Tag Archives: mexico

GMO soybeans are bad for Mexico’s beekeepers

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Marley & Me – John Grogan

The heartwarming and unforgettable story of a family and the wondrously neurotic dog who taught them what really matters in life. Now with photos and new material

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White Dwarf Issue 2: 8 Feb 2014 – White Dwarf

Issue 2 showcases more new Dwarf releases and an interview with the author of the new Dwarf army book, Jeremy Vetock, along with rules for the fantastic new Gyrobomber. About this series: White Dwarf is Games Workshop’s weekly magazine, and boasts a wealth of great content, from the latest new releases to modelling and painting guides, gaming features, […]

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How to Raise the Perfect Dog – Cesar Millan & Melissa Jo Peltier

From the bestselling author and star of National Geographic Channel’s Dog Whisperer , the only resource you’ll need for raising a happy, healthy dog. For the millions of people every year who consider bringing a puppy into their lives–as well as those who have already brought a dog home–Cesar Millan, the preeminent dog behavior expert, says, “Yes, […]

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Following Atticus – Tom Ryan

After a close friend died of cancer, middle-aged, overweight, acrophobic newspaperman Tom Ryan decided to pay tribute to her in a most unorthodox manner. Ryan and his friend, miniature schnauzer Atticus M. Finch, would attempt to climb all forty-eight of New Hampshire’s four thousand- foot peaks twice in one winter while raising money for charity. It wa […]

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Warhammer: Dwarfs – Games Workshop

From their mountain strongholds the Dwarfs march forth to war. Amongst the oldest of the races of the world, the Dwarfs have endured through long centuries of conflict and turmoil. Sturdy and stoic as the mountains they mine, in battle they are implacable foes, standing their ground behind solid shield walls and glittering gromril armour. Dwarf invention mak […]

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How to Paint Citadel Miniatures: Dwarfs – Games Workshop

Shining armour, intricate runes and flowing beards are all hallmarks of the Dwarf race. Their mastery over metals means that their armour and weapons are often the finest in the Old World, their craftsmanship far beyond the ability of Man. There are few sights on the tabletop as inspiring as ranks of armoured Dwarfs advancing on their foes. About this Editio […]

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Warhammer Battlefields: The Underway – Games Workshop

War rages beneath the mountains of the Warhammer World, subterranean armies fighting for bloody dominance of the Undgrin Ankor: the Underway. Created by the Dwarfs during their golden age, this ancient network of deep roads and cavern cities crisscrosses the roots of the world. However, during the great catastrophe that laid the Dwarf empire low, the Underwa […]

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The Art of Raising a Puppy (Revised Edition) – Monks of New Skete

For more than thirty years the Monks of New Skete have been among America’s most trusted authorities on dog training, canine behavior, and the animal/human bond. In their two now-classic bestsellers, How to be Your Dog’s Best Friend and The Art of Raising a Puppy, the Monks draw on their experience as long-time breeders of German shepherds and as t […]

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Cat Sense – John Bradshaw

Cats have been popular household pets for thousands of years, and their numbers only continue to rise. Today there are three cats for every dog on the planet, and yet cats remain more mysterious, even to their most adoring owners. In Cat Sense , renowned anthrozoologist John Bradshaw takes us further into the mind of the domestic cat than ever before, using […]

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White Dwarf Issue 1: 1 Feb 2014 – White Dwarf

Issue 1 of White Dwarf starts with a bang as the Dwarfs march forth with some stunning new miniatures. Inside the issue you’ll find full rules for Belegar Ironhammer, a discussion of Tyranid Monstrous Creatures, painting guides and more. About this series: White Dwarf is Games Workshop’s weekly magazine, and boasts a wealth of great content, from t […]

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GMO soybeans are bad for Mexico’s beekeepers

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Friday Cat Blogging – 7 February 2014

Mother Jones

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When we watch TV, Domino watches TV. And since Domino has good taste, she almost always curls up with Marian, not me. (I’ll do, but only in a pinch, if Marian isn’t around.) So this was us last night. We were watching the Olympic slopestyle coverage (verdict: meh), and Domino was watching us. Then she fell asleep. Eventually, we did too.

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Friday Cat Blogging – 7 February 2014

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Rick Santorum is Still the Same Creepy Guy He Was in 2012

Mother Jones

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A quick note on the Republican presidential field. In the course of making the case for Paul Ryan as the front runner a few days ago, I failed to mention Rick Santorum as a possible challenger. That was a mistake. He’s going to run, and he belongs on the list.

That said, come on. Is anyone taking him seriously? Yes, he won a few primaries in 2012, but only as the last man standing in the Anyone But Romney marathon. That doesn’t demonstrate an ability to win, it just demonstrates an unusual level of pigheadedness. Santorum was willing to stay in the race for months even though he never polled more than a few percent and was obviously widely disliked. Only when everyone else was gone did conservative voters reluctantly turn to him as their final, forlorn hope of stopping the Romney juggernaut.

So sure, Santorum is going to run. He might do better this time around because his name recognition is higher. But he’s still the same creepy dude he was last time and he still has the charisma of a sea slug. Even the Christian Right obviously finds him a little too self-righteous and a little too shudder inducing. I wouldn’t put him even in the top five of possible 2016 contenders.

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Rick Santorum is Still the Same Creepy Guy He Was in 2012

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Getting to the Bottom of David Wildstein

Mother Jones

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What exactly was David Wildstein’s job at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey? His official title was Director of Interstate Capital Projects, which isn’t much help since building and managing interstate capital projects is pretty much all the Port Authority does. The position was invented in 2010 after Chris Christie became governor, and it was eliminated after Wildstein resigned following the Bridgegate revelations. It doesn’t appear to have much of an official job description. So what did Wildstein do? Here’s what Shawn Boburg of the Bergen County Record said about him in a 2012 profile:

Wildstein is playing a key behind-the-scenes role in Governor Christie’s effort to get more control over the Port Authority, the bi-state transportation agency that has come under increased scrutiny since raising bridge and tunnel tolls in September….Several executives said Wildstein has played a role in placing some of those recommended by the Christie administration in jobs and that he seems to serve as the administration’s eyes and ears within the byzantine agency.

….Eight current and past Port Authority colleagues agreed to speak about Wildstein, but insisted that their identities remain undisclosed because they feared retribution. They described Wildstein, one of 50 recommended for jobs by the Christie administration, as intimidating, hardworking, intelligent, private and fiercely loyal to the governor.

Some bristle that a senior executive post is occupied by someone with more experience with campaigns than with transportation issues. “He became the watcher of the entire agency,” one person said. “What he was watching for was strict adherence to the Christie agenda.”

Hmmm. Via Bob Somerby, here is what WNYC’s Andrea Bernstein said on Lawrence O’Donnell’s show last night:

This wasn’t a nothing job. This was a really important position where he was in charge of doling out billions of dollars for capital projects, much of that in New Jersey.

And what we know now is that David Wildstein was taking money and putting them into projects that solved other problems for Chris Christie, lots and lots of money….There was a project lifting up the Bayonne Bridge….There was also billions of dollars that went into the Pulaski skyway….Now, this seems like a mundane project, but the key thing about it is that it meant that Chris Christie didn’t have to spend New Jersey funds. So it solved a big budget headache.

….Now, as you mentioned, the top of the segment, I learned and some other reporters learned this week, that this position had been eliminated. Which sort of goes to, was it key? Was it important? Or was it something that was created so that David Wildstein could carry out Chris Christie’s will at this authority? Which is, let’s not forget, a bi-state authority, New York and New Jersey. It runs the airports. It runs the bridges and tunnels between New York and New Jersey. That’s its function.

The Christie take on this is that the Port Authority was a mess and badly needed better oversight, which Wildstein provided. Everyone else’s take is that Christie wanted more personal control over which projects were and weren’t approved, and Wildstein was his inside guy, the enforcer who made sure that Christie loyalists were installed in key positions and Christie priorities were taken care of.

And I guess that job is no longer necessary. That’s either because Wildstein did a bang-up job and the Port Authority no longer needs extra oversight, or because Bridgegate made it politically impossible to keep a Christie enforcer on the Port Authority payroll. I guess you can make up your own mind about which seems more likely.

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Getting to the Bottom of David Wildstein

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Let’s Blame Obamacare For Everything!

Mother Jones

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AOL has decided to change the way it handles 401(k) retirement accounts. Instead of matching employee contributions monthly, it will make one lump-sum match at the end of the year. This screws employees and makes more money for AOL in two ways. First, they no longer contribute any matching funds at all for people who leave in the middle of the year. Second, employees don’t earn interest on their matching funds throughout the year.

So what’s behind this Scrooge-like nickel and diming? Can you guess? Can you? Here’s CEO Tim Armstrong:

In the CEO chair, let me give you an example of the decisions we have to make as a company: Obamacare is an additional $7.1 million expense for us as a company….As a CEO and Management Team, we had to decide “Do we pass the $7.1 million of Obamacare costs to our employees or do we try to eat as much of that as possible and cut other benefits?”

It’s Obamacare’s fault! The all-purpose punching bag gets the blame again. AOL’s health care expenses went up this year, just as they have every year since the company was founded, but this time it’s Obamacare’s fault. Why? Well, why not? It’s a mighty handy excuse, isn’t it? And it certainly distracts everyone from the fact that AOL is shafting its employees even though it just announced its best results in a decade.

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Let’s Blame Obamacare For Everything!

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Why Are Republicans Shooting Themselves in the Foot With a Health Care Bill?

Mother Jones

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Ed Kilgore points me to The Hill today, which reports that House Republicans plan to draft a genuine Obamacare replacement bill later this year:

For years, Republicans have promised a “repeal and replace” strategy on ObamaCare, but have never coalesced behind one plan. President Obama has repeatedly mocked the GOP for not delivering an alternative.

Eric Cantor intends to move a repeal-and-replace bill before the midterm elections in November, according to a source familiar with the situation. He broached the issue at the House GOP retreat in Cambridge, Md., late last week.

“I think it is very likely that we’re going to have it before the election, we’re going to give the people — or at least we are going to try to give the people — a clear distinction of who we are versus who the Democrats are,” Florida Rep. Tom Rooney (R) said.

I’m genuinely baffled by this. Why bother? Republicans have spent years screaming “Repeal and Replace!” without ever offering up a replacement, and it’s worked fine. Sure, it invites mockery from folks like me, but has that ever done them any harm? Not that I can see.

On the flip side, any actual bill will be divisive within their own caucus and provide a rich target for Democrats at the same time. When it’s all just hazy smoke, Dems have nothing to get a handle on. Once there’s actual legislative language, all they have to do is find the least popular bits, twist them into granny-killing death panels, and go to town.

If there were an actual chance of passing this bill, it might be worth it. But there’s not, and as near as I can tell, it’s literally 100 percent downside and no upside. What on earth is the point?

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Why Are Republicans Shooting Themselves in the Foot With a Health Care Bill?

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There’s One Group of Voters Who Likes Chris Christie More Than Ever

Mother Jones

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Jonathan Bernstein notes today that Chris Christie’s poll numbers have actually risen among one particular group of voters: tea partiers. It’s a small sample from a single poll, so you don’t want to take this to the bank until we get confirmation. And yet:

If true (and again: see caveats above), it’s a fascinating finding, confirming that for at least some non-trivial group of Republicans, all a politician has to do to win their favor is to get attacked by anyone outside of the conservative bubble.

Which is, to put it bluntly, pathetic.

But it does suggest — at least a little — the appeal of a Sarah Palin or a Herman Cain….Or, for that matter, the continuing appeal of Newt Gingrich to some conservatives despite his frequent and major deviations on public policy over the years. If the core credential for being a Real Conservative is to be attacked (by liberals? by the “neutral” news media? by prosecutors?), then demagogues, charlatans and the inept have a real advantage over responsible, competent politicians. Which really is a problem for the Republican Party, but beyond that, is an even more important problem, I would think, for actual ideological conservatives — that is, people who care about public policy and ideology, as opposed to being purely concerned with tribal allegiances.

Partisans are always susceptible to circling the wagons when one of their own is attacked. But conservatives have turned victimization into a high art over the past few years—led, as Bernstein points out, by the high priestess of grievance and victimization herself, Sarah Palin. When reports surface that make you look bad, just spin them as desperate attacks against real American values by East Coast elitists and you’re golden. After all, if the lamestream media says you did something bad, then you must actually be doing something very, very good, amirite?

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There’s One Group of Voters Who Likes Chris Christie More Than Ever

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For the Birds (And the Bats)

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The Crochet Answer Book – Edie Eckman

Wouldn’t it boost your confidence to have an experienced and confident crocheter on call, day and night, offering assistance when needed? Most of us aren’t fortunate enough to have that kind of aid, but now there is help available 24/7 with The Crochet Answer Book. Being a “good” crocheter is not about making perfectly stitched, elaborate […]

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Inside of a Dog – Alexandra Horowitz

The bestselling book that asks what dogs know and how they think, now in paperback. The answers will surprise and delight you as Alexandra Horowitz, a cognitive scientist, explains how dogs perceive their daily worlds, each other, and that other quirky animal, the human. Horowitz introduces the reader to dogs’ perceptual and cognitive abilities and then draw […]

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Codex: Tyranids (Enhanced Edition) – Games Workshop

From the cold darkness of the intergalactic void comes a race of ravenous aliens known as the Tyranids, a numberless horde of super-predators governed only by the instincts to hunt, kill and feed. Each Tyranid is a living weapon, perfectly adapted to its designated function, but each creature is no more than a single cell in a vast gestalt entity controlled […]

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Following Atticus – Tom Ryan

After a close friend died of cancer, middle-aged, overweight, acrophobic newspaperman Tom Ryan decided to pay tribute to her in a most unorthodox manner. Ryan and his friend, miniature schnauzer Atticus M. Finch, would attempt to climb all forty-eight of New Hampshire’s four thousand- foot peaks twice in one winter while raising money for charity. It wa […]

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Penny Saving Household Helper – Rebecca DiLiberto

This handy guide resurrects the fine art of frugal housekeeping with over 500 tips on saving money throughout the home and garden. Learn creative ways to cut back, pinch pennies, reduce, recycle, and re-use. Want to save on the grocery bill? Buy the whole chicken rather than individual cuts. Get more wear out of your wardrobe? Add a dash of salt to the washe […]

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The Knitting Answer Book – Margaret Radcliffe

Every avid knitter has faced this dilemma: deep into a project at midnight, just trying to finish one more row, and, then . . . oh no, a dropped stitch three rows back! Help! If only there was a 24-hour hotline to answer every question a knitter might encounter. Well, now there is, with The Knitting Answer Book . The expert authors, Margaret Radcliffe and Ed […]

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Warhammer 40,000: Kill Team (Interactive Edition) – Games Workshop

Not all battles in the 41st Millennium are massed engagements between lumbering armies and towering war machines. In the shadows of these epic conflicts, squads of elite soldiers clash – their missions no less vital, their foes no less deadly. Designated as Kill Teams by the Imperium, or by a myriad of different names for their alien and daemonic counterpart […]

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What the Dog Did – Emily Yoffe

Dave Barry meets The Secret Lives of Dogs in Emily Yoffe’s funny and insightful look at all things canine. Filled with adventures of heroic dogs, lovable and lazy dogs, malodorous dogs, phlegmatic and incontinent dogs, What the Dog Did delivers some of the most outlandish and certainly the funniest dog stories on record.

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How to Raise the Perfect Dog – Cesar Millan & Melissa Jo Peltier

From the bestselling author and star of National Geographic Channel’s Dog Whisperer , the only resource you’ll need for raising a happy, healthy dog. For the millions of people every year who consider bringing a puppy into their lives–as well as those who have already brought a dog home–Cesar Millan, the preeminent dog behavior expert, says, “Yes, […]

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Codex: Inquisition – Games Workshop

The Inquisition is the most powerful organisation within the Imperium. Bound by no Imperial law or authority, its agents – Inquisitors – operate in a highly secretive manner and answer only to themselves. Inquisitors use whatever means are necessary in order to safeguard the Imperium from heretics, mutants and aliens. It is not without good reason that Inqui […]

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For the Birds (And the Bats)

Posted in alo, Citadel, eco-friendly, FF, G & F, GE, LAI, Monterey, ONA, OXO, PUR, solar, solar power, Uncategorized, Vintage, wind energy, wind power | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on For the Birds (And the Bats)

New Mexico suing to block horse slaughter

New Mexico suing to block horse slaughter

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Dinner?

Just as a New Mexico slaughterhouse prepares to kill 20 horses, the state has filed a lawsuit that aims to prevent the killings.

Roswell-based Valley Meat Company plans to begin slaughtering horses in the new year thanks to changes in federal rules. It eventually aims to be capable of slaughtering 120 horses a day, with the meat sold as animal feed and to human consumers in Europe and Asia.

The debut slaughter had initially been scheduled for early August but was delayed after the company was targeted by lawsuits and suspected arsonists. A federal appeals court in Colorado last week ruled against environmentalists who had sued to prevent the slaughter of horses in America.

Now New Mexico’s Democratic attorney general, an aspiring gubernatorial candidate, is joining in the pile-on. He described such a slaughter as “completely at odds with our traditions and our values as New Mexicans.” Here’s more about the lawsuit from KOB Eyewitness News 4:

At a press conference on Thursday, Attorney General Gary King said he will sue Valley Meat Company for violating state and federal environmental and safety laws.

According to the suit, Valley Meat repeatedly violated state groundwater monitoring requirements when it operated as a cattle slaughterhouse between 1986 and 2005. The suit also claims Valley Meat failed to renew its permit for discharging wastewater from 2010 until 2012. Over this period of time, the suit alleges that Valley Meat illegally dumped the remains of hundreds of slaughtered animals on the grounds of the plant, forming “massive piles of rotting flesh and bones.”

In a statement to KOB, Valley Meat’s attorney said it was preposterous to sue a company for “anticipated violations” and to rely on “bad science to make defamatory conclusions about a product.”

Valley Meat has felt itself the victim of unfair attention from environmentalists, but it hasn’t been doing a good job of keeping a low profile. Adding fuel to the flames of controversy, a slaughterhouse worker earlier this year posted video of himself shooting a colt in the head. “All you animal activists, fuck you,” he said, before squeezing the trigger.


Source
New Mexico AG suing Roswell horse slaughter plant, KOB Eyewitness News 4
New Mexico sues to block horse slaughter facility, Reuters

John Upton is a science fan and green news boffin who tweets, posts articles to Facebook, and blogs about ecology. He welcomes reader questions, tips, and incoherent rants: johnupton@gmail.com.

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New Mexico suing to block horse slaughter

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Dolphins in the Gulf of Mexico Are Much Sicker After the BP Spill

Mother Jones

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This story originally appeared on The Huffington Post and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration.

A year after BP’s disastrous 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, a team of researchers found that dolphins in the vicinity of the spill showed major signs of sickness, a new study says.

According to a new peer-reviewed study published Wednesday in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, a team of government, academic and non-governmental researchers identified previously unseen health issues in bottlenose dolphins examined in August 2011 in Louisiana’s Barataria Bay.

Researchers examined 32 dolphins, including 29 that received comprehensive physical and ultrasound examinations. Nearly half of the sampled population were identified as being in “guarded or worse” condition, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Another 17 percent were in poor or grave condition and “not expected to survive.” Among the health problems were lung damage and low levels of adrenal stress-response hormones. A quarter of the dolphins were also underweight.

The researchers said the dolphins’ symptoms resemble those of mammals in laboratory studies of oil exposure. “The decreased cortisol hormone response is something fairly unusual but has been reported from experimental studies of mink exposed to fuel oil,” researchers said. “The respiratory issues are also consistent with experimental studies in animals and clinical reports of people exposed to petroleum hydrocarbons.”

“I’ve never seen such a high prevalence of very sick animals–and with unusual conditions such as the adrenal hormone abnormalities,” lead author Dr. Lori Schwacke said in a NOAA press release.

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Dolphins in the Gulf of Mexico Are Much Sicker After the BP Spill

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