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FDA says ‘frankenfish’ salmon would not harm environment, clears way for approval
By Associated Press, Updated: Friday, December 21, 5:10 PM
WASHINGTON — Federal health regulators say a genetically modified salmon that grows twice as fast as normal is unlikely to harm the environment, clearing the way for the first approval of a scientifically engineered animal for human consumption.
The Food and Drug Administration on Friday released its environmental assessment of the AquaAdvantage salmon, a faster-growing fish which has been subject to a contentious, yearslong debate at the agency. The document concludes that the fish “will not have any significant impacts on the quality of the human environment of the United States.” Regulators also said that the fish is unlikely to harm populations of natural salmon, a key concern for environmental activists.
The FDA will take comments from the public on its report for 60 days before making it final.
The FDA said more than two years ago that the fish appears to be safe to eat, but the agency had taken no public action since then. Executives for the company behind the fish, Maynard, Mass.-based Aquabounty, speculated that the government was delaying action on their application due to push-back from groups who oppose genetically modified food animals.
more
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/fda-says-frankenfish-salmon-would-not-harm-environment-clears-way-for-approval/2012/12/21/f83af952-4b8d-11e2-8758-b64a2997a921_story.html
Zinc Found Effective Against Jellyfish Venom
By SINDYA N. BHANOO
Published: December 17, 2012
Years ago, Angel Yanagihara had a painful encounter with Hawaiian box jellyfish while swimming in Waikiki. So began a quest to identify the toxins in the creature’s venom and to develop a possible remedy.
Dr. Yanagihara, a biochemist at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and colleagues began testing jellyfish venom on human blood and on mice. Now, in the journal PLoS One, they report on their findings — not just in Hawaiian jellyfish, but also in a larger and potentially deadlier species from Australia.
The Australian box jellyfish is one of the world’s most venomous animals. It has a body the size of a basketball and up to 60 tentacles, which can each grow to 10 feet. (Box jellyfish are also found off Indonesia and Thailand.)
“Biochemically, the venoms are similar,” Dr. Yanagihara said. “Colleagues sent me frozen tentacles.”
more
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/18/science/zinc-found-effective-against-box-jellyfish-venom.html?src=recg
Real or Not, World’s End Is Trouble for Schools
By MOTOKO RICH
Published: December 20, 2012
Predictions of doomsday have come and gone repeatedly without coming true. But the latest prophecy, tethered to the Mayan calendar and forecasting that the world will self-destruct on Friday, has prompted many rumors of violence, with a particular focus on school shootings or bomb threats.
With students and parents already jittery after the shootings in Newtown, Conn., last week, rampant posts on Facebook and Twitter have fed the hysteria, and police departments across the country have been inundated with calls. Overwhelmed with the task of responding to threats and unconfirmed reports, districts in Bend, Ore., Stafford County, Va., Wake County, N.C., and Oak Creek, Wis., have sent out letters to parents trying to tamp down the panic.
In three counties in Michigan, Genesee, Lapeer and Sanilac, administrators were spending so much time dealing with reports of planned violence that the superintendents decided to send 80,000 students on their winter holiday break two days early.
“We hate canceling school more than anything,” said Matt Wandrie, the superintendent of the Lapeer Community Schools, north of Detroit. “We’re not doing this because we think there’s an imminent threat to our students. We’re doing this because we’ve been doing nothing but policing.”
more
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/21/education/doomsday-prophecy-prompts-rumors-of-violence-in-schools.html?_r=0
What a sad, sick country we have become...
Corrupt Apple Store Employees Come Forward Across America
by Sam Biddle
We thought the crookedest little Apple Store in Texas was an isolated case. We were wrong: confessions from Apple's retail squads around the country (and world) poured in. Apple has a serious naughty behavior problem on its hands, and the Evil Geniuses are speaking out.
The sources we talked to this summer described an Apple Store that wasn't just poorly managed—it was a personal playground. Computers were traded for plastic surgery, iPhones were smashed like party favors, and employees outright stole from the back room for their own pleasure. It was a den of misuse and abuse, all under the gleaming white aegis of Apple Retail. The perfection is a myth.
And now we know the store-gone-crazy is systemic, reaching from Tennessee to Vancouver, and across oceans. Here's what's happening in the stores you trust. The following sources contacted us via email and Skype, ranging from the Southeast, Tennessee, across California, Massachusetts, Canada, Maryland, Michigan, New York, New Jersey, and Texas. There were even more—"I worked in the most corrupt in the UK"—who couldn't be included in time.
more
http://gizmodo.com/5968284/exclusive-corrupt-apple-store-employees-come-forward-across-america
Thursday TOON Roundup 3- The Rest
Repubs
Obama
School funding
Florida
End of the World
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