Whether you volunteer, report oil-slicked wildlife, write to Congress, donate money or boycott BP, there are several actions you can take in response to the unprecedented BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Here are a few ways to help.

1. Report Injured Wildlife and Oiled Beaches – If you live along the Gulf Coast and spot oil damage or wildlife in need of help, the government has set up these hotlines (along with a Website):

To report oiled wildlife: 1-866-557-1401 (Leave a message; they will be checked hourly.)
To report oil spill related damage: 1-800-440-0858
To report oiled shoreline: 1-866-448-5816

2. Volunteer – Volunteers must be trained to be effective, and to avoid health problems that can result from handling oil and oiled wildlife. BP is paying many people to respond to the oil spill, and those workers typically include locals put out of work by the spill. So think twice before you “volunteer” because you don’t want to take work away from a shrimper or a fishermen put out of work – possibly for years – by the spill. That said, the task of cleaning up, laying booms and cleansing what wildlife can be found is enormous.

3. Donate – While BP has pledged to pay all legitimate claims made in relation to the oil spill, the groups working in the area need immediate support (and there’s no guarantee BP will pay every claim victims feel is worthy, especially since U.S. law caps some expenses at $75 million).

See more ways to help the Gulf region at The Daily Green.

Relatives giving you indigestion? Flee to one of these sports bars for Thanksgiving football.

Angry Wade’s
The annual Thanksgiving Football Party, in its seventh year, promises to be big with pints and house drinks half price until 6pm. What’s also big are the six HD LCD Tvs; not to mention your stomach after tucking into the free Thanksgiving buffet with roast turkey, sausage stuffing and homemade cranberry sauce. 222 Smith St at Butler St, Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn (718-488-7253). Open noon–4am.

Bar 43
Show up in your team’s colors at this Irish spot. When your idols score a touchdown, they’ll toast you with shots on the house. By the time the Celtic rock band takes the stage you’ll be blarneying about the ol’ country. 43-06 43rd St between Queens Blvd and 43rd Ave, Sunnyside, Queens (718-361-3090, bar43.com). Open 11–4am.

Bleecker Street Bar
Ostensibly, this NoHo joint is a no-frills sports bar. But amidst the 10 TVs and $6.50 pitchers of Bud—plus pool tables and dart boards to amuse you between games—there’s a surprising array of Bloody Marys (including bacon-infused and pesto) that are also worth a try. 58 Bleecker St at Crosby St (212-334-0244, bleeckerstreetbarnyc.com). Open noon–4am.

Dalton’s
If your family is refusing to let you watch the football, just burn the turkey and take them here for a $25 substitute dinner. It doesn’t matter where you sit, you’ll be able to see the game on one of 15 HD 50″ screens. Score with $5 Blue Moons and $4 Yuenglings while the game’s on. 611 Ninth Ave between 43rd and 44th Sts (212-245-5511, daltonsnyc.com). Open 11–4am.

Pacific Standard
If big crowds aren’t your thing, but a cornucopia of beer from American micro-breweries are, head to this cozy, laid-back Brooklyn. There, you will find large projection screens in both rooms, light bar snacks and plenty of space. 82 Fourth Ave between Bergen St and St. Marks Pl, Brooklyn (718-858-1951, pacificstandardbrooklyn.com). Open noon–4am.

Still
The surrogate home for fans of the San Diego Chargers and anyone who likes 25¢ buffalo wings and $3 domestic—which is pretty much everyone. But don’t be fooled by the prices—this is more stylish bar than sports dive. 192 Third Ave between 17th and 18th Sts, (212-471-9807, stillnyc.com). Open noon-4am.

From Time Out New York

Forecast Details for New York, NY, from the National Weather Service:

This Afternoon – Partly sunny. Thunderstorms likely. Some thunderstorms may be severe with damaging winds. Highs in the upper 80s. Southwest winds 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation 60 percent.

Tonight – Mostly cloudy. Showers and thunderstorms likely…mainly in the evening. Lows in the upper 60s. West winds 5 to 10 mph… becoming northwest after midnight. Chance of rain 60 percent.

From WCBS Weather

Today…Mostly sunny this morning. Partly sunny this afternoon. Highs in the lower 60s.

From National Weather Service

What is the New York Sushi Society (NYSS)? They’re just a buncha folks that love sushi and can’t get enough excuses to indulge! They get together periodically to socialize and sushi-ize.

They “anchor” their gatherings with quarterly banquets, planned to coincide (roughly) with the first Friday of the first week of each new season. The banquet meetings are currently held at Ginji Restaurant (165 Front Street, New York City, voice (212) 425-4441, and are offered as a prix fix menu, running about $40-$48 per person (including tax and tip, but not including drinks). For that, they get a (usually) stunning variety of sushi and sashimi, including unusual rolls and combinations. The banquets are limited to the first 20 people who sign up.

View photos from previous New York Sushi Society excursions.

All New Yorkers know the two major conflicts that have raged through the city for decades. The war over New York’s best pizza has claimed many lives and will likely never resolve peacefully. Less bloody but no less passionately disputed, the war over NYC’s best bagels has actually been waged for far longer — bagels supposedly came to New York in the Lower East side of the 1880s. We’ve no idea which bagelry is New York’s oldest, but Gridskipper can present a roster of modern bagel fortresses.

#1)  Daniel’s Bagels
This Murray Hill institution holds its own against Dunkin’ (Donuts next door) and Bagelry (down the street). It could be because the bagels are $0.80 cents, as opposed to … $0.85 at Bagelry, or because the schoolbus-yellow walls make you crave flavors such as salt, sourdough, and pumpernickel.

Check out a list of the Top Ten Bagel Shops according to Gridskipper.

Hillary’s plan to promote energy independence, address global warming, and transform our economy includes:

• A new cap-and-trade program that auctions 100 percent of permits alongside
  investments to move us on the path towards energy independence;
• An aggressive comprehensive energy efficiency agenda to reduce electricity
  consumption 20 percent from projected levels by 2020 by changing the way
  utilities do business, catalyzing a green building industry, enacting strict
  appliance efficiency standards, and phasing out incandescent light bulbs;
• A $50 billion Strategic Energy Fund, paid for in part by oil companies, to fund
  investments in alternative energy. The SEF will finance one-third of the $150
  billon ten-year investment in a new energy future contained in this plan;
• Doubling of federal investment in basic energy research, including funding for
  an ARPA-E, a new research agency modeled on the successful Defense
  Advanced Research Projects Agency
• Aggressive action to transition our economy toward renewable energy sources,
  with renewables generating 25 percent of electricity by 2025 and with 60 billion
  gallons of home-grown biofuels available for cars and trucks by 2030;
• 10 “Smart Grid City” partnerships to prove the advanced capabilities of smart
  grid and other advanced demand-reduction technologies, as well as new
  investment in plug-in hybrid vehicle technologies;
• An increase in fuel efficiency standards to 55 miles per gallon by 2030, and $20
  billion of “Green Vehicle Bonds” to help U.S. automakers retool their plants to
  meet the standards;
• A plan to catalyze a thriving green building industry by investing in green collar
  jobs and helping to modernize and retrofit 20 million low-income homes to make
  them more energy efficient;
• A new “Connie Mae” program to make it easier for low and middle-income
  Americans to buy green homes and invest in green home improvements;
• A requirement that all publicly traded companies report financial risks due to
  climate change in annual reports filed with the Securities and Exchange
  Commission; and
• Creation of a “National Energy Council” within the White House to ensure
  implementation of the plan across the Executive Branch.
• A requirement that all federal buildings designed after January 20, 2009 will be
  zero emissions buildings.

From Hillary Clinton.com

Every day, well before dawn breaks over Manila, a small army of human scavengers make their way from the squalid slums they call home to the gates of the city’s biggest garbage dump. Armed with headlamps and wicker baskets they make the slow walk to the top of the Payatas dumpsite on the outskirts of Manila.

Rising some 30 to 40 meters (98 to 131 feet) from the valley floor the mound of garbage covers 10 hectares (24.7 acres) and takes in sweeping views of the surrounding countryside.

Excerpt from “Manilas Garbage Dump Offers Lifeline For Poor” by Karl Wilson at Terra Daily.

Watch the shocking documentary “Manila’s City of Garbage” at VBS.tv.

“Mommy, I lost my mitten.”

“Well, there’s nothing I can do about that. Next time you’ll have to be more responsible.”

“Mommy, my hand is cold”

“Then put it in your pocket.”

“But Mommy, my pocket is cold.”

“Damnit! This is the last time we’re coming in to the city.”

This month is set to become the first January in 75 years that New York City has been without any measurable snowfall, according to the National Weather Service.

Less than one-tenth of an inch has fallen in a month that usually produces more than eight inches of snow in the city, according to the National Weather Service.

The phenomenon can be traced to the lack of offshore storms, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, Joseph Pollina, said.

“We’ve had a number of systems move up the East Coast in not a favorable track for snow,” Mr. Pollina said. “Most of the storms have been inland, west of New York City. We haven’t really had too much cold air, but when we do, it hasn’t coincided with precipitation.”

A climate scientist with the federal government’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, Gavin Schmidt, said the lack of snowfall this month cannot be attributed to global warming.

From “Lack of January Snow Is a First in 75 Years” by Jared Irmas, published January 30, 2008 in The New York Sun.