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The Politics of the Planet Once again, nature has a better solution than resorting to man-made chemicals. [NPR] It is the one year anniversary of the BP Oil Spill. A reminder of what happened through pictures of the spill and the aftermath. [Yahoo News] Why cities are “greener” than you may think, and how our tax law discourages city living. [Freakanomics] A healthful and environmentally friendly meal may be closer than you think. [NPR] Want to play doctor? The New York Times’ Wellness blog gives readers the chance to solve a real-life medical mystery. [New York Times] IMS Health’s annual report on U.S. prescription spending reveals that in 2010, the top 10 most popular medications were generics for the first time. [Time Healthland] Those tiresome pop-up ads for the acai berry will finally be off our computer screens, thanks to FTC intervention. [Huffington Post] Feeling down? Blame it on the pollen… it could be linked to your seasonal allergies. [CNN] Now get that mood back up with a funny YouTube video. This ticklish penguin at the Cincinnati Zoo is quickly becoming an Internet sensation: [YouTube] The RP recently looked at changes in American attitudes towards interracial and intercultural marriages and asked, “Will the idea of gay marriage being illegal in most parts of the U.S. seem absolutely unbelievable in 50 years? Yes.” According to this poll, a majority of Americans think it’s unbelievable now. [CNN] In fact, one church in Louisville, Kentucky, has taken the matter into their own hands, refusing to sign heterosexual marriage licenses until “same-sex couples are afforded equal marriage rights.” As a Louisvillian and a neighbor of the Douglas Boulevard Christian Church, your correspondent says, “bravo.” [ThinkProgress] Gay marriage, of course, also means gay divorce. With another royal wedding coming up, the RP advises against anyone performing their nuptials at Westminster Abbey. The odds are clearly against you. [Robot Celeb] And in the end, love is real, real is love—no matter who you love and who loves you. Celebrate it. [Love] Jimmie Johnson In this week’s NASCAR Power Rankings Jimmie Johnson takes the top spot away from Carl Edwards after winning the Sprint Cup race at Talladega this weekend. [ESPN] Ed Hinton writes that if you didn’t like the Talladega race this weekend, then NASCAR just isn’t for you. [ESPN] Amazingly, Junior is not the most mentioned name during race telecasts. Any guess on who is? [Yahoo! Sports] Ferrarri is worth a lot of money. Have you ever wondered how much? The Italian auto-maker was recently valued at around $7.3 billion. [AutoBlog] Lastly, check out the British stunt driver that completes a 360° loop in a Fiat 500. [AutoBlog]
How does a liberal doctor, beekeeper and naturalist become the force behind an anti-immigration movement that includes members who refer to the President of the United States as “the undocumented worker” in the White House? A fascinating glimpse into the world of anti-immigrant groups and “the most influential unknown man in America.” [New York Times] And as with most things in life, the topic of immigration is not black and white—not even in immigrant communities. [Pew Hispanic Center] Last week, The RP reported on the difficulty of quantifying the number of people that cross the U.S.-Mexico border each year. One thing is for sure: the number of arrests by border patrol agents have dropped by two-thirds over the last decade. The result? An epidemic of boredom among officers. [Los Angeles Times] Boycott or engagement? Arizona’s anti-immigration legislation has left a dearth of live concerts available to music loving Arizonans—and plenty of critics on both sides. [Salon] On a lighter note (and sticking with music), The RP has been looking for an opportunity to post this for a while. A band at the height of their powers, prowess and fame. Ahh, the 70s. [Immigrant Song]
Be sure to stop at McDonald’s before you go. That’s right, the Queen is only serving canapes at the royal wedding. [New York Times] Who needs Hillary or Kissinger as diplomats, when you have Pauly D, Snooki and the Situation? Season 4 of Jersey Shore goes international. America’s finest hour of diplomacy is at hand. [TMZ] Because his first show wasn’t funny enough as it was, Glenn Beck now wants to make his own version of the Daily Show. [LA Times] And then there was one: Charlie Sheen temporarily loses one of his goddesses. Insert your best “Winning!” joke here. [TMZ]
I humbly present to you: a small penguin being tickled. [Tumblr] When given the choice of joining the Dark Side or battling Darth Vader a young girl decides where her allegiance lies. [YouTube] Net worth in America – funny or depressing? You be the judge. [comic] Worst anti-drug ad ever? Probably. [image] Tracy Morgan breaks down social media [image (Twitter)] Something you can’t recover from? Being born with a regrettable last name. Poor Sister Schmuck! [The Atlantic] The group you wouldn’t believe was hit hardest by the recession: college-educated white males. [Newsweek] See terrifying footage of the tornadoes and storms that ripped across the U.S. over the weekend. [New York Times] What’s more important, saving the nation’s budget or saving the nation’s gray wolf population? Last week, Congress had to choose. [Time] One year after the BP Oil Spill, New Orleans continues to suffer. [BBC] The Tampa Bay Rays were not supposed to compete this year, after dumping most of their payroll last year. They really weren’t supposed to compete after it was announced that Evan Longoria was injured. They really, really weren’t once Manny Ramirez retired. However, here we are, almost a month into the season, and the Rays are in second place in the AL East. And Evan Longoria might be coming back soon. [mlb.com] Tim “The Freak” Lincecum took a no-hitter into the 7th inning last night against the owners of the best record in the National League–the Colorado Rockies. The Rockies finished with four hits and one run. Which is seven runs less than the Giant’s eight. That’s a weird way of saying that the Giants won last night, 8-1, over the Rockies. [ESPN] The AL Central is the division most up for grabs in baseball, in my opinion. If the White Sox want to compete for the pennant, they will need Jake Peavy. Unfortunately, he only managed to throw 15 pitches in his first rehab outing. [Chicago Trib] The RP has come out against Barry Bonds going to jail. He now knows who to complain to about Bond’s conviction (the names of the jurors has been released) [Canadian Press] Reds pitcher Mike Leake has been arrested on charges of shoplifting shirts for Macy’s. Since this is a website about civility and being nice to people, and this is a story about a Reds player doing something incredibly stupid, I will just leave you with that. [ESPN] Major League Baseball has one of the most draconian policies on the entire internet when it comes to hosting videos. No site on the entire web is allowed to host a video of an MLB highlight, and MLB is very vigilant about ensuring these videos stay safe and sound at mlb.com. This angers baseball and sports bloggers everywhere–and they weren’t about to take that sitting down. Deadspin has decided to enlist the help of its readers to get reenactments of the previous night’s highlights as performed by youth baseball teams. The response was overwhelming, and now Deadspin has released a contest where they have asked youth baseball teams to reenact major events in MLB history. [Original Challenge] [Historical Challenge][Challenge Accepted]  The Politics of Film You may have noticed that the time it takes between the release of a film in theaters and that film’s home release has gotten considerably shorter over the past few years. Studios want to cut that down even further. Theaters, on the other hand, don’t want that at all. [The Movie Blog] Jesse Eisenberg, who was widely acclaimed for his performance in The Social Network, is teaming up with Ellen Page (from Juno and Inception) in Woody Allen’s next film. I am pretty excited about that. [Movie Line] Nicolas Cage is in some hot water. He was arrested on charges of Public Intoxication, Disorderly Conduct, and it has been alleged that he physically abused his wife. Lets hope that Nic gets on track soon. And lets hope he makes better movies, too. [Chicago Sun-Times] George Clooney is no stranger to controversial films. His next film could be about the Troubled Assets Relief Program, entitled the 700 Billion Dollar Man. He might even direct. [Film Junk] It’s been known for a while that Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer will partner to make another adaptation of The Lone Ranger with Johnny Depp playing the role of Tonto. However, things are looking like Ryan Gosling might play the starring role. Ladies, keep it together. [/Film] Catherine Zeta-Jones has drawn praise for disclosing that she received treatment for bipolar disease. Mental illnesses are no joke, and its pretty sad that sometimes popular culture puts celebrities who suffer from them through the ringer. Here is hoping she gets everything straightened out. [The Guardian] I do a radio show every week. If you happen to live in the Lexington, KY area, you should tune in to 88.1 WRFL every Monday at 10 to listen to it. Everybody else should go to our podcast and download it. Seriously, it doesn’t suck. [Surreelfilm] |
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