“Darling, you look fabulous! What’s your secret?””

“Well, I’ll tell you… I swallowed a tapeworm and I’ve never been thinner!”

Allowing a disgusting parasite that can reach up to 25 feet long to grow inside your intestines isn’t exactly a reasonable way to lose weight. Yet, the Tapeworm Diet exists, and who else but Tyra Banks featured it on her circus of a talk show on Monday, exposing this vomitous idea to millions of people across the country.

From Ecorazzi:

According to Diet Review, “[The Tapeworm] secretes proteins in our intestinal tract that make our digestion of food much less efficient. A less efficient digestive systems means that you can consume more calories through your food since your “body guest” is also noshing on them for his own growth purposes. Some scientists estimate that those infected with a single tapeworm can lose up to one or two pounds each week.”

Healthy eating? Blah. Exercise? Who needs it! Just swallow a parasite and continue hitting KFC for lunch and dinner. Tyra even had a guy on that sells the worms over the Internet; despite an FDA ban on the practice. Said one woman on Twitter, “I’m still undecided on Tyra Banks’ Tapeworm diet. I don’t know if its a great or just plain ridiculous.” Undecided? What the hell is wrong with people?

And Tyra actually found two women who said they were willing to ingest a tapeworm to lose weight, despite the risks. You might ask, “Who are these people?” But, hey, this is America.

It might sound like some kind of hoax, but it’s for real – check out the comments at Diets in Review. Some of them are clearly tongue-in-cheek (and the diet has an unlikely 52% approval rating), but there are also commenters asking for information on where to get a tapeworm they can swallow. Amazing.

Link [Ecorazzi]

It seems too ludicrous to be real: a U.S. Army unit that sought to acquire and refine Jedi-like powers, and trained by attempting to kill goats through mind power alone. But the movie ‘The Men Who Stare at Goats’, starring George Clooney, Jeff Bridges, Ewan McGregor and Kevin Spacey, is based on actual events and people.

One of those people is retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. Jim Channon, who was the brains behind the loopy 1st Earth Battalion.

From Sign On San Diego:

Channon, who is loosely portrayed by a Dudelike Bridges, embarked on a two-year government-funded fact-finding mission that included naked hot tub encounters and yoga retreats so he could write a military manual in 1978 to help Army “Jedi” soldiers reach a higher spiritual plane. He envisioned a more Zenlike approach to combat, with troops wearing ginseng-equipped uniforms, offering symbolic flowers, cradling baby lambs in hostile territory and greeting enemies with “sparkly eyes.”

“If the ideas were instituted and they worked, we would be a far better world,” Heslov says. “Do I believe it could happen? Probably not. But I’ve got to give the military credit.”

Channon now lives on an “eco-homestead” in Hawaii and describes himself as a “global elder” and “mystic landcrafter” still pursuing creative ways to bring world peace. In a video posted on his Web site, firstearthbattalion.org, he takes the movie’s humor with a grain of salt and asserts that his out-of-the-box thinking for his “mythical battalion” wasn’t absurd.

“If soldiers are telepathic during a firefight, that would be very useful,” Channon explains at one point. He ends the video with his trademark “Go Planet!”

The movie definitely takes liberties with the story – director Grant Heslov figures about 65% is lifted from Jon Ronson’s non-fiction book of the same name – but fear not, Jim Channon is here to tell you the real story. His website contains all kinds of information about the 1st Earth Battalion, and he explains some of it below:

Read more at Sign On San Diego.

Link [Sign On San Diego]

Isn’t it nice to look up at a billboard, just once, to see that no one is trying to shove a product down your throat? A joy, indeed – and a nice thing to see at the outset of the holiday season, when, nearly 2 months from Christmas, we’re already being bombarded with “BUY ME!” ads.

Via [Treehugger]

Appalachian Sustainable Development is seeking a full-time accountant in Abingdon, Virginia.

Appalachian Sustainable Development (ASD) is a not-for-profit organization working in the Appalachian region of Virginia and Tennessee.  Formed in 1995, ASD focuses on developing healthy, diverse and ecologically sound economic opportunities through education and training, and the development of cooperative networks and marketing systems.

Our work encompasses 2 broad areas: Building a strong local food system based on organic and sustainable farming and fostering forest conservation through value-added wood processing and “green building.”  ASD links consumers with farmers and producers and provides hands-on opportunities for learning, advocacy and civic engagement.

Position Overview:

Appalachian Sustainable Development seeks accountant with a minimum of 5 years experience; preferably in non profit & social enterprise. Problem solver, shows initiative, embraces mission of sustainability.

Responsibilities:

Responsible for managing the finances of the nonprofit and its 2 small businesses. Duties: budget preparation/ management, grant tracking/reimbursement, financial reporting, payroll, sales taxes, bank recs, A/P & A/R.

Qualifications:

Strong proficiency with QuickBooks, Excel and other Microsoft programs.

To Apply:

Please submit resumes by email no later than November 16, 2009

Contact Information:
kterry@asdevelop.org
http://www.asdevelop.org

Link [ASD] + [Green Dream Jobs]

Fossil fuels don’t exactly have a good reputation as it is – they’re incredibly environmentally destructive, and bear the brunt of the blame for our current situation with global warming. Now, experts are saying that “a frenzy of hydrocarbon burning” millions of years ago might have caused the most dramatic, devastating mass extinction the Earth has ever seen.

From the New Scientist:

Around 250 million years ago, the so-called “Great Dying” saw 70 per cent of species wiped out on land and 95 per cent in the oceans. A clue to what may have triggered this disaster lies in solidified magma from this time, which is widespread in an area of Siberia where coal is also abundant.

One suggestion is that the heat of the magma could have baked many billions of tonnes of CO2 out of the coal over a geologically brief period of a few thousand years (New Scientist, 8 December 2007, p 42). The ensuing climate change and ocean acidification would account for the extinctions. Now Norman Sleep and Darcy Ogden, both of Stanford University in California, think the trigger for the Great Dying may have been even swifter and more terrifying.

Rather than causing gentle heating, magma encountering oil- and tar-soaked coal underground would melt it, producing a highly combustible material, they say. Crucially, this molten mixture would be light enough to rise quickly to the surface. There it would burn explosively on contact with oxygen in the air, blasting dust and ash into the stratosphere and releasing huge quantities of CO2.

Basically, this resulted in hell on earth – vast areas of fire fountains and smoke columns over a moonscape littered with coal tar and coal fragments. If Sleep and Ogden’s theory is correct, the evidence is hiding in Siberia’s volcanic deposits – but we will probably never know for sure.

Link [New Scientist]
Photo credit: South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut

Hummingbirds are so fun to watch, with their colorful little wings that move so fast they’re a blur – but it can be hard to see them up close. One wacky new product allows you to see hummingbirds like you’ve never seen them before – an inch from your eyeballs.

From The Daily Mail:

A new helmet with a built-in bird feeder will allow wearers to get amazing face to face contact with nature.

The flighty birds hover in front of the wearer’s face for up to 30 seconds as they drink a sugar-water solution from between the eyes of the feeder mask.

The wearable hummingbird feeder is covered in images of red rhododendrons to further attract the birds and protects your eyes and face from being pecked.

Those who want to try out the gadget need to have patience. The mask is first placed over a can of paint for a few days to allow the birds to get used to it.

It’s one of those bizarre products that’s probably wholly unnecessary – but then again, doesn’t use up much more plastic than a regular hummingbird feeder and gets people in closer (MUCH closer!) contact with nature. And, that’s a good thing, right?

Link [The Daily Mail]

Virtually all power plants burning fossil fuels release insane amounts of pollution into the atmosphere – but some are definitely dirtier than others. And if you live in the Southeast United States, you’re practically surrounded by dozens of the world’s biggest carbon offenders.

Forbes has a new interactive map that lets you see where the world’s most polluting power plants are located, and learn all kinds of startling facts about them.

For example, France is the only G-7 country with no power plants among the world’s dirtiest – because they rely on nuclear power. Meanwhile, Taiwan’s got the nastiest one in the world – the Taichung Power Plant, which emits 40 million tons of carbon every year.

Check it out over at Forbes.com.

Link [Forbes]

What has Captain Planet been doing in all these long years since he was the earth’s premier protector? Apparently, he’s been breathing in a whole lot of nasty toxic air and feeding on the same plastic that’s killing all those albatross chicks. He’s pissed, and headed to Copenhagen to demand action.

“I can barely breathe this air and my stomach is full of plastic! It’s time for you guys to pull together and stop polluting the earth!”

This totally awesome cartoon was created by an Australian animator named Chris who calls himself ‘Lord Zorgatron’. He’s known as ‘SexualLobster’ on YouTube. Check out more of his work at GreasyMoose.com.

Link [GreasyMoose.com] via [Ecorazzi]

How do you get adults to care about the environment? How about scaring their kids shitless with the specter of a ‘carbon monster’ in the sky that’s going to get them if their parents don’t act against global warming? That’s the tact the British government has chosen to take with an ad that seeks to change skeptics’ minds about climate change, but has only angered viewers who saw it during prime-time television broadcasts.

The intentions behind the ad are understandable. It’s a response to a recent survey in Britain showing that 52% of people don’t think they’ll be personally affected by climate change, but 74% would change their lifestyles if they knew that climate change would have a serious affect on the lives of their children.

From the Times Online:

Ministers sanctioned the campaign because of concern that scepticism about climate change was making it harder to introduce carbon-reducing policies such as higher energy bills.

The advertisement attempts to make adults feel guilty about their legacy to their children. It features a father telling his daughter a bedtime story of “a very very strange” world with “horrible consequences” for today’s children.

The storybook shows a British town deep under water, with people and animals drowning.

Carbon dioxide is depicted as rising in clouds of black soot from cars and homes, including from a woman’s hairdryer. The soot gathers into a jagged-toothed monster menacing the town.

Watch the ad over at the Times Online.

Predictably, global warming skeptics are having a field day with this one, calling it propaganda. People in Britain who saw it on TV were so angry about it that the ad has been pulled and is currently being investigated.

But one fumbled ad doesn’t mean that people should forget or ignore the harsh reality. Children will, indeed, be the victims of climate change if we don’t act – in fact, the Telegraph reports that 250,000 children could die due to climate change next year and that number could rise to more than 400,000 annually by 2030.

Climate change is a real and pressing problem, and far too many people across the world are covering their eyes and plugging up their ears so they don’t have to deal with it.

Link [Times Online]

Every celebrity has lunatic fans, but pole-dancing tween queen Miley Cyrus seems to have inspired a particularly fervent devotion among the completely unchained. First there was her extremely creepy stalker, and now she’s got someone threatening to kill their beloved cat if she doesn’t come back to Twitter.

Why did Miley leave Twitter? Who the hell cares? Oh, wait. This dude (or chick?) clearly does. And if Miley doesn’t come back by November 16th, Fuzzy is going to get it.

The other day I asked myself: ‘What can I do to bring Miley back to Twitter?’ Fan video? Petitions? Letters? That never works. Heck, Miley even made her own video about never wanting to use Twitter again. Then I looked at my cat, Fuzzy and I realized, maybe Fuzzy can help. Fuzzy can make the ultimate sacrifice for this cause. It was very difficult for me, you see, as I sincerely love Fuzzy. But my mind is made up. I could always get another cat, but nothing can replace Miley’s tweets for me!

The idea is very simple. I’ve set a deadline of November 16, 2009, when Fuzzy will part with his life and become a meal. I intend to make a cat dish according to our ethnic cuisine. Check out the Recipes section for more information. Also, you can view some pictures of Fuzzy here.

I do not consider myself a cruel person and I do love my cat. Fuzzy will receive quick and swift death and I’ll try to minimize his suffering.

Wondering what, exactly, this unnamed psycho fan is going to do with Fuzzy? Well, you need look no further than MileySaveFuzzy.com, where he/she has posted a recipe for ‘Braised Cat’. This fan swears that it isn’t a hoax or a joke (though, you know how that goes).

Hey, eating cats is as normal as eating chickens in some parts of the world – and there’s not necessarily anything wrong with that. In fact, it’s kind of messed up that we place such sentimental significance on certain species and are totally blasé about the treatment of the ones we eat.

But eating your pet for Miley freaking Cyrus’ TWITTER ACCOUNT? Maybe you should marinate yourself and let Fuzzy put you out of your misery.

Link [MileySaveFuzzy.com]