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Whaling commission avoids controversial decisions

Wrapping up its annual meeting this week, the International Whaling Commission decided to defer decision-making on various controversial issues. The IWC took only one vote at the meeting, deciding to disallow Greenland’s request to take a higher quota of humpback whales. It also agreed to research the impact of climate change on cetaceans. But with […]

Snippets from the news

• Greens will sue EPA over haze in parks. • North Pole could be ice-free this summer. • Water crisis worsened by corruption. • Dairy industry will reduce carbon hoofprint. • Wisconsin board OKs plan to cut mercury emissions by 90 percent.

Supreme court turns down border-fence appeal, prez candidates talk energy, and more

Read the news items highlighted in this week’s podcast: It Was Asbestos Times, It Was the Worst of Times The Wall’s in Your Court Oil Together Now Glow and Behold The Art of ELF Defense Pass the Sugar, Sugar Read the articles mentioned at the end of the podcast: Unnecessary Evil Belt Experience

Snippets from the news

• Hawaii will require solar water heaters in new homes. • Solar-power demand too much for New Jersey. • Greenpeace ranks electronics manufacturers. • Brazil seizes livestock to protect rainforest. • Nearly 50 percent of Republicans doubt earth is getting warmer. • International Whaling Commission delays decisions.

Snippets from the news

• Green products become more affordable. • Offshore wind coming soon to Delaware. • California requires greenhouse-gas labels on cars. • Pfizer to pay $975,000 for clean-air violations. • Californians run for the border for gas.

Snippets from the news

• Supreme Court will hear Navy challenge to whale-protecting order. • Obama campaign closely linked with ethanol. • Converted plug-in hybrid catches fire. • Students green up college curricula. • World’s biggest solar plant goes online. • Machu Picchu at risk from tourists.

MP3 players and digital Science

I'm climbing up the audiobook learning curve and would like to share what I've learned. My first post on this topic can be found here. I was experimenting with the cheapest MP3 player I could find that would play free audiobooks from a library.

Apple's iPods will not allow you to listen to free audiobooks. First lesson learned: Do not use the cheap players. I have purchased four of the low end products made by Coby, starting with the cheapest and moving up the line. They all failed within days to weeks. Luckily I received a full refund for each, which is why I bought locally instead of off the internet.

Snippets from the news

• World population to reach 7 billion in 2012. • More big businesses call for climate action. • Anti-whaling activists arrested for whale-meat theft. • Satellite to track sea level rise launched.

Friday music blogging: Jamie Lidell

Jamie Lidell gained some renown in the late ’90s as a producer of electronic music. In particular, Super_Collider — his project with Christian Vogel — achieved full-on cult status. But in 2005, Lidell took a sharp left turn with Multiply, an album of pure blue-eyed soul and funk. (For the record, Lidell is a skinny […]

Convicted eco-vandal sentenced to six years in prison

Convicted eco-vandal Briana Waters has been sentenced to six years in federal prison and was ordered to pay $6 million in restitution for her role in the 2001 blaze that destroyed a University of Washington horticulture center. Waters was a student at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wash., at the time and allegedly acted […]