Thursday, February 10th, 2011
Stephan: If your community is considering selling its water, or privatizing its access to its water, YOU MUST, organize against this. It is going to become a crucial issue in the next several decades, as water becomes a bigger and bigger issue, and those civic entities who have made such Faustian bargains will suffer disproportionately.
California’s treasurer just announced that the state may need to begin issuing IOUs if the governor and legislature can’t close the budget gap. And California’s not the only place that’s hurting. The Great Recession, hit not only businesses and individuals, but governments as well. The National Conference of State Legislatures estimated that 31 states are facing a combined shortfall for fiscal year 2011 of nearly $60 billion.
So, what’s being done? ‘Cities and states across the nation are selling and leasing everything from airports to zoos — a fire sale that could help plug budget holes now but worsen their financial woes over the long run,’ the Wall Street Journal reports. ‘California is looking to shed state office buildings. Milwaukee has proposed selling its water supply; in Chicago and New Haven, Conn., its parking meters. In Louisiana and Georgia, airports are up for grabs.’
If this seems shocking, it shouldn’t. For the past 30 years, there has been a deliberate effort to deregulate industry and to choke off federal support for public services and public spaces, paving the way for greater corporate control. The push to privatize is nothing new, it’s just that our economic crisis is the latest opportunity. This fire […]
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Thursday, February 10th, 2011
CATHERINE DE LANGE and JESSICA HAMZELOU, - New Scientist (U.K.)
Stephan: This is an example of how the the poor dietary habits encouraged by the big food corporations literally damage children. Note the House Republicans have just proposed to gut the school nutrition programs and food counseling government services for young mothers.
You are what you eat, kids. This week’s news seems stuffed (pardon the pun) with reasons to pursue a healthy diet. It could help boost a toddler’s IQ and improve the symptoms of a child with ADHD. Kate Northstone at the University of Bristol reckons a toddler left to snack on sweets and crisps could be left with a lower IQ later in life.
Northstone’s team collected data on the eating habits and IQ of almost 4000 children over six years. After accounting for other known influences on IQ, the team found that three-year-old children on a diet high in fat and sugar had lower IQ scores five years later than those fed healthier diets. Eight-year-olds with fruit- and vegetable-laden diets also scored more highly on IQ tests than those on less healthy diets. The results were published today in the
Journal of Epidemiological Community Health.
Given that around 23 per cent of children start school either overweight or obese, it’s absolutely clear that healthy choices as part of their early development will stand children in good stead – not only for keeping a healthy weight as they grow up, but, as this evidence suggests, improving their ability to do well […]
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Thursday, February 10th, 2011
Stephan: For those who savor the cold piquancy of irony. Here is a generous serving showing ideology confronting reality.
Ask any House Republican about repealing President Barack Obama’s health care law, and you’ll get the same fiery, self-assured talking points about tearing down what Speaker John Boehner has called a ‘monstrosity.
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Wednesday, February 9th, 2011
Stephan: Click through to see the interview video. There is no exaggeration in this account.
Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.), the new chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, revealed in an interview that although he does believe that the climate is changing, he does not believe that humans play a role in this change. This is not the first time Upton has cast doubt on humans’ role in global warming.
Upton had previously written that the EPA’s plan to regulate carbon emissions was ‘an unconstitutional power grab that will kill millions of jobs – unless Congress steps in.’
Not too long ago, Upton was considered by some to be a ‘moderate’ on climate issues. But lately, he seems to be anything but moderate on the environment.
As reported by Reuters, ‘Upton has called for opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas drilling, scaling back government aid for renewable energy and voiced opposition to requiring electric utilities to use alternative energy for some of their power generation.’
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Wednesday, February 9th, 2011
Stephan: The alarms just keep ringing. I don't think we are going to do anything meaningful about climate change until it is too late. Given the composition of the House, and the views of the Energy Committee's Chairman, Representative Fred Upton a very conservative Republican from Michigan's 6th District. Ironically, the 6th District, in the southwest corner of the state, will be heavily impacted by the climate change, whose remediation Upton will block.
Arctic sea ice was at its lowest extent ever recorded in January this year, according to a new report by the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC).
This winter has been cold and snowy in North America, but farther north, temperatures have been unusually warm. Data collected by NASA’s Aqua satellite shows that ice was low in Canada’s Hudson Bay, Hudson Strait and the Davis Strait between Canada and Greenland. Normally these areas are frozen over by late November, the NSIDC reported. This winter, they didn’t free until mid-January 2011. The Labrador Sea was similarly ice-free.
Arctic ice in January covered 5.23 million square miles (13.55 million square kilometers), 19,300 square miles (50,000 square km) less than the previous record in 2006. Arctic ice monitoring began in 1979. This January’s ice cover was also 490,000 square miles (1.27 million square km) below the 1979 to 2000 average.
In October, NSIDC reported an unusual late-season decline in Arctic sea ice.
There are two possible explanations for the extended thaw, NSIDC reported. The Arctic Oscillation, a seesaw pattern of atmospheric pressure differences, was in negative mode in December 2010 and January 2011. When the Arctic Oscillation is negative, it brings cold and snow to […]
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