Archive for June, 2008
Spain: Factories Close, Supermarkets Empty and Jets Run Out of Fuel as Truckers’ Strike Bites
June 12th, 2008Via: Guardian: Strike action by thousands of Spanish and Portuguese truckers produced ominous knock-on effects on food supplies, aviation and industry yesterday, as Lisbon airport ran out of fuel, car factories shut down and petrol stations and supermarkets reported shortages. In a worrying sign for other European countries that face rising discontent at the spiralling […]
University of Illinois Crop Scientist: Planting After June 20 May Cause Yields to Shrink by Half
June 12th, 2008Via: Grainnet: A costly deadline looms for many growers in the Midwest, as every day of waiting for the weather to cooperate to plant corn and soybeans reduces potential yields. Research indicates that Illinois growers who plant corn or soybeans near the end of June can expect a 50 percent reduction in crop yield, according […]
High Court Sides with Guantanamo Detainees Again
June 12th, 2008Via: AP: The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that foreign terrorism suspects held at Guantanamo Bay have rights under the Constitution to challenge their detention in U.S. civilian courts. In its third rebuke of the Bush administration’s treatment of prisoners, the court ruled 5-4 that the government is violating the rights of prisoners being held indefinitely […]
Canada Apologizes for Atrocities Committed Against Aboriginal Children
June 12th, 2008Via: Reuters: Canada, addressing one of the darkest chapters in its history, formally apologised on Wednesday for forcing 150,000 aboriginal children into grim residential schools, where many say they were sexually and physically abused. Prime Minister Stephen Harper told a Parliamentary chamber packed with legislators and aboriginal representatives that there could be no excuses for […]
Top Secret British Government Document Left on Train
June 12th, 2008It’s right out of Yes Minister. Via: Guardian: Highly classified intelligence documents relating to two of the most sensitive issues involving Britain’s security interests – al-Qaida in Pakistan and the situation in Iraq – have been found on a train near London, it was disclosed last night. The documents, including one marked Top Secret, are […]
Oil Symmetrical Triangle Intraday
June 11th, 2008WARNING: This is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any financial instrument. Really quick, watch that symmetrical triangle forming on the intraday charts. Translation: Breakout higher from previous range possible. It could go sharply higher on this formation. West Texas Intermediate Crude, 1 Hour Interval
Spanish Shoppers Stockpile Food and Fuel as Protests Cut Off Supplies
June 11th, 2008Via: Reuters: Spanish drivers and shoppers stockpiled fuel and food on Tuesday, fearing shortages after lorry drivers blocked deliveries across the country for a second day of an indefinite protest at the high price of fuel. Cars queued at petrol stations — 40 percent of which had run out of fuel in the worst affected […]
What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains
June 11th, 2008This one hits very close to home. Via: The Atlantic: “Dave, stop. Stop, will you? Stop, Dave. Will you stop, Dave?” So the supercomputer HAL pleads with the implacable astronaut Dave Bowman in a famous and weirdly poignant scene toward the end of Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. Bowman, having nearly been sent to […]
Fatal Misconception: The Struggle to Control World Population
June 11th, 2008Via: ieet.org: Connelly decisively confronts the historical baggage of reproductive rights by detailing the confluence of social Darwinists, Malthusians, racist eugenicists, public health advocates and feminists who coalesced around the century-long effort to control world population. Like Betsy Hartman’s pioneering critique Reproductive Rights and Wrongs: The Global Politics of Population Control, Connelly’s principal narrative is […]
EMERGENCY: MULTIPLE FACTORS POINTING TO LOWER CROP YIELDS
June 11th, 2008Remember this one from several months back? World’s Largest Maker of Crop Nutrients: Famines May Occur Without Record Harvests Flash forward to today. We see problems with next year’s crops all over the world. Via: New York Times: In a year when global harvests need to be excellent to ease the threat of pervasive food […]
