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C-SPAN’s swamp creature unmasked! We talk to the activist in the confirmation meeting clip

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On Thursday morning, Irene Kim nervously filed into the Senate confirmation hearing of David Bernhardt, President Trump’s nominee to head up the Department of the Interior. The Greenpeace activist was directly behind Bernhardt as he faced questions about his time as an oil lobbyist and conflicts of interests. So Kim and a friend seized the moment and put on swamp creature masks in protest.

Kim was able to stay for the entire hour of the hearing — and then watched in amazement as the video of herself went viral across the internet.

I spoke with Kim about what it was like in the hearing, and why she decided to protest in this way. This interview has been lightly edited and condensed.

Q. Why transform into a swamp creature live on C-SPAN?

A. What we were trying to accomplish was to bring absurdity to this entire situation. Our reality right now is so absurd. To make sure that folks are paying attention, we wanted to make light of the situation.

I have a lot of climate despair right now. I’ve been feeling really discouraged by everything that’s happening, and I really wanted to do something fun. This was kind of an amazing way to do it.

Q. Talk me through that moment.

A. When I first got to the room, I knew it was going to be really serious. I knew I didn’t want to get arrested. I just wanted to make sure to pull this off in the simplest way possible.

I really wanted to position myself to be as close to David Bernhardt as possible. But that C-SPAN camera being there; that was pure luck. I saw C-SPAN’s tweet, and my face was perfectly aligned, so I thought to myself: “This is our opportunity. There’s nothing else to do right now except this.”

Q. What was going through your head? 

A. I think folks are focusing on saying that I looked really graceful and that I didn’t look scared or anything, but I was actually really scared doing this. I had a lot of nerves. I tried to channel as much fierce energy of all strong women and non-binary folks that I knew who are also out there fighting and resisting our administration. Resisting is scary, but once you’re able to do it, it’s so freeing.

My whole body was shaking, just because I didn’t know what to expect in the first few minutes of putting that mask on. I thought they were going to pull me two minutes in. To be able to stay for the full hour was really awesome.

Q. How did other people react?

A. It felt like some of the senators doing the questioning saw me and were talking amongst themselves, but no one really interacted with me.

I didn’t get arrested. I just received a warning, and was escorted out of the room. I really tried hard not to be a disturbance, because I know how Capitol Police work, and I’ve seen them in action when people are participating in protests like this. I really wanted to make sure it didn’t get crazy.

Q. What’s been the response?

A. We did what we wanted to accomplish, but it turned out to be a lot more viral than we expected. People have been really, really supportive and uplifting what we did. It’s really amazing to see.

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C-SPAN’s swamp creature unmasked! We talk to the activist in the confirmation meeting clip

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9 Helpful Tips for a Zero-Waste Halloween

All those Halloween tricks and treats really add up. For 2018, Halloween spending is predicted to reach $9 billion in the United States ? with an average price tag of $86.79 per person, according to the National Retail Federation. And the part most likely to make you say “Boo!” is much of what people buy for Halloween ends up in the trash. To give your wallet and the environment less of a scare, here are nine helpful tips for a zero-waste Halloween.

1. Choose candy in recyclable packaging

Halloween candy can lead to a frightening amount of waste. Those bite-size candy bars come with a lot of packaging, but trick-or-treaters usually only can accept items that come in sealed wrappers for safety reasons. Fortunately, there?s a lot of Halloween candy that comes in recyclable packaging ? namely items in cardboard boxes or aluminum foil. Yes, there are no guarantees they will be recycled, but it?s better at least to give your trick-or-treaters the option.

2. Find alternate treats

If you want to move away from the candy route entirely, there are many alternatives you can hand out to trick-or-treaters. ?Waste-less ideas include pencils made from recycled money, small coins or recyclable items that will find a useful place in a kid’s life ? as opposed to a home at the bottom of the garbage bin,? The Wilderness Society suggests. If you?re a crafty (and ambitious) person, you can make an assortment of small artwork or crafts for kids to pick from. Not every trick-or-treater will be thrilled about the lack of candy, but many will appreciate the change from all the sugar already in their treat bags.

3. Pick a reusable bag for your candy tote

Those plastic pumpkins are everywhere on Halloween. But do kids (or you trick-or-treating adults) really need more wasteful plastic in your life? If you already have the plastic pumpkins from Halloweens past, by all means keep reusing them ? or turn them into holiday decor. But instead of giving in when your kids beg for a new pumpkin to use as their candy vessel, offer to buy or make them a reusable tote bag instead. It might just set your kids on a path to becoming eco-warriors themselves.

4. Donate candy

It?s likely you?ll find something in your Halloween candy haul that you don?t like or can?t eat. Or maybe you or your kids came home with way too much candy for you ever to consume. Gather the candy you won?t (or reluctantly shouldn?t) eat to donate instead of throwing it out. Depending on where you are, there are many charities that gather candy for needy families or soldiers. Just a little effort on your part could immensely brighten someone?s day.

5. Skip store-bought costumes

What?s Halloween without a scary good costume? But typical store-bought costumes are alarming for another reason. ?Store-bought costumes are often made up of nonrecyclable petro-chemical based plastic and synthetic fibers,? according to The Wilderness Society. ?Those Halloween costumes can include one of the scariest plastics ? polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a soft plastic and known carcinogen that releases harmful toxins in its creation and breakdown.? So instead of buying a new costume, consider making one with items you already have or borrow from a friend. Or check thrift stores and costume rental companies if you don?t already have something that works. And remember you can donate old costumes or recycle them through textile-recycling programs.

6. Plan a Halloween party instead of trick-or-treating

It?s pretty inevitable that if you go out trick-or-treating, you?ll return with some wasteful ? albeit delicious ? items. That doesn?t mean you have to totally deprive your little (or adult) goblins and ghouls of the trick-or-treating fun. Instead, strike up a compromise if you must. Limit your trick-or-treating to only a couple blocks (aiming to pick the candy with recyclable packaging), and then host a Halloween party back home. You can control the waste produced at your own party and still have a spooktacular holiday.

7. DIY your decorations

If you buy decorations, make sure they?re durable enough to use for years to come. But there are many decorations you can easily make yourself with items you likely already have. ?Don?t discount the old standbys: White sheets still work well as ghosts, scarecrows are best when decked out in old grubby clothes, and candles ? still cast a perfectly eerie glow,? Recyclebank says. For instance, make a ghost by stuffing the middle of an old sheet with leaves or newspaper and tying that part off to form the head. Plus, look through your recyclables for ideas. There?s likely a Halloween craft just waiting for your imaginative spin.

8. Decorate with fall?s harvest

Nature makes some pretty amazing decor, too. And if you adorn your home with fall?s harvest, the decorations will last you all season ? rather than just Halloween. ?Decorate with things that can be composted, such as pumpkins, gourds, corn stalks, hay, leaves, and sticks,? Recyclebank suggests. If you can, purchase some of those items directly from the grower, and plan to eat and compost them, too. You?ll definitely get your money?s worth with natural decorations.

9. Cook your decor

Finally, what?s Halloween without cooking up some delicious pumpkin guts? If you?re buying pumpkins for carving or decor, don?t waste any part of them. ?The flesh of a pumpkin makes wonderful pies, muffins, smoothies, soups, lasagnas, chilis, pastas, and even puddings,? Recyclebank says. ?Pumpkin seeds are great snacks you can prepare in the oven, on the stovetop, or even on a grill.? And remember you can compost pumpkins as long as they haven?t been painted. Or simply smash your pumpkin, and bury the pieces in your garden to enrich the soil. No word on whether its pumpkin ghost will come back to haunt you though.

Related Stories:

How to Keep a Zero Waste Pet
10 Tips for Creating a Zero Waste Home
How Going Zero Waste Made Me a Better Person

Main image credit: splendens/Thinkstock

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

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9 Helpful Tips for a Zero-Waste Halloween

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Idiot Brain: What Your Head Is Really Up To – Dean Burnett

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Idiot Brain: What Your Head Is Really Up To

Dean Burnett

Genre: Science & Nature

Price: $2.99

Publish Date: July 25, 2016

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Seller: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.


"If you’ve ever wanted to sit down with a neuroscientist, have a few drinks, ask a zillion questions, and laugh until you snorted, read this book." —David McRaney, best-selling author of You Are Not So Smart The brain is an absolute marvel—the seat of our consciousness, the pinnacle (so far) of evolutionary progress, and the engine of human experience. But it’s also messy, fallible, and about 50,000 years out of date. We cling to superstitions, remember faces but not names, miss things sitting right in front of us, and lie awake at night while our brains endlessly replay our greatest fears. Idiot Brain is for anyone who has ever wondered why their brain appears to be sabotaging their life—and what on earth it is really up to. Library Journal Science Bestseller Goodreads Choice Award Science & Technology Finalist

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Idiot Brain: What Your Head Is Really Up To – Dean Burnett

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This climate denier has a starring role in the Russia investigation.

Citing the risk of conflicts of interest, the EPA administrator instituted a sweeping change to the agency’s core system of advisory panels on Tuesday, restricting membership to scientists who don’t receive EPA grants.

In practice, the move represents “a major purge of independent scientists,” Terry F. Yosie, chair of the EPA’s Science Advisory Board during the Reagan administration, told the Washington Post. Their removal paves the way for a fresh influx of industry experts and state government officials pushing for lax regulations.

The advisory boards are meant to ensure that health regulations are based on sound science, but that role may be changing. As of Tuesday, the new chair of the Clean Air Safety Advisory Committee is Tony Cox, an independent consultant, who has argued that reductions in ozone pollution have “no causal relation” to public health.

The new head of the Science Advisory Board is Michael Honeycutt, the head toxicologist at the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, who has said that air pollution doesn’t matter because “most people spend more than 90 percent of their time indoors.”

The figureheads of science denial were on hand to celebrate Pruitt’s announcement. Representative Lamar Smith, a Republican from Texas, called the move a “special occasion.”

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This climate denier has a starring role in the Russia investigation.

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Two Dakota Access protesters say they purposely damaged the pipeline.

Climate change is rapidly altering the region, and less sea ice means more ships are lining up to traverse its remote waters. “It’s what keeps us up at night,” Amy Merten, a NOAA employee, told the New York Times. “There’s just no infrastructure for response.”

Cargo ships and cruise liners are already setting sail, and the Trump administration is clearing the way for oil rigs to join them.

Canada, the U.S., and Russia have an agreement to help each other during emergencies, but the U.S. only has two functional heavy icebreaker ships, and rescue efforts would likely have to rely on other commercial ships being nearby.

To top it all off, the head of the Coast Guard, Paul Zukunft, says the U.S. is unprepared to deal with an Arctic oil spill. Zukunft pointed out the difficulty in cleaning up the Deepwater Horizon spill, which had much more favorable conditions.

“In the Arctic, it’s almost like trying to get it to the moon in some cases, especially if it’s in a season where it’s inaccessible; that really doubles, triples the difficulty of responding,” the head of the Navy’s climate change task force told Scientific American.

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Two Dakota Access protesters say they purposely damaged the pipeline.

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Warren Buffett is driving truckloads of money into electric companies.

Climate change is rapidly altering the region, and less sea ice means more ships are lining up to traverse its remote waters. “It’s what keeps us up at night,” Amy Merten, a NOAA employee, told the New York Times. “There’s just no infrastructure for response.”

Cargo ships and cruise liners are already setting sail, and the Trump administration is clearing the way for oil rigs to join them.

Canada, the U.S., and Russia have an agreement to help each other during emergencies, but the U.S. only has two functional heavy icebreaker ships, and rescue efforts would likely have to rely on other commercial ships being nearby.

To top it all off, the head of the Coast Guard, Paul Zukunft, says the U.S. is unprepared to deal with an Arctic oil spill. Zukunft pointed out the difficulty in cleaning up the Deepwater Horizon spill, which had much more favorable conditions.

“In the Arctic, it’s almost like trying to get it to the moon in some cases, especially if it’s in a season where it’s inaccessible; that really doubles, triples the difficulty of responding,” the head of the Navy’s climate change task force told Scientific American.

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Warren Buffett is driving truckloads of money into electric companies.

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Your Morning in Tweets

Mother Jones

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It’s been one of those mornings. My best source to capture the flavor of the news today is my Twitter feed. In no particular order:

Um, sure, except that Nunes won’t show us the substance of the leak and misled everyone about where it came from. Other than that, spot on. And as long as we’re on the subject of Nunes:

Back to the White House now. Here is April Ryan, Washington Bureau Chief for American Urban Radio Networks:

Huh? What’s that about? Oh:

Got anything else for us today, Sean?

Roger that. Let’s move on to someone else in the White House:

So they’ve moved on from denying climate change, and are now denying that they’re even aware of what scientists say about climate change. Where are they going to be by 2020?

Finally, on a completely different subject:

Unfortunately, yes, I think it is.

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Your Morning in Tweets

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Raw Data: How Big Is the Cloud Computing Market?

Mother Jones

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I don’t know why this popped into my head, but given the enormous growth of cloud computing I got curious about how big a share it is of all computing. Roughly speaking, it turns out that total spending in 2016 is:

Cloud computing: $38 billion
All computing:1 $1.5 trillion

So cloud computing currently accounts for about 2.5 percent of all IT hardware and software spending. I have no point to make about this.

1Hardware and software only, not including telecom spending. CompTIA estimates that non-telecom spending is about $2.24 trillion in 2016 and that hardware and software account for about two-thirds of that.

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Raw Data: How Big Is the Cloud Computing Market?

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NSA Chief: WikiLeaks Hacks of Democrats’ Emails Were a “Conscious Effort by a Nation-State”

Mother Jones

The WikiLeaks release of internal emails from the Democratic National Committee and the Hillary Clinton campaign constituted a “conscious effort by a nation-state to attempt to achieve a specific effect,” the head of the National Security Agency said Tuesday.

“There shouldn’t be any doubt in anybody’s mind,” NSA Director Michael S. Rogers said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday. “This was not something that was done casually, this was not something that was done by chance. This was not a target that was selected purely arbitrarily.” Rogers acknowledged in October that Russians were behind the hacks.

News that the DNC had been compromised broke earlier this June, when hacker Guccifer 2.0 released a trove of documents containing campaign emails and memos—most notably emails implying that the committee favored Clinton over Sen. Bernie Sanders during the Democratic primary. The release of the emails led to the resignation of DNC chair Debbie Wasserman-Schultz.

WikiLeaks also published thousands of emails from John Podesta, Clinton’s campaign chair. Though Russia was long suspected of being behind the hacks, US officials did not formally accuse the Russian government of orchestrating the cyber attacks until October. In November, just four days before the election, DNC officials told Mother Jones they had found evidence that the DNC headquarters may have been bugged and had submitted a report to the FBI.

Watch the video of Rogers’ full remarks above.

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NSA Chief: WikiLeaks Hacks of Democrats’ Emails Were a “Conscious Effort by a Nation-State”

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Fossil fuel favorite Lamar Smith just lost a big ol’ endorsement.

The San Antonio Express-News, the fourth-largest daily newspaper in Texas, has refused to repeat its prior endorsement of Rep. Smith, who has represented Texas’ 21st congressional district since 1987.

Smith is chair of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee — and a climate change denier. The paper’s editorial board accuses him of “abuse” of that position and “bullying on the issue of climate change”:

[L]ast year Smith threatened the head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Kathryn Sullivan, with criminal charges if she didn’t release emails from scientists about a certain climate change study. That study refuted gospel by deniers that global warming slowed between 1998 and 2012.

Smith said he was shielding scientific inquiry. But the real effect would be to chill such efforts. And in 2015, Smith sought to cut NASA funding for earth science — a science that includes climate science research. He said the agency should focus on space exploration. Both are necessary.

The non-endorsement ends with an acknowledgment that Smith will probably win in his largely conservative district anyway.

Luckily for Smith, he has other friends in high places: namely, the fossil fuel industry, which has donated more than $92,000 to his campaign this season.

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Fossil fuel favorite Lamar Smith just lost a big ol’ endorsement.

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