June 2, 2013

Cities Turn to Walkability for Public Health Boost

Popularity of Morning Walks May Shape the Pedestrian Streetscape of Central Florida

Friday, May 31, 2013 - 02:27 PM
By Alicia Mandigo : WMFE


What started as a mayor's morning walk for a healthier staff and community is expanding into a renewed dialogue about pedestrians in Central Florida.

In three small cities in the region, Maitland, Winter Park and Eatonville, city officials have initiated a series of morning walks. The walks are popular with residents trying to improve their health, like Sarah Williams.

“After seeing someone that was close to me have a stroke at the age of 46, it was an eye opener for me,” said Williams, who is overweight, pre-diabetic, and struggles with high blood pressure.

When she heard about the morning walks last November, she decided to join in and walk with all three cities. In less than six months, she’s lowered her blood pressure enough to go off one of her meds her blood glucose levels dropped by two points. “I didn’t lose a lot of weight, but I went down two dress sizes,” says Williams. ..................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.wnyc.org/blogs/transportation-nation/2013/may/31/popularity-morning-walks-may-shape-pedestrian-streetscape-central-florida/

June 2, 2013

JAL finds fault on modified (Boeing 787) Dreamliner: reports

TOKYO: Japan Airlines found a fault with a modified Dreamliner on Sunday, reports said, one day after it resumed full operation of Boeing's flagship 787 fleet following battery problems.

JAL was forced to use another aircraft for a flight scheduled from Tokyo to Beijing after it found a fault with an air pressure sensor in the Dreamliner's battery container, Kyodo News and Jiji Press said.

The incident comes only a day after JAL and All Nippon Airways (ANA), the single biggest operator of 787s, put their full fleet of Dreamliners back into service following a four-month suspension due to battery problems.

ANA had started using Dreamliner planes for irregular flights last month. ......................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/business/international/jal-finds-fault-on-modified-dreamliner-r/695644.html

June 2, 2013

The Wheat Revolution Will Not Be Genetically Engineered

from Civil Eats:



The Wheat Revolution Will Not Be Genetically Engineered
By Amy Halloran on May 31, 2013


On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that genetically engineered (GE) wheat–which was planted in trials that ended in 2001 and has not been approved for sale–was found in eastern Oregon. While the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) says the GE wheat is safe to eat, countries like Japan have already halted imports fearing contamination. This has happened before, with rice after traces of unapproved GE strains were found in the 2006 harvest.

Wheat farmers in the Pacific Northwest export up to 90 percent of their harvest; most of it is used to make noodles in Asia. “We are taking this situation very seriously and have launched a formal investigation,” said Michael Firko, of the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, in a press release.

The issue of genetic engineering of crops has been in the news in Washington state, as I-522, a GE labeling initiative moves forward to the November 2013 ballot. While the Washington Association of Wheat Growers has been dismissive of claims that labeling would affect farmers’ abilities to export wheat, a response to the announcement of the discovery of the GE wheat in Oregon emphasized the safety of the food, and sought understanding from trade partners as the investigation continues.

Farmers in the east side of Washington grow 2.5 million acres of wheat, much of it the soft white wheat aimed for Asian markets. West of the Cascades, other markets for wheat are being cultivated. Farmers in this area are poised to feed the informed eaters who want grains with more identity than the anonymous products of the state’s grain belt. ......................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://civileats.com/2013/05/31/the-wheat-revolution-will-not-be-genetically-engineered/

June 2, 2013

California wildfire chases thousands from homes

By John Bacon

USA TODAY


A fire tearing through Southern California's Angeles National Forest exploded to more than 40 square miles on Sunday and forced evacuations of an estimated 2,000 homes, authorities said.

Forest Service spokesman Ron Ashdale said the blaze doubled in size overnight as it chewed through dry brush and trees in low humidity and high winds. It was only about 20% contained.

"The weather played a huge role in ths fire," Ashdale said. "Normally a fire will lay down a bit overnight and you can get some containment. This one kept roaring."

Ashdale said the number of personnel battling the blaze also doubled overnight, to about 2,100. Mandatory evacuations were ordered for the Los Angeles County communities of Lake Hughes, Green Valley and Elizabeth Lake, he said. ...................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.freep.com/article/20130602/NEWS07/306020135/wildfire-california-fire-forest-evacuations

June 2, 2013

How Many Rotting Apples Do Our Hedges Hide?

from Too Much: A Commentary on Excess and Inequality:


How Many Rotting Apples Do Our Hedges Hide?
May 25, 2013

High-profile prosecutions only hint at the crime and ethical misbehavior rampant in America’s most rewarding high-finance suites.

By Sam Pizzigati


They’re hunkering down at SAC Capital, the hedge fund empire billionaire Steven Cohen has spent over two decades building. Federal prosecutors have been picking off SAC’s current and former second bananas one by one, plea bargaining for information that brings them ever closer to Cohen.

This past March SAC coughed up $616 million, without admitting guilt, to settle a federal civil suit charging the hedge fund with insider trading. A defiant Cohen then went out and plopped down $155 million for a Picasso and $60 million more for a new Hamptons manse, just to show how little he’d miss the $616 million.

Now the feds are chasing Cohen on criminal charges, and SAC has announced the hedge fund will no longer cooperate — on an “unconditional” basis — with government requests for information.

The information already out in public has considerably dimmed Cohen’s “financial genius” aura. The astounding 30 percent annual returns his SAC has been averaging, a vivid Vanity Fair chronicle details this month, rest on a gusher of insider tips that SAC spends hundreds of millions to keep flowing. .....................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://toomuchonline.org/how-many-rotting-apples-do-our-hedges-hide/

June 2, 2013

GOP Translator

June 2, 2013

Manslaughter for Miscarriage, Rohingya Population Control, Cure for Capitalism

EPISODE BREAKDOWN: On this episode of Breaking the Set, Abby Martin talks to Farah Diaz-Tello, Staff Attorney with National Advocates for Pregnant Women, about the case of 33 year old Nina Buckhalter, who is standing trial over a miscarriage that prosecutors claim was caused by illegal drug use, and what precedent it could set for pregnant women. Breaking the Set producer, Ameera David, then highlights two stories being overlooked by the corporate media including Burmese authorities enforcing a two child limit for Rohingya Muslim minorities, as well as the latest drone strike in Pakistan that killed more innocent civilians. BTS wraps up the show with an interview with Richard Wolff, Professor Emeritus at the University of Massachusetts, and author of 'Democracy at Work: A Cure for Capitalism', about the recent school closures in Chicago, and how it reflects a systemic problem within the current capitalist model.

June 2, 2013

Media Won't Touch March Against Monsanto

Published on May 27, 2013

We were the only news agency at the Philadelphia March Against Monsanto, where over 1,000 individuals marched down the busiest street in the city. No CBS, ABC, NBC, nothing. http://naturalsociety.com/media-cover...

June 2, 2013

And you thought kitteh was genuinely interested in literary classics.......

June 2, 2013

Aaron Swartz: hacker, genius… martyr?

Aaron Swartz: hacker, genius… martyr?
Aaron Swartz was a tech whiz-kid and political activist devoted to a free and open internet. When he hacked a website to 'liberate' data, US authorities responded fiercely. He faced a fine of up to $1m and 35 years in jail. Then he took his own life. Here, his former girlfriend talks about the circumstances of his death

Elizabeth Day
The Observer, Saturday 1 June 2013


Aaron Swartz had always been ambiguous about marriage. But last December, having dated his girlfriend Taren Stinebrickner-Kauffman for 18 months, he seemed to be changing his mind.

"He said, sort of out of the blue, in the context of some conversation: 'Maybe we should get married?'" says Stinebrickner-Kauffman, sitting at a table by an open window in Heller's bakery in Washington DC, the humid breeze catching strands of her hair. "I was just so shocked. I asked: 'Where did that come from?' because he had never expressed anything positive about the idea of marriage before."

The 26-year-old Swartz was frequently described as a technological genius. At the age of 14, having dropped out of high school, Swartz helped to author the RSS web syndication specification that provided a standardised format to publish frequently updated works, such as blog entries, news headlines, audio and video content. At 19, he co-programmed the social news and entertainment website Reddit, which was sold to Condé Nast in 2006 for an undisclosed sum thought to be between $10m and $20m. In 2008, he co-wrote the Guerilla Open Access Manifesto, which called for activists to "liberate" information locked up by corporations or publishers. In 2010, at the age of 23, he co-founded Demand Progress, an online advocacy group that successfully campaigned against internet censorship bills and attracted more than a million members. By 24, Swartz was a Harvard research fellow conducting studies on political corruption.

A fierce proponent of the open access movement – which promotes free and easy access to the world's knowledge online – he was also a social activist, guided by an abiding fascination with what he saw as the corrupting influence of big money on institutions and the fundamental imbalance of power structures in the modern age. ...............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2013/jun/02/aaron-swartz-hacker-genius-martyr-girlfriend-interview?guni=Network%20front:network-front%20main-2%20Special%20trail:Network%20front%20-%20special%20trail osition1