Monday, 11 October 2010 08:29
'The threat of unemployment is used to coerce workers into accepting lower wages and preventing them from protesting abusive treatment or lack of benefits.
The staggering job losses in the public sector will only worsen as state budget crises are balanced on the back of teachers, social service workers, and other public workers. The lack of action to prevent this hemorrhaging must be viewed as a conscious and well-defined policy with a specific goal.'
Read more: The Wealthy are Bursting from their Financial Seams: The Struggle for a Workers' Recovery
Monday, 11 October 2010 08:23
'By creating a non-GMO verification program, NGP avoids FDA policy to hide GM food. Boorman explains, “Our label was specifically designed to be a process claim (“Non-GMO Project Verified”) and not an absence claim.”
The right-to-know issue is significant. The FDA considers claims of “GMO free” and “Non-GMO” to be “not technically accurate” and “misleading.” Firstly, that’s because the FDA believes “the use of bioengineering is not a material fact.” The FDA recognizes no difference in GM and non-GM foods. They are “substantially equivalent.”
Secondly, the FDA subscribes to a definition for genetically modified food that is broadly outside the scope of everyone else’s understanding: “’Genetic modification’ means the alteration of the genotype of a plant using any technique, new or traditional".'
Read more: Does Your Food Contain Genetically Modified Organisms?
Sunday, 10 October 2010 09:30
Sunday, 10 October 2010 09:23
'Council chiefs have sparked outrage after proposing residents dig themselves out of the snow as Britain braces itself for another winter of Arctic conditions. As long-range forecasts suggest the country will be hit by blizzards and temperatures plummeting to -20c, bosses at Camden Council prepared to hand out spades.
But their solution to the bitter weather has been slammed by those who remember the headache of last year's gritting crisis which brought widespread disruption and left people trapped in their homes. The north London council's proposal involves a 'self-help' scheme in which people can ring and request a shovel. The authority plans to give out more than 2,000 spades to community centres and groups, shopkeepers and families to help clear clogged-up roads and pavements.'
Sunday, 10 October 2010 09:16
'The Hungarian village of Kolontar has been evacuated after new damage was discovered at a burst reservoir that spilled toxic sludge on Monday. Prime Minister Viktor Orban said it was "very likely" that an entire wall of the reservoir would collapse, releasing a fresh wave of chemical effluent. Mr Orban also said there would be "very severe" consequences for those to blame for the disaster.
At least seven people have died as a result of the accident. Around 150 people were injured by the spill of up to 700,000 cubic metres (24.7m cu ft) of red toxic sludge - many receiving burns.'
Sunday, 10 October 2010 08:52
'In the climate controversy dubbed Kiwigate,New Zealand skeptics inflict shock courtroom defeat on climatologists implicated in temperature data fraud.
New Zealand’s government via its National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) has announced it has nothing to do with the country’s “official” climate record in what commentators are calling a capitulation from the tainted climate reconstruction. The story is also covered on web news aggregator site, icecap.com.
NIWA’s statement of defense claims they were never responsible for the national temperature record (NZTR).The climb down is seen as a legal triumph for skeptics of the New Zealand Climate Science Coalition (NZCSC) who had initiated their challenge last August when petitioning the high court of New Zealand to invalidate the weather service’s reconstruction of antipodean temperatures.'
Read more: Legal Defeat for Global Warming in Kiwigate Scandal
Sunday, 10 October 2010 08:41
'Her family says 7-year-old Kathleen Edward is in the final stages of a degenerative brain disorder diagnosed as Huntington's Disease - the same disease which killed her mother, Laura, when she was only 24.
Neighbors Jennifer and Scott Petkov, who have been feuding with the family, admitted to posting grim depictions of Laura and Kathleen on Facebook. One photo depicts Laura in the arms of the grim reaper, while the other features Kathleen's face above a set of crossbones.
The couple also have a coffin hitched to a pick-up truck in front of the house, which they say is nothing more than a halloween decoration.'
Read more: Parents: Dying Girl, 7, Taunted by Neighbors in Trenton
Sunday, 10 October 2010 08:31
'White served as the band's guitarist during their tumultuous final few years, which culminated in what is viewed as their worst album, "Cut the Crap" (1985.) He was taken behind the scenes and saw how things really work. He relays his experiences in his book 'Out of Control' which apart from being a compelling story, reveals how a group viewed as authentic and intellectual can be controlled by corporate puppeteers.
The band did not write their own songs. Their socialist ideals were just marketing. Manager Bernie Rhodes ran the group like a dictator. Painful for Clash fans, singer and punk icon Joe Strummer is portrayed like a Geisha in the morning: a flawed mortal practicing a morally dubious trade.'
Read more: Rock Rebels 'Clash' Were Corporate Puppets
Sunday, 10 October 2010 07:25
'Rising temperatures could mean events such as the drought in Russia this summer, which pushed up grain prices, hit countries like the UK.
But they said the worst effects of climate change could be limited by investment in better farming and the development of new drought resistant or heat tolerant crops. This could be done by aid money, breeding and new technologies like genetic modification (GM).
In a study published in the journal Environmental Research Letters, the scientists warned that rising temperatures would make crops mature more quickly, reducing their yield, while extreme temperatures could also significantly reduce yields.'
Read more: UK Met Office Once Again Promoting Global Warming and GM Crops
Sunday, 10 October 2010 06:57
'Bank of America on Friday halted foreclosures on homes across the country so it could review paperwork in tens of thousands of cases for flaws, expanding a crisis at a perilous time for the housing market.
The move came as PNC Financial Services became the fourth major bank to announce that it would stop foreclosures in at least some states. It added to growing concerns that mortgage lenders have been evicting homeowners despite flawed court papers.'
Read more: Bank of America Halts Foreclosures in All States
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