According to this article, the amount of nitrogen released into the environment, predominantly by fertiliser use, may exceed the planet’s ability to recycle it. 

The consequences are bleak, particularly for the worlds seas, oceans and rivers, which are starting to exhibit dead zones devoid of much life. The article argues that nitrogen is to water what carbon dioxide is to the atmosphere.

As this NASA site explains, enhanced phytoplankton blooms can create dead zones. Dead zones are areas of water so devoid of oxygen that sea life cannot live there. If phytoplankton productivity is enhanced by fertilizers or other nutrients, more organic matter is produced at the surface of the ocean. The organic matter sinks to the bottom, where bacteria break it down and release carbon dioxide. Bacteria thrive off excessive organic matter and absorb oxygen, the same oxygen that fish, crabs and other sea creatures rely on for life.

There appears to be massive opportunity for agricultural innovations that address this issue. 

Many of the agricultural methods developed may be patentable.  Like other clean technology areas such as hybrid cars and solar that we have investigated, it will be those that get into the field before it becomes a mainstream issue and patent first that will profit the most.

Justin Blows

Hello folks:

I should definitely be working right now. Without question. But no, no, screw it, let’s blog and watch football and waste time.

There’s an election tomorrow–I think probably everyone in the U.S. will be heading out to the polls. Did you know that when I voted in the last presidential election, it was the first time I’d ever voted? That is sad, I know, especially when you consider the stakes that were there for some of those elections during the early Aughts. Ugly.

Anyhow, I’ve rectified the situation; I proudly cast my vote for Obama in the last election–what other thing could I do? Vote for the walking heart attack and the female version of Martin Sheen’s character in the original Dead Zone film?

Ahem. A fine film, one of my favorites of all time.

So, tomorrow. There are three state issues in Ohio. Issue 1 is a no-brainer; the state will provide a cash bonus to soldiers who have served in Afghanistan or Iraq. Easy. Issue 2 is a strange one that I don’t understand. Supposedly, a “yes” vote will create an unelected panel of experts who will decide what is a humane way to treat animals. The humane society is against it, and most of my democrat friends are against it. Now, I don’t support the Humane Society one bit. I like to hunt, and fish, and I really don’t give a shit about animals (thanks, father-in-law, for that nice brainwashing you’ve given me). But I have read that small farmers–mom and pop farmers–support a No vote for this measure. I feel pretty strongly that the small farmer is the backbone of America, and giant corporate megafarms should not be able to drive them out of business in the way that they are. So a small victory for the little guy will go a long way for me, so it is “No” on Ohio Issue 2.

Now for the fun one. Issue 3–the Casino issue–is a fun one. There are a lot of bad feelings about this measure, and it pretty much crosses party lines.

I think I am going to vote no on this, because of what a friend pointed out to me the other day. A casino in downtown Columbus will make what is a pretty fly town become just a little bit more trashy than it really needs be. Put the casino in garbage pits like Cincinnati or Cleveland or Toledo–just keep it out of C-bus. And that’s it. I’ve heard a lot of folks make the argument about the societal ills that come with casinos affecting the poor and downtrodden disproportionately. Ahh, my Democrat friends, you love your moral relativism until you come to this kind of argument. You’d think that people do not have the ability to choose not to do something.

Anyway. No on 2, No on 3, Yes on 1, Yes for the Ptown library, Democrats down the line for the local elections. Easy peazy.

FOr tonight’s list, let’s go with a personal one: Top Ten Restaurants Visited By The Friendly Stranger, to The Best Of His Remembrance.

10. Strada, Columbus, OH.
9. Basi Italia, Columbus, OH (Victorian Village)
8. Bangkok, (Thai) Columbus, OH (Eastside, yo)
7. Barcelona, Columbus, OH (German Village)
6. Earth and Ocean, Seattle, WA (Downtown, in the W hotel)
5. Skyline Chili, various locations
4. Restaurant Japan, Columbus, OH (Kenny and Henderson; I don’t think it is there anymore)
3. Scali Restaurante, Reynoldsburg, OH
2. Racha Thai, Woodinville, WA (so close to being #1; if I could eat food every day, it would be from this restaurant)
1. Domicks, St. Louis (The Hill). The single finest dining experience I’ve ever had, and if you know me, you know I’ve never missed a meal

The Friendly Stranger endorses: Office chaos. We are in the process of having just about everyone in our office move spaces, and it is insane. People are bitter and stressed out and just upset all around. When you work in an industry that caters professionally to people who thrive in an orderly environment…this kind of thing is generally bad. But, I think that being in an orderly environment brings complacency. This is the logical ending to a long and horrible year at work, and I think everybody will come out of this ready to get started again, feeling better about things, and looking with optimism towards the future.

Cheers,

The Friendly Stranger

Diversi culti religiosi mondiali, specie quelli orientali, presuppongono l’esistenza di numerose vite in luogo di una sola, tartassata da divinità e credenze anacronistico-politiche, vita così come imposto dal dettame cattolico occidentale.
Non è semplice appassionarsi alle religioni nè tantomeno capirle, difatti le fede mistica comincia nel cuore dell’uomo e non nel suo cervello.
Nella mia vita non sono riuscito mai a far accendere quella scintilla di fede che mi faccia credere veramente in un qualsiasi Dio, Allah, Buddha e compagnia bella, anzi, ho sempre pensato che i culti esistano per invenzione umana e siano stati introdotti proprio dall’uomo per non dirsi confuso ed ignorante nei confronti di alcuni aspetti del suo vissuto che non fossero di facile interpretazione.
Fatta questa premessa, sono obbligato da cuore e cervello a dire che se dovessi tornare a nascere, nella mia prossima esistenza vorrei vivere il più lontano possibile dall’Italia.
Qualsiasi paese del mondo, dalle lande ghiacciate dell’ Alaska ai climi torridi del Nord Africa andrebbe bene.
Patire la fame, soffrire per le avverse condizioni climatiche e magari avere un’aspettativa di vita qualitativa e quantitativa inferiore rispetto ai canoni del caro vecchio mondo occidentale sarebbe infinitamente meglio che vivere in una realtà dipinta di falso benessere in cui all’apparenza tutto appare come il paese dei balocchi ma che dietro le quinte nasconde un vero e proprio turbinio di gironi infernali.
E non sto parlando di Mafia, Camorra e N’drangheta,nè tantomeno di politica e burocrazia: sto parlando di uno status faciendi che, nello Stivale tricolore, ci sta inducendo a comportarci sempre più come bestie.
Quanti di voi sugli autobus cedono il posto agli anziani? Chi è disposto a riportare un portafoglio smarrito, magari gonfio di banconote, al suo proprietario? Io ritengo che la risposta sia sempre la stessa: Nessuno.
Magari qualcuno, uno o due (su cento).
Ma, tralasciando queste sottigliezze da Giovani Marmotte di memoria Disneyana, credo che in pochi avvertano il clima potenzialmente pericoloso che c’è in Italia.
E di solito, quando uno si sente in pericolo, si rivolge alle autorità: polizia, carabinieri, vigili..
E quando le suddette autorità ti tradiscono?
Quando ti arrestano perchè in possesso di un po di fumo, ti sbattono in cella e dopo 2 giorni consegnano ai tuoi genitori un ammasso di carne tumefatta che non ti assomiglia nemmeno lontanamente?
Quando ti pedinano mentre eserciti la tua LIBERTA’ sessuale, ti registrano e ti ricattano?
Cosa dobbiamo fare, da onesti e civili cittadini italiani, quando non siamo tutelati nemmeno dai sedicenti tutori dell’ordine?
Ci si incattivisce e si degenera nella violenza (vedi al periodo Le BR e gli anni di piombo) oppure, si emigra, si lascia tutto a marcire e si va a vivere lontano.
Entrambe le soluzioni però sono difficili da realizzare perchè la violenza non è mai soluzione e non si può pensare di lasciare famiglia ed amici. E allora?
Ditemi voi, perchè io la luce in fondo al tunnel non riesco a vederla.

Foto: Le Penseur di Rodin, riproduzione.

If you grew up in the 80’s then Anthony Michael Hall’s face should be very familiar.  Part of the epic “Brat Pack” he starred in National Lampoon’s Vacation, Sixteen Candles,  The Breakfast Club, and Weird Science.  AMH spent the last few years as the star of the TV show The Dead  Zone.  Rumor has it he is directing his first movie.

Six months ago U.S. Geological Survey scientists noted that the Chicago region is the greatest contributor of nutrients to the Dead Zone In the Gulf of Mexico. I wrote about how that came to be. When canal builders excavated the Illinois and Michigan Canal in 1848, they cut through the low divide that separates drainage to the Mississippi and the Gulf of Mexico from drainage to Lake Michigan. The divide is located several miles outside of Chicago.  In 1907 the City of Chicago dredged the Chicago Sanitary Canal through the divide to carry the city’s sewage to the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers. This is how nutrients get from the Chicago region to the Gulf of Mexico.

The Chicago Portage, the divide between drainages to the Gulf of Mexico and Lake Michigan

Well, it’s a two-way street. What allows nutrients to flow south can allow Silver Carp to swim north to the Great Lakes.

Last spring when the Mississippi was flooded and the gates were open at Lock and Dam 26 at Alton, Illinois, fishing for Silver Carp was excellent.

JoAnn Fastoff has an excellent article in the Chicago Examiner about the need to keep Silver Carp out of the Great Lakes.

The Asian carp or silver carp or bigheaded carp is an invasive species indigenous to India and China. In 1973 fish farmers imported and stocked carp to control phytoplankton, algae, in their ponds. The phytoplanktons are microscpic plants–food for larval fish, native mussels, and zooplankton–that drift in the well-lit surface of a lake. Within a few years six state, federal, and private fish hatcheries were raising carp. By the end of th edecade municipal sewage lagoons were stocking the fish. By 1980 they had escaped into the nation’s rivers and lakes, where they reproduced and increased their range exponentially throughout the Mississippi River Basin.

The carp scoop plankton from the surface of a lake, competing with native fishes that rely on plankton for food: gizzard shad, bigmouth buffalo, and paddlefish.

Ironically, a fish that was introduced to control algae led to the production of more algae. The carp feed on algae, excrete nitrogen and phosphorous nutrients, which produce more algae. The also feed on zooplankton, reducing the number and size of plankton that would feed on algae; hence more algae and less oxygen in the waterways.

Silver carp swim in schools, just below the surface of the water, and when disturbed, jump. Noisy outboard motors upset them. They leap into the boats, often damaging them and knocking the boater silly, leaving behind slime, scales, and feces. They are set to cross the barriers between the Mississippi  and the Great Lake Basins. They have reached the electric fence in the Chicago Sanitary Canal. They are in the Des Plaines River, adjacent to the Canal, and should it flood, the carp could spill over into the Canal.

Lock #8, Illinois and Michigan Canal, Aux Sable Creek, Illinois

Or, during a heavy rain, they could sneak through culverts that connect the Illinois and Michigan Canal to the Chicago Sanitary Canal .

…are being uploaded often; please check back for updates.

The SC DHEC groundwater contamination list is being organized (currently listed sites are being moved to a folder within the KMZ file), and as soon as this is done, this list will be more helpful for your investigations.

In realtà questo post non vuole essere in memoria di Peppino Impastato.

Semplicemente per il fatto che la stragrande maggioranza dei giovani ma, ahinoi, anche dei più grandi non ha memoria di questo ragazzo.
Anzi, se una piccola percentuale della folla giovanile conosce anche solo il nome dobbiamo  rendere omaggio al film I cento passi di Marco Tullio Giordana.
Nei giorni scorsi si è fatto un gran parlare di Peppino Impastato per la controversa questione della targa di Ponteranica.
Per intenderci, ecco i fatti.
Ponteranica è un paese di appena settemila abitanti in Val Brembana (Bergamo) che è stato teatro nelle ultime settimane di una tra le più tristi ed ignoranti azioni che il popolo leghista abbia mai commesso. Il sindaco leghista del borgo, per motivazioni campanilistiche, ha deciso di rimuovere la targa commemorativa in onore di Peppino Impastato e di sostituirla con una intitolata ad un religioso locale. Come se non bastasse, perchè la madre dei cretini è sempre incinta ed è una gran.. donna, alcuni ignoti idioti hanno segato un ulivo che era stato piantato l’anno scorso proprio in onore del giovane siciliano.
Io che siciliano lo sono fino al midollo prenderei a calci non quei poveri idioti che hanno tagliato l’albero, ma il primo cittadino di Ponteranica; questo perchè l’illustre sindaco non ha capito che compiere un’atto così inutile come rimuovere quella targa, non solo avrebbe cancellato la memoria della morte di Peppino per mano della mafia ma, avrebbe anche aizzato i giovani del posto ad agire e pensare in maniera prettamente federalista e xenofoba nei confronti degli abitanti del sud Italia; soprattutto perchè molti di questi (e non solo, purtroppo) sono stati uccisi per aver cercato di difendere quella libertà di cui noi tutti andiamo fieri ed orgogliosi, la stessa libertà che permette loro,  elettori e politici leghisti di parlare e pensare, di esistere.
Bossi&Co. non capiscono che, se oggi, nel 2009, possono aprir bocca senza venire picchiati selvaggiamente è perchè tempo fa personaggi come Peppino Impastato hanno combattuto contro un sistema politico e sociale in cui chi era più forte comandava, legiferava e scriveva la storia.

Ma forse, in tutto questo, non c’è nulla di cui stupirsi, nulla di cui schifarsi perchè siamo in Italia anzi in italia (con la i minuscola), un paese che non conosce la differenza tra legge e reato, tra libertà e condizionamento psicologico, un paese che riserva funerali di stato sia ai militari morti in missione che ai personaggi dello spettacolo.

Un paese piccolo, governato da uomini piccoli interessati solamente alla propria immagine ed al proprio portafoglio ed abitato da uomini piccoli a cui basta che la Nazionale vinca i mondiali di calcio per sentirsi “sul tetto del mondo”.

Non ne basterebbero 1000 di Peppino per migliorare le cose.

When Congress passed the Clean Water Act in 1972, it regulated sewage produced in our houses and businesses. It did not regulate water that washes off our streets and farm fields. What washes off our farm fields in the Midwest ends up in the Gulf of Mexico.  Freshwater is lighter than salt water. When it flows to the gulf, it floats on top of the salt water. Normally, gulf winds stir the two together, but, setting aside hurricanes, summer winds in the Gulf are light and the stirring does not happen. Algae bloom in the freshwater, dies, and decays, sucking the oxygen out of the water, creating a Dead Zone, a low oxygen zone that fish, which swim cannot cross, and kills fish that cannot.

Hieser Slough, Iowa

Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Natural Resources Conservation Service announced that the agencies will provide $325 million over four years to farmers in Arkansas, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Ohio, Tennessee, and Wisconsin.  This will help the farmers implement conservation measures to retain nutrients, nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers, in their fields, keep the runoff out of the Ohio and Mississippi and therefore out of the Gulf of Mexico. The dense stand of trees that lines both sides of Hieser Slough, which runs between Iowa farm fields and the Mississippi,  soaks up nutrients, which might otherwise flow to the Mississippi and the Gulf of Mexico.

Timbalier Island at the Gulf of Mexico

Many farmers plow and fertilize their fields right up to the edge of sloughs that run through their fields, allowing nutrients to run directly into the slough and then to the river. The narrow, broken lines of trees, like that which lines Fish lake, are not enough to absorb the nutrients that farmers spread on their fields.

In addition, farmers have laid drain tiles under their fields to to lower the water table and speed water off their crops. In this way the roots reach down deep to the lowered water table during the dry season, making for stronger crops. During the Flood of 1993 hydrologists were stunned at the speed with which all that rain that fell on the Mississippi Basin drained off the tile-drained fields, in the uplands and the bottomlands, and to the river. Finally, streams like Fountain Creek,  which gather water and nutrients from the uplands and flow across the Mississippi floodplain, are channelized between levees from their exit from the uplands to the river. They gather deliver their water and nutrients directly to the river.

Fountain Creek, Monroe County, Illinois, 1993

In Illinois and Iowa Trees Forever is taking applications from farmers, who want to participate in the Conservation Buffer Demonstration Project, which seems to be a separate project from the USDA project. Farmers can receive up to $3,000 to build riparian buffers along the streams that edge their fields, bio-retention cells, and rain gardens. The funding for this program comes from a National Fish and Wildlife Foundation grant to Trees Forever.

08/11: Media’s Treatment of Palin’s Outrageous “Death Panel” Claims

Palin’s “death panel” comments included using her baby with Down Syndrome – as a world stage prop – in a world stage propaganda crusade.  There is no chance of her being mistaken on (certain) facts.  The Orwellian act was premeditated – solely designed (and/or directed for the puppet) to reap (the party’s) benefits from obscenely malicious Lies – told/sold as innocent (but wholly shocking) Truth.  If this level of sickening and willing abuse from Palin is not enough (after numerous high offenses) to be her final death knell of credibility, then what, by God, would it take for the media to stop regurgitating her neocon Ventriloquy?  If she came out and said she has absolute proof that there are seventy-four democrats in the House and Senate plotting to assassinate all republicans in office (without ever showing her list, or sources), would our press just print it up – Front Page?  From our talking heads media, would it be just another “one side/other side” presentation with modern “objectivity” (all sides are equal – investigative journalism died with Reagan)?  In a revealing conclusion, the cowardice of Palin using her baby in this manner reminds me of how Greg Stillson’s true character was exposed – by holding up a baby in The Dead Zone.

08/27: Mike Huckabee “Death Panels” Kennedy

Mike Huckabee “suggested during his radio show . . . that, under President Obama’s health care plan, Kennedy would have been told to ‘go home to take pain pills and die’ during his last year of life.”  As a result, my previous comment also reflects on Huckabee.  Where Palin is a female Stillson holding up her baby as a (pawned) shield, he is Stillson campaigning/preaching – while propagating the sorriest fascist trash on the back of a (voiceless) dead man (who would, if he could, fight to the brink of another death in exposing these unforgivable “death panel” hacks).  Picture/remember the madness of Stillson threatening to cut off a man’s hand (if that’s what it took) in order to get it on the scanning machine.  Those bombs were going to fly, and the world would be damned (to all eyes but his) – regardless of any diplomatic solution.  To Huckabee and his ilk, all Truth, the nation, the world, can also be damned (to all eyes but theirs) – as long as they complete the messianic mission (without ever receiving actual confirmation or guidance from God/never realizing who they factually served with their corporate ideology).

All spring, walkers along Forbidden Drive in the Wissahickon Valley section of Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, noticed signs wrapped in dark plastic bags. Recently the bags were removed to reveal a locator system for reporting emergencies. The unveiling was timely — since then a jogger was killed by a falling branch and a rape occurred near the path. The signs instruct people to call 911 and provide the help locator number. But there may be a catch. A story by David Gambacorta in the Philadelphia Daily News notes that the area is a dead zone for cell phones and police radios, according to the cops.

FROM: The Pollution Hunter’s Blog
RE: Charleston, S.C.
DATE: August 2009

Charleston Hazardous Locations KMZ – link here

This project started out as a potential business development venture; checking out some land that was for sale in order to place sustainable, renewable port re-development facilities in Charleston. Right after surveying a parcel of land in North Charleston, a colleague fell very ill, and was taken by ambulance to the emergency room. He had been overcome by pollution in the air, and his blood oxygen level dipped down to 89%. How could this be so? Is there THAT much pollution in the air in Charleston?

The simple answer: Yes.

The difficult answer: Yes, and it’s not just in the air….it’s the groundwater, the rain, the soil, the buildings…it goes on and on.

I decided to use Google Earth v.5 to map companies in the area of said polluted site. Needless to say, the nearby companies are heavy polluters, and of note, a public park is right in the middle of them. As I found more and more information about all the local contamination, I started a project that would attempt to demonstrate the pollution in Charleston and it’s surrounding areas. I have not finished this project (started in May 2009), and there are many more items that need to be added and organized further (see “notes” below).

The Charleston Pollution KMZ file(s) contains the following items of interest:

• Mapped companies that are either polluters or handle hazardous waste.
• Mapped schools that are affected by pollution, but more to come.
• Mapped outlines and shading of CERCLA sites, brownfields, contaminated land/soil, and cemeteries
• Mapped areas and bodies of water that are listed in the SC DHEC “Ground Water Contamination Inventory” list
• Charleston County was the main focus, although some Dorchester and Berkeley County sites are included, especially if they were heavy polluters, and/or were affecting Charleston County watersheds.
• Many important facts can be found when you click on the shaded polygons. You should click on everything.

What it does NOT include – yet

1. SC DHEC list of contaminated water sites in Charleston County.

2. Photos that I’ve taken around the area

3. Reports (Google Earth doesn’t allow users to include .doc, .pdf, or other commonly used application files. I’ll have to post them in a zip file on the same page as the KMZ files.

4. The “Contamination Paper Trail” – has been established containing loose documents I’ve found with contamination information that’s viable, but hasn’t been organized yet. More research is needed to find the history of the site and its source(s) of contamination, and maps are always a help.

5. The “Money Trail” – has been established by an associate and will be incorporated whenever relevant. Millions have been appropriated to ‘fix’ contamination, yet many sites have not been remediated and are still a threat to human/public health.

6. The “People Trail” – entities, persons and officers involved with decision making and rulings on SC environmental pollution.

7. Unexploded ordnance locations (buried military munitions, “UXO”)

8. Hazardous fuel spill locations

9. Matching local schools to their corresponding pollution sources

10. Charleston County GIS – some parcel owners that have excessive contamination need to be added.

11. Government contract awards – this is relevant due to the history of “much needed” goods from excessive polluter; the don’t get shut down because their work is so important to national security.

12. Shipwrecked and abandoned boats/ships/vessels. Many have been unmoved for years, and contamination is emanating from all of them.

13. Hurricane Hugo disposal and burn sites. Many areas of potential contamination at these sites – asbestos and lead-laden building debris was disposed of or burned at these sites.

14. Military sites – “Formerly Used Defense Sites”, or FUDS. Many large wartime battles yielded bodies and mass graves all around Charleston. Of main concern, Morris Island, where there is historical record of mass graves on the island, and they’re still there after 150+ years. Many contaminants leaching into the soil/marsh and Atlantic Ocean.

15. Creosote locations – marking where old railroad ties have been sitting for long periods of time, as well as railroad ties that are still in use.

**CAVEATS – or, “warnings”

*This Google Earth map of Charleston is a work in progress. Not all of the above items are there, some are duplicates, but I will be making additions and corrections, updating and posting new KMZ files often. I cannot promise dates, but I’ll try to do it weekly.

*Not all companies or industries are displayed; information is scant on the web at times, and often changes, so what is presented is not meant to be the bottom line for any situation; please look up the files or websites as you need to.

*The EPA website is updated often, so information is current as of Sept. 2009 in most cases (although research began in May 2009) and can change at any time.

*Not all pop-up display windows have the same information, but updates are made often.

*Physical locations may be incorrectly mapped; the Google Earth application can, and may, wrongly identify companies or addresses, and I have attempted to verify correct information whenever and wherever possible. No deception or incorrect attribution is meant on my part. Please feel free to contact me with edits and corrections.

*I haven’t had the time to enter all the exhaustive SC DHEC “Ground Water Contamination Inventory” list (also referred to as “GWCI”) of contaminated water sites for Charleston County. Note that there are probably more sites that DHEC doesn’t know about, have been reported but not investigated, or else haven’t been updated online; DHEC has been under fire for slow progress and haphazard inspections and enforcement for environmental violators, so assume there are many other areas that are contaminated.

SC Department of Health and Environmental Control – Organization Chart

List of South Carolina EPA CERCLIS sites

SC DHEC – Cancer Cluster Summary for Zip Code 29414

I only represent myself, a private citizen, and I am not posting this for litigious purposes.

The information I have found is UNCLASSIFIED MATERIAL; meaning, the typical American citizen can access it either electronically (via emails or “soft copy”), on the Internet (via a website), or else in hard copy (printed documentation) at their local government offices of interest.

It seems like all the news about the environment tends to bad. So here’s a bit of good news from the Farm Bureau Spokesman.

Scientists from the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium and Louisiana State University found the size of this year’s Gulf of Mexico hypoxia zone to be just over 3,000 square miles, about 5,000 square miles smaller than predicted. An interagency task force’s goal is to reduce the hypoxia zone to a size of 2,000 square miles or less by 2015, based on a five-year running average. The hypoxia zone is an area of ocean where oxygen levels have been depleted by an 0ver-growth and decay of algae and is often blamed on fertilizer funoff from the Midwest. Soil and water conservation measures by Iowa farmers have contributed to a 21 percent decline in nitrogen delivery to the Gulf. Aug. 5, 2009 p. 1

This post will feature useful tips for hunters versus each class. The tips are meant to be general, and you should look for ways to apply them in any setting you can. Playing your class to its fullest is one of the few remaining ways to enjoy WoW, since the advent of the Death Knight

Death Knight:
1 – Deterrence after a disengage. Most DKs will waste their Death Grip on it and you will make a clean get away. Make sure he’s snared before you jump or he’ll catch up fast, though.
2 – Kill gargoyles. We’re probably the only class that can do this easily for the time being, thanks to our plethora of instant ranged attacks.
3 – Disarm them. They will eat the full duration every time.

Mage:
1 – Kill Water Elementals.
2 – Use gladius (/target arena1, arena2, etc) to re-target mages after they pop Mirror Images.
3 – Distracting Shot one of his pets if you’re about to eat a polymorph.

Rogue:
1 – Feign Death whenever a rogue vanishes on you. He won’t be able to cheap shot until he re-targets you, and in the time it takes him to do that you should be able to re-flare yourself.
2 – Don’t DPS a rogue who has evasion up unless there’s absolutely nothing else to shoot.
3 – Try and intervene yourself a second or two after getting cheapshotted: as long as your pet stays in range (5 yards or so) the rogue might end up kidneyshotting it instead.

Warlock:
1 – Destruction warlocks can’t do anything without Immolate up. Interrupt it with anything, including Wyvern sting, and if he’s casting it on you and you can’t interrupt the cast then you might as well deterrence it, since his Chaos bolt will ignore Deterrence.
2 – Even if he does get the immolate off, unless you’re at full hp with heals incoming you should deterrence anyway, because you might get the Conflag at least.
3 – Don’t get mad when locks kill you. They counter us harder than anything except paladins.

Paladin:
1 – You can intervene judgements and Hammer of Wrath, but deterrence is useless against these spells, because they count as ranged attacks. Do not save deterrence until 20% against a paladin, ever.
2 – Scatter and Silencing Shot don’t last long against these classes. If you’re trying to scatter one into a freezing arrow, but you can’t get the freezing arrow off immediately after scatter shotting, don’t bother, because he will run out of it.
3 – Don’t get mad when paladins kill you. They counter us harder than anything except warlocks.

Shaman:
1- Tranq Shot resto shamans on the cooldown.

Priest:
1 – Kite his shadowfiend.
2 – Viper Sting on the cooldown
3 – Use Wyvern Sting early, you can force a trinket/wotf usually.

Other Hunters:
1 – Kill them, deterrence is useless against you.
2 – Kill their pets, they can’t protect them, and once they have no pet, see #1.
3 – Intervene yourself.

Druid:
1 – Viper Sting on the cooldown, it makes them waste GCDs.
2 – Scatter when Abolish is about to fade, this lets you Wyvern Sting them safely.
3 – Scare Beast feral druids on the cooldown. It’ll force them to waste cooldowns or mana to interrupt/cancel your cast.

Warrior:
1 – You can use Deterrence to negate a Charge stun, Intercept, or Bladestorm.
2 – Remember all those guys who would sit in our dead zone during BC? well warriors still have one, and you should abuse the hell out of it so they can’t charge or intercept you.
3 – Warriors can heroic throw and overpower right through deterrence, so don’t wait too long to use it.

I hope these tips and tricks help. If you have your own, post them in the comments section and we can update this post with them. The number one piece of advice I can give to up and coming hunters in pvp is use deterrence early. Deterrence is not like Divine Shield, and it shouldn’t be treated that way. It will not save you if an affliction warlock or dk or warrior gets you to 20%, so use it early.

-Jurgwena

Martin Sheen

Ramón Gerardo Antonio Estévez

, (born August 3, 1940) better known by his stage name Martin Sheen,  is an actor best known for his performances as Captain Willard in the film Apocalypse Now and President Josiah Bartlet on the television series The West Wing. As well as the critical acclaim he has received as an actor, he has become known as an activist. Born and raised in Ohio, United States, with Irish and Spanish parents, Sheen is also an Irish citizen.

Spawn (1997)

He is the father of actors Carlos Irwin Estévez (Charlie Sheen), Emilio Estévez, Ramón Estévez and Renée Estévez, and is brother of the actor Joe Estevez.

Trivia:

Auditioned for the role of Michael Corleone in The Godfather (1972).

Beyond the Stars (1989)

Was considered for the recurring role of Sloan on “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” (1993).

Has memorized and can sing every single Frank Sinatra song.

He can only put his jacket on by flipping it over his head (like Bartlet in “The West Wing” (1999)). His left arm was crushed by forceps when he was born and he has limited lateral movement.

Was nominated for Broadway’s 1965 Tony Award as Best Supporting or Featured Actor (Dramatic) for “The Subject Was Roses,” a role that he recreated in the film version of the same name, The Subject Was Roses (1968).

Dead Zone (1983)

Due to his commitment to “The West Wing” (1999), was unable to reprise the role of Robert E. Lee in the Gettysburg (1993) prequel, Gods and Generals (2003). The role was instead played by Lee descendant Robert Duvall, who starred with Sheen in the popular Vietnam War film Apocalypse Now (1979).

Has played both Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy in The Missiles of October (1974) (TV) and President John F. Kennedy in the mini-series “Kennedy” (1983), and is the only actor to portray both brothers.

Ranked #5 on Tropopkin’s Top 25 Most Intriguing People [Issue #100]

Final Countdown (1980)

Is portrayed by James Hayden in The Patricia Neal Story (1981) (TV)

Suffered a severe heart attack while filming Apocalypse Now (1979).

According to friends and family, he is closest to son Charlie than anyone else. Indeed, he and Charlie often appear together on the screen, and Martin has even played Charlie’s on-screen father twice. He also appeared as an older “Charlie” in a credit-card commercial.

Received an honorary doctor of letters degree from Marquette University (2003) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, during the dedication of the school’s new library (according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel web site).

Fire Starter (1984)

As an admirer and supporter of actor James Dean and his legacy, he worked to preserve the high school in Fairmount that Dean attended. In addition, he has visited Fairmount for Dean-related events.

[October 2006] Pursuing a three-year Bachelor of Arts degree in English literature, philosophy, and oceanography at the National University of Ireland (NUIG), Galway, Ireland.

Apocalypse Now (1979)

Every week, the Freshwater Society publishes a digest of some of the best regional, national and international articles about water and the environment. Scan the articles here, then follow the links to the articles in their original sources.

Climate change threatens fish, USGS expert says

Entire populations of North American fish already  are being affected by several emerging diseases, a problem that threatens to increase in the future with climate change and other stresses on aquatic ecosystems, according to a noted U.S. Geological Survey researcher giving an invited talk on this subject at the Wildlife Disease Association conference in Blaine, Wash.

 “A generation ago, we couldn’t have imaged the explosive growth in disease issues facing many of our wild fish populations,” said Dr. Jim Winton, a fish disease specialist at the USGS Western Fisheries Research Center.  “Most fish health research at that time was directed toward diseases of farmed fish.”

 In contrast, said Winton, recent studies in natural aquatic systems have revealed that, in addition to being a cause of natural death, infectious and parasitic fish diseases can produce significantly greater mortality in altered habitats leading to population fluctuations, extinction of endangered fish, reduced overall health and increased susceptibility to predation.

–USGS news release

 Complaint accuses farmers of ignoring buffer rule

The Zumbro River is slow and lazy on a summer’s day as it curves along a gentle bend near Terry Klampe’s home just outside Rochester.

But all is not tranquil in Olmsted County.

 Klampe, a dentist and ardent conservationist, has filed a complaint to give the river some space in farm country.

 Farmers are thwarting the law by planting corn and soybeans to the edge of the river and its tributaries, Klampe said, violating pollution rules that require a 50-foot buffer of permanent vegetation to protect streams and lakes from soil and chemical runoff.

–The Star Tribune

Zebra mussels increase blue-green algae

As if there aren’t enough reasons to keep zebra mussels out of Minnesota lakes, add one more: toxic blue-green algae blooms.

 A recent spike in state lakes infested with the non-native mussel has scientists mindful of an emerging — and unwelcome — connection.

 In Michigan, where zebra mussels have infested more than 200 lakes, blue-green algae blooms — the kind that can make people sick and have killed animals that drink the water — are enjoying a resurgence of sorts. And instead of pinning the blame on excess nutrients that typically cause them, scientists are looking squarely at zebra mussels as a trigger.

 Every year, blue-green algae blooms occur across central and southern Minnesota, typically in shallow lakes with high concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus from animal waste or vegetative decomposition. Sometimes, those blooms become toxic, causing farm animals or dogs that consume any of it to get sick or die.

–The St. Paul Pioneer Press

 Twin Cities suburbs press water conservation

With thirsty lawns and trees in need of water, suburban residents are struggling to get their home landscapes through a dry summer while obediently adhering to water conservation restrictions.

 City after city now has adopted watering restrictions and stepped-up rates for high water usage, and some residents are shy about watering even when it’s allowed, fearing they are wasting a precious resource.

 Yet there is no water crisis in Minnesota. The Twin Cities area has more water in lakes, rivers and groundwater reserves than almost any other metro area in the country.

So, when is it OK for an environmentally conscientious citizen to water?

–The Star Tribune

 ‘Dead zone’ smaller than predicted

Scientists said that the region of oxygen-starved water in the northern Gulf of Mexico this summer was smaller than forecast, which means less disruption of shrimp, crabs and other marine species, and of the fisheries that depend on them.

But researchers found that although the so-called dead zone along the Texas and Louisiana coasts was smaller — about 3,000 square miles compared with a prediction of about 8,000 square miles — the actual volume of low-oxygen, or hypoxic, water may be higher, as the layer is deeper and thicker in some parts of the gulf than normal. And the five-year average size of the dead zone is still considered far too big, about three times a target of 2,000 square miles set for 2015 by an intergovernmental task force.

–The New York Times

 Invasive flowering rush found in 3 L. Minnetonka bays

Flowering rush, an invasive water plant, has taken root as the latest unwelcome species in Lake Minnetonka — this time probably through the actions of a gardener, not a boater, the Department of Natural Resources says.

 The DNR got word of the plant’s presence in Lake Minnetonka on June 29. In searching 10 of the lake’s 132 miles of shoreline so far, the DNR has confirmed its growth in Smith’s Bay, Brown’s Bay and Crystal Bay near Orono.

–The Star Tribune

 Scientists agree on identifying plant species

An international panel of scientists has agreed to a bar-code standard for plant DNA that will allow the precise identification of most of Earth’s 300,000 species of plants, according to a research report.

 The agreement is expected to generate a wide range of benefits, from checking the purity of herbal supplements to exposing illegal logging operations and helping to protect fragile plant ecosystems, observers said.

 ”It’s the first time we have actually developed a technique that will allow people to identify plants,” said James S. Miller, vice president for science at the New York Botanical Garden, one of 25 institutions working on the agreement.

 A similar technique for animals was created in 2003 and has been used to expose mislabeled caviar, crack a food-poisoning case involving fish and determine the bird species that caused US Airways Flight 1549 to ditch into the Hudson River in January.

–The Washington Post

 Invasive kelp threatens San Francisco Bay

Chela Zabin will not soon forget when she first glimpsed the golden brown tentacle of the latest alien to settle in the fertile waters of San Francisco Bay.

Skip to next paragraph “I had that moment of ‘Oh God, this is it, it’s here,’ ” said Dr. Zabin, a biologist with the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center. “I was really hoping I was wrong.”

 The tentacle in question was that of an Asian kelp, Undaria pinnatifida, a flavorful and healthful ingredient in miso soup and an aggressive, costly intruder in waters from New Zealand to Monterey Bay.

–The New York Times

 Appeals court rejects challenge on ballast rules

The Minnesota Court of Appeals rejected a challenge to how Minnesota regulates ships dumping ballast water into Lake Superior.

 In its decision, the court sided with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, saying the agency’s approach, designed to keep non-native species out of the lake, met legal requirements.

 The St. Paul-based Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy sued, contending the permit system took too long to implement and isn’t strong enough.

The system requires that, by 2016, all ships treat their ballast water before dumping it into the Minnesota waters of Lake Superior. New ships must start in 2012.

–The St. Paul Pioneer Press

 L.A. June water use hits 32-year low

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power reported that water demand reached a 32-year low for the month of June, dropping 11% compared with the same period in 2008.

Jim McDaniel, the senior assistant general manager of DWP’s water system, said hard work by ratepayers is paying off. Though experts said June was on average 4 degrees cooler than normal, McDaniel attributed the low demand to the new water restrictions.  

“You don’t see those kinds of reductions just due to weather,” he said.

The restrictions limit the use of sprinklers to 15 minutes a day on Mondays and Thursdays. No watering is allowed between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.
– The Los Angeles Times

 Restored reef teems with oysters

Scientists say they’ve created something in a Virginia river that hasn’t been seen since the late 1800s: a vast, thriving reef of American oysters, the shellfish that helped create the Chesapeake Bay’s ecosystem and then nearly vanished from it.

The reef sits on the bottom of the Great Wicomico River, a bay tributary about 80 miles southeast of Washington. The scientists say they found a better way to plant oysters, creating an 87-acre colony of bivalves that teems with other marine life.

That’s a long way from bringing oysters back in all of the Chesapeake. Virginia and Maryland officials said this week that they doubted this success could be replicated widely.

But the oyster researchers said their work, published online in the journal Science, provides new hope for one of the bay’s most beleaguered species. The oyster, depleted by overfishing, pollution and disease, has fallen to less than 1 percent of its historical population.

–The Washington Post

 Pollution contaminates beaches

Raw sewage and other pollution continued to foul American beaches in 2008.

For the fourth year in a row, more than 20,000 beach closing days were reported in the USA, according to a report released today by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) in Washington, D.C.

 ”Storm water and sewage runoff are the biggest sources for the contamination,” says Nancy Stoner, NRDC’s water program co-director. The report monitored beaches along the Atlantic, Pacific and Gulf coasts, along with those in the Great Lakes states.

–USA Today

 DNR, Trout Unlimited to restore Vermillion

Some time in the Roaring ’20s, someone tried to turn the Vermillion, or at least part of it, into a rushing river.

 It might have been a farmer or the Army Corps of Engineers, but whoever it was removed the curves from a meandering stretch east of Farmington.

The goal was increasing the speed of the prairie river’s flow to quicken drainage of the farm fields that surround it. It worked, but over the years, the water has also whisked away a lot of farm runoff, soil and silt.

 So next summer, in the name of trout habitat and water quality, the Minnesota DNR and Trout Unlimited are leading a project that will help make the rural river meander again.

–The Star Tribune

 Study links soy diet to endocrine disruption

Women who are having difficulty conceiving may want to cut back on their soy consumption after a mouse study reveals that dietary exposure to genistein, a compound found in soy foods, can reduce the odds of a successful pregnancy in multiple ways. The study examined the impact of genistein exposure on oocytes, or eggs, from adult mice and found it can impair oocyte maturation, reduce their potential to become fertilized and hamper the growth of the newly formed embryo.

 The results reveal how natural compounds like genistein may have both risks – it can act as an endocrine disruptor to affect female reproduction – and benefits – such as protecting the heart.

–Environmental Health News

 Syrian drought displaces thousands

Only a few decades ago, fish were plentiful in the Orontes river which for thousands of years has provided water to the lush Syrian plains, at the crossroads of the ancient world.

 These days the Orontes’s 12th Century norias, enormous water wheels famous for their distinctive creak, barely turn in the weak tides. Algae covers the river’s surface and the desert has been closing in.

“The river has become so polluted. The quality of our produce has suffered and there is barely enough now to feed my family,” said 80-year-old farmer Mohammad al-Hamdo.

 Syria’s worst drought in decades has displaced hundreds of thousands of people and raised calls for a coordinated water policy for the Middle East as the region faces a dryer climate and water supplies depleted by damming and water well drilling.

–Reuters

 Wisconsin groundwater funding urged

Water experts recommended to state legislators that they strengthen groundwater laws by pumping more money into monitoring, broadening protections for springs and possibly increasing the distance between high-capacity wells and sensitive surface waters.

The Legislature beefed up groundwater protections in 2004, but Ken Bradbury, a hydrogeologist with the Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey, said during the hearing that it is difficult to evaluate the effectiveness of the law because there has been no money for monitoring.

 The hearing was before a joint meeting of the Senate and Assembly natural resource committees. The hearing was the first step in an effort to improve regulations of groundwater created in the 2004 law. State Sen. Neal Kedzie, R-Elkhorn, one of the co-authors of the initial legislation, said the committees’ examination of groundwater issues is part of a review of the law called for in the 2004 bill.

–The Wisconsin State Journal

 USDA allocates water project funds

U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service Chief Dave White announced nearly $58 million for water conservation and water quality improvements on agricultural working lands.

 The funding was made available for 63 projects in 21 states through the Agricultural Water Enhancement Program. No projects in Minnesota or Wisconsin were funded.

 ”We must take steps to protect and preserve our water resources, and the Obama Administration is committed to using this program to provide financial and technical assistance to farmers and ranchers to improve water conditions on their land,” said White.

 The Agricultural Water Enhancement Program (AWEP) promotes ground and surface water conservation and improves water quality by helping farmers and ranchers implement agricultural water enhancement activities. With the services and resources of other conservation partners, AWEP allows the Federal Government to leverage investment in natural resources conservation.

–U.S. Department of Agriculture

Da qualche anno a questa parte una moda tendenzialmente pericolosa si è diffusa sempre di più nel mondo giovanile: la moda dell’alcool.
Il must tra i giovani d’oggi sono seratine a base di superalcolici, vino, birra e cocktails da consumarsi preferibilmente in giro per le strade, solitamente da un bar all’altro, nel tragitto che li separa da un gin&tonic ad un mojito.
Mi è capitato, qualche settimana fa, di andare in giro per Scicli, il mio paesino, e vedere turbe di quindicenni fare la spola di locale in locale provando quaanto di bevereccio di fosse in ognuno di questi. Verso fine serata, barcollanti e visibilmente alticci si dirigevano verso le loro vetture per andare a ballare!!
Lungi da me aggiungere dei commenti proibizionistici sui pericoli dell’alcool, ci mancherebbe, in primo luogo perchè bere piace anche a me(si ma con le responsabilità del caso) e poi ciascuno è libero di rovinarsi la vita come vuole: voglio invece riportare la notizia di una iniziativa del Toga Project di Roma.
Se a Scicli di ubriaconi imberbi ce ne sono 100 in giro, nella capitale ce ne sono 10.000, per ogni bar.
Il Toga Project è in realtà un gruppo di ragazzi che ogni sabato sera si piazzano all’uscita di bar e pub e si prendono la briga di riaccompagnare a casa coloro che manifestano evidenti segni di avanzata ubriachezza.
Tu gli consegni le chiavi della tua auto ed il tuo angelo custode in carne ed ossa ti riaccompagna a casa. Poi apre il suo zainetto e monta una minimoto con cui ritorna al suo posto di lavoro.
Una grande idea nata dallo spirito di solidarietà di alcuni ragazzi che il cervello non l’hanno ancora lasciato dentro una bottiglia di Jack Daniels: 10 e lode.

Chris McCandless, alias Alex Supertramp è o meglio era, un’esploratore americano.

Ossessionato dalle teorie di Jack London sul lato selvaggio della vita e dagli scritti di Henry David Thoreau sull’essenza dell’esistenza umana, Chris, nel 1990, fresco di laurea, decise di lasciare tutti i risparmi in beneficenza e di partire alla volta dei territori incontaminati dell’Alaska allo scopo di scoprire il vero significato della vita. Quest’ultimo, secondo il ragazzo, si sarebbe potuto assaporare maggiormante vivendo a stretto contatto con la natura selvaggia e sopravvivendo con ciò che essa poteva fornigli.

I viaggi di McCandless lo portarono in lungo ed in largo per i territori più aspri e desolati del Nord America nei quali, fra mille pericoli e difficoltà, egli si trovò a proprio agio: raggiunse una parte del proprio intimo che nè le distrazioni e la vita frenetica della città e della società umana, nè tantomeno i rapporti burrascosi col padre erano riuscite a tirargli fuori.

Dopo 2 anni di vagabondare Chris finalmente arrivò in Alaska nella primavera del 1992 e stabilì il proprio campo base all’interno di un vecchio autobus abbandonato; in una zona estremamente selvaggia e pericolosa egli trascorse 112 giorni cibandosi di quando riusciva a cacciare, trascorrendo il tempo a leggere i propri libri preferiti ed a riflettere sulle implicazioni più realistiche di quanto affermavano London e Thoreau.

Tutto questo, prima che due cacciatori della zona rinvenissero la sua salma all’interno del vecchio bus. Chris morì, all’inizio di agosto, per inedia, o almeno questo dichiararono le autorità.

Jon Krakauer, alpinista, giornalista e scrittore americano, nel suo libro del 1996 “Nelle terre selvagge”  afferma che la morte del giovane sopravvenne a causa dei semi della patata selvatica, unica parte tossica della pianta, che contengono swainina, una sostanza della famiglia degli alcaloidi (caffeina, morfina, mescalina) che provoca un lento deperimento dei tessuti vitali fino alla morte. Sempre nel testo del giornalista americano si apprende che accanto al corpo senza vita di Chris, furono ritrovati il  diario in cui erano annotati minuziosamente tutti gli eventi degli ultimi 2 anni di vita del ragazzo, alcuni oggetti di uso quotidiano ed una serie di foto che documentavano l’intera avventura. Due documenti colpiscono, su tutti, una foto, l’ultima, scattata da Chris intorno al 18 agosto(data della presunta morte)in cui si vede il giovane, smagrito e sofferente, ma sorridente, che lascia il suo messaggio d’addio al mondo; e una pagina strappata da un libro in cui il ragazzo aveva scritto “la felicità è vera solo se condivisa”. Non è da escludere che l’avventura di Chris fosse lì per lì per finire e lui per tornare fra la gente.

Ma, perchè guardando il film diretto da Sean Penn(Into the wild) e leggendo il libro di Krakauer questa storia mi ha colpito?

Nel 1990, anno in cui cominciò l’avventura di McCandless, avevo 6 anni, di libri ancora ne leggevo pochi ma ricordo che il primo libro che mi regalarono per il Natale del ‘91 fu Zanna Bianca di Jack London, seguito a breve da Robinson Crusoe di DeFoè. Storie di avventure all’interno della natura incontaminata: un sogno per un ragazzino di 7 anni che poco o nulla immagina dei pericoli e delle difficoltà che in realtà comportano quei posti. Mi capitava spesso mentre leggevo di fermarmi a pensare ed immaginare come sarebbe stato andarci in quei posti, come sarebbe stato sentire il freddo polare sulla pelle e rischiare la vita giorno dopo giorno. Evidentemente a Chris non bastava immaginarlo, voleva viverlo e l’ha fatto ed io lo ammiro per questo.

Non sarà stato il massimo della prudenza nè della saggezza ma rimane comunque un  grande uomo, capace di allontanarsi dalle comodità della vita moderna e sicura ma fin troppo falsa per andare a vivere nei territori meno ospitali del globo.

Di certo, è molto meglio gustarsi l’alba in mezzo alla natura selvaggia, dimenticandosi momentaneamente delle difficoltà che porterà il giorno, piuttosto che sentire i clacson, le urla dei commercianti ed il suono della sveglia, preludio ad un giorno sì colmo di comodità ma allo stesso modo povero di significati esistenziali.

I was talking with my brother-in-law about the ways agricultural runoff from farming up and down the Mississippi River contribute to hypoxia (dead zones) in the Gulf of Mexico and thought I’d post links to a few scientific pubs I’ve used while working as the government documents librarian at Spring Hill College.

Integrated Assessment of Hypoxia in the
Northern Gulf of Mexico.
http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/products/hypox_final.pdf

Coastal Ocean Research. Decision Analysis Series
http://www8.nos.noaa.gov/nccos/cscor/publications.aspx

Gulf of Mexico Ecosystems & Hypoxia Assessment
http://www.cop.noaa.gov/stressors/pollution/current/gomex-factsheet.html

Effects of Reducing Nutrient Loads to Surface Waters
within the Mississippi River Basin and the Gulf of Mexico. http://www.cop.noaa.gov/pubs/das/das18.pdf

Coastal Ocean Program.
Harmful Algal Blooms in Coastal Waters
http://www.cop.noaa.gov/pubs/das/das10.pdf 

Hypoxia and Nutrient Pollution
Center for Sponsored Coastal Ocean Research  
http://www.cop.noaa.gov/stressors/pollution/welcome.html 

National Office for Harmful Algal Blooms Woods Hole
http://www.whoi.edu/redtide/page.do?pid=15075

Scientists from from the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium, Louisiana State University, and the University of Michigan are warning that the seasonal “dead zone” found in the Gulf of Mexico could be the largest on record.  “Dead zones” are areas of water with too low of oxygen levels to support life… that’s right, the water is uninhabitable.  No fishies, no turtles, no mermaids.  Nothing. And it’s not a small area either… it’s the size of Jersey (which is a dead zone of it’s own… ha!)

But seriously…

Scientists are predicting the area could measure between 7,450 and 8,456 square miles, or an area roughly the size of New Jersey.  However, additional flooding of the Mississippi River since May may result in a larger dead zone.

And what causes these “dead zones”?

Dead zones are caused by nutrient runoff, principally from agricultural activity, which stimulates an overgrowth of algae that sinks, decomposes, and consumes most of the life-giving oxygen supply in the water.

http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Large_Dead_Zone_Predicted_For_Gulf_Of_Mexico_This_Summer_999.html

Film: Cat’s Eye (1985)
Directed by: Lewis Teague
Written by: Stephen King
Starring: Drew Barrymore as Our Girl
                   James Woods as Morrison (from segment 1: ”Quitter’s Inc.”)
                   Robert Hays as Norris (from segment 2: “The Ledge”)

By Joe Campenella from CinemaFist

When I was a kid, I would lie down to sleep and hear that pulsing in my ear..
Instead of thinking to myself, this is normal go to bed, I would have these strange feelings that a small troll was waiting beneath my head to suck out my breath.

This is what Cat’s Eye did to me as a child.

To be honest, I didn’t really remember much else about the film, before reaching it for this edition of Natsukashi. But after I popped the DVD in the memories came roaring back.

James Woods stealing a smoke on the expressway. That stupid little pigeon pecking away on the ankle of a man walking a ledge. Image after image I began to remember why I was so drawn to this movie as a kid.

Some may call the film a bit cheesy, especially when watching the torture-filled, shaky cam, ultra slick horror movies of the present.

I, for one, call it great fun.

Download Natsukashi’s ‘Cat’s Eye’ podcast with Scott Conrad here

or, creep down a little further to listen to it right here…

_____________________________________________________

Our guest: Editor Scott Conrad

Cat’s Eye’s editor Scott Conrad marks a first for us here at Natsukashi, for he is our frist Oscar winner to speak with us, earning that golden guy for his work on the seminal Sylvester Stallone flick, Rocky. He’s amassed more than 50 films to his resume so far, including working twice with Cheech & Chong, directors such as Curtis Hanson (The Bedroom Window), horror-meister Tom Holland (The Stranger Within), and just wrapped working with Tim Allen on his directorial debut Crazy on the Outside, with Sigourney Weaver, Ray Liotta, and J.K. Simmons.

Scott has some great encounters with writer Stephen King and producer Dino De Laurentiis that he shares with us, as well as many fond memories of working with the cast on the set of the film, and we thank him for letting us look into Cat’s Eye with him.