February 21, 2008 archive

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A British mining company is about to begin exploratory drilling for toxic, radioactive uranium in Kaibab National Forest just outside the eco-fragile boundaries of Grand Canyon National Park.

1. The Guardian reports Serb protesters set US embassy ablaze in Belgrade. “Protesters set fire to the American embassy in Belgrade tonight and then attacked the neighbouring Croatian embassy after 150,000 Serbs gathered in the city to demonstrate against the independence of Kosovo… Masked attackers who entered the building tried to throw furniture and papers from the first floor, and appeared to have started the fire from inside one of the offices. The blaze spread across the front of the building. The building has been closed this week, and the ambassador was at his home”. The British and Croatian embassies were also attacked. According to BBC News, “Schools have been closed for the day and Serbian railways are offering free travel.” and told the BBC she “felt as if there if there were a million people at the Belgrade rally.”

2. How can we leave Iraq now that the “surge” is working so spiffily? According to Reuters, Iraqi police find bodies of 15 executed men. “Iraqi police said on Thursday they had found the bodies of 15 men, including 10 soldiers, who had been blindfolded and shot execution-style in the head. The bodies were found in ditches in Diyala province close to the city of Baquba, 65 km (40 miles) north of Baghdad. Police said 10 of the bodies were those of soldiers in uniform. They appeared to have been killed about a week ago.”

3. With Fidel stepping down, there is much speculation about what will happen in Cuba now. The Los Angeles Times reports on some predictions in Cuba expected to turn over new leaf in farming. “Cuba is more likely to launch reforms to boost food production, create oil industry jobs and put more pesos in citizens’ pockets, analysts said… Some changes, probably starting with efforts to help farmers, are likely to occur during the next year… Raul Castro, the president’s 76-year-old brother and potential successor, and other Cuban leaders for months have indicated that farmers may receive legal rights to their land and guaranteed market prices for their produce. With food production pitifully low for a country with fertile land and a year-round growing climate, farmers need more land and more autonomy in tilling it to boost output. Cuba imports at least 70% of its food, including a record $437-million worth from the United States last year.” Additionally, “opportunities to draw more investment in oil exploration and nickel mining have also emerged”.

4. The New York Times reports that Research explains formation of unique Martian fans. Scientists at the Utrecht University in the Netherlands “believe they now know how sediment deposits spilling out of the mouth of some water channels on Mars were shaped in a series of terraces that look like terraced rice paddies… No similar natural formations have been seen in river deltas on Earth… About 10 stepped fans have been identified, most at the base of a steep slope emptying into a basin like an impact crater… The sandbox experiment, reported in Thursday’s issue of the journal Nature, [suggest] the terraces form by the interaction of the sediment flow with the water’s edge, which is rising as the basin fills.” High school students helped the Utrecht University scientists with the research.

New diary: cataclysmic fight to the death

This is for the impeachment diary arguing that we must impeach now: the Republicans braced for cataclysmic fight to the death.  I say we give it to them.  Nothing less than the utter ruination of the political doctrine that first took hold during the Nixon administration came to full fruition during the current Bush Cheney regime will suffice.

This is unrelated but put somewhere in the story: we must show the world that America does not believe that the eight years two election cycles of the Bush Cheney administration was nothing more than an unfortunate mistake and inconvenient aberration a bad crackerjack in a box.  We must show the world that we utterly reject the practices and beliefs of a regime that caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands if not millions of people unjustly and illegally.  We have to accept the fact that we are part of the world community in fact a leader of that and we must guide our actions accordingly.  Does it not mean anything that a high administration official is considered a war criminal?

Hey all welcome to your weekly dose of green positivity!!!

Enjoy the articles.

Cleaner water through nanotech

Could tiny particles added to  water sources help solve one of the world’s biggest problems?

Coated silica particles filter out toxins, pathogens

Tiny particles of pure silica coated with an active material could be used to remove toxic chemicals, bacteria, viruses, and other hazardous materials from water much more effectively and at lower cost than conventional water purification methods, according to researchers writing in the current issue of the International Journal of Nanotechnology.

We can hope the fisherman listen to this guy BEFORE they kill otters.

Despite of this potential conflict, Kai Chan of the University of British Columbia believes there is a way to ensure Canadian First Nations fishers can benefit from the otters’ presence.

“Efforts to restore wildlife populations should not be played out in a win-lose framework that pits conservation against the economic interests of the local people,” observes Chan, who spoke at the American Association for the Advancement of Science Annual Conference in Boston (February 14 to 18).

This is the springtime of my loving – the second season I am to know

You are the sunlight in my growing – so little warmth I’ve felt before.

It isn’t hard to feel me glowing – I watched the fire that grew so low.

It is the summer of my smiles – flee from me Keepers of the Gloom.

Speak to me only with your eyes. It is to you I give this tune.

Ain’t so hard to recognize – These things are clear to all from

time to time.

Talk Talk – I’ve felt the coldness of my winter

I never thought it would ever go. I cursed the gloom that set upon us…

But I know that I love you so

These are the seasons of emotion and like the winds they rise and fall

This is the wonder of devotion – I see the torch we all must hold.

This is the mystery of the quotient – Upon us all a little rain must fall.

Thanks for stopping in, so glad you’re here …. (yes, YOU!)

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or stroll over to the Recent or Rec’d list…

there are many fine offerings today

O &… Please don’t rec the pony party, another will trot up in a few hours.

(^.^)