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Scientists say there is no chance that Europe’s Large Hadron Collider will produce an apocalyptic black hole or deadly catastrophe when testing begins in August.

Why does that not reassure me?

If The Large Hadron Collider Produced A Microscopic Black Hole, It Probably Wouldn’t Matter … I’m a strong believer in the precautionary approach. Why do we need to smash atoms?? They didn’t ask me whether I minded them risking apocalyptic black holes and  deadly planet eating catastrophes.

VIDEO: Atom Smasher Safe, Physicists Say

Junichi is a prominent anti-whaling voice in the media in Japan, and his arrest, along with colleague Toru Suzuki, on the eve of the International Whaling Commission meeting is probably not a coincidence. Some media in Japan are saying that the arrest, covered on television, was a warning to other activist groups that as the G8 approaches, voices of dissent in Japan will not be tolerated.

Kyodo Reported:

While he disagrees with Greenpeace’s anti-whaling stance, journalist Takao Saito said the way the police arrested the two men and the way they investigated the group as ‘’heavy-handed.”‘’(Greenpeace) is functioning as a whistleblower in our society so the authorities should give them a fair hearing to what they have to say. ‘’

So, to the barricades, bloggers — let’s GET THE TOKYO TWO OUT OF JAIL.

Digg this.

Blog this.

This video is a powerful, awe-inspiring talk by neuroanatomist Jill Bolte Taylor, who had an opportunity few brain scientists would wish for: One morning, she realized she was having a massive stroke. As it happened — as she felt her brain functions slip away one by one, speech, movement, understanding — she studied and remembered every moment, recognizing how she was slipping away from the defined sense of her personal self (left brain hemisphere) into the oneness of infinite creative energy (right brain hemisphere). This is a powerful story about how our brains define us and connect us to the world and to one another. Most inspiring is the clarity with which she illuminates the concept of choice that we all have in each and every moment. Absolutely worth watching:

http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/229

Got a great release from Save Happy Valley today.

I couldn’t find it online so here it is :

The Save Happy Valley Coalition today sent Solid Energy a bill for $12 million dollars on behalf of the people of New Zealand.

Fugitive methane emissions from coal mining – where gases leak from the coal seam itself – will now be covered by the Emissions Trading Scheme, thanks to changes announced on Monday by the Green Party.

Continue reading ‘Solid Energy sent greenhouse gas bill’

The traditional incandescent light bulb will soon be no more in the land of the wrong white crowd. As part of a strategy for more energy efficient lighting announced today by New Zealand’s Energy Minister David Parker and Government Spokesperson on Energy Efficiency and Conservation Jeanette Fitzsimons the old inefficient bulbs will be phased out.

“The traditional light bulb is very old technology - and very inefficient. Only five percent of the energy it uses generates light – the rest is wasted as heat,” David Parker said.
“It is intended that from late next year, these inefficient incandescent bulbs will be phased out because they waste so much energy. There’s a whole new generation of lighting coming through that is more cost-effective, saves energy and is better for the environment.”

That’s great news but let’s hope they’ve got plans in place to properly deal with the mercury waste that comes with the CFL bulbs.

There’s a lot of McCain blogging going on out there. Surely he’s not that interesting … I wonder how many of them are part of the McCain google bomb.

Want to influence the US elections? If you take part in this great example of Google activism you  can.
I’ve grabbed this in its entirety from OpenLeft:

Searching for John McCain is a massive, online activism campaign designed to make at least ten million non-partisan, poll-tested, on-message voter contacts that reveal the damning truth about John McCain entirely through mainstream news reports and McCain’s own words. Through mass blogger participation and the use of embedded hyperlinks, Searching for John McCain will connect millions of curious, low-information swing voters to negative, mainstream news articles about John McCain without 99% of those voters even knowing that Searching for John McCain exists. It is the more sophisticated, and hopefully more effective, 2.0 version of the Googlebomb the Elections campaign which, with only $1,500 and three days of work, reached 6% of the electorate in 47 swing congressional districts during the final two weeks of the 2006 mid-term elections.

You can participate if you have a website of your own, if you make comments on other websites, or even if you are a registered user on a community website. It is quick. It is easy. It is free. And it is very, very effective. If it is done correctly, and if enough people participate, this campaign alone should cost John McCain 1% of the vote in November.
To learn how to participate, and to learn how it will work, read on into the extended entry. Chris Bowers :: ACTION: Searching for John McCain

Continue reading ‘Searching for John McCain’

They work under the cover of night, armed with seed bombs, chemical weapons and pitchforks. Their tactics are anarchistic, their attitude revolutionary. Their aim: to beautify.

An army of self-styled Guerrilla Gardeners is growing across the world, fighting to transform urban wastelands into horticultural havens. To document and encourage their victories, one of the movement’s top generals has written a handbook.

Shock garden troops attack urban eyesores - New Zealand, world, sport, business & entertainment news on Stuff.co.nz

The Wildcat Anarchist Group presented its submission on the China-NZ free trade agreement to the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Select Committee today as an intepretive dance.
After a brief dance depicting trying to fly with one wing, fast footwork, a strangled worker and a collapsed economy, the group’s representative answered several questions from the committee.

The group believes the FTA with China threatens to undermine local manufacturers and workers and leave New Zealanders uninformed about the products they buy, says spokesperson Sam Buchanan.

Aotearoa IMC: Anarchists oppose China trade deal

What pray tell is this?

An influential union of muscular enterprises and entrepreneurs, the Standover Group is committed to furthering what is in the best interest of the most important section of New Zealand society - big business. The Standover Group