Moments of Awareness

We listen to music and talk to people. Watch on cable channel 11 in the Boise area or on-line at  TVCTVOnline.org . Watch previous shows  here , and check out the backgrounds  here . Join us here at  MOA's Posterous group  for discussion throughout the week. :) Tonight it's all Egypt, all the time! :) Posted via email from Moments of Awareness

Posted via email from Moments of Awareness

The effort to remove the giant rolls from the Lochsa River is on hold until unseasonably high flows subside. John Cardwell of the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality at Lewiston said the toilet paper is neither toxic nor a danger to the environment. “It could be considered to be biodegradable, but that is not exactly what we would like to have happen,” he said. “We are treating it like any other deleterious material, or litter, if you will, and we have water-quality standards that restrict disposal of litter in the state’s waters.” A tractor-trailer carrying unprocessed toilet paper from the Clearwater Paper mill in Lewiston crashed July 15 on U.S. 12 and spilled eight of the massive rolls into the upper reaches of the wild and scenic river near Powell. A recovery crew from Miles Towing of Kooskia removed two of the rolls earlier this week. Because the saturated rolls fell apart during the removal, the effort was halted. [...] Full...

BOISE, Idaho — At least three states are vowing to ignore the latest requirements under the No Child Left Behind law in an act of defiance against the federal government that demonstrates their growing frustration over an education program they say sets unrealistic benchmarks for schools. The law sets a goal of having 100 percent of students proficient in math and reading by 2014, but states were allowed to establish how much schools must improve each year. Many states saved the biggest leaps for the final years, anticipating the law would be changed. But it hasn't, and states like Idaho, Montana and South Dakota are fed up. They are preparing to reject the latest requirements for determining school progress under the 9-year-old law - even if the move toward noncompliance may put them at risk of losing some federal funding. Idaho will no longer raise the benchmarks that public schools have to meet under No Child Left Behind, nor will it punish the schools that do not...

It’s  baking in New York City , with temperatures hitting over 100 degrees ( feels like 105 with the humidity ), and  excessive heat warnings  are telling people to avoid strenuous activity outside. Over 10,000 people have checked in to “ Heatpocalypse” on FourSquare . On these blazing summer days you should be thinking about everything your utility is doing to prepare for the Heatpocalypse and also taking note of just how important it is for utilities to invest in smart-grid technology. Your utility actually spends years getting ready for days like this. When scorching heat sends people indoors to ratchet up their air conditioners, the demand for power spikes and constrains the grid in many regions. The grid needs to operate in a constant balance of supply and demand, so when demand zooms way up, utilities have a few stop gap measures to meet that load. One way utilities meet these peaks, is by using on-demand generators. For example, PJM, a r...

MARGIE RUDDICK, a designer known for her elegant ecological landscapes, got a summons from the City of Philadelphia last year, citing her East Mount Airy yard as being in violation of the property maintenance code. “For weeds over 10 inches,” said Ms. Ruddick, 54, standing beside her favorite pokeweed a few weeks ago. By August, it will be laden with purple berries, poisonous to humans but a favorite of the birds. About a year after she stopped mowing the lawn here in 2005, black cherry seedlings showed up in the tall grasses and wild asters. In the next few years, oaks, mulberry and rose of sharon moved in. “There wasn’t a lot of order or maintenance, and it did look a little unkempt,” said her neighbor John Siemiarowski, who lives across the street. But “the worst of it now is that we can’t see the Komodo dragon anymore.” That life-size wooden sculpture, which Ms. Ruddick brought back from Bali, is now hidden behind a coppi...

It's on right now at Cable One Channel 11 (southern Idaho, eastern Oregon) and  http://bit.ly/9Y1PGm . Check it out! :) Posted via email from Moments of Awareness

@ low-fi will be partyin' at The Knitting Factory tonight for the release of their new CD 'After All This Time', accompanied by Muffalo , 57 Heavy , Actual Depiction , and Antique Scream . It's an all ages show (fun family Friday night), and only $6.00 per ticket! You'll be glad you went. :) Posted via email from Moments of Awareness

From: Jane Houlihan, EWG Date: Thu, Jul 21, 2011 at 4:08 PM Want to shrink your children's risk of obesity, cancer and heart disease? It's simple! Just ease back on the number of times you feed them red meat... and reduce or totally cut out processed meats. Dr. Harvey Karp Creator, The Happiest Baby on the Block Dear Friend, What's for dinner? It's a question I hear a lot from my kids. When we sit down to dinner, I want to know that -- no matter what we're eating -- the food on our table is healthy for them and for the environment. I want you and your family to feel just as good about the food on your dinner tables. That's why we created the Meat Eater's Guide to Climate Change + Health -- so you'll have key information to help you make smart choices about food. Click here to check out EWG's easy-to-use shopper's guide. As I read the final report, I was reminded that our daily decisions about the food we ...

FIEND signed on FiveByFive Records. 21 july 2011. FIEND signed a contract with Canadian fast growing metal label FiveByFive Records. "Fivebyfive Records would like to give Fiend a big welcome to the Fivebyfive family. With the addition of Fiend to the roster we will be releasing their newest release "Before My Eyes..." to a huge selection of digital stores for you the fans to purchase. Also in the near future you will be able to hear them on radio stations worldwide." Sincerely, Marty DePietro Fivebyfive Records Physical inquiries can be sent to: 1812 str 8 2 24, Moscow, Russia, Moscow, 121170, RU Powered by FanReach Pro Posted via email from Moments of Awareness

SINCE the Supreme Court’s 2003 decision in Lawrence v. Texas, Americans have enjoyed unprecedented freedom in their lifestyles and private relationships. The decision held that states could no longer use the criminal code for social engineering, dictating the most intimate decisions of citizens in their choice of partners and relations. But even as states have abandoned laws criminalizing homosexual and adulterous relations, they have continued to prosecute one group of consenting adults: polygamists. Last week in Utah, one such family filed a challenge to the state’s criminal law. That family — a man, Kody Brown, and his four wives and 16 children — is the focus of a reality program on the cable channel TLC called “Sister Wives.” One of the marriages is legal and the others are what the family calls “spiritual.” They are not asking for the state to recognize their marriages. They are simply asking for the state to leave them alone...

MOSCOW — The slow but steady gain of beer over vodka as the drink of choice among Russians suffered a setback on Wednesday when President Dmitri A. Medvedev signed a law restricting beer sales outdoors and late at night. In the last decade, as Russians’ incomes have risen, brewers have earned remarkable profits despite the rising taxes on beer. The new law could particularly harm the Carlsberg Group of Denmark, the leading beer seller in Russia with about 40 [...] Full article at  nytimes.com   Posted via email from Moments of Awareness

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will host a public meeting in Eagle Wednesday to talk about its proposed Eagle Island ecosystem restoration project. Eagle Island is the area between the south and north channels of the Boise River, after it splits west of Glenwood Street in Garden City. It extends downstream past Eagle to where the channels rejoin near Linder Road. Eagle Island State Park sits on its western end. The corps has studied the area on and off since 2002 to see if a project to return the eastern section of Eagle Island to a more natural, self-sustaining state might be possible. The focus of the project, if it happens, would be fish and wildlife, said Ellen Berggren, Corps project manager. But a key side benefit would be improving the area’s ability to function as a healthy floodplain. Eagle Island is vulnerable to high water. In the spring of 2006, high runoff flooded portions of the island. [...] ~~~~~~~~~ Anna Webb: 377-6431 Full article at...

Four Thieves Vinegar can cure the plague, at least, that’s what French folklore teaches us. And while I can’t comment on the veracity of this statement (and, no, it hasn’t been approved by the Food & Drug Administration), I will say that in every little garden whether it’s an expansive lot on a farmstead, a 10-foot by 10-foot plot in your community garden or a nook of potted herbs on your balcony, harbors powerful medicine in its own right. And when I venture out to my plot in the community garden or trim the kitchen herbs in terra cotta pots and plastic tubs on my porch, I know that this medicine is good enough for me. Four Thieves Vinegar, a folkloric elixir thought to protect against black death, finds its way to my kitchen in the summer time when fresh herbs from the garden are plentiful. Four Thieves Vinegar is the stuff of legends and of kitchen magic – a beautiful combination of rosemary, sage, mint and raw vinegar that combines for a v...

Boise City Council Tuesday evening unanimously approved more than a dozen new fees designed to recover the cost of at-fault conduct that result in emergency fire/rescue responses and services provided by the Boise Fire Department. The city will continue to provide emergency services to anyone who needs them, but in an effort to control costs, it will attempt to recover emergency response costs due to negligent, intentional or alcohol/drug-related acts. For example, if some chooses to float the Boise River when it is unsafe, running above 6,500 cfs (1,700 cfs is considered safe for floating), and requires rescuing, the city could charge $1,000 for the first three hours of rescue time. Any river rescues that occur when the river is running at a safer level, below 6,500 cfs, would not be charged for the rescue service. Repeated false alarms due to faulty alarm systems or failure to properly operate an alarm system could also rack up a charge because it wastes emergency respo...

A sign commemorates 40 victims killed by a man-eating lion in the Rufiji District of Tanzania in 2005. CREDIT: Jonathan Packer View full size image The full moon is supposed to be the time when werewolves roam, but a new study finds that there's more to fear from large, nocturnal predators in the days after the moon is at its brightest. African lions are more likely to attack and kill humans in the days right after the full moon, according to the study, published today (July 20) in the journal  PloS ONE . The danger comes because lions struggle to catch prey — which see the predators coming — during the bright nights when the moon is full. In the 10 days after the full moon, however, the waning moon doesn't rise until after sunset. Anyone still outside when darkness falls is easy picking for the extra-hungry cats. "The number of attacks on people in the evening hours skyrockets for the first five days after the full moon," study ...

Today on CNN.com, comedian Dean Obeidallah wrote a fascinating piece with a premise that I’m still struggling with: Are social media creating the laziest generation? My gut reaction is to give an emphatic yes, followed by, “and get off my lawn you kids!” But I don’t think Obeidallah is giving people enough credit: We are the reality-show generation. Instead of doing, we watch: We watch people sing, dance with B-level stars, fist pump, pawn stuff, pick a husband/wife, get extreme makeovers to their homes and faces, be ‘real’ housewives, keep up, lose weight, go to rehab, get fired, survive. Reality programming is at a unique crossroads at this point, I think. Who is the “we” Obeidallah references, I wonder? Game shows and sports were being televised not long after Philo Farnsworth invented TV technology. But when I think of Reality Shows as they are recognized today, I look to MTV. [...]   Full article at ...

Written and read by Cecily Kuehl Shank Posted via email from Moments of Awareness