Britney's Panties Found
March 29th 2009 14:24
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It's time to green this old (White) House - again
March 29th 2009 14:02
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama will find out two things as he studies how to make the White House more environmentally friendly:
No. 1: It's already been done.
No. 2: It needs to be done again.
It was Earth Day 1993 when President Bill Clinton launched his ambitious "greening the White House" project. That effort saved more than $1.4 million in its first six years, largely from improvements in lighting, heating, air conditioning, insulation, water sprinklers and other measures.
During George W. Bush's two terms, workers installed three solar systems, including a thermal setup on the pool cabana that heats water for the pool and showers, and photovoltaic panels atop a maintenance shed that supplement the mansion's electrical supply. Bush also made a big push to recycle office paper, although the overall go-green effort lost momentum during his tenure, according to many outside observers.
Obama promised before he took office that he wanted to sit down with White House staff to evaluate what can be done to conserve energy in a 132-room behemoth of a mansion/office that leaves an EEE-sized carbon footprint.
"Part of what I want to do is to show the American people that it's not that hard," Obama said in a television interview during the transition. He said he's one of those people who tiptoes around and turns off lights at night. "I'm not going to be obsessive about it. But I do that in my current house. So there's no reason why I wouldn't do it in my next one."
The family already is taking action to set an eco-example for the nation. First lady Michelle Obama recently broke ground for an organic herb and vegetable garden on the South Lawn. The Obamas have installed an environmentally friendly wooden swing set for their children on the White House grounds. Cushioning underfoot is made from recycled rubber tires.
Obama isn't ready to give details of his broader go-green plans for the White House, but administration officials report that small steps are under way: The housekeeping staff is making the switch to greener cleaning supplies, and complex managers have asked engineers and groundskeepers to use greener products whenever possible. Efforts are afoot to improve and promote recycling.
As for what more can be done, outside experts on green buildings report that the administration is seeking out information about what's feasible. Given the priority Obama placed on renewable energy in his economic stimulus package and budget, environmentalists are chattering about what further steps he will take at the White House.
"They're very focused on leading by example," said Rick Fedrizzi, chief executive of the nonprofit U.S. Green Building Council, which has offered advice to the White House. "It's great to see that they're focused on solid solutions and not just throwing sound bites over the fence every day."
Sometimes, good intentions have gotten ahead of the technology in eco-efforts at the White House.
In the late 1970s, President Jimmy Carter installed a $30,000 solar water-heating system designed to save $1,000 a year in heating costs. It didn't really work.
"Talk to anyone who worked in the West Wing then, and they would say they washed their hands with cool water," said former chief usher Gary Walters, who spent 37 years at the White House before retiring two years ago.
Those who've been involved in past efforts to make the White House more eco-friendly say that for all that's already been done, there is plenty left to do, given how quickly technology changes.
"It's definitely time to revisit it," said Bill Browning, who helped launch the Clinton-era greening effort in 1993. "The green building movement has evolved quite a bit since then."
Browning, founder of the Terrapin Bright Green consulting firm, said the staff members who manage the White House and its grounds — employees who carry over from one administration to the next — have been "the real champions of greening the White House. They made it their project during the Clinton years and kept it going during the last administration."
For all the enthusiasm about going green, though, there are practical limits. Last year House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., announced a "Green the Capitol" program to zero out the Capitol's carbon impact by December 2008. But this month, the House quietly shelved the project because it couldn't guarantee that Capitol operations were carbon neutral even after purchasing "offsets" that finance projects to reduce greenhouse gases.
The White House historically has been a showcase for technological advances. In the 1880s, it was one of the first houses in the nation to have running water. In the early 1900s, it got an early air conditioning system (that ultimately didn't work.)
Walters said both the Clintons and George and Laura Bush were surprised by what already had been done to conserve energy when they moved into the White House.
"We tried to do more than the average bear," he said, adding that the first lady's garden grew herbs during both administrations, and that limited container gardening was done on the mansion's roof to supply the White House with tomatoes, peppers and other vegetables.
Architect Jean Carroon, an expert on green strategies for historic buildings, said the White House isn't the "energy hog" that people might think. Older buildings often have thick masonry walls that provide good insulation and big windows that let in lots of daylight, she said.
Carroon said it's important for the White House to demonstrate simple conservation steps that all families can take.
"It isn't about the flashy stuff," she said. "It's about being smart and making it happen. ... The message to most citizens should be: You don't have to be in the White House to implement amazing energy savings."
Steve Strong, whose Solar Design Associates designed and installed the solar systems during the second Bush administration, said he'd love to see the Obamas kick the effort up a notch by installing a solar array on the South Lawn.
"That would be a compelling national and international symbol," he said.
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Storms sow snow, thunder from Plains to South
March 29th 2009 14:00
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Storms spread misery Saturday from the Great Plains to the Gulf Coast, dumping spring snow that cut power to thousands of Kansas utility customers and spawning tornado warnings and heavy rain across the South.
Two deaths were reported in Kansas as a spring blizzard buried parts of the state in ice, slush and up to two feet of snow. A 72-year-old man shoveling snow died of a heart attack Saturday while waiting for an ambulance slowed by impassable roads in Arlington, in central Kansas, authorities told The Hutchinson News. On Friday, a 58-year-old woman was killed in a car accident on icy roadways in Marion County.
The system also prompted a disaster declaration in Kansas and was blamed for two traffic deaths in Oklahoma.
The National Weather Service warned eastern Iowa about a narrow band of snow that will be particularly nasty, with forecast accumulation of 4 to 6 inches.
Mixed in with the heavy snow could be thunder and lightning, a phenomenon called thundersnow, which typically produces heavy snow over a brief period.
"Snow, and lots of it," was Kyle Obert's laconic assessment of the weather conditions in Iowa City. Obert, 23, a clerk at a Casey's General Store north of downtown, said snow began piling up at about 4 p.m. on Saturday.
Bands of spring storms also lashed the Southeast with thunderstorms, baseball-sized hail, flash floods and tornado watches and warnings. The region was still reeling from twisters over the past two days. On Thursday, nearly 30 people were hurt when a tornado destroyed dozens of homes and businesses across south-central Mississippi. On Friday, tornadoes struck Louisiana, Alabama and North Carolina, damaging homes and toppling trees.
Strong winds Saturday damaged roofs and windows and sent debris flying in Murfreesboro, Tenn., the state emergency management agency said. Three people were injured and treated at the scene.
Severe thunderstorms tore off roofs and downed trees and power lines in Corydon in western Kentucky.
About 100 roads in southern Mississippi were impassable at the height of the bad weather because of flooding, including the main route into Biloxi, Harrison County Emergency Management Director Rupert Lacy said. Some residents had to be rescued from stalled cars in flood waters.
More than 200 homes in the Biloxi area sustained flood damage and two roads sustained major pavement washouts, Lacy said.
"We have springtime storms," Lacy said. "But this is a very unusual springtime storm."
People were evacuated from about a dozen homes in Geneva County in southeast Alabama because of flooding, said Margaret Mixon, the county's emergency management director.
Up to 17 inches had fallen over three days in isolated areas in Alabama and Mississippi, said National Weather Service meteorologist Kirk Caceras.
In Missouri, Kansas City International Airport was closed for more than two hours Saturday because of a mix of freezing rain and snow. Officials said they briefly closed the airport to departing and arriving flights because maintenance crews couldn't keep up with waves of freezing rain and snow and conditions were too slick for aircraft to operate safely.
The storm also dumped as much as two feet of snow on parts of Oklahoma. It was blamed for two deadly accidents in central Oklahoma and dozens of other collisions in northwest Oklahoma, including one that left a truck driver critically injured.
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Associated Press Writer Nigel Duara in Des Moines, Iowa, contributed to this story.
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Obama team debuts at UN climate talks
March 29th 2009 13:59
BONN, Germany – President Barack Obama's climate change team made their international debut Sunday at a major U.N. conference — and delegates were eager to find out whether Obama could translate his aggressive domestic agenda into a worldwide deal to fight global warming
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Hey batter, wake up!
March 24th 2009 09:38
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The chemistry of sleeplessness
March 24th 2009 09:37
When the school year starts, it can be tough to switch from lazy summer mornings to the blaring buzz of an alarm clock. After a few early mornings, extreme fatigue might make you feel like you’re going to fall over. The amazing thing is that you probably manage to stay awake all day long and into the night. But how?
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Greener Diet
March 24th 2009 09:35
By the time a hamburger finally lands on a dinner plate, it has taken a heavy toll on the environment. According to Swedish scientist Ulf Sonesson, the process of making a one half-pound all-beef burger adds the equivalent (made up of other greenhouse gases) of about 19 times that hamburger’s weight in carbon dioxide
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Math is a real brain bender
March 24th 2009 09:32
Practicing arithmetic may cause the brain to restructure its processes, helping kids move from rough estimates to symbolic, precise math at older ages
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Double take
March 24th 2009 09:29
Identical twins form when a fertilized embryo splits into two embryos early in development. These twins get the same genes from their parents, but such siblings aren't the same people.
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Sugar-pill medicine
March 24th 2009 09:26
Fake medicine, such as a pill filled with sugar, can sometimes make the people taking it feel better
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