Lunch Break News
You’ve been told a lie – Monsanto and the Agribusiness lobby want you to think chemical farming is vastly superior to organic farming. Organic farming can feed about as many people as chemical farming, and in the developing world, it could feed 80% more. Check out the science. (DKos)
Obama leads Republicans by about 20 points on terrorism – Who do you trust to do a better job handling the threat of terrorism — Obama or the Republicans in Congress? Obama leads 55% to 34% in this WaPo/ABC News poll, but let’s face it – Congressional Republicans are even less trusted than the GOP brand as a whole. (Greg Sargeant)
Work begins on world’s deepest underground lab – Deep in an old South Dakota gold mine, they’ll build a lab thousands of feet below the surface to catch dark matter. The depth is necessary to be protected from cosmic rays. (AP)
Is a Counter Coup in the Works in Iran? Hashemi Rafsanjani, head of the Assembly of Experts, which has the ability to elect and remove the Supreme Leader (Ayatolla Ali Khamenei) is said to be considering a slightly more democratic theocracy – replacing the dictatorial Supreme Leader position with a “leadership council” of top clerics. The reality in Iran is that theocracy and democracy coexist there, and the current protests are not a rejection of theocracy, but a demand for real checks and balances. I don’t believe a theocracy can ever function with effective checks and balances, of course; but most Iranians do, and whatever leadership emerges is likely to represent reform, not revolution. (MyDD)
This is an open thread – share the news.
Tags: Dark Matter, Iran, Monsanto, News, Obama, Organic Farming, Science, Terrorism, theocracy
Welcome back X. I trust you gave my regards to George Soros and the gang.
Yes, Jason, everything is proceeding trilaterally.
On a serious note, I’m going to try to do this as a lunchtime feature whenever I get a work day where there are no crisises. The word “intermittently” comes to mind.
Great to see you back, X.
Two more stories:
Sanford’s disappearance is still really weird. Supposedly he’s back tomorrow. TPM still has doubts.
Ed McMahon, dead at age 86.
xstryker? Who is xstryker? Do I know you? 😉
…where there are no crisises… LOL! Let me know how that goes for you. 😛
Hate to bring up the Amish, but there’s a little “I read something and know how to do it better” bullshit in the DKos story on farming. Back when the Amish really did use horses to plow and plant, and didn’t balance the pH or fertilize except with manure, they got 40 to 60 bushels of corn per acre. A farm using heridices, pesticides, lime and fertilizer gets about 200 bushels per acre. Even if all you’ve ever done is your garden with chemicals, you know damn well its easier and more productive.
A farm using heridices, pesticides, lime and fertilizer….
Which ends up washing into the Chesapeake Bay… The oystermen and crabbers and sport-fishing industry might have something to say about that chemically-induced 200 bushels per acre. Corn that we are just burning in our SUV gas tanks anyway.
Without modern farming practices, you’d be paying more for produce per pound than meat. Wait a minute, that’s already true.