Latest Articles
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Friday music blogging: Childish Gambino
Donald Glover is a stand-up comedian and a comedy writer (he’s written for Community, 30 Rock, and The Daily Show), but he’s probably best known as Troy Barnes, the genial, goofy friend-of-Abed on the show Community. Side note here: you can argue whether Community is the funniest show on television right now (my vote would […]
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5 takeaways from the IPCC report on extreme weather and climate change
Flooding in Pakistan.Photo: N BCross-posted from World Resources Institute. The world must brace for more extreme weather. That is the clear message from a new report that finds climate change is likely to bring more record-breaking temperatures, heat waves, and heavy downpours. The much-anticipated Special Report on Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters […]
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Ready to Talk Turkey?: Join us for a live Twitter chat on Tuesday, Nov 22
Where: The Twittersphere (and Grist.org) When: Tuesday, November 22 at 1 p.m., East Coast /10 am, West Coast Who: People with things to say about turkey, Thanksgiving, and aggressive napping Why: Who gets any real work done in a holiday week, anyway? This Thanksgiving, the hard choices begin well before Uncle Bob hits the whiskey. […]
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Conservatives, media missing the boat on clean energy
Demand for energy resources in the rest of the world, and especially developing nations, is growing rapidly. Like Willie Sutton robbing banks because “that’s where the money is,” emerging economic powers like China and India are racing to secure the oil, coal, and natural gas they use because that’s where the economic growth is. But […]
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Live your tiny house fantasies by renting one on AirBnB
The highest-rated listing on AirBnB, the site that allows you to rent homes, apartments and other temporary quarters as an alternative to staying in a hotel, is a tiny house. The Mushroom Dome Cabin in Aptos, Calif., sports a loft bed under its geodesic dome roof and is in walking distance of a grove of […]
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‘Use-by’ dates: A myth that needs busting
Here’s a superbly kept secret: You know all those dates you see on food products that say “sell by,” “use by,” and “best before”? Those dates do not indicate the safety of your food, and generally speaking, they’re not regulated. I couldn’t believe it either, but a quick look at USDA’s food labeling site […]
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Pasture-raised or organic: Why we can’t do both
Chickens roaming free at Soul Food Farm.Photo: Christy McDonaldMy partner and I raise chickens for meat and eggs on 55 acres — a small farm by today’s standards. Along the way, I’ve had to make many tough decisions, be inventive, develop relationships with our customers, and work a lot of 14-hour days to insure our farm’s […]
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Making federal buildings green cuts costs by a fifth
Paging Ron Paul: Once you're done transforming the U.S. into a neo-feudal patriarchy whose fiefs are ruled by their respective John Galts, you could make a huge dent in whatever government spending is left by simply making the feds' buildings "green." That's the conclusion of a new report [PDF] from the Department of Energy's Pacific […]
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Americans are smarter than they look about extreme weather
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has officially stated that climate change will lead to more extreme weather events — we all sorta knew that, but it's nice to have confirmation. It turns out, though, that we weren't the only ones who knew. A survey by the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication found that […]
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Whistleblower exposes cruel tuna fishing practices
Warning: This video is kind of intense, and may put you off sushi forever. Greenpeace has been trying to draw attention to cruel tuna fishing practices for a while, and now this anonymous helicopter pilot has footage of whales, rays, sharks, and dolphins being caught and slaughtered as collateral damage. Fish Aggregation Devices, which are […]