Welcome to Sott.net
Mon, 08 Nov 2021
The World for People who Think

Society's Child
Map

Binoculars

Dicamba devastation: Farmers in 10 states sue Monsanto

Lorraine Chow
Ecowatch
Thu, 16 Feb 2017 14:11 UTC
Dicamba

Healthy soy leaves (left) compared to soy leaves with evidence of Dicamba exposure (right)
Farmers across 10 states are suing Monsanto, alleging that the agrochemical company sold dicamba-tolerant cotton and soybean crops knowing that illegal spraying of the highly volatile and drift-prone herbicide would be inevitable.

Steven W. Landers, et al v. Monsanto Company was filed on Jan. 26 in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, Southeastern Division. Kansas City law firm Randles & Splittgerber filed on behalf of Steven and Deloris "Dee" Landers and similarly harmed farmers in 10 states—Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Tennessee and Texas.

The farmers seek damages for claims including negligence, strict liability, failure to warn, conspiracy, disgorgement of profits and punitive damages.

Comment: More on Monsanto's Dicamba 'devastation':

      Read More...
R2-D2

Cops of the future: Security robots to patrol China's rail station


Sputnik
Sun, 19 Feb 2017 15:51 UTC
chins robot cops
© AFP
There is a new cop at a railway station in China's central Henan province, and don't expect him to show any mercy to perpetrators as he is a robot, China News Agency reported.

The patrol robot, on duty at Zhengzhou East Railway Station since February 17, can scan passengers' faces and respond to questions.

Painted in black and white, the robotic patrolman moves around on wheels. Using a number of sensors it monitors air quality, temperature, guards the station during the night and can even set off the fire emergency alarm.
      Read More...
Bomb

Car bomb at market kills 20 in Mogadishu, Somalia


RT
Sun, 19 Feb 2017 15:26 UTC
Mogadishu bombing
© Reuters
As many as 20 people have been killed and up to 50 wounded in a reported suicide car bomb blast that ripped through a busy market on Sunday in Mogadishu, Somalia, AP reported a local official as saying.

According to mayor Ahmed Abdulle Afrax, the car exploded near a busy intersection in the Wadajir district where many people were gathered at about 1.30 pm local time.

"Someone had parked the car here and left before it was detonated," local butcher Mohamed Haji told AP.

      Read More...
Quenelle - Golden

Ukraine's war-torn Donetsk commemorates 2nd 'anniversary' of Minsk agreements


RT
Sun, 19 Feb 2017 15:09 UTC
second anniversary of the Minsk II
© Alexander Ermochenko / Sputnik
Thousands of people have rallied in Donetsk to remind the world about the second anniversary of the Minsk II Protocols, urging Kiev to deliver on its long-overdue obligations and put an end to the bloodshed in the east of Ukraine.

The rally took place at the central square of Donetsk on Saturday to commemorate the second anniversary of the Minsk agreements and to protest Ukrainian aggression. Despite the wintery weather, thousands of people, including representatives of the self-proclaimed republic's authorities, took part in the anti-war march and demonstration, according to local media.

      Read More...
Health

Bird flu: 'Largest pandemic in 100 years' threatens China


RT
Sat, 18 Feb 2017 15:01 UTC
china bird flu
© KYODO / Reuters
China could be facing the worst bout of bird flu to hit the country in a century, with Avian Influenza A(H7N9) accounting for the deaths of 79 people in January from the 192 human cases reported so far.

The outbreak has been described as the "worst season since the virus first appeared in the country in 2013," by members of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Guan Yi, an expert in emerging viral diseases at the University of Hong Kong in China, said the surge in human cases is a cause for grave concern. "We are facing the largest pandemic threat in the last 100 years," he told Science.

Between December 20, 2016 and January 16, 2017, a total of 918 laboratory-confirmed cases of human infections as well as 359 deaths from H7N9 worldwide have been reported to the World Health Organization (WHO).
      Read More...
Rainbow

Massive protest in Barcelona urges leaders to welcome refugees


RT
Sun, 19 Feb 2017 02:04 UTC
Barcelona protest
© Ruptly
Up to half a million activists have flooded the streets of Barcelona demanding the government in Madrid lives up to the EU-set refugee quota and welcome thousands more of asylum seekers into the country.

"Enough Excuses! Take Them In Now!" and "No More Deaths, Open The Borders!" slogans have been heard since 4 pm in Barcelona when hundreds of thousands gathered in support of the refugees.


Comment: While the protestors who marched are no doubt well intended, it is a sad fact that letting in more refugees - the vast majority of which are probably good, law-abiding, and desperate for some stability in their host country, will probably be accompanied by some truly bad apples.

      Read More...
Document

Plaintiff in landmark US abortion case Roe v Wade dies


Jamaica Observer
Sat, 18 Feb 2017 13:02 UTC
Norma McCorvey
Norma McCorvey, the plaintiff in the case that led to the Supreme Court's landmark Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion in the United States in 1973, died Saturday. She was 69.

She died of heart failure in a Texas assisted-living facility, said Joshua Prager, a New York journalist who has written about her in Vanity Fair magazine.
      Read More...
Light Saber

Farmer studies law for 16 years to sue chemical company for polluting his land

Julia Travers
EcoWatch
Fri, 17 Feb 2017 08:29 UTC
Wang
© Xie Xinyuan
Wang discusses wastewater pollution.
Chinese farmer Wang Enlin and his neighbors sued Qihua Group, a mineral processing and chemical production company, for polluting their homes and farmland. Wang, who spent 16 years studying law to pursue this goal, and residents of the Yushutun village won an initial judgment against the multi-billion dollar state-run company, the Daily Mail reported.

Wang, who is in his 60s, began to pursue this case after his home and the surrounding farmland were flooded with toxic waste from Qihua in 2001. The 2001 Qiqihar Angang River District Council minutes reveal a mayoral determination that the polluted land could not be used for a "long time," the People's Daily said.

The Qihua plant created a "71-acre wasteland with calcium carbide residue and a 478-acre pond with its liquid waste," according to the Daily Mail. It released 15,000 to 20,000 tons of annual waste.

"I knew I was in the right, but I did not know what law the other party had broken or whether or not there was evidence," Wang said.
      Read More...
TV

Russian Embassy to UK: 'BBC film on Russian football hooligans aims to sow fear' of 2018 World Cup


RT
Fri, 17 Feb 2017 08:08 UTC
Russian football hooligans

"Russian football hooligans" asked by film producers to put on masks and balaclavas for the interview
'Russia's Hooligan Army', a new BBC documentary on violent Russian football fans, is shocking and aims to discredit Russia and its upcoming World Cup, Russia's embassy in London said, adding that the film apparently aims to "sow fear" in British society.

"The film titled Russia's Hooligan Army shot and broadcast by BBC Two with the Russia-hosted 2018 FIFA World Cup in mind is quite shocking. One gets the impression that its goal is to sow fear in British society and warn the fans against travelling to Russia," the embassy said in a statement.

The documentary is based on "edited footage" of clashes involving "violent Russian fans" in Marseille, according to the embassy.

"The filmmakers from the government-funded channel [BBC] did their best to discredit Russia and the forthcoming [2018] World Cup," it said, adding that a similar campaign had been launched prior to the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi.

The embassy also noted that people "prone to violence exist in every society."


Comment: The relentless and almost surreal drive of the Western Empire to demonize and propagandize Russia continues.

      Read More...
People

Poll suggests four NATO states prefer Russia to protect them from security threats


Sputnik
Sat, 18 Feb 2017 19:27 UTC
NATO headquarters
© AP Photo/ Geert Vanden Wijngaert
Residents of four NATO member states would prefer a military alliance with Russia, if their countries were attacked. This is evidenced by results of a global survey conducted among residents of 66 countries by sociologists from WIN/Gallup International.

Russia was chosen by residents Bulgaria, Greece, Slovenia and Turkey as the main guarantor of their security. In case of an attack, all these countries want to see Russian forces fighting on their side, the survey revealed.

The poll comes as US Defense Secretary James Mattis threatened to cut US defense commitments unless all NATO members met the spending target.
      Read More...
Amazon Smile
Revolt! T-shirts