Image via WikipediaGrowing demand for resources 'threatens EU economy'
"We are consuming more natural resources than is ecologically stable,This is true for both Europe and the rest of the planet. Europe's network of protected areas and habitats had been expanded to cover about 18% of the continent's landmass, yet the EU had failed to meet it target to halt biodiversity loss by 2010.
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Image via WikipediaGuidelines Call for Increase in Vitamin D
Institute of Medicine Wants to Raise the Recommended Dietary Allowance of Vitamin D and Calcium
recommended dietary allowance (RDA) of vitamin D to 600 international units (IU) for everyone aged 1-70, and raising it to 800 IU for adults older than 70 to optimize bone health.
Growing numbers of studies link vitamin D deficiency to diseases such as heart disease, certain cancers, and diabetes.
Saputo races to limit Listeria damage
The recall was triggered by a sampling by the Canadian Food and Inspection Agency (CFIA) of packaged ham-and-cheese sandwiches sold in P.E.I. and Nova Scotia and found to contain the listeria bacteria, said Garfield Balsom, a food safety specialist with the agency.
The listeria bacteria is potentially deadly for people with weakened immune systems.
In space, astronauts are susceptible to bone loss, which can lead to fractures or breaks. A simple change in diet, however, could mitigate that risk.
A related study is under way to determine the role of salt in bone loss, which is particularly relevant because the space station's pantry is stocked with foods very high in sodium.
ADVICE TO ASTRONAUTS: EAT MORE FISH
In space, astronauts are susceptible to bone loss, which can lead to fractures or breaks. A simple change in diet, however, could mitigate that risk.
"The more omega-3 fatty acids consumed, the lower the rate of bone breakdown in those subjects.
A related study is under way to determine the role of salt in bone loss, which is particularly relevant because the space station's pantry is stocked with foods very high in sodium.
( Now, if we could the trash out of the oceans...and the Corexit )
Ontario to grant new powers to chief medical officer
The Ontario government is poised to grant sweeping new powers to the province's chief medical officer of health in the wake of last year's H1N1 pandemic.
The Canadian Press has learned that the governing Liberals will introduce legislation Tuesday that would allow extra powers to kick in during a public health emergency.
( Right. No questioning the fraud. )
Fourth member of Alberta Health Services board resigns
Health Minister Gene Zwozdesky denied the allegations Monday, but exiled Conservative MLA Dr. Raj Sherman confirmed the authenticity of the leaked document and slammed the government’s plan.
“This is basically privatizing health care,” said Sherman, who was Zwozdesky’s parliamentary assistant until he was ousted from the Tory caucus last week for criticizing his own government’s record on health care.
“My understanding is that phase two is coming after the next election, and I absolutely can’t support that.”
The leaked document is a PowerPoint presentation dated July 12, 2010, and titled “Alberta’s Health Legislation: Moving Forward.”
NDP Leader Brian Mason said the document is proof the Conservatives cannot be trusted with health care.
“This is, in fact, the smoking gun,” he said. “In my view, this is more than a policy document. This is a strategic document, a political strategy, if you will.”Guardian UK
Wikileaks cables reveal China 'ready to abandon North Korea'
China has refused to condemn the North Korean action. But today Beijing appeared to bow to US pressure to help bring about a diplomatic solution, calling for "emergency consultations" and inviting a senior North Korean official to Beijing.
China is sharply critical of US pressure tactics towards North Korea.
Younger generation Chinese Communist party leaders no longer regarded North Korea as a useful or reliable ally and would not risk renewed armed conflict on the peninsula.
( Don't take with a grain of salt....that's not nearly enough to allow for deliberately wishful thinking. For China, North Korea is a 'buffer zone' against foreign intrusion still. People in the U.S. should recognize the phrase 'better to fight them over there than over here.'
Is that from 'intel'? Nope. I doubt the prior 'information' is of much value either. )
Wikileaks release 'shows China thinking on Korea'
Some Chinese officials were willing to "face the new reality" that North Korea was of little value to China as a buffer state.
But others appear not to welcome this position, including Wu Dawei, the senior Chinese official involved in talks aimed at getting rid of North Korea's nuclear weapons.
In another report from February Mr Wu is described as "an arrogant, Marx-spouting former Red Guard", referring to the youngsters who spearheaded Mao Zedong's chaotic Cultural Revolution in the 1960s.
Israel accused over 'cruel' Gaza blockade
Gaza's 1.5 million people are still suffering from a shortage of construction materials, a ban on exports and severe restrictions on movement six months after Israel agreed to ease its blockade on the territory, according to a report from 21 international organisations.
The loosening of the embargo has done little to improve the plight of Gaza's civilians, according to the coalition, which includes Amnesty, Oxfam, Save the Children, Christian Aid and Medical Aid for Palestinians. It calls for fresh international action to persuade Israel to unconditionally lift the blockade.
Exports remain banned with the exception of strawberries and carnations for European markets. Israel now allows clothing factories to import fabric, but blocks the export of finished items.
But some businesses are still unable to import raw materials they need. According to the report, two-thirds of Gaza's businesses have closed since the blockade was tightened in June 2007, and the rest are operating at restricted capacity.
Israel is maintaining an overall ban on the movement of people, with the number of permits granted to people to leave Gaza less than 1% of the number 10 years ago, the report says. There has been a rise in the number of businesspeople allowed to travel, "but ordinary Gaza residents are still denied access to their friends and family, and to educational opportunities in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and abroad".
WikiLeaks founder could be charged under Espionage Act
No charges are imminent, the sources said, and it is unclear whether any will be brought.
Another document published by Wikileaks, dated January 2008, detailed Brazil's co-operation with the US on counter-terrorism.
In it, the then US ambassador to Brazil, Clifford Sobel, informed Washington that the police often arrested individuals with links to terrorism but charged them with drugs or customs offences so as not attract media attention.
Brazil has a sizeable Arab population and has publicly denied taking part in counter-terrorism operations.
Pakistan Shuts the Door on Transparency
Sunday, Asian News International quoted Malik in a story accusing TI Pakistan, Transparency International's local affiliate, of acting like a "detective agency." Malik also made a not-so-veiled threat to kick the group out of the country. This comes just weeks after TI released its 2010 Corruption Perceptions Index.
Packages like the one TI oversees are the sugar that make the bitter pill of war a little easier to swallow. Without such aid, it becomes harder for the Pakistani government to justify helping the US, and to sell its citizens on the idea that having thousands of Americans in the region serves a common interest. But without at the least the appearance of oversight, it becomes almostly politically impossible for the Obama administration to continue feeding the aid stream. Giving TI the job of keeping everything above board is the crucial variable in the Pakistan equation. Without it, the United States' uneasy alliance with the country could fall into jeopardy.
Read The 4th Amendment, Perverts
To silently protest your next holiday groping by the TSA, check out 4th Amendment Wear's underclothes for men, women and kids printed with the text of the 4th Amendment - in metallic ink, yet. More here.
"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."
US military unveils 'smart gun'
Called the XM-25 it has been described by the US Army as a 'game changer'.
It uses a laser guidance system and specially developed 25mm high explosive rounds which can be programmed to detonate over a target.The weapon can be used to target insurgents hiding behind walls or in ditches without the need to call in air strikes.
New airships to protect British troops
A £350m contract's been awarded to American military contractor Northrop Grumman, one of the world's largest defence companies.
The deal will see three Long Endurance Multi-Intelligence Vehicles (LEMV) built for the US Army within 18 months and ready for operations by early 2012.
They will be able to stay in the air for up to three weeks at a time and provide what designers describe as an "unblinking eye" of surveillance for forces on the ground.
Groups providing aid to millions of families displaced by flooding in Pakistan say their U.S. fundraising efforts for the disaster lag behind other recent major calamities.
In the 11 weeks after torrential rains in late July caused rivers to overflow and inundate villages and farmland across 62,000 square miles of Pakistan, U.S. groups raised $48.7 million, according to the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University.
That compares poorly with fundraising measured after five weeks for Hurricane Katrina ($1.9 billion), 9/11 ($1.1 billion), the tsunami ($900 million) and the Haiti earthquake ($900 million), says Patrick Rooney, the center's executive director.
"It's a huge difference," and a major reason is political, he says.
Stern, too, has heard people say they don't want to give because of the country's politics.
Her response: "They're kids. I tuck my kid in every night with a cup of tea and a cookie by his night table, and in Pakistan a mother is standing with her family in a foot of water."
Urgent call to action on Senate Bill 510 Food Safety Modernization ActOrganic food will no longer exist on Monday, November 29, 2010, Senate Bill S.510
Web Delivery Firm Says Comcast Charging Unfair Fee For Data
"Comcast is effectively putting up a toll booth at the borders of its broadband Internet access network, enabling it to unilaterally decide how much to charge for content," said Level 3's chief legal officer, Thomas Stortz, in a statement.Comcast called Level 3's position "duplicitous" and said a previous deal for the companies to handle traffic for each other had become unbalanced in Level 3's favor.Level 3's main business is carrying Internet traffic across the country, charging Internet service providers like Comcast fees to connect to Web sites and other ISPs.However, it is moving into the business of distributing Internet content such as movies for companies including Netflix. Under that business model, it is acting like a content-delivery network, which usually pays ISPs for fast access to their networks.Level 3, which is based in Broomfield, Colo., is now pushing to Comcast five times the traffic that goes the other way."When one provider exploits this type of relationship by pushing the burden of massive traffic growth onto the other provider and its customers, we believe this is not fair," Comcast's senior vice president Joe Waz said in a statement.
The romantic critics of modern industrial agriculture have an alternative, however unworkable, in mind -- labor-intensive, premodern peasant cultivation. But what is the opposite of Big Oil? In a recent article in Forbes, Intel's Andy Grove argued that the American job creation machine is broken, because start-ups are no longer being scaled up into giant industrial enterprises within America's borders. Criticizing the journalist Thomas Friedman for arguing that the U.S. can forgo manufacturing and concentrate on innovation, Grove writes:
Friedman is wrong. Startups are a wonderful thing, but they cannot by themselves increase tech employment. Equally important is what comes after that mythical moment of creation in the garage, as technology goes from prototype to mass production. This is the phase where companies scale up. They work out design details, figure out how to make things affordably, build factories, and hire people by the thousands. Scaling is hard work but necessary to make innovation matter.The scaling process is no longer happening in the U.S. And as long as that's the case, plowing capital into young companies that build their factories elsewhere will continue to yield a bad return in terms of American jobs.
Image via WikipediaSnow spreading across much of UK
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