Archive for the ‘CrashBlogging’ Category

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Bush Aims to Relax Endangered Species Rules

Saturday, August 30th, 2008

Just months before U.S. President George Bush leaves office, his administration is proposing changes that would allow federal agencies to decide for themselves whether subdivisions, dams, highways, and other projects have the potential to harm endangered animals and plants.

The proposal would cut out the advice of government scientists who have been weighing in on such decisions for 35 years.

Agencies also could not consider a project’s contribution to global warming in their analysis.

Democrats and environmental groups reacted swiftly to the news.

Senator Barbara Boxer, a Democrat from California and head of the Senate’s environment committee, said Bush’s plan is illegal.

Environmentalists complained the proposals would gut protections for endangered animals and plants.

Chairman of the House committee that oversees the Interior Department, Representative Nick Rahall, a Democrat from West Virginia, said he was “deeply troubled.”

“This proposed rule … gives federal agencies an unacceptable degree of discretion to decide whether or not to comply with the Endangered Species Act,” Rahall said.

Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne defended the revisions, saying they are needed to ensure that the Endangered Species Act is not used as a “back door” to regulate the gases blamed for global warming.

More… ➡

– If Bush doesn’t end up with the worst legacy of any U.S. president, I will be completely surprised.

Posted in Biodiversity Loss, CrashBlogging, Extinctions, The Perfect Storm | No Comments »

Many think it’s too late for climate, survey finds

Saturday, August 30th, 2008

– It’s not like we didn’t know.  Consider this:  ➡

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Ten per cent of New Zealanders believe it is too late to do anything about climate change, a new survey reveals.

The figure has alarmed campaigners trying to spread the message that everyone can do their bit for the environment.

Paul McElwain, strategy director of advertising company Publicis Mojo, presented the results of the online survey to a conference in Auckland yesterday.

The poll of more than 4000 household shoppers showed hundreds thought it was too late to act on climate change. One in 10 New Zealanders and about two in 10 Australians thought time had run out.

More… ➡

Posted in Climate Change, CrashBlogging, The Perfect Storm | No Comments »

Recycled Sewage: Coming to a Tap Near You?

Saturday, August 30th, 2008

Is recycled sewage water coming to a tap near you? If you live in certain parts of the developed world—including areas of the united States—the answer, perhaps surprisingly, is yes.

Persistent droughts and competition for resources are leading to increased use of recycled sewage for drinking water and fertilizer, water experts say.

You know what he’s doing…In developing countries human waste is already used by an estimated 200 million farmers, according to a recent report by the Sri Lanka-based International Water Management Institute (IWMI).

Now wastewater use is gaining steam in the developed world too, though in rich countries, the water undergoes a cleansing process before being pumped out to taps.

“Wastewater recycling is something we will have to rely more heavily on,” said Shivaji Deshmukh, program manager for the groundwater replenishment system at the Orange County Water District in southern California.

Orange County has been recognized for its innovative sewage system, which collects what people flush down the toilet, separates its components, then treats the wastewater to drinking-water standard.

The county water district pumps the treated wastewater into underground caverns, where it is stored and later used as tap water or irrigation water.

More… ➡

Posted in CrashBlogging, Pollution, The Perfect Storm, Water Shortages | No Comments »

Fundamentalist [fill in the blank]

Saturday, August 30th, 2008

– There’s a lot of folks deeply concerned about Islamic Fundamentalism and I’m not saying they are wrong to be worried.  But, they might just take a look back over their shoulder to see who else might be coming down that road.

“Joel’s Army believers are hard-core Christian dominionists, meaning they believe that America, along with the rest of the world, should be governed by conservative Christians and a conservative Christian interpretation of biblical law. There is no room in their doctrine for democracy or pluralism.”

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‘Arming’ for Armageddon

Militant Joel’s Army Followers Seek Theocracy

LAKELAND, Fla. — Todd Bentley has a long night ahead of him, resurrecting the dead, healing the blind, and exploding cancerous tumors. Since April 3, the 32-year-old, heavily tattooed, body-pierced, shaved-head Canadian preacher has been leading a continuous “supernatural healing revival” in central Florida. To contain the 10,000-plus crowds flocking from around the globe, Bentley has rented baseball stadiums, arenas and airport hangars at a cost of up to $15,000 a day. Many in attendance are church pastors themselves who believe Bentley to be a prophet and don’t bat an eye when he tells them he’s seen King David and spoken with the Apostle Paul in heaven. “He was looking very Jewish,” Bentley notes.

Tattooed across his sternum are military dog tags that read “Joel’s Army.” They’re evidence of Bentley’s generalship in a rapidly growing apocalyptic movement that’s gone largely unnoticed by watchdogs of the theocratic right. According to Bentley and a handful of other “hyper-charismatic” preachers advancing the same agenda, Joel’s Army is prophesied to become an Armageddon-ready military force of young people with a divine mandate to physically impose Christian “dominion” on non-believers.

“An end-time army has one common purpose — to aggressively take ground for the kingdom of God under the authority of Jesus Christ, the Dread Champion,” Bentley declares on the website for his ministry school in British Columbia, Canada. “The trumpet is sounding, calling on-fire, revolutionary believers to enlist in Joel’s Army. … Many are now ready to be mobilized to establish and advance God’s kingdom on earth.”

Oh yes, you should read more of this… ➡

Posted in CrashBlogging, Fundamentalism, Human Rights, Religion - The Wrong Way, Social Breakdown, The Perfect Storm | 1 Comment »

Where have all the Doctors Gone?

Wednesday, August 27th, 2008

– I received a magazine with a story by this title and I wanted to see if I could find it on-line so I could Blog about it and provide a reference.   Imagine my surprise when a long list of stories with this name came up.

– This should be a wake up call to anyone that the takeover of the medical industry by large health care corporations in the U.S. – is not in the best interests of the people.

– Primary Care Physicians are disappearing fast from the American scene because of the amount of time and aggravation they have to endure justifying their decisions to insurance companies and healthcare management.

– Let me say it simply:  Health care should be about making people well, not about corporate profits.   We’ve gone very badly off the tracks in this country on this issue.

– Here’s a list of stories I came up with by Googling, “Where have all the doctors gone”

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Boston Globe:  ➡

New York Times:  ➡

Columbia Journalism Review  ➡

Physician’s News Digest:  ➡

San Francisco Business Times:  ➡

– And the story I originally went looking for by that same title, in the AARP Magazine, apparently hasn’t been released onto the web yet, so I never found it.

– At least one of the stories referenced here is from the NY Times and they insist that folks have an ID and a PW in order to read their stuff. You can get these for free just by signing up. However, a friend of mine suggests the website bugmenot.com :arrow: as an alternative to having to do these annoying sign ups. Check it out. Thx Bruce S. for the tip.

Posted in Capitalism & Corporations, CrashBlogging, Financial melt-down, Social Breakdown, The Perfect Storm | No Comments »

In India, New Opportunities for Women Draw Anger and Abuse From Men

Tuesday, August 26th, 2008

– Come on, India.   You are rapidly improving yourself in so many ways, and yet you have such ugly things locked away in your closets.   For all your Bollywood and your high tech campuses, so very much of what happens out in your streets is utterly grim.

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Every morning, Gitanjali Chaudhry, 17, walks to her high school through a labyrinth of temples and vegetable markets. Along with her books, she carries an Indian version of Mace — a bag of chili powder and a pouch of safety pins — to fend off the often boorish men who loiter in the narrow passageways.

“We learned that women have to be brave,” said Chaudhry, a loquacious, ponytailed girl who wants to be a lawyer. She has started attending increasingly popular neighborhood classes on self-defense for women.

Chaudhry is one of the brightest students in her working-class district. But since several local men started following her to class, she sometimes stays home now. She has friends who have been raped or are constant victims of “Eve teasing,” when men on the street spew lewd comments or aggressively paw women’s bodies.

More… ➡

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Posted in CrashBlogging, Culture - How not to do it, The Perfect Storm, Women's Rights | No Comments »

Afghan President pardons three found guilty of gang-rape

Tuesday, August 26th, 2008

– Here’s a fine story about Afghanistan – a nation our citizens are dying to defend.   But, sorry to say, their culture is in the stone-age with respect to women’s rights.

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Afghan President Hamid Karzai has pardoned three men found guilty of gang-raping a woman in the northern province of Samangan.

The woman, Sara, and her family found out about the pardon only when they saw the rapists back in their village.

“Everyone was shocked,” said Sara’s husband, Dilawar, who, like many Afghans, uses only one name. “These were men who had been sentenced by the Supreme Court, walking around freely.”

Sara’s case highlights concerns about the close relationship between the Afghan President and men accused of war crimes and human rights abuses.

The men were freed discreetly but the rape was public and brutal. It took place in September 2005, in the run-up to Afghanistan’s first democratic parliamentary elections.

The most powerful local commander, Mawlawi Islam, was running for office despite being accused of scores of murders committed during his time as a mujahideen commander in the 1980s, a Taleban governor in the 1990s, and after the fall of the Taleban in 2001. Sara said one of his subcommanders and bodyguards had been looking for young men to help in the election campaign.

“It was evening, around time for the last prayer, when armed men took my son, Islamuddin, by force. I have eyewitness statements from nine people that he was there. From that night until now, my son has never been seen.”

Dilawar said his wife publicly harangued the commander twice about their missing son.

After the second time, he said, they came for her. “The commander and three of his fighters came and took my wife out of our home and took her to their house about 200m away and, in front of these witnesses, raped her.”

More… ➡

Tags:
Posted in CrashBlogging, Culture - How not to do it, Fundamentalism, Human Rights, The Perfect Storm, Women's Rights | No Comments »

Potential Pakistani Leader has psychiatric problems

Tuesday, August 26th, 2008

– Whew.   I really had to stop and take a second look at this one when I found it.  

– I already consider Pakistan extremely problematic with their nuclear weapons and the entire place seemingly on the brink of falling under the control of fundamentalist Islam.

– At least when Musharraf had power, you knew he was allied with the U.S. and against the fundamentalists.   Now he’s gone and we’ve got two new up and coming leaders vying for the top spot.  

– And here we find out that one of them has had recent mental problems.

– Well, that sure makes me feel better – not.

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Doubts cast on Zardari’s mental health

Asif Ali Zardari, the leading contender for the presidency of nuclear-armed Pakistan, was suffering from severe psychiatric problems as recently as last year, according to court documents filed by his doctors.

The widower of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto was diagnosed with a range of serious illnesses including dementia, major depressive disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder in a series of medical reports spanning more than two years.

Mr Zardari, the co-chair of the Pakistan People’s party, and its candidate to succeed president Pervez Musharraf, who stepped down last week, spent 11 of the past 20 years in Pakistani prisons fighting corruption allegations, during which he claims to have been tortured.

While Mr Zardari was not available to comment, Wajid Shamsul Hasan, Pakistan’s high commissioner to London, speaking on his behalf, said he was now fit and well.

News of his medical records came as Nawaz Sharif, head of the junior partner in the government, pulled his party out of the coalition, partly because of differences over Mr Zardari’s presidential candidacy.

More… ➡

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Posted in CrashBlogging, Culture - How not to do it, Social Breakdown, The Perfect Storm | No Comments »

Large U.S. bank collapse ahead, says ex-IMF economist

Friday, August 22nd, 2008

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – The worst of the global financial crisis is yet to come and a large U.S. bank will fail in the next few months as the world’s biggest economy hits further troubles, former IMF chief economist Kenneth Rogoff said on Tuesday.

“The U.S. is not out of the woods. I think the financial crisis is at the halfway point, perhaps. I would even go further to say ‘the worst is to come’,” he told a financial conference.

“We’re not just going to see mid-sized banks go under in the next few months, we’re going to see a whopper, we’re going to see a big one, one of the big investment banks or big banks,” said Rogoff, who is an economics professor at Harvard University and was the International Monetary Fund’s chief economist from 2001 to 2004.

“We have to see more consolidation in the financial sector before this is over,” he said, when asked for early signs of an end to the crisis.

“Probably Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — despite what U.S. Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson said — these giant mortgage guarantee agencies are not going to exist in their present form in a few years.”

More… ➡

Posted in Capitalism & Corporations, CrashBlogging, Financial melt-down, The Perfect Storm | No Comments »

Most companies in US avoid federal income taxes

Tuesday, August 12th, 2008

Report says most corporations pay no federal income taxes; lawmakers blame loopholes

WASHINGTON (AP) — Unlike the rest of us, most U.S. corporations and foreign companies doing business in the United States pay no federal income tax, according to a new report from Congress.

The study by the Government Accountability Office, expected to be released Tuesday, said two-thirds of U.S. corporations paid no federal income taxes between 1998 and 2005, and about 68 percent of foreign companies doing business in the U.S. avoided corporate taxes over the same period.

Collectively, the companies reported trillions of dollars in sales, according to GAO’s estimate.

“It’s shameful that so many corporations make big profits and pay nothing to support our country,” said Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., who asked for the GAO study with Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich.

More… ➡

– Hat tip to Cryptogon for this story 

Posted in Capitalism & Corporations, CrashBlogging, Financial melt-down, Social Breakdown, The Perfect Storm | 1 Comment »

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