WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Humane Society of the United States released a video Wednesday it says shows mistreatment of "downed" cows at a California slaughterhouse -- and one lawmaker said it raises questions about the safety of the nation's food supply.
The video shows Hallmark Meat Packing Co. workers administering repeated electric shocks to downed cows -- animals that are too sick, weak or otherwise unable to stand on their own. Workers are seen kicking cows, jabbing them near their eyes, ramming them with a forklift and shooting high-intensity water up their noses in an effort to force them to their feet for slaughter.
The society says the video was shot last year by an undercover investigator who wore a hidden camera under his clothes when he worked at the facility.
Downed cows are more easily contaminated and may carry diseases harmful to consumers. U.S. Department of Agriculture regulations prohibit allowing disabled or contaminated animals into the food supply. Officials said they would investigate.
What do you think of this story?
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Va. Senate Backs Phaseout of Trans Fats in School Food
By Sandhya Somashekhar and Annie GowenWashington Post Staff Writers Wednesday, January 30, 2008; Page B01
RICHMOND, Jan. 29 -- The Virginia Senate voted unanimously Tuesday to phase out the use of artery-clogging trans fats in food sold at public schools, from the cheese pizza in the cafeteria to the chips in the vending machine.
The bill would direct the state superintendent of public instruction to develop guidelines for the elimination of the additive, which has been associated with heart disease, in meals and snacks sold during school hours.
We are now controlling the foods that are served in our school but is it really enough to stop the obesity problem in the U.S?
RICHMOND, Jan. 29 -- The Virginia Senate voted unanimously Tuesday to phase out the use of artery-clogging trans fats in food sold at public schools, from the cheese pizza in the cafeteria to the chips in the vending machine.
The bill would direct the state superintendent of public instruction to develop guidelines for the elimination of the additive, which has been associated with heart disease, in meals and snacks sold during school hours.
We are now controlling the foods that are served in our school but is it really enough to stop the obesity problem in the U.S?
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Satellite unlikely to pose danger to humans
By Andrea Shalal-Esa
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A disabled U.S. spy satellite is likely to break into small pieces when it falls to Earth within weeks, posing little danger to humans, U.S. government officials and space experts said on Monday.
Most, if any, debris that survives the intense heat of re-entry would likely fall into the oceans, which cover more than 70 percent of the Earth, White House National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said.
What could happen if more satellites where disabled and fell to the Earth?
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A disabled U.S. spy satellite is likely to break into small pieces when it falls to Earth within weeks, posing little danger to humans, U.S. government officials and space experts said on Monday.
Most, if any, debris that survives the intense heat of re-entry would likely fall into the oceans, which cover more than 70 percent of the Earth, White House National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said.
What could happen if more satellites where disabled and fell to the Earth?
Monday, January 28, 2008
Entire Synthetic Genome Created
John Roachfor National Geographic News
January 25, 2008
Scientists yesterday announced that they have successfully created an entire synthetic genome in the lab by stitching together the DNA of the smallest known free-living bacterium, Mycoplasma genitalium.
Experts are hailing the research as an important breakthrough in genetic manipulation that will one day lead to the "routine" creation of synthetic genomes—possibly including those of mammals.
Step Toward Artificial Life
The new work is an important second step in a three-step process to the creation of synthetic life, said research leader Hamilton Smith, a biologist and Nobel laureate at the J. Craig Venter Institute in Rockville, Maryland.
The first step, reported last year by the same team at Venter's institute, was the successful transplantation of a genome from one species of bacteria into another, effectively switching the bug's identity.
"The third step, which we're working on now, is to take the chemically synthesized DNA, which is in the test tube, and get it into a bacterium where it can take over and produce a synthetic cell," Smith said.
Is the creation of life something that is ethical correct or are we playing ball way over our heads?
January 25, 2008
Scientists yesterday announced that they have successfully created an entire synthetic genome in the lab by stitching together the DNA of the smallest known free-living bacterium, Mycoplasma genitalium.
Experts are hailing the research as an important breakthrough in genetic manipulation that will one day lead to the "routine" creation of synthetic genomes—possibly including those of mammals.
Step Toward Artificial Life
The new work is an important second step in a three-step process to the creation of synthetic life, said research leader Hamilton Smith, a biologist and Nobel laureate at the J. Craig Venter Institute in Rockville, Maryland.
The first step, reported last year by the same team at Venter's institute, was the successful transplantation of a genome from one species of bacteria into another, effectively switching the bug's identity.
"The third step, which we're working on now, is to take the chemically synthesized DNA, which is in the test tube, and get it into a bacterium where it can take over and produce a synthetic cell," Smith said.
Is the creation of life something that is ethical correct or are we playing ball way over our heads?
Friday, January 25, 2008
Geophysicists Urge Steep Cuts in Greenhouse Gas Emissions
The American Geophysical Union says massive reductions in greenhouse gases will be needed—and scientists should speak up about it
By David Biello
The scientists of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) warn that greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions must be slashed in half to keep temperatures from rising 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit (2 degrees Celsius)—or else. "Warming greater than 2 degrees Celsius above 19th-century levels is projected to be disruptive, reducing global agricultural productivity, causing widespread loss of biodiversity and—if sustained over centuries—melting much of the Greenland ice sheet with ensuing rise in sea levels of several meters," the AGU declares in its first statement in four years on "Human Impacts on Climate."
Is this really a problem or not? What can we do to help save our environment?
By David Biello
The scientists of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) warn that greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions must be slashed in half to keep temperatures from rising 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit (2 degrees Celsius)—or else. "Warming greater than 2 degrees Celsius above 19th-century levels is projected to be disruptive, reducing global agricultural productivity, causing widespread loss of biodiversity and—if sustained over centuries—melting much of the Greenland ice sheet with ensuing rise in sea levels of several meters," the AGU declares in its first statement in four years on "Human Impacts on Climate."
Is this really a problem or not? What can we do to help save our environment?
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Entrepreneur Unveils New Tourist Spacecraft
By JOHN SCHWARTZ
Published: January 23, 2008
Burt Rutan took the cloak off of his new spacecraft on Wednesday.
Mr. Rutan, the creator of SpaceShipOne, the first privately financed craft to carry a human into space, traveled to New York to show detailed models of the bigger SpaceShipTwo and its carrier airplane, WhiteKnightTwo.
The vehicle is meant to open space to a new generation of spacefarers who are more creative than the classically trained astronauts, Mr. Rutan said. And that will bring with it a new way of looking at space travel, just as personal computing opened up the use of computers from a military and academic tool to something that transformed the world.
Full story in the New York Times.
Would you like to ride on a space ship and see space. Or do you feel this could be a bad idea.
Published: January 23, 2008
Burt Rutan took the cloak off of his new spacecraft on Wednesday.
Mr. Rutan, the creator of SpaceShipOne, the first privately financed craft to carry a human into space, traveled to New York to show detailed models of the bigger SpaceShipTwo and its carrier airplane, WhiteKnightTwo.
The vehicle is meant to open space to a new generation of spacefarers who are more creative than the classically trained astronauts, Mr. Rutan said. And that will bring with it a new way of looking at space travel, just as personal computing opened up the use of computers from a military and academic tool to something that transformed the world.
Full story in the New York Times.
Would you like to ride on a space ship and see space. Or do you feel this could be a bad idea.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Drive-by pharming attack hits home
Posted by Robert Vamosi
Whenever you type an address into an Internet browser, that address is instantly resolved into the site's numerical Internet address by a DNS server located somewhere in the world. On Tuesday, Symantec announced that online criminals have started to remotely redirect your home network router's DNS server so that whenever you type in a financial institution or other trusted site, your browser will instead be redirected to a bogus or phishing Web site.
The practice, called pharming, usually attacks the DNS servers directly, but this latest attack brings it all home (if you are using broadband connectivity). Fortunately, the routers and institutions affected by this current attack are limited to one country, Mexico, but Symantec warns that word of this real-world attack could bring similar attacks elsewhere.
Last year, researchers at Symantec and the University of Indiana reported that remotely changing a home router's DNS server was theoretically possible. The theoretical attack used Javascript on a specially crafted Web page, and affected only wireless routers. The attack in use today uses e-mail, and it can affect non-wireless routers as well.
Are computers really safe?
Whenever you type an address into an Internet browser, that address is instantly resolved into the site's numerical Internet address by a DNS server located somewhere in the world. On Tuesday, Symantec announced that online criminals have started to remotely redirect your home network router's DNS server so that whenever you type in a financial institution or other trusted site, your browser will instead be redirected to a bogus or phishing Web site.
The practice, called pharming, usually attacks the DNS servers directly, but this latest attack brings it all home (if you are using broadband connectivity). Fortunately, the routers and institutions affected by this current attack are limited to one country, Mexico, but Symantec warns that word of this real-world attack could bring similar attacks elsewhere.
Last year, researchers at Symantec and the University of Indiana reported that remotely changing a home router's DNS server was theoretically possible. The theoretical attack used Javascript on a specially crafted Web page, and affected only wireless routers. The attack in use today uses e-mail, and it can affect non-wireless routers as well.
Are computers really safe?
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Turkey Bans YouTube, Again
Chris Peredun - January 21, 2008 2:52 PM
In what is becoming a bit of a recurring event, YouTube has once again found itself banned from Turkey for having clips available that insult the first president and founding father Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.
"Insulting Turkishness" is a criminal act in Turkey, and even being able to view the objectionable video was deemed enough to warrant a ban on the entire site. The supposed clip in question compares Ataturk with a monkey, and attempting to browse to the YouTube homepage from anywhere within Turkey results in an error stating "Access to this web site has been suspended in accordance with decision no: 2008/55 of T.R. Ankara 12th Criminal Court of Peace."At least 65 people -- including many journalists and writers -- have been charged with "insulting Turkishness" since the introduction of the law in June of 2005. The law calls for a sentence of between six months and three years in prison for "anyone who openly denigrates the government, judicial institutions or military or police structures" -- or even mentioning past transgressions of the nation, such as the Armenian massacres or Kurdish questioning.
What are your thoughts on this?
In what is becoming a bit of a recurring event, YouTube has once again found itself banned from Turkey for having clips available that insult the first president and founding father Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.
"Insulting Turkishness" is a criminal act in Turkey, and even being able to view the objectionable video was deemed enough to warrant a ban on the entire site. The supposed clip in question compares Ataturk with a monkey, and attempting to browse to the YouTube homepage from anywhere within Turkey results in an error stating "Access to this web site has been suspended in accordance with decision no: 2008/55 of T.R. Ankara 12th Criminal Court of Peace."At least 65 people -- including many journalists and writers -- have been charged with "insulting Turkishness" since the introduction of the law in June of 2005. The law calls for a sentence of between six months and three years in prison for "anyone who openly denigrates the government, judicial institutions or military or police structures" -- or even mentioning past transgressions of the nation, such as the Armenian massacres or Kurdish questioning.
What are your thoughts on this?
Thursday, January 17, 2008
YouTube Leads to Arrest
To gang members were arrested after posting a video on YouTube taunting the Miami Dade Police Department.
Is this right that you should be able to be convicted of a federal crime for posting a video on YouTube?
Is this right that you should be able to be convicted of a federal crime for posting a video on YouTube?
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
'Big climate impact' on UK coasts
Higher CO2 levels in the atmosphere are making oceans warmer and more acidic, affecting plankton, fish and birds. Explain why the higher carbon dioxide levels would be affecting the coast of UK so much.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Today's Mercury Flyby To Be the First Since 1974
Right around noon today, if all goes as planned, a spacecraft called Messenger will swoop past the planet Mercury and begin two days of unprecedented picture-taking and data-collecting.
The flyby, the first visit to Mercury in more than 33 years by an emissary from Earth, will mark a key moment in a NASA mission that will ultimately place the first satellite into orbit around the tiny planet that sits closest to the sun. Full story at TheWashingtonPost. com
What does this tells us about the technology that we now hold and what could it mean for the future.
The flyby, the first visit to Mercury in more than 33 years by an emissary from Earth, will mark a key moment in a NASA mission that will ultimately place the first satellite into orbit around the tiny planet that sits closest to the sun. Full story at TheWashingtonPost. com
What does this tells us about the technology that we now hold and what could it mean for the future.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Second Semester
Well it is second semester and it is flying by. What is something that you are looking forward to this semester?
Thursday, January 3, 2008
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