p.s.
You can control the camera, watch submarines, the cross-sound ferries, the traffic to Fishers's Island and the 'inside passage' to Noank, Mytic & Stonington on the way NE....
Friday, March 22, 2013
Live video from CT Shore! (Avery Point, Groton)
Live view - AXIS 215 PTZ Network Camera:
A Watermelon, a Golf Course, a Horse, and Monstrous Dogs: 12 New Paintings from George W. Bush
Gawker has obtained more photographs of George W. Bush's paintings,...
"Here is the best of the bunch, and maybe his masterpiece: an odd, even monstrous-looking dog, sitting yards away from the president's former home, but kept away from it by thick iron bars. Unlike most of Bush's dogs, this one looks away from the viewer. What is it thinking?"
The dog is an object that is meant to symbolize a sprawling narrative tale that involves the fabrication, display and dissemination of lies to test the limits of what Americans will believe. The dog stares wistfully into the distance yearning for someone to stop the yowlings of its own subconscious that is at war with itself about the death and destruction that were brought on by pride and lack of introspection.
The other possibility is that it's just a portrait of Barney behind a fence looking at the White House."
The Lord's Prayer 2012
Our Father who art everywhereHoly and Sacred is the vibration of your name.Thy Kingdom has come and thy will is being done on Earth as it is in the Heavens.Teach us this day to acquire for ourselvesour daily bread.And forgive us for slumbering for so long as you now so lovingly begin to awaken us.Help us to have compassion for those who choose to sleep a bit longer.Let us not be lead into this slumbering state ever again.Deliver to us the ability to not be guided by those who know you not and who know not that you and I are ONE. For together ours is the Kingdom the True Power and the Glory forever and ever ~ AMEN.
World Water Day: 10 Facts You Probably Don’t Know About Water … But Should – EcoWatch: Uniting the Voice of the Grassroots Environmental Movement
10 devastating facts about water pollution you ought to know
- The vast majority of our water is in our oceans, with just 2.5 percent of the planet’s total supply being fresh water.
- In China alone, 320 million people are without access to clean drinking water.
- Forty percent of China’s surface water is considered polluted.
- A staggering 20 percent of the groundwater used as drinking water in China’s urban areas is contaminated, sometimes with carcinogenic hazardous chemicals.
- Comprehensive Greenpeace investigations revealed that the majority of clothing items from big fashion brands like GAP, Vero Moda and Calvin Klein that we tested contained hazardous chemicals.
- Some of these chemicals break down to form hormone-disrupting and even cancer-causing chemicals when released into waterways around the world.
- It is reported that, every year, around 80 billion garments are produced worldwide—the equivalent of just over 11 garments a year for every person on the planet.
- It is estimated that each individual—man, woman and even the unborn child—carries hundreds of man-made chemicals in their bodies, including some that could be linked to the textile industry.
- Greenpeace is demanding fashion brands Detox their products and supply chains. How? By transparently eliminating all hazardous chemicals from their manufacturing processes by 2020.
- Big brands do listen. Brands like Zara, Victoria’s Secret, Benetton and Valentino, have agreed to Detox their products and production processes by 2020.
Sadly, other brands linked to toxic water pollution still need to up their game and take responsibility for their mess. That’s why we need your voice right now to help us persuade other big brands like Tommy Hilfiger, GAP, Armani and Metersbonwe to get these toxic chemicals out of our water.
(but really, these are the gorillas of [consumer/clothing] goods manufacturing???...) ahhh, China.
Congressmen Target Fracking Loopholes to Stem Pollution | Environmental Working Group
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
THURSDAY, MARCH 21, 2013
WASHINGTON – Growing numbers of Americans have had to contend with the harmful environmental impacts of oil and natural gas drilling and hydraulic fracturing as energy companies have pushed into shale and other unconventional formations. Due to glaring loopholes and generous exemptions from federal law that Congress has granted to operators, there are few protective tools available to those whose water and air are threatened by the current drilling boom that features more intensive hydraulic fracturing – the controversial practice also known as fracking.
To remedy this situation, Congressmen Jared Polis (D-Colo.) and Matt Cartwright (D-Penn.) introduced on March 14 two bills aimed at protecting water and air imperiled by reckless and unregulated drilling and fracking.
“For too long irresponsible drillers, rushing to cash in on America’s oil and gas boom, have put the health of communities at risk by exploiting huge loopholes and exemptions in federal air and water regulations,” said Jason Rano, Environmental Working Group’s Director of Government Affairs. “We applaud Reps. Polis and Cartwright for their efforts to protect people from the harmful effects of drilling and fracking.”
The first bill, the Bringing Reductions to Energy’s Airborne Toxic Health Effect (BREATHE) Act (H.R. 1154) is co-sponsored by 39 members of the House of Representatives. It would eliminate the exemption drillers currently enjoy under the Clean Air Act, which prevents regulators from evaluating the combined effects on air quality of multiple drilling sites in an area. The legislation would close this “aggregation” loophole. The bill would also add hydrogen sulfide – a pollutant associated with oil and natural gas production – to the Clean Air Act’s list of hazardous air pollutants.
“It is clear that measuring the environmental impact of just one well gives a grossly inadequate picture of the impact of drilling and fracking in an area or on a community,” Rano said.
The second bill, the Focused Reduction of Effluence and Stormwater runoff through Hydraulic Environmental Regulation (FRESHER) Act (H.R. 1175) is co-sponsored by 44 House colleagues. FRESHER would eliminate the Clean Water Act exemption that allows companies to undertake oil and gas exploration, production, processing, construction or treatment facilities without securing permits for stormwater runoff. The bill would also require theInterior Department to study potential impacts from oil and gas drilling stormwater runoff including potential impacts to underground water supplies.
Please SHARE this with your representatives and PREVENT fracking from delivering all of its ill effects on anyone.
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Aerogel.org
The Blog
Welcome to Open Source Aerogel
What, you may ask, is aerogel? Aerogels are the world's lightest solid materials, composed of up to 99.98% air by volume. Aerogels are a diverse class of amazing materials with properties unlike anything else. Transparent superinsulating silica aerogels exhibit the lowest thermal conductivity of any solid known. Ultrahigh surface area carbon aerogels power today's fast-charging supercapacitors. And ultrastrong, bendable x-aerogels are the lowest-density structural materials ever developed.
Welcome to Aerogel.org. Here you will find an encyclopedic reference about aerogels, how-to guides for making aerogels and building a do-it-yourself supercritical dryer, the world's most comprehensive aerogel image gallery, a podcast with the world's leading aerogel scientists, and more.
Aerogel's not just for NASA anymore. Welcome to open-source nanotech.
and...
Cabot Aerogel, makers of the Lumira aerogel particles used in superinsulating skylights, have just announced a cool new coating that makes it possible to touch hot steam pipes, tanks, and steel surfaces without burning your hand! The new coating is called Aerolon and is made byTnemec Corporation, who uses Cabot’s superinsulating fine-particle Enova aerogel to make the coating. Designed for use in plants and refineries, the coating is painted onto hot surfaces that could easily burn you if accidentally touched.
happiness day was yesterday, but....
Here is the vision statement of The Happiness Project:
It is because the world is so full of suffering,
that your happiness is a gift.
It is because the world is so full of poverty,
that your wealth is a gift.
It is because the world is so unfriendly,
that your smile is a gift.
It is because the world is so full of war,
that your peace of mind is a gift.
It is because the world is in such despair,
that your hope and optimism is a gift.
It is because the world is so afraid,
that your love is a gift.
hello...
3/21 @ 6:09 : Mountain View, California, US
3/21 @ 12:25 : Sunnyvale, California, US
3/20 @ 2:16 : Lincroft, New Jersey, US
3/19 @ 4:40 : Fort Huachuca, Arizona, US
3/19 @ 3:15 : Buffalo, New York, US
3/19 @ 2:50 : Honolulu, Hawaii, US
3/19 @ 9:47 : Tavira, PT
3/18 @ 10:05 : Prescott Valley, Arizona, US
3/18 @ 4:08 : Bedworth, GB
...
They seem so familiar ....
Meet the citizens of Chimp Haven....
Meet some of Chimp Haven’s residents! Click on a picture to learn more about the chimpanzee’s history and personality. You can also sponsor one of these chimpanzees through our Best Friends program. By donating to this program, you help provide daily care for these well-deserving individuals.
Currently, Chimp Haven cares for over 120 chimpanzees who were former pets and have come from biomedical research and the entertainment industry. Many of the chimpanzees have been infected with HIV and Hepatitis. Chimp Haven is the only facility in the nation able to provide care for chimpanzees with infectious diseases.
From a Lakota sister.... Voices over Gas
It is depressing, and it also ought to be incredibly motivating.. to PUSH and to DEMAND your legislators to STOP pushing dirty polluting and destructive energy , off onto the population.. The ONLY reason we are "using" it, is because we have been sold out and lied to, by the industry itself.. who has pushed their agenda, and tampered with and pressured and bribed, our government officials, into giving them the contracts.. instead of funding renewables, instead of putting our tax dollars into solar, into creating alternatives.. the dirty OIL and GAS industry does not want the majority to KNOW that renewables ARE feasible, are actually already developed, are actually already created, waiting to be utilized.. WHY? Because they can't control the profit margin, and monopolize renewables, because they are more efficient, because they are passive systems, and don't require constant input from extraction.. so, it would ruin their game.. their money agenda and their power agenda! So, we see our Earth being irreversibly contaminated, poisoned, destroyed, overrun.. by an industry gone amuck, and the industry itself is not "regulated" for safety, for the environmental consequences of degradation, of chemical contamination, of pollution created above and below the earth. Why would any SANE person, EVER tolerate allowing anyone, to inject chemicals.. into our soil, into our Earth's crust? Insanity! Because what they are doing and what they are creating is destruction.. is not reversible, is not ethical, is not valuable, is not responsible.. and all the arguments we are given, as to WHY to use this energy, is all lies and deception. it is a smokescreen, it is politics and it is greed talking. So, while we look at the photos and see the actual truth.. the underground aquifers are being irreversibly damaged and polluted, the air is being contaminated and poisoned, and we now have a major environmental health crisis on our hands.. affecting and impacting, our future, your future, our children's future,and all the life and living beings all around where they are doing the gas drilling.. It is a trade-off.. of natural gas, with no one analyzing accurately nor taking into consideration all the negative, long term destruction, to humanity, to local systems, to nature, to wildlife, to communities, to the greater whole, our planet. It is time to wake up and take action and speak up about these issues and raise conscious awareness so we can put an end to these things, for they truly are affected our ability to have a future.. When human beings alter and impact negatively, the natural balance of nature in any region.. it ripples out and affects and impacts, all other regions also. We cannot afford to destroy the Earth! The answer? Start your own solar company, form your own grass-roots organization, put pressure on your local and national government officials, who are supposed to represent YOUR interests, not corporations. And learn all you can about what is really at stake and happening and educate everyone in your direct contact circles, networks, neighborhoods and communities. We have to STOP allowing other people, make the decisions FOR us, that will and DO affect us, forever into the future. Don't you only want someone with true Wisdom and accurate knowledge to make those kinds of decisions, in the first place? At present, we let the energy industry, "ADVISE" us about their findings, for environmental impacts! What we want and truly need are impartial scientists and experts who can truly "advise" who are non biased.. and not funded and paid for by the energy industry. What we are really seeing in this country, has been a co-opting of our democracy, by lobbyists, who represent energy and private interest groups.. not the majority of the People. And it is time to change the system, and to apply solutions and standards and to also hold people accountable, when they grossly violate and harm the common welfare and good, by poisoning and contaminating public and private lands, and resources, like clean air, water and food supply, and also harm public health. The time to make wise decisions, is BEFORE any adverse affects happen, which means, we ought to switch to and advocate for, discernment and caution, in any and all decisions that potentially affect basic human needs, and health. And we ought to be protecting our remaining wilderness, wildlife all endangered species, whose survival always depends upon having prisitine and undisturbed environment.
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
JHPIII, you're welcome any time!
 | Life on the Vertical
Mark Synnott
|
| Afternoon (1:30 p.m.) | Evening (7:30 p.m.) |
| Member: $12 | Member: $13 |
| Non-member: $14 | Non-member: $15 |
| Buy tickets | Buy tickets |
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Solar Panel designs!!! VEIL Solar Shade - Dexigner
In partnership with the Victorian Eco-Innovation Lab, Buro North has developed a solar-collecting sun-shade for Australian primary school yards aptly titled the "Solar Shade".
As a government funded initiative, the VEIL solar-shade is a future possibility for the integration of solar-energy harvesting technologies into a form that is pragmatic (providing shade & energy), evocative and educational. Current Australian school curriculums utilize information around consumption and energy as an educational device, and Buro North has designed this interactive concept to explore the visual connection between energy collection and consumption.
Read more: VEIL Solar Shade - Dexigner http://www.dexigner.com/news/14915#ixzz2O1Z5sejQ
Solar power cheaper than coal: One company says it’s cracked the code | Grist
CleanTechnica has an exclusive on a new solar technology that claims to be able to produce power with a levelized cost of energy (LCOE) of8¢/kWh. That is mind-boggling, “two-thirds the price of retail electricity and over 3 times cheaper than current solar technology.” If the claim proves to be true (and a lot can happen between prototype and mass manufacturing), it could revolutionize the solar industry.
The company is called V3Solar (formerly Solarphasec) and its product, the Spin Cell, ingeniously solves two big problems facing solar PV.
First, most solar panels are flat, which means they miss most of the sunlight most of the time. They only briefly face direct sunlight, unless expensive tracking systems are added. The Spin Cell is a cone:check out the cost advantage!
Following the (Dark) Money with Matea Gold | (it's UGLY)
...Michael Winship: What about the money? I mean that must be an enormous difference as well, the amount of money in politics now.
Matea Gold: Sure, and so President Obama really changed that singlehandedly when he went outside the public finance system in 2008, decided not to take matching federal funds in the general election, which meant he could raise and spend unlimited amounts.
...
the Center for Responsive Politics came out with their best calculation for the 2012 race and it was $6.3 billion. And that’s a really rough estimate because a lot of these outside groups are formed as 501(c)(4), so-called nonprofit social welfare organizations that don’t report their spending and they don’t report their donors. And so possibly hundreds of millions of dollars more were spent trying to influence the presidential campaign that we have no way to account for.
Michael Winship: Trevor Potter today, from the Campaign Legal Center, referred to the 501(c)(4)s as “pirate flags of convenience.”
Matea Gold: [laughs] Yeah. I think that, you know, there was a real focus on super PACs after the 2010 races and after 2012, but I think the real story is with their kind of dark box cousin, which are these (c)(4)s that offer the same kind of freedom to spend and raise these unlimited sums without the transparency. And President Obama has now embraced a group like that to advocate on behalf of his second term agenda, so I think that is a real turning point in our politics.
A Couple Crashed This Lamborghini Right After Buying It And Ran Away
A Couple Crashed This Lamborghini Right After Buying It And Ran Away:
dang, i didn't think (duh) anyone would recognize the hoodie...
dang, i didn't think (duh) anyone would recognize the hoodie...
Information Overload and the Art of Communication
The challenge belongs to the communicator
We can’t eliminate information overload, the fact is, that it is only going to get worse. So if you want to be heard, then it is up to you to develop the art of communication in a way that makes allowances for higher Information Overload Filter settings.
7 Ways to be heard in this age of information overload
1) Listen and learn. How can we communicate value to our listener if we don’t know anything about them or their current situation? This means that we need to actually pay attention to what is going on in their life FIRST! There is a saying that the reason God gave us two ears and only one mouth, is so we would listen twice as much as we talk.
2) Empathize. Being empathetic means that we try to put ourselves in someone else’s situation or circumstances. Make an effort to step into their life, to feel their pain or joy in your heart. If you want gain some insight and discernment into what they are experiencing, this is the way to do it.
3) Avoid making judgments. You can’t possibly understand all of the factors at work in someone else’s life. Like you and I, they are probably doing the best they can with what they have to work with. None of us has all the answers so do them the courtesy of not judging them.
4) Respect their feelings. We all have a right to our personal feelings. Often times, the worst thing we can do is to infer that someone’s feelings are invalid by saying, “you shouldn’t feel that way.” The most common response, internally at least, will be, “don’t tell me how to feel.” That’s a communication killer. Much better to legitimize their feelings by saying, “I can understand why you feel that way.” In case you are wondering, I learned this from 25 years of marriage.
5) Speak to their senses first. We are genetically hard-wired to pay attention to things we can experience through our senses. Talk to them in a way that allows them to picture and experience your expressions. Strive to help them experience the reality of your words in their imagination. Use your words to paint a picture that they can easily visualize.
6) Add an emotional component. Make sure that the mental picture you arecommunicating has feelings attached. We remember things that we attach emotional significance to. When the picture begins to fade, the feelings will bring it back to life. When you use your words to paint emotional word pictures in the mind of your listener, you will have touched them where they live.
7) Do it because you care. Sincerity cannot be faked. On a gut level, others know whether or not you actually care about their welfare. If you don’t care then just leave them alone, and go develop some compassion. Creating value needs to be rooted in genuine concern for others. The hard sell mentality and pushy domineering ways of the past are dead, and good riddance. Open your heart before you open your mouth, and everyone around you will feel it.
Curtis, Nebraska | Free lots at Arrowhead Meadows Golf Course
Curtis, Nebraska | Free lots at Arrowhead Meadows Golf Course:
Free Lots at Arrowhead Meadows Golf Course
Possibility for a free lot at the beautiful Arrowhead Meadows Golf Course in Curtis!
Build your dream house overlooking Arrowhead Meadows Golf Course! Arrowhead Meadows Golf Course and Recreational Area is a beautiful nine hole, all grass course, nestled in the Medicine Creek Valley, with the Medicine Creek meandering throughout the course. Our course is believed to be, by popular accord, one of the best public nine hole courses in the state. It has been called by many who have played it "Nebraska's best kept secret".
For information contact Doug Schultz, 308-367-4122 or email curtis@curtis-ne.com. For a larger view of the lots available, click on the map to the right.