US President Bush and Iran's President Ahmadinejad both spoke at the UN today.
Bush said (directed toward the people of the Middle East):
"My country desires peace. Extremists in your midst spread propaganda claiming that the West is engaged in a war against Islam. This propaganda is false.
"We respect Islam, but we will protect our people from those who pervert Islam to sow death and destruction."
... Bush told Iranians their greatest obstacle "is that your rulers have chosen to deny you liberty and to use your nation's resources to fund terrorism and fuel extremism and pursue nuclear weapons".
Last week Bush said, "This struggle has been called a clash of civilizations. In truth, it is a struggle for civilization. We are fighting to maintain the way of life enjoyed by free nations."
"We are in a war that will set the course for this new century and determine the destiny of millions across the world.""Today we are safer, but we are not yet safe . . . We face an enemy determined to bring death and suffering into our homes."
"If we do not defeat these enemies now, we will leave our children to face a Middle East overrun by terrorist states and radical dictators armed with nuclear weapons."
"They will not leave us alone. They will follow us. The safety of America depends on the outcome of the battle in the streets of Baghdad.""
Ahmadinejad said:
"Where can the people of Iraq seek refuge, and from whom can the people of Iraq seek justice?" How can the Security Council act "when the occupiers themselves are permanent members of the council?"
"Apparently, the Security Council can only be trusted to secure the rights and security of certain big powers."
Addressing allegations that Iran wants nuclear weaponry, Ahmadinejad said his country's program was conducted "under the watchful eye of [International Atomic Energy Agency] inspectors," while the Iranian program is opposed by "governments that themselves benefit from nuclear energy."
He also took issue with the United States' claim that Iran wants nuclear missiles, saying the U.S. has "a bleak record of using them against humanity."
"What do they need these weapons for?" he asked. "How long should the people of the world live with the nightmare of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons?"
____________________________________________
Well - you can see where Muslims might think "the West is engaged in a war against Islam" - since Bush very nearly said that last week - and has talked of it all being a "crusade" other times. (Plus he has supporters like Pipes out there saying such things).
The big "question" that media people go on and on about is whether Iran will "give up" it's nuclear ambitions. First - it is an assumption - not a fact - that Iran has "nuclear ambitions". And second there is the hyprocritical aspect that the US (and others) have weapons coming out the wazoo. And third there is the precedent where Iraq got rid of it's weapons and the US invaded it anyway.
But the media people discuss it ad infinitum as if it is a given that Iran MUST give up anything that the US govt says that they must give up or that the US has a right to invade. It could all be intimidation. At the same time - I don't know what I would think if I were Iran. I would probably think that US military was going to invade if that is what they decided to do and that there wasn't anything that I could do about it anyway.
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Monday, September 18, 2006
Patriarchy Check
I was noticing over at I Blame The Patriarchy where Twisty Googled "women" and posted what came up.
Right now the 4 sites that come up at the top are:
"Local Sex"
"99 Most Desirable Women"
"See Photos of Hot Women"
"Information for Women, Including Women's Health Issues, from iVillage"
______________________
While the top 4 sites if you google "men" are:
"Men's Health"
"Men's Fitness"
"Men's Wearhouse"
"Men.com Magazine"
______________________
This is mostly because under "women" - Google has sponsored links that are leading the main links - while for men - all of the sponsored links (like "Look Sexy Naked") are over at the side. I suppose people pay more to have their listings at the top of the main listing. And money is what makes the difference - and whether people think about it or not - things like that set the tone of a culture.
______________________
But beyond that - there are mostly positive links to women such as:
Biographies of Women Mathematicians
Women's Biographies
Internet Women's History Sourcebook
National Organization for Women (NOW)
Women's Health - Health - The New York Times
WWWomen.com! Search Directory for Women Online!
WomenWatch (UN)
The National Women's Health Information Center - NWHIC
______________________
in other news:
In Spain, thin is so yesterday
Organizers of Spain's top annual fashion show yesterday rejected five models as being too thin to appear in this year's event. The show, the Pasarela Cibeles, decided this month not to allow women below a predetermined body mass index to parade down the catwalk.
Five of the 68 models who showed up for appraisal failed the test, said doctors called on to medically assess the models. The models were taller than 5-foot-7 and weighed less than 121.25 pounds, said Dr. Susana Monereo.
"They had a body mass index below, well below, that which is considered normal — not just by the Spanish endocrinology society, whom we represent, but also by the limits set by the World Health Organization," she said.
The show, which starts tomorrow, wanted to project an image of beauty, elegance and health, and also banned makeup that makes models appear sickly, organizer Cuca Solana said...
and:
Skinny Model Ban To Go International
It started when organizers of Spain's top annual fashion show, the Pasarela Cibeles, decided to place a limit on how thin the participating models could be based on their body mass index.
Now the trend appears to have moved across the Mediterranean Sea to Italy, after mayor Letizia Moratti indicated that a similar ban may be imposed for Milan’s fashion week, which starts September 23rd....
With that sort of warped fantasy of what a woman and men should look like and what is attractive in society, it is no wonder that there are 5 year olds out there who are afraid of getting fat and are at risk for developing depression or an eating disorder in the future.
___
This sounds like a good trend - it will be interesting to see if this is taken seriously in the US. Super-skinny models who wear makeup to make them look even more sick seems like one of ultimate images of noxious patriarchalness. To stay sane is to reject the ideals, the models of society - though that may be part of insanity as well - or at least alienation. The trick is to find positive models - the "Biographies of Women Mathematicians" - for example.
___
Right now the 4 sites that come up at the top are:
"Local Sex"
"99 Most Desirable Women"
"See Photos of Hot Women"
"Information for Women, Including Women's Health Issues, from iVillage"
______________________
While the top 4 sites if you google "men" are:
"Men's Health"
"Men's Fitness"
"Men's Wearhouse"
"Men.com Magazine"
______________________
This is mostly because under "women" - Google has sponsored links that are leading the main links - while for men - all of the sponsored links (like "Look Sexy Naked") are over at the side. I suppose people pay more to have their listings at the top of the main listing. And money is what makes the difference - and whether people think about it or not - things like that set the tone of a culture.
______________________
But beyond that - there are mostly positive links to women such as:
Biographies of Women Mathematicians
Women's Biographies
Internet Women's History Sourcebook
National Organization for Women (NOW)
Women's Health - Health - The New York Times
WWWomen.com! Search Directory for Women Online!
WomenWatch (UN)
The National Women's Health Information Center - NWHIC
______________________
in other news:
In Spain, thin is so yesterday
Organizers of Spain's top annual fashion show yesterday rejected five models as being too thin to appear in this year's event. The show, the Pasarela Cibeles, decided this month not to allow women below a predetermined body mass index to parade down the catwalk.
Five of the 68 models who showed up for appraisal failed the test, said doctors called on to medically assess the models. The models were taller than 5-foot-7 and weighed less than 121.25 pounds, said Dr. Susana Monereo.
"They had a body mass index below, well below, that which is considered normal — not just by the Spanish endocrinology society, whom we represent, but also by the limits set by the World Health Organization," she said.
The show, which starts tomorrow, wanted to project an image of beauty, elegance and health, and also banned makeup that makes models appear sickly, organizer Cuca Solana said...
and:
Skinny Model Ban To Go International
It started when organizers of Spain's top annual fashion show, the Pasarela Cibeles, decided to place a limit on how thin the participating models could be based on their body mass index.
Now the trend appears to have moved across the Mediterranean Sea to Italy, after mayor Letizia Moratti indicated that a similar ban may be imposed for Milan’s fashion week, which starts September 23rd....
With that sort of warped fantasy of what a woman and men should look like and what is attractive in society, it is no wonder that there are 5 year olds out there who are afraid of getting fat and are at risk for developing depression or an eating disorder in the future.
___
This sounds like a good trend - it will be interesting to see if this is taken seriously in the US. Super-skinny models who wear makeup to make them look even more sick seems like one of ultimate images of noxious patriarchalness. To stay sane is to reject the ideals, the models of society - though that may be part of insanity as well - or at least alienation. The trick is to find positive models - the "Biographies of Women Mathematicians" - for example.
___
The Pope and Civilization
Recently the Pope insulted Muslims - he quoted a Byzantine emperor describing some teachings of the Prophet Mohammad as 'evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached'- setting off riots and such. This follows in the wake of much demonizing of Muslims in the US media.
Juan Cole's reaction (posted today - 9/18):
Some Western observers think that this episode was the Pope's play for moral authority at a time of a clash between Islam and the West.
I think that is right. Benedict was trying to stake out a position that Western godless atheism is actually unreasonable, and that hard line coercive religion that disregards reason is wrong (he incorrectly identified this position as that of Muhammad and the Quran). Thus, the Catholic Church, with its reasoned faith, becomes the ideal, avoiding the errors of the two extremes (Western secularism and Islam). To accomplish this positioning, Benedict XVI had to reduce to cardboard figures all three traditions-- Western rationalism, Roman Catholicism, and Islam.
Christianity hasn't always stood for sweet reasonableness and the harmony of faith and science and the primacy of the individual conscience. One of the reasons we know so little about Mayan history is that Catholic authorities had Mayan papyrus rolls, which contained extensive hieroglyphic records, burned as works of the devil. It wasn't as if the Mayans were given a choice about remaining pagan or converting to Christianity. And there was the forcible conversion to Christianity of large numbers of Muslims and Jews in Spain after the Reconquista from 1492.
Nor have all Christian theological streams concluded that human reason can comprehend God's reason.
There have been times and places where Islam was more tolerant than Christianity. And significant Muslim theological traditions, though not the majority, have held a vision of God as in accord with human reason very similar to the one embraced by the Pope...
The problem with the Pope's Regensburg lecture is that it laid out three intellectual traditions as unchanging, undifferentiated essences and then contrasted them with one another, to the edification of his own position. There aren't any essences.
It is always better to put forward the virtues of your tradition on their own, without attempting invidious comparisons with, and put-downs, of others...
________________________________________
It is the easy thing to see what the problems of others religions are. The fundamentalists who think the world is 6000 years old - there are a lot of problems with that. Or the Islamic "laws" that make it impossible to prosecute rape:
So, under Hudood, if a rape victim fails to present four male witnesses to the crime, she herself could face punishment.
This has made it almost impossible to prosecute rape cases.
According to the country's independent Human Rights Commission, a woman is raped every two hours and gang-raped every eight hours in Pakistan.
(This isn't much different than the case of women raped in the US military - where if the military does not find there is proof of sexual harassment/rape - the women are punished).
It is often the secular groups who challenge such thinking the most - as in the Pakistan case. Where we have a world where the religious groups are the ones pushing for wars and condoning torture and such - it is the secularists (or at least the liberally religious) who can appear the most moral. Even as the media pushes the opposite viewpoint.
Yet while there are plenty of secularists who are for human rights and environmental protections - there are many who don't give a damn and are just out for themselves. "There aren't any essences" - as Cole says. Nobody has the right to moral authority based on being religious or not. But people who justify war and torture - clearly on false pretences*** - certainly do not.
As far as I'm concerned anyone who believes President Bush when he says that there is a "struggle for civilization" (that is outside of the Bush Administration's own creation) - has abandoned reason. There is a war because Bush and company created a war.
Ghandi illuminates the Eastern reaction to Western arrogance:
In reply to a reporter's question "What do you think of Western Civilization?"
Ghandi said, "I think it would be a good idea!"
***Last week, the Senate Intelligence Committee, one of the most ardent protectors of the administration, was forced to release a report documenting once and for all that there was zero connection between Al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein, and that the administration had stupidly relied on self-serving ``intelligence" claims from exile Iraqi pretender Ahmad Chalabi and his henchmen. This report was released over the objection of the committee's chairman, Pat Roberts, an ardent administration apologist, because two other Republican moderates, Senators Chuck Hagel and Olympia J. Snowe, voted with committee Democrats that the information be made public..
Juan Cole's reaction (posted today - 9/18):
Some Western observers think that this episode was the Pope's play for moral authority at a time of a clash between Islam and the West.
I think that is right. Benedict was trying to stake out a position that Western godless atheism is actually unreasonable, and that hard line coercive religion that disregards reason is wrong (he incorrectly identified this position as that of Muhammad and the Quran). Thus, the Catholic Church, with its reasoned faith, becomes the ideal, avoiding the errors of the two extremes (Western secularism and Islam). To accomplish this positioning, Benedict XVI had to reduce to cardboard figures all three traditions-- Western rationalism, Roman Catholicism, and Islam.
Christianity hasn't always stood for sweet reasonableness and the harmony of faith and science and the primacy of the individual conscience. One of the reasons we know so little about Mayan history is that Catholic authorities had Mayan papyrus rolls, which contained extensive hieroglyphic records, burned as works of the devil. It wasn't as if the Mayans were given a choice about remaining pagan or converting to Christianity. And there was the forcible conversion to Christianity of large numbers of Muslims and Jews in Spain after the Reconquista from 1492.
Nor have all Christian theological streams concluded that human reason can comprehend God's reason.
There have been times and places where Islam was more tolerant than Christianity. And significant Muslim theological traditions, though not the majority, have held a vision of God as in accord with human reason very similar to the one embraced by the Pope...
The problem with the Pope's Regensburg lecture is that it laid out three intellectual traditions as unchanging, undifferentiated essences and then contrasted them with one another, to the edification of his own position. There aren't any essences.
It is always better to put forward the virtues of your tradition on their own, without attempting invidious comparisons with, and put-downs, of others...
________________________________________
It is the easy thing to see what the problems of others religions are. The fundamentalists who think the world is 6000 years old - there are a lot of problems with that. Or the Islamic "laws" that make it impossible to prosecute rape:
So, under Hudood, if a rape victim fails to present four male witnesses to the crime, she herself could face punishment.
This has made it almost impossible to prosecute rape cases.
According to the country's independent Human Rights Commission, a woman is raped every two hours and gang-raped every eight hours in Pakistan.
(This isn't much different than the case of women raped in the US military - where if the military does not find there is proof of sexual harassment/rape - the women are punished).
It is often the secular groups who challenge such thinking the most - as in the Pakistan case. Where we have a world where the religious groups are the ones pushing for wars and condoning torture and such - it is the secularists (or at least the liberally religious) who can appear the most moral. Even as the media pushes the opposite viewpoint.
Yet while there are plenty of secularists who are for human rights and environmental protections - there are many who don't give a damn and are just out for themselves. "There aren't any essences" - as Cole says. Nobody has the right to moral authority based on being religious or not. But people who justify war and torture - clearly on false pretences*** - certainly do not.
As far as I'm concerned anyone who believes President Bush when he says that there is a "struggle for civilization" (that is outside of the Bush Administration's own creation) - has abandoned reason. There is a war because Bush and company created a war.
Ghandi illuminates the Eastern reaction to Western arrogance:
In reply to a reporter's question "What do you think of Western Civilization?"
Ghandi said, "I think it would be a good idea!"
***Last week, the Senate Intelligence Committee, one of the most ardent protectors of the administration, was forced to release a report documenting once and for all that there was zero connection between Al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein, and that the administration had stupidly relied on self-serving ``intelligence" claims from exile Iraqi pretender Ahmad Chalabi and his henchmen. This report was released over the objection of the committee's chairman, Pat Roberts, an ardent administration apologist, because two other Republican moderates, Senators Chuck Hagel and Olympia J. Snowe, voted with committee Democrats that the information be made public..
Crabs, Stingrays, and Rattlesnakes
I'm back from frolicking with the crabs down in Florida. I'm rather fond of the Ghost crabs, and Fiddler crabs and Blue (?) crabs (the crabs that liked to sit where the surf rushed in - that either tried to scare us away with their claws - or run and hide or bury themselves - depending on the crab).
We also enjoyed seeing the stingrays that tended to sit just off the shoreline in the early mornings at the St. Joseph Peninsula State Park. They are quite lovely animals - this variety was pinkish/light brown - just about the colors of the sand early in the day. If you knew to look for them - they were easy to see - but they would also be easy to miss.
Sharks are the stingray's main predator - and I had seen one a few yards out one evening as I was walking down the beach. I expect the stingrays hang out a ways out later in the day - because I didn't notice them then. A little while after I saw the shark - I saw a group of people wrestling with something on the beach. It turned out to be a shark - probably the same one - caught on someone's fishing hook. The captors managed to free it and it swam off.
At night - we saw Bioluminescence in the waves as they rolled in. (More about that here). That is an interesting sight - seeing the whites of the waves - when there is no light to light them. It was not as plentiful everywhere - some areas of the beach the waves were more lit up than others. This affect was apparently from the light of dinoflagellates (more here). Some of them would still be lit up when they got to the shore line - quickly to fade out.
We also enjoyed the area of the Wakulla River. We kayaked up and back (2 hours to go up and one to go back). Saw things like a rattlesnake swimming across the river and alligators resting lazily along the edge, leaping mullets, many turtles on logs and one manatee. Lots of birds like Kingfishers and Osprey, Anhingas, Pelicans.
St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge was another nice place to visit. Many egrets and herons of various varieties and several Roseate Spoonbills. Also - a lot of butterflies, monarchs, esp. that were there to get psyched up for their trip to Mexico.
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
The State of the World
It may be that people won't figure all this out in my lifetime. But one of my main concerns is the link between the pollution/toxins/whatever and Autism and related disorders.
There have always been people who didn't fit in so much - perhaps who had mild neurological differences. I think that that is on the rise and that people who would have had a milder version in the past now are having children who are being more seriously affected. I think that people are going to have to come to grips with the fact that we are poisoning ourselves.
It may be that people with certain genes are more susceptible (or maybe it's the pollutants that are causing mutations) - maybe everyone else will go along their merry way - blind to the fact that some people's systems are stressed from the environment. As long as they don't see it affecting them or their family - what's to worry?
I think it's time for everyone to be worried.
For a long time, I think people figured that people in certain areas were being polluted and that if you had the money and resources you could escape to greener pastures. Now - it's everywhere. People who thought they could just drink bottled water - when the tap water was bad - now are faced with bottles that leach out cancer-causing toxins. People who thought they were eating the best that money could buy in tuna steaks find out that those steaks were laden with mercury.
Health was always of premium importance in my family. But when the environment is messed up - there is only so much you can do. Too bad we have a government who isn't taking this seriously - who doesn't even do the tests or try to regulate that which should be regulated for all of our health. Or that sees the world as something that we all share - that we all affect and are affected by. I don't know what planet those people plan on living on. I could sell them one - but my planets are about big enough for a flea - and the ecosystems are pretty sparse.
The idea to take a lot of the resources that we have here on earth and use them to start a place to live on another planet - should only be seen as a threat to everyone living here. I don't think it's realistic or reasonable or anything else. It's that kind of thinking - that one place can be trashed and people can move on to another (or that it makes no difference what people do to their environment) - that has us in this situation to begin with.
_____
There have always been people who didn't fit in so much - perhaps who had mild neurological differences. I think that that is on the rise and that people who would have had a milder version in the past now are having children who are being more seriously affected. I think that people are going to have to come to grips with the fact that we are poisoning ourselves.
It may be that people with certain genes are more susceptible (or maybe it's the pollutants that are causing mutations) - maybe everyone else will go along their merry way - blind to the fact that some people's systems are stressed from the environment. As long as they don't see it affecting them or their family - what's to worry?
I think it's time for everyone to be worried.
For a long time, I think people figured that people in certain areas were being polluted and that if you had the money and resources you could escape to greener pastures. Now - it's everywhere. People who thought they could just drink bottled water - when the tap water was bad - now are faced with bottles that leach out cancer-causing toxins. People who thought they were eating the best that money could buy in tuna steaks find out that those steaks were laden with mercury.
Health was always of premium importance in my family. But when the environment is messed up - there is only so much you can do. Too bad we have a government who isn't taking this seriously - who doesn't even do the tests or try to regulate that which should be regulated for all of our health. Or that sees the world as something that we all share - that we all affect and are affected by. I don't know what planet those people plan on living on. I could sell them one - but my planets are about big enough for a flea - and the ecosystems are pretty sparse.
The idea to take a lot of the resources that we have here on earth and use them to start a place to live on another planet - should only be seen as a threat to everyone living here. I don't think it's realistic or reasonable or anything else. It's that kind of thinking - that one place can be trashed and people can move on to another (or that it makes no difference what people do to their environment) - that has us in this situation to begin with.
_____
Don't Drink the Water
Male Bass Across Region Found to Be Bearing Eggs
Pollution Concerns Arise In Drinking-Water Source
Abnormally developed fish, possessing both male and female characteristics, have been discovered in the Potomac River in the District and in tributaries across the region, federal scientists say -- raising alarms that the river is tainted by pollution that drives hormone systems haywire...
The cause of the abnormalities is unknown, but scientists suspect a class of waterborne contaminants that can confuse animals' growth and reproductive systems. These pollutants are poorly understood, however, leaving many observers with questions about what the problems in fish mean for the Potomac and the millions of people who take their tap water from it....
Pollutants that mimic hormones have emerged as a worldwide concern in the past decade, blamed for problems in animals as diverse as alligators, minnows and polar bears. Although scientists say the research is in its infancy, they have identified a large array of pollutants that might affect animals, including human estrogen from processed sewage, animal estrogen from farm manure, some pesticides and additives to soap....
In 1996, Congress required the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to help answer that question by developing a screening program to identify which chemicals are endocrine disruptors. Ten years later, the agency hasn't tested a single chemical, officials said....
Pollution Concerns Arise In Drinking-Water Source
Abnormally developed fish, possessing both male and female characteristics, have been discovered in the Potomac River in the District and in tributaries across the region, federal scientists say -- raising alarms that the river is tainted by pollution that drives hormone systems haywire...
The cause of the abnormalities is unknown, but scientists suspect a class of waterborne contaminants that can confuse animals' growth and reproductive systems. These pollutants are poorly understood, however, leaving many observers with questions about what the problems in fish mean for the Potomac and the millions of people who take their tap water from it....
Pollutants that mimic hormones have emerged as a worldwide concern in the past decade, blamed for problems in animals as diverse as alligators, minnows and polar bears. Although scientists say the research is in its infancy, they have identified a large array of pollutants that might affect animals, including human estrogen from processed sewage, animal estrogen from farm manure, some pesticides and additives to soap....
In 1996, Congress required the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to help answer that question by developing a screening program to identify which chemicals are endocrine disruptors. Ten years later, the agency hasn't tested a single chemical, officials said....
Tuesday, September 05, 2006
Autism Links
There is a news story out about older fathers being more likely to father autistic children than younger fathers.
It seems to me that you can't draw any conclusions just based on the information given - more information is needed. It may be that - as some have suggested - that environmental conditions could contribute to autism. So the longer a father was alive - the more likely problem toxins could accumulate that could be passed on (like mercury that accumulates in fish).
There is also some correlation with problems with immune systems and with diet - it's possible that that could figure in somehow.
It is also thought that there is a genetic link - and there is the idea that parents with High Functioning Autism (like Asperger's) are more likely to have children with Autism. It seems quite likely to me that parents (and esp. fathers - as males are thought to be more likely to have Autism anyway) with High Functioning Autism may be far more likely to have children later in life. That would be something to study. So it may take them longer to get that computer programming job, to decided to get married, to settle down into a routine where they would decide to start a family.
Or it could a combination. The study doesn't look at the why. I don't think it makes sense to assume that having children later in life - by itself - would be a cause for autism in children - without putting together all of the pieces.
I noticed this website has a collection of articles on related topics - like "Study Addresses Schizophrenia Link" (also about older fathers). I have seen other studies that connect Schizophrenia to where you live and what you eat - which could also be toxins and genes. Some people see links between Schizophrenia and Autism.
It seems to me that you can't draw any conclusions just based on the information given - more information is needed. It may be that - as some have suggested - that environmental conditions could contribute to autism. So the longer a father was alive - the more likely problem toxins could accumulate that could be passed on (like mercury that accumulates in fish).
There is also some correlation with problems with immune systems and with diet - it's possible that that could figure in somehow.
It is also thought that there is a genetic link - and there is the idea that parents with High Functioning Autism (like Asperger's) are more likely to have children with Autism. It seems quite likely to me that parents (and esp. fathers - as males are thought to be more likely to have Autism anyway) with High Functioning Autism may be far more likely to have children later in life. That would be something to study. So it may take them longer to get that computer programming job, to decided to get married, to settle down into a routine where they would decide to start a family.
Or it could a combination. The study doesn't look at the why. I don't think it makes sense to assume that having children later in life - by itself - would be a cause for autism in children - without putting together all of the pieces.
I noticed this website has a collection of articles on related topics - like "Study Addresses Schizophrenia Link" (also about older fathers). I have seen other studies that connect Schizophrenia to where you live and what you eat - which could also be toxins and genes. Some people see links between Schizophrenia and Autism.
The Suppression of Sense
Iranian president wants to purge profs
TEHRAN, Iran - Iran's hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called Tuesday for a purge of liberal and secular teachers from the country's universities, urging students to return to 1980s-style radicalism.
"Today, students should shout at the president and ask why liberal and secular university lecturers are present in the universities," the official Islamic Republic News Agency quoted Ahmadinejad as saying during a meeting with a group of students.
_______
The Iranian president is sounding like David Horowitz or something. "For Horowitz, seizing control of universities from their liberal hegemons is no different from smoking Al-Qaeda henchmen out of their hillside caves. As he told an audience of College Republicans last summer, "Universities are a base of the left. Universities are a base for terrorism." quoted at Max Blumenthal
_______
The reason why "liberal" lecturers are present in universities is that it tends to be "liberal" people who see "Liberal Arts" & "Arts and Sciences" as having value. Learning, knowledge, the scientific method and all that. Those things that are threat to (fundamentalist type) religion and people like Horowitz and Pat Robertson and apparently the occupiers of Iraq (250 to 500 intellectuals and academics have been killed or have been "disappeared").
What nonsense abounds with these groups of religious warriors battling it out - and suppressing sense on both sides.
TEHRAN, Iran - Iran's hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called Tuesday for a purge of liberal and secular teachers from the country's universities, urging students to return to 1980s-style radicalism.
"Today, students should shout at the president and ask why liberal and secular university lecturers are present in the universities," the official Islamic Republic News Agency quoted Ahmadinejad as saying during a meeting with a group of students.
_______
The Iranian president is sounding like David Horowitz or something. "For Horowitz, seizing control of universities from their liberal hegemons is no different from smoking Al-Qaeda henchmen out of their hillside caves. As he told an audience of College Republicans last summer, "Universities are a base of the left. Universities are a base for terrorism." quoted at Max Blumenthal
_______
The reason why "liberal" lecturers are present in universities is that it tends to be "liberal" people who see "Liberal Arts" & "Arts and Sciences" as having value. Learning, knowledge, the scientific method and all that. Those things that are threat to (fundamentalist type) religion and people like Horowitz and Pat Robertson and apparently the occupiers of Iraq (250 to 500 intellectuals and academics have been killed or have been "disappeared").
What nonsense abounds with these groups of religious warriors battling it out - and suppressing sense on both sides.
Monday, September 04, 2006
"Spilling the Beans"
From the Institute of Responsible Technology
Monsanto Whistleblower Says Genetically Engineered Crops May Cause Disease
By Jeffrey M. Smith
Monsanto was quite happy to recruit young Kirk Azevedo to sell their genetically engineered cotton. Kirk had grown up on a California farm and had worked in several jobs monitoring and testing pesticides and herbicides. Kirk was bright, ambitious, handsome and idealistic—the perfect candidate to project the company’s “Save the world through genetic engineering” image.
It was that image, in fact, that convinced Kirk to take the job in 1996. “When I was contacted by the headhunter from Monsanto, I began to study the company, namely the work of their CEO, Robert Shapiro.” Kirk was thoroughly impressed with Shapiro’s promise of a golden future through genetically modified (GM) crops. “He described how we would reduce the in-process waste from manufacturing, turn our fields into factories and produce anything from lifesaving drugs to insect-resistant plants. It was fascinating to me.” Kirk thought, “Here we go. I can do something to help the world and make it a better place.”
He left his job and accepted a position at Monsanto, rising quickly to become the facilitator for GM cotton sales in California and Arizona. He would often repeat Shapiro’s vision to customers, researchers, even fellow employees. After about three months, he visited Monsanto’s St. Louis headquarters for the first time for new employee training. There too, he took the opportunity to let his colleagues know how enthusiastic he was about Monsanto’s technology that was going to reduce waste, decrease poverty and help the world. Soon after the meeting, however, his world was shaken.
“A vice president pulled me aside,” recalled Kirk. “He told me something like, ‘Wait a second. What Robert Shapiro says is one thing. But what we do is something else. We are here to make money. He is the front man who tells a story. We don’t even understand what he is saying.’”
Kirk felt let down. “I went in there with the idea of helping and healing and came out with ‘Oh, I guess it is just another profit-oriented company.’” He returned to California, still holding out hopes that the new technology could make a difference.
Possible Toxins in GM Plants
Kirk was developing the market in the West for two types of GM cotton. Bt cotton was engineered with a gene from a soil bacterium, Bacillus thuringiensis. Organic farmers use the natural form of the bacterium as an insecticide, spraying it occasionally during times of high pest infestation. Monsanto engineers, however, isolated and then altered the gene that produces the Bt-toxin, and inserted it into the DNA of the cotton plant. Now every cell of their Bt cotton produces a toxic protein. The other variety was Roundup Ready® cotton. It contains another bacterial gene that enables the plant to survive an otherwise toxic dose of Monsanto’s Roundup® herbicide. Since the patent on Roundup’s main active ingredient, glyphosate, was due to expire in 2000, the company was planning to sell Roundup Ready seeds that were bundled with their Roundup herbicide, effectively extending their brand’s dominance in the herbicide market.
In the summer of 1997, Kirk spoke with a Monsanto scientist who was doing some tests on Roundup Ready cotton. Using a “Western blot” analysis, the scientist was able to identify different proteins by their molecular weight. He told Kirk that the GM cotton not only contained the intended protein produced by the Roundup Ready gene, but also extra proteins that were not normally produced in the plant. These unknown proteins had been created during the gene insertion process.
Gene insertion was done using a gene gun (particle bombardment). Kirk, who has an undergraduate degree in biochemistry, understood this to be “a kind of barbaric and messy method of genetic engineering, where you use a gun-like apparatus to bombard the plant tissue with genes that are wrapped around tiny gold particles.” He knew that particle bombardment can cause unpredictable changes and mutations in the DNA, which might result in new types of proteins.
The scientist dismissed these newly created proteins in the cotton plant as unimportant background noise, but Kirk wasn’t convinced. Proteins can have allergenic or toxic properties, but no one at Monsanto had done a safety assessment on them. (more at link)
Monsanto Whistleblower Says Genetically Engineered Crops May Cause Disease
By Jeffrey M. Smith
Monsanto was quite happy to recruit young Kirk Azevedo to sell their genetically engineered cotton. Kirk had grown up on a California farm and had worked in several jobs monitoring and testing pesticides and herbicides. Kirk was bright, ambitious, handsome and idealistic—the perfect candidate to project the company’s “Save the world through genetic engineering” image.
It was that image, in fact, that convinced Kirk to take the job in 1996. “When I was contacted by the headhunter from Monsanto, I began to study the company, namely the work of their CEO, Robert Shapiro.” Kirk was thoroughly impressed with Shapiro’s promise of a golden future through genetically modified (GM) crops. “He described how we would reduce the in-process waste from manufacturing, turn our fields into factories and produce anything from lifesaving drugs to insect-resistant plants. It was fascinating to me.” Kirk thought, “Here we go. I can do something to help the world and make it a better place.”
He left his job and accepted a position at Monsanto, rising quickly to become the facilitator for GM cotton sales in California and Arizona. He would often repeat Shapiro’s vision to customers, researchers, even fellow employees. After about three months, he visited Monsanto’s St. Louis headquarters for the first time for new employee training. There too, he took the opportunity to let his colleagues know how enthusiastic he was about Monsanto’s technology that was going to reduce waste, decrease poverty and help the world. Soon after the meeting, however, his world was shaken.
“A vice president pulled me aside,” recalled Kirk. “He told me something like, ‘Wait a second. What Robert Shapiro says is one thing. But what we do is something else. We are here to make money. He is the front man who tells a story. We don’t even understand what he is saying.’”
Kirk felt let down. “I went in there with the idea of helping and healing and came out with ‘Oh, I guess it is just another profit-oriented company.’” He returned to California, still holding out hopes that the new technology could make a difference.
Possible Toxins in GM Plants
Kirk was developing the market in the West for two types of GM cotton. Bt cotton was engineered with a gene from a soil bacterium, Bacillus thuringiensis. Organic farmers use the natural form of the bacterium as an insecticide, spraying it occasionally during times of high pest infestation. Monsanto engineers, however, isolated and then altered the gene that produces the Bt-toxin, and inserted it into the DNA of the cotton plant. Now every cell of their Bt cotton produces a toxic protein. The other variety was Roundup Ready® cotton. It contains another bacterial gene that enables the plant to survive an otherwise toxic dose of Monsanto’s Roundup® herbicide. Since the patent on Roundup’s main active ingredient, glyphosate, was due to expire in 2000, the company was planning to sell Roundup Ready seeds that were bundled with their Roundup herbicide, effectively extending their brand’s dominance in the herbicide market.
In the summer of 1997, Kirk spoke with a Monsanto scientist who was doing some tests on Roundup Ready cotton. Using a “Western blot” analysis, the scientist was able to identify different proteins by their molecular weight. He told Kirk that the GM cotton not only contained the intended protein produced by the Roundup Ready gene, but also extra proteins that were not normally produced in the plant. These unknown proteins had been created during the gene insertion process.
Gene insertion was done using a gene gun (particle bombardment). Kirk, who has an undergraduate degree in biochemistry, understood this to be “a kind of barbaric and messy method of genetic engineering, where you use a gun-like apparatus to bombard the plant tissue with genes that are wrapped around tiny gold particles.” He knew that particle bombardment can cause unpredictable changes and mutations in the DNA, which might result in new types of proteins.
The scientist dismissed these newly created proteins in the cotton plant as unimportant background noise, but Kirk wasn’t convinced. Proteins can have allergenic or toxic properties, but no one at Monsanto had done a safety assessment on them. (more at link)
"Girls and Science: Call for Proposals"
As seen over at Cocktail Party Physics:
The Feminist Press
The Feminist Press, in collaboration with The National Science Foundation, is exploring new ways to get girls and young women interested in science. While there are many library resources featuring biographies of women scientists that are suitable for school reports, these are rarely the books that girls seek out themselves to read for pleasure. What would a book, or series of books, about science that girls really want to read look like? That is the question we want to answer.
You’ll find several requests for specific proposals at our website. One calls for scientific detective stories based on the life, research, and discoveries of real women scientists. Another calls for stories featuring real young women—aspiring gymnasts, ice skaters, actors, dancers--using a knowledge of science to help them become really good at what they do. A third recognizes how popular Manga and graphic novels are with girls, and asks for imaginative new collaborations between Manga writers and artists to create adventures about girls who use real science to accomplish their goals. If any of these three book ideas interest you, please check out our website (www.feministpress.org) for more information about deadline and how to submit proposals.
But we do not want to limit our exploration. If you are a writer and have an idea for a book or series of books that is guaranteed to get girls excited about science, we want to hear from you. You may want to create a girl detective series featuring a set of friends—from geeks to sports nuts to mechanical geniuses—each with a knowledge of science that helps in solving crimes. You may want to create a story about a shy girl who goes on field trips with her favorite aunt, a forensic anthropologist, and helps to solve problems as she learns to think like a Dr. Bones. You may want to tell the story of a young science fiction writer who needs to study different fields of science in order to create her adventures. Whatever your vision, if you can write like a dream and can create works that are guaranteed to instill a curiosity about science in girls and young women, send us your proposals. We want to hear from you.
All proposals will be reviewed. Several proposals will be offered standard contracts.
Publisher: The Feminist Press at City University of New York as part of a National Science Foundation grant. (see feministpress.org)
Deadline: October 31, 2006
Format: Proposals should describe the project, the plot, characters, and length. No more than ten pages please.
How to submit: Electronic submission (word doc) to fhowe@gc.cuny.edu with the subject line "Girls and Science." Please include in the body of your email your address, phone number, email address and a short bio. Please also attach a brief sample of your writing (about five pages), and a resume that includes information about publications.
The Feminist Press
The Feminist Press, in collaboration with The National Science Foundation, is exploring new ways to get girls and young women interested in science. While there are many library resources featuring biographies of women scientists that are suitable for school reports, these are rarely the books that girls seek out themselves to read for pleasure. What would a book, or series of books, about science that girls really want to read look like? That is the question we want to answer.
You’ll find several requests for specific proposals at our website. One calls for scientific detective stories based on the life, research, and discoveries of real women scientists. Another calls for stories featuring real young women—aspiring gymnasts, ice skaters, actors, dancers--using a knowledge of science to help them become really good at what they do. A third recognizes how popular Manga and graphic novels are with girls, and asks for imaginative new collaborations between Manga writers and artists to create adventures about girls who use real science to accomplish their goals. If any of these three book ideas interest you, please check out our website (www.feministpress.org) for more information about deadline and how to submit proposals.
But we do not want to limit our exploration. If you are a writer and have an idea for a book or series of books that is guaranteed to get girls excited about science, we want to hear from you. You may want to create a girl detective series featuring a set of friends—from geeks to sports nuts to mechanical geniuses—each with a knowledge of science that helps in solving crimes. You may want to create a story about a shy girl who goes on field trips with her favorite aunt, a forensic anthropologist, and helps to solve problems as she learns to think like a Dr. Bones. You may want to tell the story of a young science fiction writer who needs to study different fields of science in order to create her adventures. Whatever your vision, if you can write like a dream and can create works that are guaranteed to instill a curiosity about science in girls and young women, send us your proposals. We want to hear from you.
All proposals will be reviewed. Several proposals will be offered standard contracts.
Publisher: The Feminist Press at City University of New York as part of a National Science Foundation grant. (see feministpress.org)
Deadline: October 31, 2006
Format: Proposals should describe the project, the plot, characters, and length. No more than ten pages please.
How to submit: Electronic submission (word doc) to fhowe@gc.cuny.edu with the subject line "Girls and Science." Please include in the body of your email your address, phone number, email address and a short bio. Please also attach a brief sample of your writing (about five pages), and a resume that includes information about publications.
Friday, September 01, 2006
Electric Mini
What could be - Electric Mini: 0-60 in 4 Seconds: It Has Motors In Its Wheels
A British engineering firm has put together a high-performance hybrid version of BMW's Mini Cooper. The PML Mini QED has a top speed of 150 mph, a 0-60 mph time of 4.5 seconds. The car uses a small gasoline engine with four 160 horsepower electric motors — one on each wheel. The car has been designed to run for four hours of combined urban/extra urban driving, powered only by a battery and bank of ultra capacitors. The QED supports an all-electric range of 200-250 miles and has a total range of about 932 miles (1,500 km). For longer journeys at higher speeds, a small conventional internal combustion engine (ICE) is used to re-charge the battery. In this hybrid mode, fuel economies of up to 80mpg can be achieved....
“Working in partnership with our customer, Synergy Innovations, we set out to demonstrate what our electric wheel technology is capable of. We simply took a standard BMW Mini One, discarded the engine, the disc brakes, the wheels, and the gearbox. These components were replaced by four of our electric wheels, a lithium polymer battery, a large ultra capacitor, a very small ICE with generator (so small it almost fits alongside the spare wheel), an energy management system and a sexy in-car display module.”
...All braking is performed by the wheel motors acting as very efficient electrical generators which return almost all of the energy back to the battery system. The beauty of this dual-circuit, ultra safe system is that your green conscience can be quite content even when accelerating hard, since you are assured of collecting most of the expended energy when it is time to slow down rapidly. (more at link).
A British engineering firm has put together a high-performance hybrid version of BMW's Mini Cooper. The PML Mini QED has a top speed of 150 mph, a 0-60 mph time of 4.5 seconds. The car uses a small gasoline engine with four 160 horsepower electric motors — one on each wheel. The car has been designed to run for four hours of combined urban/extra urban driving, powered only by a battery and bank of ultra capacitors. The QED supports an all-electric range of 200-250 miles and has a total range of about 932 miles (1,500 km). For longer journeys at higher speeds, a small conventional internal combustion engine (ICE) is used to re-charge the battery. In this hybrid mode, fuel economies of up to 80mpg can be achieved....
“Working in partnership with our customer, Synergy Innovations, we set out to demonstrate what our electric wheel technology is capable of. We simply took a standard BMW Mini One, discarded the engine, the disc brakes, the wheels, and the gearbox. These components were replaced by four of our electric wheels, a lithium polymer battery, a large ultra capacitor, a very small ICE with generator (so small it almost fits alongside the spare wheel), an energy management system and a sexy in-car display module.”
...All braking is performed by the wheel motors acting as very efficient electrical generators which return almost all of the energy back to the battery system. The beauty of this dual-circuit, ultra safe system is that your green conscience can be quite content even when accelerating hard, since you are assured of collecting most of the expended energy when it is time to slow down rapidly. (more at link).
Iran, Treaties, etc.
America withdraws from ABM treaty
US President George W Bush has officially announced that the US will withdraw from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty with Russia.
Russia had previously warned that a US withdrawal would trigger a new nuclear arms race and weaken international security.
Meanwhile...
Iran's defiance; World powers to meet
...The United States wants tough economic sanctions to force Tehran to comply with the demand, but several other members of the 15-member Council are not so enthusiastic.
Among the permanent members, at least China and France have made it known that the passing of the August 31 deadline does not mean that there can be no talks. Russia too is not in favour of tough sanctions.
Bolton on Iran: "military option not off the table"
"Accusing Tehran of breaking its obligations under the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty and providing weapons and financial support to Hezbollah and Hamas, Bolton said: "...the consequences of an Iran with nuclear weapons are not only the capability they're seeking to deliver them through ballistic missiles, but also the possibility they could transfer a nuclear weapon to a terrorist group."
_____
It sounds like the US is going to invade any country that has helped/will help organizations in support of the Palestinians. And esp. now with the Palestinians electing Hamas leaders - Hamas could be seen as representatives of them. If the Palestinians were recognized as having their own country - there may be no reason to fight. Mostly it seems that they are given more reasons to want to fight - not less.
The battle is heating up.
US President George W Bush has officially announced that the US will withdraw from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty with Russia.
Russia had previously warned that a US withdrawal would trigger a new nuclear arms race and weaken international security.
Meanwhile...
Iran's defiance; World powers to meet
...The United States wants tough economic sanctions to force Tehran to comply with the demand, but several other members of the 15-member Council are not so enthusiastic.
Among the permanent members, at least China and France have made it known that the passing of the August 31 deadline does not mean that there can be no talks. Russia too is not in favour of tough sanctions.
Bolton on Iran: "military option not off the table"
"Accusing Tehran of breaking its obligations under the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty and providing weapons and financial support to Hezbollah and Hamas, Bolton said: "...the consequences of an Iran with nuclear weapons are not only the capability they're seeking to deliver them through ballistic missiles, but also the possibility they could transfer a nuclear weapon to a terrorist group."
_____
It sounds like the US is going to invade any country that has helped/will help organizations in support of the Palestinians. And esp. now with the Palestinians electing Hamas leaders - Hamas could be seen as representatives of them. If the Palestinians were recognized as having their own country - there may be no reason to fight. Mostly it seems that they are given more reasons to want to fight - not less.
The battle is heating up.
"Global Meltdown"
From the Guardian:
Scientists fear that global warming will bring climatic turbulence, with changes coming in big jumps rather than gradually...
The story of research into sea level rise is typical of how perceptions have changed in the past five years. The conventional view - you can still read it in reports from the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change - holds that sea levels will start to rise as a pulse of warming works its way gradually from the surface through the 2km- and 3km-thick ice sheets on Greenland and Antarctica, melting them. The ice is thick and the heat will penetrate only slowly. So we have hundreds, probably thousands, of years to make our retreat to higher ground.
Recent research, however, shows that idea is wholly wrong. Glaciologists forgot about crevasses. What is actually happening is that ice is melting at the surface and forming lakes that drain down into the crevasses. In 10 seconds, the water is at the base of the ice sheet, where it lubricates the join between ice and rock. Then the whole ice sheet starts to float downhill towards the ocean.
"These flows completely change our understanding of the dynamics of ice sheet destruction," says Alley. "Even five years ago, we didn't know about this."
This summer, lakes several kilometres across formed on the Greenland ice sheet, and drained away to the depths. Scientists measured how, within hours of the lakes forming, the vast ice sheets physically rose up, as if floating on water, and slid towards the ocean. That is why Greenland glaciers are flowing faster, and there are more icebergs breaking off into the Atlantic Ocean. That is why average sea level rise has increased from 2mm a year in the early 1990s to more than 3mm a year now.
Soon it could be a great deal more. Jim Hansen of Nasa, George Bush's top climate modeller, predicts that sea level rise will be 10 times faster within a few years, as Greenland destabilises. "Building an ice sheet takes a long time," he says. "But destroying it can be explosively rapid."
Alarmist? No. It has happened before, he says. During the final few centuries of the last ice age, the sea level rose 20 metres in 400 years, an average of 20 times faster than now. These were sudden, violent times. And the melting was caused by tiny wobbles in the Earth's orbit that changed the heat balance of the planet by only a fraction as much as our emissions of greenhouse gases are doing today.
Violent change
There is more evidence of abrupt and violent change, most of it culled from ice cores, lake sediments, tree rings and other natural archives of climate. We now know that the last ice age was not a stable cold era but near-permanent climate change. Towards the end, around 11,000 years ago, average temperatures in parts of the Arctic rose by 16C or more within a decade. Alley believes it happened within a single year, though he says the evidence in the ice cores is not precise enough to prove it....
Scientists fear that global warming will bring climatic turbulence, with changes coming in big jumps rather than gradually...
The story of research into sea level rise is typical of how perceptions have changed in the past five years. The conventional view - you can still read it in reports from the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change - holds that sea levels will start to rise as a pulse of warming works its way gradually from the surface through the 2km- and 3km-thick ice sheets on Greenland and Antarctica, melting them. The ice is thick and the heat will penetrate only slowly. So we have hundreds, probably thousands, of years to make our retreat to higher ground.
Recent research, however, shows that idea is wholly wrong. Glaciologists forgot about crevasses. What is actually happening is that ice is melting at the surface and forming lakes that drain down into the crevasses. In 10 seconds, the water is at the base of the ice sheet, where it lubricates the join between ice and rock. Then the whole ice sheet starts to float downhill towards the ocean.
"These flows completely change our understanding of the dynamics of ice sheet destruction," says Alley. "Even five years ago, we didn't know about this."
This summer, lakes several kilometres across formed on the Greenland ice sheet, and drained away to the depths. Scientists measured how, within hours of the lakes forming, the vast ice sheets physically rose up, as if floating on water, and slid towards the ocean. That is why Greenland glaciers are flowing faster, and there are more icebergs breaking off into the Atlantic Ocean. That is why average sea level rise has increased from 2mm a year in the early 1990s to more than 3mm a year now.
Soon it could be a great deal more. Jim Hansen of Nasa, George Bush's top climate modeller, predicts that sea level rise will be 10 times faster within a few years, as Greenland destabilises. "Building an ice sheet takes a long time," he says. "But destroying it can be explosively rapid."
Alarmist? No. It has happened before, he says. During the final few centuries of the last ice age, the sea level rose 20 metres in 400 years, an average of 20 times faster than now. These were sudden, violent times. And the melting was caused by tiny wobbles in the Earth's orbit that changed the heat balance of the planet by only a fraction as much as our emissions of greenhouse gases are doing today.
Violent change
There is more evidence of abrupt and violent change, most of it culled from ice cores, lake sediments, tree rings and other natural archives of climate. We now know that the last ice age was not a stable cold era but near-permanent climate change. Towards the end, around 11,000 years ago, average temperatures in parts of the Arctic rose by 16C or more within a decade. Alley believes it happened within a single year, though he says the evidence in the ice cores is not precise enough to prove it....
"One Thing to Do About Food"
One Thing to Do About Food: A Forum
One thing is - that I am glad that I have for pretty much forever not eaten much in the way of processed foods. I prefer to "cook from scratch". I never liked things with too many "ingredients". The idea of flavors created in a lab does not appeal to me. And I don't think much of advertising. I suggest that people mute TV commercials - at the very least. And eat real food. It's pretty simple, really.
And I prefer vegetarianism as a sustainability choice - and healthwise as well.
________________ (updated 9.1)
Some Highlights from the "forum":
Problems -
Stealth advertising directed at children ( also a problem for adults).
"The National Uniformity for Food Act of 2005, passed by the House and now before the Senate...would prevent states from having food safety or labeling requirements stricter than those of the federal government. In the name of "uniformity," it would impose rules that are uniformly bad."
The Farm bill - Farm subsidies - corn & soy (at the expense of other vegetables, etc. - making the other produce more expensive) subsidizing promoting high fructose corn syrup, etc. (high calorie / low nutrition) - the support of factory farms.
"The farm bill writes the regulatory rules governing the production of meat in this country, determining whether the meat we eat comes from sprawling, brutal, polluting factory farms and the big four meatpackers (which control 80 percent of the market) or from local farms."
"In 1998 India's indigenous edible oils made from mustard, coconut, sesame, linseed and groundnut processed in artisanal cold-press mills were banned, using "food safety" as an excuse. The restrictions on import of soya oil were simultaneously removed.
...Millions of acres of the Amazon rainforest--the lung, liver and heart of the global climate system--are being burned to grow soya for export." (So local growers are put out of business - agri-business/Walmart wins - we lose, the planet loses).
"Like chemical agriculture, our economy is based on selling symptom treatments rather than trying to correct causes."
"They (the Powers That Be) actually torture food--applying massive doses of pesticides, sex hormones, antibiotics, genetically manipulated organisms, artificial flavorings and color, chemical preservatives, ripening gas, irradiation...and so awfully much more.
Solutions -
• Growing your own food (and/or buy local when possible).
• Celebrate community sensibilities - local food traditions - "slow food".
• Don't buy factory-farm products.
• Eat diversely (resist monoculture).
(And rally against farm subisidies - at least the way they are now. And aginst things like the "National Uniformity for Food Act" - which takes power away from citizens to work for what is in their best interests (like health). And try to limit and/or make your children aware of advertising schemes - work for controls.)
One thing is - that I am glad that I have for pretty much forever not eaten much in the way of processed foods. I prefer to "cook from scratch". I never liked things with too many "ingredients". The idea of flavors created in a lab does not appeal to me. And I don't think much of advertising. I suggest that people mute TV commercials - at the very least. And eat real food. It's pretty simple, really.
And I prefer vegetarianism as a sustainability choice - and healthwise as well.
________________ (updated 9.1)
Some Highlights from the "forum":
Problems -
Stealth advertising directed at children ( also a problem for adults).
"The National Uniformity for Food Act of 2005, passed by the House and now before the Senate...would prevent states from having food safety or labeling requirements stricter than those of the federal government. In the name of "uniformity," it would impose rules that are uniformly bad."
The Farm bill - Farm subsidies - corn & soy (at the expense of other vegetables, etc. - making the other produce more expensive) subsidizing promoting high fructose corn syrup, etc. (high calorie / low nutrition) - the support of factory farms.
"The farm bill writes the regulatory rules governing the production of meat in this country, determining whether the meat we eat comes from sprawling, brutal, polluting factory farms and the big four meatpackers (which control 80 percent of the market) or from local farms."
"In 1998 India's indigenous edible oils made from mustard, coconut, sesame, linseed and groundnut processed in artisanal cold-press mills were banned, using "food safety" as an excuse. The restrictions on import of soya oil were simultaneously removed.
...Millions of acres of the Amazon rainforest--the lung, liver and heart of the global climate system--are being burned to grow soya for export." (So local growers are put out of business - agri-business/Walmart wins - we lose, the planet loses).
"Like chemical agriculture, our economy is based on selling symptom treatments rather than trying to correct causes."
"They (the Powers That Be) actually torture food--applying massive doses of pesticides, sex hormones, antibiotics, genetically manipulated organisms, artificial flavorings and color, chemical preservatives, ripening gas, irradiation...and so awfully much more.
Solutions -
• Growing your own food (and/or buy local when possible).
• Celebrate community sensibilities - local food traditions - "slow food".
• Don't buy factory-farm products.
• Eat diversely (resist monoculture).
(And rally against farm subisidies - at least the way they are now. And aginst things like the "National Uniformity for Food Act" - which takes power away from citizens to work for what is in their best interests (like health). And try to limit and/or make your children aware of advertising schemes - work for controls.)
Speech by Mayor Anderson of Salt Lake City
This is a wonderful thing. Bush visited Salt Lake City and the Mayor gave this speech (not to Bush - but to about 8000 people).
Full transcript @ The Salt Lake Tribune
"....We are here today to insist that those who were elected to be our leaders must tell us the truth.
We are here today to insist that our news media live up to its sacred responsibility to ascertain and report the truth - rather than acting like nothing more than a bulletin board for the lies and propaganda of a manipulative, dishonest federal government.
We have been getting just about everything but the truth on matters of life and death . . . on matters upon which our nation's reputation hinges . . . on matters that directly relate to our nation's fundamental values . . . and on matters relating to the survival of our planet.
In the process, our nation has engaged in an unnecessary war, based upon false justifications. More than a hundred thousand people have been killed - and many more have been seriously maimed, brain damaged, or rendered mentally ill. Our nation's reputation throughout much of the world has been destroyed. We have many more enemies bent on our destruction than before our invasion of Iraq. And the hatred toward us has grown to the point that it will take many years, perhaps generations, to overcome the loathing created by our invasion and occupation of a Muslim country.
What incredible ineptitude and callousness for our President to talk about a Crusade while lying to us to make a case for the invasion and occupation of a Muslim country!
Our children and later generations will pay the price of the lies, the violence, the cruelty, the incompetence, and the inhumanity of the Bush administration and the lackey Congress that has so cowardly abrogated its responsibility and authority under our checks-and-balances system of government.
We are here to say, "We will not stand for it any more. No more lies. No more pre-emptive, illegal war, based on false information. No more God-is-on-our-side religious nonsense to justify this immoral, illegal war. No more inhumanity."
Let's raise our voices, and demand, "Give us the truth! Give us the truth! Give us the truth!"
(He lists many lies, etc.)
We are patriots. We're deeply concerned. And we demand change, now.
No more lies from Condoleezza Rice about whether she and President Bush were advised before 9/11 of the possibility of planes being flown into buildings by terrorists.
No more gross incompetence in the office of the Secretary of Defense.
No more torture of human beings.
No more disregard of the basic human rights enshrined in the Geneva Convention.
No more kidnapping of people and sending them off to secret prisons in nations where we can expect they will be tortured.
No more unconstitutional wiretapping of Americans.
No more proposed amendments to the United States Constitution that would, for the first time, limit fundamental rights and liberties for entire classes of people simply on the basis of sexual orientation.
No more federal land giveaways to developers.
No more increases in mercury emissions from old, dirty, dangerous coal-burning power plants.
No more backroom deals that deprive protection for millions of acres of wild lands.
No more attacks on immigrants who work so hard to build better lives.
No more inaction by Congress on fixing our hypocritical and inconsistent immigration laws and policies.
No more reliance on fiction rather than the science of global warming.
No more manipulation of our media with false propaganda.
No more disastrous cuts in funding for those most in need.
No more federal cuts in community policing and local law enforcement grant programs for our cities.
No more inaction on stopping the genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan.
No more of the Patriot Act.
No more killing.
No more pre-emptive wars.
No more contempt for our long-time allies around the world.
No more dependence on foreign oil.
No more failure to impose increased fuel efficiency standards for automobiles.
No more energy policies developed in secret meetings between Dick Cheney and his energy company cronies.
No more excuses for failing to aggressively cut global warming pollutant emissions.
No more tragically incompetent federal responses to natural disasters.
No more tax cuts for the wealthiest, while the middle class and those who are economically-disadvantaged continue to struggle more and more each year.
No more reckless spending and massive tax cuts, resulting in historic deficits and historic accumulated national debt.
No more purchasing of elections by the wealthiest corporations and individuals in the country.
No more phony, ineffective, inhumane so-called war on drugs.
No more failure to pass an increase in the minimum wage.
No more silence by the American people.
This is a new day. We will not be silent...."
________________________________________
Salt Lake City seems to be a cooler place that what one would expect. I was passing through about 15 years ago or so and came upon a really interesting art exhibit/outdoor extravaganza there.
And this is just an awesome speech by their Mayor. I hope this becomes the norm (for all Mayors) - instead of the exception.
Full transcript @ The Salt Lake Tribune
"....We are here today to insist that those who were elected to be our leaders must tell us the truth.
We are here today to insist that our news media live up to its sacred responsibility to ascertain and report the truth - rather than acting like nothing more than a bulletin board for the lies and propaganda of a manipulative, dishonest federal government.
We have been getting just about everything but the truth on matters of life and death . . . on matters upon which our nation's reputation hinges . . . on matters that directly relate to our nation's fundamental values . . . and on matters relating to the survival of our planet.
In the process, our nation has engaged in an unnecessary war, based upon false justifications. More than a hundred thousand people have been killed - and many more have been seriously maimed, brain damaged, or rendered mentally ill. Our nation's reputation throughout much of the world has been destroyed. We have many more enemies bent on our destruction than before our invasion of Iraq. And the hatred toward us has grown to the point that it will take many years, perhaps generations, to overcome the loathing created by our invasion and occupation of a Muslim country.
What incredible ineptitude and callousness for our President to talk about a Crusade while lying to us to make a case for the invasion and occupation of a Muslim country!
Our children and later generations will pay the price of the lies, the violence, the cruelty, the incompetence, and the inhumanity of the Bush administration and the lackey Congress that has so cowardly abrogated its responsibility and authority under our checks-and-balances system of government.
We are here to say, "We will not stand for it any more. No more lies. No more pre-emptive, illegal war, based on false information. No more God-is-on-our-side religious nonsense to justify this immoral, illegal war. No more inhumanity."
Let's raise our voices, and demand, "Give us the truth! Give us the truth! Give us the truth!"
(He lists many lies, etc.)
We are patriots. We're deeply concerned. And we demand change, now.
No more lies from Condoleezza Rice about whether she and President Bush were advised before 9/11 of the possibility of planes being flown into buildings by terrorists.
No more gross incompetence in the office of the Secretary of Defense.
No more torture of human beings.
No more disregard of the basic human rights enshrined in the Geneva Convention.
No more kidnapping of people and sending them off to secret prisons in nations where we can expect they will be tortured.
No more unconstitutional wiretapping of Americans.
No more proposed amendments to the United States Constitution that would, for the first time, limit fundamental rights and liberties for entire classes of people simply on the basis of sexual orientation.
No more federal land giveaways to developers.
No more increases in mercury emissions from old, dirty, dangerous coal-burning power plants.
No more backroom deals that deprive protection for millions of acres of wild lands.
No more attacks on immigrants who work so hard to build better lives.
No more inaction by Congress on fixing our hypocritical and inconsistent immigration laws and policies.
No more reliance on fiction rather than the science of global warming.
No more manipulation of our media with false propaganda.
No more disastrous cuts in funding for those most in need.
No more federal cuts in community policing and local law enforcement grant programs for our cities.
No more inaction on stopping the genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan.
No more of the Patriot Act.
No more killing.
No more pre-emptive wars.
No more contempt for our long-time allies around the world.
No more dependence on foreign oil.
No more failure to impose increased fuel efficiency standards for automobiles.
No more energy policies developed in secret meetings between Dick Cheney and his energy company cronies.
No more excuses for failing to aggressively cut global warming pollutant emissions.
No more tragically incompetent federal responses to natural disasters.
No more tax cuts for the wealthiest, while the middle class and those who are economically-disadvantaged continue to struggle more and more each year.
No more reckless spending and massive tax cuts, resulting in historic deficits and historic accumulated national debt.
No more purchasing of elections by the wealthiest corporations and individuals in the country.
No more phony, ineffective, inhumane so-called war on drugs.
No more failure to pass an increase in the minimum wage.
No more silence by the American people.
This is a new day. We will not be silent...."
________________________________________
Salt Lake City seems to be a cooler place that what one would expect. I was passing through about 15 years ago or so and came upon a really interesting art exhibit/outdoor extravaganza there.
And this is just an awesome speech by their Mayor. I hope this becomes the norm (for all Mayors) - instead of the exception.
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