04.29.08
Posted in you've got mail at 2:18 pm by nemo
via Common Dreams
But Does Business Really Outperform Government?
by Pierre Tristam
There it was, 463 words into Ronald Reagan’s first inaugural address: “In the present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.†With those words, spoken in 1981, a movement that had abscessed on the fringes of political chatter since the 1930s reclaimed power. The words meant nothing in themselves. Characteristic of Reagan’s copious plagiarism, they weren’t even new. They were a retread of the Harding-Coolige-Hoover slogan that “the business of America is business.†Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted in you've got mail at 1:39 pm by nemo
via marxmail
NY Times, April 29, 2008
Oil Price Rise Fails to Open Tap
By JAD MOUAWAD
As oil prices soared to record levels in recent years, basic economics
suggested that consumption would fall and supplies would rise as
producers drilled for more oil.
Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted in you've got mail at 1:37 pm by nemo
War with Syria?
The Military Option
By URI AVNERY
War with Syria? Peace with Syria?
A big military operation against Hamas in the Gaza strip? A cease-fire with Hamas?
Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted in In the News at 1:34 pm by nemo
Battle of the Beijing Boycotts
To boycott or not to boycott, that is the question. Rather, that’s just one of the questions activists are facing right now when it comes to China. At least four different Olympics boycott-related debates are currently taking place in print, online and broadcast media.
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Posted in you've got mail at 1:28 pm by nemo
From R-G
by Kelpie Wilson, Environment Editor
truthout.com (April 22 2008)
With food riots across the globe in the news, the immediate cause of
food shortages is simply this: grain prices have doubled over the last
year and poor people can no longer afford to buy enough food. There is
no one single cause for the price rise; it is a combination of supply
and demand. Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted in links, you've got mail at 1:27 pm by nemo
Scientists say they have found a task that can add points to a
person’s IQ – and the harder you train, the more you gain
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn13786-simple-brain-exercise-can-boost-iq.html
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Posted in links, you've got mail at 1:26 pm by nemo
Biobigotry is the persistent and often irrational desire to be
surrounded only by those species of which one approves.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/29/science/29angi.html
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Posted in you've got mail at 1:25 pm by nemo
SciftP
April 25, 2008
Will GM Crops Fuel GM Cars?
Why Biotech is Betting on Biofuels
By CARMELO RUIZ MARRERO
There is a new participant in the international deliberations on global warming and agrofuels: the biotechnology industry. The corporate giants of the genetics industry propose new technologies, including genetically modified trees, second generation cellulosic ethanol, and synthetic biology, to wean society off fossil fuels and fight climate change.
Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted in you've got mail at 1:22 pm by nemo
A Blood Libel on Our Civilization
By John Derbyshire
http://www.talkreason.org/articles/?http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZGYwMzdjOWRmNGRhOWQ4MTQyZDMxNjNhYTU1YTE5Njk=&w=MA
The conservative writer John Derbyshire critically reviews the pseudo-documentary Expelled! No Intelligence Allowed, specifically discussing the role played by the comedian Ben Stein. (Off-site link.)
published: Apr 28, 2008
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Posted in you've got mail at 1:21 pm by nemo
Dear ,
You are receiving this note because you are a free member of ZCom—the ZNet/ZMag/ZVideo/ZMI/ZSpace online community.As a free member you have access to most of our online system whose top page is found athttp://www.zcommunications.org.We hope you have found the system worthy and useful.We want to remind you of the benefits of becoming a paid sustaining member, and also send you a sample commentary by Michael Albert as an added bonus, placed at the end of this message.
Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted in you've got mail at 1:20 pm by nemo
SciftP
Genetically Engineered Crops May Cause Disease
by Jeffrey M Smith
Global Research (November 19 2006)
The Institute for Responsible Technology (IRT)
Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted in you've got mail at 1:18 pm by nemo
SciftP
From the Los Angeles Times
Solving global warming with giant vacuums
The technology works, but it would require millions of carbon dioxide filters across the planet at a cost of trillions of dollars a year.
By lan Zarembo
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
April 29, 2008
Here’s a simple solution to global warming: vacuum carbon dioxide out of the air.
Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted in you've got mail at 1:17 pm by nemo
SciftP
From the Los Angeles Times
Cuba walks tightrope of reforms
By lifting bans on cellphones and personal computers, Raul Castro is paving the way for open communications, but the regime is intent on avoiding the fate of the Soviet Union.
By Carol J. Williams
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
Read the rest of this entry »
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04.28.08
Posted in Tibet at 7:03 pm by nemo
VIEW: The Last of the Tibetans —Ian Buruma
Diaspora cultures thrive on nostalgic dreams of return. Traditions are jealously guarded, like precious heirlooms, to be passed on as long as those dreams persist
Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted in you've got mail at 6:56 pm by nemo
From R-G
Times April 28, 2008
Pariah Diplomacy
By Jimmy Carter
Atlanta A counterproductive Washington policy in recent years has been
to boycott and punish political factions or governments that refuse to
accept United States mandates. This policy makes difficult the
possibility that such leaders might moderate their policies.
Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted in you've got mail at 6:53 pm by nemo
Monday 04.28.08
Headlines…
Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted in Evolution at 4:22 pm by nemo
Patch Job
By ANNIE MURPHY PAUL
Published: April 27, 2008
KLUGE
The Haphazard Construction of the Human Mind.
By Gary Marcus.
211 pp. Houghton Mifflin Company. $24.
Nemo: Marcus’ analysis in terms of the idea of a ‘kluge’ is certainly interesting but his perspective simply betrays his Darwinian assumptions that kick in when one confronts something as complex as the brain. Let’s face it, kluge’s or not, Darwinism hasn’t yet explained the brain, or consciousness. Science doesn’t even know how it works, so how can we conclude that this idea of a kluge is really explanatory. The example given, of the astronaunts, is telling: an immensely complex and designed craft gets one ad hoc kluge repair. One suspects a similar situation with the brain.
We have distinguished here on this blog G-design and N-design, the ‘intelligent design’ process, if any, and the natural design seen in biological entities. It would be hard to see how the brain could arise without N-design. Jumping to conclusions about ‘kluges’ is gross extrapolation. In any case, as the Nasa spacecraft example shows the two are not mutually exclusive. A larger design might well show ad hoc elements in its interior. So?
_______________________
Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted in Tibet at 3:12 pm by nemo
Pug comment on Tibet post.
Note: Pug (unidentified, has been ‘rabid’ here about the Olympics issue discussed on this blog).
Pug, I take it you support torture by the Chinese goverment, and the Chinese gulag, no? If not, of course, say so.
As to Cafferty’s ‘thugs and goons’, I don’t share his language, and he goofed by not being clear that he was referring to the Chinese government, but people who use the Stalinist tactics on their own people don’t usually come in for terms of endearment.
You see the problem You are full of righteous indignation, but you are evidently unaware of or disregarding the plain facts of the case: which is that the leadership of the Chinese government is way out of line from A to Z. That evidently was Jack Cafferty’s point. Cafferty will have to speak for himself, but if his language was strong or seemingly ‘racist’ (which I doubt), his sense of shock was sincere.
A human-rights democracy is not something you can simply dismiss as an aberration of Western values, and the project of intimidation undertaken by Chinese ex-pats is–well, puzzling. China is concerned about its image, but has done everything in the past month to discredit its own case.
Please reflect on your position, and your statements here, mindful that you are given the chance to speak, an opportunity as a blogger I would not have in China.
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Posted in Evolution at 1:57 pm by nemo
From UD
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Posted in Evolution at 1:53 pm by nemo
Tree of life continues to evolve
Genetic comparisons of different animals realign branches
Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted in Tibet at 1:48 pm by nemo
Tibetans mark deaths of protesters in China
Mon Apr 28, 2008
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Thousands of Tibetan exiles in India and Nepal, including their spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, marked the deaths of protesters during last month’s violent upheaval in Tibet with prayers and traditional funeral rituals.
Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted in you've got mail at 1:42 pm by nemo
via CD
On a Freefall Toward Extinction
by Mollie Matteson
Bats have been dying by the thousands recently in the Northeastern United States. No one knows why, and it may be months, perhaps years, before the cause is determined.
Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted in you've got mail at 1:40 pm by nemo
Znet
The World Food Crisis
April 28, 2008 By John Nichols
Source: The Nation
The only surprising thing about the global food crisis to Jim Goodman is the notion that anyone finds it surprising. Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted in you've got mail at 1:37 pm by nemo
SciftP
From the Los Angeles Times
The U.S. and China are over a barrel
In the costly competition for oil, cooperation is the wisest course.
By Michael T. Klare
April 28, 2008
Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted in you've got mail at 1:29 pm by nemo
_______________________________
UPDATE FROM THE
ELECTRONIC INTIFADA
http://electronicIntifada.net
___________ Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted in links, you've got mail at 1:27 pm by nemo
Simon Ings reviews The Finger Book by John Manning
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2008/04/19/boman119.xml
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Posted in links, you've got mail at 1:27 pm by nemo
Technology is moulding a generation of children unable to think for
themselves or empathise with others, says the leading brain scientist
Susan Greenfield. Is it time to switch off?
http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/families/article3805196.ece
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Posted in links, you've got mail at 1:26 pm by nemo
Taking methylphenidate — familiar as the drug Ritalin used to treat
attention-deficit disorder — could help older people reduce their
risk of falling by sharpening their mental function, Israeli researchers
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSCOL55741020080425
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Posted in links, you've got mail at 1:25 pm by nemo
The state will search its database for relatives of unidentified
suspects in hopes of developing leads. Critics voice privacy concerns.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-dna26apr26,1,55052.story
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