XIAM007 - Making Unique Observations in a Very Cluttered World: 07/07/11

Thursday, 7 July 2011

Thanks Monsanto: Agent Orange Being Used to Clear Rainforrest in Brazil - 440 acres of Rainforest that had been sprayed -

Agent Orange is one of the most devastating weapons of modern warfare, a chemical which killed or injured an estimated 400,000 people during the Vietnam War -- and now it's being used against the Amazon rainforest. According to officials, ranchers in Brazil have begun spraying the highly toxic herbicide over patches of forest as a covert method to illegally clear foliage, more difficult to detect that chainsaws and tractors. In recent weeks, an aerial survey detected some 440 acres of rainforest that had been sprayed with the compound -- poisoning thousands of trees and an untold number of animals, potentially for generations.

Officials from Brazil's environmental agency IBAMA were first tipped to the illegal clearing by satellite images of the forest in Amazonia; a helicopter flyover in the region later revealed thousands of trees left ash-colored and defoliated by toxic chemicals. IBAMA says that Agent Orange was likely dispersed by aircraft by a yet unidentified rancher to clear the land for pasture because it is more difficult to detect than traditional operations that require chainsaws and tractors.
Last week, in another part of the Amazon, an investigation conducted by the agencyuncovered approximately four tons of the highly toxic herbal pesticides hidden in the forest awaiting dispension. If released, the chemicals could have potentially decimated some 7,500 acres of rainforest, killing all the wildlife that resides there and contaminating groundwater. In this case, the individual responsible was identified and now faces fines nearing $1.3 million.

Read more - http://www.treehugger.com/files/2011/07/vietnam-era-weapon-being-used-to-clear-the-amazon.php

16 Reasons To Feel Really Depressed About The Direction That The Economy Is Headed -

The following are 16 reasons to feel really depressed about the direction of the economy….
#1 A newly released National Federation of Independent Business polldiscovered that U.S. small businesses let go of more workers than they hired in June. Previously, the poll had registered four monthly gains in net jobs in a row. Some analysts believe that this may be another indication that the employment market is getting softer once again.
#2 Another newly released jobs report found that the number of job cuts being planned by U.S. employers increased by 11.6% in June.
#3 There are fewer payroll jobs in the United States today than there were back in 2000 even though we have added 30 million people to the population since then.
#4 There are officially 6.2 million Americans that have been unemployed for more than 6 months. There are millions of others that have also been out of work that long but they have become so discouraged about looking for work that the U.S. government considers them “to no longer be in the workforce”.
#5 It now takes the average unemployed worker in America nearly 40 weeksto find a new job.
#6 Paychecks are not keeping up with inflation. In May, the average hourly wage in the United States was 1.6 percent lower than 12 months earlier.
#7 Food and gas prices have been absolutely soaring over the past year. McDonald’s, Hershey and Coca-Cola have all announced price increases this year. One recent survey found that 9 out of 10 U.S. workers do not expect their wages to keep up with soaring food prices and soaring gas prices over the next 12 months.
#8 There are disturbing indications that the business community expects the economy to slow down even more in the months ahead. For example, pre-orders for Christmas toys from China are way down.
#9 As of April, there were 6.39 million home loans in the United States that were either delinquent or in foreclosure. Included in that were 675,000 home loans that had not had a single payment made on them in two years.

#10 Approximately 28 percent of all home loans in the United States are currently “underwater”.
#11 Overall, American households are about 7.7 trillion dollars poorer than they were back in early 2007.
#12 As a percentage of GDP, the total amount of debt in the United States is now far higher than it ever has been in any other era of U.S. history. Things were not even close to this bad during the Great Depression.
#13 One of the key measures of consumer confidence in the United States has hit a seven-month low.
#14 According to Gallup, the percentage of Americans that lack confidence in U.S. banks is now at an all-time high of 36%.
#15 According to one recent poll, 39 percent of Americans believe that the U.S. economy has now entered a “permanent decline”.
#16 Another recent survey found that 48 percent of Americans believe that it is likely that another great Depression will begin within the next 12 months.
So what is the United States going to look like if we do have another major economic downturn?

Read more - http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/16-reasons-to-feel-really-depressed-about-the-direction-that-the-economy-is-headed

A glass of milk can contain a cocktail of up to 20 painkillers, antibiotics and growth hormones -

A glass of milk can contain a cocktail of up to 20 painkillers, antibiotics and growth hormones, scientists have shown.

Using a highly sensitive test, they found a host of chemicals used to treat illnesses in animals and people in samples of cow, goat and human breast milk.

The doses of drugs were far too small to have an effect on anyone drinking them, but the results highlight how man-made chemicals are now found throughout the food chain.

the highest quantities of medicines were found in cow’s milk.

Researchers believe some of the drugs and growth promoters were given to the cattle, or got into milk through cattle feed or contamination on the farm.

The Spanish-Moroccan team analysed 20 samples of cow’s milk bought in Spain and Morocco, along with samples of goat and breast milk.

Their breakdown, published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, revealed that cow’s milk contained traces of anti-inflammatory drugs niflumic acid, mefenamic acid and ketoprofen – commonly used as painkillers in animals and people.

City using goats as lawnmowers...- goats will be in an electrified fence which will be moved to cover the entire property -

If you hear some “baa’s” instead of the rumble of a lawnmower in Gaithersburg, you're hearing the city's new grounds crew.

Two herds of goats, supplied by Eco-Goats (yes, it’s a real business), will be grazing on the property of the Izaak Walton League headquarters on Muddy Branch Road. It will take 16 days for the herds to cover the property in an effort to remove invasive species of plants like Japanese Stiltgrass, Mile-A-Minute Vine, Autumn Olive and Oriental Bittersweet.

After the goats use their talents to trim back the plants, an herbicide will be sprayed and then a new planting plan will be put in place by the Izaak Walton League to keep the invasive plants from coming back.

According to Gaithersburg officials, goats are an effective way to eradicate invasive species and have been used in Anne Arundel County, St. Mary’s County and Maryland State Highway Administration. Eco-Goats will provide all the shelter, food and water for the goats during their lawn mowing duties.

And remember that little incident when a goat ran free across Gaithersburg in May, eluding police. There will none of that here. All the goats will be enclosed in an electrified fence which will be moved throughout the week to cover the entire property.