Nice. More please.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Space shuttle seen from above | The Upshot Yahoo! News
Space shuttle seen from above | The Upshot Yahoo! News
Beautiful footage of the Space Shuttle Discovery's launch into its final mission!
There is such incredible promise when we positively use collective vision and energy.
Beautiful footage of the Space Shuttle Discovery's launch into its final mission!
There is such incredible promise when we positively use collective vision and energy.
Middle East is Ready for Democracy, and Social MODERNIZATION Input
Fareed Zakaria says Middle East is ready for democracy | The Desert Sun | MyDesert.com
As I mentioned in a comment below re: Egypt, democracy is mutually compatible with Islam.
Fears of biased demagoguery and dictatorship can be allayed with true democracy.
This is the modernization of a society, allowing for the perpetuation of ancient religions and ways alongside the freedom and emancipation desired by modern citizens.
An exciting time. Different but philosophically not unlike the admission of the Vatican that condoms can be used to stem AIDS (!); while the Vatican ought to be taking more steps to attract younger, virtuous people who see sex not only as a mean to have children, but for *pleasure.* No, really?! Really. We need to expand the availability of birth control and education to people, particularly in poorer countries where the birth rate (and disease and death rate) is high.
Democracy in the Middle East, and social realism in the Church, could foster a much more peaceful and sustainable/population future across many lines. This would seem to be the progression of an intelligent design.
As I mentioned in a comment below re: Egypt, democracy is mutually compatible with Islam.
Fears of biased demagoguery and dictatorship can be allayed with true democracy.
This is the modernization of a society, allowing for the perpetuation of ancient religions and ways alongside the freedom and emancipation desired by modern citizens.
An exciting time. Different but philosophically not unlike the admission of the Vatican that condoms can be used to stem AIDS (!); while the Vatican ought to be taking more steps to attract younger, virtuous people who see sex not only as a mean to have children, but for *pleasure.* No, really?! Really. We need to expand the availability of birth control and education to people, particularly in poorer countries where the birth rate (and disease and death rate) is high.
Democracy in the Middle East, and social realism in the Church, could foster a much more peaceful and sustainable/population future across many lines. This would seem to be the progression of an intelligent design.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Ahmadinejad: Mideast leaders should heed calls for change - CNN.com
Ahmadinejad: Mideast leaders should heed calls for change - CNN.com
Obviously so should he! Wtf? He's waiting until they actually have to unseat him??
Obviously so should he! Wtf? He's waiting until they actually have to unseat him??
BBC News - Coral reefs heading for fishing and climate crisis
BBC News - Coral reefs heading for fishing and climate crisis
One of nature's great creations, needing our help badly.
"Three-quarters of the world's coral reefs are at risk due to overfishing, pollution, climate change and other factors..."
We should sustainably fish (http://www.edf.org/page.cfm?tagID=79 ), and use catch shares (harvest sharing to prevent greedy over-catch).
Buy and eat the species with more healthy populations
Wild salmon from Alaska and canned salmon are good; pink shrimp from Oregon, and Albacore tuna from the US or Canada are good; canned light tuna is ok.
All those are also considered relatively low of mercury or PCBs too (full seafood guide here: http://www.edf.org/page.cfm?tagID=1521 )
Use canvas bags at the store (plastics find their way into the oceans); don't throw stuff in your gutter, put cigarette butts in ashtrays, etc.
Be mindful to reduce pollution, which will find its way downstream into the ocean.
Try to cut carbon use, do a house energy audit http://www.gosolarcalifornia.org/csi/step1.php
Try to support sustainable fishing practices, to help organizations that train and aide fisherman who use dynamite to catch fish, etc.
Support http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/ , http://na.oceana.org/ , https://act.oceana.org/donate/d-donate/
One of nature's great creations, needing our help badly.
"Three-quarters of the world's coral reefs are at risk due to overfishing, pollution, climate change and other factors..."
We should sustainably fish (http://www.edf.org/page.cfm?tagID=79 ), and use catch shares (harvest sharing to prevent greedy over-catch).
Buy and eat the species with more healthy populations
Wild salmon from Alaska and canned salmon are good; pink shrimp from Oregon, and Albacore tuna from the US or Canada are good; canned light tuna is ok.
All those are also considered relatively low of mercury or PCBs too (full seafood guide here: http://www.edf.org/page.cfm?tagID=1521 )
Use canvas bags at the store (plastics find their way into the oceans); don't throw stuff in your gutter, put cigarette butts in ashtrays, etc.
Be mindful to reduce pollution, which will find its way downstream into the ocean.
Try to cut carbon use, do a house energy audit http://www.gosolarcalifornia.org/csi/step1.php
Try to support sustainable fishing practices, to help organizations that train and aide fisherman who use dynamite to catch fish, etc.
Support http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/ , http://na.oceana.org/ , https://act.oceana.org/donate/d-donate/
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
UN Security Council Statement on Libya [FULL TEXT]
UN Security Council Statement on Libya [FULL TEXT]
And the notion of freedom, of speech, of assembly, of religion, etc. should SNOWBALL across the Middle East.
We must always foster it here.
And be strongly encouraged that the UN Security council:
*condemned the violence and use of force against civilians
*called upon the Libyan authorities to act with restraint
*to respect human rights and international humanitarian law
*to ensure the safe passage of humanitarian and medical supplies
*to respect the freedom of peaceful assembly and of expression, including freedom of the press
*for the immediate lifting of restrictions on all forms of the media.
And the notion of freedom, of speech, of assembly, of religion, etc. should SNOWBALL across the Middle East.
We must always foster it here.
And be strongly encouraged that the UN Security council:
*condemned the violence and use of force against civilians
*called upon the Libyan authorities to act with restraint
*to respect human rights and international humanitarian law
*to ensure the safe passage of humanitarian and medical supplies
*to respect the freedom of peaceful assembly and of expression, including freedom of the press
*for the immediate lifting of restrictions on all forms of the media.
Sen. Bernie Sanders on the Federal Budget; Social Secuity is ok, middle and lower class not so much, corporations and the wealthy: flush
February 2011 Budget (From PBS Newshour, 2/17)
Bernie Sanders -- Fair, and Protects People (Poverty Rate Highest since 1948)
What would he change?
Middle class collapsing, the median income is decreasing; gap between rich and poor growing
Top 1% make more than the bottom 50%; their taxes keep going down
GOP Budget has massive tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires
Revenue: as a nation, we have to say sorry, we can not cut back on programs for the vulnerable, we must cut back on tax breaks for the wealthy
The Social Security trust fund has 2.6 trillion dollar surplus
It's flush for 27 years, funded by payroll tax, hasn't contributed one nickel to the deficit
It's been the most important and valuable social program in America's history
Does not need to be privatized, that's for sure
Low income families home heating program, price of energy
Heating oil and price of gasoline of oil going up
We're giving away money to people who don't need it, but we're getting tough on students
You don't give more to the people that don't need it, and cut back on people that are hurting
The deficit is a very serious problem:
Primarily has been caused by two wars that were unfunded
Huge tax breaks to people who don't need it
An insurance company-written Medicare Part D prescription drug program
And the bailout of Wall Street
The cause of it is not hungry children in this country or people sleeping out on the street
We have got to deal with the deficit but you do it in a fair and progressive way.
This year alone we're losing 100 billion dollars in revenue because corporations and the wealthy are stashing their money in tax havens in the Cayman Islands.
This year Exxon Mobil - the Most Profitable Corporation in the History of America - is not paying a Nickel in federal income taxes, despite having made 19 billion dollars last year
In 2005 one quarter of large corporations in America making a trillion in revenue didn't pay a nickel in taxes
You got a military budget which in many ways is still fighting the old Cold War
So I believe that we have to move toward significant deficit reduction
But you don't do it on the backs of the middle class and working families who are already suffering
As a result of the Wall Street caused recession
Want to know the way to raise money? Put a transaction fee on Wall Street
So maybe we can curb some of the speculation and raise some money.
(Synopsis of Sanders Discusses the Budget on PBS's NewsHour - 02/17/11
http://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/media/view/?id=16f77829-c1e3-4675-8735-0c6374ead27d )
Bernie Sanders -- Fair, and Protects People (Poverty Rate Highest since 1948)
What would he change?
Middle class collapsing, the median income is decreasing; gap between rich and poor growing
Top 1% make more than the bottom 50%; their taxes keep going down
GOP Budget has massive tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires
Revenue: as a nation, we have to say sorry, we can not cut back on programs for the vulnerable, we must cut back on tax breaks for the wealthy
The Social Security trust fund has 2.6 trillion dollar surplus
It's flush for 27 years, funded by payroll tax, hasn't contributed one nickel to the deficit
It's been the most important and valuable social program in America's history
Does not need to be privatized, that's for sure
Low income families home heating program, price of energy
Heating oil and price of gasoline of oil going up
We're giving away money to people who don't need it, but we're getting tough on students
You don't give more to the people that don't need it, and cut back on people that are hurting
The deficit is a very serious problem:
Primarily has been caused by two wars that were unfunded
Huge tax breaks to people who don't need it
An insurance company-written Medicare Part D prescription drug program
And the bailout of Wall Street
The cause of it is not hungry children in this country or people sleeping out on the street
We have got to deal with the deficit but you do it in a fair and progressive way.
This year alone we're losing 100 billion dollars in revenue because corporations and the wealthy are stashing their money in tax havens in the Cayman Islands.
This year Exxon Mobil - the Most Profitable Corporation in the History of America - is not paying a Nickel in federal income taxes, despite having made 19 billion dollars last year
In 2005 one quarter of large corporations in America making a trillion in revenue didn't pay a nickel in taxes
You got a military budget which in many ways is still fighting the old Cold War
So I believe that we have to move toward significant deficit reduction
But you don't do it on the backs of the middle class and working families who are already suffering
As a result of the Wall Street caused recession
Want to know the way to raise money? Put a transaction fee on Wall Street
So maybe we can curb some of the speculation and raise some money.
(Synopsis of Sanders Discusses the Budget on PBS's NewsHour - 02/17/11
http://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/media/view/?id=16f77829-c1e3-4675-8735-0c6374ead27d )
Newsroom - Video/Audio: U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (Vermont)
Newsroom - Video/Audio: U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (Vermont)
8 minutes, Bernie Sanders discusses the budget (synopsis typed out below)
8 minutes, Bernie Sanders discusses the budget (synopsis typed out below)
Electro Automotive: Electric Vehicle Technical Training Program™
Electro Automotive: Electric Vehicle Technical Training Program™
Stay tuned, jump onbaord: this will help a lot - customizing existing cars into plug-in electrics...
Stay tuned, jump onbaord: this will help a lot - customizing existing cars into plug-in electrics...
Solar Living Institute - By Category - Solar Living Institute
Solar Living Institute - By Category - Solar Living Institute
This is where I got my NABCEP solar design / installation certification.
PV EV next -- solar panels and electric vehicles. This is awesome...
http://www.solarliving.org/courses/solar-trainings/488/pv-501-pvev-photovoltaics-and-electric-vehicles/
This is where I got my NABCEP solar design / installation certification.
PV EV next -- solar panels and electric vehicles. This is awesome...
http://www.solarliving.org/courses/solar-trainings/488/pv-501-pvev-photovoltaics-and-electric-vehicles/
Sustainable growth: Earth pop 7 bln/2011, 9 bln/2050
Please read this article: sustainable growth means family planning (contraception, education) for poor countries; soy-based (and other non-animal) protein sources (beef: takes 7 pounds of grain to produce 1 pound of beef), and the awareness that we have to live sustainably, individually and communally. Support family planning programs, eat some soy protein this week, be conscious of this today and help your family live as healthy a life as possible into what will remain the healthiest possible planet in which we can leave them.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110220/ts_afp/scienceuspopulationfood
""More people, more money, more consumption, but the same planet," Clay told AFP, urging scientists and governments to start making changes now to how food is produced.
Population experts, meanwhile, called for more funding for family planning programs to help control the growth in the number of humans, especially in developing nations.
"For 20 years, there's been very little investment in family planning, but there's a return of interest now, partly because of the environmental factors like global warming and food prices," said Bongaarts.
"We want to minimize population growth, and the only viable way to do that is through more effective family planning," said Casterline.""
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110220/ts_afp/scienceuspopulationfood
""More people, more money, more consumption, but the same planet," Clay told AFP, urging scientists and governments to start making changes now to how food is produced.
Population experts, meanwhile, called for more funding for family planning programs to help control the growth in the number of humans, especially in developing nations.
"For 20 years, there's been very little investment in family planning, but there's a return of interest now, partly because of the environmental factors like global warming and food prices," said Bongaarts.
"We want to minimize population growth, and the only viable way to do that is through more effective family planning," said Casterline.""
Sunday, February 20, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/21/opinion/21mon1.html?_r=1&hp
Pakistan’s Nuclear Folly
Pakistan can’t feed its people, educate its children, or defeat insurgents without billions of dollars in foreign aid. Yet, with China’s help, it is now building a fourth nuclear reactor to produce more weapons fuel.
Even without that reactor, experts say, it has already manufactured enough fuel for 40 to 100 additional weapons. That means Pakistan — which claims to want a minimal credible deterrent — could soon possess the world’s fifth-largest arsenal, behind the United States, Russia, France and China but ahead of Britain and India. Washington and Moscow, with thousands of nuclear weapons each, still have the most weapons by far, but at least they are making serious reductions.
Washington could threaten to suspend billions of dollars of American aid if Islamabad does not restrain its nuclear appetites. But that would hugely complicate efforts in Afghanistan and could destabilize Pakistan.
The truth is there is no easy way to stop the buildup, or that of India and China. Slowing and reversing that arms race is essential for regional and global security. Washington must look for points of leverage and make this one of its strategic priorities.
The ultimate nightmare, of course, is that the extremists will topple Pakistan’s government and get their hands on the nuclear weapons. We also don’t rest easy contemplating the weakness of Pakistan’s civilian leadership, the power of its army and the bitterness of the country’s rivalry with nuclear-armed India.
The army claims to need more nuclear weapons to deter India’s superior conventional arsenal. It seems incapable of understanding that the real threat comes from the Taliban and other extremists.
The biggest game-changer would be for Pakistan and India to normalize diplomatic and economic relations. The two sides recently agreed to resume bilateral talks suspended after the 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai. There is a long way to go.
India insists that it won’t accept an outside broker. There is a lot the Obama administration can do quietly to press the countries to work to settle differences over Afghanistan and the disputed region of Kashmir. Pakistan must do a lot more to stop insurgents who target India.
Washington also needs to urge the two militaries to start talking, and urge the two governments to begin exploring ways to lessen the danger of an accidental nuclear war — with more effective hotlines and data exchanges — with a long-term goal of arms-control negotiations.
Washington and its allies must also continue to look for ways to get Pakistan to stop blocking negotiations on a global ban on fissile material production.
The world, especially this part of the world, is a dangerous enough place these days. It certainly doesn’t need any more nuclear weapons.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Classical music and the science of the brain | Culture Monster | Los Angeles Times
Classical music and the science of the brain | Culture Monster | Los Angeles Times
A new series that takes place in Santa Monica this spring will look at some of the big questions that connect classical music to the basics of human life -- emotion, evolution and the brain itself. The series, put on by the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, will include music performances and addresses by three scientists intimately familiar with the overlap of music and the mind.
Dr. Peter Whybrow, a UCLA neuroscientist who has spent a lot of time thinking about creativity, will speak about depression and the way it can both provoke and frustrate musical talent. He’s concentrating mostly on composer Robert Schumann, but says that the patterns often recur.
For artists with mood disorders, he says, three things usually drive their work. “One, the ability to generate intelligence, which is tied to intelligence. Two, a prodigious memory to be able to manipulate those ideas, like keeping a score in your head. Third, mood swings turn things in a novel way. Some artists produce these by taking drugs. But it you have an instability of mood, which Schumann had, you have an acceleration of creativity. You feel an exuberance, which allows you to see things in novel ways.”
Schumann, like Van Gogh and many other artists and writers, likely had a combination of depression and a mild kind of mania called hypomania. “When you’re hypomaniac, you’re very willing to talk to anybody. People like to talk to you, and suddenly you ‘re the center of attention, which excites you because you’ve spent the last three years sitting against a wall drinking beer.”
This is a little different than more conventional mania, which sounds unpleasant. “They became sexually promiscuous, spending money they don’t have, running around insulting people. The manic people tend to fall out of favor.”
For more on the LACO’s series on music and the mind in my Arts & Books article, click here.
A new series that takes place in Santa Monica this spring will look at some of the big questions that connect classical music to the basics of human life -- emotion, evolution and the brain itself. The series, put on by the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, will include music performances and addresses by three scientists intimately familiar with the overlap of music and the mind.
Dr. Peter Whybrow, a UCLA neuroscientist who has spent a lot of time thinking about creativity, will speak about depression and the way it can both provoke and frustrate musical talent. He’s concentrating mostly on composer Robert Schumann, but says that the patterns often recur.
For artists with mood disorders, he says, three things usually drive their work. “One, the ability to generate intelligence, which is tied to intelligence. Two, a prodigious memory to be able to manipulate those ideas, like keeping a score in your head. Third, mood swings turn things in a novel way. Some artists produce these by taking drugs. But it you have an instability of mood, which Schumann had, you have an acceleration of creativity. You feel an exuberance, which allows you to see things in novel ways.”
Schumann, like Van Gogh and many other artists and writers, likely had a combination of depression and a mild kind of mania called hypomania. “When you’re hypomaniac, you’re very willing to talk to anybody. People like to talk to you, and suddenly you ‘re the center of attention, which excites you because you’ve spent the last three years sitting against a wall drinking beer.”
This is a little different than more conventional mania, which sounds unpleasant. “They became sexually promiscuous, spending money they don’t have, running around insulting people. The manic people tend to fall out of favor.”
For more on the LACO’s series on music and the mind in my Arts & Books article, click here.
-- Scott Timberg
Friday, February 18, 2011
Take Action | Oil Change International
Take Action | Oil Change International
Shift the Subsidies: Money for a Clean Future, Not Big Oil
Every year, billions of our tax dollars are given away to the oil and coal industries. We shouldn’t be giving our tax money to subsidize these corporations that already set record profits while polluting.
It is time to stop funding the problems, and start funding the solutions. We need to fund clean energy and communities, not old and dying industries.
At the G20 meetings last year, President Obama made a historic pledge to end fossil fuel subsidies. But progress on this front has been slow, with Congress dragging its feet. Let's encourage him - and our elected representatives - to make this pledge a reality.
Please send a letter to President Obama and your representatives in Congress to demand that our government stop supporting Big Oil and Coal, and shift that money instead to support clean energy, energy access, and climate-related needs.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Environmental Defense Fund:
Environmental Defense Fund:
https://secure2.edf.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=1777
Sign to keep the Clean Air Act EPA enforced and protected.
https://secure2.edf.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=1777
Sign to keep the Clean Air Act EPA enforced and protected.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Post-Mubarak: How the U.S. Plans to Aid Democracy in Egypt
There is great opportunity here, and a responsibility after so many tears of US support to ensure a true democratic reform, and no totalitarian state. Below in comments is a brief discussion from a Facebook chat with a friend with Egyptian heritage.
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2048622,00.html?xid=rss-mostpopular
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2048622,00.html?xid=rss-mostpopular
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Sunset, Venice 12/20/2012
