Jul 11
2013
Daily Beast previews new documentary, “Terms and Conditions May Apply,” that details the threat to privacy from corporations, as well as government. “The film argues that the threat is worse, and more troubling, than mere NSA spying on U.S. citizens.”
Jul 11
2013
Air pollution can cause lung cancer and increase the risk of heart failure, according to two studies published Tuesday in The Lancet Journal. The first study found that extended exposure to particulate air pollution commonly called soot can increase the risk of lung cancer even at concentrations below European Union limits, which are stricter than U.S. limits in some instances. The research led the authors to question whether there are safe levels of air pollution. The second study found that heart failure or death was associated with increases in a number of air pollutants. These studies have some meaning locally[...]
Jul 11
2013
David Cay Johnston, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and author of best selling books on tax and economic policy, is no fan of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Start-Up NY program. Or the governor, for that matter. “His new law undermines market economics and promotes corporate socialism, in which profits are privatized and costs are socialized,” Johnston writes in a piece for City Newspaper in Rochester. “Cuomo’s plan redistributes wealth upwards, showing that he is no Democrat in the traditional sense that Democrats care about working people,” Johnston wrote. “Rather, Cuomo is part of the growing cadre of politicians whose success depends on[...]
Jul 10
2013
A Lake Ontario Waterkeeper member estimated that more than 200 million gallons of sewer overflowed into Lake Ontatio after a drenching of rain in Toronto flooded streets and overwhelmed the sewer systems there. City water officials contested the estimate.
Jul 7
2013
Glenn Greenwald’s latest column concludes: “The US government – in complete secrecy – is constructing a ubiquitous spying apparatus aimed not only at its own citizens, but all of the world’s citizens.”
Jul 3
2013
Reports ProPublica: “Environmentalists see an agency (EPA) that is systematically disengaging from any research that could be perceived as questioning the safety of fracking or oil drilling.”
Jul 1
2013
Tests used to determine if water at beaches is safe to swim in may not be accurate, according to a new study from the University at Buffalo and Mercyhurst University. The problem: The most commonly used test fails to distinguish from toxic and more benign forms of contaminants. As a result, authorities sometimes close beaches when they don’t need to, or keep them open when they shouldn’t. Health departments in Erie, Niagara and Chautauqua counties take water samples from 22 beaches – Erie on a daily basis at six major beaches – and test for fecal coliform and E. coli.[...]
Jun 30
2013
Buffalo News columnist hits the nail on the head: “The governor didn’t so much ensure progress as threaten it.”