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Love Is The Ultimate Painkiller
Need rare earth metals? Switched-reluctance motors don't
Morgan logs 480 pre-orders for modern Threewheeler
Solar Impulse Airplane Makes Public Debut at Paris Air Show
PSA: Angry Birds slingshots onto Windows Phone 7
Nuclear Matters 2011
Air Conditioning Afghanistan Troops Costs $20 Billion Per Year; Cost of One Soldier is $1 Million a Year; Hotel California
Uneven Aging of America; Cultural Shift Coming; Competition for Resources Between Young and Old Will Be Intense
Insiders Warn “Shale Plays are Just Giant Ponzi Schemes” in Bombshell-Laden NY Times Piece on Natural Gas, Fracking
Poll: Public Understanding of Climate Science Rebounds, Majority See Environment vs. Economy as a ‘False Choice’
The arc of history has bent once more toward justice
Lifehacker • 8 hours ago
(title unknown) ★ 6 
sat’day riddymz
WOW!! It’s hard to fathom that it’s been 2 years ago today already that MJ died. I for one have come to appreciate his music more and more.
Voodoo and Vaccines in Benin, Africa
One.org: Save 4 million children’s lives in 5 years
Father’s Day Medley
1. Far Better Men Than I: My Vision for My Sons 2. My Contribution to Society 3. We Were Once Kings 4. Sunday Chat with Dad 5. Call to Fatherhood 6. Rebirth of a Cool Dad 7. The Trials of Single Fatherhood
Amygdala ★ 1
A Good Copyediting Job, And A Big Favor To Me
A GOOD COPYEDITING JOB, AND A BIG FAVOR TO MEA very important to me friend of mine -- not me -- with solid copyediting experience is looking for immediate freelance or permanent or temporary copyediting or proofreading work of any sort, either by mail/shipping, or locally in the Bay Area. CV upon request.She's also available at present for any sort of office work in the Bay Area, or other work su
ALL THINGS PAKISTAN ★ 9
Khiyal Rakhna: ATP Turns Five Today! It is Time to Move On. Thank You For Your Companionship.
Adil Najam Today – June 11, 2011 – All Things Pakistan turns five years old! Today, sitting in Lahore, Pakistan, I write in the realization that it is now time to move on. This is not a ‘Good Bye’ post – it is, in fact, a ‘Thank You’ post. Nor do I want this to be a ‘looking back’ post – I would much rather that it be a ‘looking forward’ post. For me personally, it is time to move back to Pakista
What’s Going Right in Pakistan
Adil Najam There is much – way too much – that is going terribly wrong in Pakistan. But not all is lost. Not just yet. One must never deny that which is going wrong. Indeed, to accept and acknowledge it is itself the first step towards finding ways to reverse the wrong. But nor should one forget that which may be going right. So, what do you think are things that are going right in Pakistan? (Plea
Have We Gone Mad?
Adil Najam This graphic video of the brutal murder of 19 year of Sarfraz Shah being confronted and shot dead by Rangers – supposedly because he was a robber refusing to surrender – is only the latest in a string of state and societal resort to violence that makes one wonder if we have gone totally mad: Lynchings in Sialkot, disappearances and killings in Balochistan, shaming of protesters in Rawal
Anita Lerche: Heer from Denmark
Tamashbeen Not the best rendition of Waris Shah’s Heer that I have ever heard. But one of the most captivating nonetheless! WPvideo 1.10 The singer is one, Anita Lerche, from Denmark, who has found a niche market in singing Punjabi songs – mostly for Punjabi Indian audiences – in her Danish accent. I suspect Punjabi Pakistani audiences will also find her entertaining for the same novelty value.
Chaukundi Tombs
Owais Mughal This post is about the historic Chaukundi tombs located just outside Karachi. Before writing further I must admit that the last time I personally visited Chaukundi was in 1985 but I still vividly remember being fascinated by the stone carvings on these tombs. Following information comes from the tourist books and the Internet search. I’ve tried to include only the information which I
Pakistan’s Population Bomb
Faris Islam Amongst the tide of dismal economic data released ahead of the budget presentation are building the currents of the next crisis that could inundate Pakistan. While media attention remains fixated – rightly so – on shorter-term problems such as the ever-growing threat of militancy, the cresting polarization of society, a recurring power crisis and an inflation rate that only seems to r
Craig Murray ★ 28
Just One Little Palestinian Story
Here is just one little story of the everyday humiliation, the destruction of Palestinian livelihood and culture, carried out by the ruthless, racist Israeli military machine. I could post such stories every day, including many much worse, and could describe more of the political context which beggars belief – the Israeli Knesset, for example, has just passed through its committee stage a bill p
Writing
I am sorry that writing a book (at least the way I do it) requires periods when all else is blotted out and you only come out of that immersion as though for a gasp of air. I am still mostly researching Alexander Burnes, though I have just started jotting down the odd phrase and papragraph that will probably feature in the final version. I can’t get the phraseology on this right: The clash of Bu
Frustration
I am currently reading “Outline of the Operation of the British Troops in Scinde and Afghanistan Betwixt November 1838 and November 1841 with Remarks on the Policy of the War” by George Buist, published by the [Bombay] Times Office, Bombay, 1843. Only 200 copies were printed, but on Google Books you can get a full copy of one in the library of the University of California, without leaving your de
Greek Authorities Act to Block Gaza Peace Flotilla
The US ship in the Gaza peace convoy has been blocked from sailing by the Greek authorities on the grounds that they have received a “Private complaint” that the vessel is unseaworthy. This is ludicrous. What if I were to choose a large commercial vessel in a Greek port from Lloyd’s Register, and make a “privare complaint” that it is unseaworthy. Would it be blocked from sailing? Of course not
Confused of Accra
Jerry Rawlings’ office has today put out a press release accusing me of publishing a series of “scurrilous” articles about his wife, aimed at damaging her electoral chances. This is being carried widely in the Ghanaian media. This is strange to me because I have written no articles in the Ghanian media for years, and have not written anything about the Rawlings for over four years. Possibly some
Rancid Sandwich and Establishment Glastonbury
A few years ago, I was thrilled to be asked to give a talk at the Glastonbury Festival, in the “Left Field” as they called it. But when I dialled the number given to organise the details, the man who answered was very curt and rude indeed, treating me as though I was trying to cadge a free ticket, despite the fact they had contacted me and asked me to speak. In fact he was so very rude, I declin
American Leftist ★ 11
The Struggle on the Streets of Greece
Today, the Greek socialist parlimentary majority, PASOK, approved a rigorous plan of austerity and privatization in order to facilitate a bailout from the IMF and the ECB. It is pretty much acknowledged that, if implemented, the plan will consign a generation of Greeks to poverty. Police were unrestrained in their use of tear gas in an attempt to clear away protesters from nearby Syntagma Square:
The Struggle on the Streets of Greece
Clashes between protesters and the police in Athens in advance of a parliamentary vote tomorrow on intensified austerity measures required for additional IMF and European Central Bank funds are ongoing: 23.30 GMT+2 Up to this time, there are constant harsh clashes. Continually, medics run to help numerous injured protesters, transferring them from outside Hotel Grande Bretagne.23.17 GMT+2 Dissent
Taking Care of My Mother
So, I probably won't be posting anything until early next week. But I do anticipate getting back in the regular routine soon. I have, however, had enough time to notice that the Greek situation is getting more and more turbulent, with the US, through the IMF, trying to muscle through a full bailout of European lenders. Can the Greeks on the street stop it? Can they pull down the edifice of the
Blockade of Greek Parliament Planned for Tomorrow
My mother is ill, and I am visiting her to assist with some medical issues. Meanwhile, there is a blockade of the Greek parliament planned for tomorrow to prevent it from approving yet another, more severe austerity plan imposed by the IMF, the EU, and the European Central Bank. For an anti-authoritarian perspective as events unfold, go here. While protesters are about to engage in a massive di
The Perpetual Warfare State
The leadership of the United States is bent upon proving that the truth of the old anarchist maxims about the relationship of the state to violence, as concisely articulated by Randolph Borne: War is essentially the health of the state. One cannot access any news source in the US without being confronted with stories about US military actions in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen and Libya, with articl
Zionist Food Coop of Sacramento
The saga continues. For those of you who read the linked article, you will discover that it describes activities reminscent of what transpired in regard to the attempted takeover of KPFA in the late 1990s. In both instances, the governing boards acted to concentrate power in themselves so as to render them unaccountable to anyone else. At KPFA, the Pacifica Board wanted to prepare the ground fo
altmuslim ★ 13
Saudi Arabia: Driving Ms. Manal
Is Manal Al Sharif the Rosa Parks of the Saudi Arabia? Ms Parks, a courageous black woman during the civil right movement in the US, refused to vacate her seat on a full bus when asked by the bus driver for a boarding white-man passenger. She contributed to the end of the segregation laws in the US. Ms Manal was arrested on May 21, 2011, and jailed for nine days for a YouTube posting of her drivin
Sharia in the USA: Not what you think it is
You might have seen a government-required sign at a McDonald's restroom telling employees to wash their hands. Muslims do this as a part of living their faith, which is called sharia in Arabic. The Prophet Muhammad also encouraged Muslims to wash their hands before and after eating. Muslim parents raise their children on many such manners. The first chapter in almost all books on sharia is about m
Clothing and society: Encounters with the niqab
She came to interview for an internship. We had spoken earlier on the phone, a benign exchange of niceties and logistics that had belied anything unusual. Now she sat before me, blue eyes peering at me through her beige niqab. Her name was Christy, she was from Ohio and she had converted to Islam two months ago at a local mosque. I began to conduct the interview, going down my list of queries abou
Osama bin Laden: Pepsi, pot, porn… and politics
News sources have recently reported on an interesting assortment of materials at Osama bin Laden’s Abbottabad compound. Not only was bin Laden living far from any cave on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, his house apparently had a large supply of Pepsi and Coke (inexplicably, Pakola wasn’t good enough), a significant stash of pornography, and marijuana plants on the property. On the one hand, thes
Muslim identity: How Islamic is “Islamic”?
A Malaysian political leader has asked political parties in his country to stop using the word “Islam” in their names so that, “nobody can make use of the religion for their political gains.” This progressive thought is ironically closer to the classical understanding of Islam’s sacred texts. For in the early century of Islam, use of the word “Islamic” (Islamiyyah in Arabic) was limited in its sco
Nuclear Pakistan: Curse of the bomb
It is said that Pakistan was born on Aug 14, 1947. But like other hazy snapshots in the tampered-with album of our wishful history, this fact, nurtured through rote and repetition, has faltered under the weight of reality. If the fervor of homage and sacrifice is a reason to reconfigure Pakistan’s creation story, then the country was actually born on May 28, 1998. On that day, Pakistan announced
Pickled Politics ★ 29
A short note about Brendan O’Neill and his past
I don’t suspect many people will be taking lessons from Brendan O’Neill – editor at Spiked Online – on journalism ethics: he’s wading in over the Johann Hari controversy. Oh, of course Paul Staines is citing him, but even Staines’ old chum Iain Dale wouldn’t defend the former’s intentions on radio earlier tonight. I want to clarify one point though. I said earlier that Brendan O’Neill was at Livin
No freedom of speech for Palestinians
Sorry, was someone from the Libdems claiming that their coalition government cherished freedom of speech? Bollocks. The home secretary, Theresa May, has ordered “a full investigation” after a leading Palestinian activist in Israel entered Britain despite a travel ban. Sheikh Raed Salah, leader of the Islamic Movement in Israel, was detained at 11pm on Tuesday and taken to Paddington Green police s
Forced sex change operations in India
Discrimination against girls in India is well known and documented. Campaigners have long highlighted the skewed sex ratio, the abortion of female foetuses and the murder of baby girls. Now let another method to reduce the number of girls has been revealed: forced sex change operations: The row emerged after newspapers disclosed children from throughout India were being operated on by doctors in I
Everyone… let’s join the Twitter mob!
If you spend long enough on Twitter, sooner or later you see, get involved in or are in the centre of a “Twitter storm”. If you’re not that well known, it might not even be a storm… but if you’re as well known as Johann Hari – it goes international. I was involved in a minor one a few years ago, when I off-handedly tweeted that I welcomed that right-wing demagogue Rush Limbaugh ended up in hospita
Andrew Gilligan’s rubbish about the East London Mosque
Man, its a full-time job just fact-checking Andrew Gilligan and his smears. He says today that East London Mosque has already broken its commitment to banning homophobic speakers from ELM. This time, however, it has only taken just over a week for the mosque’s bad faith to emerge. The day after tomorrow, 29 June, it welcomes to its premises an organisation called Sex and Relationship Education Isl
The caste system in Britain
Nick Cohen reports on a disturbing new piece of research from the National Institute of Economic and Social Research into the caste system in Britain: Faced with the prospect of confronting the prejudices of core supporters, the Labour government preferred holding on to seats to living by liberal principles and backed away from extending anti-discrimination law to cover caste. With Labour gone, ca
Syria Comment ★ 24
Stalemate Prevails as Gov and Opposition Look for New Strategies; Pressure on the SYP
SYP black market rate is at 53.0-53.5 this morning. But there are few dollars to be had at any price. The restrictions on buying foreign currency are many and onerous. Interest rates are now almost 10% on deposits. Every bank has to give the central bank a daily, detailed accounting of who they sold foreign exchange. The real value of the syp were there no exchange controls is impossible to tell.
Syrian Opposition Conference: Semiramis Hotel: 200 members – First Impressions
video Syrian opposition conference held in Semiramis hotel in Damascus with 200 opposition members. This marks the first time the opposition has meet openly in Syria. Opposition members have come out from hiding and into the open to voice their desire for democracy and reform. “Every step that helps bring together an opposition is a positive step,” said Burhan Ghalioun. “We need a unified opposition t
Syria’s Opposition Faces an Uncertain Future
President Assad’s Speech: Most of the Western press disparaged the President’s third speech for being defiant and more of the same. The opposition joke about how the speech was sponsored by Dettol, the anti-bacterial disinfectant, because of the President’s use of the term “germs” to describe its enemies. Addendum: numerous readers have written to correct me: The President did not call his opponen
What is new on the Economy (24 June 2011): Oil Sanctions
Ehsani tries to answer these two questions: Is bringing down the economy and bankrupting the country a realistic danger? And as for the Lira. Is there a way to manipulate the currency from outside the country? Is it technically possible to put pressure on the Lira from governments outside? First, it is important to note that everything we read and write about Syria’s economy is speculative a
“The Alawi Dilemma – Revisited,” By Khudr
The Alawi Dilemma – Revisited By Khudr For Syria Comment June 20, 2011 Basil-Hafiz-Bashar Dr. Joshua, You are completely right when you say that most Alawis these days either support the regime (better to say that they support Assad family rule) or are living in complete denial of the situation. I have discovered that a number of my fellow Alawis who used to be staunch critics of Asad family r
Jisr al-Shaghour – the Government Story as told by a Foreign Member of the Organized Press Visit
I asked a friend who joined the organized Foreign Press Corps visit to Jisr al-Shaghour to tell me what his take was on the visit. This is his account: We got a tour of the place with lots of press. The story is that the Syrian Military Intelligence (SMI) garrison was attacked and seized over the course of about 36 hours between 4 and 5 June. 500 “armed criminals” attacked. The detachment, abou
Pesticide Action Network ★ 17
The genie is sneaking out of the bottle
Summer’s here, and it’s been 6 months since cancer-causing methyl iodide was approved for use in California agriculture. It’s only been in the past few weeks, however, that we’ve actually seen this incredibly dangerous chemical used in the fields of California. Late last month, a farm in Sanger became the first in California to use the fumigant pesticide. Neighboring communities responded wit
Birth defects linked to pesticides, again
It's been more than a few years now, but I remember the roller coaster ride of pregnancy like it was yesterday. Nine months of bouncing from giddy excitement to mind-bending worry, pure joy to frantic nesting. Powerful emotions are amplified by equally powerful hormones, working overtime. As scientists report yet again this week, those churning hormones also make exposure to pesticides dur
Pesticides to be stripped from Clean Water Act - Call your Senator!
Last week we alerted readers to behind-the-scenes lobbying in Congress that would strip pesticide protections from our nation's stongest environmental laws. On Tuesday, June 21st, the Senate Agriculture Committee quietly approved legislation to exempt pesticide applications from permitting requirements under the Clean Water Act — with no notice, and no press. The bill, Reducing Regulatory
Tell Obama: Good food = fair food
This morning, while my boys are eating breakfast, I’m going to take a moment to mentally thank our local dairy farmers for the milk on our table and our chicken farmers for our eggs. Then I’m going to pick up the phone and call the President. It won’t take long, and it’s really important. Family farmers and ranchers' livelihoods are on the line. read more
U.S. Pesticide law is broken - and industry knows it
Right now, behind closed doors in DC, pesticide industry lobbyists are maneuvering to strip critical pesticide protections from federal law. This week it's the Clean Water Act, next week it may very well be the Endangered Species Act. And they think nobody’s watching.read more
Pesticide residues: From fork to farm
Apples and celery this week. Cilantro a couple back. Stories about pesticide residues on food are making the rounds again. After my umpteenth media call, a blog seemed in order. As I told the LA Times, here's my basic response: "It’s the farmers, farmworkers and residents of rural communities who are really most at risk" from pesticides, not consumers. While these folks are expos
Texas Liberal ★ 42
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infowarsnews at Yahoo! Groups ★ 33
EPA On Radiation Alert As Fires Reach 50 Feet From Los Alamos Nuke P
EPA On Radiation Alert As Fires Reach 50 Feet From Los Alamos Nuke Plant Environmental Protection Agency cannot be trusted to provide accurate information
Final Showdown For TSA Groping Bill
Final Showdown For TSA Groping Bill Will House pass Dan Patrick's SB 29 or settle for a completely worthless resolution? Paul Joseph Watson Prison Planet.com
Cancer Surges In Body Scanner Operators; TSA Launches Cover-Up
Cancer Surges In Body Scanner Operators; TSA Launches Cover-Up FOIA documents reveal how "large number of workers have been falling victim to cancer, strokes
Final Senate Version of TSA Bill Authorizes Invasive Groping
Final Senate Version of TSA Bill Authorizes Invasive Groping TSA agents could meet "reasonable suspicion" mandate if travelers set off metal detector or refuse
Texans to Launch 'Citizen Filibuster' Over TSA Groping
Texans to Launch 'Citizen Filibuster' Over TSA Groping Campaign seeks to pressure public servants into following will of the people Paul Joseph Watson Prison
Protesters to March on Capitol Over Sabotage of TSA Groping Bill
Protesters to March on Capitol Over Sabotage of TSA Groping Bill Legislation set to be heard in both House and Senate today, but amendments inserted by Straus
Phronesisaical ★ 31
A Continuing Parade of Dangerous Dishonesty
PAWLENTY DENIES GLOBAL WARMING: ‘THE SCIENCE IS BAD’ | Appearing on Fox & Friends this morning, Republican presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty claimed that “the science is bad” on manmade climate change, then saying “the reality is the science indicates most of it, if not all of it, is caused by natural causes.” He “denounced” his former support for efforts to combat this threat to human civil
Microfoundations
Here's a post that considers, in a more technical way, the issue of focus I wrote about yesterday....a fairly wide range of social science research today embraces the general idea of providing microfoundations for macro-level assertions. And this seems to be a very reasonable requirement, given what we know about how social entities, processes, and forces are composed. I have some experience with
Focusing on History for Policy
[I’m fairly distracted by the Las Conchas fire threatening Los Alamos. Yesterday, the residents of the town were required to leave. The fire chief says that today is the make-or-break day. Since Sunday, more than 60,000 acres have burned. It’s been windy, but with the promise of scattered thunderstorms and a bit more humidity than we’ve had. If you want to get the latest news of the fire, #nmfire
Curses Upon Stupidity and Venality
Someone last week had to have a fire somewhere near the Borrego Trail. Or flicked a lit cigarette butt. Now we have the Pacheco Fire eating up the Pecos Wilderness, 7000 acres or so and only starting to be contained. Today, someone had to have a fire at Las Conchas, one of the prettiest places that New Mexico State Road 4 winds through in the Jemez Mountains. Or it used to be. If I took a picture
Mamoncillos
Top photo: chiujason flickrBottom photo: f_msantos flickr
Another Way To Look At Community Organizing
From Ezra Klein: When presidents succeed in presiding over great change, they do so by recognizing an existing opportunity, not squeezing one from the stone of existing opposition. The way I've been saying it is that Obama is trying to get the rest of us energized and moving toward whatever it is we want. We are the people, after all, and he can't and shouldn't be doing it alone.Add in something I
WWF - Latest News ★ 24
Good news for orangutan and pygmy elephants in the Heart of Borneo
Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia. Orang-utan and Pygmy Elephant survival in the Heart of Borneo has received a major boost with the certification of nearly 300,000 hectares of important habitat in the forest reserves of Ulu Segama-Malua and Tangkulap-Pinangah, in the Malaysian state of Sabah, Borneo. The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified sites are considered to have the highest density in the wor
More than 1000 new species found in New Guinea
Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea - A remarkable 1,060 new species have been discovered the island of New Guinea from 1998 to 2008, but poorly planned and unsustainable development - particularly from logging and forest conversion to agriculture - is putting many of these unique creatures at risk, a new WWF study finds. Final Frontier: Newly Discovered species of New Guinea (1998 – 2008) shows that
World’s biggest cement producer fights climate change by cutting emissions and developing energy efficient buildings
Gland, Switzerland – WWF and Lafarge, the world’s largest cement maker, today agreed to continue working together to further reduce the company’s greenhouse gas emissions and to help build hundreds of energy-efficient buildings – targets that will help fight the effects of climate change. As part of its ongoing partnership with WWF, Lafarge committed to further reduce its net greenhouse gas emiss
Arrests made in Uganda mountain gorilla death
Three men have been arrested for killing a critically endangered mountain gorilla in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, according to Ugandan officials. The male gorilla was discovered dead by Uganda Wildlife Authority trackers on June 17. Officials say the gorilla was speared through the neck and shoulder by the suspects who encountered it in the park while illegally poaching antelopes. Autho
Sweet news for environment as sustainable sugar comes to market
Sao Paulo, Brazil: A mill in Sao Paulo, Brazil has become the first to have its sugar cane production certified under the new Bonsucro sustainability standard. “This will change the sugar cane industry forever,” said Kevin Ogorzalek, WWF-US programme officer and Chairman of the Bonsucro Board. “Sugar is everywhere, on our tables, in our drinks, and in the food we eat. Increasingly sugar cane is
Forest law cutbacks plain bad business for agriculture in Brazil
Brasilia, Brazil: Proposed cuts to forest protection will cost Brazil’s agriculture and pastoral industries dearly, says WWF. “The proposed changes to the Forest Law, now before the Brazilian senate, will cost Brazil access to markets, cost farmers payments for protecting the environment and damage their resource base”, said WWF Brazil’s Director for Conservation, Carlos Alberto de Mattos Scaramu
Centauri Dreams ★ 21
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Obsolete ★ 25
A dog called Bruno.
Apologies as ever for the unutterably piss-poor blogging the past few days, if not years. All I can offer today is this curio discovered by Adam Curtis, of a dog named Bruno. Apart from looking like Hitchcock in silhouette, he has a problem, as you'll discover. Unlike Curtis I can't imagine it's anything other than a fake, if only for the reason that if it's genuine the woman is remarkably unpe
Another unfunny short post.
David Cameron has insisted human rights issues are not "off limits" with China after holding talks with the Chinese premier, Wen Jiabao."On the contrary", Cameron said, "we had a long and fruitful discussion on the very subject. In line with Wen's insistence on treating each other as equals, he gave me a very helpful insight into how his government deals with unruly trade unionists, advice which
Unfunny short post.
Osama bin Laden was apparently considering changing the name of al-Qaida. He was pondering altering it to the frankly dull Monotheism and Jihad Group, or failing that, the Restoration of the Caliphate Group. Personally, I think he ought to have had a look at the average British high street and take inspiration from there: how about Jihads R Us, or even better, Caliphate-U-Like? If not, he could
Paul Dacre must die!
It's always nice being surprised. Just when you think those behind this nation's tabloids couldn't be any more hypocritical, pathetic or cowardly, along comes the legal threat from the Daily Mail to Kevin Arscott, blogger at Angry Mob. Two years ago he wrote a furious post on an atypical piece of Mail immigration dog-whistling which took what was a heart-warming story on the number of babies tre
All aboard the Lulz boat.
The media, just in case you haven't noticed, is a strange beast. The people behind it get terribly excited about sexy, new things like "hacking", even if they have even only a very rudimentary knowledge of the subject; then they suddenly remember that the people behind it are mostly bedroom or basement dwelling virgins with greasy hair and bad teeth, qualities they share with a fair few bloggers
Obsidian Wings ★ 15
Kids These Days: Summer Reading
by Doctor Science When I was a young 'un (you whippersnappers), summer was for Goofing Off. The only kids who did homework over the summer were ones who had flunked in the spring and were trying to catch up. The natural consequence of this care-free time was that we came back to school and had to spend most of September getting up to speed. Nowadays, students get homework assignments for the sum
The arc of history
has bent once more toward justice. (by Doctor Science) from twitpic As Andrew Sullivan says, "This is the moment that marriage for gay couples became irreversible in America." New York is too big, too rich, and too important for marriages made there not to be accepted elsewhere in the country. And the NY State Senate has a *Republican* majority, and the bill was promoted by a *Republican* NYC
Of mice and men Friday open thread
I am more convinced of the existence of synchronicity, because as the Weiner gate storm was unfolding, there were news stories like this, that I put below the fold. They are about the excitement of archeologists discovering sacks of human excrement discovered under the ancient Roman city of Herculeum. While the title sounds like their find was pre-bagged, reading the article makes it seem like &#
You Are Now Leaving the First World
by Doctor Science The United States is no longer a First World country, not all the way through. A meme-engendering 1895 cartoon in "Punch", by George Du Maurier. We're not a First World country because we no longer have one of their most important characteristics: a high and steadily-increasing life expectancy. A study released this week shows that in significant areas of the US life expectan
How to tell harassment from the P Game
by Doctor Science Now that Anthony Weiner has made a noise like a hoop and rolled away, I've been able to get someone to tell me, coherently, what he *did*. During the melee last week it was impossible for me to get information about the most important issue, because it was so hard to find anyone who would talk about it. I felt as though the entire news media was playing a game which I'm told is
Your Friday rainy season thread
Japan, my students tell me dutifully, is a country with 4 seasons, but I have never figured out which one they take out to make room for the rainy season. Fortunately, I was prepared for the whole concept by these torrential downpours we used to have in Southern Mississippi, but other places in the US would have had me less prepared. I still have that Pacific Northwest habit of never using an umbr
IPS Inter Press Service Earth Alert: Confronting Climate Change ★ 46
The Oxymoron of Political Leadership
Political will is all that's needed to bring electricity to the 2.5 billion people with no or unreliable access to power, or to feed the one billion who go hungry every day, or to finally begin to slash carbon emissions to avoid dangerous climate change, or just about any other global problem.
BRAZIL: Politicians Out of Sync with Public Sentiment on the Environment
The environmental movement continues to gain credibility and support as scientific findings confirm its warnings and natural disasters become increasingly frequent. Yet this growing awareness has yet to reach political decision makers in countries like Brazil, much to the frustration of environmentalists.
OP-ED: The Good News About Coal
During the years when governments and the media were focused on preparations for the 2009 Copenhagen climate negotiations, a powerful climate movement was emerging in the United States: the movement opposing the construction of new coal-fired power plants.
Tourism, Climate Change - Threats to Antarctic Wilderness
Too many tourists and too much climate change are the main concerns of environmental organisations and the governments of signatory countries of the Antarctic Treaty, which came into effect 50 years ago.
Mauritania Could Lose Its Capital City to the Sea
For the past five years, water has been seeping out of the ground beneath parts of Nouakchott, undermining foundations and transforming some areas of the Mauritanian capital into uninhabitable marshes.
Nuclear for the Poor, Renewables for the Rich?
In a debate about the future of energy, the global south wants to spend tens of billions of dollars on nuclear plants while the global north looks to spend hundreds of millions on decentralised, renewable energy.
ArmsControlWonk ★ 19
ENR Transfers, Pending
I just wrote a long post about not getting the Additional Protocol in the new NSG guidelines — but there is some language in a different spot that I skipped over. Hold that thought … it may not be so bad, after all.
US Loses on ENR Transfers
Meeting in Noordijk, Netherlands, the 46 members of the NSG have agreed to new guidelines on the transfer of enrichment and reprocessing technologies. The Administration is hailing this as a “significant victory.” If it was a such a big victory, why did they put it out with the trash on Friday? In fact, this is a defeat – the United States caved in to opposition by South Africa on the crucial iss
Six Years Later
On July 18, 2005, President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced their commitment to a civil nuclear energy cooperation agreement at the White House. The Bush administration pledged to take the lead in persuading the 46-member Nuclear Suppliers Group to make an exception to its restrictive rules so as to allow nuclear commerce with India. In return, the deal’s backers expect
Nuclear Matters 2011
The Office of the Deputy Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Nuclear Matters — DATSD(NM) — has issued the 2011 edition of Nuclear Matters, which is significantly revised and expanded from the copy I have. (Here is a link to the 2008 edition.) Nuclear Matters is probably the most useful reference book in my library on a day-to-day basis. (I know, you are thinking “Assistant to the Secretary
Moving forward on China, Pakistan, and the NSG
Just a couple of weeks after I joined the Carnegie Endowment at the beginning of March last year, I found myself in a musty agricultural exhibition hall in east Beijing, across Dongsanhuan Beilu from the Sanlitun diplo quarter. In the corner of one wing of that Mao-flavoured building, an engineering subsidiary of China’s leading nuclear state-owned enterprise, China National Nuclear Corp, display
Reflections of A Nuclear Weaponeer
Most readers probably know how much I love books and that I have amassed a formidable library of rare books relating to nuclear weapons. There are some holes in the collection, though and Frank Shelton’s privately printed memoir, Reflections of a Nuclear Weaponeer, is one of them. A copy of Reflections of a Nuclear Weaponeer is available for sale on Amazon. At $1,745, this one is way out of my l
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New Track
It occurs to me that the two most recent posts to this blog have concerned chunder, horse semen, and bowel burgers. I don’t think we need any more of that here. Lest next I descend to posting selections from the outhouse sequence in Ulysses, or maybe great chunks of Celine. So, on this Saturday night, let’s go somewhere Real. Like space. Courtesy one of the shows from the 1971 Port Chester telepat
Bottoms Up
Once upon a time there flickered a possibility that I might venture to Australia, there to compile a travel guide to the place. So I spent a fair amount of time soaking up information about the various whys and wherefores of the down-under realm. Among the things I learned was that Australians, and particularly Australian males, can tend towards a relationship with alcohol that is somewhat reminis
Waste Not, Want Not
There are some problems here. The planet is damaged, depleted by agricultural/industrial pollution and deranged by greenhouse gases; it’s overpopulated and over-policed; the land, it is exhausted; the oceans, they are dying. Or so it was set forth in the 1973 cinematic dystopia Soylent Green. Several years ago I ran this film for someone who had never before seen it. When it was over, she said: “I
Each Star’s A Pool Of Water
In Neal Stephenson’s Anathem, Arbrean avout several times dialog the notion of a sun with a block of ice at its core, as an example of a Reality that might require some trouble to reach, unmoored as it is from what hereabouts is considered Possible. Today, however, the worldtrack of a sun with a block of ice at its core, has strayed significantly closer to Terran consensus reality. In the 1936 C&a
Feel Like Goin’ Home
The surge to retain the surge in Afghanistan has begun. Friday morning the Wall Street Journal reported that the nation’s military “is asking President Barack Obama to hold off on ending the Afghanistan troop surge until the fall of 2012, in a proposal that would keep a large portion of the 33,000 extra forces in the country through the next two warm-weather fighting seasons.” From the Journal jum
They’re All Wasted
I’m thinking that if I had it to do over again, I might be a Science Man. Because it is becoming increasingly clear to me that Science Men get paid money to do Fun Things. For instance, the Science Man Andrew Adamatzky of the University of the West of England recently decided that it should be determined whether slime moulds prefer food, or drugs. Adamatzky is something of an aficionado of slime m
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