1X57 – Page 141

San Diego’s Seal Harbor first pup of 2012 – a 2-day old seal puppy

Provided with love and nurturing from his Mommy, premature puppy “Baby Miracle” continues to thrive on the second day after his birth.

Born sometime during the night one day ago, Baby Miracle, premature and an estimated 10 pounds under the average birth weight of a healthy Harbor Seal puppy, is none the less, the first live birth of the Casa Beach Harbor Seal Pupping Season.

Several long days lie ahead for this little puppy, if not more so, due to his low birth weight and under development wherein he will receive only 3 sips of milk from his Mommy every 4 hours until the arrival of his first bowel movement two days from now.

On occasion during this interval, his own Mommy will need to resort to seemingly abusive behavior in order to keep her little puppy stimulated enough from falling asleep too deeply and never waking up again.

—

For more photos and videos visit Save San Diego Seals

San Diego's Seal Harbor first pup of 2012 – a 2-day old seal puppy

Provided with love and nurturing from his Mommy, premature puppy “Baby Miracle” continues to thrive on the second day after his birth.

—

For more photos and videos visit Save San Diego Seals

The most complicated way you can think of to water a plant – Joseph Herscher’s La Macchina Botanica

La Macchina Botanica, a Rube Goldberg machine, made at the Venice Biennale, 2011.

Constructed in 5 days with the help of 40 local kids, at the Greenhouse of the Venice Giardini.

—

See his previous machine – the most complicated newspaper page turner.

Robert Redford Discusses the State of Independent Film at the Sundance Film Festival

“Documentaries have replaced investigative journalism”

Despite the posh and circumstance, Sundance is still committed to independent films

Sundance Institute founder and president Robert Redford made it clear during the Sundance Film Festival’s opening press conference Thursday afternoon that Park City and Sundance are two different places.
“Sundance is not Park City,” Robert Redford said to a group of international journalists at the Egyptian Theatre. “It’s a place where this all started back in the 1980s when I started up the labs.”
The labs, Redford referred to, take place at the Sundance Resort, some 40 miles away from Park City, where filmmakers develop and create their films.
“The festival is a part of (the Sundance Institute), but in my mind, the stronger part, the more meaningful part, is the development part where our labs are,” he said.
The year-round filmmakers labs have expanded over the years because of the film festival’s success.
“We are able to include documentary labs, short-film labs, producer labs, all those elements that have to do with storytelling,” Redford said.
Still, with its expansion and success, the institute’s mission hasn’t changed since it was founded 28 years ago.
“Our mission is pretty simple,” he said. “It is creating a platform for independent artists to show their work.
“This is the only festival that I know is truly independent in the world, and it’s the only festival that has a year-round workshop attached to it.”
Redford’s annual “state-of-the-festival’ speech was followed by comments from Keri Putnam, executive director of the Sundance Institute, and John Cooper, director of the Sundance Film Festival, which runs through Sunday, Jan. 29.
“It’s no secret the times are dark and grim and in addition to that, we’re suffering from a government that is in paralysis,” Redford said. “The happy thing is here, for this week, we’re going to see works of artists, although they may reflect these hard times, there is no paralysis here.”
via The Park Record

photo credit – Rasdourian

Why do Americans think nuclear power is safe when near-meltdowns and leaks happen constantly?

In a previous post, I reported that 58% of Americans think nuclear power is safe. After reading the below reports one has to wonder why that is…

14 Near Meltdowns

Among the litany of violations at U.S. nuclear power plants are missing or mishandled nuclear material, inadequate emergency plans, faulty backup power generators, corroded cooling pipes and even marijuana use inside a nuclear plant, according to an ABC News review of four years of Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) safety records.
There are 104 U.S. nuclear power plants, producing 20 percent of the country’s electricity at world-class safety levels, according to the Nuclear Energy Institute.
The Union of Concerned Scientists found 14 “near misses” at nuclear plants in 2010. And there were 56 serious violations at nuclear power plants from 2007 to 2011, according the ABC News review of NRC records.
In a statement by the NRC to congress, “the last five years show no abnormal occurrences at U.S. nuclear plants. In fact, America’s reactors produce 20 percent of all electricity at world class safety levels.”

Chicago is in Danger

At the Dresden Nuclear Power Plant in Illinois, for instance, which is located within 50 miles of the 7 million people who live in and around Chicago, nuclear material went missing in 2007. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission fined the operator — Exelon Corp. — after discovering the facility had failed to “keep complete records showing the inventory [and] disposal of all special nuclear material in its possession.”
As a result, two fuel pellets and equipment with nuclear material could not be accounted for.
Two years later, federal regulators cited Dresden for allowing unlicensed operators to work with radioactive control rods. The workers allowed three control rods to be moved out of the core. When alarms went off, workers initially ignored them.

New York City is in Danger

At the Indian Point nuclear plant just outside New York City, the NRC found that an earthquake safety device has been leaking for 18 years.
In the event of an earthquake, Lochbaum said, the faulty safety device would not help prevent water from leaking out of the reactor. A lack of water to cool the fuel rods has been the most critical problem at the Fukushima plant in Japan after the recent earthquake and tsunami.
“The NRC has known it’s been leaking since 1993,” Lochbaum said, “but they’ve done nothing to fix it.”
via ABC news: Records show 56 violations in past 4 years

Do American think nuclear power is safe, even after Fukushima? …Yes

Despite concerns about a possible nuclear disaster in the U.S.,
58% of Americans think nuclear power plants in the U.S. are safe, while 36% say they are not.
Nuclear power remains very much in the news as workers in Japan continue efforts to contain the disastrous impact of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami on nuclear power plants along that country’s northern coast.
In a survey conducted just days later, Gallup found 7 in 10 Americans saying that as a result of the events in Japan, they were more concerned about a nuclear disaster occurring in the U.S.
Still, a March 25-27 Gallup survey shows that a clear majority of Americans believe nuclear plants in the U.S. are safe.
via Gallup

Here is a follow-up post that shows 14 near meltdowns in 2010 and 56 serious violations from 2007-2011, and yet Congress and the public were told that “all is well.”

More art from the comic book: The Zen of Steve Jobs

Check out the entire collection at JESS3 and the book, The Zen of Steve Jobs.

Favorite Commercials: what would you choose a smart phone or R2-D2?

Why would you not choose R2-D2??

…oh yeah, because smart phones are pretty powerful…times, they are a changing.

I think I’m a Classical Liberal (and not a Libertarian)

Classical liberalism is the philosophy committed to the ideal of limited government, constitutionalism, rule of law, due process, and liberty of individuals including freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, and free markets.
Classical liberalism developed in the 19th century in Europe and the United States. Although classical liberalism built on ideas that had already developed by the end of the 18th century, it advocated a specific kind of society, government and public policy as a response to the Industrial Revolution and urbanization. Notable individuals who have contributed to classical liberalism include Jean-Baptiste Say, Thomas Malthus and David Ricardo. It drew on the economics of Adam Smith and on a belief in natural law, utilitarianism, and progress.
via Wikipedia

Not to be confused with Libertariansim, which varies by definition, but generally is a modern thought. Not me, I like the old school social theory from the eve of the Industrial Revolution. Simple things like the rule of law, freedom of religion, a constitution…appeal to me.

Weird how it’s the classical nature of the thinking that strikes me because I live in country that practices Social Liberalism. Which is nearly the same thing but includes the element of social justice, “in that it believes the legitimate role of the state includes addressing economic and social issues such as unemployment, health care, and education while simultaneously expanding civil rights.”

Not sure where I fall on that. At times the state does need to step in and force things, but overall I would prefer the community handle things by itself.

Which means, yep, I’m a classical liberal!