20 Essential Tips Every Ubuntu User Should Know
Police Officer Uses Taser On 10-Year-Old Girl
Air potato taking the wind out of local ecology
http://www2.highlandstoday.com/content/2009/nov/18/la-air-potato-taking-the-wind-out-of-local-ecology
SEBRING - The air potato, an invasive exotic plant, is attacking Highlands County's native plants and animals, and a few local super heroes are needed to fight it off.
Highlands County resident Clara Wyatt said that her mother has it growing on her backyard fence.
"Unless someone puts a stop to it, it will take over every piece of vegetation in its path. It is like a blanket. The plants underneath it can only survive so long without sunlight."
Burgess wants to start a neighborhood group with residents in the county to fight invasive species, with emphasis on the air potato.
The group will map out areas in the neighborhood with air potato plants and report them.
Burgess will get permission for volunteers to pull up the vines and pick up the air potatoes.
"All it will really cost you is some of your time and labor," she added.
The air potato has no natural enemies, and nothing can eat it.
This poses a threat to animals because it is killing off the plants they eat, Burgess said.
"It is a food-chain thing," Burgess said. "If there is nothing at the bottom of the food chain, everything will eventually be affected."
According to the University of Florida Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants' Web site, the plants are very toxic and should not be consumed.
They can grow up to roughly 8 inches a day.
Many Florida counties are recruiting volunteers to help protect and conserve Florida's natural areas through the removal of air potato.
During the air potato roundup, citizens, organizations and local businesses get together to collect vines and bulbils.
About time Pentagon reviews policies after massacre
http://www2.highlandstoday.com/content/list/news
( Reassure the people. They don't really want to know that when you take youngsters and put them in gangs, they constitute natural predators which rape and steal and destroy. The military just have organized 'reporting' to remove the juicy parts of accounts of 'engagements' and provide 'justifications' for the exercise.
There remains the small problem of the participants' remorse : which provokes bringing the behaviour home,family violence, and suicides. Training with electronic games and giving troops remote killing opportunities helps preserve conditioning and mental acceptance of pretense.The stimulation of 'running amok' is addictive to many : even when it is controlled by a structure of ruthless suppression of individual initiative.
All the while 'defense' is the public cry to cover aggression upon the defenseless. 'Leaders' use any and all means of 'motivation' to steer events in their chosen paths : which are opportunism and profit for them and theirs.
'Catching people with murderous intentions': Low humour. )
SWAT regroups its tobacco prevention effort
http://www2.highlandstoday.com/content/list/news
Police as Military doing Community Relations / Drug Suppression
Amphibians As Environmental Omen Disputed
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091111092051.htm
AMPHIBIAWEB
http://amphibiaweb.org/declines/lit/index.html
This reference list is compiled by Professor Tim Halliday (formerly DAPTF International Director) (tim.halliday@homecall.co.uk). It lists papers on amphibian declines and their causes and papers on amphibian conservation, with an emphasis on those that describe methods for monitoring and conserving amphibian populations. Tim is always delighted to receive details of forthcoming papers from their authors.
Major Advance in Organic Solar Cells
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091019123011.htm
synthesis of organic polymers
reduced reaction time by 99%, from 48 hours to 30 minutes, and increased average molecular weight of the polymers by a factor of more than 3.
The reduced reaction time effectively cuts production time for the organic polymers by nearly 50%, since reaction time and purification time are approximately equal in the production process, in both laboratory and commercial environments.
The higher molecular weight of the polymers, reflecting the creation of longer chains of the polymers, has a major benefit in increasing current density in plastic solar cells by as much as a factor of more than four. Over polymer batches with varying average molecular weights, produced using varying combinations of the elements of the new methodology, the increase in current density was found to be approximately proportional to the increase in average molecular weight.
The methodology, detailed in a recent Nature Chemistry paper, "will greatly accelerate research in this area," stated Bazan, "by making possible the rapid production of different batches of polymers for evaluation."
Nuclear power: less effective than energy efficiency and renewable energy?
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/greenspace/2009/11/nuclear-power-less-effective-in-american-than-energy-efficiency-and-renewable-energy-says-report.html
The Environment California Research & Policy Center concluded that launching a nuclear power industry nearly from the ground up is too slow and expensive a process. Energy efficiency standards and renewable energy options are better solutions.
Peter Bradford, a former U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission member, made this comparison in a statement: “Counting on new nuclear reactors as a climate change solution is no more sensible than counting on an un-built dam to create a lake to fight a nearby forest fire.”
What Afghanistan Can Teach Us About Reproductive Freedom
http://www.chelseagreen.com/content/what-afghanistan-can-teach-us-about-reproductive-freedom
If the mullahs decide to approve spacing their children and keeping both mothers and babies healthy, the transformation could be dramatic. Islam has one advantage: the mullahs are obeyed. “If the clerics will support this, no one will oppose it, “ one trainer said.
If spacing children takes hold, not only would the maternal mortality rate plunge, but the average family income would rise. It may seem strange to have to ask for the approval of the mullahs to enable women to survive childbirth. But as I think about it, we in the United States of America, who do not suffer like women in poor countries, still have to ask for the approval of the 83% male Congress for the right to have insurance plans cover abortions.
( But the United States does not acknowledge the influence of religion on public policy : nor lobbying. There is an interesting commentary on Islam which shows them natural antagonists of the current regime :
Title:
Corruption from the Islamic perspective: Some recommendations for the MENA region
http://assets.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/viewContentItem.do?contentType=Article&hdAction=lnkhtml&contentId=1718349&history=false
Abstract:
Purpose – In the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region several factors contribute to corruption with a consequence of savings being squandered away and funds withheld from productive investments. This paper aims to argue that Muslim countries have a competitive advantage over the industrialized world in that the Islamic faith is important to the populace, which the west lacks and is trying to replace it with substitutes like for instance moral education in schools.Design/methodology/approach – The paper examines corruption in the light of the
Findings – Moral renovation in Muslim societies appears to be easier to realize than in western societies once its underlying cause, notably poverty, is tackled. Self-restraint is an absolute prerequisite for a successful fight against corruption. Organizational instruments against corruption can only succeed to eliminate corruption only through political leaders committed to weeding out corruption.
Originality/value – The paper informs educationalists, policy makers, entrepreneurs in the MENA region that Islamic ethics must be the guiding force behind all good economic attitudes.
Do you see similar 'Christian' or 'Jewish' reports ? I'm not saying they are not there : but if so, they are poorly reported...and implementation frustrated. )
The Daily Star
Letters
Corruption in BTTB
Refer to the DS editorial on institutional corruption in BTTB. You have expressed surprise on the scale of corruption in public offices and cited example of using 122 labourers to fix a toilet pan and lack of accountability. This is not the only one of such amazing examples. All public utility departments like gas, water, electricity, municipality etc. are dens of open-air corruption and there is no accountability anywhere in those offices. There is a saying that the table, chairs and files of Titas Gas office take bribes. Nothing comes out without greasing of the hands of officials of those offices.
I believe we are genetically a corrupt nation. Our education and motivation by both schools and homes of our children are not flawless. If we want to reduce corruption, we will have to start right from primary schools and respective homes.
Instead of helping our children with copying in exams, we should start telling them to learn good things and the parents should talk honesty before our children. If we can do that, in 20/25 years, when today's kid of 2 years becomes an adult with good education, some change in behaviour will be possible. Also, the parents should desist from glorifying the ill-gotten riches in front of their children.
Let us all try to change our mindset and help our children who are our tomorrow's leaders and bureaucrats with good ideological teachings.
I believe we are genetically a corrupt nation. Our education and motivation by both schools and homes of our children are not flawless. If we want to reduce corruption, we will have to start right from primary schools and respective homes.
Instead of helping our children with copying in exams, we should start telling them to learn good things and the parents should talk honesty before our children. If we can do that, in 20/25 years, when today's kid of 2 years becomes an adult with good education, some change in behaviour will be possible. Also, the parents should desist from glorifying the ill-gotten riches in front of their children.
Let us all try to change our mindset and help our children who are our tomorrow's leaders and bureaucrats with good ideological teachings.
http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=61091
Collapse: Portrait of a Loner
| By: GRITtv Thursday November 12, 2009 10:30 am |
In the new film Collapse, filmmaker Chris Smith follows Ruppert and looks into his theories. Is he a genius, or just paranoid? The film allows you to make your own judgments, while showing the risks and rewards of having–and publishing–unpopular opinions. Smith joined Laura in the studio to discuss his film and whether or not he believes Ruppert.
http://lauraflanders.firedoglake.com/2009/11/12/collapse-portrait-of-a-loner
Hat Tip dpacheco chelsea GREEN
( I sympathize. Corporate Farming Uranium - Mining and Depleted
Poisoning Progress Dysfunction Junction CURRENT's Water Newsgroup Green Acres Food & Junk Food Environment & Sickening Practices Why Societies Collapse from Empire - Resource Control )
The Race Goes Not Always To The Fastest
http://chelseagreen.com/blogs/genelogsdon/2009/10/22/the-race-goes-not-always-to-the-fastest
I am not a real farmer, my neighbors say, because I don’t do it for money. That’s almost funny because the economists are saying that nobody’s farming for money this year. Although the corn crop is good in most of the midwest, there’s not much profit in it. Some go as far as projecting that on average, corn farmers will lose $8 per acre over the whole midwest. If that is the case, I’m not a real farmer for sure because I figure on netting $550 an acre on my corn......Those ears of corn in the photo are from my crop this year. They measure up to 14 inches long, as you can see by the foot long ruler beside them. The longest one has 20 rows of kernels. It will shrink a little as it dries, but as far as I can learn from researching, this is as big as any ear of yellow dent corn has ever gotten and is almost twice the size of any of today’s hybrids. (There are strains of maize in Mexico that produce ears two feet long but are very skinny.) I’ve had in previous years one or two 16-inch ears but they were frowzy on the tips, with only 16 rows of kernels. The fatter, slightly shorter ears in the photo above contain 22 and 24 rows of kernels, and I know from experience that the kernels will weigh as much per cob as those from the 14-inch ears. There will be about a pound of kernels on each of these ears. If I had an acre where all the stalks produced one such ear and I planted 18,000 stalks per acre, which is about right for open-pollinated corn, (hybrid growers are planting as many as 30,000 stalks per acre) the yield would be 300 bushels per acre, right up there with the world records for corn. If I could live 200 years maybe I could produce a crop of all fourteen inchers. After all it took the Mesoamerican Indians thousands of years to get ears of maize up to five inches long.
Pop Star Joss Stone Under Attack for Marijuana Comment
http://www.chelseagreen.com/content/pop-star-joss-stone-under-attack-for-marijuana-comment
( Remember where the Brits dropped their science advisor for saying that - just as the campaign to make 'enforcement' harsher got underway ? )
How to Abort the Recovery
http://chelseagreen.com/blogs/robertkuttner/2009/11/02/how-to-abort-the-recovery
Robert Kuttner
Tweet this story! Support our efforts for a sustainable world.
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As unemployment continues to rise, deficit hawks are upping their efforts to use the economic crisis as a pretext for gutting basic social programs such as Social Security and Medicare. The idea keeps surfacing for a bipartisan deficit-reduction commission, supposedly insulated from politics, which would agree to mandatory caps on spending and perhaps increased taxes as well. Social programs would take the biggest hit. Congress would then take an up or down vote on the whole package.
The latest ploy to promote such a commission is to use the upcoming vote on increasing the national debt, scheduled for late November. Democratic deficit hawks such as Sen. Kent Conrad of North Dakota are working with Republicans such as Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, to condition an increase in the debt on creation of a panel. They have some allies in the White House such as Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag, who has intermittently signaled support for such a plan. The Senate Budget Committee will be holding hearings on this idea in mid-September, according to The New York Times.
The whole approach is bad economics and bad politics on several grounds. First, there is no evidence for the premise that financial markets are anxious about the rising debt. As Dean Baker observes, they keep buying the Treasury's long-term bonds at a low 3.5 percent interest rate. If there were worry that the increased debt would spike inflation, investors would be demanding higher interest rates.
Secondly, it is not "entitlements" that have caused the big increase in the deficit and the debt. The cause is plummeting tax collections as a consequence of the recession. Social Security will be surplus for another generation, and both the House and Senate versions of the health reform bill do not add to the deficit, but help cut costs.
Third, obsessing about debts and deficits when the economy is still losing jobs has it exactly backwards. We probably need bigger deficits for a year or two, to propel a strong recovery. Higher growth will then bring the debt back down to tolerable scale. In World War II, deficits averaged about 25 percent a year (compared to under 10% this year.) But all of that war spending rebuilt the economy and powered three decades of economic boom and the big wartime debt was soon paid off.
Finally, the idea that such a commission could be "above politics" is a deception. The politics–very conservative politics–would be baked into the cake.
Congress Should Not Reject the Goldstone Report
http://chelseagreen.com/blogs/michaelratner/2009/11/03/congress-should-not-reject-the-goldstone-report
On Tuesday, November 3, Congress is poised to vote on H.Res.867, which calls on the “President and the Secretary of State to oppose unequivocally any endorsement or further consideration of the `Report of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict' in multilateral fora.’ ”
The Resolution instructs the Obama Administration to prevent further consideration of the Goldstone Report (as it is informally known) in any international body. For Congress to do so, without a hearing where Judge Goldstone can testify and based upon a Resolution rife with factual errors, makes a mockery of assertions by the United States that fundamental protections of human rights laws law apply equally to all. It leaves the United States, and especially Congress, without a thread of moral authority.
( Damn. It will pass in a heartbeat. )
The Race Goes Not Always To The Fastest
http://chelseagreen.com/blogs/genelogsdon/2009/10/22/the-race-goes-not-always-to-the-fastest
I am not a real farmer, my neighbors say, because I don’t do it for money. That’s almost funny because the economists are saying that nobody’s farming for money this year. Although the corn crop is good in most of the midwest, there’s not much profit in it. Some go as far as projecting that on average, corn farmers will lose $8 per acre over the whole midwest. If that is the case, I’m not a real farmer for sure because I figure on netting $550 an acre on my corn......Those ears of corn in the photo are from my crop this year. They measure up to 14 inches long, as you can see by the foot long ruler beside them. The longest one has 20 rows of kernels. It will shrink a little as it dries, but as far as I can learn from researching, this is as big as any ear of yellow dent corn has ever gotten and is almost twice the size of any of today’s hybrids. (There are strains of maize in Mexico that produce ears two feet long but are very skinny.) I’ve had in previous years one or two 16-inch ears but they were frowzy on the tips, with only 16 rows of kernels. The fatter, slightly shorter ears in the photo above contain 22 and 24 rows of kernels, and I know from experience that the kernels will weigh as much per cob as those from the 14-inch ears. There will be about a pound of kernels on each of these ears. If I had an acre where all the stalks produced one such ear and I planted 18,000 stalks per acre, which is about right for open-pollinated corn, (hybrid growers are planting as many as 30,000 stalks per acre) the yield would be 300 bushels per acre, right up there with the world records for corn. If I could live 200 years maybe I could produce a crop of all fourteen inchers. After all it took the Mesoamerican Indians thousands of years to get ears of maize up to five inches long.
Pop Star Joss Stone Under Attack for Marijuana Comment
http://www.chelseagreen.com/content/pop-star-joss-stone-under-attack-for-marijuana-comment
( Remember where the Brits dropped their science advisor for saying that - just as the campaign to make 'enforcement' harsher got underway ? )
How to Abort the Recovery
http://chelseagreen.com/blogs/robertkuttner/2009/11/02/how-to-abort-the-recovery
Robert Kuttner
Tweet this story! Support our efforts for a sustainable world.
Share ShareThis
As unemployment continues to rise, deficit hawks are upping their efforts to use the economic crisis as a pretext for gutting basic social programs such as Social Security and Medicare. The idea keeps surfacing for a bipartisan deficit-reduction commission, supposedly insulated from politics, which would agree to mandatory caps on spending and perhaps increased taxes as well. Social programs would take the biggest hit. Congress would then take an up or down vote on the whole package.
The latest ploy to promote such a commission is to use the upcoming vote on increasing the national debt, scheduled for late November. Democratic deficit hawks such as Sen. Kent Conrad of North Dakota are working with Republicans such as Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, to condition an increase in the debt on creation of a panel. They have some allies in the White House such as Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag, who has intermittently signaled support for such a plan. The Senate Budget Committee will be holding hearings on this idea in mid-September, according to The New York Times.
The whole approach is bad economics and bad politics on several grounds. First, there is no evidence for the premise that financial markets are anxious about the rising debt. As Dean Baker observes, they keep buying the Treasury's long-term bonds at a low 3.5 percent interest rate. If there were worry that the increased debt would spike inflation, investors would be demanding higher interest rates.
Secondly, it is not "entitlements" that have caused the big increase in the deficit and the debt. The cause is plummeting tax collections as a consequence of the recession. Social Security will be surplus for another generation, and both the House and Senate versions of the health reform bill do not add to the deficit, but help cut costs.
Third, obsessing about debts and deficits when the economy is still losing jobs has it exactly backwards. We probably need bigger deficits for a year or two, to propel a strong recovery. Higher growth will then bring the debt back down to tolerable scale. In World War II, deficits averaged about 25 percent a year (compared to under 10% this year.) But all of that war spending rebuilt the economy and powered three decades of economic boom and the big wartime debt was soon paid off.
Finally, the idea that such a commission could be "above politics" is a deception. The politics–very conservative politics–would be baked into the cake.
Congress Should Not Reject the Goldstone Report
http://chelseagreen.com/blogs/michaelratner/2009/11/03/congress-should-not-reject-the-goldstone-report
On Tuesday, November 3, Congress is poised to vote on H.Res.867, which calls on the “President and the Secretary of State to oppose unequivocally any endorsement or further consideration of the `Report of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict' in multilateral fora.’ ”
The Resolution instructs the Obama Administration to prevent further consideration of the Goldstone Report (as it is informally known) in any international body. For Congress to do so, without a hearing where Judge Goldstone can testify and based upon a Resolution rife with factual errors, makes a mockery of assertions by the United States that fundamental protections of human rights laws law apply equally to all. It leaves the United States, and especially Congress, without a thread of moral authority.
( Damn. It will pass in a heartbeat. )
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