Monday, October 15th, 2012
Stephan: This is a good look at what is happening in the American car industry that the Republicans would have let die. Also note that this would not have happened had it not been for the unions. People who are anti-union, and who do not acknowledge its role in creating the American middle class are willfully ignorant about American history. The data is out there; it actually takes work to avoid it.
When Kim Riddle took the 700-mile trip from Athens, Ala., to her new home in Lordstown, Ohio, last year, it was the first time she had left either her home or her 18-year-old son. Riddle had certainly gone on road trips out of state, but she had never moved and never been on an airplane or a subway before transplanting to Ohio. (She has since traveled on the former but expressed no desire to try the latter.) ‘When you’re from the South, you don’t want to leave,
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Monday, October 15th, 2012
LAURA MICHELLE BURNS, - Care2
Stephan: I read this as a significant change in the climate change denier trend. It may be belated, and it may be tentative, but it is change in a life-affirming direction by one of the major groups blocking responsible action in what I think is the most important trend facing humanity.
m a strong believer that climate change is the highest moral issue of our time. Just because one is a conservative, or religious, or some combination of both; there is no reason to ignore the climate crisis. Young people of all political and religious persuasions are teeming with ambition and enthusiasm and want to take on the world’s problems. Want to know what is so awesome about this fact? When young men and women are passionate about something before they become parents carry their convictions with them once their lives are forever changed by diapers and 2 am feedings. This is true for a young group that is pushing the presidential candidates to talk about global warming.
Young Evangelicals for Climate Action
Recently, I was introduced to the Young Evangelicals for Climate Action (YECA) and my heart was warmed by the energy of this group. Every member of the steering committee is less than 30 years old, well-educated and passionate about showing the religious community that it is our responsibility to work as citizens of a nation to influence action against climate change. They believe God holds Christians accountable for caring for the Earth. And each member of YECA is committed to […]
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Sunday, October 14th, 2012
EBEN ALEXANDER, MD, - Newsweek
Stephan: The materialist idea that we are no more than animated meat, our minds an illusion created by biochemical processes is bankrupt at many levels, not least it cannot address the experiences of more than 13 million Americans who have had a near death experience (NDE). Here is a particularly dramatic example, experienced by neurosurgeon Eben Alexander.
As a neurosurgeon, I did not believe in the phenomenon of near-death experiences. I grew up in a scientific world, the son of a neurosurgeon. I followed my father’s path and became an academic neurosurgeon, teaching at Harvard Medical School and other universities. I understand what happens to the brain when people are near death, and I had always believed there were good scientific explanations for the heavenly out-of-body journeys described by those who narrowly escaped death.
The brain is an astonishingly sophisticated but extremely delicate mechanism. Reduce the amount of oxygen it receives by the smallest amount and it will react. It was no big surprise that people who had undergone severe trauma would return from their experiences with strange stories. But that didn’t mean they had journeyed anywhere real.
Although I considered myself a faithful Christian, I was so more in name than in actual belief. I didn’t begrudge those who wanted to believe that Jesus was more than simply a good man who had suffered at the hands of the world. I sympathized deeply with those who wanted to believe that there was a God somewhere out there who loved us unconditionally. In fact, I envied such people the […]
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Sunday, October 14th, 2012
ALYSSA FIGUEROA, - AlterNet (U.S.)
Stephan: Public free education, financed by the government was one of the corner stones that created American democracy. Now it is all being undermined by the Rightist drive to privatize education. It is amazingly profitable for investors terrible all to often for children, and we are beginning to see it also has unintended consequences that no one foresaw. This report describes one of them. Privatizing public education, like privatizing prisons is just an awful idea.
Who knew it was possible to come to the United States without dealing with the inefficient immigration system? Apparently, a bunch of wealthy Chinese investors.
According to a Miami Today report last week, these Chinese financiers are taking advantage of the U.S. EB-5, an Immigrant Investor Program [3] that sets aside certain visas for investors who stimulate economic growth within the United States. The investors are required to invest at least $1 million and create at least 10 full-time jobs for U.S. residents. The EB-5 process has therefore been dubbed the ‘green card via red carpet.
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Sunday, October 14th, 2012
LINDSAY ABRAM, Editorial Fellow - The Atlantic
Stephan: What we do to ourselves we visit on our pets.
That phenomenon where pets resemble their owners takes a sad turn when it comes to unhealthy weight gain. By 2030, 50 percent of people in most U.S. states will be obese. Now the Association for Pet Obesity Prevention estimates that over 50 percent of dogs and cats are overweight, and over 20 percent are obese.
The U.K.’s PDSA, a veterinary charity, demonstrated how much of a difference six months of sensible eating and plenty of exercise can make for even the most extreme cases (although, just like in humans, weight loss at too rapid of a pace is unsafe). What’s especially cool about the results of their Pet Fit Club, even for those of us who don’t have fat pets, is that it shows how adhering to a diet plan can have life-altering effects: in all of the photos they released, the pets really do look happier.
Take, for example, the contest winner, ‘Jumbo’ Jack, who weighed 45 pounds at the onset. Jack wasn’t able to lie down properly, let alone exercise, before going on his diet. By the final weigh-in (pictured above), he had lost 31 percent of his body weight, and now prefers to go by ‘Jumping Jack Flash.’
The PDSA […]
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