The NFL is Completely Full of It; And Here's Why

The Ray Rice domestic abuse scandal has reached is highest point as of yesterday, when video evidence from Revel Casino in Atlantic City was released showing the events that occurred in the elevator, the night that Ray Rice struck his then fiancée (now wife), Janay Palmer. The video is graphic, and it is a very grotesque event to have occurred. Having said that, I think that we've addressed how much of a terrible person Ray Rice is, and how messed up the entire process has been surrounding the event. However, it's now time to fix our eyes on to the NFL itself, and find out who it was that turned a blind eye to this by considering a 2-game suspension of Ray Rice as appropriate. Keith Olbermann laid the entire issue out very poignantly in his segment on his show Olbermann, where he accuses the NFL of turning a blind eye and trying to sweep their involvement in this situation under the rug. And he's absolutely right in doing so.

Let's look at the facts and fill in the gaps with common sense. The NFL had to have seen/looked at the tape. There was no reason to not look at the tape. That's all you really need to come to the conclusion that the NFL is completely full of it by claiming ignorance when it comes to the full extent of the Ray Rice affair.

The NFL League Office and the Baltimore Ravens organization have both publicly denied being privy to the video tape of Rice knocking out his wife out until yesterday morning, and TMZ, the ones who had leaked the tape, have conflicting reports saying the NFL deliberately chose not to see the video tape, but that some NFL security "dudes" did see the tape. Then there's Peter King, the NFL's reporting glory boy, backtracking on his original claim that the NFL did in fact see the tape, covering for the same sources that had screwed him over in the first place when he had approached them about the matter in February. This has been a long and sordid process of making the truth more and more opaque as the days go on, distancing ourselves further away from what occurred in February. There's no way we get solid evidence that Roger Goodell saw the tape with his own eyes before it was leaked to the internet yesterday. Any evidence of that has long been deleted from a league office computer, completely irretrievable, and any reporter that's best in a position to dope out the proper justice that needs to be done here in pointing their fingers in a generally sensible direction won't do so, because they don't want to publicly announce that their sources in the league office have clearly played them - thus putting all previous stories from those sources in doubt. Guilty by association.

We don't need evidence to fill in the gaps though - we have common sense that works just as well in this scenario. Here's all you really need to know:

• Roger Goodell really likes to suspend players to further consolidate power within his office.
• Goodell really likes to make strong statements in the media to increase the PR appeal of his office.
• If you're investigating an incident like this, you're going to want to look at all the evidence associated with the incident - it would only make sense at least somebody at the NFL saw the tape.
• The tape was bound to surface at some point - people had already seen it. Seldom do events like these stay quiet for long in this day and age.
• Legally speaking, nothing good can come from avoiding the tape.
• It doesn't take a rocket scientist to at least take a guess at what was on the tape, given that the other already leaked tape shows Ray Rice dragging an unconscious Janay Palmer out of an elevator.

Roger Goodell is stupid, but he's not that stupid. He had to have seen the tape, because considering the aforementioned factors, the risks of not watching it are too high. They knew what was on the tape, and they heard Janay Palmer testify, and they still thought that two games sounds fair. That logic filtered through Goodell's office to the Baltimore Ravens' office out to the national media. Everything is easily explained if you consider that these are all very stupid, smug men who think alike. And nothing can be done to rectify their mistakes - despite how hard they may try. There was no good reason not to watch that tape. They saw it, and they thought little of it, and now they're praying you don't notice.

Zoos of the Future

Zoos throughout the country have been recently struggling to stay afloat. Some of the most famous zoos in the world such as the Bronx Zoo, Oregon Zoo and the San Diego Zoo have not been generating enough revenue to support their extremely expensive exhibits. Exposes like Blackfish have left people wary about supporting organizations that keep animals confined in small, unnatural habitats. However this does not necessarily mean the end of all zoos, the trend just calls for them to adapt and evolve.

Recently, Danish architecture firm BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group) has released a batch of revolutionary designs and drawings of their latest project, Zootopia. This plan, created especially for the Givskud Zoo in central Denmark, will revamp the 300-acre complex. It will be divided into numerous open range sections for American, Asian and African ecosystems. Visitors will be able to observe the areas from a high perimeter wall or even view the animals by bike, boat, truck or car.

Although the plan has numerous kinks and problems to work out, it is an exciting step in the progression of zoo design. BIG is not the only organization that has been taking steps to reinvent the zoo experience to make it more humane and educational. The Paris Zoo reponed only a few months ago with new large “biozones” over smaller enclosures for individual species.

Another idea is to construct “vertical zoos,” particularly concerning wild birds, which will mean an open tower providing plenty of food, shelter and foliage for migratory passing birds. Visitors would be able to observe the traveling avian wildlife as they pass through.

Webcam zoos, such as the nonprofit explore.org has dozens of cameras set up around the world which film different species in the wild. It would allow viewers to spy on a snowy owl family in its natural habitat than in a tiny aviary at a zoo.

An extremely futuristic approach is to replace biological animals with artificial doppelgangers. Zoos packed with cloned animals are another option planners are considering. The possibilities for these more humane zoos appear endless.

Although the traditional zoos we have come to know have been hit hard, the ideas for zoos of the future are proving to be equally entertaining and enjoyable. They also have the added advantage of removing the guilt that comes with seeing an animal in caged captivity. The possibilities are exciting and endless zoos of the future.

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Backers Want Everyone to Use Bitcoin

Bitcoin investors are eager to get the digital currency into mainstream usage. While we are still far from that reality there have been great strides recently to make the currency more popular. The biggest obstacles towards wider usage have been the public’s perception of the currency as confusing and the fact that many associate it with illegal activities. These concerns are legitimate because the currency is unregulated and anonymous making it a perfect candidate for illegal dealings. Also, the public is concerned with how the currency fluctuates up and down and how the Mt. Gox exchange crashed. Even so, the currency is flourishing and with the help of Bitcoin start-ups and backers the currency is being successfully promoted and supported by many businesses. More and more retailers are becoming pro-Bitcoin, like Overstock.com and TigerDirect who are know accepting Bitcoin payments. Even more encouraging for the future of the digital currency is that Circle recently launched a free Bitcoin consumer-finance company. This is a new move for the currency because it boots out the once dominant method of fee-based Bitcoin consumer services.

The new Circle exchange was created by Circle co-founders Jeremy Allaire and Season Neville. They are doing the most to tackle the public concern of not understand Bitcoin. Their goal in starting the company was to help instill consumer confidence, whichcombats many of the public’s concerns. They use terms that make the currency more accessible. For example, instead of saying buying, selling and exchanging Bitcoins they use more common, banking terms like deposits, withdrawals and storage. They also help with the trust aspect of the currency by giving a free service, providing phone support, military grade encryption, and insurance from theft.

Another fund was established by the Winklevoss twins that allows people to invest in Bitcoin without actually owning any. This kind of exchange is the first of its kind an acts as a trading fund that can be bought and sold on the public markets like a stock or index fund. This allows people to reap the benefits of the Bitcoin exchange without experiencing the risk normally associated with the new currency.

These two new Bitcoin innovations are just the beginning of building trust and helping the public to understand that Bitcoin and other digital currencies are the way of the future. It will take time, but Bitcoin is on its way to becoming mainstream.

Dental Therapist Trying to Fill the Gap

There is an oral health care crisis in many states throughout the U.S. In rural areas many are underserved and therefore develop many oral health issues. There is a lack of dentists and the dentists that are already licensed frequently do not want to move to extremely rural areas where there is the most need. To fill in this need some states have turned to licensing dental therapists. These therapists are similar to physicians’ assistants in the medical field. They go through two years of intensive training and then they are able to do routine check-ups, cleanings, extractions, fillings, and pediatric steel crowns. The states that have already licensing these therapists include Minnesota, Alaska, and Maine. States that are working on the legislation to allow dental therapists include Vermont, New Mexico, and Kansas.

The advantages of licensing dental therapist include servicing the many people who live in rural areas and never get to see a dentist. Those who live in these areas are more likely to develop dental problems because they don’t have regular check-ups and cleanings. Also, if there is a serious dental issue, it usually goes unresolved until it is too late and they end up in the emergency room, rather than having it dealt with earlier by a dental professional. In 2009 the Pew Research Center reported that over 830,000 emergency room visits were due to preventable dental conditions.

Even though dental therapists are filling a great void in the dental care industry, dentists and the American Dental Association are taking a firm stand against states allowing the licensing of dental therapists. They have been lobbying hard against it in every state that the issue comes up. In a statement the ADA said that they do, “not consider the one-size-fits-all mid-level dental provider model to be a viable solution to the diverse set of barriers that impede million from getting dental care.” Although the ADA is trying to protect the dentists that are their members, it has been shown that dental therapists that work for dentists in their private practices actually boost income just like hiring dental hygienists. In reality, the more people that are trained to help others with their dental health needs, the healthier our country will be.

Black Keys Release Turn Blue

The popular rock duo, the Black Keys have introduced their new album, Turn Blue. The pair, Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney have been pretty consistently successful since they started in the 2000s even after other bands of their generations have faded away. The secret to their survival was making it through the financial crisis. When people stopped buying records and sought a totally different sound, the Black Keys were there with something fresh that still reminded listeners of something older that they may have listened to before. They offer a sort of nostalgia with rock beats, some disco elements, sixty stoner haze, but in a contemporary package and new lyrics. In Turn Blue they take the album as an opportunity to dive into themselves and work through their own issues emotionally and musically. Much of the album has the same flavor as far as feel. It is as if you have been transported to the back room of a disco club where everything exists in a haze of smoke perfumed with marijuana.

What makes it contemporary are the feelings and depth that Auerbach has poured into the lyrics. He has been going through some of his own issues and you hear that in the song “Year in Review” he sings “Why you always wanna love the ones who hurt you/ Then break down when they go and deserve you.” Through much of the album there is a very established atmosphere and motifs that often come back in the strings sections without deviating. In fact, the Black Keys, overall, have not been known for deviation. They usually stick to the status quo and stay with what works. Innovation is not their style. That being said, there are a few moments in Turn Blue where they step outside of their comfort zone and explore something new. These moments are the only redeeming parts of the album and they are worth listening to.

Fines for Morgan Stanley Over IPO Rules

Morgan Stanley Wealth Management has been charged $5 million by Finra for violating IPO rules. The financial regulator, found that Morgan Stanley lacked clear policies on how to communicate with customers about their intention to buy shares in initial public stock offerings. This procedural error comes from the company needing to distinguish for customers when they have a firm commitment to buy stock, or just a nonbinding indication of interest. This fine is the third-largest Finra has given out over the past two years. Finra stands as the industry self-regulator for investment brokers and securities firms. They stepped in, in this case to protect the clients, although this charge was not started because of a client’s complaint. Finra representative Mr. Bennett said the issue is whether investors were able to review information before making a decision for themselves. “The blocking and tackling [when selling IPOs] must be done correctly, so that if in the event you have IPOs with disappointed purchaser, that those purchasers made the decision with the benefit of timely and accurate information. The securities laws don’t guarantee you’ll make money, but that you’ll have the information in a timely fashion.” The fine for Morgan Stanley comes down to being transparent with their clients about whether they are buying into a stock, so that the client is aware of what the bias is of the company that they are getting their financial and investment advise from. Most of the confusing in the company’s policy comes from Morgan Stanley merging with Citigroup’s Smith Barney. When these company’s came together no one distinguished and combined the policies and training from each side to inform employees of the important difference between the language “indications of interest” that was used by brokers at Morgan Stanley and “conditional offers” spoken by brokers at Citigroup Smith Barney.

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Xapo Set to Release First Bitcoin Credit Card

Xapo made big news in March of this year, launching an insured, secured repository for high exposure BTC investors. Now, the service is going after the novice or average bitcoin user credit cards that link directly to their Xapo bitcoin wallet.

“Most of our customers keep 90% of their bitcoin in our vault and 10% in their wallet,” said Wences Casares. The addition of card access to these wallets will allow that 10 percent to be instantly transferred to cash.

Users of the Xapo wallet service will receive a free credit card number, complete with expiration date that they can use for transactions online. For an extra $15, they can request a physical card with a magstripe that is usable at any store that accepts MasterCard. PIN and chip cards will be available in Europe. 

Here’s the transaction structure: the card gets run and Xapo checks the associated bitcoin wallet for sufficient funds. Once the funds are verified, Xapo sells the bitcoin on Bitstamp for fiat currency and pays the vendor with the fiat currency. Vendors pay regular credit card fees while the customer pays no fee.

The service doesn’t allow for ATM withdrawals - yet. Cesares expects that functionality to come soon. The credit card clearly isn’t for the bitcoin community as a whole - only for targeted individuals that are either unfamiliar with bitcoin itself, or for those that want to use it for transactions. There are many that are simply hoarding the currency and have no intention of using it. 

Cesares also claims that Xapo has no intention of becoming an exchange, which is reasonable considering the difficulties exchanges have on a daily basis to make money. Hedging a highly volatile currency is no easy task. For now Xapo seems content to specialize in the storage aspect, which they’ve performed quite well in doing. 

Users who want to try the new credit card service can simply open a new wallet and request a credit card number.

Climate Report from UN

The UN has been working hard to release a series of investigative reports about climate

change over the past seven months. The three reports present data that indicates we must

act soon to save our planet that is warming up dangerously quickly. However, it is yet to

be seen whether these reports will make any difference because individual countries will

need to act to slow down the process. If no one takes action, the reports will have been in

vain.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released the most recent climate

change assessment on Sunday. Their report revealed that if we take action now to sharply

cut the world’s greenhouse gas emission, by starting with a 40 percent reduction and

then increasing to a 70 percent reduction by mid-century we could avoid the very worst

of the climate change effects. However, if we don’t take action we could experience

horrible consequences. The head of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change

(UNFCCC), Christiana Figueres said, “We cannot play a waiting game where we bet

on future technological miracles to emerge and save the day.” Her department, the

UNFCCC, has been holding international summits about taking global action against

climate change since the 1990s. The next summit is scheduled to occur in Paris in 2015

and the UN is hoping that these reports will affect countries to the point that they will

be willing to discuss taking real action at the summit next year. Figueres stresses that,

“Above all, governments must strengthen and expand bold policy incentives to reduce

emissions at home and together construct a new climate change agreement in Paris next

year.”

The worst outcome of the Paris meeting would be inaction. The UN reports, written by

thousands of science, policy, and economic experts, includes existing climate research

and touts the “virtually certain” dire global impacts and the catastrophic effects for the

planet. Kelly Levin is an emissions tracking expert for the World Resources Institute

and says, “These are the most authoritative statements on climate science available…the

IPCC does not recommend policies; they lay them out for officials. But the reports play a

central role in policymaking.” We can but hope that the Paris meeting will be productive

and that world leaders will take the warnings of these reports seriously.

UN has Declared Antarctic Whaling Illegal

Animal rights groups have been trying to stop Japan’s Antarctic whaling for years by trying to physically stop ships in the ocean and lobbying for lawful action. The United Nations has fulfilled their later wish. On Monday the highest court in the U.N. ruled that Japan’s whaling efforts are not “scientific,” as they claim and therefore Tokyo must immediate stop the practice.

The International Court of Justice ruled 12-4 against Japan’s whaling practices. The court stated that Japan failed to prove that their practice of harvesting over 1,000 whales every year was for scientific purposes. The Japanese had a three-week trial to prove their case and failed to make sound arguments defending the slaughter of the wales in the Antarctic Ocean.

The investigation into Japan’s whaling practices began in 2010 when Australia lodged a complaint stating that Japan was in violation of the 1986 International Whaling Commission ban on killing whales. The Japanese tried to get around the ban by calling their killing science and painting “Research” in large, white capital letters on all the ships they used to capture and kill the majestic mammals. Since the 1986 ban there have been 14,410 whales harvested for research purposes and 95 percent of those whales were killed by Japan.

Although the U.N.’s ruling is a great victory for whales and environmental groups like Greenpeace, it only prohibits Japan from whaling in the Antarctic. They have a smaller fleet of boats that hunts in the Pacific and this whaling fleet is not affected by the U.N.’s call to halt the practice.

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Should Green Bay Try to Speed Up Rodgers’ Recovery

Aaron Rogers has now been off the field with a fractured collarbone since he incurred the injury on the first play against the Chicago Bears in week 10. The NFC North is as tight a division as can be, with the Chicago Bears and the Detroit Lions both tied for first with a 7-6 record. The Packers are in second, with a 6-6 record; only a half a game behind the current leaders. There are three games left in the regular season, and with the NFC as competitive a conference as it is, winning the division, especially in a weak division, is about as important as can be to make it to the playoffs.

The Packers, since Rodgers’ collarbone injury, have started three quarterbacks in his place: Scott Tolzien, Seneca Wallace (out for rest of season), and signed Matt Flynn, a very very mediocre quarterback who lost his starting job to Russell Wilson last year on the Seahawks, and now has bounced around teams as a backup since. The Packers have only managed to tie a game since Rodgers has gone down, and that was to the Minnesota Vikings. All things considered, with how the division is shaping up to be, and the playoff picture getting hazier, Green Bay making it to the playoffs has a lot of implications for the team as a whole, and many decisions need to be made. Among these questions are:

Do the Packers need Rodgers in order to have a playoff berth?

Is it wise to bring back Rodgers so quickly after a substantial injury?

Does his coming back risk a more severe injury down the line, and will it affect his career with the Packers?

Is it worth it to just tank the rest of the season and just look to next season?

All of these are valid questions. Rodgers has not been cleared to play by the team’s medical staff. Even if he was, over the past five years, Rodgers has been the most sacked quarterback in football. Despite the injury being on his left side, his non-throwing arm, that’s also his weak side. Even if his collarbone is fully healed, if he gets tackled on his left side, it could re-fracture the bone. More to the point, with how competitive the NFC is, it’s hard to say whether or not the Packers would even do well in the playoffs. The offense and defense are both riddled with injuries. Bringing Rodgers back has numerous implications for his career with Green Bay, in that it could be a short one if he continues to sustain injuries like these. It seem to me that tanking the rest of the season and picking up a decent pick in the draft would do wonders for our defense, since this year’s college draftees have some of the best defensive players in the last five years.

We need Rodgers going forward for years to come. He’s still young, and is one of the best quarterbacks in the league. He got us a superbowl ring, and got us close to others. With how long he’s been out, and how severe the injury is, it’s not too much of a disappointment to tank and plan for next season.

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Bringing Nature to Urban Youth, the Youth Reap the Rewards

So, i’ve always been a big believer of kids living in urban city centers getting their fair share of access to more rural and less industrialized areas. That’s one of the reasons why I’m such a big fan of kids going to camp. It gets children the opportunity to get outside of the city, breath some fresh air, enjoy the natural beauty of their planet, while also learning a great deal about the world around them. There’s so much more out there than just a city can offer you, so I’ve become a strong advocate for programs that allow kids from the city the opportunity to go on outdoor hiking or exploring programs. Even surrounding cities there’s plenty of nature to be explored, and frankly, you don’t really have to travel all that far to see beautiful and scenic natural landscapes, and breathtaking views.

I was exploring around the internet recently, and found this wonderful article written in Medill Reports, Chicago, about how programs are being develop to assist urban, inner-city kids in getting the opportunity to get a good dose of nature. I’ve attached the article below, and I hope that people take the time to read it, and begin supporting programs that help give kids a good dose of nature every now and again.

***

“Look at these, right here! What are these?”

Lake County resident Sara Knizhnik points to a clump of mushrooms nestled at the base of a tree. Three-year-old Nora Snyder leans closer, peering at the mushrooms before offering a guess:

“Marshmallows?”

Knizhnik laughs. “Close!” she says.

Knizhnik and Snyder are part of a hodgepodge of parents and children participating in a “Playdate with Nature” at Ryerson Woods in Riverwoods.

The day’s program, sponsored by the Lake County Forest Preserves, takes full advantage of the riotous October foliage in the woods. Participating children receive small, plastic color samples, which they match to the shades of fallen oak and maple leaves during a short hike through the woods. They also use hand mirrors to observe the trees above them and magnifying glasses to get a better view of fungus on a decomposing log.

Programs such as “Playdate with Nature” provide more than just the opportunity for children to appreciate autumn splendor. Repeated studies prove that regular outdoor time offers immeasurable health benefits to an entire generation of young people – one-third of who are overweight, and who spend an average of 6.5 hours a day staring at a screen, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

“The physical activity piece that comes from being outside has its own benefits. There’s no debating that anymore, it’s so well established,” said Christina Scirica, a Massachusetts pediatric pulmonologist with expertise in obesity management. And then comes the bonus. “There does seem to be a benefit from being outdoors in and of itself. Rates of depression go down, anxiety goes down, attention has been shown to improve,” she added.

Ann B. Maine, president of the Lake County Forest Preserves board, moved to Lake County so her four sons could have access to Ryerson Woods. “Children who are outdoors, they’re calmer. They can focus better. But with my own experience I don’t even need the studies. You can just see it,” she said.

Pam Lincoln sees it, too.

Lincoln, an environmental science teacher at Pritzker College Prep in Chicago’s Hermosa neighborhood, collaborates with Chicago’s Inner City Outings outreach program (an offshoot of the Sierra Club) to give her students – many of who have never been outside their own neighborhood – access to the natural world.

Pritzker, a high school of about 850 kids, is 96 percent Hispanic and 98 percent of students receive free and reduced price lunches.

“Last year when we were covering different types of forests and ecosystems, I was trying to get them to think about a time they’d been in the forest, so they could picture what it looked like. And one of the kids said, ‘Do you mean, like, Rainforest Café?’” Lincoln said.

“A lot of the time that’s what I’m working with – students who have never seen, or have no access to nature. It’s so vital for them to get out and see what it’s supposed to look like.”

Today, Lincoln and 40 of her students, along with students and teachers from two other Chicago-area high schools, are helping to remove and burn invasive species at Bemis Woods in Western Springs, part of the Cook County Forest Preserves.

They cluster around stands of European buckthorn, sawing and periodically shouting “Timber!” when a tree falls to the ground.

The students get community service credit for attending the Inner City Outings (ICO) programs, but “most of the kids who are here have already fulfilled their community service requirement,” Lincoln said.

“I just wanted to come. I mean, for real! I just found out today I get four hours [of community service] for this,” agreed Jose, a freshman and one of Lincoln’s students. The Bemis Woods trip is the fifth ICO trip he has attended this year.

“Being in the city, it’s a lot about phones, Facebook…right here, it’s just nature,” he said.

For all her enthusiasm about the Pritzker-ICO collaboration, Lincoln willingly admits that outdoor time is not a panacea for Chicago’s at-risk youth. But she has noticed it strengthen her relationships with her students and provide them with a sense of fulfillment.

She applauds one student who attended every ICO trip last year. The student spent a lot of time in detention and “was troublesome in other classrooms,” Lincoln said, but “he was always perfect in my class because I had that bond with him, of being able to see him in this setting.”

“For some students, the classroom isn’t the best outlet for them. They want to move; they want to have a job to do. Being able to work on a tree for half an hour, cut it down and watch it burn, that is more fulfilling to them than getting their math homework done,” she said.

“We’re constantly active. We have a goal. And at the end of this day, we can easily say, ‘it looks like we burned a bunch of stuff!’” said Chris Grenier, the lively, bearded chair of the Chicago ICO, as he overlooked the crackling heap of buckthorn that the students had piled in the center of the forest clearing.

Grenier was helping out at Bemis Woods despite the fact that it was his daughter’s first birthday.

“I grew up on the East Coast. I hiked the Appalachian Trail. To me, getting out, traveling, it’s what you do. The whole concept of not leaving your neighborhood…I can’t even comprehend most of the issues that they face or the mentality that they have,” he said of the program’s participants.

“It’s tough. I feel bad because there’s so much more I want to do for them. I feel good about bringing them outside and just letting them get out of their home environment. But I feel bad because I can’t do more,” he said.

Still, a few hours hacking at sprouting buckthorn trees works wonders.

At the edge of a clearing, six Pritzker students take turns sawing at a bigger invasive tree and discussing their attempts to cut it in two, despite adults’ protests that it is too big a job.

“I started, and I’m gonna end it!” says one.

“Everyone’s telling me, ‘don’t cut it!’” says another.

“‘Don’t cut it, don’t cut it’, and you’re like, ‘I can do it’!” interrupts the first.

“I can do it!” each student says in turn.

“I can do it!”

Article originally published here

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Green Bay Packers: How to Win Without Aaron Rodgers

This will be the third week that the Packers are without starting quarterback Aaron Rodgers. This week, the Packers face their long-time divisional rival, the Minnesota Vikings. Since the NFC North is about as tight a division as can be, the Packers need a win to still be competitive to win the division over the Detroit Lions and the Chicago Bears, both of whom are currently 6-5 going into this week’s games. It would help the Packers immensely to not only get another “W”, but to get a win from a divisional game.

However, it’s no coincidence that the Packers have gone 0-3 since Rodgers went down on the first play against the Chicago Bears, and was diagnosed with a broken collarbone. Since then, the Green Bay offense has predictably sputtered, along with the defense, which, without the presence of their star quarterback, needs to step-up in order for the Packers to remain competitive. Since Rodgers got injured, the Packers have had two back-up quarterbacks start in his place. First, it was veteran QB Seneca Wallace, who hadn’t played a single practice snap in the regular season; he took over for Rodgers in the game he went down, ending in a loss to the Bears. Wallace then started again in the next week, and was injured on the first play from scrimmage against the Philadelphia Eagles, ending up on season-ending IR. He was replaced by now starting quarterback Scott Tolzien, a guy nobody had heard of when he had taken the field. Tolzien showed himself to be competent, though, he didn’t have much of a chance to prove himself in that game, as the Eagles ate up the last 9:32 of game time. It’s not a good sign when Chip Kelly’s fast-paced offense runs out 9:32 of clock, which is a fault more attributed to the defense rather than to Tolzien’s performance under center.

The main thing that the Packers need to concentrate on to win is for Tolzien to step up in the passing game. In his two starting games, he’s thrown five interceptions (Rodgers has 4 total on the season). Two of them were particularly egregious, as one occurred in the end-zone against Philadelphia, and the other was returned for a touchdown by Jason Pierre-Paul last week against the Giants. Tolzien needs to cut down on the turnovers, and provide a stable passing attack. Not just so that the Packers can make it up the field efficiently, but also to give room for their ground-game. Eddie Lacy has been an absolute horse the last few weeks, averaging over 23 touches on the ground per game. He’s the first stable running back the Packers have had in years, and if they have any chance of winning, especially against a particularly weak Vikings run-defense, the Packers will have to establish a reliable passing game to take the attention away from Lacy and give him room to run. That means for Tolzien to accept taking a sack, or throwing the ball away.

The Vikings are a particularly weak team in the NFC, and in the NFC North division. The Packers should come away with the win, but they need Eddie Lacy to establish an authoritative ground game to do so. Otherwise, the Packers can kiss the playoff hunt goodbye.

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Climate Change Threatens Polar Bears in Canada

In Churchill, Manitoba, a small town in Canada’s Tundra, there are more polar bears (900) than there are people (800). For those who love bears and hate humans, this is an ideal place to live. But with global warming, it won’t be for long.

Polar bears do most of their hunting and eating (of seals) on ice, and they often build up fat as reserve for when they’re on land. But the thawing of the ice caps now begins mid-June, a full 30 days earlier than it did three decades ago. This means Polar Bears now spend more time on land, which in turn means: bears are eating less and are birthing smaller cubs who probably won’t survive.

Polar Bears are the first vertebrate species to be listed by the U.S. Species Endangered Act to be threatened by extinction primarily due to global warming. People should be concerned about this. If the polar bears went extinct, how will Coca Cola market their product cutely?

(Sorry to the environmentally-concious readers for that reference. The fate of corporations seem to be the only thing that motivate some people. If we can use it to motivate them to care about global warming, why not?)

With more polar bears on land in Churchill, there are more possible clashes with local residents. Most of the bears usually come at night, and do try to mind their own business, but a few of them haven’t learned to be wary of humans. This year in Churchill, there have been two bears attacks that have injured three people. As they get hungrier and more desperate a decade from now, things could become much worse.

But the people who allow global warming to run a muck don’t care about any of their fellow humans, let alone Canadians.

from Nature and The Outdoors http://samanthakrahenbuhl.org/2013/11/15/climate-change-threatens-polar-bears-in-canada/

from WordPress http://samanthakrahenbuhl.wordpress.com/2013/11/15/climate-change-threatens-polar-bears-in-canada/