For this story, imagine Vladimir Putin dressed as a giant crane, hang-gliding through the air. You are not dreaming.
UC Berkeley Botanical Garden art work attracts right-wing attacks
“The right-wing attacks focused on the use of materials from Solyndra to create an artwork, leading the House committee, for example, to claim that SOL Grotto had become the world’s most expensive work of art. Greg Gutfeld on Fox News — a Cal grad — sputtered with rage at the art: “Our loss is someone else’s hip, pretentious art.” He suggested someone should take a sledgehammer to the work and call it performance art, before adding, “I’m kidding, of course that would be wrong.”
“We were totally taken by surprise,” said Paul Licht, Director of the Botanical Garden. “We weren’t making any political statements. It’s an attempt to create news.”
If anything, we should be happy that the usual suspects had something to talk about on their programs other than actual issues.
You can literally put facts in front of people, and they will just ignore them.Mark Lubell, the director of the Center for Environmental Policy and Behavior at the University of California-Davis • Discussing the nature of the debate over “fracking” in recent months, where both sides have been known to use questionable facts to support their arguments for or against the practice. Example: Protesters claim that the air pollution threats caused by fracking are significant, despite the evidence that the popularity of the practice cuts back on the production of far-more-damaging-to-the-atmosphere coal energy. On top of this, EPA regulations have helped to limit air pollution from fracking. Honestly, environmental issues are emotional. But let’s be honest when bringing up said emotional issues.
To address the issue of conflict minerals, through the end of 2011, Intel had identified 98 smelter sites and visited 48 of them in 16 countries to lay the groundwork for third-party audits. Intel’s goal is to demonstrate that its microprocessors are validated as conflict-free for tantalum by the end of 2012, and to manufacture the world’s first microprocessor fully validated as conflict-free across all four minerals (gold, tantalum, tin and tungsten) by the end of 2013.
The result of this? Intel, if successful, would produce the world’s first conflict-free processor by the end of 2013. The phrase “conflict-free” generally gets used in terms of diamonds and other rare materials, but by doing this, Intel is shining a light on a problem few think about. Intel also has a number of other goals for itself that it hopes to reach by 2020 — including “zero chemical waste to landfill” and reducing water usage. We wish them luck. (ht Geek.com)
What would you do, if you woke to the sight of a large green cloud drifting towards you from the direction of Chernobyl? If you said panic, we, and thousands of Russians, are with you. This morning, just such a cloud appeared over Moscow, leading to rumors of everything from industrial accidents to alien invasions. Fortunately, the government confirmed the pollen-filled cloud’s safety, and urged residents to remain calm. When asked about the panic, one Russian official simply replied, “Many residents forgot all about natural phenomena.” (photos via @KristyaMasyasha/Gizmodo/ABC) source
Clothing company Patagonia tells shoppers “Don’t buy this jacket” on Cyber Monday:
Because Patagonia wants to be in business for a good long time – and leave a world inhabitable for our kids – we want to do the opposite of every other business today. We ask you to buy less and to reflect before you spend a dime on this jacket or anything else.
Unlike every other company out there, Patagonia appears to be less concerned about earning every last penny it can. Interesting.
They say they’re already seeing the effects: Could you imagine a world without Starbucks … or coffee? That’s what officials for the world’s largest caffeine hawker are seriously worried about, especially after a fairly busy hurricane season and more resistant bugs. The company has even considered partly converting many outlets to juice bars. ”What we are really seeing as a company as we look 10, 20, 30 years down the road – if conditions continue as they are – is a potentially significant risk to our supply chain, which is the Arabica coffee bean,” says the company’s sustainability director, Jim Hanna. Three words, Jim: Yerba Mate Frappuccino. (photo via TPEGroup Photography & Design’s Flickr page) source
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Al Gore: He’s not happy with Obama. President Obama has recently halted regulations that would curb “smog-creating emissions until at least 2013”. According to Gore, the “result of the White House’s action will be increased medical bills for seniors with lung disease, more children developing asthma, and the continued degradation of our air quality.” He also likened Obama to George W. Bush, a seemingly low blow. source
A map of the proposed Keystone XL, also called Tar Sands, pipeline.
It could carry crude oil some 1,700 miles from Alberta, Canada, to the Gulf Coast in Texas.
A friendly and safe new source of oil for the U.S. or an environmental disaster waiting to happen?
For anybody curious what exactly is being proposed when you hear the name “Keystone XL,” here’s the route it would chart. James Hansen, the climatologist and head of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, was arrested today during the protests against the pipeline plan outside the White House (so was Daryl Hannah, for that matter).
Deregulation = jobs: A memo obtained by ShortFormBlog contains details of an upcoming Republican effort to push massive deregulatory legislation through the House of Representatives, in hopes of unshackling “costly bureaucratic handcuffs” faced by businesses. The letter, sent today by Eric Cantor to the House Republican caucus, details the “Top 10 Job-Destroying Regulations,” and how Republicans plan to address them. “By pursuing a steady repeal of job-destroying regulations,” Cantor wrote, “we can help lift the cloud of uncertainty hanging over small and large employers alike, empowering them to hire more workers.” Some key proposals:
» In keeping with Republican orthodoxy, Cantor also proposes to two tax cuts (one for government contractors, another for small businesses), and the repeal of unspecified provisions of the Affordable Care Act. What do you all think of Cantor’s plan? Read the whole thing at the link. (AP Photo)
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