dairy farm

Choosing Life – Chris Hedges

The affable, soft-spoken dairy farmer stood outside his 70-stall milking barn on his 230-acre family farm. When his father started farming there in 1950 were about 800 dairy farms in New York state’s Orange County. Only 39 survive. Small, traditional farms have been driven out of business by rising real estate prices, genetic manipulation of cows, industrial-scale hormone use that …

GMO (1)

Ukraine a Vector for GMO Poison’s Spread Through EU – ULSON GUNNAR

When the Washington Post chooses to pen an insulting, condescending editorial targeting entire nations speaking up against Western impropriety, one can just as well assume the precise opposite of whatever narrative the Post is trying to push forward is true. Regarding American biotech companies and their attempts to infest the planet with genetically modified organisms (GMOs), and in particular their …

Dry California

World Set For Record Droughts By 2050, Say Scientists – Alex Pashley

The planet could suffer unprecedented droughts before the middle of the century, researchers warned on April 15, 2015, urging prompt action in adapting reservoirs to receding water resources. The western US may surpass historic levels of dryness as early as 2017 and the Mediterranean by 2027 if polluters emit at current rates, according to report by the International Institute for …

hillary clinton

Ready for Hillary? How about a mass populist party instead? – Kate Aronoff

Following Hillary Clinton’s long-heralded announcement Sunday that she’ll be “Getting Started” on a 2016 run, American progressives are facing a tough choice about who, if anyone, to support in the next presidential fracas. Thankfully, there are more choices available to today’s movements than might seem obvious. With relatively little federal electoral promise in our own backyards, those interested in contesting …

welfare

Welfare May Actually Encourage Recipients to Work, New Study Suggests – Quinn Fucile

Science and politics don’t always mix. One is inherently subjective, what someone believes is best for society, both socially and economically. The other is about questions, answers, data, and experiments. Still they often inform each other, for better or worse. We can occasionally use science and statistics to better understand society, and perhaps figure out the best course of action. …

carbon_sequestration_illustration_full_thumbnail

Carbon Sequestration Is Not A Solution To The Climate Crisis

Burying the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, a byproduct of burning fossil fuels, has been mooted as one geoengineering approach to ameliorating climate change. To be effective, trapping the gas in geological deposits would be for the very long term, thousands of years. Now, a team in Brazil, writing in the International Journal of Global Warming has reviewed the risk assessments …

rubber from lettuce

Study points the way toward producing rubber from lettuce

Prickly lettuce, a common weed that has long vexed farmers, has potential as a new cash crop providing raw material for rubber production, according to Washington State University scientists. Writing in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, they describe regions in the plant’s genetic code linked to rubber production. The findings open the way for breeding for desired traits …

Titanic

Saving Passengers Of The Good Ship ‘Titanic… Earth’

On 15 April 1912, the ‘Titanic’, the largest ship afloat at the time it entered service, sank in the North Atlantic Ocean after hitting an iceberg on its maiden voyage. The large and unnecessary death toll – more than 1,500 passengers and crew – was the result of many factors. Understanding the psychology that underpins these factors teaches us why …

job construction

The U.S. Job Market Is Losing Its Dynamism

Part of America’s advantage over other economies historically has been the pace at which it both creates and destroys jobs. As they face slowing prospects or failure, companies, even whole industries, cut workers . The good news is that new businesses keep popping up to supply new jobs. More than 7 million jobs are created, and almost as many are destroyed, every …

Isis

Imagery and Empire: Understanding the Western Fear of Arab and Muslim Terrorists

It has been claimed that if all terrorists are not Arabs or Muslims, that most terrorists are Arabs or Muslims. Is this true or another myth? An empirical look at data compiled in the US and Europe will help answer this question. The notion that the majority of terrorist attacks are committed by Arabs or Muslims not only lacks a …