#conciousconsumerism

Pollywood:

Michella Obama Shops at Target

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/undercover-michelle-obama-shops-at-target/2011/09/29/gIQAifYQ8K_video.html

First, let me take a minute to explain the term “Pollywood.” No, it’s not something you should know I just made it up. With all of the political drama in DC, along with the never ending political celebrity sightings, it seems only natural to make the connection to our beloved Hollywood. Get it? Political Hollywood? If not, just play along.  :)

So, back to the story. As you can imagine, Pollywood has been all a twitter about Michele Obama shopping “undercover” at a target in Arlington, Virginia. Was this just a lame photo-op attempt to appeal to middle class voters? No one can know for sure. But hey, maybe FLOTUS (First Lady Of The United States) just felt like shopping. They do have some great basic tank tops!

International:

Official: Gunmen seize French woman in Kenya, take her to Somalia

http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/02/world/africa/kenya-french-kidnapped/index.html?hpt=wo_c1

Suffice to say, things are not looking good. Not good for the 60 yr old French lady, and not good for Kenya. Bad press means less tourism, which means less money for their already suffering economy.   

Health/science:

Trouble for Key Climate Protectors

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/01/science/earth/01forest.html?ref=science

A recent study found that thousands of forests have been disappearing for different reasons. New destructive insects from climate change, a lack of water, or human destruction. So why should we care? Among a slew of other reasons,  scientists have recently figured out that forests have been absorbing more than a quarter of the carbon dioxide that people are putting into the air. Trees are effectively absorbing emissions equal to the entire worlds cars and trucks.

Without that disposal service, the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere would be twice as high as it is today. While some of this carbon dioxide is absorbed by our oceans, it is mainly trees that have the ability to lock carbon into long-term storage. The wood may stand for centuries inside a living tree, and it is slow to decay even when the tree dies.

“But the carbon in wood is vulnerable to rapid release. If a forest burns down, for instance, much of the carbon stored in it will re-enter the atmosphere.”

Time to seriously think twice about your paper choices. More than 99 million tons of paper and paperboard are used in the US every year. So… recycle, spend the extra dollar on recycled paper, and stop buying that cushiony toilet paper you will survive! Anyone want to go plant a tree?

Just for fun:

Twitter Study Tracks When We Are :)

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/30/science/30twitter.html?ref=health

A fun study that looks at peoples moods based on their twitter activity. “However grumpy people are when they wake up, they tend to brighten by breakfast time and feel their moods taper gradually to a low in the late afternoon, before rallying again near bedtime."

  Are Barefoot Shoes Really Better?

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/30/are-barefoot-shoes-really-better/?ref=health