Food Security Assessment, 2010-2020
Outlook Report No. (GFA-21) 64 pp, July 2010
Food security in 70 developing countries is estimated to have improved between 2009 and 2010, in part due to economic recovery in many of these countries.
http://www.ers.usda.gov/Publications/GFA21/

A confidential, seven-page Google Inc. "vision statement" shows the information-age giant in a deep round of soul-searching over a basic question: How far should it go in profiting from its crown jewels—the vast trove of data it possesses about people's activities? Should it tap more of what it knows about Gmail users? Should it build a vast "trading platform" for buying and selling Web data? Should it let people pay to not see any ads at all? Google is pushing into uncharted privacy territory for the company. Until recently, it refrained from aggressively cashing in on its own data about Internet users, fearing a backlash. But the rapid emergence of scrappy rivals who track people's online activities and sell that data, along with Facebook Inc.'s growth, is forcing a shift. http://online.wsj.com/article/NA_WSJ_PUB:SB10001424052748703309704575413553851854026.html

Speeders, beware: That innocent-looking Chevrolet Camaro, Ford Fusion or SUV you're about to blow past just might be the law. In their effort to reduce speeding — a factor in nearly one-third of all highway deaths — state and local police agencies around the USA increasingly are using unmarked patrol cars, sports cars and even "ghost" cruisers with obscured markings.
"This is not about being sneaky," says Fargo, N.D., Police Chief Keith Ternes, whose department recently began using unmarked vehicles. "This is about trying to change people's habits and having them pay attention to their driving even when they don't think a police officer is watching." http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-08-09-police-cars-unmarked_N.htm

Back to "stone age" Paved roads, historical emblems of American achievement, are being torn up across rural America and replaced with gravel or other rough surfaces as counties struggle with tight budgets and dwindling state and federal revenue. State money for local roads was cut in many places amid budget shortfalls. In Michigan, at least 38 of the 83 counties have converted some asphalt roads to gravel in recent years. Last year, South Dakota turned at least 100 miles of asphalt road surfaces to gravel. Counties in Alabama and Pennsylvania have begun downgrading asphalt roads to cheaper chip-and-seal road, also known as "poor man's pavement." Some counties in Ohio are simply letting roads erode to gravel. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704913304575370950363737746.html

New private homes could replace Europe's largest collection of fruits and berries, if a Russian court rules the land could be sold to property developers. The Pavlovsk experimental station near the Russian city of St. Petersburg is the biggest European field seed bank and one of the largest in the world. Thousands of varieties of plants and crops there are found nowhere else. The court hearing is scheduled for 11 August. The court will then announce the decision regarding the earlier ruling of handing the station to the Russian Housing Development Foundation-- a state body that decides whether public land can be used to build private homes.
The Pavlovsk experimental station is one of several such stations in Russia. It is affiliated to the Vavilov Research Institute of Plant Industry. Agricultural scientist Nikolai Vavilov built the seed bank--thought to be one of the oldest in the world--in 1926, to preserve biodiversity and enable the breeding of new crop varieties. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-10899318

MAN’s America’s Favorite Art Museum tourney
Big upsets: The Metropolitan Museum of Art and MoMA are both out. In a way, it shouldn’t be a surprise that the Met lost to the Toledo Museum of Art: Many art museum observers are (justifiably) skeptical of self-reported attendance figures, but still: Toledo annually ranks at or near the top of attendance per capita. According to the Association of Art Museum Directors 2009 survey, Toledo reported 363,000 visitors. There are 659,000 people in metropolitan Toledo. Compare that to the Met: 4.67 million visitors and a metro population of 19 million. Toledo’s numbers = local luv. See Round two results at: http://blogs.artinfo.com/modernartnotes/2010/08/round-two-results-americas-favorite-art-museum-tourney/

Perseid meteor shower makes its appearance.
The "shooting stars" promise to deliver an excellent show this year to anyone with clear and dark skies away from urban and suburban lights. The best time to watch for meteors will be from the late-night hours of Wednesday, Aug, 11 on through the predawn hours of Aug. 13 – two full nights and early mornings. Patient skywatchers with good conditions could see up to 60 shooting stars an hour or more.
http://www.space.com/spacewatch/perseid-meteor-shower-2010-100806.html