New York Times reporter Julia Preston provided her predictably pro-amnesty slant in Wednesday story on the apparently deathless Dream Act, a bill up in the lame-duck session of Congress (it passed the House Wednesday night) that would provide amnesty for illegal immigrant students: “ Illegal Immigrant Students Await Votes on Legal Status .” With both houses of Congress set to vote this week on a bill that would give legal status to hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrant students, one of those students will wait for news of the outcome at an immigration detention center in Arizona. The student, Hector Lopez, 21, was deported to Mexico in August after having lived with his family in Oregon since he was an infant. After two months of trying to find his bearings and a job in Mexico City, Mr. Lopez, who does not speak Spanish, traveled to the border last month and turned himself in to the immigration authorities, requesting asylum in the United States. read more
Continue reading …Image via What Is Nature Worth video What is nature really worth? We have become adept at placing a value on nature’s products, but as a short video produced by University of Minnesota’s Institute on the Environment points out, we don’t really understand the immense value of nature’s services. The video, inspired by the Natural Capital Project, looks at global biodiversity loss and how it impacts us financially, socially, and ecologically. … Read the full story on TreeHugger
Continue reading …Ed Burtynsky and Cameron Sinclair; photo by Hugo Arriojas Cameron Sinclair, co-founder of Architecture for Humanity , has been writing for Worldchanging since 2004. Since then, AFH has grown like mad, building the Open Architecture Network with thousands of contributors and supporters. Worldchanging had a different, more conventional model and as we noted earlier , has closed its virtual doors. Ever the eternal optimist and activist, Ca… Read the full story on TreeHugger
Continue reading …The Earthlings here at Engadget HQ are still patiently awaiting their own Cr-48s , but it looks as if those who were quick on the trigger have just received a Chrome OS laptop to cuddle with. If you’ll recall, Google opened up a Chrome OS Pilot Program Tuesday, and for those who registered early (and got awfully lucky), they’re being treated to a Cr-48 on their doorsteps. One gracious tipster has already sent over a trio of unboxing shots, and we’ll be sure to give the low-down (you know — video, impressions, etc.) once our own arrives. Anytime now, FedEx… [Thanks, Dan] Gallery: Google Cr-48 Chrome OS laptop now shipping Google Cr-48 Chrome OS laptop now shipping to the lucky few originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 09 Dec 2010 10:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Image credit: Kirsten Dirksen/ FairCompanies.com Whether it is the low-tech humanure approach of the Loveable Loo , or more high-tech, high-cost compost toilet technology , one of the coolest things about toilets that don’t use drinking water to flush away a precious resource is how quickly they can convert even relatively fecal-phobic individuals to the idea that old, well-treated poop doesn’t have to smell,… Read the full story on TreeHugger
Continue reading …Click here to view this media Rep. Anthony took Megyn Kelly to school when she tried pushing the lie that the estate tax is double taxation. This woman has a law degree so I’m sure she knows what she’s saying isn’t true as well, but facts don’t seem to matter much if you want a job at Fox News. From Think Progress — Rep. Weiner: ‘You Aren’t Paying’ Taxes On Your Estate ‘Because You’ll Be Dead’ : President Obama this week announced a tentative deal with congressional Republicans to extend the Bush-era tax cuts for all Americans for two years in exchange for a 13-month extension in unemployment benefits. While the deal included other popular tax credits and incentives, one provison in particular has drawn fire from progressives and Democrats in Congress: reinstating the currently-expired estate tax. In what the Washington Post’s Ezra Klein called an “ugly surprise” in the deal, Obama and the GOP agreed to exempt inheritances up to $5 million and to set the tax rate at 35 percent instead of an exemption at $3.5 million and the tax rate at 45 percent, which the House passed last year. Also today, Fox News host Megyn Kelly defended the estate tax deal in an interview with Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) — who has also been critical of it — saying that these Americans shouldn’t be taxed twice. Weiner pointed out the obvious flaw in that line of thinking: KELLY: I don’t have a five million dollar estate, I’d like to someday, but if I work all my life and I pay my taxes on my income and then I die and I want to pass on what it would be great if it were a $5 million estate to my kids, why should I pay the government again? Why should there be a 35 or 45 or 55 percent tax on that again? WEINER: You aren’t paying anything in that case because you’ll be dead . … Do you know how much this adds to our debt? It adds an enormous amount. No one can be in favor of that and then come on your show and say, “Oh I’m so concerned about the debt!” As Congressman Weiner rightfully pointed out, the tax is on unearned income which heaven forbid Republicans don’t want to tax in the same manner they tax wages.
Continue reading …Jonesing for a new point and shoot before the holiday break ? Don’t go lookin’ for BenQ’s newest unless you’re camped in Asia, as this orange delight won’t hit other nations until the first of 2011. Sporting a 14 megapixel sensor, a metallic casing and a seemingly robust implementation of optical image stabilization technology, the S1420 also touts a 26mm wide-angle lens, a 5x optical zoomer and ingrained HDR II technology that tosses a little pizazz on top of your otherwise ho hum photograph. There’s also a smattering of “creative shooting modes” that you may or may not ever touch, though the 720p movie mode and ISO range that reaches to 6,400 should both prove quite useful. There’s nary a word spoken on pricing, but something tells us it’ll be situated halfway between dirt cheap and perfectly affordable. Continue reading BenQ’s 14 megapixel S1420 camera touts mega O.I.S., 720p movie mode BenQ’s 14 megapixel S1420 camera touts mega O.I.S., 720p movie mode originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 09 Dec 2010 10:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Egyptian opposition activist Mohamed ElBaradei slams parliamentary elections, warns of violence if authorities impede reform rallies
Continue reading …Image credit: “Professional Disagreement” by pasukaru76 , used under Creative Commons license. When I asked, in my own skeptic atheist way, whether we must embrace the sacred to survive peak oil , commenter robertrfiske urged us to not “feed that beast” of division. After all, he argued, ideological differences will be exploited by opponents of the green movement to bring us down. We heard similar arguments when Lloyd… Read the full story on TreeHugger
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