THE HEADLINES

(AP photo)

LONDON OLYMPICS MAY “INSPIRE A GENERATION” OF SPORTS ENTHUSIASTS—BUT WILL THEY INSPIRE THE BUILDING OF THAT BADLY NEEDED SWIMMING POOL IN EAST LONDON?

Given the wild popularity of the Olympics with the British public, will the woefully inadequate sports facilities and sports organizations in the country be “inspired” to make athletes rather than couch potatoes out of Britons? The jury is still out on this one. In a time of austerity and cutbacks to public services, will that swimming pool and a myriad of other sports facilities be a living legend inspired by this flurry of public obsession? Or will this be yet another “wasted opportunity” to improve the quality of community life in the country?

(UK Independent)

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WHO KNEW THAT LOVELY EAR OF SWEET CORN FROM WAL-MART WAS A MONSANTO GMO PRODUCT?

Certainly not most consumers would know this, as corn and the many products made using corn are sold in the U.S. without any labelling to indicate that they are genetically modified. Food safety activists decry what they see as a major cause for concern for public safety, and call for the labelling of the GMO contents of these food products.

(Common Dreams)

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JUST HOW VIOLENT MAY POLICE BE AGAINST PROTESTERS AT RNC AND DNC CONVENTIONS IN TAMPA AND CHARLOTTE?

Ron Jacobs, a resident of Burlington VT (a bastion of “liberalism”), shudders to think how police and demonstrator relations might work out in these southern locations, given the way they did in a recent Northeast Governors Conference (augmented by PMs of eastern Canadian provinces) in Burlington. This conference transparently was focussed on Canadian tar sands transmissions to the U.S., among other corporatist projects, and the demonstrations were accordingly vigorous but also strictly non-violent. This did not stop police violence against them, any more than it did against civil rights demonstrators in Greensboro, North Carolina. “Liberalism” of political leadership seems to have little relationship to the treatment of protesters against corporations and the figureheads whom they install in public office.

(Dissident Voice)

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“WHO NEEDS JUNK FOOD ON WHEELS?”

This question is raised in Houston, the 4th largest city in the U.S., where motorized “convenience stores” are delivering groceries to poor people in areas not served by Safeway or even 7-11 stores. Most of their customers are among the 3.6 million Texans who make purchases using the Lone Star Card, furnished by a food stamp operation to provide food to the needy. It seems that items like Pop Tarts and candy bars are the most popular items sold by these mobile groceries, raising issues for concerned food nutritionists.

(Houston Chronicle)

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WARNING: SMOKE AND FOG MAY BLOCK VISABILITY AHEAD.

Warning signs on this order were planned after a deadly situation last January when smog from a fire on Paynes Prairie near Gainesville FL swept over I-75, creating massive pileups of crashed cars and 9 deaths. Over half a year later, the Florida Department of Transportation has yet to erect any such signs and none are expected for at least another year, as officials are still studying the “best locations” for the signs. Meantime, as they ponder, I-75 motorists could well drive once again into a death trap without warning.

(Gainesville Sun)

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Quote of the day…

The stagnation and outright decline in real wages is not a calamity as far as the Democratic and Republican politicians are concerned, but rather a positive good. They welcome the deteriorating living standards of working people because it has produced record profits for American corporations despite the ongoing economic slump.

Patrick Martin, on the continued deterioration of worker wages even as “jobs growth” is being celebrated.

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