Perhaps it’s the (thankfully) unseasonable fall-like weather today in these parts, but there is a sense of autumn in the air. Or maybe it’s just that Starbucks has begun the annual ritual of dangling its Pumpkin Spice Lattes in front of everyone’s noses.
The ‘bucks recently announced on the drink’s Twitter account — yes, a beverage that is only on sale for a couple months out of the year has its more followers than most humans — that the limited-time gourd-flavored hot beverage will go on sale Aug. 25 this year, which is earlier than usual for the PSL.
And if history has taught us anything, it’s that some Starbucks stores will just go ahead and start selling the pumpkin-y, spicy, latte-y drink whenever they damn-well feel like.
So now is the time for PSL fans to start hassling their local Stabucks to just start making the drinks already and save customers the apparent agony of having to wait.
As for me, I make my own PSL at home by shoving an entire can of pumpkin, some clotted cream, a handful of cloves, some cinnamon sticks, and a few tablespoons of recycled coffee grounds in my Mr. Coffee. It’s a work in progress, and only four of my friends have gotten ill after trying it.
What’s a company that makes its money off captive marine life to do when a documentary stirs up controversy? If you’re SeaWorld, you start coming up with ways to quell the critics: SeaWorld San Diego announced today that it’s going to double the size of its orca environment and spend $10 million in research on killer whales, as well as setting up an independent advisory committee with scientists to supervise its orca program.
The Blue World Project will basically double the current area where the orcas hang out, spanning 1.5 acres with 50-foot deep waters and stretching 350 feet in length, reports the Los Angeles Times. There will also be a viewing window down below for visitors to see the whales from underwater.
“Through up-close and personal encounters, the new environment will transform how visitors experience killer whales,” Jim Atchison, chief executive officer and president of SeaWorld Entertainment Inc., said in a statement. “Our guests will be able to walk alongside the whales as if they were at the shore, watch them interact at the depths found in the ocean, or a birds-eye view from above.”
The 10 whales in San Diego will have to wait until 2018 for the project to be finished, while other SeaWorld Parks in Orlando and San Antonio will also introduce similar improvements, officials said.
The advisory group will be put in place to maximize the “health and well-being” of the orcas, and includes an emeritus professor at the UC Davis veterinary school, a researcher at UC Santa Cruz, a physiologist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, and more.
That hefty chunk of change SeaWorld is pledging toward research will go to projects sponsored by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, to study how orcas hear, reproduce and eat in the wild.
But will that be enough for critics, who decry the very fact that such animals are kept in captivity in the first place? Probably not, if the response from the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is any indication.
“This is a desperate drop-in-the-bucket move to try to turn back the hands of time when people understand the suffering of captive orcas, and it will not save the company,” said the group’s director of animal law, Jared Goodman. “A bigger prison is still a prison.”
Today’s announcement seems to be an effort to soothe worried investors on Wall Street, after SeaWorld’s economic fortunes took a turn for the worse after the documentary Blackfish. Shares of SeaWorld Entertainment Inc. dropped 33% this week, after the company’s earnings fell short of expectations.
14-year-old Itty Bitty was eventually reunited with his owner thanks to a helpful Alaska Airlines employee.
Imagine losing your cat on the very day that you are planning to move thousands of miles away. And then, miraculously, someone finds your feline friend a few weeks later. But by that point, you’re so far away that you can’t afford to fly or drive back to bring him back.
This is exactly what happened to a woman from Seattle, whose cat ran away on July 4th weekend as she was packing the car for her move to Ohio.
The woman delayed her trip two weeks while searching in vain for Itty Bitty, her 14-year-old orange and white tabby pal. But eventually she had to leave.
Then a neighbor found the cat and called the folks at Seattle cat shelter Kitty Harbor, who wrote that Itty Bitty “was in poor shape, starving, a fresh deep gash in his neck and a bloody mouth with teeth missing.”
With the cat healing in the shelter, his relieved owner and Kitty Harbor went on Facebook trying to figure out a way for someone to help reunite her with Itty Bitty, who was still in too poor health to travel in the cargo section of a plane.
That’s how an employee for Alaska Airlines learned about the situation and figured she could work Itty Bitty’s return into her travel plans.
“We hadn’t seen Chicago yet, so I thought, why not,” she explains. “We can help out, and see the sights at the same time.”
But since Chicago is still many hours’ drive from Dayton, OH, where Itty Bitty’s owner had moved, the airline employee rented a car and drove out to Indiana to meet her halfway.
“We have two cats and I couldn’t imagine being without them,” said the employee. “They really are part of your family.”
TEMPO.CO , Jakarta: Kebijakan yang mewajibkan siswa masuk sekolah tiap Sabtu dirasa memberatkan guru, siswa, dan orang tua siswa. "Orang tua siswa butuh biaya tambahan untuk anak-anaknya. Sementara, kami membutuhkan tambahan operasional," kata Kepala Sekolah SMA Negeri 48 Jakarta, Markorijasti ketika ditemui Tempo di kantornya, Rabu 13 Agustus 2014. (Baca: Kurikulum 2013, Lasro Marbun Tawarkan Opsi Ini)
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TEMPO.CO , Jakarta: Kepala Dinas Pendidikan DKI Jakarta Lasro Marbun mengkritik pelaksanaan kurikulum 2013 yang dirasa terburu-buru. Lasro memberi catatan salah satunya soal pembelian buku pendukung tiap semester.
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TEMPO.CO , Jakarta: Pemerintah DKI Jakarta memutuskan siswa di wilayahnya tetap masuk hingga hari Jumat berkaitan dengan penerapan kurikulum 2013. Kepala Dinas Pendidikan Lasro Marbun mengatakan akan ada Peraturan Gubernur yang menjadi landasan. (Baca: Teriaki Jokowi, Pelajar Minta Sabtu Tetap Libur)
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TEMPO.CO , Jakarta: Pengamat tranportasi dari Unika Soegijapranata, Djoko Setijowarno mengatakan, jalur mass rapid transit (MRT) di Jakarta seharusnya langsung mengarah ke permukiman di pinggir Jakarta. Sebab, banyak pekerja di Jakarta yang bermukim di pinggir kota seperti di Tangerang dan Bekasi. (Baca: Proyek Stasiun Bawah Tanah MRT, Hindari Titik Ini)
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TEMPO.CO , Jakarta: Ketua Komisi Perekonomian Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat Daerah DKI Jakarta, Selamat Nurdin, mengatakan, pemerintah mengalokasikan anggaran sebesar Rp 400 miliar untuk pengadaan bus tingkat tahun 2014. Jumlah tersebut digunakan untuk mendatangkan 100 bus tingkat.
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TEMPO.CO , Jakarta - Ketua Biro Hukum Pembelaan Ikatan Dokter Indonesia, Dr Nazar, mengatakan pihaknya tidak dilibatkan dalam penggodokan peraturan pemerintah nomor 61 tahun 2014 mengenai kesehatan reproduksi.
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TEMPO.CO , Jakarta: Forum Serikat Guru Indonesia (FSGI) menyatakan setuju dengan usulan Dinas Pendidikan DKI Jakarta Lasro Marbun mengubah jam sekolah dipanjangkan hingga hari Sabtu untuk penerapan kurikulum 2013. Sekretaris Jenderal FSGI Retno Listyarti mengatakan jam sekolah hingga enam hari sebenarnya lebih meringankan siswa sehingga mereka merasa tidak tertekan dalam belajar.
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TEMPO.CO , Jakarta - Komisioner Komisi Perlindungan Anak Indonesia (KPAI) bidang kesehatan, Titik Haryati, mengatakan tidak setuju dengan Peraturan Pemerintah (PP) Nomor 61 Tahun 2014 tentang ihwal kesehatan reproduksi. "Melegalkan aborsi sama saja dengan membunuh," kata Titik kepada Tempo, Kamis, 14 Agustus 2014.
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