w h o a r . c o . n z

“…His philosophy inspired a generation, then drifted out of fashion.

Now, 100 years after his birth, the life and work of Jean-Paul Sartre are once again highly relevant - and bitterly controversial.

Jean-Paul Sartre’s grave is a modest affair, befitting a man who (so he claimed) hated monuments and cared nothing for his own legacy.

Beside the plain, white marble tombstone in the Montparnasse cemetery in Paris this week, well-wishers had left a vase of plastic flowers, a pot of geraniums, five roses, a pigeon feather, scores of pebbles and five unused Métro tickets.

On the grave - also the last resting place of Sartre’s lifelong “companion” Simone de Beauvoir - there was an anonymous, scribbled note: …

…”To JPS and SB, for your sincere writing and for the meaning you gave to life.

Thank you for leaving your mark on history.”

What the Métro tickets were for is unclear. Perhaps Le Petit Homme (the little man) and Castor (the beaver) might like to return to the Café de Flore to drink coffee, smoke Gauloises, discuss their many infidelities, mock their friends …

… and ponder, from a new perspective, the difference between “being and nothingness”.

Jean-Paul Sartre - philosopher, novelist, playwright, polemicist, political activist … the secular messiah of existentialism …

… the prototype of the “engaged” French intellectual - died 25 years ago this year.

He was born 100 years ago next Tuesday.

His funeral in April 1980 provoked an outpouring of grief more usually associated with actors than with ugly, chain-smoking, foul-smelling, squint-eyed philosophers.

More than 30,000 people took to the streets of Paris to follow his coffin …

…and - in the phrase of one fan at the time - to “demonstrate against Sartre’s death”….”

go to source/story>>>The Second Coming Of Sartre - Features, Books - The Independent

“…Forty years ago, Charles and Maurice Saatchi founded the advertising agency that was to become one of the most glamorous and influential forces in the land.

But for Saatchi & Saatchi, the London advertising agency founded 40 years ago next week … you mightn’t be reading this page.

Indeed, there just mightn’t have been an Independent at all – something in the time-space continuum could’ve gone slip-sliding away.

That’s the way The Independent’s original 1980s’ founding Gang of Three – Andreas Whittam Smith, Matthew Symonds and Stephen Glover – tell it, anyway.

When they originally conceived the paper, Maurice (now Lord) Saatchi was one of just two people Whittam Smith rang in 1985 for a sanity check.

(The other was a banker, of course.)

Maurice put him on to John Perriss, Saatchi’s media director (later to head the Saatchi Group’s new media-buying agency Zenith).

In no time, the three had a Saatchi team of 16 –

- the agency had just lost a big newspaper account and, according to Symonds, wanted to have a high-profile new one – and a deal.

The deal was basically that S&S would help them to raise the money they needed from investors on a “no win, no fee” basis …

… (if it worked, they could start spending on advertising).

Saatchi would do research among potential readers and advertisers to help develop their pitch …

… and they’d rehearse and sharpen the presentation.

They also said, crucially: “We’ll come with you, if you like.”

“We walked in,” recalls Whittam Smith, “with the glamour of Saatchi beside us; it really helped.”…”

go to source/story>>>How to get ahead in advertising - Advertising, Media - The Independent

“…The trailer for Charles Ferguson’s new documentary “Inside Job” has been making its way around the web…

… (hat tip to Nouriel Roubini’s Twitter feed).

The film has been getting serious love from critics, including winning the top award at Cannes this year.

Roger Ebert called the the film “devastating” summed it up this way in May:

“From Roosevelt until Reagan, the American economy enjoyed 40 years of stability, prosperity and growth.

Beginning with Reagan’s moves against financial regulation … that sound base has been progressively eroded.

The crucial federal error … (in administrations of both parties) … was to allow financial institutions to trade on their own behalf.

Today many large trading banks are betting against their own customers.”

“Inside Job” is due out in October. Watch the trailer:…”

go to source/story>>>‘Inside Job’ Trailer: New Documentary Investigates The Financial Crisis (VIDEO)

“…Much has been made of the Vanity Fair 100, a list of “the 100 most influential people of the Information Age.”

But this list looks backward, highlighting well-known names like Zuckerberg, Jobs, Page, and Brin.

Another just-released ranking is all about the future–and the new innovators who will define it.

The World Economic Forum has chosen 31 innovative start-ups to honor as the Technology Pioneers of 2011.

Selected from over 330 nominations from more than a dozen countries, the World Economic Forum’s Technology Pioneers “represent the cutting edge in innovation …

… and are poised to have a critical impact on the future of business, industry and society.”

Kevin Comolli, Managing General Partner at Accel Partners, called this year’s selection process “one of the most difficult to date.”

See the 31 innovative and visionary Technology Pioneers in the slideshow below…”

go to source/story>>>World Economic Forum’s Technology Pioneers Of 2011: See The 31 Most Innovative Start-Ups

“…Few people get rich from PBS’s highly-rated Antiques Roadshow, but that doesn’t stop thousands of people from scouring their grandma’s attic for that one shot at finding a hidden treasure among the mothballs.

In fact, more often than not, the old paintings, family Bibles and china tea cups — the most common items brought to the Antiques Roadshow events — are not worth much.

“Most objects we see are worth only about $100,” says Judy Matthews, the show’s senior publicist.

Antiques Roadshow, which got its start in the U.K. in 1979, debuted in the U.S. 14 years ago.

The premise of the show is simple: owners bring in their stuff hoping that an appraiser says its worth big bucks.

Appraisers usually start by explaining the object’s historical significance — or lack thereof —

– and bring the segment to a climax by assessing just how much that object is or isn’t worth.

That payoff moment is the part that every participant and viewer waits breathlessly for and, on the odd occasion, the appraisal is indeed pretty breathtaking.

Take, for example, the collection of jade from China that one woman brought to the show’s taping in Raleigh, N.C. in 2009.

It turned out that the collection, which her father brought home from China during the 1930s and 1940s, was valued at as much as $1.07 million —

– making it the first million-dollar appraisal on the American show…”

go to source/story>>>The Antiques Roadshow’s Five Most Valuable Finds - DailyFinance

“…With the recovery faltering less than two months before the November congressional elections …

… President Obama’s economic team is considering another big dose of stimulus in the form of tax breaks for businesses -

- potentially worth hundreds of billions of dollars … according to two people familiar with the talks…”

go to source/story>>>White House considering major tax breaks for businesses, sources say

“…Healthful cooking doesn’t have to be expensive cooking.

In this week’s Recipes for Health series, Martha Rose Shulman provides five nutritious meals that won’t break the bank.

To create these inexpensive meals, Ms. Shulman relies on pantry staples like pasta and rice … adding beans and peas for extra nutritional value.

Vegetables like onions, cabbage and carrots are also great for those on a budget, are easy to find and can stay fresh in the refrigerator for an extended period, she explains.

Here are five cost-conscious ways to eat healthfully…”

go to source/story>>>Healthful eating on a dime (all-vegan recipes from the NY Times) - Vegsource.com

“…Got milk?

Plenty of people think its perfectly healthy to drink … and advertisements would have you eating dairy all the time.

But it may not be as healthy as you think.

In this weeks UltraWellness blog Dr. Mark Hyman gives six reasons you should avoid milk and explains why it may be at the very root of your health problems.

Dr. Hyman is a smart guy, though we don’t agree 100% with his recommendations …

…(e.g., we don’t recommend any seafoods or other animal products as a source of calcium…

… or anything else)…”

go to source/story>>>Six Reasons You Should Avoid Dairy at all Costs (VIDEO) - Vegsource.com

“…Books like Diet For A New America, Skinny Bitch and the film Earthlings had a profound effect on Ellen’s decision to avoid animal products…”

(recommended-watch..)

go to source/story>>>Ellen DeGeneres on why she went vegan - Vegsource.com

“…factoids, how to win an argument with a meat-eater,…”

* The Hunger Argument

* The Environmental Argument

* The Cancer Argument

* The Cholesterol Argument

* The Natural Resources Argument

* The Antibiotic Argument

* The Pesticide Argument

* The Ethical Argument

* The Survival Argument…”

(recommended-read..)

go to source/story>>>How to Win An Argument With a Meat-Eater - Vegsource.com

“…Contrary to largely gloomy cultural perceptions … growing old brings some benefits … notably emotional and cognitive stability.

Laura Carstensen, a Stanford social psychologist calls this the “well-being paradox.”

Although adults older than 65 face challenges to body and brain …

… the 70s and 80s also bring an abundance of social and emotional knowledge … qualities scientists are beginning to define as wisdom.

As Carstensen and another social psychologist, Fredda Blanchard-Fields of the Georgia Institute of Technology, have shown …

… adults gain a toolbox of social and emotional instincts as they age.

According to Blanchard-Fields, seniors acquire a feel … an enhanced sense of knowing right from wrong …

… and therefore a way to make sound life decisions.

That may help explain the finding that old age correlates with happiness.

A study published this year in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science found a U-shaped relationship between happiness and age: …

… Adults were happiest in youth and again in their 70s and early 80s …

… and least happy in middle age…”

go to source/story>>>Researchers find that wisdom and happiness increase as people grow older - Vegsource.com

“… As the evil Mr Burns would say: Excellent …

The creators of The Simpsons have finally revealed what Wellington duo Flight of the Conchords will look like when they guest star in the long-running show in the United States this month.

The cartoon of Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie, signed by Simpson’s creator Matt Groening, is a Simpsons-style makeover that includes yellow skin and one fewer finger on each hand.

The pair guest star in the first episode of the new season, Elementary School Musical, to be broadcast in the US on September 26.

In it, Lisa enrols at a special band camp where she runs into talented singers, including Lea Michele, Corey Monteith, and Amber Riley from television show Glee.

Flight of the Conchords play two free-spirited, artsy camp counsellors.

A TV3 spokeswoman said the episode would probably air in New Zealand next year…”

go to source/story>>>Bret and Jemaine’s guest turn | Stuff.co.nz

“…What is the link between alcohol and throat cancer?

Eighty-five percent of all head and neck cancers are related to smoking … but alcohol has also been linked to throat cancer.

According to the American Cancer Society … drinkers are six times more likely to get these cancers.

Some reports have found that people who smoke and drink are as much as 100 times more likely to get mouth and throat cancer than people with neither habit.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, consuming 50 grams of alcohol a day, the equivalent of four drinks …

… doubles or triples the risk for getting mouth, voice box and throat cancer….”

go to source/story>>>Michael Douglas’ Throat Cancer Diagnosis Have You Scared? Here’s What You Need to Know About Throat Cancer - ABC News

“…A British paedophile confessed on his deathbed that he knew what happened to missing girl Madeleine McCann, according to a newspaper.

Madeleine disappeared from a Portuguese resort in May 2007, days before her fourth birthday …

… sparking one of the most publicised missing persons cases the world has ever seen.

British newspaper The Sun yesterday published an interview with the son of Raymond Hewlett, a convicted paedophile and suspect in Madeleine’s disappearance, claiming Hewlett wrote in a letter that he knew who had taken Madeleine.

In a letter to his estranged son Wayne written on his deathbed, 62-year-old Hewlett denied he had anything to do with Madeleine’s disappearance …

… but said he knew she had been stolen by a gypsy gang.

Hewlett was a suspect in Madeleine’s disappearance because he was living in Portugal when she vanished from the McCanns’ family holiday apartment…

… and had a history of convictions for sex crimes against children.

Hewlett, who had repeatedly refused to meet with detectives investigating the case, died of throat cancer in April.

A week after his death, Hewlett’s son Wayne was delivered a letter by a “mystery man”, he told The Sun.

Most of it was an apology for his crimes but he also wrote about Madeleine.

“It was a bolt from the blue and I shook when I read it,” Wayne told The Sun.

He stated he didn’t want to go to his grave with us thinking he had done such a horrible thing.

“He said he had had nothing to do with taking Maddie but did know who had.

He said a very good gypsy friend he knew in Portugal had got drunk and ‘let it out’ that he had stolen Maddie to order as part of a gang.

“My dad said this gang had been operating for a long time and had snatched children before for couples who couldn’t have children of their own.

“Maddie had been targeted.

They took photos of children and sent them to the people they were acting for. And they said ‘yes’ or ‘no’.

Dad said the man told him it was nothing to do with snatching children for a paedophile gang … or for a sexual reason.

“He said there were huge sums of money involved.

And he totally believed what this man was saying.”

Wayne, who had no contact with Hewlett for nearly 20 years, told The Sun his father’s letter seemed “very genuine”…”

go to source/story>>>Deathbed confession: Paedophile reveals who took Madeleine McCann - World - NZ Herald News

(this has been posted by a commenter at kiwiblog…)

“…From page 487 GCHQ-The Uncensored story of Britain’s most secret Intelligence Agency – Richard J Aldrich Harper Press 2010

“..a team from GCHQ were assisting with the investigation into blackouts of the national power grid that had struck Auckland in New Zealand.

They proved to be the result of electronic attacks on the country’s electricity distribution network, launched over the internet……

..The culprits were a group of hackers called the ” Anti Christ Doom Squad…………

…Once they gained access to the computers controlling New Zealand’s power supply, they focused on the distribution systems …

… picking a point where all five main power lines converged before coming into Auckland.

By changing the temperature with in the sensitive cables they quickly put them out of action.

Remarkably the whole attack was run from a laptop in a drug cafe in the back streets of Amsterdam.”

(whoar…!…eh…?…)

“…The new documentary “Psywar,” featuring CMD founder John Stauber, explores corporate and government use of propaganda and public relations to manipulate American people.

The movie explores how the U.S. government staged events to manipulate public opinion about the Iraq war …

… like the rescue of Private Jessica Lynch …

… the supposedly spontaneous mob that pulled over the larger-than-life statue of Saddam Hussein in Iraq.

It also discusses the Pentagon pundit scandal … and the hidden activities of the Rendon Group … a PR firm specializing in spinning war.

The film exposes government and corporate activities to blur the lines between real news and fake news …

… as well as the development over time of public relations misinformation campaigns …

… strategic corporate campaigns to generate goodwill … and the perception of good works …

… the use of staged photo-ops …

… and other manipulative PR tools that have turned the land of the free and the home of the brave into a place where citizens are now manipulated with great efficiency …

… and on a massive scale…”

(Watch the entire film for free online..in link..)

go to source/story>>>Psywar Film Reveals The Hidden Battle for Your Mind | Center for Media and Democracy

“…The continuing woes of the book industry were underscored today when the US retail chain Borders, which pulled out of Britain last year …

… said its losses had increased amid sharply falling revenues.

American book retailers, who have been struggling to compete with online rivals and supermarkets, now face the threat of digital books …

… which have begun to appeal to a wider audience.

In Britain the picture is little better, and investors have begun to put pressure on HMV to rid itself of Waterstone’s …

… the only remaining large high street book chain.

Borders said like-for-like sales at stores open for more than a year had dropped 6.8% in the second quarter.

It made losses of $46.7m (£30.2m), compared with the $45.6m loss recorded in the same quarter last year.

Revenue fell 12% to $526m.

US rival Barnes & Noble is also deep in the red … and reported losses of $62.5m for its fiscal first quarter, ending in July.

Borders arrived in Britain in 1998, promising to revolutionise book-buying … and opened a chain of 45 stores.

But by 2007 … the company admitted it was considering a sale of the UK division…”

go to source/story>>>Borders sees sharp fall in revenue | Business | The Guardian

“…Ferrari recalled more than 400 luxury Italia cars today … after reports that a design fault could cause them to catch fire.

The first incident occurred in July, when the driver noticed the rear panel of his 458 Italia was on fire while he was driving in Paris.

A passerby used a fire extinguisher to douse the flames.

A few days later the engine of an Italia driving up a mountain pass in Switzerland caught fire.

Last month a 458 in China and one in the US burst into flames…”

go to source/story>>>Ferrari recalls 458 Italias after a spate of fires | World news | The Guardian

“…I wanted this book to be different from the traditional political memoir.

Most, I have found, are rather easy to put down.

So what you will read here is not a conventional account of whom I met.

There are events and politicians who are absent … not because they don’t matter ….

…. but because they are part of a different story to the self-serving one I want to tell!

No, seriously guys, this is going to be well different.

How many other world leaders use so many exclamation marks!

And it is as a world leader that I’m writing for you about my journey.

And what a journey!

When I started in politics I was just an ordinary kind of guy.

And you know what? I’m still an ordinary kind of guy – albeit one who has become a multi-millionaire and completely destabilised the Middle East!

You know, I had a tear in my eye when I entered No10 for the first time in 1997, though it wasn’t, as the Daily Mail tried to claim, because I was choked with emotion at how far I had come since I was a young, ordinary boy standing on the terraces of St James’ Park, watching Jackie Milburn play for Newcastle.

It was because Gordon had hit me.

Ah, Gordon!

He meant well, I suppose … in his funny little emotionally inarticulate way.

I guess some of you will find it hard to believe … but I never really wanted to be a politician.

But sometimes courage is about taking the difficult decisions and when Cherie said, “God is calling you to fulfil your destiny”, I knew I had to listen.

So it was with a heavy heart that I outmanoeuvred Gordon over the leadership of the party after John’s death –

- and whatever Gordo says there was never a deal struck at Granita where he could take definitely take over after my second term.

Because I had my fingers crossed!…” (cont..)

go to source/story>>>Digested read: Tony Blair A Journey | Politics | The Guardian

“…Arianna has griped about its misuse before and, frankly, the number of misplaced apostrophe’s — oops, we mean apostrophes — out there has become downright frightening.

Thankfully, the people over at CoolRules.com have made light of the situation by recording “The Apostrophe Song.”

A sort of “Schoolhouse Rock!” for the internet age, “The Apostrophe Song” comes in four different flavors:…

… “Hip Hop,” “Pop/Dance,” “Rock” and “Acoustic,” available at the Cool Rules website.

Only one, so far as we can tell … comes with its own outstanding video…”

go to source/story>>>Can New ‘Apostrophe Song’ Cure The Apostrophe Crisis? (VIDEO)

“…Tony Blair regrets banning fox hunting … but not invading Iraq.

He was captivated by Princess Diana … intimidated by Queen Elizabeth II.

He heaps praise on President George W. Bush … but calls his close colleague Gordon Brown a man of “zero” emotional intelligence.

He acknowledges that some find him delusional … and says he possibly drank a bit too much.

Blair’s long-awaited memoir hit bookstores Wednesday …

… and the revealing, self-justifying 700-page volume provides plenty of fodder for the former British leader’s supporters – and detractors…”

go to source/story>>>Tony Blair: Gordon Brown Has ‘Zero’ Emotional Intelligence

“…Richard Heene is one of hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of people who adhere to an overlapping series of modern-day conspiracy theories sharing a central thesis:….

… Lizard-like aliens from outer space inhabit human bodies … and control the human race…”

go to source/story>>>Inside the Great Reptilian Conspiracy: From Queen Elizabeth to Barack Obama — They Live! | | AlterNet

“…The hot question in green circles these days is, “what next?”

For the last decade, strategy has been built around getting a federal climate bill that would place a cap on carbon emissions.

That attempt was supposed to culminate in success this year, but it didn’t, so … what next?

There will be much to say along those lines in coming months.

I hope to share words of inspiration and uplift, to stir minds with insight and hearts with passion.

To tell great tales of green pastures to come … and the heroes who will sail the fleet of righteousness to the golden shores of, uh, the pastures.

Just real quick, though …

… I need to be depressed as hell for a minute…”

go to source/story>>>How bad are the next few years going to suck? | Grist

“…This has been a pretty weird political cycle … and I’m starting to wonder whether it is the strangest ever.

There have certainly been cycles that have been more dramatic- such as the 1968 cycle of assassinations and a powerful incumbent being taken out by a quirky intellectual troubadour- but in terms of pure weirdness, this could be the tops.

And I’m not even talking about Sarah Palin or Glenn Beck.

The weirdness I am referring to is this odd sense I have that both parties are trying so hard to lose.

Obama started out the cycle by appointing one of the main architects of the incredibly unpopular Bush bailout plans- Tim Geithner- to be his chief economic policymaker and spokesman …

… and followed that by re-appointing Bush’s Fed chief Ben Bernanke.

Now that we’re into campaign season, the message group closest to the Democratic establishment (Third Way) is solemnly advising us to avoid being too populist …

… in a year when anger at the banks and other corporate CEOs is as high as it has been since the 1930s …

… and the aforementioned Geithner writes columns bragging about economy recovery when the official unemployment rates remains stalled at close to 10% …

… and the true unemployment rate is several points higher.

While all this goes on policy-wise, the White House political strategy in a year when their base is disheartened seems mainly to be to make their base even more upset.

In the meantime, the Republican Party- faced with an incredible opportunity- nominates one candidate after another that are beyond-the-pale extremists.

Senators with lifetime scores of 95% from the American Conservative Union and protégés of Mitch McConnell and James Watt are not conservative enough for the Republicans: …

… they nominate people who want to repeal civil rights laws, phase out Social Security and Medicare (or declare them unconstitutional), abolish the minimum wage, and secede from the union.

On top of that, with the critically important Hispanic community disheartened by no progress on immigration reform and the weak economy, Republicans have seized on a way to help Democrats turn them out in huge numbers with a big Democratic vote …

… by supporting a fundamental blow to their civil rights in Arizona …

… a powerful symbol that has the Hispanic voting bloc nationwide suddenly more energized.

As a result of all this silliness … both parties’ approval ratings are in the toilet…” (cont..)

go to source/story>>>4 Things Dems Can Do to Head Off Total Disaster in the Midterms « SpeakEasy

“…Take sunlight, add water, and there you have it: free energy.

Plants have been doing this for quite some time, splitting water’s hydrogen apart from its oxygen …

… but our efforts to turn water into a source of free hydrogen fuel by mimicking them have borne no fruit.

The problem is that splitting water takes more energy than conventional solar-cell technology can realistically deliver.

But now we may be tantalisingly close to having economically viable sun-powered water splitters …

…and with it all the clean-burning fuel we want.

In 2008, Daniel Nocera at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his team unveiled a revolutionary approach to splitting water.

They used a cheap cobalt-phosphate catalyst and titanium oxide electrodes that need far less electricity than conventional electrolysis to split water.

That raised the possibility of stealing plants’ trick and using sunlight to power the reaction.

However, the number of photovoltaic cells needed for such devices mean it cannot compete on price with fossil fuels, says Daniel Gamelin, a chemist at the University of Washington in Seattle.

But Gamelin and his team thought they could bring down the costs by incorporating some of that photovoltaic technology in Nocera’s water-splitting device …

… creating a so-called photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitter…”

go to source/story>>>Green machine: Perfecting the plant way to power - tech - 01 September 2010 - New Scientist

“…(Newly discovered materials could clear the way for blisteringly fast laptops and smartphones that don’t warm our laps or singe our ears).

As I write this, an uncomfortable warmth is starting to overcome me.

But this is no mystery fever to send me running to the medicine cupboard.

The source is all too obvious: the laptop cradled in my lap.

Time to fetch not a cold compress, but a pillow to place beneath my computer.

Today’s microelectronic devices pump out a lot of heat.

If only they wouldn’t, processors would be zippier, batteries would last longer, laptops could be used on laps and smartphones wouldn’t singe our ears.

But there is little we can do.

Heat is a natural by-product of what goes on in a computer chip, released when electrons careering around the processor pathways smash into each other and the surrounding furniture …

… and through that become deflected from their intended course.

Help might be at hand.

In the past five years, physicists have uncovered a new kind of material that can keep electrons on the straight and narrow …

… eliminating collisions and slashing the amount of heat produced.

Called topological insulators, these materials conduct electricity by harnessing a quantum-mechanical property of electrons called spin.

Unlike superconductors, those other low-heat-loss marvel materials, they can perform this feat at room temperature.

Forget silicon: it could soon be time to fasten your seat belt for a drive on the spin superhighway…”

go to source/story>>>Wonder conductors will spin up cooler computers - tech - 01 September 2010 - New Scientist

“…(Is touchy-feely environmentalism a new opiate of the people?

Why are we paying rent to Bill Gates?

Is reality incomplete?

Marxist cultural commentator Slavoj Žižek, the man they call the most dangerous philosopher in the west, unravels it all for Liz Else)..

Your new book, Living in the End Times, is about the demise of global capitalism. What is science’s place in all this?

Science is completely entangled with capital and capitalism. It is simultaneously the source of some threats (such as the ecological consequences of our industries or the uncontrolled use of genetic engineering), and our best hope of understanding those threats and finding a way to cope with them.

Given the book’s title, it’s no surprise that it also features the four horsemen of the apocalypse, which you identify with four major threats you say we face.

For me, remember, apocalypse means revelation, not catastrophe.

Take the threat to our ecology.

Until recently, the main reaction to ominous news such as Arctic sea ice melting faster than predicted was, “We are approaching an unthinkable catastrophe, the time to act is running out.”

Lately, we’re hearing more voices telling us to be positive about global warming.

True, they say, climate change increases competition for resources, flooding, the stresses on animals and indigenous cultures, ethnic violence and civil disorder.

But we must bear in mind that thanks to climate change the Arctic’s treasures could be uncovered, resources become more accessible, land fit for habitation and so on.

So it’s business as usual?

Yes…” (cont..)

go to source/story>>>Slavoj Žižek: Wake up and smell the apocalypse - opinion - 30 August 2010 - New Scientist

“…From the relaxing effects of cannabis to the highs of LSD and ecstasy, illegal drugs are not generally associated with the lab bench.

Now, for the first time in decades, that is starting to change.

For almost 40 years, mainstream research has shied away from investigating the therapeutic benefits of drugs whose recreational use is prohibited by law.

But a better understanding of how these drugs work in animal studies, and the advancement of brain-imaging techniques, has sparked a swathe of new research.

What’s more, clinical trials of MDMA (ecstasy), LSD and other psychoactive drugs are starting to yield some positive results.

This could lead to a call for governments to take a new approach to the funding and regulation of research into the potential benefits of such chemicals.

LSD was developed in the 1940s (see “The highs and lows of LSD”) but by the 1970s it and many other drugs became classed as schedule 1 in many countries - described as “abuse” drugs with no accepted medical use.

“Research on psychedelics was severely restricted and interest in the therapeutic use of these drugs faded,” says Franz Vollenweider of the neuropsychopharmacology and brain-imaging unit at the Zurich University Hospital of Psychiatry, Switzerland.

The classification of LSD as schedule 1 was a mistake born of “ignorance and taboo”, says Amanda Feilding, director of the Beckley Foundation …

… a charitable trust that promotes investigation into consciousness and its modulation, based in Oxford, UK.

These kinds of decisions are political not scientific, says Michael Mithoefer, a psychiatrist in Mount Pleasant, California.

“When the US Drug Enforcement Agency held hearings about MDMA, the judge ruled it did not meet criteria for schedule 1 and should be schedule 3, so it could be used by physicians but not sold in bars.

The DEA administrator put it in schedule 1 despite it not meeting the criteria.”

Despite these hurdles, a number of trials are now under way in the US and Switzerland to investigate the potential of LSD and psilocybin - the psychoactive component of magic mushrooms - in helping terminal cancer patients deal with anxiety and depression.

Feilding is also working with David Nutt of Imperial College London on the first UK study using psychedelics for 40 years.

Among other things, they are researching how psilocybin can help in recalling distant memories …

… which they say could help with psychotherapy following trauma…”

go to source/story>>>Psychoactive drugs: From recreation to medication - health - 01 September 2010 - New Scientist

“… Blood samples taken from Afghan schoolgirls who collapsed in apparent mass poisonings showed traces of toxic chemicals found in herbicides, pesticides and nerve gas, the Health Ministry said.

Suspicion has fallen on sympathizers of the Taliban, the hard-line Islamist militia that opposes education for women and prohibited girls from going to school when it was in power until it being ousted by a 2001 US-led invasion.

Poisonous levels of organophosphates were found in samples taken from girls sickened in incidents over the past two years…”

go to source/story>>>Schoolgirls in mass poisoning - asia - world | Stuff.co.nz

“…Witnesses and police say 22-year-old Thomas Magill jumped from the high-rise at West 63rd Street on Tuesday.

He landed in the backseat area of a Dodge Charger after crashing through the windshield.

He suffered broken legs.

Police say he’s in critical condition.

The car’s owner, Guy McCormack, of Old Bridge, N.J., told the Daily News he’s convinced that rosary beads he kept inside the Dodge saved Magill’s life…”

go to source/story>>>Thomas Magill Falls 40 Stories, Lands On Car, SURVIVES

“…Disclosure reports show that the banks that got the most government help in late 2008 and early 2009 …

… also invested the most to influence members of Congress, the White House, the Federal Reserve, Treasury Department …

… and a long list of federal agencies as new rules were enacted governing Wall Street and the nation’s financial system.

“I’m not shocked that they spent that much money because I saw them every day,” said Ed Mierzwinski, consumer program director at U.S. Public Interest Research Group …

… who said more than 2,000 lobbyists worked on the financial reform bill…”

go to source/story>>>The 10 Banks That Got The Biggest Bailouts Spent The Most On Lobbying In 2010

“…Nearly three out of four Americans have been directly affected by the recession, either because they have been unemployed or know someone who has lost their job, according to a new survey.

The report, prepared by Rutgers professors Carl Van Horn and Cliff Zukin, find that 73% of Americans have either been unemployed themselves (14%) or saw an immediate family member (12%), another member of their family (30%) or a close friend (17%) lose a job.

The survey also finds profound pessimism about where the economy is headed.

More than half of Americans say they believe the downturn reflects a “lasting economic change” (56%) rather than a “temporary economic downturn” (43%).

Large majorities believe that the economy will remain in recession or worse a year from now.

“After suffering through the worst economic disaster most have ever experienced,” Van Horn said in a statement …

… “American workers have diminished expectations about America’s economic future and do not have much faith that the nation’s political leaders can move the country forward.”

Asked about the causes of joblessness, the survey respondents mentioned three above all: …

… global economic competition, illegal immigration and Wall Street bankers…”

go to source/story>>>POLL: Unemployment Affects Three Out Of Four Americans

“…Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard has reportedly signed a formal deal with the Greens as Labor tries to secure a majority.

According to ABC News, the Green Party has struck a deal with Labor in which they would support a Gillard government.

Green leader Bob Brown will announce details of the deal shortly, ABC reported…”

go to source/story>>>Gillard signs deal with Greens - report - World - NZ Herald News

a kiwi-bach is entered into a green-buildings competition…

and it is so simple….and so cool…

go to source/story>>>http://blog.greens.org.nz/2010/09/01/kiwi-bach-goes-to-washington/#comment-148608Kiwi bach goes to Washington | frogblog

“…The University of Washington epidemiologist Dr Stephen Bezruchka has been writing and speaking for nearly two decades on the real cause of illness and poor health.

As he repeatedly points out, lifestyle factors (including smoking) only account for ten percent of the causation of illness.

According to Bezruchka, the single most important determinant of adult health status and life expectancy is your mother’s income and social status during pregnancy … and the first three years of life.

Although more than fifty years of epidemiological studies bear this out … it is only in the last decade scientists could explain why this is –

– thanks to the new science of epigenetics.

While the early Freudians used to make similar claims about unfavorable “psychological” influences on infants and young children …

… it is now clear the effect is biological rather than psychological.

That it relates to “epigenetics” –

- a term referring to changes in gene expression caused by mechanisms other than the underlying DNA sequence…” (cont..)

go to source/story>>>Income Inequality: the Real Cause of Poor Health « american in exile

“…The Toledo Museum of Art’s $30 million Glass Pavilion is a symbol of America’s “Glass City,” and reflects the legacy of its local glassmakers.

A smudge on the image: The pavilion glass was imported from China, the new global powerhouse of the glass industry.

No one in the U.S. had the capability to satisfy cutting-edge architectural specifications for the curving pavilion …

… even though the 2006 job involved techniques advanced decades ago by Toledo inventors: bending and laminating glass.

The pavilion features 360 thick glass panels, each up to 13.5 feet tall, eight feet wide and weighing over 1,300 pounds.

For years, the West focused on the threat from China’s low-tech exporters like clothing and furniture makers.

Glass represents how an even more potent challenge has arrived:…

… sophisticated, capital-intensive businesses that boast high-tech expertise.

In industries where global demand has shifted to China, the pattern is repeated … from steel to locomotives and turbines to specialized glassworks.

Chinese companies that have gorged on growth in the domestic market have managed … in just a few years …

… to close the gap on decades of technological innovation in the industrialized West…”

go to source/story>>>In Toledo, the ‘Glass City,’ New Label: Made in China - WSJ.com

“…It is always tempting to home in on the absurdity of the Republican right in America … the almost comic quality of some of their views …

… and the ludicrous nature of the accusations they hurl at President Barack Obama.

The paranoid and hate-filled world of the “birthers”, the Tea Party people and all the rest is so alien to the British experience as to be incomprehensible.

We tend not to take them seriously … or assume that the Republicans’ constant lurch to the right inevitably renders them unelectable.

We may be making a mistake.

The huge size of the rally held in Washington at the weekend – where several hundred thousand people turned up to hear the Fox News talk show host Glenn Beck announce that America was “turning back to God” –

– provides further disturbing proof … if any were needed … of the growing popularity of the hard right…” (cont..)

go to source/story>>>Leading article: The threat to American conservatism - Leading Articles, Opinion - The Independent

“…More than 100 posters charting a century of the Olympic Games will go on show in London tomorrow.

The collection, which includes a poster advertising the July 1948 games in London, will be exhibited at the Europa Gallery in Sutton’s Central Library.

The oldest poster displayed dates back to the 1912 Stockholm Olympics.

While Franz Würbel’s design for the Berlin Olympics in 1936, where Jesse Owens won four gold medals, will also feature.

A Soviet-era design for the 1980 Moscow Games is among the highlights.

Memorabilia, including the torch from the London Olympics 1948, will be on show alongside the posters for both the winter and summer games…”

go to source/story>>>Vintage posters capture a century of Olympic Games - Features, Art - The Independent

“…Being a child of a rock legend brings kudos, travel and famous friends –

– but fatherly wisdom and bedtime stories are rarely part of the deal.

Having a babysitter called “The Sulphate Strangler”; being forsaken by your tour bus;…

… having a father who’d rather grease party-guests’ palms with opiates than grip your mother’s clammy paw during childbirth.

If you thought everyday kid-rearing was difficult … then blaze through a guide to rock’n'roll parenting and prepare to baulk.

Except, well, there is no official guide.

If only there was an instruction leaflet prescribing parenting tips to famous musicians;…

… the best they have is How’s Your Dad?, a new book by the rock journalist Zoë Street Howe …

… which outlines the excesses of rock stars … and how they impact on their sprogs…”

go to source/story>>>The children of rock dads - Features, Health & Families - The Independent

“…What will it take for us to realize that the same funding dollars used to arrest, prosecute and imprison drug usage could be spent to help rather than punish people.

Think of the lives that could be saved if we chose to fund harm reduction programs …

… and to make the overdose antidote naloxone readily available.

A dose of naloxone that costs approximately $10 could have saved my son.

Consider what common sense and good policy it is to pass Good Samaritan 911 laws that allow people to report an overdose without fearing arrest.

It is a mystery why a society would rather make a drug bust … than let a person with drugs call 911 to save a life.

We are taught that nothing is as powerful as a good education – and I believe that –

- and yet we neglect to educate young people with a realistic drug education curriculum.

And, finally, we make noise about drug treatment programs …

… and then do not support our elected representatives to pass legislation that provides adequate funding…” (cont..)

go to source/story>>>Preventing Death by Overdose: One of the Most Avoidable Tragedies on Earth | | AlterNet