Some scientists are now saying that the nuclear risk from Japan is being overblown. In the United States, the corporate news media is exacerbating the problem by suggesting that radiation clouds might reach the western U.S. shores. Not true. American media is focusing on the nuclear plants and not on the clean-up and help necessary from the massive destruction caused by the tsunami. They even tested airplanes from Japan for radiation and of course, the radiation tests all came up positive. All airplanes test positive for radiation, and they always have. What will also test positive for radiation are buildings, granite, marble, rocks, and even our human bodies. Background radiation is emitted by many things on earth, including people, and you are probably exposed to more radiation during a dental X-Ray and while flying than anyone will be from the dispersed radiation carried on the wind from Japan. (Cosmic radiation while flying always occurs). The amount found on planes from Japan so far is normal. . . . . being near the nuclear sites in Japan is another story, however. Still, most people have little to worry about if they are 50 miles from the ruined nuclear plants. That won’t [...]
Maddow Explains Michigan’s Political Emergency
Governor Synder of Michigan now has the power to take over cities and towns in Michigan, drive out the elected officials, and put a corporation in charge. This is, by some definitions, the meaning of “fascism”. All the governor needs is an “emergency” situation — as determined by himself. Rachel Maddow explains in this video. As a commenter stated: One egomaniac on a power trip could single-handedly de-democratize the whole state of Michigan. What does it say about this governor that he has the cajones to actually suggest this? Where is the counterpush by the people of Michigan?” My question is, given all that is happening in Wisconsin too, is: where is the mainstream media coverage on this and on the enormous protests in Wisconsin, which are ongoing?
Bradley Manning Still Treated Badly in Prison
Highly respected State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley was fired after publicly questioning the treatment of Bradley Manning, the incarcerated Army soldier accused of leaking hundreds of thousands of classified military reports and sensitive diplomatic cables to WikiLeaks. Apparently if you disagree with Obama and Hillary Clinton these days, you are fired, no matter how well respected or qualified for your job. (Is this why Energy Secretary Steven Chu is not speaking out these days?) **From Politico: “The chain of events that led to Crowley’s exit was set in motion Thursday when Crowley appeared at a Massachusetts Institute of Technology seminar and called the Pentagon’s handling of Pfc. Bradley Manning, who is detained at the brig at Quantico, “ridiculous and counterproductive and stupid.” Crowley’s public criticism angered some at the Pentagon and others across the administration because it put him directly at odds with Defense Department officials who have spent weeks trying to defend Manning’s treatment. The soldier is being detained under near-constant lockdown, and he filed a formal complaint about being forced to strip each night at bedtime. The State spokesman’s predicament may have worsened further Friday afternoon, when ABC’s Jake Tapper asked Obama during a White House press conference [...]
EPA will Release Rules on Toxic Power Plant Emissions This Week
An ongoing fight in Congress to limit EPA’s role in regulating greenhouse gases is obscuring the importance of these long-overdue rules to public health. From Solve Climate. “Mercury Pollution at the Top of the List Two months ago, the advocacy organization Environment America published a report that called for strong EPA action on mercury in the forthcoming standards. Coal plants in the U.S. emitted over 130,000 pounds of mercury in 2009. Once mercury exits the flue, it becomes airborne and can travel for hundreds of miles. Precipitation deposits the mercury in water, where it builds up in fish. Every single state has set fish advisories due to mercury levels in waterways, the report says. This week the Environmental Protection Agency is expected to release new standards for coal- and oil-fired power plants that will limit the emissions of 84 different “air toxics,” including mercury, benzene, hydrogen chloride and radioactive material. According to EPA, American coal plants produce 386,000 tons of hazardous air pollutants per year. The toxins they release — hazardous chemicals that can lead to disease, brain damage and premature death — affect every part of the human body. Arsenic, chromium and nickel cause cancer; lead damages the nervous [...]
Cleaning up Coal Burning Plants for Health
Coal can’t really be “cleaned up” though many companies are busy telling us that it’s possible. Even if CO2 is sequestered underground, eventually the CO2 will probably escape, so all the expense will be for nothing, over time. And if it escapes, there is no point in doing it. Carbon capture is very, very expensive. The best thing to do would be to stop using coal, considering all the hundreds of people around the world that die from it each year. Carbon Capture projects are up, even though coal causes hundreds of deaths per year just from mining operations, not including the toxins and mercury it spews into the atmosphere. “The number of projects for capturing greenhouse gases from power plants and factories edged up in 2010 despite soaring costs and slow progress in U.N.-led efforts to slow climate change, a study showed on Tuesday. The focus of carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects also shifted more to the United States from Europe even though U.S. President Barack Obama has failed to persuade the Senate to legislate caps on U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, it said. The Global CCS Institute said 234 CCS projects were active or planned worldwide at the [...]
White House Slams Senate GOP Amendment on Climate Rules
Incredibly, the Republicans in the U.S. Senate are again on record trying to block rules that would protect and defend Americans’ health and future by blocking environmental rules. It’s hard to imagine how Republicans could care less about human life and health when they repeatedly try to block things that keep us healthy and just as importantly, ensure the health of future generations. In addition, regulating greenhouse gases is imperative if future generations want to live a life that is healthy and productive. There is no longer any question that greenhouse gases are causing climate change and eventually this will lead to enormous quality of life issues in the U.S. and all around the world, as food and water shortages spread. This is already happening in many countries. For the Republicans to stick their head in the sand about this scientific issue and pretend they know more than scientists about climate change is unconscionable and honestly, puzzling*. The Clean Air Act has been upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court and for Republicans to try to block that is nothing short of anti-government and shows a deep disregard for U.S. law. Naturally, the anti-science amendments have been coming from the Senate’s [...]
Fake Democracy and Environmental Dinosaurs
This is the latest video from Noam Chomsky. “Contours of Global Order: Domination, Stability, Security in a Changing World: The rise of Xenophobia in the West” recorded on March 13, 2011, in Amsterdam. Chomsky discusses many things but also the environmental throwbacks in our government, including one elected official who said that we didn’t have to worry about global warming or climate change. His reasoning is that it won’t happen because God promised Noah that there would never be another flood. Apparently this Congressman has not noticed that there have been many incredible and devastating floods just in the last 10 years. That is what passes for logic in the U.S. Congress. That Rep. was John Shimkus (R-Ill., a right-wing extremist in the model of James Inhofe and Michele Bachmann.) On that note, it’s amazing that in a country of 300 million people, we can’t find 600 or so people adequately smart enough to serve intelligently in government. As usual, Noam Chomsky tells it like it is. Worth the view — enjoy.
Eco-Farming Can Double Food Production in 10 Years
“To date, agroecological projects have shown an average crop yield increase of 80% in 57 developing countries, with an average increase of 116% for all African projects.” From Climate and Capitalism: Small-scale farmers can double food production within 10 years in critical regions by using ecological methods, a new UN report shows. Based on an extensive review of the recent scientific literature, the study calls for a fundamental shift towards agroecology as a way to boost food production and improve the situation of the poorest. “To feed 9 billion people in 2050, we urgently need to adopt the most efficient farming techniques available,” says Olivier De Schutter, UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food and author of the report. “Today’s scientificevidence demonstrates that agroecological methods outperform the use of chemical fertilizers in boosting food production where the hungry live — especially in unfavorable environments.” Agroecology applies ecological science to the design of agricultural systems that can help put an end to food crises and address climate-change and poverty challenges. It enhances soils productivity and protects the crops against pests by relying on the natural environment such as beneficial trees, plants, animals and insects. “To date, agroecological projects have shown [...]
Corporate Profits Favored by GOP over Public Health
What do Republicans want America to become? From their recent actions, it appears they envision a polluted country where mercury and other pollutants are a daily hazard, threatening human health. It’s not clear why Republicans want a country full of dangerous pollution, under constant threat of growing storm frequency due to climate change. They seem to believe that corporate profits will make our lives better than anything else, and clean air and water are secondary to corporate profits. It’s hard to imagine such backwards, anti-health thinking. The GOP legacy from this Congress is becoming more and more threatening to everyone in the U.S. Think Progress sums this up well in this article below, but they blame the Tea Party, when it’s really the entire GOP doing this, not just the Tea Party faction. We really have to fight back against the right-wing attitude that the environment and our health are secondary to corporate profits, because our very lives depend on it. “The rise of the Tea Party in Congress has inspired an all-out assault on public health and a clean environment. Several freshman Republicans have joined Newt Gingrich’s call to abolish the Environmental Protection Agency. Republicans in the House Energy Committee unanimously [...]
Futurist art on display in Vercelli
1900-1961. Arte Italiana nelle Collezioni Guggenheim
February 26 – June 5, 2011
Arca, Chiesa di San Marco, Vercelli
Curated by Luca Massimo Barbero
Catalog
Video Tour
Dal 26 febbraio al 5 giugno 2011 l’Arca di Vercelli ospita la mostra 1900-1961. Arte Italiana nelle Collezioni Guggenheim, a cura di Luca Massimo Barbero.
Dopo la trilogia dedicata alla figura di Peggy Guggenheim – che in tre anni ha portato circa 120.000 visitatori a Vercelli, riconoscendole a pieno titolo il ruolo di città d’arte – la rinnovata collaborazione tra Regione Piemonte, Comune di Vercelli e Collezione Peggy Guggenheim di Venezia consentirà di ammirare oltre 40 opere di artisti italiani amati e collezionati dai mecenati americani.
La mostra è un omaggio all’arte italiana del XX secolo, con una selezione di capolavori che descrivono la genesi, la maturazionee gli sviluppi della ricerca artistica d’avanguardia in Italia dal 1900 al 1961. L’allestimento permetterà di osservare come l’arte italiana sia stata recepita, nel corso di questi sessant’anni, dalla criticae dal gusto del collezionismo americano e arricchita da importanti collezioni private, prima fra tutte la Collezione Gianni Mattioli, significativo prestito a lungo termine alla Collezione Peggy Guggenheim di Venezia.
Simbolicamente, nell’anno delle celebrazioni dei 150 anni dell’Unità d’Italia, il percorso espositivo parte dal 1961, anno del primo centenario, con una tela di Giuseppe Capogrossi. Attraverso le opere di artisti italiani riconosciuti a livello internazionale, la mostra ripercorre a ritroso la storia dell’arte italiana del XX secolo.
Tra gli autori in mostra Alberto Burri, Lucio Fontana, Giorgio Morandi, Filippo De Pisis, Arturo Tosi, Amedeo Modigliani, Arnaldo Pomodoro. Particolare attenzione viene prestata all’opera di Mario Sironi, uno degli artisti italiani più rappresentati nella collezione newyorkese, presente in Arca con otto lavori. L’ultima parte del percorso espositivo è dedicata al Futurismo, movimento che da subito catturò l’attenzione del collezionismo pubblico e privato americano: opere di Medardo Rosso, Gaetano Previati e Adolfo Wildt, fino ai grandi nomi di Giacomo Balla e Umberto Boccioni.
La mostra è realizzata con la collaborazione produttiva di Giunti Arte mostre e musei, che ne pubblica anche il catalogo. È previsto inoltre un intenso programma di iniziative di promozione e di supporto informativo e didattico. Tra le novità di quest’anno, il visitatore di Arca avrà a disposizione gratuitamente il servizio di audioguidache fornirà informazioni sia sul percorso espositivo sia sul ciclo di affreschi recentemente restaurati nelle navate lateralidella ex chiesa di San Marco. La mostra rientra nel calendario di Esperienza Italia, programma di mostre ed eventi promossi a Torino e in Piemonte per le celebrazioni del 150°anniversario dell’Unità d’Italia.
The Spire Clock Folds and Unfolds Like a Japanese Fan To Let You Know What Time It Is [Video]
The Spire Clock is yet another quirky timekeeper that puts some charm back into the humdrum task of telling time. Essentially, the clock is an assymetrical Japanese fan. More »
HTC Evo 3D and Evo Tablet Coming Soon? [Rumor]
Boy Genius says that the wraps are coming off the HTC Evo 3D smartphone and the Evo View 4G Tablet at CTIA this year. More »
This Weeks Top Web Comedy Video: Star Wars From Simon Pegg and Nick Frost [Video]
Click to viewThe stars of instaclassics Sean of the Dead and Hot Fuzz do their best to reenact a familiar scene from Star Wars. These are the droids you seek, if you seek droids that bicker in that adorably British way that they've mastered. More »
The BookBook Case Is Ready for iPad 2 [Apple]
TwelveSouth's BookBook case, which we've admired before for it's nice leather exterior and adjustable stand mechanism, has been updated to play nice with the iPad 2. It's still $70. [TwelveSouth] More »
Amazon’s Android App Store Coming on Tuesday [Rumor]
According to Wired's Gadget Lab, the Amazon App Store for Android should launch on Tuesday (3/22). You can purchase apps directly from your smartphone or the Amazon website. [Wired] More »
Top Stories of Today, March 18, 2011 [Total Recap]
Spectacular Lego Reenactments of March Madness Classics [Video]
Your bracket's already in the can, so why not relax and enjoy these incredible Lego reenactments of memorable NCAA tournaments plays past? Favorite touch: Lego Christian Laettner's future is so bright, he's gotta wear shades. [Deadspin] More »
Polygamist Busted After Posting Pictures of Second Family on Facebook [Bad Ideas]
Grand Rapids resident Richard Leon Barton Jr. was married last July. Which is wonderful! Except that he was already married to a woman back in Rhode Island, and had been since 2004. He would've gotten away for it, too, if it weren't for that meddling Facebook. More »
Man Uses iPhone 4, iPad 2 And iMovie To Get Breaking News On CNN [Video]
The Best Android Apps of the Week [Video]
Read It Later: Read It Later is like an Instapaper—saves articles to read later—but as Instapaper doesn't have an Android app, this is as good as it gets for enjoying long form reads when you want. The app gives you really clean viewing of the articles, without the jumble of sidebars and banner ads. Decently cheap at only $1.
