Clipmarks | daisey74's clips

Lab created meat

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 15:23:06 GMT

clipped by: daisey74
clipper's remarks: This is so wrong! and it's still technically meat from an animal because they took cells from a pig!

Clip Source: www.care2.com

Scientists in the Netherlands recently announced that they have grown meat in a laboratory for the first time. Though no one has yet to taste this laboratory meat, there is speculation that it could be commercially viable, and on your dinner table within the next five years.

The process of creating artificial meat started with extracting cells from a live pig and then placing them in a broth-like mixture of other animal parts until the cells multiplied. When the cells eventually multiplied they created muscle tissue, the texture and appearance of which has been described by researchers as “soggy pork.” Tasty.

The “meat” grown in a laboratory may also challenge previously held ethical beliefs about consuming meat. If no animals were harmed or killed to make it, is it still an unethical choice to consume meat? The folks at People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) sounded off their approval of the project stating:

You can read the full article here in the UK Telegraph.

TSA

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 16:35:32 GMT

clipped by: daisey74

Clip Source: www.alternet.org

Here's a question to ponder the next time you're taking off your shoes at airport security: Can you spot terrorists by the look on their faces?

For the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the answer is yes. For the past few years, airports across the country have been using what many call "behavioral surveillance" to weed out potential hijackers among us, by covertly examining travelers' facial expressions and body language as they go through security. Unlike those airport employees who herd us along as we remove our shoes and relinquish all liquids over three ounces (with dubious results), this new program, named "Screening Passengers by Observational Techniques," or "SPOT," is carried out by TSA employees who have been trained to monitor travelers' faces and movements. As Americans head out of town this holiday season, more than 3,000 "Behavior Detection Officers" will be at 161 airports nationwide, watching our every move.

u.s. dollor plan

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 21:29:52 GMT

clipped by: daisey74
clipper's remarks: there is your proof

Clip Source: www.alternet.org

Arab states have launched a secret plan with China, Russia and France to stop using the US currency for oil trading.

In the most profound financial change in recent Middle East history, Gulf Arabs are planning – along with China, Russia, Japan and France – to end dollar dealings for oil, moving instead to a basket of currencies including the Japanese yen and Chinese yuan, the euro, gold and a new, unified currency planned for nations in the Gulf Co-operation Council, including Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait and Qatar.

Secret meetings have already been held by finance ministers and central bank governors in Russia, China, Japan and Brazil to work on the scheme, which will mean that oil will no longer be priced in dollars.

The plans, confirmed to The Independent by both Gulf Arab and Chinese banking sources in Hong Kong, may help to explain the sudden rise in gold prices, but it also augurs an extraordinary transition from dollar markets within nine years.

hyperactivity

Sat, 03 Oct 2009 02:24:42 GMT

clipped by: daisey74

Clip Source: www.care2.com

What’s Causing Hyperactivity in Children?

The average American child spends more than six hours a day in front of a TV or computer and little if any time outdoors. That worries environmentalists, health professionals, and some lawmakers. Children who know more about phishing than fishing are more likely to suffer from obesity, hyperactivity, and stress. And they’re less likely to be stewards of the earth as adults, warns Last Child in the Woods author Richard Louv, who coined the term nature-deficit disorder. To help bring nature back in you and your family’s lives, check out Care2’s selection of nature activities.

Some point a finger at federal education policy with its emphasis on standardized testing. Schools desperate to raise scores have canceled or cut back on field trips and recess, trimmed noncore subjects from curricula, and funneled resources toward test-related instruction. For more information, go to nclicoalition.org.

spanking

Sat, 03 Oct 2009 02:20:58 GMT

clipped by: daisey74
clipper's remarks: i don't know if i believe this. i was spanked and i do not feel i lost any intelligence.

Clip Source: www.webmd.com

Kids Who Get Spanked May Have Lower IQs

Two new studies suggest that children who are spanked have lower IQs than children who aren't, regardless of where they live.

In one study, researchers analyzed the intelligence scores of roughly 1,500 children in the U.S. who took part in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. They found that these scores were slightly lower among children whose mothers reported using spanking as a form of discipline.

In the other study, national average IQ scores were found to be lower in countries where spanking is common.

The research was led by University of New Hampshire sociologist Murray A. Straus, PhD, who has studied the impact of corporal punishment on child development for decades. He is a vocal opponent of the practice.

"The best kept secret of American child psychology is that kids who are not spanked are the best behaved and do the best in life," he tells WebMD. "You won't find that in a single child development textbook, but it is true."

why to not drink milk

Sat, 03 Oct 2009 02:17:30 GMT

clipped by: daisey74

Clip Source: www.alternet.org

8 Reasons You Should Stop Drinking Milk Now

What could be more American than a glass of milk? Cow's milk, that is. In light of this common perception, the time is long overdue to add the milk mustache to that ever-growing list of American myths. Human beings are not designed to drink any milk except human milk (only during infancy, of course). As you'll see below, consuming dairy products -- milk, cheese, yogurt, sour cream, ice cream, etc. -- is not green and it's not healthy.

Environmental Reasons to Avoid Milk

1. Dairy cows produce waste.
Lots of waste. In fact, your average dairy cow produces 120 pounds of waste every day -- equal to that of more than two dozen people, but without toilets, sewers, or treatment plants.

*Living dairy-free has never been easier...so here's a little motivation to get you on the greener, cruelty-free, not-milk track.

bees dying

Thu, 17 Sep 2009 18:00:44 GMT

clipped by: daisey74
clipper's remarks: Whoa, this is bad, really bad. think about what this could mean for our food and everything.

Clip Source: www.alternet.org

Life Without Bumblebees? It's Not Just Honeybees That Are Mysteriously Dying

Bombus franklini, a North American bumblebee, was last seen on August 9, 2006. Professor Emeritus Robbin Thorp, an entomologist at UC Davis, was doing survey work on Mt. Ashland in Oregon when he saw a single worker on a flower, Sulphur eriogonum, near the Pacific Crest Trail. He had last seen the bee in 2003, roughly in the same area, where it had once been very common. "August ninth," Thorp says. "I've got that indelibly emblazoned in my mind."

creativity to happiness

Thu, 17 Sep 2009 17:35:30 GMT

clipped by: daisey74

Clip Source: www.webmd.com

Go With the Flow: Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi conferred the label "flow," on the mental state in which you are fully engaged in creativity. In his research on happiness and well-being, he learned that people can become so absorbed that they feel they are outside of time. Other researchers have found that the passion of such pursuits can keep you physically healthy and out of the doctor's office.

I'm Not That Creative: Yet, you wonder, isn't creativity reserved for the likes of artists, writers, and inventors? Not so fast. We all know that kindergartners are bundles of creative energy. But all of us were once in kindergarten, weren't we? So where does this early innovation go? The truth is: We are all creative, but somewhere along the way it was beaten out of us. Finding your passion is the key; think about what moves your motor and start small. But whatever you do, start somewhere.

Clip Source: www.webmd.com

Showing Up:

Work Is Play:

Clip Source: www.webmd.com

Up to the Challenge?

Creative Thinking in Suits:

Got What It Takes?

restless leg syndrome remedies

Thu, 17 Sep 2009 16:59:18 GMT

clipped by: daisey74

Clip Source: www.care2.com

The English physician who first described restless legs syndrome (RLS) in 1683 wrote of “leapings and contractions of the tendons” so intense his patients were “no more able to sleep than if they were in a place of greatest torture.” Yet throughout the 1800s, RLS sufferers who complained of its hallmark “creepy crawly” or “itchy, burning” sensations were often called psychotic and committed to an institution. Even as recently as the 1990s, many doctors were skeptical, if not altogether ignorant, about the condition. “I’ve talked to people who say they went from doctor to doctor for 20 years, and no one knew what it was,” says Norma Cuellar, RN, an RLS researcher with the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing. But today, thanks to a surge of research into restless legs, the once-obscure syndrome is a hot topic, and the estimated 12 million Americans who suffer from it can get the treatment they need.

Remedies for Restless Leg Syndrome

crafty garden

Thu, 17 Sep 2009 16:52:35 GMT

clipped by: daisey74

Clip Source: www.care2.com

My recently-planted, multitasking garden has speckled cranberry, kale, and carrots (to eat), sunflowers (to hold up the cranberry and look nice), and lilac (to look pretty and smell nice). It also has many of the natural materials I’d like to craft with in the coming year. Here’s a list of what I’m growing, and some other ideas for what you could put in your own crafty garden:

1. Gourds: We’re growing birdhouse gourds to make birdhouses, rhythm instruments, and bushel basket gourds for making baskets and drums.

2. Herbs for Soapmaking: We’re growing lavender (check out DIY lavender soap balls); spearmint and rosemary would also be nice to use in soaps.

3. Flowers for Scenting: Check out this recipe for rosewater. I’m guessing you could also experiment with this method using violets, lilacs, or any other heavily scented flower.

How do I keep all these plants organized? Check out my vinyl blind plant marker.

Crafty Garden: Grow Your Own Crafting Supplies

claiming local

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 20:05:46 GMT

clipped by: daisey74

Clip Source: www.alternet.org

HSBC, one of the biggest banks on the planet, has taken to calling itself "the world's local bank." Starbucks is un-branding at least three of its Seattle outlets, the first of which just reopened as "15th Avenue Coffee and Tea." Winn-Dixie, a 500-outlet supermarket chain, recently launched a new ad campaign under the tagline, "Local flavor since 1956." The International Council of Shopping Centers, a global consortium of mall owners and developers, is pouring millions of dollars into television ads urging people to "Shop Local" -- at their nearest mall. Even Wal-Mart is getting in on the act, hanging bright green banners over its produce aisles that simply say, "Local."

Hoping to capitalize on growing public enthusiasm for all things local, some of the world's biggest corporations are brashly laying claim to the word "local."

How the World's Biggest Corporations, From Starbucks to Wal-Mart to Barnes & Noble, Claim to Be 'Local'

foragers

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 19:58:46 GMT

clipped by: daisey74

Clip Source: www.alternet.org

After spending an afternoon with Iso Rabins, it has come to my attention that I have no useful skills. And by useful, I mean the kind that could save my life if I was plucked out of the warm embrace of industrial, consumer society.

To be a farmer, even if only on the crammed fire escape of your city nest, is something special and ancient.

But Rabins is another breed, and an older one -- he doesn't grow food, he finds it, and he does so mostly around the city of San Francisco and its neighboring towns and shores.

He's also among a growing band of urban foragers who have been sprouting through sidewalk cracks all across the country as the economy tightens belts and the local-foods movement gains popularity. And thanks to Rabins, I got to spend a day seeing what's it's like to start looking at your neighborhood as a potential meal.

The Ultimate in Eating Local: My Adventures in Urban Foraging

health care

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 19:41:21 GMT

clipped by: daisey74

Clip Source: www.care2.com

Our nation's health insurers routinely deny coverage to the sick which is, in effect, denial of care. People die. Without comprehensive health care reform -- without a public option -- the death panel will continue its work unfettered.

When television news broadcasts focus on the bullies shouting down others at town halls, when talk turns to Hitler and death marches and fear mongering of every sort, we lose the human factor in health care. We’re no longer talking about the high wire act we’re all performing with our health care.

Sometimes we have to stop all the noise and shine the spotlight on one person, one family suffering the unthinkable because of the state of health care in America. Theirs are the stories we need to hear. These are the people who know best how we’re all teetering on the brink of a similar scenario.

This is the story of the late Eric De La Cruz, as told by his sister, Veronica De La Cruz.

I want to tell you about my only sibling, my brother Eric De La Cruz.¹

corrupt fox and friends

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 19:36:18 GMT

clipped by: daisey74

Clip Source: climateprogress.org

Now Phil Kerpen, policy director for Americans for Prosperity, has laid out the right-wing strategy for how "the Van Jones affair could be an important turning point in the Obama administration," in a piece on FOXNews.com. AFP is "pro-tobacco industry" group that "worked around the U.S. in recent years to defeat" smokefree workplace laws (as SourceWatch notes) — and is now fighting for the big corporate polluters to block climate and clean energy action. Brad Johnson at WonkRoom has documented how Americans for Prosperity (AFP) is a front group for billionaire polluters, pushing the most inane pro-pollution ads you'll ever see (here).

Having taken Van Jones down, the job destroyers and climate destroyers of the right wing most certainly smell blood.

The Van Jones affair is, as President Obama likes to say, a "teachable moment," and we need to put not just him but the whole corrupt "green jobs" concept outside the bounds of the political mainstream.

dr.pepper and company

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 19:30:49 GMT

clipped by: daisey74

Clip Source: www.alternet.org

They were standing on the edge of the Mojave Desert, one of the driest, most inhospitable terrains in America. Yet there they were, posing for photographs, gold-plated shovels in hand, to mark the construction of a massive new bottling plant and distribution hub for the Dr Pepper Snapple Group, a facility that will to suck up hundreds of millions of gallons of water a year from this water-scarce area to supply soft drinks to 20 percent of its domestic market.

Yet, no one has seriously addressed the big wet elephant in the room: water. Where will it come from, and at what cost to the local population?

California is on the verge of a water-related calamity. For the past three years, the state has been in the grips of a devastating drought. Up and down the Golden State, water deliveries have been cut by more than half of the normal allotment.

Clip Source: www.alternet.org

Dr Pepper's Wet Dream: Water, Government Subsidies and Transfer of Wealth in the Middle of the Desert