The suds flow, strike or no strike

LA Times~December 31, 2007~Calendar Section

Lynn Smith’s December 31, 2007 article entitled “The Suds flow, strike or no strike” reports on the status of soap opera writers. According to Smith, some daytime soap writers are contemplating returning to work for fear of losing their jobs-being replaced by scab writers as in the 1980’s- or for” the survival of the soap genre altogether”. Soap Operas create special situations in regards to strikes for instance: Issues of residuals-a major area of argument between studios and the WGA (Writers Guild of America) do not apply to soap writers because their shows hardly ever have reruns. Several soap writers are exploiting an inactive status called” Financial core”, where the Guild continues to represent you in negotiations, you maintain benefits, and you keep your pension while returning to work. The con of this status is that the writers resign membership and can no longer vote nor run for office within the WGA. Many studios are trying to persuade writers to take this path in order for shows to continue. Many soaps Like General Hospital are down to their last storylines created before the strike and for numerous devoted writers the choice to continue working is not a financial one, but rather a moral one in regards to their beloved soap.

Tone: Informative
Do you think that writers should continue working on soaps or are they betraying the Guild?

Yellowknife To Re-Purpose Gold Mine For Heat Extraction

John Laumer excitedly reports on treehugger.com on December 30, 2007 that Yellowknife, Canada is contemplating using closed gold mine for heat. The mine pumps are already shutdown and water at 50 degrees F has filled them. In theory by extracting the water out of the mines through a heating network, 20 megawatts of heat can be produced. So basically these ex-Con Mines could create enough heat for half of the city! “Early in 2008, Yellowknife will formally study what could eventually become Canada’s first large-scale geothermal heat plant.” Laumer’s post informs environmentally conscious people around the world of the “treehuggin” way of producing heat.


Tone: Informative/Excited
Do you think this will really work?

Cremation a hazard to living

LaTimes-The Nation December 26, 2007

Dee Dee Correll’s article in the December 26, 2007 issue of the LA Times discusses the controversy over cremation in regards to the environment. When a person is cremated every part of the body is burned until ashes are produced; the problematic thing with this is that when teeth fillings are burned mercury emission vaporize. According to Correll “Amalgam- an alloy of mercury with other metal such as silver, copper, or tin-is commonly used to fill cavities.” And after being released into the atmosphere it ends up in water sources. This can causes “elevated levels of mercury in fish” which will cause sickness in humans. Minnesota state senator john Marty reported that crematories make up 3-5% of mercury emission per year in the state. “We have to go after every source” Marty says. In contrast Mark Mathews, a director for the Cremation Assn. of North America, says that “There’s a battle over something that isn’t there. The data doesn’t add up and the science isn’t there.” He says that no data has shown higher mercury levels near crematories and the EPA doesn’t regulate them. This cremation problem has almost become a war between environmentalists and cremators, and with 46% of the U.S population planning to choose cremation over burial- this argument will not go away anytime soon.

Tone: informative
Do you think cremation is potentially dangerous to the enviornment?