Ladywriter

New law requires dogs, cats to be sterilized before reaching 4 months old LOS ANGELES - Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Tuesday signed one of the nation’s toughest laws on pet sterilization, requiring most dogs and cats to be spayed or neutered by the time they are 4 months old. The ordinance is aimed at reducing and eventually eliminating the thousands of euthanizations conducted in Los Angeles’ animal shelters every year. “We will, sooner rather than later, become a no-kill city and this is the greatest step in that direction,” Councilman Tony Cardenas said as he held a kitten at a City Hall news conference. The ordinance does exempt some animals, including those that have competed in shows or sporting competitions, guide dogs, animals used by police agencies and those belonging to professional breeders. The average pet owner, however, must have their dog or cat spayed or neutered by the time it reaches 4 months of age (as late as 6 months with a letter from a veterinarian). First-time offenders will receive information on subsidized sterilization services and be given an additional 60 days. If they still fail to comply they could be fined $100 and ordered to serve eight hours of community service. A subsequent offense could result in a $500 fine or 40 hours of community service. Many states require animals adopted from shelters to be sterilized, and New York City requires the same for animals bought from pet shops, but restrictions such as Los Angeles’ are rare. A 2006 Rhode Island law requires most cats to be sterilized. A measure similar to Los Angeles’ passed the California Assembly last year but did not gain state Senate support. Los Angeles animal shelters took in 50,000 cats and dogs last year and euthanized approximately 15,000 at a cost of $2 million, according to city officials. Bob Barker, the retired game-show host who famously ended every “Price is Right” show with a call for sterilizing pets, pushed for the law’s adoption and was among those at Tuesday’s news conference. “The next time that you hear me say, ’Help control the pet population, have your pet spayed or neutered,’ I can add, ’It’s the law in Los Angeles,”’ a jubilant Barker said. its about time

Virus that causes cervical cancer most common, government study finds CHICAGO - Startling government research on teenage girls and sexually transmitted diseases sends a blunt message to kids who think they’re immune: It’s liable to happen to you or someone you know.In the first study of its kind, researchers at the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found at least one in 4 teenage American girls has a sexually transmitted disease. The most common one is a virus that can cause cervical cancer, and the second most common can cause infertility. Nearly half the black teens in the study had at least one sexually transmitted infection, versus 20 percent among both whites and Mexican-American teens. The study, released Tuesday at an STD prevention conference, has adolescent-health specialists pointing to possible reasons and offering potential solutions. Blame is most often placed on inadequate sex education, from parents and from schools focusing too much on abstinence-only programs. Add to that a young person’s sense of being invulnerable. “This is pretty shocking,” said Dr. Elizabeth Alderman, an adolescent medicine specialist at Montefiore Medical Center’s Children’s Hospital in New York. “To talk about abstinence is not a bad thing,” but teen girls — and boys too — need to be informed about how to protect themselves if they do have sex, Alderman said. Only about half of the girls in the study acknowledged having sex. Some teens define sex as only intercourse, yet other types of intimate behavior including oral sex can spread some diseases. Among those who admitted having sex, the rate was even more disturbing — 40 percent had an STD. “Those numbers are certainly alarming,” said sex education expert Nora Gelperin, who works with a teen-written Web site called sexetc.org. “Sexuality is still a very taboo subject in our society,” she said. “Teens tell us that they can’t make decisions in the dark and that adults aren’t properly preparing them to make responsible decisions.” Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said the study shows that “the national policy of promoting abstinence-only programs is a $1.5 billion failure, and teenage girls are paying the real price.” Similar claims were made last year when the government announced the teen birth rate rose between 2005 and 2006, the first increase in 15 years. The overall STD rate among the 838 girls in the study was 26 percent, which translates to more than 3 million girls nationwide, the CDC said. HPV most common The study by CDC researcher Dr. Sara Forhan is an analysis of nationally representative data on 838 girls aged 14 to 19 who took part in a 2003-04 government health survey. Teens were tested for four infections: human papillomavirus, or HPV, which can cause cervical cancer and affected 18 percent of girls studied; chlamydia, which affected 4 percent; trichomoniasis, 2.5 percent; and genital herpes, 2 percent. Dr. John Douglas, director of the CDC’s division of STD prevention, said the results are the first to examine the combined national prevalence of common sexually transmitted diseases among adolescent girls. He said the data likely reflect current prevalence rates. HPV can cause genital warts but often has no symptoms. A vaccine targeting several HPV strains recently became available, but Douglas said it likely has not yet had much impact on HPV prevalence rates in teen girls. Chlamydia can cause an abnormal discharge and painful urination, but often has no symptoms. Signs of trichomoniasis are similar, and both diseases can be treated with antibiotics. Genital herpes can cause blisters but also is often symptomless. It can’t be cured but medicine can help. The CDC recommends annual chlamydia screening for all sexually active women under age 25. It also recommends the three-dose HPV vaccine for girls aged 11-12 years, and catch-up shots for females aged 13 to 26. The CDC’s Dr. Kevin Fenton said that given the potential complications from STDs, “screening, vaccination and other prevention strategies for sexually active women are among our highest public health priorities.” Douglas said screening tests are underused in part because many teens don’t think they’re at risk, but also, some doctors mistakenly think: “Sexually transmitted diseases don’t happen to the kinds of patients I see.” Teens need to hear the dual message that STDs can be prevented by abstinence and condoms — and hear them often, said Dr. Ellen Kruger, an obstetrician-gynecologist at Ochsner Medical Center in New Orleans. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23574940/ okay... I'm gonna go puke now

By Mary Jane Irwin MSNBC contributor updated 8:34 p.m. ET, Tues., March. 11, 2008 It’s unusual for a kindergartner to beg his father to download Accept’s 1984 hit, “Balls to the Wall” to an iPod Nano, but not for Gary Wedbush of Manhattan Beach, Calif. His sons, ages 6 and 9, play 10 hours of “Guitar Hero” a week, and are so obsessed with the game that they’ll wake up early, make breakfast, and get ready for school — all on their own — just so they can squeeze a few more minutes of play into their day. The curious side effect is both kids are now fans of classic rock and, less thrilling for Wedbush, heavy metal. It’s not an isolated case. “Guitar Hero” and “Rock Band” are exposing kids to music that they otherwise wouldn’t pay attention to on the airwaves. “It’s a big part of our secret agenda,” says Harmonix co-founder Alex Rigopulos, whose company created both franchises. The games “are about connecting people with music in a deeper way.” They’re also about reaching a massive audience. “Rock Band” sold 1.5 million units in two months, according to the most recent numbers by The NPD Group market research firm. Fans of the game have already downloaded 5 million songs. And the “Guitar Hero” franchise has sold 14 million units in North America since its launch in 2005. After rocking through “Guitar Hero II,” “III” and “Encore: Rocks the 80s,” Wedbush’s kids compiled iPod playlists containing 50 to 60 classic rock songs by the likes of Lynyrd Skynyrd, Megadeth and The Vapors. “My kids spend most of their day driving around with their mom listening to KROQ,” a Los Angeles-area radio station that plays mainstream tunes by the likes of Modest Mouse and The Strokes, says Wedbush. The credit for that? “It really was Guitar Hero,” he says. Young fans of Aerosmith and The Outlaws “Rock Band” has had similar effects on Julie Volchenboum’s four children. Her 11-year-old son plays the game for about five hours a week — and would play more if his screen time wasn’t limited, she says. He has the game’s entire set list, which includes 30-year-old tunes like The Outlaws’ “Green Grass & High Tides,” Aerosmith’s “Train Kept A Rolling” and Deep Purple’s “Highway Star,” and often instigates family-wide dance parties in the kitchen. His habit also has his parents rummaging through their music collection to find forgotten, full-length albums by Boston or The Who. “Rock Band” has even inspired Volchenboum’s son to learn Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing” on the piano. “He’s a music connoisseur now,” says Volchenboum, 37. “He can more reliably name a rock song than I can.” The result is intentional, says Paul Degooyer, senior vice president of DVD, gaming, and audio at MTV, which distributed “Rock Band.” Advisors carefully assembled the game — just like an album — to propel players through a broad collection of music. The game “is driving people who might not be into classic rock into it. That’s exactly what we were trying to do,” he says. Older artists see the appeal Beyond influencing young musical tastes, the games have had an impact on classic recording artists. According to Neilson SoundScan, which tracks both digital and retail music, sales of Aerosmith’s single, “Same Old Song and Dance,” increased 136 percent the week after “Guitar Hero III” was released, and skyrocketed 400 percent the week after Christmas. The success prompted Aerosmith to help create “Guitar Hero: Aerosmith,” a musical tour of the band’s history and influences, that is scheduled for release in June. This is in stark contrast to the original, cover song-filled “Guitar Hero.” Its sequel secured the original recordings for only a third of the tracks. Now artists are seeking inclusion in the games. “It's cool to see so many bands working closely with us,” says RedOctane co-founder Charles Huang, whose company published the "Guitar Hero" franchise. Early on, artists “were disengaged and just licensing us music; now they want to be heavily involved. Bands and labels are seeing this as one of the newest ways to introduce music.” The Sex Pistols wanted to be in “Guitar Hero III” so badly that the band reunited to re-record “Anarchy in the U.K.,” because it didn’t have the original master recordings. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23579676/

N.Y. governor was repeat prostitution customer, may have spent $80,000 MSNBC News Services updated 30 minutes ago ALBANY, N.Y. - New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer resigned on Wednesday, completing a stunning fall from power after he was nationally disgraced by links to a high-priced prostitution ring. Spitzer made the announcement without having finalized a plea deal with federal prosecutors, though a law enforcement source familiar with the investigation said he is believed to still be negotiating one. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case. "I look at my time as governor with a sense of what might have been," Spitzer said, his expressionless wife, Silda, standing at his side. "There is much more to be done, and I cannot allow my private failings to disrupt the people's work." yada yada his time as governor? He was a fucking disaster from the get go! first he wanted to impose NY state taxes on the Indian nations up here. Umm... they're called their own NATION for a reason prick. After that retarded idea was blown out of the water he scrambled for revenue and came up with the give illegals drivers licenses bit.... I dunno how this fucktard even got elected. At least he's out before he could piss off New Yorkers again.

interesting.... must be she got sick of telling them to clean their rooms.

Mark your calendar and join WWF and our partners in the global "Earth Hour" movement by turning your lights off from 8-9 p.m. on March 29. Your simple action of switching off the lights for one hour, combined with millions of others doing the same thing, will deliver a powerful message to the citizens and leaders of the world about the need for action on climate change. What is Earth Hour? A global event created to symbolize that each of us, working together, can make a positive impact on climate change--no matter who we are or where we live. Starting at 8 pm local time on March 29, 2008, individuals, communities and businesses around the world will "turn off the lights" for one hour. Where Will the Lights Go Off? Everyone around the world is encouraged to be involved and shut the lights off in their homes and businesses. Major participation is planned in 25 cities around the world, on six continents. Four Earth Hour flagship cities in the United States--Chicago, Atlanta, Phoenix and San Francisco--are leading the way. Other participating U.S. cities include Denver, Miami and Charlotte. Globally, Copenhagen, Sydney, Manila, Tel Aviv, Bangkok, Dublin and Toronto are among the cities that will be involved. http://www.earthhour.org/

For nearly half-a-century, the organization has been a cartel in name only. Now it may be the real deal. Mar 7, 2008 | Updated: 4:10 p.m. ET Mar 7, 2008 For much of its 47-year existence, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has been a cartel in name only. It could not, in practice, control oil prices because many of its members regularly breached the production quotas that were intended to regulate the market. So OPEC generally followed oil prices up and down, as supply and demand conditions shifted. But now OPEC may be the real deal: a cartel that works. If so, that's bad news for us. Look no further than last week's OPEC meeting in Vienna. Oil ministers declined to increase production despite a fairly obvious case for doing so. Not only were oil prices fluttering just above $100 a barrel, but the United States is either in or near a reces*sion and much of the rest of the world faces a noticeable econom*ic slowdown. The OPEC ministers were unmoved. Indeed, they indicated that they might actually reduce production if weak de*mand—presumably reflecting weak economies—threatens to de*press prices. Not good. What's wrong is that a fall of oil prices is one of the mecha*nisms by which a recession or economic slowdown corrects itself. Lower prices for gasoline, home heating oil and diesel fuel improve consumer purchasing power. They muffle inflation and in*crease confidence. In this sense, they're an important "automatic stabilizer" for a faltering economy. If the automatic stabilizer is disarmed—or, worse, transformed into an automatic "destabiliz*er"—then the slowdown or recession may get worse. Oil producers don't much care. High prices have been good to them. Since 1999, annual oil revenues for OPEC countries have more than quadrupled, to an estimated $670 billion in 2007, says energy economist Philip Verleger Jr. What's less clear—to ex*perts, at any rate—is whether OPEC has merely benefited from good luck (tight oil markets) or has acted as a true cartel, restrict*ing output and raising prices. The right answer is: both. Of good luck, there's little doubt. Two massive oil miscalcula*tions both aided OPEC. First was a widespread underestimate of world demand, especially from China. Since 1999, China's oil use has almost doubled, to 7.5 million barrels a day (mbd) in 2007. (In 2007, world oil use was 86mbd, up 13 percent from 1999. American oil use was 20.8mbd, up 7 percent.) Second was an overestimate of supply. War, civil strife and nationalization have depressed production in Iraq, Nigeria, Iran, Venezuela and elsewhere. Total global capacity might be 4.5mbd higher with*out these setbacks, says the Energy Policy Research Foundation (EPRINC), an industry research group. The combination of higher demand and stunted supply has pushed up prices. But that's only the half of it. Go back to late 2006. Crude prices were slipping from about $70 a barrel in August toward $50 a barrel (a level that, a few years earlier, seemed astronomi*cal). A true cartel would cut production to prop up prices. That's what OPEC did. In two steps, it reduced oil output by about 800,000 barrels a day, notes economist Larry Goldstein of EPRINC. "By July, 125 million barrels of oil inventory had been wiped out," he says. At the end of 2007, inventories (measured by days of supply) were at their lowest point in three years. Prices rose. Without OPEC's supply cuts, they wouldn't now be at $100 a barrel. 1 2 Next Page »

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N.Y. governor faces resignation calls; cops say cash payments led to probe MSNBC staff and news service reports updated 15 minutes ago NEW YORK - As Gov. Eliot Spitzer faced mounting calls to resign, Republican legislators indicated they will seek to impeach him if he doesn't quit within 48 hours, a spokesman for a leading New York assemblyman said Tuesday. "The governor has 48 hours to resign or articles of impeachment would be introduced," Josh Fitzpatrick, spokesman for Assembly Republican Minority Leader James Tedisco, told Reuters. Online editions of the New York Times and Wall Street Journal reported that Spitzer's top aides expected the governor to resign, although the timing remained uncertain. Aides close to Spitzer, 48, expect Lt. Gov. David Paterson, 53, a Harlem Democrat, will succeed him as governor before the week's end to fill out the remaining 33 months of his term. The governor first came under suspicion because of cash payments from several bank accounts to an account operated by a call-girl ring, according to a law enforcement official. Spitzer was the initial target of the investigation and was tracked using court-ordered wiretaps that appear to have recorded him arranging for a prostitute to meet him at a Washington hotel in mid-February, the official said. The official spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the investigation. The scandal surrounding the man who built his political reputation on rooting out corruption stunned the state. Calls for Spitzer's resignation began immediately and intensified Tuesday with the New York Daily News, New York Post and Newsday all demanding that he step down. "Hit the road, John ... and make it quick!" read the headline of the Daily News editorial, while the Post called him "NY's naked emperor." Spitzer retreated from public view Monday afternoon, when he appeared glassy-eyed with his shellshocked wife, Silda, at his side and apologized to his family and the public. He did not directly acknowledge any involvement with the prostitute. "I have acted in a way that violates my obligations to my family and violates my — or any — sense of right and wrong," he said. "I apologize to the public, whom I promised better." An aide reportedly told the New York Times that Spitzer was weighing a possible resignation. it just goes on and on keh you gotta be kidding me the state budget is due in like 2 weeks wtf

well... Zoro was a bounty hunter before he turned pirate... Sanji stole a few girlfriends....

possible. Oda seems to be doing the full circle thing.

how is Oro in Sasuke and in Kabuto....did I miss something here?

If they're attacking the town....wont that be immediatly followed by the winter war against soul society? so...what? Its just going to be one fight after another with the occasional couple pages of nothing really important thrown in there straight thru to the end? I would think/hope that Urahara and the Vizards wouldn't just sit back and let Aizen have his way.

article Study cites warming, water use and growing Colorado River deficit This view of Lake Mead was taken last July 26, during the seventh straight year of drought that had caused the lake to drop more than 100 feet to its lowest level since the late 1960s. MSNBC staff and news service reports updated 1:57 p.m. ET, Tues., Feb. 12, 2008 What are the chances that Lake Mead, a key source of water for more than 22 million people in the Southwest, would ever go dry? A new study says it's 50 percent by 2021 if warming continues and water use is not curtailed. "We were stunned at the magnitude of the problem and how fast it was coming at us," co-author Tim Barnett of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography said in a statement. "Make no mistake, this water problem is not a scientific abstraction, but rather one that will impact each and every one of us that live in the Southwest." "It's likely to mean real changes to how we live and do business in this region," added co-author David Pierce, a Scripps climate scientist. The experts estimated that the Colorado River system, which feeds Lake Mead and Lake Powell, is seeing a net deficit of nearly 1 million acre-feet of water per year — an amount that can supply some 8 million people. That water is not being replenished, they noted, and human demand, evaporation and human-induced climate change are fueling the growing deficit. The system is already at half capacity because of eight years of drought. "When expected changes due to global warming are included as well, currently scheduled depletions are simply not sustainable," Barnett and Pierce write in the study. The two analyzed federal records of past water demand as well as calculations of scheduled water allocations and climate conditions. 'Bucket' being depleted "The biggest change right now is taking more water from the bucket than we are putting into it," Barnett said. Lake Mead straddles the Arizona-Nevada border. Aqueducts carry water from the system to Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Diego, and other communities. The researchers also noted that their estimates are conservative — in other words, the water shortage is likely to be even more dire than they estimate. The conservative approach included basing their findings on: The premise that warming effects only started in 2007, though most experts consider human-caused warming to have likely started decades earlier. Averaging river flow over the past 100 years, even though it has dropped in recent decades. The study has been accepted for publication, possibly next month, in the peer-reviewed Water Resources Research, a journal of the American Geophysical Union. Barnett and Pierce also estimated: A 10 percent chance that Lake Mead could be dry by 2014. A 50 percent chance that reservoir levels will drop too low to allow hydroelectric power generation by 2017. The uncertainty about when and if the lake will run dry stems from the natural fluctuations of the Colorado River, which feeds the lake, Barnett said. In recent months the flow has been above average, he said, after years below average.

w00t updated 10:39 a.m. ET, Wed., March. 5, 2008 BILLINGS, Mont. - The federal government is suspending a major loan program for coal-fired power plants in rural communities, saying the uncertainties of climate change and rising construction costs make the loans too risky. After issuing $1.3 billion in loans for new plant construction since 2001, none will be issued this year and likely none in 2009, James Newby, assistant administrator for the Rural Utilities Service, a branch of the Department of Agriculture, said Tuesday. The program's suspension marks a dramatic reversal of a once-reliable source of new coal plant financing. It follows the announcement last month that several major banks will require plant developers to factor in climate change when seeking private funding. yesssssssssssssssssss!

MSNBC updated 1:02 p.m. ET, Wed., March. 5, 2008 Warming sea surface waters are causing the oceans' deserts — the least biologically productive areas — to expand much faster than predicted, researchers reported Wednesday. Federal government and University of Hawaii scientists said that this change could be tied to global warming and stands to negatively impact the populations of many fish species. "The fact that we are seeing an expansion of the ocean’s least productive areas ... is consistent with our understanding of the impact of global warming," co-author Jeffrey Polovina, an oceanographer with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said in a statement. But he cautioned that since the study covered just nine years, it is also possible that the change is due to a shorter, natural cycle. Reporting in the peer-reviewed Geophysical Research Letters, the researchers found that between 1998 and 2007 these Pacific and Atlantic ocean deserts, essentially expanses of saltwater with low surface plant life, grew by 15 percent. That coincided with sea surface temperatures warming about one percent a year, the researchers said. NOAA Red areas show the expansion of the least productive waters. Gray areas remained unproductive through the nine-year study. Blue areas gained in productivity. "The warming increases stratification of the ocean waters, preventing deep ocean nutrients from rising to the surface and creating plantlife," NOAA said in a statement announcing the study. "These barren areas are found in roughly 20 percent of the world’s oceans and are within subtropical gyres — the swirling expanses of water on either side of the equator." The research showed that: In the Pacific, the areas of low productivity are expanding from the center toward Hawaii. In the Atlantic, the least productive areas of the subtropical gyre are expanding at an even more rapid rate eastward across the Caribbean toward Africa. In the Indian Ocean, the least productive area "shows the same trend, but there has been too much variability for it to be statistically significant," NOAA stated. The researchers used satellite data to map ocean productivity. A sensor monitored "reflective color to measure the density of chlorophyll in phytoplankton, the microscopic plants that are the base of the marine food web," NOAA said.

article PAGE, Ariz. - The federal government began a manmade flood Wednesday to help restore the Grand Canyon's ecosystem, shooting two arcs of water from the base of the Glen Canyon Dam in northern Arizona. ... Before the dam was built in 1963, the Colorado River was warm and muddy, and natural flooding built up sandbars that are essential to native plant and fish species. The river is now cool and clear, its sediment blocked by the dam.The change helped speed the extinction of four fish species and push two others, including the endangered humpback chub, near the edge. ... First artificial flood in '96 In 1996, the government staged the first artificial flood in the canyon, opening Glen Canyon Dam's bypass tubes for several days in an attempt to replicate natural cycles. The second test in 2004 taught scientists the importance of sand and sediment. The dam traps almost all the sediment that once flowed down the river, which is why beaches and habitats have eroded. A good monsoon season can wash significant quantities of sand down the Paria and Little Colorado rivers, which empty into the big Colorado below the dam. The flood will scour and reshape miles of sandy banks on the floor of the Grand Canyon. What scientists and environmentalists want to see is what will happen to the fish and the canyon when the gates close at dam and the staged flood recedes. ... Environmental groups argue that the flood again delays long-term changes to the river's management, further jeopardizing the canyon's health. They want federal officials to permanently alter the dam's operation instead of repeating the same test, adopting a seasonally adjusted plan that better mimics nature.Nikolai Lash, senior program director for the Grand Canyon Trust, a group that has long fought the government over its management of the dam, said the flood was hastily planned after the trust sued the government last year for failing to protect the river. I'm sure it will do some good for the canyon but the activists are right. Ya can't just "test" something 3 times and call it a solution If ya gotta feed the canyon on a regular basis cuz yer fuckin damn has blocked the river so be it. Fuckin deal with it. Show some innovation and responsibility.

article NEW YORK - Long-derided as fanciful technology, all-electric vehicles got a huge confidence boost this week when General Electric announced two investments it said are aimed at making "electric transportation practical and affordable."GE invested $4 million in Think, a Norwegian company that unveiled a new all-electric car as well as a concept car at the international auto show in Geneva, Switzerland, this week. The vehicles are not gasoline-consuming hybrids, but run solely on electricity. GE also invested more than $20 million in A123Systems, a Massachusetts-based lithium-ion battery maker that is supplying Think with the batteries that store electricity.

ONE Recently, when I went to McDonald's I saw on the menu that you could have an order of 6, 9 or 12 Chicken McNuggets. I asked for a half dozen nuggets. "We don't have half dozen nuggets," said the teenager at the counter. "You don't?" I replied. "We only have six, nine, or twelve," was the reply. "So I can't order a half dozen nuggets, but I can order six?" "That's right." So I shook my head and ordered six McNuggets TWO I was checking out at the local Wal-Mart with just a few items and the lady behind me put her things on the belt close to mine. I picked up one of those "dividers" that they keep by the cash register and placed it between our things so they wouldn't get mixed. After the girl had scanned all of my items, she picked up the "divider", looking it all over for the bar code so she could scan it. Not finding the bar code she said to me, "Do you know how much this is?" I said to her "I've changed my mind, I don't think I'll buy that today." She said "OK," and I paid her for the things and left. She had no clue to what had just happened. THREE A lady at work was seen putting a credit card into her floppy drive and pulling it out very quickly. When I inquired as to what she was doing, she said she was shopping on the Internet and they kept asking for a credit card number, so she was using the ATM "thingy." FOUR I recently saw a distraught young lady weeping beside her car. "Do you need some help?" I asked. She replied, "I knew I should have replaced the battery to this remote door unlocker. Now I can't get into my car. Do you think they (pointing to a distant convenience store) would have a battery to fit this?" "Hmmm, I dunno. Do you have an alarm, too?" I asked. "No, just this remote thingy," she answered, handing it and the car keys to me. As I took the key and manually unlocked the door, I replied, "Why don't you drive over there and check about the batteries. It's a long walk." (she had no clue either!) FIVE Several years ago, we had an Intern who was none too swift. One day she was typing and turned to a secretary and said, "I'm almost out of typing paper. What do I do?" "Just use copier machine paper," the secretary told her. With that, the intern took her last remaining blank piece of paper, put it on the photocopier and proceeded to make five "blank" copies. SIX I was in a car dealership a while ago, when a large motor home was towed into the garage. The front of the vehicle was in dire need of repair and the whole thing generally looked like an extra in "Twister." I asked the manager what had happened. He told me that the driver had set the "cruise control" and then went in the back to make a sandwich. SEVEN My neighbor works in the operations department in the central office of a large bank. Employees in the field call him when they have problems with their computers. One night he got a call from a woman in one of the branch banks who had this question: "I've got smoke coming from the back of my terminal. Do you guys have a fire downtown?" EIGHT Police in Radnor , Pa . interrogated a suspect by placing a metal colander on his head and connecting it with wires to a photocopy machine. The message "He's lying" was placed in the copier, and police pressed the copy button each time they thought the suspect wasn't telling the truth. Believing the "lie detector" was working, the suspect confessed. NINE A mother calls 911 very worried asking the dispatcher if she needs to take her kid to the emergency room, the kid was eating ants. The dispatcher tells her to give the kid some Benadryl and it should be fine. The mother says, "Okay, but, I just gave him some ant killer..... " Dispatcher: "Rush him in to emergency room!" Life is tough. It's tougher if you're stupid.

George Phillips of Gold Coast, Australia was going up to bed when his wife told him that he'd left the light on in the garden shed, which she could see from the bedroom window. ( Boy does this sound familiar! ) George opened the back door to go turn off the light but saw that there were people in the shed stealing things. He phoned the police, who asked 'Is someone in your house?' and he said 'no'. Then they said that all patrols were busy, and that he should simply lock his door and an officer would be along when available. George said, 'Okay,' hung up, counted to 30, and phoned the police again. 'Hello, I just called you a few seconds ago because there were people stealing things from my shed. Well, you don't have to worry about them now because I've just shot them.' Then he hung up. Within five minutes three police cars, an Armed Response Unit, and an ambulance showed up at the Phillips' residence and caught the burglars red-handed. One of the Policemen said to George: 'I thought you said that you'd shot them!' George said, 'I thought you said there was nobody available!'

its terrible don't bother wasting your time watching it

Around the world, there is a growing scientific consensus that our oceans are in crisis. Decades of destructive fishing practices and mismanagement have taken their toll on many of our fisheries. Three-quarters of all commercially valuable fish stocks are now exploited, overexploited or depleted. Worldwide, up to 90% of stocks of large predatory fish such as halibut, sharks, tuna and swordfish already have been fished away. According to a new study published this month in the journal Science, 96% of the world’s oceans have been damaged by human activity. Researchers predict that global fisheries could collapse by the middle of this century. Greenpeace is at the International Boston Seafood Show, North America’s largest seafood exhibition where millions of dollars worth of seafood will be bought and sold. This annual event takes place February 24-26 and attracts 18,000 seafood buyers and sellers from all over the world. Greenpeace will be discussing with seafood buyers and sellers the positive role they can play in helping avert the crisis facing global fisheries and our oceans. The seafood industry must shift to sustainable practices to ensure both the health of our oceans and the ability to harvest seafood for generations to come. Greenpeace is asking seafood retailers to adopt and implement sustainable seafood policies and practices that promote the best examples of sustainable seafood, improve the sustainability of more fisheries and aquaculture operations, and remove from sale the most exploited and vulnerable species, as well as those fished and farmed using environmentally destructive methods. To aid the seafood industry and consumers, Greenpeace has developed a Red List of seafood species that should be removed from the marketplace, including a short list of species that are in such urgent condition that they should be removed from sale immediately. Every company in the seafood industry, no matter how large or small, has a responsibility to make sure that the seafood it buys and sells comes from fully sustainable sources. It’s not only good for the environment - it’s also good for business. If we want plentiful fish stocks tomorrow, we need sustainable seafood today. Stay tuned to the Greenpeace website for updates from the International Boston Seafood show including blogs, debut videos, photo slideshows and much more! Ocean protection starts with all of us. Find out more about how you can help defend our oceans at: www.greenpeace.org/seafood think its not a problem? Keh, you're still going to be here in 2050. time to think it over again

Global incidents of genetic contamination from genetically modified (GM) crops are on the rise, while the companies responsible ignore the consequences. Our activists have highlighted this growing problem by protesting shipments of illegal GM-rice varieties entering Europe from the US. Genetic contamination occurs when experimental or unapproved GM crops are mixed with staple food crops. The 'GM Contamination Register Report 2007', details 39 new instances of GM contamination in 23 countries over the past year. Most of the contamination involved such staple crops as rice and maize, but also included soya, cotton, canola, papaya and fish. Since 2005, the GM Contamination Register has recorded 216 contamination events in 57 countries since GM crops were first grown commercially on a large scale in 1996. While companies claim they can control the use of GM crops, the reality is very different. In the port of Rotterdam, Dutch authorities have detected illegal GM rice strains in shipments of US rice supposedly declared GM-free when leaving the US. Right now a GM scandal is breaking in Kenya as environmental and farmers' organisations confront the government and US seed giant Pioneer Hi-Bred with evidence of GM-contaminated maize seed in their country. Cost of contamination Contamination cases are often complicated but each one has big implications. There are numerous examples where GM crops not approved for human consumption have contaminated food. Last year, Bayer was taken to court by US rice farmers for contamination of rice by an unapproved variety that was only tested experimentally between 1999-2001. Bayer claims it was an "Act of God" that caused conventional rice varieties to become contaminated with experimental strains. Far from almighty interference, biotech companies are risking human health by not preventing contamination. With such widespread and common GM contamination, the choice for consumers to avoid GM foods is being eroded. If GM genes are escaping control there's no way to know if it's in the food you buy or not. Each case of contamination has huge related costs - cost for product recalls, testing and regular checks and lost markets and exports. In August 2006, traces of the uncertified GM crop LL601, known as "Liberty Link" and owned by biotech giant Bayer, were found in US rice supplies. With 63 percent of US rice exports affected, the contamination spread to at least 30 countries, from Austria to Ghana to the United Arab Emirates. Major importers such as the EU and the Philippines closed their markets to US rice. Up to US$253 million was lost from food product recalls, and future export losses could reach US$445 million. But here's the rub - costs that are caused by GM contamination are either paid by the taxpayer or, as in this case of Bayer's rice, by farmers and exporters. The biotech companies often avoid any cost due to contamination from their GM crops. Because the big biotech companies responsible for these crops are not held liable for the costs of contamination they have little incentive to prevent incidents. If they were held responsible for all the costs of contamination many GM crops would probably not be profitable. Why does it happen? Every contamination scandal that breaks further damages the reputation of GM crops and costs farmers (potential GM crop customers), markets and exports. Why do the companies allow contamination to happen? Clearly the biotech companies must have some powerful reasons not to take effective measures to prevent contamination. Certainly contamination allows the biotech companies to argue that their crops should not be regulated as they are already in the food chain. It could be seen as the thin end of the wedge to gain access to markets via the back door. While biotech companies will probably never admit their true motives behind genetic contamination, occasionally an industry representative hints at the industry strategy: "The total acreage devoted to genetically modified crops around the world is expanding. That may be what eventually brings the debate to an end. It is a hell of a thing to say that the way we win is don't give the consumer a choice, but that might be it." Dale Adolphe, ex-president of the Canola Council of Canada and advocate of GM crops. As the biotech companies seem intent on risking farmers' livelihoods and ignoring health concerns to help spread GM crop acceptance by default it is vital that politicians stand firm. Rigorous testing and holding companies wholly financially responsible is the only way to ensure an end to genetic contamination.

*Step 4: Switch lightbulb manufactures* Greenpeace is in high level talks with some of the world's largest lightbulb companies - asking them to stop making energy wasting lightbulbs by 2010. The more customers they also hear from, the more they'll listen. For step 4, please add your voice by signing our petition: http://www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/climate-change/take_action/7steps/step-4-manufacturers Thanks! Alex, Andrew, Eoin, Tanja and everyone at Greenpeace. P.S. Thanks for everything you've done so far. Step four already! Halfway through!