daily launchpad

nbcnews: Weary Sandy survivors hunker down for storm: Like a...

ubsasquatchfest — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 15:40:38 -0800

Weary Sandy survivors hunker down for storm: Like a repeat ‘nightmare’

(Photo: John Makely / NBC News)

NEW YORK — As millions of Americans braced for a winter storm bearing down on the Northeast on Friday, people still recovering from Hurricane Sandy stood in line at gas stations to buy fuel and stocked up on wood for the fireplace. It was, one man lamented, “like a nightmare of Sandy all over.”

Read the complete story.

“There are lots of asteroids that we’re watching...

ubsasquatchfest — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 15:29:46 -0800

“There are lots of asteroids that we’re watching that we haven’t yet ruled out an Earth impact, but all of them have an impact probability that is very, very low,” Don Yeomans, manager of the Near-Earth Object Program Office at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said at a press briefing.

(via So, about that asteroid near Earth … - CNN.com)

(via The Pioneer | Catharsis On and Off the Stage: Tyler Schuh...

ubsasquatchfest — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 12:47:59 -0800

(via The Pioneer | Catharsis On and Off the Stage: Tyler Schuh Talks About the One Act Play Festival)

(via Um, What’s This Weird Hunk of Metal We Just Found on...

ubsasquatchfest — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 14:59:19 -0800

(via Um, What’s This Weird Hunk of Metal We Just Found on Mars? - Megan Garber - The Atlantic)

latimes: Letters to Newtown:A new project from Ross MacDonald...

ubsasquatchfest — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 10:28:28 -0800

latimes:

Letters to Newtown:A new project from Ross MacDonald and Mother Jones, Letters to Newtown is collecting cards and letters sent to those affected by the town’s deadly school shooting.

Heartbreaking and likely to bring a tear to your eye, the blog is nonetheless an important reminder of the tragedy that took place just a few short months ago at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

Follow Letters to Newtown here.

nbcnews: 100 days after Hurricane Sandy, the Jersey Shore...

ubsasquatchfest — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 10:16:09 -0800

nbcnews:

100 days after Hurricane Sandy, the Jersey Shore slowly recovers

(Photo: Andrew Mills / The Star-Ledger)

LEFT: The Atlantic Ocean has breached the Ocean County barrier island in three places in the borough of Mantoloking, and created a new inlet at the base of the Mantoloking Bridge. RIGHT: This is what the Mantoloking Bridge looks like 100 days later.

See more photos.

(via Countdown to asteroid flyby: Watch as experts discuss the...

ubsasquatchfest — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 09:31:58 -0800

(via Countdown to asteroid flyby: Watch as experts discuss the flyby | Hero Complex – movies, comics, pop culture – Los Angeles Times)

sugar-factory: From the brilliant series “Where Children...

ubsasquatchfest — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 14:08:22 -0800

sugar-factory:

From the brilliant series “Where Children Sleep” by James Mollison.

Top to bottom: China, New York, Senegal, Tokyo

It’s hardly “next door” (as a press release...

ubsasquatchfest — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 14:05:20 -0800

It’s hardly “next door” (as a press release touting the announcement put it), in any traditional sense: 13 light-years is something like 76 trillion miles away. But across the vast distances of the Milky Way, said Harvard astronomer Courtney Dressing, 13 light-years amounts to “a stroll in the park.”

(via Scientists: Earth-like planet could be just 13 light-years away - latimes.com)

oneminutenews: The Pew Hispanic Center released a map that...

ubsasquatchfest — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 12:22:07 -0800

oneminutenews:

The Pew Hispanic Center released a map that estimates the number of illegal immigrants, state-by-state in America. The map uses data collected in 2011: http://bit.ly/VShBHG

Salton Sea Revisited 5m Envelope (by Xárene)

ubsasquatchfest — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 12:21:01 -0800

Salton Sea Revisited 5m Envelope (by Xárene)

(via Pianist Daniil Trifonov: Disappearing Into Chopin :...

ubsasquatchfest — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 12:18:54 -0800

(via Pianist Daniil Trifonov: Disappearing Into Chopin : NPR)

Amazing, intense, scary photos. theatlantic: In Focus: Intense...

ubsasquatchfest — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 16:02:21 -0800

Amazing, intense, scary photos.

theatlantic:

In Focus: Intense Battle Scenes From Damascus

Reuters photographer Goran Tomasevic returned to Syria earlier this month, where he has been traveling the war-torn streets of Damascus with the Free Syrian Army. His past 24 hours were especially harrowing, as he accompanied an FSA group on an attack mission. Tomasevic captured the scene as one rebel was shot and killed in front of him by a government sniper. Just an hour later, he managed to keep taking photos as a tank shell slammed into a wall just above him and a group of fighters, sending chunks of plaster and concrete onto their heads. These images bring home with power and immediacy the frightening reality of Syria’s urban warfare — this all happened just yesterday — but they offer just a few glimpses of this long, bloody uprising.

Read more. [Images: Goran Tomasevic]

Exactly where did you go for...

ubsasquatchfest — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 16:00:36 -0800

Exactly where did you go for lunch?

theatlantic:

businessweek:

Burger King Will Start DNA Testing for Horse Meat

Just to be clear: Burger King says there is no horse meat in its burgers. And just to make sure, Burger King tells Bloomberg Businessweek, it plans to test its beef patties for foreign DNA, including horse, pork, and lamb.

Read more at Bloomberg Businessweek

Yuck.

life: January 31, 1919: Jackie Robinson is born. For most of...

ubsasquatchfest — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 15:59:42 -0800

life:

January 31, 1919: Jackie Robinson is born.

For most of Jackie Robinson’s long journey, from 1947 Rookie of the Year to prematurely aged Dodgers veteran (his major league career lasted only 10 years), LIFE magazine was there, chronicling his baseball triumphs — including Brooklyn’s only World Series title, in 1955 — and his life and achievements away from the diamond. See more photos of Jackie here.

(J.R. Eyerman—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images)

"7-Eleven, 1603 E. Alder Street. Report of counterfeit bills: two, $50 bills and one $20..."

ubsasquatchfest — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 15:57:40 -0800

“

7-Eleven, 1603 E. Alder Street. Report of counterfeit bills: two, $50 bills and one $20 bill.

Hobson Street, Wednesday. An ordnance inspector reported he was “chased and threatened” while investigating a “junk” complaint.

”

- File this under “Miscellaneous”

Emergency services - 1/31/13 | Walla Walla Union-Bulletin

“The market, a beloved community institution located off...

ubsasquatchfest — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 14:25:56 -0800

“The market, a beloved community institution located off Main Street across from City Hall, could permanently move to a location on the Walla Walla fairgrounds if a current proposal by board member Jayne Foster is enacted. However, last year’s board members are pushing for retaining its typical location on 4th and Main.”

(via The Pioneer | Whitman news since 1896. » Walla Walla Farmers Market Seeks Two Different Locations)

Marijuana research: Is the limit for stoned-while-driving too high? - seattlepi.com

ubsasquatchfest — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 09:39:39 -0800

Marijuana research: Is the limit for stoned-while-driving too high? - seattlepi.com:

“The level of 5 nanograms per mil is pretty high,” Huestis said. “We know that people are impaired at lower levels than 5, but the balancing act is trying to find a number that can reliably separate (the impaired from the not-impaired), which is almost impossible to do.”

"Wargames as they’re most commonly known date back to Prussia in the 1800s. The first published rules..."

ubsasquatchfest — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 15:55:02 -0800

“Wargames as they’re most commonly known date back to Prussia in the 1800s. The first published rules designed purely for entertainment was “Little Wars,” written by H.G. Wells…”

-

D-PADS & DICE: Memoir ’44 board game refights WWII | Walla Walla Union-Bulletin

"400 block of Whitman Street. Police arrested a 22-year-old man on investigation of vehicle prowling..."

ubsasquatchfest — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 15:47:59 -0800

“400 block of Whitman Street. Police arrested a 22-year-old man on investigation of vehicle prowling three vehicles; roughly $3 in loose change was reportedly stolen.”

- File this under “Miscellaneous”

Emergency services - 1/29/13 | Walla Walla Union-Bulletin