Sunday, September 25th, 2011
FRANK JORDANS and SETH BORENSTEIN, - The Associated Press
Stephan: I find this an extraordinarily exciting science adventure. So different from the closed system the Theo-political Right espouses, with all its fantasy certitudes.
GENEVA — Betting against Einstein and his theory of relativity is a way to go broke.
For more than a century, everyone from physicists to the Nazi Party – which encouraged the publication of the tract ‘One Hundred Authors Against Einstein’ – has tried to find cracks in his work. And all have failed.
On Thursday, the world’s biggest physics lab unveiled a shocking finding: that one type of subatomic particle was clocked going faster than the speed of light. If true – a big if, even the scientists there concede – it could undercut Einstein’s theories. Physicist Michio Kaku of City College of New York called it ‘the biggest challenge to relativity in 100 years.’
Antonio Ereditato, who participated in the European experiment as head of the Albert Einstein Center for Fundamental Physics in Bern, knows what is at stake. After his team fielded two hours of technical questions, some a bit sharp, from a skeptical audience Friday, Ereditato had a beer in hand and was asked about the idea that his work was challenging the secular saint of modern physics.
‘Yes, that’s why I’m concerned,’ he said with a laugh.
There’s a long history of experimental results that at first seem to contradict […]
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Sunday, September 25th, 2011
PAUL ARMENTANO, - AlterNet
Stephan: The persecution of marijuna it becomes clearer and clearer provides essentially the same function as a Sucrose IV bag provides an individual. It pumps dollars down the tube and into the veins of a select group of corporations who by contracting with government, or corporations, run a multi-billion industry, largely funded with tax dollars, and tax breaks.
Police made 853,838 arrests in 2010 for marijuana-related offenses, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s annual Uniform Crime Report, released today. The arrest total is among the highest ever reported by the agency and is nearly identical to the total number of cannabis-related arrests reported in 2009.
According to the report, marijuana arrests now comprise more than one-half (52 percent) of all drug arrests in the United States. An estimated 46 percent of all drug arrests are for offenses related to marijuana possession.
‘Today, as in past years, the so-called ‘drug war’ remains fueled by the arrests of minor marijuana possession offenders, a disproportionate percentage of whom are ethnic minorities,
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Sunday, September 25th, 2011
Stephan: This is the latest on the new American slavery trend. No one talks about it but we are creating a new slave class. And it is all perfectly legal, and utterly shameful.
Earlier this year, the Center for Media and Democracy released documents detailing some 800 model legislations crafted by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). Included in those documents was the Prison Industries Act, legislation that had already been established in dozens of states across the country.
Like much of the model legislation created by ALEC, this bill is designed to help private corporations increase profits. In this case, those profits come from the use of prison labor. As Mike Elk and Bob Sloan wrote in The Nation, ‘prison labor for the private sector was legally barred for years, to avoid unfair competition with private companies.
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Saturday, September 24th, 2011
David DeGraw, - Truthout.org
Stephan:
Middle-Class Americans Often Fall Down Economic Ladder: Study – nearly a third of Americans who were part of the middle class have fallen out of it
‘The promise of the American dream has given many hope that they themselves could one day rise up the economic ladder. But according to a study released those already in financially-stable circumstances should fear falling down a few rungs too. The study
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Saturday, September 24th, 2011
JUSTIN PHELP, - Metaefficient
Stephan: Here is some excellent news; a pity it is not a report about the U.S. Old energy is going to die hard here, dragging out the agony of its passing as long as possible.
When the largest economy in the European Union derives 20% of its energy from renewable sources, it is a milestone worthy of international attention. Germany’s renewable energy consumption jumped 2.5% within the last year, sending the total consumption of green power in that country to 20.8%. Since 2000, Germany’s use of renewable energy has increased 15 percentage points.
Driving this change is government action. After the Fukushima nuclear disaster, the German government reversed its policy of supporting nuclear power and declared it would work to phase out all of its nuclear energy by 2022. Along with the demotion of nuclear power, there has been a promotion of renewable power via a feed-in tariff mechanism. Germany’s feed-in tariff was established in 2000 under the Renewable Energy Sources Act. The Act encourages investment in renewable energy by providing companies with long-term contracts and defraying the higher implementation costs green technologies require.
The majority of German citizens support the increased taxes needed to finance feed-in tariffs. Germany plans to achieve 35% renewable electricity use by 2020.
Solar power has become the driving force in the growth of renewable energy in Germany. Solar’s 3.5% of total electricity production is 76% higher than it was last year, and […]
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