New Baltic bacteria linked to ocean warming | Sci-Tech | DW.DE | 25.07.2012

New Baltic bacteria linked to ocean warming | Sci-Tech | DW.DE | 25.07.2012

Vibrio bacteria are usually found in warm waters, but new research has found them in the cold Baltic Sea as a result of rising temperatures. Controlling the spread will be hard.

A team of scientists from Britain, Finland, Spain and the United States says it has the first hard evidence to link rising ocean temperatures in Northern Europe with the emergence of various strains of Vibrio bacteria.

Vibrio bacteria is normally found in warm, tropical marine environments but has been detected in the usually cold Baltic Sea.

It belongs to a group of bacteria which - depending on the strain - can cause gastroenteritis or cholera in humans if raw or undercooked shellfish are consumed, or through exposure to contaminated seawater.

Give a Garden | kidsgardening.org

Give a Garden | kidsgardening.org
Welcome to Give a Garden Initiative brought to you by the National Gardening Association. Together we can change the world, one garden at a time. This is your opportunity to make a difference in the lives of young people as well as in communities everywhere.

Hoop House Training Garden

Hoop House Training Garden

OVERVIEW OF OUTDOOR IDEA

We want to build a hoop house (green house) to support community gardening for children and adults in Hamilton, Ohio. Neighborhood people will help build and learn how to build their own and how to garden for good health, nutrition, and bringing the community together.

THE SPECIFICS: WHAT WILL THE $5,000 FUND?

The $5,000 will pay for materials to build a 40×80 foot hoop house, provide materials to build raised garden boxes inside it, organic planting materials, seeds, a water system, and will pay for water for at least first planting season. Reasonable ($20.00) season fees for using garden boxes and sales of surplus crops will pay for ongoing up keep.

Hoop House Training Garden

Hoop House Training Garden

We want to build a hoop house (green house) to support community gardening for children and adults in Hamilton, Ohio. Neighborhood people will help build and learn how to build their own and how to garden for good health, nutrition, and bringing the community together.

THE SPECIFICS: WHAT WILL THE $5,000 FUND?

The $5,000 will pay for materials to build a 40×80 foot hoop house, provide materials to build raised garden boxes inside it, organic planting materials, seeds, a water system, and will pay for water for at least first planting season. Reasonable ($20.00) season fees for using garden boxes and sales of surplus crops will pay for ongoing up keep.

Visit my project page at http://outdoors.maker.good.is/projects/HUGS and click “Vote for this Idea” to vote for me! Please use either Firefox or Chrome browsers.

If you need to register, please remember to validate your email address (you’ll receive instructions after you vote) so your vote gets counted. You’ll see a notification at the top of the screen once your vote has been successfully counted.

Remember, everyone can only vote once, so be sure to also let your friends know and spread the word!

Voter Protection Unit (VPU) - American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee

Voter Protection Unit (VPU) - American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee

 ADC Voter Protection Unit (ADC-VPU)

The ADC-VPU was established in October 2008. This special unit is dedicated to protect the Arab and Muslim American communities from attempts at chilling the communitiess‘ right to vote and responding to fear tactics designed to promote hate, division, and hostility against the Arab and Muslim American communities.

How can you volunteer?

ADC-VPU calls for volunteers to make a difference and help protect the rights of all voters. The ADC-VPU needs the assistance of those willing and available to become Election Monitors. Please email your information; including your name, email address, phone number, and voting district to vpu@adc.org. Upon receiving your information a member of the VPU will be in touch with you to explain the process.

Election Monitor District Representative:

• Will serve as the go-to person to election monitors across a voting district.
• Responsible for contacting the City or County Clerk should an issue arise.
• Set schedules across a district and be responsible for strategically placing monitors.
• Responsible for reporting to the ADC-VPU on the day‘s activities.
• Someone familiar with election monitoring, organized, familiar with the voting district.

Election Monitor:

• Primary responsibility will be to ensure the fairness of the election process.
• Will be placed at a polling station by the District Representative.
• Will be given specific instructions on what to look for on Election Day.
• Will be provided instructions on how to report any acts of voter intimidation
• Willing to commit to a 3-4 hour block and have be able to carry out the duties.

IPS – Impure Flows the Ganga | Inter Press Service

IPS – Impure Flows the Ganga | Inter Press Service

“The dams cause an excess of silt deposits upstream, leading to algal growth that changes the character of the water,” he says.

People who live around the confluence of the river with the sea, at Ganga Sagar in West Bengal where the holy river empties into the Bay of Bengal, are extremely concerned about the situation.

“The Ganga Sagar islands, which are already threatened by climate change, are now more vulnerable than ever because there is no longer enough silt in the waters to buttress the landmass,” Singh tells IPS.

He says construction of the Tehri Dam for a hydel project in the Bhagirathi river, one of the Ganga’s two headstreams, has almost killed the river.

“Even the river Alaknanda (the Ganga’s source stream) could (suffer) as a result,” says Singh.

Hoop House Training Garden

Hoop House Training Garden Vote with us to make this happen

Overview of Outdoor Idea

We want to build a hoop house (green house) to support community gardening for children and adults in Hamilton, Ohio. Neighborhood people will help build and learn how to build their own and how to garden for good health, nutrition, and bringing the community together.

The Specifics: What will the $5,000 fund?

The $5,000 will pay for materials to build a 40×80 foot hoop house, provide materials to build raised garden boxes inside it, organic planting materials, seeds, a water system, and will pay for water for at least first planting season. Reasonable ($20.00) season fees for using garden boxes and sales of surplus crops will pay for ongoing up keep.

Eat Drink Better | Humane Egg Production Ruffles Feathers in the House of Representatives | Page: 1 | Eat Drink Better

Eat Drink Better | Humane Egg Production Ruffles Feathers in the House of Representatives | Page: 1 | Eat Drink Better States rights only on stuff that I like - Rep. King?

Representative Steve King of Iowa introduced an amendment to the House version of the Farm Bill which would nullify California’s humane egg production law and the more recent foie gras bill.

Amendment 45 uses the Commerce Clause to deny states the right to regulate agriculture production and sales within their own borders.

The Commerce Clause (Article I, Section 8, Clause 3 of the United States Constitution) reserves the power “to regulate Commerce … among the several States …” to Congress. Rep. King argues that this means any agricultural product produced in any state can be sold in any state, even if it does not meet minimum standards set by the citizens of a state.

When California enacted a humane egg production law a few years ago, egg producers in the state argued that it would put them at a disadvantage to egg producers who did not have to meet minimum standards in the care of their hens. The California legislature included in the law a stipulation that eggs produced in other states must also meet minimum standards for the care of the hens before they could be sold in California.  The standards had been pushed forward by the United Egg Producers, an industry group which supplies about 95% of the eggs in the United States, and the Humane Society of the United States.

Rep. King’s press release about the amendment says the amendment “…prohibits states from enacting laws that place onerous conditions on the means of production for agricultural goods that are sold within its own borders but are produced in other states.” Allowing hens the room to stretch their wings is considered “onerous” in some circles, but thankfully not all.

Rep. King’s district is in Iowa. The egg farm that had to recall a half billion eggs in 2010 after several hundred Americans fell ill from salmonella is also in Iowa. The humane egg production standards are intended to reduce the likelihood that overcrowded conditions in henhouses will result in another disease outbreak.

Chilean Fish Farms and the Tragedy of the Commons

Chilean Fish Farms and the Tragedy of the Commons

"We blamed the ISA virus on eggs imported from Norway," Alvial says. "But the real problem was overcrowded conditions in our pens. We weren't paying attention to the long term effects of these mega-farms."

Scientists now understand that the oceans are made up of interrelated ecosystems. And any ecosystem has a carrying capacity, an ill-defined capacity for how much life can be sustained by the available food and oxygen.

"It's human nature," Alvial says. "We were so arrogant. This little country in South America showing the world how to build a world class aquaculture system. And we weren't listening to the people who were telling us: You're taking too many risks, not enough research, not enough regulation.

"So it may have started with a single lot of eggs from Norway, or a single boat or a single net... But we can't blame our crisis on a few contaminated eggs. We have to blame it on our lack of knowledge of the carrying capacity."

Fortunately, he says, the same entrepreneurial spirit that built the industry was marshaled to respond to the crisis. "We are a very opportunistic country."

Egypt women to demonstrate in Cairo for representation in new constitution - Bikya Masr

Egypt women to demonstrate in Cairo for representation in new constitution - Bikya Masr

A number of women’s organizations and movements are marching on Saturday, and too, calling for fair and equal representation of women in the new constitution.

The Egyptian Women’s Union said the march will start at noon from Talaat Harb Square to Tahrir Square, with the participation of many leading feminists figures including renowned writer and feminist Nawal al-Sa’dawi and the virginity tests fighter Samira Ibrahim. The march is titled “beware of the Egyptian women anger.”

Gabriel's Place Market Stand Open!!

IRIN Africa | MALI: Beyond the drought - “Families will disappear” | Mali | Food Security | Governance | Migration | Natural Disasters | Sahel Crisis | Security | Water & Sanitation

IRIN Africa | MALI: Beyond the drought - “Families will disappear” | Mali | Food Security | Governance | Migration | Natural Disasters | Sahel Crisis | Security | Water & Sanitation

People emigrate to survive - not to steal your job! Same reason people left Oklahoma, Arkansas and Missouri for California during and after "dust bowl" years!

“It was the drought that made people move away from here,” Ousmane Touré said in Kayes, 450km northwest of Bamako, the capital of Mali, and a 10-hour bus ride across the scorched scrubland of the western Sahel. “There had been a tradition of emigration, but it was when the harvests failed in the 1970s that we saw a real surge in emigration. There was simply not enough to eat, so people took off for France, Germany and the United States. They knew it was only the way of feeding their families back home in Kayes. The same thing is happening this year.” 

Hoodies and Bandanas Do Not Justify Murder - NAM

Hoodies and Bandanas Do Not Justify Murder - NAM
In the summer of 1994, my friends and I were driving to a local basketball gym when our two cars were pulled over by Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies. My four friends in the lead car were asked to exit the vehicle and put their hands on the hood. I was in the back car with two other friends and we were allowed to stay inside.

Throughout this stop, from beginning to end, the deputies had their guns drawn on us.

I sat in the back right seat. When one of the deputies asked us for identification, I fumbled around inside my duffel bag.

“Don’t mess around in that bag,” the deputy sheriff said. “Or you might get shot.”

But how could I not be nervous? He had the damn barrel of a gun pointed inches from my head!

As I remember back, I can still feel the dominating, almost arrogant presence of that gun. How hot it felt. How it made me cringe. The fear ― of cops and guns ― the moment has permanently instilled in me.

Neocotinoid Pesticides Play a Role in Bees’ Decline, 2 Studies Find - NYTimes.com

Neocotinoid Pesticides Play a Role in Bees’ Decline, 2 Studies Find - NYTimes.com
In Thursday’s issue of the journal Science, two teams of researchers published studies suggesting that low levels of a common pesticide can have significant effects on bee colonies. One experiment, conducted by French researchers, indicates that the chemicals fog honeybee brains, making it harder for them to find their way home. The other study, by scientists in Britain, suggests that they keep bumblebees from supplying their hives with enough food to produce new queens.

Quick Hit: One woman’s experience with Texas’ new mandatory ultrasound law

Quick Hit: One woman’s experience with Texas’ new mandatory ultrasound law 
Bad as you thought it would be? YES!
Here’s a rule: When you, as legislators with neither professional medical experience nor personal experience being pregnant, pass laws that result in doctors and nurses repeatedly apologizing to sobbing women, you’re doing something wrong.

“I am so sorry,” the young woman said with compassion, and nudged the tissues closer. Then, after a moment’s pause, she told me reluctantly about the new Texas sonogram law that had just come into effect. I’d already heard about it. The law passed last spring but had been suppressed by legal injunction until two weeks earlier.
My counselor said that the law required me to have another ultrasound that day, and that I was legally obligated to hear a doctor describe my baby. I’d then have to wait 24 hours before coming back for the procedure. She said that I could either see the sonogram or listen to the baby’s heartbeat, adding weakly that this choice was mine.
“I don’t want to have to do this at all,” I told her. “I’m doing this to prevent my baby’s suffering. I don’t want another sonogram when I’ve already had two today. I don’t want to hear a description of the life I’m about to end. Please,” I said, “I can’t take any more pain.” I confess that I don’t know why I said that. I knew it was fait accompli. The counselor could no more change the government requirement than I could. Yet here was a superfluous layer of torment piled upon an already horrific day, and I wanted this woman to know it.

In this horrifying case, the woman was terminating a much-wanted pregnancy. But it only takes a little imagination – and I suppose the compassion that anti-choice politicians have shown they clearly can’t muster – to think of other reasons patients and doctors might not want clueless politicians inserting their own views into the doctor’s office. As Carolyn Jones asks, “Shouldn’t women have a right to protect themselves from strangers’ opinions on their most personal matters?”

Neo-Nazis cloak themselves in eco-rhetoric | Environment | DW.DE | 08.03.2012

Neo-Nazis cloak themselves in eco-rhetoric | Environment | DW.DE | 08.03.2012

They're into organic farming, oppose GMOs and worry about endangered species protection. Right-wing extremists are increasingly active in typically left-wing movements. Experts say the trend is troublesome.

"Environmental protection should be inherent to cultural progress." That's a statement that could easily be attributed to any environmentalist group. Instead it comes from the National Democratic Party (NPD), a far-right but still legal German party, and it's another sign of how right-wing groups are increasingly latching on to environmental topics.
The connection between right-wing extremism and environmentalism is not new, but experts believe the growing trend represents a real threat, because it helps push extremist views into the mainstream.
Two recent publications have responded, seeking to educate the public by explaining what's behind such efforts, and debunking certain lines of reasoning within them.

TB levels in London as high as those in some African countries | Vaccine News Daily

TB levels in London as high as those in some African countries | Vaccine News Daily

A new survey by Britain’s National Health Service shows that tuberculosis infection rates in some London neighborhoods match those in found in African countries where the disease is endemic.

The NHS survey said that the number of TB cases in London rose by 50 percent in the 10 years before 2009. The airborne bacteria appears to have taken root in populations of recent immigrants, addicts and the homeless, according to Post-Gazette.com.

Pockets of TB infection have appeared in the shadows of some of London’s richest banks and tallest skyscrapers and may pose a risk to those who work in affluent circles.

“You wouldn’t expect to see that,” Brian McCloskey, the Health Protection Agency’s regional director for London, said, Post-Gazette.com reports. “TB is one of the biggest public health problems we have.”

Honoring Unsung Heroes

Great Horned Owl Bubo virginianus

Great Horned Owl Bubo virginianus,
originally uploaded by sailingsue.

Who do you think you are? Grin...

THE DAILY STAR :: Opinion :: Columnist :: Lebanon's Palestinians, the shame rises

THE DAILY STAR :: Opinion :: Columnist :: Lebanon's Palestinians, the shame rises

The current debate in Lebanon about the legal status of several hundred thousand resident Palestinian refugees reflects the best and worst of the Arab world. The mistreatment, abysmal living conditions and limited work, social security and property rights of these Palestinians are a lingering moral black mark – but change is in the air, initiated largely by Lebanese.

To be fair to Lebanon, all Arab countries similarly mistreat millions of Arab, Asian and African foreign guest workers, who often are treated little better than chattels or indentured laborers. Racism and discrimination are alive and well in most Arab societies. The Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, however, are a distinct case. Most were born in the country and know no other residence. They are involuntary long-term refugees, and are not here by choice to work.

Read more: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Opinion/Columnist/Jun/30/Lebanons-Palestinians-the-shame-rises.ashx#ixzz1ndjLCgcb
(The Daily Star :: Lebanon News :: http://www.dailystar.com.lb)