AS IT STANDS

Saturday, August 14, 2010

As It Stand’s Sunday – Atrazine and Agent Orange. Once and Future Killers

Take a look. Just another weed killer right? Wrong.

Four states are finding unacceptable levels of Atrazine, a deadly herbicide in their waterways.

People are drinking about ten times the safe level (EPA standards).

If you live in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, or Kansas, you already know the EPA should have warned you about this last Fall.

Atrazine is a descendant of Agent Orange. We all know what damage AO has caused, and is still causing. Will Syngenta (the company that produces Atrazine) take us down that same long ugly path?

See ya Sunday.

There’s One in Every Barrel - ‘Bad Apple’ Manager Indicted

Apple manager indicted on kickback charges

CUPERTINO, Calif. — A manager at Apple Inc. has been indicted by a federal grand jury in an alleged kickback scheme involving suppliers of iPhone and iPod accessories.

image source

Dog Gone! Spencer shredded Terry’s hope for school board position

Labrador mix chews up petition with almost 200 signatures

The Beaufort Gazette reported Friday that Terry Thomas of Lady’s Island had a petition with almost 200 signatures when he went out to check the mail. But when he returned from the mail box, Spencer, his 8-month-old Labrador and bull mastiff mix, had chewed up the petition.

Note - this isn’t Spencer shown here. It’s his body-double “Tank.” Go here to learn more about this inquisitive fellow.

Okay Now…Who Doesn’t Belong in this lineup?

image source

On the way to Ethics committee:view hypocrites feigning indignation

David Fitzsimmons / Arizona Daily Star, Politicalcartoons.com

Friday, August 13, 2010

Environmental solution - China's New Bus "Straddles" Cars

The finished project is known officially as the "3D fast bus," but the nickname "straddling bus" is no misnomer.

The bus will literally straddle the road and carry a shocking number of people -- around 1300 passengers -- over cars and under overpasses.

Shenzhen Hashi Future Parking Equipment Co., Ltd, proposed the bus idea. They say the bus will travel at up to 60 km/h (about 37mph). Construction of the 186 km of rails that will carry the bus will begin at the end of the year.

TAKE ACTION: Don't let public transportation in the United States fall behind in environmental awesomeness.

Robot to expose hidden secrets of the Great Pyramid of Giza

I’m a sucker for Egyptian history and stories.

I love it when stuff like this is in the news.

Device will unlock Egyptian room that has been sealed for 4,500 years

Following in the footsteps of Howard Carter and Abbot and Costello, a specialized robot will penetrate deeper into the Great Pyramid of Giza than ever before. The robot, part of a years long exploration called the Djedi Project, will explore a shaft inaccessible to a previous robot, unlocking a room that has remain sealed for 4,500 years.

Poison patrol: NOAA, FDA to test seafood for dispersants

Agencies hope to reassure public, but some scientists remain skeptical

PASCAGOULA, Miss. — Amid undying criticism over the large-scale use of Corexit in the Deepwater Horizon response, NOAA and the Food and Drug Administration are developing a lab test to detect traces of the chemical dispersant in seafood. The test, they hope, will finally put to rest concerns that poisons from the compounds used to break up the oil will linger in the food chain.

Photo: A mixture of dispersant and fresh crude oil on ocean surface nine miles from the Deepwater Horizon oil well spill source in the Gulf of Mexico on May 6. In the effort to break up oil before it could hit beaches and marshes, oil spill responders applied more than 1.8 million gallons of chemical dispersant on the surface and at the source of the oil gusher.

An unlucky day today? Friday the 13th and other superstitions

Who doesn't look forward to Friday? People spooked by Friday the 13th.

On this supposedly unlucky day, let's investigate some associated myths, plus a few other superstitions.

Not worried or anything, but when is the next Friday the 13th?

Next Search: Start nothing new

Birth order: Sorry, kid, first-borns really are smarter

Birth order makes a difference when it comes to brains, personality, study finds

Birth order within families has long sparked sibling rivalry, but it might also impact the child's personality and intelligence, a new study suggests. First-borns are typically smarter, while younger siblings get better grades and are more outgoing, the researchers say.

The findings weigh in on a long-standing debate: What effect if any does birth order have on a person's life? While numerous studies have been conducted, researchers have yet to draw any definitive conclusions.

The results lend support to some previous hypotheses — for instance, that the eldest sibling tends to have higher aptitude. But the study also contradicts other proposed ideas, for example, that first-borns tend to be more extroverted.