Stuart Jeanne Bramhall's Blog: The Most Revolutionary Act , page 1242
October 25, 2016
Reconciling Heathrow’s Third Runway with UK Climate Commitments
BBC News reports the British cabinet has just approved the extremely controversial third runway at London’s Heathrow airport. It will allegedly bring billions of dollars of economic benefit to Britain’s economy and create tens of thousands of new jobs.
Oh really? Big business is always promising pie in the sky economic benefits and job creation for big infrastructure projects that seriously disadvantage the rest of us by evicting us from our homes and otherwise destroying our quality of life. Experience teaches these economic projections aren’t worth the paper they’re written on. Thanks to the growing complexity of the global economy, economists can predict what the economy will do next month – much less 20 years from now.
The inimitable George Monbiot says it all in an October 18 opinion piece in the Guardian: “In a world seeking to prevent climate breakdown, there is no remaining scope for extending infrastructure that depends on fossil fuels.”
As Monbiot rightly points out, there’s no way Prime Minister Theresa May can allow Heathrow to build a third runway and simultaneously uphold the Paris climate change agreement Britain signed last year.
Subsidizing Air Travel for the Rich
He cites last year’s Airports Commission report, which offers two possible strategies for ensuring the new runway (and extra flights) won’t conflict with the climate pledges Britain made in Paris. The first is for the rest of the economy to make extra cuts in greenhouse gases to accommodate aviation. Already the Climate Change Act imposes a legal target of 80% reductions by 2050. But if flights are to keep growing as the commission expects, those cuts would have to rise to 85%. This is fundamentally unjust. The large majority (75%) of Heathrow’s international passengers are holiday travelers. As they also have a mean income of £57,000, this option makes everyone else pay for the holidays taken by the well off.
The second option they offer is a carbon tax on aviation. An analysis by the Campaign for Better Transport suggests that the tax required to reconcile a new runway with Britain’s carbon commitments is somewhere between £270 and £850 for a return flight for a family of four to New York.
IMF Calls for Carbon Tax on Aviation
The International Monetary Fund is also calling for a carbon tax on aviation and shipping to help the industrialized world meet the carbon reduction goals it agreed to in Paris. Emissions from planes and ships, presently accounting for 4% of global emissions, are steadily increasing. Unlike other forms of transportation, it’s impossible to replace jet fuel with more carbon neutral energy sources such as electrification.
As Monbiot points out in his article, it makes absolutely no sense to spend billions of dollars on this infrastructure boondoggle and then price people out of the air travel market with a carbon tax. For this simple reason, he predicts the third runway won’t happen. The current timeline proposed by the Department of Transport is so long and convoluted, construction on a third runway couldn’t start before 2020. I suspect Monbiot is right – that it won’t happen at all.
photo credit: Liberal Democrats Brian Paddick with London Borough leaders campaigning against Heathrow expansion via photopin (license)
October 24, 2016
Millions Of American Men Exposed To Feminizing Chemical In Drinking Water*
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Scientists have known about the role of endocrine disruptors in low sperm counts and infertility for nearly 2 decades now. If Congress passed a law authorizing this type of involuntary sterilization, the streets would be full of torches and pitchforks.
Millions Of American Men Exposed To Feminizing Chemical In Drinking Water*
Atrazine, a potent hormone disrupter linked to sex-changes in animals and powerful effects on humans in extremely low doses has been found in one in 6 American’s drinking water.According to research, exposure to atrazine in utero can cause genital deformation in young boys, including the development of a micropenis, medically known as microphallus.
The chemical, banned in Europe for its harmful qualities, is known to disrupt endocrine function in human beings, which can lead to a slew of disastrous health disorders.
Problems that may occur as a result of exposure include breast and prostate cancer, weight gain, lowering metabolism, ovarian cancer, non-Hodgkins lymphoma, thyroid disorder and hairy cell leukemia.
“Timing of exposure may be more important than exposure levels. Research shows that low levels of exposure during key periods of pregnancy may interfere with healthy fetal…
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United States bars Russian Monitors from Presidential Polls – Elections Commission
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I wonder if they accept monitors from New Zealand – I’m thinking of applying.
[Amid rigged election charges, Russia wants to monitor U.S. vote, comes to mind is the phrase that describes the U.S. as “The Best Democracy Money Can Buy”]… ~Ron
Published time: 20 Oct, 2016 | rt.com
The U.S. has rejected a Russian proposal to send diplomats to monitor the upcoming presidential elections and some states have even threatened to bring criminal charges against any that appear at ballot stations, Russian election officials report.
Sources in the Central Elections Commission have told Izvestia daily that its representatives held a series of talks with the U.S. State Department to discuss sending a delegation of monitors to U.S. polling stations on November 8. U.S. officials categorically rejected even the possibility of such a mission, however, instead recommending that Russia join the international mission of the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR). …Read more.
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If Only We Could Vote for Peace…
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WARNING DO NOT BUY ANY CAR IN THE U.S. MADE AFTER 2011
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And I thought it was bad enough having a toaster and refrigerator that could spy on you.
People for Life and Freedom! sends this message………….
WARNING DO NOT BUY ANY CAR IN THE U.S. MADE AFTER 2011
Careful research of this topic has shown the following:
ALL CARS MADE AFTER 2011 ARE HACKABLE BY BOTH THE FEDS/POLICE AND HACKERS
ALL U.S. CARS HAVE A SECRET “BLACK BOX” LOCATED IN OR UNDER THE DRIVER’S SEAT WHICH RECORDS EVERY OPERATION OF THE VEHICLE. THIS INFORMATION CAN BE SECRETLY DOWNLOADED FROM EVERY VEHICLE CONTAINING A HIDDEN BLACK BOX.
A SECRET KILL SWITCH HAS BEEN INCORPORATED IN ALL NEWER VEHICLES ALLOWING POLICE/DHS/FASCISTS TO REMOTELY SHUT DOWN YOUR CAR. GPS DEVICES ALSO ASSIST GOVERNMENT TO KNOW EXACTLY WHERE A CAR IS AT ALL TIMES.
A SECRET VIDEO CAMERA HAS BEEN ADDED TO SOME VEHICLES WITHOUT THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE BUYING PUBLIC. IF YOU’RE IN AN ACCIDENT AND YOU THINK IT WAS THE OTHER GUY’S FAULT, THIS VIDEO CAN BE SENT TO INSURANCE…
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October 23, 2016
The Shocking Reason Many Teenage Girls are Prescribed Antidepressants
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I was taught in medical school in 1969 that the progestins contained in birth control pills, hormonal intrauterine devices and depaprovera injections are contraindicated in girls and women who are prone to depression. I find it bewildering – since all doctors learn this in medical school – that doctors prescribe antidepressants for these teenagers. Instead of stopping the hormones and prescribing a barrier method instead. I find it amazing so many doctors forget everything they learned in medical school the moment the Big Pharma rep walks in the door.
By Julie Fidler, Natural Society
A striking new study published in JAMA Psychiatry links hormonal contraceptives to depression, especially in teenage girls.
The findings aren’t surprising to many women.
A professor at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark and lead supervisor of the study, Dr. Øjvind Lidegaard said:
“We have known for decades that women’s sex hormones estrogen and progesterone have an influence on many women’s mood. Therefore, it is not very surprising that also external artificial hormones acting in the same way and on the same centers as the natural hormones might also influence women’s mood or even be responsible for depression development.” [1]
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Japanese anti-nuclear candidate wins election at site of world’s biggest atomic power station — The Guardian; Simply Info
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An anti-nuclear candidate has been elected in a region of Japan that houses the world’s biggest atomic power station, striking a blow to Tokyo Electric Power’s attempts to restart the plant in the wake of the Fukushima disaster.
Japan Safety : Nuclear Energy Updates
” An anti-nuclear candidate has been elected in a region of Japan that houses the world’s biggest atomic power station, striking a blow to Tokyo Electric Power’s attempts to restart the plant in the wake of the Fukushima disaster.
Ryuichi Yoneyama, a doctor-lawyer who has never held office and is backed mostly by leftwing parties, won the race for governor of Niigata, north of Tokyo, Japanese media projected on Sunday. Shares in Tokyo Electric Power fell 8% on Monday after the news broke.
The vote was dominated by concerns about the future of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa power station and nuclear safety more than five years after the Fukushima catastrophe. The result represents a challenge to the government’s energy policy.
“As I have promised all of you, under current circumstances where we can’t protect your lives and your way of life, I declare clearly that I can’t approve a restart,” the 49-year-old told…
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The Persecution of Chess Champion Bobby Fischer
Bobby Fischer Against the World
Directed by Liz Garbus (2011)
Film Review
I first saw this intriguing documentary, produced in the Netherlands, on Maori TV. What stands out most clearly for me is that Fischer and his mother both suffered from obvious Asperger’s syndrome. The disorder, described as a type of high functioning autism, was first identified by Austrian pediatrician Hans Aspgerger (1906-1980). It wasn’t identified in English speaking countries until 1981, nine years after Fischer’s famous battle with Russian Boris Spassky for the World Chess Championship.
Had Fischer’s condition been recognized at the time, I’m sure his supporters would tried harder to protect him from the callous exploitation the Nixon administration and global media subjected him to.
The documentary traces Fischer’s early life as a chess prodigy (he was the US chess champion at 15), his alternating bizarre/provocative behavior and brilliance during the 1972 Fischer-Spassky match in Iceland, and his descent into social isolation and paranoia immediately afterwards.
Prior to seeing this film, I had no idea Fischer was exiled from the US in 1992 after he was charged (and threatened with prison and a $1 million fine) with violating President George H W Bush’s executive order imposing economic sanctions on Yugoslavia. The incident leading to the grand jury indictment was a revenge match with Boris Spassky in Sveti Stefan and Belgrade Yugoslavia.
In 2004, at the behest of the US State Department, he was arrested by Japanese immigration authorities. He appealed to a supporter in Iceland, and their government granted him asylum.
He died in 2008 at age 64 after refusing treatment for benign prostatic hypertrophy.
*The US covert war on Yugoslavia, which became overt military aggression under Bill Clinton, was the first American exercise in regime change after the fall of the Soviet Union. See The War Crimes of Bill Clinton
October 22, 2016
Scientists are developing graphene solar panels that generate energy when it rains – ScienceAlert
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Producing energy from raindrops.
Article was published several months ago – I just discovered it recently.
Solar power is making huge strides as a reliable, renewable energy source, but there’s still a lot of untapped potential in terms of the efficiency of photovoltaic cells and what happens at night and during inclement weather. Now a solution has been put forward in the form of producing energy from raindrops.
Source: Scientists are developing graphene solar panels that generate energy when it rains – ScienceAlert
HIGH SOCIETY: The Return Of Hemp, America’s ‘Billion-Dollar Crop’ – By Mnar Muhawesh
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Hemp is an ideal replacement crop for tobacco and all the corn the US produces for health destroying high fructose corn syrup.
Source – mintpressnews.com
– “…The U.S. is one of the few industrialized nations to ban hemp cultivation. So, even though hemp can clothe, house and nourish us, even though we can use it to make vehicles that won’t choke landfills with rusting metal, even though it can help to clean polluted soil for future crop growth — Americans are often unable to maximize their use of the centuries-old plant”:
(The Return Of Hemp, America’s ‘Billion-Dollar Crop’ – By Mnar Muhawesh)
Hemp was a major part of American history until misguided drug laws conflated industrial hemp with marijuana. Eric Steenstra, president of Vote Hemp, tells Mnar Muhawesh on ‘Behind the Headline’ about how that happened and how it may be making a comeback.
MINNEAPOLIS — Hemp’s had a role in almost every chapter of American history:
It was illegal for early colonists of Jamestown to not grow hemp. Our founding…
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October 21, 2016
UK Police Try to Snatch Assange
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UK police invade Ecuadorean Embassy trying to snatch Assange. Clear violation of Vienna Convention – emergency meeting scheduled of Latin American nations. Assange speaks from embassy balcony.
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