Tag Archives: catastrophe

Stephen Amell and Jared Padalecki: Shirtless for a Good Cause!

Stephen Amell and Jared Padalecki are shirtless in the following photograph. But they didn’t strip partially down on Facebook merely to make female followers everywhere drool and ogle. While vacationing in Lake Austin, Texas over the weekend, the close friends and fellow CW stars decided to pose on a dock in half their birthday suits in order to bring attention to an important cause. No, not their abdominal muscles. “Stay Sunday Strong,” Amell wrote online along with a link to his Padalecki’s charity T-shirt campaign. “My buddy Jared Padalecki wants you to Always Keep Fighting.”  Padalecki has been very open and honest about his struggle with anxiety and depression for years now. In response to this illness, the Supernatural stud created T-shirts to help benefit To Write Love on Her Arms, an organization that supports people struggling with similar mental health issues. “To a degree there is certainly a taboo attached to it still,” Padalecki has told E! News. “There’s still a large portion of the population who just want to say, ‘Buck up. Put on a happy face and everything goes away.’ For some people, that works.” But for others? “For those of us who aren’t so blessed, the message ‘Always Keep Fighting’ is for us,” he says. “Generation by generation, we’re slowly stripping away that taboo, that strange dynamic of, ‘Oh, there must be a problem with you if you feel this way.” Amell, meanwhile, will return to your small screen when Arrow Season 4 kicks off this October; while Padalecki will do the same when Supernatural Season 11 premieres the same month.

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Stephen Amell and Jared Padalecki: Shirtless for a Good Cause!

Daddy Dave Survives Horrific Street Racing Crash (NSFW Video)

Catastrophe was narrowly avoided at the racetrack on Saturday night, August 1. In a frightening video making its way around the Internet, we see Daddy Dave (from “Street Outlaws) lose control of his nitrous-fed Chevy II during an event at the Amarillo Dragway in Texas. Just seconds after the starting gun sounds, Daddy Dave loses control and his car strikes the wall, partially bursting into flames and flipping six times. The racer was taken away by ambulance and later listed in stable condition. Fortunately, however, wife Cassi Comstock took to Facebook on Sunday afternoon and wrote that her husband has a “serious concussion, a bruised lung and plenty of bumps and bruises.” But he thanks fans for their support and is expected to make a full recovery. Pretty crazy/amazing when you see what happened to put Daddy Dave in the hospital:

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Daddy Dave Survives Horrific Street Racing Crash (NSFW Video)

Roger Waters and Eddie Vedder: "Comfortably Numb" at Sandy Relief Concert

In an awesomely unexpected duet, Roger Waters and Eddie Vedder performed “Comfortably Numb” at the 12-12-12 Concert For Sandy Relief last night. Pink Floyd’s former frontman welcomed the Pearl Jam rocker for a rendition of Rogers’ 1979 hit, one of many from his band’s iconic double album The Wall . Watch their crowd-pleasing performance below: Roger Waters-Eddie Vedder 12-12-12 Concert Performance Performances from New York-New Jersey area heavy hitters Billy Joel , Bruce Springsteen and Bon Jovi helped raise $30 million from ticket sales alone. That’s before the marathon concert’s telethon raised countless millions more, a wonderful and necessary feat as the region recovers from Hurricane Sandy. In her surprise appearance last night, Kristen Stewart informed us that New Jersey alone sustained $37 billion in damage from the late October storm. Rogers and Vedder weren’t the only surprise duet of the evening. Coldplay’s Chris Martin and REM’s Michael Stipe joined forces on “Losing My Religion.” Oh, and Paul McCartney stood in for Kurt Cobain for a Nirvana reunion of sorts, joining surviving members Dave Grohl and Krist Novocelic on stage. Unreal.

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Roger Waters and Eddie Vedder: "Comfortably Numb" at Sandy Relief Concert

NASA Apocalypse Video: Told Ya So, Mayans!

NASA’s so-called “Apocalypse Video” has been released a week in advance of next Friday’s end of the world as we know it – December 21, 2012. The agency wants you do know the famous Mayan apocalypse prediction is not going to happen. In fact, it’s not even a real prediction they made! NASA Apocalypse Video 2012 NASA’s video, titled “The World Didn’t End Yesterday,” was originally supposed to be released December 22, but made its way online this week. The four-minute clip explains how the idea of the Mayan apocalypse is a hoax, and that 12/21/12 is just the end of their calendar … before the next one. Time reports that the space agency has been besieged with questions from citizens worried that their lives are about to end over the last few months. NASA is taking the fears seriously, not because there is any danger, but because irrational fears can sometimes lead to irrational and dangerous actions. Its official site features an area dedicated to debunking the claims. “The world will not end in 2012,” NASA writes in its 2012 section . “Our planet has been getting along just fine for more than 4 billion years, and credible scientists worldwide know of no threat associated with 2012.” NASA experts go on to explain the origins of the hoax. “The story started with claims that Nibiru, a supposed planet discovered by the Sumerians, is headed toward Earth,” an expert explains to us. “This catastrophe was initially predicted for May 2003, but when nothing happened the doomsday date was moved forward to December 2012.” “It was linked to the end of one of the cycles in the ancient Mayan calendar at the winter solstice in 201s, hence the predicted doomsday date of Dec. 21, 2012.” Nibiru, by the way, is not a real planet. If it were, NASA says the agency “would have been tracking it for at least the past decade, and it would certainly be visible by now to the naked eye.” Long story short: The world isn’t going to end. You still have to finish your holiday shopping and show up at your mother-in-law’s house on Christmas. Sorry. Numerologists say the 12-12-12 date was pretty cool though. What do you think? Is NASA just turning a blind eye to the inevitable fire and brimstone to come in eight days? Will the world end as predicted?   Yes No Unclear View Poll »

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NASA Apocalypse Video: Told Ya So, Mayans!

Jesus Take The Wheel: Huge Earthquake In New Zealand Kills At Least 65 [PICS]

R.I.P to those who lost their lives. From the looks of the pictures this catastrophe is going to take a very long time to sort out, take a look after the jump. Ironic that something so devilish happened to a city called Christchurch. WELLINGTON, New Zealand — A 6.3-magnitude earthquake rocked the southern New Zealand city of Christchurch Tuesday, killing dozens, collapsing buildings and cracking streets. Prime Minister John Key said at least 65 had died as a result of the disaster and told reporters that the death toll was expected to rise further. “It is a just a scene of utter devastation,” he added. Television footage showed streets strewn with bricks and shattered concrete. Sidewalks and roads were cracked and split, and hundreds of dazed, screaming and crying residents wandered as sirens blared throughout the city. Bodies were being pulled from rubble, others lay in the streets. Water mains burst, causing extensive flooding. New Zealand’s 3 News television station said that by 10:30 p.m. Tuesday local time (4:30 a.m. ET) that there were reports of at least 125 people being rescued. However, it added that Mayor Bob Parker estimated that more than 100 people were still trapped at six different locations with possibly more in individual homes. Parker said earlier that he had been “thrown quite a distance” by the quake. The TV station said the 33rd aftershock hit at 10:18 p.m. local time (4:18 a.m. ET). It was the second quake to hit the city in five months, and New Zealand’s deadliest natural disaster for 80 years. In 1931, a quake in the North Island city of Napier killed 256 people. “We may well be witnessing New Zealand’s darkest day…The death toll I have at the moment is 65 and that may rise,” Key told local TV. “It’s hard to describe. What was a vibrant city a few hours ago has been brought to its knees.”

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Jesus Take The Wheel: Huge Earthquake In New Zealand Kills At Least 65 [PICS]

The Economist Looks At Vertical Farming and Asks: Does It Stack Up?

Oliver Foster’s Vertical Farm The Economist does a good summary of the strengths and weaknesses of vertical farming . They note that “The necessary technology already exists. The glasshouse industry has more than a century’s experience of growing crops indoors in large quantities”, and that “The technology of hydroponics allows almost any kind of plant to be grown in nutrient-rich water, from root crops like radishes and potatoes to fruit such as melons and even cereals like maize.” But does it make sens… Read the full story on TreeHugger

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The Economist Looks At Vertical Farming and Asks: Does It Stack Up?

Official Emission Reduction Calculations Only Give 50-50 Chance of Avoiding Climate Catastrophe

photo: IRRI Images / Creative Commons With COP16 just ended and some hope of multilateral action on climate revived a new report from Friends of the Earth highlights an important point in all these discussions: Current official calculations on emission reductions only give us a 50% chance of keeping temperature rise below 2°C. That’s not what nations have pledged to do mind you, which certainly won’t keep temperature rise below that critical thr… Read the full story on TreeHugger

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Official Emission Reduction Calculations Only Give 50-50 Chance of Avoiding Climate Catastrophe

"Millions of Barrels of Oil Safely Reach Port in Major Environmental Catastrophe": Onion

Disaster strikes as massive quantities of oil reach their intended destination. The Onion Yes, the Onion, America’s finest news source, is consistently hilarious. But even it is rarely this biting, this trenchant — and this right on. Check out its lead story today , about the massive disaster that occurred when a huge oil tanker didn ‘t crash, and instead brought millions of barrels of oil ashore to be refi… Read the full story on TreeHugger

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"Millions of Barrels of Oil Safely Reach Port in Major Environmental Catastrophe": Onion

BP: Cap on gushing well removed, oil flows freely

Robotic submarines removed the cap from the gushing well in the Gulf of Mexico on Saturday, beginning a period of at least two days when oil will flow freely into the sea. It's the first step in placing a tighter dome that is supposed to funnel more oil to collection ships on the surface a mile above. If all goes according to plan, the tandem of the tighter cap and the surface ships could keep all the oil from polluting the fragile Gulf as soon as Monday. BP spokesman Mark Proegler said the old cap was removed at 12:37 p.m. CDT on Saturday. “Over the next four to seven days, depending on how things go, we should get that sealing cap on. That's our plan,” said Kent Wells, a BP senior vice president. It would be only a temporary solution to the catastrophe unleashed by a drilling rig explosion nearly 12 weeks ago. It won't plug the busted well and it remains uncertain that it will succeed. The oil is flowing mostly unabated into the water for about 48 hours — long enough for as much as 5 million gallons to gush out — until the new cap is installed. The hope for a permanent solution remains with two relief wells intended to plug it completely far beneath the seafloor. Engineers now begin removing a bolted flange below the dome. The flange has to be taken off so another piece of equipment called a flange spool can go over the drill pipe, where the sealing cap will be connected. The work could spill over into Sunday, Wells said, depending on how hard it is to pull off the flange. BP has a backup plan in case that doesn't work: A piece of machinery will pry the top and the bottom of the flange apart. On Friday, National Incident Commander Thad Allen had said the cap could be in place by Monday. That's still possible, given the timeline BP submitted to the federal government, but officials say it could take up to a week of tests before it's clear whether the new cap is working. The cap now in use was installed June 4, but because it had to be fitted over a jagged cut in the well pipe, it allows some crude to escape. The new cap — dubbed “Top Hat Number 10” — follows 80 days of failures to contain or plug the leak. added by: JanforGore

Voluntary Carbon Market Value Slashed in Half by 2009 Recession

photo: Eric Schmuttenmaer via flickr We know that the Great Recession of 2008 & 2009 helped many nations slash their carbon emissions and lower deforestation rates–decidedly good things–but it also slashed in half the value of the voluntary carbon market , a new report by Ecosystem Marketplace shows…. Read the full story on TreeHugger

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Voluntary Carbon Market Value Slashed in Half by 2009 Recession