Some Sunday Worship

in

You may have seen this little guy recently: A rare albino seal pup with ginger-colored fur was abandoned by the colony in Tyuleniy Island, Russia. He was hiding beneath logs when the photographer spotted him. “The poor seal is almost blind and so was unlikely to survive in the wild,” said the photographer, who was with staff from a dolphinarium who took it into their care. (source)

I could melt where I stand.

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Smoggy Skies With A Chance of Suffocation

in

Obama’s ratings sink to new lows

I know, I know; Jobs. It's about jobs.

I know I'm being silly... I'm just wondering what's going to happen when we can't breathe.

I'm thinking that might make work rather difficult.

If you haven't already done so, please tell Barack that he should quit blowing smog:

Through the Environmental Defense Action Fund: Tell President Obama You Are Disappointed with His Decision to Withdraw Science-Based Health Standards for Smog

And through the Sierra Club: Tell Obama to Protect Clean Air

Related post: Big, Scary, Mean Smoke Monster

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Bee Good

in

Since 2006, the American bee population has plummeted from 4.5 million honey-producing hives to a scant 860,000. Worse, that number is still dropping. Rampant pesticide use is a major cause of bee deaths. In 2011, the EPA found that the use of neonicotinoid pesticides is both widespread and catastrophic to bee populations. Neonicotinoids are on average 7,000 times more toxic than DDT, which was banned in 1972.

Despite this, the EPA has not banned the manufacture or use of neonicotinoids, choosing instead to put the products "under review" for the next five years.

Conservation biologists report that when the bees begin to die off, their surrounding environments are sure to follow. Tell the EPA to halt the production of deadly neonicotinoids now.

Everyone's acting like we have time.

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Shitting on Heaven

in

You may have seen the below pics of a dude snorkeling near a Whale Shark off Mexico. I hate how fucking stupid the writer was saying, "A diver is almost swallowed by a giant whale shark!" No, he wasn't, asshole. They eat plankton. That thing didn't want to swallow him just as much as he didn't want to be swallowed. Like that's just a giant vacuum cleaner. We act like other creatures are so fucking stupid that they don't know what they're doing. So far, the only ones I've seen that don't know what they're doing is us.

So, besides the retarded captions that went along with these incredible pics, the photos in and of themselves are beautiful. And the captions should've been deleted. But, then again, we wouldn't have found out how stupid that writer was.

Uh oh! Be careful, assholes... He has NO IDEA you're even there. He's probably going to swallow all y'all and yer all gonna come flyin' out his hole.

Seeing how literally unbelievable this creature is... (After all, it's not computer generated. It's actually A-L-I-V-E.) It reminds me that no matter how hard we try, we will NEVER match what nature, the universe, creation and evolution, whatever you want to call it, and whatever "IT" is, we will NEVER create something as magnificent and truly miraculous as where we actually live.

We LIVE here, bishes. Among gods and goddesses of all sorts and shapes and colors and sizes... We're alloted a short amount of time, to live in a paradise. It really is all around us. Every day. Every single day.

And I really wish we'd start acting like it.

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Get involved. How you live matters.

*** URGENT: Help Stop Mother of All Anti-Environmental Bills!

*** Stop the Extinction Rider in Its Tracks! The terrible Interior Appropriations Bill is headed to the floor of the House of Representatives. Among many other anti-conservation provisions, the Extinction Rider contained in this bill would prevent new protections under the Endangered Species Act for animals at risk of extinction.

(source of photos)

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Some Sunday Worship

in

Umm... Besides this being excruciatingly cute, I hadn't ever heard of an "Okapi"... Had you?? That sounds like something a Bulgarian baby would do in their pants. Or a baby Irish policeman. But, I don't think babies are allowed to serve on Ireland's police force. I heard that they're unpredictable and will shoot without provocation.

*** Okapi

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Terje Sorgjerd (And The Planet We Live On) is a Total Badass

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The Arctic Light from TSO Photography on Vimeo.

This was filmed between April 29th and May 10th 2011 in the Arctic, on the archipelago Lofoten in Norway. (source)

Thank you, Terje! It's brilliant. And inspiring. And just plain beautiful... I'm pretty sure it blew my man panties off. Or as my friend Randy refers to them (NO SNICKERING FROM YOU BRITS! Alright, you can snicker...), my "manties". So, yeah... It blew my manties off. Thanks for that, Terje.

Oh. And dude? My brain kind of backfires when I try to say your name out loud. So, if it's alright with you, I'm just going to call you "Terry Soldier" and after I have a few drinks (or five), I bet it comes out right. Deal? Cool. Sorry, bro, it's the best I can do right now.

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REALLY Appreciating the "Giant Double Rainbow" (And I Mean REALLY)

in

I am... DYING. And if I were to be completely honest with you (as though I'm ever not...), my bitter ass was slightly disappointed at the lack of carnage. I was quietly hoping for lightning to strike him, but no...

This guy is hysterical. Literally. And now that I think of it, I'll have what he's having. (Mushrooms?)

But again, to be completely honest, I hope that I can be more like this guy. Not the sobbing part... But the... His... enthusiasm... His appreciation. TRUE appreciation... His... Oohh, F it. The sobbing too. Bring it on. I'd like to be more like him... It's better than where I'm currently at.

So, we have our dashing correspondent in D.C. to thank for this contribution... Thank you, Dickie!!

xoxoxo

oh my god... oh my god... OH MY GOD... I JUST DID A TRIPLE "XOXOXO". A TRIPLE ONE!!! OH MY GOD... right there. not 30 words ago I wrote a TRIPLE "xoxoxo"

oh my god... I DID IT AGAIN!!!!

*sob, sob, sob*

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For Earth Day, Educate Yourself, Be Informed, and ACT (and don't be "Stupid")

in

So, shortly after Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" came out, there wasn't much debate. People on both sides of the fence embraced the dire need for conservation. We listened to "scientists" back then. Our "carbon footprint" was all over the mainstream news. Liberals and conservatives alike agreed that we needed to do something and fast. And MOST of the world still believes this. Conservatives in other countries still understand the necessity for action in limiting our pollution.

But here in the States, the spin machine, at the hands of such greedy, short-sighted, narrow-minded shits as the "koch brothers" (among others), have POLLUTED many Americans' minds with the notion that global warming, climate change, (MASS POLLUTION) is nothing to worry about. That the economy is more important than literally the air we breathe and the water we drink.

Rather than taking their immense profits and investing in green energy, which would benefit them as well as everyone else, they've chosen to invest it into propaganda. Propaganda that benefits their financial standing.

BLIND GREED.

And history will not be kind to these assholes. Unfortunately, innocent life (people and all species alike) will suffer their ignorance.

I know I don't really have to explain this to you. And of course, I've talked about this Big, Scary, Mean Smoke Monster before. I'm well aware that the average reader here at "Herculaneum" is informed, educated and bright. I know that I'm preaching to the choir. But, I thought I'd rant a bit (as I do...). So, thank you for letting me. I'll explode if I don't. And that will just add more pollution. Until I decompose... And then, I'll just be food for the soil... You know what... Never mind.

Well, today is Earth Day, as I'm sure you well know. And in the event you aren't aware of some of these films worth watching, I thought I'd pass along their trailers to you.

Fresh water is NOT a commodity. It's a fundamental right for all life.

This one is kind of shaky and the quality is... lacking, but it's hysterical. And frighteningly possible.

And then this one, is pure brilliance...

Utter brilliance. If you haven't seen it, prepare to be humbled by Mother Nature.

So obviously, there's a lot you can do. But, one of the biggest impacts you can have is just cutting your meat consumption. Just by reducing your intake of beef and/or pork, you greatly diminish your carbon footprint. It's not really that good for you anyway. More fruits, nuts and vegetables, bishes...

The earth AND your heart will thank you.

"Yeah, bishes... Quit fuckin' my shit up. Yo... And dang... I think I gots somepin' in my eye... Like,... Southern China... That shit hurts."

(That's suppose to be "Earth" reading us.)

And don't forget to enjoy our home...

It's pretty special.

*** In honor of Earth Day, speak up and out to STOP FRACKING NOW. "Fracking" is DEVASTATING to our environment. Get educated. Get involved. Silence is compliance. *************************************

Capabilities (And Timothy Allen is a Total Badass)

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Timothy Allen's Portfolio

And you must trust me on this... It's undoubtedly the most brilliant slide show I've ever seen (Sorry, I can't embed it for you, otherwise I would): Audio slideshow: Human Planet (And I would suggest watching it with "Show Captions" - it's worth it.)

We humans... We're a part of such a beautiful cast of characters on this crazy blue marble whirling through space. We're all threads woven in some massive, exuberant tapestry. And we're capable of such incredible things...

We should really start acting like it.

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NOVA, PBS and Animals Are Total Badasses. (period)

in

Watch the full episode. See more NOVA scienceNOW.

Humility would serve humanity well.

(I fricking LOVE this video. Thank you for this contribution, Deb.)

*** Can we please leave something "civil" in our "civilization"? Or shall we just privatize everything until it's the Middle Ages again and we live in serfdom... The behavior of wanting to strip away social responsibility, an investment into our culture, into our people - their well being, their education, this country's very future, is simply medieval.

Please sign if you're so inclined: "Congress must protect NPR and PBS and guarantee them permanent funding, free from political meddling."

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Some Sunday Morning Worship

in

And the highest rated comment from this video:

"Brings to mind a conversation w/my mom the other day. She said she wished she'd given birth to me earlier than she did. I had to tell her that had she gotten pregnant earlier than she did with me that the child she would have given birth to would NOT have been me. That child may have been still been a girl (or not), but it would have been from a different egg and sperm. I am only one of over 64,000 possible births of my parents. Amazing."

"A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty."

~ Albert Einstein

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