Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
Koch Industries : funding climate change deniers since 1967
A few weeks back I posed the question of what to make of climate change skeptics. If you recall, I suggested two possibilities to explain the deadlock we’re trapped in:
There are two explanations for how we got to this unfortunate position:
A) A world-wide group of nefarious characters (lead by Al Gore) have created the largest and most convincing conspiracy in world history to convince thousands of scientists and most political leaders throughout the world that climate change is real and a major problem.
B) The very powerful industry lobby for carbon-intensive companies and their representatives in congress are waging a successful disinformation campaign to create doubt and obfuscation among the American public about the validity of climate change science.
Thanks to some financial sleuths who dug into the hidden world of conservative fundraising, we now know more about the powerful industry lobby from option B : meet Koch Industries.
Filed under Uncategorized : Comments (0) : Apr 5th, 2010
We’ve gone too far : Gastric Surgery for Kids
This is more than a little terrifying:
In the 1970s, the U.S. drastically altered farm subsidy programs to encourage farmers to grow ever-more staple crops (mostly corn & soybeans) with direct payments from public coffers. Over the next 40 years, this disastrous policy artificially depressed the price of corn/soy and made processed foods much cheaper than their natural counterparts. If you’ve ever wondered why a Twinkie costs less than an apple, this is why.
As the scientific community continues to study the long-term effects, we’re finding some frightening unintended consequences. A recent study found that high-fructose corn syrup leads to obesity in rats, even when absolute caloric consumption is held constant. Start checking your food labels and you’ll find corn syrup in just about every packaged or processed food in the kitchen.
It’s been about two generations since we instituted this reckless policy of corn-centric agriculture, and now we’re seeing the results. Obesity levels in adults continues to rise and now their children are ballooning as well. If gastric surgery for children doesn’t wake us up to the problem, I don’t know what will.
Filed under Uncategorized : Comments (0) : Apr 4th, 2010
A billion here, a billion there
A billion here, a billion there. . . pretty soon we’re talking about real money!
Here’s a neat info-graphic comparing various expenses in the US and world economy. (Click through for full size and descriptions)
Filed under Uncategorized : Comments (0) : Jan 18th, 2010
Chrome for Mac is here!
Google has [finally!] released a beta of the Google Chrome web browser for Mac.
Huzzah!
Huzzah!
Huzzah!
Filed under Uncategorized : Comments (0) : Dec 9th, 2009
For the record. . .
I think our national debt is a problem. A big problem. But the sooner we can all admit that this problem transcends convenient partisan stereotypes, the sooner we can start to address the real issues.
Consider:
Quote:
For decades, we have piled deficit upon deficit, mortgaging our future and our children’s future for the temporary convenience of the present.”
— Ronald Reagan
Indeed, Mr. Reagan. Indeed.
Filed under Uncategorized : Comments (0) : Dec 7th, 2009
