Car Accidents and Alcohol
In the United States, the blood-alcohol limit may be 0.08 percent, but no amount of alcohol seems to be safe for driving, according to a University of California, San Diego sociologist. A study led by David Phillips and published in the journal Addiction finds that blood-alcohol levels well below the U.S. legal limit are associated with incapacitating injury and death. (Source)
Posted: June 22nd, 2011
at 8:01am by mnp
Categories: not ninja-worthy,whips,science,drinks
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Destroy the Planet: Buy Organic
Have you chuckled at the apparent inconsistency of a neighbor who drives a 7,000 lb. pavement-melting SUV to Whole Foods and then buys organic produce? It turns out that there is no inconsistency. She is destroying the planet with her SUV and with her purchases of hard-to-grow organic food.
Ridley notes that with genetically engineered crops, synthetic fertilizers, and Roundup to control weeds, the trend of feeding ever more people with less land could be continued. The biggest obstacle to returning land to its wild state is organic farming. Currently we are using 38 percent of the Earth’s land for growing food or grazing animals; at 1961 levels of productivity we would need to be using 82 percent of the land.
Organic farmers won’t use genetically engineered crops, so they spend a lot more time and energy fighting pests. Organic farmers won’t use Roundup and other herbicides, so they plow the weeds under, which kills a lot of small animals and loosens the soil enough that it erodes (or sometimes they resort to flame-throwers). Organic farmers won’t use standard fertilizer, but only manure from cows, which means we’ll need a lot more cows running around.
Organic cotton is an especially hard-on-the-Earth product, according to Ridley. Standard industrial cotton has Bacillus thuringiensis ("bt") genes mixed in and these kill pests, cutting the need for sprayed pesticides in half.
Who knew that "sustainable" would mean a polyester shirt and a bag of Fritos?
Posted: June 5th, 2011
at 11:48am by mnp
Categories: green,not ninja-worthy,grub,development,blogs,law
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Blogging is Stupid
Posted: May 30th, 2011
at 7:28am by mnp
Categories: not ninja-worthy,blogs,lists
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Amazon Deforestation Increases
A sharp increase in forest destruction in March and April in the Amazon has led Brazil to announce the creation of an emergency task force to fight against deforestation.
The two-month total of 593 square kilometers (368 square miles) deforested represents a six-fold increase compared to the same period last year, according to official statistics.
The office will be comprised of government experts and representatives of states badly impacted by recent deforestation, according to Environment Minister Izabella Teixeira, who announced the office at a press conference. (Source)
Is your iPhone tracking your movements?
Washington DC to New York from Alasdair Allan on Vimeo.
Apparently yes, the iPhone keeps a file with some pretty scarily detailed location information. Click here to read about the project to publicize that info, and how to see what’s being tracked on your device.
Posted: April 20th, 2011
at 3:56pm by Black Ock
Tagged with privacy, iphone, location tracking
Categories: apple,not ninja-worthy,cell phones,fo' real?,real life news
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The Douchebags of Tech
A top ten list…
Posted: April 8th, 2011
at 3:07pm by mnp
Categories: hood status,computers,life,web,not ninja-worthy,development,internets,jobs,lists
Comments: No comments