The not-so-natural Causes of a Natural Disaster
"It was considered very safe. This was a completely unforeseen slide. This came out of nowhere." So said John Pennington, head of Snohomish County's Department of Emergency Management, in the aftermath of the tragic mudslide near Oso, Wash., on March 22.
His words were a complete lie.
Fabled Fishing River Destroyed by Oso Mudslide
Watching the now murky river from his kitchen window, Bill Best speaks in low tones of neighbors buried by a massive mudslide, where damage to salmon and steelhead trout spawning beds only adds to the grief in a rural Washington state community with deep ties to the land.
"The river's extremely important. We just thoroughly love this relatively natural, unspoiled river environment. It's why we are here," the 73-year-old avid fly fisherman said. "Hopefully in 20 to 30 years, it will be back to what it sort of used to be."
Magic Mushrooms As An Anti-Depressant?
Feeling blue? Two new studies suggest taking a trip might help - but we're not talking vacations. Tripping on "magic mushrooms" appears to change the brain in ways similar to antidepressants, the study found.
"We're not saying go out there and eat magic mushrooms," Professor David Nutt, a neuropsychopharmacology researcher at Imperial College London and senior author of both studies, told Reuters. "But...this drug has such a fundamental impact on the brain that it's got to be meaningful - it's got to be telling us something about how the brain works."
Aging Mobile Homes Burden Owners With Huge Power Bills and Mold
If you walk into Charlotte White's home, this is what you notice: colorful potholders hanging from the cabinets. A cat stretched out in a beam of sunlight. And the loud rattle of the washing machine.
"It spins off balance, because the floor is uneven, because it's rotten," White says.
In the hall and the bathroom, the floorboards feel spongy underneath her feet. White had to replace the kitchen floor, too, after it rotted out.
Supporters gather to defend Bundy ranch in Nevada
An intense showdown in the state of Nevada between a family of ranchers and federal agents continues to escalate after a longstanding land dispute two decades in the making came to a head earlier this month.
As RT reported earlier this week, hundreds of armed agents with the United States Bureau of Land Management and the Federal Bureau of Investigation have descended on the Clark County, Nevada ranch of 67-year-old Cliven Bundy to execute the court-ordered confiscation of nearly 1,000 cattle, according to his family, which the US government says have trespassed on federal property.
The Secret Teachings Of All Ages
Biosand Filter Diagram