A Smile For The Day

Omg! This is hysterical and they deserved to get in.

Romancing the Bee

This is an actual essay written by a college applicant to NYU in response to this question:

IN ORDER FOR THE ADMISSIONS STAFF OF OUR COLLEGE TO GET TO KNOW YOU, THE APPLICANT, BETTER, WE ASK THAT YOU ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTION:

ARE THERE ANY SIGNIFICANT EXPERIENCES YOU HAVE HAD, OR ACCOMPLISHMENTS YOU HAVE REALIZED, THAT HAVE HELPED TO DEFINE YOU AS A PERSON?

I am a dynamic figure, often seen scaling walls and crushing ice. I have been known to remodel train stations on my lunch breaks, making them more efficient in the area of heat retention. I translate ethnic slurs for Cuban refugees, I write award-winning operas, I manage time efficiently.

Occasionally, I tread water for three days in a row.

I woo women with my sensuous and godlike trombone playing, I can pilot bicycles up severe inclines with unflagging speed, and I cook Thirty-Minute Brownies in twenty…

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Army Corps of Engineers ordered to restore habitat

Posted:

The L.A. Regional Water Control Board has directed the Army Corps of Engineers to restore two wildlife habitats along the Los Angeles River that it bulldozed without authorization.

The board has asked the Army to repair the damage the Corps caused to the Sepulveda Basin and the Verdugo Wash in Glendale.

It seeks restoration that will support the water quality, vegetation, and wildlife habitat that existed before they were bulldozed.

The Board chair said, “Our action today will prevent unauthorized projects that result in habitat destruction… and support the Los Angeles River revitalization efforts by the Water Board, city of Los Angeles, and other stakeholders.”

Almost a year ago, Army Corps of Engineers bulldozers, mowers, and mulching machines stripped nearly all the greenery from a 43-acre section of the Los Angeles River flood plain.

The bulldozing eliminated habitat for mammals, reptiles, and hundreds of species of birds.

This habitat included native willow and cotton groves, elderberries, and coyote brush that had been planted decades ago to create the wildlife preserve.

Corps officers had claimed that an environmental impact report (EIR) was not required because their plan would not significantly disturb habitat and wildlife.

The Corps also removed 6.5 acres of vegetation and sediment from the Verdugo Wash habitat about a month prior to the scraping of the Los Angeles River flood plain.

Aerial photos showed that the Corps machinery discharged oil and grease into the Verdugo habitat and clogged the Los Angeles River channel with displaced sediment and debris.

The Army is asked to respond within 60 days.

Howard Hurlbut is an emeritus professor of the University of Redlands and a resident of Redlan

Posted: 11/04/13, 11:08 AM PST |

By Howard Hurlbut

Guest columnist

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Word of the day

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Today’s reading

Injustice

Two of Arrows

False judgement, ignorance or arrogance.

Sitting in judgement but with unbalanced scales. The bow lies broken and useless because of prejudice.

The scales of justice are already unbalanced in favour of the light, and the ‘white’.

Someone who judges others from a position of arrogant superiority, often stemming from a fearful withdrawn heart.