The ‘tea party’ movement was in the news again Tuesday as some 1,000 followers came to Washington to oppose Democrats’ final effort to pass healthcare reform. Since last summer, when the group gained recognition for its vocal opposition to healthcare reform in town halls, it has become a fixture on the national political scene. Yet questions remain: Just who, exactly, are the tea party faithful? The disgruntled remains of the Ron Paul movement? Fired-up elements of the Christian right? The seeds of a GOP populist movement? Patchwork Nation has something of an answer. Using a collection of online directories from one of the biggest tea-party groups, we have mapped and sorted a large number of members into the 12 Patchwork Nation county types. That breakdown shows tea party members are, as members suggest, scattered around the country. But there are concentrations in some particular kinds of places: agricultural ‘Tractor Country, the ‘Military Bastions located near defense installations, and ‘Mormon Outposts heavy with adherents of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It also suggests that the official tea party organizations, while by no means small, are probably not an army of tens of millions […]
Predicting the end of oil has proven tricky and often controversial, but Kuwaiti scientists now say that global oil production will peak in 2014. Their work represents an updated version of the famous Hubbert model, which correctly predicted in 1956 that U.S. oil reserves would peak within 20 years. Many researchers have since tried using the model to predict when worldwide oil production might peak. Some have said production already peaked. One earlier model by Swedish researchers suggested that oil would peak sometime between 2008 and 2018. And other researchers have argued there are decades to go before oil production goes into irreversible decline. The only thing they all agree on: Oil is a finite and very valuable resource. The issue’s profile was raised today with a new report projecting increased demand. After peaking above $130 a barrel in mid-2008, crude oil prices dipped to below $40 in early 2009 as global demand tanked amid the recession. Prices have been rising ever since and are above $80 now. Today, the International Energy Agency said it expects demand to resume the sort of growth that was common in recent years. Much of that growth has involved the modernizing […]
DOHA — The destruction of natural habitats in Europe is wiping out butterfly, beetle and dragonfly species across the region, the updated European ‘Red List’ of endangered species showed Tuesday. ‘When a Red List like this raises the alarm, the implications for our own future are clear. This is a worrying decline,’ said EU Environment Commissioner Janez Potocnik. Scientists examining Europe’s 435 butterfly species found that the populations of one in three species are falling and nine percent are already threatened with extinction. ‘Most butterflies at risk are confined to southern Europe,’ said Annabelle Cuttelod, coordinator of the European Red List at the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). ‘Their main threat is habitat loss, most often caused by changes in agricultural practices, either through intensification or abandonment, or to climate change, forest fires and the expansion of tourism.’ Likewise, logging has led to a decline in the populations of some beetles species that are depend on decaying wood. Known as saproxylic beetles, they play an important role in ecosystems by recycling nutrients. Some 11 percent or 46 species of them are at risk of being lost from the region, while seven […]
The Catholic News Service reported last week that the Vatican might have signaled a change in policy on genetically modified organisms by appointing Cardinal Peter Turkson as the head of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. Cardinal Peter Turkson told Catholic News Service March 9 that he would urge an attitude of caution and further study of the possible negative effects of genetically engineered organisms. Under Cardinal Turkson’s predecessor, Cardinal Renato Martino, the justice and peace council sponsored several conferences on genetically modified food as a way to alleviate hunger in poor countries. Agribusinesses and biotech industries that produce genetically modified organisms are justified in wanting to recoup the expenses laid out for research and development, and they have a right to want to make a profit from their work, said Cardinal Turkson, who took over the reins of the council in January. But the issue becomes problematic when a company that controls the use of genetically modified seeds and crops is motivated more by profit than by ‘the declared desire to want to help feed humanity,’ he said. […]
The obesity epidemic is rampant, and there are many reasons for this big fat problem. Although asking if antibiotics make us fat may initially sound like some type of joke, recent articles in Scientific American and Science magazine shows that some researchers are taking it seriously. Actually, evidence suggesting that antibiotics may make people fat is old (but forgotten and ignored) knowledge. As far back as 1955, research published in a leading nutrition journal showed that weight gain may be linked to prolonged antibiotic usage.(1) It is well-known that farmers supply livestock with frequent doses of antibiotics in the guise of ‘preventing disease,’ but it is also widely known that prolonged antibiotic usage causes such disruption in the digestive tracts of these animals that the food that they eat is not properly assimilated, leading to significant weight gain. Normal bacteria in the gut help animals (and humans) metabolize fat, but the deficiency of these normal bacteria, caused by antibiotic usage, disrupts proper fat metabolism, leading to weight gain. The farmers benefit from being able to sell fatter and heavier meat, even though meat quality is significantly compromised. An article in the December 16, 2009, issue of Scientific […]
Remote Viewing the Year 2060
