Reset the Net; World Environment Day, Carbon Caps, Climate Change, Denialists, Fracking, Coal; Ecology; Water; GMO

Reset the Net

• Snowden sounds call to action for Reset the Net web protest
• Reset the Net protest kicks off with massive net support
• Google Joins 'Reset the Net' With Encryption Tool

World Environment Day

• Let the exploitation begin: Ecuador issues drilling permits for untouched corner of the Amazon—""'The world has failed us,' President Rafael Correa said of his abandoned conservation effort." Salon
• Congressmen Defend Repairing Oil Pipes With Trash Bags And Duct Tape
• Business Lobby Tries to Frighten America About Clean Energy, Fails Utterly
• Tony Abbott raises eyebrows after linking WWII D-Day memorial with policies on mining and carbon taxes
• Crowdscrounging pennies to support Canada's most important environmental research
• Hundreds of scientists to Canada PM: Pipeline report 'deeply flawed'
• Federal appeals court says British Petroleum must face fines for gulf oil spill
• France experiments with paying people to cycle to work

Carbon Caps

• Ahead of power plant push, Obama ties climate change to health hazards
• President Obama gets serious on climate change—"With new greenhouse gas emissions regulations, the U.S. is finally a world leader on this important topic."
• China plan to cap CO2 emissions seen turning point in climate talks
• Obama's 'War on Coal' Is Worth Fighting—"The proposed new E.P.A. regulations won’t stop climate change, but they could open the way to a truly meaningful international effort."
• Sorry Rand Paul, Not Only Is The EPA Carbon Rule Legal, It's Mandated By Law
• Get Ready For More False Claims By Big Polluters
• EPA administrator says rule critics 'crying wolf' to protect interests
• EPA policy reflects true cost of coal
• A huge majority of Americans support regulating carbon from power plants. And they're even willing to pay for it.

Climate Change

• 'Cosmos' recap: Climate change is explained in 'The World Set Free' LATimes
• Republican witness admits the expert consensus on human-caused global warming is real
• Prince Charles: reform capitalism to save the planet—"A 'fundamental transformation of global capitalism' is needed in order to tackle climate change, the Prince of Wales has said."

Denialists

• Neil deGrasse Tyson Explains How Republicans Blew It on Climate Change—"The host of Cosmos dishes on our warming planet, why science is 'trending' in our culture, and the meaning of a groundbreaking science TV experiment."
• Climate science is a hoax: Big Oil, GOP, God say so—"Commentary: 30 million Americans dismiss all warnings of deadly disaster."
• The House Science Committee Spent Today in a Climate Change Denial Echo Chamber
• Congress Tells Scientists IPCC Climate Report "Not Science"
• New Ad Looks At All The Ways GOPers Deny Climate Change Science
• John Boehner: 'I'm Not Qualified To Debate The Science Over Climate Change'
• GOP science deniers threaten U.S. national defense
• Canadian Weather Forecasters Forbidden From Discussing Climate Change

Fracking

• Former Energy in Depth Spokesman John Krohn Now at U.S. EIA Promoting Fracking
• Inside a Hollywood Hit Job: How Sting Artist James O'Keefe Tried to Set His Latest Trap – And Got Stung Himself—"Sting artist James O'Keefe says anti-fracking filmmaker Josh Fox is one of his latest victims. But Fox says his own secret tape reveals O'Keefe's true methods."
• North Carolina: House approves fast-track 'fracking' bill—And cops and firefighters could soon be charged for disclosing fracking chemicals.
• David Cameron's house 'fracked' by protesters
• Texas homeowner vents methane from water well, sets it on fire—You don't need no stinkin' regulations.

Coal

• A bogus claim that electricity prices will 'nearly double' because of clean coal technology WaPo
• Rural NC sites become dumping grounds for unwanted coal ash
• Deutsche Bank rules out funding for controversial Abbot Point coal terminal
• Idemitsu admits it hired contractors in coal spies operation

Ecology

• Study: Species disappearing far faster than before
• Monarch butterfly decline linked to spread of GM crops—"Milkweed essential to monarchs in decline because of herbicides used with genetically modified crops."
• Chinese man sentenced for smuggling rhino horns
• Zambian Park Ranger in Charge of Law Enforcement Shot Dead
• Rhino poacher killed in Kaziranga

Water

• World Bank wants water privatized, despite risks
• California Cuts Water to Some Farms and Cities
• A Bloody War for Water in Mexico
• Seven states running out of water

GMO

• West Australian organic farmer loses court fight against GM neighbour
• Monsanto Protection Act Signed By Obama, GMO Bill "Written By Monsanto" Signed Into Law
• N.Y. Assembly committee backs GMO labels
• Vermont governor signs GMO food labeling into law—Monsanto set to sue.

Fat Tuesday, Food Fight, GMO; Obamacare, Bill of Health, Private Sector, Doing Harm, Virus, Cigs; Brain

Fat Tuesday

• Where Does Obesity Come From?—"We think poverty makes people obese and that obesity makes people poor. It's harder to understand exactly why."
• Five myths about obesity—"Are our diets or our genes to blame?" WaPo
• Obesity is a risk factor for serious flu complications, Kalamazoo College students warned
• Slim, unfit men are 'less likely' to suffer heart attacks than fit obese men
• Frozen yoghurt and other deceptively unhealthy foods that are making you fatter
• 'Fat is good': the message from a man who swapped sugar for bacon and eggs—"A new documentary makes startling claims about what is and is not healthy for us, challenging received wisdom."
• Science teacher loses almost 40 pounds on 'McDonald's diet'—"Ninety days of Mickey D's for breakfast, lunch and dinner but with strict daily nutritional limitations of 2,000 calories and trying to stay close to the recommended dietary allowances for nutrients like carbohydrates, proteins, fat calories and cholesterol."

Food Fight

• The war against butter is over. Butter won.
• How Gatorade turned water into 'the enemy of performance'
• "Expired" food is good for you: A supermarket exec's bold business gamble—"Trader Joe's' former president wants to sell you the food that other stores throw out. Will it work?" Salon
• Parents, experts decry junk food marketing in schools
• Food Marketing in 2014 Will Be Ugly—Are food corporations living up to 'responsible marketing' promises?

GMO

• Top U.S. court refuses to hear appeal of Monsanto seed case
• Maine becomes second state to require GMO labels WaPo
• A Lonely Quest for Facts on Genetically Modified Crops—"When a bill to ban genetically engineered crops on the island of Hawaii was introduced, doubts nagged at Greggor Ilagan, a councilman, about what the risks were, if any, of the crops." NYT

Obamacare

• Ignore the Republicans: Obamacare Is Doing Fine
• Despite what the critics say, Obamacare is working WaPo
• Desperate, last-ditch effort for Obamacare haters fails—"A federal judge's ruling suggests Obamacare foes are either dishonest or unable to read." Salon
• Obamacare's a "Bailout" Now? Conservative Critics Are Getting Desperate
• Senate Candidate Claims IRS is Training "Brown Shirts" to Enforce Obamacare Using Assault Weapons
• Health-insurance sign-ups by young adults are off pace seen as key to new law's success WaPo
• Medicaid is Obamacare’s biggest success. But neither side wants to talk about it. WaPo
• Nearly 6 in 10 in Georgia favor Medicaid expansion
• Obama administration to end contract with CGI Federal, company behind HealthCare.gov WaPo
• Insecure healthcare.gov allowed hacker to access 70,000 records in 4 minutes

Bill of Health

• New Data Show How Hospitals Rip You Off
• Patients' Costs Skyrocket; Specialists' Incomes Soar—"Patient costs have risen as doctors have become more entrepreneurial, protecting their turf through lobbying by medical societies and increasing revenues by offering new and more lucrative procedures." NYT
• Why I Had to Close My Preventive Healthcare Clinic

Private Sector

• Novartis may be involved in another clinical study—"The Japanese arm of Swiss-based drug maker Novartis is suspected of having involved its sales staff in a clinical study of a new drug."
• NHS patient data to be made available for sale to drug and insurance firms—"Privacy experts warn there will be no way for public to work out who has their medical records or how they are using it."
• Health Canada library changes leave scientists scrambling—"Main Health Canada research library closed, access outsourced to retrieval company."

Doing Harm

• $62M awarded to woman who lost legs after surgery
• Montreal: Woman claims she was told to leave hospital and province for requesting English service
• Turkey passes controversial medical aid bill—"Bill that makes it crime for doctors to provide emergency first aid without government authorisation comes into force."

Virus

• 'Golden age' of antibiotics 'set to end'
• Botulinum Toxin type H- the Deadliest Known Toxin With no Known Antidote Discovered
• Pakistan polio workers shot dead in Karachi
• HIV-Positive Student Secretly Filmed Self Having Unprotected Sex With At Least 31 People
• S.Korea steps up measures to contain bird flu
• This Incredible Map Shows All The Infections That Vaccines Could Have Prevented

Cigs

• Have cigarettes become more addictive?
• China, world's leading tobacco user, moves to ban indoor public smoking
• Chicago votes to ban e-cigarettes

Brain

• Body Atlas Reveals Where We Feel Happiness and Shame
• Supercomputer takes 40 mins to calculate a single second of human brain activity
• Heavy drinking tied to faster mental decline in middle-aged men, study finds—"The study of about 5,000 British civil servants found that over a decade, the added decline was the equivalent of about two extra years of aging for a combined measure of mental abilities like reasoning, and about six years for memory."

World Diabetes Day, Chews the Fat Day; Big Food, GMO; McDonald's; Obamacare; Health Issues; Brain, Damage; NSA Spying and Surveillance

World Diabetes Day

• World Diabetes Day: What Are The Risks And How Can We Prevent It?
• Mexican Coke Switching To Corn Syrup From Cane Sugar; 4 Reasons Why This Shift Is Terrible
• What's worse, fat or sugar?

Chews the Fat day

• Abercrombie & Fitch Will Offer Plus-Size Items This Spring Due To Financial Desperation and Ruined Reputation
• To ride the Moscow subway for free, do 30 squats—"As part of a Russian campaign to make citizens healthier, riders who buy a ticket at Vystavochnaya station in western Moscow have the option of paying in squats."
• FDA To Ban Trans Fats

Big Food

• Billionaires Received U.S. Farm Subsidies, Report Finds—"The federal government paid $11.3 million to 50 billionaires or businesses they own over a 17-year period, the Environmental Working Group says." NYT
• Organic sellout: USDA guts organic rules to protect mega-farms
• Schumer: Chicken Slaughtered, Raised In China Could Pose Major Risk

GMO

• Washington voters rejecting GMO labeling law
• GMOs aren't the problem. Our industrial food system is—"Food activists should move on from genetically modified foods, and focus on Monsanto and 'Big Ag's' other destructive practices."
• Chinese state media kick into high gear to ease GMO food fears

McDonald's

• Woman runs over boyfriend 3 times for McDonald's—"Tennessee woman upset boyfriend wanted to go to a different restaurant, police say."
• Dad 'unfit parent for refusing son McDonald's'
• Does McDonald's Belong in a Children's Hospital?—"Unhealthy endorsement vs. comfort food at a trying time."
• Why McDonald's Changed Its Restaurant Name Down Under—"Macca" does roll of the tongue.
• Why McDonald's Caffeine Problem Is Hurting Its Business

Obamacare

• Op/Ed: The Big Gut Check—"It's not just a hobbled website. Several things came together in October to seriously challenge and perhaps truly damage the roll out and perhaps even the future of Obamacare."
• Fox News's medical 'experts' take a pounding from 'The Daily Show'—"Fox News's medical experts stray from their avowed field of expertise -- quelle surprise!" WaPo
• White House Takes Heat From House Dems On Obamacare During Closed-Door Meeting—Will the DNC stick by the President?
• WaPo: CBS Ran Misleading Story On HealthCare.gov Security Issues
• How We Can Stop Hospitals From Over-Billing

Health Issues

• ABC News' Amy Robach Reveals Breast Cancer Diagnosis
• Efforts to Vaccinate Against Polio in Sudan Blocked
• Man Dies After Swallowing $54,000 Worth of Meth He Thought Was a Health Drink

Brain

• Billion pound brain project under way
• Scientists Figure Out What You See While You're Dreaming
• Video game playing found beneficial for the brain
• Brains flush toxic waste in sleep, including Alzheimer's-linked protein, study of mice finds WaPo
• Can soft drinks change your brain?—"Drinking sugary drinks on a regular basis could 'profoundly' change our brains, a study claims."

Damage

• Charles Youvella dies from injury—"A high school football player in Arizona died from an injury suffered during the fourth quarter of a blowout playoff loss, serving as yet another reminder of the dangers of head trauma in youth sports."
• Scans show retired American football players have brain deficits
• Brett Favre admits to memory loss: 'that's a little bit scary to me'
• Dorsett Told He Has Signs Of CTE
• Cleveland Clinic, NFLPA start program to look at ex-NFL players' brain health

NSA Spying and Surveillance

• NSA Transparency Hurts Americans' Privacy, Feds Say With Straight Face
• NSA has no idea when it spies on Americans, top lawyer says—"Because doing so would 'require a greater invasion of that person's privacy.'"
• How Obama's Response To NSA Spying Has Evolved
• Google: NSA tactics bad for all American companies—Fallout already being felt in China.
• NSA Leaks Could Inspire a Global Boom in Intrusive Surveillance—"Governments already dabbling with authoritarian control of the Internet could be spurred on by learning of NSA surveillance."

World Environment Day, Pollution, Ecology, Animal Cruelty, Food Insecurity, Monsanto; Tiananmen

World Environment Day

• Exxon CEO: 'What Good Is It To Save The Planet If Humanity Suffers?'—What good is humanity if the planet goes haywire?
• Feds Must Analyze Oil Spill Dispersant Effects on Wildlife
• WSJ Editorial Board Member: NYC Bike-Share Program Has 'Begrimed' Best Neighborhoods
• Facebook mogul Sean Parker ordered to pay $2.5M after wedding in coastal zone
• Think.Eat.Save—Reduce your footprint.

Pollution

• Wal-Mart pleads guilty to charges of dumping hazardous waste in California
• New documents show Exxon knew of dangerous contamination from their Arkansas tar sands spill, yet claimed area was "oil free"
• Oil spill sullies river in Ecuador

Ecology

• Seven rhinos killed by poachers in Kenya's bloodiest week
• Turtle conservationist shot dead 'by poachers' on Costa Rica beach—"Jairo Mora Sandoval, 26, died just weeks after posting a Facebook plea for police help with turtle-egg thieves."
• Brazil rainforest deforestation leads to seed shrinkage

Animal Cruelty

• USDA's Watchdog Reveals "Egregious" Hog Slaughter Conditions
• Chinese Meat Firm With Terrible Food Safety Record Buys The Largest Pork Producer In The U.S.
• Canada set to ban lifelong confinement of pigs in small cages 67

Food Insecurity

• Horsemeat scandal: Dutch trader Willy Selten arrested—"A Dutch meat wholesaler, Willy Selten, has been arrested for allegedly selling 300 tonnes of horsemeat as beef, officials say."
• Death on the Nile—"As Ethiopia diverts the river to build a dam, we examine the impact on water supply for Egypt's growing population."
• Rule on Serving Olive Oil Stirs Ridicule and Anger in Europe NYT
• Disgusting Photo Appears To Show A Taco Bell Employee Licking Food
• Flipside: Large German Bank Quits Agricultural Commodities Speculation

Monsanto

• Worldwide March Against Monsanto, GMOs Draws Crowds In 436 Cities
• Monsanto gives up fight for GM plants in Europe
• Hungary: Monsanto appeals against destruction of corn
• Japan Halts Some U.S. Wheat Imports on Gene-Altered Crops
• S. Korea Joins Japan Blocking Monsanto Modified Seed
• Kansas Farmer Sues Monsanto After Discovering Unapproved GM Wheat In Field
• Monsanto can't explain how GMO wheat survived

Tiananmen

• Thousands Rally in Hong Kong in Tinanmen Square Anniversary NYT
• Photos from Hong Kong's 2013 Tiananmen Vigil
• China bans all references to 'Big Yellow Duck' in lead up to Tiananmen Square anniversary