New Darwin Film Blocked in USA

by Larry O'Hanlon | September 17, 2009

I'm a sucker for a good historical drama. And here's one about one of my all-time heroes that is coming to screens everywhere -- except in the U.S.A., that is.

The film Creation is about Charles Darwin and his discovery of biological evolution by means of natural selection. It's also about his dear wife Emma, who was deeply religious and concerned about the implications of her husband's theory. From what little I see in the trailer, it looks historically accurate (and I know more than a little about this, having read and studied a great deal about Charles Darwin over the last three decades).

From what I've just read in this article (which includes the movie trailer), America's religious fundamentalists are using intimidation to keep this perfectly benign movie from Americans. If this is true (I'll be checking on this), then I find it a bit ironic, since it was just last year that the religious right foisted on us a deeply dishonest feature length anti-science film (I'll not give it the honor of naming it here). ... Continue reading at the link below.

Discovery News : Earth: New Darwin Film Blocked in USA

Scientists are getting better at grasping changes taking place in the coldest regions of the planet, and as NASA's new video "Tour of the Cryosphere" illustrates, they are getting better at telling us about it.  Melting Antarctic ice sheets spill more heavy, salty water into the ocean, which sinks to the abyss and changes ocean currents that alter climate worldwide, we are told.  Seventy-five percent of the water resources in the American West depends on precipitation falling as mountain snow.  A dry winter in the Rockies can heighten wildfire danger even the following year.

This is not a message that scientists have always been very good at getting across, partly because they are, well, scientists, who usually think in technical terms, and partly because they spend a lot more time talking to each other about their methods than to the likes of you and me about their message.  I have a friend in the news business who used to listen to their jargon-filled explanations at major scientific meetings around the country and then invariably ask the same question:  "Yeah, but what does it mean to Joe Six-Pack?"

A study published in April combining satellite measurements of sea ice coverage and conventional atmospheric observations showed that summer sea ice coverage changes weather patterns in autumn and winter from Scandinavia to the American southwest.  And then there is the Greenland ice sheet, which holds enough fresh water to fill the Gulf of Mexico.  This is the 800-pound gorilla in the room, where the rate of melting ice in a warming world is still one of the great unknowns in climate science.  Read the full story “From the not-so-remote cryosphere By John D Cox”

Emissions, Transport, and Chemistry Downwind of Oil Extraction Facilities in the Alaskan Arctic – NOAA Earth System Research Lab

NOAA and U.S. Coast Guard Hunt for Alaskan Methane and Carbon Dioxide Sources – NOAA Earth System Research Lab

UPDATE: 11:27pm

I must have been channeling the governor as I was writing this post earlier today. I just ran across her statement posted about two hours ago.

“I firmly believe Washington State—where innovation is part of our very DNA—will lead the way and serve as a model for the country… I’m happy to report that Washington innovators understand Code Green, and they are answering the call of a generation… We envision Interstate 5.. as the first green freeway in the United States from (Canada to Mexico.)”

Click HERE to read the whole statement.

There are lots of reasons why I love living in Washington State.  I can stand on the space needle, and on a clear day, I can see mountain top peaks covered in snow,

the calm waters of Puget Sound teaming with marine wildlife and serenity.

Drive from the ocean:

to a rainforest,

on to a desert,

and then stop to do a little snow hiking.

all in one beautiful day.

But the icing on the cake here is our eager use of technology.  Computer technology has been in wide use, in both the public and business sectors, for a very long time.  It seems the promise that computers would save us time, make us more productive, leaving more time for personal endeavors, has come to pass.  Maybe it just takes a little longer to get over the 'new computer smell' than people estimated, and Washington's early start in the game resulted in them reaching the goal first. I don't know, but it's clear to me Washington exhibits the signs of having the time now, and possibly the money, to consider the bigger picture, is willing to risk change for broader benefit.

This article recently caught my attention, and reminded me yet again how proud I am to be living in Washington:

MONSANTO UPROOTED

Germany has banned the cultivation of GM corn, claiming that MON 810 is dangerous for the environment. But that argument might not stand up in court and Berlin could face fines totaling millions of euros if American multinational Monsanto decides to challenge the prohibition on its seed.

The sowing season may be just around the corner, but this year German farmers will not be planting genetically modified crops: German Agriculture Minister Ilse Aigner announced Tuesday she was banning the cultivation of GM corn in Germany.

DPA

Monsanto Uprooted: Germany Bans Cultivation of GM Corn - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News - International

Above is a video 'The World According to Monsanto' released in France.  It's a bit elusive, as it continues to be taken down when it is posted.  Well worth the time to watch.

Here's a similar, shorter clip:

And I suppose you and I shouldn't be surprised by this one, but just in case there is still someone out there that is unaware:

Fox News Kills Monsanto Milk Story

WHEN: April 14th (10 a.m. PST) Telephone Press Conference *(888) 228-9795 ID: 95038152*
  April 15th (6 p.m.-9 p.m.)  Activist Gathering & Preparation
  April 16th (8 a.m.-8 p.m.)  Offshore Drilling Hearing
  April 16th  (noon)    Rally & Concert at UCSF

Please click here to view details including schedules and numbers to call to voice your opinion.

If you are on the fence regarding offshore drilling, please read up on the subject here and here.

Thanks, Sierra Club, for making this information available!

What Americans expect from Washington is action that matches the urgency they feel in their daily lives -- action that's swift, bold and wise enough for us to climb out of this crisis.

Because each day we wait to begin the work of turning our economy around, more people lose their jobs, their savings and their homes. And if nothing is done, this recession might linger for years. Our economy will lose 5 million more jobs. Unemployment will approach double digits. Our nation will sink deeper into a crisis that, at some point, we may not be able to reverse.

That's why I feel such a sense of urgency about the recovery plan before Congress. With it, we will create or save more than 3 million jobs over the next two years, provide immediate tax relief to 95 percent of American workers, ignite spending by businesses and consumers alike, and take steps to strengthen our country for years to come.

This plan is more than a prescription for short-term spending -- it's a strategy for America's long-term growth and opportunity in areas such as renewable energy, health care and education. And it's a strategy that will be implemented with unprecedented transparency and accountability, so Americans know where their tax dollars are going and how they are being spent.

Please click through to read the rest of the President's post. Barack Obama - The Action Americans Need - washingtonpost.com

This is the most recent mapping of the conflict. Its roots go back all the way to the fight of two desert tribes over scarce land and water resources. Or perhaps, given the Jewish Diaspora under Rome, only as far back as the Balfour Declaration of 1917, which established in Palestine a "home" for the Jewish people with a guarantee of "civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine." Of course, in the intervening years, Israel has repeatedly taken land and scarce water from the Palestinians, refused the refugees that it has created the right of return (thereby ensuring that their lands and goods, if any, become the property of the state of Israel), and reduced the "land of Palestine" to a series of narrow unconnected strips with no sovereignty and severely restricted movement.

How misinformed, dumb and/or dishonest does someone have to be to read Lichtblau's article -- reporting that the court "found that Congress had acted within its authority in August 2007 when it passed a hotly debated law known as the Protect America Act" -- and conclude that this had anything to do with the "inherent constitutional authority" of the President to eavesdrop in violation of a Congressional statute?  And what kind of self-proclaimed legal expert would make giddy claims about "vindication" from a court decision without at least noting that he hadn't read the decision and making it clear that he had no idea whether this was true? 

A comprehensive look into the details surrounding the rumored "Vindication" from the Fisa court.  It's a long but good read, and the comments are coming in fast. Take the time to click through to read the whole story.

Today's FISA ruling: a case study in 8 years of lying and ignorance - Glenn Greenwald - Salon.com

For years, a network of fake citizens' groups and bogus scientific bodies has been claiming that science of global warming is inconclusive. They set back action on climate change by a decade. But who funded them? Exxon's involvement is well known, but not the strange role of Big Tobacco. In the first of three extracts from his new book, George Monbiot tells a bizarre and shocking new story. George Monbiot  The Guardian, Tuesday 19 September 2006

The media coverage, the public relations company hoped, would enable TASSC to "establish an image of a national grassroots coalition". In case the media asked hostile questions, APCO circulated a sheet of answers, drafted by Philip Morris. The first question was:

"Isn't it true that Philip Morris created TASSC to act as a front group for it?

"A: No, not at all. As a large corporation, PM belongs to many national, regional, and state business, public policy, and legislative organisations. PM has contributed to TASSC, as we have with various groups and corporations across the country."

There are clear similarities between the language used and the approaches adopted by Philip Morris and by the organisations funded by Exxon. The two lobbies use the same terms, which appear to have been invented by Philip Morris's consultants. "Junk science" meant peer-reviewed studies showing that smoking was linked to cancer and other diseases. "Sound science" meant studies sponsored by the tobacco industry suggesting that the link was inconclusive. Click through the title link to read the entire excerpt.

Oil Company Spent Nearly $16 Million to Fund Skeptic Groups, Create Confusion http://morganmghee.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!182233B6B71469E2!454.entry

I will seek elegance rather than luxury, refinement rather than fashion. I will seek to be worthy more than respectable, wealthy and not rich. I will study hard, think quietly, talk gently, and act frankly. I will listen to stars and birds, babes and sages, with an open heart. I will bear all things cheerfully, do all things bravely await occasions and hurry never. In a word I will let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious grow up through the common. William Ellery Channing

In the New Year, may your right hand always be stretched out in friendship, never in want. Irish toast

And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year: Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown. And he replied: Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God. That shall be to you better than light, and safer than a known way. Minnie L. Haskins

'Go mbeire muid beo ar an am seo arís.'
May we be alive at this time next year.

'Athbhliain faoi mhaise duit!'
A prosperous New Year!

In the New Year, may your right hand always be stretched out in friendship but never in want.

Coca-Cola and Pepsi are planning to introduce new drinks made with rebiana, an extract of stevia leaves that is 200 times sweeter than sugar. But according to a new 26-page report by toxicologists at the University of California, Los Angeles, several, though not all, laboratory tests show that the sweetener causes mutations and DNA damage, which raises the prospect that it causes cancer. In a letter to the Food and Drug Administration, the Center for Science in the Public Interest says the agency should require additional tests, including a key animal study, before accepting rebiana as Generally Regarded as Safe, or GRAS.

The UCLA toxicologists emphasized the need for more genotoxicity tests, because of the evidence that derivatives of stevia that are closely related to rebiana damage DNA and chromosomes. Their report noted that much of the recent research on rebiana was sponsored by Cargill and urged the FDA to obtain independently conducted tests to ensure that corporate biases don't influence the design, conduct, or results of the tests.

"The whole issue of what gets GRAS status needs to be reviewed by Congress," Jacobson said. "It’s crazy that companies can just hire a few consultants to bless their new ingredients and rush them to market without any opportunity for the FDA and the public to review all the safety evidence."

Lab Tests Point to Problems with Trendy New Stevia Sweetener ~ Newsroom ~ News from CSPI

Yet another federal agency that needs to follow the lead of the Arena Football League. 

"The AFL said its board of directors voted on Sunday night to suspend the 2009 season, subject to agreement with the players' union, while the league works on "developing a long-term plan to improve its economic model."

President George W. Bush on Sunday hailed progress in the war that defines his presidency and got a size-10 reminder of his unpopularity when a man hurled two shoes at him during a news conference.

"This is a farewell kiss, you dog!" shouted the protester in Arabic, later identified as Muntadar al-Zeidi, a correspondent for Al-Baghdadia television, an Iraqi-owned station based in Cairo, Egypt.

In many ways, the unannounced trip was a victory lap without a clear victory. Nearly 150,000 U.S. troops remain in Iraq fighting a war that is intensely disliked across the globe. More than 4,209 members of the U.S. military have died in the conflict, which has cost U.S. taxpayers $576 billion since it began five years and nine months ago.

Polls show most Americans believe the U.S. erred in invading Iraq in 2003. Bush ordered the nation into war against Saddam Hussein's Iraq while citing intelligence claiming the Mideast nation harbored weapons of mass destruction. The weapons were never found, the intelligence was discredited, Bush's credibility with U.S. voters plummeted and Saddam was captured and executed. Chron dot com By JENNIFER LOVEN

One sunny day in 2009 an old man approached the White House from across Pennsylvania Avenue, where he'd been sitting on a park bench. He spoke to the U.S. Marine standing guard and said, "I would like to go in and meet with President Bush."
The Marine looked at the man and said, "Sir, Mr. Bush is no longer president and no longer resides here." The old man said, "Okay" and walked away.

The following day, the same man approached the White House and said to the same Marine, "I would like to go in and meet with President Bush." The Marine again told the man, "Sir, as I said yesterday, Mr. Bush is no longer president and no longer resides here." The man thanked him and, again, just walked away.

The third day, the same man approached the White House and spoke to the very same U. S. Marine, saying "I would like to go in and meet with President Bush." The Marine, understandably agitated at this point, looked at the man and said, "Sir, this is the third day in a row you have been here asking to speak to Mr. Bush. I've told you already that Mr. Bush is no longer the president and no longer resides here. Don't you understand?"

The old man looked at the Marine and said, "Oh, I understand. I just love hearing it.

The Marine snapped to attention, saluted and said,

" See you tomorrow Sir".

The conservative website HowObamaGotElected.com reports that it has commissioned Zogby International to conduct a poll of 512 Barack Obama voters as part of what can best be described as a viral marketing effort to discredit the intelligence of Obama supporters.

The website, created by former radio talk show host John Ziegler to promote a forthcoming documentary, features a YouTube clip of interviews with 12 Obama voters who "were chosen for their apparent intelligence/verbal abilities and willingness to express their opinions to a large audience". The clip portrays the Obama supporters as giving "incorrect" answers to political questions such as "which candidate said his policies would likely bankrupt the coal industry and make energy rates skyrocket". Of the 12 Obama supporters interviewed for the clip, 7 (58%) are black; nationwide, about 23% of Obama supporters were black according to the national exit poll.

 

FiveThirtyEight.com: Politics Done Right:

We can rejoice in the world's accolades over the election of a multicultural African-American to the presidency after nearly eight years of cringing in shame as the Bush administration methodically curdled our Constitutional values and sullied our global reputation as a beacon of hope. Every once in a while, it seems, we Americans do manage to live up to our ideals rather than betray them. Hooray!

I am just as happy as everyone else over all this global good feeling. But there's something else that I'm even happier about—positively giddy, in fact. And the effects of this change are likely to last a lot longer than the brief honeymoon Barack Obama will enjoy as a symbol of realized ideals. What Obama's election means, above all, is that brains are back. Sense and pragmatism and the idea of considering-all-the-options are back. Studying one's enemies and thinking through strategic problems are back. Cultural understanding is back. Yahooism and jingoism and junk science about global warming and shabby legal reasoning about torture are out. The national culture of flag-pin shallowness that guided our foreign policy is gone with the wind. And for this reason as much as any, perhaps I can renew my pride in being an American.

I'm under no illusion that Barack Obama will turn out to be Barack Panacea. In terms of holding a major office, he's the least experienced president in memory. He'll probably screw up a lot of things, especially at first. The problems he faces–from the economic crisis to Iran's nuclear program–are just too hard. And I occasionally worry that in his eloquent eagerness to empathize and reach across cultural barriers, Obama may overreach in the opposite direction from Bush, stumbling into the appeasement of adversaries like Iran (whose buffoonish president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, practically invited him to do so this week by sending him the first letter of congratulations from Tehran, to a president-elect, since 1979). Obama must also guard against the sort of intellectual arrogance that characterized the "best and the brightest" of the Vietnam era.

But, frankly, these are all risks worth taking after nearly eight years of a president who could barely form a coherent sentence, much less a strategic thought.

Goodbye, Anti-intellectualism. Brains are Back! | Newsweek Voices - Michael Hirsh | Newsweek.com

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November 2, 2008 –A vice-presidential debate will be held later today at 6:00pm PST in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The University of Nevada, Las Vegas Alumni Association will host the debate at the Marietta Tiberti Grand Hall, located at 4505 Maryland Parkway in Las Vegas.

Libertarian Party vice-presidential candidate, Wayne Allyn Root, Constitution Party vice-presidential candidate, Darrell Castle, and Independent Ralph Nader running mate, Matt Gonzalez, will be participating.

San Francisco-based journalist John Geluardi will moderate the debate. The debate will use the Cumulative Time Format. The structure of the format can be found on the Connecticut League of Woman Voters site:

http://www.lwvct.org/voters/vs-dirs-resources/debateformat.htm#1

Free and Equal looks forward to a spirited contest using this unique debate format.

Free and Equal Elections has partnered with TheyWillBeHeard.com, Restore The Republic, and Restore the Republic Radio to present the Vice-Presidential Debate.

These organizations, despite our differences of ideology, have come together to ensure that third parties have a voice on the political stage –a voice that the mainstream media will not allow them to have.

The debate will be broadcast by local television, and can be viewed by live web stream at: http://www.FreeandEqual.org by Restore the Republic Radio.

Free and Equal is committed to raising the level of political discourse in this country by providing a platform for non-mainstream presidential candidates to reach out to the American People.

A fundraising drive for the debate is currently ongoing at http://www.FreeandEqual.org

I will bring you updates as this story develops. Click on the banner to open the LIVE broadcast window.

Sara Palin Video Library: Click Here

The GOP and even McCain aren't sure... 

Women Against Sarah Palin                               On Wednesday, September 3, we sent out an email to 40 friends and colleagues asking them to respond to Sarah Palin’s candidacy as Vice President of the United States. They forwarded the letter to their friends across America. To date, we have received nearly 200,000 responses from women of all ages and backgrounds.

Texas Mom says: Thank You Sarah Palin                              I would like to take a moment thank Sarah Palin. I would like to thank her for being a perfect example for my bright and creative 11 year old daughter.
Thank you, Sarah, for helping open a dialog between us to discuss the mockery of pseudo-equality and the men who hide behind a woman, putting her in a leadership role not because she exemplifies the qualities of a leader but because she *is* a woman and their denial of their own misogyny demands they nominate a figurehead with breasts.