‘obama to restore wilderness rules for public lands’

NPR: The Obama administration plans to reverse a Bush-era policy and make millions of undeveloped acres of land once again eligible for federal wilderness protection, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Thursday.

The agency will replace the 2003 policy adopted under former Interior Secretary Gale Norton, Salazar said. That policy — derided by some as the “No More Wilderness” policy — stated that new areas could not be recommended for wilderness protection by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and opened millions of acres in the Rocky Mountain region to potential commercial development.

That policy “frankly never should have happened and was wrong in the first place,” Salazar said Thursday.

Environmental activists have been pushing for the Obama administration to restore protections for potential wilderness areas.

Full article here

happy holiday news …. ‘job offers rising as economy warms up’

Wall Street Journal: As the economy gradually recovers, some big U.S. companies are cranking up their recruiting and advertising thousands of job openings, ranging from retail clerks and nurses to bank tellers and experts in cloud computing.

Many of the new jobs are in retailing, accounting, consulting, health care, telecommunications and defense-related industries, according to data collected for The Wall Street Journal by Indeed Inc., which runs one the largest employment websites. It said the number of U.S. job postings on the Internet rose to 4.7 million on Dec. 1, up from 2.7 million a year earlier.

…companies are racking up profits and now have built strong cash positions, and may be ready to hire again. As consumer confidence revives, the economy should continue a gradual recovery that encourages more companies to hire…

2010 …. july to august …. picture perfect

January to February video here

March to April video here

May to June here

rise and shine

The sun rises over Kailua, Hawaii, December 24

KHON2: A motorcade carrying President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama left the Kailua compound at 8:07 a.m. en route to Marine Corps Base Hawaii at Kaneohe Bay

President Barack Obama’s dog Bo is walked near the first family’s vacation home in Kailua, Hawaii December 24

Men working on a roof gesture as President Obama’s motorcade arrives back in the neighborhood where he is staying in Kailua, following a morning workout

2010 …. may to june …. picture perfect

January to February video here

March to April video here