Category: News

by Lisa Hymas

Pombo and an old pal.Enviros were thrilled when Richard Pombo,
a Republican who represented California’s 11th congressional district for seven
terms, was ousted from his seat by a renewable-energy geek in
2006.  Pombo had been deemed Public Enemy
No. 1 by the environmental community, which invested big bucks in the effort to
beat him.

Amanda Little reported at the time:

As chair of the House Resources Committee, Pombo has enjoyed
tremendous influence over environmental policy making in recent years. He
spearheaded an effort to weaken the Endangered Species Act (which passed the
House last year but got nowhere in the Senate), and pushed a bill that would
lift a moratorium on offshore drilling (which also passed the House and also
didn’t clear the Senate). Less successful have been Pombo’s attempts to
green-light drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; sell off more than
a dozen national monuments, preserves, and historic sites; allow advertising in
national parks; and open vast swaths of public land to development under the
guise of mining-law reform.

Pombo was also tainted by dealings with disgraced lobbyist
Jack Abramoff and other unsavory characters. 
As David Roberts wrote in a heartfelt tribute upon his defeat, Pombo “embodied the cozy corruption, utter fealty to big
industry, and mendacious faux conservatism of the 109th Congress.” 

Pombo and another old pal.Reports
Greenwire, “Since leaving Congress, Pombo has worked for the Oregon-based
public relations firm Pac/West Communications, which has worked to ease logging
restrictions and at one time backed Pombo’s efforts to overhaul the Endangered
Species Act.”

But now Pombo is back, running to
represent the 19th congressional district, right next door to his old
district.  He seeks to replace Rep. George
Radanovich (R), who’s retiring.

Here’s reaction
from Bruce Hamilton of the Sierra
Club:

When Pombo represented Dublin and Pleasanton he wanted to
sell off the only national park that was in his district (Eugene O’Neill
National Historic Site).  Now he wants to represent Yosemite. 
National Parks were America’s best idea, film director Ken Burns reminds
us.  Having Richard Pombo represent Yosemite may be America’s worst
idea. 

Pombo’s aim for a comeback is nothing but a shameless
attempt to exploit the revolving door that remains all too common in
Washington.  After doing the bidding of Big Oil and other special interests
during his years in Congress, he literally went to work for the same lobbying
firm that backed some his most egregious activities, and now he wants to be
sent back to Congress to represent a district where he doesn’t even live. 
Who does Pombo really want to represent in Congress—the voters of California’s
19th district or his special interest supporters?

After being dumped by voters in one district, it now appears
that both Richard Pombo and his Big Oil backers are looking for a taxpayer-funded
bail-out from another.

And here’s the Sierra Club’s list of “Pombo’s Greatest Misses”:

Proposed selling off our national parks,
including the only national park in his former district
Took more than $337,000 in campaign cash from
Big Oil
Tried to gut the Endangered Species Act
Went on a taxpayer-funded cross-country family
vacation
Backed the George W. Bush administration’s
misguided and disastrous effort to decimate our national forests, the so-called
Healthy Forest Initiative
Backed the George W. Bush administration’s
efforts to gut the Clean Air Act
Tried, repeatedly, to open the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge to drilling
One of the most vocal proponents of disastrous
Bush-Cheney energy policy, written by, and for, Big Oil, Dirty Coal, and the
nuclear industry
Named one of the “most corrupt members of
Congress” by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, based
on his ties to disgraced and convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff and numerous
other alleged violations of Congressional ethics rules and federal laws.

Other
enviro groups are also getting riled up and ready to battle Pombo
again.

“We’re not about to stand by and watch Pombo grab his
carpetbag and return to Congress a mere four years after we worked so hard to
oust him,” Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund President Rodger Schlickeisen
said in a statement. “If he runs, we’ll be there to remind voters about
his corrupt record and why he was booted out of Congress in the first
place.”

Related Links:

The policy and politics of Obama’s $2.3 billion in clean energy tax credits

EPA gets tough on smog

Coal: Looking Back at 2009 & Ahead at 2010

Filed under: Health, Healthy Eating, Eat This

Now that the holidays are over and we’re all back in our regular routines, you may be taking stock of the celebrating you did over the past month or so. And you might be thinking, detox! I think this is the reason we all make our resolutions on New … Read more

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Both Yao and his wife — once a centre on China’s women’s national basketball team — are the offspring of professional athletes. They reportedly married at the request of sports officials in their hometown of Shanghai.

Ever since the 2.29-metre (seven-foot-six-inch) Yao married his 1.90-metre wife in 2007, speculation has run rampant as to when their first baby would be born, popular Internet portal Sina.com said.

As both Yao and his wife were born in the 1980s and are only children, the couple will be allowed to give birth to two children under China’s recently relaxed “one-child” family planning policy, the report said.

“We hope that Yao Ming and Ye Li will go further and raise more pillars of the next generation of Chinese basketball,” it said.

In a Sina.com online poll, 76 percent of more than 29,000 people voting said that Yao’s child was likely to grow taller than 2.05 metres, while 33 percent said the baby would grow taller than 2.20 metres.

Yao and his wife returned to China late last year to do promotional work for the 2010 Shanghai World Expo and to launch the season of the Shanghai Sharks, a professional Chinese basketball club that Yao recently purchased.
The photo below that headline is one of Yao Ming’s wedding pictures. Using the background landscape, the paper’s readers determined that the photo was taken at Qingshan Lake, in Lin’an, Hangzhou.

The photo on the left side is a reader’s snapshot of a small tornado. Perhaps the tornado has some connection to approaching tropical storm Wutip (“butterfly”), as the second headline suggests.

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Filed under: Hybrid, Sedan, CES, Technology, Chevrolet, Electric

Chevrolet Volt Mobile Smartphone App – Click above for high-res image gallery

When the Chevy Volt goes on sale late this year, General Motors intends to leverage its popular OnStar technology to help drivers maximize their electric driving time and minimize their use of liquid fuel. To do that, GM created an OnStar/EV lab last year at its Detroit headquarters. Engineers there have been working on how they can utilize available communications technology to save fuel, and the first public result is a new mobile phone application that is being announced at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show.

When the production version of the Volt was unveiled in 2008, many called the interior very Apple-like because of its smooth white plastic center stack with capacitive touch controls. Thankfully, for those of us who have not fallen prey to the allure of the iPhone, the new mobile phone app is being developed to work on other touch screen phones including the Motorola Droid and Blackberry Storm. Read on after the jump to learn more about what OnStar has created.

Continue reading GM and OnStar launch sophisticated mobile app for Volt [w/videos]

GM and OnStar launch sophisticated mobile app for Volt [w/videos] originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 05 Jan 2010 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Morning Scoop

Each morning, we dish out a few links we love. Ladies, it’s true — you’re husband really is making you fat. Studies show that while all women tend to get heavier as they age, women who live with someone (such as a spouse) gain more weight than … Read more

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According to NYT Bits, Microsoft big boss Steve Ballmer will unveil a brand-spanking-new tablet PC developed in conjunction with HP at tomorrow’s CES keynote address. And, like some other fabled tablets, it’s said to have both multitouch and e-Reader capabilities.

The story goes onto say that the still unnamed tablet will be released in mid-2010 and subtly hints that it could even be related to the Courier tablet concepts we reported on this past September at Gizmodo Gallery. But for now, HP and Microsoft are being hush-hush about the thing, so we’ll have to wait and see until tomorrow. [Bits via Engadget]

Michael Geist notes that the UK government appears to be unhappy with the lack of transparency in ACTA negotiations, stating:

“More broadly with respect to ACTA the UK considers that transparency is crucial to ensure the legitimacy of the agreement and to stop the spread of rumours. We believe the lack of transparency is unhelpful and do not believe that it is in the public interest.”

Of course, the folks pushing for ACTA have no concern, at all, about “the public interest.” Their only concern, all along, has been about further protecting their business models. The public interest might go against that, hence their opposition to such transparency.

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Yeah, EA is still BFFs with Tiger Woods, this despite the most recent development of major sponsors AT&T and Gatorade dropping him as well from their endorsers line-up. In fact, not only are they expressing continued support

This very large Nexus One is now sitting Google’s lobby, and you won’t guess what it’s running behind the screen.

The big phone is the exact same specs as the original CAD model, just 12 times bigger, with a 1920×1080 46-inch LED-backlit display. And the heart of this giant Nexus One? A Mac mini running Windows, connected via HDMI. Just let that sink in for a second.

I kind of want to go to sleep on it. [SearchEngineLand via BoingBoing]

Wanna smell like a Kardashian? If your weekly fix of Keeping up with the Kardashians just doesn’t suffice, celeb-obsessed stans will soon be able to get a bit closer to one of reality TV’s biggest stars. Kim Kardashian goes nearly nude and ultra-glamorous in the inaugural ad campaign for her new signature scent, Kim Kardashian.

Is it just us or does this campaign bare a striking resemblance to Rihanna’s 2008 Gucci ad?

The reality star, 29, sports a shaggy marabou coat with a pale pink bra and matching panties on a circular silver swing for the campaign from Lighthouse Beauty. Kardashian is particularly proud of the perfume,
which boasts jasmine, tuberose, gardenia, tonka bean, and sandalwood overtones.

“I wanted something rich and creamy and sexy, but still youthful,” she explained to fans last year.

Kim Kardashian By Kim Kardashian launches in a three-month exclusive engagement with Sephora next month.

Filed under: Advice, Happiness, How to Be Happy

I heard about this NFL commentator whose job was to watch the Monday night football games and then come into work on Tuesday mornings and do an analysis of the game. The games were televised late on Monday nights, so he found himself getting to … Read more

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Filed under: Advice, Fitness, Ask a Fitness Expert

People of all ages and fitness levels can benefit from resistance training. Strength training is placing a demand on our muscles to perform physical work that is greater than our everyday tasks. Here are my top 5 reasons to add strength training to … Read more

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Here is a quick project for those of you who like to keep their desks supplies in fashion. I know quite a few people who decorate their offices and the standard supplies that they keep there. This project is for a fabric covered tape dispenser. It only takes a few minutes and it will brighten up your desk.

Kathy Zengolewicz

Here is what you will need to get started:

• A regular tape dispenser
• Sheets of Treasure Tape or a roll of double sided tape
• Glue dots
• Miscellaneous buttons
• Fabric scraps
• Iron on ribbon, Teflon Press Cloth and a household iron (if you would like to make it look quilted)

The first thing to do is to clean off your tape dispenser with a little bit of alcohol to remove any greasy finger prints or dirt. This will help the tape that you’ll be using, to attach your fabric, to stick.

Then cover your dispenser with the tape sheets, cut to size, or with the double sided tape. Cut your fabric pieces to fit the dispenser. Then remove the protective white tape to expose the adhesive for the fabric.

Place the fabric carefully on the adhesive exposed tape. Take your time and fit the pieces or strips together. Smooth the pieces with your fingers and let them set for about an hour.

To create a quilted look: When the pieces are set, create the quilt seams by laying pieces of iron-on ribbon on the fabric where desired. Cover the ribbon threads with the Teflon press cloth and hold there for a few seconds until the thread adheres. Continue doing this until you complete your design.

When you finish with the quilting step, place the glue dots in various areas, remove the white tape liner and attach the buttons.  Enjoy!

Post from: Blisstree

Fabric Covered Tape Dispenser

France’s “three strikes” law threatening Internet disconnections for repeat copyright infringers should have been in effect by now, but it hasn’t yet become law due to one French privacy agency.

The country’s Commission nationale de l’informatique et des libertés (CNIL) was created in the late 1970s in order to vet new legislation for privacy concerns, and to keep an eye on government databases and data collection efforts. CNIL’s somewhat dramatic motto is “information technology must respect the human identity, the human rights, privacy and liberties”—and CNIL is not yet convinced that the new three strikes law will do that.

The sticking point is the new authority (referred to as HADOPI after its initials) that oversees the graduated response process. HADOPI will compile lists of (alleged) offenders, along with dates, number of infractions, penalties, etc. CNIL wants to make sure that this data collection safeguards privacy, and so it has refused to issue the necessary sign-off letter that the government needs to put the law into operation. First, CNIL want more information on how HADOPI’s data collection and archiving processes will work.

Until it gets it, the law is on hold. The government appears ready to provide CNIL with the information it wants, so HADOPI will probably be up and running within a few months.

What is a “Brief” post?”

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