Science vs. Culture in Mexico's Corn Staple

It's loose n the wild - and the patent battles to come could well devastate the agricultural sector of the Mexican economy, as well as change the face of Mexican culture.

I suppose that's a small price to pay so Monsanto and ConAgra can grow rich by claiming ownership of genetic material. And this proves once again that the devastation caused by so-called "free trade" agreements between unequal partners is indeed a two way street.

The discovery of genetically modified corn has ignited a furor over what many see as an assault on the crop that is at the core of Mexico's identity.

(link) [NYT > Home Page]

00:00 /Agriculture | 0 comments | permanent link


Business Sees Gain In GOP Takeover

The best government money can buy ...

washingtonpost.com - Fortune 500 companies that invested millions of dollars in electing Republicans are emerging as the earliest beneficiaries of a government controlled by President Bush and the largest GOP House and Senate majority in a half century.

(link) [Yahoo! News: Top Stories]

00:00 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link


Mom's Home

They released my momma from the hospital this morning - good news, indeed. She's a whole lot better, and has pretty much "recovered" from the flu itself. But she still needs to get her strength back, and will need lots of help around the house for at least a week or so.

After we got her ensconced this afternoon, we picked up some stuff from the supermarket for her and fixed lunch. Kris whipped up the best damn Reuben I've ever had, including the one I ate at a Jewish deli in NYC several years ago. Mom agreed, and managed to eat her entire (huge) sandwich. So her appetite's back - another good sign.

We let mom rest after lunch and came on home for some work that'd fallen through the cracks last week. I finished refurbishing a ten-hole nest box and got it mounted in the Big House. That bumps the capacity of that barn to about 200 hens, so it's only half full. Gotta get some more birds!

I was very disturbed, however, to discover that our sole feather footed chicken, a Brahma, had developed a serious respiratory infection. I've never seen such a sick chicken. So she got the ax - I think I got her in time so that it doesn't spread through the flock. She was the only bird we had that had actually brooded a chick, and the chick showed no sign of illness. Hated to lose her - she was a very cool looking bird strutting about the barnyard.

00:00 /Home | 0 comments | permanent link


Fun With Transparent Screen Backgrounds

Check some of the linked images out. They're the only reason I can think of to buy an iSight or other computer video camera. I don't do video conferencing or webcams, but doing something like this could be a greatly amusing trick on a laptop when traveling...

Looks like the amusement factor of 'transparent' screen background is getting bigger and bigger. The French Mac fan site Mac Bidouille opened up a dedicated part of their web site where fans can post shots of their transparent backgrounds. Other great transparent background shots can be found at Flickr.

(link) [Slashdot]

00:00 /Technology | 0 comments | permanent link


The Perils Of Being a Chocolate Bunny

Chocolate Bunnies

00:00 /Humor | 0 comments | permanent link


Artist smuggles his work into top museums

You gotta admire this guy's sheer chutzpah:

"My sister inspired me to do it. She was throwing away loads of my pictures one day and I asked her why. She said 'It's not like they're going to be hanging in the Louvre.'"

He took that as a challenge. "I thought why wait until I'm dead," he said.

And if he hasn't made it to the Louvre (yet) he has now had his work displayed in the Brooklyn Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the American Museum of Natural History. Makes me wonder if this was really the first time a stunt like this has ever been pulled.

Many a visitor to New York's Museum of Modern Art has probably thought, "I could do that."

(link) [CNN]

00:00 /Humor | 0 comments | permanent link