Titans of Industry category archive
Everybody Must Get Fracked 0
The burning drinking water is not the only problem, perhaps not even the main one. Joe Nocera:
It is well established that when natural gas is combusted, it has both environmental and climate change benefits — starting with the fact that natural gas emits half the carbon of coal. But that advantage disappears when too much methane leaks during any part of the production process.
According to the Environmental Defense Fund, “Methane is at least 28 times more powerful than CO2 as a greenhouse gas over the longer term and at least 84 times more potent in the near term.”
More at the link.
By the way, the high here Monday was 73 Fahrenheits. In the middle of November.
My friend, who has lived in these parts for a long time, doesn’t really notice it because of having adjusted gradually, but I, who moved away and then came back, can attest that that is just not right.
The Pusher Man 0
To quote the Velvet Underground, from the magnificent Velvet Underground with Nico:
And the man’s name is . . . “Biggie Pharma.”
(If you doubt me, watch Wheel of Fortune on Monday and don’t zip through the commercials. It’s all drugs all the time.)
This Could Spell the End of Television as We Know It 2
If every advertising lie were prosecuted, there would be no advertising.
Theft of Services 0
Another tale of what happens when public responsibility is outsourced to profiteers.
Reach out and Touch Someone 0
Vultures.
Not Even a Nugget of Truth . . . 0
. . . in that nugget:
Scientists have performed an “autopsy” on nuggets from two unnamed fast-food chains.
The findings aren’t pretty: 40 to 50 percent of the nuggets were meat, and the rest was fat, skin, connective tissue, blood vessels, nerves and bone fragments, according to the University of Mississippi Medical Center.
And this surprise you how?
Everybody Must Get Fracked 0
After all, wondering when the end will come adds the spice of adventure to day-to-day living.
(snip)
Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh’s Graduate School of Public Health found high levels of barium, benzene, chlorides, strontium, and other contaminants at the end of the outflow pipe in excess of state and federal water-quality standards.
Flavor Wars 0
Asia Times reports on the spread of proprietary seeds in the Balkans (they are already dominant in the US).
A nugget, about that special species produced when some big seed company crossed a tomato with a styrofoam cup:
“Most probably you’ll end up with one which has a white, inedible middle. It comes from the gene that was introduced to keep the tomato firm,” she told IPS. Such tomatoes are never ripe; they only get red from the outside, Zdravkovic said.
According to Zdravkovic and experts from the Faculty of Agriculture at the Belgrade University, indigenous species have lost the battle against the big international seed-producing companies. Native species have been reduced to being cultivated either in private gardens or in small local areas.
Read the rest and weep for the loss of food and flavor, as food gets replaced by stuff like this.
A. P. Ticker’s Piggie of the Week 0
Warning: Grim.
Everybody Must Get Fracked 0
Well, it’s about time.
Shockwaves my anatomy.
They thought they had been given a ticket to set drinking water on fire ride.
Digital Divides 0
Right here in River City.
Well, just down the road a piece:
Unable to get high-speed Internet or cable TV or reliable phone service, about a dozen residents have banded together to press local communications companies and the city government to come to their aid.
Cox Cable and Verizon say it’s outside their service areas.
More properly, it’s inside their service areas, completely surrounded by folks with access to home broadband, an island of dialup in a sea of speed.
It’s been almost a decade since I used dial-up. I have no idea how long it would take to have one of today’s heavy, graphics intensive, script-laden web pages full of embedded video to load over a 28.8 modem. Days, I imagine. Long enough that, when residents of Land of Fortune Road need to use the internet to do such things as, say, fill out college applications or check their course assignments, it’s easier for them to drive to Starbucks than wait for the download.
At the rate my cable and phone bills go up annually with no improvement of service (which is, I must say to be fair, pretty reliable), one would think a bit of them could be used to lay some cable for Land of Fortune’s unfortunates.
Piping in the Pablum 2
Jamesetta Walker goes shopping for a better deal on a television connection and finds it an unpleasant experience.
Find out why at the link.