Monday, November 4th, 2013
JOSHUA HOLLAND, - Moyers & Company/The Raw Story
Stephan: I have held this story for three days waiting to see if it was picked up, and if a counter-argument emerged. No one in corporate media touched the story that I could find, and no counter argument emerged.
A growing body of research suggests that we are a nation divided not only by partisanship or how we view various issues, but also by dramatically different cognitive styles. Sociologists and psychologists are getting a better understanding about the ways that deep seated emotional responses effect our ideological viewpoints.
Last week, Moyers & Company caught up with Mother Jones science writer Chris Mooney, host of the Inquiring Minds podcast and author of The Republican Brain: the Science of Why They Deny Science – and Reality, to talk about what this research may tell us about the attitudes of those involved in the tea party movement. Below is a lightly-edited transcript of our discussion.
Joshua Holland: Chris, let’s talk about morality. I’m personally offended by the tea partiers’ resistance to giving uninsured people health care. I find it a bit shocking that a political movement could be so filled with animosity toward the idea. But according to NYU social psychologist Jonathan Haidt - and other scholars - conservatives have a different moral compass entirely. Can you tell us a little bit about that?
Chris Mooney: Absolutely. There are many people doing research in the psychology of politics. Jonathan Haidt is a pioneer in the […]
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Monday, November 4th, 2013
FRANK LIPMAN, Director of the Eleven Eleven Wellness Center - Frank Lipman, MD Blog
Stephan: Here is something that will help you protect yourself from the toxins that are so much a part of our lives.
When patients come to me for help in taking charge of their health, one of the essential changes I encourage each of them to make is to reduce their toxic load – specifically to rid themselves of as many Endocrine Disruptors (EDs) as possible. But why the fuss over Endocrine Disruptors? It’s pretty simple: EDs are chemicals that can increase the production of some hormones and decrease the production of others. They can imitate your hormones, interfere with hormone signalling and generally wreak havoc with your endocrine system- making hormones do things they shouldn’t – like stimulating cancer development and triggering immunity, fertility, metabolic, developmental and cognitive problems just to name a few – while stopping them from doing what they should be doing – namely protecting you from the aforementioned and keeping your body’s natural hormones balanced.
With such a massive downside, it’s a no-brainer to want to give EDs, such as BPA (bisphenol-A), parabens, phthalates, PBDE’s (polybrominated diphenyl ethers), mercury, lead and organophosphate pesticides, a wide berth. Problem is, it’s easier said than done. EDs are virtually everywhere, tucked inside thousands of everyday items, such as food, personal care products, sunscreen, perfume, antibacterial washes, household cleaners, laundry products, […]
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Monday, November 4th, 2013
ELLEN BROWN, President - the Public Banking Institute - Web of Debt
Stephan: I have been surprised how few economists or journalists comment on the difference between the response of Iceland and Ireland to the financial crisis. Iceland is now back on track and prospering, while Ireland is in a state of collapse, demonstrating that the austerity policies promoted by the mega financial institutions are a failure.
The Irish have a long history of being tyrannized, exploited, and oppressed-from the forced conversion to Christianity in the Dark Ages, to slave trading of the natives in the 15th and 16th centuries, to the mid-nineteenth century ‘potato famine
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Monday, November 4th, 2013
MATTHEW YGLESIAS, Business and Economics Correspondent - Slate
Stephan: I had a conversation at the gym the other day with a man I have gotten to know, because we both go at night, when hardly anyone else is there. He is a teabagger and he went on and on about how Obama is trying to 'turn American into a European socialist country. He particularly dislikes Scandanavia because of its social safety network. 'You don't see any billionaires in Sweden do you?' he asked me. 'No you don't' he said answering his own question. 'In those socialist countries they don't like God and there is no initiative.' He believes this passionately, and the one or two times I have talked with him when friends are with him it's clear his views are mirrored by those he knows. So I went looking for something that specifically addresses this issue, and here is what I've found.
What I discovered put the lie to everything teabaggers believe but, more than that, it shows that it is possible to have universal healthcare, childcare, maternal and paternal paid leave, free or modestly priced university education and a host of other things that define Sweden and whose absence defines the United States. It should give us pause that the Swedes can manage this, and we cannot.
America is a land of billionaires, boasting five of the 10 richest people on the planet as of the most recent Forbes 500 list. Then again, we’re a large country, and in per capita terms, we lag behind several smaller states. Many of these-like world leader Monaco (No. 1 per capita, with three billionaires in a population of 35,427)-are true micro-nations, or else they’re St. Kitts and Nevis (No. 2, one billionaire, population 53,051): more of a vacation destination for the rich and less a place where people actually go to earn a fortune. But one country stands out on the list: Sweden (No. 12, 14 billionaires, population 9.56 million).
Matthew Yglesias Matthew Yglesias
No single Swede comes close to the epic wealth of a Bill Gates or a Warren Buffett. But Stefan Persson, the chairman, main shareholder, and former longtime CEO of H&M, leads a roster of Swedish billionaires who outpace the U.S. (No. 14) on a per capita basis. In part this is just a bit of a funny coincidence-it’s a fairly small country, after all-but the fact that a famously left-wing country like Sweden can be so rich in billionaires is telling and important.
That’s because a billionaire isn’t […]
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Sunday, November 3rd, 2013
LINDSAY ABRAMS, Assistant Editor - Salon
Stephan: Water is destiny. These changes are going to create a cascade of wrenching social transformations. This is what we are doing to our grandchildren, and ever onward.
Click through to see the chart.
Deciding between food and water isn’t really a choice we’re able to make. But it’s a dilemma the world will increasingly face, according to a report released yesterday by the nonprofit World Resources Institute (WRI).
More than 25 percent of the world’s agriculture is currently grown in highly water-stressed areas, according to the report. That includes half of irrigated cropland, which itself is responsible for 40 percent of the global food supply.
Water stress is defined by the amount of water used in an area compared to its renewable supply. In highly water-stressed regions, 40 percent or more of the supply is used up annually. When that ratio gets up to 80 percent, it’s considered extreme.
An interactive map released along with the report shows where the most water-stressed crops are located, while this chart breaks down which crops we have to worry about:
Water demand is forecasted to increase 50 percent by 2030, according to WRI. That will be driven in large part by agriculture; global calorie production will need to increase by 69 percent to feed the 9.6 billion people expected to be living on Earth by 2050. It’s yet another warning of our need to reduce food waste (currently, a full […]
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