Tuesday, November 22nd, 2011
BRIAN VASTAG, - The Washington Post
Stephan: The Republican climate change deniers at work again. I got a note from a reader today telling me that there was no difference between the Democrats and the Republicans. I will agree that both parties and, indeed, our entire political system is profoundly corrupted and in many ways nothing but a system of legalized bribery.
But anyone who thinks the Democrats and Republicans are equivalent and interchangeable is practicing willful ignorance on a grand scale, and I have no use for fact-free polemics.
At first look, the proposal is as dull, bureaucratic and routine as an agency request to Congress can be.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration wanted to reshuffle its offices to establish a National Climate Service akin to the agency’s National Weather Service. It asked for no new funding to do so.
But in a political climate where talk of the earthly kind of climate can be radioactive, the answer in last week’s budget deal was ‘no.
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Tuesday, November 22nd, 2011
Stephan: Even in the mid-nineteenth century Lincoln could see it coming, just as Dwight Eisenhower saw it in the mid-twentieth: The rise of the Fascist corporatocracy.
Thanks to Larry Dossey, MD.
I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and cause me to tremble for safety of my country; corporations have been enthroned, an era of corruption in High Places will follow, and the Money Power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the People, until the wealth is aggregated in a few hands, and the Republic destroyed.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN, letter to Col. William F. Elkins, Nov. 21, 1864
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Tuesday, November 22nd, 2011
ANURADHA K. BHAGWATI, - The New York Times
Stephan: Yet another unacknowledged and unintended consequence of the obscene wars begun by the war criminals in the Bush Administration, that continue to this day. And response to the needs of the men and women who served in those wars is as shameful as the wars themselves.
Anuradha K. Bhagwati, a former captain in the Marine Corps, is the executive director of the Service Women's Action Network, a nonprofit advocacy organization that advances the rights of military women.
Thanks to Kevin Kelley.
The rate of suicide among women who have served in the military is triple that of their civilian counterparts. Why is this?
Despite having been to war for the last 10 years, U.S service women still face widespread ignorance about the sacrifices they’ve made overseas. In Iraq and Afghanistan, 148 military women have died, and thousands more have returned home with post-traumatic stress and other emotional and physical wounds. As patients, women still face shortages in basic health care and grossly insufficient cultural competency at Veterans Affairs medical centers, where health providers still largely cater to the needs of men.
Preventing suicide among veterans requires a frank conversation about discrimination, harassment and assault.
As veterans, women face unique reintegration challenges, including higher rates of unemployment and homelessness and lower levels of income. Women are often expected to be the primary caretakers for spouses, children and aging family members, meaning that they have less time and space to take care of themselves.
One further reason we lose veterans to suicide is military sexual assault. Over 19,000 sexual assaults were committed against service women and men last year alone. Military sexual assault does not elicit the same outpouring of support as the […]
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Tuesday, November 22nd, 2011
MARK WILLACY, North Asia Correspondent - Asia Pacific News (Australia)
Stephan: America's corporate media doesn't want to talk about this story, but elsewhere it is beginning to dawn on people just how devastating the Fukushima catastrophe has become. Barely a word has appeared on the condemnation of the entire Fukishima rice crop because of radiation contamination. Nor have we heard much about the radiation showing up in Caliifornia and Washington. And think about this: 10 per cent of the land mass of Japan may be condemned because of radiation -- and eight per cent has been polluted by radioactive caesium.
Japan’s Science Ministry says nearly 10 per cent of the country’s land has been contaminated by radiation from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant.
It says more than 30,000km², or eight per cent of the country’s land area, has been blanketed by radioactive caesium.
The Ministry says most of the contamination was caused by four large plumes of radiation spewed out by the Fukushima nuclear plant in the first two weeks after meltdowns after the March earthquake and tsunami.
The Japanese Government says some of the radioactive material fell with rain and snow, leaving the affected areas with accumulations of more than 10,000 becquerels of caesium per square metre.
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Monday, November 21st, 2011
ANTHONY CUTHBERTSON, - WhoWhatWhy
Stephan: This is such a great story. One guy seeing a problem, with no major funding, worked out a real solution. This is the modern version of an ancient Roman system used in what is now Libya. Drawing condensed water from the air. In small family plot scale it will soften the drought migration that is coming. However, there is a dark side. Taken to industrial agriculture levels it would increase the rate of desertification in an area and, then, gradually wind down.
Click through to see the video.
This week the winner of the 2011 James Dyson Award (named for the high-tech vacuum guy) was announced. Edward Linacre from Australia was chosen from over 500 entries for his Airdrop irrigation system, an original low-tech solution to one of the world’s major problems: drought. After witnessing Australia’s worst drought in a century, Linacre came up with his idea by studying the Namib beetle. This desert-dwelling insect is able to collect condensation from the morning mist on its back, a unique survival skill that allows it to live in one of the world’s most arid areas. Linacre’s solar powered Airdrop mimics this method of collecting water by pumping air into its underground piping system, where it cools to create condensation. The water collected is then distributed directly to the roots of nearby plants. In a dry area in which one prototype was tested, over a liter of water was collected from thin air in a single day.
Architects, designers and engineers have been using biomimicry since Leonardo da Vinci looked at birds and sketched out ideas of possible flying machines. Sir James Dyson said, ‘Airdrop shows how simple, natural principles like the condensation of water, can be applied to good effect […]
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