The ancient Nazca people, who once flourished in the valleys of south coastal Peru, literally fell with the trees they chopped down, new research has concluded. The Nazca caused their own collapse when they cleared their forests in order to make way for agriculture, thus exposing the landscape to wind and flood erosion.http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2009/11/02/nazca-collapse-trees.html
The ancient... more
The Republican party has officially wasted over 1000 hours blocking action, adding useless amendments and generally maintaining there party of "no" by a thread. They use AstroTurf campaigns to make it appear that they actually still matter and exist. They don't. Don't buy their media controlled hype.The Republican party has officially wasted over 1000 hours blocking action, adding... more
Julian Casablancas recently stopped by XFM radio and revealed a few details abbot the Strokes forthcoming album. The frontman told XFM that the band have been working on material for the new album for months, “we have most of the songs written, more than half of them written. But it’s just a question of getting all five dudes in the room."Julian Casablancas recently stopped by XFM radio and revealed a few details abbot the... more
Oceans are warming and become more acidic, while the world economy according to some would be out of the crisis, but it will take time for employment to rise. What connection there is between these two news? a direct one, because our economic system is based on the indiscriminate exploitation of mankind and environment, and will lead to the suicide of the human species.Oceans are warming and become more acidic, while the world economy according to some... more
Recently, Uruguay legalized homosexual adoption, becoming the first South American nation to do so. The bill passed 17-6 in the Uruguayan senate. The first leftwing president in Uruguay, Tabare Vasquez, has been making progress for progressive LGBT rights, such as authorizing civil unions and access to military schools, although facing opposition from the Roman Catholic Church. This progression stands Uruguay out from its South American neighbors, and sets an example on an international level. Senator Margarita Percovich was quoted as saying: “It is a right for the boys and the girls, not a right for the adults. It streamlines the adoption process and does not discriminate.”
In the past decade, gays and lesbians have won the right to adoption in various European and North American states and territories, as well as South Africa, Israel and parts of Australia.Recently, Uruguay legalized homosexual adoption, becoming the first South American... more
Before 2001, America’s military women had rarely seen ground combat. Their jobs kept them mostly away from enemy lines, as military policy dictates.
But the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, often fought in marketplaces and alleyways, have changed that. In both countries, women have repeatedly proved their mettle in combat. The number of high-ranking women and women who command all-male units has climbed considerably along with their status in the military.
“Iraq has advanced the cause of full integration for women in the Army by leaps and bounds,” said Peter R. Mansoor, a retired Army colonel who served as executive officer to Gen. David H. Petraeus while he was the top American commander in Iraq. “They have earned the confidence and respect of male colleagues.”
Their success, widely known in the military, remains largely hidden from public view. In part, this is because their most challenging work is often the result of a quiet circumvention of military policy.
Women are barred from joining combat branches like the infantry, armor, Special Forces and most field artillery units and from doing support jobs while living with those smaller units. Women can lead some male troops into combat as officers, but they cannot serve with them in battle.
Of the two million Americans who have fought in these wars since 2001, more than 220,000 of them, or 11 percent, have been women.
Despite longstanding fears about how the public would react to women coming home in coffins, Americans have responded to their deaths and injuries no differently than to those of male casualties, analysts say. That is a reflection of changing social mores but also a result of the growing number of women — more than 356,000 today — who serve in the armed forces, including the Reserves and the National Guard, 16 percent of the total.
Not all combat jobs are the same. Handling field artillery or working in Bradleys, for example, are jobs more suited to some women than light infantry duties, which can require carrying heavy packs for miles.Most women in the military express little, if any, desire to join the grueling, testosterone-laden light infantry. But some say they are interested in artillery and armor.
Any change to the policy would require Congressional approval, which lawmakers say is unlikely in the middle of two wars. But women in the military and their allies want their performance in combat to count for something.
“We have crossed that line in Iraq,” said Representative John M. McHugh, Republican of New York and the nominee for Army secretary. “Debate it all you want folks, but the military is going to do what the military needs to do. And they are needing to put women in combat.”Before 2001, America’s military women had rarely seen ground combat. Their jobs kept... more
President Barack Obama's student loan plan has been approved by the House Education Committee chairman, George Miller (D-Cali). For decades private banks have profited off of government student loans. But if Obama's student loan plan is approved, private insures will have no role in the lending process. The plan would save the government approximately $87 billion dollars over the next ten years. Despite the approval of Chairman Miller, the Bill will face heavy opposition from the private lending industry.President Barack Obama's student loan plan has been approved by the House Education... more
Electricity is a good thing. It powers your computer, drives economic growth, transmits images from Tehran streets, keeps preemies alive in hospitals, prevents meat from rotting and enchants and cools you in movie theaters.
Yes, electricity is a good thing. Where does it come from?
In the U.S., electricity is produced from these sources. If you are reading this on a handheld and can't read Wikipedia's wonderful pie chart, here is the breakdown:
Got that? A tick over 88% of U.S. electricity comes from three sources: coal, gas and nuclear. Petroleum brings the contribution of so-called "evil" energy--that is, energy that is carbon- or uranium-based--to almost 90%.
The remaining sources of U.S. electricity, the renewables, are, by comparison, tiny players:
7.1% -- Hydroelectric
2.4% -- Other Renewables
0.7% -- Other
Hydroelectric accounts for 70% of renewable energy in America. But, of course, hydro is mostly tapped out. Almost every dam that could be built has been built. Ironically enough, political opposition to building more dams comes from the same crowd of tree huggers who oppose coal, gas and uranium.
Do you see where I'm going?
The Waxman-Markey bill that passed the House on Friday by a 219-212 margin will punitively tax energy sources that contribute 90% of current U.S. electricity (or 71% if you want to leave out nuclear). The taxes will be used to subsidize the 10% renewable contributors (but really just 3% after you leave out hydro).
In other words, Waxman-Markey is betting the future of U.S. electricity production on sources that now contribute 3% or supply 10 million Americans with electricity. That's enough juice for the people in Waxman's Los Angeles County. Or, if you prefer, for Nancy Pelosi's metro San Francisco plus Markey's metro Boston.
Well, what about electricity for the other 295 million? You can't get there from here with Waxman-Markey. At very best, solar, wind and cellulosic ethanol will make 20% contributions by 2025. The smart money would bet on 10%.
good luck on that one... more at the link.Electricity is a good thing. It powers your computer, drives economic growth,... more
Korean firm considers Carolinas, Georgia for electric vehicle production plant
Posted: Jul. 2 1:00 p.m.
Raleigh, N.C. — The Carolinas and Georgia are on the short list for a South Korean company’s plan to build electric-powered vehicles in the U.S.
CT&T United says it will employ some 2,600 people over the next five years. The company said it would build “multiple facilities.” The vehicles are expected to go on sale in 2010.
CT&T United is a U.S.-based subsidiary of CT&T Korea.
“Company officials are considering potential sites in South Carolina, Georgia, North Carolina, Alabama and California,” CT&T said.
CT&T plans to build “city drive,” mid-speed, high-speed and utility vehicles as well as a variety of batteries.
Vehicles are expected to be priced between $8,000 and $16,000.Korean firm considers Carolinas, Georgia for electric vehicle production plant... more
A very self-important college freshman attending a recent football
game, took it upon himself to explain to a senior citizen sitting next
to him why it was impossible for the older generation to understand
his generation.
"You grew up in a different world, actually an almost primitive one,"
the student said, loud enough for many of those nearby to hear. "The
young people of today grew up with television, jet planes, space travel,
man walking on the moon, our spaceships have visited Mars.
We have nuclear energy, electric and hydrogen cars! Computers with
DSL, BSP; light-speed processing .....and," pausing to take another
drink of beer.
The Senior took advantage of the break in the student's litany and said,
"You're right, son. We didn't have those things when we were young.....so
we invented them. Now, you arrogant little shit, what are you doing for
the next generation?"
The applause was resounding...
I love senior citizens
"Cherish Yesterday, Dream Tomorrow, Live Today...."
LOL, from an old-timer.STUNNING SENIOR MOMENT
A very self-important college freshman... more
After weeks of talks with drug companies President Barack Obama (D) announced that the pharmaceutical companies have pledged to spend $80 billion over the next decade to help reduce the cost of drugs for seniors and pay for a portion of Obama's health care legislation. The deal is another significant step forward in creating a better health care system.After weeks of talks with drug companies President Barack Obama (D) announced that the... more
A group of U.S. climate scientists is urging Congress to quickly pass a strengthened version of the House global warming bill, saying the legislation would provide a basis for stronger federal policies.
The letter [pdf] signed by 20 scientists says strong U.S. leadership is needed to avert a "rapidly developing global climatic catastrophe." The House climate and energy bill proposed by Democratic Reps. Henry Waxman of California and Ed Markey of Massachusetts offers a "powerful advance and must be enacted this year," it says, as a first step toward strong U.S. action.
"We're very encouraged that Congress is moving on legislation," said Michael MacCracken, chief scientist for climate programs at the nonprofit Climate Institute. "But a lot of what's happening in the discussions is that adjustments are being made, which is understandable, but in order to have an effect on climate we need to have really strong actions, and we don't want to just keep having it nibbled away."
end of excerpt
Source: Scientific American
What are your thoughts on the bill? Do you agree with the experts that this climate legislation is needed?A group of U.S. climate scientists is urging Congress to quickly pass a strengthened... more
Americans overwhelmingly support substantial changes to the health care system and are strongly behind one of the most contentious proposals Congress is considering, a government-run insurance plan to compete with private insurers, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.
The poll found that most Americans would be willing to pay higher taxes so everyone could have health insurance and that they said the government could do a better job of holding down health-care costs than the private sector.
Yet the survey also revealed considerable unease about the impact of heightened government involvement, on both the economy and the quality of the respondents’ own medical care. While 85 percent of respondents said the health care system needed to be fundamentally changed or completely rebuilt, 77 percent said they were very or somewhat satisfied with the quality of their own care.
That paradox was skillfully exploited by opponents of the last failed attempt at overhauling the health system, during former President Bill Clinton’s first term. Sixteen years later, it underscores the tricky task facing lawmakers and President Obama as they try to address the health system’s substantial problems without igniting fears that people could lose what they like.
Across a number of questions, the poll detected substantial support for a greater government role in health care, a position generally identified with the Democratic Party. When asked which party was more likely to improve health care, only 18 percent of respondents said the Republicans, compared with 57 percent who picked the Democrats. Even one of four Republicans said the Democrats would do better.
The national telephone survey, which was conducted from June 12 to 16, found that 72 percent of those questioned supported a government-administered insurance plan — something like Medicare for those under 65 — that would compete for customers with private insurers. Twenty percent said they were opposed. The poll found that most Americans would be willing to pay higher taxes so everyone could have health insurance and that they said the government could do a better job of holding down health-care costs than the private sector.
Yet the survey also revealed considerable unease about the impact of heightened government involvement, on both the economy and the quality of the respondents’ own medical care. While 85 percent of respondents said the health care system needed to be fundamentally changed or completely rebuilt, 77 percent said they were very or somewhat satisfied with the quality of their own care.
end of excerptAmericans overwhelmingly support substantial changes to the health care system and are... more
I'm not the type to post petitions on current. However, I feel that without a cheaper government public health insurance option the health care reform bill will be for nothing! Please! even if you believe more action is needed, sign this petition. It's the first step to universal health insurance coverage and i humbly request your signature.
--------------------------------------
Nearly 50 million Americans -- one-in-six of our fellow citizens -- lack health insurance. Even those families lucky enough to have health insurance have seen their premiums triple in the past decade. America's health care system is in a crisis, and it's time to do something about it.
This month, Congress is working on new reform legislation that will make quality health care available and affordable for all Americans. We support a public health insurance option that would foster greater competition in the marketplace, create more choices for consumers, and lead to lower costs and better quality for all. But we know the forces of the status quo will battle us every step of the way.
Please sign this online petition, showing your support of Congress' work to reform America's health care system now.
Thank you,
Senator Dick Durbin, Senator Patrick Leahy, Senator Chuck Schumer
The Public Broadcasting Service agreed yesterday to ban its member stations from airing new religious TV programs, but permitted the handful of stations that already carry "sectarian" shows to continue doing so.
The vote by PBS's board was a compromise from a proposed ban on all religious programming. Such a ban would have forced a few stations around the country to give up their PBS affiliation if they continued to broadcast local church services and religious lectures.
Until now, PBS stations have been required to present programming that is noncommercial, nonpartisan and nonsectarian. But the definition of "nonsectarian" programming was always loosely interpreted, and the rule had never been strictly enforced. PBS began reviewing the definition and application of those rules last year in light of the transition to digital TV and with many stations streaming programs over their Web sites. The definition doesn't cover journalistic programs about religion or discussion programs that don't favor a particular religious point of view.
The vote at PBS's headquarters in Arlington was good news for five PBS member stations that carry religious programs. Among them are KBYU in Salt Lake City, which is operated by an affiliate of the Mormon Church; KMBH in Harlingen, Tex., operated by the local Catholic diocese; and WLAE in New Orleans, operated by a Catholic lay organization.
The vote also means that WHUT, operated by Howard University in the District, won't be required to drop its telecasts of "Mass for Shut-Ins," a weekly Catholic Mass that has aired on the station since 1996 and locally in Washington for more than 50 years.
But, warned by PBS of the upcoming review, WHUT put the program's producer, the Archdiocese of Washington, on notice that it would drop the program if the PBS board voted to ban religious programs. The archdiocese then made alternative arrangements, negotiating a contract with WDCW (Channel 50) to pick up the half-hour program on Sunday mornings.
Moving the program, which is broadcast free by WHUT, will be disruptive to viewers, said Susan Gibbs, the archdiocese's spokeswoman, and expensive — the contract with WDCW will cost $60,000 per year.The Public Broadcasting Service agreed yesterday to ban its member stations from... more
President Barack Obama (D) is planning sweeping financial regulations. The regulations would be the largest reforms since the 1930's during the great depression. Coordination among federal and state oversight agencies will be increased. In addition, President Obama plans on creating a federal regulatory board that would have broad authority and oversight powers. The overall goal is to prevent another recession such as the one the United States is in now.
WASHINGTON - Senior Obama administration officials on Monday said in a newspaper op-ed piece that a landmark financial regulation reform plan to be released this week will target capital requirements, securitization and other problem areas blamed for the global financial crisis.
Obama is ready to roll out an overhaul of the intricate rules and systems that govern America's troubled financial institutions, proposing the most ambitious revision since the Great Depression of the 1930s.
The goal is to prevent a recurrence of the economic crisis that erupted in the United States and exploded last fall with devastating consequences still reverberating around the world.
Unlike the government's temporary ownership stake in automakers and major financial companies, the regulatory changes are designed to be permanent. They could result in a major realignment of power and authority among government agencies that set the rules for banking, lending and investing and touch American lives through daily transactions, from credit cards to mortgages and mutual funds.
In the most complete summary of the plan seen in some time, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and National Economic Council Chairman Lawrence Summers said the plan would offer "a stronger framework for consumer and investor protection."
The piece was published in The Washington Post days ahead of the expected release on Wednesday of a package of administration proposals, under discussion for six months now.
One administration proposal, said Geithner and Summers, will be "raising capital and liquidity requirements for all institutions, with more stringent requirements for the largest and most interconnected firms."
In addition, large and interconnected firms whose failure could threaten the stability of the system "will be subject to consolidated supervision by the Federal Reserve, and we will establish a council of regulators with broader coordinating responsibility across the financial system."
end of excerpt
Source: MSNBCPresident Barack Obama (D) is planning sweeping financial regulations. The regulations... more
The Obama administration has announced a plan to curb and decrease the environmentally damaging practice of mountain top removals. Nancy Sutley, Chair of the White house Council on Environmental Quality said "The Obama administration has serious concerns about the impacts of mountaintop removal mining on our natural resources and on the health and welfare of the Appalachian communities,Within this plan, the Obama administration is doing all it can under existing laws and regulations to curb the most environmentally destructive impacts of mountaintop removal coal mining."
Source: Scientific American
Now this is change I can believe in!The Obama administration has announced a plan to curb and decrease the environmentally... more
WASHINGTON — The Senate voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to impose federal regulation on cigarettes and other forms of tobacco, passing a landmark bill to empower the Food and Drug Administration to control products that eventually kill half their regular users.
The legislation, with only minor differences from a version the House passed in April by a nearly 3-to-1 ratio. A White House spokesman, Reid H. Cherlin, said on Thursday that President Obama, who was a co-sponsor of the bill when he was in the Senate, would sign the legislation when it reached his desk.
An estimated one in five people in this country smoke, and more than 400,000 of them die each year from smoking-related disease. But for decades, even after the surgeon general’s 1964 report declaring cigarettes a health hazard, Congressional efforts to regulate tobacco had met stiff opposition from lawmakers from tobacco-growing states and their political allies.
And when the F.D.A. tried on its own to start regulating nicotine as a drug, the Supreme Court struck down that effort in 2000, saying the agency could not take such a step without Congressional authority. Cigarettes remained less regulated than cosmetics or pet food.
But with broad bipartisan support in both the Senate and House, and a campaign pledge by Barack Obama to sign such legislation if he became president, the anti-tobacco forces came into alignment.
“This long-overdue grant of authority to F.D.A. to regulate tobacco products means that the agency can finally take the actions needed to protect our people from the most deadly of all consumer products,” Edward M. Kennedy, the Massachusetts Democrat who was chief sponsor of the legislation in the Senate, said in a statement from home, where he is receiving treatment for a brain tumor.
The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, as it is called, would empower the F.D.A. to set standards for cigarettes, regulating chemicals in cigarette smoke and outlawing most tobacco flavorings. It could also study whether to also ban menthol. Flavorings are considered a lure to first-time smokers, especially the young. Menthol is used by three-quarters of black smokers, who also have a disproportionate share of lung cancer.
The law would also further restrict marketing and advertising of tobacco products. Colorful advertising and store displays will be replaced by black-and-white-only text as part of restrictions aimed at reducing the appeal to youth to try smoking. Cigarette makers will be required to stop using terms like "light" and "low tar" by next year and to place large and graphic health warnings on their packages by 2012.
But while the F.D.A. could mandate a reduced level of nicotine, an addictive chemical, the law expressly says the agency cannot ban it. Public health advocates say outlawing nicotine would force addicts would turn to a black market or other sources.
Still, health advocates predict that F.D.A. product standards could eventually reduce some of the 60 carcinogens and 4,000 toxins in cigarette smoke, or make them taste so bad they deter users.
“This is a bill not for a one-year or two-year splash, but for a long-term impact,” said Matthew L. Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, a Washington advocacy group that took a lead in coordinating support for the legislation. The Altria Group, the parent company of Philip Morris, whose Marlboro brand helps make it the nation’s leading tobacco seller, endorsed the F.D.A. legislation and negotiated some of its crucial provisions with Congress.WASHINGTON — The Senate voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to impose federal regulation... more
CAIRO — President Obama pledged on Thursday to “seek a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world,” imploring America and the Islamic world to drop their suspicions of one another and forge new alliances to confront violent extremism and heal religious divides.
“We have a responsibility to join together on behalf of the world we seek,” he said. “A world where extremists no longer threaten our people, and American troops have come home; a world where Israelis and Palestinians are each secure in a state of their own, and nuclear energy is used for peaceful purposes; a world where governments serve their citizens, and the rights of all God’s children are respected.”
He dwelled on Iran, Iraq, and Afghanistan but reserved some of his sharpest words for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He offered no major initiatives on the Middle East peace process although he put Israelis and Palestinians on notice that he intends to deal directly with what he sees as intransigence on key issues.
The speech in Cairo, which he called “the timeless city,” redeemed a promise he made nearly two years ago while running for president. It was, perhaps, the riskiest speech of his young presidency, and Mr. Obama readily conceded that not every goal would be easily or quickly achieved.
“I have come here to seek a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world; one based upon mutual interest and mutual respect; and one based upon the truth that America and Islam are not exclusive, and need not be in competition,” he said. “Instead, they overlap, and share common principles — principles of justice and progress; tolerance and the dignity of all human beings.”
His message was sweeping and forceful — at times scolding — promoting democracy in Egypt, warning Israelis against building new settlements, and acknowledging that the United States had fallen short of its ideals, particularly in the Iraq war. It also evoked a new and nuanced tone, and some of Mr. Obama’s language drew appreciative applause from his audience of 3,000 invited guests in the Major Reception Hall at Cairo University.
end of excerptCAIRO — President Obama pledged on Thursday to “seek a new beginning between the... more
