The Defense Department can’t account for $1.3 billion that was shipped to force commanders in Afghanistan from 2004 to 2014 for critical reconstruction projects, 60 percent of all such spending under an emergency program, an internal report released Thursday concludes. The missing money was part of the relatively small amount of Afghanistan spending that was routed directly to military officers …
Warming Climate May Release Vast Amounts Of Carbon From Long-Frozen Arctic Soils
More carbon is released into the atmosphere would amplify climate warming, and that, in turn, would cause more permafrost to thaw and release more carbon, causing the cycle to continue. Recent research by scientists has confirmed the suspicion scientists were making regarding the Arctic permafrost. Scientists estimate there is more than 10 times the amount of carbon in the Arctic …
GlaxoSmithKline’s Corporate Rap Sheet – Philip Mattera
London-based GlaxoSmithKline is the product of the 2000 merger of two drug giants: Glaxo—which had its origins in the infant formula business and then jumped to the top ranks of the pharmaceutical industry on the basis of the extraordinarily popular ulcer drug Zantac—and SmithKline Beecham, which was itself the product of a merger of a U.S. and a British drugmaker …
Hotter and Wetter: Report Finds Global Warming Driving Extreme Weather – Lauren McCauley
It’s not just your imagination. The punishing heat waves, record snowfall, and 500-year floods, which seem to be occurring with increasing frequency, are doing just that, thanks to global warming. According to a study (pdf) published Monday in the journal Nature Climate Change, these extreme weather events are clearly attributed to human-induced climate change and will only worsen as average temperatures tick higher …
World group seeks ban on uranium and nuclear power – Paul Brown
It’s time to end the myth that nuclear power is a cost-effective, practical or safe response to climate change, says World Uranium Symposium. LONDON, 24 April, 2015 − Uranium mining across the world should cease, nuclear power stations be closed and nuclear weapons be banned, according to a group of scientists, environmentalists and representatives of indigenous peoples. Three hundred delegates from …
Food And Chemical Companies Spent Big In 2014 To Defeat GMO Labeling
Food and biotechnology companies spent $63.6 million in 2014 alone to oppose mandatory labeling of genetically modified food ingredients, or GMOs, according to a new analysis by EWG. According to the report, industry lobbying expenditures to defeat labeling – reported on federal disclosure forms that listed GMO labeling as well as related policy issues – nearly tripled compared to 2013 as the industry tried to …
World’s first genetically modified human embryo raises ethical concern – by Hannah Brown
The genetic modification of humans make many people feel very uncomfortable. Credit: Tatiana Vdb/Manuel/Flickr, CC BY It all started with a rumour. Then just six weeks ago, a warning rang out in the scientific journal Nature, expressing “grave concerns regarding the ethical and safety implications” of creating the world’s first genetically-modified human embryo. Then last week, a Chinese group from Sun Yat-sen …
Is the universe a hologram?
This news release is available in German. At first glance, there is not the slightest doubt: to us, the universe looks three dimensional. But one of the most fruitful theories of theoretical physics in the last two decades is challenging this assumption. The “holographic principle” asserts that a mathematical description of the universe actually requires one fewer dimension than it seems. …
Why So Many Americans Feel So Powerless – ROBERT REICH
A security guard recently told me he didn’t know how much he’d be earning from week to week because his firm kept changing his schedule and his pay. “They just don’t care,” he said. A traveler I met in the Dallas Fort-Worth Airport last week said she’d been there eight hours but the airline responsible for her trip wouldn’t help …
Inglorious Goobers: Progressives Line Up to Defend Clinton Corruption – CHRIS FLOYD
It’s amusing to see how our staunch progressives — who believe so deeply in a level playing field and fair play, who railed so vociferously against crony capitalism back in Bush-Time — are now twisting themselves in knots to dismiss the stories about that long-festering font of corruption, the Clinton Foundation. Suddenly, what was once evil and corrosive — peddling …








