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Paper grocery bags are bad. Plastic grocery bags are evil. To "save" the planet and not be labeled as a delinquent, you must use reusable canvas or cloth grocery bags. It would appear that soon there will not be a choice of what you use. You will use the reusable grocery bag or not be shopping!

OAKLAND, Calif. -- A proposed strategy for reducing ocean litter calls for a statewide ban on foam food containers, fees for using plastic and paper bags, and making producers responsible for the collection and disposal of packaging. The California Ocean Protection Council announced its plans (PDF [319KB]) earlier this month and voted on actions for preventing and reducing waste that could end up in the ocean. The state council also aims to change producer and consumer behavior with its three recommendations for reducing packaging waste: adopting extended producer responsibility, prohibiting certain items and charging fees for items that commonly become...

The plastic grocery bag is fighting for its crinkly life.From the city of San Francisco to Los Angeles County, more than a dozen local governments around the state have proposed or passed plastic-bag restrictions, ranging from recycling mandates to outright bans.Now, a proposal in the Legislature would put a 25-cent fee on all disposable bags – paper or plastic – given out at drug and grocery store check stands starting Jan. 1, 2010. It has won key support from the grocery and retail industries and faces its next legislative step today. Those in favor of the fee, led by Assemblyman...

OSCEOLA, Iowa - Presidential contender Mike Huckabee bagged a pheasant Wednesday, offering Iowa voters the image of an experienced outdoorsman on the hunt, shotgun blasting and dogs braying. Just a campaign gambit? "Maybe it will show that I certainly understand the culture of being outdoors," Huckabee said. "It's not something we had to go out and get a primer in. It's very much ordinary to me." The former Arkansas governor said back home he would be duck hunting on the day after Christmas, but pheasant hunting in Iowa — eight days before the state's leadoff nominating caucuses — was a...

SAN FRANCISCO- San Francisco took another step toward becoming the first U.S. city to ban plastic grocery bags Thursday, after a legislative committee indicated it was likely to endorse the measure. The three-member committee of the city Board of Supervisors was forced to postpone voting on the environmentally friendly legislation after two members amended it to apply to pharmacies with five or more retail stores in addition to grocery stores. But the two supervisors who approved the amendments said they would vote on Tuesday to send it on to the full board, where eight of the 11 members have signed...

HOUSTON (AP) - Airline workers are trying to match 68 pieces of stolen luggage with lost claims while police search for clues into the theft of the bags that were found in a trash container outside a pet store near George Bush Intercontinental Airport. The bags found Tuesday were from passengers of as many as nine airlines and all appeared to have been rummaged through, said Sgt. Nate McDuell, a Houston police spokesman. Authorities have not identified any suspects or a motive. They are interviewing employees of Pet City, who reported the luggage Tuesday, and people who may have handled...

A group of top classical musicians has warned of the threat to artistic life from a hand baggage ban introduced after police foiled an alleged bomb plot against transatlantic airliners. Many performers refuse to let their instruments, often centuries old and extremely valuable, out of their sight when they travel on planes in case they are damaged in the hold.

Around 10,000 bags checked in by British Airways passengers have gone missing at airports since the UK security alert began, the airline says. It said half of them were still piled up at airports waiting to be delivered back to their owners. A war of words has erupted between BA and airport operator BAA over who is to blame for the misplaced luggage. Twenty-four are now in custody after another person was held under terror laws over the alleged plot on Tuesday. 'Unprecedented circumstance' And CCTV footage has emerged of one of the men being held, Tayib Rauf, at his...

At first glance, the term "gun nut" would appear to be nothing more than an ad hominem against the more enthusiastic weapon owners of this country. However, as one reads the literature espoused by gun nut organizations, the reasoning behind this term becomes startlingly clear. Gun nuts are called as such because they are incontrovertibly insane. The gun lobby has adopted the same attitude toward politics as Rush Limbaugh: "Don't confuse me with facts, I've got my mind made up!" Gun nuts are so obsessed with opposing gun control laws that no amount of factual evidence against their position will...

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'Pimp My Ride' shop fined by feds Replacing air bags with video screens illegal By Danny Hakim NEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE Posted on Fri, Dec. 31, 2004 DETROIT - Pimp the ride, pay the price. In the first of what is expected to be a broader crackdown against auto customization shops, federal regulators this week levied a $16,000 fine on West Coast Customs, the celebrity auto body shop affiliated with MTV's "Pimp My Ride," a reality show that makes over rundown cars. The shop, which has customized sport utility vehicles for celebrities such as Shaquille O'Neal, was fined for...

Police investigate missing bags of ammonium nitrate Winston-Salem police are investigating the disappearance of 100 bags of ammonium nitrate from a local fertilizer plant. The chemical compound is commonly used as fertilizer but can also be used in explosives. According to police, Royster-Clark, one of the nation's largest retailers of fertilizer products, filed a report of a break-in and larceny that occurred between July 1 and Tuesday at the company's plant at 3105 N. Glenn Ave. An inventory check revealed that 100 50-pound bags of the compound were missing, Lt. Brad Yandell said. Police found 35 of the bags at...

5,000 body bags ordered in case of terrorist chemical attack By Martin Bentham, Social Affairs Correspondent (Filed: 08/12/2002) The government is buying more than 120,000 decontamination suits to protect people from a terrorist chemical or biological attack on potential targets across Britain such as Trafalgar Square. Thousands of decontamination showers, shelters, stretchers and other equipment are also being ordered - as well as 5,000 body bags. The equipment, which is intended to be available by the middle of next year at the latest, will be stored at 16 locations, ready to be distributed within minutes of a terrorist attack. The...

CAPTION THE PIC -Sen. Clinton on Capitol subway a few hours ago.