Manatees in Lake Pontchartrain!

"Manatee area . . . proceed with caution."

by Kia Hall Hayes, The Times-Picayune
Thursday July 17, 2008, 9:37 PM

Confirming reports of manatees in and around Lake Pontchartrain, local scientists are spreading the word to boaters who might catch sight of the endangered mammal: Consider yourself lucky, and then leave it alone.

About a dozen sightings have been confirmed near the North Shore in recent weeks, and scientists are urging the public to appreciate the manatees from a distance.

"People like to swim with them, but that makes them not afraid of boats, and then they swim up to them and get hit, " said Fred Stouder, a biologist at Southeastern Louisiana University's Turtle Cove Environmental Research Station in Manchac.

Human interaction is one of the biggest killers of the slow-moving animal, which grows up to 10 or 12 feet and can weigh 350 to 450 pounds.

About 3,100 live in U.S. waters.

Manatees, also known as "sea cows, " make their way over from Florida in the late spring when Louisiana waters have warmed to their liking. Experts say the animals also travel up the east coast and to other Gulf Coast states in search of warm water and vegetation.

Source: nola.com via René

Manatees coming to an area near you!

Be careful, these slow moving animals, described by a Wildlife coordinator as 'a very large potato with a flipper on the end of it' are easily hurt by fast-moving boats.

Correction, a reader on my gBlog brought to my attention that some of the above info was wrong.

Florida Wildlife and Fish: The average Florida manatee is about 10 feet long and weighs close to 1,200 pounds. Manatees can reach up to 13 feet in length and weigh 3,500 pounds. Female manatees tend to be larger than the males. Their calves weigh around 66 pounds and are 4 feet long.

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Oil and Natural Gas Prices Fall Again!

UPDATE: Oil prices rebound slightly by noon. How convenient that Nigeria had an oil  pipeline explosion! Just too convenient in my view.

Latest news on AP and CNN, oil futures fall again, down to $129.

But who is actually making the major profits?

"The six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and Oman) earned $364 billion in 2007, but they are projected to earn $639 billion in 2008 and $657 billion in 2009. Saudi Arabia alone is projected to earn about $700 billion in 2008-09, following earnings of $194 billion in 2007. [3]"
MiddleEast Media Research Institute

And this despite the Saudi King and his ministers all claiming that it was the speculators driving the price up.

Kinda makes you wonder just who exactly were behind those speculators, doesn't it?

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BBC find the evidence against China Darfour

No human rights violations?

The BBC has found the first evidence that China is currently helping Sudan's government militarily in Darfur.

Source: news.bbc.co.uk

BBC will air a Broadcast on China's Secret War on BBC One at 2030 BST on Monday 14 July 2008.

NP Brits might let us know what the show is all about. Personally I find it strange that media has taken so long to come up with the evidence when this knowledge has been around for at least a couple years.

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Afghan Olympian Runs for Her Life

Apparently the only female competitor to come out of Afghanistan for the Beijing Olympics has gone missing in Italy where she was training with the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF).

According to the report on CBC, Mahbooba Ahadgar called home and told her mother she does not intend to return to Afghanistan.

"...far from being an Olympic favorite, the head of the Afghan Olympic Federation has threatened to throw her family in jail, or worse, if Ahadgar doesn't return." CBC Olympics

According to CBC, her father had already been thrown in jail once, after neighbors had accused her of being a prostitute.

No wonder she doesn't want to return. And if she didn't have to wear so many clothes she might also be faster and a real contender. Doesn't look like she will be going to Beijing.

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You Be The Reporter (?) - AARP Editorial

This election campaign occurs at a unique moment in public communications. Economic forces have undermined commercial media and ravaged newspaper and television network newsrooms, silencing a generation of reporters and experts. And instant communication has created a blizzard of opinion and attitude posing as factual information.

...in the information age, citizens must learn the tools of traditional journalism. It’s called news literacy, and it means that you learn to be your own reporter or editor. If you practice some of the skills that are the foundation of journalism, you can cut through much of the chatter and chaff and obtain useful, solid information. News literacy for the public is a concept developed by Dean Howard Schneider at the State University of New York’s journalism school at Stony Brook.

Differentiate among news, opinion and advertising. As Stony Brook professor Jim Klurfeld says, “Evaluate sources. Evaluate sources. Evaluate sources.”

There’s a difference between evidence and inference, between solid information and junk. ..... But as a responsible citizen in the information age, your task is more difficult—and more important.

Source: bulletin.aarp.org via René

So. Are you a responsible reporter? ... here on NowPublic?

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The Bulls have no mercy!!!

The Bulls have no mercy!!!
Originally uploaded by tbelli1

The Running of the Big Easy Roller Girls! Watch out! Here they come!

THE New Orleans Summer CAN'T MISS Event -2nd Annual NOLA Bulls

The Bulls Make their big debut!!!
Originally uploaded by tbelli1

Big Easy Rollergirls ready to take on the NOLABull Run July, 2007.
As the Times-Picayune's Chris Rose puts it:

"It would take a New Orleans state of mind to attend the famed Running of the Bulls in Pamplona, Spain, and conclude: We need to do that here."

Saturday morning, 8 AM, over 30 Big Easy Rollergirls (a real professional team) armed with whifflebats and sporting a set of bullhorns will pursue the foolhardy through the French Quarter, whacking any and all.

I don't think I can get up early enough to get photos. but it promises to be a most unusual event.

...event coordinator Tracey Bellina, who skates under the pseudonym of "Archbishop Pummel," (says): "Sure, I've got a bunch of bad-ass chicks on wheels who probably wouldn't mind beating up on a bunch of guys."

Archbishop Pummel points out: "For any late risers, the Rollergirls will be available to hurt you at the Gazebo." (at the French Market. There's also a pre-party tonight at the Rio-Mar restaurant on St. Peter Street in the Warehouse District; the long-term goal for nolabulls.com is to make this a full-fledged three-day festival celebrating Spanish culture. And I'm not making that up.)

says Chris.

Times-Picayune, July 11, 2008
The Official event website: Nolabulls.com

They have more photos posted from last year's event on Flickr. Looks like a rollicking good time was had by all.

And tomorrow the Running of the Bulls in New Orleans!