News too Strange to Pass Up

My first response to this article was pretty basic. It was just a great big HUH? You mean it didn't used to be legal to capture raindrops in Colorado? Hmm. To read more, click the link below.

http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/40142

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US House of Representatives Passes Huge Climate Change Bill

In a vote that was close, the U.S. House of Representatives passed huge climate change legislation at the end of last week. This is a first major step towards a serious climate change focus for the United States. It will still have to clear the Senate and then Congress. Rep. Ed Markey of Massachusetts (one of the bill's co-sponsors), claims that it is "the most important energy and environmental legislation in the history of our country. It sets a new course for our country, one that steers us away from foreign oil and towards a path of clean American energy."

http://www.care2.com/causes/global-warming/blog/climate-change-legislation-passed-by-the-us-house-of-representatives/

The Sierra Club offers you an easy way to find out how your representative voted so you can give them feedback. It just takes a minute of your time and it allows your voice to be heard too. I got to say thank you to my representative, Jay Inslee.


http://action.sierraclub.org/site/VoteCenter?page=voteInfo&voteId=9605

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Gay Pride in Seattle Today

The Gay Pride Parade is happening in Seattle today. This is the 35th annual gay pride parade for Seattle, but we are celebrating the 40th anniversary since the Stonewall Riots in June 1969 in Greenwich Village in New York City. For more information on the background history of the Stonewall Riots, which is considered the official trigger of the modern gay rights movement, though of course much was happening in this arena long before Stonewall. Stonewall was a watershed moment, but truthfully not the beginning of the movement by any stretch.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stonewall_riots

http://lesbianlife.about.com/od/lesbiansinhistory/a/Stonewall.htm

http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/gay-rights-movement-40-years-since-stonewall-riots-20090626-cziv.html

For more info on Seattle Gay Pride celebration, click on this link:
http://www.seattlepride.org/

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Suggestions for Summertime Siestas

I've always felt that if you have trouble sleeping, you should take lessons from a cat. No being knows how to sleep quite like a feline. Following are some illustrations of good sleep positions and places from Jasper of Norwich, England. The photos were taken by his mum, Catherine Moore (also of Norwich, England), because, well, Jasper doesn't have opposable thumbs, so he can't really work that camera all that well, though he is a fabulous model.


Jasper starts out his napping routine indoors when it's a little chilly for outdoor sleeping.


Here is one of Jasper's favorite places to sleep outdoors for times when the grass might be a little damp still.


Next Jasper summons us to his really favorite sleeping spot and position. He's waiting for you to join him. Are you coming or not?


Jasper wants to know what you think of his little how to get a good nap advice, but maybe you should wait until he wakes up from his nap.

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Accent on Accents

Today's blog link is sheer entertainment. Hope you enjoy. I got a big kick out of it. I've always loved playing around with accents and do a number of them rather well. I can't wait to hear what I sound like after spending two weeks in England. I pick up accents rather easily.

http://gimundo.com/videos/view/21-accents-in-2-and-a-half-minutes/

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Marbled Murrelet Gets a Break (Again)

In 1992, the marbled murrelet, whose habitat includes California, Oregon, and Washington, was placed on the Endangered Species List. In 2004, under the Bush administration, this listing was disputed, based on the claim that it was no different from the species found in Canada. A new review has indicated that this species continues in decline and that it is different from its Canadian neighbor, so it has been determined that it still requires protection.

http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/news/center/articles/2009/oregonian-06-17-2009.html

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Smart Victory Garden Idea for Small Spaces

Nearly everyone can grow some veggies for themselves and their families. No matter how tight your available garden space, most people, with a little creative and ingenuity, could lower their grocery bills, while also teaching important values to your kids. Check out this story for more information:
http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/40114

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Judges Take a Closer Look at Southern California's Endangered Species

When a judge ruled that federal agencies had run roughshod over the Endangered Species Act, environmental organizations rejoiced. The ruling was directed to California's national forests, particularly Los Padres National Forest, which is home to the most endangered or threatened species of all four of the Southern California national forests. The ruling strengthens the role of our national forests in helping endangered species not only to survive but also to stage a recovery. For more on this, click on the link below:

http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/news/center/articles/2009/ventura-county-star-06-10-2009.html


Click below for more information on the Center for Biological Diversity, one of the many agencies involved in bringing this lawsuit against federal agencies:
http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/
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Hawaiian Monk Seals to Get Added Protection

The endangered Hawaiian monk seals will now receive broader habitat protection. To read more about this expansion of protection, click on the link below.

http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/news/center/articles/2009/honolulu-advertiser-06-12-2009.html

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Celebrate in Two Directions

Happy Pappy's Day to all you fathers out there! If you haven't already done it yet, go call your father and wish him a happy happy day. If you have, well, go learn more about the history of Father's Day, I direct you to the following link:
http://www.holidays.net/father/story.htm

And a great big Happy Summer Solstice to everyone, since we can all get behind the advent of summer. I'd love to start getting some summer vacation photos in from around the world please. Send questions and/or photos/stories to: allgoodnewsalldaylong@gmail.com. Thanks in advance. This is your chance to show off your shutterbug skills. We're looking more for scenery than shots of people that we don't know. No, not celebrities on vacation either. We're looking for roving reporters/photographers to WOW us with cool shots of astounding vistas and natural settings. Camping trips, cruises, whatever. Send us cool stuff and we'll give you, well, credit, a pat on the back, and a little publicity.

Have a cause you'd like to promote? Send info our way for that too. We are always willing to get behind a good cause. Following is a link to information of the summer solstice:
http://www.chiff.com/a/summer-solstice.htm

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Clouds in My Coffee

Not everyone lives somewhere with mountain or water views, but pretty much everyone has clouds. Go out and discover the clouds in your neighborhood.








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British Innovation

No, I didn't say "British Invasion." We don't have a new wave of great British music coming your way (at least not in this article). The link below is about a British grocery shop using innovative ways to power its business.

http://gimundo.com/news/article/british-grocery-store-uses-kinetic-parking-lots-for-power/

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A Very Happy Ending for One Seattle Area Reading Teacher

Click on the link to read about a Seattle-area middle school reading teacher who recently lost his job in a controversial budget cut. Of the 160 teachers who were cut in the face of a huge budget shortfall, he has just learned that he is also one of the nearly 60 teachers who are being called back to work. Read more about his silent protest and the wonderful work he has been doing helping middle school children become readers.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nicolebrodeur/2009357212_brodeur19m.html

Thanks again to Nicole Brodeur of the Seattle Times for bringing her readers up to date on this story.

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8-Year-Old Little League Superstar Has Only One Leg

Ever whine about how challenging your physical ailments are? If so, then you need to read the article found at the other end of the link below. It is the story of an eight-year-old boy who lost a leg to cancer when he was a year old. Now he plays baseball, football, and soccer, sometimes hopping around on his one leg, other times using crutches. Moral of the story: You can let your setbacks defeat you or you can use them to propel you towards greatness.

http://gimundo.com/news/article/adam-bender-the-child-baseball-star-with-one-leg/

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U.S. Carbon Emissions Down

There is an upside to increased gasoline prices and a challenging economy. People in the United States are consuming less energy and therefore emitting less pollution for the first time in more than 25 years. Carbon emissions in U.S. fell last year following decrease in energy use. The 2.8% decrease last year is the steepest since 1982.

http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/39954

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Major League Baseball Greens Its Act too

Check out how Major League Baseball is greening the way it does things.

http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/40067

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Really Green Cars

Forget LOW emissions. How about NO emissions? Check out this amazing car in Japan. It's made by Mitsubishi.

http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/40061

Here's an article on more fuel efficient/low emission hybrids.

http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/40060http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/40060

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Flowering in Florida

The following flower photos (say that phrase three times fast) are from Norma Mitchum in Winter Park, Florida. I could have made that worse and said, "the following flower photos from Florida," but I wouldn't do that to you on a Sunday morning, or whatever time of day it is where and while you're reading this. Anyway, we have jetted off to Florida in search of new material. Well, okay, so I'm really still sitting in my little house on Puget Sound, but my not so roving reporter (a.k.a., my mom) sent these to me to include updated coverage from her garden.


Cynthia Rose


Red Rose


Petunias


Hibiscus


Blooming cactus (only blooms at NIGHT!)


Close up of cactus flower blooming

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Wildlife Weekend

The following photos are courtesy of Flo Harrah in Burnaby, BC, near Vancouver. If you recall, Flo had a skunk who'd moved into her yard. We published photos of a skunk drinking from a bowl in her yard several weeks ago. Now mama skunk has four baby skunks, all hanging out in Flo's yard.




From an email from Flo, we get the story on the flicker photos below.

"While sitting in the yard with camera ready waiting for the kittens, a woodpecker (flicker) dropped in. It paid no attention to me likely less than 15 feet away from each other. Busy working that long beak of his or hers, digging for grubs or something. All of a sudden another flicker landed beside the first one. Appeared to do a mating dance."




I personally like the fact that the markings on the one flicker's chest looks remarkably like a heart in this last shot. Mating dance indeed. Love is taking flight, methinks.



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"Good" News Keeps Growing

Want to give back in some way to your community but don't know how? Try the All for Good website. It's a "Craigslist for Service," and the Craig of Craigslist is helping to work on the site. To learn more about this up and coming community service site, check out the article below:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/all-for-good-a-new-craigs_b_208407.html

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Victory in Seattle Neighborhood Gardens

This is a story that started, much like a lot of great ideas, with a thought and a seed. Read Nicole Brodeur's article in the Seattle Times about neighborhood gardens that are building community, filling food banks, and teaching people the wonders of growing a garden. See if you can start something like this in your community, if there isn't one already.

Thank you once again, Nicole, for a thoughtful and upbeat article about the astonishing power of neighbors helping neighbors. Ultimately in this global village of ours, we are all neighbors, are we not?

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nicolebrodeur/2009330268_brodeur12m.html

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90-Year-Old Woman Receives High School Diploma

Okay, I absolutely cannot resist this feel good story from Gimundo.com about the 90-year-old woman who finally has received her high school diploma after having had to drop out of high school to get a job during the Great Depression. It doesn't get much sweeter than this.

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A Shared Tail in Two Cities

Two families, two cities, one cat. Read this amazing story of a feline and his connection to two families not in one, but in two cities.

http://www.angelscribe.com/tnt_032609.html

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Germany Says NO! to GMO

Germany rejects Monsanto Co.'s bid to introduce their genetically modified corn to the German market. France, Austria, Hungary, Greece and Luxembourg have already forbidden use of this product in their countries.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601100&sid=av4rNrT4teKM

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Laughing Your Health Up

Laughter really is the best medicine, and there's no co-pay or lasting side effects. There are some minor side effects, literally pertaining to your sides. Since you are working your stomach muscles when you laugh, too much laughing can cause sore tummy muscles. I should know. I laugh a whole lot and am well acquainted with the stitch in my side syndrome.

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/8-health-benefits-of-laughter.html

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More Flowers for Your Weekend Enjoyment

These are the flowers I meant to publish yesterday. They are all from my yard, and there is one that I'm clueless as to its name. I must confess that I am an accidental gardener at best. I inherited these fabulous flower gardens when I moved into this house. The beds were all overgrown, so I weeded them a bit, but not too seriously because I didn't know what all might show up. I'm glad I was conservative until I figured out which were weeds and which were beauties simply awaiting their time of the year to shine.

I was pleasantly surprised the first spring and summer I was here. This second spring has revealed a few more flowers I didn't see last year. I don't weed as much as I could, but it's because I don't want to pull out something beautiful in my ignorance of what it looks like in its dormant stage. I am out there watching what grows into something beautiful and what isn't so beautiful, taking mental notes. I regularly ooh and ah over these gardens I didn't create, but were obviously planted and tended originally by a master gardener. Now I just need to work on getting the roses what they need to get the varmints away from their leaves.


No clue what this called. Feel free to send me a comment or email if you know.


My Calla Lillies took a hit this past winter with the major freezes we had. This year's crop was up and ready to go when we got another big freeze that really got to them. They came up anyway, but there were fewer this year and some didn't look so hot at first.


This beauty was hanging low, so you get a shot of my hand holding it up while I'm taking a photo with the other hand.


This is a miniature yellow rose, which seems determined to survive against all odds out there.


Another rose from the same plant as the colorful one above. Have no clue what kind of rose. Just enjoying their pretty variegated colors.

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Flowers, Flowers Everywhere!

I meant to post half of these yesterday, so I guess you'll get a double dose today to make up for it. These flowers are from my Canadian friend, Flo Harrah, near Vancouver, B.C. If you don't see flowers from your part of the world at this blog, it's because you haven't sent any. Send us some good recent photos from your yard and we'll let you know if we can use them. You'll get photo credit for it and your name and flowers in All Good New All Day Long. It's easy. Email: allgoodnewsalldaylong@gmail.com.

The following photos are from Flo Harrah, near Vancouver, B.C.


I suspect that we all recognize the lovely red rose, but what a stunning red it is. Nice shot, Flo, and nice roses!


Beautiful shot of a clematis bloom.


Ah, honeysuckle. Pretty colors too.


Amazingly beautiful three-toned peony.

Thank you, Flo, for sharing your garden and excellent photographs with us.

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Green Churches

We started the week with green beer and a green night life and continued on to greening our bodies with wheat grass juice. So we might as well end the week greening our places of worship. This weekend we'll have photos showing off how green our yards and gardens are getting with the advent of summer, since we've already had summer-like weather this past week in the Pacific Northwest. So, here ya go. From the Sierra Club, tips on greening your congregations:

http://www.sierraclub.org/wecandoit/community/green-congregation.asp

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Your Insides Can Go Green Too!

Here's an article you can read about greening the inside of your body with wheat grass juice. It's amazing all the benefits your body can receive just by consuming wheat grass in its raw form. How would you like for your gray/grey hair to go back to its natural color without dyes? Yeah, thought that would get your attention. Read on and go green your innards.

http://www.hippocratesinst.org/Wheatgrass/Benefits-of-Wheatgrass.aspx

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Green Beer in Your Nightlife

When you're out clubbing, go for the beer on tap. It's way greener than bottled. Yes, today is green beer day, I guess.

http://sierraclub.typepad.com/greenlife/2008/07/quiet-drafts.html

This green beer IS for St. Patrick's Day, so you may have to wait a while for that to come around again.


http://sierraclub.typepad.com/greenlife/2008/03/green-beer-for.html

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Green Beer Without St. Patrick's Day

Although this article references March Madness, the information about the greenest beers is still timely, even if the sports calendar and references are not. If Coca-Cola can make a greener soda, why not go for greener beer too?

http://sierraclub.typepad.com/greenlife/2009/03/its-march-madness-slamdunk-snacks-and-sips.html

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Seattle: The City with a Heart for the Homeless

It's no surprise to anyone who knows me that I'm a big fan of Seattle and the Pacific Northwest in general. An article in yesterday's Seattle Times gave me one more reason to be glad to call this area home. Danny Westneat wrote an interesting and informative article about the plight of the homeless in Seattle, and how it is much more homeless-friendly than other large cities.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/dannywestneat/2009282089_danny31.html

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