Blogburger

Smithfield, union announce December union vote

Blogburger — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 23:00:59 +0000

RALEIGH, N.C. - Smithfield Packing Co. and the United Food and Commercial Workers say employees at the company’s massive…

Smithfield, union announce December union vote

Blogburger — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 23:00:58 +0000

RALEIGH, N.C. - Smithfield Packing Co. and the United Food and Commercial Workers say employees at the company’s massive…

Global Warming Plus Jet Travel Fuels ‘Airport Malaria’

Blogburger — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 23:00:56 +0000

Living in the global village created by speedy air travel gives us all kinds of new health worries. Now it’s gotten to the point that just being near an international airport may be enough to put us at risk for malaria.

We still haven’t shaken the memory of Andrew Speaker, the globe-trotting, honeymooner with some nasty tuberculosis or the frequent-flying Mexican national packing a contagious strain of TB with him on numerous trips across the border. Then the Government Accountability Office tells us that the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Health and Human Services have a lot more work to do to protect us from TB hazards at our borders.

Now our pal Matt Phillips at WSJ’s Middle Seat Terminal blog piles on with some incidental malaria action. In the run-up to a big conference on tropical diseases next month, a Louisiana State University scientist sounds a warning about “airport malaria.” Global warming and stowaway mosquitoes from equatorial climes are leading to malaria cases near international airports in temperate zones within the U.S. and Europe.

New catalysts promise faster, cleaner and more efficient research platform

Blogburger — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 23:00:53 +0000

A new class of exceptionally effective catalysts that promote the powerful olefin metathesis reaction has been discovered by a team of Boston College and MIT scientists, opening up a vast new scientific platform to researchers in medicine, biology and materials.

Mirror’s Edge

Blogburger — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 23:00:34 +0000

Videogames News: The thrill of the chase loses all its appeal in Electronic Arts’ Parkour-inspired “Mirror’s Edge.” Repetitive, difficult and visually dull, the game is undone by its use of a highly constrained first person viewpoint in a world of high-speed running and jumping where perspective is everything. Though it deserves some credit for originality, “Mirror’s Edge” is too fundamentally misconceived to avoid tumbling down the sales charts.

Posted on Monday, 11.17.08 share email print comment Locker likely not to return in 2008

Blogburger — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 23:00:16 +0000

SEATTLE — Washington coach Tyrone Willingham says injured quarterback Jake Locker is likely out for…

Bush administration discounts royalties on oil shale drilling

Blogburger — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 23:00:06 +0000

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration gave energy companies steep discounts in the royalties they will be required to pay as it established the groundwork today for commercial oil shale development on federal land. Interior Department officials said the 5 percent royalty rate during the first five years of production was needed to spur drilling while still giving taxpayers a fair return. But that rate is much lower than the 12.5 percent to 18.8 percent the government collects from companies harvesting…

Syria uranium traces not conclusive

Blogburger — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 23:00:05 +0000

Nov 18, 2008 9:56 AM Uranium traces found at a Syrian site bombed by Israel were not sufficient evidence of undeclared nuclear activity but Syria must be more open to help clarify the issue, the head of the UN atomic watchdog said. “We won’t be able to reach a quick conclusion unless we have credible information,” International Atomic Energy Agency Director Mohamed ElBaradei told a news conference in Dubai. “There was uranium but it does not mean there was a reactor.” The IAEA inquiry was spurred by US intelligence that the site was a secret…

Apple issues fix for MacBook trackpad woes

Blogburger — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 22:49:32 +0000

A firmware update is now available for those who purchased Apple’s redesigned MacBook and MacBook Pro and have been having problems with the glass trackpad on those systems.

First Look: Sofia Coppola’s Miss Dior Cherie Commercial

Blogburger — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 22:39:14 +0000

>> On Saturday, Maryna Linchuk was down to her skivvies, but she shows an entirely different side in the Sofia Coppola-directed Miss Dior Cherie commercial. It originally debuted on TV last week, but for all of you who missed it — here’s your chance to see.

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