FBI Links Almanacs with Terrorism
Mind your reading. . . . http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,106890,00.html
a warning for Michael Perelman
Dec. 30, 2003, 1:34PM Man trapped for 2 days under pile of books, papers Associated Press NEW YORK- A man who says he sells books and magazines on the street was rescued after being trapped for two days under a mountain of reading material in his apartment. Patrice Moore, 43, had apparently been standing up when the books, catalogs, mail and newspapers swamped him on Saturday. Firefighters and neighbors rescued Moore on Monday afternoon and he was hospitalized in stable condition this morning with leg injuries. I didn't think I was gonna get out, Moore told the New York Post, adding that he called for help repeatedly. His landlord discovered him Monday after coming to the apartment to give Moore a small loan and heard a strange voice inside. The landlord pried the door open with a crowbar, found Moore trapped and alerted the fire department. The apartment was stuffed from wall to wall and floor to ceiling with stacks of paper. Emergency workers and neighbors dug through the debris to reach Moore, filling 50 garbage bags with paper. He was freed about a half hour later, said Fire Department spokesman Paul Iannizzotto. Moore, a former mailroom clerk now receiving public assistance, said he collected books and magazines for more than 10 years and earned money by selling them on the street. The incident recalled the legendary case of the Collyer brothers, who in 1947 were discovered dead in their house in Harlem after one of them became trapped under a pile of papers and the other died of starvation.
global soot suit
Soot worse for global warming than thought 22:00 22 December 03 NewScientist.com news service Soot particles may be twice as bad as the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide in contributing to global warming, suggests a new study. Grains of soot deposited in snow have also caused about one-quarter of the observed rise in global surface temperature since 1880, suggests the model by James Hansen and Larissa Nazarenko. The pair examined how soot particles affect the atmosphere when they darken snow and ice. Darkened snow traps more solar energy than pristine snow. The effect could explain why sea ice and glaciers are melting faster than expected from the increase in surface temperature alone, says Hansen of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York. The effect of soot on snow is unambiguous, he told New Scientist. It causes a strong warming effect. The findings could be good news on climate as soot emissions may be easier to cut than carbon dioxide. Hansen says technology exists to more cleanly burn fossil fuels without releasing large quantities of soot. The payback in terms of climate would be faster by cutting soot than carbon dioxide gas emissions. But Hansen cautions: It does not change the need to slow down the growth rate of carbon dioxide and eventually stabilize the atmospheric amount. Incident light Soot's effects on the atmosphere are complex and not well understood. The emissions are a combination of black carbon and organic compounds which have different effects on surface temperatures. Black carbon causes warming, but the organic compounds cause cooling. The effects on ice and snow are simple in comparison, but had largely been overlooked. Fresh snow reflects more than 90 percent of incident light - both the organic and black-carbon components of soot increase its absorption. Local soot concentrations in snow vary widely, but Hansen estimates that it reduces light reflection by 1.5 percent in the Arctic and by 3 percent over land in the Northern hemisphere. The extra absorbed energy helps melt snow and ice. This creates positive feedback - and speeds melting - because wet snow absorbs more light than dry snow, and liquid water absorbs about 90 percent of the incident light. This may also explain another climate puzzle - observations of earlier springs and melting ice sheets. There is no way to account for the rapid retreat of ice globally based only on global warming, Hansen says. The link to melting ice is critical because rising sea level is a key danger posed by global warming. Hansen stresses greenhouse gases remain the main cause of global warming. But soot does not stay as long in the atmosphere as carbon dioxide, and emissions may be easier to control, he says. Journal reference: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2237157100 -- -- BUSHES WILL TREMBLE WHEN KUCINICH IS NOMINATED BY BOTH THE GREENS AND THE DEMOCRATS. -- END OF THE TRAIL SALOON Alternate Sundays 6-8am GMT (10pm-midnight PDT) http://www.kvmr.org I uke, therefore I am. -- Cool Hand Uke I log on, therefore I seem to be. -- Rodd Gnawkin Visit Cool Hand Uke's Lava Tube: http://www.oro.net/~dscanlan
Trials of Henry
http://www.sundancechannel.com/ The Trials of Henry Kissinger directed by Eugene Jarecki 10:30 PM http://www.sundancechannel.com/popup/?ixFilmID=2595 The Trials of Henry Kissinger directed by Eugene Jarecki YEAR 2002 80 MINS, BW Winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, one of the most influential statesmen of modern times, Henry Kissinger seems assured of his place in history. Yet, in this controversial and eye-opening documentary from Eugene Jarecki and Alex Gibney, journalist Christopher Hitchens makes the case that Kissinger is nothing less than a war criminal, directly responsible for prolonging the Vietnam War and masterminding the secret bombing of Cambodia and the coup of Chile's President Allende. "An indispensable primer on U.S. foreign policy" - Village Voice. (2002) TVPG (AC, V) (1:20) CCAP/Stereo/Letterbox PRODUCER Eugene Jarecki Alex Gibney SCREENWRITER Alex Gibney CINEMATOGRAPHER Greg Andracke Mark Benjamin Gary Grieg Christopher Li Jeff Lion Weinstock EDITOR Simon Barker COMPOSER Peter Nashel
merry christmas from beefers
US beef producers resist banning of crippled cattle 17:23 30 December 03 NewScientist.com news service The US meat industry is resisting the banning of crippled cattle from human food, despite the discovery of the first case of BSE in an American cow. The infected cow was a crippled or a downer cow, injured by the birth of a large calf. The cow confirmed positive for BSE on 25 December, after it was slaughtered for food in Washington state earlier in the same month. Meat from the cow was recalled and its herd and offspring were quarantined. The discovery confirms the longstanding warnings of European veterinary experts that BSE could be present in the US. But stringent controls, including banning crippled cattle from human food, have been resisted. The US Department of Agriculture has been testing some 30,000 US cattle a year for BSE since 2001, targeting downers because European scientists found such cows were most likely to reveal the presence of BSE in a herd. A downer first revealed the presence of BSE in Canadian cattle in May 2003. Some 20,000 downers are eaten yearly in the US. Canada and European countries have banned such cattle from human consumption. But the US National Cattlemen's Beef Association told journalists this week that it would continue to resist efforts to declare all downers unfit to eat. Cattle feed ban US officials are stressing that the infected cow was born in Canada. But Canadian agriculture minister Bob Speller told a press conference in Winnipeg on Monday that it might still have contracted the infection from cattle remains in feed that came from the US. The two countries' beef industries have been closely linked for decades. The cow was born four months before a ban on using cattle remains in cattle feed took effect in the US and Canada in 1997. US officials stress that, even if there was some infection in the US herd then, the feed ban would have kept it from spreading. But critics, including Swiss scientists who reviewed Canada's similar BSE controls earlier this year, say infection could still have spread. Cattle remains are still permitted in feed for chickens and pigs. When the European Union had similar rules, substantial BSE contamination still managed to enter cattle feed - leading European countries to ban cattle in all feed. Cattle blood is also permitted in calf feeds in the US. Blood may carry BSE. A blood transfusion was suspected to have caused a case of the human equivalent, vCJD, in the UK, earlier in December (ref). If any BSE is circulating in US cattle, US consumers may be at risk. The brain and spinal cord, which harbour most of the infection, are not removed from most cattle on slaughter. US studies revealed in 2002, that 35 per cent of mechanically recovered meat - the bits sluiced off carcasses and used to make processed meats such as hot dogs - contain such tissue. Debora MacKenzie
Re: Trials of Henry
I saw this film in New York City last year. I didn't find it controversial, though it will be eye-opening to thsow unfamiliar with the events. It isn't just Hitchens who makes thecase against Kissinger. Many others do as well. Itis a good chance to see Hitchens before he became such a jerk. The film is verygood and well worth seeing. Every time I see Kissinger pontificating on TV, I want to strangle him. His actions make a lot of current day "war criminals" look like choir boys. Michael Yates - Original Message - From: Brian McKenna To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, December 30, 2003 12:24 PM Subject: [PEN-L] Trials of Henry http://www.sundancechannel.com/The Trials of Henry Kissingerdirected by Eugene Jarecki10:30 PMhttp://wwwsundancechannel.com/popup/?ixFilmID=2595The Trials of Henry Kissingerdirected by Eugene JareckiYEAR200280 MINS, BWWinner of the Nobel Peace Prize, one of the most influential statesmen ofmodern times, Henry Kissinger seems assured of his place in history. Yet, inthis controversial and eye-opening documentary from Eugene Jarecki and AlexGibney, journalist Christopher Hitchens makes the case that Kissinger isnothing less than a war criminal, directly responsible for prolonging theVietnam War and masterminding the secret bombing of Cambodia and the coup ofChile's President Allende. "An indispensable primer on U.S. foreignpolicy" - Village Voice. (2002) TVPG (AC, V) (1:20) CCAP/Stereo/LetterboxPRODUCEREugene JareckiAlex GibneySCREENWRITERAlex GibneyCINEMATOGRAPHERGreg AndrackeMark BenjaminGary GriegChristopher LiJeff Lion WeinstockEDITORSimon BarkerCOMPOSERPeter Nashel
Dow Chemical's Knowledge Factoriesnd Higher Ed
PEN-L Comrads, I just completed a 7,500 piece on Dow and Higher Ed. It's a little tricky because Dow is headquartered in Midland, Michigan, in the belly of the state. . . .I came up with lots of great stuff. . . .here's the beginning of it. . .it won't be published till january. . .please do not share or forward with anyone. . . Does any of this soiund familiar? Brian DOW Chemical's Dioxin Scandal Heats-Up Michigan Universities Need to Create True Higher Learning about Dow Chemical by Brian McKenna "Growth [is] the opiate we're all hooked on. . ." Frank Popoff, former CEO of DOW Chemical In Growth Company, DOW Chemical's First Century, MSU Press (1997) "Growth for whom?" In Dying for Growth, Global Inequality and the Health of the Poor (2000) Three Bhopal activists were shot dead at a Dow Chemical facility in Piscataway, New Jersey on December 14, 2003, in a mock anti-terrorist drill. In the scenario, reported by the New Jersey Star-Ledger, Piscataway police, dressed as Bhopal activists, stormed the Dow facility, took 8 Dow workers hostage and killed one. Later a SWAT team took out the three "terrorists." For the record, Bhopal activists - seeking redress for Dow's failure to compensate victims of the worst industrial accident of all time - have never committed violence at a Dow plant. The slur had no basis in fact. In this post-911 age activists are often equated with terrorists when they are just exercising their First Amendment rights. What does this reveal about Dow's attitude towards those seeking social justice? In Midland, this past Spring 2003, Michigan State University filmmaker Steve Maedic was taking digital video footage of the Dow chemical facility while sitting in the back wagon of his pick-up truck as his girlfriend drove on a public road. They were pulled over and detained by Dow security and later Midland police. "We were really scared," he later said. Maedic, a student in MSU's environmental journalism program, was making a documentary on dioxin pollution in Midland and downstream. Police took his picture and let him go. If Dow Chemical feels threatened, that's probably because they're weary from a long litany of conflicts and scandals, on top of poor "growth" in 2002 when they lost $338 million, some of which was due to some unexpected costs associated with acquiring Union Carbide. In addition to Bhopal there's been conflict over asbestos, breast implants, vinyl chloride contamination in Louisiana, labor decertification campaigns in Texas, union fights in Midland, and - the primary subject of this story - dioxin pollution in Michigan. And that's just a sampling of recent controversies. But Dow has many creative ways of advancing its interests that do not involve force. They can use their enormous money and influence -- befitting the 51st richest company in the world. Consider this. Young Steve Maedic made his 90 minute documentary "The Long Shadow" - a critical investigation of Dow's dioxin dealings with Michigan state government - on a shoestring budget, as a master's project for his environmental journalism degree. Meanwhile, just down the hall from the environmental journalism offices at MSU's Communication Arts Building, a fledgling new undergraduate Public Relations specialization is getting off the ground. It's in honor of E. N. Brandt, whose 1997 book, "Growth Company, Dow Chemical's First Century," largely sings the praises of "one of the wonders of the modern business world." The endowed E. N. Brandt chair was the result of a $1,300,000 gift to MSU from the Carl Gerstander Foundation in 2000. And who is Carl Gerstander? The former CEO of Dow Chemical. It turns out that Brandt had worked for Dow for 40 years, beginning his career in the PR department in 1953 and rising to become Dow's company historian. The Dow book - largely financed by Dow - and endowed chair will have a lasting legacy on MSU culture. In contrast, Maedic's documentary - due for completion in 2004 - is still trying to find a distribution market. He's hoping for a local PBS showing. It's a good bet that only a handful of MSU faculty and students are aware of these Dow/MSU connections and ironies. As we'll see Dow's influence throughout Michigan's universities is quite extensive. But we must return to Brandt's book because the thick volume represents Dow's view of the world, enshrined and legitimized by a Big Ten university. Brandt's book on Dow dismisses dioxin's real-life dangers, citing study after study apparently disproving a health problem. He tells the story of a 60 minutes crew who arrived in Midland, soon after Times Beach Missouri was evacuated for dioxin pollution in 1982, "expecting Midland to be the next town evacuated because of dioxin contamination." "They came at the busiest weekend of the year," Brandt quotes a Dow official as saying, "everybody's laughing and having a big time at the art fair, and the antique show you have to see to believe. . .They're having trouble
Re: a warning for Michael Perelman
sh! -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 Tel. 530-898-5321 E-Mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Can sombody please help Mr. Hubbert find his curve?
From the NYT 12-30-03 Aging Oil Rigs Raise Safety Issues North Sea Fields Producing Longer BERDEEN, Scotland - Three decades ago, when the offshore oil fields that make Britain a net exporter of energy were being developed, most experts thought the fields would be running dry sometime around now. The industry planned accordingly, building platforms and rigs meant to last 25 to 30 years in the gale-force winds and towering waves of the North Sea. Since then, new technology, innovative methods and a bit of luck have extended many of the fields' productive lives by years or decades. "Instead of the North Sea being on its deathbed, it is at a healthy middle age," said Tom Botts, chief executive for European exploration and production at Royal Dutch/Shell. Indeed, the North Sea is expected to produce some five million barrels of oil a day in 2010, only about 20 percent less than it does today, according to Cambridge Energy Research Associates, a consulting firm; one-third of that comes from Britain's part of the sea. As is often true with mature fields, though, the big companies that developed them have started to move on. To maximize profits and free capital for fresh development elsewhere, they are cutting back on workers and investment in the North Sea, and selling some less productive properties to smaller companies that make a specialty of squeezing oil from them. To keep the oil pumping, the rigs, pipelines and other equipment must be kept in service much longer than originally planned, and that is raising concerns about maintenance and safety on the oldest of the North Sea rigs. These concerns came to a head in September when two Shell workers were killed on a platform in the Brent field. An official with an offshore oil workers' union, Jake Molloy, said the two workers were repairing a temporarily patched pipe inside one leg of the platform when a series of valves failed, filling the confined area with toxic gas. Regulators are still investigating the accident, and neither they nor the company would discuss it while the inquiry is in progress. But speaking in general about the North Sea, government officials said they were aware of the increasing risks. "While there's no evidence that companies have been deliberately negligent in cutting costs, we can't pretend we're not concerned as the North Sea rigs get older and change hands," said Taf Powell, head of the offshore division for Britain's Health and Safety Executive, a government agency that oversees worker safety. "It is very expensive operating people offshore; consequently, companies feel that that is a legitimate target when they are downsizing. But there comes a point where that downsizing becomes unsafe, and we're teetering on that threshold." The number of workers on Britain's offshore platforms and rigs has fallen 35 percent, to 18,900 in February from 29,500 in 1992, according to figures from the Department of Trade and Industry. On shore in Scotland, the industry employs some 85,000 people, mainly in Aberdeen and the surrounding Grampian Highlands. While the head count is not rising, "there's a lot more oil in the North Sea than people believed, and there will be a lot more employment coming out of oil" than had once been forecast, said John Reynolds, the lord provost of Aberdeen, whose post is equivalent to mayor. Speaking about the North Sea generally, Mr. Botts of Shell said, "The challenge has been to be more cost-effective, but it can't translate into poor safety." Since the September accident, the company has said it will share the lessons it learned with its entire operation. People who heard the briefings said Shell told its 2,500 North Sea workers that the kind of temporary patch job that had been done on the pipe was inadequate. The company said it would be inappropriate to discuss details of the briefings before the investigation was complete. The second- and third-tier companies that are moving into the North Sea are willing to drill for quantities of oil that are too small to matter to a major oil company like Shell, and use new methods to eke out a bit more oil from fading wells. But oil industry experts say that they may be deterred from investing in the North Sea if more serious accidents occur. "The philosophy of the majors in recent years has been to run the rigs for cash, and repair things as they've failed, rather than perform routine maintenance," said David Hobbs, director for exploration and production strategies at Cambridge Energy Research Associates. "In the first few years after that philosophical change, you get a profit boost, as not everything fails immediately. But after a while that catches up with you." Many workers on the North Sea rigs have been there from the industry's start; the average age of offshore workers in the North Sea is 50. Last year, BP eliminated 1,100 North Sea-related jobs both on- and offshore, or about 20 percent of its
Re: A shameless plug
Since several other members of Pen-l have recently plugged their books -- and quite rightfully so, I have just today begun to read Doug's newest which I got (after explicit hints) for Christmas -- I thought I might mention my recent book which came out this fall though it is directed primarily at a Canadian audience. It is: Paul Phillips, _Inside Capitalism: An Introduction to Political Economy_ (Halifax: Fernwood, 2003) 215 pp. It is primarily directed at the introductory textbook market for labour or union studies programs thought it is also used at intro and intermediate political economy theory courses. Chapter headints are: Introduction: Political Economy and Contemporary Canadian Capitalism Ch 1: Political Economy and Economics: The Issues Ch 2: Institutions of Production and Exchange Ch 3: Production Theory Ch 4: The Labour Process Ch 5: The Labour Market: Part One Ch 6: The Labour Market: Part Two Ch 7: Investment: Closing the Circle Ch 8: Growth and Crisis Ch 9: Aggregate Economics: Smoothing the Flow Ch 10: The International Sector and Globalism Ch 11: There is An Alternative -- Democracy If I were to describe my approach it would be Marxian informed, radical institutionalism/post Keynesianism/Kalecki-ism but, perhaps, with some neoclassical/classical leavening (for what that is worth). In any case, it is available in Canada through Amazon.ca. I don't know if it is available through Amazon.com in the US. The price is, if I remember correctly, something like $28 Cdn or around 22 USD. For what it is worth, That's all Folks! Paul Phillips, Economics, University of Manitoba
