Archive for the 'Collapse' Category
Recovery: 1 in 6 Americans in Government Anti-Poverty Programs
August 31st, 2010Via: USA Today: Government anti-poverty programs that have grown to meet the needs of recession victims now serve a record one in six Americans and are continuing to expand. More than 50 million Americans are on Medicaid, the federal-state program aimed principally at the poor, a survey of state data by USA TODAY shows. That’s […]
Mexico Gunmen Assassinate Second Mayor in Two Weeks
August 30th, 2010Via: Bloomberg: Mexican gunmen assassinated the second mayor in less than two weeks in the violent northeast region of the country as a fight against drug traffickers intensifies. Marco Antonio Leal Garcia, the mayor of Hidalgo in Tamaulipas state, was killed when his truck was ambushed by the gunmen. His daughter was also injured in […]
Nightmarish Hospital Visit Capped by Beating, Accident Victim Says
August 26th, 2010The American Grindhouse is absolutely breathtaking. Via: Courthouse News Service: A man who was hurt in a car crash but was misidentified as a cancer patient claims security guards at Prince George’s Hospital beat him up when he tried to leave the hospital to avoid chest surgery he didn’t need – “to have a potentially […]
Character Amnesia
August 26th, 2010Via: AFP: Like every Chinese child, Li Hanwei spent her schooldays memorising thousands of the intricate characters that make up the Chinese writing system. Yet aged just 21 and now a university student in Hong Kong, Li already finds that when she picks up a pen to write, the characters for words as simple as […]
Mexican Military Finds 72 Bodies At Ranch
August 26th, 2010Via: NPR: Mexican marines uncovered 72 bodies in what they say could be the largest mass grave ever discovered in the country’s deadly drug war. The marines were manning a roadblock in the northeastern state of Tamaulipas on Tuesday when a man who’d been shot asked for medical help. They said the man told them […]
California Delays $2.9 Billion School, County Payments Amid Budget Impasse
August 24th, 2010Via: Bloomberg: California will delay paying $2.9 billion of subsidies to schools and counties in September, a month earlier than projected, to save cash amid an impasse that has left the state without a budget for 54 days. The state’s top financial officials — the controller, treasurer and finance director — told lawmakers today that […]
The U.S. Ministry of Egg Production
August 24th, 2010As usual, for this and all other food nightmares, the solution is to get more people involved with widely distributed, small scale food production. My guess is that chickens are, by far, the best choice for integrating into a small scale food production system. They’re the ultimate permaculture creatures. They provide meat, eggs, manure and […]
Home Sales Plunge 27 Percent to Lowest in 15 Years; Largest Monthly Drop on Record
August 24th, 2010HAHA. The recovery is obviously accelerating! *splat* Via: AP: Sales of previously occupied homes fell to the lowest level in 15 years last month as the economy weakened. The National Association of Realtors says July’s sales fell by more than 27 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.83 million. It was the largest […]
Malware Implicated in Fatal Spanair Plane Crash
August 24th, 2010Update: Maybe Not Via: ZDnet: The actual cause is far more prosaic: the pilots missed a crucial item on their checklist and took off with the flaps in the wrong position: The investigation has determined that the takeoff was attempted while in an inappropriate and unapproved configuration, since the flaps and slats were fully retracted. […]
Japanese Firm Builds Small Machine that Converts Plastic Back Into Oil
August 23rd, 2010If there’s electricity around… I know! How about converting U.S. aircraft carriers into massive trash barges to clean up the Pacific Trash Vortex. Those aircraft carriers run on nuclear power so there should be plenty of juice on board for turning that stuff back into oil. Just a bit more comedy on Cryptogon this morning… […]
