A careful and balanced evaluation of Mahmoud Abbas’s new strategy is tremendously important. While in some respects it represents a step forward, it is also couched in the tricky double meanings Palestinian political groups have used to conceal their continuing goal of total victory in eliminating Israel. Moreover, nothing is likely to come out of it. There are four important loopholes in the proposal: First, its main purpose is not to recognize Israel, but to outmaneuver Hamas in terms of domestic politics. Abbas’s terms were that the referendum would go ahead only if Hamas did not reach agreement with Fatah. Moreover, of course, the main goals are to promote Palestinian unity and make international public relations gains. Second, the plan very consciously leaves open the idea that gaining an independent Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem is only the first stage in wiping Israel off the map. Third, the priority given to the demand for a ‘right of return’ as a condition of equal importance to gaining a state reveals the preceding point. The invocation of UN Security Council resolution 194 as a basis for this claim (a half-century-old, non-binding resolution intended […]
With gas prices at $3 a gallon as far as the eye can see, plus increasing prospects of global warming and war in an oil-rich part of the world, the heat is on to wean the nation from fossil fuels. In Washington this week, a bipartisan group of lawmakers, industry leaders (including the three Detroit automakers), farm groups, governors, county officials, and environmentalists launched an effort to have the nation get 25 percent of its total energy from renewable sources by 2025. This ambitious proposal – dubbed ’25x’25’ – goes well beyond what Congress and the White House have enacted so far, and it’s likely to encounter environmental and economic speed bumps along the way. The goal of securing one-fourth of the nation’s total energy from renewable sources such as wind, solar, biomass, and biogas by 2025 was introduced this week as a concurrent resolution in both houses of Congress. So far, it has at least 30 cosponsors with the number growing daily. ‘I think that this goal is definitely achievable,’ says Rep. Collin Peterson (D) of Minn., the ranking member of the House Committee on Agriculture. ‘I think we’re going to beat this 25 percent […]
A research study conducted by the World Bank to determine the potential for reducing carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired plants in India, China and Russia, the world`s major producers of carbon dioxide emissions, has revealed that renewable energy technology may be able to replace fossil fuels quicker than previously believed as higher energy prices make them more attractive. The World Bank is one of the world`s biggest endorsers of renewable energy use. While hydropower is top on its list, funding for other alternative energy projects like windpower is also very high at US $ 9bn. The bank has also proposed a venture capital fund be set up to fund R&D for low carbon energy technologies. World Bank Energy Economist Gary Stuggins revealed that windpower has already become very economically viable, and given the political will to do it, renewable energy can make a substantial difference. The Chinese example demonstrates the advances made in this field, in partnership with the World Bank. The China Renewable Energy Development Project provides grants to companies that produce solar cells known as photovoltaics (PVs). Another project in China focuses on increasing the efficiency of coal-fired plants by as much as 50 percent.
New Scientist magazine reveals that the National Security Agency is funding research into how to add information from social networking site MySpace listings to profiles of individuals garnered from banking, retail and property records. As detailed in a footnote to a paper entitled Semantic Analytics on Social Networks, data from online social networks and other databases can be combined to uncover facts about people. The footnote said the work was part-funded by an organization known as ARDA, which stands for Advanced Research Development Activity. Published in January by the Congressional Research Service, a report named Data Mining and Homeland Security, noted that part of ARDA’s role is to promote integration of heretofore format-incompatible data sets about people- data sets that could be combined to generate more complete profiles of individuals under suspicion for potential terrorist links. To facilitate this integration, research is believed to be underway on Ressource Description Framework, a way of tagging data in a way that will promote more common uniformity with other data. ‘By adding online social networking data to its phone analyses, the NSA could connect people at deeper levels, through shared activities, such as taking flying lessons,’ writes article author […]
American youth are shying away from risky health behaviors like smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol or having indiscriminate sex, according to a new study released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However the report says that despite an overall decrease in health risk behaviors among high school students since 1991, racial and ethnic differences are still on the higher side. The Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance – United States, 2005, report was released in a special issue of the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. ‘We’re delighted that we’re seeing some progress, but the reality is that risk-behavior levels are just way too high,’ said Howell Wechsler, director of the division of adolescent and school health at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. ‘We want to celebrate that most of the risk behaviors are going in right direction, but they’re not going down fast enough so we have a lot more work to do.’ The survey to measure the prevalence of risky behavior has been conducted every two years since 1991. The current data was collected in the spring of 2005 from almost 14,000 students in public and private high schools around the country. […]
Remote Viewing the Year 2060
