Chuckle Factor : The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Seeks Canine Professional Musicians

Healthy Living

Symphony Hires Professional Dog Musicians

• Lisa Spector
• May 21, 2014

Wanted: Canine Professional Musicians

Qualifications: Must be able to bark on cue with impeccable timing and be quiet when not working

Compensation: Your choice of your favorite treat paid with every bark delivered on time
Attire: Must be willing to work naked
Optional Clothing: Necklace
Bonus: Ability to bow on cue at end of performance

The Pittsburgh Symphony has gone to the dogs, literally. Resident conductor Fawzi Haimor recently auditioned ten dogs for a rare performance of Leopold Mozart’s Hunting Horn Symphony. You can watch the entertaining auditions in the video below.

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Chuckle Factor : A cat in New Zealand brought hime a gift for it's guardian. Instead of a dead bird or mouse it left a bag of weed at the front door!

 

Cat delivers bag of weed to his owner

Published time: May 22, 2014 13:14
Edited time: May 23, 2014 13:25

AFP Photo / Luis Robayo

A cat in New Zealand has behaved in a very un-feline manner, bringing his owner a bag of marijuana and leaving it at the door. Police are now praising the furry friend for possibly helping them secure a drug bust as they dust the bag for prints.
Local police say they are very impressed with the deed.
''You hear of cats bringing dead birds and rats home, but certainly in my career I've never seen anything like this before," Sergeant Reece Munro told the local Otago Daily Times. “I guess you never know who’s keeping you honest these days, do you?”

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Landslide victory against Biotech crops : Despite hundreds of thousands of dollars spent by companies like Monsanto. Jackson County, Oregon are now enjoying a landslide victory against GMO crops being grown within it's borders.

Genetically engineered crops banned in Jackson County, Oregon in landslide victory against GMOs

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger

(NaturalNews) A ban on the growing of all genetically engineered plants appears to be a landslide victory in Jackson County, Oregon. With 100 percent of the precincts reporting and a huge voter turnout of over 50 percent, nearly 66% of voters elected to ban all genetically engineered crops from being grown in the county.

The vote ran 39,489 to 20,432 in favor of the ban, and it sends a clear signal that the People of Jackson County, Oregon -- a largely agricultural area of the country -- absolutely do not want genetically engineered crops to be growing anywhere near them. (Click here to see county election results.)

This is on top of the recent victory in Vermont where lawmakers passed a mandatory GMO labeling law that requires foods to be honestly labeled with their GMO content. (The evil biotech industry and its Grocery Manufacturers of America front group plant to sue Vermont to keep consumers in the dark.)

"Destroy all genetically engineered plants"

This ordinance in Oregon requires everyone to "destroy" all genetically engineered plants except those grown under indoor laboratory conditions (i.e. those which are safely isolated from the wild). This will allow scientists to continue to study GMOs without risking the lives of everyone else in the process.

Click here to read the full text of the ordinance (PDF).

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Oregon counties ban cultivation of GMO crops

Published time: May 21, 2014 16:37
Edited time: May 22, 2014 11:18

Reuters/Ints Kalnins

Despite the flood of corporate money poured into two small Oregon counties, local residents voted on Tuesday to ban genetically engineered crops from being planted within their borders.
Although Jackson County itself is home to less than 120,000 registered voters, the measure to ban genetically modified crops (GMOs) made headlines around the nation when it was revealed that large biotech companies like Monsanto were pouring hundreds of thousands of dollars into the area in order to affect the vote’s outcome.
As RT reported previously, Monsanto and five other corporations spent at least $455,000 in an attempt to defeat the initiative, and opponents of the GMO ban had gained an eight-to-one spending advantage as of April. According to the Associated Press, nearly $1 million of the $1.3 million spent during the campaign was used by opponents.
When the results were tallied, however, 66 percent of Jackson County residents voted in favor of the ban.
"We fought the most powerful and influential chemical companies in the world and we won," local farmer and anti-GMO advocate Elise Higley told the Oregonian.
"It's a great day for the people of Oregon who care about sustainability and healthy ecosystems," added the group GMO Free Oregon on its Facebook page.

Read More Here

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Nuclear Event - State of California, [San Onofre nuclear power plant] : Out of Control brush fire creeping closer to San Onofre nuclear power plant

Earth Watch Report  -  Nuclear Event

Caption Cocos fire

Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times

It's a wall of orange as flames envelope a residence on Country Club Drive in Escondido.

L.A. Now

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Nuclear Event

USA

State of California, [San Onofre nuclear power plant]

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RSOE EDIS

Nuclear Event in USA on Thursday, 15 May, 2014 at 17:56 (05:56 PM) UTC.

Description An out-of-control brush fire at Camp Pendleton was creeping closer to the San Onofre nuclear power plant, prompting evacuations. Southern California Edison said in a tweet that "about a dozen non-essential employees evacuated" from the plant because of the fire. The plant is located off Interstate 5 at the Orange-San Diego county line north of Camp Pendleton. Edison announced last year it was closing the plant due to structural problems with facility. The Camp Pendleton fire was spotted shortly before 10 a.m. Wednesday and forced evacuations of the De Luz housing area, Mary Fay Pendleton Elementary School and the Naval Weapons Station Fallbrook, which is on the northeast edge of the sprawling base. A second school and housing area have been evacuated as the brush fire at Camp Pendleton continues to spread. The fire, dubbed the Tomahawk fire, on the northeast section of the base, had burned more than 150 acres as of 1 p.m., according to Cal Fire. An evacuation center was established at the Paige Fieldhouse on the base. The Pendleton fire was one of several blazes burning in San Diego County. One in Carlsbad has burned homes. More than 11,500 evacuation notices have been issued for the fire as it moves through neighborhoods amid steep brushy canyons.

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L.A. Now

Fire forces evacuation of San Onofre nuclear plant

Caption Cocos fire

Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times

A huge fireball erupts as a structure burns on Coronado Hills Drive in San Marcos.

An out-of-control brush fire at Camp Pendleton was creeping closer to the San Onofre nuclear power plant, prompting evacuations.
Southern California Edison said in a tweet that "about a dozen non-essential employees evacuated" from the plant because of the fire.
The plant is located off Interstate 5 at the Orange-San Diego county line north of Camp Pendleton. Edison announced last year it was closing the plant due to structural problems with facility.

Interactive

Map: Southern California fires Read the story

The Camp Pendleton fire was spotted shortly before 10 a.m. Wednesday and forced evacuations of the De Luz housing area, Mary Fay Pendleton Elementary School and the Naval Weapons Station Fallbrook, which is on the northeast edge of the sprawling base.

Read More Here

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Huge Pendleton fires nearly contained

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. — Firefighters continued making progress Sunday containing three fires that have blackened 21,900 acres on Camp Pendleton and Naval Weapons Station Fallbrook.
The largest of the fires, the fast-moving Las Pulgas Fire, had burned about 15,000 acres since it erupted for unknown reasons at about 3:15 p.m. on Thursday near a sewage plant in Camp Las Pulgas. The blaze was 75 percent contained Sunday afternoon, according to officials.

The first fire reported, the so-called Tomahawk Fire, broke out at Naval Weapons Station Fallbrook at the eastern outskirts of Camp Pendleton at about 9:45 a.m. on Wednesday and later spread to the Marine base. It was 100 percent contained Sunday and had blackened about 5,400 acres.
The most recent blaze to break out at Camp Pendleton, dubbed the San Mateo Fire, began spreading just before 11:30 a.m. on Friday near Basilone Road. It had grown to about 1,500 acres today and was 97 percent contained, according to base officials.
Gen. James F. Amos, the Commandant of the Marine Corps, and Brig. Gen. John W. Bullard, the Marine Corps Installations West commanding general, were briefed today on the three fires — known collectively as the Basilone Complex – - at Camp Pendleton. Amos and Sgt. Maj. Michael P. Barrett, sergeant major of the Marine Corps, also spoke with firefighters working to extinguish the blazes.

Read More Here
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Environment Pollution - State of California, Atwater Village : Oil Spill

Earth Watch Report  -  Environmental Pollution  -  Oil Spill

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Environment Pollution

USA

State of California, Atwater Village

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RSOE EDIS

Environment Pollution in USA on Thursday, 15 May, 2014 at 12:53 (12:53 PM) UTC.

Description The Los Angeles Fire Department says a ruptured oil pipe near the suburb of Glendale has spilled about 50,000 gallons of crude oil onto streets. According to the Fire Department, the leak from a 20-inch pipe was reported at about 12:15 a.m. Thursday in Atwater Village and the oil line was remotely shut off. No injuries were reported. Oil spilled over approximately half a mile and is knee-high in some areas. Firefighters and hazardous materials crews are on the scene. A handful of commercial businesses are affected, including a strip club that was evacuated. Fire Department spokesman Erik Scott says there's no "visible evidence" that the oil has entered storm drains, which empty into the Los Angeles River. But he says it's possible that oil has seeped under manhole covers.

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TEN THOUSAND gallons of crude oil covers half a mile of Los Angeles after pipe bursts amid fears of environmental disaster

• Oil covers a huge area near the Atwater Village suburb and is said to be knee-high in many places
  

• Leak occurred after a 20-inch above-ground pipe burst outside The Gentleman's Club strip bar
  

• Flow to pipe was shut off remotely just after midnight local time - but leak continued for 45 minutes

• Two workers at nearby industrial plant were taken to hospital to be treated for 'respiratory concerns'
  

By John Hall

Published: 05:37 EST, 15 May 2014 | Updated: 04:44 EST, 16 May 2014

The Los Angeles Fire Department says a ruptured oil pipe has caused about 10,000 gallons of crude oil to spill on to the city's streets.

The oil - which covers a half-mile area and is knee-high in some places - escaped after a break in an above-ground pipeline outside 5175 West San Fernando Road in the Atwater Village suburb.

According to Los Angeles Fire Department, oil was spurting 15 to 20 feet into the air from a burst 20-inch pipe, with the leak reported shortly after midnight local time.

Clean up: Hazardous material specialists are also working at the scene amid concern that the massive spill could cause an environmental disaster. Fire Department spokesman Erik Scott says there is currently no 'visible evidence' that the oil has entered storm drains

Sweep: Workers try to prevent the vast quantities of crude oil flowing into storm drains. The drains empty into the Los Angeles River and there is concern the spill could cause serious harm to wildlife if the oil gets into the water supply

Washed away: The clean up operation is focusing on storm drains and manhole covers amid concern that the crude oil could seep into the water supply and cause public health problems and damage to wildlife

Spill: The oil - which covers a half-mile area and is knee-high in some places - escaped after a break in an above-ground pipeline outside 5175 West San Fernando Road in Atwater Village

Evacuated: Five commercial businesses - including The Gentlemen's Club strip bar - were affected after LAPD completely shut down the Atwater Village area

The flow of oil to the pipe was remotely shut down shortly within 10 minutes of the burst being detected, but the leak continued for another 45 minutes.
A 20-inch oil pipeline is medium-sized by industry standards and would generally transport about 200,000 barrels per day based on average rates. There was no immediate information about the specific capacity or throughput of the line.

'This oil comes from the Bakersfield area, this is a pumping transfer station and pumping transfer station then transfers the oil to a storage facility in Long Beach,' Batallion Chief David Spence said.
Four workers at the nearby Baxter industrial plant were reportedly evaluated for general illness and respiratory concerns, with two of them taken to hospital, according to NBC Los Angeles,
Oil was seen shooting towards the sky and on to a nearby strip bar, The Gentlemen’s Club at around 1am local time. The Gentlemen's Club was subsequently evacuated, Los Angeles Fire Department said.

Four other commercial businesses are known to have been affected after LAPD completely shut down the Atwater Village area.

Read More  and Watch Video Here
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