ACLU: Over 1000 complaints from travelers in the US about sexual violations during pat-downs

The ACLU has received over 1000 complaints from travelers in the United States about the TSA’s new pat-downs, providing a unique vantage point on what is taking place at airports around the nation. These complaints came from men, women, and children who reported feeling humiliated and traumatized by these searches, and, in some cases, comparing […]

New Republican lawmakers are hiring lobbyists, despite campaign rhetoric

By Dan Eggen, Washington Post Staff WriterWednesday, December 8, 2010; 10:52 PM During his campaign to represent Wisconsin in the U.S. Senate, GOP nominee Ron Johnson accused Democratic incumbent Russell Feingold (D) of being “on the side of special interests and lobbyists.” “After promising voters that he would reform the culture of lobbying in Washington, […]

Gulf of Mexico oil spill continues to foul 168 miles of Louisiana coastline

By Mark Schleifstein, The Times-Picayune Thursday, December 30, 2010, 7:30 PM Louisiana’s coastline continues to be smeared with significant amounts of oil and oiled material from the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster, with cleanup teams struggling to remove as much as possible of the toxic material by the time migratory birds arrive at the end of […]

Photo gallery: Afghanistan, December, 2010

2010 has been the deadliest year yet for coalition troops in Afghanistan, with 709 troops killed, 497 of those from the U.S. American officials have spoken of a fragile progress, with a possible small drawdown of troops starting next summer, keeping 2014 as the goal date for Afghans to take control. The United Nations released […]

Budding research links climate change and earlier flowering plants

ScienceDaily (Jan. 1, 2011) — According to research published November 16 by a University of Cincinnati faculty member, native plants in southwestern Ohio are flowering significantly earlier, a finding he attributes, at least in part, to global warming. UC biologist Denis Conover, field service associate professor, has spent countless hours walking the Shaker Trace Wetlands […]

Rainfall boosts California’s dwindling water supplies

By Rebecca Kimitch, Staff Writer, rebecca.kimitch@sgvn.com  Posted: 12/24/2010 10:21:50 PM PST The storms that brought flooding and destruction to the region last week had something of a silver lining, at least to water managers. The rains went a long way to refueling water supplies that were precariously low after three years of drought. More than […]

Graph of the Day: Returns and Forecasts of Canada Sockeye Salmon, 1970-2009

Historically, the Rivers and Smith Inlet sockeye salmon stock formed one of the most valuable salmon fisheries in British Columbia, however it declined precipitously in the early 1990s. This decline is the result of poor marine survival during the migration through this ecozone and into the Gulf of Alaska; however the specific cause and location […]

Work still remains 2 years after Kingston ash spill

WBIR.com Dec 22, 2010 This morning marks exactly two years since the disaster at the TVA plant in Kingston. That’s when an ash pond broke and dumped nearly a billion gallons of sludge on Roane County. That night was very cold. It was 12 degrees when the slide hit. Unforgettably, there was a man who […]

Oil may have strengthened fungus plaguing coastal marsh plants in Alabama and Mississippi

By Ben Raines, Press-RegisterUpdated: Monday, December 27, 2010, 7:29 AM While scientists initially speculated that exposure to oil might have weakened marsh plants and left them more vulnerable to a fungus now widespread in Alabama and Mississippi, some now suggest it is equally plausible that the oil may have acted as a sort of fertilizer, […]

US gasoline demand declines after 2006 peak – ‘U.S. motorist is no longer the king of the road’

NEW YORK, 21 December 2010 (AP) — The world’s biggest gas-guzzling nation has limits after all. After seven decades of mostly uninterrupted growth, U.S. gasoline demand is at the start of a long-term decline. By 2030, Americans will burn at least 20 percent less gasoline than today, experts say, even as millions of more cars […]

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