By Mike Robbins
Hydrogen -- Star Gas, Everywhere, Yet Unseen. Sunlight is its Child.
(Haiku by Stephen Wetlesen)
December 31, 2013
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Thousands of food
additives are added to
US foods, but seven of
the worst include
high-fructose corn
syrup, synthetic trans
fats, artificial
flavors, monosodium
glutamate (MSG),
artificial colors,
artificial sweeteners
and preservatives
-
Many of the food
additives that are
perfectly legal to use
in US foods are banned
in other countries due
to health concerns
-
Common chemicals used to
flavor, preserve,
sweeten and color your
food may be linked to
cancer, behavioral
problems, reproductive
damage and more
-
Swapping your processed
food diet for one that
focuses on fresh whole
foods is a necessity if
you value your health
Some 108 journalists and
media professionals were
killed around the world
doing their jobs this year,
with conflict-torn Syria the
deadliest country ahead of
Iraq, the International
Federation of Journalists
said Tuesday.
Well, 2013 started off on
a sour note right from the
beginning, or do I mean
ending? You see I was
counting on the world coming
to an end, as predicted by
Quextifizzle Fo’schizzel, my
Mayan Psychic advisor.
So you can see why I
hadn’t bothered to think of
New Year’s resolutions for
2013. When New Year’s Eve
came at the end of 2012 and
me with nothing resolved for
the coming year, I got
desperate.
Although aerial drones been
around in one form or
another since World War I,
it hasn’t really been until
the last decade that they’ve
really taken off, so to
speak. Where they were once
restricted to a spot of
battlefield reconnaissance,
in addition to military
applications, drones are now
used for everything from
agriculture to oil
prospecting and by everyone
from rescue workers to real
estate agents. Although the
technological advances and
proliferation of drones has
accelerated over the past
decade, 2013 was the year
that the technology really
entered the public
consciousness.
A recent article
written by Daphne R, "DNA
Evidence Proves That The
First People In China Were
Black," confirms what black
historians have been arguing
for many years, the first
inhabitants of China were in
fact black.
ScienceDaily.com, in an
article titled, "A Relative
from the Tianyuan Cave:
Humans Living 40,000 Years
Ago Likely Related to Many
Present-Day Asians and
Native Americans," reveals a
shared ancestry between
American Indians and
Tianyuan humans living near
Beijing, China.
A Ponca tribal member
and a leader of the American
Indian Movement’s Oklahoma
Chapter, his name was among
the many involved with the
milestones of the early
1970s Red Power movement.
These include the Trail of
Broken Treaties, the Bureau
of Indian Affairs takeover
in Washington, D.C. and the
occupation of Wounded Knee,
South Dakota in 1973. On
this earth, Camp fought his
final battle with cancer on
December 27, 2013 on Ponca
tribal land near White
Eagle, Oklahoma.
Water, food supplies and
energy production are all in
jeopardy as the Amazon
forest is felled for profit.
And as Paul Brown writes,
the damage is spreading well
beyond Amazonia itself.
The combination of
industrial and agricultural
pollution and droughts is
creating a once unthinkable
vulnerability for the five
countries of Amazonia.
It is the “end of the
beginning” as the arrival of
new infrastructure clearly
shifts the advanced biofuels
industry from largely R&D to
becoming a true commercial
scale industry and closer to
true profitability. Recent
announcements from Navigant
Consulting’s “Biofuels
Market Data” Report and E2’s
Annual Advanced Biofuels
Assessment both forecast the
continued steady growth of
the Advanced Biofuels
industry as commercial scale
plants finally come online
in 2014.
With thousands of shale and
other unconventional wells
drilled in the US this year,
could 2014 possibly get any
better? Most analysts seem
to think so.
If more
equals better, then 2014
will likely be another
sizzling year for the drill
bit in the US, with a
cascade of funds chasing a
horde of anticipated initial
public offerings, expanded
oil-company development
programs, greater drilling
efficiencies and more
horizontal wells than ever,
analysts and upstream
experts say.
DB's chart of the US
unemployment rate (below)
received numerous comments
on Twitter. Clearly the
projection of the linear
decline continuing at the
same rate is a bit
aggressive. But many of the
comments were dismissive of
the measure altogether -
arguing that these falling
unemployment levels are not
that meaningful in the face
of the declining labor
participation rate.
More retailers are accepting
Bitcoin as consumers
increasingly buy into the
money, pushing up its value.
In the past month, the
number of businesses on
CoinMap, a website showing
physical companies and
vendors accepting Bitcoin,
has tripled to more than
2,000.
Six Midwestern governors
sent a letter to President
Barack Obama expressing
their support for the
Renewable Fuel Standard,
which his administration has
proposed scaling back in
2014.
Spurred by disaffection with
urban culture, federal
control and the increased
state regulation pressed by
the Sacramento government
seated to the south, a
growing number of northern
Californians are pushing for
secession from their state.
-
Most tap water is far
from pure, containing a
vast array of
disinfection byproducts,
chemicals, radiation,
heavy metals, and even
pharmaceutical drugs
-
Federal scientists
report finding traces of
18 unregulated
contaminants in
one-third of the water
samples collected from
25 municipal utilities
across the US in their
most recent testing,
including perfluorinated
compounds like PFOA
-
Studies suggest a
probable link between
PFOA in drinking water
and high cholesterol,
ulcerative colitis,
thyroid disease,
testicular cancer,
kidney cancer, and
pregnancy-induced
hypertension
-
The addition of
contaminated fluoride to
the water supply may be
contributing to
increased cancer rates
in the US because of the
arsenic it contains
-
The featured
documentary, An
Inconvenient Tooth,
reveals the many
problems associated with
water fluoridation, and
why it’s a practice that
really needs to be
stopped for the public’s
greater good
A federal judge ruled on
Friday that the National
Security Agency's bulk
collection of millions of
Americans' telephone and
Internet records is legal
and a critical component of
the country's effort to
combat the threat of
terrorism.
Chuck Wooten, a military
veteran, was already ticked
off about Rep. Paul Ryan
(R-Wis.) and Sen. Patty
Murray (D-Wash.) pushing
through the “bipartisan”
budget deal, which includes
cuts to veterans’ retirement
benefits. So when he got a
fundraising email from
Ryan’s office asking for
money, he decided to really
let the Wisconsin
congressman know how he
feels.
-
90 percent of the
genetic material in your
body is not yours but
belongs to the bacteria
that outnumber your
cells 10 to 1. These
bacteria have enormous
influence on your
digestion,
detoxification and
immune system
-
Fermented foods are an
essential factor if you
want to optimize your
health and prevent
disease. The culturing
process produces
hundreds if not
thousands of times more
of the beneficial
bacteria found in a
typical probiotics,
which are extremely
important for human
health as they help
balance your intestinal
flora, thereby boosting
overall immunity
-
When fermenting
vegetables, you can
either use a starter
culture, or simply allow
the natural enzymes in
the vegetables do all
the work, a.k.a “wild
fermentation”
-
When fermenting foods,
make sure to avoid
plastic and/or metal
containers. Good options
include glass jars,
ceramic crocks, and
wooden barrels
-
Any food can be
fermented, although some
are tastier than others.
Caution must be heeded
when fermenting meats,
but any vegetable can
certainly be safely
fermented, and are among
the absolute safest
foods there is in terms
of food borne illness
Eating a bit of flaxseed
each day might help lower
high blood pressure, a new
study suggests.
2014 is shaping up to be a
decisive year for the future
of food and farming.
Grassroots activists are
gearing up for new
legislative battles,
including state GMO labeling
laws and county bans on
growing genetically
engineered crops
A homeowner shot aburglary
suspect in the groin after
catching two men trying to
steal scrapmetal from his
property, according to
authorities.
Even the most remote
deep-sea ecosystems are
affected by climate change
according to a study
conducted by the National
Oceanography Centre at the
University of Southampton,
UK. According to the study,
seafloor dwellers will
decline by up to 38% in the
North Atlantic and over 5%
globally over the next
century because of a
reduction in the ocean’s
surface plants and animals.
At least 45 people were
killed today, and another
122 were wounded. Clashes
related to an Iraqi security
operation took place in
three Anbar province towns.
Scattered violence occurred
across central and northern
Iraq.
-
Monsanto is boasting its
partnership with 4-H
Youth Development
Organization, the
country’s largest and
most influential youth
organization with more
than 6.8 million members
in 80 countries
worldwide
-
According to the annual
reports, 4-H is
receiving funding from
Monsanto, Bill & Melinda
Gates Foundation,
Cargill, DuPont, United
Soybean Board,
Coca-Cola, and Pfizer
-
Monsanto has been
hijacking society at
every turn, including
government institutions,
colleges and
universities, media
agencies, and so-called
representatives of
“science”
-
Monsanto recently
attempted to brainwash
young children with a
16-page book called
““Biotechnology Basics
Activity Book” full of
colorful pages and
cartoon characters
touting the “benefits”
of GMOs
-
If your child is
involved with 4-H,
please monitor the
messages he or she is
getting, rather than
making assumptions that
they are based in truth
The report shows that nearly
two-thirds of all the
industrial carbon pollution
in the last 150 years can be
traced directly to just 90
global actors—Chevron,
ExxonMobil, Saudi Aramco,
Peabody Energy, and more.
Experts have found evidence
that young dolphins
purposefully and carefully
chew puffer fish to get
high.
M3 event observed.
Solar activity is expected
to be low with a chance for
M-class flares on days one,
two, and three (30 Dec, 31
Dec, 01 Jan). The
geomagnetic field is
expected to be at quiet
levels on days one and two
(30 Dec, 31 Dec) and quiet
to unsettled levels on day
three (01 Jan). Protons have
a chance of crossing
threshold on days one, two,
and three (30 Dec, 31 Dec,
01 Jan).
The U.S. Capitol at night. A
shift to untraceable
donations by organizations
denying climate change
undermines democracy,
according to the author of a
new study tracking
contributions to such
groups.
Last week the junk food
industry tested the limits
of credulity when it asked
the FDA to officially allow
food manufacturers to use
the word “natural” on labels
describing foods
contaminated with
genetically modified
organisms.
It’s just one more reason
we need to push harder than
ever in 2014 for state GMO
labeling laws and county
bans.
Mortgage rates rose for
the third straight week last
week and ended the year near
four-and-a-half percent --
the first time this has
happened in three years.
This week, though, with
the start Federal Reserve's
QE3 "taper" and a
holiday-shortened trading
week, U.S. rates could start
a push toward 5%.
Get ready to be
blindsided by a barrage of
new taxes. $1 trillion
worth...
They'll be coming
courtesy of the Affordable
Care Act, otherwise known as
Obamacare.
"Pay attention to the
revelation, less that 48
hours ago, that on December
19th, 24th and 28th there
have been steam releases at
Fukushima Unit #3, the
reactor usually considered
too hot to approach. The
steam is assuredly
radioactive. This is viewed
as an indicator of a further
meltdown of the reactor
core.
Nothing is worse than
thinking you are eating
“harmless” foods that in
reality are adding inches.
It’s betrayal, plain and
simple.
So I thought it was a
good time to add more
culprits to the list.
-
Syrian death toll keeps
climbing amidst horrific
civil war & chemical
weapons use in Damascus.
-
Iran beguiles West with
“charm offense” as it
moves closer to the
Bomb.
-
Saudis preparing to
purchase Pakistani
nuclear warheads.
-
Egypt’s
counter-revolution
brings down the Muslim
Brotherhood.
-
Israeli leader declares
Bible prophecies coming
true in our lifetime.
Researchers are developing a
new kind of geothermal power
plant that will lock away
unwanted carbon dioxide,
CO2, underground – and use
the greenhouse gas in liquid
form as a tool to boost
electric power generation
10-fold in geothermal power
plants.
The US broad money
supply expansion has slowed
materially in the last few
months, with the
year-over-year growth now at
the lowest level since mid
2011.
Except for certain
components of M2 such as
money market funds, the
broad money supply is an
indicator of the nation's
overall credit expansion.
Fifteen U.S. states have
urged the top environmental
regulator to adopt their
carbon-cutting policies as a
template for future federal
rules to cut greenhouse gas
emissions from power plants,
the country's largest source
of pollution.
If you wonder why America’s
utilities are rattled by the
explosive growth in rooftop
solar -- and are pushing
back -- William Walker has a
story for you.
The Arms Trade Treaty
will not receive any money
for implementation for all
of 2014!
As you may recall, the
Treaty — a backdoor UN gun
control effort — was signed
by Secretary of State Kerry
in March of 2013.
Although the fact that the
still-unsolved attack on a
power station near San Jose
occurred just a handful of
hours after the Boston
Marathon bombing — and
apparently raised a few
eyebrows initially — its
ride in the public eye has
been decidedly under the
radar to date.
But that may be changing.
Only projects that are
completed are able to
qualify for the credit.
However, when Congress
extended the program in
2012, they allowed projects
to qualify for the program
as long as it was in
construction, or a minimum
of 5 percent of its total
cost was invested before the
end of the year.
Error messages that pop up
on Windows computers could
enable the National Security
Agency to spy on PC users,
according to a report.
- Man
said that he had not
molested woman's
2-year-old
-
Woman admitted to police
that she became
suspicious after smoking
marijuana
- She
first tried to stab his
penis with a fork to
draw blood
December 27, 2013
In addition to the old
standbys of corn, soy, hay
(and, uh, drugs), "there's a
lot of stuff which the
general public might not
think of as feeds which are
actually quite common," says
Cory Parsons, a livestock
nutrition expert at Oregon
State University. For
example:
More coal ash spilled at
Kingston than oil from the
Deepwater Horizon accident
in the Gulf of Mexico two
years later. Enough muck
spewed forth to fill a
football field more than
2,500 feet into the air. ..
But five years later, coal
ash remains largely
unregulated. The EPA and
Congress have not yet acted
to strengthen oversight of
the material. Industry
groups and some lawmakers
continue to oppose
classifying coal ash as
hazardous.
Engineers at the US
Department of Energy’s
Pacific Northwest National
Laboratory (PNNL) have
created a continuous process
that produces useful crude
oil minutes after harvested
algae is introduced. This
new process does not require
drying out the algae, which
grows in water, saving time
and energy that would be
otherwise wasted. The final
product can be refined into
aviation fuel, diesel, or
gasoline.
With Arbaeen over, bombers
turned much of their
attention to Christian
Iraqis celebrating the
Christmas holiday in
Baghdad. At least 75
people were killed and 141
more were wounded in
those and other attacks.
Neonicotinoid pesticides,
which have been increasingly
blamed for the collapse of
bee populations, may also
impact human's developing
nervous system, according to
a review of research by the
European Food Safety
Authority (EFSA). The EFSA
says that current safety
guidelines for two
pesticides—acetamiprid and
imidacloprid—may be too lax
to protect humans,
especially the developing
brains of unborn children.
The Chinese government is
pushing for a drastic
shakeout of the country's
overcrowded solar cell
industry, supporting only a
quarter of players and
practically telling the rest
to get out of the business.
The Ministry of
Industry and Information
Technology has announced a
list of 134 producers of
silicon materials, solar
panels and other components
of photovoltaic systems as
meeting certain conditions,
as measured by 2012
production, capacity
utilization and technical
standards.
Egypt’s military-backed
leaders on Wednesday
designated the Muslim
Brotherhood a terrorist
organization, outlawing the
country’s most successful
political movement and
vowing to treat anyone who
belongs to it, or even takes
part in its activities, as a
terrorist.
India is now the world’s
third-largest grain producer
after China and the United
States. The adoption of
higher-yielding crop
varieties and the spread of
irrigation have led to this
remarkable tripling of
output since the early
1960s. Unfortunately, a
growing share of the water
that irrigates three-fifths
of India’s grain harvest is
coming from wells that are
starting to go dry. This
sets the stage for a major
disruption in food supplies
for India’s growing
population.
The indigenous people
of Brazil known as the
Xavante are reducing
deforestation through
controlled burning in their
hunting rituals; that is the
finding of a study conducted
by the Oswaldo Cruz
Foundation (OCF) of Brazil
and Indiana University (IU).
The federal government has
exempted itself from having
to tell people signing up
for the Affordable Care Act
whether or not their
classified information has
been hacked by cyberthieves,
says John Fund, a national
affairs columnist for
National Review Online.
"They've exempted
themselves from the law and
it's just appalling. I mean
every private business, if
you're a customer and you
get hacked, they have to
tell you at least about it
so you can change your
credit cards or take other
precautions,"...
Many tribal members choose
to mix European Christmas
traditions - such as
Christmas trees and sharing
Bible stories - with Native
customs to honor Indian
heritage as well as
Christian beliefs.
Whatever role they have in
these Native gatherings,
they all share a common
thread. They come to connect
with family and friends in a
homecoming that keeps them
grounded in their culture
and heritage.
C2 event observed.
There are currently 6
numbered sunspot regions on
the disk. Solar
activity is likely to be low
with a chance for M-class
flares on days one, two, and
three (27 Dec, 28 Dec, 29
Dec). The geomagnetic
field is expected to be at
quiet to unsettled levels on
day one (27 Dec) and quiet
levels on days two and three
(28 Dec, 29 Dec).
Scientists debate a new way
of understanding flora.
Plants have electrical and
chemical signalling systems,
may possess memory, and
exhibit brainy behavior in
the absence of brains
Conversations about energy
use in the U.S. often
revolve around expanding
domestic production or
spurring renewables. It's
easy to forget another
significant piece of the
puzzle — energy efficiency.
In its 2013
scorecard, the
American Council for an
Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE)
ranks the most
energy-efficient states
based on policy and program
efforts that improve
efficiency in homes,
businesses, industries and
transportation systems.
The technology, which
uses lightning detection to
forecast when and where
storms will strike, has
already proven successful in
demonstration projects in
Brazil, Guinea and India.
Next year, Earth Networks —
one of the companies at the
forefront of the technology
— will conduct further
trials in Haiti.
As more developing
nations increase their
numbers of mobile phone
masts, which are ideal
locations for mounting the
lightning sensors on, the
proportion of countries
using the technology looks
set to increase, according
to the US company.
Infrastructure will remain
the watchword as US refiners
look to further cement their
role as world class product
exporters in 2014, improving
export capacity and
rejigging refineries to
increase their output of
export-friendly diesel,
sometimes at the expense of
US-favored gasoline.
Blessed with
price-advantaged domestic
crudes aiding profit
margins, US refiners have
been nimble in using all
means of transport to get
that oil to their
refineries, be it building
rail facilities, adding or
enhancing dock facilities to
accommodate barges or
tankers, or using more
traditional transport such
as pipelines.
December 24, 2013
-
The root ball of a plant
acts as the “gut” or
intestinal tract of the
plant, housing essential
microbes, just like your
gut does, provided the
soil system is healthy
-
The cooperation between
soil microorganisms and
the plants’ roots is
responsible for allowing
the plant to absorb
nutrients from the soil.
Without proper soil
biome, the food will
lack nutrients that are
important for your
health
-
Soil health connects to
everything up the food
chain, from plant and
insect health, all the
way up to animal and
human health
-
Health, therefore, truly
begins in the soils in
which our food is grown
-
Scientists have
discovered that gene
swapping takes place
between your gut
microbiome and the soil
biome, as well as with
microorganisms from
other places in your
daily surroundings
-
One of the reasons for
concern about
genetically engineered
crops is a main
characteristic of such
plants is resistance to
the potent herbicide
glyphosate, which
decimates soil bacteria
At least 51 people were
killed and 44 more were
wounded in fresh
violence. Arbaeen pilgrims
and journalists were among
today’s victims. over a
dozen gunmen were also
killed.
Climate change, and man's
role in it is being
extensively studied by
universities and government
agencies around the world.
The impact of ruminant
livestock has been studied,
but the effects of livestock
emissions may have been
underestimated.
The coal industry has
taken its lumps over the
past few years, with a
one-two punch from
lower-cost natural gas and
increasing Environmental
Protection Agency
regulations.
But emerging markets in
China and India appear to be
helping steam coal -- used
for power generation -- make
a comeback. And new
coal-fired power plants in
unlikely places like Germany
and Japan are also demanding
more coal.
In this age of not offending
anyone and
politically-correct speech,
many schools have taken
Christmas out of the holiday
season. Concho School is not
one of the them.
Democrats are pressing
Congress to renew
clean-energy tax incentives
that are set to expire at
the end of this year.
In a letter sent to
Senate Finance Committee
Chairman Max Baucus
(D-Mont.) on Monday, 25
senators urged the committee
not to let tax credits
expire for offshore wind
investments and cleaner
vehicles, among others.
EU policymakers on
Wednesday unveiled a draft
law to tackle air pollution,
which every year is linked
to 400,000 premature deaths
in Europe and costs of tens
of billions of euros.
The proposals include new
limits on emissions from
power plants and industry,
as well as measures to make
member states comply with
existing rules on limiting
pollutants associated with
asthma, cardiovascular
disease and cancer.
The state Public
Utilities Commission has
approved a rate increase for
customers who buy
electricity from National
Grid. The board on Friday
completed action that will
see rates rise 12.1 percent
for the typical Rhode Island
household, starting on Jan.
1.
The "overwhelming
majority" of the increase,
the utility said, comes from
a rise in the cost of
wholesale production of
electricity ..
The U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency and the
Department of Justice
announced that Chesapeake
Appalachia, LLC, a
subsidiary of Chesapeake
Energy, the nation’s second
largest natural gas
producer, will spend an
EPA-estimated $6.5 million
to restore 27 sites damaged
by unauthorized discharges
of fill material into
streams and wetlands and to
implement a comprehensive
plan to comply with federal
and state water protection
laws at the company’s
natural gas extraction sites
in West Virginia, many of
which involve hydraulic
fracturing operations.
- Battery storage
costs are falling
rapidly and will be cost
competitive with or less
expensive than natural
gas-fired generation in
18 months, according to
Steve Hellman, EOS
Energy Storage
president.
- EOS, which Utility
Dive recently picked as
a company to watch,
plans to sell its
batteries next year for
$200/kWh to $250/kWh.
The company expects to
bring the price down to
$160/kWh.
- The main value from
batteries will come from
capacity payments and
combining them with
distributed generation,
Hellman said.
The U.S. Export-Import
Bank is adopting new
guidelines on coal-fired
power plants based on the
Environmental Protection
Agency's proposed rules.
The revised environmental
procedures prevent financing
for power plants unless they
adopt carbon capture,
allowing some flexibility
with the world's poorest
countries
Firefighters have turned a
corner against a wildfire
that has destroyed 22 homes
and forced the evacuation of
dozens more along a
picturesque stretch of
central California
coastline, officials said on
Thursday.
November coal traffic on the
Great Lakes totaled
2,675,065 short tons, down
4.1% from October and down
7.3% from a year ago,
according to data from the
Lake Carriers' Association.
Year-to-date coal
shipments on the lakes total
22.4 million st, down 2.7%
compared with last year.
The Department of Energy
released a Grid Energy
Storage report that
identifies the benefits of
grid energy storage, the
challenges that must be
addressed to enable broader
use, and the efforts of DOE,
in conjunction with industry
and other government
organizations, to meet those
challenges.
-
In one Australian town,
a suspected electrical
fault allowed fluoride
levels to reach nearly
double the guideline
amount in local drinking
water
-
The Australian drinking
water guideline for
fluoride is 1.5 mg/L,
whereas in the US the
enforceable regulation
for fluoride – the
maximum contaminant
level -- is set at 4
mg/L
-
Even at levels deemed
“safe” by health
officials, fluoride may
still pose a significant
risk to your health,
including brain,
thyroid, behavioral, and
other problems
-
Fluoride also induces
disease-causing
oxidative stress, which
antioxidants such as
lycopene may help to
lessen
In 2007, I wrote a
case study for
Harvard Business Review,
“Boss, I Think
Someone Stole our Customer
Data.” Now six years
later, an actual event has
occurred that is eerily
similar to that fictional
scenario: a trusted
retailer’s point-of-sale
system security was breached
and a large amount of
customer data may be
compromised.
If you hadn’t noticed that
hydrogen stocks are up an
average of 131 percent so
far this year, you’re not
alone. Both hydrogen fuel
cell stocks and hydrogen
fuel systems stocks are up
strongly.
Residents of the Indian
capital woke on Wednesday to
a third day of thick gray
smog in one of the worst
episodes this year, which
disrupted dozens of flights
and train services and
caused a rash of health
complaints.
New Delhi is among
several Asian cities,
including Beijing, that are
suffering from toxic levels
of pollution fuelled by
industrial growth and a
surge in the numbers of
vehicles crowding their
roads.
Kentucky Power's reliance on
coal for electric generation
is expected to fall from 99%
in 2013 to 71% in 2028,
according to a report the
company submitted Monday to
the Kentucky Public Service
Commission.
In its
latest integrated resource
plan report, the American
Electric Power subsidiary
said it has no plans to
construct any new baseload
capacity over the next 15
years. But it does plan to
purchase 100 MW of wind
energy and add about 90 MW
of solar capacity over the
period.
After more than 6,000
layoffs in the Eastern
Kentucky coalfields have
been reported since 2011, it
would seem that for many in
the industry night has come
to the region. However, a
program for out-of-work
miners in the area provided
with funds through the
Eastern Kentucky
Concentrated Employment
Program (EKCEP) may be
helping the region find its
way through the dark.
In 2013, there was an
in-crowd of movies by and
about Native Americans --
the films it seemed every
festival wanted, and every
festival honored.
A number of unexplained
bald eagle deaths in Utah
when hundreds of the
government-protected birds
have migrated to wintering
grounds in the central Rocky
Mountains has wildlife
officials worried.
The officials said on
Tuesday at least four bald
eagles have died and another
is close to death. Wildlife
specialists said the deaths
began December 1 and point
to either an outbreak of
disease or exposure to some
unknown toxin among the
raptors in Utah.
In 2040, domestic crude oil
output will still be higher
than it is today. Will the
country's shifting energy
picture affect Keystone XL's
prospects?
The U.S. Energy Department
has sharply cut its forecast
for crude oil imports in the
next several years, saying
that domestic oil will
replace imports at a much
faster rate than it expected
just a few months ago.
New Mexico's attorney
general sued on Thursday to
block a horse slaughter
plant scheduled to open next
month from becoming the
first facility of its kind
to operate in the United
States in more than five
years.
The move is the latest in
an ongoing legal battle that
has pitted animal protection
groups and their allies
against an industry fighting
to regain a foothold in the
United States.
Residents in the Ashe County
now have a new way to find
out how to save energy, and
in turn, money.
Political pressure to close
Seabrook's nuclear power
plant continues to mount,
but the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission says it will not
make a decision until issues
with degrading concrete are
fully understood.
According to a declaration
filed Dec. 19 with the U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory
Commission by economist Mark
Cooper, a senior fellow for
economic analysis at the
Institute for Energy and the
Environment of the Vermont
Law School, conservative
estimates put the additional
costs of at-reactor storage
and disposal in a permanent
repository between $210
billion to $350 billion. The
analysis looks at a range of
scenarios, including heavy
reliance on on-site reactor
storage of nuclear waste in
casks and the use of one or
more Yucca Mountain-type
repositories. The extra cost
per unit of nuclear reactor
output with nuclear waste
storage and disposal would
range from $10 to $20 per
megawatt-hour of electricity
generated by the reactors.
On Friday, December 20,
2012, ObamaCare died. The
president announced that if
your health care plan was
cancelled as a result of the
requirements of ObamaCare,
you are relieved from having
to obey the individual
mandate to have health
insurance. He also said that
a simple catastrophic policy
would suffice if you chose
to get one and that he would
make them available through
the exchanges.
(In other words, if your
policy was cancelled because
it was not sufficiently
comprehensive, you can buy
one even less comprehensive
and that will be okay).
-
A new study found that
nearly one in five US
deaths is associated
with obesity, which is
nearly three times
higher than previous
estimates
-
The number of Americans
who are overweight or
obese is probably much
higher than studies
suggest because the tool
most often used is BMI,
which is flawed and
doesn’t take into
account body fat
distribution
-
Obesity-related deaths
include those from type
2 diabetes,
hypertension, heart
disease, liver disease,
cancer, dementia, and
depression because
nearly all have
metabolic dysfunction as
a common underlying
factor
-
The only effective way
to reverse these trends
is to make changes in
your diet and lifestyle;
drugs are definitely not
the answer
36 cities in 20 states are
turning their back on the
U.S. Dollar. This is
happening right here in
America. And it’s a quickly
developing situation.
Recently, Warren Buffett
warned that people should
“fear paper money.” When you
see this story you’ll see
why he’s right.
In a new poll conducted for
USA Today, a
majority say they have seen
the impact of global
warming.
Roughly 71
percent of U.S. adults say
they see the effects of
global warming. Twenty-eight
percent say it made the
damage wrought by Superstorm
Sandy last year "much
worse," while 41 percent say
it had no effect on the
storm.
The key for President Obama
is to stop and reflect on
what has been the worst year
of his presidency.
It is the time of year we
feel a sense of joy and
optimism. We are preparing
for the holidays and looking
to spend time with our
families and friends. This
year as we look back we see
several developments that
leave us feeling optimistic.
Badger 1 Solar will generate
enough energy to meet the
electricity needs of
approximately 3,560 homes,
according to PSEG.
-
Ractopamine is a beta
agonist drug that
increases protein
synthesis, thereby
making the animal more
muscular. This reduces
the fat content of the
meat and increases the
profit per animal
-
Beta-agonist drugs, as a
class, have been used in
US cattle production
since 2003. Ractopamine
is administered in the
days leading up to
slaughter, and as much
as 20 percent of it can
remain in the meat you
buy
-
Animal research has
linked ractopamine to
reductions in
reproductive function;
birth defects; increase
of mastitis in dairy
herds; and increased
disability and death.
FDA records show ‘death’
is the most-often
reported side effect
M3 event observed. M1
event observed. Solar
activity is likely to be
moderate with a slight
chance for an X-class flare
on days one, two, and three
(23 Dec, 24 Dec, 25 Dec).
The geomagnetic field is
expected to be at quiet
levels on days one and two
(23 Dec, 24 Dec) and quiet
to active levels on day
three (25 Dec). Protons have
a slight chance of crossing
threshold on days one, two,
and three (23 Dec, 24 Dec,
25 Dec).
Nothing in response denies
RSA got $10 million to make
Dual EC_DRBG default.
RSA has issued a statement
denying allegations stemming
from Friday's bombshell
report that the encryption
software provider received
$10 million from the
National Security Agency
(NSA) in exchange for making
a weak algorithm the
preferred one in its BSAFE
toolkit.
The Nevada Supreme Court
said today that the Sierra
Club sued the wrong state
agency in its challenge over
waste water disposal at the
Reid Gardner power plant in
Southern Nevada.
The Sierra Club objected
to the renewal of a permit
for NV Energy to discharge
waste water from the
coal-fired plant into
evaporation ponds.
The most notable thing
about the impending
expiration of a federal tax
credit for wind energy may
be the quiet surrounding the
event. That's in sharp
contrast to the debate that
swirled around the issue
this time a year ago, when
the credit also faced
expiration.
The quiet, industry
experts said, can be
attributed to changes in how
to qualify for the credit
and the lack of any
legislation to which renewal
might be attached.
A new study shows that
coal generation plants can
be modified to fit within
the new power sector and be
a part of a cleaner energy
system.
The report summarizes the
findings from a coal
generating station that has
been modified to operate
more flexibly, with the
ability to cycle on and off
daily and run at low
generation levels.
Energy Department
analysts approved his
paperwork, promising
Fairbanks a $10 million tax
credit if his company,
Energetics, built the
project within three years.
He never did.
One of Minnesota's most
ambitious green energy
projects is flipping the
"on" switch.
The odd-looking power
plant, completed in
November, is a collection of
tanks and fabric bubbles
resembling mini-Metrodomes.
Since the Fed
announced the reduction in
securities purchases ("small
taper"), the treasury curve
has undergone some strange
adjustments. Here is what
the impact has been since
the close on December 17th.
Why would the 5-year note
sell off the most while the
long bond rallied?
US nuclear plant operators
must provide information to
the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission by February about
an electrical vulnerability
that could affect safety
systems and how each plant
plans to mitigate it, the
agency said in a letter made
public Friday.
The
vulnerability affects almost
all US nuclear stations and
has received regulatory
attention since January
2012...
US personal spending jumped
0.5% in November 2013,
thereby matching market
expectations and building on
upwardly revised 0.4% (was
0.3%) and 0.3% (was 0.2%)
increases in October and
September, respectively. All
of the increase in spending
reflected higher volumes,
which jumped a solid 0.5% in
November to mark the fastest
pace of monthly growth in
the measure since February
2012. The gain in monthly
spending was despite a
smaller than expected 0.2%
rise in personal income in
November. Market
expectations had been for a
0.5% increase. Disposable
income inched up a slightly
smaller 0.1%, and with
spending rising more than
incomes, the saving rate
dropped to 4.2% from 4.5% in
October
The Energy Information
Administration (EIA)
released a report showing
U.S. electricity sales,
including retail sales and
onsite use of power at
utility-scale generators,
have declined in the past
four out of five years. That
trend is expected to
continue in 2013.
The only rise over the
past five years occurred in
2010, when the country was
rising out of the 2008-09
recession.
"Don't stop taking your
multivitamin."
That's
the simple advice offered by
board-certified family
practitioner David
Brownstein, M.D., in the
wake of heavily publicized
recent studies that
concluded a daily
multivitamin does not have
health benefits.
After carefully reviewing
the studies, Dr. Brownstein,
one of the nation's top
practitioners of holistic
medicine, concluded that
they aren't worth the paper
they're printed on.
A look back on 2013 will
reveal an obvious truth:
Texas is hot. The less
obvious result of that truth
is that Texans' air
conditioning consumption was
three times higher than the
national average.
Residential heating and
cooling consumption has
declined nationally over the
last few decades, but last
summer's triple-digit
temperatures in the Lone
Star State drove the
thriftiest to turn down the
air conditioning to a degree
that would still make most
other Americans break a
sweat..
On Thursday, Governor Scott
Walker (R-WI) signed a
controversial “mascot” bill
making it harder to force
public schools to drop
tribal, Native nicknames.
A three-member
environmental review panel
in Canada has recommended
approval of Enbridge Inc.’s
Northern Gateway oil
pipeline through pristine
First Nations territory,
even though the project is
opposed by Indigenous
Peoples, the provincial
government and environmental
groups.
December 20, 2013
Most people don’t think they
need to worry about
dehydration. To them,
dehydration is something
that happens to travelers in
the desert when they run out
of water.
But there is a chronic form
of dehydration that does not
have the sudden and intense
nature of the acute form.
Chronic dehydration is
widespread in the present
day and affects everyone who
is not drinking enough
liquid.
Mortgage rates rose for
the second straight week
this week, with the 30-year
fixed-rate mortgage rate
adding 0.05 percentage
points; and the 15-year
fixed-rate mortgage adding
0.08 percentage points.
Rates have reached a
14-week high and just two
weeks remains until the New
Year. Recent trends suggest
mortgage rates will begin
2014 on the upswing. Today's
rates may be as low as
mortgage rates get.
At least 500 people,
most of them soldiers,
have been killed in
South Sudan since
Sunday, a senior
government official
said, as an ethnic
rivalry threatened to
tear apart the world's
newest country.
The clashes
apparently are
pitting soldiers
from the majority
Dinka tribe of
President Salva Kiir
against those from
ousted Vice
President Riek
Machar's Nuer ethnic
group, raising
concerns the
violence could
degenerate into a
civil war.
Poor air quality is lethal,
with outdoor pollution now
recognised as a leading
environmental cause of
cancer deaths. A clean power
solution is needed, and
London is leading the way by
introducing hydrogen fuel
cells for clean power in
transportation. Don’t
breathe now
Cutting down on sugary
sodas and energy drinks may
not only help you stick to
your calorie goal; it also
might help reduce your
disease risk as well.
A recent study found that
American adults have been
drinking fewer sugar
beverages in the past few
years.
This study showed that
some health markers, such as
cholesterol levels, improved
as sugar-sweetened drink
intake decreased.
New psychological research
considers whether you are
ever really comfortable with
your own taste
Congress sent President
Barack Obama legislation
Wednesday scaling back
across-the-board cuts on
programs ranging from the
Pentagon to the national
park system, adding a late
dusting of bipartisanship to
a year more likely to be
remembered for a partial
government shutdown and
near-perpetual gridlock.
Obama's signature was
assured on the measure,
which lawmakers in both
parties and at opposite ends
of the Capitol said they
hoped would curb budget
brinkmanship and prevent
more shutdowns in the near
future.
Medical researchers have
found a cause of ageing in
animals that can be
reversed, possibly paving
the way for new treatments
for age-related diseases
including cancer, type 2
diabetes, muscle wasting and
inflammatory diseases.
The researchers hope to
start human trials late next
year.
ICF International has
released its Q1 2014
forecast highlighting the
impacts of proposed U.S.
federal environmental
regulations, and projections
on pollution control
installations, coal
production, and renewable
energy development.
A Colorado town considering
issuing hunting permits for
drone aircraft has been
given the go-ahead for a
special election on the
matter.
Before there was the grid,
there was the microgrid.
Electrification in the
United States often
proceeded from a diesel
generator and local
distribution in an isolated
town to the development of
the big utilities and
complex grid of generation,
transmission and
distribution of the 21st
century.
Up to half the terror
suspects held at the U.S.
military prison at
Guantanamo Bay could be
closer to heading home under
a bipartisan deal reached in
Congress that gives
President Barack Obama a
rare victory in his fight to
close the prison.
The homeowner, who has
not been identified,
received a call while on the
way home that the alarm at
his residence had been
activated. When he got to
the house, he walked around
the back of the residence
and saw three people
standing inside, DeKalb
police Capt. Stephen Fore
said.
“He called 911 from a
cell phone as he observed
people inside the home,”
Fore said. “As he was on the
phone with 911, the three
suspects exited the rear of
his home and ran toward
him.”
Everybody seems to be
looking for a little peace
and quiet these days. But
even such a reasonable idea
can go too far. The quietest
place on earth, an anechoic
chamber at Orfield
Laboratories in Minnesota,
is so quiet that the longest
anybody has been able to
bear it is 45 minutes.
The early release of the U.
S. Energy Information
Administration's (EIA)
Annual Energy Outlook 2014
issued earlier this week
continues to show a trend of
"low-balling" forecasts for
the future contribution of
renewable energy sources to
the nation's electricity
production that are not
supported by actual
experience, the Sun Day
Campaign contends.
The U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency and the
Department of Justice
announced that Chesapeake
Appalachia, LLC, a
subsidiary of Chesapeake
Energy, the nation’s second
largest natural gas
producer, will spend an
EPA-estimated $6.5 million
to restore 27 sites damaged
by unauthorized discharges
of fill material into
streams and wetlands and to
implement a comprehensive
plan to comply with federal
and state water protection
laws at the company’s
natural gas extraction sites
in West Virginia, many of
which involve hydraulic
fracturing operations.
Today, the U.S.
Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) issued a final
rule that helps create a
consistent national
framework to ensure the safe
and effective deployment of
carbon capture and
sequestration (CCS)
technologies.
“Carbon capture and
sequestration technology can
help us reduce carbon
pollution and move us toward
a cleaner, more stable
environment,” said Mathy
Stanislaus, EPA assistant
administrator for Solid
Waste and Emergency
Response. “Today’s rule
provides regulatory clarity
to help facilitate the
implementation of this
technology in a safe and
responsible way.”
The U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA)
announced today that
Harrell’s LLC, a pesticide
producer based in Lakeland,
Fla., has agreed to pay
$1,736,560 in civil
penalties for allegedly
distributing and selling
misbranded pesticides and
other violations of the
Federal Insecticide,
Fungicide, and Rodenticide
Act (FIFRA).
The
penalty is one of the
largest ever for an
enforcement case under
FIFRA.
A record number of
Americans think the federal
government is “broken.”
Seventy-one percent of
voters say so, while 21
percent say the government
is working “just okay.”
Hardly any -- six percent
-- think it’s working
“pretty well,” according to
a Fox News national poll
released Thursday.
In addition, the new poll
shows that the belief that
Washington is broken is
growing. It’s up six
percentage points since last
year and up 13 points since
2010.
Manufacturing of solar cells
and panels has reduced in
the United States, but some
firms have found success by
shifting their focus onto
building utility scale power
plants. Indeed, the shift
has provided the landscape
and scope for the
construction of the world’s
largest utility scale power
plant in California’s hot,
dry Antelope Valley outside
Los Angeles. The power plant
is owned by investment firm
Berkshire Hathaway’s
MidAmerican Renewables
and is being built by
SunPower,
San Jose, California.
Tokyo Electric Power Company
(TEPCO), operator of Japan’s
defunct Fukushima nuclear
plant, has started removing
fuel rods from the storage
pool near the roof of the
plant’s fourth reactor that
suffered a series of
hydrogen explosions.
The company said it will
take about two days to
remove the first 22 fuel rod
assemblies at Unit 4 reactor
building.
Good news for corn farmers:
a major corn crop pest, the
European corn borer (ECB)
has seen a significant
population decline in the
eastern United States. This
information comes from Penn
State researchers on the
heels of reports of similar
population declines in the
Midwest. As a result,
farmers will save millions
of dollars in some parts of
the country because they
will no longer need to treat
for this pest.
"Guns Save Lives Day,"
observed Sunday in
conjunction with Bill of
Rights Day, was a huge
success, the Second
Amendment Foundation said
today.
Lithium/sulfur (Li/S)
cells are receiving
significant attention as an
alternative power source for
zero emission vehicles and
advanced electronic devices
due to the very high
theoretical specific
capacity (1675 mA·h/g) of
the sulfur cathode.
Li/S cells may supplant
current Li-ion batteries
that are not able to meet
the ever-increasing demands
of advanced technologies and
the need for lower cost.
Scotland’s renewable
electricity output has
reached record-high levels,
according to official
statistics released today.
The figures, published by
the Department of Energy and
Climate Change, show that
renewables met a
record-breaking 40.3 per
cent of gross electricity
consumption in 2012,
confirming that Scotland is
on track to meet its interim
target of 50% by 2015.
A private firm with a
federal contract - and
backed up by city police -
forced motorists off Laurel
Street and into a private
parking lot Friday to
question them about their
driving habits and ask for a
swab of their mouth.
"I feel this incident is
a gross abuse of power on
many levels," Reading
resident Ricardo Nieves, one
of those stopped, told City
Council Monday.
A solar park in Kalaeloa
able to generate enough
electricity to power 1,000
homes went online Monday.
The Kalaeloa Renewable
Energy Park is now feeding
power to Hawaiian Electric
Co. customers on Oahu, after
four years of development
and construction. The
5-megawatt solar park on a
20-acre lot next to the
Barbers Point Golf Course
has 21,000 photovoltaic
panels.
The UN says more than 1,200
people have been killed in
Islamist-related violence in
north-east Nigeria since a
state of emergency was
declared in May.
Officials and residents
attended the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission's
meeting last night, bringing
scientists, technical
statements, and impassioned
pleas, in hopes of
persuading the federal
agency in charge of the
nation's nuclear industry
not to extend the license of
the Seabrook nuclear power
plant, due to a concrete
problem currently under
investigation -- and to shut
down the plant now.
Freight traffic and cold
weather took a toll on
Amtrak service across the
Hi-Line in December, with
the cancellation of half a
dozen Empire Builder trains.
At least 30 people were
killed and 53 more were
wounded in today’s
attacks. Once again Shi’ite
pilgrims were targeted, and
among those were Pakistani
and Saudi victims.
A new partnership has been
established between the
Johnson Foundation at
Wingspread and the National
Science Foundation's
Engineering Research Center
for Re-inventing the
Nation's Urban Water
Infrastructure (ReNUWIt) to
convene a diverse group of
leading water experts in
order to examine the
implications that water
scarcity has for
water infrastructure
across the United States.
As the Arbaeen observance
draws nearer, Shi’ite
pilgrims remain easy targets
for insurgents. The pilgrims
often travel to Karbala on
foot, making them
exceptionally vulnerable. In
addition, Iraqis will often
provide refreshments to
traveling pilgrims, giving
insurgents effortless access
to large groups of people.
At least 73 people were
killed today, and another
121 were wounded. Most
of the casualties occurred
between Baghdad and Karbala.
C2 event observed.
There are currently 9
numbered sunspot regions on
the disk. chance for
M-class flares on days one,
two, and three (20 Dec, 21
Dec, 22 Dec). The
geomagnetic field is
expected to be at quiet
levels...
A report issued several
weeks ago by the U.S.
Department of Housing and
Urban Development (HUD)
stated that the latest
estimate of homelessness had
declined in “every major
category or subpopulation
since 2010, the year the
federal government
established a strategic plan
to end homelessness.
-
An in-depth scientific
review of sucralose
(Splenda) reveals an
extensive list of safety
concerns, including
toxicity, DNA damage,
and heightened
carcinogenic potential
when used in cooking
-
When heated, it releases
chloropropanols, which
belong to a class of
toxins known as dioxins.
Dioxin—a component of
Agent Orange—is among
the most dangerous
chemicals known to man
-
Sucralose can destroy as
much as 50 percent of
the microbiome in your
gut. What’s worse, it
appears to target
beneficial
microorganisms to a
greater extent than
pathogenic and other
more detrimental
bacteria
-
Both animal and human
studies have shown that
Splenda alters glucose,
insulin and
glucagon-like peptide-1
(GLP-1) levels, thereby
promoting weight gain,
insulin resistance, and
type 2 diabetes
-
The adverse effects of
sucralose are oftentimes
misdiagnosed or
overlooked entirely as
the side effects are so
varied and mimic common
ailments
Engineers have sped up a
naturally occurring process
to make crude oil from algae
from about a million years
to just minutes.
Researchers at the
Department of Energy’s
Pacific Northwest National
Laboratory pumped a slurry
of wet algae into a chemical
reactor, which then subjects
the biological material to
very hot water under high
pressure to tear it apart
and convert it into liquid
and gas fuels.
Global solar installations
are forecast to be in the 43
GW range in 2014, according
to Mercom Capital Group, a
global clean energy
communications and
consulting firm. Market
conditions are as stable as
they can be in the
historically volatile solar
industry, according to Raj
Prabhu, CEO and co-founder
of Mercom Capital Group.
In California at least,
home buyers are willing to
pay a premium for solar.
A new study from Lawrence
Berkeley National Laboratory
finds that houses with
rooftop solar panels sell
for higher prices than
comparable non-solar homes.
While less than 1 percent of
the country are currently
driving electric vehicles
(EV), a new survey has found
that four out of 10
households could use an
electric vehicle with little
or no change to their
driving habits and vehicle
needs. The national Union of
Concerned
Scientists/Consumers Union
survey found that 42 percent
of respondents with cars --
equivalent to 45 million
households across the
country -- meet the basic
criteria for using plug-in
hybrid electric vehicles.
Units 5 and 6 were not badly
damaged after the March 2011
earthquake and tsunami, but
the public has wanted the
entire six-unit power plant
to shut down. TEPCO is
currently removing fuel rods
from Unit 4, which is the
first step in
decommissioning the plant.
You know the difference
between a medical journal
editor and a jellyfish? The
editor is at least
supposed to have a
spine.
3. Anyone whose outside wall
has a “smart” meter, or who
lives adjacent to banks of
meters, suffers bursts of
pulsed microwave radiation
all day and night long.
Why is the Pentagon
developing and controlling
vaccines? Will our troops
become human guinea pigs for
MIT’s emerging vaccine to
block stress and fear?
In
the aftermath of 9/11 and
the 2001 anthrax attacks,
the federal government
decided not to let that
crisis “ go to waste.”
Allegedly to “better
protect” civilians and
troops against biochemical
attacks, germ warfare, or
pandemics (including normal,
seasonal flu), it put the
Pentagon squarely in the
vaccine business.
One of the foundations of
the scientific method is the
reproducibility of results.
In a lab anywhere around the
world, a researcher should
be able to study the same
subject as another scientist
and reproduce the same data,
or analyze the same data and
notice the same patterns.
This is why the findings
of a study published today
in Current Biology are
so concerning.
NSA whistleblower and
genuine American hero Edward
Snowden has been vindicated.
I’ve been patiently waiting
for this to happen and now
it has.
This week a
Federal District Judge ruled
that the National Security
Agency's Orwellian style
metadata surveillance
program that collects
millions of Americans'
telephone records is
probably unconstitutional
because it violates the
Fourth Amendment.
Microgrids may be a dagger
aimed at the heart of
utilities and their large,
centralized power grids.
If consumers, business
and industry abandon the
main grid in favor of
microgrids, it will threaten
the utility compact and also
have serious societal and
national security
implications.
In May 2013, the IRS was
caught illegally
discriminating against Tea
Party groups applying for
501(c)4 nonprofit status. In
the wake of the scandal, the
IRS worked to eliminate
illegal censorship of
political dissent—by
attempting to legalize it.
The cause for the wind
turbine blade that broke in
Chandler Township last month
has been found, according to
the company that
manufactures the blades.
University of California,
Los Angeles (UCLA)
researchers have conducted
detailed modeling to reveal
that characteristics of
natural very low—frequency
radio waves known as
"chorus" in the Earth's
upper atmosphere are
primarily responsible for
the observed relativistic
electron build-up showing
that radial diffusion is not
responsible for the observed
acceleration during an
atmospheric storm. This
newfound knowledge and
procedural understanding
will influence our
activities throughout the
universe.
Do you remember spending
almost a million dollars in
the last few years on a
website devoted to romance
novels? How about that $17.5
million you spent on
brothels in Nevada? Or the
$200,000 treating record
industry executives to a
world tour?
No? Well, technically
you didn’t spend all
that money. Your government
did. But it was your
money the government spent.
Yale University scientists
have determined a decline in
brain function is a natural
consequence of aging and
that genes — not
environmental or lifestyle
factors — are primarily to
blame.
December 17, 2013
Today, more than 5 million
Americans have Alzheimer's,
and the number of people
projected to develop the
mind-wasting disease is
expected to skyrocket as our
population ages. While there
are few treatments that
appear to be effective once
Alzheimer's strikes,
researchers the world over
are finding easy, effective
ways to help prevent the
deadly disease. Simple
changes in lifestyle can
slash the risk of
Alzheimer's and other forms
of dementia by more than 50
percent, according to
scientists at the U.K.'s
University of Stirling
Dementia Services
Development Center.
It all started when Madison
decided that she wanted to
help pay for her own braces.
She gathered mistletoe from
her uncle’s farm, portioned
the mistletoe into bags, and
set out with her father to
sell those bags at the
Saturday Market in Portland,
Oregon.
Long story
short, a security guard
approached Madison and told
her that a local ordinance
prohibited her from selling
the mistletoe without a
permit.
Here’s where
it gets really good:
ICF International has
released a report
commissioned by the Energy
Foundation comparing the
economic impacts of
different uses of proceeds
from California's carbon
emissions trading program
under the state's 2006
climate law, AB 32. AB 32
has the potential to
generate significant auction
proceeds once the cap
expands in 2015 to cover
transportation fuels. ICF's
analysis explores five
options for reinvesting
those proceeds back into
California's economy and
evaluates the relative
economic impacts of each
option.
There is a proper way to
educate and there is a
proper way to govern, and
they are both known. Today
we do these things in a
different way, which
presents a serious and
perhaps fatal problem for
our country. But repair is
possible.
Two-thirds of U.S.
consumers think now is "a
good time to buy a home",
with 91% believing home
values will rise or remain
unchanged through 2014.
Conducted by Fannie Mae,
the November National
Housing Survey suggests
strong housing demand and
rising competition for
homes.
Coffee, chocolate, cheese,
beer—it’s rare for anyone to
get through a day without
eating fermented foods
celebrated for their
powerful flavors and unique
healing qualitiesEvery
day I eat food that’s
teeming with
bacteria—billions of them.
House Speaker John Boehner
would not be House Speaker
John Boehner if it were not
for the tea party and the
other conservative groups he
now criticizes. He says that
they "lack all credibility"
and accuses them of "using
our members [Congressmen]
and the American people for
their own goals."
Asked about the criticism
leveled at the budget deal
by conservative groups, the
said "Are you kidding me? I
don't care what they do."
Regulators slapped fines on
an oil company for illegally
discarding fracking
wastewater—the first time
authorities in California
have taken this punitive
step.
A brief pause was taken at
an altitude of 30 meters to
further refine the approach.
Once the landing site was
chosen autonomously,
Chang'e-3 slows edged down
to an altitude of 4 meters,
at which point the rocket
was cut off, and the lander
fell the rest of the way,
landing on the surface with
impact-absorbing legs.
When Gloria Adams signed
a contract to install a
rooftop solar power system
on her Oahu home in late
August, she looked forward
to lower electric bills and
a return on her investment
in the years ahead.
She never dreamed that
she would have to stop the
project, get the Hawaiian
Electric Company's
permission before she could
proceed, and possibly help
pay for any upgrades to her
neighborhood's electricity
circuits to handle the extra
load.
States in the Midwest and
South whose polluted air
affects those in the
Northeast and Mid-Atlantic
may have to deal with a
federally imposed solution,
a slim majority of Supreme
Court justices appeared to
indicate Tuesday.
Water and wastewater
utilities are experiencing a
growing number of cyber
attacks.
That's according to data
collected by the Repository
for Industrial Security
Incidents (RISI), an
industry-wide organization
devoted to tracking cyber
crime. They published the
data in the 2013 Report On
Control System Cyber
Security Incidents.
China and other emerging
economies have overtaken
Western nations in dumping
old electronic goods, from
TVs to cellphones, and will
lead a projected 33 percent
surge in the amount of waste
from 2012 to 2017, a
U.N.-backed alliance said on
Sunday.
Taking note of the United
States recoupment of natural
gas, most specifically from
shale, the EU is pressing
its Washington counterparts
to include energy exports in
the Transatlantic Trade and
Investment Partnership
(TIPP) trade pact currently
being negotiated. The pact
will account for half of the
world’s economy covering
goods and services to
include everything from
agriculture to finance
In a recent letter to
Washington football fans,
franchise owner and media
mogul Dan Snyder offered
tender reminiscences of the
moments he and his father
shared when they attended
games at RFK Stadium. The
recollections of a six year
old boy holding his father’s
hand, savoring the
exuberance of life joined in
communion with thousands of
others from the neighborhood
cheering their own on to
victory, resonate for many
who have had similar
experiences with their own
family members. Poignantly,
he wrote “The past isn’t
just where we came from –
it’s who we are.”
The FHA has waived its
3-year foreclosure waiting
period.
Effective for FHA Case
Numbers assigned on, or
after, August 15, 2013,
borrowers with a recent
history of bankruptcy,
foreclosure, judgment, short
sale, loan modification or
deed-in-lieu can apply --
and get FHA-approved -- for
an FHA-insured mortgage.
Leading nutritional
expert Dr. Fabrizio
Mancini says that
something amazing
happens when you eat
healing foods and give
your body a break from
junk foods, bad fats,
refined flour, and
sugar.
“I’ve seen hundreds of
my patients cured of
chronic disease, lose
weight effortlessly, and
feel their energy soar
when they start eating
certain fruits and
vegetables that get
digestion working
properly,” Dr. Mancini
tells Newsmax Health. He
is president emeritus of
Parker University
in Dallas and author of
The Power of
Self-Healing.
The revival of the domestic
energy industry with the
onset of the fracking
revolution in recent years
has intensified the passion
of those demanding financial
purity.
Today, EPA issued its annual
report that tracks the
average fuel economy of
vehicles sold in the United
States. The report shows
that model year 2012
vehicles achieved an
all-time high fuel economy
of 23.6 miles per gallon
(mpg). This represents a 1.2
mpg increase over the
previous year, making it the
second largest annual
increase in the last 30
years. Fuel economy has now
increased in seven of the
last eight years.
The number of consumers
paying their bills from
smartphones and tablets is
growing significantly,
according to a survey from
Fiserv, Inc., and a growing
number of young consumers
taking on bill paying
responsibilities will
influence how billers are
innovating and offering
services based on changing
consumer preferences.
If everyone around the globe
consumed as much energy,
food and other resources as
in the United States, Earth
could sustain only about a
quarter of its current
population, according to
Worldwatch Institute.
However, there are ways to
turn wasteful consumption of
energy around.
IDC Energy Insights has
released its 2014
predictions for global
utilities to provide
organizations with insight
and perspective on long-term
industry trends and new
themes and help company
leaders capitalize on
emerging opportunities and
strategize for future
growth.
"Despite regional
nuances, the globally
utilities industry is in the
midst of a major paradigm
shift. Flexibility and
innovation are the 'new
normal' and digital
technologies and distributed
generation are the
cornerstone of the
transformation across the
entire value chain,"
Heavy rains late Tuesday
and early Wednesday
paralyzed much of Rio de
Janeiro, a tropical
metropolis scrambling to
improve infrastructure to
prepare to host the 2014
World Cup and the 2016
Olympics.
More rain fell overnight
around the city, Brazil's
second biggest, than would
normally be expected during
the entire month,
meteorologists said.
The truth is, life
expectancy is NOT a
recorded number of the age
people died, but rather an average
of all deaths, with a very
high number of infant
deaths. High infant
mortality rates before 1900
skewed the numbers. The high
infant mortality rate before
the 1900s was due to unclean
conditions and poor medical
care. Subsequently, life
expectancy numbers before
the year 1900 gets easily
knocked down to a low life
number.
We've long known that the
fish we eat are exposed to
toxic chemicals in the
rivers, bays and oceans they
inhabit. The substance
that's gotten the most
attention — because it has
shown up at disturbingly
high levels in some fish —
is .
But mercury is just one
of a slew of synthetic and
organic pollutants that fish
can ingest and absorb into
their tissue. Sometimes it's
because we're dumping
chemicals right into the
ocean. But as a published
recently in Nature,
Scientific Reports
helps illuminate, sometimes
fish get chemicals from the
plastic debris they ingest.
Fracking is more
water-intensive than anyone
realized, according to
National Geographic.
"It's well known that
water has been key to the
shale oil and gas rush in
the United States. But in
one center of the hydraulic
fracturing boom—North
Dakota—authorities are
finding that the initial
blast of water to frack the
wells is only the
beginning," the magazine
reported.
A rice farmer and an
energy company are going
head-to-head in front of the
Texas Supreme Court this
January over the issue of
wastewater.
A company that operates
injection wells will square
off against a rice farm
"that says wastewater from
those wells has migrated
into a saltwater aquifer
below its land," the
Texas Tribune
reported.
The farm "calls the
migration trespassing, for
which it should be
compensated" the report
said.
Month after month there has
been one revelation after
another about how the
National Security Agency
(NSA) collects information
from people both inside and
outside the US. Now, a judge
has finally paid attention
to these activities and
ruled that the NSA can't
simply run willy-nilly over
US citizens' privacy rights.
Hillsboro police say a man
openly carrying a shotgun in
downtown this week was not a
threat but rather exercising
his Second Amendment rights.
Mercury, a neurotoxin and
one of the world's most
prevalent pollutants, has
been a public health concern
for decades.
But its days as a major
environmental health issue
may be numbered under a new
international treaty that
limits its use for the first
time. The U.N. treaty, known
as the Minamata Convention,
has been signed by about 140
countries and, in November,
the United States became the
first to ratify it.
A new study released today
by the Coordinating Research
Council in cooperation with
the Health Effects Institute
highlights the robust
low-emissions performance of
the new generation of clean
diesel technology
manufactured starting in
2010. The study found a more
than 60 percent reduction in
emissions of nitrogen
dioxide as compared to
previous 2007 models, and 99
percent reduction compared
to 2004 models. The study
noted that the reductions
"exceeded substantially even
those levels required by
law."
As he has done before,
whenever President Obama is
in political trouble, he
seeks to rally his base with
a particular brand of
populism designed to appeal
to those who have an
impaired memory of his
previous diatribes.
But as he rails against
income inequality, seeks a
raise in the minimum wage
and tries to lower the cost
of college, we should all
remember the policies of
this administration that are
causing income inequality.
Deep beneath the
russet-colored Jemez Pueblo
lands lies a source of water
that tribal leaders hope may
be a springboard to
economic-development
opportunities.
The World Economic Forum has
released its annual Global
Energy Architecture
Performance Index of 124
countries in order to help
countries spur their efforts
to meet energy challenges
and opportunities in
innovative ways. The report,
prepared in collaboration
with Accenture, assesses and
ranks 124 countries
according to economic
growth, environmental
sustainability and energy
security performance,
analyzing the complex
trade-offs and dependencies
that affect country efforts.
"It's becoming increasingly
clear, I think, that the
loss of sea ice and snow
cover is setting up the
conditions that jump-start
summer," said Jennifer
Francis, research professor
at the Institute of Marine
and Coastal Sciences in
Rutgers’ School of
Environmental and Biological
Sciences. "The soil dries
out earlier and that allows
it to get hotter earlier.
This phenomenon is also
changing circulation
patterns in the atmosphere."
Solar energy jobs in the
U.S. are on the rise, by
13.2 percent from 2012,
according to the Solar
Foundation’s newly released
interactive map. More than
119,000 people work in the
solar energy industry;
43,000 of those workers are
based in California.
California, Arizona and New
Jersey are acknowledged as
offering the most solar
energy jobs.
It looks like Elon Musk and
his friends at Solar City
are at it again. First,
there was the Tesla electric
car. Then came solar energy
provider Solar City. Then
came the financial
innovation of bonds backed
by solar power. Now they
appear to be combining all
of these, with Solar City
offering commercial energy
storage systems based on
batteries produced by Tesla
Motors.
There are certain words in
the English language that
are so hopelessly evil that
you can actually feel your
skin crawling when you hear
them.
Words like
"poison," "murder," or
"fraud."
Or how
about "thalidomide"? After
all, Big Pharma's deadly
morning sickness drug was
like poison, murder and
fraud all rolled into one,
leaving thousands of dead or
deformed babies in its wake.
The 2008 financial crisis
was a major event,
equivalent in its initial
scope—if not its duration—to
the Great Depression of the
1930s. At the time, many
commentators said that we
were witnessing a crisis of
capitalism, proof that the
free market system was
inherently unstable.
Government officials who
participated in efforts to
mitigate its effects claim
that their actions prevented
a complete meltdown of the
world’s financial system, an
idea that has found
acceptance among academic
and other observers,
particularly the media.
These views culminated in
the enactment of the
Dodd-Frank Act that is
founded on the notion that
the financial system is
inherently unstable and must
be controlled by government
regulation.
Say goodbye to polar bears
and a whole lot of ice. New
research suggests the Arctic
Ocean could be ice-free by
2015, with devastating
consequences for the world.
Can it be stopped?
Just months after the U.S.
Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) announced
carbon emission standards
for new power plants and
proposed standards for
existing power plants are
expected next year, updated
research is showing a shift
in the economics of
coal-fired generation.
Market factors are making an
increasing number of the
nation's coal-fired power
plants less viable,
economically, especially in
Michigan, Alabama, Georgia,
Indiana and Texas, according
to researchers at the Union
of Concerned Scientists
(UCS).
Secretary of State John
Kerry signed away our Second
Amendment rights earlier
this year when he signed the
Arms Trade Treaty at the UN.
Now we have a chance to get
them back! As long as the
Senate has not rejected the
Treaty, it takes effect even
without being ratified under
the Vienna Convention.
Tens of thousands of
people have taken to the
streets in Ukraine and
toppled a statue of Vladimir
Lenin as they protest the
government’s decision to
suspend talks with the
European Union. Sophia
Opatska, CEO of the Lviv
Business School, explains
how the people of Ukraine
have become disenchanted
with the ruling political
party and how they are
taking action.
The impasse over the
US debt ceiling came and
went - and with it the
public's interest in the
subject. The short-term
treasury curve which became
inverted back in October
went back to normal.
The "early release overview
" of the Annual Energy
Outlook 2014 issued today by
the U.S. Energy Information
Administration (EIA)
continues a trend of
low-balling forecasts for
the future contribution of
renewable energy sources to
the nation's electricity
production that have not
been borne out by actual
experience.
Yes, it’s true. The yellow
powder that will stain
(almost) everything it
touches is the secret
ingredient in giving you the
brightest whitest teeth
possible. Yesterday I came
across an article on
Examiner.com called “Whiten
Teeth Safely with Turmeric”
and since turmeric is one
off my all time favorite
culinary/medicinal herbal
cross-overs, I was intrigued
U.S. Supreme Court justices
offered President Barack
Obama's administration some
encouragement on Tuesday as
they weighed the lawfulness
of a federal regulation
limiting air pollution that
crosses state lines, mostly
emissions from coal-fired
power plants.
In January, a Utah company
will begin the most crucial
part of its 10-year
dismantling of the closed
Zion nuclear power plant:
Safely removing its
radioactive fuel rods.
-
Kids with TVs in their
bedrooms, and those
exposed to more
background TV, had a
lower comprehension of
different mental states,
including other people’s
beliefs and desires
-
Children may have
difficulty understanding
what a person is
thinking or feeling when
watching them on TV, as
opposed to reading about
them in books or via
face-to-face
interactions
-
Children whose parents
watched TV with them and
explained what was
happening had a higher
understanding of others’
mental states
-
Experts recommend
children under age 3
should watch no TV at
all, while those ages
3-7 should watch no more
than 1.5 hours a day
The EPA has released its
agenda for 2014, and water
policy figures prominently
on the list.
"Despite considerable
progress, America's waters
remain imperiled. Water
quality protection programs
face complex challenges,
from nutrient loadings and
stormwater runoff to
invasive species and
drinking water contaminants.
These challenges demand both
traditional and innovative
strategies," the agency said
in its statement of
priorities.
Most of the universe's
chemical elements were
produced in stars, with the
heaviest elements being
produced when stars explode.
Providing stable freshwater
supplies is a priority for
every country in the world.
Yet stable supplies are
increasingly hard to come by
in many countries, as
water-related risks
increase. For example,
recent droughts threatened
GDP growth in the United
States. Monsoon floods
killed hundreds and
displaced thousands in
India. Increased competition
for water may impact energy
production in China, and the
list goes on.
December 10, 2013
A thaw of Arctic ice and
snow is linked to worsening
summer heatwaves and
downpours thousands of miles
south in Europe, the United
States and other areas,
underlying the scale of the
threat posed by global
warming, scientists said on
Sunday.
en. The oxygen atoms have
simply attached themselves
to other molecules - they
are still there.
On
the other hand, if CO2 has
increased to 380ppm from
200ppm in the past 250
years, then it stands to
reason that something(s)
else has decreased by 180ppm
(you can only have a total
of 1,000,000 parts per
million!). As the major
constituent of the
atmosphere (N2) is stable
and largely non-reactive,
then it probably isn't N2
that has decreased.
Furthermore, the main
argument behind the AGW
theory is that the burning
(reacting with oxygen) of
fossil fuels releases
carbon into the air as
carbon diOXIDE!
At least 61 people were
killed and 214 more were
wounded in fresh violence
around the country. The
Baghdad region experienced
the most bombings.
The US banking sector
continues to outperform the
broader market. Furthermore,
for the first time this
year, regional bank shares
are outperforming the
overall bank index, which is
driven primarily by the
largest banks.
The tool, which can assess
how companies might fare in
the carbon-constrained
economy, is now on the desks
of the world's most
influential investors. ..The
company's new Carbon Risk
Valuation Tool is available
to more than 300,000
high-end traders, analysts
and others who regularly
pore over the stream of
information that's available
through Bloomberg's
financial data and analysis
service.
Because it can travel 119
miles on the equivalent of a
gallon of gasoline, the 2014
Chevrolet Spark electric
subcompact car occupies the
#1 spot in the official U.S.
2014 Fuel Economy Guide
published Tuesday.
China is poorly prepared
to tackle the impact of
climate change that presents
a serious threat to the
country, thanks to a lack of
planning and public
awareness, the government
said on Monday.
The world's most populous
country already faces
challenges from weather
extremes, with 2,000 people
dying on average each year
since the 1990s in natural
disasters that are set to
get worse, China's powerful
economic planning agency
said.
Two weeks ago at the
2013 White House Tribal
Leaders Conference, tribal
leaders stood side-by-side
with President Obama and 13
of his cabinet leaders, and
raised climate change as a
top priority of Native
Nations. Tribes are on the
front lines of climate
change reality. From the 180
Alaskan villages facing
relocation from the places
they have lived for
thousands of years, to the
graveyards uncovered by
rising seas around Hawaii,
to the droughts in the
southwest, and to the storms
sweeping across the Great
Plains, we are all facing
one fact: we are being
threatened to our very core
by climate disruption.
With coal plant retirement
news from Maryland and
Pennsylvania last week,
one-third of all coal-fired
power plants in the country
are now scheduled for
retirement, bringing the
total up to 158 of the
nation's 523 coal-fired
power plants, according to
the Sierra Club's Beyond
Coal Campaign.
The chances of life having
once existed on Mars got a
boost this week alongside
good news for astronauts on
any future expeditions to
the Red Planet.. Six
papers from Curiosity team
members presented to the
autumn meeting of the
American Geophysical Union
in San Francisco revealed
that they had directly dated
their first Martian rock,
gave details of an ancient
lake where life may once of
existed, and found new
evidence about the radiation
hazards that explorers and
colonists may one day face.
Citing the prospect of
higher electricity bills,
Sen. Wendy Davis, the likely
Democratic nominee for
governor, on Thursday urged
the Public Utility
Commission to refrain from
reworking how Texans buy and
sell wholesale electricity.
"I trust that you will
agree with me that Texans
should not have to tolerate
an outcome from your
Commission's decision-making
that would raise their
utility rates while
simultaneously failing to
ensure a better guaranty
that our lights will come on
when we flip the switch,"
Davis wrote in a letter to
utility commission Chair
Donna Nelson.
A Florida official is
calling on his state to
invest in seawater
desalination as a way to
combat water scarcity.
According to Agriculture
Commissioner Adam
Putnam, the Sunshine State
needs to consider options
beyond conservation and
reuse.
Better detection alone
doesn't explain the dramatic
increase in thyroid cancer
cases seen in the United
States over the past three
decades, a new study says.
Researchers who looked at
records for more than 200
patients were unable to show
that advances in screening
are behind the jump in
thyroid cancer cases as some
specialists believe. Sponsor
The US Department of Energy
will announce in the next
two weeks the opening of a
solicitation for up to $8
billion in loan guarantees
for fossil-energy projects
that will use innovative
technologies to reduce
carbon emissions, the head
of the department's loan
guarantee program said
Monday.
Duke Energy officially
informed the union that
represents 1,800 of its
Florida electrical workers
of the utility's plans to
terminate its current
contract agreement on Feb. 3
if a new deal isn't reached.
E85 (85 percent ethanol, 15
percent gasoline) sales in
Iowa remain strong with the
Iowa Renewable Fuels
Association (IRFA)
announcing that third
quarter sales were the
second highest on record,
doubling first quarter 2013
numbers. Iowans purchased
more than 3.61 million
gallons of E85 in the third
quarter, nearly double the
1.83 million gallons
purchased in the first
quarter. The data was
released by the Iowa
Department of Revenue.
Britain’s largest coal-fired
power station is set to
become one of Europe’s
biggest renewable
electricity generators
today, with the potential
for new future generation on
the site to be based on
truly clean coal.
A U.S. District judge
sentenced two officials to
two years of probation for
funneling tainted water into
the drinking supply of an
Illinois town.
"Evidence at a trial this
summer showed that the
Illinois Environmental
Protection Agency determined
in 1986 that the well was
contaminated" but the
officials "helped hide the
continued use of the well,"
according to the Chicago
Sun-Times.
Energy investors and
decision makers backing the
development of nuclear,
solar, wind, hydro, and
other zero carbon emissions
power technologies got some
good news last month: A
surprising majority of
Americans across the
political and geographical
board are hungry for action
on climate change.
In the seven years since an
E. coli outbreak caused by
contaminated bagged spinach
from Central California left
five dead and 103
hospitalized, retailers and
other large buyers have
forced Salinas Valley
farmers to rip out wildlife
habitat, fence fields,
poison rodents and scrape
away native vegetation - all
in the name of food safety.
The market for fuel
ethanol in the United States
is unconcentrated, with 156
firms nationwide either
producing ethanol or likely
to begin producing ethanol
in the next 12 to 18 months,
according to the Federal
Trade Commission’s 2013
Report on the State of U.S.
Ethanol Production.
The lack of market
concentration in this
industry has been the case
each year since the FTC
began issuing reports in
2005.
Over the last decade, as
genetically modified, or
GMO, foods have increasingly
taken over our food supply,
we’ve been learning more
about their dangers to our
health.
Now, one courageous
doctor is pointing to
mounting evidence that
leaves no doubt — GMO
foods are even worse than we
were told.
Obamacare’s failing website
has dominated the news since
its catastrophic launch more
than two months ago, at
least until the
administration’s declaration
on Sunday that it is finally
“fixed.” It’s not, of
course. The site still only
works for 80 percent of
users and apparently it is
full of security problems.
Prominent American
investigative journalist
Seymour Hersh says US
President Barack Obama did
not tell the whole story
about a chemical weapons
attack near the Syrian
capital, Damascus in August.
The U.S. Department of
Housing and Urban
Development (HUD) is
rewarding our nation's "good
neighbors".
Through its Good Neighbor
Next Door (GNND) initiative,
HUD now sells homes for 50%
off. If you're a "Good
Neighbor", you can buy
any eligible HUD home
at half-off its listing
price.
Silicon Valley
renewable-energy company
SolarCity has started
installing lithium-ion
battery packs to help
companies cut their utility
bills. Those Tesla Motors
lithium-ion battery packs
aren’t just powering
electric luxury sports
sedans for the 1 percent any
more.
I have never heard this said
as simply or as well.
Class war at its best.
The folks who are
getting the free stuff don't
like
The folks who are
paying for the free stuff ,
because
The folks who
are paying for the free
stuff can no longer
Afford to pay for both the
free stuff and their own
stuff.
-
Meat in your supermarket
will now be required to
label where the animal
that provided your meat
was born, raised, and
slaughtered
-
This is an improvement
from the original
Country of Origin
Labeling (COOL) rule,
which required only the
country of origin to be
listed on food labels
-
Tyson, Cargill, and the
National Cattlemen’s
Beef Association are
among the agribusiness
members who spoke out
against the new ruling
-
Over 90 percent US
respondents to one
survey said they favored
country-of-origin
labeling, highlighting
the increasing trend for
Americans wishing to
know more about where
their food comes from
-
Buying your food from a
local small farmer,
farmer’s market, or food
co-op is still the best
way to track the origins
of your food
The growth of Medicaid
under ObamaCare effectively
takes over all of state
spending for the next few
years. Forget improvements
in education, state
universities, or other
programs. All the money is
going to go for Medicaid.
Already Medicaid accounts
for 15% of all state
spending totaling $450
billion a year. But, under
ObamaCare, it is exploding.
Speaking at a conference on
international security last
week, Secretary of Defense
Chuck Hagel said: “Climate
change does not directly
cause conflict, but it can
add to the challenges of
global instability, hunger,
poverty, and conflict. Food
and water shortages,
pandemic disease, disputes
over refugees and resources,
more severe natural
disasters -- all place
additional burdens on
economies, societies, and
institutions around the
world.”
Even worse, GMOs are now
endangering our food supply
by killing off butterflies.
Monsanto, maker of the
shockingly toxic herbicide
Roundup and developer of the
GMO Roundup Ready crop
seeds, points to a number of
studies that claim their
pesticide is safe for the
environment—though of course
these are mostly studies
that Monsanto has funded.
Unfortunately, scientists
who contradict Monsanto, and
seek to expose the dangers
of GMO crops and Roundup,
face censorship and
retraction of their studies.
Climate change has increased
concern over possible large
and rapid changes in the
physical climate system,
which includes the Earth's
atmosphere, land surfaces,
and oceans. Some of these
changes could occur within a
few decades or even years,
leaving little time for
society and ecosystems to
adapt.
"What's exciting is that the
project will pay for itself
in about four years," said
Ed Boyce, who owns the farm
with his wife, Sarah
O'Herron.
In great news for electric
cars, Nissan says its
electric Leaf is profitable
now, and they are ramping up
US production.
Cutting the price helped a
lot - since the $6000 cut on
the sticker price, demand
has been growing. And the
Leaf is the top reason
customers are referred to
the Nissan brand...
Two detailed reports from
the Energy Department's
National Renewable Energy
Laboratory (NREL) find that
solar financing and other
non-hardware costs — often
referred to as "soft costs"
— now comprise up to 64% of
the total price of
residential solar energy
systems, reflecting how soft
costs are becoming an
increasingly larger fraction
of the cost of installing
solar.
As these various LENR
companies develop
heat-producing technology,
one key question is how to
efficiently turn that heat
into electricity, which is a
primary end-user product
needed in the marketplace.
Now there is a twist on
this theme. A company that
is able to turn heat into
electricity efficiently has
brought a professional on
board specifically with the
purpose of finding LENR
technologies to pair with
their technology.
To distract attention from
the ObamaCare disaster, the
President is seeking to
focus on income inequality.
But here, for him, the
ground is even shakier.
The fact is that while
income inequality has been
getting worse, it is the
policies of the Obama
Administration that are
causing the trend.
On October 31, Mexican
president Enrique Peña Nieto
utilized new presidential
powers of pardon on the very
day that they went into
effect to free Mayan school
teacher Alberto Patishtán
Gómez. We hope that
President Obama was paying
attention. Patishtán had
been imprisoned for 13 years
following a trial riddled
with irregularities and
violations of his
constitutional rights.
Condemned to 60 years in
prison for his ostensible
participation in an ambush
in which seven policemen
were killed, his unjust
imprisonment was denounced
by Amnesty International and
human rights organizations
throughout Mexico and the
world. His case is one of
many in which the legal
system served the interests
of groups holding political
power and demonstrates how
structural racism continues
to generate lack of access
to justice for indigenous
peoples, in Mexico and
throughout the Americas.
The fuelless, pollution-free
Hydraulic Power Generator is
powered by three phase
motor, which can be powered
by external source of any
kind for initial running of
the system. When the system
starts its production, a
grid connected panel will
automatically switch the
power source for external
power to the self-created
power. Thus the system
becomes independent power
generator without any
external power source.
About a year ago, Susan
Almono had solar energy
panels installed at her
house.
Her monthly electric
bill, she said, amounts to
zero. In fact, the panels
have produced a surplus of
electricity, so she gets a
credit from National Grid,
she said.
Would she install the
panels if she had it to do
over again?
"Absolutely,"..
- Renewable generation
is growing faster than
fossil-fueled power
supply in the Electric
Reliability Council of
Texas (ERCOT) footprint,
according to the Energy
Information
Administration.
- With about 12,200 MW
of wind, Texas has the
most wind generation
among all states. Most
of the wind is in West
Texas and transmission
lines are being built to
deliver the power to
heavily populated areas
in Eastern Texas.
C2 event observed.
There are currently 8
numbered sunspot regions on
the disk. Solar
activity is expected to be
low with a chance for
M-class flares on days one,
two, and three (10 Dec, 11
Dec, 12 Dec).
The
geomagnetic field is
expected to be at quiet to
active levels on day one (10
Dec), quiet to unsettled
levels on day two (11 Dec)
and quiet levels on day
three (12 Dec).
The African lion has
vanished from the Sahara
desert, while cheetahs and
gazelles are nearly gone, in
what scientists are calling
“a catastrophic collapse of
its wildlife populations”
finds a study published
today in the journal
“Diversity and
Distributions.”
Researchers at Columbia
University Medical Center
(CUMC) have transformed
human stem cells into
functional lung cells,
paving the way for
ultimately creating
bioengineered lungs using
the patient's own cells.
Besides being able to
generate lung tissue for
transplants, these cells
could also be used to study
lung development and
potentially find more
advanced treatments for lung
diseases.
Scientists have produced
hydrogen by accelerating a
natural process found in
rocks deep below the Earth's
surface, a short-cut that
may herald the wider use of
what is a clean fuel, a
study showed on Sunday.
Used in rockets and in
battery-like fuel cells,
hydrogen is being widely
researched as a
non-polluting fuel, but its
use is so far hampered by
high costs. A few hydrogen
vehicles are already on the
roads, such as the Honda FXC
Clarity and Mercedes-Benz
F-Cell, and more are
planned.
Over the past decade,
federal and state
governments have
significantly increased
their support for
nonconventional energy
technologies, ranging from
wind-powered electricity
generators to
battery-powered cars. This
support has come in many
different forms, including
mandatory minimum amounts of
renewable energy, such as
state renewable portfolio
standards for electricity
generation; emission
restrictions, such as
California's zero emission
vehicle standard; and
various other subsidies.
Governments decided in
2009 that such temperature
increases needed to be no
more than 2 degrees C (3.6
Fahrenheit) above
pre-industrial levels to
avoid effects such as more
extreme weather, higher sea
levels and ocean
acidification.
They aim to agree by 2015
on a global deal to cut the
greenhouse gas emissions
blamed for climate change,
but the reductions will not
come into force until after
2020.
Eduard Porter makes the case
for nuclear energy as a
countermeasure to global
warming in the New York
Times. I learned of that
article by reading the
thorough debunking of the
cost assumptions for
nuclear by Charles Komaneff
here.
In the article, Marcus
Thomas, who used to work at
the FBI’s Operational
Technology Division, admits
that FBI software can
covertly enable a laptop’s
webcam without triggering a
warning light. This kind of
secret surveillance is only
used in terrorism cases or
the “most serious” criminal
investigations said Thomas.
A doctor discovers exposure
to healthy farm soil holds
keys to healthy bodies.
You would find little to
support these assertions
within the medical
literature. Enter the terms
“soil” and “health” into a
PubMed database and the top
search results portray soil
as a risky substance, filled
with pathogenic yeast,
antibiotic-resistant
bacteria, radon, heavy
metals, and pesticides. But
move past these grim
reports, and you will
uncover a small, but
growing, collection of
research that paints soil in
a very different light.
These studies suggest that
soil, or at least some types
of soil, can be beneficial
to our health.
The Sierra Club has launched
an online petition and video
urging the California Public
Utilities Commission (CPUC)
and Governor Jerry Brown to
reject a plan that it says
would add new air pollution
to Southern California and
move California's climate
goals backward.
It may actually be a way to
promote a Monsanto GMO
product.
..
Under the FDA’s proposed
rule, trans fat itself is
not banned. Instead, the ban
is on the major source of
trans fats in processed
food—partially hydrogenated
oils (PHOs).
Tracking people’s
movements after the Haiti
earthquake, mapping malaria
spread in Kenya, evaluating
Mexico’s government policies
on flu outbreak, improving
national census surveys in
Latin America and
Africa...These are just a
few examples of how
mobile-phone data has been
used in development, as
highlighted by a recent UN
report.
These data contain
information on a caller’s
location and spending, so
could help researchers
better understand people’s
movements, social
interactions and economic
conditions.
The Obama administration
on Friday extended the
length of permits that allow
wind farms and other
operations to accidentally
kill protected eagles to 30
years, drawing fire from
wildlife conservationists.
The move to offer permits
of up to three decades, from
a previous maximum of five
years, had been urged by the
wind energy industry but was
attacked by a leading
wildlife group as a
"stunningly bad move."
Eight Northeastern and
mid-Atlantic governors on
Monday petitioned the U.S.
Environmental Protection
Agency to require "upwind"
states in the Midwest and
South to curb ozone-forming
pollution from their power
plants, which they say
travels downwind and poses
health risks to their
citizens.
Oil demand growth in the US
this year is likely to
exceed that of China's for
the first time since the
1990s, skewing overall
global demand in favor of
developed markets,
investment bank Goldman
Sachs said in a new report
released Friday.
"In
2013, it was emerging market
demand that disappointed
while developed market
demand not only surprised to
the upside ... while
European demand actually
grew last quarter,"
according to analysts led by
Jeffrey Currie, Goldman's
global head of commodities
research.
Huge reservoirs of
low-salinity water have been
discovered where they are
least expected – buried
under the seabed on
continental shelves around
the world.
A study published today
in the scientific journal
“Nature,” reveals that an
estimated half a million
cubic kilometres of
low-salinity water has been
located off Australia,
China, North America and
South Africa.
Workers with Tokyo Electric
Power Co. (TEPCO) started
removing nuclear fuel
assemblies from Unit 4 at
the Fukushima Daiichi
nuclear power plant in
Japan. As of December 5,
TEPCO said it has removed 44
of the 1,533 assemblies from
the fuel pool. The process
is expected to be completed
in 2014.
Carbon dioxide levels in the
atmosphere are not constant
-- they have risen by nearly
40 percent since the
Industrial Revolution,
according to climate
scientist Todd Sanford. They
are small compared to the
main atmospheric components
of nitrogen and oxygen.
Scientists express them as
parts per million, or ppm.
In March 2011, carbon
dioxide levels were at 391
ppm, which is 0.0391 percent
of the atmosphere. This
roughly corresponds to a
mass of 3 trillion tons.
After nitrogen, oxygen,
water vapor and argon,
carbon dioxide is the fifth
most abundant gas in the
atmosphere.
Mandela was faced with a
vicious apartheid regime
that eliminated all rights
for blacks and gave them no
hope for the future. This
was a regime which used
secret police, prisons and
military force to crush all
efforts at seeking freedom
by blacks.
What would you have done
faced with that crushing
government?
Mortgage markets worsened
for the second straight week
last week as the U.S. labor
market continued its swift
expansion, which makes the
Federal Reserve more likely
to end its low-mortgage-rate
programs for buyers. 30-year
rates have climbed 0.375
percentage points since
November.
Industry consultants said
anti-tar sands push could
become 'the most significant
environmental campaign of
the decade' if activists
were left unopposed.
The
resulting document,
published online by
WikiLeaks, offers another
window into how oil and gas
companies have been
scrambling to deal with
unrelenting opposition to
their growth plans.
The document identifies
nearly two-dozen
environmental organizations
leading the anti-oil sands
movement and puts them into
four categories: radicals,
idealists, realists and
opportunists—with how-to's
for managing each. It also
reveals that the worst-case
scenario presented to
industry about the
movement's growing influence
seems to have come to life.
December 6, 2013
If you eat seafood,
unless you catch it yourself
or ask the right questions,
the odds are pretty good it
comes from a fish farm. The
aquaculture industry is like
a whale on steroids, growing
faster than any other animal
agriculture segment and now
accounting for half the fish
eaten in the U.S.
As commercial fishing
operations continue to strip
the world’s oceans of life,
with one-third of fishing
stocks collapsed and the
rest headed there by
mid-century, fish farming is
seen as a way to meet the
world’s growing demand. But
is it really the silver
bullet to solve the Earth’s
food needs? Can marine farms
reliably satisfy the seafood
cravings of three billion
people around the globe?
Militants have again
targeted a security
installation in Iraq.
Today’s attack took place in
the northern city of Kirkuk.
At least 31 people were
killed and 106 more were
wounded there or in
other attacks.
Rates for average
residential customers of
Pacific Power in the Yakima
Valley will go up 5.5
percent on Tuesday under an
order approved Wednesday by
the state Utilities and
Transportation Commission.
The monthly bill for a
customer using 1,300
kilowatt hours a month will
increase by $6 to $112.48.
Residents who heat with
natural gas have already
seen their bills rise. Last
month, Cascade Natural Gas
raised the average bill by
$8.43 a month. The increase
reflected the utility's
rising cost of purchasing
natural gas.
An attack on a hospital
at Yemen’s Defense Ministry
left at least 52 people
dead, in the latest sign of
deteriorating security in
the U.S. ally.
A car bomb exploded at
the hospital in the capital,
Sana’a, and armed men also
attempted to storm the
complex before they were
repulsed by soldiers, the
ministry said on its
website.
Sixty percent of CFOs
believe the state of the
U.S. economy will remain the
same or worsen during the
next six months according to
the Grant Thornton LLP 2013
Fall CFO Survey. ..
“It’s time for our country’s
political leaders to embrace
a long-term budget solution
combined with comprehensive
tax and entitlement reforms
in order to remove the
largest obstacles to
business uncertainty and
position the United States
for a sustained economic
recovery.”
With the combination of
coal-fired power plant
retirements and a possible
increase in natural gas
prices, wholesale
electricity prices are
expected to increase for
on-peak and off-peak hours.
According to a report
from The Brattle Group that
uses a case study for the
eastern PJM region, the
study says the potential
increase in energy prices
due only to coal plant
retirements could be around
$3-$4 per megawatt-hour
(MWh) for on-peak hours and
$1-$2/MWh for off-peak
hours.
Five years ago,
questions directed at boards
of directors and senior
executives at financial
services firms on the
toughest risk management
issues might have resulted
in responses like “liquidity
risk,” “regulatory
compliance,” or “bad debt.”
Few, if any, would have
mentioned cyber security.
Today, the same question
generates a much different
answer.
Pollution from coal ash
at a Duke Energy power plant
in Wilmington kills hundreds
of thousands of young fish a
year and deforms many more,
says a study commissioned by
environmental groups that
are suing Duke.
Duke called the findings
"highly suspect," saying its
own studies over more than
30 years have found no
health effects on fish.
A new U.S. Geological Survey
(USGS) study reveals that
septic tanks in Carson
Valley, Nev., are
contaminating groundwater
across the region with
concentrations of nitrates,
posing human health risks
from contaminated drinking
water.
America's largest business
lobby group warned the Obama
administration on Tuesday
against snuffing out the
country's energy boom with
regulations on new oil and
natural gas drilling
technologies.
Storage tanks at the
Fukushima nuclear plant like
one that spilled almost
80,000 gallons of
radioactive water this year
were built in part by
workers illegally hired in
one of the poorest corners
of Japan, say labor
regulators and some of those
involved in the work.
"Even if we didn't agree
with how things were being
done, we had to keep quiet
and work fast," ...
Defense Secretary Chuck
Hagel announced Wednesday
that he's cutting his
Pentagon staff by 20 percent
in an effort to save at
least $1 billion over five
years, as part of broader
across-the-board cutbacks at
the Defense Department.
Hagel, at a news conference
with Chairman of the Joints
Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin
Dempsey, urged Congress to
avoid another year of
mandatory budget cuts known
as sequester.
There are many public
databases of breached
accounts, the largest breach
being that of Adobe.com, but
no way to search across all
of them. Until now.
Hurricane-force Storm Xaver
blasted towards mainland
Europe on Thursday after
cutting transport and power
in northern Britain and
killing three people in what
meteorologists warned could
be the worst storm to hit
the continent in years.
Libya's national assembly
voted on Wednesday to make
Islamic law, or sharia, the
source of all legislation,
in an apparent bid by
moderate Islamists to
outflank ultra-conservative
militants who have been
gaining influence.
Two years after the
NATO-backed uprising that
ousted Muammar Gaddafi,
Libya is still in messy
transition, with no new
constitution, a temporary
government and nascent
security forces struggling
to contain militias and
former rebels.
Concern that a
radioactive plume is headed
for the West Coast from the
crippled Japanese Fukushima
nuclear plant has prompted
Marin County officials to
monitor the situation.
Although no one knows for
sure what perils if any may
be in store, fears about
toxic pollution have
prompted supervisors Susan
Adams and Steve Kinsey to
ask that public safety,
health and coastal staff
track the issue.
Our community has a deep
connection and respect for
our land, and we all
understand we must protect
our island and preserve our
precious natural resources.
We are determined to do what
is right for the land
because this place is unlike
any other in the world.
Using data from the Food and
Agricultural Organization
(FAO) going back nearly 50
years, the scientists find
that the human trophic level
has risen from around 2.15
in the 1970s to 2.21 today.
Trophic levels are on the
rise in many developing
countries as economies have
expanded and millions have
come out of poverty.
However, the change has come
with drastic environmental
impacts: meat-eating is
less-efficient than a plant
based diet and, as such,
generally requires far more
land, water, and energy to
produce the same amount of
calories.
Scientists are predicting a
breakthrough dementia
treatment — given by
injection monthly — may be
available within five years
to prevent or delay the
onset of Alzheimer's
disease...
...his passing will also be
keenly felt by people around
the world who revered
Mandela as one of history's
last great statesmen, and a
moral paragon comparable
with Mohandas Gandhi and
Martin Luther King.
The NSA inadvertently
gathers the location records
of "tens of millions of
Americans who travel abroad"
annually, along with the
billions of other records it
collects by tapping into
worldwide mobile network
cables, the newspaper said
in a report on its website.
Such data means the NSA can
track the movements of
almost any cellphone around
the world, and map the
relationships of the
cellphone user.
The timing of the latest
shutdown of the Pilgrim
Nuclear Power Station was
somewhat ironic.
Representatives from
Entergy Corp., Pilgrim's
owner-operator, were
offering a previously
scheduled presentation to
officials and residents at
Plymouth Town Hall on
Tuesday night, touting the
nuclear plant's safety
features and outlining
post-Fukushima federal
requirements for future
improvement.
Meanwhile, just a few
miles down the road, Pilgrim
operators were struggling to
fix yet another of the many
mechanical malfunctions that
have plagued the power plant
during the last several
months.
The burning of fossil fuels
such as coal, oil, and
natural gas has led to
dramatically increasing
concentrations of CO2 in the
atmosphere causing climate
change and ocean
acidification. Although
technologies are being
developed to capture CO2 at
major sources such as power
stations, this will only
work and help reduce the
amounts of CO2 in our
atmosphere if it is safely
locked away.
The prospect of U.S. oil
exports and an increase in
coal-related bankruptcies
are likely to be major
topics in energy circles
next year, according to a
discussion with lawyers from
a leading firm serving the
industry.
More oil drilling
activity in West Africa also
will create buzz, as will
the changing resources of
the U.S. electric grid,
which could be affected by
growing use of solar panels.
Supporters of the
renewable fuels industry
turned out en masse on
Thursday, desperate for the
U.S. government to change
course after last month
announcing a plan to lower
the amount of biofuels that
must be added to the fuel
supply in 2014.
About 300 people attended
a public meeting held by the
Environmental Protection
Agency on the Renewable Fuel
Standard, proposed changes
to which have become one of
the most divisive policy
issues of the year.
C6 event observed.
Solar activity is expected
to be low with a slight
chance for an M-class flare
on days one, two, and three
(06 Dec, 07 Dec, 08 Dec).
The geomagnetic field is
expected to be at quiet to
unsettled levels on day one
(06 Dec) and quiet to active
levels on days two and three
(07 Dec, 08 Dec).
Total power demand was up a
percent from November 2012.
However, gas-fired
generation fell by two
percent and coal fell nine
percent, according to a
report from Genscape.
Solar financing and other
non-hardware costs (soft
costs) now comprise up to 64
percent of the total price
of residential solar energy
systems, reflecting how soft
costs are becoming an
increasingly larger fraction
of the cost of installing
solar, according to research
from the U.S. Department of
Energy's National Renewable
Energy Laboratory (NREL).
Solar electricity will reach
cost parity in 10 major
regions, accelerating
adoption without subsidies,
and will even benefit from
abundant natural gas. That
is according to Lux
Research.
A missing shipment of
radioactive cobalt-60 was
found Wednesday near where
the stolen truck
transporting the material
was abandoned in central
Mexico state, the country's
nuclear safety director
said.
The highly radioactive
material had been removed
from its shipping container,
officials said, and one
predicted that anyone
involved in opening the box
would be dead within three
days.
The U.S. Department of
Agriculture (USDA) will soon
provide over $200 million to
finance 74 significant water
and wastewater
infrastructure improvement
projects in 40 states.
The funding is being
provided through USDA Rural
Development's Water and
Environmental Program and
will have a significant
impact on rural residents
and businesses. Today,
Agriculture Secretary Tom
Vilsack announced the
program and noted that
passage of a comprehensive
Food, Farm and Jobs bill
would help tackle the $2.1
billion backlog of
shovel-ready rural
water/wastewater projects.
Further, he said the bill is
vital to rural communities.
30-year fixed-rate mortgage
(FRM) averaged 4.46 percent
with an average 0.5 point
for the week ending December
5, 2013, up from last week
when it averaged 4.29
percent. A year ago at this
time, the 30-year FRM
averaged 3.34 percent.
Today, the US Naval Research
Laboratory (NRL) announced
that it had successfully
launched a drone from a
submerged submarine. The
all-electric eXperimental
Fuel Cell Unmanned Aerial
System (XFC) was launched in
the Bahamas from the Los
Angeles-class
nuclear-powered attack
submarine USS Providence
(SSN 719) using a system
that allowed the drone to be
deployed without
modifications to the boat,
or requiring it to surface.
Utility-scale solar power is
getting a lot of exposure
now that a major research
firm has said it would be
almost as competitive as
natural gas by 2025. But, it
adds, that the two fuels
could mutually benefit by
joining forces.
One of Maine's top
wildlife advocacy groups
says there's plenty of room
in the state to accommodate
animal habitat and wind
energy development.
Boulder's position that this
Commission has no say
regarding the facilitiesthat
Boulder may condemn would
turn the regulatory
structure in Colorado on its
head and make every customer
not located in Boulder and
every utility that receives
support from the Public
Service system subservient
to the unchecked desires of
Boulder," the filing said.
December 3, 2013
According to several
accounts on Twitter, Natives
are often guilty of throwing
other races under the bus in
order to lambaste the
Washington team. But Indian
Country can fight this fight
without bringing in another
race or ethnic group. I have
taken this opportunity to
think outside the box and
make several arguments that
are “our own.”
U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest
Moniz has reported that the
final shipment of low
enriched uranium (LEU)
derived from Russian
weapons-origin highly
enriched uranium (HEU) under
the 1993 U.S.-Russia HEU
Purchase Agreement, commonly
known as the Megatons to
Megawatts Program has taken
place.
-
Acetaminophen can have
adverse effects on your
liver and kidneys, and
acetaminophen-containing
prescription drugs must
now carry a warning
about the potential for
serious and potentially
lethal skin disorders
-
Acetaminophen is the
number one cause of
acute liver failure in
the US. Taking just a
little more than the
recommended dose over
the course of several
days or weeks
(“staggered overdosing”)
is far more risky than
taking one large
overdose
-
Recent research suggests
that acetaminophen also
significantly increases
your risk of kidney
dysfunction if taken
with alcohol—even if the
amount of alcohol is
small
-
Previous research
suggests acetaminophen
might render
vaccinations less
effective when
administered together
-
Foundational lifestyle
basics for a pain free
life, as well as
specific treatment
modalities for acute and
chronic pain, as well as
all-natural alternatives
to analgesic drugs are
reviewed
The battle started when
the city removed 50 of the
ads, put up by activist Alan
Korwin, from city bus
stops.
Phoenix claims the signs
violate its policy banning
"non-commercial" advertising
at transit stops.
A number of indicators
seem to point to a
relatively weak holiday
shopping season in the US.
The Gallup survey index that
estimates holiday spending
has turned lower. As
discussed back in August,
consumer sentiment peaked
this summer and has been
declining since.
Archeologists working at the
Lumbini temple in Nepal, the
place long credited as the
birth site of the Buddha,
just uncovered the remains
of what they think is the
Buddha’s original nativity
scene, dating back to the
6th century B.C. The ancient
temple’s remains predate
other archeological evidence
from that site by some 300
years.
Emissions of carbon
dioxide from fossil fuels
and cement production
reached a new high in 2012,
rising 2.2 per cent over
2011 due chiefly to an
increase in coal-burning
China, scientists say.
Output of CO2 from these
sources was a record 35
billion tonnes, 58 per cent
above 1990, the benchmark
year for calculating
greenhouse-gas levels,
according to the annual
analysis by an international
group called the Global
Carbon Project.
Environmentalists are facing
a conundrum. Reducing
greenhouse gas levels is
urgent, although the
greenies are remiss to
accept natural gas as a
viable vehicle, releasing 45
percent fewer carbon
emissions than coal. Despite
the possibilities, its
imperfections remain a sore
point among ecologists.
The hydrogen highway
initiative sputtered out.
Only nine hydrogen stations
are now open to the public
in California, serving a
fleet of roughly 250 fuel
cell cars deployed as
experiments.
But in 2014, that may
finally, finally change.
Despite what TV and the
movies might have us
believe, getting a needle
into a vein isn't always a
straightforward procedure.
It can sometimes take
multiple attempts, much to
the discomfort of the
patient. Now, however, Evena
Medical's new Eyes-On
Glasses reportedly let
nurses see patients' veins
in real time, right through
their skin.
Gunmen stormed a Sahwa
member’s home in Nibaie,
where they killed him and
five relatives, including
three females.
U.S. health officials are
hopeful that hospitals and
other healthcare providers
will show sufficient
preference for using drug
compounders that sign up for
regulatory scrutiny under a
new law that potentially
risky medicines will no
longer be supplied by
unregistered compounding
pharmacies.
The law was
spurred by the deadly
outbreak of fungal
meningitis last year that
killed 64 Americans and
sickened more than 700 due
to contaminated injections
made and shipped by a
Massachusetts drug
compounder that was not
under the oversight of the
Food and Drug Administration
According to the police
report, Ericson Harrell was
wearing the mask, a black
cape, and holding an
inverted United States flag
when police confronted him.
He told them he was
“protesting Obamacare,” but
when he “was asked several
times to remove his mask and
produce some form of
identification or tell us
his name,” he refused.
He told officers that
“his anonymity was his
cause, thus the mask.” The
Guy Fawkes mask was
popularized by the
hacktivist group Anonymous
The amount of solar
energy that reaches the
Earth's surface each hour is
enough to power worldwide
energy needs for a whole
year, according to Michael
Carney, a member of the
town's Sustainabilty
Committee.
This panel encourages
residents to increase
recycling and adopt
alternative energy sources
that do not pollute the
environment.
"Now homeowners can tap
into this renewable resource
with updated technologies
that can save energy and
lower utility bills," Carney
said.
-
Laboratory tests found a
total of 38 chemicals
not listed on the labels
in 17 name-brand
fragrances (such as
Chanel, Giorgio Armani,
Bath & Body Works, Old
Spice, Calvin Klein, and
more)
-
The average fragrance
product contained 14
chemicals that were not
disclosed on the label
(along with another 15
that were listed)
-
Fragrances commonly
contain parabens,
phthalates, and
synthetic musks that may
cause hormone
disruption, reproductive
problems, or possibly
cancer
-
The exact ingredients in
synthetic fragrances are
protected as “trade
secrets” and therefore
do not have to be
disclosed on the label
The International Energy
Agency (IEA) has released a
World Energy Outlook Special
Report warning the world
that current climate change
policies are on track to far
exceed the goal of limiting
temperature rise to 2°C.
Coal is emerging as a major
topic of conversation at the
United Nations
climate-change negotiations
currently taking place in
Warsaw - and rightly so.
Indeed, it is a discussion
that the world needs to
have.
The latest findings of the
Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change conclude that
we are quickly using up our
carbon "budget" - the amount
of carbon that we can afford
to emit while still having a
good chance of limiting
global warming to 2 Celsius.
Some studies show that
lithium in drinking water
correlates with lower
suicide rates. Last week, a
researcher at the Medical
University of Vienna offered
a theory as to why that is.
In other words, those areas
have "a high density of
psychiatrists and high
levels of prescribing could
mean more lithium in the
drinking water, which could
also have a positive impact
on untreated individuals,"
he said.
A large oil spill near
Nigeria's Brass facility,
run by ENI, has spread
through the sea and swamps
of the oil producing Niger
Delta region, local
residents and the company
said on Monday.
ENI said it was not yet
possible to determine the
cause of the spill.
The operator of the
wrecked Fukushima nuclear
plant won rare praise from
monitors on Monday for its
efforts to decommission the
site, but the specialists
also said the company still
faced steep challenges,
particularly in managing
contaminated water.
A huge earthquake and
tsunami in March 2011
triggered three meltdowns at
the Fukushima Daiichi
nuclear station, the worst
nuclear disaster since
Chernobyl in 1986, and
exposed a lack of
preparation by Tokyo
Electric Power Co, or Tepco.
Orbital Systems is
developing a new household
shower that recycles any
water that goes down the
drain by purifying it and
sending it back to the
shower head
When McMaster University in
Hamilton, Ontario built
their new Engineering
Technology Building, they
used the latest
state-of-the-art technology
not only to achieve LEED
Gold certification, but also
to create a living
laboratory to train students
on the building systems of
the future. One of the
components is a rainwater
harvesting system that
collects, filters and
disinfects rainwater for
non-potable and potable use
in the building.
-
In Oregon, small farmers
can sell raw milk
directly to consumers
from their farms, but if
they advertise, they
could be punished with
fines and jail time
-
A raw milk farmer in
Oregon is suing the
state Department of
Agriculture over the
advertising ban and
asking that it be
declared a violation of
free speech rights
-
In Wisconsin, the state
Senate committee passed
a bill that would allow
dairy farmers to sell
raw milk directly to
consumers
-
Raw milk from a
high-quality source is
not inherently
dangerous; the potential
for foodborne illness
applies to ANY food,
with those coming from
the lowest-quality
sources having the
greatest potential for
contamination
The New Mexico Public
Regulation Commission's
recent decision to soften
renewable-energy diversity
mandates for public
utilities may soon wind up
in court. ..
But environmentalists and
clean-energy advocates say
the commission overstepped
its authority, because the
changes mean utilities now
will need to produce less
alternative energy overall
than is mandated under the
state's renewable portfolio
standard.
The Green Village
Electricity Project (GVEP)
has been recognized as a
winner of the Power Africa
Off-Grid Energy Challenge --
an initiative sponsored by
IEEE Power & Energy Society
(PES) through its Community
Solutions Initiative (CSI)
and launched by General
Electric (GE) and the United
States Africa Development
Agency (USADF) and -- for
its efforts to introduce
solar-based power to rural
parts of Nigeria.
Saudi Arabian oil minister
Ali Naimi gave an upbeat
view of world oil markets on
his arrival in Vienna Monday
for OPEC talks on Wednesday,
saying demand for oil was
"great," that global
economic growth was
improving and, indeed, that
the market was in the best
possible situation.
The product water will be
pumped to the permeate tanks
for further distribution,
while the brine will be
discharged to brine outfall
which will also be
constructed on the seashore.
The Facility The
desalination plant, based on
reverse osmosis technology
is designed to produce fresh
water from seawater from the
Arabian Gulf .The raw feed
water has salinity of 42,000
ppm (fresh water salinity
should be less than 500
ppm).
Several Texas senators on
Monday questioned the
direction and cost of the
Public Utility Commission's
attempt to guard against
rolling blackouts,
suggesting the agency is
overstepping its authority
by pursuing a solution that
would cost consumers
billions.
All but
killed by the federal
government three years ago,
an innovative way of
financing home solar
installations may be poised
for a comeback.
And San Francisco
officials want to be part of
that resurgence.
The company has just
finished a round of testing
on its Holographic 3D wind
turbine mitigation system on
radars at Prestwick Airport,
Glasgow, UK – and Crisp is
so pleased with the results
that he is prepared to say
that the radar thorn in the
wind developer's side is
soon to be banished.
-
The Hippocrates Health
Institute offers
residential programs
lasting anywhere from
one to three weeks,
sometimes even longer.
This allows you to
learn, absorb, and
implement a new set of
lifestyle strategies at
a deep and lasting level
-
Four powerful
nutritional approaches
taught there are:
shifting from burning
carbs to burning fat for
fuel; eating raw foods
(especially sprouts);
avoiding sugar;
including fruit;
lowering the overall
animal-protein content
in your diet
-
Sprouts are powerhouses
of nutrition. Depending
on the seed, they are
anywhere from 10 to 30
times more nutritious
than the best organic
vegetables you can grow
in the best organic soil
in your yard
-
Through hybridization,
and now genetic
modification, fruits
contain at least 30
times more fructose, on
an average, compared to
their predecessors. As a
result, this all-natural
food needs to be used
carefully
Aikido evolved from the rich
martial traditions of Japan,
and was developed by Morihei
Ueshiba based on their
profound philosophies. In
this book, the author
explains how Aikido is both
the spirit of love and the
study of that spirit. In
unique and incisive
language, Ueshiba discusses
the arcane aspects of
Aikido's aims and
techniques, as well as the
central importance of
breathing, ki (chi),
and Aikido's relationship to
the spirit and body - these
form the very essence of
Aikido.
He goes on to
consider the virtues of this
revered martial art, urging
the reader to link to the
universe through Aikido, and
ultimately to unify the
divine and human. He also
explains the essence of
Takemusu aiki (valorous
force of procreation and
harmony), and Misogi
(the ritual of purifying
oneself).
Are you concerned about
maintaining the health of
your brain as you age?
You're not alone. Losing
one's memory and mental
abilities to cognitive
decline is something we all
fear, and the current
statistics on the prevalence
of cognitive decline in this
country are not pretty. By
age 65, sadly 1 in 8
Americans will suffer from
severe cognitive decline,
and by age 80, an
astonishing 1 in 2 will
Amazon.com Inc and other
online retailers with no
physical presence in New
York State must go on
collecting sales tax after
the U.S. Supreme Court on
Monday declined to hear a
legal challenge to the law
that requires it.
The court order means the
New York law remains intact
and the high court will not,
at least for now,
definitively rule on the
heavily contested question
of whether states have the
power to pass such laws.
In this video,
Schilling asks holiday
shoppers if they can list
five things about Native
Americans. Overall, these
shoppers did well, although
Native American stereotypes
seemed to take center stage
most of the time. As a
pleasant surprise, the most
impressive answers came from
a 12 year old.
Now that the USA and
Iran are actively talking
with each other, one issue
that may come up is Iran's
plans to develop nuclear
electric power. While the
diplomacy of Iran's new
president is very positive,
the behavior of his
predecessor was a definite
cause for concern across
much of the Middle East and
beyond. Iran is not the only
Middle Eastern nation that
seeks to generate future
electric power from nuclear
energy. Several other Middle
Eastern and North African
nations seek to do likewise
and all using uranium-based
fuel.
The wind energy’s production
tax credit is likely to just
blow past its year-end
deadline without getting
extended. Efforts are
underway to continue the
credit but those are being
met by forces from competing
energy forms, which say that
the subsidy has already cost
taxpayers $12 billion over
20 years.
Try the martial art of
love/peace: AIKIDO