The debate continues on the merger of XM (XMSR ) and Sirius (SIRI ) Satellite Radio as the case again comes before the Senate Committee on Commerce for round four since its original proposition in February. Opponents argue that the merger will create a monopoly, leaving a sole provider for satellite service to consumers. This, they argue, will lead to increased prices and decreased content. Advocates argue that the merger is necessary in order to compete against other technologies, including terrestrial radio, MP3 players, CD/DVD etc. The inference is that the battle between the two small companies for the limited audience is splitting the market and preventing its advance against the other technologies.
MANOHLA DARGIS of the NY Times writes: "Forget buckets of blood. Nothing says horror like one of those tubs of artificially buttered, nonorganic popcorn at the concession stand. That, at least, is one of the unappetizing lessons to draw from one of the scariest movies of the year, “Food, Inc.,” an informative, often infuriating activist documentary about the big business of feeding or, more to the political point, force-feeding, Americans all the junk that multinational corporate money can buy."
Oil runs the world, fueling industrial processes that make everything from computers to plastic containers. Without it, vehicles, airplanes, trucks that bring food to grocers shelves, and ships that bring steel from China wouldn't run. The modern world would grind to a halt.
Set up a haunted halloween awards pre-show red carpet scene in the front yard or entryway to welcome Spookies "nominees". Unfurl our plastic red carpet and bedeck it with lifelike black crows and tombstones. Go all out with a large cardboard coffin with the lid slightly ajar to reveal a bloody appendage. Use a metallic paint pen to scrawl on the coffin in large block letters, "Guest Who Arrived without a Costume, R.I.P." Snap Polaroid pictures of each guest's grand entrance and tack them to a corkboard.
In developing countries there are serious challenges to providing cheap and environmentally-friendly sources of electricity and clean drinking water. But Dean Kamen, the inventor of the Segway, wants to try to overcome them. Recently he unveiled two of his latest projects at the Lux Executive Summit: an electricity generator that runs on cow waste and a water filtration system. Green Tech reports on the reasoning behind Kamen's efforts:
