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 Looking Into Your Future CD
By: Stephan A. Schwartz
At times of great stress, when your relationship is changing, or your job is disappearing, or you are faced with a fateful choice, it can be extraordinarily helpful to get even a glimpse of what lies...
Available Now!! Click here for details and ordering information.
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| Saturday, 04 February 2012 |
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Komen Does About-face on Cuts to Planned Parenthood
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| This is an excellent example of what citizen power mobilized through the internet can achieve. We should all feel good about this one. I, for one, will never see Komen in the same light. Its neutrality and commitment to help women has been deeply tarnished. Ronlyn and I have made a donation to Planned Parenthood and will do so annually from now on. The Theocratic Right's war on women must be stopped, and it can be through citizen action such as occurred in this instance. |
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The Associated Press/The New York Times/The Seattle Times |
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NEW YORK - Breast-cancer charity Susan G. Komen for the Cure on Friday abandoned plans to eliminate money for Planned Parenthood's breast-cancer screening program. The retreat followed a three-day furor that resounded across the Internet, in Congress and among Komen affiliates that openly rebelled, suggesting the leadership had bowed to anti-abortion pressure.
"We want to apologize to the American public for recent decisions that cast doubt upon our commitment to our mission of saving women's lives," Nancy Brinker, Komen's chief executive, said in a statement posted on the organization's website.
The statement added, "We will continue to fund existing grants, including those of Planned Parenthood, and preserve their eligibility to apply for future grants."
Some Komen officials had said the decision to halt financing, which was made in December and became public knowledge Tuesday, was made because of an inquiry by U.S. Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., who ... |
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Science Decodes 'Internal Voices'
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| This is another development in neuroscience that has both a side of light, and a side of deep darkness. The choice will be ours. |
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JASON PALMER, Science and Technology Reporter - BBC News (U.K.) |
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Researchers have demonstrated a striking method to reconstruct words, based on the brain waves of patients thinking of those words.
The technique reported in PLoS Biology relies on gathering electrical signals directly from patients' brains.
Based on signals from listening patients, a computer model was used to reconstruct the sounds of words that patients were thinking of.
The method may in future help comatose and locked-in patients communicate.
Several approaches have in recent years suggested that scientists are closing in on methods to tap into our very thoughts; the current study achieved its result by implanting electrodes directly into a part of participants' brains.
In a 2011 study, participants with electrodes in direct brain contact were able to move a cursor on a screen by simply thinking of vowel sounds.
A technique called functional magnetic resonance imaging to track blood flow in the brain ... |
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Praying to Be Skinny and Straight: Why Evangelicals Are Concerned With Weight-loss and 'Ex-gay' Therapies
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| The Theocratic Right has now become such a large force in the country that it is important to understand what motivates them, and how they see the world. |
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HANNAH TEPPER - AlterNet |
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Fatness and gayness have a few things in common: They are both highly charged social issues that can anger people in ways few other things can. To many people, they both represent a sinful inability to control urges – in the case of fat folks, to eat food, and in the case of gay people, to have sex. In evangelical circles, however, fatness and gayness are not just stigmatized, they are actively fought.
In her eloquent new book, 'Seeking the Straight and Narrow: Weight Loss and Sexual Reorientation in Evangelical America,” Lynne Gerber examines the ways these two separate issues interact in that most morally stringent segment of American culture. A University of California, Berkeley, scholar in residence whose work emphasizes intersections of sexuality, bodies and health in contemporary Christianity, Gerber spent more than three years documenting evangelical weight loss and ex-gay culture, primarily in two evangelical ministries, First ... |
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Infrastructure Problems In U.S. Go Far Beyond Dollars
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| This article captures America's long slow slide into the second tier. I wrote in SR several years ago when I returned from Istanbul landing at JFK. I was stunned by the difference in the airports. The one in Turkey was modern, clean, passenger friendly, and efficient. JFK reminded me of flying into Cairo in the late 70s; dirty, over-crowded, everyone under great stress, an angry buzz sweeping like a wave up and down the halls. Driving in France and driving in the U.S. there is a similar difference. There are states, particularly in the South, where the roads would be an embarrassment to an Iraqi. This is what one gets when the economic policies of the Right, with their emphasis on small government, and no safety net, prevails. |
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MATT SLEDGE - The Huffington Post |
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NEW YORK -- When travelers from abroad come to this city, the financial and cultural capital of the world's richest nation, two dilapidated and depressing airports greet them. The clogged runways, the leaking roofs, the maddening taxi lines, the lost travelers bumping into each other -- all these depredations are just part of flying the friendly skies to JFK or LaGuardia.
Jetsetters' laments about subpar airports, now almost a cliche, may not have been foremost on President Obama's mind when he gave his State of the Union address on January 24. But they may actually be more representative of the country's nagging infrastructure problems than the images invoked by the "crumbling roads and bridges" he referenced in that speech.
The problems America faces with its infrastructure are often much less headline-grabbing than the 2007 collapse of the I-35 bridge in Minnesota, which focused national attention on the subject ... |
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| Friday, 03 February 2012 |
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PART I: No Need to Panic About Global Warming
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| It isn't often that one can see such a clear cut example of how Climate Change Deniers seek to muddy the discussion of this critically important issue. This sounds like a really impressive group of Climate experts speaking out against any concern over climate change, doesn't it? Read Part II. |
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The Wall Street Journal |
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Editor's Note: The following has been signed by the 16 scientists listed at the end of the article:
A candidate for public office in any contemporary democracy may have to consider what, if anything, to do about "global warming." Candidates should understand that the oft-repeated claim that nearly all scientists demand that something dramatic be done to stop global warming is not true. In fact, a large and growing number of distinguished scientists and engineers do not agree that drastic actions on global warming are needed.
In September, Nobel Prize-winning physicist Ivar Giaever, a supporter of President Obama in the last election, publicly resigned from the American Physical Society (APS) with a letter that begins: "I did not renew [my membership] because I cannot live with the [APS policy] statement: 'The evidence is incontrovertible: Global warming is occurring. If no mitigating actions are taken, significant disruptions in the ... |
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PART II: Setting the Record Straight: Climate Change Experts Respond
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| It makes a difference who is speaking. A PhD per se means very little. It is a distinction not well understood by people who are not focused on science. The use of inexpert "experts" has been a very successful strategy though, and almost half of America does not believe in climate change. This is part of the reason I say, nothing is going to be done about climate change until the crisis is wreaking havoc and, then, it will be too late. We need to figure out what we are going to do to get through what is coming, maintaining a decent quality of life. |
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The Drum Opinion |
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Do you consult your dentist on your heart condition? In science, as in any area, reputations are based on knowledge and expertise in a field, and on published, peer-reviewed work.
If you need surgery, you want a highly experienced expert in the field who has done a large number of the proposed operations.
On January 27, the Wall Street Journal published an op-ed on climate change by the climate science equivalent of dentists practicing cardiology. While accomplished in their own fields, most of these authors have no expertise in climate science. The few authors who have such expertise are known to have extreme views that are out of step with nearly every other climate expert. This happens in nearly every field of science. For example, there is a retrovirus expert who does not accept that HIV causes AIDS. And it is instructive to recall that a few scientists ... |
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Breasts Yes, Vaginas No?
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I hope all my readers have spoken out about the Komen Foundation's decision to abandon tens of thousands of women, mostly low income women, and girls, thus assuring many of them will not get the health care they need. This patriarchal theocratic rightist assault on half our population is unconscionable.
Amanda Marcotte co-writes the blog Pandagon. She is the author of It's a Jungle Out There: The Feminist Survival Guide to Politically Inhospitable Environments. |
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AMANDA MARCOTTE - AlterNet |
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It’s probably the fastest-spreading story in Internet history about the relationship between two non-profits. Late Tuesday afternoon, Planned Parenthood and Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure announced that Komen would be withdrawing grants given to Planned Parenthood for breast cancer screenings. Despite Komen’s lame attempts to claim otherwise, it was widely understood that this was about Komen aligning itself with the anti-choice movement, despite the anti-choice movement’s long history of opposing not just safe and legal abortion, but also access to contraception and even the prevention of cervical cancer through the use of the HPV vaccine.
So what gives? Why would Komen, which purports to be a women’s health organization, choose to align itself with an anti-health, anti-science movement instead of with another prominent women’s health organization that actually helps prevent and detect cancer? What role does Komen’s hearty corporate fundraising efforts play in all of this? ... |
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Is Rossi Looking at Mass Production for the E-Cat?
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| I know the deniers are out there in droves, but the Rossi e-Cat just keeps moving along. If Rossi had not submitted to the Underwriters Laboratories even a cub reporter would know to call them and ask. They have issued no denial of the claim. And I think it is very interesting that this story comes from a leading website on Oil, which speaks principally to the oil industry. For some time I have been reading oil industry sites because they closely follow alternatives, for obvious reasons. |
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BRIAN WESTENHAUS - OilPrice |
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Andrea Rossi, the inventor and energy behind the E-Cat was interviewed by Gary Hendershot and Sterling Allan for the Smart Scarecrow Show last Saturday the 14th of January 2012. The headline remark was Mr. Rossi has sent prototypes to the Underwriters Laboratories (UL). As best can be determined, that remark is in the past tense.
The customary view is the UL accepts products destined for sale in the final form, which is a fact. However, the UL also offers governmental units assistance in establishing reasoned law, regulation and rules. For manufacturers the UL also extends more than just final product tests, they work with manufacturers at the design stage to assure that a final product will in fact achieve an UL label. It’s a highly likely prospect that the design stage is where the UL and Mr. Rossi have started the process. A ... |
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| Thursday, 02 February 2012 |
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How Swedes and Norwegians Broke the Power of the 1%
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| This is what is going to be required here, but on a much larger scale. Occupy99 may be the first stirrings of such a movement, but it's by no means certain they will succeed. In the U.S. a large percentage of the population vote against their own interests, because they are easily manipulated by the corporatists and their political servants through their playing on "values" issues. |
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GEORGE LAKEY - Truthout.org |
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While many of us are working to ensure that the Occupy movement will have a lasting impact, it’s worthwhile to consider other countries where masses of people succeeded in nonviolently bringing about a high degree of democracy and economic justice. Sweden and Norway, for example, both experienced a major power shift in the 1930s after prolonged nonviolent struggle. They 'fired” the top 1 percent of people who set the direction for society and created the basis for something different.
Both countries had a history of horrendous poverty. When the 1 percent was in charge, hundreds of thousands of people emigrated to avoid starvation. Under the leadership of the working class, however, both countries built robust and successful economies that nearly eliminated poverty, expanded free university education, abolished slums, provided excellent health care available to all as a matter of right and created a system of full employment. Unlike the ... |
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Mood-boosting Bacteria Found in Dirt
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| Perhaps this is why gardeners to me have always seemed a notably serene group of people. It certainly has a strong and positive effect on Ronlyn, and several of my friends. I always thought it was just attuning oneself with nature and her processes that did it, and I am sure this is one powerful aspect. But this report suggests another I have never seen advanced before. Two of my friends, Peter Tompkins and Christopher Bird, who wrote Secret Life of Plants, and Secrets of the Soil together, considered micro-organisms a critical secret of life processes. This seems to be another aspect of this secret world that is just unfolding. |
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LYLAH M. ALPHONSE, Senior Editor - Shine |
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Even if you don't love gardening, digging in the dirt may be good for your health -- and it has nothing to do with a love of nature or the wonder of watching things grow. The secret may be in the dirt itself: A bacteria called Mycobacterium vaccae that acts like an antidepressant once it gets into your system.
That's right. A living organism that acts like a mood-booster on the human brain, increasing serotonin and norepinephrine levels and making people feel happier. It was accidentally discovered about 10 years ago, when Dr. Mary O'Brien, an oncologist at the Royal Marsden Hospital in London, tried an experimental treatment for lung cancer. She inoculated patients with killed M. vaccae, expecting the bacteria -- which is related to ones that cause tuberculosis and leprosy -- to boost their immune system. It did that, The Economist reported in 2007, but it also ... |
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'Gasland' Journalists Arrested At Hearing By Order Of House Republicans
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| Theocratic Rightists like all fascist oriented movements do not want an independent press, or to be subjected to close scrutiny, and you can see this clearly in these events. This hearing was a stacked deck, designed by the committee's chair to provide a rationalization for fracking. Non-corporate media was not part of their plan. |
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ZACH CARTER - The Huffington Post |
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WASHINGTON -- In a stunning break with First Amendment policy, House Republicans directed Capitol Hill police to detain a highly regarded documentary crew that was attempting to film a Wednesday hearing on a controversial natural gas procurement practice. Initial reports from sources suggested that an ABC News camera was also prevented from taping the hearing; ABC has since denied that they sent a crew to the hearing.
Josh Fox, director of the Academy Award-nominated documentary "Gasland" was taken into custody by Capitol Hill police this morning, along with his crew, after Republicans objected to their presence, according to Democratic sources present at the hearing. The meeting of the House Subcommittee on Energy and Environment had been taking place in room 2318 of the Rayburn building.
HuffPost has obtained exclusive video of the arrest of Josh Fox. Rep. Brad Miller (D-N.C.), the ranking Democrat on the subcommittee, can be ... |
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UN Panel Says Retool World Economy for Sustainability
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| If you have been reading SR for a while you know my feelings that national wellness instead of profit should be the first priority. I'm not against profits, they simply have to be made within a paradigm that places individual, familial, and national wellness at the hub of all social policy. This UN report supports that. We will either choose this, or be driven to it. But we will get there. The Earth itself will require the self-flagellation that climate change will inflict until we comply. |
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Agence France-Presse (France) |
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The world can no longer afford to ignore the environmental cost of economic growth and must redefine the very concept of national wealth, a UN panel of heads of state and environment ministers said Monday.
The panel challenged leaders to recognise that "current global development is unsustainable."
"We need to chart a new, more sustainable course for the future, one that strengthens equality and economic growth while protecting our planet," UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said in Addis Ababa to mark the release of the panel's report, which outlines more than 50 policy recommendations.
By 2030, the report warned, the planet will need at least 50 percent more food, 45 percent more energy and 30 percent more water.
These needs are emerging "at a time when environmental boundaries are throwing up new limits to supply," it said.
Continuing along the same path as today risks ... |
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