June 27, 2012

(Wendy) Long wins NY Senate GOP primary to face Gillibrand

Source: Newsday

ALBANY, N.Y. - (AP) -- Wendy Long, who promoted her conservative credentials on her way to a convincing win in New York's Republican Senate primary, now faces a broader and more liberal electorate as she takes on Democratic incumbent Kirsten Gillibrand.

Long, a New York City attorney, defeated U.S. Rep. Bob Turner and Nassau County comptroller George Maragos in a primary election Tuesday notable for low turnout.

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Long has political experience but has never held elected office. She worked in the U.S. Senate, clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and has advocated for conservative judges for the group now known as the Judicial Crisis Network.

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Long has run as a staunch conservative. She promoted her support for gun rights, said she opposed same-sex marriage and vowed never to vote to raise the federal debt ceiling. She has already secured the state Conservative Party line, which is considered crucial to Republicans running for statewide office.



Read more: http://www.newsday.com/long-wins-ny-senate-gop-primary-to-face-gillibrand-1.3807438

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Sounds like the anti-Gillibrand. Kirsten Gillibrand was my congresswoman, extremely popular in this traditionally Republican district. Here's hoping for a high turnout among New York voters in November...

June 12, 2012

KKK group applies to adopt a stretch of Georgia highway

ATLANTA, GA -
A North Georgia chapter of the Ku Klux Klan has applied to "adopt" a stretch of highway in Union County, Georgia, according to paperwork obtained by CNN on Monday.

The application, which would allow the white supremacy group to receive state recognition for cleaning up a one-mile portion of a highway, was filed by the International Keystone Knights of the KKK on May 21.

If the Georgia Department of Transportation accepts the application, the KKK would be responsible for cleaning litter on a part of Georgia State Route 515 in the Appalachian Mountains near the North Carolina border.

"All we want to do is adopt a highway," said April Chambers, the chapter's secretary. "We're not doing it for publicity. We're doing it to keep the mountains beautiful. People throwing trash out on the side of the road ... that ain't right."


Read more: http://www.abc15.com/dpp/news/national/kkk-group-applies-to-adopt-a-stretch-of-georgia-highway

June 12, 2012

Romney Energy Plan Includes Drilling ‘Virtually Every Part’ Of U.S. No Protections For National Park

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is no stranger to attacks on the environment, as seen in his ads against clean energy jobs, his pledge to roll back fuel economy standards that protect public health and reduce carbon pollution, and the fact that he doesn’t know “the purpose of” public lands that belong to all Americans.

But this morning’s Washington Post sheds more light on Romney’s energy plan, including the fact that he would open up “virtually every part of U.S. lands and waters” to drilling regardless of whether they are national parks, national monuments, or protected in some other way.

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Current law sets some public lands and waters off limits to drilling, including national parks, national monuments, and wilderness areas. These places are protected for other uses like hunting, fishing, sightseeing, and recreation.

Presumably, if there was oil and gas found there, Romney would allow drilling in places like the Grand Canyon, Arches National Park, Glacier National Park, Yellowstone, and Isle Royale National Park in the Great Lakes, regardless of its impacts on them. In essence, he would take lands that belong to all Americans and turn them over to oil companies.

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2012/06/09/496886/romney-energy-plan-includes-drilling-virtually-every-part-of-us-with-no-protections-even-for-national-parks/?mobile=nc

June 6, 2012

No Religion? 7 Types of Non-Believers

Religious labels help shore up identity. So what are some of the things non-believers can call themselves?

Catholic, Born-Again, Reformed, Jew, Muslim, Shiite, Sunni, Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist . . . . Religions give people labels. The downside can be tribalism, an assumption that insiders are better than outsiders, that they merit more compassion, integrity and generosity or even that violence toward “infidels” is acceptable. But the upside is that religious or spiritual labels offer a way of defining who we are. They remind adherents that our moral sense and quest for meaning are core parts of what it means to be human. They make it easier to convey a subset of our deepest values to other people, and even to ourselves.

For those who have lost their religion or never had one, finding a label can feel important. It can be part of a healing process or, alternately, a way of declaring resistance to a dominant and oppressive paradigm. Finding the right combination of words can be a challenge though. For a label to fit it needs to resonate personally and also communicate what you want to say to the world. Words have definitions, connotations and history, and how people respond to your label will be affected by all three. What does it mean? What emotions does it evoke? Who are you identifying as your intellectual and spiritual forebears and your community? The differences may be subtle but they are important.

If, one way or another, you’ve left religion behind, and if you’ve been unsure what to call yourself, you might try on one of these:

1. Atheist. The term atheist can be defined literally as lacking a humanoid god concept, but historically it means one of two things. Positive atheism asserts that a personal supreme being does not exist. Negative atheism simply asserts a lack of belief in such a deity. It is possible be a positive atheist about the Christian God, for example, while maintaining a stance of negative atheism or even uncertainty on the question of a more abstract deity like a “prime mover.” In the United States, it is important to know that atheist may be the most reviled label for a godless person. Devout believers use it as a slur and many assume an atheist has no moral core. Until recently calling oneself an atheist was an act of defiance. That appears to be changing. With the rise of the “New Atheists” and the recent atheist visibility movement, the term is losing its edge.

More: http://www.alternet.org/belief/155685/No_Religion%3F_7_Types_of_Non-Believers_/


I thought this was fascinating, hadn't ever thought about it much, had no idea that there could be so many genres of nonbelievers. I'm still not sure which one I am.

June 2, 2012

(SoS) Clinton tours Arctic as big powers vie for resources

Source: Reuters

(Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton boards a research ship on Saturday to tour the Arctic, where big powers are vying for vast deposits of oil, gas and minerals that are becoming available as the polar ice recedes.

The top U.S. diplomat took the unusual step of visiting Tromso, a Norwegian town in the Arctic Circle, to dramatize U.S. interests in a once inaccessible region whose resources are up for grabs as the sea ice melts with climate change.

"From a strategic standpoint, the Arctic has an increasing geopolitical importance as countries vie to protect their rights and extend their influence," Clinton told reporters in Oslo before making the nearly two-hour flight north to Tromso.

"We want to work with Norway and the Arctic Council to help manage these changes and to agree on what would be, in effect, the rules of the road in the Arctic, so new developments are economically sustainable and environmentally responsible," she added.




Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/02/arctic-clinton-idUSL1E8H20FF20120602?type=companyNews&feedType=RSS&feedName=companyNews&rpc=43

June 2, 2012

Greenhouse gas levels pass symbolic 400ppm CO2 milestone

Monitoring stations in the Arctic detect record levels of carbon dioxide, higher than ever above 'safe' 350ppm mark

The world's air has reached what scientists call a troubling new milestone for carbon dioxide, the main global warming pollutant.

Monitoring stations across the Arctic this spring are measuring more than 400 parts per million of the heat-trapping gas in the atmosphere. The number isn't quite a surprise, because it's been rising at an accelerating pace.

Years ago, it passed the 350ppm mark that many scientists say is the highest safe level for carbon dioxide. It now stands globally at 395.

So far, only the Arctic has reached that 400 level, but the rest of the world will follow soon.


http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/jun/01/record-greenhouse-gas-trouble-scientists?newsfeed=true



The Arctic Ocean with leads and cracks in the ice cover of north of Alaska. Photograph: Courtesy Eric Kort/Jet Propulsion Laboratory/NASA

May 28, 2012

50 years later, the fire under Centralia still burns

CENTRALIA, Pa. — Fifty years ago on Sunday, a fire at the town dump ignited an exposed coal seam, setting off a chain of events that eventually led to the demolition of nearly every building in Centralia — a whole community of 1,400 simply gone.

All these decades later, the Centralia fire still burns. It also maintains its grip on the popular imagination, drawing visitors from around the world who come to gawk at twisted, buckled Route 61, at the sulfurous steam rising intermittently from ground that's warm to the touch, at the empty, lonely streets where nature has reclaimed what coal-industry money once built.

It's a macabre story that has long provided fodder for books, movies and plays — the latest one debuting in March at a theater in New York.

Yet to the handful of residents who still occupy Centralia, who keep their houses tidy and their lawns mowed, this borough in the mountains of northeastern Pennsylvania is no sideshow attraction. It's home, and they'd like to keep it that way.

http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2012/05/50_years_later_the_fire_under.html



FILE - In this Jan. 13, 2010, file photo, a painted, wooden heart with the words "To Centralia with Love from Kingston N.Y." stands in an open lot in Centralia, Pa. Fifty years ago on Sunday, May 27, 2012, a fire at the town dump spread to a network of coal mines underneath hundreds of homes and business in the northeastern Pennsylvania borough of Centralia, eventually forcing the demolition of nearly every building. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

May 24, 2012

Afghan war is not over yet

(CNN) -- At the NATO summit in Chicago, President Obama and leaders of America's NATO allies agreed on an "irreversible" plan to withdraw from Afghanistan. But challenges remain.

Despite the deliberately unambiguous word choice used to describe the withdrawal, uncertainty about how the West will confront the obstacles ahead remains. Issues specifically related to Afghanistan are yet to be resolved, and plenty of others are tied to the volatile politics of the area.

The Afghan National Army is already taking the lead in regions with roughly 75% of the population, with U.S. and other NATO troops acting as support. However, this does not include the most contested areas in the south and east, where Afghan forces are slated to assume responsibility by next summer. Serious doubts persist about their readiness to do so.

Despite significant training efforts, the army's level of competence remains in question. It lacks many of the support functions needed for war fighting. The army will remain dependent on international forces for these capabilities and on the international community for financial assistance, expected to cost at least $4 billion a year.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/23/opinion/tankel-afghanistan/index.html?eref=igoogledmn_topstories



An Afghanistan National Army soldier searches a car's passenger in Kandahar, a largely Pashtun city.

May 23, 2012

Can Japan Thrive without Nuclear Power?

After shutting down its last reactor, Japan is now even more heavily dependent on imported oil, gas, and coal.





This month, Japan shut down the last of its 54 nuclear reactors. When and if any of those reactors are to be restarted is uncertain. One thing is for sure, though: as long as it is without nuclear power, Japan will be almost completely dependent on imported fossil fuels.

Japan has the third most nuclear generating capacity in the world, behind the U.S. and France. Just before the devastating earthquake and tsunami in March 2011, nuclear power was the source of just under 30 percent of the country's electricity. Hydropower and other renewable power sources accounted for less than 10 percent. The rest came from fossil fuels—the vast majority of which came from foreign nations, since Japan has few fossil-fuel resources of its own.

Japan's heavy dependence on foreign oil was exposed as a major vulnerability in 1973, after oil-producing countries in the Middle East imposed an oil embargo. In order to help protect itself from future shocks, the country accelerated its nuclear program, which had begun in the 1950s. Still, half of the nation's primary energy supply in 2010 came from oil, around 85 percent of which was imported from the Middle East.

http://www.technologyreview.com/energy/40436/

May 22, 2012

Four die on Mount Everest

Source: CNN

Kathmandu, Nepal (CNN) -- Four people died while coming down the southern slope of the mountain during the weekend after reaching Mount Everest's 8848-meter (29,028 foot) summit, officials said.

The victims have been identified as Ebehard Schaaf, 61, a German medical doctor; Sriya Shah, 33, a Nepali-born Canadian woman; Song Wondin, a 44-year-old man from South Korea; and Wen Ryi Ha, 55, of China, according to officials with the tourism and civil aviation ministry and at the base of the mountain.

"Climbers climbing down the mountain have said that they have seen the body of the Korean," said Tilakram Pandey, of the tourism and civil aviation ministry, by phone from the base of the mountain.

The Korean had earlier been reported missing. There were reports of a Nepali missing as well, but those reports could not be verified, Pandey said.



Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/21/world/asia/everest-deaths/index.html?eref=igoogledmn_topstories

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More:

Everest weekend death toll reaches 4


KATMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Climbers have reported seeing another body on Mount Everest, raising the death toll to four for one of the worst days ever on the world's highest mountain.

Nepali mountaineering official Gyanendra Shrestha said Tuesday that the body of Chinese climber Ha Wenyi was spotted not far from where three other climbers died. They were part of what was a "traffic jam" by Everest standards — an estimated 150 climbers who rushed to use a brief window of good weather to try to reach the top Friday and Saturday.

Wenyi and the other victims — German doctor Eberhard Schaaf, Nepal-born Canadian Shriya Shah and South Korean mountaineer Song Won-bin — died Saturday on their way down from the 8,850-meter (35,035-foot) summit. They are believed to have suffered exhaustion and altitude sickness, Shrestha said.

Shrestha says a Nepalese Sherpa guide who had been reported missing is safe and has reached the base camp. Shrestha says the guide was separated from his group and did not have communications equipment.


http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/story/2012-05-22/Everest-climbers/55124830/1