Tag Archives: great-lakes

Duggar Family: Secretly Visiting Josh in Rehab?

Since late August, Josh Duggar has been living in a rehab center in northern Illinois. According to previous patients, the facility – operated by a faith-based organization called Reformers Unanimous – is less like a traditional rehab center and more like a Christian work camp where men like Josh put in ten-hour days of hard labor. That may be why insiders are now saying Josh intends to leave rehab a full three months ahead of schedule. That may also be why, according to Radar Online, the Duggar family recently paid Josh a low-key, late-night visit, even though they’d initially planned on keeping their distance for the duration of his “treatment.” Josh was dropped off at the facility in his younger brother John David’s private plane. Radar is now reporting that the first time since dropping his brother off in August, John David’s plane has once again made a trip to the Great Lakes area, this time landing at Mitchell Airport in Milwaukee, less then 100 miles from Josh’s rehab facility. We have no way of knowing what other family members joined John David on the trip, but it seems clear that the Duggars paid Josh an impromptu visit.  Now, the question is – why? Has Josh already bailed on the program and his family rushed to get him home with as little media attention as possible? Or was this a last-minute effort to convince Josh to finish his course of treatment? Either way, 

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Duggar Family: Secretly Visiting Josh in Rehab?

Pesticidal Proteins (Bt) From GM Corn Plants Are Now Common In Midwest Streams

Short-lived, non-biting, adult lake fly – Chironomus plumosus. Image credit: Wikipedia Common-sense tells us that, following corn harvest, fragments of corn cobs, leaves, stalks, silk, and pollen – may be blown by the wind or carried across the land surface by runoff, with some portion of such crop residues deposited in the organic sediments of streams lakes and reservoirs. Scientists call the resulting organic stream sediment “detritus.” The rest of us call it ‘muck.’ It follows that if most of the corn being grown is genetically modi… Read the full story on TreeHugger

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Pesticidal Proteins (Bt) From GM Corn Plants Are Now Common In Midwest Streams

Wikileaks: State Dept. wants intel on African acceptance of GMOs

Damn it, no GMOs — how do I break this to State? The Wikileaks release of U.S. State Department classified diplomatic cables may be problematic, but it has been quite a trove of information on the workings of our diplomatic corps. For the most part, the dump has confirmed things that we already knew about U.S. policy — and that seems to be the case regarding the one mention of agricultural policy in these thousands of emails and documents (no doubt there are more) to which I was alerted. Buried deep in a document that outlines priorities for intelligence gathering in the African “Great Lakes” countries of Burundi, the Republic of Congo, and Rwanda is a list (for the most part, very reasonable) of what the State Department would like to know about the region's agricultural policy. Things like government policies on food security and food safety top the list, for example, along with information on the impact of rising food prices in these countries. Agricultural yield statistics, infrastructure improvements, data on deforestation and desertification, water issues, and invasive species are included as priorities for “reporting” as well. But also getting its own line item on the intel priority list is this: Government acceptance of genetically modified food and propagation of genetically modified crops. added by: JanforGore

Book Review: Biodiversity for Low and Zero Carbon Buildings: A Technical Guide for New Build

Though it may seem like a no-brainer to some, incorporating and encouraging biodiversity-friendliness in newer sustainable buildings is a must. With major declines observed in bee , bat, bird and other critical species, it makes sense that newer built environments now being designed with zero- or low-carbon status in mind should also integrate ways to boost wildlife diversity as well. That’s the premise of Biodiversity for Low and… Read the full story on TreeHugger

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Book Review: Biodiversity for Low and Zero Carbon Buildings: A Technical Guide for New Build

Walleye Bones Can ‘Hear’ the Sound of Overfishing

Credit: OakleyOriginals A university study on Lake Erie walleye may help scientists spot rivers that are at risk of overfishing. Researchers at Ohio State analyzed chemicals found in walleye ear bones, and were able to figure out which fish returned to their hatching site to spawn, and which ones went elsewhere, creating some rivers that are vulnerable to overfishing. The fish seem to be saying, “Can you hear me now?”… Read the full story on TreeHugger

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Walleye Bones Can ‘Hear’ the Sound of Overfishing

Obama Creates National Ocean Council to Oversee Protection of Our Oceans, Coasts & Great Lakes

photo: Shannon Bullard/ Go San Diego Card Blog via flickr President Obama has signed an executive order adopting the final recommendations of the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force , creating a National Ocean Council charged with overseeing national policy providing stewardship over the United Sta… Read the full story on TreeHugger

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Obama Creates National Ocean Council to Oversee Protection of Our Oceans, Coasts & Great Lakes

Great Lakes Compact leaves the door open to privitization

The Great Lakes Compact while being touted by the parties involved as a good start, leaves holes in it that are actually big enough to unravel it. Leaving the door open to private companies to privitize its water means that the Great Lakes Compact is a document that must be open to more scrutiny in the wake of climate change, water shortages, population increases, and interboundary disputes. This water is a public trust, not a commodity. James Olsen in this interview lays these concerns out. added by: JanforGore