07-11-09
- The Great Insurance Industry Ripoff:
- Insurance insider Wendell Potter tells the ugly truth about the insurance industry (pbs/billmoyersjournal) "With almost 20 years inside the health insurance industry, Wendell Potter saw for-profit insurers hijack our health care system and put profits before patients. Now, he speaks with Bill Moyers about how those companies are standing in the way of health care reform."
- The Consumer (That's You And Me) - The Guinea Pig:
- Nobody Knows What Nanoparticles Do -- Yet They Are in Your Food, Cosmetics, and Toys (alternet) "Now, early research on the potential hazards of nanotech is producing danger signs of its own. Workers handling nanomaterials face the biggest risks. But there are concerns for consumers, too, especially with products--like cosmetics, food and supplements--that go directly on or in the body. And with potentially toxic nanomaterials washing down the drain and into the water and soil, there's reason to worry about environmental damage as well."
- The Bush Crime Scene:
- US Government Covered Up War Crimes Committed by CIA’s Warlord (firedoglake) -- Mass murder? No big deal for George W. Bush, besides, it would be bad publicity for his wars.
- Evangenital In Charge of Science?! Good Way to Create a Dysfunctional NIH:
- Obama Puts Evangelical in Charge of National Institutes of Health -- Will His Religion Get in the Way of Science? (alternet) -- Collins was so inept leading the Human Genome Project that colleague scientist Craig Venter left in a huff after ten years and promptly raced light years ahead of Collins in the work of decoding human DNA. Although it was Venter's new public company that cracked the code, Bill Clinton lionized Collins because his was a government funded project, and Clinton made Venter take a back seat to the guy who had been stumbling along in Venter's dust after Venter had had enough and left. Now Obama is lionizing Collins again by nominating him to this critical position. Another perk for the fundies, eh Obama? But at what cost to the welfare of the nation?
- No, Virginia, Man Is Not the Center of the Universe:
- Barred Spiral Galaxy NGC 1300 (apod)
