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“ When you were born, you
cried and the world rejoiced. Live your life so that when
you die, the world cries and you rejoice. ”
White Elk
November 29, 2011
A data breach, according to the Identity Theft Resource
Center (ITRC), is “an event in which an individual’s name plus
Social Security Number (SSN), driver’s license number, medical
record, or a financial record/credit/debit card is potentially
put at risk – either in electronic or paper format.”
Geothermal power’s been something of an orphan when it comes
to the drive to transition from fossil fuel to clean, renewable
energy economies. That’s despite the release of recent studies
showing that the US, Canada, New Zealand and Australia — Western
Australia in particular — have geothermal resources that dwarf
their energy needs, and despite the fact that it’s a proven,
time-tested, economic source of clean, reliable baseload power.
It’s a drink of water, plus a little hydrofluorosilicic acid:
a chemical so corrosive and toxic, it carries a warning label.
Since 2002, the city has been injecting it into the water
supply, in an effort to stem tooth decay.
he proposed changes — the first of its kind in 50 years —
would open the door to badly-needed housing development on
reservations, and for wind and solar energy projects that tribes
have been eager to launch.
The United States has joined the rogues gallery of nations
whose debt has exceeded its annual economic output, or gross
domestic product (GDP).
The U.S. national debt has broken
$15.033 trillion, higher than the $15.032 trillion gross
domestic product, meaning as of now, the country's debts are
higher than its annual output, according to usdebtclock.org,
citing government data.
The retreat in U.S. stocks, led by banks and brokerages, is
signaling more losses through the end of the year, a period in
which the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index usually performs best,
according to Bank of America Corp.
Beacon Power is going to put its 20-megawatt flywheel plant
in Stephentown up for sale after reaching an agreement with the
U.S. Department of Energy, which has provided the bankrupt
company with $39 million through its loan program.
...brain diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's now
occur:
Earlier in life . . .
More frequently . . .
To a much more severe degree . . .
China’s ministry of commerce announced on Nov. 25 that it had
opened an investigation into whether American subsidies and
other policies in the solar, wind and hydroelectric sectors had
unfairly damaged the industrial development of China’s renewable
energy industries.
The United States has ignored a "ticking debt bomb" in
admitting defeat in reining in the country's ballooning debt,
Chinese state media said on Tuesday, criticizing U.S.
legislators for neglecting their duty to the world.
Cities of all sizes are tackling their water pollution
problems, such as stormwater runoff and sewage overflow, by
employing green infrastructure and design — and they will save
money as a result, according to a peer-reviewed report released
today by the Natural Resources Defense Council.
"For most people in the developing world and Africa, climate
change is a matter of life and death," said South African
President Jacob Zuma today, opening the annual United Nations
climate summit, being held this year in Durban.
Carbon dioxide from an Illinois ethanol plant is being
injected underground in the largest U.S. demonstration of carbon
sequestration, scientists said.
he Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator Inc. has
again sounded a warning that new U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency air emissions regulations will strain system capacity as
coal-fired units are shut down by power generators to meet the
standards.
About 150 U.S. solar-industry employers of more than 11,000
American workers have joined the Coalition for American Solar
Manufacturing (CASM) to support the U.S. government's
investigation of China's solar trade practices and the
restoration of fair, sustainable, international solar-industry
competition.
Does your weight affect your odds of developing Alzheimer's?
The answer seems to be "yes," although the crystal ball is still
cloudy.
During this interview conducted by prisonplanet.tv, Dr.
Begich talks about many controversial science experiments,
including HAARP, Mind Control technology, compartmentalization
within the science community, and how these technologies, which
might be used for the progress of all mankind, is currently
controlled by secret military industrial complex interests
putting all of humanity at risk.
The Egyptian military has been using a banned chemical agent
to deal with hundreds of thousands of protesters, according to
several news sources....Elections happen without disruptions.
EU officials concluded that, following a three-year
investigation, there was no evidence to prove the previously
undisputed fact.
Producers of bottled water are now forbidden by law from
making the claim and will face a two-year jail sentence if
they defy the edict, which comes into force in the UK next
month.
Count your blessings this Thanksgiving. It's good for you.
Europe still rules the global solar markets, but grip is
slipping. While the global market for solar photovoltaics will
surge 24 percent this year over last, that has not led to high
demand in the second half of the year due to high inventories.
But your Thanksgiving dinner is telling you the true story.
That’s because the average cost of all the traditional trappings
will set you back an extra $6 for a family of 10 this year.
Not so bad, right? Wrong. According to the American Farm
Bureau, that’s a 13 percent increase from Thanksgiving 2010.
The Italian scientist who says he has developed the
world’s first cold fusion reactor - a claim that has been
hotly contested in scientific circles - visited the State
House last week to explore the prospects for developing and
manufacturing the device in Massachusetts.
A pro-ethanol speech during the Presidential campaign in Iowa
is never newsworthy. But this time, it's being given against a
backdrop of the likely end to the ethanol blenders' credit, to
be replaced only by what's already in place: higher renewable
fuel standards, even as US gasoline consumption continues to
plummet.
A senior commander of Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard
says the country will target NATO's missile defense shield in
Turkey if the U.S. or Israel attacks the Islamic Republic.
Known reserves of thorium are not well-known due to lack of
exploratory research. The US Geological Service estimates that
the USA, Australia, and India hold the largest reserves. India
is believed to have the lion's share of thorium deposits. In the
United States, Idaho contains a large vein deposit. The world
has an estimated total of 4.4 million tons
Back in 2009 we discussed the rising leverage of Japan's public
sector that seemed unsustainable. Today we find the situation of
Japan's debt continuing to deteriorate in the face of increasing
concerns about sovereign debt globally. It is a sharp lesson for
the US as the dynamics of the two nations' paths are not
significantly different.
The gross debt to GDP ratio has risen to 220% in
2010...
The growing scarcity of water in several parts of Africa is
creating an imperative for businesses to better understand their
operational water footprints. Climate change and population
growth are expected to combine to exert critical barriers to
commercial production as more regions become classified as
water-scarce and water-stressed. Globally, water demand is
expected to outstrip availability by a staggering 40% by 2030...
The cracking "seems to indicate a widespread problem that
will undermine the structural integrity of the shield building,"
Mr. Kucinich wrote to Gregory Jaczko, chairman of the agency.
All that is required is a still body, using a trained mind to
focus on what is rather than what was or what
will be.
A new electrode developed at Stanford University could enable
batteries that are big and economical enough for large-scale
energy storage of renewable energy on the grid
A well-designed clean energy standard (CES) can create new
industries, diversify U.S. electricity supplies, and reduce air
pollution, according to a new paper released today by the Center
for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES) and the Regulatory
Assistance Project (RAP).
Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Ghasemi said Monday that Iran did
not need to resort to using oil as leverage against US and
international sanctions against it, apparently stepping back
from remarks he made last week when he said oil could be used as
a political weapon in exceptional circumstances.
By 2050, a family of chemicals used for cooling, firefighting
and insulation could be responsible for greenhouse gas emissions
equal to all today's global emissions from transportion, unless
quick action is taken, according to a new report from the UN
Environment Programme released today.
In an effort to embrace a truly natural approach to lighting,
the company took a cue from fireflies and deep-sea creatures to
create a (literally) green light powered not by electricity or
sunlight, but by glowing bioluminescent bacteria.
We let them steal our government. We let them
steal our elections, buy our representatives, appoint their
crooked judges, control our media.
We sat back and watched, commented, complained,
maybe even protested on occasion, but it wasn’t enough. We knew
it wasn’t enough.
Now our day of reckoning is coming.
Privacy. It's on everyone's minds these days. A couple of
months ago it was Apple and Google that were drawing the ire of
consumers with the storing of location data. And of course,
Facebook is always mentioned when people discuss their concerns
about online privacy. But as technology gets better, and the
tools used to capture information and the databases used to
store and disseminate the information become more capable, the
lines between online and offline privacy continue to blur.
Maine is one of ten US states that currently recognizes the
freedom of individuals to buy and sell raw milk at the farm and
retail level. But raw milk sold at farmers markets
technically does not fall under the banner of either "farm" or
"retail" sales, which prompted a recent crackdown by (nit-picky)
Portland, Me., health officials against its sale at such events.
British embassies in the eurozone have been told to draw up
plans to help British expats through the collapse of the single
currency, amid new fears for Italy and Spain.
Waste Management Inc. does not expect to learn anything for
several weeks about how cremated remains of war heroes found
their way to a company landfill in Virginia.
The report also said subsidies in
green energy technologies that were not yet competitive are
justified in order to give an incentive to investing into
technologies with clear environmental and energy security
benefits.
The largest flare of the period was a C3, An eruptive
filament, A CME, likely associated with this event not expected
to be geoeffective. light chance for an M-class flare. The
geomagnetic field is expected to be unsettled to active with a
chance for minor storm periods on days 1-2 (29-30 November).
It´s a pretty easy concept to understand: waste volumes drop
when economic conditions deteriorate. And when finances improve
across the country, there´s more people working and buying and
creating more trash.It happened a few years ago when the
economy went south, and now -- perhaps surprisingly – that trend
is reversing.
A rapidly shrinking Slavic population is imperiling Russia’s
future and severely threatens Vladimir Putin’s dream to
re-establish Russia as a global superpower.
Russia’s population is declining by about
700,000 people every year, and is projected to fall to 109
million by 2050, from 139 million today.
Recology said it could collect the 1 millionth ton of food
scraps when it makes a pickup at Scoma’s Restaurant, according
to the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper.
The Senate is set to vote on a bill next week that would
define the whole of the United States as a “battlefield” and
allow the U.S. Military to arrest American citizens in their own
back yard without charge or trial.
With incidents of prolonged drought, rising sea levels, and
flooding on the rise, U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), a
member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee
(EPW), introduced a bill today to require federal natural
resource agencies to plan for the projected long-term effects of
climate change, and encourage states to prepare natural
resources adaptation plans.
More than half of the 12 Ameren Missouri coal ash ponds
inspected for structural integrity last year were rated "poor"
by the Environmental Protection Agency, which recommended the
utility take action to strengthen them.
Small island states may disappear under rising seas if an
international agreement to tackle climate change is delayed for
another decade, an official said on Monday.
Any Ukrainian over 35 can tell you where they were when they
heard about the accident at the Chernobyl plant....
As Japan battles to prevent a meltdown at its earthquake-hit
Fukushima Daini nuclear plant, the people of Ukraine are
preparing to mark the 25th anniversary of the world's worst
nuclear accident.
Clean water and fresh squeezed lemon is one of the most well
tested energy boosters around. Most people in America rely on
caffeinated beverages like coffee to get aroused in the morning.
These adrenal stimulants produce dirty energy in the form of
blood sugar swings and oxidative stress. Water with lemon
produces clean energy by hydrating and oxygenating the body to
extraordinary energy and mental clarity.
Unlike alluvial aquifers, which can be replenished seasonally
with rain and snow, these regional aquifers were filled by
melting glaciers during the last Ice Age, the researchers say.
When that water is gone, it won't come back – at least, until
another Ice Age comes along.
...electromagnetic pulse, which causes its own particular
brand of mayhem by destroying the power grid along with most of
the electronic devices and systems upon which we have all become
so dependent. Without electricity and with its computerized
systems no longer able to function, the implosion of society
becomes all but inevitable, and the chaos and destruction that
follow are something straight out of our worst nightmares of
Armageddon.
Time is quickly running out to strike a deal at global
climate talks to save a Kyoto Protocol in its death throes and
make major cuts in the greenhouse gas emissions that scientists
blame for rising temperatures, wilder weather and crop failures.
Of the 10 nations that received the most American foreign aid
in fiscal 2011, only one voted for a U.S.-backed draft
resolution condemning Iran for human rights abuses.
The U.S. EPA says the waste that washed ashore from Lake
Michigan in Michigan and Illinois in 2008 and 2010 likely
originated from sewage overflows at the Milwaukee Metropolitan
Sewerage District, documents showed.
Cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 enough to keep a
global temperature rise safely below two degrees Celsius is
technologically and economically possible if governments act
right now, says a new study released today by the UN Environment
Programme, UNEP.
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) published data
Monday showing that the amount of greenhouse gases in the
atmosphere hit a new record in 2010 and that the growth of the
buildup is accelerating.
Freddie Mac (OTC: FMCC) last week
released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey®
(PMMS®), showing average fixed mortgage rates changing little
and remaining near their historic lows while adjustable-rate
mortgages averaged new record lows. The 30-year fixed has
averaged at or below 4 percent for the fourth consecutive week.
While President Obama achieved some small security gains
during his meetings in Asia last week, the decline in the US
economy and the relative rise of China prevented him from
gaining much ground on the economic front. Many Asian nations,
despite being wary of China’s rise and growing power, are
concerned that the US economic leadership role in the world, and
particularly in Asia, is in permanent decline.
U.S.Forces in Iraq and Afghanistan are beginning initial
deployment of the Switchblade unmanned aerial system (UAS). A
product of AeroVironment, the aircraft is light enough to be
man-packable, simple enough to be deployed in minutes and can
fly off over the horizon sending back video. It can loiter and
watch silently (it's electric) and is so small that it is very
difficult to detect at night, even at close range.
Once a symbol of poverty, the lowly wood burning stove is
making a comeback among cash-strapped Greeks horrified by the
soaring costs of central heating as winter begins.
The world can still prevent global temperatures from rising
more than two degrees Celsius by doing far more than current
pledges to reduce harmful emissions, a UN report released on
Wednesday said.
You might not know this, but right now less than 1% of the
water in the world is drinkable. And most of that is in a deep
lake in Siberia. That means the rest of the world is left to
fight over scraps. For a while that was no big deal... But now
you've got China and India in the picture. They've got 36% of
the world's population but only a fraction of its water.
That means they're going to try and get water somewhere else...
The 600-megawatt plant shut down automatically at 11:12 p.m.
Saturday when safety systems detected low oil pressure in its
turbines, according to Xcel Energy, which owns and operates the
plant.
November 21, 2011
After deciding it isn't worth cleaning up one of the nation's
dirtiest power plants, the owners of an aging coal-burner along
the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan are shutting it down
sooner than expected.
He stated that considering 8 months have passed since 311
without any improvement, it is inevitable that melted fuel went
out of the container vessel and sank underground, which is
called China syndrome.
He added, if fuel has reaches a underground water vein, it
will cause contamination of underground water, soil
contamination and sea contamination. Moreover, if the
underground water vein keeps being heated for long time, a
massive hydrovolcanic explosion will be caused.
“Hunting reconnects us to the wild places from whence we
came, to regain a role in the drama between predator and prey,”
says editor Jason Belcourt. “Hunting ties us to our land and
our elders…it’s a quest to get back to ourselves, back to our
roots as native people, and a chance to remember what the world
was like — what we were like — before modernization and
urbanization separated us from Mother Earth.”
The decision by the United States to deploy 2,500 marines in
Australia represents an important symbolic shift in strategy for
the region. Even though the deployment is not large, it will
help calm the nerves of several nations in the region that are
looking for the US to play a greater role in the region to
counter an increasingly aggressive China.
A new study shows that a little extra effort during the
surveying phase could dramatically reduce the avian impact of
wind farms, with minimal impact on wind farm productivity.
U.S. oil giant Chevron faces huge fines and may be banned
from operating in Brazil, after the blowout of an oil well that
left a slick of crude off Brazil's southeastern coast 68
kilometers (42 miles) long. While the oil leak is occurring
offshore of Rio de Janeiro, the oil is not threatening the
coastline or Rio's famous beaches; it is floating away from
land.
Billionaire investor Warren Buffett said Europe's debt crisis
had shown up a "major flaw" in the 17-member eurozone system and
it would take more than words to fix it.
Muse School, a non-profit private school for children ages 2
through 12 in Malibu, Calif., has a new zero-waste sorting unit
that allows students and staff to throw away plastics, metal,
paper and even electronics.
Administration Shouldn’t Be Able to Unilaterally Close
Federal Lands to Shooting Sports
ALPINE, AZ — Although the embers have cooled, the scars from
this summer’s Bear Wallow Fire in eastern Arizona run deep, both
in the human communities it seared and within the
Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest, where wildlife and vegetation
are trying to recover.
The corporate tax rate in the United States is the highest in
the developed world and places U.S.-headquartered corporations
at a tremendous disadvantage in the global marketplace,
according to a new report.
Dominion Power is looking at whether any changes are needed
in its seismic analysis for a planned third reactor at North
Anna Power Station.
The resignation of the Cabinet on
Monday came amid widening protests against the ruling military.
Protesters are demanding that the military quickly announce a
date for the handover of power to a civilian government. At
least 24 protesters have been killed in the past three days.
Continuing violent protests throughout Egypt, inflamed by
political leaders, is not only an effort to push the country
toward civilian rule, but also an attempt by some politicians to
win votes before the November 28 parliamentary elections.
If some appliances, computers or communications equipment
have been working oddly lately, the Maine Public Advocate's
office said your electric meter may be to blame.
Central banks are powerful. Don’t get me wrong. However, if
they could stop a crisis or contagion, then we’d never really
have them.
They’re simply not quite that powerful. But
tell that to Mr. Silva, Portugal’s president, who said: “The
European Central Bank can stop the spread of the continent’s
financial crisis with foreseeable and unlimited purchases of
Italian and other government bonds.”
The world is anxiously watching to see if Europe can avoid a
full blown debt crisis. They may manage to avoid disaster – for
now.
One can look up and count the stars that can be seen. Finding
exoplanets orbiting these stars is a different matter because
they cannot be seen by the naked eye
To help make a corporate recycling program successful, he
said, a company needs to commit to the effort.
For the long haul.
An increase in heat waves is almost certain, while heavier
rainfall, more floods, stronger cyclones, landslides and more
intense droughts are likely across the globe this century as the
Earth's climate warms, U.N. scientists said on Friday.
Global economic output is set to double as the global
population grows to 8.7 billion people by 2040, when global
energy demand will be 30% higher than it was in 2010, ExxonMobil
CEO Rex Tillerson said Monday.
But continues to broadcast misinformation about unpasteurized
dairy
"It is virtually certain that on a global scale hot days
become even hotter and occur more often," warns a new report for
policymakers on managing the risks of extreme events and
disasters resulting from climate change. The report linking
climate change with current trends in extreme weather was
approved Thursday in Kampala by climate scientists working with
the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, IPCC, and
released today.
The government and Big Pharma keeps telling us that HPV
vaccines are safe. Whats a few ruined lives and deaths of
sacrificial lambs as long as the herd is safe?
The CDC has admitted that those it said died from raw milk
over the last ten years did not die from raw milk. So is raw
milk safe? Well that depends. It’s safe to drink but if you
produce or distribute it the government may show up with weapons
drawn and eventually someone will get shot and die.
The company said it has decreased the amount of solid waste
it creates by 45.7% per 100 metric tons of production globally.
Heinz said the reduction is for fiscal year 2011, which ended
April 27, compared with solid waste generation for the baseline
year of 2005.
Ever since the Second Amendment guaranteed Americans the
right to bear arms, there has been a palpable tension between
gun owners and the government.
A group of 31 scientists from 22 universities and colleges in
Iowa issued a statement to GOP presidential candidates on
Tuesday, urging them to “acknowledge the science of climate
change.”
Threats made by Iranian officials
have been twofold: direct threats against Israel and threats
against the United States and its vital interests. The threats
have been scatter-shot and inconsistent, suggesting that Tehran
is struggling to formulate a response that is both feasible and
also avoids a humiliating outcome that could destabilize the
regime.
Conventional wisdom has it that the next election will be
fought exclusively on the topic of jobs. But..other issues will
weigh in -- and that, oddly enough, one of them might even be
climate change.
Japan's emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) from burning fuel
rose 4.4 percent in the year that ended in March from the
previous year to 1.122 billion tonnes, the trade ministry said
Friday, as a recovery in the economy and an unusually hot summer
boosted the use of energy.
While some US Northeast heating oil marketers have had funds
frozen by the MF Global bankruptcy, the impact is "limited" and
should not hamper supplies to customers during the winter
heating season, Michael Trunzo, president and CEO of the New
England Fuel Institute, said Monday.
Even as Minnesota Power plunges headlong toward making more
electricity from hydroelectric dams and wind turbines, the
Minnesota Public Utilities Commission is asking for much more
from the Duluth-based utility, including a study on how to shut
down two of its coal-burning power plants while at the same time
adding cleaner natural gas.
Not even close.
This is alarming.
A Hungarian laboratory has denied claims made by the UN's
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that it is the most
likely source of the outbreak of radioactive particles recently
detected in the skies above Europe. Low levels of iodine-131
were measured in the atmosphere above the Czech Republic and
several other European countries earlier this month and the IAEA
moved swiftly with assurances it posed no danger to public
health.
A new University of Minnesota study reveals that the release
of treated municipal wastewater – even wastewater treated by the
highest-quality treatment technology – can have a significant
effect on the quantities of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, often
referred to as "superbacteria," in surface waters.
Scientists have created a new type of lithium-ion battery
that is said to hold a charge ten times longer, and recharge in
one-tenth the time of existing li-ions
Strengthened La Niña conditions expected through winter
Freddie Mac (OTC: FMCC) released yesterday its U.S. Economic
and Housing Market Outlook for November showing that despite
positive economic signs consumers remain worried about their
financial well being – a major reason why home sales remain
relatively lackluster, despite the most affordable home-buyer
market in decades.
When President-elect Obama came to Washington in late 2008,
he was outspoken about the need for an economic stimulus to
revive a struggling economy. He wanted billions of dollars spent
on “shovel-ready projects” to build roads; billions more for
developing alternative-energy projects; and additional billions
for expanding broadband Internet access and creating a “smart
grid” for energy consumption.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S.
Department of Transportation today formally unveiled their joint
proposal to set stronger fuel economy and greenhouse gas
emissions standards for model year 2017-2025 passenger cars and
light trucks.
The U.S. could wean itself off foreign oil in about five
years by developing a new energy plan and relying more on
homegrown resources, says billionaire oilman T. Boone Pickens.
To do that, the U.S. must push through new energy policies
to encourage more drilling in the United States, especially
natural gas.
Unlike alluvial aquifers, which can be replenished seasonally
with rain and snow, these regional aquifers were filled by
melting glaciers during the last Ice Age, the researchers say.
When that water is gone, it won't come back -- at least, until
another Ice Age comes along.
a few low-level C-class events. Solar activity is expected to
be low
throughout the period (22-24 November) with a chance
for M-class, The geomagnetic field is expected to be quiet
throughout the period (22-24 November).
Former Alaska governor and GOP vice-presidential candidate
Sarah Palin blasted rampant corruption in the marbled halls of
Congress Friday, calling it an “endemic problem” affecting both
parties.
“The only solution to entrenched corruption is
sudden and relentless reform,” she wrote.
Italians Andrea Rossi and Sergio Focardi claim to have succeeded
in initiating artificial fusion processes.
But so
far there are few who believe in them.
Nuclear fusion is a process by which multiple nuclei fused
together to form a heavier nucleus.
The
fusion is released or absorbed enormous amounts of energy.
Chu said that if the United States balks at helping private
firms invest in the most exciting new renewable energy ideas,
there are 50 other nations that will continue to do so within
their borders.
A cargo of Libyan-loading jet fuel, reported to be the first
jet cargo to load from Libya since the start of the conflict in
the country in February, has been sold to Shell for delivery
into the company's Shell Haven terminal in the UK.
There are several features that reportedly make the crutches
well-suited to demanding use.
For one thing, they each feature an internal shock absorber,
so that each strike against the ground doesn't entirely radiate
up into the user's hands and arms. Additionally, the arm cuffs
are padded to prevent chafing, while ergonomically designed hand
grips provide maximum support. The angles incorporated into the
design of the crutches also put the arms and wrists in a neutral
position.
The exit of Arizona, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah and
Washington mostly was expected, as the states were seen as
unlikely to implement a cap-and-trade program, observers said.
The Industry Ministry of Spain's outgoing government has
approved a scheme for capacity payments to reward generation by
hydro, coal, gas and fuel oil.
The overuse of antibiotics have led to a rise in the
number of bacterial infections which are resistant to all
drugs, experts said.
The problem will threaten even the most basic hospital
treatments that will become highly dangerous without
effective antibiotics, it was warned.
President Bashar al-Assad’s refusal to cooperate on a peace
plan and international fatigue with his actions is dramatically
increasing the likelihood of international intervention. The
opposition is increasingly resorting to armed assaults, drawing
stronger attacks from the military and pushing the country
closer to a full-fledged civil war.
At least two rocket-propelled grenades hit a building
belonging to the ruling Baath party in Damascus on Sunday,
residents said, in the first insurgent attack reported inside
the Syrian capital since an eight-month uprising began against
President Bashar Assa
Peat, the accumulated turf made up of decayed vegetation,
forms in many parts of the world in places like bogs, moors, and
swamp forests. Due to its high carbon content, it can be
harvested and burned as fuel. There are estimates that the
global inventory of peat, covering 2 percent of all land area,
contains 8 billion terajoules of energy. A new study has
revealed that peat also has a high potential to contribute to
climate change. The study, published by researchers from Bangor
University in Maine, found that drought causes the release of
far more carbon dioxide from peat than previously assumed.
The majority of people use this kitchen appliance without
question and think they are no more than a simple alternative to
conventional ovens for when they don’t feel like cooking or need
food fast.
However you may want to think twice before
using your microwave, as it could be one of the worst things YOU
do to your food.
Africa's oil and gas
exploration has never looked healthier, especially in East
Africa, driven by high oil prices, improved technology and
recent success with the drill bit.
The carbon cycle is the biogeochemical cycle by which carbon
is exchanged among the biosphere, pedosphere, geosphere,
hydrosphere, and atmosphere of the Earth. It is one of the most
important cycles of the earth and allows for carbon to be
recycled and reused throughout the biosphere and all of its
organisms. Has it always been the same? A reconstruction of
plant productivity and the amount of carbon stored in the ocean
and terrestrial biosphere at the last ice age has just been
published...
Up to three million people in Afghanistan are facing hunger,
malnutrition and disease after a severe drought wiped out their
crops and extreme winter weather risks cutting off their access
to vital food aid, a group of aid agencies warned Friday.
Winter Transition for East-Half USA remains on schedule for
NOV 29 - DEC 4 time range....
Also on cue: forecasts too Cold for November now typically
flip to "Winter is Over" chants....
Freddie Mac (OTC: FMCC) last week released the results of
its Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS), showing average fixed
mortgage rates changing little and remaining at or near 4.00
percent for the past three weeks amid positive economic and
consumer confidence data. The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage, a
popular refinancing choice, averaged 3.31 percent for the week
Existing home sales in the US unexpectedly rose 1.4% in
October to 4.97 million annualized units, partially reversing
the previous month’s downwardly revised 3.2% decrease to 4.90
million (initially reported as a 3.0% decline to 4.91 million).
The rise in the pace of existing home sales comes as a surprise
as market expectations were for a 2.2% decline to 4.80 million
annualized units.
The U.S. currently accounts for 47% of global credit and
debit card fraud even though it generates only 27% of the total
volume of purchases and cash, according to Global Card Fraud,
from a recent issue of The Nilson Report, a respected trade
newsletter on the payments industry.
Although the US Northwest and western Canada are expected to
see prolonged cold spells this winter, a Canadian vs. Rockies
gas contest appears unlikely.
The U.S. Air Force has just taken delivery of the first
GBU-57A/B (Massive Ordnance Penetrator). It weighs 30,000 lb and
will penetrate 200 ft of hardened concrete BEFORE it goes off.
If you are reading this from an underground nuclear facility in
Iran or North Korea, might we suggest some extended sick leave
is (or soon will be) in order.
Even as U.S. banks have “manageable” exposure to stressed
European markets, “further contagion poses a serious risk,”
Fitch said, without explaining what it meant by contagion.
Converting America's heavy truck fleet of about 8 million
vehicles to liquefied natural gas would save 2.5 million barrels
of oil per day, meaning we could reduce our reliance on OPEC oil
by half. At $100 per barrel that means $250 million per day
stays in the United States to circulate through OUR economy,
rather than being shipped off overseas.
November 18, 2011
Climate change is likely to lead to increased average
rainfall in the world's major river basins but weather patterns
will be fickle and the timing of wet seasons may change,
threatening farming and foodstocks, experts said Monday.
The mystery of how a subglacial mountain range the size of
the Alps formed up to 250 million years ago has finally been
solved, scientists said on Wednesday, which could help map the
effects of climate change.
China, the world's biggest carbon emitter, could nudge the
United States into more action on climate change, rescuing the
latest round of global talks and improving its international
reputation.
The Army on Thursday conducted its first flight test of a new
weapon capable of traveling five times the speed of sound.
Knowing whether we have an El Niño Event, ENSO Neutral Events
or La Niña Event, is like knowing if it's a 1 pm, 4 pm, or 7 pm
Ball-Game: It provides a foundation of information from which
statistical trends can be drawn, but (USA Temperature) results
can be very wide-ranging depending on numerous other factors.
However, with this Winter featuring a (currently Weak)
approaching Strong La Niña Event
In Boulder, CO, the fight to keep GMOs off county lands is
entering the final rounds. After months of deliberation, an
agricultural policy group has recommended that GMOs be allowed
on open space land and the people of Boulder county are making
sure their leaders know they do not approve. Their message is
being heard and the collective thorn is growing in Monsanto’s
side. Will the county commissioners side with the corporations
or the people?
In the U.S., the best wind resources are in the Northern
Plains — but it's virtually impossible for a single individual
to build a multi-million dollar turbine. But if a group of
individuals come together, they can work with an enterprising
electric company to create a community- supported wind farm.
China bought more U.S. Treasury debt in September and total
foreign holdings rose for a second straight month.
The
Treasury Department says total foreign holdings of Treasury debt
increased 1.9 percent to $4.66 trillion.
India is the world's fifth-largest producer of carbon
emissions. The nation is hoping to reduce its carbon footprint
through the use of nuclear energy.
Three of Europe's top renewable energy companies became the
latest victims of a global collapse in prices, massive
oversupply and governments slashing subsidies in light of
growing debt piles, echoing recent comments from overseas peers.
More than a decade after deadly gaps in drinking water
management killed seven people in Walkerton, Ont., the federal
government is still failing to ensure all Canadians have access
to safe drinking water, according to a new report from
Ecojustice.
Federal Reserve Bank of Boston President Eric Rosengren said
that the central bank still has power to boost the economy
through lower interest rates.
“The common misconception is that rates are already low so
further monetary policy actions will have no impact on the
economy,” Rosengren said in the text of a speech in Boston
today. “In fact, statistical analysis suggests the opposite.”
Financial advisors have grown decidedly more pessimistic
during 2011, according to the MFS Investing Sentiment Survey,
moving more in line with the declining sentiment of investors.
As more and more mainstream car manufacturers join a new wave
of electric vehicle development, it looks like we're definitely
headed for an electric transport future. While powering a car
with an electric motor is not exactly a new innovation, you may
be surprised to learn exactly how old the technology
is.
The Treasury Department confirmed this week that the national
debt has surpassed $15 trillion -- that's 15, followed by 12
zeros -- a milestone Republicans have latched on to for a fresh
attack on President Obama's fiscal management.
The Governor's Wind Energy Coalition, which
includes Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin, is calling on Congress to
extend a federal tax incentive for the wind industry.
The group, which includes 23 governors from Massachusetts to
California, sent a letter Tuesday urging Congressional leaders
in Washington to preserve the tax credit.
The U.S. House of Representatives has passed an important
self-defense measure that would enable millions of
Right-to-Carry permit holders across the country to carry
concealed firearms while traveling outside their home states.
Dogged by soaring sewer rates, Alabama social worker Mary
Jones and her friends are finding novel ways to keep from
flushing their income down the toilet -- literally.
Warren Buffett, in a recent interview with CNBC, offers one of
the best quotes about the debt ceiling:
"I could end the deficit in 5 minutes," he told CNBC. "You
just pass a law that says that anytime there is a deficit of
more than 3% of GDP, all sitting members of Congress are
ineligible for re-election.
Oil and water may not mix, but managing water -- moving it,
filtering it, recycling it and ultimately exhausting it -- is
one of the fastest growing sectors of the oil and gas industry,
industry experts and investors said on Thursday.
World powers have agreed a draft resolution, which expresses
"increasing concern" over Iran's controversial nuclear
programme.
The document by the five permanent members of the UN Security
Council and Germany comes amid fears of "possible military
dimensions" to the programme.
The first conjugate vaccine, against Haemophilus influenzae type
b (Hib), was approved for use in the U.S. in 1988, which
coincides with a marked increase in reported prevalence of
autism spectrum disorders among American children
OPEC should increase crude production when it meets on
December 14 in order to avoid an oil price spike, Kuwaiti oil
minister Mohammed al-Busairi said November 13.
Members of Congress repeatedly blocked moves to enforce
insider trading laws on themselves because they don’t want to be
bothered by cumbersome rules, says retired House member Brian
Baird, whose unsung efforts to stop the trading are finally
getting respect.
France will need plentiful rain this winter to revive
groundwater levels hit by a spring drought and a dry start to
the autumn, the French geological research office (BGRM) said.
The practice – an essential part of Buddhist and Indian Yoga
traditions – has entered the mainstream as people try to find
ways to combat stress and improve their quality of life.
“Germany sees the need in this context to show the markets
and the world public that the euro will remain together, that
the euro must be defended, but also that we are prepared to give
up a little bit of national sovereignty,” Merkel said.
US Midcontinent refiners are not in as bad shape as the
recent drop in share prices and margins makes them out to be
following the Seaway pipeline reversal announcement, analysts
and market watchers said Thursday.
The unusually wide
WTI-Brent spread that discounted WTI-priced crude purchases was
already deemed unsustainable, though it has collapsed earlier
than expected, they said.
TransCanada Corporation has agreed to reroute its proposed
Keystone XL tar sands pipeline out of Nebraska's environmentally
sensitive Sandhills area, which overlies the Ogallala aquifer.
Generic mouthwash does a fantastic job cleaning out your
mouth and leaving you with a minty fresh feeling. Now there is a
new kind of mouthwash which is under development, that has the
potential to eliminate tooth decay and cavities.
Radiation is something you cannot smell or see. Unless you
have your own Geiger counter, you can’t hear it, either. But
that isn’t stopping the Japanese — probably the most
radiation-conscious people in the world these days — from
figuring out a way to “sniff it out.”
Power plants are creating greater stress on the nation's
freshwater resources than previously recognized, according to a
report released Tuesday by the Energy and Water in a Warming
World initiative, a collaboration of scientists.
The basic idea with radiators is that they should, well,
radiate heat out into the room. Given that they're almost
always located against walls, however, much of the heat coming
off the back of them is just absorbed by those walls. What
someone should make is a gizmo that draws the heated air out
from behind a radiator, and blows it over to where it will be
appreciated. Well, that's what the Radiator Booster is.
With the Iran threat growing –
as evidenced by the latest IAEA report — it is critical that the
Republican presidential candidates explain what they would do
differently as Commander-in-Chief from President Obama to
neutralize the Iranian threat and support true regime change in
Tehran.
C6/Sf flare, a slight chance for isolated M-class flares..The
geomagnetic field is expected to be at mostly quiet to unsettled
levels for day one and
two (18 - 19 November) in response to
a possible glancing blow from
the
coronal mass ejection observed late on 14 November.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers have
designed a chip that mimics how the brain's neurons adapt in
response to new information.
Saudi Arabia and South Korea "entered into a bilateral
agreement designed to enhance cooperation between the two
countries in the development and use of atomic energy for
peaceful purposes,"...
Lawyers representing bankrupt solar panel manufacturer
Solyndra received "no acceptable turnkey bids" for the company's
California plant by a late Wednesday deadline and have asked a
US Bankruptcy Court to give them more time to find a buyer while
allowing them to consider liquidating the factory, equipment and
land.
The web may not be perfect, but SOPA is a reactionary bill to
a broken copyright system. One thought alone: The ‘broken web’
is ironically what makes it work.
In recent years, research sponsored by the Union of Concerned
Scientists has shown that the widespread adoption of genetically
engineered (GE) crops has led to increased herbicide use in the
United States, while falling short of the biotech industry's
promises for higher crop yields and more efficient fertilizer
use. More modern, scientifically advanced agricultural practices
achieve many of the objectives of GE crops, without many of the
downsides.
UN report says that at least 40 per cent of the global oceans
are 'heavily affected' by human activities and that 60 per cent
of the world's major marine ecosystems have been degraded or are
being used unsustainably. It makes ten proposals for
improvement.
Oceans at Rio+20 calls for a string of actions, including
more scientific research and capacity building in small island
states, to try to tackle the problems.
The solar array is the company's third installation,
including a panel in San Francisco and La Mirada, and one of the
largest rooftop installations in Phoenix. It is expected to
provide 15 percent of the division's power needs annually.
The overall October CPI index fell by 0.1%, which compares to
market forecasts for a flat reading. Excluding the volatile food
and energy components, however, the so called core price index
increased by an as expected 0.1%. On a year-over-year basis, the
rate of increase in the overall CPI eased to 3.5% from 3.9%, and
the core inflation rate edged up to 2.1% from 2.0% in September.
Manufactured nanomaterials have a variety of uses ranging
from cosmetics to building materials, and yet the effects of
this technology on the environment and humans are largely
unknown, Brant says.
All that I know is that when I was a young mother with three
kids at home, the grocery bill consumed quite a bit of our
income. And when that boy young'un grew into a teenager...
Let's just say we seriously considered taking out a second
mortgage on the house.
November 14, 2011
According to the Electricity Storage Association (ESA), the
recently introduced Storage Technology for Renewable and Green
Energy Act of 2011 (STORAGE) investment tax credit for energy
storage technologies of all types could jump start the energy
storage industry, increasing the reliability, security and
efficiency of the electric grid.
Immediately after taking the oath of office in March 1933,
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt ordered all banks across the
country to lock their doors while it could be determined which
ones were strong enough to reopen and to restore bank customers'
faith.
Thirty-six states, including Illinois, had already called
bank holidays on their own.
"More Jobs, Less Pollution: Growing the Recycling Economy in
the U.S.," released by Tellus Institute and Sound Resource
Management, also said that the higher recycling rate would mean
reduced pollution and improved public health, along with
generating strong local economies with stable employment bases.
They call our statements “erroneous,” “ridiculous,”
“untruths,” “falsehoods,” and “outright lies,” but each of our
“wild accusations” are solidly documented!
The finished 2,000-square-foot home could be warmed even in
the dead of winter with a pair of small space heaters, Brazelton
said, though the family plans to piggyback on their hot water
heater and use an in-floor heating system in the basement.
Residents of remote Alaska towns and tiny Native villages
were working on Friday to tally up damages from a near-record
storm that lashed the state's west coast, officials said.
"Thirty-seven villages have reported some type of damage,
whether that is wind damage or minor flooding or power outages.
Between the increased capacity the new Ruby Pipeline offers
and the price-crushing impact of surging Marcellus Shale gas
production in the Northeast, Rockies gas prices have recently
been able to chase the best price spreads to either the US East
and West, a Platts analysis shows.
Asia-Pacific heads of state and government Sunday pledged to,
"Promote energy efficiency by taking specific steps related to
transport, buildings, power grids, jobs, knowledge sharing, and
education in support of energy-smart low-carbon communities."
This investment tax credit for energy storage technologies of
all types is expected to jump start an industry that has
enormous potential to increase the reliability, security and
efficiency of our nation's electric grid.
For more than a year now, decades-old rotting garbage has
been converted into methane gas, then electricity for the
Tennessee Valley Authority's power grid.
Each day, around a million cubic feet of methane, a
greenhouse gas, is captured before it can escape into the
atmosphere. The city also is getting paid for helping generate
this renewable energy source, to the tune of $60,000 annually
for the sale of methane and $20,000 for the sale of electricity.
A decision to move off the grid means profound changes are
coming. But many people do not realize what an incredible
opportunity for change the off-the-grid lifestyle really
represents. This is because most people do not truly understand
how deeply co-opted and colonized they have become after living
for so long under the camouflaged thumb of a system that
comprehensively oppresses our instincts for independence and
self-reliance.
The Airdrop irrigation concept is a low-tech design that uses
the simple process of condensation to harvest water from the
air. Utilizing a turbine intake system, air is channeled
underground through a network of piping that quickly cools the
air to soil temperature. This process creates an environment of
100-percent humidity, from which water is then harvested.
Pipe-in-pipe systems are now commonly used to distribute
water in many Norwegian homes. The inner pipe for drinking water
is made of a plastic called cross-linked polyethylene (PEX). Are
these pipes harmful to health and do they affect the taste and
odour of drinking water?
Preliminary findings from a study on the use of hydraulic
fracturing in shale gas development suggest no direct link to
reports of groundwater contamination, the project leader at The
University of Texas at Austin's Energy Institute said Wednesday.
The U.S. Senate rejected an effort to repeal the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s Cross State Air
Pollution Rule (CSAPR) on Nov. 10.
A new map website created by the Federal Geographic Data
Committee has been created and made available to the public. Its
ease of use and depth of information may give a serious run on
other established mapping sites such as Google Earth, Bing, or
Mapquest.
The Full Employment and
Balanced Growth Act of 1978, Section 3111, mandates that
when high unemployment persists (ie during a jobless recovery)
the President is required to initiate supplementary programs to
reduce unemployment.
On May 30, in the aftermath of Japan's Fukushima nuclear
disaster, German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced that between
2015 and 2022 Germany would close all of its 18 nuclear power
plants, which produce about 28 percent of the country's
electricity.
Global liquidity has become a key focus of international
policy debates, reflecting its critical importance as a factor
affecting international financial stability. This report
analyses global liquidity from a financial stability
perspective, using two distinct concepts. One is official
liquidity, which is ultimately provided by central banks. The
other is private sector liquidity, which is created largely
through the cross-border operations of banks and other financial
institutions.
Greenhouse gases are building at a steep rate in the
atmosphere, the nation's top climate agency reported, renewing
concern that global warming may be accelerating.
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is being asked to
withhold certification for the new Westinghouse-Toshiba AP1000
nuclear reactor until flaws in its design exposed by Japan's
nuclear disaster are resolved. Two utilities plan to install the
untried reactor in Georgia and South Carolina.
After surveying 50 energy experts, the Brattle Group found
that energy efficiency improvements could cause electricity
consumption in the US to drop by 5 to 15 percent by 2020
(compared to forecast trends). Further, electric peak demand
could decrease by 7.5 to 15 percent.
This suggests that Israel has a viable plan to significantly
damage Iran’s nuclear capabilities, and will soon decide whether
to execute that plan.
King Abdullah of Jordan has called on Bashar Assad to step down,
becoming the first Arab leader to explicitly ask for the
embattled Syrian leader’s resignation.
The theory is that you can use light to form a wall that
separates space. In a phenomenon not fully understood, the
mosquitoes that are outside the wall seem blocked, as if by a
semi-invisible fence.
Dr. Burzynski had tried to get the FDA to review and approve
antineoplastons since 1977, to no avail. To make sure he would
not get into trouble for using the experimental therapy in his
practice, his legal team confirmed that he was acting within the
law and could use antineoplastons in his own practice “to meet
the immediate needs of patients.” But in the 1980s the Texas
Medical Board (TMB) charged him with breaking a law that didn’t
actually exist and tried to revoke his medical license. Numerous
investigations later—including an appearance before the Texas
Supreme Court—found no violation of any law or standard of care.
The TMB came up empty-handed.
the report erases all doubts that Iran is pursuing nuclear
weapons.
For generations now, Indian Country has been conditioned to
believe and act upon the false view that the United States
Congress has plenary power over all Indian affairs, and, by
implication, over Indian Nations. This has resulted in our
Indian Nations being wrongly deprived of the free exercise of
our rights and liberty, and of the vast majority of our
traditional territories across the length and breadth of the
continent. This has been due in large part to the assumption
about U.S. plenary power that has wrongfully empowered U.S.
courts, congressional committees, and the U.S. presidency in
relation to Indian Nations.
Eighty-one days after Virginia's second-largest earthquake
shut down North Anna Power Station's two nuclear reactors, they
are going back online.
Though previous research has shown that human settlement
patterns are the primary factor that drives the distribution of
fires in the Amazon, the new research demonstrates that
environmental factors -- specifically small variations in ocean
temperatures -- amplify human impacts and underpin much of the
variability in the number of fires the region experiences from
one year to the next.
...the position he had adopted at the June meeting--that the
market needed more oil and that there was a need to increase
production or face an oil price spike.
But Iran, which
currently holds the OPEC presidency, wants the group to uphold
the 24.845 million b/d 11-member target agreed in late 2008 when
oil prices were plunging amid a deepening global recession. This
target covers 11 members but not Iraq.
It’s all about politics. Once that environment smoothes out,
the Pacific Northwest can get on with the business of building
out its renewable energy programs.
two C-flares, a Type II radio sweep with an estimated
plane-of-sky
velocity of 610 km/sec. A coronal mass ejection
(CME) was
observed. There is a slight chance for an
isolated M-class flare. The geomagnetic field is expected
to be at mostly quiet levels during the period (15 - 17
November).
A report from the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations
(INPO) said the damage to the cores and fuel of Units 1, 2 and 3
at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant may have occurred
the day the earthquake and tsunami hit in March.
...scientists at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in
Bethesda, Maryland have been experimenting with a new form of
therapy using infrared light to kill cancer cells and shrink
tumors without damaging healthy tissue.
Seventy eight percent - more U.S. families than ever before -
say they are choosing organic foods, according to a recently
published study by the Organic Trade Association (OTA). "In a
time when the severity of the economy means making tough
choices, it is extremely encouraging to see consumers vote with
their values by including quality organic products in their
shopping carts," said Christine Bushway,
When flood waters rose in Thailand, Wal-Mart stores in Japan
ran out of mouthwash.
People of wealth were pulling their money out of the economy.
Unemployment was rising, and consumers had less money to spend,
adding to the downward spiral. Bankruptcies were more numerous.
Bank loans were not being re-paid. There was no federally
guaranteed depositors insurance to inspire depositor confidence.
If there is one overwhelming investment trend among the
American rich, it is capital flight.
Rather than investing in the U.S., they are putting more and
more of their money abroad.
Ovshinsky, now 88, has been wildly successful. He holds more
than 400 patents, many linked to solar power and hydrogen-fueled
vehicles. Five years ago, it was Ovshinsky -- not Apple's Steve
Jobs -- whom the magazine The Economist suggested rhetorically
might be "The Edison of Our Age."
Today, default/delinquency/foreclosure rates continue to
skyrocket and soon there will be more prime mortgages in arrears
than subprime ones. More than 25% of all homes are now "under
water." Millions of more families are at risk. Foreclosures
continue to rise. The housing crisis at the center of the
financial crisis has not been "fixed."
For all the talk of how the US concentrated solar power
market has been suffering at the hands of cheaper photovoltaics,
many US based energy analysts say one of the biggest challenges
CSP, and indeed all renewables will face in coming years, will
come from the natural gas sector.
“Natural gas is crushing, literally crushing, alternative
sources of energy,” says one long time watcher of the oil and
gas sector. Many of his colleagues, if less colorful, certainly
agree.
Strange, stranger, strangest! To the weird nature of one of
the simplest chemical compounds — the stuff so familiar that
even non-scientists know its chemical formula — add another odd
twist. Scientists are reporting that good old H2O, when chilled
below the freezing point, can shift into a new type of liquid.
The Fed, in allowing and indeed encouraging this transfer to
go ahead, is placing the health of BAC above the health of Bank
of America. And that’s just wrong. Holding companies can come
and go — it’s the retail-banking subsidiaries which we have to
be concerned about. The Fed should not ever let risk get
transferred gratuitously from one part of the BAC empire into
the retail sub unless there’s a very good reason. And I see no
such reason.
These days, virtually everyone agrees that economies are a
mess in the United States, Europe and much of the rest of the
world....
Are things as bad as they seem?
Unfortunately, they are, say three Wharton faculty members...
November 11, 2011
I recently attended the ASPO-USA annual conference in
Washington, DC. Overall, I found the presentations and
discussion to be very engaging. The vibe this year had much less
of a doomsday feel than last year and the topic of how best to
tell an engaging Peak Oil story came up often.
The children of the West (Americans) are fighting amongst
themselves (again) over distribution of a wealth that does not
belong to them, a wealth derived from Indigenous lands. The
opportunity to redefine wealth based on a more realistic view of
the earth and an understanding of man’s place may be now.
There is a very old Iroquois prophecy called the The
Two-Headed Serpent.
Air quality in the European Union remains below some World
Health Organization standards, increasing the risk of premature
deaths and environmental damage, the European Environmental
Agency (EEA) said in a report Wednesday.
The U.S. government whitewashed health risks when they put
controversial full-body X-ray scanners in airports throughout
the country, says a new report. Airport scanners emit radiation
that could be responsible for up to 100 cancer deaths of airline
passengers each year, according to the report by ProPublica and
the PBS NewsHour.
How can mankind signal to future generations thousands of
years from now that hazardous radioactive waste is buried deep
underground in eastern France -- by building a giant pyramid, a
museum or a site for art projects or by employing geology?
"The Gillard Government has today secured a clean energy
future for all Australians," said Prime Minister Julia Gillard
as the Senate approved Australia's first price on carbon
emissions. "This history-making vote turns years of discussion
into a reality."
A black asteroid as big as an aircraft carrier zoomed past
Earth on Tuesday, delighting astronomers who trained telescopes
on the ancient body in hopes of learning more about its
composition and origin.
With a diameter estimated at 400 meters, or about a quarter
of a mile, Asteroid 2005 YU 55 is the biggest asteroid to make a
close pass by Earth since 1976.
Global biofuel production rose by 17 percent in 2010, led by
the U.S., as the sector passed fresh milestones in aviation.
California has hit a major renewable energy milestone: 1
gigawatt -- or 1,000 megawatts -- of solar power has been
installed on rooftops throughout the state, according to a
report to be released Wednesday by Environment California, a
statewide advocacy group.
Unless Americans quickly make dramatic changes in their
lifestyles, half of the adult population will develop diabetes
or prediabetes by 2020, according to a new prediction from the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
China has become the top emitter of carbon in the world after
its emissions of greenhouse gases increased by 33.6 percent from
2006 to 2010, according to a report released by Tsinghua
University on Wednesday
In Central Appalachia, coal’s potential troubles are running
much deeper than the proposed environmental regulations. Both
public and private reviews note a reduction in production,
citing not just pending federal rules but also increased
competition and the depletion of the most recoverable deposits.
Senate Democrats defeated a bill on Thursday that would have
blocked federal environmental regulators from slashing power
plant air pollution that blows downwind to other states and
causes lung and heart problems.
US distillate stocks plunged 6.020 million barrels to 135.869
million barrels during the week ending November 4, with exports
to South and Central America sparking the decline, according to
the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) Wednesday.
The timing and scale of the restart of Libya's oil sector
after this year's civil war is one of the key factors likely to
influence oil prices in the coming months, and the International
Energy Agency thinks production is picking up more quickly than
people had been anticipated.
As electric power companies are modernizing their products
and processes they will want to turn more of their attention to
protecting their vital assets from cyber attacks. The folks who
track such things are saying that while the threats are rising,
the defenses to prevent them are not.
Deaths and health problems from floods, drought and other
U.S. disasters related to climate change cost an estimated $14
billion over the last decade, researchers said on Monday.
Sub-Saharan Africa has massive potential to generate clean
energy that could help lift hundreds of millions of people out
of poverty without exacerbating climate change, a new Christian
Aid report says today.
My friend Chuck strongly believes we can only count on
ourselves. And he should know. If there's anything his work has
taught him the past few years, it's this grim fact: most power
companies are more concerned about returning money to their
shareholders than they are investing in grid protection. They
prefer to keep their heads buried firmly in the sand, insisting
"it could never happen to us."
Experts interviewed by LIGNET believe Iran would most likely
respond to a US or Israeli airstrike on its nuclear sites by
encouraging its terrorist proxies to commit terrorist acts and
fire missiles against Israel. The experts generally agreed that
other more aggressive steps are possible but unlikely and
probably would prove effective if taken.
Economist John Hussman says the probability of another
recession is almost 100 percent, and warns investors against
holding risky assets in what he foresees will be a "significant
downturn."
Unless there is a "bold change of policy direction," the
world will lock itself into an insecure, inefficient and
high-carbon energy system, the International Energy Agency
warned at the launch of its 2011 World Energy Outlook today in
London.
Hopes for a vaccine that would be effective against many
different types of the deadliest malaria parasite, Plasmodium
falciparum, have been raised by research published today.
A majority of the models now
predict La Niña to continue through the Northern Hemisphere
winter and then gradually weaken after peaking during the
November - January period.
Let's pretend terrorist attacks or a massive EMP attack will
never, ever happen. Let's also pretend that rioters or
jack-booted thugs could never occupy the streets of America.
Let us just say that the economy is normal, jobs are abundant,
money is flowing like the water at Niagara Falls, no one is
upside down in their homes, and the stock market is continuing
to climb. All in all, we will just say that life is ticking
along quite normally.
The U.S. economy could be hurt by Lehman-like financial
contagion if the eurozone debt crisis engulfs major European
countries such as Italy, Moody's Investors Service said.
Just because those cute little bear-shaped bottles at the
grocery store say "honey" on them does not necessarily mean that
they actually contain honey.
Around the country this past Saturday, November 5, people fed
up with the power and influence of the big banks (not to mention
their bailouts and bad customer service) moved their money to
credit unions or to small, local banks.
Today, Andrea Rossi signed an agreement with National
Instruments to have them make all of the instrumentation for the
E-Cat cold fusion plants, which began to be sold commercially on
October 28 with the first 1 MW plant successfully tested in
Bologna.
The U.S. State Department today ordered another environmental
assessment for the TransCanada Keystone XL pipeline route,
allowing President Barack Obama to defer the contentious issue
until after the 2012 elections.
The Obama administration will allow "robust oil and gas
development" in the Gulf of Mexico starting in 2012, but will
hold off on letting drillers into Arctic waters until more is
known about spill response preparedness, according to a proposed
five-year plan unveiled on Tuesday.
Cremated body parts of fallen military servicemen and women
were dumped into a Virginia landfill for five years before the
military ended the practice in 2008, according to a report in
today’s Washington Post.
The prototype device, which is reportedly able to detect
illicit drugs in a person's system via their fingerprints
Consumption of renewable energy has seen a considerable rise
in the U.S. in the past decade, and represented about 8 percent
of total energy consumption in the country in 2010, according to
a report released on Wednesday.
British intelligence chiefs have warned that Israel will
launch military action to thwart Iran’s nuclear weapons
development efforts as early as Christmas...
Occasional C-class flares, a chance for an M-class, The
geomagnetic field is expected to be at quiet to unsettled levels
on day 1 (11 November). Activity is expected to increase to
unsettled to minor storm levels on day 2 (12 November) due to a
CME arrival, associated with a halo CME observed on 09 November.
Sen. Charles Grassley tells Newsmax in an exclusive interview
that the United States faces fiscal Armageddon because of the
mammoth and growing national debt.
Automakers are losing weight by shedding that spare tyre.
More passenger cars are rolling off assembly lines with no
jack, wrench or fifth wheel in the trunk as the U.S. government
seeks more aggressive fuel economy targets and consumers demand
savings at the pump.
At 100 full-color pages each, these eight featured guides
include tips, information and instructions from the most
relevant articles straight from MOTHER EARTH NEWS and GRIT
magazines.
Despite the violent crackdown,
protests against Mr Assad continue throughout Syria
Syrian activists
say an eight-year-old girl is among as many as 33 killed in
President Bashar al-Assad's campaign to crush anti-government
protests.
One-quarter of all the world's mammals are at risk of
extinction despite conservation efforts, according to the latest
update of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, released
today. One rhinocerus subspecies has been declared Extinct in
the updated list, and other rhino subspecies are teetering on
the brink.
Time is dwindling to do a solar installation this year and
qualify for the 1603 grant. But there are ways to safe harbor,
or lock in the grant. If a company cannot finish a solar
installation by the end of 201 1, it is still possible to get
that check for 30 percent.
Energy storage, in theory at least, is a technology with
enormous potential to change the way energy is transported,
dispatched and consumed. As technologies improve and capacities
grow, utilities are taking a closer look at how available energy
storage technologies can be applied to the problems facing
energy companies.
Toyota is out with its new North America Environmental
Report, which indicates the automaker has achieved what it calls
"near zero landfill status" at all North America manufacturing
plants.
The solar industry, at its recent gathering, wanted to talk
about 100,000 jobs, the quest for grid parity and inroads made
with the utility industry. What it didn’t really want at its
annual convention was to be taken off message by a looming trade
war.
U.S. energy use went back up in 2010 compared with 2009,
which hit a 12-year low in consumption, with most of the
increase in fossil fuels, a report said.
Electricity from renewable resources remained fairly constant
with an increase in wind power offset by a modest decline in
hydroelectricity, the report by the Lawrence Livermore National
Laboratory said.
The U.S. government on Thursday delayed approval of a
Canada-to-Texas oil pipeline until after the 2012 U.S. election,
bowing to pressure from environmentalists and sparing President
Barack Obama a damaging split with liberal voters he may need to
win reelection.
The US Department of Commerce said Thursday that crude oil
imports into the US in September fell 4.26%, or 416,000 b/d, to
9.338 million b/d, from September 2010.
As fallout continues from the collapse of solar manufacturer
Solyndra, the U.S. solar industry is divided on a related
challenge that threatens its future: China's subsidies.
The world may not be able to limit global temperature rise to
safe levels if new international climate action is not taken by
2017, as so many fossil fuel power plants and factories are
being built, the International Energy Agency said on Wednesday.
Most energy-efficiency initiatives in the process industries
deliver only short-term benefits, believes David Stockill. He
suggests ways to sustain the returns from these plans
At least 32 states can get 25 percent or more of their
electricity from wind power within their own borders.
The storm, considered the strongest to hit western Alaska in
several decades, has largely moved northwest toward the Russian
Arctic, said Don Moore, a National Weather Service
meteorologist.
SAD is a mood disorder that is brought on by the shorter
day-length experienced in winter - less sunlight results in
gloomier people. One of the most common treatments involves
regular exposure to bright artificial lights, that appear to
psychologically serve the same purpose as sunlight. Now, one
might assume that such light therapy would require that people see the light. According to the Finnish designers of
the Valkee device, however, light also does the trick if you
shine it up your ears.
November 8, 2011
Rescuers had pulled all 52 survivors to safety by Saturday
morning, nearly 40 hours after a massive cave-in destroyed a
mineshaft in Central China's Henan province.
Well it has happened. In Oklahoma near Guthrie we just had a
5.6 earthquake with major damage in the area, and is being
called the biggest ever to hit the state since record-keeping
began.
This is not a natural earthquake. This is due to
fracking operations going on in the area. Sorry for the folks
making excuses for the oil and gas operations.
Shale has quickly grown a paradox complex: For industry, it's
a newly tapped crude and gas bonanza that has already begun to
reverse the nation's oil fortunes. For part of the the public,
it's a mysterious new source of hydrocarbons with a method of
extraction -- fracking -- that possesses more dangers than
benefits.
Weiss Ratings wants to remind you how important it is to
research any bank or credit union that you are considering doing
business with in order to identify the safest place to put your
money.
Seeds sown by an anti-nuclear movement in San Clemente are
beginning to sprout in North County, where a handful of citizens
this month will ask the Solana Beach City Council to pass a
resolution calling for the closure of the San Onofre Nuclear
Generating Station.
Castelli is one of a small, but growing, number of people who
have decided that living in a more energy-efficient way is less
about being eco-friendly and more about smaller utility and gas
bills.
The recent announcement that the earth is now home to more
than 7 million people sparked new concerns about overpopulation.
Yet the real problem ahead is that there are not enough young
people, according to a new report.
Municipal bond managers and investors say they expect credit
ratings of U.S. states to fall in the next year and that
President Obama and Congress will take no action on changing
municipal bond tax status during the next 12 months...
Water infused with these microbubbles works well in cleaning
as well as having anti-bacterial properties. And the amount of
energy required to create the bubbles is miniscule compared to
their beneficial effects....
Bubbles smaller than 50 micrometers don't rise through the
water like the bubbles we usually think of; but they stay
diffused in the water -- Brownian motion -- so their life span
is very long.
Workers began removing coal ash and soil
Thursday morning from Monday's bluff collapse and mudslide on
the Lake Michigan shore at the We Energies' Oak Creek Power
Plant, spokesman Brian Manthey said.
The mix of ash and soil is being disposed of at a landfill on
the power plant property, he said.
Nearly 80% of electronic waste collected for recycling is
processed in the United States, according to a study conducted
by the International Data Corporation.
This sense of alienation is mostly a response to
industrial-scale farms. CFI tested the difference in consumer
attitudes toward two farming styles and found that, while
consumers by and large thought family farmers shared their
values, they believed commercial farmers did not.
The process of adding water and rubbing the label triggers
the dissolving action, which transforms the label into a fruit
wash. Alternatively, the stickers can be peeled off and thrown
away.
The panels have been in operation since Oct. 26 and is
expected to produce 251,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity each
year.
That is about enough to power 23 homes over that same time.
The U.S. EPA, the U.S. Department of Energy’s National
Renewable Energy Laboratory are evaluating the feasibility of
developing renewable energy production on superfund, brownfields
and former landfill sites, the two announced.
The European Union just put a massive Band-Aid on its
problems.
EU officials are treating the symptoms and
declaring victory rather than really treating the underlying
disease that caused all of their symptoms.
So let’s take
a closer look at the outcome of the EU summit.
Exxon Mobil said it has reached compensation agreements with
over 95 percent of property owners who were affected by the
spill, which released some 1,000 barrels of crude oil into the
river.
The leak occurred on July 1 on the Silvertip pipeline, in a
section that ran under the Yellowstone River and carried crude
oil to refineries in Billings, Montana.
Dealing with police in the U.S. can be a touchy situation, no
matter who you are, where you’re going, or what you’re up to.
That’s why three law enforcement experts attending the 2011 Drug
Policy Alliance conference in Los Angeles decided to stage a
panel discussion about what people can do to prevent police
encounters from becoming seriously detrimental to one’s life.
What scientists are calling a huge "migration" of trees has
begun across much of the West due to global warming, insect
attack, diseases and fire. Many tree species are projected to
decline or die out in regions where they have been present for
centuries, while others move in and replace them.
France's IRSN institute of radiological protection and
nuclear safety is proposing a new approach to ensuring the
safety of nuclear installations based on a relatively simple set
of measures designed to prevent severe accidents from becoming
catastrophic ones.
The leaders of the G-20 group of major economies wrapped up
their two-day annual meeting on Friday with promises to finance
the fight against climate change through the Green Climate Fund,
protect the marine environment from oil spills, and promote
low-carbon development strategies.
The scientists behind the research claim it will provide a
plentiful and safe alternative to products from human blood
donations, which are in short supply due to falling numbers of
donors, and get around the need to screen for diseases such as
HIV and hepatitis.
When it comes to renewable power, earth really wants to join
wind and fire.
Which is to say that geothermal power developers, who tap
heat energy from beneath the earth's crust, want a level playing
field with burgeoning solar and wind generators.
After an uncontrolled nuclear fission a few days ago, warns
the German radiation expert Professor Edmund Lengfelder from
further nuclear explosion in Fukushima.
We think robots will work for us? Think again. It might be
more likely we’ll be working for the robot. Among all the job
takeovers robots will make in the next 15 years (by 2025 robots
will take over nearly half of all U.S. jobs) get ready to have
them as our supervisors. Because it’s already begun.
Many people still assume that hospitals are generally clean,
sanitized places where harmful pathogens would have a difficult
time surviving. But a new study published in the American
Journal of Infection Control says otherwise, having found that
nearly half of all hospital rooms tested were contaminated with
a deadly, drug-resistant superbug known as Acinetobacter
baumannii (MDR-AB).
The History Channel show recently visited the Pendleton
County landfill in Butler, Ky., to film scenes for an upcoming
episode titled "The War on Stink," Rumpke said.
Should you feel that you'll be lacking sufficient protection
when the tin robots or balloon people attack, you might be
interested in knowing that all of Patrick's devices can be made
to order
A blistering attack on Spain’s solar thermal sector has
earned Iberdrola expulsion from the industry body Protermosolar.
Why has the world’s largest renewable energy operator gone sour
on CSP?
German newspapers report that the G20 discussed asking
Germany to pledge its gold to bail out Greece and the Piigs, and
to fund the EFSF.
The Bundesbank, Germany's central bank
said "We know this plan and we reject it."
Kamakura Corporation reported that the Kamakura index of
troubled public companies showed considerable improvement in
October, dropping 247 basis points to 7.26% after deteriorating
in the five previous months.
According to the DOE's data, China made up nearly a quarter
(24.6 percent) of global emissions, while the US comprised 16.4
percent and India 6.2 percent. However, the data only includes
carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels and cement, and does
not include other major sources of greenhouse gases such as
deforestation and land-use changes. If these were included
Indonesia would rise from its current position of 15th in global
carbon emssions.
Fitch Ratings believes a majority of US banks now subject to
additional capital requirements are prepared to do so. The Basel
Committee on Banking Supervision Friday released its list of
systemically important financial institutions (SIFI). The 29
banks appearing on that list, including 8 US banks, will be
required to hold additional core capital, which is seen as a
preventive measure to keep a bank from failing.
Rick Perry made headlines when he said Social Security was a
“Ponzi scheme,” but Medicare is even more of a Ponzi scheme for
most Americans, according to new research.
Mexican President Felipe Calderon urged Washington and
Beijing on Thursday to agree to curb the release of
climate-warming gases to ensure the success of United Nations
climate talks in South Africa later this month.
It's almost time to say goodbye to the food your grandparents
consumed, because genetically modified crops have spread their
toxic attributes across the globe. As their damaged genetics
spread, their potential harm is being denied, and scientists who
speak out are persecuted.
MYSTERIOUS goo, which inspired cult horror movie The Blob, is
advancing across the English countryside.
Philips Lighting...has just released a compact UV water
disinfection device known as InstantTrust. It is said to kill
bacteria instantly, at the point of use, and at any temperature.
Some business and economic opportunities only come along
generationally — a handful of times in a century. Like the
harnessing of electricity, the development of railways, or the
invention of the telephone, clean tech is a generational
opportunity.
The discovery of xenon in the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant's
reactor 2 earlier this week was likely a result of "spontaneous
fission," a nuclear expert said Friday, agreeing with an earlier
conclusion by Tokyo Electric Power Co. that some of the melted
fuel did not reach the condition of "criticality," or sustained
chain reaction, of nuclear fission.
Libya’s 260,000-barrel-per-day increase offsets Saudi
declines
In this day of "peaceful" protest by the Occupy Wall Street
crowd, it's interesting to note the difference between this
movement and the Tea Party movement, despite the media's
insistence on favorably comparing the two, no matter how
incongruous or void of fact that comparison may be.
Did you know that the courts have ruled, again and again,
that the police have no actual responsibility to protect you
from criminals? No wonder more and more Americans are seeking
concealed carry permits! In fact, the evidence is quite clear:
allowing citizens to carry firearms reduces crime against them.
Prepaid electric meters would be either a splendid
advancement in accommodating lower-income households or an
attempt to circumvent vital consumer protections, depending on
which side you listen to in an emerging debate.
Only low to mid-level C-class activity was observed, no
Earth-directed CMEs, Solar activity is expected to be moderate
during the period (08 - 10 November) with a slight chance for
high activity (M5 or higher) ...Solar wind speeds ranged between
300 to 375 km/s
There have been periodic droughts in the American southwest
for millenia. A new study at the UA's Laboratory of Tree-Ring
Research has revealed a previously unknown multi-decade drought
period in the second century A.D which was in the middle of the
Roman era.
Why are you putting up the same thing that came down so
easily?"
The short answer, according to industry experts: They had no
choice.
For all the quantum advances in technology in the last 50
years, Peco Energy Co. and the nation's other utilities still
rely on unsightly cables woven often through dangerously
breakable tree limbs and strung atop aging wooden poles.
Pesticides threaten our health, yet we still use them in
America today. In the Vietnam War, herbicides (a subclass of
pesticides) and their deadly effects created a dark legacy that
still lingers.
Many Americans have heard about Agent Orang ...
Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou promised Thursday that the
licenses of the existing three nuclear power plants will not be
renewed after they expire, and if the fourth power plant begins
stable operations before 2016, early shutting down of the first
nuclear power plant will be considered.
Tokyo Electric Power Co on Friday projected it will consume a
record 22.6 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the
financial year to next March, 3.14 million tonnes more than a
year earlier, to make up for lost nuclear power output.
...sets out the Basel Committee's framework to identify
G-SIBs, the magnitude of additional loss absorbency that G-SIBs
should have, and the arrangements by which the requirement will
be phased in.
Over the last three to four decades, forests throughout much
of western North America have been subjected to disturbance at a
scale well beyond that previously recorded over the last
century. Although some disturbances may be attributed to fire
suppression policies, which have resulted in fuel accumulation
and denser stands prone to insect attack, climate change is more
likely the cause...
United Airlines, the world's largest air carrier, will make
the first U.S. commercial flight using an "advanced biofuel" on
Monday, algae-based biofuel maker Solazyme Inc said.
The U.S. Supreme Court came down on the side of conservation
groups today by refusing to review a lower court decision that
ruled federal protections for delta smelt are constitutional.
Taiwan hailed on Monday the
bravery of five Vietnamese war vets who launched a surprise
assault on six armed pirates and successfully took back their
vessel after it had been hijacked off East Africa.
The former Vietnam war
fighters had been recruited by Taiwan to be part of a 28-man
crew on the “Chin Yi Wen”, a 290-tonne vessel, along with nine
Chinese, eight Filipinos and six Indonesians.
A group of island states most vulnerable to global warming
have lashed out against rich nations for wanting to delay a new
international climate pact until years after the Kyoto Protocol
on curbing carbon emissions expires in 2012.
The apparent success of Andrea Rossi's E-Cat cold fusion
demonstration on 28 October is starting to send ripples into
the mainstream press. So what new clues do we have to settle
whether it's the breakthrough of the century or the scam of the
decade?
I am a pretty simple person. Even in my views toward markets
and the like, I want things to be pretty simple and
straightforward. I see inflation as prices go up and deflation
as prices go down. I hate all of the contrived arguments people
use to make their arguments work.
November 4, 2011
The 15 percent represents a 3-point rise from a 2009 poll and
matches the levels of anti-Semitic feelings found in 2005 and
2007. In the past decade, the highest level of anti-Semitic
attitudes was reported in 2002, when an ADL poll found 17
percent of Americans harbored anti-Jewish attitudes.
For the fourth consecutive year, about 9 out of 10 Americans
(89%) surveyed think the US should develop and use solar energy.
By political affiliation: 80% of Republicans, 90% of
Independents, and 94% of Democrats.
Oil and gas operations in North Dakota have been charged with
violations of federal law that protects birds. A conservancy
group wants similar prosecution for wind operators but sees
double standard. Why not prosecute wind?
A massive asteroid will make a rare fly-by Tuesday, and although
it poses no danger of crashing to Earth, US scientists said this
week they are looking forward to getting a closer look.
The small western-European country of Belgium currently has
two commercial nuclear sites and a total of seven reactors.
Nuclear energy accounts for over half of the nation's power
consumption, a total of about 45 billion kilowatt-hours per
year. Although typically quite fractured, Belgium's political
parties have reached a consensus on nuclear power.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said additional
purchases of mortgage-backed securities are a “viable option” if
economic conditions warrant further easing.
Civilian unemployment has mushroomed, sticking above 9 percent
for months, although many experts put the real figure in the
18-20 percent range. Meanwhile, the number of federal employees
has grown 12 percent since the official start of the recession
in December 2007...
Confidence in the United States economy fell to its lowest level
in more than two years, according to the most recent quarterly
Business Optimism Index from Grant Thornton LLP. Fewer than 20%
of U.S. business leaders believe that the domestic economy will
improve in the next six months, a decrease of 60% from the
second quarter of this year.
Just when you think the government has run out of new
diseases to vaccinate our children against they have come up
with a new one, Anthrax!
Chinese
solar companies plan to run their plants below capacity in order
to shed inventory and slow capital spending as the sector
battles shrinking profit margins amid tepid demand and depressed
panel prices.
The meeting comes on the same week that a bluff containing coal
ash gave way adjacent to the power plant, sending ash as well as
trailers and pieces of construction equipment down the slope and
into Lake Michigan.
Cuban state media says the
government is allowing citizens to buy and sell real estate
property for the first time since the early days of the
revolution.
The reform is the most important yet
in a series of free-market changes ushered in by President Raul
Castro to breath life into a limping Marxist economy.
Overall the costs for desalinated
plants are continuing to decline with energy recovery devices
fitted as standard to reverse osmosis (RO) plants. And with
plans to fit energy saving feed water intake systems, costs are
expected to fall further.
If you are reading this page, you are probably interested in
truly "bleeding edge" energy production technologies. Since that
is the case, how would you like to be able to purchase a one
megawatt cold fusion plant, that can produce vast amounts of
constant heat energy -- using tiny amounts of nickel and
hydrogen as fuel -- and in "self sustained" manner that consumes
almost no electricity as input?
The battle over the Sunflower coal-fired power plant
currently is before the Kansas Supreme Court.
The state maintains the pollution levels it allowed in a
permit to build the plant are safe for humans. The Sierra Club
has filed a lawsuit saying they're not.
It's the flu season, and every doctor, drug store, and health
official is pushing you to hop over some where... any where...
to get your flu shot. Not only companies, but the government is
spending hundreds of thousands of dollars in commercials trying
to convince you that the only reasonable solution is to get your
flu shot before the next strain of flu gets you.
We won't
even ask if it's worth your time or money.
Is it worth
your health?
US government scientists are experimenting with the use of
explosive charges to fracture deep underground formations to
stimulate the production of shale gas, a researcher said at the
World Energy Council Business Forum in Houston Tuesday
Boys and young men should be vaccinated against human
papillomavirus, or HPV, to protect against anal and throat
cancers that can result from sexual activity, a federal advisory
committee said Tuesday.
Drug dealing is illegal unless you work for Big Pharma or
the government.
Greek PM George Papandreou has said he is ready to drop a
proposed referendum on the country's eurozone bailout deal.
A huge, emerging crack has been discovered in one of
Antarctica's glaciers, with a NASA plane mission providing the
first-ever detailed airborne measurements of a major iceberg
breakup in progress.
Did you know that you and I take part in the 1% each and
every day of our lives? It's true, we do. Young, old, rich
poor-- we all take part in it. In fact... wars have been waged
over the 1%. People have fought and died to own a part of the
1%. Empires have been destroyed. Millions of lives have been
lost. All over just getting their hands on this 1% commodity.
In the latest sign that Japan's nuclear nightmare at the
stricken Fukushima Daiichi power plant is not over, officials
Wednesday detected an ominous radioactive gas that suggested
possible nuclear fission at one of the reactors.
According to
data from the US State Department, the first six months of 2011
represented the most deadly period of the past eight years for
US citizens in Mexico.
From January 4 to June 11 of this year, 65 Americans were
killed in Mexico, a 300 percent increase since 2003.
After one of the hottest summers on record, the lake that is
the lone water supply and main recreational draw in this tiny
West Texas town is more than 99 percent empty. Robert Lee, which
is a two-hour drive east of Midland, has received only about six
inches of rainfall this year, half the normal amount.
No one drinks the tap water, which is unbearably briny as the
lake dries up.
Aggressive pricing for share in the PV industry is not new --
in the early 2000s aggressive pricing by specific companies put
competing manufacturers in a similar situation, at much lower
volumes. Basically, it is the volume (GWs) at which aggressive
pricing is taking place, along with the high level of
manufacturing capacity (here I refer to technology
manufacturing, not module assembly).
The vast majority of non-Chinese rare earth metal (REM)
ventures will fail due to a lack of expertise and high ore
processing costs, says Jack Lifton, founder of the industry
consultancy Technology Metals Research.
the team has developed a way to improve air filter technology
to specifically target influenza viruses, effectively stopping
them before they get inside our bodies and make us ill.
The nice thing about air filters is that they work both ways, so
sick individuals wearing the modified filters will end up
shedding less viruses into the environment too, which can also
help reduce the rate of new infections.
Ray Bradbury once said “Insanity is relative. It depends on
who has who locked in what cage.” But soon insanity will no
longer be relative. All of us will soon be classified as legally
insane.
While the call for reduced dependence on coal-fired power
plants and nuclear reactors to fuel the U.S. electricity grid is
not a new concept, it is one that continues to grow louder.
Renewable energy is the alternative generation source preferred
by many, but non-hydro renewables made up less than five percent
of the fuel mix in 2010, despite net generation from renewable
sources more than doubling over the last decade.
About 1
million people remained without power in the Northeast on
Wednesday after an uncommonly robust and deadly fall snowstorm
last weekend pounded a half-dozen states and sparked widespread
outages.
The latest quarterly report published by market analyst, IMS
Research states that the expansion of PV module, cell and wafer
manufacturing capacity will slow rapidly throughout the rest of
2011 and the first half of 2012.
President Obama for the first time Tuesday weighed in on the
growing divide between American and Chinese solar panel and cell
manufacturers, saying that there are "questionable competitive
practices coming out of China."
In the United States, over half of the 2,480 compensation awards
made made under the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act, which
total more than $2 billion dollars, have involved brain
inflammation and encephalopathy resulting in permanent brain
damage associated with whole cell and acelullar pertussis
vaccine in DPT and DtaP shots.
North Dakota and some of the state's major energy interests
filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday seeking to overturn a 2007
Minnesota law that restricts power companies from importing
electricity from new coal-fired power plants in other states.
A report by First Street Research Group examines the different
groups that have attempted to influence the Clean Air Act. The
report provides analysis of the lobbying activity surrounding
some of the Clean Air Act bills in the 112th Congress.
an X1/2B flare, two M-class events, The geomagnetic field was
quiet. Nonetheless a magnetic crochet was clearly observed in
the dayside magnetometer data in association with the X1.9
flare. he geomagnetic field is expected to be unsettled with a
chance for active periods for the
first day (04 November).
Residents of Bokoshe filed a lawsuit against the AES Corp. on
Tuesday in an effort to close an old mining pit where fly ash
from a nearby coal-powered power plant is dumped.
The Australian Energy Market Commission has received a
submission by seven major companies, arguing that the national
power sector must be overhauled to limit damaging electricity
price rises for consumers.
Researchers are aiming to bridge the gap between Chinese and
Western systems of medicine with what they say is the first
database of chemical compounds found in herbs used in
traditional Chinese medicine.
Greece's decision to ask the populace to vote on whether to
adopt an aid package and austerity measures attached with it
could spell disaster for markets worldwide, says Ralph Silva,
research director at Silva Research Network.
Controversial 'fracking' technique to extract gas from the
ground was the 'highly probable' cause of earth tremors, report
finds.
Two earthquake tremors in north-west England earlier this
year were probably caused by controversial operations to extract
gas nearby, a report by the company responsible has concluded.
Netanyahu warns Israeli parliament about Iran nuclear threat,
says “a security philosophy cannot rely on defense alone.”
The Big Ag lobby suffered a shock when an amendment offered
by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) to cut farm subsidies to anyone
with an average income over $1 million cleared the Senate by a
vote of 84-15. This proposal has yet to become law, but it is
evidence that the momentum is not in Big Ag’s favor.
Opponents fear the agreement is just a ruse to buy time. It
does not include the exit of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Advil... Aleve... Bayer... Celebrex... Demerol... Motrin...
Naproxen... Oxycontin... Percocet... Tylenol... Ultram...
Vicodin...
In the din of a large auditorium packed with people, the wild
ricers of the White Earth reservation look around nervously.
They have gathered for the September’s annual wild rice lottery,
which allocates ricing permits for some coveted lakes in the
middle of the reservation that are part of the Tamarac National
Wildlife Refuge.
Some 200 Tunisian women demonstrated Wednesday in downtown
Tunis in defense of their rights, following the election victory
of an Islamist party.
Carbon emissions from coal use in the United States dropped
10 percent over the four years between 2007 and 2011, and
emissions from oil use dropped 11 percent during that time,
according to a new report from the nonprofit Earth Policy
Institute.
Freddie Mac (OTC: FMCC) yesterday released the results of its
Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS), showing average mortgage
rates declining sharply as investors rushed to U.S. Treasury
bonds amid concerns over the European debt market. The 30-year
fixed at 4.00 percent marks the second lowest reading since it
hit a record 3.94 percent in the October 6, 2011 PMMS, the
lowest in history.
The Interior Department plans to issue a proposal soon
forcing companies to reveal the chemicals they use in the
so-called fracking drilling process on federal lands, as the
Obama administration responds to public safety concerns over the
shale exploration boom.
Here’s a hint: According to a 2007 report from the Centers
for Disease Control, this epidemic costs Americans $174 billion
per year. And of course, this is on top of the devastating cost
to your health.
Plus, these numbers continue to grow each and every year.
November 1, 2011
It ran for 5.5 hours producing 470 kW, while in self-looped
mode. That means no substantial external energy was required to
make it run, because it kept itself running, even while
producing an excess of nearly half a megawatt. Rossi explained
the reasons for this in the presentation he gave, which I
videotaped and will be posting later.
That's half the
rated capacity, but it is still a major accomplishment for the
device that was completed earlier this week -- the first of its
kind on the planet.
Several companies are stepping up campaigns to broaden the
residential solar market by offering to install the expensive
systems at little or no up-front cost to homeowners.
The Arab League has called on Syria's government to end all
violence against its people, remove tanks and military vehicles
from the streets of the country and release political prisoners,
an official with the Arab organization told CNN Monday.
"Over the recent years, about 20 people have left the
Armenian NPP due to low salaries and found a job at the Bushehr
NPP in Iran, where they receive high salaries," Vardanyan said.
"Unfortunately, high-skilled specialists are leaving for Iran."
Some of the world's largest and fastest-growing economies,
especially those in South Asia, are most at risk from climate
change, finds a new global ranking that calculates the
vulnerability of 170 countries to the impacts of climate change
over the next 30 years.
The PROTECT-IP bill is making its way through the halls of
the United States government, and besides an unfortunate name
change, the bill has been altered by the House of
Representatives in such a way, it would essentially allow the
government and/or various corporations that feel infringed upon
the ability to censor the Internet in whatever way they see fit.
GreenHunter Energy, which once touted ownership of the
biggest biodiesel plant in the US, is transforming itself into
GreenHunter Water, a company specializing in treatment and
disposal of frac water.
Former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton says China’s interest in
helping Europe resolve its debt crisis is “very political” and
should be a matter of “real concern.” Bolton also told Fox News’
Neal Cavuto Thursday he anticipates the Chinese would seek an
end to the arms embargo that has been in place since the 1989
Tiananmen Square massacres.
In March 1994, Asgrow Seed Co. (a Monsanto subsidiary)
President Norman Braksick was quoted in the Kansas City Star as
saying: “If you put a label on genetically engineered food you
might as well put a skull and crossbones on it.”
China has issued yet another warning to another oil company
regarding oil and gas exploration activities in the disputed
South China Sea -- this time directed at US oil major
ExxonMobil.
China has been carrying out clean energy projects in more
than ten African countries to help the continent -- believed one
of the largest victims of climate change by some experts --
tackle the multiple effects it brings, a foreign affairs
official said.
Climate change and population growth in the United States
will make having enough fresh water more challenging in the
coming years, an expert on water shortages said on Wednesday.
The researchers say the substances generating these infrared
emissions actually have chemical structures that are so complex
that their structure resembles those of coal and petroleum.
Since coal and petroleum are remnants of ancient life and this
type of organic matter was only thought to arise from living
organisms, the researchers say this suggests that complex
organic compounds can be synthesized in space even when no life
forms are present.
Global online consumer confidence fell for the seventh
consecutive quarter as confidence in 31 of 56 global markets
measured declined, according to third quarter global online
consumer confidence findings from Nielsen, a leading global
provider of insights and analytics into what consumers watch and
buy.
Opponents of Monsanto's new genetically modified sweet corn
are petitioning national food retailers and processors to ban
the biotech corn, which is not labeled as being genetically
altered from conventional corn.
A coalition of health, food safety and environmental
organizations said they have collected more than 264,000
petition signatures from consumers who do not want to buy the
corn.
A respected international agency is making a dire call: Cut
the graft given to the the fossil fuel sector or feel worst
possible effects of climate change. That warning, though, is
contested by others who say that renewables get a greater cut of
people’s money if measured by total energy production.
Japanese officials in towns around the crippled Fukushima
nuclear plant reacted guardedly to plans announced on Saturday
to build facilities to store radioactive waste from the clean-up
around the plant within three years.
Saturday's announcement, seven months after the world's worst
nuclear disaster in 25 years, came as towns near the plant are
still coping with health fears and disputes over where to store
huge amounts of unwanted waste.
The average home in the US uses between 1 and 1.5 kW of
electricity on average, so not taking highs and lows into
consideration, 1 MW would power between 750 and 1000 homes.
The latest scandal to hit the CDC is explosive: what appears
to be a deliberate cover-up of damning scientific data.
Thimerosal, a controversial mercury compound used as a
preservative in certain vaccines, was removed from all vaccines
in Denmark in 1992. A subsequent Danish study showed a marked
decline in autism rates following the removal of thimerosal,
indicating a clear link between mercury in vaccines and the
development of autism.
A historic storm that dumped up to 31.5 inches of
branch-bending wet snow on inland regions turned Halloween
scarecrows into snowmen and plunged much of the state into
darkness, with utility companies predicting up to a week before
all power is restored.
Americans' opposition to President Barack Obama's healthcare
reform has reached its highest point since the law passed in
March 2010, according to a monthly poll by the nonprofit,
nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation.
Without warning, Lloyd’s — the world’s oldest insurance
market —announced that it has withdrawn its money from European
banks.
For all its impressive growth rate, Ovo remains a tick on the
back of the energy elephants - but if Fitzpatrick has anything
to do with it, British Gas, EDF, E.On, npower, Scottish and
Southern Energy and Scottish Power are soon going to be noticing
its bite.
The disaster that was this weekend's snow storm has wreaked
havoc in the northeastern states of New Jersey, New York, and
Connecticut. The damage was so widespread that it is being
compared to the summer's big storm, Hurricane Irene.
California’s public workers collected $1.7 billion in extra
pay last year, more than half of it in overtime pay and the rest
for unused vacation time and union-negotiated benefits such as
clothing allowances.
State taxpayers shelled out the additional wages — enough to
pay the average salaries of about 25,000 teachers — even as
California faced a $19 billion budget deficit and cut school
spending and services for the elderly.
Acting once again without Congress, President Obama on Monday
was directing the Food and Drug Administration to take steps to
reduce drug shortages that administration officials say have
placed patients at risk and led to price gouging
OPEC Secretary-General Abdalla el-Badri said Tuesday that he
did not see oil prices falling below $100/barrel for the rest of
2011 but warned that oil price stability could not be achieved
if all members opened their taps without a formal output
agreement, Iran's Mehr news agency reported.
Out of more than 340 oil refineries, a half-dozen that stand
out from the crowd
That's the conclusion of Solomon Associates, which has an
ongoing benchmarking of the world's refineries determined by a
variety of tests on operational and financial performance. Those
benchmarks include Solomon's Energy Intensity Index, a cost
efficency index, measures of operating efficiency and the
refinery's return on investment.
With a muffled roar and a puff of
pulverized concrete, PacifiCorp blasted open 14.7-MW Condit Dam
on Oct. 26, ending nearly a century of power generation and
opening 33 miles of Washington's White Salmon River to steelhead
and salmon migration.
As a boy, a friend of mine used to go crabbing in the shallow
waters along the shores of the Chesapeake Bay. Back then you
could see clearly to the bottom at depths of four or five feet.
But not anymore. Look, it’s no secret that America’s waters are
filthy. But what is a secret is just how endangered our
water supply is overall – from toxins that waste treatment
plants don’t remove, to coordinated attacks on the water supply,
to major shortages that won’t be helped by additional rainfall.
Freshwater resources are fundamental for maintaining human
health, agricultural production, economic activity as well as
critical ecosystem functions. As populations and economies grow,
new constraints on water resources are appearing, raising
questions about limits to water availability. Such resource
questions are not new. The specter of “peak oil”—a peaking and
then decline in oil production—has long been predicted and
debated. We present here a detailed assessment and definition of
three concepts of “peak water”...
And every time we make those New Year resolution-like vows,
the ones that go something like “next time, by golly, we’ll be
ready!” And just like those New Year’s resolutions, in about
three weeks, they’re forgotten until the next year (or the next
disaster) rolls around.
a pair of M1 flares, A CME associated with the first of the
two events was visible, but appears not be a Earth directed
trajectory. The geomagnetic field is forecast to be mostly quiet
for the next 3 days (1-3 November).
At first glance, the vast Mojave Desert seems barren: mile
after mile of dust, sand and scrubby creosote bush under a
blistering sun. But the huge desert, which spans an area larger
than West Virginia, is becoming speckled with gigantic solar
power plants that are creating hundreds of construction jobs
and, when complete, will generate electricity for millions of
homes.
Gasoline prices soared 46 percent during the decade from 2000
to 2010, raising expectations of increased carpooling and mass
transit use. But a new report instead shows a continued growth
in the number of Americans who drive to work alone.
Pennsylvania has the fourth-highest number of solar-related
jobs in the nation, but estimates show a decline over the past
year -- a sign the industry needs state and federal subsidies,
supporters said on Thursday.
Monsanto and Food Inc.'s stranglehold over the nation's food
and farming system is about to be challenged in a food fight
that will largely determine the future of American agriculture.
A growing corps of organic food and health activists in
California - supported by consumers and farmers across the
nation - are boldly standing up to Monsanto and its minions,
taking the first steps to expose the widespread contamination of
non-organic grocery store foods with Genetically Modified
Organisms (GMOs)
The language is very polished and smooth as if designed not
to offend. It sounds so benign, so simple, so seductively
easy----what’s not to like with this picture?
When Clint Wilder and I wrote our first book, The Clean Tech
Revolution, we knew we needed to travel to China if we wanted to
understand the future of clean tech. Mind you, our trip took
place more than five years ago, well before most people uttered
the words “China” and “clean tech” in the same breath. But it
was becoming increasingly clear, even then, why China was going
to be such a force to reckon with.
An elderly Chinese woman had two large pots, each hung on the
ends of a pole which she carried across her neck.
One of the pots had a crack in it while the other pot was
perfect and always delivered a full portion of water.
The Little Blue group -- which also includes West Virginia
and Ohio residents affected by the existing disposal -- is now
recognized as a public charity permitted to accept tax-exempt
contributions.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization, UNESCO, today voted to admit Palestine as a full
member of the agency. As the only UN specialized agency with a
specific mandate to promote science, UNESCO hosts many
environmental functions.
Weekly oil data from the US Energy Information Administration
and the American Petroleum Institute should show a 1.1 million
barrel rise in US commercial crude inventories for the week
ended October 28, analysts polled by Platts said Monday.
The ongoing decline in US reliance on the rest of the world
for its petroleum needs continued apace in August, the latest
month for which figures are available.
The US Department of the Interior plans to issue a proposed
rule requiring disclosure of the chemicals in fracking fluid
before the end of this year, Deputy Secretary David Hayes said
Monday in Washington.
The Obama administration has announced a strategy for solar
energy development, with projects on 285,000 acres of desert
land in the western United States.
The United States will be required by law to withdraw all
funding for the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO) if it votes, as expected, to approve the
Palestinian Authority’s full membership in the agency.
What Dr. Emoto’s studies revealed is that water molecules are
hypersensitive to positive and negative forces of all types. Not
only did water samples subjected to harsh spoken words and heavy
metal music show degraded crystallizing action, but even when
negative or hostile words were only written on pieces of paper
and taped to a bottle of distilled water, the ability of the
water molecules to form crystals when frozen was drastically
reduced.
After a celebrated comeback from abysmal water conditions and
high pollution levels in the 1970s, Lake Erie is regressing to
the highest levels of phosphorous contamination in 40 years, a
Great Lakes expert said on Thursday.
In his latest work, Rosenberg creates a story that he hopes
will both entertain and educate readers. A description of the
action-packed book reads:
“The world is on the brink of disaster and the clock is
ticking. Iran has just conducted its first atomic weapons
test. Millions of Muslims around the world are convinced
their messiah—known as ‘the Twelfth Imam’—has just arrived
on earth.
Promoters of solar panels say more than 80 villages in
Senegal are already benefiting from this renewable energy
source; in neighbouring Mali, more than 150 communities are
enjoying solar power.
In case you’re not familiar, the Red Road originates from the
many Nations and cultures of Native North America. The elders,
the wise ones, the medicine people and the spirit people teach
us that the Red Road is the path we walk through this lifetime.
It is a way of being and living in the world knowing we are
connected to everyone and everything else. Because we are each
connected we must learn to walk strongly, yet with tender foot.
We must live with honor and integrity and be fully aware of the
footprint we are leaving along the path. It is to look for
beauty in all things.
Environmentalists agree on the issues facing us, including
collapsing diversity, climate change and resource insecurity. We
also agree on the causal factors, including pollution, invasive
species, resource over-exploitation, waste, population growth,
global industrialisation, unsustainable consumption and poor
business practices.
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