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Thomas Paine

To argue with a person who has renounced the use of reason is like administering medicine to the dead.

Monday, November 23, 2009

23 Nov - A Climate Against Change

Free Iran, #IranElections, Political Elections...Image by BL1961 via Flickr
Don't Confuse Real Healing With Suppression Of The Disease
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dana-ullman/dont-confuse-real-healing_b_360747.html
Differentiating Real Healing from Suppression of Disease

When a person experiences relief from any treatment, conventional or alternative, one should not necessarily assume that a real healing has occurred.  While it is possible that the person may really have been healed, it may also mean:

    * the symptoms went away on their own, and the treatment had nothing to do with it.
    * the treatment palliated the symptoms, providing short-term relief but resulted in the recurrence of symptoms in the near future.
    * the treatment “worked” by suppressed the person’s symptoms or his/her own immune and defense system, thereby pushing the disease deeper into body. Although suppression of symptoms may cause them to disappear, they tend to be replaced, sooner or later, with more serious, deeper symptoms that are more discomforting and potentially dangerous.

 Homeopaths and naturopaths both assert that there is a big difference between real healing, palliation of symptoms, and suppression of disease, even though each of these results may initially seem to be the same.

Global Warming On Trial: Inhofe Calls For Investigation Of UN IPCC
http://www.prisonplanet.com/global-warming-on-trial-inhofe-calls-for-investigation-of-un-ipcc.html
In response to the astounding revelations arising out of the hacked CRU emails, Senator Jim Inhofe has stated that unless something is done within the next seven days, he will lead the call for a rigorous investigation into mounting evidence that top climate scientists conspired to manipulate data to hide evidence of global cooling while engaging in academic witch hunts to eliminate scientists skeptical of man-made climate change.

Speaking on the Americas Morning Show earlier today, Inhofe, Ranking Member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, said the new revelations proved what he has been warning about for over four years, that politicians and bias-driven climate scientists affiliated with the UN IPCC have been fraudulently “cooking the science” to conform to their agenda.
( Imagine that. The Senator is a "Conspiracy Theorist" ! LOL )

Naomi Klein on Climate Debt: Why Rich Countries Should Pay Reparations To Poor Countries For The Climate Crisis.


With the Copenhagen climate summit two weeks away, best-selling journalist Naomi Klein examines the grass-roots movement behind the climate debate proposal that argues all the costs associated with adapting to a more hostile ecology—everything from building stronger sea walls to switching to cleaner, more expensive technologies—are the responsibility of the countries that created the crisis. Klein also discusses the 10th anniversary of the Seattle WTO protests and the 10th anniversary of her first book, “No Logo.” [includes rush transcript]
http://www.democracynow.org/2009/11/23/naomi_klein_on_climate_debt_why

( It just hit me : this close to Copenhagen and there's a 'leak' questioning 'climate change' ? How convenient...for deniers. That's a good reason to suspect a 'script' may govern the story.  )


Canada-U.S. carbon strategy must match: minister
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/cbc/091113/canada/canada_edmonton_edmonton_prentice_greenhouse_gas_carbon
Any efforts Canada might make toward greenhouse gas reduction must depend on what the U.S. does, federal Environment Minister Jim Prentice said Friday in Edmonton.
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"If the United States does not make substantial efforts, going forward, there is nothing that Canada can do, on our own," Prentice said.

"Our own mitigation efforts will be futile as a practical matter. In fact, we should probably at that point simply focus on adaptation."


Swimmers, Hoppers and Fliers: How Do Toxic Chemicals Move around the Planet?
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=how-do-toxic-chemicals-move-around-planet
Even hundreds of miles from the nearest industrial or agricultural activity, the sea ice, ocean, and Arctic plants and animals regularly yield evidence of elemental and synthetic chemical contamination. This contamination includes not only herbicides, fungicides, and pesticides—chemicals that are used in open air, may have washed directly into rivers or are released from factories—but also metals, among them mercury as well as flame retardants and water repellants, among other substances that are, at least in theory, incorporated into the materials of the products they’re designed to enhance.
Among the errant compounds now found regularly in the Arctic, for example, are brominated flame retardants, including those known as PBDEs (polybrominated diphenyl ethers) used widely in upholstery foam, textiles, and plastics. Also routinely recorded in the far north—some at remarkably high levels—are perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) used as stain repellants, waterproofing agents, and industrial surfactants (think Scotch-guard, Teflon, Gore-Tex, and the slick coating on paper used in food packaging such as pizza boxes, candy wrappers, and microwave popcorn bags).
These same compounds are now being detected in animals and people all over the world. A network of more than forty sampling sites has found evidence of synthetic chemicals that do not break down into nontoxic components—a mix of pesticides, fossil-fuel emissions, and industrial compounds—virtually everywhere it looked, from Antarctica, North America, Australia, and Africa to Iceland. A recent five-year study conducted in U.S. national parks across the American West and Alaska found these same contaminants in the majority of its snow, soil, water, plant, and fish samples.

Coal Ash Is More Radioactive than Nuclear Waste

By burning away all the pesky carbon and other impurities, coal power plants produce heaps of radiation 

What to Do About Endocrine Disruptors? A Q&A with Linda Birnbaum

The new head of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the National Toxicology Program is attempting to uncover what role chemicals and contaminants may play in human health

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=bisphenol-bpa-linda-birnbaum-health-chemical-contaminants

US Debt A 'Phantom Menace,' Krugman Argues
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/23/us-debt-a-phantom-menace_n_367489.html
( Whatever the merits of his position...isn't it like the one Obama ran on ? ) 

Cost Estimates Of Afghanistan Troop Buildup Vary Widely
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/23/cost-estimates-of-afghani_n_367354.html?igoogle=1
LA Times:


White House officials included in their estimate everything they consider necessary to wage war, including troop housing and equipment.[...]


The Pentagon arrived at its much lower estimate by dividing its war funding request by the number of troops throughout the region: 68,000 in Afghanistan and up to 95,000 in supporting roles elsewhere, such as on nearby ships or in surrounding countries.
The Pentagon cost includes higher combat wages, extra aircraft hours and other operations and maintenance costs, but omits such items as new weapons purchases -- one-time costs that vary by year -- and support equipment like spy satellites and anti-roadside-bomb technology.

Fight Fair, You Menacing Mullahs!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eric-margolis/fight-fair-you-menacing-m_b_311253.html
You can't trust those devious Iranians. First, they threaten the world, or so we are told, with nuclear weapons. They don't really have any nukes, but never mind.

Now, Tehran's menacing mullahs actually seem to be cooperating with UN inspections, pulling the rug out from under the feet of the war party in Washington and its right-wing allies in London, Paris and Jerusalem.

Last week, the leaders of the US, Britain and France staged a bravura performance of political theater in an effort to browbeat Iran into nuclear submission, by claiming to have just "discovered" a secret Iran uranium enrichment plant near Qum.

On cue, a carefully orchestrated media blitz trumpeted warnings of the alleged Iranian nuclear threat and "long-ranged missiles."

In reality, the Qum plant had been detected by US spy satellites over two years ago, and was well known to the intelligence community. Iran claimed the plant will not begin enriching low-grade uranium for peaceful power for another 540 days. UN nuclear rules, to which Iran adheres, call for 180 days notice. 

How to Press the Advantage With Iran
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/29/opinion/29leverett.html?_r=1
( There's a straightforward declaration of intent )

At the United Nations General Assembly last week, President Obama used language reminiscent of Mr. Bush’s “axis of evil” to identify Iran and North Korea as the main threats to international peace and vowed to hold them “accountable.” In Geneva, we can expect the United States to demand that Iran not only accept “concrete” limitations on further nuclear development but also demonstrate the peaceful nature of its nuclear program to avoid severe sanctions.
( That's what the NPT is for : odd that it's not sufficient for the U.S.A., which also 'signed on' to the treaty...and complains Iran won't deviate from it ! )
This approach prompted Mr. Ahmadinejad, during a meeting last week, to declare that Iran does not believe Americans are “serious” about strategic cooperation. He argued that, when Iran had previously agreed to limit its nuclear development — as when it suspended uranium enrichment from 2003 to 2005 — Western powers offered nothing in return, and instead sought to “restrict our rights even further.”
It seems hardly a coincidence that Iran is accused of having started the Qum lab in 2005 — precisely when Tehran had concluded that suspending enrichment had failed to diminish American hostility

Tyhychi Healing

Britain checks safety of 1,800 bridges; residents return home
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2009-11-22-britain-floods-bridges_N.htm?csp=34&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+usatoday-NewsTopStories+%28News+-+Top+Stories%29&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher
Flood-battered residents struggled back to work, school and homes after some of the worst storms ever recorded in Britain.

Heavy rainfall ravaged England's popular Lake District, with more than 1,000 homes flooded and several river crossings destroyed. Thousands of people had to be rescued by helicopter when rivers burst their banks.

Skeptics doubt Mexican data on military abuses
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/22/AR2009112201991.html?nav=igoogle

( Hm. How many Americans have been convicted of abuse while running penal institutions which practice indiscriminate torture and kidnapping worldwide ? 'Moral Authority ? 
American Service-Members' Protection Act

http://www.state.gov/t/pm/rls/othr/misc/23425.htm 
Yes sir : 'One Rule for the Rich - and Another for the Poor'

Of course...if the Mexicans have that much trouble with their own people...what is the situation like for troops in strange lands who don't know anything, including the language ?  How does 'Operation Clusterfuck' sound  ?)

Policy, portfolios and the investor lawmaker
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/22/AR2009112202217.html?nav=igoogle
As stock ownership rises in Congress, experts warn of potential ethics concerns.
The investments increasingly put lawmakers in the position of voting or advocating on matters that could affect their personal wealth, whether the lawmakers realize it or not.

That issue has become more acute over the past year. Congress has intervened in unprecedented ways into the private sector, allocating billions of dollars for stimulus projects, federal bailouts and health-care reform.

Payback Time

Wave of Debt Payments Facing U.S. Government

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/23/business/23rates.html
Treasury officials now face a trifecta of headaches: a mountain of new debt, a balloon of short-term borrowings that come due in the months ahead, and interest rates that are sure to climb back to normal as soon as the Federal Reserve decides that the emergency has passed.

Even as Treasury officials are racing to lock in today’s low rates by exchanging short-term borrowings for long-term bonds, the government faces a payment shock similar to those that sent legions of overstretched homeowners into default on their mortgages.



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