Hannah Levintova

New in Natural Gas Hype: A Fracking Coloring Book

| Tue Jun. 21, 2011 1:50 PM PDT

With government agencies, documentaries, and even celebrities taking aim, fracking has been getting a bad rap these days. So it's no wonder that oil and gas companies are working hard to change the tone of the debate surrounding the controversial method of reaping natural gas.

The latest in their PR efforts? A children's coloring book. Published by oil and gas producer Talisman Energy and distributed for free, the 24-page text follows the adventures of a "Friendly Fracosaurus" named Talisman Terry. Throughout the book, he leads his readers through a natural gas extraction saga—explaining the benefits of the substance, and how it's found, drilled, and delivered.

[Read more in the Blue Marble blog]

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ACLU's "Kick-A-Jew Day" Case Edges Forward

—By Hannah Levintova

| Tue Jun. 21, 2011 3:00 AM PDT

In a 2005 South Park episode, Eric Cartman—the show's fat, whiny, spoiled antihero—sets off an anti-redhead movement in his Colorado elementary school. "Gingers," he says, are soulless, inferior beings that should be shunned. The episode's satiric take on bigotry was lost on some: in 2008, it inspired a 14-year-old British Columbia boy to launch a Facebook group declaring November 20, 2008, "Kick-a-Ginger Day," and sparking redhead bullying nationwide. A year later, ten North Maple Middle School students in Collier County, Florida, revised the holiday—they held "Kick-a-Jew Day" in its stead. At least one student was kicked and reported the attack to school authorities.

The incident has since sparked a lawsuit against the Collier County school district by the local chapter of the ACLU, which wants the district to reveal how it disciplined the students involved in the incident. Last week, that effort finally got a go-ahead.... with caveats. Collier County Judge Hugh Hayes denied the school district's motion to dismiss the suit, but also asked both sides to do a little rethinking and rewriting.

[Read more in the Mixed Media blog]

Saving Detroit, One Bagel at a Time

—By Hannah Levintova

| Wed Jun. 15, 2011 1:05 PM PDT

Dan Newman (left) and his brother Ben in their home kitchen.

Detroit residents (and brothers) Ben and Dan Newman are working to improve the city's economic future—and their own. Their recession-busting kryptonite? Bagels.

The Newman pair launched the Detroit Institute of Bagels out of their home kitchen this year after completing an M.A. in Urban Planning and a B.A. in Business. Now, the DIB brothers want to expand. So, last week DIB launched an online "Save the Bagels" campaign to raise some of the $25 thousand in seed money they need to make their bagel store a reality. "I've always wanted to help others start food businesses in Detroit," Ben says. "I thought that the best way to do that is to start my own, to go through the process."

DIB is just the most recent enterprise in a line of Detroit-based projects. Local entrepreneurship has grown so popular that Open City Detroit—a forum for aspiring and current business owners in the city—runs courses like "Designing a Uniquely Detroit Business Image," or "Legal Fun, with a Detroit Twist." Four non-bagel ventures:

The Burton Theater: a movie house opened by four friends.
Leopold's Books: an independent bookstore.
Curl Up and Dye: a retro-themed hair salon.
Off the Beaten Path Bookstore and Café: a 19^th century steampunk themed bookstore, situated just outside the city.

And those are just a drop in the urban bucket.

The Newman brothers hope that DIB will further Detroit's evolving entrepreneurial tradition. Intrigued? Check out their video below to learn more.

Human Breast Milk From Cows?

—By Hannah Levintova

| Wed Jun. 15, 2011 10:30 AM PDT

By now, the virtues of breastfeeding your baby are well known: Breast milk protects against obesity, allergies, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), and bad teeth, among other health problems.

Sometimes, though, for a variety of reasons, women can't breastfeed. But a couple of scientists in Argentina just may have solved that problem—by genetically engineering a cow to produce human milk.

To achieve this strange feat, a team from the Institute for Biotechnology Research, the National Institute of Agribusiness Technology, and the National University of San Martin harvested human genes carrying two proteins that are present in human milk, but virtually non-existent in cow's milk. They then used the cells to create a genetically modified calf embryo, which they implanted in an adult cow. The calf was born in April, and was named Rosita. (The Telegraph reports that the calf was nearly named after Cristina Kirchner, President of Argentina. Kirchner politely declined the honor, however, asking "What woman would like to have a cow named after her?" Wise words).

[Read more in the Blue Marble blog]

California Budget Crisis: Solve It Yourself

—By Hannah Levintova

| Fri Jun. 10, 2011 11:14 AM PDT

In recent months, several media outlets and nonprofits have launched online budgeting tools that put us lay folk up to the task of balancing the government's checkbook.

In November, the New York Times introduced its "You Fix the Budget" tool, a simulator that lets online readers tackle the federal budget. MinnPost, the Los Angeles Times, and Cleveland's Plain Dealer have launched similar initiatives for state budgeting, sending users a-hacking at expenditures and upping taxes via checkboxes and sliding cursors. (If only making fiscal policy was actually this straightforward.)

Yesterday, Next10—a California nonprofit—unveiled the revised version of its own budget simulator. While the organization has hosted the online tool for the past seven years, revising it annually to reflect the state's current legislature proposals, this year's scorched-earth budget battle makes it especially timely. With K-12 and higher education, health care, and a wide range of social programs on the line, concerned voters can pick and choose through a variety of options toward a balanced budget. Check it out. Nifty, no?

[Read more in the MoJo blog]