| China's Genetically Altered Food Boom
Faced with feeding every fifth person on the planet with less than one-tenth of the world's farmland, Beijing has been pumping hundreds of millions of dollars into transgenic crop research and development, hoping the plants, whose DNA is combined with genetic material that programs them with traits like pest and weed resistance, will help farmers yield more food and commodities at a lower cost especially as farmland is being lost to development and drought. Most of China's cotton is already transgenic, and rice, wheat, maize, soybeans and livestock are in the pipeline. "China decided that conventional technology would not allow it to feed its people," says Clive James, chairman and founder of the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications (ISAAA). In the 12 years since GM crops have been commercially grown, James says most planting has been in the Americas.
Bernanke Signals Further Rate Cuts
As for near-term policy, he said the Fed will need to judge whether the rate cuts to date are having the intended impact, and that the policy stance must be determined in light of the medium-term outlook, where downside risks remain. Commenting on monetary policy, Bernanke said a critical task for the Federal Reserve over the course of this year will be "to assess whether the stance of monetary policy is properly calibrated to foster our mandated objectives of maximum employment and price stability in an environment of downside risks to growth, stressed financial conditions, and inflation pressures." "In particular, the FOMC will need to judge whether the policy actions taken thus far are having their intended effects. Monetary policy works with a lag. Therefore, our policy stance must be determined in light of the medium-term forecast for real activity and inflation as well as the risks to that forecast." Expect a 50-Basis-Point Cut As for other key challenges to the U.S.
Newcastle? Special? Sorry
You believe that no other club exists with the same passion or emotion and your sincerity is appreciated. It is just that, well, you are wrong. Sorry. Whether blighted by tragedy or blessed by glory, whether filling a stadium with tens of thousands or surviving on a pittance and the devotion of a handful of diehards, just as you feel about your football club, so do millions of others. Everyone thinks that they have the prettiest wife at home, as Arsène Wenger said. Everyone thinks that they have the love supreme. But if everybody is special, then nobody is. So, Liverpool: not special. Manchester United: not special. Luton Town: not special. West Ham United: not special. Newcastle United: not special. Sorry. Kevin Keegan talked a grand game in his opening address at St James’ Park.
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A press conference is scheduled for 10 a.m. today at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy in Bourne.In March 2006, the Coast Guard published a proposed rule to improve navigational safety in Buzzards Bay. Environmental groups, such as the Coalition for Buzzards Bay, have been waiting anxiously for the agency to publish the final rule. The coalition — which has been fighting for stricter oil transportation regulations since the April 27, 2003, Bouchard 120 spill — submitted comments on the proposed rule, calling it "inadequate" to protect the bay from a future spill... Standard-Times. ___________________ Gainey family gets review of ship incident reportMontreal Canadiens manager's daughter lost off Cape CodHalifax, Nova Scotia - The accuracy of a safety investigation into how Laura Gainey (shown on right at the ship's helm) was swept off the tall ship Picton Castle is being reviewed by a Canadian agency at the request of her family. Ken Potter, head of marine safety at the Transportation Safety Board of Canada, confirmed yesterday he has a draft of the long-awaited report into the tragic incident.Ms.
Developer says 80-acre parcel at I-10 and Texas 6 could also include a ...
Commercial developer Opus West Corp. is looking to expand its holdings in the Energy Corridor. The company is under contract to buy an 80-acre parcel north of Interstate 10 and east of Texas 6. Robert Wheless, director of real estate development for Opus West, said he's considering a mix of uses for the site, which could include hotel, retail, office and apartments. The land is across I-10 from Westlake, where Hines has developed office towers. Wheless said Opus West is scouring the market for a tenant that could use the site for a corporate campus. "It would lend itself beautifully to that," he said. "The reservoir's to the north, so it has protected views." The company hopes to close on the property by the start of summer.
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