the 941

 Jeb Corliss is pushing the boundaries of human flight.

• It’s time to purge Congress of conservative Democrats.

• Americans continue to grow more disillusioned about the economy.

• Some good questions for John McCain.

• Followed by some good questions for Barack Obama.

• Iraq is know as Bush’s War. Will Afghanistan be known as Obama’s War?

• GOP Senator Ted Stevens indicted. Who’s next?

• American food portions continue to swell to enormous and unsustainable levels.

• If you read nothing else this week, read this interview of Noam Chomsky.

• Sigh. Penn and Teller used to be funny.

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Sea turtle nesting season along local beaches is in full swing with the number of loggerhead nests now topping 1,000 for the season and running well ahead of 2007’s disappointing numbers.

From our friends at Mote Marine Laboratory:

Also from our friend at Mote, here are some dos and don’ts that people can remember to help clear the way for nesting turtles:

Do:

• If you encounter a nesting turtle, remain quiet and observe from a distance
• Shield or turn off outdoor lights that are visible on the beach from May through October
• Close drapes after dark and put beach furniture far back from the water
• Fill in holes that may entrap hatchlings on their way to the water
• Place trash in its proper place
Do Not:

• Approach nesting turtles or hatchlings, make noise, or shine lights at turtles
• Use flashlights or fishing lamps on the beach
• Encourage a turtle to move while nesting or pick up hatchlings that have emerged
• Use fireworks on the beach

Sea turtles are protected under federal law and any harassment or interference with a sea turtle, living or dead, is subject to penalty. If you witness anyone disturbing a turtle or find an injured or disoriented hatchling or adult, please notify agents with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission at 1-888-404-FWCC (3922), the local sheriff’s department, and/or Mote Marine Laboratory’s Sea Turtle Program at 388-4331. If you find a dead or injured sea turtle contact Mote’s Stranding Investigations Program at 988-0212.

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Question of the day: Is stripping art?

• President Bush is set to leave his successor with staggering debt, but, when the debt is calculated as portion of GDP, he’s still not even close to Reagan or his father in terms of financially tomfoolery.

• Coming soon to a retailer near you: much higher prices.

• Is there anything Israel won’t do to get the U.S. to attack Iran?

• If you think Obama is the anti-war candidate, prepare to be disappointed.

• Being a patriot still requires balls.

• Orwellian telescreens coming to Great Britain.

• Survivalism is going green.

• Slavery continued in the American South - until well after World War II.

• Nancy Pelosi again disappoints.

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Shut up, Screech. Don’t make us get all A.C. Slater on your ass (we don’t really know what that means).

The Batman on the toilet. And yet still, we swoon…

Ouchy ouch. Ouch. OWWWWW.

Matt LeBlanc to manager: How YOU doin’? No, really.

We loves us some Chelsea Handler, but we wish she would’ve been harder on this jerk. Like, punch him in the face or something.

Maybe this is just because people deliberately aren’t buying the paper, but…

For all you chicken feces out there, a less painful way (for you) to dump someone. (Don’t bother with the “It’s better than by text” defense, ya douchenozzle.)

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Charlie Crist, once thought to be the good guardian of Florida’s swampy kingdom, now says he’s prepared to fight a legal battle to open our shores to oil companies.

If you asked us, Charlie, we’d say we’d rather ride our bikes to the beach than drive out to the west-Florida slime shelf. Like many Americans, we’re driving less. And our poor struggling government is consequently losing money on the federal gas tax, causing a big deficit in funds for highway projects.

Why don’t they just borrow more money from China? We already owe them at least half a trillion, and it looks like “American” companies are cheerleading for the Red Giant anyway. Just direct evidence that any corporation, once it gets big enough, ignores national borders.

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Mote Marine Laboratory to present first Eugenie Clark Award

The Board of Trustees of Mote Marine Laboratory will be hosting world-renowned oceanographer and explorer Dr. Sylvia Earle – a Mote trustee ? at a special dinner on Tuesday, July 22, at Marina Jacks, 2 Marina Plaza, Sarasota. The evening, organized by the Chairman of Mote’s Board of Trustees, Judy Graham, will begin with cocktails at 6 p.m. followed by a seated dinner at 7 p.m.

The highlight of the evening will be the presentation of the inaugural “Eugenie Clark Scientific Explorers Award” to Dr. Earle by Mote President Dr. Kumar Mahadevan and Dr. Eugenie (Genie) Clark, Mote’s founding director, whom the award was named after.

Former chief scientist of NOAA, Dr. Sylvia Earle is president of Deep Search International and chair of the Advisory Council for the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies. She was an Interim Executive Director of Mote Marine Laboratory in 1966 and is currently a member of Mote’s Board of Trustees and chairman of Mote’s Research Committee. Her research concerns marine ecosystems with special reference to exploration and the development and use of new technologies for access and effective operations in the deep sea and other remote environments. Dr. Earle has led more than 60 expeditions and logged more than 6,000 hours underwater, including leading the first team of women aquanauts during the Tektite Project in 1970 and setting a record for solo diving to a depth of 1,000 meters (3,300 feet).

The Eugenie Clark Scientific Explorers Award established for the extraordinary accomplishments, endless passion and exemplary goodwill of Dr. Eugenie Clark, the award is presented only to those who display similar qualities and characteristics in the advancement of science. Founder, first director and resident world-renowned scientist of Mote Marine Laboratory, Genie’s contagious love for life in the sea is continually passed on to people the world over.

In other Mote news:

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• Bombing wedding ceremonies in Afghanistan is not going to help us win hearts and minds. The U.S. has bombed five weddings recently. No wonder the Taliban is experiencing a serious resurgence. But this is what we get for squandering our military and intelligence resources in Iraq.

• John McCain is still wallowing in ignorance and still fighting the Cold War.

• Despite record high oil prices, President Bush is still not calling for conservation.

• Another problem with global warming that no one anticipated: an increase in kidney stones.

• Is Barack Obama an Oreo?

• Hillary Clinton’s new stump speech: The Republicans should apologize to America.

• President Bush has given the “amber light” to Israel regarding an attack on Iran. This is one step before a “green light.”

• We need to get this shouting, criminal idiot off the television:

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Mote Marine Laboratory has been caring for two pygmy killer whales, Dallas and Pete, for the last few weeks. One of the animals had another CT scan on Thursday and both are on the road to recovery and, hopefully, re-release into the wild. (Photo by Marc M. Ellis/Mote)

In other environmental news this week:

• Coral reefs are in big trouble. And not just from global warming, but from escaped farmed algae.

• New technology allows windows to collect solar energy for power generation. Yes, you can still see through them.

• How do we make air conditioners greener? This could save us a lot of money down here in the subtropical part of the United States.

• Stick this in you pipe and smoke it: your skin is producing marijuana-like substances.

• Further proof that Republicans really hate everyone: the government has again devalued human life, literally.

• Bush punts on global warming policy until the next president takes office.

• This looks like fun. Stupid fun, but fun nonetheless.

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Her supporters are not giving up and somehow getting Hillary Clinton the Democratic nomination for president.

• Libertarians come in from the political wilderness. Sort of.

• The Department of Homeland Security is defending its practice of searching laptop computers in customs.

• A century of controlling the masses.

• Privacy’s twilight.

• Federal judge rules that President Bush is a felon.

• John McCain: bigamist?

• And why won’t he talk about his connections to the Project for a New American Century?

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We stumbled across this New York Times story, written by a blessedly restrained Rick Bragg, about the fate of Florida’s more extroverted alligators. The story features the standalone line “Numerous dogs have been consumed.”

Let me sum up the article for you: Florida has a state agency that executes alligators for being themselves.

Then again, I guess alligators execute river turtles and egrets for being themselves. But at least they don’t trick them with marshmallows.

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