Newswires & Member Blogs
The following online environmental newswires and IRIS member blogs are updated hourly:
- Danger due to: ethics24 May 2013, 7:52 pm
John Dalla Costa, the renowned business ethics writer and consultant teaches with us at the Schulich School of Business. He's also an occasional blogger at his site www.ceo-ethics.com. We love the piece he's just posted on the dangers of thinking that because you're doing ethics, you're going to be more ethical. With his permission, we're reposting it here since its a conversation we agree that needs to happen. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------... - Why Do Workers Support Policies To Weaken Labour Rights?23 May 2013, 8:04 pm
My colleague here at the School of HRM at York, Tony Fang, found a while back that the union wage premium in Canada is about 7.7% (see page 13), meaning that unionized workers earn that much more on average than nonunion workers. Unionized workers also receive significantly better benefits and pension plans. Since polls suggest people [...]... - The rise of Islamic politics – just another mode of global capitalism?21 May 2013, 9:59 pm
Ever since the Iranian revolution up until the aftermath of the Arab Spring most of us were made to believe that the advent of Islamic regimes is the ultimate rise of the common man and woman in societies previously repressed and exploited by ruthless dictators. Against entrenched élites of crony regimes and their entourage, Islamic politics could be perceived as the overdue liberation of the impoverished masses from pseudo-nobility, military dictators or other élites, having had nothing... - Upcoming Work Law Conferences20 May 2013, 2:42 pm
It’s a busy time for labour and employment law academics. I, like many other scholars in work law and industrial relations, am bogged down right now in preparing papers for upcoming academic conferences. This means fewer blog postings in May and June. Here’s my tour schedule over the next month: Canadian Industrial Relations Association 50th [...]... - Saying goodbye to Jamia – and some tips for visiting scholars to delhi10 May 2013, 5:46 am
My visiting professorship at Jamia ended a few weeks ago, and I've been traveling since. A colleague from Jamia, Adnan Farooqi, sent me this nice newsletter prepared by students at Jamia's Political Science Faculty. Between the articles, most of whom … More »... - My New Academic Papers on Labour Law9 May 2013, 1:59 pm
One thing I do on this website is promote Canadian academic scholarship in labour and employment law. You can always find links to many of the best academic papers in the field, from Canadian and foreign academics, on this list of SSRN webpages for labour law scholars I created. On this theme, I have [...]...
- Does Toronto need more wild bees?22 May 2013, 8:06 pm
What most people would call a nest box, York University doctoral candidate Scott MacIvor likes to call a bee condo. The nest box is just one of many MacIvor has placed around the city. He's hitched them onto everything from trees in quiet ravines to stop signs downtown, as part of a four-year experiment on wild-bee diversity in Toronto that is now in its final year, reported Torontoist.... - Negotiation: What an Argos linebacker learned through a panda exercise15 May 2013, 4:53 pm
Two and a half months after Jason Pottinger won his second Grey Cup, the Argonauts linebacker found himself in another contest, fighting for pandas in a mock negotiation at York's Schulich School of Business, reported The Globe and Mail May 15.... - Symposium looks at how formal education can produce contributing citizens10 May 2013, 8:37 pm
What do children and youth need to know to ensure they are responsible, active and contributing citizens? These questions and more will be addressed at the What's Worth Knowing: Educating for Responsible Citizenship Symposium Monday.... - Sculptor Peter von Tiesenhausen explores sustainability and community through art9 May 2013, 9:41 pm
Tiesenhausen is the 2013 Louis Odette Sculptor-in-Residence in the Faculty of Fine Arts at York University. He will give a public talk about his work as part of his residency, which runs May 6 to 31 in conjunction with the Intensive Sculpture Workshop offered by the Department of Visual Art & Art History.... - Schulich MBA team wins global real estate case competition2 May 2013, 8:26 pm
A team of MBA students enrolled in the Real Estate and Infrastructure Program at York's Schulich School of Business has successfully defended the school's title as reigning champion of the Argus Software University Challenge.... - Canada’s universal health-care system makes us live democratically2 May 2013, 7:39 pm
"We all believed that we were getting excellent, compassionate care. We responded to one another in humane and even tender relationships, thrown together arbitrarily by our universal health-care system," wrote York University Professor Emeritus Arthur Haberman in the Toronto Star....
- Data from HMS Challenger Expedition Helps Confirm Long Term Ocean Warming
Global warming has been going on for a long time. What were the temperatures like a hundred years ago? Terrestrial records go back that far and farther, but what about ocean temperatures? In the late 1800's the HMS Challenger conducted extensive measurements of ocean temperatures across the globe. Researchers from the University of Tasmania, Sandy Bay, Australia; and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., combined the ship's measur... - The Bonn Declaration
Long before nations fought over oil, they fought over water and food. A conference in Bonn Germany of 500 leading water scientists from around the world today issued a stark warning that, without major reforms, "in the short span of one or two generations, the majority of the 9 billion people on Earth will be living under the handicap of severe pressure on fresh water, an absolutely essential natural resource for which there is no substitute. This handicap will be self-inflicted and is, we beli... - Memorial Day Travel will Cost Americans over $1 Billion on Gasoline
Memorial Day not only marks the day we pay tribute to those who have served in the United States Armed Forces, but it also marks the first unofficial weekend that kicks off the summer. With that said, tens of millions of Americans are expected to get away this weekend and according to an analysis by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), Americans will spend more than $1.4 billion filling up their tanks! The new analysis utilizes newly released data from the American Automotive Association (AA... - To Walk or to Climb
To walk on two or four limbs, that is the question... Jeremy M. DeSilva an anthropologist at Worcester University in Massachusetts has published Functional Morphology of the Ankle and the Likelihood of Climbing in Early Hominins, in the peer-reviewed journal, Proceeding of the National Academies of Sciences of the USA current issue. The study includes data gathered by DeSilva in Uganda's Kibale National Park of modern chimpanzee and comparisons of hominin fossil skeletal remains dating back som... - Jaffna aquifer depleting from overuse
The single limestone aquifer, which is the main source of freshwater in Sri Lanka's northern Jaffna peninsula, is gradually depleting through overuse, researchers say. "The area suffers from severe groundwater imbalance which might reach crisis proportions in the future," Shanti de Silva, one of two scientists who carried out the research for the agricultural department of the University of Jaffna, told SciDev.Net.... - Free Range Milk?
Free-Range Dairy is a new initiative that could reverse the trend towards industrialised mega-farms. The Ecologist office is set in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty within a United Nations Biosphere Reserve. Hartland peninsular is dotted with steep, wooded valleys where bluebells, early purple orchids and woodpeckers abound.The hills afford breathtaking views across the Bristol channel to Lundy Island, itself a nature ...
- Advocates Cheer Tightening of Extractives Transparency Standards23 May 2013, 9:39 pm
Development groups and corruption watchdogs are applauding landmark new standards adopted Wednesday by an international initiative focused on ensuring greater transparency among oil and mining companies operating particularly in developing countries. Yet some civil society advocates are also warning that the new standards, agreed ahead of a board meeting of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative [...]... - Indian Gov’t on Collision Course With Civil Society23 May 2013, 7:21 pm
For years India’s pro-liberalisation, Congress party-led coalition government chafed at civil society groups getting in the way of grand plans to boost growth through the setting up of mega nuclear power parks, opening up the vast mineral-rich tribal lands to foreign investment and selling off public assets. Now, at the end of its tether, the [...]... - Water Debt and Leaks Plague City Residents23 May 2013, 5:42 am
Nokuzola Bulana has a problem with leaks. The water that drips from the pipes of the toilet outside her home in Khayelitsha, a large semi-informal township on the fringes of Cape Town, South Africa goes to waste and drives up her water bill. Bulana, a water activist, says she fixed the leaks in January but [...]... - Insects, from Delicacy to Tool against Hunger22 May 2013, 10:09 pm
The Food and Agriculture Organisation’s recommendation to consider using edible insects as a food source to combat hunger may have particular repercussions in Colombia and Mexico, two Latin American countries that have a tradition of eating insects and a high degree of biodiversity. Mexico has 300 edible insect species, according to a study published in [...]... - New Effort Targets the Leading Killers of Children22 May 2013, 9:33 pm
PATH, a Seattle-based global health development organisation, is aiming to save two million lives by 2015 by jointly tackling diarrhea and pneumonia, the leading killers of children globally. Steve Davis, president and CEO of PATH, delivered the message at the ninth annual PATH Breakfast for Global Health held in Seattle on Tuesday. “Today we placed [...]... - Fresh Water “More Precious Than Gold” in Bangladesh22 May 2013, 6:32 pm
Fahima Begum rises each morning at dawn and walks two kilometres to a small pond, the nearest source of fresh water. On her way she passes the rusty old hand-pumped tube well that used to supply water to her village in Bangladesh’s arid Barind region until the water table here dropped out of reach. Using a [...]...
- At least four exposed to radiation after Japan laboratory leak: agency25 May 2013, 8:33 am
TOKYO (Reuters) - At least four people, and possibly up to 55, were exposed to radiation when radioactive material leaked during a laboratory experiment in Japan, the facility's operators said on Saturday, although authorities were not told of the leak for two days. ...
- U.S. weather-watcher satellite fails just before hurricane season24 May 2013, 8:22 pm
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - A key satellite positioned to track severe weather in the eastern United States has failed, just as the 2013 Atlantic hurricane season is about to start. ... - U.S. sees seven to 11 Atlantic hurricanes in 201323 May 2013, 7:00 pm
MIAMI (Reuters) - The 2013 Atlantic hurricane season could be "extremely active" and spawn 13 to 20 tropical storms, seven to 11 of which are expected to become hurricanes, the U.S. government's top climate agency predicted on Thursday. ... - German brewers warn fracking could hurt beer industry23 May 2013, 1:55 pm
BERLIN (Reuters) - German brewers have warned Chancellor Angela Merkel's government that any law allowing the controversial drilling technique known as fracking could damage the country's cherished beer industry. ... - China plans tougher quality standards for coal to tackle pollution23 May 2013, 11:27 am
SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China may impose higher quality standards for imported and locally traded coal to cut air pollution, two sources said, in a move that could slash imports while boosting the fortunes of a faltering domestic industry. ... - Oklahoma tornado victims astounded at how they survived23 May 2013, 12:58 am
MOORE, Oklahoma (Reuters) - Tornado survivors thanked God, sturdy closets and luck in explaining how they lived through the colossal twister that devastated an Oklahoma town and killed 24 people, an astonishingly low toll given the extent of destruction. ...
- Would You Buy A Sustainable T-Shirt?25 May 2013, 10:35 pm
Chris Yura is every bit the millennial entrepreneur....... - Why Do Fireflies Glow?25 May 2013, 10:35 pm
From Mother Nature Network's Chanie Kirschner: It seems kind of magical, doesn’t it? As summer draws nearer and the days grow longer, it’s only natural...... - San Antonio Flooding Kills Woman25 May 2013, 9:52 pm
SAN ANTONIO — Torrential rains swamped San Antonio with flash floods on Saturday, leaving at least one person dead as emergency workers in boats rushed...... - Easter Island Statue Erected In Japanese Town As Symbol For Tsunami Recovery25 May 2013, 9:06 pm
A giant statue from Chile's Easter Island on Saturday found a new home in a small tsunami-devastated Japanese town where it will become a symbol...... - PHOTOS: 76 Pets Rescued In Aftermath Of Oklahoma Tornado25 May 2013, 7:23 pm
Thanks to PAWS Chicago, the lives of 76 pets (51 dogs and 25 cats) have have been rescued from tornado-torn Oklahoma. Volunteers with the no-kill...... - UK Emissions Must Be Halved By 2030, Says Davey25 May 2013, 6:18 pm
Europe should commit to a tough new target to halve emissions by 2030, Climate Change Secretary Ed Davey has said. The Lib Dem Cabinet minister......
- Playing Pottermore17 April 2012, 5:41 pm
I’m guessing most people have heard of Harry Potter. You know, boy wizard. Hogwarts. Fighting He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Well, the Muggle community has been hotly anticipating the full public release of Pottermore, an online edition of the incredibly popular book series and … Continue reading →... - A Place for Feeds to Mingle30 November 2011, 4:12 pm
Hello and welcome to FeedMingle, a place where RSS feeds can congregate, hang out, and do the things that RSS feeds like to do together (whatever that may be). As you may have noticed, we’re busy re-tooling things around here, … Continue reading →...
- The new farm bill is an economic disaster26 May 2013, 10:30 am
Guardian: The US Congress, its approval rating still near all-time lows, is reinforcing its own record of stupefyingly short-sighted lawmaking with what may be the most harmful piece of economic legislation in America in years: the $1tn 2013 farm bill. It should be called the 2012 farm bill – or, officially, the Agriculture Reform, Food and Jobs Act of 2012 – because the habitually sluggish group of lawmakers in Washington were too busy in 2012 to pass it. Campaigning for office and ginnin... - Japanese Lab Workers Exposed to Low Levels of Radiation26 May 2013, 2:09 am
New York Times: As many as 55 workers at a national laboratory may have been exposed to low levels of radiation after an experiment overheated, releasing radioactive particles into the air, the agency operating the lab said Saturday. While the size of the accident was small, it received intensive coverage in Japan’s news media, a reflection of the anxiety over nuclear safety since the Fukushima accident two years ago. The president of the Japan Atomic Energy Agency, which ran the lab, resig... - Climate change threatening future life26 May 2013, 1:35 am
The Nation: Climate change seems to have exacerbated the stupidity of US daily life, or maybe we’ve long suffered from the consequences of the capitalist mode of production, plus the negative spin offs from the massive US war machine. Both systems feed off nature, which cannot sustain their demands on it. For example, both systems emit huge amounts of carbon dioxide, the most significant greenhouse gas that gets burned in production and war, and gets pumped into the atmosphere by fossil fuel b... - Millions march against GM crops26 May 2013, 12:27 am
Associated Press: Organisers say that two million people marched in protest against seed giant Monsanto in hundreds of rallies across the US and in more than 50 other countries on Saturday. "March Against Monsanto" protesters say they wanted to call attention to the dangers posed by genetically modified food and the food giants that produce it. Founder and organiser Tami Canal said protests were held in 436 cities across 52 countries. Genetically modified plants are grown from seeds that are... - Severe weather partly a result of climate change25 May 2013, 11:24 pm
NBC: Damaging tornadoes are an annual springtime threat in parts of the country, but Monday’s massive storm in Oklahoma, in a year that seems to have had more than its share of extreme weather, has many wondering whether things have gotten even more extreme than usual. NBC’s John Yang reports.... - Britain calls for EU target to halve emissions by 203025 May 2013, 11:17 pm
Independent: Britain has challenged Europe to sign up to an ambitious target of cutting carbon emissions by 50 per cent by 2030. Ed Davey, the Climate Change Secretary, called on fellow EU governments to sign up to the target as part of a global climate agreement in 2015. The proposal marks a shift in the UK's position after internal coalition wrangling over climate change. The British government wants the EU to agree to 40 per cent reduction of carbon emissions from 1990 levels, with an "am...
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