Students at two schools in San Antonio, Texas are being refused access to libraries and cafeterias if they will not allow themselves to be tracked with an RFID chip.
Andrea Hernandez, a sophomore at John Jay High School, said the school administration has refused to acknowledge her concerns about privacy and has banned her from participating in school elections if she does not carry a card with an RFID chip that would allow school administrators to track her at all times. Continue reading
The summer of unusually wet weather has created a large impact on British crops that is going to lead to heavy increases in food prices.
The National Farmers Union announced that wheat yields in the country are down almost 15% lower than the country’s five-year average. The British Retail Consortium said that food prices, already high due to the drought in the U.S. and a heatwave in Russia, which lowered corn and wheat production. Continue reading
The International Monetary Fund cut its projections for global economic growth by .3% and said that there are considerable possibilities of further deterioration in the world economic outlook.
One of the IMF’s biggest downgrades focused on the United Kingdom which had been forecasted to show very small growth through the rest of 2012. The revised forecast is calling for a .4% shrinkage. The Fund still believes that at least 1% growth for the UK is possible in 2013 but that forecast was also cut by .3%. Continue reading
The UK could run out of energy generating capacity by 2015 according to a report from energy regulator Ofgem. The report blames the potential shortage on coal-fired power stations connected to European Union environmental regulations.
Britain’s Energy Secretary said that the government would be responding to the report before the end of 2012. Continue reading
In an explosion heard three miles away, Indonesia’s Mount Lokon erupted on Sunday shooting a plume of deadly ash miles into the sky. Muddy rains have been falling in the surrounding areas since the eruption.
Scientists have been unable to detect the official height of the eruption because clouds are obscuring the mountain peak. Continue reading
The Red Cross is making an appeal across Spain to help families who have been devastated by the economic crisis. The Red Cross mainly helped immigrants until this year but because one in four adults are unable to find jobs many Spanish families are now relying on food handouts.
The Spanish Red Cross is also claiming the dire economic situation is causing rising levels of inequality that will lead to social unrest. Continue reading
The European Union has launched a new permanent fund whose sole purpose is bailing out endangered economies.
The European Stability Mechanism (ESM) will have the ability to lend a nation up to 500 billion euros ($650 billion U.S.) starting in 2014. The ESM will phase out the European Financial Stability Facility. The group will be headed by the Prime Minister of Luxembourg. Continue reading
The Pacific Ring Of Fire had bookending earthquakes in the early morning. The first struck around 1 a.m. Central Time U.S. in the middle of the Gulf of California rocking awake residents of both Baja California and mainland Mexico.
The quake, centered approximately 63 miles southwest of Los Mochis, registered 6.0 on the Richter scale. Local officials reported that residents were panicking over the quake but that no major damage was reported. Continue reading
An outbreak of a rare form of meningitis has expanded to nine states and now has infected at least 105.
Eight people have died from tainted injections of methylprednisone obtained from the New England Compounding Center. As many as 13,000 patients could have been exposed to the contaminated drugs since May 21, much earlier than previously suspected by the Centers for Disease Control. Continue reading
World food prices rose an average of 1.4% during September according to the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organization. The senior economist at the FAO stated that food prices are likely to remain high.
The fear of food shortages due to drought hitting grain crops in the US, Europe and Asia continued after the FAO stated they predict a 2.6% decrease in cereal production. The decrease is smaller than expected due to higher amounts of wheat and rice offsetting the loss of corn crops. Continue reading