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John F. Kennedy Centennial May 29 2017: 100th Anniversary of JFK's Birth
John F. Kennedy (left) with his older brother Joseph, C. 1919. (John F. Kennedy Library Foundation)
The Kennedy Family in Hyannis Port., 1946. From left, John F. Kennedy, Jean Kennedy, Rose Kennedy, Joseph P. Kennedy Sr., Patricia Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, Eunice Kennedy, and, in foreground, Edward M. Kennedy. (John F. Kennedy Library)
A portrait of the Kennedy brothers, John F. Kennedy (left) and Joseph Kennedy Jr. (right), seated in their naval uniforms, 1945. As a lieutenant in the navy, JFK was a PT-boat commander. (Getty)
Senator Kennedy making notes during his presidential campaign, September 1960. (Getty)
Senator John F. Kennedy winds up his presidential campaign at a huge rally in Boston Garden on Nov. 7, 1960. After a whirlwind tour through New England on the final day of campaigning, Kennedy returned to address a crowd of over 22,000 enthusiastic supporters. He reminded the supporters of his Boston roots. (Ed Kelley / Globe Staff)
Kennedy valued his time in Cape Cod - "I always come back to the Cape and walk on the beach when I have a tough decision to make. The Cape is the one place I can think, and be alone." read more »
Endangered Species Day May 19 2017: world wildlife population halved in 40yrs; 1447 endangered species in US, now includes bees
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Many species in peril on Endangered Species Day
From climate change to habitat fragmentation, pollution and human conflict, species around the world are facing a slew of threats to their survival.
The National Geographic Photo Ark project aims to capture photos of every species living in the world's zoos and other protected areas before they disappear. Throughout the summer, more than 45,000 digital screens across the country will feature Photo Ark images as part of the National Geographic Society and the Outdoor Advertising Association of America (OAAA) #SaveTogether campaign aimed at saving species at risk in the wild.
As the world marks Endangered Species Day on May 19, here's a look at some of the species that have been featured in the Photo Ark project, and some of the startling statistics about endangered species:
* More than 23,000 species on the IUCN Red List are threatened with extinction.
* 41% of the world's amphibians, 34% of conifers, 33% of reef building corals, 25% of mammals and 13% of birds, are threatened with extinction, according to the IUCN Red list database.
* 59% of all the carnivore species weighing 33 pounds or more are listed as threatened. Likewise, 60% of all the herbivore species weighing 220 pounds or more are listed as threatened, according to the National Geographic Photo Ark.
* 700 or fewer Sumatran tigers remain in the wild.
* 1447 species in the U.S. are on the threatened and endangered species list, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service. read more »
May is US National Bike Month: 61.6% increase in bicycle commuting from 2000 to 2012; "preventative medicine", scientists find
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The number of bicyclists is growing rapidly from coast to coast. The National Household Travel Survey showed that the number of trips made by bicycle in the U.S. more than doubled from 1.7 billion in 2001 to 4 billion in 2009.
For bicyclists of all stripes, there's nothing like Bike to Work Day (BTWD), an annual celebration of active transportation. Thanks, in part, to encouragement efforts like BTWD, the number of bike commuters is on the rise, as well — especially in Bicycle Friendly Communities (BFC). From 2000 to 2013, bicycle commuting rates in large BFCs increased 105% — far above the national average of 62% and more than double the rate in non-BFCs (31%).
According to the ACS, in 2012 about .64% of commutes are made by bicycle, which represents an almost 10% increase from 2011. This is the largest year-on-year increase since 2007-2008, showing that people are choosing to use their bicycles for transportation not just in response to economic crisis, but because bicycles are leading the way to recovery. In total, there were 864,883 bike commuters in 2012.
Since 2000, ACS data shows a 61.6% increase in bicycle commuting. read more »
No one behind the wheel. Tesla 'autopilot' car hits Phoenix police motorcycle; Apple to test self-driving cars
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Official: Tesla 'autopilot' car hits Phoenix police motorcycle
A Phoenix police motorcycle was struck by a Tesla Model X reportedly operating on autopilot last week, police said.
The incident came days before a crash in Tempe involving an automated Uber vehicle in Tempe.
The collision prompted Uber to temporarily ground the program as it investigated the incident, but a company representative said Monday that the fleet will be redeployed.
The iPhone of cars? Apple enters self-driving car race
Ending years of speculation, Apple's late entry into a crowded field was made official Friday with the disclosure that the California Department of Motor Vehicles had awarded a permit for the company to start testing its self-driving car technology on public roads in the state.
Apple will be vying against 29 other companies that already have California permits to test self-driving cars. The list includes major automakers, including Ford, General Motors, BMW, Volkswagen and Tesla, as well as one of its biggest rivals in technology, Google, whose testing of self-driving cars has been spun off into an affiliate called Waymo.
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Driver texting while driving, crossed center line, killed 13 on church bus. Spike in pedestrian deaths: cell phone distractions
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Witness Saw Truck Driver Texting Bef?re Texas Crash That Killed 13
A witness to a deadly Texas wreck involving a church minibus says the driver of a pickup truck that crossed the center line repeatedly apologized and acknowledged he had been texting while driving.
Jody Kuchler told The Associated Press on Friday that he was driving behind the truck and had seen it being driven erratically prior to the collision on a rural two-lane road about 75 west of San Antonio.
Kuchler says he spoke with the driver as he was pinned in his truck Wednesday moments after the collision with the bus carrying senior adults with First Baptist Church of New Braunfels, Texas.
Kuchler says he told the driver, "Son, do you know what you just did?" He says the driver responded by repeatedly apologizing. The Texas Department of Public Safety has identified the driver as 20-year-old Jack Dillon Young.
Thirteen people on the bus were killed and the lone survivor remained hospitalized Friday.
Spike in US Pedestrian Deaths Linked to Cell Phone Distractions
The Governors Highway Safety Association reported nearly 6,000 pedestrian deaths for 2016, the highest figure in more than 20 years.
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Image courtesy newscame.com
Why not? Let sunshine warm up 700-mile border solar panels and families in neighborly US and Mexico
Instead Of building another costly Berlin Wall
(which has been pulled down anyway),
"Let’s Build a Border Of Solar Panels"!
(What a brilliant idea, so constructive in every measure!!)
It would attract investment, create jobs and neighborly neighbors
(How wise, and no waste – imagine a gigantic smile on Earth!).
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Dec 19, 2016
Instead of another Berlin Wall, Instead Of Trump’s Wall, Let’s Build A Border Of Solar Panels President-elect Donald Trump has repeatedly called for Mexico to build a wall between our countries. There is indeed a way that Mexico could create a barrier between the U.S. and Mexico, one constructed exclusively on the Mexican side, with substantial benefits for both countries and the planet: a solar border.
Sunlight in the northern deserts of Mexico is more intense than in the U.S. Southwest because of the lower latitude and more favorable cloud patterns. And construction and maintenance costs for solar plants in Mexico are substantially lower. Thus, building a long series of such plants all along the Mexican side of the border could power cities on both sides faster and more cheaply than similar arrays built north of the border. read more »
86 years ago, 1931. Thomas Edison: "I'd put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power!"
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Thomas Alva Edison (11 February 1847 – 18 October 1931) was an American inventor and businessman
In 1931, not long before he died, the inventor told his friends Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone: I’d put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don’t have to wait until oil and coal run out before we tackle that.
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Image courtesy deviantart.com and Wikipedia