MEDIA ROOTS- Project Censored hosts a special tenth anniversary 9/11 commemoration show on KPFA radio. Abby Martin of Media Roots gives a special news report on 9/11 at 6:55 going over the costs of 9/11 wars, the neglect to the first responders and the true threat of terrorism. The show also features guests Dr. Anthony Hall, Professor of Globalization Studies and Kathy McGrade, Engineer and member of Architects and Engineers of 9/11 Truth.
MEDIA ROOTS- This is a disturbing story that exemplifies the throw-away mentality propagated by so many institutions on the planet. It’s something that isn’t thought about often, but the garbage being produced by humans on the planet is also affecting space.
Aside from the fact that there are two swirling trash islands in both the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean, there is now a ring of trash consisting mostly of minute fragments and debris from exploded satellites surrounding the planet that is so dense, experts are saying it is already a detriment to space exploration. Unfortunately, because of the shortsightedness of many, there is no clear plan on how this debris will be cleared or prevented from causing fatal destruction in future space ventures.
Abby
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BBC– A report by the National Research Council says the debris could cause fatal leaks in spaceships or destroy valuable satellites.
It calls for international regulations to limit the junk and more research into the possible use of launching large magnetic nets or giant umbrellas.
The debris includes clouds of minuscule fragments, old boosters and satellites.
Some computer models show the amount of orbital rubbish “has reached a tipping point, with enough currently in orbit to continually collide and create even more debris, raising the risk of spacecraft failures,” the research council said in a statement on Thursday.
Situation ‘critical’
Hopes of limiting the amount of space junk in orbit suffered two major setbacks in recent years.
In 2007, China conducted an anti-satellite weapon test which destroyed a decommissioned weather satellite, smashing the object into 150,000 pieces larger than 1cm.
Two years later, two satellites – one defunct and one active – crashed in orbit, creating even more debris.
“Those two single events doubled the amount of fragments in Earth orbit and completely wiped out what we had done in the last 25 years,” said Donald Kessler, who led the research.
The International Space Station must occasionally dodge some of the junk, which flies around the Earth at speeds of up to 17,500 mph (28,164 km/h).
In June, some debris narrowly missed the space station, forcing its six crew to go to their escape capsules and prepare for an emergency evacuation back to Earth.
The situation is critical, said Mr Kessler, a retired Nasa scientist, because colliding debris creates even more of the junk.
“We’ve lost control of the environment,” he said.
Read more about Space Junk At Tipping Point, Says Report
© 2011 British Brodcasting Company
Photo by Flickr user inter-
Media Roots Radio – Trevor Paglen Interview by Media Roots
MEDIA ROOTS- Trevor Paglen’s work deliberately blurs the lines between science, contemporary art, journalism, and other disciplines to construct unfamiliar, yet meticulously researched ways to see and interpret the world around us.
Paglen’s visual work has been exhibited at several art museums worldwide and his writing and art have been published in major publications including The New York Times, Wired, Vanity Fair and Newsweek, as well as served as a focal point for meditation and inspiration. Paglen holds a B.A. from UC Berkeley, an M.F.A. from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and a Ph.D. in Geography from UC Berkeley, where he remains an affiliated researcher.
In the 90s, Paglen was a member of a locally revered bay area noise/experimental project called Noise Gate, and co-ran an infamous underground venue in downtown Oakland called the Sandcrawler. His electronic music background hugely inspired co-host Robbie Martin in his own musical evolution.
Paglen is also the author of several books: Torture Taxi, the first book to comprehensively cover the CIA’s extraordinary rendition program; I Could Tell You But Then You Would Have to be Destroyed by Me, a book looking at the world of black projects through unit patches and memorabilia created for top-secret programs; and Blank Spots on the Map: The Dark Geography of the Pentagon’s Secret World, a book that gives a broader look at secrecy in the United States.
| The Colbert Report | Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
| Trevor Paglen | ||||
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Trevor Paglen on the Colbert Report in 2008 discussing his book on military patches.
Find out more about Trevor on his website http://www.paglen.com/
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Listen to all previous episodes of Media Roots Radio here.
MEDIA ROOTS– My ninth set for Media Roots Music is inspired by tracks that display music and vocals working together in beautiful harmony. Every track on this playlist resonates deeply with me, and I hope the songs put loving energy into your lives as well. The mix is dedicated to Orpheus, the Greek God of music and poetry– may we all fully experience life with the creativity and love that he did.
All the featured music on the mix can be found through searching discogs.com or by emailing me: [email protected].
Akkad the Orphic Priest aka ATOP
Artist List:
Gil Scott-Heron & Jamie XX – I’m New Here
The Hundred in the Hands – This Day is Made
Clouds – Protecting Hands pt 2
Holy Other – Yr Love
Blue Daisy & Anneka – Raindrops
Cant – Bang
Guido – Beautiful Complication
Snow Ghosts – And the Moon
Throwing Snow & Py – Nettles & Gangs
Jamie Woon – Wayfaring Stranger (Burial rmx)
SBTRKT – Never Never
Zomby – Black Orchid
EPROM – Dirty Diamonds feat Sleepyhead
Machinedrum – I’m a Brat
oOoOO – Sedsumting
Machinedrum – YVY
oOoOO – EGPTYNLVR
Balam Acab – Motion
Chris & Cosey – October Love Song
Broadcast – Corporeal
LA VAmpires & Zola Jesus – Eulogy
Crystal Castles – Year of Silence
Starkey – Playing with Fire (iTAL tEK rmx)
Com Truise – VHS Sex
Cygnus – Sendai7tr7
Listen to another edition of Media Roots Music – Goldsmithing For Electro Orchestrations, another Atop Set #8, or an edition of Media Roots Radio– Imperialism, Self Censorship & Spying
MEDIA ROOTS- If there is one thing that’s been constant over the course of this planet’s evolution, it’s nature’s resilience. Even if a pesticide is designed to eradicate a weed or insect species native to a particular area, nature will eventually bounce back and become resistant to the poison.
Similar to the heavy use of antibiotics leading to supergerms, a recent epidemic of super weeds have started to take over farmers’ lands that have been spraying crops with Monsanto’s Roundup Ready weedkiller. According to the president of the Arkansas Association of Conservation Districts, the built up resistance to these pesticides is “the single largest threat to production agriculture that we have ever seen.”
For the first time, Monsanto’s BT corn crops in Iowa are now falling prey to the very bug they’re engineered to resist: the rootworm.
This could be very bad news for Monsanto, a company that has monopolized both the pesticide and genetically modified food industry for more than a decade. Since Monsanto’s Roundup Ready GM seeds are engineered to withstand their Roundup Ready pesticide, American farmers have gotten accustomed to using both products hand in hand. However, if Monsanto’s seeds are deemed useless, what incentive will farmers have to spend the extra money for seeds that no longer kill weeds or bugs?
Monsanto is a monolithic and ruthless corporation that will do anything to meet their bottom line of profit maximization. Hopefully this is the beginning of Monsanto’s disintegration into irrelevancy. For more about Monsanto’s callous domination over the global food market read Media Roots Original – Monsanto’s Global Food Domination.
Abby Martin
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WALL STREET JOURNAL– Iowa State University entomologist Aaron Gassmann’s discovery that western corn rootworms in four northeast Iowa fields have evolved to resist the natural pesticide made by Monsanto’s corn plant could encourage some farmers to switch to insect-proof seeds sold by competitors of the St. Louis crop biotechnology giant, and to return to spraying harsher synthetic insecticides on their fields.
“These are isolated cases, and it isn’t clear how widespread the problem will become,” said Dr. Gassmann in an interview. “But it is an early warning that management practices need to change.”
The finding adds fuel to the race among crop biotechnology rivals to locate the next generation of genes that can protect plants from insects. Scientists at Monsanto and Syngenta AG of Basel, Switzerland, are already researching how to use a medical breakthrough called RNA interference to, among other things, make crops deadly for insects to eat. If this works, a bug munching on such a plant could ingest genetic code that turns off one of its essential genes.
Monsanto said its rootworm-resistant corn seed lines are working as it expected “on more than 99% of the acres planted with this technology” and that it is too early to know what the Iowa State University study means for farmers.
Read more about Monsanto Corn Plant Losing Bug Resistance.
© 2011 Wall Street Journal
Photo by Flickr user Hadie
