Posts tagged Mexico
CU study: 66 million years ago, an asteroid turned Earth into a crispy critter
0March 27, 2013
A new look at conditions after a Manhattan-sized asteroid slammed into a region of Mexico in the dinosaur days indicates the event could have triggered a global firestorm that would have burned every twig, bush and tree on Earth and led to the extinction of 80 percent of all Earth’s species, says a new University of Colorado Boulder study.
Led by Douglas Robertson of the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, or CIRES, the team used models that show the collision would have vaporized huge amounts of rock that were then blown high above Earth’s atmosphere. The re-entering ejected material would have heated the upper atmosphere enough to glow red for several hours at roughly 2,700 degrees Fahrenheit — about the temperature of an oven broiler element — killing every living thing not sheltered underground or underwater.
An artist’s rendition of the asteroid air strike 66 million years ago
The CU-led team developed an alternate explanation for the fact that there is little charcoal found at the Cretaceous-Paleogene, or K-Pg, boundary some 66 million years ago when the asteroid struck Earth and the cataclysmic fires are believed to have occurred. The CU researchers found that similar studies had corrected their data for changing sedimentation rates. When the charcoal data were corrected for the same changing sedimentation rates they show an excess of charcoal, not a deficiency, Robertson said.
“Our data show the conditions back then are consistent with widespread fires across the planet,” said Robertson, a research scientist at CIRES, which is a joint institute of CU-Boulder and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. “Those conditions resulted in 100 percent extinction rates for about 80 percent of all life on Earth.”
A paper on the subject was published online this week in the Journal of Geophysical Research-Biogeosciences, a publication of the American Geophysical Union. Co-authors on the study include CIRES Interim Director William Lewis, CU Professor Brian Toon of the atmospheric and oceanic sciences department and the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics and Peter Sheehan of the Milwaukee Public Museum in Wisconsin.
Geological evidence indicates the asteroid collided with Earth about 66 million years ago and carved the Chicxulub crater in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula that is more than 110 miles in diameter. In 2010, experts from 33 institutions worldwide issued a report that concluded the impact at Chicxulub triggered mass extinctions, including dinosaurs, at the K-Pg boundary.
The conditions leading to the global firestorm were set up by the vaporization of rock following the impact, which condensed into sand-grain-sized spheres as they rose above the atmosphere. As the ejected material re-entered Earth’s atmosphere, it dumped enough heat in the upper atmosphere to trigger an infrared “heat pulse” so hot it caused the sky to glow red for several hours, even though part of the radiation was blocked from Earth by the falling material, he said.
But there was enough infrared radiation from the upper atmosphere that reached Earth’s surface to create searing conditions that likely ignited tinder, including dead leaves and pine needles. If a person was on Earth back then, it would have been like sitting in a broiler oven for two or three hours, said Robertson.
The amount of energy created by the infrared radiation the day of the asteroid-Earth collision is mind-boggling, said Robertson. “It’s likely that the total amount of infrared heat was equal to a 1 megaton bomb exploding every four miles over the entire Earth.”
A 1-megaton hydrogen bomb has about the same explosive power as 80 Hiroshima-type nuclear bombs, he said. The asteroid-Earth collision is thought to have generated about 100 million megatons of energy, said Robertson.
Some researchers have suggested that a layer of soot found at the K-Pg boundary layer roughly 66 million years ago was created by the impact itself. But Robertson and his colleagues calculated that the amount of soot was too high to have been created during the massive impact event and was consistent with the amount that would be expected from global fires.
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Boulder County Sheriff’s Office announces huge cocaine bust
0January 23, 2013
The Boulder County Drug Task Force (BCDTF) and the Denver Field Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) announce the conclusion of a significant investigation of a cocaine distribution organization operating in the Counties of Boulder, Weld, and Adams, and the City/County of Denver.
Today, 210 law enforcement personnel represented by the BCDTF, Denver Field Division of the DEA, Denver Division of the Internal Revenue Service, Boulder Police Department, Boulder County Sheriff’s Office, Louisville Police Department, Longmont Police Department, Adams County Sheriff’s Office, North Metro Task Force, and the Weld County Sheriff’s Office executed search warrants of eleven (11) residences (5 City of Boulder, 1 City of Louisville, 1 City of Longmont, 2 Unincorporated Weld County, 1 Unincorporated Adams County, and 1 City/County of Denver), and the pursuit of twenty (20) suspects based on Grand Jury Indictments and Arrest Affidavits detailing over 300 Felony counts of Possession of a Schedule ll Drug, Possession with Intent to Distribute a Schedule ll Drug, Conspiracy, and Possession of a Dangerous Weapon.
The seventeen-month investigation utilized various investigative techniques leading to the seizure of significant amount of cocaine. The accomplishment of the case is based on the partnerships of the BCDTF, DEA and the North Metro Task Force.
The efforts of this investigation will put a significant dent in the flow of cocaine into our local communities and hopefully make the communities safer.
DEA Special Agent Barbra Roach stated, “This investigation has cut off a pipeline from Mexico to Boulder that brought cocaine and weapons to our streets. Boulder and the surrounding communities are safer today due to the cooperative efforts of federal, state and local agencies”.
The Boulder County Drug Task Force is comprised of personnel of the Boulder Police Department, Boulder County Sheriff’s Office, 20th Judicial District Attorney’s Office, University of Colorado Police Department-Boulder Campus, and the cities of Erie, Lafayette and Louisville. The BCDTF encourages citizens to contact the BCDTF at 303.441.1690 if they wish to share information regarding the illegal sales and distribution of dangerous drugs in the communities we serve.
A supplemental media release will be electronically distributed at 4:00/pm today with the identification of the suspects taken into custody.
The names of those arrested:
Antonio Chaparro dob 6/18/78
Vicente Espinoza-Gonzales dob 7/18/66
Manuel Galindo-Lopez dob 3/29/77
Jorge Zavala-Ramirez dob 10/22/79
Juan Carlos Chaparro-Salcido dob 5/5/83
Claudio Omar Mallo dob 5/2/70
Jesus Garcia-Bueno dob 12/12/74
Miguel Angel Ruiz-Morales dob 4/18/91
Benito Beruman-Serate dob 4/5/72
Juanita Burciaga dob 12/12/74
Diego Arellano-Rodriguez dob 4/21/91
Craig Carl Dagostino dob 9/29/59
Cheryl Harvanek dob 11/12/56
Jose Alejandro Rivera-Segura dob 11/19/79
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“Casa de Mi Padre” Worth a Couple of Chuckles
0April 1, 2012
“A Couple of Chuckles”
“Hotshots” looks at a movie!
Casa de Mi Padre is Will Ferrell’s latest comedy, and the first thing you notice is that the title is in Spanish.
The second thing you notice about the “House of My Father” is that the entire movie is in Spanish, but with English subtitles for the benefit of those of us who aren’t fluent in Spanish.
Well, not the entire movie, because there are a couple of American characters in the story, which takes place in modern-day Mexico, and they speak what the Mexican characters call “American.”
Ferrell plays Armando, the son of a rancher, and at the beginning of the movie, Armando and his two buddies, Esteban and Manuel, are moving some of the father’s cattle to a new pasture, and Armando says, “I hope nothing bad happens on the way home.”
Then they witness an execution that was caused by the nasty drug business that is going on in the country and which will have ramifications later on in the story.
When the three rancheros get home, Armando’s brother Raul shows up with his fiancee, Sonia Lopez. Raul is the son that his father always loved, and if we hadn’t already figured it out, we learn that Armando is not smart, and his father always tells him that.
Armando also has a secret that we learn when he and Sonia go out riding together and they arrive at the Pond of Seven Tears, where Armando’s mother died when Armando was a little boy.
Armando and Sonia take a liking to each other, and Sonia tells Armando that his brother Raul is in the drug business, but Raul doesn’t sell drugs to their fellow Mexicans, only to Americans.
Unfortunately, Raul is trying to do business in the territory of the most infamous drug dealer, Onza, who also has a close connection with Sonia.
Well, you can see a showdown coming up, can’t you? As well as a Mexican standoff and a final shoot-out that is all the funnier because the participants are drinking and smoking cigarettes at the same time as they are blasting away at each other.
The movie spoofs telenovelas and B-movies, production values, and anything else that Ferrell could think of while memorizing his lines phonetically.
Casa de Mi Padre has a good ending, of course, and is worth a couple of chuckles.
I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”
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CU to students: Don’t let spring break turn into nightmare
0February 28, 2012
CU-Boulder urges spring break safety
for students traveling or staying put
With visions of ski resorts and warm beaches on the minds of many students, the University of Colorado Boulder is urging students to exercise caution whether they remain in Colorado, travel elsewhere in the country or go abroad for spring break.
CU-Boulder’s spring break is March 26-30.
Students planning to travel abroad need to be aware of travel warnings issued by the U.S. Department of State, including recent warnings for those planning to visit Mexico. For information on security conditions in specific regions of Mexico visit http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/tw/tw_5665.html. Those planning to go to Mexico also can view general travel tips at http://travel.state.gov/travel/tips/tips_1232.html.
“The advice I give to students traveling internationally is similar to what I would tell students locally,” said Larry Bell, director of international education at CU-Boulder. “Stay aware of your surroundings and exercise caution in places with which you are not familiar. When abroad be alert to the differences of customs, traditions and social situations as those differences may result in significant consequences — sometimes negative.”
In general, students are reminded to practice the same safety protocols they follow in Boulder, which includes traveling in groups, looking out for friends, keeping hydrated, knowing their limits and complying with the law.
“We want our students to have a great break, but also want to remind them to be safe and look out for one another wherever they are during spring break,” said Karen Raforth, interim dean of students and associate vice chancellor for student affairs.
Students who are of age and choose to drink alcohol should do so safely and keep an eye on their friends before, during and after parties.
“I always encourage students to step back and think through their use of alcohol to avoid related problems,” said Matthew Tomatz, counselor and substance abuse coordinator with CU-Boulder’s Counseling and Psychological Services office. “Since drinking can be risky and lead to poor decision-making, it is wise to establish sensible limits before drinking and strategize ways to maintain these boundaries.”
Students planning to drive to an out-of-town destination should drive in shifts and get plenty of sleep before driving. Those planning to travel to the high country should check road conditions and take winter survival kits in their cars. Winter driving tips are available at http://www.coloradodot.info/travel/winter-driving.
This winter, the high country has experienced more avalanches than normal, so students who plan to ski, snowboard or snowshoe need to be extremely careful. Students should check the site they are going to visit for advisories before they go. Information about avalanches, including special advisories, is available at http://avalanche.state.co.us/index.php.
Students also need to remember that the Student Code of Conduct follows them wherever they go. For more information on the Student Code of Conduct visithttp://www.colorado.edu/studentaffairs/studentconduct/code.html.
Before leaving for break, students planning to travel internationally should visit the U.S. Department of State’s travel information page, which includes international safety resources and warnings and alerts, at http://travel.state.gov/travel/. General international travel tips are posted athttp://travel.state.gov/travel/tips/tips_1232.html.
-CU-
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Mini quakes to shimmy the Rio Grand rift
0January 11, 2012
SOME EARTHQUAKES EXPECTED ALONG RIO GRANDE RIFT
IN COLORADO AND NEW MEXICO, NEW STUDY SAYS
The Rio Grande Rift, a thinning and stretching of Earth’s surface that extends from Colorado’s central Rocky Mountains to Mexico, is not dead but geologically alive and active, according to a new study involving scientists from the University of Colorado Boulder’s Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences.
“We don’t expect to see a lot of earthquakes, or big ones, but we will have some earthquakes,” said CU-Boulder geological sciences Professor Anne Sheehan, also a fellow at CIRES. The study also involved collaborators from the University of New Mexico, New Mexico Tech, Utah State University and the Boulder-headquartered UNAVCO. The Rio Grande Rift follows the path of the Rio Grande River from central Colorado roughly to El Paso before turning southeast toward the Gulf of Mexico.
Sheehan was not too surprised when a 5.3 magnitude earthquake struck about 9 miles west of Trinidad, Colo., in the vicinity of the Rio Grande Rift on Aug. 23, 2011. The quake was the largest in Colorado since 1967 and was felt from Fort Collins to Garden City, Kan.
Along the rift, spreading motion in the crust has led to the rise of magma — the molten rock material under Earth’s crust — to the surface, creating long, fault-bounded basins that are susceptible to earthquakes, said Sheehan, a study co-author and also associate director of the CIRES Solid Earth Sciences Division. The team studied the Rio Grande Rift region to assess the potential earthquake hazards.
Using Global Positioning System instruments at 25 sites in Colorado and New Mexico, the team tracked the rift’s miniscule movements from 2006 to 2011. “Questions we wanted to answer are whether the Rio Grande Rift is alive or dead, how is it deforming and whether it is opening or not,” said Sheehan.
The high-precision instrumentation has provided unprecedented data about the volcanic activity in the region. Previously, geologists had estimated the rift had spread apart by up to 2 inches or 5 millimeters each year, although the errors introduced by the scientific instruments were known to be significant. “The GPS used in this study has reduced the uncertainty dramatically,” Sheehan said.
Using the latest high-tech instrumentation, the scientists found an average strain rate of 1.2 “nanostrain” each year across the experimental area, the equivalent of about one-twentieth of an inch, or 1.2 millimeters, over a length of about 600 miles. “The rate is lower than we thought but it does exist,” Sheehan said.
The researchers also found the extensional deformation, or stretching, is not concentrated in a narrow zone centered on the Rio Grande Rift but is distributed broadly from the western edge of the Colorado Plateau well into the western Great Plains. “The surprising thing to come out of the study was that the strain was so spread out,” Sheehan said.
Results of the study are published in the January edition of the journal Geology.
The team plans to continue monitoring the Rio Grande Rift, probing whether the activity remains constant over time, said lead study author Henry Berglund of UNAVCO, who was a graduate student at CU-Boulder working at CIRES when he completed this portion of the research. Also, the team may attempt to determine vertical as well as horizontal activity in the region to tell whether the Rocky Mountains are still uplifting or not, Berglund said.
“Present-day measurements of deformation within continental interiors have been difficult to capture due to the typically slow rates of deformation within them,” Berglund said. “Now with the recent advances in space geodesy we are finding some very surprising results in these previously unresolved areas.”
As far as the potential for future earthquakes in the region, the study’s results are unequivocal, however. “The rift is still active,” Sheehan said.
The new study also is co-authored by CU-Boulder Associate Professor and CIRES Fellow Steven Nerem, Frederick Blume of UNAVCO, Anthony Lowry of Utah State University, Mousumi Roy of the University of New Mexico and Mark Murray of New Mexico Tech.
The National Science Foundation provided the funding for this study and the NSF-funded EarthScope program and UNAVCO provided instruments, equipment and engineering services. The Boulder-headquartered UNAVCO is a nonprofit, university-governed consortium that facilitates geosciences research and education.
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Marisol Imports Boulder tours Oaxaca, Mexico plus big Xmas moving sale
0November 3, 2011
by Boulder Channel 1
in News
Holiday Relocating Sale
Thursday, Dec 15 10:00a to 6:00p
at Marisol Imports, Boulder, CO
Marisol Imports, Boulder’s most colorful independent business, is having a huge relocating sale! 50% Off Zapotec Rugs & Pillows, 40% Off Select Jewelry, 20% Off Storewide on handmade & designer furniture, mirrors, lamps, blankets, sheepskins, pottery, fabric, dishware, metal art, artwork, candles & gifts.
by-Danice Crawford for Marisol Imports
Marisol Imports presents a quick travel tour of the Zapotec village of Teotitlan del Valle in Oaxaca, Mexico. We meet local Zapotec families who describe their traditional weaving process and show us where to eat and the best places to stay. Discover the ancient Tule Tree, the ruins of Mitla, the beautiful temple church of Teotitlan, and how to make Mezcal! Presented in Spanish with English subtitles by Danice Crawford & Ismael Gutierrez for Marisol Imports.
On homegrown leadership, feathered serpents, trumpets & weaving deep pensamientos
March 22, 2011 on 3:20 am
There’s nothing like being woken up in the dark by the booming sounds of exploding cannons and projectiles whistling overhead….. er, what? I’m suddenly very awake and very confused wondering if the pueblo is under attack and why the the electric connectors are being blown up. After a few tense seconds I laugh in relief; this isn’t Libya or Japan, it’s nearly dawn on Benito Juárez’s birthday and this rural Mexican valley is echoing in booming celebration of the first indigenous native president in the Western Hemisphere. These fireworks are HUGE audio phenomenon (very illegal in the United States), and they certainly do justice to the man from Oaxaca who was the first Mexican leader without a military background, and of full indigenous Zapotec blood, who rose from a shepherd and field hand to lawyer, served five terms as president of Mexico (1858-1872), resisted the French occupation, overthrew the conservative monarchial empire, restored the Republic, and used liberal efforts to modernize the country.
The story of Benito Juárez isn’t my only history lesson lately. Throughout my business trip in Oaxaca, it has been fascinating to discover fresh nuances in a culture I thought I knew so well. While purchasing rugs for Marisol Imports and discussing life with several old friends and members of master weaving families here in Teotitlán del Valle, Oaxaca, Mexico, I have come to discover that a) almost everyone here believes in a giant generally invisible feathered serpent that either flies or lives in the caves under the church, depending on whom you speak to, and it is not often spoke of and not Quetzalcóatl b) the famous annual Guelaguetza dance ceremony in the capitol city of Oaxaca actually gets its name from the Zapotec practice of extending mutual favors over time, as needed and c) the main reason there are 5 brass bands for a town of 10,000 is because in addition to birthdays, weddings, anniversaries and general revelry, there are now 7 Fridays before Easter, and every one of these occasions requires that a band make it’s way through the streets and duly notify everyone of the goings on. Preferably at dawn and again at dusk.
It’s a fun place, but in-between the horn solos, quick laughs and bright colors, a marked somber placidity abounds. Perhaps this is because it is a community of artisans, sensitive to the waxings and wanings of emotion and creative expression. Or maybe the pressures of the modern world, combined with economic strain, are taking their toll on a traditional indigenous community. My friend informs me that yes, times are hard, but it’s not like everyone here is carrying a safety machete, like in neighboring towns, so he isn’t concerned. I make a point of observing these tides of sentiment, and do my best to be sincere, positive and in tune with my kung fu. Later, I join my hosts and the band’s evening procession through the cobbled streets. This time, the tuba players fade off and allow the crowd and religious leaders to sing their soft prayers at each candlelit vigil, “…que Dios illumine nuestro entendimiento…” they continue murmuring. Indeed. Y, con su labor construyes su futuro.
-Danice Crawford 3/21/2011 for Marisol Imports
The first thought entering my mind upon descending the plane onto the wet tarmac was “El Olor de Miel.” The smell of honey. I’m back in Mexico for the first time in 6 years, returning to the village where I learned to speak Spanish at 5, play basketball at 10, and drive a Datsun at 15. Teotitlan del Valle is renowned by anthropologists and tourists alike as the quintessential Mexican Indian village, unique in it’s artistic & cultural Zapotec weaving heritage. For me, Teotitlan is the home of 5 families whose artistry enabled my my family and theres to simultaneously lift ourselves out of our single room cabins and adobe huts into relatively unprecedented levels of prosperity and cooperation during the 1980s and 1990s; their homes are here in Oaxaca, in the valley of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec , and mine is on the edge of the high country in Colorado.
My parents made over 70 trips from Boulder to Teotitlan del Valle over the past 30 years and were able to grow Marisol Imports, Inc. from a tiny rug & fabric store into a well known home furnishings company operating throughout the Rocky Mountain region. Now, as we face this new era of global economic crisis and related challenges, I am proud to be back in the village, alone, working directly with the sons and daughters of the original 5 families who made this town so prosperous for the previous generations, and considering what the future holds for traditional artisans and small business people.
We’re off to a fantastic start. There’s something about getting away from the bustle of the new American lifestyle with it’s constant communication and multiple multi-tasking add nauseum, and focusing on like, 2 things at a time rather than 5. This deep in Mexico, we are over 1000 miles away from the violence in Ciudad Juarez, people speak Zapotec and Spanish, and I’m slowly remembering to switch from our bizarre American system of measurement back to worldwide Metric. My good friend, Ismael Gutierrez and myself, both 28, are bringing the work of our fathers, Dennis Crawford & Genaro Gutierrez, slowly into the 21st century as we spend hours en la casa reviewing rug designs, taking photographs, attempting to sync our computer operations through anticuated PC computers and state of the art HP and Mac laptops, battling formating between Adobe Photoshop, Microsoft Picture Manager, HP Photosmare, iPhoto and the Windows Photo Gallery, and discovering how to share our work through Yahoo, Google, WordPress, and the fascinating world of online social media.
Sobre todo, above all, it is the lasting power of friendship and language that is resonating the most in my mind tonight. As Genaro said as we made our way from the turmoil of the city into the familiarity of the village, catching up on the chisme y noticias, the gossip and news, the goings on of our families and the world, “Solo hay una vida” he says. “Tienes que prestar atencion.”
Ismael Gutierrez
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CU study: Lowly worms survive asteroid wipeout
0October 10, 2011
A new study of sediments laid down shortly after an asteroid plowed into the Gulf of Mexico 65.5 million years ago, an event that is linked to widespread global extinctions including the demise of big dinosaurs, suggests that lowly worms may have been the first fauna to show themselves following the global catastrophe.While the focus on the so-called K-T boundary extinction is often on the survival and proliferation of mammals, paleo-botanical studies show some of the earliest terrestrial ecosystems to emerge were dominated by low-diversity and opportunistic aquatic plants, said University of Colorado Boulder geological sciences Associate Professor Karen Chin. And while sediments laid down immediately following the impact event generally have relatively few animal fossils, new evidence from North Dakota shows networks of crisscrossing burrows less than three inches above the K-T boundary layer.
“Fossil burrows provide direct evidence of animal activity that occurred right at that spot, and these burrows are quite extensive,” said Chin, who said their characteristics suggest they were probably produced by worms. “To my knowledge, such burrows haven’t been documented in terrestrial environments this close to the K-T boundary. This is a glimpse of a world we don’t know very much about yet.”
While Chin and her colleagues are still working to understand the timing of the fossil burrows as they relate to the K-T extinction boundary, Chin said she believes that they likely were made within a few thousand years after the extinction event. Future studies should help narrow that window, said Chin, who also is curator of paleontology at the University of Colorado Museum of Natural History.
Chin gave a presentation on the new findings at the 2011 annual meeting of the Geological Society of America being held this week in Minneapolis. Co-authors on the study were A.A. Ekdale of the University of Utah and Dean Pearson of the Pioneer Trails Regional Museum in Bowman, N.D.
The three-dimensional burrows were found at the interface of a layer of coal and a layer of siltstone in southwestern North Dakota by Pearson, who has spent many years studying K-T boundary sites in the state. The decomposing organic matter in the ancient environment would have provided a food source for the worms. A few of the burrows were topped by a thin layer of coal, suggesting that the underlying coal may contain additional, earlier worm burrows that are not readily apparent, Chin said.
The clay boundary layer laid down at the end of the Cretaceous Period is associated with high levels of iridium, an element rare in Earth’s crust but abundant in asteroids. The Manhattan-sized asteroid plowed into Earth at 150 times the speed of a jet airliner and is thought to have released about a billion times more energy than the Hiroshima atomic bomb, triggering tremendous dust and ash storms, wildfires, tsunamis, mega-earthquakes and dark, cold “nuclear winter” conditions for a time.
The North Dakota fossil worm burrows indicate the creatures probably were about the diameter of an average earthworm. The burrows indicate horizontal rather than vertical movement through the substrate, likely reflecting feeding activity, Chin said.
The study indicates the burrows were made in a peat-producing, bog-like environment that eventually was buried by sediment. Chin said the worms must have been capable of withstanding the challenging environmental stresses of flooded habitats, including prolonged inundation, low oxygen and acidic conditions.
Since the ancient burrows were filled by sediment, they actually are “positive casts” of the trails made by the worms. The burrows are examples of “trace fossils,” which also include tracks and fossilized feces, or coprolites. “When we reconstruct past environments, soft-bodied animals like worms get short-shrift since they don’t stand out in the fossil record like animals with mineralized skeletons,” said Chin. Ekdale, an expert on trace fossils, was key in analyzing the worm burrows, Chin said.
Chin said extensive work on plant fossils both before and after the K-T boundary event by Denver Museum of Nature and Science Chief Curator Kirk Johnson and his colleagues helped Chin and her research team to characterize the environment inhabited by the burrowers. Johnson’s research helped establish that terrestrial plants suffered heavy losses during the K-T extinction event, as did non-avian dinosaurs and many other terrestrial and marine organisms.
The K-T boundary commonly refers to the dividing line between the Cretaceous and Tertiary periods. Geologists now refer to it as the Cretaceous-Paleogene, or K-Pg boundary event. While a number of vertebrates survived the event — including birds, snakes, lizards, turtles, fish and small mammals — fossil burrows provide direct evidence of animal activity that skeletal fossils cannot show, said Chin. “The fact that the burrows are so close to the K-T boundary is one reason they are so exciting.”
-CU-
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“A Better Life” A Wonderful Film
0July 21, 2011
“A Wonderful Film”
“Hotshots” looks at a movie!
A Better Life is a terrific film that deserves as much publicity as it can get, because otherwise audiences will probably overlook it and not give it the attendance it deserves.
It also has a simple story that might not be popular, because it is about the relationship between an undocumented foreigner from Mexico and his teenage son, who live in Los Angeles.
Carlos Galindo has a steady job as a gardener working for another Mexican’s gardening business, and he sleeps on the couch in the living room at home so that his 14-year-old son, Luis, can sleep in the bedroom.
When Carlos finds out that Luis has missed 18 or 19 days of school so far this year, he asks him, “You want to end up like me?” to which Luis answers “No.”
Luis has some resentment toward his father, because he blames Carlos for his mother leaving them, whom Luis never wants to talk about.
Meanwhile, the man for whom Carlos works, Blasco Martinez, wants to retire, and he offers to sell Carlos his beat-up truck so that Carlos can have his own gardening business.
To Carlos, he wouldn’t just be buying a truck. He would be buying the American Dream.
However, not only doesn’t Carlos have the $12,000 that Blasco wants for his truck, but Carlos doesn’t even have a driver’s license, and if he ever gets stopped by the police, he could be deported back to Mexico. That is why Carlos wants to try to stay “invisible.”
Meanwhile, Luis gets suspended from school for fighting, and Carlos is concerned that Luis has a fascination with gangs and might even end up in a gang.
Carlos asks his sister, Anita, for a $12,000 loan, promising to pay the money back and telling her that if it works out, everything is going to change. He won’t have to work on Sunday anymore and can spend more time with Luis, if Luis wants.
Anita loans Carlos the money without telling her husband, who she says is the cheapest man in the world.
So, Carlos buys the truck from Blasco, but his life doesn’t change as he had imagined. Almost immediately, the truck is stolen, and Carlos and Luis have to try to get it back while staying invisible.
A Better Life is a wonderful film.
I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”
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Village Lunatic runs for city council again; not a chance
0May 11, 2011
by Boulder Channel 1
in News
If he could stay sober and off Drugs, Seth Brigham might make a good city council member, but seen in his throes of alcoholism that will never happen. But he is one of a few candidates who call othjer candidates, dicks and cock suckers after a fashion and we think that is good for keeping the civil discourse at blood sport level. Let The Games Begin!!
In exile, down here in Mexico, thanks to the City of Boulder!!!
In exile, down here in Mexico, thanks to the City of Boulder!!!
I have decided to set up my lemonade stand later this year to drum up petition signatures for my run for CITY COUNCIL !!!
Is it possible to make lemonade out of the current lemons? I think not!!!
Yes, yes, we are all very excited! as some of “the wooooooorst” Council members will be running this year.
My plan is to “take the gloves off,” and no, that is not a threat but a promise to hold no punches when it comes to the previous decisions of some council members,
who, SUCK!!! it’s too bad more of them weren’t up for relection!!! Throw the bums out!
Last election we saw the fascists rise to power, most glaringly with the bought council seat of Mr. “keep the business doors open winter, summer, fall and winter.”
Nice job, prick!!! Damn the environment !!! I own the Pearl Street Mall, me and my devious little long term BIZZY DIZZY speculators,
enriching ourselves from The pedestrian Shop to Eight Days A Week, scimming and scammimg and not caring about the rest of us.
And, then there were the suspect campaign contributions for Suzy the ” Boulder’s not corrupt but I am ! ” Suzy que Ageton. Nice job!
Goodbye Sanitas !!! And, here’s another $500,000 for the Visitors Center/CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.
Homeless, fuck ‘em!!! We don’t discriminate, we eliminate !!! Ken ” THE LITTLE DICK” Wilson say’s… another idiot? No, just an opportunist,
cozying up to EXCEL and shitting on the CU students, all to improve his lot on the Hill. Screw the REZ he say’s !!!
Well, this year, we are not going to let the developers, speculators and realtors direct the conversation with the bull crap manifesto called,
HIGH DENSITY BUILDING for the rich!!! as if they care about the “unnafordable people” who live inside and outside of BULLdertown.
No more campaign signs in the public ways and means of winning by spending upwards of thirty thousand to buy a seat.
And, allow hypocrites like macon SCOWLES pretend, it seems, as if he cares about the environment, all the while “selling out” to the realtors,
and in the process, attempting to “better his position in the tax bracket” by cheating on his taxes, all the while making the most wonderous speeches,
of what? his pompous ass of care for the little people, Mr. Civil liberty himself, what a joke!!! But… sounds of silence is all we hear about the homeless.
It’s just too bad that the one with the cocaine habit and love of beauty saloons has decided to retire to one of her three homes.
We can only hope she decides to move to Crestted Butte or Lake Tahoe so we don’t have to hear her blowhard Peace Department dribble when we all know it’s all empty, and vacuous,
her mind, that is, telling the public how much we spend on Human Services and the kids come first, whilst letting BVSD and STUPIDDEPENDENT retire while still on the payroll.
Let’s all go to the Jonas Brothers!!! with those Public ASSES over at Educational Access, turned into a private productions.
And, I thought Tony “the phony” Perri was just a bad apple, you must be kidding, when there’s CUNTI and ALAN O ASS HOLY and the BITCHY SISTERS making grande dollars,
while no one even remembers there once was a television station for and by the people of Boulder! The only thing I’m not sure about is whether Brautigam can top the corruption of the previous regime now idling by up at CU after selling our downtown away, eyes on the prize, let’s go seven stories high!!!
If I am elected it will be required that Mayor Osbourne wear a dunce cap to each meeting and place it upon each speaker, for that is how much they care about what the public thinks.
Damn them, those pesky residents of Boulder, we must build high and wide!!! and throw those without money into the polluted Boulder creek!!!
Hold your noses!!! Seth is back in town !!! And, Him and his advisors, me, myself and I. Are you ready to rumble????
VIVA LA REVOLUCION!!!
I have decided to set up my lemonade stand later this year to drum up petition signatures for my run for CITY COUNCIL !!!
Is it possible to make lemonade out of the current lemons? I think not!!!
Yes, yes, we are all very excited! as some of “the wooooooorst” Council members will be running this year.
My plan is to “take the gloves off,” and no, that is not a threat but a promise to hold no punches when it comes to the previous decisions of some council members,
who, SUCK!!! it’s too bad more of them weren’t up for relection!!! Throw the bums out!
Last election we saw the fascists rise to power, most glaringly with the bought council seat of Mr. “keep the business doors open winter, summer, fall and winter.”
Nice job, prick!!! Damn the environment !!! I own the Pearl Street Mall, me and my devious little long term BIZZY DIZZY speculators,
enriching ourselves from The pedestrian Shop to Eight Days A Week, scimming and scammimg and not caring about the rest of us.
And, then there were the suspect campaign contributions for Suzy the ” Boulder’s not corrupt but I am ! ” Suzy que Ageton. Nice job!
Goodbye Sanitas !!! And, here’s another $500,000 for the Visitors Center/CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.
Homeless, fuck ‘em!!! We don’t discriminate, we eliminate !!! Ken ” THE LITTLE DICK” Wilson say’s… another idiot? No, just an opportunist,
cozying up to EXCEL and shitting on the CU students, all to improve his lot on the Hill. Screw the REZ he say’s !!!
Well, this year, we are not going to let the developers, speculators and realtors direct the conversation with the bull crap manifesto called,
HIGH DENSITY BUILDING for the rich!!! as if they care about the “unnafordable people” who live inside and outside of BULLdertown.
No more campaign signs in the public ways and means of winning by spending upwards of thirty thousand to buy a seat.
And, allow hypocrites like macon SCOWLES pretend, it seems, as if he cares about the environment, all the while “selling out” to the realtors,
and in the process, attempting to “better his position in the tax bracket” by cheating on his taxes, all the while making the most wonderous speeches,
of what? his pompous ass of care for the little people, Mr. Civil liberty himself, what a joke!!! But… sounds of silence is all we hear about the homeless.
It’s just too bad that the one with the cocaine habit and love of beauty saloons has decided to retire to one of her three homes.
We can only hope she decides to move to Crestted Butte or Lake Tahoe so we don’t have to hear her blowhard Peace Department dribble when we all know it’s all empty, and vacuous,
her mind, that is, telling the public how much we spend on Human Services and the kids come first, whilst letting BVSD and STUPIDDEPENDENT retire while still on the payroll.
Let’s all go to the Jonas Brothers!!! with those Public ASSES over at Educational Access, turned into a private productions.
And, I thought Tony “the phony” Perri was just a bad apple, you must be kidding, when there’s CUNTI and ALAN O ASS HOLY and the BITCHY SISTERS making grande dollars,
while no one even remembers there once was a television station for and by the people of Boulder! The only thing I’m not sure about is whether Brautigam can top the corruption of the previous regime now idling by up at CU after selling our downtown away, eyes on the prize, let’s go seven stories high!!!
If I am elected it will be required that Mayor Osbourne wear a dunce cap to each meeting and place it upon each speaker, for that is how much they care about what the public thinks.
Damn them, those pesky residents of Boulder, we must build high and wide!!! and throw those without money into the polluted Boulder creek!!!
Hold your noses!!! Seth is back in town !!! And, Him and his advisors, me, myself and I. Are you ready to rumble????
VIVA LA REVOLUCION!!!
BRIGHAM TO RUN FOR CITY COUNCIL !!! In exile, down here in Mexico, thanks to the City of Boulder!!!
I have decided to set up my lemonade stand later this year to drum up petition signatures for my run for CITY COUNCIL !!!
Is it possible to make lemonade out of the current lemons? I think not!!!
Yes, yes, we are all very excited! as some of “the wooooooorst” Council members will be running this year
My plan is to “take the gloves off,” and no, that is not a threat but a promise to hold no punches when it comes to the previous decisions of some council members,
who, SUCK!!! it’s too bad more of them weren’t up for relection!!! Throw the bums out!
Last election we saw the fascists rise to power, most glaringly with the bought council seat of Mr. “keep the business doors open winter, summer, fall and winter.”
Nice job, prick!!! Damn the environment !!! I own the Pearl Street Mall, me and my devious little long term BIZZY DIZZY speculators, enriching ourselves from The pedestrian Shop to Eight Days A Week, scimming and scammimg and not caring about the rest of us.
And, then there were the suspect campaign contributions for Suzy the ” Boulder’s not corrupt but I am ! ” Suzy que Ageton. Nice job!
Goodbye Sanitas !!! And, here’s another $500,000 for the Visitors Center/CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.
Homeless, fuck ‘em!!! We don’t discriminate, we eliminate !!! Ken ” THE LITTLE DICK” Wilson say’s… another idiot? No, just an opportunist,
cozying up to EXCEL and shitting on the CU students, all to improve his lot on the Hill. Screw the REZ he say’s !!!
Well, this year, we are not going to let the developers, speculators and realtors direct the conversation with the bull crap manifesto called,
HIGH DENSITY BUILDING for the rich!!! as if they care about the “unnafordable people” who live inside and outside of BULLdertown.
No more campaign signs in the public ways and means of winning by spending upwards of thirty thousand to buy a seat.
And, allow hypocrites like macon SCOWLES pretend, it seems, as if he cares about the environment, all the while “selling out” to the realtors, and in the process, attempting to “better his position in the tax bracket” by cheating on his taxes, all the while making the most wonderous speeches, of what? his pompous ass of care for the little people, Mr. Civil liberty himself, what a joke!!! But… sounds of silence is all we hear about the homeless.
It’s just too bad that the one with the cocaine habit and love of beauty saloons has decided to retire to one of her three homes.
We can only hope she decides to move to Crestted Butte or Lake Tahoe so we don’t have to hear her blowhard Peace Department dribble when we all know it’s all empty, and vacuous, her mind, that is, telling the public how much we spend on Human Services and the kids come first, whilst letting BVSD and STUPIDDEPENDENT retire while still on the payroll.
Let’s all go to the Jonas Brothers!!! with those Public ASSES over at Educational Access, turned into a private productions.
And, I thought Tony “the phony” Perri was just a bad apple, you must be kidding, when there’s CUNTI and ALAN O ASS HOLY and the BITCHY SISTERS making grande dollars,
while no one even remembers there once was a television station for and by the people of Boulder! The only thing I’m not sure about is whether Brautigam can top the corruption of the previous regime now idling by up at CU after selling our downtown away, eyes on the prize, let’s go seven stories high!!!If I am elected it will be required that Mayor Osbourne wear a dunce cap to each meeting and place it upon each speaker, for that is how much they care about what the public thinks.
Damn them, those pesky residents of Boulder, we must build high and wide!!! and throw those without money into the polluted Boulder creek!!!
Hold your noses!!! Seth is back in town !!! And, Him and his advisors, me, myself and I. Are you ready to rumble????
VIVA LA REVOLUCION!!!
Related posts:
Is Donald Trump going to be the next president of the United states? Good chance . Here’s Why.
3April 27, 2011
by Boulder Channel 1
in News
Will Donald Trump be the Obama spoiler? Is he already too big too powerful and too much of a Juggernaut to be stopped? Does he resonate with working people ? He’s a worker himself. Will republicans and Democrats alike abandon the feel good politics of Barrack Obama?? It’s starting to look that way .
Donald Trump wants to bring jobs back to American from India, Mexico and China and he says he has a plan. The plan is to stop the Chinese from jiggling it’s currency, making billions at our loss. He wants the yen to be in line or he will tax them 25% on all exports to the USA.
He’ll do the same with India and Mexico if they don’t immediately get their wages in line with ours. Can he do that?? Yes he can. The problem with NAFTA is that the past three administrations were looking out for the world economy and not ours. NAFTA did not worked and it has put us into a 14 Trillion dollar deficit. China made a 1/2 trillion dollar profit last year from us .
You may think Donald Trump is a joke but a lot of people trust his business sense and they are willing to trade Barack Obama in on that point alone.
Donald Trump wants a payoff to go to war in the Middle East. He unabashedly says ….If we go into Libya to free them, we want their oil. Right now China gets all of their oil and we are paying for the war in Libya, while China pays nothing. The Arab league wants the USA to pay for the Libyan war but they have paid nothing and have not given us any oil in trade. In fact they raised oil prices to $4.00 a gallon in Vail today. What Trump says is “screw that”. No more Mamby pambying around. No more America pays for everything.
He is saying what a lot of Americans want to hear. Which is, screw the pansies on the left, He’s going to make other countries pay to do business with us. As an example Iraq has trillions of dollars of oil and they should be paying us back right now. Trump believes in conquering any country we go to war with similar to what we did during WWII, not go in lose American lives, trillions of dollars and then leave with nothing.
Donald Trump is shaking up the political world in New Hampshire and the Democrats are in big trouble. He could very well be the American maverick who caught Barrack Obama flat footed on this day and storm his way to the white house. We give him a 60-40 chance.
Related posts:
Earth Day Network Aims for Billion Acts of Green
0April 21, 2011
by Boulder Channel 1
in News
Earth Day Network Aims for Billion Acts of Green
<http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/apr2011/2011-04-21-02.html>
WASHINGTON, DC, April 21, 2011 (ENS) – Earth Day Network and
Facebook are collaborating to motivate people to participate in the
Billion Acts of Green campaign with a new application for publicizing
environmental actions. The Facebook app is part of Earth Day Network’s
campaign to reach “a billion….
BP to Pay $1 Billion for Early Gulf Coast Restoration
<http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/apr2011/2011-04-21-03.html>
WASHINGTON, DC, April 21, 2011 (ENS) – BP has agreed to provide $1
billion toward early restoration projects in the Gulf of Mexico to
address injuries to natural resources caused by latest year’s oil
spill, the largest in U.S. history. …
<http://www.youtube.com/embed/OkQSQvvkW08>
Japan Enforces No-Go Zone Around Crippled Nuclear Plant
<http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/apr2011/2011-04-21-01.html>
TOKYO, Japan, April 21, 2011 (ENS) – The Japanese government will
enforce a no-entry zone within 20 kilometers (12.5 miles) of the
battered Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant from midnight
Thursday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said today…..
Bolivia Celebrates Law Granting Rights to Mother Earth
<http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/apr2011/2011-04-20-01.html>
LA PAZ, Bolivia, April 20, 2011 (ENS) – Bolivia today marked the
International Day of Mother Earth with a ceremony in the Plaza
Murillo, the center of political power. An ancient ritual shared
center stage with speeches in which authorities in this Andean nation
extolled the Law of Mother Earth – the world’s first legislation …
BP Sues Transocean for $40 Billion Over Gulf Oil Spill
<http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/apr2011/2011-04-20-02.html>
NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana, April 20, 2011 (ENS) – On the first
anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig blowout in the Gulf of
Mexico, BP today filed a $40 billion lawsuit against the rig’s owner,
Transocean…..
UN Chief Charts Five-Step Path to Global Nuclear Safety
<http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/apr2011/2011-04-19-02.html>
KIEV, Ukraine, April 19, 2011 (ENS) – As he prepared to visit
Chernobyl 25 years after the world’s worst nuclear disaster, UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon outlined a five-step plan to strengthen
global nuclear safety…..
Entire Gulf of Mexico Reopened to Fishing a Year After BP Spill
<http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/apr2011/2011-04-19-01.html>
WASHINGTON, DC, April 19, 2011 (ENS) – Federal regulators today
reopened commercial and recreational fishing in all federal waters of
the Gulf of Mexico that were closed to fishing due to the BP Deepwater
Horizon oil spill……
BP Blowout One Year Later: Drilling Safety an Explosive Issue
<http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/apr2011/2011-04-18-02.html>
WASHINGTON, DC, April 18, 2011 (ENS) – Hundreds of activists
protesting fossil fuels marched to the Department of the Interior’s
headquarters today and swarmed inside, calling for the abolition of
offshore oil drilling, coal mining and tar sands extraction……
Georgia Court Rejects Air Permit for New Coal-Fired Power Plant
<http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/apr2011/2011-04-20-092.html>
ATLANTA, Georgia, April 20, 2011 (ENS) – A Georgia administrative
law court has sided with two citizen groups opposed to the proposed
Longleaf coal-fired power plant in Blakely, Georgia, designed to be
the largest coal plant in the nation…..
Huge Texas Wildfires Scorch 1.5 Million Acres
<http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/apr2011/2011-04-19-091.html>
AUSTIN, Texas, April 19, 2011 (ENS) – A unprecedented wildfire
situation in Texas has set more than 1.5 million acres ablaze, forced
hundreds of people to flee their homes and destroyed hundreds of homes
and buildings…..
U.S. Offers $5 Million to Advance Electric Vehicles
<http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/apr2011/2011-04-19-093.html>
WASHINGTON, DC, April 19, 2011 (ENS) – U.S. Energy Secretary Steven
Chu Tuesday announced $5 million in new funding for community efforts
to deploy electric vehicle infrastructure and charging stations. ..
Shell Eco-Marathon Winner Gets Over 2,500 Miles Per Gallon
<http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/apr2011/2011-04-19-092.html>
HOUSTON, Texas, April 19, 2011 (ENS) – A prototype car that achieved
an amazing 2,564.8 miles per gallon won first place in the Shell
Eco-marathon 2011 in Houston this past weekend. …
EPA Considers Ban on Dangerous Chemicals in Spray Foam Insulation
<http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/apr2011/2011-04-16-092.html>
WASHINGTON, DC, April 16, 2011 (ENS) – The U.S. EPA is considering a
ban or restriction on consumer insulation and sealant products
containing a family of chemicals known as diisocyantes….
U.S. Alliance Debunks Myths Surrounding Fuel Efficent Cars
<http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/apr2011/2011-04-16-091.html>
NEW YORK, New York, April 14, 2011 (ENS) – Go60MPG, a new alliance
of American environmental groups, is rallying support to raise
federal fuel efficiency standards for new cars to 60 miles per gallon
by the year 2025…..
Congress Pulls Wolves Off Endangered Species List
<http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/apr2011/2011-04-14-093.html>
WASHINGTON, DC, April 14, 2011 (ENS) – Congress today approved a
budget bill that includes a rider removing wolves in Montana, Idaho,
Washington, Oregon and Utah from the federal endangered species list
and sets the stage for near-term delisting in Wyoming. The measure
returns control of wolf management to the states….
s
<http://www.world-wire.com/SIGN-UP.html>
Press Releases From the Environmental Marketplace
Hospitals Around the Country Hold Earth Day Events to
Highlight Importance of “Going Green”
<http://www.world-wire.com/news/1104210001.html>
WASHINGTON, D.C., April 21, 2010 –/WORLD-WIRE/– Hospitals and
other members of the health care sector will be marking Earth Day
2011 with a wide variety of events showcasing their efforts to
develop sustainable operations and reduce their environmental
footprint. From making a rap video to staging water tasting and other
educational games, those engaged in sustainable health care are
finding fun and creative ways to educate their peers and their
communities about their successes in lessening their impact on the
environment.
Toyota Financial Services Celebrates Earth Day and Boys & Girls
Clubs of East Los Angeles with $500,000 Investment and “BE GREEN
DAY” <http://www.world-wire.com/news/1104190001.html>
<http://www.world-wire.com/news/1104190001.html>
American Standard Inspires Solutions in Earth Day Video, ‘Water
Wake-Up Call’ <http://www.world-wire.com/news/1104180001.html>
PISCATAWAY, N.J., April 18, 2011 –/WORLD-WIRE/– – Water usage
and costs affect all Americans and are becoming newsier topics every
day. As Earth Day on April 22 nears, environmental news will get a
special focus.
Sarawak Chief Minister Taib Mahmud Retains Power in Scandalous
Malaysian Polls <http://www.world-wire.com/news/1104190002.html>
KUCHING, SARAWAK, MALAYSIA, April 19, 2011, –/WORLD-WIRE/–377,000
votes from a population of 2.4 million have been sufficient to enable
Abdul Taib Mahmud (“Taib”), the controversial Chief Minister of the
Malaysian state of Sarawak, to be returned to office for his seventh
term in power. Despite heavy criticism over graft and abuse of power,
the Taib-led Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition has won the Sarawak state
polls, which were held last Saturday, with a majority of 54.5% of the
votes.
Click here to transmit your press release on World-Wire
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Questions or Comments: news@ens-news.com <mailto:news@ens-news.com>
Environment News Service, 620 Vineyard Lane, Suite #B303,
Seattle, WA 98110 Phone: 206.201.3124
Related posts:
“Due Date” See It
0November 10, 2010
“See It”
DUE DATE could be dismissed as just another “odd couple, “buddy,” “road-trip” movie, but it is much more than that.
It is a very funny, often laugh-out-loud movie about two men forced to travel across the southern United States in order to meet separate deadlines, but I have a feeling that men will enjoy it much more than women will.
However, everyone can enjoy the talent of the two actors who play those two men: Robert Downey Jr. and Zach Galifianakas, who portray Peter and Ethan, respectively.
Peter is an architect, Ethan is an actor wannabe, and the story begins in Atlanta, where they have an unfortunate, but funny encounter at the airport departure curb.
Then they have another funny, but unfortunate encounter before takeoff on the same airplane to Los Angeles, and it just keeps getting better as it goes on.
Peter and Ethan end up in a rental car and in a hurry to get to California, because Peter’s wife is about to have their first child and Ethan has a scheduled meeting with an agent.
Peter doesn’t want to share the road trip with Ethan, but is forced to, because as Ethan tells him, “I have all the money, the car, and the winning personality.”
Peter and the audience will agree on two of those reasons.
However, Ethan also has a dog traveling with him; glaucoma, which causes a side trip to buy some medical marijuana; and the ashes from his recently deceased father, which he carries in a coffee can.
Unfortunately, Ethan spends almost all his money on the weed, and now they are left with only $60 between them, and they have reached only Birmingham, Alabama.
There is a very funny scene in which they try to get some money wired to them from Peter’s wife; an even funnier scene in Dallas where they stop for help from Darryl, an old friend of Peter’s played by Jamie Foxx; and a scene that tops them all when they accidentally try to cross the border into Mexico, which ends fantastically hilarious.
When they reach the Grand Canyon, where they stop to satisfy Ethan’s wishes, they swap confessions in a touching scene until Ethan reveals the biggest confession of them all, and then we have one final mad dash to meet their . . .
DUE DATE. See it.
Related posts:
Conservatives absurdly claim BP oil spill is “Obama’s Katrina”
0May 1, 2010
Thousands of barrels of oil are still spewing into the Gulf of Mexico every day following an explosion on BP’s offshore drilling platform on April 20. After an initial silence — as The New York Times’ Mike Soraghan put it, ” ‘Drill, baby, drill’ is now, ‘Hush, baby, hush” — the conservative media decided that the spill is “Obama’s Katrina.” Such claims are contradicted by the administration’s actual response to the spill, the role BP reportedly played in leading the government to believe the spill was less severe than it really was, and the fact that Hurricane Katrina led to the deaths of more than 1,500 people.
Then again, the media seem to think just about anything is “Obama’s Katrina.”
Speaking of Katrina, conservative media figures previously advocated for drilling by falsely claiming that “not one drop of oil was spilled” as a result of the 2005 hurricane. In fact, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita caused nearly 17,700 barrels to spill into the ocean that year, a danger highlighted by the BP disaster.
Related posts:
The Barn-Owl Empire, Part CXI…We Call on The Virgin Mary
0May 1, 2010
By now most of you will have heard about the new law in Arizona, called “SB 1070″, designed to drive the estimated 460,000 Illegals out of the Grand Canyon State.
This Bill, in my opinion, is one half of a good & necessary Bill…the other half being a Guest Worker Program…something that is the Hallmark of any First World State.
Across the border, in Nogales, Mexico, as part of SB 1070, Arizona should maintain a One Square Kilometer Labor Exchange that would offer any potential Guest Worker a Blood Test, Chest X-Ray, Stress Test, Driver’s Test along with Insurance & Bank Account in Mexico in lieu of Social Security.
Just as Pitney Bowes has the commission for supplying the Post Office with its postage machines, Manpower Inc. could be given the contract for administering this Guest Worker Program. All an Arizona employer would have to do is send in the hours to Manpower, & pay the Manpower bill.
Veteran readers of this Newsletter do not have to be reminded again, that for 15 years I was a Guest Worker outside the United States…collecting wages in 8 Currencies without ever once considering myself an “Immigrant” in any of the Countries in which I worked.
Being asked for papers, from time to time, is something a Resident Foreigner has to accept…& I was always ready with my Auslaenderausweis, Fahrkarte, Verzicherungskarte, Gesundheitskarte, Arbeitsbestaetigung, Festewohnungskarte.
It’s not a Big Deal.
It appears that an Arizona SB 1070 is going to make ALL Illegals “Non Gratae”…& that’s a problem….for if there were a Guest Workers’ Addition to the Bill, a day-trip to Nogales, Mexico could have everything on the Up & Up in an hour.
A Big Reason for CSA-St. Louis is freedom from the Babylonian Entity, Wall Street, which prefers Foreigners to Americans, Illegals to Legals, Open Borders to Secured Borders…& believes that anything in the nature of Territorial Defense, Mine Safety, Clean Water Legislation, Crop Rotation, Humane Treatment of Livestock, Public Health, Public Works or Anglophone National Identity is a pernicious assault on th Bottom Line.
The position of CSA-St Louis on this matter is that the Governors to the 27 States of the Barn-Owl Empire, representing 120 million Americans, would do well to second Arizona’s SB 1070 with the addition of a proposed One Square Kilometer Labor Exchange on the outskirts of Juarez, Mexico.
The Government of Mexico is not obliged to accept this offer…but Mexico should know that El Salvador would probably be delighted to be home to such a Labor Exchange.
One thing CSA-St. Louis can learn from South Africa & Korea, is the great value of a Borderland-Nature Reserve, administered under “Park Martial Law”
In South Africa, this is Kruger Park, the world’s greatest Wildlife Park…& in Korea it is an “Involuntary Park”…the Demilitarized Zone between the two Korean States. Park Martial Law, which exists in most Wildlife Parks in Africa means that unauthorized entrants can be shot on sight as poachers.
In the 27 States of CSA-St. Louis, the depth of a Borderland Park would be 440 yards…& anything from a hundred yards wide to a hundred miles wide. International Borderland Parks would be administered under Park Marital Law. Parks in the Interior…on the Colorado-Nebraska Border, for example, would be set up mostly as Public Works Projects for the restoration of our original vegetation & wildlife habitat.
Some lengths of large-diameter, concrete pipe might be set out as shelters for wildlife…
along with some bird houses on predator-resistant poles…
notably as protection from such notorious Critter-hunters as Willard Romney.
Just how big was that Critter, Willard?
Twenty-seven Governors with an “SB 1070. Plus Juarez Labor Exchange” Law would quiet those who insist that any initiative coming from the States would be a “Hopeless Patchwork”…the assumption, here, being that Governors are too Dumb to put together a common Guest-Worker Program.
******
Like the Stars in Orion’s Belt three three things have lined up of late that have obliged me to turn my attention of Europe.
1. On May 3, three years ago, an adorable, three year-old Munchkin, Madeleine McCann, was abducted from a hotel room in Portugal…never to have be heard from since
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEuQn5rWPa0
2. 2010 marks Fifty Years of Papal Disobedience to long-awaited revelation of the “Thrid Secret of Fatima”.
Serious Business here, so take your time.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Secrets_of_F%C3%A1tima
3. Only last week…(& I knew it would be coming)…we had a “Smoking Gun”…a “Smoking Canon” as it were…
Take a moment here to check this out
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsEUca2Mul8
If there is anything non-bizarre about the “Dutroux Affaire” I have yet to come across it…for here we enter the World of the Paranormal.
Ostensibly, Marc Dutroux…
is either the cleverest Villain of all time…or the Belgian Police…
http://i.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/multimedia/archive/01204/eu-brussels-summit_1204222c.jpg
are the Dumbest.
Dutroux, an electrician by trade, is said to have owned Seven Houses.
Now who, in this day & age, owns Seven Houses?
http://www.locatealawyer.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/JohnMcCain.JPG
But there is a Third Possibility…
that Dutroux was Protected by an Organization…AND…though it is nothing I can prove at the moment… by the same Organization that is now protecting the kidnappers of Madeleine McCann.
So what I am proposing is that the International War Crimes Tribunal in the Hague, be convened to determine what it was that took the Belgian Police an entire year of children being tortured & murdered to figure out something that was staring them in the face from Day One.
(Have any of you, I wonder, ever been locked in an elevator, even for ten minutes?. ..like on a Saturday morning with no one else in the building. Can you imagine what some Belgian Peewees went through for a YEAR, while the Cops were shuffling papers?)
At this Tribunal everyone mentioned on the Internet as involved would have an opportunity to clear his name…a blessing to anyone not involved.
The Star Witness at this Tribunal however, would be none other than the Virgin Mary Herself.
Assigned to deliver the “Third Secret of Fatima” from the Vatican to the Tribunal would be Commandant of the Vatican Swiss Guards, Oberst Elmar Maeder of Zuzwil, St. Gallen…
http://i.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/multimedia/archive/00658/news-graphics-2008-_658470a.jpg
“Zuzwil!?”
Now little Maddie has her extraordinary Right Eye…
whereas I have the equally rare “Poirot Gene”
http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/upload/img_400/David-Suchet-as-Poirot-a.jpg
Upon the safe return of little Madeleine I don’t want money…but I don’t come cheap either
http://www.shawcreekbirdsupply.com/barn_owl.jpg
http://www.inmagine.com/sbphotography-001/ptg00163077-photo
“1000 Midnight Hangings by the Light of the Moon” would be my Bill to Europe.
Nothing worthwhile comes cheap.
Regards,
David
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4 Reasons PR Agencies Are Failing in Social Media: Hire BC1 and save your self a lost fortune: We were the first
0April 26, 2010
by Boulder Channel 1
in News
4 Reasons PR Agencies Are Failing in Social Media
A couple of weeks ago, Jason Keath wrote a post that got many thoughtful comments and reactions. I agree that good communication professionals understand the power of storytelling and know that relationship building is a worthy activity and work on action steps to develop good relationships.
Indeed, a retainer arrangement is a good way to go in social media. Especially if you need to ramp up your own people over time, and have constant needs and request, it will cost you less to go that way. Plus, it will help you maintain consistency.
And if you’re worried your people will screw up — customers or employees, they are people and they might — PR agencies may also provide crisis communications counsel and services. Of course, not all are known for doing a stellar job at it, and the expert may be a different one from your day to day team.
At this point, you may have already realized how dangerous generalizations can be. You may have a bigger relationship with a digital agency, in that case they’d know your business better, for example. Depending on your research needs, PR agencies may be ill equipped to deal with segmentation analysis. I’m digressing…
To his 4 reasons PR agencies are taking over social media, I’d like to list 4 reasons PR agencies are failing in social media:
(1.) PR is having a hard time letting go of the pitchWhen we accept that PR agencies do relationship building, we’re making one ginormous assumption — that the process of reaching out to mainstream media, which they do based upon reach and numbers, is the exact same with bloggers.
How do they know your blog is worth reaching out to on behalf of their client? By and large because it’s listed on a top bloggers list. They know nothing about your readers, how could they if they have taken no time to interact with them in the comments to your posts? Or reading enough of them in the first place.
I’ve been thinking a lot about the advice many of us have given PR pros about pitching story angles — know the subject matter the blogger likes to cover, read their blog, etc. While this is still valid, I’m thinking that there is one fundamental disconnect we have probably not communicated well enough or with enough clarity — the best kind of pitch is not a pitch at all, it’s a conversation.
How many agencies take the time to be truly helpful to the bloggers they’d consider in their clients’ sweet spot? I still see a ton of canned emails and the most annoying follow ups that read like their clients are entitled to coverage.
Case in point: a blogger who finds your pitch offensive, or tactless, decides to post it with their take on how you could have just spent more time getting to know them and their readers. What then?
(2.) PR is having a hard time learning the client’s businessSocial media is very content intensive. It’s also about learning about how to write content for the digital medium. It’s not about making introductions anymore. It’s about learning the business deeply enough to be able to generate content with or in some cases on behalf of the client.
The model is shifting, there are fewer mainstream media outlets and thousands of online properties without enough editors/writers or with editors who won’t get on the phone with a subject matter expert because they have no time. And the time lines are getting ridiculously short.
Knowing your client’s business will help you shorten time lines, or answer questions on the fly when a blogger replies they’re interested. And more and more, you may need to step in to help clients shape their own publications.
Case in point: the client is interested in you leading their social media efforts and all you can do is ask to get on painfully long phone calls with their subject matter experts to gather information so you can write posts. How do you handle ghost writing questions when you hit publish? How do you handle writing for digital media?
(3.) PR is still having a hard time with measurementWith a few rare exceptions, like the work KD Paine has been doing for decades, PR agencies have still not gotten their act together when it comes to measurement. Yes, they may be better at monitoring and listening, and now probably sentiment analysis.
They still need to learn to move away from impressions, and into how to correlate social ecosystems, influence analysis, and digital media to business results. I’m not talking about leads, PR is not designed to generate leads, you have lead generation for that. However, you may make connections. Connections are good.
Does your PR agency know how to put the public back in PR measurement? Do they report beyond exposure to engagement, influence on perceptions and attitudes, action resulted from the social media effort?
Case in point: check you reports and do let me know if you get those other metrics. I’d be thrilled to add an update to this post if we identify a trend here.
(4.) PR is still stuck with media while publics go underserved
By treating bloggers like media outlets, PR agencies are still failing to see beyond the media relations part of their charter. For many, it’s probably also a case of educating clients on the value of building relationships with all stakeholders or resetting the expectation they helped create.
Today, many of those publics are direct customers for the client business. An enterprising agency would find a way to work with data bases and cross reference stakeholders with bloggers, influencers, and people who use social media.
Social media tends to have them all in one stream, without differentiation. Sothe best data base wins. Have PR agencies learned how to build efficient data bases? Being human and getting creative also get attention beyond media. Something PR agencies are still learning about themselves.
Case in point: ask any PR professional if they do this and they’ll say that of course they do. To that, I say bullocks. They will support an internal visionary who does.
***
The biggest reason of course, is that I believe social media should be handled in house and not by any one agency. Sure, they can get you set up and started, help with training, support measurement and the creation of other assets to share and provide through social media.
These fours are the main reason why no agencies will ever supplant an internal team. They can augment and support it. Replace it? Forget about it.
[image courtesy of Phil h]
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