Archive for the 'Collapse' Category
Michigan Governor Finalizing Plan to Raze Detroit Empty Homes
July 18th, 2012Via: Reuters: As the next step in an April deal between financially strapped Detroit and the state of Michigan, Governor Rick Snyder is finalizing a plan to tear down thousands of abandoned houses in a bid to make the city safer. Detroit has been hard-hit over the past four decades by a steep drop in […]
USDA Prepares To Greenlight Gnarliest GMO Soy Yet
July 18th, 2012Via: Mother Jones: In early July, on the sleepy Friday after Independence Day, the USDA quietly signaled its intention to greenlight a new genetically engineered soybean seed from Dow AgroSciences. The product is designed to produce soy plants that withstand 2,4-D, a highly toxic herbicide (and, famously, the less toxic component in the notorious Vietnam […]
Job Insecurity: It’s the Disease of the 21st Century
July 5th, 2012Via: Alternet: Remember Dilbert, the mid-level, white-collar Cubicle Guy of the ’90s who could never seem to get ahead? In the 21st century, his position looks almost enviable. He has been replaced by Waiting-For-the-Other-Shoe-to-Drop Man. Across America, freaked-out employees are coping with sweat-drenched nights and heart-pounding days. They’re reaching for the Xanax and piling on […]
Mid Atlantic: Three Million Without Power
July 1st, 2012Via: CBS: Utility crews untangled downed power lines and tree limbs Sunday, working to get the electricity turned back on for millions of people facing a second day of 100-degree temperatures without modern conveniences like air conditioning and refrigeration. On Saturday, many people flocked to places like malls and movie theaters in the hope the […]
Mutated Pests Are Quickly Adapting to Biotech Crops
June 28th, 2012Via: io9: Genetically modified crops are often designed to repel hungry insects. By having toxins built into the plant itself, farmers can reduce their use of environmentally unfriendly insecticide sprays. But as any first-year evolutionary biology student can tell you, insects are like the Borg in Star Trek: they quickly adapt. And this is precisely […]
China Downplays Risk to Children from Lead Poisoning
June 27th, 2012Via: Reuters: Chinese children suffering lead poisoning from polluting smelters and factories have been denied testing, effective treatment and even basic information by officials who downplayed health threats, a human rights advocacy group said on Wednesday. The report from Human Rights Watch comes after China’s latest lead pollution outbreak, when 103 children and scores of […]
Louisiana: Creationists Get Public School Vouchers
June 27th, 2012I’m seeing a lot of outrage about this, but I actually don’t think it’s any worse than the sludge that’s pumped into the minds of children who are subjected to regular public school. The nuts are running the nuthouses in both camps, if you ask me. Via: Washington Post: This would be funny if it […]
China: Genetically Modified Cows Churn Out ‘Human Breast Milk’
June 27th, 2012Via: Reuters: Chinese scientists have produced a herd of genetically modified cows that make milk that could substitute for human breast milk — a possible alternative to formula in a nation rocked by tainted milk powder scandals. Researchers at the State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology of the China Agricultural University introduced human genetic coding into […]
Mexico City Airport Shooting Suspects Are Police
June 26th, 2012Via: MSNBC: Three policemen died in a shootout with two other officers suspected of drug trafficking at Mexico City’s airport on Monday, as panicked travelers scrambled for cover in the busy facility. The shootout occurred when three federal officers approached the two suspects in the airport’s Terminal 2, which handles international and domestic flights. Two […]
From Milk to Peas, a Chinese Food-Safety Mess
June 23rd, 2012Via: New York Times: There’s mercury in the baby formula. Cabbages are sprayed with formaldehyde. Gelatin capsules for pills, tens of millions of them, are laced with chromium. Used cooking oil is scooped out of gutters for recycling, right along with the sewage. Accounts of dubious or unsafe food in China are as mesmerizing as […]
