and New York Giants defensive end Osi
Umenyiora have finally decided to stop acting like 8 year olds. For the past
two seasons, two of the best player in the NFL have also been two of its most
immature, petty and ridiculous as they traded verbal barbs about Mother’s Day,
ballerinas and bad pop musicians. McCoy and Umenyiora met after the Eagles’
19-17 win over their division rivals in Philadelphia on Sunday and both agreed
that they need to put their differences aside. "I think after the game,
it's time to get over this Osi-and-LeSean thing, because after the game
(Umenyiora) said 'You're a heck of a player, we're in this business, let's get
over this,'" McCoy said. "(Umenyiora) said 'Let's be done with it.'
Being a bigger man, also for myself, you've got to focus on the Giants, they're
a good team already. My goal is not an interdivision battle with Osi. It's with
the Giants, and trying to get to the Super Bowl.” Ending the inane back and
forth between the two men will be a welcome development after Umenyiora tweeted,
"Happy Mothers Day Lesean Mccoy! Enjoy your special day!!" to his
rival in May after previously referring to McCoy as "Lady Gaga" and
"she" after McCoy tweeted that the defensive end is
"overrated" and "soft" and the third-best defensive lineman
on the Giants. McCoy piled on again in an itnerview last week, calling Umenyiora
"a ballerina in a Giants uniform." Just when it seemed like
that train was about to derail again, Umenyiora apparently decided to step up
and end the nonsense before anyone wasted any more time on it. Now both sides
can focus on doing what they are each being paid millions of dollars to do and
that most definitely is not coming up with creative insults for opposing
players……….
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