Daily Archives: July 1, 2013

Uncategorized

Merkel Accused of Campaigning For Reelection At EU expense – SPIEGEL ONLINE

Being a little bit anti-foreigner, especially against “Roma-like Southern Europeans” is needed for Merkel to look “good” to the right in Germany

A few months before the German parliamentary election in September, Berlin’s EU partners perceive its European policy to be one of postponement, refusal and dilution. Last week, for instance, the Chancellery torpedoed a painstakingly negotiated compromise on new pollutant limits for the automobile industry. Because the decision reached by the EU ambassadors is especially disadvantageous to makers of gas-guzzling sedans like Daimler and BMW, the chancellor intervened personally, shortly before the Brussels summit, with Enda Kenny, the prime minister of Ireland, which held the rotating European Council presidency until last week. Now the decision will be postponed once again until after the German election.

via Merkel Accused of Campaigning For Reelection At EU expense – SPIEGEL ONLINE.

Anti-Humane, environment, Profiteering, Urbanfarm

Superweeds and Herbicide Use On the Rise | Eat Drink Better

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) herbicide data analyzed in the report, Superweeds: How Biotech Crops Bolster the Pesticide Industry, shows that herbicide use on corn, cotton and soybeans has steadily grown by 26 percent in the years between 2001 and 2010. The widely used glyphosate herbicides, primarily Monsanto’s Roundup Ready line, have become ineffective as the weeds develop stronger resistance due to continuous over-exposure to the chemical. As glyphosate proves to be increasingly ineffective, more farmers are turning to more dangerous herbicides including 2,4-D [aka: Agent Orange]. Use of 2,4-D has increased since glyphosate-resistant crops became widespread, growing 90 percent between 2000 and 2012.

via Superweeds and Herbicide Use On the Rise | Eat Drink Better.

Uncategorized

New self-serve bike rental system opens in Vilnius :: The Baltic Course | Baltic States news & analytics

At the rental stations, bikes will be available for rent 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The stations will be distributed at distances of 300 – 400 meters from each other.

The bike rental season has been extended to October 15, 2013.

 

Every year, the amount of available bike rental stations will grow. Next year, the amount of available bike rental stations will increase to 36, and the amount of available bike – to 300.

 

Those wishing to use the service will have to pay a registration fee worth 20 litas. The first half hour of rental will be free. The second half hour will cost 0.45 euros, the third – 1.45 Euros, the fourth – 3.5 euros.

 

Cyclists will be able to use the system by connecting their Vilnietis card or with a CycloCity card, which will cost 8.7 euros. The rental fees will be paid out of this initial value. This bicycle rental model was first introduced in Vilnius in 2003. Similar systems now exist in Paris, Dublin, Brussels and 64 other cities around the world.

via New self-serve bike rental system opens in Vilnius :: The Baltic Course | Baltic States news & analytics.

Anti-Humane, environment, pandemic, planetkillers, Profiteering, racism, terrorism

Our Global Warming Noose Is Cinched Tight With Koch Brothers’ Money: Gothamist

The pledge was created in 2008 by the Koch-backed Americans for Prosperity, and those who sign it promise to not spend any money fighting global warming unless that money is “balanced” with tax cuts.

While the pledge began with a marginal following, an energized turnout of conservative voters in the 2010 election swept 85 freshman Republicans into the House. Of those 85 Republicans, 76 signed the Koch pledge as candidates. And 57 of those 76 received campaign contributions from Koch Industries’ political action committee.

With the support of these newly elected Republicans, from 2011 to 2013, Congress passed increasingly smaller budgets for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), attempted to strip the agency of varying regulatory powers and discouraged policies to address climate change across multiple federal agencies, according to the Workshop’s analysis.

Koch puppets have testified before Congress about global warming six times in 2013 alone, most recently on May 7, when Paul Knappenberger of the Cato Institute told the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, “The more we learn, the less responsive it seems that the earth’s average temperature is to human carbon-dioxide emissions.”

via Our Global Warming Noose Is Cinched Tight With Koch Brothers' Money: Gothamist.

environment, Profiteering

Cheaper Canadian Oil for Refiners in Midwest Not Reflected in Prices at the Pump | InsideClimate News

For nearly two years, refineries in the Midwest have been buying crude oil at steep discounts thanks to a glut of U.S. and Canadian oil. But drivers in the Midwest haven’t seen a corresponding decrease in gasoline prices. In fact, they sometimes pay more at the pump than people in other parts of the country, even as windfall profits flow to BP, Koch Industries Inc. and other large Midwestern refiners.

via Cheaper Canadian Oil for Refiners in Midwest Not Reflected in Prices at the Pump | InsideClimate News.

environment

IPS – Presidential Hopefuls in Chile Speak Out Against Wilderness Dam | Inter Press Service

Centre-left presidential hopeful and former president Michelle Bachelet (2006-2010), who is in the lead in voter intention polls, said on Jun. 23 that “HidroAysén is not viable, so in my view it should not go forward.”

via IPS – Presidential Hopefuls in Chile Speak Out Against Wilderness Dam | Inter Press Service.

Anti-Humane

Off the Charts Blog | Center on Budget and Policy Priorities | North Carolina’s Obscene Attack on Jobless Benefits

North Carolina, with one of the nation’s highest unemployment rates at 8.8 percent, imposed cuts in unemployment benefits today that are truly breathtaking:

Jobless workers can now receive only 19 weeks of benefits — less than half what any other state offers, even states like North Dakota where the economy is much stronger (see map).  The previous limit, similar to other states with relatively high unemployment, was 63 weeks:  26 weeks of state-funded benefits plus another 37 weeks of federally funded emergency benefits for which North Carolina has now disqualified itself, as explained below.

via Off the Charts Blog | Center on Budget and Policy Priorities | North Carolina’s Obscene Attack on Jobless Benefits.