Welcome! "The Evening Blues - Weekend Edition" is a casual community diary (published Saturday & Sunday, 8:00 PM Eastern) where we hang out, share and talk about news, music, photography and other things of interest to the community.
Just about anything goes, but attacks and pie fights are not welcome here. This is a community diary and a friendly, peaceful, supportive place for people to interact.
Everyone who wants to join in peaceful interaction is very welcome here.
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Hey! Good Evening!
This evening's music features singer/songwriter and slide guitar master Sonny Landreth. Enjoy!
Sonny Landreth - Zydeco Shuffle
Sonny Landreth is one of the best, if not the best slide guitar player in the world. If you need any proof just watch this video, his cutting edge innovative style is amazing.
I see the universe; I see myself.
High Eagle, Cherokee
News and Opinion
Merkel downbeat as world awaits Putin’s response to latest Ukraine peace plan
German chancellor ‘disappointed’ by Russian attitude but says proposal for demilitarised zone to end conflict is ‘worth trying’
Vladimir Putin is expected to give his response on Sunday to the Franco-German plan for a Ukrainian ceasefire, enforced with the creation of a demilitarised zone along the frontlines.
The plan, according to the French president, François Hollande, proposes a buffer zone of 50km to 70km and requires Russian-backed separatists to withdraw to ceasefire lines that were agreed in Minsk in September. In return, the eastern provinces would be given greater autonomy.
Angela Merkel, who travelled with Hollande to Moscow on Friday evening to set out their proposal, was downbeat about its prospects on Saturday. The German chancellor told the annual Munich Security Conference: “It is uncertain whether it will lead to success but, from my point of view and that of the French president, it is definitely worth trying.”
She conceded that it was “disappointing” that Russia had failed to abide by the Minsk agreement. On Russian guarantees, she admitted “the experience has not been good” but added: “The answer to this can’t be not to enter any agreements at all. Of course we have to try again and again.”
Ukraine crisis: 'Last chance' for peace says Hollande
A peace plan drawn up by France and Germany is "one of the last chances" to end the conflict in east Ukraine, French leader Francois Hollande says.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said it was unclear if the plan would succeed, but it was "definitely worth trying".
Mr Hollande said the plan would include a demilitarised zone of 50-70km (31-44 miles) around the current front line.
The leaders are attempting to end the fighting in Ukraine between government troops and pro-Russia rebels.
Russia is accused of arming pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine - claims it denies.
Lavrov: US escalated Ukraine crisis at every stage, blamed Russia
Sergey Lavrov has lashed out at the US for their double standards over Ukraine and taking steps that “only promoted further aggravation” of the conflict. He added Russia is ready to guarantee agreements between Kiev and the self-proclaimed republics.
One of the major sticking points of the crisis so far has been the failure of Kiev to engage in talks with militia leaders in the East of the country. Lavrov is staggered the US, who talked with the Taliban during their invasion of Afghanistan, through channels in Doha, Qatar, is unable to put pressure on Kiev to engage in discussions.
“In the case of Libya, Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen and Sudan our partners actively asked governments to enter into dialogue with the opposition, even if they were extremists. However, during the Ukrainian crisis, they act differently, making up excuses and try to justify the use of cluster bombs,” the Russian Foreign Minister said, who was speaking at a security conference in Munich on Saturday.
The issue of the far right’s rise in Ukrainian politics has been swept under the carpet by the US and EU. Some members of the Ukrainian parliament have promoted ideas such as exterminating Russians and Jews. However, these haven’t been reported or caused any alarm in the West, Russia’s foreign minister added.
NATO top commander in Europe says 'military option' possible in Ukraine
NATO’s commander in chief says the West should not rule out arming Ukraine. General Philip Breedlove said no troops would be sent to the region, but providing Kiev with weapons and equipment was on the cards.
Speaking to reporters at a security conference in Munich on Saturday, Breedlove said: “I don’t think we should preclude out of hand the possibility of the military option.”
His strong comments come as the US is considering sending weapons to help Kiev in its fight against anti-government militias.
The chief commander of NATO said the proposal made by Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the conflict in eastern Ukraine was “completely unacceptable,” and added “there is no conversation about putting boots on the ground.”
The head of the Russian Duma committee on CIS affairs and Eurasian integration, Leonid Slutsky, slammed Breedlove’s comments as “absolutely cynical.”
Ukraine crisis: Leaders upbeat after Moscow talks
Submitted by: enhydra lutris
James Reynolds in Donetsk: "Rebels here have been building up the trappings of a state, they've got their own flags, border crossings and police"
The leaders of Russia, France and Germany have held "constructive and substantive" talks on ending the conflict in Ukraine, diplomats say.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, France's Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel met for more than four hours in Moscow.
Mr Hollande and Mrs Merkel had brought with them a peace proposal details on which have not been released.
Russia is accused of arming pro-Russian separatists - a claim it denies.
Yemen crisis: UN warns rebels after they seize power
Submitted by: enhydra lutris
The UN Security Council has warned of unspecified further steps if the Shia Houthi rebels who took power in Yemen do not immediately return to talks.
Gulf Arab states had called for a stronger international response after the rebels announced a political takeover in the capital, Sanaa.
The rebels said they were dissolving parliament and appointing a council to act as president.
Rival Yemeni political groups denounced the move as a coup.
The Houthis took control of the capital Sanaa in September, forcing the resignation of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi in January.
Ban Ki-moon: Stop ISIL 'in the name of humanity'
The United Nations secretary-general shares his views on the vast challenges facing the world.
It is a world full of crises. Syria is entering its fifth year of war and its death toll is staggering - perhaps as many as 300,000 have died.
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) is destabilising the wider region, using brutal tactics to control large parts of Iraq and Syria.
And in the aftermath of the Arab Spring, countries like Libya and Yemen look close to becoming failed states.
Conflicts in Africa continue to rage and deaths from Ebola mount in the west of the continent.
In Europe, the Ukraine crisis continues, involving one of the world's superpowers, Russia.
Former members of France’s military have joined Islamic State
IRBIL, Iraq — At least 12 former members of the French military are among the estimated 1,000 French citizens who’ve joined the Islamic State, including one highly trained special forces commando who was radicalized while working as a security contractor in the Persian Gulf, according to French officials and analysts as well as Arab security services.
One French intelligence official said the number is a reflection of France’s changing demographics, even though mandatory military service ended in France in 2001.
"I don’t have any hard numbers on this because France is a secular society where religious affiliation isn’t supposed to be tracked formally, but the general sense is that the French military has evolved into a heavily – and often devout – Roman Catholic officer corps leading a primarily and somewhat devout Muslim enlisted formation,” said the official, who spoke under the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the topic.
At least three former soldiers have been apprehended attempting to return to France from the Middle East after having fought alongside insurgents, according to a recent statement by French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian. Nine others currently fighting with the Islamic State have been identified.
Venezuela Maduro: State seizes supermarket chain
Submitted by: enhydra lutis
The Venezuelan President, Nicolas Maduro, has ordered the takeover of a private supermarket chain by the state food agency.
Speaking on television, he accused Dia a Dia of hoarding food during huge shortages in the country.
This week, soldiers and government workers were sent to branches of a large supermarket and pharmacy chain to supervise sales.
Venezuela's economy has been heavily affected by the drop in oil prices.
Analysts also say currency controls that restrict the availability of dollars for imports has played a key role in creating the scarcity of many items.
In Latest Vindication of Snowden, Court Rules UK Mass Surveillance Illegal
We must not allow agencies to continue justifying mass surveillance programmes using secret interpretations of secret laws,' said Privacy International director Eric King.
In the latest vindication of NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, a U.K. ruled on Friday that the British government violated human rights law by failing to safeguard some aspects of its intelligence-sharing operations until December 2014.
The Investigatory Powers Tribunal found that the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) accessed information obtained by the National Security Agency (NSA) without sufficient oversight, violating Articles 8 and 10 of the European convention on human rights. According to Reuters, "The tribunal's concern, addressed in the new ruling, was that until details of how GCHQ and the NSA shared data were made public in the course of the court proceedings, the legal safeguards provided by British law were being side-stepped."
The Guardian adds, "The ruling appears to suggest that aspects of the operations were illegal for at least seven years—between 2007, when the Prism intercept [program] was introduced, and 2014."
Article 8 guarantees the right to privacy; Article 10 protects free expression.
"For far too long, intelligence agencies like GCHQ and NSA have acted like they are above the law," said Eric King, deputy director of Privacy International, one of the human rights groups that brought the case to the IPT. "Today’s decision confirms to the public what many have said all along—over the past decade, GCHQ and the NSA have been engaged in an illegal mass surveillance sharing program that has affected millions of people around the world."
In Historic Ruling, UK Surveillance Secrecy Declared Unlawful
The United Kingdom’s top surveillance agency has acted unlawfully by keeping details about the scope of its Internet spying operations secret, a British court ruled in an unprecedented judgment issued on Friday.
Government Communications Headquarters, or GCHQ, was found to have breached human rights laws by concealing information about how it accesses surveillance data collected by its American counterpart, the National Security Agency.
The ruling was handed down by the Investigatory Powers Tribunal, a special court that handles complaints related to covert surveillance operations conducted by law enforcement and intelligence agencies. In its 15-year history, the tribunal has never before upheld a complaint against any intelligence agencies.
The legal challenge was brought by human rights groups, including Privacy International and Liberty, following disclosures from NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden. The groups alleged that GCHQ was unlawfully obtaining data through the NSA’s online spying program PRISM, which collects data stored by Internet giants such as Google, Apple, Microsoft, and Yahoo. The groups also focused on GCHQ’s role in obtaining private communications swept up by the NSA directly from internet cables, known as so-called “upstream” collection.
NBC anchor Brian Williams 'temporarily' steps down
US NBC anchor Brian Williams has said he is temporarily stepping down from his show, days after apologising for wrongly saying he came under fire in Iraq.
In a statement to NBC staff, Mr Williams said it had become "painfully apparent" he was too much a part of the news.
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This Anti-vaxxer children’s book is getting destroyed in Amazon troll campaign
"Melanie's Marvelous Measles" was written to teach children the "benefits" of having the disease
Submitted by: NCTim
In 2012, a proactive Australian anti-vaxxer named Stephanie Messenger self-published a children’s book called “Melanie’s Marvelous Measles.” With the book, Messenger endeavored to “educate children on the benefits of having measles and how you can heal from them naturally and successfully.” The book’s illustrated cover features a girl frolicking in a meadow with her stomach exposed, revealing a number of measles pocks all over her body. The whole thing is truly grotesque — so much so, that Amazon has put a disclaimer on the book’s description, noting that it is “provided by the publisher/author of this title and presents the subjective opinions of the publisher/author, which may not be substantiated.”
The book is made all the more relevant, now that a massive measles outbreak (due to the steadily growing vaccine “trutherism” movement) has infected more than 100 people in 15 states, including five babies at a Chicago daycare center.
So, the Internet is doing what the Internet does best: trolling the hell out of Messenger’s deeply flawed book through Amazon comments. Here are some of the best:
Read more here.
President warns against U.S. 'overreach’ abroad
Submitted by: enhydra lutris
WASHINGTON — President Obama, outlining a new national security blueprint for his last two years in office, warned Friday against American “overreach” abroad, even as he cast the U.S. as an indispensable force in combatting global challenges including terrorism, climate change and cyberthreats.
The 29-page document released by the White House hews closely to Obama’s long-held views and forecasts no major shifts in the military campaign against Islamic State militants or in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Obama said the threat of terrorism against the homeland “has diminished, but still persists” and vowed to degrade extremist groups like the Islamic State using counterterrorism operations and global coalitions, not large-scale, American-led ground wars.
“The United States will always defend our interests and uphold our commitments to allies and partners,” he wrote in an introduction to the White House strategy paper. “But we have to make hard choices among many competing priorities and we must always resist the overreach that comes when we make decisions based upon fear.”
The president is required by law to send Congress a national security strategy annually. However, most presidents, including Obama, have done so only sporadically. Obama’s only previous memo to lawmakers came in 2010 and formalized his desire to broaden U.S. national security posture beyond antiterror campaigns.
House of Cards: Tom Ridge’s Code Rich
Submitted by: NCTim
Tom Ridge was not a rich man when he resigned as the chief of the Department of Homeland Security in 2004. His financial disclosure from that year showed he had investments worth between $100,000 and $815,00 in companies. Though modest by the current standards of senior government officials, those investments included companies “with contracts with his department and others who want to profit from homeland security,” a CQ story said at the time.
Yet soon after leaving government service, Ridge bought a property in Chevy Chase, Maryland worth about $2 million. His home, which was featured in Home & Design, aka “The magazine of luxury homes and fine interiors,” boasts custom interior decorations, including a table designed by the brother of the late Princess Diana, a dining room paneled with “native Sweetgum” and artwork “representative of the Tudor period.”
So how exactly has Ridge made all his money?
Ridge was assistant to the president for Homeland Security under George W. Bush between 2001 and 2003, and then the first DHS secretary, from 2003 to 2005. Prior to that, Ridge had a long career in public service: He was an assistant district attorney in Erie County, Pennsylvania for two years, held a House seat for more than a decade, and served as governor of Pennsylvania from 1995 to 2001.
In 'Game-Changing March for Climate Movement,' Californians Rise Up Against Fracking
Thousands kick off protest to demand Governor Jerry Brown halt toxic drilling
Thousands of people from across California kicked off a march through Oakland on Saturday to demand that Governor Jerry Brown show "real climate leadership" by halting all fracking and shifting to 100 percent renewable energy in the state.
The demonstration brought together more than 100 grassroots groups, from labor to indigenous to environmental justice organizations, and is being billed as a a "game-changing moment for the climate movement in California." Ahead of the protest, organizers estimated it would exceed 10,000 people
The mobilization comes just a day after protesters blockaded the California State Office Building in downtown San Francisco to demand a state-wide ban on toxic drilling.
The mounting protests are inspired by New York's recent prohibition on fracking, which was won through grassroots pressure, and they come amid growing public anger that the fossil fuel industry continues to drill near schools, farms, and homes in the state, using and polluting water despite California's historic drought.
The spill: why Australia's prime minister could face dismissal – and what happens next
Australia’s ruling Liberal party is in turmoil as Canberra faces the prospect of yet another prime minister being toppled by his own side
Submitted by: NCTim
Tony Abbott is on the precipice of being dismissed as Australia’s prime minister after weeks of speculation culminating in the announcement on Friday that a “spill” would be moved at a party meeting in four days’ time.
Should the motion, which was moved by West Australian backbencher Luke Simpkins, succeed, the positions of Abbott and his deputy, Julie Bishop, would be immediately vacated (“spilled”) and opened to a vote of the parliamentary caucus.
The spill has become a regular fixture of politics in this country, which despite its relative prosperity and stable economy has seen the top job change hands four times in the past eight years.
Internal discontent with the direction of the Abbott government had festered over the Australian summer break, but the prime minister’s bizarre decision to knight Prince Philip broke it open.
'Uncertain Radiological Threat': US Navy Sailors Search for Justice after Fukushima Mission
In March of 2011, the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan rushed to Japan to help after the disastrous tsunami. Since then, many sailors from that ship have fallen ill, possibly as a result of exposure to radiation from the Fukushima nuclear meltdown. They will soon have their day in court.
Submitted by: NCTim
On March 11, 2011, the American aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan received orders to change course and head for the east coast of Japan, which had just been devastated by a tsunami. The Ronald Reagan had been on its way to South Korea when the order reached it and Captain Thom Burke, who was in charge of the ship along with its crew of 4,500 men and women, duly redirected his vessel. The Americans reached the Japanese coastline on March 12, just north of Sendai and remained in the region for several weeks. The mission was named Tomodachi.
The word tomodachi means "friends." In hindsight, the choice seems like a delicate one.
Three-and-a-half years later, Master Chief Petty Officer Leticia Morales is sitting in a café in a rundown department store north of Seattle and trying to remember the name of the doctor who removed her thyroid gland 10 months ago. Her partner Tiffany is sitting next to her fishing pills out of a large box and pushing them over to Morales.
"It was something like Erikson," Morales says. "Or maybe his first name was Eric, or Rick. Oh, I don't know. Too many doctors." In the last year-and-a-half, she has seen oncologists, radiologists, cardiologists, blood specialists, kidney specialists, gastrointestinal specialists, lymph node experts and metabolic specialists. "I'm now spending half the month in doctors' offices," she says. "This year, I've had more than 20 MRTs. I've simply lost track."
Colorado rejects right-to-die legislation
Submitted bu: enhydra lutris
DENVER (AP) — Colorado lawmakers rejected a proposal to give dying patients the option to seek doctors' help ending their lives, concluding a long day of emotional testimony from more than 100 people.
For one lawmaker who voted no, the issue was personal. Tearfully telling her colleagues she was a cancer survivor, Democratic Rep. Dianne Primavera recalled how a doctor told her she wouldn't live more than five years.
But she found a doctor who gave her a different opinion.
"And he took me in his care, and I am here today 28 years later," she said.
Doctors who opposed the measure told lawmakers earlier that allowing dying patients to seek life-ending medications from a physician closed off the possibility of a recovery when a prognosis can sometimes be wrong.
A House committee considering the bill voted 8-5 against it after dozens of people with serious illnesses and others who have seen relatives suffer packed the Colorado legislative hearing.
World record debt of $199trn could drag economies into another crisis - study
Global debt has soared by $57 trillion since the outbreak of the financial crisis in 2007, with the debt to GDP ratio jumping to above 500 percent in Japan. This raises questions about financial stability and poses a threat of another crisis.
“After the 2008 financial crisis and the longest and deepest global recession since World War II, it was widely expected that the world’s economies would deleverage. It has not happened. Instead, debt continues to grow in nearly all countries, in both absolute terms and relative to GDP. This creates fresh risks in some countries and limits growth prospects in many,” according to new research carried out by consultants McKinsey in 47 countries.
The amount of world debt reached $199 trillion at the end of 2014, with the growth rate exceeding the pace of global economic expansion and the debt to GDP ratio increased from 269 to 286 percent.
“Higher levels of debt pose questions about financial stability and whether some countries face the risk of a crisis.”
Wall Street Pays Bankers to Work in Government and It Doesn't Want Anyone to Know
Citigroup is one of three Wall Street banks attempting to keep hidden their practice of paying executives multimillion-dollar awards for entering government service. In letters delivered to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over the last month, Citi, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley seek exemption from a shareholder proposal, filed by the AFL-CIO labor coalition, which would force them to identify all executives eligible for these financial rewards, and the specific dollar amounts at stake. Critics argue these “golden parachutes” ensure more financial insiders in policy positions and favorable treatment toward Wall Street.
“As shareholders of these banks, we want to know how much money we have promised to give away to senior executives if they take government jobs,” said AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka in a statement. “It’s a simple question, but the banks don’t want to answer it. What are they trying to hide?”
The handouts recently received attention when Antonio Weiss, the former investment banker at Lazard now serving as counselor to Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, acknowledged in financial disclosures that he would be paid $21 million in unvested income and deferred compensation upon exiting the company for a job in government. Weiss withdrew from consideration to become the undersecretary for domestic finance under pressure from financial reformers, but the counselor position—which does not require congressional confirmation—probably still entitles him to the $21 million. The terms of the award are part of a Lazard employee agreement that nobody has seen.
These payments are routine at major banks, several of which have explicit policies, found in filings with the SEC, outlining automatic awards for executives who rotate into government. Goldman Sachs offers “a lump sum cash payment” for government service, for example.
Oil layoffs abound, but we’re pumping the most in decades
WASHINGTON — American oil production is still booming in Texas and other energy-rich states despite the oil price crash and resulting mass layoffs and shuttered drilling rigs, raising the question of what it’s going to take to stop the fracking revolution.
A worldwide oil glut has driven oil prices down more than half since the summer, one of the largest price collapses in history. Nevertheless, U.S. crude oil production is forecast by the Department of Energy to increase to its highest level in more than 40 years.
Production in Texas rose to 2.3 million barrels a day in November, according to preliminary figures from the Texas Railroad Commission. Adam Sieminski, director of the federal Energy Information Administration, recently said he expects the coming year to see “new drilling in the major shale areas in North Dakota and Texas, which account for most of the growth in U.S. production.”
Such talk flies in the face of serious woes in the industry, and there are doubts whether the flood of American oil can last beyond the next several months.
Oregon governor faces ethics allegations, calls to resign
Submitted by: enhydra lutris
SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Oregon's governor is struggling to deal with allegations that his fiancee used his position to land clients for her environmental consulting business, claims that have drawn an ethics investigation and the scrutiny of the state's attorney general.
Although his role in arranging the deals isn't clear, the scandal has posed a threat to the decades-long political career of four-term Democrat John Kitzhaber, Oregon's longest-serving governor.
The editorial board at the state's largest newspaper, The Oregonian, called for him to resign this week, saying the controversy has become such a distraction that he can't effectively lead. Two advisers to the Republican he defeated last year took early steps Friday to begin a recall effort.
A series of newspaper reports since October have chronicled Cylvia Hayes' work for organizations with an interest in Oregon public policy. During the same period, she worked as an unpaid adviser in the governor's office. The spotlight on Hayes led to her revelation that she accepted about $5,000 to illegally marry an immigrant seeking immigration benefits in the 1990s. Later, she admitted she bought a remote property with the intent to grow marijuana.
Hellraiser Preview
Sherman, set the time machine for tomorrow's Hellraisers Journal, which will feature a report on Mother Jones as she tangles with the Society Woman of New York City.
Tune in at 2pm!
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Pope Francis Called Hitting Kids ‘Beautiful’ As Long As ‘Dignity Is Maintained’
Submitted by: NCTim
Just as liberals and non-religious people were almost ready to deify the better than in a long time Pope, he reminds us that both he and the Catholic Church still have a very long way to go.
On Wednesday, he spoke in favor of a referendum that denies LGBT couples the right to marry and the right to adopt. On Friday, his remarks were about children, and he appears to be of the “spare the rod, spoil the child” biblical persuasion. He even went so far as to call smacking children “beautiful” as long as the child maintains “the sense of dignity.”
“One time, I heard a father in a meeting with married couples say ‘I sometimes have to smack my children a bit, but never in the face so as to not humiliate them’,” Francis said.
“How beautiful.” he added. “He knows the sense of dignity! He has to punish them but does it justly and moves on.”
Source: The Guardian
The quote was controversial enough that the Vatican press office was compelled to make their own statement defending the pontiff:
The Rev Thomas Rosica, who collaborates with the Vatican press office, said the pope was obviously not speaking about committing violence or cruelty against a child but rather about “helping someone to grow and mature.”
“Who has not disciplined their child or been disciplined by parents when we are growing up?” Rosica said in an email. “Simply watch Pope Francis when he is with children and let the images and gestures speak for themselves. To infer or distort anything else … reveals a greater problem for those who don’t seem to understand a pope who has ushered in a revolution of normalcy of simple speech and plain gesture.”
Woman's stool transplant leads to 'tremendous weight gain'
Submitted by: enhydra lutris
A woman has dramatically gained weight after a stool transplant from her daughter, doctors report.
It is a genuine medical procedure to transplant healthy bacteria into a diseased gut, but US doctors think it may have affected her waistline.
She quickly gained 36lb (16kg) and is now classed as obese, the case report in Open Forum Infectious Diseases says.
A UK expert said the link between gut bugs and obesity was still unclear.
A faecal microbiota transplant - also referred to by some as a "transpoosion" - is like an extreme version of a probiotic yogurt.
Chocolate snorting offers new way to a cocoa high
(Reuters) - When Belgian chocolatier Dominique Persoone created a chocolate-sniffing device for a Rolling Stones party in 2007, he never imagined demand would stretch much beyond the rock 'n' roll scene. But, seven years later, he has sold 25,000 of them.
Inspired by a device his grandfather used to propel tobacco snuff up his nose, Persoone created a 'Chocolate Shooter' to deliver a hit of Dominican Republic or Peruvian cocoa powder, mixed with mint and either ginger or raspberry.
"The mint and the ginger really tinkle your nose," the 46-year-old said in his chocolate factory in the medieval city of Bruges. "Then the mint flavor goes down and the chocolate stays in your brain."
Tattoo-clad Persoone, who has collaborated with celebrated chefs such as The Fat Duck's Heston Blumenthal and elBulli's Ferran and Albert Adria, has a history of culinary innovation.
The Evening Greens
The Evening Greens Weekend Editor: enhydra lutris
Starving sea lion pup strandings surge in California
Rescuers from San Diego to San Francisco Bay in January netted more than 250 frail pups, mostly 7-month-olds that should be nursing with their mothers in the Channel Islands or Mexico, not wallowing on the California mainland.
The number of sea lions taken into rehabilitation facilities this year exceeds the number of rescues during the same period in 2013, a year that prompted the National Marine Fisheries Service to declare a rare “unusual mortality event.”
“They just look very emaciated, very underweight,” said Erica Donnelly-Greenan, who manages the Sausalito-based Marine Mammal Center’s rescue station along Monterey Bay, where dozens of wayward pups have been found. “You can see the bones under their skin. You can get a visual of their ribs.”
The cause of the problem is unclear. Marine scientists say it may be warmer-than-average waters off the coast that are forcing mother sea lions in the Channel Islands to venture farther for food, leaving their young behind for too long.
Brazil scientists fear golden mussel threat to Amazon River
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — The world's mightiest waterway, the Amazon River, is threatened by the most diminutive of foes — a tiny mussel invading from China.
Since hitching its way to South America in the early 1990s, the golden mussel has claimed new territory at alarming speeds, plowing through indigenous flora and fauna as it has spread to waters in five countries. Now, scientists fear the invasive species could make a jump into the Amazon, threatening one of the world's unique ecological systems.
"There's no doubt the environmental effect would be dramatic," said Marcia Divina de Olivieira, a scientist with the Brazilian government's Embrapa research agency.
The golden mussel, which commonly grows to no more than an inch in length, is a hardy breeder, reproducing nine months a year by releasing clouds of microscopic larvae that float with the current to new territories. They attach to hard surfaces like river bedrock, stones, man-made structures and even each other, forming large reef-like structures.
They have devastated native clam species by attaching themselves onto the local mollusks, sealing them shut. Their ability to clog pipes has forced operators of hydroelectric and water treatment plants in Sao Paulo state, Buenos Aires, Argentina, and elsewhere to spend millions of dollars annually to clear them out with chemical drips or shut down turbines to scrape out giant mussel formations.
Do underwater volcanoes alter Earth's climate?
Underwater eruptions release enough carbon dioxide to warm the planet, new research finds.
Do fire and ice link up to alter Earth's climate?
The climate-driven rise and fall of sea level during the past million years matches up with valleys and ridges on the seafloor, suggesting ice ages influence underwater volcanic eruptions, two new studies reveal. And because volcanic chains suture some 37,000 miles (59,500 kilometers) of ocean floor, the eruptions could pump out enough carbon dioxide gas to shift planetary temperatures, the study authors suggest.
"Surprisingly, the deep seafloor matters in the long-term climate cycle," said Maya Tolstoy, lead author of one of the studies and a marine geophysicist at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory in Palisades, New York.
New oceanic crust is born at underwater volcanic chains called spreading ridges, where magma (molten rock) rises to fill the gap between moving tectonic plates. Scientists think that as the plates pull away from spreading ridges, the new crust cools, cracks and sinks, creating gaps between the lines of volcanoes (which are carried away from the ridge with the plate). These parallel volcanic ridges and valleys are some of the most visible features on Earth's ocean floor.
Dirt mounds made by termites in Africa, South America, Asia could prevent spread of deserts
Termites create oases of moisture, plant life
Termites might not top the list of humanity's favorite insects, but new research suggests that their large dirt mounds are crucial to stopping deserts from spreading into semi-arid ecosystems.
The results indicate that termite mounds could make these areas more resilient to climate change.
The findings could also inspire a change in how scientists determine the possible effects of climate change on ecosystems.
In the parched grasslands and savannas, or drylands, of Africa, South America and Asia, termite mounds store nutrients and moisture and via internal tunnels, allow water to better penetrate the soil.
How Fish Could Change What It Means For Food To Be Organic
When it comes to organic certification, food producers must follow strict guidelines.
For an organic steak, for instance, the cow it came from has to be raised on organic feed, and the feed mix can't be produced with pesticides, chemical fertilizers or genetic engineering.
Now, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is considering a set of rules for organic farmed fish. Several consumer groups, though, say the recommended rules don't go far enough to meet the strict standards of other organic foods.
The feed that the fish eat is at the center of the debate.
On one side of the issue: the National Organic Standards Board, a federal advisory board whose members are appointed by the secretary of agriculture. NOSB recommended guidelines for how fish can be grown organically in pens in the ocean and how much wild-caught fish can be ground up as fish meal to feed the fish.
Climate Action Hub
The 2014 People's Climate March accelerated civic momentum and successfully demanded world leaders to reach an adequate and just treaty at the December 2015 UN Climate Talks in Paris.
The Climate Action Hub is the fast track on the Road to Paris, featuring the latest news and actions from environmental activists, NGOs, scientists, reporters and Daily Kos bloggers on Sundays at 4:30 PM Pacific . The Hub also posts developing climate related news throughout the week and features the ClimateDenierRoundup with links to top climate news weekday mornings at 8 AM Pacific. We encourage readers to utilize all posts to share related eco news and to promote other environmental diaries.
Our 'eco swat team' invites you to inform the community about campaigns in your local communities, to email us with story ideas, and to join The Hub to contribute your skills and experience.
It’s 2015! We need all hands on deck!
Climate Action Hub's latest post. Please support this effort folks.
Thank you boatsie and Agathena!
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Blog Posts of Interest
Here are diaries and selected blog posts of interest on DailyKos and other blogs.
What's Happenin' Is On Hiatus
What happens when a nation defaults: Lessons for Greece
It's the Rich People Man, It's Always about the Rich People
Matt Bai’s Take on Hillary the Inevitable’s Inevitability
It's now anti-semitism in Canada to protest Israel's actions
On Pope Francis
Hellraisers Journal: Mary Petrucci fled burning tent as militia fired upon her and her children.
EuroMaidan| One Year Later- Crowd Funding Donbass War Crimes
Inside the Strange, Paranoid World of the Right-Wing Oath Keepers
Daily Tck: UN Climate talks in Geneva mark the year's first major benchmark on the road to Paris
Beyond Belonging
A Little Night Music
Sonny Landreth Congo Square
Sonny Landreth with Mark Knopfler - Je Suis Desole
John Hiatt & Sonny Landreth - Riding With the King
Sonny Landreth - Hell at Home
SONNY LANDRETH - Blue Tarp Blues
Sonny Landreth - Fallin For You
Sonny Landreth - Pedal To The Metal
Sonny Landreth - The Center
Sonny Landreth/Eric Johnson - The Milky Way Home
Sonny Landreth - U.S.S. Zydecoldsmobile
Sonny Landreth, Colin Linden and Steve Dawson - Sleep Walk
Sonny Landreth - South of I-10
Sonny Landreth - Creole Angel -
Sonny Landreth - Next To Kindred Spirit
Sonny Landreth - Deep South
Sonny Landreth - Turning Wheel
Sonny Landreth - When You're Away
Sonny Landreth - Key To The Highway
Sonny Landreth - Native Stepson
Sonny Landreth - Broken Hearted Road
Rig Rundown - Sonny Landreth