Los Angeles Times, Aug 17, 2015 (emphasis added): Biggest oarfish seen at Catalina Island in years washes ashore… marking a rare sighting of the deep-sea creature… [It] was 24 feet long when it was alive, said Annie MacAulay, a marine biologist… its tail [was] severed off — which oarfish have been known to do to shed weight and save energy, she said… The one found Monday had an empty pocket in its stomach, which MacAulay said could mean it recently stopped eating, a potential sign of distress or sickness… a handful of oarfish [have] washed up on California’s coasts in recent years. MORE

LONE PINE, Calif. (AP) — The gas station’s ground was covered with the small winged bugs. Piles of carcasses, inches deep, sat swept to the sides.

On the road, they rained onto car windshields. They flew by the thousands toward even the smallest sources of light, and crept along windows and kitchen tables.

Such has been the skin-crawling reality for the past two months in the high-desert communities at the foot of the Sierra Nevada’s eastern slopes, where residents have seen an explosion of the black-and-red seed bug species Melacoryphus lateralis. MORE

A new study by U-S scientists shows that almost two million people in California and the Midwest live on aquifer sites with high uranium levels.

Gov. Jerry Brown was specific about his goals when he called two special legislative sessions.

Lawmakers, he said, should bring him new plans for financing public healthcare and road repairs, problems that have festered for years.

But he could get much more than he bargained for as lawmakers from both parties seize an opportunity to push a raft of tangential and even unrelated measures. Some would not provide a single dollar toward the governor’s objectives of filling potholes and boosting money for healthcare programs. MORE

Dr. Theresa Deisher is a world-renowned scientist in the field of stem cell research who holds patents after discovering adult stem cells in human hearts. Deisher helped the pro-life activists who spent three years recording undercover videos and capturing documents and information showing the Planned Parenthood abortion business selling aborted babies and their body parts.

Now, in a new interview, Deisher says she has reviewed the information the activists collected and she is making a shocking claim that Planned Parenthood may be keeping some babies alive after the abortion procedure in order to better collect their organs for harvesting — such as their hearts. MORE

SIGN THE PETITION! Congress Must De-Fund Planned Parenthood Immediately

“Last week’s explosions sent massive fireballs into the sky and hurled burning debris across the industrial area at the world’s 10th-largest port, burning out buildings and shattering windows kilometres away,” reports the Daily Mail UK. MORE

Gov. Gary Herbert has ordered all state agencies to stop funneling federal funds to the Planned Parenthood Association of Utah.

The federal government provides grants to Planned Parenthood that are distributed through the Utah Department of Health. Utah law already bars any organization from using state funds for abortions, and that prohibition extends to Planned Parenthood’s federal grants, Herbert said in a statement Friday afternoon. MORE

Iran wants to work with other powers in the Middle East to promote peace following last month’s nuclear deal, Vice-President Masumeh Ebtekar says.

In an interview with the BBC, Ms Ebtekar stressed that Iran had a right to defend itself, but that it had no intention of dominating the region. MORE

First in “China Sends In Chemical Warfare Troops, Orders Tianjin Blast Site Evacuation After Toxic Sodium Cyanide Found” and subsequently in “Poison Rain Feared In Tianjin As Death Toll Rumored At 1,400“, we documented China’s frantic attempts to reassure an increasingly agitated and frightened public that the air and water are safe after last Wednesday’s deadly chemical explosion at Tianjin.

Although the full environmental implications of the blast likely won’t be known for quite some time, the immediate concern is that rain could react with water soluble sodium cyanide, transforming the chemical into potentially fatal hydrogen cyanide gas. MORE

Gregory West, who appears to be Gilbert’s husband, tweeted the video, asking users: ‘Saw it several days ago during a trip and that’s amazing! Can you see the face? Who is it?’ MORE

HAVANA (Reuters) – Cuba put its civil defense system on alert on Monday due to a year-long drought that is forecast to worsen in the coming months and has already damaged agriculture and left more than a million people relying on trucked-in water. MORE

It may have fared badly in the recent robo-olympics, causing hilarity with a series of unexpected falls, but Google has revealed its humanoid robot has been set free in the woods to learn how to run free. MORE

Adverts for cleaning products are notorious for making claims that are probably best taken with a pinch of salt. MORE

It is a strange and wonderful adventure that has captivated readers since it was first published 289 years ago. MORE

The air reporting system takes measurements of pollutants including particulates less than 2.5 microns in diameter, known as PM 2.5, which can penetrate deep into the lungs causing heart attacks, strokes, lung cancer and asthma. MORE