from Mother Jones
A new paper in Nature Geoscience reports the first evidence of marine animals dissolving in acidified waters off Antarctica. The pteropods—also called marine snails or sea butterflies—were found in waters 656 feet (200 meters) deep, alive but suffering severe shell damage from a combination of natural upwelling and human-caused ocean acidification.
from The Toronto Star
In the wake of Mayor Rob Ford’s stunning ouster from office on Monday, someone started a “Thank You Paul Magder” group on Facebook.
The group would have more aptly been called Thank You Adam Chaleff-Freudenthaler.
Magder, a businessman, was the Average Joe face of the lawsuit that brought Ford down. Celebrated lawyer Clayton Ruby tried the case pro bono. But it was Chaleff-Freudenthaler — labour relations professional, Ryerson student, near-lifelong left-leaning activist, canny observer of City Hall procedure, 28 years old on Wednesday — who set the wheels in motion from the shadows.
from Pundit's Guide
None of the three by-election ridings changed hands at the end of the day, but in the short-term at least, a lot more changed under the surface than expected.
from Mother Jones
…The elements used to power all our high-tech gadgets come from a very dirty industry in which rich nations extract the good stuff from the earth—and leave poor countries to clean up the mess….
from ABC News
The 100-plus workers who died in a fire late Saturday at a high-rise garment factory in Bangladesh were working overtime making clothes for major American retailers, including Wal-Mart, according to workers' rights groups…
Everyone knew it was happening, but no one knew how prevalent it was or how much it cost.
Economist David Macdonald decided to find out how many consultants, contractors and temporary workers the federal government was hiring and how much Canadians were paying for them.
It took him about a year. What he discovered was a burgeoning “shadow public service.” Last year it cost taxpayers $1.2 billion. That was 79 per cent higher than when Prime Minister Stephen Harper took power in 2006.
Despite a spending freeze in the federal bureaucracy, it is still growing by leaps and bounds.
“Without prompt corrective action, outsourcing costs will continue to soar,” said Macdonald, a research associate with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. …
by Mark Hume
In a letter to the World Organization for Animal Health, the CFIA urges the international agency to accept the findings of an independent audit that recommends “suspension of the reference laboratory status,” of the facility.
The lab is run by Frederick Kibenge at the Atlantic Veterinary College-University of Prince Edward Island.
The CFIA has long maintained infectious salmon anemia is not present on the West Coast. If the disease is confirmed by the government, it could lead to export restrictions on BC salmon….
The FInancial Times is reporting that Israel and Hamas have reached a ceasefire agreement set to start at 7 pm GMT. The ceasefire was almost derailed by a bus bomb that injured 10 people near the Israeli Ministry of Defense, but the parties managed to carry on and come to an agreement.
from The Sudbury Star
City councillors must reject Vale's plan to house workers at its mines and industrial sites in Greater Sudbury, the United Steelworkers said Tuesday…
