June 29, 2009 archive

1. Foreign Policy reports Climate change will soon be the world’s greatest health crisis. “We tend to think of climate change as an environmental issue, which, of course, it is… But climate change is also a public health issue, one whose profound effects on the lives and wellbeing of billions of people are just beginning to be understood.”

   “Health experts and advocates ought to be at the forefront of calling for action on climate change. Their help is urgently needed: plans need to be put in place immediately to manage the worst effects, requiring unprecedented levels of international cooperation.”

Four at Four continues with a contrary view on climate refugees, Obama’s list of economic errors, and the last gasp of the U.S. dollar.

Disclaimer: I don’t know what the hell I am doing, so this is not a How To. Actually, getting this done despite not knowing what the hell I am doing is kind of the point.

A couple of weeks ago, I finally got serious about trying to get my rear derailleur back into action. It had seized up during the winter, and while I got some rear gears back at that time, I was down to three speeds on the front derailleur again.

So I was trying the dry lube, working it in on all joints, working the derailleur mechanism, and cleaning off the crud it was bringing up. Except no matter how progress I seemed to make, when I went to shift it, it seized up again. And then another round.

Until the cable snapped.

Fudge, now I had to change the cable. So I hit the internet to try to see what is involved with changing the cable. One of the first hits I got told me that when a derailleur is sticking, its normally the cable rather than the derailleur mechanism.

Aha, that sounded right. Lesson One: check the intertubes for advice first, before getting started on a new job.

{keep on with the cable repair after the break}

Madoff will spend the rest of his life in jail:

Bernard Madoff has been sentenced to 150 years in prison for his multibillion-dollar fraud scheme.

U.S. District Judge Denny Chin handed down the sentenced in New York on Monday.

…

Attorney Ira Sorkin says the 150 years in prison recommended by prosecutors or the 50 years recommended by the federal probation department are excessive.

Discuss.

Simulposted at http://www.dailykos.com/story/…

    Given this contempt for hard science, I’m almost reluctant to mention the deniers’ dishonesty on matters economic. But in addition to rejecting climate science, the opponents of the climate bill made a point of misrepresenting the results of studies of the bill’s economic impact, which all suggest that the cost will be relatively low.

    Still, is it fair to call climate denial a form of treason? Isn’t it politics as usual?

    Yes, it is – and that’s why it’s unforgivable.

    Do you remember the days when Bush administration officials claimed that terrorism posed an “existential threat” to America, a threat in whose face normal rules no longer applied? That was hyperbole – but the existential threat from climate change is all too real.

nytimes.com

From The Wall Street Journal:

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department has determined that detainees tried by military commissions in the U.S. can claim at least some constitutional rights, particularly protection against the use of statements taken through coercive interrogations, officials said.

The conclusion, explained in a confidential memorandum whose contents were shared with The Wall Street Journal, could alter significantly the way the commissions operate — and has created new divisions among the agencies responsible for overseeing the commissions.

First, I have to wonder who in the Obama Administration would pick the Wall Street Journal to share confidential information with.

And although this decision would seem to be a no-brainer, it does show how far we’ve fallen that I would even call this good news.

Finally, they still won’t use the word torture … now it’s “coercive interrogations.”

More on the flip.

“The fact that Iran is stable,

calm and secure, they’re upset with this,”

Intelligence Minister Gholam-Hosein Mohseni Ejei

told Iran’s Press TV.

U.S. ready to leave Iraqi cities despite violence

Many wonder if U.S.-trained forces will be able to keep areas secure

Associated Press

BAGHDAD – Death squads roamed the streets, slaughtering members of the rival Muslim sect. Bombs rocked Baghdad daily – until thousands of U.S. troops poured in two years ago, establishing neighborhood bases and taking control of the Iraqi capital and other cities.

By Tuesday, all but a small number of American soldiers will have left Baghdad and other urban areas, handing over security to Iraqi soldiers and police still largely untested as an independent fighting force.

State television has been showing a countdown clock with a fluttering Iraqi flag and the words “June 30: National Sovereignty Day.”

Iran frees five detained British embassy employees

Five of nine people detained after being accused of involvement in post-election unrest have been released, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman says

 Ian Black and Matthew Weaver

guardian.co.uk, Monday 29 June 2009 09.01 BST

Five of the nine British embassy employees accused of involvement in the post-election unrest in Iran have been released, officials in Tehran said today.

The development came as Iran announced that a partial recount of votes in this month’s disputed presidential election had begun.

“Out of nine people, five … have been released and the rest are being interrogated,” Hassan Qashqavi, an Iranian foreign ministry spokesman, was quoted as saying by the state-funded Press TV.

A spokesman for the British Foreign Office refused to confirm the figure, saying only that “several have been released and some remain in custody”.

Yesterday, the Iranian intelligence minister, Gholam Hossein Mohseini Ejehi, claimed Tehran had video proof that the Iranian employees at the embassy “were distinctly present at the scene of clashes” following the 12 June election.

USA

How a Loophole Benefits GE in Bank Rescue

Industrial Giant Becomes Top Recipient in Debt-Guarantee Program

By Jeff Gerth and Brady Dennis

ProPublica and Washington Post Staff Writer

Monday, June 29, 2009

General Electric, the world’s largest industrial company, has quietly become the biggest beneficiary of one of the government’s key rescue programs for banks.

At the same time, GE has avoided many of the restrictions facing other financial giants getting help from the government.

The company did not initially qualify for the program, under which the government sought to unfreeze credit markets by guaranteeing debt sold by banking firms. But regulators soon loosened the eligibility requirements, in part because of behind-the-scenes appeals from GE.

Tuff Enuff