Winner Medical Group Inc. , a leading manufacturer of medical dressings, medical disposables and non-woven fabric made from 100% natural PurCotton products in China , today reported that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Shenzhen PurCotton Technology Ltd., participated in the 13th China International Mother-Infant-Child Products Fair held in the China ...

Saudi Energy 2011 to complement Kingdom's efforts to utilize renewable energy resources to meet electricity demand.[Wired by: Go-Green.ae]

Karen Butler maintains that after being heavily sedated she awoke speaking with a thick British accent. Can it be true?

He showed a clip from a local news station that equated the portrayal of homosexuality on 'Glee' to product placement. "You throw a soda in a movie and within a few seconds everybody in the theater is thirsty for that particular brand," the woman in the clip said.

London is unprepared for a terrorist attack on the 2012 Olympics because of a chronic shortage of air ambulance crews and other fast response teams, Lady Justice Hallett warned in her report into the July 7, 2005 terrorist attacks.

Joystick Division looks at gamers' reactions to the PSN hack and outage.

Here’s a headline you don’t see too often: “Rubber Chicken Turned NASA Mission Mascot Embarks on a Flight to Space.” Seriously, this is a true story.

New data from comScore for this past March has pointed to Apple nearly passing RIM in smartphone market share for the US. Shipping 18.65 million iPhones helped Apple gain half a point since December to hit 25.5 percent share in its home country.

Trash talking and sports go together like apples and pie. They are synonymous like chicken and dumplings. They mix beautifully like peanut butter and jelly!

The Long Island Serial Killer may one day take his place alongside the Gacys and the Bundys. Or he may be all but forgotten like these poor lunatics.

Looks like Skype is in play, again. Unlike last time, both the suitors have good business reasons. Between Google and Facebook, the social networking giant makes perfect sense. We actually suggested this deal six months ago. Question is: why does Skype want to sell?

Amanda Knox case: experts have requested more time to run further DNA tests in the trial against Amanda Knox in Italy.

Anwar al-Awlaki was reportedly the intended target in a US military attack that left at least two suspected al Qaeda militants dead in Yemen.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker warned on Friday that trillion-dollar deficits posed a threat to the stability of the U.S. economy and the dollar, and said he is frustrated by the gridlock in Washington.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Sony said on Saturday it had removed off the Internet the personal details of 2,500 people that had been stolen by hackers and posted on a website.

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Al Qaeda has acknowledged that Osama bin Laden is dead, dispelling the doubts of some Muslims over whether the militant group's leader had really been killed by U.S. forces, and vowed to mount more attacks on the West.

Yep, we messed up. That's the word out of the Cambridge-based consulting firm Monitor Group. Between 2006 and 2008, the company maintained a highly questionable business relationship with the regime of Muammar Qaddafi, the Libyan dictator. Monitor helped Muammar Qaddafi's son Saif write his PhD dissertation at the London School of Economics. It also hired some of the US and UK's foremost international relations experts to write glowing editorials and essays about the Qaddafi regime's efforts to clean up its act and enact democratic reforms. And the firm never revealed that it was all was part of a coordinated—and well-funded—effort to end Libya's status as a pariah state.

Not long after Mother Jones reported on Monitor's Libya project, questions arose about whether the firm had taken the proper steps to register as a lobbyist for Libya with the Justice Department. Offering advice on economic or governing reform without registering isn't illegal. But the Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA) stipulates that groups like Monitor must register if they're planning on conducting "acts in a public relations capacity for a foreign principal"—which, as we reported, is primarily what Monitor's Libya project was all about. As we wrote back in March, Monitor decided to conduct an internal investigation into whether it had violated FARA, initially led by Eamonn Kelly, a senior partner at the firm. Later, the company brought in outside lawyers from the firm of Covington & Burling to finish the job.

The lawyers' conclusion: yes, Monitor most certainly did break FARA law. Today, the company announced that it is retroactively registering some of its past work in Libya, as well as its more recent work with Jordan. And on Tuesday, Monitor CEO Mark Fuller, who played a key role in the Libya project, resigned. Monitor also issued a press release on the findings of its internal investigation:

These decisions reflect a thorough fact-finding and legal investigation initiated by Monitor after issues concerning its work in Libya were raised earlier this year. The investigation, conducted by the law firm of Covington & Burling, included a review of Monitor engagements with foreign governments. That review concluded that some elements of Monitor’s work in Libya from 2006 through 2008 should have been registered under FARA. It also became apparent that a more recent item of work on behalf of the Kingdom of Jordan should have been registered. Monitor will now take all appropriate measures to remediate these errors.

The Boston Globe reports that Monitor is also likely to release details on how much it paid its academics, including British academic Sir Anthony Giddens. How did Monitor mess this up so bad? From the Globe:

[Eamonn] Kelly said the failure to register was due to a misunderstanding about legal requirements. But others said it reflects a deeper problem: The company was not transparent about the fact that it was engaged in a calculated effort to burnish Khadafy’s reputation, even to professors recruited in the effort.

"If I had known that a primary purpose of the visit to Libya was to influence public opinion in the United States, I would not have gone," Robert Putnam, a professor at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, said in a telephone interview yesterday. Other professors said they did not feel misled.

Whether the DOJ actually brings charges against Fuller, et. al, remains to be seen. But given the intellectual firepower and general worldliness of the people involved in its project, Monitor's excuse—"We didn't know, sorry"—is less than satisfying. Hopefully, the DOJ feels the same way. 

Via CNet Green Tech - The Methanol Institute supports the introduction of the Open Fuel Standard Act of 2011 (H.R. 1687) in the U.S. House of Representatives. Originally posted at The Car Tech blog...

Via Inhabitat - The Karoo Desert in South Africa contains more biodiversity than any other arid region in the world. The award-winning Karoo Wilderness Center by Field Architecture is designe...

Via The Guardian - On a still spring evening we came to the lakeside to fulfil a winter promise. For a while, we sat in a hide and watched hundreds of gulls swooping low over the water. It was a...

Via Huffington Post - Here's a review and look forward, focused on the expanding redefinition of American urban spaces, such as sidewalks and streets, and a symbiotic recalibration of the flanking ...

Via Huffington Post - If you run a business, like a restaurant or grocery store, you know the importance of writing off your expenses every year. Every steak you buy, for instance, can be written o...

Via Huffington Post - Ed. note: This is the final edition of the Mulch. To keep up with the best environmental coverage the progressive media has to offer, follow The Media Consortium on Twitter or...

Let’s be honest. None of us particularly enjoy looking through endless graphs to get information. Graphs are mundane. But what if they were made more fun, more interesting to look at? What if we had really cool looking paper infographics? Would sufficient eye-candy make us think differently about information put across with fuzzy lines on paper? Well, if Pattern Matters’ 3D Paper Infographics are anything to go by, we might just be on to something.

As you can see from the gallery below, there are some truly stunning infographics on display, showing meaningful information, too, that interest you enough to make you wonder what is really being put across. What’s even better is that the environment bears no major cost to these gorgeous 3D diagrams because they’re made simply out of recycled, folder paper balls and boxes that are brightly colored and glued together. Pattern Matters also do calendars, and other typographic products in a similar three-dimensional vein, which we think would make for awesome wall-hangings, both at home and at the office.

Via: Colossal

We all love Jack Sparrow. In fact, it’s impossible to hate Jack Sparrow. The latest tribute to the world’s favorite pirate sees a massive 2.7 meter tall model of him made by Kreatworks, from Bangkok, who is clearly a very committed fan. What makes it more impressive is that the model is made completely out of recycled scrap metal and old auto parts that would otherwise have gone to waste.

Given the materials being used, you would be thinking, how good could it possibly look, right? Well, the pictures in the gallery below will tell you that the model looks absolutely phenomenal! It is coated with lacquer to prevent rusting, giving it a brilliant metallic sheen. The attention to detail is quite astounding. The whole model weighs in at around 450kg, and the official dimensions in centimeters are 270×100x120.

So, how much money would you have to part with to put metallic Jack into your backyard? A cool USD 7,700. We suppose its worth it, because the model has clearly taken a lot of effort to make.

Via: Etsy

I would love to think that I have unconsciously saved many animals. But one that I am sure I helped out was a pigeon. Years ago a friend of mine and I found a pigeon that had hurt its wing, we named it Dummy. We kept it as a pet for many months until it healed. At that point it up and left us, which is great. Except a that time I was upset. :)

Lady Blasphemy I have no idea what any of this means… …but the comments of youtube are full of grave portent. Any ideas out there? Metro: Lady Gaga kicks off the video for Judas by taking a ride with Jesus and his apostles on their motorbikes. The gang then reach a small village at night [...]

Parkour is Awesome to Behold. The Office is Funny to Watch. Combine the two? Gif, please:

California's utility regulator has proposed rules on how home energy devices should protect smart meter data privacy — and whether the device is “locked” into one company's platform or technology or not will be a big deal.

Pike Research Blog has an interesting post that poses the question of whether or not tech-savvy people also have a thing for cleantech. Pike Research conducted a survey looking into the question, and found interesting info about what draws consumers in to clean technologies. The conclusion: "Early adopters of technology represent a goldmine of opportunity for consumer-focused cleantech companies." Read their post for why. ... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Men in northern India lift the cover to a water source that now pipes clean water to their village. Photo: Rachel Cernansky I'm going to go out on a limb and assume most people will agree that Earth Day is a real let-down—for lots of reasons, including the hollow "Celebrate Earth Day every day" email blasts, Tweets, bumper stickers, etc. But as much as I hate the expression, we do have to recognize and reduce our impact on the earth more often than one day a year, and that's important to emphasize now that Earth Day is over and the talk has faded. What's the point of doing anything, besides going to the dentis... Read the full story on TreeHugger

This week on Inhabitat, we were really excited to take a private tour inside a building that was New York 's first LEED Gold skyscraper ever - Hearst Tower! Even though it may seem like the city is rife with green projects today, back in 2006, NY didn't even have one LEED Gold skyscraper - that is, until Hearst Tower changed all of that. Today, the eye-catching blue lattice tower is one of... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Photo credit: Señor Codo via Fotopedia/ CC BY-SA 3.0 Who needs that dumb ol' EPA anyways? All it ever did was enforce the Clean Air Act, drastically reduce air and water pollution, save tens of thousands of lives annually, prevent an untold number of cases of respiratory illnesses, and generally make the United States a more pleasant, healthier, and cleaner place to live. So naturally, some senators have decided that we don't need it anymore, and are pushing ... Read the full story on TreeHugger

At the Vienna Motor Symposium, VW CEO said the company will add a range of plug-in hybrid vehicles to its line up. Originally posted at The Car Tech blog

Carl Pope, the chairman of the Sierra Club, has a column over at Common Dreams taking aim at the myriad climate skeptic politicians who fail to see the link between extreme weather events like the Texas wildfires and more severe storms and global warming.Pope points out that these climate-related disasters are already hugely costly, and will only get more expensive -- yet leaders continue to deny global warming exists, then ask for federal assistance when the extreme weather events it makes more likely to occur rock their states. It's a good example of

The worst packaging: individually wrapped prunes!

Posted by Michael Lockhart on 6th May, 2011 | Comments | Trackbacks | Permalink
Tags: General Sustainability, Design for sustainability

Here is the winning video from "Save A life”:   “Moms Matter. Make it Obvious,” a project that asked people to tap into the power of social media and viral marketing to challenge people to creatively show the world that maternal health and childbirth is hardly safer today than it was 100 years ago.

CML HealthCare Inc. , will release its 2011 first quarter financial results via www.marketwire.com prior to markets opening on May 19, 2011.

For many of us a morning without coffee or tea is a like the proverbial day without sunshine. For me much of it is about the ritual. Okay, who am I kidding?

Pole dancing is on the rise as a form of fitness, but calling it a sport may still be a stretch. Or is it?

Kamel Makhloufi created this simple yet stunning visualization of Iraq war casualties using just pixels to represent deaths.

Apartment renters are the angriest and most jaded people on the planet. On one hand, I see where they're coming from: Every day, dozens of people call a renter and visit his/her apartment. The renter has to answer the same questions over and over again, they need to tour people around, and they need to feign excitement.

Think you've mastered Apple's iTunes app? Not so fast. Here are some expert tips guaranteed to help you get even more out of the media database powering your iPhone or iPad.

Your overall happiness may depend in part on whether you drew the long or short version of a gene, say researchers.

Apple reportedly made an extremely interesting move recently. when it hired audio engineer and THX sound system inventor Tomlinson Holman to head up audio at Apple.

At the state level, the GOP's attacks on reproductive rights may widen the already huge gulf between red and blue states in health, family stability, and education.

Smartphones’ share of the global cell phone market is poised to explode over the next four years, according to market research firm Pyramid Research.

No games have been played -- or even any offseason practices held -- but the Green Bay Packers remain a favorite to win Super Bowl XLVI.

What Medicare would pay for and where a radiation oncologist practiced were two factors that strongly influenced the choice of intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) for treating breast cancer, according to an article published April 29 online in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. The use of IMRT and the cost of radiation therapy increased [...]