29 Jan 2004
Stores Nix Disposable Flicks

And much to the delight of those of us who don't care to buy controlled, poisoned products. I guess there was no market for this "Mission Impossible" product. Imagine that!

A Texas grocery chain agrees to stop selling DVDs that 'self-destruct,' much to the delight of environmentalists. By Katie Dean.

(link) [Wired News]

00:00 /Copywrongs | 1 comment | permanent link

The Pentagon's Weather Nightmare

I placed this in my Agriculture section, even though it could go anywhere - maybe it really belongs in Politics. No matter: it's an important article, on a topic with a lot of current buzz but often little substance.

I'm still not convinced that global warming is our "fault", or indeed that it's even really happening. But this Pentagon commissioned study puts forth the most plausible bit of thinking on the subject that I've read for a long time. It shows a respect for history, and an understanding of cause and effect that is really rare in either scientific or political thought these days. Read it and consider the possibilities ...

The climate could change radically, and fast. That would be the mother of all national security issues.

(link) [Fortune]

00:00 /Agriculture | 0 comments | permanent link

A Drug Used for Cattle Is Said to Be Killing Vultures

More unintended consequences of our meddling in the enviroment. Some of this kind of thing is really not preventable - there are simply too many variables to test in an ecosystem. But this should serve as a big red flag to those who want to take this kind of experiment to the next, genetic, level.

A plunge in numbers of vultures in South Asia is probably a result of inadvertent poisoning by a drug used in livestock.

(link) [New York Times: NYT HomePage]

00:00 /Agriculture | 0 comments | permanent link

Virus Alert Program Debuts

If I were a spammer or a virus author, I couldn't wait for the first one of these to be issued. Address spoofing is pretty easy ...

Hoping to stem the tide of virus and worm attacks on the Internet, the U.S. government announces a new security alert program that allows computer users to receive e-mail information about cyberattacks. By Kim Zetter.

(link) [Wired News]

00:00 /Technology | 0 comments | permanent link

Spot the hypocrite!

Maybe I need to refresh my memory here, but wasn't Brazil one of the "poor" nations demanding (at the recent WTO Cancun summit) that we reduce farm subsidies (which effectively make American agricultural products cheaper on world markets)? Didn't they accuse us of hypocrisy over these subsidies?

And yet it was apparently only last March when Brazilian President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva announced measures to end slave labour in Brazil.

Three officials have been shot dead while investigating allegations of slavery, Brazil's Labour Ministry says.

(link) [BBC News | World | UK Edition]

00:00 /Agriculture | 0 comments | permanent link

BumperSticker Stupidity

This post over at Queen of Cups got a guffaw out of me. Here's the gist:

"Follow me to Jesus" is what it [his bumpersticker] says. What? Does he mean right this minute? Because I have things to do. I'm thinking maybe he was on some kind of commission. Or maybe it was like direct marketing. You can get into Heaven, but you need to bring three other souls with you. Either way, I'm not interested. How about if I just meet you there when I'm good and ready, okay? Thanks.
from TV is my Drug of Choice)
I just wonder what folks thought about the bumper sticker I drove around with on my Pinto years ago, Guaranteed to offend nearly everyone:

Nuke the Gay Unborn Whales!

Good thing we didn't have bloggers back then or I'd have been infamous (or dead)!

00:00 /Humor | 2 comments | permanent link